REF 944.2
PALGRAVFt FRANCIS,
THE HISTORY OF NORMANDY
AND OF ENGLAND
VOL. &
NNBR 941319483 L/flV/l
1)1.1 »» t I •
^,
The New\brk
PubBc Library
Astor. Lenox and Tilden Foundations
NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES
3 3333 09228 8543
§
THE
HISTORY OF NORMANDY
AND OF
ENGLAND,
BY
SIR FRANCIS PALGRAVE, K.H.
THE DEPUTY KEEPER OP HER MAJESTY'S
PUBLIC RECORDS.
VOLUME III.
RICHARD SANS-PEUR— RICHARD LE-BON— RICHARD III.
—ROBERT LE-DIABLE— WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
Narratione autem historica fait Aupustinus) cum prapterita etiam hominum
instituta narrantur, non intfT Lumana instituta ipsa historia numeranda
est; quia jam quae transierunt, ncc inf'rcta fieri possunt, in ordine tem-
porum habenda sunt, quorum est conditor et administrator Deus.
. . .> *
• - •>
'
-LONIXON:
MfLLA'N & So.,
16, BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
M.DCCC.LXIV.
[The right of Translation and Reproduction is reserved.}
LONDON :
FEINTED BY GEOEGE PHIPPS, 13&14, TOTHILL STREET, WESTMINSTER.
2. P
u 3
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
SIR JOHN ROMILLY,
MASTER OF THE ROLLS
MY DEAR SIR,
You have honoured me with your kind per-
mission that I should explain, in a few words addressed
to yourself, the circumstances in which the Third and
Fourth Volumes of this History are now published.
The Fourth Volume was printed throughout (with
exception of the " Summary") several years since. Some
corrections in it were afterwards planned by my father ;
but it represents, on the whole, his maturest judgment
on the events narrated.
The completion of the Third Volume (postponed for
personal reasons to the composition of the Fourth),
had formed the author's occupation during the leisure
hours of. the last four years of his life. Great part had
been written previously ; and it. was his wJsa. f.o revise
the whole, incorporating in it tbe fruits of additional
study and of visits to the scenes cf' the principal events
described. Death, however, Y-i July ISc-i, stayed his
hand when this revision had foen completed only to the
end of Chapter III.
From this point onwards (Chapters IV to XV), the
book has been edited by me. From a task for which I
did not feel myself qualified, I should have shrunk, had
it not been for the advice which you kindly gave me, to
CL
<76 Flrlii AVfi., i
IV
print the remaining manuscripts with the least possible
amount of addition, and for the encouragement which
you held out, that the work, if so performed, would be
better done by a son than by any abler or more accom-
plished man, not connected so closely with the author.
I trust that this explanation may procure pardon for the
want of complete finish in some passages, and for the
errors which my best care has been probably unable to
avoid, t However imperfectly I may have practised it,
one who, more than most sons, had the privilege, during
many years, of living with his father as his most intimate
and dearest friend, could hardly fail to learn the lesson,
how History should be written.
For those who may wish to know the exact amount
of the Editor's responsibility, the following details in
regard to the Third Volume are added.
Chapters I to III were completed by the author.
IV was printed, but not finally arranged, by July 1861.
V (as stated on p. 271), has been put together, partly
from fragments in type and in manuscript, partly by a
reprint from the author's small Anglo-Saxon History.
VI continues these extracts. It had been doubtful to
my father (I may add) whether to adopt this plan him-
self, or to omit from this book what he had described
before, or to rewrite the narrative. But it was his in-
tention to make use, for the next portion of the history,
of an article published in the Quarterly Revieiv, of Oc-
tober 1844 (No. 148). Chapter VII has been, there-
fore, composed partly fiwu tjiis article, in part from
manuscript soarcec.
The whole reign of che Conqueror in England, Chap-
ters VIII , to", ;X"J. V, has boon printed from the almost
perfect manuscript prepared originally for publication,
but destined, as noticed before, for a revision which was
never to be accomplished. Chapter XV is a selection
from the materials which the author had hoped to work
up into a more complete and continuous survey.
The Appendix has heen reproduced from a privately
printed, but not finally corrected, pamphlet, in the for-
mation of which my father was, I believe, much assisted
by the lists drawn up by M. de Gerville. I have added
this, in hope that it may, in some degree, serve to replace
the authentic catalogue (so far as such could be com-
piled), of the Conqueror's companions, which it was the
author's wish to give.
For almost all the dates, for the division into para-
graphs, for the marginal notes and headings, from Chap-
ter Y to XV, Books Second and Third, with the " Sum-
mary " from Chapter IY to the end of the Fourth
Book, I am responsible. A very few additional words
and corrections have been inserted, and are distinguished
by enclosure within angular brackets.
These indications will, I hope, make it clear that the
volumes now published have not suffered much by the
author's death. Except in one chapter, the work was,
by that time, substantially completed. What has been
lost lies principally in the additions which would have
been made on the effects of the Conquest, and in the
Notes, which were, I believe, to have given references
to the authorities employed.
A few words of more personal nature may, I trust,
be permitted me in conclusion. It was my father's hope
that he might live to make the book of which these
volumes form the most important portion, his best con-
tribution to the history of England. He therefore dedi-
cated it to the Friend who (in his judgment) had beyond
all others advanced our knowledge of that history, and
whose high and noble nature he had proved in an almost
life-long friendship. They have been both called to rest
from the labours which only advanced age, in Mr. Hal-
b
VI
lam's case, and death, in my dear father's, could sus-
pend. I may now, therefore, be allowed to connect these
volumes with your name, as one of the friends to whom,
during his latter years, my Father was indebted for con-
stant kindness, at once in private life, and in regard to
the official duty which he performed under your Keeper-
ship.
His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani
Munere.
I remain
yours with much respect
FRANCIS TURNER PALGRAVE
5, York Gate, London :
9 May, 1864
CONTENTS.
BOOK II.
OAPETIAN NORMANDY.
CHAPTER I.
ROBERT, KING OF FRANCE LAST TEARS OF RICHARD SANS-PEUR
ACCESSION OF RICHARD LE-BON OPENING OF HIS REIGN — RE-
VOLT OF THE PEASANTRY.
987—996.
A.D. PAGK
987 Richard Sans-peur, his family and connexions during
the concluding period of his reign ... 1
— Ivo de Belesme, and his son William .... 1
— Espriota, her marriage with Sperling the Miller, — their
son Raoul, his famous battle with the bear . . 2
— Duke Richard, Raoul's half-brother, grants to him the
County of Ivri 4
— Illegitimacy — perplexities connected with the question 6
— Tudor and Braganza ....... 6
— Marriage antiently a bargain and sale ... 7
— Missions and civilization 8
— The Rechabites 9
— Anglo-Saxon form of wedding 10
— Richard Sans-peur and Guenora 11
— Legitimation of their marriage ..... 13
— Richard Sans-peur's children 14
— Marriages of his daughters ...... 14
— Prospect of family troubles 15
— Apprehension of Richard Sans-peur as to the suc-
cession 15
— Disorders of the Norman Church .... 16
943 — 994 Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen — his scandalous
conduct ......... 16
994 Richard appoints his son to the Archbishopric . . 17
— Robert ineligible by reason of his bastardy ... 17
vm CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
994 Bastards legitimated by the subsequent marriage of
the parents 18
(1235 Parliament of Merton — Prelates and Barons of Eng-
land refuse to adopt the civil law) ... 18
— Marriage of Eichard and Guenora 18
— Archbishop Eobert marries and becomes Count of
Evreux ......... 19
— Eichard Sans-peur's natural gifts 19
— French or Eomance language cultivated in Normandy 20
Coin struck by Eichard Sans-peur .... 21
— Fecamp built by him -21
— Gothic architecture ....... 22
— The stone chest across the pathway .... 23
996 Eichard's sickness and death 24
— Appointment by Eichard of his son Eichard (le-Bon)
to be his successor -.25
— Intermural interment, not practised in the early ages
of the Church 26
— Directions given by Richard for his burial without
the walls of Fdcamp Abbey 26
— Kichard le-Bon performs homage by parage to the
King of France 27
— Eise of the Norman nobility 28
— Apanages of Eichard Sans-peur's children ... 28
— Geoffrey Count of Eu, and Seigneur of Brionne . . 28
— Mauger Count of Mortagne : he obtains Corbeil by
marriage 28
— William in the first instance Count of Hiesmes, sub-
sequently receives another endowment ... 28
— Eobert the married Archbishop of Eouen, and Count
of Evreux 29
— Archbishop Eobert's sons 29
— Eichard the Archbishop's eldest son, Count of Evreux 29
— Ealph Wace, or Gace, the Archbishop's second son,
Tete-d'etoupe, or Tete-d'ane 29
— Guillaume, the Archbishop's third son, the companion
of Robert Guiscard ....... 29
— Herfastus, Eichard's uncle, and Guenora's brother,
ancestor of the FitzOsborne family .... SO
— Adelina, one of Eichard le-Bon's maternal aunts,
marries Osmond de Balbec 30
— Gueva, another aunt, marries Therrold the son of Terf,
Baron of Pont-au-de-Mer ...... 30
— Norman nobility originating or arising in the reign of
Eichard le-Bon . .31
CONTENTS. IX
A.D. PAGE
990 No information concerning the antient jurisprudence
of Normandy 32
— None known anterior to the reign of Philippe Auguste 33
— Theory of Howard, that the Norman costumes were
borrowed from England 33
— Bourgeoisie of Normandy — her commercial prosperity 34
— Norman peasantry 36
— Hereditary aristocracy, not necessarily exclusive . . 37
• — Heraldic gentility favoured by Richard le-Bon . . 38
— • Oppressions of the peasantry, in consequence of
encreased notions about gentility .... 39
— The Norman forests— game laws .... 40
990 — 1000 Confederation of the peasanty suppressed, and
with great cruelty, by Raoul Count of Ivri . . 43
— Ultimate result, not unfavourable to the villainage . 44
— Servitude obsolete, at an early period .... 44
— Position of Richard's brothers and nephews . . 45
— Geoffrey Count of Eu and Brionne 45
— Gilbert son of Geoffrey 45
— He quarrelled with his cousin Tete-d'ane or Wace . . 45
— William, an illegitimate son of Richard Sans-peur . 45
— Hiesmois or Exmes granted to him 46
— Falaise, its commercial opulence 46
— Fair of Guibray 47
1002 Count William refuses to render his services : he is
taken prisoner by Raoul Count of Ivri ... 48
— Kept in captivity in the Tower of Rouen, whence he
escapes 48
— Pardoned by his brother Richard, who grants him the
County of Eu 49
— His descendants — their high position in Anglo-Norman
history 50
CHAPTER II.
EGBERT, KING OF FRANCE, AND RICHARD LE-BON.
996—1024.
CLOSE ALLIANCE BETWEEN NORMANDY AND FRANCE ROYAL AND
DUCAL MARRIAGES — WARS AGAINST FLANDERS, BLOIS, CHARTRES,
CHAMPAGNE, AND BURGUNDY.
1002 Entente cordiale, between King Robert and Duke
Richard . 51
X CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
] 002 Hugh Capet's anxiety to associate his son Kobert with
him in the royal dignity 51
— Kobert's education 52
— Conjoined with his father in the royal authority . . 52
— Endurance of the male progeny in the Capetian line . 52
— Hugh le-Grand's policy grounded upon feudality . 53
— Tranquillity of the realm under the first Capet . . 53
— • Fortifications raised by him throughout the realm . 54
— Eight of advowson 54
— Cast of French historical characters . . . . 55
— Hugh Capet's dealings as patron .... 56
~ Foundation of Abbeville 56
— Tranquil accession of Robert 57
— His character as a poet 57
— Robert's humouristic simplicity 57
— He quizzes the pope (Bishop of Rome) .... 58
— Robert's trust in Normandy 58
— Uncertainty of the extent of the obligations resulting
from the Carlovingian homages .... 59
— Norman Dukes hold en parage 59
— Feudal obligations incurred by Normandy to Hugh le-
Grand 61
— Richard of Normandy a Capetian Peer ... 61
978 (?) Death of Thibaut le-Tricheur 63
— He is succeeded by Eudes or Odo .... 64
— Extent of Eude's possessions 64
— He assumes the name of Comes Ditissimus ... 64
995 Death of Eudes 64
996 Marriage between King Robert and Bertha, Eudes'
widow i 65
— Contrary to the canons of the Church .... 65
— Gregory V., first Transalpine Pope .... 66
998 Council at Rome — Robert and Bertha commanded to
separate 67
— Gerbert exercises his influence against Bertha . . 67
— Inconsistency of public opinions in these matters . . 68
— Robert repudiates Bertha and marries Constance . 69
— Robert's patience and humour .' . . . 70
— Eutrapelia 71
— New School of Chroniclers 72
— Richness of the Norman Chroniclers . . . ' . 72
999 — 1000 Eudes le-Champenois threatens France . . 73
— Melun 73
— Burchard of Anjou 74
— Burchard marries Count Aymon's widow ... 75
CONTENTS. XI
A.D. PAGE
1000 Melun and Corbeille, granted to Burchard ... 76
1002 — 1003 Burchard obtains Melun by treachery . . 76
— Duke Richard assists the King in recovering Melun . 77
— Lyderic the forester, first Count of Flanders . . 78
1006 Baudouin la-belle-barbe, or Bushey -beard, Count of
Flanders 79
— Geoffrey of Rennes, first Duke of Brittany . . 80
— The Norman damsels 80
— Alliances of Richard Sans-peur's daughters . . 81
— Godfrey of Brittany marries Hawisa .... 82
996 Richard le-Bon marries Judith or Ivetta, Godfrey's
sister 83
— Sons of the marriage 83
— Daughters of Richard le-Bon 84
— Richard le-Bon's second marriage to Estritha, the
daughter of Canute — she is divorced by Richard,
and marries Jarl Ulph the Anglo-Dane ... 84
— Richard le-Bon's third marriage to Papia ... 84
William, Count of Arques, and Mauger, Archbishop of
Rouen 84
— Complication of Norman History — its fourfold tangle 85
• — Marriage between Ethelred and Emma ... 86
936 — 986 Partial conversion of the Danes .... 86
936 Expulsion of Harold Blaatand 87
966—973 Otho the Great, the Ottensund .... 87
972 Swein's baptism 87
936—1014 Blaatand and Swein, their success in the British
Islands 88
— Christianity and civilization 89
— Heekee the Maori 90
Richard Sans-peur, scorned as the Dux Piratarum . 91
— Harold Blaatand in the Cotentin .... 92
— Objectivity and subjectivity 92
— Commercial character of the Normans ... 93
Richard le-Bon's dubious neutrality .... 94
— Departmental division of France .... 95
• — Department of La Manche, equivalent to the antient
Avranchin and Cotentin 96
— The Cotentin, its natural strength .... 97
— Parts of the Cotentin— Barfleur 98
— Cherbourg • 99
— Bravery of the inhabitants of the Cotentin . . . 100
— Oslac, settled in the Cotentin by Rollo . 100
— Barony of Saint Sauveur created by Rollo . 101
— Nigil, Count thereof .... . 102
Xll CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
— Castles of the Cotentin 102
— The Cotentin, the nursery of the Conquerors of
Apulia and England 102
— Ethelred declares war against Duke Kichard . . 103
— Landing of the English in the Cotentin . . . 104
— Their defeat by the inhabitants 104
• — Peace said to have been concluded by the interven-
tion of Pope John (XV.) 105
— Ethelred's family 107
— His courtship of Emma, and marriage . . . 109
1001 Emma returns to Normandy Ill
— Burgundy 112
965—1002 Henri le-Grand, first Capetian Duke . . . 114
— Otho Guillaume 114
1003 King Robert — his invasion of Burgundy . . . 115
— Aid given by Normandy 115
— Siege of Auxerre 116
— Siege of Avalon 117
1015 — 1032 Henry, first Capetian Duke of Burgundy . . 118
1027 Renaud, Duke of Burgundy, the trouble his descend-
ants gave to the Conqueror 119
CHAPTER III.
RICHARD LE-BON AND HIS SUCCESSORS, RICHARD THE THIRD AND
ROBERT LE-DIABLE. EARLY INFANCY OF WILLIAM THE BASTARD.
1024—1035.
— Hostilities between Richard and Eudes le- Champenois,
by reason of the County Dreux . . . . 120
1007 Tilliers — importance of the place, source of the
dispute between Normandy and France . 121
— Marriage between Eudes le- Champenois and Matilda
of Normandy 122
1015 Refusal of Eudes to surrender Tilliers according to
agreement, Maude having died without issue . 122
— Niel de Saint Sauveur, — Ralph the Toeny chief
amongst the Norman Baronage . . . . 123
— Tilliers, attacked by the Norman forces ... 123
— Defeat of Eudes— he flies 125
— Narrow escape of Hugh, Count of Maine ... 125
— Richard invites Olave, King of Norway . . . 126
— Tooley Street 126
CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
— Northmen land in Brittany, probably sailing from
England 126
Defeat of the Bretons at D61 126
The pit-falls 127
Danes sail up the Seine, great alarm created . 128
1020 Treaty of Coudres 128
— The Champs d' Argent 129
— Dreux, Castle and Chapel 129
Stephen of Blois 129
— His marriage with a Norman Princess . . . . 129
Bui-gundy — Eenaud, son of Otho William, marries a
Norman Adeliza 130
— Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre, and Count of Chalons . 130
— Renaud captured by him 131
Eichard, the son of Richard le-Bon, his good qualities 131
— Invasion of Bui-gundy by the Norman and French
forces .... ... 131
— La Mirmande 132
— Count Bishop of Chalons, bridled and saddled . . 133
1026 Eichard le-Bon appoints his son, Eichard the Third,
as his successor ; and dies 133
— His interment at Fecamp 134
— Sources of early Norman history ... 134
— Prose authorities 134
— The Trouveurs 134
— Traditional history 135
— Eichard and Eobert, no information concerning them,
till the Burgundian campaign . . . . 136
— Their quarrels 136
— Eichard HI. performs homage to King Eobert . . 137
— Espouses the daughter of France 137
— • Settlement made upon the intended marriage . . 137
— Ermenoldus the Breton 1 38
— Encrease of population amongst the descendants of
the Scandinavian races 139
— Havelock 139
— Norman population encreasing beyond the means of
subsistence 140
— Eobert rebels against his brother 140
— Richard besieges Falaise 140
— Pacification between the brothers 141
1027 Sudden death of Eichard attributed to poison . . 141
— Accession of Eobert 141
— Illegitimate children of Eichard HI. . 141
988—1036 Baudouin a-la-belle-barbe . . 142
c
XIV CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
— Robert's soubriquets . . . . . ... 142
— His liberality 143
— Falaise and its tanneries 144
— Robert or Fulbert, the tanner and brewer . . . 144
— His daughter Arietta 145
— • Skinners, a degraded caste 145
— Union of trades, of Tanner and Brewer, prohibited . 146
— Duke Robert keeps company with Arietta . . . 146
— One child, William, acknowledged as his offspring . 147
— Public offence given by Robert's connection . . . 147
— Premier families of Normandy 148
— Guillaume de Belesme or Talvas 148
— He curses the baby 149
— The dislike against the child continues unabated . . 150
— The Conqueror's bastardy never condoned, because he
was the Tanner's grandson 151
— William always a bastard 152
— Great offence given to all members of the ducal
family 153
— Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, breaks out first — he
flies the country 153
— Hugh, Bishop of Bayeux, follows the example of the
Archbishop of Rouen 154
— Robert attacks Talvas, who is beat, and compelled to
bear the saddle 155
— Political importance of Duke Robert .... 155
— Baudouin a-la-belle-barbe takes refuge in Normandy 156
— Revolt of the Flemings 156
— Robert mediates between the Norman and the Flemish
Dukes 156
1031 Death of King Robert 157
. — Contested succession of King Henry .... 158
— Henry expelled by his vixen mother . . . . 159
— Treason — what constitutes treason . . . . 161
• — Wallace 161
. — Duke Robert continues his exertions on behalf of
Henry 162
— The Vexin — Drogo, Count thereof 163
— Drogo's marriage with Ethelred's daughter . . 164
— Brittany — its importance in Norman History . . . 165
— Political and feudal relations between Brittany and
the crown of France 166
— Geographical extent of Brittany 167
— Duke Geoffrey and his achievements .... 167
1008 Geoffrey killed by an old woman 168
CONTENTS. XV
A.D. PAGE
1008 Alain, his son, succeeds 168
1010 Revolt of the Armorican peasantry . . . . 168
— Dissensions between Count Alain, and Alain Caignard,
Count of Eennes 169
— Alain's courtship of Eucles le-Champenois' daughter . 169
— The Armoricans despised by the Frankish race . . 170
— Peace between the two Alains 171
— Alain Caignard carries off the lady, presents her
to Duke Alain, who marries her . . . . 171
— Duke Alain restores Belle Isle to Alain Caignard . . 171
— Pomp and pride of Duke Alain 172
— Alain repudiates the homage due to Normandy . . 173
— The Normans of the Cotentin invade Brittany . 173
— Niel do Saint Sauveur, and Alfred the Giant ; their
exploits 174
— The English Athelings, Edward and Alfred, placed
under Duke Robert's protection ... 175
— Canute and Emma 176
— Duke Robert prepares for the invasion of England —
frustrated by a storm 176
— Archbishop of Rouen mediates between Robert and
Alain . 178
— Antipathy entertained against the child William . 178
— Duke Robert, le-Magnifique, suddenly determines to
go as a pilgrim to the Holy Land . . . . 179
— Solemn confirmation of the Bastard's right . . 181
— The Barons perform homage and fealty to the Bastard 181
— King Henry accepts William as his liegeman . 181
— Regency appointed by Duke Robert . , . 182
— Robert commences his pilgrimage .... 183
— Drogo, Count of the Vexin, accompanies him . . 184
— Robert's mode of travelling , 184
— Robert at Rome .... ... 185
— Robert at Constantinople .... 186
— Robert's health fails ....... 188
— Contest of liberality between the Emir of Jerusalem
and Robert 189
1035 Robert dies poisoned 190
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IY.
WILLIAM THE BASTAED, FEOM HIS ACCESSION TO THE
BATTLE OF MOETEMEE.
1035—1054.
A.D. PAGE
1035 William's reign divided into three acts . . . 101
— Alain of Brittany appointed guardian by Kobert . . 192
— Anarchy on news of Robert's death . . . . 193
— Partly caused by the legal interregnum . . . 193-194
— Partly by the lax rule of Robert . . 195
— Indelible stain of bastardy on William . . . . 195
— Claims of Guido, Count of Burgundy, to the duchy . 196
— Regency during William's minority . . . . 197
— He is placed in Vaudreuil 198
1036 Attempt against him by Montgomery . . . . 199
— Presaged the troubles of his life .... 200
— Miserable state of Normandy 200
(1042) Truce of God instituted 201
— William's enemies : Mauger ; Ferrers . . . . 202
— Roger de Toeni 203
— William's character 204
— Chronological perplexities of the period , . . 205
1037 (?) Baronial conspiracy 206
— Henry's feeling towards William .... 207
— Development of William's destiny : several years of
comparative peace 208
— Henry attacks William 209
— Takes Tilliers 210
— Guido of Burgundy asserts his claim , . . 210
1047 Rebellious spirit of the Barons : Niel de St. Sauveur 211
— They attempt to seize William in Valognes . . . 212
— He escapes to Falaise ; then to Henry . . . 214
— The barons seize Normandy 214
— Henry supports William, who summons his supporters 214
— William and the rebels meet at Val des Dunes . . 215
— Battle of Val des Dunes — conduct of Tesson . . 215
— William completely victorious 217
CONTENTS. XV11
A.D. PAGE
— Fate of Griruwald and Guido 218
— Anjou : governed by Geoffrey Martel . . . 218
1048 He takes Alenyon, and threatens Normandy . . 219
— William's siege of Alen<;on 221
— His success : makes an alliance with the Emperor . 222
— Yet the stain of his birth indelible . . . . 223
1050 Plot of William the Warling 224
— William takes Mortaigne 224
— Importance of Ponthieu : Saint Riquier . . . 225
— Abbeville : the Vimeux 226
— Rebellion of Counts of Arques and Ponthieu . . 227
— William blockades Arques 228
— Brittany : minority of Conan under his uncle Eudes 229
1040 — 1047 Conan recognized in Brittany .... 229
— Intrigues of William in Brittany 230
— And of barons against William 231
1054 Henry supports them : invades Normandy . . . 231
— Plan of the campaign 232-233
— William's caution 235
— Battle of Mortemer 236
— Defeat of Henry 237
1054 Troubles begin from Anjou 238
— Importance of Maine : its early history . . . 239
— Herbert Wake-the-dog ....... 241
— His successors 242
— Geoffrey Martel in possession of Maine . . . 242
— William occupies Maine 243
— Hostility of French to Normans .... 244
— Normandy again invaded 245
1058 William defeats Henry and the French at the Cue"
Berenger 245
— Henry makes peace 245
1059 His marriage : crowns his son Philip . . . 24ft
CHAPTER V.
PKEPAEATIONS FOB THE CONQUEST.
1054—1066.
William's marriage 247
Condition of Flanders ...... 248
Flemings in Scotland 261
XV111 CONTENTS.
A.D. PAGE
— Activity of the race . 252
— Character of Matilda 253
— Her children 254
— Lanfranc t 255
— His youth 256
— Settles at Avranches ^ . 257
— And Bee 258
— Herlouin and Lanfranc 259
• — Cabals against Lanfranc 262
— Enmity and friendship with William . ... 264
1061 Hostility of Gautier and other barons to William . 266
— Eobert de Giroi 267
— Death of Geoffrey Martel 268
— Maine surrendered to William 269
1063 The Manceaux resist 270
1064 William captures Mantes ...... 271
— Holds court at Lillebonne 273
1062 Council at Caen 274
— Mauger, Archbishop of Rouen 275
— Is deprived 276
1063 Harold in Normandy 277
— William attacks Brittany 278
— Death of Conan ........ 279
— Resumption of English affairs : death of Canute . 279
— Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute .... 280
1042 The Confessor : Normans in England . . . . 281
— Norman law : Romance language .... 283
1051 William visits England 284
— Divided state of the country ..... 286
1052 Domination of the Godwin family . ... 287
1057 Edmund Ironside 288
— Dispute as to the succession 289
— William and Harold 291
1063 Harold in Wales 291
1066 Edward dies 292
— Harold's claim 293
CHAPTER VI.
THE INVASION.
1066.
1066 Competitors for England 295
— Harold seizes the crown 296
CONTENTS. XIX
A.D. PAGE
1066 William claims it : Harold refuses .... 299
— Parliament at Lillebonne 300
— Invasion determined on 301
— William publishes his reasons 802
— Harold's preparations 303
William's fleet 304
— Lands at Pevensey 306
— Harold learns the news 307
— His measures 309
— The two camps 311
— Arrangement of the forces 313
— The Battle of Hastings 314
— William the Conqueror 318
— Battle Abbey 319
— Fate of Harold .... ... 320
— Henry I. and Harold 321
— Uncertainties of the event . 323
CHAPTER VII.
ENGLAND AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST.
Physical aspect of England 326
Temperature in early times 326
Changes in the sea line 327
In the Flora and Fauna 328
Celestial phenomena 331
Decayed state of the Saxon realm 333
Abuses amongst the clergy 334
The slave trade in England 336
The country ripe for dissolution 337
Territorial divisions of England 338
Danelagh 339
Earldome 340
Burghs « 341
Winchester 342
London 343
Wessex 34*
Lincoln , . . . . 345
The South East 346
Northumbria
East Anglia •
XX CONTENTS.
PAGE
Scotland 35°
Strath Clyde .... . . 352
Cumbria 354
Malcolm Canmore • 355
[BOOK III.]
THE CONQUEROR.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CONQUEROR, FEOM HASTINGS TO THE CORONATION.
1066.
A.D.
1066 Anarchy after Hastings . . . • 356
— Claimants to the throne « 35?
— William's operations . • •
— In Sussex . . , . .
And Kent ... . 861
— Canterbury taken ,-..., . 363
— Kent submits . • • -
— William moves on London 365
— London submits . . „ . ... 367
— Reasons for Saxon submission . ... 368
— Necessity for a king ..,-...« 369
— Abeyance of law during vacancy
— Position of an English king ... . • 373
— William assumes the crown legally „ . 374
— Promises to maintain the law . . • « 376
— His coronation • 378
— Receives Saxon homages . .... 381
— His engagements to his army 382
— Limits to his recognition 383
— Policy of Denmark ... ... 385
— William's first progress .... . . 386
— Confirms the rights of London 387
— His administration : fortifications 389
— The Tower • 391
— Ralph Baynard 392
CONTENTS. XXI
A.D. PAGE
1060 Shire divisions 394
— Negotiations with Denmark 396
— Copsi placed in Northumbria 397
— East Anglia 398
— Builds Norwich Castle 400
— William's grants of land ...... 401
— Mitigations of his grants 402
— Examples of them 404
— Foundation of Battle Abbey 406
The Koll 407
— Traditions of the Abbey 408
CHAPTER IX.
WILLIAM RETURNS TO NORMANDY HIS TRIUMPHANT RECEPTION
OPPRESSIONS EXERCISED IN ENGLAND BY ODO OF BAYEUX AND
.FITZ-OSBERN GREAT TROUBLES THE ENGLISH INVITE EUSTACE
OF BOULOGNE WILLIAM RETURNS TO ENGLAND REBELLION OF
THE WEST DEATH OF COPSI WILLIAM SUBDUES THE INSURREC-
TION— MATILDA IN ENGLAND.
1067—1068.
1067 Government of Normandy 409
— William's arrangements for England .... 411
— Returns in triumph to Normandy . . » . . 412
— Display at Fecamp ....;.. 413
— William's glory 414
— Men of intellect about him 415
— Guido of Amiens 416
— Disturbances in England 417
— Bad conduct of regents 419
— English emigrate 421
— Others form alliances 422
— Eustace of Boulogne 423
— Wales in ferment 424
— William returns 425
1068 Is resisted at Exeter 426
— Takes Exeter and conquers Cornwall . . . 428
— Matilda is crowned in England 429
— Henry Beauclerc born 430
XX11 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
WILLIAM'S POLICY — EEVOLT OF EDWIN AND MOECAE — FIEST NOETH-
UMBEIAN CAMPAIGN DEATH OF EGBERT COMYN — EDGAE ATHEL-
ING's FLIGHT TO SCOTLAND MALCOLM'S MAEEIAGE WITH MAE-
GAEET DANISH INVASION — THE ATHEL1NG EECOGNIZED AS
KING OF NOETHUMBEIA WILLIAM'S SECOND NOETHUMBEIAN
CAMPAIGN FINAL EEDUCTION OF THE NOETH EEVOLT OF
HEEEWAED AND EDWIN FUETHEE CONFISCATIONS CHDECH
MATTE ES.
1068—1072.
A.D. PAGE
1068 Godwin invades England 432
— William in Wessex 433
— Quarrels with Edwin 434
1069 The North revolts 435
— William's methodical campaign 436
— Takes York 437
— Malcolm submits 438
— Castles built in many places 439
— Further seizures of land 441
— The Saxon royal family in Scotland .... 442
— Margaret marries Malcolm . . . . . . 443
— The Danes prepare an invasion 444
— The Normans are discouraged 445
— William leads a new campaign 446
— Wessex pacified 447
— Difficulties in the North 448
— Comyn killed 449
— William regains York 450
— Danish fleet sails 451
— The Danes reach York 452
— The castle holds out 453
— But is taken 454
— William now goes to the North 465
— His stern policy 457
— Holds his court at York 458
— Grants land to his followers 459
1070 The Danes about Ely 461
CONTENTS. xxiii
A.D. 1'AGE
1070 William in perplexity 462
— • Secures Durham 463
— Marches on Chester 465
— And Sarum 466
— The English party in the fens 467
— Hereward and Sweno 468
1071 Peterborough plundered 469
— Sweno bought off 470
— William blockades the fen 471
— Edwin is slain 472
— English starved out 473
1072 Malcolm aids them 474
— William invades Scotland — 475
— Malcolm does him homage 476
— Gospatric 476
— His earldom given to Waltheof 478
— New confiscations 479
— William becomes more tyrannical 481
— The English in Byzantium 482
— Church matters 483
— William censured 484
— Penance imposed on the Normans 485
CHAPTER XI.
AFFAIRS OF FLANDERS WILLIAM SUBDUES MAINE DISTURBANCES
IN ENGLAND — RALPH GUADER*8 CONSPIRACY EXECUTION OF
WALTHEOF.
1073—1075.
1051 Flanders 487
— Baldwin and his family -. 489
1070 Friezeland 490
— Richilda . . . 492
1071 Battle of Cassel . 493
— Robert the Frizon 494
1069 Le Mans revolts against William .... 495
— The country offered to Albert Azzo . . . • 497
— Further changes in Le Mans 499
— Sulley; Geoffrey; Gersenda 500
CONTENTS.
A.D.
1073 William returns to Normandy 602
— Takes Le Mans 503
— William's sons 504
Memorial monasteries built at Caen . . . . 506
— New dissatisfactions in England .... 507
The Bretons are discontented 508
1075 A cabal formed : Waltheof 509
— Waltbeof implicated in the plot 511
— The Normans and English unite 512
— And the rebellion is put down 514
— William's vengeance ....... 515
— Waltheof tried 517
• — And executed .... . 519
— And venerated 520
CHAPTER XII.
WILLIAM RETURNS TO THE CONTINENT SIEGE OF DOL QUARRELS
BETWEEN ROBERT AND HIS FATHER — BATTLE OF GERBEROI
ROBERT'S SECOND OUTBREAK — DISTURBANCES IN NORTHUMBRIA
— BISHOP ODO'S IMPRISONMENT MATILDA'S DEATH.
1075—1083.
1075 Guader's activity against William ..... 623
— William invades Brittany •. 624
— Is repulsed by Fergant 625
— Marries his daughter to Fergant 626
1081 Adela marries Stephen 627
1073 William and Eobert 528
— Kobert's party : Belesmes ... . 530
1075 William invades Perche ... ... 531
— Quarrel of the sons 532
— Kobert goes into opposition 633
— And leaves his father 535
— His wanderings . . 637
1078 William and he in combat at Gerberoi . . . 539
1079 Troubles in Northumbria 540
— Liulph ; Walchere ; Leobwine 641
— Liulph murdered 542
CONTENTS. XXV
A.D. PAGE
1080 Walchere and Leobwine also 546
— Odo pacifies the rebellion . . . . . . 546
Malcolm plunders the North 647
— Robert retaliates 548
William de S. Carileph .... . 549
— See of Durham established 550
1081 Northumbria and Wales 551
— Odo is led away by ambition 553
— Aims at the Roman See 554
1082 William jealous , . 555
— Odo tried and imprisoned 556
1083 Matilda dies . 557
CHAPTER XIII.
BEVOLT IN MAINE — STATE OF DENMARK DEATH OF CANUTE — CON-
SEQUENCES OF THE THREATENED DANISH INVASION IN ENGLAND
— FORMATION OF THE DOMESDAY SURVEY — GENERAL IMPOSITION
OF THE OATH OF FEALTY.
•
1083—1086.
1084 Affairs of Maine 658
— William unsuccessful 661
— State of Denmark 562
— Canute .......... 563
— Collects a great fleet 565
1085 William's preparations ... ... 566
1086 But the expedition comes to nothing . . . 567
— Internal position of Denmark 568
— Olave .......... 569
— Osbern ; Canute slain . 571
— Conclusion of Danish attacks on England . . 672
— Administration of England 573
— Domesday survey 574
— The book framed 575
— William imposes fealty on the landholders . . 577
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
WILLIAM'S EXPEDITION AGAINST BRITTANY — THE SIEGE OF DOL —
DISPUTE WITH FRANCE ABOUT THE BEAUCASSIN SIEGE OF
MANTES ILLNESS AND DEATH OF THE CONQUEROR.
1086—1087.
A.D. PAGE
1086 Affairs of Brittany 579
— William's unsuccessful invasion 580
— Quarrel with the Manceaux 581
1087 William fires Mantes 582
— Is thrown : carried to Rouen 583
— His dying dispositions 585
— And death 588
— The burial of the Conqueror 689
CHAPTER XV.
EESULTS OF THE CONQUEST.
NEW POLITICAL POSITION OF ENGLAND SOME CHANGES CAUSED
RATHER BY TIME THAN BY CONQUEST CONTINUITY OF LAW IN
ENGLAND SO-CALLED FEUDAL SYSTEM — WILLIAM'S ADMINISTRA-
TION : IN CHURCH MATTERS : IN THE LAW MILITARY SERVICES
JUSTICE EFFECTS OF WILLIAM'S IGNORANCE OF ENGLISH
HIS CHARACTER POSITION AS LEGAL HEIR TO THE THRONE
FALSE IMPRESSIONS AS TO HIS INNOVATIONS : EXEMPLIFIED BY
THE COURSE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE THE CHURCH IN
ENGLAND LANFRANC MAMINOT WILLIAM'S ECCLESIASTICAL
APPOINTMENTS.
England, how affected by the Conquest 592
Brought into communion with Europe .... 593
Specific effects in England overrated 596
Correlative changes elsewhere 597
The law remained substantially unaltered . . . . 599
Proofs of this 600
CONTENTS. XXV11
PAGE
Norman law influenced by English 602
Feudal system : what does it mean ? 603
Feudal tenures 605
William's ecclesiastical policy 607
Land tenures in England 610
William as administrator of justice 613
Fails to learn English 614
Effects of this on the law 615
The Court of Chancery 616
Regent Justiciars 618
General attitude of William towards the Constitution . . 619
Despotism of his administration 621
Compared with his legal position 622
William's general character 624
Popular errors as to the effect of the Conquest . . . 625
Law 626
Curfew 627
Language 628
William did not bring French into England . . . 629
"Anglo-Saxon" language 632
Linguistic changes elsewhere . . . . . . 633
Romance dialect spreads in England .... 635
Church system under the Saxons 637
William's policy to ecclesiastics 639
Stigand : Saxon bishops 641
Lanfranc's appointment 643
Maminot 645
Remigius 646
APPENDIX.
The Baronial Castles of the Cotentin, Avranchin, and
Bessin . 649
BOOK II,
CAPETIAN NORMANDY.
CHAPTER I.
ROBERT KING OP FRANCE LAST YEARS OF RICHARD SANS-
PECR ACCESSION OF RICHARD LE-BON — OPENING OF HIS
REIGN — REVOLT OF THE PEASANTRY.
987—996.
996—1003.
§ 1. ERE we again approach Richard Sans- , 98?-996 ,
penr's grave, let us recapitulate the domestic
Position of
events and internal affairs occurring during his
last years, but whirled away from our pages concluding
period of his
by the driving storms which wrecked the Car- Sr* ending
lovingian dynasty.
Towards the close of the first Richard's
lengthened reign, almost all his youth's com-
panions and friends had departed — he might
reckon the survivors upon the thumb and fingers
of his left hand. Famous Ivo de Belesme was
living; but he was soon succeeded by a son,
the active, sanguinary, and rebellious William,
Count of Alencon. Possibly Osmond de Cent-
villes, valiant Aymon supporting his old father,
may also have hobbled by the side of Richard
le- Vieux, — for such was the genuine appellation
given to the heir of Longue-epee in his own
country. — I am almost angry with myself, for
VOL. III. B
2 LAST YEARS OF RICHAED SANS-PEUR.
987-996 having adopted the comparatively modern con-
ventional fashion of denominating him by the
more romantic epithet.
liS's As to Eichard's relatives, first of all must
brttari ' be noticed his mother. Espriota. Since she
Sperling, and
Ki8.oa married Sperling, the rich Miller of Yaudreuil,
whom she took to, when discarded for the venom-
ous Liutgarda, by her fickle faithless husband,
we hear but little concerning her, until the iron-
handed, stony-hearted, resolute Raoul, her only
son by her second consort, comes before us.
With respect to the connexion between the
Miller and the Duke, and their respective fami-
lies, we have strong inferential evidence that
their mutual intercourse was conducted dis-
creetly on either side. They behaved themselves
as sagacious people are wont to do, when a very
great disparity in rank exists or arises between
near connexions : — either party avoiding rubbing
against the other. The bon-homme Sperling,
his matron and house-folk, and the Duke and
his circle, each kept themselves to themselves,
and therefore continued good friends. Sperling
was very wealthy, and he bestowed an excellent
training upon his son Raoul ; the son of Duke
William's widow. The education which the young
man received fully qualified him to be engrafted
upon the stem of Rollo ; and the clerkship mani-
fested throughout the Norman Line was equally
exhibited by the engrafted Raoul Fitz-Sperling.
Ivri, — Ivri la-Bataille, so picturesquely re-
collected by the panache blanc waving above the
RAOUL OF IVRI AND THE BEAR. 3
Royal Hero's helm, adjoined Sperling's posses- °87-906
sions. The forest abounded with wild animals,
as well the weak and harmless, who are there- °f i
fore persecuted as the legitimate objects of the
chase, as those whose ferocity necessitates
their destruction ; and it came to pass, that when
the Duke's courtiers hunted the forest, the strong
and supple young Raoul joined the party.
Pursuing their sport in the wildest dells, ?h
they roused an enormous bear. Geologists11
and Zoologists may be interested by this anec-
dote, testifying that in a zone, where the race
has been so long extinct, the ursine genus still
survived after the commencement of the era
vaguely and unphilosophically termed the " his-
torical period :" a period, which in each par-
ticular case, is simply determined by two chances,
witnesses able to testify, and the preservation of
their testimony. Had not the tribute of wolves'
heads been imposed by Edgar upon the recalci-
trant Britons, we should know nothing concerning
Isengrim's endurance in England until the reign
of the Anglo-Saxon Basileus. — His bones, found
in the lime-stone fissures, would have grouped
him with the hyaena of the tertiary formation.
The huntsmen took flight. Not so the sturdy
stripling ; he kept his ground, and battled with
the monster, whom he slew. The gallants who
had fled, returned when the danger was over,
honestly relating to Richard Sans-peur the
exploit his half brother had performed : and
the denomination of Val Orson, which the
B2
4 LAST YEARS OF RICHARD SANS-PEUR.
987-096 iocaiity acquired, commemorates the achieve-
ment, even unto the present clay.
S-antasriyrito JRaoul's prowess delighted the Duke : and, as
a token of approbation and admiration, he
granted to his uterine brother the noble domain
of Ivri. — Ivri Forest, and Ivri Town, subse-
quently to be defended by that awful Castle,
which became the wonder and the horror of
the country. The Ivri territory was erected
into a County : and, loosely as the transaction
is noticed, we may, considering the form which
the Norman policy was receiving, call attention
to the circumstance that this grant is amongst the
first recorded creations of a territorial dignity.
^ne ability evinced by Raoul, subsequently
to his elevation, w&s such as to testify that the
wise and prudent Sperling had duly estimated
his own parental duty. Eaoul's encouragement
of literature resulted from the direction his
mind had received. The Northmen of Normandy
were losing the reminiscences of their ancestors;
but Count Eaoul, raised up when the memory
of antient times was fast gliding away, deeply
appreciated the dignity of national history.
Raouithe Raoul became the depository of the family
instrument
traditions : and, at this critical juncture he res-
men.
*. North- cued them from the danger of falling into ob-
n.
livion. Eaoul's patronage gave to Normandy
her first historian. It was Eaoul who excited
Dudo to his task, and dictated the text as
it now stands. The honour rendered to the
past kindled the imagination of the Normans.
RAOUL OF IVRI — HIS TALENT AND CHARACTER. 5
Their old language was yielding to the speech
of the land, for the parlance Danoise was gene-
rally, — even in the Cotcntin and the Bessin, —
becoming silenced by the polished Eomancc
which had now fully obtained the name of
Norman, — the badge of a new nationality.
The cultivation which the Norsk language
had received from the Skallds was extended to
the adopted dialect ; and, if the Trouveurs of
Normandy took precedence over all their fel-
lows throughout the Langue d'oil, let Raoul be
honoured as a main inciter of their energy.
An able statesman, faithful Eaoul acquired
'
and deserved his brother's confidence ; and, pH
. .
maintaining an honourable station in the world's
recollection, continued that fidelity to his bro-
ther's children. — But he was stern, — even to
cruelty, never allowing his views of policy to
be mitigated by mercy.
As for Albereda, or Aubree, his wife, her
talent suggested the construction of the awful
Castle, the edifice through which she acquired an
unhappy renown. The real cause of her violent
death remains a mystery. She possessed great
talent, but contaminated with such extreme
violence and bitter ferocity, that her conduct
may be considered as indicating insanity.
§ 2. The invidious questions grounded upon
lawfulness of descent, often cloud the mediaeval < ' r; 7
with the
annals ; and, even at later periods, occasionally
perplex the judgment of posterity. In some
memorable instances, the stain on the Royal
6 MEDIEVAL MARRIAGES.
, 987-9% . Standard has been discharged by loyalty, or the
bar-sinister effaced from the Royal shield by the
valour of the bearer. True it is that the parch-
ments, under which the House of Tudor claimed
the English Crown, must have been as rotten rags
* in the secret judgment of the Lawyer. But the
defeat sustained on Bosworth field condemned
the claim of Richard, and the dubious graft of
the roses flourished in the sunshine of national
opinion. Or, if we look to the South, we may
equally discern how the infirm pretensions of
Braganza were welcomed as affording the means
of escape from Castilian tyranny.
The dynastic jn Normandy the same question of that con-
succession in •/
dition which we may term spurious legitimacy,
bastards.
enters into the very core of the Ducal history, but
receives its solution from the national verdict:
and, during Normandy's heroic era, the dynastic
succession was continued by the progeny of Ducal
Concubines, or females so termed. But the expla-
nation, or rather the cause of these irregularities,
may be found in the subsisting influence of the
customs prevailing amongst the Belgic, German,
or Scandinavian Races, ere they became incor-
porated in the Christian Commonwealth : —
primeval usages, uncouth in aspect, and in
themselves somewhat liable to evil report,
though neither really reprehensible nor neces-
sarily repugnant to morality.
a^on-sfan § '^ Marriage amongst these antient nations
amatterTf118 was, for the most part, perhaps in all, a cheap-
bargain and
sale. ening, a purchase, a bargain between the parties
MEDIAEVAL MARRIAGES. 7
or their friends. Nor should we deride those . 9B7-°9G
rough Teutons, for entertaining a principle
which they held in common with ant lent Greece
and Rome. It is no satire upon human nature to
say, that the seeking to better yourself in mar-
riage is an universal and indelible feeling. — The The™,-.
riagc broker.
Sensale di matrimonw, — a broker on the Rialto,
and sometimes something more, — who figures in
the old Italian comedies, followed his vocation
openly and lawfully in England, until the days
of Queen Anne, when the statute prohibiting
"marriage brokage" attests equally the exist-
ence of the practice, and the opinion that the
usage had given rise to abuse.
Laws cannot alter sentiments, and when
Roger North, as plenipotentiary on behalf of
his brother, conducted the amatory negotiation
for the marriage treaty between the future Lord
Keeper, and the Alderman's daughter, the
match went off because the civic Magnate sti-
pulated that the full amount of the portion
should depend upon the produce : that is to say,
that the full payment should be postponed till
the appearance of the first Baby. Nor is it an
improbable conjecture, but that the gentleman
of the long robe, whom in the first scene of
Marriage a la mode, we see sharpening his pen,
may have received a handsome per centage for
having managed the ill-omened union.
If a man buy a Maiden with chattels, — as ^IK™?"
the Dooms of Ethelbert declare, — the bargain °
must stand, if it be without guile. Let the
8 ANTIENT USAGES AND CIVILIZATION.
" Capitale," the Cattle driven in by the Bride-
groom— sheep, cows, or beeves — be truly told,
and free from murrain and rot, or the silver,
(equivalent to the value of the heads,) of ster-
ling standard. When Clovis betrothed Clotilda,
his ambassadors bought the royal Damsel,
by tendering as earnest a Solidus and a Dena-
rius, or, as we should say, a silver shilling, and
a silver penny. — Whether the King's daughter
or the Shepherd's, the price of every Virgin
was equal in the eye of the Salic law.
§ 4. It has been assumed as a fundamental
principle of modern missions amongst the
Heathen, that Christianity and Civilization
should march hand in hand. The advance-
ment of our national interests is proclaimed
to be an inducement no less cogent than the
diffusion of the Gospel : or, quoting the very
words uttered whilst these pages are passing
through the press, " the British Flag should ever
precede the Missionary, and the Missionary be
followed by the bale of merchandise." — We now
hold as a clause in our creed, that Evangelization
and Civilization should be inseparably com-
bined— yet an enquiring Berean might wish to
know how the Preacher who labours to create
"artificial wants" is consistent in his doctrine
with the Teacher who enjoins us, that, having
food and raiment, the Christian should be
content.
But the mediaeval Church, the Church of the
" Dark ages," practically pervaded by gospel
spirit, adopted a different principle. Instead of
THE BENI-RECHAB. 9
running a muck against antient customs and
manners, the primitive Missionaries endeavoured
to preserve all practices and usages which were
antient and innocent, as tokens of the venera-
tion rendered to the Forefathers by the children.
National faith is never firm until it becomes
traditional. A Disciple of the Apostolic age
might more than doubt whether "Progress,"
using the term in the sense of its universal
employment amongst us, be really a state of
mind harmonizing with the humble and childlike Respect due
to antient
obedience inculcated by the whole tenour of^™1^
Sacred Writ. Even in garb or food, adherence s
to ancestorial customs is a confession of sub-
mission to the will of the Most High, not the
less forcible, — perhaps the more, — because ren-
dered by the Living to the Dead, by the Visible
to the Invisible.
Those who drink no wine, and plant no The
Rechabites,
Yineyard, and sow no seed, and live in tents,
as their Progenitor commanded them, simply
rendering obedience to the behest of their An-
cestor, have received that blessing which has
enabled them to preserve their identity and
vitality even to the present day.
The most recent amongst our archaeological
travellers, encountering the children of Jonadab
7 by Loftus.
the son of Rechab, — as faithful now, as in the ™$j£i.
days of the Prophet, — bears testimony to their a
prosperity in the Marches, where they were
settled by the Babylonian Sovereign. And,
whatever may be the individual crimes which
stain that mysterious Race, who have adopted
10 MEDIAEVAL MARRIAGES.
9*7-996 a tne first Commandment with promise," as the
foundation of their Commonwealth, this simple
obedience has multiplied the numbers and pro-
longed the existence of the most numerous
amongst the children of Noah; one-third (as
it is reckoned) of the Human race, beyond that
of any other people on the face of the earth.
§ 5. How the medieval Missionaries acted
ding retained . .
by the W1th respect to anv ethnic custom, innocent and
Church of "
of good report, is still evidenced in the Church
of England. When the Bridegroom presents
jpy^^T* the golden ring, — which, -until comparatively
the English .
common- recent times, was always accompanied by the
wealth, Vol. * *
silver coin, — as the symbol of the Bride's par-
ticipation in his worldly goods, he follows the
example of Clovis and Clotilda. Even in the
simple and affecting wedding words : — " I take
thee Mary to my wedded wife, to have and to
hold, for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse,"
— we listen to the echo of the rythmical flow
*/
and alliterative resonance of the earliest age.
This complete incorporation of an autieut and
impressive form with the offices of religion, is
peculiar to the Anglo-Saxon Church. We may
discern in the practice the living kindness of
Gregory the Great, fructifying through Saint
Augustine's wisdom. The Blessing hallowed
the legal form, which thus became binding upon
the Christian's conscience, testifying at the
same time, his respect for his forefathers.
A course, somewhat less satisfactory, was
pursued in the other Latin Churches. Four
RICHARD SANS-PEUR AND GUENORA. 1 1
Carlovingian Capitularies direct, that the mar- . 9877"6
riage should receive the Bcnedictio Sacerdotis ;
but, it is very probable, that, in many cases, the
Avcdding parties contented themselves with the
betrothal according to the Teutonic tradition,
without requiring the sanction of the altar. The
Church might frown, but the civil marriage
satisfied their conscience ; and we apprehend
that many children who are termed illegitimate
by historians, were not thus stigmatized by the
opinion of society. This was peculiarly remark-
able in Normandy, where the espousal, more
Danico, was generally accepted by the Laity,
as not needing further corroboration.
§ 6. Richard conducted himself kindly and ?ichard,
%j o<in8-pe
respectfully to the childless and solitary Emma ; g"
and, when she departed, he notified the event to
her father, Duke Hugh, requesting the despatch
of some of the Damsels and Matrons of the
French Court, to aid him in distributing her
charities. But, whilst Emma's life, since her
unhappy espousals, had been wearing away in
solitude, Richard ran riot, and a plurality of
unknown paramours presented him with a
goodly progeny.
Richard's fluttering affections were ultimately
fixed on the celebrated G-uenora, — a damsel
of pure Danish descent ; and Dudo's rhetorical
language, happily ambiguous, may be construed
into an assertion, that her lineage was distin-
guished by nobility. The details of Richard's
adventures with Gruenora are such as delight
12 GUENORA AND HER MARRIAGE.
. 987-"6 . the free spoken merry Trouveur ; but it is
more seemly that they should be elided by the
heUrepareaAt- historian. Guenora's father's name is not re-
corded, though we know all about her. She
had a brother, Herfastus, and three sisters,
Sainfrida, Gueva, and Adelina. The eldest of
these damsels, distinguished by her beauty,
became the wife of Richard's Forester, who
dwelt at Secheville near Arques. The report of
her loveliness reached the Court : and Eichard
visited the Forester's lodge with a dishonest in-
tent. Sainfrida, wise and chaste, escaped the
snare, and the adventure terminated by the lusty
Duke taking to G-uenora, not less attractive than
her sister.
We receive the narrative of Eichard' s amours
with Guenora from two informants. The one
and
preSentS us with a tale of intrigue more credible
than creditable — the second and graver narra-
tive, we owe to the Dean of Saint Quentin, who
is discreetly silent concerning any incidents
which might offend the family. When Guenora
was first introduced as the sharer of Eichard's
affections, he reserved the privilege of fickle-
ness, avoiding any permanent engagement
which might be binding, whether according to
the municipal jurisprudence, or the precepts of
the Church. But his Nobles were mindful of
the national interests. Eichard must neither
live heiiiess, nor die so; and this was one of
the rare cases when a state marriage can be
sweetened by affection. The Normans were
GUENORA AND HER CHILDREN. 13
proud of their progenitors. The adoption of . °87-"6 ,
French manners and French customs did not
diminish the worship due to ancestry ; and
they urged the Duke to contract a legitimate
marriage, which tie he had hitherto avoided.
They therefore earnestly exhorted him to espouse ™^rbdy hia
the Damsel, as a measure tending to popularity,
marriage,
Guenora would give him children of pure Danish
blood — father and mother belonging to the con-
quering race. Thus would he gratify the popu-
lar appetite for pleasant illusions ; a policy
constituting an essential element in the science
of government. When the Monarch is inclined
to be gracious, a very small tincture of conces-
sion accomplishes the end. George the Third
declared to his Parliament, that he gloried in
being a Briton : an assertion, poetically admis-
sible in the clays when Britannia ruled the waves.
And, if at Hanover, the " Churfurst Georg" had
gloried in being the descendant of Arminius,
the effect amongst the Germans would have been
the same.
§ 7. Guenora' s first born received, at his S?dn of
mother's request, his father's name. This Rich-
ard is known, dynastically, as Eichard le-Bon,
or Richard the Second.
Robert, Guenora's second son, died young ;
his curious memorial was discovered at Fecamp,
towards the beginning of the last century. The
tomb has been since destroyed ; but if admitted
as coeval, we have to lament the loss, since the
Revolution, of the earliest certificated sepulchral
14 CHILDREN OF RICHARD SANS'PEUR.
987-996 monument in Normandy, the more interesting as
it exhibited a Lion, apparently employed as a
device or bearing.
Further Robert thus prematurely cut off, another
account of
the cwidrcn. Robert was in due time nursed upon Guenora's
knee. Long did he live, and in common lan-
guage, prosperously ; but he would have left a
better report, had he, like his brother, died an
infant.
Richard's immediate descendants were nume-
rous, but the antient authorities and the modern
genealogists are at variance amongst themselves
and contradictory to each other. The status of
adventurous William, the bastard of Normandy,
is disclosed by his epithet. — G-eoffrey, said to be
the ancestor of the Earls of Clare, falls in the
same category. Mauger, who acquired much im-
portance in French affairs, was assuredly legiti-
£rseodfaush" mate. Richard's daughters contributed as much
ndy' as their brothers to the brilliancy of the family.
The fine well-grown Norman women of Rollo's
lineage, wooed by grandees and sovereigns, were
renowned for their comeliness. It became a
species of proverb that the race of Rollo gained
as much by the fascinations of the damsels as
by the prowess of the sons. The daughters of
Gruenora inherited their mother's bright charms ;
Maude, Countess of Tours Blois and Champagne ;
— Havisa, Duchess of Brittany ; — and the brisk,
buxom, commanding Emma, the " Alfgiva Emma"
-twice the Regnant Queen, and twice the Dow-
ager of England.
Royal heirs, — heirs apparent, — are not
DISORDERS OF THE NORMAN CHURCH. 15
always comforts to their parents ; Richard's . 987~9im
father and grandfather had each in their turn
much cause for anxiety.- -Troubled was Rollo
when he resigned his authority to the blooming
son, the only son, Gruillaume Longiie-epee.
Sorrowfully, and with many cankering cares, did
G-uillaunie Longue-epee provide for securing
the succession to his only son Richard : and
Richard Sans-peur, in his turn, might anticipate
a troubled and clouded future. The right ofclaimsof
Richard's
Primogeniture, though admitted, was not inde-
feasible, even in the Royal Family. A bevy of
stout and growing youths might contest the Coro-
nal ; and, like the Carlovingian Empire, the House
of Rollo be distracted by fraternal enmity. It
was a difficult problem how to satisfy the ex-
pectations of the brothers. But a way opened
through which Richard's uneasiness might re-
ceive a partial sedative, if not a cure : one son,
at least, could obtain a competent provision,
without impairing the integrity of the Duchy.
§ 8. The Norman Church, at this period, pre-
P
disorders
sented a most unedifymg aspect. The disturb- thereof-
ances of the country, the Danish devastations,
the irregularities of a mixed and floating popula-
tion, and the absence of any moral restraint, had
disordered the whole system. Provincial Coun-
cils or Synods, had wholly ceased ; nor were any
held in Normandy until the Conqueror's reign.
Had they assembled, they would have been
mischievous. The forms of ecclesiastical go-
vernment, when they have lost their hold on
the national conscience, are mere delusions ;
16 DISORDERS OF THE NORMAN CHURCH.
987~996 . nor can the principles or the practice of any
Church ever acquire stability, except when
she firmly demands obedience from her mem-
bers. When she hesitates, she is next to
lost. Her gentlest persuasions should be
accepted as commands. Unless the Priest
can lay down the law like the Judge, he had
better let the law alone. — The Monks, with few
exceptions, were destitute of discipline, the
regular Canons, worse. Tosspots they would
have been called in old Latimer's language, con-
stantly lapsing into drunkenness and disorder.
^ All observance of canonical election had dis-
Rouen.of appeared. It did not tell for much any where ;
but in isolated Normandy the principle was
wholly ignored. The rights of the Regale were
rampant ; and whether by management, but
oftener by direct and absolute power, it was
the Duke's Clerk who ascended the episcopal
throne. Hugh, who, placed in the See of Rouen
by Gruillaume Longue-epee, held the dignity till
nearly the close of Richard's reign, wasted and
dissipated the property of the Church, and
surrendered himself wholly to gross sensuality.
Richard acted as patrons are accustomed, and
therefore he, the Sovereign, determined to pro-
vide for his son Robert in the Church. Yet he
had some regard for decency. At an early age
the lad was put to book, and trained for his
future vocation as carefully as his father's oppor-
upon Hugh's tunities would afford. At length Hugh's expected
Richard death ensued, and Richard presented his sou
LEGITIMACY AND ILLEGITIMACY. 17
to the dignity. He possessed as much authority w-
as any King of France; nay, greater. Time
presents his
had not yet matured those usages and practices, «on Ruben to
•> ' tin; Arch-
which, enshrined in an antient Monarchy, convert b
the exercise of prerogative into an institution,
modified or restrained by precedent, at the same
time that they strengthen the hands of the
King. The Norman Duke was a constitutional
Despot. No need had Richard to consult his
Nobles in this affair of patronage : nor does it ap-
pear that the Citizens of Rouen retained any pre-
scriptive right of participating in the nomination
of their spiritual Chief, approximating to the in-
fluence enjoyed by the antient Municipality, who
guarded the Shrine of Saint Reniy. Yet, in this objections
taken to the
case, an exception was taken by the Clergy. Not Srfon0*
that they contested the Patron's power, nor were bis bastardy.
they scandalized by the Candidate's nonage, but
they denied his eligibility, on the ground that he
was incapacitated by bastardy.
§ 9. According to the Civil law, the injury ±f S-f
inflicted upon the innocent offspring by the Sequent e
marriage of
erring parents who gave them birth, is not
irreparable. — A subsequent marriage legitimates
all the previous concubinary issue. — Such is the
subsisting law in Scotland, England being the
only portion of the Western Church, where this
charitable doctrine never did prevail. --The pro-
posal made, in the reign of the third Henry, for
catholicising our common-law jurisprudence, was
repudiated under circumstances which rendered
VOL. in. c
18 LEGITIMACY AND ILLEGITIMACY.
987-996 the sturdy resistance of the Temporality to the
dictation of the Clergy, an era in our Constitu-
2oHe2n35iii tional history.— For when the Archbishop of
fnaSolf ' Canterbury, and his Bishops and Suffragans, and
iiameentorf the Earls and Baronage of England, were as-
Merton
chanegetothe sembled in the famous Parliament of Merton,
and the law was settled upon various important
points requiring amendment, all the Bishops
thereupon instanced the Earls and Barons, that
they would consent that all such as were born
afore matrimony, should be legitimate, as well
as they that be born after matrimony, as to the
succession of inheritance, forasmuch as the
Church accepted their legitimation. — And then
did all the Earls and Barons reply with one
thundering voice, they would not change the
laws of England, which hitherto had been used
and approved. — "Nolumus leyes Anglice mutare,
qucB usitatce sunt et approbates"
and j>uf in Normandy, the way was open for
removing the canonical difficulties in this par-
ticular case. Richard forthwith assented to the
legitimated. guggegti0n made by the Priesthood. A mar-
riage between him and G-uenora was celebrated
before the altar : and, according to a symbolical
usage which still obtains in Scotland, all the
children of the hitherto unsanctified union were
sheltered beneath the flowing mantle of the
matronly bride. Robert, the- disqualification
thus removed, was forthwith seated on the
Archiepiscopal throne. Hugh, Robert's prede-
cessor, was so far decent as to be a Priest in
Guenora
dren are
RICHARD SANS-PEUR'S CHARACTER. 19
garb. Robert did not make even any pretence 9*7-990
to the clerical character. He married a wife,
and obtained in due iime the County of Evreux :
-and from him, as after mentioned, came the
Devrcux family.
S 10. Great were Richard Sans-peur's na- Rfcham
u 8ans-pcur s
tural gifts, manifest and manifold his pleasant natura
qualities ; urbane, and fairly right-minded as a
Sovereign, or seeking to be so. Happy with
the hawk on his wrist, or the leash in his fist ;
kind, though his kindness did not always restrain
him from cruelty. Jovial with the Jougleur,
popular with the Priest, singularly had the
education bestowed by his father's forethought
profited to him, adapting him for the peculiar
condition, presented by the political as well as
the social state of Normandy. — Richard Sans-
peur, first of the name, must be contemplated as
the last Duke of Danish Normandy, whilst his
son Richard, the second bearing that name, is
the first Duke of Norman Normandy ; the State
holding the highest position in the political
Hierarchy of the French Monarchy.
A man is as many times a man as he
knows many languages, quoth Charles -le-
Quint, — speaking to us in the old books of
moral apophthegms and wise saws, now dis-
carded from the educational series, — perhaps
not much for the better. — There are, at all events,
those who begin privately to suspect, — for they
dare not speak out, — that the lessons upon stocks
and stones are not quite so fruitful as the study
c 2
20 RICHARD SANS-PEUR'S CHARACTER,
987-996 ^ of mankind and man. The saying of Charles-le-
Quiiit is, however, true or untrue, according to
the recipient's capacity. , If the student be
wise, linguistic knowledge becomes a sure en-
crease of wisdom to him ; if unwise, he is ren-
dered a polyglot of folly.
Equally was the second Richard versed in
L Romance the venerable dialect of his ancestors, and in
language in
Normandy, j-jjg Romane speech, now vernacular, though the
need of the first qualification had become less
urgent. Men could speak Norsk, but Norsk was
not much spoken ; and the pleasant language em-
phatically called "French" or the Langue d'oc,
developed in various idioms, had ripened into
consistency. The primitial specimens of the
Norman Langue cl'oil, eldest amongst the Ronaane
modes of speech applied to literary purposes, are,
as is almost invariable in similar examples, ver-
sions of the Holy Scriptures. The Cambridge
Psalter, and the Parisian Codex of the Book of
Kings, — both in the Norman dialect, — contend
for antiquity. Textually, these curious relics can-
not date before the eleventh century, but the regu-
larity of their grammatical construction testifies
a lengthened antecedent period of cultivation.
betweentue Very powerfully did this diffusion of the
ca°pesteandof French ethos co-operate in consolidating Nor-
mandy with the other regions of Franco-
G-allia. The new dynasties of Rollo and of
the Beccajo had become thoroughly allied.
The grudges of the Carlovingian era were sent
Dukes who
coincd
money.
RICHARD SANS-PEUR'S LIBERALITY. 21
to sleep, and the entente cordiah between the
two Houses, which had subsisted since the duy
when the young Richard " commended" himself
to Hugh le-G-rand, and submitted to his marriage
with Emma, continued undisturbc'd.
Richard Sans-peur, the prosperous Sovereign
of a prosperous land, was the first among the
Norman Dukes who struck money ; and the ^™d°
*/ MlMIM1 V.
" Sol Rouennois," ranks amongst the rarest of
the tiny treasures coveted by the French Nu-
mismatist. Rapidly did the hammered coin
circulate. — No rigid Raoul Torta stood by the
Duke's side to check the expenditure. Each of
Richard's Esquires received, day by day, nine
of these sweetly ringing pieces of silver.
§11. Richard Sans-peur being profuse in all
ways, he bestowed a large portion of his wealth in
re-endowing the decayed and dilapidated Monas-
tic foundations, which, for the most part, had
sunk into a miserable state of degradation,
poverty, and dissoluteness. But a healthier spirit
was reviving, and Fecamp, Richard's birthplace,
became peculiarly the object of his care.
It chanced, that when standing on the Lofty
perron of the tall Ducal Palace, he looked down
upon the mean, decayed, and neglected Church,
the memorial of his poor father's pitiful vacilla-
tions : and it seemed to him a scandal, that
the proud Mansion which Griiillaume Longue-
epee had reared, should affront the lowly
House of Prayer. And he bethought himself
-pour
22 FECAMP ABBEY REBUILT.
987-996 that he would rebuild the Church with decent
magnificence. The details of the transaction
are reported by Dudo de Saint Quentin with
much particularity. The terms employed in
the original text are remarkable, as shewing
the distinctness of the Masonic calling, and the
talent and skill which the Craft demanded. The
diligent inquiry for a competent architect, made
by the Duke's directions, proves that qualified
masters of the science were rare. — The selected
Brother carefully surveyed the surrounding
country ; nor did he commence his work until
he had ascertained that the hills furnished quar-
ries of gypsum and good limestone also.
Precious are these first explicit notices elu-
cidating Neustrian architecture in Norman times.
The only information we possess concerning the
raising of a building in Normandy before the
Normans came there, relates to Saint Ouen, in
the old, old days of the Merovingian Clothaire.
We are told that the edifice was constructed
of well squared masonry, and by a Gothic hand
— " miro opere, quadris lapidibus, Gothica manu"
— the "Goth" being unquestionably a Master
mason from Lombardy or the Exarchate.
The existing Abbatial Church of Fecamp,
erected subsequently to Richard's age, still
stands conspicuous as the most extensive in
Normandy ; and, towards the east end, the fabric
probably retraces the lines of the original struc-
ture. The costly new Basilica was splendid ;
adorned by lofty towers, beautifully finished
rcno-
v;itiou of
TOE CHEST OF STONE. 23
without, and richly ornamented within. But the
moral re-edification was far more important than aM(J1,,,
the material. The regular Canons, who had Fecamp.'
sadly degenerated into sloth and sin, were ejected,
—and a Colony of Benedictines from Clugriy,
under the guidance of Saint Mayolus, rendered
the renovated Fecamp pre-eminent for sanctity
and learning.
There was one object however, which ex-
cited much speculation. It was a large block '
of stone, placed right across the path which
led to the transept door-way, so close to the
portal, as to be beneath the drip of the eaves ;
or, at all events, within the splash of the stream
gushing on rainy days from the queer wide
mouth of the projecting gurgoil, stretching out
his long neck. Fashioned and located by Duke
Richard's order, the stone was hollowed out so
as to form a huge, strong, chest ; which might be
used either as a coffin or a sarcophagus. Its pre-
sent employment, however, was for the living, not
the dead. On the eve of every Lord's day, the
chest, or whatever it might be called, was filled
to the brim with the finest wheat-corn ; then a
cate, or luxury, as it is now considered in many
parts of France. To this receptacle, the poor re-
sorted, and each filled his measure of grain, and
into each open hand were dropped five dulcet-
chinking pennies : whilst the lame and the bed-
ridden were visited by the Almoner as he made
his rounds through Fecamp town, and by each
was the dole received.
24 RICHAKD SANS-PEUR'S LAST ILLNESS.
987-996 g 12. Some few years subsequent to this re-
foundation of Fecamp, Richard's health declined.
His constitution broke up. Painful disease en-
sued : he retired to a Ducal residence in the
neighbourhood of Bayeux, — according to tradi-
tion in the pleasant village of Noron, — a neigh-
bourhood consecrated by the reminiscences of
early youth. — Worse and worse did the sinking
' old uisiQ. become. More pain, more debility ;
Bayeux)
.Fecamp. anc[ ^g requested to be conveyed to Fecamp
Palace, close to the Abbey, he suggesting this
removal for the purpose of avoiding, as he de-
clared, the agitation which would be occasioned
in a populous town, by the Sovereign's demise,
and the trouble and disturbance attending the
funeral. Yet these reasons are scarcely ade-
quate, and we suspect he was actuated by a
political motive ; namely, to guard against the
possibility that the important proceedings for
effecting the settlement of the Ducal succession
might be troubled by any factious party gathered
in the Capital of the Danishry.
At Fecamp, Richard's strength failed ra-
pidly, and his brother Raoul of Ivri, and his
other Nobles assembled. — No parallel case had
yet occurred. — When Rollo was dying, there
could be no doubt who should succeed him,
GTuillaume Longue-epee was his only son.-
When Guillaume Longue-epee departed, he left
no other heir except the fearless boy, between
whose tender hands, the three Chief Nobles
had performed the act of fealty — but many
RICHARD SANS-PEUR DIRECTS THE SUCCESSION. 25
were the sons by more than one mother, who 9.97-090
might contest all or part of Richard Sans-peur's
Duchy. The order of succession was considered
as depending upon the father's will and pleasure :
the right of primogeniture not being acknow-
ledged as indefeasible.
The Nobles, therefore, sought that the depart-
ing Prince should declare his will. Counsellors
and friends congregated round the bed-side.
Eaoul of Ivri spake for the rest, and humbly
and kindly supplicated that Richard would be
pleased to nominate the one amongst his sons
who should inherit the " Monarchy?" — "HeggjjJ1*1
who bears my name, let him be your Duke —
Richard II.,
VOUl' Ruler ' his successor.
Another question ensued — and, as to the
brothers ? — Richard having fully considered
this delicate point and determined how he could
provide for them without dismembering the
Ducky, was prepared to answer the question.
The doctrine of " Commendation," so impres-
sively taught by Hugh le-Grand, was fully
accepted in his son-in-law's great Province,
destined to become the thorn in the side of
the Capets. — Let them take the oaths of fealty,
said the dying man, addressing Count Raoul, —
acknowledge Richard as their superior : and,
placing their hands in their brother's hands,
receive from him those domains which I shall
name to thee.
Richard's worldly affairs thus settled, his
sufferings became sharper, yet he rose from his
u "
26 BURIAL PLACE OF RICHARD SANS-PEUR.
987-996 bed, and clothing himself in sackcloth, crept
to the Church, and kneeling before the Altar,
placed his gifts thereon : and then Count Eaoul
instanced him to give directions for his funeral.
Richard had long bethought himself con-
cerning the deposit of his corpse. In many of
the ecclesiastical provinces of Western Chris-
tendom, the very antient canons — still generally
enforced among the Eastern Churches, — for-
bidding that the House of God should be
denied by decay and foulness — a law dictated
equally by good sense and reverence — were not
obsolete. The awful cemetery of "Aril sul
interment
fn°thpereariyd Rodano" the Aliscamps, that solemn field of
cshcu°ck'he the dead, manifests at the present day, though
defaced and degraded, how strictly the prohibi-
tion was obeyed in Southern Gaul. Cospatrick's
tomb, lying without the walls of Saint Cuthbert's
Minster, dimmed by the humid atmosphere, em-
bedded in the damp lush turf, and curtained by
the grey sky's canopy, attests the same feeling.
But the practice of rendering a mistaken honour
to mouldering bones and corruption was rapidly
becoming prevalent. Prelates were interred with-
in the walls— Sovereigns as frequently.— Geoffrey
Plantagenet is deposited in his Cathedral.-
Rollo rests in Rouen Choir, Guillaume Longue-
epee, nigh his father, — not so Guillaurne's son.
People might have perhaps already formed
shrewd conjectures concerning the ultimate
destination of that huge monolith, the receptacle
of the weekly dole, standing so strangely athwart
ACCESSION OF RICHARD LE-BON. 27
the lichgate ; and now all doubts were solved. 996-1003
Richard's last instructions were that the chest
should contain his corpse, lying where the foot
should tread and the dew should descend, and Sana-pent.
the waters of heaven should fall. — He died on
the feast of Saint Maxentia.
§ 13. RICHARD LE-BON came to the Duchy
with a good name, inherited from his popular
father. With him, commences a new era, of
which he was equally the fashioner and the
fashioned, signalized by the thorough assimila-
tion of Normandy to the French community,
Robert reigning in France, Richard perform- Assimilation
ofNormaudy
ed homage by "Parage," of which more hereafter. and France.
*> commenced
.
commenced
the
— First amongst the lay Peers, his precedency S oft
J J Richard II.,
was never contested, and he welcomed the Kino;or"lc-Bon-"
O
of France, not simply as a Suzerain, but as an
ally and friend. The influences were operating
which produced a new state of society ; — new
constitutional doctrines, new institutions, and
new social feelings, and peculiarly so with respect
to the civil hierarchy. — No one who possesses the
distinction of antient descent, a pre-eminence be-
yond the power of man to grant, imparted alone
by the Creator, can forget the inherent prerogative
given by the ancestral blood which flows in his
veins. Yet, hitherto, the Danish conquerors or
their offspring, do not seem to have insisted
stringently or offensively upon the political or
social privileges of nobility. The deck is a
great leveller of distinctions : — they are in abey-
ance amidst the howling of the wind and the
28 ACCESSION OF RICHARD LE-BON.
996-1003 tossing of the waves : — and, to a great extent,
the Danes continued seamen upon the land.
During the twenty years that Eichard le-
Bon ruled Eollo's sovereignty, a new combina-
tion of elements ensued. Henceforward, the
Norman annals abound with those historical
Names, rendered illustrious by the illusions
»/
of time, and the blazonry which imagination
imparts. With few exceptions, the principal
Baronial families of Normandy arose during
this reign. The fading reminiscences of Scan-
dinavia became fainter. And, in the next
generation, those relationships were established
between young Normandy and decrepid Eng-
land, destined to accomplish the renovation of
the latter community, through the accession
of Eichard' s conquering grandson to the Anglo-
Saxon throne.
Apanages of Eichard fully and fairly executed or con-
Richard * J
children?'8 formed to his father's testamentary dispensations
in favour of his brothers, nay encreased ' their
endowments by his bounty. We find them all
EU. i11 high estate. Geoffrey acquired the County
of Eu, the Marchland between Ponthieu and
the Rouennois, and the noble Seigueurie of Bri-
onne, which afterwards was reckoned amongst
the strongest fortresses of this northern frontier.
Mauger, much distinguished by his policy
and valour, was invested with the extensive
County of Mortaigne as an inheritance, whilst,
through marriage, he obtained Corbeil.
William, whose course was much chequered,
RICHARD SANS-PEUR'S CHILDREN & GRAND-CHILDREN. 29
was in the first instance guerdoned with the 990-1003
opulent territory of Hiesmes ; that lost, he
received another endowment from Richard's
liberality.
Robert, the clever Archbishop of Rouen, had Robert-
Archbishop
already a good provision : He espoused, accord- countueo" al
ing to the Danish fashion, — for assuredly no
priest would give the benediction, — a damsel
named Her leva, by whom he had many chil-
dren. It is not clearly ascertained whether he
obtained the County of Evreux during the life-
time of Richard Sans-peur his father, or whether
his brother, Richard le-Bon, bestowed this en-
dowment, causing him to be styled the Count
Archbishop. A great-grandaughter ultimately
brought this County into the Montfort Family.
Three sons had Archbishop Robert. — Rich- son. of the
Count,
ard, the eldest, became Count of Evreux, and £££1?*°?..
Robert Dev-
was enrolled amongst the Conqueror's followers ; 'eux' Ral?h
' Gaceorlete-
from him originated the baronial branch of S
Devreux.
Ralph Wace or Grace, the Count Arch-
bishop's second son, colloquially designated
Tete-d'etoupe, or Tete-d'ane, was invested with
the high hereditary dignity of Grand Conuetable,
and became the ancestor of a very powerful
and truculent family.
The third son of the Archbishop was Guil-
laume, the companion of Robert Guiscard,-
whose veritable portrait should display him as
armed with bowie knife and revolver : — he is
prominent amongst the Apulian Baronage.
Gueva
30 RICHARD SANS-PEUR'S CHILDREN.
996-1003 Guenora's kindred were much favoured by
open-hearted Richard le-Bon. — Richard's uncle,
Herfastus, Guenora's brother, was enriched with
those ample possessions, which, through his son,
established the renowned family of Fitz Osborne.
§ 14. Adelina and Gueva, Richard le-Bon' s
maternal aunts, respectively espoused Osmond
de Bolbec, and Thorold the son of Torf, grandson
of Bernard the Dane ; but the lineage was now
thoroughly Romanized. Thorold became Baron
of Pout-audemer. Employing the Herald's
scientific phraseology, his descendants "gave"
a very clever " canting coat," a bridge, crossing
a conventional similitude of water, which we
must accept as suggesting the sea, over which
same bridge a bold Lion is pacing ; and there is
some other clench about the local name.
These " canting coats," phonographic hiero-
glyphics as they may be called, are excellent
aids to the memory : and the historical student,
bewildered in the labyrinths of genealogy,
might wish that the fancy had been more pre-
valent.--The Beaumonts, Counts of Mellent,
and numerous other illustrious branches started
from this ramification of old Bernard's progeny.
prosperity of Guenora should be pourtrayed in full length
the families
by the side of the branching stem, whence
neuxion? '" sprung the best families in noble Normandy.
All the Houses founded by her own progeny, or
her father's progeny, or her mother's progeny.
Brothers and sisters, Brothers-in-law and sis-
ters-in-law; Sons-in-law and daughters-in-law;
Baronial
S^<
information
I5ARONIAL FAMILIES. 31
Uncles genuine and uncles a la mode de w«-ioo3
Bretagne, or as we should say "Welsh uncles ;"
asked and got, and spread themselves over
the lands at the Duke's disposal. — Giffords
and Tankervilles, Gourneys and Baskervillcs,
Limesay and Lindsay, Saint Sidoine and Cent-
villes, Warrene and Tillieres, Moubray and Mor-
timer, were branches, or suckers, or seedlings,
who sprung or were raised from the Forest of
Arques.
Indeed, all the principal Baronial families, 5iseo?the
? Baronial
originated, or made themselves, or put them-
1 . .
selves in evidence, during the reign of Richard
le-Bon. Never was any region more peopled
with men of known names, known deeds, known
passions, known crimes, than antient Nor-
mandy. You can hardly meet a man whom
you do not recognize as an acquaintance when
he mentions his name. — He needs no other in-
troduction. You are constantly en ptiis de
connoissance, constantly at home, and this
knowledge of the dramatis persons compensates
in a very considerable degree for the scantuess
of information concerning the early Norman
laws and institutions, a scantness contrasting
' O
singularly with the abundance of our English
constitutional knowledge.
§ 15. From Ethelbert's days, Dooms and
Documents, Laws and Land books exist, enabling
us to recognize distinctly the main features of the
English Commonwealth, and the ranks, attributes,
and duties appertaining to the various ranks and
32 LOSS OF THE TEXTS OF ANTIENT NOEMAN LAW.
996-ioo3 orders of Anglo-Saxon society. High or low, laic
or cleric, churl or earl, who they were and what
they were, and their relations towards each other,
and towards their Sovereign. The very apices
of our antient laws can be deduced from the old
times, notwithstanding all their mutations and
expansions, whether by positive legislation, or
influential custom. If we ascribe Trial by jury
to Alfred's wisdom, and derive the Constitution
of the Commons from the Witenagemot, we are
fairly correct in our general reasoning, though
we begin by accepting ideal representations and
apocryphal traditions.
Quite otherwise in the antient Terra Norman-
- norum. There we know nothing concerning the
Normandy. ^aws °^ the ^Kd, the Courts of justice, or the mode
69o?)V( ' of procedure, — save an Oriental tradition — a
Horror, — and a Hurrah. — The three legal Le-
gends concerning Kollo, the lawgiver, contain all
the information transmitted relating the primeval
legislation of Normandy. Yet naught have we
seen or heard besides the bracelets glittering in
the sun, suspended from the branches of the trees
on the brink of the Eoumare, — and the gallows
forks between which the thievish Churl of Long-
paon and his vicious wife are hung, — whilst the
" Clameur de Haro" alone breaks the silence.
The Norman antiquary delves for the re-
cords of his country anterior to the reign of
Philip Augustus, but none are found in the
Tresor des Chartes of Paris, or the Hotel de
Ville at Rouen, whilst the English Custos
dence of
LOSS OF THE ANTIENT NORMAN LAWS. 33
stumbles upon the earliest muniments of the . 996-1003.
Duchy, in the days of Henry-Fitz-Emprcss : the
dusty, musty, cobwebed membranes — the Rolls
preserved in the autieut English Treasury of the
Exchequer at Westminster, though recording the
Norman revenue.
Strange and singular indeed is the fact, that, information
concerning
save and except some very trivial breathings, we *«£<*
, ill/- XT • • Normandy
scarcely possess any knowledge ot Norman juris- untium-r
prudence, until Normandy is lost to the Anglo- ^
Norman line. The proverbially litigious Pro-
vince cannot produce any substantive evidence
of her laws until she becomes a portion of
France, when a popular belief arises that the
elements of her Code have been previously sup-
plied from vanquished England.
The " tres ancienne Coutume de Normandie"
is venerated by the monks of Saint Evroul as
dictated by the Confessor's wisdom. — Ask the
Norman archaeologist for the muniments of his
Constitution, and he might proffer, as their foun-
dation,— not the Charte Normande of Louis Hu-
tin, — but a Norman exemplar of Magna Charta :
an exemplar, mutatis mutandis, word for word
with our own, securing to the Church of Nor-
mandy the liberties of the Church of England, and
adapted to the Rouen meridian, by substituting
the name of Rollo's Capital for London.
At length, in the age of Montesquieu and
Mably, a learned advocate of the Norman Par-
liament, he who rejoices in the noble name
of " Howard," proclaims the recovery of the long
VOL. III. D
34 LOSS OF THE ANTIENT NORMAN LAWS.
996-1003 lost national legislation in the venerable volumes
which we inherit from Bracton, and Britton, and
Fleta, and Littleton. — He dreams that he discovers
the Northman's code in our English standard au-
thorities — in the forms of English procedure
— in the decisions of English Judges and Jus-
ticiaries, — in the relics of the Anglo-Saxon laws,
—and in the tenures, purely English, as the forms
and practices were settled and altered by the
English Parliament, or the doctrines matured
by the wisdom of Westminster Hall.
§ 16. The engulfment of all legal memorials,
nay, of all information, during a period com-
paratively so recent as the reigns of the natural
and kindly Norman Dukes, from Eollo to John
Lackland, is an unparalleled historical phe-
nomenon. Yet the history of Normandy offers
a living revelation of her institutions as they
duenceru worked in YQStl Norman times. Textually, the laws
reflected in
ofethendition have disappeared, but we can attain to their
general character by social and moral induction.
The atmosphere refracts the image of the objects
which are below the horizon. The general state
of the Country comes to our aid, and discloses the
constitutional principles — employing the term
constitutional in the widest sense — which then
were ruling. The Hotel de Yille charter-chest
is empty, but the traditions of the Municipalities
sufficiently declare, that the Roman organization
TheBour- was impressed upon these communities, and
geoisie of
gUj(je(j their internal government. — The existence
of the opulence, which, displayed by the Rouen
BURGHERS. — CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 35
Burghers, tantalized Louis cl'Outremer's greedy .99C~1003.
soldiery, and teazed them the more when he
denied them the licence of plunder, enables us to
pronounce that the machinery which promoted
such an acquisition of wealth, must have been
wisely planned, and effectually worked. Lastly,
the military strength acquired by the Burghers,
whilst cultivating the industrial arts, affords
full evidence of the freedom they enjoyed. — Stout
their grateful hearts, and earnest the affection for
their Fatherland, which strengthened the warriors
who manned the ramparts, when Flanders, France,
and Germany combined against the Norman
Commonwealth.
Annual Mercantile Fairs were accustomed °omnT-rtcJa'f
01
in Normandy. Established by usage and utility, B
ere recognised by the law, their origin bespake
a healthy energy. Foreign manufacturers were
welcomed as settlers in the Burghs, — the richer
the better. — No grudge entertained against the
Fleming ; and the material prosperity of the
country and the briskness of commerce carried
on in all the great towns, proves that the pack
horses could tramp along the old Eoman roads
with facility. Indeed, amongst the Normans,
commercial spirit was indigenous. The Danes
and the folk of Danish blood were diligent
traders. The greed of gain unites readily with
desperate bravery. When occasion served, gal-
lant Drake would deal like a Dutchman. — Any
mode of making money enters into facile com-
bination with the bold rapacity of the Flibusteer.
D 2
36 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. PEASANTRY.
996-ioo3 § 17. No direct information has been trans-
mitted concerning the customs regulating the
occupation of the glebe. Yet, pursuing this de-
duction of the unknown from the known, we
may assert that the tenures and usages under
which the successors of the Roman Coloni en-
joyed their lands, were easy and unoppressive.
Well to do, and thriving, were the Norman
peasantry, bearing themselves as freemen in all
which constitutes the Freeman's pride. No other
condition could have created those bold and stal-
wart rustics, sturdy and loyal, who swung their
flails, and flashed their scythe blades, and wielded
their clubs, when they hacked and mashed and
battered the Germans, in the green lanes of
Bihorel and Maromme ; or, joyfully obeying
their Sovereign's call, plunging with him into
the splashing fords of the Dieppe water, and
conducting him triumphantly to his Palace at
Rouen.
of §18. Such was the state of the population
over whom Richard was called to reign. Fair
was the good report inherited by Richard from his
father, and he encreased it. — As evidence of cha-
racter royal epithets do not stand for much, but if
" Sans-peur" sounds heroic, " le-Bon" is sweeter.
— He suited his people, and pleased their taste.
A merry Duke ; a liberal Duke ; and who did not
in any wise make himself a disagreeable example.
Vive Henri quatre ! Vive ce rot galant ! The
darling hero of France won his subjects' good-will
quite as much by his failings as by his bravery ;
not neces-
ive.
NOBILITY OF BLOOD AMONGST THE NORMANS. 37
and between him, and the Norman Dukes gene- 990-1003
rally, there was much in common. In one re-
spect, however, Richard le-Bon departed widely
from the doctrines by which his ancestors had
been guided. Hitherto, whilst the principles of
aristocracy were accepted as the foundation of ''"•""'
politic society, yet, in no part of Western Chris-
tendom, had these principles degenerated into
any invidious distinctions between free-man and
free-man, more worrying and teasing than ab-
solute tyranny. — All were " Jwf-fiehig 9" — thank
you Vienna, thank yon Berlin, for the term,
no English tongue could have compounded it !
Nobility did not yet constitute a closed
Caste, requiring to be bred in and in : and the
determined repudiation of such a doctrine, has
been the most influential amongst the moral causes
of British prosperity. That the father should
ennoble, and the mother enfranchise, is an intel-
ligible dogma, not involving any degradation.
Assuredly, low birth and coarse manners might
combine to render a favourite unpopular, as in
Hagano's case : and when can such favouritism
be otherwise? Yet, the necessity of absolute
purity of blood — an aristocracy of the aristocracy
— was not admitted as a normal principle in Nor-
mandy. No one had been excluded from the
Ducal presence or from the Ducal favour by the
absence of this qualification, nor can we trace any
approximation to its existence, until this period,
when the landscape begins to be rendered gay
by the bursting blossoms of chivalry.
38 THE DOCTRINE OF GENTILITY.
§ 19. Kichard le-Bon, however, departing
fromancestorial precedents, would admit none but
BJ>cnhfaryouers pure Gentlemen into the Court circle. — No office
of Heraldic6 was to be enioved otherwise than by a Gentleman.
gentility. J
— About the Duke's person, none but gentlemen
must figure ; not some gentlemen, but none other
than gentlemen. — A gentleman, the Chaplain who
mumbles the early morning mass ; — a gentleman,
the clerk, who drives the pen in the Chancery ;
— a gentleman, the High Seneschal, who bears the
first dish ; — a gentleman, the chief Butler, who
fills the Duke's mazer ; — a gentleman, the Mar-
shal, who rules kennel and stable ; — a gentleman
the Chamberlain, who stands by the Duke's
bed-side ; — and a gentleman, the Usher, who
holds the latch of the door, and kicks away every
intruder. Every member of the Household was
fed and clad by the Duke, drawing his rations,
receiving his robes. And, at every great Feast,
the garments (the " Livery," par excellence] were
delivered out; their materials of the best quality.
The workings of this ungracious principle
were neutralized amongst the higher and more
substantial ranks, by the general institutions
of the country. — The Clergy possessed an inde-
feasible position ; nor had the rights of Christian
equality been affronted by that miserable jea-
lousy which became embodied in the heraldic
doctrine of the " sixteen quarters ;" the absence
of which condition incapacitated Louis Quatorze
from becoming a Canon of Strasbourg, by
THE NORMAN FORESTS. 39
reason of the defilement bis blood had received .90G~1003.
through his plebeian grandmother, Marie de
Medicis, and her mercantile ancestry.
The Bourgeois had a pride of his own, which **"";."•„ ,,i
enabled him to snub the Courtier's monrue. He lalls i- •••"-
liarly oppres-
clapped his hands upon his well filled pouch, S'nu'y!1"
and was clad with the importance appertaining
to the member of a powerful community ; but
the bad feelings generated by this exclusiveness
operated with unmitigated potency upon the
tillers of the land.
§ 20. At this era, the larger portion of
the Terra Normannormn may be mapped as Bush
and Back-wood; so wide and broad were the
Forests which covered the face of the country.
Forest-land either under your feet, or included
within your horizon : though you would not
always recognize it as such, according to the
conversational notions conveyed by the familiar
term of Forest-land,
Amongst the infinite varieties of word- Forest-
application
delusion, rendering speech so often the means
of confusing our ideas, perhaps there is none
more extensive, or detrimental to clearness of
conception than when the connotation of
thought, denoted by a written word, remaining
unaltered, is either contracted or expanded
through usage, so as no longer to fit the original
meaning. Such is the term " Forest : " -a Forest,
during the mediaeval era implied, not simply
wood-land, but marsh and moor, and rough land
40 THE NORMAN FORESTS.
996-1003 and heath, excluded from the speeding of the
plough.
Forests and ^oY the most part, the Norman Forests were
f Ol'GSt IHW. J-
Ducal domains. Previously to the Danish set-
tlement, the forests were probably communal
lands ; the Roman legislation having combined
with the agricultural systems of the Gauls.
But, even amongst the heathens, no attempt
had ever yet been made to restrain the enjoy-
ment of the gifts of God, which no human law
can really invest with the attributes of indi-
Limitation of visual property. Rights must be denned by
the rights of •>
vSSSSF law, yet all human legislation should be con-
sonant to the great truth, that the Earth, and
the fulness of the Earth, is the Lord's. Man is
never otherwise than an accountable usufruc-
tuary. In this high sense, no human being
whatever has a right to do what he will with his
Game laws. own. And, whenever human laws are such as to
provoke our fellow creatures to sin, that sin lies
at the Legislator's door.
Hard indeed is it to establish the proposi-
tion that the wild Deer, which flees from the
face of man, can be any man's property, like the
Ox who knows his master's crib. Or that the
possessors of the soil can exclusively demand as
theirs, the fowls of the air, who are fed by their
and our Father ; or the fishes in the teeming
stream, the creatures who never hear man's voice,
who dwell in an element where man cannot dwell,
and are yet bestowed by Providence for the
sustenance of mankind. But the claims of
COMMUNAL INSURRECTION. 41
property had recently become more stringent, 990-1003
more encroaching* upon man's natural rights ;
the water ways were closed, the vert and venison
appropriated, pecuniary impositions exacted, and
unprecedented services imposed.
From Rollo downwards, to the reign of
Richard le-Bon, the Forests seem to have been
principally crown lands. Latterly, the numerous
apanages, newly created, and the copious grants
made to the great families who were winning
the Sovereign's favour, multiplied the number
of Landlords, and brought them into closer
contact with the peasantry. Tolls and dues and 6(S?e7ns
corvees, were exacted with harshness previously vLl^, under
the influence
unknown, and 'the yoke became more galling
under the influence of the new notions of
gentility.
The people often accept the prestige of
being ruled immediately by the Sovereign,
as an adequate compensation for harshness,
scarcely distinguishable from tyranny. The
more exalted the Despot, the more bearable
the slavery. The Baron's clenched fist may hit
harder, but his open hand feels softer. In Nor-
mandy, the personal loyalty excited by the
Dukes is a certain test that as yet they never
had abused their power.
8 21. A lingering recollection of the Roman org7mz
communal
administration still subsisted. Under the Empire, ^SSt
the Duumvirs were chosen in each Pagus, who, p
when convened, constituted "a municipal assem-
bly. Possibly, the institution was not wholly
42 COMMUNAL INSURRECTION.
996-ioos obsolete. Such elections and meetings were
now secretly revived by the Norman peasantry.
Oaths sworn ; and, as we are informed by the
Trouveur, who speaks the sentiments, which,
traditional in France, were logically deduced
from the doctrine of the "gros vilain," they
began to enquire, why and wherefore did they
allow themselves to be thus oppressed. They
told their numbers, they reckoned their strength ;
— to every one of the gentlefolk, a score or more
of churls.
The Duke Whether through incautious boasting, or en-
obtains
ttTe°rIofdge thusiastic confidence, the crafty spy, or the
treacherous confederate, the burst of anger,
or the hilarity of drunkenness, some angry retort
or heedless jeer, the secret became known to
Duke Richard ; and soon did he learn that the
villains were erecting themselves into a " Com-
mune," a word of fear, even in those days.
Par eels ditz e par eels paroles,
E par autres, encor plus foles,
Ont tuit eel conseil graante
E sont entreseremente1
Ke tuit ensemble se tienclront
E ensemble se defendront.
Esluz ont ne sai quels ne kanz
Des plus habiles e mieux paiianz,
Ki par tut li paiz iront
E li sermenz recevront.
* * * * *
Assez tost oi Kicliard dire,
Ke vilains commune feseient,
E ses droitures lui toldreient,
A li et as altres Seigneurs
Ki vilains ont Vavasseurs.
SUPPRESSION OF THE INSURRECTION. 43
A revolution now commenced, which, consi- 990-1003
dered either with reference to manner or object, or
to origination and character, commencement or
termination, retraces the events and plots, and
hopes and fears, which ever and anon are re-ap-
pearing in the civilized commonwealth, as though
propagated by secret tradition. Under this great IIc WPK**
* for aid to the
strait, Richard had but one confidant whom he
could trust, Raoul, the Count of Ivri. No man bet-
ter fitted for the task of vengeance. Acute, well-
taught, born and bred amongst the country folk,
his father only an opulent churl, whilst he, Raoul,
was accepted as Premier in the land, ranking
immediately below the Sovereign. Raoul was
«/ o
imbued with all the sympathies, and had absorbed
all the prejudices and antipathies, of a born
Noble. Rarely is the Parvenu blessed with the
Grace enabling him to resist the temptations inse-
parable from an exaltation often so honourable,
and sometimes so degrading. Raoul stipulated
that, supported by the Ducal cavalry, the expedi-
tion should be trusted solely to him. Thus we
have so far the satisfaction of ascertaining that
Richard is practically exonerated from active
complicity in the atrocities which ensued.
The Count of Ivri enjoyed the sport of dog-
ging the Yillainage. He fell upon the Commu-
nists ; — caught them in the very fact, — holding
a Lodge, — swearing-in new members. Terrible
was the catastrophe. No trial vouchsafed. No
judge called in. Happy the wretch whose weight
stretched the halter. The country was visited
the command
Villainage.
44 SUPPRESSION OF THE INSURRECTION.
996-ioos by fire and flame ; the rebels were scourged,
their eyes plucked out, their limbs chopped off,
they were burnt alive ; whilst the rich were im-
poverished and ruined by confiscations and fines.
Buttheuiti. In the days of the Eidgennossenschaft, club
mate result
abieTofatvher" and blade and morgenstern, ultimately gained
the mastery over the shield and lance of the
Suabian chivalry. This Norman rebellion was
put down ; yet, in the long run, it fructified, both
parties learnt their lesson, and a fairly good
time was looming. Within the Federation of
Franco-Gallia, no Province or " Gouvernement "
continued so free or became so free as Nor-
mandy. When we reach the era of written evi-
dence, all absolute servitude has become obsolete.
The very Charter which designates the Terre-
tenant as a Servus guarantees his personal
freedom.
Freedom of The territorial tenures in the island gems of
the Channel
tenures. Normandy, which still continue set in the British
Crown, exhibit the holdings as they subsisted,
when the continental portion of the Duchy was
wrenched from the race of Rollo ; and the vil-
lains of Guernsey and Jersey, their custumal un-
altered, were as free as any 3Teornan could have
been in the brightest ages of old English history.
position of 8 22. The testamentary directions given
Richard's
nrepheews.and "by Eicharcl Sans-peur, for the establishment of
his numerous progeny, may have been partially
effected during his life-time, but so as to require
the confirmation of his successor. - - Various
doubts have been raised by genealogists and
THE DUCAL FAMILY. 45
local historians. In some cases the names of
the sons seem to be confounded, and other dis-
crepancies may have originated by territorial
exchanges ; but we are able to ascertain with
sufficient accuracy what position each individual
held, when he becomes prominent in history.
Geoffrey, who does not seem to have been counte
a child of Guenora, received the endowment succeeded1 by
his son
of Eu and Brionue, during his father's life- Gilbert-
time. He died early in the reign of Eichard
le-Bon, leaving Gilbert, his son and heir. A
dispute had arisen between him and his uncle,
the young Duke. They were probably about
the^same age. The gallants quarrelled. Eichard
resumed the apanage. Possibly Gilbert had
either refused to perform fealty or had defied
him ; for arbitrary as a Norman Duke might be,
it is difficult to suppose that such a resumption,
of which there are other examples, could be
exercised without some colourable reason. The
young Gilbert, turbulent amongst the turbulent,
quarrelled with his ugly-named cousin Ealph
Wace or Gace, otherwise Tete-d'ane or Tete-
d'etoupe, the sobriquet possibly acquired by his
shaggy head, and Ealph slew him. Gilbert left
two sons, Eichard and Baldwin, who took refuge
in Flanders until they returned to Normandy,
under the protection of the Conqueror.
William, " the Bastard of Normandy," as he ™am
is termed, like his future name -sake, by the SK
\ . •• Bon, from
most industrious of genealogists, Pere Anselrue, ^°^ho
Hiesmoia.
46 FALAISE. - TOWN AND CASTLE.
996~1003, the son of an unknown mother, received from
his brother Richard, the Hiesniois, otherwise the
County of Exmes.
Three very important towns were included
in this dotation. Exrnes, Argentan, and, pre-
eminent in every sense, the rock-crowned and
rock-crowning Falaise, at this period a most
flourishing manufacturing town, and soon des-
tined to exhibit the noblest example in Nor-
mandy of stern architectural grandeur.
and Falaise boasted of high antiquity; but we
importance.
may excuse ourselves from discussing the ques-
tions raised by the Celtic antiquaries as to
the honours there rendered to shadowy Belinus.
— The Roman camp, very considerable vestiges
whereof still exist, was undoubtedly raised dur-
ing the reign of some Caesar, and, therefore, the
popular tradition which ascribes this and every
monument of the same nature to the Caesar of the
Caesars, is at least excusable. Within the grass
grown mounds of the Legions, arises the famous
Castle, the earliest specimen in Norniandv of
feudality. ' •/
the huge square donjon tower, borrowed from
Maine, but which has become the very type, so
to speak, of Norman feudality. Yarious out-
works were added at subsequent times, existing
now only as rough, massy fragments.
Finely is the structure's outline varied by
Talbot's tall round Tower, which still continues
firm, unscathed, and unharmed, and either the
pattern or the model of the cognate edifice, still
THE FAIR OF GUIBRAY. — FALAISE. 47
surviving though dilapidated in the English 000-1003
warrior's Norfolk lordship of Caistor.
The country about Falaise is ri'ch and flou-
rishing; the pastures, abounding with flocks and
herds ; and the Flemings, then ever diligent in
seeking new fields of industry, had settled in
and about the bourg and its spreading suburbs.
Falaise drove a flourishing trade in leather, commercial
opulence of
and the rushing stream laving the rock andFalaise-
over-looked by the great Palatial Tower, had in-
vited the establishment of numerous Tanneries.
Moreover, there were extensive manufactories
of serge and other woollen stuffs, probably
introduced by Belgic industry. If tradition be
correct, the accidental discovery of a statue in the
suburb called Guibray, supposed to represent the
Virgin, had, in the Carlovingian age, suggested
the establishment in that faubourg, on the festival
of the Assumption, of an annual mercantile Fair : The fairof
Guibray.
whilst those devout antiquaries who profess the
Druidical persuasion, derive the name of this
locality from a Gaulish term for misletoe, and
suppose that the Fair succeeded to some Pagan
Festival.
Any how, Guibray grew into importance,
and the Fair became, in Normandy, what
Stourbridge was to England. The Dukes
patronized and encouraged this mart. Charters
were granted by Eichard, and by Robert, the
Conqueror's father. The Conqueror himself,
whose name is so intimately associated with
48 WILLIAM OF EU. - HIS REVOLT.
996-ioo3 these vicinities, continued to encourage the
mart, and G-uibray-Falaise held a conspicuous
station in the map of commercial France, even
till the commencement of the present century.
§ 23- Whether confirmed by Eichard le-Bon,
or granted by him, such an apanage as the
brother the .
Duke. Hiesmois was a boon well deservin Count
William's gratitude ; but his riches and power
encreased his pride and haughtiness. Sum-
moned repeatedly to render his services due
for his fief, he as repeatedly made default.
Woe betide him ! Raoul, Count of Ivri, was at
hand, and he advised the Duke to proceed
against the rebel by military execution.
Unrestrained either by tenderness of heart
or connexion in blood, the sturdy Bear-hunter
went forth : and in proportion to the offence,
and the quality of the offender, the chastisement
was as rough as the punishment he had inflicted
on the peasantry.
William was cast into prison. — Rollo's tall
Tower at Rouen detained his descendant in penal
captivity ; but the prisoner's partizans were nu-
merous and annoying, and the disturbances con-
tinued flickering until put down by Raoul d'lvri's
resolution ; and many were the adherents of
William who escaped the gallows only by fleeing
the country. Hard was his captivity, bolts and
fetters bound him, till at length he escaped
by swarming down a long rope, supplied, as it
was reported, by a fair and compassionate hand.
WILLIAM OF EU. - HIS REVOLT. 49
A break-neck exploit, successfully accom- 996-1003
plishcd. — But William's strem-hts recommenced
William
with his 1 i 1 x _• ration. The Ivri hounds were always ESSS
close at his heels, until, weary of his hunted life,
he determined to implore mercy. He guessed
where of all places his brother could best be
addressed, most pleased and most placable ; not
in the Palace, — not at Church, — but plaguing the
beasts, as he William, was plagued, — disporting
amongst the merry green wood shades: and
William sought him in the Forest of Yerneuil.
He cast himself at Richard's feet, telling
the tale of his trials and sufferings. The some-
what frequent recurrence of such a dramatic
situation — as in the case of Otho and Liudolph,
— may perhaps lead to the supposition that the
encounter was concerted, to save the honour of
both parties.
William obtained an unconditional pardon ;
and more than pardon, grace and favour. The
Hiesmois was not restored, — but, in full com- He rccc!v<*
the count
pensation, his brother Eichard granted him,
as a guerdon, the lapsed County of Eu. Our
old English authorities spell the name " Owe"
or "Ewe;" — and, with Eu, — William received
the hand of Thurkettle's lovely daughter Elce,
Alice, or Lescelina, who, as the story runs,
helped him in his evasion. The descendants
of this marriage became prominent in Anglo-
_ T i
JNorman history. — Amongst them we find Hugh,
the sagacious Bishop of Lisieux ; — Robert, who
VOL. in. E
ounty
°
Anglo-
50 WILLIAM OF EU. — HIS REVOLT.
096-1003 commenced Ms career by affording important
assistance to the appointed Conqueror of Eng-
land, in the great Battle of Mortemer, and
who was rewarded by those extensive domains
in the County of Sussex, known as the Honour
of Eu ; — and Robert's son William, (in France
called William Busac,) enriched, like his father,
by the spoils of the Anglo-Saxon, and, who came
to a fearful end.
Henceforward, we are constantly gaining
nearer views of England.
51
CHAPTER II.
ROBERT KINO OF FRANCE AND RICHARD LE-BON.
996—1024.
and Duke
CLOSE ALLIANCE BETWEEN NORMANDY AND FRANCE - ROYAL
AND DUCAL MARRIAGES — WARS AGAINST FLANDERS, BLOIS,
CHARTRES, CHAMPAGNE, AND BURGUNDY.
§ 1. IT is needful, in the first instance,
to exhibit Eobert of France, and Richard the
Norman, in the respective relations of Suzerain
and Vassal. Yet, not merely bound by formal
oaths and legal covenants, but cordial friends,
actuated by community of interest and sincere
feeling. Richard, without renouncing in any
wise that connexion with the Scandinavian
nationalities which his father had maintained,
nay, diligently cultivating their amity and
alliance, was thoroughly a Frenchman ; and
though he did not entertain any serious appre-
hension either of his avowed or secret enemies,
he needed that countenance which the King of
France could alone bestow. Moreover, King-
Robert well deserved esteem and affection.
Huo-h Capet's anxiety to accelerate Robert's HUghca-
]>et"s anxiety
Coronation within the year, was sagaciously
motived, being evidently dictated by the con-
Ill t V.
E 2
52 CORDIALITY BETWEEN HUGH CAPET AND ROBERT.
996-1024 sciousness that, though his mental powers con-
tinued undiminishedj his bodily strength was
waning away.
edition. Very carefully had Robert been trained; Grer-
wnorth.ora bert, his instructor. From such an intriguing
Master of arts a royal Pupil might have learnt
over-much ; but Robert improved himself by his
Preceptor's lore, without imbibing any of the
Philosopher's political perversions. So long as
Hugh Capet lived, Robert offered a character
rare in history : an Heir of whom the Parent
had no real reason to be jealous ; a son in joint
seizin of the Palace with his paternal Sovereign,
against whom no well grounded suspicion ever
arose ; a father and a child between whom no
grudge was permanent. Robert ruled as his
father's co-equal, sat by his father's side. The
Royal charters ran in their conjoint names.
Hugh directed the councils of the Realm ; Robert
obeyed his father's voice when that father had
descended to the abode of silence ; and the
course of government adopted by the primal
Capets, enabled their lineage, from father to son,
to possess the throne for a period approximating
to a Chiliad, — nor has a male child of the loins
of Robert le-Fort ever failed.
Hughie. § 2. Hugh Capet's policy was grounded
Grand's
funded uP°n unity. He did not proclaim any plan for
trpa°Hzateio~n. the future, but provided for the future through
the present. Having been raised to the throne
by feuds and internal dissensions, he had felt
their evil, and he guided himself by his father's
FEUDALITY THE BASIS OF THE STATE. 53
doctrine and example. We have heard how 096-1024
Hugh le-Grand based the existence of the body
politic upon the doctrine of mutual relationship,
"Commendation," accepted as the bond of the
Commonwealth ; no man to be masterless ; all de-
pendant upon the Sovereign as the central orb :
the theory which feudalized the Kingdom. The
antieut constitutional maxims of the Realm,
enabled the son to effectuate the father's designs.
The tranquillity of Hugh Capet's reign was the
result of internal activity. The bright Lilies uugh
were growing in the darkness of the night ; — the
next reign exhibited their full budding beneath
the azure sky. — Ntilfe terre sanz Seigneur be-
came an incontrovertible legal position. Under F?udal doc-
O tnnes of
Hugh Capet, arose the Court of Peers, before
and content-
ment of
trines of
Government
which tribunal any offending Peer was to answer CaPet-
the complaint or accusation of the Sovereign.
Moreover, it was now accepted as a fundamental
principle that no crown-vassal could lawfully
carry on war, otherwise than immediately under
his Sovereign, or by royal command.
§ 3. The respect shewn to the Sovereign,
the nation's choice ; and the indomitable firmness
of the Ruler, were so efficient, that, save and
except the last struggles with the expiring Car-
lovingian dynasty, no attempt was made during
Hugh Capet's reign, to raise a hand or wag the
tongue against him : and the Historian scarcely
finds an event to record. — A dull narrative,
when the historian or biographer has next to
nothing to say ; neither to deplore the calamity
54 RIGHT OF ADVOWSON.
996-1024 nor exult in the glory, is, perhaps the most
assured token of national as it is of individual
happiness. — Rest, is promised to Man as the
highest felicity.
Amongst the few incidents exhibiting Hugh
Capet's ethos, one may be noticed as elucidating
realm.
both the man and his times. Royal Strongholds
or Castles were not yet numerous, but Hugh
availed himself of the prevailing quiescence, for
the purpose of adopting precautions against dis-
content, by raising fortifications throughout the
country ; and, in one instance, Hugh did so under
circumstances which rendered the transaction
peculiarly memorable.
or^fJuTof0" Every Ecclesiastical Foundation, and every
Ecclesiastical Person or Parson was consorted
with a Protector or Patron under the name of
"Advocatus," whose duty was to stand up for
the Community or the Clerk, in the right or
in the wrong, whether in peace or in war, in
the Court of Justice or in the Field. — This
obligation constituted the " Advocatio" or " Ad-
vowson," a lot so often put up for sale at the
Auction mart, and cheered when it is announced
that the income, "capable of considerable en-
crease," reaches four figures ; the estimate ac-
companied by the smiling comment that the
clerical duty is in the inverse proportion,-
corruptio optimi est pessima, — and, with this old
adage, nothing the worse for wear, our morali-
zation begins and ends.
The " Advocatus" of the Bishop and of the
THE PATRON AND THE ABBEY. 55
Bishopric was usually the Sovereign. — The "Ad-
vocatus" of the Monastery, the Sovereign or the
Count, or some other tall nobleman. — The Baron
or Lord of the Demesne or Manor was the natural
Advocatus of the parochial Priest and Parson-
age, for which arduous duty he was to be recom-
pensed in prayers. But, from time immemorial
we have traces, more or less distinct, that, either
in meal or in malt, in pence or in power, the
Advocatus generally contrived to gain some fur-
ther advantage from the protection he bestowed.
According to the established cast of French
historical characters, there are eras, especially
the mediaeval, when the national Clio impera-
tively requires for her epos a "Prbtre cafard"
and a Roi super stitieux, or some equivalent
great puppet, whose strings are pulled by the
Cafards, if a King cannot be found : just as
the Gallic Melpomene comes to a standstill in
her domestic drama, if she lacks a "Pere Noble"
and a "Jeune inqenue"
f
We are therefore consistently taught by mod-
ern French Historians to contemplate Hugh
Capet simply as the Sovereign of the Priests,
and that his chief, if not only, business was to
grant land to religious Houses, he being en-
slaved by bigoted devotion. But the attributes
thus assigned to the Capet are consequential
upon the conventional mode of delineating his
portrait, which, however it may conform to
popular, and therefore welcome, ideas, is merely
an imagination, adopted in order that the Monarch
56 THE PATRON AND THE ABBEY.
990-1024 may be painted iu keeping with the theatrical
Hugh background. A very curious contradiction to
as this ascribed fatuity is found in Hugh's dealings
Patron with
ofesain°tpeity W^h the great Monastery of Saint Riquier, a
house of Royal foundation and under his pecu-
liar advowsonship.
The Pouthieu coast being dangerously open,
equally to the invasion of the Danes and the
hostile projects of Flanders, keen military dis-
cernment suggested to Hugh Capet, that, in or
near the estuary of the Somme, not far above
the too famous Saint Valeri, there were three
farms or domains belonging to the Abbey,
adjoining each other, which could be united
as an excellent out-work against any enemies of
the French Crown: — that is to say — "Encre,"
" Saint Medard," and a villa or township spe^
cially called the " Abbot's villa." The said
three "Mansi" King Hugh seized for the good
of the State ; and caused to be encircled with
walls and towers ; and such was the origin of the
flourishing town of Abbatis-villa, or Abbeville.
The Monks groaned at the usurpation of their
property ; but they could not resist ; and we
are left to conjecture whether the Advocatus
gave them any compensation.
ofraHughhty Taken as a whole, the temporal policy, steadily
Capet's
reisn- and acutely pursued by the Founder of the Third
race, is to be estimated by its effects : and
Robert, conjoining the statesman's ability with
the warrior's boldness and the monk's humility,
was enabled to assume his right by survivorship,
ROBERT AND HIS POETRY. 57
without disturbance or opposition. He came 990-1024
into sole possession of the Kingdom as though it
were a private estate. So tranquil, indeed, was
Robert's accession, that the event was scarcely
noticed by the Chroniclers.
§ 4. G-erbert's scholar had profited tho- Eobert's
talent as a
roughly by his Preceptor's lessons ; but Robert po<
possessed an uuteachable talent. Though the
Troubadours might be preparing to raise their
voices ; no real genius had, as yet, been ex-
hibited in poesy, save in the highest application
which that transcendent gift can receive. — Many
of Robert's compositions are extant, displaying
equal harmony and feeling — some continued to
be sung at Saint Denis till the Revolution ; the
Veni Sancte fytiritus for example, not to be con-
founded with the Veni Creator Spiritus, the last
being ever pre-eminent amongst the magnificent
Pentecostal Hymns.
Robert's charity was unbounded ; and, com-
bined with all these loftier endowments, he was
distinguished by the seductive faculty of drollery
and whimsical humour. The anecdotes exempli-
fying this idiosyncracy, for which he loved him-
self, are numerous. One prank, played off at
Rome, may be selected as an example. Kino- Robert's
~ humouristic
Robert entered the Choir of Saint Peter's Basilica simPlicit>'-
bearing a chalice, which he deposited reverently
upon the High Altar ; in it, a parchment scroll
covered with writing, conspicuously peering above
the rim. A grant without doubt of some impor-
tant domain — may be a Duchy, and why not the
58 ROBERT'S HUMOUR.
996-W24 Realm, thought (we may fancy) the expectant
Pope and Cardinals hopefully rubbing their hands.
Scarcely able to restrain their curiosity, they
rushed up the gradients, as soon as Robert had
descended, to peruse the deed of donation. Alas,
for their disappointment ! though the parchment
was inscribed with what Robert valued more
than house or land. — Could such a thing as copy-
right have existed in those days, the Pope and
Cardinals would have acquired the property of
Robert's famous chaunt, " Cornelius Ceniurio"
Let us excuse the vanity of the Author,
and view Robert as a Sovereign. Resolute, pru-
dent, and cautious, he maintained good order, and
strenuously and energetically defended the rights
of the Crown. He had succeeded to a well go-
verned and prosperous Kingdom ; yet a Kingdom
which could not be administered without con-
tinuous exertion ; and Robert was well prepared
to display his strength whenever occasion should
require.
Robert's § 5. Many and powerful were the Chief-
trust in Nor-
tains of France, but Robert's principal trust
was placed in Normandy, and with reason. —
Amongst the Nobles who raised Hugh Capet to
the throne, none so potent and pre-eminent as
the Dux Piratarum. Hence the spite with
which the Carlovingians regarded him, their
enmity pursuing his corpse to the grave.
Was not Richard of Normandy King Robert's
feudatory ? Weighty are the considerations upon
between
THE PAR AGE TENURE. 59
tliis question — feudatory — but how far could 995-1024
France command his aid ? From the pacifi-
Uncertainty
ration, concluded on the island of the Epte, until ^^r""
the expiration of the Norman Sovereignty, we are thecario.
^ ; vingian
unable to define satisfactorily the obligations homage8'
subsisting, or which ought to have subsisted be-
tween the Duke and the anointed Kiug. Had
they originated from a treaty signed and sealed by
Plenipotentiaries at a Congress, we could scarcely
have been gratified with greater ambiguity.
In the first place, not a single official docu-
ment exists which can lead or mislead us.
Rarely is the Ducal tenure noticed by the antient
French historians. When the question is perfunc-
torily brought before us in narrative, the Duke is
described as holding en parage. — Richard le-Bon
held en parage. — The third Richard, his eldest
son, held en parage. Robert, Richard le-Bon' s
second son, (who, whether he deserved either or
neither of the two epithets, le Diable or 1e Mag-
nifique, I will not debate,) held en parage. But
there was one who is never recorded to have per-
formed any homage ; and that was Robert's son,
William the Conqueror.
We possess a general knowledge of the obli-
gations arising from this same tenure en j}a-
rctr/e, yet not with sufficient clearness for our en-
quiries. We know nothing precisely of its legal
construction, until the period when the subtle
labours of the jurist imparted that technical de-
velopment to the feudal laws, which has been
60 THE PAR AGE TENURE.
996-1024 accepted as their original character ; the pen
having become more efficacious than the sword.
In the days when the astute Sages of the Long
robe were the masters of the Seigneur, and the
echoing Salle des pas perdus had begun to be more
dreaded than the Donjon Tower, this tenure was
distinctly defined in the north-eastern provinces ;
Champagne for instance, where it prevailed.
The usage is exemplified in those cases where a
fief noble became partible anlongst brothers.
When a division ensued, the juniors performed
homage to their one elder brother, rendering their
respective shares of the services, not to him, but
to the chief Lord of the fee, and yet acknow-
ledging the Elder's superiority. As was the wont
of these Legists, they discover a corresponding
example in Holy Scripture. But the fact is, that
the Tenure whereby Normandy was hoi den of
France became a special and peculiar political
relationship, existing singly in this one case ;
having much affinity nevertheless with the March
tenure between the King of Scots, as Lord of
Lothian, on the one part, and the Anglo-Norman
Sovereigns, as successors of the Anglo-Saxon
Basileus, on the other part. As far as we can
construe the submission, it conferred a nominal,
though jealous, priority of rank.
§ 6. Indeed, the antiquated transactions of
the Carlovingian era had scarcely more than an
indirect bearing upon the position which the Duke
of Normandy filled subsequently to the acces-
sion of the Capetian Line. Old things — let
RICHARD I. AND RICHARD II. CAPETIAN PEERS. 61
alone grudges and enmities, sometimes dormant, 990-102*
but always liable to be roused- -had passed
away. The vicarious homage rendered by Rollo oSfLn
to Charles le-Simple on the island of the Epte was to th<? CaPet
A A anterior to
anterior to
the accession
recollected only as a merry tale. All the oaths of
taken, all the declarations of fealty made by 8c«^'01- "•
the kneeling G-uillaume Longue-epee to Louis
d'Outremer were merely testimonies of untruth ;
and by the transactions which ensued upon the
liberation of that Louis from his captivity, nothing
remained to the Carlovingian King of France
except an honorary precedence : — the bond was
snapped asunder.
Richard Sans-peur had been the Man of « 'commen.
Huo'h le-Grand, Duke of France and Burgundy ; "ush.le-.
* Grand and to
and, when Hugh le-Grand departed, Richard be- Hush'
came the Man of Hugh Capet. The convulsions
which accomplished the Capetian Revolution
superseded all notions of subjection to the
discarded family ; and Richard, during the last
eventful struggle, having renewed his homage
to Hugh Capet, he came in with the Capet.
The former relations between Normandy and
France were superseded. All the homages ren-
dered to the expelled Dynasty had vanished.
Richard le-Bon held his Duchy by a new and
higher title. He was a Capetian Peer created b«St m as
by the Revolution ; Premier amongst the Lay
Peers of the kingdom of the Fleur de Lis ; — a
prerogative which his progeny retained until John
Lackland' s forfeiture.
The present alliance however, between Nor-
62 RICHARD LE-BON'S AFFECTION FOR THE CAPETS.
9S6-1024 mandy and France was stronger, warmer,
heartier, than any connexion arising from legal
forms or state reasons. Richard Sans-peur's
timely co-operation had placed Hugh Capet
upon the throne. There was a debt of grati-
tude due from the Capets to the House of
Rollo. The Minstrel of Henry Plantagenet's
Court delighted in reminding the Capets of
their obligation, whilst Richard le-Bon, for his
father's sake, persevered in steadily aiding the
second Capet, as that father had aided the first.
Never was a Norman Duke so friendly towards
personal
c^r e the Capets as Richard le-Bon. Never, in after
times, did any Duke of Normandy love a King of
France. Warmer, in most cases, is the affection
entertained by the individual who has done a
kindness, than by the object of the kindness. On
the one side, the pleasure of continuing to benefit
those whom you or yours have aided, and, on the
other, a sense of the weight of the obligation. —
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Such was the aspect presented by public
affairs when the well-governed Franco-Gallia
passed under Robert's sole authority : a Realm
demanding unintermitted vigilance on the part
of the Ruler; and yet at the same time, not
threatening any contingency for which the Sove-
reign was unprepared. His administration was
vigorous, and he possessed the gifts and Virtues
most conducive to domestic happiness and public
utility ; yet they were unfortunately rendered
fruitless. An error stigmatized as a sin, though
THIBAUT LE-TRICHEUR. 63
unrebuked by conscience ; — and a mistake which 005-1024
the wisest might commit, marred the comfort
of his life and damaged his authority as a
King.
S 7. The three original bad-neighbours ofTheold
" bad-neigh-
Normandy had all been gathered to their account. Soi.
First, as to Thibaut le-Tricheur. His flight Thibaut i«-
Tricheur.
from Hermondeville was his last exploit. —
Chartres, flaming, gave him his quietus, and,
tamed by age, he abode peacefully at home
during the remainder of his days.
But, whether in amity or in enmity, in peace
or in war, none of the great Feudatories were, at
this juncture, so influential in the affairs of Nor-
mandy and France as Thibaut le-Tricheur 's de-
scendants. They continued waxing in power and
influence, and their territories so opened upon the
frontiers of the Duke and the demesne provinces
of the King as to afford always the temptation
and often the opportunity, of giving annoyance.
We know not when Thibaut' s long life ended,
for he passed away so gently that the time
of his death can only be conjectured. This is
one of the few instances in which the Art de
verifier les dates does not fully satisfy the promise
held out by the title page. But no negligence can
be imputed to the most industrious compilers of
this inestimable work. — They had not the where-
withal to give the information. The " Pays
Chartrain" though rejoicing in famous Fulbert,
is almost wholly destitute of Chronicles.
Thibaut le-Tricheur' s eldest son by Liutgarda,
64 EUDES COUNT OF BLOIS.
996-1024 Endes or Odo, first of the name, but second
978-995 Count of Blois, succeeded to his father. Our
knowledge concerning him politically and per-
Chartres suc-
sonally is scanty, considering his importance.
He became very rich, and inherited, usurped, or
conquered the six Counties of Blois, Chartres,
Beauvais, Tours, Meaux and Provins, — Provins
where in these our western climes, the Queen of
flowers first blushed with oriental splendour.
Singularly candid in owning to the pride of
wealth, Eudes the First assumed in his charters
Ditissimus."
the style of Comes Ditissimus. His wife, Bertha,
— daughter of Conrad the Pacific, King of Aries
or Provence, and great grand-child of Henry the
Fowler, first emperor of the Saxon line, whom
Robert claimed also as a common ancestor, — was
rendered illustrious by her exalted lineage, and
equally, — it is said, — by her virtues. Great
friendship subsisted between Eobert and Eudes,
the latter being distinguished as Count of the
Palace. Robert, then married to a Princess
Rosella, became sponsor at the font to one of
Bertha's children. He and Bertha — who pos-
sibly then first became acquainted with each
other — might also call themselves cousins, — but
cousins related to each other in the fourth de-
gree ; a consanguinity so diluted, that it usually
escapes recollection, except when our memory is
refreshed by our kinsman's wealth or station.
Return we now to the Comes Ditissimus.-
Much will always want more. The Ditissimus
tissimus.
MARRIAGE OF ROBERT AND BERTHA. G5
engaged in war with Fulke Nerra the Count of 005-1024
Anjou ; but, in the midst of his warlike operations,
the narrative is stayed by the notice of his death,
which ensued at venerable Marmoutier. He left
two sons, Thibaut, second of the name in Char-
tres and third in Blois ; and Eudes le-Cham-
penois, who, his elder brother dying without
Champagne,
issue, succeeded to all their father's dominions, Blois> &c-
(that is to say his brother's share and his own,)
with the addition of Champagne and Brie.
As for Bertha, the widow of the Comes Ditis- Kin9g9^bert
simus, she did not mourn long in her weeds, — Bertha8, the
7 widow of
say a quarter of a year, — when she yielded to the SaSSES.
wooing of her late husband's friend, King Eobert ;
— Robert, who now in consequence of Queen
Rosella's death, could present himself as a child-
less widower. Much loftier had been King Hugh
Capet's aspirations : fain would he have matched
his son with an Emperor's daughter.
§ 8. The results of this union between
Eobert and Bertha constitute a most important
passage in French history.
Marriage between first cousins is discouraged Marriage of
Robert and
by popular feeling ; — the Physiologist may per-
canons of the
haps speak dubiously as to the expediency ofchurcl1-
such a connexion ; but he does not venture fur-
ther : — whilst the Church, actuated by an honest
though exaggerated desire for the preservation
of family purity, prohibited all intermarriages
between parties related to each other, even in the
remote degree of consanguinity existing between
VOL. III. F
Trans
66 ROBERT AND GREGORY V.
996-1024 Robert and Bertha. — Dispensations might be
given, but they were very rarely granted.
Gr9ego7/v. For the first time since the martyrdom of
Saint Peter, the Apostolic Chair was filled by
a Transalpine Pope. Hitherto, none but Jews
or Syrians, Greeks or Romans, had attained the
dignity. Many amongst the supreme Pontiffs
were individuals of mean birth ; a circumstance
redounding equally to their own honour, and
the benefit of the Church. But Bruno the
German, reigning as Gregory the Fifth, ap-
pointed by the interest, or rather upon the
nomination, of Otho III., might boast of the
most exalted ancestry in the Western Common-
wealth, he, being the son of Otho, Duke of
Carinthia, and grandchild of Liutgarda of the
silver spindle. — We have already made ac-
quaintance with her as the wife of the unhappy
Conrad, who fell on the Lechfeld, fighting against
the Magyars,
Much coolness, approximating to schism,
subsisted between France and Rome. Arnoul,
the Archbishop of Rheims, had been re-estab-
lished by Papal authority, but Robert refused to
liberate the Prelate from arrest. At length, the
King gave way to the instances of the Legate
Leo, in the expectation that the Pope would re-
ciprocate by legitimating the irregular union : —
not so, fresh difficulties arose. The Young Em-
peror, the third Otho, glowered against the
Capetiaus. The soundest Divines denounced the
ROBERT AND BERTHA EXCOMMUNICATED. 67
marriage. Moreover, the spiritual affinity be-
tween Robert and Bertha,— created, as it was
held, by their having joined in sponsorship,—
1 (resented an obstacle not less formidable than
the natural affinity. A Council assembled at "8
T> ir -n Council
ome, the Emperor being present, Terrible was ^ThVl
the excommunication fulminated against the de- uS
1 . manded
linquents. Robert and Bertha, commanded to 8eparatc
separate, were, in conformity to the canons of
the Church, respectively enjoined to perform
penance during seven years. At this era, the
Pontiifs were no respecters of persons in judg-
ment, hence the contumely cast upon them by the
world. If guilty, they humbled the Sovereign,
even as the meanest sinner, — " Thou art the
man,", -was the sentence which condemned him.
Gregory acted cautiously, calmly, and con-
siderately, and without displaying much par-
tizanship ; but Gerbert, who sat at the foot of
the throne, that throne soon to be ascended by
himself as the first Pope of the Eomane tongue,
exerted all his powerful influence against Bertha.
An overwhelming majority of the French Clergy
opposed the King and Queen, entering into the
controversy so passionately, that the excellent
Abbo of Fleury repaired to Rome for the purpose
of supporting the Pontiff in his adverse decision.
Public opinion in France ran equally strong
amongst the Laity against the Royal delinquents.
The connexion was stigmatized as foully sinful,
and the feeling excited thereby cannot be dis-
F 2
68 THE INTERDICT.
996-1024 tinguished in mental or moral nosology from the
furor recently prevailing amongst us, when an
endeavour was made to annul the prohibition of
a marriage belonging to a class which we have
termed incestuous, by reason of legal affinity :
that is to say, an artificial affinity created by the
municipal law, and not grounded upon nearness
of blood ; a doctrine accepted meekly by the
Church of England from the Church of Koine —
such prohibition being not merely wholly absent
from the Holy Scriptures, but contrary to their
spirit. — Whilst an apostolic injunction, forbidding
Matrimony in one special and individual case,
speaking as clearly as words can speak, — a pro-
hibition which if the canonical impediment should
be offered as a caveat upon the si quis, would, —
unless, Parliament should grant a Privilegium, —
absolutely, irremediably, and irrevocably, pre-
vent episcopal consecration, — is always cast to
the winds.
At the same time that the interdict threw
produced by
the interdict, ^g wnole kingdom into confusion, the People
were so highly wrought up, that when the King
or the Queen entered a City, divine service
was wholly suspended. All Robert's domestic
servants abandoned him, except two or three
of the lowest degree. The meat which Robert
touched was abhorred as polluted : and the
menials flung to the dogs the food which the
King's hand had left in his dish; or threw the
fragments on the fire.
At length, the misery became so great, that
ROBERT MARRIES CONSTANCE OF ARLES. 69
Robert was forced to repudiate Bertha. They 990-1024
were childless, for agitation of mind disappointed Robert
repudiates
the expectations which Bertha's situation had Bmllil-
raised.
from the"
§ 9. The royal issue having failed, Robert c^
was compelled, by the ordinary reasons of State, from
to seek another Consort, and his choice fell upon,
or was directed to Constance, generally consider-
ed as the daughter of William, Count of Aries or
Provence ; although there be genealogists who
hold that she was the daughter of Guillaume
Taillefer, Count of Toulouse. We continue to la-
bour under a dearth of information in all matters
connected with the Langue doil. To encrease
our perplexity, the Princess is also denominated
Adela or Adelaide, a popular name scarcely
distinguishable from an epithet; whilst many
historians speak of her as Blanche, or Candida,
— denominations possibly bestowed by poetical
fancy, but appropriate, since she was a brilliant
beauty.
Borrowing the untranslatable idiom current
amongst our neighbours, thoroughly did Con-
J lanced by her
stance deserve the epithet of a " Maitresse b
femme" — meriting that designation in all its
bearings, being qualified equally by her personal
gifts and her commanding talent. This same
shrewed Constance holds a prominent station in
the category of the women who have guided the
fates and fortunes of France, whether for good
or evil. Witty, winning, attractive, bright and
clever, she nevertheless exhibited all the ca-
70 ROBERT A HUMORIST.
990-1024 prices and artifices, libelously ascribed by the
Satirists of olden time to the female sex, — obsti-
nate, intriguing, peevish, avaricious and imperious.
Robe:utcto°.f Tne husband, however, bore very patiently
His hu
Constance- with his Vixen. The Queen's moral character
was irreproachable, and her mental endowments
inspired respect. As for Eobert, when she an-
noyed his poor dependents, he exhibited himself
to them as a fellow-sufferer. If Lazarus, crouch-
ing on the parquet, stripped the golden fringes
from the hem of the royal robe, or his compeer cut
off the bullion tassels which ornamented the royal
lance, the King only warned the rogues to be
wary, lest the Queen should detect the larceny.
Constance fully appreciated her husband's
merits, she admired his poetical genius ; but
never had he rendered the due tribute of Lay
or Sirvente to his splendid tormenter. Eobert' s
Muse had not sung for her, and she urged the Poet
to celebrate her praise. This was a measure
hb Queen.on which Robert could not tune his voice to ; but
having composed his celebrated hymn 0 Con-
stantia martyrum, — he chaunted the stave before
her ; and the cross-grained enchantress, hearing
the sound of her name, received the verses as a
personal compliment. If we may quote one of
Robert's commemorated facetiae, he was accus-
tomed to repeat, my hen pecks, but she gives me
chickens enow ; and indeed, they had a fair tale
of children; — sons, Hugh, Henry, who succeeded
to the Throne, Robert, afterwards Duke of
KING ROBERT'S FACETIOUSNESS. 71
Burgundy, and Eudes ; — daughters, Adelaide, 990-1024
Countess of Auxerre, and Adela.
§ 10. Robert's conduct, in following his hu-
morous inclination was very natural, yet neither
right nor wise. It may be a hard saying, but the
words of an Apostle warn us, that "Eutrapelia"
the expression which a faithful Parkhurst might,
amongst its other meanings, render " wit," ap-
proximates to sin, or at least may be conducive
to sin. Habitual facetiousness not unfrequently
engenders substantial hardness of heart ; since the
admiring yourself as a joker, often generates the
unkindness of neglecting or offending others'
feelings. Have we not had Judges who punned
upon the name of the criminal when they were
dooming him to the gallows ?
Trivial anecdotes are not always to be re-
jected as trifling. They act as a mordant upon
our fleeting ideas, fixing the personages in our
minds, by enveloping them in circumstances :
and, if they are found in the sources of history,
they must, upon fitting occasions, be employed
as materials of history. No normal rules can
be assigned for maintaining the Dignity of His-
tory, nor any particular mode of treatment pre-
scribed. The Historian ought to fashion his
garment out of the stuff which is prepared for
him, or let the task alone. This submission
to necessity becomes imperative in treating the
era of French History upon which we are now
engaged : for, concurrently with the extinction
72 CHANGE IN THE CHARACTER OF THE CHRONICLERS.
996-1024 of the Carlovingian line, we lose the fine old dili-
gent monastic Chroniclers and Chronographers.
™hoo°foafnew Conscientious labourers were they, bearing
JI9' witness as a duty, and performing that duty
under a sense of responsibility, their pages re-
dolent of the lamp; they are succeeded by a class
of a different character. I mean those writers
who think more of themselves than their works,
and seek distinction from their literary acquire-
ments ; and, whilst they are singularly unheedful
of chronology, they embroider their narrative
with a useless display of learning. This is pecu-
liarly the case with Rodolphus Glaber, the smooth
headed Cluniac Monk, whose work becomes the
main foundation of the history of this period, so
far as France is concerned ; but he, good man,
is confused and diffuse, though not proportionally
instructive.
The Norman Chroniclers, possessing a pe-
the Norman . .
chroniclers, culiar and richer character, are in advance
of the French. Ordericus Yitalis, and Guil-
laurne de Jurnieges, may be particularized as the
precursors of Monstrellet and Froissart. — The
rough venerable Romanesque style is beginning,
if we may employ such a comparison, to ex-
hibit the modifications of the Ogival architecture
which bloomed into the Renaissance.
§11. King Robert's matrimonial trials and
vexations did not in any wise diminish his en-
ergy as a monarch : perhaps rather the contrary.
Under his unhappy domestic circumstances, war
must have been a distraction from care ; and he
France.
MELUN AND CORBEIL. 73
had not to go far to find it. — At the period when 995-1024
he was most troubled, an opportunity arose for
manifesting the King of France's alacrity, and dis-
playing the Duke of Normandy's ready fidelity.
Until the dissolution of the marriage between
Robert and Bertha, Eudes le-Champenois was, in
a manner, Robert's step-son; but, when the con-
nexion ceased, there was not even the grimace
of respect or mutual affection : and soon was a
sufficient provocation given by the active and
ambitious warrior.
Eudes, as Count of Champagne, had widened
his dominions close up to France. The Duchy
of France, on the French frontier towards
Champagne, was nearly conterminous with the
" gouvernement" afterwards emphatically de-
nominated "1'Isle de France." And here were
two strongly fortified French posts, by which
Champagne was kept completely in check, Melun
and Corbeil, both very defensible, but particularly
the former.
Seldom do we approach any commanding
position, whether in France or in Great cexs*?.ed
Britain, dropping down from the Pentland
Firth to the Land's End, without discover-
ing that we have been preceded by the Eagle.
" Melodunum," is described by Cassar, as
being not far from Paris ; and situated upon a
river island. The capture of the Gaulish posi-
tion offered some difficulties to Labienus, but
Melun had now become more important than
during the Roman era, for, under the Carlo-
74 BURCHARD OF ANJOU.
996-1024 vingians, the town had, like Paris, spread out
upon both banks of the stream.
Aymon, son Avmoii, the son of Osmond de Centvilles, and
of Osmond •>
viiiesTnoids who had rendered good service to Richard at the
places under siege of Rouen, held both Melun and Corbeil
the Crown,
withtitheed under the Crown. — Antiquarian whimsies accept
Romance, this substantial Aymon as the mythic father of
the renowned Four Sons, the heroes of the
semi-black-letter romance entitled the Quatre
fils-Aymon, which, slightly modernized in ortho-
graphy, constituted one of the most vendible arti-
cles in the Colporteur's basket, even until our
own age ; when the prurient productions of the
Paris press supplanted the old Gothic national
fictions.
Burchardof In the YeiQ:R of Hugh Capet, much distin-
Anjou, son of
Bon!6 ms guished among the young Nobles of the Court,
(ot>.°ioi2.) was young Burchard, the son of Fulke le-Bon,
Count of Anjou, rendered so memorable by his
favourite adage, Rex illiteratus est A sinus Coro-
natus. And truly, Fulke must have rejoiced
in the training which Burchard was receiving.
The custom of placing the young nobility under
the Sovereign's care, was not only politic, but ad-
vantageous to both parties. The Tyro was, in
some measure, a pledge for the loyalty of his
father, and his father's men likewise. — King
Hugh conscientiously and ably performed his
trust : and, Burchard, until called into active
life, was educated as befitted a Christian and a
soldier.
COUNT BURCHAED OF AN.IOU. 75
§ 12. Early in Robert's reign, Aymon cle- 996-1024
parted in pilgrimage to "Rome, but ere he reached Dcathof
Saint Peter's threshold, he died in consequence
marries his
of the fatigue attending the journey. This mis- widow-
fortune, by no means unfrequent during the
mediaeval era, suggests a clearer idea of the
perils encountered in the Alpine Passes than
can be afforded by any description.
Celibacy amongst the laity was not consi-
dered creditable. The Clergy viewed such con-
duct, if pursued without sufficient cause, as
tending to sin, marriage being enjoined by reve-
lation and by nature, unless conscience called
the youth to enter the sacerdotal order, or seek
seclusion in a monastery. Burchard, feeling
a tendency to the latter course of life, delayed
making his choice. King Hugh and his Nobles
urged the young Beau-sire to take a wife, but not
confining themselves to unpractical counsel, they
gave him the means of following it, pointing out
a congruous and fitting spouse, the noble widow
Elizabeth, the childless relict of Count Aymon.
The Matron was nothing loath, the young Esquire
not unwilling, and the marriage ensued. It is
worthy of remark, that in this transaction, the
King did not claim any right of wardship over
the widow, but the union was effected by the
gentle persuasion and affectionate intervention
of mutual friends. We cannot ascertain that
the Countess Elizabeth had a right either to
Corbeil or Melun, though she was in possession
76 EUDES OF BLOIS OBTAINS MELUN.
996-1024 of the towns, still less could she be accepted
as military Commander of the antique Mero-
vingian Castle on the island in the Seine ; but
Hugh bountifully granted to Elizabeth's young
husband the two Grand-fiefs as well as the
custody of the Palace Castle, the latter consti-
tuting the Caput Baronias of the Senechalship
of France, an office previously held by Geoffrey
Grisgonnelle.
1002-1003 & 13. Grievous to Eudes Count of Blois and
Eudea ob- <J
Cliartres, of Champagne and Brie, were these
acts of esteem and favour : but he restrained
himself until after Robert's accession. He and
his lineage had been very desirous to acquire a
firmer position on the left bank of the Seine,
where they already had obtained footing. More-
over, Eudes claimed to be Count Palatine. Bur-
chard had placed the noble Gautier, the King's
Liege-man, in command of Melun. Eudes, se-
cretly negotiating with this Officer, spared neither
gifts nor promises, and, having succeeded by the
aid of Gautier' s spouse, a lady of noble birth,
they surrendered Melun to him. Eudes entered
the Place during the dark midnight hour; as-
suredly not an unprecedented season, yet a
species of stealthiness, which aggravated the
treachery in public opinion.
This misdeed excited great surprise as well as
indignation throughout France. Robert forth-
with acted as beseemed a Sovereign, and issued
his Precept enjoining Eudes to evacuate Melun,
RICHARD AIDS KING ROBERT. 77
and give security for peace. But at the same 996-102*
time he was willing that Elides should be al- R0\,en-a
c»n*klerate
lowed to support his claim before the proper gjj
tribunal. Eudes refused, and insolently. — He
never would give up so long as he lived. Even
had the enmity between Duke Richard and
the mal-veisiu family been less, Robert knew
he could rely upon Richard's assistance. A
Parliament, a Court of Peers, was forthwith
convened : Richard entered heartily into the
scheme ; Normandy was overflowing with a
warlike, restless, ambitious population, ready for
the battle anywhere, combining the Berseker's
desperate valour to the skill imparted by Romane
cultivation, and Richard could not be otherwise
than glad to frive them employment. Richard Richard as-
r J
headed the enterprise. It was not the Vassal
following the Suzerain, but the Suzerain fol-
lowing the Vassal. The combined forces of
France and Normandy surrounded Melun; the
ambient stream encreased the difficulties of the
attack, and the Normans being first and fore-
most in the assailing ranks, corresponding
exertions were made by the besiegers.
Incessant were the discharges of artillery.
Missiles darted by night and by day, until garri-
son and inhabitants conjoined in tendering their
surrender : not to King Robert, though King
Robert was there, but to Richard the Norman.
Richard, indeed, had made the adventure his
own. Gautier and his lady were sternly visited
sists the
^Sg
78 BURCUARD RECOVERS MELUN.
996-10-24 by avenging justice ; Gautier's treachery was
the more odious, because when he betrayed the
City to Eudes, Burchard was on duty at Paris
attending the King. No compassion did the
noble but forsworn vassals obtain. The hideous
o-allows was raised, and, when dav was dawning,
O »
the quivering corpses of Gautier and his wife
wore seen suspended from the fatal tree. Such
a degrading execution of a high-born woman
has very few parallels : and yet, comparatively,
the judgment was passed in mercy, for had the
law taken its course, she would assuredly have
been burnt alive. Burchard re-entered Melun,
and resumed his authority there. Eudes marched
up, and was thoroughly defeated, flying disgrace-
fully. And thus was the pride of the House of
Blois temporarily brought low.
§ 14. The recovery of Mehm having been
thus effected by Eichard's sturdiness, a sharp but
brief contest called him again into the field.
War had broken out between Henry the Em-
peror,— Saint Henry, as he is termed — and the
then reigning Count of Flanders, Baudouin-a-la-
belle-barbe, great grandson of Arnold le-Yieux,
whilom the worst of the three bad neighbours ;
but Lyderic's lineage may be presented to us
under a more pleasant aspect — he, the said
Baudouiu, being grandfather of William the Con-
queror's excellent wife Matilda : for he was the
father of Baudouin de Lisle, or le-Pieux, of whom
Matilda was the eldest child. — Baudouiu obtained
•of
Vol. 1. 532.
of Valenci-
ennes.
I;AUDOUIX-A-LA-BELLE-BARBE. 79
his popular epithet from the beauty and ampli-
tude of his chesnut-coloured beard.
A good and kindly prince was Baudouin, but,
inheriting the ambition of his ancestors ; he as- lb^-
_^ m Richard
serted claims to Valenciennes in Haiuault, and f*Jh"5ieBC
the Emperor applied to King Robert for aid. Ro-
in-rt assenting, he summoned Richard le-Bon to
his assistance, who gladly accepted the invitation.
Emperor, King, and Duke, beleaguered the
city. A compromise ensued, and a change of
opinions having taken place, a good understand-
ing subsisted henceforward between Normandy
and the country whose sturdy sons contributed
so influentially to the Conquest of England, and
also scarcely in a less degree to the reduction of
Scotland under the Anglo-Saxon race — for what
are the Lowland Scots but Danes or Flemings,
or Anglo-Saxon Northumbrians ?
§15 Bright visions of ambition floated be-
fore the mind of Richard ; indistinct, yet suffi-
ciently perceptible, inasmuch as. they afford us
some guidance whilst investigating a most per-
plexed history, in which any trace or track is
acceptable in guiding us through the labyrinth.
These schemes for the future enhancement of
Norman glory, Richard could not forward other-
wise than by a cordial alliance with King Robert,
and circumstances were such as now enabled
him to render most important help to that Sove-
reign. Normandy, tranquil, prosperous, and
teeming with a military population, every ser-
80 GEOFFREY FIRST DUKE OF BRITTANY.
996-1024 viceable man yearning to do service, ever re-
joicing in siege, battle, inroad or plunder ;
whilst at the same time the restless Armoricans
affairs.
were not only unable to give him uneasiness
or annoyance, but anxious to obtain his support
and aid.
The history of this important territory, so
intimately connected with Normandy, and through
Normandy with England, must here be perfunc-
torily resumed.
992-ioos Since the death of Alain Barbe Torte, six
Geoffrey,
Counts had succeeded, either nominally or really,
first Duke of
Brittany, to his authority ; or perhaps we should say more
correctly, to contest that authority either amongst
themselves or against the wily Blois and ambitious
Anjou ; and, whenever the latter house is named,
the ancestors of the Plantagenets come before us,
encreasing in power and magnificence. At length
Geoffrey, Count of Rennes, prevailed over his
competitors : — a bold and active Prince, the first
who wrote himself Duke of Brittany. Under
his authority, the Armorican Commonwealth
assumed more consistency, but Blois menaced
sullenly : Anjou, more formidably, proffered pro-
tection to Geoffrey; the Danes were threatening;
and the renewal of the antient connexion with
Normandy afforded the best expectation for
political security, — which soon took place most
cordially.
& 16. Like Austria, Normandy owed much
O J
to marriage, and there was a plausible foundation
The Norman
damsels.
NORMAN MARRIAGES. 81
for the merry saying, that Normandy's Daugh- 996-1024
ters contributed to her singular aggrandizement
no less than the valour and policy of her sons.
Certainly, — according to the common colloquial
expression, these Princesses had a right to be
winning, — their witchery was in their blood. —
They were handsome by inheritance.
§ 17. Again we are entangled amongst the £"j?anrcdc3 of
complications of this family history. There are
two arrays of damsels with whom we ought to
deal — the daughters of Richard Sans-peur, and
the daughters of Richard le-Bon ; but the in-
formation we possess concerning Richard Sans-
peur's female issue is neither consistent nor clear,
— even their number is uncertain. Three or
four of them present themselves, about whom
the most critical Genealogists contend ; and
each has an alias, further perplexing us.
No one amongst Richard Sans-peur's girls was
married during her father's lifetime, and, there-
fore, upon his demise, Richard le-Bon became the
natural guardian of his sisters. Hawisa, the third,
is the first whom we are called upon to notice, and
her marriage constitutes an important era in the
conjoint annals of Normandy and of Brittany.
The lusty Males of Rollo's house appertained
to a fine race ; and if any potent Count or Baron
from beyond the border sought a consort in the
Ducal Palace, he was assuredly attracted equally
by talent and by beauty. Happier far, how-
ever, were the Normandes in their position than
VOL. m. G
82 INTERMARRIAGES WITH BRITTANY.
996-1024 they would have been, had they obtained such
importance as is attached to Woman in the his-
tory of France : the Ladies connected with the
Ducal circle rarely became influential otherwise
than when presented in their proper sphere. It
is as discreet wives and affectionate mothers that
the Norman Athelizas are mainly known — we
encounter only one exception. And, — despite of
irregularities — the history of Normandy abounds
with examples of decent and pleasant gallantry ;
no family record in which we find more sincere
Wooers, the flame of love honestly kindled by the
good report of the goodly damsels : real bond fide
love-matches, the Suitor coming forward in per-
son to make himself agreeable, like Tete-d'etoupe,
when he was so disdainfully kicked by Guillaume
Duke96' Longue-epee. — Such a one was Godfrey, the son
Bridtunyyof of Conan, now ruling in Armorica. — As a Preud
Chevalier does the Briezad Chieftain now appear
before us. The Trouveur delights in telling how
the young Duke of Brittany put himself in
thorough order for courting, having, as we infer,
received encouragement from Richard le-Bon,
when he solicited Hawisa's hand. — Nor did any
bashfulness, real or conventional, delay her
yea-word.
Some remarkable circumstances attend this
marriage. It is expressly stated by the prose
Chronicler, that Godfrey and his Bride were
married more Christiano, implying, according to
the emphasis laid upon the fact, that the sane-
RICHARD LE-BON'S CHILDREN. 83
tion of Church ordinances was not always given
as a matter of course amongst the Bretons. The
Cymri were not scrupulously rigid in this mat-
ter ; nor must it be forgotten that, according to
the tenets of the Church, the essence of the con-
tract consists in the free and mutual consent of
the parties, though they incur the censure of ir-
regularity by cohabiting until the ceremony be
fully performed.
The good will between Normandy and Brit-
tany, hitherto rivals, encreased. Some time after iuetta,'07
Brittany,
Hawisa's marriage, Richard le-Bon espoused ien.B*n.chard
Judith or luetta, Godfrey's sister, distinguished by
her sagacity. Very splendid were their espousals,
celebrated in the Abbey of the guarded Mount,
where Celtic traditions combine with Christian
legends ; and whose architecture, imparting form
and substance to the dreams of romance, tes-
tifies the mutual action and reaction of poetic
art and fantastic Chivalry. In due time, five, or
as some genealogists reckon, six, children were
the fruits of the marriage. Three were the
sons : — Richard, third of the name, his father's
successor, but who flits before us like a shadow
— Nicholas (some call him William), who ulti-
mately sought refuge, shall we say safety ? in a
Monastery — and Robert, the second in the Nor-
man dynastic sequence, if Rollo, under the name
of Robert, be accepted as the first, Lord of the
Exmois and Falaise, the father of the Conqueror :
the Robert who received the epithets of Le Mag-
G 2
84 PERPLEXITY OF THIS HISTORICAL ERA.
996-1024 nifique or Le Diable, both, in the opinion of
his age, being almost equally laudatory.
As for the daughters of Richard le-Bon, the
eldest, denominated Alice, or perhaps emphatically
described as the Atheliza, became the consort of
Renaud Count of Burgundy, the Franche-Comte,
the free County, a dominion which became weighty
in the balance of power ; whilst Eleanor, the
youngest (as some say), captivated the Count of
Flanders, Baudouin de Lisle ; and amongst their
children we may be proud to reckon the tender
and excellent Matilda, the Conqueror's Queen.
luetta's death opened the way for Richard le-
Bon's second marriage. He is said to have taken
Bstritha, the daughter of Sueno, the Danish king,
of whom more hereafter. Estritha received the
name of Margaret ; but, like the persecuted Tnge-
burga, this Danish damsel did not find favour in
her husband's eyes. Richard put her away : she
then espoused Jarl Ulph, the Anglo-Dane : and, at
a somewhat advanced age, our Richard le-Bon ob-
tained a third wife, Papia. Concerning this Lady
we possess scarcely any information beyond her
name, perhaps not even that ; the appellation
given to her seeming to be one of those sobriquets
of fondness which grow up in families ; her sons
were William, the unfortunate Count of Arques,
and Mauger, the wretched Archbishop of Rouen.
§ 1 8. A threefold cord is a type of strength,
but the antecedents of the Conquest, involving
the histories of four Nations or four Realms,
NORMAN MARRIAGES. 85
present a fourfold tangle. The various coloured
skeins must be unravelled as we proceed.
In the first place, and yet subordinately, we
are concerned with the English and England.
Even when we name England not, England is
uppermost in our thoughts. — In the second place,
and yet most prominently, the Normans and
their community. — Thirdly, the Danes and the
Northmen, who concern us vitally in relation
to English affairs, though we must watch them
in Scandinavia and the Baltic islands. — Lastly,
yet ever in sight, whether in the foreground or
in the background, France, and the Frenchmen,
the French Provinces, the French Kings.
The only passage of European history, offer-
ing equivalent perplexity, is furnished by —
" // belpaese die il mar circonda e VAlpe : "
her annals overwhelm us with events, so inter-
esting that we grudge to lose any one of them,
whilst their multiplicity renders them unmanage-
able. Hence we cannot adopt any plan whereby
the fortunes of Italy — that is to say, her mis-
fortunes— are rendered intelligible, except an
arrangement of the matter in parallel columns.
This labour has been performed conscientiously
and accurately ; but the work, under which the
Writer died, is unreadable. — Bear with me there-
fore in my present task, and tolerate the imper-
fections which the complicated theme renders
inevitable.
19. The several matrimonial alliances al-
86 EVANGELIZATION OF THE DANES.
996-1024 ready detailed and recorded, tended greatly to
Advantages enhance the splendour, the prestige, and the
Norman
power of the Norman Duchy. Very substantial
Marriages, advantages, both social and political, were gained
by these intermarriages : — frontiers widened, con-
nexions strengthened, dominions acquired. They
became accumulations of force : and, not the least
amongst the benefits resulting to the Norman
Sovereigns, was the opening afforded for their in-
terference in the affairs of the States with whom
they connected themselves, a position which
they skilfully and politically improved. But the
most important union remains to be told, — the
unhappy marriage between the ill-starred Ethelred
and Richard Saus-peur's Emma, effected, not by
plan or forethought, by passion or policy, but by
a combination of circumstances which no human
devices could have disarranged, or human pre-
science have foreseen — the union through which
the influence of our Anglo-Norman Empire has
become oecumenical.
§ 20- At this period, the Danes conjoined
the energies of Heathendom with much of the
Christianity
SaSSf4 cultivation accompanying Christianity. Nearly
a Century had elapsed since the Gospel had
been preached in their regions, mainly by the
exertions of Saint Auscar, — Churches built, and
Communities founded, — but conversion proceeded
unequally. Much opposition had subsisted in
the various classes of society. Many a "Herred"
and many a "Syssel" retained the worship of
Biwk.
tooths
OTHO IN DENMARK. 87
Thor and Odin ; nay, human sacrifices belonged 000-1024
to the nation's yesterday. On the whole, how- 936-986.
ever, the people at large were more ductile than
the Kulers, and, for a while, Harold Blaatand foTt
was expelled by his subjects, faithful to their
new Faith, but not to their antient Sovereign.
The very essence of an Empire is aggression.
Augustus, from "augeo" was the admitted etymo-
logy of the Imperial title. As in the human frame,
so in human authority ; the cessation of growth
is the first symptom of death. Otho Augustus, ^6t6h79th3e-
Mehrer des Ketches, " Encreaser of the Empire,
against the
true to his vocation, laboured to render free DaneB-
Denmark a Feud of Charlemagne's crown : he
pursued his military operations strenuously, even
beyond the Danish border; and the Ottensund, be-
tween Sleswick and Hedeby, marks the extent of
the Emperor's victorious advance. — The dim dark
sea has disappeared. — Shoals and shallows have
absorbed this gloomy Sound; but the name
subsists, and commemorates the triumph of the
Caesar.
Otho, like Charlemagne, probably, or at
least possibly, was not clearly conscious of the
double motive rendering the Faith which he was
diffusing ancillary to his schemes of conquest,
the healing Cross employed as the hilt of the
devouring sword. Through the exertion of his
missionary Bishops, there now existed a recog-
nized, nay a powerful Christian party. — Harold
Blaatand submitted to Baptism, and Otho be-
88 THE DANES IN ENGLAND.
996-1024 came the Sponsor of Harold's triply denominated
son and heir.
Swend, the appellation which we Anglicise
as Swei/ne, was the proper name bestowed upon
the wailing babe, when presented to his father
immediately upon his birth ; " Svend-Otto" the
baptismal name imposed in honour of his
Imperial Sponsor ; and " Svend-gdbel-bart" or
Svend-Tveskioe^ ., "Svend with the forked beard,"
as he is often called in history, was the designa-
tion suggested by the appendage, conspicuous
in his aspect as the second William's fiery hair.
These two Monarchs — son and sire — whose
and Sweyne
-their strenuousness first imparted consistency to the
energy and •>
thecBrmsh Sta,te of Denmark, must be particularly distin-
islands.
guished as the most bitter amongst the foes raised
up for the chastisement of England. One third
part of unhappy Ireland had been devoured, sub-
dued, or overspread by the Ost-men. — They had
acquired about the same proportion of Great
Britain. The territories on the Anglo-Saxon
main-land, from the Humber up to the Firth of
Forth, and all the Britannic and Scoto-Pictish
Islands East, North, and West, to the Isle
of Man, were grasped by the Eaven. The
Norwegian Olave joined the Danes ; and they,
the appointed precursors of the Norman Wil-
liam, now resolved upon the complete subjugation
of all the Tribes and Nations dwelling within
the circuit of the Four Seas. The scourge
wielded by Sveiid-Tvcskiosg cut deeper into the
PUBLIC CONSCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY. 89
flesh than any punishment which the English 000-1021
had hitherto sustained; whilst the disgraceful
burden of the Danegelt exacerbated the misery.
More qualified than ever were the Danes for
mi !• amonS3t
the dire task of destruction. Ihe acceptance of Danea-
Christianity familiarized them with the arts of
Civilization, as inherited from the supremacy of
old Rome; — and, most of all, the Art of Arts, the
Art of War. — Denmark was now a Christian
country ; — large numbers of the population had
accepted Christianity. Episcopacy flourished;
the Clergy, poor, few, and energetic ; the grosser
abominations of heathenism had been suppressed.
And the Scandinavians generally, so nearly akin
to the Germans, and yet so antipathetic, preparing
for complete incorporation in the Christian
Commonwealth. But their lust for conquest,
— the instinct of the natural man, uneffaced by
the lessons of Peace and Good will, — glowed
fiercely as ever. Nay, in our days, does it
not rather seem as though the sabre acquires a
keener edge when whetted upon the Bible ? In-
deed, may we not fear that our full knowledge of
God's will and the ways of salvation, aggravates
our national guilt ? — Do we love our Enemies,
when the yell of "Extermination" howls through-
out the Hall as the antiphoual response to the
hoarse Slogan of " Evangelization ? "
§ 21. Never can we discover any age or
era when the vaunted Law of Nations re-
cognized in public policy the teaching of the
90 HEEKEE, THE MAORI.
996-1024 Gospel, or the relations of a Christian people
towards their brethren. Amongst the vulgated
traditional anecdotes floating about the world,
without any possibility of verification, is the
facetious story, purporting, that when the
Venetian gallies were aiding the Infidels, and
some few of Saint Mark's gallant sons felt a
creeping compunction, which made them uncom-
fortable at the notion of acting against fellow
Christians, so that they hesitated — or were fan-
cied to hesitate — whilst about to apply the match
to the bombard — Fire away boys, we were
Venetians before we were Christians, — cheered
the Captain, — and off went the volley.
§ 22. Was there ever any Minister, Chieftain,
or Sovereign, able or willing to define the boun-
dary between natural self-defence and needful ag-
gression, or who strove, whether in the Cabinet or
during the Campaign, to regulate his conscience in
public or practical action by the ethics of Christi-
anity ? As far as my knowledge extends, only
one instance, approximating to an example, can be
recollected in all history, and neither the personage
nor his entourage are elegant. The example occurs
in the case of an ugly black fellow, with a tattooed
face, and a queer name, Heekee, the Maori. —
The British troops besieged his Pah ; the Lord's-
day came on, and well-taught Heekee, who had
sat at the feet of the Missionaries, abstained from
even loading a musket, simply concluding, that,
in conformity with Gospel teaching, the White
as the Dux
THE NORMAN AND THE DANE. 91
man would also take his rest, and the sun set on 000-1024
the Lord's day in quietness and peace. Not so.
The assailants were up and doing. Steady and
sharp were the volleys discharged against the
Pah ; and Hcekee came forth as a suppliant,
weeping, and bearing the corpse of his wife,
who had been slain.
§ 23. During the visitations of England by
the dreadful Danes, what had her people to hope
A L
or fear from the Norman power ? When the old
Carlovingian Chronicler, standing by Richard
Sans-peur's grave, speaks of the defunct as the
Dux Piratarum, we take offence, because in
our ears the title sounds as though spoken con-
temptuously. Richard Sans-peur has long been
our favourite Hero. We have admired the fine
boy, nursed on his father's knee, whilst the
three old Danish warriors knelt and rendered
their fealty. During Richard's youth, adoles-
cence, and age, our interest in his varied, active,
energetic character, has never flagged, and we
go with him in Court and Camp till the day of
his death.
In fact, it is we who are too sensitive as to
the implied opprobrium : Richard himself would
have construed the epithet as a compliment, and
more, a distinction in which he placed his pride.
He was indeed the Leader of the Pirates ; he never
cast off their amity, or disclaimed his origin, and it
was with hearty affection that they followed him.
The Danes had virtually accepted Sans-peur as
92 SUBJECTIVITY.
996-1024 their Leader, when his youthful perils summoned
Sithric and Thorniod to his aid. Most signally
sBelauementmdid he shine as Dux Piratarum, when Harold
the Cotentin.
464°) "'' p* Blaatand, accepting the invitation, had settled
himself in the Cotentin, the very Normandy of
Normandy ; the point from whence the Danes
might have renewed their inroads upon France ;
and the extent of the peril was fully disclosed
at Jeu Fosse. — Harold, then and there sur-
rounded by the sturdy Cotentin men, landsmen
and seamen, filled the whole Kingdom with con-
sternation. Neither was there in the character
of Richard's Danish kinsfolk, any feature which
might alienate the cognate Norman, or excite
distrust or fear in his mind.
§ 24. The English historians represent the
Danes as monsters of rapacity, insolence, and
ferocity ; tossing up infants in the air, and re-
ceiving them on the points of their spears.
Unhappily there was much truth in these
accusations. But the English estimation of the
Danish character and savagery must be received
with all the modifications required by the natural
sentiments of an enemy. Man's conception of
man never is, and never can be, otherwise
than subjective. — " Handsome is who hand-
some does,"- -homely as the phrase may sound,
— involves the whole philosophy of Humanity. -
My feelings, my likings, my dislikings, my prin-
ciples, my loves, my hatreds, my fancies, my
tastes, my politics, my creed, my graces, my vices,
RICHARD LE-BON AND THE NORTHMEN. 93
my failings, furnish the standards by which I 996-1021
judge of yon. --Your feelings, your likings, your
dislikings, your principles, your loves, your ha-
treds, your fancies, your tastes, your politics,
your creed, your graces, your vices, your failings,
are equally the standards by which you judge of
me. — The cruel and bloody men, whom we anathe-
matize on the thirtieth of January, with as many
implied curses as Ernulphus could have cogitated,
are honoured by Baxter as Saints in heaven.
In their own country, the Danes were a rough £h"?ctep of
O the Danes.
folk, but possessing many social virtues. Stal-
wart warriors also were they, always ready for
cut and thrust, yet no less diligent in pursuit of
gain. The tendency of the Danskerrnan's charac-
ter approximated closely to the Dutchman's cool-
ness in the proud days of de Ruyter or Van Tromp,
fighting men to the backbone, but always eager
to turn a penny ; selling spare powder to the
enemy during the lull of a sea-fight. — " Se
non e vero e ben trovato" Highly as the chi-
valry and heroism of Hawkins and Drake may be
honoured where the British Jack is flying, it was
as fiends incarnate that our Elizabethan worthies
were recollected all over the Spanish main.
S 25. All the feelings of Richard Sans-peur The N0r.
0 mans a
had descended to Richard le-Bon. He had pur-
sued his father's policy both in peace and in
war. Without sharing the danger, Normandy
prospered upon the prey which the Danskerman
made in England. The Normans were a thriving
94 RICHARD LE-BON AND THE NORTHMEN.
990-102^ and money-getting people. The great fair of Gui-
bray attests their national tendency. The liberal
policy of the Dukes is also forcibly illustrated
by the remarkable treaty of peace concluded
between Richard le-Bon, and Olave, the Norsk-
man; securing to the rovers the right of free
trade in Normandy. No certificate of origin was
required when the big bales of English stuffs
were offered to the chapmen at the bridge-head
of Rouen : and the perils of England were much
enhanced by the entente cordiale — this expression
has become technical, and therefore, untranslate-
able — subsisting between Romane Normandy,
and the Northmen of the North.
§ 26, If the conduct pursued by Richard
Richard Ic-
Bon's dubious
neutrality
could euphemistically be denominated neutrality,
Danish wars.
it was a neutrality scarcely differing from hos-
tility. Always were the ports of "Eicardes Rice"
— as the English named Normandy, — open to the
Northmen. The active mercantile Normans could
not afford to close their waters to fellow-
traders ; and, when a black-sailed keel hove in,
it was difficult to distinguish whether she
was fitted out for trade or war. In the
Norman harbours, therefore, the Danish ves-
sels could always obtain shelter. Every
movement which the Danes were making, was
more or less threatening to England; and
Ethelred, yielding to morbid activity, in-
stead of concentrating his operations and be-
stowing his whole care upon the defence of
tal division
tated
Revo-
DEPARTMENTAL DIVISION OF FRANCE. 95
his kingdom, was pestering the British natives, 996-1024
the antient tribes, who still were fighting for
their existence in Cumbria, Reged, and fair
Strath-Clyde. At this critical period Richard
le-Bon welcomed the Danes in his dominions
during a whole season : they were under his
special protection. Indeed, they could occupy a
position which they might call their own : — the
antient Cotentin was Harold Blaatand's barony.
8 27. Much as we may regret the shock Departmen-
tal division
given to our historical reminiscences, when we em- "
ploy a modern geographical nomenclature in the
place of the antient appellations: yet, wise in their
generation, and in duty bound to despise all such
aesthetic considerations, were the Statesmen who
severed the antieut France of the Drapeau Blanc,
into the eighty-three districts, constituting modern
France of the Tricolor — the sagacious dissection
which has guaranteed to France her unity and
indivisibility. The indignant groan extorted
from the British Orator, exclaiming that France
had been treated like a conquered country, ex-
presses an irrefragable truth; France was con-
quered,— conquered by the most despotic of all
conquerors — new ideas. With the obliteration
of the venerable names of Dukedoms and Mar-
quisates, and Seigneuries, receding into the dim
clouds of antiquity, disappeared all former pri-
vileges and immunities, as well as all political
relationships which might disturb the practical
working of revolutionary institutions. The whole
96 THE COTENTIN.
machinery of the ancien regime was crushed into
the ground.
Under a scientific aspect, also, the names
of the Departments were well chosen by the
Savans, to whom the task was assigned of framing
the new chorography, which inscribed the Revo-
Jahr^ntdelution on the face of the land. No example ex-
edeof emplifies their acuteness more pertinently than
the antient
the appellation bestowed upon the antient Co-
tentin, which, with the Avranchin out of which it
grows, is now known as the " Departement de la
Manche ;" and a French Statesman might maintain
that the English Channel appertains in a manner
to this Department, whereby the entrance from
the High Seas is completely commanded. Look
on the Map. — You will be struck with the sin-
gularity of the features presented by the territory,
stretching out as a mighty quadrangular bastion,
watered on three sides by the waves. Amongst
other peculiarities you will note, that it is one of the
very few peninsulas ascending from the Equator
to the Arctic Pole ; none other taking a similar
direction, with the single exception of Jutland.
Moreover, anterior to the subsidence of the sub-
merged isthmus, the bridge which enabled our
few ophidians and our sufficiently numerous
mammalia to pass over from the continent, ex-
tending from Cape Grisnez to Shakespeare's Cliff,
the Cotentin performed the duty of Jutland, in
constituting an inland Sea.
The Cotentin, for we must now revert to the
CONFORMATION OF THE COTENTIN. 97
historical nomenclature, is not merely the phy- 000-1024
sical bulwark of Normandy, but the very kernel Thc
of Norman nationality. During the lower Em- L
. . see Kise and
pire, the Cotentm was known as the " Littus Sax- S^mf
the English
onicum," or the " Otlingua Saxonica; " either for ST
the reason that some tribes of the Continental soo-ssi!)
Saxons, — and the Saxon es Baiocassini are particu-
larly mentioned, — had settled there, — or by the
rule of contrary, because the Saxon shore was gar-
risoned for the purpose of defending the country
against the Saxon rovers : a difficult question,
but upon which it is not needful I should here
enter, having elsewhere discussed the same.
8 28. Furthermore, over and above the Naturai
o strength of
strength of the Cotentin, resulting from position, t]
the materials of which the natural bulwark is
composed, encrease the strategic importance of
the district. The granite formation which here
and there pierces through the humus of the in-
terior, encircles the sea-board with jagged rocks,
infamous to the navigator ; and rarely do these
rocks disappear, except when the marshy meadows
on the coast melt into treacherous shoals, more
dangerous than the rocks themselves.
The summit or northern face of the bluff, Geographical
' aspect of the
solid Peninsula constitutes a noble Bay, termi- Cotcntin-
nated by Cape Barfleur on the East, and the
well-known Cape of the Hogue on the West, a
sweeping segment of a circle, symmetrical as
though the general outline had been traced by
human hand. This shore exhibits a curious
VOL. III. H
98 HARBOURS OF THE COTENTIN.
996-1024 correspondence with the adverse shore of the
Channel ; for, could the Isle of Wight be towed
across the water, the southern moiety of the
rhomboid would drop into the opposite roads.
All the layers of population, the successive
occupants of this region, have endeavoured in
their turn to render the advantageous locality
more defensible. The earliest amongst these
works, presenting a series commencing with the
dawn of civilization, and prosecuted uninter-
ruptedly until our times, is evidently the "Hogue
Dyke," an entrenchment exhibiting the unskilled
labour of the pre-historic age. The Dyke iso-
lates the Cape of the Hogue, thereby convert-
ing the Head of the Promontory into a species
of rude stronghold. Various examples of this
device exist in Great Britain; and the Downs,
all around the "Hogue Dyke," are dotted with
sepulchral Tumuli, constituting the class which
gladdens the merry heart of the Archaeologist,.,
when, as the Manager of the jovial desecration —
the savoury contents of the basket spread on the
elastic turf, — he startles the ladies by wielding
the carious thigh bone, or bowling the grinning
skull. As to the name of the "Hogue Dyke,"
transmitted by the enchorial tradition, it is
clearly Teutonic ; but nothing more can be
predicated concerning the etymology.
Seretf § 29. Only two harbours or waters of refuge
are found in the Peninsula. — Barfleur, the one
Port, though during the middle ages, the most ac-
IMPORTANCE OF THE COTENTIN. 99
customed, offers but a perilous entry or departure ; 990-1024
haunted by the gloomy celebrity resulting from
the shipwreck of the « Blanche nef," and the
unhappy loss of that wayward child, not the less
mourned by reason of his errors, the Atheling
William, in whom the male line of the Conqueror
became extinct, and after whose death the Royal
father never smiled again.
A most ample compensation however is
afforded for Barfleur's disadvantages, in the excel-
the excel-
lence of the harbour and the magnificent roadstead
for which Cherbourg, the other Port, lying, as
nearly as possible, in the centre of the magnificent
sweep of the northern bay, is renowned : and
it was to this station that the Romans first
directed their care. " Cresaris Burgus" has con-
tinuously attracted the attention of the Rulers
of the Gauls, of Normandy, and of France.
The supposed etymon of the name may be a
scholastic fancy, but it is very certain that
Cherbourg's present defences replace the for-
tifications raised by the Masters of the World.
Subsequently to the Imperial age, the more
antient muniments were included in. or concealed
' m
by, a mediaeval fortress, the occasional residence
of Harold Blaatand. The Norman Dukes, as
English Kings, and the Capetian Kings of France,
and the successors of the Capetian Kings, have
constantly and steadily directed their vigilance
to these quarters. The prudence of Louis
Quatorze bestowed the additional strength which,
H 2
100 INHABITANTS OF THE COTENTIN.
996-1024 in his time, was necessary for the security of
a position threatened by the most formidable
amongst his maritime enemies. When the bas-
tions of Yauban arose, the relics of classic an-
tiquity disclosed how sagaciously the Ca?sars had
anticipated the great teacher of modern strategy.
Whilst I am writing these lines, the Statesmen
of the Tuilleries are hastening the works con-
sidered as imperatively demanded for the safety
of the State. And the cyclopean constructions
battling with the waves, will, ere long, complete
the pride of Maritime France.
The inhabitants of the Cotentin were con-
cotentL e generous with the natural citadel, of which, so
to speak, they composed the garrison. WTien
the region and the people first come under our
cognizance, we find a race descended from the
purest Danishry, retaining all the vigour of their
progenitors conjoined to the lessons derived
from civilization ; soldiers and sailors, the
bravest on land, the most skilful on the seas.
Wlio so prompt for service, who so clever, who
so agile, and who so stalwart, as the Cotentin
Butsekarls, ever ready to affront their foes or
defend their land ? They inherited all the bold-
ness, and all the skill of the antient Vikings.
§ 30. The repartition of the country amongst
Hollo's followers was prosecuted immediately
after the conclusion of the treaty which recog-
psiac settled nized his domination. Here he fixed the brave
in the
7 and trusty Oslac, whom we have reverenced
BARONAGE OF THE COTENTIN. 101
as the grey-headed guardian of Richard Sans- 996-1024
peur.
Another donee is known. Evidence concern-
ing the process adopted in settling the primary
Rollo.
allotment of the Neustrian land amongst the
Northmen is exceedingly rare ; but the Seigneurs
of Saint Sauvcur long treasured amongst their
archives, a copy of the grant by which the territory
had been bestowed upon their ancestor, Richard,
one of Rollo's principal commanders. The do-
main is described as principally consisting of
wood and waste land. Herbert, Bishop of Cou-
tances, consecrated the domestic chapel, and the
instrument attesting the performance of the rite
rehabilitates the primal concession, which, the
example being solitary, we might otherwise be
apt to reject altogether.
This circumstance, however, would not fur-
nish an irrefragable reason for critical scepticism.
It is certain that the donations made by the
Conqueror in England required to be attested by
his charter under seal, and yet, only one such
charter, amongst the many hundreds that were
granted, can now be found.
The Castle of Saint Sauveur still exists ; and
it is possible that some portions of the primitive
structure may be incorporated in the picturesque
ruin.
This same Barony of Saint Sauveur is of
great importance in Norman history. The dota-
tion in question, composing the premier Barony of
102 CASTLES OF THE COTENTIN.
999-1024 the Cotentin, descended to Richard's son Neel or
Nigei, vu Nigel, who was also appointed Vicomte of the Co-
c0oTentkf.the tentin; and the dignity continued hereditary in the
Saint Sauveur family, till forfeited by rebellion.
In Normandy, as in England, the Jurists
held that the erection of a Castle, unless sanc-
tioned by the Sovereign's licence, was an illegal
act. But whether or no, the Cotentin Baronage
freely assumed the power ; and, within three gene-
rations and four, from the first settlement made
by Hollo and his feres, the Cotentin bristled with
the fortresses which the Baronage had raised.
oaseuestelltin The massy quadrangular Keep, so impressive
upon the imagination by its bulk and stately
solidity, and commonly accepted as the nor-
mal type of a Norman Castle, was introduced
into Normandy from Maine. Nevertheless, the
Cotentin Castles, wide in their range, and richly
varied in their architectural style, constitute the
ornament of the landscape : and, after all the di-
lapidations, restorations, or destructions, which
they sustained, whether occasioned by war, or
consequent upon peace, effected by violence, or
dictated by taste or necessity, more than one
hundred of these structures still survive. — We
read the history of the country on the face of
the country
Each of these Castles proclaims the lineage
to whom the stronghold whilom appertained.
querors of . .
sidilia'and No Baronage in France more pure m race, more
England. ? more sturdy, or more needy. The popu-
ENGLISH INVASION OF THE COTENTIN. 103
lation was teeming, the sterile land could not feed 909-1024
them, but the roaring surges surrounded them.
All loved the sea, and upon the waves, and beyond
the waves they were ever seeking their fortunes.
From Hauteville, nigh Coutances, came the Con-
querors of Apulia and Sicily. And when we
call over Battle-Abbey roll, or search the
Doomsday record, or trace the lineage of our
antient Aristocracy, we shall find that the Lords
of these same Cotentin Castles, with scarcely
an exception, served in the Conqueror's army,
or settled in the Realm they won.
2 31. The reception given to the Danes by Etheired
" declares war
Richard provoked Ethelred's anger, and justly ; '
for such a neutrality was far more dangerous
than avowed hostility. Etheired was not un-
ready, but ever ready at the wrong time. —
More detrimental than sloth is misplaced dili-
gence.
In proportion to Ethelred's defective judg-
ment was the intensity of his impotent ire. Sum-
moning his fleets at Portsmouth, he proclaimed
the extent equally of his vengeance and of his
mercy. Richard, transported, was to be brought
to England as a captive— his hands manacled
behind his back — the whole country wasted with
fire and flame ; the guarded Mount, dedicated to
the Archangel, alone exempted from devastation.
The English fleet, obeying the King's hasty and
injudicious instructions, made for the mouth of
the Sarre, rising very near Cherbourg, and falling
104 DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH.
999-1024 into the sea just above Barfleur, a streamlet
scarcely to be called a river, useless to the in-
vaders, but which would facilitate the movements
of the inhabitants against them.
Landing of Soon as the English fleet hove in sight, Neel
the English
cotentm. de Saint Sauveur, true to his trust, defending
his Suzerain's rights and his own, hoisted the
Vicontiel banner. The Knighthood flocked
in, whilst the amphibious population of the
Cotentin, skilled at sea and fierce on land,
would have mustered without call or summons.
Joyfully did all the peasantry rise en masse,
just as their progenitors had done, when., during
the wars of Sans-peur, fighting for their homes
against the King of France, or the Teutonic Em-
peror, they had deployed themselves in the forest
defiles of Maromme, or the banks of the Rouge-
mare, or splashed across the Dieppe water, or
stumbled with uncertain footing amidst the
spongy salt marshes of Corbon. The like did
they now.
thfis^iBh Forth they came, as they were bound to
do, with hook and with crook, with fork and
with spike, with club and with flail ; the women
taking an efficient part in the conflict. The
English were completely cut up. None escaped,
save those who fled to the shore, where, crowd-
ing into the six largest vessels, all the re-
maining craft were abandoned to the victors. —
Many a Knight, many a Squire, many a Vassal,
many a Varlet, who fought on the field of the
THE PACIFICATION. 105
Sang-lac, beneath William's consecrated banner, 999-1024
was invigorated by the tale his old father had
told ; how despitefully the English had ravaged
their homes, and how he, the now grey-headed
speaker, then young and strong, had helped to
dispatch the English dastards.
§32. A pacification ensued between the
English and Norman Sovereigns ; a certain
fact, but as to period, mode, and manner, per-
plexingly obscure. To both nations, the trans-
actions seemed somewhat discreditable. Either
party attempted to cast some disgrace upon the
other. The Normans were insulted, the English
worsted, but the Normans had no need to be
ashamed of the insult. The Cotentin invasion was
one of the links in the chain of causation, which
led to their triumph and to England's subjugation.
A document is extant specially relating to
this same pacification, possessing great interest,
inasmuch as it is the earliest formal convention
between two independent States appearing in
European diplomacy. Whether original or tran-
script, a plausible text has been preserved.
The instrument purports to be the result of a
Congress at Rouen, held pursuant to the inter-
vention of the supreme Pontiff, anxious to pre-
vent the shedding of Christian blood. We read
the articles in extenso, as transmitted to us
by the most discriminating and trustworthy
amongst our Historians ; - - perhaps the only
writer who, during the mediaeval era, combines
106 PAPAL INTERVENTION.
999-1024 an intimate acquaintance with public affairs with
classical taste and critical discernment. — Per-
petual peace, a sorrowful illusive covenant, is
and1 Engird stipulated : — and, as the best means of ensuring
concluded by
YMttaTof this condition, a paragraph is inserted, which,
«john xv." could the clause have been observed, would cer-
— See Art
tainly have tended to promote international amity.
Neither party was to receive the enemies of the
other, not even his liege subjects, unless the
latter should be furnished with a passport under
his Sovereign's seal.
Such is the main substance of this remark-
able compact, singular in every sense ; consistent,
clear, agreeing with the circumstances under
which the parties were placed, yet nevertheless of
highly dubious authenticity. The Pontiff, entitling
himself "Johannes XV,, Sanctce Romance, Ecclesice
Papa, 'is represented as employing a style utterly
unknown in the Vatican. Never did the " Servus
servorum Deir narrow his oecumenical autho-
rity by writing himself " Pope of Koine" —or
in any bull, brief, or rescript add a regnal
numeral to^ his name. Indeed this practice
did not obtain in the Court of any Prince or
Sovereign until a comparatively recent era. — •
No mediaeval Referendary or Chancellor would
acknowledge the form. Were an English Patent
produced, in which " Henricus films Johannis
Regis" is made to assume the style of " Henricus
Tertius," the parchment would attest its own spu-
riousness. We do not discover any example of
MARRIAGES OF ETHELRED. 107
the present prevailing style in any public trans- 900-1024
action of any country until far later times —
never did Louis -Qnatorze distinguish himself
from his predecessors or successors by the num-
ber which has become the symbol of his glories.
France knew not the usage until Napoleon
proclaimed himself le premier, with the anxious
intent of securing the omen that there should be
a continuance of the D}rnasty.
But whilst we reject the Convention in the
shape now presented, we accept its import. — The
quarrel and the reconciliation are unquestionable
verities. Ethelred, surrounded by a cloud of ene-
mies, sought to expand the Norman neutrality into
a close alliance. At this period Ethelred was the ?th?11«d'«
family by the
father of ten children : six sons, the eldest the H-rSiS.
heroic Ironside, who, had his exertions been per-
mitted to prosper, would have averted the ruin of
the falling kingdom : also, four daughters. Yet obscurity of
this era in
so fragmentary and failing are the sources o
information relating to these troublous times, that
our classical Historian, the member of an antient
Community whose archives were peculiarly rich
— he himself distinguished by acumen, knowledge
and industry — informs us, that he knew nothing
concerning the mother of this numerous family.
The name of Ethelred' s Queen, says William of
Malmesbury, is lost in the shades of antiquity.
But a Chronicler in the distant North, Ailred
of Rivaulx, affords us the information concealed
from, his brother in South Britain ; for he testifies
108 EMMA.
999-1024 that Ethelred's first Consort was a noble lady?
daughter of the Ealdor-man Thored. — Therefore,
all the doubts which have been surdly raised
concerning Ironside's legitimacy are dispelled.
§ 33. None of the Norman marriages contri-
buted so potentially to the prosperity of Rollo's
race as the matrimonial alliance contracted with
the Ruler, who, in the midst of all his disas-
ters, continued to style himself, " Ethelred, by
the grace of God Basileus of Albion, King
and Monarch of all the British nations; of
the Orkneys and the surrounding Islands."
Deficiency of National antipathy, — deficiency or loss of
information.
information, — and worse than deficiency, perver-
sion of information, have all conjoined to involve
in great obscurity the history of the transac-
tions relating to Emma. We have seen how
the antient Historians themselves confess their
ignorance. The disturbed chronology of the
events betrays the confusion of the times ; and
we pick up our facts like counters cast upon the
ground. But more generally the dates are wholly
omitted. In the six books of the history which
we owe to Guillaunie de Jumieges, constituting
the main basis of our narrative after Dudo's de-
mise, only three quotations of the current year
can be found to give us anchorage.
The order of narration which I have adopted
throughout the whole length and breadth of these
perplexing chapters is such as appears to me to
afford the most plausible mode of presenting
EMMA. 109
causes and consequences. Let the arrangement be 999-1024
accepted with allowance for its difficulties, as the
best chronological hypothesis which I can form.
The peace concluded, Ethelred sought to
unite himself with Normandy by a closer
bond. Could he become Richard's brother-in-
law, — could he engraft the branch of Cerdic upon
the stem of Rollo, would not England obtain a
far greater power amongst the nations ? And,
over and above the political advantages promised
by such a marriage, the personal attractions of
the Adeliza Emma may have had some weight in
this politic scheme.
Ethelred shewed himself in earnest. The
English Monarch passed over into Normandy ; II
urged his suit in person; and wooed successfully. person
The Lady's natural guardian assented ; and, the
preliminaries being settled, Ethelred, having
quitted Rouen, was succeeded by the appearance
of a noble cortege despatched from the English
court, who returned to England with Emma as
his affianced Bride.
Such was Ethelred's impatience, that the
espousals took place, contrary to the ordinances
of the Church, during the Lenten season. Ethel-
red bid high for Richard's sister. Very ample
was the dowry the Lady of Normandy re-£,w«e
ceived ; but testifying rather to the bridegroom's upon Emma
J by Ethelred.
liberality than his judgment. The Atheliza re-
ceived extensive domains in the maritime coun-
ties of Devon and Hants. — The whole circuit of
suit in
110 EMMA'S DOWRY.
999-1024 the "Rote-land" or "Redland," a bailiwick not
yet brought into Shire-land — for the forest of
Luffield then covered the whole, — Winchester,
the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Empire, — and
Exeter, the pride and fortress of South Britain.
Placed in actual possession of these domains ;
Emma was gratified with the power of appointing
her own officers ; and she exercised authority by
granting the command of the la-st-mentioned City,
where the Cornubian Britons had lingered till the
reign of Athelstane, Ethelred's grandsire, to her
Chamberlain and Confidant, the Norman Hugh.
No fear of the Natives now. — They had been "ex-
terminated," that is to say, they had been cleared
out : whether up to the -Exe, or up to the Tamar,
the effect was the same. — " Ex-termino" — How
singularly do we trace the logical sequence
disclosed by etymology. — Hunt and herry the
weaker races out of their houses and homes, and
they dwindle away.
he English Emma was welcomed by her new subjects as
the " Gem of Normandy." They could not gainsay
her beauty, but her foreign manners told against
her. Her " uncouth," or unknown appellation
in particular, sounded unpleasantly upon the
English ear. — Like the Russians, the English
sought that their Sovereign's strange spouse
should be at least apparently nationalized ; and
they bestowed upon her the name or epithet
of Elfgiva, honoured or dishonoured by the
widow of Charles le-Sirnple, and the mother of
EMMA RETURNS TO NORMANDY. Ill
Louis d'Outremer ; — that wife so true, that 999-1021
mother so bold and tender, but of whom we have
long since taken our leave, as the doating grey-
haired widow running away with a big boy.
The heavy misfortunes sustained by the ^""f
English had impressed them with the feeling r(
that their sins would bring on their punishment,
and that they would be brought to confusion.
Rowena's cup was a poisoned cup. The Anglo-
Saxon domination was founded upon fraud and
violence. Retribution was impending ; and
many of the faithful raised up for the warning
of their fellow countrymen survived to witness
the chastisement, which their profound belief in
the eternal justice of the Living God visiting
the sins of the fathers upon the children, had
enabled them to foretell.
§ 34. The union, commenced with simulated
g and triumph, was speedily interrupted she returns to
by calamity. Emma returned to her native home.
More than one reason is assigned for this ill-
omened flight of the Bride. According to some
authorities, Ethelred disgusted her by his profli-
gacy, incontinence, wine-bibbing, and gluttony.
Other causes may be conjectured. The churl
Hugh was accused of having betrayed his trust
to the Danes, and Emma may have been suspected
of conniving at her Chamberlain's treachery. In
that same year also, or within the year, Ethelred
perpetrated the Blood-bath or Massacre of Saint
Brice, his day ; and Elfgiva Emma took refuge
112 BURGUNDY.
999-1024 in her native land from the horror and confusion.
But, whether guilty or innocent, the result was
the same. The heart of Emma clung more and
more to her native land. Her feelings were in-
herited by the children who were afterwards born
to her — they imbibed them at their mother's
breast. Their hearts were thoroughly alienated
from England, and the Normans and Normandy
became as their kindred and their home.
§ 35. We must now view Richard as the ally
of France. Most memorably was young Nor-
mandy's encreasing strength manifested during
the obstinate warfare waged by King Robert
Burgundy- against Burgundy, constituting, equally in its
th!nRoyti immediate results, and remote consequences, the
most memorable passage of his reign. — The
Low Countries, Spain, Portugal, Italy, all came
within the wide sphere of Burgundian influence,
and the death of Philip le-Hardi upon the field
of Granson, was the event, which, by liberating
the Eidgenossen from his fear, decided the fate
of the Empire.
Dignified by the reminiscences of antient
Barbarian royalty, Burgundy had been retained
as the peculiar apanage of Robert le-Fort's
descendants, their firmest stronghold, supporting
them during the contests with the Carlovingian
dynasty : and, when Hugh le-Grand was preparing
the way for his son's accession to the throne,
the Style assumed by the wise politician marked
the importance he attached to the coustitu-
BURGUNDY. 113
tional distinction between the two Dominations, 999-1024
avoiding any confusion between the rights of the
Duke of Burgundy and the rights of the Duke of
France — the throne he sought, and the posses-
sions which enabled his son to win the sceptre.
Since Charles le-Chauve's reign, Burgundy gj'j
had been divided into the "Duchy of Burgundy" SffSSSf
jurano, into
and the "County of Burgundy," afterwards ernpha-
tically denominated the " Franche Compte," such c
appellation testifying that the fief was not held
of the Counts of Burgundy, but of the Sovereign.
This interesting country, so picturesquely
covered by the roots of the Jura, and including
various territories wrested from the Duke in
later times by the formidable and fraudulent
Switzers, was dependant upon the Crown of
France. But the political relations subsisting
between the Dukes or Counts of Burgundy and
the Fleur de lis, rank amongst the vexed ques-
tions of French constitutional history.
Burgundy was distinguished by the sanctity,
the opulence, and the numbers of her religious and ™
qucut
institutions. Her ecclesiastical annals are there-
fore sufficiently ample; but no Historian of
any note was nurtured in the Abbeys, con-
sequently, her secular annals are defective and
imperfect, and the wide discrepancies between
the authorities, concerning the dates of events,
when they ought to run parallel with the occur-
rences in France and Normandy, frequently per-
plex the narrative.
VOL. III. I
114 BURGUNDY.
999-1024 At the period when Hugh Capet acquired
965-ioo2 ^ne throne, the Duchy was held by Henry, his
brother, distinguished in history as Henri le-
Duke of
fhT^caSian Grand, though, according to the ordinary sense
in which this much abused and often mischievous
epithet is employed, we cannot discover any
appropriateness in the application thereof to
him. — Henry was really a good man, a quiet
man ; never did he give the slightest disturbance
to his neighbours, never did he perform a war-
like deed, never did he engage in any intrigues
political or amatory, his time and mind being
completely engrossed by higher objects. A Char-
ter, however, can be quoted in which Hugh Capet
bestows upon his brother the title of "Grand
Duke," but the original is not extant. Possibly,
the expression intended to bestow upon Henry
a superior constitutional dignity, became collo-
quially attached to his name.
r ^J a strange concurrence of circumstances,
the legitimate representative of the Lombard
Kmgs of Italy had settled in Burgundy. The
chagionsf- romantic adventures of the Prince and Pirate,
Otho Guil-
their Adalbert, or Albert, the son of King Berenger
and bold Guilla, have been elsewhere told. Stren-
uous and astute, Adalbert sobered as he grew
older, and, wandering beyond the Alps, he es-
poused Gerberga, daughter of the much honoured
Lambert, Count of Chalons, by whom he had one
child, Otho Guillauine.
Adalbert gathered to his fathers, Gerberga
Vol. II.,
BURGUNDIAN WARS. 115
effected the conquest of worthy old Duke Henry. 005-1021
May we not suppose that she possessed her Gcrberga
namesake's energetic qualities : at all events her ffidSti,
i • • i T ni;nTies
son was distinguished by valour and talent : 1)ukeHenry.
' who adopts
and, such was the influence which they both
gained over the venerable Duke, that he adopted
the youth, declaring him his successor and heir.
Duke Henry did not possess any legal power
to make such a grant ; and, upon his demise, the
Duchy reverted to the Crown. But Otho Guil-
laume fully deserved the authority, and, one indi-
vidual alone foreprized, he obtained the general
support of the Burgundian Clergy and Nobility.
King Bobert, albeit entranced by his poetry,
diligent in works of charity and piety, and per-
plexed and plagued by his cross-grained Beauty,
had fully prepared for the contingency of his dear ^cnbardle-
Uncle's death, and forthwith applied to Eichard
of Normandy for aid. Equally on the alert was
the Duke ; and a large army, amounting or mag-
nified to the number of thirty thousand men, mus-
tered under the Norman standard, which was
borne aloft by Eoger de Toesny. Very powerful
did the united families of Toesny and Conches
become in England, and the Standard bearer's
grandson married the Adeliza Judith, the widow
of the unfortunate Waltheoff, Earl of Huntingdon.
Bound numbers are necessarily incorrect :
making, however, in this case, the fullest allow-
ance for any exaggeration, far did the force
brought up by Bichard exceed any contingent
i 2
116 BURGUNDIAN WARS.
999-1024 which King Eobert could claim as a right from
the Duke of Normandy, Rollo's heir. Bichard,
in fact, acted in the character of an ally rather
than as a feudatory. Nor can we doubt but
that a large portion of his troops were mer-
cenaries serving for their solde or pay ; and
they cared not against whom they drew the
sword. Normandy was overflowing with a mili-
tary population, anxious for employment, and for
plunder. It was the universal feeling that the
land was not wide enough for them.
Rapid was the march of the combined armies.
— Duke Henrv had scarcely been gathered to his
and
Normans, fathers, when the assailants presented themselves
before Auxerre, the frontier City between Cham-
pagne and Burgundy. Secured against an enemy
by the broad Saone and the encircling walls
and towers, popular belief imparted a greater
power of defence to "Autissiodurum" than could
be bestowed merely by lime and stone. The
inhabitants were persuaded that the protection
given by Saint Germain to the locality where
his corpse was deposited, rendered the Place
impregnable.
Landric, Count of Nevers, commanded the
city. The Abbey had been fortified. Abbot
Adalric interceded on behalf of the citizens,
but fruitlessly ; and Richard and his Normans
commenced the blockade.
This was a season of remarkable atmospheric
and cosmical phenomena. A fiery dragon shot
BURGUNDIAN WARS. 117
quivering across the heavens, rising in the north 999-1024
and setting in the south. A portentous mist then ,
Atmospheric
came on, shrouding earth and sky. Auxerre
o t/
..
. extraordi-
was involved in darkness. The Arbahsters nary. ?me"s
— raising of
could not aim their bolts, — those weapons sothci
destructive when sighted by the Norman eye
and supported by the Norman arm, — whilst all
the missiles told upon the besiegers. King
Robert, however, contending against every diffi-
culty, continued his operations steadily ; and the
charters dated from his Camp, pending the siege,
exemplified the vigour of his royal authority
at the very time he was most stoutly opposed :
but the perseverance of the Auxerrois was re-
warded ; the invading forces, abandoning the
Leaguer, struck their tents and moved on.
An obstinate warfare ensued. Otho Guillaume, Juv^°£y the
able and active, had won the people's hearts, and tB0utm>odia
Guillaume.
the Burgundians availed themselves of the natural
defences afforded by their mountainous regions.
Only one single Noble adhered to King Robert,
Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre as well as Count of
Chalons, — who will ultimately appear in a lu-
dicrous as well as humiliating position. What
think ye of a Count-Bishop, literally saddled
and figuratively bridled ?
Normans and French advanced up the coun-
try. Avalon, — whose Celtic name strangely in-
terests us by the recollections which the sound
suggests of the mythic Arthur's sepulture, — Ava-
lon, dreary Avalon — was invested by the enemy,
118 BURGUNDIAN WARS.
994-1024 but in vain; for the bleak and rocky hills of
that remarkable region, where every stone ex-
hibits the mysterious seals testifying the evolu-
tion of life, and the infliction of death, in time, but
before time, at the Almighty's behest, constituted
a series of natural fortifications which greatly
impeded the besiegers ; the inhabitants however,
not having been enabled to provision their town,
they were starved out, and surrendered.
The country was ravaged, but the talent of
the Lombard Statesman and Warrior had won
the hearts of the Clergy and Nobility. Otho
Guillaume commanded the suffrages of all ranks.
King Eobert had not gained an adherent, save
and except that one Count-Bishop, he of Auxerre
and Chalons. During nearly twelve years the
war continued obstinately, until, at length, a
compromise was effected. Henry, second Duke
Robert, ^st of the name, King Robert's eldest son, was
Duke of
ofuthenRo'yai appointed Duke of this much contested land.
France. But the government was nevertheless carried
on by King Robert, until his son, King Henry,
ascended the throne, when he bestowed the
Duchy upon his father's homonym, Robert the
younger, though denominated Robert le-Vieux,
and he must be accepted as the founder of the
Capetian line of Dukes, so active, so influential,
so splendid, but so troublesome to the dynasty
from which they sprung.
As to Otho Guillaume, he was ultimately
compensated by receiving the Franche Cornpte.
BURGUNDIAN WARS. 119
His son Renault! succeeded to his authority ; 994-1024
his marriage with Alice, otherwise Judith, the 995
"
daughter of our Duke Richard, connected him i
succeeded,
with Normandy. In the next generation we
shall find his descendants asserting a claim to
Normandy, and giving trouble to the Conqueror ;
and from Otho Guillaume was the royal house
of Portugal also descended.
120
CHAPTER III.
RICHARD LE-BON AND HIS SUCCESSORS, RICHARD III ROBERT
LE-HAGNIFIQUE OR LE-DIABLE EARLY INFANCY OF WIL-
LIAM THE BASTARD.
1024—1035.
§ 1. RICHARD, called again to Burgundy, had
enjoyed sufficient opportunity for keeping his
eager Normans in training; and, towards the
conclusion of his reign, he was again roused by
Eudes le-Ohampenois .
county of Between the Pays Chartrain and Normandy
Dreux,
there was a debatable land, a territory originally
included, as the old historiographers maintain, in
train and
occupied by
Richard the cession made to Hollo ; but lost and won.
oa.H3-pcur. /
"We are speaking of Dreux, the County of Dreux,
which County in subsequent times became a
splendid illustration of our baronial history, when
Pierre de Dreux, Count of Brittany, acquired
the noble Honour of Richmond. You may see
his bearings in the Chancel window there ;
" chequey, or, and azure, a Canton of Brittany,"
but you may search in vain for any such heraldic
memorial of him in his own land. Originally
the Pagus Drocensium constituted a portion
of Hollo's dominions, but at a subsequent era
more clearly within our ken, Dreux had been
held by a line of Counts whose last represen-
RICHARD AND EUDES. 121
tative disappears in Richard Sans-pcur's reign. 1024-1035
Richard seems to have treated the County as
a Fief which had devolved upon him by es-
cheat, inasmuch as we find the great Seigneurie
in his possession without any war, at least no
war is noticed, and he annexed the same to his
dominions.
The territory is bounded towards the north Tiiuwcl-
Castle
by the streamlet Aure, which falls into the e,rectc?
•> there by
Eure. The acquisition was important. The ilon'ii6"
rvi -i Roman
country was open to inimical Chartres : and a foundations.
Roman road connecting Dreux and Chartres,
extensive remains of which may yet be dis-
covered, must have been at least as passable in
the eleventh century as our Watling Street in
old Norman times. But if the Romans multi-
plied communications between the various parts
of their dominions, they were equally careful to
provide the means of defence ; and a station, the
Castrum Tegulense, was raised, adjoining the
banks of the river — a memorial of their vigilant
strategy ; just as Alder shot affords a living tes-
timony, so to speak, of their acuteness and
military judgment. Subsequently a town was
erected there, which obtained the name of Til-
lieres. The original name of the station, the Tile-
Kiln^ bespeaks the nature of the soil ; Tillieres
is in fact the original Thuilleries, and, building
materials beins^ close at hand, Richard le-Bon
* > j
had very considerately founded a castle upon
the Roman site. It is always more than an even
122 DREUX DISPUTED.
1024-1035 chance that the mediaeval engineers selected for
their fortresses the positions where the Caesars
had been before them.
Eudes le-Champenois had been thoroughly
baffled by Richard at Melun, but a pacific feeling
arose, or, at all events, both parties concurred
tetweef in desiring peace ; Eudes sued for, and obtained
champers the hand of Maude or Matilda, a daughter of
and Matilda
-Sffi Richard Sans-peur. Her brother Richard le-
Sa*3 ^on testified his approbation by granting to her
crew after a very handsome dowry, inasmuch as he settled
dowry
all differences by guerdoning the bride with
one moiety of the County of Dreux. Whether
this was an actual partition by metes and
bounds, or whether made by ceding particular
and specific towns, seigneuries, or domains,
cannot be ascertained ; and it was a reasonable
condition imposed by Richard le-Bon, that, in
the event of Maude's death without issue, the
gift should revert to the Donor.
§ 2. All promised fair, but to Maude was de-
nied the usual fertility of Normandy's daughters.
Year after year ran round ; no jolly cheerful
messenger appeared at Rouen respectfully sum-
moning Richard to stand godfather to any
children of hers ; no little nephews or nieces
presented to him ; no babe to rejoice the heart of
the father — she died childless. And now Eudes
acted in conformity to the spirit of his lineage.
The Pays de Dreux constituted a very im-
portant border-land. In possession, Eudes de-
Death
o
Eudes refuses
DISSENSIONS ENCREASING. 123
termined to keep possession, and refused to 1024-1033
surrender the dowry lands. Tillieres was in
a good state of defence. Very probably the
anticipation of such a demur had previously sug-
gested to Richard the expediency of encreasiug
the fortifications ; anyhow, he profited by these
precautions, and the war began.
§ 3. Harrying the Chartrain territory,
Richard le-
Richard victualled the Castle at the expense of £°
the plundered enemy, and he forthwith summoned
his baronage. Distinguished among them was
Neel de Saint Sauveur, commanding the Cotentin
their head
warriors, fretting within their narrow boundaries, |
the men of Northern descent, amongst whom
lion assem-
bles his
Roger his
the Danske dialect was worn out, but who never- son-
theless were fully animated with the Danish spirit.
With him, Ralph de Toesny, and Roger, yclept
the Spaniard, Ralph's bold son. Roger appears
as Standard-bearer of Normandy, equalling
that father in valour, and rivalling him in
ferocity.
Richard commenced operations by insulting m"n1eesstoetor"
Dreux. — Eudes held hard and fast : and, con- TuS-
Walerau of
fident in his strength, he resolved to retain his H1^1" count
. ... -, .-, -IT . of Maine join
acquisitions, and secure them, by destroying
the wasp's nest at Tillieres. Large forces had
been levied or obtained from his own subjects,
as well as from his allies. In particular, he
was powerfully supported by Waleran de Mel-
lent and Hugh Count of Maine, the district which
became often so troublesome to the Normans,
124 EUDES DEFEATED.
1024-1035 until the Conqueror annexed that antient domi-
nation to his territories.
A forced march during the night brought
the Lords of Mellent and Maine before the
walls of Tillieres. Kichard was ready, and forth
he sallied. Three were the Champions appointed
Constables of the Host, Neel de Saint Sauveur,
and Ralph and Roger de Toesny, the formida-
ble sire and son. Ample reinforcements also ;
Frenchmen, described as such. The national
appellation of "Francais" had already become
attached to all the Romane populations ; and the
Normans themselves did not repudiate the term,
so influential amongst the causes, and so im-
portant as the consequence, of that feeling which
has imparted an indomitable vitality to the Cape-
tian Realm. — Republic, Kingdom, or Empire,
France, centuries before the Tricolor was un-
furled or the Eagle raised, felt herself one and
indivisible.
Jromthey Richard did not wait to be attacked. The
RicShaerT three gonfauous floating in the air distinguished
heads his
three squadrons which sallied forth ; whilst,
pre-eminent amidst them, was the Ducal standard,
put to flight.
marking the spot where Richard was wielding
his sword, spreading dismay amongst the enemy :
Saint Michael's banner inspired as much terror
as the Danish Raven. A desperate sortie,
made by the besieged, produced a sudden
rout of the besiegers. Eudes, himself, scoured
the field as a fugitive, rapidly as his father
BATTLE OF TILLIERES. 125
had clone after the defeat of Hermondeville. 1024-1035
He would have been captured had he not been
rescued by Walcran de Mcllcnt's aid, who con-
ducted him home in safety. All fled for their
lives, or next to it. Men had much to fight for ; —
a fearful fate threatened the captive. Courtesy
to the vanquished, even in the days of chi-
valry, was very capricious ; the more distin-
guished, and therefore the more valuable, the
prize, the more jealous the custody. Had Eudes
been caught, he might have pined for months,
nay, for years, dropped in the dungeon pit, loaded
with chains, or sometimes, as an alleviation, ex-
changing those chains for a link clinking on
his right leg, dragging a clog.- -You may see
a brace of these clogs in the old Norman Keep
of Castle Rising: the biggest is called u roaring
Meg ; " her sister, somewhat smaller, " pretty
Bessy."
Hugh Count of Maine galloped away till his
horse stood stock still, the animal being com-
pletely winded : he also fell into a ditch, and
sustained other mischances, as the Trouveur
tells. The Normans were tracking him, and he
was fully aware that they were on the scent.
Off he cast his hauberk, and flung away his
spurs. A Shepherd sheltered him, and he
tended the sheep. The Normans continued
hunting the enemy, they bore a grudge against
him. He fled from the sheep-cote and concealed
himself in the woods, skulking till he reached
126 THE NORTHMEN IN BRITTANY.
1024-1035 Le Mans, his naked limbs all torn by the thorny
bushes and the flinty ways.
§ 4. But the power of Chartres was not af-
fected by such a defeat, the discomfiture was a
Kings of
swedeau.and graze? not a wound. Richard was in a great
strait, and we are in a manner startled by the
appearance in the field of Olave the Norwegian
King, and another King who was denominated
King of the Swedes. English chronicles identify
him with the King Olave, who was subsequently
canonized. A Church is dedicated to the memory
of this King Olave in the " South-work," now
emphatically called the Borough ; and, in "Tooley
Street," we may be interested by the homely, nay,
almost vulgar fusion of the Scandinavian name.
m^n ilndtho~n § 5. Again the Northmen are pursuing their
Brittany8. ° devastations. The Danes having assembled their
armies, and probably sailing from England,
their fleet, so terrible to the miserable English,
assailed the shores of Brittany.
It seems they were driven in by a storm ;
and they immediately turned the mischance to
account. All along this northern coast con-
siderable changes have taken place, — the land
gaining upon the sea. The vicinity now presents
many features susceptible of strategic improve-
ment, — here available to the inhabitants, there
to an invader; but the Bretons were not a
match for the amphibious Northmen, whether
The Bridaie on land or water. The doleful bridale of Dole
of Dole.
had not taught them caution, and they allowed
DISCOMFITURE OF THE BRETONS. 127
the enemy to make the most of their oppor- 1024-1035
timities.
The story is reported to us amply though con- j^^n|tde-
fusedly. The city of Dole is commanded by the E
Mount Dole, boldly rising from the plain, between
the city and the sea ; and here an examination
of the locality induces us to place the Danish
encampment. The Bretons, whose local chieftain
was a certain Count Solomon, a name which is
tolerably familiar in the Armorican genealogies,
rallied their forces, and summoned all absentees
to return and aid in the defence of their homes.
Their strength mainly consisted in their cavalry ;
the Northmen knew it, and slow and cautious
were the operations on either side. Preparing for
adopted by
an attack upon their entrenchments, to be made meenf°lth"
from, the level below, they dressed the field for
the fight, by adopting a stratagem not unfre-
quently employed. They scored the ground with
pit-falls, and planted them with stakes : the arti-
fice was stale and rude, and yet it usually suc-
ceeded. The Pirates soon afterwards practised
the same device in Acquitaine, to the great dis-
comfiture of the inhabitants, and we find it re-
peated upon English ground in the battle of
Hastings, and also in the famous battle of the
Standard, between the representative of Blois
and the Plantagenet, so celebrated in North-
umbrian history. The Bretons, unsuspicious of
the contrivance, were thrown into confusion.
Solomon took refuge in Dole; the Danes fired
128 TEEATY OF COUDRES.
1024-1035 the town ; Solomon was slain, the country plun-
dered, and the Northmen now set to work upon
Danes sail
!- the business for which they had been called. They
hoisted their sails : favourable winds facilitated
their voyage through the Channel, they entered
the Seine, and their keels, pulling up to the
Norman capital, they were hailed by their friend
Richard.
^his transaction was simply a perseverance
r. in the policy which Kicharcl had notoriously
ance. — King
Robert's adopted for consolidating his alliance with the
sagacity and
Northmen ; but the re-appearance on this occa-
sion of these plunderers by nature and breeding,
rendered his predilections more patent and more
alarming to the French than any previous act.
All the apprehensions excited by the black
Danish blood were revived ; and not unrea-
sonably : King Robert felt the full extent of the
impending danger. No one of his predecessors
or progenitors could have displayed more reso-
lution, nor a truer sense of his royal duties and
prerogatives, than this henpecked King.
1020 Forthwith he assembled his Peers, and having
The treaty of
advised with them he summoned the two warlike
stored by the .
iJfKh,ention l^igants to appear before him, at (Joudres in the
Evrecin. Thanks to the Roman road, the locality
was convenient to all parties, and the place, now
obscure, may then have been rendered more
important by the remains and relics of antient
grandeur. Traditions of the old times continue
to be rife at Coudres. There is a field there, which
PACIFICATION WITH BLOIS. 129
has been always known to the peasantry, as the 1024-1035
" Champ d'aryent" though no token appeared
above ground justifying the appellation. — But
the tradition told truth. — Scarcely thirty years
have elapsed since the plough turned up a vase,
filled with plenty of "argent" in the monetary,
though not in the metallic sense, — large Roman
brass — six or seven hundred coins.
Here King Robert, as Conservator of the [^7nd
public peace, arbitrated between the contending0
parties — not by any means an easy task. — He had
to snatch the bone from the jaws of two angry hun-
gry mastiffs. However, the litigants obeyed his
award. — Dreux, thenceforward, became annexed
to the County of Blois and Chartres ; the town
of Dreux, the ample forest, and the noble Castle
towering above the plain, whose chapel now ex-
hibits, vainly or prophetically, according to the
political opinions of the observer, as he may be
guided by hope or fear, the thirty-two ceno-
taphs constructed by an exiled Monarch, and
destined by that Exile to receive the mortal re-
mains of his rejected Dynasty. Henceforward,
the antipathy between Blois and Chartres, and
Normandy, diminished. Anjou was becoming
more formidable to both parties. Stephen of
Blois, the son of Eudes by Hermengarda of
Auvergne, contracted a marriage with a Norman
Adeliza, Ditke Richard's daughter. And the
fear of Normandy encreased all around.
§ 6. At the commencement of Richard's
VOL. III. K
130 BURGUNDIAN TRANSACTIONS.
1024-1035 military career, Burgundy, and Burgundy's Sove-
great reigns had afforded the most exciting motives,
51"1' and the most ample field, for the exertion of his
prowess : and now, in connection with Burgundy,
was that career concluded. Renaud, the sou of
Otho William, who obtained possession of the
daughter of
much coveted Franche Compte, was a worthy
and renowned Prince, and he sought the hand
of a Norman Atheliza. I shall not attempt to
open the oft recurring question, whether this
denomination, bestowed by historians upon dam-
sels of Regal or Sovereign race, be an epithet
or a name. The reputation of her virtues and
beauty extended far and wide : and, instead of
wooing through the medium of an ambassador,
Reuaud, conforming to Normandy's gallant eti-
quette, the bright dawn of ideal chivalry, re-
paired to Rouen in person, won her heart, gained
her hand, and triumphantly brought her home.
§ 7. The Bishopric of Chalons continued
d to be the scandal of all France. Lambert, the
Count of
gon Of Robert the Count of Autun and Bishop
of Chalons, married Adelaide the daughter of
Count Robert his predecessor ; and their son
Hugh, inheriting his father's temporal preferment,
became Bishop of Auxerre, and took a wife, the
daughter of Geoffrey Grisgonnelle. This dis-
graceful breach of his vows may in some degree
be palliated, inasmuch as Hugh Capet had co-
erced him either into the marriage or into the
dignity, we can hardly tell which.
BURGUNDIAN WAR. 131
Some time afterwards, a quarrel broke out i1024-1035,
between the Count Bishop and Count Renaud.
Defeated and captured by the clerical warrior, j?;
Renaud was treated with great severity, loaded
. , much seve-
with chains and cast into a dungeon. Duke rit^-
Richard despatched ambassadors to the Count
Bishop, earnestly beseeching that, for his sake,
he would be pleased to liberate his daughter's
husband. Renaud's Countess also interceded.
All supplications were fruitless. Hugh not only
augmented the duresse of the prison-house, but he
turned away money ; refusing the large proffered
ransom. Duke Richard forthwith determined
to revenge the affront by carrying the war into
the Bishop's dominions. A numerous Norman
army was mustered against the ambiguous Lord
of Chalons. Richard's eldest son and namesake Richard's
eldest son —
was now a full-grown youth, prudent and bold, jyj£g
though he had not yet attained his majority ;
but, young as he was, his father was well con-
tented to conjoin him in the enterprise.
If, as some authorities state, Robert, Duke
Richard's second sou, (so well known as Robert
le-Diable,) accompanied his brother, they parted
before the termination of the war.
King Robert facilitated the operations : Norman
army sent
and, it is important to remark, that the Norman gg
army could not have marched through France
command
otherwise than with the Sovereign's permission;
a circumstance testifying the extent of the royal
prerogative, as well as King Robert's vigilance
K 2
132 CONCLUSION OF THE BUEGUNDIAN WAR.
1024-1035 in guarding his rights. Furthermore, Duke
Richard purchased the alliance of the Count of
Peronne by granting to him certain fiefs in the
Hiesrnois. The Normans and their allies fiercely
ravaged the enemies' territory as they advanced,
and invested Mirmande, a locality named without
comment, as being familiarly known ; but the in-
cidents, like all connected with the Burgundian
affairs, are told so confusedly, that even the labo-
rious and learned Benedictines, whose history of
the country fills four folio volumes, are unable to
fix the date of these transactions, or discover any
such town in Burgundy. No "Mirmande" is
noted on the map, save and except Mirmande near
Valence, which never had belonged to the Count
Bishop; so distant also from the field of opera-
tions, that it could not have been in the route of
the belligerents at any period during the war we
are now detailing. Nor are we assisted in our
inquiries by the knowledge that the fortress was
also denominated La Merveille.
The mas- Mirmande, however, was certainly in Bur-
eacre at Mir.
gundy, and very defensible ; probably a position
somewhere amongst the hills. The garrison
resisted most sturdily, until the Normans gained
the Place by storm. All the inhabitants were
massacred, man, woman, and child; and the Nor-
mans, having burnt the town to the ground, con-
tinued their march, perpetrating all the mischief
in their power. The Count Bishop fleeing for his
life, took refuge in Chalons, but dreading an as-
DEATH OF RICHARD LE-BON. 133
sault from the combined forces, and fearing also 1024-1035
lest the tonsure, concealed by a helmet, might
fail to ensure ecclesiastical immunity, he did not
shrink from seeking pardon in the most humili-
ating guise.
Chalons' gate opened. — Out trudged our
Bishop with a shabby old saddle slung round
his neck, and hanging down his back ; and, as
the Trouveur intimates, he offered Richard a ride.
Some authorities add, that he cast himself at the
young Duke's feet, rolling upon the ground.
§ 8. Very joyful was the conclusion of this
humiliation
of the Count
Richard le-
campaign. Renaud, beino; delivered from cap- Bon.-
Richard III.
tivity, the young and victorious Richard returned MS successor.
home in triumph : and greatly was Richard le-Bon
delighted by his son's good fortune and valour.
But the Duke's time was come. He sickened;
and knew that he was dying ; and, like his father,
he chose to end his days at Fecamp. There, ac-
cording to the constitutional usage, he summoned
his Nobles, spiritual as well as temporal peers,
his children being by his bedside also. — Having
confessed to the Bishops, he called in the Barons,
and declared his last will and testament.
He designated Richard as his successor ; and,
perhaps with some presentiment of evil, he ex-
pressed an earnest hope that the Normans would
be faithful to him. He is a good youth, said the
expiring father. To Robert, his second son, he
appointed the County of Hiesmes, otherwise the
Exinois ; and upon the express trust that he
134 EARLY NORMAN HISTORY.
1024-ioso should be helpful to his brother. Concerning
Mauger, an unfrocked monk,— a character amongst
the vilest the most despicable, — no directions are
recorded : he ultimately became Archbishop of
Eouen.
Richard departed quietly ; and Fecamp
Abbey received his body. But, in a subsequent
generation, Henry Beauclerc caused the remains
of Richard Saus-peur to be removed from the
sarcophagus under the spouting gargoyle, and
deposited in the adjoining Basilica. A new tomb
was provided for father and son, near the High
Altar ; and Master Wace informs us, that, when
the translation took place, he had the opportunity
of contemplating both the corpses.
§ 9. The early history of Normandy, con-
torj' stituting the period anterior to the Conqueror's
reign, — Normandy with all her specialities, Nor-
mandy self contained, — rests mainly upon two
authorities ; the conscientious and laborious
Dean of Saint Quentin, and the much perplexed
and perplexing Guillaunie de Jumieges, whose
abounding information must be accepted as a
compensation for his deficiency in historical skill.
Important adjuncts to these memorials, and
grounded upon them, are those bequeathed to us
by the Trouveurs, Master Wace, and Benoit de
Saint More ; the metrical form which their pro-
ductions assume, not to be considered as detract-
ing from their trustworthiness.
With respect to the prose writers, honest and
EARLY NORMAN HISTORY. 135
hard working though they be, they lack the 1024-1035
method and solidity which distinguish the Car-
lovingian Monastic Chronicles properly so called.
The style of the Capetian compositions is uni-
form. Dates most scanty. — Recollections recol-
lected, constitute their basis, not the collections
resulting from research or study. Narratives
of this class bear a strong affinity to the later
French memoircs, of which they are the mediaeval
precursors; Sagas: — sayings, tolerably vera-
cious so far as they extend, and always more
animated than desk work, grounded upon the
muniments or volumes before you.
The subject would widen upon us were we Traditional
J history.
to discuss it in all its length and breadth.
Sternly and acutely has the general credibility
of antient history been investigated, sifted,
criticised, and assailed in our times. Even Bru-
tus and Tarquin are elided from the schoolboy's
manual, and classed with the grand-dame's tale ;
majestic Clio crouches in the hearth-nook be-
side the garrulous Crone.
It is a mortifying example of unconscious rea-
soning, that, in the English language one and the
same word has become equivalent to truth and
to fiction — a History is a Story • as though un-
truthfulness were an inherent element. The
discussion of the moral or mental causes lead-
ing to this amphibology, must be left to that
cotemporary expositor who has so ably demon-
strated how the study of words involves the
136 RICHARD III. INAUGURATED.
1024-1035 most valuable moral lessons, and the most trans-
cendental philosophy. Without pursuing the
investigation, it is sufficient to observe, that the
Tale-teller will frequently omit matters pecu-
liarly prominent in his mind, upon the suppo-
sition, that the Hearer is already acquainted
with them. The silence of the multiplicity of
authorities in cases where you might expect the
record of a particular fact, should not neces-
sarily cast doubt upon the incident or event
recorded by one competent authority. Ample
as may be the information we possess concern-
ing Eichard le-Bon, we scarcely know anything
scantiness of relating; to his sons Eichard the Third and
our informa-
tSwhrt Robert, (their births being merely noticed pa-
renthetically,) until we reach the concluding
Burgundian Campaign ; when, depending upon
French sources, we collect that the third Eichard
was sufficiently qualified to warrant his being
trusted by his father with the command of
the Norman forces. Differences subsequently
arising between him and his brother, the latter
took affront, and returned home during the cam-
paign, at the very crisis when hearty co-opera-
tion was most needed.
Be this as it may, Eichard le-Bon' s appoint-
ment of the elder brother as his heir was accepted
without cavil or difficulty, and the third Eichard,
hailed by the Baronage, who became his Men,
was inaugurated at Eouen, and we may view
him as invested with the Coronal of the Duchy.
MARRIAGE OF RICHARD III. 137
Tims, having received the submission due 1024-1035
from his own vassals, Richard forthwith fulfilled 1026_
nil-hard III.
the obligations which he on his part owed to his
< homage en
Suzerain for the Dukedom ; he repaired to Paris
and performed homage "en par age" — the ac-
knowledgment of personal superiority to the
equal in degree.
§ 10. Further consequences arose from this
State visit. Duke Richard became affianced to "
his Sovereign's daughter, then a baby in the
cradle. Unnoticed by historians, whether French
or Norman, the engagement is proved by very
satisfactory evidence. The transcript of the ori-
giual settlement is extant, whereby " ' Richardus
the Cotentin.
Normannonun Du<v' bestows upon ee Domina
Adela" a noble dowry, the Seigneurie of the
whole Peninsula of the Cotentin, besides various
communes and baronies in demesne ; — Cher-
bourg, whilom Harold Blaatand's Castle ; Bruot
or Bruis and the neighbouring Chateau d'Adam,
the real cradle of Scotland's royal line, of which
only one fragment subsists, scarcely discernible
in the tangled copse, and shapeless as the rock
upon which the wall is founded ; pleasant Caen,
and all members thereunto appertaining ; Ya-
lognes and Cerisy ; and the Pagus of the Hogue.
— Egglandes or Ogiandes also ; Moion or Mo-
huu ; and " Piercei," a name grotesquely con-
strued in England as signifying " Pierce-eye,"
and commemorating the deed whereby Hotspur's
mythic ancestor, having more regard to success
138 ROBERT DISCONTENTED.
1024-1035 than good faith, is fabled to have rid himself of
an imaginary enemy.
It may appear singular that amongst the
domains selected by Richard for the purpose of
affording a secure and adequate provision for
his future spouse, many should respectively have
sent forth families to either side of the Tweed.
But they are for the most part situated in the
Cotentin or its vicinity ; a district from which
the nobles and gentlefolk may be said to have
turned out bodily, when the Conqueror's great
expedition was proclaimed.
Robertn! of ^o ^T) we^- But ^ne clou(is gathered simul-
taneously with the rising sun. Robert became
savagely discontented, and Richard was not
without blame. The fine County of Hiesmes was
regarded as an important apanage ; but Falaise,
a separate Bailiwick, though a portion of the
Hiesmois, was withheld. Robert resented the
Mysterious loss. His dissatisfaction, not entirely causeless,
character of
fhemBre°ton.8 was fomented by a certain Ermenoldus, a Breton,
who appears and vanishes, veiled in a species of
mystery. To the epithet " Theosophist," as-
signed to him in the dubious account of his
treasons, no definite meaning can be ascribed.
The obscure denomination of " Philosopher,"
also applied to him, is rendered more intelligible
by the charge of dealings with the Fiend, which
would lead to the supposition, that, like Gerbert,
he excelled in physical science.
Ermenoldus was a doughty champion. Having
POPULATION. 139
impeached certain Norman nobles of conspiracy 1024-1035
against the Sovereign, they severally challenged
him to the ordeal combat. All the Appellors Knncnoidu.
/lain in thO
were defeated ; but he himself succumbed in a
duel with a Forester, whom he had accused.
The death of the mischief-maker did not allay
the bad feeling. Eobert had many instigators,
who urged him to do justice to himself by the
strength of his own arm, and vindicate his
rights and his reputation. Ready enough were
those who gave the counsel to aid him in exe-
cuting such counsel. Robert was very popular
amongst the class whom Napoleon termed chair
a canon. The distinctive energy of the Scandi-
navian Races has continued in full vigour amongst
us, and still continues unexhausted. No country
testifies to the potent influence of Scandinavia's
blood more than our own. However mingled
our Populations, each emigrant ship steaming
from our shores bears away a large proportion
of passengers who may claim real Danish an-
cestry. Many are the Danish Havelocks in our
ranks, undistinguished by that heroic name, re-
nowned of old in the Trouveur's lay.
HAVELOC tint en sa baillie
Nicole et tote Lindesie ;
Vingt anz regna, si en fu rois
Assez conquist par ses Danois ;
Moult fu de lui grand parlance.
Qi auncien par remenbrance
Firent un lai de sa victoire
Qe touz jours en soit la inernoire.
140 POPULATION.
1024-1035 §11. As in frozen Iceland, so in fertile
Neustria, the land everywhere unable to house
ner children. Normandy was overflowing with
the unemployed, encreasing — according to the
means of
subsistence, formula which has now become technical in the
science of political economy — beyond the means
of subsistence. Large families gathered round
the hearth, for whose keep the father could not
Angio-saxm provide. The land cut up into quillets ; not a
Common-
vofn.p. mete-home., a feeding farm, as it was called in
old English, to be had, upon which a man and
his family could live, — universal unease there-
fore prevailing. The great Norman military
emigrations were now commencing, - - not dif-
fering in essential character from those which
appalled the Empire, in the ages when the epi-
thet of Vagina gentium was first applied to the
teeming North. Fair Apulia yielding to the
Flibustier pilgrims, unrestrained by faith or
truth, but whose robberies, enhauncing the re-
nown of the Norman name, afforded relief to
the burdened mother country. Crowds of young
soldiers came flocking to Falaise, opening their
ready hands for the tinkling sous Rouennois,
•offering their aid; and Robert, casting off his
allegiance, appeared in open rebellion.
Robert's §12. No lingering on Duke Richard's part.
rebellion —
beiges Summoning his forces, Richard invested Falaise.
Besiegers and besieged were equally inflamed by
the malignity inseparable from civil war, — bro-
ther always fiercest against brother. The ducal
RICHARD'S DEATH. - ROBERT'S ACCESSION. 141
ordnance was brought to bear upon the out- 1021-1035
works, whilst Robert's soldiers were cleared off
from the walls by the bolts which the arbalests
discharged.
Richard became exasperated ; Falaisc, more pacification
between the
and more straitened. Robert miht dread to be
p '
dropped into the dungeon pit if the Castle were
Duchy.
stormed. He was advised to sue for peace. The
competitors agreed upon a partition. The Hies-
rnois was conferred on Robert ; but Falaise was
reserved to the elder. Merrily did they return
to Rouen. Great rejoicings ensued. A banquet,
in Rollo's palatial Castle, imparted splendour to
the reconciliation. But the young and flourishing
Richard was suddenly stricken ; and he passed
from the hall to the death-bed. Many of the
party shared the same fate. Whilst the exhila-
ration of the feast was at its height, the funeral
bells were knelling. No one doubted but that sudd^rf
poison had been in the cup. Never was Robert BfchJa
attributed
exonerated from the imputation of fratricide ; to poison-
never was the dark stain effaced ; never was the
obscure suspicion dispelled.
§ 13. Robert's accession did not experience RobeerstTi.of
any opposition, but the event is related without
emphasis. — No expression of sentiment recorded.
— No prayer or benediction in the Cathedral. At illegitimate
1 •> children of
the time when Richard's marriage contract was ex- Ricburd
ecuted, the young Duke had already three children
— chance children as they would be euphemized
amongst our country folk — a son Nicholas, and
142 ROBERT'S EPITHETS.
io24-io35 two daughters. Nothing is said or hinted concern-
ing their mother or mothers, yet Robert acted as
though he had some reasons to apprehend rivalry
from the boy Nicholas ; and he was tranquilly
put out of the way. The stripling, placed as an
Oblate in the Abbey of Fecamp, took very kindly
to his clerical vocation. He grew up to be a
learned and a good man, in due time Abbot of
Saint Ouen. He rebuilt the Abbey Church ;
and, if the opinion of some architectural an-
tiquaries be correct, the apse, so well known
as the " tour des clercs, ' is the memorial of
Nicholas, who, living through three generations,
attended the Conqueror's funeral.
§ u- Bab7 Adela, the poor little ducal
widow, obtained, in due time, a suitor without any
Baudouin de
Li8ie, bis son. coquetry. Baudouin a-la-belle-barbe, Baldwin
Adeia Bushy-beard, sued for the infant daughter of
married to
de lisle'.11 France on behalf of his sou Baudouin, (afterwards
Count of Flanders,) Baudouin de Lisle. She be-
came the mother of Matilda, — our Matilda, —
the Conqueror's Queen.
Robert's 2> 15. Historians and archaeologists have
epithets or
bestowed much unprofitable pains upon the
legends, in which they discover grounds for
a vague conjecture, that the solid sturdy Robert
became identified with a certain imaginary or le-
gendary hero, and in such manner as to earn the
ugly epithet of le-D table. Other archa3ologists
seem to enlist our Duke in the meisne or train of
Hellekin, or Huiiekin, the Gallic Wilde j&ger,
or Wild huntsman. Yet, whatever may have been
ROBERT'S LIBERALITY. 143
Kobert's secret crimes, he never manifested any 1024-1035
open tendency to outrage or cruelty. Courteous,
joyous, debonnaire and benign, was the son of
Richard le-Bon before the world ; and his life
and conversation consistent. The poor and dis-
eased ever commanded his sympathies, and par-
ticularly did he labour to relieve the sufferings
of the miserable mesel. This Robert, second
of the name in the opinion of those genealogists
who accept Rollo-Robert as the first, was truly
Robert le-Magnifique^ as well as Robert le-Diable.
Fully did he deserve the epithet earned by his
abounding munificence.
The Magnifico commenced his reign by in-
creasing the salaries of his retainers, and dupli-
cating their liveries, — the Court allowances for
back and belly. According to popular exagge-
rations, which may in some degree be accepted as
expansions of truth, Robert's gifts were so liberal,
that those whom he benefitted died of joy. He
never could satisfy himself that his bounties were
adequate to the claims of the receivers : and,
endued with a virtue far more rare than libe-
rality, his heart never grudged what his hand
bestowed. Yet, despite his generosity and joy-
ous munificence, Robert's general conduct was
unsatisfactory, and in the last year of his life
he displayed all that wild, exuberant hilarity
which saddens the thoughtful observer more
than grief : an unseasonable joke may be more
melancholy than the darkest despondency.
Once settled in his authority ; — at least as
144 FALAISE.
1024-1035 much settled as his flighty hilarious character
would allow him to be, Falaise became his
Falaise
feskfenc'e. favourite residence. Site, air, water, hunting-
grounds, copses, shaws, all pleased him ; and
the various anecdotes concerning Robert's de-
meanour, trivial in themselves, but which ac-
quire value by accumulation, are evidences that
the young Duke mixed pleasantly with his
inferiors.
The peltry manufacture, and all the branches
of the leather trade flourished in Falaise. Buck-
skin and doe-skin, calf-skin, and sheep-skin, and
the bullock's tough hide, were supplied cheaply
and abundantly from the glade and the pas-
ture. Foreigners resorted to the thriving bour-
gade and were welcomed as denizens. Thus, in
the time of Richard le-Bon, a certain Herbert,
or Robert, or Fulbert, three names which may
be easily confounded the one with the other by
the careless transcriber, established himself there.
Robert or " Robertus Belliparius," as Alberic of Trois-
Fulbert, the
fontaines writes the word Pelliparius, following
the thick German pronunciation, was born at
Chaumont, in the Walloon country, near the
Abbey of Florines, in the Diocese of Liege,
but he and his wife, Doda, removed to " Hoie,"
where, as it is noted, they dwelt in the Market
Place, near the old Exchange. — " Manentes ad
veteras cambias in foro Hoiense." And Alberic
also furnishes some particulars (not relevant to
our history) concerning the courtship and mar-
THE TANNER. 145
riage of the " Belliparius," with the said Doda, .Iu2t~103^
otherwise Duida.
Considered in themselves, these circumstances
are somewhat trifling, but they were traditional
in the localities. Alberic, who collected the in-
formation on the spot, informs us that he had
heard old folks tell the story of the fortunate
Currier's family ; and the minuteness of these
details testifies that Fulbert continued a " cele-
brity' in his former neighbourhood more than
a century after his grandchild the Conqueror's
death, and imparts identity to the personage.
One daughter had the Belliparius and Doda, the
Arietta, or Herleva, of the Norman chroniclers.
Fulbert was wealthy; a currier or tanner by
trade, he also carried on the business of a beer
brewer.
§ 16. A strong prejudice exists in Germany
against the artificers who furnish the currier
with the raw material needful for his manu-
facture. Those who pursued the useful, albeit
disgusting, trade of skinning beasts, were stig-
matized as a distinct and degraded caste —
ranked amongst the races maudites of France, The skinners
holding a place somewhat between a mesel and
a gypsey, cohabiting or marrying only amongst
themselves. It was the ever present and in-
tolerable burning brand of unmerited and unre-
moveable ignominy, which drove the famous
Rhine robber, Schinderhans, to desperation.
The opinion concerning the foulness of the
VOL. III. L
caste.
146 THE TANNER.
1024-1035 vocation seems to have been very general. The
antient Hebrew gnome : — Let the learned man
skin dogs, or break the Sabbath, rather than
abase his talent by employing the gift as the
means of making money, affords equally a curi-
ous exemplification of the honour rendered to
intellect by the fine old Rabbins, and their
detestation of the disgusting business which,
employing an excusable exaggeration, they
paralleled with so great a transgression as the
violation of the Seventh day's rest.
All analogous avocations — all employments
dealing with the raw hide — participated in the
same obloquy. Prosperous as Fulbert was, he
could not merge the Tanner in the Brewer. It is
probable that the union of these trades encreased
unpopularity. In England, Tanners were
and nrewer prohibited from brewing, as though the junction
prohibited.
of these callings might be injurious to the public
health, or productive of some other inconveni-
ences. There are queer — and, to ale drinkers,
— rather disagreeable stories current, concerning
the smoothness imparted to the good liquor by
animal matter. And whoever sought to tease or
scoff at Fulbert or his, led you into the tan-yard.
Such being the state of the public mind, we may
easily imagine the sensation created in Falaise,
when, adopting the expression so familiar among
our lower classes, it was talked and gossiped all
round the town how the Duke "kept company"
with the Tanner's daughter. The Chroniclers
the
ARLETTA. 147
detail these amours with much gusto. Some 1024-1035
say Robert became acquainted with the damsel .\ii.-tta, tho
Tannri'-
at a dance: others, that he was first attracted by *-<»
J and t
seeing her delicate little feet gleaming through
the translucent streamlet, still rippling round
the base of the rock upon which the huge Donjon
stands. The window is shewn through which
as the Cicerone now tells you, the Duke first
beheld her.
Arietta did not affect coyness ; but Fulbert,
who desired she should be married honestly
in her own station, opposed the Duke's haunting
the house. The Duke, however, neither could
nor would be warned or driven away from the
premises. One son, one only son, was acknow-
ledged as their offspring. Robert bestowed upon
the boy the ancestral name of William, and he
was nursed in the house of his Grandfather, the
Tanner.
g 17. Such a connexion as Robert had
formed with the ultra-plebeian Arietta, could not
fail to be resented by her aristocratic betters
as a personal affront ; but her inferiors, whether
male or female, were far more offended; —
would it not have been more than could fairly be
demanded from poor human nature, that such
an insult to respectability should be condoned. -
Arietta's pretty feet had taken the shine out of
all the other pretty feet in Falaise. — We may
picture to ourselves how the Burgess wives, who
prided themselves in character and decorum,
L 2
C mne.vion
148 TALVAS.
1024-1035 avenged themselves by scorn ; the like, their
husbands, who would be equally provoked by
the hybrid Tanner's good fortune. And it was
.
with Arietta. wjth the dear delight of mortifying a flourishing
neighbour, that a worthy Burgess, residiug near
the Tannery, observing Gruillaume, old Griiillaume
Talvas, (so called, as it is said, from the hardness
of his disposition, popularly compared to the
toughest of bucklers,) — Lord of Belesnie and
proud Alencon, sauntering along the street, he,
the said Burgess, merrily, and with malice pre-
pense, invited the noble Baron to walk in and
admire his Suzerain's son.
This Talvas was very distinguished by his
ancestry ; he, the representative of one of the
manJy. —
3i2L534 536. three greatest Duchy families, the three lead-
ing lineages of the land. When Richard Sans-
peur established feudality in his dominions,
Osmond de Centvilles, the trusty friend who had
rescued the young Duke from captivity or death,
was acknowledged as Premier among the nobility ;
— Bernard, the Dane, the bulwark of the Terra
Normannorum, from whom sprung the Harcourts
and their wide ramifications, the second ; — and
Ivo de Belesme, the faithful vassal of Guillaume
Longue-epee, the third ; and of this Ivo, the
Guillaume now before us was either the son
or the grandson. The Belesme family appear
inferior in nominal precedence to the two others,
but equal, perhaps more than equal, in pre-
potence and power.
THE IMPRECATION. 149
Earnestly did the austere Chieftain, burning ^4-1035
with indignation, gaze upon the babe, who, as
we collect from the lively tale-teller, Master Wace,
behaved very much like ordinary babies.
e" Shame ! — shame ! — shame ! " exclaimed the
curses tne
Baron ; " for by thee and thine, shall I and b
mine be brought to loss and dishonour."
Guilleaumc fit varlct petit
A Falaise fu nurri ;
Le viel Guillcaume Talcvaz
Ki tint Seez, Belesme, e Vignaz
Par Falaise un jour trespassout,
Ne sai dire quel part alout.
Un des Burgeis 1'ad apele
En riant ad lui a parle".
Sire, dit il, ci vous tournez,
En cest ostel ce"auns entrez.
Veez le fils vostre seigneur
Si semblera bien a ennur !
Ou est ? dist-il, montrez le nioi.
Aporter le fist devant soi.
Je ne sai ke 1'enfanz fist
Ne s'il pleura, ne se il rist,
Quant Talevaz Tout esgarde"
De pres veu, et avise
Honte soit dist-il, honte soit !
E par tierce foiz dist, Honte soit
Car par toi e par ta ligne
lert la mienne moult abaisse"
E par toi e par ton lignage
Oront mes hoirs grant damage
Volentiers empeirie 1'eust
De la parole, se il peust
Talevaz ainsi s'en tourna
De grant pose niot ne sonna.
150 ARLETTA ACKNOWLEDGED.
1024-1035 The imprecation bespake the bitterness of the
old man's heart, seeking to blast the infant by
the Evil eye, and smite him by the curse. Nor
were the words idle. As far as belonged to
the unconscious infant they prognosticated the
troubles which would fall upon his head, the
malediction the cause of its own fulfilment ; and
they become peculiarly significant when we listen
to Gruillaume Talvas as speaking the sentiments
pervading the country.
*ol3ert 2 18. Further offence was speedily eiven
gives more o •/ O
offen«ce. by Duke Robert. He continued defying and
despising popular feeling — a line of conduct be-
speaking either conscientious courage or egregious
folly. Fulbert, having doffed his blouse, struts
in peacock-pride, invested with the office of
Court Chamberlain ; whilst Arietta, coming for-
ward from behind the half-drawn curtain, stands
before the world in her ambiguous station of
honour and shame ; less than a wife, and more
than a concubine.
It is a consistent contradiction in the human
character, that any strong point on which we
value ourselves is likely to exhibit our most
desperate failure. The Dnkes of Normandy had
prudently attended to the advantages resulting
from the matrimonial alliances contracted by their
daughters : but, with respect to their own personal
conduct they blindly obeyed the unbridled impulses
of their lusts. From Eollo downwards, Richard
Sans-peur was the only one who had a lawful wife
PUBLIC OFFENCE. 151
absolutely exempted from cavillation ; and he was 1024-1035
unfaithful to her. In a licentious age, the Dukes of
Normandy, casting off all yoke, were distinguished
by their contempt of all moral restraint ; sons
of Belial : and, to the small degree that the vicious-
ness of private character damages the influence of
public men, the profligacy of the Norman Dukes
diminished Normandy's importance in the eyes
of foreign Powers. — How often had Eichard
Sans-peur been flouted in high places as the son
of a concubine.
Whilst the debonnaire Robert conciliated the
community on his own behalf, all the liberality
of the Maguifico could not purchase favour for
his child. In previous cases, the illegitimacy
had either been removed by a mantle marriage,
or, if that ceremony had not been performed,
coudonated ; and the Norman people hugged
themselves in every delusion whereby the op-
probiuni could be extenuated or concealed.
Look to Guenora, the daughter of a very
humble functionary, but who could boast, (as
the world affirmed,) of her antieut Danish de-
scent — how cordially- was she received. Far
otherwise with respect to Arietta; her eleva-
tion was intolerable, From first to last, where-
ever William her bastard moved, whether in Court
or in Camp, he was always more or less in bad ?leljeiaiiism-
odour, surrounded, so to speak, by his native air,
the fetid atmosphere of the unsavoury tan-yard.
Had the laws of heraldry been then settled, as
to
his mother's
152 . WILLIAM THE BASTARD.
1024-1035 they subsequently were, by the snip and the clip
of the Tailor, we may fancy that, upon his cotte
cFarmes, the abatement of bastardy, the beude
sinister, (which, according to the modern indul-
gent Code of the Lord Lion beyond the Tweed,
assumes the more elegant shape of an oiie wavy,)
whether Or or Argent, Azure or Gules, would
have always looked like a strip of raw leather.
Tfhthestardy William the Conqueror, the founder of the
never161 most noble Empire in the civilized world, could
forgotten.
never rid himself of the contumelious appella-
tion which bore indelible record of his father's sin.
In all history, William, is the only individual
to whom such an epithet has adhered throughout
his life and fortunes. Was the word of affront ever
applied to Alphonso, the stern father of the noble
house of Braganza, by any one except a Castilian ?
Not so, William — a Bastard was William at the
hour of his birth ; — a Bastard in prosperity ; —
a Bastard in adversity ; — a Bastard in sorrow ;
— a Bastard in triumph ; — a Bastard in the ma-
ternal bosom ; — a Bastard when borne to his
horror-inspiring grave. " William the Conqueror,"
relatively, but "William the Bastard," positively;
and a Bastard he will continue so long as the
memory of man shall endure.
§ 19. Discontent was leavening broad Nor-
mandy. All the numerous and powerful collate-
ral descendants of Guillauine Lougue-epee, nay,
of Rollo, were collectively and individually in-
sulted through the Tanner's grandchild. He
REVOLT AGAINST ROBERT. 153
would cut them off from every chance of the sue- 1024-1035
cession. Each resented the exclusion from the
inheritance as an unpardonable injury ; and
Belesme-Talvas had spoken out for them all.
of
Evrcui.
Amongst the disappointed kindred, the most for- and hi8U°nccie'
Archbishop
midable was Robert, the married clerk, Arch-
bishop of Rouen, and Count of Evreux, Duke
Robert's uncle, the legitimated son of Guenora,
the marriage subsequent to cohabitation being
fully satisfactory to the Norman mind; and he
was also the lawful heir. Had Robert died at this
juncture, leaving only Arietta's stigmatized issue,
then, if law was law, the rights of the Count
Bishop were incontestable.
There were not those wanting, especially, as
we may collect, amongst the nobles, who roused
Duke Robert's suspicions against his relations;
and, wisely preparing to prevent the danger,
he laid siege to Evreux. In this position the
Archbishop assembled large forces. Reduced
to great straits, he attempted to support himself
by his spiritual authority ; and he fulminated
an excommunication against his nephew, at
the same time, placing Normandy under a
general interdict. The Archbishop then with-
drew to the court of King Robert, who received
him hospitably. Duke Robert relented. Some
say that he discovered he had acted on false
suggestions, and he recalled the Archbishop,
who thenceforth avoided giving occasion of
offence.
154 ROBERT'S STRENUOUSNESS.
1024-1035 § 20. This annoying contest concluded,
another of a similar character emerged. Hugh,
Bishop of Bayeux, was the son of Ralph, Count
of Ivri, the half-brother of Richard Sans-peur, the
queller of rebels, who had crushed the insurgent
peasantry ; and, whether by right or by wrong, the
Bishop took possession of Ivri. He caused the
awe-inspiring dungeon tower to be well prepared
tKwiopdof f°r defence. But Duke Robert, according to
his accustomed tactics, was enabled to reduce
this important possession without bloodshed.
He blockaded the castle so straitly, that Bishop
Hugh, like his cousin the Archbishop, was
obliged to sue for mercy. It was granted, but
upon the hardest terms. He went forth, and
wandered many years in exile. The too cele-
brated Odo, Arietta's son by Herlouin de Conte-
ville, the husband taken by her after Duke
Robert's death, and who figures at full length in
the acts and transactions of the Conquest, was
Hugh's congenial successor.
Robert proceeding boldly onwards, now as-
sailed a far more dangerous enemy. Fully was
he conscious of the spite which the Talvas en-
tertained towards him. But he had the great
feudatory in his grip, and he knew how to
work his ducal prerogatives. Alencon, where,
as we collect from subsequent events, the Duke's
connexion with the loathed Tanner's daughter
had excited great and permanent disgust, was
held by Talvas, jure beneficii ; or, in more modern
ROBERT'S IMPORTANCE. 155
constitutional terminology, a Feud. Robert's 1024-1035
purse commanded Robert's soldiery ; and, raising
his troops, he besieged the town.
§ 21. The Ducal forces were so vigilant that
Talvas could not discover any means of escape ;
he was now paying the cost of the imprecations
he had fulminated before the cradle. Haughty Taivwsur.
* renders.
Talvas was compelled to seek pardon — pardon
was granted, — but, painful the pinch sustained
by the Premier baron. He submitted to the chas-
tisement, which was now becoming a species of
established law. Unshod and half stripped he
came forth, the saddle girt upon his old gibbous
shoulders. Robert was satisfied ; and Talvas,
having rivetted his broken oath, prepared for
mischief, when the good time for turbulence
should really come.
§ 22. Robert le-Magnifique's position, geo-
graphical, political, and social, enabled him to ex-
ercise considerable influence over his neighbours'
affairs. Normandy presents herself as one of the
great powers composing the Capetian Confederacy
— perhaps the greatest. France and England be-
held in the Norman Duke, a Potentate who could
support or menace either kingdom. Emma's hus-
band had jarred against Richard le-Bon ; and the
matrimonial connexion had failed to extinguish
the smouldering enmity. Ethelred's unhappy
expedition against the Cotentin testified the
anxiety created in England by the possibility of
an invasion from the warrior-teeming, iron-bound
156 ALLIANCE WITH FLANDERS.
M24-1035 coas^ . which? culminating at Cherbourg, always
threatened the Channel shores. Moreover., the
smiling countenance which the Norman Sove-
reigns turned towards their Danish kinsmen,
was a suspicious feature in their policy.
§ ^3. Flanders, at this juncture, afforded
to Duke Robert a favourable opportunity of
Robert's
protection, manifesting his own political importance. The
younger Baudouin, known in history as Baudouin
de Lisle, — he who had espoused the Adela, — rose
against his father, Baudouin-a-la-belle-barbe.
The venerable parent, expelled by the valiant,
sagacious, but undutiful son, sought refuge in the
Castle of Falaise, — Falaise — for it was in this
stronghold that Robert resided and held his
court, whilst he deserted the antient palace of
Rouen. — Did any harassing reminiscences haunt
Stp- Rollo's banquet hall? Duke Eobert willingly
Robert afforded his aid to the suppliant Count ; he
pacifies the
brought up his army into Flanders, perpetrating
devastations so germane with the character
of a Robert le-Diable, that some suppose it
was by reason of the ferocity displayed during
this foray, that he acquired his mythic name.
Yet we may half condone the delight which
must have been felt by a great grandson of
Longue-epee, when he could punish the land of
Old Arnold the murderer.
The insurgent nobles who headed the revolt
abandoned the insurgent son ; and, soliciting
peace, they besought Robert to act as mediator.
REGAL DESCENT. 157
Tranquillity being restored, the pacification be- 1024-1035
tween Normandy and Flanders expanded into
that amicable intercourse, which, old grudges
forgotten, placed Baudouin de Lisle's excellent
daughter, the affectionate Matilda, on the Eng-
lish throne — she, — who humanly speaking, — be-
came the only source of real happiness which
the weary Conqueror enjoyed.
§ 24. About this time good King Robert Death3*/
was gathered to his fathers, a sexagenarian. His -*tew °f '
regal sue-
death marked a great crisis. Two generations 5SS5wk
only of the royal Capetian line had reigned.
Time is the essential element of regal authority.
Never can the right of succession be firmly es-
tablished in any Dynasty, until three gene-
rations and four have been permitted to occupy
the throne.
*
Hereditary right, so far as politic society is
concerned, involves two conditions — primogeni-
ture or seniority, — and the principle of repre-
sentation from heir to heir. But whether, —
employing the antient Anglo-Saxon formula, — -
this right subsists only on the " Sword side" or
male line, and fails altogether on the "Spindle
side" or female line, as in France and most of the
German Sovereignties; or whether it may subsist
on the spindle side, but pass to the daughter's
male heir, ascending to and descending from the
stirps however distant, is a question which each
nation's ethos and traditions must determine.
Capetian France was still a kingdom of the first
158 KING HENRY'S ACCESSION.
1024-1035 impression, and therefore comparatively feeble.
Monarchy lives upon recollections, and, until
they have accrued by effluxion of time, her
path is staggering — the irrevocable past is the
gift of God's Eternal Providence ; nor can any
human contrivance compensate for the irre-
vocable.
canon of Constitutional principles were as yet un-
descent as
fnlheT/ei'ch matured in the Capetian Monarchy. The ex-
°hy' elusion of females, and of all heirs claiming
through a female, was the only French canon of
descent which we can consider entirely free from
cavil. Primogeniture or seniority was not inde-
feasible ; the will of the reigning Sovereign
determined whether, as amongst the sons, an
elder or a younger should be his successor.
Dta^wtoM7 Exerting, therefore, his prerogative of selec-
reasonnocfethe tion, King Robert had caused his son Hugh, who
succession.
does not appear to have been the eldest, though
there is some obscurity on this point, to be ac-
cepted as King, and crowned. The confusion of
early Capetian history conies out in strong contrast
with the comparative lucidity of the Carloviugiau
era. Hugh's disposition was excellent; but can-
kered Constance crossed him : and, provoked by
his mother's harshness, he revolted against
f against authority. He died prematurely; and Henry,
se Mother.0 his brother's puisne, was by the father's ap-
pointment also crowned as the associate King.
But Constance hated Henry, and laboured inces-
santly that Robert of Burgundy, the Cadet next
success.
the country
craves
Robert's
HENRY IN TROUBLE. 159
in order, should be preferred. Henry inherited 1024-1035
his amiable father's character, Robert took after
his mother ; Constance, therefore, insisted that
Henry was a poor creature, incompetent to ex-
ercise the royal functions. His spirited brother
was the one entitled to the preference.
Upon King Robert's demise, the Realm
devolved upon Henry, who had been already
installed. Forthwith, a most bitter civil war
arose ; and a powerful faction amongst the baron-
age, including Elides le-Chanipenois, and Fulk of
Anjou, sided with the Queen. Thus supported,
the Virago's party prospered. The principal
Places in the very heart of the kingdom, com-
prising the Duchy of France Proper, the antient Bupp°rt
Capetian patrimony — Senlis and Sens — Sens then
so strong in her Roman walls, — alas ! most re-
cently eradicated by modern vandalism — much
contested Melun, Dammartin, Poissi, honoured
Couci, and Puiseaux, opened their gates to
Constance, and closed them in the face of the
unfortunate Henry, who fled the country ; and,
on the eve of the joyful Paschal feast, — Pascha
florida — Paques fleurie, — so unfortunately dis-
guised amongst us by its Heathen name, he pre-
sented himself as a suppliant before Duke Robert
at Fecamp : small and mean was his Royal
train — Duodecim dientuli — Twelve Vavasours.
Henri fti moult epouvante
Que il ne fait cl6serite,
160 TREASON.
1024—1035 A Robert vint en Normandie
Un jour clevant Pasches fleurie,
O clouze Serjants seulement
Vint le Roi ch.etivem.ent.
Mournfully, by this transaction, was France
humiliated before Normandy. The circumstances
attending the receipt of the parage-homage were
sufficiently mortifying. Grievous must have been
the vexation on those occasions, when the King
of France was compelled, for the purpose of
receiving the jealous submission due to the
successor of Charlemagne, from the successor of
Rollo, to go forth, and meet his inferior, half way
down the border : but harder that he should
now, as a suppliant, be seen a suitor of the
Norman Duke, beseeching the great Vassal by
his faith and fealty, to grant protection against
his own mother and his own brother.
Bute Robert Duke Kobert enhaunced his own conse-
supports the
quence, by receiving the illustrious petitioner
with great respect and honour ; and he worked
effectually for his Suzerain's restoration. In
the first place, Eudes le-Champenois had to be
brought over or bought over. Eudes knew his
own price, and stipulated that one moiety of
splendid Sens, the key of Champagne on the
royal frontier, should be surrendered to him.
Heartily did Duke Eobert support King Henry's
rightful cause against his unnatural mother,
pouring in troops, burning, destroying, no mercy
shewn, no quarter granted to the insurgents ;
TREASON NEVER PROSPERS. 161
they were dealt with, not as enemies, but as 1024-1035
rebels. Well, too well, are we taught by the old
thrummed proverbs and popular saws, — the out-
speakings equally of human depravity and of
human sagacity, — that success constitutes the
sole distinction between patriotism and rebellion.
" Treason doth never prosper. — What is the
reason ? — That when it prospers, none dare call
it treason."
Under our chivalrous Edward, Scotland's ST' the
Champion was vituperated as an infamous thief.
— Illefamosus Latro, Willielmns Wayleys, quoth
our true born Englishman. — Surely, it was
a gaudy day for the burly London Citizens,
when, crowding to enjoy the delicious spec-
tacle, they beheld the Scottish Hero dragged
on a hurdle through their filthy flinty streets,
hanged and cut down, all quick and breathing,
his writhing bowels plucked out from the quiver-
ing carcass by the Executioner, whose infernal
skill prolongs all the powers of action, intellect,
and sensation, during a paroxysm of inconceivable
agony ; — and then — that ghastly head and those
mangled limbs, rotting upon the Gate-towers !
Was there ever any consistent justice in the
sentiments entertained against a Rebel ? — How
many a swarthy Zemindar, whose parched
skeleton, picked clean by kites and vultures,
and now swinging from the gallows, may, in
the eyes of posterity, earn an historic reputation
proud as that enjoyed by William Tell and the
VOL. in M
Duke
exertions on
162 CONSTANCE DIES.
1024-1035 Confederates of Grutli. — Nay, were the Novelist
of Certaldo living amongst us to publish a six-
teenth edition of his once popular essay, De
Claris Mulieribus, would not the devoted Rannee
of Jansee rank with Boadicea?
uke"1033 Robert's campaign on behalf of royalty was
judiciously conducted : he placed large detach-
. .
of nieiits in all the strongholds and frontier positions.
Mauger, Count of Corbeil, fierce and crafty, acted
as his nephew's Lieutenant, and displayed an
energy corresponding with the confidence he had
earned. Fully does King Henry appear self-
vindicated from the stigma of inertness, the
failing assigned by his vixen Mother as justifying
her schemes for aggrandizing her darling at the
expence of her warling. Eudes le-Chainpenois,
under the stress of the Norman power, was
compelled to restore the domains he had usurped.
Constance's schemes being no longer favoured
by fortune, public opinion ceased to favour her.
Fulk of Anjou objurgated the dowa,ger Queen,
rebuking her harshness towards her children ;
she fell ill and died, and was buried at Saint
Denis, beside her husband.
§ 25. The services rendered by Robert
to King Henry, were so valuable, that he
might have made heavy demands upon his
Sovereign's gratitude, but Henry anticipated
any such request.
Interposed between Normandy, as ceded to
Rollo, and the Regnum Francorum, was a portion
rst known
THE VEXIN. 1G3
of the Pagus Veliocassinus, the Vexin Franqais, 1024-1035
constituting a species of abnormal sovereignty 875
under the Capets and their predecessors : held N
first
by a line of Counts who trace their descent from
Charlemagne, whilst a rival genealogical scheme
deduces their stem from the Merovingian Childe-
bert. The name of " Nivelong," he who appears
as the first of these Counts, connects us with the
mythic age. No Child of the Mist, however, no
cloudy Niebelung was Nivelong, but a vene-
rable off-shoot from the* Merovingian race ; son
of the second Childebrand ; and satisfactory
evidence exists, affording full proof of his solid
personality.
The dominion having escheated to Hugh
le-Grand, passed into another line ; we know
not how ; but in the same year that Robert le-
Magnifique became Duke of Normandy, Drogo,
the son of Gautier le-Blanc, had succeeded to
the Yexin. He was Duke Eobert's intimate,
and their dispositions harmonized.
The Counts of the Vexin held a unique sta-
tion between the Baronage and the Hierarchy ;
equally Vassals and Patrons of Saint Denis.
The Advowson or Advocatio of that regal Abbey
belonged to them. The Count of the Vexin
was privileged to bear the Auriflamme. When
War arose, he raised the consecrated banner
from the Altar of the Martyrs : and, after the
County had lapsed to the Crown, the Standard
displaying the bright incarnadine commingled
M 2
164 THE VEX1N.
1024-1035 with the glistening Orfray, became the Sacred
insignia of the Monarchy. In his style, the
Count of the Vexin asserted complete inde-
pendence ; repudiating every earthly superior, —
Superni Regis nutu Comes . . . nutu solummodo
Dominorum Creatoris Comes. Despite this out-
break of magniloquence, which might almost
lead to the supposition that he was crazed by
vanity, Count Drogo was wise and strenuous,
the true friend of Duke Eobert, who, in conse-
quence of a cession made by Henry, became
his Suzerain. He was also Lord of precipitous
Mantes and the Mantois, either a dismember-
ment or an enclavure of the Yexin.
We include this same Drogo in our English
riage with
historical gallery by reason of the matrimonial
connexion he contracted with Goda, Ethelred's
daughter, and the Confessor's sister ; and who,
after his decease, espoused Eustace, Count of
Boulogne. A second Goda, and perhaps a third,
is noticed in the Chronicles, which multiplicity
may lead to the supposition that Goda was an
epithet equivalent to " Good wife" or " Goody"
Normandy gained by this transaction all the
Border country, heretofore a debatable country.
Trie became absolutely a part of Normandy.
The celebrated Oak of tryst now grew on Nor-
man soil, and the Norman frontier was extended
as far as Versailles and Saint Germains ; in
fact, to the very gates of Paris. But, had
Robert been cursed by an insight into futurity,
OQO
n
Meriadec
lished by the
BRITTANY. 165
how deeply would lie have deplored an acquisi- 1024-1035
tioii which, through the mysterious links of
causation, brought his conquering Son to an
untimely and inglorious death.
§ 29. Brittany, the source to Normandy
equally of peril and of power ; a bulwark of No
history.
strength, a breach in the wall, was now acquiring
encreasing influence and importance in and over
Norman affairs. Armorica had hitherto been
ruled by Chieftains, Counts as they were de-
nominated according to the Carlo vingiau usage,
From Conan Meriadec. Prince of Albania, es-
tablished in this region, as it is supposed, by the
TT( -. «- , • -i -i , • • se y
Emperor Maximin, a continued dynastic series Emperor
Maximin.
is extant, truth and fable blended ; but the
spectral forms of these " Mactierns," -Erech,
Daniel, Budic, Hoel, Judicael, Rivod, Jaruithan,
Morvan, Yiomarch, — flit before us merely as
shadows. Their mutual jealousies, the snare
and bane of Gomer's descendants, consumed the
country's resources, and, attracting the perse-
cution of the Danes, wasted the energies and
power of the Race. And yet the fiery valour
of the antient Bretons enabled them to assert
and re-assert their national individuality against
their numerous foes.
After the death of Solomon, the sou of
Rivalon, of whom we have heard in the preceding
era, all these districts or territories merged in
the three dominations of Nantes, Rennes, and counties of
Keiines,
Cornouaille. Amongst the Celts concord was ini- J
166 GEOFFREY OF BRITTANY.
1024-1035 possible. In early times Nomenoe, the Euler of
Cornouaille, had assumed, by Papal authority, the
royal style, but the Counts of Rennes acquired
the pre-eminence over the other Chieftains.
Regality vanished. Geoffrey, son of Conan,
sonofConan. • i-i i i • 11
mames with whom we made acquaintance when he
the Norinan
sued for and won the wise Hawisa, Normandy's
daughter, must be distinguished as the first
Duke of Brittany. He constituted himself
Duke simply by taking the title. This assump-
tion may possibly have been sanctioned by the
successor of Saint Peter ; and, by degrees, his
rank in the civil hierarchy became ultimately
recognized.
Let Geoffrey, therefore, be honoured as the
Founder of the Duchy, symbolized by her er-
mine, even as France by her fleur-de-lis, a
crowned Duke, reigning with regal pretensions
and almost regal power. The Counts of Brit-
tany, and the Dukes in like manner, in later
times, rendered homage en parage to Nor-
mandy in the first instance, and that same
homage was afterwards demanded by the Crown
1213-1237 of France. But the Capetian monarchs refused
to acknowledge the " Duke," until the time of
Peter Mauclerc, son of Robert, Count of Dreux,
Earl of Richmond. An interesting memorial of
this powerful vassal still exists in the Borough.
Mauclerc' s chequered shield, Or and Azure,
floats before our eyes as when we beheld it in
the east window of Richmond Chancel. But
Peter Mau-
ofeLcre
GEOFFREY OF BRITTANY. 167
this title did not confer any additional power 1024-1035
upon the feudal Sovereign of Brittany.
2 27. Armorica no longer included the full ^nt °*
Urittany
length and breadth of territory which she had S
possessed in the brilliant days of Nomenoe
and Hcrispoe, and Solomon, when Brittany
expanded even unto the centre arch of the
bridge of Angers. Geoffrey, however, claimed
to exercise his supremacy, from the tall
rugged monolith of Ingrande, the Petra de In-
grand, — a monument, which, according to the
spurious nomenclature whereby all Celtic his-
tory has been mystified, would be termed
Druidical, — as far as the Archangel's guarded
mount, St. Michael in the peril of the sea.
First among the Armorican Sovereigns who Feofi?oi th?
first Armori-
struck white money was Geoffrey : sols of silver
money
did Geoffrey coin — rarest of the rare in the
numismatic cabinet of France ; small black
money also in greater plenty, base enough with-
out question.
Many and brilliant were the battles which
Geoffrey fought against the recalcitrating Count
of Nantes, Judicael ; but the memorials pre-
served concerning these Princes are meagre and
confused, and shrink into a narrow compass.
Two children were born to Geoffrey by faithful
Hawisa, the sister of Richard le-Bon, that is to
say, Alain, third or fifth of the name, who suc-
ceeded Geoffrey — and Eudes Count of Penthievre.
§ 28. About ten years after Geoffrey's mar-
168 ALAIN OF BRITTANY.
1024-1035 riage, he visited Rome, rather as a pleasure
traveller than a Pilgrim, leaving his wife Ha-
wisa under Duke Richard's fraternal protection.
Merrily did Geoffrey make his journey, and in
such guise as beseemed his quality; hawk on fist
and sword by side. But a mean misadventure
shortened his days. On his returning route, safe
and sound, his unhooded bird flew at ignoble
game, — at a hen belonging to the good wife who
kept the hostelry where the Duke — pilgrim we
Deaths can scarcely call him, — had been lodging. The
angry Crone flung a potsherd at his head which
fractured his skull. — Thus did the doughty
warrior die at the hands of a crabbed old
woman.
loos Alain. Geoffrey's son, commenced his reign
Alain III.,
or DukeT* under the guardianship of his energetic mother
Hawisa, and her tutelage and guidance enabled
the young man to vindicate his authority. Well
did he need sound counsel, for now ensued a
perilous period. The revolutionary example of
the Norman peasantry became contagious. In
Normandy, the discontent may have been embit-
tered by the effects of the Scandinavian occu-
1010 pation or conquest. But the Breizad cultivators
Revolt of
can pS- wei>e oppressed by Lords of their own blood ;
and the fire continued smouldering for nearly
twenty years, until, at last, the conflagration
blazed out with direful fury. The accounts of
the Breton insurrection remind us of the Ger-
man Baurenkrieg. — If the ferocity exhibited by
COURTSHIP. 169
the revolters may be construed as affording any 1024-1035
measure of the hardships they avenged, galling
indeed must have been the yoke they endeavoured
to cast off.
§ 29. The Nobles were appalled. Not so
brave Hawisa. Obeying her advice, the Boy
leapt into his saddle. Forth he rode, leading
on his Nobles, and the insurgents were com-
pletely subdued.
Time wore away ; Duke Alain grew up from
boyhood to manhood, when dissensions arose
between him and another Alain. — Alain Caig-
nard, Count of Eennes. Many Alains recur in
Armorican history. The Breton onomasticon
was singularly scanty, a circumstance adding
to the confusion of their perplexed annals.
Their examination becomes a puzzling task ;
and, whilst endeavouring to harmonize these
records, I may have nodded now and then.
Alain Caignard's grudges were not without ^^^1
justification, inasmuch as, during his nonage, a01
considerable portion of his inheritance had been
usurped by Duke Geoffrey. The gallants were
congenial spirits. Duke Alain had wooed Bertha,
daughter of Eudes le-Champenois, the son of the ofeEudefiee-r
Champenoia.
Comes Ditissinms, who succeeded to the noble
territories of Champagne and Brie. Eudes re-
fused. This denial was a personal affront, as
well as a cross in love. — Was there ever a re-
jection of a matrimonial offer which did not
partake more or less of this double character ?
170 ABDUCTION.
1024-1035 Alain was a fine young man, folly the equal
of the Champenois, whether in power or in sta-
tion ; but, however courteous the terms in which
the French nay-say was conveyed, he could
discern a sneer. Indeed the Celts were un-
willingly admitted by their fellow Christians
into the civilized commonwealth. An equivalent
antipathy was entertained by the Teutonic races ;
equally the crime and curse of both popu-
lations.— Spurcitia Britonum — was the popular
dictum throughout the Langue d'oil, one of
those national floutings which contribute so
detrimentally to the exaltation of national
vanity, and the perpetuation of envy, malice,
and all uncharitableness ; and yet, nothing like
so poisonous as the correlative, — national self-
praise ; — each individual gulping the flattery
for which he credits himself on his private ac-
count, through the agency of the Community
whereunto he appertains. How many of the
faults, the defects, the sins, which stain the
English character, have been fostered by the
self-laudations of "John Bull." — You and I, and
every one of us, appropriating to myself or our-
selves the whole tribute of our own self-bestowed
encomiums.
§ 30. In early times, abduction, nay all the
natural consequences of abduction, must, rude as
the process may appear, be regarded as a phase
of Chivalry. This feeling is not wholly extinct,
even in our age. Assuredly a plea put in by the
ALAIN AND ALAIN CAIGNARD. 171
Traverser in the dock, that, when carrying off 1024-1035
the coy object of his affections, he has merely
followed the brilliant example afforded by Amadis
of G-aul, would scarcely be received by the
Judge of Assize in County Tipperary : although,
on the other hand, the Jury might be much
inclined to overrule his Lordship's ruling, that
the offence is a grievous misdemeanour, ap-
proaching to a felony.
Such was the state of feeling in Armorica E? ^e
of Alain
when Alain Caignard, anxious to serve his- Liege-
obtains the
Lord, and probably not sorry to spite the French,
made a forcible seizure of the Damsel, and con-
ducted his prize triumphantly to Rennes, where
she was espoused to young Duke Alain, " more
Britannico" This expression is somewhat
ambiguous. We cannot doubt, however, but
that the young couple duly received the bene-
diction of the altar.
All the Nobles were convened ; rich gifts and
guerdons copiously bestowed by Alain's own hand.
Gauds or garments however could not satisfy
Alain Caignard, the disappointed Count of Cor-
nouaille ; he claimed his inheritance. Alain pro- £°k0er
mised the restoration of the usurped territory.
'
0re
island of
all the Nobles assenting and applauding this act, Belle Isle-
certainly of grace, and possibly of justice. The
chief parcel consisted of well known Belle Isle,
also called Guedel, a Celtic name, which became
obsolete at an early period. Belle Isle, lying
just over against Quiberon, is the largest amongst
172 ALAIN REFUSES HOMAGE.
1024-1035 the islands appertaining to the Continent of
France. The English reader will recollect the
locality as figuring, though not very gloriously,
in our naval annals.
Hawisa's son and the Norman Duke were
, mutually jealous ; the former assumed a proud
position, the like of which was scarcely paralleled
by the traditions floating concerning his semi-
mythic ancestors. Alain acquired the name of
Ruivriz, signifying, as we collect from master
Wace's interpretation, the Roi Bret., the Breton
King.
Thanks to the fervid fancy of the Celtic
litterateurs, a morbid enthusiasm has infested
the romantic French writers of the modern pic-
turesque school, teaching them to gild and illumi-
nate their historical delineations in the style of
a mediaeval missal ; and in consequence of this
affection or affectation, the traditions of Brittany
have acquired an Ossianic character, compelling
distrust where the enquirer would gladly yield
credence. But the ascription of regal state to
the earlier Breton Dynasts was probably not
entirely groundless, and Duke Alain chafed
against the Norman superiority.
Le Due Eobert tint bien sa terre,
Par tout vouloit son droit conquerre.
Entrer veult par force en Bretagne,
Ne veult k' Alain en paiz reinaigne,
Ki a sa Cort ne veult venir
Ne a lui ne deigne obeir
ROBERT INVADES BRITTANY. 173
Comme ses ancessurs fescient, 1021—1035
Gil qui Bretaigne ancci/ tcncrcnt.
Cosins esteient moult prochrin,
Chescun filz cle uncle et d'antein ;
Pur ceo k'il erent cl'im parage,
D'une hautesse e d'un lignage,
Alain, Robert servir ne deigne
Ainsi monta entre eux 1'cngaignc,
Alain ne se deigne abaisser
Et Eobert ne lui en voult laisser.
The Respondent Alain, when repudiating ^ KPU-
the homage claimed by Rollo's representative,
dy.
conducted his argument with a Special Pleader's
astuteness. Tacitly admitting the antient sub-
mission, he argued, that he and duke Robert were
of equal rank, by reason of their consanguinity,
Sword-side and Spindle-side counterchanged ; one
the son of an Aunt, the other the son of an Uncle.
Hostilities arose. The war was popular in Nor-
i i • n •» • i i Cotentin
inanely, being waged against a near neighbour ; invade Brit-
tany.
and joyfully did the fretting fighting men of the
crowded Cotentin, now let loose, expand over
the enemy's territory. Vicinity and kindred,
as usual, encreased mutual animosity, and the
quarrel was envenomed by the very circum-
stances that ought to have dictated friendship
and goodwill. Only a streamlet separates the
countries, and again the moral philosophy of
words is illustrated by the disputes which
" rivality ' engenders.
§ 31. The two dominions are separated by
the river Coesnon, meandering amongst the rich
174 ROBERT INVADES BRITTANY.
1024-1035 pasturages, source of Armorica's agricultural
wealth. Niel cle Saint Sauveur came forward
at the Duke's summons. His terror-inspiring
standard floated in the breeze ; and, with him,
fought the renowned Warrior, who rejoiced in
the name of Auvrai le-Gigant, or Alfred the
Giant. Under these two Chieftains a large divi-
sion of the army was placed, but the picked troops,
marshalled under Robert's own command, con-
stituted the central battalion. Robert's move-
ments bespake or threatened a permanent
occupation of the country. He constructed a
Castle, denominated " ad Carrucas" nigh the
frontier river, possibly encroaching upon the
Breton territory. To Niel de Saint Sauveur and
the Giant the fortress was confided. Fierce
was Robert's rage. D61 suffered again severely;
the memorable bridale seems to have brought
bad luck upon the ill-starred City.
Provoked, though not alarmed, Alain, hardy
and bold, summoned his lieges far and wide,
and spiritedly did the Arnioricans obey the call.
But Celtic valour has always lacked the balance
of discretion. Niel and the Giant were well
served by their spies. The whole strength
of the Avranchin was roused — Nobles and pea-
santry, horse and foot. — Hit away, cut away,
was Saint Sauveur's exhortation to his men ;
stab horse and rider.
The chosen men of the Norman forces had
dropped down into a dell, where, though close
THE ATHELINGS IN NORMANDY. 175
to the Bretons, they were completely concealed. 1024-1035
Forth they rushed, their banners waving. Pru-
dently had Kiel taken the precaution of planting
the Ducal Standard as a, rallying point, in case
of discomfiture. The war cry was raised. —
Dex aie ! the Norman slogan ; — Maslon ! (not
interpreted by the French authorities.) shouted
the Bretons. The Bretons gave way. Alain victory of
J the Normans.
had mustered a noble band ; all Chieftains of
high degree, a splendid display of wasted bravery.
But now came up, rushing from the hollow,
Alfred the Giant, leading on his troops. The
Bretons fled for their lives, and nevertheless, the
corpses lying on the field exceeded the number
of fugitives. The Avranchin peasantry hunted
the enemy, conducting their chase cleverly.
Here, lying in wait, — there, joining in pursuit ;
and so many Bretons perished, that as the Trou-
veurs sang, it would seem a fable to tell how
terrible the slaughter.
§ 32. Eobert le-Magnifique, Robert of Nor-
mandy, had been for some years past the Pro-
tector, — sole protector, of Cerdic's fated line.
The Athelings, his cousins, our hallowed Edward
of
L
and his brother Alfred, sheltered by their kins- Aifreadr?inn
Normandy,
man's power, had sought and found a refuge in
Normandy ; profiting by Normandy's civility, ac-
quiring the language, adopting the manners, and
imbibing the opinions of the people amongst
whom they sojourned ; and Robert's affection
or policy now induced him to attempt their
restoration.
176 ROBERT'S EXPEDITION AGAINST ENGLAND.
1024-1035 Canute was reigning, and not merely reign-
ing, but the heartless Emnia enthroned by his
side. She, "gem of Normandy;" she the pest of
England; she the source of England's degradation
and ruin. Warily and discreetly Robert opened
the negotiations. An amicable compromise was
suggested; an equitable division between the
representatives of the two Dynasties — Cerdic's
line and the line of truculent Rollo; and a
precedent was familiar in the partition between
Canute and Ironside.
Canute's reply was a defiance. Let them hold
what they can win ; and Robert le-Ma«;nifique
invasion of
England, accepted the challenge on his kinsfolk's behalf.
Tancred de Hauteville, the subjugator of Apulia,
had given the example of such inroads, and
gladly they prepared themselves for the Con-
quest of England. All the Baillages and Ports
in Normandy furnished their contingent, ready
for service by sea or land, and none more alert,
none more robust, than the adventurous popu-
lation of the amphibious Cotentin. Skiffs and
crews, pilots and mariners, sturdy knights,
active squires, weather-beaten butsecarles, and
keen-sighted arbalisters, assembled at Fecamp.
Brightly shone the cloudless sky, the fleets
preparing to hoist sail, when suddenly did the
weather change, clouds gathered, a tempestuous
«onfrxup9-du night ensued. The North wind blew furiously,
the fleet was dispersed ; many of the vessels
driven into Jersey, the first time, as far as I
ROBERT INVADES BRITTANY. 177
recollect, that Csesarea receives a notice in nie- 1024-1035
direval history.
A flotilla of keels having entered the Seine,
sailed up the Channel ; and, long afterwards, were
the decayed hulks to be seen rotting at Rouen.
But the main body of the Armament escaped
damage. The Athelings continued on board,
lingering for the opportunity of presenting them-
selves ; whether as English Sovereigns, or as
foreign enemies. No opening ensued. The scheme
became abortive, and the Normans afterwards
laboured to believe that the expedition had been
providentially frustrated, to the end, that, un-
polluted by bloodshed, England should devolve
upon the Confessor, he, through whose bequest the
Conqueror claimed. How happy are we to dis-
cover any pretence of right, whilst doing wrong —
clever in cheatingthe Devil, or rather cheating our
own souls. The Propagation of the Gospel urged
in conjunction with the violation of the Gospel
precepts ; the Divine sanction claimed for the
breach of the Divine law ; — " Give no quarter,"
our authorized version of " Love your enemies."
§ 33. Strangely is the sequence of events
confused, equally by the Normans and by the Eng-
lish historians. Either, during the same season,
or afterwards, Robert again directed an expedi- Robert's M-
cond expedi-
tion against Alain : " Rabel," was the Armada's tion>
Commander : his name is remarkable, rarely
occurring elsewhere than in the Tankerville
genealogies. This family enjoyed the confi-
VOL. m. N
178 THE BASTARD CONTEMNED.
1024-1035 dence of the Norman Dukes, and the individual,
whom we are now called upon to notice, was pro-
bably a Tankerville. The office of High Cham-
berlain became hereditary in the family.
Plunder, herry, burn, were the instructions
which Robert's troops received. Alain, the
Breton Prince, could not withstand the Norman
attack, and he entreated his uncle, Mauger,
Archbishop of Rouen, to mediate on his behalf.
^CRobuenop The hybrid Prelate, Soldier and Priest, a species
bSwfen of ecclesiastical centaur, entered heartily into
Robert and
j^g nephew's pacific policy, and interposed be-
tween the angry cousins. A family meeting was
held in the sea-girt Abbey of the Guarded mount ;
a cordial meeting. Alain solicited peace, and
performed homage. — This, for the Duke, a great
but joyless triumph.
§ 34. Robert was victorious ; but, in de-
spite of his successes, he continued sad at heart.
the child
Well, too well, did Robert know, that the child
upon whom his affections were concentrated, the
boy William, hated throughout Normandy, was
the object of universal contempt : Talvas, cursing
the babe, had spoken as the mouthpiece of the
whole Community. Heavily was the father's sin,
that sin, so readily condoned by the world ; — now,
the theme of a luscious ballad ; now, the subject
of a merry tale — visited upon the child, clothing
him with a garment of ignominy, even until the
shroud enwrapped his corpse.
Not merely was William base born, but,
ROBERT THE PILGRIM. 179
in the eyes of the world, even worse — he 1024-1035
was low born. No lineage could be more
blemished than the house of Rollo, yet ingre-
dients had been found imparting a fancied
good odour on the inherent contamination.
Ghienora was fondly considered to be of an
antient race. Was not her father a ducal officer
— her brother also, Herfastus ? — her sisters,
Gueva and Adelina, married into the noblest
families ? — she, rendered an honest woman, and
her children all uubastardized by the mantle
marriage. But, in the present case, no extenua-
tion could be suggested.
That foul Tan-yard and its sickening pools !
The place stunk in everybody's nostrils, not
merely figuratively, but literally ; and the pros-
pect of being ruled by the filthy Tanner's
grandson, was abhorrent to the Norman aris-
tocracy. Who, could kiss the hand of such
an imp ? who, tolerate the shame ? who, en-
dure the degradation ? Talvas had spoken for
them all.
§ 35. Such was the temperature of public
feeling when Robert, having withheld any in- fn
. proceeding
timation of the intentions fermenting in his £>a^e Holr
mind, suddenly convened his Prelates and Nobles
— Bishops, Abbots, and Barons, and announced
to them his determination of proceeding as a
Pilgrim to the Holy Land. Go forth would he —
poorest of the poor — bare-footed, — bare-headed,
destitute even of any upper garment which
N 2
180 PEOCEEDINGS IN THE COUE PLENIEKE.
1024-1035 could protect his poor chapped flesh from the
cutting winds.
Direful the consternation excited in the
Cour pleuiere, when the Duke communicated
this project to his Lieges. If Robert died child-
less, and he was worse than childless, all men
foresaw the certainty of discord and confusion.
Robert's wasteful munificence failed to com-
mand respect or gratitude : a gift that costs you
nothing, is as nothing in the valuation of the re-
ceiver. The theory of rank and station was well
understood by the Normans. Arietta's conduct
was gross, even for those days ; no single trait of
character is recorded which redeems the forni-
catress. The only anecdote we possess concern-
ing her, shews that she was denied the instinct of
natural modesty. But Arietta was well-matched :
Robert did not deserve a better consort ; and he
would have been provoked at the suggestion of
a more decent union.
The Count Bishop of Evreux, Mauger of
Corbeil, Guy of Burgundy, the Breton lineages,
all the male descendants of Rollo, even all the
male descendants of females, would assuredly
contest the right of the low-born, base-born
Mamzer. Pitiful was Robert's earnestness
when extolling the Child's promising dispo-
sition, so fitting to render him a competent
Sovereign. All the virtues, which the Courtier's
glozing flattery attributes to an heir-apparent,
were truths in the conception of the uneasy
WILLIAM PERFORMS HOMAGE. 181
adulterer, wrestling against the consequences of 1024-1035
his vice. All the nausea, all the remorse, all the
prickings of conscience, all the stings of worldly
shame, spread over the life of a putative father :
all the feelings of love and loathing, which chastise
his sin, were concentrated in that miserable hour.
Earnestly did Prelates and Barons repeat their
remonstrances, expatiating upon the impending
dangers. Robert on his part persevered, obsti-
nately, vehemently ; until the Assembly, yielding
to his urgency and moved by his misery, assented
to the demand.
§ 36. If words convey any meaning, if legal solemn con-
J J firmation of
forms possess any stringency, no Act of State ttj^efastard'8
could be more binding than the confirmation
which the child's title now received.
In the first place, the proud and vexed Baron-
age performed homage and fealty. Whatever
duties or services a Vassal owes to his Suzerain,
would the Lieges render to the Heir, rising
seven years of age.
This very important engagement imparted to
William a valid or constitutional title as be-
tween him and his Vassals ; but the Duke
himself would grow up a Vassal, and the assent
of his Superior was needed. Robert therefore
brought the child, his child of dishonour, before
King Henry, surrendering the Duchy in the
boy's favour ; and the lad, duly performing hom-
age, became the liegeman of the Monarch.
g 37. This important transaction completed,
182 ALAIN REGENT OF NORMANDY.
^024-1035 Robert proceeded to provide for the government
during his absence ; and here, he had to grapple
Robert.
with the great difficulty. At this era, Robert's
various collateral kinsmen, the descendants of
his father, and the descendants of his grand-
father, and the descendants of his great grand-
father, and up to Rollo — nay, beyond Rollo unto
Malahulc, the uncle of Hollo, constituted the
Baronage of Normandy ; and amongst these was
to be sought Rollo' s right heir, the young William
being in every sense illegitimate, and barred
from every lawful claim.
Great the jeopardy in which the title of
the Bastard was placed. But there was one
who came to the rescue. — Chief amongst the
kindred, nearest and most powerful, was Alain,
the child's cousin, Duke of Brittany, and he,
with equal honour and truth, accepted the duty
and the charge. Alain, appointed Regent, was
empowered to exercise all the duties and func-
tions of government and justice ; and the Arch-
bishop of Rouen, associated in the Regency,
promised to render all the aid in his power.
coffiTr Could the Normans have forgotten that
William was the son of a concubine, and she a
Tanner's daughter, Robert would not let them ;
and if they did entertain suspicions that the child
was supposititious, he could not have adopted a
more certain mode of raising a prejudice against
the boy, than by labouring, as he did, to bully or
to argue his Lieges into the conviction, that, al-
ROBERT THE PILGRIM. 183
though William was the Concubine's child, he was 1024-1035
his putative father's truly begotten son. Robert
seemed possessed with a morbid determination
to cast doubts upon the child whom he declared
to be his own. It was entirely within the pleni-
tude of his power to legitimate the Mamzer in the
same manner as his own father had been legiti-
mated, that is to say, by espousing the mother. —
Take her therefore as your wife, my Lord Duke,
— would any truth-speaking, sincere friend, have
urged upon him, — take her, and all will be well.
The maxim, hceres legitimus est quern nuptice
Remonstrant, is fully accepted by Roman and
Canon law, and consonant to natural feeling.
— Marry her, therefore, my Lord Duke ! The
retrospective action of your nuptials will, at
any time, nay at the last hour, legitimate your
dear boy. — Marry her, my Lord Duke! and
all your troubles will be dispelled. — But Robert
did not marry her, — would not marry her, —
could not marry her. He could not abide the
Tanner's daughter sitting as his equal by his
side. — A Bastard, William is born ; a Bastard,
William reigns ; and a Bastard, William dies.
§ 38. And now Robert commenced his pil-^fshT"
grimage, making his way very consistently ; pUsrir
abundant were the alms he bestowed ; the stream
of his bounty never ceased to flow. If the
Normans, when he first announced his intention
of departing as a Palmer to the Holy Land,
really apprehended that his health might suffer
184 INCIDENT AT BESANC/ON.
1024-1035 from the severity of his self-inflicted macera-
tions when crossing the snows and glaciers of
the Mons Jovis, or that he might perish through
the tenuity of his garments and never descend
the perilous pass to Aosta, these prophecies were
soon forgotten. Yet we may excuse such fears
in the minds of those who had never galloped
up a hill bolder than the Dunes or Downs,
imparting their name to the celebrated battle
field, which rendered William truly Duke of
Normandy ; or listened to any cataract more
precipitous than the twenty toises of silver
streamlets constituting the only cascade in
France — the fall of Mortagne.
Speedily were the lieges reassured, and satis-
fied that there was not any reason for anticipating
by Drogo,
disaster; Drogo, Count of the Vexin, accompanied
mode of
his friend to share the pleasurable excitement of
the perils attendant upon the journey ; and
Toustain le-Blanc, afterwards so distinguished
in the field of Hastings, slept in his liege lord's
chamber.
Robert's Harbingers went forward to prepare the
splendid lodgings ; and, lengthened were the trains
of grooms and stable folk, leading the sump-
ters of burden, the coursers of state and plea-
sure, and the snorting steeds of war. One
adventure only occurred, offering any incident
approaching to trouble or danger ; a scuffle
at Besan9on with a drowsy, perhaps drunken,
Warder. The gate was narrow, the street,
ROBERT AT ROJIK. 185
long, and the Porter, doing his duty and some- 1024-1035
v *• „ J
thing more, cudgelled the pilgrim Duke, to
make him move on. The Duke's followers and
companions would have brained the rascal with
their bourdons, but Robert restrained their in-
dignation. It was needful, — according to his
pious exposition, — that they should exhibit
themselves as patterns of patience and humility,
and suffer for the good of their souls.
§ 39. Tutte le strade vanno a Roma — all R°mertat
roads lead to Rome, — and thither, in due time, sScy of
' his conduct
arrived our Pilgrim. It is intimated, rather
than asserted, that Robert received the Pilgrim's
insignia from the Holy father, but no record is
extant of any donation to St. Peter's shrine.
Robert proceeded merrily; exhibiting his
munificence, in a manner consistent with his
own natural character, and equally inconsistent
with the penitential part which he was acting
before the world.
The earliest medieval guide-book existing, is
the little treatise entitled Mirabilia Romce • and,
amongst these marvels, ranked very highly
that noble equestrian statue, now ascribed to
Marcus Aurelius, but then commanding greater
veneration as the supposed memorial of the first
Christian Emperor.
It was a standing joke amongst the Citizens, Robert and
3 v ' the eques-
— one of those local facetiae which descend by t
inheritance — that Constantine never moved for
sunshine or frost, for wind or for rain ; and this
186 ROBERT'S WILD CONDUCT.
1024-1035 proverbial whimsy suggested to Robert a corre-
sponding grave drollery. It is a characteristic of
the mediaeval ethos, that, although the lighter
compositions abound with jests, they are for
the most part flat, coarse, licentious, or dull. A
bale was unpacked and a rich mantle taken out,
which Robert cast upon the effigy. — Shame befal
you Romans, — quoth he, — you who allow your
Emperor to remain scorched by the heat and
pinched by the cold, exposed to wind and rain.
Robert's conduct throughout the journey was
reckless, strange, and as a man unhinged. Wild his
display of wealth, neither encreasing his comfort
nor really euhauncing his dignity. He caused
his mules to be shod with shoon of gilded silver,
fastened to the hoofs by a single nail ; enjoining
his men not to pick up these adornments,
when cast by the ambling beast upon the road,
Cowtoti- t>Ut t° let tUem lie'
§ 40. We now encounter our pilgrims at Con-
stantinople. Here Robert attempted a clumsy
display of wealth, or rather of wealth's insolence;
whilst, at the same time, he enjoyed the dear
delight of wounding the feelings of those whom
he despised. The contempt wherewith we
drench the Orientals, is an antient Latin inheri-
tance. The barbarity of Frank or Lombard, is
the pride of civilization. To make an insulting
mock at matters in themselves indifferent, is
only a degree less reprehensible than the making
a mock at sin. When Robert entered the By-
RUDENESS OF THE NORMANS. 187
zantine Audience Hall, followed by his cortege, 1024-1035
he, grimly, and without salutation or other shew
of deference, flung his splendid mantle upon the
pavement ; and, bundling up the garment, sat
down thereon. The like, his suite ; but the Im-
perial attendants sagaciously avoided coming in
collision with the barbarians.
In fact, the Duke and his Normans assumed
that they were privileged to be rude, and they No
were permitted to be rude ; much according to the
toleration we should extend to a Feejee, exhibited
at an evening assembly.
Therefore, when Robert rose up and was
about to depart, the Imperial ushers pre-
pared to re-invest him. " It is not the fashion
in our country," exclaimed Robert, "to carry
our seats with us," as the incident is described
in the passage which learned Ducange has
quoted, for the purpose of affording a lively
view of the scene. The Emperor on his part,
displayed that appreciation of refinement and
politeness which provoked the scorn of Frank and
Lombard, who regarded all Orientals with that
ignorant contempt which disgraced themselves ;
whereas the Emperor Michael did honour to his
own self, by displaying all the courtesy in his
power ; possibly however not without some de-
gree of apprehension, lest his guests should visit
him again, with arbalist and spear !
Michael defrayed all the travelling expenses
of the Normans, an act equally prudent and
188 FAILURE OF ROBERT'S HEALTH.
1024-1035 courteous, as he thereby lessened the chance of
quarrels between the Norman swash-bucklers
and his citizens. It is said, that the Emperor
prohibited the sale of fire-wood to the pilgrims,
whereupon Robert and his folks warmed them-
selves before a crackling blaze of pistachios.
tsuTfaii°i£e of §41. Robert journeyed onward, and we may
discern the symptoms indicating that his over-
worked mind was failing : the decline of his bodily
health was manifest, he became worse and worse,
day by day. No longer able to walk or to ride,
he hired a gang of Negro Palanquin bearers, and
the novelty of this mode of conveyance amused
him in his misery. Toustain officiated as his
Chamberlain. The intermediate stages of Robert's
progress are not detailed, but his friends at home
were sufficiently supplied with intelligence.
Nprmanof § 42. The Levant abounded with Latin travel-
Pilgrimsto ... • c
lers, pilgrims, or vagabonds passing for such :
the majority from Normandy, but no bailliage
or seigneurie supplied so large a proportionate
number as the maritime Bessin, the Avranchin,
and the Cotentin, then teeming with the sturdy
unemployed, seeking for sustentation wherever
it could be found, and who founded so many
good families in England. Usurped Apulia
constituted a station on the journey, greed
and fraud attracting a never failing supply of
devout Flibusteers ; cadets of noble families,
bearing the Cross of salvation embroidered on
the gowns which concealed the murderous sword.
ROBERT'S EXTRAVAGANT LIBERALITY. 189
The stricken Robert proceeded, and, with 1024-1035
mournful merriment, described himself as borne
like a corpse on a bier. He encountered a Nor-
man, and more than a Norman, a Normand et
demi, a blade doubly sharpened, a Cotentin man,
from the Bailliage of Pirou, a locality very notable,
even now, by reason of the Castle near Cou-
tances. — Monseigneur, enquired the doleful Pil-
grim, what shall I say concerning you when I
shall have reached home ? Robert replied with
affected jocularity : but grim and doleful was
the unseasonable joke. — " Say you saw the
devils bearing me to Paradise."
The Mahominedans luxuriated in the full
pride of domination. Robert travelled incognito,
according to the fashion which kings and princes
adopt, when they wish to enjoy the ease of
privacy, concurrently with the privileges of
station, yet not suppressing the grains risus ab
angulo, which betrays them - - ill content would
they be were their dignity quite eclipsed ! But
Robert's concealment was incompatible with
Robert's profusion. A pilgrim tax was levied
at the gate of Jerusalem — one bezaunt per head
— the same for the rich man as for the poor,
and very numerous were those, who, destitute
of the needful viaticum, congregated outside the
walls.
Robert lightened his heavy purse by paying £{££?•£'
the toll for them all. The Saracen Admiral, or e l
Jerusalem
Emir, the governor of the city, would not be out- andKobert-
190 ROBERT'S DEATH.
1024-1035 done by the Magnifico ; and, therefore, when
Robert and Robert quitted Jerusalem, he restored all the
N°ice°aned at bounty his visitor had bestowed. But the Duke
and his companion were sinking under the effects
of the poison which had been administered to
them ; and, dying at Nicea, they were entombed
in the Cathedral.
Sun repaire fust tresk a Niche,
Iluec fu mort par un toxiche ;
Ke li duna par felonie,
Un Pautonier ke Dieu nialdie.
•
Judging by the name of the Pautonier., or
Vagabond, the rascal who had envenomed the cup
was a Frenchman or a Norman, not a Greek or a
Saracen. At this period the Southern settlements
founded by the Northmen were encreasing in mag-
nitude and importance; and a suspicion floats
before our mind, that either Tancred de Hauteville,
or Guiscard, or some other of the adventurers,
whose only virtue was their valour, dreading
lest a Norman Duke might claim supremacy over
them, thus delivered themselves from their ap-
prehensions of Hollo's son. Toustain brought
over to Normandy the relics Eobert had col-
lected for his abbey of Cerisy. The name,
Toustain, is still common, both in Normandy
and Brittany. This fortunate Adventurer bore
the Conqueror's standard on the field of Hastings,
and obtained a large endowment in England.
191
CHAPTER IV.
PART I.
WILLIAM THE BASTARD, DUKE OF NORMANDY.
1035—1047.
1047—1066.
§ 1. CONTEMPLATED by any enquiring stranger,
the Norman Ducal family would, at this era, have
death..
presented a singular example of regular irregu-
larity. Every child, from Gruillaume Longue-epee
downwards, had been born out of lawful matri-
mony, and subsequently brought within the pale of
legitimacy by a mantle marriage ; or some other Irregularity
traditional mode of wedding, plighting faith,
pect of the
or pledging, equivalent to a marriage in the Nor-
man mind : some ceremony imparting a legal
and moral sanction to these unblessed nuptials,
and received as equivalent to the sacerdotal bene-
diction, being, in fact, the law as now subsisting
beyond the Tweed.
Elsewhere have I stated how the vene-
rable Anglo-Saxon formula still subsists as the
kernel of the solemnity, according to the Anglican
ritual. Each mother, honoured or dishonoured
in her turn by the Duke's affection or protection,
appears primarily in the character of a concu-
192 YOUNG WILLIAM'S ENEMIES.
1035-1047 bine, whilst, each in her turn is accepted by the
< — • — > Northmen's progeny, and the child's disgrace con-
1047—1066
doned. From Rollo downwards, only one ex-
ception can be discovered in the Neustrian annals
— the case of the Bastard par excellence, the
most illustrious of them all. The curse impre-
cated by ferocious Talvas, as he bent over the
sleeping babe, is ever ringing in our ears. Yet
in Talvas himself was the Conqueror's adage ex-
emplified — Curses, like chickens, come home to
roost. — None more chastised than the cankered
veteran, who sought to blast the cradled infant's
fortunes.
summary. g 2. So fruitful had been the stock of
Rollo' s sturdy race, that the individuals in-
cluded therein constituted a ducal clan ; each
branch expanding over the genealogist's rolls.
But William was repudiated and discarded.
the Pre-eminently formidable amongst the swarm-'
Burgnndian
on!ioiio.eir ing foes was Guido the Burgundian. It is some-
what remarkable, that when Robert sought to
shield his child from future evil, Arietta had
not been appointed or invited to join or concur
in the guardianship of her son. Possibly Robert
had seen enough in that light-hearted damsel to
determine him, that, though, by the laws of na-
ture, entitled to exercise the personal guardian-
ship of her boy, she should be excluded from
the regency. Be that as it may, the young Duke
e p™(fed was placed iQ the strong border Castle of Vau-
! dreuil, in the Evrecin, under the personal charge
191
CHAPTER IV.
WILLIAM THE BASTARD, FROM HJS ACCESSION TO THE
BATTLK OF MORTEMER.
1035—1054.
1054—1066.
§ 1. TOILING, moyling, we at length at- 1035-1054
tain the era, equally interesting and perplex-
ing, so long looming in our horizon ; that era
when the adverse fortunes of Normandy and
of England are about to conjoin. Albion's white
cliffs rise before us, whilst we are crossing the
narrow sea. The roll of Time unfolding, we
become dimly enabled to discern how all events,
though, to us successive, are contemporaneous
in the foredoomed chain of Causation ; decreed
when Time was not, and vanishing in Eternity.
Past, Present, Future, inscrutable and insepa-
rable.
William's reign, as Duke of Normandy, The three
* ' victories
commencing about the tenth year of his age, J££
, William's
assumes the form of a three-act drama, each act Ducai reign.
concentrated upon a battle. When we record the
history of our fallen race, we dip our pen in
gore ; and the three verdant fields of Val des
VOL. in. o
192 ALAIN, COUNT OF BRITTANY.
1035-1054 Dunes, Mortemer, and Hastings, respectively
define the three decisive epochs of the Ducal
domination ; — that domination predestined to
create the British Empire. In the annals of
the Human race, no one crisis more influen-
tial than William's Conquest ; for it was the
combination of the Norman's astuteness and
the Englishman's sturdiness, whereby their
descendants have been enabled to girdle the
terraqueous globe ; diffusing the good and the
evil, the blessing and the bane, each and all
alike the results of civilization.
w;i]iam'B g 2. Wild, rash, thoughtless, as Duke Robert,
guardian
mspfather.by when determining on his pilgrimage, appears
to us, he had previously taken one important
practical step, manifesting much sagacious fore-
thought and pertinent wisdom ; namely, the ap-
pointment of Alain, Count of Brittany, Hawisa's
son, — and, consequently William's near kinsman,
• — to exercise the powers of government in Nor-
mandy during the father's absence and the young
Duke's minority.
The selection was judicious. Alain's affinity
might inspire him with some small share of
natural affection. Next of kin by blood, yet not
legally entitled to claim the succession, and,
therefore, somewhat less tempted to rivalry,
he commenced his Regency wisely and ener-
getically ; and, so long as he lived, he restrain-
ed the malicious hostility of young William's
swarming enemies.
NORMANDY DURING THE INTERREGNUM. 193
Messenger after messenger dropping in from .103-5~1054.
Palestine, severally and successively repeating
and confirming the mournful intelligence, how
Eobert's strength was failing, much in body, more
in mind, had virtually anticipated the last fatal
tidings. The Tocsin tolling; the news spread
amongst the Lieges, rapidly as though the Fiery
Cross was circling round the land ; and the Ducal
dominions forthwith, lapsed into direful anarchy.
§ 3. According to the principles of medi-
aeval jurisprudence, the French forensic axiom, le
tnort saisit le vif, was not admitted simply : nor
did the Ancestor's demise, a technical expression,
than which, none more significant amongst the
pregnant " Termes de la Ley" forthwith vest
the inchoate title in the Heir. The right re-
quired realization.
The Sovereign was the Fountain of Justice ; J4enst°h7~
therefore the stream ceased to flow when the "n (
well-spring was covered by the tomb. The
judicial Bench vacant ; all Tribunals closed.
Such was the antient doctrine — a doctrine still
recognized in Anglo-Norman England. Con-
sequently, according to our constitutional law,
all Commissions and other delegations of power
emanating from the departed Ruler, become null
and void upon his death. But, in the present
day, we avoid the inconvenience which would
result from such a collapse of national vitality,
partly by Statute, and partly by a Royal De-
claration authorizing the various Functionaries
o2
194 DISTURBANCES OF NORMANDY.
1054 so circumstanced, to continue in the exercise of
their offices until otherwise provided. This pro-
cedure was not adopted during the period with
which we are now concerned ; therefore, the
land was lawless, until the u King's Peace" (that
most significant designation) was proclaimed.
The sword of Themis dropped from her unnerved
hand. The Norman Duke was the sole Judge to
whom the Baronage were amenable. From him,
all superior criminal justice emanated. And,
therefore, until the recognition of the Sovereign,
an interregnum ensued. Such was the condition
of Normandy at the juncture we are now de-
scribing. Each man acted as seemed right in
his own eyes : Faust-recht, or Fist law, accord-
ing to the emphatic term which the Germans
employ, superseded all other remedies against
wrong. Riot and robbery prevailed through-
out the land, with increased exacerbation. —
Thorns strewed the path prepared for the glo-
rious Conqueror ; his destiny, a life of agony,
a death of sorrow.
i of During the latter declining years of Robert's
negligent slothful government, the due enforcement of the
government.
laws had been neglected. The erection of a
Castle, unless with Ducal licence, was illegal.
Such a Castle was termed "adulterine" -an ap-
propriate form of speech, designating the struc-
ture's vitiated origin. Numerous were these
strongholds, each a centre of rebellious violence,
(Raubschlosser , " Robber's nests," as they are
CLAIMANTS OF THE DUCHY. 195
termed by an expressive German idiom,) which 1035-10.14
had arisen during Robert's reign, — tokens of his
culpable indifference,— whose picturesque ruins
now adorn the landscape, particularly in the
Avranchin, the Bessin, and the stern Cotentin,
where at this very moment, whilst I am writing,
the Titanic Cherbourg appals our shores,— these
three Baillages, or Viscounties, being the dis-
tricts which contributed the largest contingent
to the Conqueror's army ; and within whose
boundaries, one hundred and thirty-two of these
edifices are still subsisting, in greater or lesser
stages of decay.
Every child of Hollo's race, from Guillauine ^^a™.
Longue-epee downwards, had been born out of
lawful matrimony, but all had become subse-
»/ 7
quently legitimated by a mantle marriage, or some
other traditional mode of plighting faith, pledging,
or wedding ; some archaic rite or ceremony ac-
cepted, from time beyond memory, as imparting a
legal sanction to these unblessed nuptials ; being
in fact analogous to the law as now subsisting
beyond the Tweed. Each mother in her turn,
honoured or dishonoured by the Duke's affection
or protection, appears primarily in the character
of a concubine ; whilst the progeny of each fa-
vourite was treated as lawful, and the child's
disgrace condoned. One exception only can be
found in the Norman annals — the case of the
Bastard par excellence, — The malediction iuipre- ^1CT™™° of
cated by ferocious Talvas is ever ringing in our
196 GUIDO OF BURGUNDY.
^1035- 1054 earg . ve^ jt js jn Talvas himself that the Con-
queror's adage, "Curses, like chickens, come
home to roost," received its full exemplification.
No actor in the great drama was punished more
severely than the cankered veteran who sought
to blast the smiling infant's fortunes.
§ 4. Upon whose brows ought the- Ducal Co-
ronal to descend ? Alice, Richard le-Bon's daugh-
ter, herself spurious, had espoused Otho William,
"Count of Burgundy," this style distinguishing
transjurane Burgundy, — Burgundy beyond the
Jura, from the splendid u Duchy of Burgundy,"
that Dukedom ranking as a kingdom ; and by
him she had one son.
Guidoof This son, named G-uido, was, therefore, "Wii-
Burgundy —
liam's cousin, — a relationship constituted by
elastic bonds of affinity, closer or nearer as
measured by the length of the purse ; the object
magnified or diminished, brought nearer to your
eye, or driven further from your view, accord-
ing to the end of the spy-glass which you turn
towards the party, or the unequal heights of
the social level respectively appertaining to, or
claimed by, the Observed or the Observer.
The Burgundian Prince is much vituperated
by the Norman writers : so far, however, as we
can collect his character from their own testi-
mony, we do not discover any other reason for
their censure save antipathy. But Guido did
not stand alone ; he lacked not Competitors. .
So numerous had been the offspring of the
REGENCY OF KORMANDY. 197
Norman Dukes, that the family constituted a ,1035-1054j
species of Clan or Sept ; but, assuming the
existence of any definite right of hereditary
succession, Guido, — if we choose to over-
look the rotten spot at the fork of the branch
from which he sprung, — would have possessed a
very strong ancestorial claim ; enhanced by the
splendour of his position, and his family power.
At all events, the arguments which Guido might
employ to support his pretensions were sounder
than any could be alleged on behalf of the base-
born William ; he who came in merely by the
disposition which his putative father had made.
§ 5. It is a painful token of the sentiments
brooding in Robert's mind, that the Mother had
not been named as the guardian of her Child.
Even rigid Casuists may be quoted, who argue
that the degraded parent does not forfeit her
natural prerogative. But, stern was the rebuke
conveyed by the neglect ; hence arose the fit-
ting retribution following the sin ; for although
illicit love may be accompanied by affection,
confidence is rarely inspired. The sweetness
of the philtre palls on the palate, or turns sour.
A wardship was indispensable. Arietta was
silently elided from the list ; and Gilbert Cres- m^
pon, Count of Brionne, Chatelain of Tilliers, and
Thorkettil, also called Thorold, were appointed TUlier8-
to the trust. Gilbert, a wise and influential
officer, acted pursuant to Robert's testamentary
directions; and William, severed from his mother,
198 VAUDREUIL.
1035-105^ wag piaced; as wen for education as security,
in the stronghold of Vaudreuil. The Castle,
castle of
iii the standing in the valley formed by the confluence
f •>
uil< of the Seine and the tributary stream, the
Reuil, — a situation imparting to the locality
the name of the " Vallis Rodolii," — was familiar
to the Conqueror's family ; inasmuch as there
whilom had dwelt the good man Sperling, the
rich Miller, whom Espriota had condescendingly
taken as her husband.
Strength and position combined to recom-
mend Vaudreuil as a neighbourhood pre-emi-
nently calculated for the orphan's safety. Yet
that knowledge of human nature which the
Statesman ought to possess, might have taught
Robert to shun a bad omen. It is a fanciful,
and yet a natural feeling, that a structure should
inherit a moral character from its Founder.
Sanctity suggests sanctity ; crime, crime ; and
this grim edifice was haunted by the memory of
the Fury Fredegunda, pursuant to whose behest
the frowning towers first arose.
Ambiguous, therefore, was the aspect accord-
ing to which the Castle might be viewed, — a
palace, and a prison ; a building not destitute of
amenity, and yet inspiring awe, shading into hor-
ror. The nucleus of the building had been raised
by Roman hands. We can guess its general out-
line ; for in the very heart of Paris, the vaulted
halls traditionally associated with the name of
Julian, may, without any strained conjecture, be
THE YOUNG DUKE*S ENEMIES. 199
regarded as displaying the distinguishing features 1035-'r^
exhibited by the apartment assigned to the boy.
§ 6. Castle or Palace, — this edifice, shelter-
attacked by
ing the young Duke, he being about twelve years t]
gents against
William's
of age, was assailed and stormed by his foes, — their
leader the turbulent William, son of Roger de
Montgomery; whose name, the token of subjuga-
tion, is still stamped upon the Cymric soil. The
chamber door was forced open by the insurgents.
Osborue, the young Duke's kinsman, son of
Herfast, brother of Guenora, who slept in the
boy's bed, was stabbed by his side. So sudden
the blow, that the victim passed from sleep to
death. Thorold, the Duke's Preceptor or Gover-
nor, was also butchered. Rescued by his uncle
Gautier, the boy found refuge in a peasant's
cottage, till the first storm had passed away.
S 7. We shall hereafter contemplate the
death-bed;
glorious Conqueror upon his death-bed, labouring
under that mysterious conflict of feeling, sym-
bolized in the antient paintings, the productions
bringing before our eyes the inward mind of past
generations; the Good Angel and the Evil Demon
respectively awaiting the departure of the Soul.
Fallen nature clinging to earthly things, though
tortured with the entire consciousness of their
worthlessness. Penitence and obduracy ; self-
condemnation, and self-justification; the scales
of the balance trembling between Heaven and
Hell — then, during that awful agony did William
recapitulate his life of trial and sorrow : and,
200 THE TRUCE OR PEACE OK GOD.
1035-1054 from ujs own jjpg (j0 we iearn the dangers and
tribulations he had sustained. None more bitter
than those occasioned by the enmity and treach-
ery of his kinsfolk, who, constantly combining
against him, sought to deprive him of his domi-
nions — nay, of his life. The whole of William's
memorable reign constitutes a perpetual com-
mentary upon that night of terror.
private § 8. A moral insanity desolated the land,
Weirs.
reeking with gore. It seemed as though, according
to the Hellenic myth, the glebe had been sown
with the teeth of the dragon — the whole terri-
tory, marsh, and hill, and plain, teeming with
the young Duke's enemies. A general insurrec-
tion ensued — crime, contagious. The abusive
usage of private warfare was pursued with mer-
ciless inveteracy, and degraded into foul and hor-
rorful murder. During such moral epidemics,
generated by the combined influence of mental
and physical causes, man, like beast, becomes
maddened by the sight and stench of blood
and carnage. Warring against each other, the
weak became the prey of the strong. The
villains were despoiled, the open towns and
thorps burnt and plundered: and, sorrow upon
sorrow, the rebel-roll recorded the names of the
most illustrious in the land.
peace6 of God I 9. And thus did Normandy endure with
n- few exceptions until, in the Council of Caen, the
cil of Caen.
Norman Church adopted the " Truce of God," or
" Peace of God ;" (it is difficult to distinguish be-
THE TRUCE OR PEACE OF GOD. 201
tween these most humane institutions ;) and, dur- 1035-10.54
ing twelve years, or thereabouts, the land enjoyed
rest — a rare, and all but solitary historical ex-
ample of national violence being practically re-
strained by the influence of the Gospel. It was
enjoined by the Fathers that, from the fourth day
of the week at sunset, until the rising morn of
the second day in the following week, no attack
should be made upon any enemy; no stroke
stricken; no sword unsheathed ; no bolt darted
from the arbalest ; no battle-axe wielded ; no
bullet shot from the mangonel ; no assault made
upon any Castle, or any Town, or any Borough,
or any Tillage, or any habitation of man, during
the space of the period thus hallowed. Thirty
years' hard penance in exile, to be accepted by
the transgressor seeking pardon. Moreover, ere
commencing his self-imposed banishment, he must
make reparation for all the evil he had committed ;
and for all the spoil, restitution was to be made.
All who abetted the offender participated in the
doom. If, whilst abiding in contumacy, he was
stricken by death, Christian burial was denied to
him as an obdurate sinner, and his carrion corpse
abandoned to the fowls of the air.
The whole season intervening between the
first day of Advent, and the Octave of the
Epiphany, and from the Rogation day, until the
Octave of Pentecost, received the protection
of the Truce. But such injunctions were too
burthensome for unconverted man ; and, though
202 WILLIAM'S ENEMIES.
more than once repeated, and at Rouen com-
memorated by the Church of " Sainte Paix." the
usage wore out. and became, what it is now, a
cnriositv of history.
* >
§ 10- Numerous and formidable the factions
headed by Manger, the turbulent Archbishop of
Rouen ; and his brother. William d'Arqnes : Wil-
liam's kinsmen. The Montgomery partv also.
» A ft
Fierce Roger had then retreated into France,
bauished, or self-banished thither. With him
his five sturdy sons — emulating their father in
all wickedness. Conspicuous also among the
Bastard's enemies rose Hugh de Montfort ; but
the most precocious of the rebels was Wai-
cheline. Baron of Ferrers ; this Wak-heline
being the first who actually kindled the torch
of rebellion. He erected his fortifications on the
banks of the Coesnon. and conjured his friends
to aid him in avenging the grievous aftront he
had received from Hugh with the Bushy-beard,
Count of Montfort. and son of Thurstan de
Bastenborsr. The latter, confiding in his for-
v_ S 1— •
talice, and, in order to prevent the enmity of that
Baron, so well known in subsequent time from his
canting bearing, the Horse-shoes, sallied forth
as in desperation. So fierce the fight, that both
the douehtv combatants were slain. The arms
*_ *
given by Ferrers, that autieut title suggesting
such lamentable recollections, commemorate the
tenure of Walehelme's Barony, as being the Ducal
farrier ; and he dug the ore on his own lands.
ROGER DE TOEXI. 203
But none amongst the rebel host inspired
greater apprehensions, whether by birth or pos-
session-, talent or cruelty, than the famous, <>r
infamous Rojrer de Toeni.
c^
Like the Scots, the Normans entertained a
firm belief in the opinion, that disposition ofuilonepQ
mind, whether for good or evil, crime or talent,
was stubbornly inheritable in families. In our
age, such a tendency is diminished or concealed
by civilization ; but the innate idiosyncrasy oc-
casionally crops out — the very consciousness of
the imputation occasioning its realization. Xow,
in Normandy, the inaui-aise engeance of Eric,
Hire, or Hulc, to which family Toeni belonged,
•
was famed for ferocitv. Hulc bore Eollo's
•
standard, and, according to the family tradi-
tions, valiantly assisted him in subjugating
Xeustria. From him came the proud and
powerful Roger — this pedigree affording one of
the very few instances in which the ancestry
of a Xorman is deduced from a genuine Xorth-
man. — Fully did he assert the imputed charac- ?^'4e
ter of his race, inasmuch as when he passed s
over into Spain, he distinguished himself by
valour and savageness, preventing Richard Cceur
de Lion in his atrocities.
It is a sorrow that traditional adulation should
teach us to admire this last mentioned sanguin-
ary and licentious Anglo-Xorman Monarch — af-
fording one of the innumerable instances of the
false judgments, whereby history becomes cor-
204 WILLIAM'S CHARACTER.
rupted into a constant source of erroneous feel-
ing. As for our Norman Baron, the day he
landed was a day of battle. He caused a Saracen
prisoner to be quartered as though he were
an ox : and, the quivering limbs cast into the
seething cauldron, he smacked his lips when,
in the presence of his congenial followers, he
partook of the horrible viand. Whether the
anecdote be true or false, the circumstance is
equally characteristic of both eras ; that one and
the same act of ostentatious brutality should
be assigned to two diverse national heroes.
Some time afterwards Toeni returned to Nor-
mandy, and found the Bastard ruling in the
land. He was direfully offended; and none more
competent to do mischief than he. He arrived
at the juncture when the revolt against the
Child William was raging. Most of the old
and trusty friends placed about William by
his father, had been assassinated ; and the
wide-spread antipathy entertained against the
boy produced the effect of a regularly organized
conspiracy.
2 11. As for William, his character received
mednuaag"fts. lull developeinent at an early age. He conducted
himself wisely and discreetly, and the sagacity
distinguishing the man, had previously been
conspicuous in the boy. To varied talents of a
high order, William conjoined athletic vigour and
a noble form. It was talked of as a truth, or
accepted as a truth, that none but Duke William
character —
PERPLEXITIES OF NORMAN HISTORY. 205
could bend Duke William's bow. His natural 1035-1054
gifts, whether bodily or mental, marked him for
a Conqueror; and the hard discipline he sustained
in his youth trained him to become a Chastiser
of nations, a minister of punishment and of ven-
geance. But his greatest victory was over his own
natural passions : — in an age of gross and un-
bridled licentiousness, the Conqueror of Carthage
was not more distinguished for continence and
chastity than William. He soon acquired impor-
tance beyond his years. A powerful and brilliant
Court assembled around him. So splendid, so in-
fluential, was the youth, as to excite King Henry's
jealousy ; and the monarch, secretly alarmed at
his vassal's rising reputation, was obliged, even
then, to treat him with a degree of deference be-
yond what his years could claim. In no one
point of character did William display his apti-
tude for government more satisfactorily than by
his readiness to follow counsel. And, submitting
to the advice of those about him, he appointed
Eobert de Grace to assist him in political, as
well as in military affairs, until he himself should
attain full age.
§ 12. The perplexities attending the investi-
gation of Norman history continue to press upon
us during the early years of William's reign.
An era of confusion has bequeathed to us an in-
heritance of confusion. The enmity which the
boy encountered constitutes the leading and pro-
minent feature of the period, until we find him
20G WILLIAM'S CHARACTER.
1035-1054 firmly settled in his authority. But, though
considerable difficulty may be experienced in
determining the sequence of events, there is none
whatever as to the main course and flow of Wil-
liam's fortunes. It does not appear that any
precise age of majority was denned by the
legal constitution : we know it was not so in
England; and Henry the Sixth, the child,
scarcely more than an infant, affords a very
signal example of the mischief occasioned
thereby. The like in France ; indeed, we may
say, throughout Christendom.
I 13. William may have been cruel, but
never obstinate. His reign, if, at such an early
age, his exercise of sovereignty may be termed
a reign, opened with misfortunes : the dissatis-
faction of the Barons increased and matured
into a combination against him ; and, seeking
the tranquil Henry, they roused him to action
against the rising rival.
There was reason for apprehension. The
Norman settlement cuts into the French terri-
tory, and the descendants of the Danes were
always within a short inarch of the gates of
Paris. We do not possess any particulars con-
cerning the Baronial conspiracy. Guillaume de
Jumieges is our solitary informant, and he whis-
pers in our ears : " That these are the very men
who yet live and now make profession of being
the most faithful, and upon whom our Duke has
conferred the greatest distinctions and favours."
KING HENRY'S ENMITY. 207
§ 14. Normandy's perennial opponent and
implacable enemy, Henry of France, had, as '
we have seen, fully and solemnly confirmed the
young Duke's reversionary right and title, which
acknowledgment, he, upon Robert's request,
and in Robert's life-time, had ratified by all the
solemnities of law ; but the transaction was con-
strued by the French Court to be void ab initio ;
still were the Normans despised as barbarians,
and dreaded as Pirates. The waters of Jordan
could not wash out the black blood stain, and
Henry, partaking in the general feeling, deter-
mined to unsheathe the sword, and extirpate the
odious usurpers of the land.
§ 15. It is not always easy to determine
satisfactorily the line of demarcation severing
1035—1054
pbical his-
historical biography from biographical history. iorr-
Ought the Hero to rise before us, as the system's
centre, around whom all the events circumvolve,
or should the unity be constituted by the Epos ?
Are we not compelled to elect between Napoleon's
achievements, and the foundation of the French
Empire ?— Between Achilles' anger and Ilium's
conflagration ? — Between the conquest of Gaul,
and the laurels of Ca3sar ? — In our present task,
no such difficulty perplexes us. Hero and Epos !^^the
are one. Either of the epithets bestowed by jpercets.en'
history or by tradition upon Arietta's son,
equally pourtrays William's complete mission,
from his joyless cradle to his miserable death-
bed. Whether you designate him as the Bastard,
VOL. in. p
1040
of William's
mission
208 WILLIAM'S MISSION.
•
io3s-io54 or ag the conqUeror, the effect upon the mind is
^7 complete : the whole history of the Man, and of
his times, unfolds before us.
Magnificence Magnificent was William's destiny. Can
nf William'n " o
we avoid accepting him as the Founder of the
predominating empire now existing in the civil-
ized world ? Never does the sun set upon the
regions where the British banner is unfurled.
Nay, the stripes and stars of the Transatlantic
Republic would never have been hoisted, nor
the Ganges flow as a British stream, but for
the Norman's gauntleted hand.
Elsewhere have I spoken of the Saga-like cha-
racter of the Norman historiographers, resulting
from the general absence of dates, whether in text
or margin, so that, for the most part, we can only
guide ourselves by the synchronisms which we
gather from the Capetian annals or the English
authorities ; as to the case, immediately before
us, we can, with respect to William, roughly
calculate that, whether influenced by policy, or
restrained by apprehension, the young Duke's
swarming enemies, domestic or foreign, had,
after the first hostile explosion, allowed him to
continue unmolested, whilst about twelve circling
years were rolling away ; during which period
the young Sovereign, attaining man's estate,
settled into pacific tranquillity. Sedulously did
he attend to his affairs, though his time was
fully as much employed in his recreations and
amusements. It is related with much zest by
HOSTILITY OF FRANCE. 209
the tonsured Chronicler, how the young Duke ,1035~1054.
disturbed the sweet refreshin solitude of the
damp and cool forest glades, by setting apart wmi.
gouement for
Preserves or Parks for sport; that is to say, the chace-
for the purpose of enjoying the anguish and
misery inflicted upon the Creatures whom their
and our Creator has placed under man's su-
premacy. But the political calm was deceptive.
Whatever apparent respect Henry may have
rendered to his Vassal, it was always accom-
panied by the mental reservation that the pact
was binding only so long as convenient, —
a principle silently pervading most diplomatic
arrangements : and many domestic ones also.
§ 16. William, as yet only a youth, was
tolerated rather than acknowledged by his Suze- £
rain ; and, when the good time of doing evil ar-
rived, Henry poured his forces into the young
Duke's territory. No courtesy displayed, or
feigned ; no, not even fair warning. No mes-
sage delivered ; no gauntlet thrown down ; no
challenge given ; no defiance proclaimed ; no
trumpet sounded. Henry invaded the Evrecin,
accompanying his aggression by demanding the
immediate demolition of the much-contested
Castrum Tegulense, or Tilliers : — Tilliers must
be razed to the ground. A harassing warfare
was now waged by both parties ; — desultory
skirmishes ; — assaults, obscure, inglorious, in-
decisive, yet nevertheless possessing much po-
litical importance, for the quarrel fretted the
210 HOSTILITY OF FRANCE.
1035-1054
sores ; keeping alive all the old
grudges between the Frenchman and the North-
man, so that the two Nations relapsed naturally,
so to speak, into the normal relations of rivals
and of enemies.
Tne fortress had been placed under the charge
of sturdy Gruillaume Crespon, whom we may
designate as Guillaume Crespon the First, thus
distinguishing him from a namesake. A mes-
sage was despatched, instructing him to surrender
the charge of the stronghold; but he acted as
though he could not comprehend the order, and
held out. The young Duke besought his sturdy
guardian to comply ; and the fortress was given
up. Henry repaired to Tilliers, placed a garrison
therein, contrary to his engagement, and having
obtained this grip upon Normandy, he suspended
hostilities, and a pause ensued.
§17. Guido of Burgundy now suddenly
asserted his claims, or pretensions. Kindly
Norman
re7ou.; his ancl confidentially had the Donzell been reared
at the Norman Court. From the time he
could cross a horse, he was treated almost
as an heir presumptive. The Youth had been
received in the Halls of Falaise as an enfant de
la maison; and, when he attained the canonical
age, the degree of knighthood was conferred
upon him by his Liege Lord. Moreover, several
important Baronies were granted to him ; and
Alice of Normandy's son occupied a station
scarcely less prominent before the world than
GUIDO OF BURGUNDY. 211
the son of Arietta. He was courted in ac- .1035-105j
cordance with his station and pretensions. To 'i^Ciiw?
him resorted the discontented and the scorner,
the ambitious and the covetous, and all who
hated or despised the Bastard : and the scarcely
concealed enmity soon exploded.
The instigators of rebellion were found in the DUcJ°*[;tcf
very Danishry of Normandy ; — in the Bessin,
where the speech of Scandinavia had been so
long cherished; and in the frowning Cotentin,
crowned by the massy bulwarks whose threaten-
ing image is ever rising before our eyes.
The chief fomenter of discontent was Neel,
or Nisei de Saint Sauveur, the premier Baron
101).
of Normandy, descended from the most distin-
guished amongst Hollo's followers. Neel, whose
progenitor stood as first individual amongst the
Pirates who had received their domains from the
great Northman's grant ; Neel, pre-eminent by
position, wealth, and talent ; Neel, whose pos-
sessions commanded sea-bord and inland-; Neel,
rendered equally formidable by the extent of
his dominions, and the sturdiness of his vassals,
— they who won such fair possessions in Eng-
land, and who now combined the Frenchman's
cultivation with the Berserker's savage valour.
-Hamo Dentatus, or " Rattle Jaw," also joined
the insurgents ; he, the founder in England of
the Durdent family : and Grimoald de Plessis,
owning the Barony which, at the present day,
still bears his name, and commemorates his mis-
de
212 CONSPIRACY AGAINST WILLIAM.
™35-1054 fortunes. And all the Confederates bound them-
selves by a great oath to work the intruder's
destruction.
But, where are we to seek young William, who
now rises before us as Chief of the Norman Com-
monwealth ? Not in powerful Bayeux, where
the speech of the Northmen still lingers as a
living tongue. Not in proud, opulent, rebellious
Eouen. Not at towering Falaise, where his
infant wailings were first heard. But at pleasant
Valognes, where temple and hypocaust, theatre
and amphitheatre, testified how, in the luxurious
Roman days, the locality had been prized.
Here William had established himself, holding
Goiet,the njg (}ourt. Amongst his guests none more im-
portant than Golet, the fool. Half demented,
though acute withal, this Merry-man becomes
conspicuous in the history of Court-jesters ; and
he had gained cognizance of the conspiracy. In
the midst of the night he presented himself at
William's door, in full official costume, his
bauble slung round his neck ; and, knocking
violently, he shrieked out, "Up, up, my lord
Duke ! open ! open ! flee ! flee ! or you are a
lost man ! Delay is death. All are armed ;
all marshalled ; and, if they capture thee, never,
never wilt thou again' see the light of day ! "
William obeyed the warning without even
flight by
night> a thought of hesitation. No questions asked.
No companions to support him. No groom
aiding. Half clad, starting from his couch he
WILLIAM'S DANGER. 213
rushed into the stable, saddled his beast, and ,1035-1054
made for the ford of Vire. Hard by the river's
mouth stood, and still stands, the Church of Saint
Clement, close upon Isigny. — Here, he tarried;
may be, prayed. Bayeux he dared not enter;
therefore, he edged his track between the Saxon
city and the sea, skirting a neighbourhood, whose
name is echoed on our shore of the channel, the
bourgade of " Rye." Doubting the loyalty of
the inhabitants, he sought for the " Manoir,"
the dwelling-place par excellence, a term which,
amongst us, is extended to the whole demesne.
But this signification first obtained in compa-
ratively modern times : and so recently, that I
cannot recollect a single example of the word's
occurrence in an antient English Court roll.
Day was dawning ; but, ere the sun had cleared
the horizon, William had arrived at Hubert's Hubert
door. William's horse, white with foam, bespoke
the urgency of the danger which had driven his
rider thither. The road through which William
escaped still retains the name of la vote du
Due. The local traditions and the Trouveur's
lay agree with singular accuracy, and the whole
of this narrative abounds with particulars so
minutely descriptive, that none but the illustri-
ous fugitive could have told the tale.
North lies Cherbourg, that adamantine, stern,
threatening arsenal, where, instead of the wooden
mallet's dead thud, thud, thud, we are now
startled by the harmonious clink, clank, clink,
214 WILLIAM'S FLIGHT.
iusurrection.
1035-1054 Of the hammer striking upon the sides of the
7' iron-clad vessels, whose terrors are summoning
the willing warriors from their homes to de-
fend our shores.
Hubert's sons conducted the Duke to pala-
tial Falaise, where he bided his time ; his flight
the signal for the baronial rebellion. The u Vice-
comites," the governing nobility of the land,
who appear in England as the " Scireyerefas"
seized the Ducal dominions. A hard trial now
had William to sustain. He sought refuge at
his Suzerain's court. At Poissi, the royal re-
sidence, it was in the character of a Vassal that
the future Conqueror craved his Liege Lord's
re- aid. Gladly the King welcomed the illus-
S* tL Kmg. trious applicant, whose submission purchased
«-
sembles his
the Normans.
protection. Intent upon vengeance, William
told over the chief rebels, man by man. It was
a proud duty which Henry was required to
fulfil, that he should be invoked as William's
protector, the heir of Rollo being as yet only
dubiously invested with the ducal dignity.
2 18. William summoned his Lieges from
.
of those Baillages in which his authority had been
most cordially acknowledged. Rouen manifested
unusual loyalty, and the whole Rournois assem-
bled in defence of Rollo' s descendant. Caux, and
the sturdy and opulent Cauchois, co-operated
cheerfully and powerfully. Princely Eu and
the Lieuvin poured forth their chivalry: also
antique Evreux and the Ev^in ; and the com-
bined forces assembled on the wide-spreading
VAL DES DUNES. 215
undulating hills, which impart their name to i1035-1054
Yal des Dunes, — a region whose conformation
displays the original conjunction of these con- 1047
V ill (Jet)
tinental downs with the corresponding tract in cauenne.8' nigh
our island ; the elastic turf, clear of trees, in-
clining towards the rising sun. The topographical
details are given so picturesquely as to convince
us that the Trouveur had studied the scenery
which his verse describes.
Amongst the Barons, there was one who, cunning
" Ralph Tes-
adopting the phrase employed during our civil
the war.
wars, sometimes seriously — sometimes sarcas-
tically — was distinguished as a " waiter upon
Providence." This individual was Ralph Tesson
or Tasson of the Cinglais, Tesson the Badger,
so skilful in burrowing his way ; equally quali-
fied by cunning and by power.
Tesson' s men were stationed apart, and IeTn^
A the lead in
their bannerols, waving bright from their lances, amy.aronial
rendered them conspicuous. — "Friends or ene-
mies ?" enquired the King. The doubt was
immediately removed. The stubborn, wily
chieftain presents himself first and foremost
in the Baronial ranks, whom the chances of
civil war would entitle to be honoured as libe-
rators of their father-land from the Bastard's
degrading yoke, or branded as rebels. As for J0ew.ons
Tesson, he had sworn on the shrine at Bayeux,
that he would open the fight by striking the
first blow upon the helm of the base-born Pre-
tender. But the Barons were divided in opinion ;
many saw in William the rightful heir, and
216 BATTLE OF VAL DES DUNES.
Tesson fought for his life. Well had he de-
served the vengeance due for treason.
The charge Now ensued the shock of battle ; and loud
of the
Barons. ^e ra]iying cly Of the Harcourts, who were
the most intent in the cause. "Thury!" was
their slogan, still heard in the local name of
" Harcourt Thury." — Was it here that they
chose the pleasant and comforting motto which
they bear in the conquered land, "le bon temps
viendra ?" — And they expected the good time in
this present conflict. But the Scandinavian
enthusiasm of the modern Normans, tempts
them, to hear in this war-cry the invocation of
Thor, the thunderbolt's wielder.
The Ducai Dauntless William headed the Normans, whilst
troops charge
the enemy. from tiie hostile ranks " Montjoie Saint Denis ! ':
resounded through the air, to which the rallying
cry " Saint Sauveur," shouted by the Bessiii
troops, headed by Ranulph of the Briquessart,
responded. He, ready to risk his purse, his
treasure, nay, his very life, for the purpose of
crushing the enemy. Fierce the fight ; Henry
?ann|e"?nry " and his squadron faced the Cotentin men. The
King of the French was dismounted, but through
great exertion, his life was preserved ; whilst the
glory of the Cotentin was commemorated by the
popular rhyme which, transmitted to subse-
quent generations, attested the monarch's dis-
comfiture.
De Costentin sortit la lance,
Qui abati le Hoi cle France.
BATTLE OF VAL DES DUNES. 217
Another war-horse brought up ! — Henry
vaults into the saddle, and the conflict is re- ^±
newed with increased desperation. Necl de Saint The rebels
_ resisting des-
bauveur maintained the fight until the rebels fled
in dire confusion ; and, so thick fell they, that the
narrow, foaming mill-race of Bourbillon, which
you look down upon as you hang over the
shattered parapet of the one-arched bridge, was
choked with bloody corpses. Hamo slain, and,
borne away upon his shield, the vanquished rebel
was entombed nigh the border of the stream.
Discomfited, dispirited, shamed, the insurgents
sought mercy. William was prudently gracious.
Gifts and promises were followed by pardon.
The forfeitures which the Barons had incurred
were remitted ; but Neel, who did not humble
himself by " seeking grace at a- graceless face,"
found a refuge in his castle of Brionne-sur-
Rffle.
Henry continued to aid the Norman Duke.
" ) Bnonne-
despatching further reinforcements. But so sur'' Ule*
strong was Neel's position, or so imperfect and
desultory the means of attack, that three years
elapsed ere the fortress surrendered. Merciful
were the terms extended to all the Captives, save
one. Grimoald de Plessis was dropped into the Sa0bfle
dungeon-pit, manacled and fettered, the cankering G
iron eating into his ulcerated flesh ; and, in this
misery, protracted during three years, he expired :
— the victor's spite pursued the traitor to the
grave — for he was buried in his bonds ; so that
218 ANJOU AND NORMANDY.
^035-1054 the sad tale of his fate might prove an awful warn-
'lolCioss inS- As f°r the other delinquents, William made
a bridge for the flying enemy. Guido's renun-
ciation of allegiance was accepted ; and, retreat-
ing to Burgundy, he disappears ignominiously
SfeTe" from history. This trial of strength settled all
disputes between William and the recalcitrating
Normans. All who had rebelled against the
Bastard made full acknowledgment of his au-
thority.— Fealty and homage rendered, — hos-
tages given to secure the plighted troth, — the
adulterine castles razed to the ground,— a new
field of exertion opens for the Conqueror.
cEoniDg §19. Hitherto, though considerable jealousy
No^andy had subsisted between the powerful lines of
and ADJOU.
Anjou and Normandy, no hostile collision had
yet ensued ; but much rivalry, fair or un-
fair, had been mutually cherished between
William and Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou,
the famous son of Fulk Nerra, whose sobriquet
(distinguishing him from his namesake Geoffrey
Grisgohelle) so well designates his heavy hand.
In both these Princes the mental talents and
moral failings of their respective lineages were
signally exemplified. One cause of offence
arose from the conduct pursued by Geoffrey
towards the House of Champagne and Blois,
whose possessions were at this period divided
between Stephen the son of Eudes, and his
brother Thibaut. Fiercely were the passions
of all parties roused. Martel warred steadily
GEOFFREY M ARTEL. 219
and sturdily against both these princes. Stephen .1035-1054,
was defeated and expelled. Nevertheless the
balance of fortune was fairly counterpoised.
Thibaut was captured and kept in duresse, until
he surrendered Tours and Chinon — Chinon, after-
wards so gay under Plantagenet ascendency.
The contagious ill-will amongst these nobles
excited much enmit}T against Martel in particular.
Other causes were abundantly found in the
clannish feuds which rise so prominently before
us during this era of Norman history.
2 20. Geoffrey Martel' s conduct was tor-
J Importance
tious ; employing bribery and corruption, he
obtained possession of Alencon. defended by the
site and by the people's valour, and constituting
with Domfront the basis of a line of operations,
which could be equally employed, whether for
the assault or the defence of the Duchy.
From this position, Geoffrey, true to his
epithet, incessantly made Normandy feel the full
weight of his crushing hand, driving all before
him, affronting the Norman pride. Merely to
stand up against an enemy, is, under certain
circumstances, considered an act of boldness ;
whilst William maybe said to have advanced, ntna™8 MB
campaigns.
bearding his foes ; another expression grounded
upon the same idea.
A very powerful partisan, who occupies a H
special position, was William Fitz-Osborne, son
of honest Osborne ; he who sheltered William
in his earliest childhood, and who had con-
fulness.
220 WILLIAM UNPOPULAR.
1035-1054 tinued so true and affectionate in the midst of
^r^^ the treacherous crowd.
These men of might were destined to become
Doomsday Barons, and to rule respectively in
England, as Earls of Hereford and Shrews- V
bury.
wmiam's William continued to prosecute the cam-
paign with insulting unconcern, savouring of
affectation, hawk on fist, or following the hound,
as though the country did not remain to be
acquired, but had been already gained. Well
nigh had the commencement cost him dear.
His own people grudged the vailing of their
caps to the Tanner's grandson. The disgust
which turned their stomachs against the Bas-
tard, was contagious amongst all the revolters,
and all their party : the very horses shyed
at the stench of the tanyard ; and one in-
dividual, "the traitor of traitors," whose name
is concealed by Guillaurne de Jumieges, nearly
succeeded in betraying our Duke to captivity
or death. Indeed, there could not have been
any other alternative for such a captive, — his
prison doors could not have opened except for
the grave.
Such were the feelings actuating all Belesme's
peculiar seigneurie. To fall under the domi-
nation of the Tanner's grandson, — the contempt-
ible Bastard, — was intolerable. He was loathed
and detested. William made straight towards
tants.
SIEGE OF ALENC'ON. 221
Alencon. He found the inhabitants all ready 1035-1054
to greet him : — calthrops sown, — fosses deep- . — - — -
1047—1055
ened, — walls heightened, -- palissades bristling
all around ; whilst the town-folk accumulated
insult upon disloyalty. To spite the Tanner's Hc ia
' * insulted by
grandson, the walls were tapestried with raw1
hides — the filthy gore-besmeared skins hung
out, and as he drew nigh, they whacked them,
and they thwacked them ; " Plenty of work for
the Tanner — plenty of work for the Tanner," —
they sang out, shouting and hooting, mocking
their enemies.
They sought to sting William to the quick,
and did. He swore his great oath, that dearly
should they pay for their insolent bravado.
They acted advisedly ; they knew their peril and
had prepared themselves for it, yet scarcely
realizing the extent of their danger. The bridge
was barricadoed, and they made a bold — a des-
perate sortie. The outwork was stormed. The
stakes stuck in the ooze were plucked up.
Many of the Alen?on men fell into William's
power, and atrocious his triumph. The pri-
soners were brought before the walls and
there endured the most infernal tortures ; their
fellow-townsmen crowding the battlements, ago-
nized by the appalling spectacle. Eyes spiked
out, hands and feet chopped off, and the man-
gled members and limbs shot into the town,
earnests of the Duke's vengeance. These hor-
222
TRIUMPH OF WILLIAM.
William's
triumph.
William
courts the
Emperor.
1035 ^1054. rors were intolerable : the Alen^on men, pitifully
craving mercy, were permitted to capitulate ;
and William, having entered on the proper An-
gevine territory, erected a castle at Ambieres,
and returned triumphantly to Rouen.
§ 21. William's renown spread far and near.
The clerks' glozing erudition assured him that he
might appropriate to himself Cesar's alliterative
boast. His Barons renewed their homages ; the
aspect of his affairs became brilliant ; and a
grand alliance with the Kaizar encreased his
influence. No real addition of authority did Wil-
liam obtain by this measure; nevertheless, the
connection was politically advantageous. Though
frayed and faded, the Imperial purple still tri-
umphed supreme, as the most dignified sym-
bol of human power. Moreover, it was possible
that, through the prerogative ascribed to the
Imperial head of the Christian Commonwealth,
Normandy's Ruler might assume the royal style,
and his dominions acquire the title of a king-
dom. Hungary and Poland offer examples of
such a recognition. Hence we obtain an ex-
planation of the jealousy excited amongst
William's neighbours ; and, therefore, his ene-
mies.
§ 22. William's whole position was fraught
with danger, and he knew it. Swarming were
the foes who grudged the pre-eminence acquired
by the bastard brat of the unsavoury Tanner's
daughter. William's stern and sagacious energy
WILLIAM HELD CHEAP. 223
commanded external submission, and excited in- 1035-1054
ternal exasperation. But the stigma imparted by
William's illegitimacy was indelible. The blemish
was a permanent ulcer which no Leech could heal,
Enmity may be subdued by Christian feeling
but contempt arising from birth, is not to be
washed away by the waters of the font ; nay, not
even by the consecrated oil. Do not we Septua-
genarians, retain a living recollection of the least
respected in the category of our Sovereigns, who
sneered at Napoleon because he was not a gen-
tleman? An equivalent feeling was contagious
amongst the Rulers of all the States by which
Normandy was surrounded. William might be
admitted to their consultations, but not cor-
dially received ad eundem. Grudgingly would
William have been invited by the tabarded He-
rald to enter the lists, had it not been for his
well weighted purse ; nor could he expect to
establish his position, until he should have ob-
tained unquestionable superiority.
§ 23. The apanages and baronages held by
William's kinsfolk, on the right hand or on the
left, comprehended some of the broadest and
most tempting Seigneuries of Normandy — none
more important than the noble barony of Mor-
taigne, so attractive to the Traveller, impressed
by the feeling peculiarly the creation of our
times, the sense of the picturesque — a senti-
ment scarcely older than ourselves, even Anna's
golden reign was strange to the sensation — in-
VOL. in. Q
birth.
b>
224 WILLIAM THE WAULING.
1035-1054 asmuch as the locality contains the only water-
fall in Normandy.
wiliiam the Now started up as a newly declared enemy,
Warlmg.
William, the son of Mauger, nicknamed the
Werling, or the Warlmg. He, like his father at
Corbeil, secluded himself in his rock fortress,
apparently disconnecting himself from public af-
fairs. Rarely is he noticed by the Chroniclers ;
but secret activity compensated for outward
apathy. A plot had been concerted by the
Bastard's enemies, for raising the Warling to
the Ducal Dignity ; and the conspiracy was on
the point of exploding, when an imprudent con-
fidence reposed in Eoger Bigot, the great Earl
°f East Anglia — (antiquaries please themselves
by showing you the model tower which they
bestow upon him) — revealed the treacherous
mriing confederacy. Arraigned by his angry Suzerain,
the Felon dared not deny the charge, and
was thankful for a decree which permitted, or
compelled him, to seek his fortune in opulent
Apulia.
§ 24. Mortaigne, which belonged to the War-
ling, was dealt with as an escheat. William
bestowed the fine domain upon his half-brother
Robert de Conteville, the son of Arietta and
Herlouin, who subsequently becomes conspi-
cuous as a most energetic and adventurous sup-
porter of William's power. Yet the leaven of
discontent continued fermenting. William, sur-
named Busac, second son of William, Count of
PONTHIEU. 225
Arques, now revolted against the Duke, relying 1
upon the support he expected from France. But
France favoured him not. Busac quailed before
the Bastard, whose good fortune encrcased with
accelerated rapidity.
§ 25. During the early incursions of the North- .
Importance
men, the greater portion of Ponthieu had been
occupied by the Danes. According to the course
of argument, so convenient, like all diplomatic
arguments to the strongest, the geographical
position of this Pagus would be employed to
prove that the district naturally appertained
to Normandy. But what the shaggy Northmen
won. the shrewd Norman lost ; and " Centulla
of the hundred towers," together with the Abbey
of Saint Riquier, had been rased to the ground
by the Pirates. The Abbey Church was sub-
sequently rebuilt, and the structure exhibits a
most elegant example of the florid ornamentation
characterising the profligate but tasteful era in
the renaissance.
When the Scandinavian storms were lulled, a mt
' the paramour
Bourgade of some extent had nestled beneath
the Abbey's shade. The line of ruined walls E
and flanking towers, still discernible in the
pleasant fields, marks out the extent of the an-
tient settlement, and the graceful Beffroi in-
dicates that the civic community had acquired,
or re-acquired, some municipal privileges. The
opulent foundation continued to prosper, and
her annals exhibit a long series of jolly pre-
Q2
226 ABBEVILLE.
1035-1054 lates, amongst whom Nithardus is distinguished
in literature by his very valuable chronicle ;
whilst his furtive amours with Bertha, Charle-
magne's daughter, render him conspicuous in
the romance of history.
a 26. Abbeville. "Abbatis Villa," in Pon-
originally a
upoennsta.nce thieu, originally a grange depending upon the
Abbey of Saint Riquier, became the Capital of the
Seigneurie, and sometime imparted a title to
the Suzerain who owned it. This Pagus included
the Boulonnais ; and the tract constituted a very
important position, commanding the Channel
waters, from whence the Norman Duke could,
were he to renew the menaces which his father
fulminated in the days of Ethelred, terrify, or
even assail, distracted England, whose unsettled
condition invited the enemy.
prerogatives It was upon these shores that the Seigneur
peolthuru.of of Ponthieu was accustomed to put in use the
odious privilege of attaching the person as well
as the property of the tempest-tost Mariner.
The inhuman prerogatives expressed in Eng-
lish legal phraseology by terms appropriately
uncouth, " laggan, flotsam and jetsam," sub-
sisted to the fullest extent upon the Pon-
thieu shores. And the Counts, when exercising
their inhospitable rights, displayed such exor-
bitancy, that even in a barbarous age, the con-
duct was stigmatized as atrocious. Besides
their violent seizure of stranded goods, it was
their custom to treat the shipwrecked crew
GUILLAUME D' ARQUES 227
and passengers as captives, nay, as criminals ; 1035-1054
casting them into prison, and extorting a ran-
som, not merely by the squalor carceris — that
legal term which conveys such a fearful idea of
Scottish cruelty in those good old times when
mercy to man or humanity to beast were senti-
ments unknown — but even by torture.
g 27. During Richard Sans-peur's domina- TheVimeui-
tion, the Normans made an attempt to recover
the fertile district between Ponthieu and the
Somme, the Vimeux as it was subsequently
denominated ; and which, according to the
ratiocination so convenient to the stronger, he
considered as included within the natural bound-
ary of Normandy, and therefore to belong to
the stronger. Here was the port of Saint
Valeri, commanding the estuary of the Somme,
a most convenient point for embarkation ; and
within the opulent Pagus were included the
dominions which rendered the matrimonial alli-
ance with the " She-wolf of France," so im-
portant in English history; whilst the illus-
trious field of Agincourt, also situated in Agincourt
included
Ponthieu, imparts historical splendour to the v
territory. Now, under these circumstances,
facility tempted and crafty policy suggested
to Guillaume of Arques, how advantageous it
would be to connect himself with Ingleram,
the Count of Ponthieu, distinguished equally Willla
by ability and ferocity. A dangerous foe was
Guillaume Lord of Arques. The Count pre-
ain of
»
enemy of
228 BLOCKADE OF ARQUES.
1035-1054 ferred his claims as Hollo's legitimate heir. It
is doubtful whether Civilian or Canonist would
give an opinion that his title was made out.
But all the inhabitants of the surrounding
country were in his favour, even up to the very
walls of Rouen. His castle, now frowning in
ruin and desolation, towering over the breezy
downs, apparently furnished the model for that
great fortress which first greets the mariner ap-
proaching the opposite shore, the memorial
equally of England's subjugation and renova-
tion.
tRheebco2nt0of From this position the Count defied the spu-
rious superior. Away with bastards ! Duke
William at this juncture was occupied in the
Cotentin, that focus of insurgency, that fertile
source of trouble. He marched up from this
position, and attacked the rebel, proclaiming
that he was warring to vindicate his legitimate
title to the Ducal power. The Count of Arques
he compelled to take refuge in- his own strong-
hold. Any attempt to storm the Castle would
be useless. William, therefore, established a
strict blockade ; and having directed the con-
struction of certain fortified posts, by which the
communication with France could be cut of, he
departed. Arques was well garrisoned, and the
garrison apportioned to the extent of the fortress,
but this strength was weakness, — so many men
— so many mouths requiring to be fed. The
most important element was wanting. The
THE DUKES OF BRITTANY. 229
emphatic employment of one word, provision, 1035-1054
one and the same word designating the highest
power of mind, and our food, is a curious
example of instinctive ratiocination. The supply
of victual was not adequate to the number of
the occupants. Strict the blockade. King Henry
became troubled at the danger which threatened
his ally, and summoning the Ponthieu forces,
awaited farther help in the enterprise. Hugh
Bardulph's name appears in the muster roll of
the Insurgents, and the ultimate result decided
the question who were the true men and who the
traitors. [Arques meantime was captured, and
the Count fled to Eustace of Boulogne. Ingel- 1053
ram was killed in arms before the completion of
the siege.]
§ 28. A threatening power was gaining ^eco°nfan
strength on the west. William was menaced by
the young, the intrepid Conan, who, being a kins-
man, was naturally the more envenomed against
him. Was not Conan entitled to assert his father's
rights ; nay, more, bound to avenge his father's
murder ?
Again, [looking back a few years, we see in 1010-1047
Brittany] kinsmen bristling against kinsmen.
Eudes, Conan' s [uncle], who held Penthievre,
together with other large apanages, assumed
the title of Count [on the death of Alain], claim-
ing supreme dominion over the whole Armorican
land. The Child, then scarcely three years old,
was seized by his kinsman, and detained in
230
DUKE CONAN.
close custody at Rheims ; and some doubted,
others feared, whether or no he would ever
enjoy liberty again. During seven years he was
detained in respectful captivity. And now arose
the perplexing question, whether representation
or proximity should prevail.
A large proportion of the baronage sup-
ported the lineal heir ; Conan, rescued from
his uncle's grip and restored to his dominions,
comported himself as though he claimed, like his
father, to be reckoned the Rui-Breizad — the
British King, who, according to Bardic prophe-
cies, was destined to restore the honours of his
antient race, renewing their glories.
I 29. Five sons had been born to Eudes, the
Count of [Peuthievre]. Four amongst the five are
subsequently distinguished as potent amongst
the English Baronage. William gained ground
rapidly. Events wing their way before us, and,
even now, through the sea mists, we begin to
discern the banners looming in the distance,
on the opposite shore. Doomsday names, Battle-
Abbey names, begin to sound in our ears.
Geoffrey Botterel ; Bryan Fitz-Count; Alain
the Black; Alain the Red, or Alain Fergant,
the Earl of proud Richmond, whose shield
we have shewn you ; Rivalon, the Breton of
the Bretons, Lord of D61, Castle of D61, City
of D61, and Barony of D61, all devoted to
his cause. The French glowered at William,
and scarcely knew how to keep sword in scab-
en-
"
NORMAN NATIONALITY. 231
bard. But he scorned bis competitors, and .1035^105't
though unable to tranquillize his mind, he dis-
dained manifesting any anxiety.
Guy [of Ponthieu] proclaimed that his
brother's blood must be avenged. A universal K"r the
Norma
jealousy raged against "William amongst the Barou3-
baronage of Northern France, dwelling in the
adjoining parts, and many of tliem brought
nearer by family affinity. So much the worse, —
a little more than kin, and less than kind.
The language of Normandy, was, in fact,
to be identified with the cultivated or literary
dialect of the Langue d'oil. Normandy pro-
duced, probably, the earliest, but assuredly, the
best and most interesting poetry of the age.
Normans and French wore the same garb,
adopted the same manners, and were connected nation. y
by family and territorial alliances. Notwith-
standing the admixture of Danish blood, super-
added to the old Franco-Roman hybrid, the ele-
ments had been thoroughly assimilated ; and
yet neither party could completely dispel the
recollection of old grudges and grievances.
No nation is clean from the mark of Cain ;
the inheritance of glory is the inheritance of
crime and misery. Many of the Norman barons,
who, during the troubles, had found refuge at
the French Court, fomented the enmity ; and
..11 T i
Henry, being thus instigated and supported by ^
his advisers, all accomplices, he issued his gene-
ral summons, not for a mere frontier inroad,
pares opera
232 HENRY'S CAMPAIGN.
1035-1054 kut with a declared intention of subjugating
Normandy, and expelling the Pirates. Happy the
day, could such a day ever dawn, when the
Norman steersman should be compelled to turn
the Norman keel away from the Northman's
shore.
Hen!y8of Henry's summons was readily obeyed by
those who assembled beneath his banner, much
more in the character of allies than of vassals : or
rather as expectant partners and participators in
the anticipated gains. How they poured in. They
poured in from Burgundy ; they poured in from
Aquitain ; they poured in from Brittany ; they
poured in from Anjou; they poured in from
Maine ; they poured in from Ponthieu ; they
poured in from all adjoining parts ; all com-
bining with one intent against the hated enemy.
"Would not Julius Caesar himself," quoth our
chronicler, " have been appalled by such an in-
vasion ?" a pedantic and affected comparison, but
evidencing the hopes and the apprehensions re-
spectively entertained by either party.
Henry-scam- 8 30. Henry schemed his campaign judi-
paign against «->
Normandy, gioug Assailin the Norman frontier at the
most vulnerable points, he determined to effect
the complete expulsion or extermination of the
hated Pirates ; those Pirates so detested by the
French, and yet essentially French, French to
the marrow of their bones ; Rouen as thoroughly
French, as Paris higher up upon the Seine.
Henry planned to gain Rouen by a coup de
THE FRENCH INVASION. 233
main. Lackland never lacks logic. When did .1035-1054
an enemy, conscious of his own strength, fail
in finding a reason for striking the first blow?
Henry probably reckoned on receiving support
from the discontented Citizens. The Tanner's
grandson could not be made sweet — he stunk
in their nostrils as strongly as ever. Now came
up the enemy. The royal banner waved, as the
Chroniclers tell us, at the head of the levies
of Gallia Celtica. This expression must not be
read as a pedantic tag brought in for the dis-
play of book learning ; but as testifying the
enduring reminiscence of the great Fourth Em-
pire. Eudes, King Henry's brother, was the
Commander.
§ 31. William, on his part, acted warily —
caution is the surest element of conquest ; and
he hovered about King Henry's camp, taking
good care to avoid crossing his royal opponent's
path, shunning personal conflict, lance pointed
against lance, sword clashing with sword. He
might be arraigned as a felon if he struck his
liege Lord. But, if his liege Lord struck first,
— then, blow for blow. William had greatly
annoyed the royal army, cutting off the supplies.
Henry could not victual his troops otherwise
than by actual pillage. A commissariat was
unknown, and irregular plunder enhanced the
miseries of war.
The French streamed in like a rushing flood ;
the conflict against the Pirates' progeny was a
234 THE FRENCH INVASION.
1035-1054 national enterprise ; every Norman slain, helped
to pay off old scores.
§ 32. The French troops began by directing
their line of march through the Beauvoisin, a
route which struck into the heart of the Pays
de Caux, whose breezy, fragrant, undulating
downs, offer such noble battle-fields.
A second division of the army being entrusted
to Eudes, the Enfant de France, he directed
his course warily, having full knowledge of the
people and the region, and won praise and profit
by spoiling the country. A third invading flood
came down from Mantes, whose u yr ancle rue"
presents that precipitous descent, which sadly,
sorrowfully, and ignobly, terminated the Con-
queror's earthly career. Touraine and Blois also
did their duty to the King. Robert, Count of
Eu, for once acting faithfully. Hugh Gournay,
grim old Gournay, fierce old Gournay, the pre-
potent power in that region ; and William Crispin
and the Giffords ; and the Montforts. William
was seeking to perplex the invaders, and the
French were allowed to enter the Norman ter-
ritory without opposition.
The pays de A large and important portion of the rebelli-
ous Baronage who have been mentioned, held ex-
tensive domains in the Pays de Bray ; a rich and
fertile district, which never acquired any feudal
denomination. A large portion had been won
by the Gournays, and old Hugh Gournay led
them on. This same Pays de Bray was, in fact,
BATTLE OF MORTEM ER. 235
an essart from the antient forest of Lyons, .1035-1054.
and the fertile soil was richly tilled, but, at the
present juncture, taking the grazing shift as rich
and productive pasture.
Many were the flourishing Towns and Bour-
gades, rising therein. The Capital, so to speak,
Was the antient Drieucourt. Those sturdy
archaeologists who still adhere to the Druidical
faith, find in the name's first syllable indubit-
able proof of Celtic traditions ; — Could any
etymological acumen be so dulled, as not to
discern the oak in the first syllable of that name?
But a Castle, erected in comparatively modern
times by Henry Beauclerc, subsequently caused
Driencourt to* obtain the denomination of Neuf-
chatel, which it still retains, like its Helvetic
congener. You smell the cheese in every room
of your inn. This region is the dairy of Paris.
§ 33. Not apprehending danger, the French
abandoned themselves to excess, pillage, and
plunder, rapine and rape, and murder. The
bourgade of Mortemer they occupied as head
quarters. The local appellation seemed to indi-
cate that a marshy pool had been the origin of
the name, deduced by antiquarian acuteness from
the Dead Sea. The castle rises above the sur-
rounding country ; the tall dungeon tower whose
walls still crown the rock became the head station
of the French troops, and they filled the fortress
with the booty they had gained. The field of
Mortemer, and the scattered farmhouses repre-
Mortemer
battle field.
236 BATTLE OF MORTEMER.
1035-1054 senting Mortemer, are standing immediately
beneath that grim grey Donjon tower. The
Normans diligently dogged the enemy, and when
the day emerged from the night, which the
French had passed in drunken debauchery, so
often euphemized as merriment, they assailed
tne fortalice and fired the town. The dark,
cavernous, antient church exists, in good repair ;
a score of straggling farmhouses are dotted
in the surrounding pastures, and the charred
timbers, turned up by the ploughshare, still
testify the original extent of the town. Fierce
was the conflict commencing with early dawn,
" boot and saddle" pealing before the rising of
the sun, whilst strife and clangour and clamour
resounded throughout the day. The French,
thoroughly routed, fled from the field bestrewed
with corpses, every pit and dungeon was
crowded with captives, and amongst them, the
Count of Burgundy, his ransom worth a
King's.
§ 34. William, however, could not take any
personal share in this important conflict. He
was employed in blockading King Henry, and
the news was fantastically announced to his op-
ponent. During the darkness of the night, bold
°1^ R°ger de Toeny repaired to the rising ground
which commanded the French encampment ;
victory. there he clornb up a tree, and grimly pro-
claimed to the French their shame and misfor-
tune. And during many generations were the
GUIDO'S SUBMISSION. 237
tidings he conveyed, commemorated in song .1035y1054
and lay.
" Franceiz Franceiz, levez levez,
Tenez vos veies, trop dormez ;
Allez vos amis enterrer,
Ki sunt occiz a Mortemer."
The suddenness of the spectral warning ter- flench.
rifled King Henry, and he purchased a shuffling
retreat, by concluding a discreditable pacifica-
tion. Special negociations ensued, relating to
the liberation of prisoners, whose persons con-
stituted a valuable portion of the plunder. The
French King moreover conceded that William
should retain whatever profit he could extract
or extort from Geoffrey Martel.
§ 35. With the Count of Ponthieu, Guy, Gujd°>4-£
or Guido, whose ancestry and pertinacity ren-™"'^^
* his vassal.
dered him the most formidable amongst William's
^j
foes, William also made his own terms. His
keen conception and prophetic judgment had
disclosed to him the advantages which would
result to a Duke of Normandy, by obtaining the
superiority of that shore, so ample and com-
manding in its tidal stream.
Guido was now kept hard and fast in the
filthy dungeon pit, so often the facile descent
into the grave. Here he pined in duresse until
he consented to become William's vassal ; and,
surrendering his County to Normandy's Coronal,
was content to receive his territory from the
Suzerain's hand.
238 WAR WITH ANJOU.
1035-1054 The service of a hundred knights must Guido
render to the Norman Victor. An enormous
burden, ten times the tale claimed from the
Norman Duchy by the Capetian Monarchy.
High renown resulted to William, — already
William the Conqueror. His success was ren-
dered very important by the positive acquisition
of the territory, but far more as displaying
to the world, the power which the predestined
Lord and Master of England had obtained.
§36. William, nevertheless, continued to
prepare against further perils from Anjou ; folks
might already have said that William was born to
cut thongs out of other men's hides ; but would
any man living have jeopardized his own by such
unsavory jocularity ? King Henry, however,
gladly availed himself of the opportunity, by
playing off Rollo's descendant against the de-
scendant of Tortulfus. It is worthy of notice, that
William did not assert any litigious claim to the
Angevine possessions or dependencies. He did
not condescend to employ the conventional form
of giving his reasons, or lamenting the sad neces-
sity of drawing the sword against Anjou, but he
went to war because he wanted Anjou to win
that which was not his own; the acquisition he
made was an unmitigated Conquest.
William was trying his hand at his trade —
very slack and expansive was the feudal bond
at this era, the feudal law about as stringent
as the jus gentium at the present day ; enough
MAINE AND THE MANCEAUX. 239
to ground a demand and justify the thing when 1035-1054
done. This quarrel eventuated into a guerilla
of varied fortunes, whereby William made that
acquisition scarcely less prized in after times
by the Norman Sovereigns, than the English
realm, — the County of Maine.
Glorious was the ancestry of the Manceaux,
and they prided themselves upon their antient
deeds. Triumphant in the Capitol, Rome herself
had quailed before them. Were not their achieve-
ments prominent in the history of the world ?
It was the Cenomanenses who had subjugated
Cisalpine Gaul — it was the Cenomaneuses who
founded Trent, where the Teutonic dialect comes
in collision with the Roman tongue. — It was
the Cenomanenses whose circling ploughshare
traced the ramparts of Crema. — It was the Ceno-
manenses who had founded desponding Mantua,
and fated Cremona. — It was the Cenomanenses
who had triumphed over the towering Bergamo,
— the Pergamus of Cisalpine Gaul. It was the
Cenomanenses who re-peopled Brescia of mystic
mythology, and torrent-divided Verona. Nay,
had not Caesar himself quailed before these ener-
getic conquerors ?
Maine became distinguished in ecclesiastical
history at a very early period of the Church.
Hence came Clement, the successor of St. Peter,
and sent forth by him to visit Saint Dionysius,
who was the Apostle of that region, and the first
Bishop of the Mans. Clinging to the Roman
VOL. III. R
240 HERBERT WAKE-THE-DOG.
1035-1054 institutions, Maine retained her civic identity,
and constituted a member of the Armorican
Commonwealth. In the subsequent era, Maine,
according to the traditionary pride of her people,
asserted her independence and identity, though
locked in — may we say enclaved — by the king-
dom of Clovis. A Count of Maine, bearing
the title of "Defensor," succeeded to the antient
Magistrate, continuing to exercise his authority
under the supremacy of the Masters of the world.
The . of An elective functionary was he indeed, prior to
the domination of the Franks : an elective Magis-
trate he continued until a comparatively recent
period, and the privileges guaranteed by the
grim old Merovingian Sovereigns Childebert and
Clothaire, confirmed the antient right, grounded
upon the immemorial usage which had pre-
vailed.
Towards the decline of the Carlovingian Em-
pire, the increasing ascendency of the system
conventionally denominated feudality, effaced
the more archaic jurisdictions, and we hear of a
Count David, whom local historians claim as the
great Emperor's descendant. His reign, which,
if faith be placed in the enchorial chronicles,
endured more than half a century, enabled him
to consolidate his authority.
§37. A son of this ruler was our old ac-
quaintance Herbert Eveille-Chien, or, adopting
the expression for which even the Monkish
Chronicler apologises, Evigilans Canem. In many
HERBERT WAKE-THE-DOG. 241
a conflict did his activity animate the Man- 1035-1054
ceaux, wedged in, as they were between Nor-
mandy and Anjou, and having to struggle hard
for independence, crushed by these rival powers,
but fully conjoined in their animosities against
their foes. According to the Angevine preten-
sions, the Capets had granted to Grisgonuelle the
County, the Country, and the People, or, in other
words, all the elements of supremacy. But
the Normans counter-claimed this independence,
asserting that it was their Dukes to whom the
Suzerainty appertained. Anjou was formidable;
Herbert bold, open, and sincere, gifted with a fine
and liberal mind, his kindred were as conspicuous
for these qualities as the Angevine Counts, or
their representatives, the proud Plantagenets,
were by their fraud and cunning. Honest Her-
bert was unequally matched against such foe-
men, and acting somewhat incautiously he placed
himself within the grip of his enemy, whom he
visited in the Castle of Xaintes. Both were ac-
companied by their congenial Consorts. Her- Herbert
made
mengarda of Anjou, beguiling her companion, —
diamond cut diamond, — by a friendly greeting,
garda.
and acting the part of innocent sportiveness,
enabled her husband to seize and secure the
generous Herbert. He might wake the dogs,
but no less bold and incautious than his father,
the watchman yielded to slumber.
Brutal was the treatment which the captive
sustained from Fulco ; and he might have rotted
R2
242 ANJOU.
1035-1054 in the deep, damp dungeon-pit had he not been
rescued by his spirited Consort. She raising the
Manceaux against Fulco, the latter was con-
strained to release his prisoner, rejoicing, never-
theless, in the receipt of an exorbitant ransom.
[Unmoved by the treachery practised upon Her-
bert, his son Hugh], no less bold and incautious
than his father, equally allowed himself to be
taken prisoner. A misfortune, increased by
close captivity, — incarceration enduring, as it
is said, seven years — a quasi mythical number,
often employed vaguely to signify a considerable
umfe^the space of time. It is doubtful whether [Hugh]
protectio. » ^^^^ re_en^ere(j kjg Qapital ; he continued under
Angevine protection, much after the fashion,
which in more civilized and happier times, we
kindly extend towards a Maha Rajah. Nothing
he can call his own, and to keep himself at his
own cost and charges.
[losi] Upon Hugh's death, an event which, no
doubt, had been anticipated not long before the
battle of Mortemer, Martel had possessed himself
of the domain ; he entering Le Mans by the one
gate, whilst the widow Bertha and her three
children dolefully departed through the other.
Geoffrey g0 long as Martel lived, he treated Maine en-
Martel treats
1 tirely as an inheritance. The second Herbert,
son of the deceased Count, lived so peaceably
or so sluggishly, that we do not know any
thing concerning him beyond his name, and his
mark subscribed to certain charters. Such the
own
WILLIAM OBTAINS MAINE. 243
position of affairs relating to Maine, when the
Mortemer treaty, sanctioned so far as Norman
authority and Norman prepotence extended, the
widening of Normandy's borders. Now in the
blooming spring-tide, the bright days lengthen-
ing, the yellow iris gleaming on the margins of
the waters, up and doing was William, as
the Trouveurs sung ; not a moment did he
waste. His troops victorious, — his people ani- Maine
. conquered by
mated with the flush of anticipated victory,
he issued his command that his forces should
muster, for the purpose of occupying the con-
tested territory, and he entrenched himself in
the position, whence he had observed that the
fortress could be most easily assailed. Geoffrey
Martel repaired to Anjou, bitterly complaining
of the insult and the danger. A fierce spirit
of hostility, embittered by disgust, was now
raised against the Normans ; they stunk in
the nostrils of their enemies worse than ever.
A traditional, undefined apprehension of their
crafty cunning excited great apprehensions,
rendering them more formidable even than their
military power. An alliance was formed against
the common enemy, the jealousy being enhanced
by the rumour that William had declared he
should one day become a crowned King.
Martel died four years before the Conquest.
[Herbert's] one daughter Margaret [was] espoused
to Robert of Normandy ; but she dying childless,
Herbert, on his death-bed, bequeathed his do-
244 ANTI-NORMAN COALITION.
1035-1054 minions to William, exhorting the Manceaux
[see after, p. t° acknowledge him as their Lord if they wished
to live in peace ; and the style he assumed, Dux
Normannorum et Cenomannorum, proclaims the
pretensions of England's victor.
ADJOU. § 38. The two nations, Norman and French,
were rapidly assimilating. Severed by political
jealousies, they nevertheless constituted one na-
tion. Manners, customs, and above all, language
made them as one people. Nay, Normandy became
the classical land of the Langue d'Oil. Yet the Ro-
man speaking race nevertheless became black in
the sight of the Frenchmen as the most benighted
Pagan Dane. The Anti-Norman coalition assumed
a formidable aspect. Poitou and Brittany im-
patient for the fight ; nor could Henry settle
upon the lees. They took down the spears
from the racks, furbished the coats of mail,
Jnhdetheench an(^ sharpened their swords. Without chal-
popSiation lenge or defiance, no glove thrown down, no
invade
Normandy, stroke stricken ; not even a word before
the blow, the Angevine broke the peace for
which he had sued, and again invaded Nor-
mandy more savagely than ever. William, on
his part, raised all the Norman forces. The
whole arriere-ban, gentle and simple, the villain-
age being included in the national summons,
answered to the call right heartily. Hatchet-
men and hammermen, bowmen, clubmen, swords-
men, and spearmen, all up and doing. King
Henry penetrated into the very heart of Nor-
defence made
Kormani.
FRENCH AFFAIRS. 245
mandy. Caen, as yet unfortified, the dykes dug 1035-1054
and stockades planted in haste, aided the in- Animated
habitants, and they rose as one man in defend-
ing the country against the invader.
But, as before, the Frenchmen damaged
their own cause. William prepared an ambush.
There was a bridge crossing the river [Dive],
also a ford called the G-ue Berenger. William
and his Normans assailed the enemy, who were
marching out for the defence. The bridge broke
down, the enemy fled from the assault. William Beerenger.
won his spurs ten times over. King Henry
escaped, and new terrors were roused by the
Norman name.
§ 39. King Henry had mistaken his voca- Henry
secures the
tion in seeking military renown. Age and vexa-
tion subdued his vigour. He had been sinking 6C
under anxieties, and a peace eagerly sought,
was concluded at Fecamp. King Henry had
at this time a heavy burden upon his mind.
Most earnest was he to secure the succession to
his young son Philip, now seven years of age.
Never before had that name, uncouth in the
strict sense of the term, appeared in the genea-
logies of Latin Christendom. His mother was
Anne, daughter of the Czar Jaroslaus. The
Sclavonians were inspired by their antient recol-
lections and traditions. It was their vaunt, that
when the Macedonian Conqueror, whom history,
poetry, and prophecy conjoined, had contributed
to exalt into a mythic hero, espoused Roxolana,
246 PHILIP CALLED TO THE THRONE.
1035-1054 he had bequeathed to his descendants, a univer-
sal empire. Henry had espoused Anne, the
daughter of Jaroslaus, the only alliance which
the Sovereigns of Western Europe had ever con-
tracted with such an alien race. Philip, at the
age of seven years, was raised to the throne
of France by his father's appointment, and dur-
ing his father's lifetime.
1059 Splendid was the Coronation of the young
of Sovereign designate, at Saint Remy's Basilica.
his father Never within the memory of man, had such
lifetime. •>
an august assembly been held for such a pur-
pose. There were convened, the Prelates, the
Abbots, and the Nobles. Guienne and Bur-
gundy, pre-eminent as representing, par excel-
lence, the Franco-Gallic Commonwealth. The
Papal Legates, Hugh, Archbishop of Besan9on,
and Hermenfrid, Bishop of Sion, were there.
Hugh, son of Robert, Duke of Burgundy, and
Geoffrey, Duke of Guienne, and Count of Gas-
cony ; Eaoul, Count of Yalois, Herbert, Count
of Yermandois, William, Count of Soissons,
Reginald, Count of Nevers ; Guy, Count of
Ponthieu, William, Count of Auvergne ; Fulk,
Count of Angouleme ; and the Count of Li-
moges. The young King designate took the
oaths, placing his hands between the hands of
the Archbishop, — loud rose the voices proclaim-
ing him their King. — Yive le Roi !
247
CHAPTER V.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CONQUEST.
1054—1066.
§ 1. No event was so influential upon Wil- 1054-1066
liara's fortunes, whether as a man or as a Sove- WUUam.s
reign, as his union with Matilda, daughter of
of Flanders.
Baudouin de Lisle, the magnificent Count of
Flanders, which ensued about this time. Wil-
liam seems, at an early period of life, to have
determined that no child of his should sustain
the ignominy which clung to him to his dying
day, a portion of that mysterious dispensation,
that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the
children : and in an age marked by laxity of
principle, no charge of the violation of the
rules of morality was ever brought against him.
But his situation was very anxious. According
to the strict principle of law, a bastard has no
heirs, and in the event of his death without
lawful issue, the Normans would have had to
seek their ruler amongst any of the descendants
of Hollo, if there were any, who could connect
themselves with that great parentage. Sanc-
tioned by the advice of his baronage, this mar-
riage was politic and wise under every aspect,
encreasing his power, and contributing most
248 FLANDERS.
1054-1066 influentially to the fitful gleams of happiness
which he was permitted to enjoy during his dark
and troubled career. Curious merry anecdotes,
more grotesque than credible, were current con-
cerning the process, somewhat violent, by which
the sturdy wooer compelled the reluctant maiden
to grant her hand. The laurel was interwoven
with the bridal garland, and the marriage was
celebrated with congruous splendour. Matilda,
distinguished by her beauty and opulence,
was rendered still more illustrious by those
virtues which she displayed when seated on the
English throne. We may dismiss as a merry
invention of the Trouveur, the story that her
hand and heart had been won by the rough
process which, in the dark age of travellers'
wonders, was believed to be adopted by the
Russian wooer.
Flanders, see 2 2. According to the traditions of the
Vol. II., p.
35- Fleur-de-Lis, first and foremost amongst the lay
peers arose the Counts of Flanders, the proud
descendants of Lyderic the Forester. I have
already spoken of Flanders, not a kingdom,
but dignified as a kingdom, and a territory
which subsequently acquired encreasing import-
ance in English affairs, or rather, the affairs of
Great Britain. The territories occupied by the
Flemish race, employing that term in its widest
sense, extended from Normandy's borders almost
up to the Rhine stream. When you land at
Calais, (originally Vlcemskeland,} the cheerful,
FLANDERS. 249
chirping, chiming Carillon announces to the 1054-1000
Englishman that he has planted his foot upon
a land whilom of transcendent importance to
his own. The Low Countries, including the National
prowess of
County of Flanders, constituted one of the most "
influential elements of Latin Christendom, — they
were the counterparts of those energetic Com-
munities, who flourished under a brighter sky, the
sources to Italy of her strength and her debi-
lity, her glories, her misfortunes, her private
virtues and her national crimes. In the spirit
of Liberty, the Belgians vied with Italy. Lille
resisted against the violation of her " Keuren"
rivalling the boldness and perseverance dis-
played by Milano la Grassa, or Firenze la Bella,
when contending for their franchises. But very
diverse were the fates and fortunes attending
the respective populations. Whilst Fleming and
Frison fought for liberty to the death, the
Italians, traitors to themselves, succumbed to
the most degrading tyranny.
Strenuous in arms, equally did the Belgians Their
cultivation
excel in the arts of peace ; and the looms of °£*£ Fine
Arras wove the tapestries which constitute
the Vatican's splendour. The colours spread on
the pallet of John of Bruges taught Titian to
produce his bright groups. But, unlike him of
Cadore, the Flemings never pandered to the
basest vices of mankind. Their commerce en-
riched and adorned the realms of Latin Chris-
tendom. The Dames of Seville exhibited with
250 FLANDERS.
1054-1066 pride the delicate textures of Mechlin, and
Antwerp's heavy keels crossed the track of
the treasure-laden Argosies. The language of
the Flemings does not yield, whether in rich-
ness or energy, to any of the Teutonic dia-
lects, and surpasses them all in harmony, but
the attractions of literature are wanting. No
poets did they possess, beckoning us into the
Stadthouse ; whilst Dante and Petrarch live
as our contemporaries, and are hailed as com-
panions and friends. The very feuds and dis-
sensions of Italy captivate our imagination. —
The names of " Neri " and " Bianchi " are har-
monious to our ears, and enrol us under their
Standards ; — they persuade us to adopt their poli-
tics and participate in their feelings. But never
shall we be warmed with any enthusiasm by the
scuffles between the salt cod fish and the hooks,
the "Kabel-jauers" and the " Hoekjens."
At an early period, a large proportion of the
J r O 1
Flamingante
Belgic tribes had adopted the colloquial Latin
or Roman language in various dialects, shading
off from those spoken in GauJ Hence the divi-
sion of the country into "Fiandre-Fiamingante"
and " Flandre-G-allicante." These dialects were
very numerous, and their intermixture without
confusion is singularly remarkable, broken up
into spots and streams, like the colouring of
marble-paper.
Throughout the northern regions of our
island, the Flemings became very influential.
FLANDERS. 251
Swarms of their stout, sturdy, burly, fighting-men 1054-1066
settled in the territories of the Scoto-Saxon
Sovereigns, and broke the power of the Gael.
r
Flemish
from the
The Celts could not stand against the well-tern- sovereigns.
pered blades and keen lances of Flanders ; and
the ploughshare conquered more from the natives
than the sword. They established themselves in
every district between Tweed and Solway, and
the Forth and Clyde.
The most diligent amongst modern investi- Nownty and
gentry of
gators of Scottish history, the victim of a sneer,
, . ,
whose ponderous volumes, slumbering on the Fl
shelf, have been abandoned to unmerited oblivion
— has pointed out the lineages who inherited the
regions won by the shuttle and the weaver's
beam. From them came the Douglases — from
them came the Leslies — from them came the
. Burgons — from them came the Flemings — all
the Flemings here, there, and everywhere — the
Flemings of Aberdeen, the Flemings of Seaton,
the Flemings of Lanark, the Flemings of Dum-
barton, and others of the same signification ;
flourishing families, whose origin is testified by
patronymic and sirname. But above all, Freskin
the Fleming, founder of the proudest and most
patrician amongst the Earldoms, Honours, and
Titles which dignify the Scottish land.
23. In a political point of view, the Im- French
Flanders
perial Eagle and the Fleur-de-Lis divided the !'
supremacy of Flanders. To the east of the
Scheldt the land was Imperial, whilst the re-
252 FLANDERS.
1054-ioeo main ing territory constituted a Fief of France,
thus rendering the Count a Liegeman of two
powers, but acknowledging practically only a
scant obedience for either master.
$ ^' Whatever divisions or severances sub-
. sisted, whether in dialect or policy, the character
of these Belgic tribes was essentially uniform.
Physical convulsions and catastrophes, the inun-
dations which submerged and swept away so
large a portion of the Batavian Islands — those
tremendous floods, recorded by shoal and shal-
low, where the plough once traced the furrow,
but now grated by the keel, the mutations, of
which the vestiges upon the soil transmit their
story, before that story was recorded by the
pen of man ; the migrations consequent upon
these changes, or occasioned by political revo-
lutions, perplex the ethnographical enquirer
who labours to identify the races now swarming
in the Belgic provinces, with the populations
enumerated by their first Conqueror and His-
torian.
§ 5, But the valour which the victor of the
Gauls ascribes to the Nervians and Batavians,
must be received as the general attribute of the
rough, tough, muscular, Flemish race. The
commercial opulence, the abounding wealth, and
the splendid prosperity enjoyed by this people,
were equally the instigation and the result of
their unwearied activity ; and the sagacious and
steady industry which enabled the inhabitants
MATILDA. 253
to transform their marshes and sands into the 1054-1086
orchards and flower-gardens of modern Europe,
was compatible with the most strenuous valour,
or rather was the same valour guiding the
ploughshare instead of wielding the sword. The
most industrious amongst the races of the Scot-
tish Lowlands and the proudest of their nobi-
lity, equally deduce their ancestry from these
stalwart stems. Bruce and Baliol themselves
find their origin in the regions of the Belgic
race. It is amongst these Flemish lineages
we must seek the stem-fathers of the Scottish
feudal nobility. The Flemish element expanded
with the Conqueror, in creating the national cha-
racter of Scotland : nay, scarcely in a [greater]
degree was the Norman himself the causa cau-
sans of the nationality of northern England.
The connexions of our Norman monarchs
in tending towards Flanders, combining with the
geographical vicinity, filled the English land with
Flemish adventurers ; kinsmen, though removed,
and whether in peace or in war, their influence
is prominently discerned. Moreover, our Anglo-
Norman literature was forwarded and improved
by the influence of the Romane-speaking, or
Walloon population.
§ 6. As for Matilda, a true woman, her
goodness, her virtues may be frequently traced
in history — her interference, never. Her pa-
tience under trouble and tribulation constitutes
the main feature of her biography. The tapestry,
254 WILLIAM'S PROGENY.
1054-1066 which bears record of her husband's achieve-
ments, is a unique memorial both of his prowess
and her industry ; and the needles plied by herself
and her damsels, have assisted as much as the
historian's pen in commemorating his victories.
Four sons had William by his faithful con-
sort. Upon Robert the eldest he bestowed
Normandy, the antient inheritance of the family,
and therefore deemed the most honourable do-
minion which could be bestowed. To William,
the second son, the father devised his acquets —
England which he had won. The third, Henry,
received a most munificent allowance ; fabulously
quoted as amounting to a hundred thousand
pounds.
In this division we trace the foresight of the
Sovereign avoiding the dismemberment of the
Empire he had founded. The fourth son vanishes
mysteriously from history; — his statue, adorn-
ing the magnificent portal of Wells, is the only
memorial we possess of his earthly existence.
Moreover, three daughters did William and
Matilda leave. Adela, who espoused Stephen
Earl of Blois, our King ; Gundreda, espoused
to William de Warren, Earl of Surrey, whose
tomb has recently and unexpectedly been brought
to light ; lastly, Agatha, the virgin widow of
Alfonso, King of Galicia.
# •* * *
h?9ncfon-c: I 1- The trying perplexity of Auglo-Nor-
man history, is indicated by the very name ; it is
LANFRANC. 255
bilingual — appertaining to two countries. We 1054-1066
must always keep in view both sides of the
Channel. Lanfranc, friar of Bee, and Lanfranc,
Archbishop of Canterbury, constitute but one
individual. A Lombard, born in Pavia, the
city of the hundred towers, he there acquired
the learning which rendered him so pre-emi-
nent in Normandy. In Normandy, Lanfranc
won the confidence of the future Conqueror,
whilst in England he became the patriarch of
the race, whom the sword placed beneath the
pastoral staff. No individual in that era, more
influential in the fortunes of England. Learn-
ing, sound in the highest sense, now began to
flourish in Normandy, and the providential con-
silience of events conducts to Hollo's dominions
a stranger destined to breathe a new spirit in
the Norman Church, and through that Church to
impart a new vitality to the drooping hierarchy
of England. It was through Lanfranc' s ex-
ertions, more than by any other human agency,
that the Church of the English was redeemed
from the sloth and oscitancy into which she had
fallen. Amongst his contemporaries, Lanfranc
was honoured as one of the great renovators of
sound learning throughout Western Christendom.
"Fuit quidam vir magnus Italia ortus, quern
latinitas in antiquum scientiae statum ab eo
restituta tota, supremurn debito cum amore
et honore agnoscit Magistrurn, nomine Lan-
francus." — Expressions which have led the
VOL. in. s
256 LANFRANC'S YOUTH.
M54-I066 learned Dom Lucas d'Achery to suppose, that
Lanfranc restored the study of the Latin lan-
guage, his marginal note being to the following
effect : — "Lanfrancus Latinae linguae restitutor et
Grsecse non ignarus," and this curious miscon-
ception has been echoed and adopted by all sub-
sequent authorities.
£S 2X7. § 8. The future patriarch of the Anglo-Nor-
man Church, was born at Pavia, the city of the
hundred towers. Three only of these civil forta-
lices are now standing ; and your Cicerone tells
you that these structures, which in fact are
monuments of domestic contentions, were raised
by the great families whenever a son took his
Doctor's degree. Lanfranc' s name has a Teutonic
sound, but this circumstance does not afford any
proof that he was of Teutonic descent — the ap-
pellation, common in the city, was introduced by
a popular Saint, under whose invocation a
Church is still subsisting. This example is not
without significance as explaining the manner
in which barbarous names became engrafted
upon families of Roman descent — and such pro-
bably were the ancestors of Lanfranc, who ap-
pertained to the Senatorial Order, the principle
of hereditary judges being involved in the prin-
ciple of hereditary Kings.
Lanfranc'a Lanfranc passed through the whole curricu-
Italian
jum Of j-jjg liberal arts, then usually compre-
hended under the denomination of Grammatica,
as distinguished from Divinity. Great his quali-
HIS LEARNING. 257
fications, brilliant his talents ; his speech, flowing 1054-1006
like a torrent ; his legal learning commensurate
with his natural gifts ; and the same abilities
which enabled him to perplex his adversaries in
debate, caused the sages of the municipal Re-
public to rejoice when they could profit by the
opinions he gave. Secular learning, therefore,
in all the branches of intellectual knowledge,
constituted his main object; and quitting Pavia
to profit himself, he returned thoroughly imbued
with science. Lanfranc commenced his profes-
sional or public career in his own city, but he had
no rest in his bones, and crossing the St. Ber-
nard with a large following of Scholars, — then the
only pass connecting Italy with the Northern
" Latinitas," — he settled at Avranches, where he
taught School, or rather founded a College. It was
or is the Oxford tradition, that any Master of
Arts may do the like if he chooses. He acquired
celebrity unexampled in that region, an early
proof of the precocity of the Norman mind.
Never was learning more honoured than at
this era, and peculiarly by the Normans ; possi-
bly a reflex of the benefit the Norsemen had
derived from the cultivation in previous genera-
tions of their own vernacular tongue.
2 9. But a deeper sentiment was now influ- Determine*
to quit the
encing Lanfranc' s mind. He felt that his success ^BeV. eoc
might lead him astray, and he sought to renounce,
not merely the social honour of his reputation,
but the very fame he had acquired. Lanfranc
s2
258 LANFRANC
1054-1066 reasoned erroneously — you may disgrace your
reputation, but you cannot renounce it ; you
may misemploy your talents, but you cannot dis-
charge yourself from the responsibility they im-
pose. But Lanfranc yielded to the impulse.
Quitting Avranches, he tramped on the road to
Eouen. His track conducted him through the
forest, of which the essarts still constitute the
prominent features of the pleasant region. Rob-
bers attacked him. No use raising the clameur
de haro — no one to hear. Stripped, and bound
to a tree, he waited for the opening dawn, and
attempted to repeat the service appertaining to
the circling hours — the three Hallelujah Psalms,
concluding the cycle of each day's prayer and
praise. But he could not. He had never com-
mitted them to memory — and deeply was he
stung by the sense of his neglect of holy things ;
and the preponderating worth he had attached
to secular learning. The silent hours continued,
and he endeavoured again to repeat the opening
services — still he could not. Struck with com-
punction, he poured forth his mind in prayer ;
deploring the time he had given to human learn-
ing, the labour he had bestowed on literary
studies ; and now, when he ought to pray, he was
unable to perform his duty to the Church ; and
he would henceforth devote himself body and
soul to the Donor of all blessing. In the early
twilight morning he heard footsteps approaching
him — some peasants released him. During the
AT EEC. 259
darkness of the dreary night, his mind suddenly 1054-1066
received a new impulse, and suggested to him
the enquiry, whether there might not be some
humble and sequestered monasteryin the vicinity.
What he sought he found, and he was conducted
to a mean and humble structure then rising from
the banks of a rivulet — the Bee, whence the
Monastery derived its honoured name, Bee Her-
louin, by which it was afterwards known. Her-
louin, the founder, was of noble birth ; the real
old northern blood flowed in his veins, a knight
until he renounced the world. Learning he had
none. — When he first professed, he could not .
read a letter, and he subjected himself to all the
austerities and privations enjoined by St. Bene-
dict's rule. Manual labour was the employment
of the brethren, and much was Heriouin derided
by his former companions when they saw his
coarse garments, and unkempt beard. Hard and
fast Heriouin worked, aiding the building of the
Monastery, however coarse or hard ; except
when chaunting in the choir, or partaking of the
one daily scanty meal which he grudged himself,
you would always find him digging and delving,
or his hand grasping the spade, or with hod on
shoulder, as Lanfranc found him, all begrimed
with mortar, engaged in vaulting an oven. Lan-
franc humbly made his obeisance to the Abbot.
His aspect, or perhaps his accent, bespoke his
country. "Art thou a Lombard?" said Her-
iouin, probably actuated by some secret present!-
260
LANFEANC'S
1054-1066 ment as to the intentions of the stranger. Lan-
franc replied that he sought the cowl. Herlouin,
trowel in hand, desired a Monk to bring the
volume, containing the rigid rule imposed by
their founder ; the preface was read, giving the
postulant the summary of his duties, expressed
with epigrammatic terseness. Faith and works ;
charity and humility ; patience not alloyed by
grudging ; zeal deprived of asperity ; and so on
throughout the seventy-three chapters compos-
Laufranc. 'mS ^Q code. Lanfranc disclosed his name, and
Herlouin then certified of the stranger's emi-
nence, cast himself at his feet ; and Lanfranc
was duly admitted into the community. Lan-
franc's conduct in this matter was not wise,
perhaps scarcely right — for of that which God
has given us, it is false modesty to be ashamed.
During his novitiate, Lanfranc strove to abdi-
cate his pre-eminence ; but the light shone too
brightly to be concealed. Bee became proud of
her inmate. He felt it his duty to employ his
talent. Every member of the Benedictine Order
was enjoined to earn his daily bread, by daily
labour. But Lanfranc' s time had been wasted,
had he followed the plough, or trenched in the
field ; and he performed the duty for which he
was so well fitted, that of being an instructor.
Bee expanded into a College. He was a recog-
nised professor, but under no pretence would he
receive the proffered fees. All the higher talents
of the mind were considered gifts of the Holy
REPUTATION AT BEG. 261
Spirit; and it was deemed simony to employ io54-m«
them for money. The honorarium fell into the
Teaching of
common fund. Scholars resorted to him irom
all parts of Christendom. Latin Europe, says
Milo Crispin, the Monastic Biographer, acknow-
ledged him as the great restorer of knowledge.
Greece, the antient teacher of nations, did not
disdain the lessons she received. Men of all
condition and age, rich and poor, gentle and
simple, smitten with this glorious contagion,
came to Bee in frequent resort, bestowing their
bounty upon the Monastery ; whether in testi-
mony of their respect towards Lanfranc, or in
token of the instructions they received. Or,
according to that peculiar refinement of feeling,
[which we find in early times,] it was con-
sidered in those days that learning was too
precious an article to be bought or sold, and
the gift was received as an honorarium ; or
according to another view, that receiving money
for a God-given talent, was simony. The prin-
ciple exists in our law — Thus a Physician can-
not recover his fees ; nor a Barrister, the accom-
paniment, promised by the marked Brief. Nay,
it was simony, at least in theory, for a champion
to receive hire. Was not his strength and skill
given to him by his Maker?
3 10. Bee now flourished as an academy,
of the
Scholars encreased rapidly ; and with success, *
emulation ; and with emulation, envy, hatred, ma-
lice, and all uncharitableness. Parties arose ill
262 LANFRANC'S
1054-1066 jjec ^0 brightness of spirit can extirpate the
jealousies which spring up like ill-odoured weeds,
in the damp corners and shady sides of any close
agahlit community. Many the cabals of which Lan-
Lanfranc.
franc became the object. But he heeded not
the strife. He would not vex his spirit by
striving against them ; and he proposed to quit
Bee, and seek his fortune elsewhere. Herlouin
prohibited him, and appointed him to the office
of Prior. Lanfranc,— he, destined to become so
eminent a statesman, — was actively employed in
literary, that is to say theological labour. The
codices of the Scriptures had become much
vitiated by the oscitancies of the transcribers,
and manuscripts with his autograph correc-
tions are still subsisting. Upon some por-
tions of Holy Scripture he composed com-
mentaries, but in his own day, the greatest
worth was attached to the treatise by which
he opposed the formidable Berengarian heresy.
His many enemies, — for his reputation, and still
more his virtues, had raised a host of critics,
who maintained, that in opposing heresy, he
himself was heretical, — [were roused against
him]. Summoned to appear before the Pope,
his vindication of his treatise was unanswer-
able. But the future Archbishop of Canter-
bury continued the object of much enmity
and envy, which he provoked by his ready
tongue. He possessed the true Italian love for
fun, drollery, or jocularity. His simplicity was
TROUBLES. 263
mingled with oddity and humility. A friend 1054-1068
met him with a bundle tied behind him on his
saddle : the bundle contained a cat, which he
was conveying to make war against the mice
by whom he was plagued. Bee now chanced
to be visited by Herfastus, a clerk belong-
ing to the ducal court, and whom we shall
meet again in England. He arrived pending
a concursus, a grand day of exciting disputa-
tion, and dialectic strategy. The Duke's chap-
lain, for such was the office held by Herfastus,
was accompanied by a splendid train. Hoofs
clattering, attendants clamouring, announced his
approach to the monastery. Lanfranc,
ther by some overt act, or possibly by some impedimenta
•f J •> to William's
unguarded expression, had contributed to the marriage-
difficulties (so it was reported) which had trou-
bled William's marriage with Matilda. The
reproof or remonstrance dictated by the Duke
Herfastus conveyed disrespectfully, Herfastus
was notoriously illiterate, — his whole language
and conversation betrayed general ignorance.
Lanfranc, pious as he was, had an innate ten-
dency to sarcasm and drollery, according to the
general ethos of his countrymen. Many other .
enemies did Lanfranc make by his ready tongue.
Those whom he provoked, laboured, and success-
S *
fully, to procure the scholar's expulsion from Nor-
mandy. William, in the plenitude of his power,
issued his decree, and Lanfranc was banished ;
and at the same time, the angry Duke com-
banishes
Lanfranc.
264 LANFKANC AND
io54-io66 manded that the granges of the Abbey should
be fired. — A petty act of revenge, but testifying
how entirely church-men and church-property
were at the mercy of secular authority ; and
that, unless ecclesiastical privileges were pro-
tected by the consciences of the laity, the clerk
had small security against wrong or injustice.
Lanfranc departed from Bee with sorry attend-
ants, mounted on a stumbling jade, the worst
22£[ne in the stable. It chanced, that when on his
way, he crossed the road on which William was
riding. He humbly saluted the Duke. His
firmness of conduct, and hilarity of temper,
enabled him to reinstate himself in the favour
he had previously enjoyed. His influence at
Rome, induced William to employ him as his
ambassador, and solicit the revocation of the
Papal censure passed upon his marriage, on the
ground of the connection between the families.
Adela of France, Matilda's mother, had been
married, or may be, betrothed first to Richard
le-Bon Duke of Normandy, the uncle of William.
Lanfranc pleaded his master's cause learnedly
and conscientiously. The Pope annulled the pro-
hibition, and granted the dispensation by which
the marriage was legitimated. The Pontiff im-
posed, as a penance, that husband and wife
should each erect a monastery as a token of
repentance. They gladly complied ; and the
wm^m and two great foundations were determined upon,
which still constitute the noblest monuments
at Caen. At the one extremity of the city,
WILLIAM. 265
hard by the castle, arose, and arises, Matilda's
monastery of the Holy Trinity ; and at the
other, William's monastery of Saint Etienne.
Of this monastery Lanfranc became the first
Abbot, whilst Cecilia, Matilda's daughter, ruled
as the first Abbess of the twin foundation.
Lanfranc continued to pursue, with unabated
zeal, the studies whereby -he was raised to
eminence, and which now gave him the endur-
ing gratification of conscious utility ; — training
up others to pursue his steps in the good path
he had opened. And when, upon the death of
Maurilius, Archbishop of Rouen, that opulent
See was offered to him, he demurred to quit
the place where his lot had been cast.
* * * *
§ 11. Had William, at this juncture of his
life, been required to declare his feelings, he ^ with
would have spoken nearly in the words of the mo-
great poet :
" Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
Che la dritta via era smarrita.
Hai ! quauto a dir qual era e cosa dura."
He had toiled and troubled, sinned and sor-
rowed, but he had obtained but few of the objects
he had coveted. His life had been engrossed
by unwearied toil, exertion, and anxiety. He
had conquered in many battles, he had widened
his borders, the Trouveurs chanted his deeds,
his fame was widely spread, the courtly monk
266 GAU TIER'S OPPOSITION.
1060-1066 had eloquently descanted upon his glories, and
now fortune seemed to turn. Maine still grudged
his supremacy. The countenance of France
was stern ; and though Henry had not attempted
to regain the Vexin, still he was restrained from
hostility only by the influence of Baudouin de
Lisle ; and the extorted homage of Pouthieu was
more than counterbalanced in the scale of poli-
tical influence, by the loss of the important ac-
quisition which Robert le-Magnifique had made.
The land of the Oriflainme had escaped the
GaSof Norman grasp. Gautier, who had succeeded
the friendly Drogo, entirely repudiated Nor-
mandy's suzerainty ; and not contented with
liberating himself from that dependence, he
endeavoured to regain the Norman Vexin, and
reunite it to his own territory. In this attempt
Gautier had failed. But he delighted in the
sport of war, and having espoused Biota, the
daughter of Herbert Wake-the-Dog, had plausi-
ble pretensions to the county of Maine. Over
and above being pestered by his enemies, much
internal discomfort prevailed in Normandy.
Want of occupation in the junior branches of
the great families was a growing evil : Nor-
mandy continued to swarm with young nobles
seeking service, competing, intriguing, fighting
like people in a crowd, each provoked by the
pressure he sustained from his neighbour, and
which he returned with equal push and cram.
Employment scarce amongst the more ambitious
classes of society. Hostile parties and 'factions
HOSTILITY OF THE BARONS. 267
swarmed, and William, with less prudence than
usual, had been won over by the wily, restless,
Talvas ; and Roger de Montgomery gaining his
confidence, had excited him against all whom
they delated as his enemies.
§ 12. Yielding to the machinations of this
unscrupulous pair, William was induced to expel
Barons.
from his dominions fierce Ralph de Toeny, Hugh
de Grantesmenil, and Arnould [d'Echaufour],
the son of Guillaume [and nephew of Robert]
de Giroi. He seems to have acted simply
upon his own prerogative, — no hearing, no
trial. This despotic proceeding provoked great
discontent. A revolt ensued. Giroi's barony
bordered on the Anjevine frontier, and, there-
fore, he had the means of becoming a dangerous ioeo
neighbour. Fortifying his Castles of Saint
Ceneri and La Roche Guyon against the Duke,
[Robert had lately] prepared to give him much
trouble. But from this anxiety William was
speedily delivered. Whilst sitting by the wide
chimney pleasantly talking with his wife, Robert
de Giroi playfully snatched an apple from the
hand of [Adelaide.] He ate the fruit, sickened, and
died ; and the symptoms disclosed the ministra-
tion of poison. Arnould, his heir, sought peace.
William received him graciously, and obtained a
favourable answer, much to the vexation of Mabel
[daughter to William Talvas, and wife of Roger
• Montgomery], who plotted to rid herself of the
young man by the same atrocious means. But he
either apprehended the treachery, or had received
268 DEATH OF M ARTEL.
ioeo-1066 due warning, and, therefore, escaped for this time.
Mabel continued to dog him, with equal diligence
and malevolence, under the roof or under the
sky, till, his chamberlain conniving with her,
she succeeded. Arnould, and two other knights
whom the wicked woman sought to involve in
the same fate, partook of the deadly beverage.
The lives of these two knights were saved by
timely antidotes, but Arnould fell a victim.
When the Normans were under Italy's dazzling
sky, they had become familiarized with this foul
crime, and they bore the wickedness with them
to their own land.
§ ^* ^U^ Geoffrey Martel, worn out pre-
maturely by the toils of government, sought
retirement and peace in the convent of Saint
Nicholas, at Angers, where he died childless.
His next heirs had to be found amongst the pro-
geny of Hermengarda, — Hermengarda, daughter
of Fulke Nerra, Count of the (latinois, and who
represented the sturdy stock of Tortulf the Wood-
man. The worst features which tarnished or
characterized the brilliancy of the Plantagenet,
were developing themselves, to the fullest extent,
in the person of Fulke, so well known by his epi-
thet of Le Rechin, or the Shark. But Fulke's
talents had been diligently cultivated, and some
of the best characteristics of his gifted race
were exhibited in him. He ought to hold a
conspicuous station in the rank of noble and
royal authors. To him we owe a spirited and
valuable history of his ancestors ; but neither
MAINE. 269
in this case, nor in any other, do we find that
literature, mere literature, ever softened or im-
proved the heart. The Rechin quarrelled with
his brother Geoffrey ; the quarrel inflamed into
a wicked and desperate feud, and as the traveller
came in view of Chinon's noble castle, Anjou's
Windsor, he might hear how Geoffrey pined to
death in a miserable cell.
The Anjevine oppression in Maine became
intolerable ; Herbert, [grandson to] our old friend
Wake-the-dog, most gladly sought any protector
he could find. Masters for masters, the Manceaux,
if driven to a choice, would have preferred the
Anjevines. But Herbert needed allies, and, to
obtain this advantage, he, so far as he lawfully
could, terminated the vexed question of suze-
rainty. He fled to William, and surrendering his [see before,
J p. 243.]
County of Maine by the delivery of the rod or
staff, he accepted it again from William's hands,
as the symbol of investiture. Yery remarkable
has been the longevity possessed by portions
of our old English common law ; until our
own age this ceremony is observed upon every
transfer of copyhold or customary tenure in the
realm.
The Herbert with whom we are now dealing,
the grandson of Wake-the-dog, had but one
child, the little Margaret, who, according to
the usual fate of princesses, was destined to
be matched for political purposes. A marriage
might bring on a union between the lineages of
Rollo and of Tortulfus. The boy Robert and
270 DEATH OF COUNT WALTER.
1060-1066 the damsel were betrothed, and she was placed
Maine under the guardianship of her father-in-law, to
toeqvveiii^m. be educated in his court. And Herbert, who,
thanks to William, had recovered a competent
portion of his dominions, died shortly after-
wards, earnestly exhorting the Manceaux to
accept the Northman as their sovereign. Her-
bert had acquired much popularity amongst the
Manceaux, but any acknowledgment of Mar-
garet's right might have given them a hated
[ices] ruler. Consequently a revulsion of opinion
ensued, and Geoffrey of Mayenne, and Hubert
de Saint Sauveur, supported the claims asserted
by Walter, Count of the Yexin. William in-
vaded the country. Maine consisted of an
Acropolis ; the city, properly so called, was
situated on the heights, and surrounded by very
strong Eoman walls. Wherever Rome trod, her
footsteps became permanent in the soil. Some
pacification or compromise ensued. Walter and
his spouse, [Biota,] accepted an invitation to
Falaise : they entered the gates cheerfully, but
they never came out alive ; the way opened for
the conquerors by their death. But the sudden
and appalling event excited suspicions, which
always cast a shade upon William's name and
fame. Indeed, so prominent were these mis-
deeds, that William is said to have had pos-
session of the " transparent secret" of what
has been called in modern times "the powder
of succession."
MANTES FORTIFIED. 271
William entered Maine triumphantly, pur-
suing his plans for bridling his subjects or his [1064]
enemies, words then often synonymous. He
erected two fortresses within the city. The
cathedral was itself a stronghold, a massy and
imposing monument, apparently dating from the
Carlovingian age.
Now there was residing at Mantes, the widow
of an English engineer, she herself well skilled in
military mechanics, and she was employed by
William in planning the needful defences. Most
important amongst these was an outwork or
tower, called La Ribaudelle, a name which, if
we construe it correctly, was not peculiarly com-
plimentary to the lady. The obedience of the
Manceaux thus being enforced, they took the
oath of fealty. The Mayenne party supported
the claims^of Herbert Wake-the-Dog's daughters,
Gersenda and Paula. The damsels thus came
into William's power. Margaret, [Herbert's
child,] was tenderly and carefully educated, ho-
noured as Countess of Maine, and was betrothed
to young Robert, who received from his father
the dignity of Count of Maine, in right of his
nominal consort ; but before the marriage was Death of
really solemnized she died and was buried at
Fecamp.
•* # * *
[The three fragments preceding are printed
as left by the Author. They were intended to
be worked up into the fifth chapter ; but as, in
VOL. m. T
Margaret.
272 DISTURBANCES IN
ioGo-1066 their existing form, they do not present a con-
secutive history of the period following the
peace of Fecamp, the Editor has thought it
best to add here a short summary of events
from that date : — mostly printed from a Chro-
nological Abstract found amongst the Author's
MSS. A few facts noticed before will be here
repeated, and it is possible that some inaccura-
cies or incompleteness may exist in the sum-
mary, which was intended only as a guide to the
Author : but it appears best that the story
should be continued in his own words.]
§ 14. Five years follow the peace of Fe-
camp, an interval of comparative peace in Nor-
mandy, although the scanty records of the time
display a state of lawless depravity.
loeo Robert Giroi, encouraged by the hostile
feeling of Anjou, fortifies his castles and makes
Death of war on William. The Duke is delivered from
Robert Giroi,
we p. 267. his enemy by a crime which occurs with terrible
frequency in the Norman annals. Robert re-
ceives poisoned fruit from his wife Adelaide,
William's relation. Arnould d'Echaufour, Ro-
bert's nephew, succeeds him.
The arm of Geoffrey Martel is unnerved ;
he dies ; but his nephew, Geoffrey a-la-belle-
barbe, rivals his kinsman. Was this amplitude
of beard a rare feature, or a rare fashion amongst
these populations ? The razor and the barber's
bason are not without importance in man's
NORMANDY. 273
history. Our judges receive a character from
their wigs, and the heroic Wolfe, in our con-
ception of him, owes something to his solitaire
and his pig-tail.
William takes possession of Neuf-Marche-
advancing
en-Lyons, a name indicating that the Bourgade power'
was a recent foundation in the essarts. Dis-
putes arise between William and his baronage.
He holds his court at Lillebonne, and perhaps he
already begins to plan how he can best employ
those turbulent servants who are attempting to
become his masters. May not this meeting be
confounded with the meeting at the same place
on the eve of the Conquest ? Here it is ex-
pressly said that he was reconciled with some of
his Barons.
§ 15. [William, encouraged by Roger Mont- 1061
gomery and his wife Mabel, the wicked daughter
of the wicked William Talvas], sought to increase
his own power by disinheriting his Baronage.
Of course this must mean, that he sought
pels certain
resume the grants which he or his ancestors had Barons-
made, resuming the loans which, according to
the old German phraseology, he had made.
Ralph de Toeny is noted emphatically as being
one of the sufferers, together with Hugh de
Grantesmenil ; and Arnould Echaufour is also
named amongst them, by an act which may
have been legal, but certainly was ungracious.
Arnould was not a man to settle on the lees, but
invades the Lieuvin. It should seem that the
T2
274 COUNCIL AT CAEN.
1060-1066 Castle of Echaufour had been resumed by
William, and now it was no longer in Arnould's
possession ; but he went to work resolutely,
and burnt the Abbey of Saint Evroul. William,
defying the principle of election, imposes Os-
berne on the unlucky monastery ; probably this
is the reason why the Abbot departs to Rome.
see p. 268. ^Q Yesi of ^mould's story— his flight,
return to Normandy, and death by poison —
has been already given.]
1062 § 16. A great council or convention of the Es-
ca™.cil of tates of Normandy — Bishops, Abbots, Peers and
Proceres — held at Caen, and a memorable law is
enacted by the Sovereign. The curfew bell, so
constantly represented as a badge of slavery,
imposed upon conquered England, was neither
more nor less than a salutary police regulation.
It was rung in the city of London within my
recollection.
[It was not only towards his men-at-arms that
William showed his severity. Ecclesiastics were
not exempt from the same high hand.] About
this period some ecclesiastical changes were
taking or had taken place, which, as usual, had
much influence upon civil policy. 'According to
the homely proverb, "the nearer the bone the
sweeter the flesh," a dictum not always verified
when applied with respect to consanguinity ;
Mauger, [Archbishop of Rouen,] was not very
closely connected with William, though an im-
portant member of the ducal family — the son
AKCHBISHOP M AUGER. 275
of Richard le-Bon, by his third wife, Papia.
Amongst William's enemies none more per-
tinacious and teasing than Archbishop Manger.
Courtier, soldier, warrior, prelate, the mitre
decked his head, and his mailed hand clutched
the crosier : but he was so wild and ill-condi-
tioned that we can scarcely think of him in his
clerical character. If you looked at the episco-
pal officiant when he turned towards the altar, you
would see that he lacked the Pallium, the snow-
white Pallium, woven by virgin hands, and which
heraldically figures in the bearings assigned
to our primatial sees ; for his incompetence, or
worse impediments, were so notorious that the
supreme pontiff refused to confirm him by its
delivery. But this made no practical difference,
for having been placed in his see by the Duke's
prerogative, that prerogative kept him there,
notwithstanding the breach of all ecclesiastical
discipline. In an age distinguished by ecclesi-
astical corruption, Manger was conspicuous for
his depravity. He wasted and dilapidated the
endowments of the See, and in him were com-
bined the vices of the priest and soldier. His
influence was enhanced rather than damaged by
the popular belief that he commanded the aid of
a household demon. The familiar answered to
the name of Thoreit. The German scholar will
be amused by this appellation : the French anti-
quaries, who luxuriate in detecting, not without
the aid of a vivid imagination, vestiges of the
276 FATE OF MAUGER.
ioeo-1066 Scandinavian faith, discover in the name Thoreit,
the exclamation Thor-aie, an invocation of Thor
the Hammerer; but the vocable is pure hoch
deufsch, and, however gained or bestowed, sim-
seepp.202, ply signifies Folly. Mauger supported his bro-
ther, the Count of Arques, with all his influ-
ence. [By the failure of that rebellion,] Mauger' s
power to excite trouble was diminished, but he
might yet be dangerous. William, careful not
to offend the Church, watched his opportunity.
XS or Force could not decently be employed. At a
convenient season of tranquillity a synod was
held at Rouen, and Mauger was deprived of his
See. The gross licentiousness in which he had
indulged was now found to afford a sufficient
reason. Mauger was banished to Jersey, or
perhaps fled there. Freed from every restraint,
whether of authority or example, here he lived
wildly and riotously, every now and then sailing
over 'to the mainland in a fishing-boat, and shew-
ing himself at Coutances ; — visits which could not
be other than annoying to Duke William. In
one °f these undignified trips the boat turned
over and the Archbishop was drowned : fortu-
nately for Duke William ; for everything that
tended to break down the old ducal family — a
kinsman, a foeman — was good luck to the Bas-
tard. Fortune continued to favour him ; but no
ease of mind did William enjoy on this side
the grave ; the up-heaved stone was ever rolling
down again.
HAROLD IN NORMANDY. 277
Mauger deposed, Maurillus succeeded him.
Born of noble parents, at Roman Rheims, and
soundly indoctrinated, first at Rheims and sub-
sequently at Halverstadt, he was as remarkable
for his good qualities as his predecessor had
been for his vices and rebellion.
[William now expels Robert of Grandmenil
from the Abbey of Ouches, on suspicion of
rebellious language. The Abbot flies to Rome,
obtains the support of Pope Nicholas II., and
returns to Normandy with letters from him
and two Cardinals. When William learns this,
he exclaims, with fury, that he will hang any
one of his monks who utters a word against
him. Robert, hearing of this, returns to Italy
and takes shelter with Guiscard.
lOfi^
§ 17. Now follows the conquest of Maine
by William, already told.] War breaks out
between Geoffrey, son of Eudes, and his cousin
Conan. The Basilica of Rouen is completed,
and Maurillus consecrates the splendid struc-
ture. William and his Barons, [during the war
against Maine,] are reconciled, in order to have
his hands clear. Perhaps the Palace of West-
minster is looming in the distance, through the
seamists. A stranger from England visits Nor- Harold ™its
Normandy.
mandy. It is Harold. Harold's oath : and
bound by this oath, famous or infamous, he
accompanies his new liege-lord in his expedition
against Conan of Brittany, who, when William Seep-m
was preparing to pass into England and vindi-
278 WAR OF CONAN.
cate his rights by the sword, interposed and at-
Conan>g tempted to deter him. The shame of his illegi-
timacy was not sufficient. Conan denied that
William was entitled to assert even this title ;
he was not even a Bastard. " And when
Robert was about to depart for Jerusalem, he
conveyed all his inheritance to Alan, my father
and his cousin, but you and your accomplices
invaded his land, I being too young to defend
my rights, and against all justice. What right
could or can you, as a bastard, claim ? Return
to me that Normandy which thou owest. Delay
will ensure thee condign vengeance."
Brittany teemed with a wild and^martial
population ; but Conan, though ruling ably and
strenuously, had not yet been able to bring his
troops into the field ; whilst the border forces
which William raised, and was raising, contri-
buted to repel the Breton invasion.
Murder of Amongst the Bretons there was one who was
an ambidexter, owing fealty to both Counts and
not faithful to either, bearing messages between
them. Conan was his master, and he acted as
his valet. Conan, at this period, was quarrel-
ling with Anjou, and was besieging Chateau
Gonthier in Anjou, of which a detachment of
knights constituted the garrison. In these
wretched times, to repose confidence was to
suggest treachery; and the recreants surren-
dered the fortress, or, if you choose, sold their
services to William. Conan's valet poisoned
ENGLAND AND NORMANDY. 279
the inside of his master's horn, and whilst the
young and ardent prince was preparing for tri-
umph, he suddenly sickened and died. The
Bretons raged : William was vituperated as a
robber and a murderer ; no son of the late
Magnifico, he, — not so much as a bastard — a
changeling ! and no one doubted the popular
report that Conan had been poisoned by Wil-
liam's agency, — rumour accumulating crime
upon injustice.
§ 18. [The thread which links the history
of Normandy and England must now be again
taken up. The last event noted, was the abortive circa 1023,
see p. 175.
attempt of Duke Robert against Canute. After
Canute's death, and during the contested suc-
cession which closed in the assumption of sove- Conte8ted
succession
reigntyby Harold Barefoot, Edward and Alfred, ir
the children of Ethelred and Emma, by the as-
sistance of their friends, fitted out a fleet and
sailed to England. Edward approached the port
of Southampton,] where he found the inhabitants
in arms, not to aid him in his enterprise, but
prepared for the most strenuous resistance. Either
they were really hostile to the son of the un-
popular Ethelred, or they feared to draw down
upon themselves the vengeance of the brutal
Harold. Edward, therefore, had no choice ; and
abandoning the inhospitable shore, he returned
to his place of refuge in Normandy.
Soon afterwards, an affectionate letter was
addressed, in the name of Emma, to Alfred and
280 HAKOLD HAEEFOOT.
ioeo-1066 Edward, urging one of them, at least, to return
to England for the purpose of recovering the
kingdom from the tyrant. Alfred obeyed the
summons ; and with a few trusty followers,
whom he retained in Flanders, he proceeded to
England, where he was favourably received by
Earl Godwin, at London, and thence conducted
to Guildford. The plot was now revealed. Alfred
Death or was seized by the accomplices and satellites of
Alfred. •/
the tyrant, blinded, and conducted as a captive
to Ely, where death soon closed his sufferings.
God win was very generally accused of the murder.
The epistle had perhaps been forged by the di-
rection of Harold. Rumour is always busy in
these foul transactions ; arid Emma herself does
not escape vehement suspicion; but nothing is
known for certain, except the fate of the miserable
victim and of his companions, who suffered an
agonizing death.
Harefootf. Harold expired after a short and inglorious
reign. Upon his death, the Proceres or nobles,
Danes as well as English, invited Hardicanute,
[son to Canute, by Emma, after Ethelred's death,]
to return to Britain, and receive the sceptre of
the kingdom, [which he held for two years.]
§ 19. Edward the Atheling, the only sur-
viving son of Ethelred, had been invited to
England by Hardicanute, from whom he re-
ceived great kindness. Hardicanute had no
children, and the easy and quiet disposition of
his half-brother averted all suspicion or anxiety.
SUCCESSION OF EDWARD. 281
[With some difficulty he was persuaded by Godwin
to claim the throne.] Within a few days after
the body of Hardicanute had been consigned to Edward the
Confessor
the earth, the prelates and great men of the SUCCI
Anglo-Saxon realms assembled at London, and
accepted Edward as their king. William, Duke
of Normandy, aided Edward by his influence;
and it was intimated to the English, that if they
refused to recognize the son of Emma, they
would experience the weight of the Norman
power. Yet the act of recognition was mainly
owing to the exertions of the Earl of Wessex,
and to the consequence which he possessed in
the assembly. As soon as Edward was settled
upon the throne, he invited over from Normandy
many of those who had been his friends during
his exile.
[This divided the English chieftains. The
prepotent Godwin family took the lead against
the Norman courtiers ; Leofric of Coventry and
Siward of Northumbria supported them.]
It is certain that the Norman party began to N°™an8
J unpopular in
conduct themselves in such a manner as to occa- Ensland-
sion much disgust amongst the nation at large.
Edward, during his residence in Normandy, had
become partial to the customs of that country,
and introduced many such usages into England.
The Norman hand-writing was thought handsomer,
by Edward, than the Anglo-Saxon ; and he estab-
lished the mode of testifying his assent to official
documents by adding an impression of his great
282 EDWARD INTRODUCES
seal, which was appended to the parchment, in
addition to the mark of the cross, according to the
Anglo-Saxon custom which I have before noticed.
Norman Hitherto the Anj^lo-Saxon kings never used a
customs
introduced. ses^ fOT ^ purpOSe Of authenticating their char-
ters. But the custom had been long established
in France. And from the Frankish Monarchs
Edward borrowed the practice, though the seal
itself, exhibiting his effigy, surrounded by the
legend l Sigillum Eaduuardi Anglorum BasileiJ
seems rather to have been copied from the pat-
terns afforded by the Greek Emperors.
Growth of It may appear that this innovation was no
the Chancery . . .
great grievance ; but, upon examining the matter,
it will be found connected with more important
consequences. The adoption of these forms gave
the king an additional reason for retaining about
his person the ' Clerks,' whom he had brought
from France, and by whom all his writing business
was performed. They were his domestic chaplains,
and the keepers of his conscience ; and, in addi-
tion to these influential functions, they were his
law advisers and also his Secretaries of State ;
and as such they seem to have formed a bench
in the Witenagemot. The chief of these was
his Arch-Chaplain or Chancellor ; and through
them, judging from the practice both of the
French and English courts, it was the custom
to prefer all petitions and requests to the king.
One suitor was desirous of obtaining a grant of
land — another, mayhap, required a ' writ ' to
NORMAN CUSTOMS. 283
enable him to recover amends for an injury ; since
no person could sue in the King's Court without
a special permission — a third wished to ask for
leave to quarter himself and his hounds and his
horses on one of the king's manors — and, in such
cases, we cannot doubt but that Robert, the Nor-
man Monk of Jumieges, or Giso the Fleming,
or Ernaldus the Frenchman, would have many
means of serving their own party and disappoint-
ing their adversaries ; — and many an honest
Englishman was turned awav, with a hard word
•/ "
and a heavy heart, by these Norman courtiers.
The Chaplains or Clerks of the Chancery, were
particularly obnoxious : many of them obtained
the best pieces of preferment in the king's gift.
The Bishoprics were filled by Prelates who might
be good stout soldiers or clever lawyers, but who
were therefore eminently disqualified for the
stations in the church, which they had obtained
merely by favour or importunity.
The Normans had, by this time, adopted the
use of the French language, or, as it was then
called, ' Romance.' Edward had acquired a
partiality for this dialect, which had become
familiar to him during his stay in Normandy,
and by his example it was becoming fashionable
amongst the higher classes, at least amongst the
favourites of Edward ; and we cannot doubt but
that this circumstance tended to raise up a
further cause of discontent. A nation which
loses its own speech, is half conquered.
284 WILLIAM'S VISIT
1060-1066 § 20. [Meanwhile, as we have seen,] William
~^o5i~ had fully established himself in the Duchy,
Som's after encountering many difficulties. He now
arrived from beyond the sea with a large and
splendid train of Frenchmen, on a visit to
his good cousin, Edward, King of England :
cousins they certainly were ; for Edward's
mother, Emma, was own sister to Robert,
the father of William ; and even if the kin-
dred had been more remote, it would still
have afforded a ground for attention and
civility. Prosperity acts like a telescope,
and often enables folks to bring distant
relations much nearer than they would be
without its aid. And we shall not be guilty of
any great breach of charity if we suppose that
William, young, ambitious, and enterprising,
did not undertake this journey purely out of
natural love and affection towards his old aunt
and kinsman. Did he begin to form any plans
for the invasion of England ? Did he contem-
plate the possibility of wearing his kinsman's
crown ? In our modern days it is not at all an
unfrequent thing for a man to sit down and
write his own memoirs ; in which, with great
ingenuity and accuracy, he tells you everything
concerning his actions and intentions, or at
least everything which he wishes you to believe.
In the eleventh century, however, these asides
were not so common. William the Conqueror
neither wrote his autobiography, nor hinted to
TO EDWARD. 285
any good and serviceable friend that he had no
objection to have his opinions reported for the
amusement and instruction of the world ; — and
his "correspondence" is not extant, — therefore
I cannot exactly tell you what he thought.
However, I can tell you what he saw, and then
you may judge for yourself as to the sentiments
which possibly floated in the mind of the Norman
warrior.
King Edward was surrounded by Frenchmen state of
•* England
and foreigners, who filled his court, and were
spread over England. Of the few castles and
strongholds which were in the realm, some,
the most important, those towards the Welsh
marches, were garrisoned by French and Norman
soldiers, under the command of leaders of their
own nation. In the great towns and cities, no
inconsiderable number of Frenchmen were to be
found, who, having settled there, enjoyed what
we should now call the freedom of the corpora-
tion, living in houses of their own, and paying
scot and lot, or taxes, like the English bur-
gesses. The country itself invited the attacks
of an enemy ; the great towns, with few excep-
tions, were either quite open, or fortified only
by stoccades and banks, or, perhaps by a
ruinous Roman wall; and the Englishmen them-
selves, though very brave, were much inferior
to the continental nations in the art of war.
As soldiers, they laboured under a still greater
deficiency than any which can result from the
286 STATE OF ENGLAND.
ioeo-1066 want of weapons or of armour. Stout, well-fed,
and hale, the Anglo-Saxon, when sober, was
fully a match for any adversary who might be
brought from the banks of the Seine or the
Loire. But the old English were shamefully
addicted to debauchery, and the wine-cup un-
nerves the stoutest arm. The monkish chroni-
clers, as you will recollect, tell us that we
learnt this vice from the Danes— a sorry excuse ;
and it is little to the credit of Englishmen, that
drunkenness still continues to stain our national
character.
The empire was distracted by factions. The
members of a very powerful family, whose con-
duct had excited the suspicions of the sovereign,
had been deprived of their possessions, but
certainly not according to equity, so that they
and their adherents had a double cause of
hostility — disaffection, — and the sense of the
injury which they had sustained.
Edward was advancing in years, childless,
and without hope of children. Upon his death,
the royal line of Cerdic would be represented
solely by Edward the " Outlaw," the only sur-
viving son of Edmund Ironside, then a fugitive
in a distant realm, far away in Hungary. Hardly
did it seem probable that this Prince, so es-
tranged from England, could possibly assert
his right to the succession ; and, therefore, as
soon as Edward should be stretched on the bier,
the vacant throne might be ascended by any
THE GODWIN FAMILY. 287
one, who, whether by force or favour, could
obtain the concurrence of any powerful partisans,
or the sanction of the legislature.
Such then was the state of affairs, when
William, Duke of Normandy, afterwards the
Conqueror, repaired to England. We have no
positive evidence concerning what was said or
done ; and I am not prepared to relate the
conversations between King Edward and his
cousin, as if I had listened behind the tapestry.
But the matters narrated by chroniclers I can
repeat, and from their testimony we do know,
thai William was honourably received. He
conducted himself with so much address as to
acquire the confidence and good-will of Edward,
who, by the expulsion of Godwin and his family,
had obtained a temporary respite from uneasi-
ness and disquietude.
This calm did not last long — [Godwin and
Harold appeared in arms, and to avoid a battle,
the quarrel was laid before the Witenagemot.]
The Great Council not only agreed that Triumph of
the Godwini.
Godwin and his sons were innocent, but decreed
the restoration of their earldoms ; and such was
the influence of the Earl of Wessex, that the
Witan adopted all the views of his party. All
the French were declared outlaws, because it
was said that they had given bad advice to the
king, and brought unrighteous judgments into
the land ; a very few only, whose ignoble names
have been preserved — Robert, the Deacon,
VOL. in. u
288 OLD AGE OF EDWARD.
Richard, the son of Scrub, Humphrey Cock's-
foot, and the Groom of the stirrup, — were
excepted from this proscription : obscure, mean
men, whom Godwin could not fear. Robert, the
monk of Jumieges, who had been promoted to
the Archbishopric of Canterbury, was just able
to escape with his life, so highly were the people
incensed against him. He and Ulf, Bishop of
Dorchester, after scouring the country, broke
out through the East-gate of Canterbury, and
killing and wounding those who attempted to
stop them, they betook themselves to the coast,
and got out to sea. Other of the Frenchmen
retired to the Castles of their countrymen. And
the restoration of the Queen to her former rank,
completed the triumph of the Godwin family.
§ 21. Old age was now rapidly advancing
upon Edward. He was childless. He saw the
increasing power of Harold, and that the king-
dom which he had been called to govern would
be exposed to the greatest confusion. He
recalled " Edward the Outlaw," [sole surviving
descendant to Edmund Ironside,] from Hungary,
with the intention of proclaiming him as heir to
the crown.
1057 Edmund Ironside had been much beloved,
and greatly did England rejoice when Edward,
no longer the Outlaw, but the Atheling, arrived
here, accompanied by his wife Agatha, the
emperor's kinswoman, and his three fair children,
— Edgar, Christina, and Margaret. But the
sor reverts to
THE SUCCESSION. 289
people's gladness was speedily turned to sorrow, loeo-ioes
Very shortly after the Atheling arrived in Lon- pcnthof
don, he sickened and died. He was buried in 6utuw.
St. Paul's Cathedral ; and sad and ruthful were
the forebodings of the English, when they saw
him borne to his grave. — Harold gained exceed-
ingly by this event. Did the Atheling die a
natural death ? — the lamentations of the chroni-
clers seem to imply more than meets the ear.
Edward's design having thus been frustrated, 1(>58-io65
he determined that William of Normandy should
succeed him on the throne of England, and he wmiam-
executed, or, perhaps, re-executed a will to that
effect, bequeathing the crown to his good cousin.
This choice, disastrous as it afterwards appeared
to be from its consequences, was not devoid of
foresight and prudence. Edward, without doubt,
viewed the nomination of the Norman as the
surest mode of averting from his subjects the
evils of foreign servitude or domestic war. The
Danish Kings, the pirates of the north, were
yearning to regain the realm, which their great
Canute had ruled. At the very outset of Ed-
ward's reign, Magnus, the successor of Hardi-
canute, had claimed the English crown. A
competitor at home had diverted Magnus from
this enterprise ; but it might at any time be
resumed. And how much better would the
wise and valiant William be able to resist the
Danish invasions, than the infant Edgar ?
Harold was brave and experienced in war, but
u2
290 WILLIAM'S CLAIMS.
ioeo-1066 his elevation to the throne might be productive
of the greatest evil. The grandsons of Leofric,
who ruled half England, would scarcely submit
to the dominion of an equal ; the obstacle arising
from Harold's ancestry was, indeed, insuperable.
No individual, who was not of an antient royal
house, had ever been able to maintain himself
upon an Anglo-Saxon throne.
William himself asserted that Edward had
claims.
acted with the advice and consent of the great
Earls, Si ward, Leofric, and Godwin himself;
consequently the bequest was made before the
arrival of Edward the Outlaw. The son and
nephew of Godwin, who were then in Normandy,
had also been sent to him, as he maintained, in
the characters of pledges or hostages, that the
will should be carried into effect ; or, as is most
probable, that no opposition should be raised by
the powerful earl. The three earls thus vouched
were not living when William made this asser-
tion ; but if we do not distrust his veracity and
honour, we may suppose that Edward, in the
first instance, appointed William as his heir.
As the king grew older, his affection for his own
kindred awakened, and he recalled the Atheling,
revoking his devise to the stranger; to which,
however, he seems to have returned again, when
his kinsman died.
The messenger by whom the intelligence of
the bequest, thus made by Edward, reached
William, was no other than Harold. There is
HAROLD'S OATH. 291
much contradiction as to the immediate cause ioeo-io66
of Harold's journey ; nor are we less in doubt Harold,g
concerning the minor incidents. [He is said toleep.277.
have been tempest-thrown on Ponthieu, seized
in pursuance of local custom by the Count
Guido, and liberated from him at William's
order. The dramatic circumstances of Harold's
oath on concealed relics, are totally unknown
to the earlier and only trustworthy annalists.]
Whether accident or design conducted him to
the court of the Duke of Normandy, is uncer-
tain ; and the preceding account of the two wills
in favour of William, is an hypothesis collected
only from the general bearing of the narrations.
William, well aware of Harold's influence, used
every endeavour to ensure his future aid ; and,
in return, William agreed to bestow upon Harold
the hand of his daughter, the fair Adela. The
English earl promised that he would give up to
the Norman duke the castle of Dover, a fortress
belonging to him as part of the inheritance of
Godwin, and considered as the key of England.
He confirmed the engagement by oath, and
became the "man," or vassal, of William, whom
he acknowledged as his future sovereign.
§ 22. In the meanwhile Harold was rising
in repute. He invaded Wales, and desolated the
*•
country. Griffith opposed him valiantly, but he
was slain by the treachery of his own country-
men. His gory head was sent to the Confessor
as a trophy of victory; his dominions were
in Wales.
292 DEATH OF EDWARD.
ioeo-1066 bestowed upon his brothers Blethyn and Rhi-
wallon, who were accessary to the murder.
And these princes became the vassals, not only
of King Edward, but of Earl Harold, to whom
they performed fealty and homage. As Earl of
Wessex, Harold could have no claim to this
obedience, and if enforced by him, the act can
only be construed as an attempt to establish a
sovereign power.
Edward was now rapidly declining in health ;
he had rebuilt the ancient Abbey of Westminster,
founded, as you will recollect, by Sebert, but
which had been ruined during the Danish wars.
And, holding his court, according to the antient
custom, at Christmas, he caused the new fabric
to be consecrated, in the presence of the nobles
assembled during that solemn festival.
Jan. s, 1066 Edward felt that the hand of death was upon
confe8s°ofrthe ^•'m- ^ little while before he expired, Harold
and his kinsmen forced their way into the
chamber of the Monarch, and exhorted him to
name a successor, by whom the realm might be
ruled in peace and security. — "Ye know full
well, my lords," said Edward, "that I have
bequeathed my kingdom to the Duke of Nor-
mandy, and are there not those here whose oaths
have been given to secure his succession?" —
Harold stepped nearer, and interrupting the
King, he asked of Edward, upon whom the
crown should be bestowed. — " Harold ! take it,
if such be thy wish; but the gift will be thy
DISCUSSION AS TO SUCCESSOR. 293
ruin. Against the duke and bis baronage, no
power of thine can avail thee." Harold replied
that he did not fear the Norman, or any other
enemy. The dying king, wearied with impor-
tunity, turned himself upon his couch, and
faintly intimated that the English nation might
name as king, Harold, or whom they liked ; and
shortly afterwards he breathed his last.
Harold afterwards founded his title upon
claim to
Edward's last will ; many of our historians 8ucceed<
favour his claim, and the different statements
are difficult to be reconciled ; yet taken alto-
gether, the circumstances are exactly such as
we meet with in private life. The childless
owner of a large estate, at first leaves his pro-
perty to his Cousin on the mother's side, from
whose connexions he has received much kind-
ness. He advances in age, and alters his
intentions in favour of a Nephew on his father's
side — an amiable young man, living abroad. —
and from whom he had been estranged in conse-
quence of a family quarrel of long standing.
The young Heir conies to the Testator's house
— is received with great affection — and is sud-
denly cut off by illness. The Testator then
returns to his will in favour of his Cousin, who
resides abroad. His acute and active brother-
in-law has taken the management of his affairs,
is well informed of this will ; and, when the
Testator is on his death-bed, he contrives to
tease and persuade the dying man to alter the
294 DEATH OF EDWAED.
1060-1068 will again in his favour. This is exactly the
state of the case ; and though considerable
doubts have been raised relating to the contra-
dictory bequests of the Confessor, there can be
no difficulty in admitting that the conflicting
pretensions of William and Harold were grounded
upon the acts emanating from a wavering and
feeble mind. If such disputes take place between
private individuals, they are decided by a court
of justice ; but if they concern a kingdom, they
can only be settled by the sword.
295
CHAPTER VI.
THE INVASION.
1066.
I 1. UPON the death of Edward the Con- 1066
fessor, there were three claimants to the crown competitor.
— his good Cousin, William of Normandy — and
his good Brother-in-law, Harold — each of whom
respectively founded their pretensions upon the
real or supposed devise of the late king — and
Edgar Atheling, the son of Edward the Outlaw,
who ought to have stood on firmer ground. If
kindred had any weight, he was the real heir —
the lineal descendant of Ironside — and the only
male now left of the house of Cerdic ; and he
also is said to have been nominated by Edward,
as the successor to the throne.
Each of these competitors had his partisans : Harold-
but, whilst William was absent, and Edward
young and poor, perhaps timid and hesitating,
Harold was on the spot j a man of mature age,
in full vigour of body and mind ; possessing
great influence and great wealth. And on the
very day that Edward was laid in his grave,
Harold prevailed upon, or compelled the pre-
lates and nobles assembled at Westminster, to
accept him as king. Some of our historians
296 HAROLD KING.
1066 ^ gay,, that he obtained the diadem by force.
This is not to be understood as implying actual
violence ; but simply, that the greater part of
those who recognised him, acted against their
wishes and will. And if our authorities are
correct, Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, but
who had been suspended by the Pope, was the
only prelate who acknowledged his authority.
i not Some portions of the Anglo-Saxon domi-
universally
accepted. njons never seem to have submitted to Harold.
In others, a sullen obedience was extorted from
the people, merely because they had not power
enough to raise any other king to the throne.
Certainly the realm was not Harold's by any
legal title. The son of Grodwin could have no
inherent right whatever to the inheritance of
Edward ; nor had the Anglo-Saxon crown ever
been worn by an elective monarch. The con-
stitutional rights of the nation extended, at
farthest, to the selection of a king from the
royal family ; and if any kind of sanction was
given by the Witan to the intrusion of Harold,
the act was as invalid as that by which they
had renounced the children of Ethelred, and
acknowledged the Danish line.
HU govern. g 2. Harold is stated to have shewn both
prudence and courage in the government of the
kingdom ; and he has been praised for his just
and due administration of justice. At the same
time he is, by other writers, reprobated as a
tyrant ; and he is particularly blamed for his
HIS UNCERTAIN POSITION. 297
oppressive enforcement of the forest-laws. To- io»e
wards his own partisans, Harold may have been
ostentatiously just, while the ordinary exercise
of the roj^al prerogative would appear tyrannical
to those who deemed him to be an usurper.
Harold, as the last An^lo-Saxon ruler, has
state of
often been viewed with peculiar partiality ; but Kneland-
it is perhaps difficult to justify these feelings.
He had no clear title to the crown in any way
whatever. Harold was certainly not the heir ;
Edward's bequest in his favour was very dubi-
ous ; and he failed to obtain that degree of uni-
versal consent to his accession, which, upon the
ordinary principles of political expediency, can
alone legalize a change of dynasty. The Anglo-
Saxon power had been fast verging to decay.
As against their common sovereign, the earls
were rising into petty kings. North of the
Humber, scarcely a shadow of regular govern-
ment existed ; and even if the Norman had
never trod the soil of England, it would have
been scarcely possible for the son of Godwin
to have maintained himself in possession of the
supreme authority. Any of the great nobles
who divided the territory of the realm might
have preferred as good a claim, and they pro-
bably would have been easily incited to risk
such an attempt. Hitherto, the crown had been
preserved from domestic invasion by the belief
that royalty belonged exclusively to the children
of Woden. — Fluctuating as the rules of succes-
in
e
news.
298 WILLIAM CLAIMS
sion had been, the political faith in the "right
royal kindred " excluded all competition, except
as amongst the members of a particular caste
or family ; but the charm was now broken— the
mist which had hitherto enveloped the sovereign
magistracy was dispelled — and the way to the
throne was opened to any competitor.
leams the § 3. William was hunting in the Park of
Rouen, surrounded by a noble train of knights,
esquires, and damsels, when a "Serjeant," just
arrived from England, hastened into his presence,
and related the events which had happened : —
Edward's death, and Harold's assumption of the
crown. — The bow dropped out of the hand of the
Norman, and he was unnerved by anxiety and
surprise. William fastened and loosened his
mantle, spake not, and looked so fierce and fell,
that no one ventured to address him. Entering
a skiff, he crossed the Seine, still silent ; stalked
into the great hall of his palace, threw himself
into a seat, wrapped his head in his mantle,
and bent his body downwards, apparently over-
whelmed.— " Sirs " — said William de Breteuil
the Seneschal, to the enquiring crowd — " ye will
soon know the cause of our lord's anxiety;" —
and then, approaching his master, he roused
the Duke by telling him that everybody in the
streets of Rouen would soon hear of the death
of Edward, and of his claims to the succession.
claim, the William instantly recovered from his reverie :
crown. *
and upon the advice of a Norman baron, Fitz-
crown.
THE CROWN. 299
Osbern the Bold, it was determined that he
should forthwith require Harold, the sworn
liegeman of William, to surrender the inherit-
ance, and to perform the engagements which he
had contracted with the Norman Sovereign.
Harold answered, that the kingdom was not Harold
refuses.
his to bestow : implying, no doubt, that he could
not make the transfer without the consent of
the Witenagemot. He also alleged distinctly,
that he could not marry Adela without the ad-
vice of the nobility of his realm. If this as-
sertion be taken in its strict sense, we must
suppose that, as the queen had some, though
a very undefined share in the royal authority,
she could not be raised to that rank without
the assent of the legislature. But perhaps we
must receive the expressions according to a
more qualified construction ; and suppose that
Harold merely meant to say, that it was not
expedient for an English king to choose a wife
in such a manner as might render him unpo-
pular. But these excuses need not be weighed
very accurately. Other parts of Harold's reply
were scurrilous and insulting ; and the whole is
only to be considered as an intimation that the
son of Godwin defied the power of William, the
Bastard of Normandy.
§ 4. Harold did not feel his own weakness,
and he scarcely knew the resources of his adver-
sary. Normandy, at this period, was in the height
of its prosperity. Under the prudent government
invasion.
300 MEETING AT LILLEBONNE.
1066 ^ of the late Dukes, Richard and Robert, there
had arisen a race of wise, active, and loyal
nobility. The heads of the great houses of
Beaumont, Montgomery, Fitz-Osbern, Mortimer,
and Griffard, were stout of heart and strong of
hand : they could give the best counsel, and
Barons execute the counsel which they crave ; and in
meet at
Luiebonne. ^Q great parliament assembled at Lillebonne,
the barons determined to assist their Sovereign
in his contest with the English usurper, the per-
jured Harold.
Fitz-osbem'3 In this memorable meeting, there was at
zeal for the
first much diversity of opinion. The Duke could
not command his vassals to cross the sea ; their
tenures did not compel them to such a service.
William could only request their aid, to fight
his battles in England : many refused to engage
in this dangerous expedition, and great debates
arose. Fitz-Osbern exhorted his peers to obey
the wishes of their liege lord. After some dis-
cussion they allowed the intrepid Baron to be
their spokesman ; and in their name did he
engage that each feudatory should render dou-
ble the service to which he was bound by
his tenure ; and, moreover, he, Fitz-Osbern,
promised to fit out, at his own expense, sixty
vessels, all filled with chosen warriors.
Fitz-Osbern might make any promise on his
own part, to which he was stimulated by his
loyalty. But the other barons had not em-
powered him to assent on their behalf to bind
WILLIAM'S OFFERS. 301
them to similar exertions ; and whilst he was
speaking, such an outcry of disapprobation
arose that it seemed as if the very roof of the
Hall would be rent asunder. William, who
persuades
could not restore order, withdrew into another the barons-
apartment : and calling the barons to him one
by one, he argued and reasoned with each of
these sturdy vassals separately, and apart from
the others. He exhausted all the arts of per-
suasion ; — their present courtesy — he engaged
— should not be turned into a precedent ; the
troops now granted as a favour should never be
demanded as a right by himself or his suc-
cessors ; and the fertile fields of England should
be the recompense of their fidelity. — Upon this
prospect of remuneration, the barons assented;
and, that they might not retract, the ready clerk
wrote down in his roll the. number of knights
and vassals which each prelate and baron would
furnish to this expedition.
William did not confine himself to his own cans adven.
turers to join.
subjects. All the adventurers and adventurous
spirits of the neighbouring States were invited
to join his standard. Armorica, now called
Brittany, had become a fief of Normandy ;
and though the Duke could not compel the
baronage of that country to serve in his army,
still they willingly yielded to his influence.
Alan Fergant, and Bryan, the two sons of Eudo,
Count of Brittany, came with a numerous train
of Breton knights, all ready for the conflict —
302 WILLIAM'S CLAIMS.
perhaps eager to avenge the wrongs of Arthur
upon the Saxons, who had usurped the land of
their ancestors. Others poured in from Poitou
and Maine ; from Flanders and Anjou ; and to
all, such promises were made as should best
incite them to the enterprise — lands, — liveries,
— money, — according to their rank and degree ;
and the port of St. Pierre-sur-Dive was ap-
pointed as the place where all the forces should
assemble.
William's § 5. William had discovered four most valid
groundsifor
his invasion, reasons for the prosecution of his offensive war-
fare against a neighbouring people : — the be-
quest made by his Cousin ; — the perjury of
Harold ; — the expulsion of the Normans, at the
instigation, as he alleged, of Godwin ; — and,
lastly, the massacre of the Danes by Ethelred
on St. Brice's day. — The alleged perjury of
Harold enabled William to obtain the sanction
of the Papal See. Alexander, the Roman
Romeorted at Pontiff? allowed, nay, even urged him to punish
the crime, provided England, when conquered,
should be held as the fief of St. Peter. In this
proceeding, His Holiness took upon himself to
act judicially, and in solemn consistory ; not,
however, without opposition, — but the measure
was carried : and Hildebrand, Archdeacon of
the Church of Rome, afterwards the celebrated
Pope Gregory VII., greatly assisted by the sup-
port which he gave to the decree.
As a visible token of protection, the Pope
HAROLD'S PREPARATIONS. 303
transmitted to William the consecrated banner,
the Gonfanon of St. Peter, and a precious ring,
in which a relic of the Chief of the Apostles was
enclosed. Nothing could be more futile than
the pretext that the war was undertaken for the
purpose of redressing the wrongs sustained by
Archbishop Robert and his companions, or of
avenging the slaughter committed by Ethelred ;
and the sanction given by the Pope was in
itself an attack upon the temporal authority.
Yet the colour of right, which William en-
deavoured to obtain, shows a degree of defer-
ence to public opinion ; he was anxious to
prove that his attempt was not prompted by
mere ambition or avarice ; and that at all
events, supposing Edward's bequest might be
disputed, he was justified in his attempt by good
conscience and honour.
g 6. There was little regular communication
prepares his
between England and the Continent ; but it was defence>
impossible that the extensive preparations of
William should remain unknown to Harold ;
and he immediately began to provide for defence.
He mustered his forces at Sandwich, and then
he took his station at the Isle of Wight, during
the whole of the summer and part of the autumn.
Such a navy as he could assemble guarded the
coast, while his land forces were encamped on
the shore. During this period he transmitted a
spy, to procure further particulars of the forces
which the Normans had raised. The agent was
VOL. III. x
304 WILLIAM'S FLEET
discovered, and carried to William, by whom
he was received without either harshness or
affectation of concealment, and dismissed with-
out harm. The spy was informed by the Duke,
that Harold need not take any trouble or incur
any expense for the purpose of ascertaining the
Norman strength ; for he would see it, aye, and
feel it too, within the year.
§ 7. The computation of the navy assembled
by William has varied exceedingly. Master Wace,
to whose Poetical Chronicle we are so largely
indebted, relates, that he often heard his father
say, that the number of vessels amounted to six
hundred and ninety-six ; but that he found it
stated in writing, that upwards of three thou-
sand had been assembled. This latter compu-
tation, probably, included all the smaller barks ;
but, be that as it may, the fleet was the largest
which had ever been seen. William's own
vessel, which had been given to him by his wife
Matilda, was distinguished above the rest ; at
night by the cresset which flamed on the top-
mast ; and in the day, by its resplendent orna-
ments and decorations. The crimson sails
swelled to the wind, the gilded vanes glittered
in the sun, — and at the head of the ship was the
effigy of a child, armed with a bow and arrow,
and ready to discharge his shaft against hostile
land.
sans. jhe gathering of the fleet at the mouth of the
Dive had been delayed by contrary gales, and
CROSSES THE CHANNEL. 305
other mischances. The ships sailed to the . 1066
Somme, but the winds were still unfavourable.
The relics of St. Valery were brought forth from
their shrine. On the eve of St. Michael, the Sep. as.
patron of Normandy, a prosperous gale arose,
and the whole armament was wafted in safety
across the waves. "Want of provisions, and other
circumstances, had compelled Harold to draw
off his forces from the coast, which was entirely
unprotected ; and when the Norman armada
approached the shore of England, between
Hastings and Pevensey, not the slightest opposi- sep.29.
tion could be offered to the invaders. As the
vessels approached, and as the masts rose higher
and higher on the horizon, the peasantry who
dwelt on the coast, and who had congregated
on the cliffs, gazed with the utmost alarm at
the hostile vessels, which, as they well knew,
were drawing near for the conquest of Eng-
land ; portended by the fearful comet blazing
in the sky. The alarm spread — and one of
the few Thanes who were left in the shire
of the South Saxons — for the greater part
were on duty in the north — galloped up to a
rising ground to survey the operations of the
enemy.
The Thane saw the boats pushing through w
the surf, glistening with shields and spears ; in
others, stood the war-horses, neighing and paw-
ing at the prospect of release from their irksome
captivity. Now followed the archers, closely
x 2
306 THE LANDING.
loco shorn, arrayed in a light and unincunibering
garb ; each held his long bow, strung for the
fight, in his hand, and by his side hung the
quiver, filled w.ith those cloth-yard shafts, which,
in process of time, became the favourite and
national weapon of the yeomanry of England.
ratemtiQn, The archers leap out of the boats, disperse
themselves on the shore, and station themselves
in the out-posts, so as to protect, if necessary,
the heavy armed troops who are about to disem-
bark. The knights are now seen, carefully and
heavily treading along the planks, each covered
with his hawbergeon of mail, his helmet laced,
the shield well strengthened with radiating bars
of iron, depending from his neck, his sword
borne by his attendant esquire. The gleaming
steel-clad multitude cover the shingly beach in
apparent disorder, but they rapidly separate,
and, in a few moments, each warrior is mounted
upon his steed. Banners, pennons, and pennon-
eels are raised ; the troops form into squadrons,
and advance upon the land, which they already
claim as their possession.
Boat after boat poured out the soldiery of the
various nations and races assembled under the
banner of William ; and lastly, came the pioneers,
with their sharp axes, well trained and taught,
and prepared to labour for the defence of the
army which they had accompanied.
And en. The quick eye of the Leader selected the spot
trencbtnent.
for the stockades and entrenchments. The tim-
POSITION OF HAROLD. 307
bers and pavoises, and other materials, were . 1066
floated from the store-ships, and dragged to the
position which had been pointed out. The work
began with the utmost skill and energy, and the
Thane plainly saw that, before night-fall, the
Norman Chief would be entirely secured from
surprise. He waited no more, but he instantly
determined to bear the ill news to Harold. He
turned his horse's head towards the north, and
riding night and day, he neither tarried nor
rested, until he reached the city of York, where,
rushing into the hall, he found Harold, banquet-
ing in festal triumph, with hands embrued in the
blood of a brother. [He was triumphing over Oct. 7.
Tostig and his ally, Harfager, of Norway, de-
feated in the great battle of Stamford Bridge.]
§ 8. It was on the morrow of this battle that
the Thane of Sussex came to Harold, and ap-
prised him of the arrival of his most dreaded
enemy. Harold immediately marched south, and
halted at London, where he prepared to attack the
invader. The best part of his troops had fallen ;
few others joined him. either as volunteers, or by
virtue of their tenures or of their allegiance.
Edwin and Morcar stood aloof; they did not
support their brother-in-law ; Algitha, his wife,
also quitted him, and abandoned him to his fate.
Harold's army too plainly testified the danger of
his cause ; his ranks were imperfectly filled by
hired soldiers, who served him merely for their
pay ; and whatever force he had, was raised from
news.
308 HAROLD'S DIFFICULTIES.
1066 the south of the Humber ; not a man came from
the north. Githa, his mother, sad and weeping
for the loss of her son Tostig, earnestly dis-
suaded Harold from attempting to give battle to
William ; his other friends and relations joined
her in such intreaties, none so earnestly as
Gurth, Earl of Suffolk, Harold's brother, praised
advice.
for his singular merit and virtue. Gurth pointed
out to him that his troops were wearied and ex-
hausted, the Normans fresh and confident ; and
furthermore, the Earl of Suffolk represented to
Harold that the violation of his oath would lie
heavy upon his soul in the field of battle. If
Harold would send his troops against William,
Gurth solicited that he, who was unfettered by
any such obligation, might take the command ;
for it appears that the oath was considered
as binding merely upon the individual Harold,
and that it did not restrain him from sanctioning
hostility in others. But Harold was influenced
by that obstinate, self-willed determination,
which leads the sinner on to his fate ; and
he persevered, and prepared to encounter his
enemy.
Near London, at Waltham, there was a
monastery, founded for regular or conventual
canons of the order of St. Augustine, and con-
taining a crucifix, supposed to be endued with
miraculous power. The Abbey of the " Holy
Rood " had been richly endowed by Harold, and
before he set out against the enemy, he offered
ENCAMPS AT BATTLE. 309
up his orisons at the altar. Whilst Harold was
in prayer, in the darkness and gloom of the
choir, we are told that the crucifix bowed its
head. The portent may have been fancied, but
there was a presentiment of evil abroad. It
was one of those periods when men's minds are
oppressed by the lowering of impending danger,
and the Brethren of Waltham determined that
two members of the convent, Osgod and Ailric,
should accompany their benefactor on his march.
Harold having arrayed his forces to the best of
his power, directed his course to the shore of
Sussex. At Senlac, now better known as Battle,
he halted. His camp was surrounded by en-
trenchments, and on the spot where the high
altar of the Abbey was afterwards placed, he
planted his royal standard.
§ 9. William had been most actively em-
ployed. As a preliminary to further proceedings,
he had caused all the vessels to be drawn on shore
and rendered unserviceable. He told his men that
they must prepare to conquer or to die — flight
was impossible. He had occupied the Roman
castle of Pevensey, whose walls are yet existing,
flanked by Anglo-Norman towers, and he had
personally surveyed all the adjoining country,
for he never trusted this part of a general's
duty to any eyes but his own. One Robert, a
Norman Thane, who was settled in the neigh-
bourhood, advised him to cast up entrenchments
for the purpose of resisting Harold. William
310 OMENS OF
. replied, that his best defence was in the valour
of his army and the goodness of his cause ; and
throughout the whole of this expedition, the
cool good sense by which he increased the
moral courage of his followers is singularly re-
markable.
°oZtner!ind In compliance with the opinions of the age,
William had an astrologer in his train. An
oriental monarch, at the present time, never
engages in battle without a previous horoscope,
and this superstition was universally adopted in
Europe during the middle ages. But William's
" Clerk " was not merely a star-gazer. He had
graduated in all the occult sciences — he was
a necromancer ; or, as the word was often spelt,
in order to accommodate it to the supposed
etymology, a m^romancer — a " Sortilegus " —
and a soothsayer. These accomplishments in
the sixteenth century, would have assuredly
brought the " clerk " to the stake. But in the
eleventh, although they were highly illegal ac-
cording to the strict letter of the ecclesiastical
law, yet they were studied as eagerly as any
other branch of metaphysics, of which they were
supposed to form a part. The Sorcerer, or
" Sortilegus," by casting " sortes" or lots, had
ascertained that the Duke would succeed, and
that Harold would surrender without a battle,
upon which assurance the Normans entirely re-
lied. After the landing, William inquired for
his conjurer — A pilot came forward, and told
THE BATTLE. 311
him that the unlucky wight had been drowned in v 1066
the passage. William then immediately pointed
out the folly of trusting to the predictions of one
who was utterly unable to tell what would
happen unto himself. When William first set
foot on shore, he had shown the same spirit. He
stumbled, and fell forwards on the palm of his
hands. " Mai signe, est $i ! " exclaimed his
troops, affrighted at the omen. " No," answered
William, as he rose ; " I have taken seizin of
the country," showing the clod of earth which
he had grasped. One of his soldiers, with the
quickness of a modern Frenchman, instantly
followed up the idea — he ran to a cottage, and
pulled out a bundle of reeds from the thatch,
telling him to receive that symbol also, as the
seizin of the realm with which he was invested.
These little anecdotes display the turn and
temper of the Normans, and the alacrity by
which the army was pervaded.
g 10. Some fruitless attempts are said to Negotiations.
have been made at negotiation. Harold de-
spatched a monk to the enemy's camp, who was
to exhort William to abandon his enterprise.
The Duke insisted on his right ; but, as some
historians relate, he offered to submit his claim
to a legal decision, to be pronounced by the
Pope, either according to the law of Normandy,
or according to the law of England ; or, if this
mode of adjustment did not please Harold, that
the question should be decided by single com-
312 CONDUCT OF
1066 bat, the crown becoming the meed of the victor.
uncertain ^ne propositions of William are stated, by other
propo8aaiBe.sed authorities, to have contained a proposition for
a compromise, namely, that Harold should take
Northumbria, and William the rest of the An-
glo-Saxon dominions. All or any of these
proposals are such as may very probably have
been made. But they were not minuted down
in formal protocols, or couched in diplomatic
notes — they were verbal messages, sent to and
fro on the eve of a bloody battle, whereof the
particulars were not related by historians until
many years had elapsed ; and therefore we have
no reason to be surprised at the diversity of
such narratives, nor is it at all necessary to at-
tempt to reconcile them. The general truth is
easily understood. It was evident to each of
the chieftains, that they had respectively ven-
tured their whole fortunes on the cast of the
die ; and before engaging in a conflict which
must prove fatal to one of them, they made an
attempt to avoid the danger.
The English Fear prevailed in both camps. The English,
in addition to the apprehensions which even the
most stout-hearted feel on the eve of a morrow
whose close they may never see, dreaded the
papal excommunication, the curse encountered
in support of the unlawful authority of a usurper.
When they were informed that battle had been
decided upon, they stormed and swore ; and now
the cowardice of conscience spurred them on to
THE ARMIES. 313
riot and revelry. The whole night was passed
in debauch. " Wees-heal" and "Drink-heal" re-
sounded from the tents ; the wine cups passed
gaily round and round by the smoky blaze of
the red watch-fires, while the ballad of ribald
mirth was loudly sung by the carousers.
In the Norman Leaguer, far otherwise had
the dread of the approaching morn affected the
hearts of William's soldiery. No voice was
heard excepting the solemn response of the
Litany and the chaunt of the Psalm. The peni-
tents confessed their sins— the masses were said
— and the sense of the imminent peril of the mor-
row was tranquillized by penance and prayer.
Each of the nations, as we are told by one of
our most trustworthy English historians, acted
according to their " national custom;" and severe
is the censure which the English thus receive.
§ 11. The English were strongly fortified in Disposition of
their position by lines of trenches and palisadoes ;
and within these defences they were marshalled
according to the Danish fashion, shield against
shield, presenting an impenetrable front to the
enemy. The men of Kent formed the van-guard,
for it was their privilege to be the first in the
strife. The burgesses of London, in like manner,
claimed and obtained the honour of being the
royal body-guard, and they were drawn up around
the Standard. At the foot of this banner stood
Harold, with his brothers, Leofwin and Gurth,
and a chosen body of the bravest Thanes, all
314 NORMAN ADVANCE.
1066 ^ anxiously gazing on that quarter, from whence
they expected the advance of the enemy.
Before the Normans began their march, and
very early in the morning of the feast of St.
Oct. H. Calixtus, William had assembled his barons
around him, and exhorted them to maintain
his righteous cause. As the invaders drew
The Norman . , TT , n T • • i
advance. nigh, Harold saw a division advancing, com-
posed of the volunteers from the County of
Boulogne and from the Amiennois, under the
command of William Fitz Osbern and Roger
Montgomery. "It is the Duke" — exclaimed
Harold — " and little shall I fear him. By my
forces, will his be four times out-numbered ! "
Glurth shook his head, and expatiated on the
strength of the Norman cavalry, as opposed
to the foot soldiers of England ; but their
discourse was stopped by the appearance of
the combined cohorts, under Aimeric, Viscount
of Thouars, and Alan Fergant of Brittany.
Harold's heart sunk at the sight, and he broke
out into passionate exclamations of fear and
dismay. But now the third and last division
of the Norman army was drawing nigh. The
consecrated Gronfanon floats amidst the forest
of spears ; and Harold is now too well aware
that he beholds the ranks which are commanded
in person by the Duke of Normandy.
The Norman 3 12. As the Normans were marshalled in
attack.
three divisions, so they began the battle by
simultaneous attacks upon three points of the
THE BATTLE. 315
English forces. Immediately before the Duke,
rode Taillcfer, the Minstrel, singing, with a loud
and clear voice, the lay of Charlemagne and
Roland, and the emprizes of the Paladins who
had fallen in the dolorous pass of Roncevaux.
Taillefer, as his guerdon, had craved permis-
sion to strike the first blow, for he was a
valiant warrior, emulating the deeds which he
sung : his appellation, " Taitte-fer" is probably
to be considered not as his real name, but as an
epithet derived from his strength and prowess ;
and he fully justified his demand, by transfixing
the first Englishman whom he attacked, and by
felling the second to the ground. The battle
now became general, and raged with the great-
est fury. The Normans advanced beyond the
English lines, but they were driven back, and Normans.1
forced into a trench, where horses and riders
fell upon each other in fearful confusion. More
Normans were slain here, than in any other
part of the field. The alarm spread ; the light
troops left in charge of the baggage and the
stores thought that all was lost, and were about
to take flight, but the fierce Odo, Bishop of
Bayeux, the Duke's half-brother, and who was
better fitted for the shield than for the mitre,
succeeded in reassuring them, and then, return-
ing to the field, and rushing into that part
where the battle was hottest, he fought as the
stoutest of the warriors engaged in the conflict,
directing; their movements and inciting them to
1 — Lll'll 1" ll ' V * Illv | iLO tl ill l I i i»_ i i i i i _
slaughter.
316 THE BATTLE.
1066 From nine in the morning till three in the
afternoon, the successes on either side were
nearly balanced. The charges of the Norman
cavalry gave them great advantage, but the
English phalanx repelled their enemies ; and
the soldiers were so well protected by their tar-
gets, that the artillery of the Normans was long
discharged in vain. The bowmen, seeing that
they had failed to make any impression, altered
the direction of their shafts, and, instead of
shooting point-blank, the flights of arrows were
directed upwards, so that the points came
down upon the heads of the men of England,
and the iron shower fell with murderous effect.
The English ranks were exceedingly distressed
by the vollies, yet they still stood firm ; and
the Normans now employed a stratagem to
decoy their opponents out of their entrench-
ments. A feigned retreat on their part, in-
duced the English to pursue them with great
heat. The Normans suddenly wheeled about,
and a new and fiercer battle was urged. The
field was covered with separate bands of foemen,
each engaged with one another. Here, the
English yielded — there, they conquered. One
English Thane, armed with a battleaxe, spread
dismay amongst the Frenchmen. He was cut
down by Roger de Montgomery. The Normans
have preserved the name of the Norman baron,
but that of the Englishman is lost in oblivion.
Some other English Thanes are also praised, as
THE BATTLE. 317
having singly, and by their personal prowess,
delayed the ruin of their countrymen and
country.
At one period of the battle, the Normans ^e°arr™ans
were nearly routed. The cry was raised, that d
the Duke was slain, and they began to fly in
every direction. William threw off his helmet,
and galloping through the squadrons, rallied
his barons, though not without great difficulty.
Harold, on his part, used every possible ex-
ertion, and was distinguished as the most active
and bravest amongst the soldiers in the Host
which he led on to destruction. A Norman
arrow wounded him in the left eye ; he dropped
from his steed in agony, and was borne to the
foot of the standard. The English began to
give way, or, rather, to retreat to the standard
as their rallying point. The Normans encircled
them, and fought desperately to reach this goal.
Robert Fitz Ernest had .almost seized the ban-
ner, but he was killed in the attempt. William
led his troops on, with the intention, it is said,
of measuring his sword with Harold. He did
encounter an English horseman, from whom he
received such a stroke upon his helmet that he
was nearly brought to the ground. The Nor-
mans flew to the aid of their sovereign, and the
bold Englishman was pierced by their lances.
About the same time, the tide of battle took a
momentary turn. The Kentish men and East
Saxons rallied, and repelled the Norman barons ;
318
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
1066
The last
attack.
The flight.
William as
conqueror.
, but Harold was not amongst them ; and Wil-
liam led on his troops with desperate intre-
pidity. In the thick crowd of the assailants
and the assailed, the hoofs of the horses were
plunged deep into the gore of the dead, and the
dying. Gurth was at the foot of the standard,
without hope, but without fear — he fell by the
falchion of William. — The English banner was
cast down, and the Gonfanon planted in its
place, announced that William of Normandy
was the Conqueror. .
§ 13. It was now late in the evening. The
English troops were entirely broken, yet no
Englishman would surrender. The conflict con-
tinued in many parts of the bloody field, long
after dark. The fugitives spread themselves
over the adjoining country, then covered with
wood and forest. Wherever the English could
make a stand, they resisted ; and the Normans
confess that the great preponderance of their
force, alone enabled them to obtain the victory.
By William's orders, a spot close to the
Gonfanon was cleared, and he caused his pavilion
to be pitched among the corpses which were
heaped around. He there supped with his
barons ; and they feasted among the dead. But
when he contemplated the fearful slaughter, a
natural feeling of pity, perhaps allied to repent-
ance, arose in his stern mind ; and the Abbey
of Battle, in which the prayer was to be offered
up perpetually for the repose of the souls of all
*'
BATTLE ABBEY. 319
who bad fallen in the conflict, was at once the 1066
monument of his triumph, and the token of his
piety. The abbey was most richly endowed :
and all the land, for one league round about,
t O 7
was annexed to the Battle franchise. The
Abbot was freed from the authority of the
Metropolitan of Canterbury, and invested with
archiepiscopal jurisdiction. The high altar was
erected on the very spot where Harold's stan-
dard had waved ; and the Eoll, deposited in the
archives of the Monastery, recorded the names
of those who had fought with the Conqueror,
and amongst whom the lands of broad England
were divided. But all this pomp and solemnity
has passed away like a dream. The " perpetual
prayer " has ceased for ever — the roll of Battle
is rent. — The shields of the Norman lineages are
trodden in the dust. — The abbey is levelled with
the ground — and a dank and reedy pool fills the
spot where the foundations of the quire have
been uncovered, merely for the gaze of the idle
visitor, or the instruction of the moping anti-
quary.
§ 14. The victor is now installed ; but what
has become of the mortal spoils of his competi-
tor ? If we ask the monk of Malmesbury, we are
told that William surrendered the body to Harold's
mother, Githa, by whose directions the corpse of
the last surviving of her children was buried in
the Abbey of the Holy Cross. Those who lived
nearer the time, however, relate in explicit terms
VOL. in. T
e
320 LEGENDS ABOUT
1066 that William refused the rites of sepulture to
excommunicated enemy. Guillielmus Pic-
tavensis, the chaplain of the Conqueror, a most
trustworthy and competent witness, informs us
that a body of which the features were undis-
tinguishable, but supposed, from certain tokens,
to be that of Harold, was found between the
corpses of his brothers, Gurth and Leofwine,
and that William caused this corpse to be in-
terred in the sands of the sea-shore. " Let him
guard the coast," said William, " which he so
madly occupied ;" and though Githa had offered
to purchase the body by its weight in gold, yet
William was not to be tempted by the gift of the
sorrowing mother, or touched by her tears.
§ 15. In the Abbey of Waltham, they knew
nothing of Githa. According to the annals of the
Convent, the two Brethren who had accompanied
Harold, hovered as nearly as possible to the
scene of war, watching the event of the battle :
and afterwards, when the strife was quiet in
death, they humbly approached William, and
solicited his permission to seek the corpse.
The Conqueror refused a purse, containing ten
marks of gold, which they offered as the tribute
of their gratitude ; and permitted them to proceed
to the field, and to bear away not only the re-
mains of Harold, but of all who, when living,
had chosen the Abbey of Waltham as their place
of sepulture.
Amongst the loathsome heaps of the unburied,
HAROLD'S FATE. 321
they sought for Harold, but sought in vain, — 10^6 ,
Harold could not possibly be discovered — noThathewM
trace of Harold was to be found ; and as the last
hope of identifying his remains, they suggested
that possibly his beloved Editha might be able
to recognise the features so familiar to her affec-
tions. Algitha, the wife of Harold, was not to
be asked to perform this sorrowful duty. Osgood
went back to Waltham, and returned with Editha,
and the two canons and the weeping woman re-
sumed their miserable task in the charnel field.
A ghastly, decomposing, and mutilated corpse
was selected by Editha, and conveyed to
Waltham as the body of Harold ; and there
entombed at the east end of the choir, with
great honour and solemnity, many Norman no-
bles assisting in the requiem.
S 16. Years afterwards, when the Norman
o
yoke pressed heavily upon the English, and the
battle of Hastings had become a tale of sorrow,
which old men narrated by the light of the embers,
until warned to silence by the sullen tolling of
the curfew, there was a decrepit anchorite, who
inhabited a cell near the Abbey of St. John at
Chester, where Edgar celebrated his triumph.
This recluse, deeply scarred, and blinded in his
left eye, lived in strict penitence and seclusion.
Henry I. once visited the aged Hermit, and had
a long private discourse with him ; and, on his
Y2
survived
v
322 HAKOLD THE HERMIT
10>6_ . death-bed, he declared to the attendant monks,
that the recluse was Harold. As the story is
transmitted to us, he had been secretly conveyed
from the field to a castle, probably of Dover,
where he continued concealed until he had the
means of reaching the sanctuary where he
expired.
The monks of Waltham loudly exclaimed
against this rumour. They maintained most
resolutely, that Harold was buried in their
Abbey : they pointed to the tomb, sustaining
his effigies, and inscribed with the simple and
pathetic epitaph, " Hie jacet Harold infelix;"
and they appealed to the mouldering skeleton,
whose bones, as they declared, showed, when
disinterred, the impress of the wounds which he
had received. But may it not still be doubted
whether Osgood and Ailric, who followed their
benefactor to the fatal field, did not aid his
escape ? — They may have discovered him at the
last gasp ; restored him to animation by their
care ; and the artifice of declaring to William,
that they had not been able to recover the
object of their search, would readily suggest
itself as the means of rescuing Harold from
the power of the Conqueror. The demand of
Editha's testimony would confirm their asser-
tion, and enable them to gain time to arrange
for Harold's security ; and whilst the litter,
which bore the corpse, was slowly advancing
to the Abbey of Waltham, the living Harold,
OF CHESTER. 323
under the tender care of Editha, might be
safely proceeding to the distant fane, his haven
of refuge.
§ 17. If we compare the different narratives
concerning the inhumation of Harold, we shall
find the most remarkable discrepancies. It is
evident that the circumstances were not accu-
rately known ; and since those ancient writers
who were best informed cannot be reconciled
to each other, the escape of Harold, if ad-
mitted, would solve the difficulty. I am not
prepared to maintain that the authenticity of
this story cannot be impugned ; but it may
be remarked that the tale, though romantic, is
not incredible, and that the circumstances may
be easily reconciled to probability. There were
no walls to be scaled, no fosse was to be
crossed, no warder to be eluded ; and the ex-
amples of those who have survived after en-
countering much greater perils, are so very
numerous and familiar, that the incidents which
I have narrated would hardly give rise to a
doubt, if they referred to any other personage
than a King.
In this case we cannot find any reason for
supposing that the belief in Harold's escape
was connected with any political artifice or feel-
ing. No hopes were fixed upon the usurping
son of Godwin. No recollection dwelt upon
his name, as the hero who would sally forth
from his seclusion, the restorer of the Anglo-
324 THE END.
Saxon power. That power had wholly fallen
— and if the humbled Englishman, as he paced
the aisles of Waltham, looked around, and,
having assured himself that no Norman was
near, whispered to his son, that the tomb
which they saw before them was raised only
in mockery, and that Harold still breathed
the vital air — he yet knew too well, that the
spot where Harold's standard had been cast
down, was the grave of the pride and glory
of England.
325
CHAPTER VII.
ENGLAND AT THE TIME OF THE CONQUEST.
§ 1. WILLIAM and his army, when they spread
themselves over this fertile and much-coveted Ensland-
realm, beheld a country whose aspect differed
strangely from the prospects which hill and
stream and plain offer at the present day.
What did England possess ? riches — yet not
such as ours. Theirs was not the age of great
cities : none of those centres of civilization
and corruption, then existed in portentous mag-
nitude ; huge agglomerations, ramifying into
the meads and pastures, where the green grass,
and the sweet cowslip, and the bright ox-eyed
daisy, shrink away from hard pavement and
smoky sky. The landscape was not adorned
and varied, as now, by the villa, the work-
house, the manufactory, the gaol : nor were
there existing then any of the signs and won-
ders produced by modern science and art, the
viaducts, the railroads, the canals, at once the
causes and the effects of our activity and opu-
lence. But were the differences confined to the
works of man ? Not so. They extended to
the features and characters affecting the whole
326 CLIMATIC AND
»
climate and region of the land. We have re-
markable evidence that, within such limits as
are consistent with the fulfilment of the cove-
nant made by the Creator, the face of the globe,
in so far as it depends upon the distribution
of moist and dry, heat and cold, nay, even hill
and dale, and land and sea, has sustained ex-
tensive change.
Temperature We are warranted in asserting, from various
has varied.
incidental notices, too minute to be suspected
of inaccuracy, too simple to be the result of
exaggeration, that, even as late as the twelfth
century, the general temperature of the midland
and southern parts of the island was not very
unlike that of Canada at the present day. —
Enter the vineyards flourishing at Glastonbury,
whose fruit produces a sweet and grateful wine ;
ascend the mountains of Craig-Eyriri, covered
with unmelting snows, which then might have
been called perpetual, from whence they derive
their English or Saxon name ; and you thus
may mark the extremes of temperature prevail-
ing within a comparatively narrow zone.
prevalence of & 2. Probably one-third of the face of the
uncultivated
SOU- island was covered with wood ; another third,
uncultivated heath and moor. Marshlands were
very extensive. To wards the German Ocean, East
Anglia was almost separated from the Mercian
shires by the fen country, extending more than
an hundred miles in length, a waste of waters
interspersed with sedgy shelves and islands,
LITTORAL CHANGES. 327
spreading its bleakness far around. On the
same coast, the drif tings of sand and accumu-
lations of earth have since converted many an
cestuary into fertile fields, and filled up many
a channel, by which the broads, as they are
aptly called, communicated with the salt sea
waves. The iron rings have shown how the
vessels were moored against the walls of the
Roman Caister near Norwich ; whilst, much
further inland, the flint arrow-heads lying be-
neath the strata imbedding organic remains,
may perplex, or perhaps confute, all calcula-
tions as to the age of the deposit in which
they are contained.
In other places within the limits of the Recession
the sea.
Northfolk and the Southfolk, the recession of
the waters — which seems to have taken place
much about the time that the ocean, bursting
over the Belgian lowlands, formed the Zuyder
Zee — though less extensive, is very remarkable.
In the quiet village of Keedham, on the banks
of the sluggish Yare, we could hardly recognise
the coast where, in the tenth century, Bruern
Brocard, the Scandinavian, was cast ashore by
the tempest. Did we not possess the united
testimony of charters and parliamentary pro-
ceedings, and of historians, we might doubt
that, in the reign of Richard II., Lake Lothing
was the Kirkley road — the haven in which the
navies of England assembled in days of yore ;
and the ineffectual attempt which has been
Fauna
man.
328 EXTINCT ANIMALS IN
made to re-open the navigation from the Lowes-
toffe mouth to the capital of the county, is a
remarkable proof of the continued existence of
the agency which occasioned the change. More
or less, the same oscillations of land and water
have characterized the whole of this eastern
side of the island. Thanet, which, when occu-
pied by Hengist and Horsa, was separated from
the mainland of Kent by a wide channel, is now
entirely joined to the continent ; but Ravens-
burgh, the landing-place of Henry IV., is sub-
merged in the waves.
§ %• Considering the globe as a whole, it can-
not be doubted but that the great, though limited,
powers which man possesses, do produce cor-
respondent effects, both in organic and inorganic
nature. Many plants indigenous to Britain have
disappeared : some within the last quarter of a
century. You find them in Gerard's Herbal,
but not in the fields. Amongst animals there
has been a more evident and more remarkable pro-
cess of destruction. Like the Dodos in the Mau-
ritius, whole races have become extinct within
a recent historical period. The beaver built his
house on the banks of the stream beneath that
summit where the eagle reared her young ; and
the British names of stream and of rock still
remain, the witnesses of the former existence of
the inhabitants which have passed away ; whilst
the egret and the crane, the bittern and the bus-
tard have been lost within living memory. The
ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT. 329
bear and the wild boar ranged the forests at the
era of the Conquest, the latter in the immediate
vicinity of London. The wolf continued to in-
fest the fold long after the supposed extirpation
of the foe by the tribute which the Basileus of
Britain imposed upon his British vassals ; but
in the loose nomenclature of popular speech, it
is very probable that the hya3na of Yorkshire
may also have been included among the animals
to which the name of " wolf ' was assigned,
thus bringing the ossuary of the Kirkdale cave
within the period even of the last population of
the wolds.
In connection with this subject, it is not un- Di«ppea«-
J ance of some
important to remark that other notices may be ai
found of the existence, within our historical
period, in Britain in particular, and in Europe
in general, of other species either banished from
our regions, or wholly lost, as far as we can
ascertain, to animated nature. The elk reared
his tall antlers in Ireland, and probably in Scot-
land, until after the invasion of the island by
our Anglo-Normans. In the thick and damp
forests of Gaul, the urus or buffalo ranged. We
learn this fact by the relation of the cruel re-
venge with which Gunthrum punished the wretch,
suspected as the slaughterer of the royal beast
of chace. This was not far distant from the
period, when, according to the testimony of Al-
cimus Avitus and Sidonius Apollinaris, the vol-
canoes of Central France were yet in activity.
330 LEGENDARY MONSTERS.
The sarris, a fierce, gigantic, and now wholly
extinct species of chamois, was commonly found
in the forests of the Pyrenees as late as the
fifteenth century, being minutely described by
G-aston de Foix. And, since the tiger is even
now in full vigour amidst the forests of Siberia,
we may consider this fact as affording support
to the narrative of the lion-hunts in the Niebel-
ungen lay.
tPruuibin dra- More perplexing are the numerous legends
' of huge dragons, inhabiting rivers and lakes.
Fabulous as they may appear in some instances,
and strange in all, they yet raise a suspicion
that there might exist some few surviving gigan-
tic reptiles of the Saurian class, such as those
whose bones are now found embedded in the
strata, — individuals, the last, in each locality, of
their species, like the boa by which the army of
Regulus was assailed. Unquestionably, such re-
lations were deeply tinged with credulity. The
human mind was open to every kind of evi-
dence, without examining the different degrees
of confidence which each ought to receive.
Making, however, every degree of allowance
for the absence of correct observation, as well
as for involuntary inaccuracies, and the ten-
dency to seek pleasure by the marvellous, yet
there will always remain a residuum, which, if
we honestly endeavour to ascertain the truth, can-
not be rejected consistently with right reason.
Scepticism is as great a foe to profitable
METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA. 331
knowledge as credulity ; if investigation is
troublesome or disagreeable, or goes against
our received opinions, we then are very apt to
take refuge in a flat denial, and thus to dis-
charge ourselves from the responsibility of in-
quiry, and the still greater trouble of having
our preconceived opinions disturbed.
§ 4. The period beginning with the partition ™* ap0rredvt
— (we use this term, because the Roman Empire oeuwtw
phenomena.
in the West did not fall by the extinction of the
imperial authority in the person of Augustulus :
— it was placed in commission under the Barba-
rians until Charlemagne arose) — of the Western
Empire amongst the Barbaric kingdoms and
powers, and ending about the twelfth century,
exhibited peculiar meteoric and atmospheric ac-
tivity. The glaring parhelion, the pallid sun
doubly reflected in the snow-fraught cloud, now
a phenomenon of rare occurrence, so that per-
haps few persons living have seen it, was
repeatedly beheld in portentous aspect. Flam-
ing lances and fiery squadrons — the flickering
streams of the aurora, which, so long inter-
mitted, appeared as a novelty to Newton and
to Halley — beamed across the welkin, blazing
in blood-red gleams. Astral showers covered
the heavens, as if the stars were driven like
chaff before a furious wind ; being evidently
the same stream of wandering fires, now again
intersecting our sphere, and watched or sought
from the observatory : but then indicating, as
332 THE GREAT COMET.
it was deemed, the changes and the going forth
of nations — the immediate harbingers of the
ya Crusades. But no appearance excited so much
awe in England as the Great Comet of 106G,
such as never had been seen before. Pilgrim
and merchant, monk and layman, had brought
the frequent and dread report that Duke Wil-
liam of Normancty, Edward's cousin and ap-
pointed heir, was mustering his forces to gain
and divide the land. Night after night did the
appalled multitude gaze at the messenger of
evil, the " long-haired star," darting its awful
splendour from horizon to zenith ; crowds, young
and old, watched the token far beyond the mid-
%
night hour ; and when they retired to their
broken rest, its bright image, floating before
the eye, disturbed their slumbers. Even if this
were but an idle opinion, yet it was an opinion
which became a reality as the moral world was
then constituted. The conviction that the phe-
nomena of nature and the destiny of mankind
were bound up in mystic unity, gave more bold-
ness to the fortunate, increased the anxieties of
the desponding. And the English, throughout
the whole of the Anglo-Norman period, ac-
knowledged their subjugation to be a national
punishment.
§ 5. Had William never held his great council
at Lillebonne, never been encouraged by the eager
boldness and rapacity of his Norman barons,
never been favoured by the wind, never landed
FULLNESS OF THE TIME. 333
in safety, never been assisted by the cowardice
or treachery of the northern Thanes, never over-
thrown the whole force of England in the one
decisive battle, still it is fully evident to us
now, that the appointed time had arrived for
its limit.
the extinction of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy.
In our age^— the old age of the world — we are
privileged to discern, more clearly than those
who lived in its youth, the evidence how each
successive incident is induced and led on by
that incomprehensible union of free will on the
part of man, and the foreknowledge of the Al-
mighty, which equally guides the actions of each
individual, and the collective fortunes of man-
kind. The more the successive facts accumu-
late upon us, the more clearly we obtain a
knowledge, imperfect and limited though it may
be, of the certain tokens which precede the de-
cline and fall of empires. In this sunset of the
life of the world, we more than ever distinctly
observe how coming events cast their shadows
before. When the corpse is borne to the grave,
we then know the secret progress of death in
life, the inward extinction of the vital fire, the
wasting of the organs, the irretrievable decays,
the causes of the slight ailments, the transient
pains, the momentary depression, the langour,
unaccountable at the time, but now proving to
us that the term never could have been pro-
longed. The gust blows down the tree : you
examine the fallen trunk, and then discover that
334 CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH.
its roots were so rotted in the soil, that though
the winds might have been hushed, the weight
of its own boughs would have laid it low.
§ 6- Tlie English clergy were grievously cor-
rupted. The reforms so zealously and honestly
attempted by Popes and Councils in other por-
tions of the Catholic Church in the west had
not reached them. Very many of the bishops
and abbots had obtained their dignities by
simony. Sinful as this bartering of holy things
is under any circumstances, we hardly feel its
full import in the middle ages, nor understand
why the church, collectively, was so exceed-
ingly earnest in labouring to repress the evil,
as existing in individual members. We are ac-
customed to view simony merely as a spiritual
offence — and as a violation of the sacred func-
tions of the priesthood; but, in the middle ages,
it was also a grievous offence against the civil
relations of society. It was introducing base
motives into all the various functions which
were attached to the prelatic character. What
people buy, they sell : the bishop who bought
his bishopric would sell any ecclesiastical pre-
ferment within his gift. He was a trustee for
the poor ; but he had bought his trusteeship,
and therefore he would sell their rights for his
own advantage. The bishop was a member of
parliament, and he had bought his seat in the
legislature from the king, and therefore he
would sell his vote to the king, his patron in
SIMONY PREVALENT. 335
every sense of the term. Ecclesiastical his-
torians have obscured the real bearing of the
conflicts between crown and clergy, and exceed-
ingly damaged their own cause, by using lan-
guage which obliterates the most important
truth, that the contest for the liberty of the
Church was in the main a contest for the
liberties of the people. The open and shame-
less barter and sale of ecclesiastical dignities,
throughout this period, is scarcely conceivable
to us, amongst whom this abuse at least has
ceased. " Give you a nomination to a pre-
bend !" exclaimed Philip I. to an applicant,
" I have sold them all already." The bishop
was a judge, bound to attend to the reform-
ation of manners, but he had bought his
office, and therefore would sell impunity to the vast ems of
the
opulent transgressor ; hence the universal re- mo
laxation of all discipline, and the prevalence,
throughout England, of the lowest immorality.
In all these transactions the clergy were the
most guilty. Every simoniacal promotion they
obtained was accompanied by perjury ; the
higher the standard of morality which the
priesthood were bound to assert, the greater
was their guilt, the more deleterious their ex-
ample upon the rest of the community. Never
does any neglect of duty in one class fail to
extend its evil influence to the other orders of
society. The foul marsh beneath the palace
walls will diffuse its contagion to the presence-
VOL. m. z
336 MORAL DECAY IN THE
chamber. Vices fostered or tolerated by ruling
powers in the subject classes, work out their
retribution by including governors and governed
in the avenging punishment. Lust, luxury, and
sloth defiled and enervated the aristocracy. The
l°wer orders were heavily oppressed. Slavery
was exceedingly extended. Hard as the situ-
ation of the Theowe had been in earlier periods,
it had now become infinitely worse. The pro-
vision, merciful to a certain extent, which pro-
hibited the sale of the slave out of his native
country, was entirely violated ; and it was the
common practice to sell these miserable crea-
tures to the pagan Danes in Ireland ; so that
Bristol was the regular slave-market ; and the
English connected their slave-dealings with the
same disgusting profligacy which is now exhi-
bited amongst their descendants, so proud of
claiming their connexion with the Anglo-Saxon
race, on the opposite shores of the Atlantic.
There were, of course, many to whom these
censures did not apply : many holy men amongst
the clergy, many servants of God amongst the
laity, but not sufficient to avert the destiny of
the people, — and in one common ruin they were
involved.
Although the empire of Britain appeared
to subsist under Edward the Confessor, it was
really on the verge of dissolution. As an
ancient building is kept together by the rough-
nesses of the surface, and the ivy which has
ANGLO-SAXON REALM. 337
eaten out the mortar, and yet binds the stones
by its frail tendrils, and the iron clamps giving
a temporary support to the walls which they
have split and rifted, till the blow comes which
beats them down : — so are ancient States sus-
tained by dull habit, by usages which have lost
their original principle, by institutions which
have ceased to command respect, and by the
convulsive energies of rash innovation, afford-
ing a temporary vigour, though they exhaust
vitality, till the appointed season of destruction. influence
In the case of Britain, some additional duration
had perhaps been imparted by the personal cha-
racter of the Confessor, his virtues, and even his
failings. Yet let it be recollected that many of
his failings resulted from his great love of peace.
His passive and tranquil disposition, which pre-
vented his exerting his authority against those
who were usurping his rights, also rendered
these usurpers less inclined to disturb an autho-
rity which they scarcely felt, and which they
knew must, at no distant period, expire.
§ 7. The ancient kingdoms of the so-called
Heptarchy, had merged in the three great divi-
sions of Wessex, Mercia, and the Danelagh. They
were not merged or united into one kingdom,
but connected by a common policy : whether
each had at this period an assembly, which, by
a conventional term, we call the Witenagemot,
is not certain. Wessex was the chief or ruling we8i« the
chief.
portion of the empire, yet under the Confessor,
z2
1
Conquest.
338 DISLOCATION PRODUCED
though Winchester might still be reckoned as
the constitutional capital, yet Westminster had
become the residence of the monarch, the Basi-
leus of the empire. Such a change of resi-
removedto , , • -n J • J« j.'
dence is always very significant, and indicative
of a great change of policy in a government. The
removal of the Czar from Moscow to St. Peters-
burgh, marked the total change of the fortunes
of the Sclavonian race. Charles V., at Madrid,
subverted the ancient authorities of Castile and
Arragon, and made the first step towards the
real consolidation of the principalities and king-
doms of the peninsula, into the monarchy of
Spain and the Indies. Yet the severance of
the different states of Britain was very dis-
tinctly marked : it was the custom that the
Basileus should wear his crown in each ; and
though the ceremony of the royal ordination
could be but once performed by the ministra-
tion of the Metropolitan of Britain, still it
should seem that he needed to be distinctlv
i/
inaugurated, at least in the three principal
states of which the kingdom was composed.
The Danish invasions had entirely dislocated
the kingdom. Force and violence, as employed
by those barbarian invaders, had occasioned
much evil ; but even more harm ensued from
the moral deterioration occasioned by their con-
quests. In their own country, and amongst
their own people, they appear to have been
deficient even in what are usually considered
BY THE DANISH INVASIONS. 339
as the virtues of the savage. The Danelagh
was filled with a new population, who had dis-
possessed a great portion of the original inhabi-
tants. The names of places, as is well known,
afford the most cogent proofs how the popula-
tion had been changed ; and full as harshly as
was subsequently effected by the Romanized
Danes whom we call Normans. We do not
know, for example, the Englishman expelled
from the Norfolk village now called Ormsby,
by the Serpent, for such is the meaning of orm,
or worm ; but we cannot doubt that he went
out full as unwillingly as if he had been chased
away by a Norman Trussebot, or a Breton
Botevilain, in the subsequent age. We shall
shortly have occasion to mention a very re-
markable fact, proving the subsisting and secret
influence of the Danish kings. Under the Dan-
ish influence also — for though the system had
been perfected under Canute, it had begun at
an earlier period — the old English policy had
been altered by the parcelling of the empire
into Earldoms. Mr. Hallam has well observed
that these Earldoms had much similarity to the
Duchies and Counties of the Carlovingian Em-
pire : and important considerations arise from
this fact, which his great sagacity first dis-
covered.
§ 8. The constitution of the Carlovingian
Empire is better known than that of Britain, but
which became the model of the other ? Whether
340 ENGLISH EAKLDOMS.
the disciple of Alcuin might not have learned
from him some principles of government, cannot
i. be affirmed, but might perhaps be conjectured ;
tution copied -in -i • t ,1 • • t •
bycharie. and the extraordinary and otherwise inexpli-
magne?
cable phenomenon of the French form of royal
consecration having been textually borrowed
from that of England, may lend some support
to the opinion which we have intimated, though
we may not venture to give it further advocacy.
These governments were portioned out with
some relation to the boundaries of the ancient
kingdoms : most closely so in Northumbria.
Enlarged The Earldom had not absolutely settled into a
power of the
Earis. definite hereditary right, but the claims of blood
and lineage in the same family seem generally
to have been respected. Towards the conclu-
sion of the Confessor's reign, the fortunes of
the house of Godwin prevailed. If, as it was
said, he was really the son of a cow-herd, such
an ancestry would have had as good tradi-
tionary repute as that ascribed to the first of
the Capets — "Jigliolfui d un beccaio di Parigi"
Harold, with his earldoms, extending from the
Land's End to the German Sea — West Wales
and Wessex, Sussex, Kent, and his portions of
the Danelagh, and Mercia along the Thames,
and beyond ; Essex and Hertford, Middlesex,
Oxford and Berks — was more of a king in
reality than Edward himself ; and, upon the
peaceful death of the Confessor, Earl Harold
became the King of the English, just as the
THE BURGHS. 341
Duke of Paris became King of the French,
though with most unequal fortune : for whilst
the dominion of Harold past away like a
shadow, the power of Hugh Capet has been
transmitted from man to man, by a special pro-
vidence unparalleled in the annals of mankind. [Oct.'i844.]
2 9. Besides the Earldoms, the greater burghs obscure on.
gin of the
formed a very important portion of the Anglo- burgh"
Saxon Empire. Their, powers, their constitu-
tion, their privileges, are enveloped in the
greatest obscurity, and in many cases can only
be conjectured, either by comparison with other
bodies of a similar nature, or by the vestiges
which, from continual usage and tradition, sub-
sisted even until our own days. Their origin
also was very diverse : some, unquestionably,
were Roman ; others were territorial commu-
nities : the only general characteristic which we
can predicate with any degree of certainty, is,
that there is no real foundation for the theory
which placed them as the creation of a subse- N0t
quent age, — an antagonism between commerce
and feudality, between the shuttle and the spear,
and as the victors of industry and civilization
over aristocratic pride. At this period they
were communities standing between dependent
and independent authority, verging, in some
instances, to the state of free communities.
Many were enclavures, surrounded by the Earl-
doms, yet, nominally at least, dependent only
upon the sovereign.
nisiic to
342
WINCHESTER.
Analogies Such a state of things was not uncommon
abroad.
upon the continent. Take one example out of
many. Tournai, in the midst of Flanders, owed
no obedience to the Count. Baldwin could
make nojoyeuse entree within the walls. Saving
its own rights and privileges, it acknowledged
only the king of the Franks ; but that saving
was a very large one ; his sovereignty did not
amount to much more, than that they acknow-
ledged him when his protection was desired.
Winchester was the proper constitutional
capital of the Empire. Far more extensive
was the city than at the present day ; being
one of the few localities which not only have
escaped the general plethora, but have even
fallen away. Caer-Guent, for the Saxons fully
recollected its British name, retained the in-
TradHions of signia of government. There was the royal
Winchester. •>
treasury ; and many a tradition was attached
to the antient castle in which Arthur had held
his court — traditions fully living in mind and
memory, before they became the subjects of
written romance or history. We are not un-
willing to believe that the round table sus-
pended in the hall — until recently mistaken for
the chapel — of the castle, may have existed
before Geoffry of Monmouth gave that form to
the British legends which diffused them amongst
so many distant nations and tongues.
London. London possessed the character of a free
city. Its constitution had, however, sustained
LONDON. 343
some alteration in the days of Canute. It
should seem that the Danes had engrafted a
colony of their own upon the English com-
munity. So large a number of the Lithsmen. Affected by
•f ' Danish
or Danish soldiers, established themselves there, *
that one of the municipal courts acquired the
Danish name of the Husting ; a term, which
in the devious course of language has been so
entirely diverted from its primitive signification
as to mean, not the court, but any scaffold or
dais where elections are held. Of the interior
government of London city, we can only say
that the distinctions between the rectores or
aldermen, and the commonalty, are distinctly
marked. Proud and warlike, and defended by
the Roman wall, of which the last fragment
has just been saved from destruction, the citi-
zens rejoiced in their privileges, rendering them
a species of independent, though subordinate,
community. Amongst other rights, London Privileges or
acted apart from Wessex or Mercia in electing
or recognising the king. Of this right an ex-
ceedingly curious vestige remains in force to the
present day, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen
being always required to concur, as essential
parties, in the act of recognising and proclaim-
ing the accession of the new monarch.
We have no direct notice in the Anglo-
Saxon annals of the privileges or rights of the
Cinque Ports ; but the Anglo-Saxon constitu-
tion of their Court of Guestling, their Parlia-
344 WESSEX.
cinque Ports, meut if we may so call it, the naval services
which they rendered, and the great and inde-
pendent privileges which they enjoyed, as soon
as our legal history properly begins, can scarcely
leave any doubt but that, at this period, they
formed a federative community.
§ 10. When Canute assumed the government,
he appears to have retained the kingdom of
Wessex more immediately in his own hands ; but
before the close of his reign, it had become
the Earldom of Godwin. Possibly, however,
under the Danish king, he did not hold it with
Diversity what may be termed a uniform authority. This
of races in
great dominion consisted of three integral por-
tions, all designated as Wessex in ordinary
language, but governed with some diversity as
to rights, and more arising from the variety of
races it contained. A large proportion, towards
the west, was yet British, very unbroken and
unmixed in the extreme west, but shading off
as you travelled eastward, ceasing, perhaps, on
the borders of Dorset and Somerset. Until the
battle of Gavelford, the Britons had been able
to make a steady resistance, and the British
line of Princes of Dyvnaint, or Devonshire,
indepen- and Cemau, or Cornwall, can be traced from
dence of old
population. Qerajnt ap Erbin, lamented in the elegy of
Llewarch Hen, to the reign of Athelstan,
when the Regulus of West Wales became the
liegeman of the Basileus of Britain. It is,
of course, quite impossible to discover the exact
BURGH-LEAGUES. 345
boundaries and the different dominions, but per-
haps even at a later period, the boundary be-
tween the two nations was the river Exe, on
this side English land, on the other Wales.
Exeter enjoyed privileges nearly equal to Exeter-
London ; it appears that others of the cities
were scarcely inferior, and that no taxation
could be levied upon them, unless they jointly
assented to the grant. Perhaps the burghs of
Wessex and others formed a league. In the
north, there was certainly a powerful associa-
tion, called the jive or the seven burghs —
Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, and
Stamford— to which York and Chester were
afterwards added. It seems, as before noticed,
that this federation originally consisted of five ;
but when two others were conjoined, they were
generally called by their nominal number of
Five Boroughs, and sometimes Seven Boroughs,
according to their real one. The Cinque ports
afford a familiar example of the retention of an
appellation derived from number, after it has
ceased to be strictly appropriate. Lincoln, the
chief of the five burghs, was governed by
twelve hereditary Lawmen. This is a Danish
term, and shows a Danish local government, Lincoln
which subsisted throughout the whole of the
reign of the Conqueror. It is more remarkable,
that, notwithstanding the political cessation of
the Danish authority, and in spite of the Con-
quest, the inhabitants of Lincoln continued in
346 KENT.
alliance with the Danish kings, so much so
that a treasure belonging to the Scandinavian
monarch was permanently deposited there —
either concealed from the Norman, or so well
guarded that the Norman dared not attack the
hoard.
§ 11. At the other extremity of Wessex, Kent
retained its ancient boundaries since the first
foundation of the kingdom ; and even the divi-
sion of the country into East and West Kent,
or rather into the countries of the East Kentish
men and West Kentish men, has existed from
immemorial antiquity, though probably not ex-
actly according to the modern boundary. A
species of peculiar dignity seems to have been
attached to this first seat of Anglo-Saxon
power. From the reign of Egbert, the king-
dom of Kent became an integral portion of the
empire of Wessex, forming, nevertheless, an
apanage held by the heir apparent to the
crown ; a separate, though subordinate king-
dom, accepting the laws of Wessex upon such
terms as appeared expedient to its own legis-
lature, and, without doubt, retaining also all
those traditional customs which formed the
surrey. great basis of its common law. Surrey, or
the Suthriga, which may be obscurely but dis-
tinctly traced as a separate kingdom, (though
the foundation charter of Chertsey Abbey alone
testifies the existence of Frithewald, its first
known Subregulus,) and the adjoining kingdom
NOETHUMBRIA. 347
of the South Saxons, seem to have become, in
some degree, annexed to Kent ; the traditions
of history, if not its more authentic memorials,
seem to point out that the Earldom of Kent
was the earliest, and, as it were, the favourite
dignity which Godwin possessed. Of the other Hampshire,
portions of Wessex Proper, Hampshire, peopled
by the Jutes and Goths, Berks, and Wilts, and
Somerset, we can, anterior to the Danish Con-
quests, ascertain that they were subject to
subordinate chieftains ; but these had all dis-
appeared, and Godwin ruled with immediate
authority over this, the centre of the Earldom.
§ 12. When we speak of Northumbria, we
must, in the first instance, entirely divest ourselves
of the idea of the modern county bearing that
name, and consider the country so designated,
as extending from the Trent and Humber up
to the Firth of Forth on the north, and to
the boundaries of Mercia and the kingdom of
Strath-Clyde on the west. Upon the first set-
tlement of the Angles, it became divided into
Deira, which included modern Yorkshire, and
possibly the bishoprick of Durham, and Ber-
nicia, all to the north of the Tees. Both
became subjected to Ethelfrith, but they never
seem to have been united into one sovereignty.
The indiscriminate employment by the early
historians of the term Northumbria, to desig-
nate both portions of the country, throws great
obscurity upon a history, of which, after the
348 THE NORTH.
bright era of Bede, so few memorials are pre-
served. A line of Danish Kings became firmly
established : in no portion of England did their
race become more predominant, and it always
continued more distinctly separated than any
other from the rest of the empire. As an
earldom, the succession began after the death
of Eric, and Oswulf appears as the first Earl
of Bernicia, or Northumbria, north of the Tyne.
Upon the death of Oswulf, Edgar, with the
assent of the great council, divided his earl-
dom into two : from the Humber to the Tees
was bestowed upon Oslac, who was girt with
the sword of the earldom • from the Tees,
northward, as it should seem, perhaps to the
Firth of Forth, was bestowed upon Eadulf
Evilchild ; whilst Lothian was granted to Ken-
neth, King of the Scots, to be held by homage,
— a transaction of which more hereafter.
Uchtred, married to Elfgiva, the daughter of
King Ethelred, received the investiture of the
whole of his father's earldom from the king,
who added thereto the Earldom of York ; but
uPon ms death they became divided. Northum-
bria proper ultimately vested in Oswulf, whilst
Deira became the Earldom of Siward, in right
of Elfleda, the daughter of Aldred, Uchtred's
eldest son. The fabulous genealogies of the
north describe Siward as the son of a bear, a
myth which at least describes his prowess and
his ferocity. A Dane he certainly was, but,
as we shall afterwards see, he showed great
YORK. 349
fidelity to the Confessor. The remoteness of thii
these earldoms from the seat of government, region'
and the rugged character of the country itself,
encouraged the national spirit of independence.
The obedience rendered to .the king was perhaps
little more than nominal, and if the Conquest
had not soon transferred the supremacy into
more vigorous hands, it is probable that North-
uinbria, like Scotland, would again have become
a realm claiming independence, and rivalling
the supreme monarch of the empire.
York, the birthplace of Constantine, evi- York,
dences now, even by the one mult-angular
tower, its Roman dignity ; but we believe that
in case of all the burghs, the Danish influence
was very overwhelming. They became nation-
alized as Danes, and of this also we find a
singular proof in the privileges enjoyed by the
Danish Burgh of Grimsby. However difficult R«J» °[ the
it maybe to discover amidst the traditions ofG
romance the real history of its founder, Grime,
and the protection given by him to Havelok, the
child of the Danish King, this now deserted
port, which, in the twelfth century, was still the
great emporium of the Baltic trade, enjoys, even
at this moment, an exemption from toll at the
port of Elsinore, in proof and testimony of its
antient Danish consanguinity.
§ 13. Legends and poems are almost theEastAnglift-
only memorials we possess of East Anglia.
The Danes, under Guthrun, effecting a com-
plete conquest, divided the land, and settled
350 EAST ANGLIA.
the country ; and concurrently with the memo-
rable treaty which fixed the boundaries of the
Danelagh, G-uthrun, or G-orp, was confirmed in
the possession of East Anglia, to be held as a
laen of the crown of Wessex. After the ces-
sation of the line of Danish Kings, we find it
held by Athelstan, distinguished either by the
Anglo-Saxon title of Ealdorman, or the desig-
nation of Semi-rex, descriptive, no doubt, of
his great authority. Under Cnut it was erected
into an earldom ; Thurkell, upon whom he be-
stowed it, appears as the most successful and
the most ferocious of the Danish chieftains.
The pirates of Jomsburg were celebrated for
their stern and unsparing valour, and Thurkell
did not belie the reputation of his compeers.
§ 14. In speaking of Scotland, it is very
important, in the first place, to recollect that at
this period no such country properly existed.
The Anglo-Saxon or English kingdom of Ber-
nicia included the whole of the Lothians ; and
the royal seat of Kenneth M'Alpine, over what-
ever dominions he may have ruled, was beyond
the Tweed. Colonies of Scandinavians were
established in Caithness and Sutherland, and,
as before mentioned, the British kingdom of
Strath-Clyde extended, as its name indeed im-
ports, to the river from which it is denomi-
nated, far into the heart of the modern Scotland.
From the reign of Athelstan, we find the Kings
of Scotland as the liegemen of the mouarchs of
POLITICAL STATE OF SCOTLAND. 351
Britain, a tie often disputed, but never entirely
cast off. The rebellion of the Scots, which drew conquest b
the Danes.
down upon them the vengeance of Canute, was
speedily followed by the submission of the
Scottish Reguli. Malcolm and two other kings,
described by the obscure and probably cor-
rupted appellations of Maelboethe and Jemarch,
performed homage to the Dane, who effected
a total subjugation of the Scottish race and
country.
I shall not here deduce with minuteness the Political
dependence
transmission of exerted authority and obedi- °^
ence rendered, nor the difficulties which have
been raised against the Scottish subjection to
the British Crown, nor the answers which can
be fairly given to the objections suggested by
feelings which must in every way be honoured
and respected, however unsupported by the
facts of history ; but the last transactions be-
tween an Anglo-Saxon monarch and the Scots
are those which perhaps display most clearly
the relations between the two crowns. Edward
the Confessor, in the popular elegy which
laments his death, was celebrated as the ex-
alted ruler of heroes, the lord of the Britons,
the Welsh, and the Scots ; and the authority
of the most pacific of our English monarchs
was never disputed by his vassals. The throne Macbeth.
of Scotland had been usurped by Macbeth, to
the prejudice of Malcolm Canmore. He claimed
the aid of his superior, which was readily
VOL. III. A A
352 NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN
granted ; a fleet and army, despatched by the
Confessor, under the command of Siward, Earl
of Northumberland, advanced to the north.
Macbeth was powerfully aided by the North-
men ; but the English forces gained the victory,
and the result of the expedition enabled the
Earl of Northumbria to fulfil the behest of his
sovereign. Malcolm was appointed King of
the Scots, pursuant to the commands of Ed-
ward, and from his lord he received investiture
of Scotland, to hold under the Anglo-Saxon
Crown.
. § 15. From the Dee to the Clyde constituted
the kingdom of Cumbria, or the Northern Britons.
Strath-Clyde, properly so called, extended from
the Upper Forth and Loch Lomond on the
north, to the Kirshope, the Eden, and the Sol-
way on the south ; and from the Irish Sea and
Firth of Clyde, which washed its western
shores, it ranged eastward to the limits of the
Merse and Lothian, including Galloway, or the
country of the Southern Picts, the latter being,
however, a distinct though subject dominion.
Cumbria. The Southern Cumbria included the modern
Cumberland, Westmoreland, and a portion of
Yorkshire, Leeds being the original frontier
town between the British and Anglo-Danish
territories. This, the ancient and most bril-
liant seat of the British power, is almost
effaced from our annals. Here, in Reged and
Strath-Clyde, we must locate the fabled Court
CUMBRIA. 353
of Arthur ; and the traditions still floating in
the recollections of the last generation, and the
tales ascribed to the earthworks and fortresses
where the Round Table was held, alone con-
nects the country with the race which has en-
tirely disappeared. Alcluid, or Dumbarton,
continued to be the seat of a British monarchy,
until the repeated incursions of the Danes in-
volved the northern Oymri in the same mis-
fortunes which had been sustained by their
Saxon enemies. Alliance by marriage as well umon of
North Cum
as conquests subjected the northern Cumbria g"0at,^
to the Scottish Kings. Of these princes,
Eocha, whose name is softened into Eugenius,
and in whom we must, under either disguise, dis-
cover the more familiar name of Owen, appears
in the most memorable battle of Brunnaburgh,
when the combined Reguli of the north en-
deavoured to free themselves from their depend-
ence upon the Anglo-Saxon empire. Athelstan
triumphed ; but instigated by the Danes, the
Scoto-Cumbrian Kings continued their attempts
to release themselves from the Saxons. In these
conflicts they failed : the victory gained by
Edmund over Donald, the son of Eugenius,
placed Strath-Clyde, wasted and depopulated,
entirely in his power.
The transactions which ensued afford a most conduct of
the English
important insight into the policy of the Anglo- Klns-
Saxon empire. Master of the vacant throne,
Edmund might have retained possession, or
AA 2
354 POSITION OF
granted Strath-Clyde to a favourite or a fol-
lower ; but, yielding to the principle of lineage
and blood, he restored the crown to the Scottish
dynasty. Cumbria was re-granted to Malcolm I.
as a benefice, upon condition that he should
co-operate with the monarch of Britain by sea
and land, and most particularly against the
Danes. This engagement was ratified by .an
oath of fealty ; but a singular rule of succes-
sion, established at an earlier period, received a
new sanction. Cumbria was immediately vested
in the Tanaist, or the son, designated in the life-
time of his father as his successor. For it had
been established that the dominion of the Scots
and of the Cumbrians should never be united
in the same person, although the kingdoms
should remain in the same family : Cumbria
thus bearing the same relation to the Scottish
crown which Wales, nominally at least, bears
to the kingdom of England.
or The refusal of Malcolm III, to contribute
the Danes to
to the payment of the Danegeld, alleging that
he was only bound to render military service,
was punished by the ravages of Ethelred. The
accession of Canute afforded to Duncan, the
Regulus of Cumbria, a reason for throwing off
his allegiance to the English crown. But the
Dane invaded Scotland : a peace was concluded
upon condition that the Regulus of Cumbria
should perform homage to the sovereign of
Britain and his successors. Malcolm Canmore
SCOTLAND. 355
became King of Cumbria, when his father Dun-
can obtained the Scottish crown. In his per-
son, until the birth and majority of Prince
David, the antient rule of succession was sus-
pended ; and under the reign of the Confessor,
the whole of these territories were vested in
the Scottish Sovereign, whose distance from the
seat of government, as well as his power,
tempted him to be the rival rather than the
subject of the Anglo-Saxon King.
356
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CONQUEBOE, FROM HASTINGS TO THE CORONATION.
1066.
§ 1. UPON Harold's death, the several com-
ponent members of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy
reverted to that species of constitutional inde-
pendence, which in every case ensued upon the
vacancy of the crown ; but, of course, with the
aggravation resulting from the previous condi-
tion of the realm. The community of inter-
est, imperfect even in prosperous times, had
been greatly diminished by adversity. Poverty
weakens all moral authority, even the powers
of affection and of love. Northumbria, which
had gradually been drifting away from the Basi-
leus, scarcely ever recognized the son of Grod-
win. In Mercia, loyalty was not ardent ; and
of Wessex, and that portion of the Danelagh
annexed thereto, we can speak more positively.
A large party amongst the English considered
that they had obtained their liberation from a
usurper; and the first immediate consequence
resulting from the battle of Hastings, was, at
least in appearance, the restoration of the right
royal line.
Whether Edwin and Morcar were actually
CLAMS TO THE THRONE. 357
engaged in the fatal conflict, cannot be ascer-
taiued. At all events, they drew off their forces
immediately, and advanced to London. Un-
the throne.
questionably the strength and importance of
the city tended to protect its constitutional
rights ; but it is remarkable that the pre-emi-
nence of the citizens, in having the right of
making the first choice, does not seem to have
been contested. Immediately upon their arrival,
the earls, or one of them, for the details of their
conduct are involved in perplexity, laboured to
obtain the throne. Claims to the royal autho-
rity, as it has been held by the line of Cerdic,
these Mercian Earls had none : like Harold, they
would have been usurpers, and yet usurpers
from necessity ; but they were wise and valiant,
fair to behold, and pleasant in speech, possess-
ing the strong arm and the liberal hand, with
some of the good, and many of the specious
qualities which reap the immediate harvest of
popularity. They tried their chance, but failed.
Edgar Atheling was safe within the city. What R^ant in
the age of the child was, we have no exact Edgar"
account. We can ascertain, however, from au-
thentic records, that distinguished, recognized,
and respected by the Normans as the Atheling,
he was alive ninety -three years after the date
of the Conquest. At this period, therefore,
could he be more than ten years old ? In-
fant as he was, however, he was proclaimed
Basileus of England by the authority of the
358 CHOICE OF EDGAK.
1066 Eectores and Potentes then in the city ; an
obscure hint, but indicating, when compared
with other conflicting accounts, the great dif-
ference of opinion which subsisted.
it should seem that the Proceres, properly
ing s party •>
so called, in whose rank Edwin and Morcar
were included, would have opposed the choice ;
but the Bishops, including the two Primates,
Stigand of Canterbury and Aldred of York, as
well as William the Bishop of London, all ad-
vocated the Atheling, and succeeded. In after
life, Edgar exhibited a singular combination of
courage and humility, of rashness and wisdom ;
but now what could he be otherwise than the
shadow of a king ? and the royal authority, at
a time when, of all others, it required personal
efficacy and energy, could only have been exer-
cised by Regents in his name. Yet that name
afforded the means of embodying the sentiments
HiBpopuia. of hope and expectation. The fragment of the
old ballad calls him England's darling : it was
the common belief that he would win the land ;
and, from the first moment of his proclamation,
he was acknowledged, at least, throughout the
whole of the Danelagh. Fidelity and unity of
purpose might, humanly speaking, even still
have averted the immediate subjugation of the
English ; but their measures were so unwise,
so feeble, that even the black monks of Peter-
borough, that great stronghold of old English
feeling, bear record with sorrow, that their fur-
MILITARY OPERATIONS. 359
ther spirit of opposition to William was a visi-
tation for their sins. Every effort they made
to extricate themselves from the meshes of the
net, only entangled them more and more.
§ 2. Military operations, always difficult por-
tions of historical narrative, if it be desired to give °
a distinct and clear idea of their succession, are
peculiarly so during the middle ages. Where a
science exists, you may connect insulated facts,
and correct discrepancies by its theory, but
there was then no science of war. The pre-
datory character of the warfare renders the line
of march undefined. The want of accurate
topographical knowledge in the Chroniclers, en-
creases the obscurity ; for no one can clearly
describe any transaction connected with topo-
graphy, unless he clearly understands the
country which he describes.
I shall, therefore, in this narrative, relate Whenc9
derived.
the military transactions of this reign, after
instituting the best comparison I can effect be-
tween the different sources, some of which are
evidently derived from oral tradition, proceed-
ing from those who had engaged in the conflict ;
many of these warriors wore out their old age
in the convent of St. Evroul; and we receive
the tale as modified by the imperfect recol-
lection of the old, and the ignorance, perhaps,
of the youth by whom it was transmitted to us.
Many points must remain open to doubt, and
particularly as to the order of events ; but their
360 WILLIAM'S
1066 general nature seems to have been preserved
with truth and sincerity.
§3. It must have been very evident to Wil-
tory' liam, from the first moment of success, that the
defeat of Harold was not the conquest of the
kingdom. He had no maps, no itineraries, no
personal knowledge of the land, no friends whom
he knew of amongst the English, no guides
whom he could trust. All before him was lost
in distance and darkness, but he fully appre-
ciated his difficulties, and felt that, whether
success or discomfiture awaited him, the first
and most important step which he had to adopt,
was to secure an easy access to Normandy, and,
in particular, to and from the ports at his com-
mand ; the river of Dieppe, (the town then not
existing,) the mouth of the Seine, and Barfleur :
the latter the most distant, but which has been
found by experience to offer the readiest pas-
sage to the Isle of Wight, the outwork, as it
were, to the continent Island of Britain. He,
therefore, immediately established a military
position in Sussex ; then, probably, at once de-
vising that territorial division, whose aspect
differs altogether from that prevailing in other
portions of England. In the next place, igno-
rant as he was in other respects, of the re-
sources of England, and, perhaps, even of its
means of defence, he well knew that the great
body of Harold's troops engaged in the conflict,
had been drawn from Harold's own earldom, and
FIRST CAMPAIGN. 361
more particularly from its southern portions ;
and that, consequently, the slaughter which had
ensued had deprived these districts of their
natural defenders. Hence, he would know
that, besides Sussex, the shires of Hants,
Kent, Surrey, Middlesex, Hertford, Berks, and
Oxford would he peculiarly open to his attacks ;
and these constitute the scene of his first cam-
paign.
He began his operations against Romney :
it might be important to dislodge the English
from this position, protected by the marshes ;
but he had another object besides. The men
of Romney had defeated and slain a detached
party of his troops, and he punished them for
this act with great ferocity, which, without
doubt, had its moral influence in inspiring
alarm. Proud in the recollection of their old
English blood, the men of Kent seemed fully
prepared to resist the Conqueror. Not one
of the seven sons of Godwin was there to lead
them, but they assembled in great numbers in
and about Dover. Harold had added to the And Dover,
original Roman fortifications : the castle, one
of the very few then subsisting in England,
was deemed impregnable ; but the spirit of the
English was broken. Appalled at William's
approach, the garrison proposed to surrender.
Before, however, they could bring forth the
keys, the town was wrapt in flames, — their
roofs of thatch and frames of timber were
362
WILLIAM
blazing. It is said that the Norman soldiers,
eager for prey and rapine, had cast in the
taken, burning brands ; and so extensive was the
conflagration, that even towards the close of
William's reign, when Domesday was compiled,
the burgesses were unable to pay the valued
rents of their properties. If this destruction
were accidental, it, nevertheless, served William
well. By clearing the ground below, it ren-
dered the castle more defensible, and prevented
a sturdy population from again engaging in op-
position to his authority. Dover was also the
chief of the maritime stations, from which
vessels might come forth and harass him in
time of trouble. All these chances of danger
were quelled by the fire.
§ 4. William's troops suffered greatly from
sickness whilst at Dover : his advance altogether
had been tardy. Canterbury had full time to
prepare for defence. As yet no Norman forces
whatever had approached London. Archbishop
Stigand had returned to his cathedral. Agel-
noth, a man of great influence, and possibly
one of the Godwin family, commanded in the
city. A third individual of great importance
was ^Egelsine, abbot of St. Augustine's. He
had recently obtained, from Pope Alexander,
the mitre which exempted him from episcopal
jurisdiction : perhaps, the earliest example of
this mischievous innovation in England, which,
subsequently, involved both See and Abbey
IN KENT.
363
in dissensions, greatly to their common detri-
ment.
It does not seem that Canterbury was very
defensible. William had already excited great
terror : the opulent citizens, (and they are dis-
tinguished as such,) dreaded pillage, and without
waiting for the approach of William, they prof-
fered their submission, and did homage to the
Conqueror. They gave the bad precedent of
being the first community which had made a
formal and uncoerced submission, of their own
free will, and unenforced by the sword. The
transaction, therefore, was of great importance,
and produced a corresponding effect, and very
many flocked in to make their terms with their
future Sovereign. But Abbot ^Egelsine , had
been no party to this transaction ; on the con-
trary, he exhorted the English to die in the
defence of their country, like the Macchabees
of old, rather than to submit. William ad-
vanced till within a day's march of London.
Not far from the River Thames, below the
reach of Greenhithe, is a tract still protected
"By marshes, and exhibiting the remains of
woodland, in the centre of which is the ancient
station of Swanscombe. Here Sweno, the Dane,
had encamped amidst the mounds and fortifi-
cations of an earlier age, but which, thence-
forth, received their name from his occupation
of the locality. According to the tradition, so
long the pride of Kent, as William advanced,
advances
364 WILLIAM OCCUPIES KENT.
1066 he saw the wood, like another Birnam, moving
towards him ; and when the branches were
thrown down, he beheld the men of Kent in
battle array, headed by the Abbot ^Egelsine.
9 How was William, so little expecting opposi-
tion, appalled at this array, threatening not only
difficulty but danger ! A parley took place ; the
men of Kent, Stigand being amongst them,
demanded the preservation of their ancient
liberties. William assented to the terms, and
entering Rochester, conducted by the confede-
rates, he was acknowledged by the kingdom of
Kent as their legitimate ruler. The poetry in
this tradition must not induce us to reject its
substantive truth ; nor must we any longer con-
Kentish sign the incident to the romance of history. It
privileges. **
is to this treaty that the men of Kent ascribe
the territorial privileges which their county still
enjoys ; the immunity which protects the land
from forfeiture, or, according to the old rhyme,
" the father to the bough, the son to the plough,"
and possibly the equal division of the land
amongst the male issue. The first of these
rights appears always to have been peculiar
to Kent ; the latter prevailed to a very
large extent in other parts of England, in
different customary tenures, and still exists
in the immediate vicinity of London. The
hamlet of Kentish Town, now merged in
the metropolis, perhaps commemorates some
migration of an antient community. The his-
MARCHES TO THE WEST. 365
tory of Gavelkind is one of the most vexed ^ ioee
questions amongst our legal antiquaries, and
I shall not pursue it ; contenting myself with
the observation, that, taking the transactions
of the wood of Swanscombe at their lowest
value, they fully evidence the main fact, that
the Kentish men, having awed the Conqueror
into an unwilling pacification, received from
the beginning that greater share of indulgence
which allowed them to retain a large portion
of their antient usages undisturbed.
§ 5. From Rochester, William, sending out
a detachment to begin the siege of London,
crossed the country to Winchester. The city
had been assigned in dowry to Editha. Wil-
liam, claiming as the heir and kinsman of the
Confessor, was bound to respect his widow.
He therefore entered not within the walls, but
required that the citizens, as elsewhere, should
render tribute and proper fealty ; and consult-
ing with the queen, they assented. Still send-
ing on forces to London, William proceeded
through Surrey and Berks, not attempting to
cross the Thames until he passed over at Wai- Moves
1 on London.
lingford. This point was said by the great Duke
of Maiiborough to be peculiarly defensible, and
it subsequently became of much importance
in the civil wars. William chose it, without
doubt, for the purpose of defending London
from attacks on the Mercian side. Here he
was followed by Archbishop Stigand, who now
366 SIEGE OF LONDON.
1066 sought the king's peace, and abandoning the
cause of the Atheling, proffered his homage ; and
William, on his part, made a show of accept-
ing him, in the words of the chronicle, as his
spiritual father. In the meanwhile, London still
continued untouched ; but William now ad-
vanced, and his forces spread all around the
stubborn city. When stationed on the walls of
London, the burghers might see the circling
horizon glowing with red flame.
siege of William, when he beoran to conduct the siege
London
jn person, occupied two points, and chose
for his own stations Barking on the east, and
the ancient Palace of Westminster on the west.
The siege now began in earnest. Catapult and
Balista cast their showers upon the dwellings ;
and the old Roman walls, ascribed to Julius
Caesar, or to Constantine, shook before the re-
peated blows of the battering-rams. So strong
was the city, that it defied the attack ; it was
long before the citizens would acknowledge that
they felt terror ; and here also were those men
of most renown, the Northern Thanes, the men
of Anglo-Danish race, together with their me-
tropolitan, Aldred, determined upon resistance.
Singleness of counsel might even yet have pre-
vailed, but Stigand had set the example of
defection, and the Normans had many lurking
friends. There was a citizen of note, one
Ansgard, who in former battles had received
so many wounds that he was unable to walk,
NEGOTIATIONS. 367
and was borne about the narrow streets in a ioeo
litter. A secret negotiation was opened be-
tween him and William. Ansgard summoned
the rulers of the city, expatiated upon the
threatening dangers, and exhorted them to sub-
mit to William's authority, as King Edward's
lawful heir. They assented to the proposal, and
Ansgard repaired to the presence of the Con-
queror. With fair words and fairer promises
was the Elderman received ; and on his return,
he addressed the full folkmoot of council and
citizens, senatus et vulgus., — for the two orders
are distinctly marked, — expatiating upon Wil-
liam's magnificence and glory, "wise as Solo-
mon, bountiful as Charlemagne, ready in fight
like the great Alexander." All resistance
vanished. Edwin and Morcar, who seem at submit to1
William.
first to have hovered about London, and then
returned to it, were amongst the first who
gave in their adhesion to the Norman. Arch-
bishop Aldred and Wolfstan of Worcester fol-
lowed their example ; the Londoners renounced
Edgar as lightly as they had accepted him ;
throwing open their gates, they proceeded as
suppliants to the presence of the Norman,
bearing with them the keys of the city, and
delivering to him the person of his infant
competitor. William was holding his court
in the palace where the Confessor had been
accustomed to wear his crown. Courteously
did he greet the Atheling : he kissed the child ;
VOL. m. BB
368 GROUNDS OF ADHESION
and harsh as his character may have been, he
never deviated from kindness towards the de-
scendant of Cerdic, often as he was provoked,
often as Edgar disdained his protection, or rose
against his power.
g 6. None of these submissions made Wil-
liam king ; and now ensued those transactions
which really placed him on the throne, the assump-
Kcasons for
tion of the crown, in which we have to consider
whether William acted with crafty policy, or
the English, blindly, ignorantly, or influenced
by culpable servility. When discussing Wil-
liam's assumption of the royal authority, it is
needful to consider in this action both the per-
sonal character of the man, and the nature of
his office. It is in the latter point that the
chief difficulty lies. To identify William at
the period of his accession, to understand the
true sentiments of the parties, we must guard
against the deception exercised by titles of dig-
nity, and recollect that though the symbol con-
tinues the same, the value annexed to it has
sustained the greatest change. The first pro-
position that William should assume the title
of king proceeded from the English themselves,
the bishops declaring, on the part of the people,
that they were accustomed to be ruled by none
but regal authority; a suggestion ascribed to
the corruption of his gifts, or the terror excited
by his power. Yet, are such representations
correct? Do they not rather exhibit the pre-
TO WILLIAM. 369
possession of the modern writer than the facts ioce
and feelings of the eleventh century? Surely
the influence of the prelates over the people
was legitimate. They were the chief members
of the great council, the parliament, if you wortbr>
choose so to call it, who could then be assem-
bled ; and with respect to the general conduct
of the English, a closer examination of the prin-
ciples still existing in our constitution will show
that self-preservation at this juncture prompted
them to take refuge under the Norman sceptre
as their only protection against anarchy, and in
the conviction that by thus acting, they best
served their country's cause.
Unless William assumed the supreme autho-
rity, they must seek out another king ; even
Sweno of Denmark would have been welcomed.
Without a king, they had no chance of security
in hearth or home. Our feeling with regard to
the royal authority is very different to that Neces»ity for
which then prevailed. With us, royalty is the
realization of a theory : with the Anglo-Saxons,
royalty was a necessity. It was not a mere pre-
judice or prestige which influenced the various
ranks and orders to urge that William should
be anointed and crowned, but the most cogent
sense of immediate need. We may respect the
royal office, we may appreciate that exalted
station, we may truly be pervaded with loyalty,
we may entertain affection for the sovereign's
person ; but, in our present state of society, and
BB2
370 IMPORTANCE OF
^ still more under our present imperial form of
government, we do not in the least appreciate
how an Anglo-Saxon was compelled to be con-
stantly thinking of the king, as much as every
soldier thinks of his general, every child of his
parent, every servant of his master. Without a
king, the body politic was paralyzed : they re-
quired a king de facto, an active king, a reality :
one who could sit on the judicial bench, judge
the offender, decide the controversy, bear the
Edgar barred shield, wield the sword. Edgar, the effigy of a
by his youth. ~*>
king, was disqualified, not by the meanness of
his capacity, an imputation which, in spite of
the partial testimony of the monkish flatterer
of the Norman line, is contradicted by the
whole tenor of his life, but by helpless infancy.
All this resulted from the peculiarities of the
Anglo-Saxon constitution : a period during which
there was a mutual balance of the powers of
subject and sovereign ; effected not so much by
the means of any national legislature or assem-
bly, as by the division of authority between the
courts of the people, the folk-courts, and the
prerogative jurisdiction of the king's court, both
being essential to the well being of the commu-
nity.
§ 7. When the first burst of enthusiasm ex-
cited by the proclamation of the Atheling had
subsided, then the English were roused to a full
sense of their impending danger. They were
appalled by the absence of a king. Rarely
A GOVERNING SOVEREIGN. 371
delegating his powers to others, no veil of eti-
quette, no train of attendants, no mist of forms
and ceremonies concealed the sovereign from the inthosedays,
people : his hall was open ; the king presided
in his own court, listened to the complaints of relen>
his people on the throne, at the gate, beneath
the tree, commanded his own soldiers, pro-
nounced the sentence upon the traitor, spoke
out his favours, invested his prelates, opened
his own purse with his own hands. All the
active powers of the commonwealth sprang
from the very person of the king, as the
visible centre of unity, the centre around which
every sphere revolved. Those who are ac-
quainted with the affairs of the United Pro-
vinces, are aware how many of the needful
powers of government were in abeyance during
the non-existence of a Stadtholder, and how
much therefore the appointment of such a head
was recommended under any circumstances of
political danger, and this in communities which, ^sesof
Analogous
cases of
vacancy.
severally, possessed sovereign power. But the
closest approximation to the condition of the
Anglo-Saxon commonwealth, wanting a king,
may be obtained by considering what would
have been the state of England, if, upon the
abdication of James, William of Orange had
not proceeded to take possession of the throne ;
and Parliament, repudiating the Stewarts, and
yet not daring to supply the royal authority
by any power of their own, or by any fiction
372 EFFECT OF INTERREGNUM.
of law, an absolute interregnum had ensued.
What then would have been the state of Eng-
land ? The king is the source of all justice :
Abeyance of
the Juc*ges are merely his delegates. With the
death of the king, all the powers which he
has granted by his commissions of every de-
scription expire. Borough and manerial courts
continue to subsist, and may continue to punish
such offences as are within their local cogni-
zance ; but none of the offences requiring the
jurisdiction of Sessions or Quarter Sessions,
Assize, or Oyer and Terminer, or jail delivery,
can be redressed. No judgment can be given
in Westminster Hall ; King's Bench, Common
Pleas, Exchequer, are all defunct : no chiefs
or puisne justices, no Lord Chancellor to ad-
minister equity ; no capias can be issued, no
writ of execution sealed; none of the public
revenues can be lawfully collected. All the
sources of discretionary grace and favour are
dried up ; the recorder has passed sentence, but
the mayor cannot pardon ; no tenant of crown-
lands can obtain a renewal of his lease; no
dignity can be granted, no bishopric bestowed ;
yet more, the army, the navy, are entirely dis-
banded : no one can dare to give the word of
command. In short, all the branches of pub-
lic and national administration and jurisdiction
would have come to an end.
§ 8. Moreover, the powers of ruling as the
sovereign of the Anglo-Saxon empire were deemed
ROYAL PRESTIGE IN ENGLAND. 373
to be so completely inherent in the king, the
sworn king, the anointed king, the crowned king,
as to render it impossible to supply the royal strong iegai
position of a
authority by any other chief magistrate or form
of government. It is well known how strongly
the same sentiments prevailed in England during
the Commonwealth and Protectorate, and how
much they contributed towards the restoration
of the monarchy. Men felt that the value, the
efficacy, the sanctity of the title of king could
not be transferred or annexed to any other
name of dignity. Had Cromwell boldly acceded
to the humble Petition and advice, England
never would have seen Charles Stuart on
the throne. So innate and inveterate was the
opinion, that no republican lawyer, Daniel
Axtell himself, could ever well understand how
it was possible to arrest John Doe unless by
the king's writ of capias, or to imprison the
petty larcener unless the offence was duly laid
in the indictment as a breach of the king's
peace, and against his crown and dignity. But
let us consider the subject further. Let us en-
deavour to cause our thoughts to answer the
Anglo-Saxon thoughts, and the more will the
invincible reasons for the restoration of the
royal dignity open upon us. An Anglo-Saxon
King was, as all his successors ever have
been, a responsible functionary. He holds his
supreme dignity upon condition ; he must an-
swer for himself if need be. Concurrent with
374 WILLIAM'S LEGAL
the inauguration of the Anglo-Saxon King was
power.
constitution- Ws covenant with his subjects : his throne was
to the1 RO^ founded upon justice. Macma Charta did not
create the compact between king and people ;
the Petition of Right did not create the compact
between king and people; the Bill of Rights did
not create the compact between king and people ;
the Act of Settlement did not create the compact
between king and people ; that doctrine prevailed
long before. The king engaged to govern ac-
cording to law, and sealed the compact before
the altar. Those who only know the name of
Archbishop Dunstau in connexion with an idle
legend, or an exaggerated and perverted history,
or a poetical distortion of his character, will be
surprised to learn that he was the individual
who dictated the pact, defining the extent, and
limiting the abuse of sovereign power. He
penned the coronation oath ; and the corona-
tion oath developed became the British Consti-
tution.
Unless William consented to wear the crown
•ammefhe as Ethelred had done, all these constitutional
legal position.
securities would be for ever lost. William hesi-
tated, and consulted with his Norman baronage.
" Great troubles still prevail," said he. He de-
sired tranquillity rather than glory. Should he
attain and be confirmed in the high dignity of
royalty, he wished that Matilda should wear the
crown by his side. His advisers reiterated
their request. Still he demurred, until Ayniery
POSITION AS KING. 375
of Thouars took up the discussion : he urged s 106(5
William not to delay, and all about him were
unanimous in the same sentiments ; and, cer-
tainly, if the English had good reasons for
seeking to induce the Conqueror to declare him-
self the legitimate successor of the Confessor,
i . „ , , i . i Normans
his own followers must have very smcerelv advise
acceptance.
concurred in that desire. By so doing, all the
laws, all the usages of England, would be pre-
served, and be their guarantee for their rights,
their possessions, and their liberties. National
pride, the honour of the Norman name, may
have had some share, self-interest more. Shrewd
and sound reasoners were the Normans in all
things of law and government. William had
long since promised his barons land and fee in
England. If he made his grants to them with-
out any definition of his own authority, without
any certain law, they would have had no law
to defend them. Duke William was almost a
despot in Normandy ; what would he be if
ruling as the victor in England ?
§ 9. Furthermore, William, in assuming the jYj^Sio
royal title and in conforming to the constitution "
upon the postulation of the English, acted with
entire consistency. He had always asserted a
legal right : ostensibly, he had sought nothing
more. Godwin himself testified against Harold :
the father accused the usurpation of the son.
William might and did assert that he had of-
fered to submit the decision of his claim to an
law.
376 WILLIAM'S PROFESSIONS.
adjudication, according to the course, either of
English or of Norman law. Harold had appealed
to the battle field : the event of the ordeal won
for the victor the rights of the usurper ; but
the Conquest was not to give him the mere
military right of ruling over England. Such,
at least, was the theoretical principle of Wil-
liam's first acquisition of the crown, a theory
never forgotten, though soon destined to be
counteracted by sorrow and misfortune.
wmiam'8 This compact was made with the English ;
promise to
but William asserted a far wider claim, and
promulgated his charter to the whole of his
empire. One faith to be kept, peace and seau-
rity, concord, justice, and judgment to be ob-
served and defended amongst Englishman and
Norman, Frenchman and Breton, Wales and
Cornwall, Picts and Scots of Albany, and
throughout every island, province, or country,
constituting the Empire of Albion ; and all
throughout that empire were to be faithful to
William, and defend him against his enemies ;
all the free men, throughout the empire, were to
hold their possessions in quietness and in peace,
free from all exactions and all unjust talliage,
so that nothing should be taken from them, and
nought exacted except their free service, due by
law, and as it should be enacted by the common
council of the realm.
With respect to William's reluctance, re-
presented, as it has often been, as the result of
CORONATION. 377
dissimulation and feigned humility, its causes 1068
are ambiguous. Possibly some witty Jongleur
had even then put into jingle the statesman's
apophthegm, la parole a ete donne a Vhomme
pour couvrir ses pensees : William hesitated, like
Cromwell and Caesar ; but his hesitation, unlike
theirs, was the preliminary to assent ; a dis-
claimer, followed by an acceptance, claims no
great credit for its sincerity, and yet it might
be sincere. William himself may have seen
that his acceptance of the title of king would
limit his authority. Moreover, when any ob-
ject, long and anxiously sought, is obtained, we
accept it with more fear than joy, shrinking
instinctively from that which we have coveted,
and saddened by the forebodings that the fulfil-
ment of human wishes will never satisfy the
desires of the human heart.
§ 10. Preparations were now to be made for coronation.
the coronation : the right of administering the oath,
performing the ordination, and placing the crown
on the king's head, belonged to none but the
Archbishop of Canterbury, as the representa-
tive of the community. Stigand had already sti
become William's homager, and had forwarded
his cause ; but William repelled him at once
from the office, and upon the ground, that, hav-
ing obtained his elevation by unlawful means,
he was unworthy to perform the sacred office ;
and Aldred, Archbishop of York, without any
precedent, and contrary to every privilege, was
378 TUMULT AT
^ appointed to officiate in his stead. As in the
case of his predecessor, the coronation was pre-
pared to be celebrated in the Abbey of West-
minster. William caused the monastery to be
surrounded by Norman soldiery : their ranks
closed around, — the objects of curiosity, perhaps,
of fear, to the surrounding crowds. This pre-
caution might seem to indicate apprehension of
part taken attack, though none was declared. Archbishop
by Aldred.
Aldred opened the proceedings. He presented
William to the English who filled the interior
of the building. At an earlier period, the king
would have been inaugurated beneath the open
sky. Aldred was celebrated for his eloquence.
After a proper and fitting discourse, grave and
well composed, addressed to the English in their
own English tongue, he presented William to
the multitude, and asked the people, as of old,
if they acknowledged him as their king. Gos-
fried, Bishop of Coutances, turning to the
Normans, enquired of them, in like manner, if
^ey were wining that their duke should assume
the royal authority. All assent, and .the loud-
est shouts of gladness rend the air. Next
followed the solemn ritual : the prayers began,
but the very ceremony of the compact which
William was concluding with the people over
whom he was called to rule, became the means
of destroying the mutual confidence of the sove-
reign and the community. Cloud and storm are
not more uncontroullableby human foresight than
THE CORONATION. 379
the movements of a multitude. It is an awful
feeling to stand without a building wherein any
important event is taking place, the impassive
walls enclosing so much passion within. When
the shouts, testifying the acceptance of William
as a sovereign, burst from the Abbey, the Nor-
man soldiery, ignorant of their import, or pur-
posely misconstruing them, assumed the acclaim
to be the token of insurrection and treason.
They immediately fired the adjoining buildings ;
all, without doubt, of timber, and thatched with
reeds or straw. The conflagration spread with
so much rapidity, as to be quickly seen within
the Abbey, and all the crowd there, of every
rank and degree, the clergy excepted, rushed
out in terror. Amidst this alarm the service
proceeded. William was anointed with the
holy oil. He took the oath upon the Gospel-
book, kissing the golden cross, and swore that
he would defend Holy Church, forbid all
rapine, and rule the people committed to his
charge, according to the law. Yet such was
the contagion of the panic, that the officiating
clergy could scarcely proceed. William him-
self, who never before had known apprehension,
trembled with very fear ; and thus was the dia-
dem placed upon his head by Aldred, when he
was confirmed as sovereign of the Island Em-
c
pire. The victor of Hastings was agued with
terror when receiving his prize.
the fire.
380 CORONATION OMENS.
1066 From the first moment, this incident was
accepted by the English as a portent of cala-
mity, and it was permitted to work its accom-
Effect of ill ^ 7
•Srcn plishment. The mischance was imputed to
Norman fraud or cruelty : and these suspicions
were followed by plans of vengeance. This
portent darkened the first paragraph, as it were,
in William's reign ; and how strangely, in our
subsequent history, did such apparently for-
tuitous events become realities ! It was in
that Abbey that Charles, altering, without as-
signable cause, the colour of his royal robe,
appropriated to himself the prophecies which
told the misfortune of the White King. When
he thus came to the throne, could people forget,
how, as Prince of Wales, the thunderbolt had
struck down the ostrich plumes ? and when the
royal standard, at Nottingham, was cast down
by the winds of heaven as soon as raised, did
it ever wave again in prosperity ?
§ 11. This interruption to the ceremony
seems to have postponed a most important portion
of the transaction, the receipt of the homages.
Immediately after the coronation, William quitted
William 7
Westminster, and returned again to Barking,
sheltering himself in the forest, disporting with
hawk and hound, and, at the same time,
superintending the important works already
commenced under the direction of his clerk,
Gundulph, towards the eastern extremity of
SAXON HOMAGERS. 381
London. Here the English chieftains repaired
to him, few in number, for few were surviving, g
and none of those who had partaken in the h
conflict of Hastings. Edwin and Morcar, who
had abandoned Harold in the fight ; Copsi,
from the north, bearing with him the fame of
honour and valour and truth ; Thurkill, of Li-
mesi, one of the few English who afterwards re-
tained their possessions under the new dynasty;
Siward and Aldred, the sons of Ethelgar, King
Edward's nephew ; Edric, the wild, as much a
Cymric as an English lord ; and some others
of inferior degree, came forth and submitted,
seeking his grace and favour, and having taken
the oaths of fealty, received back their posses-
sions from his hands. Yet this proceeding must
not be construed into a restoration of forfeitures
incurred by resistance : on the contrary, it was
an acknowledgment of their previous right :
it was that renovation of the bond of homage
which became necessary, as the recognition of
the new lord or sovereign, when death had dis-
solved the previous engagement ; and down to
our own day, the repetition of the same cere-
mony by prelates and peers, upon the accession
of the sovereign, attests that most antient prin-
ciple of our monarchy.
Tranquillity now outwardly prevailed again.
It was a lurid calm ; yet all seemed quiet. Wil-
liam, however, fully knew the extent of his
382 WILLIAM'S DIFFICULTIES.
dangers, and they were such as required the
utmost exertion of every talent, as well of the
statesman as of the warrior. His situation
Difficulties
was most complicated : he had assumed the
crown, not in the character of an ambitious
invader, but as a lawful sovereign asserting his
legitimate rights. He was, if possible, to for-
get the existence of the party by whom he had
been opposed ; and, exercising merely so much
rigour as was needful for the purpose of shew-
ing his confidence in his own cause, to abstain
from any appearance of revenge.
§ 12. Claiming as the national king, he was
bound to govern upon national principles, to con-
ciliate public opinion, and to fulfil the compact
which had placed him upon the throne, a peace-
ful sovereign, governing according to law. But, as
followers.
Duke of Normandy, he was under great and
heavy engagements towards those who had as-
sisted him in the enterprize, all volunteers, not
one of whom he could have compelled to cross
the channel against his own free will, — all who
had expected, and many who had been pro-
mised, to be guerdoned by the riches of Eng-
land. All who had fitted out the ships which
conveyed his troops, all who had assisted him
in council at Lillebonne, or at Hastings in the
field, and this not alone to his own liegemen,
but to the mixed and mingled multitude, Bre-
tons, Flemings, Poitevins, all who had joined
in the enterprize. — All, whether of high or
CHARACTER OF HIS FOLLOWERS. 38
3
low degree, were equally expectant. Not only .
barons, knights, and vavassours, but the churls,
the peasants, the menials, the craftsmen, the Mixed
diameter of
varlets, who had formed a part of the host : all ^ "vhc°
that rascal rout, the followers of the army, conqueror.
bearing the same relation to the more noble
robbers, that cur and jackal do to the lion, —
butchers, cooks, jugglers, barbers, bakers, long-
bowmen and cross-bowmen, monks who had wan-
dered from the cloister, and priests neglectful
of their vows, all mingled together, and all
ravenous for the prey and depredation of Eng-
land. It was a hard matter, indeed, to recon-
cile these most discordant characters, of King
of England and Duke of Normandy, and the
slightest indiscretion might either bring on a
national resistance on the part of the English,
or a rebellion of the Norman soldiery. And
had there been no other cause of apprehension,
still William would have found it most arduous
to preserve the station in which alone success
could be expected, that of watching for every
occasion, and profiting by all.
§ 13. In truth, however, the Conquest had ^™;43,°.f3
hardly begun : William had gained nothing be- s
yond a portion of Harold's earldom : the North-
umbrians would acknowledge no earl except one
of their own choice, and how imperfect would be
the obedience of such an earl to the King at
Winchester or Westminster. In the districts
beyond the marsh-lands, so near to the spot
VOL. in. c c
ance of
384 WILLIAM'S DANGER
where he then was stationed, and yet so inacces-
sible, Edgar Atheling was still recognized ; the
west had given no token of obedience : the Kings
of the Scots and of the Britons were to be
coerced into obedience ; but, above all, how was
he to withstand that enemy, which, occupying
so large a portion of the island, encircled him, as
it were, on every side ? From the first moment
of his accession, to the end of his reign, the
battle-axe of the Dane was glittering before
him. He learned to defy the convulsive efforts
of the English : he disdained the anger of the
King of the French, but the Dane never allowed
him to rest.
Their Almost from the Thames to the Firths of
dominion* rt
Scotland, there was a Danish population of
more or less density, Danish Earldoms in the
far north and in the Isles, Erin overcome by
the Danish strength, Jutland and the Isles of
the Baltic preparing to send forth their forces ;
and the sea, not a protection against the in-
vaders, but their path, their home.
When it was first heard in Denmark how
William had invaded England, the intelligence
excited the most hostile and angry feeling.
What the Danes once had held they never
abandoned, never deemed their right to be
barred. William's enterprize was viewed as
an invasion, not made upon Harold, but upon
their own inheritance. There was no longer
any national sympathy between the Northmen
roused in
Denmark.
KI50M DENMARK. 385
and the Normans. The exploits of Earl Hollo, .
Kudo-jarl, might become the subject of a Saga,
but his descendants were Frenchmen, now T
now alien
speaking a strange tongue, and entirely severed
from their antient kinsmen in Scandinavia ; and
there was no feeling of sympathy or com-
munity of interest by which hostility could be
restrained. When William was in the height of
his exultation at his recent conquest, perhaps,
on the very day of his coronation, a Danish
knight appeared before him, bearing the defi-
ance of the Danish King. "Let him render hom-
age and tribute for his kingdom of England :
if he refuses, let him expect that Sweno will
forthwith deprive him both of crown and king- Denmark
dom." The danger was in every way imminent :
the arrival of Sweno, who would be supported
by so large a number of his own race in Eng-
land ; and the whole coast, from the mouth of
the Thames to the Humber, — Essex, Suffolk,
Norfolk, Lincoln, and York, invited almost his
invasion. But William had fully prepared him-
self, and organized his plans ; and he pursued
them from the first moment of his landing, to
the conclusion of his reign ; and this rendered
him the founder of the British Empire.
§ 14. William began by fully demonstrating
treats him
first progress.
that he would enforce the supremacy of the law :
as far as his power extended, he entirely re-
stored tranquillity. He made a progress through
the whole of that part of England which obeyed
cc 2
386 HIS ADMINISTRATION.
him, extending, probably, for we can only speak
on imperfect notices, in a species of diagonal
line from Oxford, or thereabouts, to the Hum-
ber ; but yet including large districts which
retained a species of virtual independence.
Wherever he ruled, the highways were cleared
from robbers. Watling Street and Ikenild
Street were traversed as safely as they might
have been in the days of Mulmutius. Foreign
traders, the Dane, the Fleming, the German,
resorted in safety to the ports, bringing profit
to the dealer, and custom to the king. No
taxes yet were levied, for William had just
taken possession of the contents of the trea-
sury. His soldiery were rigidly restrained from
in his army. rapine anc[ violence. Not a meal could be taken
from an Englishman against his will, nor an
insult offered to the daughters of the land.
This was a wise policy on his part: it was
good for the English people, but better even
for the Norman invaders that they should be
thus held in. Had they been allowed at this
juncture to disperse themselves in the towns
and over the provinces, how easily might they
have been cut off and destroyed by any popular
insurrection. There might have been another
repetition of the massacre of St. Brice's day.
He made no distinction of persons in the ad-
justice.
ministration of justice, excepting, perhaps, that
punishment fell heaviest upon his own followers
if they offended. The usages of the country con-
CONFIRMS THE RIGHTS OF LONDON. 387
tinned inviolate : he came as the heir of his cousin,
the Confessor, and his cousin's laws continued
the code of the laud, simply because no other
jurisprudence was recognized or introduced ; and
it is possible that that formal conformation [con-
firmation (?)] of them which now exists, may
date from the commencement of William's reign.
London obtained a special covenant. " Wil-
liam the King, greets William the Bishop, God-
frcy the Port-reeve, and all the burgesses within
London, friendly. Ye shall be worthy to enjoy
all the laws ye were worth in King Edward's
days. Every child shall take to his father's
inheritance after his father : no man shall do
you any wrong." — Few words : this precious
document, still perfect as the day when the pen
passed upon the parchment, still in the Guild-
hall, still in the City archives, still in the very
treasury of the successors of the old Port-
reeves and burgesses, lies within the palm of
your hand ; but contains in its brief compass
all that the citizens could or can require. Wil-
liam guarantees to them, not this jurisdiction
or that franchise, nor does he set out their
boundary or measure their houses and lands;
but he secures them all : William the Conqueror
secures to the citizens of London, collectively
and individually, all the rights, all the freedom,
which, amidst every chance and change, they
alone, of all the burgher communities in Eng-
land, nay, of all the municipalities in Christen-
1066
388 RIGHTS OF THE CITY.
^ dom, have retained till the present day. In
Duration of each charter granted by successive kings, by
the privileges
of the cuy. Normans and Plantagenets, York, Lancaster,
and Stewart, the grant of William is repeated
as the first chapter of their great book of civil
liberties. Yet there was one to whom grati-
tude was due from London, besides William
the King. It was William the Bishop whose
influence aided in obtaining this special grant.
Bishop William's tomb had been demolished
during the general devastation of the memo-
rials of ancient piety ; yet, until the structure
of St. Paul's was consumed, the Lord Mayor
and aldermen, when on the "Scarlet Days"
they resorted to the Cathedral, turned aside
as they advanced up the nave, and visited the
gravestone which covered his remains, as some
small token, now that the lamps were extin-
guished, and the obit suppressed, and the dirge
no longer sung, of their respect for Bishop
William's memory.
William's 2 15. William furthermore employed this
progress.
period in making the circuit of his dominions so
far as he could venture ; and during the whole
of his reign he annually, whenever time allowed,
wore his crown at the three great festivals of
Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, in three
of the great cities, of Wessex, Mercia, and
Danelagh. This was not a mere matter of
state or policy. According to the Anglo-Saxon
constitution, all remedial jurisdiction was an-
adminiatra-
WILLIAM'S GENERAL POLICY. 389
nexed to the person of the king ; and William,
in order that he might the better be enabled,
like his predecessors, to administer justice to
the suitor, and to grant grace and mercy to
those by whom it might be sought, endeavoured,
? English.
perhaps promised, to learn the English tongue.
This, however, was never accomplished by him :
the excuse was found in the troubles and cares
of royalty, and, as it was said, in the inaptitude
of mature and advancing age.
Many of these measures had. without doubt, spirit
admi
their full effect. It was by William's civil ad- tion-
ministration, however mixed with violence, that
England, about to split into fragments, was
knit and bound together, in order that it might
become one realm, under one High Court of
Parliament, one king. The Conquest did not
give us our constitution, but prepared the way
for the constitution, through many an age of
turmoil and trouble ; and for turmoil and trouble
William was immediately prepared
§ 16. It was a notorious fact, to friend and £°rtifica
foe, to Normans and English, that the paucity
of defensible strongholds in England had con-
tributed equally to the successes of the Danes
as to William's own. Not that strongholds
were entirely wanting. Some Roman fortifi-
cations still existed, and were strong and de-
fensible. They had enabled the Londoners to
resist William's forces : they had almost turned
him at Dover. Exeter was confident in the
lions.
390 THE WHITE TOWER
power of resistance which the fortifications of
the Caesars would give. Colchester and Chester
might equally have depended upon theirs ; but
some places which the Romans had fortified had
become waste and desert, and there were no
citadels in the most important points, which
William's strategic genius showed him ought
to be occupied against a foreign, or still more,
an internal enemy. There was, at this moment,
evidently no object more important than that
of restraining the population, should it become
discontented, and of preventing a multitude,
brooding insurrection, from becoming an open
enemy.
toellTonwe?f During William's residences at Barking, he
had begun, as before mentioned, his works ad-
joining London. As the citizens looked at the
trenches, broken by his pioneers, hard by the
river Thames, they might, perhaps, at first
doubt, or not be willing to understand, the
intent of the builder. A royal palace the
fabric was, and indeed still is, according to
law, and here we may enter the great council
chamber, supported by pillars of oak, hard as
iron, and the royal chapel, whose massy columns
and circular apse remind you of the Norman
Basilica. The builder, as it seems, was one
Gundulph, a monk of Bee, a friend of Laufranc,
and who seems to have obtained the rank of
chaplain in William's court. But the building
was also a palace of defence : the fosse be-
OF LONDON. 391
came deeper, and the flood gates were made , — .v«
and opened which let in the water of the river
as it rose and fell with the tide, and the walls
grew higher and higher, and the works now
known as the Tower rapidly arose under the
direction of the master mason who stood by.
The model of this building was found in
William's own birth-place, Falaise, no other a
Castle the
alteration having been made except what wasmodelfor
necessary from the difference of locality : our
Tower upon the low banks of a great stream,
Falaise with the living rock for its core. A
monument of foreign domination was therefore
now constantly before the Barons of London :
yet it is remarkable that the King, yielding
either to respect for the rights of that power-
ful, unruly, and jealous community, or to ap-
prehension of the indignation which he might
excite by their infringement, encroached as
little as possible upon the city ground. He
erected it over the old Roman wall, of which
a portion may yet be traced within the build-
ing. More than one half, therefore, of the its
Arx Palatina, as it was proudly called, was
and is in Middlesex : and whilst an ample
circuit of the hamlets in the shire land on the
eastern side of the boundary was placed under
the authority of the Royal Constable, his juris-
diction in the municipal territory does not ex-
tend beyond the very gates of the fortress.
Even on the shore of the river, this military
the White
Tower.
392 RALPH
jurisdiction, important as it must have been,
was ill-defined : — and because William hesi-
tated in his usurpations of 1067, the extent of
the powers derived from his acts is at this day
contested by the magistracy against a warrior
more distinguished than the Conqueror, to whose
[1846] hand the crown has now intrusted the keys of
the fortress.
William dreaded the citizens, and dared not
himself confront them within their city. But
he gained this object by other means, not less
effectual, and yet without offending their pride.
Through the intervention, as incidental circum-
stances, — for history is silent, — enable us to
collect, of the Bishop of London, Ralph Bay-
nard obtained the ancient soke or jurisdiction
far within the city, but like the Tower, on the
shores of the Thames, upon which he erected
the castle which bore his 'name. It became the
head of his extensive barony, which included
fifty lordships and more, in Essex, in Suffolk,
in Norfolk, in Hertfordshire, rendering him one
of the most powerful of the Norman Baronage.
Great were the privileges and honours held in
London by Ralph Baynard ; he and his heirs
bore the Banner of the City, and in time of
war, he came forth from the great door of the
Metropolitan Cathedral, and received from the
hands of the Port-reeve and the Aldermen the
sign, "bearing thereon the semblance of the
Patron Saint in silver and in gold/' which
°,
BAYNARD. 393
he was to wave for the honour and service of .
the community. And many other were the
privileges of Baynard in time of war and of
peace : above all, that when the citizens held
their Great Council, he was ever to attend the
same, and to sit on the hustings next to the
chief magistrate ; whilst all the judgments given
were pronounced by his mouth, and " according
to his memorial ' there to be recorded. Wise
in this was the policy of the Conqueror, ingraft-
ing the highest of the Norman lineages upon the
ancient Saxon stock, and thus binding the con-
quering and the conquered race by a unity of
interest, privilege, and power. Nor was this
wisdom unrewarded, for whatever troubles dis-
turbed the land, so long as the Conqueror and
his children reigned, London never swerved from
her fidelity.
§ 17. William steadily pursued his system £taht?0rnf°rti-
of over-awing the country with castles ; — in pro- Seg the
course of
portion as his power extended, the square, tall Jgf1'"
Donjon towers arose, all formed upon the same
type, bespeaking their origin, palaces at once
and castles, trophies at once of royal fore-
thought and of unsparing power.
The defence of the coast had been the sub-
ject of William's consideration from the moment
when he landed on it. It was needful for him
not only to provide for the means of advance,
but also for retreat, in case of adverse fortune.
If the reader will take up the map, he will ob-
394 STRATEGIC SUBDIVISION
serve in Sussex a territorial division, whose
aspect differs altogether from that which pre-
Political
vails elsewhere in Enland. In most of the
other shires, it may be observed, that the
Hundreds are compact divisions, often marked
even now by natural boundaries, by streams
and waters, and probably much more distinctly
before the disturbance of the ancient demarca-
tions — a process which appears often to have
gone on silently, for the purposes at once of
in Kent, jurisdiction and of fiscal management. In Kent
the Hundreds are much smaller in proportion
than in East Anglia ; but they are, as it were,
bound up into larger divisions, called Lathes
or Lastes : the latter generally with a reference
in the west. £0 natural boundaries. In the West of England,
in Somerset or Dorset, the Hundreds are small,
irregular, and apparently broken up in different
parts of the shire. We may, however, be cer-
tain, that the Hundred or the Lathe arose
from two main causes : the natural dispersion
of races and tribes over the country, and the
consolidation of detached tracts or townships
under one authority or lord. But we look in
in Sussex, vain for any trace of system, except in Sussex
alone ; here we find a territorial division, bear-
ing its own peculiar name, and displaying a
scheme of partition skilfully planned to sustain
the empire of the Conqueror. The Normans
were a hard people : wherever they conquered,
they conquered outright. Plunderers they were,
OF SUSSEX. 395
and they acted consistently : they divided the ,
land by measurement, by the " rope " as it was
called, — a process which singularly marked the
native violence of their character. For in such
allotments, they neglected and despised the
natural relations previously existing amongst
the people they had subdued. Now, this is
the process which William effected in Sussex ; d
the county is divided into six districts, extend-
ing right down from the northern border, each
possessing a frontage towards the sea, each
affording a ready communication with Nor-
mandy, and constituting, as it were, six mili-
tary high roads to William's paternal Duchy.
But few Norwegian or Teutonic terms can
comparatively be found preserved amongst the
Normans, but the " hreppar " seems to have
been retained almost unaltered amongst them.
Hence these demarcations were and still are
termed rapes. Each possessed within its bounds
some one castle, or other important station for
defence or protection, and each appears to have
been placed under one military commander.
All the original Anglo-Saxon divisions are
noticed in the Anglo-Saxon laws, and pos-
sessed an Anglo-Saxon tribunal ; the rape is
not noticed in any Anglo-Saxon law, and does
not possess an Anglo-Saxon tribunal. Sussex
sustained this great territorial alteration alone,
being dealt with from the first moment entirely
as a conquered territory. The adjoining shire
396 ARRANGEMENTS
of Kent was equally placed in a state of de-
fence, by being assigned, as a Palatine Earldom,
to Odo of Bayeux, and to him was entrusted
the general government of the south of the
Thames. One reason without doubt for placing
this warlike prelate as a species of sovereign in
Kent, was equally for the purpose of awing the
Kentish men, and neutralizing the influence of
Stigand, whom William greatly mistrusted, but
could not immediately remove.
§18. A more complicated and far more diffi-
cult policy was required for the protection of the
north, where, in addition to the obstacles of a
discontented population, the coast was far more
open to the threatened invasion of the Danes.
It was there that most peril was to be appre-
hended. When Sweno gave his challenge, Wil-
liam did not allow his pride to overcome his
prudence ; he did not take up the gauntlet
either literally or metaphorically ; he met the
defiance by craft and policy, and laboured to
delay, if he could not avert, the impending
storm. A temporary truce could always be
purchased from the Danes : a most unwise ex-
pedient this in the weak, from whom more
and more could be gained by terror ; but
William knew his own strength, and had fully
settled how far he would trust to this expe-
dient; as a negotiator, he chose Egelsine, the
Abbot of St. Augustine's, who had been the
means of winning or negotiating the Kentish
WITH THE NORTH EAST. 397
capitulation. Others of distinction were ad- .
joined in the embassy, bearing a store of
money. They were well received in Denmark, $ for
and the gifts they brought being accepted by1
Sweno as the earnest of further tribute, hos-
tilities were stayed. William, however, put no
trust in this purchased pacification ; sooner or
later they would return insatiate for ravage
and plunder. William therefore was impera-
tively called upon to consider how he could
best organize the coast defence. Northumbria
and East Anglia, from their position on the
wide German sea, and from the affinity of the
population, would most probably invite and
welcome the invaders. In the more distant
parts, beyond the Humber, though submission
had in a degree been proffered, William himself
would not venture. Such an expedition, at a
places the
juncture when his affairs were yet so pfeca-Sna
rious, would have been an act of rashness, not
of courage ; but Copsi, the lord of large do-
mains, feared for his valour, and honoured for
his character, the friend of St. Cuthbert, whose
See he had largely endowed, was empowered to
assume the earldom under William's supremacy.
It was a bold experiment in the Conqueror thus
to trust an Englishman in a territory so striving
for independence, and bolder still for Copsi to
accept a dignity threatening its possessor with
so much personal danger.
§19. When William was making his royal
398 DEFENCE OF EAST ANGLIA.
^J!_ progress, he might observe how carefully the
Romans had laboured to defend that territory
which even they so emphatically called the
Saxon shore, from the pirates and marauders,
the ancestors equally of William and of his
Scandinavian enemies. Nowhere, perhaps, so
evidently as in East Anglia ; and amongst the
Castie many defences raised by them, the traces of
some of which still subsist, none more remark-
able than the fortified camp commanding the
ancient settlement of the Iceni, of which an
imperfect fragment of the vallum remains, a
testimony of its former importance. The situ-
ation had been most wisely chosen by some
commander about the age of Constantino, or
somewhat later, when the encreasing weakness
of the empire suggested more and more of those
precautions, which, however well planned, were
unable to avert its destiny. The Wensum, then
the Eastern
coast. wicje an(j broad, offered the means of ready com-
munication with the ocean, and the estuary be-
yond was at this time so deep and unencumbered
by sand as to be reckoned an open sea. But when
the island was abandoned by the Roman power,
the station was gradually deserted ; a new set-
tlement was established, probably in the dis-
turbed period after the martyrdom of Edmund,
by a mixed population of English, Danes, and
Norwegians, somewhat further up the river, at
the Northwick, or bend ; and the old traditional
proverb, —
NORWICH CASTLE. 399
" Caister was a city when Norwich was none,
Norwich was built with Caister stone,"
is without doubt a true record of its history ;
and thus arose the then new town of Norwich,
so differing in its circular ground plan and
tortuous streets from the cities built upon
Roman foundations, and in wrhich traces of
their regular castrametation are always more
or less to be observed.
The place had acquired great importance ;
it was, like the rest of Harold's earldom, en-
tirely in William's power, and he seems at
once to have appreciated the advantages of this
locality, and determined to render it his first
advanced post towards the countries where his
future operations would require most protection.
He formed the plan of placing his castle in the
very heart of the city, the better to controul a
warlike and unruly population, "savage and
perfidious," in the terms of the contemporary
historian who very possibly accompanied him
during the expedition, and whom he distrusted
and feared as much as those of London. Avail-
ing himself of a small ridge of firm rising
ground which protruded itself into the city,
he separated the extremity or headland from
the rest of the elevation, by & very deep ditch
or fosse, thus obtaining a command over the
city below, as effectually as if he had raised
an artificial mound, which, if practicable, would
have required enormous labour. Blanche fleur
VOL. III. D D
William.
400 WILLIAM'S GRANTS
. arose to the established Norman type, but cir-
cled by wide and extended fosses and ramparts,
for which the soil was levelled ; but not con-
tented with this fortification, he directed, if he
did not immediately execute it, the formation
of a new borough, dependent upon the castle,
N°orwfcnh.rBin and inhabited almost entirely by " Frenchmen."
It is possible that, even in the days of the
Confessor, some of these strangers may have
settled there ; but the conquest gave this new
foreign settlement such extension, that it re-
quired two new parish churches, the one dedi-
cated to St. Giles, and the other to St. Peter,
which still exist according to their original
consecration : and here Roger Fitz-Osbern was
left as commander, with authority extending
over the whole north of the realm.
§ 20. Very closely connected with all imme-
diate measures of precaution and defence, but
still more with William's whole frame of govern-
ment at all future times, was the great financial
character of scheme of paying his followers by English
wiiaam land. How great was the caution and judg-
ment which this operation would require! Un-
questionably the English must have been fully
prepared for some great transfer. They pro-
bably tried to be cheerful. William at present
was as benign as his stern nature admitted of;
they enjoyed a real and present good, and evils
might be hastened by anticipating them ; yet it
was impossible that they could forget the as-
OF TERRITORY. 401
sembly at Lillebonne : they could 'not drive 1066
away the recollection that even some of the
prelates, who had passed over with William,
had, as it was reported, refused to perform this
supererogatory service unless land and fee were
granted to them in the country they were to
win. Moreover, their ancestors had experi-
enced exactly the same bitterness of spoliation
from the Danes ; and we cannot doubt but that
when the Englishman was expelled from the
toAvnship now called Ormsby by the Serpent, —
for such is the meaning of Grin or Worm, — he
went out full as unwillingly as if he had been
chased away by a Norman Trussebot, or a
Breton Botevilain. William had no choice but
to fulfil his promises sooner or later, for his
empire entirely depended upon it; but he was
in a very different position from the Danes :
the claimant who supported his title as heir
to the Confessor, could not exert any open
violence ; and the first instalment, at least,
which he had to make to his followers, was
to be regulated by principles, which, though
going to the full extent of the law, did not pass
beyond.
According to the universal principle, there
might be want of clemency, but no positive
injustice in considering, that the domains of
all who had been slain when actually bearing
arms against him in the battle of Hastings,
should be confiscated to the Crown. This at
DD2
grants.
402 GROUNDS OF APPROPRIATION.
. 1Q68 . once gave him an enormous fund, so to speak,
to draw upon. However acquired, the Godwin
of°GodCwinn family were the largest landed proprietors in
property, j^gi^^ an(j ^e private domains of Harold
are very carefully distinguished in the great
survey from the demesnes of the Crown. A very
large proportion of these estates were situated
exactly in those districts where it was most
convenient for William to appropriate them, — •
Sussex, Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk,
and Norfolk. Furthermore, the army at Hastings,
being chiefly drawn from Harold's own Earldom,
the slaughter cleared away whole families, fathers
and sons, who perished in the field. All these
estates were open to William's distribution, and
he bestowed them with a most bounteous hand.
§ 21. In the next place it should seem that
there was another royal prerogative, such as had
been enjoyed by the Confessor, which also
strengthened his right of disposal. We can col-
lect, amidst the obscurity of the Anglo-Saxon
J
tenures, that a great deal of land was held accord-
ing to a system existing in certain customary hold-
ings at the present day. The owner had the power
of transmitting the possession to an heir by be-
quest, by quothing or speaking forth the name of
his intended successor to the lord. Supposing
any of those who died at Hastings were innocent
of treason, yet this was a lapse of which the
sovereign could lawfully avail himself, if he did
not choose to exercise especial grace and favour.
tenures
TERMS OF THE GRANTS. 403
Furthermore, whatever grants were made, ^ 1066
the Norman was to hold the land exactly as his
Anglo-Saxon predecessor had done, neither bet-
ter nor worse, rendering neither less nor more
to the sovereign, nor exerting, so far as William
authorized or restrained him, either less or more
dominion over the cultivators of the land. The unchanged
by the
same relief for the Earl, eight horses bridled and transfer-
saddled, four hauberks, four helmets, four shields,
four lances and four swords ; the Baron's relief,
four horses, two bridled and saddled, two hau-
berks, two helmets, two shields, two lances, two
swords. The Vavasour's relief, his father's horse
as his father rode it, or his helmet and his shield,
his hauberk, his lance, and his sword ; the Villein's
relief, his best piece of cattle, his horse or his ox
or his cow ; but so long as he rendered his dues
and performed his right service, never was he to
be amoved from the land. And for the Danegeld,
wiien Danegeld was to be paid, two shillings for
each hide of land, nothing less and nothing more.
And if any one was impleaded for rent or due or
service, it was to be tried and judged by the law,
as the law was ternpore regis Edwardi, nothing
less and nothing more ; and no one was to enter
upon the land without the king's writ, testifying
his possession was legal, and if he had no writ
he had no legal right to the land.
Under such conditions, it should seem that
extremely ample endowments were made during
the first seizin of the Conquest. Of gifts
404 CHIEF GRANTS.
1066 made to Churches in Normandy or in Flanders,
Grants to we cannot here speak ; but Odo, not as Bishop of
Bayeux, but as Count Palatine of Kent, and in
that secular capacity which rendered him his
brother's officer as well as Baron, received a very
large portion of the county. Another was given
to Hugh, the son of Thurstan de Bastenberg,
Hugh with the beard, who generally however
was called Hugh de Montfort, and who was im-
mediately received into William's full confidence.
A third, to Eustace Earl of Boulogne ; a fourth
to Richard de Clare, who, bringing over with him
the rope which had measured the, ambit of the
octroi of his town and castle at Brionne, was
authorized by the Conqueror to measure the same
circuit round Tunbridge and the castle which he
built there, becoming, what still is called the
lawy or leucata, the municipal boundary of the
town. Another share was given to Harno Dapi-
fer ; and these, together with a chaplain, one
Albert, of whom nothing else is known, and the
prelates and ecclesiastical communities, had the
whole superiority of the shire. Sussex was di-
Sussex.
vided in the same manner. Roger de Mont-
gomery, the Norman of the Normans, styled, if
not created Earl of Chichester and Arundel, or
Sussex, William de Briosa, Robert de Mortaigne
Count of Eu, William's brother, and William de
Warrenne, divided the rapes between them. The
in Isle of Wight was given to Fitz-Osbern. All
Hampshire.
these subsequently obtained much more extensive
BATTLE ABBEY. 405
baronies, as William's power and means advanced 1066
and encreased. It is not practicable to ascertain
the others who received their rewards by Yavas-
sories or Subtenancies. We only know that they
were made to such an extent as to satisfy Wil-
liam's followers that he was not inclined to
depart from his promise : whilst at the same time
his eulogists might declare, with somewhat
ostentatious truth, " Nulli tamen Gallo datum est
quod Anglo cuiquam injuste fuerit ablatum."
§ 22. But there was another promise which
remained to be fulfilled : the vow which he had
made during the conflict of Hastings, that, on the A
spot where the victory was gained, he would
raise the Abbey in veneration of St. Martin, the
Apostle of the Gauls ; and to place therein the
monks of Marmoutier, whose prayers might make
amends for the perpetrated slaughter. So dread-
ful had been the carnage, that the Normans gave
the name of Sang-lac to the heath ; and here
William proceeded to raise the structure, mark-
ing out the site of the High Altar on the spot,
where, as it was thought, the corpse of Harold
had been found.
"King William bethought him also of that folk that was forlore
And slain also through him in the battle before.
And there as the battle was, an Abbey he let rear
Of Saint Martin, for the souls that there slain were.
And the Monks well enough feoffed without fayle,
That is called in England, Abbey of Bataile."
The territory, for one league around the
406 PECULIARITIES OF
Church, was granted to the monks with all the
king's rights and prerogatives, as free as he held
r.a' the same. Within this circuit arose the borough
of Battle upon the old English scheme of terri-
torial organization ; and the name of Moutjoie,
by which one of the four wards or burghs is
known, commemorates the locality where William
remounting his battle steed, rode up in triumph.
Furthermore, in the plenary exercise of his
royal authority, William declared that the Church
of St. Martin of Battle was to be exempted from
all episcopal jurisdiction : the Abbot was to be
as supreme as the Primate of Canterbury. But
Stigand, Bishop of the South-Saxons, did not
assent to this grant. Exemption from the juris-
diction of the ordinary had hitherto been exceed-
ingly rare in England ; and if any grant can be
produced which is free from suspicion, there is
none which has not been the subject of contest.
William was peremptory : the monks of Mar-
sped^ Prm- moutier were there: Goisfrid was appointed
leges of the
Abbe7. Abbot ; and Battle emulated the discipline of
the parent monastery. When Goisfrid sought
consecration, Stigand required, that, according
to the canons, he would repair to his real mother
Church, to Chichester, and proffer his due obe-
dience. William heeded not the canons, and
commanded the Bishop to repair to the Abbey,
and give the benediction before the altar of St.
Martin ; and to remove the all pretence of epis-
copal jurisdiction, the Conqueror also prohibited
BATTLE ABBEY. 407
the Bishop and his train from lodging in the
monastery, or even taking a meal there. The
first contest was thus between the Norman and
the English prelate, and the latter succumbed;
but when Norman prelates succeeded, they used
every endeavour to retain and regain all the
rights which they had enjoyed in the old English
Church ; and the privileges granted to Battle
Abbey, to the detriment of the Diocesan, occa-
sioned the greatest discontent and jealousy. Con-
stant litigation ensued, nor has the dispute been
terminated by the extinction of the monastery.
The Abbot of Battle has given place to the Dean
of Battle, who claims the same exemption, and the
Bishop, at the present day, opposes the immu-
nity as the successor of Stigand.
Donations and grants were accumulated upon
this favoured foundation, perhaps, the only seat
in England of Norman nationality. Here the
monks unrolled, before a Degville or a Darcy,
a Pigot or a Percy, a Bruce or a Despenser,
a Ballial or a Bondeville, a Mowbray or a Mor-
ville, a Fichet or a Trivet, the roll containing The ROH.
the honoured names of the companions of the
Conqueror, from whom . they1- deduced their
lineages and their names ; and in after times,
in the days of York and Lancaster, of the
White Rose and the Red Rose, when time had
obliterated the distinctions of race, and hal-
lowed and softened the recollection of the past,
when community of interests and participation
408 BATTLE ABBEY.
. in the same sufferings, and in the same pros-
perity, had united the English into one people,
Battle Abbey became the proud and pleasurable
monument of antient prowess and glory. Not
so when raised : it was intended far less as a
trophy of victory and exultation, than as the
retreat of sadness and repentance. Where the
heather had been burned, it shot up again : and
where the elastic herbage had been trampled
Sea Abbey. of away in the battle strife, it sprung up afresh ;
but men said, that whenever the fertilizing rain
watered the ground, you might see the crumbly
soil resume the colour of recent gore. Report
exaggerates the most common events, still more
those affecting the imagination or the feelings ;
but the fact is positively affirmed, and there is
no reason to doubt, that there was a period when
it was substantially true. Chemical analysis
can no more account for the singularly indelible
stain, resulting from the vital fluid, than for any
of the other mysterious properties imparted to
it ; and we, in our own times, have witnessed the
same appearance.
409
CHAPTER IX.
WILLIAM RETURNS TO NORMANDY HIS TRIUMPHANT RECEP-
TION OPPRESSIONS EXKKCISKD IN ENGLAND BY ODO OF
BAYEUX AND FITZ-OSBERN — GREAT TROUBLES THE ENG-
LISH INVITE EUSTACE OF BOULOGNE — WILLIAM RETURNS
TO ENGLAND REBELLION OF THE WEST DEATH OF
COPSI WILLIAM SUBDUES THE INSURRECTION MATILDA
IN ENGLAND.
1067—1068
absence.
2 1 . DURING these transactions. William had Government
o of Normandy
been providently preparing for his return to Nor-
mandy. It must have been a source of great
internal comfort to him, always to be able to
place entire confidence in Matilda. No Sove-
reign ever appears to have been more happy
in his wife. During his absence, she had go-
verned the Duchy with entire prudence, assisted
by the advice of Roger de Montgomery, the
Norman of the Normans, and Ralph de Beau-
mont. Robert, young as he was, had been
associated to her in the government of the
Duchy, of which he had been declared the
heir ; and William had no reason to fear the
extinction of his male lineage, there being two
stout and healthy brothers, William and Richard,
in whom the old family name was revived.
Nevertheless, William, fully conscious of the
chances to which Normandy was exposed, whe-
410 POLICY TOWARDS THE SAXON
10T67 . ther on the side of Anjou or of France, could
not think it safe to remain away after the great
effort, which must, in some degree, have ex-
hausted the Duchy ; and the cautions with
which he had made his arrangements, enabled
him to do so consistently, with the foresight of
the statesman and of the general.
In all William's conduct towards the English,
Royai whilst going to the very verge of rigour, he had
avoided all measures which could be construed
into an affront to the feelings of the higher
classes. To the late royal family he paid, con-
sistently, great respect and honour. Winches-
ter was occupied by him like London ; but
Editha remained there so long as she lived, in
tranquillity and honour. Githa, Godwin's widow,
continued as yet to enjoy her great possessions.
Agatha, the widow of Edward the Outlaw, and
mother of the Atheling, remained under William's
protection with her daughters, Margaret and
Cristina ; foreign names, and bespeaking the
place of their nativity — the eldest being even
then as remarkable for her beauty as she was
afterwards for her talents and her piety. It was
commonly reported that her kinsman, Edward
the Confessor, had promised her in marriage to
Malcolm Canmore, king of the Picts and Scots ;
and that he had covenanted to give or confirm
the Lothians as her dowry. If such a betrothal
really had taken place, May Margaret must
have been in her earliest infancy. This circurn-
ROYAL LINE AND CHIEFS. 41 1
stance in itself would not render tlie story in- . J1"67
credible ; but no heed was taken of it by
William ; and the Hungarian mother and her
daughters resided probably at Romsey in
Hampshire, where Cristina afterwards professed.
In order to supply his place by an effective E
government, William appointed Odo his brother
and Fitz-Osbern, regents of the kingdom during
his absence, associating also Grandmesnil in
some of the powers of administration. They would.
watch, and vigilantly, against all who were to be
coerced by the sword ; but those who were to
be dealt with more gently, William gradually
and quietly brought closer and closer about his
court and person ; as well those who might be-
come the unwilling agents, as the active causes
of resistance. Of these, the first was the Athel-
ing, always treated by him with kindness
and affection. Notwithstanding the slur which s
had been cast upon Stigand's character, William
continued to treat the primate and metropolitan
of the British Islands with all the outward
veneration appertaining to his high dignity,
though inwardly there was none whose " perfidy '
the king more feared. Agelnoth, the " Satrap "
of Canterbury, was also under suspicion. Every
effort was made by William to conciliate Edwin
and Morcar ; they had fully yielded, and
William had promised his daughter, probably
Constance, in marriage to the elder of these
brothers, as the reward of having obtained
412 WILLIAM'S RETURN
the apparently cordial submission of the
younger. Waltheof also was much courted by
William, and the subsequent marriage of the
Anglo-Danish chieftain with Judith, the Con-
queror's niece, shews how intimate was the
alliance which had been formed. Yet, notwith-
standing this, all were more or less dreaded by
William ; and when he took them with him, and
embarked at Pevensey, although they ostensibly
appeared as his visitors, they probably were
themselves aware that they were taken as
hostages, if not as prisoners. Thus they pro-
ceeded through Kent, indignantly pacified: thus
through Sussex, wasted and desolated, a deso-
lation from which the country did not recover
even till the conclusion of William's reign. Thus
they passed the lake of blood, and the rising
walls of the expiatory monastery ; thus they
reached Pevensey, where William had landed as
the Duke of Normandy, where he had defied the
adverse omen, and where he now embarked to
return to his own land as a triumphant king.
§ 2. William's progress in Normandy,
through town and burgh, and more particularly
his entry into Rouen, was celebrated by the
people, animated by all the contagion of en-
thusiasm. They compare him to those Roman
Emperors whom they idealized as the types of
human grandeur. Beloved as Vespasian, admired
as Pompey ; — but above all they paralleled him
to the hero, who, in the romantic traditions of the
TO NORMANDY. 413
country, emphatically Romantic, was deemed to
be the paragon of nobility and valour. The popu-
lar veneration which had been rendered to Caesar,
was transferred to William : he now even shares
with Caesar in the lingering local traditions, tes-
tifying the impression made upon the popular1*
mind ; and whilst the peasant tells you that every
grass-grown rampart is Cesar's camp, so does
he point out every stately Abbey as the founda-
tion of the " Due Guillaume," the monument of
his piety and power. And those who more
extolled him declared how prouder than the
triumphal train of Cresar was that which followed
their sovereign. Caesar only brought forth his
v O
prisoners in chains ; but our Duke is followed by
the most venerated of the priesthood, the best
blood of the nobility of England.
But it was during the Paschal Feast at?£Sfrt
Fecamp that the great display was made. Here
were exhibited the choicest treasures of the
English kings : the results of foreign commerce
and national industry, which had rendered
England so flourishing amidst every calamity.
William had invited to this feast a host of the
nobles of France, who, mingled with Normans,
and Bretons, and Flemings, were the spectators
of his honour and glory. The guests raised with
wonder as they quaffed from them the huge
buffalo horns, tipped with gold and silver, English
' spoils.
often emptied before at the carouses at West-
minster and Winchester. Lamps and coronals,
414 WEALTH OF ENGLAND.
1067 . which Bagdad and Byzantium might have
prized, bespoke the skill of the craftsmen of
London or Canterbury. Curtains and tapestries
which had decked the halls of the Confessor or
the bower of his Queen ; robes and garments
heavy with embroidery, worked by those who
were now weeping for the husband or the son.
" More wealth has the Duke brought over from
England" was the general exclamation, "than
could be found in thrice the extent of Gaul;"
and the learned priest declared how England
might be called another Araby for gold, and the
very granary of Ceres for fertility. But the
wealth of England scarcely excited so much
general interest as the aspect of the more youthful
among the strangers : their race still retaining
that personal beauty, the long tresses of flowing
auburn hair, which first led the great Gregory
to seek their conversion.
§ 3. This era was certainly the culminating
point of William's worldly prosperity. He was
enjoying all the first fresh pleasure of success,
as yet unalloyed by its inevitable chastening or
punishment. Without being ostentatious, William
was fully aware of the importance of extending his
reputation, and the means which he employed
were connected with what were considered as
duties. To the Pope he sent the banner of
Harold. Most ample gifts were bestowed upon
the churches of Normandy, and the solemn dedi-
cation of the Abbey [s] of Dive and Jumieges
INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER OF THE COURT. 415
prolonged the joyful solemnities. Furthermore, 1067
William continued and encreased his patronage
of those who might well encrease his fame. His
court had been long the resort of the learned.
Here was Lanfranc, the great ornament of
European literature. We collect also, that
amongst those who filled the high and confiden-
tial station of his chaplains, were many of dis-
tinguished talent, and he employed that talent
for the celebration of his fame. William of
Poitiers may perhaps be reckoned among the
first ; the narrative of the deeds of his patron
exhibits an attempt, not unsuccessful, [to imitate]
the authors of classic Rome. Another was William
of Jumieges, whose pages preserve many portions
of the composition of his companion, which are
lost in the original. A third was G-uido, Bishop
of Amiens, (especially retained by Matilda, who
now was called Queen,) whose poem upon the
battle of Hastings, a composition so long lost and
so strangely recovered, furnishes some of the
most remarkable details on the occupation of
London.
A poem, written under these circumstances,
possesses as much authenticity, considered as an
historical composition, as any poem can possess.
Addressed to Lanfranc, Guido, in his own gene-
ration, acquired the highest reputation : he was
another Virgil in the opinion of his contempora-
ries. To us, plain prose would have been more
satisfactory : yet, as a literary monument, and
VOL. III. E E
416 WILLIAM IN NORMANDY.
. as evidencing the current and course of opinion,
the verse is most interesting and instructive.
It was not by reviving the fading reminiscences
of Scandinavia, or recurring to the deeds of the
sea kings, that the eulogist now sought to win
his Sovereign's favour : it was by the example
of Rome's warriors -and Rome's heroes that the
instructor sought to form the character of the
Norrnan warrior, and to exalt his praise. The
encouragement thus given by William to learned
men, his patronage, judiciously and liberally
bestowed, produced lasting effects. Through
these men he became known to us : a school of
historians was formed, for whom no parallel can
be found in that period of mediaeval Europe, and
from whom we derive those most abundant
materials which enable us to pursue the history
of the Conqueror and his times with so much
comparative accuracy and facility.
s™nm8 William continued in Normandy for upwards
nd7' of nine months, attending closely to the adminis-
tration of the country ; well aware, without
doubt, that his presence would soon be required
again in England, for as yet the Normans had
only military occupation : moreover, he was
extremely desirous that Matilda should partici-
pate in his honour, and possess the real dignity
as well as the name of Queen.
§ 4. In the meanwhile, his affairs were not so
prosperous as at first ; and the country had
very rapidly passed from a state of apparent
REGENCY IN ENGLAND. 417
but deceitful quiescence, to declared insurrec- ,_
tion. With the exception of London and some
few of the adjoining shires, there was hardly a
district which did not display either manifest
discontent or actual resistance to the Norman
power. Whilst William was present, his heavy
hand restrained his own Normans as well as his
newly acquired subjects, but no longer. The
English had been stunned by the blow : they
now began to feel the smart. Fitz-Osbern and
Odo, proud, sullen, and violent, invested as The Regents.
Regents with royal authority, indulged in all
the license of royal power, freed from royal re-
sponsibility. Even in the best settled states, it
is usually the character of a Regency, — as great
an internal calamity, short of civil war, as can
befal a nation, — to exaggerate the vices and faults
of the monarchy. It is a mode of government
which has the smallest proportion of political
conscience ; and William's justiciars imbued
themselves with his harshness and rigour, with-
out acquiring his countervailing prudence, and
his sense of the utility derived from the sem-
blance at least of moderation and justice.
Their situation was certainly one of great
difficulty. William, waiting his opportunity, had
purposely abstained from exercising any direct
authority in Northumbria. English Northumbria,
Danish Northumbria, British Northumbria,
Scottish Northumbria, none of which can be
marked out by any very precise boundaries, but
E E
418 WILLIAM'S AUTHORITY
i067 . all possessing very different interests, would re-
quire great management, and he seems to have
left it doubtful whether the country was or was
in no^ to continue under the government of Eng-
lish or Anglo-Danish Earls, ruling as Suzerains
under his supremacy. The very ambiguous
term of Procurator applied to Copsi, leaves us
in doubt as to the authority which he was to
possess. William, however, had obtained con-
siderable influence. Archbishop Aldred, the
northern Primate, whose spiritual authority ex-
tended, if they would allow him to exercise it,
up to the furthest verge of the Orkneys, strenu-
ously supported William ; so did some powerful
Thanes ; but against Copsi there existed the
strongest antipathy. On first entering York-
shire, he expelled Oswulf, who wandered for a
Deaa of short time in the forest like an outlaw, but
friends and followers joined him, and Copsi was
slain by a sudden and general insurrection of
the people. Northumbria reverted to his com-
petitor, and as far as it extended, this was
entirely an anti-Norman revolution ; — and fore-
boded the greatest evil from the assistance it
would render to the Danes.
The west. j^ iess threatening, though more tranquil,
was the situation of the West of England. Wil-
liam was here partially acknowledged by some
of the great English land-holders, and cordially :
amongst others by Eaclnoth, the standard-bearer
or marshal of the host of the Anglo-Saxon kings,
IN NORTH AND WEST. 419
a dignity attached to bis possessions. Eudo, . ._1°C7_,
Count of Porthoet, one of the co-regents of
Brittany, seems to have entered warmly into Wil-
liam's interests ; and one of his sons, Brian, com-
monly called Fitz-Oount, seems to have passed
over and occupied some position on the coast
of Somerset or Devon. But Exeter would by independenc
J of Exeter.
no means accept the Norman domination other-
wise than upon conditions, even if the city would
go so far ; but we infer from subsequent transac-
tions that the men of Exeter and others had much
more extensive plans, and that they were seeking
to form a general league amongst the English
Burghs against the common enemy. But a little
more, and England might have become the first
Federal Commonwealth in Christendom.
§ 5. Yet all these dangers were of small im- ^hceonducb
port, when compared with the mischief resulting Regents'
to William's cause from the bad government of
his deputies. He had, without doubt, wise cap-
tain as he was, given instruction to them to
follow up his plans of occupation, and to direct
their efforts against the remaining portions of
Harold' s Earldoms. These were particularly the
districts which had belonged to his brother
Sweyn : Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and the
adjoining parts, much mixed up with the half
independent and half subdued dominions of the
British princes, and also not very accurately dis-
tinguished from the dominions of the sons of Algar.
Fitz-Osbern stretched across the country, and
420 M1SGOYKKNMKNT OK TI1K. UK.UKXTS.
, occupied Hereford, being assisted by Richard
Fit /-Scroop. who, a:3 it will bo recollected, was
or settled there in the (\>n lessor' s (lavs. At Here-
Normans in
"*• ford, a strong castle was built and a garrison
placed therein ; and at this period many other
castles were commenced, at least, by Fit/-0sbern,
all rivetting the Norman power. In these opera-
tions, much warfare, much bloodshed, much
desolation was inevitable; yet, divided as the
English were, any incursion or injury olVered in
the way of war to any particular Thane, would
not have been considered as a national injury.
But Odo, so unworthy of the name of a Bishop,
and Fitz-Osbern, were carried awav bv excessive
»• V
pride : all justice was entirely denied. All the
wise coercion of evil, of needless crime, which
had been enforced bv William, was entirely
* V
thrown aside. William had caused peace to be
injustice observed and the dwellings to be protected : the
the Keg«uts.
Regents gave them up to robbery. William had
ensured safe conduct to the wayfarer : the Re-
gents gave up the highways to robbery and
rapine. Above all, William had most carefully
and inexorably protected the honour of the
female : the Regents encouraged and supported
their followers in sin and violence. It seemed
as if the Normans, released from all authority,
all restraint, all fear of retaliation, were now
determined to reduce the English nation into
bodily servitude, and to drive them to despair.
This subversion of all discipline, this universal
MANY ENGLISH EMIGRATE. 421
anarchy, was on the point of becoming fatal to
the Norman power.
We possess very curious, and, it appears to
me, conclusive evidence that William was kept
in ignorance of these transactions, and that he
was deceived by the reports transmitted to him
by his brother and Fitz-Osbern. But, as through-
out the whole of this stage of the conflict, the
Normans were settled and confirmed in their
authority, not so much by their own valour or
their own prudence as by the moral visitation
which had fallen upon the English. If the Eng-
lish could have been united under any one com-
mander, or if they could have been united
amongst themselves, they might yet have recovered
their independence ; but the spirit of the race was
broken : emigration began. Very many of the
younger abandoned their country and all thought
of it, and proceeding to the South, entered the
service of the Byzantine Emperor, where they
became a mercenary band, fighting battles not
their own, and enjoying the luxuries of the East,
as the price of their venal fidelity. Some went
back to the land of their forefathers, the antient
seats of the " old Saxons " on the Elbe, and are
dimly traced in the recollections of German his-
tory. All these were for ever lost to England.
§ 6. But there were others who at least were
more consistent, and who left the country, not in
despair, not dreading the yoke of the Normans,
and determined to make one effort more. Egel-
422 THE ENGLISH SEEK ALLIES.
. 1067 . sine had returned from Denmark, leaving his
see ante, gifts ; but many of the English, including
p* 396.
Harold's sons, had supplied his place at the
Court of Sweno ; and urged him to revenge his
injuries and their own. The Danes were impa-
tient for action : his brother, Jarl Osbern, his
Bishops, were all ready for the war, and a ready
and joyful assent was given to the English en-
treaties. A second body of Englishmen resorted
to Malcolm Canmore. Egelric, the Bishop of
Durham, Malcolm's Diocesan, probably was on
their side, and Malcolm on his part raised large
forces for the foray. Lastly the men of Kent
sought a liberator in the person of one who had
been the Conqueror's compeer, his ally in the
battle of Hastings, and a fellow vassal of the
TO Eustace. Frankish king. This was Eustace, brother-in-
law of the Confessor, Count of Boulogne, of
Guisnes, of Terouenne — Terouenne which had
withstood the power of Caesar, — both courted and
distrusted by William, who, keeping the son of
Eustace as an hostage, had nevertheless bestowed
upon him large Kentish domains.
RiHngin Notwithstanding the injuries which the men
of Kent had, in the preceding reign, received
from Eustace, they nevertheless much respected
this Sovereign, destined to become the grand-
father of an English king ; and they invited him
as a liberator. The great object was to gain pos-
session of Dover, strongly fortified and strongly
manned, and usually commanded by the Bishop
INSURRECTION IN KENT. 423
and Hugh cle Montfort in person. Watching the .
opportunity, when they were absent beyond the
Thames, the confederates gave notice of the
favourable moment. A Kentish vessel bore
Eustace across the narrow channel, and having
quitted the Roman Pharos which crowned his
own white cliffs, he landed at the foot of the
tower from which signal, in the times of the Em-
perors, had answered to signal in Britain. The
Kentish barks, which had been sent over for the
service of Eustace, conveyed over his chosen
band of knights.
The whole country around was in a state of And -mv
Dover;
insurrection. He began the siege of Dover
Castle : more and more of the English joined
him, and could he have continued the siege for
two days more, the fortress would have been
compelled to surrender ; and the chief access to
England might have been closed against the
Conqueror. But the news of the invasion had
reached De Montfort and the Bishop, and they
marched all their forces against Eustace. The
garrison, however, had defended themselves
valiantly : Eustace had begun to be discouraged,
and, as it is said, had already given the signal of But is
J & defeated.
retreat. At this moment, the Bishop of Bayeux
appeared at the head of his troops. Eustace
and his men fled. Many were thrown down the
cliffs, and he escaped with great difficulty.
§ 7. In the meanwhile, the Normans were
encountering a great and formidable opposition on
424 TROUBLES ENCREASE.
the marches. The Cymri were tasting the bitter-
ness of the Norman sword : the hereditary
antipathy between them and the English had
been fast diminishing : the common sympathy
°f suffering now united them. Edric the Wild
threw off his enforced obedience, and refused to
submit to the conquerors ; probably they were
attempting to dispossess him altogether. Fitz-
Scroop, and the garrison of Hereford, ravaged
his lauds. Blethyn and Rhywallon, the princes
of Dehubarth, joined their forces to Edric, and,
entering Herefordshire, devastated the country,
and returned in triumph, loaded with booty, the
incentive and the reward of their hostility.
William continued in Normandy,, and evil
news thickened upon him ; and worse was to be
apprehended — the invasion of the Danes. Yet
he lingered in his Duchy, not ineffectually, but
providing for its good government ; reducing it
into perfect peace. At last he could stay no
longer. He again confided the government to
Matilda, not daring yet to fulfil his purpose of
placing her as a crowned queen by his side, but
directing that she should rule in the name of
Robert — an act of which he did not foresee the
future grief it would bring upon him. William
embarked at Dieppe in the depth of winter.
Dec. e, io67. The day of sailing was the feast of St. Nicholas
of Myra, a saint peculiarly invoked as the patron
of sea-farers : the weather was extremely stormy ;
but he arrived in England safely, though he had
And places
him near
Wales.
WILLIAM RETURNS. 425
well nigh perished in the tempest which lashed . _1°67
the dark and stormy sea.
§ 8. William was received with apparent
gladness ; and with his accustomed prudence and
firmness, he held his Christmas court at West-
minster with all due solemnity. He had brought
with him a wise adviser, Roger de Montgomery,
for whom he had appointed the Earldom of
Arundel, and upon whom he also bestowed the
Earldom of Shrewsbury. He thus placed one
who would become the most formidable enemy
against the Cymri on their borders, not, how-
ever, without some invasion of the rights of the
Mercian Earls ; but Edwin was still considered
as William's future son-in-law ; and the chro-
nicler, though seldom adverting to such details
of passion, gives us to understand that a sin-
cere and encreasing affection subsisted between
Edwin, whose personal beauty is always noticed
with remarkable emphasis, and his future bride.
The others, whom William had taken over with
him to Normandy, either returned now, or in
the course of the year ; Stigand, it should seem,
resuming his functions, though still under that
species of cloud resulting from accusations
publicly announced, and yet continuing unde-
fined.
In his conduct, William shewed more than
usual benignity, receiving all who resorted to
him, listening to all suggestions, and employing
himself, amongst other plans, in means of dis-
426 ATTEMPTED OPPOSITION TO
. J1"68, , uniting the Welsh and the English, whose union
might well cause him great apprehension. As
he proceeded cautiously from place to place, the
English were awed into submission, and wherever
he appeared, he fully regained that dominion
which was beginning to escape from his grasp.
wmiam°antto Not so when he reached Exeter : here a spirit
of resistance existed, far more dangerous than
the turbulence of the wilder regions of the north.
Should this one city be able to defy him, how
soon would all the other communities of the
same nature despise his power? The citizens
hated the Normans ; their river opened an easy
access to the Irish Danes ; their Roman walls
and defences, then the noblest in England, gave
them more than the usual means of resistance ;
and they probably knew, that dreaded as the
Normans were in the open field, they were com-
paratively deficient when operating against the
walls of a fortress. The patriotism of the men
of Exeter invited those who shared the same
feelings ; their opulence enabled them to pur-
chase the doubtful though formidable aid of
mercenaries from the north ; foreign countries
had stored their city with the means of defence ;
and when William approached, and required the
expected submission, the citizens peremptorily
refused, closed the gates, manned the battle-
ciaimsofthements, and defied the alien king. No oath of
citizens.
allegiance would they take ; no entry should he
make within their walls ; but they were willing
WILLIAM AT EXETER. 427
to make the same recognition of his supremacy
over their Commonwealth which they had ren-
dered to his predecessor in the empire : one half
mark of gold, when London should pay its
tribute, but no less and no more.
William had respected the qualified privileges
of London; but without doubt, he foresaw that
if he permitted a community so powerful, pos-
sessing such moral as well as material strength,
to retain those rights, the same emancipation
would extend itself to the other cities. Imperial
York, the birthplace of Constantino ; Derby,
filled with her Danish population ; Lincoln, se-
cretly acknowledging the northern king ; Chester,
like Exeter, still defended by the Roman ram-
parts, the last shadow of the Empire ; Winches-
ter, ennobled by the recollections of the fabled
Arthur ; and even London herself, though bound
down by the fortresses planted within her pre-
cincts— all would rally, and like the Lombard
cities, — like that Pavia which had given a Lan-
franc to England, — would league themselves,
and defy him, as those in Italy were now begin-
ning to assert their liberty against the successors
of the Cresars. William therefore would listen
to no terms.
§ 9. The men of Exeter were divided. The Sicg*of
Exeter.
rulers, the senate, who had much to lose, dreaded
the effects of resistance to their personal comforts ;
— they came forth, they knelt before the foreign
sovereign — they promised implicit obedience,
428 CAPTURE OF EXETER.
. and gave hostages to secure their dishonourable
submission. But when the wealthy citizens re-
entered the walls, they were no longer the senate ;
the indignant people would not confess them-
selves bound by the act of the selfish few : they
guarded the gates, and refused to hear of sur-
render. William, after reconnoitering the city,
advanced, and approaching the gate, brought
forth one of his hostages and put out his eyes.
But the embittered inhabitants still would not
hear of surrender ; and having no pity for their
own unfortunate townsmen in William's hands,
abandoned them to his cruelty. The siege was
continued till resistance was hopeless ; the bat-
tlements were beaten down, and the lofty white
Exeter walls fell shattered upon the ground, the foun-
dations being burrowed through by the miners.
Clergy and laity came forth soliciting pardon.
William displayed a politic clemency : he ac-
cepted the proffered allegiance of the citizens, and
protected their property from spoil, preventing
his soldiers from entering the city, whilst the
fury and storm of victory was raging. He
profited by this forbearance : the soldiery would
have plundered on their own account, not his ;
and at this juncture his object was not to punish
but to secure : he surveyed his conquest, and
marked out the place for a very strong citadel :
A castie buiit. Roiigemont, for such it was called, rose with the
usual rapidity. Baldwin de Moeles was placed
in command : a large garrison prevented the
MATILDA IX ENGLAND. 429
citizens from being tempted any more to assert 1068
their independence. From a republic, Exeter
subdued.
became a municipality ; and William's forces
extending along the peninsula, his dominion was
established even to the Land's End.
§ 10. William allowed his army to return to
their homes, and celebrated a peaceful and joyful
Easter at Winchester. He could now fulfil his
heart's desire : he sent a stately train to Nor-
mandy to bring over Matilda. She passed over
with her court and courtiers, noble dames, pre-
lates and barons ; but none amongst these was
more distinguished than Guido of Amiens, he
by whom the victory of William had been so
lately praised and sung, a grateful theme to
Matilda, whose hands had just assisted in com-
pleting the tapestry in which she had laboured
to commemorate her husband's deeds : that roll
so frail and yet so enduring, which has outlasted
many a castle, town and tower.
The coronation was now to take place; but i* crowned
Stigand was again repelled from his office, and
the solemn rite was fulfilled by Aldred on the n Ma7.
festival of Pentecost. Within the year, Matilda
was delivered of her youngest son, who received
the name of Henry, and who became the pecu-
liar object of his father's care. William had not
neglected the education of any of his children ; E
but with Henry, there may have been more
opportunity for improvement. Lanfranc was
his instructor, and Henry received that instruc-
430 BEAUCLERC.
1068 . tion so willingly, that, at no period of his life
did he neglect or lose his pleasure in the culti-
vation he had received. Beauclerc the boy was
called, a name as appropriate to his form as to
his mind, and though youngest in age, the
English considered him highest in honour. He
alone of all the Conqueror's children was the
Porphyrogenitus, the son of a crowned king
and a crowned queen ; the son of a father and
of a mother ordained to royalty, the only one
upon whom, according to popular opinion, re-
gality could descend : and many a prophecy of
the British Merlin, now adopted by the English,
testified the gladness with which they would
view the accession of one whom they might con-
sider as a national sovereign.
431
CHAPTER X.
WILLIAM'S POLICY — REVOLT OF EDWIN AND MORCAR — FIRST
NORTHUMBRIAN CAMPAIGN DEATH OF ROBERT COMYN
EDGAR ATHELING'S FLIGHT TO SCOTLAND — MALCOLM'S MAR-
RIAGE WITH MARGARET — DANISH INVASION — THE ATHEL-
ING RECOGNIZED AS KING OF NORTIIUMBRIA WILLIAM'S
SECOND NORTHUMBRIAN CAMPAIGN FINAL REDUCTION OF
THE NORTH — REVOLT OF HEREWARD AND EDWIN FURTHER
CONFISCATIONS CHURCH MATTERS.
1068—1072.
g 1. BY the reduction of Exeter, William 1068
established tranquillity in Wessex : a temporary
tranquillity, but which fully enabled him to peace™1
mature his plans of government. He might well
expect the attacks of the Danes. Abbot Elsi
had returned, and from him he might learn that
Sweno, fully engaged in warfare with the Nor-
wegians and the Swedes, could not then resume
his plans of English invasion.
In the meanwhile the country prospered : Assimilation
of English
William's stern authority ensured the peace, and
more amity began to prevail amongst the English
and the Normans. The partiality for French
manners and customs, so encouraged by the
Confessor, continued to encrease ; and in dress
and habits, and even in language, the natives
more and more turned to their recent invaders.
§ 2. The tranquillity of the country was dis-
VOL. in. F F
432
INROAD OF GODWIN.
1CM58
Godwin
inTades the
West.
Finds no
sympathy.
Retreats.
More lands
bestowed.
turbed, however, by Harold's son, Godwin, who
had been assembling large forces in Ireland.
The Somersetshire coast, where he expected co-
operation, invited him. His fleet, in which with-
out doubt, the larger portion of the crews con-
sisted of Danes or Ostmen, entered the mouth of
the Avon, ravaging the country. They advanced,
and laid siege to Bristol. But the inhabitants
of that great and opulent town withstood the
marauders for their own sakes. They fought
for goods and warehouses, wives and families,
and beat the enemy off. However, much plun-
der had been gained, even in this expedition,
which they secured on board their ships, and
then spread themselves over the whole shire,
doing great harm. Eadnoth, the standard-bearer
of England : he who had been King Harold's
standard-bearer, had no sympathy with Harold's
sons : he raised the forces of the country and
gave them battle. He himself was slain, but
they were beat off with great loss, and com-
pelled to re-embark, and the English said that
Godwin was not entirely dissatisfied with the
results, as he was thus released from a portion
of the exorbitant demands which he expected
they would make for their equipment and pay.
§ 3. The settlement of the country, mean-,
while, was not intermitted. More and more
lands, more and more domains, passed to Norman
superiority. Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of
Coutances, he who had been so efficient in pro-
moting the assumption of the royal authority,
THE NEW FOREST. 433
Iiad abandoned his See, for the purpose of be- 1003
coming one of the largest proprietors in Eng-
land ; and his possessions extended through Berk-
shire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, besides
many shires to the north of the Thames. Robert,
Earl of Mortaigue, was now also possessed of
lordships as far as the Land's End ; and he
erected the strong Castle to which he gave the
name of Mont-aigu from the abrupt and pointed
hill upon which it was raised.
"William's favourite residence was at Wm-JSS11
Chester : a preference given not merely from its
political importance, but from the facilities which
it offered for those pleasures which the Norman
kings pursued with such inveteracy. The weald of
Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, still constituted an
extensive and tangled forest, though interspersed
with many a pleasant village and many an open
glade ; for the continuance of land as forest was
not by any means incompatible with husbandry
and cultivation ; and the district, especially in
Hampshire, was fully settled, abounding, even
then, with parish churches, round which the
people were congregated : — the rights of pasture
which they possessed in the commonland, afford-
ing the means of subsistence to the herds of
beasts and cattle, but more especially of swine, J0hree£ew
which constituted so large a proportion of their
sustenance. Here William committed that great
act of injustice which brought the most lasting
opprobrium upon his name. He seized a com-
pass of territory not less than fifty miles in
F F 2
434 WILLIAM'S IMPERFECT
1069 circuit, which was henceforth to be appropriated
to no other purpose than the chase. The in-
habitants were expelled : the sacred structures
destroyed, and the New Forest became the last-
ing monument of the Conqueror's tyranny.
§ 4. As yet, William had never been seen in
the northern parts of England. Two of the great
Earldoms were still only partially placed under
his authority, Mercia and Northurnbria. It might
have been William's intention to preserve to the
sons of Algar the dominion which they possessed
in the first of these great principalities, for
such they were, and which their father had
ruled with almost regal power. Chester, where
Edgar had triumphed over the British kings,
had encreased both in moral and military in-
fluence, during Algar's prosperous arid benefi-
cent authority. William had wisely planned to
bring this Earldom into his family, by giving his
Edwin.. daughter in marriage to Edwin. None so popu-
lar was there as Edwin in England : none so
beautiful, none so bold ; nor could any plan
have been more considerately formed ; not merely
for promoting the political influence of the new
dynasty, than for conciliating the affections of
the people. But the jealousy of William's Nor-
man counsellors, and we may infer that of
Montgomery in particular, defeated the plan.
William lingered to fulfil his promise ; then
refused, and Edwin, hot and irascible, quitted
the court and rose in rebellion.
The influence of the two brothers, Edwin
HOLD ON THE NORTH. 435
rnd Morcar — for the one is never mentioned ^ ioe9
without the other until they were separated by
death — was exceedingly extensive. The North-
umbrians had wished for Edwin as their Earl :
the great Earldom of Chester belonged to the
sons ; they were closely connected with the
Oymri, and they were loved and respected and
honoured by Blethyn, their nephew, the British
king. Waltheof returned to his Earldom, or at
least to his domain. A simultaneous insur-
rection was organized : the optimates of the
northern English and the Britons assembled,
and instigated the inhabitants of all Albion to
join in liberating themselves from their common
enemy.
§ 5. The war broke out most fiercely in
Northumbria ; moor and wood, marsh and glen,
became the strongholds of the English. Large
bodies encamped in the forests, and the name of
wild men was contemptuously bestowed upon
them by the invaders. They availed themselves
equally of the fortification of the Burghs : the
Scots assisted, as well as the Danish population,
and Aldred endeavoured to restrain the hostility
of the northern metropolis, but in vain ; battle
was the cry ; and to rid themselves of oppres-
sion, they threw off all government.
This was not the mode to resist an experi-
enced and wary foe ; and William recommenced
his operations with the same prudence and com-
prehensive view which he had already displayed.
Fenced cities the English possessed. The men
436 WILLIAM'S PLAN
iocs of York could be proud and confident in the
great, many- angular tower, upon which the
Labarum of Constantine had been displayed.
iam's Others were tolerably well protected by earthen
thorough • •>
ramparts and stockades ; but they did not pos-
sess any compact points of defence, in which,
instead of covering a large and motley popula-
tion, useless for war, you could victual a well-
chosen garrison of efficient soldiers ; and the
irregular bravery of the English therefore con-
tributed not to the protection of the country,
but to its devastation and destruction. Wil-
liam's policy, therefore, consisted in establish-
ing regular lines of citadels as he advanced.
Every station was marked by a new fortress,
placed under an experienced commander. War-
wick was occupied ; and upon the site of the
tower illustrated by the traditions of the hero
Guy, the great opponent of the Danes, the castle
was built, granted to Henry de Beaumont, who
was created Earl of that large dismemberment
of the Mercian territory.
The saxons This demonstration at once shewed to Edwin
submit.
and Morcar what they had to expect, and that
their resistance to William's authority would
end in their total ruin. They came forward,
therefore, and requested William's grace and
favour : it was granted to them in appearance ;
but Warwick and its Earldom were not restored,
and they parted from the King entirely alienated,
whether in affection or in loyalty.
OF CASTELLATING ENGLAND. 437
Nottingham was the next station ; here a
castle was built, and granted to William Peverel,
represented by a doubtful tradition as an illegiti-
mate son of the Conqueror.
§ 6. Shortly afterwards, the forces of Wil-
liam were seen before imperial York. Terror had
preceded him, and no thought of resistance was
entertained. The citizens came forth with the
keys, and offered them to the Sovereign on the
bended knee, proffering obedience and soliciting
mercy. Archil, the great Thane, whose posses-
sions were spread over Leicestershire and War-
wick, and Lincolnshire, and the British Mercia,
and South Northumbria, surrendered also to
William's authority, and gave his son as an
hostage. All this was well, but William imme-
diately began to lay the foundations of a strong
castle within the city walls ; and as soon as the
works were in anywise defensible, they were York Castle
powerfully garrisoned, under the command of
Robert Fitz-Richard. This tower gave a suf-
ficient token of the citizens' submission, and the
doubts entertained of their sincerity.
Probably the resistance of the Northum-
brians at this juncture would have been more
determined, had not their cause been weakened
by the unexpected defection of that near ally
upon whose support they most reckoned.
Malcolm had fully prepared to wage a despe-
rate warfare against the Normans ; but Egelric,
Bishop of Durham, terrified at William's ap-
438 MALCOLM.
1069 proach, now sought to conciliate his favour, and
meditated a peace. The original character of the
Celtic Gael, as described by Bede, when speak-
ing of the first invasion of Ireland by the English,
was distinguished by mildness, resulting, per-
haps, in some measure, from indolence, but ren-
dering them averse, except under strong provo-
cation, from offensive war. The ferocity which
the "Irishry," as the Highlanders were also
called until the last century, exhibited in Erin,
when worn and torn by the unmitigated spoil
and oppression of successive centuries, is a fear-
ful proof of the manner in which the temper of
nations, as of individuals, may be maddened by
despair, and the dispositions most susceptible
of love and affection turned to exacerbated
vengeance. A strong desire for religious con-
templation and domestic tranquillity existed
Maicoim amongst the Gael of Albania. Malcolm's deter-
renews
mination of submitting to William was received
by the clans with the greatest joy — as a boon,
and not an humiliation. His embassadors, ac-
companied by the Bishop of Durham, appeared
before the Conqueror, and the oath of fealty,
taken by proxy, renewed the bond of dependence
between the Kings of the Scots and the Basileus
of the British islands.
§ 7. William's first campaign was thus even
more successful than he could have anticipated : he
gained his object without any sacrifice of strength.
He now, therefore, returned to his capital of
MORE FORTRESSES. 439
Winchester, taking another route, but equally
with the same intention towards providing for the
defence of the country. Lincoln, strong in its ituMdnj
Roman walls, had a castle erected, emulating
that of York. Another was raised at Cam- Cambridge ;
bridge, to keep in check the dangerous Marsh-
lands, possessing stronger natural defences than
any which the hand of man could raise : an-
other at Huntingdon. With respect to Norfolk
and Suffolk, these had been erected into an earl-
dom, and granted to Ralph Guader, a Breton by
birth, and therefore no favourite amongst the
Normans, but supported by his powerful alliance
with Fitz-Osbern, whose daughter he had
espoused. Other castles were judiciously raised
about this time, as it should seem, in the dis-
memberments of Mercia ; Stafford, Shrewsbury, InMercia-
and many more : some upon defensible points,
but the greater number in and within the towns.
Moral effect
These fortresses did not merely furnish im- Soils'?
fortifications.
portant points of defence : they inspired terror.
Each tall, square dungeon tower, with its fresh
walls, harshly and coldly glittering in the sun,
standing upon the ground of the habitations
which had been demolished, and the gardens and
homesteads which had been wasted, to give a
site to the fortress in the midst of the people,
bespoke the stern determination of the Sovereign.
They were the trophies of the Conquest in the
strictest sense of the term ; warning, threatening
the native race. England, wherever William or
440 THE NORMAN CASTLE.
*
1069 his Earls and Barons had settled themselves,
was planted with these citadels, of which the
ruins are seen here and there, some degraded to
mean uses, others still more degraded, as mere
curiosities : some, and the proudest of them, the
prison of the vagrant and the felon ; others, open
to the whistling winds. Then were they all new
and strong, and cruel in their strength. How
Aspect of a
ow'tuTSi its the Englishman must have loathed the damp
smell of the fresh mortar, and the sight of the
heaps of rubble, and the drippings of the stone,
and the blurring of the lime upon the green sward,
as he passed by the Norman castle ; and how
hopeless must he have felt when the great gates
opened and the wains were drawn in, heavily
laden with the salted beeves, and the sacks of
corn and meal furnished by the royal demesnes,
the manors which had belonged to Edward the
Confessor, now the spoil of the stranger : and,
when he looked into the castle court, thronged
with the soldiers in bright mail, and heard the
carpenters working upon the ordnance, — every
blow and stroke, even of the hammer or mallet,
speaking the language of defiance.
§ 8. Future events fully manifested the wis-
dom of William's system ; but he had yet many
more struggles to make. England was not won,
though three years had nearly elapsed since he
had worn the royal crown. The English began
to feel most acutely that they were conquered :
and many a wild and desperate scheme did they
form for their deliverance. It is said that a
ALLEGED PLOT AND SEIZURES. 441
plot, or conspiracy was organized for a general ^
massacre of the Normans ; and that the time
fixed for carrying it into effect was Ash- Wed- ^mLon of
nesday, the day of penitence and prayer. Con-
cerning this plot, the English writers are entirely
silent, but during this period, thCy are remark-
ably succinct and broken, betraying, by their
fragmentary and incomplete notices, the con-
fusion which prevailed.
Whether true or not, this alleged conspiracy
furnished the reason, or the pretence for great
severity. Many English of distinction were cast Further
seizures of
into prison : others put to death, and far more land-
extensive seizures of land without doubt ensued.
We have a remarkable proof indeed that William
had now abandoned his former just and equit-
able policy. If any could claim [possession for]
his heirs, or next of kin, supposing they were
not strictly heirs, [it should have been] Eadnoth
the standard-bearer, who had lost his life for see P. 432.
William's cause ; yet all the domains of this
great Thane were divided amongst the Con-
queror's Norman followers. With Waltheof,
Merlesweyn, and Gospatric, William had been
afraid or unable to meddle, and these last re-
lics of the English nobility now were in dread,
lest the same fate should befal them which had
visited their compeers, — captivity or death ; and
they determined to seek refuge under the pro-
tection of the Scottish king. But they contem-
plated more than their own safety. They con-
templated rescuing the deposed royal family
442 THE SAXON ROYAL
1069 ^ from the invader: — nay more, the preservation of
the royal authority, and its actual restoration in
the antient right royal line. They therefore
embarked with Edgar, the widowed Agatha,
Scotland.
Margaret, and Cristina; and St. Margaret's
Hope, on the banks of the Tweed, preserves
by its traditionary name the memory of the
spot where the fugitives touched the Scottish
shore.
KoyaV116 I 9- No fact in tne history of the island is
more prominent, for perhaps the event is even of
more importance in the Scottish annals than in
our own, than the flight of the Atheling, and the
marriage of Margaret with the Scottish king ;
yet there are none in which the details are en-
veloped in greater uncertainty ; but, when it is
recollected that none of those who relate the
event could have witnessed it, and that probably
much precaution and some artifice may have
been needed, to enable the children of England
to escape from the Norman Conqueror, there
will be less reason to be perplexed by discrepan-
cies, which rather confirm than invalidate the
general narrative. It is therefore not at all
improbable, that there may be some foundation
for the tale, that the Atheling, or rather his
mother Agatha, — for he must certainly have been
too young to form any plan for himself, — first
spread the report that they intended to retire to
Hungary, to a distance which would put an end
to all suspicion of future rivalry ; and the pic-
FAMILY IN SCOTLAND. 443
ture preserved of Malcolm meeting the maiden ,
on the shore, was that species of embellishment
which imagination gives to love in every age.
It is very credible that the royal family of
England may have been received in the palatial
abbey of Dumferline ; and still more, that,
whether betrothed or not by her kinsman the
Malcolm.
Confessor, Margaret may have hesitated to
accept the hand of the Scottish king. It is quite
consistent with her character to believe that she
would far more willingly have dedicated herself
as a virgin to the service of the Lord. But it
was destined that she should perform that ser-
vice more effectually as a wife and as a mother.
The assent of Edgar, young as he was, was
required. Upon the urgent request of Malcolm,
Margaret assented, unwillingly and reluctantly ;
but the extreme affection of which she was the
object soon dispelled this, and she entered on
that high and dignified station, which rendered
her, in the truest sense of the word, a blessing
to the realm.
3 10. If any doubt could be entertained that
„, Denmark
the plan of the escape to Scotland was purposed
and deliberate, it would be removed by considering
how entirely it falls in with the plans which the
English were forming for the liberation of their
race and country. They had been diligently
despatching messengers to Sweno, urging him to
carry on the war against William. Abbot
Egelsine, having incurred William's displeasure,
444 FORCES GATHERED IN DENMARK.
had fled to Denmark, and was without doubt
one who most urgently pressed the request.
Most willingly was it accepted. Sweno, and
™7' Sweno's brothers, Canute and Osbern : Sweno's
Jarls and Sweno's Bishops, full as warlike as
they, entered heart and soul into the enterprize.
A most powerful army and armada was pre-
pared ; where the name of England scarcely
conveyed a definite idea, the fame of England's
riches would be fully appreciated ; and the
summons given by Sweno excited the greatest
activity in the north. In the forests of Lithua-
nia, where Thor, and Woden, and Freia were yet
worshipped, the Letts and the Vandals were
arming themselves with their staves and
gisarmes for the invasion. The Sclavonians,
who subsequently assumed the name of Poles,
were equally preparing for the fight. Still more
so in the nearer Frisia, whence Hengist and
Horsa came of old, now again ready to send
forth her swarms of warriors to Britain, whilst
all the adjoining nations and districts con-
tributed their aid. Some of these tribes had been
vanquished by Sweno — others were his allies —
they swelled his host and added to the terror
which it inspired.
§ 11. The whole of the north of England was
again in a state of insurrection. Since the death
of Oswulf, Northumbria fully defied the power
of the Conqueror. So did all the marches of
Mercia ; so did many of the remaining Thanes
GENERAL RISING IN THE NORTH. 445
of Yorkshire ; so did the great fen country of 1009
theNormani.
Ely, in the heart of that portion of the kingdom
which William might call his own; and even
where the people dared not evince open hostility,
the hostile feeling could not be concealed. It
was much against William's interest that all the
monasteries were the very strongholds of national
feeling. They were truly English, and besides
the influence which they possessed upon public
opinion, they supported the native interest by
those immunities, which as yet the Conqueror
had not dared to attack : here the English had
deposited much of that treasure with which,
when occasion should serve, they might renew
the war.
So eminent and so apparent were these Ther are ,
discouraged.
dangers to the Normans, that they now lost
heart. Very many threw up their English pos- Many ay.
sessions, and departed to their homes in Nor-
mandy ; some of them never to return. William
himself found it for once absolutely impracti-
cable to govern : he could not enforce obedience
to the laws. An extended and predatory war-
fare wasted and harassed both parties : sickness
and scarcity prevailed : the soldiery became
clamorous, and William, unwilling to be troubled,
and perhaps endangered by a demoralized and
discontented army, dismissed a large number of
his retainers, but with munificent rewards.
§12. But whilst troubles were encreasing
around him, William's discouragement, so unlike
446 WILLIAM'S PREPARATIONS.
">69 . himself, passed away. He sent Matilda to Nor-
mandy : she was to preserve the Duchy for her
son, and to help her husband by her prayers.
No token could more clearly bespeak William's
sense of his impending danger, and the need of
his utmost exertion, than his thus parting with
the dear companion whose presence he had so
anxiously sought. His forces and followers
seem to have rallied in consequence of his bounty,
and many others appear to have come over ;
Flemings, Poitevins, Angevins, and Bretons, all
swelled his ranks, and he prepared for that strug-
gle which was to fix him upon the throne.
Another year of hard conflict must ensue
before the Conqueror was truly king. William
Saign. himself took the command of all the military
operations to the north of the Thames ; and
throughout the whole of the victories and vicissi-
tudes involved in this great and final campaign,
he is always so prominent in the foreground,
that others are cast into comparative insignifi-
cance. In Wessex, of which the subjugation
was so nearly complete as to leave no great cause
for anxiety, Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, as
we collect, was the chief commander.
Another s 13 Quite undeterred by their defeat at
invasion in. o ^u •/
Bristol, the sons of Harold, assembling a larger
force, again invaded Wessex, and sailing up the
Tamar, and landing at its confluence with the
Tavey, they marched against Exeter ; but they
were encountered by Bryan Fitz-Count. Two des-
1069
RISING IN THE WEST. 447
perate conflicts took place on the same day : the
Irish Danes were totally defeated : had not night- iri8h
defeated.
fall intervened, not a man would have escaped ;
and after this punishment, they never again
ventured to insult the territory of the Conqueror.
More dangerous, because connected with the
general scheme of national liberation, was the
great rising of the Somersetshire and Dorset-
shire men, who expected without doubt, co-
operation from their countrymen ; but they
were entirely disappointed : they attempted a
siege of the new castle of Montacute, but fruit-
lessly : the Bishop of Coutances, at the head of
the citizens of London, Winchester, and Salis-
bury, routed one body of the insurgents, who
were cruelly treated by the victors. Another
body attacked Exeter. Here they might well have
expected favour, but the citizens had had too
recent an experience of William's power to dare
to be unfaithful ; and Bryan Fitz-Count taking
the command, the insurgents were completely
routed, nor was the tranquillity of this extensive ^*^x
district ever again disturbed.
§ 14. But the great danger to William's power ^es£
was the truly national insurrection of the North ;
the other portions of the English nations were
awed by the Norman power : they defied it.
Gospatric claimed the great Earldom of Bernicia
or Northumbria, from the Tyne to the north of
the Tweed ; and Durham became the gathering
point for all the northern English, who flocked
VOL. in. G G
448 THE FATE OF
1069 thither from every side ; and taking a lesson
from the Normans, they began to raise a castle,
intended as the centre of future resistance, and
where they could await the co-operation of the
Danish king.
^potato I* was °f the greatest importance to William
ofTorth"1 that this country should be thoroughly reduced.
umbria.
Copsi had perished in the desperate attempt ;
but a successor was easily found amongst Wil-
liam's followers. None were more tough, more
adventurous than the Flemings, and Eobert
Comyn, or de Comines, accepted all that William
could grant to him of the Earldom. The regular
succession of the old lines of Earls had been so
disturbed, that there was as little certainty in
their dignity as in that of an Hospodar of Wal-
lachia ; but no attempt had ever yet been made
to place an entire stranger, a man speaking a
foreign tongue, over Northumbria. So hateful
was the prospect of this foreign domination, and
apparently now so irresistible, — for Comyn was
advancing with a very large force, — that the
Northumbrians prepared to abandon their homes,
probably with the intention of retiring into the
English Lothian, or of protecting themselves in
the yet unsubdued wilds and fastnesses of
Cumbria, But they could not. Winter set in
with unusual severity : deep snow covered the
soil : flight became impracticable ; and they de-
termined either to slay the invader or to fall.
Bishop Agelwine was very hostile to the
ROBERT COMYN. 449
Conqueror ; but either the fear of vengeance, or „ 1089
feelings of humanity, induced him to warn
Comyn of the impending danger ; for it seems
that the Northumbrian soldiery had purposely
abandoned Durham in order to allure him ink
the town. But Comyn either disregarded the
warning or despised the enemy. He entered
the city, and the houses of the Burghers were
forcibly occupied by his troops. Early in the
morning the town was attacked on every side by
the Landsfolk. A battle took place in the
streets of the city. Comyn was burnt in the i»
house which he vainly endeavoured to defend :
and so general was the slaughter, that, as it was
said, only one man escaped to bear the intelli-
gence to him, who might well now apprehend
that he would lose the title of the Conqueror.
§15. The confederates, Merles weyn and Gos- The E
now i
patric, assisted, as we can infer, by Edwin andMor- York CaBtle<
car, as well as by the Northumbrian Thanes, now
advanced boldly towards York. Countrymen and
burghers everywhere joined them : they entered
the city, supported by the universal friendship
of the inhabitants. But William's policy was
successful. Their attacks upon the castle were
vain. Eobert Fitz-Richard, who commanded
the city, was killed ; but the fortress under Mal-
let still held out against the forces by which it
was invested. The insurgents were in complete
possession of the city and all the surrounding
country. Merlesweyn, Gospatric, the great
G G 2
450
WILLIAM'S CAMPAIGN.
1069
William
rouses
himself.
Regains
York.
Nearly
reaches
Durham.
Thanes, Archil and Charles and Waltheof, all had
joined the English cause, and Edgar Atheling was
proclaimed King.
The scale now might seem to be turning most
rapidly against William. He now had a true com-
petitor, for the Danes would soon arrive in the
Humber ; and if they supported the Atheling,
the Norman cause was lost. William seems
about this time to have been in Mercia ; he ad-
vanced immediately with a very large army, as
large as he could muster. King Edgar and his
supporters and the men of York all were taken
by surprise, so sudden was William's march :
they fled : he spared none whom his sword could
reach ; a great slaughter ensued : the town was
plundered, the cathedral and the other churches
profaned : he began the devastation of the
country, but the Atheling escaped in safety, and
again found a refuge amongst the Scots.
William now endeavoured to pursue his suc-
cess : the way was open, as it seemed, to Durham,
and he determined to punish the country and
revenge the death of Comyn. He advanced
without opposition as far as Allerton : no enemy
appeared, no sword was raised. Durham was
close at hand, exposed to their vengeance ; but
on the following morning, there was neither
dawning nor day, so thick was the darkness that
surrounded them, so thick was the mist, so im-
pervious, so impenetrable. A panic fear seized
the invaders ; and now one in the camp re-
DANISH INVASION. 451
minded the Normans to whom the land between
Tyne and Tees belonged. Even as Rome belonged
to St. Peter, so did Durham belong to St. Cuth-
bert ; and many a legend was related how the
despoilers of his church had been stricken with
palsy or afflicted with wild insanity, and that no
attack upon him ever remained unrevenged ; and
William returned to the South, ingloriously and
without triumph, to Winchester ; depressed, but
yet preparing for the continuance of the conflict
by which the kingdom was to be won.
§ 16. The havens of Denmark and Norway
were now in full activity ; and when the days had
lengthened, the long threatened armada of Sweno
began the voyage to England. The commanders
of the expedition testified its importance. Canute
and Harold, Sweno's sons, his Bishops and his
Earls all joined : the vessels were crowded with
the warriors of the North, and the whole array
bespoke the intention of permanent conquest.
From the direction which they took, it should
seem that the haven of muster was on the Flemish
coast; for the course of the armada was first
directed to the southern parts of England. From
the cliffs and towers of Dover the horizon was
seen filled with sails : the Danish fleet was ap-
proaching ; but the invaders knew that the coun-
try there was filled with Norman soldiery, that
the castle was bristling with spears. Neverthe-
less they attempted a landing, but were repulsed
with loss. Sandwich appeared less guarded :
452 THE COURSE OF THE
. *°69 . another attempt was, however, equally unsuccess-
ful : again they were repelled by the forces of
the Norman King. They dared not attempt the
estuary of the Thames, but they continued their
voyage to the north ; their barks filled the plea-
Sfoikd sant Orwell, and, landing, they attacked Ipswich
and plundered the neighbouring country : but the
inhabitants, whatever Danish blood they might
possess, beat them off.
Are checked Norwich was next attacked ; but Ralph
at Norwich.
Guader resisted them bravely. Many were
drowned, others slain by the sword, and thus
repulsed, they kept off from the land until they
entered the mouth of the Humber. The Atheling,
and Waltheof, and Siward, gathering their forces
as they advanced, prepared to join them ; but
the garrison of Lincoln, being advised thereof,
were on the alert, and nearly surprised the
Atheling, who again escaped however in safety.
. The Danes now reached York : the whole country
receiving them with alacrity and gladness. Gos-
patric had arrived, and surely his Northumbrians
must have been all joyous and triumphant in
Comyn's recent slaughter ; Waltheof, son of the
noble Siward, who before, as it was said, had
alone with his battle-axe defended the gate of
the city against the Norman invader ; Merles weyn ;
Ailnoth ; Archil, casting off his enforced homage ;
the four sons of Karle, who, as it seems, had
even preceded the mixed troop of Denmark and
Norway and Sweden and Sarinatia and the Elbe ;
DANES NORTHWARD. 453
and excepting the tall dungeon keep upon which
William Mallet still unfurled the Norman banner,
the whole of Northumbria was again lost to the
Nornian King.
§ 17. During these events, \Yilliani was in
Gloucestershire. No mental anxiety could restrain 01
him from the toils or pleasures of the chase, and
he was hunting the deer in the forest of Dean,
when the intelligence arrived of the great inva-
sion. He immediately sent a speedy messenger
to York, urging Mallet to hold out, and assuring
him that he would be ready to give assistance ;
and the messenger was able to enter York before
it was occupied by the enemy, and to bring back
the message from Mallet that the garrison could
well defend themselves for a year — a vain boast.
The united forces of the Danes and the English
were overwhelming. As the houses which sur- rire at York.
rounded the castle protected the besiegers, the
Norman garrison fired them by their missiles,
and the conflagration extending itself, consumed
all that remained of the city, including all the
churches, all the monasteries : the Minster itself
was reduced to ruin.
No one in the city of York felt so much hor-
ror, so much dismay, as Archbishop Aldred. It
was he who had taken the responsibility of
sanctioning the authority of the Conqueror, and
that without any right to assume the office, with-
out lawful calling to the exercise of that consti-
tutional authority, which belonged not to him ;
454 SUCCESS OF THE DANES.
and now the retribution had fallen upon him.
All knew the wrong — all saw the punishment.
Aldred had crowned the usurper Harold — Aldred
had crowned the stranger William. Crazed and
distracted by the calamities of which, in one sense,
he might consider himself as the author, he died
sept. n. of alarm and remorse. His corpse was borne to
the Minster ; but a little while after, just when the
octave of the funeral was completed, the towers
and palaces of York, yet proud of the relics of Ro-
man magnificence, as we have said, were wrapped
in flames. This was the act of the Norman garrison.
CaBtle More Danish vessels landed their crews : they
stormed the castle. Three thousand of the Nor-
man soldiery were killed ; an unprecedented
slaughter. William Mallet, his wife and chil-
dren, escaped ; but when the fugitives, at least
those of the lower order, reached the Conqueror,
then stationed at Stafford, he accused them of
treachery, and by the most cruel mutilations,
satiated in some measure his anger and revenge.
Indeed he must at this moment have been worked
up to the highest pitch of irritation, for a des-
perate insurrection was prevailing in Mercia and
occupied in
the Welsh Marches. He had just given battle
to the insurgents, and he had thoroughly defeated
them, yet dangers were renewing themselves on
every side. However, as usual, he recovered his
presence of mind, and advancing towards York,
fully considered all needful plans, whether of
policy or of war. He had stationed his brother-
WILLIAM AGAIN GOES NORTH. 455
in-law, Robert of Mortaigne, as well as Robert of
Eu, in Lyndesay, and they were able to beat off
the increasing Danish forces which hovered in
the Humber, it having been proclaimed by the
Northmen that they would all celebrate their
Yule at York.
§ 18. In the meanwhile William was advanc-
ing : his first station was at Nottingham : he next
reached Kirkly [Castleford?], for the purpose of
crossing the Aire, but the bridge over which they
were to have passed was broken down ; and the
army continued at Pontefract for more than three
weeks before they passed over. From the
present aspect of the country, it appears difficult
to understand how the waters could offer such
an obstacle ; but it is said, that three weeks
elapsed before they could discover a convenient
ford, the point of passage having been ascer-
tained by Lisois de Musters. This part of the
story is very obscurely told. It is said that he
first crossed over at the head of sixty knights,
and then returning, acted as guide to the rest of
the army ; — but it is also very probable that
William was occupied in those secret nego-
tiations with the false and treacherous Danes
which he brought to so satisfactory a conclusion.
Hence the way was entirely open to York, which
he entered without opposition. The country,
uncleared as it was, might have furnished the
means of resistance, but none was offered : no
enemy appeared, and thus in safety he arrived
1069
456 WILLIAM AGAIN CONQUEROR.
at the northern metropolis. All had retreated :
The Danes where was Jarl Osbern and his fierce compeers ?
go off.
They had abandoned the English to their fate,
and the English had fled. And if we ask how
this result had been effected, we shall read the
answer in the future judgment of the Danish
Law-moot. When Osbern returned to Den-
mark, he was outlawed. William had trusted
Bribery, as much to gold as to steel ; and the bribes
bestowed upon the false and greedy Northman
had caused him to betray the trust which he
owed, as well to his brother as to the nation
whose resistance he had encouraged, and whom
he now abandoned to the Conqueror's vengeance.
§19. William immediately repaired the castle,
policy in the
North. anc| put it in a state of defence. All the Danes
had not been participators in the compact with
Osbern, and with these dispersed forces William
had yet to contend ; and some opposition, but
very fruitless, was offered by the English, who
fought, as it were, in the agonies of death.
Hitherto William had shewn himself a stern
ruler and a pitiless warrior, but yet restrained
by that feeling which we call the laws of
war ; but he now pursued a course hitherto
entirely unprecedented in his age. However
barbarous the warriors of the middle ages had
been, none of them, even the most ferocious,
the most savage, the most unchristian in nature,
the heathen themselves, Dane or Goth or Vandal,
had ever carried on that species of warfare
LAYS WASTE THE NORTH. 457
which, in the language of Scripture, is called . 10v69
destroying the life of the country ; and the same
precept which forbade the destruction of the
palm and the olive and the fig tree, in those
countries where they furnish the sustenance of
men, prevented them from forming the deliberate
intent, not only of destroying by hunger the
enemy they had before them, but of inflicting
all the evil in their power, and of starving
generations yet unborn. But William deter- |
mined to give the first example of a razzia, a
term introduced in our age by one nation, but
involving principles openly or tacitly adopted
or tolerated by all who are joined by the bond
of civilization. On every side the horizon was
filled with smoke and smouldering flame : the
growing crops were burned upon the field, the
stores in the garner : the cattle houghed, and
killed to feed the crow. All that had been
given for the support and sustenance of human
life was wasted and spoiled. All the habita-
tions were razed, all the edifices which could
give shelter to the people, were levelled with the
ground : wandering and dispersed, the miserable
inhabitants endeavoured to support life even by
devouring the filthy vermin and the decaying
carcase. Direful pestilence of course ensued.
The same devastations were extended far beyond
the Humber. During nine years subsequent,
the whole tract between York and Durham con-
tinued idle and untilled. Of the former inhabi-
458 WILLIAM AT YORK.
1069 tants there would scarcely have been a trace,
had it not been for the decaying corpse, lying
by the road side, and some few, who, protected
by the forests and rendered reckless by despair,
occasionally attacked the new settlers. But so
successful was William's policy, that even at
the conclusion of his reign, many a wide and
fertile tract still continued desolate, and York
itself was surrounded by a wide circuit of ruins.
§ 20. William continued at York in gloomy
pomp, determined to shew himself the Sovereign.
He caused the regalia of the Confessor to be
as Dec., iocs. Brought from Winchester, and solemnly wore his
crown as king in Northumbria ; thus manifesting
as his adherence to the antient constitutional princi-
King at
pies of the British Empire ; not the one kingdom
of England, but an assemblage of States, ruled
by one Imperial Sovereign. As upon his first
coronation at Westminster, the moral effect of
this ceremony soon became apparent, giving the
English an excuse at least for submitting with-
out dishonour. Edgar had retreated with Mal-
colm, his royalty entirely passed away ; and
whether in consequence of any specific act or
declaration, or from the general tenor of his con-
duct, he was considered as having resigned his
claims in favour of his sister Margaret and her
descendants, who were thenceforth deemed the
heirs of the old English crown. Great troubles
still subsisted : as yet William's labours were
most imperfectly performed, and required every
NEW GRANTS OF LAND. 459
exertion of talent, ability and prowess. But he
was prepared for all ; and to this period we
must assign many of those acts of which the fruit
appeared subsequently.
It was at York that he made the division of Grants to
Normans.
great part of the country to his followers :
their dotations consisting in great measure of the
possessions of Edwin and Morcar ; thus destroy-
ing the power of his adversaries, and planting his
own people as the superiors of the land. All
Holdernesse was bestowed upon Drogo de Bevere,
a knight of obscure lineage, but who at once
took his surname from the great district which
he obtained. To Roger de Busly was given the
noble hall of Edwin at Loughton in Le Morthem,
of which the traces still subsist, and from whence
he could contemplate the rich territories which
became his portion. A larger share of Edwin's
lands and royalties was bestowed upon the Con-
queror's nephew, Alan Fergant of Brittany,
comprehending three entire wapentakes and
more, which became the great honour of Rich-
mond, the name given by the new possessor in Richmond,
the new language, to the old English soke of
G-illyng, a name without doubt harsh and inhar-
monious in the Frenchmen's ears ; and where the
lofty castle was raised which still attests the
Norman power. A hundred and ninety-six
manors were bestowed upon Robert of Mor-
taigne ; a comparatively small share to William
Mallet. Robert Bruce, from Bruix in the
460 NEW DIFFICULTIES
Cotentin, had a far larger measure. Other Ba-
rons received in proportion to their merits or
their importunity. Archil, the Saxon Thane, who,
after his revolt had again made his submission,
received back three small manors, the remnants
of about sixty which he had previously enjoyed,
Some portions of Gospatric's lands were dis-
tributed, but many were reserved to induce or
reward any future submission ; and the whole of
the possessions of Waltheof, he who had been so
familiar with William, and so much loved and
trusted by him, his hall of Hallam, now the in-
dustrious Sheffield, and his other large domains,
were unappropriated, and might again be enjoyed
by him.
§21. As soon as the coronation was over, and
the festival of the Nativity closed, William was
again in inarch. It was not the Danes who had kept
Danes linger, their Yule at York ; but although they had been
partly bought off and partly beat away from the
Humber, yet they had not in anywise quitted the
coast of England. They continued their depre-
dations lower down the coast, towards the South,
probably acting very much in independent expe-
ditions and parties, plundering much, yet suffer-
ing from want of provisions, but formidable and
giving much disturbance. Some returned to
Denmark, and brought the ill-tidings of their
unsuccessful operations in Yorkshire to Sweno,
who immediately began to prepare another expe-
dition. A dangerous centre of opposition was
IN THE FEN COUNTRIES. 461
now again forming against William in the fen- . IOJ°
lands, dangerous, not alone from the inaccessi-
bility of their position, — where the boat could
scarcely float, and the soldier could not march The fens-
except on some narrow causeway, where three
could scarcely move abreast ; but even more
dangerous from the strong and contagious national
feeling of the people.
William had in some measure endeavoured to The fe
revolt.
counteract this influence. Brand, Abbot of Peter-
borough, he who had so long acknowledged Edgar
Atheling as King after the accession of the Con-
queror, was a great Lord, for the opulence of
Goldenburgh, as Peterborough was also called,
gave him great authority and power. Upon his
death, which took place a little before William's
entry into York, the King gave the Abbey to one
Thorold, a Frenchman as he was called, and a
stern Frenchman ; but as yet he had not been
enabled to take possession, and he remained
stationed at Stamford with his Frenchmen, to
whom he intended to grant part of his Abbey
lands. Further advance he dared not : more and
more of the English party took refuge in the dis-
trict, and more particularly in the Isle of Ely^ Isle °'
the strongest point of all. Morcar was probably
amongst them, as we can collect from subsequent
incidents ; a tale pursued, however, with great
difficulty, through narratives as confused and
disturbed as the events to which they relate.
§22. So much did the strength of the insurgent
462 STATE OF THE WEST.
107° patriots encrease, that they acted on the aggres-
sive, but they were met by a Norman force, and
pcrplexitie s.
an uncertain report reached William at York that
the English had been defeated, though, neverthe-
less, the same report informed him that they were
full of confidence and defied his power. All that
Edwin and Morcar had held in Northumbria
was lost : much also of their Mercian posses-
sions. Roger de Beaumont was in possession of
Edwin's castle of Warwick ; but, nevertheless,
the great Earldom of Chester proper was unsub-
dued. So also were the British kings or princes,
so closely connected with the family of Algar.
This must have been a great cause of anxiety
and apprehension to William. Thames and Hum-
ber and Avon were well nigh secured against
the Danes. London and York and Bristol
were all occupied by his forces, and commanded
in the west by his citadels ; but the Dee still opened the
most ready access to the Northmen, whether from
oppressed Ireland or the isles, or from Scandi-
navia itself, for the navigation round the island
offered no difficulty to the Northmen. Further-
more the city of Legions was the proudest and
most defensible of all the Roman fortresses.
Caesar's tower, yet marked out by a building of
later age, rose in the centre of the castellated
palace of the Earls, where Algitha was yet in
safety. An implacable hostility to William ani-
mated all the inhabitants : the massacre of
Yorkshire irritated, but did not deter them.
WILLIAM'S DIFFICULTIES. 463
Cymri and English united in another desperate
attempt to recover that which they now began to
consider as their common country. The men of
Chester and the Welsh, whether led on by Edwin
or by Blethyn or Rhywallon, attacked Shrews-
bury. Had it yielded, the loss might, even now,
have given a dangerous if not a fatal blow to the
Norman supremacy.
§ 23. William could not at this juncture give
to go North.
help on that side of England. His first object
was the reduction of the remaining portions of
Northumbria ; and he advanced towards the
North. He had to war against the elements ; and
in the rugged tracts and broken ground, in the
wasted and starved country, where every step
condemned his cruelty ; now through deep cold
valleys and amidst crags and rocks, which even
in the brightest spring were often enveloped in the
snow-storm, the Norman soldiers were led on by
their Sovereign, toiling heavily until they reached
the banks of the Tees.
Here he encamped for fifteen days : he did Secures
•> ' Durham.
not cross the stream, but messengers had passed
over, to and fro. The result was the pacification
of Durham. Gospatric, then probably at Dur-
ham, and who had taken the oaths before
William's ernbassadors, received a grant of the
Earldom of Northumbria, not, however, without
paying so large a sum as a relief, that it was
represented as a species of sale. Waltheof pre-
sented himself in person, and was restored to his
VOL. III. H H
464 THE DIFFICULT
possessions. Again he entered the hall of Hallam,
and at some subsequent, but not very remote
riage' period, became the husband of Judith, niece of
the Conqueror.
The march back to Hexham, through paths
hitherto untried, offered greater difficulties than
the advance. One night the cry was raised in
the army that the King was lost. William was
in safety ; but he and six horsemen had wandered
and strayed from the main body, which they did
not rejoin till the following morning. The frost
was intense. Many of the horses perished ;
general discouragement prevailed in the army :
each cared only for himself; and had any attack
been made upon them, they might have been en-
tirely cut off. But William had profited by his
policy : the country was a desert, and not a hand
was raised against him.
york § 24. Alert, indefatigable, William immedi-
ately caused the fortifications of York and all
the adjoining strongholds, to be put in a complete
state of defence. He felt entirely certain that
the southern parts of England did not need his
presence. London, Winchester, Bristol, Exeter,
probably all the greater Burghs, were, in the
common sense of the term, loyal : separated in
interest from the country at large ; their riches,
and they were very rich, made them so. In
great cities, there is always, in such emergencies,
a consistent conduct : their first principle is an
inclination to oppose authority : their second,
MARCH TO CHESTER. 465
submission to authority when conducive to their 1070
own advantage, and so William found them.
His object was now the complete reduction of
the north-western parts. Shrewsbury had been
hard pressed, but it had held out. William
therefore determined to attack the enemy in
their most important position, — Chester. The
weather was most unfavourable, the rain falling
in torrents. Regular road from York to the
scene of action, there was none ; and William
marched across the country in a direction never
before thought pervious to cavalry.
We can only guess at his line by the difficul-
ties which attended his march. His forces
seem to have been entangled in the hills and
forests of the Peak and the surrounding districts.
William's followers had never before been ex-
posed to such trials. Provisions failed. They
began to dread the bold pertinacity of the
natives. Angevines, Bretons, Manceaux, men
of the south, all unaccustomed to the severity of
an English climate, declared they would serve
no longer, and came to the King desiring their
discharge. Such a permission would have" in-
volved their own ruin, and could have been only
asked for the purpose of imposing terms upon
William, and compelling him to retreat with
them; but the Conqueror acted, men said, as
Julius Caesar did, under the like emergency.
He would use no entreaty, he would give no
promise. Cowards, he replied, might depart if
HH 2
466 CHESTER SECURED.
1070 they chose ; and, encouraging his men, some-
what by words, but far more by example, the
march was resumed. If his horse failed, he
walked, always preceding his men : he was the
first to climb the rock, or to trample through
the marsh ; and thus, safe and sound and un-
broken, the whole army came before Chester,
and completely appalled or subdued the en-
tire territory. The fortifications of Chester
were strengthened and enlarged by the Con-
queror ; and the Earldom was bestowed upon
Gerbod, the countryman of Comyn. In this
instance, however, as in the other, the choice
was not fortunate : the Flemings, strong as they
were, did not take root. Gerbod could not
maintain his ground against the English and the
Welsh, and he returned to Flanders. He was
succeeded by Hugh de Avranches, Hugh Lupus,
as he is more generally called, who, as we shall
afterwards find, rendered his Earldom the great
bulwark in those parts of the Anglo-Norman
power.
§ 25. And now William turned towards the
South, directing the building or progress of forti-
fications wherever needed ; Stafford amongst
wimam'S others. At Old Sarum he finally took his station.
triumphant
seouth -"-e mustered his army in the great plain covered
with the vestiges of the primeval population.
Here he reviewed his troops, and bestowed his
rewards upon them, endowing the leaders, and
without doubt those also of inferior degree, with
*
RESISTANCE RETIRES TO THE FENS. 467
the lands which they had won : great had been .
their exertions in this last conflict, and most
munificent was the bounty, which, at the ex-
pense of the vanquished, he displayed. Those
who had been faint-hearted, he punished. Lightly,
for the punishment consisted only in retaining
them forty days after their companions were
discharged. The heaviest part of the castigation
was, without doubt, the loss of the rewards
which they otherwise would have obtained.
§ 26. Great as these victories had been,
England was still not entirely subdued : the East
and the North were still resisting, and preparing
for further resistance. The insurgency in the fen-
lands was becoming more and more formidable,
not alone from the real danger of allowing a
district so near the capital and so open to the
sea to continue in a state of defiance, but, even
more, from the manner in which it was magni-
fied by popular opinion. Here was now almost
all that was left of the old nobility of England,
'save Waltheof, Gospatric, and some of the north-
ern Thanes. Siward Barn was there. Edwin Meeting of
seems to have joined his brother Morcar, so also cl
Egelwine, Bishop of Durham. But their chief
leader, or at least he who acquired most reputa-
tion, was Hereward the Outlaw, nephew of Brand,
abbot of Peterborough, and son of Leofric of
Brunne. In his native town, it is said that he
had been a great raiser of strife and dissension
when young. He would have been termed a
468 HEREWARD AND THE DANES
1070 Swash-buckler in the phraseology of the Eliza-
bethan age. Leofric drove him from his house :
Hereward collected a riotous troop and plun-
dered his father; upon which, as it is said,
Leofric complained to Edward the Confessor,
who, at his father's request, declared him an
outlaw and banished him from the land, and he
was called Hereward the Outlaw for evermore.
^ m&J or m^J no^ ^Q that Hereward received
the belt of knighthood from his uncle Abbot
Brand, after returning from various adventures
both in England and beyond the seas. He now
appears to have joined the Danish invaders, to
whom, from his knowledge of the country and
its riches, he might be of peculiar utility.
During these transactions, Jarl Osbern,
according to his agreement with William, had
been wintering in the Huinber ; but now another
Danish Armada appeared on the coast : Sweno
. himself ; his vessels filled with a tremendous
host of Huscarles. — Osbern seems to have co-
operated with them. Whether from antipathy
to the Normans or from apprehension of danger,
many of the inhabitants came forth and sub-
mitted to the invaders. But in this irregular
warfare, this mixture of attack and defence and
insurrection, it is impossible to follow the train of
events with accuracy, and it is equally evident
that the parties frequently changed sides ; the
main principle of the Danes being none other
but plunder,— and all the English who adhered
STORM PETERBOROUGH. 469
to the Normans, being treated as enemies by v 1071
their own countrymen.
g 27. Hereward himself guided the Danes to
the plunder of Peterborough. The monks closed
the gates, and prepared sturdily for defence. Here-
ward knew the locality, and by his direction the
Danes set fire to the buildings which surrounded
the monastery and partially protected it ; and
the outlaws (for Hereward appears to have had
a large train of those who were the like of him)
and the Danes rushed in over the burning ruins.
The monks now came out, imploring mercy, but
none was granted by Hereward and his com-
panions. They swarmed into the church. Some
ascended the rood loft, and began to demolish
the great crucifix, and secured the golden crown
which adorned it. The pallio of the altar, of
gold, and adorned with precious stones — the
counterpart, without doubt, of those which still
exist at Venice and at Milan — had, together
with many similar objects, been concealed by the
monks in a chamber in the tower. But Here-
Peter-
ward's men knew where to find it : all the valu- boroush
ables of every description were carried off.
Books, vestments, shrines, processional crosses
of good red gold and bright silver — so much
treasure that none could tell. Goldenburgh no
longer deserved, and for ever lost its name :
and Hereward afterwards often swore that he
had done this with the best possible intent ; it
was a righteous act, he said, inasmuch as he
470 DANISH POLICY.
1071 thought that his Danish allies would thereby be
enabled to make war upon the Conqueror and
regain the land ; and that, at all events, it was
better that the treasure should fall into the
hands of the Danes, than be reserved for the
Danish French abbot and his Frenchmen. All the
plundering.
monks were driven out, except one sick man who
was lying in the infirmary, and the church was
burned. This,, however, was not the result of
design : it caught fire either during or after a
drunken carouse which the Danes held in the
sacred building. All the treasure they carried
away, and deposited it safely in the Isle of Ely.
wniiam ln the meanwhile, William had been nego-
buys off
tiating a treaty with Sweno, in which it was
agreed that the latter should be at liberty to
carry off all the gold and silver which he had
plundered — a part, without doubt, of the sub-
sidy by which he bought them off, as before —
and they sailed away for Denmark. But their
gains profited them but little. A violent tempest
arose ; their fleet was dispersed ; many were
wrecked and lost, and only a small portion
reached Denmark. This was the great altar-
table, and some other of the ornaments ; a suf-
ficient specimen of what they had gained and
lost.
Another Danish fleet shortly afterwards en-
for the last
tered the estuary of the Thames ; but after con-
. tinuing there during two days — or rather, ac-
cording to the old phraseology, two nights —
THE ISLE OF ELY. 471
they also returned to Denmark. Wherefore they 1071
thus suddenly withdrew is not told ; but when we
recollect in what manner William had on pre-
vious occasions averted Danish hostility, there
can be no difficulty in conjecturing the argu-
ments he employed. The English were thus, at
length, entirely abandoned by the Danes ; Here-
ward established himself in the Isle of Ely, and Enph
«/ ' make a stand
more and more of the English resorted to him. u
It was now that Bishop Egelwiue and Siward Barn
came from the North, there being a most ready
access to the fen-lands from the sea. Great was
their confidence in their leader and in their posi-
tion, so inaccessible, and so well supplied with
the means of subsistence, — the waters swarming
with fish, and the numerous islands and eyots
abounding with pasture ; besides which, they
had many ready means of communication with
the adjoining country.
§28. William did not rush to the attack of J™
a position which, difficult as it might be to reduce,
could not, if well watched, be very dangerous ;
the very marshes which constituted their protec-
tion, equally cutting them off from the rest of
England. But they were encircled by his troops
and his dungeon towers, commanding the sur-
rounding means of access ; and he made use of
the antient Rech-dyke, the rampart of the Giants,
as a line of defence, manning it with his soldiery.
During this pause, he contrived to place himself
in communication with Morcar, and induced him
them.
472 FATE OF EDWIN AND MORCAE.
lon . to come forth from Ely ; so doing, he was seized,
sent to Normandy, and placed in custody in the
castle of Eoger de Beaumont, who kept him in
hard prison, in chains and fetters, whilst his
(Roger's) son Henry was lording it in Warwick,
that noble portion of Morcar' s inheritance.
Edwin now lived only to avenge his brother.
He sought help everywhere, from Scots, from
Cymri, from the English, instigating them against
the stranger. Possibly he might yet have es-
caped ; but English treachery surrendered him
into the hands of his implacable enemies. Three
Englishmen — three brothers, three of his most
intimate followers — presented themselves before
the Conqueror, bearing Edwin's gory head as an
offering. It was they who had betrayed the
fugitive, when he and a small and faithful band
were hemmed in by a stream on the one side,
and the rising tide on the other. Edwin and
those with him fought bravely, but all were
slain. William, as it is said, wept bitterly when
he gazed upon the disfigured features. Instead
of rewarding the traitors, he punished them by
exile ; but their crime taught him no mercy :
Morcar continued in chains and fetters ; all the
remaining possessions of the family of Algar
were confiscated, and widely distributed. A
sister, whom the Normans called Lucia — an
appellation probably substituted for some bap-
tismal name uncouth to their ears — was bestowed
in marriage upon Ivo Talboys, Lord of Holland,
SIEGE OF THE ISLE. 473
and thus the line of the Earls of Mercia passed 1071
into a Norman family soon destined to decay.
829. William, proceeding warily, now deter- operations
•> ' against the
mined to crush the rebellion ; he himself brought :'
up all his disposable power against the insurgents,
ships and engines, horse and foot, carrying on
his operations by sea and by land. On the east,
his navy closely blockaded the coast ; his boats
filled the streams, where there was sufficient water
to float them. The operations began by the
attempts which the besiegers made to pass the
treacherous morass and shallow waters, for
which purpose rafts and floating bridges were
employed. This attempt was unsuccessful.
Years afterwards, the bones and the armour
found in the depths testified the failure of the
devices employed. But the difficulty roused
the skill of the Norman engineers : a causeway
was stretched along the marshes, which brought
the invaders close up to the isle and its castel-
lated monastery. Eefectories and cloisters were
filled with warriors. Amongst themselves were
no incompetent defenders. It seems, however,
that provisions began to fail ; escape was hope-
less, and they all surrendered at the Conqueror's
discretion, save Hereward alone, who escapes,
as it were, from history into the mist of poetic
fable ; his form vanishing, as it were, amidst the
giants and warriors of the mythic age. Did
we not find, in the earliest and most authentic
of our records, the dry, technical, legal entries
474 TEOUBLES FROM MALCOLM.
1072 ^ Of iiis oxgang of land in Kesteven, held by
Fateof Here ward, "die qua aufugiit? we might very
Hereward. plausibly maintain that the Hereward, the pro-
tector of the host, was entirely the creation of
fancy, such as we are now taught to consider
Numa or Romulus, the hero of an old song.
§ 30. Troubles and sorrows were now rising
in Normandy, occasioning political anxiety and
great anguish of mind to Matilda ; but William,
however much he might wish to give her his
comfort, could not yet venture to quit England,
for the northern parts continued to threaten dis-
turbance. Waltheof and Gospatric had been
permitted to retain a considerable degree of in-
The English fluence and power ; and there were even yet
unite with
Malcolm, g0me other of the antient English nobles whom
he could not immediately sweep away. And
much might be dreaded from the influence of the
English fugitives, Edgar and the many with him,
now settling beyond the Tweed, and still more
beyond the Forth, under the protection of the
Scottish king, the husband of the lawful heiress
of the English crown. Their influence, or more
possibly, some depredations upon the borders,
instigated the Scots to a desperate invasion. Mal-
colm's army, marching round through Cumber-
\&n^ as yet his own territory, entered Northum-
bria proper, wasted and devastated Teesdale,
Cleveland, and the greater portion of St. Cuth-
bert's territory. A great battle took place
between him and the English, at the place called
GOSPATRIC. 475
Hundredeskeld, not far from the Darwent, and
so called from the numerous streams with which
the vicinity abounds. The old story is told of *»T!*e" ot
* •! the Scots.
the Scots throwing infants into the air, and
receiving them on the points of their spears :
this aggravation of cruelty is a mere tradition,
often repeated, — a conventional mode, so to
speak, of describing their excesses.
The incursion on the part of Malcolm was Go<>patric-«
reveiige.
impolitic. Gospatric, who had been so lately
received as a friend by Malcolm, retaliated by
invading Cumberland, which he pillaged, carry-
ing off his prey athwart the country, to his
strong castle of Bamborough. Malcolm, on his
part, carried off a great number of captives of
every age, belonging to the class of the villein-
age, so numerous, as it is said, that they formed
a large proportion of the population of the land.
Hostilities were stayed for a time ; but, if Wil-
liam had endeavoured to play Gospatric off
against Malcolm, by placing them as neighbours,
no plan could have been better devised.
Malcolm's hostility furnished, however, to
William a sufficient reason for asserting his
supreme authority over the antient vassal of
the Anolo-Saxon crown. He invaded Scotland, wmiam
' retaliates by
both by land and by sea, conducting the army sS
himself, and having Edric the Wild as the chief
commander under him. Nothing whatever is
told of the circumstances which caused Edric
to adhere to the Conqueror, or the Conqueror
476 SUBMISSION OF MALCOLM.
1072 to receive him again into his apparent confi-
dence. William had undertaken the expedition
with the intention of entirely subduing Scotland.
He was grievously offended at Malcolm's rebel-
lion, and Malcolm dared in nowise to resist.
The sea coast was beset by the ships, filling
the firths and waters : his troops, Normans,
Bretons, and Flemings, filled the land : and
coim Malcolm, appearing before William at Abernethy,
a locality which has exercised the ingenuity as
well as the scepticism of our antiquaries, per-
formed homage and took the oath of fealty, and be-
came William' s man ; the supremacy of the Anglo-
Norman crown was established without contra-
diction ; and it is possible that the same ceremony
was repeated at Westminster, and that Malcolm
there, like the other vassals of the crown, bore
the sword before his supreme Lord and Sovereign.
§ 31. William's task, however, of reducing
the North, was as yet not completed. Northum-
bria had always displayed an obstinate elasticity
of resistance, and William strove, by degrees, to
break every spring. Gospatric, or his descend-
ants, claiming by hereditary right, might release
themselves from Anglo-Norman supremacy,
or only acknowledge that nominal obedience
more dangerous than none ; and it became im-
portant that he should be removed. He was
neither honoured nor trusted by his Sovereign,
and there was no difficulty in finding causes of
complaint. It was alleged, or insinuated, that he
FATE OF GOSPATRIC. 477
had received bribes from Malcolm, an accusation 1072
not inconsistent with their recent hostility. It
was laid to his charge that he had instigated and
hostile.
aided Comyn's slaughter ; and, lastly, he was
accused of his old transgressions in aiding the
Danes in the great Yorkshire invasion, and in
the slaughter of the garrison of the castle of
the northern metropolis. Gospatric might have
pleaded with entire truth, that there was no one
of these charges, not even the first, if grants of
land were to be considered as bribes, which was
not fully known to William, when the latter had
received his relief, and granted to him the Earl-
dom : yet the great Honour was declared to be
forfeited.
Gospatric fled to Scotland, from whence he g>ns3patric
went to Flanders, most probably for the purpose
of enlisting Flemish forces, whose swords were
at the service of any pay-master, and from
whence he returned to Scotland. Malcolm gladly
welcomed him, and granted to him Dunbar with
extensive territories in the Lothians : and his
three sons, Dolphin, Waltheof, and Gospatric,
became border chieftains, dangerous to the
English King.
William now had the great Earldom of
Bernicia at his disposal. The bitter resistance
which the Northumbrians had made to Comyn
shewed him that the time was not yet come
when he could confer the dignity on a stranger,
and it was needful to find some one who might
478 WALTHEOF AND JUDITH.
10"2 hold it, until a better opportunity should arise.
It was therefore conferred upon Waltheof, the
son of Siward, who, like Grospatric. claimed it
Waltheof.
as his inheritance. He was almost the only
English chieftain exempted from proscription,
and the long projected marriage between him
and Judith, the Conqueror's niece, and sister of
Odo, of Champagne, Earl of Holderness, was
completed. It was an ill assorted marriage.
Judith's subsequent conduct is full evidence that
she became a most unwilling wife to the English
chieftain. As for Waltheof, his first thought
was vengeance, and his first deed after his in-
auguration was the shedding of English blood.
w£faareless His grandfather Aldred had been slain in the
fatal battle of Settrington ; and Waltheof,
assembling a large body of Northumbrians,
avenged himself upon the four sons of Charles,
by whom that grandsire had fallen. Such a
local feud was but a usual incident, yet Wal-
theof's conduct was considered as stained by
cruelty; and it strongly exemplifies the turbu-
lence of the Anglo-Danish population, which,
amongst other causes, prevented them, brave as
they were, from making any resistance to the
common enemy.
§ 32. Thus, after almost six years of con-
stant conflict, we may view the authority of the
Anglo-Normans as being nearly extended over
the whole of the antient dominion of the Anglo-
Saxon kings ; nearly, though not completely, for
NEW DISTRIBUTIONS OF LAND. 479
the Welsh, in their fastnesses, had not entirely 10~2
acknowledged the Xorman power. But in the
meanwhile, what was perhaps even more impor-
tant, the ascendency of the Normans over the
English as a people, became far more firmly
established. Until the captivity and the death of
Morcar and of Edwin, William had proceeded
leniently in the distribution of the English lands ;
but now, the process advanced with fearful and
accelerated rapidity. It is said that he divided
the English into two classes : the first who,
having borne arms against him, were to be com-
pletely disinherited ; the others, to whom some
small portion of their property was allowed, as
an encouragement to future loyalty. Archil may
be considered as belonging to the latter class ;
but it does not appear that any regular system
was pursued, except that of shewing the smallest
degree of forbearance to all the higher classes of
the occupants of the soil.
According to the common report, sixty Thesoil
•> changes
thousand knights received their fees, or rather owners>
their livings, to use the old expression, from the
Conqueror. This report is exaggerated as to
number ; but the race of the Anglo-Danish and
English nobility and gentry, the Earls, and the
greater Thanes, disappears ; and with some ex-
ceptions, remarkable as exemplifying the general
rule, all the superiorities of the English soil
became vested in the Conqueror's Baronage. Men
of a new race and order, men of strange manners
VOL. III. I I
of noble
race
480 THE NORMAN NOBILITY.
1072 ^ and strange speech, ruled in England. There
were, however, some great mitigations, and the
very sufferings of the conquered were so inflicted
as to become the ultimate means of national
prosperity ; but they were to be gone through,
and to be attended by much present desola-
tion and misery. The process was the more
painful because it was now accompanied by so
much degradation and contumely. The Anglo-
Saxons seem to have had a very strong aristo-
cratic feeling : a great respect for purity and
The Norman dio-mty of blood. The Normans, or rather the
noomty not */
host of adventurers whom we must of necessity
comprehend under the name of Normans, had
comparatively little ; and not very many of the
real old and powerful aristocracy, whether of
Normandy or Brittany, settled in England. The
great majority had been rude, and poor, and
despicable in their own country : the rascalions
of northern Gaul : these, suddenly enriched, lost
all compass and bearing of mind ; and no one
circumstance vexed the spirit of the English
more, than to see the fair and noble English
maidens and widows compelled to accept these
despicable adventurers as their husbands. — Of
this we have an example in Lucia, the daughter
of Algar, for Talboys seems to have bee'n a per-
son of the lowest degree.
s 33. William at this juncture also, — for he
Williams «->
policjr> afterwards recovered his solid, stern and consis-
tent principle of government, — lost much of his
THE BITTERNESS OF CONQUEST. 481
former spirit of equity ; and allowing his people 1072
full license, the English became as it were, aliens
in the land of their forefathers, outcasts in their
own homes. William shewed that if need of state
required., he would respect no feeling, honour no
privilege or immunity; and therefore, in order to
carry his spoliations to the utmost, not perhaps
without the further intention of shewing the extent
of his authority, he seized all the treasures which
the English had deposited in the monasteries.
William Fitz-Osbern was his adviser to this act,
adding thereby to the odium he had already so
justly incurred, in consequence of his oppressive
tyranny. But the responsibility of the act
rested, nevertheless, with the Sovereign. Wil-
liam was preparing to crush hierarchy, nobles
and people, and to grind them to the dust. He
began with the same intention as the English
conquerors of Ireland, but unlike Ireland,
England was permitted to retain those institu-
tions which rescued her from the slavery she
afterwards imposed upon others.
Aliens in their own land, outcasts from their
own homes — why should the English remain in
that which was no longer their country, — England ?
About this time it is probable that the emigra-
tions proceeded with encreased rapidity, more to
Denmark, more to the Elbe, where some of their
descendants were afterwards traced, high in power
and famed for sanctity, but most of all to the South.
When the patriarch of Constantinople proceeds
n2
482 THE ENGLISH AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
, 10J2 , in poinp, he is informed that a Saint hitherto un-
known to the Eastern Church, is venerated in the
Byzantium, imperial city. He enters the humble dwelling
where he is received by the barbarian host. He
is conducted into the domestic chapel, where the
lamp burns before the image of the Hagios Agos-
tinos whom the Byzantine artist has painted, the
apostle of the English race, the remembrance
which the exiles cherished as the memorial of
Ju«dE.ngli8h their country. The English were deemed the most
trusty defenders of the eastern Emperor, hon-
oured by the nobles, favoured by the Sovereign ;
and in the last age of the empire, even when the
cross was about to sink before the crescent, their
descendants retained their native language, and
saluted the wearer of the purple in the speech
with which they would have hailed the Anglo-
Saxon King.
§ 34. During this long series of conflicts, Wil-
liam had carefully attended to the policy of the
1070 state in all its parts. Whilst engaged in the wilds
of the North, the legation despatched at his re-
quest by Pope Alexander was proceeding towards
church England ;— Hermenfried, Bishop of Sion, he who
had already visited England as Legate, in the
time of the Confessor, when England for the first
time saw the representative of the Papal power.
Two Cardinals were joined to him in the mission,
— Peter, who filled the office of Chancellor and
Bibliothecarius or Keeper of the Records of the
matters.
LEGATION FROM ROME. 483
Eoman See, and John, who bore the title of 1072
Sta. Maria in Trastevere, a man of great experi- "~^
ence, and who had previously filled the office of
Legate at Milan, when the proceedings were
taken for purifying that See from the simoniacal
character by which it was so deeply stained.
These had been invited for the purpose of en- synod of
•UT TT---M • Winchester
ablmg vv illiam to reorganize the government of
the English church, in conformity with the new
order of things, and also for the purpose of con-
firming him in the royal authority.
At Winchester, during the festival of Easter,
William again received the crown from the Pope,
through the hands of his representatives. This
is a very singular proceeding ; and it would be
hard to say whether it should be considered as
an honour or as a submission ; but the ambigu-
ous act, wholly passed over by the English his-
torians, probably as being most distasteful to
them, must receive its comment from William's
general character, and no one can suppose that
he intended it to indicate any subservience to the
Pontiff beyond what his interest would require.
No sovereign but the Emperor was crowned by
the Pope. Not long afterwards, a report was
spread and believed, that William intended to
conquer the Empire. This report, though at the it«
1 probable
moment it caused great anxiety to the Emperor meanifle-
Henry, must have been destitute of foundation;
but, if we are at liberty to draw any conclusions
484 ECCLESIASTICAL CENSURES
1072 from a fact of which so little has been recorded,
we may suppose that William did contemplate
the accession thereby of some of those preroga-
tives, which, in the words of a later writer, might
tend to melt the mitre into the crown.
§ 35. But though William's possession of the
throne was thus sanctioned ; though England was
prostrated, his mind was ill at ease : his conscience
may have already reproached him : — but now he
was stricken by one of those public proceedings,
SIS?" which, although they tell the world no more than
was fully known before, have the great effect of
giving that stamp, as it were, of culpability
which removes the pretence of ignorance of sin.
And censure. A heavy ecclesiastical censure had just been
passed upon him for the abuse of that power
which had been given to him. It was the doc-
trine of the Church, though often slurred over,
and most rarely asserted, that the necessity
which extenuated warfare never justified the
prosecution of hostilities for the purpose of profit-
ing by the spoil : furthermore, though shedding
of blood in battle might be a justifiable homicide,
justifiable by the offences committed by man
against man, still that it was an eternal offence
against the commandment given to the whole hu-
man race. When William made his first compact
at Lillebonne, it was possible that he concealed
from himself the injustice that he must commit,
— that he did not contemplate the full extent of
slaughter and extermination, of fire and famine
INCURRED BY WILLIAM. 485
and of robbery, the robbery of a whole nation,
which would be needful for the purpose of carry-
ing it through. The wrong was now consummated :
the hideous aspect of the Conquest was now un-
veiled, and all saw it, even they who had profited
most by the iniquity in which they and their
Sovereign were involved.
At this juncture the prelates of Normandy
gave that testimony against the unchristianity of
war, so rarely afforded. By their decree, con-
firmed by the apostolic legates, they imposed a
general penance upon all, from the highest to the
lowest, who had perpetrated the deeds which had
established William on the throne. Their decree
or sentence involved all the acts resulting from
the license of war, or committed in its prosecu-
tion ; the spoliations, the violences, the profligacy,
the lifting up the sword to give the blow, although
that blow might fail, the arrow shot at random ;
and so on, unto the death of each enemy encoun-
tered in the field, all meted and measured out in
their degree, according to the technicalities of
the discipline of the Church, but all condemned ;
unequal in degree but not in kind ; the pillage of
the marauder and the prowess of the warrior in-
cluded in the same ban ; deeds such as are sung
by the poet or figured on the canvass or trophied
in marble, marked out as the subjects of con-
trition, humiliation and repentance.
All the culpability of the Conquest was uni-
versally felt : the majority without doubt silenced
486 REMORSE FOR THE CONQUEST.
t 107a the call of conscience, yet we may trace that
many obeyed the warning : there were those
not6 8t amongst the Normans who absolutely refused to
universally
take any share in the donations which William
would have bestowed, who renounced them, as
bought with blood, and who, by their words, and
still more by their actions, rebuked the ambition
of their Sovereign. This feeling also was pro-
bably the cause of the bounteous donations made
by the Normans or their immediate descendants
for pious and charitable purposes, more founda-
tions of that description having been established
under the three kings of the Anglo-Norman
dynasty than during the whole preceding or
subsequent period of English history. Very
penances.
many also sought rest and consolation in the
places of refuge from the world afforded by the
Church. Interior remorse or sorrow could leave
no token in history, except in the case of him
who had been the great cause and originator of
the wrong ; the gratifications, the employments,
and above all the heavy anxieties of royalty,
might in some degree blunt his recollection of his
own deeds when in health and vigour, but the
whole came upon him with unutterable bitterness
in the hour of death.
487
CHAPTER XI.
AFFAIRS OF FLANDERS — WILLIAM SUBDUES MAINE DISTURB-
ANCES IN ENGLAND — RALPH GUADER's CONSPIRACY
EXECUTION OF AVALTHEOF.
1073—1075.
there>
S 1. WILLIAM, during the transactors narrated Normandy
trouble*
in the previous chapters, had been fully four
years absent from Normandy. The Duchy had
been governed, and well governed, by the faith-
ful and prudent Matilda ; but heavy sorrows
were falling on her, and great troubles were
arising, in which she required counsel and aid.
For this purpose, her husband first sent over
William Fitz-Osbern, but the absence of this
powerful [baron], so redoubtable to the English
and the Welsh from his bravery, and still more
from his merciless cruelty, had probably incited
much of the risings in the Welsh marches ; and
a further delay ensued before William could
pass over, however urgently his presence may
have been required.
§ 2. An unnatural and implacable warfare had
been carried on in the family of Matilda's father, of
Baldwin the Good, who died during the first years
of the Conquest. Baldwin had two sons ; the elder
bearing his father's name, and Robert. Both the
brothers, sons of the sovereign of a flourishing and
488 THE BEOTHERS-IN-LAW
10J3 . wealthy country, had respectively acquired opu-
lent possessions, forming frontiers to their paternal
domains. Both had obtained their sovereignties
by marriage with widows, and both had success-
Baldwin, fully wooed by combining what may be called
love and war. Baldwin was meek and quiet,
humble and devout, altogether given to works of
piety, the protector of the stranger and the
orphan. When at mass, he always had his poor
about him, that they might help him by their
prayers ; and when he succeeded to the county
of Flanders, such was the peace in his time, that
the plough was left in the field, and the door of
the cottage remained unclosed. Eichilda, his
of Hainault.
wife, with whom he gained the county of Hainault,
was of an entirely opposite disposition. Beauti-
ful, courageous as a soldier, indomitable in her
passions, sagacious and crafty, she was con-
sidered by the people to be skilled in magic — a
reputation which, in that country, yet retaining
a deep and inward tinge of the antient Teutonic
paganism, seems almost to have been considered
as a praise. Hereditary Countess of Hainault,
the first of her three husbands was Herman (some
say, of the family of the Counts of Ardennes ;
others say, a branch of the house of Saxony), by
whom she had two children — Eoger, lame and
ill-favoured, and a daughter.
Upon the death of Herman, Eichilda assumed
the government of Hainault in right of her chil-
dren : a stepmother she was to them, not by
OF WILLIAM. 489
nature, but worse — by deed. Baldwin of Lisle, 1073
anxious to procure this rich marriage for his son,
and yet knowing the difficulty which there might
be in imposing a Fleming upon the Hainaulters,
proud as their forefathers, the Nervians, of their
nationality, invaded Hainault for the purpose
of giving the unreluctant Richilda the means of
justifying herself to her liege lord the Emperor,
and her stubborn subjects, by accepting, as it ?
T -i • ,1 i . « for Baldwin.
were under compulsion, the young heir of 1051
Flanders, who henceforth, from his residence in
the capital of Hainault, was usually called Bald-
win of Mons. The fruit of this marriage was
Arnolf the Simple and another Baldwin. Dearly 1054
loved were they by Richilda, who in order to
secure the succession to her new family, placed
her daughter in a monastery, and induced her
son, lame Roger, to take holy orders, and after-
wards procured for him the Bishoprick of Cha-
lons. So much for the elder of Matilda's brothers.
Robert, the younger, was the very opposite in
character to Baldwin of Mons. Hard and rigid,
powerful and impetuous, it is said that when
young his father sent him abroad to seek his
fortune as a sea king. Driven off by the Moors
in Spain, he entered Constantinople in the dis-
guise of a pilgrim ; there he plotted with the
Northmen, there settled in the Byzantine service,
for the deposition of the Emperor. Here again
he was unsuccessful, and deservedly ; and his
third attempt was upon Friezeland, by which we
490 ROBERT THE FRIZON.
1073 ^ must understand that portion afterwards called
Holland, from a very small district, whose name,
by one of those accidents which render political
nomenclatures of so much importance, soon ex-
tended itself to the exclusion of the antient
denomination.
io62 g 3. Friezeland, for so we must still call it,
was at this time governed by Gertrude of Saxony,
the widow of Count Floris, or Florence, by
whom she had one son, Thierry. It is supposed,
an-jag**. ^^ ^^ unreasonably, that Robert had gained
Gertrude's consent, and that she was as willing to
accept a second mate as Richilda was. But as
female sovereigns were rarely allowed a choice,
it was needful also for her to appear to act
under coercion, and the maritime war carried
on by Robert afforded her the reason and the
excuse for accepting his hand. However ac-
complished, the marriage was entirely success-
ful to the State. His bold and sturdy dispo-
sition was congenial to that of Gertrude's sub-
jects ; he conformed himself to their habits and
customs — so much so that he became, as it were,
a Friezelander, and obtained the name of Robert
the Frizon ; a name grateful to the Teutonic
portion of Flanders, but used somewhat con-
temptuously by those of the Roman tongue.
The right of succession to the Earldom of
Flanders depended very much upon the will of
the parent. Being composed of self-existing
communities, each possessing a national indi-
FAMILY ARRANGEMENTS. 491
viduality, it was easy to detach any of them as 10J3
an apanage for a cadet. The county of Boulogne
had been created in this manner. Latterly,
however, it became evident that this process
would morsel up the country, and Baldwin of
Lisle had determined to avoid it, by appointing
Baldwin of Mons his sole heir. But his power
of making this appointment was not sufficiently
confirmed to prevent the possibility of dissen-
sion, and Robert the Frizon was not of a temper
to promise acquiescence in any disposition of
the inheritance which he might consider as a
wrong. Baldwin of Lisle, therefore, not long
before his death, which he felt approaching,
convened the prelates and the peers of Flanders
— for Flanders had her twelve peers, like France
— at Oudenarde, and giving Robert a large sum
of money as a compensation, he induced him to
swear that he would not disturb his brother
Baldwin in the succession. And he kept the
oath to the letter ; for during the three years
that Baldwin of Mons reigned in Flanders he
was undisturbed.
Upon the death of Baldwin, Richilda assumed
the government, ruling in the name of her son *
Arnolf, now titular Count of Flanders and of
Hainault, the first by his father's, the other by
his mother's side. Richilda had encreased the
possessions of her husband and her children by
fair means and foul. She had acquired great
portion of the allodial property in Hainault,
492 RICHILDA AS RULER.
1073 and, ruling in Flanders, she despised all rights
and privileges. Besides the connection of blood,
there was a strong inclination on her part to-
wards France. Philip had received the order
of knighthood from Baldwin of Lisle : Richilda
belonged to the G-allican portion of Belgium.
She called in French counsellors, and imposed
heavy, illegal, and degrading taxes upon the
free people of the free country — degrading, be-
cause one appears to have been a house-tax,
which was charged upon every door, every win-
dow, and, if we read the chronicle rightly, every
bed or counterpane, which of course involved
those domiciliary inspections by the tax-gatherer,
odious at all times, but more particularly in
those where the officers of the Sovereign were
so often protected in injustice. Richilda' s mis-
rule fell most heavily upon Flanders Flamin-
gante. Ghent and Bruges, Furnes, Oudenburgh
Robert. and Ardenburgh, and Ypres, all invited Robert.
Even Lisle joined the party ; and Robert entered
the country, which submitted to him, though
not without resistance on the part of the sturdy
Richilda. Yet she knew she could not make a
stand without aid, and she implored the assist-
ance of her two liege lords, the Emperor and
the King of France.
§ 4. These troubles were extending themselves
into Normandy. The Normans were dividing
into parties ; some siding, as it seems, with
Robert — some with Richilda. Gerbod, the late
THE NORMANS INTERVENE. 493
Earl of Chester, gave his powerful help to ^^^_
Eobert. William appears to have much dis- f—^~~*
trusted the Frizon, for his Frizian territories put
him in close connection with the Danes ; and
Robert was not to be trusted. He therefore JBSi :a!d8
sent over Fitz-Osbern to assist Matilda in her
emergency. In itself, the cause of Richilda,
considered as the guardian of her son Arnolf,
was the right one, and Philip entered heartily
into her cause, assembling a large army, and re-
quiring, as it seems, William to give that aid
which, as Duke of Normandy, he was bound, or
supposed to be bound, to give in the host of his
superior. This consisted only of ten knights ;
but at the head of them Fitz-Osbern marched to
Flanders as merrily as to a May game. Well S?0^ rie§
•» »/o iitz-Usbern.
he might, for a courtship had begun between him
and Richilda, and she joyfully accepted him as
her third husband, to the great indignation of
the Flemings.
The armies encountered each other at Cassel, B»«ieof
7 Cassel,
and the greatest battle ensued, on the feast of201
St. Peter in Cathedra, which ever yet had taken
place in Flanders. Robert's troops were much
discouraged, for the forces which had joined
Eichilda, and more particularly those brought
by the King of the French, were overwhelming
— nor, perhaps, were they without apprehension
of Richilda's spells. The fortunes of the battle
were as varied as if it had been a tale of
romance. Robert the Frizon was taken prisoner,
494 FORTUNES OF RICHILDA.
1073 and carried off to St. Omer. But men said that
Richilda's spells literally recoiled upon her,
Robert and brought on herself that evil fortune which
captured: r^i 1
she sought to cast upon the enemy, fehe and
deL^dhilda her troops were entirely defeated. Young
Arnolf fought bravely : two horses were killed
under him, but he fell by the hand of Gerbod,
his own liege-man. Fitz-Osbern, the bride-
groom, was killed, to the great joy of all the
Flemings, who might anticipate in him a grievous
Sovereign ; and even more to that of the English
and the Welsh, who triumphed in being released
from his atrocious tyranny. Richilda herself
Her end. was also taken prisoner ; but she was exchanged
for Robert, and being received in Hainault,
transmitted the dominion to her son Baldwin ;
and, afterwards entering a convent, she sub-
jected herself to fearful penance.
Robert Robert the Frizon, on his part, entered into
succeeds.
the full government, which he ruled strenuously
during thirty years. Great ill-will always sub-
sisted between him and his brother-in-law.
William withdrew the Feudum de Camera, the
pension which he had paid to Baldwin ; and
Robert retaliated by troubling Normandy as
much as he could. He formed an alliance, of
all others the most distasteful to William, by
giving his daughter in marriage to Canute, King
of Denmark — a marriage the result of which will
introduce us to another important chapter of
Norman history.
succeeds.
l93'
alliance.
TROUBLES IN MAINE. 495
§ 5. This trouble was scarcely at an end 10J3
when another arose, touching William even more
nearly. The Manceaux hated the Normans,
their oppressors, and despised them as bar-
barians. The grant, such as it was, which had
been made to him by Herbert, the son of Her-
bert Eveille-Chiens, was invalid ; and whether *
truly formed or not, the opinion that William
had acquired possession by crime, — by the poison
administered to Gauthicr and Biota, — continued
to excite great detestation. The Manceaux
watched their opportunity ; and the first token
which they gave of their determination to regain
their independence was by proceeding to the
election of a Bishop. Clergy and people both
united in choosing Arnauld of Avranches to the
vacant see.
A great attack was thus made upon the
prerogatives claimed by William, and it was
followed up by the most determined assertion of
independence. The citizens of Le Mans rose
with one accord and as of one mind. The
adjoining towns and chatellaineries joined them :
so also many of the common soldiery. William's
fortresses, so skilfully raised, could not sustain
the attack ; neither Orbitel nor Mont Barbette
could hold out. William's Norman commanders,
Turgis de Tracy, and William de la Ferte, were
killed ; and those of the Conqueror's soldiery
who did not come over to the insurgents, shared
the same fate, or were slain or expelled. The
VOL. III. K K
496 LE MANS OFFERED
1073 capital thus taking the lead, the insurrection
spread simultaneously throughout the country,
almost all the optimates joining ; Geoffrey de
Mayenne again coming forward actively as a
leader, and assailing the Normans with all his
influence and power.
Having thus cast off the foreign yoke, the
reign' Manceaux had to select some chief under whose
name they might rally. Republican as their
traditions were, they did not venture, as had
been done in Italy, to place themselves only
under an elective Roman magistracy. Powerful
enemies had they to apprehend : — Fulk of Anjou,
who longed to reduce them again under his
power, but who dared not, lest he should provoke
William ; and William, who, though absent
amongst the troubles of England, would scarcely
They appiy faii to re-assert his sovereignty. The male line
to Azzo,
Gerseanda?f of the antient comitial family was entirely ex-
tinct; but one of the nearest representatives in
blood was Gersenda, whom some represent as
the eldest daughter of Herbert Eveille-Chiens,
but who in fact stood in the same relation to
Hugh his son. Gersenda, divorced from Theo-
bald, Count of Blois, had taken as her second
husband Azzo, or Albert Azzo, himself a
widower. Este and Rovigo, and the Lunigiana,
constituted his dominions ; and the title of Mar-
quis of Italy bespeaks his power ; yet so very
scanty and imperfect are the memoirs of that
country, during the ninth and tenth centuries,
TO ALBERT AZZO OF ESTE. 497
that the patient industry of the most learned 10J3
and indefatigable of historical antiquaries, has "^
been scarcely able to trace the family of Albert
Azzo in the ascending line, though his descend-
ants take the proudest place in the princely
and royal genealogies of Christendom. Paula, pauia.
sister of Gersenda, was equally near ; for though
the younger, yet primogeniture, not much at-
tended to even with regard to males, was wholly
disregarded with respect to co-heiresses. She
was married to Jean de Beaugenci, Lord of the
Angevine Seignory of La Fleche. His son
Helias, under more favourable circumstances,
might have rivalled the Conqueror in talent,
and certainly excelled him in virtue ; but if
Helias at this time had any thought of contending
for his ancestorial rights, his father was firmly
attached to the Norman cause, and the Manceaux
invited the Marquis of Italy, or of Liguria, as
they also called him, to accept the dominion.
§ 6. It seems strange that Albert Azzo should
have been prevailed upon to quit the opulent anc
lovely Riviera, and the noble seats of his ances-
tors amidst the Eugubine hills, for the purpose
of establishing himself in cold Northern Gaul ;
amongst people whom he would consider as
barbarians, and where he would be sure to be
harassed by powerful enemies. Yet the desire
of acquisition, and the wish also probably of
securing the apanage for his younger son, Hugh
of Este, prevailed ; and he came over.
KK 2
498 LE MANS CONSTITUTED
1070-1073 Azzo's munificence at first acquired for him
universal favour amongst the Manceaux, but
touitaei7.rnE that favour diminished with his resources. His
treasures and their fidelity failed at the same
time. If they abandoned him. lightly, he deserted
them with equal facility, and not them alone,
for, returning to Italy, he left his wife Gersenda
and his son Hugh of Este under the protection,
sub tuteld, of Geoffrey of Mayenne .
the°nffr3e8. As soon as Azzo had departed, Geoffrey of
Mayenne appeared to all the world as Gersenda' s
husband. He assumed the government of the
country ; perhaps not without uHerior views,
being himself of the blood of the Counts of
Maine. His conduct was in itself sufficient to
excite much odium. He encreased it by his
exactions, and the citizens of Maine now gave
a further development to their principles by
establishing a Coinmunia.
§ 7. This event, an event of the greatest im-
portance, was certainly an out-breaking of the
Le Mans spirit which had given rise t o the Lombard re-
asserts inde- i
e. p^iic^g^ an(j which slowly, yet steadily, encreas-
ing, developed itself in the Eidgenossenschaft of
the Swiss, and thence onward, encreasing until
its present uncontroullable power. But though
I fully admit that it assisted in forming the
municipal institutions of the French monarchy,
I doubt the correctness of the theory which
assigns to them, its origin. Le Mans certainly
had its municipality from the Roman times,
AS A COMMUNIA. 499
though this new league was intended to give .107°-1073.
it a sovereign energy. We learn from Mans
that the connecting element of the Communia
was the oath, by which the members bound
themselves to mutual fidelity. No freedom of
action, no flinching was allowed ; those who did
not belong to the Communia, those who wer
not engaged by its bond, were excluded from all
protection. The Communists ruled by terror :
the most cruel punishments were inflicted,
either without any legal judgment, or worse,
by judgments having the semblance of legal
form, but without legal foundation or verity.
The nobles, as in Italy, were compelled to in- Pist
corporate themselves in the Communia, Geoffrey
de Mayenne sorely against his will. Had he
refused, he might have lost his eyes or swung
upon the tree. So also the Bishop : at the be-
ginning of the disturbances, Arnold escaped to
England, bringing the tidings to the King, by
whom he was received with honour and rewarded.
He returned, evidently for the purpose of aiding
the royal cause, therefore the angry citizens
would not receive him within the walls ; but
when, by the ill-advised interference of the clergy,
he was permitted to reassume his episcopal
functions, the citizens compelled him to join
their cause.
§ 8. There was one noble, however, who, de-
pending on the strength of his castle, entirely re-
fused to join the Communia ; — this was Hugh de
500 WARFARE IN MAINE.
1070-1073 Sulley, who not merely refused to take the oath
an^ enrol himself amongst the citizens, but acted
aggressively against them. This was a dangerous
example : they raised and roused all their forces,
and compelled the Bishop and the parish priests
to lead before them, with gonfauons displayed,
and St. Julian's banner. The communists sur-
rounded the castle of Sulley ; Geoffrey of May-
eiine rendering his coerced co-operation, encamped
apart, secretly conferring with the besieged, and
turning all his mind to consider how he might
best deceive or betray the confederates. Sulley
and his men came forth, and bullied and defied
the communists ; they were tumultuously pre-
paring for the fight, when a report, probably
originated by Geoffrey de Mayenue, spread
through the motley crowd, that Le Mans was in
the power of the Normans. A desperate panic
ensued : all fled. Bishop Arnold was taken pris-
oner, but courteously treated and released. The
citizens got back to Le Mans, having suffered
great loss, and in the utmost confusion.
Geoffrey and Geoffrey de MaTCiiuc was now in such ill
Gersenda.
repute, equally from his scandalous connection
with Gersenda, and also from his treachery,
which was now well understood, that he dared
not continue in Le Mans, but retreated to Chateau
du Loire. Gersenda now had to take counsel
how she should regain her paramour, and also
restore him to power. Hugh of Este was sent
back by his mother and his guardian to Italy.
FULK. 501
The plans of the Countess were so far successful,
that the great castle of Le Mans was betrayed
to him. He filled it with his troops, and threat-
ened the subjugation of the new republic. Fear
overcame prudence : the citizens sought the aid
applj to
of Fulk of Anjou: he gave it readily, and entered FuUt>
with his troops : the castle was very strong, and
its position commanding. As usual, the city
suffered much by the attempt to reduce the fort-
ress : part was burned ; at length Geoffrey de
Muycnne was compelled to surrender, and Ger-
senda was forgotten in obscurity and shame.
§ 9. Such had been the urgent perils of Eng-
land, that when William was first informed by tshuems^
Arnold of the revolt of Maine, he could not then E
make any endeavour to regain his power; but
when Fulk of Anjou entered the country, he was
enabled to adopt the needful measures for reveng-
ing the insult offered to his authority. This was
just at the juncture when the long series of con-
flicts having been terminated by Malcolm's sub-
mission, all seemed quiet and secure in his realm.
All the English chieftains whom he might have
feared, were banished, or in the dungeon, or slain.
Wales was kept quiet by Robert de Breteuil, to
whom, upon the death of Fitz-Osbern, William
had granted the great Earldom of Hereford, and
who promised in every way to emulate his father.
Waltheof, now a member of the Norman family,
was established in Northumbria : the dangerous
coast opposite to Denmark, well and effectually
502 WILLIAM RETURNS,
guarded by Ralph de Guader, the Earl of East
Anglia : and he therefore determined to carry on
the war in person against the insurgents.
As Regents or Justiciars during his absence,
he appointed William de Warrenne and Richard
de Benefacta ; but others whom he could well
trust also had a share in command. Geoffrey de
Mowbray, — whose title of Bishop of Coutances,
can alone remind us of his ecclesiastical func-
tions, which he seems entirely to have abandoned,
— continued as commander-in-chief, at least of
the soldiery of the southern districts. Odo of
Bayeux had nearly the same disgraceful pre-
eminence.
§ 10. All preparations made, William issued
his summons to his lieges, commanding them to
accompany him in his voyage royal. When he
had crossed the channel and entered Normandy,
his troops were estimated at sixty thousand men,
unquestionably an exaggeration ; but the force
was very large, and the English constituted a
very considerable proportion of the army. Wil-
liam advanced into Maine, but not rapidly,
Maine.
devastating the country as he proceeded, burning
towns and villages, spoiling the crops and de-
stroying the vineyards. This is the first time that
Englishmen ever fought upon French ground,
and they did their work heartily. No resistance
of any importance could be offered. Fresnay
surrendered : before its walls William conferred
the^degree of knighthood upon Robert, the son
William
returns to
Normandy.
AND TAKES MANS. 503
of Roger of Montgomery, heir also of Talvas, 10J3
heir also of Belesmc, which name or title he as-
sumed, and who here began his career of cruelty
and violence. Sulley next surrendered, and all
the country as William advanced accepted his
authority with seeming joy fulness. Fulk dared
not wait his approach. William presented him- Takes Mans.
self before Mans. He solemnly summoned the
inhabitants to surrender, and thus avert the
punishment otherwise prepared for them. One
day's consultation determined them to submit.
Mans saw her republic expire. Forth came the
citizens bearing the keys, and humbly craving
mercy : they were graciously received : William
promised them the full enjoyment of their usages
and customs, and the whole province followed
the example of the capital.
Fulk, however, bearing for some short time, Fulk MiUti-
but with great vexation, this success of the
Normans, renewed his endeavours to re-possess
himself of the Maine. He began by intriguing
amongst the Baronage. Some willingly entered
into his schemes ; but John de la Fleche, who him-
self would have had a good and plausible reason
for opposing William, adhered to him with the
.greatest fidelity, and therefore became the object
of Fulk's inveterate hostility. The war began
again. Hoel of Brittany came to the help of
Fulk. William again raised the combined forces
of the Normans and the English : the Angevines
and the Bretons under Hoel and Fulk advanced
504 QUARRELS IN
1073 to meet the Anglo-Norman forces, but no actual
conflict ensued. The Cardinal Legate mediated,
8 and a treaty of peace was concluded at La
Blanchelande. William's right over Maine was
But Maine is confirmed by Fulk, and he might again write
secured to
wiliiam. himself "Dux Coenomanensium" in his royal
charters. But what was even more important,
the right of Robert was confirmed in like man-
ner. Betrothed as he had been to Margaret, it
might have been said that the marriage never
having been completed, his right had expired,
but it was now solemnly acknowledged by his
liege lord.
winiam-8 * n William continued some time longer
BODS. u
in Normandy, enjoying the return of prosperity.
No object had he so much at heart as securing
the succession of Robert to his French dominions.
Robert, his first-born, was most particularly the
object of his father's unwise fondness. Clever,
but bold and turbulent, he had already shewn
undutifulness towards his father ; and great
dissensions had risen between him and his
two surviving brothers, William and Henry,
though Robert had already attained manhood,
Richard. an(j Henry was almost a child. Richard, who
intervened between Robert and William, now
commonly called Rufus, was dead : a youth of
great promise, but who had been killed in some
mysterious manner, which seemed to make people
loth to speak even of the circumstance; and the
very short and obscure notices of his death are
WILLIAM'S FAMILY. 505
the only matters recorded concerning him in
history, though his name appears occasionally
as a member of the great council, and as such
attesting his father's charters.
It seems that, even at this period, Robert Robert.
Courthose put forth those pretensions which ex-
cited the envy of his brothers. He became the
head of a party of young men of congenial dis-
position ; and although William was yet very
vigorous, there were many who began to be in-
clined to court the heir-apparent, and amongst
them one who was much in William's favour,
Robert de Belesnae, who, if knighthood consti-
tuted, as has been supposed, a special obligation
between the parties conferring and receiving the
degree, was, so far, William's adopted son.
When the Conqueror was told of the escapades
which the heir-apparent committed, he was
amused by these demonstrations of character.
He took them as a joke, and said, with an oath,
Courthose will become a good soldier as he grows
older.
Matilda viewed her sons' dissensions in a very Matilda'.
* aniiety.
different light ; they occasioned to her great grief
and sorrow : her mind was full of evil forebodings,
and she consulted, as it is said, a holy man, a
hermit on the Rhine, supposed to have the gift
of prophecy, as to the destinies which would be-
fal her children. After three days, he gave his
answer ; and such was the answer as ever there-
after to fill her heart with sorrow. Neither piety
506 SAINT STEPHEN'S.
. 10J4 nor intellect, neither scepticism nor even infi-
delity, will restrain mankind from seeking the
forbidden knowledge of futurity ; and the history
of nations, as well as that of individuals, testifies
how remarkably these attempts to lift up the
veil of futurity, whether begun in faith, or effected
by demoniacal agency, or by mere juggling and
delusion, have been punished by drawing down
the curse and the misfortune.
givinghanks" §12. In other respects, William was in tran-
qUj]jjty.. Normandy well governed and flourishing,
and he and Matilda, amongst other works of piety,
continued the erection of their two great monas-
teries, which although begun nearly ten years be-
fore, had proceeded but slowly. St. Etienne was
however advancing towards completion, and it
seems that even in this, intended to be a good
work, William proceeded with his characteristic
impetuosity and want of regard for the rights of
others. The greater portion of the church and
monastery was built upon his own domains, but
there was a small piece of land upon which the
eastern part of the Basilica was to stand which
belonged to one Asceline. It occupied the space
of the presbytery and choir. William was never
deficient in liberality ; but whether Asceline
asked too large a price or otherwise offended the
Conqueror, we know not ; but whatever were the
circumstances, William seized the land against
the owner's will, and the usurped portion was
enclosed within the consecrated walls.
DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND. 507
§13. Whilst William was thus successful upon 1074
the main-land, he was again in most imminent
danger of losing the kingdom he had won. His
acquisition of the crown had been reprobated as
satisfaction
an act of injustice ; and if this were dubious, S
there were none who could deny the wrong he
had inflicted upon the English as a nation, not
even they who had profited the most by the
spoil. Moreover, there was a great and general
dissatisfaction prevailing amongst a large por-
tion of the Anglo-Norman settlers. There was
no principle upon which the land had been dis-
tributed, except William's absolute will and
pleasure. They despised, or affected to despise,
the sterile fields and wasted and depopulated
domains, with which, as they alleged, their
services had been mocked and not rewarded.
No ruler who pays by confiscations ever earns
the love of his dependants. If they are loyal to
him, it is simply to the extent that his interests
are united to their own. Heavy taxations had
been repeatedly imposed by William, and in this
respect, there was no immunity for the conquer-
ing race. The land was charged equally, by
whomsoever it was held. In addition to the
injuries resulting from the prosecution of the
wars and insurrections which had raged in
England, there had been a succession of un-
favourable seasons. Indeed, during the whole
of William's reign, murrain destroyed the cattle ;
storms and tempests wasted the immature har-
508 THE BRETONS IN ENGLAND.
1074 vests. There is no stage of society in which
these afflictions have not a political influence. — To
supply the fruits of the earth is beyond man's
creative power, and the pestilence or the famine
distract the plans of the wisest government, and
cause both the heart and hand of man to fail.
§ 14. Amongst the conquering settlers, there
were, as has been before observed, a great number
of Bretons. In coming over to England, they had
brought with them their dislike of the Normans,
and the Normans continued to hate and despise
them. They considered the Bretons as a foul
race ; and whether they were Bretons breton-
nants, or Bretons gallieants, they were equally
Jrees^edauy disliked. It was amongst them, largely as they
L had been rewarded, that the discontent began,
and of this the chief and leader was Ralph G-uader.
Earl of East Anglia, he had rendered good
service to William, but a cause of offence arose
which extended itself to another most influential
chieftain.
j£ seems that Fitz-Osbern's daughter had
marriage.
been promised in marriage to Guader, and upon
the death of the Earl of Hereford, his son Roger
carried the contract into effect by bestowing the
maiden upon her betrothed. William, was ex-
tremely offended by this alliance. The cause of
his anger is not clearly understood, but if we
can join the various and very discordant ac-
counts, it should seem, that, having first fully
sanctioned the marriage, he afterwards forbade
GUADER'S REBELLION. 509
it : — whether he fully possessed the prerogative 1075
of wardship over the daughters of his tenants in
capite, and could therefore retract any license
he had given, or whether he dreaded the union
of two such powerful houses, cannot be ascer-
tained ; but he manifested his anger : and the
two nobles, perhaps out of apprehension for
themselves, determined to strike the first blow,
and conspired to dethrone the King.
The bridal feast was held at the now obscure
village of Ixning, near the Rech-dyke, dividing
the kingdoms of East Anglia and Mercia, on the
borders of Guader's Earldom. As usual, there Meeting at
the marriage.
was a numerous and merry gathering, and amidst
the wassail and the gleeman's song, the plot so
fatal to its authors, was matured.
Amongst the guests was one invited, not waitheor
invited.
without deep purpose, — Waltheof. His govern-
ment of Northumbria, notwithstanding his feuds,
had continued encreasing in strength and popu-
larity. This was owing in great measure to
his thorough union of interest with the Bishop
Walchere. In order that the Bishop might be
the better able to dwell safely at Durham,
Waltheof had encreased the fortifications, per-
haps rebuilt the castle which Gospatric began ;
and when the Bishop held his synod, Waltheof sat
humbly in a low place amongst the presbyters,
concurring in every measure needed for the
preservation of " Christianity " in the Earldom.
Waltheof, who had joined the Earldom of North-
510 WALTHEOF.
1075 ampton to Northumbria, was the last represen-
tative of the high nobility of old England. He
alone remained in wealth and apparent pros-
parity. Yet Waltheof must have been always
morally in solitude ; — where could he look for his
former peers ? those who had been his com-
panions in place, in power, and in dignity.
Could he deem that he was walking safely ? —
and might not the suspicion sometimes cross his
mind, that the proud young Norman damsel
whom he had espoused in his old age, Judith, or
Edith, as the English were pleased to call her,
the Conqueror's niece, had been bestowed upon
him to watch his fidelity towards the Norman
King ? All this must have been felt as well by
the Normans as by himself : and if he, whose
influence might be expected to draw over a large
portion of the native English, could be induced
to co-operate, the success of the enterprise might
be considered as ensured.
A plot 3 15. The plot had been long maturing, not
formed.
unobserved by those who represented William in
command. It was first opened to Waltheof
during the height of the marriage festivities :
the discourse is said to have been artfully con-
ducted ; and, after expatiating upon William's
certain crimes and grievous tyranny, and the
many offences imputed to him by common fame,
Guader and Fitz-Osbern disclosed to Waltheof
their great plan for a division of the kingdom.
It was now the time, they told him, when Albion
WALTHEOF. 511
might reassert her liberty. Two of them were _
to be dukes, the third the paramount king.
Did Waltheof agree to this projected revolu-
tion ? or are we to believe that he strenuously
resisted the offer, testifying against the guilt of
treason, and pointing out the punishment it
would infallibly receive ? or did he, his mind
obscured by the potent contents of the circling
horn, give an imperfect assent to the plot, which
when the dawning light brought sobriety and
recollection, overwhelmed him with dread and
confusion? It is certain that whatever may ^°au1^.at
have been his words or his silence on that fatal a
eve, he never concurred in any act testifying
discontent or even approaching to rebellion.
Whatever charge may afterwards have been
brought against him for concurring in the con-
spiracy, must have been grounded upon suspicion
or surmise, or collected from the scarcely less
dubious testimony of those who were really
guilty, and sought to involve him. in their crime,
or, worse than all, of those who betrayed any
declaration he may have made in secret and
familiar converse.
Waltheof 's opposition to the plot, for such
seems to have been his real conduct, greatly
troubled the confederates, but did not disconcert
them. Aid had been invited from Denmark ;
from Canute, the son-in-law of Robert le Frizon,
perhaps also from the Frizon himself, and was
confidently expected. Roger de Breteuil marched
VOL. in. L L
512
PROGRESS OF THE PLOT.
1075
Norman'
opposition.
English
against the
plot. '
without opposition to his Earldom of Hereford,
where he collected a very large force and began
to ravage the adjoining territories. But all
these niarchlands were filled with castles, well
stored, well manned, and particularly that of
Worcester. This was held by Urso de Abitot,
who held the rank of Hereditary Sheriff, or
rather Yicecount in Worcestershire, in which
county he possessed very large domains. He
was a bold man, and unsparing, and when build-
ing the castle, he bearded the monks, encroach-
ing upon their cemetery, and raising the out-
works upon consecrated ground. —
" Hightest thou Urse,
Have thou the curse,"
was the angry reply of the Archbishop of York,
when the report of Abitot' s encroachments was
brought to him. Walter de Lacy, another very
powerful Baron, and who held much land in and
within de Breteuil's Earldom, was also unalter-
ably faithful to the royal cause.
§ 16. All this Norman opposition might how-
ever have been rendered fruitless, had Eoger de
Breteuil met with any encouragement from the
English ; but all the hatred which they had
borne to Fitz-Osbern was transferred to his son,
and they most cordially co-operated with the
King's troops and the King's partizans, for the
purpose of expelling the lineage of the oppressor.
THE ENGLISH OPPOSE IT. 513
In spite of the anathema passed upon Urse, old .
Bishop Wolfstan most cordially joined him in
taking the lead against the insurgents, and
raised, if he did not personally command, the
forces of his bishoprick. So also did Aylwine, the
Abbot of Evesham, and although they did not
immediately succeed in capturing the Earl of
Hereford, they entirely prevented his forming a
junction, which he had intended to do, with
the Earl of East Anglia.
Ralph de Guader had, at the same time,
advanced towards London ; but Bishop Mow-
bray and Bishop Odo were fully on the alert,
and with combined forces of Normans and of
English, for Guader appears to have been almost
as unpopular as Fitz-Osbern, they attacked him
near Cambridge, where his forces were com-
pletely routed. All who fell into the power
of the Bishops were treated with inexorable
cruelty, but he escaped to Norwich, and entrust-
ing the command of the castle to his young
bride, embarked and escaped to Denmark.
Ida displayed the accustomed strenuousness |oef«°fh
of the Norman women, and, encouraged by her,
her forces sturdily defended the wide circuit of
the castle and the burgh, so bravely indeed as
to enable them to make reasonable terms with
the Norman forces, which were ratified by the
King. They were to come forth, and not to
suffer in life and limb. Ralph himself was to
L L 2
Castle.
514 END OF THE PLOT.
105 forfeit his honours and his lands ; his followers
were to quit the realm within forty days, but
they might return with the King's license. Ida
sailed to Brittany, where she was shortly after-
wards joined by her husband. William de
Warrenne and Eobert Malet took possession of
the castle with three hundred men-at-arms,
which, with the proportionate number of light
armed troops and other soldiery, probably con-
stituted the largest garrison the castle ever
held ; and Lanfranc was able to announce to
the Conqueror that England was again pacified.
§ 17. War had done its work, but imper-
fectly, and now the heavier terrors of judg-
ment were to follow. Towards the close of the
autumn, William, having taken order for the
administration of Normandy, leaving Matilda,
as it should seem, at Caen, and giving the com-
mand of the castle at Eouen to the chief but-
ler [cupbearer] of Normandy, Eoger de Ivry,
passed over to England. Eoger de Breteuil was
summoned to answer for his crime. Defence,
there was none : judgment was given against him
according to the Norman law : all his lands were
forfeited, and he was condemned to perpetual
imprisoned :
imprisonment. It should seem that William
had somewhat relented in favour of his kinsman,
the son of his old and trusty friend. Courtesy
diminished the hardships of captivity ; and
when the Easter festival arrived, the royal
servants entered into Eoger' s chamber, bearing
BEETEUIL. 515
a pile of costly garments, the silken vest, the
furred robe, the ensigns of the dignity of the
Earldom. Such tokens were significant ; might
they not tacitly convey a message of comfort ?
might they not indicate to the captive that he
would be permitted to display them amongst
the Proceres at the festival of the ensuing
Pentecost? If any such mitigation was pre-
paring for the son of Fitz-Osbern, his own
spiteful impatience rivetted his chains. He
cast the gifts into the flames, exclaiming that
they were sent to him, not in kindness but in
mockery. A more forgiving temper than that
of William's might have been offended by this
contumely. He was chafed and vexed to ex-
treme anger, and vowed that so long as he lived,
Roger de Breteuil should never quit his prison
house — neither did William's death give any re-
lease to the captive, who expired in his dungeon.
The proscription was extended to all his
family ; his sons, Reginald and Roger, excelling
in valour and distinguished by exemplary truth,
faithful servants to Rufus, faithful servants to
Beauclerc, they were nevertheless marked, so
long as they lived, by the stern displeasure of
each sovereign. Depressed, degraded, pining
under the heart-sick expectation of some re-
storation to their ancestorial rank, they pined
in vain ; and it was remarked by the English as
a memorable proof of retributive justice, that
the progeny of William Fitz-Osbern, the Count
Offends
William.
from
516 WALTHEOF.
1075 Of Hereford, the Count of Flanders, the High
Steward of Normandy, the confidant, the friend?
the sharer in the authority of the King, but who
had so mercilessly tyrannized over the con-
quered, should be utterly eradicated from the
country he had so unjustly won.
William's regents were so confident of suc-
cess, that knowing the chances of disturbance
in Normandy, of which there were many, they
had exhorted him not to trouble himself by im-
mediately repairing to England. Waltheof had,
directly after his participation in the unhappy,
festivities of Ixning, visited Lanfranc, and,
consulting him both in his sacerdotal and secular
character, opened the matter to him. Lanfranc,
entirely convinced of his innocence as to any
intentional participation in the treason, advised
him to go to Normandy, to acknowledge all that
he had said or done, and to implore William's
forgiveness. The Earl of Northumbria obeyed
the counsel and crossed over ; but William
received him sternly, and proffered no forgive-
ness, and the reason was a most painful one.
Judith had shamelessly accused her husband of
direct intentional and active concurrence in the
treason.
§ 1 8. Sad and sorrowful was the festival of the
Nativity, celebrated in the palace and abbey of
Westminster. Edgitha, the Confessor's widow,
was borne to the grave, and placed in the tomb
HIS TRIAL. 517
by the side of her husband, where their bones
still rest undisturbed.
William wore his crown as usual, but sitting
in his High Court of Justice ; and now the
judicial proceedings began. With the meaner ™g of the
criminals, justice was fearfully expeditious.
Against many, sentence of perpetual banishment
was passed : many suffered amputation of their
limbs : many had their eyes pierced with a hot
iron : many were hanged, hanged to their shame,
for this was the disgraceful death reserved by the
English law for the thief, or those guilty of
infamous crimes. First, the King dealt with
Waltheof : a partial hearing of his case began.
Judith came forward as the witness against him.
No one overt act could be alleged even by her
malice, and he openly and freely acknowledged
that which he never had attempted to deny,
that he had been an unwary and incautious
listener ; but that he himself had never, in word
or deed, contemplated rebellion or treason.
Many of the Normans, longing for the spoil, for
those honours and lands of which so large a
portion afterwards passed to lame Simon de
Senlize, were very anxious to procure his con-
demnation, but nevertheless the great council
could not agree in passing such a sentence. It
seems to have been doubted whether the facts
admitted by Waltheof were sufficient to convict
him, and perhaps also whether his prompt and
518 WALTHEOF IN PRISON.
1075 unreserved confession was not in itself a testi-
mony of his substantial innocence. Much also
must be allowed for the natural revulsion of
feeling in his favour ; in favour of one the
subject of such odious and wicked domestic
treachery, — and he was therefore committed to
prison in the castle of Winchester.
Waltheof awaited his judgment in the prison
of Winchester for more than a year. His days
and hours were wholly given to penitence and
prayer : one portion of his devotional exercises
being the repetition of the psalter, which his
mother had taught him in early youth, every
day. His case was repeatedly argued and dis-
cussed before the tribunal ; till at length the
influence of his adversaries prevailed, and he
was condemned to die. Judged by the stern
and rigid letter of the law, it cannot be denied
that he had fallen within its danger. According
to our existing jurisprudence, not differing
probably much in this respect whether from the
Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Norman law, there are
case against no gradations of guilt in treason. All are prin-
cipals, and misprision of treason, that is to say
the concealment of the crime, would subject the
imprudent participator in the fatal knowledge to
capital punishment at the present day. Yet
Waltheof's misfortunes, his wife's baseness, his
piety, his contrition, excited much sympathy
even amongst the Normans, and universally
HIS EXECUTION. 519
amongst the English. All believed him to be 1075
substantially guiltless of any crime. A rescue
was therefore anticipated, and the mode of his
execution attests the apprehension which pre-
vailed. Very early, in the chill grey of the new
executed :
dawning morn, was Waltheof brought forth upon
the rising ground beside Winchester, where the
church of St. Giles was afterwards erected. He
knelt before the block, and began to repeat the
Lord's prayer, but before he could complete the
petition " ne nos inducas in tentationem" the
sword of the headsman swung ; and when the
citizens were coming forth to their daily labours,
the train of priests and bedesmen, return-
ing from the scaffold, informed them of the
fate which the Earl of Northumbria had sus-
tained.
§ 19. Where Waltheof had expired, they in-
terred his remains : a grave hastily dug in the
chalky soil received them ; and, scantily shrouded
by the green turf laid again, they were abandoned
in the unconsecrated ground, as if he were the
vilest criminal, and as if for the purpose of dis-
gracing his memory. But William and Judith
were soon brought to the feeling that this attempt
to dishonour the dead recoiled upon themselves.
By Judith's request, William permitted that the ^^l to
body of the last English Earl should be removed Cr°7la
to St. Guthlac's monastery. G-ladly did the
monks of Croyland undertake the sacred and
Honours
done to
520 WALTHEOF'S POPULAR
l°v75 _. joyful charge of performing the solemn rites due
to their benefactor. Fifteen days after the death
of Waltheof, Ulf kettle and his brethren arrived
at the capital of Wessex, and proceeding to the
place of execution, they removed the fresh laid
green sward and opened the new grave and un-
covered the corpse. It seemed as if the blow
had just been struck, so fresh was his counte-
nance and so unchanged his mortal spoil : it was
seen, men said, that he had died in the midst of
prayer. The martyr's relics, for such Waltheof
was already deemed, were deposited in the Chap-
ter House of Croyland. Many tokens, as it was
soon reported, were given of Waltheof 's sanctity.
Judith, abhorred as his murderess, appeared,
seemingly penitent, before the tomb, and covered
it with a costly silken pall ; but the offering was
repelled from the marble, as if driven away by
the whirl wind ; and the contumely, the disappoint-
ment, the poverty and the wretchedness, which
pursued her unceasingly till her death, were noted
as the warning testimonies of her crime.
William's suspicions were excited by the
national feeling nourished at Croyland. Accusa-
tions were preferred against Abbot Ulf kettle, the
Englishman. He was deposed, and banished to
Glastonbury ; Ingulph, another Englishman, was
appointed by the Conqueror in his stead. As
usual, he had begun his career as one of the
Conqueror's chaplains, and having received the
habit, and his foreign training and education, in
Watheof
CANONIZATION. 521
the great Norman Abbey of Fontcnel,was probably . 10J5
considered by his patron as detaching him from
the English cause. Not so : the honours rendered
to Waltheof encreased, and the more splendid
shrine erected by the new Abbot near the High
Altar of the church which he restored, attracted
more and more votaries. Ingulph was entirely
an Englishman at heart, and the legendary his-
tory which passes under his name, though inter-
polated and enlarged, may be considered, when
compared with the brief but more authentic
memorials preserved, as an exponent of his
feelings. Ingulph was succeeded by Gosfrid of
Orleans, who had professed in the monastery of
St. Evreux. Learned and kind and liberal, he
adopted, Frenchman as he was, all the religio
loci. More and more did the veneration rendered
to Waltheof encrease, and daily did the resort of
English pilgrims become more and more nume-
rous, and more and more were the miracles talked
of which had been vouchsafed at the shrine. A
Norman monk scoffed and scorned this devotion,
offered at the tomb, as he said, of a traitor who
had received condign punishment. Gosfrid re-
proved him kindly but solemnly. The sudden
illness and speedy death of the reviler, and the
vision which appeared to the Abbot, added still
more to the national veneration.
Time passed on, till at length he who has ordericu«
at Croyland.
preserved to us the living history of the times,
Ordericus, visited the Abbey of Croyland. His
522 WALTHEOF.
1°75_ talents were celebrated, and the epitaph which
he was desired to compose, and which was in-
scribed upon the sarcophagus, perpetuated the
remembrance of the injustice which the English
nation had, in the person of Waltheof, sustained.
]^or ^ ^illiam ever recover from the moral
condemnation due to his injustice : and when the
pilgrim brought his offerings to the shrine, he
was told how William's good fortune deserted him
from the day that Waltheof died. Never again
during the remainder of his reign, did he enjoy
peace ; never did he prosper. He resisted his
enemies as boldly as ever, for his prowess was
undiminished, his mind unclouded ; but his bow
was broken, his sword was blunted : never again
was he able to defeat the enemy in the field or to
storm the beleaguered city, until that fatal success
which brought him to the grave.
523
CHAPTER XII.
WILLIAM RETURNS TO THE CONTINENT. SIEGE OF DOL.
QUARRELS BETWEEN ROBERT AND HIS FATHER. — BATTLE
OF GERBEROI. ROBERT'S SECOND OUTBREAK. DISTURB-
ANCES IN NORTHUMBRIA. BISHOP ODO's IMPRISONMENT.
— MATILDA'S DEATH.
1075—1083.
§ 1. THE escape of Ralph Guader from Nor-
. escapes and
wich Castle gave further trouble to William. He $
arrived safely in Denmark. Canute assembled
a large fleet, upon which he embarked with the
sturdy Earl Haco. They entered the Humber,
surprised York, plundered the Minster, and
sailed away with ample spoil. They made for
Flanders ; some perished, apparently by a
storm, but the success of the enterprize was
sufficient, with the promised aid of Robert the
Frizon, who continued to nourish an implacable
enmity against his brother-in-law, to concert
another and more formidable invasion.
Ralph Guader returned to Brittany, where
he occupied the city of D61. Much enmity was
arising against William. Philip of France
never was otherwise than inimical, though not
always in active hostility. All the borders of
Normandy were more or less disturbed or in-
clined to give disturbance. The late transac-
524 WILLIAM'S UNSUCCESSFUL
_1075 . tions in England had revived the national an-
Hoel and
Alan
tipathy between the Normans and the Bretons.
Notwithstanding the ample patronage bestowed
by William upon Alan le Roux, Earl of Rich-
mond, they considered that they were entirely
out of his good will. Upon the death of
Conan II., Hoel, Count of Cornouailles and
Nantes, had acquired, or attempted to acquire,
the supremacy of the Duchy. By marriage
with Hawisa, daughter of Duke Alan, he had
acquired the county of Rennes. It was very
doubtful whether the right could be transmitted
through a female, and his authority was much
contested. Ever since the Conquest, Hoel and
Alan Fergant, his son, who acted as being con-
joined to him in the sovereignty, had virtually
cast off the Norman suzerainty.
The protection afforded to the rebel, Guader,
gave William an additional incitement against
Brittany ; and soon after the execution of
Waltheof, he crossed over. The Normans most
willingly joined him : the war had in a manner
become national. D61 was surrounded by the
invading army. William swore bitterly that he
would not depart until the town had sur-
rendered at discretion. The garrison were ter-
rified at his threats. Success appeared certain,
yet, nevertheless, William continued in his
camp, threatening and making demonstrations,
but without attempting to assault the city, for
the siege was converted into a sluggish blockade.
ATTEMPT ON BRITTANY. 525
The delay was fatal; Alan Fergant advanced
with a large force, magnified by report to 15,000
men. He was supported by powerful reinforce- £
ments from France, led on by King Philip in
person. The besieged knew nothing of the army
advancing to their rescue, and were even gain-
ing some advantages over William, not distinctly
specified, but which probably consisted in their
having captured some of his men in their sallies ;
for they were such as to necessitate his making
terms with them before his retreat. This he
did disgracefully. He abandoned camp, bag-
gage, horses, treasure to the amount, as it was
reckoned, of thousands of pounds sterling, all
of which rewarded the victors.
2 2. This check induced William to alter his
policy towards Brittany, and he acted wisely,
according to a policy which the Normans and
the Norman dynasty had followed with con-
siderable success. The daughters of William
and of Matilda, like all the members of this
remarkable family, were distinguished; and no
higher testimony can be found of Matilda's cul-
tivation, as well as of her prudence, than the
results which appeared in the character of her
daughters. Agatha, the betrothed of Harold,
had been sought in marriage by Alphonso, King
of Galicia ; but she could not transfer the affec-
tion she had felt for her first betrothed, unworthy
though he was, to the Spaniard ; and when sent
to the Peninsula under the escort of the em-
gams over
526 MARRIAGE OF CONSTANCE
bassadors, despatched by the Galician prince,
she prayed that she might be delivered by
death. Worn out by grief and anxiety, her
prayer was granted : she never saw him, and
her corpse was brought back to Normandy.
Upon the day when the monastery of the
Holy Trinity was founded at Caen by William
and by Matilda, the babe Cecilia was placed by
her parents upon the altar, and offered to the
Church. She was educated by Matilda, the
abbess, and, taking most earnestly and sincerely
to her vocation, she had, at the period about
which we are now writing, professed, and, not
very long after, the abbess having resigned,
became the second superior of the community.
Adelaide: Adelaide, the most beautiful of the family, had
also, when she attained a marriageable age, re-
nounced the world, and lived and died a recluse.
There were therefore but two daughters remain-
ing who could be disposed of in marriage ; Con-
congtance stance, tall, fair, and prudent, became the wife
^ of Alan Fergant, to her father's exceeding joy,
1075 —
•, loss.] an(j they were married with great solemnity at
Caen. Like her mother, Matilda, she had great
talent for government. Constance promoted the
welfare of the Bretons in every way during the
fifteen years that she reigned over them as their
duchess, and the alliance contributed very mainly
to repress the national antipathy which had sub-
sisted between them and the Norman sovereigns.
The marriage of Constance and Alan Fer-
AND ADELA. 527
gant was followed by another, even of greater 10~5
importance in the history of England. Of all
the daughters., Adela was the one who par-
took most of her father's spirit, boldness and
courage. Stephen of Blois, Count Palatine of
Champagne, anxiously sought her in marriage :
a powerful, and, in many respects, a meritori-
ous sovereign, but who was remarkably distin-
guished by a deficiency in the qualities by which
Adela was characterized. To William, this mar-
riage was of considerable political importance,
for the House of Blois was one of the greatest
dependencies of the French crown north of the
Loire ; and this marriage also was happily cele-
brated at Chartres, one of Stephen's capitals.
§ 3. These were prosperous incidents, but Doubts M to
quite inadequate to afford any compensation for
the encreasing troubles and dissensions in the
royal family, and these had arisen from William's
over anxiety and improvident prudence for that
which he had considered the welfare of his child.
There must always have been some apprehen-
sion in William's mind lest his own illegitimacy
should be considered as descending to his own
issue, thus opening the succession of Normandy
and its dependencies to some of those who could
trace their ancestrv to Rollo ; remote, obscure,
i/
or even fabulous as their pedigree might be. Or
the King of the French might claim the Duchy
as aii escheat to the sovereign : the kings of
France were continually gaining in authority,
VOL III. MM
succession.
528 WILLIAM AND
1073-1078 though that authority could be rarely shewn.
The prestige which gave the supremacy to the
king who had been crowned at Rheims and
consecrated with the sainte ampoule, was con-
stantly encreasing ; and not the less influentially
because that encrease was silent. William's
affection for his first-born was very strong, and
the very mismanagement of this favourite son
wmiam's shows its intensity. And the difficulties which
efforts for »
William himself had encountered in obtaining
the Norman sovereignty, had encreased his
natural anxiety for the perpetuation of the
dominion in his race. Hence, the repeated
homage which he had caused to be performed
to Robert when an infant and to Robert when
a child. Hence his labours to secure the obe-
dience of reluctant Maine : hence the confirma-
tion he had obtained from Philip of the right
of the future heir.
bad None of these transactions implied any in-
tention on the part of William that he would
resign his authority to his son. Yet, even in a
mind far better regulated than Robert's, they
might have been otherwise construed. The
transactions with Philip in particular put Robert
close upon a level with his father, and there
were very many who found it for their advan-
tage to persuade him that his rights were with-
held. His influence encreased : Robert seemed
to be very full of courage, clever, jovial and
prodigal ; a good speaker, a pleasant companion ;
HIS SON ROBERT. 529
and he rapidly assembled round him a large and I073-1078
influential party ; some, disorderly and profli-
gate, but others of considerable standing and
influence, who found it for their interest to en-
courage the heir-apparent' s pretensions. He Robert
claims the
emulated the state of his father, lorded it over E
his brothers, and began to urge his pretensions
to the immediate possession of Normandy and
of Maine. William of course refused : father
and son continued wrangling and disputing, not
to that extent as to occasion an open rupture,
but sufficient to excite continual disquietude,
and to the mother most of all. Rufus and "
Beauclerc were bitterly incensed at the pre-
eminence assumed by Robert, and the first,
great as were the defects of his character, always
showed much filial affection, but one and all
were equally violent. They had not even
a sufficient sense of worldly decency to at-
tempt to restrain themselves : what they felt,
they shewed ; and with such a progeny was
William surrounded, whether in peace or in
war.
§ 4. At this period the nucleus of Robert's
party consisted of Robert de Belesmes, Count of
Alencon, and his connexions, mostly the powerful
and turbulent Lord Marchers of Maine. Belesme,
as it will be recollected, had not long since re-
ceived the degree of knighthood from the King ;
but he passed over to Robert, and we cannot
hesitate to trace the malignant inveteracy with
M M 2
530 THE BAD BELESMES.
1075-1078 which Robert pursued his father to the influence
of this truly wicked counsellor.
The head of the Belesme or Alencon family
was Rotrou, Lord of the castle and town of
Mortaigne, which must not be confounded with
Mortaine, and of the territory which, under his
long government began to be called the county
of Perche. Under the old monarchy, Perche
was considered as the smallest of the fiefs of
France ; but at this period it was nevertheless
a territory of considerable importance. As the
border-land between Maine and Normandy and
the Pays Chartrain, it might annoy or influence
many neighbours more powerful than itself. Be-
lesme was a fief of Perche, and it contained with-
in its circuit Domfront, Nogent, and other strong-
holds which became of great importance in that
partizan warfare which constitutes so character-
istic a portion of the history of the Conqueror's
family. Gruarin, the founder of this line, had
treacherously murdered one of his most intimate
friends : he died suddenly, and was believed to
have been strangled by the Demon. As in the
case of the Angevine family, such traditions are
always the evidence of family character, and
_ unhappily not without influence upon it. Rotrou
on wuiiam7 was a genuine descendant of Guarin, and insti-
gated, as it should seem, either mediately or
immediately by Robert, he engaged in war with
William. Henceforward indeed the colour of
his history becomes tarnished and dull : he is
retaliates on
WILLIAM ENTERS PERCHE. 531
no longer the Conqueror, bearing his triumphant
banner, flushed with victory, but a commander
vexed in spirit, engaged in a series of petty and
frequently unfortunate conflicts and inroads,
which continued until the end of his life.
§ 5. Irritated by Rotrou, William entered the
Corbonnais, a portion of the territory of Perche, Perche
but intersected by domains belonging to his own
vassals. In this inroad, he was accompanied
by his miserable family, Robert and Robert's
partizans, and William and Beauclerc, the latter
still a mere lad, and those who might be con-
sidered as their adherents. In the course of
the expedition, William and his troops halted
at the town of L'Aigle, or Aquila. It was tra-
ditionally said that when the first founder of
this stronghold began his castle, he was guided
to it by an eagle, which contrary to the usual
habits of the bird, had built her nest in an
oak, Aquila then belonged to Richer, the
brother-in-law of Hugh, Earl of Chester, and
whose descendants, obtaining Pevensey and other
large domains, became Lords of the great Honour
of Aquila, mentioned with much emphasis in
our history.
In the course of the night, William was g^^I of
roused from his bed by a riot ; a furious, and in
the words of the chronicler who relates it, a
demoniacal quarrel had arisen between the
brothers, so fell was their conduct and bearing.
The two younger, with their companions, had
532 RUPTURE WITH ROBERT.
1075-1078 g0ne uninvited to the house where Robert was
quartered ; and stationing themselves in an
upper chamber, they occupied themselves in
playing with the dice. Whether in the rude
mirth of the gamblers, or in their squabbles,
they made a great uproar, and some vessel con-
taining dirty water, was thrown over. The
water, trickling through 'the ill joined planks,
rained upon the head of Robert and his party in
the room below. — "Are ye a man, not to revenge
this shameful insult ?" was the outcry instantly
raised by the two Grantesmesnils, Alberic and
Ivo. Robert rushed upstairs as if he were mad,
and began to attack his brothers. The tumult
spread through the town. King William's sud-
den entry prevented more immediate mischief,
but Robert was not to be appeased, and he
resented his father's interference as a cruel
injury. A day of plotting with his companions
succeeded ; on the following evening, Robert and
his adherents rode out across the country and
attacked Rouen.
§ 6. Without doubt, they could not have ven-
tured upon such a desperate attempt, had not
their forces encreased as they advanced. They
occupied the castle and palace ; but Roger de
Ivry, who commanded the great dungeon tower,
«uteSed drove them out, and without proceeding to
further extremities, sent to William to know
how he should act. William immediately or-
dered that the offenders should be seized. The
open
ROBERT'S PARTY. 533
command [was partially carried out.] Some w.-,-iff7*
were taken prisoners, but Kobert was strongly
supported. He returned to the marchlands.
Hugh de Neuchatcl, who was Lord of Remelard
and other fortresses from whence Robert could
annoy his father, strongly supported him, as
well as the whole Belesme connection.
The insurrection now began to assume armies or
William and
very threatening aspect ; and the party of the Robert>
heir-apparent was quite becoming distinct and
prominent as opposed to the party of the old
King. All the surrounding countries and popu-
lations, Frenchmen and Bretons, Manceaux and
Angevines, began now to consider which side
would offer most advantage. William had re-
course to a policy which he had so often found
successful. He bribed Count Rotrou to abandon
Robert's party, and by his help reduced the
castles of Neuchatel. Robert appears to have
returned to a simulated and sullen obedience,
and for a short time the outward dissensions
were stayed.
Very brief, however, was this respite. Robert's £*«*'•
adherents continued urging him to assert his
rightful claims. He was rushing more and more
into vice. Alternations of violent excitement
and licentious indolence consumed his time.
Harlots, minstrels, trouveurs and jesters, mean
hangers-on and parasites, composed his court, —
but not such classes alone, for amongst his ad-
herents were many boasting the best blood in
534 ROBERT DEMANDS
1075-1078 Normandy : sons and kinsmen of the old stock,
the Barons, whose advice had strengthened Wil-
liam in counsel and whose swords had defended
him in the field ; and many even of those who
had recently served him most efficiently, such
as Eoger de Benefacta and William de Molines ;
nay even the Mowbray, the nephew of Gosfried,
Bishop of Coutances, and whose expectations
were the largest perhaps of any of the vassals of
William's crown. All these for various reasons
egged his son on to disobedience and rebellion.
Robert repeated his demands more vehe-
mently than before ; and in the course of the
argument, he insisted strongly upon the confirm-
ation which he had received in his title from
the King of the French ; and it was a shrewd as
well as a provoking portion of Robert's conduct
thus to insist upon the power of interference
possessed by one whom William was so unwilling
to acknowledge as a superior. William some-
times argued, sometimes evaded the request,
sometimes denied it ; quoted all the examples he
could recollect (and his reading was extensive
and his memory good) of filial disobedience, and
its condign punishment, as collected from sacred
or profane history ; advised him to consult with
Lanfranc and other wise men ; and spoke some-
times as a father. Robert answered most con-
temptuously. " Father," said he, " I do not come
to hear a sermon : enough and more than enough
of these wise sayings of which I have heard so
NORMANDY. 535
many, until I am sick of them, from my teachers : >1075~1078
answer me concerning my claim, that I may de-
termine how to act. I will no longer serve any
one in Normandy, meanly as a slave."
§ 7. William was as hard in his denial as Robert wuuam
refuses.
was peremptory in his asking. He would never
surrender Normandy, his patrimony, or divide
England, his conquest. Never would he suffer an
equal or a superior in his realm. Robert raged Robert
leaves
as he departed from his father, and he and his wuliam-
partizans quitted Normandy altogether as Wil-
liam's declared enemies. In the first instance,
many of the noblest of his retainers, the proudest,
and the boldest, accompanied him. Large promises
were made to them, and something was gained
by plunder ; but they seem shortly to have de-
serted him, and left him only with some few of
the most needy and the most vile of his adherents.
Robert first repaired to his uncle of Flanders,
Robert the Frizon, full of rancour as he was
against his brother-in-law, could not then aid his
nephew, who next visited the court of Eudo,
Archbishop of Treves. Hence he began a farther
course of wandering, proceeding from castle to
castle, and from region to region, defaming his
father, seeking to excite public opinion against
him : thus wandering as a noble and yet beggarly
pretender, during a period of more than five
years. He rambled from Lotharingia to the
Rhineland and Suabia, to Aquitaine and to
Gascony, till at length he crossed the Alps,
536 EGBERT IN ITALY.
1075-1078 an(j was received by Bonifazio, Marquis of
Montferrat.
MomfeTraf: The dominions of Boniface extended from the
foot of the Alps to the shore of the Riviera;
from Vercelli to Savona ; and Parma and Cre-
mona and Piacenza, all owned him as their Lord.
The mother of Boniface, Helena, was an English
Princess. The Italians call her Helen, daugh-
ter of a Duke of Gloucester ; possibly of some
Anglo-Saxon Earl of Mercia, who assumed the
softer name to please the Italian ear. Robert
courted the daughter of Boniface, and as it is
said, with the wish to obtain the aid of this prince
against his father. The manner in which Albert
Azzo attempted to possess himself of Maine,
shews, that, notwithstanding the distance and the
difficulty of the journey, there might have been
a possibility of exciting the Lombard to such
an adventure ; and there was such a general
epidemic fermentation and unsettlement of men's
minds at this period, that there was a chance for
Refuses his any desperate enterprize. But Robert was un-
daughter to
Robert. successful. The hand of Adelicia, a name which,
even in this case, one is fain to consider as a title
or an epithet, was reserved for Roger Gruiscard.
From the compassion or the policy of the
princes and nobles whom he sought, Robert fre-
quently obtained ample pecuniary aid ; but the
gifts and donations bestowed by their generosity
or extorted by his importunity, were lavished
with unprincipled rapidity. Robert's debauch-
MATILDA ASSISTS HIM. 537
eries kept him miserably poor, and he was fre- 10"5-1Q78
quently reduced to the greatest distress : to
borrow from the usurer, or to beg, when the
usurer would not lend. Matilda's heart was
constantly turned towards her absent and de-
graded child : knowing his exigencies, she con-
stantly endeavoured to relieve him, and trans-
mitted to him from time to time large sums of
money, by the hands of Sampson, the Breton,
a trusty arid experienced messenger, who must
have had to make his journeys with much peril
as well as skill. These acts of tenderness
she carefully concealed from her husband : he
discovered them by chance, and burst out into a
paroxysm of fury, accusing her of supporting
his bitter enemy. Matilda fully acknowledged
her act. " If Eobert, my son, were buried seven
feet below the ground, and I could bring him to
life again by my heart's blood, how gladly would
I shed it, to restore him to the light of day."
William became yet paler with anger, and gave wmiam-s
•> wrath with
orders that the eyes of Sampson should be Matilda-
plucked out. He was enabled to escape, and fled
to St. Evreul, where, taking the cowl, he lived to
a good old age : the companion of the youth of
that historian who constitutes our main guide
through this period of our history.
§ 8. Robert, when he returned from Lombardy,
which seems to have been his extreme point, re-
newed his applications to Philip, who received
him zealously, and placed him in a position where
538 ROBERT AT GERBEROI.
108 he could most successfully annoy his father, in
the castle of Gerberoi. This was a very strong
border fortress in the Beaucassin, near the Nor-
man frontier, and about five miles from Gournay.
All such March fortresses were usually sufficiently
lawless, but Gerberoi had, in this respect, as it
were, a peculiar franchise. It was the privilege
Of Gerberoi that all outlaws or fugitives might be
received there as a sanctuary. Helias the Yidam,
welcomed the reckless Eobert ; and what locality
could better suit him and his desperate fortune ?
Here he established his head quarters, and
gathered round him a band of freebooters, making
large promises, and giving them present payment,
by permitting them to ravage Normandy, his own
country, the country which he claimed. Unprin-
cipled as this predatory warfare might be, the
treachery by which it was accompanied rendered
it the more base. Many of the Normans of the
higher ranks, outwardly the most loyal to Wil-
liam, were in secret communication with his son,
betraying and selling their own countrymen and
their own kindred to the outlaws. Such a state
of affairs was equally affronting to the monarch
Besieged by an(j to the father. William collected his forces,
William.
and accompanied by Rufus and by Beauclerc,
occupied the adjoining territory and laid siege to
the castle. Gerberoi was defended with great
obstinacy. Three weeks elapsed, during which
no progress was made by the besiegers. William
fought in person amongst the besiegers, and it is
MISFORTUNES OF WILLIAM. 539
remarkable that his body squire was an English- ^ 1078
man. The siege was ended by a decided battle.
Rufus was wounded. William, engaged in single *»?***
William
conflict with a knight belonging to the adverse fight>
party, was exposed to the utmost danger. His
horse was killed under him : the esquire, bring-
ing up another, was transpierced by a javelin.
William himself was cut so desperately, that the
agony extorted a cry of anguish. Robert, his
assailant, stayed his hand.
Baffled, humiliated, and full of sorrow, it
seemed as if William's genius had fled, and the
defeated Conqueror retreated from the single
donjon tower of Gerberoi within the distant
walls of Rouen. The disorders of the coun-
try still continued : and the Proceres now
proffered their help, for the purpose of ending
this most unnatural conflict. William received
their proposals with angry grief. Roger de t!ocn.
Montgomery, Hugh Lupus, Hugh de Gournay,
Grantesmesnil, and Beaumont, with his sons,
were the principal mediators. Of some the
loj^alty was ambiguous. The clergy added
their influence ; so also did Hubert the Cardinal
Legate ; and Pope Gregory himself addressed
the undutiful son. Peace was concluded. Nor-
mandy was again assured to Robert by William :
and the prelates and barons confirmed the com-
pact. But William had yielded to necessity
grudgingly and angrily ; anxious as he was to
secure the succession to his progeny, he could
cnci
540 FRESH TROUBLES
» 1(m> . not forgive the indignity which he had received :
and from the same lips which made the donation
proceeded that fatal imprecation which sought
to make it void. For William in the bitterness
of his heart had cursed his sou, and the father's
ban was fulfilled in the child's destruction.
Troubles g 9, ^0 peace, no rest, no tranquillity was
vouchsafed to William. Fresh troubles had arisen
in England. After the execution of Waltheof,
the unsettled right to the great Northumbrian
earldom ought perhaps to have passed to Liulph,
whose birth and possessions well entitled him
to the designation of the Noble Thane : and
whose excellence of character, his truth, his
honesty, and piety, gave him a higher claim to
dignity. William however granted the earldom,
Or perhaps the government of it, to Walchere of
Lorraine, the Bishop of Durham. The word
bought is used : but we must not take this word
in its more technical sense. The rights of the
bishop over the patrimony of St. Cuthbert were
unquestionable ; but if we consider the powers
of government as being what are commonly
termed feudal, we know that even the heir by
blood, in such cases, as the accession of a new
lord, was compelled to bargain with the so-
vereign for the restoration of his inheritance.
Walchere, who had enjoyed the friendship of the
martyred Waltheof, was of a kind and benignant
disposition, yet weak and unstable, and timid
and slack in his rule. Hence his retainers had
IN ENGLAND. 541
more than usual licence and impunity ; but he 1079
found great support in the co-operation of one LiulPh
supports
who might have been the most dangerous oppo- NValchere-
nent, the claimant Liulph. The feeling which
animated the noble Thane was higher than that
of ordinary patriotism ; he loved the country
because he viewed it as the possession of his
patron saint : and quietly and unobtrusively he
assisted the bishop where aid was most needed.
When Walchere held the great moot of the earl-
dom, he who might have presided, was content
to sit below as an assistant at the tribunal ; and
so wise and prudent was he, that men believed
that Cuthbert himself gave true counsel in the
judgments of his votary.
Liulph therefore had in every respect well ™^tea
deserved the bishop's confidence ; but it deeply a
excited the envy of those who considered them-
selves as more especially entitled to the bishop's
favour. I may mention Gilbert — to whom some
portion of the government was entrusted, — and
his chaplain Leobwine, by whose private advice
he was constantly guided. In fact, the state of
parties was such as to impose considerable diffi-
culties upon Walchere. A strong body-guard of
Frenchmen and Flemings had been needed to
clear the way when he was enthroned, and the un-
ceasing feuds and dissensions amongst the chief-
tains, their septs and families, constantly exposed
him to the danger of unwittingly affronting some
one powerful leader, at whose bidding the whole
542 DISTURBANCES IN NORTHUMBRIA.
1079_ land from Tyne to Tees, might rise in insurrec-
tion. Thus, the disorders of the country en-
creased ; the bishop's knights plundered and
slew; the bishop's archdeacon robbed the
Church : and men whispered that, like Eli,
he allowed his children to sin, and would be
visited with Eli's punishment.
Liulph and Leobwine, sitting in the same
court, constantly testified their opposition both
of principle and feeling by the contrariety of
their opinions. The Thane was well versed in
the laws and usages of Northumbria, and the
spirit of equity guided his judgments. Leob-
wine would obstinately oppose the opinions of
his coadjutor, and revile him in the very seat
of justice with indecent and contumelious
language. Fell was the anger thus excited,
and they determined upon a base revenge.
The usages which fully allowed each individual
to avenge his real or supposed injuries before
the light of day, without incurring any respon-
sibility beyond that which could be compen-
sated by the blood fines, forbade all treachery,
and still more, the infliction of injury upon an
enemy protected by the hour of rest and the
sanctity of his hearth and home.
Luapur.of §10- Leobwine and Gilbert, disregarding the
principles which marked the difference between
manslaughter and murder, aided by some of the
bishop's knights, attacked their competitor, the
good Liulph, in the darkness of the night, and
WALCIIERE AND LTCORWINE. 543
slew him and the whole of his household.
Having perpetrated the deed, they repaired at
once to the bishop, seeking his protection, and
informing him of all their vengeance. — " Thou
hast killed me and thyself and all who are
ours, thou wicked and foolish Leobwine," ex-
claimed the bishop, as he tore the hood off his
head and flung it on the ground in anger and
despair ; and truly did he augur the conse-
quences. He immediately took refuge in that
strong castle so recently raised by Waltheof, Cl
protecting the cathedral, and itself guarded
by the sanctity of the ground. He closed
the portals, and sent messengers all about
and around Northumbria, declaring that he
had neither art nor part in the slaughter,
that Gilbert and all his associates were or
should be outlawed from Northumbria, and how
he, the bishop, would clear himself of all sus-
picion of guilt by solemn compurgation, ac-
cording to the canon law. This great anxiety
shewed how much the prelate dreaded the
avengers of blood, and that he himself was
conscious that he had incurred great suspicion.
Indeed his acts had not corresponded with his
words. Outlaws he had proclaimed the mur-
derers to be ; but he had received them, shel-
tered them, consorted with them, and at this
very time they were protected within his walls.
As was usual in such cases, the offence had
become a feud between men and between fami-
VOL. III. N N
544 THE MEETING
t lies, in which all participated who were involved
in the act, whether as offenders or as sufferers.
Adherents on either side swelled the dissension
more and more. It was evident that the long
prevailing discontents against the bishop were
now coming to a crisis, and that the question to
The parties foe decided at the tryst at Gateshead was whe-
meet at
GateBhe*i. ^er the respective parties of national North-
umbria or the French government of the Lo-
tharingian bishop were to prevail. Walchere and
the perpetrators of the great offence, Leobwine
his archdeacon, Gilbert his seneschal, his clerks,
and his knights, repaired thither ; and there
also had assembled the vast multitude from
beyond the Tyne, prepared to assert or to
avenge their complaints against their enemies.
Pledges of peace had been given, and the plead-
ings were to begin according to law in the open
air, upon the green turf and beneath the sky.
Smthe But as the bishop looked round and beheld the
angry multitude, his heart failed him. Would
any pledge restrain the hands of those who
already had declared him guilty ? of what avail
would the compurgators prove 1 the twelve, or
the twenty-four, or the thirty-six priests and
deacons, placing their hands on the Gospel-
book, and swearing that they believed in the
innocence of him whom the uncontrollable
power of popular opinion had already con-
demned.
Walchere therefore refused to proceed with
AT GATERTTEAD. 545
the discussion otherwise than within the walls
of the church. Into this humble and then se-
withdraws.
eluded edifice he and the accused entered, ac-
companied by some portion of his meisne.
Without, on the bleak and then desert banks
of the Tyne, were assembled the roaring and
yelling multitude. From the sanctuary, the
bishop sent forth a deputation of those who
were to propose the terms of pacification. The
messengers never returned.- They were imme-
diately slaughtered, and the same fate befel the
others of the bishop's party, who, trusting to
the legal truce, had remained without, unsus-
picious of any harm.
There was now no longer any doubt as to
the mind of the Northumbrians. Peace they
never had really sought with the bishop : their
intent was his death, and the extermination of
the foreign rulers. Could any sacrifice avert
the fate of the prelate ? could the blood of
Gilbert be accepted as a sufficient expiation ?
Whether urged by conscience or driven out by Gilbert is
C J J killed.
the despair of those within the unavailing
sanctuary, the seneschal came "forth, and was
instantly transfixed by the spears and weapons
of the assailants. Loud cries were now raised
for Leobwine ; the bishop knew that no sacrifice
would appease them except the death of the
archdeacon, who was considered as the root of
the whole calamity, and sought to purchase his
own life by surrendering the offender. Leob-
N N 2
and
Leobwine
are also
elain.
rebellion.
546 DEATH OF WALCHEKE.
_, wine shrunk from his fate. The attacks upon
the building continued ; the massy walls and
iron-bound doors of the church at first resisted.
Fire was threatened : the miserable Walchere
came forth, and standing upon the threshold
earnestly prayed for pardon. " Good rede,
short rede, slay the bishop," was the pithy ad-
vice given by the outcry of a Waltheof, the
most determined of the bishop's enemies. He
wrapped his head in his garment and was slain.
The church was fired. Leobwine madly rushed
out, and was cut to pieces, and all within per-
ished.
§11. The rebellion spread throughout the
country: the insurgents attacked Durham, occu-
pied the city, and laid siege to the castle ; but
after four days' blockade they were compelled
to abandon this enterprize, though the whole
country continued in a state of insurrection.
But there was a governor in England fully able
to punish them. Odo, at this period, was su-
preme in command. Whether acting by his
own discretionary powers, or, as is more proba-
ble, by William's directions, he advanced to the
north. Northumbria was completely devas-
tated. Had the Earl of Northumbria been a
layman, the offence against the civil authority
would have deserved severe punishment, but the
clerical character of the victim encreased the
indignation excited by his murder, and fur-
nished an excuse, and in some degree a reason
ODO PACIFIES NORTHUMBRIA. 547
for the greatest severity. The country was t 108°
entirely desolated ; the innocent, and they CMO*
J <> pacification.
were many, who had taken no part in the in-
surrection, were all subjected to the same
punishment ; and those who opposed no re-
sistance whatever to the Norman forces, were
either put to death or cruelly mutilated, a prac-
tice constantly and consistently employed by
the Normans, and which equally had the effect
of awing the people and of irritating them
against their oppressors.
Malcolm continued bound by the homage
rendered at Abernethy, only until he could dis-
avow the engagement which he had formed.
He could not consider the Norman as his le-
gitimate superior, and the miserable conflict
prevailing in Normandy between the father and
the son might well encourage all the enemies of
the new dynasty to anticipate that a family thus
divided was hastening to ruin. Malcolm crossed n?S?
the border, and penetrated as far as the Tyne. Englw
The country was defenceless. Captives, cattle,
English sterling silver, rewarded the invaders,
and the spoil was carried off by Malcolm in
safety, and therefore with honour, to his own
land ; and it is most probable that, at the same
period, the greater portion of Cumbria was re-
gained by the Scottish sovereign.
§ 12 Important affairs in Normandy : a coun- Normandy.
cil held atLillebonne under William's presidency,
in which some of the best laws of the govern-
548 ROBERT IN ENGLAND.
ment of the country were made, prevented his
immediate return to England, and he took the
opportunity of testifying his reconciliation with
Robert, by appointing him commander of the
forces intended to enforce the obedience of the
Scottish sovereign. Robert, for the first time in
his life, repaired to Britain. The measure had
been wisely considered by William. It was a
testimony to the people of mutual confidence,
and the station and power thus assigned to the
son so lately in parricidal rebellion, might be
considered as the most sincere token of the par-
don he had obtained, and that the enemies of
William could no longer found their expectations
of success upon family disunion. But whether
from the want of conduct on the part of the
commander, or of efficiency in the troops, the
expedition was shamefully unsuccessful. Robert
Scotland :
advanced as far as a place called by the chroni-
clers Eaglesuret, in which strange orthography
there is little difficulty in recognizing the Celtic
name of Bridekirk in Annandale. Further, he
dared not go, and he returned again to the south ;
but the expedition was not entirely useless, nor
without a most memorable monument, as he
directed the building of the new castle upon the
Tyne. When Robert again met his father, or
whether they ever met again, is uncertain. The
reconciliation was hollow and insincere : the dis-
Returns seiisions were renewed : Robert broke away again
from his father ; and resorting, first to Flanders
WILLIAM RETURNS. 549
and then to France, resumed his course of disobe-
dience, injuring and annoying his parent by all
the means in his power, and encouraging and
encouraged by that parent's most inveterate
enemies.
Though repressed by Odo's vigour, the spirit
of the Northumbrian rebellion still rankled in
the heart of the people, and what was of greater
importance and threatening far greater danger,
was the distrust with which William now began
to regard his brother. Furthermore, the aspect
of affairs in Denmark was lowering, and William,
quitting Normandy, repaired to England. He
was accompanied by sorrowing and declining
Matilda. Both might now well need the help
of each other's society, and she continued his
efficient friend and counsellor to the last.
§ 13. A new bishop and a good one, William de
St. Carileph, was nominated by the King as the
successor of Walchere. Wise, well-instructed
and prudent, he applied himself wholly to the
restoration of the desolated see. He properly
considered this important object as the common
concern : the nobles and laity of the country
were consulted : the advice of the metropolitan
of all England was sought ; and all acted under
the sanction of the sovereign and his consort.
It appeared better for the future stability of the
see that the communities dispersed at Wearmouth
and at Jarrow should be united on the spot where
the body of St. Cuthbert was deposited. Pope
550
DURHAM.
1081
Gregory confirmed the union, which also received
the sanction of the legislature : that stately
of D«ham. cathedral arose which still subsists, as it were in
solemn triumph, and Durham became the great
ecclesiastical metropolis of the north.
St. Cuthbert, to use the familiar expression
of the age, preserved all his territorial rights
between Tyne and Tees ; and in proportion as
our jurisprudence became more matured, the
progress and even the fictions of the law gave
them greater stability, and the palatine rights of
the bishop became as well defined as those of the
crown. But William de St. Carileph was neither
honoured nor troubled by being invested with
the perilous administration of the Northumbrian
earldom — the dignity which had brought his
predecessor to destruction. It became needful
to provide for this most important government :
a border country, filled with an inimical popula-
tion, but which nevertheless needed to be rendered
a barrier against an enemy.
§ 14. Difficulties were now coming fast upon
William, such as he had never known before. In
the earlier years of his reign, he had the comfort
and aid of many a wise counsellor and many a
trusty friend ; but they were dropping away apace :
a new generation was arising from whom he was
estranged : those nearest to him had become cold
or treacherous, and amongst strangers he had to
choose between rash and untried youth and
. , , , . .
waning and declining age. As Earl of Northum-
Earldom of
Nort
bria.
WALES. 551
bria, he selected an Alberic, whom heralds place
in the genealogy of the noble family of De Verc ;
but he gave no honour to the lineage. Disturb-
ances arose in Northumbria : Alberic's mind was
unsettled : some soothsayer had held out before
him the vision that he should rule over Grecia.
His incompetency became evident, and he was
removed from his earldom. Robert Mowbray,
the proud nephew of the proud Bishop of Cou-
tances, was substituted in his stead ; an ill-fated
appointment, but of which the results did not
become apparent till the subsequent reign.
Though no opposition to "William had been
very successful, still there never had been any
blow so entirely decisive as to lead the desperate
to despair of casting off the Norman power.
William had formed a well-concerted scheme for wai«.
keeping the Britons of Wales in subjection by
stationing around them the three great Earls of
Hereford, Shrewsbury and Chester. But the
heir of Fitz-Osbern was in the dungeon. Roger
de Montgomery, following the opinions of his son,
Robert de Belesme, was secretly inclined to
Courthose, and the Earl of Chester, and a very
large body of William's knighthood, had engaged
themselves in the service of Odo of Bayeux, for
the purpose of aiding him in the extraordinary
enterprize which now engaged his ambitious mind.
Princes of more than ordinary vigour were at
this time ruling over the Britons ; and William,
whether for the purpose of inspiring a salutary
552 SCHEMES OF
terror or of punishing some act of resistance,
invaded Dynevor with a mighty army. The
"Welsh fled before him, and neither their swift-
ness of foot nor their knowledge of the country
enabled them to escape the Norman sword : yet
when William reached the shrine of St. David's,
he appeared in the guise of an humble pilgrim,
making his offerings to the patron saint ; and
such encrease, if any, as was made to the Norman
power, resulted from the enterprize of those
adventurers who shortly afterwards became so
eminent as the Lords Marchers, and not from the
prowess of the sovereign.
g 15. William must have quitted England (for
he did now quit it for a short period) for the
purpose of allowing his brother Odo to com-
mit himself further in those designs which,
however notorious, had not, as yet, acquired
a sufficient degree of consistency to enable him
to visit them with vengeance. Odo's plans had
excited great apprehensions in William, and the
more so from the mystery in which they were
involved. He had, as before mentioned, been
gathering together large forces, or rather se-
ducing them from William's service, and more
especially those on whom William had relied
for the defence of the country against the
Danes, whether of Ireland or of Scandinavia.
Some say that Odo had been consulting whether
his Holy Orders as a bishop would be an obstacle
to his obtaining the royal authority, intimating
BISHOP ODO. 553
his hope and expectation that he should yet live
to be a king. Other projects, involving equal,
perhaps greater, ambition, were attributed to
him. Rome at this period was the seat of dark
and mystic credulity. Amidst the monuments
which testified the might of the great empire,
strange superstitions were nourished, which the
Church had no power to punish, though she
might condemn. Here the sorcerer cast his
lot, and the diviner worked his spell. Almost
until our own times, a constant incentive
to these endeavours has been found in the
attempt to discover the prognostications de-
claring the name of future occupants of the
Apostolic throne. The mystical distichs of
Malachi of Armagh, the uncouth hieroglyphics
of Abbot Joachim, the wheels and the circles,
and the compound monsters, alluding to age,
and name, and country, and device, have con-
stantly been investigated by anxious credulity,
and the frequent semblance of truth which
these false prophecies have possessed, has en-
couraged the confidence placed in the revela-
tions proceeding from the source of all delusion.
The many enemies of Hildebrand would anxi-
ously resort to these predictions, and the rites
of the magicians had received the answer that
one whose name might be read as Odo, would
come after Gregory as the successor of St.
Peter.
The augury was widely spread, perhaps for
554 ODO'S NEGOTIATIONS.
._ f'2 . the purpose of ensuring its accomplishment.
Kome.ribes Odo accepted it. Forthwith he despatched his
trusty men to the insatiate capital of the
Christian world. A sumptuous palace was
purchased for him, and filled with the display
of wealth and luxury. Gifts in profusion were
bestowed upon the senators : every pilgrim who
could be trusted bore an epistle with a due
enclosure of coin, concealed in his wallet, ad-
dressed to some needy Roman citizen, or needier
noble, whose vote was thus to be secured ; and
the people, high and low, anticipated their ap-
proaching deliverance from Gregory's stern rec-
titude and rigid principle, and the advent of a
more congenial sovereign. Such modes of court-
ing the papacy were sufficiently common ; but
Odo, the Norman Odo, was preparing even to
fight his way to the Quiriual, if it could not be
won by gold. [For this] he had been raising those
large forces which had excited William's anxiety.
All had agreed to follow him into Italy, and were
mustered in the south of England. Gregory was
yet living. Was Odo preparing to eject him
by violence? Without doubt, the Bishop of
Bayeux participated in the vague delirium of
adventurous conquest, which in one guise em-
bodied itself in the approaching crusades. The
passions of men, as well as their imaginative
feelings, were at this era strangely combining
rpe°8uitwoef his for the same end. Had Odo succeeded, had the
papal authority become vested in an active and
WILLIAM ENRAGED. 555
experienced warrior, wielding at once the keys . _.1(|aa
and the sword, another Julius, when the papal
authority was in the fullest vigour, Europe
might have sunk under a Latin caliphate.
Whatever may have been the enterprizes wimam
jealous of
projected by Odo, William viewed them as c
fraught with great and impending danger. Odo
had never shewn any want of fidelity towards
his brother ; but William's natural harshness
was encreased by age, and still more by the
repeated acts of opposition, treachery, and re-
bellion, which he had sustained. This harass
of spirit had gone on encreasing since Waltheofs
death : it seemed as if there were no one whom
he could trust in the world. Odo had stationed
himself in the Isle of Wight, preparing to cross
over with his troops to Normandy, to Barfleur :
here he was suddenly prevented by William,
whose measures had been taken so secretly and
so determinedly, as to be wholly unforeseen by
him whose visions were to be at once irrevo-
cably dispelled. Before the Proceres assembled
in the royal hall, the King declared all the trou-
bles he had received from kinsmen and from
strangers, from son and from brother, from
friend and from foe. It was an impassioned
tale of the disappointments of ambition, so often
felt and so seldom revealed : an outpouring of
his bitter troubles. He charged Odo with mis- gjj° on hi8
government, cruelty, treachery ; and asked them
for counsel how he should deal with this great
556 ODO IMPRISONED.
. M82 _ state offender. All were silent : none ventured
either to acquiesce in the charges brought
against one still so powerful, yet less to con-
tradict the angry, the implacable sovereign.
William commanded that his brother should be
arrested ; yet no one dared to attempt to secure
Odo's person. Whatever his conduct may have
been, he was still a bishop : they shrunk back,
fearing the censures of the Church, and thus
odo arrested, their hands were stayed. William himself was
compelled to seize the offender. " I am a clerk,"
exclaimed Odo, " and without the judgment of
the apostolic see, I am not to be condemned."
" Nay, I judge not the bishop," replied William,
"but I arrest my accountant and my minister."
Odo was shipped off to Normandy, and immured
in the castle of Rouen, imprisoned and de-
graded, adding another to the long list of cap-
tives, who pined for the death of their oppressor
or their own.
2 NOV. 1083. g i ^ Matilda, whose strength had been rapidly
Matilda dies. ° J
declining, now rested from her sorrows, and
was buried where her tomb is yet seen ; in her
own monastery of the Holy Trinity at Caen,
between the altar and the choir. In the same
manner as popular opinion had represented that
William's rough courtship had won the young
bride by force, now was it equally reported, but
in a very different spirit, that the wife had died
in consequence of the ill-treatment she received
from her husband. In the strict sense of the
MATILDA'S DEATH. 557
word, the accusation is most improbable ; but ^
his great love for her did not prevent the heavy
trials she sustained from his ungovernable vio-
lence and wrath, and these probably shortened
her mortal existence. The gloom thickened Afflictions of
William.
round him : it seemed as if all his good fortune
had finally departed. Anxieties and troubles
continued encreasing upon him, and after he
had lost Matilda, he never, as it were, looked
up again.
558
of Maine.
CHAPTER XIII.
REVOLT IN MAINE. — STATE OF DENMARK. — DEATH OF CANUTE.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE THEEATENED DANISH INVASION IN
ENGLAND. FORMATION OF THE DOMESDAY SURVEY.
GENERAL IMPOSITION OF THE OATH OF FEALTY.
1083—1086.
§ 1. ALTHOUGH William had been able, hitherto,
to put down all the various attempts which had
been made against his authority, conspiracies
frustrated, rebels slaughtered, opponents pun-
ished by imprisonment or death, still the pres-
tige of his character was gone, and every failure
seemed to suggest another attempt against him
from those who were suffering under his rule.
In England, his taxation had become excessive.
Geld after geld had been exacted from the
people, always pitilessly, often illegally; and
there is no reason to suppose that the admi-
nistration of his continental dominions was
managed with greater mildness in this respect.
To the Manceaux, Norman domination was pe-
culiarly grievous ; and when William was en-
gaged on our side of the channel, they rose
against him, and more than one half of the
province and its marches, threw off his autho-
rity. A species of biography of the bishops of
Hubert-
MAIXK. 559
Le Mans, is the only proper history of Maine 1083
which we possess, and consequently we have
very few details ; but though Helias de la
Fleche is not named as a leader, there can be
little doubt that he took a prominent part in the
attempt, ultimately so successful, which the
Manceaux were now making to recover their
independence.
William, however, did not act with anv de- wmiam-
war with
gree of vigour ; and instead of making a great
effort against the insurgents, he engaged in a
conflict which bore the appearance of a private
quarrel, with Hubert, Viscount of Beaumont,
and son-in-law of the Count of Nevers. Hubert
was possessed of the town and castle of Ste.
Susanne, strong in its defences, but stronger in
its situation. In consequence of some dispute
with William, Hubert defied him, and, with his
wife, abandoning Beaumont and Fredernay, he
took his station in this castle, in the border
country, between Maine and Anjoti, as William's
declared enemy. Hence he constantly annoyed
the Norman garrison of Le Mans, and ravaged
that portion of the country which continued
under William's allegiance. William assembled
a large force : his son-in-law, Alan Fergant,
joined him, together with such of the Manceaux
as still continued in their fidelity ; but Hubert
was able to collect a much larger, for he could
pay well and promise more.
§ 2. William began the siege in person, and
VOL. in. o o
560 SIEGE OF STE. SUSANNE.
1083-1086 kuiit a tower, or rather a block-house, for the
£0!™"^ PurP°se °f commanding the castle ; but dis-
turbances in Normandy called him away. He
quitted the field, leaving Count Alan in command ;
and the siege was turned into a blockade, but so
ineffectual that the more it was protracted, the
more did the garrison of iSte. Susanne encrease
in prosperity, deriving good profit from the
depredations which they committed upon Wil-
liam's territories, and more from the ransoms
which they wrung from the Normans whom
they captured in their sallies ; an honourable
mode of gaining wealth, as we are told by the
chroniclers, for profit was the main object of
war. Many a poem, many a gest, has been
framed of far less ample materials than the
siege of Ste. Susanne would afford. Had Hubert
patronized his Trouveurs, we might have been
told how knights flocked to receive his pay from
Burgundy and Aquitaine ; how the great Nor-
man Baron, Eicher de Aquila, was slain, yea by
the little lad who hid himself in the thicket, and
shot him in the eye ; how the great Earl of
Evreux was taken prisoner ; and how Gilbert de
Aquila and William de Warrenne and the flower
of the Norman host, attempting to revenge their
losses, might be seen with shame retreating
from the castle walls. Here all the might of
Normandy had passed away : the bravery
which had gained a kingdom was foiled by
one dungeon tower. During four years did
DENMARK. 561
this conflict continue, when the Norman com-
manders, seeing their forces drop away, stung J^]™
by the disgrace, and feeling the strife to be
hopeless, advised William to submit to a pa-
cification. He whom we must still call Con-
queror, was compelled to pardon all the past,
and to favour and honour Hubert, the chief
rebel, restoring to him every domain which his
ancestors had held.
§ 3. During all these transactions, William had
been more and more haunted by his fears of the
Danish power. A large portion of the popula-
tion of England still kept up a friendly and
intimate relation with the Northmen ; still did
the faithful adherents of the Scandinavian
power believe that the Sea Kings would reclaim
their inheritance ; and carefully did they guard
the secret hoard at Lincoln until the treasure
could be delivered to its lawful owner's hands.
Much as the north of England had suffered by
the Danish invasions, this did not diminish their
seeking towards the Northmen. Plunderers
they were, but the English would willingly pay
that price for deliverance from the galling yoke
by which they were now oppressed.
Great elements of mutation were at this time
germinating in the north. Canute, the son of Canute.
Sweno, was governing with much vigour and
apparent power. Until the accession of Canute
the Great, the Scandinavian realms could
scarcely be considered as forming a portion
o o 2
562 POLICY OF CANUTE
1080-1085 Of the Latin Commonwealth. Morally, even
more than physically, they were almost beyond
the verge of Christendom. From the period
when the dominions of Britain, and the Baltic,
and North Sea realms had been conjoined in
the person of one monarch, some approximation
to the general tone of European policy had
been gradually advancing, but the progress was
very slow. From the Moot-hill, the Lawmen
still thundered the dooms of Odin. The kings
ruled by wielding the battle-axe of the Yikinga.
No saga was told, no lay was sung, except in
the antient speech of the Asi ; and, above all,
Christianity was only very imperfectly intro-
duced : established it scarcely was : the pa-
rochial organization was incomplete : the hie-
rarchy hardly settled or endowed, and secretly
the belief of large portions of the population
still adhered to the foul and bloody deities
whom their ancestors had worshipped.
§ 4. But the younger Canute, emulating the
renown of his namesake and ancestor, qualified
common- w intellect, instigated by ambition, and ac-
wea.lt n v ' *—•' v
tuated by policy, and in some degree by con-
science, was endeavouring with the greatest
earnestness, to bring himself into fellowship
with the sovereigns who had divided amongst
them the dominions of the empire. Of his own
authority, he invested himself with an imperial
power, governing, as far as he could, according
to the state doctrines which had descended from
IN DENMARK. 563
the Caesars. His great seal exhibits him with
crown and sceptre, and seated on the throne,
copying the imagery and paraphrasing the le-
gend employed by his rival the Anglo-Norman
king. The seal was entrusted to a chancellor,
an archbishop ; a board of chaplains assisted
in the administration of the law ; and an entirely
new course of business and vein of thought
pervaded the court and the general management
of public affairs. Every encouragement was
given to the literature, hitherto unknown, of
Christendom, and many are of opinion that
now for the first time ink and parchment were
substituted for the inscribed rock or the Runic
stone. But, above all, Canute sought to unite
himself to the most cultivated and noblest of
the European families, disdaining the barbarian
beauties of the princesses of his own nation :
he had therefore courted and obtained the
Atheliza, the daughter of Robert the Frizon.
Her lineage ascended to Charlemagne, and the
name of Charles, given to their eldest son,
testified Canute's pride in the ancestry which
the child, the heir, could claim.
Denmark at this period was rich and very
populous. The Cimbric Chersonesus, and the
islands which constituted the Danish kingdom,
possessed so large a population as to muster
more than a million of fighting men, soldiers
as well as mariners, who worked the ship
upon the waves, and fought the battle upon the
564 GREAT EXPEDITION
land. Canute upon his accession deplored the
waning of the Danish power. He possessed in
his disposition the great element of a conqueror,
not to be discouraged by reverse of fortune.
•He kad, *n ^s earlier age, been foiled by the
ferocity of the savage tribes of the East ; but
undismayed, he attacked them again, and the
Esthonians, and the Letts, and the Samogitians
were compelled once more to become the tribu-
taries of the Danish king. But these victories
over the Easterlings afforded no compensation for
the loss of Britain, the pride and honour of the
Danish name. Three expeditions had been sent
against the island by Sweno and by Canute :
three times had they retreated, not without
profit, but without permanent conquest or
abiding honour.
§ 5- He now prepared himself for one mighty
effort. Ailnoth of Canterbury was still resi-
dent at the Danish court. More and more
frequent and urgent were the requests which
proceeded from the English, inviting his aid.
Canute was surrounded by a large and trouble-
some family of brothers : the cadets of Den-
mark had no apanages, and lived as a burthen
upon the people. One of these, Olave, he se-
lected as his friend and counsellor, honoured him
in station, and remunerated his services by the
government of Sleswick and a large stipend.
With him Canute consulted, and Olave stren-
uously encouraged his brother to prosecute his
AGAINST ENGLAND. 565
glorious enterprize. The token of gathering,
like the fiery cross of the Gael, was sent round
through Denmark from herred to herred, and
from island to island ; each jarl and each chieftain
obeyed, and a thousand "snakes of the sea," fully n
J collected.
manned and equipped for war, were assembled
in the firths and bays of the Baltic and the
North Sea. Six hundred ships were promised
by Robert the Frizoii, whose rancour against
William had neither been diminished by time
nor softened by sympathy for his brother-in-
law's troubles and afflictions. Norway, ruled
by Olave, who had married the sister of Canute,
contributed sixty vessels of very large size, and
filled with chosen warriors ; and very early in
the spring, the fleets, of which the larger
squadrons were assembled in the waters of
Limfiord and Harboe, all ready for the voyage,
awaited only the signal for departure.
William was preparing most energetically ™^>n
for defence, equally against his foreign and his ft
domestic enemies. Larger than the army by
which he had accomplished the conquest of
England, were the forces which he now raised
for its protection against the commander who
threatened to despoil him of his prize, and
to retaliate upon him the injuries he had in-
flicted upon others. Stipendiary forces were
hired from every country which spake the Ro-
niaue tongue, from every province north of the
Alps ; and Hugo, Count of Yennandois, the
566
WILLIAM'S PREPARATIONS.
1085
Grievance
of the pre-
cautionary
measures.
The fleet
delays.
brother of the French king, shared in the ser-
vice which William's lavish bounty and. expen-
diture commanded. To provide for the sus-
tenance of these soldiers, they were quartered
upon and amongst all the landholders of Eng-
land : none were exempted. The bishop, the
earl, and the baron had to receive the strangers
as guests ; and the sheriffs to apportion them
upon the knights, and vavassours, and churls,
and all of lower degree. Grievous was the
burthen and great the distress of England, and
encreased by the cruel and yet perhaps neces-
sary precautions adopted by William, who
wasted the seabord country far and wide, for
the purpose of starving out the Danes, should
they land, and by which he also prevented the
English from offering them, were they so in-
clined, aid and the means of subsistence.
§ 6. Months however passed away without any
appearance of the dreaded enemy ; no hostile
sails were seen rising above the distant verge
of the horizon : no alarm was sounded, no
beacons fired : the year declined, and a portion
of William's garrison army was disbanded.
Men might speculate upon the causes which had
delayed the enemy. Openly, William had only
prepared for defence, yet it could be judged
from his acts that he was gaining in courage
and in confidence. A winter elapsed : still,
though with diminished hope or diminished
fear, did England await the formidable invaders.
THE EXPEDITION FAILS. 567
Another season began. William continued to fc 1086
i V
watch the land sedulously : earnest delibera-
tions were taking place in the council : forti-
fications continued to be erected : garrisons
were not withdrawn, but yet the lingering
enemy kept off, and, at the end of the second
year, it was universally known that the expe-
dition so talked off, so formidable, was wholly
abandoned. A contrary wind, sweeping with-
out intermission across the main, as it was said,
never varying from the adverse quarter, never
slackening, had kept the vessels locked into the
shores. Canute at first doubted whether this
apparently preternatural obstacle, might not be
a token which he was bound implicitly to obey ;
but soon he suspected, or was taught to suspect,
that the vessels had in truth been spell-bound,
and that the Eunic lay murmured by the wise
wromen had raised the adverse gales. The
sorceresses were the consorts or kinswomen
of his proudest chieftains ; punish them he
dared not, but he had nevertheless avenged
himself by inflicting heavy penalties upon their
husbands. Great discontents had arisen, and
thus did it become impossible for him to pursue
his scheme of conquest.
It matters little whether these tales were
the inventions of the north or the gratuitous
fancies of the English. They contained a small
portion of truth, and very small. This armada,
like those which had preceded it, had been in
to
reforms
568 DISCONTENT AGAINST
10S6 part frustrated by William's policy : but the
frustration of the plans of conquest formed by
Canute was the consequence as well as the
cause of a great revolution in the state of
Denmark. High discontents were prevailing
amongst the subjects of the Danish crown.
Canute, possessing much talent, was attempting
to accelerate the progress, as we should now
term it, of civilization. His people were es-
tranged from the rest of Europe, by manners
and customs and policy ; and he attempted to
bring them into the pale far more by severity
than by conciliation. He was anxious, perhaps
conscientiously, to suppress the turbulence and
disorders of the Danes ; but many of these
disorders originated out of immemorial custom
and law. That he should shew no favour or
affection to the rank or station or consan-
guinity of the offender, was right ; but in the
administration of justice he set at nought every
opinion, every prejudice, every law. His fiscal
officers oppressed the people by their exactions,
and most unwisely of all, he was anxious to
enforce the payment of tythes hitherto entirely
unknown. In other parts of Europe, although
ecclesiastical and even civil law had in some cases
begun to render this payment compulsory, yet
it had arisen in great measure from the spon-
taneous feeling of the people, desirous of ren-
dering to the service of God a portion of the
gifts which they received, and believing that
CANUTE IN DENMARK. 5G9
able-going was thereby earned. Nothing has 1086
been more injurious to the interests of Chris-
of tythes in
tianity, than the destruction of the grace ac- J
companyiug the free-will offering, by rendering
it the object of compulsion. Here it was as
unwise as it was ill-timed : the Danes entirely
rebelled against the payment. It was as odious
to those who professed Christianity as to the
greater number, who were still pagans in their
heart ; and though Canute and the other Nor-
man sovereigns succeeded at last in placing the
payment of tythes upon a legal foundation,
there was always a grudge against it, which
prevented the hierarchy from acquiring its due
influence and hold upon the people's mind.
§ 7. In Olave,his brother, Canute had a secret,
a crafty, and an inveterate enemy. Olave had,
in the first instance, encouraged Canute to un-
dertake the English invasion for the purpose of
embroiling him with his subjects, and involving
him in contests with them. Olave wished to
accumulate unpopularity and hatred upon his
brother's head, and having selected his asso-
ciates, he planned his successful conspiracy.
William, Avell aware of the state of feeling
prevailing in Denmark, was dispersing his
bribes amongst Canute's counsellors and com-
manders : — Olave, the king's own brother, Os-
bern, his foster-brother, Jarl Haco, Eyvind,
and many others of renown, all or most of
whom had been corrupted before.
570 CANUTE IMPRISONS OLAVE.
1086 Canute at first believed that he was assisted
brother, returning love for love. He now
dealings «/
vered' discovered that his brother was a rival seeking
his ruin. At first he repelled his suspicions,
till Olave, who was stationed in Sleswick, broke
out into open rebellion. This was a portion of
the scheme which had been contemplated for
Canute's destruction. When the fleets were
first assembled, the weather had been very ad-
verse : this delay had enabled the discontented
party to mature their plans, and as it should seem,
to [dis]obey sailing commands when the sea-
son became more favourable. Canute advanced
to Sleswick with a great force, and ordered his
men to seize the traitor brother ; but no one
would dare to lay hands on him, so great was
the veneration rendered by the Danes to the
aid. descendants of Odin. But another brother,
Eric, had no such scruple : he seized the offender,
and by Canute's command he was chained and
fettered, and sent to Flanders, where he was
kept in hard prison by Eobert the Frizon.
tion bropkel~ When Canute returned to the port of Haitheby,
he found that the vessels contumaciously and
rebelliously had left their moorings, and crews
and commanders had returned to their homes.
He inflicted, as by his prerogative he might be
entitled to do, a heavy fine upon all the muti-
neers, high and low, but which he remitted in
consideration of their agreeing to the odious
impost which he established for the dubious
MURDER OF CANUTE. 57 L
1088
benefit of the clergy. It is a remarkable proof
of the absolute power possessed by the Scan-
dinavian monarchs, that he succeeded in his
decree, but, as might be expected, the act ex-
cited bitter indignation.
§ 8. Further insurrections arose. Jarl Osbern
and Eyvind appeared amongst the leaders of the
insurgents : more English money promoted
their hostility. Canute's adherents diminished.
He became distressed and appalled, and took
refuge in Odensee. Jarl Osbern approached
the town at the head of the rebels. Canute,
yielding to cowardly and perhaps treacherous
advice, took refuge in the church of St. Alban,
an edifice in whose dedication to the proto-
martyr of Britain, we can discern the influence
of some English missionary. Osbern and the
assailants surrounded the building : they now
neither venerated the dignity of Odin's race
nor respected the Christian sanctuary's immu-
nity, and Canute was slain before the altar ; ^['nute u
another triumph, as was usually supposed, of
the Conqueror's policy and state-craft. But
the new theory of government introduced by
Canute, timing in with the general state of
Christendom, worked surely though slowly ;
and brought the institutions of Scandinavia
into entire conformity with the other states of
the West. From this period, the Northmen
lost their empire of the seas : their settlements
in Ireland and in the Highlands and islands
[ ad-
ministration
572 DECLINE OF DENMARK.
merged in the English and Scottish kingdoms.
We hear occasionally of some predatory attempt
made with a lingering recollection of their
strength, like an old man buckling on his ar-
mour, but unable to sustain the heat of the
fight : the battle of Largs was the last defeat
which they received in the isle of Britain ; and
the Scandinavian kingdoms scarcely ever again
become of any importance in the general tenor
of mediaeval history.
$ 9. It was the constant policy of William to
base his arbitrary power upon his legal pre-
rogative : to establish his constitutional rights
as firmly as possible upon the law, and then to
take the utmost extent of margin, according to
his arbitrary will. Despotic monarchs usually
endeavour to confound the boundaries between
such lawful restraints as the institutions and
customs of the people may afford, with their
absolute authority ; but William was so con-
fident in his own strength that he never seems
to have cared to profit by such an ambiguity.
Either way his principles became most effective
in modelling the elements of our constitution,
and none of his measures had a more permanent
effect in guiding the future course of the
government administration than those which
he adopted pending the Danish invasion.
Whilst the Danish fleet was wintering in
Haitheby, during the Christmas festival, King
William began his regal circuit, and wore his
DOMESDAY BOOK. 57
•>
crown at Gloucester, and held his court for 1085 .
three days. Xext followed a Synod : lastly, a c°uneil held
J J J ' by the King.
new and unusual meeting : a Micklegethought
most numerously attended, in which the King
held deep consultation concerning the state of
his land. Doubt did not long prevail as to the
measures which William had adopted ; and we
have strong reasons for supposing that in the
execution of them, Lanfranc was a useful ad-
viser.
§ 10. Soon afterwards you might see in every fommu.
•f sioners
city and good town in England, save and ex-appoi
cept the Bishopric, the three northern lands,
and London, a worshipful company, such, for
example, as proceeded to the West ; Remigius,
Bishop of Lincoln, the founder of the cathedral,
Walter Gifford, Earl of Buckingham, Henry de
Ferrers, and Adam the brother of Eudo Dapifer.
These commissioners began their proceedings
by holding a court, at which, with the excep-
tion of the diocesan, all the members of the
Hundred-moot were required to attend. Come
forward, G-erefa, sheriff, you the lieutenant of
the earl, you the thanes of the shires, YOU the
/ V ' */
priests of each and every parish church, you
the reeves and villains of each and every town-
ship ; come forward and declare upon the hali-
dome the truth of the matters into which our
lord the King commands us to enquire, and
give your answer to each and every question
as we ask. What is the name of your township,
574 DOMESDAY BOOK.
1085 be it City, Borough, Thorp, Haim, or Bye?
Who was the lord thereof, archbishop, bishop,
abbot, earl or thane, in the days of good King
Edward, for of Harold the law knows nothing ?
How many thanes, how many commendated, how
many freemen, how many sokemen, how many
burgesses, how many churls, how many cotta-
gers, how many thralls ? how many hydes of land
be there therein ? how many plough lands in
demesne ? how many acres of wood, how many
of meadow, how many of pasture, how many
mills, how many fisheries ? how much hath
been added, how much taken away ? how much
worth in good King Edward's time, how much
when King William gave it, and how much
now ? What hath each freeman, what each
sokeman ; how many oxen, how many cows,
how many sheep, how many swine ?
With some slight variations as to the points
of enquiry, this valuation of land and capital
was taken throughout the whole length and
breadth of England, save and except the me-
tropolis and the four northern shires. The
llls' commissioners made their several circuits, and
the information which they collected was re-
duced into writing and duly transmitted to the
King. It was afterwards methodized and ab-
stracted, and fairly transcribed in the great
volumes of Domesday, and deposited in the
royal treasury at Winchester, amongst the
other muniments of the realm. It still exists,
DOMESDAY BOOK. 675
fresh and perfect as when the scribe put pen to ,
parchment, the oldest cadastre, or survey of a
kingdom, now existing in the world. The co-
lophon, "anno millesimo, octogesimo sexto ab
incarnatione Domini, vigesimo vero regni Wil-
lielmi facta est ista descriptio," attests the date
of this great record, and the diligence as well
as the skill of those by whom it was completed.
In the entries of the names of places, the in- fhxee^n of
accuracies and corruptions shew that the
writers were not well acquainted with the
Anglo-Saxon terminology, though in the more
familiar designations of persons, fewer errors
are observed. The caligraphy betrays an
Italian hand, and leads to the supposition
that it was under the inspection and direc-
tion of the lettered Lanfranc that the work
was compiled. Great force is given to this
supposition from the circumstance, that in
Domesday we first find those abbreviations, af-
terwards so common in our legal documents.
O 7
but which, in fact, are derived from the Ty-
ronian notes of the Romans, until then un-
known in England.
§ 11. The formation of this survey occa- u"p°pulaJity
«/ of Domesday.
sioned universal discontent : such an enquiry
had never been made before. The English con-
sidered it as an invasion almost of their natural
rights. It was a shame, they said, that a King
should direct such a prying into each man's
means : a shame even to tell of such a tyranny.
VOL. m. p i>
576 DISCONTENT EXCITED.
. 10v86 . Yet there was more of temper than of sound
reason in this discontent. With whatever acts
of oppression William may be charged, in this
case there was none. The Danegelt, the tax of
six shillings upon every plough-land, was both
a lawful and a needful impost, and the first and
main intent of the survey was to make a full
™tms-con~ and fair assessment of the charge. The un-
settled state of affairs during the latter years of
the Confessor's reign, the misfortunes attend-
ing the Conquest, and the transfer of the land
to the new proprietors, might all be sufficient
causes for such investigations ; but even if the
kingdom had continued in entire tranquillity, it
would have been equally required. So long as
the land remained untilled, no Danegelt was
payable, but when the plough had been driven
over it, then it became liable to the charge, and
it is most probable that in many cases the as-
sessment had been neglected or evaded. This,
on the other hand, was counterbalanced by the
lands which had become wasted by the misfor-
tunes of the Conquest ; and whilst the Domes-
day survey secured the rights of the crown, it
also ensured a fair apportionment of the bur-
then amongst those by whom it was to be con-
tributed. The enquiry was made by the royal
officers and ministers, but the repartition was
made by the people : the English taxed them-
selves.
1 12. After the court at Gloucester, William
OATH OF FEALTY EXACTED. 577
continued his progress through his realms.
Easter, celebrated at Winchester, was followed
by a splendid court held in the palace of West-
minster during the Pentecostal festival, when
Henry Beauclerc, the youngest of the royal
family, received, perhaps precociously, the de-
gree of knighthood from his father's hand. This
was followed by an extraordinary assembly. It
seemed as if William were, so to speak, im-
pressed with the presentiment that he must
terminate his business in this world, obtaining
at least some prospect of tranquillity. He
issued his summons, his writs, in the more
familiar term of our law, commanding all his
councillors, both his archbishops and all his
bishops, his abbots, his earls, his barons, his
sheriffs, all his knighthood, and all the land-
holders of the realm, to appear before him at
Sarum on the first of August, Lammas-day.
Such was the multitude, that they never could
have been assembled within the now silent ram-
parts of the antient British city, but spread
themselves without doubt over the plain. Here
William imposed the oath of fealty upon every
landholder without distinction of tenure. His
m'en, the King's men, they all became, whosoever
else might be their lord.
A heavy impost succeeded this transaction ;
but if William had sought to secure somewhat
of rest and quietness, his expectations were
vain. Troubles and sorrows encreased. Eng-
p p 2
Sarum.
578
OMENS OF EVIL.
1086
William
leaves
England.
_, land still continued heavily afflicted by those
visitations of Providence which no prudence
of government could avert, but which rendered
the task of government the more difficult and
grievous. Continual storms and tempests, crops
blasted and blighted, murrain amongst the cattle,
foul and direful sickness amongst men ; — famine,
as usual, was the accompaniment of these visi-
tations, and filled up the measure of punish-
ment ; and the chronicler records the calamities,
as the chastisement which the sins of the nation
deserved. Robert continued to harass his
father to the utmost of his power. Alan Fer-
gant attempted to throw off his obedience to
his father-in-law ; and William, assembling his
forces in the Isle of Wight, crossed over to
Normandy, never to return.
579
CHAPTER XIY.
WILLIAMS EXPEDITION AGAINST BRITTANY THE SIEGE OF
DOL DISPUTE WITH FEANCE ABOUT THE BEAUCASSIN
SIEGE OF MANTES ILLNESS AND DEATH OF THE CON-
QUEROR.
1086—1087
§ 1. BRITTANY, notwithstanding the patron-
age bestowed by William upon Allan le-Roux,
Earl of Richmond, was inclined to resist the Nor-
man suzerainty. The nature of their subjection
to Normandy is one of the most obscure points
in the most obscure of histories, — that of the
Armorican Bretons ; but the Normans never re-
nounced their claim, and William now deter-
mined to enforce their antient obedience. The
occasion was opportune. Alan Fergant, who
had succeeded to the Dukedom of Yannes,
which, as it will be recollected, was the capi-
tal of Bretagne Bretonnante or Celtic Brit-
tany, and as such considered to be the Duke of
the regal Duchy, had been recently engaged in
war with Geoffrey, the Count of Rennes. He
had defeated his competitor and cast him into
prison, where he died, but his dominion was
scarcely settled : and William, having, as it
seemed to him, no further anxiety for England,
580 WILLIAM AND FERGANT.
108T6~7 , determined to reassert his authority as the de-
scendant of Hollo in Brittany.
William might have rested, but he sought
trouble, and for the last, and fatal time, he
passed over to Normandy. He assembled his
forces: the Normans entertained a great an-
tipathy to all their neighbours, and willingly
joined him. He laid siege to D61, and swore
bitterly that he would never depart until he had
compelled the town to surrender. The place
was not strong, and there appeared little reason
for this exasperation ; yet his boast was vain,
and he trusted in a power which he no longer
possessed. Alan Fergant advanced towards him
with a large force, magnified by report to 15,000
men. It is said that Philip of France supported
him in person. The besieged knew nought of the
army advancing to their rescue ; and strangely
must they have been surprised, when, from the
Retreats, walls, they beheld the royal camp breaking up,
and the Anglo-Norman army fleeing away. Such
was the case : William had retreated at the ap-
prehension of an unseen enemy : he had aban-
doned his camp, his baggage, his stores, to the
amount, as it was reckoned, of fifteen thousand
pounds sterling, all of which rewarded the Duke
Fe^T.ith of Brittany. William was glad to conclude a
peace ; and his daughter Constance, wise and
[Placed also J
pn5265j virtuous, tall and fair, became the wife of Alan ;
and thus the old connexion was renewed, pre-
paring the way for a further union of the powers.
WILLIAM INVADES THE VEXIN. 581
§ 2. William became more and more weak-
encd, more and more perplexed, partly by the en-
creasing affliction arising from his son's diso-
bedience and ingratitude, partly by dissensions
with his own Suzerain. Amongst the other
troubles and causes of trouble, attached, like
so many curses, to the inheritance of Hollo, was
the still unsettled claim to the territory, after-
wards called the Norman Yexin or Beaucassin.
William had been unable to assert his right — v
a better and more just cause of quarrel than
such pretensions usually are. Whether from
policy or from apprehension, William had been
loth to wage war, either against Henry or
Philip. Indeed, every battle which the Duke
of Normandy fought against the King of the
French, might become an example of insub-
ordination, recoiling upon the King of the
English. But he now determined to recover
this territory, not only as his own, but in con-
sequence of its great importance. Like all
border countries, it contained a turbulent and
unquiet population, and in this instance French-
men both by race and interest, they were always
ready to infest the Normans.
§ 3. The fatal opportunity now arose, which
gave an excuse and an incitement to action. With-
out any assigned reason, though most probably
instigated by Robert, the burgesses of Mantes
declared a petty war against William, and
crossing the Eure, with a disorderly body of
582 WILLIAM CLAIMS MANTES.
W86v~7 . marauders, they plundered the neighbourhood
of Evreux, particularly the domains of William
de Breteuil and Roger de Ivry. They made
much spoil, and took many prisoners, and re-
turned driving herds and flocks before them,
and conducting the bound captives, from whom
so good a profit was to be made, glorying equally
in the gain, and in the affront thus offered to
the pride of Normandy,
William was roused to great anger ; he was
offended by the insult of this foray, and, con-
necting Philip with the transaction, he de-
manded the cession of Mantes, Pont-Isare, and
Chaumont, in addition to the whole of the
Beaucassin territory thus unjustly withheld.
Philip refused, raising many cavils unfairly,
and instigated by the undutiful Robert ; —
evading rather than denying the claims. Coarse
jests passed between the sovereigns, by which
they were mutually embittered ; and William,
now no longer to be restrained, prepared to
assert his rights by the sword.
§4. It is rare that the chroniclers become
descriptive ; in this instance, adopting the style
of the Trouveurs, and most probably echoing
invade, the some popular ballad of the day, they tell us
how the harvest was ripening, the grape swell-
ing on the stem, the fruits reddening on the
bough, when William entered the fertile land.
As he advanced, the corn was trodden down,
the vineyards rooted up, the country havocked,
THE FIRE OF MANTES. 583
the gifts of Providence wastefully destroyed. 1087_
An imprudent sally of the inhabitants of Mantes,
with the intention, of saving their crops, enabled
William to enter their town, which was fired by Mantes on
v fire.
the soldiery. Churches and dwellings alike
sunk in the flames, many of the inhabitants
perished, even the recluses were burned in their
cells.
William, aged and unwieldy in body, yet
impetuous and active in mind, cheered the
desolation, and gallopped about and about
through the burning ruins. His steed stumbled
accident.
amidst the glowing embers : like the third
sovereign who bore the name of William, the
royal rider received a fatal injury from his fall.
A lingering inflammation ensued, which the
skill of his attendants could neither allay nor
heal. He called in Gilbert Maminot, Bishop
of Lisieux, and Gunthard, Abbot of Jumieges,
both yet retaining their former leech-craft, and
well competent to comfort him, if he could be
comforted, in body and in mind. The noise, the
disturbance, the tainted atmosphere of Rouen,
became intolerable to the fevered sufferer, and
he was painfully removed to the conventual
buildings of St. Gervase, on the adjoining hill.
The inward combustion spread so rapidly that
no hope of recovery remained, and William
knew that there was none.
§ 5. Firmly contemplating the end, and yet
dreading its approach, he sent for Rufus and
584 WILLIAM'S DYING CONFESSION
. Henry, his sons ; and now ensued that conflict
of feeling never entirely absent from the death
bed, but sometimes so painMly visible, when,
as personified in the symbolical paintings of old,
we behold the good angel and the evil demon
contending for the mastery of the departing
soul : the clinging to earthly things with a deep
consciousness of their worthlessness, self-con-
demnation, and self-deceit, repentance and ob-
duracy, the scales of the balance trembling be-
tween heaven and hell. " No tongue can tell,"
said he, " the deeds of wickedness I have per-
petrated in my weary pilgrimage of toil and
care." He deplored his birth, born to warfare,
polluted by bloodshed from his earliest years,
his trials, the base ingratitude he had sustained.
He also extolled his own virtues, praised his
own conscientious appointments in the Church :
expatiated upon his good deeds, his alms, and
the monasteries and nunneries which under his
reign had been founded by his munificence.
hbraata?. But Rufus and Henry are standing fcy that
bedside, and who is to be the Conqueror's heir ?
How are his dominions to be divided ? William
must speak of his earthly authority ; but every
word relating to the object of his pride is uttered
Robert. in agony. Robert, as first-born, is to take Nor-
mandy : it was granted to him before William
met Harold in the field of the valley of blood.
" Wretched," declared the King, " will be the
country subjected to his rule ; but he has re-
AND ARRANGEMENTS. 585
ceived the homage of the barons, and the con- .
cession, once made, cannot be withdrawn. Of
England, I will appoint no heir : let Him in
whose hands are all things, provide according to
His will." All the wide wasting wretchedness
produced by his ambition rose up before him : it
seemed as if the air around him was filled with
the waitings of those who had perished at his
behest, by the sword, by famine, and by fire.
Bitterly lamenting his anger, his harshness, his
crimes, he declared that he dared not bestow
the realm he thus had won : and yet this re-
serve was almost a delusion : the natural feel-
ing of a father prevailed, and he declared his
hope that Rufus, who from youth upwards, Rufiu-
whatever were his other defects of character,
had been an obedient son, might succeed him.
And what was Henry Beauclerc to inherit ? Hem>
A treasure of five thousand pounds of silver.
Henry began to lament this unequal gift.
" What will all this treasure profit me," ex-
claimed he, " if I have neither land, nor house,
nor home?" William comforted his youngest
son, and that strangely, by intimating his fore-
boding that Henry, becoming far greater than
either brother, would one day possess far greater
and ampler power.
But the very words which William had
spoken, now excited his own apprehensions :
the intimations he had thus given, might, by
implying a doubt of his right to confer the sue-
586 THE LAST MOMENTS
cession, instigate rebellion. He turned him
round in his weary bed, and directed that a
writ should be prepared, addressed to Lanfranc,
commanding him to place Rufus on the throne ;
and the dying man, he who had just vowed that
he would not take thought concerning the sinful
inheritance, affixed his royal signet to the in-
strument by which, in fact, he bequeathed the
unlawful gain ; and he forthwith delivered the
same to Rufus, kissed him, and blessed him ;
Rufus leaves and Rufus hastened away towards England, lest
at once. •>
he should lose the blood-stained crown. Henry,
too, departed, to secure his legacy, and to con-
sider how he should best protect himself against
the troubles which he might occasion or sus-
tain.
§ 6. Both sons have now left their dying
parent. More suspense, more agony. Those
who surrounded him had heard of alms and of
repentance, of contrition and of distribution of
to *^e wea^u no longer his own. Some portions to
8 make amends for the wrongs he had committed,
some to the poor ; the ample residue to his
sons. But as yet no real charity ; of forgive-
ness, nothing had been said by William, nothing
of remission to the captives in the dungeon,
upon whom the doom of perpetual imprison-
ment had been past. William assented to the
remark, and yet justified himself for his severity.
Morcar had been hardly treated, and yet how
could he, William, restrain the fear which he
OF THE CONQUEROR. 587
had felt of his influence ? Roger de Breteuil
had shewn a fell revenge, yet let them be freed ;
Woolnoth, the brother of Harold, a child when
he fell into the hands of the Conqueror, who
had sternly kept him in bonds since the days of
his infancy, and Siward of the North, were to
be released; and William ended by command- "Oent'caihi8
ing that all the prison doors in England and°'
Normandy should be opened, except to one
alone : except to Odo his brother. Much were
those about William saddened by this hardness:
many arid urgent were the entreaties made, but
above all by the third brother, Robert of Mor-
taigne. At length William relaxed his severity,
but without relenting, declaring his unchange-
able conviction of Odo's perfidy, and that he
yielded against his will.
This act of grudging, coerced, extorted for-
giveness was his last. A night of somewhat d
diminished suffering ensued, when the troubled
and expiring body takes a dull, painful, unrestful
rest before its last earthly repose. But as the
cheerful, life-giving rays of the rising sun were
darting above the horizon, across the sad apart-
ment, and shedding brightness on its walls,
William was half awakened from his imperfect
slumbers by the measured, mellow, reverbe-
rating swelling tone of the great cathedral bell.
"It is the hour of prime," replied the attendants
in answer to his enquiry. Then were the priest-
hood welcoming with voices of thanksgiving the
588 WILLIAM'S DEATH.
» 1<f7_ . renewed gift of another day, and sending forth
the choral prayer, that the hours might flow in
holiness till blessed at their close :
" Now that the sun is gleaming bright,
Implore we, bending low,
That He, the uncreated light,
May guide us as we go.
" No sinful word, nor deed of wrong,
Nor thoughts that idly rove,
But simple truth be on our tongue,
And in our hearts be love.
" And while the hours in order flow,
O Christ, securely fence
Our gates, beleaguered by the foe,
The gate of every sense.
" And grant that to thine honour, Lord,
Our daily toil may tend ;
That we begin it at Thy word,
And in Thy favour end."
But his time of labour and struggle, sin and
repentance was past. William lifted up his
o Sep. hands in prayer and expired.
§ 7. As was very common in those times, the
death of the great and rich was the signal for
a scene °f disgraceful neglect and confusion.
Not that we are now more purified or softened
in heart : even in our own days the degraded
chamber of a departed monarch witnessed the
vilest rapacity ; but in earlier periods the eager
greediness, now usually restrained from much
outward demonstration by habits of decorum
and dread of punishment, was displayed and
TREATMENT OF HIS BODY. 589
vented without hesitation, fear, or shame. His ._ 1087 ,
sons had already departed : all who remained
of higher degree rushed out to horse, each has-
tening to his home, for the purpose of protecting
his property against the dreaded confusion of
an interregnum, or preparing to augment it.
Those of meaner rank, the servants and ribalds tph'eunbdu"d^g
of the court, stripped the body, even of its last
garments, plundered every article within reach,
and then, all quitting him, left the poor diseased
body lying naked on the floor.
Consternation and apathy were, after some
hours, diminished. The clergy recollected their
duty, and offered up the prayers of the Church ;
and the archbishop directed that the body
should be conveyed to Caen. But there was
no one to take charge of the obsequies, not one
of those who were connected with William by
consanguinity, or bound to him by blood or by
gratitude ; and the duty was performed by the
care and charity of Herlouin, a knight of hum-
ble fortune, who himself defrayed the expenses,
grieved at the indignity to which the mortal
spoil of his Sovereign was exposed, and who, as
the only mourner, attended the coffin during its
conveyance to Caen.
§ 8. At the gates of Caen, clergy and laity came
forth to receive the body, but at that very time
flames arose, the streets were filled with heavy
smoke : a fire had broken out which destroyed
good part of the city : the procession was dis-
to is
590 BURIAL OF THE CONQUEROR.
10v87 _ . persed, and the monks alone remained. They
brought the body to St. Stephen's monastery,
and took order for the royal sepulture. The
grave was dug deep in the presbytery, between
altar and choir. All the bishops and abbots of
Normandy assembled. After mass had been
sung, Gilbert, Bishop of Evreux, addressed the
people ; and when he had magnified the fame of
the departed, he asked them all to join in prayer
for the sinful soul ; and that each would pardon
any injury he might have received from the
in monarch. A loud voice was now heard from
S. Stephen B.
the crowd. A poor man stood up before the
bier, Asceline, the son of Arthur, who forbade
that William's corpse should be received into
the ground he had usurped by reckless violence.
The Bishop forthwith instituted an enquiry
into the charge. They called up witnesses, and
the fact having been ascertained, they treated
with Asceline and paid the debt, the price of
that narrow little plot of earth, the last bed of
the Conqueror. Asceline withdrew his ban;
but as the swollen corpse sank into the grave,
it burst, filling the sacred edifice with corrup-
tion. The obsequies were hurried through, and
thus was William the Conqueror gathered to
tis fathers, with loathing, disgust, and horror.
591
CHAPTER XY.
RESULTS OF THE CONQUEST.
NEW POLITICAL POSITION OF ENGLAND SOME CHANGES CAUSED
RATHER BY TIME THAN BY CONQUEST — CONTINUITY OF LAW
IN ENGLAND SO-CALLED FEUDAL SYSTEM — WILLIAM'S
ADMINISTRATION : IN CHURCH MATTERS : IN THE LAW
MILITARY SERVICES JUSTICE EFFECTS OF WILLIAM'S
IGNORANCE OF ENGLISH HIS CHARACTER POSITION AS
LEGAL HEIR TO THE THRONE — FALSE IMPRESSIONS AS TO
HIS INNOVATIONS: EXEMPLIFIED BY THE COURSE OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE THE CHURCH IN ENGLAND LAN-
FRANC — MAMINOT — WILLIAM'S ECCLESIASTICAL APPOINT-
MENTS.
§ 1. WE have now arrived at the conclusion of General
necessity
the era of great individual and greater national
suffering. England was mercifully dealt with.
Since the reign of Ethelred, the empire had been
gradually losing all power of defence against
foreign enemies, whilst the people, deeply cor-
rupted, were exaggerating the faults and losing
the virtues of their ancestors. In the same
manner as the sins of the European community
demanded the visitation of the French revolu-
tion, so did England require the discipline of
the Norman sword. The sceptre was taken
from the English race, and they were placed
beneath the dominion of the alien, raised up to
fill the throne, and to whom the power was
transferred.
VOL. in. Q Q
592 THE CONQUEST UNITES
§ 2. One of the most prominent consequences
resulting from the Conquest, was its effect upon
the external relations of the kingdom. England
was brought into a closer connexion with the
general affairs of the Commonwealth of Western
Former Christendom than had ever subsisted before. Of
intercourse
England course, a previous degree of intercourse had
always existed of necessity. The narrow seas
might be crossed by the merchant : missionaries
were sent forth from our island to the banks of
the Rhine. As we rush along his waters, the
gigantic towers of Maintz still attest the pious
labours of Boniface. After the desolations of
the Danes, holy men might be brought from
Gaul to Glastonbury or to Malmesbury, for the
purpose of renewing the chain of ecclesiastical
tradition in the minster, which an Alfred's piety
had raised again from the ground. Further-
more, the community of intellect continued,
though in a limited degree. Alcuin, the friend
and companion of Charlemagne, was known and
praised as an Englishman. Bede was univer-
sally received as a father of the Church ; and
Duns Scotus, and some few other British names,
were known in the libraries of Gaul and Ger-
many. But notwithstanding all these links, — and
we may moreover enumerate amongst them an
occasional matrimonial alliance or a compli-
mentary embassy, — the limited intercourse and
connexion was gradually diminishing. England,
ENGLAND TO EUROPE. 593
enclosed within her four seas, always harassed ^ad fanen
by the fears or the presence of the still pagan
Northmen, was becoming more and more foreign
to the feelings and thoughts and interests of the
rest of Western Christendom.
Perhaps there is no one fact which illus-
trates this severance more forcibly and more
completely, than the circumstance that when
Anselm attended the council of Rome (1098),
the fathers were utterly unable to decide what
place should be assigned to the insular prelate
in that venerable assembly. In the reign of
the Confessor, Anselm's predecessor had crossed
the Alps to receive from the Pope the pallium
by which he was confirmed in the primacy,
but an Archbishop of Canterbury had never
before been seen taking his seat in council
amongst the other members of the western
hierarchy. No person living, no not the oldest,
had known such a thing. From their prede-
cessors, the prelates present had heard nothing
of the station amongst them of Anselm's pre-
decessors : their records told them nothing : if
they turned over the acts of preceding councils,
they did not find one single signature of an
English bishop or an English abbot. In other
words, England had no representatives in what
were, virtually, the Parliaments of Christendom.
Urban removed all difficulties of station and
precedence, by giving to Anselm the highest
QQ2
Honours to
Aneelm at
Rome.
594 ENGLAND NOW UNITED WITH FEANCE
place in the synod : he caused him to sit in the
apse, where he himself was stationed, having
already in the council of Bari, addressed him
almost as a colleague — "Includamus hunc in
orbe nostro, quasi alterius orbis Papam ;" a
most significant epithet, and in which, it should
seem, that more than a mere complimentary
honour was implied. It appears to have amounted
almost to an acknowledgment that Britain was
considered as a co-ordinate empire, such as it
was when the Basileus of Albion appeared as
sharer with Charlemagne in the sacred honours
of royalty, when he and Charlemagne were,
in fact, the only sovereigns in the Roman
world.
Such had been the separation of Britain from
the rest of the Christian Commonwealth, that,
by the accession of the Conqueror and his dy-
nasty, the political situation of England was
entirely changed. The waters of the Channel
still continued to divide the cliffs of Albion from
the cliffs of Gaul, but the island and the firm
land were compelled to be constantly in com-
munication with each other, to be united by
sympathies, and cognizant of each other by
hostilities. Henceforward England and France
!' were connected by domestic ties, whether con-
joined in friendship or conflicting in the field.
The same lineages spread over England and
Normandy and Flanders : it was hard to say
who was the foreigner. But perhaps even more
IN THE GENERAL WESTERN COMMONWEALTH. 595
influential than these tics and relationships were
the influences of doctrine and opinion. England
was now prevented, as it were, from drifting
away. The theory at this period of the Western Enters into
the political
Commonwealth, was that of unity : a unity of
often disturbed in practice, but which, yielding
a nominal supremacy to the empire, and a real,
though contested, supremacy to the Pope, im-
pressed the nations of Europe that they con-
stituted one community. Eome became the
common sensorium of Europe, and through
Eome all the several portions of Latin Europe
sympathized and felt with each other. Hence
the great difficulty of writing the history of the
middle ages. The history of the papacy enters
as an element into the history of each state or
kingdom, and at the same time that so much of
that history must be brought in as is needful to
illustrate your national transactions, you must
avoid any exuberance of discussion or detail,
which may perplex the course of events with
which you are more immediately concerned.
The geographer cannot complete the square of
the map of England, unless he introduces an
angle of the opposite coast ; but much more
must be done by the historian.
§ 3. I must now pass to the effects occasioned
at home by the accession of the Norman king, and
to the manner in which the bitterness of the lot
of the English was mitigated, and the inevitable
miseries of foreign conquest speedily overruled.
596 EFFECTS OF THE CONQUEST
hom£ectsat Speedily : for, when three generations and four
had passed away, so had its evils disappeared.
It was a storm which purified the air : a flood
which fertilized the soil.
It has been considered, in the words of the
most popular of our historians, " that it would
be difficult to find a revolution more destruc-
tive, or attended with a more complete sub-
jection of the antient inhabitants." We are
accustomed to lament over Harold as the
last of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and to con-
sider the acquisition of the crown by William
as the destruction of independence and nation-
ality, English independence and nationality ;
protest and I must needs here pause, and substitute
against
«Angio- henceforward the true and antient word English
for the unhistorical and conventional term An-
glo-Saxon, an expression conveying a most false
idea in our civil history. It disguises the con-
tinuity of affairs, and substitutes the appearance
of a new formation in the place of a progressive
e£fic evolution. Granted,— for who would deny it ?
that the Norman Conquest did, in its first and
immediate consequences, give a great shock to
existing constitutions, that it divested a large
class of the great landholders of their supe-
riority, yet it must be considered rather as an
event than an overwhelming catastrophe. In-
deed, the most striking proof of the exaggerated
opinion prevailing with respect to the subver-
sions resulting from the Norman Conquest, is
ON ENGLAND EXAGGERATED. 597
afforded by comparing England with other kin-
dred nations, whose soil was not wasted by the
sword of the stranger. Let us look back for
this comparison, not to the age of the Planta-
genets, not to the age of the Houses of York and
of Lancaster, not to the age of the first of the
Stuarts, but to a time comparatively of yester-
day, the reign of good Queen Anne.
Now at this period there were several nations
closely allied to the antient English, nay in a
manner the same people, who had never been
conquered by the stranger. Such was the state
of Denmark. Here are Danes, fair-haired and
blue-eyed, in unbroken, uumingled descent from
the Hackarls of Canute, Angles and Jutes, tilling
the very soil which belonged to Hengst and Horsa.
Here has been no hostile invasion, but what has
become of the language of the Asi ? In the dialect
of comparatively modern periods, our archaism
is still more remarkable. In the Lord's Prayer,
as translated by Pope Adrian, in the year one
thousand one hundred and fifty-six, there is per-
haps only a single word which in the year one
thousand seven hundred and three can be said
to have been obsolete ; and our Nicholas Break-
spear, still so plain and intelligible, was exactly
the contemporary of the warlike historian Snorro
Sturleson ; he to whom we owe the preservation of
the [traditions] of the Saxons of the North; but to
whom even Olaus, Rubeck, or Bartholimus could
not have spoken without an interpreter. Upon
598 PARALLEL OF DENMARK.
this wide and very interesting subject, — the
mutations of our speech, I will not at pre-
sent enlarge. I shall only remark, that, in
certain states of human society, there is a
tendency to enrich the nomenclature and
simplify the structure of language, some-
times arising from what, in common, though
rather disagreeable, phrase, is termed the " na-
tional mind," and sometimes from external
causes ; and that both were beginning to be in
operation in England before the Norman Con-
quest. But the comparative circumstances of
Denmark and of England will assist in enabling
us to understand how great an alteration might
have taken place in our national [character]
(of which language is so forcible a witness),
supposing the great event about which we are
discoursing had never come to pass.
changes in With respect to government and laws and
Danish law.
institutions, the departure from the antient com-
monwealth was perhaps greater even than in
language. The Gothic Nemda was the subject
of an archaeological essay. Hard servitude had
fallen upon the descendants of the Bondes, the
tillers of the soil, who in the age of Harold
Harfager raised their bold helmetted heads
around the sovereign in the Landzthing. Jarls
were unknown in name and in deed. In short,
with the exception of some portions of the
criminal law, and rules regulating the rights of
SAXON LAW PRACTICALLY PRESERVED. 599
property, the whole platform (to use the word
in its Elizabethan sense) of the Commonwealth,
since the fifteenth century, has been as com-
pletely changed as if the Christian of Olden-
burgh had gained the throne sword in hand. I
doubt if they can shew any court, any insti-
tution, any essential portion of the state, which
derived its regular succession from an earlier
time.
§ 4. But in England, even so late as the re- °unr8t?tutio
cent period which I have named, after all our
conquests and civil wars, after our reformation,
after our revolution, there still existed, as it
were, whole strata continuing only slightly al-
tered. In our political constitution, much we
can trace ; for example, how the real territorial
authority of Siward, Earl of Northumberland,
gradually waned away into the title which the
Percy claimed. The courts of the burgh, the
hundred, and the shire had not changed, even
in name. The whole customary tenure of land,
over all the length and breadth of the island,
was, and indeed is, purely and sincerely English.
If any one of my readers should chance to
renew his holding under the Bishop of Wor-
cester, it will be gebooked to him for three lives,
exactly as if good Wulstane was to receive the
fine. Of aldermen it is unnecessary to speak :
everybody knows their venerable antiquity ; and,
indeed, throughout the whole of our munici-
600 SAXON LAW SURVIVES.
pal institutions, the vitality of the old English
customs and constitution was truly wonderful.
Bring an ejectment for lands in the parish of
Clapham or Chelsea, and Judge Holt would at
once have non-suited you for not laying the
venue in the Anglo-Saxon town. If the lord
[cirs.1'845.j of the manor had, or indeed has to vindicate his
franchise, he presses into his service, or more
truly perhaps into the service of his attorney,
sac and soc, infangthief and outfangthief, and
whatsoever else he can find in King Ethelred's
charter. And if the Hlafod who now holds the
possession of [the Saxon owner], were to exert
his rights, the inhabitants of Manchester Square
would be compelled to appear at the court of the
Lite as in the earliest age.
I have attempted the comparison contained
in the preceding paragraphs, in order to shew
how small is the necessity of ascribing the great
mutations which unquestionably took place in
the laws and government of the country, to
national subjugation and hostile influence : a
much shorter road of shewing the error of those
other proofs, who ascribe such a radical, such an overwhelm-
ing change to the Conquest, would have been
simply to appeal to the evidence. In the code
bearing the title which I doubt not will be per-
fectly intelligible to the reader, of " Les leis et
les custumes que li Reis William granted al
pople de Engleterre apres la cunquest de la
terre ; iceles meimes que li Reis Edward sun
WILLIAM EEIGNED CONSTITUTIONALLY. 601
x
cusin tint devant lui ;" and in the custumal
ascribed to Henry Beauclerc, but probably
even of later date, we have an assured testi-
mony that as far as direct and positive legisla-
tion is concerned, William effected the smallest
possible innovation : and in [regard to] the as-
sertion, that, in the very frame of his laws, he
made a distinction between the Normans and
English, [we may appeal to the fact, that they
were received by the] nation, not only without
reluctance, but with zealous joy ; and thus the
very means by which William was enabled to
accomplish the Conquest, prevented him from
ruling otherwise than as an English king.
§ 5. It is most certain that, after the acces-
sion of the Plantagenets, we find a very great
similarity between the laws of Normandy and the
laws of England. Both belonged to one active
and powerful sovereign : one system of admin- iaw.Nc
istration prevailed. It was after one and the
same course of business that the money was
counted out upon the chequered table, on either
side of the sea. The bailiffs in the Norman
baillages passed their accounts just as the
sheriffs to whom the bailliwicks of the shires
were granted in England ; and the brieves by
which the king administered the law, whether
in the kingdom or the duchy, are most evidently
germane to each other. In all these circum-
stances, I can find the most evident and cogent
proof that a great revolution was effected, not
602 ENGLISH LAW NOT DERIVED FROM NORMAN.
by William, but by Henry Plantagenet. Where
he found his precedents, where his councillors,
we know not, and in which country the new
system originated, which, in a manner, they
held in common, we know not. Documentary
evidence would go a great way in deciding the
t question. At present none satisfactory has been
' discovered by the researches of the antiquary.
Glanville, the English justiciar, affords the ear-
liest precedents of the writs " de morte ante-
cessoris," and "de nova disseisina." Howard,
the Norman jurist, publishes our Littleton and
Bracton and Hela, as the most authentic monu-
ments which he can find of the antient laws of
the French ; and the traditions of Normandy
even attributed the formation of that which in
the reign of Philippe Auguste was their national
code, the " Grand Coutumier," to the equity and
wisdom of Edward the Confessor. Nothing in
all this amounts to proof that Henry II., King
of England, legislated for the Duchy of Nor-
mandy ; but at least it shews, that, from other
causes than the immediate conquest, to which
it is usually ascribed, the uniformity may have
arisen.
§ 6. Probably most of my readers have been
expecting, in the course of the preceding pages,
to hear much upon some subjects which hold so
conspicuous a station in our usual, I may almost
say our conventional ideas of mediaeval history ;
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. 603
I mean feudality and chivalry. If, using old-
fashioned allegorical language, we were to say
that Feudality and Chivalry, according to the
popular notions of them, are phantoms who
must be driven away before we can enter the
Palace of Truth, we should hardly be using too
strong language. A great living authority upon
these subjects — perhaps the greatest — he Avho
whilst I write these lines, is at the head of the
councils of the Sovereign to whom, under Pro-
vidence, the guidance of the destinies of France
is confided, has said, and most truly, that never
did the feudal system of regular subordination
subsist in the forms assigned to it by jurists.
Feudal society, in its supposed entirety, is an
imaginary structure raised only by the fancy
of the learned, and of which the materials only,
incoherent and broken, have been found lying
on the soil.
* * * *
In considering the developments of the Con-
quest, the first question which always presents
itself to the mind, is the state and condition of
the English nation under their new masters ;
and this is inseparably connected with the sup-
posed establishment of feudal tenures by the Fendal
Conqueror. This is a very large question, which
we must treat in this place on the smallest scale.
A dull subject, many persons would say, but
which must be discussed, on account of the
tenures.
604 COMPLETENESS OF THE FEUDAL
prominent, and, we must add, we believe erro-
neous position which it takes, according to the
usual views of mediaeval history.
But notwithstanding all the assertions which
historians have made, we have never been able
to satisfy ourselves that such a feudal system
ever existed. It reminds us of the feudal castle,
wttaicOT, rendered so familiar to our eyes and mind by
pleteness.
worthy Captain Grose, of antiquarian and fa-
cetious memory ; and which, multiplied and
adopted in our encyclopedias and educational
books, becomes the ideal form of architectural
chivalry; and truly never was any representa-
tion better entitled to the old-fashioned inv : et
delin : in the corner, the dungeon tower in the
centre, the inner bailey round the dungeon, the
outer baileys round the inner, all neat and con-
centric as the crust of a pie. Now, though you
might find such a square dungeon tower in many
places, the inner bailey in half-a-dozen, and the
outer bailey perhaps in a single example, still
whoever forms his ideas upon this type, will
have adapted them to a model which never ex-
isted. The reason why such a castle never could
have existed is this, that every real fortification
was necessarily adapted to the site which it was
to defend; and the plan adopted to guard the
coast of Dover, would, of necessity, be entirely
different from that employed in the plain of
Yincennes ; and therefore, whatever similarity
of principle there may have been in the so-
SYSTEM THEORETICAL. 605
called feudal institutions, they became infi-
nitely varied by the nations amongst whom
they were adopted ; being, in fact, a transmis-
sion of Roman jurisprudence and Roman in-
stitutions, combined with the usages of Teutonic
tribes.
Without entering therefore into details, we
shall venture to point out the two great errors
which render the views commonly expressed
entirely incorrect. The first is confounding the £
feudal tenures of land with what is called feudal
Feudal
tenures are
government ; for however paradoxical it may
appear, there was no government in mediaeval
Europe founded upon feudality. The other is
in the extreme exaggeration of the state of the
common people, and the ascribing it to the bar-
baric invasions. So far as their influence ex-
tended, the lot of the Coloni was alleviated and
not aggravated by the transfer of the Roman
authority to the new race of masters. With
respect to England, with which we are more
immediately concerned, we believe, that, pre-
vious to the Conquest, all land imposed upon
the owner the duty of contributing to the de-
fence of the state, according to its value. AsLandtennr«
after the
the Conqueror found the land, so he gave it ; Conquei
and after a good deal of uncertainty, over-ex-
actions on the part of the crown, demanding
more than was due, and refusals on the part of
the landholders to give what was really due, the
territorial system settled, after the accession of
tion.
606 TREATMENT OF THE ENGLISH.
the House of Plantagenet, into a more definite
form.
§ 7. It cannot be said, that, upon the face
of William's laws, there was any systematic
attempt to treat the English with insults or in-
dignity as a race; for he declared that every
Frenchman who had paid scot and lot in the
time of the Confessor, should continue subjected
to the English law. But, leaving the entire
framework of the English law untouched, he
kept the administration of it wholly in his own
hands, acting either in his own person or by
those who, responsible to him alone, exercised
his authority. He made a complete difference
between the rich and the poor : none of his
barons or tenants could be punished for any
crime except by his permission. They might
commit incest or adultery or robbery or mur-
der with impunity : no one could meddle with
the them uniess William chose. This denial of jus-
tice he effected by a complete restriction upon
all the authority of the Church. For the greater
portion of such crimes could only be restrained
by excommunication, or ecclesiastical censure,
and no bishop was permitted to excommunicate
or to censure, unless by his leave and license.
The first impression which this statement makes
upon the modern mind, is that the secular courts
were, nevertheless, open to the suitor. But the
answer is, that these courts were completely
guided by the King's arbitrary will, and that
WILLIAM AND THE CLERGY. 607
the ecclesiastical tribunals were the only ones
in which any degree of independence could be
found. In all criminal jurisdiction, his hand
fell as heavily upon the Normans as upon the
English. There was no privilege of nation al-
lowed. The English might give more offence ;
but both were equally crushed by his heavy
hand.
The power which he exercised of nominating "'
the bishops, deprived the national legislature of
any independence which it possessed. The
bishops were his own men, more even than the
earls or the barons ; and his restraint of eccle-
siastical liberty extinguished any species of
national liberty. When the bishops were as-Styto
sernbled in council, he would not permit any
statutes or canons to be propounded by the
archbishop, unless, having previously approved
of the same, they were entirely conformable to
his will. Therefore, no reform, whether in man-
ners or morals, or in the extensive branch of
jurisprudence, which could alone emanate from
these councils, could be effected, unless conform-
ably to his inclinations, and to suit his interests.
The papal power, so far as it could be exercised
in Britain, could extend no further than William
chose. No Pope was recognized in Britain, not
even Hildebrand himself, unless by William his
election and choice was approved. No papal «>d ropca :
Bull to be executed, unless sanctioned by royal
authority : in other words, William, the Basil eus
VOL. III. R R
608 WILLIAM'S INDEPENDENCE OF ROME.
of Britain, assumed and exercised the imperial .
power ; and in this he most evidently felt and
saw how needful it was, according to his scheme j
of authority, to resist the efforts which Hilde-
Hildebrand.
brand was making for the general liberties of
the Christian community. Had the liberty of
election been restored to the English sees ; had
the power of the papal see in punishing siinon;
and corruption, or in removing from the epis-
copate those unworthy to exercise its duties,
been suffered to be exerted, William's autocracy
would have been at an end.
unimportant The only direct innovation in the shape of
change in
English law. |aw^ affec{jng the rights of his subjects, is an
ordinance imposing certain regulations as to the
mode of deciding criminal cases by wager of
battle. This has been considered, more espe-
cially by recent writers, as placing the English-
man and the Frenchman upon unequal terms.
It would require a far deeper knowledge of the
actual practice of the Anglo-Saxon law (I em-
ploy this term unwillingly, but for the purpose
of preventing misapprehension) than we shall
ever possess, to determine whether there was
really any unfairness or inequality ; but, at all
events, if this right did belong, as a patrimonial
law, to his Norman subjects, he could not well
deprive them of it ; and, at all events, it speedily
became obsolete, and we cannot find even a trace
of it beyond his reign.
§ 8. I have already noticed the popular opinion
FEUDAL LAW; RESUMED. 609
William introduced into England the feudal
law. We are told, by the most popular of our
\istorians, that he found this system already
established in France and in Normandy, and that
feudality was the foundation both of the stability
and the disorders of most of the mediaeval govern-
^ents. This opinion involves the proposition that
. e " feudal system" was established on the Con-
tinent, and was not established in England. The
observations which I have made on this subject
on other occasions, will enable the reader to judge
whether it be well founded or not.
It is, however, somewhat remarkable that the
many who have adopted this theory almost im-
plicitly, never stop to enquire how it happened
that Britain, containing the same elements of
population and jurisprudence as the rest of
Western Christendom, and more particularly
France and Germany, should not have possessed
the same law. The Anglo-Saxons and the Lom-
bards were close neighbours in their original
seats in Germany ; the Salic Franks and the
Ripuarians were the borderers of the Jutes and
Saxons; and if the feudal law arose, as Mon-
tesquieu says, and as Hume, no doubt, believed,
in the forests of Germany, how did it happen
that, in the occupation of England, it was left
behind ? Still more remarkable is it, that no
one should have been startled at the total want
of evidence. With respect to England, what
William found, that he kept ; and not only aro
R R 2
new.
610 NO FEUDAL TENURES
we destitute of any evidence whatever to shew
that he made any change in the tenure of land,
but we have the strongest evidence to the con-
trary* -^a^e Domesday, the great record, which
change. was fa establish the relations between the King
and his landholders — those lands, conferred, as
Hume tells us, with the reservation of stated
services and payments, on the most considerable
of his adventurers ; and you will not find any
one service or payment reserved, except the
pecuniary payments, the Danegeld, which had
been rendered in the Anglo-Saxon age. If more
land was brought into cultivation, more was paid :
if less, less. Domesday, which was to fix all
the territorial rights of the crown, is wholly
silent upon the subject.
§ 9. That the rendering of a military service
for lands held of the Sovereign, a usage derived
from the Romans, existed in Britain long before
the Conquest, I have elsewhere shewn. That this
was retained by William, when the same lands
passed to his soldiery or followers, is in the very
nature of things. Whatever obligation the laud
was liable to "tempore Regis Edwardi" it was
equally liable to " temp&re Regis Wittielmi;"
and in this manner alone can we explain a fact
which otherwise might be perplexing, the total
absence of any direct allusion to military tenure
in the great record of Domesday. In support
of the rights of the crown resulting from the
tenure of land, Domesday shews nothing. It
INTRODUCED BY WILLIAM. 611
only establishes a negative, and that in a very
remarkable manner. Hugh Lupus, we arc
thereby informed, holds the earldom by thea
sword, as freely as the King holds by his crown.
So also, without doubt, did, at this era, the
several Lords Marchers. Matters altered en-
tirely when we have overleaped the reign of
Henry Plantagenet; but we are speaking of
the rights or rather no rights of the respective
parties before the generalizations of the law.
The hereditary descent of the "Laen Lands'1
continued, as before the Conquest, a customary
right of renewal to the son of his father's
tenancy, which could not be enforced, but
which, in the ordinary course of affairs, could
not be denied.
It is verv certain that when our system of Later
•> traditions
military tenures was fully established, in the™*™"
reign of Henry III., it was a received opinion,
popular in the nation, and an axiom in the
courts of justice, that thirty-two thousand
knights' fees had been created by the Con-
queror ; but at that period there was a wise
officer of the Exchequer, one Alexander de
Swereford, also Archdeacon of Salisbury, who,
in the exercise of his duties, wished to find a
certain account thereof; but, on seeking evi-
dence, he could find none. Rolls or records
of the age of the Conqueror, save and except
that Domesday which we have, could he not
discover. Nigel, Bishop of Ely, treasurer to
tenures.
612 OBSCURITIES OF OUR
King Henry Beauclerc, he so deeply learned in
all the science of the Exchequer, knew nothing
of it, neither had Richard, the Bishop of London,
he who had fully expounded the business of the
Exchequer, stated anything concerning it ; and,
therefore, he comes to, the conclusion that when
Henry Fitz-Einpress required, as we shall af-
terwards find, acknowledgments from all the
tenants in capite of what was due, he was other-
wise ignorant of the origin and amount of the
rights of the crown ; and whatever other in-
ferences may be drawn from this very remark-
able statement, we cannot refuse the conclusion
that there was no one written document testify-
f ing to the creation of military tenures ; and that,
when we find them afterwards established, they
were a development of customary usages : some
gradually reduced into regularity by the deci-
sions of courts of justice, others by compromise
between the subject and the crown.
It was brought as an accusation against
William, that he had much infringed upon the
liberties of the Church, by exacting military
service from the prelates ; that is to say, adopt-
ing the terms of a subsequent period, converting
frank alinoigne into military tenure. He does
appear to have acted arbitrarily ; and, as we
know from Domesday, to have allowed portions
of the Church property to be taken away from
its rightful owners ; but, for portions of the
Church lands, a military service was certainly
MILITAEY TENURES. 613
due in the Anglo-Saxon age : and when we find c*v?,rch
military
the military tenures reduced into a regular sys- *
tern, the amount of service due from the Church
lands was but small., and even so late as the
reign of Edward I., not very accurately denned.
Upon every military muster there was a species
of squabble between the Lord High Constable
and the bishops as to the amount of men-at-
arms that ought to appear for them ; and, in-
deed, in spite of all the endeavours of the law
officers of the crown, the services were, even
then, somewhat undefined from the baronage in
general. And it is the greatest drawback to all
our symmetrical historical theories, that we find
the summonses to take the order of knighthood
extended to all persons holding land above a
certain amount, no matter of whom — a qualifi-
cation grounded upon amount of property, and
not of tenure.
8 10. William's first intention was to adrninis-
" judge.
ter justice even as his predecessors. The Basileus,
like the Eastern Sovereign, was accessible to
the people for the purpose of affording that high
remedial justice which he could alone impart.
He was to hear the complaints of the people :
he was to exercise his transcendent powers of
justice, lest right should fail. For this purpose,
William endeavoured to qualify himself, by
learning the language of the people, so that he
might listen to them with his own ears, and
make such order or decree as the case required,
Results of
614 WILLIAM'S ATTEMPT TO
without the intervention of any minister, inter-
posed between the subject and the throne. But
William was wholly a Frenchman : he had not
even a reminiscence of the language of his re-
mote ancestors, once so nearly allied to our
own : he could find neither grammar nor dic-
tionary to aid him : the instructor might be
awkward, or the scholar unapt ; and William
had as little success in endeavouring to learn to
speak English, as Charlemagne had in trying to
learn to write. Both the royal scholars gave up
their lessons in despair.
How great and important were the conse-
quences which ensued from this inability ! It
seems as if, for the purpose of confounding
human wisdom, we were sometimes permitted
to discern how the most important consequences
result, not from plan or forethought, but from
tendencies, actions, or sentiments apparently
the least adequate to the results developed in
after time. If we attempt to examine what at
tiin?0 " this moment constitutes the peculiar attribute
of our present form of government, and upon
which its practical merits depend, it will be
found, not in the visionary balance of power
between the crown, the aristocracy, and the
people, but in the relation between the crown
and the functionaries by whom the power of
the crown is exercised, leaving to the Sovereign
every lawful influence, but preventing the Sove-
reign from falling into the danger of abusing
LEARN ENGLISH: FAILS. 615
that power ; and, considered in this point of
view, we should say that the whole history of
the Constitution depends upon its development
through the three stages which it has thus as-
sumed. The Sovereign exercising his powers
as a judge in his own proper person ; the dele-
gation of these powers to functionaries subser-
vient to his prerogative, but proceeding accord-
ing to definite and established law ; lastly, the
conversion of these functionaries into ministers,
apparently appointed by the crown, but with
the assent, virtually given, of the legislature, to
whom they become responsible for the exercise
of the authority placed in their hands.
§ 11. Now, the reign of the Conqueror exhi-
bits the germ of the second of these great changes ;
the completion of the last was reserved for our
own times. William's ignorance of the English colfrfof the
language, which would incapacitate him either °
for hearing the complaints of his subjects, or,
in many cases, giving the needful directions,
would throw him naturally upon the expediency
of delegating these functions to others ; and he
found an establishment for that purpose ready
made to his hand. This was the Chancery, of
which the foundation having been laid at a very
early period, [it] acquired a new development in
the Confessor's reign. As a portion of the im-
perial establishment, the Referendarius drew or
prepared all royal rescripts and charters, and was
the keeper of the royal signet. In the Frankish
616 THE COUET OF CHANCERY:
monarchy, the succession of these officers can
be deduced from Clovis, the patrician king ; and
we find an officer bearing this title in the char-
ters of Ethelbert. In the reign of the Confessor,
the assumption of the great seal, as the means
of declaring the King's intention, has been al-
ofarthescoSt. rea(ty noticed ; and, under the Conqueror, the
need of employing secretaries for the many pur-
poses with which the King had hitherto dealt,
viva voce, greatly encreased both the powers and
the influence of the King's chapel, as this de-
partment was called. Those who are denomi-
nated the King's chaplains were the writing
clerks constituting the Board, of which the
Chancellor was the head. This officer may be
termed the Secretary of State for all depart-
ments, and thus he continued during many
generations, until his functions were gradually
subdivided amongst the other officers of state,
by whom they are now exercised. That such
an office could alone be entrusted to an eccle-
siastic, was a matter of course ; and Arfastus,
afterwards Bishop of Thetford, held it at a very
early period of the Conqueror's reign.
From this department emanated the gewrits,
or letters, by which the Sovereign intimated his
intentions; and those relating to the adminis-
tration of remedial justice, constituted a large,
and to the people in general, the most important
portion. Yaried as they were at first in form,
according to the circumstances of each case,
ITS ACTION ON THE LAW. t>17
they are all grounded upon one principle — that
right was to be done, lest further complaint of
an unredressed grievance, should again reach
the throne. The principle upon which they
issued was a combination, so to speak, of an
exertion of the King's grace and favour, united
to his obligation of dispensing justice. What
the King granted, he might withhold, either be-
cause the complaint was too unfounded or trivial
to require the interposition of the supreme au-
thority ; or because the obscurity of the com-
plainant or the influence of the defendant, or
party accused, might stay the course of law.
How often either of these causes might
operate, cannot be here discussed ; but one
point was gained. There was a regular office,
to use the common phrase, to which the suitor
might apply, and a regular body of officials, by
whom the first process for obtaining justice
could be issued. These officials, for their own
convenience, would begin to collect something
like a body of precedents, and hereby the first
foundation was laid for a regular system, of ju-
risprudence. The greater portion of our antient
writs consist of the principles of the Anglo-
Saxon law, embodied in an Anglo-Norman form ;
and, finding, as we do, the same forms first em-
ployed in England, and subsequently in Nor-
mandy, at least so far as can be ascertained
from any evidence hitherto collected by archaeo-
logical industry, are we not warranted in the
Cl
618 ESTABLISHMENT OF JUSTICIARS.
inference that it was the King of England who
introduced into Normandy the usages which
were common to both realms ?
2 12. Whilst William's want of knowledge of
William's
?hoTaw!on the English language occasioned this great altera-
tion in the formal method of dispensing remedial
justice, a still greater change took place in con-
sequence of the repeated absences of the Sove-
reign and his successors, from the island realm.
At least more than half the time of days and
months and years of the reign of William and
his children, nay even till the final loss of the
duchy, was passed beyond the seas. During
these absences, it became needful to delegate
the royal authority : it was put in commission,
and entrusted to various regents ; but so promi-
nent was the judicial character of the Sovereign,
that these regents were always called Justiciars:
it was not for the purpose of coercing his English
subjects, for coercion might have been effected
by the sword, but for the purpose of adminis-
tering justice to them, that the Sovereign's place
was to be supplied ; and hence, so permanent has
been our course of usage, that, in the event of
the Sovereign's absence from England, her re-
presentatives would be called Lords Justices at
the present day. These justices were probably
more accessible to the people than the one person
of the Sovereign ; and, inasmuch as it seems to
have been considered that the remedial jurisdic-
tion of the English King was inherent in the
OF Tin. rrrnoN. 619
crown, it became the usage to appoint Justiciars
for the exercise of those functions of justice,
which, even when royalty became more settled.
were growing too burthensome for the ordinary
leisure of the throne.
\ 13. In considering the progress of the Eng- fSS* n*
_^ Cc.B'iaeit on
lish Government, we must, m the first place, tbe.c
i ' tauon.
endeavour to distinguish v-ry carefully between
the form arid the spirit ; not by any means at-
tempting unwisely to depreciate the mode and
manner by which our Constitution has been ad-
ministered, or to -linht, or to revile any insti-
tution which commands popular respect, even
though that ivspeot may. in some degree, result
from misapplied appreciation of the importance
of its object ; not, on the other hand, attaching
a bigotted or overweening importance to one
principle, so as to neglect all countervailing in-
fluences, the danger to which political theorists,
of all others, are most generally exposed. The
English Constitution is not based so much upon
liberty as upon law ; it is the glory of our law
to secure the liberty of the subject ; yet the
subject should value his liberty only to obtain
the protection of the law. Let not our Par-?^tfonof
liament be considered as a Congress, a Political
A—'-mblv, but as a Tribunal, in which, what-
V /
ever the question may be, the vote of the mem-
ber is the exercise of his functions as a judge ;
a judge protecting his fellow-subjects — a judge
advising the Sovereign — a judge, if need be, be-
620 LEGAL GROWTH OF THE CONSTITUTION.
tween the subject and the Sovereign. What-
ever abuses may have existed, whatever wrongs
may have been perpetrated under the name of
right, whatever selfishness may have been dis-
guised under the garb of patriotism, whatever
unconscientiousness may have been exhibited
by individuals or parties, this, and no other,
has been the theory of all our conflicts and
revolutions.
OUYS has not been a rude contest for the
its develop- assertjon of independence, but an attempt to
obtain an adjudication upon our rights, a case,
an adjudication, a precedent. We have never,
hitherto, contended for abstract rights or for
general principles ; our Constitution has never
yet degenerated into a charter of maxims amd
definitions, divided into chapters and articles,
but it has resulted from definite remedies applied
to definite grievances ; and when it ceases to be
so, our empire will complete its fall.
wmiam g 14. As William the Conqueror assumed the
reigns by
royal power, as the lawful successor of Edward
the Confessor, it followed, as a natural conse-
quence, that he would support his own authority
by respecting Edward the Confessor's law ; this
constituted what we may term the technical
principle of his government. Every prescriptive
right was to be held as it had been in the days
of the Confessor : the laws of Edward the Con-
fessor were to be observed in all respects except
so far as he had caused them to be amended for
WILLIAM'S DESPOTIC POWER. 621
the benefit of the English people ; and, at first
sight, there was no intentional innovation, or no
change.
But whatever may have been the theory, far nut
* ' administers
different was the practice : even as William had dcsp°tically-
been an uncontrolled despot in Normandy, so
did he attempt to be in England. " All things,
divine and human," in the words of a cotem-
porary historian, were governed by his absolute
will and pleasure, all subservient to his caprice
or commands. The first point, and in which his
hand fell heaviest, was on the affairs of the
Church. In Normandy he appointed and de-
posed the bishop, without question, without
check or controul. He found the same usages
established in England, exercised by that So-
vereign from whom he claimed the throne, and
therefore it must have seemed to him that he
had, as it were, a double right ; and he used it,
though very arbitrarily, yet with prudence and
wisdom. We must not always confound des-
potism and injustice. William was not a wild,
a cruel, or a blood-thirsty Conqueror ; with but
a small share of moral principle, he had no love
for evil or sin as such. In an age of universal
profligacy, more especially among the higher
ranks, his continence is a voucher of what we
may term his moral feeling. Historical parallels,
though frequently very delusive from the efforts
made to overstrain either the resemblance or the
antithesis of the respective characters, do, never-
622 WILLIAM PROFESSES TO
theless, afford much help to the student ; and,
excepting in the violence of his temper, which,
wm?aamem°. however, he could well restrain when it was his
interest so to do, I should say that there was
as near a resemblance between him and his third
namesake as could well exist between two dif-
ferent individuals, placed so widely apart. It
is, I believe, the popular opinion, as expressed
by the words of Hume, that it would be difficult
to find any revolution more destructive, or at-
tended with a more complete subjugation of the
antient inhabitants. Unquestionably the cup of
bitterness was presented to the English, but it
was not deep ; and, amongst the many provi-
dences which so singularly and specially mark
the destiny of the English nation, it is impos-
sible to doubt but that the effect of the Conquest
was in every respect to encrease its powers for
good, to strengthen the national intellect, and
also, if they be blessings, to give the greatest
impulse to its worldly prosperity and glory.
§ l^. Whatever aspects William's policy
assumed, he never departed from the principle
that he had placed himself in the position of a
legitimate Sovereign, asserting legitimate rights.
William did not present himself as a barbarian
stranger, a Sweyne, or a Canute, wielding his
battle-axe, slaying old and young, thirsting for
blood, greedy of gold, seeking rapine, pursuing
revenge ; but as a lawful claimant, contesting
the inheritance withheld by an unjust adversary;
REIGN AS THE LEGAL SOVEREIGN. 623
and, as will have appeared from the preceding
transactions, it is hardly possible to deny but
that, on constitutional grounds, he had a better
grounded title than he who was vanquished by
the battle-trial of Hastings. When, therefore,
William, as such lawful claimant, obtained the
dominion, the reign of the usurper was entirely
blotted out from the legal and constitutional
annals of England. In the same manner as the
ordinances of the Commonwealth have no place
in our statute-books, and the patents of the Pro-
tector are expunged from our records, so was
the reign of Harold passed over, and never
recognized by the law. Even as King de facto,
he was not acknowledged. Domesday, which
was to establish the territorial rights of the
Conqueror, the record by which he was willing £>
to be concluded, that great memorial, not of an
arbitrary power, but of the principle of esta-
blishing the rights of the crown, so far as pro-
perty was concerned, by an immutable law, al-
ways dates them. " tempore Regis Edicardi"
William wanted nothing more than what King-
o o
Edward had ; he would take nothing as from
Harold ; he ascended the throne not as the
victor of the son of Godwin, but as succeeding
the Confessor. Therefore, he was to be bound
to the responsibility of the monarch of whom
he claimed to be the adopted son, the consti-
tuted heir.
Much may be collected from signs and
VOL. in. s s
:is a
usurper:
duke:
624 WILLIAM'S CHAEACTEE.
tokens in an age when imagery constituted
the book of the multitude ; when, or where, the
knowledge of writing is confined to the few, the
picture, the statue, the banner, the device, be-
come, as it were, for the multitude a species of
necessity. With us the arts having for these
purposes lost their use, they have also lost their
reality. But it was not so in those ages. Look,
therefore, at William's great seal, by which
his will and pleasure, his grace and favour,
or his enmity, was announced. Here we find
the type of the new dynasty. On the reverse,
the Duke of Normandy, mounted on his war
steed, grasps the sword of Rollo, defended by
shield and mail, his visage concealed by the
iron helmet ; but on the obverse, the Rex An-
.glorum, seated on the throne of justice, wears
the crown of Alfred, and presents the sceptre
surmounted by the peaceful dove ; and these
two representations are living types, as it were,
of the two dynasties. And it is hardly needful
to repeat that, when called to the throne, he
entered into the very compact which bound the
English King, the Basileus, whose state and
power he had assumed.
If I had to sum up the character of William
as a king in one loose phrase, I should say that
as a king, though cruel, he was not unneces-
sarily cruel, prudent, cunning, entirely unscru-
pulous as to the means he used whether to gain
or to secure his power, — the sword, the axe, and,
OTHER SUPPOSED RESULTS OF THE CONQUEST. 625
if universal rumour could be trusted, the poi-
soned cup, were all employed without reserve or
compunction. Yet, in spite of plunder, cruelty, ™*racter.
and devastation, he had more heart than the
majority of the statists of a more civilized age ;
he interfered nowhere, except where he needed
to interfere. If, according to the popular legend,
the Englishman was compelled to put out fire
and candle at the sound of the curfew ; he was,
nevertheless, so far as the state was concerned,
left quiet within his home. William made no
attempt to introduce a new religion, new lan-
guage, new customs, new laws. He never strove
to Normanize the English people.
g 1 6. It is so popularly believed that all these ££*", to
were the immediate effect of the Conquest, that ^
effected.
it requires an effort to disengage ourselves from
opinions which have grown up, as it were, with-
out thought. It certainly may appear to have
been the natural course of things, that William
the Conqueror should have compelled the van-
quished to accept his institutions and his laws.
Unquestionably we find, at a subsequent period,
the French or Eomance language not only blended
with our English, but the prevailing dialect of
the court and of the tribunal, of the baronial
castle and the merchant's counting-house ; in
short, to use a familiar phrase, the very token
of gentility. It is equally unquestionable that
we find a course of public administration of
public affairs, more especially in the fiscal
S3 2
626 REACTION OF ENGLAND
branches, nearly identical both in England and
in Normandy. Furthermore, the system of
tenure, usually called feudal, which prevailed in
the two countries, is closely analogous in each.
Lastly, there is a very near relationship in cer-
tain portions of the technical procedures of the
law ; yet in all these great points of resem-
blance, I believe that though some of them re-
sulted from the Norman invasion, yet that
others were only accelerated by it. They were
already proceeding, the fermentation had begun,
but slowly and sluggishly, and the Conquest
only afforded an additional, and perhaps more
England active leaven. On the whole, the most probable
in fact
hypothesis is, that England borrowed less than
England gave. "The laws imposed by the Nor-
man dynasty upon the English were reflected
back upon the victors. England was the more
powerful and the more opulent territory : insti-
tutions arose from the combination of the
old English law with the measures needful for
the government of a newly subjugated country,
which imparted new vigour to the sovereign
authority.
William, and still more William's successors,
practised in Normandy the stern and orderly
jurisprudence of the English king. Upon the
total want of any written evidence as to the
antient Norman jurisprudence, 1 have already
remarked, and it is almost a whimsical illustra-
tion of the force of theory, that the Institutes of
UPON NORMANDY. 627
Littleton, English to the very core, were pub-
lished and commented upon by one of the most
learned advocates of the Parliament of Rouen,
as the best evidence of the institutions prevail-
ing in Normandy, previous to the Conquest.
But the Normans of Normandy thought other-
wise : the Grand Coutumier of Normandy does
not deduce its origin from Rollo, but claims the
Confessor as its founder in the first page and
paragraph. From him did they assert that
their wise usages were derived ; nay more, even
Magna Charta was claimed by them after they
had become the immediate subjects of the Cape-
tian dynasty, as the foundation of their franchises,
and their best security against arbitrary power.
Except from its influence upon the imaging,- The curfew,
tiou, it would be hardly worth while to notice
the legend of the curfew-bell, so commonly
supposed to have been imposed by William
upon the English, as the token of degradation
and slavery ; but the " squilla di lontano, che
pctjci il giorno pianger die si muore" was a uni-
versal custom of police throughout the whole of
mediaeval Europe, not unconnected with devo-
tional feeling.
§17. Far more important, since it is so Language,
deeply connected with legislation, is the sup-
position that William endeavoured to force on
his subjects the language of Normandy. Hume
tells us that William the Conqueror enter-
tained the difficult project of totally abolish-
628 NO CHANGE IN THE LANGUAGE
ing the English language, and for that purpose
he ordered that in all schools throughout the
kingdom the youth should be instructed in the
French tongue. The pleadings in the supreme
court of judicature were in French, the deeds
were often drawn in the same language, the laws
were composed in the same idiom. Now the
plain answer to this assertion is this, that we
have no one example of any pleadings in the
courts of judicature in French, of any deeds or
charters drawn in the same language, or any
laws composed in that idiom, until the reign of
Henry III. What William found, he kept :
like his predecessors, his laws and charters
were written either in English or in Latin,
though the latter gradually prevailed. Yet the
English continued in continuous use, and the
last example of its employment is found also in
the very reign of Henry III., when, as before
observed, we find the first employment of the
French tongue.
No doubt whatever can be entertained of the
fact that, in subsequent times, the Romance
dialect greatly prevailed in England ; but we
cannot blame or praise the Conqueror for its
introduction. Indeed would it not have been a
strange thing if William the Conqueror had
caused his laws to be written in French, seeing
that none were ever composed in that dialect in
his own country ; or, rather, that none what-
ever exist ? Anterior to the Conquest, the only
ATTEMPTED BY WILLIAM. 629
monuments of jurisprudence are the ecclesiastical
proceedings of the councils ; and, subsequently,
the Grand Coutumier, composed, as it should
seem, immediately before the loss of the duchy
by John, was first written in Latin, the French
version being not earlier than the fourteenth
century. Every writ, every letter, every
sive which he addressed to his trusty men — his
"
French.
6
Frenchmen or his Englishmen, was in Latin or
in English ; and for the assertion so confidently
made, and still more confidently repeated, not a
particle of historical evidence can properly be
found.
1 18. Yet the opinion has some claim to anti- £°Jeal/0dret£
quity, and has received its sanction from the
pseudo-Ingulphus, a romance which still obsti-
nately retains its place amongst the sources of
our history. The code of laws so often quoted by
French and English antiquaries, as the earliest
specimen of the Norman dialect, is merely a
translation from a Latin text, executed, as it
should seem, about the conclusion of the reign
of Henry III.
It is in this reign that the so-called Norman-
.1
French first makes its appearance m the nionu-
ments of our diplomacy and jurisprudence, con-
tinuing, with very little variation, till the reign
of Edward III., when the more modern French
of Paris materially affected the archaic dialect
of our island. Previous to this period no au-
thentic law, or deed, or charter, has ever been.
Norman-
630 FEENCH AND ENGLISH
discovered, except in Latin or in English. The
traditionary employment of the language of
Rome, however barbarized or corrupted, con-
tinued to be one of the links which connected
the media3val states with the fourth monarchy,
and it possessed a vast preponderance as a
written language ; but the employment of the
English was limited to some few charters, writs,
or letters, gradually diminishing in number until
the last — which occurs [before] the age of York
and Lancaster, when the diplomatic employment
of the English language revived ; and this last
document is the memorable proclamation, de-
claring how Henry, King of England, Lord of
Ireland, and Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine,
had assented to the restraints imposed upon him
by those whose names so forcibly bespeak their
Norman lineage. To this most remarkable
English document, penned so near to the Anglo-
Norman period, there is not an English name.
§ 19. The gradual formation of our present
English, as contradistinguished from what is
usually termed Anglo-Saxon, is a problem not to
be solved by the one single cause of the Norman
accession ; for though that event accelerated the
change, still we must be permitted to repeat
what we conceive to be the guiding principle of
our historical investigations — that the Conquest
only accelerated a process which otherwise
would have proceeded more slowly and more
incompletely ; but still, that it would have dif-
PARALLEL LINGUISTIC CHANGES. 631
fered only in degree, and not in kind. And here
again we must take the test of comparison, as
supporting the assertion which we have made.
We regret the loss of our " English undefiled."
In grim despair the philologer pores over the
strains of Beowulf, and, failing to solve the im-
penetrable enigmas of the lay, he weeps over the
deleterious influence of the Conquest. But haschange°?
language in
the Gothic speech fared better in its own country ? ScandUiaTia-
Shall we find, in essentials, very much more
conformity to antiquity in Scandinavia ? Alas !
if Regner Lodbrok were to chaunt his death-
song in the streets of Copenhagen, nay, even of
Drontheim, the Quida would be as little intel-
ligible to his auditors, as if Csedrnon, accom-
panying himself upon his harp, were to intonate
his glee at an oratorio in Hanover Square.
Our readers will recollect that, in conformity
with our denial of the real existence of an Anglo-
Saxon nation, except as a convenient, though
somewhat delusive mode of designating the
English of the ante-Norman period, so also must
we deny there being any Anglo-Saxon language. NO such
language as
If you had asked Alfred what he had in his g
hand, he would have answered it was an Englisc- -
boc, and have been wonderfully surprised if you
had given it any other name. The distinction
then between the language which, in compliance
with inveterate habit, we will call Anglo-Saxon,
and the English, anterior to the Eeformation, —
for that event had here, as well as in Germany,
632 GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT
great influence upon language, — consists, first, in
the adoption of foreign words, principally from
the Romance dialect of France ; and secondly,
Gradual in the obliteration of many of the inflexions of
changes in
Anglo-Saxon grammar, the loss of all the cases
save one, the diminution of the nice distinction
in the moods of verbs by means of the tones and
semitones of the vowels, and the general simpli-
fication in the construction of the phrases ; and
both those changes, although unquestionably
aided by political circumstances, arose from the
wonderful manner in which speech adapts itself
to the exigencies or desires of the mind. " Out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaketh," is one of those divine truths as fully
applicable to the collective language of each
branch of the human race, as to the fulness and
fluency of discourse, which strong and intense
feeling gives to the individual.
§ 20. About the period of the Conquest, the
Romance dialects of France began to exert a very
singular fascination, if such a term may be em-
ployed, which has continued to the present age,
and which caused them to become, for many
ages, a common link between the various nations
of Western Christendom. " Son," says the Nor-
wegian king, in his instructions to his heir,
" learn Walske, (Welch,) for that goes widest in
the world." And the Northmen, as soon as they
came in contact with other nations, with the
most singular readiness, assumed their speech,
OF THE ENGLISH TONGUE. 633
and neglected or forgot the customs, as well as
the language of their Scandinavian ancestors.
Very few localities in Normandy now bear any
Normans
totally lose
traces of Teutouism in their etymology. A few
language,
vestiges may be traced by the diligence of the
antiquary. Falaise is so-called from the Fels, or
rock, on which it stands ; Oistreham, Ouestre-
ham, speak for themselves : yet, even in these
cases, it may be doubted whether these and some
others of the same kind are not due to a still
more remote population — to the Saxons who
peopled the Saxon shore, or to the so-called
Gauls; for when we recollect that the great
Druidical temple was called Eisern-thor, because
it had iron doors, it is difficult to deny but that
a Belgic dialect was spoken there before its an-
nexation to the Roman Empire.
Be this as it may, it is certain that when
the Northmen occupied Neustria they found a
population entirely Romanized, and the country
full of Roman recollections and associations,
still looking to the venerable shade of Rome as
the mistress of the world. This Romanism the Andietmt
Romance.
Northmen adopted with the utmost eagerness,
and to such an extent, that when William the
Conqueror was young, it was only a few old folks
at Bayeux who could speak the Danish tongue.
More singular, as evidencing the Roman impress
given to the inhabitants of this region, is the
fact, that, in Normandy, we find the earliest
evidences of poetry in the Romance tongue.
634 INFLUX OF THE EOMANCE
Yet the first jongleur whom we can quote as
having chaunted the praise of the Emperor and
his " doze peers/' was Taillefer, at the battle of
Hastings ; for to suppose that the Chanson de
Roland could have any reference to Rollo, is a
theory as contrary to evidence as to the general
Normans tenor of Norman history. In Sicily, and in
Ka0rmanceto Apulia, the Greek and the Arabic were found as
Sicily.
vernacular dialects by the Normans, and Roger
assumed the diplomacy of Byzantium, and de-
corated his garments and his structures with the
Cuphic scrolls of Bagdad. Yet here a Romance
dialect preponderated ; and the very name of
Tancred de Hauteville shews how completely
the Normans had become associated to the
people whom they had subdued,
it reaches Before the Conquest the same fashion was
England
spreading. The palace of Edward the Confessor
was filled with bishops and courtiers of Norman
or Romance extraction. At an earlier period
the Anglo-Saxons had begun to enrich their lan-
guage by a macaronic intermixture of Greek and
Latin, and so, in all probability, they now began
to do with the more courteous phrases of the
French or Romance tongues. The introduction,
after the Conquest, of so many settlers of foreign
origin, no doubt accelerated the process of inter-
mixture. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle shews
how, even amidst the seclusion of Peterborough,
Romance words began to become familiar. Yet
in all this we can discern nothing of compulsion,
INTO ENGLAND. 635
but much of imitation, and of the influence result-
ing from intercourse and example; and thus, even
in Scotland, the Romance became so prevalent,
that an instance exists when the coronation oath
was pronounced in the Norman or French language.
The great era, however, of the introduction
of the Romance language in this country must
be placed in the reign of Beauclerc; and the
taste and examples of his two Queens — Matilda,
and still more, Adeliza of Louvaine — gave an
impulse to the employment of that dialect, which
rendered it the language of secular literature.
Yet other causes contributed, and amongst them,
as we conjecture, were the needs of commerce.
In London, certainly the most Anglo-Saxon por-
tion of the realm, the earliest entries of their
municipal records are in Romance French, and
written with such remarkable purity and facility
as to shew how thoroughly it must have been
cultivated as the common language of inter-
course in our metropolis; and the fashion con-
tinued to encrease in the court, as well as in the
city. Whilst Edward III., by his legislation, ft™fd7nder
prohibited the employment of the French lan-E
guage in the pleadings of the courts of justice, it
was encouraged in the pleadings of the court of
Love ; and maintained its ground as exclusively
amongst the higher classes as the French lan-
guage in the court of Germany, in the days of
Frederick the Great : and a whimsical, as well
as an extraordinary proof of the influence thus
dialects
636 GRAMMATICAL CHANGES
acquired by habit, is found in the fact that the
correspondence between George II. and the
Prince of Wales, as laid before Parliament
during their unhappy dissensions, is wholly in
the French language.
§ 21. With respect to the grammatical altera-
tions which the English sustained, we should be
inclined to venture upon the following hypothesis,
which we merely submit for the consideration
of those who are better calculated to discuss it.
Thorpe or Kemble.Halliwell or Wright, can alone
investigate it with sufficient opportunity and
knowledge. It seems, therefore, probable to us,
"he that England before the Conquest possessed at
Conquest.
least two, if not more, concurrent dialects, as m
almost every part of Germany at the present
day. The book language, we suspect, was not
the vulgar tongue ; it was fully understood by
the common people, and yet not employed by
them in common discourse ; and after the higher
classes were, if not wholly extirpated, yet much
diminished in number and in influence, the vul-
gar dialect of the common people rose, as it were,
to the surface, and, combining itself with the
book language, formed the basis of the English
which we now employ. If, for example, fifty
years ago we can imagine a revolution which
should have carried off the Adel, and the
Burghers, and the Predigers of Holsteiu, and
dispersed or destroyed the stores of litera-
ture, the Hoch-Deutsch would in great mea-
L\ KV'.r.isH. 637
sure have disappeared: the Platt-Deutsch might
have become the prevailing language ; and in
the course of years, Klopstock would, in his
own country, have required the labours of the
lexicographer, like our Anglo-Saxon remains.
This is a rough comparison, but we believe it is
the only one by which the development of our
modern English can be explained.
*
§ 22. According to the technical phraseology
of some of our ecclesiastical historians, the tenth u
century is emphatically denominated the " secu-
lum obscurum." Towards its conclusion, a
brighter light began to be seen on the verge of
the horizon of the other portions of the Chris-
tian Commonwealth, until the period of the
Conquest, but the darkness hung over England,
perhaps even with encreasing shade. I do not
speak merely of learning considered as an orna-
ment. The attempts made by Alfred to give to
the priesthood that knowledge needful for the
discharge of their duty, failed. The bright days
of the English Church had passed away, and
her priesthood had settled upon the lees. It is
with communities as with individuals ; those
who do not advance in goodness decline, and we
seek in vain for any token of redeeming vitality.
The ecclesiastical synods, without which
there can be neither the co-operation required
for the administration of any human community,
nor the gifts promised to those who assemble in
Saxons.
638 DECLINE OF THE CLERGY.
the name of Him by whom the Church is
guided, were almost entirely disused. When
the clergy did meet, it was merely for secular
concerns, and as a portion of the Witenagemot.
They had practically become as effete as a Con-
rgy' vocation. The abuses of the Church continued
unrebuked and unrestrained, or what was worse,
rebuked by the mockery of precepts not in-
tended to restrain, as a clause in a mutiny act
against duelling, a proclamation against vice
and immorality. Learning had altogether de-
cayed ; and let it be recollected that in those
days the theory, however imperfectly carried
out, was that all learning should be directed to
the service of G-od ; so that this decay implies
not alone a decline of cultivation and of intel-
lect, but of sound doctrine and of holiness. He
who could read Latin was talked of as a prodigy.
With the decline of ecclesiastical discipline,
morals had declined also : never can the one
subsist without the other. The dusty rule of
St. Benedict slumbered on the shelf, whilst rich
fur and fine linen clothed the monk, and the
savoury dishes smoked on the long table of the
refectory. Scarcely could the priest at the
altar, reeking from the debauch, stammer out
^ne words of the Liturgy. Your English [clerk]
was a glutton and a sot : of other vices we will
not speak ; it is sufficient to observe that they
united the heat of passion to the most cold-
blooded avarice. Without doubt, much of this
WILLIAM'S ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY. 639
degradation had been occasioned by the cease-
less Danish invasions, and equally so by the
general breaking up of the Commonwealth, when
the sceptre was wielded by Edward's powerless
hand. But national misfortunes are judicial
punishments, at once the evidence and the means
of correction of national sins. The warnings
were repeated, repeatedly disregarded, till at
length they burst in vengeance.
§ 23. William in Normandy had shewn no
great respect for the rights of the Church, when *'
they were opposed to his will ; and in England he
soon shewed the extent which he gave to his
regal power. Perhaps his first overt act was
when he caused the monasteries to be searched
for the property deposited in them by the Eng-
lish, a proceeding equally against good faith
and the respect commonly rendered to the
Catholic sanctuary. Heavy taxes were imposed Taxes:
without any mitigation upon the Church pro-
perty, and large portions were violently seized
and granted out to his followers. But these £™sfisca-
measures, though they might yield a certain de-
gree of profit and advantage, did not accomplish
the end which William's policy now openly
sought, — the transfer of all the territorial supre-
macies to a new class of lords. This process,
however, could not be effected entirely at his
will and pleasure ; but the vices of the Church
of England afforded him the means of inflicting
that punishment by which her strength was to
VOL. III. T T
640 DEPOSITION OF STIGAND,
be renewed. In the last era of the Anglo-Saxon
state, besides the other sins of the clergy, the
higher orders were most grievously stained with
simony, the general corruption of the Western
Church, but nowhere more apparent than in
England — the simoniacal purchase of the sacred
office, a sin against knowledge, equally detri-
mental to the Church and degrading to the
hierarchy.
Of these prelates, no one was more defamed
than Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But who was to sit in judgment upon the
Primate? The problem was soon solved. Since
the first settlement of the Anglo-Saxon Church,
the Roman see had scarcely exercised anyjuris-
diction in England ; and the connection which
existed between this island and the patriarch of
the West, seems to have been principally con-
fined to the payment of Peter's pence, and the
dues exacted for the pallium, the confirmation
of the archiepiscopal authority. Now three
papal legates are seen in England ; Hermenfrid,
Bishop of Sion, accompanied by two cardinals,
dispatched upon the petition of William for the
purpose of confirming him in the royal autho-
rity ; but their further errand was immediately
disclosed. Convening a council, — it was held at
Windsor for the purpose of extirpating the evils
of the Church, — Stigand was canonically deposed
from his archbishoprick, as well as from the
bishoprick of Winchester. He was sentenced
AND OF MANY OTHER PRELATES. 641
to the penance of perpetual imprisonment in the
castle of Winchester : a scanty diet, insufficient
for the wants of the old man, was allowed by
the parsimony of the Exchequer. His friends
advised him to provide himself with better food ;
he replied that he had not a penny. At last he
died ; and when they were stripping the shrunken
corpse, they found a little key hung round his
neck, and certain schedules of parchment con-
taining an account of the treasure heaped up in
the vault which that key opened, and to which
he had thus clung to the very last. The blow
thus struck was speedily followed up. Bishops
and abbots were successively removed, many for
sufficient cause, some perhaps unfairly ; and this
plan being consistently and steadily pursued,
scarcely two more years had elapsed when
Wulstan of Worcester was perhaps the only
English bishop remaining in the realm ; and for
more than a generation, no Englishman was suf-
fered to acquire any ec> • ?siastical dignity.
§ 24. The constant overruling of the devices
of man, is the perpetual key to the intricacies
of human affairs. What sought William in the
deposition of the English prelates ? Why did
he place the whole nation under a ban, render-
ing their name and race an exclusion from the
Church of their fathers ? His own pleasure, the
security and consolidation of his own power.
But the very measures which he employed
worked against his own intent, and the wrong
T T 2
642 GOOD RESULTS OF HIS SEVERITY.
produced the remedy. Had the Conquest taken
place a generation earlier, the irruption of the
Normans would have been as injurious to the
intellectual advancement of England as the in-
vasions of the Danes, for under the first five
dukes their own subjects neglected all useful
learning. Fierce and untameable, they united
the roughness of the barbarian to the heartless-
ness of partial civilization. But destined as the
changes make
way for abler ^rormang were £Q gjfg^ a mighty change in the
fortunes of Christendom, there was given to
them the talent of seeking out the means of im-
provement. Of the eminent men who adorn the
Norman annals, perhaps the smallest proportion
were of Norman race. Discernment in the
choice of talent, munificence in rewarding ability,
may be justly ascribed to the Norman rulers.
If in the Norman there was an entire absence of
real national feeling, there was an equal absence
of national jealousy ; and at the same time that
William was effecting the conquest of England,
the way was prepared for rendering that con-
quest the means of introducing the teachers who
were to reclaim the English Church from sloth
and spiritual degeneracy.
g 25. Amongst those whose names the dying
king enumerated, as testifying by their lives and
conversations, that to the best of his power he
had well exercised the trust for which he was now
called to render an account, were those of Lan-
franc and his successor Anselm. Of the second,
CAREER OF LANFRANC. 643
we shall speak hereafter. [The career of the
first we have traced to the period of William's
marriage.] He had already refused the Arch-
bishoprick of Rouen., offered to him upon the
death of Maurellius, the Italian ; and he equally
shrunk from the acceptance of the see of Can-
terbury. In this dignity there was nothing
which could tempt him. He delighted in the
pleasant places in which his lot had been cast.
Pursuing still with unabated zeal the studies
which had raised him to eminence, and which
were now giving him the more enduring gratifi-
cation of the consciousness that he had been the
means of training others to follow in the same
good path, he was most loth to quit his solitude.
But, yielding at length to the commands of the
King and the solicitations of the Norman clergy,
he accepted the unwelcome mitre, and was in-
stalled with more than usual solemnity in the
metropolitan cathedral. He was most joyfully
accepted by the people, who hailed him as a
father; and henceforth Lanfranc deemed hini-
s.elf to be an Englishman, and identified him-
self entirely with the community to which he
was now allied, but without in anywise depart-
ing from the fidelity which he was bound to
render to his Sovereign. According to the old
English constitution, the Archbishop of Can-
terbury was, as I have before observed, a
species of tribune of the people. He was
William's chief adviser. To this was added
644 LANFRANC'S AUTHORITY.
the authority of justiciar, or, as we should say,
regent, which he exercised whenever William
was absent from the realm ; and pre-eminent as
the station was which Lanfranc holds in the
written history of the reigns of the Conqueror
and of Rufus, it was the silent, or, at least, the
unrecorded influence exercised by him as a
statesman which rendered him most beneficial
to the people. On Lanfranc, as Archbishop,
we shall speak hereafter more particularly. In
his mixed character, as the chief of the lords
spiritual, he may be considered as the great
supporter, in some respects the founder, of the
constitution. His firm, but temperate defence
of the rights of the Church, enabled his suc-
cessors to be the defenders of the rights of the
state. There is no true defender of one with-
out the other. The crozier of Lanfranc, handed
down by Anselm and Becket to Hubert and
Langton, did more for Magna Charta than the
sword.
§ 26. It is the common error of all men to
pride themselves upon their one good quality,
which they consider as giving them a receipt in
full for all the opposite failings and sins. William
was clear of simony, the sin which, as I have
before observed, corrupted the appointments of
the Church in their ve^y source, and in which
almost all his compeers participated with the
utmost gladness and greediness. Pope Gregory
held him up, in this respect, as an example to
OTHER APPOINTMENTS BY WILLIAM. 645
others. But as the canonists lay down in grave
technical aphorisms, what we all know from
common sense — would that we did not from
daily experience — the spirit of the prohibi-
tion may be fully violated, although the hard
money may never have passed ; and whilst wunamf«
choice of
William most religiously abstained from be-prclates-
stowing his prelacies in consequence of the
"munus a manu," still he indemnified himself
most amply by the " munus a lingua" and the
"munus ab obsequio" deriving perhaps even
more convenience and advantage from these
considerations, than as if the preferment had
been sold as the next presentation to an ad vow-
son is at the present day.
Gilbert Marninot was recommended by his
great skill in medicine and also in astronomy.
He was a court physician and court astrologer :
felt the Conqueror's pulse and cast his horo-
scope. In the knowledge of a useful art there
was nothing uncanonical ; nor would the care
of bodies have necessarily disqualified him for
the care of souls ; but what was the Bishop in
other respects ? The sports of the field, hunt-
ing and hawking, were his amusements. Science
[also was his,] — for he was deeply learned ac-
cording to the standard of the age, and one of
his observations, accidentally preserved, forms
an important link in the annals of the visible
heavens. To these he added the habits of the
camp. He was liberal and merry, fond of good
646 FURICUS: REMIGIUS
cheer and good fellowship. In his time the
canons of Lisieux were as jovial as a mess-table,
though, at the same time, he was most diligent
in promoting secular learning. In short, he was
fit for anything except his station. But no
money had been paid, and William hugged
himself in his virtue. Furicus, an Italian by
birth, obtained the Abbey of Faringdon. He
proved a worthy and -diligent pastor ; but
William gave him this good piece of prefer-
ment for the same knowledge which had caused
the appointment of Maminot, — medicine, and the
result, whilst it diminished the evil to the
Church, left the purity of William's intentions
exactly as before. Remigius, the almoner of
the monastery of Fecamp, when William was
preparing for the expedition against Harold,
marks himself down in the roll as furnishing
a vessel with twenty full armed knights to man
the bark ; and thus with an easy conscience the
wealthy see of Dorchester was bestowed by the
grateful monarch upon the expectant. A bishop
was bound to military service for his temporalities ;
and could the bargain made by Remigius, when
he gave the seasonable aid, that he should re-
ceive an English diocese from his Sovereign, be
reckoned simony ? Certainly not : no money was
paid ; and were not the unpromoted actuated
by a censorious spirit when they maintained
that the death of Remigius, the very day before
that upon which he had proposed to consecrate
OF LINCOLN. 647
the sumptuous cathedral of Lincoln, the city to
which he had removed his seat from the humble
[Dorchester], was a judgment for his transgres-
sion? And the previous employments, as well
as the characters of the majority of the prelates
preferred by William, can leave little doubt that,
though he may justly be exonerated from the
grossest abuse, he was entirely obnoxious to the
transgression of bestowing the holy office for
the payment of secular advantage, a price
neither less palpable nor less real than pecu-
niary corruption. The motive for their promo-
tion was the belief that they would be entirely
subservient to his will : they were to have no
scruples, no opinions, no conscience where his
authority was concerned. He was supreme in
Church and State : his will was the only law.
* * # *
APPENDIX.
THE BAKONIAL CASTLES
THE COTENTIN, THE AYRANCHIN,
AND THE BESSIN.
1. Cherbourg. — Originally a Roman station, held by
Haigold or Harold the Dane (945), subsequently granted
in dowry to the Adela, King Robert's daughter, by Richard
III. In the grant it is designated as the Castellum
Carusbure.
2. G-onnville. — In the eleventh century this castle be-
longed to the family of Rivers. — Vernon.
3. Brasville. — Only a mound is now subsisting. This
situated between Cherbourg and Barfleur.
4. Saint Pierre Eglise. — Belonging to Robert of Gla-
morgan. The arms borne by the Glamorgan family are
nearly the same in France as in England.
5. Mawpertius. \_Maiipertuis ?~\ — A Roman foundation.
6. Martinvast. — This castle passed to Richard de Mar-
tinvast, a Nottinghamshire Esquire. He did service with
the commune of Cherbourg.
7. Vauville. — Richard de Vauville appears in the an-
tient list of knights, who crossed over with the Conqueror.
The Vauville family had also possessions in Septvents, or
Septvaus. The name of this place affords a curious example
of the fact, that in the black letter days, the old scribes
could not always be certain of their own writing. One
branch of the family read it as Sept vans, and gave seven
650
APPENDIX.
vans, or winnowing vans, as their bearing; while another
branch read the word as Sept vans or de septem vallibus, and
bore seven hieroglyphics which stood for valleys according to
the conventionalism of the Heralds' college.
8. Greville. — The name of Greville is enrolled in the
list of the Conqueror's companions. There is another Gre-
ville or Graville, in Normandy, but this is the original
habitat.
9. Chateau $ Adam. — In the commune of Brix or Bruce,
this unquestionably is the Stamm Schloss (as the Germans
would say) of the Bruce family. The name of Adam was
common in the early Bruce genealogies. A branch of the
barons of Bruce continued in Normandy, and had a seat in
the Exchequer, and the arms they quarter are the arms of
Bruce of Annandale.
10. La Lutlmmiere. — Also in the district of Bruixes.
11. Briguelec. — This was Oslac's castle ; Guillaume
Bertram who held it, the son of Oslac, or perhaps the
grandson, passed over with the Conqueror. From the Ber-
trams in the female line, descended the earls of Huntley and
Dudley. From them also the Stutevilles, &c. It came
afterwards to William de la Pole. The Stutevilles also de-
scended from the Stutevilles in the female line, and we find
them amongst the leading baronage.
12. Les Perques. — This barony fell into the hands of
the Briquebec family.
13. SarneviUe.-^-'FTGm Barneville came the Roger de
Barneville, who is honoured by Tasso as a distinguished
Crusader. We lose sight of this family in England, but
they subsequently settled in the Scottish Lowlands.
14. Carteret. — Steady adherents of the English kings
were the Carteret family. They afterwards settled in Jersey.
The Carteret ranks as the premier baron of the island.
15. Magnevilk. — Magnaville took place amongst the
proudest honors of the Cotentin. Altered by habit of
APPENDIX. 651
speech into the name of Mandeville. This family became
of great importance also in England.
16. Morville. — Flourished in England, in Normandy,
and in Scotland.
17. Nehon. — Originally a member of the Barony of
Saint Sauveur, but dismembered by Neel in favour of his
son and namesake. From Nihel, Neel, of Nehon, came the
families of Rivers and Vernon.
18. Saint Sauveur h Viscomte. — Claimed to be the
Premier Barony of Normandy. This lineage merged into
the Tessons. " Tesson " signifies " badger," and it is said
that the family acquired this name from always bunfowing
their way under ground so cleverly and cunningly that they
acquired one-third of Normandy.
19. G-arnotote. — This is one of the very few baronies
in the Cotentin whose owners cannot be distinctly traced in
England.
20. Oglandis. — Now or recently represented by the
Oglander family of Nunwell in the Isle of Wight. Nun-
well was granted to them at the Conquest.
21. Beuzeville. — Comparatively a modern castle. The
history of the family is obscure.
22. Amfreville. — Hence came the Umfrevilles, the
Avenels, and many more.
23. La Fierete. — Doubtful.
24. Boutteville. — The Bouttevilles came over with "Wil-
liam the Conqueror, and settled in Somersetshire and Bed-
fordshire.
25. Saint Marie-du-Mont. — " Broad shoulders " became
the epithet of this family ; known in England, it is probable,
by some other sobriquet.
26. Frevilh. — Settled in Cambridgeshire.
27. Montebourg. — Probably not erected before the
fifteenth century.
28. Tourville. — Answers to the call of Battle Abbey Roll.
652 APPENDIX.
29. Estres. — Hence came the Estres of Dorchester.
Coliford Estres retains the name of this family, which ex-
tended widely.
30. G-reneville or G-renville. — Touches, upon Estres.
Unquestionably the cradle of the Grenvilles.
31. La Hogue or Hague. — Doubtful as to any castle.
32. Barfleur. — Harold lodged here. It may be noticed
also that the Confessor when in Normandy started from
Barfleur, when he made his first attempt to repass into
England.
33. Mont Farvitte. — Hence the Foliot.
34. Anne-ville. — The Annevilles established themselves
both in the Isle of Wight and the county of York. They
came in with the Conqueror.
35. Tamer-ville. — This appears to have been held by the
family of Siffrevast, so well known amongst our Baronage.
They quartered Percy and Anneville.
36. Valognes.
LA MANCHE.
37. Pierrepont. — Robert the Lord came to England in
the suite of William, Count of Warren. Hurst Pierrepont
being the Norman designation, added to the old English
locality, qualified him to perform the service of ten knights'
fees. Holme Pierrepont in Nottinghamshire equally testifies
the Conquest.
38. Oanville. — From the owners of this castle came the
Canvilles, and, in the female line, the Verduns.
39. Varenquebec. — Hence the family of Evreux or Gace,
one of the trusty Guardians of the Conqueror. Rivers and
Harcourts came from Varenquebec ; hereditary constables of
Normandy.
40. Lithaire.
41. Bollevitte. — Bolleville passed with the Conqueror.
APPENDIX. 653
From this family came Eudo Dapifer, whose wide ex-
tended baronies are to be found in the south and in the
east Essex, Southwark, Sussex, and Surrey. From them
also the Mortimers. Hence also the Magnevilles or Man-
devilles.
42. La Haie-du-puits. — Hence came the great Eudo
Dapifer, who acquired, whether by force or favour, the
largest proportions of robbery, called conquest, in the Coun-
ties of Sussex, Essex, and Suffolk. They expanded through-
out England.
43. OmonwUe-la-Foliot. — Hence the great family of
that name, amongst whose members Gilbert Foliot, the
Bishop of London, is conspicuous ; and Robert Foliot cer-
tified to fifteen knights' fees which his family had possessed
since the Conquest. See also, Val de Saire, and Barfleur,
Anneville and Morfarville.
44. Plessis. — This castle appertained to Grimoualde,
who, in 1046, was the principal agent in the conspiracy
intended to deprive the Conqueror of his States and his
life, when Duke of Normandy. Grimoualde died in prison
1048. This castle seems afterwards to have passed to the
Vernon family.
45. Gorges. — Very powerful did this family become in
Dorsetshire and Somersetshire. Their bearing, a whirlpool,
may be 'seen upon their sepulchral chapel at Cliefden.
46. Auliyny. — The Lord of Aubigny, when he passed
over with William, was one of the great officers of the
Duchy — the Pincerna, or butler. They afterwards assumed
the name of Mowbray. D'Aubigny held great possessions
in Norfolk, amongst others the Lordship of Bukenham.
Neal or Nigel d' Aubigny greatly aided in the Conquest.
47. Chateau de Lauve. — The Lordship of Aubigny and
the castle of Saint Clare are to the farthest east of the
Cotentin.
48. Pirou. — They held much in Devonshire and Somer-
654 APPENDIX.
setshire. Stoke-pirou, in Devonshire, still commemorates
their name.
49. The Castle of G-ratot.
50. The Castle of Agon. — This was held by Duke
Richard himself, who bestowed it in dowry upon his enig-
matical wife Adela.
51. Tourville. — Not distinctly connected with England.
52.
53. Muneville-le-Bingard. — Settled in Kent.
54. Camprond.
55. Cambernon. — They settled at Modbury, in Devon-
shire ; the name was anglicised as Chambernon or Cham-
pernoun.
56. Orval. — The d'Orvals came over with the Conqueror.
They are found in Battle Abbey Roll.
57. Saussey. — The name appears in Battle Abbey
Roll, but we have no farther account of the lineage in
England.
58. Trely. — Two barons of this name appear in Eng-
land, sub-tenants of the great Honour of Verdun.
59. Quesnay. — Great folks were they in England. They
held great possessions in Dorset, Hertford, and Somerset,
and produced a famous Bishop of Lincoln.
60. Montcliaton. — We find no traces of their pos-
sessions in England, but they were much trusted by Henry
Beauclerc.
61. Regnieville. — Not traceable before the sixteenth
century.
62. Brelial— Held by Fulke Pagnel. Within this
Lordship we find the cradle of the Briquevilles, the Bre-
villes, the Carbonnels, the Chanteloups, the Montgomerys,
the Mordacs, and the Pomerois.
63. Carences. — Appertaining to the ducal domain of
Normandy, inasmuch as it was granted by Richard HI.
in dowry to his betrothed Adela ; but it afterwards passed
APPENDIX. 655
to the Carbonnels, one of whom followed the Conqueror to
England.
64. Chanteloup or Canteloupe. — They held great do-
mains in Dorsetshire, and as far as Warwickshire, the
parish of Aston Canteloupe. The second mentioned shire
commemorates their harony.
65. La Meuredraquiere, in England Mordrac, very am-
ply endowed. Amongst the members must be reckoned the
celebrated Archbishop of York, Henry Mordrac.
66. La Pommeraye. — The Cotentin family possessed
upwards of fifty knights' fees in Devonshire. Bury Pom-
meroye and Stoke le Pommeroye still commemorate their
name.
67. Ver. — In England Vere; and very illustrious Eng-
lish genealogists do not seem aware of their origin.
68. Valence. — Owed suit and service to the castle of
Garray, a very noted family in England. No baron more
illustrious than Aymer de Valence, whose tomb is one of the
glories of the Abbey.
69. Saint Denis-le-gast. — His service commemorated in
the Battle Abbey Roll. From the arms borne by the lords
of this seignorie it should seem they are a branch of the
Mordac family.
70. Hamlye. — Held by the Pagnels, amongst the most
nourishing of our baronial families. Newport Pagnel, in
Buckinghamshire, commemorates them.
71. Chateau de Mauny. — From this family came the
celebrated Walter de Mauny.
72. Cravray. — Gavray, a royal castle. It was held as sub-
tenants by the Amondevilles, the Montagues, and De Veres.
73. Mesnil Gamier. — Almost a solitary exception as
not having furnished any family to England.
74. Montagu-les-bois. — The lords of Montagu were sub-
tenants of Mesnil-Garnier, but they furnished much to
England. Drogo de Montagu came over with the Con-
VOL. in. u U
656 APPENDIX.
/
*J
queror, and the castle which he founded in Somersetshire
retains the name of his Cotentin Castle, and appropriately.
75. Hauteville le Gf-uichard. — Hence came the conquerors
of Sicily.
76. La Blontlcre. — This castle seems to have been held
by the founder of the family of Lord Rolle. They settled
in Lincolnshire.
77. La Lande ffAlrou. — This seems to have been
originally called La Lande de Harold, but we cannot
carry any English connexion farther.
78. Beauclmmp. — Hugh Beauchamp came to England
with the Conqueror, and obtained nearly the whole of the
county of Bedford.
79. Chateau Gf-anne. — This name is attached to many
places in Normandy ; and it seems to be strangely but un-
accountably connected with the romances of the cycle of
Charlemagne, and wherever it occurs it is connected with
some real or alleged act of treachery or treason. This was
the case with this present castle during the minority of
Saint Louis, when he was besieging the castle of Belesme.
The Duke of Brittany, accompanied by a large force of
English and Anglo-Normans, besieged this castle, which
was delivered over to them by Fulke and William Pagnel,
and twenty of the traitors belonged to that family. Many
other stories are connected with this castle. In Haie Pagnel,
the adjoining borough, there is a street called " La Rue
Iscariote."
80. Castle of the Berg, of Haie Pagnel. This passed
to the Fitz-John family.
81. Chateau du G-rippon. — Between Avranches and
Coutances. Its history is obscure, and not distinctly con-
nected with England.
82. Subligmj. — This name is found in Battle Abbey
Roll, as well as among the Crusaders who followed Robert
Courtehose.
APPENDIX. 657
83. Saint Leger. — They were first settled at Ulkham,
in Kent, where they continued to the reign of Queen
Elizabeth.
84. G-ranvilh. — Not to be confounded with Magneville
or with Grenville.
85. Saint Pair. — It seems to have been held of the
Dubois family, but there is some confusion about it. We
find a Dubois, also called Sylvanus, who appears amongst
the nobles of Normandy, following the Conquest.
86. Champeaux. — This is a Cotentin castle. William
de Champeaux is noticed in the Red Book of the Exchequer.
87. Saint Jean le Thomas. — They became very impor-
tant in the Cotentin under the Norman Dukes ; from them
came the Saint Jeans of Staunton Saint Jean in the county
of Oxford. They married into the Hay family. Their name
appears in all the lists of the Conquest. From them came
the Bolingbrokes, the Saint Jeans of Bletso, of Staunton
Saint Jean, and of Basing. The Mildmays also. We may
see the genealogy of the family, or at least the genealogy
could be seen in the choir of the church of Lediard Tregoy
in Wiltshire.
88. G-enetij.— Doubtful.
89. Saint Pierre Langer. — Thence the Saint Pierre
family, the Bunburys of Suffolk, and many others.
90. Avranches. — The boundary fortress. This became
the domain of Richard Goz, the husband of Emma, the
Conqueror's half sister, and sister in blood of the Count
of Mortagne and of Odo, the too famous Bishop of Bayeux.
The son of Goz was the renowned Hugh Lupus. He was
Count of Avranches, and became the first Earl Palatine of
Chester.
91. Ducey. — Little is known of this place in history.
It is one of the very few of the Cotentin Castles which
may be said to be inconsiderable.
92. Pont Orson. — Founded by Robert le-Diable, as a
u u2
658 APPENDIX.
check upon Brittany. During the singular contingency
when Harold joined the Conqueror and they made an expe-
dition into Brittany, Pont Orson was the Norman advanced
post ; and it was from Pont Orson, that they crossed the
Coesnon. It was much the object of Henry the Second's
care.
93. CherueL — The third in the chain of fortresses built
by the Dukes of Normandy to restrain the Britons. This
was the Castle Carroc of Guillaume de Jumieges. The
family of Maresmenes came hence.
94. Tkany. — Robert of Thony crossed over with Wil-
liam, and the family existed in great repute till the 15th
century. As English Barons, they bore " argent six
aiglettes."
95. Ardeven. — Occupied by the English during the
famous siege by Rufus.
96. Tombelain. — This has some connexion with Tomb-
land in Norwich.
97. Montaigne. — Connected with the Montague family,
though not clearly.
98. Ar gouges.
99. St. James de Beuvron, — This castle was built by
William the Conqueror, before the Conquest, and much im-
portance was attached to it.
100. Brecey. — The family settled in Worcestershire, and
the estates were recently held, and perhaps are, by the Lygon
family.
Arrondissement of Mortaign. Very many of the in-
habitants of this district went to Apulia. Others crossed
over to England, having Robert, the Conqueror's son, as
their leader. It is said that Robert held nine hundred and
seventy- three Lordships in England.
101. Biars. — Hence the Avenels and the Vernons.
This family became very illustrious in England, and still
more in Scotland.
APPENDIX. 659
102. Saint Httaire.
103. Tilleul. — King William appointed Humphrey de
Tilleul commander of the castle of Hastings, but his wife
teazed him until he returned to Normandy, and he lost his
English possessions.
104. JBaronten. — Hence came the great family of
Verdun.
105. Touclidc. — Hence the Touchetes Lords Audley.
106. Mortaiyn. — William Werelery was Count of Mor-
taign. His son succeeded him as Earl of Cornwall.
107. SourdevaL — Chateau Gaune. The castle of Jane-
lone di Maganza, the traitor of the Carlovingian cycle.
108. Saint Mori des Bois. — We find their name in
Battle Abbey Roll— they are the Seymours.
109. Roche Tesson.
110. Percy. — In this remarkable canton are three very
important castles, each appertaining to the head of a very
powerful family, and pre-eminent amongst these powerful
lineages, the Roche Tessons of that ilke. So extensive were
O '
their possessions, that it was said they held the third part of
Normandy ; or as was more tersely expressed, the tiers pied
of Normandy.
The Tessons were descended from the Counts of Anjou.
Raoul Tesson took a great part in the battle of the Val des
Dunes. This castle, however, did not originally belong to
the Tessons. It belonged to the Nigils of Saint Sauveur,
and came to the Tessons by marriage. Two of the Tessons
were in the battle of Hastings, but we hear next to nothing
of them in England afterwards. It may be suspected that
they were enemies of the Conqueror.
111. Chateau de Montbray. — Unquestionably to be iden-
tified with Mowbray, one of the strange tricks produced by
the ambiguity of the form of the n and the u in antient
manuscripts. It is very remarkable that in the old times,
themselves, the very persons holding the names, either
660 APPENDIX.
from caprice or ignorance, confounded them. See No. 7,
Vauville.
Roger de Mowbray attended the famous Parliament of
Lillebonne ; at the battle of Hastings Geoffrey de Mowbray,
the brother of Roger, was the most prominent ; but, alas, for
consistency he was a Bishop, and much better fitted to lead a
charge, than to celebrate mass, or sing a prayer. Often had
he fought against the Danes, and the English, and two hun-
dred lordships rewarded his piety. The last Mowbray who
appears in history, was the son of the first Roger, and
nephew of the too famous Geoffrey. To his father's patri-
mony he united the Earldom of Northumberland, and the
plunder which descended to him from uncle Geoffrey. The
remainder of his history falls into the reign of Rufus.
112. Percy. — A very extensive commune. It is a por-
tion of the domains which Duke Richard III. granted to
Adela, le notem Perci.
113. Moyon or MbJmn, vulgarly corrupted into Moon.
He was one of the greatest Barons of the Cotentin ; five
knights who held of him accompanied him to the battle of
Hastings. The Barony passed afterwards to the Pagnels of
Hamby and Brickbeck, where Her Majesty astonished the
natives, as it is said, by telling them that she went to see it
because it had once belonged to her family.
114. Castle of Tregoz. — The Lord of Tregoz appears in
every list of the Conqueror's companions.
115. Torigny. — This castle was held by the famous
Hamo Dentatus. Robert Fitz Hammond comes of this
family.
116. Castle of Brebeuf. — This is not the name of a fief,
but simply of the locality.
117. Castle of Senility. — This was a favourite residence
of Richard Coeur de Lion, and other Anglo-Norman kings.
The name occurs in many of the Battle Abbey Rolls ; they
APPENDIX. 661
afterwards passed to the Math an family, whose descendants
are still to be found at Neufchatel.
118. Castle of Air el. — Its owners are not known.
119. Saint Lo. — This castle is a Municipal castle ; it
was a castle out of which the town arose. It was raised by
Charlemagne as a defence against the Danes. It became
the possession of Geoffrey Plantagenet ; after this we find no
marked connexion with English history.
120. Chateau de bon Fosse. — This appears to have been
held by Geoffrey de Mowbray ; it has no other connexion
with English history.
121. Chateau de Soide. — Under Henry II. it was held
by Guillaume de Soule ; a family of Soule subsists in Eng-
land under the name of Sole. — (Soulis also ?)
122. Chateau de Canisy. — Hubert de Canisy came with
the Conqueror. It was held by the family of Carbonnel,
subsisting both in Normandy and in England.
123. Chateau de Marigny. — It appears that the castle
of Marigny was held by the family of Say, and it is
thought that the Lord of Say was summoned under this
or some other name to Parliament. Picot de Say is considered
as the founder of the English branch ; he was a baron in
England during the Conqueror's reign, though he is not
noticed as having come over with him.
124. Castle of Eyglandes. — This castle was part of the
dowry of the baby Adela.
125. Castle of G-raignes. — The Mordracs seem to have
held this castle.
126. Castle of Hommet. — The family of Hommet,
amongst the most distinguished in Normandy, settled in
England. From them came the great family of Rivers.
The Hornmets were constables of Normandy.
127. Chateau de la Riviere. — The barons who succeeded
had no connexion with England.
662 APPENDIX.
128. Chateau de Carentan. — This was always a portion
of the ducal domains, and became of much importance in
the history of Normandy, though no known family settled
there.
129. Forteresse des Ponts d'Ouvres.
130. Chateau de Bohun. — Hence the great family of
the Bohuns.
131. CJiateau de Meautis. — The Meautis family settled
in England, and Sir Thomas Meautis is known as having
built the tomb of Lord Bacon. He himself is interred at
St. Albans.
END OF VOL. in.
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