Skip to main content

Full text of "The history of Normandy and of England"

See other formats 


:3 


€'%f 


THE 


HISTORY    OF    NORMANDY 


AND    OF 


ENGLAND, 


BT 


SIR   FRANCIS   PALGRAVE,   K.H. 

THE    DEPUTY    KEEPER    OF    HER   MAJESTY'S 
PUBLIC    RECORDS. 


VOLUME  III. 


RICHARD  SANS-PEUR— RICHARD  LE-BON— RICHARD  III. 
—ROBERT  LE-DIABLE— WILLIAM  THE  CONQUEROR. 


Narratione  autem  historica  (ait  Augustinus)  cum  prseterita  etiam  hominura 
instituta  narrantur,  non  intor  humaua  instituta  ipsa  historia  numeranda 
est;  quia  jam  quae  transierunt,  nee  infecta  fieri  possunt,  in  ordine  tem- 
porum  habenda  sunt,  quorum  est  conditor  et  administrator  Deus. 


LONDON : 
MACMILLAN'  &    Co., 

16,  BEDFORD  STREET,  COVENT  GAlDj;\.T£ 


^7 


SERVICES 


M.DCCC.LXIV. 


IThe  right  of  Translation  and  Reproduction  is  reserved.1 


LONDON : 
PRINTED   BY   GEORGE   PHIPPS,   ISSsH,   TOTHILL   STREET,   WESTMINSTER. 


TO   THE    RIGHT   HONOURABLE 


SIR    JOHN    ROMILLY,    KB. 


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  wish  to  revise 
the  whole,  incorporating  in  it  the  fruits  of  additional 
study  and  of  visits  to  the  scenes  of  the  principal  events 
described.  Death,  however,  in  July  1861,  stayed  his 
hand  when  this  revision  had  been  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 


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.  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. 
lY  was  printed,  but  not  finally  arranged,  by  July  1861. 
y  (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. 
YI  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  Heview,  of  Oc- 
tober 1844  (No.  148).  Chapter  YII  has  been,  there- 
fore, composed  partly  from  this  article,  in  part  from 
manuscript  sources. 

The  whole  reign  of  the  Conqueror  in  England,  Chap- 
ters YIII  to  XIY,  has  been  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  XY  is  a  selection 


from  tlie  materials  wMcli  tlie  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  XY,  Books  Second  and  Third,  with  the  *'  Sum- 
mary "  from  Chapter  TV  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  efiects  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- 

h 


▼I 

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  fimgar  inani 
Munere. 

I  remain 

yours  with  much  respect 

Francis  Turner  Palgravb 

5,  York  Gate,  London: 
9  May,  1864 


CONTENTS. 
BOOK  II. 

OAPETIAN  NORMANDY. 


Chapter  I. 

EOBEET,    KING    OF   FEANCE — LAST    TEAES    OF    EICHAED    SANS-PEUE 

ACCESSION    OF    EICHARD    LE-BON — OPENING    OF    HIS    EEIGN — EE- 
VOLT    OF    THE    PEASANTEY. 

987—996. 

A.D.  PAGB 

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 ......  16 

—  Apprehension    of  Richard  Sans-peur  as  to  the  suc- 

cession          16 

—  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 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  X»AGB 

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  Kichard  and  Guenora 18 

—  Archbishop   Robert  marries  and  becomes  Count  of 

Evreux 19 

—  Eichard  Saus-peur's  natural  gifts 19 

—  French  or  Romance  language  cultivated  in  Normandy  20 

—  Coin  struck  by  Richard  Sans-peur       ....  21 

—  Fecamp  built  by  him 21 

—  Gothic  architecture -22 

—  The  stone  chest  across  the  pathway        .        .        .    .  23 
996  Richard's  sickness  and  death 24 

—  Appointment  by  Richard  of  his  son  Richard  (le-Bon) 

to  be  his  successor :26 

—  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 56 

—  Richard  le-Bon  performs  homage  by  parage  to  the 

King  of  France -27 

—  Rise  of  the  Norman  nobility .28 

—  Apanages  of  Richard  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 

—  Robert  the  married  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  and  Count 

of  Evreux  29 

—  Archbishop  Robert's  sons 29 

—  Richard  the  Archbishop's  eldest  son,  Count  of  Evreux  29 

—  Ralph  Wace,  or  Gace,  the  Archbishop's  second  son, 

Tete-d'etoupe,  or  Tete-d'tne 29 

—  Guillaume,  the  Archbishop's  third  son,  the  companion 

of  Robert  Guiscard 29 

—  Herfastus,  Richard's  uncle,  and  Guenora's  brother, 

ancestor  of  the  FitzOsborne  family    ....  30 

—  Adelina,   one    of   Richard  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 

Richard  le-Bon 31 


CONTENTS.  IX 

A.D.  PAGE 

996    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 46 

—  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 60 

Chapter  II. 

ROBEET,    KING    OF   FEANCE,    AND    EICHAED    LE-BON. 

996—1024. 

CLOSE  ALLLA.NCE  BETWEEN  NOEMANDY  AND  FEANCE- — EOYAL  AND 
DUCAL  MAEEIAGES — WAES  AGAINST  FLANDEES>  BLOIS,  CHAETEES, 
CHAMPAGNE,    AND    BUEGUNDY, 

1002  Entente    cordiale,  between  King   Robert  and  Duke 

Richard 51 


X  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  PAGB 

]002  Hugh  Capet's  anxiety  to  associate  his  son  Bobert  with 

him  in  the  royal  dignity 61 

—  Robert's  education        . 62 

—  Conjoined  with  his  father  in  the  royal  authority     .     .  62 

—  Endurance  of  the  male  progeny  in  the  Capetian  line .  62 

—  Hugh  le-Grand's  policy  grounded  upon  feudality        .  63 

—  Tranquillity  of  the  realm  under  the  first  Capet      .     .  63 

—  Fortifications  raised  by  him  throughout  the  realm      .  64 

—  Eight  of  advowson 64 

—  Cast  of  French  historical  characters      ....  65 

—  Hugh  Capet's  dealings  as  patron         ....  66 

—  Foundation  of  Abbeville          ......  66 

—  Tranquil  accession  of  Robert      .....  67 

—  His  character  as  a  poet 67 

—  Robert's  humouristic  simplicity 67 

—  He  quizzes  the  pope  (Bishop  of  Rome)    .        ...  68 

—  Robert's  trust  in  Normandy 68 

—  Uncertainty  of  the  extent  of  the  obligations  resulting 

from  the  Carlovingian  homages         ....  69 

—  Norman  Dukes  hold  en  parage 69 

—  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 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 

—  Burohard  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  Bennes,  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 88 

—  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  86 

—  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  Richard         .     .  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. 

RICHAED     LE-BON   AND    HIS    SUCCESSOBS,    EICHARD    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  Clave,  King  of  Norway          .        .    .  126 

—  Tooley  Street 126 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 

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 

—  Burgundy — Eenaud,  son  of  Otho  William,  marries  a 

Norman  Adeliza 130 

—  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  and  Count  of   Chalons     .  130 

—  Renaud  captured  by  him 131 

—  Richard,  the  son  of  Richard  le-Bon,  his  good  qualities  131 

—  Invasion  of   Burgundy  by  the  Norman  and  French 

forces 131 

—  LaMirmande 132 

—  Count  Bishop  of  Chalons,  bridled  and  saddled       .     .  133 

1026  Richard  le-Bon  appoints  his  son,  Richard  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 

—  Richard  and  Robert,  no  information  concerning  them, 

till  the  Burgundian  campaign       ....  136 

—  Their  quarrels 136 

—  Richard  HI.  performs  homage  to  King  Robert  .        .  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 

—  Robert  rebels  against  his  brother 140 

—  Richard  besieges  Falaise 140 

—  Pacification  between  the  brothers 141 

1027  Sudden  death  of  Richard  attributed  to  poison    .        .  141 

—  Accession  of  Robert 141 

—  Illegitimate  children  of"  Richard  ni.          ...  141 
988— -1036  Baudouin  k-la-belle-barbe 142 

c 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  PAQE 

—  Robert's  soubriquets 142 

—  His  liberality 148 

—  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 161 

—  William  always  a  bastard 162 

—  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 164 

—  Robert  attacks  Talvas,  who  is  beat,  and  compelled  to 

bear  the  saddle 156 

—  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 .        .    .  166 

—  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  Eevolt  of  the  Armorican  peasantry         .        .        .     .  168 

—  Dissensions  between  Count  Alain,  and  Alain  Caignard, 

Count  of  Kennes 169 

—  Alain's  courtship  of  Eudes  le-Champenois'  daughter  .  169 

—  The  Armoricans  despised  by  the  Frankish  race  .        .  170 

—  Peace  between  the  two  Alains 171 

—  AMn  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  de  Saint  Sauveur,  and  Alfred  the  Giant ;  their 

exploits 174 

—  The  Enghsh  Athelings,  Edward  and  Alfred,  placed 

under  Duke  Eobert'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 


ca 


XVI  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  IV. 


WILLIAM   THE   BASTARD,    FROM   HIS   ACCESSION   TO   THE 
BATTLE   OF  MORTEMER. 


1035—1054. 


A.r>.  PAGE 

1035  William's  reign  divided  into  three  acts       ...  101 

—  Alain  of  Brittany  appointed  guardian  by  Eobert  .     .  192 

—  Anarchy  on  news  of  Eobert's  death   ....  193 

—  Partly  caused  by  the  legal  interregnum         .        .    .      193-194 

—  Partly  by  the  lax  rule  of  Eobert        ....  195 

—  Indelible  stain  of  bastardy  on  William  .        .        .    .  195 

—  Claims  of  Guide,  Count  of  Burgundy,  to  the  duchy   .  196 

—  Eegency  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 

—  Eoger  de  Toeni .        .  203 

—  William's  character 204 

—  Chronological  perplexities  of  the  period   .        .        .  206 

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 

—  Guide  of  Burgundy  asserts  his  claim          .        .        .  210 
1047  Eebellious  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  .        .  216 

—  Battle  of  Val  des  Dunes — conduct  of  Tesson       .    .  215 

—  William  completely  victorious    .        .        .        .        .  217 


CONTENTS.  XVU 

A.D.  PAGE 

—  Fate  of  Grimwald  and  Guido 218 

—  Anjou:  governed  by  Geoffrey  Martel          .        .        ,  218 
1048  He  takes  Alenpon,  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  Eiqnier    .        .        .  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 246 

1058  William  defeats  Henry  and  the  French  at  the  Gu^ 

Berenger 246 

—  Henry  makes  peace 246 

1059  His  marriage :  crowns  his  son  Philip          .        .        .  246 


Chapter  V. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CONQUEST. 

1054—1066. 

William's  marriage 247 

Condition  of  Flanders 248 

Flemings  in  Scotland 261 


-iVlU  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  PAGE 

—  Activity  of  the  race 262 

—  Character  of  Matilda 263 

—  Her  children 264 

—  Lanfranc         .        .    -    .        .        .        .        .        .    *  266 

—  His  youth 266 

—  Settles  at  Avranches *    .  267 

—  And  Bee •      .        ,  268 

—  Herlouin  and  Lanfranc 5i69 

—  Cabals  against  Lanfranc 262 

—  Enmity  and  friendship  with  William      .        ...  264 

1061  Hostility  of  Gautier  and  other  barons  to  William      .  266 

—  Robert  de  Giroi 267 

—  Death  of  Geoffrey  Martel       .        .        .        .        .    .  5^8 

—  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  Kouen 276 

—  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  Harcfoot  and  Hardicanute      ....  280 
1042  The  Confessor :  Normans  in  England    .        ,        .    .  281 

—  Norman  law :  Romance  language       ....  283 
-/    1061  William  visits  England  .        .        .        .        .        .     .  284 

—  Divided  state  of  the  country     .        .        .        .        .  286 

1062  Domination  of  the  Godwin  family         ,         ...  287 
1067  Edmund  Ironside 288 

—  Displace  as  to  the  succession 289 

"<      —    Willia/m  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 296 

—  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 308 

—  William's  fleet 304 

—  Lands  at  Pevensey 306 

—  Harold  learns  the  news 307 

—  His  measures •  809 

—  The  two  camps 811 

—  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 828 


Chapter  VII. 

ENGLAND  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE  CONQUEST. 

Physical  aspect  of  England 825 

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 843 

Wessex 844 

Lincoln ,        .        .        .    .  346 

The  South  East 346 

Northumbria 847 

EastAnglia 849 


XX  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Scotland .  350 

Strath  Clyde 352 

Cumbria 354 

Malcolm  Oanmore 265 


[BOOK  III.] 

THE    CONQUEEOR. 


Chapter  YIII. 

THE   CONQUEROB,   FBOM   HASTINGS  TO   THE   CORONATION. 

1066. 

A.D. 

1066  Anarchy  after  Hastings 366 

—  Claimants  to  the  throne 367 

—  William's  operations 359 

—  In  Sussex 360 

—  And  Kent 361 

—  Canterbury  taken 363 

—  Kent  submits 364 

—  William  moves  on  London 366 

—  London  submits 367 

—  Reasons  for  Saxon  submission  .        .          ...  368 

—  Necessity  for  a  king 369 

—  Abeyance  of  law  during  vacancy        ....  372 

—  Position  of  an  English  king 373 

—  William  assumes  the  crown  legally     ....  374 

—  Promises  to  maintain  the  law 376 

—  His  coronation 378 

—  Receives  SaxoH  homages 381 

—  His  engagements  to  his  army 382 

—  Limits  to  his  recognition 383 

—  Policy  of  Denmark 386 

—  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 

1066  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 

—  TheKoU 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 


XXU  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  X. 

William's  policy — revolt  of  edwin  and  moroar — first  North- 
umbrian CAMPAIGN DEATH  OF   ROBERT   COMYN EDGAR  ATHEL- 

ING's    flight    TO     SCOTLAND MALCOLM's    MARRIAGE    WITH     MAR- 
GARET    DANISH     INVASION  —  THE     ATHELING     RECOGNIZED     AS 

KING     OF     NORTBUMBRIA WILLIAM's      SECOND      NORTHUMBRIAN 

CAMPAIGN FINAL     REDUCTION     OF      THE      NORTH REVOLT     OF 

HEREWARD    AND      EDWIN FURTHER     CONFISCATIONS CHURCH 

MATTERS. 

1068—1072. 

A.D.  PAGE 

1068  Godwin  invades  England 432 

—  William  in  Wessex 433 

—  Quarrels  with  Edwin 434 

1069  The  North  revolts 436 

—  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 446 

—  William  leads  a  new  campaign 446 

—  Wessex  pacified 447 

—  Difiaculties  in  the  North 448 

—  Comyn  killed '.  449 

—  William  regains  York .  460 

—  Danish  fleet  sails 461 

—  The  Danes  reach  York 462 

—  The  castle  holds  out 463 

—  But  is  taken 464 

—  William  now  goes  to  the  North 466 

—  His  stern  policy 467 

—  Holds  his  court  at  York          .        .        .        ...  468 

—  Grants  land  to  his  followers 469 

1070  The  Danes  about  Ely 461 


CONTENTS.  XXIU 

A.D.  PAGE 

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 476 

—  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 486 


Chapteb  XI. 

AFFAIES   OF     FLANDERS WILLIAM     SUBDUES     MAINE — DISTUEBANCE3 

IN     ENGLAND  —  EALPH     GUADEE's     OONSPIRACY EXECUTION     OF 

WALTHEOF. 

1073—1075. 

1061  Flanders 487 

—  Baldwin  and  his  family 489 

1070  Friezeland 490 

—  Kichilda  .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .    .  492 

1071  Battle  of  Cassel  . 493 

—  Robert  the  Frizon 494 

1069  Le  Mans  revolts  against  William       ....  496 

—  The  country  offered  to  Albert  Azzo        .        .        .    .  497 

—  Further  changes  in  Le  Mans 499 

—  SuUey;  Geoffrey;  Qersenda   .        .        .        .        .    .  600 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

A.D.  PAGE 

1073  William  returns  to  Normandy 602 

—  Takes  Le  Mans 503 

—  William's  sons 504 

~     Memorial  monasteries  built  at  Caen       .        .        .    .  606 

—  New  dissatisfactions  in  England          ....  507 

—  The  Bretons  are  discontented 508 

1075  A  cabal  formed  :  Waltheof 609 

—  Waltheof  implicated  in  the  plot 511 

—  The  Normans  and  English  unite 612 

—  And  the  rebellion  is  put  down 514 

—  William's  vengeance    . 516 

—  Waltheof  tried .  617 

—  And  executed      .        ,        .^ 619 

—  And  venerated 620 


Chapter  XII. 


william   eeturns  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 525 

—  Marries  his  daughter  to  Fergant 626 

1081  Adela  marries  Stephen 627 

1073  William  and  Kobert 628 

—  Kobert's  party :  Belesmes   .        .        .        .        .        .  630 

1076  William  invades  Perche 631 

—  Quarrel  of  the  sons 632 

—  Eobert  goes  into  opposition 633 

—  And  leaves  his  father  ......  636 

—  His  wanderings       . 637 

1078  William  and  he  in  combat  at  Gerberoi        .       .        .  639 

1079  Troubles  in  Northumbria 640 

—  Liulph;  Walchere;  Leobwine 641 

—  Liulph  murdered     . 642 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

A.D.  PAGE 

1080  Walchere  and  Leobwine  also 646 

—  Odo  pacifies  the  rebellion 546 

—  Malcolm  plunders  the  North 647 

—  Robert  retaliates 648 

—  William  de  S.  Carileph         ......  649 

—  See  of  Durham  established     .        .        .        .        .    .  550 

1081  Northumbria  and  Wales 661 

—  Odo  is  led  away  by  ambition 653 

—  Aims  at  the  Roman  See 654 

1082  William  jealous 655 

—  Odo  tried  and  imprisoned 556 

1083  Matilda  dies 557 


Chapter  XIII. 

REVOLT  IN  MAINE — STATE  OF  DENMARK DEATH  OF  CANUTE — CON- 
SEQUENCES OP  THE  THREATENED  DANISH  INVASION  IN  ENGLAND 
—  FORMATION  OF  THE  DOMESDAY  SURVEY — GENERAL  IMPOSITION 
OF   THE   OATH   OF   FEALTY. 

1083—1086. 

1084  Afi'airs  of  Maine 668 

—  William  unsuccessful 661 

—  State  of  Denmark        ....'...  662 

—  Canute 663 

—  Collects  a  great  fleet   .        .        .        .        .        .        .  665 

1085  William's  preparations 666 

1086  But  the  expedition  comes  to  nothing          .        .        .  667 

—  Internal  position  of  Denmark 668 

—  Olave 669 

—  Osbern ;  Canute  slain 571 

—  Conclusion  of  Danish  attacks  on  England          .        .  672 

—  Administration  of  England 673 

—  Domesday  survey 574 

—  The  book  framed 676 

—  William  imposes  fealty  on  the  landholders         .        .•  677 


XXVi  CONTENTS. 


Chapter  XTV. 

William's  expedition  'against  brittant — the   siege  of  dql — 

DISPUTE     WITH     FEANCE     ABOUT     THE     BEAUCASSIN  SIEGE     OF 

MANTES ILLNESS    AND    DEATH    OF     THE     CONQUEROR. 

1086—1087. 

A.D.  '  PA«= 

1086  Affairs  of  Brittany o79 

—  William's  unsuccessful  invasion 680 

—  Quarrel  with  the  Manceaux fi81 

1087  William  fires  Mantes 682 

—  Is  thrown :  carried  to  Kouen 683 

—  His  dying  dispositions 686 

—  And  death '.  688 

—  The  burial  of  the  Conqueror 689 

Chapter  XV.         ^iMjuA^^^    .  . 
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  I    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.  XXVll 

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 

Eegent  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 

Komance  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 

Bemigius 646 


APPENDIX. 

The  Baronial  Castles  of  the  Cotentin,  Avranchin,  and 

Beffsin 649 


BOOK  11. 


CAPETIAN    NOEMANDY. 


Chapter  I. 

ROBERT     KING     OF    FRANCE LAST     YEARS    OF    RICHARD     SANS- 

PEUR ACCESSION    OF    RICHARD    LE-BON — OPENING    OF    HIS 

REIGN — REVOLT    OF    THE    PEASANTRY. 


987-^996. 
996—1003. 

§  1.    Ere  we  again  approach  Eichard  Sans- .  987-996  ^ 
peur's  graye^  let  us  recapitulate  the  domestic  p^^.^.^^  ^^ 
events  and  internal  affairs  occurring  during  his  sin^pelu-, 
last  years,  but  whirled  away  from  our  pages  '=^;f^^^'Jj'f"|jg 
by  the  driving  storms  which  wrecked  the  Car-S°''°^^ 
lovingian  dynasty. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  first  Eichard' 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 

I'    VOL.    III.  B 


2  LAST  YEARS  OF  RICHARD  SANS-PEUR. 

987-996   having  adopted  the  comparatively  modern  con- 
ventional fashion  of  denominating  him  by  the 
more  romantic  epithet. 
EkSd's  As  to  Richard's  relatives,  first  of  all  must 

Kband  ^"^  be   noticed   his   mother,    Espriota.     Since   she 

Sperling,  and 

^^f^ur''  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  Eaoul  Fitz-Sperling. 
Ivri, — Ivri  la-Bataille,  so  picturesquely  re- 
collected by  the  panache  blanc  waving  above  the 


RAOUL  OF  IVRI  AND  THE  BEAR.  d 

Royal  Hero's  helm,  adjoined  Sperling's  posses-  J!!;:fL 
sions.  The  forest  abounded  with  wild  animals, 
as  well  the  weak  and  harmless,  who  are  there-  of  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,  ^^^^^l^eaJi 
they  roused  an  enormous  bear.  Q  eologists  ^' ^°^^^''" 
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  EICHARD  SANS-PEUR. 

.  QQ7-996  locality  acquired,  commemorates  the  achieve- 
ment, even  unto  the  present  day. 

frant?ivrlto  Raoul's  prowcss  dclightcd  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. 

?blii?-Nor^       "^^^  ability  evinced  by  Raoul,  subsequently 

S-eserv'edby  to  Ms  clcvation,  was  such  as  to  testify  that  the 

his  exertionfl. 

wise  and  prudent  Sperling  had  duly  estimated 
his  own  parental  duty.  Raoul'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  Raoul,  raised  up  when  the  memory 
of  antient  times  was  fast  gliding  away,  deeply 
appreciated  the  dignity  of  national  history. 
Raoul  the    Raoul   bccamc   the    depository    of  the   family 

instrument  x  «/  •/ 

thi'antTen?^  tradltlous :  and,  at  this  critical  juncture  he  res- 
^^e^North-  cued  them  from  the  danger  of  falling  into  ob- 
livion. Raoul's  patronage  gave  to  Normandy 
her  first  historian.  It  was  Raoul  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. 


I 


RAOUL  OF  IVRI — HIS  TALENT  AND  CHARACTER.   0 

Their  old  language  was  yielding  to  the  speech  J!!^;!!! 
of  the  land,  for  the  parlance  Danoise  was  gene- 
rally,— even  in  the  Cotentin  and  the  Bessin, — 
becoming  silenced  by  the  polished  Eomance 
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  Raoul  acquired  ^^^3^  J?; 
and   deserved  his  brother's   confidence  ;    and,  Prime  Min. 

■^  ister. 

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  tie^^'fff ^f 
talent  suggested  the  construction  of  the  awful  cruelty. 
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  JfS!!^ 
lawfulness  of  descent,  often  cloud  the  mediaeval  ?onne3 

■'  with  the 

annals ;  and,  even  at  later  periods,  occasionally  i"^^*^^"- 
perplex  the  judgment  of  posterity.     In  some 
memorable  instances,  the  stain  on  the  Royal 


6  MEDIEVAL  MARRIAGES. 


987—996 


Standard  has  been  discharged  by  loyalty,  or  the 
bar-sinister  effaced  from  the  Eoyal  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  Oastilian  tyranny. 
Ju^ceSr^"  I^  Normandy  the  same  question  of  that  con- 
cSmShj  dition  which  we  may  term  spurious  legitimacy, 
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  Eaces,  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. 
^ong8?an-        §  '^-    Marrlagc  amongst  these  antient  nations 

tient  nations  Pii  j  i  i  •  ii  i 

a  matter  of   was,  for  thc  most  part,  perhaps  m  all,  a  cheap- 
^^-         ening,  a  purchase,  a  bargain  between  the  parties 


MEDIEVAL  MARRIAGES.  7 

or  their  friends.  Nor  should  we  deride  those  Jf;;:!!!, 
rough  Teutons,  for  entertaining  a  principle 
which  they  held  in  common  with  antient  Gtreece 
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  mar- 

o  o  riage  broker. 

Sensale  di  matrimonio^ — a  broker  on  the  Rial  to, 
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  tiS™?* 
the  Dooms  of  Ethelbert  declare, — the  bargain  ""^  "'^''''^^* 
must  stand,  if  it  be   without  guile.     Let   the 


8  ANTIENT  USAGES  AND  CIVILIZATION. 

i!!;;!!L  "  Capitale/'  the  Cattle  driven  in  by  the  Bride- 
groom— sheep,  cowSj  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  Yirgin 
was  equal  in  the  eye  of  the  Salic  law. 

cMiSiom  §  ^'  It  ^^s  heen  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  Jf^^f^ 
manners,  the  primitive  Missionaries  endeavoured 
to  preserve  all  practices  and  usages  wMcli  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^^f*Sby" 
Sacred  Writ.  Even  in  garb  or  food,  adherence  ®''"^^'''®* 
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,  Jer.xxxv.io. 
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  o/SBent*' 
travellers,  encountering  the  children  of  Jonadab  deTcrL'cf' 

^  ^  by  Loftus. 

the  son  of  Eechab, — as  faithful  now,  as  in  the  2S'S- 
days  of  the  Prophet, — bears  testimony  to  their '"''"'  ^' 
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 


II.  135. 


10  MEDIEVAL  MAKRIAGES. 

.  937-996  u  \]^Q  firg^  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. 

fo?mofwed^       §  5.     How  the  mediaeval  Missionaries  acted 

ding  retained        .  . 

chirch  of  "^^^^  respect  to  any  ethnic  custom,  innocent  and 
England.  ^^  gQod  Tcport,  is  stlU  evidenced  in  the  Church 
of  England.  When  the  Bridegroom  presents 
pr^?mo7^the  golden  ring, — which,  until  comparatively 
SSrvoi  i*^c^^t  times,  was  always  accompanied  by  the 
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  antient  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.  11 

Carlovingian  Capitularies  direct,  that  the  mar-  .  Q^-^^^ , 
riage  should  receive  the  Benedictio  Sacerdotis  ; 
but,  it  is  very  probable,  that,  in  many  cases,  the 
wedding  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.  Kichard  conducted  himself  kindly  and  IJnl^ptur 
respectfully  to  the  childless  and  solitary  Emma  ;  geny/'  ^'''' 
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,  Eichard  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. 

.  QQ^-QQ^ ,  the  free  spoken  merry  Trouveur ;  but  it  is 
more  seemly  that  they  should  be  elided  by  the 
he^pareAt-  historlaii.  Guenora's  father's  name  is  not  re- 
c?nne°x^ions.  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  Eichard's  Forester,  who 
dwelt  at  Secheyille  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  Gruenora,  not  less  attractive  than 
her  sister. 
SlnS?'  We  receive  the  narrative  of  Eichard's  amours 

courtship  with  Gruenora  from  two  informants.  The  one 
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  Gruenora 
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  heirless,  nor  die  so;  and  this  was  one  of 
the  rare  cases  when  a  state  marriage  can  be 
sweetened  by  affection.      The  Normans   were 


and  mar- 
riage. 


GUENORA  AND  HER  CHILDREN.  13 

proud  of  their  progenitors.  The  adoption  of  .  ^^~^^^ . 
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  J^^J^^i^ig 
the  Damsel,  as  a  measure  tending  to  popularity.  SSiawfui 

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  days  when  Britannia  ruled  the  waves. 
And,  if  at  Hanover,  the  "  Ohurfurst  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  Scw  °^ 
mother's  request,  his  father's  name.    This  Eich-  ^''^^'^* 
ard  is  known,  dynastically,  as  Richard  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  Eobert  thus   prematurely  cut   off,   another 

account  of  i  i/  7 

the  children.  j^Q^^gp^  ^^g  jj^  ^^q  ^j^q  uurscd  upou  Gucuora'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-eofifrey,  said  to  be 
the  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Glare,  falls  in  the 
same  category.  Mauger,  who  acquired  much  im- 
portance in  French  affairs,  was  assuredly  legiti- 
t^era'cfr^^"  Hiate.  Rlchard' s  daughtcrs  coutributcd  as  much 
Normandy.  ^^  ^hclr  brothcrs  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 
Guenora  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 


sons  for 

proper 

provisions. 


DISORDEES  OF  THE  NORMAN  CHURCH.  15 

always  comforts  to  their  parents  ;  Richard's  v_!!!:;f!! 
father  and  grandfather  had  each  in  their  turn 
much  cause  for  anxiety. — Troubled  was  Eollo 
when  he  resigned  his  authority  to  the  blooming 
son,  the  only  son,  Guillaume  Longue-epee. 
Sorrowfully,  and  with  many  cankering  cares,  did 
Gruillaume  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  ofgjj^^;^?/ 
Primogeniture,  though  admitted,  was  not  inde-  propS 
feasible,  even  in  the  Royal  Family.  A  bevy  of 
stout  and  growing  youths  might  contest  the  Coro- 
nal ;  and, like  the  Oarlovingian  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  8.  The  Norman  Church,  at  this  period,  pre-  No^SanSy 

•^  7  1  ;-  X  disorders 

sented  a  most  unedifying  aspect.  The  disturb-  ^'^^'^''^' 
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  ; 


Church  of 


16  DISOKDERS  OF  THE  NORMAN  CHURCH. 

Jf;;!!L  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. 
Hug?  A?cl.        ^1  observance  of  canonical  election  had  dis- 
RoueL''^     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  son 


LEGITIMACY  AND  ILLEGITIMACY.  17 

to  the  dignity.    He  possessed  as  mucli  authority   987-996 
as  any  King  of  France;   nay,  greater.     Time 

presents  his 

had  not  yet  matured  those  usages  and  practices,  JSe  A?ch'"° 
which,  enshrined  in  an  antient  Monarchy,  convert  ^''^'"P"^^- 
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 
s'uarded  the  Shrine  of  Saint  Remy.     Yet,  in  this  objections 

^  J  ;  taken  to  the 

case,  an  exception  was  taken  by  the  Clergy.   Not  Sn  S''^ 

account  of 

that  they  contested  the  Patron's  power,  nor  were  ws  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  ?Ji:f £«- 
inflicted   upon  the   innocent   offspring  by  the  ^LV^^^^^ 
erring  parents  who  gave   them  birth,   is   not  IcSng^to 
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.    III.  c 


18  LEGITIMACY  AND  ILLEGITIMACY. 

987-996  the  sturdy  resistance  of  the  Temporality  to  the 
dictation  of  the  Clergy,  an  era  in  our  Oonstitu- 
20  He?.^iL,  tional  history. — For  when  the  Archbishop  of 
andSroif  Cantcrbury^  and  his  Bishops  and  Suffragans,  and 
Menon*''^  the  Earls  and  Baronage  of  England,  were  as- 
change°the    scmbled  lu  the  famous  Parliament  of  Merton, 

laws  of  the  > 

Beaim.  ^ud  thc  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  leges  Anglice  mutare, 
quce  usitatce  sunt  et  approbatce.^^ 
Gutnofa^'^  But,  lu  Normaudy,  the  way  was  open  for 
SnoScaiiy,  rcmoviug  the  canonical  difficulties  in  this  par- 

•whereby 

dren  a?J^"  tlcukr  casc.  Richard  forthwith  assented  to  the 
legitimated,  g^ggggtion  madc  by  the  Priesthood.  A  mar- 
riage between  him  and  Gruenora  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 


RICHARD  SANS-PEUR'S  CHARACTER.  19 

garb.     Robert  did  not  make  even  any  pretence    937-996 
to  the  clerical  character.     He  married  a  wife, 
and  obtained  in  due  time  the  County  of  Evreux  : 
— and  from  him,  as  after  Aientioned,  came  the 
D evreux  family. 

S  10.     Great  were  Richard  Sans-peur's  na-  p^ard 

o  1  Sans-peur  s 

tural  gifts,  manifest  and  manifold  his  pleasant ''''*"'''^^'"'* 
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  Jongleur, 
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  KICHARD  SANS-PEUR'S  CHARACTER. 

.  QQ7-996  of  mankind  and  man.  The  saying  of  Charles-le- 
Quint  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. 
?uSJ)ro*f  Equally  was  the  second  Eichard  versed  in 
or  Romance  thc  vcncrablc  dialect  of  his  ancestors,  and  in 

language  in  ' 

Normandy.  ^^  Eomauc  spccch,  uow  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  d'oil,  eldest  amongst  the  Komane 
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. 
beTwShe  Very  powerfully  did  this  diffusion  of  the 
crpeTandof  Frcuch  ethos  co-operate  in  consolidating  Nor- 
mandy with  the  other  regions  of  Franco- 
G-allia.  The  new  dynasties  of  RoUo  and  of 
the  Beccajo  had  become  thoroughly  allied. 
The  grudges  of  the  Carlovingian  era  were  sent 


RICHARD  SANS-PEUR'S  LIBERALITY.  21 

to  sleep,  and  the  entente  cordiale  between  the    987-996 
two  Houses,  which  had  subsisted  since  the  day 
when  the  young  Eichard  ^^  commended"  himself 
to  Hugh  le-G-rand,  and  submitted  to  his  marriage 
with  Emma,  continued  undisturbed. 

Eichard  Sans-peur,  the  prosperous  Sovereign  s^ns-ptur 
of  a  prosperous  land,  was  the  first  among  the  SfSS* 

Dukes  who 

JNorman  JJukes  who  struck  money;  and  the  ^^|^, 
"  Sol  Eouennois,"  ranks  amongst  the  rarest  of 
the  tiny  treasures  coveted  by  the  French  Nu- 
mismatist. Eapidly  did  the  hammered  coin 
circulate. — No  rigid  Eaoul  Torta  stood  by  the 
Duke's  side  to  check  the  expenditure.  Each  of 
Eichard' s  Esquires  received,  day  by  day,  nine 
of  these  sweetly  ringing  pieces  of  silver. 

§  1 1.  Eichard  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,  Eichard' s  birthplace, 
became  peculiarly  the  object  of  his  care. 

It  chanced,  that  when  standing  on  the  lofty  SSSSV 
perron  of  the  tall  Ducal  Palace,  he  looked  down  saL-^ur. 
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  Gruillaume  Longue- 
epee  had  reared,  should  affront  the  lowly 
House  of  Prayer.     And  he  bethought  himself 


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 

oAleM^on.  talcut  aud  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  Grothic  hand 
— '^  miro  opere^quadrislapidihuSj  Gothica  maniC 
— the  "Goth"  being  unquestionably  a  Master 
mason  from  Lombardy  or  the  Exarchate. 

The  existing  Abbatial  Church  of  Fecamp, 
erected  subsequently  to  Eichard'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- 

ofth?nf^°'^  ture.     The  costly  new  Basilica  was  splendid ; 

bmiding.      g^(jQj.j^g(j   ]3y   lofty  towers,  beautifully  finished 


reno- 
vation of 


THE  CHEST  OF  STONE.  23 

without,  and  richly  ornamented  within.  But  the  937-996 
moral  re-edification  was  far  more  important  than  Moral 
the  material.  The  regular  Canons^  who  had  Fecamp" 
sadly  degenerated  into  sloth  and  sin,  were  ejected, 
— and  a  Colony  of  Benedictines  from  Clugny, 
under  the  guidance  of  Saint  Mayolus,  rendered 
the  renovated  Fecamp  pre-eminent  for  sanctity 
and  learning. 

There   was  one  object  however,  which  ex- "^^^  ^^'^^^  ^^ 

tf  '  stone  across 

cited  much  speculation.  It  was  a  large  block  ^^^i'''*^^^^- 
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  RICHARD  SANS-PEUR'S  LAST  ILLNESS. 

9S7-996         g  12.     Some  few  years  subsequent  to  this  re- 
ggg      foundation  of  Fecamp,  Richard's  health  declined. 

lastiSess.  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 

S^emoveV'  ^arly  youth. — Worse  and  worse  did  the  sinking 

(neTr  °'^''''  oM  mau  become.     More  pain,   more   debility  ; 

to  Fecamp,  ^^^(j  ]^q  rcqucstcd  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, 
Guillaume  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  987-995 
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. 
Raoul  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?" — "He^j^^pp^*^ 
who  bears  my  name,  let  him  be  your  Duke — namesfke, 

*^  *^  Richard  II., 

your  Ruler."  ws  successor. 

Another  question  ensued — and,  as  to  the 
brothers  ?  —  Richard  haying  fully  considered 
this  delicate  point  and  determined  how  he  could 
provide  for  them  without  dismembering  the 
Duchy,  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 


26  BUEIAL  PLACE  OF  RICHARD  SANS-PEUR. 

987-996   bed,  and   clothing  himself  in  sackcloth,  crept 

to  the  Church,  and  kneeling  before  the  Altar, 

SkS'order    placcd  hls  gifts  thereon  :  and  then  Count  Raoul 

for  his  inter- 

"^^"*-  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 
defiled  by  decay  and  foulness — a  law  dictated 
equally  by  good  sense  and  reverence — were  not 

Inter-mural  obsolctc.      Thc    awful    ccmeterv  of   '^  Arli  sul 

interment  •/ 

ini^lt^rij^  Rodano,''  the  Aliscamps,  that  solemn  field  of 
Church,  the  dead,  manifests  at  the  present  day,  though 
defaced  and  degraded,  how  strictly  the  prohibi- 
tion was  obeyed  in  Southern  G-aul.  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  Guillaume'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,   ooe-ioos 
Eichard's   last  instructions  were  that  the  chest 
should  contain  his  corpse^  lying  where  the  foot  mZTof^~ 
should  tread  and  the  dew  should  descend,  and  sans-peur. 
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 

of  Normandy 

ed  homage  by  "Parage,"  of  which  more  hereafter.  ^S^^^^^Ted 
— First  amongst  the  lay  Peers,  his  precedency  S oJ^^ 
was  never  contested,  and  he  welcomed  the  King  «'"'i^-^«"'" 
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  distingtions  : — 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. 
Normfn^^  Dupiug  thc  twcutj  jcars  that  Richard  le- 

Bon  ruled  Rollo'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  decrepit  Eng- 
land, destined  to  accomplish  the  renovation  of 
the  latter  community,  through  the  accession 
of  Richard's  conquering  grandson  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  throne. 

Apanages  of        Richard  fully  and  fairly  executed  or  con- 
Richard  "^  *^ 

cMidS''  formed  to  his  father's  testamentary  dispensations 
in  favour  of  his  brothers,  nay  encreased  their 
endowments  by  his  bounty.     We  find  them  all 

Sfof  Eu.  ill  liigli  estate.  Geoffrey  acquired  the  County 
of  Eu,  the  Marchland  between  Ponthieu  and 
the  Rouennois,  and  the  noble  Seigneurie  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  996-1003 
opulent  territory  of    Hiesmes;    that    lost,    he 
received    another    endowment    from    Richard's 
liberality. 

Robert,  the  clever  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  had  f ^^^^.^j^^p 
already  a  good  provision  :  He  espoused,  accord-  coJnrof  ^''*^ 

Evreux. 

ing  to  the  Danish  fashion, — for  assuredly  no 
priest  would  give  the  benediction, — a  damsel 
named  Herleva,  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-  g^f  *^° 
ard,  the  eldest,  became  Count  of  Evreux,  and  RobeX'vif.. 

1/^  /.n  Robert  Dev- 

was  enrolled  amongst  the  Conqueror's  followers  ;  Sorme. 
from   him    originated  the   baronial  branch   ofauSiaume. 
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  Connetable, 
and  became  the  ancestor  of  a  very  powerful 
and  truculent  family. 

The  third  son  of  the  Archbishop  was  Guil- 
laume,  the  companion  of  Robert  Gruiscard, — 
whose  veritable  portrait  should  display  him  as 
armed  with  bowie  knife  and  revolver  : — he  is 
prominent  amongst  the  Apulian  Baronage. 


30  RICHARD  SANS-PEUR'S  CHILDREN. 

996-1003  Gruenora'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. 

Adeiinaand         S  14.  Adcliua  aud  Gueva,  Richard  le-Bon' s 

Gueva  *^  ■' 

Guenora!  matcmal  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  Pont-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       Gucuora  shouM  be  pourtrayed  in  full  length 

XD.6  IftmillGS 

fro'mth?^  by  the  side  of  the  branching  stem,  whence 
nexibn?''"''' sprung  thc  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; 


BAKONIAL  FAMILIES.  31 

Uncles  genuine  and  uncles  a  la  mode  de  soe-ioos 
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  Baskervilles, 
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,  g^^^^nL?^ 
ori2:inated,  or  made   themselves,  or  put  them- IbunSTe  of 

^  information 

selves  in  evidence,  during  the  reign  of  Richard  JJ^^;'^^''^ 
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  pais  de 
connoissance,  constantly  at  home,  and  this 
knowledge  of  the  dramatis  personae  compensates 
in  a  very  considerable  degree  for  the  scantness 
of  information  concerning  the  early  Norman 
laws  and  institutions,  a  scantness  contrasting 
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  NORMAN  LAW. 

996-1003  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. 
£?orma?Sn  Qultc  othcrwlsc  lu  thc  antient  Terra  Norman- 
the7urispfu-  norum.     There  we  know  nothins;  concernins:  the 

dence  of  o  o 

NoJmandy.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  1^^^?  ^^^  Courts  of  justlcc,  or  the  mode 
S)^''^'^'  of  procedure, — save  an  Oriental  tradition — a 
Horror, — and  a  Hurrah. — The  three  legal  Le- 
gends concerning  Rollo,  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. 
^nSr*"^  The  Norman  antiquary  delves  for  the  re- 
reS?  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   Kouen,    whilst    the    English    Custos 


LOSS  OF  THE  ANTIENT  NORMAN  LAWS.  33 

stumbles  upon  the  earliest  muniments  of  tlie  .  QQ^-^QQ^^ 
Duchy,  in  the  days  of  Henry-Fitz-Empress  :  the 
dusty,  musty,  cobwebed  membranes — the  Rolls 
preserved  in  the  antient  English  Treasury  of  the 
Exchequer  at  Westminster,  though  recording  the 
Norman  revenue. 

Strange  and  singular  indeed  is  the  fact,  that,  informSon 

concerning 

save  and  except  some  very  trivial  breathings,  we  cSstims'o? 

1  1  1      1  i^  XT  •        •        Normandy 

scarcely  possess  any  knowledge  of  Norman  juris-  untu  after 
prudence,  until  Normandy  is  lost  to  the  Anglo-  JugSe.' 
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  NOKMAN  LAWS. 

996-1003  lost  national  legislation  in  tlie  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  Rollo  to  John 
Lackland,  is  an  unparalleled  historical  phe- 
nomenon. Yet  the  history  of  Normandy  offers 
thlXrman  >  Hviug  rcvclation  of  her  institutions  as  they 
dS™'     worked  in  real  Norman  times.  Textually,  the  laws 

reflected  in 

*5^t^°^^^^^°"  have   disappeared,  but  we  can  attain  to   their 

country,      ggj^eral  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  Ville  charter-chest 

is  empty,  but  the  traditions  of  the  Municipalities 

sufficiently  declare,  that  the  Roman  organization 

JeoisST"    ^^^   impressed    upon  these    communities,   and 

Normandy.   g|ji(jg(j  ^]^q[y  intcmal  govcmment. — The  existence 

of  the  opulence,  which,  displayed  by  the  Rouen 


BURGHERS. — CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE.         35 

Burghers,  tantalized  Louis  d'Outremer's  greedy  .^^^^^^. 
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  commercial 

prosperity  of 

in  Normandy.  Established  by  usage  and  utility,  '''""'"'^• 
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. 

d2 


36        CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. — PEASANTRY. 

996-1003         §  17.     No  direct  information  has  been  trans- 
mitted concerning  the  customs   regulating  the 

SSy.  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 
Eouen. 

Ri'chard^''  ""^  §  IS.  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  roi  galant  !  The 
darling  hero  of  France  won  his  subjects'  good- will 
quite  as  much  by  his  failings  as  by  his  bravery  ; 


NOBILITY  OF  BLOOD  AMONGST  THE  NORMANS.     37 

and  between  him^  and  the  Norman  Dukes  gene-  996-1003 
rally,  there  was  much  in  common.     In  one  re- 
spect, however,  Eichard  le-Bon  departed  widely 
from  the  doctrines  by  which  his  ancestors  had 
been  guided.     Hitherto,  whilst  the  principles  of  SSSy 
aristocracy  were  accepted  as  the  foundation  of  sarny_ 

•^  •«■  exclusive. 

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  ''hof-fcehig^' — thank 
you  Yienna,  thank  you  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. 

996-1003  g  19.  Richard  le-Bon,  however,  departing 
fromancestorial  precedents,  would  admit  none  but 
Ka'vour's  purc  Greutlemen  into  the  Court  circle. — No  office 
of  HeraidiJf  was  to  be  enjoyed  otherwise  than  by  a  Gentleman. 
— 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  his  blood  had  received  ^^^^-^^^^, 
through  his    plebeian    grandmother,  Marie   de 
Medicis,  and  her  mercantile  ancestry. 

The  Bourgeois  had  a  pride  of  his  own,  which  StoScai 

principle 

enabled  him  to  snub  the  Courtier's  morgue.  He  [^^Jj/^'^^^ea. 
clapped  his  hands  upon  his  well  filled  pouch,  pJasa^iu^y!^^ 
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  Normannorum  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, 

Amonsrst   the    infinite    varieties   of    word-  Forest- 

*->  application 

delusion,  rendering  speech  so  often  the  means  acco^rdsngTo 

n  n        •  •  t  1  1  •  mediaeval 

of  confusing  our  ideas,  perhaps  there  is  none  piiraseoiogy. 
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  NOKMAN  FORESTS. 

996-1003  and  heath,  excluded  from  the  speeding  of  the 
plough. 

ForSuaw*!  FoF  the  uiost  part,  the  Norman  Forests  were 
Ducal  domains.  Previously  to  the  Danish  set- 
tlement, the  forests  were  probably  communal 
lands ;  the  Eoman  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- 

J^jj^^t^jjf^^^of  vidual  property.     Rights  must  be  defined  by 

pJEpfe.^^  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.  owu.  Aud,  whcnevcr  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 


I 


COMMUNAL  INSURRECTION.  41 

property  had  recently  become  more  stringent,  996-1003 
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  Eollo  downwards,  to  the  reign  of 
Eichard  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  ^^Set °' 
corvees,  were  exacted  with  harshness  previously  s^JnI?y,und'er 

the  influence 

unknown,  and  the  yoke  became   more  galling  °^jJJ^^f^ 
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. 

S  21.   A  lingering  recollection  of  the  Eoman  orglnS 

communal 

administration  still  subsisted.  Under  the  Empire,  l^^^^i^^ 
the  Duumvirs  were  chosen  in  each  Pagus,  who,  ^'*'^''*'^' 
when  convened,  constituted  a  municipal  assem- 
bly.    Possibly,  the  institution  was  not  wholly 


42  COMMUNAL  mSUERECTION. 

996-1003  obsolete.  Such  elections  and  meetings  were 
now  secretly  revived  by  tlie  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. 
obSins"^^  Whether  through  incautious  boasting,  or  en- 

Soff^®  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  graant6 
E  sont  entreserement^ 
Ke  tuit  ensemble  se  tiendront 
E  ensemble  se  defendront. 
Esluz  ont  ne  sai  quels  ne  kanz 
Des  plus  habiles  e  mieux  parlanz, 
Ki  par  tut  li  paiz  iront 
E  li  sermenz  recevront. 

^  *  *  >i«  :{; 

Assez  tost  01  Kichard  dire, 
Ke  vilains  commune  feseient, 
E  ses  droitures  lui  toldreient, 
A  li  et  as  altres  Seigneurs 
Ki  vilains  ont  Yavasseurs. 


SUPPEESSION  OF  THE  INSURRECTION.  43 

A  revolution  now  commenced,  which,  consi-  996-1003 
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  g^  J^p^jj^'the 
strait,  Eichard  had  but  one  confidant  whom  he  iVT*  °^ 
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 
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  J^/?;J^?°Je"g*^ 
that,  supported  by  the  Ducal  cavalry,  the  expedi-  a^inTSr^ 
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-  Syin 
ging  the  Yillainage.  He  fell  upon  the  Commu-  thSTiion. 
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 


44  SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  INSURRECTION. 

996-1003  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  Eid^ennossenschaft,  club' 

mate  result  %j  o  7 

SbLTo'^rhr' 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-Grallia,  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         Thc  territorial  tenures  in  the  island  2:ems  of 

the  Channel  *-> 

tei^t.  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  custufnal  un- 
altered, were  as  free  as  any  yeoman  could  have 
been  in  the  brightest  ages  of  old  English  history. 

Position  of  §  22.    The  testamentary    directions    given 

by  Eichard  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 


brothers  and 
nephews. 


THE  DUCAL  FAMILY.  45 

local  historians.  In  some  cases  the  names  of  996-1003 
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  Snfof  eu 
a  child  of  Gruenora,  received  the   endowment  succeeded'by 

his  son 

of  Eu  and  Brionne,  during  his  father's  life- ^^i^^"^*- 
time.  He  died  early  in  the  reign  of  Eichard 
le-Bon,  leaving  Grilbert,  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.  Richard 
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  Ralph  slew  him.  Gilbert  left 
two  sons,  Richard  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  wimam 
is   termed,  like  his  future  name-sake,  by  the  RS^d  iS 
most  industrious  of  genealogists,  Pere  Anselme,  whom  h^ 

^  >~^  -^  7  receives  the 

Hiesmois. 


46  FALAISE. — TOWN  AND  CASTLE. 

996-1003  the  son  of  an  unknown  motlier,  received  from 
his  brother  Richard,  the  Hiesmois,  otherwise  the 
County  of  Exmes. 

Three  very  important  towns  were  included 
in  this  dotation.  Exmes,  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. 
antfqulty^and       Falalsc  boastcd  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  Cassar  of  the 
Caesars,  is  at  least  excusable.  Within  the  grass 
Faiaisl^the  g^^owu  mouuds  of  thc  Legions,  arises  the  famous 
Norman      Castlc,  thc  carlicst  specimen  in  Normandy  of 

feudality.  ^  ^  *^ 

the  huge  square  donjon  tower,  borrowed  from 
Maine,  but  which  has  become  the  very  type,  so 
to  speak,  of  Norman  feudality.  Various  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  996-1003 
warrior's  Norfolk  lordship  of  Caistor. 

The  country  about  Falaise  is  rich  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  and^^^^'^- 
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  Gruibray,  supposed  to  represent  the 
Virgin,  had,  in  the  Oarlovingian  age,  suggested 
the  establishment  in  that  faubourg,  on  the  festival 
of  the  Assumption,  of  an  annual  mercantile  Fair  :  The  fair  of 

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,  Gruibray  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. 

996-1003  these  vicinities,   continued    to    encourage    the 

mart,  and  Gruibray-Falaise  held  a  conspicuous 

station  in  the  map  of  commercial  France,  even 

till  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 

counfwii-         §  ^^'    ^^ether  confirmed  by  Richard  le-Bon, 

IgaTngthfa*"  or  grautcd  by  him,  such   an  apanage  as   the 

brother  the  n        n  •  /-n 

Duke.  Hiesmois  was  a  boon  well  deserving  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. 

Sne'di?"  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 
plished. — But  William's  streights  recommenced  ^^^.^^ 
with  his  liberation.    The  Ivri  hounds  were  always  hrbSer!"* 
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- JJ®  ^««"yes 

"  "  the  county 

pensation,   his    brother   Richard  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  S^coS^J''*' 
of  this  marriage  became  prominent  in  Anglo-  theirpStk.u 
Norman  history. — Amongst  them  we  find  Hugh,  SstTj? 
the  sagacious  Bishop  of  Lisieux ; — Robert,  who 

VOL.    III.  E 


50  WILLIAM  OF  EU. — HIS  REVOLT. 

996-1003  commenced  his  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    KING   OF    FRANCE    AND    RICHARD    LE-BON. 


996—1024. 


CLOSE  ALLIANCE  BETWEEN  NORMANDY  AND  FRANCE^ — ROYAL 
AND  DUCAL  MARRIAGES — WARS  AGAINST  FLANDERS,  BLOIS, 
CHARTEES,  CHAMPAGNE,  AND  BURGUNDY. 

§  1.     It  is   needful^  in   the  first   instance, 
to  exhibit  Eobert  of  France,  and  Eichard  the 
Norman,  in  the  respective  relations  of  Suzerain 
and  Yassal.     Yet,  not  merely  bound  by  formal  ^^^xau 
oaths  and  legal  covenants,  but  cordial  friends,  xtnTRobert 

.  p     .  ^Ji*!  Duke 

actuated  by  community  of  interest  and  sincere  Richard. 
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. 

Hugh  Capet's  anxiety  to  accelerate  Robert's  Hughca. 

.  •    1   •  1  P^*'^  anxiety 

Coronation   withm   the   year,  was    sagaciously  ^jj^^^^^'^^jfj^ 
motived,  being  evidently  dictated  by  the  con-  Ro'^ai'dig! 

nity. 

E    2 


52      CORDIALITY  BETWEEN  HUGH  CAPET  AND  ROBERT. 

996-1024  sciousness  that,  though  his  mental  powers  con- 
tinued undiminished,  his  bodily  strength  was 
waning  away. 

fdS'on  Very  carefully  had  Robert  been  trained;  Grer- 

worth^^^  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. 

Hiighie.  §  2.     Hugh   Capet's  policy  was    grounded 

Grand's  .  . 

g?Junded     ^poii  unity.     He  did  not  proclaim  any  plan  for 

Satioii.   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  996-1024^ 
Hugh  le-G-rand  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 
antient  constitutional  maxims  of  the  Realm, 
enabled  the  son  to  effectuate  the  father's  designs. 
The  tranquillity  of  Hugh  Capet's  reign  was  the  Jn'fXteiT. 
result  of  internal  activity.      The  bright  Lilies  Sugh''^ 

•^  ^  Capet's 

were  growing  in  the  darkness  of  the  night ; — the  '•^^s^- 
next  reign  exhibited  their  full  budding  beneath 
the  azure  sky. — Nulle  terre  sanz  Seigneur  be- 
came an  incontrovertible  legal  position.    .  Under  j;.f;;^f^^^°«- 
Hugh  Capet,  arose  the  Court  of  Peers,  before  SShM 
which  tribunal  any  offending  Peer  was  to  answer  ^^p^*- 
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. — Eest^  is  promised   to   Man  as  the 

highest  felicity. 

Ssed  bf'''''        Amongst  the  few  incidents  exhibiting  Hugh 

oit'thr''^^"  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. 
o^fghTof''"  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-  s96-io24 
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  "-Pretre  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  ingenue.''^ 

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. 

996-1024  may  be  painted  in  keeping  with  the  theatrical 
Hu?h  background.  A  very  curious  contradiction  to 
deTiings  as    this  ascribcd  fatuity  is  found  in  Hugh's  dealings 

Patron  with 

o?siin7'''*^  with  the  great  Monastery  of   Saint  Riquier,  a 
Riquier.      j^Qijgg  Qf  i^oyal  foundation  and  under  his  pecu- 
liar advowsonship. 

The  Ponthieu  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  Yaleri,  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. 
o/nJg?'*^  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  temporal  policy,  steadily 
'•^^^'^-  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. 


KOBERT  AND  HIS  POETRY.  57 

without   disturbance  or  opposition.     He   came  996-1024 
into  sole  possession  of  the  Kingdom  as  though  it 
were  a  private  estate.     So  tranquil,  indeed,  was 
Eobert's  accession,  that  the  event  was  scarcely 
noticed  by  the  Chroniclers. 

§  4.  Gerbert's  scholar  had  profited  tho- ^^j^^f^^^ ^ 
roughly  by  his  Preceptor's  lessons  ;  but  Robert  ^''^*' 
possessed  an  unteachable  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  Spiritus  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.     King  Robert's 

7  tJ  J.  cj  humounstic 

Robert  entered  the  Choir  of  Saint  Peter's  Basilica  ^^'"p"'^^*^- 
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. 

996-1024  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  Centurio.'' 

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- 

feufc     tains  of  France,   but  Robert's   principal   trust 
SaSs      was   placed  in  Normandy,  and  with  reason. — 

between  ^  *^  ^ 

fndSn^e.  Amougst  thc  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 


THE  PARAGE  TENURE.  59 

this  question — feudatory — but  how  far  could  996-1024 
France  command  his  aid?  From  the  pacifi- ^^^^^^^.^^^ 
cation  concluded  on  the  island  of  the  Epte,  until  gltiorrS" 

.  suiting  from 

the  expiration  of  the  Norman  Sovereignty,  we  are  t^e  ^^^rio. 
unable  to  define  satisfactorily  the  obligations  ^°°'^^''' 
subsisting,  or  which  ought  to  have  subsisted  be- 
tween the  Duke  and  the  anointed  King.  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  of&cial  docu- 
ment exists  which  can  lead  or  mislead  us. 
Earely  is  the  Ducal  tenure  noticed  by  the  antient 
French  historians.  When  the  question  is  perfunc-  ^^l^^^^l^,^ 
torily  brought  before  us  in  narrative,  the  Duke  is 
described  as  holding  e7i  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  le  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  pa- 
rage^ yet  not  with  sufiicient  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  PARAGE  TENURE. 

-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 
Jief  noble  became  partible  amongst  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  H.  CAPETIAN  PEERS.        61 

alone  grudges  and  enmities,  sometimes  dormant,  996-1024 
but   always   liable  to   be  roused — had  passed 
away.     The  vicarious  homage  rendered  by  Rollo  SiigSion 

of  Normandy 

to  Charles  le-Simple  on  the  island  of  the  Epte  was  *Jt?4^\p^^ 
recollected  only  as  a  merry  tale.     All  the  oaths  S  RTng'''*''' 

*^  Hugh.— 

taken,  all  the  declarations  of  fealty  made  by  ^^l^^f-  "• 
the  kneeling  Guillaume  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. 

Eichard   Sans-peur   had  been  the   Man   of»commen- 

dation"  to 

Hugh  le-Grand,  Duke  of  France  and  Burgundy;  g^f^Vandto 
and,  when  Hugh  le-Grand  departed,  Richard  be-  ^''^^' 
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  SouStmaa 

a  Peer  by 

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- 


G2       RICHARD  LE-BON'S  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  CAPETS. 

996-1024  mandy  and  France  was  stronger,  warmer, 
heartier,  than  any  connexion  arising  from  legal 
forms  or  state  reasons.  Eichard  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 
Eollo.  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. 
Richard's  Ncvcr  was  a  Norman  Duke  so  friendly  towards 

personal  *> 

t^X"'"""  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-TEICHEUR.  63 

unrebuked  by  conscience ; — and  a  mistake  whicli  996-1024 
the  wisest  might   commit,   marred  the  comfort 
of    his  life   and   damaged  his   authority   as   a 
King. 

§  7.     The  three  original  bad-neighbours  ofThe^^M.^^ 
Normandy  had  all  been  gathered  to  their  account.  NoTmandy. 

First,  as  to  Thibaut  le-Tricheur.     His  flight  ™^^\"^;«- 
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  Elides  or  Odo,  first  of  the  name,  but   second 

978-995    Count  of  Blois,  succeeded  to  his  father.      Our 

Brois'and     knowledg:e  concernino:  him  politically  and  per- 

Chartressuc  ®  O  r  J  f 

BiotsV&c.  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. 
SmSthe  Singularly  candid  in  owning  to  the  pride  of 

"Comes      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 
Eobert  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.  Eobert,  then  married  to  a  Princess 
Eosella,  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. 
Death7f  Eeturn  we  now  to  the  Comes  Ditissimus. — 


Comes  Di!    Much  wlU  always  want  more.     The  Ditissimus 

tissimus. 


MARRIAGE  OF  ROBERT  AND  BERTHA.  65 

engaged  in  war  with  Fulke  Nerra  the  Count  of  996-1024 
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-Oham-  e^u^|-1S^' 
penois,  who,   his   elder   brother   dying  without  coST''''' 

Champagne, 

issue,  succeeded  to  all  their  father's  dominions,  ^^°^''  ^^• 
(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-  Kin^l^Tbert 
simus,  she  did  not  mourn  lonsr  in  her  weeds, —  Be™  the 

'  ^  ^  widow   of 

say  a  quarter  of  a  year,— when  she  yielded  to  the  JJitiSu". 
wooing  of  her  late  husband's  friend.  King  Robert ; 
— 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 
Robert  and  Bertha  constitute  a  most  important 
passage  in  French  history. 

Marriage  between  first  cousins  is  discouraged  ^^if^f^^^ 
by  popular  feeling ; — the  Physiologist  may  per-  SarftoX" 

canons  of  the 

haps  speak  dubiously  as  to  the  expediency  ofciiurch. 
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 


66  ROBERT   AND    GREGORY  V, 

996-1024  Kobert   and   Bertha. — Dispensations   migM  be 

given,  but  they  were  very  rarely  granted. 
Gves^yY.  FoY  the  first  time  since  the  martyrdom  of 
Transalpine  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 
Capetians.    The  soundest  Divines  denounced  the 


manded  to 
separate. 


ROBERT   AND  BERTHA   EXCOMMUNICATED.         67 

marriage.     Moreover,  the  spiritual  affinity  be-  .^^^^"^. 
tween  Eobert  and  Bertha, — created,  as  it  was 
held,  by  their  having  joined  in  sponsorship, — ■ 
presented  an  obstacle  not  less  formidable  than 
the  natural  affinity.     A   Council  assembled   at  councfiTt 
Rome,  the  Emperor  beina:  present.    Terrible  was  byThe^pipe 

^  ^  ^  —Robert  and 

the  excommunication  fulminated  against  the  de-  ^^^ndeT""' 
linqtients.  Eobert  and  Bertha,  commanded  to 
separate,  were,  in  conformity  to  the  canons  of 
the  Church,  respectively  enjoined  to  perform 
penance  during  seven  years.  At  this  era,  the 
Pontiffs  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  Romane  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  afl&nity  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  Rome — 
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. 
Confusion  At  thc  samc  time  that  the  interdict  threw 

produced  by 

the  interdict,  j^lie  wholc  klugdom  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 

Eobert  was  forced  to  repudiate  Bertha.     They  996-1024 
were  childless,  for  agitation  of  mind  disappointed  Robert 

^  *=>  ^  ^  repudiates 

the  expectations  which  Bertha's   situation   had  ^^^*^' 
raised. 

§  9.  The  royal  issue  having  failed,  Robert  gonS'ct' 
was  compelled,  by  the  ordinary  reasons  of  State,  'tvlmy^^ 
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  (Toil.  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  Sllfenf 
amongst   our  neighbours,  thoroughly  did   Con- countobJi*'^ 

^  O  ?  G      J  lanced  by  her 

stance  deserve  the  epithet  of  a  '' Maltresse^''^^'^^^''^ 
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. 

096-1024  prices  and  artifices,  libelously  ascribed  by  the 
Satirists  of  olden  time  to  the  female  sex, — obsti- 
nate, intriguing,  peevish,  avaricious  and  imperious. 
RoberTto/         The  husband,  however,  bore  very  patiently 
Constance-  wlth  hls  Yixcu.     Thc  Queen's  moral  character 

His  hu-  ^ 

Ss^'pSsTtion.    was  irreproachable,  and  her  mental  endowments 
inspired  respect.     As  for  Robert,  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.     Robert's 
Muse  had  not  sung  for  her,  and  she  urged  the  Poet 
p/acusedby  to   cclcbrate   her  praise.     This  was  a  measure 
his  Queen!'''  whlch  Robcrt  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,  996-1024 
Countess  of  Auxerre,  and  Adela. 

§  10.  Eobert'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  Oarlovingian  line,  we  lose  the  fine  old  dili- 
gent monastic  Chroniclers  and  Chronographers. 
B^hooSf"^"^  Conscientious    labourers*   were     they,     bearing 
chroniclers,  ^j^j^^gg  g^g  ^  dvLij,  aud   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. 
richnesYof         The  Norman  Chroniclers,  possessing  a  pe- 

the  Norman  t         •    i  i  •  n 

Chroniclers,  culiar  aud  richer  character,  are  m  advance 
of  the  French.  Ordericus  Yitalis,  and  Gruil- 
laume  de  Jumieges,  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 


MELUN    AND    CORBEIL.  73 

had  not  to  go  far  to  find  it. — At  the  period  when  996-1024 
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 
Kobert  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  gSriT 
his  dominions  close  up  to  France.     The  Duchy  thleSr'' 

France. 

of  France,  on  the  French  frontier  towards 
Champagne,  was  nearly  conterminous  with  the 
"  gouvernement"  afterwards  emphatically  de- 
nominated "I'lsle  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  J^p^^f^^^^^^^ 
position,  whether  in  France  or  in  Great  San  ^"^  ^^ 
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  Caesar,  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         Avmon,  the  son  of  Osmond  de  Centvilles,  and 

of  Osmond  ./  7  ;" 

vuiSsThoids  who  had  rendered  good  service  to  Eichard  at  the 
pfaces  under  sic^e   of  Roueu,  held  both  Melun  and  Corbeil 

the  Crown,  ^  ^ 

wuh  ti?     under  the  Crown. — Antiquarian  whimsies  accept 
Romance,    thls  substautlal  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  thc  rclgu  of  Huffh  Capet,  much  distin- 

Anjou,  son  of  '-'  o  i        7 

Bon^^ms  guished  among  the  young  Nobles  of  the  Court, 
(ob.Toi2.)  was  young  Burchard,  the  son  of  Fulke  le-Bon, 
Count  of  Anjou,  rendered  so  memorable  by  his 
favourite  adage.  Rex  illiteratus  est  Asinus  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  BURCHARD  OF  ANJOU.  75 

§  12.     Early  in  Robert's  reign,  Aymon  de-  996-1024 
parted  in  pilgrimage  to  Eome,  but  ere  he  reached  Death  of 
Saint  Peter's  threshold,  he  died  in  consequence  BSard 

marries  his 

of  the  fatigue  attending  the  journey.     This  mis-  ^^'^*''^' 
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  coSr*^ 
the  Countess  Elizabeth  had  a  right  either  to  Chard! 
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  Baroniae  of  the  Senechalship 
of  France,  an  office  previously  held  by  Geoffrey 
Grisgonnelle. 
EuTs";^^  §  1^-  Grievous  to  Eudes  Count  of  Blois  and 
bjtrefche^ry.  Chartrcs,  of  Champaguc  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  996-1024 
time   he  was  willing  that  Eudes  should  be  al-  Roberts 

considerate 

lowed  to  support  his  claim  before  the  proper  ^on^^^uc^ 
tribunal.  Eudes  refused,  and  insolently. — He  Sent!''*^ 
never  would  give  up  so  long  as  he  lived.  Even 
had  the  enmity  between  Duke  Richard  and 
the  mal-veisin  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  give  them  employment.  Richard  Rjciiard  as. 
headed  the  enterprise.  It  was  not  the  Vassal  JivTriV^' 
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 


Melxin. 


78         BURCHARD  RECOVERS  MELUN. 

996-1024  by  avenging  justice  ;   Gautier's  treachery  was 

the  more  odious,  because  when  he  betrayed  the 

City  to  Eudes,  Burchard  was  on  duty  at  Paris 

Ser's!''''"   attending  the  King.     No  compassion   did   the 

Gautierand  j^^y^  ^^^  forswom  vassals  obtain.     The  hideous 

hanged. 

gallows  was  raised,  and,  when  day  was  dawning, 
the  quivering  corpses  of  Gautier  and  his  wife 
were  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  Melun  having  been 
thus  effected  by  Richard'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 ; 
cJun?'''      ^^^  Lyderic's  lineage  may  be  presented  to  us 

Forester  of  t  t  ,  i         i  ji  *  i 

Flanders,     uudcr    a   Hiorc    pleasant    aspect — he,   the   said 

Vol.  1.532.  ^  ^  ^ 

Baudouin,  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. — Baudouin  obtained 


BAUDOUIN-A-LA-BELLE-BAEBE.  79 

his  popular  epithet  from  the  beauty  and  ampli-  996-1024 
tude  of  his  chesnut-coloured  beard. 

A  good  and  kindly  prince  was  Baudouin,  but,  Baudoufn.^. 
inheriting  the  ambition  of  his  ancestors  ;  he  as-  iTai^be- 

Richard 

serted  claims  to  Yalenciennes  in  Hainault,  and  ?«^^f « .  ^ 

?  in  the  siege 

the  Emperor  applied  to  King  Eobert  for  aid.    Ro-  e^e?°"" 
bert  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  ? 

g  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  ; 
Armorican    wlillst  at  the  samc  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. 
992-1008         Since  the   death  of  Alain  Barbe  Torte,  six 

Geoffrey,  ' 

RennLf  and  Couuts  had  succccded,  either  nominally  or  really, 

first  Duke  of  ,   .  . 

Brittanj.  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,  profi'ered  pro- 
tection to  Geoffrey;  the  Danes  were  threat'ening; 
and  the  renewal  of  the  antient  connexion  with 
Normandy  afforded  the  best  expectation  for 
political  security, — which  soon  took  place  most 
cordially. 

The  NoTman  §  ^^-  ^^^  Austrla,  Normaudy  owed  much 
to  marriage,  and  there  was  a  plausible  foundation 


NOKMAN  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^^jf^"^"^"^  ^'^ 
complications  of  this  family  history.  There  are  daSgC^ 
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.    III.  G 


82  INTERMAERIAGES  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  bona  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  Gruillaume 
Dukf  ^'  Longue-epee. — Such  a  one  was  Godfrey,  the  son 
Britteify°^  of  Conan,  now  ruling  in  Armorica. — As  a  Preud 
mcha?d  Chevalier  does  the  Briezad  Chieftain  now  appear 
Bister''  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  Eichard  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  996-1024 
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-  Kief 
tany,  hitherto  rivals,  encreased.    Some  time  after  iueto%T 

^  Brittany, 

Hawisa's  marriage,  Richard  le-Bon  espoused  le'lBSJ.'^''*^ 
Judith  or  luetta,  Godfrey's  sister,  distinguished  by 
her  sagacity.  Yery  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  RoUo,  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 
Estritha,  the  daughter  of  Sueno,  the  Danish  king, 
of  whom  more  hereafter.  Estritha  received  the 
name  of  Margaret ;  but,  like  the  persecuted  Inge- 
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. 
S^Sy?^  §  18.  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  .  996-1024^ 
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 — 

"  H  hel paese  che  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. 

g  19.  The  several  matrimonial  alliances  al- 


86  EVANGELIZATION  OF  THE  DANES. 

996-1024^  ready  detailed  and  recorded,  tended  greatly  to 
enhance   the   splendour,   the  prestige,  and  the 
power  of  the  Norman  Duchy.     Yery  substantial 
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  Eichard  Sans-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. 
l?ruf?ton.        §  20.    At  this  period,  the  Danes  conjoined 
the'SSiifs-  the  energies  of  Heathendom  with  much  of  the 

Christianity  ^ 

by*  sSnt^"^  cultivation  accompanying  Christianity.  Nearly 
Auscar.  ^  Ccutury  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 


OTHO  IN  DENMARK.  87 

Thor  and  Odin ;  nay,  human  sacrifices  belonged  996-1024 
to  the  nation's  yesterday.     On  the  whole,  how-  936-986. 
ever,  the  people  at  large  were  more  ductile  than  R^ck. 
the  Rulers,  and,  for  a  while,  Harold  Blaatand  forties. 
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,  ^^I^X& 
Mehrer  des  Reiches,  "  Encreaser  of  the  Empire,"  Expedition 

against  the 

true  to  his  vocation,  laboured  to  render  free^*^^^- 
Denmark  a  Feud  of  Charlemagne's  crown:  he 
pursued  his  military  operations  strenuously,  even 
beyond  the  Danish  border ;  and  the  Ottensund,  be-  '^^emma. 
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 
Csesar. 

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  3^^972.^^ 
Blaatand  submitted  to  Baptism,  and  Otho  be- hf'g'ns*^? 


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  Sweyne,  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-gabel-bart^'  or 

TvelSffig."  Svend'Tveskioeg,  "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. 

Bittand**  These  two  Monarchs — son  and  sire — whose 

and  Sweyne 

^Irgy  and   strcnuousuess  first  imparted  consistency  to  the 
thrBritish   State  of  Denmark,  must  be  particularly  distin- 

islands.  ^  x  ./ 

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  Svend-Tveskiceg  cut  deeper  into  the 


PUBLIC  CONSCIENCE  AND  CHEISTIANITY.  89 

flesh  than  any  punishment  which  the  English  990-1024 
had  hitherto  sustained;    whilst  the  disgraceful 
burden  of  the  Danegelt  exacerbated  the  misery. 

More  qualified  than  ever  were  the  Danes  for  dvuSon 

amongst  the 

the  dire  task  of  destruction.  The  acceptance  of  Danes. 
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  g^enerally,  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  antiphonal  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. 

g  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 


THE  NORMAN  AND  THE  DANE.        91 

man  would  also  take  his  rest,  and  the  sun  set  on  996-1024 
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  Heekee  came  forth  as  a  suppliant, 
weeping,  and  bearing  the  corpse  of  his  wife, 
who  had  been  slain. 

g  23.     During  the  visitations  of  England  by  ^l^^l^^ 
the  dreadful  Danes,  what  had  her  people  to  hope  Srench 

as  the  Dnx 

or  fear  from  the  Norman  power  ?  When  the  old  ^iratamm. 
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 
Harold  Sithric  and  Thormod  to  his  aid.  Most  signally 
Sttiementin  did  he  shluc  as  Dux  Piratarum,  when  Harold 

the  Cotentin. 

S.)  "■'  ^*  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  Eichard's  Danish  kinsfolk,  any  feature  which 
might  alienate  the  cognate  Norman,  or  excite 
distrust  or  fear  in  his  mind. 

g  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, 


EICHARD  LE-BON  AND  THE  NORTHMEN.  93 

my  failings,  furnish  the  standards  by  which  I  995-1024 
judge  of  you. — ^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  Erniilphus  could  have  cogitated, 
are  honoured  by  Baxter  as  Saints  in  heaven. 

In  their  own  country,  the  Danes  were  a  rough  S'eXies." 
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  Danskerman's  charac- 
ter approximated  closely  to  the  Dutchman's  cool- 
ness in  the  proud  days  of  de  Kuyter  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 
nan  e  vero  e  hen  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. 

8  25.     All  the  feelings  of  Kichard  Sans-peur  The  Nor. 

o  ox  mans  a 

had  descended  to  Eichard  le-Bon.     He  had  pur-  TeS"'''' 
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. 

996-1024  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. 
Kdubfous  §  26.  If  the  conduct  pursued  by  Richard 
durinftiTe    could  euphemistically  be  denominated  neutrality, 

Danish  wars.  i  ./  ./  ? 

it  was  a  neutrality  scarcely  differing  from  hos- 
tility. Always  were  the  ports  of  ''Ricardes  Eice^^ 
— 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 


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,  Eeged,  and  fair 
Strath-Olyde.  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. 

5  27.    Much  as  we  may    regret  the  shock  cepartmen. 

o  t/  <-3  tal  division 

given  to  our  historical  reminiscences,  when  we  em-  SedSk 
ploy  a  modern  geographical  nomenclature  in  the  lution. 
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  antient  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. 

,  Q96-1024  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- 

JarteSentde^^^i^^  ou  thc  facc  of  thc  laud.     No  example  ex- 

cLpTse/of  emplifies  their  acuteness  more  pertinently  than 

theantient  ^  1  ./ 

A^J^Mn^  ^^^  appellation  bestowed  upon  the  antient  Co- 
ten  tin,  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-  996-1024 
sical  bulwark  of  Normandy,  but  the  very  kernel  ^^^^ 
of  Norman  nationality.     During  the  lower  Em-  saxoS- 

see  Rise  and 

pire,  the  Cotentin  was  known  as  the  "  Littus  Sax-  ^^'l^^'^f 
onicum/'  or  the  "  Otlingua  Saxonica;  "  either  for  SSS""' 
the  reason  that  some  tribes  of  the  Continental  359-384!) 
Saxons,— and  the  Saxones  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  difiicult  question, 
but  upon  which  it  is  not  needful  I  should  here 
enter,  having  elsewhere  discussed  the  same. 

8  28.     Furthermore,    over    and    above    the  ^atmai 

O  *  strength  of 

strength  of  the  Cotentin,  resulting  from  position,  ^^^cotentm. 
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-  ^°*^''"''- 
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         HAKBOUES  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. 
Se^^  §  29.  Only  two  harbours  or  waters  of  refuge 

the  port.      ^^^  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 ;   996-1024 
haunted  by  the  gloomy  celebrity  resulting  from     ^^^o- 
the  shipwreck   of  the   '^Blanche  nef,"  and  the of'^^Tmam 
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  Eoyal 
father  never  smiled  again. 

A    most    ample    compensation    however   isgaSr^La 
afforded  for  Barfleur's  disadvan tastes,  in  the  excel-  pensaSby 

^       ^  the  excel- 

lence of  the  harbour  and  the  magnificent  roadstead  cJerboLg. 

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  StmeTbl 
it  was  to  this  station  that  the  Romans  first 
directed  their  care.  "  Caesaris  Burgus"  has  con- 
tinuously attracted  the  attention  of  the  Rulers 
of  the  Gauls,  of  Normandv,  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 
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, 

h2 


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  Caesars  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. 
fhe^inhab?-  ^hc  luhabitauts  of  the  Cotentin  were  con- 
cotentfn!^^  generous  with  the  natural  citadel,  of  which,  so 
to  speak,  they  composed  the  garrison.  When 
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. 
Who  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 

Eollo's   followers  was   prosecuted   immediately 

after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  which  recog- 

osiac  settled  nizcd  Ms  domiuatiou.     Here  he  fixed  the  brave 

m  the 

Cotentin  ty  ^^^  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-  J/'lS^'^y 
ing  the  process  adopted  in  settling  the  primary  cSdV 
allotment  of  the  Neustrian  land  amongst  the 
Northmen  is  exceedingly  rare  ;  but  the  Seigneurs 
of  Saint  Sauveur  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  Ootentin,  descended  to  Richard's  son  Neel  or 
Nigel,  who  was  also  appointed  Yicomte  of  the  Oo- 
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  RoUo  and  his  feres,  the  Cotentin  bristled  with 
the  fortresses  which  the  Baronage  had  raised. 

casties?^''*^  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 

The  coten-        Each  of  thcsc  Castles  proclaims  the  lineao-e 

tm  the  pecu-  J-  o 

lirthTS  to  whom  the   stronghold  whilom   appertained. 

querors  of 

^Sf'and   ^0  Baronage  m  France  more  pure  m  race,  more 
England,     g^^^^jy^^  jj^qj,^  sturdy,  or  more  needy.     The  popu- 


ENGLISH  INVASION  OF  THE  COTENTIN.  103 

lation  was  teeming,  the  sterile  land  could  not  feed  999-1024 
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  Ootentin  Castles,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  served  in  the  Conqueror's  army, 
or  settled  in  the  Realm  they  won. 

3  31.     The  reception  mven  to  the  Danes  by  Etheired 

"  X  o  ,/    declares  war 

Richard  provoked  Etheired' s  anger,  and  justly  ;  E2(l'^^ 
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  Etheired' 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         Soou  as  thc  Euffllsh  fleet  hove  in  siffht,  Neel 

the  English  °  ^ 

cotentin.  ^^  Salut  Sauvcur,  true  to  his  trust,  defending 
his  Suzerain's  rights  and  his  own,  hoisted  the 
Yicontiel  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  Eouge- 
mare,  or  splashed  across  the  Dieppe  water,  or 
stumbled  with  uncertain  footing  amidst  the 
spongy  salt  marshes  of  Corbon.  The  like  did 
they  now. 

S?Engii8ii  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  despitefuUy  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. 

g  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- 

beTween      pctual  pcacc,  a  sorrowful  illusive  covenant,  is 

and  EnJiaM  stlpulatcd  :  —  aud,  as  the  best  means  of  ensuring 

concluded  by  ■•■  ' 

ventSnof    tMs  couditiou,  a  paragraph  is  inserted,  which, 
"  jS'xv."  could  the  clause  have  been  observed,  would  cer- 

— See  Art  ^ 

DaT^^'^^"'  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  "  8ervus 
servorum  Dei''  narrow  his  oecumenical  autho- 
rity by  writing  himself  "  Pope  of  Eome" — 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  Eeferendary  or  Chancellor  would 
acknowledge  the  form.  Were  an  English  Patent 
produced,  in  which  "  Henricus  filius  Johannis 
Eegis"  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-  999-1024 
action  of  any  country  until  far  later  times  — 
never  did  Louis -Quatorze  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  Dynasty. 

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  |*^J^"'i,^''the 
father  of  ten  children  :  six  sons,  the  eldest  the  S  xhoifd. 
heroic  Ironside,  who,  had  his  exertions  been  per- 
mitted to  prosper,  would  have  averted  the  ruin  of 
the  falling  kingdom ;  also,  four  daughters.     Yet  SSg'*;^^"/ °^ 
so  fragmentary  and  failing  are  the  sources  ofSSij^ 
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  S^i^^Se? 
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        Natloual   antipathv, — deficiency   or  loss  of 

information.  l  ./  7  J 

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  Guillaume  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.     Thef^^Jf^^^^ 
English  Monarch  passed  over  into  Normandy ;  li?pSlu''es^ 

his  suit  in 

urged  his  suit  in  person;  and  wooed  successfully.  p«"«°- 
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.  Yery  ample 
was  the  dowry  the  Lady  of  Normandy  re-dowS^ 
ceived  ;  but  testifying  rather  to  the  brideo-room's  upon  E^mma 

•^        "  ^  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 


110  EMMA'S  DOWRY. 

999-1024  the  ^^  Eote-land  "  or  "Redland/'  a  bailiwick  not 
yet  brought  into  Shire-land — for  the  forest  of 
Lufifield  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  last-mentioned  City, 
where  the  Oornubian  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-terminoy — 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. 
TheEngiisii  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-Simple,  and  the  mother  of 


Emma  the 
name  of 
Elfgiva. 


EMMA  RETURNS  TO  NORMANDY.       Ill 

Louis   d'Outremer  ; — that    wife    so   true,   that  999-1024 
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^^^Xof 


retribution. 


English  had  impressed  them  with  the  feeling 
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  Em^^s' 
rejoicing  and  triumph,  was  speedily  interrupted  s^e^tur^ns  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-  agalust  Burguudy,  constituting,  equally  in   its 
th^ulyi    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  Grranson,  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    constitu- 


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-Ohauve's  reign,   Burgundy  g^^^^Jj;^^^' 
had  been  divided  into  the  "Duchy  of  Burgundy"  a^nd'Trans'. 

jurane,  into 

and  the  "County  of  Burgundy,"  afterwards  empha-  *^^^^f^ 
tically  denominated  the  "Franche  Compte,"  such  cSSp?!. 
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,  su^gundTan^ 

jl  1  Til  1  n    1  !••  Historians, 

the  opulence,  and  the  numbers  of  her  religious  and  conse. 
institutions.  Her  ecclesiastical  annals  are  there-  he'/atTorj! 
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  wlieii  Hugh  Capet  acquired 
965-1002,  ^^^  throne,  the  Duchy  was  held  by  Henry,  his 
GrTndfir"st    brothcr,  distinguished  in  history  as   Henri   le- 

Duke  of 

fh'e'c'r aian  ^^^^^y  though,  accordiug  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. 
of^S^nge^       ^y  ^  strange  concurrence  of  circumstances, 
itSf,fsee    the  legitimate  representative   of  the  Lombard 
Slries^er-  Klugs  of  Italy  had  settled  in  Burgundy.     The 
cSons-    romantic  adventures  of  the  Prince  and  Pirate, 

Otho  Guil- 

laume  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  Guillaume. 

Adalbert  gathered  to  his  fathers,  Gerberga 


BURGUNDIAN  WARS.  115 

effected  the  conquest  of  worthy  old  Duke  Henry.  965-1024 
May  we  not   suppose   that   she   possessed  her^^^.^^^^^ 
namesake's  energetic  qualities  :  at  all  events  her  K  death, 

marries 

son    was  distmeruished   by  valour   and  talent ;  D^te  Henry, 

<D  t/  7  -who  adopts 

and,  such  was  the  influence  which  they  both  Guuiaume. 
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  Robert,  albeit  entranced  by  his  poetry,  The'grTat 

T.T  .  .  -,         .  -,  invasion  of 

diligent  m  works  of  charity  and  piety,  and  per-  Jj;|"^j^f- 
plexed  and  plagued  by  his  cross-grained  Beauty,  ren?ere?to 

Robert  by 

had  fully  prepared  for  the  contingency  of  his  dear  ^^^^^^^<^^«- 
Uncle's  death,  and  forthwith  applied  to  Richard 
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  Roger  de  Toesny.  Yery  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. 
Round  numbers  are  necessarily  incorrect : 
making,  however,  in  this  case,  the  fullest  allow- 
ance for  any  exaggeration,  far  did  the  force 
brought  up  by  Richard  exceed  any  contingent 

I  2 


116  BURGUNDIAN  WARS. 

999-1024  which  King  Robert  could  claim  as  a  right  from 
the  Duke  of  Normandy,  Rollo's  heir.  Eichard, 
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. 

Aux^Je^*'         Rapid  was  the  march  of  the  combined  armies. 

thr/renc^h  — Dukc  Hcury  had  scarcely  been  gathered  to  his 

Normans,  fathcrs,  whcu  thc  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 


BUEGUNDIAN  WARS.  117 

quivering  across  the  heavens,  rising  in  the  north  999-1024 
and  setting;  in  the  south.  A  portentous  mist  then  ,, 

^  -I  Atmospheric 

came   on,   shrouding  earth  and  sky.     Auxerre  ??mSr^l 

_  .  extraordi- 

was   involved    m    darkness.      The  Arbalisters  ^^^^y.  ?"^«"s 

— raising  of 

could  not  aim  their  bolts,— those  weapons  so*^^^'"^"' 
destructive  when  sighted  by  the  Norman  eye 
and  supported  by  the  Norman  arm, — whilst  all 
the  missiles  told  upon  the  besiegers.  King 
Eobert,  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,  f"^^J°?ytiie 
able  and  active,  had  won  the  people's  hearts,  and  fo^K*^'^''" 

■^         ^  ^  Guillaume. 

the  Burgundians  availed  themselves  of  the  natural 
defences  afforded  by  their  mountainous  regions. 
Only  one  single  Noble  adhered  to  King  Eobert, 
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-  fyfln. 
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  inhaMtants  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  Robert  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 
HeS;\Mtt  compromise  was  effected.  Henry,  second  Duke 
Robert  first  of  thc   uamc,   Kino;  Robert's   eldest  son,    was 

Duke  of  ?  to  ? 

orffRoyai  appolutcd  Dukc  of  this   much  contested  land. 

France.  Rut  thc  govemmeut  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-Yieux, 
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  Compte. 


BURGUNDIAN  WARS.  119 

His  son   Eenauld  succeeded  to  his  authority;  994-1024 
his  marriage  with  Alice,  otherwise  Judith,  the      995 
daughter  of  our  Duke  Eichard,  connected  him  SS^e^""^' 

succeeded, 

with  Normandy.     In  the  next   generation   wej^f^^^^'^, 
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-MAGNIFIQUE     OR     LE-DIABLE EARLY     INFANCY    OF   WIL- 
LIAM  THE    BASTARD. 


1024—1035. 


g  1.  EiCHARD,  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  Bctwecn  the  Pays  Chartrain  and  Normandy 

payTSar-^  thcrc  was  2i  dcbatablc  land,  a  territory  originally 

Normandy,  Includcd,  as  thc  oM  historiographers  maintain,  in 

occupied  by 

sins-peur.  ^hc  ccssiou  madc  to  Kollo;  but  lost  and  won. 
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  Drocensmm  constituted  a  portion 
of  Rollo'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-peur'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  Tiiulrel- 

Castle 

by  the   streamlet   Aure,  which   falls   into   the  ^f ^^^^f 

*!  7  there  by 

Eure.      The  acquisition   was   important.      TheBo?u?on^' 

.     .       .  ^-j,  -i  Roman 

country  was  open  to  mimical  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  Aldershot  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 
V  is  in  fact  the  original  ThuillerieSy  and,  building 
Vnaterials  being  close  at  hand,  Richard  le-Bon 
h^d  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-Ohampenois  had   been  thoroughly- 
baffled  by  Richard  at  Melun,  but  a  pacific  feeling 
arose,  or,  at  all  events,  both  parties  concurred 
w"ef     in  desiring  peace  ;  Eudes  sued  for,  and  obtained 
^^/^/^'l^''  the  hand  of  Maude  or  Matilda,  a  dausrhter  of 

and  Matilda  ^  o 

^^RiSS  Eichard   Sans-peur.     Her  brother  Richard  le- 

Bon  bestows  » n      i     t   '  i         •  i 

sEa'      -^^^  testified  his  approbation  by  granting  to  her 
Dr1?x  as  her  a  vcry  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. 
Deat^o^f  §  2.   All  promised  fair,  but  to  Maude  was  de- 

ouussuli  ■  nied  the  usual  fertility  of  Normandy's  daughters. 

Eudes  refuses  "^  ^  O 

TimS*^^'"  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- 


DISSENSIONS  ENCREASING.  123 

termined  to  keep  possession,  and  refused  to  1024-1035 
surrender  the  dowry  lauds.  Tillieres  was  in 
a  good  state  of  defence.  Very  probably  the 
anticipation  of  such  a  demur  had  previously  sug- 
gested to  Eichard  the  expediency  of  encreasing 
the  fortifications ;  anyhow,  he  profited  by  these 
precautions,  and  the  war  began. 

§  3.     Harrying     the    Ohartrain     territory,  4Sn^'' 

,  ,  Richard  le- 

Richard  victualled  the  Castle  at  the  expense  of  goS^jE^^^^g 
the  plundered  enemy,  and  he  forthwith  summoned 
his  baronage.      Distinguished  among  them  was  gj,f  ^jg^^Jj: 
Neel  de  Saint  Sauveur,  commanding  the  Cotentin  b^ge-at 

their  head 

warriors,  fretting  within  their  narrow  boundaries,  s^uie^^/^'"* 
the    men  of  Northern  descent,  amongst  whom  xSyfand 

Roger  his 

the  Danske  dialect  was  worn  out,  but  who  never-  «<'^- 
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  Ss  t?*^'"" 
Dreux. — Eudes  held  hard  and  fast :   and,  con-  tuSs- 

^  Waleran  of 

fident  in  his  strength,  he  resolved  to  retain  his  Hugrco!^t 

....  T  .-,  1  T       i  •  of  Maine  join 

acquisitions,  and  secure  them,  by  destroying  him. 
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.  Richard  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. 
fromtS^  Richard  did  not  wait  to  be  attacked.     The 

Richard      three  gonfanons  floating  in  the  air  distinguished 

heads  his 

S^ter^d  ^^^  three  squadrons  which  sallied  forth ;  whilst, 
hisTroops     pre-eminent  amidst  them,  was  the  Ducal  standard, 

put  to  flight.  ,   .  ,  1  -TA .    1 

markmg  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  done  after  the  defeat  of  Hermondeville.  1024-1035 
He  would  have  been  captured  had  he  not  been 
rescued  by  Waleran  de  Mellent'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  '^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  ^^^^7^^ ^j^^ 
spurs.  A  Shepherd  sheltered  him,  and  heSSne.''^ 
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. 
xwefthe  §  ^'     ^^^  ^^^  power  of  Chartres  was  not  af- 

Sde^'^he    fected  by  such  a  defeat,  the  discomfiture  was  a 

Kings  of  "^  ^ 

sweS/""^  graze,  not  a  wound.  Eichard  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^en  linden        §  ^'     Agaiu  thc  Northmcu  are  pursuing  their 

Brittany.  "^  dcvastatlous.  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 

T^«S"'iai«  on  land  or  water.     The  doleful  bridale  of  Dole 

01  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 
tunities. 

The  story  is  reported  to  us  amply  though  con-  Jlfe^^ft'^^- 
fusedly.  The  city  of  Dole  is  commanded  by  the  °°^^' 
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  Device^  ^ 
an  attack  upon  their  entrenchments,  to  be  made  Senf '''^*^' 
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  TREATY  OF  COUDRES. 

1024-1035  the  town ;  Solomon  was  slain,  the  country  plun- 

Danes  sail    ^cred,  and  the  Northmen  now  set  to  work  upon 

upTe  Seine.  ^^^  busluess  for  whlch  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 

Ei  chard. 

Alarm  TMs  trausactiou  was  simply  a  perseverance 

created  m  i     »/  i 

fheTappear- in   thc  poHcy  whlch  Eichard  had  notoriously 

ance.  — King 

Robert's      adoptcd  for  consolidating  his  alliance  with  the 

eagacity  and  ^  ^ 

firmness,  jv^orthmeu  ;  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  Eobert  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. 
The  St  of  Forthwith  he  assembled  his  Peers,  and  having 
peJctreT    advlscd  wlth  them,  he  summoned  the  two  warlike 

stored  by  the  .  -i       n  i  •  r^         i  •         ^ 

j^^/l^j^e^tion  litigants  to  appear  before  him,  at  Coudres  m  the 
Robert.  Evrecin.  Thanks  to  the  Eoman  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' argent,''  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  SstleTnd 
public  peace,  arbitrated  between  the  contending  ^^'''^^^' 
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,  Duke  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  So ve- 

The  great    1*^1^118  had  affordcd  the  most  exciting  motives, 

Burgundiau  ^^^  ^^jq  niost  amplc  field,  for  the  exertion  of  his 

prowess  :  and  now,  in  connection  with  Burgundy, 

Count  of     ^as  that  career  concluded.     Eenaud,  the  son  of 

Burgundy  " 

marrfes'the   Otho  William,  who  obtalucd  possession  of  the 

daughter  of 

SlBon.*^  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, 
Renaud,  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. 
?xomte^^  §  '^^     The  Bishopric  of  Chalons   continued 

Auxerre^and  to  bc  thc  scaudal  of  all  France.     Lambert,  the 

Count  of 

Chalons.  gQn  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  G-risgonnelle.  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  .^^^^y^^^l 
between  the  Count  Bishop  and  Count  Eenaud.  Renaud 

taken  pri- 

Defeated  and  captured  by  the  clerical  warrior,  '^J!^l^^^^^^ 
Renaud  was  treated  with  great  severity,  loaded  SeSeS' wuh 

much  seve- 

with  chains  and  cast  into  a  dungeon.  Duke"*^- 
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,  ^i'Xtici 
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  son,  (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  STp  T 
army  could  not  have  marched  through  France  unde?The 

•^  ^  command 

otherwise  than  with  the  Sovereign's  permission;  g^j,^;'^'''^'' 
a  circumstance  testifying  the  extent  of  the  royal 
prerogative,  as  well  as  King  Robert's  vigilance 

K  2 


132       CONCLUSION  OF  THE  BURGUNDIAN  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 
Hiesmois.  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 
Yalence,  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-  Mlrmaudc,  however,  was    certainly  in  Bur- 

eacre  at  Mir- 
mande.      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- 


Ludicrous 
humiliation 
of  the  Count 


1026 
Death  of 
Richard  le- 


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  Sishop 
his  neck,  and  hanging  down  his  back  ;  and,  as 
the  Trouveur  intimates,  he  offered  Eichard  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 
campaign.  Renaud,  being  delivered  from  cap- b 
tivity,  the  young  and  victorious  Richard  returned  ^'  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 
Exmois  ;    and  upon  the  express  trust  that  he 


134  EARLY  NORMAN  HISTORY. 

1024-1035  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 
Rouen. 

Richard  departed  quietly  ;  and  Fecamp 
Abbey  received  his  body.  But,  in  a  subsequent 
generation,  Henry  Beauclerc  caused  the  remains 
of  Richard  Sans-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. 
of*eari?N°or-  §  ^'  ^hc  carly  history  of  Normandy,  con- 
man  history.  g|-^^^^|j^g  ^jjg  perlod  autcrlor  to  the  Conqueror's 

reign, — Normandy  with  all  her  specialities,  Nor- 
mandy self  contained, — rests  mainly  upon  two 
authorities  ;     the   conscientious    and    laborious 
JuthSks.   Dean  of  Saint  Quentin,  and  the  much  perplexed 
and  perplexing  Guillaume  de  Jumieges^  whose 
abounding  information  must  be  accepted  as  a 
compensation  for  his  deficiency  in  historical  skill. 
veursfwace,        luiportant  adjuucts  to  these  memorials,  and 
de  sai^it'''    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. — Eecollections  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  memoires,  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 

"  ^  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  Olio  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 Richard  le-Bon,  we  scarcely  know  anything 

Scantiness  of  relatino-  to    his   SODS   Richard  the   Third  and 

our  informa-  *-' 

iig''Srd"  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  Richard 
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,  Richard  le-Bon*s  appoint- 
ment of  the  elder  brother  as  his  heir  was  accepted 
without  cavil  or  difficulty,  and  the  third  Richard, 
hailed  by  the  Baronage,  who  became  his  Men, 
was  inaugurated  at  Rouen,  and  we  may  view 
him  as  invested  with  the  Coronal  of  the  Duchy. 


MARRIAGE  OF  RICHARD  III.  137 

Thus,  having  received   the   submission  due  1024-1035 
from  his  own  vassals,  Richard  forthwith  fulfilled     ^^ge- 
the  oblio-ations  which  he  on  his  part  owed  to  his  performs 

*-•  homage  en 

Suzerain  for  the  Dukedom  ;  he  repaired  to  Paris  f'i7^*i>ert. 
and  performed  homage  '^en  parage^' — the  ac- 
knowledgment of   personal    superiority   to   the 
equal  in  degree. 

g  10.     Further  consequences  arose  from  this  f^'JuTesi"" 
State  visit.     Duke  Richard  became  affianced  to  FraLe?''  "^ 
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-  ^l^eTpTn 
ffinal  settlement  is  extant,  whereby  '^Richardus^oxSx^%oi 

^  7  ./  tj^g  Cotentin. 

Normannorum  Dux''  bestows  upon  ^' Domind 
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  Oglandes  also ;  Moion  or  Mo- 
hun ;  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  Eichard  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 
Ootentin  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. 

Rowtn! °^       So  far,  well.     But  the  clouds  gathered  simul- 

or  le-Diaue.  j^2,nQ0Vi^\j  wlth  thc  rlslug  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.     Hls  dissatlsfactiou,  not  entirely  causeless, 

character  of 

fhTSeton.'  ^^^  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  Ermenoidus 

■•■  ■>■  slam  in  the 

were  defeated ;  but  he  himself  succumbed  in  a  coSt. 
duel  with  a  Forester,  whom  he  had  accused. 
The  death  of  the  mischief-maker  did  not  allay 
the  bad  feeling.  Robert  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  Popujations,  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 ; 
Yingt  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  memoire. 


140  POPULATION. 

11024-1035:        g  11,     As  in   frozen   Iceland,  so   in   fertile 

Neustria,  the  land  everywhere  unable  to  house 

J^pSon    ^^^  children.     Normandy  was  overflowing  with 

SySTife    the  unemployed,    encreasing — according   to  the 

means  of 

subsistence,  formula  whlch  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 

An^io-saxon  provldc.     Thc  laud  cut  up  into  quillets ;    not  a 

Common- 

vofn'.p.     mete-home,  a  feeding  farm,  as  it  was  called  in 


CCVll. 


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  Eouennois, 
offering  their  aid;  and  Robert,  casting  off  his 
allegiance,  appeared  in  open  rebellion. 
Robert's  §  12.    No  lingering  on  Duke  Richard's  part. 

rebellion—  -i-»'    i  t    •  t    t-^ 

biS  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 


Falaise. 


RICHARD'S  DEATH. ROBERT'S  ACCESSION.       141 

ordnance   was   brought   to   bear  upon  the  out-  1024-1035 
works,  whilst  Robert's  soldiers  were  cleared  off 
from  the  walls  by  the  bolts  which  the  arbalests 
discharged. 

Richard  became  exasperated ;    Falaise,  more  pacmcation 

■"•  between  the 

and  more  straitened.     Robert  might  dread  to  be  a^JS  uJon^° 
dropped  into  the  dungeon  pit  if  the  Castle  were  o/tbe 
stormed.    He  was  advised  to  sue  for  peace.    The 
competitors  agreed  upon  a  partition.    The  Hies- 
mois  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  ^udle^n^ 
poison  had  been  in  the  cup.     Never  was  Robert  i£^£j^^ 
exonerated  from   the   imputation  of  fratricide ;  ^'^  p'"''''''- 
never  was  the  dark  stain  effaced  ;  never  was  the 
obscure  suspicion  dispelled. 

g  13.     Robert's  accession  did  not  experience  RXrlTi.^^ 
any  opposition,  but  the  event  is  related  without 
emphasis. — No  expression  of  sentiment  recorded. 
— No  prayer  or  benediction  in  the  Cathedral.    At  illegitimate 

*■         'J  children  of 

the  time  when  Richard's  marriage  contract  was  ex-  ^i^^'^''^"^- 
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. 

1024-1035  two  daughters.  Nothing  is  said  or  hinted  concern- 
ing their  mother  or  mothers,  yet  Eobert  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. 
B^S^uin^^  §  14:.  Baby  Adela,  the  poor  little  ducal 
bibttnd    widow,  obtained,  in  due  time,  a  suitor  without  any 

Baudouinde  7  v  7  j 

Lisle,  his  son.  coquctry.      Baudouin   a-la-belle-barbe,  Baldwin 
Adela        Bushy-beard,  sued   for  the  infant  daughter  of 

married  to 

deTS."  France  on  behalf  of  his  son  Baudouin,  (afterwards 
Count  of  Flanders,)  Baudouin  de  Lisle.  She  be- 
came the  mother  of  Matilda, — our  Matilda, — 
the  Conqueror's  Queen. 

Robert's  g  15.     Historians   and    archaeolodsts    have 

epithets  or  "  ° 

'M^'-Sie,"  l^^^^^"^^^  much  unprofitable  pains  upon  the 
nifiqie?^^"  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-Dlahle.  Other  archaeologists 
seem  to  enlist  our  Duke  in  the  meisne  or  train  of 
Hellekin,  or  Hurlekin,  the  Gallic  Wilde  jceger, 
or  Wild  huntsman.    Yet,  whatever  may  have  been 


ROBERT'S  LIBERALITY.  143 

Robert's  secret  crimes,  he  never  manifested  any  1024-1035 
open  tendency  to  outrage  or  cruelty.  Courteous, 
joyous,  debonnaire  and  benign,  was  tlie  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  Magniftco  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  mucli  settled  as  his  flighty  hilarious  character 
would   allow  him    to  be,   Falaise   became    his 

Falaise  -' 

Sffdence.  favourltc  residence.  Site,  air,  water,  hunting- 
grounds,  copses,  shaws,  all  pleased  him  ;  and 
the  various  anecdotes  concerning  Eobert'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  ''  Robcrtus  Bclliparius,"  as  Alberic  of  Trois- 

Fulbert,  the  ^  ^ 

luiimxiy^  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  "  Hole," 
where,  as  it  is  noted,  they  dwelt  in  the  Market 
Place,  near  the  old  Exchange. — '^  Manentes  ad 
veteras  cambias  in  foio  Hoienser  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,  ^^^ff;^ 
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  degraded 

*-'  ^  xaste. 

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 
Ehine  robber,  Schinderhans,  to  desperation. 
The  opinion  concerning  the  foulness  of  the 

VOL.    III.  L 


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  Eabbins,  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 
S^'??ade3  his  unpopularity.  In  England,  Tanners  were 
Ld  Brewer  proMbitcd  from  brewing,  as  though  the  junction 
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 


AELETTA.  147 

detail  these  amours  with  much   gusto.      Some  1024-1035 
say  Robert  became  acquainted  with  the  damsel  Arietta,  the 

*'  Tanner's 

at  a  dance :  others,  that  he  was  first  attracted  by  ^^^^"^^^^ 
seeing  her  delicate  little  feet  gleaming  through  2,ncubine. 
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  ofTspring.  Robert  bestowed  upon 
the  boy  the  ancestral  name  of  William,  and  he 
was  nursed  in  the  house  of  his  Grandfather,  the 
Tanner. 

§  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  afifront ;  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 


148  TALVAS. 

1024-1035  avenged  themselves  by  scorn  ;  the  like,  their 
Pu^ii^.  husbands,  who  would  be  equally  provoked  by 
bfSoL^t's^''  the  hybrid  Tanner's  good  fortune.     And  it  was 

connexion 

with  Arietta.  ^[i\^  i\^q  ^q^ly  dcHght  of  uiortifyiug  a  flourishing 
neighbour,  that  a  worthy  Burgess,  residing  near 
the  Tannery,  observing  Gruillaume,  old  Gruillaume 
Talvas,  (so  called,  as  it  is  said,  from  the  hardness 
of  his  disposition,  popularly  compared  to  the 
toughest  of  bucklers,)  —  Lord  of  Belesme  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. 

pr^emk^feu.        Thls  Talvas  was  very  distinguished  by  his 

dal  families  <  i  ±i  i     j-  o  r»     ji 

in  Nor-       ancestry ;  he,  the  representative  of  one  of  the 

mandj. — 

^2;534, 536.  thrcc  grcatcst  Duchy  families,  the  three  lead- 
ing lineages  of  the  land.  When  Richard  Sans- 
peur  established  feudality  in  his  dominions, 
Osmond  de  Oentvilles,  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  .^ff;;^ 
with  indignation,  gaze  upon  the  babe,  who,  as 
we  collect  from  the  lively  tale-teller,  Master  Wace, 
behaved  very  much  like  ordinary  babies. 

^'  Shame  ! — shame ! — shame  ! "  exclaimed  the  Taieva^z 

curses  tno 

Baron;  "for  by  thee    and   thine,  shall  I   and^^^^' 
mine  be  brought  to  loss  and  dishonour." 

Guilleaume  fu  varlet  petit 

A  Falaise  fu  nurri ; 

Le  viel  Guilleaume  Talevaz 

Ki  tint  Seez,  Belesme,  e  Vignaz 

Par  Falaise  un  jour  trespassout, 

Ne  sai  dire  quel  part  alout. 

Un  des  Burgeis  I'ad  apele 

En  riant  ad  lui  a  parl6. 

Sire,  dit  il,  ci  vous  tournez, 

En  cest  ostel  c6auns  entrez. 

Veez  le  fils  vostre  seigneur 

Si  semblera  bien  a  ennur ! 

Ou  est  ?  dist-il,  montrez  le  moi. 

Aporter  le  fist  devant  soi. 

Je  ne  sai  ke  I'enfanz  fist 

Ne  s'il  pleura,  ne  se  il  rist. 

Quant  Talevaz  Tout  esgard6 

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  abaiss6 

E  par  toi  e  par  ton  lignage 

Oront  mes  boirs  grant  damage 

Volentiers  empeirie  I'eust 

De  la  parole,  se  il  peust 

Talevaz  ainsi  s'en  touma 

De  grant  pose  mot  ne  sonna. 


public 


150  ARLETTA  ACKNOWLEDGED. 

1024-1035  The  imprecation  bespake  tlie  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. 

Svesmore  2  l^'     Furthcr   offcncc  was  speedily  given 

by  Duke  Eobert.  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  Dukes  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  EoUo  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  Kichard 
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  Magnifico  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, 
condonated  ;  and  the  Norman  people  hugged 
themselves  in  every  delusion  whereby  the  op- 
probium  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  antient  Danish  de- 
scent —  how  cordially  was  she  received.  Far 
otherwise  with  respect  to  Arietta;  her  eleva- 
tion was  intolerable.  From  first  to  last,  where- SS^  to 
ever  William  her  bastard  moved,  whether  in  Court  SinTf^^ 

his  mother's 

or  in  Camp,  he  was  always  more  or  less  in  bad  piebeianiem. 
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 


152  WILLIAM  THE  BASTAKD. 

1024-1035  they  subsequently  were^  by  the  snip  and  the  clip 
of  the  Tailor,  we  may  fancy  that,  upon  his  cotte 
d'armes,  the  abatement  of  bastardy,  the  bende 
sinister,  (which,  according  to  the  modern  indul- 
gent Code  of  the  Lord  Lion  beyond  the  Tweed, 
assumes  the  more  elegant  shape  of  an  orle  wavy,) 
whether  Or  or  Argent,  Azure  or  Gules,  would 
have  always  looked  like  a  strip  of  raw  leather. 
Thebastardy  William  thc  Couqucror,  the  founder  of  the 
jnqueror    ^^^^  Hoblc  Empire  lu  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  Guillaume  Longue-epee,  nay, 
of  RoUo,  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.  ?e?weef ' 
Amonerst  the  disappointed  kindred,  the  most  for-andhisuncie, 

°  ^  ^  ^  Archbishop 

midable  was  Eobert,  the  married  clerk,  Arch- ^ Jj,^^"^t  ^^^ 
bishop  of  Eouen,  and  Count  of  Evreux,  Duke  ^^^'^' 
Eobert'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  Kichard  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 
t^^Bishop^of  foi*  defence.  But  Duke  Robert,  according  to 
Ba/eux.  j^.^  accustomcd  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,  ^wre  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.    Hauo:hty  Taivas  sur. 

<-'       "^    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-  .^poSaL 
graphical,  political,  and  social,  enabled  him  to  ex-  Siagnrnqie? 
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.  E their ed'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. 

1024-1035  coast ;  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. 
SS>eii?.  §  23.     Flanders,  at  this  juncture,  afforded 

?efu^gVunder  to   Dukc   Robcrt   a  favourable  opportunity  of 

Robert's  ,  ■,..,.  rr\, 

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-larbelle-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 
re'Sitp-  RoUo's  banquet  hall  ?  Duke  Robert  willingly 
RobSt       afforded  his  aid  to    the  suppliant    Count ;    he 

pacifies  the  ^  ^ 

country.  brought  up  Ms  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  DeatS 
was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  a  sexagenarian.    His  -'"f  ^/J^ ' 
death  marked  a  great  crisis.     Two  generations  yeflSiV 
only  of  the  royal   Capetian  line  had  reigned.  France, 
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. 

io?4-io35  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  Constitutioual  principles   were    as    yet  un- 

descent  as  ^  ^  *' 

fntheTreS  maturcd  in  the  Capetian  Monarchy.     The  ex- 
onarc  7.    ^j^g-^^^   ^^  fcmalcs,    aud  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. 
Dufenlin?        Excrtlug,  thercforc,  his  prerogative  of  selec- 
ieaS^TtS  tion,  King  Eobert  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  comes  out  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  comparative  lucidity  of  the  Carlovingian 
era.  Hugh's  disposition  was  excellent ;  but  can- 
kered Constance  crossed  him  :  and,  provoked  by 
his  mother's  harshness,  he  revolted  against 
SeSgaJnst authority.  He  died  prematurely;  and  Henry, 
his^ Mother.''  hls  brothcr's  puisne,  was  by  the  father's  ap- 
pointment also  crowned  as  the  associate  King. 
But  Constance  hated  Henry,  and  laboured  inces- 
santly that  Eobert  of  Burgundy,  the  Cadet  next 


the  country 

craves 

Robert's 


HENRY  IN  TROUBLE.  159 

in  order,  should  be  preferred.  Henry  inherited  1024-1035 
his  amiable  father's  character,  Eobert  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   Eobert' s    demise,   the    Eealm  ^^026-1027. 
devolved  upon   Henry,  who  had  been  already  obtain  much 

success. 

installed.  Forthwith,  a  most  bitter  civil  war 
arose ;  and  a  powerful  faction  amongst  the  baron- 
age, including  Eudes  le-Ohampenois,  and  Fulk  of 
Anjou,  sided  with  the  Queen.  Thus  supported, 
the  Virago's  party  prospered.  The  principal  Henrycom- 
Places  in  the  very  heart  of  the  kingdom,  com- 
prising the  Duchy  of  France  Proper,  the  antient  ^^pp^'^' 
Capetian  patrimony — Senlis  and  Sens — Sens  then 
so  strong  in  her  Koman  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 
fiorida — Pdques  fleurie, —  SO  unfortunately  dis- 
guised amongst  us  by  its  Heathen  name,  he  pre- 
sented himself  as  a  suppliant  before  Duke  Eobert 
at  Fecamp  :  small  and  mean  was  his  Eoyal 
train — Dmydecim  clientuli — Twelve  Vavasours. 

Henri  fu  moult  epouvante 
Que  il  ne  fait  d^serite, 


160  TREASON. 

1024—1035  A  Kobert  vint  en  Normandie 

Un  jour  devant  Pasches  fleurie, 
O  douze  Serjants  seulement 
Vint  le  Koi  chetivement. 

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 
Eollo,  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. 
Duke  Robert       Dukc    Robcrt    enhaunced   his    own    conse- 

Bupports  the 

Seftuaiij.  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  Robert  support  King  Henry's 
rightful  cause  against  his  unnatural  mother, 
pouring  in  troops,  burning,  destroying,  no  mercy 
shewn,  no  quarter  granted  to  the  insurgents  ; 


traitor. 


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  S!l"^'  ^^"^ 
Champion  was  vituperated  as  an  infamous  thief. 
— Illefamosus  Latro,  Willielmus  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 
ma-ny  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 


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  MulieribuSy  would  not  the  devoted  Eannee 
of  Jansee  rank  with  Boadicea? 
J031-1033  Robert's  campaign  on  behalf  of  royalty  was 
SSuefhir"  judiciously  conducted :  he  placed  large  detach- 

exertions  on  ... 

H?nr7.''^  mcuts  lu  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-Champenois, 
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  dowager  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 


THE  VEXIN.  163 

of  the  Pagus  Veliocassinus,  the   Vexin  Frangais,  1024-1035 
constituting  a  species  of  abnormal  sovereignty     875 
under  the  Capets  and  their  predecessors ;   held  NiveiongThe 

-••  •••  '  first  known 

by  a  line  of  Counts  who  trace  their  descent  from  SSeof. 
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  ^rogfj^ 
le-Grand,  passed  into  another  line ;  we  know  ^nh^vS. 
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  Robert's  intimate, 
and  their  dispositions  harmonized. 

The  Counts  of  the  Vexin  held  a  unique  sta- 
tion between  the  Baronage  and  the  Hierarchy ; 
equally  Yassals  and  Patrons  of  Saint  Denis. 
The  Advowson  or  Advocatio  of  that  regal  Abbey 
belonged  to  them.  The  Count  of  the  Yexin 
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  VEXIN. 

1024-1035  with  the  glistening  Orfray,  became  the  Sacred 
insignia  of  the  Monarchy.  In  his  style,  the 
Count  of  the  Yexin  asserted  complete  inde- 
pendence ;  repudiating  every  earthly  superior, — 
Superni  Regis  mitu  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. 

Drogo'smar-       Wc  iucludc  tMs  samc  Drogo  in  our  English 

riage  with 

daugMeJ?  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  Qoda  was  an 
epithet  equivalent  to  ''  Good  wife^'  or  "  Goody T 
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 
Eobert  been  cursed  by  an  insight  into  futurity, 


383 


BRITTANY.  165 

how  deeply  would  he  have  deplored  an  acquis!-  1024-1035 
tion   which,    through   the    mysterious    links   of 
causation,  brought   his   conquering   Son   to   an 
untimely  and  inglorious  death. 

§  29.  Brittany,  the  source  to  Normandy  ^/]*{^^-jt* 
equally  of  peril  and  of  power ;  a  bulwark  of  NormS 
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  Carlovingian  usage. 
From  Conan  Meriadec,  Prince  of  Albania,  es-  cona^ 

Meriadec 

tablished  in  this  region,  as  it  is  supposed,  by  the  Se^j^^esteb-^ 
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,  Jarnithan, 
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  Eace.  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   son    ofso?^^fJ^ 
Kivalon,  of  whom  we  have  heard  in  the  preceding  Ri"aion. 
era,  all  these  districts  or  territories  merged  in  feuiS'Lto 
the  three  dominations  of  Nantes,  Rennes,  and  countfeTof 


Cornouaille.  Amongst  the  Celts  concord  was  im-  S^e^. 


166  GEOFFREY  OF  BRITTANY. 

1024-1035  possible.  In  early  times  Nomenoe,  the  Ruler  of 
Cornouaille,  had  assumed,  by  Papal  authority,  the 
royal  style,  but  the  Counts  of  Rennes  acquired 
the    pre-eminence    over    the    other    Chieftains. 

Geoffi^iL?  Regality    vanished.      Geoffrey,   son  of   Conan, 

BonofConan,        •ii  i  i  •     i  i  i 

marries       With  whom    WO    madc   acquaintance  when  he 

the  Norman 

Hawisa.  ^^q^  f^j,  ^^^  ^qj^  ^]^q  ^lgg  jjawlsa,  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 

Peter  Mau- 

oSeurand  to  acknowlcdgc  the  "  Duke,"  until  the  time  of 
mchmoud.  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 


GEOFFREy  OF  BRITTANY.  167 

this  title  did  not   confer  any  additional  power  1024-1035 
upon  the  feudal  Sovereign  of  Brittany. 

g  27.  Armorica  no  longer  included  the  full  Ej^jJ^of 
length  and  breadth  of  territory  which  she  had  G^eoffrey?^^ 
possessed  in  the  brilliant  days  of  Nomenoe 
and  Herispoe,  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  £t?  AJmoit 
struck  white  money  was  Geoffrey  ;  sols  of  silver  whoSd 
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- 


money. 


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 
DeathTf  ^^^  scarcely  call  him, — had  been  lodging.  The 
GeofQrey.  2ingrj  Crouc  fluug  a  potsherd  at  his  head  which 
fractured  his  skull. — Thus  did  the  doughty 
warrior  die  at  the  hands  of  a  crabbed  old 
woman. 
1008  Alain,  Geoffrey's  son,  commenced  his  reign 

or  Duk?o^*  under  the  guardianship  of  his  energetic  mother 
Brittany,  jjg^^jg^^  ^ud  hcr  tutclagc  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 

cante^ai"  ^crc   opprcsscd  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  tlie  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  ^^^^^^(Cajg. 
justification,  inasmuch  as,  during  his  nonage,  a  "^^  ^^''''^'* 
considerable  portion  of  his  inheritance  had  been 
usurped  by  Duke  Geoffrey.     The  gallants  were 
congenial  spirits.    Duke  Alain  had  wooed  Bertha,  ^^tstip'o? 
daughter  of  Eudes  le-Champenois,  the  son  of  the  S  Eud"efi?/ 

Cliampeiioifl. 

Comes  Ditissimus,  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,  fully  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  Jy^^^e  mp 
when  Alain  Caignard,  anxious  to  serve  his  Liege-  Dufe  Aiaia 

obtains  the 

Lord,  and  probably  not  sorry  to  spite  the  French,  ^^dy. 
made  a  forcible  seizure  of  the  Damsel,  and  con- 
ducted his  prize  triumphantly  to  Rennes,  where 
she  was  espoused  to  young  Duke  Alain,  "  more 
Britannicor  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-  JJsJ'oretlo" 
mised  the  restoration  of  the  usurped  territory,  narTthe^'^" 

island  of 

all  the  Nobles  assenting  and  applauding  this  act,  ^«"«  ^«i«- 
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  EEFUSES  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. 
i^wSn^  Hawisa's  son  and  the  Norman  Duke   were 

SdSSiy,  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  Kobert  tint  bien  sa  terre, 
Par  tout  vouloit  son  droit  conquerre. 
Entrer  veult  par  force  en  Bretagne, 
Ne  veult  k' Alain  en  paiz  remaigne, 
Ki  a  sa  Cort  ne  veult  venir 
Ne  a  lui  ne  deigne  obeir 


ROBERT  INVADES  BRITTANY.  173 

Comme  ses  ancessurs  feseient,  1024—1035 

Cil  qui  Bretaigne  anceiz  tenerent. 

Cosins  esteient  moult  prochein, 

Chescun  filz  de  uncle  et  d'antein  ; 

Pur  ceo  k'il  erent  d'un  parage, 

D'une  hautesse  e  d'un  lignage, 

Alain,  Eobert  servir  ne  deigne 

Ainsi  monta  entre  eux  I'engaigne, 

Alain  ne  se  deigne  abaisser 

Et  Kobert  ne  lui  en  voult  laisser. 

The   Eespondent   Alain,    when   repudiating  ^^^^^^^  j^p^- 
the  homage  claimed  by  Eollo's  representative,  SoSi^-^ 
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-  ^^^j^fti^e 
mandy,  being  waged  against  a  near  neighbour  ;  STvade'Srit- 
and  joyfully  did  the  fretting  fighting  men  of  the 
crowded  Cotentin,  now  let  loose,  expand  over 
the   enemy's   territory.     Yicinity  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  de  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  Armoricans  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  BretonSj  they  were  completely  concealed.  1024-1035 
Forth  they  rushed,  their  banners  waving.  Pru- 
dently had  Niel  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; — Maslonl  (not 
interpreted  by  the  French  authorities)  shouted 
the  Bretons.  The  Bretons  gave  way.  Alain  ™^ormIns 
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  Griaht,  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  I^^eHnls?^ 
and  his  brother  Alfred,  sheltered  by  their  kins-  aiS  i^ 

Normandj, 

man's  power,  had  sought  and  found  a  refuge  in  '^^^^^t^^ 
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. 


protection  of 
Duke  Robert. 


176      ROBERT'S  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  ENGLAND. 

1024-1035  '  Canute  was  reigning,  and  not  merely  reign- 
ing, but  the  heartless  Emma  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  Eobert  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. 
dSce-  Canute's  reply  was  a  defiance.    Let  them  hold 

paSorThewhat  thcy  can  win;  and  Robert  le-Magnifique 

invasion  of 

England,  acccptcd  thc  challenge  on  his  kinsfolk's  behalf. 
Tancred  de  Haute ville,  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 
tionS*^'"  night  ensued.  The  North  wind  blew  furiously, 
gtorm.^^''  the  fleet  was  dispersed  ;  many  of  the  vessels 
driven  into  Jersey,  the  first  time,  as  far  as  I 


\ 


ROBERT  INVADES  BRITTANY.  177 

recollect,  that  Oaesarea  receives  a  notice  in  me-  1024-1035 
diaeval  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  cheating  the  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  se. 

70  1  cond  expedi- 

tion against  Alain  :   "  Rabel,"  was  the  Armada's  *'**"' 

Commander :    his  name   is   remarkable,   rarely 

occurring    elsewhere    than  in    the    Tankerville 

genealogies.     This    family   enjoyed    the    confi- 

VOL.  III.  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,  buru,  were  the  instructions 
which  Kobert's  troops  received.  Alain,  the 
Breton  Prince,  could  not  withstand  the  Norman 
attack,  and  he  entreated  his  uncle.  Manger, 
Archbishop  of  Rouen,  to  mediate  on  his  behalf. 
^/Rouen'^  Thc  hybrid  Prelate,  Soldier  and  Priest,  a  species 
bSween      of  ccclesiastical   centaur,  entered  heartily  into 

Robert  and  '  *' 

Alain.  ]^|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. 
Snedb/tte  §  34.  Robcrt  was  victorious  ;  but,  in  de- 
8?owed%on'  spite  of  his  successes,  he  continued  sad  at  heart. 

the  child  ^  ' 

William.  ij;Y"ell,  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  ba;llad  ;  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. 
Guenora  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  unbastardized  by  the  mantle 
marriage.  But,  in  the  present  case,  no  extenua- 
tion could  be  suggested. 

That  foul  Tan-yard  and  its  sickening  pools !  ^JieSned 
The  place  stunk  in  everybody's  nostrils,  not  boy  wmum. 
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. 

g  35.     Such  was  the  temperature  of  public  Jen^^''*^?^- 
feeling  when  Robert,  having  withheld  any  in- fnteSn^of 

proceeding 

timation  of  the  intentions  fermenting  in  his  J^^'j^  "^'^J^ 
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 

n2 


180  PROCEEDINaS  IN  THE  COUR  PL^NIERE. 

1024-1035  could  protect  his  poor  chapped  flesh  from  the 
cutting  winds. 

Direful  the  consternation  excited  in  the 
Cour  pleniere,  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- 
forms  possess  any  stringency,  no  Act  of  State  {JJJef^*^'* 
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  Yassals  ;  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. 

§  37.     This  important  transaction  completed, 


182  ALAIN  REGENT  OF  NORMANDY. 

1024-1035  i^obert  proceeded  to  provide  for  the  government 
poSd^y^'  during  his  absence ;  and  here,  he  had  to  grapple 
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  Rollo,  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. 
c?nduct°of  Could  the  Normans  have  forgotten  that 
Robert.  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- 


KOBERT  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,  hares  legitimus  est  quern  nuptice 
demonstrant^  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. 

S  38.     And  now  Robert  commenced  his  pil-Sf^l'?.^"- 

o  ■•■  mences  his 

grimage,  making  his  way  very  consistently ;  p'^^"^"^^- 
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  BESANgON. 

1024-1035  from  the  severity  of  his  self-inflicted  macera- 
tions when  crossing  the  snows  and  glaciers  of 
the  Mons  Jo  vis,  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  Doivnsy 
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. 
SeShT'  Speedily  were  the  lieges  reassured,  and  satis- 
ScSaSed  fied  that  there  was  not  any  reason  for  anticipating 
vS."*^*^^  disaster;  Drogo,  Count  of  the  Vexin,  accompanied 
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  Harbiugcrs    went  forward    to    prepare    the 

travelling  gpiendld  lodglugs ;  and,  lengthened  were  the  trains 
rentures.  ^^  grooms  aud  stablc  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  ROME.  185 

long,  and  the  Porter,  doing  his  duty  and  some-  1024-1035 
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 — allg^^'e"^*' 
roads  lead  to  Rome, — and  thither,  in  due  time,  siScy  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  mediaeval  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,  ^^J'f  *„^.^ 
—one  of  those  local  facetiae  which  descend  by  '''^^^'^^' 
inheritance — that  Constantine  never  moved  for 
sunshine  or  frost,  for  wind  or  for  rain  j  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  efifigy. — 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  enhauncing  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, 

cotltl    but  to  let  them  lie. 

nopie.  g  ^Q  ^^  ^^^  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 

IxSu'Sr'  only  a  degree  less  reprehensible  than  the  making 

SvuLuon.  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  ifomans. 
were  permitted  to  be  rude ;  much  according  to  the 
toleration  we  should  extend  to  a  Feejee,  exhibited 
at  an  evening  assembly. 

Therefore,  when  Eobert  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. 
fhTfoiiTr^       §41.   Robert  journeyed  onward,  and  we  may 
of  health.    (jjg(3gj.j^  ^]jQ  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. 
5;?man'  g  42.  Thc  Lcvaut  abouudcd  wlth  Latlu  travcl- 

Lanf""^^  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  Mahommedans  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  ah 
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 ^JJJ^fuf 
the  toll  for  them  all.     The  Saracen  Admiral,  or  &:?*'' 

Jerusalem 

Emir,  the  governor  of  the  city,  would  not  be  out- ^^"^  ^°^'*'* 


190  ROBERT'S  DEATH. 

1024-1035  done  by  the  Magnifico ;  and,  therefore,  when 
Robert  and   Robert  qultted   Jerusalem,  he  restored  all  the 

Drogo 

NkeT^  ^*  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  maldie. 

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  Rollo's  son.  Toustain  brought 
over  to  Normandy  the  relics  Robert  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  BASTAKD,  DUKE  OF  NORMANDY. 


1035—1047. 
1047—1066. 


§  1.  Contemplated  by  any  enquiring  stranger,  TrouMes^^ 
the  Norman  Ducal  family  would,  at  this  era,  have  Kn's 

death. 

presented  a  singular  example  of  regular  irregu- 
larity. Every  child,  from  Guillaume  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  j^^^^^^^^^^ 


under  a 


traditional   mode    of  wedding,  plighting    faith,  christian  as- 

pect  of  the 

or  pledging,  equivalent  to  a  marriage  m  the  Nor-  ^J^^^IV 
man  mind:  some   ceremony  imparting  a  legal  nSSs!^^ 
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  ALAIN,  COUNT  OF  BRITTANY. 

1035-1054  punes,  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- 
tiar  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. 
^ardiS'*  §  2-     Wild,  rash,thoughtless,as  Duke  Robert, 

KSer.^^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  ^^^^^^^^ 
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  ronnd  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 
mort  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  j  '^^l^^^^ 
therefore  the  stream  ceased  to  flow  when  thefSS''^* 
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 


1035-1054 


194  DISTURBANCES   OF   NORMANDY. 

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  ''  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  agon.y, 
a  death  of  sorrow. 
que^n'^esof  Durlug  thc  lattcr  declining  years  of  Robert's 

Kobert's 

goSrSent.  slothful  govemmeut,  the  due  enforcement  of  the 
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, 
{Bauhschlosser,  '^Robber's  nests,"  as  they  are 


CLAIMANTS   OF    THE   DUCHY.  195 

termed  by  an  expressive  German  idiomj)  which  1035-1054 
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  Rollo's  race,  from  Guillaume  ^/^l^riaS! 
Longue-epee  downwards,  had  been  born  out  of 
lawful  matrimony,  but  all  had  become  subse- 
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  impre-  Taiyag""^**' 
cated  by  ferocious  Talvas  is  ever  ringing  in  our 


196  GUIDO   OF   BURGUNDY, 

}^^^-^^^\  ears ;  yet  it  is  in  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,  Eichard  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  '^  Duchy  of  Burgundy," 
that  Dukedom  ranking  as  a  kingdom ;  and  by 
him  she  had  one  son. 

Guidoof  This  son,  named  Guido,  was,  therefore,  Wil- 

Burgundy—  ^  7  7  7 

theduihyof  Ham's  cousin, — a  relationship  constituted  by 
orman  7.  ^j^g^-^  bouds  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  th«  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 

IsTorman  Dukes,  that  the  family  constituted  a  :^^^^-^^^^^ 
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. 

g  5.     It  is  a  painful  token  of  the  sentiments  ArlSTrom 
brooding  in  Robert's  mind,  that  the  Mother  had  swp^Ser 

child. 

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  followiog  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  ^^^^^''^^i 
silently  elided  from  the  list  ;  and  Gilbert  Cres-  mroritj. 
pon.  Count  of  Brionne,  Chatelain  of  Tilliers,  andThechate- 
Thorkettil,  also  called  Thorold,  were  appointed '^^"'"* 
to   the   trust.     Gilbert,  a   wise   and    influential 
officer,  acted  pursuant  to  Robert's  testamentary 
directions;  and  William,  severed  from  his  mother, 


198  VAUDREUIL. 

1035-1051  ^^g  placed,  as  well  for  education  as  security, 
in  the  stronghold  of  Yaudreuil.  The  Castle, 
pi^^^j<;;ij;'t^  standing  in  the  valley  formed  by  the  confluence 
vaiidieuii.  ^^  ^^^  Seine  and  the  tributary  stream,  the 
Keuil,  —  a  situation  imparting  to  the  locality 
the  name  of  the  "  Yallis  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 Yaudreuil  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  ^^^35-1054 
exhibited  by  the  apartment  assigned  to  the  boy. 

?  6.    Castle  or  Palace, — this  edifice,  shelter-  vaudieuu 

"  ^  ^  attacked  by 

ing  the  young  Duke,  he  being  about  twelve  years  g^ntsTgainst 
of  age,  was  assailed  and  stormed  by  his  foes, — their  authority. 
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, 
Osborne,  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. 

§  7.  We  shall  hereafter  contemplate  thewimam's^ 
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  obdurac}^ ;  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  OF  GOD. 

-^"^^7^^.^^^-  from  his  own  lips  do  we  learn  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  S  8.     A  moral  insanity  desolated  the  land, 

wars,  "^  J  -) 

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. 
Peace  of  God  §  ^'  "^^^  ^^^^  did  Normaudy  endure  with 
Khe  c™un.  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-  1035-1054 
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  Yillage,  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. 

1035-1054  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 
curiosity  of  history. 

wiiiiam'B  §  1^-    Numerous  and  formidable  the  factions 

headed  by  M auger,  the  turbulent  Archbishop  of 
Rouen  ;  and  his  brother,  William  d' Arques  ;  Wil- 
liam's kinsmen.  The  Montgomery  party  also. 
Fierce  Roger  had  then  retreated  into  France, 
banished,  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   Wal- 

Walcnelino  ^ 

chirrofTh'e  cheline.  Baron  of  Ferrers  ;  this  Walcheline 
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  affront  he 
had  received  from  Hugh  with  the  Bushy-beard, 
Count  of  Montfort,  and  son  of  Thurstan  de 
Bastenborg.  The  latter,  confiding  in  his  for- 
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  doughty  combatants  were  slain.  The  arms 
given  by  Ferrers,  that  antient  title  suggesting 
such  lamentable  recollections,  commemorate  the 
tenure  of  Walcheline's  Barony,  as  being  the  Ducal 
farrier ;  and  he  dug  the  ore  on  his  own  lands. 


ROGER  DE  TOENI.  203 

But    none    amongst    the    rebel    host    inspired  1035-105* 
greater  apprehensions,  whether  by  birth  or  pos- 
sessions, talent  or  cruelty,  than  the  famous,  or 
infamous  Roger  de  Toeni. 

Like  the  Scots,  the  Normans  entertained  a  ?S-his 
firm  belief  in  the  opinion,  that  disposition  oftauon?''' 
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.  Now, 
in  Normandy,  the  mauvaise  engeance  of  Eric, 
Hire,  or  Hulc,  to  which  family  Toeni  belonged, 
was  famed  for  ferocity.  Hulc  bore  Rollo's 
standard,  and,  according  to  the  family  tradi- 
tions, valiantly  assisted  him  in  subjugating 
Neustria.  From  him  came  the  proud  and 
powerful  Roger — this  pedigree  affording  one  of 
the  very  few  instances  in  which  the  ancestry 
of  a  Norman  is  deduced  from  a  genuine  North- 
man.— Fully  did  he  assert  the  imputed  charac-  Sfn^ 
ter  of  his  race,  inasmuch  as  when  he  passed  ^^^"'' 
over  into  Spain,  he  distinguished  himself  by 
valour  and  savageness,  preventing  Richard  Coeur 
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-Norman  Monarch — af- 
fording one  of  the  innumerable  instances  of  the 
false  judgments,  whereby  history  becomes  cor- 


204  WILLIAM'S   CHARACTER. 

1035-1054  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. 

William's  2  11.     As  for  William,  his  character  received 

character—  "  ^ 

meS^Sfts.  full  developement  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 


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  Gace  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 


206  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  defined  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. 

JonScy'"'  §  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  march  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." 


i 


KING  HENRY'S  ENMITY.  207 

§  14.  Normandy's  perennial  opponent  and  ^^^7^^^, 
implacable  enemy,  Henry  of  France,  had,  as  io4o-iw7' 
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  ah  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  ^j|f^^''J,^^ 
satisfactorily  the  line  of  demarcation  severing  Swo^a. 

phical  his- 

historical  biography  from  biographical  history,  ^^'•y 
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  Caesar  ? — In  our  present  task, 
no  such  difficulty  perplexes  us.  Hero  and  Epos  J^^'jjjj?^^!,^ 
are  one.  Either  of  the  epithets  bestowed  byJJcr"''"^" 
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.  ni.  p 


208  WILLIAM'S  MISSION, 

1035-1054  ^j.  ^g  ^j^g  Conqueror,  the  effect  upon  the  mind  is 
1040-1047'  complete :  the  whole  history  of  the  Man,  and  of 

his  times,  unfolds  before  us. 
S^wlmS  Magnificent  was  William's  destiny.  Can 
^'"^*  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 
ortTfirs?  continue  unmolested,  whilst  about  twelve  circling 

twelve  years  T  T  -,        .  i   *    i  •      t 

of  William's  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  ^^035-1054 
disturbed  the  sweet  refreshing  solitude  of  the  ^J^J^^;^ 
damp  and  cool  forest  glades,  by  setting  apart  wimam-sm- 
Preserves  or  Parks  for  sport;  that  is  to  say,  *f«  «^^^«- 
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  JJ^^vu. 
tolerated  rather  than  acknowledged  by  his  Suze-  wamirg!^"''* 
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 

p2 


210  HOSTILITY  OF  FRANCE. 

.^^^^7^^^^.  half-healed  sores  ;    keeping   alive   all  the  old 
'JJ^J^!:^  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. 
SiredT        '^^^  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. 
B^gLly-         §  17.     Guido   of  Burgundy  now   suddenly 
catedtt"the  asserted   his   claims,   or  pretensions.     Kindly 

Norman 

wTou'  ^'  ^^^  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 
fa  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 


1035-1054 


the  son  of  Arietta.  He  was  courted  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  station  and  pretensions.  To  1040-1047' 
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  pigcoStof 
very  Danishry  of  Normandy  ; — in  the  Bessin,  B^onlg?.*" 
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,  sauve^^chS 
or  Nigel  de  Saint  Sauveur,  the  premier  Baron  ?SS*p? 
of  Normandy,  descended  from  the  most  distin- 
guished amongst  Kollo'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  G-rimoald  de  Plessis,  ^f^^^^}^  ^^ 
owning  the  Barony  which,  at  the  present  day, 
still  bears  his  name,  and  commemorates  his  mis- 


212  CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  WILLIAM. 

1035-1054  fortunes.   And  all  the  Confederates  bound  them- 

1040-104?'  selves  by  a  great  oath  to  work  the  intruder's 
destruction. 

viSs!'  S^t,  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 
Rouen,  Not  at  towering  Falaise,  where  his 
infant  wailings  were  first  heard.  But  at  pleasant 
Yalognes,  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  yg  Court.  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  ofi&cial  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 ! " 

wuiiam'B  William  obeyed  the  warnino;  without   even 

flight  by  JO 

''^^*-  a  thought  of  hesitation.  No  questions  asked. 
No  companions  to  support  him.  No  groom 
aiding.     Half  clad,  starting  from  his  couch  he 


WILLI AM»S  DANGER.  213 

rushed  into  the  stable,  saddled  his  beast,  and  ^035-1054 
made  for  the  ford  of  Yire.  Hard  by  the  river's  'iJJj;2lSJf 
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  Sng  with 
the  horizon,  William  had  arrived  at  Hubert's  ^''^^'*' 
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  wiluam's  flight. 

1035-1054  Qf  ^^Q  hammer  striking  upon  the  sides  of  the 
'^^^^^  iron-clad  vessels,  whose  terrors  are  summoning 
the  willing  warriors  from  their  homes  to   de- 
fend our  shores. 
General  Hubert's  SOUS  couducted  the  Duke  to  pala- 

iusurrectiou 

tial  Falaise,  where  he  bided  his  time ;  his  flight 
the  signal  for  the  baronial  rebellion.  The  "  Yice- 
comites,"  the  governing  nobility  of  the  land, 
who  appear  in  England  as  the  "  Sciregerefas,'' 
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 
William  re-  aid.      Gladly  the    King    welcomed   the   illus- 

ceived  kindly 

by  the  King.  i^PJQug  appllcaut,  whosc  submission  purchased 
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. 

William  as-        2  18.     William  summoned  his  Lieges  from 

sembles  hia  ^  ° 

LoflTty  of  those  Baillages  in  which  his  authority  had  been 
ormans.  ^^^^  cordlally  acknowledged.  Rouen  manifested 
unusual  loyalty,  and  the  whole  Roumois  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  Evre9in ;  and  the  com- 
bined forces  assembled  on   the  wide-spreading 


VAL  DES  DUNES.  215 


1035—1054 


undulating  hills,  which  impart   their   name   to 
Yal  des  Dunes, — a  region  whose  conformation  'JJ^^^ll^ 
displays  the  original  conjunction  of  these  con-    1047 
tinental  downs  with  the  corresponding  tract  in  ^^^^^^  '''^'^ 
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 

^7  J  Ralph  Tes- 

adopting  the  phrase  employed  during  our  civil ITvkEe-m' 

..  .  ,  ,  .  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  Tesson  takes 

A  '  the  lead  m 

their  bannerols,  waving  bright  from  their  lances,  army.^"'"'''^^ 
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 
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 


Tesson's 


216  BATTLE  OF  VAL  DES  DUNES. 

^^f;^  Tesson  fought  for  his   life.     Well  had  he  de- 

^^^^;;^  served  the  vengeance  due  for  treason. 

The  charge         Now  cusued  the  shock  of  battle  ;   and  loud 

of  the 

Barons.  ^]^q  rallying  cry  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  Ducal         Dauutlcss  William  headed  the  Normans,  whilst 

troops  charge 

the  enemy.  ^^^^  ^}^^  hostilc  rauks  "  Moutjoic  Saint  Denis  I " 
resounded  through  the  air,  to  which  the  rallying 
cry  "  Saint  Sauveur,"  shouted  by  the  Bessin 
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 

?an|eS!"'^'"  ^ud  hls  squadrou  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  Koi  de  France. 


BATTLE  OF  VAL  DES  DUNES.  217 

Another  war-horse  brought  up !  —  Henry  ^1035-1054 
vaults  into  the  saddle,  and  the  conflict  is  re-  '^J^j;;;^ 
newed  with  increased  desperation.   Neel  de  Saint  The  rebels 

resisting  des- 

Sauveur  maintained  the  fight  until  the  rebels  fled  SSeir 
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- 
Rille. 

Henry  continued  to  aid  the  Norman  Duke,  ^'^^m 
despatching    further    reinforcements.      But    so  ''''■^""*' 
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.     G-rimoald  de  Plessis  was  dropped  into  the  S^^^/^ 
dungeon-pit,  manacled  and  fettered,  the  cankering  ^'"^°^^^- 
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. 

io35.>-io54  ^]^g  gg^^  ^g^i^  ^f  ]^|g  fg^j-g  Ynighi  prove  an  awful  warn- 
"^.^I^  ing.    As  for  the  other  delinquents,  William  made 
a  bridge  for  the  flying  enemy.     Gruido's  renun- 
ciation of  allegiance  was  accepted ;  and,  retreat- 
ing to    Burgundy,  he  disappears  ignominiously 
SfeTe'     from  history.     This  trial  of  strength  settled  all 
victory.       (^jgpijtes  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. 
SiSn"^  §  19.  Hitherto,  though  considerable  jealousy 

l)CtWC611 

Normandy    had   subslstcd  betwccu   the   powerful   lines   of 

and  Anjou.  ■•■ 

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 
Grisgonelle)  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  .^035-1054 
was  defeated  and  expelled.     Nevertheless   the  1047I1055' 
balance   of    fortune    was   fairly  counterpoised. 
Thibaut  was  captured  and  kept  in  duresse,  until 
he  surrendered  Tours  and  Ohinon — Chinon,  after- 
wards so  gay  under  Plantagenet  ascendency. 

The  contagious  ill-will  amongst  these  nobles 
excited  much  enmity  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. 

§20.  Geoffrey  Martel' s  conduct  was  tor-  fj^^p^^jf^;;^ 
tious ;  employing  bribery  and  corruption,  he  pLufon. 
obtained  possession  of  Alen9on,  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,  SiltlSs  wa 

campaigns. 

bearding  his  foes  ;    another  expression  grounded 
upon  the  same  idea. 

A  very  powerful  partisan,  who  occupies  a  gf^^-Jj^jf «• 
special  position,  was  William  Fitz-Osborne,  son  ^''^''^''* 
of  honest  Osborne;  he  who  sheltered  William 
in  his   earliest  childhood,  and  who  had   con- 


220  WILLIAM  UNPOPULAR. 

1035-1054  tinued  so  true  and  affectionate  in  the  midst  of 

^jj^;^^  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- 
bury. 

William'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  Guillaume  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. 

wiiufm    •       Q^ch  were  the  feelings  actuating  all  Belesme's 

Aien^^D.  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 


1047—1055 


SIEGE  OF  ALENgON.  221 

Alencon.     He  found  the  inhabitants  all  ready  1035-1054 
to   greet  him  : — calthrops  sown^ — fosses   deep- 
ened,— walls  heightened, — palissades  bristling 
all   around ;   whilst  the  town-folk  accumulated 
insult  upon  disloyalty.     To  spite  the  Tanner's  ^6"^^^^ 
grandson,  the  walls   were  tapestried  with  raw  Snts"^^'" 
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- 


Emperor. 


222  TRIUMPH  OF  WILLIAM. 

1035-1054  j.Qj.g  ^g^g  intolerable :  the  Alen^on  men,  pitifully 

i^^i^^  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. 

Sph.'  §  21.  William's  renown  spread  far  and  near. 

The  clerks'  glozing  erudition  assured  him  that  he 
might  appropriate  to  himself  Caesar's  alliterative 
boast.  His  Barons  renewed  their  homages  ;  the 
aspect  of  his   affairs  became  brilliant;   and  a 

SsThe  gi'^iid  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  Spiked  b/ 
was  a  permanent  ulcer  which  no  Leech  could  heal.  hjjTow 
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  eimdem,  Grrudgingly  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 


224  WILLIAM  THE  WARLING, 

1035-1054  asmuch  as  the  locality  contains  the  only  water- 
fall in  Normandy. 

wiiijfjnthe  'Now  started  up  as  a  newly  declared  enemy, 
William,  the  son  of  Mauger,  nicknamed  the 
Werling,  or  the  Warling.  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  Roger  Bigot,  the  great  Earl 

Sfer?  ^^  ^^st  Anglia — (antiquaries  please  themselves 
by  showing  you  the  model  tower  which  they 
bestow   upon  him) — revealed    the   treacherous 

mJiing  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. 

g  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  Dnke,  relying  1035-1054 
upon  the  support  he  expected  from  France.    But 
France  favoured  him  not.     Busac  quailed  before 
the  Bastard,  whose  good  fortune  encreased  with 
accelerated  rapidity. 

g  25.  D  urino;  the  early  incursions  of  the  North- ponthieu. 

^  o  ./  Importance 

men,  the  greater  portion  of  Ponthieu  had  been  t°eVritory. 
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  Nitt^rdus, 

■'       t  ne  paramour 

Bourgade  of  some  extent  had  nestled  beneath  S/ofst. 
the  Abbey's  shade.  The  line  of  ruined  walls 
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. 

1033---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. 
Abbeville.  g  26.     Abbeville.  "Abbatis  Yilla,"  in  Pon- 

originally  a  "  '  ? 

upS^st""®  thieu,  originally  a  grange  depending  upon  the 

Ricjuier. 

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, 
^/erogatives        It  was  upon  these  shores  that  the  Seigneur 
poSu°'   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. 

§  27.  During  Eichard  Sans-peur's  domina-  T^^^^^'^eux. 
tion,  the  Normans  made  an  attempt  to  recover 
the  fertile  district  between  Ponthieu  and  the 
Somme,  the  Yimeux  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 
Yaleri,  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    Adncourt,    also    situated    in  Agincourt 

*-'  '  included 

Ponthieu,  imparts   historical  splendour  to   thcvi^eux. 
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  W5iii,„,  ^r 
by  ability  and  ferocity.     A  dangerous  foe  was  <ia'i?gS-oJi 
Guillaume  Lord  of  Arques.     The   Count  pre-^^niam. 


228  BLOCKADE  OF  ARQUES. 

1035-1054  ferred  his  claims  as  Rollo'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. 
fh^coSSt^'of  From  this  position  the  Count  defied  the  spu- 
Arques.  j.JQ^g  guperlor.  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-  1^53 
ram  was  killed  in  arms  before  the  completion  of 
the  siege.] 

g  28.  A  threatening  power  was  gaining  ^^^tj^o^f^^ 
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  1040-1047 
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   CON  AN. 

Jff^;;^  close  custody  at  Eheims ;  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, 

cXiesV''"  I  29.  Five  sons  had  been  born  to  Eudes,  the 
Count  of  [Penthievre] .  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- 


NORMAN  NATIONALITY.  231 

bard.      But   he   scorned   his    competitors,   and  ^^035--i054 
though  unable  to  tranquillize  his  mind,  he  dis- 
dained manifesting  any  anxiety. 

Guy    [of    Ponthieu]    proclaimed    that    hisfemS*''' 
brother's  blood  must  be  avenged.     A  universal  ?S"by  tti3' 

Norman 

jealousy   raged   against   William    amongst   the  ^^'^^"'• 
baronage  of  Northern  France,  dwelling  in  the 
adjoining   parts,    and   many   of   tnem   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'oih     Normandy  pro- 
duced, probably,  the  earliest,  but  assuredly,  the 
best   and   most   interesting  poetry  of  the  age. 
Normans    and    French    wore    the    same   garb,  NoTman?*^ 
adopted  the  same  manners,  and  were  connected  nS"^  ""^ 
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  HenJfpre. 
Henry,  being  thus  instigated  and  supported  by  |^{2°** 
his  advisers,  all  accomplices,  he  issued  his  gene- 
ral  summons,  not  for  a  mere  frontier   inroad. 


232  henry's  campaign. 

1035-1054  ]3ut  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. 

JJ^^i^7^  Henry's   summons   was  readily  obeyed   by 

troops.  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-        §  30.     Hcnrv  schcmcd  his  campaio;n  ludi- 

paign  against  *J  *'  v.        o        o 

Normandy,  (jjously.  AssaiUug  thc  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  .^035-1054 
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— ^lllT"' 
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  Avas 
unknown,  and  irregular  plunder  enhanced  the 
miseries  of  war. 

The  French  streamed  in  like  a  rushing  flood  ;  J^encr** 
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. 

JheTrSr^       A  second  division  of  the  army  being  entrusted 

iiiies."''  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  ^' grande  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.  Kobert,  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  largc  aud  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   MORTEMEK.  235 

an  essart   from   the   antient   forest  of  Lyons,  ^ 035-1054 
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  Driencourt.  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. 

g  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- 


236  BATTLE  OF  MORTEMER. 

1035-1054  senting  Mortemer,  are  standing  immediately 
Mortemer  bcneatb  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 
of  Mortemer!  the  fortalicc  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. 

g  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 
Tofny'8^  old  Eoger  de  Toeny  repaired  to  the  rising  ground 
pSmalion  whlch    commaudcd    the    French  encampment ; 

of  the 

victory.  there  he  clomb  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  ,^035-1054 
and  lay. 

"  Franceiz  Franceiz,  levez  levez, 
Tenez  vos  veies,  trop  dormez ; 
AUez  vos  amis  enterrer, 
Ki  sunt  occiz  a  Mortemer." 

The  suddenness  of  the  spectral  warning  ter-  Sfe  French, 
rified  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,  GuiSotb- 
or  Guido,  whose  ancestry  and  pertinacity  ren- wiiiamas 

^  ./  J.  »/  ]iig  vassal. 

dered  him  the  most  formidable  amongst  William's 
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. 


Anjou 


1035-1054  The  service  of  a  hundred  knights  must  Guido 
render  to  the  Norman  Yictor.  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, 
warwili'  ?  ^6-     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  Hollo'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,  SSer' 
and  they  prided  themselves  upon  their  antient  SyUereof. 
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  Cenomanenses  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  Yerona.  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. 

defensor  of  Au  electivc  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. 

EreSSchien.  §  37.  A  SOU  of  this  rulcr  was  our  old  ac- 
quaintance Herbert  Eveille-Chien,  or,  adopting 
the  expression  for  which  even  tlie  Monkish 
Chronicler  apologises,  ^^;^9'^7«/^5  C«/^e/?^.  In  many 


HERBERT  WAKE-THE-DOG.  241 

a  conflict  did  his  activity  animate  tlie  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  Grisgonnelle  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 
mengarda  of  Anjou,  beguiling  her  companion, —  S'eTeachi 
diamond  cut  diamond, — by  a  friendly  greeting,  Sri^eT**"^ 

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 

S^the     space  of  time.     It  is  doubtful  whether  [Hugh] 

protection  0  ^^^^  re-entered  his  Capital ;  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. 
[10511  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. 

?«of"y   ,        So  Ions:  as  Martel  lived,  he  treated  Maine  en- 

Martel  treati  c  ^ 

Maiuea^hi.  ^-^^j^  ^^  ^^  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,  wlien  the  1035-1054 
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 

n        1  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.  ?eqShi 
[Herbert's]  one  daughter  Margaret  [was]  espoused  wmfa^. 
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.  ^^  acknowlcdge  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. 
Anjou.  g  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  Eo- 
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, 
Jn'dtST""''  ^^^  sharpened  their  swords.  Without  chal- 
ppSation   lenge  or  defiance,  no  glove  thrown   down,   no 

invade 

Normandj,  strokc  stnckcu ;  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- 


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-  bfthr'"'"^* 
ing  the  country  against  the  invader. 

But,  as    before,   the    Frenchmen    damaged     cioss] 
their  own  cause.     William  prepared  an  ambush. 
There  was  a  bridge  crossing  the  river  [Dive], 
also  a  ford  called  the  Gue  Berenger.     William 
and  his  Normans  assailed  the  enemy,  who  were 
marching  out  for  the  defence.    The  bridge  broke  ?rench°aV^® 
down,  the  enemy  fled  from  the  assault.    William  li'e^rengt. 
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-  f™  °o\2 
tion  subdued  his  vigour.  He  had  been  sinking  '""^  ^^'^'^' 
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. 

?Q^-^Q54  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 

SJatfon  of  Sovereign  designate,  at  Saint  Remy's  Basilica. 

Philip  ia 

Sfetime^'"''  N^v^''  wlthlu  thc  mcmory  of  man,  had  such 
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  ;  Raoul,  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. — ^Vive  le  Roi ! 


247 

Chapter  Y. 

PBEPARATIONS    FOR    THE    CONQUEST. 


1054—1066. 


§  1.     No  event  was  so  influential  upon  Wil-  losi-ioee 
Ham's  fortunes,  whether  as  a  man  or  as  a  Sove-  wunam's 
rei^n,  as  his  union  with  Matilda,  daus-hter  ofwuhMamda 

^  7  o  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  Rollo,  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.     Accordiuo;   to   thc   traditions   of   the 

Vol.  II.,  p.  '^  ^ 

^^'  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  afi*airs  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  ^54-1066 

Englishman  that  he  has  planted  his  foot  upon 

a  land  whilom  of  transcendent   importance  to 

his  own.     The   Low  Countries,   including  the  ^^t'o^^i 

■^  c  prowess  of 

County  of  Flanders,  constituted  one  of  the  most  '^^^^^""'"s^- 
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 

^        ^  'J  o  cultivation 

excel  in  the  arts  of  peace ;  and  the  looms  of  f^^f  ^'""^ 
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  texiares  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." 
Fiandre-  At  au  carly  period,  a  large  proportion  of  the 

cSifSll'^'  Belgic  tribes  had  adopted  the  colloquial  Latin 
or  Roman  language  in  various  dialects,  shading 
off  from  those  spoken  in  Gaul .  Hence  the  divi- 
sion of  the  country  into  "Fiandre-FIamingante'' 
and  "  Flandre-Gallicante."  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  Seoto-Saxon  ^,    .  ^ 

Flemisn 

Sovereigns,  and  broke  the  power  of  the  Gael.  SdirTh?*' 

rm         r^    M  -it  i  •        ,       i  n  Scoto-Saxon 

Ihe  Celts  could  not  stand  against  the  well-tem-  sovereignB. 
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  dilio-ent  amongst  modern  investi-  Nobimy  and 

cj  O  gentry  of 

gators  of  Scottish  history,  the  victim  of  a  sneer,  Sended 
whose  ponderous  volumes,  slumbering  on  the  Fieminga. 
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. 

§3.     In  a  political  point  of  view,  the  Im-  French 
perial  Eagle  and  the  Fleur-de-Lis  divided  the  ^'J^J^^^'"*^ 
supremacy  of   Flanders.     To   the  east  of  the 
Scheldt  the  land  was  Imperial,  whilst  the  re- 


252  FLANDERS. 

1054-1066  maining  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. 
ciln^s  I  ^'  Whatever  divisions  or  severances  sub- 

by  Berguim.  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  marslies  and  sands  into  tlie  1054-1066 
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. 

3  6.     As   for   Matilda,  a  true   woman,  her  %^«*f 

"  '  ?  of  Matilda, 

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. 
SiiK'  Four  sons  had  William  by  his  faithful  con- 

sort. Upon  Eobert  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. 

•5f  ^  4f  -K- 

hkS^*''  §  '^-     T^®  trying  perplexity  of  Anglo-Nor- 

t^em^porary  ^^^  Mstory,  Is  iudlcatcd  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  Rollo'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  ea 
restituta  tota,  supremum  debito  cum  amore 
et  honore  agnoscit  Magistrum,  nomine  Lan- 
francus." — Expressions    which    have    led    the 

VOL.  III.  s 


266  LANFRANC'S  YOUTH. 

1054-1066  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 
Grsecae  non  ignarus,"  and  this  curious  miscon- 
ception has  been  echoed  and  adopted  by  all  sub- 
sequent authorities. 

^ItSiy.  §  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  Eoman  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. 

iSiiS""'  Lanfranc  passed  through  the  whole  curricu- 

•ducation.  j^^  Qjp  ^i^g  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  1054-1066 
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. 

g  9.     But  a  deeper  sentiment  was  now  influ-  f^^^^^f 
encing  Lanfranc' s  mind.  He  felt  that  his  success  To'^Bec'  ^'**' 
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 
Rouen.  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  Tiaro — 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  BEC.  259 

darkness  of  the  dreary  night,  his  mind  suddenly  1054-106B 
received  a  new  impulse,  and  suggested  to  him 
the  enquiry,  whether  there  might  not  be  some 
humble  and  sequestered  monastery  in  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-  HerioTain. 
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  Herlouin  derided 
by  his  former  companions  when  they  saw  his 
coarse  garments,  and  unkempt  beard.  Hard  and 
fast  Herlouin  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- 
louin, probably  actuated  by  some  secret  presenti- 


260  LANFRANCa 

io54~io«6  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- 

L^tonc.  ^^S  ^^6  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  profifered  fees.  All  the  higher  talents 
of  the  mind  were  considered  gifts  of  the  Holy 


KEPUTATION  AT  BEC.  261 

Spirit;  and  it  was  deemed  simony  to  employ  1054-1068 
them  for  money.  The  honorarium  fell  into  the 
common  fund.  Scholars  resorted  to  him  from  wranf.^ 
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? 

g  10.     Bee  now  flourished  as  an  academy,  progrew 

"^     of  the 

Scholars  encreased  rapidly  ;  and  with  success,  ^^'^"te'y- 
emulation ;  and  with  emulation,  envy,  hatred,  ma- 
lice, and  all  uncharitableness.     Parties  arose  in 


262  LANFRANCS 

1054-1066  ^QQ      2^Q  brightness  of  spirit  can  extirpate  the 

jealousies  which  spring  up  like  ill-odoured  weeds, 

in  the  damp  corners  and  shady  sides  of  any  close 

agaiSS       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  witli  oddity  and  humility.  A  friend  1054-1005 
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,  whe- ^fSng  ?he 
ther  by  some  overt  act,  or  possibly  by  some  impediments 
unguarded  expression,  had  contributed  to  the™^'"*^^* 
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-  wniiam 

^  '  ^  banishes 

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- 


264  LANFRANC  AND 

1054-1066  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 

become  ill  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 

Monasteriei  rcpentancc.     They  gladly   complied ;    and  the 

wSiiam  and  two  grcat  fouudatlous  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  loeo-iocs 
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  SSe' 
life,  been  required   to  declare  his  feelings,  he|«£j^iti» 
would  have  spoken  nearly  in  the  words  of  the  loso-ioee 
great  poet  ; 

"  Nel  mezzo  del  cammin  di  nostra  vita 
Mi  ritrovai  per  una  selva  oscura, 
Che  la  dritta  via  era  smarrita. 
Hai !  quanto  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  GAUTIER'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  Yexin,  still  he  was  restrained  from 
hostility  only  by  the  influence  of  Baudouin  de 
Lisle  ;  and  the  extorted  homage  of  Ponthieu  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  Oriflamme  had  escaped  the 
Ga?t"rf°^  Norman  grasp.  Gautier,  who  had  succeeded 
u^tBB.  the  friendly  Drogo,  entirely  repudiated  Nor- 
mandy's suzerainty;  and  not  contented  with 
liberating  himself  from  that  dependence,  he 
endeavoured  to  regain  the  Norman  Yexin,  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  loeo-ioee 
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  ^^S 
unscrupulous  pair,  William  was  induced  to  expel  cem?n 
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  lo^o 
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. 

1060-1066  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. 
Death  of  g  13.     But  Geoffrey  Martel,  worn  out  pre- 

JJSedb7  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  Gatinois,  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  loeo-ioee 
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, 
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  betrotlied,  and  she  was  placed 
jj^.^^        under  the  guardianship  of  her  father-in-law,  to 
to  wuw  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 
[1063]     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  Roman  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-  loeo-ioee 
suing  his  plans  for  bridling  his  subjects  or  his  ^^^^^ 
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  fortification 

c  7  of  Mantes. 

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 W  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 

Margaret. 

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 


272  DISTURBANCES  IN 

1060-1066  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.] 

g  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. 
1060  Eobert    G-iroi,   encouraged   by  the    hostile 

feeling  of  Anjou,  fortifies  his  castles  and  makes 
Death  of     war  on  William.     The  Duke  is  delivered  from 

Robert  Giroi, 

see  p.  267.  j^jg  eucmy  by  a  crime  which  occurs  with  terrible 
frequency  in  the  Norman  annals.  Eobert  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 


NOKMANDY.  273 

history.     Our  judges  receive  a  character  from  loeo-ioee 
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-  ^iiHam-s 
en-Lyons,  a  name  indicating  that  the  Bourgade  '^'''^"' 
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. 

g  15.   [William,  encouraged  by  Roger  Mont-      lo^i 
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  towniiamcx- 

pels  certain 

resume  the  grants  which  he  or  his  ancestors  had  ^^^°'"'' 
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. 

io6o-io6(}  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. 

S6ep.m  [-rpjjg    ^gg^    Qf  Arnould's   story— his   flight, 

return  to  Normandy,   and   death  by  poison — 
has  been  already  given.] 
^^^^  g  16.  A  great  council  or  convention  of  the  Es- 

cS'^^°'  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; 

Manger.  Maugcr,  [Archbishop  of  Pouen,]  was  not  very 
closely  connected  with  William,  though  an  im- 
portant member  of  the  ducal  family — the  son 


ARCHBISHOP  MAUGER  275 

of  Richard  le-Bon,  by  his   third  wife,  Papia.  loeo-ioee 
Amongst  William's    enemies    none    more    per- 
tinacious and  teasing  than  Archbishop  Mauger. 
Courtier,   soldier,   warrior,    prelate,    the    mitre  His  irregular 

^  ^  ;>       r  7  conduct. 

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,  Mauger  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  f*fi^J>^p 
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. 

1060-1066  Scandinavian  faith,  discover  in  the  name  Thoreit, 
the  exclamation  Thor-aie,  an  invocation  of  Thor 
the  Hammerer;  but  the  vocable  is  pure  lioch 
deutsch,  and,  however  gained  or  bestowed,  sim- 

seepp.202,  pjy  siguifics  Follj.  Maugcr  supported  his  bro- 
ther, the  Count  of  Arques,  with  all  his  influ- 
ence. [By  the  failure  of  that  rebellion,]  Manger's 
power  to  excite  trouble  was  diminished,  but  he 
might  yet  be  dangerous.  William,  careful  not 
to  offend  the  Church,  watched  his  opportunity. 

Sfvldof  Force  could  not  decently  be  employed.     At  a 

^°"^""  convenient  season  of  tranquillity  a  synod  was 
held  at  Rouen,  and  Manger  was  deprived  of  his 
See.  The  gross  licentiousness  in  which  he  had 
indulged  was  now  found  to  afford  a  sufficient 
reason.  Manger  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 

jirsey!  ^^^^  ^^  thcsc  undiguificd  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.  loeo-ioee 
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. 

§  17.  Now  follows  the  conquest  of  Maine 
by  William,  already  told.]  War  breaks  out 
between  Geoffrey,  son  of  Eudes,  and  his  cousin 
Oonan.  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-  g^j^^^^^"" 
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  Oonan  of  Brittany,  who,  when  William  ^®' ^- ^^®- 
was  preparing  to  pass  into  England  and  vindi- 


278  WAR  OF  CON  AN. 

1060-1066  cate  his  rights  by  the  sword,  interposed  and  at- 
conan'8  tempted  to  deter  him.  ^  The  shame  of  his  illegi- 
defiance.  Hij^^iCj  was  Hot  sufficient.  Oonan  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  Amougst  thc  Brctous  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  loeo-ioee 
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. 

g  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  io28, 

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-  ^^^"3^ 
reignty  by  Harold  Harefoot,  Edward  and  Alfred, "  ^"''"^^• 
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  HAROLD  HAREFOOT. 

1060-1066  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 

jeath^of  was  seized  by  the  accomplices  and  satellites  of 
the  tyrant,  blinded,  and  conducted  as  a  captive 
to  Ely,  where  death  soon  closed  his  sufferings. 
Godwin  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  ;  and  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. 

Ha?efoot.  HaroM  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.] 
^°*2  §  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  diflficulty  he  was  persuaded  by  Godwin  1060-1066 

to  claim  the  throne.]     Within  a  few  days  after 

the  body  of  Hardicanute  had  been  consi^-ned  to  Edward  the 

*'  <-*  Confessor 

the  earth,  the  prelates  and  great  men  of  the ''"'''''^'• 
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  Grodwin  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  Normans 

1  »/  o  unpopular  in 

conduct  themselves  in  such  a  manner  as  to  occa-  ^"s^*""^- 
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  ofi&cial 
documents  by  adding  an  impression  of  his  great 


282  EDWAKD  INTRODUCES 

1060-1066  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. 
Noj^n  Hitherto  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  never  used  a 

introduced.  g^^|  ^^^  ^^^  purposc  of  authcuticating  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  '  Sigillum  Eaduuardi  Anglorum  Basilei,' 
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  wa^  desirous  of  obtaining  a  grant  of 
land — another,   mayhap,   required  a  ^writ'   to 


NORMAN  CUSTOMS.  283 

enable  Mm  to  recover  amends  for  an  injury;  since  loeo-ioee 
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  away,  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  J?*^^^^anS 
use  of  the  French  language,  or,  as  it  was  then  iT^SLi. 
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 

§  20.  [Meanwhile,  as  we  have  seen  J  William 
had  fully  established  himself  in  the  Duchy, 
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  1060-1066 
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  conquest! 
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  euemy ;  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  froin  the 


286  STATE  OF  ENGLAND. 

1060-1066  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. 

cSqu^st**"^  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  loeo-ioes 
obtain  the  concurrence  of  any  powerful  partisans, 
or  the  sanction  of  the  legislature. 

Such  then  was  the  state  of  affairs,  when 
William,  Buke  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, 
that  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     ^^s* 
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  GodwiM. 

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.  III.  u 


288  OLD  AGE  OF  EDWARD. 

'  1060-1066  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 
Btop  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. 
fJ^JIufethf  §  21.  Old  age  was  now  rapidly  advancing 
s^rfimuy  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 
William. 


I 


THE  SUCCESSION.  289 

people's  gladness  was  speedily  turned  to  sorrow,  loeo-ioee 
Yery  shortly  after  the  Atheling  arrived  in  Lon-  o^athof 
don,  he  sickened  and  died.     He  was  buried  in  oSaw.*^* 
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,  loss-ioes 
he  determined  that  William  of  Normandy  should  The  confes- 
succeed  him  on  the  throne  of  England,  and  he 
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. 

1060-1066  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's  William  himself  asserted  that  Edward  had 

acted  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  great 
Earls,  Si  ward,  Leofric,  and  Godwin  himself; 
consequently  the  bequest  was  made  hefore  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  loeo-ioes 
of  Harold's  journey  ;  nor  are  we  less  in  doubt  jjarows 
concerning  the  minor  incidents.  [He  is  said  to  lee  p.  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  loea-ioei 
in  repute.     He  invaded  Wales,  and  desolated  the  Harold's  war 
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 


292  DEATH  OF  EDWARD. 

1060-1068  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.  5, 1066  Edward  felt  that  the  hand  of  death  was  upon 
confes3°on^'  Mm.  A  Httlc  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  SUCCESSOE.  293 

ruin.  Against  the  duke  and  his  baronage,  no  io6o-io6« 
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  uponJJjr^^^J 
Edward's  last  will ;  many  of  our  historians  '"''*'**^' 
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  comes  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  EDWARD. 

1060-1066  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   YI. 

THE    INVASION. 


1066, 


§  1.     Upon  the  death  of  Edward  the  Con- .  ^Qgg 
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 :  ""*'^'^' 
but,  whilst  William  was  absent,  and   Edward 
young  and  poor,  perhaps  timid  and  hesitating, 
Harold  was  on  the  spot ;  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  la-id  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. 

106(5  say,  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. 
Harold  not         Somc   portlous   of  the  An^lo-Saxon   domi- 

universally  *  *-* 

accepted,  jjjons  ncvcr  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  Godwin  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. 

Hisgoyem.  2  2.  HaroM  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 


ment. 


HIS  UNCERTAIN  POSITION.  297 

oppressive  enforcement  of  the  forest-laws.     To-     loee 
wards  his  own  partisans,  Harold  may  have  been 
ostentatiously  just,  while  the  ordinary  exercise 
of  the  royal  prerogative  would  appear  tyrannical 
to  those  who  deemed  him  to  be  an  usurper. 

Harold,  as  the  last  Ang:lo-Saxon  ruler,  has  Distracted 

7  o  7  state  of 

often  been  viewed  with  peculiar  partiality ;  but  ^"sia^*^- 
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  accessign,  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- 


298  WILLIAM  CLAIMS 

1066      sion  had  been,  the  political  faith  in  the  "  right 
Flaw  in      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. 
SnsThe  §  3.    William  was  hunting  in  the  Park  of 

Eouen,  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  Eouen  would  soon  hear  of  the  death 
of  Edward,  and  of  his  claims  to  the  succession. 
cro4T*^^  William  instantly  recovered  from  his  reverie; 
and  upon  the  advice  of  a  Norman  baron,  Fitz- 


THE  CKOWN.  299 

Osbern  the   Bold,  it  was   determined  that  he     loee 
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  Harow 
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. 

g  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 


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       exccutc  thc  couuscl  which  they  gave ;  and  in 
Liuebonne.  |.]j^  great  parliament  assembled  at  Lillebonne, 
the  barons  determined  to  assist  their  Sovereign 
in  his  contest  with  the  English  usurper,  the  per- 
jured Harold. 
Fitz-osbern's        In  thls  mcmorablc   meeting,  there   was   at 

zeal  for  the  ^' 

invasion,  ^^st  much  dlvcrslty  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      ^oee 
speaking,    such    an    outcry   of    disapprobation 
arose  that  it  seemed  as  if  the  very  roof  of  the 
Hall  would  be   rent   asunder.      William,   who  wiiuam 

persuades 

could  not  restore  order,  withdrew  into  another  *^' ^^''*'"''- 
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. 

turera  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. 

1066  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 

grounds  for 

his  invasion,  rcasous  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 

l^^^orted  at  Poutlff,  allowcd,  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  YIL,  greatly  assisted  by  the  sup- 
port which  he  gave  to  the  decree. 

As  a  visible  token  of  protection,  the  Pope 


HAEOLD'S  PREPARATIONS.  303 

transmitted  to  William  the  consecrated  banner,  iQgQ  , 
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. 

§  6.     There  was  little  regular  communication  "aroid 

"  o  prepares  his 

between  England  and  the  Continent ;  but  it  was  *^®^^''*'®* 
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 


1060 


Bhips. 


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, 
wjlfi^m-f  §  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. 

The  gathering  of  the  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Dive  had  been  delayed  by  contrary  gales,  and 


Fleet  sails. 


CROSSES  THE  CHANNEL.  305 

other    mischances.       The   ships   sailed  to   the  _i^ 
Somme,  but  the  winds  were  still  unfavourable. 
The  relics  of  St.  Yalery  were  brought  forth  from 
their  shrine.      On  the  eve  of  St.  Michael,  thesep.28. 
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  wmum 
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. 

1066  shorn,  arrayed  in  a  light  and  unincumbering 
garb  ;  each  held  his  long  bow,  strung  for  the 
fight,  in  his  hand,  and  by  his  side  hung  the 
quiver,  filled  with  those  cloth-yard  shafts,  which, 
in  process  of  time,  became  the  favourite  and 
national  weapon  of  the  yeomanry  of  England. 

SJbal-l^tion,  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- 
cels  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-  Thc  quick  eye  of  the  Leader  selected  the  spot 

trenchment.  x  ./  i 

for  the  stockades  and  entrenchments.     The  tim- 


POSITION  OF  HAROLD.  307 

bers  and  pavoises,  and  other  materials,  were  ,  ^^ 
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.  i. 
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  j^^^i^the 
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 


308  HAROLD'S  DIFFICULTIES. 

1068  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 
Gurths       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. 
mitifa^*  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- J^j^g'j^"^*^; 
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 


Omens  and 
counter- 
omens. 


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. 

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  fii^romsmcer — 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  ^^ 
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.  ^' 3^al  signe  est  ^iV  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  ha(i  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. 

§  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. 
Uncertainty  '^^^  propositions  of  William  are  stated,  by  other 
proS?"^  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 
r  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  past  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  Fcar  prcvailed  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 


camp 


THE  ARMIES.  313 

riot  and  revelry.  The  whole  night  was  passed  .  ^oee 
in  debauch.  "  WcBs-heaV  and  ''  Drink-heaV  re- 
sounded from  the  tents  ;  the  wine  cups  passed 
gaily  round  and  round  b}^  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  J^^'pf '*''"''" 
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. 

2>  11.    The  En o-lish  were  stron2;ly  fortified  in  Disposition  of 

"  ®  °  "^  the  Euelish. 

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.  14.       Calixtus,   William   had    assembled   his   barons 

around  him,  and   exhorted   them  to  maintain 

his   righteous   cause.      As    the  invaders   drew 

The  Norman      .     ,        -.-t  it  t     •     •  -i 

advance,  uigh,  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  Koger 
Montgomery.  ^^It  is  the  Duke" — exclaimed 
Harold — "  and  little  shall  I  fear  him.  By  7711/ 
forces,  will  his  be  four  times  out-numbered ! " 
Grurth  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,  Yiscount 
of  Thenars,  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  Gonfanon  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       2  12.     As  tlic  Normaus  wcrc  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  Taillefer,  the  Minstrel,  singing,  with  a  loud 
and  clear  voice,  the  lay  of  Charlemagne  and 
Eoland,  and  the  emprizes  of  the  Paladins  who 
had  fallen  in  the  dolorous  pass  of  Koncevaux. 
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,  "  Taille-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  NoJLn./  * 
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 
slaughter. 


316  THE  BATTLE. 

jQ^  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  No;™^n« 
were  nearly  routed.  The  cry  was  raised,  that  '^'^^^'^*^- 
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. 

.  ^^^^  .  but  Harold  was  not  amongst  them ;  and  Wil- 
liam led  on  his   troops  with   desperate   intre- 

71i6  last 

attack.  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. . 

The  flight.  §  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. 

Siero?.'  ^y  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  had  fallen  in  the  conflict,  was  at  once  the  ^Qgg 
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, 
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  Roll,  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  SpteTent' 
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 
visiter,  or  the  instruction  of  the  moping  anti- 
quary. 

§  14.  The  victor  is  now  installed  ;  but  what  Harowsfate. 
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.  III.  T 


320  LEGENDS  ABOUT 

^Qgg  that  William  refused  the  rites  of  sepulture  to 
That  he  was  ^^^  excommunicated  enemy.  Gruillielmus  Pic- 
buriedonthe^^^^^gjg^  the  chaplaiii  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. 

l\5.  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, —  .  ^^^^  , 
Harold  could  not  possibly  be  discovered — no  That  he  wm 
trace  of  Harold  was  to  be  found  ;  and  as  the  last  wS'th^ 
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. 


§  16.  Years  afterwards,  when  the  Norman  tJ;^*^^j 
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 


This  tale 

G(Bitradicted. 


322  HAEOLD  THE  HERMIT 

i^^  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,  "7/^c  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      loes 
safely  proceeding  to  the  distant  fane,  his  haven 
of  refuge. 

?  17.    If  we  compare  the  different  narratives  But  not  im. 

o  1  probable  or 

concerning  the  inhumation  of  Harold,  we  shall  ^p««"^i«' 
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. 


8  1.  William  and  his  army,  when  they  spread  physical 

o  ^^  ?  J      r  aspect  of 

themselves  over  this  fertile  and  much-coveted  ^"s^*'"'^- 
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       Wc  arc  Warranted  in  asserting,  from  various 

has  Taned.  *-'•' 

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  genial  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       S  2.     Probablv  ouc-third  of  the  face  of  the 

uncultirated  «-»  "^ 

»^"-  island  was  covered  with  wood  ;  another  third, 

uncultivated  heath  and  moor.  Marshlands  were 
very  extensive.  Towards  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  driftings  of  sand  and  accumu- 
lations of  earth  have  since  converted  many  an 
aestuary  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 
Eoman  Oaister  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  of 

-■-  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 


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  lY.,  is  sub- 
merged in  the  waves. 
cwesof  §  3,  Considering  the  globe  as  a  whole,  it  can- 
Seed  bT    not  be  doubted  but  that  the  great,  though  limited, 

man. 

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  G-erard'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  hyaena  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-  J^^'^pp^"- . 

o         7  ance  of  some 

important  to  remark  that  other  notices  may  be 
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  G-aul,  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 
Gaston  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. 
frutK  dra-       Morc  pcrplcxiug  are  the  numerous  legends 
gon  legends.  ^^  \^^gQ  dragous.  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  nirPvrSl 
— (we  use  this  term,  because  the  Roman  Empire  ceiestiai 

^  ^  ^  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 
wcTdbya  Crusades.  But  no  appearance  excited  so  much 
r a  come.  ^^^  .^  Euglaud  as  thc  Great  Comet  of  106(5, 
such  as  never  had  been  seen  before.  Pilgrim 
and  merchant,  monk  and  la3^man,  had  brought 
the  frequent  and  dread  report  that  Duke  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy,  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  JJ^^o^^^^^- 
now,  that  the   appointed  time  had  arrived  for  ISJeached 

•"  ^  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  CORKUPTION  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. 
fS^i-^L  §  6.  The  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  eriis  of 

these  abuses 

opulent  transgressor  ;  hence  the  universal  re-  morSlty.^ 
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.  III.  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 
sja^et^de  lowcr  ordcrs  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  coSessor. 
had  perhaps  been  imparted  by  the  personal  cha- 
racter of  1:he  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. 

g  7.  The  ancient  kingdoms  of  the  so-called  ^^jgjj^s  ^^ 
Heptarchy,  had  merged  in  the  three  great  divi-Slfof  *' 
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  rulinor  wessex  th« 

^  chief. 

portion  of  the  empire,  yet  under  the  Confessor, 

z2 


338  DISLOCATION  PRODUCED 

though  Winchester  might  still  be  reckoned  as 
the  constitutional  capital,  yet  Westminster  had 
become  the  residence  of  the  monarch,  the  Basi- 
pSJttaiiy    leus  of  the  empire.     Such  a  change  of  resi- 
weitminster.  dcucc  Is  alwajs  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   distinctly 
inaugurated,   at    least    in    the   three   principal 
states  of  which  the  kingdom  was  composed. 
Eyii^wsuits         rjy^Q  Daulsh  iuvasious  had  entirely  dislocated 
tSb/"'   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  ^y*™^^ 
was  subsequently  effected  by  the  Komanized  coiqueBt. 
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  Earidoms. 
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  EARLDOMS. 

the  disciple  of  Alcuin  might  not  have  learned 
from  him  some  principles  of  government,  cannot 

sI"on*^on8ti-  be  affirmed,  but  might  perhaps  be  conjectured ; 

bycharir  and  the  extraordinary  and  otherwise  inexpli- 

magne  ?  */  x 

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     Thc  EavMom  had  not  absolutely  settled  into  a 

power  of  the  *' 

feariB.  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 — ''Jigliol  fui  d'  un  beccaio  diParigV 
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  BUEGHS.  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.  [0ct.i844.] 
§  9.  Besides  the  Earldoms,  the  greater  burghs  ^J'^j'j^j"- 
formed  a  very  important  portion  of  the  Anglo-  ^*"^^'' 
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- Not  antago- 

,  .  ,       .  nisiic  to 

quent  age, — an  antagonism  between  commerce  ^udaiitj. 
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. 


342  '  WINCHESTER. 

Analogies  Such  a  statc  of  things  was  not  uncommon 

abroad.  ^ 

upon  the  contintnt.  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  ODly  have 
escaped  the  general  plethora,  but  have  even 
fallen  away.  Caer-Guent,  for  the  Saxons  fully 
recollected  its   British   name,  retained  the  in- 

Traditions  of  signia  of  government.  There  was  the  royal 
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.  Loudou  posscsscd  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  lar^e  a  number  of  the  Lithsmen,  Affected  by 

'J  c>  7  panish 

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  rectares  or 
aldermen,  and  the  commonalty,  are  distinctly 
marked.  Proud  and  warlike,  and  defended  by 
the  Eoman  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,  j^mongst  other  rights,  London  prfvneges  of 
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,  ment  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 

Dirersity     what  mav  be  termed  a  uniform  authority.     This 

of  races  in  *'  *' 

Wessex.  g^-gat  domimou  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.     aud  Ccrnau,  or  Cornwall,  can  be  traced  from 

dence  of  old  '  ' 

population,  (jeraint  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.  346 

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,  andNonhern 
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  Danish 

*'  character  of 

term,  and  shows  a  Danish  local  government,  ^^'^^* 
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 
^SSties  inimemorial  antiquity,  though  probably  not  ex- 
ofKent.  ^^^ly  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 
surtey.  grcat  basls  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 


NORTHUMBRIA.  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,  wefj'/fj^^°' 
must,  in  the  first  instance,  entirely  divest  ourselves  K^''"" 
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 
men?of^"  carMom,  the  succession  began  after  the  death 
the  North.'''  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 
North°^°/  upon  his  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 


bria. 


YORK.  349 

fidelity  to  the  Confessor.  The  remoteness  ofindepeu-^^ 
these  earldoms  from  the  seat  of  government,  "^^°°' 
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- 
umbria,  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. 
deuces  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  g^JJ^;  °{ *^« 
it  may  be  to  discover  amidst  the  traditions  of  ^'"°'^^- 
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. 

g  13.     Legends  and  poems  are  almost   the  ^*'*  ^°s"*- 
only  memorials  we    possess   of    East  Anglia. 
The  Danes,  under   Guthrun,  efi'ecting   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,  Gruthrun,  or  Grorp,  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 

Earwom.  ^^^  grcat  authorlty.  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. 

s^ile^o?  §  1^-     I^  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  monarchs  of 


Scotland. 


POLITICAL  STATE  OF  SCOTLAND.  351 

Britain,  a  tie  often  disputed,  but  never  entirely 

cast  off.   The  rebellion  of  the  Scots,  which  drew  conquest  by 

^  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  poiuicai 

dependence 

transmission  of  exerted  authority  and  obedi- Cf  Se  scoL 
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 

Malcolm,  sovcrcign.  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. 

strath-Clyde.  §  15.  From  thc  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. 

cSria.  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  union  of 

*'  °  North  Cum. 

as  conquests  subjected  the  northern  Cumbria  ^^^^^j^^^J 
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-Olyde,  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-  ^^^■ 
Saxon  empire.     Master  of  the  vacant  throne, 
Edmund    might   have  retained  possession,  or 

AA  2 


364  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 

SSiiS.  clynasty.  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. 

Relation  of         Thc  rcfusal  of  Malcolm  III,  to  contribute 

the  Danes  to 

Scotland.  ^Q  ^^g  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.  Z55 

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  YIII. 

THE    CONQUEROR,    FROM    HASTINGS    TO    THE    CORONATION. 


1066. 


the  country. 


1066  §  1.    Upon  Harold's  death,  the  several  com- 

ponent members  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  monarchy 
poSonS^   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  G-od- 
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 


CLAIMS  TO  THE  THRONE.  357 

engaged  in  the  fatal  conflict,  cannot  be  ascer-     1066 
tained.    At  all  events,  they  drew  off  their  forces 
immediately,   and   advanced  to   London.     Un-tleSson 

,      .  t^e  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  ^^^ 
the  age  of  the  child  was,  we  have  no  exact  ^^^'"'' 
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 


claimant  in 


358  CHOICE  OF  EDGAR. 

1068  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. 
Thf^^thei-  It  should  seem  that  the  Proceres,  properly 
prevails.  ^^  callcd,  lu  whosc  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  Kegents  in  his  name.  Yet  that  name 
afforded  the  means  of  embodying  the  sentiments 
Hispopuia-  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-      loee 
tation  for  their  sins.     Every  effort  they  made 
to  extricate  themselves  from  the  meshes  of  the 
net,  only  entangled  them  more  and  more. 

g  2.  Military  operations,  always  difficult  por-  ^l^^^^^J'"'' 
tions  of  historical  narrative,  if  it  be  desired  to  give  ^^'^p^'^"'- 
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  whence 

'  '  ^  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 


the  victory. 


360  WILLIAM'S 

1066  general  nature  seems  to  have  been  preserved 
with  truth  and  sincerity. 
?onque"ridby  §  3.  It  luust  have  bceu  very  evident  to  Wil- 
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 


William  in 
Sussex. 


FIRST  CAMPAIGN.  361 

more  particularly  from  its  southern  portions ;  loee 
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  be  peculiarly  open  to  his  attacks  ; 
and  these  constitute  the  scene  of  his  first  cam- 
paign. 

He  began  his  operations  against  Romney :  ^**^^^j 
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 

1066  blazing.  It  is  said  that  the  Norman  soldiers, 
eager   for   prey   and  rapine,  had   cast   in   the 

Dover  taken,  buming  brauds  ;  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. 

ferbury.^^''"  §  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  Grodwin  family,  commanded  in  the 
city.  A  third  individual  of  great  importance 
was  ^gelsine,  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-      lo^e 
ment. 

It  does  not  seem  that  Canterbury  was  very  J-eM?*^ 
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  ^gelsine  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-  wniiam 

advances 

vanced  till  within  a  day's  march  of  London.  LTndo^n. 
Not  far  from  the  Eiver  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, 


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  ^gelsine. 
wfthout^^^'  How  was  William,  so  little  expecting  opposi- 
bioodshed.  ^1^^^  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- 
^riJiil^B  ®^o^  ^^^  incident  to  the  romance  of  history.  It 
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     loee 
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  f^l^'^^, 
value,  they  fully  evidence  the  main  fact,  thatwrnSm!* 
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  Kochester,  William,  sending  out  Z^^ZtX. 
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  Wal-  J^*'^'^'^"^^^^" 
lingford.  This  point  was  said  by  the  great  Duke 
of  Marlborough  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 

homage.^''''  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. 

Son'  William,  when  he  began  to  conduct  the  siege 

i>egins.  1^  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 
Csesar,  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 

Ansgard.  frlcuds.  Thcrc  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  iocs 
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  submuto 

'  .WUliam. 

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.  in.  BB 


Reasons  for 
Bu1}mis8ioa. 


368  GROUNDS   OF   ADHESION 

W6fl  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. 

§  6.  None  of  these  submissions  made  Wil- 
liam king  ;  and  now  ensued  those  transactions 
which  really  placed  him  on  the  throne,  the  assump- 
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  thq  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     mo 
and  feelings  of  the  eleventh  century?     Surely 
the  influence  of  the  prelates  over  the  people 
was  legitimate.     They  were  the  chief  members  ^JJ^S- 
of   the  great   council,  the   parliament,  if  you"""*'*^^* 
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  Necessity  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 

1066  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 
Jd^^T^jj^d  shield,  wield  the  sword.  Edgar,  the  effigy  of  a 
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. 

g  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 


I 


A   CMDVERNING  SOVEREIGN.  371 

delegating  his  powers  to  others,  no  veil  of  eti-  _ij^. 

quette,  no  train  of  attendants,  no  mist  of  forms 

and  ceremonies  concealed  the  sovereign  from  the  inthosedays, 

the  kiog 

people :  his  hall  was  open ;  the  king  presided  ""J'^u^^" 
in  his  own  court,  listened  to  the  complaints  of  "'^" 
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  .   , 

*'  Analogous 

political  danger,  and  this  in  communities  which,  ^^n%. 
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  pwn,  or  by  any  fiction 


.  372  EFFECT   OF   INTERREGNUM. 

^  jtwe  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  -i       i  •        i    i  -r-rr' 

toterre^f.  ^^®  J^^^g^s  arc  mcrelj  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. 

g  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     loee 

sworn  king,  the  anointed  king,  the  crowned  king, 

as  to  render  it  impossible  to  supply  the  royal  strong  legai 

.  X  X    ^  ^         position  of  a 

authority  by  any  other  chief  magistrate  or  form  |^°|i, 
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 

T     J.         ..  k.  K         1       r\  Regponsibil- 

royal  dignity  open  upon  us.     An  Anglo-Saxon  itj  of  Angio- 
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 

1066  the  inauguration  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  King  was 
Constitution-  ^^^  coveuaut  with  his  subjects  :  his  throne  was 
to  tS^RoyJa' founded  upon  justice.  Magna  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  Dunstan  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. 
William  Unless  William  consented  to  wear  the  crown 

as?i2e^'the   as  Ethelrcd  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  Aymery 


POSITION   AS   KING.  375 

of  Thouars  took  up  the  discussion  :  he  urged  loes 
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, 
his   own   followers    must   have   very   sincerely  ad^hT" 

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  lY^lpSion 
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 


maintain 
law. 


376  WILLIAM'S   PROFESSIONS. 

1066  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. 
William's  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  secu- 
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     io6« 

are  ambiguous.     Possibly  some  witty  Jongleur 

had  even  then  put  into  jingle  the  statesman's  Scunce 

geauine  ? 

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  stigand. 
become  William's  homager,  and  had  forwarded 
his  cause  ;  but  William  repelled  him  at  once 
from  the  ofi&ce,  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 


878 


TUMULT   AT 


1066 


Part  taken 
by  Aldred. 


William 
acknow- 
ledged. 


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 
attack,  though  none  was  declared.  Archbishop 
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 
they  were  willing  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  loee 
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  ;  Nor™nf: 
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- 
pire. The  victor  of  Hastings  was  agued  with 
terror  when  receiving  his  prize. 


380  CORONATION   OMENS. 

1068  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  Ul  '^  "^  ,  .       1 

SSfar*'''  plishment.  The  mischance  was  imputed  to 
occasions.  ]^Qj.jjjg^j^  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 
withdraws.  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  wee 
to  him,  few  in  number,  for  few  were  surviving,  g^xoiT*' 
and  none  of  those  who  had  partaken  in  the^'*'"*^'* 
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  J^J^Jn"^* 
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. 

1066  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 

pSinf""'"  w^s  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. 

g  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- 

SentTtoMs  ful  sovereign,  governing  according  to  law.  But,  as 
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 


fc 


CHARACTER   OF  HIS   FOLLOWERS.  383 

low  degree,  were  equally  expectant.     Not  only  .   ^^^^   ^ 
barons,  knights,  and  vavassours,  but  the  churls, 
the  peasants,  the  menials,  the   craftsmen,  the  Mixed 

^  ''  ^  ^  character  of 

varlets,  who  had  formed  a  part  of  the  host :  all  caS^^v^e? 
that  rascal  rout,  the  followers  of  the  army,  conqueL. 
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^ 
hardly  begun :  William  had  gained  nothing  ben' 
yond  a  portion  of  Harold's  earldom  :  the  Norths 
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.  III.  c  c 


mits  of 
William's 
sovereignty. 


384  WILLIAM'S   DANGER 

1066  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 
preponder-  it  wcrc,  ou  cvcrv  sldc  ?     From  the  first  moment 

ance  of  7  ./ 

?he  olner  ^^  ^Is  acccssiou,  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. 

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. 
fo^S^n  When  it  was  first  heard  in  Denmark  how 

Se'maik.  y^^m^^  ^j^d  luvadcd  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 


FROM   DENMARK.  385 

and  the  Normans.     The  exploits  of  Earl  Eollo,  .    ^^^   . 

Eudo-jarl,  might  become  the  subject  of  a  Saga, 

but    his    descendants    were    Frenchmen,    now  TheNonnani 

'  now  alien 

speaking  a  strange  tongue,  and  entirely  severed  D^es?* 
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  kinp;-  Denmark 

*  °     treats  him 

dom."  The  danger  was  in  every  way  imminent : »"» vassal. 
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  j 
him  the  founder  of  the  British  Empire.  - 

^t^^r   William  began  by  fully  demonstrating  wimam'i 

firgt  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 

CO  2 


386  HIS   ADMINISTRATION. 

io6«  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- 
Stemed  sury.  His  soldiery  were  rigidly  restrained  from 
in  ms  army,  pj^pjj^^  ^j^^  vlolencc.  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. 
His  stem  Hc  madc  no  distinction  of  persons  in  the  ad- 
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  consin, .  ^^ 
the  Confessor,  and  his  cousin's  laws  continued 
the  code  of  the  land,  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-  Z^ll^ 
liam  the  King,  greets  William  the  Bishop,  God-  S London. 
frey  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- 


388  RIGHTS   OF    THE   CITY. 

>  ^^^  .  dom,  have  retained  till  the  present  day.  In 
Duration  of  each  charteF  granted  by  successive  kings,  by 
of  the  City.  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  %  15.    William  furthermore  employed  this 

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- 


progresi. 


i 


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,  Triestoieam 

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  of  his 

•^  ■'  ^  administra- 

their  full  effect.  "It  was  by  William's  civil  ad-  *^°''- 
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  j 
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 

g  16.  It  was  a  notorious  fact,  to  friend  and  Sm.^'* 
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  Koman  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 


390  THE    WHITE    TOWER 


1060 


power  of  resistance  which  the  fortifications  of 
the  Caesars  would  give.  Colchester  and  Chester 
might  equally  have  depended  upon  theirs  ;  but 
f^JtTfTed  some  places  which  the  Romans  had  fortified  had 
places.  |3ecome  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. 
tiTe'Towen  DuHug  WllHam'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  Lanfranc, 
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  y  ^°^^  > 
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  Faiaise 

•••  '  '  Castle  the 

alteration  having  been  made  except  what  was  Sf wwte 
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  it«  position. 
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 


392  RALPH 


1066 


Bajrnard. 


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, 
tJwa^rds''^  Through  the  intervention,  as  incidental  circum- 
stances,— for  history  is  silent, — enable  us  to 
collect,  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  Ealph  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 
fift}^  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 


BAYNAED.  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  ^jjj^^^y «' 
wisdom  unrewarded,  for  whatever  troubles  dis- 
turbed the  land,  so  long  as  the  Conqueror  and 
his  children  reigned,  London  never  swerved  from 
her  fidelity. 

g  17.     William  steadily  pursued  his  system  2.*^^^?;/°'**" 
of  over-awing  the  country  with  castles  ; — in  pro-  Sg^he 

course  of 

portion  as  his  power  extended,  the  square,  tall  J^''^f™'' 
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 

>  ^t^°...>  serve  in  Sussex  a  territorial  division,  wliose 
aspect  differs  alto2:etlier  from  tliat  which  pre- 

Political  1  O  1 

ftom'ihe"'    "^^ils  elsewhere  in  England.      In  most  of  the 

diSons.  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,  jurisdictlou  and  of  fiscal  management.  In  Kent 
the  Hundreds  are  much  smaller  in  projDortion 
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 

la  the  West.  ^Q  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  v_i^ 
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  fiff,?JJ/' 
the  process  which  William  effected  in  Sussex  ;  *^"'''''°' 
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 


1066 


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. 
Sswlno!  §  1^-  ^niore  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 


106» 


capitulation.  Others  of  distinction  were  ad- 
joined in  the  embassy,  bearing  a  store  of 
money.  They  were  well  received  in  Denmark,  J^^JIJ  ^^^ 
and  the  gifts  they  brought  being  accepted  ^y  *^^  p""*"*- 
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  G-erman  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  awanam 

^  ^  places  the 

juncture  when  his   affairs  were  yet  so  preca-  copsfin 
rious,  would  have  been  an  act  of  rashness,  not  "i^bria. 
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. 

g  19.     When  William  was  making  his  royal 


398  DEFENCE   OF    EAST  ANGLIA. 


1066 


progress,  he  might  observe  how  carefully  the 
Eomans  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 

Bu^^^  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 
cdmmander  about  the  age  of  Constantine,  or 
somewhat  later,  when  the  encreasing  weakness 
of  the  empire  suggested  more  and  more  of  those 
precautions,  which,  however  well  planned,  were 

changefo^a    uuable  to  avcrt  its  destiny.     The  Wensum,  then 

the  Eastern  t         /v»  n       i  n  i 

Wide  and  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  Eoman  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  North  wick,  or  bend;  and  the  old  traditional 
proverb, — 


Fluviatile 
Chang 
the  Ei 
coast. 


NORWICH  CASTLE.  399 

"  Caister  was  a  city  when  Norwich  was  none,  low 

Norwich  was  built  with  Caister  stone," 

is  without  doubt  a  true  record  of  its  history  ; 
and  thus  arose  the  then  new  town  of  Norwich,  wSbuiit. 
so  differing  in  its  circular  ground  plan  and 
tortuous  streets  from  the  cities  built  upon 
Roman  foundations,  and  in  which  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-  bu^iit^y*^® 
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  a  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 


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, 

Norwich."^  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.  Griles,  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  schcmc    of    paylug  his   followers  by   English 

the  grants  ' 

wmlam  1^^^-  H^^  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 


1066 


sembly  at  Lillebonne  :  they  could  not  drive 
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  S1;ngiS!^ 
from  the  Danes  ;  and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that 
when  the  Englishman  was  expelled  from  the 
township  now  called  Ormsby  by  the  Serpent, — 
for  such  is  the  meaning  of  Orm  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  for^V**^""" 
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 


402  GROUNDS  OF  APPROPRIATION. 


1060 


once  gave  him  an  enormous  fund,  so  to  speak, 
to  draw  upon.  However  acquired,  the  Godwin 
o/gSu''  family  were  the  largest  landed  proprietors  in 
property,  jgnglaud,  aud  the  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  anotjierLrflyalprerogative,  such  as  had 
been  enjoyed  by  the  Confessor,  which  also 
strengthened  his  right  of  disposal.  We  can  col- 
certain       lect,  amldst  *the  obscurity  of  the  Ans^lo-Saxon 

tenures  -^  »/  cj 

Splnl  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. 


TERMS  OF  THE  GRANTS.  403 

Furthermore,  whatever  grants  were  made,  ^^ 
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  *'*^'^*'"- 
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  Yavasour'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  Yillein'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, 
when  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  tempore  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  sutjh  conditions,  it  should  seem  that 
extremely  ample  endowments  were  made  during 
the  first  seizin    of    the   Conquest.      Of  gifts 


Odo 


To  De 


404  CHIEF  GRANTS. 

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,  thfe  son  of  Thurstan  de  Bastenberg, 
Hugh  with  the  beard,  who  generally  however 
Montfort.  was  callcd  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  Hamo  Dapi- 
fer  ;  and  these,  together  with  a  chaplain,  one 
Albert,  of  whom  nothing  else  is  known,  and  the 
prelates  and  ecclesiastical  communities,  had  the 
Grants  iu     wholc  supcrioritv  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 
Hanjsiiire  ^^^  ^^  Wight  was  glvcu  to  Fitz-Osbcm.  All 
these  subsequently  obtained  much  more  extensive 


r 


BATTLE  ABBEY.  405 

baronies,  as  William's  power  and  means  advanced     io«6 
and  encreased.    It  is  not  practicable  to  ascertain  sub-grants. 
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, "  Null!  tamen  Gallo  datum  est  ^^479'y 
quod  Anglo  cuiquam  injuste  fuerit  ablatum." 

§  22.  But  there  was  another  promise  which 
remained  to  be  fulfilled  :  the  vow  which  he  had  otB^ti^^' 
made  during  the  conflict  of  Hastings,  that,  on  the  ^^^^^' 
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  6f 

.  ^^  .  Church,  was  granted  to  the  monks  with  all  the 
king's  rights  and  prerogatives,  as  free  as  he  held 

tiT^'arar*  the  same.  Within  this  circuit  arose  the  borough 

foLdation.  of  Battle  upon  the  old  English  scheme  of  terri- 
torial organization ;  and  the  name  of  Montjoie, 
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- 

speciaiprivi- moutier   were   there:   Goisfrid  was   appointed 

leges  of  the  ^  ^ 

Abbey.  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  ^/tJ^fJ^Jey. 
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  Balliol  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  they  deduced  their 
lineages  and  their  names  ;  and  in  after  times, 
in  the  days  of  York  and  Lancaster,  of  the 
White  Kose  and  the  Eed  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 

til? Abbey.^^  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    EXERCISED    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 


3  1 .     During  these  transactions,  William  had  GoTernment 

"  '  of  Normandy 

been  providently  preparing  for  his  return  to  Nor-  Duke^^* 
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  TOWAKDS  THE  SAXON 

.  ^^^"^  .  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. 
SucT'to-  In  all  William's  conduct  towards  the  English, 
irion Voyai  whllst  golug  to  thc  vcry  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  circum- 


ROYAL  LINE  AND  CHIEFS.  411 

stance  in  itself  would  not  render  the  story  in-  ,    ^^^"^   . 
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  ES^d5**' 
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  ''*'^^°^* 
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 

10(57  the  apparently  cordial  submission  of  the 
younger.  Waltheof  also  was  much  courted  by 
William,   and  the   subsequent  marriage  of  the 

En"''  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. 

SorSj.  §  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  Yespasian,  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  loe? 
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-  £ro  onife 
tifying  the  impression  made  upon  the  popular  ^^''^  ^" 
mind  ;  and  whilst  the  peasant  tells  you  that  every 
grass-grown  rampart  is  Caesar'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  Caesar  was  that  which  followed 
their  sovereign.  Caesar  only  brought  forth  his 
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?£:;f^** 
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 
often  emptied  before  at  the  carouses  at  West- 
minster and  Winchester.     Lamps  and  coronals, 


414  WEALTH  OF  ENGLAND. 

>  ^^'^  .  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 

Saxon  art.  ^erc  uow  wccpiug  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  stfangers  :  their  race  still  retaining 
that  personal  beauty,  the  long  tresses  of  flowing 
auburn  hair,  which  first  led  the  great  Gregory 
to  seek  their  conversion. 

SSS'Ang       §  ^-  This  era  was  certainly  the  culminating 

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,  .   ^^'^   . 
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,  thatLan&anc. 
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  Eome.  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,  ?n"HaSK° 
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  Yirgil  in  the  opinion  of  his  contempora- 
ries. To  us,  plain  prose  would  have  been  more 
satisfactory :  yet,  as  a  literary  monument,  and 
VOL.  ni.  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 
?ha?ac°terof  of  Romc's  warrlors  and  Rome's  heroes  that  the 
thupoem.  ijisti.|j(>|;Qi.  sought  to  form  the  character  of  the 
Norman  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. 

William  continued  in  Normandy  for  upwards 
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. 

g  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 


William's 
stay  in 
Normandy. 


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  JSSt'euT' 
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  Regent.. 
Eegents  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  Eegency, — 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 


418  WILLIAM'S  AUTHORITY 


1067 


all  possessing  very  different  interests,  would  re- 
quire great  management,  and  he  seems  to  have 
left  it  doubtful  whether  the  country  was  or  was 
SfS^in  not  to  continue  under  the  government  of  Eng- 
theNortiJ.  j.gj^  ^^  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 
copfi?.°'  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. 

Not  less  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  Eadnoth,  the  standard-bearer 
or  marshal  of  the  host  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings, 


Th«We8t. 


IN  NORTH  AND  WEST.  419 

a  dignity  attached  to  his  possessions.  Eudo,  .  ^.^^"^  . 
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-Count,  seems  to  have  passed 
over  and  occupied  some  position  on  the  coast 
of  Somerset  or  Devon.  But  Exeter  would  by  Jj^®p|j*J^°«® 
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-  S^J,e°°^"®* 
port,  when  compared  with  the  mischief  resulting  ^®^®''*'- 
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  MISGOVERNMENT  OF  THE  REGENTS. 

wi^!!^/  occupied  Hereford,  being  assisted  by  Richard 

Fitz-Scroop,  who,  ais  it  will  be  recollected,  was 

Advance  of  scttlcd  thcrc  ill  the  Confessor's  days.    At  Here- 

Normans  in  *> 

the  West.  Iqy^^  a  strong  castle  was  built  and  a  garrison 
placed  therein ;  and  at  this  period  many  other 
castles  were  commenced,  at  least,  by  Fitz-Osbern, 
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  offered  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  away  by  excessive 
pride  :  all  justice  was  entirely  denied.  All  the 
wise  coercion  of  evil,  of  needless  crime,  which 
had  been  enforced  by  William,  was  entirely 
thrown  aside.     William  had  caused  peace  to  be 

tKl*^  nts  ^^bserved  and  the  dwellings  to  be  protected :  the 
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  ^^fg^^io^,. 
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. 

g  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. 

>   ^^^'^   .  sine  had  returned  from  Denmark,  leaving  his 

see^jmte,  gifts ;  but  many  of  the  English,  including 
Harold's  sons,  had  supplied  his  place  at  the 

S'S^^k^  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;  to  Malcolm  Caumorc.  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.  Frauklsh  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. 

Rhingm  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 


INSUKKECTION  IN  KENT.  423 

and  Hugh  de  Montfort  in  person.  Watching  the  .   ^^^  . 
opportunity,  when  they  were  absent  beyond  the 
Thames,   the   confederates   gave  notice  of  the 
favourable   moment.     A    Kentish   vessel    borefroSo 
Eustace  across  the  narrow  channel,  and  having   ^"^ ' 
quitted  the  Eoman  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  invests 

*'  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  s:iven  the  signal  of  But  is 

^  '  *'    *-^  ^  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. 

V  ^'f'^  ■  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 

W&'''  ^^  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  lands.  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. 

toietS.^*"  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.  6, 1067.  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 


WILLIAM  RETURNS.  425 

well  nigh  perished  in  the  tempest  which  lashed  .    ^^^"^   . 
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  g^^jg^^^^ 
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  ^^^Jeaf' 
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 

.  ^^^  .  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. 

wm?S*°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  j&eld,  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- 

§to.°^'^'^6iits,  and  defied  the  alien  king.  No  oath  of 
allegiance  would  they  take  ;  no  entry  should  he 
make  within  their  walls  j  but  they  were  willing 


WILLIAM  AT  EXETER.  427 

to  make  the  same  recognition  of  his  supremacy  v^l^J!^- 
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  Constantine ;  Derby, 
filled  with  her  Danish  population  ;  Lincoln,  se- 
cretly acknowledging  the  northern  king ;  Chester, 
like  Exeter,  still  defended  by  the  Eoman  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  Caesars.  William  therefore  would  listen 
to  no  terms. 

g  9.     The  men  of  Exeter  were  divided.    The  I'^sfot 

"  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 
OWD  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  fcll  shattcrcd  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 : 

Acastiebuiit.  Eougcmout,  for  such  it  was  called,  rose  with  the 
usual  rapidity.  Baldwin  de  Moeles  was  placed 
in   command :    a  large   garrison  prevented  the 


MATILDA  IN  ENGLAND.  429 

citizens  from  being  tempted  any  more  to  assert  .  ^^    , 
their  independence.      From  a  republic,  Exeter  comwaii 

TTT-   1  •  t*  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  23  March, 
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  is  crowned. 
Stigand  was  again  repelled  from  his  office,  and 
the  solemn  rite  was  fulfilled  by  Aldred  on  the  n  May. 
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  Suca^Snof 
neglected  the  education  of  any  of  his  children  ;  ^^''^' 
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- 
Be^Serc.  vatlon  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  ebwin  and  morcar — first 
northumbrian    campaign death   of   robert    comtn 

EDGAR  ATHELING's  FLIGHT   TO   SCOTLAND MALCOLM's  MAR- 
RIAGE    WITH    MARGARET — DANISH    INVASION — THE    ATHEL- 

ING    RECOGNIZED    AS    KING     OF    NORTHUMBRIA WILLIAm's 

SECOND    NORTHUMBRIAN    CAMPAIGN FINAL    REDUCTION     OF 

THE  NORTH — REVOLT  OF  HEREWARD  AND  EDWIN FURTHER 

CONFISCATIONS CHURCH  MATTERS. 


1068—1072. 


g  1.  By  tlie  reduction  of  Exeter,  William  ^"^^ 
established  tranquillity  in  Wessex  :  a  temporary 
tranquillity,  but  which  fully  enabled  him  to  peac^*  ° 
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  Romans. 
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, 
g  2.  The  tranquillity  of  the  country  was  dis- 
VOL.   in.  F  F 


432  INROAD  OF  GODWIN. 

1068  turbed,  however,  by  Harold's  sod,  Godwin,  wlio 
had  been  assembling  large  forces  in  Ireland. 
The  Somersetshire  coast,  where  he  expected  co- 
operation, invited  him.    His  fleet,  in  which  with- 

Sridis^the  ^^^  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  ofip.  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, 

f^pathj.  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- 

Retreats.  pcllcd  to  rc-cmbark,  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. 

Kwed?'  /  §  ^-  ^^^  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- 
inoting  the  assumption  of  the  royal  authority, 


THE  NEW  FOREST.  433 

had  abandoned  his  See,  for  the  purpose  of  be-  iocs 
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  Mortaigne,  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  Win- ^^^^^^^^J^  ^ 
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,  '^^^f^^'^ 
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. 

Mana^ment  g  4^  ^g  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  Northumbria.  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  and  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  afi'ections  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  losa 
without  the  other  until  they  were  separated  by 
death — was  exceedingly  extensive.  The  North-  Aj^^efS^ 
umbrians  had  wished  for  Edwin  as  their  Earl : 
the  great  Earldom  of  Chester  belonged  to  the 
sons ;  they  were  closely  connected  with  the 
Cymri,  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  inJ^/oS'*^ 
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 

1069  of  York  could  be  proud  and  confident  in  the 
great,  many- angular  tower,  upon  which  the 
Labarum  of  Constantine  had  been  displayed, 
wiiuam^s  Others  were  tolerably  well  protected  by  earthen 
SnS'  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. 
I^®J."°°'  This  demonstration  at  once  shewed  to  Edwin 
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. 


BUbmit. 


OF  CASTELLATING  ENGLAND.  437 

Nottingham  was  the  next  station  ;   here  a     loea 
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-  S^^^. 
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,  proiTering  obedience  and  soliciting 
mercy.  Archil,  the  great  Thane,  whose  posses-  Archu. 
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  y°^^  c*'^"® 
powerfully  garrisoned,  under  the  command  of 
Eobert  Fitz-Eichard.  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 

^haJJcterof  Ocltic  Gacl,  as  described  by  Bede,  when  speak- 

the  GaelB. 

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 
Malcolm     amouQ-st  the  Gael  of  Albania.     Malcolm's  deter- 

renews  *-• 

to^Sgilnd.  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. 

g  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  .    iQso  , 
with  the  same  intention  towards  providing  for  the 
defence  of  the  country.     Lincoln,  strong  in  its  aSco^nf 
Eoman  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  Ealph  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,  ^  ^®''*'^- 
and  many  more  :  some  upon  defensible  points, 
but  the  greater  number  in  and  within  the  towns. 

These  fortresses  did  not  merely  furnish  im-  KLf'"* 
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  NOEMAN  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 

.A.sp6Ct  or  ft 

cSTnits  the  Englishman  must  have  loathed  the  damp 
**''''  ^^'  smell  of  the  fresh  mortar,  and  the  sight  of  the 
heaps  of  rubble,  and  the  chippings  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. 

g  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     loeo 

massacre  of  the  Normans ;    and  that  the  time 

fixed  for  carryino*  it  into  effect  was  Ash- Wed-  fuilmhsion  of 

England. 

nesday,  the  day  of  penitence  and  prayer.  Con- 
cerning this  plot,  the  English  writers  are  entirely 
silent,  but  during  this  period,  they  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  F'^'-ther 

*'  %/  o  seizures  of 

into  prison  :  others  put  to  death,  and  far  more  ^*"**' 
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 


Saxon 


emigration  to  embarked   with   Ed^ar,  the   widowed    Agatha, 

Scotland.  °       '  o  7 

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. 
S^Royli*^^  g  9.  No  fact  in  the  history  of  the  island  is 
Famuy.  j^qyq  promiucut,  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  maS'* 
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. 

§  10.  If  any  doubt  could  be  entertained  that  Jp^pV'^if ''^ 
the  plan  of  the  escape  to  Scotland  was  purposed 
and  deliberate,  it  would  be  rembved  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, 


Denmark. 


prepare  a 
great  army, 


444  FOKCES  GATHERED  IN  DENMARK. 

1069     had  fled  to  Denmark,  and  was  without  doubt 
one  who  most  urgently  pressed  the  request, 
prepa^e^"         Most  willinglj  was  it  accepted.     Sweno,  and 
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  Yandals  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 


to 
the  Normani. 


GENERAL  RISING  IN  THE  NORTH.  445 

of  Yorkshire  ;  so  did  the  great  fen  country  of  loeo 
Ely,  in  the  heart  of  that  portion  of  the  kingdom 
which  William  might  call  his  own;  and  even  Jjs'mty 
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  p^y  are 

1  -I  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. 

g  12.     But  whilst  troubles  were  encreasing 
around  him,  William's  discouragement,  so  unlike 


new  army. 


446  WILLIAM'S  PREPARATIONS. 

^^^  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 

^IpSSa  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 
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. 

hivSufnin  §  1^-  Quite  undeterred  by  their  defeat  at 
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-Oount.  Two  des- 


New 
campaign 


the  West. 


RISING  IN  THE  WEST.  447 

perate  conflicts  took  place  on  tlie  same  day  :  the  .   ^^^^  . 
Irish  Danes  were  totally  defeated  :  had  not  night-  insh  Danes 

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  Z^^ 
district  ever  again  disturbed. 

§  14.  But  the  great  danger  to  William's  power  J^^j^^^^*^ 
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.  III.  G  G 


448  THE  FATE  OF 

"^*  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. 
SnS  I<^  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  William 

of°North*'^  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 
His  march,  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  _^ 
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  into 
the  town.  But  Comyn  either  disregarded  theSSm!* 
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^  tmed. 
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. 

8  15.    The  confederates,  Merlesweyn  and  Gos-  The Engiuh 

o  7  %/  now  invest 

patric,  assisted,  as  we  can  infer,  by  Edwin  andMor- 
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 

GG  2 


now  invest 
York  Castle. 


WiUiam 

rouses 

liimself. 


York, 


450  WILLUM'S  CAMPAIGN. 

Thanes,  Arcliil  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 
Ee^in»  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- 


Nwtrly 
reaches 
Dmrham. 


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.  Outh- 
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  sutfaua. 
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. 

I  16.  The  havens  of  Denmark  and  Norway  Je^/tS.'^ 
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 

.  ^"°^  .  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- 

£*sSffoik?  s^^^  Orwell,  and,  landing,  they  attacked  Ipswich 
and  plundered  the  neighbouring  country :  but  the 
inhabitants,  whatever  Danish  blood  they  might 
possess,  beat  them  off. 

^tNorwich!^  Norwich  was  next  attacked  ;  but  Ralph 
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. 

occupjYork.  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  Sarmatia  and  the  Elbe ; 


DANES  NORTHWAKD.  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 
Norman  King. 

§  17.  During  these  events,  William  was  inSf^'.^g^^ 
Gloucestershire.  No  mental  anxiety  could  restrain  °^^°"'^* 
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- nre  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-  JjjJJ/' 
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. 

W69  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.  11.  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 magnij&cence,  as  we  have  said,  were  wrapped 
in  flames.  This  was  the  act  of  the  Norman  garrison. 

Y^ACaeue  Morc  Daulsh  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  Stafl'ord,  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- 

wiuiam      perate  insurrection  was  prevailing  in  Mercia  and 

occupied  in 

Mercia.  thc  Wclsh  Marchcs.  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  NOETH.  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  [Oastleford?],  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  J^^^^^l 
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  At  York. 
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 


456  WILLIAM  AGAIN  CONQUEROR. 

at  the  northern  metropolis.  All  had  retreated  : 
where  was  Jarl  Osbern  and  his  fierce  compeers  ? 
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  goM  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. 

wmiam'8  §19.  William  immediatelyrepaired  the  castle, 

policy  in  the  »/        x  7 

North.  and  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  Yandal, 
had  ever  carried  on  that  species  of  warfare 


'    LAYS  WASTE  THE  NORTH.  457 


1069 


which,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  is  called 
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,  biit  of  inflicting 
all  the  evil  in  their  power,  and  of  starving 
generations  yet  unborn.  But  William  deter- H^^^^jtes^ 
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. 

.  ^^^^^  .  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 

25  Dec,  1069.  brought  from  Winchcstcr,  and  solemnly  wore  his 
crown  as  king  in  Northumbria  ;  thus  manifesting 

wuiiamas    Jiig  adhcrencc  to  the  antient  constitutional  princi- 

^''''^  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  .   ^^J^ 
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 
Grillyng,  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  march.  It  was  not  the  Danes  who  had  kept 

Danes  linger,  thclr  Yulc  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-  .  ^°J^  . 
lands,  dangerous,  not  alone  from  the  inaccessi- 
bility of  their  position, — where  the  boat  could 
scarcely  float,  and  the  soldier  could  not  march  T^e  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  fen-iand 

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,  i^^e  of  Eiy. 
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, 
g  22.  So  much  did  thestrengthof  the  insurgent 


462  STATE  OF  THE  WEST. 

.  ^7°  .  patriots  encrease,  that  they  acted  on  the  aggres- 
wiiiiam's  sive,  but  they  were  met  by  a  Norman  force,  and 
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  citadcls  ;  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 

Cjmri  and  English  united  in  another  desperate  1070 
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  JJ^Jj^^^^tJ" 
help  on  that  side  of  England.  His  first  object 
was  the  reduction  af  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  eyerj  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  ^^^^^ 
not  cross  the  stream,  but  messengers  had  passed 
over,  to  and  fro.  The  resnlt  was  the  pacification 
of  Durham.  Gospatric,  then  probably  at  Dur- 
ham, and  who  had  taken  the  oaths  before 
William's  embassadors,  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 

1070     possessions.  Again  he  entered  the  hall  of  Hallam, 
^^^^^^  and  at  some  subsequent,  but  not  very  remote 
"^'^"'     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 
wiuiam      not  reioin  till  the  following  morning.     The  frost 

moves  South.  "^  o  o 

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. 
Beaches  g  24.    Alcrt,  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  Sh-west. 
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.  olrbysSre!'' 
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- 

chester  brokcu,  thc  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 
G-erbod,  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 

HughLupus.  ^elsh,  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 

William's     others.    At  Old  Sarum  he  finally  took  his  station. 

triumphant  t    i  •  •         i  t     • 

South  ^^  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  ^Q^o 
their  exertions  in  this  last  conflict,  and  most 
munificent  was  the  bounty,  which,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  vanquished,  he  displayed.  Those  pSmeSj 
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,  Je^fres^'Jo'Se 
England  was  still  not  entirely  subdued  :  the  East  ^T 
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  ^,^^;;°^<^' 
seems  to  have  joined  his  brother  Morcar,  so  also  *'^'^^*' 
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  Hereward. 
had  been  a  great  raiser  of  strife  and  dissension 
when  young.      He  would  have  been  termed  a 


468       HEKEWARD  AND  THE  DANES 

.  ^°JQ  Swash-bnckler  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. 

Hereward.  I^  ^W  ^^  ^^7  ^^^  ^c  that  Hcrcward  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  Humber  ;  but  now  another 
Danish  Armada  appeared  on  the  coast :  Sweno 

sweno again,  himself ;  Ms  vcsscls  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  .    ^^J^   , 
their  own  countrymen. 

§27.  Hereward  himself  guided  the  Danes  to  Sffsw'e'iJo. 
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  c©m- 
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-  Plunder 

Peter- 
ward's  men  knew  where  to  find  it :  all  the  valu-  ^"'•o^^- 

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 


Danish 
plundering. 


"William 
buys  off 
C-  Sweno. 


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 
French  abbot  and  his  Frenchmen.  All  the 
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. 
In  the  meanwhile,  William  had  been  nego- 
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. 
fo^lheff'  Another  Danish  fleet  shortly  afterwards  en- 
**"'*•  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  ^"J^^'^gtend 
more  and  more  of  the  English  resorted  to  him/''*^^^^"* 
It  was  now  that  Bishop  Egelwine  and  Si  ward  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  SX 
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  Eech-dyke,  the  rampart  of  the  Griants, 
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 


blockades 
them. 


captured. 


Edwin. 


472  FATE   OF   EDWIN   AND  MORCAR. 

^^J^  .  to  come  forth  from  Ely ;  so  doing,  he  was  seized, 
Morcar  seiit  to  Normaudj,  and  placed  in  custody  in  the 
castle  of  Eoger  de  Beaumont,  who  kept  him  in 
hard  prison,  in  chains  and  fetters,  whilst  his 
(Eoger'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 
Oymri,  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, 
ii  slain.  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     ^o^i 
into  a  Norman  family  soon  destined  to  decay. 

§  29.  William,  proceeding  warily,  now  deter-  ^gSfJJJ 
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,  f^°f|J^^^^ 
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        TROUBLES  FROM  MALCOLM. 

.  ^QJ^  .  of  his  oxgang  of  land  in  Kesteven,  held  by 
Fate  of  Hereward,  '^  die  qua  aufugiit^^  we  might  very 
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  Eomulus,  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  fluencc  and  power ;    and  there  were  even  yet 

unite  with  -"^  "^ 

Malcolm,  g^^^^  othcr  of  thc  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  Oumber- 

Si?and?"  land,  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  1072 
so  called  from  the  numerous  streams  with  which 
the  vicinity  abounds.  The  old  story  is  told  of  ^^^^t?' 
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  Gospatric-s 
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  Anorlo-Saxon  crown.     He  invaded  Scotland,  wmiam 

'-'  '  retaliates  by 

both  by  land  and  by  sea,  conducting  the  army  scotSnl 
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 


Malcolm 
yields. 


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 
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- 
performa  ^^^^  William' s  mau ;  the  supremacy  of  the  Anglo- 
wSmSLf  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 
Gospatric.  brcak  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  beJomS 

hostile. 

aided  Oomyn'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.  Grospatric  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  j^Sf**"*' 
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  Lothian s  :  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. 

^QJ^     hold  it,  until  a  better  opportunity  should  arise. 
It  Was  therefore  conferred  upon  Waltheof,  the 

giylntl  °" son  of  Siward,  who,  like  Grospatric,  claimed  it 
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. 

wiiff^""  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 
coufiscations. 


NEW  DISTRIBUTIONS  OF  LAND.  479 

the  Welsh,  in  their  fastnesses,  had  not  entirely  1072 
acknowledged  the  Norman  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  Th^^sou 
thousand  knights  received  their  fees,  or  rather  *''"''""• 
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 


The  Norman 
nooilitj  not 
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 
dignity  of  blood.  The  Normans,  or  rather  the 
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  been  a  perr 
son  of  the  lowest  degree. 
wiuilm'a  §  ^^-    William  at  this  juncture  also, — for  he 

afterwards  recovered  his  solid,  stern  and  consis- 
tent principle  of  government, — lost  much  of  his 


policy, 


THE  BITTERNESS  OF  CONQUEST.  481 

former  spirit  of  equity ;  and  allowing  his  people  ^QJ^  , 
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  J^rannicaiiy. 
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  J^f^a"?:"^ 
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 

ii2 


To 
Denmark : 


To 


482  THE  ENGLISH  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

5^  in  pomp,  he  is  informed  that  a  Saint  hitherto  un- 
known to  the  Eastern  Church,  is  venerated  in  the 

Bjzantium,  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 

T^Engiish  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 
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 


Church 
matters. 


LEGATION  FKOM  ROME.  483 

Eoman  See,  and  John,  who  bore  the  title  of .  ^^J^  . 
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 

^        ^  Winchester. 

abling  William  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,  wmL^i^fl^* 
William  again  received  the  crown  from  the  Pope,  SThe  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  its 
moment  it  caused  great  anxiety  to  the  Emperor  ™«^i°g- 
Henry,  must  have  been  destitute  of  foundation ; 
but,  if  we  are  at  liberty  to  draw  any  conclusions 


William's 
remorse, 


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, 
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  hcavy  ecclcsiastlcal  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  WILLIMI.  485 

and  of  robbery,  the  robbery  of  a  whole  nation,  v_i^ 
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  f^JSon 
gave  that  testimony  against  the  unchristianity  of  conqueJS^s? 
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. 

.    ^QJ'^   .  the  call  of  conscience,  yet  we  may  trace  that 

many  obeyed  the  warning  :   there  were  those 

not      " '  amongst  the  Normans  who  absolutely  refused  to 

universally  *-"  *^ 

jSabie.    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 
Self-imposed  subsequent  period   of  English   history.     Yery 
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. 

AFFAIES    OF    FLANDERS  —  WILLIAM    SUBDUES    MAINE DISTURB- 
ANCES    IN     ENGLAND  — ■  RALPH     GUADER's     CONSPIRACY 

EXECUTION     OF    WALTHEOF. 


1073—1075. 


8  1.  William,  durina;  the  transactoins  narrated  Normandy: 

o  7  o  troubles 

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  Sj'iJSiiy 
been  carried  on  in  the  family  of  Matilda's  father,  °^  loJ?''^* 
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  BROTHERS-IN-LAW 

>   ^"J^   .  wealthy  country,  had  respectively  acquired  opu- 

*    1067    '  ^^^^  possessions,  forming  frontiers  to  their  paternal 

domains.     Both  had  obtained  their  sovereignties 

by  marriage  with  widows,  and  both  had  success- 

Baidwin,     fully  wooed  by  combining  what  may  be  called 

the  son. 

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  jfield,  and  the  door  of 
Kj«^¥a ,,  the  cotta2:e  remained  unclosed.      Richilda,  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 — Roger,  lame  and 
ill-favoured,  and  a  daughter. 

Upon  the  death  of  Herman,  Richilda  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,  .  ^QJ^  ,. 
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  inmafSl? 

I  1    •  J.1  T      .  n  for  Baldwin. 

were  under  compulsion,  the  young  heir  of  losi 
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  br^ther.^'" 
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. 
1062  §3.   Friez eland,  for  so  we  must  still  call  it, 

was  at  this  time  governed  by  G-ertrude  of  Saxony, 
the  widow  of  Count  Floris,  or  Florence,  by 
Friezeiand'''  whom  shc  had  one  son,  Thierry.  It  is  supposed, 
Dymamage.  ^^^  ^^^  uurcasonably,  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  .  ^^J^  . 
an  apanage  for  a  cadet.  The  county  of  Boulogne  '^^J^T'" 
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  J^^bro'hel 
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  Swin^ 
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. 

WV3  and,  ruling  in  Flanders,  she  despised  all  rights 
'— jj^--  and  privileges.  Besides  tlie  connection  of  blood, 
there  was  a  strong  inclination  on  her  part  to- 
Suriieln  wards  France.  Philip  had  received  the  order 
of  knighthood  from  Baldwin  of  Lisle  :  Richilda 
belonged  to  the  Galilean  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- 
Fi^emines  g^ntc.  Ghcut  aud  Bruges,  Furnes,  Oudenburgh 
from  Robert,  aud  Ardcuburgh,  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     ^QJ^   ^ 
Eobert.      William  appears  to  have  much  dis-  '"^J^ 
trusted  the  Frizon,  for  his  Frizian  territories  put 
him  in  close  connection  with  the  Danes  ;  and 
Eobert  was  not  to  be  trusted.      He  therefore  SS  f'^' 
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  nSo'sbern." 
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,  l^^^""^ 
and  the  greatest  battle  ensued,  on  the  feast  of ''^^^^^•^'^^^* 
St.  Peter  in  Cathedra,  which  ever  yet  had  taken 
place  in  Flanders.  Robert's  troops  were  much 
discouraged,  for  the  forces  which  had  joined 
Ricliilda,  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  EICHILDA. 

>  '^^^^  .  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  : 

she  sought  to  cast  upon  the  enemy.  She  and 
defea^ed!"'^^*  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.  ^as  also  takcu  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. 
succeeds.  Robcrt  thc  Frizon,  on  his  part,  entered  into 

Died  1093.  ^Yi^  ^^Y[  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 
DanSh*  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. 


alliance. 


TROUBLES  IN  MAINE.  495 

g  5.     This  trouble  was  scarcely  at  an  end     ^^^ 
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-  gatr^d  of 

•^  '  William  in 

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  Gauthier  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  ^e  Man. 

*  revolts. 

with  one  accord  and  as  of  one  mind.  The 
adjoining  towns  and  chatellaineries  joined  them  i 
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 

.   ^^J^     capital  tlius  taking  the  lead,  the  insurrection 

iQgj    '  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. 

firsSsa         Having  thus  cast  off  the  foreign  yoke,  the 

Sovereign,    -^^j^qq^^^  ]^^^  ^^  sclcct  somc  chlcf  uudcr  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  apply  fail  to  rc-asscrt  his  sovereip-nty.     The  male  line 

to  Azzo,  <-"       •' 

Gersenda?^  of  thc  auticut  comltlal  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.  Grersenda,  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, 


1069 


TO  ALBERT  AZZO  OF  ESTE.         497 

that  the  patient  industry  of  the  most  learned      1073 
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. 

g  6.    It  seems  strange  that  Albert  Azzo  should  Albert 

"  '-'  accepts. 

have  been  prevailed  upon  to  quit  the  opulent  and 
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 

to  Italy,  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, 
suh  tuteld,  of  Geoffrey  of  Mayenne . 

Sf rSes.  ^s  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  ulterior  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  Oommunia. 

g  7.   This  event,  an  event  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, was  certainly  an  out-breaking  of  the 

«seKde.  spirit  which  had  given  rise  t  o  the  Lombard  re- 
publicks,  and  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  Boman  times, 


pendence. 


AS  A  COMMUNIA.  499 

though  this  new  league  was  intended  to  ^ye  '1070-1073^ 
it  a  sovereign  energy.  We  learn  from  Mans 
that  the  connecting  element  of  the  Oommunia 
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  Oommunia,  those  who  werej|^5°^° 
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-  J^'^t^fj'^ff* 
corporate  themselves  in  the  Oommunia,  G-eoffrey 
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  Oommunia ; — this  was  Hugh  de 


500  WARFARE  IN  MAINE. 

1070-1073  SuUey,  who  not  merely  refused  to  take  the  oath 
One  baron    ^^^  enrol  hliiiself  amongst  the  citizens,  but  acted 


resists. 


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  gonfanons  displayed, 
and  St.  Julian's  banner.  The  communists  sur- 
rounded the  castle  of  Sulley  ;  G-eoffrey  of  May- 
enne  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  Mayenne,  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  Gcoffrcy  dc  Mayeunc  was  now  in  such  ill 
repute,  equally  from  his  scandalous  connection 
with  G-ersenda,  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,  1070-1073 
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  sou2:ht  the  aid  The  citizen. 

^  °  apply  to 

of  Fulk  of  Anjou:  he  gave  it  readily,  and  entered  ^'^• 
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  do 
Mayenne  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  fheTatZof 
Arnold  of  the  revolt  of  Maine,  he  could  not  then  ^''^^^^• 
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 


602  WILLIAM  RETURNS, 

>  ^^  ■  guarded  by  Kalph  de  Guader,  the  Earl  of  East 
Anglia :  and  he  therefore  determined  to  carry  on 
the  war  in  person  against  the  insurgents. 

EnfiJ^^  As  Eegents  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. 

g  10.  All  preparations  made,  William  issued 
his  summons  to  his  lieges,  commanding  them  to 
accompany  him  in  his  voyage  royal.     When  he 

Mturn8°to  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- 

g^f«  liam  advanced  into  Maine,  but  not  rapidly, 
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  Eobert,  the  son 


AND  TAKES  MANS.  603 

of  Roger  of  Montgomery,  heir  also  of  Talvas,  ^QJ^  ^ 
heir  also  of  Belesme,  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  joyfulness.  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,  ^'^^  »•«"»*•• 
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 

.  ^"J^  .  to  meet  the  Anglo-Norman  forces,  but  no  actual 
conflict  ensued.     The  Cardinal  Legate  mediated, 

T.  1.' dates.] ^  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  at  La 
Blanchelande.     William's  right  over  Maine  was 

But  Mnine  is  confirmcd  by  Fulk,  and  he  might  again  write 

William,  himself  "Dux  Coenomanensium"  in  his  royal 
charters.  But  what  was  even  more  important, 
the  right  of  Kobert  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. 

wuiiam's  g  ][2^     William  continued  some  time  longer 

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.  aji(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.  605 

the   only  matters  recorded  concerning  him  in  .  '^^l^'t. 
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  Belesme,  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's 

•^    anxietj. 

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. 

.  ^^*  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. 
The^thanka-  gi2.  In  othcr  rcspccts,  William  was  lu  trau- 
monasteries  q^jjiiity  I  Normaudy  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 

gl3.  Whilst  William  was  thus  successful  upon      im 
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  greaHis-*' 

■••  satisfaction 

an  act  of  injustice ;   and  if  this  were  dubious,  EngTaid. 
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. 

^^J*  .  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- 
nantSy  or  Bretons  gallicants,  they  were  equally 
wees^edSy  disUkcd.  It  was  amongst  them,  largely  as  they 
iscontente .  j^^^  becu  Tcwardcd,  that  the  discontent  began, 
and  of  this  the  chief  and  leader  was  Ealph  Guader. 
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, 
marriage.  ^^  sccms   that   Fitz-Osbcm's  daughter  had 

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  ^^^  . 
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  wauheof 
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- 


610  WALTHEOF. 

.  ^QJ5  ampton  to  Northumbria,  was  the  last  represen- 
tative of  the  high  nobility  of  old  England.  He 
alone  remained  in  wealth  and   apparent   pros- 

SonTn  perity.  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  g  15.    The  plot  had  been  long  maturing,  not 

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     1075 
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 ^«^^^*;j;^*o 
have  been  his  words  or  his  silence  on  that  fatal  ^^'^p^'"*^- 
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  S?|?ot' 
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.    III.  L  L 


512  PROGRESS   OF   THE   PLOT. 

1075  without  opposition  to  his  Earldom  of  Hereford, 
where  he  collected  a  very  large  force  and  began 
?°3on  ^^  ravage  the  adjoining  territories.  But  all 
these  marchlands  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 
Stlnstthe  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. 


plot. 


THE   ENGLISH   OPPOSE   IT.  513 

4 

In  spite  of  the  anathema  passed  upon  Urse,  old  ^075 
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. 

Ealph  de  Guader  had,  at  the  same  time,  ouSr?^ 
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  Gruader  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  1^^^^°^ 
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  teilns  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 

ll2 


Norwich 
Castle  taken, 


514  END   OF   THE   PLOT. 

1075  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  do 
.  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.  Roger  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 
Breteuil      forfcitcd,  aud  he  was  condemned  to  perpetual 

imprigoned :  '  ^        ^ 

imprisonment.  It  should  seem  that  William 
had  somWhat  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  Roger's  chamber,  bearing 


BRETEUIL.  515 

a  pile  of  costly  garments,  the  silken  vest,  the  ^  ^Qjs  , 
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  ^SiSL. 
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  hisJJ^j^g* 
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 


516  WALTHEOF. 

1075  of  Hereford,  the  Count  of  Flanders,  tlie  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- 
S^paidon  mediately  repairing  to  England.  Waltheof  had, 
wSiam.  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  ,_i^ 
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  Tmj  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. 

>  ^"J^  .  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. 

wSchSter-  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 
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 


Case  agaimt 

him  ; 


HIS   EXECUTION.  519 

amongst  the  Englisli.     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  He  is 

executed : 

dawning  morn,  was  Waltheof  brought  forth  upon 
the  rising  ground  beside  Winchester,  where  the 
church  of  St.  G-iles  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  f^^^lto 
body  of  the  last  English  Earl  should  be  removed  ^'''^^^^• 
to  St.  Gruthlac's  monastery.  Gladly  did  the 
monks  of  Croyland  undertake  the  sacred  and 


Waltheof 
after  death. 


520  WALTHEOFS  POPULAR 

1075  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 
Honours      Dravcr.     The  martyr's  relics,  for  such  Waltheof 

done  to  -"^       "^  '^  ' 

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  whirlwind ;  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  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 


jealousj. 


CANONIZATION.  521 

the  great  Norman  Abbey  of  Fontenel^was  probably  .   ^"J^   . 

considered  by  his  patron  as  detaching  him  from 

the  English  cause.  Not  so  :  the  honours  rendered  JL' of*' 

Watheof 

to  Waltheof  encreased,  and  the  more  splendid  encreases. 
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 
hci.   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  scoruedthis  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  ordericus 

i-  '  <^  at  Croyland. 

preserved  to  us  the  living  history  of  the  times, 
Ordericus,  visited  the  Abbey  of  Croyland.     His 


522  WALTHEOF. 

.  ^QJ^  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. 
Sow^?f^*  Nor  did  William  ever  recover  from  the  moral 
prosperity,  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     d6l. 

QUARRELS  BETWEEN  ROBERT  AND  HIS  FATHER. — BATTLE 
OF  GERBEROI. ROBERT'S  SECOND  OUTBREAK. DISTURB- 
ANCES     IN     NORTHUMBRTA. BISHOP    ODO's    IMPRISONMENT. 

— matilda's  DEATH. 


1075—1083. 


g  1.    The  escape  of  Ralph  Guader  from  Nor-  ouader 

^^  escapes  and 

wich  Castle  gave  further  troupe  to  William.  He  g^^'esf 
arrived  safely  in  Denmark.  Canute  assembled 
a  large  fleet,  upon  which  he  embarked  with  the 
sturdy  Earl  Haeo.  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  1^^^^^° 
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- 


Fergant. 


524  WILLIAM'S   UNSUCCESSFUL 

_^QJ^  .  tions  in  England  had  revived  the  national  an- 
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 
Joel  and  Conau  II.,  Hocl,  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. 


William 
invades 
Brittany : 


ATTEMPT   ON   BRITTANY.  525 

The  delay  was  fatal;  Alan  Fergant  advanced  1075 
with  a  large  force,  magnified  by  report  to  15,000 
men.  He  was  supported  by  powerful  reinforce-  [y  FeSnt. 
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. 

g  2.   This  check  induced  William  to  alter  his  wmiam 

"  gains  over 

policy  towards  Brittany,  and  h^  acted  wisely,  mSgC^ 
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- 


526  MARRIAGE   OF   CONSTANCE 


1075 


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. 

SghS:  Upon  the  day  when  the  monastery  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  was  founded  at  Caen  by  William 

Cecilia:  aud  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:  Adclaldc,  thc  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- 

constance    stancc,  tlall,  fair,  and  prudent,  became  the  wife 

marries 

Alan.  of  Alan  Fergant,  to  her  father's  exceeding  joy, 
lain,  1085.]  ^j^^  i]^qj  ^^j-q  marricd  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     1075 
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  Adeia 

marries 

Champagne,  anxiously  sought  her  in  marriage  :  ^*;g^ff- 
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  g^j^^^'^f' *° 
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  ancestry  to  EoUo ;  remote,  obscure, 
or  even  fabulous  as  their  pedigree  might  be.  Or 
the  King  of  the  French  might  claim  the  Duchy 
as  an  escheat  to  the  sovereign :  the  kings  of 
France  were  continually  gaining  in  authority, 

VOL    III.  M  M 


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 

wiuiam's    shows  its  intensity.     And  the  difficulties  which 

efforts  for        •' 

Robert:  'VYilliam  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. 

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  j  a  good  speaker,  a  pleasant  companion  ; 


Their  bad 
result. 


HIS    SON   ROBEET.  529 

and  Ire  rapidly  assembled  round  him  a  large  and  ws-iots 
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.  HcRoi^rt^^^ 
emulated  the  state  of  his  father,  lorded  it  over^"*^^^' 
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.  Kufus  and  ^Ss!^ 
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  suJBficient  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. 

I  4.  At  this  period  the  nucleus  of  Robert's  ^gj^'* 
party  consisted  of  Robert  de  Belesmes,  Count  of 
Alen^on,  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  w-hich  Eobert  pursued  his  father  to  the  influence 
of  this  truly  wicked  counsellor. 

peichT^*^  The  head  of  the  Belesme  or  Alencon  family 
was  Eotrou,  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  Ohartrain,  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 
Rotrou       unhappily  not  without  influence  upon  it.    Rotrou 

makes  war 

onwiuiam.  -y^^s  a  geuuiue  descendant  of  Guarin,  and  insti- 
gated, as  it  should  seem,  either  mediately  or 
immediately  by  Eobert,  he  engaged  in  war  with 
William.  Henceforward  indeed  the  colour  of 
his  history  becomes  tarnished  and  dull ;  he  is 


WILLIAM   ENTERS  PERCHE.  531 

no  longer  the  Conqueror,  bearing  his  triumphant  ^-^ovs 
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  Eotrou,  William  entered  the  wmiam 

retaliates  on 

Corbonnais,  a  portion  of  the  territory  of  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'^^^J «' 
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  RUPTUKE  WITH  ROBERT. 

1075-1078  gone  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 

Robert's^      sprcad  through  the  town.     King  William's  sud- 

hoBtmty.  ^gj^  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. 

Bouen.  §  ^'  Wlthout 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, 

Si\ued,  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 


William  and 
Robert. 


ROBERT'S  PARTY.  533 

command  [was  partially  carried  out.]  Some  io]?5-io78 
were  taken  prisoners,  but  Robert  was  strongly 
supported.  He  returned  to  the  marchlands. 
Hugh  de  Neuchatel,  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  a  Paries  of 
very  threatening  aspect ;  and  the  party  of  the 
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. 

Yery  brief,  however,  was  this  respite.  Robert's  Jo^e''''^ 
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, 
frSSa?  t^^  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. 
Hisdemand*.  Robert  rcpcatcd  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 :  ^iq^s-iots 
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  Eobert  wjiiiam 

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.  Eobert  raged  Robert 
as  he  departed  from  his  father,  and  he  and  his  w^^^"'- 
partizans  quitted  Normandy  altogether  as  Wil- 
liam's declared  enemies.  In  the  first  instance, 
many  of  the  noblest  of  his  retainers,  the  proudest, 
andtheboldest,  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. 
Eobert  first  repaired  to  his  uncle  of  Flanders.  wlJiderings. 
Eobert  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 
Ehineland  and  Suabia,  to  Aquitaine  and  to 
Gascony,  till   at  length  he   crossed  the  Alps, 


536  ROBERT   IN    ITALY. 

1075-1078  and  was   received   by   Bonifazio,    Marquis    of 

Montferrat. 
Ktferra/:         The  doniinions  of  Boniface  extended  from  the 
foot  of  the  Alps  to  the  shore  of  the  Riviera; 
from  Yercelli  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  G-loucester  ;  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 
JauTteMo  ^^^  desperate  enterprize.     But  Robert  was  un- 
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  G-uiscard. 
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-  ^^o^s-^Q^^ 
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  and  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  Robert,  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  wmiamjs^ 
orders  that  the  eyes  of  Sampson  should  be  ^''*'^^^' 
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. 

>  ^^J^  ■  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 

Gerberoi:  of  Gcrbcroi  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 

wuiifm.^^  and  to  the  father.  William  collected  his  forces, 
and  accompanied  by  Eufus  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-     lo^s 
man.     The  siege  was  ended  by  a  decided  battle. 
Rufus  was  wounded.   William,  engaged  in  single  ^^Jfj^^'i 
conflict  with  a  knight  belonging  to  the  adverse  *^^*' 
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  contiuued  :  and  the  Proceres  now 
profi'ered  their  help,  for  the  purpose  of  ending 
this  most  unnatural  conflict.  William  received  forTamliy 
their  proposals  with  angry  grief.  Roger  detfoT''''*' 
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 


540  FKESH  TROUBLES 


1079 


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  son,  and  the  father's 
ban  was  fulfilled  in  the  child's  destruction. 
Trouwes  g  9.     j<^q  pcacc,  uo  rcst,  no  tranquillity  was 

Srwom*!^'  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, 
waichcre.  or  pcrhaps  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  .    ^"J^ 
found  great  support  in  the  co-operation  of  one  J^j^^^p^^g 
who  might  have  been  the  most  dangerous  oppo-  ^^'^^''^^'^®- 
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  J^^^p^*«« 
deserved  the  bishop's  confidence  ;  but  it  deeply"'""^* 
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. 

>  ^"J^  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. 

lSipK/  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. 

Lhdph.''^  §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 


WALCHERE   AND   LEOBWINE.  643 

slew    him    and    the   whole    of  his    household.  .    ^"J^ 
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  ^tifuo^' 
strong  castle  so  recently  raised  by  Waltheof,  ''°''^''''*' 
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 

1080  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  bc  dccidcd  at  the  tryst  at  G-ateshead  was  whe- 

meet  at  *' 

Gateshead.  ^^^^  ^^  respcctivc  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. 

r^Sthe  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  %  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   GATESHEAD.  545 

the  discussion  otherwise  than  within  the  walls      ^^^ 
of  the  church.     Into  this  humble  and  then  se-  waichere 

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  suflBcient  expiation  ? 
Whether  urged  by  conscience  or  driven  out  by  GimtH » 
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- 

NN  2 


646  DEATH   OF   WALCHERE. 


1080 


wine  shrunk  from  his  fate.     The  attacks  upon 

the  building  continued;  the  massy  walls  and 

iron-bound  doors  of  the  church  at  first  resisted. 

waichere     Firc  was  threatened:    the  miserable  Walchere 


and 
Leobwine 


we^aSr    came  forth,  and  standing  upon   the   threshold 


elain. 


rebellion. 


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. 
Kmes  §  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 .  '^^^ 
entirely  desolated  ;  the  innocent,  and  they  ^^"^j^t.^^ 
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  ^f^g^ 
the  border,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  the  Tyne.  ^°^^"'"^' 
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  EGBERT   IN   ENGLAND. 

^080  ment  of  the  country  were  made,  prevented  his 
immediate  return  to  England,  and  he  took  the 
opportunity  of  testifying  his  reconciliation  with 
Eobert,  by  appointing  him  commander  of  the 
forces  intended  to  enforce  the  obedience  of  the 

KngiS*  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 

Invades  expcditiou  was  shamefully  unsuccessful.  Robert 
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- 

to  Sr  sensions  were  renewed  :  Robert  broke  away  again 
from  his  father;  and  resorting,  first  to  Flanders 


Difficulties 
William. 


WILLIAM   RETURNS.  549 

and  then  to  France,  resumed  Ms  course  of  disolbe-     ^^^ 
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  J^/ 
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.  Oarileph,  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.  Outhbert  was  deposited.     Pope 


Walchere'fl 
successor. 


550  DURHAM. 

.  ^^\_ .  Gregory  confirmed  the  union,  which  also  received 
the  sanction   of   the  legislature :    that   stately 

of  DSlm.  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 

NorthX"    waning  and  declining  age.   As  Earl  of  Northum- 


WALES.  551 

bria,  he  selected  an  Alberic,  whom  heralds  place     ^Qs^ 
in  the  genealogy  of  the  noble  family  of  De  Yere  ;  Aibenc. 
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,  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  ofiP  the  Norman  power. 
William  had  formed  a  well-concerted  scheme  for  waies. 
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/ 
wis"''''  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, 
odo.  §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 


1081 
Odo's 


his  hope  and  expectation  that  he  should  yet  live 
to  be  a  king.  Other  projects,  involving  equal,  Spkltions. 
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  J^^fpSL 
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. 

.  ^^^^'^  .  the  purpose  of   ensuring  its  accomplishment. 

Rome."^^'  0^^  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  Eoman  citizen,  or  needier 
noble,  whose  vote  was  thus  to  be  secured ;  and 
the  people,  high  and  low,  anticipated  their  ap- 
proaching deliverance  from  G-regory'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  Quirinal,  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 

SS?!ff  his  for  the  same  end.     Had  Odo  succeeded,  had  the 

primacy,     pg^pg^j  authority  bccomc  vested  in  an  active  and 


WILLIAM   ENRAGED.  555 

experienced  warrior^  wielding  at  once  the  keys  .    ^"^^ 
and  tlie  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  wiuiam 

•/  ••■  jealous  of 

projected  by  Odo,  William  viewed  them  as  ^'^°' 
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  Waltheof  s 
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- gf^^o^^'s 
government,  cruelty,  treachery ;  and  asked  them 
for  counsel  how  he  should  deal  with  this  great 


556  ODO   IMPEISONED. 

>  ^^^  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 

odoarrested.  their  hauds  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  Nor.  1083.        g  J  g^  Matilda,  whose  strength  had  been  rapidly 

Matilda  dies.  ^  '  ^  r        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   ffloom   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. 


of  Maine. 


558 


Chapter  XIII. 

REVOLT  IN  MAINE. — STATE  OF  DENMARK. — DEATH  OF  CANUTE. 

CONSEQUENCES    OF    THE    THREATENED   DANISH   INVASION    IN 

ENGLAND. FORMATION      OF      THE      DOMESDAY      SURVEY. 

GENERAL  IMPOSITION  OF  THE  OATH  OF  FEALTY. 


1083—1086, 


§  1 .  Although  William  liad  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. 
EngfaSd:  ^^  Euglaud,  hls  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 


MAINE.  559 

Le  Mans,  is  the  only  proper  history  of  Maine  ^^^ 
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  any  de-  wiiiiam's 

^  ^  •'  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  Anjou,  as  William's 
declared  enemy.  Hence  he  constalitly  annoyed 
the  Norman  garrison  of  Le  Mans,  and  ravaged 
that  portion  of  the  country  which  continued 
under  William's  allegiance.  William  assembled  los* 
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.  III.  o  o 


560  SIEGE   OF    STE.    SUSANNE. 

1083-1086  ]3uiit  a  tower,  or  rather  a  block-house,  for  the 
purpose  of  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  8te.  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-  loss-iose 
manderSj  seeing  their  forces  drop  away,  stung  wiinam 


givea  in. 


William's 


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. 

g  3.  During  all  these  transactions,  William  had  So? 
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  cannte. 
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 

00  2 


562  POLICY    OF    CANUTE 

1080-1085  Qf  i]^Q  Latin  Commonwealth.  Morally,  even 
De?iiTk?^  ^^^^  ^^^^  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  Vikinga. 
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. 
briSS®  §  4-    ^^t  ^^^  younger  Canute,  emulating  the 

StoThe''     renown  of  his  namesake  and  ancestor,  qualified 

European 

by  intellect,  instigated  by  ambition,  and  ac- 
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 


common- 
wealth. 


IN   DENMAKK.  563 

the  Caesars.     His  great  seal  exhibits  him  with  ^oso-io^ 
crown  and  sceptre,  and  seated  on  the  throne,  ca;;^e^s 
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   afiTairs.     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  Eunic 
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.  Humarriage. 
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 


664  GREAT    EXPEDITION 

1080-1085  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. 

Canute's      Hc  had,  iu  his  earlier  age,  been  foiled  by  the 

conquests.  '  *-"    ^  •^ 

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. 

SgS.**  §  ^'  -S^  ^^^  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 

oiave.  upon  thc  pcoplc.  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,      ^oss 
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  Fleet 

•^         '  ^  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  Eobert  the  Frizon,  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  Olaye,  who  had  married  the  sister  of  Canute, 
contributed  sixty  vessels  of  yery  large  size,  and 
filled  with  chosen,  warriors  ;  and  yery  early  in 
the  spring,  the  fleets,  of  which  the  larger 
squadrons  were  assembled  in  the  waters  of 
Limfiord  and  Harboe,  all  ready  for  the  yoyage, 
awaited  only  the  signal  for  departure. 

William  was  preparing  most  energetically  ^^JJj^^j"^^^^ 
for  defence,  equally  against  his  foreign  and  iiig 'o^'^^^^^^^- 
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  eyery  country  which  spake  the  Eo- 
mane  tongue,  from  eyery  proyince  north  of  the 
Alps ;   and   Hugo,  Count  of  Yermandois^  the 


566  WILLIAM'S   PREPARATIONS. 

.  ^^^  .  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, 

GrieTance    aud   all   of  lowcr    decree.     Grievous  was  the 

of  the  pre-  ° 

mSsures?  burthcu  aud  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. 

Si!  ?*'  §  ^-  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  ^^^  ^ 
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  ofP,  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  P^nvt^'* . 

inability  to 

apparently  preternatural  obstacle,  might  not  be  eJpeduion! 
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  Kunic  lay  murmured  by  the  wise 
women  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 


568  DISCONTENT   AGAINST 

v^!l_.  V^^^  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 
Canute's  Denmark.  High  discontents  were  prevailing 
Content,  amougst  thc  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  Grod  a  portion  of  the 
gifts  which  they  received,  and  believing  that 


CANUTE   IN    DENMARK.  569 

able-going  was  thereby  earned.      Nothing  has      ^Q^^  • 
been  more  injurious  to  the  interests  of  Chris-  odiousness 

^  of  tythes  in 

tianity,  than  the  destruction  of  the  grace  ac-^u^rope? 
companying  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. 

1 7.  In  01ave,his  brother,  Canute  had  a  secret,  o/oTa^lf 
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,  well  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. 


670  CANUTE   IMPRISONS   OLAVE. 

^^^^  Canute  at  first  believed  that  lie  was  assisted 

by  his  brother,  returning  love  for  love.  He  now 
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 
Sed.  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  Robert  the  Frizon. 
5?nb?okei'  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.  571 

benefit  of  the  clergy.     It  is  a  remarkable  proof  _1^ 
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. 

1 8.  Further  insurrections  arose.  Jarl  Osbern  ^bemon. 
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  ;  ^^^^^^'^ 
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 


1085 


political  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. 

g  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  efiective 
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.  573 

crown  at  G-loucester,   and  held  his  court  for  _1^ 

Co 

the  King, 


three  days.     Next  followed  a  Synod  :  lastly,  a  coundi  hen 


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  ^^^J^^^- 
city  and  good  town  in  England,  save  and  ex- ^^^''"''''^' 
cept  the  Bishopric,  the  three  northern  lands, 
and  London,  a  worshipful  company,  such,  for 
example,  as  proceeded  to  the  West ;  Eemigius, 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  the  founder  of  the  cathedral, 
Walter  Grifford,  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 
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, 


674  DOMESDAY   BOOK. 

.    ^Q^^    ,  be  it  City,   Borough,  Thorp,    Haim,   or   Bye? 

Jiqulry!  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- 

Embodiment  tropolls  aud  thc  four  northern  shires.  The 
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, 


of  the 
materials 


DOMESDAY  BOOK.  675 

fresli  and  perfect  as  when  the  scribe  put  pen  to  .    ^f  ^   . 
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-  f^^^^^^  °^ 
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, 
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- J^/£x;\^^^^y 
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. 
yoL.  m.  P  I* 


576  DISCONTENT  EXCITED. 

.  ^f^  ■  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 

tentuu"'"'  and  fair  assessment  of  the  charge.  The  un- 
settled state  of  afTairs  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  un tilled,  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. 

g  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  Spiked  at 
William  imposed  the  oath  of  fealty  upon  every  ^*'''""' 
landholder  without  distinction  of  tenure.  His 
men,  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- 

pp  2 


578  OMENS  OF  EVIL. 

>  ^^  •  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 
S"i"°^  deserved.  Robert  continued  to  harass  his 
England,  f^j^j^gp  ^q  ^^q  utmost  of  hls  powcr.  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. 


679 


Chapter  XIV. 

William's   expedition   against    beittant — the    siege    op 

dol dispute  with   france  about  the  beaucassin 

siege  of  mantes illness   and  death  of   the   con- 
QUEROR. 


1086—1087 


g  1.  Brittany,  notwithstanding  tlie  patron-  ^^^f^ 
age  bestowed  by  William  upon  Allan  le-Koux, 
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  G-eoffrey,  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. 


1086-7 


William 

enters 

Brittany 


determined  to  reassert  his  authority  as  the  de- 
scendant of  Rollo  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  bchcld  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 
Itr^^^  of  Brittany.  William  was  glad  to  conclude  a 
TPiacedaiso  P^^^^  '  ^^^  ^^^  daughtcr  Constance,  wise  and 
i^S  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-  .  ^^^^'^ 
ened,  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  Rollo,  was 
the  still  unsettled  claim  to  the  territory,  after- 
wards called  the  Norman  Yexin  or  Beaucassin.  J^'^pute 

about  th6 

William  had  been  unable  to  assert  his  right —  ^^"^ 
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  Mantes. 
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 


682  WILLIAM  CLAIMS  MANTES. 

.  ^^l~'^  .  marauders,  they  plundered  the  neighbourhood 
of  Evreux,  particularly  the  domains  of  William 

KJL^''**^  de  Breteuil  and  Roger  de  Ivry.      They  made 

wiiHam.  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- 

SViSir  ^^cti^g  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  gomc  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 


1087 


the  gifts  of  Providence  wastefuUy  destroyed. 
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 
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  ^jj^^^^^l' 
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  Grunthard,  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,  Rouen.**" 
became  intolerable  to  the  fevered  sufi'erer,  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  Eufus  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  painfully  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 

SiUJ^S'  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. 

huSms.  Sut  Bufus  and  Henry  are  standing  by  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.  Eobert,  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-  ,_J:^ 
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  wailings  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  Eufus,  who  from  youth  upwards,  Raftu* 
whatever  were  his  other  defects  of  character, 
had  been  an  obedient  son,  might  succeed  him. 
And  what  was  Henry  Beauclerc  to  inherit  ?  °*"y' 
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 


.  ^f^  .  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 ; 

][j"j^sjeave3  aud  Rufus  hastened  away  towards  England,  lest 
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  h^d  heard  of  alms  and  of 
repentance,  of  contrition  and  of  distribution  of 

Striated  to  ^^^  wcalth  uo  lougcr  his  own.     Some  portions  to 

eSies!'^''  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- "omS^" 
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  and  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-  SlSiiJof 
giveness  was  his  last.  A  night  of  somewhat  ^^^*^' 
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 


1087 


588  WILLIAM'S  DEATH. 

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 

0  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 

hu'dSih?""^  scene  of  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  .  ^^^"^  . 
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  Y^'^'t^^yJ? 

~  the  uuuding. 

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  JarriSto^ 
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- 


590        BURIAL  OF  THE  CONQUEROR. 

.  ^^  .  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 

Dispute  in    mouarch.     A  loud  voice  was  now  heard  from 

8.  Stephen's. 

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  ^aid  the  debt,  the  price  of 
that  narrow  little  plot  of  earth,  the  last  bed  of 
The  burial,  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 
his  fathers,  with  loathing,  disgust,  and  horror. 


591 


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 

ADMINISTRATION  I    IN     CHURCH    MATTERS  :    IN    THE    LAW 

MILITARY     SERVECES 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  ^Sln^^^Bt. 
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.  III.  Q  Q 


592  THE  CONQUEST  UNITES 

g  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       Chrlstcudom  than  had  ever  subsisted  before.    Of 

intercourse 

ISSand  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.  Bedc  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  mor^ver  enumerate  amongst  them  an 
occasional  matrimonial  alliance  or  a  compli- 
mentary embassy, — the  limited  intercourse  and 
connexion  was  gradually  diminishing.    England, 


ENGLAND  TO  EUEOPE.  593 

enclosed  within  her  four  seas,  always  harassed  ^<^^^"«° 
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  iHus- ^"f^j^^ji^ 
trates  this  severance  more  forcibly  and  moreEomer"** 
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 


Rome. 


594  ENGLAND  NOW  UNITED  WITH  FRANCE 

place  in  the  synod :  lie  caused  him  to  sit  in  the 
AnJeiTat"  apsc,  whcpc  hc  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  Eoman 
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 
no°w^fted  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 


with.  France. 


IN  THE  GENERAL  WESTERN  COMMONWEAXTH.      595 

influential  than  these  ties  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  Enter,  into 
Commonwealth,  was  that  of  unity;  a  unity STuropr" 
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.  Rome  became  the 
common  sensorium  of  Europe,  and  through 
Rome  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 

iom?''*"**  Speedily:  for,  when  three  generations  and  four 
had  passed  away,  so  had  its  evils  disappeared. 
j-  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  ; 
J^j^est  and  I  must  needs  here  pause,  and  substitute 
"SSo-     henceforward  the  true  and  antient  word  English 

Saxon." 

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 
fffecte°  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  EXAGGEEATED.  597 

aflforded  by  comparing  England  with  other  kin- 
dred nations,  whose  soil  was .  not  wasted  by  the 
sword  of  the  stranger.  Let  ns  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  corr^iatiye 

■•■  clianges  in 

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,  unmingled  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,  Jj^f  ° 
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 


698  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. 
SiShLw  With  respect  to  government  and  laws  and 
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  PEACTICALLY  PEESEKVED.  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. 

g  4.  But  in  England,  even  so  late  as  the  re-  ^Jstftution 
cent  period  which  I  have  named,  after  all  our  cJniulst?^ 
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 
laxon'''^    venue  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  town.      If  the  lord 

usages. 

[cir.  1845.]  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  ascrlbc  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  KEIGNED  CONSTITUTIONALLY.        601 

cusin  tint  devant  lui ;"    and   in  tlie  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-  J^^^JX 
tion  is  concerned,  William  effected  the  smallest  latT'^' 
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  ^^^^H 

1  o    ^  •  1  n        T       '        and  Norman 

and  powerful  sovereign  :  one  system  of  admm-  law. 
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  PROM  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 
SSniVnot  question.  At  present  none  satisfactory  has  been 
the  original.  ^jig^^Qy^pg^  j^y  ^-^q  rcscarchcs  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  Feudausm.''" 
these  subjects — perhaps  the  greatest— he  who 
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  ^^"^rfs. 
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 


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 

Je^v^erSiTcd  ^vcr  cxlstcd.    It  reminds  us  of  the  feudal  castle, 

in  its  theo-  i  t  p         •!•  i  t  •      i     i 

reticaicom-  rcudercd  so  familiar  to  our  eyes  and  mmd  by 

pleteness.  *' 

worthy  Captain  Grose,  of  antiquarian  and  fa- 
cetious memory ;  and  which,  multiplied  and 
adopted  in  our  encyclopaedias  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 
Vincennes ;  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  thefen'SSare 
feudal  tenures  of  land  with  what  is  called  feudal  government. 
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  Ooloni  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.     As  w  tenTire» 

'  c  after  the 

the  Conqueror  found  the  land,  so  he  gave  it ;  ^^'^'i^^*- 
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 


606  TEEATMENT  OE  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 
Sn^'  to  the  English  law.  But,  leaving  the  entire 
adminrstra-  framcwork  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 
Regains  the  j^jjgjjj  uulcss  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  CLEEGY.  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  SsST' 
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- Sty  to 
sembled  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  and  popes  j 
Bull  to  be  executed,  unless  sanctioned  by  royal 
authority :  in  other  words,  William,  the  Basil eus 

VOL.  m.  R  R 


608  WILLIAM'S  INDEPENDENCE  OF  BOME. 

of  Britain,  assumed  and  exercised  tlie  imperial 
power ;  9,nd  in  this  he  most  evidently  felt  and 
saw  how  needful  it  was,  according  to  his  scheme 
Hiidebrand  ^^  authoritj,  to  rcslst  the  efforts  which  Hilde- 
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  simony 
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. 
SrS'i^''*  The  only  direct  innovation  in  the  shape  of 
English  law.  2^^^  affecting  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. 

g  8.  I  have  already  noticed  the  popular  opinion 


FEUDAL  LAW;  RESUMED.  609 

that  William  introduced  into  England  the  feudal 
law.  We  are  told,  by  the  most  popular  of  our 
historians,  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- 
ments. This  opinion  involves  the  proposition  that 
the  "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  Sfe^^pS"* 
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 
Eipuarians  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  are 

R  r2 


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- 
Domesday    trary.     Take  Domesday,  the  ffreat  record,  which 

testifies  to  no  "^  ./  7  O  7  ^ 

change.       ^g^g  |-q  estabUsh  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. 

Eomaa  §  9.    That  thc  rendering  of  a  military  service 

Eiure7 '    f'Oi'  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  land 

was  liable  to  ''tempore  Regis  Edwardi^'  it  was 

equally  liable  to    ''tempore  Regis  WilUelmi;'' 

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 


INTKODUCED  BY  WILLIAM.  611 

only  establishes  a  negative,  and  that  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner.  Hugh  Lupus,  we  are^^i^;^™^ 
thereby  informed,  holds  the  earldom  by  the  *^*^'**'°°* 
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" 
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  very  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 
oflBcer  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 


612  OBSCUKTTIES  t)F  OUR 

King  Henry  Beauclerc,  he  so  deeply  learned  in 
all  the  science  of  the  Exchequer,  knew  nothing 
of  it,  neither  had  Eichard,  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-Empress  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 
SJy^S'o'li"  ^^^^  there  was  no  one  written  document  testify- 
m\Sj''  °^  ing  to  the  creation  of  military  tenures  ;  and  that, 

tenures. 

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  almoigne  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  TENUEES.  613 

due  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  age  ^  and  wlien  we  find  ^^ 
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  defined. 
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. 

g  10.  William's  first  intention  was  to  adminis-  wmiamag 

"  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, 


William 
cannot  learn 
English. 


Results  of 
this. 


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 
the 8°^r?tof  ^^^^^  time.  If  we  attempt  to  examine  what  at 
owconstitu-  ^i^.g  jj^Qjjjgj^^  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 


LEAEN  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  c^u^oJ  *^* 
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  COURT  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- 

o/tife'coSt.  ^^^^y  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. 

It  issues  From  this  department  emanated  the  ge writs, 

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, 


wnts. 


ITS  ACTION  ON  THE  LAW.  617 

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  tod  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   niight  ^\J^J^°J^1» 
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  precedents. 
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 


.618  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  JUSTICIARS. 

inference  that  it  was  the  King  of  England  who 
introduced   into    Normandy  the   usages   which 
were  common  to  both  realms  ? 
Result  of  g  12.  Whilst  William's  want  of  knowledo-e  of 

theTaw!  ^'^  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 
jusddars.  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 


SPIKIT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  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-  SsXof  the 

.  _^  Conquest  on 

lish  (xovernment,  we  must,  m  the  first  place,  theconsti- 

^  ^  i-  ^  tution. 

endeavour  to  distinguish  very  carefully  between 
the  form  and  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  slight,  or  to  revile  any  insti- 
tution which  commands  popular  respect,  even 
though  that  respect  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- P't^J^t^o^  o^ 
liament  be  considered  as  a  Congress,  a  Political  ^"^  '*'"*''  * 
Assembly,  but  as  a  Tribunal,  in  which,  what- 
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. 
ciaScter'of^  Ours  has  not  been  a  rude  contest  for  the 
itsdeveiop-  r^gg^j.^|Qjj  Qf  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  and 
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. 
«i"nsT  §  ■^^*  -^^  William  the  Conqueror  assumed  the 

law;  royal  power,  as  the  lawful  successor  of  Edward 
the  Confessor,  it  followed,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence, that  he  would  support  hi^  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  But 

•^  *^  '^  administers 

different  was  the  practice:  even  as  William  had '^"'p^*^'^"^* 
been  an  uncontrouUed  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  PKOFESSES  TO 

theless,  afford  much  help  to  the  student ;  and, 
excepting  in  the  violence  of  his  temper,  which, 

wSm  n*i.  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. 

pcLuS  §  ^^-     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; 


as  a 

usurper : 


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,  be  had  a  better 
grounded  title  than  he  who  was  vanquished  by 
the  battle-trial  of  Hastings.  When,  therefore,  Sa?oid 
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  ^ame  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  J^i'^^nSd?* 
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-  i 
perty  was  concerned,  by  an  immutable  law,  al- 
ways   dates   them    "  tempore   Regis  EdwardiP 
William  wanted  nothing  more  than  what  King 
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  const!-  ' 
tuted  heir. 

Much   may    be    collected   from    signs    and 
VOL.  m.  s  s 


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 

William  as  thc  typc  of  thc  ucw  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- 

An^iiswnz.g^orum,  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. 


§16.  It  is  so  popularly  believed  that  all  these 


Further 
errors  as  to 


were  the  immediate  effect  of  the  Conquest,  that  wMct  hT* 

^  '  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 

ss  2 


626  EEACTION  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 
gngijnd  active  leaven.  On  the  whole,  the  most  probable 
NSndy.  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  NOEMANDY.  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  hiiii  did  they  assert  that 
their  wise  usages  were  derived  ;  nay  more,  even 
Magna  Charta  was  claimed  by  them  after  they  ^f^f •  ^^2, 
had  become  the  immediate  subjects  of  the  Oape- 
tian  dynasty,  as  the  foundation  of  their  franchises, 
and  their  best  security  against  arbitrary  power. 

Except  from  its  influence  upon  the  imagina-  Tte  curfew, 
tion,  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 
paja  il  giorno  pianger  che  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  difi&cult  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 
SiTto  French  tongue.  The  pleadings  in  the  supreme 
i^guafe!'^  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. 
William  did        No  doubt  whatever  can  be  entertained  of  the 

not  bring 

^TiSdf''  fact  that,  in  subsequent  times,  the  Eomance 
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  mis-^„yf;^^ 
sive  which  he  addressed  to  his  trusty  men — his  are^r""*" 

•^  French. 

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. 

§  18.  Yet  the  opinion  has  some  claim  to  anti-  fenJefoVthe 
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-  duSon^S" 
French  first  makes  its  appearance  in  the  monu-  pSrinto 

^  ^  England. 

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 


630 


FEENCH  AND  ENGLISH 


English/  discovered,  except  in  Latin  or  in  English.  The 
traditionary  employment  of  the  language  of 
Eome,  however  barbarized  or  corrupted,  con- 
tinued to  be  one  of  the  links  which  connected 
the  mediaeval  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- 


PAKALLEL  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  hasp^^&eof 

■••  language  m 

the  Gothic  speech  fared  better  in  its  own  country  ?  s^*"^^'^*^*- 
Shall  we  find,  in  essentials,  very  much  more 
conformity  to  antiquity  in  Scandinavia  ?  Alas ! 
if  Eegner  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  Caedmon,  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  Buch 
If  you  had  asked  Alfred  what  he  had  in  his  l^lf?r 
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, 
in  the  obliteration  of  many  of  the  inflexions  of 
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. 

g  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. 
Yery  few  localities  in  Normandy  now  bear  any  J>^^ 
traces  of  Teutonism  in  their  etymology.  A  few  SSrori^ai 
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  Andiewnthe 

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. 


The 

Normans 
carry  the 


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 
tenor  of  Norman  history.  In  Sicily,  and  in 
Romance  to  ApuHa,  thc  Grcek  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 
Ouphic  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  Bcforc  thc  Conqucst  the  same  fashion  was 

England  *■ 

Edward:  sprcadlug.  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  ^ttSS 
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^fdunder 
prohibited  the  employment  of  the  French  Ian-  ^^^"^^  "^* 
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 


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 
ttfeTr^bawe  knowledgc.  It  sccms,  therefore,  probable  to  us, 
beforeihe    that  Eufflaud  before  the  Conquest  possessed  at 

Conquest.  ^  ^ 

least  two,  if  not  more,  concurrent  dialects,  as  in 
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  Holstein,  and 
dispersed  or  destroyed  the  stores  of  litera- 
ture, the  Hoch-Deutsch  would  in   great   mea- 


IN  ENGLISH.  637 

sure  liave  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. 

^  ^  -K-  *  -H-  ^ 

g  22.   According  to  the  technical  phraseology  '^teS'^^^ 
of  some  of  our  ecclesiastical  historians,  the  tenth  unlerthe 

.  Saxons. 

century  is  emphatically  denominated  the  "  seen- 
lum  ohscurum''  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 


638  DECLINE  OF  THE  CLEKGY. 

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. 
Satf  5°the  They  had  practically  become  as  effete  as  a  Con- 
^axonc  ergy.  ^q^^j.-^^^^     rjr^^  abuscs  of  thc  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  Grod ;  so  that  this  decay  implies 
not  alone  a  decline  of  cultivation  and  of  intel- 

ignorance.  Icct,  but  of  souud  doctrluc  aud  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 

d^e'"'adation  ^^^  words  of  thc  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  ^^^i^^jj^^^y^ 
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  '^^^^''^ 
without  any  mitigation  upon  the  Church  pro- 
perty, and  large  portions  were  violently  seized 
and  granted  out  to  his  followers.  But  these  SoL^"*- 
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,  ni.  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. 

stigaiTd '  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  any  juris- 
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 

coundfat  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 


council  at 
Windsor. 


AND  OF  MANY  OTHEK  PEELATES.       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  depoTuions. 
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  ecclesiastical  dignity. 

g  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  t2 


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- 
Thwe^^^^ness  of  partial  civilization.  But  destined  as  the 
way  for  abler  ^Qj^jj^g^jjg  wcrc  to  cfifect  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. 
Lanfranc.  g  25.   Amougst  thosc  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. 


CAKEER  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- i^f^eer. 
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-  aSslTop.^ 
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  him- 
self 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 


conduct. 


644  LANFBANC'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, 
gen°e^ar*  WO  shall  spcak  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  very  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 


OTHEK  APPOINTMENTS  BY  WILLIAM.  646 

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  wmiam-a 
William  most  religiously  abstained  from  be- ^''®^*'^''* 
stowing  his  prelacies  in  consequence  of  the 
''munus  a  manu^^  still  he  indemnified  himself 
most  amply  by  the  "  munus  a  lingua^'  and  the 
^'munus  ah  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  Maminot  was  recommended  by  hisMammot. 
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  FURIOUS:  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.  Furious,  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 
Remigius.  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  Eemigius,  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    AVRANCHIN, 
AND   THE   BESSIN. 


1.  -Oherhourg. — Originally  a  Eoman  station,  lield  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 
Qarushure. 

2.  Cronnville. — 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  Uglise. — Belonging  to  Robert  of  Gla- 
morgan. The  arms  borne  by  the  Glamorgan  family  are 
nearly  the  same  in  France  as  in  England. 

6.     Mauperiius.     [Maupertuis  f^ — 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  Yauville  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.  Qreville. — 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  d^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  Luthumiere. — Also  in  the  district  of  Bruixes. 

11.  Briquehec. — 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.  Barneville. — From  Barneville  came  the  Boger  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.  Magneville. — 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  le  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  burrowing 
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.  Freville. — Settled  in  Cambridgeshire. 

27.  Montehourg. — Probably  not  erected  before  the 
fifteenth  century. 

2  8 .    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  Grenville. — Touches  upon  Estres. 
Unquestionably  the  cradle  of  the  Grenvilles. 

31.  JOa  JSogue  or  Hague. — Doubtful  as  to  any  castle. 

32.  JBarfleur. — 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  Farville. — 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. 

85.  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.  Canville. — From  the  owners  of  this  castle  came  the 
Canvilles,  and,  in  the  female  line,  the  Yerduns. 

39.  Varenquehec. — Hence  the  family  of  Evreux  or  Gace, 
one  of  the  trusty  Guardians  of  the  Conqueror.  Rivers  and 
Harcourts  came  from  Varenquehec  j  hereditary  constables  of 
Normandy. 

40.  Lithaire. 

41.  Bolleville, — Belleville  passed  with  the  Conqueror. 


APPENDIX.  653 

From  this  family  came  Eudo  Bapifer,  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.  OmonviUe-h'FoUot. — 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,  Yal  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.  Auhigny. — 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  Qastle  of  G-ratof, 

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.  MunevilU'le-Bingard, — Settled  in  Kent. 

54.  Cam'prond. 

55.  Camhernon. — 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.  Montchaton. — 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.  Brehal—TLM  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.  Qarences. — 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.  Qhanteloup  or  Oanfehupe. — They  held  great  do- 
mains in  Dorsetshire,  and  as  far  as  Warwickshire,  the 
parish  of  Aston  Canteloupe.  The  second  mentioned  shire 
commemorates  their  barony. 

65.  Z/a  Meuredraquiere^  in  England  Mordrac,  very  am- 
ply endowed.  Amongst  the  members  must  be  reckoned  the 
celebrated  Archbishop  of  York,  Henry  Mordrac. 

QQ.  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  Denis4e-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.  Handy e. — Held  by  the  Pagnels,  amongst  the  most 
flourishing  of  our  baronial  families.  Newport  Pagnel,  in 
Buckinghamshire,  commemorates  them. 

71.  Chateau  de  Mauny. — From  this  family  came  the 
celebrated  Walter  de  Mauny. 

72.  G-avray. — 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-hois. — 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.  III.  U  U 


656  APPENDIX. 

queror,  and  the  castle  which  he  founded  in  Somersetshire 
retains  the  name  of  his  Cotentin  Castle,  and  appropriately. 

75.  Sauteville  le  Cruichard. — Hence  came  the  conquerors 
of  Sicilj. 

76.  La  Blontiere, — This  castle  seems  to  have  been  held 
by  the  founder  of  the  family  of  Lord  RoUe.  They  settled 
in  Lincolnshire. 

77.  La  Lande  d^Airou. — This  seems  to  have  been 
originally  called  La  Lande  de  Harold,  but  we  cannot 
carry  any  English  connexion  farther. 

78.  Beauchamp. — Hugh  Beauchamp  came  to  England 
with  the  Conqueror,  and  obtained  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
county  of  Bedford. 

79.  Chateau  G-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.  Subligny, — 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.  Granville. — 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.  aenety.—Do^xWvl. 

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  Eichard  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 

xj  u2 


658  APPENDIX. 

check  upon  Brittany.  During  tlie  singular  contingency 
when  Harold  joined  the  Conqueror  and  they  made  an  expe- 
dition into  Brittany,  Pont  Orson  was  the  Norman  advanced 
jvost;  and  it  was  from  Pont  Orson,  that  they  crossed  the 
Coesnon.  It  was  much  the  object  of  Henry  the  Second's 
care. 

93.  Oheruel. — 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.  Thany, — 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.  Tomhelain. — This  has  some  connexion  with  Tomb- 
land  in  Norwich. 

97.  Montaigne. — Connected  with  the  Montague  family, 
though  not  clearly. 

98.  Argonges, 

99.  aS'^.  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 

^inore  in  Scotland. 


APPENDIX.  659 

102.  Saint  Hilaire, 

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.  Baronten. — Hence  came  the  great  family  of 
Yerdun. 

105.  Touchete, — Hence  the  Touchetes  Lords  Audley. 

106.  Mortaign. — 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  Mort  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 
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  Yal  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  Monthray, — 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  Mohun,  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  Breheuf — This  is  not  the  name  of  a  fief, 
but  simply  of  the  locality. 

117.  Castle  of  Semilly. — 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  Mathan  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  ban  FossS. — This  appears  to  have  been 
held  by  Geoffrey  de  Mowbray;  it  has  no  other  connexion 
with  English  history. 

121.  Chateau  de  Soule. — Under  Henry  11.  it  was  held 
by  Guillanme  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  Egglandes, — This  castle  was  part  of  the 
dowry  of  the  baby  Adela. 

125.  Castle  of  Giraignes. — The  Mordracs  seem  to  have 
held  this  castle. 

126.  Castle  of  ffommet.  —  The  family  of  Hommet, 
amongst  the  most  distinguished  in  Normandy,  settled  in 
Eno'land.  From  them  came  the  great  family  of  Rivers. 
The  Hommets  were  constables  of  Normandy. 

127.  CMteau  de  la  Riviere. — The  barons  who  succeeded 
had  no  connexion  with  England. 


662  APPENDIX.  J 

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  Fonts  d^Ouvres, 

130.  Chateau  de  Bohun. — Hence  the  great  family  of 
the  Bohuns. 

131.  Chateau  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.   III. 


LONDON  : 
KttNTED  BY  GEOR&E  fHIPPS,  13  &  14,  TOTHILL  STREET,  WESTMINSTER. 


CATALOGUE  OF  BOOKS 

PUBLISHED   BY 

MACMILLAN     AND    CO. 

ACROSS  THE  CARPATHIANS.    In  1858-60. 

With  a  Map.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  7s.  6d, 

.ffiSCHYLI  Eumenides. 

The  Greek  Text  with  English  Notes,  and  an  Introduction,  containing  an 
Analysis  of  Miiller's  Dissertations.  By  BERNARD  DRAKE,  M.A.  late 
Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.    8vo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

AIRY.— Treatise  on  the  Algebraical  and  Numerical  Theory  of 

Errors  of  Observations,  and  the  Combination  of  Observations.  By  G.  B, 
AIRY,  M.A.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  6s.  6d. 

ALLINGHAM.— Laurence  Bloomfield  in  Ireland.    A  Modern 

Poem.     By  WILLIAM  ALLINGHAM.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  7s. 

ANDERSON.— Seven  Months  in  Russian  Poland. 

By  the  Rev.  FORTESCUE  ANDERSON,  Worcester  College,  Oxford 
Crown  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

ANSTED.— The  Great  Stone  Book  of  Nature. 

By  DAVID  THOMAS  ANSTED,  M.A.  F.R.S.  F.G.S.  &c.  Late  Fellow 
of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge;  Honorary  Fellow  of  King's  College,  London. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

ARISTOTLE  on  the  Vital  Principle. 

Translated,  with  Notes.  By  CHARLES  COLLIER,  M.D.  F.R.S.  Fellow 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians.    Crown  Svo.  clothe  8s.  6d. 

ARTIST  AND  CRAFTSMAN ;  A  Novel. 

Crown  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

BACON'S  ESSAYS  AND  COLOURS  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL. 

With  Notes  and  Glossarial  Index  by  W.  ALDIS  WRIGHT,  M.A.  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge.  With  Vignette  of  Woolner's  Statue  of  Lord  Bacon. 
4s.  6d.;  morocco,  7s.  6d.;  extra,  10s.  6d.  Large  paper  copies,  cloth,  7s.  6d.j 
half  morocco,  10s.  6d. 

BEASLEY.— An  Elementary  Treatise  on  Plane  Trigonometry : 

with  a  numerous  Collection  of  Examples.  By  R.  D.  BEASLEY,  M.A.  Fellow 
of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  Head-Master  of  Grantham  Grammar  School. 
Crown  Svo.  cloth,  3s.  6d. 

BIRKS.— The  Difficulties  of  Belief  in  connexion  with  the 

Creation  and  the  Fall.  By  THOMAS  RAWSON  BIRKS,  M.A.  Rector  of 
Kelshall,  and  Author  of  "The  Life  of  the  Rev.  E.  Bickersteth."  Crown  Svo. 
cloth,  4s.  6d. 

BIRKS.— On  Matter  and  Ether ;  or  the  Secret  Laws  of  Physi- 

calChange.   By  THOMAS  RAWSON  BIRKS,  M.A.  Crown  Svo.  cloth,  5s.  6(Z. 
2000.  ^ 


2  MACMILLA^N  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

BLAKE —The  Life  of  William  Blake,  the  Artist. 

By  ALEXANDER  GILCHRIST,  Author  of  "The  Life  of  William  Etty." 
Medium  8vo.  with  numerous  Illustrations  from  Blake's  Designs  and  Fac- 
similes of  his  Studies  of  the  "  Book  of  Job."    2  vols.  32s. 

BLANCHE  LISLE,  and  Other  Poems. 

Fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

BOOLE.— A  Treatise  on  Differential  Equations. 

By  GEORGE  BOOLE,  D.C.L.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  Us. 

BOOLE.— A  Treatise  on  the  Calculus  of  Finite  Differences. 

By  GEORGE  BOOLE,  D.C.L.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

BRIMLEY.-Essays,  by  the  late  GEORGE  BRIMLEY,  M.A. 

Edited  by  W.  G.  CLARK,  M.A.  Tutor  of  Trinity  College,  and  Public  Orator 
in  tlie  University  of  Cambridge.  With  Portrait.  Second  Edition. 
Fcap   Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

BROCE.— Daily  Readings  on  the  Passion  of  Our  Lord. 

By  Mrs.  H.  F.  BROCK.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  red  leaves,  4s. 

BROKEN  TROTH,  The.— A  Tale  of  Tuscan  Life.    From  the 

Italian.    By  Philip  Ireton.     2  vols.  Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  125. 

BROOK  SMITH.— Arithmetic  in  Theory  and  Practice. 

For  Advanced  Pupils.  Part  First.  By  J.  BROOK  SMITH,  M.A.  of  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  3s.  6d. 

BUNYAN.— The  Pilgrim's  Progress  from  this  World  to  that 

which  is  to  Come.  By  JOHN  BUNYAN.  With  Vignette,  by  W.  Holman 
Hunt.  ISmo.  cloth,  4s.  Gd.  ;  morocco  plain,  7s.  6d.  ;  extra,  10s.  6d.  The  same 
on  large  paper,  crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  6d.  ;  half-morocco,  10s.  6d. 

BUTLER    (Archer).-WORKS    by    the    Rev.    WILLIAM 

ARCHER  BUTLER,  M.A.  late  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  in  the 
University  of  Dublin  : — 

1.  Sermons,  Doctrinal  and  Practical. 

Edited,  with  a  Memoir  of  the  Author's  Life,  by  the  Very  Rev. 
Thomas  Woodward,  M.A.  Dean  of  Down.  With  Portrait.  Sixth 
Edition.    Svo.  cloth,  I2s. 

2.  A  Second  Series  of  Sermons. 

Edited  by  J.  A.  Jeremie,  D.D.  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the 
University  of  Cambridge.    Tliird  Edition.    Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

3.  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy. 

A  Series  of  Lectures.  Edited  by  William  Hepworth  Thompsok, 
M.A.  Regius  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
2  vols.  Svo.  cloth,  U.  5s. 

4.  Letters  on  Romanism,  in  Reply  to  Mr.  Newman's  Essay 

on  Development.  Edited  by  the  Very  Rev.  T.  Woodward,  Dean  of 
Down.  Second  Edition,  revised  by  the  Ven.  Archdeacon  Hard- 
wick.     Svo. cloth,  10s.  6d. 

BUTLER  (Montagu).— Sermons  Preached  in  the  Chapel  of 

Harrow  Scliool.  By  the  Rev.  H.  MONTAGU  BUTLER,  Head  Master  of 
Harrow  School,  and  late  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Crown  Svo. 
cloth,  7s.  6d. 

BUTLER.- Family  Prayers. 

By  the  Rev.  GEORGE  BUTLER,  M.A,  Vice-Principal  of  Cheltenham 
College ;  late  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Oxford.  Crown  Svo.  cloth,  red  edges,  5s. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  ,>5 

BUTLER.— Sermons  Preached  in  Cheltenham  College  Chapel. 

By  the  Rev.  GEORGE  BUTLER,  M.A.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  red  edges,  7*.  6d. 

CAIRNES.— The  Slave  Power;  its  Character,  Career,  and 

Probable  Designs.  Being  an  Attempt  to  Explain  the  Real  Issues  Involved 
in  the  American  Contest.  By  J.  E.  CAIRNES,  M.A.  Professor  of  Jurispru- 
dence and  Political  Economy  in  Queen's  College,  Galway.  Second  Edition. 
8vo.  cloth,  10s,  6d. 

CALDSRWOOD.— Philosophy  of  the  Infinite.    A  Treatise  on 

Man's  Knowledge  of  the  Infinite  Being,  in  answer  to  Sir  W.  Hamilton  and 
Dr.  Mansel.  By  the  Rev.  HENRY  CALDERWOOD,  M.A.  Second 
Edition.    8vo.  cloth,  U$. 

CAMBRIDGE  SENATE-HOUSE  PROBLEMS  and  RIDERS, 
with  SOLUTIONS  :- 

1848— 1851.— Problems.  By  N.  M.  FERRERS,  M.A.  and  J.  S.  JACK- 

SON, M.A.  of  Caius  College.    15».  6d. 

1848— 1851.— Riders.  By  F.  J.  JA.SIESON,  M.A.  of  Caius  College. 

7s.  r>,!. 

1854— Problems  and  Riders.  By  W.Vv  ALTON,  M.A.  of  Trinity  College,  and 
C.  F.  MACKENZIE,  M.A.  of  Caius  Col- 
lege.    10*.  Cd. 

1857— Problems  and  Riders.  ByW.  M.  CAM;  ION,  M.A.  of  Queen's  College, 
and  W.WA  LTON,  M.A.  of  TrinityCoUege. 
8s.  6d. 

18C0— Problems  and  Riders.  By  H.  W.  T\'ATSON,  M.A.  Trinity  College, 
and  E.  J.  ROUTH,  M.A.  St.  Peter's 
College.    7s.  6d. 

CAMBRIDGE.  —  Cambridge  Scrap  Book:  containing  in  a 

Pictorial  Form  a  Report  on  the  Manners,  Customs,  Humours,  and  Pastimes 
of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  With  nearly  300  Illustrations.  Second 
Edition.     Crown  4to.  half-bound,  7s.  6d. 

CAMBRIDGE.— Cambridge  and  Dublin  MathematicalJournal. 

The  Complete  Work,  in  Nine  Vols.  8vo.  cloth,  71.  is. 

ONLY  A   FEW  COPIES  OF   THE   COMPLETE   WORK  REMAIN  ON    HAND. 

CAMBRIDGE  SENATE-HOUSE  EXAMINATION  PAPERS, 

1860-61.  Being  a  Collection  of  all  the  Papei  >  set  at  the  Examination  for  the 
Degrees,  the  various  Triposes  and  the  Theological  Examination.  Crown  8vo. 
limp  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

CAMBRIDGEYEAR-BOOKandUNIVERSITY  ALMANACK, 

FOR  18G4.  Containing  an  account  of  all  Scholarships,  Exhibitions,  and 
Examinations  in  the  University.    Crown  8vo.  limp  cloth,  2*.  6d. 

CAMPBELL.— Thoughts  on  Revelation,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  Present  Time.  By  JOHN  M<LEOD  CAMPBELL,  Author  of 
"The  Nature  of  the  Atonement  and  its  Relation  to  the  Remission  of  Sins 
and  Eternal  Life."    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  5s. 

CAMPBELL.— The  Nature  of  the  Atonement  and  its  Rela- 
tion to  Remission  of  Sins  and  Eternal  Life.  By  JOHN  M'LEOD 
CAMPBELL,  formerly  Minister  of  Row.    8vo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

CATHERINES,  The  Two ;   or,  Which  is  the  Heroine  ?    A 

Novel.    2  vols,  crown  8vo.  cloth,  21«. 

CHALLIS.— Creation  in  Plan  and  in  Progress:   Being  an 

Essay  on  the  First  Chapter  of  Genesis.   By  the  Rev.  JAMES  CHALLIS,  M.A. 
F.R.S.  F.R.A.S,     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  3s.  6d. 
A? 


4  MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

CHEYNE.— An  Elementary  Treatise  on  the  Planetary  Theory. 

With  a  Collection  of  Problems.  By  C.  H.  H.  CHEYNE^  B.A.  Scholar  of  St. 
John's  College,  Cambridge.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  Gs.  6d. 

CHILDE .— The  Singular  Properties  of  the   Ellipsoid  and 

Associated  Surfaces  of  the  Nth  Degree.  By  the  Rev.  G.F.  CHILDE,  M.A. 
Author  of  ''  Ray  Surfaces,"  "  Related  Caustics."    8vo.  half-bound,  10*.  6d. 

CHILDREN'S  GARLAND.    From  the  Best  Poets.    Selected 

and  Arranged  by  COVENTRY  PATMORE.  With  a  vignette  by  T.  Wooi»ner. 
18mo.  cloth,  4*.  6d.  ;  morocco  plain,  7s.  6d. ;  extra,  10*.  &d. 

CHRETIEN.— The  Letter  and  the  Spirit.    Six  Sermons  on 

the  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture,  Preached  before  the  University  of  Oxford. 
By  the  Rev.  CHARLES  P.  CHRETIEN,  Rector  of  Cholderton,  Fellow  and 
late  Tutor  of  Oriel  College.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  5*. 

CICERO. -THE  SECOND  PHILIPPIC  ORATION. 

With  an  Introduction  and  Notes,  translated  from  Karl  Halm.  Edited  with 
corrections  and  additions.  By  JOHN  E.  B.  MAYOR,  M.A.  Fellow  and 
Classical  Lecturer  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5«. 

CLARA  VAUGHAN.    A  Novel. 

3  vols,  crown  Svo.  cloth,  3ls.  6d. 

CLARK.— Four  Sermons  Preached  in  the  Chapel  of  Trinity 

College,  Cambridge.  By  W.  G.  CLARK,  M.A.  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Trinity 
College,  and  Public  Orator  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Fcap.  Svo.  limp 
cloth,  red  leaves,  2s.  6d. 

CLAY.— The  Prison  Chaplain.    A  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  John 

CLAY,  B.D.  late  Chaplain  of  the  Preston  Gaol.  With  Selections  from  his 
Reports  and  Correspondence,  and  a  Sketch  of  Prison- Discipline  in  England. 
By  his  Son,  the  Rev.  W.  L.  CLAY,  M.A.    Svo.  cloth,  15«. 

CLAY. -The  Power  of  the  Keys. 

Sermons  preached  in  'Coventry.  By  the  Rev.  W.  L.  CLAY,  M.A.  Author  of 
"  The  Prison  Chaplain."     Fcap.  Svo.     cloth,  3*.  6d. 

Clergyman's    Self-Examination    Concerning   the    Apostles* 

Creed.     Crown  Svo.  limp  cloth,  Is.  6d. 

CLOUGH.— The  Poems  of  Arthur  Hugh  Clough,  sometime 

Fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford.  Reprinted  and  Selected  from  his  unpub- 
lished Manuscripts.  With  a  Memoir  by  F.  T.  PALGRAVE.  Second 
Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  65. 

CLOUGH.— The   Bothie   of   Toper -Na-Fuosich.     A    long 

Vacation  Pastoral.  By  ARTHUR  HUGH  CLOUGH.  Royal  Svo.  cloth 
limp,  3«. 

COOPER.—Athenae  Cantabrigienses. 

By  CHARLES  HENRY  COOPER,  F;S.A.  and  THOMPSON  COOPER, 
F.S.A.     Vol.  I.  Svo.  cloth,  1500—85,  IS*.     Vol.  II.  1586—1609,  18s. 

COLENSO.-WORKS  by  the  Right  Rev.  J.  W.  COLENSO, 

D.D.  Bishop  of  Natal  :  — 

1.  The  Colony  of  Natal.    A  Journal  of  Ten  Weeks'  Tour 

of  Visitation  among  the  Colonist.s  and  Zulu  Kafirs  of  Natal.    With  a 
Map  and  Illustrations.    Fcap,  Svo.  cloth,  5s, 

2.  Village  Sermons. 

Second  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  2s.  Gd. 

3.  Four  Sermons  on  Ordination,  and  on  Missions. 

ISrao.  sewed,  Is. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  5 

WORKS  by  COLUJ^SO— continued. 

4.  Companion  to  the  Holy  Communion,  containing  the 

Service,  and  Select  Readings  from  the  writings  of  Mr.  MAURICE 
Fine  Edition,  rubricated  and  bound  in  morocco,  antique  style,  6x. 
or  in  cloth,  2s.  6d.     Common  Paper,  limp  cloth.  Is. 

5.  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans.    Newly  Translated 

and  Explained,  from  a  Missionary  point  of  View.  Crown  8vo.  cloth, 
7s.  6d. 

6.  Letter  to  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 

upon  the  Question  of  the  Proper  Treatment  of  Cases  of  Polygamy,  as 
found  already  existing  in  Converts  from  Heathenism.  Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.  sewed.  Is.  6d. 

COTTON.— Sermons  and  Addresses  delivered  in  Marlborough 

College  during  Six  Years, by  GEORGE  EDWARD  LYNCH  COTTON,  D.D. 
Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  and  Metropolitan  of  India.   Crown  8vo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

COTTON.— A  Charge.    To  the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  and 

Province  of  Calcutta  at  the  Second  Diocesan  and  First  Metropolitan  Visita- 
tion. By  GEORGE  EDWARD  LYNCH  COTTON,  D.D.  Lord  Bishop  of 
Calcutta,  Metropolitan  of  India.     8yo.  3s.  6d. 

COTTON.— Sermons :  chiefly  connected  with  Public  Events 

of  1854.     Fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  3s. 

CROCKER.— A  New  Proposal  for  a  Geographical  System  of 

Measures  and  Weights  conveniently  Introducible,  generally  by  retaining 
familiar  notions  by  familiar  names.  To  which  are  added  remarks  on  systems 
of  Coinage.     By  JAMES  CROCKER,  M.A.    Crown  8vo.  8s.  6rf. 

CROSSE.— An  Analysis  of  Paley's  Evidences. 

By  C.  H.  CROSSE,  M.A.  of  Caius  College,  Cambridge.   24mo.  boards,  2s.  Gd. 

DAViES.— St.  Paul  and  Modern  Thought: 

Remarks  on  some  of  the  Views  advanced  in  Professor  Jowett's  Commentary 
on  St.  Paul.  By  Rev.  J.  LL.  DAVIES,  M.A.  Rector  of  Christ  Church, 
Marylebone.    8vo.  sewed,  2s.  6d, 

DAVIES.— Sermons  on  the  Manifestation  of  the  Son  of  God. 

With  a  Preface  addressed  to  Laymen  on  the  present  position  of  the  Clergy  of 
the  Church  of  England;  and  an  Appendix  on  the  Testimony  of  Scripture  and 
the  Church  as  to  the  possibility  of  Pardon  in  the  Future  State.  By  the 
Rev.  J.  LI.  DAVIES,  M.A.     Crown  8v.  cloth. 

DAVIES.— The  Work  of  Christ;  or  the  World  Reconciled  to 

God.  Sermons  Preached  in  Christ  Church,  St.  Marylebone.  With  a  Preface 
on  the  Atonement  Controversy.  By  the  Rev.  J.  LL.  DAVIES,  M.A.  Fcap. 
8vo.  cloth,  6s. 

DAVIES.— Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 

as  interpreted  by  their  outward  signs.  Three  Expository  addresses  for 
Parochial  Use.     By  the  Rev.  J.  LI.  DAVIES,  M.A.     Limp  cloth,  Is.  6d. 

DAYS  OF  OLD :  Stories  from  Old  English  History  of  the 

Druids,  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  Crusades.  By  the  Author  of  "Ruth  and 
her  Friends."    Royal  16mo.  cloth,  gilt  leaves,  3s.  6d. 

DEMOSTHENES  DE  CORONA. 

The  Greek  Text  with  English  Notes.  By  B.  DRAKE,  M.A.  late  Fellow  of 
King's  College,  Cambridge.  Second  Edition,  to  which  is  prefixed 
AESCHINES  AGAINST  CTESIFHON,  with  English  Notes.  Fcap.  8vo, 
cloth,  5«. 


8  MACM1LLA.N  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

HARDWICK.— Twenty  Sermons  for  Town  Congregations. 

Crown  8vo.  cloth,  65.  Gd. 

HARE.-WORKS  by  JULIUS  CHARLES  HARE,  M.A.  Some- 

time  Archdeacon  of  Lewes,  and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the  Queen. 

1.  Charges  delivered  during  the  Years  1840  to  1854.  With 

Notes  on  the  Principal  Events  affecting  the  Church  during  that  period. 
With  an  Introduction,  explanatory  of  his  position  in  the  Church  with 
reference  to  the  parties  which  divide  it.    3  vols.  8vo.  cloth,  1/.  Us.  6d. 

2.  Miscellaneous  Pamphlets  on  some  of  the  Leading  Ques- 

tions agitated  in  the  church  during  the  Years  1 845— 51.   8yo.  cloth,  12*. 

3.  The  Victory  of  Faith. 

Second  Edition.    8vo.  cloth,  5*. 

4.  The  Mission  of  the  Comforter. 

Second  Edition.    With  Notes.    8vo.  cloth,  12«. 

5.  Vindication  of  Luther  from  his  English  Assailants. 

Second  Edition.    8vo.  cloth,  7s. 

6.  Parish  Sermons. 

Second  Series.    8vo.  cloth,  125. 

7.  Sermons  Preached  on  Particular  Occasions. 

8vo.  cloth,  12*. 

8.  Portions  of  the  Psalms  in  English  Verse. 

Selected  for  Public  Worship.     ISmo.  cloth,  2s.  6d. 
*i^*  The  two  following  Books  are  included  in  the  Three  Volumes  of  Charges, 
and  may  still  be  had  separately. 

The  Contest  with  Rome. 

With  Notes,  especially  in  answer  to  Dr.  Newman's  Lectures  on  Present 
Position  of  Catholics.     Second  Edition.    8vo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

Chaises  delivered  in  the  Years  1843,  1845,  1846. 

Never  before  published.  With  an  Introduction,  explanatory  of  his 
position  in  the  Church  with  reference  to  the  parties  which  divide  it. 
6s.  6d. 

HAYNES.-Outlines  of  Equity.    By  FREEMAN  OLIVER 

HAYNES,  Barrister-at-Law,  late  Fellow  of  Caius  College,  Cambridge. 
Second  Edition.  [Preparing. 

HEARN.— Plutology ;  or,  the  Theory  of  the  Efforts  to  Satisfy 

Human  Wants.  By  W.  E.  HEARN,  LL.D.  Professor  of  History  and  Political 
Economy  in  the  University  of  Melbourne.     8vo.  cloth,  14s. 

HEBERT.— Clerical  Subscription,  an  Inquiry  into  the  Real 

Position  of  the  Church  and  the  Clergy  in  reference  to — I.  The  Articles; 
II.  The  Liturgy;  III.  The  Canons  and  Statutes.  By  the  Rev.  CHARLES 
HEBERT,  M.A.  F.R.S.L.  Vicar  of  Lowestoft.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  ed. 

HEMMING.— An   Elementary  Treatise   on  the  Differential 

and  Integral  Calculus.  By  G.  W.  HEMMING,  M.A.  Fellow  of  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge.    Second  Edition.    8vo.  cloth  9s. 

HERVEY.— The  Genealogies  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 

Christ,  as  contained  in  the  Gospels  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  reconciled 
with  each  other  and  with  the  Genealogy  of  the  House  of  David,  from  Adam  to 
the  close  of  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  shown  to  be  in  harmony  with 
the  true  Chronology  of  the  Times.  By  Lord  ARTHUR  HERVEY,  M.A. 
Archdeacon  of  Sudbury,  and  Rector  of  Ickworth.    Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  d 

HISTORICUS— Letters  on  some  Questions  of  International 

Law.  Reprinted  from  the  Times,  with  Considerable  Additions.  8vo.  cloth, 
Is.  &d.    Also,  ADDITIONAL  LETTERS,  8vo.  'Zs.  &d. 

HODGSON— Mythology   for  Latin  Versification:  a  Brief 

Sketch  of  the  Fables  of  the  Ancients,  prepared  to  be  rendered  into  Latin  "Verse 
for  Schools.  By  F.  HODGSON,  B.D.  late  Provost  of  Eton.  New  Edition, 
revised  by  F.  C.  Hodgson,  M.A.  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.  18mo. 
bound  in  cloth,  3 ». 

HOMER— The  Iliad  of  Homer  Translated  into  English  Verse. 

By  I.  C.  WRIGHT,  M.A.  Translator  of  "  Dante."  Vol.  I,  containing  Books 
I- — XII.  Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10*.  6rf.,  also  sold  separately.  Books  I.— VI.  in 
Printed  Cover,  price  5s.  also.  Books  VII.— XII.  price  5s. 

HORNER— The  Tuscan  Poet  Giuseppe  Giusti  and  his  Times. 

By  SUSAN  HORNER.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  Is.  &d. 

HOWARD.— The  Pentateuch;  or,  the  Five  Books  of  Moses. 

Translated  into  English  from  the  Version  of  the  LXX.  With  Notes  on  its 
Omissisns  and  Insertions,  and  also  on  the  Passages  in  which  it  differs  from 
the  Authorised  Version.  By  the  Hon.  HENRY  HOWARD,  D.D.  Dean  of 
Lichfield.  Crown  Svo.  cloth.  Genesis,  1  vol.  8s.  6d. ;  Exodus  and  Levi- 
ticus, 1  vol.  10*.  6d.;  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy,  \  vol.  10s.  Gd. 

HUMPHRY.— The  Human  Skeleton  (including  the  Joints). 

By  GEORGE  MURRAY  HUMPHRY,  M.D.  F.R.S.  Surgeon  to 
Addenbrooke's  Hospital,  Lecturer  on  Surgery  and  Anatomy  in  the  Cambridge 
University  Medical  School.  With  Two  Hundred  and  Sixty  Illustrations 
drawn  from  Nature.     Medium  Svo.  cloth,  \l.  8s. 

HUMPHRY.— The    Human   Hand   and  the   Human   Foot. 

With  Numerous  Illustrations.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth.     4s.  Qd. 

HYDE.— How  to  Win   our  Workers.    An  Account  of  the 

Leeds  Sewing  School.  By  Mrs.  HYDE.  Dedicated  by  permission  to  the 
Earl  of  Carlisle.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  Is.  6d. 

JAMESON.— Life's  Work,  in  Preparation  and  in  Retrospect. 

Two  Sermons  preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge.  By  the  Rev. 
F.  J.  JAMESON,  M.A.  Rector  of  Coton,  Late  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  St.  Catha- 
rine's College,  Cambridge.     Fcap.  Svo.  limp  cloth.  Is.  &d. 

JAMESON.— Brotherly  Counsels  to  Students.  Four  Sermons 

preached  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Catharine's  College,  Cambridge.  By  F.  J. 
JAMESON,  M.A.    Fcap.  Svo.  limp  cloth,  red  edges,  Is.  Qd. 

JANET'S  HOME. 

A  Novel.    Neiv  Edition.     Crown  Svo. 

JUVENAL.— Juvenal,  for  Schools. 

With  English  Notes.  By  J.  E.  B.  MAYOK,  M.A.  Fellow  and  Classical 
Lecturer  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  Gd. 

KINGSLEY.-WORKS  by  the  Rev.  CHARLES  KINGSLEY, 

M.A.  Rector  of  Eversley,  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the  Queen  and  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  and  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Cambridge  :— 

1.  The  Roman  and  the  Teuton.    A  Series  of  Lectures 

delivered  before  the  University  of  Cambridge.     Svo.  cloth,  12s. 

2.  Two  Years  Ago. 

Third  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

3.  "  Westward  Ho !" 

Fourtli  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 
A3 


10  MACMILLA.N  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

WORKS  by  KmGSLEY-ccmtmued. 

4.  Alton  Locke,  Tailor  and  Poet.    New  Edition,  with  a 

New  Preface.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  45.  6d. 

5.  ,Hypatia ;  or,  New  Foes  with  an  Old  Face. 

Fourth  Edition.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  Gs. 

6.  Yeast. 

Fourtli  Edition.     Fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  5s. 

7.  Miscellanies. 

Second  Edition.    2  vols,  crown  Svo.  cloth,  12*. 

8.  The  Saint's  Tragedy. 

Third  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5*. 

9.  Andromeda,  and  Other  Poems. 

Third  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  !^s. 

10.  The  Water  Babies,  a  Fairy  Tale  for  a  Land  Baby. 

With    Two  Illustrations    by    J.    Noel    Paton,     R.S.A.      New 
Edition.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  es. 

il.  Glaucus ;  or,  the  Wonders  of  the  Shore. 

New  and  Illustrated  Edition,  containing  beautifully  Coloured 
Illustrations  of  the  Objects  mentioned  in  the  Worlc.  Elegantly  bound 
in  cloth,  with  gilt  leaves,  5*. 

12.  The  Heroes;  or,  Greek  Fairy  Tales  for  my  Children. 

With  Eight  Illustrations,  Engraved  by  Whympek.  New  Edition, 
printed  on  toned  paper,  and  elegantly  bound  in  cloth,  with  gilt  leaves, 
Imp.  16mo.  3s.  6d. 

13.  Village  Sermons. 

Sixth  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth  2s.  Cd. 

14.  The  Gospel  of  the  Pentateuch. 

Second  Edition.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  4*.  6d. 

15.  Good  News  of  God. 

Third  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

16.  Sermons  for  The  Times. 

Third  Edition.    Fcap.  cloth,  3*.  6d. 

17.  Town  and  Country  Sermons. 

Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

18.  National  Sermons. 

First  Series.     Second  Edition.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5.?. 

19.  National  Sermons. 

Second  Series.     Second  Edition.     Fcap.  Svo.  5*. 

20.  Alexandria  and  Her  Schools:  being  Four  Lectures 

delivered  at  the  Philosophical  Institution,  Edinburgh.  With  a  Preface. 
Crown  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

21.  The  Limits  of  Exact  Science  as  Applied  to  History. 

An  Inaugural  Lecture  delivered  before  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
Crown  SVo.  boards,  25. 

22.  Phaethon;  or  Loose  Thoughts  for  Loose  Thinkers. 

Third  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  boards,  2s. 

KINGSLEY.-Austin  Elliot. 

By  HENRY  KINGSLEY,  Author  of  "  Ravenshoe,'  &c.    Third  EdiUon. 

2  vols,  crown  Svo.  cloth,  2\s'. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS*  15 

PALME R.~Tlie   Book  of  Praise  :   from  the  best  English 

Hymn  Writers.  Selected  and  arranged  by  ROUNDELL  PALMER.  With 
Vignette  by  Woolner.  18mo.  extra  cloth,  4s.  6d. ;  morocco,  7s.  6d.;  extra, 
105.  6d. 

Also  a  Large  Type  Edition.     Demy  8vo.  cloth,  10*.  6«/.  morocco,  28j. 
Royal  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s. ;  morocco,  12s.  6d. 

PARKINSON —A  Treatise  on  Elementary  Mechanics. 

For  the  Use  of  the  Junior  Classes  at  the  University,  and  the  Higher  Classes  in 
Schools.  With  a  Collection  of  Examples.  By  S.  PARKINSON,  B.D.  Fellow 
and  AssistantTutor  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  Third  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.  cloth,  9s.  6d. 

PARKINSON.— A  Treatise  on  Optics. 

Crown  8vo.  cloth,  lOs.  6d. 

PATERSON.— Treatise  on  the  Fishery  Laws  of  the  United 

Kingdom,  including  the  Laws  of  Angling.  By  JAMES  PATERSON.  M.A. 
of  the  Middle  Temple,  Barrister-at  Law.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  10s. 

PATMORE.-The  Angel  in  the  House. 

Book  I.    The   Betrothal.— Book  II.    The   Espousals.— Book  III.    Faithful 

For  Ever — with  Tamerton  Church  Tower. 

By  COVENTRY  PATMORE.     2  vols.  fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  12s. 

PATMORE.-The  Victories  of  Love. 

By  COVENTRY  PATMORE.     Fcap.  8vo.  4s.  6d. 

PAULI -Pictures  of  England.    By  Dr.  REINHOLD  PAULI. 

Translated  by  E.  C.  OTTE.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  8s.  6d. 

PHEAR.— Elementary  Hydrostatics. 

By  J.  B.  PHEAB,  iM.A,  Fellow  of  Clare  College,  Cambridge.  Third 
Edition.  Accompanied  by  numerous  Examples,  with  the  Solutions. 
Crown  8vo.  cloth,  5s.  6d. 

PHILLIMORE.— Private  Law  among  the  Romans.    From 

the  Pandects.     By  JOHN  GEORGE  PHILLIMORE,  Q.C.     8vo.  cloth,  16s. 

PHILLIPS.— Life  on  the  Earth :  Its  Origin  and  Succession. 

By  JOHN  PHILLIPS,  M.A.  LL.D.  F.R.S.  Professor  of  Geology  in  the 
University  of  Oxford.    With  Illustrations.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  6s.  6rf. 

PHILOLOGY.— The  Journal  of  Sacred  and  Classical  Philology. 

Four  Vols.  Svo.  cloth,  12s.  6d.  each. 

PLATO.— The  Republic  of  Plato. 

Translated  into  English,  with  Notes.  By  Two  Fellows  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge  (J.  LI.  Davies  M.A.  and  D.  J.  Vaughan,  M.A.).  Second 
Edition.  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

PLATONIC  DIALOGUES,  THE.-For  English  Readers. 

By  W.  WHEWELL,  D.D.  F.R.S.  Master  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
Vol.  I.  Second  Edition,  containing  The  Socratic  Dialogues. 
Fcap.  Svo.  olotn,  7s.  6d.  Vol.  II.  containing  The  Anti-Sophist  Dia- 
logues, 6s.  6d.  Vol.  III.  containing  The  Republic.  Fcap.  Svo.  cloth. 
7s.  6d. 

POTTER.— A  Voice  from  the  Church  in  Australia :  Sermons 

preached  in  Melbourne.  By  the  Rev.  ROBERT  POTTER,  M.A.  Rcyal 
fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

PBJETERITA:  Poems  by  WILLIAM  LANCASTER. 

Royal  fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  4s,  6d, 


16  MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

PKATT.— Treatise  on  Attractions,   La  Place's  Functions, 

and  the  Figure  of  the  Earth.  By  J.  H.  PRATT,  M.A.  Archdeacon  of 
Calcutta,  and  Fellow  of  Gonville  and  Caius  College,  Cambridge.  Second 
Edition,     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  6s.  6d. 

PROCTER— A  History  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer:  with 

a  Rationale  of  its  Offices.  By  FRANCIS  PROCTER,  M.A.  Vicar  of  Witton, 
Norfolk,  and  late  Fellow  of  St.  Catharine's  College.  Fifth  Edition, 
revised  and  enlarged.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  10«.6d. 

PROCTER —An  Elementary  History  of  the  Book  of  Common 

Prayer.    By  FRANCIS  PROCTER,  M.A.     18mo.  bound  in  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

PROPERTY  AND  INCOME.-Guide  to  the  Unprotected  in 

matters  relating  to  Property  and  Income.  Second  Edition.  Crown  8vo. 
cloth  3s.  6a!. 

PUCKLE.— An  Elementary  Treatise  on  Conic  Sections  and 

Algebraic  Geometry.  With  a  numerous  collection  of  Easy  Examples  pro- 
gressively arranged,  especially  designed  for  the  use  of  Schools  and  Beginners. 
By  G.  HALE  PUCKLE,  M.A.  Principal  of  Windermere  College.  Second 
Edition,  enlarged  and  improved.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

RAMSAY— The  Catechiser's  Manual;  or,  the  Church  Cate- 
chism illustrated  and  explained,  for  the  use  of  Clergymen,  Schoolmasters, 
and  Teachers.  By  ARTHUR  RAMSAY,  M.A.  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.    Second  Edition.     ISmo.  Is.  6d. 

RAWLINSON.— Elementary  Statics. 

By  G.  RAWLINSON,  M.A.  late  Professor  of  the  Applied  Sciences  in 
Elphinstone  College,  Bombay,  Edited  by  EDWARD  STURGES,  M.A. 
Rector  of  Kencott,  Oxon.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

RAYS  OF   SUNLIGHT   FOR  DARK   DAYS.     A   Book   of 

Selections  for  the  Suffering.  With  a  Preface  by  C.  J.  VAUGHAN,  D.D. 
Vicar  of  Doncaster  and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the  Queen.  ISmo.  elegantly 
printed  with  red  lines,  and  bound  in  cloth  with  red  leaves.  New  Edition. 
3s.  6d.  morocco,  Old  Style,  9s. 

ROBY.— An  Elementary  Latin  Grammar.  By  H.  J.  ROBY,TV[.A. 

Under  Master  of  Dulwich  College  Upper  School ;  late  Fellow  and  Classica 
Lecturer  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.     ISmo.  bound  in  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

ROBY.— Story   of    a    Household,   and   Other  Poems.     By 

MARY  K.  ROBY.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

ROMANIS.— Sermons  Preached  at  St.  Mary's,  Reading. 

By  WILLIAM  ROMANIS,  M.A.  Curate.      Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

ROMANIS.— Sermons  Preached  in  St.  Mary's,  Reading. 

Second  Series.  With  a  Speech-day  Sermon  preached  at  Christ  Church, 
London,  before  the  Governors,  Masters,  and  Scholars  of  Christ's  Hospital. 
By  WILLIAM  ROMANIS,  M.A.  Vicar  of  Wigston  Magna,  Leicestershire. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  6s. 

ROSSETTI.— Goblin  Market,  and  other  Poems. 

By  CHRISTINA  ROSSETTI.  With  Two  Designs  by  D.  G.  Rossetti. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

ROUTH.— Treatise  on  Dynamics  of  Rigid  Bodies. 

With  Numerous  Examples.  By  E.  J.  ROUTH,  M.A.  Fellow  and  Assistant 
Tutor  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  lOs.Gd. 

ROWSELL.-THE  ENGLISH  UNIVERSITIES  AND  THE 

ENGLISH  POOR.  Sermons  Preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
By  T.  J.  ROWSELL,  M.A.  Rector  of  St.  Margaret's,  Lothbury,  late  Incum- 
bent of  St.  Peter's,  Stepney.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth  limp,  red  leaves,  2s. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  17 

ROWSELL.— Man's  Labour  and  God's  Harvest. 

Sermons  preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge  in  Lent,  1861.  Fcap. 
8vo.  limp  cloth,  red  leaves,  3». 

RUFFINI .— Vincenzo ;  or,  Sunken  Rocks. 

By  JOHN  RUFFINI,  Author  of  "Lorenzo  Benoni,"  &c.  3  vols,  crown 
Svo.  cloth,  3ls.  6d. 

RUTH  AND  HER  FRIENDS.    A  Story  for  Girls. 

With  a  Frontispiece.  Fourtli  Edition.  Royal  16mo.  extra  cloth,  gilt 
leaves,  3*.  6d. 

SCOURING   OF   THE   WHITE   HORSE;    or,   The    Long 

Vacation  Ramble  of  a  London  Clerk.  By  the  Author  of  *'  Tom  Brown's 
School  Days."  Illustrated  by  Doyle.  Eighth  Thousand.  Imp.  16mo. 
cloth,  elegant,  8s.  6d. 

SEEMANN.— Viti :  an  Account  of  a  Government  Mission  to 

the  Vitian  or  Fijian  Group  of  Islands.  By  BERTHOLD  SEEMANN, 
Ph.D.  F.L.S.     With  Map  and  Illustrations.     Demy  Svo.  cloth,  14*. 

SELWYN.-The  Work  of  Christ  in  the  World. 

Sermons  preached  before  the  University  of  Cambridge.  By  the  Right  Rev. 
GEORGE  AUGUSTUS  SELWYN,  D.D.  Bishop  of  New  Zealand,  formerly 
Fellow  of  St.  John's  College.    Third  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  2«. 

SELWYN.— A  Verbal  Analysis  of  the  Holy  Bible. 

Intended  to  facilitate  the  translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  Foreign 
Languages.  Compiled  for  the  use  of  the  Melanesian  Mission.  Small  folio, 
cloth, 14s. 

SHAKESPEARE.— The  Works   of  William   Shakespeare. 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  GEORGE  CLARK,  M.A.  and  JOHN  GLOVER,  M.A. 

Vols.  1,  2,  3,  &  4,  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d.  each.    To  be  completed  in  Eight  Volumes. 

SHAIRP.— Kilmahoe :  A  Highland  Pastoral  and  other  Poems. 

By  J.  CAMPBELL  SHAIRP      Fcap.  Svo.  cloth  5s. 

SIMEON.— Stray  Notes  on  Fishing  and  on  Natural  History. 

By  CORNWALL  SIMEON.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

SIMPSON.— An  Epitome  of  the   History  of  the  Christian 

Church  during  the  first  Three  Centuries  and  during  the  Reformation.  With 
Examination  Papers.  By  WILLIAM  SIMPSON,  M.A.  Fourth  Edition. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  3s.  6d. 

SMITH.— A  Life  Drama,  and  other  Poems. 

By  ALEXANDER  SMITH.     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

SMITH.— City  Poems. 

By  ALEXANDER  SMITH,  Author  of  "A  Life  Drama,"  and  other  Poems. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth.    5s. 

SMITH.— Edwin  of  Deira.    second  Edition.    By  ALEXAN- 
DER SMITH,  Author  of  "  City  Poems."     Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

SMITH.— Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  in  their  Principles  and 

Application:  with  numerous  systematically  arranged  Examples,  taken  from 
the  Cambridge  Examination  Papers.  By  BARNARD  SMITH,  M.A.  Fellow 
of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge.  Ninth  Edition.  Crown  Svo. 
cloth,  10s.  6d. 

SMITH.— Arithmetic  for  the  use  of  Schools. 

New  Edition.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

SMITH.— A  Key  to  the  Arithmetic  for  Schools. 

Second  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  8s.  6d.  „ 


IS  MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

SMITH.— Exercises  in  Arithmetic. 

By  BARNARD  SMITH.  With  Answers.  Crown  8vo.  limp  cloth,  2s.  6d. 
Or  sold  separately,  as  follows:— Part  I.  l5.     Part  II.  1*.     Answers,  6d. 

SNOWBALL— The    Elements    of    Plane    and    Spherical 

Trigonometry.  By  J.  C.  SNOWBALL,  M.A.  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge.    Ninth  Edition.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  7«.  6cf. 

STEPHEN.— General  View  of  The  Criminal  Law  of  England. 

By  J.  FITZJAMES  STEPHEN,  Barrister-at-law,  Recorder  of  Newark-on- 
Trent.    8vo.  cloth,  18*. 

STORY.— Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Story,  late  Minister 

of  Roseneath,  including  Passages  of  Scottish  Religious  and  Ecclesiastical 
History  during  the  Second  Quarter  of  the  Present  Century.  By  R.  H.  STORY. 
Crown  8vo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

SWAINSON.— A  Handbook  to  Butler's  Analogy. 

By  C.  A.  SWAINSON,  M.A.  Principal  of  the  Theological  College,  and 
Prebendary  of  Chichester.     Crown  8vo.  sewed.  Is.  Gd. 

SWAINSON.— The  Creeds  of  the  Church  in  their  Relations 

to  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Conscience  of  the  Christian.    8vo.  cloth,  9s. 

SWAINSON.-THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA- 

MENT;  The  Conviction  of  Righteousness,  and  other  Lectures,  delivered 
before  the  University  of  Cambridge.     8vo.  cloth,  12«. 

TACITUS.— The  History  of  Tacitus  translated  into  English. 

By  A.  J.  CHURCH,  M.A.  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford;  and  W.  J.  BROD 
RIBB,  M.A.  late  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  With  a  Map  and 
Notes.    8vo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

TAIT  and  STEELE.— A  Treatise  on  Dynamics,  with  nume- 
rous Examples.  By  P.  G.  TAIT,  FelloAV  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge, 
and  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  and  W.  J.STEELE, 
late  Fellow  of  St.  Peter's  College.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  lO*.  6d. 

TAYLOR.— Words  and  Places ;  or,  Etymological  Illustrations 

of  History,  Ethnology,  and  Geography.  By  the  Rev.  ISAAC  TAYLOE. 
With  a  Map.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  1 2*.  6d. 

TAYLOR.— The  Restoration  of  Belief. 

New  and  Revised  Edition.  By  ISAAC  TAYLOR,  Esq.  Crown  8vo.  cloth,  Ss.  6d. 

TAYLOR.— Geometrical  Conies  including  Anharmonic  Ratio 

and  Projection.  With  numerous  Examples.  By  C.  TAYLOR,  B.A.  Scholar 
of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

THEOLOGICAL  Manuals. 

I.— History  of  the  Church  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

By  ARCHDEACON  HARDWICK.      Second  Edition.     With  Four 
Maps.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  10s.  6(?, 

II.— History  of  the  Church  during  the  Reformation. 

By  ARCHDEACON  HARDWICK.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

III.— The  Book  of  Common  Prayer :  Its  History  and 

Rationale.     By  FRANCIS  PROCTER,  M.A.     Fifth  Edition. 

Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

IV.— History  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament. 

By  B.  F.  WESTCOTT,  M.A.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  12s. 

v.— Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels. 

By  B.  F.  WESTCOTT,  M.A.     Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 
*»*  Others  are  in  progress,  and  will  be  announced  in  due  com se. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  19 

TEMPLE.  —  Sermons  preached  in  the  Chapel  of  Rugby 

School.  In  1858,  1S59,  and  1860.  By  F.  TEMPLE,  D.D.  Chaplain  in 
Ordinary  to  her  Majesty,  Head  Master  of  Rugby  School,  Chaplain  to  Earl 
Denbigh.     Svo.  cloth,  IQs.  6d. 

THRING— A  Construing  Book. 

Compiled  by  the  Rev.  EDWARD  THRING,  M.A.  Head  Master  of  Up- 
pingham Grammar  School,  late  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.  Fcap. 
Svo.  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

THRING.— A  Latin  Gradual. 

A  First  Latin  Construing  Book  for  Beginners.  By  EDWARD  THRING,  M.A. 
Fcap.  Svo.  25.  Gd. 

THRING.— The  Elements  of  Grammar  taught  in  English. 

Third  Edition.    18mo.  bound  in  cloth,  2s. 

THRING.- The  Child's  Grammar. 

Being  the  substance  of  the  above,  with  Examples  for  Practice.  Adapted  for 
Junior  Classes.    A  New  Edition.    18mo.  limp  cloth,  1*. 

THRING.— Sermons  delivered  at  Uppingham  School. 

By  EDWARD  THRING,  M.A.  Head  Master.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  5*. 

THRING.- School  Songs. 

A  Collection  of  Songs  for  Schools.  With  the  Mi\sic  arranged  for  four  Voices. 
Edited  by  EDWARD  THRING,  M.A.  Head  Master  of  Uppingham  School, 
and  H.  RICCIUS.    Small  folio,  7s.  6d. 

THRUPP.— The  Song  of  Songs. 

A  New  Translation,  with  a  Commentary  and  an  Introduction.  By  the  Rev. 
J.  F.  THRUPP,  Vicar  of  Barrington,  late  Fellow  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

THRUPP.— Antient  Jerusalem :  a  New  Investigation  into  the 

History,  Topography,  and  Plan  of  the  City,  Environs,  and  Temple.  Designed 
principally  to  illustrate  the  records  and  prophecies  of  Scripture.  With  Map 
and  Plans.   By  JOSEPH  FRANCIS  THRUPP,  M.A.    Svo.  cloth,  I5s. 

THRUPP.  — Introduction  to  the   Study   and    Use   of  the 

Psalms.    By  the  Rev.  J.  F.  THRUPP,  M.A.     2  vols.  Svo.  21*. 

THRUPP.— Psalms  and  Hymns  for  Public  Worship. 

Selected  and  Edited  by  the  Rev.  J.  F.  THRUPP,  M.A.  ISmo.  cloth,  2s. 
limp  cloth.  Is.  id. 

TOCQUEVILLE.— Memoir,  Letters,  and  Remains  of  Alexis 

De  Tocqueville.  Translated  from  the  French  by  the  Translator  of  "  Napoleon's 
Correspondence  with  King  Joseph."  With  Numerous  additions,  2  vols,  crown 
Svo.  21s. 

TODHUNTER.-WORKS  by  ISAAC  TODHUNTER,  M.A. 

F.R.S.  Fellow  and  Principal  Mathematical  Lecturer  of  St.  John's  College. 
Cambridge : — 

1.  Euclid  for  Colleges  and  Schools. 

ISmo.  bound  in  cloth,  3s.  6d. 

2.  Algebra  for  Beginners. 

With  numerous  Examples.    ISmo.  bound  in  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

3.  A  Treatise   on  the  Differential  Calculus. 

With  numerous  Examples.     Third  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth, 
10s.  6d. 

~     4.  A  Treatise  on  the  Integral  Calculus,    second  Edition. 

With  numerous  Examples.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6c?. 


20  MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

WORKS  by  ISAAC  TODHUNTER-con^mwec?. 

5.  A  Treatise  on  Analytical  Statics,  with  numerous  Ex- 

amples.   Second  Edition.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  10*.  6d. 

6.  A  Treatise  on  Conic  Sections,  with  numerous  Examples. 

Third  Edition.    Crown  8vo.  cloth,  75. 6d. 

7.  Algebra  for  the  use  of  Colleges  and  Schools.    Third 

Edition.     Crown  8vo.  cloth.  Is.  6d. 

8.  Plane  Trigonometry  for  Colleges  and  Schools,    second 

Edition.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  5s. 

9.  A  Treatise  on  Spherical  Trigonometry  for  the  Use  of 

Colleges  and  Schools.    Second  Edition.     Crown  8vo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

10.  Critical  History  of  the  Progress  of  the  Calculus  of 

Variations  during  the  Nineteenth  Century.    8vo.  cloth,  125. 

11.  Examples  of  Analytical  Geometry  of  Three  Dimensions. 

Crown  8vo.  cloth,  4«. 

12.  A  Treatise  on  the  Theory  of  Equations. 

Crown  8vo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

TOM  BROWN'S  SCHOOL  DAYS. 

By  AN  OLD  BOY.     Seventh  Edition.    Fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  5s. 
Copies  of  the  Large  Paper  Edition  may  be  had,  price  105.  6d. 

TOM  BROWN  AT  OXFORD. 

By  the  Author  of  "  Tom    Brown's  School  Days."      Second    Edition. 
3  vols,  crown  8vo.  £l  Us.  6d. 

TRACTS  FOR  PRIESTS  AND  PEOPLE. 

By  VARIOUS  WRITERS. 

The  First  Series,  Crown  8vo.  cloth,  8s. 
The  Second  Series,  Crown  8vo.  cloth,  8s. 

Supplementary  Number  to  the  Second  Series,  price  1*.  Noncon- 
formity in  the  Seventeenth  and  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.  I.  English 
Voluntaryism,  by  J.  N.  LANGLEY.  II.  The  Voluntary  Principle  in 
America.  By  an  English  Clergyman.  This  number  can  be  bound  up 
with  the  Second  Series. 

The  whole  Series  of  Fifteen  Tracts  may  be  had  separately,  price  One 
Shilling  each. 

TRENCH.-WORKS  by  RICHARD  CHENEVIX  TRENCH, 

D.D.  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

1.  Notes  on  the  Parables  of^Our  Lord.     Ninth  Edition. 

8vo.  12s. 

2.  Notes  on  the  Miracles  of  Our  Lord,    seventh  Edition. 

8vo.  12*. 

3.  Synonyms  of  the  New  Testament.  Fifth  Edition.  Fcap. 

8vo.  5s. 

4.  Synonyms  of  the  New  Testament,  second  Part.  Fcap. 

8vo.  5*. 

5.  On  the  Study  of  Words.     Eleventh  Edition.  Fcap. cloth, 4*. 

6.  English  Past  and  Present.    Fifth  Edition.  Fcap.  svo.  4*. 

7.  Proverbs  and  their  Lessons.  Fifth  Edition.  Fcap.  8vo.  3«. 


MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS.  81 

WORKS  by  ARCHBISHOP  TRENCH-co7^«^w«ec^. 

8.  Select  Glossary  of  English  Words  used  Formerly  in 

Senses  diflferent  from  the  Present.     Second  Edition.    4s. 

9.  On  Some  Deficiencies  in  our  English  Dictionaries. 

Second  Edition.    8vo.  Ss. 

10.  Sermons  preached  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Second  Edition.    8vo.  \0s.  6d. 

11.  Five   Sermons   preached  before  the    University  of 

Cambridge.     Fcap.  8vo.  2*.  6d. 

12.  The  Subjection  of  the  Creature  to  Vanity.    Sermons 

preached  in  Cambridge.     Fcap.  8vo.  3s. 

13.  The  Fitness  of  Holy  Scripture   for  Unfolding  the 

Spiritual  Life  of  Man:  Christ  the  Desire  of  all  Nations;  or,  the 
Unconscious  Prophecies  of  Heathendom.  Hulsean  Lectures.  Fcap. 
8vo.    Fonrtb  Edition.    5s. 

14.  St.  Augustine's  Exposition  of  the  Sermon  on  the 

Mount.  With  an  Essay  on  St.  Augustine  as  an  Interpreter  of  Scrip- 
ture.   7  s. 

15.  On  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  New  Testament. 

In  Connexion  with  some  recent  Proposals  for  its  Revision.  Second 
Edition.    7s. 

16.  Justin  Martyr  and  Other  Poems.    Fifth  Edition.  5s. 

17.  Poems  from  Eastern  Sources,  Genoveva,  and  other 

Poems.    Second  Edition.    5s.  6d. 

18.  Elegiac  Poems.    Third  Edition.  2s.  6d. 

19.  Calderon's  Life's  a  Dream :  the  Great  Theatre  of  the 

World.     With  an  Essay  on  his  Life  and  Genius.    4s.  6d. 

20.  Remains  of  the  late  Mrs.  Richard  Trench.    Being 

Selections  from  her  Journals,  Letters,  and  other  Papers.  Second 
Edition.     With  Portrait,  8vo.  15s. 

21.  Commentary  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Seven  Churches 

in  Asia.    Second  Edition.    8s.  6d. 

TUDOR.— The  Decalogue  viewed  as  the  Christian's  Law, 

with  Special  Reference  to  the  Questions  and  Wants  of  the  Times.  By  the 
Rev.  RICHARD  TUDOR,  B.A.  Curate  of  Helston.  Crown  8vo.  cloth. 
10s.  6d. 

VACATION  TOURISTS;  or,  Notes  of  Travel  in  1861. 

Edited  by  F.  GALTON,  F.R.S.  With  Ten  Maps  illustrating  the  Routes. 
8vo.  cloth,  14s. 

VAUGHAN.  — Sermons    preached    in    St.  John's    Church, 

Leicester,  during  the  years  1855  and  1856.  By  DAVID  J.  VAUGHAN,  M.A. 
Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  Vicar  of  St.  Martin's,  Leicester. 
Crown  8vo.  cloth,  5s.  6d. 

VAUGHAN.— Sermons  on  the  Resurrection.    With  a  Preface. 

By  D.  J.  VAUGHAN,  M.A.     Fcap.  8vo.  cloth,  3s. 

VAUGHAN.— Three  Sermons  on  The  Atonement.    With  a 

Preface.     By  D.  J.  VAUGHAN,  M.A.     Limp  cloth,  red  edges,  Is.  6d. 

VAUGHAN.— Sermons  on  Sacrifice  and  Propitiation,  preached 

in  St.  Martin's  Church,  Leicester,  during  Lent  and  Easter,  1861.  By  D.J. 
VAUGHAN,  M.A.    Fcap.  8vo.  cloth  limp,  red  edges,  2s.  6d. 


JP2  MACMILLAN  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS, 

VAUGHAN.-WORKS  by  CHARLES  JOHN  VAUGH AN,  D.D, 

Vicar  of  Doncaster,  Chancellor  of  York,  and  Chaplain  in  Ordinary  to  the 
Queen: — 

1.  Notes  for  Lectures  on  Confirmation.    With  suitable 

Prayers.    Fifth  Edition.    Limp  cloth,  red  edges,  Is.  6d. 

2.  Lectures  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians. 

Crown  8vo.  cloth,  red  leaves,  7s.  6d. 

3.  Lectures  on  the  Revelation  of  St.  John. 

2  vols,  crown  8vo.  cloth,  15s. 

4.  Epiphany,   Lent,   and  Easter.     A  Selection  of  Ex- 

pository Sermons.  Second  Edition.  Crown  8vo.  cloth,  red  leaves, 
10*.  6d. 

5.  The  Book  and  the  Life:  and  other  Sermons  Preached 

before  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Second  Edition.  Fcap.  Svo. 
cloth,  45.  6d. 

6.  Memorials  of  Harrow  Sundays. 

A  Selection  of  Sermons  preached  in  Harrow  School  Chapel.  With  a 
View  of  the  Chapel.  Fourth  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10«.  6d. 

7.  St.  PauFs  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 

The  Greek  Text  with  English  Notes.  Second  Edition.  Crown  Svo. 
cloth,  red  leaves,  5s. 

8.  Revision  of  the  Liturgy.    Four  Discourses.    With  an 

Introduction.  I.  Absolution.  II.  Regeneratioit.  III.  Athana- 
siAN  Creed.  IV.  Burial  Service.  V.  Holy  Orders.  Second 
Edition.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  red  leaves,  4s.  6d. 

9.  Lessons  of  Life  and  Godliness-  A  Selection  of  Sermons 

Preached  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Doncaster.  Second  Edition. 
Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  4s.  6d. 

10.— Words  from    the   Gospels.    A  Second  Selection  of 

Sermons  Preached  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Doncaster.  Fcap.  Svo.  4s.  Gd. 

VILLAGE     SERMONS    BY    A    NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 

RECTOR.  With  a  Preface  on  the  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture.  Crown 
Svo.  6s. 

VIRGIL.— The  .ffineid  translated  into  English  Blank  Verse. 

By  JOHN  MILLER.    Crown  Svo.  cloth,  10s.  6d. 

VOLUNTEER'S  SCRAP  BOOK. 

By  the  Author  of  "The  Cambridge  Scrap  Book."  Crown 4to.  half-bound, 
7s.  6d. 

WAGNER.— Memoir  of  the  Rev.  George  Wagner,  late  of  St. 

Stephen's,  Brighton.  By  J.  N.  SIMPKINSON,  M.A.  Rector  of  Brington, 
Northampton.    Third  and  Cheaper  Edition.    Fcap.  Svo.  cloth,  5s. 

WATSON  AND  ROUTH.-CAMBRIDGE  SENATE-HOUSE 

PROBLEMS  AND  RIDERS.  For  the  Year  1860.  With  Solutions  by  H. 
W.  WATSON,  M.A.  and  E.  J.  ROUTH,  M.A.  Crown  Svo.  cloth,  7s.  6d. 

WARREN.— An  Essay  on  Greek  Federal  Coinage. 

By  the  Hon.  J.  LEICESTER  WARREN,  M.A.    Svo.  cloth,  2s.  6d. 

WESTCOTT.— History  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament 

during  the  First  Four  Centuries.  By  BROOKE  FOSS  WESTCOTT,  M.A. 
Assistant  Master  of  Harrow  School;  late  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge.   Crown  Svo.  cloth,  12s.  6d. 


^tL 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY 


HF      The  history  of  Normandy  and 

Pl6l6h    England 

V.3 


iiiiiPiiiiilfi