[334] I get this phrase from the elder Brut, but I follow the order of events in the Annales Cambriæ, 1098. “Omnes Venedoti in Mon insula se receperunt, et ad eos tuendos de Hibernia piratas invitaverunt, ad quos expugnandos missi sunt duo consules, Hugo comes urbis Legionum, et alter Hugo, qui contra insulam castrametati sunt.”
[335] One manuscript of the Annals has “Gentiles de Ybernia.” See vol. i. pp. 121, 122.
[336] They are “Hugi Prúdi oc Hugi Digri” in the Saga (Johnstone, p. 234). In the younger Brut, p. 84, the earls are called “Huw iarll Caerllion a Huw goch [red] o’r Mwythig.” By Caerleon is of course meant Chester. The elder Brut confounds the two earls. The bulk of Earl Hugh of Chester we have long known. In Orderic’s account (768 B) he is “Hugo Dirgane, id est, Grossus.”
[338] See vol. i. p. 124.
[339] The priory of Penmon was described in 1849 by Mr. Longueville Jones in three articles in the Archæologia Cambrensis, vol. iv. pp. 44, 128, 198, and in an earlier article in the Archæological Journal, i. 118. The date of the original building cannot be very far off either way from the times with which we are dealing. The tower-windows are a kind of transition from Primitive Romanesque to Norman. A doorway of later Norman character seems to be an insertion.
[340] There is a minute description of the castle, by Mr. Longueville Jones, in Archæologia Cambrensis iii. 143. The building of a castle at this time is distinctly asserted in one manuscript of the elder Brut. But the other Brut under 1096 speaks of Earl Hugh of Chester as already lord of Aberlleiniog (Arglwydd Aberlleiniawc).
[341] One manuscript of the Annals (1098 C) seems to make them builders of the castle; “Gentiles pretio corrupti consules in insulam introduxerunt et castra ibi fecerunt.”
[342] Ann. Camb. u. s. “Relicta insula, Hiberniam aufugerunt.” The elder Brut adds that it was “for fear of the treachery of their own men.”
[343] Here Florence (1098) comes to our help. “Interea comites Hugo de Legeceastra et Hugo de Scrobbesbyria Mevaniam insulam, quæ consuete vocatur Anglesege, cum exercitu adierunt, et multos Walanorum quos in ea ceperunt occiderunt, quosdam vero, manibus vel pedibus truncatis testiculisque abscisis, excæcaverunt.”
[344] Giraldus, It. Camb. ii. 7 (vi. 129 ed. Dimock). “Est in hac insula ecclesia sancti Tevredauci confessoris, in qua comes Hugo Cestrensis, quoniam et ipse fines hos Kambriæ suo in tempore subjugaverat, cum canes nocte posuisset, insanos omnes mane recepit, et ipsemet infra mensem miserabiliter exstinctus occubuit.” The two Hughs are here confounded, as Hugh of Chester was certainly not killed. But the story of the hounds sounds specially like him, as he seems to have been even more given to the chase than other men of his day. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 491.
A little earlier in the same chapter Giraldus has a tale about Hugh of Shrewsbury and a wonderful stone, which must belong to this same expedition, though Giraldus places it in the time of Henry the First.
[345] Flor. Wig. 1098. “Quendam etiam provectæ ætatis presbyterum, nomine Cenredum, a quo Walani in iis quæ agebant consilium accipiebant, de ecclesia extraxerunt, et ejus testiculis abscisis et uno oculo eruto, linguam illius absciderunt.”
[346] Ib. “Die tertia, miseratione divina illi reddita est loquela.” See Milman, Latin Christianity, i. 332, 478.
[347] Florence, directly after, notes that Hugh of Shrewsbury “die vii. quo crudelitatem in præfatum exercuerat presbyterum, interiit.”
[348] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 122, 663, 684.
[349] Ord. Vit. 767 B. “De legali connubio Eustanum et Olavum genuit, quibus regnum magnamque potentiam dimisit. Tertium vero, nomine Segurd, Anglica captiva sed nobilis ei peperit, quem Turer, Inghevriæ filius, regis Magni nutritius, nutrivit.” The Saga however (Laing, 339) calla Eystein “the son of a mean mother,” and gives the name of Sigurd’s mother as Thora.
[350] See Ord. Vit. 812.
[351] Compare the story of Turgot in N. C. vol. iv. p. 662.
[352] Ib. 143, 317, 754.
[353] See vol. i. p. 14.
[354] The only mention of Harold the son of Harold which I have come across occurs in William of Malmesbury’s account (iv. 329) of the invasion of Magnus, where “rex Noricorum Magnus cum Haroldo filio Haroldi regis quondam Angliæ, Orcadas insulas et Mevanias, et si quæ aliæ in oceano jacent, armis subegit.”
[355] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 326.
[356] Ib. vol. ii. p. 481.
[357] Ib. vol. iii. pp. 476, 487. Roger of Montgomery was in command of the French contingent, though it is the personal exploits of Robert of Meulan which are specially spoken of.
[358] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Hic filiam regis Irlandæ uxorem duxerat. Sed quia rex Irensis pactiones quas fecerant non tenuerat, Magnus rex stomachatus filiam ejus ei remiserat. Bellum igitur inter eos ortum est.”
[359] Laing, iii. 133. This is placed after the death of Earl Hugh.
[360] See Appendix II.
[361] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 347, 373.
[362] Chron. Manniæ, 4. “Scotos vero ita perdomuit, ut nullus qui fabricaret navem vel scapham ausus esset plus quam tres clavos inserere.” Mr. E. W. Robertson (i. 165) adds; “Such are the words of the Chronicle; their exact meaning I do not pretend to understand.” Neither do I, but Mr. Robertson was more concerned in the matter than I am.
[363] Chron. Man. p. 4. His repentance is thus described; “Post hæc Lagmannus, pœnitens quod fratris sui oculos eruisset, sponte regnum suum dimisit, et signo crucis dominicæ insignitus, iter Jerosolimitanum arripuit, quo et mortuus est.” This is singularly like the story of Swegen the son of Godwine.
[364] Chron. Man. 5. “Omnes proceres insularum, audientes mortem Lagmanni, miserunt legatos ad Murecardum Obrien, regem Yberniæ, postulantes ut aliquem virum industrium de regali stirpe in regem eis mitteret, donec Olavus filius Godredi cresceret.” Murtagh sends Donald with a great deal of good advice; but we read that. “postquam ad regnum pervenit, parvi pendens præcepta domini sui, cum magna tyrannide abusus est regno, et multis sceleribus perpetratis, tribus annis enormiter regnavit.” Then the leaders conspire, and drive him out.
[365] See Appendix II.
[366] Chron. Manniæ, 1098 (p. 5). “Eodem anno commissum est prœlium inter Mannenses apud Santwat, et aquilonares victoriam obtinuerunt. In quo bello occisi sunt Other comes et Macmarus, principes ambarum partium.” From the names, this sounds like a war between Scandinavians and Celts. May we translate “aquilonares” by “Northmen,” or does it mean merely the northern part of the island?
[367] See Appendix II.
[368] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 344.
[369] Ib. vol. iv. p. 520.
[370] See the story in Laing, ii. 347, 352. Ælfgifu of Northampton, who was then in Norway with her son Swegen (see N. C. vol. i. p. 480), was naturally inclined to unbelief.
[371] This story is told by the Manx Chronicler, 6. “Episcopo et clero resistente, ipse rex audacter accessit, et vi regia aperiri sibi scrinium fecit. Cumque et oculis vidisset, et manibus attrectasset incorruptum corpus, subito timor magnus irruit in eum et cum magna festinatione discessit.” This is singularly like the story of William and Saint Cuthberht, which I have just referred to.
[372] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 341.
[373] Ib. p. 345.
[374] Laing, iii. 129, 133.
[375] Ib.; Johnstone, 231. “En hann setti eptir Sigurd son sinn til höfdingia ysir eyonom, oc seck hönom rádoneyti.” It is as well to have the exact Norsk titles of the governor and his council.
[376] Johnstone, 232. “Magnus konongr kom Eidi sino vid eyna Helgo, oc gaf þar grid oc frid öllum mönnum oc allra manna varnadi.” A not very intelligible story follows, how he opened the door of the little church, but did not go in, but at once locked the door and ordered that no one should ever go in again, which was faithfully obeyed. Here, as ever in Celtic holy places, we find the group of several churches.
[377] Johnstone, ib.; Laing, iii. 130.
[378] Chron. Man. p. 6. “Galwedienses ita constrinxit, ut cogeret eos materias lignorum cædere et ad litus portare ad munitiones construendas.”
[379] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Hiberniam ingredi voluit; sed, Irensibus in maritimis littoribus ad bellum paratis, alias divertit.”
[380] Ib. “Insulam Man, quæ deserta erat, inhabitavit, populis replevit, domibus et aliis necessariis ad usus hominum graviter instruxit.”
[381] Chron. Man. 6. “Cum applicuisset ad insulam sancti Patricii, venit videre locum pugnæ, quam Mannenses paulo ante inter se commiserant, quia adhuc multa corpora occisorum inhumata erant. Videns autem insulam pulcherrimam, placuit in oculis ejus, eamque sibi in habitationem elegit, munitiones in ea construxit, quæ usque hodie ex ejus nomine nuncupantur.”
[382] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Alias quoque Cycladas, in magno mari velut extra orbem positas, perlustravit, et a pluribus populis inhabitari regio jussu coegit.”
[383] Ib. “Maritimæ vero plebes, quæ in Anglia littus infiniti Amphitritis incolebant in boreali climate, ut barbaricas gentes et incognitas naves viderunt ad se festinare, præ timore nimio vociferatæ sunt, et armati quique de regione Merciorum convenerunt.”
[384] Ord. Vit. 767 D. “Quondam princeps militiæ Magni regis cum sex navibus in Angliam cursum direxit, sed rubeum scutum, quod signum pacis erat, super malum navis erexit.”
[385] Ib. 768 A. “Maxima multitudo de comitatu Cestræ et Scrobesburiæ congregata est, et in regione Dagannoth secus mare ad prœlium præparata est.”
[386] See Appendix II.
[387] See Appendix II.
[388] See Appendix II.
[389] See Appendix II.
[390] See Appendix II.
[391] Ord. Vit. 768 B. “Cujus mortem Magnus rex ut comperiit, vehementer cum suis planxit, et Hugoni Dirgane, id est Grosso, pacem et securitatem mandavit. Exercitum, inquit, non propter Anglos sed Hibernos ago, nec alienam regionem invado, sed insulas ad potestatem meam pertinentes incolo.”
[392] Ib. “Normanni tandem et Angli cadaver Hugonis diu quæsierunt, pontique fluctu retracto, vix invenerunt.”
[393] Ib. “Hic solus de filiis Mabiliæ mansuetus et amabilis fuit, et iv. annis post mortem Rogerii patris sui paternum honorem moderatissime rexit.”
[394] Ib.
[395] Johnstone, 236. “Aunguls-ey er þridiongr Brettlandz,” This is strange measurement even if Wales alone is meant, much more if by “Brettlandz” we are to understand the whole isle of Britain.
[396] See Appendix II.
[397] Brut y Tywysogion, 1096. “So the French [y Freinc] reduced all, as well great as small, to be Saxons [Sæson].” But in the Latin Annals, 1098, the words are, “Franci vero majores et minores secum ad Angliam perduxerunt.”
[398] Johnstone, 236; Laing, iii. 132.
[399] The treaty is noticed by the Irish writers. Chronicon Scotorum, 1098. “A year’s peace was made by Muircertach Ua Briain with Magnus, King of Lochlann.” On the marriage, see above, p. 136.
[400] Johnstone, 237. “Oc gaf hönom konongs nafn, oc setti hann yfir Orkneyar oc oni Sudreyar, oc seck hann i hendur Hák Pálssyni frænda sinom.”
[401] “Mælkolf Skota konong” he appears in the Norsk text (236). The ceremony of crossing the isthmus is minutely described, and it is said that ships were often drawn across it.
[402] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Quo [Hugone] defuncto, Robertus Belesmensis, frater ejus, Guillelmum Rufum requisivit, eique pro comitatu fratris iii. millia librarum sterilensium exhibuit. Et comes factus, per quatuor annos immania super Gualos exercuit.”
[403] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Angli et Guali, qui jamdudum ferales ejus ludos quasi fabulam ridentes audierunt, nunc ferreis ejus ungulis excoriati, plorantes gemuerunt, et vera esse quæ compererant sentientes experti sunt.”
[404] Ib. “Ipse quanto magis opibus et vernulis ampliatus intumuit, tanto magis collimitaneis, cujuscunque ordinis fuerint, auferre fundos suos exarsit, et terras quas prisci antecessores sanctis dederant, sibi mancipavit.”
[405] Orderic bears him this witness, 766 B, C, in recording the fortification of Gisors, of which we shall have to speak presently, “ingeniosus artifex Rodbertus Belesmensis disposuit.”
[407] See N. C. vol. i. p. 506.
[408] See the Chronicles, 895. In Winchester, Canterbury, and Abingdon the name is Quatbridge. “Þæt hic gedydan æt Cwatbrycge be Sæfryn and þæt geweorc worhtan.” Worcester has “æt Brygce.”
[409] This is distinctly marked by Florence, 1101. “Arcem quam in occidentali Sabrinæ fluminis plaga, in loco qui Brycge dicitur lingua Saxonica, Ægelfleda Merciorum domina quondam construxerat, fratre suo Eadwardo Seniore regnante, Scrobbesbyriensis comes Rotbertus de Beleasmo, Rogeri comitis filius, contra regem Heinricum, ut exitus rei probavit, muro lato et alto summoque restaurare cœpit.” The work of the Lady is recorded in the Canterbury and Abingdon Chronicles, 912. “Her cóm Æþelflæd Myrcna hlæfdige on þone halgan æfen muentione Sc̃e Crucis to Scergeat, and þar ða burh getimbrede, and þæs ilcan géares þa æt Bricge.” It was therefore not a mere earthwork to be wrought, but a wall of some kind, whether of wood or of stone, to be timbered. This marks the position of Bridgenorth itself as distinguished from the earthwork at Oldbury.
[410] Domesday, 254. “Ipse comes tenet Ardintone; Sancta Milburga tenuit T. R. E. Ibi … nova domus, et burgum Quatford dictum. Nil reddit.”
[411] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 499.
[412] A singular story is preserved in Bromton (X Scriptt. 988). When Earl Roger’s second and better-behaved wife Adeliza was coming for the first time to England, she was in danger of shipwreck. Her chaplain, who was on board, had a vision, in which a certain matron told him that, in order to lull the storm, his lady must vow to build a church to Saint Mary Magdalene on the spot where she should first meet her husband, a spot which was to be marked in a manner not unknown either at Glastonbury or at Alba Longa; “Præcipue ubi concava quercus cum tugurio porcorum crescit.” The vow is made; the Countess meets the Earl hunting; “apud Quatford, quæ tunc deserta fuit, in loco ubi dicta quercus crescebat venanti domino suo primo occurrit.” The church was founded and endowed; but it afterwards became annexed to the collegiate chapel in the castle at Bridgenorth. Some further details about this college are given. See also Mon. Angl. viii. 1463. The foundation at Bridgenorth is attributed to Robert of Bellême.
[413] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Oppidum de Quatfort transtulit, et Brugiam, munitissimum castellum, super Sabrinam fluvium condidit.”
[414] It appears in Domesday, 255, in the form of “Aldeberie.”
[415] These windows are a distinct case of traces of the primitive Romanesque even in a military building, just as in Oxford Castle. See N. C. vol. v. p. 636.
[416] Just as in the case of Conan at Rouen, we must get rid of the notion of anybody standing on the top of a flat tower. An English traveller on the continent is struck by seeing military towers with high roofs; but it is simply because in England the roofs have been destroyed.
[417] I have not myself seen this site. Mr. Clark writes to me; “The township of that name is within the Shropshire parish of Llan y-mynech but a part of an island of Denbigh. The site, coveted on account of some silver mines, was conquered soon after the Great Survey, and annexed to the palatine earldom of Salop, though after the conquest of Wales it was transferred to Denbigh. The castle stood upon Offa’s Dyke, and was protected on the immediate south by the Vyrnwy, and a mile or two to the west by its tributary the Tarrat. Three British camps to the north and west show how at least as early as the Mercian days the position had been watched.”
[418] His lands in Nottinghamshire (Domesday, 284) cover more than five pages. At one place, Ættune, we read, “habuerunt x. taini quisque aulam suam.” In other places, 285, 286, we have entries of the same kind of five thegns, six thegns, and seven thegns. Land in Nottinghamshire would seem to have been greatly divided T. R. E. The first entry in Yorkshire, 319, in “Lastone and Trapum,” we read, “ibi habuit comes Edwinus aulam; nunc habet Rogerius de Busli ibi in dominio.” In 320, in Hallun, for which we may read Sheffield, it is said, “ibi habuit Wallef comes aulam.”
The Norman lordship of Roger is written in many ways; he appears as “Rogerus de Buthleio,” “de Busli,” and other forms. In the French Ordnance map the name of the place is given as Bully.
[419] See Domesday, 319, and N. C. vol. iv. p. 290.
[420] Domesday, 320. “Hanc terram habet Rogerius de Judita comitissa.”
[421] Domesday, 113. This is Sanford in Devonshire, which had been held by a Brihtric, whether the son of Ælfgar or any other. “Regina dedit Rogerio cum uxore sua.” Very unlike lands in Yorkshire, it had doubled its value since Brihtric’s time.
[422] Domesday, 319. It is “Tyckyll” in Florence, 1102. The history of the place may be studied in Mr. John Raine’s History of Blyth.
[423] Bæda, ii. 12. “In finibus gentis Merciorum, ad orientalem plagam amnis qui vocatur Idlæ.” There Eadwine smote Æthelfrith. Bæda’s description marks Nottinghamshire as Mercian.
[424] I have had to mention Blyth in my paper on the Arundel case in the Archæological Journal, xxxvii. 244 (1880). The monastic part at the east end is gone, and the effect of the parochial part strangely changed by later additions. No one would think from the first glance at the outside that the nave of a Norman minster lurked there.
There are two notices of Blyth in the Normanniæ Nova Chronica under 1088 and 1090. The first merely records a grant of the church to the Trinity monastery (also called Saint Katharine) at Rouen; “a viro venerabili Rogerio de Bully et ab Munold [sic] uxore sua.” The second records the gift a second time, and adds, “ibi constituit xiii. monachos.” He had had dealings with the house before. In the cartulary of the monastery, No. xliii. p. 444, he sells the tithe of Bully [Buslei], “quemadmodum sibi jure hæreditario competebat,” for threescore and twelve pounds and a horse (“pro libris denariorum lx. et xii. et i. equo”). The signatures, besides those of Duke William and Count Robert of Eu, are mainly local, as “Hernaldi cujus pars decimæ,” “Huelini de Brincourt,”—Neufchâtel that was to be. Mr. A. S. Ellis suggests that this sale was to supply the lord of Bully with the means of crossing in 1066. It is odd that there is no mention of Blyth in the cartulary.
[425] Compare Florence, 1102, with Orderic, 806 C. No one without local knowledge would guess that “Blida” and “Tyckyll” meant the same place.
[426] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Blidam totamque terrain Rogerii de Buthleio cognati sui jure repetiit, et a rege grandi pondere argenti comparavit.” Mr. A. S. Ellis, in a paper reprinted from the Yorkshire Archæological Journal, headed “Biographical Notices on the Yorkshire Tenants named in Doomsday Book,” suggests that what Robert really bought was the wardship of Roger’s son. The history of the family will be found in Mr. Raine’s book and in Mr. Ellis’s paper.
[427] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 537.
[428] Ord. Vit. 768 C. “Sicut idem vir multis possessionibus in terris est locupletatus, sic majori fastu superbiæ sequax Belial inflatus, flagitiosos et crudeles ambiebat insatiabiliter actus.” There is no need to take “flagitiosus” in the special sense.
[429] The authorities for this chapter take in such French and Cenomannian records as we have. Suger’s Life of Lewis the Sixth, in the fourth volume of the French Duchèsne, gives us but few facts as to the French war, but he draws a vivid general picture. For Maine we have the Lives of Bishops Howel and Hildebert in the History of the Bishops of Le Mans in Mabillon’s Vetera Analecta. The accounts there given have to be compared throughout with the narrative of the French and Cenomannian wars in Orderic. The strictly English writers tell us nothing about France, next to nothing about Maine. Something may be gleaned from the writers in French rime, as Wace and Geoffrey Gaimar; but Wace has by no means the same value now which he had during the actual time of the Conquest.
[430] See N. C. vol. v. p. 99.
[431] See N. C. vol. i. p. 249.
[432] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 130.
[433] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 263.
[434] Lewis is in Suger constantly spoken of as “Dominus Ludovicus;” special titles for kings’ sons had not yet been invented.
[435] William of Malmesbury tells the story (iii. 257); “Pacem cum Philippo rege comparavit [Robertus Friso], data sibi in uxorem privigna, de qua ille Lodovicum tulit qui modo regnat in Francia; nec multo post pertæsus connubii (quod illa præpinguis corpulentiæ esset), a lecto removit, uxoremque Andegavensis comitis contra fas et jus sibi conjunxit.” The reason here given for separation seems a strange one, especially on the part of Philip. Henry the Eighth, according to some accounts, is said at one stage to have sought for a wife of his own size. The Queen appears in Orderic (699 B) as “generosa et religiosa conjux.” It appears from Geoffrey Malaterra (iv. 8) that Philip next wished to marry Emma, the daughter of Count Robert of Sicily; but the trick was found out. It was not easy to entrap a Sicilian Norman.
[436] This is Orderic’s story. The three wives of Fulk are carefully reckoned up in the Gesta Consulum (Chroniques d’Anjou, i. 140) and in the Gesta Ambasiensium Dominorum (i. 191). Bertrada therefore had some reason when we read, “Bertrada Andegavorum comitissa, metuens ne vir suus quod jam duabus aliis fecerat sibi faceret, et relicta contemptui ceu vile scortum fieret, conscia nobilitatis et pulcritudinis suæ fidissimum legatum Philippo regi Francorum destinavit, eique quod in corde tractabat, evidenter notificavit. Malebat enim ultro virum relinquere aliumque appetere quam a viro relinqui, omniumque patere despectui.” Some details of the elopement of Bertrada from Tours are given in the Gesta Consulum, i. 142, and in the acts of the Lords of Amboise, i. 192. She appears there as “pessima uxor Fulconis comitis.”
[437] William of Malmesbury (v. 404) lays the blame in a quarter which we should not have looked for; “Adeo erat [Philippus] omnibus episcopis provinciæ suæ derisui, ut nullus eos desponsaret præter Willelmum archiepiscopum Rotomagensem, cujus facti temeritatem luit multis annis interdictus, et vix tandem aliquando per Anselmum archiepiscopum apostolicæ communioni redditus.” (See De Rémusat, Anselme, 355.) It is hard to have to believe this of the Good Soul, and one rather takes to Orderic’s version (699 C); “Odo Baiocensis episcopus hanc exsecrandam desponsationem fecit, ideoque dono mœchi regis pro recompensatione infausti famulatus ecclesias Madanti oppidi aliquamdiu habuit.” Orderic waxes very eloquent on Philip’s crime.
[438] See his letters in Duchèsne, iv. 2, 3, 4, 7. Ivo distinctly refuses to have anything to do with the marriage; but it seems that Philip pretended to have been divorced by a council under Reginald Archbishop of Rheims.
[439] Betholi Constantiensis Chron., Bouquet, xi. 27, 28. “1094. In Galliarum civitate quam vulgariter Ostionem (Augustodunum) dicunt, congregatum est generale concilium a venerando Hugone Lugdunensi archiepiscopo et sedis apostolicæ legato cum archiepiscopis, episcopis et abbatibus diversarum provinciarum xvii. cal. Nov. in quo concilio renovata est excommunicatio in Heinricum regem et in Guibertum sedis apostolicæ invasorem et in omnes eorum complices. Item rex Galliarum Philippus excommunicatus est, eo quod, vivente uxore sua, alteram superinduxerit.”
[440] Ord. Vit. 669 C. “Permissu tamen præsulum, quorum dominus erat, pro regali dignitate capellanum suum habebat, a quo cum privata familia privatim missam audiebat.”
[441] Ib. “In quodcunque oppidum vel urbem Galliarum rex advenisset, mox ut a clero auditum fuisset, cessabat omnis clangor campanarum, et generalis cantus clericorum.” William of Malmesbury, v. 404; “Quocirca ab apostolico excommunicatus, cum in villa qua mansitabat nihil divini servitii fieret, sed discedente eo, tinnitus signorum undique concreparent, insulsam fatuitatem cachinnis exprimebat, ‘Audis,’ inquiens, ‘bella, quomodo nos effugant.’”
[442] Ord. Vit. u.s. “Quo tempore nunquam diadema portavit, nec purpuram induit, neque sollennitatem aliquam regio more celebrabat.”
[443] Her death is recorded in the year 1094 in the Chronicle of Clarius or of Saint Peter at Sens (D’Achery, ii. 477), which gives some curious details of the council of that year, and how the Archbishop of Sens was allowed to sit on a level with the Archbishop of Rheims.
[444] Ord. Vit. 700 A. “Ludovico filio suo consensu Francorum Pontisariam et Madantum totumque comitatum Vilcassinum donavit, totiusque regni curam, dum primo flore juventutis pubesceret, commisit.”
[445] Ord. Vit. 766 A. “Guillelmus Rufus, ut patris sui casus et bellorum causas comperit, Philippo Francorum regi totum Vilcassinum pagum calumniari cœpit, et præclara oppida, Pontesiam et Calvimontem atque Medantum, poposcit,”
[446] Ib. “Francis autem poscenti non acquiescentibus, imo prœlianti atrociter resistere ardentibus, ingens guerra inter feroces populos exoritur, et multis luctuosa mors ingeritur.”
[447] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “And se cyng þeræfter uppon Sc̃e Martines mæssan ofer sǽ intó Normandig fór.”
[448] See N. C. vol. v. p. 159.
[449] Chron. Petrib. 1097. “Ac þa hwile þe he wederes abád, his hired innon þam sciran þær hi lágon þone mæston hearm dydon þe æfre hired oððe here innon friðlande don sceolde.”
[450] See vol. i. p. 154.
[451] It is hardly an exception when William of Malmesbury (iv. 320) tells the story of William Rufus’ dialogue with Helias, which belongs to this time, altogether out of place, and as a mere illustrative anecdote.
[452] Suger, 283 A. “Similiter et dissimiliter inter eos certabatur, similiter cum neuter cederet, dissimiliter cum ille maturus, iste juvenculus, ille opulentus et Anglorum thesaurorum profusor, mirabilisque militum mercator et solidator; iste peculii expers, patri qui beneficiis regni utebatur parcendo, sola bonæ indolis industria militiam cogebat, audacter resistebat.” Orderic (766 A) says, in a somewhat different strain, “Philippus rex piger et corpulentus belloque incongruus erat; Ludovicus vero filius ejus puerili temeritudine detentus, adhuc militare nequibat.” This strange statement comes before that quoted in p. 175.
[453] Orderic (766 A) waxes very eloquent on William, his host, and its captains, how they could have met Cæsar, and what not. He gives the list in the text, with the notice, “Robertus Belesmensis princeps militiæ hujus erat, cujus favor erga regem et calliditas præ cæteris vigebat.”
[454] Suger, 283 A. “Videres juvenum celerrimum, modo Bituricensium, modo Arvernorum, modo Burgundionum, militari manu transvolare fines; nec idcirco tardius si ei ignotescat Vilcassinum regredi, et cum trecentis aut quingentis militibus præfato regi Guillelmo cum x. millibus fortissime refragari.”
[455] Suger, 283 A. “Ut dubius se habet belli eventus, modo cedere, fugare modo.”
[456] Ib. B. “Angliæ captos ad redemptionem celerem militaris stipendii acceleravit anxietas, Francorum vero longa diuturni carceris maceravit prolixitas, nec ullo modo evinculari potuerunt, donec, suscepta ejusdem regis Angliæ militia, hominio obligati regnum et regem impugnare et turbare jurejurando firmaverunt.” So Pyrrhos proposed to his Roman prisoners to enter his service.
[457] Suger (287, 291) has much to say about “Guido de Rupe-forti, vir peritus et miles emeritus.” In p. 297 he describes the castle; “Supersistitur promontorio ardui litoris magni fluminis Sequanæ horridum et ignobile castrum, quod dicitur Rupes Guidonis, in superficie sui invisibile, rupe sublimi incaveatum, cui manus æmula artificis in devexo montis, raro et misero ostio, maximæ domus amplitudinem rupe cæsa extendit, antrum ut putatur, fatidicum.” He goes on to quote Lucan. Orderic (766 B) witnesses to Guys treason; “Guido de Rupe, Anglorum argenti cupidus, eis favit, et munitiones suas de Rupe et Vetolio dimisit. Sic alii nonnulli fecerunt, qui suis infidi exteris avide obtemperaverunt.”
[458] Cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 200, for the same state of things at Nottingham. The like may be seen along the banks of the Loire.
[459] Ord. Vit. 766 B. “Rodbertus comes de Mellento in suis munitionibus Anglos suscepit, et patentem eis in Galliam discursum aperuit, quorum bellica vis plurima Francis damna intulit.” “Angli” here must take in all the subjects of Rufus. “Gallia,” I need hardly say, is high-polite for France, and does not take in Normandy.
[460] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 486.
[461] Ord. Vit. 766 B. “Plerique Francorum qui binis cogebantur dominis obsecundare, pro fiscis quibus abunde locupletati sub utriusque regia turgebant ditione, anxii quia nemo potest duobus dominis servire, animis acriorem opibusque ditiorem elegerunt, et cum suis hominibus municipiisque favorabiliter paruerunt.”
[462] Among the Norman prisoners Suger (283 A) counts “Paganum de Gisortio, qui castrum idem primo munivit.” Orderic (766 C) gives him, like several other people, a double name; he appears as “Tedbaldus-Paganus de Gisortis.” This first fortification of Gisors must be that which is referred to by Robert of Torigny under the year 1096; “Rex Willermus fecit quoddam castellum, Gisorth videlicet, in confinio Normanniæ et Franciæ.” See below, p. 190.
[463] Orderic, 766 B. “Guillelmus rex firmissimum castrum Gisortis construi præcepit, quod usque hodie contra Calvimontem et Triam atque Burriz oppositum, Normanniam concludit, cujus positionem et fabricam ingeniosus artifex Rodbertus Belesmensis disposuit.” See above, p. 151.
[464] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 494.
[465] Ord. Vit. 766 C. “Illi nimirum insignem Francorum laudem deperire noluerunt, seseque pro defensione patriæ et gloria gentis suæ, ad mortem usque inimicis objecerunt.” This is said specially of the knights of the Vexin; “In illa quippe provincia egregiorum copia militum est quibus ingenuitas et ingens probitas inest.”
[466] Suger gives the list, 283 A. Orderic (766 C) also speaks of the captivity of “Tetbaldus-Paganus de Gisortis,” and some others. Suger calls Gilbert of Laigle “nobilis et Angliæ et Normanniæ seque illustris baro.” But his English estates (Domesday 36, ii. 263) in Surrey and Norfolk were not very large. Another prisoner was “Comes Simon, nobilis vir;” that is, I suppose, Simon of Senlis, Earl of Northampton. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 602.
[467] See vol. i. p. 211.
[468] Ord. Vit. 681 B. “Audientes Cenomanni dissidium Normannorum cogitaverunt fastuosum excutere a se jugum eorum, quod olim facere multoties conati sunt sub Guillelmo Magno rege Anglorum. Hoc Robertus dux ut comperiit, legatos et exenia Fulconi Andegavensium satrapæ destinavit, obnixe rogans ut Cenonannos a temerario ausu compesceret, ac in Normanniam ad se graviter ægrotantem veniret.”
[469] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 562. We shall meet him again in this character.
[470] See above, p. 172. Orderic’s words (681 D) are, “viventibus adhuc duabus uxoribus tertiam desponsavit.” But the accounts of the Angevin writers do not bear this out.
[471] Fulk is made to say (Ord. Vit. 681 C), “Amo Bertradam sobolem Simonis de Monteforti, neptem scilicet Ebroicensis comitis Guillermi, quam Heluissa comitissa nutrit et sua sub tutela custodit.” Presently Count William himself speaks of her as “neptis mea, quæ adhuc tenera virago est, quam sororius meus mihi commendavit nutriendam.” Here the word “virago,” the use of which is a little doubtful, seems equivalent to “virgo,” unless it is meant that Bertrada had graduated in the school of her aunt. But see Ducange in Virago.
[472] See Appendix C.
[473] Ord. Vit. 681 C. “Si mihi quam valde cupio rem feceris unam, Cenomannos tibi subjiciam, et omni tempore tibi ut amicus fideliter serviam.”
[474] Ib. “Radulfus patruus meus, qui pro magnitudine capitis et congerie capillorum jocose cognominatus est Caput asini.” We have heard of him as the murderer of Gilbert of Eu and the guardian of William the Great. See N. C. vol. i. pp. 196, 202.
[475] See vol. i. p. 220. Orderic gives the list of counsellors.
[476] See vol. i. pp. 220, 256.
[477] Ord. Vit. 681 D. “Ex consultu sapientum”—Duke Robert had his Witan—“decrevit dare minora ne perderet majora.”
[478] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 545.
[479] Orderic tells the tale, 683 B, C. “Qui vivente Guillelmo rege contra eum rebellare multoties conati sunt, ipso mortuo statim de rebellione machinari cœperunt, legationem igitur filiis Azsonis marchisi Liguriæ direxerunt.” Then they set forth their story, “non pro amore eorum, sed ut aliqua rationabili occasione jugum excuterent a se Normannorum, quod fere xxx. annis fortiter detriverat turgidas cervices eorum.”
[480] Orderic (683 C, D) makes “Gaufridus Madeniensis et Helias aliique cives et oppidani” join in the reception of Hugh, therefore seemingly in the mission to him. The biographer of the Bishops (Vet. An. 292) makes the embassy the work of Geoffrey only.
[481] Orderic draws his outward likeness, 769 D. “Erat probus et honorabilis, et multis pro virtutibus amabilis. Corpore præcellebat, fortis et magnus, statura gracilis et procerus, niger et hirsutus, et instar presbyteri bene tonsus.”
[482] Ib. “Eloquio erat suavis et facundus, lenis quietis et asper rebellibus, justitiæ cultor rigidus, et in timore Dei ad opus bonum fervidus.” He goes on with details of his devotions. There is another shorter panegyric in 768 D.
[483] Ib. 684 C. Helias there sets forth his own pedigree; “Filia Herberti comitis Lancelino de Balgenceio nupsit, eique Lancelinum Radulfi patrem et Johannem meum genitorem peperit.”
[484] Ib. 769 A. “Generosam conjugem Mathildam filiam Gervasii accepit, qui Rodberti cognomento Brochardi fratris Gervasii Remensis archiepiscopi filius fuit.” On Bishop Gervase see N. C. vol. iii. pp. 193–196.
[485] Ord. Vit. 769 A. “Helias de paterna hereditate Flechiam castrum possedit, quatuor vero castella de patrimonio uxoris suæ obtinuit, id est, Ligerim et Maiatum, Luceium et Ustilliacum.” We shall hear of these places again.
[486] Not that the department is called from the town, but from the river.
[487] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 545.
[488] Ord. Vit. 683 C. “Gaufridus Madeniensis et Helias, aliique cives et oppidani, venientem Hugonem susceperunt, eique ad obtinendum jus ex materna hereditate competens aliquamdiu suffragati sunt.”
[489] Ib. B. “Anno ab Incarnatione Domini m.xc. Indictione xiii. Cenomanni contra Normannos rebellaverunt, ejectisque custodibus de munitionibus, novum principem sibi constituerunt.”
[490] See vol. i. p. 205. Cf. N. C. vol. iv. p. 546.