For Bukerst in the second line another MS. has Brokehest.
[783] See Appendix SS.
[784] See vol. i. p. 380.
[785] See Appendix SS.
[786] Geoffrey Gaimar (Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, i. 52);
[787] Geoffrey Gaimar, Chron. Anglo-Norm. i. 52;
[788] See vol. i. p. 411.
[789] Geoffrey Gaimar, u. s.;
Another manuscript reads,
[790] Ib.
[791] Geoffrey Gaimar, Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, i. 52;
Cf. the use of the word English in Orderic and Suger which I have commented on in N. C. vol. v. p. 835.
[792] Will. Malms. iv. 333. “Tanta vis erat animi, ut quodlibet sibi regnum promittere auderet. Denique ante proximam diem mortis interrogatus ubi festum suum in natali teneret, respondit Pictavis, quod comes Pictavensis, Jerosolymam ire gestiens, ei terram suam pro pecunia invadaturus dicebatur.” See above, p. 313.
[793] Geoffrey Gaimar, u. s.;
[794] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “And þæræfter on morgen æfter Hlammæsse dæge wearð se cyng Willelm on huntnoðe fram his anan men mid anre fla ofsceoten and syððan to Winceastre gebroht, and on þam biscoprice bebyrged.” The bishopric of course means the Old Minster, the episcopium.
[795] “Radulphus de Aquis,” says Giraldus, De Inst. Princ. 176. See below, p. 335. We are not told which of all the places called Aquæ is meant.
[796] See Appendix SS.
[797] On the different versions of the death of Rufus, see Appendix SS.
[798] William of Malmesbury (iv. 333) describes the process with some pomp of words; “Pridie quam excederet vita, vidit per quietem se phlebotomi ictu sanguinem emittere, radium cruoris in cælum usque protentum lucem obnubilare, diem interpolare.” But the common word for being bled is “minuere” (see Ducange in voc.), and the many monastic rules which forbid the practice of bleeding except at stated times would seem to imply that the process, if not liked in itself, was at least made use of as an excuse for idleness.
[799] Ib. “Lumen inferri præcipit.” This is a comment on the reform of Henry (v. 393), “Lucernarum usum noctibus in curia restituit, qui fuerat tempore fratris intermissus.”
[800] Ib. “Quod ei a secretis erat.” Robert is also described as “vir magnatum princeps.”
[801] Ib. “Monachus est et causa nummorum monachaliter somniat; date ei centum solidos.”
[802] “Seriis negotiis cruditatem indomitæ mentis eructuans” is the odd phrase of William of Malmesbury.
[803] Will. Malms. v. 333. “Ferunt, ea die largiter epulatum, crebrioribus quam consueverat poculis frontem serenasse.” This phrase is almost equally odd with the last.
[804] Ord. Vit. 782 A. “Cum hilaris cum clientibus suis tripudiaret, ocreasque suas calcearet, quidam faber illuc advenit, et sex catapultas ei præsentavit.”
[805] “Justum est, ut illi acutissimæ dentur sagittæ, qui lethiferos inde noverit ictus infigere.”
[806] “Abbatis sui litteras regi porrexit, quibus auditis, rex in cachinnum resolutus est.”
[807] Ord. Vit. 782 A. “Gualteri, fac rectum de his quæ audisti. At ille: Sic faciam, domine.” I do not quite see what these words mean.
[808] “Ex simplicitate nimia, mihi tot negotiis occupato somnia stertentium retulit, et per plura terrarum spatia scripto etiam inserta destinavit. Num prosequi me ritum autumat Anglorum, qui pro sternutatione et somnio vetularum dimittunt iter suum seu negotium?”
[809] He is brought in as “Henricus comes frater ejus.”
[810] “Cum rex et Gualterius de Pice cum paucis sodalibus in nemore constituti essent,” says Orderic; “Solus cum eo [Walterio] remanserat,” says William of Malmesbury.
[811] This is the version of Geoffrey Gaimar. See Appendix SS.
[812] Thus the English took each a morsel of earth in their mouths before the battle of Azincourt. See Lingard, v. 498.
[813] This is the version of Benoît de Sainte More. See Appendix SS.
[814] So William of Malmesbury. See Appendix SS.
[815] So Orderic. See Appendix SS.
[816] As in Benoît’s account. So Matthew Paris in the Historia Anglorum. See Appendix SS. This seems to have become the most popular version.
[817] This is one of two accounts which reached Eadmer. Hist. Nov. 54. “Quæ sagitta, utrum, sicut quidam aiunt, jacta ipsum percusserit, an, quod plures affirmant, illum pedibus offendentem superque ruentem occiderit, disquirere otiosum putamus.”
[818] This tale, some of the details of which have become popular, is preserved by Matthew Paris, and in a fuller form by Knighton. See Appendix SS.
[819] This is from Giraldus Cambrensis. See Appendix SS.
[820] This is the line taken by Florence. It is at this point that he brings in his account of the making of the New Forest (see N. C. vol. iv. p. 841), and of the deaths of the two Richards in it. He then adds; “In loco quo rex occubuit priscis temporibus ecclesia fuerat constructa, sed patris sui tempore, ut prædiximus, erat diruta.” Sir Francis Palgrave naturally makes the most of this, and with fine effect; iv. 9, 680, 682.
[821] Orderic (782 D) says that they brought his body, “veluti ferocem aprum venabulis confossum.” We get the same idea a little improved in William of Newburgh (i. 2), who says, “Quippe in venatione sagitta proprii militis homo ferocissimus pro fera confossus interiit.” (The words in Italics must be a translation of the Chronicle.) The full developement comes in Thomas Wykes (Ann. Mon. iv. 13), who must surely have had William of Newburgh before him. He, like Giraldus and others (see above, p. 322), looked on Rufus as the maker of the New Forest, if not as the inventor of forests in general. “Rex Willelmus Angliæ, dictus Rufus, qui pro eo quod accipitrum et canum ludicris quasi se totum dederat, totum fere regnum Angliæ in multorum perniciem et omnium regnicolarum dispendium primus afforestavit, propellentibus eum ad interitum peccatis suis, a quodam milite suo Waltero Tyrel, in Nova Foresta, tanquam pro fera, confossus sagitta quadam, vulneratus interiit.”
[822] This is Geoffrey Gaimar’s story (i. 55). See Appendix TT.
But Roger ought to be Richard.
[824] This is from Orderic, whose story is essentially the same as that of William of Malmesbury. See Appendix TT.
[825] This is all brought out most plainly by Orderic; but the less distinct words of William of Malmesbury and others in no sort contradict Orderic, and in truth look the same way.
[826] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 599.
[827] See Appendix TT.
[828] Eadmer, Vit. Ans. ii. 6. 55. “Intulit idem venerabilis abbas sub testimonio veritatis proxime præterita nocte eumdem regem ante thronum Dei accusatum, judicatum, sententiamque damnationis in eum promulgatam.”
[829] Ib. 56. “Juvenis ornatu ac vultu non vilis” speaks to the clerk, “qui prope ostium cameræ jacebat, et necdum dormiens, oculos tamen ad somnum clausos tenebat.” The message runs thus; “Pro certo noveris quia totum dissidium quod est inter archiepiscopum Anselmum et Willelmum regem determinatum est atque sedatum.”
[830] Eadmer, Vit. Ans. ii. 6. 56. “Sequenti autem nocte inter matutinas unus nostrum clausis oculis stabat et psallebat. Et ecce illi quidam chartulam admodum parvam legendam exhibuit. Aspexit, et in ea, obiit rex Willelmus, scriptum invenit. Confestim aperuit oculos, et nullum vidit præter socios.” None of these stories are found in the Historia Novorum, but they are copied by Roger of Wendover, ii. 159.
[831] Matthew Paris, Hist. Angl. i. 71. “Eadem hora comes Cornubiæ in silva ab illa qua hoc acciderat per duas dietas distante, dum venatum iret, et solus casu a suis derelinqueretur sodalibus, obvium habuit unum magnum pilosum et nigrum hircum ferentem unum regem nigrum et nudum, per medium pectoris sauciatum.”
[832] Ib. “Et adjuratus hircus per Deum trinum et unum, quid hoc esset, respondit, Fero ad judicium suum regem vestrum, imo tyrannum, Willelmum Rufum. Malignus enim spiritus sum, et ultor malitiæ suæ, qua desævit in ecclesiam Christi; et hanc necem suam procuravi, imperante prothomartire Angliæ beato Albano, qui conquestus est Domino quod in insulam Britanniæ, cujus ipse fuit primus sacrator, supra modum grassaretur. Comes igitur hæc statim sociis enarravit.” Wonders, though not quite so wonderful as this, reached Devonshire as well as Cornwall. Walter Map (223) tells us, “Eadem die Petro de Melvis, viro de partibus Exoniæ, persona quædam vilis et fœda, telum ferens cruentum, cursitans apparavit dicens, Hoc telum hodie regem vestrum perfodit.”
[833] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “Swa þæt þæs dæges þe he gefeoll he heafde on his agenre hand þæt arcebiscoprice on Cantwarbyrig, and þæt bisceoprice on Winceastre, and þæt on Searbyrig, and xi. abbotrices, ealle to gafle gesette.” This is copied by various writers.
[834] See vol. i. p. 279.
[835] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “On þæne Þunresdæg he wæs ofslagen, and þæs on morgen bebyrged. And syðþan he bebyrged wæs, þa witan þe þa neh handa wæron his broðer Heanrig to cynge gecuran.”
[836] This story, to which we have already referred (see above, p. 321), is told by Wace, 15194 et seqq. The words of the prophetess are;
Here again I can only tell the story as I find it in a writer whose authority at this stage is not first-rate. It is easy to say (see N. C. vol. v. p. 824) that it points to a known plot for the King’s murder. It is equally easy to say that the story is a mere fable suggested by what followed. In short, where there is no real evidence, it is easy to make any guesses that we think good.
[837] Wace, 15194 seqq.;
Wace’s way of piling up numbers reminds us of his arithmetic at the assembly of Lillebonne. See N. C. vol. iii. p. 295.
[838] Ib.
[839] Ord. Vit. 782 C. “Henricus concito cursu ad arcem Guentoniæ, ubi regalis thesaurus continebatur, festinavit, et claves ejus, ut genuinus hæres, imperiali jussu ab excubitoribus exegit.”
[840] See the story in Plutarch, Cæsar, 25; Merivale, ii. 154.
[841] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Legaliter, inquit, reminisci fidei debemus, quam Rodberto duci, germano tuo, promisimus. Ipse nimirum primogenitus est Guillelmi regis filius, et ego et tu, domine mi Henrice, hominium illi fecimus. Quapropter tam absenti quam præsenti fidelitas a nobis servanda est in omnibus.” “Legaliter” is of course to be construed “loyally.”
[842] Ord. Vit. 782 C. “Inter hæc aspera lis oriri cœpit, et ex omni parte multitudo virorum illuc confluxit, atque præsentis hæredis qui suum jus calumniabatur virtus crevit. Henricus manum ad capulum vivaciter misit et gladium exemit, nec extraneum quemlibet per frivolam procrastinationem patris sceptrum præoccupare permisit.”
Not only is all this graphically told; but every word is of political importance. Whether the exact words which are put into the mouth of William of Breteuil are his or Orderic’s, they clearly set forth the doctrines which were creeping in. Orderic himself speaks for the English people, as the English people doubtless did speak.
[843] Orderic and William of Malmesbury are the fullest on the election; but it is distinctly marked everywhere. See Appendix UU.
[844] See N. C. vol. i. p. 486.
[845] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 529.
[846] The speed with which events happened is strongly marked by the Chronicler. As soon as Henry is chosen, “he þærrihte þæt biscoprice on Winceastre Willelme Giffarde geaf, and siþþan to Lundene for.” The appointment is also recorded by Florence and Henry of Huntingdon. William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 110) says, when speaking of a somewhat later time, “Willelmus fuerat adhuc recenti potestate Henrici violenter ad Wintoniensem episcopatum electus, nec electioni assentiens, immo eligentes asperis convitiis et minis incessens.” Henry of Huntingdon (De Contemptu Mundi, 315) speaks of him as “vir nobilissimus.” Orderic (783 C) marks his former office; “Guillelmo cognomento Gifardo, qui defuncti regis cancellarius fuerat, Guentanæ urbis cathedram commisit.”
[847] See the references in N. C. vol. v. p. 225.
[848] Will. Malms. v. 393. “Hæc eo studiosius celebrabantur, ne mentes procerum electionis quassarentur pœnitudine, quod ferebatur rumor Robertum Normanniæ comitem ex Apulia adventantem jam jamque affore.”
[849] Ord. Vit. 783 B. “Henricus, cum Rodberto, comite de Mellento, Lundoniam properavit.”
[850] Maurice is mentioned as the consecrator by Orderic, 783 B, and by the Chronicler. Orderic is wrong when he gives as a reason not only that Anselm was absent, but that Thomas of York was dead. But he was hard to get at, and as he died three months later, he may very likely have been sick. On the alleged consecration by Thomas, see Appendix UU.
[851] See vol. i. p. 16, and N. C. vol. iii. p. 561.
[852] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “On þan Sunnandæge þæræfter toforan þam weofode on Westmynstre Gode and eallan folce behét ealle þa unriht to aleggenne þe on his broðer timan wæran, and þa betstan lage to healdene þe on æniges cynges dæge toforan him stodan.” So more briefly Henry of Huntingdon; “Sacratus est ibi a Mauricio Londoniensi episcopo, melioratione legum et consuetudinum optabili repromissa.” This is the promise, the charter published the same day was its first fulfilment. These special provisions must have been an addition to the ordinary coronation oath, which was taken by Henry in the form prescribed in the office of Æthelred. Stubbs, Select Charters, 95.
[853] Chron. Petrib. “And hine syððan æfter þam se biscop of Lundene Mauricius to cynge gehalgode, and him ealle on þeosan lande to abugan, and aðas sworan, and his men wurdon.”
[854] William of Malmesbury (v. 393) is emphatic on the popular joy; “Lætus ergo dies visus est revirescere populis, cum, post tot anxietatum nubila, serenarum promissionum infulgebant lumina.” He adds that Henry was crowned “certatim plausu plebeio concrepante.” The adjective is important. Orderic (783 C, D) takes the opportunity for an elaborate panegyric on Henry and his reign. He had already (782 D), before William is buried, said, “Hoc antea dudum fuit a Britonibus prophetatum, et hunc Angli optaverunt habere dominum, quem nobiliter in solio regni noverant genitum.” The prophecy is given in full in 887 D (see N. C. vol. v. p. 153); “Succedet Leo justitiæ, ad cujus rugitum Gallicanæ turres et insulani dracones tremebunt.” For an “insularis draco” of the same class, see vol. i. p. 124.
[855] Florence marks the charter as granted on the day of the coronation. He gives a good summary;
“Qui consecrationis suæ die sanctam Dei ecclesiam, quæ fratris sui tempore vendita erat et ad firmam erat posita, liberam fecit, ac omnes malas consuetudines et injustas exactiones quibus regnum Angliæ injuste opprimebatur, abstulit, pacem firmam in toto regno suo posuit, et teneri præcepit: legem regis Eadwardi omnibus in commune reddidit, cum illis emendationibus quibus pater suus illam emendavit: sed forestas quas ille constituit et habuit in manu sua retinuit.”
[856] See vol. i. pp. 335–341, and N. C. vol. v. pp. 373–381.
[857] Select Charters, 96. “Sciatis me Dei misericordia et communi consilio baronum totius regni Angliæ ejusdem regni regem coronatum esse.”
[858] Ib. 97. “Sanctam Dei ecclesiam imprimis liberam facio, ita quod nec vendam nec ad firmam ponam.”
[859] See vol. i. p. 338.
[860] See N. C. vol. v. p. 374.
[861] Ib. p. 376.
[862] Select Charters, 97. “Monetagium commune quod capiebatur per civitates et comitatus quod non fuit tempore regis Edwardi, hoc ne amodo fiat omnino defendo. Si quis captus fuerit sive monetarius sive alius cum falsa moneta, justitia recta inde fiat.”
[863] See vol. i. pp. 345, 394.
[864] Select Charters, 97. “Et si quis pro hæreditate sua aliquid pepigerat, illud condono, et omnes relevationes quæ pro rectis hæreditatibus pactæ fuerant.”
[865] See vol. i. p. 338.
[866] Select Charters, 98. “Si quis baronum sive hominum meorum forisfecerit, non dabit vadium in misericordia pecuniæ, sicut faciebat tempore patris mei vel fratris mei, sed secundum modum forisfacti, ita emendabit sicut emendasset retro a tempore patris mei, in tempore aliorum antecessorum meorum.”
[867] See N. C. vol. i. p. 758; vol. v. pp. 444, 881.
[868] Select Charters, 98. “Murdra etiam retro ab illa die qua in regem coronatus fui omnia condono: et ea quæ amodo facta fuerint, juste emendentur secundum lagam regis Edwardi.”
[869] Ib. “Forestas communi consensu baronum meorum in manu mea retinui, sicut pater meus eas habuit.”
[870] Ib. “Militibus qui per loricas terras suas defendunt, terras dominicarum carrucarum suarum quietas ab omnibus gildis, et omni opere, proprio dono meo concedo, ut sicut tam magno allevamine alleviati sint, ita se equis et armis bene instruant ad servitium meum et ad defensionem regni mei.” We have had an example of this tenure “per loricam” in the case of an Englishman T. R. W. in N. C. vol. iv. p. 339.
[871] Select Charters, 98. “Lagam Edwardi regis vobis reddo cum illis emendationibus quibus pater meus eam emendavit consilio baronum suorum.” The half-English, half-Latin, form “laga” should be noticed.
[872] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 325.
[873] See N. C. vol. v. p. 149.
[874] Select Charters, 98. “Si quis aliquid do rebus meis vel de rebus alicujus post obitum Willelmi regis fratris mei ceperit, totum cito sine emendatione reddatur, et si quis inde aliquid retinuerit, ille super quem inventum fuerit mihi graviter emendabit.”
[875] Roger of Wendover, iii. 293. “Producta est in medium charta quædam regis Henrici primi, quam iidem barones a Stephano, Cantuariensi archiepiscopo, ut prædictum est, in urbe Londoniarum acceperant. Continebat autem hæc charta quasdam libertates et leges regis Eadwardi sanctæ ecclesiæ Anglicanæ pariter et magnatibus regni concessas, exceptis quibusdam libertatibus quas idem rex de suo adjecit.”
[876] See the list in Select Charters, 98. Why does not Walter Giffard sign as Earl? Or is it his son? William of Malmesbury (v. 393) seems to speak of a general oath to the charter on the part of the nobles; “Antiquarum moderationem legum revocavit in solidum, sacramento suo et omnium procerum, ne luderentur corroborans.”
[877] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 295; iii. p. 590; v. p. 893.
[878] See N. C. vol. v. p. 602.
[879] On Abbot Simeon, see N. C. vol. iv. pp. 481, 833. According to the local writers (Anglia Sacra, i. 612; Stewart, 284) he reached his hundredth year. They have much to tell of the troubles of the abbey during the vacancy at the hands of Flambard (Stewart, 276–283). But it seems that Flambard needed to be stirred up by a local enemy, who, we are sorry to find, bears an English name and a singular surname; “vir Belial Ælwinus cognomento Retheresgut, id est venter pecudis.”
[880] Orderic (783 C, D) mentions all these appointments to abbeys along with the appointment of William Giffard to Winchester and that of Gerard to York. It will be remembered that he fancied that Archbishop Thomas was dead before the coronation. “Eliense cœnobium dedit Ricardo, Ricardi de Benefacta filio, Beccensi monacho, et abbatiam Sancti Edmundi regis et martyris Rodberto juveni Uticensi monacho, Hugonis Cestrensis comitis filio. Glastoniam quoque commisit Herluino Cadomensi, et Habundoniam Farisio Malmesburiensi.” That the appointments were made on the day of the coronation appears from the two local histories, the Annals of Saint Eadmund’s in Liebermann, 130, and the two Ely histories, that in Anglia Sacra, i. 613, and the Liber Eliensis (Stewart, 284), which largely copies Florence. As Richard the second Earl of Chester was “filius unicus Hugonis consulis” (Hen. Hunt. De Contemptu Mundi, 304), and as Orderic (787 C) calls him “Pulcherrimus puer, quem solum ex Ermentrude filia Hugonis de Claromonte genuit [Hugo],” it would follow that Abbot Robert was one of the many natural children of Earl Hugh. See N. C. vol. v. p. 490. He was appointed, say the local Annals, “renitentibus monachis.”
[881] Orderic, as we have seen, calls Abbot Richard a son of Richard of Bienfaite, while the Ely writers call him the son of Count Gilbert, which must be wrong. Yet they have much to say about his family, who are oddly spoken of as the “Ricardi,” along with the “Gifardi.” They tell at length the story of his deposition, but attribute it to the King rather than to Anselm. But see Florence, 1102; Eadmer, 67; Ans. Ep. iii. 140.
[882] See Willis, Glastonbury, p. 9.
[883] Faricius fills a large space in the history of his abbey. He was a native of Arezzo, and had been cellarer at Malmesbury; Hist. Ab. ii. 44, 285. He was kept back from the archbishopric by the scruples of Robert (Bloet) Bishop of Lincoln and Roger Bishop of Salisbury; Hist. Ab. ii. 287.
[884] William of Malmesbury (v. 393) puts the whole story emphatically enough; “Ne quid profecto gaudio accumulato abesset, Rannulfo nequitiarum fæce tenebris ergastularibus incluso, propter Anselmum pernicibus nuntiis directum.” Florence also joins the imprisonment of Flambard and the recall of Anselm; “Nec multo post Dunholmensem episcopum Rannulfum Lundoniæ in turri custodiæ mancipavit, et Dorubernensem archiepiscopum Anselmum de Gallia revocavit.” In the Chronicle we get the Tower named in our own tongue, as in 1097; “And se cyng sona æfter þam be þære ræde þe him abutan wæran, þone biscop Rannulf of Dunholme let niman, and into þam Ture on Lundene lét gebringon and þær healdan.”
[885] See Macaulay, ii. 557.
[886] Ord. Vit. 783 D. “Hugo Cestrensis comes, et Rodbertus Belesmensis, ac alii optimates, qui erant in Normannia, audito casu infortunati principis, rerumque mutatione subita, compositis in Neustria rebus suis, iter in Angliam acceleraverunt, novoque regi debitam subjectionem obtulerunt, eique hominio facto, fundos et omnes dignitates suas cum regiis muneribus ab eo receperunt.” Directly after he gives a list of the inner council; “Rodbertum scilicet de Mellento et Hugonem de Cestra, Ricardum de Radvariis et Rogerium Bigodum, aliosque strenuos et sagaces viros suis adhibuit consiliis, et quia humiliter sophistis obsecundavit, merito multis regionibus et populis imperavit.”
[887] See the extract in the note at p. 361.
[889] Eadmer, 55.
[890] Ib. “Singultu verba ejus interrumpente, asseruit in ipsa veritate quam servum Dei transgredi non decet, quia, si hoc efficere posset, multo magis eligeret seipsum corpore quam illum sicut erat mortuum esse.” So in the Life, ii. 658.
[891] Eadmer, 55. “Ecce alius e fratribus ecclesiæ Cantuariensis advenit, literas deferens, preces offerens, quibus obnixe ab Anglorum matre ecclesia interpellatur, quatenus, extincto tyranno, filios suos, rupta mora, revisere, consolarique, dignetur.”
[892] Ib. “Ipso pontifice et toto populo terræ super hoc dolente, et nisi rationi contrairet, modis omnibus, ne fieret, prohibere volente.”
[893] Ib. “Alter nuncius ex parte novi regis Anglorum, et procerum regni patri occurrens, moras ejus in veniendo redarguit, totam terram in adventu ejus attonitam, et omnia negotia regni ad audientiam et dispositionem ipsius referens pendere dilata.”
[894] Ep. Ans. iii. 41. “Nutu Dei, a clero et a populo Angliæ electus, et quamvis invitus propter absentiam tui, rex jam consecratus.”
[895] Ep. Ans. iii. 41. “Precor ne tibi displiceat quod regiam benedictionem absque te suscepi; de quo, si fieri posset,… libentius eam susciperem quam de alio aliquo … hac itaque occasione a tuis vicariis illam accepi.”
[896] Ib. “Requiro te sicut patrem, cum omni populo Angliæ, quatenus mihi filio tuo et eidem populo cujus tibi animarum cura commissa est, quam citius poteris, venias ad consulendum.”
[897] Ib. “Me ipsum quidem ac totius regni Angliæ populum, tuo eorumque consilio qui tecum mihi consulere debent, committo.”
[898] Ib. “Sed necessitas fuit talis quia inimici insurgere volebant contra me et populum quem habeo ad gubernandum; et ideo barones mei, et idem populus, noluerunt amplius eam protelari; hac itaque occasione a tuis vicariis illam accepi. Misissem quidem ad te a meo latere aliquos per quos tibi etiam de mea pecunia destinassem, sed pro morte fratris mei circa regnum Angliæ ita totus orbis concussus est, ut nullatenus ad te salubriter pervenire potuissent.”
[899] Ib.
[900] Ep. Ans. iii. 41. “Et aliis tam episcopis quam baronibus meis.”
[901] Ord. Vit. 784 B. “Pro quibusdam injuriis, quas ipse suis comparibus ingesserat, per fraudulenta consilia, quæ Ruffo regi contra illos suggerere jamdudum studuerat.”
[902] The expressions of Orderic which follow the words last quoted are very remarkable. They show that, in Normandy at least, William the Red did in some sort go on with the work of his father. “Similiter alii plures iram et malivolentiam, quas olim conceperant, sed propter rigorem principalis justitiæ manifestis ultionibus prodere non ausi fuerant, nunc habenis relaxatis toto nisu contra sese insurrexerunt, et mutuis cædibus ac damnis rerum miseram regionem rectore carentem desolaverunt.”
[903] Ord. Vit. 784 B, C.
[904] “Sona swa se eorl Rotbert into Normandig com, he wearð fram eallan þam folce bliþelice underfangen.”
[905] “Butan þam castelan þe wæron gesætte mid þæs cynges Heanriges mannan, togeanes þan he manega gewealc and gewinn hæfde.”
[906] Will. Malms. v. 394. “Quo audito [Robert’s return to Normandy], omnes pene hujus terræ optimates fidei regi juratæ transfugæ fuere; quidam nullis extantibus causis, quidam levibus occasiunculis emendicatis, quod nollet iis terras quas vellent ultro pro libito eorum impertiri.”
[907] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “Ða toforan Sc̃e Michaeles mæssan com se arcebiscop Ansealm of Cantwarbyrig hider to lande, swa swa se cyng Heanrig, be his witena ræde him æfter sende, forþan þe he wæs út of þis lande gefaren, for þan mycelan unrihte þe se cyng Willelm him dyde.” Everything is thoroughly constitutional just now.
[908] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 55. “Prosperrimo itaque cursu marina pericula transvecti nono kl. Octobris Dofris appulimus, et ingenti gaudio totam terram in adventu Anselmi exultantem reperimus. Quædam etenim quasi novæ resurrectionis spes singulorum mentibus oriebatur, qua et ab oppressione calentis adhuc calamitatis se quisque liberandum et in statum optatæ prosperitatis aditum sibi pollicebatur.” The short English Chronicle printed by Liebermann, 5, gives a rather odd name to Anselm’s absence; “Ansælm ærcebiscop com fram peregrinatione.”
[909] See vol. i. p. 437.
[910] Ib. p. 450.
[911] Ib. p. 481.
[912] Ib. p. 559.
[913] Ib. p. 572.
[914] Ord. Vit. 784 C. “Ut rumores quos optaverat audivit, Guillelmum videlicet regem occubuisse veraciter agnovit, cum armatorum turma Cœnomannis venit, et ab amicis civibus [see Migne’s text] voluntarie susceptus, urbem pacifice obtinuit.” The Biographer (309) says merely “sine mora cum populo qui eum secutus fuerat ad civitatem venit.”
[915] See above, pp. 241, 281. As he was “Rothomagensis,” he would seem to be a brother of the William son of Ansgar of whom we heard in vol. i. p. 261.
[916] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Fulconem Andegavorum comitem dominum suum accersiit, a quo adjutus arcem diu obsedit.” The Biographer says nothing about Fulk.
[917] Ord. Vit. 784 D. “Heliæ comiti privilegium dederunt ut quotienscumque vellet, albam tunicam indueret, et sic ad eos qui turrim custodiebant, tutus accederet.” Presently we read of the “candida tunica, pro qua Candidus Bacularis solitus est ab illis nuncupari.” The story is told in full detail.
[918] Ib. 784 C. “Haimericus de Moria.” I can give no further account of him.
[919] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 26.
[920] Ord. Vit. 784 D. “Lædere quidem vos lapidibus et sagittis possumus, quia in eminentiori prætorio constituti vobis prævalemus.”
[921] Ib. 785 A. “Donec legatus noster redeat a dominis nostris, Angliæ et Normanniæ principibus, qui postquam reversus fuerit, faciemus prout ratio nobis intimaverit.”
[922] Ord. Vit. 785 A. “Dux longæ laboribus peregrinationis fractus, et magis quietem lecti quam bellicum laborem complecti cupidus.”
[923] “Rex Albionis … transmarinis occupatus negotiis regni, callide maluit sibi debita legaliter amplecti quam peregrinis præ superbia et indebitis laboribus nimis onerari.”
[924] “Naturali hero caremus, cui strenuitatis nostræ servitium impendamus. Unde, strenue vir, probitatem tuam agnoscentes, te eligimus, et, arce reddita, te principem Cœnomannorum hodie constituimus.” This time no one would (see N. C. vol. iv. p. 575) think of translating “strenue vir” by “valiant Saxon;” yet, as there were Saxons in Anjou, the lord of La Flèche may have had more right to the name than the Earl of the Northumbrians.
[925] Ord. Vit. 785 D. “Ne a civibus quorum domos præterito anno combusserant læderentur, alacriter protexit.” The Biographer (309) cuts the whole matter much shorter; but it is from him that we learn the three months’ length of the siege. The garrison, having no hope, “tandem coacti de munitionibus egressi sunt, et consulis liberalitate membrorum et vitæ impunitate donati, in patriam [where was that?] reversi sunt.”
[926] See Appendix KK. The Biographer tells us now; “pacata igitur civitate et hostibus inde effugatis, Hildebertus Romam proficiscitur.”
[927] Ord. Vit. 785 D. “Fœdus amicitiæ cum Rodberto duce et Henrico rege postmodum copulavit, eorumque bellis viriliter interfuit, unique multum nocuit, alterique ingens suffragium contulit.” He records instances in 818 C, 820 B, 821 A, B. In this last case, at Tinchebrai, Helias commands Bretons as well as his own people. Cf. the Chronicle of Saint Albinus of Angers, 1105, 1106, and that of Saint Sergius, 1106. Orderic (822 B) records a curious discourse between Helias and his old enemy Robert of Bellême, who calls himself “tuus homo.”
[928] We read casually in the Biographer (311) of a time “dura comes Rotrodus Perticencis in turri Cenomannica captus teneretur, et episcopus ad eum trepidum mortis accessisset.” But the story is all about Hildebert, not about Helias. It is taken from a letter of Hildebert himself (Duchesne, iv. 279), who speaks of Rotrou as “in vinculis.” We find that Count Rotrou’s mother gave the Bishop the kiss of peace, which the Lady Eadgyth had refused to receive from Abbot Gervinus. See N. C. vol. ii. p. 544.
[929] Orderic seems to complain that “defuncta conjuge sua, cælibem vitam actitare renuit.” Was it because of this backsliding that, when he dies, he becomes, notwithstanding all his good deeds, merely “cadaver” and not “soma”? On the other hand, our own Chronicler records his death in 1110, and the Angevin Chronicler of Saint Sergius thinks the event worthy of a heavenly phænomenon; “Apparuit cometa, atque ilico mortuus est Helias, Cenomannensis comes.”
[930] Orderic, 785 C, notes that Helias made Fulk his heir; “Ipsum Cœnomannis dominum sibi successorem constituit.” Cf. 818 C.
[931] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 220, 225.
[932] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 56. “Cum post paucos sui reditus dies Serberiam ad regem venisset, et ab eo gaudenter susceptus, rationi illius qua se excusavit cur in suscipienda regiæ dignitatis benedictione, illum cujus juris eam esse sciebat, non expectaverit, adquievisset.”