[933] Ib. See N. C. vol. v. p. 220.
[934] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 56. “Cum ille nequaquam se aut velle aut posse assensum præbere responderet, interrogantibus quare, statim quid super his et quibusdam aliis in Romano concilio acceperit, manifesta relatione innotuit, itaque subinferens ait, si dominus rex ista suscipere, et suscepta servare voluerit, bene inter nos et firma pax erit.”
[935] Ib. “Nec ea de causa Angliam redii, ut, si ipse Romano pontifici obedire nolit, in ea resideam. Undo quid velit precor edicat, ut sciam quo me vertam.”
[936] Ib. “Grave quippe sibi visum est investituras ecclesiarum et hominia prælatorum perdere; grave nihilominus Anselmum a regno, ipso nondum in regno plene confirmato, pati discedere.”
[937] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 56. “In uno siquidem videbatur sibi quasi dimidium regni perderet, in alio verebatur ne fratrem suum Robertum … Anselmus adiret, et eum in apostolicæ sedis subjectionem deductum, quod facillimum factu sciebat, regem Angliæ faceret.” These words make us see how unknown the new doctrines had hitherto been in Normandy as well as in England. The dukes up to this time had not been in subjection to the Holy See, as subjection was understood by Paschal, and, at Paschal’s bidding, by Anselm.
[938] Ib. “Induciæ usque pascha petitæ sunt, quatenus utrinque Romam mitterentur qui decreta apostolica in pristinum regni usum mutarent.” Rome and Bari had not wholly eaten the Englishman out of our Eadmer.
[939] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 56. “Interim ecclesiis Angliæ in quo erant statu manentibus, Anselmus redditis terris quas rex mortuus ecclesiæ Cantuariensi abstulerat, suis omnibus revestiretur, sicque fieret, ut si a sententia flecti papa nequiret, totius negotii summa in eum quo tunc erant statum rediret.”
[940] Ib. “Hæc Anselmus, quamvis frivola esse, et in nihil utile tendere sciret, atque prædiceret, tamen ne novo regi seu principibus ullam contra se suspicionem de regni translatione aut aliunde incuteret, precibus illorum passus est vinci.”
[941] Will. Malms. v. 393. “Suadentibus amicis, et maxime pontificibus, ut, remota voluptate pellicum, legitimum amplecteretur connubium.” Orderic (783 D) gives the same idea a more grotesque turn; “Princeps quarto mense ex quo cœpit regnare, nolens ut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus, turpiter lascivire, generosam virginem nomine Mathildem regali more sibi desponsavit.” So in the continuation of William of Jumièges, viii. 10; “Ut idem rex legaliter viveret, duxit venerabilem Matildem.” “Legaliter” must here be taken in the older, not in the chivalrous sense.
[942] Will. Malms. u. s. See Appendix G.
[943] See N. C. vol. v. p. 852.
[944] Ib. p. 853.
[945] Ib. p. 843; vol. iv. p. 733.
[946] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 731; v. p. 306.
[947] See vol. i. p. 187, and N. C. vol. v. p. 844.
[948] Hist. Ab. ii. 36. “Optimatum hujus loci ea tempestate virorum Anskillus erat unus, cujus juri pertinebant Suvecurda [Seacourt] et Speresholt, et Baigeuurtha [Bayworth] et apud Merceham [Marsham] hida una. Hunc contra, suorum delatione osorum, ita regis exarsit iracundia, ut vinculis arctatum carcerali præciperet custodiæ macerandum. Ubi insolito rigore deficiens post dies paucos interiit.”
[949] It was held by the new grantee and his son till it was got back from King Henry by Abbot Faricius (Hist. Ab. ii. 288), “retracto inde ecclesiæ in hoc temporis spatio servitii omni genere” (Ib. ii. 37). This seems to be the Sparsholt of which I spoke in N. C. vol. iv. p. 726, as being held by “Godricus unus liber homo,” a different person from Godric the Sheriff. He is distinguished in the Abingdon History (i. 477) as “Godricus Cild,” and his Sparsholt is said to be “juxta locum qui vulgo Mons Albi Æqui nuncupatur.” In Domesday (59) we find Anschil holding Sparsholt of the Abbot. It had been held T. R. E. by Eadric. Eadric and Godric are clearly the same man, and there must be a mistake of name in one place or the other, just as in Domesday, 146, Eadwine Abbot of Westminster is miscalled Godwine. But a most curious entry follows, from which it appears that Eadric or Godric had given the lordship for the support of his son as a monk in the abbey as long as he lived, after which it was to come back to himself. The shire therefore threw a doubt on the right of the abbey to its possession. They had seen no writ or seal of King William granting it to the abbey; but the abbot and all his monks produced a writ and seal of King Eadward, from which it appeared that Eadric had given the manor to the abbey; “Abbas testatur quod in T. R. E. misit ille manerium ad ecclesiam unde erat, et inde habet brevem et sigillum R. E. attestantibus omnibus monachis suis.” The words “unde erat” show that Eadric or Godric held the lordship of the abbey (for its possession of Sparsholt see Hist. Ab. i. 283, 478), but that he gave up his rights in it to the church. It was then again granted to Anskill.
[950] Hist. Ab. ii. 37. “Cum hæc agerentur, uxore Anskilli jam defuncti domo exclusa, filio vero ejus, nomine Willelmo, a rebus paternis funditus eliminato, eadem mulier fratrem regis Henricum, tunc quidem comitem, suffragiorum suis incommodis gratia frequentans, ex eo concepit, et filium pariens Ricardum vocavit.” On this Richard, see N. C. vol. v. pp. 188 (note), 195, 843.
[951] He married the sister of Simon, the king’s dispenser, and niece of Abbot Reginald, who succeeded Æthelhelm in 1083. As Reginald died in 1097 (see p. 265), the whole story, including the birth of Richard, must have happened before that year.
[952] Hist. Ab. ii. 122. “Ansfrida, qua concubinæ loco rex ipse Henricus usus ante suscepti imperii monarchiam, filium Ricardum nomine genuit, ac per hoc celebri sepultura a fratribus est intumulata, videlicet in claustro ante ostium ecclesiæ ubi fratres intrant in ecclesia et exeunt.” Why was a doubly imperial style needed on such a matter?
[953] Ord. Vit. 784 A. “Sapiens Henricus, generositatem virginis agnoscens, multimodamque morum ejus honestatem jamdudum concupiscens, hujusmodi sociam in Christo sibi elegit.” So William of Malmesbury, v. 393; “Cujus amori jampridem animum impulerat, parvi pendens dotales divitias, dummodo diu cupitis potiretur amplexibus.” So Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 56) mentions the story of the veil, and adds, “quæ res, dum illa jam olim dimisso velo a rege amaretur, plurimorum ora laxaret, et eos a cupitis amplexibus retardaret.” In the genuine story she certainly seems anxious for the marriage. The story of her dislike to it is a mere legend. See Appendix WW.
[954] This seems implied in the whole story, especially in the words of Eadmer, “dimisso velo.” Her father, it will be remembered, is said to have taken her away from Romsey in 1093. See Appendix EE.
[955] Sir Francis Palgrave (iv. 366), countersigned by Dean Church, Anselm, 243, assures us that “Edith was very beautiful.” Mr. Robertson (i. 153, note) will not allow that she was more than “rather pretty.” The Abbess in Hermann of Tournay witnesses to her beauty at the age of twelve, but all that William of Malmesbury (v. 418) can say of her is that she was “non usquequaque despicabilis formæ.” We have already heard of her studies at Romsey, and in her letters to Anselm (Epp. iii. 55, 119) the display of scriptural and classical learning might have satisfied Orderic himself. It is more comforting to find in the second letter that she wishes to bestow the abbey of Malmesbury on one bearing the English name of Eadwulf. Anselm refuses his consent, because Eadwulf sent him a cup, which seemed like an attempt at simony. Eadwulf however did in the end become abbot.
[956] Will. Malms. v. 393. “Erat illa, licet genere sublimis, utpote regis Edwardi ex fratre Edmundo abneptis, modicæ tamen domina supellectilis, utroque tunc parente pupilla.”
[957] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “And siðþan sona heræfter se cyng genam Mahalde him to wife, Malcolmes cynges dohter of Scotlande, and Margareta þære goda cwæne, Eadwardes cynges magan, and of þan rihtan Ænglalandes kyne kynne.” Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 56) traces up the pedigree to Eadgar, but he does not forget that she was “filia Malcholmi nobilissimi regis Scotorum.”
[958] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 308.
[959] See above, p. 31, and Appendix EE. Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 56. “Siquidem eadem Mathildis, inter sanctimoniales in monasterio ab infantia nutrita et adulta, credebatur a multis in servitium Dei a parentibus oblata, eo quod publice visa fuerat earum inter quas vivebat more velata.”
[960] Ib. “Ipsa Anselmum cujus in hoc nutum omnes expectabant adiit.”
[961] Ib. 57. “Differt Anselmus sententiam ferre et causam judicio religiosarum personarum regni determinandam pronunciat. Statuto itaque die coeunt ad nutum illius, episcopi, abbates, nobiles quique, ac religiosi ordinis viri.” Anselm’s Convocation thus admitted lay members.
[962] The archdeacons are sent “Wiltuniam, ubi illa fuerat educata,” but Romsey must surely be meant. See Appendix EE.
[963] Ib. “Remoto a conventu solo patre, ecclesia Angliæ quæ convenerat in unum de proferenda sententia tractat.”
[964] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 564, 835.
[965] Hist. Nov. 58. The members of the Assembly say that they remember the judgement of Lanfranc, and that they hold that the present case is still stronger than that which he decided. “Licet enim sciamus causam illarum istius esse leviorem dum illæ sponte, ista coacta, pari de causa velum portaverit.” They add their protest, “nequis nos favore cujusvis duci existimet.”
[966] Ib. “Ego judicium vestrum non abjicio, sed eo securius illud suscipio quo tanti patris auctoritate suffultum audio.”
[967] Ib. “Gesta comi vultu audit et amplectitur.”
[968] Ib. “Quod non propterea facturam fatetur quasi sibi non creditum esse putet, sed ut malevolis hominibus omnem deinceps blasphemandi occasionem amputet.”
[969] Ib. “Si malus homo de malo thesauro cordis sui protulerit mala, dicto citius opprimetur ipsa veritate jam tantarum personarum adstipulatione probata et roborata.”
[970] Ib. “Allocutione posthæc et benedictione Anselmi potita abiit.”
[971] This is the version of Hermann of Tournay (D’Achery, ii. 893) referred to in Appendix EE, WW; “Confirmatus in regno voluit conjugem habere puellam quamdam filiam David regis Scotiæ, dixitque D. Anselmo, tunc temporis Cantuariensis urbis venerabili archiepiscopo, ut eam sibi benediceret et solemnibus nuptiis benedictam in conjugium sociaret.”
[972] Ib. “Ideoque pro conservando juramento suo se non eam dimissurum, nisi canonico judicio fuisset determinatum.”
[973] Ib. “Præcepit ut, adscito archiepiscopo Eboracensi, congregaretur consilium episcoporum et abbatum totiusque Angliæ ecclesiasticarum personarum ad diffiniendum ecclesiastica censura tantum negotium.” Thomas of York, it must be remembered, must have been now on his deathbed; at least he died a few days later. The lay nobles of Eadmer’s account are left out in this version.
[974] See above, p. 32, and Appendix WW.
[975] D’Achery, ii. 894. “In communi judicaverunt propter hujusmodi factum non ei prohibendum conjugium, quoniam, quamdiu infra legitimam ætatem sub tutela patris fuerat, nihil ei sine ejus assensu facere licuerat.” See the answer of Harold, N. C. vol. iii p. 265.
[976] D’Achery, ii. 894. “Vos quidem, domine rex, consilio meo prætermisso, facietis quod vobis placuerit, sed qui diutius vixerit, puto quod videbit non diu Angliam gavisuram de prole quæ de ea nata fuerit.”
[977] See Appendix WW.
[978] Chron. Petrib. 1100. “And siðþan sona heræfter se cyng genam Mahalde him to wife, Malcolmes cynges dohter of Scotlande, and Margareta þære goda cwæne Eadwardes cynes magan of þan rihtan Ænglalandes kynekynne. And on Sc̃e Martines mæssedæg heo wearð him mid mycelan weorðscipe forgifen on Westmynstre, and se arcebiscop Ansealm hi him bewæddade and siððan to cwene gehalgode.” Florence notes that, at the wedding, “rex Anglorum Heinricus majores natu Angliæ congregavit Lundoniæ.” Orderic (784 A) makes Gerard of Hereford the consecrator of the Queen. Her descent from the “right cynecyn of England” stirs him up to a grand flight, going up to the very beginnings of things. We there read how “Angli de Anglo insula, ubi Saxoniæ metropolis est, in Britanniam venerunt, et, devictis, seu deletis, quos modo Gualos dicunt, occupatam bello insulam, Hengist primo duce, a natali solo Angliam vocitaverunt.”
[979] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 58. See N. C. vol. v. p. 169.
[980] Ib. “Cunctis una clamantibus rem juste definitam nec in ea quid residere unde quis nisi forte malitia ductus jure aliquam posset movere calumniam, legitime conjuncti sunt, honore quo decuit regem et reginam.”
[981] It is so implied by Eadmer, who of course gives his own very distinct witness in favour of the righteousness of all that Anselm did.
[982] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 251, 857.
[983] See N. C. vol. v. p. 170. The note in Sir T. D. Hardy’s edition of William of Malmesbury is very strange. Ages after, Knighton (X Scriptt. 2375) gives these English names an odd turn; “Multi de proceribus clam vel palam a rege Henrico se subtraxerunt, fictis quibusdam occasiunculis vocantes eum Godrych Godefadyr, et pro Roberto comite clam miserunt.” In his day Godric, in his various spellings, was doubtless, as now, in familiar use as a surname. Godgifu must have been pretty well forgotten, except in the form which she takes at Coventry, though I suppose that she too survives in the surname Goodeve.
[984] See N. C. vol. v. p. 184.
[985] The Continuator of Florence (1121) tells us how Henry, “legalis conjugii olim nexu solutus, ne quid ulterius inhonestum committeret,” by the advice of Archbishop Ralph and his great men, marries Adeliza. Orderic (823 B) witnesses that Henry’s bad habits in this way went on to old age.
[986] Will. Malms. v. 418. “Æquanimiter ferebat, rege alias intento, ipsa curiæ valedicere, Westmonasterio multis annis morata. Nec tamen quicquam ei regalis magnificentiæ deerat,” &c.
[987] William of Malmesbury gives many details of her piety, with the curious remark that she was “in clericos bene melodos inconsiderate prodiga” [that is surely the right reading, and not “provida”]. He tells how she kissed the wounds of the lepers. The half-profane saying of David comes from Æthelred of Rievaux (X Scriptt. 367; Fordun, v. 20; Surtees Simeon, 267), who had the story from David himself. Matilda wished her brother to follow her example, which he refused; “Necdum enim sciebam Dominum, nec revelatus fuerat mihi Spiritus ejus.” One is reminded of the story of Saint Lewis and John of Joinville, when the seneschal refuses to wash the feet of the poor. It is twice told in his Memoirs, pp. 8, 218, ed. Michel, 1858.
[988] “Very vain,” says Mr. Robertson, who is determined to be hard upon her.
[989] There is an important passage of William of Malmesbury about the reeves, of whom we have heard so often; “Eo effectum est ut prodige donantium non effugeret vitium, multimodas colonis suis deferens calumnias, inferens injurias, auferens substantias, quo bonæ largitricis nacta famam, suorum parvi pensaret contumeliam. Sed hæc qui recte judicare volet, consiliis ministrorum imputabit, qui, more harpyarum, quicquid poterant corripere unguibus, vel infodiebant marsupiis vel insumebant conviviis, quorum fœculentis susurris aures oppleta, nævum honestissimæ menti contraxit.” In all this we learn the more to admire the constant care of Anselm that no wrong should be done to his people.
The story of Matilda and David is told also by Robert of Gloucester (ii. 434, 435, Hearne), who preserves the popular memory of “Mold þe god quene” in several passages. Perhaps the strongest is,
[990] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 329.
[991] See vol. i. p. 527. Abbot Jeronto was hardly a Legate in the same sense as Walter of Albano.
[992] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 58. “Quod per Angliam auditum in admirationem omnibus venit, inauditum scilicet in Britania cuncti scientes quemlibet hominum super se vices apostolicas gerere nisi solum archiepiscopum Cantuariæ.”
[993] See N. C. vol. v. p. 236.
[994] Eadmer, u. s. “Quapropter sicut venit ita reversus est, a nemine pro legato susceptus, nec in aliquo legati officio functus.”
[995] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 370. Our English Florence sends him out of the world with a special panegyric; “Venerandæ memoriæ et vir religionis eximiæ, affabilis, omnibusque amabilis, Eboracensis archiepiscopus Thomas.” William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 258) is more copious to the same effect. T. Stubbs (X Scriptt. 1709) gives us his epitaph.
[996] See vol. i. p. 543.
[997] William of Malmesbury (Gest. Pont. 260), after mentioning some of the stories against him, adds; “Certe canonici Eboracenses ne in ecclesia sepeliretur pertinacissime restitere, vix ignobilem cespitem cadaveri præ foribus injici passi.”
[998] Ord. Vit. 786 A, B. “Pro penuria vestitus, usque ad sextam de lecto non surrexit, nec ad ecclesiam, quia nudus erat, divinum auditurus officium, perrexit. Meretrices enim et nebulones qui, lenitatem ejus scientes, eum indesinenter circumdederunt, braccas ejus et caligas et reliqua ornamenta crebro impune furati sunt.”
[999] The list is given by Orderic (786 A).
[1000] Ord. Vit. 786 A, “Multis, si rex foret, majora quam dare posset, promisit.”
[1001] See vol. i. p. 463.
[1002] Ord. Vit. 786 A. “Rodberto de Belismo Sagiensem episcopatum et Argentomum castrum, silvamque Golferni donavit,” On the phrase of granting the bishopric, compare the passages referred to in p. 200, note 4.
[1003] “Tedbaldo Pagano, quia semel eum hospitatus fuerat, tribuit.” On this Theobald, see above, p. 186.
[1004] The Christmas and Easter meetings are marked by the Chronicler, who adds to his record of the former, “And þa sona þæræfter wurdon þa heafod men her on lande wiðerræden togeanes þam cynge, ægðer ge for heora agenan mycelan ungetrywðan, and eac þurh þone eorl Rodbert of Normandig þe mid unfriðe hider to lande fundode.”
[1005] The escape of Flambard is oddly recorded by the Chronicler at the end of the year, after he had mentioned all that his escape led to. But he gives the date; “Ðises geares eac se bisceop Rannulf to þam Candelmæssan út of þam Túre on Lunden nihtes oðbærst, þær he on hæftneðe wæs, and to Normandige fór.” Florence (1101) tells us how “Dunholmensis episcopus Rannulfus, post nativitatem Domini, de custodia magna calliditate evasit, mare transiit.” William of Malmesbury (v. 394) gives some details, but the full story comes from Orderic (786). Flambard was to be “custodiendus in vinculis,” a phrase which seems to show that the fetters in this and many other cases were metaphorical.
[1006] Ord. Vit. 786 D. “Exitum callide per amicos procuravit. Erat enim sollers et facundus, et, licet crudelis et iracundus, largus tamen et plerumque jucundus, et ob hoc plerisque gratus et amandus.”
[1007] Ib. “Quotidie ad victum suum duos sterilensium solidos jussu regis habebat. Unde cum adjumentis amicorum in carcere tripudiabat, quotidieque splendidum sibi suisque custodibus convivium exhiberi jubebat.”
[1008] Orderic and William of Malmesbury both mention the bringing in of the rope in a vessel, which Orderic calls “lagena vini,” while William of Malmesbury rather implies that it was brought in water; “Funem minister aquæ bajulus (proh dolus!) amphora immersum detulit.” Orderic well marks the double window; “Funem ad columnam, quæ in medio fenestræ arcis erat, coaptavit.”
[1009] “Fune ad solum usque non pertingente, gravi lapsu corpulentus flamen ruit, et pene conquassatus, flebiliter ingemuit.” William of Malmesbury makes merry over his troubles; “Ille muro turris demissus, si læsit brachia, si excoriavit manus, parum curat populus.”
[1011] It is now that Orderic tells the wonderful tales of Flambard’s mother which I have quoted in vol. i. p. 331. He now brings her on the scene; “In alia nave cum filii thesauro sui per pelagus in Neustriam ferebatur, et a sociis ibidem pro scelestis incantationibus cum derisoriis gestibus passim detrahebatur. Intereo totum piratis occurrentibus in ponto ærarium direptum est, et venefica cum nauderis et epibatis anus nuda mœrensque in littus Normanniæ exposita est.”
[1012] The influence which Flambard obtained over Robert is marked in all our writers, beginning with the Chronicle; “þurh þes macunge mæst and tospryttinge se eorl Rotbert þises geares þis land mid unfriðe gesohte.” Florence (1101) and Orderic (787 A) are to the same effect; William of Malmesbury (v. 394) gets metaphorical; “Normanniam evadens, comiti jam anhelanti, et in fervorem prælii prono, addidit calcaria ut incunctanter veniret.”
[1013] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 58.
[1014] See the passage in p. 396.
[1015] See the extract from William of Malmesbury in p. 368.
[1016] This is William of Malmesbury’s (v. 394) list of those who “justas partes fovebant.” Orderic (787 B) says, “Rodbertus de Mellento et Ricardus de Radvariis, aliique multi barones strenui regem suum vallaverunt.”
[1017] The Whitsun Gemót is described by Eadmer, 58, 59; “Ad sponsionem fidei regis ventum est, tota regni nobilitas cum populi numerositate.” Before this he has some remarkable expressions which seem to point to debates in an inner council, before the general assembly was summoned; “In solemnitate Pentecostes adventus comitis Roberti fratris regis in Angliam prævia fama totam regalem curiam commovit, et quorundam animos, ut postmodum patuit, in diversa permovit. Rex igitur principes et principes regem suspectum habentes, ille scilicet istos ne a se instabili, ut fit, fide dissilirent, et isti illum formidando ne undique pace potitus in se, legibus efferatis desæviret, actum ex consulto est ut certitudo talis hinc inde fieret, quæ utrinque quod verebatur excluderet.”
[1018] Orderic (787 C, D) puts a long and pious speech into Count Robert’s mouth. The most emphatic words are; “Cunctos milites tuos leniter alloquere, omnibus ut pater filiis blandire, promissis universos demulce, quæque petierint concede, et sic omnes ad favorem tui sollerter attrahe. Si Lundoniam postulaverint vel Eboracam, ne differas magna polliceri, ut regalem decet munificentiam.”
[1019] I suppose this is the meaning of the words which come soon after; “Cum ad finem hujus negotii auxiliante Deo prospere pervenerimus, de repetendis dominiis quæ temerarii desertores tempore belli usurpaverint, utile consilium suggeremus.” He goes on to set forth the doctrine of confiscation for treason.
[1020] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 59. “Anselmum inter se et regem medium fecerunt, quantus ei vice sui manu in manum porrecta promitteret, justis et sanctis legibus se totum regnum quoad viveret in cunctis administraturum. Hoc facto sibi quisque quasi de securitate applaudebat.”
[1021] Ord. Vit. 787 B. “Omnes Angli, alterius principis jura nescientes, in sui regis fidelitate perstiterunt, pro qua certamen inire eatis optaverunt.” Cf. the passages quoted in pp. 347, 352. William of Malmesbury (v. 395) bears the same witness; “Licet principibus deficientibus, partes ejus solidæ manebant; quas Anselmi archiepiscopi, cum episcopis suis, simul et omnium Anglorum tutabatur favor.”
[1022] It is rather curious that it is Florence who notices at what Norman haven the fleet came together; “Comes Nortmannorum Rotbertus, equitum, sagittariorum, et peditum, non parvam congregans multitudinem, in loco, qui Nortmannica lingua dicitur Ultresport, naves coadunavit.” Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 59) is more general; “Postquam certitudo de adventu fratris sui regi innotuit, mox ille, coacto exercitu totius terræ, ipsi bello occurrendum impiger statuit.”
[1023] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 59. “Exercitus grandis erat atque robustus, et circa regem fideliter cum suis in expeditione excubabat pater Anselmus.”
[1024] See vol. i. p. 614. Orderic (774 B) has another mention of the siege of Capua; “Papa nimirum ibi tunc admodum occupatus erat, quia Capuanos, qui contra Richardum, principem suum, Jordani filium rebellaverant, eidem pacificare satagebat; quos idem juvenis, auxilio et animositate Rogerii senis, avunculi sui, Siculorum comitis, ad deditionem pertinaciter compulerat.” He goes on to say that Anselm was now “inter Italos, de quorum origine propagatus fuerat.” Eadmer (see vol. i. p. 367) knew the geography of Aosta better, unless indeed we are to excuse Orderic by calling in the Lombard origin of Anselm’s father.
[1025] The Chronicle mentions the place; “Ða to middesumeran ferde se cyng út to Pefenesæ mid eall his fyrde togeanes his broðer and his þær abád.” Florence says only, “Innumerabili exercitu congregato de tota Anglia, non longe ab Heastinga castra posuit in Suth-Saxonia; autumabat enim pro certo, fratrem suum illis in partibus nave appulsurum.”
[1026] Chron. Petrib. 1101. “And se cyng syððan scipe ut on sǽ sende his broðer to dære and to lættinge.”
[1027] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 327.
[1028] So says Florence; “Ille [Rotbertus] consilio Rannulfi episcopi, quosdam de regis butsecarlis adeo rerum diversarum promissionibus fregit, ut, fidelitate quam regi debebant postposita, ad se transfugerent, et sibi ad Angliam duces existerent.” But the Chronicler says only, “Ac hi sume æft æt þære neode abruðon, and fram þam cynge gecyrdon, and to þam eorle Rotberte gebugan.” Is the cause of this difference between sea-folk and land-folk to be found in the fact that the sailors must always have been a professional class, coming one degree nearer to the nature of mercenaries than the land forces?
[1029] Such is the comment of Orderic (787 B); “Classis ejus Guillelmi patris sui classi multum dispar fuit quæ, non exercitus virtute, sed proditorum procuratione, ad portum Portesmude applicuit.”
[1030] All our accounts take Robert to Portsmouth, but that vaguer name may take in the whole haven, so that we may accept the more definite statement of Wace, 15450;