On the castle and church of Portchester, see the Winchester Volume of the Archæological Institute. The Chronicler gives the date as “xii. nihtan toforan Hlafmæssan,” which would be July 20. Florence says “circa ad Vincula S. Petri,” that is August 1; and William of Malmesbury says “mense Augusto.” It is safer to keep to the more definite statement in the Chronicle.
[1031] Flor. Wig. 1101. “Statim versus Wintoniam exercitum movens, apto in loco castra posuit.” So Wace, as we shall see presently. Orderic says more vaguely, “Protinus ipse dux a proceribus regni, qui jamdudum illi hominium fecerant, in provinciam Guentoniensem perductus, constitit.”
[1032] Wace, 15453;
[1033] Wace, 15458;
[1034] Our geography comes from Wace, whom I must now quote in the new edition of Dr. Andresen (10373, answering to 15460 in the edition of Pluquet);
Here the word is Hantone in both texts, but directly after (10393) we read in Andresen, “Al bois de Altone trespasser,” where Pluquet has Hantone. This he explains to be “Hampton, dans le comté de Middlesex.” If Hantone were the right reading, it would of course mean Southampton, but we may be quite sure that Andresen’s second reading Altone is what Wace wrote in both places. I had myself thought of Alton before I saw the new text, but I must confess that I have not studied this Hampshire campaign on the spot, as I have studied those of Maine, Northumberland, Sussex, and Shropshire.
[1035] Both Robert of Bellême and William of Warren are marked by Orderic (787 B) as traitors, but seemingly a little earlier; but the account in Florence reads as if some at least of the nobles deserted at this stage, or at all events after Robert had landed; “Cujus adventu cognito, quidam de primoribus Angliæ mox ad eum, ut ante proposuerant, transfugere, quidam vero cum rege ficta mente remansere: sed episcopi, milites gregarii, et Angli, animo constanti cum illo perstitere, unanimiter ad pugnam parati cum ipso descendere.” Eadmer (Hist. Nov. 59) is to the same effect.
[1036] See Wace, 15622 et seqq. in Pluquet’s edition, 10537 Andresen. “Li quens de Waumeri,” who, Pluquet saw, must be the Earl of Warren or Surrey, appears in the new text as “Li quens de Warenne.” His “gab” against the King is described at great length. The special lines run thus;
[1037] Ord. Vit. 787 B. “Interea Hugo Cestrensis comes in lectum decidit, et, post diutinum languorem, monachatum in cœnobio, quod idem Cestræ construxerat, suscepit, atque post triduum, vi. kalendas Augusti obiit.”
[1038] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 59. “Rex ipse non modo de regni amissione sed et de vita sua suspectus, nulli credere, in nullo, excepto Anselmo, fidere valebat. Unde sæpe ad illum venire; principes quos magis a se labi timebat illi adducere; quatenus, audito verbo illius, et ipse a formidine relevaretur, et illis metus, si a fide quam sibi spoponderant, aliquatenus caderent, incuteretur.”
[1039] Ib. “Robertus igitur amissa fiducia quam in principum traditione habebat, et non levem deputans excommunicationem Anselmi, quam sibi ut invasori (nisi cœpto desisteret) invehi certo sciebat, paci adquievit et in fraternum amorem reversus est, exercitusque in sua dimissus.”
[1040] Ib. “Quapropter in dubia licet assertione fateri, quoniam si post gratiam Dei fidelitas et industria non intercessisset Anselmi, Henricus rex ea tempestate perdidisset jus Anglici regni.”
[1041] Eadmer, Hist. Nov. 59. “Ipse igitur Anselmo jura totius Christianitatis in Anglia exercendæ se relicturum, atque decretis et jussionibus apostolicæ sedis se perpetuo obediturum summopere promittebat.”
[1042] Wace has a good deal of vivid description at this stage, but this specially stirring picture, which almost suggests a ballad, comes from William of Malmesbury (v. 395); “Quapropter ipse provincialium fidei gratus et saluti providus, plerumque cuneos circuiens, docebat quomodo militum ferociam eludentes, clypeos objectarent et ictus remitterent, quo effecit ut ultroneis votis pugnam deposcerent, in nullo Normannos metuentes.”
This is really almost a translation of the lines in the song of Maldon quoted in N. C. vol. i. p. 272.
From Orderic too (788 B) we get one vivid sentence strongly bringing out the nationality of the two armies; “Nobilis corona ingentis exercitus circumstitit, ibique terribilis decor Normannorum et Anglorum in armis effulsit.”
[1043] See Appendix XX.
[1044] See Appendix XX.
[1045] See Appendix XX.
[1046] See Appendix XX.
[1047] See Appendix XX.
[1048] See Appendix XX.
[1049] See Appendix XX.
[1050] “Quibus pacatis,” says Florence, “regis exercitus domum, comitis vero pars in Normanniam rediit, pars in Anglia secum remansit.” The mischief done comes from the Chronicle; “And se eorl syððan oððet ofer Sc̃e Michaeles mæsse her on lande wunode, and his men mycel to hearme æfre gedydon swa hi geferdon, þa hwile se eorl her on lande wunode.” Orderic (788 D) says nothing about the army, but records the “regalia xenia” which Henry gave to Robert.
[1051] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 656.
[1052] Ord. Vit. 789 A. Fulcher is described as “pene illiteratus,” but “dapsilitate laudabilis.” He was “ad episcopatum procuratione fratris sui de curia raptus.” Of the second appointment we read, “Luxoviensem pontificatum filio suo Thomæ puero suscepit, et per triennium, non ut præsul, sed ut præses, gubernavit.”
[1053] Ib. 788 D. “Robertus dux in Neustriam rediit, et secum adduxit Guillelmum de Guarenna pluresque alios pro se exhæredatos.”
[1054] Ord. Vit. 805 A. “Guillelmus autem, postquam paternum jus, quod insipienter amiserat, recuperavit, per xxxiii. annos, quibus simul vixerunt, utiliter castigatus, regi fideliter adhæsit, et inter præcipuos ac familiares amicos habitus effloruit.”
[1055] Ib. 804 C. “Proditores … paulatim ulcisci conatus est, nam … quamplures ad judicium submonuit, nec simul, sed separatim, variisque temporibus et multimodis violatæ fidei reatibus implacitavit.”
[1056] The names are given in the passage just quoted. They are coupled with “potentior omnibus aliis Rodbertus de Belismo.” So again in 805 C.
[1057] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 238, 241.
[1058] Ord. Vit. 805 C. “Ivonem quoque, quia guerram in Anglia cœperat, et vicinorum rura suorum incendio combusserat, quod in illa regione crimen est inusitatum nec sine gravi ultione fit expiatum, rigidus censor accusatum, nec purgatum, ingentis pecuniæ redditione oneravit, et plurimo angore tribulatum mœstificavit.”
[1059] Ib. “Imprimis erubescebat improperia quæ sibi fiebant derisoria, quod funambulus per murum exierat de Antiochia.”
[1060] The temporary possession is expressed by the words, “totam terram ejus usque ad xv. annos in vadimonio possideret.”
[1061] Ib. “Hæreditas ejus alienis subdita est” is a comment of Orderic.
[1062] See the song on the recovery of the Five Boroughs in the Chronicle, 941, 942.
[1063] The expressions of the Chronicler under the year 918 are remarkable. It is not said that the Lady wrought or timbered anything at Leicester; she found the stronghold, whatever it was, ready made; “Her heo begeat on hyre geweald mid Godes fultume on foreweardne gear þa burh æt Ligranceastre.”
[1064] Ord. Vit. 805 D. “Urbs Legrecestria quatuor dominos habuerat.” He then names them.
[1065] Ib. “Præfatus consul de Mellento per partem Yvonis, qui municeps erat et vicecomes et firmarius regis, callide intravit, et auxilio regis suaque calliditate totam sibi civitatem mancipavit, et inde consul in Anglia factus, omnes regni proceres divitiis et potestate præcessit, et pene omnes parentes suos transcendit.”
[1066] Orderic remarks, “Inter tot divitias mente cæcatus, filio Yvonis jusjurandum non servavit, quia idem adolescens statuto tempore juratam feminam, hæreditariamque tellurem non habuit.” On the deathbed of Earl Robert, see vol. i. p. 187.
[1067] See vol. i. p. 187. Orderic, it may be noticed, calls him “senex” even at the time of the release of Helias. See above, p. 243.
[1068] See the story in William of Malmesbury, v. 406. Besides these better known sons, Orderic gives him another, “Hugo cognomento pauper.”
[1069] See the Chronicle, 1123; N. C. vol. v. p. 197.
[1070] See above, p. 380. Orderic gives him four other daughters.
[1071] See vol. i. p. 186. The words of William of Malmesbury (v. 417) are remarkable; “Comes de Mellento qui, in hoc negotio magis antiqua consuetudine quam recti tenore rationem reverberans, allegabat multum regiæ majestati diminui, si, omittens morem antecessorum, non investiret electum per baculum et annulum.”
[1072] See Mon. Angl. viii. 1456. The changes by which Earl Robert’s church was enlarged into the present church of Saint Mary are singular indeed. The three churches of Our Lady in and by Leicester must be carefully distinguished.
[1073] For the abbey of Leicester, or rather St. Mary de Pré, see Mon. Angl. vi. 462.
[1074] Ord. Vit. 806 A. “Diligenter eum fecerat per unum annum explorari, et vituperabiles actus per privatos exploratores caute investigari, summopereque litteris adnotari.”
[1075] Ib. “Anno ab incarnatione Domini mcii. indictione x. Henricus rex Rodbertum de Belismo, potentissimum comitem, ad curiam suam ascivit, et xlv. reatus in factis seu dictis contra se vel fratrem suum Normanniæ ducem, commissos objecit, et de singulis eum palam respondere præcepit.”
[1076] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Cum Rodbertus licentiam, ut moris est, eundi ad consilium cum suis postulasset, eademque accepta.” It is possible that the “licentia” means the safe-conduct, but the other interpretation seems more natural.
[1077] Ord. Vit. 806 A. “Egressus, purgari se de objectis criminibus non posse cognovisset, equis celeriter ascensis, ad castella sua pavidus et anhelus confugit, et, rege cum baronibus suis responsum exspectante, regius satelles Rodbertum extemplo recessisse retulit.”
[1078] Ib. “Rodbertum itaque publicis questibus impetitum, nec legaliter expiatum, palam blasphemavit, et nisi ad judicium, rectitudinem facturus, remearet, publicum hostem judicavit.”
[1079] Ib. “Iterum rebellem ad concionem invitavit, sed ille venire prorsus refutavit.” All these important details of the legal process are given by Orderic only, but the Chronicler directly connects the dispute between the King and Robert with the holding of the regular assemblies, and the writer takes the opportunity to draw a picture of the greatness of the Earl of Shropshire; “On þisum geare to Natiuiteð wæs se cyng Heanrig on Westmynstre, and to Eastron on Winceastre, and sona þæræfter wurdon unsehte se cyng and se eorl Rotbert of Bælæsme, se hæfde þone eorldom her on lande on Scrobbesbyrig, þe his fæder Roger eorl ær ahte, and micel rice þærto, ægðer ge beheonon sǽ ge begeondon.”
It is worth noticing that the Chronicler here uses the English form, “Rotbert of Bælæsme;” in 1106 he changes to the French, “Rotbert de Bælesme.”
[1081] Ord. Vit. 675 C, 708 B, 897 D.
[1082] Arnulf and Roger are both mentioned by Orderic, 808 C, and William of Malmesbury, v. 396, as having to leave England with their elder brother. They were therefore his accomplices; but it is only from the Brut y Tywysogion that we learn how great a share Arnulf had in the whole matter.
[1083] Brut, 1096 [1098]. “And when the Gwyneddians could not bear the laws and judgements and violence of the French over them, they rose up a second time against them.”
[1084] Brut, ib. This may refer either to the expedition of the two Hughs or to the earlier expedition of Hugh of Chester (see pp. 97, 129). But there seems to be no mention of Owen in the Welsh writers at either of those points.
[1085] See above, p. 301. The Brut couples Gruffydd with Cadwgan.
[1086] The words of the annals quoted in p. 301 look as if Gruffydd held Anglesey strictly as a conqueror. The portion assigned to Cadwgan comes from the Brut, which distinctly asserts their vassalage in its account of Robert’s rebellion (1100 [1102]). “Robert and Arnulf invited the Britons, who were subject to them, in respect of their possessions and titles, that is to say, Cadwgan, Jorwerth, and Maredudd, sons of Bleddyn, son of Cynvyn, to their assistance.”
[1087] So says the Brut, at least in the English translation; “They [Robert and Arnulf] gladdened their country with liberty.”
[1088] So says Giraldus, It. Camb. ii. 12 (vol. vi. p. 143); “In hac tertia Gualliæ portione, quæ Powisia dicitur, sunt equitia peroptima, et equi emissarii laudatissimi, de Hispaniensium equorum generositate, quos olim comes Slopesburiæ Robertus de Beleme in fines istos adduci curaverat, originaliter propagati.”
[1089] So again witnesses the Brut; but we hardly need witnesses on such a point.
[1090] So the Brut tells the tale. Orderic mentions the betrothal, which with him becomes a marriage, somewhat later (808 C); “Arnulfus filiam regis Hiberniæ nomine Lafracoth uxorem habuit, per quam soceri sui regnum obtinere concupivit.”
[1091] So says the Brut (p. 69), which adds that the marriage “was easily obtained,” and that “the Earls buoyed themselves up with pride on account of these things.”
[1092] Ord. Vit. 806 C. “Interea rex legatos in Neustriam direxit, ducique veridicis apicibus insinuavit, qualiter Rodbertus utrisque forisfecerit, et de curia sua furtim aufugerit. Deinde commonuit ut, sicut pepigerant in Anglia, utrique traditorem suum plecterent generali vindicta.”
[1093] Ord. Vit. 806 C. Vignats is mentioned by Wace (8061) long before when he speaks of
On the abbey founded in 1130, see Neustria Pia, 749.
[1094] This seems to be the meaning of Orderic’s words, “Non enim sese sine violentia dedere dignabantur, ne malefidi desertores merito judicarentur.”
[1096] Orderic’s way of telling this is curious; “Quia dux deses et mollis erat, ac principali severitate carebat, Rodbertus de Monteforti, aliique seditionis complices, qui vicissim dissidebant, mappalia sua, sponte immisso igne, incenderunt, totum exercitum turbaverunt, et ipsi ex industria, nemine persequente, fugerunt, aliosque, qui odibilem Rodbertum gravare affectabant, turpiter fugero compulerunt.” Of all the Roberts concerned, it would seem to be he of Montfort who was “odibilis” at the present moment.
[1097] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Cum ululatu magno post eos deridentes vociferati sunt.”
[1098] Ord. Vit. 806 D. “Per totam ergo provinciam pagensium prædas rapiebant, et direptis omnibus, domos flammis tradebant.”
[1099] Orderic (806 B) implies that the works at Bridgenorth were still going on; “Brugiam, munitissimum castrum, super Sabrinam fluvium construebat.” But Florence is still more emphatic; “Muros quoque ac turres castellorum, videlicet Brycge et Caroclove, die noctuque laborando et operando, perficere modis omnibus festinavit.” The Brut speaks obscurely of some earlier dealings about Bridgenorth, of which we have no record elsewhere; “Brygge, concerning which there had been war, against which the whole deceit was perpetrated, and which he had founded contrary to the order of the King.” The rebels are described generally as fortifying their castles and surrounding them with ditches and walls, which are expressed in the Welsh text by the loan words “O ffossyd a muroed.”
[1100] Orderic and the Brut stand alone among our authorities in mentioning all the four castles, Arundel, Tickhill, Bridgenorth, and Shrewsbury. The Chronicle and William of Malmesbury leave out Tickhill. Florence and the Chronicle both leave out Shrewsbury. William of Malmesbury (v. 396) further confounds the siege of Arundel with that of Shrewsbury. From Orderic we get a clear and full account, while the Brut supplies many details as to the Welsh side of the business. Orderic opens his story in a becoming manner; “Rex exercitum Angliæ convocavit, et Arundellum castellum, quod prope litus maris situm est, obsedit.”
[1101] The Malvoisins before Arundel seem to have struck all our writers. We get them in the Chronicle; “Se cyng ferde and besæt þone castel æt Arundel, ac þa he hine swa hraðe gewinnan ne mihte, he let þær toforan castelas gemakian, and hi mid his mannan gesette.” They appear also in Florence, William of Malmesbury, and Henry of Huntingdon. They were doubtless of wood; but it is only from Roger of Wendover (ii. 170), who is followed by Matthew Paris (Hist. Angl. i. 190), that we get the direct statement, “castellum aliud ligneum contra illud construxit.”
[1102] So I understand the words of Orderic, 806 B; “Ibi castris constructis, stratores cum familiis suis tribus mensibus dimisit.”
[1103] Flor. Wig. 1102. “Idcirco mox Walanis et Nortmannis, quot tunc habere potuit, in unum congregatis, ipse et suus germanus Arnoldus partem Staffordensis pagæ vastaverunt, ac inde jumenta et animalia multa, hominesque nonnullos in Waloniam abduxerunt.”
[1104] Ord. Vit. 806 B. “Audiens defectionem suorum ingemuit, eosque a promissa fide, quia impos erat adjutorii, absolvit, multumque mœrens licentiam concordandi cum rege concessit.”
[1105] So Orderic; I add the stipulation about Robert from William of Malmesbury; “Egregia sane conditione, ut dominus suus integra membrorum salute Normanniam permitteretur abire.” William’s account just here is very confused; but this condition seems to have struck him, and it explains some things which come later. He goes on to make this strange statement; “Porro Scrobesbirienses per Radulfum tum abbatem Sagii, postea Cantuariæ archiepiscopum, regi misere castelli claves, deditionis præsentis indices, futuræ devotionis obsides.” Now Orderic has, as we shall see, a wholly different account of the surrender of Shrewsbury, and Abbot Ralph, a victim of Robert of Bellême (see vol. i. p. 184), is not at all likely to have been in one of his castles. Can it be that William has got hold of the wrong castle and the wrong Ralph? Did Bishop Ralph of Chichester act by any chance as mediator between the King and the garrison of Arundel, a place in his diocese?
[1106] The name of Howard is not heard till the time of Edward the First, and it is not noble till some generations later. If it really be the name of an English office, Hayward or Hogward, and not a Norman Houard, then Arundel, already a castle T. R. E., has fittingly come back to the old stock.
[1107] See above, p. 160. Tickhill appears as “Tyckyll” in Florence, as “Blida” in Orderic, as “Blif” in the Brut. The editor of this last, who carefully translates “Amúythia” as Shrewsbury, seems not to have known that “Blif” and “Bryg”—there seem to be several readings—meant Blyth and Bridgenorth.
[1108] So Florence; “Rotbertum, Lindicolinæ civitatis episcopum, cum parte exercitus Tyckyll obsidere jussit [rex]: ille autem Brycge cum exercitu pene totius Angliæ obsedit.”
[1109] “Unde,” says Orderic—that is from Arundel—“rex ad Blidam castrum, quod Rogerii de Buthleio quondam fuerat, exercitum promovit. Cui mox gaudentes oppidani obviam processerunt, ipsumque naturalem dominum fatentes, cum gaudio susceperunt.” Yet it may be that Bishop Robert, like Joab and Luxemburg, fought against the castle, and that Henry, like David and Lewis the Fourteenth, came to receive its submission.
[1110] The succession of the lords of Tickhill is traced by Mr. John Raine in his history of Blyth.
[1111] See Raine, p. 168.
[1112] See N. C. vol. v. p. 488.
[1113] Ord. Vit. 806 B. “His ita peractis, rex populos parumper quiescere permisit, ejusque prudentiam et animositatem congeries magnatorum pertimuit.”
[1114] Ord. Vit. 807 A. “Rodbertus autem Scrobesburiam secesserat, et præfatum oppidum Rogerio, Corbati filio, et Rodberto de Novavilla, Ulgerioque Venatori commiserat, quibus lxxx. stipendiarios milites conjunxerat.”
[1115] Corbet—“Corbatus”—appears in Orderic (522 B, C), along with his sons Roger and Robert, as a chief man in Shropshire under Earl Roger. He must have died before the Survey, as only his sons appear there. The lands which Corbet’s son Roger held of Earl Roger fill nearly two columns in Domesday, 255 b; they are followed by those of his brother Robert in 256. Several of Roger’s holdings had been held by Eadric, and in one lordship of Robert’s he is distinctly marked as “Edric Salvage.” Several of Roger’s under-tenants are mentioned, of whom “Osulfus” and “Ernuinus” must be English, while another lordship had been held by Ernui. If these names mean the same person, then Earnwine or Earnwig had held two lordships, one of which he lost altogether, while the other he kept in the third degree, holding it under Roger son of Corbet, who held it under Earl Roger. I suppose that these sons of Corbet have nothing to do with “Robertus filius Corbutionis” who appears in the east of England and whose name is said to be “Corpechun.” See Ellis, i. 478. I cannot find Robertus de Novavilla in Domesday.
[1116] I cannot find Wulfgar in Domesday, unless he be the Vlgar who appears as an antecessor in 256, 257 b. Some other huntsmen, fittingly bearing wolfish names, as Wulfgeat (50 b) and Wulfric (50 b, 84), appear in Domesday as keeping land T. R. W., but no Wulfgar.
[1117] The action of the Welsh appears in all our accounts, but most fully in Orderic and the Brut. The Annales Cambriæ say only “Seditio [magna] orta est inter Robertum Belleem et Henricum regem.” William of Malmesbury says spitefully, “Wallensibus pro motu fortunæ ad malum pronis.” But he seems somehow to connect them specially with Shrewsbury. Florence is emphatic, and brings out the feudal relation between them and Earl Robert (see above, p. 424); “Walanos etiam, suos homines, ut promptiores sibique fideliores ac paratiores essent ad id perficiendum quod volebat, honoribus, terris, equis, armis incitavit, variisque donis largiter ditavit.” From the Brut we get the names of all three, Cadwgan, Jorwerth, and Meredydd. Orderic leaves out Meredydd, and calls them sons of Rhys instead of Bleddyn. He adds, “Quos cum suis copiis exercitum regis exturbare frequenter dirigebat.”
[1118] Ord. Vit. 807 A. “Guillelmum Pantolium, militarem probumque virum, exhæreditaverat, et multa sibi pollicentem servitia in instanti necessitate penitus a se propulsaverat.” Orderic had mentioned him already in 522 B, C, by the name of “Guillelmus Pantulfus,” as one of Earl Roger’s chief followers in Shropshire. His Shropshire holdings fill a large space in Domesday, 257, 257 b, where he appears as Pantulf and Pantul; and the history of one of them has been commented on in N. C. vol. iv. p. 737. Many of them were waste when he received them. His Staffordshire lordship is entered in p. 248, with the addition “in Stadford una vasta masura.” See N. C. vol. iv. p. 281. I do not know why Lappenberg (ii. 234, p. 294 of the translation) makes William Pantulf to have been persecuted (“verfolgt”) by Earl Roger on account of a share in the murder of Mabel. If he had lost his lands then, he would hardly have appeared in Domesday, and, according to Orderic, it was not Earl Roger, but Robert of Bellême himself, who disinherited him.
[1119] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 316. Orderic calls it “Staphordi castrum, quod in vicino erat.”
[1120] Orderic tells us, “Hic super omnes Rodberto nocuit, et usque ad dejectionem consiliis et armis pertinaciter obstitit.”
[1121] The Malvoisin at Bridgenorth comes from Florence; “Machinas ibi construere et castellum firmare cœpit.”
[1122] “Totius Angliæ legiones in autumno adunavit, et in regionem Merciorum minavit, ibique Brugiam tribus septimanis obsedit.” So says Orderic, 807 A. When Florence says, “infra xxx. dies civitate omnibusque castellis redditis,” he must take in Shrewsbury, though he does not mention its name. Bridgenorth could not be called “civitas;” Shrewsbury is so called in Domesday, where the name does not imply a bishop’s see.
[1123] See vol. i. pp. 83, 86.
[1124] Ord. Vit. 807 B. “Consules et primores regni una convenerunt, et de pacificando discorde cum domino suo admodum tractaverunt. Dicebant enim, Si rex magnificum [μεγαλοπράγμονά τε καὶ κακοπράγμονα] comitem violenter subegerit, nimiaque pertinacia, ut conatur, eum exhæreditaverit, omnes nos ut imbelles ancillas amodo conculcabit.”
[1125] Ord. Vit. 807 B. “Pacem igitur inter eos obnixi seramus, ut hero comparique nostro legitime proficiamus, et sic utcunque perturbationes sedando debitorem nobis faciamus.”
[1127] Ord. Vit. 807 B. “Regem omnes simul adierunt, et in medio campo colloquium [see N. C. vol. iv. p. 688] de pace medullitus fecerunt, ac pluribus argumentis regiam austeritatem emollire conati sunt.”
[1128] Ib. “Tunc in quodam proximo colle tria millia pagensium militum stabant, et optimatum molimina satis intelligentes, ad regem vociferando clamabant.” The word “milites” is qualified by “pagenses;” so we are not to conceive three thousand English “chivalers” or “rideras,” least of all in a shire where no King’s thegns were left.
[1129] See N. C. vol. ii. pp. 104, 105, and below, p. 448.
[1130] I have here simply translated Orderic. The words are doubtless his own; but the matter is quite in place.
[1132] Ord. Vit. 807 B. “His auditis, rex animatus est, eoque mox recedente, conatus factiosorum adnihilatus est.” I do not quite see the force of the words in Italics. Does it mean simply leaving the place of the “colloquium”? It cannot, from what goes before and after, mean changing the quarters of the whole army.
[1133] Ib. B, C. “Præfatos Gualorum reges per Guillelmum Pantolium rex accersiit, eosque datis muneribus et promissis demulcens, hosti caute surripuit suæque parti cum viribus suis associavit.” The detailed narrative comes from the Brut, to whose author the different conduct of the brothers was naturally more interesting than it was to Orderic. He speaks of the message as “sent to the Britons,” and specially to Jorwerth, without mentioning Cadwgan and Meredydd. He is the best authority for what went on among his own people, while we may trust Orderic for the name of the negotiator on the King’s side. Florence speaks quite generally; “Interim Walanos, in quibus fiduciam magnam Rotbertus habuerat, ut juramenta quæ illi juraverant irrita fierent, et ab illo penitus deficerent in illumque consurgerent, donis modicis facile corrupit.” The gifts actually given may have been small, but the promises were certainly large.
[1134] The Brut makes the King “promise him more than he should obtain from the earls, and the portion he ought to have of the land of the Britons.” This is then defined as the districts mentioned in the text.
[1135] “Half of Dyved,” says the Brut, “as the other half had been given to the son of Baldwin.” That Jorwerth’s half was to take in Pembroke Castle appears from the words towards the end of this year’s entry, where the King “took Dyved and the castle from him.” “The castle” in Dyfed can only be Pembroke.
[1136] The Brut tells this at some length, speaking rather pointedly of “the territory of Robert his lord.” See above, pp. 424, 434.
[1137] Ord. Vit. 807 C. “Tres quoque præcipuos municipes mandavit, et coram cunctis juravit quod nisi oppidum in triduo sibi redderent, omnes quoscunque de illis capere posset, suspendio perirent.” These “municipes,” the “oppidani” of the rest of the story, must be the three captains, Roger, Robert, and Wulfgar. Odd as it seems, both “oppidanus” and “municeps” are often used in this sense. See Ducange in Municeps.
[1138] “Guillelmum Pantolium, qui affinis eorum erat.” “Affinis” in the language of Orderic often means simply neighbour, as in 708 A.
[1139] “Facete composita oratione ad reddendam legitimo regi munitionem commonuit, cujus ex parte terra centum librarum fundos eorum augendos jurejurando promisit.”
[1140] “Oppidani, considerata communi commoditate, acquieverunt, et regiæ majestatis voluntati, ne resistendo periclitarentur, obedierunt.”
[1141] “Se non posse ulterius tolerare violentiam invicti principis mandaverunt.”
[1142] So says the Brut, adding, “without knowing anything of what was passing.”
[1143] The embassy at this stage comes only from the Brut, but as the later one (see below, p. 448) is mentioned also, we may accept it. The Welsh writer naturally makes the most of his countrymen, and makes Robert despair on the secession of Jorwerth. “He thought he had no power left since Jorwerth had gone from him, for he was the principal among the Britons, and the greatest in power.” This may not be an exaggeration, as he lost with Jorwerth all power of doing anything in the open field.
[1144] The journey of Arnulf at this particular time comes only from the Brut, but it quite fits in with the rest of the story.
[1145] On the second voyage of Magnus, see Appendix II.
[1146] See Appendix II.
[1147] Ord. Vit. 807 C. “Stipendiarii autem milites pacem nescierunt, quam oppidani omnes et burgenses, perire nolentes, illis inconsultis fecerunt.” The appearance of the “burgenses,” a class who must have grown up speedily, as Bridgenorth is no Domesday borough, mark yet more distinctly the true meaning of “oppidani.”
[1148] “Cum insperatam rem comperissent, indignati sunt, et armis assumptis inchoatum opus impedire nisi sunt.”
[1149] “Oppidanorum violentia in quadam parte munitionis inclusi sunt.”
[1150] “Regii satellites cum regali vexillo, multis gaudentibus, suscepti sunt.”
[1151] “Deinde rex, quia stipendiarii fidem principi suo servabant, ut decuit, eis liberum cum equis et armis exitum annuit. Qui egredientes, inter catervas obsidentium plorabant, seseque fraudulentia castrensium et magistrorum male supplantatos palam plangebant, et coram omni exercitu, ne talis eorum casus aliis opprobrio esset stipendiariis, complicum dolos detegebant.” The use of the words may seem odd; but “magistri” must mean the captains, and “castrenses” the burgesses.
[1152] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 272, 492. We may here again mark the accuracy of Orderic’s local descriptions in his own shire (807 D); “Scrobesburiam urbem in monte sitam, quæ in ternis lateribus circumluitur Sabrina flumine.”
[1153] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 498.
[1154] Ord. Vit. 807 D. “Robertus de Belismo, ut munitissimum Brugiæ castrum, in quo maxime confidebat, regi subactum audivit, anxius ingemuit, et pene in amentiam versus, quid ageret ignoravit.”
[1155] Ord. Vit. 808 A. “Plus quam lx. milia peditum erant in expeditione.”
[1156] Ib. 807 D. “Rex phalanges suas jussit Huvel-hegem pertransire…. Angli quippe quemdam transitum per silvam huvelge-hem dicunt, quem Latini malum callem vel vicum, nuncupare possunt. Via enim per mille passus erat cava, grandibus saxis aspera, stricta quoque quæ vix duos pariter equitantes capere valebat, cui opacum nemus ex utraque parte obumbrabat, in quo sagittarii delitescebant, et stridulis missilibus vel sagittis prætereuntes subito mulctabant.”
[1157] Ib. 808 A. “Rex jussit silvam securibus præcidere, et amplissimam stratam sibi et cunctis transeuntibus usque in æternum præparare. Regia jussio velociter completa est, saltuque complanato latissimus trames a multitudine adæquatus est.”
[1158] Ord. Vit. 808 A. “Severus rex memor injuriarum, cum pugnaci multitudine decrevit illum impetere nec ei ullatenus nisi victum se redderet parcere.”
[1159] For the date, see above, p. 435.
[1160] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Tristis casus sui angore contabuit, et consultu amicorum regi jam prope urbem venienti obviam processit, et crimen proditionis confessus, claves urbi victori exhibuit.” This time the keys were doubtless not handed on the point of a spear.
[1161] Ord. Vit. 808 A. “Ipsum cum equis et armis incolumem abire permisit, salvumque per Angliam usque ad mare conductum porrexit.”
There is nothing very special in the other accounts. On the story about Bishop Ralph in William of Malmesbury, see above, p. 430. But William adds (v. 396) a remarkable condition to Robert’s banishment; “Angliam perpetuo abjuravit; sed vigorem sacramenti temperavit adjectio, nisi regi placito quandoque satisfecisset obsequio.”
[1162] The native Chronicler alone notices this point. His account of the siege of Bridgenorth—leaving out Shrewsbury—runs thus; “Se cyng … syððan mid ealre his fyrde ferde to Brigge, and þær wunode oððe he þone castel hæfde, and þone eorl Rotbert belænde, and ealles benæmde þæs he on Englalande hæfde, and se eorl swa ofer sǽ gewát, and seo fyrde siððan ham cyrde.” Men might stay at home during the rest of Henry’s days, unless they were called to go beyond sea themselves.
[1163] Numbers, xxi. 29.
[1164] “Omnis Anglia exsulante crudeli tyranno exsultavit, multorumque congratulatio regi Henrico tunc adulando dixit, Gaude, rex Henrice, Dominoque Deo grates age, quia tu libere cœpisti regnare, ex quo Rodbertum de Belismo vicisti, et de finibus regni tui expulisti.”
[1165] Orderic and William of Malmesbury record the banishment of both brothers. Florence mentions Arnulf only. “Germanum illius [Rotberti] Arnoldum paulo post, pro sua perfidia, simili sorte damnavit.” To the author of the Brut the departure of Arnulf was of special importance. The King gives him his choice, “either to quit the kingdom and follow his brother, or else”—I can only follow the translation—“to be at his will with his head in his lap.” “When Ernulf heard that, he was most desirous of going after his brother; so he delivered his castle [of Pembroke] to the King, and the King placed a garrison in it.”
[1166] See N. C. vol. v. pp. 173, 184. See Chron. Petrib. 1105, 1112; Flor. Wig. ib. Cf. Hen. Hunt de Cont. Mundi, II. “Qui cæteros carcere vexaverat, in carcere perenni a rege Henrico positus, longo supplicio sceleratus deperiit. Quam tantopere fama coluerat dum viveret, in carcere utrum viveret vel obisset nescivit, diemque mortis ejus obmutescens ignoravit.”
[1167] See Appendix II.
[1168] See Appendix II.
[1169] The latter is the story in the Brut; the Annales Cambriæ say; “Jorwert filius Bledint Maredut frater suum cepit, regi tradidit;” or, in another reading, “Cepit fratrem suum Mareduch, et eum in carcerem regis trusit.”
[1170] See above, pp. 98, 108.
[1171] Brut, p. 75.
[1172] See N. C. vol. v. p. 160.
[1173] Ib. vol. i. pp. 327, 333.
[1174] The account in the Brut is that in 1101 (that is 1103) he “was cited to Shrewsbury, through the treachery of the King’s council. And his pleadings and claims were arranged; and on his having come, all the pleadings were turned against him, and the pleading continued through the day, and at last he was adjudged to be fineable, and was afterwards cast into the King’s prison, not according to law, but according to power.” Again I should like to be able to judge of the translation. The Annals say in one copy, “Iorward filius Bledint apud Saresberiam a rege Henrico injuste capitur;” in another, “captus est ab hominibus regis apud Slopesburiam.” Shrewsbury is of course the right reading.