Chapter XXXV: Appendix: WW. Vol. ii. p. 384 (4)

Helias however was not a new lord, a fact which Wace’s
confused order puts out of sight. On the somewhat different
tone of the Biographer of the Bishops, see Appendix KK.

[680] Ord. Vit. u. s. “Municipes qui munimenta regis
servabant omnibus necessariis pleniter abundabant, et
idcirco usque ad mortem pro domini sui fidelitate prœliari
satagebant.”

[681] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 266.

[682] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Galterius Ansgerii filius custos
arcis jussit fabris quos secum habebat operari, scoriam
quoque candentem super tecta domorum a balistariis impetuose
jactari. Tunc rutilus Titan sublimes Geminos peragrabat, et
ingenti siccitate mundus arebat, flammeusque turbo
imbricibus aularum insidebat. Sic nimius ignis accensus est,
quo nimium prævalente tota civitas combusta est.” Vet. An.
307. “Illi qui erant in arce, facto vespere ignem maximum
incendentes, in subjectas domos ardentes faculas summa
instantia jactare cœperunt. Ignis vero flante Euro
convalescens totam civitatem cum magna parte suburbiorum
consumpsit.” For Bishop Hildebert’s view of the matter, see
Appendix KK.

[683] Vet. An. 307. “Quo incendio populus stupefactus atque
in mœstitiam conversus non satis fidum comiti præstabat
auxilium.”

[684] The work of destruction which has been done in modern
times at Paris and Rouen seems a trifle compared to the
merciless havoc wrought at Le Mans. It amounts almost to a
physical destruction of the city. The hill has been cut
through to make a road from the modern part of the town to
the river. This has involved breaking through the Roman
walls, cutting through the _Vielle Rome_ and the other
ancient streets, sweeping away the finest of the Romanesque
houses, dividing in short the hill and the ancient city into
two parts severed by a yawning gap. The mediæval wall has
further been broken down and made into a picturesque ruin.
When I was first at Le Mans in 1868, the city was still
untouched; in 1876 the havoc was doing; by 1879 it was done.
Some conceited mayor or prefect doubtless looks on all this
brutal destruction as a noble exploit.

[685] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 267.

[686] Vet. An. 307. “Comes contra munitiones machinas atque
tormenta ad jactandos lapides erigens, eos qui intus erant
summo conamine expugnare nitebatur. At illi contra machinas
ejus machinas facientes, omnia ejus molimina frustrabant.”
Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Helias et sui frustra machinis et
assultibus valde laboraverunt; sed contra inexpugnabiles
munitiones nihil prævaluerunt.” So Wace, 14898;

“Li Mans li unt abandoné,
Tot, forz la tor de la cité.
La tor se tint, Mansels l’asistrent,
Tot environ li borc porpristrent.”

[687] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Rodbertus Belesmensis Balaonem
munivit.”

[688] Ord. Vit. 774 D. “Cursorem suum Amalchisum confestim
ad regem in Angliam direxit.” We do not get the name
anywhere else. Wace (14902) well brings out the opposition
of “Normanz” and “Mansels;”

“Normanz ki la tor desfendirent
Quant la force des Mancels virent,
En Engleterre unt envéié,
De secors unt li reis préié,
L’adventure li unt mandée,
E des Mansels la trestornée.”

[689] See Appendix PP. It is _Normant_ and _Mansels_ in the
new edition of Andresen, 9803.

[690] See Appendix PP.

[691] Ord. Vit. 775 A. “Ibi, ut moris est in æstate, plures
utriusque ordinis adstabant, et visa rate de Anglia
velificante, ut aliquid novi ediscerent, alacres
exspectabant.”

[692] Ib. “In primis de rege sciscitantibus ipse certus de
se adfuit nuntius.” So in Greek, αὐτὸς ἄγγελος [autys
angelos].

[693] Ib. B. “Et quia ex insperato respondit ridens,
percunctantibus admiratio exorta est, mox et lætitia
omnibus.”

[694] Ib. “Deinde cujusdam presbyteri equa vectus, cum magno
cœtu clericorum et rusticorum qui pedites eum cum ingenti
plausu conducebant, Bonamvillam expetiit.”

[695] See N. C. vol. iii. pp. 241, 696. As commonly happens
with so-called local tradition, a tower not earlier than the
thirteenth century is shown as the place of Harold’s
lodging, while in another tower the wide splay of a narrow
window is shown as the strait prison-house of Robert of
Bellême.

[696] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Tandem directis legationibus
ingentem exercitum in brevi aggregavit, et hostilem
provinciam depopulatum festinavit.”

[697] Ib. “Agmen hostium cum Helia duce suo, statim ut regem
citra fretum venisse comperit, absque procrastinatione
fugiens invasam urbem multo pejorem quam invenerat
deseruit.” The turn in the Biographer (Vet. An. 307) is
somewhat different; “Cernens quia nihil proficeret, et quod
ejus paulatim dilaberetur exercitus, regisque timore
perterritus, qui cum maximo exercitu suis properabat
succurrere, propriæ saluti consulens, relicta obsidione
repente a civitate discessit.” In Orderic Helias might be
thought to be carried away by the flight of his followers;
in the Biographer he almost seems to forsake them.

[698] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Tunc Helias cum ingenti militia
castro Ligeri morabatur, seseque ad meliora tempora
reservans, exitum rei præstolabatur.”

[699] Vet. An. 307. “Quo comperto, quatenus timor simul ac
stupor animos civium invaserit, et quanta populi multitudo
cum mulieribus et parvulis relictis omnibus quæ habebant eum
secuta sit … miserum est audire.”

[700] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Animosus rex, hostium audito
recessu, pedetentim eos sectatus est, et Cænomannis nec una
nocte eum hospitari dignatus est. Verum concrematam urbem
pertransiens vidit, et ultra pontem Egueniæ in _epitimio_
spatioso tentoria figi præcepit.” This strange word
“epitimium” must be the same as that which he uses in 659 B,
where the site of the great battle is placed “in _epitumo_
Senlac.” I there took it to mean a hill, and I gave Orderic
credit for knowing that Senlac was a hill; but I fear that I
must withdraw that praise, as here the word can only mean a
plain. See Ducange in Epitumum. It must be from this word
that some local blunderer first drew the notion, which I
have seen repeated since I wrote my third volume, that
Senlac was once called _Epiton_.

[701] Ib. This was done, “ne malivoli prædones … _domata_
ubi ad capessendam quietem strata sibi coaptarent.” Orderic
adds, “sic profecto Valles et Ostilliacum consumpta sunt,
aliaque quamplurima oppida et rura penitus pessumdata sunt.”
Helias, after all, was not Harold.

[702] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Robertus de Monteforti princeps
militiæ cum quingentis militibus agmina præcessit, incendium
castri de Vallibus extinxit, munitionemque ad opus regis
confirmavit.”

[703] On the site of Mayet, and the versions of the siege,
see Appendix QQ. Wace brings it in thus; I quote the text of
Andresen, 9929 (15026 of Pluchet);

“Li quens Helies s’en parti,
Al chastel del Leir reverti.
Donc ueissiez guerre esmoueir
Del Mans e del chastel del Leir
E de Maiet, un chastelet,
Ou Mansel orent pris recet.
Tresqu’al borc que l’endit la Fesse
Fu la guerre forte e espesse.”

[704] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Feria vi. rex Maiatum obsedit, et in
crastinum expugnare castrum exercitui jussit.”

[705] Ib. “Sabbato, dum bellatores certatim armarentur, et
acrem assultum castrensibus dare molirentur.”

[706] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 243.

[707] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Rex consultu sapientum [mid his
witena geþeaht] Deo gloriam dedit, et pro reverentia
Dominicæ sepulturæ et resurrectionis hostibus pepercit,
eisque trevias usque in Lunæ diem annuit.”

[708] Ib. “Erant viri constantes dominoque suo fideles,
ideoque pertinaciter pro illo usque ad mortem pugnaces, et
exemplo probabilis probitatis prædicabiles.”

[709] Ord. Vit. 775 C. “Interea ipsi castrum interius toto
annisu munierunt, et in assultum virgeas crates ictibus
missilium lapidumque opposuerunt.”

[710] Wace, 15038;

“Maiet ert bien clos de fossé
Tot environ parfont è lé;
Li reis ros por mielx assaillir
Volt li fossé d’atrait emplir.”

Robert of Bellême then counsels him;

“Cil dist el rei k’atrait falleit,
E ke attait querre estueit,
Jà li chastel nel cunquerreit,
Se li fossé d’atrait n’empleit.”

The King gives his orders;

“E li reis li dist, en gabant,
Ke à chescun chevalier mant
Roncin, mule, ou palefrei,
Ne pot aveir altre charrei,
Trestuit quant k’il porra baillier,
E fossé fasse tresbuchier.”

[711] Ib.

“Robert s’en torna sorriant,
Et à plusors de l’ost gabant
Ke li reis aveit comandé
Ke l’en getast tot el fossé,
Kank’as servanz veindreit as mains,
Tuit li chevals è li vilains.”

[712] Froissart, i. 152. ed. 1559. “Quand le roy de France
veit les Génevois retourner, il dit, Or tost tuez ceste
ribaudaille; car ils nous empescheront la voye sans raison.”
Compare also the language of Bayard about the German
_roturiers_ quoted in vol. i. p. 173.

[713] Wace, 15066;

“Par tels semblanz è par tels diz
Fu li pople tot estormiz.
Del siège s’en torment fuiant,
E plusors vunt par gap criant:
Filz a putains, fuiez, fuiez,
Toz estes morz s’un poi targiez;
Se ci poez estre entrepris,
Jà sereiz tut el fossé mis.”

[714] Ord. Vit. 775 D. “Cum forinseci pugnatores admodum
insudarent, ut ingenti strue lignorum cingentem fossam
implerent, viamque sibi usque ad palum pluribus
sustentamentis magnopere substratis publice præpararent,
oppidani _flascas prunis ardentibus plenas_ desuper
demittebant, et congestiones rerum quæ ad sui damnum
accumulatæ fuerant, adminiculante sibi æstivo _caumate_
prorsus concremabant.” What was the exact form of the
“flascæ”?

[715] Ord. Vit. 775 D. “Hujusmodi conflictu feria ii. mutuo
vexabantur, et hæc videns rex nimis anxiabatur.”

[716] Ib. “Porro dum ira et dolore torqueretur quod omnes
ibidem conatus illius cassarentur, quidam ad illum de
sublimi zeta lapidem projecit, nutu Dei non illum sed
adstantis athletæ caput immaniter percussit, et ossa cerebro
non parcente ictu commiscuit.”

[717] Ib. “Illo itaque coram rege miserabiliter occumbente,
subsannatio castrensium continuo facta est, cum alto et
horribili clamore: ‘Ecce rex modo recentes habet carnes;
deferantur ad coquinam, ut ei exhibeantur ad cœnam.’”

[718] Ib. 776 A. “Prudentes enim consiliarii provide
considerabant quod in munitione validissima magnanimi
pugiles resistebant, munitique firmis conclavibus contra
detectos multiplicibus modis facile prævalebant.” This
argument, one would think, might have been brought against
every military undertaking of the time.

[719] Ord. Vit. 776 A. “Alio ulciscendi genere inimicus
puniret, et sic suæ genti sospitatem et hostium dejectionem
callide procuraret.”

[720] Ib. “Mane celeres surrexerunt, ac diversis ad
desolationem hostilis patriæ ferramentis usi sunt. Vineas
enim exstirpaverunt, fructiferas arbores succiderunt,
macerias et parietes dejecerunt, totamque regionem, quæ
uberrima erat, igne et ferro desolaverunt.”

[721] Vet. An. 307. “Hi qui in civitate remanserant quam
crudeliter et quam inhumane ab hostibus sint oppressi, et
miserum est audire et nimis tædiosæ prolixitatis exponere.”

[722] Ord. Vit. 776 A. “Rex Cenomannis triumphans accessit.”

[723] Vet. An. 307. “Nisi regis liberalitas prædonum
sævientium rapacitatem compesceret, diebus illis pro certo
civitas nostra ad extremum pervenisset excidium.”

[724] This appears from the account of Hildebert’s troubles
somewhat later (Vet. An. 309); first among which comes
“clericorum quos violentia regis ab urbe eliminaverat
dispersio mœstissima.”

[725] Ord. Vit. 776 A. “Multarum tribubus provinciarum
licentiam remeandi ad sua donavit.”

[726] Vet. An. 307. “Denique rex civitate pro suo potitus
arbitrio, et positis in ea custodiis, iterum in Angliam
reversus est.” Our own Chronicler (1099) sums up the whole
campaign; “And sona þæræfter [after Pentecost] ofer sǽ
fór, and þone eorl Elias of þære Manige adraf, and bi syððan
on his gewealde gesætte, and swa to S[~c]e Michaeles mæssan
aft hider to lande com.”

[727] See above, p. 234.

[728] Ord. Vit. 775 B. “Ildebertus pontifex in Normannia
regem humiliter aggressus est, et ab eo ut familiaris amicus
benigniter susceptus est. Non enim consilio neque præsentia
sui prædictis perturbationibus interfuerat.”

[729] An. Vet. 308. “Quidam ex clericis a principio
promotioni præsulis invidentes, et dolos tota die contra eum
meditantes, illum apud regem graviter accusabant, nuntiantes
eum conscium fuisse proditionis quando Helias comes
_consentientibus civibus_ civitatem occupavit et milites
regis in munitionibus obsedit. Unde eum rex suspectum
habens, et contra eum semper occasiones quærens, instanter
atque pertinaciter ab eo exigebat ut aut turres ecclesiæ,
_unde sibi damnum illatum fuisse querebatur_, dirui
præciperet, aut post ipsum remota omni occasione in Angliam
transfretaret.”

[730] Ann. Vet. 308. “Qui licet invitus, regis tamen urgente
imperio, vellet nollet, maris pericula subire coactus est.”
He is himself (Duchèsne, iv. 248) specially eloquent on this
head; “Quia turres ecclesiæ nostræ dejicere nolumus,
transmarinis subjiciendi judiciis, coacti sumus injurias
pelagi sustinere, singularem scilicet molestiam itineris
atque _unicam totius humanæ compaginis dissolutionem_.”

[731] Vet. An. 308. “Ibique eum rex iterum stimulantibus
æmulis de turrium destructione cœpit vehementer urgere,
eique ob hanc causam intolerabilem inferre molestiam.”

[732] Ib. “Obtulit pontifici maximum pondus auri et argenti,
unde sepulcrum beati Juliani honorifice, immo ad ignominiam
sempiternam, fieri potuisset. Nam talis instabat conditio ut
statim turres ecclesiæ delerentur.” He calls this a “pactio
toxicata.”

[733] Ib. “Nos caremus in partibus nostris artificibus qui
tantum opus congrue noverint operari; exhinc regiæ congruit
dispositioni tam diligens opera et impensa, in cujus regno
et mirabiles refulgent artifices et mirabilem operantur
cælaturam.” See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 41, 85, 86, 93.

[734] Ib. “Detulit plane duo pretiosa cimbala, et optimam
cappam de pallio et duas pelves argenteas cum aliis
ornamentis.”

[735] See Appendix RR.

[736] See Appendix RR.

[737] See vol. i. p. 566.

[738] See vol. i. p. 622.

[739] The true text of the Annales Cambriæ, 1099, is clearly
that which the editor thrusts into a note; “Cadugaun filius
Bledin de Hibernia rediens, pacificatus est cum Francis et
partem regni sui accepit. Lewelin filius Cadugaun ab
hominibus de Brecheiniauc occiditur. Grifud filius Kenan
Moniam obsedit.”

The Brut might imply a peaceful settlement of Gruffydd.

[740] Ann. Camb. 1099.

[741] See above, p. 146.

[742] Chron. Petrib. 1099. “Ðises geares eac on S[~c]e
Martines Mæssedæg, asprang up to þan swiðe sæ flod, and swa
mycel to hearme gedyde swa nan man ne gemunet, þæt hit æfre
æror dyde and wæs þæs ylcan dæges luna prima.” This is
translated in the Roman annals in Liebermann, p. 47.

[743] Chron. Petrib. 1099. “And Osmund biscop of Searbyrig
innon aduent forðferde.” Florence gives the exact date,
December 3.

[744] There is nothing special to note as to the authorities
for this chapter. Our main story still comes from the same
sources from which it has long come. Possibly the importance
of Orderic, long growing, grows yet greater at the very end
of our tale. And we still make a certain use of Wace. The
story of the death of William Rufus is one of those in which
it is desirable to look in all manner of quarters to which
we should not commonly think of turning, not so much in
search of facts, as to see how such a story impressed men’s
minds, and what forms it took in various hands.

[745] See the entry in the Chronicle, 1087.

[746] See Plutarch, Periklês, 8.

[747] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 161.

[748] Ord. Vit. 781 D. We shall come to this again.

[749] Ann. Burton, 1100.

[750] The three assemblies are recorded in the Chronicle in
a marked way; “On þison geare se cyng W. heold his hired to
X[~p]es mæssa on Gleaweceastre, and to Eastron on
Winceastre, and to Pentecosten on Westmynstre.”

[751] See vol. i. p. 623.

[752] The portrait of Sibyl is drawn by William of
Malmesbury, iv. 389, where she appears as “Filia Willelmi de
Conversana, quam rediens in Apuliam duxerat, cujus
elegantissimæ speciei prodigium vix ullius disertitudinis
explicabit conatus.” So Orderic, 780 A; “Hæc nimirum bonis
moribus floruit, et multis honestatibus compta, his qui
noverant illam amabilis extitit.” The continuator of William
of Jumièges (viii. 14) goes further; “Fuit vero prædicta
comitissa pulcra facie, honesta moribus, sapientia præclara,
et aliquando absente duce ipsa melius per se negotia
provinciæ, tam privata quam publica, disponebat, quam ipse
faceret si adesset.” Wace (15422) calls her Sebire, and
speaks only of her personal beauty. She was the mother of
William Clito who plays so conspicuous a part in Henry’s
reign. According to William of Malmesbury she died at his
birth in 1103, but Orderic (810 A) tells a strange story how
she was poisoned by Agnes the widow of the old Earl Walter
Giffard, who hoped to marry the Duke. The more general
statement in the continuation of William of Jumièges is to
the same effect.

[753] Will. Malms, iv. 389. “Pecuniam infinitam, quam ei
socer dotis nomine annumeraverat, ut ejus commercio
Normanniam exueret vadimonio, ita dilapidavit ut pauculis
diebus nec nummus superesset.”

[754] All these stories are told by William of Malmesbury,
v. 439.

[755] Orderic (780 B) allows only thirty thousand. In
William of Malmesbury (iv. 349, 383) they have grown into
sixty thousand. Figures of this kind, whether greater or
smaller, are always multiples of one another.

[756] Ord. Vit. 780 B. “Is nimirum decrevit Guillelmo Ruffo,
regi Anglorum, Aquitaniæ ducatum, totamque terram suam
invadiare, censumque copiosum abundanter ab illius ærario
haurire, unde nobiliter expleret iter, quod cupiebat inire.
Eloquentes itaque legatos ad regem direxit eique quod mente
volvebat per eosdem insinuavit.”

[757] Orderic (780 C) describes the ambition of the
“pomposus sceptriger” whose yearning for dominion was like
the thirst of a dropsical man, and then tells us, “Maximam
jussit classem præparari, et ingentem equitatum de Anglia
secum comitari, ut pelago transfretato, in armis ceu leo
supra prædam præsto consisteret, fratrem ab introitu
Neustriæ bello abigeret. Aquitaniæ ducatum pluribus argenti
massis emeret, et, obstantibus sibi bello subactis, usque ad
Garumnam fluvium _imperii sui_ fines dilataret.”

[758] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 539.

[759] I have quoted the passages in N. C. vol. v. p. 99.

[760] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 640.

[761] See N. C. vol. iv. pp. 609, 650, 843.

[762] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 843. Orderic’s account (780 C)
is; “Tunc circa rogationes lugubris eventus in Nova-foresta
contigit. Dum regii milites venatu exercerentur, et damulas
vel cervos catapultis sauciare molirentur, quidam miles
sagittam, ut agrestem feram vulneraret, emisit, egregiumque
juvenem Ricardum Rodberti ducis filium casu percussit.”

[763] Orderic goes on to say, “Eques, infortunio gravi
territus, ad sanctum Pancratium statim confugit, ibique mox
monachus factus genuinam ultionem ita evasit.” “Sanctus
Pancratius” means Lewes, the foundation of William of
Warren.

[764] So says Orderic, u. s.

[765] See above, p. 5.

[766] Florence (1100) gives a long list of wonders. Among
others, “Multis Normannis diabolus in horribili specie se
frequenter in silvis ostendens, plura cum eis de rege et
Rannulfo et quibusdam aliis locutus est.” Orderic (781 B)
does not draw this national distinction, and speaks of
visions in holier places; “Mense Julio (1100), dum regia
classis regalis pompæ apparatu instrueretur, et ipse
pervicaciter, immensa pretiosi metalli pondera undecunque
congerens, prope fretum præstolaretur, horrendæ visiones de
rege in cœnobiis et episcopiis ab utrisque ordinibus visæ
sunt, unde in populis publicæ collocutiones in foris et
cœmeteriis passim divulgatæ sunt, ipsum quoque regem minime
latuerunt.”

[767] See that strangest of all stories which I have
referred to in Appendix G.

[768] The consecration and the bishops who had a hand in it
are recorded by Florence, 1100. But he does not mention the
other Gloucester stories; these come from Orderic, who does
not mention the consecration. The two accounts thus fit in
to one another. We see why the monks of Gloucester should be
in a special fit of exalted devotion.

[769] Ord. Vit. 781 B, C. The dreamer was “quidam monachus
bonæ famæ, sed melioris vitæ.” He at last understands
“sanctæ virginis et matris ecclesiæ clamores pervenisse ad
aures Domini, pro rapinis et turpibus mœchiis, aliorumque
facinorum sarcina intolerabili, quibus rex et pedissequi
ejus non desistunt divinam legem quotidie transgredi.”

[770] Ib. “His auditis, venerandus Serlo abbas commonitorios
apices edidit, et amicabiliter de Gloucestra regi direxit,
in quibus illa quæ monachus in visu didicerat luculenter
inseruit.” This letter of Serlo’s will appear under various
shapes.

[771] Ib. C, D.

[772] “Fulcheredus, Sagiensis fervens monachus,
Scrobesburiensis archimandrita primus, in divinis
tractatibus explanator profluus, de grege seniorum electus,
in pulpitum ascendit.”

[773] “Quasi prophetico spiritu plenus, inter cætera
constanter vaticinatus dixit.”

[774] “Effrenis enim superbia ubique volitat, et omnia, si
dici fas est, etiam stellas cæli conculcat.”

[775] See above, p. 310.

[776] “Ecce arcus superni furoris contra reprobos intensus
est, et sagitta velox ad vulnerandum de pharetra extracta
est. Repente jam feriet, seseque corrigendo sapiens omnis
ictum declinet.” I tell the tale as I find it; it is easy to
guess that the Abbot’s preaching put it into some one’s head
to shoot the King; it is equally easy to guess that the
story of the sermon is a legend suggested by the fact that
the King was shot.

[777] See N. C. vol. iv. p. 498.

[778] On these various stories of the death of Rufus and of
the warnings which went before it, see Appendix SS.

[779] See N. C. vol. i. p. 276.

[780] As to the New Forest all accounts agree. I get
Brockenhurst as the immediate spot from Geoffrey Gaimar,
Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, i. 51;

“Li rois estoit alé chacer
Vers Bukerst od li archer:
C’est en la Noeve-Forest
Un liu qi ad non Brokeherst.”

For _Bukerst_ in the second line another MS. has _Brokehest_.

[781] See above, p. 45.

[782] See below, p. 345.

[783] See Appendix SS.

[784] See vol. i. p. 380.

[785] See Appendix SS.

[786] Geoffrey Gaimar (Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, i. 52);

“Ensemble vout amdiu parlant,
De meinte chose esbanoiant,
Tant qe Wauter prist à gaber
Et par engin au roi parler;
Demanda lui en riant
A quei il sojournoit tant.”

[787] Geoffrey Gaimar, Chron. Anglo-Norm. i. 52;

“Breton, Mansel et Angevin.”

[788] See vol. i. p. 411.

[789] Geoffrey Gaimar, u. s.;

“Cil de _Boloine_ te tienent roi.
Eustace, cil de Boloigne,
Poez mener en ta besoigne.”

Another manuscript reads,

“Cil de _Burgoine_ te unt pur roi.”

[790] Ib.

“D’ici q’as monz merrai ma guet,
En occident puis m’en irrai,
A Peiters ma feste tendrai.
Si jo tant vif, mon fié i serra.”

[791] Geoffrey Gaimar, Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, i. 52;

“De male mort pussent morir
Li Burgoinon et li François,
Si souzget soient as Englois!”

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.;

“Li rois par _gab_ li avoit dit;
Et cil come fel le requit
En son queor tint la félonie,
Purpensa soi d’une estoutie:
S’il jà lui veeir porreit,
Tut autrement le plait irroit.”

[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.

[823]
“Li filz Ricard erent cil dui,
Quens Gilebert e dan _Roger_,
Cil furent preisé chevaler.”

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;

“Amis, dist-el, or sai, or sai,
Une novele te dirai;
Henris iert Reis hastivement,
Se mis augures ne ment;
Remembre tei de ço k’ai dit,
Ke cil iert Reis jusqu’à petit;
Se ço n’est veir ke jo te di,
Dire porras ke j’ai menti.”

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.;

“Jà esteit près del boiz venuz,
Quant un hoem est del boiz issuz,
Poiz vindrent dui, poiz vindrent trei,
Poiz noef, poiz dis à grant desrei,
Ki li distrent la mort li rei.”

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.

“Et il ala mult tost poignant
La à il sout la dolor grant,
Dunc crust li dols, dunc crust li plors,
E crust la noise è li dolors.”

[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.

[888] See above, p. 341.

[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 S[~c]e 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.”

[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.”