Cassell's Illustrated History of England/Volume 1/Chapter 33

by John Cassell

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Accession of William Rufus-Conspiracy against him—Invasion of Normandy—The Crusades.

William, whose surname of Rufus is said to have been derived from the colour of his hair, no sooner found himself in possession of his father's letter to the primate Lanfranc, than he fled from the monastery of St. Gervas, where William was dying, and hastened to England, in order to secure possession of the crown.

Sensible that an act so opposed to the laws of primo-geniture and the feudal rights might meet with great opposition from the nobles, he trusted to his celerity for success, and reached the kingdom before the news of the king's death arrived. Pretending orders from the dead monarch, he secured the strong fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings. On his arrival a council of prelates and barons was summoned to proceed to the election of a sovereign. Hitherto there had been no precedent in which the younger brother had been preferred to the elder. Robert, the rightful heir, and his partisans, were in Normandy; William and his adherents on the spot; added to which, the archbishop Lanfranc, who felt himself bound to obey the last injunction of his benefactor William, exerted the whole influence of the Church in his favour. Three weeks after the death of his father he was proclaimed king, and crowned with the usual formalities.

As we before stated, the Conqueror on his deathbed commanded the liberation of his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux. That warlike prelate, who had recovered some portion of his possessions in Kent, had long been the enemy of Lanfranc. The prompt compliance of the latter with the will of the deceased king in crowning William, who at first yielded himself entirely to his directions, caused Odo to extend his hatred to his nephew, and he set himself accordingly to form a party in favour of the eldest brother, Robert, who was already in possession of the duchy of Normandy, as well as the county of Maine, (A.D. 1088.)

The great point he urged upon the nobles whom he enlisted in the cause of the last-named prince was the fact of their holding possessions in both countries, and that it would be much more prudent to hold their lands of one sovereign only. These representations were not without effect; and whilst the newly-crowned king held the festival of Easter, the barons, who had matured their plans, departed to raise the standard o£ revolt in various parts of the kingdom—Odo, in Kent; William, Bishop of Durham, in Morthumberland; Geoffery of Coutances, in Somerset; Roger Montgomery in Shropshire; Hugh de Bigod, in Nortolk; and Hugh de Grentmensil, in Leicester.

The rising which thus took place might have been formidable if the movements of the insurgents had been seconded by energetic action on the part o£ Robert. That pleasure, loving prince, who had promised to bring over an army from Normandy, once more sacrificed the prospect of a throne to his habitual indolence; and Odo waited in vain for the assistance which was to come across the channel. When at length single ships with detachments of the invading forces ventured from the Norman coast, they were intercepted and destroyed by English cruisers. Rufus, on learning the preparations which were making against him, had wisely permitted the fitting out of vessels, which seem to have been the first that may be called privateers; and his island subjects began thus early to give proofs of that superiority in the art of naval warfare which they have ever since maintained. The Norman attempt at invasion was abandoned, and the English insurgents were left to sustain the shock of the king's forces as best they might.

 

William II., surnamed Rufus.

 

Threatened by his own countrymen, the Red King turned for counsel and assistance to the more honest and less ambitious Anglo-Saxons. He adopted a policy of conciliation towards those nobles of Anglo-Saxon blood who still retained any influence: he made liberal promises, which afterwards were only partially fulfilled, and he obtained their adherence to his cause. The king proclaimed the old Saxon call to battle, "Let every man who is not a man of nothing,^[1] whether he live in burgh or out of burgh, leave his house and come," and many Englishmen flocked to his standard.

The first attacks of Rufus were directed against his uncle Odo, of Bayeux. That fierce and turbulent bishop waited his coming at Pevensey, which he had fortified strongly and garrisoned. This stronghold was taken after a siege of a few weeks, and Odo fell into the hands of Rufus, who gave him liberty, on the condition of his taking a solemn oath to deliver up Rochester Castle into the king's possession, and to quit the country immediately afterwards.

Rochester Castle was held by Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, one of the warmest partisans of Robert. When Odo arrived before the gates with the king's escort, and demanded in set form that the keys should be given up, the earl took him prisoner with his guards. This was a stratagem by which Odo hoped to escape the accusation of perjury, while he continued his rebellious course of action against the king. As the real commander of the garrison, this truculent bishop sustained for many weeks the attacks of his royal nephew, who, with his united forces of English and Normans, laid siege to the castle.

At length the besieged were subdued by disease and famine, and compelled to capitulate. They sent to William, informing him of their desire, and demanding that they would be allowed to retain their lands and titles under his sovereignty. Rufus at first refused to grant such a permission; but the Norman troops in his army, who could not forget that the garrison of the castle were their countrymen, and many of whom may have had relatives or friends within the walls, made appeals to the mercy of the king. "We," they said, "who have been with thee in great dangers,

 

 

The Death of Conan.

 

that when the garrison quitted the castle the bugles of the king's troops should not sound in token of triumph, as was the custom in those days. Rufus replied angrily that he would not grant such a request for a thousand marks of gold.

After much entreaty, the king permitted the besieged to leave the town with their arms and horses. Not satisfied with this concession Odo had the arrogance to demand entreat thee to spare our countrymen, who are thine also,and who have fought with thy father."^[2] The Norman adherents of Robert then passed out of the gates with ensigns lowered, and amidst the sounds of exultation from the king's troops. At the sight of Odo, a great clamour arose among the English soldiers. They remembered the thousand crimes of the soldier-bishop, and cried out that he was unfit to live. "Ropes! bring ropes!" they shouted; "hang the traitor bishop and his friends! Why is he allowed to go away in safety? The perjured murderer does not deserve his life!" Such sounds as these from every side thundered in the ears of the prelate, and thus, pursued by curses, he left the country for ever.

Meanwhile the conspirators in another part of the kingdom had met with ill success. The Earl of Shrewsbury, and with him other Norman nobles, had collected an army, which was occupied in laying waste the surrounding country. The earl with his troops set out from Shrewsbury, plundering and burning towns and villages, and putting many of the inhabitants to the sword.

The progress of this marauding force was stopped on its arrival before Worcester. The citizens, excited by a deep hatred of their Norman oppressors, closed the gates, and, conveying their wives and children into the castle, prepared for a desperate resistance. Headed by their bishop, who refused to go into the castle, but took the post of danger on the walls, they gave battle to the besiegers, and having watched their opportunity when part of the Norman forces were absent on one of their plundering expeditions, the citizens sallied forth upon the remainder, and cut great numbers of them to pieces.

These reverses proved fatal to the success of the conspiracy, and Rufus found little difficulty in dealing with the rest of the insurgent chiefs. Some he won to his side by promises; others, who still defied him, were quickly subdued, and were visited with various degrees of punishment, or made their escape into Normandy, with the loss of their estates.

As soon as the insurrection was quelled, and all danger from that source was at an end, Rufus revoked the concessions he had made to his English subjects, and before long the Anglo-Saxon population were reduced to their previous condition of servitude and misery.

The ancient monastery of St. Augustine, at Canterbury, was venerated by the people as one of the few remaining monuments of their old independence. The Normans exerted themselves to subdue the national spirit of the conquered race by repeated humiliations. Many of the time-honoured privileges of the monks of St. Augustine were remitted, and the abbot of Canterbury, though a Norman, was included in these restrictions. This man, however, hated the Saxons, and submitted willingly to the commands of the primate, which inflicted hardships on his monks. When they entreated him to prefer their complaint to the Pope, he answered by imprisoning them in their cells, and by other punishments.

In 1088 this abbot died, and Lanfranc, the primate, then proceeded to Canterbury, for the purpose of installing in the vacant dignity a Norman monk, who was in high favour with Rufus. The Saxon monks of St. Augustine, one and all, refused to acknowledge or receive the new abbot, and Lanfranc ordered them to quit the convent. A few hours later, when the disconsolate friars were seated on the ground below Canterbury Castle, they received a message from the primate, permitting them to return, provided they did so at once, but with the notice that those who remained absent would be treated as vagabonds. Hunger induced several of them to accept the terms offered, and to swear obedience on the relics of St. Augustine. Those who refused to take the oath were imprisoned until they gave in their submission. A plot was nevertheless formed against the life of the abbot, and one of the conspirators, named Columban, who was taken in attempting to make his escape, confessed that he would have killed the Norman if the opportunity had offered. The primate ordered him to be bound before the gates of the monastery, and publicly flogged.

In the following year (1089) Lanfranc, Archbishop of Cantsrbury, died, at the age of nearly 100 years. If we compare the acts of his life with those of his contemporaries, and judge of his character with a due regard to the times in which he lived, we shall find his memory entitled to our respect. It is said of him that he was "a wise, politic, and learned prelate, who, whilst he lived, mollified the furious and cruel nature of King William Rufus, instructing to forbear such wild and outrageous behaviour as his youth was inclined unto."^[3] The archbishop built various hospitals and almshouses, and recovered twenty-five manors which had been wrested from the see of Canterbury. One of these was a large estate which had been seized by Odo, and which that rapacious bishop was compelled to restore.

Removed from the influence of Lanfranc, the king gave the rein to his debaucheries, and showed himself "very cruel and inconstant in all his doings, so that he became a heavy burden unto his people." He appointed no successor to the primacy, but kept the see of Canterbury vacant four years, seizing the revenues, and applying them to his own vicious purposes.

Rufus elevated to the offices of royal chaplain and chief minister of state a Norman priest, named Renouf, or Ralph, who had received the surname of Le Flambard, or the Firebrand. This man, who once had been a footman in the service of the dukes of Normandy, was of bad character, ambitious, ready-witted, and a willing pander to the vices of the king. To raise money for his royal master's pleasures, he increased the burdens of the people; inflicted heavy fines in punishment of trifling offences; and caused a second survey of the kingdom to be made, raising the estimated value of estates, and increasing the royal revenues, at the expense of great suffering throughout the country.

Contentions were continually occurring between the Saxons and their oppressors. Everywhere the Normans showed themselves cruel and avaricious, trampling down the conquered race, and treating them as inferior beings. Ralph Flambard, who was Bishop of Lincoln, ruled his diocese with such tyranny that, as we read in an old chronicle, the inhabitants wished rather to die than live under his authority. The Norman bishops introduced a disorder of manners, which appears to have been unknown among the Saxon clergy. They marched to the altar between lines of halberdiers, and passed their days in drinking and playing at dice. "In those days," says Holinshed, "it (the clergy) was far out of order, not only in covetous practices, but in worldly pomp and vanity; for they had bush and braided perukes, long side garments, very gorgeous; gilt girdles, gilt spurs, with many other unseemly disorders in attire."

 

 

William Rufus and the Soldier. (See page 112.)

 

While such was the position of affairs in England, Robert, Duke of Normandy, was passing his days among dancers and jesters, flatterers and parasites. The province under his rule had fallen into a state of anarchy: the nobles defied the authority of their indolent sovereign, and, assuming style of independent princes, made war upon each other Some of the Anglo-Norman barons, alarmed for the security of their property, conspired together to place Rufus in possession of Normandy, as being better fitted than his brother to govern that turbulent duchy.

The Norman fortresses of Albemarle, St. Valley, and others, were obtained possession of by various means, and were held in the name of King William; and Conan, a powerful burgess of Rouen, had entered into the conspiracy, and engaged to betray the capital into the hands of a lieutenant of Rufus.

Robert at length was roused to the dangers which surrounded him, but finding himself without money to raise troops, he applied to Philip I. of France for assistance. Philip responded to the call, and advanced with an army to the borders of Normandy; but Rufus sent him a sum of money as a bribe, and the French king returned at once to his own country.

Deserted by his ally, Robert appealed to his brother Henry, whom he had placed some time before in possession of a portion of the Norman duchy, in return for a sum of £3,000 which Henry had advanced. Since that time frequent quarrels had occurred between them, and it is related that, on one occasion, Henry was arrested by the duke's orders, and kept for a short time in prison. However, on receiving Robert's request for succour, Henry came to Rouen, and rendered his brother important assistance. Reginald de Warrenne, the lieutenant of Rufus, was driven back and compelled to retreat, and the burgess Conan was taken prisoner.

Mingled with the many faults of Robert's character, there was a chivalrous spirit which shrank from taking a man's life in cold blood. He condemned Conan to perpetual imprisonment; but Henry, whose temper was less merciful, visited the captive; and having on some pretence taken him to the top of a high tower, he seized him suddenly round the body, and threw him over the battlements. Henry then turned to the attendants who had seen him play the part of executioner, and said that it was not fitting that such a traitor should escape condign punishment.

Early in the year 1000, the Red King^[4] landed an English army in Normandy, and advanced into the country. Robert again applied to Philip of France, who exerted himself to arrange a treaty of peace between the two brothers. By the provisions of this treaty, which was signed at Caen, the lands of Eu, Albemarle, Fescamp, and others, were assigned to Rufus; and it was agreed that no further attempt should be made by Robert upon the English throne. Certain estates in England were to be given to Robert in place of those which he resigned in Normandy, and William engaged to pardon those barons who had defended his brother's cause, and to restore to them their titles and lands. The barons of the two factions agreed that if the king survived the duke, he was to have possession of Normandy; and if the duke outlived the king, he should receive the English crown. This treaty was signed by twelve barons on each side, who swore to maintain its provisions.

In the records of these dark and turbulent times we see human nature presented to us—except in a very few instances—with but two aspects: luxury and indolence on the one hand, and cruelty allied with power on the other. Every man's hand is against every man; brother rises in arms against brother on the most trifling provocation, or to increase possessions already too large for the control of the possessor. The king of a powerful nation places his army at the command of the highest bidder, and forsakes his ally for a bribe of money. Chivalry, slowly struggling into existence, has yet attained no influence over the minds and actions of men. Honour is an idea, admired from a distance; religion, a ceremony, or a shadow of the better times to come.

Such is the impression at first conveyed by the chronicles of these remote periods, but such is not altogether a just impression. It is the business of history to deal with the crimes of mankind rather than with their virtues. The acts prompted by ambition, the struggles for power or profit, the wiles of diplomacy or intrigue—these are the things that influence the fate of nations and afford matter for the historian. But the virtues are of silent action: good deeds make little noise, and peaceful days are the blank pages of history. Therefore, when we read these accounts of former times, and see on every side the boisterous waves of human passion boiling up and passing to and fro, we may believe that, through the storm and darkness, the silent stream of happiness flowed on, and that, in every age, a just Providence has bestowed a due share of blessings on mankind.

Peace had been concluded between the two elder sons of the Conqueror; but now some cause of quarrel arose between Robert and Rufus, on the one side, and Henry on the other. This young prince was possessed of great abilities, and an ambition unscrupulous in its aims and unrestrained by principle. It is possible that the prophecy of his future greatness, uttered by his dying father, was not forgotten by him to whom it referred. Whether Henry at this time gave any cause for just suspicion to his brothers, does not appear certain; but such suspicions were excited, and the forces of the duke and the king were joined in an attack upon his territories. Henry took refuge in a castle in St. Michael's Mount, a solitary rock on the coast of Normandy, and in this strong position he sustained a long siege from the combined armies of his kinsmen.

An incident of the siege is related by some of the old chroniclers to the following effect:—The supply of water in the castle fell short, and the garrison were reduced to great distress from thirst. Robert, having been informed of this circumstance, sent a supply of wine to his brother Henry, and also permitted some of the people of the castle to fetch water. This conduct incensed William, who expressed his indignation at such generosity; but Robert replied that he could not suffer his brother to die of thirst. "Where," said he, "shall we get another brother when he is gone?"

There is another story told of the same siege, from which it appears that on one occasion Rufus had a narrow escape from death. The king had ridden out alone to take a survey of the fortress, when he was suddenly attacked by two of Henry's soldiers, who struck him from his horse. One of the men was about to dispatch him, when Rufus called out "Hold, knave! I am the King of England!" The soldier threw down his dagger, and raised him from the ground with professions of respect. It is related that Rufus rewarded the man with presents, and took him into his service.

According to some accounts, the besieging forces retired without having obtained possession of the fortress; but the more probable story, and that which rests on the best authority, is that Prince Henry was at length obliged to capitulate, and that he was deprived of all his estates. For two years Le wandered about the Continent with a scanty escort and in great poverty. At length he obtained the government of the city of Damfront, and in that position he displayed great ability, and obtained considerable power in the surrounding country.

Robert returned with Rufus to England, with the view of taking possession of the estates to which he had become entitled by the treaty of Caen. The king, however, had no intention of observing the terms of the treaty, and answered his brother's demands with excuses and delays.

Meanwhile (1091) Malcolm Caenmore had invaded England, and had penetrated "even to Chester." William sent an army to oppose him, and, according to some authorities, also fitted out a naval force, which was overtaken by a storm on the Scottish coast and destroyed.^[5] The two armies met somewhere on the borders of Scotland, but the impending conflict was prevented by the efforts of Robert of Normandy and Edgar Atheling. A treaty of peace was concluded, by which Malcolm rendered homage to Rufus, as he had done to William the Conqueror, and was permitted to retain certain lands in Northumberland, of which he had become possessed. Edgar Atheling was allowed to return to England, where he became a hanger-on of the court, and a passive witness of the cruelties of the usurper who sat upon the throne of Alfred.

 

Statue of William Rufus in the Choir of York Cathedral.

 

Soon after (1093) Rufus gave directions for the building of a fortress at Carlisle, and having sent a number of English to inhabit the town, he bestowed on them many valuable privileges. This act, if not an infringement of the recent treaty with Malcolm, was at least a violation of the rights of that monarch. The county of Cumberland had been for centuries attached to the Scottish crown, and Malcolm demanded its restitution. A conference took place between the two kings, and Rufus having refused redress for the injury, Malcolm returned in haste to Scotland, and carried an army into Northumberland, burning and laying waste the country. Before Rufus could advance to meet him, the Scotch monarch had fallen into an ambush and was killed, together with his eldest son.

It is related that when the news of the death of her husband and son was brought to Margaret, the Queen of Scotland, she bowed her head beneath the stroke, and died within four days afterwards.

"Thus," says Holinshed, "by the just providence of God came King Malcolm to his end, in that province which he had wasted and spoiled five different times."

William, after his return from Carlisle, fell sick at Gloucester; and being oppressed with the recollection of his many crimes, and probably deriving little comfort from the ghostly ministrations of Ralph Flambard, he gave signs of repentance, and promised on his recovery to amend his life. The repentance, however, passed away with the danger, and he is represented as having become from this time more cruel and debauched than before.

The king still withholding from his brother Robert the possessions which were his right, the duke returned to Normandy, and sent heralds to William, according to the usage of chivalry, denouncing him as a false and perjured knight, who held possession of lands which he had resigned by treaty.

William went to Normandy to answer the charge, and agreed to submit to the decision of a court composed of the high Norman nobility. The award, however, being in favour of Robert, the Red King refused to abide by the decision, and leading an army into Normandy, he defeated the adherents of the duke in several engagements.

Events followed each other closely resembling those which took place on William's previous expedition against his brother (1094). Robert, as before, made an appeal to Philip. The disputes between the sons of the Conqueror would seem to have been a source of considerable profit to the King of France, and his ready response to the call of Robert was probably less from a regard for his neighbour's welfare than from a view to his own interest. Rufus determined to buy him off as he had done before, and to obtain money for this purpose he devised a scheme in which he had the assistance of Ralph Flambard. He ordered a levy of 20,000 men in England, and when the troops arrived at Hastings to embark, it was announced to them that the king was willing to excuse them from the dangers of the campaign, and that each man would be permitted to return to his home on payment of ten shillings towards the expenses of the war.^[6] The money raised by this means was paid to Philip, who marched his forces back to France. The small and ill-appointed army of Robert would probably now have been overcome, had not affairs in England compelled Rufus to relinquish the contest.

The Welsh had taken advantage of the king's absence to invade the neighbouring counties, and "after their accustomed manner"^[7] carried away the cattle, and plundered and murdered the inhabitants, many of whom they also made prisoners. They laid siege to the castle of Montgomery, and carried it by assault, slaying the whole of the garrison. William marched hastily into Wales, but found it impossible to reach the marauders, who kept to the cover of the woods and marshes, and among the mountains, watching their opportunity to slay any of the English and Norman troops whom they could reach unawares. Rufus pursued them over the hills; but his march was attended with heavy loss to his army, and he was at length compelled to retreat, "not without some note of dishonour."

A second expedition, undertaken in the following summer (1095), met with no better success. It is related that an army was also despatched under the command of the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Chester, who re-took the isle of Anglesey, of which the Welsh had obtained possession.^[8] The inhabitants were maltreated or put to the sword; but, having received some re-enforcements, a battle ensued, in which the Earl of Shrewsbury was slain. The victory, however, was on the side of the Earl of Chester, who remained for some time in Wales, desolating the country.

While the Welsh were still unsubdued, Rufus received information of a powerful confederacy which had been formed against him in the north of England. The king had reason to suspect some of his nobles of disaffection, and especially Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, a powerful noble, whose long absence from the court had excited suspicion. A royal proclamation was issued, calling upon every baron in the kingdom to appear at court at the approaching festival of Whitsuntide, on pain of outlawry. The Earl of Northumberland neglected to obey the summons, and the king immediately marched an army to Newcastle, where he surprised some of the earl's accomplices. He next besieged and took the castle of Tynemouth, and thence proceeded to Bamborough, an impregnable fortress, to which the earl had retreated with his family.

 

Bamborough Castle

 

After various unsuccessful attempts to take this castle by storm, Rufus, who seems to have inherited much of the military talent of his father, adopted another plan of attack. He built a wooden fort, opposite Bamborough, calling it Malvoisin, or "a bad neighbour;" and, having placed a garrison, he withdrew the rest of his army. His lieutenants were directed to lie in wait for every opportunity of inflicting damage upon the adherents of Earl Mowbray, or of gaining possession of his person.

One night the earl quitted his castle with an escort of only thirty horsemen. The object with which he did so is variously stated; but the most probable account is that he was betrayed by some followers of Rufus, who made the offer to give up the town of Newcastle into his possession. The earl was surprised by a body of Norman troops, and while many of his retinue were cut to pieces, he escaped from his assailants, and took sanctuary at St. Oswin's monastery, Tynemouth. By the laws of chivalry, the blackest criminal was safe under the shadow of the cross; but the soldiers of William were neither deterred by those laws, nor by any respect for the sacredness of the place. They pursued the earl to his sanctuary, and after a desperate resistance made him a prisoner.

Having carried Earl Mowbray to Bamborough, and placed him before the gates of his castle, they demanded a parley with the Countess Matilda. On her appearance, they exhibited her husband as a prisoner, and told her that they would put out his eyes before her face unless she at once gave up the castle into their hands. Matilda is described as having been remarkable for her beauty; she was young, and had been married to the earl only a few months before. She did not long hesitate, but ordered the gates to be thrown open. Among the followers of Mowbray was one through whom Rufus gained a knowledge of the extent of the conspiracy, and of the persons implicated in it.

The subsequent fate of Mowbray was that of a living death. His young wife had indeed saved him from blindness, but he was not the less deprived of the light of day. Condemned to perpetual imprisonment, he was confined in a dungeon at Windsor Castle, where we read that he dragged on existence for thirty years afterwards.

 

 

Pope Urban II. preaching the First Crusade in the Market-place of Clermont. (See page 119.)

 

Among the other conspirators were the Earl of Shrewsbury, William of Alderic, the king's godfather, and William, Count of En, who was related to Rufus by blood. The first bought exemption from punishment with a large sum of money—as was a common practice in those days, as well as in later times; William of Alderic was condemned to death; the Count of En appealed to the ordeal of battle, or rather, as his guilt hardly admitted of dispute, proposed to fight for his pardon, against a champion selected by the king. The count was worsted in the encounter, and, by the sentence of the law, was condemned to be barbarously mutilated, after a custom which had been derived from the natives of the East.^[9]

The object of the confederates had been to depose Rufus, and place upon the throne Stephen, Count of Aumale, who was the nephew of William the Conqueror. The information which the king had obtained in the castle of Bamborough, enabled him to break up this formidable confederacy; and besides the punishment which we have seen was inflicted upon the leaders, other nobles suffered the confiscation of their estates, and were imprisoned, or effected their escape to Normandy.

The property of the banished nobles was plundered by the adherents of the king, and then left for some time uncultivated and without owners. Nevertheless, the people of the town or hundred in which such estates lay, were compelled to pay the full amount of land tax as before. The royal officers are compared by the chroniclers to thieves; they plundered without mercy both the farmers' barns and the tradesmen's warehouses. The king, also, forcibly raised troops of men to build a wall encircling the Conqueror's Tower at London, a bridge over the Thames, and near the West Minster a hall, or palace of audiences, for the stated assemblies or assizes of the great barons.^[10] The Saxon chronicle which contains these details, says that "the counties on which these forced labours fell, were grievously tormented: each year passed by heavily and sorrowfully, on account of numberless vexations and multiplied contributions."

 

1. A "man of nothing," In Angle-Saxon "unuithlng," or "nidering" term of abuse and contempt
2. Orilericus Vitutis
3. Holinshed.
4. William is called by this title in the Roman de Rou and Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle.
5. William of Malmesbury.
6. Matthew Paris.
7. Hollinshed.
8. Matthew Paris.
9. William of Malmesbury.
10. Westminster Hall was founded by William Rufus in 1097,