Cassell's Illustrated History of England/Volume 1/Chapter 38
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
When the news of the death of William Rufus was brought to his brother Henry in the New Forest, the prince immediately set spurs to his horse and galloped to Winchester. Presenting himself before the officers in charge of the treasures of the crown, he demanded the keys; but before he had obtained them, William de Breteuil, the royal treasurer, who had followed Henry from the New Forest, arrived on the spot, and interposed his authority. De Breteuil reminded the prince of the oath of allegiance which they had both taken to Robert of Normandy, to whom also, as the eldest son of the Conqueror, the throne as well as the treasure by right belonged. A violent altercation took place, and Henry drew his sword and threatened De Breteuil with instant death unless the treasure was given up. Several nobles of the late king's court supported the demand, and the treasurer found himself compelled to abandon an opposition which proved entirely unavailing.
Henry, whose abilities had procured him the surname of Beauclerk, or the fine "scholar," proved himself as prompt in action as skilful in design. He immediately distributed some of the jewels and money of the crown among his adherents and the clergy of Winchester, and with these gifts and promises still more lavishly bestowed, he secured a certain degree of popularity in the town. Having been acknowledged as king by the Witan, who were assembled in the neighbourhood, he hastened to London, when he again distributed large gifts among all those whose adhesion it was necessary to obtain. So rapidly was all this accomplished, that on the 5th of August, three days after his brother's death, Henry was proclaimed king, and was crowned in Westminster Abbey by Maurice, Bishop of London.
At the death of Lanfranc, the see of Canterbury had been given to Anselm, a monk of the Abbey of Bec, in Normandy. When the privileges of the Church were infringed by the Exactions and persecutions of Rufus, Anselm made his escape from the country to lay his complaint before the Pope (A.D. 1098). He had travelled to Rome in the disguise of a pilgrim, with staff in his hand and scrip by his side, and was received with due honour by the Pope. At the time of the accession of Henry, he still remained absent. The archbishopric of York had been vacant for several years, and Maurice was therefore the highest ecclesiastic in the kingdom.
It will be remembered that, by the treaty signed at Caen between Robert of Normaudy and William Rufus, the crown of England devolved upon the survivor; but while Henry was obtaining possession of the throne, Robert was not yet returned from the Holy Land. Soon after the fall of Jerusalem, the Duke of Normandy had quitted Palestine and landed in Italy. Here he was received with high honour and welcome by the Norman barons who had conquered large possessions in that southern land. Passing through Apulia he was entertained at the castle of the Count of Conversano, who was a relation of Robert Guiscard. The count received his guest with the utmost hospitality, and all the resources of a princely establishment were placed at his command. Within the castle were troubadours and jongleurs, mirth and music; without were broad plains and forests stocked with game, horses, and hounds in abundance, a beautiful landscape, and a sunny sky. It is not surprising that all these pleasures should attract a man of the character of the Duke of Normandy, who had just escaped from the protracted hardships of the Crusade, and who was well disposed to enjoy that ease and self-indulgence which he believed himself to have earned. But the Count of Conversano had a daughter; she was young, accomplished, and of great beauty. Robert fell in love with the Lady Sibylla, and obtained her hand in marriage. Ignorant of the critical position of affairs in England, and probably troubling himself little about the future, the Duke of Normandy lingered among the pleasures of Italy, while his more ambitious brother was firmly securing himself in the sovereignty he had usurped.
The Anglo-Saxon people are said to have been inclined in favour of Henry, from the circumstance of his having been born and educated in England. The advantage he thus possessed was improved to the utmost, and the new king exerted himself to obtain the good-will of that portion of his subjects who, however trodden down and oppressed by the arrogant Norman barons, were, in fact, the strength and sinew of the nation. A charter of liberties was passed, in which Henry bound himself to restore the laws of Edward the Confessor, with such alterations as had been made by the Conqueror. This charter was the cause of great rejoicing among the people, and though the effects produced by it were less advantageous than was expected, the charter is remarkable as having supplied the groundwork for that more important concession which was afterwards obtained from King John. At a subsequent period Henry retracted the promises he had made, and the copies of the royal charter, which had been placed in many of the churches throughout the kingdom, were seized and destroyed by the officers of the Crown. Three copies, however, were by some accident overlooked, and were left, one at Canterbury, one at York, and one at St. Albans.
These measures gave to Beauclerk a greater popularity than had been enjoyed by either of his predecessors. The nation had no fears of foreign invasion. Some of the most pressing grievances had been redressed, and strong hopes given of the removal of others; and although several generations had to pass away before the distinction of Norman and Saxon was entirely to merge into the general name of Englishman, the process had already commenced—a process which, rousing the slumbering Saxon from the lethargy of years, and stimulating the energetic principles of the Norman character to their highest development, eventually gave birth to a series of events which placed England foremost in the rank of nations.
Such was the state of affairs when the new king, rejecting all thoughts of an alliance with any of the princely families of the Continent, as the crowning act of reconciliation with his Saxon subjects, offered his hand to the exiled and portionless daughter of Malcolm, a humble novice in the Abbey of Romsey, but the representative of a long and illustrious line of Saxon princes.
We have seen how, on the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold obtained possession of the crown; his defeat and death, and the ultimate flight of Edgar, "the noble child," as the Saxon chroniclers fondly term him, with his mother and sisters to Scotland. The results of his voyage, and the marriage of Margaret with the King of Scotland, have been already related.
Six children arrived at years of maturity. Edward, who was slain with his father at Alnwick; Edgar, Alexander, and David, who each in turn succeeded to the crown.
The daughters were named Mary, who married Eustace, Count of Boulogne; and Matilda, or Maud, afterwards queen of Henry Beauclerk.
The death of Malcolm and his eldest son, which occurred in 1093, was soon followed by that of Margaret. The brother of Malcolm assumed the crown, to the exclusion of his three nephews; and to this cause we may doubtless attribute Matilda being sent, together with her sister, to the care of their aunt Christina, who had taken the veil in 1086.
Contemporary historians agree in naming Wilton and Romsey as the abbeys in which the future Queen of England found an asylum. They were both of Saxon foundation.
Wilton claimed an origin as early as the year 800, when Wulston, Duke of Wiltshire, founded a chantry, which his widow Alburga converted into a nunnery, and which, in after years, became the residence of St. Editha, the fair and pious daughter of the profligate King Edgar.
Romsey Abbey, to which Christina, the aunt of Matilda, retired, and of which, according to some writers, she became abbess, was built by Edward the Elder, and dedicated to the Virgin and St. Elfleda. This convent possessed many extra-ordinary privileges, amongst others the rare and anomalous right of la haute justice, or gallows tree; a privilege of which the records do not mention any use ever having been made. To this already wealthy and powerful establishment the Norman conquest, instead of spoilation, appears to have brought additional wealth and dignity.
The abbess of this convent was one of the four lady abbesses 
Robert of Normandy at the Castle of the Count of Conversano.
in England who were baronesses in their own right, and as such took their place at the court of the king.
It would be a most interesting task to trace the outline of the plan of education pursued in these establishments; unfortunately the materials for such an undertaking are too scanty. From Alfred of Rieviesby, a contemporary, we learn that very young children were sometimes admitted, and that the nuns displayed towards them an almost maternal affection.
These children were taught reading, and in most instances writing. Music was also an important part of a conventual education, since all the scholars were expected to take their parts in the seven daily services of the church.
As Matilda grew towards womanhood, more than one Norman chieftain had endeavoured to obtain her hand in marriage; but on preferring their request to William Rufus, that politic monarch had refused his consent. He did not wish to see a Saxon princess, a lineal descendant of Alfred the Great, allied to any man whose power or abilities might enable him to aspire to the throne. Matilda therefore remained in the seclusion of the cloister until King Henry sent to her his proposals of marriage. It is related that the young princess received the offer with dislike, if not with disdain. She was not ignorant of the sufferings which the Norman invasion had brought upon her countrymen, and her sympathy with their sorrows induced a hatred of their oppressors.
Her friends and attendants, however, combated these scruples, and argued that, by her consent, she might restore, in some degree, the safety and happiness of the people, while her refusal would certainly tend to increase the enmity between the Norman and Saxon races. It is one of the penalties attached to royalty that those connections which, in a lower and happier sphere of life, are matters of choice and affection, become among princes mere questions of state policy. Matilda felt herself unable to resist the arguments brought forward in favour of the match, and she gave an unwilling consent. An opposition on the other side, meanwhile, arose among the Norman adherents of Henry, who were ill-disposed to have a Saxon queen to reign over them, and were probably jealous of the effect such a marriage would produce among the people in the king's favour.
Marriage of Henry and Matilda.
It was asserted that the chosen wife of the king was already the bride of Heaven; that she had been seen to wear the veil of a nun, which shut her out for ever from the world.
In this difficulty it was necessary for Henry to obtain the assistance of the clergy, and he therefore sent messengers to Anselm, entreating him to return to England and resume the see of Canterbury. The king promised to restore the privileges of the Church, and to submit to its authority. Anselm acceded to the request, and agreed to perform the marriage ceremony; but when he heard the reports in circulation that Matilda had taken the veil, he declared that the matter required to be investigated, and that he would himself examine the princess on the subject.
On the question being put to her, Matilda denied that she had ever been dedicated to a religious life, or had worn the veil of her own consent. The reason she gave for having been made to do so at particular times, gives a striking picture of the lawlessness and brutality of the Norman soldiery. "I confess," she said, "that I have sometimes appeared veiled, but the cause was this: in my youth I was under the care of my aunt Christina. She, in order to preserve me from the Normans, by whose licentiousness the honour of all women was threatened, was accustomed to throw a piece of black stuff over my head; and when I refused to wear it, she treated me with great harshness. In her presence, therefore, I wore that veil, but when she was away, I used to throw it on the ground, and trample upon it in childish anger."[1]
Anselm convoked a council of nobles and ecclesiastics, who assembled in the city of Rochester, and to whom the evidence given by Matilda was submitted. Witnesses were examined in support of her assertions, and the assembly decided that the princess was free to dispose of her person in marriage. They cited, as an authority for this decision, the judgment of Archbishop Lanfranc, who, at a time when some Saxon women had taken refuge in a convent from fear of the soldiers of the Conqueror, permitted them to regain their liberty.
At the time of the coronation of Matilda, London could not have presented much to attract the eye. The convents were few, and the churches humble. The tall spire, rising like an aspiration towards heaven; the richly traceried window; the carved portal, did not yet exist to form a picturesque contrast with the rude, low houses built in irregular lines.
The Thames, crossed by one poor wooden bridge, was not then, as now, crowded by a fleet of merchantmen. At the Tower, the Vintry, and Edred's-hithe, a few small vessels, indeed, might be anchored and from time to time some tall Norman galley might glide over its silvery waters.
On either side of the city, and close to the water's edge, stood the important fortresses of the Tower and Castle Baynard, whilst a rude collection of huts, of the poorest description, formed that general receptacle of thieves and outlaws, the Borough. Close to them stood the convent and church of St. Mary, and far beyond, on the same side of the river, rising above the marshes which surrounded it, might be seen the towers of the palace of Lambeth.
As the procession moved on, the eyes of the princess encountered a fairer spectacle; for, on quitting the village of Charing, she entered the broad but irregular road which led to the palace of Westminster, the residence of the sovereign of England. There the hand of improvement, guided by art, had lavished countless cost both on church and ball.
Although the authorities for describing the palace of Westminster are so scanty, a minute picture may be drawn of the abbey church in which Matilda was crowned, as it was finished by Edward the Confessor.
From the day when it was asserted that the church had been consecrated by the chief of the Apostles himself, amid the blaze of celestial light and the hallelujahs of angels, each monarch who in succession swayed the sceptre of England vied with his predecessors in gifts or immunities to this highly favoured abbey. The fishermen of the Thames, in full assurance of St. Peter's promise of prospering them in their calling, paid willingly their tithe of salmon, and continued to do so nearly to the time of the Reformation. Spoorly relates that in 1382 he saw a large fish presented by four fishermen on the high altar. He also adds, that they who offered it might demand for it bread and ale of the cellarer of the abbey, and had a right to sit at the prior's own table.
Such was the church where Matilda, surrounded by the great officers of state, and cheered on her way by the rejoicing Saxons, was conducted to receive the crown matrimonial of England, the inheritance of her race.
Beside the primate was a churchman of a very different character, Roger, Bishop of Sarum, the king's chancellor. The history of his progress under royal favour is strikingly characteristic of the man and the times in which he flourished.
At the period when Henry was fighting under the banner of his brother, William Rufus, with a troop of mercenaries whom he headed, they entered a church near Caen, and requested the priest whom they found there to say a mass as quickly as possible.
Henry I from a Statue in the Choir of York Cathedral
This priest was Roger, who promptly complied with their request, and hurried over the service in so rapid a manner that they unanimously declared that it would be impossible to find a priest more suitable for a soldier's chaplain. In this new office, Roger acquitted himself so well, that Henry, on his accession, advanced him to the chancellorship, and to the see of Sarum. His last years afforded a remarkable instance of the versatility of fortune. After munificently expending immense sums on his cathedral at Old Sarum, and upon the rebuilding of Malmesbury Abbey, which noble church still presents so fine a specimen of the Norman style, and seeing two nephews Bishops of Lincoln and Ely, on the accession of Stephen he fell into deep disgrace; and when, in his last illness, he was permitted to retire to Sarum, even his expiring moments were disturbed by plundering foemen, who carried away the remaining gold and jewels he possessed.[2]
Of the principal nobles of England and Normandy, it is probable that only a few were present. Some were in the Holy Land with Robert; others, dissatisfied at the usurpation of his younger brother, remained in their respective castles, silently preparing to assort the right of the lawful heir to the throne. Amongst those, however, who adhered to Henry, was the famous Roger de Bigod, who had obtained vast possessions both in Norfolk and Suffolk; whilst another devoted friend of the new king was the powerful Earl of Chester, lord of the Welsh marches, and commonly called Hugh Lupus, on account of his turbulent disposition.
The marriage was celebrated on the, 12th of November, 1100, and the new queen was crowned amidst the acclamations of tho people. Previous to the ceremony Anselm, who wished to leave no room for slanderous reports, and to remove all doubts of the lawfulness of the marriage, mounted a platform before the church door, and explained the question which had been disputed, and the decision of the council, to the assembled people.
The Normans, however, who had raised the opposition to the marriage, and many of whom were secret adherents of Duke Robert, vented their ill-humour in bitter railleries and jests. They gave Henry the nickname of Godrik, and his queen they called Godiva—names which were Saxon, and were applied to the royal couple in derision. It is related by an old historian that Henry heard all these things, but that he dissembled his anger, and pretended to laugh heartily at the jests.
Soon after his marriage the king commenced proceedings against several of the most vicious of his brother's favourites, whom he despoiled of their ill-gotten possessions, and either expelled them from the country, or threw them into prison. During the time he had been attached to his brother's court, Henry had taken part in the debaucheries which there prevailed; and it is probable that the punishment of his former associates was dictated, not by any regard for the interests of virtue, but rather from a deference to the wishes of the people; while, at the same time, he was enabled to fill the royal coffers with the treasures of the banished lords. Foremost among the proscribed was Ralph Flambard, the minister of Rufus, who had been made Bishop of Durham, and who had amassed large possessions by extortion, and a selling of justice. Flambard was seized and thrown into the Tower, whence he effected his escape, by means of a rope which was conveyed to him by some of his friends in a flagon of wine. Having made his way to the coast, he crossed the Channel, and entered the service of Robert of Normandy.
When Robert at length returned to his dukedom with his bride Sibylla, he was received with acclamation by the inhabitants, and soon expressed the intention of enforcing his claim to the crown of England; but, with his accustomed procrastination, he took no immediate steps to that end, but occupied his time with feasts and tournaments. When at length he was aroused to enter upon the expedition he had planned, he was supported not only by the resident Norman barons, but also by many of those who had settled in England, and who agreed to join their forces to his standard. Among these were the Earl of Surrey, William de Warrenne, Robert de Pontefract, Hugh de Grantmesnil, Robert de Malet, and Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury.
On the other hand, Henry was strong in the support of the English people, and a party of the Norman nobility. Archbishop Anselm, with other prelates, rendered the king important service, and secured to Henry the support of the Pope. There appears to be little doubt that Anselm was a conscientious man, and that if he adhered to the cause of the usurper, he did so from a sincere desire to establish the liberties of the people, and from a conviction that the rule of Henry, who had pledged himself to promote the welfare of his subjects, was preferable to that of the weak and luxurious Duke of Normandy.
Henry fitted out a fleet for the purpose of intercepting the duke in his voyage across tho Channel; but the English sailors, from some cause which has not been entirely explained, deserted from their allegiance, and carried the ships over to the service of Robert.
There was something in the character of the Duke of Normandy—in his brilliant feats of courage, in his reckless generosity, and careless way of life—which had an attraction for the minds of sailors; and it is probable, also, that they were influenced by the intrigues of Ralph Flambard. The desertion was an important service to the duke, and the fleet which had been designed to oppose his landing, served to convey the invading troops to the English shores.
Robert landed with his army at Portsmouth (A.D. 1101), and was immediately joined by many barons and knights of Norman birth; the clergy, however, and the private soldiers remained faithful to the cause of the king. Several days elapsed before the rival forces came within sight of each other; and in the meanwhile some of the Norman barons acted as mediators between the two brothers, and succeeded in arranging terms of peace. Robert agreed to resign his claim to the crown of England for a yearly pension of two thousand pounds of silver; and it was decided that the adherents of either side should be pardoned, and that their possessions, confiscated by the king or the duke, should be immediately restored. A clause was also added, to the effect that whichever of the two brothers might survive the other, should succeed to his title and dominions. The effusion of blood was thus stayed for the moment, and Robert returned with his army to Normandy, (A.D. 1102.)
Finding himself securely in posession of the throne, Henry was disposed to revoke some of the concessions which he had made to Anselm, for the purpose of securing the support of that prelate. The king demanded that he should do homage for the archbishopric of Canterbury, and Anselm having returned a decided refusal, a dispute arose which lasted over several years. In the first instance, the question was referred to the Pope, Pascal II., who decided that all ecclesiastics should enter the Church without the authority of laymen, of however high degree. Henry persisted in maintaining his prerogative, and required Anselm either to do homage or once more to quit the kingdom. The archbishop remained firm, and the king, who did not desire an open rupture with the Church, sent three bishops to Rome to negotiate with the Pope. Anselm, at the same time, sent two monks, as messengers of his own. It is stated by Eadmer, the biographer of Anselm, that the Pope had recourse to a strange expedient to evade the difficulty in which he found himself. He refused to communicate with the three bishops in writing, but informed them verbally that had ceded the right of investiture to the king; while he gave letters to the two monks, in which he supported the opposition of Anselm, and desired him to continue that course of action.
On the return of the messengers to London, an assembly was convened, at which they delivered the report of their journey. The word of the three bishops was accepted by the king in preference to the written testimony produced by the monks; and though the Pope affirmed that the evidence of the bishops was false, and, moreover, excommunicated them as liars, Henry persisted in his line of policy, and invested new bishops with the sees of Hereford and Salisbury. Anselm obtained permission to proceed himself to Rome for the purpose of terminating the dispute, (A.D. 1103.)
The archbishop remained abroad several years, during which negotiations were carried on. Ultimately, a compromise was agreed to, by the terms of which the investiture was to be conferred by the Church, while the bishops and other dignitaries were to do homage to the king for the temporal possessions attached to their benefices.
After the return of Anselm, a number of canons were passed by a council of the Church, enforcing upon the clergy and the news of his death was received with general regret among the people.
The treaty which had been signed between Henry and Robert in no degree affected the policy of the king, who showed himself as unscrupulous and careless of his plighted faith as had been his brother Rufus. Determined to punish those barons who had supported the Duke of Normandy, and whose power and position rendered their disaffection a matter to be dreaded, Henry took measures calculated to excite them to some overt act of rebellion, which would enable him to proceed against them without the shame of a direct violation the obligation of celibacy.
Henry I.
Lanfranc had previously exerted himself to promote this object, though with only partial success; and Anselm now proceeded to enforce the same measures. Those priests who were married were commanded to separate from their wives, whom they were never again to see, except in the presence of witnesses. Any who might refuse compliance were to be excommunicated and deposed from the order.
In the year 1109, Anselm died at the age of seventy-six. He was a man of considerable ability and erudition, the evidences of which may be found in his writings, which are still extant. He exerted himself to establish schools, and to promote the spread of knowledge throughout the country, of the treaty. The first who became the object of attack was Robert do Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, who held large possessions as well in Normandy as in England. De Belesme was summoned before the general assembly held in the king's palace, to answer forty-five charges which were brought against him. On appearing before the council, the earl, according to the custom of the time, demanded leave to go and consult with his friends respecting his accusation, and the conduct of his defence. The permission having been granted, the earl immediately quitted the court, took horse, and galloped off to one of his fortified castles.
The king and the council having waited in vain for his answer to the charges, made proclamation of outlawry against him, and declared him a public enemy unless he returned and appeared before the court at its next sitting. Robert de Belesme made no answer to the summons, but prepared energetically for war, and collected large quantities of stores of provisions in his castles of Arundel, Shrewsbury, and Tickehill. Bridgenorth, on the frontier of Wales, was also strongly fortified.
Henry advanced against his rebellious vassal with an army, a large part of which was composed of English troops, who marched with alacrity to punish the proud Norman baron. After having obtained possession of the castle of Arundel, Henry marched against Bridgenorth, where the earl had entrenched himself. For several weeks the king had besieged the town without result, when some of the Norman barons undertook to arrange terms of peace, as they had already done in the case of Robert of Normandy.
Many of the barons waited upon King Henry, and demanded a conference, or parlement, for the purpose of arranging terms of peace. The plain on which the assembly met was bounded by hills, on which were posted a large body of English troops. These, who had been informed of the object of the conference, called out loudly to the king, "Place no faith in them. King Henry; they want to lay a snare for you: we will give thee our assistance, and will follow thee to the assault. Make no peace with the traitor until he falls into thy hands." The warning appears to have produced its eifect, and no reconciliation took place between the belligerents. The fortress of Bridgenorth at length capitulated, and the king's forces marched through a densely wooded country to attack the earl in his stronghold of Shrewsbury. A short interval elapsed, and then this fortress also was taken, and Earl Robert, who was made a prisoner, was banished from the country, with the forfeiture of the whole of his estates. Other nobles, who had adhered to the cause of Robert of Normandy, were afterwards prosecuted, and met with a similar fate to that of the Earl of Shrewsbury.
The English troops of Henry had long sought for an opportunity of vengeance upon the oppressors of their country, aud they might not unreasonably feel elated at the victories they had obtained over the Norman insurgents. It does not appear, however, that the nation at large derived any benefit from the suppression of the rebellion. Although Henry was of English birth, and had married a Saxon wife, his sympathies were not with the people whom he governed. The old historians tell us that the good Queen Matilda used all the influence she possessed to advance the happiness and secure the liberties of her countrymen; but it does not appDar that her counsel and entreaties produced any effect upon the conduct of the king. The condition of the people soon after the marriage of Henry with Matilda is thus described in the Saxon chronicle:—"It is no easy matter to relate all the miseries with which the land was at this time afflicted, by unjust and continual exactions. Wherever the king went, those in his train oppressed the people, aud were guilty of murder and incendiary fires in many places."
Amidst the vices of Robert of Normandy, he possessed a nice sense of honour which we rarely find recorded of the men of that age, and which was still more rare in the family of the Conqueror. No sooner did he hear of the rebellion of De Belesme in England, than he took possession of the earl's Norman estates, and gave them up to pillage. To this line of conduct Robert considered himself pledged, by the terms of the treaty he had signed with Henry. When, however, the king extended his persecutions to other Norman barons, Robert perceived that they were punished for their adherence to himself; and the duke, without hesitation, came over to England, accompanied only by a small escort, and placed himself unreservedly in his brother's power, for the purpose of pleading the cause of the proscribed nobles.
At this time Robert resigned his pension of two thousand pounds. According to some historians, he was detained by Henry as a prisoner, and the pension was the price paid by the duke for his liberty; while another account states that the sum was given as a present to the Queen Matilda. It is, however, certain that Robert soon returned to Normandy without having succeeded in the object of his visit.
There was no sentiment of fraternal affection in the breast of Henry Beauclerk. Regardless of the acts of forbearance and generosity which he had experienced at different times from his brother, the king sought every opportuuity of injuring him, and of accomplishing his ruin. The Duke of Normandy was of an easy, trustful, and merciful temper, and was ill fitted to restrain the excesses of his turbulent barons, or to hold with a firm hand the reins of government. Many disorders and abuses sprang up in his duchy, and were left unnoticed or unpunished by the sovereign. The fair Sibylla died A.D. 1102, and since that time the duke had resumed his irregular way of life, and had shown more completely than before his utter incapacity for the management of public affairs.
King Henry took advantage of this state of things to interfere in the disputes of the Norman barons; and, after appearing for a time in the character of a mediator, he at length threw off the mask, and declared himself the protector of the duchy against the mal-administration of his brother. He summoned Robert to give up possession of the duchy in return for an annual payment of money. The duke indignantly refused to comply with the demand, and Henry prepared to dispossess his brother by force.
In the year 1105 the king entered Normandy with an army, and obtained possession of several castles and fortified places. Robert, however, was not without means of defence; some few chiefs of power and influence still remained attached to his cause, and Henry returned to England without having obtained a decisive victory.
A second campaign was opened in the following year, and Henry crossed the Channel with a more formidable armament than before. He appeared before Tenchebray, an important stronghold situated at a few leagues' distance from Mortain. Having in vain attempted to corrupt the garrison with gold, the king laid siege to the castle with his whole army. Messengers came to Robert with the news that his faithful troops were hard pressed by the enemy, and the duke promised that, in defiance of every obstacle, he would come on a certain day to their assistance.
The promise was redeemed; and, at the time appointed, the duke, with a small but gallant band cf troops, attacked the army of his brother. Placing himself at the head of his knights, he dashed in upon the English infantry, which gave way before him in disorder. So impetuous was the charge, that the fortune of the day seemed likely to be in favour of Robert, when the cowardice or treachery of the Earl of Shrewsbury turned the tide of affairs. De Belesme, whose troops formed an important division of the army of the duke, suddenly fled from the field. A panic ensued among the Normans, and the brilliant deeds of valour performed by their leader failed to restore their courage or to secure the victory. After a desperate resistance, Robert, was taken prisoner, with many of the chief nobles who had fought under his banner.
Robert of Normandy a Prisoner in Cardiff Castle.
Edgar Atheling also fell into the hands of Henry. At the instance of the queen, his niece, a pension was granted to him, and he is related to have passed the rest of his days on a small farm in England, where he lived in obscurity, and no historian has noted the time of his death or the place of his burial.
In A.D. 1106, a harder fate was reserved for the Duke of Normandy. He was confined in Cardiff Castle, which stood near to that of Gloucester, and had recently been conquered from the Welsh. At first some degree of liberty was permitted to him, and he was allowed to take exercise among the fields and woods of the neighbourhood. On one occasion, however, be made an attempt to escape on horseback, but he was pursued and taken in a marsh, which he had attempted to cross in his flight. It is related by some historians that, to prevent the possibility of another attempt of the same kind, the king ordered his brother;s sight to be destroyed by a painful operation. In this miserable condition, with light and liberty alike shut out, the once gay and gallant Duke of Normandy lingered on for twenty-eight years without quitting his prison. He died A.D.1135.
After the victory of Tenchebray, the whole of Normandy fell into the hands of Henry. Rouen, the capital, submitted without resistance to the conqueror, and the town of Falaise capitulated after a siege of short duration.
Among the prisoners taken at Falaise was William, the only son of Robert and Sibylla. Some feeling of pity seems to have entered the breast of the king when his nephew, then a child of five years old, was brought before him. He committed the prince to the care of Helie de St. Saen, a Norman nobleman of high character, who had married a natural daughter of Robert. Soon afterwards, however, Henry attempted to secure the person of his nephew, and sent a body of troops to the castle of St. Saen for that purpose. Helie, who feared some evil intention on the part of the king, effected his escape, and carried his young charge to the court of Louie VI., King of France. On the way, Helie passed some time at the courts of the most powerful Norman barons, and that of Fulk, Earl of Anjon, by whom, as well as by Louis, the prince was received with kindness and protection. He was brought up in the palace of the French king, who, as he grew up, presented him with horses and the harness of a knight, while Fulk promised to give him his daughter Sibylla in marriage.
Matilda, Queen of Henry I.