William always cherished designs for the conquest of Wales, and pending the day when he should have leisure to turn the whole forces of his kingdom against that principality, he allowed, and probably encouraged, the border nobles to make war on their own account with the unreduced west. Numerous small wars, or freebooting raids resulted. One of these campaigns, undertaken in 1098-99 by Hugh, Earl of Shrewsbury, and Hugh, Earl of Chester, serves, as Campbell points out, as an illustration of "how imprudent a thing it is to depend on armies without fleets,"[1] or in more modern phrase, of the importance of sea power. The Earls invaded Anglesey, where they met with little resistance, and wrung a great amount of plunder from the inhabitants; but while they were in the full tide of their success, Magnus, a northern adventurer, swooped down from the Orkneys with a small squadron, and not only took from the invaders all the spoil which they had collected, but killed Hugh of Shrewsbury.[2]
In the last year of his reign, William betrayed extraordinary energy in repressing a rebellion in Maine, of which, with Normandy, he had taken charge in pursuance of an agreement with his brother Robert, who had gone on the First Crusade. The king was hunting in England when he learnt that Le Mans, the capital of the province, was besieged by the insurgents. Without dismounting he rode on to the nearest seaport, and hurrying on board a small vessel, obliged the master to put to sea, in spite of the prevalent bad weather. Reminded that he was alone, he said, "I shall see who will follow me, and if I understand the youth of this kingdom, I shall have people enough." Remonstrated with on the danger of crossing the Channel with a foul wind and a heavy sea, he exclaimed, "I never heard of a king that was shipwrecked. Weigh anchor, and you will see that the wind will be with us."[3] He landed safely at Barfleur, and relieved Le Mans with the troops already in Normandy. After his return he was preparing a fleet for operations beyond sea, when on August 2nd, 1100, he was accidentally killed.
Robert had shortly before returned from his crusade, and when he learnt that his youngest brother Henry had assumed the crown, he assembled a fleet at Tréport. Henry made corresponding preparations, issuing orders to the butescarles along the coasts for
