Transcript

28 - Popular History of France from the Earliest Times by Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot · Popular History of France from the Earliest Times

0:00
Speaker 1: Section twenty eight of Volume one of A Popular History
0:03
Speaker 1: of France from the Earliest Times. This is a LibriVox recording.
0:07
Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
0:10
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Volume
0:16
Speaker 1: one of A Popular History of France from the Earliest
0:18
Speaker 1: Times by Francois Guiseeau, translated by Robert Black, Chapter fifteen,
0:24
Speaker 1: Conquest of England by the Normans, Part one at the
0:28
Speaker 1: beginning of the eleventh century. Robert, called the Magnificent the
0:32
Speaker 1: fifth in secession from the great chieftain Rollo, who had
0:35
Speaker 1: established the Northmen in France, was Duke of Normandy to
0:40
Speaker 1: have the nickname he earned by his nobleness in liberality.
0:43
Speaker 1: Some chronicles have added another and call him Robert the Devil,
0:47
Speaker 1: by reason of his reckless and violent deeds of audacity,
0:50
Speaker 1: whether in private life or in warlike expeditions. Hence a
0:55
Speaker 1: lively controversy amongst the learned upon the question of deciding
0:58
Speaker 1: to which Robert to apply the latter epithet. Some persist
1:02
Speaker 1: in assigning it to the Duke of Normandy. Others seek
1:05
Speaker 1: for some other Robert upon whom to hoist it however
1:09
Speaker 1: that may be. In ten thirty four or ten thirty five,
1:12
Speaker 1: after having led a fair life enough from the political
1:15
Speaker 1: point of view, but one full of turbulence and moral irregularity,
1:19
Speaker 1: Duke Robert resolved to undertake, barefooted and staff in hand,
1:23
Speaker 1: a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to expiate his sins, if God
1:26
Speaker 1: would deign to consent there too. The Norman prelates and barons,
1:31
Speaker 1: having been summoned around him, conjured him to renounce his plan,
1:35
Speaker 1: for to what troubles and perils would not his dominions
1:38
Speaker 1: be exposed without lord or assured successor by my faith?
1:42
Speaker 1: Said Robert, I will not leave ye lordless I have
1:45
Speaker 1: a young bastard who will grow please God, and of
1:48
Speaker 1: whose good qualities I have great hope. Take him. I
1:51
Speaker 1: pray you, for Lord, that he was not born in
1:54
Speaker 1: wedlock matters little to you. He will be none the
1:56
Speaker 1: less able in battle or at court, or in the palace,
1:59
Speaker 1: or to render you justice. I make him my heir,
2:02
Speaker 1: and I hold him seized from this present of the
2:04
Speaker 1: whole Duchy of Normandy. And they who were present assented,
2:08
Speaker 1: but not without objection and disquietude. There was certainly ample
2:13
Speaker 1: reason for objection and disquietude. Not only was it a
2:16
Speaker 1: child of eight years of age to whom Duke Robert,
2:19
Speaker 1: at setting out on his pious pilgrimage, was leaving Normandy,
2:23
Speaker 1: but this child had been pronounced bastard by the Duke
2:25
Speaker 1: his father at the moment of taking him for his heir.
2:28
Speaker 1: Nine or ten years before, at Falaise, his favorite residence,
2:32
Speaker 1: Robert had met, according to some, at a people's dance,
2:35
Speaker 1: according to others, on the banks of a stream where
2:37
Speaker 1: she was washing linen with her companions, a young girl
2:41
Speaker 1: named Harlette or Harleve, daughter of a tanner in the
2:44
Speaker 1: town where they show to this day. It is said
2:47
Speaker 1: the window from which the Duke saw her for the
2:49
Speaker 1: first time, she pleased his fancy, and was not more
2:52
Speaker 1: straight laced than the Duke, was scrupulous and Fulbert the
2:55
Speaker 1: Tanner kept but little watch over his daughter. Robert gave
2:59
Speaker 1: the sun warned to him in ten twenty seven, the
3:01
Speaker 1: name of his glorious ancestor, William Longsword, the son and
3:05
Speaker 1: successor of Raulo. The child was reared, according to some,
3:09
Speaker 1: in his father's palace right honorably as if he had
3:12
Speaker 1: been born in wedlock, But according to others in the
3:14
Speaker 1: house of his grandfather, the Tanner, and one of the
3:17
Speaker 1: neighboring burgesses. As he saw passing one of the principal
3:20
Speaker 1: Norman lords, William de Malmes, surnamed the fierce Talvus, stopped
3:25
Speaker 1: him ironically, saying, come in, my lord, and admire your
3:28
Speaker 1: suzerain's son. The origin of young William was in every
3:32
Speaker 1: mouth and gave occasion for familiar illusions, more often insulting
3:36
Speaker 1: than flattering. The epithet bastard was so to speak, incorporated
3:40
Speaker 1: with his name, and we cannot be astonished that it
3:43
Speaker 1: lived in history, for in the height of his power
3:45
Speaker 1: he sometimes accepted it, proudly, calling himself in several of
3:50
Speaker 1: his charters William the Bastard Gialemus snoddles us. He showed
3:55
Speaker 1: himself to be none the less succeptible on this point,
3:57
Speaker 1: when in ten forty eight, during the siege of ali Usnon,
4:00
Speaker 1: the domain of the Lord de Malmes, the inhabitants hung
4:03
Speaker 1: from their walls hides all raw and covered with dirt,
4:07
Speaker 1: which they shook when they caught sight of William, with
4:09
Speaker 1: cries of plenty of work for the Tanner, by the
4:12
Speaker 1: glory of God. Cried William, they shall pay me dear
4:15
Speaker 1: for this insolent bravery. After an assault, several of the
4:18
Speaker 1: besieged were taken prisoners. He had their eyes pulled out
4:22
Speaker 1: and their feet and hands cut off and shot from
4:24
Speaker 1: his siege machines. These mutilated members over the walls of
4:27
Speaker 1: the city. Notwithstanding his recklessness and his being engrossed in
4:31
Speaker 1: his pilgrimage, Duke Robert had taken some care for the
4:34
Speaker 1: situation in which he was leaving his son, and some
4:37
Speaker 1: measures to lessen its perils. He had appointed Regent of
4:41
Speaker 1: Normandy during William's minority, his cousin Alan, the fifth Duke
4:46
Speaker 1: of Brittany, whose sagacity and friendship he had proved, and
4:49
Speaker 1: he had confided the personal guardianship of the child not
4:53
Speaker 1: to his mother Harlette, who was left very much out
4:55
Speaker 1: in the cold, but to one of his most trusty officers,
4:59
Speaker 1: Julbert cresp Ban, Count of Brion and the strong castle
5:02
Speaker 1: of Rodrieu, the first foundation of which dated back, it
5:06
Speaker 1: was said to Queen Fredigonde, was assigned for the usual
5:09
Speaker 1: residence of the young Duke. Lastly, to confirm with Brilliancy
5:14
Speaker 1: his son's right as his successor to the Duchy of Normandy,
5:17
Speaker 1: and to assure him a powerful ally. Robert took him
5:20
Speaker 1: himself to the court of his suzerain, Henri, the first
5:23
Speaker 1: King of France, who recognized the title of William the
5:26
Speaker 1: Bastard and allowed him to take the oath of allegiance
5:29
Speaker 1: and homage. Having thus prepared as best he could for
5:32
Speaker 1: his son's future, Robert set out on his pilgrimage. He
5:36
Speaker 1: visited Rome and Constantinople, everywhere displaying his magnificence together with
5:41
Speaker 1: his humility. He fell ill from sheer fatigue whilst crossing
5:45
Speaker 1: Asia Minor, and was obliged to be carried in a
5:48
Speaker 1: litter by four negroes. Go and tell them at home,
5:51
Speaker 1: said he to a Norman pilgrim he met, returning from
5:53
Speaker 1: the Holy Land, that you saw me being carried to
5:56
Speaker 1: Paradise by four devils. On arriving at Jerusal, where he
6:00
Speaker 1: was received with great attention by the Mussulman Emir in command.
6:03
Speaker 1: There he discharged himself of his pious vow and took
6:07
Speaker 1: the road back to Europe. But he was poisoned by whom,
6:10
Speaker 1: or for what motive is not clearly known, at Nicea
6:14
Speaker 1: in Bithnia, where He was buried in the Basilica of
6:16
Speaker 1: Saint Mary, an honor, says the Chronicle, which had never
6:19
Speaker 1: been accorded to anybody. From ten twenty five to ten
6:23
Speaker 1: forty two, during William's minority, Normandy was a prey to
6:26
Speaker 1: the robber like ambition, the local quarrels, and the turbulent
6:30
Speaker 1: and brutal passions of a host of petty castle holders,
6:33
Speaker 1: nearly always at war, either amongst themselves or with the
6:37
Speaker 1: young chieftain, whose power they did not fear and whose
6:40
Speaker 1: rights they disputed. In vain did Duke Allain of Brittany,
6:44
Speaker 1: in his capacity as regent, appointed by Duke Robert, attempt
6:47
Speaker 1: to re establish order, and just when he seemed on
6:50
Speaker 1: the road to success, he was poisoned by those who
6:52
Speaker 1: could not succeed in beating him. Henri, the first King
6:56
Speaker 1: of France, being ill disposed at his bottom towards his
6:59
Speaker 1: Norman neighbors and their young Duke, for all that he
7:02
Speaker 1: had acknowledged him, profited by this anarchy to filch from
7:05
Speaker 1: him certain portions of territory. Attacks without warning, fearful murders,
7:10
Speaker 1: implacable vengeance, and sanguinary disturbances in the towns were evils
7:14
Speaker 1: which became common and spread. The clergyes strove with courageous
7:18
Speaker 1: perseverance against the vices and crimes of the period. The
7:22
Speaker 1: bishops convoked councils in their dioceses, the Laic lords, and
7:26
Speaker 1: even the people were summoned to them. The peace of
7:28
Speaker 1: God was proclaimed, and the priests, having in their hands
7:32
Speaker 1: lighted tapers, turned them towards the ground and extinguished them,
7:36
Speaker 1: whilst the populace repeated in chorus, so may God extinguish
7:39
Speaker 1: the joys of those who refuse to observe peace and justice.
7:43
Speaker 1: The majority, however, of the Norman lords, refused to enter
7:46
Speaker 1: into the engagement. In default of peace, it was necessary
7:50
Speaker 1: to be content with the truce of God. It commenced
7:53
Speaker 1: on Wednesday evening at sunset and concluded on Monday at sunrise.
7:57
Speaker 1: During the four days and five nights comprised in this interval,
8:00
Speaker 1: all aggression was forbidden. No slaying, wounding, pillaging or burning
8:04
Speaker 1: could take place. But from sunrise on Monday to sunset
8:08
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, for three days and two nights, any violence
8:11
Speaker 1: became allowable. Any crime might recommence. Meanwhile, William was growing up,
8:17
Speaker 1: and the omens that had been drawn from his early
8:19
Speaker 1: youth raised the popular hopes. It was reported that at
8:22
Speaker 1: his very birth, when the midwife had put him unswaddled
8:25
Speaker 1: in a little heap of straw, he had wriggled about
8:28
Speaker 1: and drawn together the straw with his hands, insomuch that
8:31
Speaker 1: the midwife said, by my faith, this child beginneth full
8:34
Speaker 1: young to take and heap up. I know not what
8:37
Speaker 1: he will do when he has grown. At a little
8:40
Speaker 1: later period, when a burgess of Falaise drew the attention
8:42
Speaker 1: of the Lord William de Bellez to the gay and
8:44
Speaker 1: sturdy lad as he played amongst his mates, the fierce
8:47
Speaker 1: facal muttered between his teeth, A cursed be thou of God,
8:51
Speaker 1: for I be certain that by thee mine honors will
8:54
Speaker 1: be lowered. The child, on becoming man, was handsomer and handsomer,
8:58
Speaker 1: and so lively and spirited that it seemed to all
9:00
Speaker 1: a marble amongst his mates. Command became soon a habit
9:04
Speaker 1: with him. He made them form a line of battle,
9:06
Speaker 1: he gave them the word of command, and he constituted
9:09
Speaker 1: himself their judge in all quarrels. At a still later period,
9:14
Speaker 1: having often heard talk of revolts, subsided against him and
9:17
Speaker 1: of disorders which troubled the country. He was moved in
9:20
Speaker 1: consequence to fits of violent irritation, which, however, he learned
9:24
Speaker 1: instinctively to hide, and in his child's heart, says the Chronicle,
9:28
Speaker 1: he had welling up all the vigor of a man
9:30
Speaker 1: to teach the Normans to forbear from all acts of irregularity.
9:34
Speaker 1: At fifteen years of age in ten forty two, he
9:37
Speaker 1: demanded to be armed knight, and to fulfill all forms
9:40
Speaker 1: necessary for having the right to serve and command in
9:43
Speaker 1: all ranks. These forms were in Normandy by a relic,
9:46
Speaker 1: it is said, of the Danish and Pagan customs, more
9:49
Speaker 1: connected with war and less with religion than elsewhere. The
9:53
Speaker 1: young candidates were not bound to confess, to spend a
9:55
Speaker 1: vigil in the church, and to receive from the priest's
9:58
Speaker 1: hands the sword he had consecrated on the altar. It
10:01
Speaker 1: was even the custom to say that he whose sword
10:03
Speaker 1: had been girded upon him by a long robed cleric
10:06
Speaker 1: was no true knight, but a sit without spirit. The
10:10
Speaker 1: day on which William for the first time donned his
10:13
Speaker 1: armor was for his servants and all the spectators a
10:16
Speaker 1: gala day. He was so tall, so manly in face
10:19
Speaker 1: and so proud of bearing that it was a sight
10:22
Speaker 1: both pleasant and terrible to see him guiding his horse's career,
10:25
Speaker 1: flashing with his sword, gleaming with his shield, and threatening
10:29
Speaker 1: with his casque and javelins. His first active government was
10:33
Speaker 1: a rigorous decree against such as should be guilty of murder,
10:36
Speaker 1: arson and pillage, but he at the same time granted
10:39
Speaker 1: an amnesty for past revolts on condition of fealty and
10:42
Speaker 1: obedience for the future. For the establishment, however, of a
10:46
Speaker 1: young and disputed authority, there is need of something more
10:49
Speaker 1: than brilliant ceremonies and words. Partly miniatory and partly coaxing.
10:54
Speaker 1: William had to show what he was made of. A
10:56
Speaker 1: conspiracy was formed against him in the heart of his
10:58
Speaker 1: feudal court and all most of his family. He had
11:02
Speaker 1: given kindly welcome to his cousin GHI of Burgundy, and
11:05
Speaker 1: had even bestowed on him as a fief the countships
11:07
Speaker 1: of Vernon and Brion. In ten forty four, the young
11:11
Speaker 1: Duke was at Villgne when suddenly, at midnight one of
11:14
Speaker 1: his trusteest servants gollet his fool. Such as the great
11:18
Speaker 1: lords of the time kept knocked at the door of
11:20
Speaker 1: his chamber, crying, open open, my lord, Duke, fly, fly,
11:24
Speaker 1: or you are lost. They are armed, they are getting
11:26
Speaker 1: ready to tarry his death. William did not hesitate. He
11:30
Speaker 1: got up, ran to the stables, saddled his horse with
11:33
Speaker 1: his own hands, started off, followed a road called to
11:36
Speaker 1: this day the Duke's Way, and reached Falaise as a
11:39
Speaker 1: place of safety. There news came to him that the
11:42
Speaker 1: conspiracy was taking the form of insurrection, and that the
11:45
Speaker 1: rebels were seizing his domains. Williams showed no more hesitation
11:49
Speaker 1: at Falaise than at Vallogne. He started off at once
11:52
Speaker 1: repaired to Poisse, where Anri, the first King of France,
11:56
Speaker 1: was then residing, and claimed as vassal the help of
11:58
Speaker 1: his suzerain against traders. Henri, who himself was brave, was
12:03
Speaker 1: touched by this bold confidence and promised his young vassal
12:06
Speaker 1: effectual support. William returned to Normandy, summoned his lieges, and
12:11
Speaker 1: took to the field promptly. King Henri joined him at
12:14
Speaker 1: Argens with a body of three thousand men at arms,
12:17
Speaker 1: and a battle took place on the tenth of August
12:19
Speaker 1: ten forty seven at val des du three leagues from Caines.
12:24
Speaker 1: It was very hotly contested. King Henri, unhorsed by Lance
12:29
Speaker 1: thrust ran a risk of his life, but he remounted
12:31
Speaker 1: and valiantly returned to the Malae. William dashed in whenever
12:35
Speaker 1: the fight was the thickest, showing himself everywhere as able
12:38
Speaker 1: in command, as ready to expose himself. A Norman lord,
12:43
Speaker 1: Raoul de Tessin, held aloof with a troop of one
12:46
Speaker 1: hundred and forty knights. Who is he that bids yonder motionless,
12:50
Speaker 1: asked the French king of the young Duke. It is
12:52
Speaker 1: the benner of Raoul de Tessint, answered William. I WoT
12:55
Speaker 1: not that he hath aught against me. But though he
12:58
Speaker 1: had no personal grievance, Raoul de Tesson had joined the
13:01
Speaker 1: insurgents and sworn that he would be the first to
13:04
Speaker 1: strike the Duke in the conflict. Thinking better of it,
13:07
Speaker 1: and perceiving William from afar, he pricked towards him, and,
13:10
Speaker 1: taking off his gloves, struck him gently on the shoulder, saying,
13:13
Speaker 1: I swore to strike you, and so I am quit.
13:16
Speaker 1: But fear nothing more from me. Thanks Raoul, said William,
13:20
Speaker 1: be well disposed, I pray you. Raoul waited until the
13:23
Speaker 1: two armies were at grips, and when he saw which
13:25
Speaker 1: way victory was inclined, he hastened to contribute there too.
13:29
Speaker 1: It was decisive, and William the Bastard returned to Val
13:32
Speaker 1: de Dieu, really Duke of Normandy. He made vigorous, but
13:37
Speaker 1: not cruel use of his victory. He demolished his enemy's
13:40
Speaker 1: strong castles magazines, as they were for pillage, no less
13:43
Speaker 1: than bulwarks of futal independence. But there is nothing to
13:46
Speaker 1: show that he indulged in violence towards persons. He was
13:50
Speaker 1: even generous to the chief concocter of the plot GHI
13:53
Speaker 1: of Burgundy. He took from him the countships of Vernon
13:56
Speaker 1: and Brion, but permitted him still to live at his court,
13:59
Speaker 1: a place where which the Burgundian found himself too ill
14:02
Speaker 1: ease to remain in, so he returned to Burgundy to
14:05
Speaker 1: conspire against his own eldest brother. William was stern without
14:09
Speaker 1: hatred and merciful without kindliness, only thinking which of the
14:12
Speaker 1: two might promote or retard his success, gentleness or severity.
14:18
Speaker 1: There soon came an opportunity for him to return to
14:21
Speaker 1: the King of France the kindness he had received. Geoffrey Martel,
14:25
Speaker 1: Duke of Anjou, being ambitious and turbulent beyond the measure
14:28
Speaker 1: of his power, got embroiled with the King his suzerain,
14:31
Speaker 1: and war broke out between them. The Duke of Normandy
14:34
Speaker 1: went to the aid of King Henri and made his
14:36
Speaker 1: success certain, which cost the Duke the fierce hostility of
14:40
Speaker 1: the court of Anjou and a four years war with
14:42
Speaker 1: that inconvenient neighbor, a war full of dangerous incidents, wherein
14:46
Speaker 1: William enhanced his character, already great for personal valor, in
14:51
Speaker 1: an ambuscod laid for him by Geoffrey Martel, he lost
14:54
Speaker 1: some of his best knights, whereat he was so wroth,
14:57
Speaker 1: says Chronicle, that he galloped down with such force upon Geoffrey,
15:01
Speaker 1: and struck him in such wise with his sword that
15:03
Speaker 1: he dented his helm, cut through his hood, lopped off
15:06
Speaker 1: his ear, and with the same blow felled him to
15:08
Speaker 1: the earth. But the Count was lifted up and remounted,
15:11
Speaker 1: and so fled away. William made rapid advances both as
15:16
Speaker 1: prince and as man, without being austere in his private life.
15:19
Speaker 1: He was regular in his habits, and patronized order and
15:23
Speaker 1: respectability in his household as well as in his dominions.
15:27
Speaker 1: He resolved to marry to his own honor and to
15:29
Speaker 1: the promotion of his greatness. Baldwin, the debonair Count of Flanders,
15:33
Speaker 1: one of the most powerful lords of the day, had
15:35
Speaker 1: a daughter, Matilda, beautiful, well informed, firm in the faith,
15:40
Speaker 1: a model of virtue and modesty. William asked her hand
15:43
Speaker 1: in marriage. Matilda refused, saying I would rather be availed
15:47
Speaker 1: none than given in marriage to a bastard. Hurt as
15:50
Speaker 1: he was, William did not give up. He was even
15:53
Speaker 1: more persevering than susceptible, but he knew that he must
15:56
Speaker 1: get still greater and make an impression upon a young
15:59
Speaker 1: girl's imagination by the splendor of his fame and power.
16:03
Speaker 1: Some years later, being firmly established in Normandy, dreaded by
16:06
Speaker 1: all his neighbors, and already showing some foreshadowings of his
16:09
Speaker 1: design upon England, he renewed his matrimonial quest in Flanders,
16:14
Speaker 1: but after so strange a fashion that, in spite of
16:16
Speaker 1: contemporary testimony, several of the modern historians in their zeal
16:21
Speaker 1: even at so distant a period for observance of the
16:23
Speaker 1: proprieties reject as fabulous the story which is here related
16:27
Speaker 1: on the authority of the most detailed account amongst all
16:30
Speaker 1: the chronicles which contain it. A little after that, Duke
16:34
Speaker 1: william had heard how the damsel had made answer, he
16:37
Speaker 1: took of his folk and went privately to Lille, where
16:40
Speaker 1: the Duke of Flanders and his wife and his daughter
16:42
Speaker 1: then were. He entered into the hall, and, passing on
16:45
Speaker 1: as if to do some business, went into the Countess's chamber,
16:48
Speaker 1: and there found the damsel, daughter of Count Baldwin. He
16:52
Speaker 1: took her by the tresses, dragged her round the chamber,
16:55
Speaker 1: trampled her under foot, and did beat her soundly. Then
16:58
Speaker 1: he strode forth from the che chamber, leapt upon his horse,
17:02
Speaker 1: which was being held for him before the hall, struck
17:04
Speaker 1: in his spurs, and went his way. At this deed
17:07
Speaker 1: was Count Baldwin much enraged, And when matters had thus
17:10
Speaker 1: remained a while, Duke Williams sent once more to Count
17:13
Speaker 1: Baldwin to parley again of the marriage. The Count sounded
17:16
Speaker 1: his daughter on the subject, and she answered that it
17:19
Speaker 1: pleased her well. So the nuptials took place with very
17:22
Speaker 1: great joy, and after the aforesaid matters. Count Baldwin, laughing withal,
17:27
Speaker 1: asked his daughter wherefore she had so lightly accepted the
17:30
Speaker 1: marriage she had aforetime so cruelly refused, And she answered
17:34
Speaker 1: that she did not then know the Duke so well
17:35
Speaker 1: as she did now, For said she, if he had
17:38
Speaker 1: not great heart and high imprise, he had not been
17:41
Speaker 1: so bold as to dare come and beat me in
17:43
Speaker 1: my father's chamber. Amongst the historians who treat this story
17:47
Speaker 1: as romantic and untruthlike fable, some believed themselves to have discovered,
17:52
Speaker 1: in divers documents of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, circumstances
17:56
Speaker 1: almost equally singular as regards the cause of the obstacles
18:00
Speaker 1: met with at first by Duke William in his pretensions
18:03
Speaker 1: to the hand of Princess Matilda, and as regards the
18:06
Speaker 1: motive for the first refusal on the part of Matilda herself.
18:10
Speaker 1: According to some, the Flemish princess had conceived a strong
18:13
Speaker 1: passion for a noble Saxon Bretick Meeu, who had been
18:17
Speaker 1: sent by King Edward the Confessor to the court of Flanders,
18:20
Speaker 1: and who was remarkable for his beauty. She wished to
18:23
Speaker 1: marry him but the handsome Saxon was not willing, and
18:26
Speaker 1: Matilda at first gave way to violent grief on that account,
18:29
Speaker 1: and afterwards, when she became Queen of England, to vindictive hatred,
18:33
Speaker 1: the weight of which she made him feel severely. Other
18:36
Speaker 1: writers go still farther and say that before being sought
18:40
Speaker 1: in marriage by William, Matilda had not fallen in love
18:43
Speaker 1: with a handsome Saxon, but had actually married a Flemish
18:46
Speaker 1: burgess named Gerbad, patron of the Church of Saint Durton
18:50
Speaker 1: at Saint Omer, and that she had by him two
18:52
Speaker 1: and perhaps three children, traces of whom recur. It is said,
18:56
Speaker 1: under the reign of William, King of England there is
18:59
Speaker 1: no occasion to enter upon the learned controversies of which
19:01
Speaker 1: these different allegations have been the cause. It is sufficient
19:05
Speaker 1: to say that they have led to nothing but obscurity,
19:08
Speaker 1: contradiction and doubt, and that there is more moral verisimilitude
19:12
Speaker 1: in the account just given, especially in Matilda's first prejudice
19:16
Speaker 1: against marriage with a bastard, and in her conversation with
19:19
Speaker 1: her father, Count Baldwin, when she had changed her opinion
19:22
Speaker 1: upon the subject. Independently of the testimony of several chroniclers
19:26
Speaker 1: French and English. This tradition is mentioned with all the
19:30
Speaker 1: simplicity of belief in one of the principal Flemish chronicles.
19:33
Speaker 1: And as to the Ruffian league gallantry employed by William
19:36
Speaker 1: to win his bride, there is nothing in it very
19:39
Speaker 1: singular considering the habits of the time, and we meet
19:42
Speaker 1: with more than one example of adventures, if not exactly similar,
19:45
Speaker 1: at any rate, very analogous, however that may be. This
19:49
Speaker 1: marriage brought William an unexpected opportunity of entering into personal
19:53
Speaker 1: relations with one of the most distinguished men of his age,
19:56
Speaker 1: and a man destined to become one of his own
19:58
Speaker 1: most intimate advisers. In ten nineteen, at the Council of Rime,
20:03
Speaker 1: Pope Leo the Ninth, on political grounds, rather than because
20:06
Speaker 1: of a prohibited decree of relationship, had opposed the marriage
20:10
Speaker 1: of the Duke of Normandy with the daughter of the
20:11
Speaker 1: Duke of Flanders, and had pronounced his veto upon it.
20:15
Speaker 1: William took no heed, and in ten fifty two or
20:18
Speaker 1: ten fifty three his marriage was celebrated at Roon with
20:21
Speaker 1: great pomp. But this ecclesiastical veto weighed upon his mind
20:26
Speaker 1: and he sought some means of getting it taken off.
20:29
Speaker 1: A learned Italian Lanfranc, a juris consul of some fame, already,
20:34
Speaker 1: whilst traveling in France and repairing from Avranches to Uron,
20:37
Speaker 1: was stopped near Brionn by brigands, who, having plundered him,
20:40
Speaker 1: left him with his eyes bandaged in a forest. His
20:44
Speaker 1: cries attracted the attention of passers by, who took him
20:47
Speaker 1: to a neighboring monastery, but lately founded by a pious
20:50
Speaker 1: Norman knight retired from the world. Lanfranc was received in it,
20:55
Speaker 1: became a monk of it, was elected its prior, attracted
20:58
Speaker 1: to it by his learned teat a host of pupils,
21:01
Speaker 1: and one therein his own great renown, whilst laying the
21:04
Speaker 1: foundation for that of the Abbey of b which was
21:07
Speaker 1: destined to be carried still higher by one of his disciples,
21:10
Speaker 1: Saint Anselme. Lnfrank was eloquent, great in dialectics, of a
21:15
Speaker 1: sprightly wit, and lively in repartee. Relying upon the Pope's decision,
21:19
Speaker 1: he spoke ill of William's marriage with Matilda. William was
21:23
Speaker 1: informed of this, and in a fit of despotic Anger
21:26
Speaker 1: ordered Lonfrank to be driven from the monastery and banished
21:29
Speaker 1: from Normandy, and even it is said the dependency, which
21:32
Speaker 1: he inhabited as a prior of the abbey, to be burned.
21:35
Speaker 1: The order was executed, and Lonfranc set out, mounted on
21:39
Speaker 1: a sorry little horse given him no doubt by the abbey.
21:42
Speaker 1: By what chance is not known, but probably on a
21:45
Speaker 1: hunting party his favorite diversion. William, with his retinue, happened
21:49
Speaker 1: to cross the road which Lannefrank was slowly pursuing. My lord,
21:53
Speaker 1: said the monk, addressing him, I am obeying your orders.
21:56
Speaker 1: I am going away, but my horse is a sorry beast.
21:59
Speaker 1: If you will give me a better one, I will
22:00
Speaker 1: go faster. William, halted, entered into conversation with Lonfrank, let
22:06
Speaker 1: him stay, and sent him back with a present to
22:08
Speaker 1: his abbey. A little while afterwards, Ln Frank was at
22:11
Speaker 1: Rome and defended before Pope Victor the second William's marriage
22:15
Speaker 1: with Matilda. He was successful, and the Pope took off
22:18
Speaker 1: the veto on the sole condition that the couple, in
22:21
Speaker 1: sign of penitence, should each found a religious house. Matilda
22:25
Speaker 1: accordingly founded at Caine for women the Abbey of the
22:28
Speaker 1: Holy Trinity, and William for men that of Saint Stephen.
22:32
Speaker 1: Lnfrank was the first abbot of the latter, and when
22:34
Speaker 1: William became King of England, Lonfrank was made Archbishop of
22:38
Speaker 1: Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England, as well
22:41
Speaker 1: as Privy counselor of his king. William excelled in the
22:45
Speaker 1: art so essential to government, of promptly recognizing the worth
22:48
Speaker 1: of men, and of appropriating their influence to himself, whilst
22:52
Speaker 1: exerting his own over them. About the same time, he
22:56
Speaker 1: gave his contemporaries, princes and peoples new proofs of his ability,
22:59
Speaker 1: and Amri, the first King of France, growing more and
23:03
Speaker 1: more disquieted at and jealous of the Duke of Normandy's ascendancy,
23:08
Speaker 1: secretly excited against him opposition and even revolt in his dominions.
23:12
Speaker 1: These dealings led to open war between the suzerain and
23:15
Speaker 1: the vassal, and the war concluded with two battles won
23:18
Speaker 1: by William, one at Mortimer near Neuchatel in Bray, the
23:22
Speaker 1: other at Veraville near Trar, after which, said William himself,
23:27
Speaker 1: King Henri never passed a night tranquility in my ground.
23:31
Speaker 1: In ten fifty nine, peace was concluded between the two princes.
23:34
Speaker 1: Amri the First died almost immediately afterwards, and on the
23:38
Speaker 1: twenty fifth of August ten sixty his son, Philippe the
23:41
Speaker 1: First succeeded him under the regency of Baldwin, Count of Flanders,
23:45
Speaker 1: father of the Duchess Matilda. Duke William was present in
23:49
Speaker 1: state at the coronation of the new King of France,
23:51
Speaker 1: lent him effectual assistance against the revolts which took place
23:54
Speaker 1: in Gascony. Re entered Normandy for the purpose of holding
23:57
Speaker 1: at Caine in ten sixty one the estates of his duchy,
24:01
Speaker 1: and at that time published the famous decree observed long
24:04
Speaker 1: after him under the name of the Law of Curfew,
24:07
Speaker 1: which ordered that every evening the bell should be rung
24:10
Speaker 1: in all parishes to warn every one to prayer and
24:13
Speaker 1: house closing, and no more running about the streets. The
24:17
Speaker 1: passion for orderliness in his dominions did not cool his
24:20
Speaker 1: ardor for conquest. In ten sixty three, after the death
24:23
Speaker 1: of his young neighbor, Herbert, the second Count of Maine,
24:26
Speaker 1: William took possession of his beautiful countship, not without some opposition.
24:30
Speaker 1: On the part of the inhabitants, nor without suspicion of
24:33
Speaker 1: having poisoned his rival, Walter, Count of Vexine. It is
24:37
Speaker 1: said that after this conquest William meditated that of Brittany,
24:41
Speaker 1: But there is every indication that he had formed a
24:43
Speaker 1: far vaster design, and that the day of its execution
24:46
Speaker 1: was approaching. End of Chapter fifteen, Part one,