tihvRINTER, BF ^> ^l-- THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. VOL. IV.— PART II. CONTAINING THE HISTOUY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, WITH PREFACES AND NOTES, BY THE REV. JOSEPH STEVENSON, M.A. OF USIVERSITY COLLEGE, DURHAM : VICAR OF LEIGHTON BUZZARD. FLEET STREET and HANOVER STREET: MDCCCLVL CONTENTS. The History of William of Newburgh 395 The Chronicles of Robert de Monte 673 PREFACE TO WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. § 1. Nearly all the scanty information which we possess re- specting the biography of William of Newborough, — the author of the histoiy which occupies the larger portion of the present volume, — is derived from his own writings. The earlier bibliographers, in- deed, add a few details, which, although unsupported by collateral authority, are here incorporated with the more trustworthy notices gleaned from the author's own statements. § 2. Leland, followed by Bale and others, tell us that his family name was Pettit, or Parvus, and that he was born at Bridlington, in Yorkshire. He himself records the date of his birth, — an event which took place in the first year of the reign of king Stephen ; consequently, in the few last days of December, 1135, or in 1 136. In his Prefatory Epistle, he describes himself as "William, a canon of Newborough," — a priory of Black or Augustine monks, — which he appears ' to have entered shortly after it was founded by Roger de Moubray, in 1145.^ Here he probably spent the whole of his life. He is said* to have died in the year 1208, aged seventy-two. For this date no satisfactory authority is vouched ; and, until such is produced, its accuracy may be considered questionable, — if we con- sider how improbable it is that the author, who had chronicled with such minuteness of detail the earlier exploits of king Richard, should have neglected to record the death of his sovereign, had he himself been alive at the period of its occurrence. § 3. This history, which commences with the Norman conquest, in 1066, and ends in 1197, was undertaken at the request of Ernald,* abbot of the neighbouring monastery of Rievaux, to whom, on its completion, it was dedicated by the author. Both in design and execution, it is worthy of the approbation which has generally been awarded to it. Far from being a barren chronicle of events, collected without discretion, and recorded without taste, it aims at narrating, with some historical precision, the leading incidents of our national history — pointing as well to the causes in which these events originated as the results of which they were productive. In criticism, William of Newborough is in advance of his age ; and he ' See Book I. chap. xv. p. 419. 2 See Tanner, Notit. Monast., p. 658; Dugd. Monast. vi. 317. * Cave, ii. 253 ; Tanner, p. 695. In his first edition of the Scriptores Bri- tannia (4 Gippesv. 1548), fol. 100 b, Bale says that he flourished about a.d. 1216; but in the second edition (fol. Basil, 1557), he alters the date to a.d. 1200. (Cent, iii. § liii.) * This Ernald resigned his dignity of abbot in 1199; see Chron. Melr. ad an. (Ch. Hist. iv. 147.) Picard (see p. 397^ surmised that the abbot to whom it was dedicated was the more celebratt'd Ealred, or Ailred, forgetting that he died ii> 1166; see Acta Sanct. Januar. i. 751. Viii PREFACE TO WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. is freer from prejudices than might reasonably have been expected; while his honesty of heart and singleness of purpose, which scruple not to express an independent opinion, as well on individuals as measures, give weight to his conclusions. The work contains internal evidence of having been written whilst the occurrences which are therein recorded were in actual progress. Although no less than twelve new chapters were added by the author at a later period of his life, he does not appear to have thought fit at the same time to revise the whole, and to produce a consistent and uniform narrative ; but this consideration is more than counter- balanced by the recollection that we have here the impression of the moment, uninfluenced by subsequent considerations.^ § 4. As might have been anticipated from what has been already stated, the manuscripts present no variations of recensions,^ nor are the various readings either numerous or important. The copies most worthy of notice are the- following : — MS. Bodl. Digby, 101, written upon vellum, in quarto, in the fourteenth century, with the following title : " Historia de Gestis Anglorum, tempore Stephani, Henrici, et Ricardi, Regum ; edita a Willelmo, canonico de Novo Burgo." MS. Bodl. 712 (formerly 2619, and also bearing the press-mark. Sup. D. art. 20.'), written upon vellum, in folio, formerly belonging to Roger S[aville]. It commences at folio 259, with the following title : " Incipit Cronica de adventu Normannorum in Angliam et de ultimo conquestu Et primo videndum est et dicendum qua de causa W., dux Normannicee, dictus Nothus, primo Angliam appetiit." MS. Cott. Vesp. B vi., on vellum, in quarto, written in the four- teenth century; a good and accurate copy. The Royal MS. in the British Museum, 13 B ix., written on vellum in the fifteenth century. 1 Hearne prints some memoranda by Archbishop Ussher, in which mention ia made of a treatise by William of Newborongh, "De Rebus Terra} Sanctae," of which a copy was extant in the manuscript belonging to Josseline. The chapter which Heame has printed (p. 807) from Ussher's notes, and which professes to belong to our present history, appears to me to have no such claim to be so considered. - Unless, pei'haps, we may be inclined to believe that the variations (already mentioned) which exist between the MS. used by Silvius (and which is repre- sented by the Antwerp edition and the Heidelberg reprint), and those adopted by Picard and Hearne, are sufficiently marked to indicate two independent and dis- tinct recensions. The more important additions made to the Antwerp edition are the following : — Book iii. ch. xii. Book v. ch. xxii. Book v. ch. xxvi. Book iv. ch. xxxvi. „ ch. sxiii. „ ch. xxix. Book V. ch. vi. „ ch. xxiv. „ ch. sxx. „ ch. vii. „ eh. xxv. „ ch. xxxiii. These chapters were also wanting in a copy which had belonged to John .Josseline, and which was collated by Ussher; see Hearne's edition, pp. 804 sqq., andJoaunia Joscelini, Catalogus Historicorum, printed by Hearne, p. 281, at the end of his edition of Avesbury. If this view be adopted, the manuscripts may be classified as follows : — A. The copy used by Silvius ; That which formerly belonged to Josseline. B. The copies used by Picard and Hearne — those above specified ; and two in the jjossession of Henry Saville and — • Bromley, collated by Ussher. ' Cited also by Dugdale, Baron, i. 375, 463, as Med. 20, but without stating that its author is William of Nowborough. PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. IX The Lambeth MS. lxxiii., written upon vellum, in folio, in the fourteenth century. These manuscripts have been examined, and, where necessary, collated for the present edition. The printed copies of the text are the following : — " Gulielmi Neubrigensis Historia Anglica," 12". Antv. 1567 ; an imperfect and faulty edition, several ^ chapters being omitted. It was reprinted in the collection of English Historians, edited by Corameline, under the title, " Rerum Britannicarum Scriptores vetustiores ac preecipui," fol., Heidelb. 1587. A more accurate edition was published in octavo, at Paris, in 1610, by Picard, who supplied the chapters in which the previous edition was defective. The manuscript which he used was written in what Picard styles Anglo-Saxon letters, and belonged to one Rumet, an advocate in the senate at Paris. The notes are valuable; they were reprinted by Hearne. Some copies bear the date of 1632, but the body of the work is the same. In 1719 Hearne issued an edition, in which he corrected Picard's text by the use of a manuscript, the loan of which he had obtained from Sir Thomas Sebright,^ and which at an earlier period having belonged to the monastery of Newborough, is therefore worthy of the highest regard ; yet it is scarcely entitled to the enthusiastic commendations lavished upon it by Hearne, who has preserved, with laborious trifling, the minutest particulars in which it differs from Picard's text; and these vafiations, even when they do not affect the sense, he is pleased to call corrections. The text, which was defective in two places, some leaves having been lost, was supplied by the Lambeth copy. The English Historical Society has issued an edition in the course of the present year (1856). It gives Hearne's text, collated with the Lambeth manuscript, and a copy in the library of Corpus Christi College, at Cambridge. The present translation has been made from Hearne's text, and that published by the English Historical Society ; for the loan of the sheets of which, before they were issued to the public, the translator begs to express his thanks. PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. § 1. As it is impossible to understand the affairs of England without reference to those of Normandy, with which they stand in the most intimate relation, so it is impossible to understand the affairs of Normandy without reference to the Chronicle of Robert de Monte — the most important authority which we possess for the history of the continental actions of the later Norman kings, and the earlier monarchs of the house of Plantagenet. § 2. The author of this Chronicle, named Robert, was born at ' See note - on previons page. - It had previously belonged to Sir Roger Twysden, who had procured it from Sir Henry Spelman ; see Hearne's Preface, p. Ixiv. X PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. Thorigny, a small town in Normandy. His family name, whatever it may have been, was abandoned by him (as was usual) when, in A.D. 1128, he entered the great Benedictine monastery of Bee; and henceforth he was known only as Robert de Thorigny. Here he continued as a simple monk until 1149, when he was advanced to the dignity of prior. On the sixth of the kalends of June [27th May], 1154, (p. 376,) he became prior of Mont St. Michel, where he died on the eighth of the kalends of July [24th June], 1186. § 3. The circumstances of his life are such as to give proof of the estimation in which he was held, and to afford a warrant for the general accuracy^ of his statements. In 1156 he received a visit from the archbishop of Rouen and the bishop of Avranches (pp. 740, 741). Two years afterwards, the kings of England and France came to Mont St. Michel, and were entertained by him (p. 747). In 1161 he had the honour of stand- ing as sponsor for one of the children of king Henry the Second, who was born at Domfront (p. 756) ; and in the following year that sovereign entrusted him with the temporary charge of the neigh- bouring castle of Pontorson (ibid.^). He was summoned to attend the council of Tours,^ in 1163; whence he proceeded to Rome, for the purpose of obtaining bulls confirmatory of the privileges of his monastery.* In 1169 he was present at Rennes, on the entry into that city of Geoffrey, the son of our Henry the Second (p. 772). He was engaged, in 1 177, in forwarding the election of Roland, dean of Avranches, to the vacant see of Dol, in Brittany.^ Shortly after- wards he visited England, on the affairs of Mont St. Michel. These occupations, however, did not prevent him from devoting a con- siderable portion of his time to literature, and he became the author of several treatises," of which the most important is the Chronicle which is here translated. * Yet, despite the advantages which he thus enjoyed, he is not always correct in his chronology, nor in the employment of his authorities, even in matters of which he himself was personally concerned, or which occun-ed in his own immediate neighbourhood. (See a.d. 1114, 1117, 1123, 1126, 1140, 1143, 1146 sqq. ; 1180, 1181, 1182.) Yet he is always truthful and honest; and his errors ai-e of such a natm'e as not to detract materially from the general value of his narrative. 2 See also Gall. Christ, xi. App. p. 114. ^ See his account of Pope Alexander III., A.D. 1182, p. 804. * Gall. Christ, xi. p. 520. » j^. xi. 506. * These are — (1) The History of Henry the First, referred to by him (p. 676), and hitherto considered as the eighth book of the History of WUliam of Jumiege. A translation of it will be given hereafter ia the present Series of Church Historians. (2) A letter to Gervase ; printed by D'Achery, in Guiberti Opera, p. 715, (a. d. 1150—1254.) (3) "De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum in Normannia," a.d. 1154; printed also by D'Achery, p. 811. Copies are frequent in the MSS. of the Chronicles. (4) "Annales Montis Sancti Michaelis," (a.d. 1154 — 1159,) inserted in Eo- bert's autograph in the Chartulary of that monastery ; now in the Public Library at Avranches, No. 80. (5) " Prologus in Flores S. Augustini," printed by D'Achery, p. 716. (6) " Prologus in Plinium ab ipso correctum." This was sent, about two hundred years ago, from Mont St. Michel to the Benedictine monks at Paris, and was not returned. It is probably in the Royal Library at Paris. ^7) The Epistle, a translation of which is printed, p. 673. PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. xL § 4. The process of the formation of this historical work was as follows : — Having borrowed from the bishop of Beauvais a manuscript (possibly that of Notre Dame, at Paris, No, 94), which contained Eusebius, Jerome, and Prosper, he transcribed these writers, with- out alteration ; partly because he had few additions to make to the period of history which they embraced, and partly because he did not venture to meddle with authorities held in such high and general estimation. Sigebert of Gemblours, also, he copied, omit- ting nothing and changing nothing, but interpolating the history of the archbishops of Rouen and the kings of England. In 1150 he commenced' his own Chronicles, which form a con- tinuation of Sigebert from the year 1100, but augmented by the introduction of numerous passages from Henry of Huntingdon.^ His original intention was to continue them no further than the year 1150;^ but he did not long adhere to this resolution, for, while at Bes, he continued his work till 1154; and after his re- moval to Mont St. Michel, he made additions to it as long as he lived. § 5. Transcripts from Robert de Monte's original copy having been obtained from time to time, we are in possession of various classes or recensions of manuscripts. An examination of these, checked with the variations of handwriting perceptible in the original copy, which is yet extant, enables us to ascertain the periods at which these several editions of the work — if that term may be used — were issued. These occurred in the following years : — A.D. 1156. Here end C, and the original hand in A and O. A.D. 1157, towards the end of the year. Here end Z) and E; and here Matthew Paris (p. 96) says the Chronicles of Robert, abbot of Mont St. Michel, end. A.D. 1169. Here end M, and the second hand in 0; also the contracted texts in B; and so probably N and 0. A.D. 1181. Here ends MS. 7, or P, for the two are identical. A.D. 1182. At this period the author resolved, for the second time, to close his labours, as is evinced by his Epistle to the abbot of Bee (p. 763), and by his statement in the body of his Prologue (p. 674). Here there is a change in the handwriting in A, and here ends K. However, he once more changed his mind, and proceeded onwards with his labour of love. > See p. 690, note ^ - His authorities are briefly tlie following : — Henry of Huntingdon furnishes him with all his English history. For the afiairs of Normandy he employs his own History of Henry the First, Ordericus Vitalis, Fulcherius Carnotensis (chiefly for the account of the Crusades) ; Milo Crispin's Life of Lanfranc (Acta SS. BoUand., Mail, tom. vi. p. 833 ; Mabill., Acta SS. VI. ii. 632) ; the Life of William, by the same author (0pp. Lanfranc, IL 313, ed. Giles) ; Eadmer's Life of Anselm (0pp. S. Anselmi, fol. Paris, 1721 ; Acta S. BoUand., April, tom. IL p. 865) ; ihe Miracles of S.Wolfran (D'Acheiy, Spiceleg. II. 826) ; and the Origines Cistertienses. ' This was the date as it originally stood in A (see p. 676, note 7), and as it stands in the manuscripts D, K, and 0. Ralph de Diceto (ap. Dec. Scriptores, p. 432) says that Robert's Chronicles end A.D. 1147 ; but no such copy of the test is known: probably the statement is an error. However, under a. D. 1148, the " Annales Abbatiaj S. Edmundij" (MS. Harl. 447 of the thirteenth century) have this entry — " Robertus abbas scripsit hue usque." XU PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. In 1183 he made an addition to the end of the year, and revised the whole work, correcting it throughout. In 1184 he presented the Chronicle thus improved to king Henry the Second, as he himself states.* Here end N and Q; and here, doubtless, ended O and R. In 1185 he was again so employed ; and death found him thus engaged in 1186. § 6. It now becomes necessary to enumerate the manuscripts which have been employed in the formation of the text from which the present translation is derived : — A [E). The MS. of Mont St. Michel (St. Michael "de Periculo Maris "), now No. 86 in the Public Library of Avranches, in Nor- mandy ; it is in small folio, and written upon vellum. As far as A.D. 1 156. it is a transcript from Robert's original MS. at Bee (now lost), which is mentioned in the catalogue of the library of that monastery, and alluded to in the letter addressed to tlie abbot Roger (which may be seen at p. 763 of this volume), and which contained Eusebius, Jerome, Prosper, and Sigebert, interpolated by Robert, the present Annals from 1100 to 1153, and the treatise " De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum." The contents of MS. A are as follows : — On folios 1 and 2, which were prefixed to the volume after a. d. 1184, a hand of the twelfth century has written the " Tituli libro- rum quos dedit Philippus,^ episcopus Baiocensis ecclesiee Becci," and the " Tituli librorum Beccensis armarii." On the reverse of folio 3, which Robert de Monte inserted a. d. 1184, he has inscribed the following general title to his work: — " In hoc volumine ista continentur Cronica Eusebii Ceesariensis episcopi .... Exinde idem leronimus perduxit . . . Secuntur Cronica Prosperi in ordine historise, quae con- tinent annos 77. Sequitur exinde Cronographia Sigeberti, Gemblacensis monachi, quam incepit anno 381 Dominicae Incarnationis, et perduxit usque 1100 annum ejusdem Incarnationis Dominicae, quo anno primus Henricus rex Anglorum cepit regnare. Ab eodem anno Robertus, abbas S. Michaelis de Periculo Maris fecit historiam, continentem res gestas Romanorum, Francorum, Anglorum, usque ad prsesens tempus ; continen- tem, scihcet, annos usque ad annum Dominicae Incarnationis 1184; quern librum praesentavit carissimo domino suo H. regi Anglorum, continentem istam historiam et reliquas in hac pagina notatas ; scilicet, Eusebii, leronimi, Prosperi, Sigiberti, et propriam quae in fine ponitur. De historia Orosii quam fecit de Ormesta mundi. ' Sunt ab Adam primo homine et praedicatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi anni 351.' " ' The years 1182 and 1183 are in the same hand; and at the same time was made the alteration in the Prologue (p. 674), to the efifect that the work extends to A.D. 1184. 2 Philip de Harcourt, from A.D. 1142 to 1164: see Robert de Monte, a.d. 1163, p. 759, note K PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. xiu This volume, which consists of twenty-nine gatherings of vellum (corresponding to the stitched sheets of paper in a printed book), is written at various times, and presents several fluctuations in the style of handwriting. It will be necessary to specify these with some minuteness. The transcript has at first been carried on, without break or interruption, from the beginning of the volume as far as 1 1 56, early in which year it was written. It is executed with considerable neatness and care, although it exhibits a few corrections made during the process of transcription, and at difierent times after- v.'ards. So far, the names of the kings of England and the arch- bishops of Rouen have been added, sometimes in the text, some- times in the margin, and sometimes between the lines. A change then takes place, yet the same ink is used ; and the narrative is continued upon the same line. Minute but frequent changes in the ink and style of the writing are visible. In 1 157, a third variation commences with the word " Agarenes." The ruling of the lines is no longer carried beyond the text into the margin, as hitherto. Near the beginning of the year 1161, another change may be noticed. In 1167, near the beginning of the year, a fifth change occurs. Instead of capital letters at the commencement of a sentence, the sign § is employed. In 1168, the first hand resumes the pen with the words, "In the month of February," near the beginning of the year. The whole gathering has been copied out at one and the same time, and, consequently, presents no fluctuations. In 1177, with the new gathering there is a change in the style of the writing, although very unimportant. In 1181, at the notice of the death of pope Alexander, another variation occurs. In 1182, at the word " Andronicus," an eighth change may be detected, and the sign § is again employed. The ninth and last closely resembles the writing which occurs on the third folio of the MS., and which has been already described. It commences, on a new gathering, with the words, " Our dearest lord," and continues unchanged as far as 1183; at the end of which year there commences a gradual enlargement of the writing, until it concludes at the bottom of the last leaf of the gathering, a •few lines from the end of the work. Although so frequent, these changes by no means imply that a new scribe was employed upon each several occasion. They are neither more numerous nor more marked than might naturally be expected to occur, when we bear in mind that the transcript in which they are found covers a period of twenty years. After care- fully examining the original manuscript, and comparing it with others, formerly belonging to Mont St. Michel, in which the writing of Robert de Monte occurs. Dr. Bethmann has come to the con- clusion that the present work, from the year 1156 to the end, is the author's autograph copy. XIV PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. B (E 1), Arundel MS. 18, in the British Museum, upon vellum, in folio, of the fourteenth century. It contains Eusebius, Jerome, Prosper, and Sigebert; but proceeds no further than the year 1100. C (E 2) ; originally belonging to the monastery of the Holy Trinity, at Savigny, situated between Domfront and Mont St. Mi- chel ;' afterwards in Colbert's collection, and now in the Royal Library at Paris, No. 4862. It is written upon vellum, in an elegant hand of the thirteenth century; and contains Eusebius, Jerome, Prosper, and Sigebert ; followed by the Annals of Robert de Monte, as far as a.d. 1156, near the commencement of which it ends. Although its text is exceedingly curtailed, yet in some places — for instance, under the years 1112, 1120, 1124, 1138, 1146, 1149, 1151, and 1152 — occur additions which are peculiar to this copy. Z) (E 3 a), a manuscript of the thirteenth century, belonging to the church of Baieux, transcribed by three different hands from A. It ends with the conclusion of the year 1157; after which follows the treatise, " De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum," and the " Epistola Hugonis Rothomagensis." It is free from interpo- lations. J5; (E 3 Z»). The Harleian MS., 651 in the British Museum, in folio, written upon vellum, in double columns, in the twelfth cen- tury. A hand of the fifteenth century states that it then was " De monasterio S. Mariae Radyngiae ;" but from a marginal note, which occurs at fol. 153, it would appear to have been the property of that monastery at least two centuries earlier. It closely follows the Royal MS. L. The dates are frequently incorrect and doubtful, having been tampered with by erasures and alterations. It ends with the words, " unam domum militibus Temph," a. d. 1 157, leav- ing the second column of the concluding page blank ; after which follows a transcript, made by D'Ewes, of the continuation as far as 1 1 68, taken from L. It is more fully noticed in Pertz's Archiv. vii. 79. i^ (E 4), a manuscript^ in quarto, upon vellum, of the thirteenth century, formerly belonging to St. Peter of Jumiege, but now in the Pubhc Library at Rouen (F87. 60). It contains a copy of Robert's Annals, according to the first recension; and ends, on the top of a page, with the account of the death of Robert, bishop of Exeter, a.d. 1159. G (E 5), a manuscript in folio, upon vellum, of the fourteenth century, in the Public Library at Rouen (?711. 7). It contains Eusebius, Jerome, Prosper, and then a few arbitrary extracts, pro- fessedly from the Chronicle of Sigebert, as far as a.d. 1164. ^ (E 6), a manuscript on vellum, in quarto, written in the thir- teenth century, formerly belonging to Robert's monastery of St. Michel " de Periculo Maris," but now in the British Museum. (Domit. VIII.) It contains the portion from 1153 to 1179; pre- fixed to which is the disputed Epistle, printed at p. 673. The leaves are frequently transposed. It agrees with A in restoring the 1 See Gall. Christ, xi. 540. 2 Mentioned by Montfaucon, in his Bibliotheca, p. 1214. PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. XV true chronology at a.d. 1154 (p. 736, note '). It ends p. 528, line 12, of Bethmann's edition. For a fuller notice of this very im- portant copy, see Pertz's Archiv. vii. 75. / (E 7 a), a manuscript in folio, of the fifteenth century (written apparently in a French hand, in double columns, upon vellum. No. 212 among the Bodleian MSS. at Oxford. It has formerly been designated by the references NE. B, 6. 9 — the E 2. 11, and 2041; and was presented to Bodley by " Gul. Camden, Claren- cieux." The history extends as far as 1181, ending with the words " interfuit et a lati — ;" after which another and a later hand has added a few words, as far as " episcopus Pictaviensis " (ed. Pertz, p. 532, line 29). The MS. is unfinished, ending near the bottom of the first column of the last page, and leaving five ruled columns unoccupied. The copyist has omitted the whole of a.d. 1177, and has exhibited other tokens of carelessness. Bethmann used the modern transcript of this MS. at Hanover, which he considered the representative of an independent text (see P), and was not aware that his E 8 e and E 7 « must be dealt with as one and the same volume. K (E 7 b), a manuscript in folio, upon vellum, written in the thirteenth century, now the Royal MS. at Paris, 4861. It had originally belonged to the monastery of St. Taurin ' of Evreux, and had afterwards passed into the collection of the celebrated Bigot. It ends with the words "monachus Becci," a.d. 1182; after which follows some miscellaneous matter, amongst which occur the Annals of Evreux, as far as a.d. 1313, which have been printed by Brial (Bouquet, xviii. 353). It contains some additions under the years 1114, 1118. 1119, and 1181; and a few others, a.d. 1146, 1147, 1152, 1161, would lead to the inference that it had derived information from the monastery of Lire.^ L (E S a), a manuscript in the Royal Library in the British Museum, 13 C xi., fol. 190, written on vellum, in folio, in a hand of the twelfth century. An inscription written in the sixteenth century states that it is the " Liber domus S. Thomse de Accon', London', ex dono domini Jacobi comitis Ormundiee." It ends, a. d. 1 1 68, with the account of the earthquake at Catania ; after which follows the treatise, " De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum." 3f (E 8 b), & manuscript in quarto, written upon paper in the fifteenth century ; formerly MS. 419, but now 287, in the Library of St. Victor, at Paris, It contains the history by Robert de Monte, from A.D. 1138 to the words " in ea perierunt," a.d. 1169. iV (E 8 c), a manuscript, numbered 1153, in the Public Library at Cambridge, written upon vellum in the thirteenth century. It ends with the words " pacis persecutor," in a.d. 1183; after which follows the treatise " De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum." 0 (E 8 (?), a manuscript, numbered 4992, in the Royal Library at Paris, formerly the property of Bigot, and originally belonging to the church of Rouen. It is imperfect at the end, but apparently corresponded with iV. It ended originally in a.d. 1156, and the second hand ends in 1169. ' See Gall. Christ, si. 626. = Id. p. 644. XVI PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. P (E 8 e), an incomplete transcript from MS. Bodley, 212 ; see P. Q (E 8/), a manuscript in folio, upon paper, written in the fifteenth century, and now in the RoyaJ Library at Madrid. It is scarce worthy of being considered an independent text — it is so abridged, and may rather be regarded as a series of extracts. It ends in a.d. 1183. R (E 8 g), a manuscript in the Vatican Library, No. 152, or 322 in the collection of the queen of Sweden. It approaches very nearly to the text of S, but has some additions in the years 1158, 1159, 1160. A transcript is amongst Durand's MSS. ; see Bou- quet, xiii. 300 ; xviii. 336. A few passages in which Bouquet's text differs materially from that of Bethmann have been collated with a MS. in the Public Library at Rouen, and the results have been recorded in this edition. /S [E 8 /i], the manuscript whence was derived the edition of 1513 ; it is now lost. If we reduce these copies into two recensions, corresponding with the first and second editions issued by Robert de Monte, they will stand thus — First edition . . . . B, C, D, E, F. G, H. Second edition . . M, iV(?), 0, P, Q, R (?), S. The autograph A represents both recensions ; the former by its deletions, the latter by interlineations and superscriptions. Several editions of the text have appeared ; they are, for the most part, appended to the Chronicle of Sigebertus Gemblacensis. The first was issued in 1513, from a manuscript now lost; it was reprinted by Simon Schardius, in 1556. In 1575, and again in 1589, this Chronicle was incorporated in the Bibliotheca Patrum of De la Bigne, but without the continuation. Other editions followed in 1583, 1608, 1613, and 1726 — all valueless for critical purposes ; but in 1651, D'Achery' pubHshed an edition, which is worthy of his reputation. In the Collection of the French Historians, by Dom Bouquet and his continuators, are several extracts, consisting of D'Achery's text, collated with our copies marked C, K, M, and 0. All these editions are now entirely superseded by the admirable one incorporated in the Collection of German Historians, edited by Dr. Pertz,^ for which our best thanks are due to its editor. Dr. Beth- mann. It faithfully represents the autograph A, with collations of the other manuscripts. It is from this text that our present trans- lation has been made ; which, although executed with no incon- siderable pains, may perhaps require an apology in the rendering which it attempts to give of the Latin names of places in Normandy. The editor cannot conclude these remarks without expressing his regret that no edition of the Latin text of this valuable Chronicle has as yet been published in England. J. S. Lbiqhton Buzzard, Sept. 30, 1856. ' It ii appended to his edition of the Works of Giiibertus, Abbas de Novigento. In the preparation of his text, D'Achery iised the autograph of Avranches, and the manuscript marked F in the present edition. ^ Monumenta Germania; Historica, Scriptores, torn. vi. fol. Hauov. 1844. THE HISTOEY OF WILLIAM 0¥ NEWEUEGH. DD THE HISTOEY OE WILLIAM OF NEWBUEGH. THE PREFATORY EPISTLE. A prefatory and apologetic Epistle to the ensuing Work, addressed to the abbot of Rievaicx, by William, canon of Newborough. To his reverend father and lord, Ernald,' abbot of Rievaux, WiUiam, the least of the servants of Christ, prayeth, that when the Prince of Shepherds shall appear, there may be given to him an unfading crown of glory. I HAVE received the letters of your 'holiness, wherein you deign to assign to me the care and labour of writing (for the knowledge and instruction of posterity) a history of the memorable events which have so abundantly occurred in our own times ; although there be so many of your own venerable fraternity better qualified to accomplish such a work, and that more elegantly ; but this, I perceive, arises from your kind desire to spare, in this respect, the members of your own society, who are so fully occupied in the duties of monastic service, as well as to prevent the leisure hours kindly granted to my infirmity from being unemployed. Indeed, I am so devotedly bound by your kind regard to me, that, even were your commands more difficult, I should not venture to gain- say them ; but since your cautious discrimination does not impose upon me any research into profound matters or mystical exposition, but merely to expatiate, for a time, on historic narrative, as it were for mental recreation only (so easy is the work), I have, conse- quently, no sufficient ground of refusal remaining. Wherefore, by the assistance of God and our Lord, in whose hands both of us and our words are, and relying on the prayers of yourself and your holy brotherhood, who have condescended to unite their repeated entreaties to the command of your holiness, I will attempt the labour you recommend ; premising, however, some few necessary matters before I commence my history. Here ends the Epistle. ^ The editor of the Paris edition, Picard, imagined that this work was dedicated to Ealred, abbot of Rievaux ; the MS. used by him giving only the initial letter E. Hearne's copy, however, establishes the fact of this epistle having been addressed to Ernald, See the preface to this edition, § 3. D D 2 398 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. THE PREFACE TO THE ENSUING HISTORY. The history of our English nation has been written by the venerable Beda, a priest and monk, who, the more readily to gain the object he had in view, commenced his narrative at a very remote period, though he only glanced, with cautious brevity, at the more prominent actions of the Britons, who are known to have been the aborigines of our island. The Britons, however, had before him a historian ^ of their own, from whose work Beda has inserted an extract ; this fact I observed some years since, when I accidentally discovered a copy of the work of Gildas. His history, however, is rarely to be found, for few persons care either to transcribe or possess it — his style being so coarse and un- polished : his impartiality, however, is strong in developing truth, for he never spares even his own countrymen ; he touches lightly upon their good qualities, and laments their numerous bad ones : there can be no suspicion that the truth is disguised, when a Briton, speaking of Britons, declares, that they were neither cou- rageous in war, nor faithful in peace. For the purpose of washing out those stains from the character of the Britons, a writer in our times has started up and invented the most ridiculous fictions concerning them, and with unblushing effronter)^ extols them far above the Macedonians and Romans. He is called Geofirey,^ surnamed Arthur, from having given, in a Latin version, the fabulous exploits of Arthur (drawn from the traditional fictions of the Britons, with additions of his own), and endeavoured to dignify them with the name of authentic history ; moreover, he has unscrupulously promulgated the mendacious predictions of one Merlin, as if they were genuine prophecies, corroborated by indubitable truth, to which also he has himself considerably added during the process of translating them into Latin. He further declares, that this Merlin was the issue of a demon and woman, and, as participating in his father's nature, attributes to him the most exact and extensive knowledge of futu- rity ; whereas, we are rightly taught, by reason and the holy scriptures, that devils, being excluded from the light of God, can never by meditation arrive at the cognizance of future events ; though by the means of some types, more evident to them than to us, they may predict events to come rather by conjecture than by certain knowledge. Moreover, even in their conjectures, subtle though they be, they often deceive themselves as well as others : nevertheless, they impose on the ignorant by their feigned divi- nations, and arrogate to themselves a prescience which, in truth, they do not possess. The fallacies of Merlin's prophecies are, indeed, evident in circumstances which are known to have tran- ' Reference is here made to Gildas, an extract from whose History occurs in the EcclesiaBtical History of Beda, I. xxii. § 50. ^ The celebrated Geoffrey of Monmouth THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 399 spired in the kingdom of England after the death of GeofFrey himself, who translated these follies from the British language ; to which, as is truly believed, he added much from his own invention. Besides, he so accommodated his prophetic fancies (as he easily might do) to circumstances occurring previous to, or during, his own times, that they might obtain a suitable interpretation. More- over, no one but a person ignorant of ancient history, when he meets with that book which he calls the History of the Britons, can for a moment doubt how impertinently and impudently he falsifies in every respect. For he only who has not learnt the truth of history indiscreetly beHeves the absurdity of fable. I omit this man's inventions concerning the exploits of the Britons previous to the government of Julius Caesar, as well as the fictions of others which he has recorded, as if they were authentic. I make no mention of his fulsome praise of the Britons, in defiance of the truth of history, from the time of Julius Caesar, when they came under the dominion of the Romans, to that of Honorius, when the Romans voluntarily retired from Britain, on account of the more urgent necessities of their own state. Indeed, the Britons, by the retreat of the Romans, becoming once more at their own disposal — nay, left to themselves for their own destruction, and exposed to the depredation of the Picts and Scots — are said to have had Vortigern for king, by whom the Saxons, or Angles, were invited over for the defence of the kingdom : they arrived in Britain under the conduct of Hengist, and repelled the irruptions of the barbarians for a time ; but after- ward, having discovered the fertility of the island, and the supine- ness of its inhabitants, they broke their treaty, and turned their arms against those by whom they had been invited over, and con- fined the miserable remains of the people, now called the Welsh — who had not been dispersed — within inaccessible woods and mountains. The Saxons, moreover, had, in the course of succession, most valiant and powerful kings ; among whom was Ethelberht, great grandson of Hengist, who, having extended his empire from the Gallic ocean to the Humber, embraced the easy yoke of Christ at the preaching of Augustine, Ailfred, too, king of North- umberland, subdued both the Britons and the Scots with excessive slaughter. Edwin, who succeeded Ailfred, reigned at the same time over the Angles and Britons ; Oswald, his successor, governed all the nations of Britain. Now, since it is evident that these facts are established with historical authenticity by the venerable Beda, it appears that whatever GeofFrey has written, subsequent to Vortigern, either of Arthur, or his successors, or predecessors, is a fiction, invented either by himself or by others, and promul- gated either through an unchecked propensity to falsehood, or a desire to please the Britons, of whom vast numbers are said to be so stupid as to assert that Arthur is yet to come, and who cannot bear to hear of his death. Lastly, he makes Aurelius Ambrosius succeed to Vortigern (the Saxons whom he had sent for being conquered and expelled), and pretends that he governed all England super-excellently ; he also mentions Utherpendragon, his brother. 400 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. as his successor, whom, he pretends, reigned with equal power and glory, adding a vast deal from Merlin, out of his profuse addiction to lying. On the decease of Utherpendragon, he makes his son Arthur succeed to the kingdom of Britain — the fourth in succes- sion from Vortigern, in like manner as our Beda places Ethelberht, the patron of Augustine, fourth from Hengist in the government of the Angles. Therefore, the reign of Arthur, and the arrival of Augustine in England, ought to coincide. But how much plain historical truth outweighs concerted fiction may, in this particular, be perceived, even by a purblind man through his mind's eye. Moreover, he depicts Arthur himself as great and powerful beyond all men, and as celebrated in his exploits as he chose to feign him. First, he makes him triumph, at pleasure, over Angles, Picts, and Scots ; then, he subdues Ireland, the Orkneys, Gothland, Norway, Denmark, partly by war, partly by the single terror of his name. To these he adds Iceland, which, by some, is called the remotest Thule, in order that what a noble poet flatteringly said to the Roman Augustus — " The distant Thule shall confess thy sway." might apply to the British Arthur. Next, he makes him attack, and speedily triumph over, Gaul — a nation which Julius Caesar, with infinite peril and labour, was scarcely able to subjugate in ten years — as though the little finger of the British was more powerful than the loins of the mighty Coesar. After this, with numberless triumphs, he brings him back to England, where he celebrates his conquests with a splendid banquetwith his subject-kings and princes, in the presence of the three archbishops of the Britons, that is London, Carleon, and York — whereas, the Britons at that time never had an archbishop. Augustine, having received the pall from the Roman pontiff, was made the first archbishop in Britain ; for the barbarous nations of Europe, though long since converted to the Christian faith, were content with bishops, and did not regard the prerogative of the pall. Lastly, the Irish, Norwegians, Danes, and Goths, though confessedly Christians, for a long while possessed only bishops, and had no archbishops until our own time. Next this fabler, to carry his Arthur to the highest summit, makes him declare war against the Romans, having, however, first van- quished a giant of surprising magnitude in single combat, though since the times of David we never read of giants. Then, with a wider licence of fabrication, he brings all the kings of the world in league with the Romans against him ; that is to say, the kings of Greece, Africa, Spain, Parthia, Media, Iturea, Libya, Egypt, Babylon, Bithynia, Phrygia, Syria, Boeotia, and Crete, and he relates that all of them were conquered by him in a single battle ; whereas, even Alexander the Great, renowned throughout all ages, was engaged for twelve years in vanquishing only a few of the potentates of these mighty kingdoms. Indeed, he makes the little finger of his Arthur more powerful than the loins of Alexander the Great ; more especially when, previous to the victory over so many kings, he introduces him relating to his comrades the subju- THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 401 gation of thirty kingdoms by his and their united efforts ; whereas, in fact, this ronaancer will not find in the world so many kingdoms, in addition to those mentioned, which he had not yet subdued. Does he dream of another world possessing countless kingdoms, in which the circumstances he has related took place ? Certainly, in our own orb no such events have happened. For how would the elder historians, who were ever anxious to omit nothing remarkable, and even recorded trivial circumstances, pass by unnoticed so incomparable a man, and such surpassing deeds ? How could they, I repeat, by their silence, suppress Arthur, the British monarch (superior to Alexander the Great), and his deeds, or Merlin, the British prophet (the rival of Isaiah), and his pro- phecies ? For what less in the knowledge of future events does he attribute to this Merlin than we do to Isaiah, except, indeed, that he durst not prefix to his productions, "Thus saith the Lord;" and was ashamed to say, " Thus saith the Devil," though this had been best suited to a prophet the offspring of a demon. Since, therefore, the ancient historians make not the slightest mention of these matters, it is plain that whatever this man pub- lished of Arthur and of Merlin are mendacious fictions, invented to gratify the curiosity of the undiscerning. Moreover, it is to be noted that he subsequently relates that the same Arthur was mortally wounded in battle, and that, after having disposed of his kingdom, he retired into the island of Avallon, according to the British fables, to be cured of his wounds ; not daring, through fear of the Britons, to assert that he was dead — he whom these truly silly Britons declare is still to come. Of the successors of Arthur he feigns, with similar effrontery, giving them the monarchy of Britain, even to the seventh generation, making those noble kings of the Angles (whom the venerable Beda declares to have been monarchs of Britain) their slaves and vassals. Therefore, let Beda, of whose wisdom and integrity none can doubt, possess our unbounded confidence, and let this fabler, with his fictions, be instantly rejected by all. There were not wanting, indeed, some writers after Beda, but none at all to be compared with him, who detailed from his days the series of times and events of our island until our own recol- lection; men deserving of praise for their zealous and faithful labours, though their narrative be homely. In our times, indeed, events so great and memorable have occurred, that, if they be not transmitted to lasting memory by written documents, the negli- gence of the moderns must be deservedly blamed. Perhaps a work of this kind is already begun, or even finished, by one or more persons, but, nevertheless, some venerable characters, to whom I owe obedience, have deigned to enjoin such a labour, even to so insignificant a person as myself, in order that I, who am- unable to make my offerings with the rich, may yet be permitted, with the poor widow, to cast somewhat of my poverty into the treasury of the Lord : and, since we are aware that the series of EngHsh history has been brought down by some to the decease of king Henry the first, beginning at the arrival of the Normans in Eng- 402 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. land, T shall succinctly describe the intermediate time, that, by the permission of God, I may give a more copious narrative from Stephen, Henry's successor, in whose first year I, William, the least of the servants of Christ, was born unto death in the first Adam, and born again unto life in the Second. Here begins the First Book, Chap. I. — Of William the Bastard, first Norman Kinq of England. In the year one thousand and sixty-six from the fulness of time, in which the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, William, surnamed the Bastard, duke of Normandy, either through a lawless desire of dominion, or a yearning to avenge the injuries which he had received, waged war against Harold, king of England. The latter falling by the chance of battle, and the English being defeated and subdued, William united the kingdom of England to the duchy of Normandy. On the completion of his victory — as he abominated the name of an usurper, and was anxious to assume the character of a legitimate sovereign — he commanded Stigand, at that time archbishop of Canterbury, to consecrate him king in due form. This prelate, however, would not by any means consent to lay hands on a man who, to use his own expression, was stained with blood, and the invader of an- other's right. But Aldred, archbishop of York, a worthy and prudent man, wisely foreseeing the necessity of yielding to the times, and observing that God's appointment was not to be resisted, performed the office of consecration. By these means he con- ciliated William, who was still breathing threatenings and slaughter against the people, and bound him by a sacred oath to preserve and defend the civil and ecclesiastical government. After this, he regarded Aldred in such a parental light, that although he governed others, yet he calmly suffered himself to be ruled by him. Once, indeed, it happened that this pontiff, meeting with a repulse from the king relative to some petition which he had urged, angrily turned his back in retiring, and threatened him with a curse instead of a blessing. The king, unable to bear his displeasure, fell at his feet, entreating forgiveness, and promising amendment ; and when the nobles, who stood by, besought the bishop to raise the prostrate monarch, he replied, " Let him lie at the feet of Peter." This circumstance plainly indicates the high respect which this ferocious prince entertained for the prelate, as well as the authority and ascendancy which Aldred possessed over him. The king, moreover, being incensed (as it has been stated already) against Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, on learning the informality of his consecration, and afterwards the immorality of his life, became desirous of taking fitting vengeance upon him ; for this purpose, the legate of the apostolic see, being summoned by the king's letter to regulate the church of England, held a council in the kingdom, wherein the crimes of Stigand being detected, the unfruitful tree was cut down with the axe of canonical CH. 1.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 403 censure, and his place was supplied by Lanfranc, formerly a monk of Bee, then abbot of Caen, a Lombard by nation, a man who, in addition to the purity of his religious life, was celebrated for lite- rature, both secular and divine. When Aldred, archbishop of York, was gathered to his fathers, he was succeeded by Thomas. William, however, after honourably holding for twenty-one years the kingdom which he had so bravely acquired, died ; and in his last sickness he appointed his three sons to be his heirs. He willed, indeed, that his firstborn, Robert, in consequence of his want of filial duty, and his rebellious disposition, should be content with the duchy of Normandy; but to his son William, with whom he was better pleased, he bequeathed the kingdom of England. Further, he predicted every good thing of Henry, his younger son, whose disposition he fondly commended, and to whom he left a splendid fortune. Thus William slept with his fathers ; a man from childhood enterprising in arms, great in mind, blessed with success, and the ornament of bastardy. He lies buried at Caen, in the monastery of the protomartyr Stephen, which he had entirely built, and splendidly endowed. I learn, moreover, from credible relation, that a remarkable occurrence took place at his funeral. For when the celebration of his obsequies was concluded, and the body was about to be consigned to its destined receptacle, a man approach- ing,^ and terribly invoking the name of the Almighty, forbade his burial in that place. " That ground," he exclaimed, " is mine by ancestral right, which the king took from me by force, when he was building the monastery; and never afterwards has he made me any compensation for it." All present were astonished at the judgment of God, deeming it done as an express manifestation of the emptiness of transitory domination — that this most potent prince, whose sway, during Hfe, extended so far, could not, when dead, obtain quiet possession of ground enough for his own body. Finally, all were so moved by this claim, that they first satisfied this living dog, as the better of the two, according to his demands, and then performed all due solemnities to the dead lion. Indeed, whatever degree of glory among men this Christian man obtained, by attacking, in hostile manner, harmless Christians, and gaining to himself a kingdom by Christian blood, the same was his degree of guilt in the sight of God. ^ proof of this I have heard from credible witnesses. In the place where the vanquished English were slain, a noble monastery, called St. Martin of Battle, was built by the victors, to be a lasting monument, at once to man as a memorial of the Norman conquest, and also to God as a propitiation for the effusion of so much Christian blood. Finally, within this monastery, on the spot where the greatest slaughter of the English was made, who were fighting for their country — after every gentle shower, there exudes real, and as it were recent, blood, as though it were evidently proclaiming by this circumstance, that the voice of so > We learn from Ordericus Vitalia that the name of this individual was Ascelia Fitz- Arthur. The game stoiy is repeated by Eadmer. 404 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK r. much Christian gore still cries to the Lord from the ground, which hath opened her mouth, and drunk in that blood at the hands of Christian brethren. Chap. II. — Of William Rufus, the second Norman king oi" England, and OF THE Expedition to Jerusalem. In the year one thousand and eighty-seven from the fulness of time in which the Truth arose from the earth, Robert, the eldest son, succeeded his father in the duchy of Normandy, and William, surnamed Rufus, in the kingdom of England ; this was in inverted order, it is true, but it was so ordained (as has already been said) by the last will of their father. In consequence of this, some of the nobiUty inclined to Robert, as the lawful heir, who was unjustly deprived, and thus they disturbed the tranquillity of the kingdom. At first, William governed but feebly, and with difficulty ; but to conciliate the minds of his subjects, he conducted himself with modesty and mildness ; the moment, however, that his empire was firmly established by the subjugation of his enemies, and the indo- lence of his brother, his heart was elevated. He appeared to be in prosperity (what in adversity he had carefully concealed) a man void of understanding, and inconstant in all his ways, impious to- wards God and grievous to the church ; a disregarder of marriage, thoroughly wanton, draining the resources of the kingdom by the most lavish expenditure, and, when these failed, seizing on the pro- perty of his subjects for such like purposes. He was a model of the most consummate pride ; and, in disgust at, or even in derision of, divine truth, altogether wallowed in the foulest sensuality of temporal glory. His elder brother, Robert, (to whom, indeed, the succession to the crown pertained in natural order,) was of a less haughty and ferocious disposition ; but he proved, in the lesser administration of the duchy of Normandy, how incompetent he was for the management of an extensive monarchy. In arms, however, he was so conspicuous, that, in the great and famous expedition to Jerusalem, he was eminently distinguished for military glory among the noblest chieftains of the world. Henry, the younger born, a man of amiable disposition, engaged in war against his unnatural and faithless brothers — for they, giving him nothing of their own, even defrauded him of what his father had be- queathed him by will; and whilst they were envious of him, as he was gradually rising into notice, he ^prudently evaded stratagems, and secured his safety. About this time, Anselm,^ abbot of Bee, a holy man, and mighty in the word of God, who also was a Lombard by nation, succeeded Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, who now went the way of all flesh ; he had formerly been his pupil. Gerard,^ too, succeeded to the archbishopric of York, on tiie death of Thomas. During this kmg's reign the Lord stirred up the spirit of the Christians against the Saracens, who had, by the hidden decree of > Lanfranc died 24th May, 1089, and was succeeded by Anselm, consecrated 4th December, 1093. ' He was translated to York from Hereford, in a.d. 1100. CH. UI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, 405 God, SO long possessed, as it were by hereditary right, the sanctuary of the Lord, that is to say, those holy places where our redemption was consummated. In consequence of this, a vast concourse of Christian people was gathered together by the pious labours of Urban, the Roman pontiff, and other servants of God. The most vahant princes, distinguished by the ensign of Christ, and accom- panied by a numerous army, after a most toilsome march, pene- trated to the kingdoms of the East ; and by their pious and successful exertions, captured those magnificent cities, Nicea in Bithynia, and Antioch in Syria ; and, ultimately, the Holy City itself — among those leaders, Robert, duke of Normandy, was sig- nally conspicuous. When preparing for this expedition with the other Christian princes, he, finding his pecuniary resources insufficient, pledged Normandy to his brother William for a considerable sum.* He then entered on this meritorious expedition with the other Christian princes, and having finished his career successfully, returned, after many years' absence, to his own country. King William, however, prolonging his iniquitous course, and to his own destruction kicking against the pricks, could not en- dure the venerable Anselm, who reproved him with meekness, and endeavoured to restrain the enormities which were committed either by himself or by his connivance, but expelled him from England, after having robbed him of nearly all his property, and branded him as a rebel. Thus, while matters were conducted valiantly and prosperously by our own princes in the East, the king, hurried on to his own destruction by his vices, met with an end suitable to his unbridled pride. For, while engaged in hunting, this most ferocious of men was struck, instead of a wild beast, by the arrow of a knight of his own, and verified the saying of the Psalmist, " I myself have seen the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a green bay-tree. I went by, and, lo, he was gone; I sought him, but his place could nowhere be found." (Ps. xxxvii. 36, 37.) Chap. III. — Of Henry, the third Norman king of England, and of certain Events which occurred during his reign. In the eleven hundredth year from the fulness of time in which God sent His Son into the world, king William being lamentably dead, Henry, his brother, succeeded to the throne. He was the last, in point of birth, of the sons of William the Great, but first in dignity ; for while the others were born during the dukedom of their father, he alone was his offspring as king. Induced by this reason, and moreover captivated by his amiable disposition, the prelates and nobles of England determined solemnly to consecrate Henry as their king, whom they knew, by evident tokens, to be adequate to the discharge of the office, and not to wait for- Robert, who was still occupied in the East, and whose incompetency to govern a kingdom had been manifested by the mal-administration of his duchy. Henry, following wholesome advice, quickly recalled ^ Namely, for ten thousand marks of silver. See Florence of Worcester, A.D. 1096. 406 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I, the venerable Anselm from exile, abolished the pernicious practices which had obtained during his brother's administration, established laws for the preservation of peace and equity, as far as he was per- mitted, at the commencement of his reign, and for a time prudently connived at many things, lest his subjects should be terrified by sudden rigour. He wisely foresaw, as was really the case, that, whenever his brother Robert should return, there would be no lack of public disturbances : for his brother Robert, on his return from the Holy Land, with his wife, whom he had espoused by the way, recovered Normandy ; and, at the instigation of some of the English nobles, to whom Henry had now become an object of alarm, he threatened his brother Henry with a war, unless he would resign the kingdom to him ; moreover, he fitted out and commanded an armed fleet against England, which the revolters from the king quickly joined. This weak and irresolute man, however, being deluded by the prudence of his brother, returned to Normandy without effecting his purpose, and left the kingdom and its government unmolested. After some years' residence in Normandy, which was being ruined through his own indolence, in not restraining, by the fear of public authority, those lawless persons who ravaged it at their pleasure, Henry, invited by the nobles of that province, proceeded thither, more out of kindness than enmity ; and a great portion of it sur- rendering to him, he at length captured his brother, having routed his forces at Tinchebrai. Thus this man, great and renowned for valorous deeds in distant parts of the world, now betrayed by the malice of fortune, fell into the hands of his younger brother, whom he had formerly incensed, and, after acquiring surpassing fame in arms, spent the remainder of his life ingloriously in the custody of his brother, without experiencing much fraternal commiseration. Thus Henry, by uniting the duchy of Normandy to the kingdom of England, as his father had formerly united the kingdom of England to the duchy of Normandy, obtained a great and noble name among the mighty ones of the earth. Moreover, the venerable Anselm,^ archbishop of Canterbury, having returned to his see from exile in France, after some years, went the way of all flesh, and obtained a great name among the great who are in heaven. His successor was Ralph, abbot of Seez, a religious and prudent man. Gerard, archbishop of York, deceased,^ and was succeeded by Thomas the second, green in -years, but, in gravity and simplicity of manners, very different from his predeces- sor. Indeed, this Gerard is allowed to have been an acute and learned man, but immoral in life, for he was skilled in levying contributions on his tenants on improper occasions ; and, as many assert, he was also addicted to witchcraft, which made him hateful both to God and man ; and this is evidenced by his fearful death, and the denial of pontifical obsequies to his corpse ; for while sleeping after dinner, in the open air, on his pillow in his garden, near his chamber at Southwell, he grew stiff in the sleep of death, while his clerks were amusing themselves close by. His body, accompanied by very few followers, was brought to York and 1 Anselm died on the 21st April, 5109. « He died 21st May, 1108. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 407 irreverently interred without the church ; neither the clergy nor the citizens going out to meet the funeral pomp, as was usual, while boys, as it is reported, pelted the bier with stones,' His successor, terrified by his example, washed his hands in the blood of this sinner, and conducted himself commendably in his office. He did not, however, live to an advanced age, but was snatched away, as I believe, lest wickedness should pervert his understanding. I learnt, from a person of unimpeachable veracity, a memorable incident connected with this man, which I cannot pass over. When confined by sickness, he was ordered by his physicians, as the sole means of removing his disorder, to partake of sexual intercourse. His friends pressed him to comply, alleging that God could not possibly be offended, as he did it merely as a remedy, and not for sensual gratification.* He appeared to assent, that he might not distress them, and a woman of graceful appearance was admitted to his chamber. His physicians, however, afterwards declared, on inspecting his urine, that this compliance was feigned merely to satisfy his friends. On their reproaching him, as being in a measure accessory to his own death, in not obeying the pre- scription of his physicians, "Be silent," he said, "let no one insinuate the poison of such language to me any further, for I will not lose the immortal honour of chastity for the cure of perishable flesh." Thurstan, a good and prudent man, succeeded this person, who, it is believed, happily died of that disease, for the cure of which' he would not offend God. Moreover, Ralph,^ archbishop of Canterbury, resting with his fathers, William, who had been prior of the regular canons at Chiec,^ succeeded to his see. These were, we know, the successors of metropolitans under king Henry. This king had by Matilda, his religious queen, two children, a son and a daughter. His daughter (who was named after her mother) he affianced, when marriageable, to Henry the emperor" of the Romans, who asked her in marriage. His son, however, who was regarded as his successor, and who was named after his grandfather, met with a melancholy accident when just arrived at manhood, and, with a party of young nobility, was given as a prey to the monsters of the deep. Matilda, having died, the king, in the hope of progeny, married the daughter^ of the duke of Lorraine, but had no issue by her ; consequently, after the death of the emperor without heirs by his wife, he recalled his daughter from Germany, and gave her in ' This character of the Archbishop is confirmed, in its chief features, by William of Malmesbury, who also gives an account, nearly similar, of his death. The portrait drawn by Stubbs is more favourable. A few of Gerard's letters to Anselm are preserved among the correspondence of that prelate. ^ This is repeated by Richard of Hexham ; and a similar story is told of Louis IX., king of France. ' On the ninteenth of September, A. D. 1122, and was succeeded byTN'illiam de CurbelUs, consecrated 18th February, 1123. * Concerning the priory of St. Osith of Chich, in Essex, see Dugd. Monast. ii. 182. '" Henry the fifth, the emperor of Germany. ^ Adela or Adelaide, daughter of Godfrey, count of Louvain, and duke of Lower Lorraine; this alliance took place iu 1121. 408 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I, marriage to Geoffrey, the illustrious count of Anjou, that he might have successors through her in his grandchildren. A conference being held, he made the bishops, earls, barons, and all persons of consequence, confirm by oath the kingdom of England, with the duchy of Normandy, to her, and to his grandchildren her issue. Thus Henry reigned, with great felicity and glory, thirty-five years and some months,^ at the expiration of which he slept with his fathers. He was a man adorned with many princely virtues, though he obscured them greatly by his concupiscence, in imitation of the lustfulness of Solomon. He was, also, immoderately attached to beasts of chase, and, from his ardent love of hunting, used little discrimination in his public punishments between deer- killers and murderers. His body, after the extraction of the brains and intestines, was embalmed, sewed up in skins, and brought from Normandy to England, where it was interred at Reading, a monastery of which he had been the pious founder and munificent benefactor. The man, indeed, who had been hired, at great expense, to extract the brain, became infected, as it is said, from the intoler- able stench, and died ; and thus, as the body of the departed Elisha^ reanimated the dead, so Henry's dead body gave death to the living. Chap. IV. — In what manner Stephen seized on England, in violation op HIS Oath. In the one thousand one hundred and thirty-fifth year from the delivery of the Virgin, Henry, the most illustrious king of England, and duke of Normandy, being dead, but not yet buried, Stephen of Boulogne, his nephew on the sister's side, seized on the kingdom of England. Stephen the elder, count of Blois, had married the daughter of William the first, a noble lady, and had issue by her four sons. The count dying in the East, his widow, in her wisdom, setting aside her eldest born, as he was indolent, and appeared to be of degenerate nature, exalted her favourite son, Theobald, to the entire inheritance ; she sent Stephen, yet a lad, to the king his uncle, to be educated and advanced; and that she might not seem to have borne children solely for secular purposes, she placed Henry, her fourth son, in the monastery at Clugny. In process of time, king Henry gave the only daughter of the count of Boulogne, to whom the inheritance pertained, to his nephew Stephen in marriage, bestowing upon him also large possessions in England. To his nephew Henry, a monk of Clugny, he likewise gave the abbey of Glastonbury, and, after a time, advanced him to the bishopric of Winchester. When, therefore, as already said, king Henry died, Stephen, violating the oath, which he had sworn to king Henry's daughter, of preserving his fidelity, seized upon the kingdom ; and in this he was aided by the prelates and nobles who were bound by the same oath : William, archbishop of Canterbury, -who had sworn first, then consecrated him king, with the help and ^ The duration of Henry's reign was thirty -six years and four months. * See 2 Kings xiii. 20. CH. v.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 409 assistance of Roger, bishop of Salisbury, who was the second who had sworn, and had, moreover, administered the oath to every other individual. The archbishop, however, died in the very year of his apostasy, as a just punishment for his perjury, as it is believed. The bishop, too, ended his life, some years after, by a miserable death, — the king himself becoming the minister of God's vengeance against him, as will be more fully detailed in its place. ^ Still, perhaps, they might suppose that they were rendering service to God, whilst providing for the advancement of the church and the state by a perjury ; for which a dispensation might be obtained, and also because there were many things which greatly incurred their displeasure, both in the morals and actions of the deceased king ; they imagined, possibly, that a monarch, created solely by their favour would the more readily amend such enormities. Stephen, therefore, in order that he might be elevated to the throne equally against right both human and divine — transgressing the one by not being the legitimate heir, and the other by his perfidy — promised everything which the prelates and nobles demanded : but his want of faith rendered all these of no avail ; for by the judgments of God that good, for the attainment of which those wise and powerful men had resolved on the commis- sion of such an atrocious crime, was not permitted to take effect. Chap. V. — Of the auspicious Commencement op Stephen's reign. The first two years [a.d. 1136, 1137], indeed, of king Stephen's reign appeared to be fortunate, as David, king of the Scots, who had made an irruption on Northumberland beyond the river Tyne, was repulsed and vanquished with his forces : Baldwin de Redvers, who had rebelled against him, was subjugated and banished : his affairs in Normandy were also conducted with spirit and success ; but in the third and fourth years [a.d. 1138, 1139] of.his/eign, evils began to multiply upon this perjured man, this breaker of the promises made at his advancement. Many of the most powerful of his barons rebelled ; and, having exhausted the treasures of his uncle, he became himself less powerful and efficient. These were but the beginnings of evils : for while he was unsuccessfully engaged, in the southern parts of England, against those who had revolted and were committing hostilities upon him, the fury of the Scots having revived, they burst forth and obtained possession' of Nor- thumberland, which they wasted with the most savage plundering. Having passed the Tyne, they advanced as far as the river Tees, sparing neither sex nor age ; nor did they there fix the limit of their ferocity, but confidently hoped to take possession of the whole province of the Deiri, together with the city of York. The inhabit- ants, despairing of assistance from the king or the provinces beyond the Humber, and animated by the admonitions of archbishop Thurstan, of pious memory, determined to fight for their lives, their wives and their children. They unanimously assembled against a » See Chnpter VI. 410 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book I. host formidable for its cruelty, and made a stand not far from the river Tees ; and though they were very inferior indeed in point of numbers, yet they were greatly superior to their enemies by confi- dence in the goodness and justice of their cause. The Scots, setting fire to their camp early in the morning, passed the river, and, con- temning the paucity of their opponents, rushed boldly to the conflict. The battle was not of long continuance, where little or nothing was done by the sword ; for the light-armed troops, galled by arrows from a distance, soon turned their backs, and left the victory and the field to our countrymen. It is related that many thousands of the Scots were slain in the battle, or in the flight, and king David, accompanied by few soldiers, but with much disgrace, fled to his own country. This battle was, by the assistance of God, successfully fought against the Scots, in the month of August,^ in the fourth year of the reign of king Stephen. Some months afterward, Alberic, bishop of Ostia, legate of the apostolic see, celebrated a council at London ; in which Theobald, abbot of Bee, with the royal assent, took possession of the see of Canterbury. Chap. VI.— Of Roger, bishop op Salisbury, and Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, and their Capture by king Stephen. After this, the king, residing at Oxford, became so depraved by evil counsel, that, through his greediness for money, he laid his impious hands on ecclesiastics, and, paying no deference to holy orders, sullied his royal character with an indelible stain. Although but a short time before he had received, with apparent kindness, Roger of Salisbury, and Alexander of Lincoln, at that time the most noble and powerful bishops in England, yet on a sudden, as though they had been the vilest characters, and guilty of the most heinous crimes, he seized them, shut them up, and confined them with chains, as well as despoiled them of their property and castles. As the opportunity has here presented itself, I shall relate a few matters connected with the rise and advancement of this Roger ; in order that, in his most melancholy end, the depth of the divine counsels may be contemplated. In the reign of William the younger, he was an indigent priest, living by his office, as it is said, in the suburbs of Caen. At the time when Henry the younger was engaged in war against the king his brother, during a journey, he accidentally turned with his companions into the church where Roger was officiating, and entreated him to say mass for him. The priest, granting the request, was as ready to begin as he was quick in getting through the service ; in both of which he so pleased the soldiers, that they declared such a suitable chaplain foi- the military was nowhere else to be found. And when the royal youth said, " Follow me," he stuck as closely to him as Peter formerly did to 1 The Battle of the Standard was fought in August 1138, which was Stephen's third regnal year. CH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 411 the Lord of heaven, when he uttered the Hke command. For, as Peter left his boat and followed the King of kings, so this man quitted his church and followed the noble youth ; and, being made chaplain at pleasure to him and his troops, he became a blind leader of the blind ; and though he was almost illiterate, yet he was so subtle by nature, that in a short time he became dear to his lord, and managed his most private concerns. Afterwards, when his master became king, he advanced him to the bishopric of Salis- bury, as having deserved well of him, both before and during his reign ; and, moreover, as to a person approved in many things, faithful and industrious, he entrusted him with the management of public affairs, that he might be not only distinguished in the church, but even the second person in the kingdom. At last, from his ecclesiastical and secular offices, having obtained ample oppor- tunities for the exercise of his avarice, he accumulated immense wealth, not for the purpose of dispersing abroad and giving to the poor, but of applying it to the most vain-glorious uses. He built, at Devizes and Sherbourn, two noble castles of the costliest work- manship, ostentatiously anxious that they should be beyond com- . parison in the^kingdom. He also obtained from the king, who denied him nothing, the see of Lincoln for his nephew Alexander. This man, being also of a lavish disposition, and emulating his uncle, erected two splendid castles,^ at a most profuse expense ; but since buildings of this nature seemed ill to accord with the episcopal character, in order to remove the odium incident to such erections, and, as it were, to obliterate the stain, he founded the same number of monasteries,^ and filled them with religious societies. And when the illustrious king Henry exacted from all the prelates and nobles of the realm the oath to observe fidelity to his daughter in the succession of the kingdom, the bishop of Salis- bury (as it is mentioned above) not only readily took the oath himself, but, like a prudent man and second to the king, carefully explained it, as the king required him to do, for the information of those who were about to swear. But on the death of Henry, who had been the author of all his temporal grandeur, he was faithless towards his lawful heirs, in order that he might entice Stephen to join his party, who was bound in the same obligation ; and thus not only was he fearless of committing perjury himself, but he gave a memorable example of it to others. On the advancement of Stephen to the throne, he conducted himself in such a manner towards him, as to prove, by his devotion to his cause, the singular confidence which he reposed in him. Stephen was, however, ungrateful for these benefits, and was appointed God's avenger against this very bishop, whose deeds were never consistent with his dignity ; and so did he distress him, as though he had been a person of no importance, first by imprisonment, then by want of food, and lastly by the threat of inflicting punishment upon his 1 These were at Sleaford and Newark ; to wHch some add that of Banbury. 2 He was one of those entrusted in the establishment of the order of Sempringham, and founded the nunneries of Havesholm and Thame. See Dugd. Monast. ii 792. VOL. IV. E E 412 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK 1. nephew (who had been the king's chancellor), that he gave up the two noble castles, in which his treasures were deposited. The poignancy of his grief at this occurrence manifested how deeply the poison of worldly love had infected his heart : for, according to that most just remark of St. Gregory, " The love of temporal things, when possessed, bears exact proportion to the grief which is suffered at their loss." At length, the aged bishop, worn down with grief and driven to madness, was induced both to do and to say things utterly unbecoming, excited thereto by the loss of those things in the building up and accumulating of which he had so extremely offended God ; and he concluded a most conspicuous life by a most lamentable death, through divine appointment. Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, who had been made captive with him, was harassed by similar methods to resign the fortresses he had built; and on relin- quishing them he was released, though not without difficulty. If he were wise, he must have revered the divine judgments inflicted on him, and resolved on more prudent occupations. These pro- ceedings, however, did not produce favourable results to the king, though he had been the rod of God's fury against these memorable bishops ; for, instigated either by personal hatred or anxiety after money, he paid very little deference to the sacred orders, as the sequel will show. Chap. VII.— How Stephen lost his royal authority, together with Normandy. After a few days had elapsed, the empress Matilda, daughter of king Henry, came into England, and excited the compunction of many of the nobility, when they remembered the oath of suc- cession which they had formerly taken to her ; while others, from their own feelings, had little dread at opposing king Stephen. Thus was the kingdom divided, some favouring and assisting the king, others the empress ; and the divine saying was fulfilled — " Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation." [St. Luke xi. 17.] Thus England was by degrees so ravaged and wasted by hostile incursions on all sides, by rapine and by fire, that, from being the most flourishing, she now appeared the most desolate of kingdoms. All terror of regal dignity, all force of public discipline, had already vanished ; and the fear of the law being removed, outrage and licentiousness roamed side by side. Evils were daily multiplying, the music of the church was turned into mourning, and the people bewailed their accumulated losses. Such being the posture of affairs in England, the count of Anjou overran Normandy with an army, and in a short space of time reduced it, in the name of his wife ^ and son ; no one opposing him who were competent to withstand his attacks. For he had wisely concerted with the king of France, who appeared to be in league with king Stephen, that no impediment on that side should arise to coun- teract the success of his designs. ^ Geoifrey Plantagenet, count of Anjon, the husband of the empress Matilda, the daughter of king Henry I., by whom he became the father of king Henry II. OT. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 413 Chap. VIII. — The capture op king Stephen at Lincoln. In the sixth year of his reign, king Stephen laid siege to the castle of Lincoln, which Ranulph, earl of Chester, had entered by stratagem, and still possessed ; and the siege was protracted from Christmas to the Presentation of our Lord [2d Feb. a.d. 1142]. To raise the siege, the earl brought with him the earl of Gloucester (natural son of king Henry), his father-in-law, and some other very intrepid nobles, with considerable forces, and announced to the king, that unless he should desist, they would attack him. The king, however, being aware of their arrival, had collected troops on all sides ; and, disposing them without the city to receive their opponents, he prepared for the battle with perfect confidence ; for he was himself a most courageous warrior, and was supported by superior numbers. In addition to this, the opposing army, wearied with a long winter's march, seemed more in need of rest to recruit its vigour, than calculated to encounter the perils of war. Still, however, though inferior in numbers and equipment, yet excelling in courage alone, and aware that, such a distance from home, there could be no place of refuge in a hostile country, they rushed undauntedly to the conflict. Having dismounted, the king himself, with his company, ranged his cavalry in the vanguard, to give or to receive the first assault ; but it being vanquished and put to flight by the first charge of the enemy's horse, the whole brunt of the battle fell upon the division in which was the king. Here the conflict raged most desperately, the king himself fighting very courageously amid the foremost ; but, at length, being captured, and his company dispersed, the victorious army triumphantly entered the city to plunder, while the royal captive was sent to the empress, and committed to custody at Bristol. Chap. IX. — How king Stephen was Liberated, in consequence op the Capture OF THE EARL OP GLOUCESTER. The defeat of the king becoming known, the empress gained the highest summit of power, and was honoured with the favour of nearly the whole kingdom. But she showed herself to be unwise after she was advanced to that high pitch ; for her recent successes made her so elevated in mind and haughty in speech, that, through her intolerable pride of sex, she incensed the yet-hesitating minds of the nobility against her. The citizens of London, also, although at first they had favourably received her, yet, disgusted at her pride, again rejected her. Irritated at this circumstance, she loaded the king with chains, who, by the judgment of God, had fallen into her hands, and had hitherto been indulgently treated ; but by these very means she mitigated the severity of the divine dispensation concerning him, and (as appeared afterwards) accelerated his release. For, at the expiration of a few days, laying siege to the castle of the bishop of Winchester, with her uncle, the king of the Scots, and her brother Robert, she experienced the inconstancy of fortune ; and, as her unbounded pride deserved, the loss of her E E 2 414 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK r. former glory. At last the bishop/ who was brother to the king, a man of great power in the kingdom, crafty and opulent beyond measure, and legate also of the apostolic see in England, sent for "William of Ipres and the queen from Kent, which had alone remained unchanged by the king's calamity, and numbers out of other counties, who were irritated at the overbearing tyranny of the empress, to raise the siege. Now, when he had collected immense forces, for some days each army kept guard within their respective camps, and, with the exception of those who marched out for exer- cise, to make a show of their strength, appeared to be inactive. Vast forces, however, arriving from London, increased the party adverse to the empress to such a degree, that, unequal to the conflict, and leaving Winchester exposed to plunder, she made her escape by flight. In this retreat, her brother Robert, earl of Glou- cester, with many others, was taken captive. David, king of Scot- land, however, escaped from falling into the hands of his hostile pursuers by artifice ; and, thanks to certain persons who conducted him cautiously through considerable alarms and perils, he arrived at his own country. Thus an interchange of those noble captives, the king and the earl, was effected ; and hostilities still continuing, each was restored to his own party in exchange for the other. Chap. X. — Op the Flight of the Empress from Oxford, and op the Council AT London. Perpetual discord still existed between the king and the empress ; sometimes parties were equal, at another time one had the ascendency ; but this, in its turn, was subject to the uncertainty of fortune, as the sequel will disclose. For, in the following year, as king Stephen was building a fortress at Wilton, he was worsted by a sudden irruption of the enemy, and put to flight with con- siderable loss. In this affair William, surnamed Martel, the king's cup-bearer, was made prisoner, who afterwards purchased his liberation by resigning the noble castle of Shireburn. In the same year, by a change of fortune, the king besieged the empress, during some months, at Oxford. Wearied with the length of the siege, and meeting with an opportunity of escape, through the nature of the season, she took advantage of the darkness of the night, and of the whiteness of the snow, and in white garments crossed the river Thames, which was firmly frozen over, and passed to a place of greater security ; and the king took possession of Oxford. By this success, which obliterated, in some measure, the disgrace of past events, after such multiplied proofs of God^s chastening, or mercy, the king conducted himself, henceforward, more mildly towards the clergy ; and was present, and affably granted his royal concurrence, at the council which was held the following year, at London, by Henry, bishop of Winchester, legate of the apostolic see, for the quiet and privileges of the clergy. For, as in consequence of the increase of evils in England, little deference was paid to the sacred order, and priest and people were nearly alike in every respect, ^ Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester. CH. XI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 415 it was ordained in this council, that whoever laid violent hands on an ecclesiastic, or a monk, should be solemnly excommunicated, and sent to the Roman pontiff for absolution. Before the com- pletion of this year, the archbishop of Canterbury having ordinary jurisdiction over the bishop of Winchester, and the bishop of Winchester exercising the power of his legation from Rome over the archbishop, these two persons clashed against each other ; and the peace of the churches being disturbed, they repaired to the Roman pontiff, bringing a question grateful to the Roman ear, in proportion to its weight. One of them, indeed, gained the cause ; but neither returned with inexhausted purse. Chap. XI. — Of the impious Life and correspondent Death of Geoffrey de Mandeville. At this time king Stephen, attending more to what was ex- pedient than what was strictly honourable, seized Geoffrey de Man- deville,^ in his court at St. Albans, not quite fairly, indeed, and consistently with the law of nations, but according to his deserts and his own fear. For he was a most desperate character, and possessed of equal power and artifice. He was master of the celebrated Tower of London, together with two other considerable fortresses,^ and he aimed at great things by his consummate craft. As, therefore, from these circumstances, he was an object of terror to the king, Stephen cautiously dissembled the injury he had received from him, and eagerly watched a seasonable opportunity for revenge. The injury this abandoned man had done to the king was this : Stephen some years before, as I have before said, had seized on the treasures of the bishop of Salisbury, and transmitted a vast sum of the money to Louis, king of France, to whose sister, Constantia, he had affianced his son Eustace; purposing, by an affinity with so great a prince, to strengthen his succession against the count of Anjou and his sons. Constantia was at that time in London with the queen her mother-in-law ; but when the queen was desirous of removing with her daughter-in-law to another place, Geoffrey de Mandeville, who at that time commanded the Tower, opposed her, and took the daughter from the protection of the mother ; and though she resisted with all her might, yet he detained her. and suffered the queen to depart with ignominy. Afterwards, indeed, he reluctantly yielded up his noble .prisoner to the king her father-in-law, who claimed her; and Stephen dissembled for a while his just indignation. This outrage had appeared to have long since been consigned to oblivion ; but, behold, on a meeting of the nobility being summoned by the king's command at St. Albans, this freebooter made his appearance amongst the rest, and the king, seizing this opportunity for exercis- ing his just indignation, threw him into confinement, and deprived him of the Tower of London, with the two other fortresses he possessed. Despoiled of his strongholds, but set at liberty, this * Concerning him, see Dugd. Bai-onage, i. 200. ' Namely, tliose ofWalden and Plessy. See Hoved. a.d. 1143. 416 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. restless man — vast in design, and subtle beyond comparison, as well as wise beyond measure, for the perpetration of evil — collecting a band of desperadoes, seized the monastery of Ramsey, and, with- out the least compunction at having expelled the monks, and made so celebrated and holy a place a den of thieves, and converted the sanctuary of God into the habitation of the devil, he infested the neighbourhood with perpetual attacks and incursions. Then, gaining confidence from his success, he proceeded further, and harassed and alarmed king Stephen with the most daring aggressions ; and, while he was thus continuing his mad career, God seemed to sleep, and to be regardless both of the affairs of men and His own ; that is to say, of ecclesiastical affairs : then did the suffering righteous exclaim, " Up, Lord, why sleepest thou ?" [Ps. xliv. 23 ;] but, as the apostle remarks,^ after God had " endured, with much long-suffering, the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction," then, as the prophet observes, " the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and smote his enemies in the hinder parts " [Ps. Ixxviii. 67] — that is, at the conclusion of the business, although the former part had been successful. At length, just before the death of this wicked man, as it is asserted by the crediljle relation of many persons, the walls of the church which he had seized and of the adjoining cloister exuded real blood, by which, as it afterwards appeared, was signified, as well the heinousness of his crime as its impending punishment. Thus, whilst his abandoned partisans — given up to a reprobate mind — were in nowise terrified at such a tremendous omen, the wretch himself — amidst the thickest of his troops — attacking a fortress of the enemy, was struck on the head with an arrow, by a common foot-soldier. Although this ferocious man at first disregarded his wound as trifling, yet he died in consequence of it a few days after- wards, and carried with him to hell the indissoluble bond of an ecclesiastical anathema. Two also of his most savage adherents-^ one the commander of the cavalry, and the other of the foot — are said to have perished by different accidents : the one died from a fall from his horse, by which his head was dashed upon the ground, and his brains beat out ; but the other, named Rainer — celebrated for destroying and burning churches — while in passing over the sea with his wife, by the weight of his iniquities, caused the ship, in which he had taken his passage, to become immoveable in the midst of the sea. This causing the greatest astonishment to the seamen and the other passengers, they resorted to the ancient custom of casting lots, and the lot fell upon Rainer ; and, lest this should seem to be the effect of chance, it was tried again, and even a third time, and being found invariable, the decision of God was manifest — wherefore, lest all should perish with him, or on account of him, he was put into a small boat with his wife and ill-acquired wealth, and the ship immediately regained her power of moving, and proceeded as usual ; but the skiff sunk with the weight of the sinner, and was buried in the deep. » See Rom. ix. 23. CH. XIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 417 Chap. XII.— Of Robert Marmiun, and his Death. It was a notorious fact, that two other usurpers, similar to the above-mentioned, were also resident in England. Robert, sur- named Marmiun,' who expelled the monks, and invaded and polluted the church of Coventry ; and William Albemarle, who, excluding the regular canons, acted in like manner at Burlington. Robert was crushed by the weight of the divine judgment ; but the other, led to repentance by God's mercy, expiated his enormity by munificent and frequent almsgiving to the poor, and by the erection of no mean monasteries.^ Robert Marmiun was a man warlike and ferocious, crafty, bold, and almost without compeer in his day ; at length, after gaining notoriety for his wide -extended successes, and profaning that noble church by the introduction of the servants of the devil, he harassed the earl of Chester, to whom he was more particularly inimical, with frequent and dreadful assaults, and went purposely to attack the earl as he was advancing with considerable forces ; but while proudly riding on a fiery steed, in the sight of both of the contending parties, forgetful of his own stratagem — for he had intersected the ground with ditches to keep off or annoy the enemy — he unconsciously fell, by the judgment of God (I say), into the pitfall which his artifice and labour had made ; and being incapable of extricating himself, in consequence of the fracture of his thigh, his head was cut off, in the presence of all, by an obscure soldier of the adverse party, nearly about the same time as the visitation of God overtook Geoffrey de Mandeville, and which was equally exemplified in the death of this man for a similar cause. Notwithstanding this, William de Albemarle was not intimidated by the manifest interposition of God in the death of these persons, and in a few years afterwards meditated a similar outrage ; but, as I have said, being set apart for repentance and atonement, he received mercy, instead of punishment, at the hand of Almighty God. Chap. XIII.— Op the various Misfortunes which befel king Stephen. [a.d. 1144.] In the ninth year of the reign of king Stephen, which was rendered remarkable by the death of these two miscreants, the king laid siege to the castle of Lincoln, which at that time was occupied by the earl of Chester. While the king was there erecting a fortress, the workmen were destroyed by a sudden irrup- tion of the enemy, and the king retired discomfited. [a.d. 1145.] In the following year, however, he wiped out the disgrace of this affair ; for when the earl of Gloucester, and others of the hostile party, had erected a fortress at Farringdon for their own advantage, and to annoy the enemy, the king hastily advancing thither with his own army, supported by the -forces of the Londoners, the collected body of troops fiercely attacked the * See Dugd. Baron, i. 375. 2 His foundations were the monasteries of Meaux in Holdemess, not far from his castle of Skipsey (Dugd. Monast. i. 793) ; Bytham, in Lincolnshire (Id. p. 813) ; and Thorn ton-upon-Humber (Id. ii. 198). 418 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book I. fort for some days, and at length got possession of it, by dint of great labour and bloodshed. Thus fortune shifted from side to side ; and those upon whom she had lately smiled with success, she now deceived with adverse accidents. [a.d. 1146.] Again the catastrophes of his eleventh year obscured the success which appeared to counterbalance the calamities of the year preceding : for though Ranulph, earl of Chester, with whom he had ratified a truce, and who had become a faithful and attached friend, had rendered him powerful aid at Wallingford, yet the king, very soon after, forgetful of his royal majesty and honour, seized the earl, who was coming to him peaceably and securely, in the court at Northampton, and com- pelled him to resign the castle of Lincoln, with everything else which he appeared to have usurped. In consequence of this, the earl was liberated, and became the king's irreconcileable enemy ever after. Chap. XIV. — Of Thurstan, archbishop op York, and of the Foundation op THE Abbeys op Rievaulx and Fountains. While such events were occurring in the kingdom of England, Thurstan of holy memory, archbishop of York (after the laudable discharge of his duty for many years, and singular works of piety), finding the time of his warfare nearly accomplished, relinquished^ his dignity; and, excusing himself from its burdens, passed his last days with the Clugniac monks at Pontefract, and was gathered to his fathers in a good old age. Among his other commendable labours, the foundation and advancement of the noble monastery of Fountains is chiefly to be attributed to his pious care and holy industry ; the cause of which memorable work is related to have been as follows. There were ^ twelve or thirteen monks of the monastery at York, who were fervent in spirit, and, being of a scrupulous conscience, anxiously desired to lead a religious life, according to the Clugniac order, or some other similar regulations, not exactly according to the letter of the rule of St. Benedict, which they professed; but intending to embark in something better, and more strict ; for the fame of the Cistertian order, recently instituted, had already become extremely celebrated. These men desired to quit their monastery. The venerable Thurstan, cherish- ing the design and zeal of these persons, paternally received them on their departure, fostered them on the bosom of maternal love, domesticated them for a time, until he could provide for them as he had intended ; and, at length, he put them in a place of pasture. The situation was named Fountains ; where, at that time, and afterwards, so many drank of waters springing up to eternal life, as from the fountains of the Saviour. Indeed, shortly before, the monks of Clairvaux, who had been invited by a nobleman, ' Thurstan resigned his see, 21st January, 1140, and died on the 5th February following. ^ An interesting account of the foundation of the Cistercian monastery of Fountains, a cell of Clairvaux, is printed in Dugdale's Monast. i. 733. CH. XV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 419 named Walter Espec, and sent by abbot Bernard, of blessed memory, had arrived in the province of York, and had accepted a residence in a place now called Rievaulx' (though at that time a horrid and wild desert), a site presented to them by that noble person ; and to them the venerable Thurstan extended his pastoral favour with paternal regard. Instigated by their example, and spirited to enter on a stricter life, the monks of York committed themselves to the direction of abbot Bernard, whose memory is blessed ; and, though separated in place, yet united in heart, they began, with equal energy and zeal, to enter on the narrow path which leadeth unto life. God blessed them with the blessings of heaven above, and with the blessings of the deep that lieth under, with the blessings of fatness and fleeces ; insomuch that they not only collected a copious multitude for the service of Almighty God, but had also very ample means of dispensing charity to the poor. That they served the Lord Christ, like exemplary bees, is known by their fruits ; that is, by those numerous companies of saints which they sent out like swarms of wise bees, and dis- persed them not only through the provinces of England, but even through barbarous nations. Chap. XV. — Of the Foundation of Btland. As I have made mention of Rievaulx and Fountains, two noble monasteries in our province of York, it is incumbent upon me also to relate the origin of Byland," better known to me from its pro- pinquity, being only a mile distant from the church of Newborough, where I was educated in Christ from a boy. However, I shall begin at an earlier period. There were, in foreign parts, as I have learnt from men of elder time, three great contemporaries, Robert, surnamed de Arbuscule,* Bernard, and Vitalis. These men, not meanly instructed, and fervent in spirit, went through towns and villages, sowing, according to Isaiah,* beside all waters, and, from the conversion of numbers, gathered abundant fruit; it being piously determined among them, that Robert should direct his attention more especially to the women who had been converted to a better life by their common labour, while Bernard and Vitalis should take greater concern for the men. In consequence, Robert erected the noble monastery of Fontevraud^ for females, and appointed there a regular discipline ; whilst Bernard at Tyron,* and Vitalis at Savigny,^ instituted regular monks, although each distinguished his own by some peculiar injunctions. When, from these three budding roots, the sei-vants of God, male and female, sprang up in distant provinces, some of the monks of Savigny ^ The foundation charter by Walter Espec, granted a,d. 1131, is printed by Dugdale in his Monast. i. 729. ^ The History of the origin of the Cistercian abbey of Byland is related, with considerable detail, by Philip, the third abbot of that establishment, whose narrative is printed in the Monasticon, i. 1027. 3 Robert de Arbrissel, the founder of the order of Fontevrault ; concerning whom, see the BoUandists, Mens. Febr. iii. 593. ^ See Isaiah xxsii. 20. « See Gallia Christ, ii. 1311. ^ Id. viii. 1262 ' Id. xi. 542. 420 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. founded our Byland. Few in number, and poor at the outset, and seeking a proper situation, where, by the favour of God, they might settle so as to produce fruit, they accepted, from a nobleman named Roger de Mowbray, the founder of the church of New- borough, a confined situation at first; whence, migrating from different causes, a second, third, and fourth time, they ultimately took root, vinder the same protection, at Byland. The Lord blessed them; and they advanced, from poverty to great opulence, under father Roger, a man of singular integrity, who still survives in a fruitful old age, having nearly completed the fifty-seventh year of his administration. The foundation of this monastery, however, did not take place until after the decease of the venerable Thurstan, when the before-mentioned abbeys of Rievaulx and Fountains were already in a flourishing condition. And since the monks of Savigny had many years before, at the pious instigation of one of their abbots, adopted the rites of the foundation at Clairvaux, these three monasteries, from the unity of their regular discipline, are also more closely united by the tie of sentiment; and, like the triple light of our province, they blaze forth by the preeminency of their holy religion. What else can be deemed of these and other religious places, which began more abundantly to be erected and to flourish in the days of king Stephen, but that they are the camps of God, where soldiers keep guard, and novices are trained against spiritual wickedness ? For, about this time, when all the spirit of royal power had evaporated, the nobles, according to their several abilities, erected fortresses, either to defend their own terri- tories, or infest those of their neighbours. Evils thus springing up, and multiplying from the indolence of king Stephen, or, rather, from the malice of the devil, that constant fomenter of discords, the wise and good providence of the King of kings abounded more and more, and was gloriously conspicuous ; and, at that period more particularly, God is known to have erected such fortresses for Himself as became the King of peace, to subdue the prince of pride. Finally, it is remarkable that a much greater number of monasteries, for both sexes, were founded in England, during the short time that Stephen reigned, or, more properly speaking, obtained the title of king, than had been for a century preceding. Chap. XVI. — Of Gilbert' op Sempringham, and of the Order which he INSTITUTED. Neither is the venerable Gilbert to be passed over in silence, from whom the order of Sempringham took its rise, and proceeded rapidly to a flourishing condition. He was certainly an admirable character, and of singular address in the management of women. It is reported that, from his earliest manhood, he was by no means contented with having secured his own individual salvation, but was fired with zeal for gaining other souls to Christ, and began 1 An interesting account of the life and actions of Gilbert of Sempringham in Lincolnshire, the founder of the order of the Gilbertines, may be seen in Dugdale's Monast. ii. 669. CH. XVII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 421 anxiously to stimulate the weaker sex with emulation towards God, grounding his pious purpose on the consciousness of his own chastity, and in the confidence of heavenly grace. When the divine favour appeared to smile upon his undertaking, fearing lest he should run, or had run in vain,^ if he did not season unbridled zeal by sober knowledge, more especially when as yet he was little informed himself, by those who had preceded him, he had under- taken such an anxious task, he thought proper to visit the vene- rable Bernard,^ abbot of Clarevaux, celebrated for his character in wisdom and in holiness ; instructed by whose sagacious counsels, and confirmed in his design, he prosecuted his pious purposes with equal fervency and confidence. His plans prospered ; and, as it is said of the noble patriarch, waxed great and went forward [Gen. xxvi. 13] ; he became exceeding mighty, not only in a numerous company which had assembled for the service of the Almighty, but also in a supply of things temporal for the necessary support of the body, according to the divine precept, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." [Matt. vi. 33.] Lastly, he erected two noble monasteries for the male, and eight for the female, servants of God ; and these he filled with numerous inmates, and established by fixed laws, according to the wisdom which was given him. He excelled much in the education of males; but, by the divine grace accorded to him, he far surpassed in his skill in training females to the service to God. In this respect, indeed, according to my judgment, he bears away the palm from all who have applied their religious labours to the education and discipline of women. After some years, laden with spiritual gains, and though infirm, yet the attendant on a heavenly bride- groom, he migrated^ to Christ. Moreover, the multitude of his sons and daughters yet remains ; his seed is powerful upon earth, and his generation shall be blessed for ever. Chap. XVII. — In what manner William, archbishop of York, was deposed, HE NOT HAVING RECEIVED THE PaLL, AND HOW HeNRT SUCCEEDED. On the decease of the venerable Thurstan, archbishop of York, William,* the treasurer of that church, succeeded to the see. He was a man as truly noble, according to the flesh, as he was amiable from the gentleness of his manners. When he had despatched com- petent representatives to the Holy See to obtain the pall, according to the usual custom, his adversaries came forward, alleging many things against him, and the honour was withheld. He was com- manded to appear personally at Rome, as one being of sufficient age to answer for himself ; but, in consequence of serious charges increasing, and his enemies prevailing, and as pope Eugenius, of pious memory, was implacably irritated against him, either justly 1 See Gal. ii. 2. 2 Respecting this interview, see the life just quoted, p. 677. 3 He died on Saturday, 4th Feb. 1189. See Dugd. Monast. ii. 691. 4 William Fitz-Herbert, consecrated 26th September, 1144, by the bishop of Winchester. 422 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I, or unjustly, he was ultimately deposed. On his return to England, he retired to Winchester, where he was honourably entertained, and splendidly supported for nearly ten years, by Henry, who had consecrated him : here he lamented either his excesses or his mis- fortunes, and waited in silence a change of times. On his deposition, Henry, ^ abbot of Fountains, succeeded to the church of York, chiefly through the exertions of the venerable Eugenius, who had formerly been his companion and fellow-student, under father Bernard, at Clarevaux, and who was fully acquainted with his life, his morals, and his industry. Lastly, he most warmly favoured his election; and, when he was duly consecrated, honoured him with the prerogative of the pall. On his return to England, however, Stephen refused to receive him, unless he made oath to observe his fealty. In consequence, too, of the king's withholding his favour, the citizens of York, who were better disposed towards their deposed prelate, also refused to receive him. The city being placed under an interdict for this contumacy, and the functions of the church being suspended, Eustace, the king's son, came and ordered the celebration of divine service, and commanded such as did not yield to his threats to be put out of the city. The rela- tions of the deposed prelate, inflamed equally by their own fury, and the countenance of the king, became hostile and terrible to all who had appeared to favour his disgrace ; insomuch that they had no scruple in putting to death the senior archdeacon,^ who had accidentally fallen into their hands. However, after some years, the king was appeased, and then the citizens of York received their rightful prelate with joy ; and thus the calm of anxiously-desired peace beamed forth after a long-continued discord. Chap. XVIII.— Op the Cause op the Second Crusade to Jerusalem. In the twelfth year of his reign, king Stephen having (as before - mentioned) ' wrested the city of Lincoln from the earl of Chester, was desirous of being solemnly crowned there on Christmas-day,* wisely disregarding an ancient superstition, which forbade the kings of England from entering that city. On his proceeding into the town, without the least hesitation, he encountered no sinister omen, as that idle tradition had portended would be the case ; but after having solemnized his coronation, he retired from it, after a few days, with joy, and contempt at this superstitious vanity.* In the same year a countless multitude from all Christian nations, tribes, and languages, bearing the ensign of Christ crucified, entered on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The cause of this very celebrated expedition is related as follows. Beyond the great river Euphrates there is a noble city of Mesopotamia — now commonly called * Henry Murdac was consecrated 7tli Dec. 1147. ' This is, apparently, the Osbert de Baines mentioned by Stubbes, col. 1721. See also Le Neve, iii. 131. 3 See Chapter XIII. * A.D. 1147. ^ The EngUsh historians frequently allude to this superstition. See Hen. Hunt. fol. 225 b. and Rog. Hoved. fol. 280 b. CH. xvni.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 423 Rohesia, but more properly, by its ancient name, Edessa— profess- ing the Christian faith from the days of Constantine the Great, and famed for possessing the reliques of the blessed Thomas the Apostle, brought thither from India. So great was the zeal of this city for the catholic faith under the Arian Emperor Valens, as it is related,^ that when he sent the prefect to massacre all who assembled to pray at the church of the apostle, not a single individual remained at home, but all, from the least to the greatest, ran thither to die for the truth of their religion, much more eagerly than to a banquet ; insomuch that a certain woman, in her haste, dragging with her a little boy, for the purpose of ofiering both herself and her offspring as victims to Christ, actually interrupted the progress of the officer who was hastening thither with dreadful array. And when the Saracens for many years back, by the hidden counsels of God, had been permitted, beyond measure, to make havoc of Christians, and had taken possession of their noblest cities — Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and, among other eastern provinces, those of Egypt and Sj^ria, where Christ was worshipped— and had exterminated the Christian name in all these places, this single city, acting as the defender not only of her own walls, but of the adjoining territory, though surrounded by numberless and most inveterate enemies, remained unconquered even to the time of the first Crusade, when Jerusalem and Antioch were gained by the Christians through the expulsion of the Saracens. Then, indeed, the people of Edessa, suffering by the incursions of the Turks, entreated assistance from our army, and received, as their first commander of Gallic origin, the most courageous Baldwin, brother of the illustrious Godfrey. When this prince had been elevated to the throne of Jerusalem, after his brother Godfrey, the govern- ment of Edessa was vigorously administered by other commanders down to Jccelin ; this man's wanton inconstancy and lust caused not only that a city, celebrated for its Christian zeal for nearly nine hundred years, should be delivered, by the treachery of a per- fidious individual, over to the hands of the Turks, but further, he effected the extirpation of the holy faith. This person was an Armenian by descent, a native of this city, and, by hereditary right, occupied a tower adjoining to the wall. Jocelin was captivated by the beauty of this man's daughter, and, forcibly carrying her off, debauched her. Bewailing his dishonoured daughter, and craftily dissembling the magnitude of his grief, in order that he might extend his revenge on one so as to include the destruction of many, on the most sacred eve of our Lord's Nativity, while holy vigils were celebrating in the churches, after the Christian mode, this person introduced the Turks, by secret compact, into the city. Insatiably thirsting after Christian blood, they rushed on the people, who, in security, were watching in the church. They slaughtered the archbishop, as it is reported, while standing at the altar ; and put the unresisting people to the sword, who were lost in astonish- ment at the sudden chance. Thus was Edessa, the early fosterer 1 The authorities cited for this story by Baroniua (a.d. 371, § lOS), are Socrates iv. 14; Sozom. vi. 18 ; and Theod. iv. 16. 424 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. of the Christian faith, and which had hitherto been unconquered during so many ages, taken and subjugated to the power of the vilest nation upon earth. Moreover, its furthest boundaries being overrun by the ceaseless fury of the enemy, and compelled to yield to their abominable possession, the worship of the Christian religion was utterly extirpated on the other side of the Euphrates. Excited by the report of this disaster, the noblest princes of the Christian faith — Conrad, emperor of Italy and Germany, and Lewis, king of France — most readily took up the ensign of Christ ; and with them were associated many nobles, and people innumer- able, out of almost every Christian province. Chap. XIX. — Of the Heresy op Eudo de Stella, ahd his Death. About the same time, pope Eugenius* was called to the admini- stration of the holy see of Rome, on account of the strictness of his monastic character. He came into France for the maintenance of ecclesiastical discipline, and held a general council at Reims. Here, while he was sitting, fully attended by prelates and nobles, a certain malignant person was brought before him, who, possessed with the spirit of the devil, had led astray so many people by his demo- niacal craft, that, relying on the number of his followers, he traversed different places in an alarming manner, manifesting his hostility more especially against churches and monasteries. After a long and suc- cessful career, wisdom at length getting the ascendency of malignity, he was taken by the archbishop of Reims, and presented to this holy synod. Eudo,^ surnamed de Stella, a Breton by nation, was a man so illiterate and uninformed, and so bewitched by the wiles of the devil, that, because he was called " Eun," in the French language, he imagined that the form used in ecclesiastical exorcisms, namely, " by Him who shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and the world by fire." pertained to himself. So stupid was he, as to be incapable of distinguishing between "eum" and "Eun," and so blindly ignorant as to believe himself to be the ruler and the judge of the living and the dead. So powerful was he, through the cunning of the devil, in catching the souls of the ignorant, that, like flies entangled in the spider's web, he gathered round himself a deluded multitude, which closely followed him as the King of kings. Sometimes he traversed different provinces, with incredible velocity, and sometimes took up his abode, with all his adherents, in wild and desert places. Thence again, at the instigation of the devil, he suddenly sallied out, in the character more especially of the persecutor of churches and monasteries. His friends and relatives frequently attended him, for he was not of the lowest cast, either that they might admonish him in virtue of their rela- tionship, or more certainly discover exactly how circumstances ' Eugenius III. was elected pope, 5tli February, 1145 ; on 26tli March, 1147, he was at Clugni, and held a general council at Reims, which began its sittings on 21st March, 1148. 2 See Robert de Monte, a.d. 1148 ; Otto of Frisingen, i. 55. The proceedings of the council are preserved in Labb. Concil. x. 1107. Cii. XIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 425 were. He appeared possessed of considerable dignity ; his ap- pointments and attendants were princely ; and his adherents, free from anxiety and labour, seemed to be expensively apparelled, to banquet splendidly, and to live in perfect joy, insomuch that many of the persons who had come to seize him were deluded, not by his real, but by his imaginary, glory. These circumstances were magically effected by evil spirits, the powers of the air, by whom the wretched multitude were supported in desert places not with real, and substantial, but by aerial, aliments. For as we have since heard from certain persons who were in his party, and who, after his capture, wandered over the world by way of penance — they might have, as often as they pleased, bread, and flesh, and fish, and every other daintier viand. Indeed, that this food was aerial, not substantial, and was supplied invisibly by the demons of air, rather to ensnare their souls than to feed their bodies, is evidenced by this, that the slightest eructation voided the repletion caused by such food, and then such insatiable hunger succeeded, that they were compelled to feed again. Moreover, whosoever approached them accidentally, and tasted even slightly of their food, lost his under- standing from having participated in the table of demons, and con- tinued inseparably with this beastly congregation ; and whoever received any thing from them, of any kind, was by no means safe from danger. Finally, it is reported that a certain knight, related to this pestilential fellow, went to him, and honestly admonished him to abjure this impious sect, and to be restored to his own family by the communion of Christian grace. Craftily deceiving the man, he showed him, in vast variety, an abundance of magic wealth, in order that he might be captivated by the tempting charm of what he saw — " You are my relation," he said, " take what you please of mine ; " but this prudent man, having given his advice in vain, retired immediately to depart ; his attendant, nevertheless, conceived a strong desire (though to his own destruction) to pos- sess a hawk of singular beauty which he saw. Asking and obtain- ing it, he gladly followed his master, who was already departing. " Cast away instantly," said he, "what you are carrying, for it is not a bird, as it appears to be, but a devil so metamorphosed." The truth of his words appeared shortly after : for when the silly man rejected his advice, he first complained that the hawk griped his fist rather strongly with his talons, presently he was lifted by the hand into the air, and soon after vanished altogether. Indeed, this demoniac proceeded to such a pitch, by the agency of the devil, that it was said that armies were frequently despatched after him by princes, but in vain, to trace out and pursue him : but when sought he could not be found. At length, he was deprived of the aid of devils, when they were no longer permitted to domineer by means of him (for their power extends no further than the limits granted by superior powers at the discretion of God) ; he was taken prisoner, with little difficulty, by the archbishop of Reims, and the infatuated people who followed him were dispersed ; but such of his disciples who kept closer to him, and were his coadjutors, were taken along with him. When standing in the presence of the 426 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. council, and asked by the pontiff who he was, he rephed, " I am Eun, who is to come to judge both the quick and the dead, and the world by fire." He held in his hand a staff of uncommon form, and forked at top ; and being asked the meaning of this, he said, "It is a matter of great mystery ; as long as it points to heaven with its two forks, as you see in its present state, God pos- sesses two parts of the world, and yields the third to me — again, if I incline the two forks of the stick to the earth, and elevate the lower part, which is single, towards heaven, retaining two portions of the world to myself, I shall only leave the third to God." At this the whole assembly laughed, and derided a man so completely given up to a reprobate mind. Being ordered by a decree of the council to be closely confined, lest his excesses should gain ground again, he survived but a short time. His disciples, however, whom he had signalized with pompous names, calling one Wisdom, another Knowledge, a third Judgment, and the rest in like manner ; when they were incapable of sound doctrine, and rather boasted of these false appellations, to such a degree, that he who was called Judgment threatened in vain confidence the severest vengeance on his detainers — being delivered over first to the law, and then to the flames, preferred the stake to a change of life. I have heard from a venerable character, who was present at those proceedings, that he heard him who was called Judgment, when being conducted to execution, repeatedly exclaim, "Earth, divide thyself," as if at his command the earth would open and swallow up his enemies, like Dathan and Abiram. Such is the power of error, when it once has gotten hold of the heart. Chap. XX. — How the emperor Conrad and kino Louis led their Forces INTO THE East. In the one thousand one hundred and forty-seventh year from the delivery of the Virgin, every preparation for so formidable an expedition being made, and their armies divided into two bodies, these princes entered on their march. The emperor departed some days previously, attended by very large bodies of Italians, Germans, and other nations. The king followed with the Franks, Flemings, Normans, Bretons, English, Burgundians, Provencals, and Aqui- tanians, both horse and foot. On entering Hungary, having con- ciliated the king of that country so as to afford them supplies of provisions, they passed the Danube, and, proceeding through Thrace with abundant provision for their march, they arrived safely at the city of Constantinople. Here they pitched their tents without the city, resting the army for several days ; and having at length made agreement with the emperor of that city, they passed over the narrow frith, which is called the strait of St. George. On their arrival in Asia Minor, (part of which belongs to Constan- tinople, and part to the Sultan of Iconium,) they experienced the perfidy of the Greek emperor ; for our people had excited his indignation by certain excesses, and also called down the anger of CH. XXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 427 Almighty God, by conducting themselves with pride and want of subordination. We read in old time that God's whole immense army was so defiled by the crime of one man sinning, even secretly, and so deserted by the divine favour, as that " the hearts of the people melted, and became as water" [Josh. vii. 5]. On con- sulting the Lord, He replied, that "the people were polluted bv a curse ;" and added, " There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel : thou canst not stand before thine enemies ; until ye take away the accursed thing from among you " [verse 13], In like manner in our army such enormities had gained strength, not only against their discipline as Christians, but as soldiers, that it was not surprising if the divine favour did not smile upon them, polluted and corrupted as they were. Camps are called castra,' from the castration of impurity ; but our camps were not chaste, for there the lusts of many were raging through ill-starred licen- tiousness. Presuming, therefore, on the multitude and equipment of their forces, and proudly making flesh their arm, they confided too little in the mercy and power of God, in whose cause they would have seemed zealous, and proved the truth of the saying, that " God resisteth the proud, but giveth gr?.ce unto the humble " [Jam. iv. 6]. Besides this, though they now were in the territory of a christian prince, with whom they were in league, and by whose command they had obtained supplies, yet they abstained not from plunder. In consequence, the irritated emperor assailed them with famine and with war, and, though a Christian, shuddered not to spill christian blood. Lastly, prohibiting all supplies, when our party were prevented from foragir.j by the ambush of the enemy, the army first wasted away by hunger, nest, falling into the snares of the adversary, either dyed the swords of the Turks with its blood, or exchanged its state of christian liberty for the most wretched and ignominious slavery ; nor was God's anger withheld from the punishment of these proud and corrupted people ; for frequently, as it is said, torrents of unseasonable rain from on high destroyed more of our troops than the sword of the enemy had devoured. Thus, by far the greatest part of two immense armies being annihi- lated by different accidents and misfortunes, with the remainder, these two great princes, narrowly escaping destruction, reached Jerusalem ; and, without having accomplished any one memorable exploit, they returned home inglorious. Chap. XXI. — Of Raymond, prince op Antioch ; and of the Capture op ASCALON. The Christians having been ignominiously driven back to their quarters, and the Saracens, being enriched with vast spoils of the slain and wounded Christians, greatly increased their fame. So elated were they with success, and so confident of their power, that, at length, they plunged into the territory of the Christians, meditat- ing their entire destruction in the East : this, so to speak, was (for • An etymology wortliy of Isidore, (Orig. ix. 3,) from wtich it ia borrowed, according to Picard. VOL. IV. F F 428 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book. i. them) most auspiciously commenced by the death of Raymond, the most christian prince of Antioch. This prince (the bravest defender of the christian cause in the East) had earned for himself the fame of the ancient Machabseus by his glorious achieve- ments. I well remember to have seen, in my youth, a venerable monk returning from the East full of information. He had formerly served under that valiant prince, and frequently related this anecdote among other memorable things of him. His bravery had rendered him such an object of terror to the Turks, that, whenever they sent an army against him, they appointed one hundred knights against his sword, and as many against his spear. When, therefore, (as I have said,) the enemy were so encouraged, by the recent discomfiture of the Christians, as to attack, with their usual boldness, the outposts of Antioch ; he, relying on his own courage, attacked them with a handful of men, instead of waiting to assemble a sufficient force"; and after many glorious deeds, he fell, overpowered with numbers, like the ancient Machabaeus. Wliile the enemy, elated by their success, were meditating an attack on the city of Antioch, the news of this defeat reached Baldwin, the magnanimous king of Jerusalem, who at once flew to the assistance of the Christians, with the Knights Templars, under the banner of the Lord's cross ; he reached the affrighted city just in time to prevent the entrance of the enemy, who, nevertheless, advanced and blockaded the town. And thus it came to pass that he, who but a short time before had resisted them in their pride, now granted them the fullest grace in their submission ; for, by divine favour, they were enabled, after a short breathing time, not only to force the enemy, now swelling with success, to raise the siege, but also to retreat out of the christian territory. As their strength gradually increased, they marched, in a short time, into the territory of the enemy, and compelled them, who of late had been the assailants, now to defend themselves at home with imminent danger. At length, in a few years, the Knights Templars repaired Gaza, an ancient city of Palestine, and obtained its most fruitful country. Also the famous king Baldwin, with much glory, assaulted and captured Ascalon, the most flourishing and best fortified city in that province, which hitherto could not be taken by the Christians, under whose authority and power the whole of Palestine was reduced. Chap. XXII. — Oi" the unsettled State of the domestic Affairs op England DNDEB KING STEPHEN. In the meantime, while these things were being done around us and by us in the East, England, enfeebled and crippled, was wasted by intestine wars. Truly it has been written of old, of an ancient people, " In those days there was no king in Israel ; but every man did that which was right in his own eyes," [Judg. xvii.6;] but in England, under king Stephen, the matter was worse; for, at CH. XXin.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 429 that time the law was powerless of necessity, because the king was powerless. Some persons did whatever seemed right to themselves; many of opposite inclinations did what in their own minds they knew to be wrong. Indeed, at first sight, it seemed as if England were cut in twain, some favouring the king, and others the empress; while neither king nor empress had power effectually to curb their adherents ; for neither of them was able to exercise complete authority, or maintain rigid discipline over their party, but by denying them nothing they respectively restrained them from revolt. Indeed, (as before it has been observed,) frequent contests, attended with varying fortune, continued long between these parties. In process of time, however, as they had both experienced the inconstancy of fortune, their exertions became more languid, though this proved of no advantage to England ; for while they became weary of continued conflict, and relaxed in their efforts, commotions raged throughout the provincial districts, among the discordant nobles. Again, from a party spirit, numerous castles had been erected in the several provinces ; and there were now in England, in a certain measure, as many kings, or rather tyrants, as there were lords of castles ; each coining his owti money, and possessing a power, similar to that of kings, in dictating laws to their dependants. While all, in this manner, were contending with each other, some were unable to endure a superior, others disdained even an equal ; their deadly feuds filled the fairest dis- tricts with rapine and burnings, and deprived a country, which lately had been most abundant, of nearly its whole staff of bread. But the northern districts, as far as the river Tees, which had fallen under the jurisdiction of David, king of Scotland, was (thanks to his activity) in a state of repose. He received a visit from Henry (who was the son of Matilda his niece, the late empress, by the earl of Anjou), the future king of England, who had been despatched thither by his mother. He received the badge of knighthood at Lugubalia, commonly called Carlisle, from David, he having first pledged himself, as it is reported, that he would never despoil this king's heirs of any portion of the English territory which was now subject to king David. Chap. XXIII. — Of David, king of Scotland, and his Son and Grandchildren. At this period Henry, only son of king David, earl of Northum- berland, and, as was anticipated, the successor to the kingdom, died prematurely,^ to the inexpressible grief of both English and Scots, leaving by his wife, the daughter of the earl of Warren,* three sons and as many daughters. He was a most illustrious youth, and, what is rarely to be found in a man treading the broad path of life, conspicuous alike for the suavity and sincerity of his manners. This truly melancholy event gave a dreadful shock to his affectionate father ; but the firmness of his mind (for he was a good and wise man), set proper bounds to his grief, and embracing ' He died, during tlie life of his father, in the year 1152. " See Dugd. Baron, i. 68. F F 2 430 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I, his two grandchildren, (for, unless I am mistaken, their mother was as yet pregnant with the third,) and imagining his son to live again in them, he took consolation. Moreover, some years after, when he was about to pay the common debt of all, he declared that Malcolm, his son's firstborn, yet a youth, should be the successor to the kingdom, and assigned the county of Northumberland to his brother William. The elder more resembled his father, as well in manners as in person, while the younger bore a likeness equally striking to his mother in countenance and disposition. At length, David, king of Scotland — a man great and glorious in this world, and of equal glory in Christ — slept ^ with his fathers. For, as we have heard from credible witnesses, who were acquainted with his life and actions, he was a religious and pious man, of surpass- ing prudence and discretion in the administration of temporal affairs, and yet of great devotion towards God. He was by no means regardless of heavenly duties on account of the business of his kingdom, nor inattentive to the management of his government, on account of his attendance on spiritual concerns. After an honourable state of wedlock, and a bed undefiled, (whence sprang that only son, who so much resembled him,) he continued single for many years. He was so liberal in pious gifts that numerous churches of saints, bespeaking his pious magnificence, were either founded, enriched, or adorned by him, independently of his liberal distribution to the poor. And, indeed, as he much resembled, both in name and many things, that person, of whom God had said that He had found a man after his own heart,^ so also, amidst many distinguishing actions, did the comparison hold good in one remark- able particular; for as the king of Israel, after many eminent proofs of virtue, fell at the same time into adultery and murder, weak in one, and wicked in the other, so did this prince, good and pious in other respects, let loose the Scots, thirsting for blood against the English people, through savage barbarity, and sparing neither sex nor age, though he did his utmost in vain to prevent it ; for he was more than reasonably interested for his niece the empress, whose party, (as he supposed justly,) he favoured. Again, too, as in the one case the exuberant grace of him who had chosen the former David healed his wound, or rather wounds, by pious humility ; so also we believe that this other David wiped away the guilt of such an enormity by fruits meet for repentance. Not only, indeed, in the completion of holy works, but in the exercise of fruitful penitence, did this present David, the civilized king of an uncivilized people, fill up the outline of his royal prototype. And it is to be remarked, that ■IS after his repentance David was chastised by God for the guilt of his former transgression, by means of a most wicked son, so this king also met his punishment, though infinitely milder, by a certain pretended monk and bishop. This man I often saw afterwards at Byland, and heard of his most audacious acts, as well as his merited misfortunes. Such things ought not to be passed over in silence, that posterity may learn how He who resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, was illustrated by this individual. 1 He died on 24th May, 1153. ^ gee 1 Sam. xiii. 14. en. xxrv.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 431 Chap. XXIV. — Of bishop Wimukd,' his Life unbecoming a bishop, and how HE WAS DEPRIVED OF SiGHT. This person was born in England, of the meanest origin, and after acquiring the first elements of literature, not having wherewith to support himself at school, he undertook, (as he had some know- ledge of the art of writing,) for a maintenance, the office of scribe to certain monks. After this, he received the tonsure at Furness, and professed the monastic life ; when he had obtained access to a sufficient number of books, with adequate leisure, and assisted with three admirable requisites — an ardent temper, a retentive memory, and competent eloquence — he advanced so rapidly, that the highest expectations were formed of him. After a time, being despatched with his brethren to the Isle of Man, he so pleased the barbarous natives with the sweetness of his address, and openness of his countenance, being also of a tall and athletic make, that they requested him to become their bishop, and obtained their desire. He now became inflated with success, and began to conceive great designs. Not content with the dignity of his episcopal office, he next anticipated in his mind how he might accomplish great and wonderful things ; for he possessed a haughty speaking mouth with the proudest heart. At last, having collected a band of needy and desperate men, and not fearing the judgment of truth, he feigned himself to be the son of the earl of Moray, and that he was deprived of the inheritance of his fathers by the king of Scotland. He affirmed that it was his intention not merely to assert his rights, but to avenge his wrongs, that he wished them to be par- takers both of his dangers and of his fortunes ; and though the matter might be attended with some labour and peril, still much glory and great advantage were attached to it. All the people being incited, and having taken an oath to him, he began his mad career throughout the adjacent islands ; and became, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord,^ forgetting that his episcopal office required of him to be, with Peter, a fisher of men.* Every day he was joined by troops of adherents, among whom he was conspicuous above all by the head and shoulders ; and, like some mighty com- mander, he inflamed their desires. He then made a descent on the provinces of Scotland, wasting all before him with rapine and slaughter ; but whenever the royal army was despatched against him, he eluded the whole warlike preparation, either by retreating to distant forests, or taking to the sea ; and when the troops had re- tired, he again issued from his hiding-places to ravage the provinces. But, while he was thus successful in everything, and had become an object of terror even to the king, a certain bishop — a man of sin- gular simplicity — repressed his audacity for a time. When this bishop was threatened with extermination by war, if he did not pay him tribute, he replied, " God's will be done ; but from my example no one bishop shall ever become tributary to another." — 1 He was a monk of Seez, in Normandy ; consecrated bishop of Sodor and Man in. or before, 1114, and deprived and blinded in 1151. See Le Neve, iii. 323. Keith's Scottish Bishops, p. 297. - See Gen. x. 9. 3 M^tt. iv. 19. 432 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. I. Whereupon spiriting up his people, superior only in faith, for in other respects he was greatly inferior, he met him as he was furiously advancing, and himself striking the first blow in the battle, by way of animating his party, he threw a small hatchet, and, by God's assistance, he felled his enemy to the earth, as he was march- ing in the van. Gladdened at this event, the people rushed desperately against the marauders, and killing vast numbers of them, compelled their ferocious leader shamefully to fly. Wimund himself used afterwards, with much pleasantry, boastingly to relate among his friends, that God alone was able to vanquish him by the faith of a simple bishop. This circumstance I learnt from a person who had been one of his soldiers, and had fled with those who had made their escape. Recovering his forces, however, he ravaged the islands and provinces of Scotland, as he had done before. The king was, therefore, compelled to soothe the plunderer, adopting the wise counsel of acting by stratagem against a proud and crafty foe ; for this was a case in which strength was of no avail. Therefore, yielding a certain province to him, together with the monastery of Furness, he suspended his incursions for a while ; but whilst he was proudly proceeding through his subject province, surrounded by his army, like a king, and severe to a degree against the very monastery where he had been a monk, some of the people, who were unable to endure either his power or his insolence, with the consent of the nobles, laid a snare for him. Obtaining a favourable opportunity, when he was following slowly, and almost unattended, a large party which he had sent forward to procure entertainment, they took and bound him, and as both eyes were wicked, deprived him of both ; and, providing against all future excess, they made him an eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of Scotland, not for that of Heaven. Afterwards he came to us at Byland, and quietly continued there many years till his death. But he is reported even there to have said, that had he only the eye of a sparrow his enemies should have little occasion to rejoice at what they had done to him. Chap. XXV. — Op Malcolm the most christian king op the Scots. Malcolm, the elder of his grandsons, while yet a boy, succeeded to David, king of the Scots, above mentioned.^ Rivalling his venerable grandsire in many of his virtues, and nobly surpassing him in others, he shone like a heavenly star in the midst of a barbarous and perverse generation. For, prevented by God by the blessing of goodness, that from his youth he should imbibe the fervour of celestial love, he so excelled throughout his whole life in immaculate chastity, humility, innocence, and an unsullied con- science, as well as equal sweetness and gravity of manners, that among seculars, whom he resembled only in habit, he appeared a monk, and among his subjects an angel upon earth. Such things were wonderful indeed in a king, but more especially in the king of so uncivilized a nation ; nevertheless, by God's directing ' In chap, xxiii. CH. XXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 433 hand, he so governed all his actions that, so far from being an object of contempt to the barbarians on account of his virtues, he was rather one of admiration and regard ; while, by his royal authority and severity, he was a terror to the rebellious and the wicked. Still there were some persons who, ripe for fresh com- motions, either thought fit to attack him, or else to withhold his dues. But God, evidently working with him, either so depressed or subdued them, that all from that time feared to molest a man befriended by the Almighty. Neither, again, was there wanting, on his approach to manhood, a set of people sent against him by the devil, who, regardless of the loss of their own chastity, were anxious to inflame his desire for sensual gratification, by unholy attempts and vicious insinuations. But he who was already desirous of following the Lamb whithersoever He went, had so deeply imbibed the spirit of unblemished purity, and knew from the secret instructions of God, not of man, that this treasure was to be guardedly kept in frail flesh as in an earthen vessel, at first treated with contempt the lewd persuasions of his associates, or such as he looked up to as instructors ; but, on their persisting, he so checked them authoritatively, both by words and countenance, that from that time none of them dared to suggest such things. The enemy, thus foiled in this respect, invidiously proceeded further, and laid a more subtle stratagem for this child of God. He instructed his mother to administer the secret poison, under the cover of maternal affection, and not merely to ensnare him by blandishments, but even to compel him by her authority ; she reminded him that he was not a monk, but a monarch, and suggested to him that female embraces were highly becoming his age and person. Constrained rather than overcome by the entreaties of his mother, that he might not distress her, he yielded a seeming compliance. Joyously attending on her son when he had retired to bed, she placed by his unresisting side a beautiful and noble virgin. When left alone by the departure of his attendants, and more inflamed by the love of charity than in- ordinate desire, he immediately arose, and relinquishing the royal couch the whole night to the maiden, slept on the floor, covered only with a cloak. Being found in this situation next morning by the chamberlains, this — corroborated by the testimony of the damsel herself — established the purity of both of them. He prevented his mother from ever again presuming on a similar attempt by the authority of his determined constancy, however disposed she might be either to reproach or allure. Let the advocates for miracles say what they please, apportioning merit according to the wonder, and bestowing the title of sanctity only on the evidence of miracles ; for my part, I openly prefer the miracle of so youthful a king's chastity thus attacked, and thus impregnable, not only to the restoring of sight to the blind, but even to the raising of the dead. 434 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book, I. Chap. XXVI.— Of the Appointment op Hugh, bishop op Durham, and the Restoration of William op York, and his Death. But to return a while from Scotland. William' de Sancta Barbara, bishop of Durham, a pious man, being dead, Hugh, treasurer of the church of York, was elected to the see, on account of his noble birth — for he was related to king Stephen — although he was strongly opposed by the venerable Henry, archbishop of York, (to whom pertained the consecration of the bishop of Durham,) both on account of the uncanonical age of the elect, as well as the lightness of his character. In consequence of this, the chief of the electors, together with the elect, proceeded to the apostolical see, as well on account of the election as the consecra- tion. The archbishop also sent his proxy to oppose the election, and prevent the consecration. But the venerable Eugenius,^ who had been the archbishop's fellow-student at Clarevaux, having recently quitted the world, they found Anastasius presiding at Rome. Three very memorable personages indeed, and most friendly to each other in this life, dying about that time, were in death sepa- rated only by a trifling interval of time, that is to say, Eugenius, the Roman pontiff, Bernard,* abbot of Clarevaux, and Henry,* archbishop of York ; of whom, Eugenius and Bernard first departing, Henry quickly followed. The death of the two former being proclaimed, while the third was yet surviving, William, formerly archbishop of York, now resident at Winchester, con- ceiving a hope of his restoration, went hastily to Rome, not arraigning the decision against him, but humbly craving pity ; for the first of these prelates had deposed him, the second had been accessary thereto, and the third had succeeded him. And behold, an authentic account arriving from England of the demise of the archbishop of York, greatly assisted his very humble petition. The bishop of Durham elect, who had arrived first, being solemnly consecrated by the sovereign pontiff, departed while the fortune of the late comer was yet undecided. At length, however, he also experienced the clemency of the apostolical kindness, the rigour of his former sentence being reversed ; for the pope and cardinals pitied his grey hairs ; and Gregory, a cardinal in high esteem, a most eloquent and intriguing man, and of a truly Roman spirit, took a very active part in his behalf. Wherefore, being completely reinstated, and honoured with the pall, which, until that time, he could never obtain, he returned to Winchester on Easter-eve, [3d April, 1154,] and there having solemnized Easter, he hastened, after the octaves, to his own city. But Robert, dean of the church of York, and Osbert, the archdeacon, met him without the city, with no pacific intentions, and for the purpose of repelling him from his wished-for see, boldly propounded certain articles against 1 Wmiain de S.Barbara died 14th November, 1152. 2 Eugenius III. died 8th July, 1153, and was succeeded by Anastasius IV., who was consecrated on July 12. See JafFe Regest. pp. 652, 653. 3 Bernard died 20th August, 1153, S. Bernard! Opera, i. 94, ed. 1839. * Henry Murdac, archbishop of York, died 14th October, 1153. Le Neve, ui. 99. en. XXVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 435 him. Proceeding onward, however, he was received by the clergy and people with solemn procession and great applause. His adversaries then went hastily to Theobald, archbishop of Can- terbury, at that time legate in England, and made use of his favour and countenance. However, not long after the octaves of Easter, while ruling his recovered church with moderate discipline (being, on account of his natural affability, obnoxious to no one), he was seized shortly after Pentecost^ with a fever, and hurried from this life, to the inexpressible grief of the clergy, as well as the laity, at the loss of their most amiable pastor. From his unexpected death, it was generally^ believed that this event was occasioned by poison ; for, dreadful to relate, they assert that even from the sacred chalice, he drank with the draught of life a deadly potion, drugged by some of his adversaries, or one attached to their party. This, however, was merely the opinion of certain persons, who malignantly dispersed it abroad as the genuine truth. On the prevalence of such a rumour, in process of time, I deemed it necessary solemnly to inquire of a distinguished and aged man, a monk of Rievaux, now sickly, and on the verge of death, who at that time was a canon at York, and an associate of the archbishop in question, but he constantly affirmed that this was a most atrocious falsehood, founded on the notion of certain persons, for that, when this circumstance is said to have been attempted, he was present at the archbishop's side, and that no ill-disposed person could possibly elude the vigilance of his faithful attendants for the perpetration of such an outrage. He added, moreover, that the report was false, which stated that the arch- bishop refused to take an antidote at the suggestion of his friends, when the malice of his enemies was suspected to have attempted his life ; and to confirm this supposition or pretext, they relate that he said that he would not superadd a human to a celestial antidote. Indeed, as he was both a wise man, and instructed by divine authority not to tempt God, he cannot be supposed to have spoken and acted in this manner. In addition to this, I have heard Symphorianus, his domestic chaplain, who had been long in his service, and his devoted attendant in his sickness, declare that he did take the antidote at the instance of his friends, as a wise man might be supposed to do. From the same person, too, I have learnt that his surrounding friends were chiefly led to the idea that he had drank something poisonous, from his teeth, which had before been white, becoming black in his last agony ; but this is ridiculed by the physicians, because the teeth of a dying person always assume that tinge. Moreover, the death of the archbishop of York being discovered, Robert, the dean, and Osbert, the archdeacon, by the assistance and aid of the archbishop of Canterbury, the pope's legate, elected Roger,^ his archdeacon, to ^ Whitsunday feU upon 23d May, 1154. The date of his death is Sth June. See Le Neve, iii. 100. * Hoveden is one of those who gave credence to the report, which is disproved by the evidence adduced by our historian. ^ Koger of Bishop's Bridge, archdeacon of Canterbury, was consecrated by Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, 10th October, 1154, and died in 1181. 436 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [BOOK. L the cathedral church of York ; and, by means of great influence and terror, induced the chapter of York to give their consent; but of this I shall speak more fully in its place. ^ Chap. XXVII. — Op the Green Children. Nor does it seem right to pass over an unheard-of prodigy, which, as is well known, took place in England during the reign of king Stephen. Though it is asserted by many, yet I have long been in doubt concerning the matter, and deemed it ridiculous to give credit to a circumstance supported on no rational foundation, or at least one of a very mysterious character ; yet, at length I was so overwhelmed by the weight of so many and such competent witnesses, that I have been compelled to believe, and wonder over a matter, which I was unable to comprehend, or unravel, by any powers of intellect. In East Anglia there is a village, distant, as it is said, four or five miles from the noble monastery of the blessed king and martyr, Edmund ; * near this place are seen some very ancient cavities, called " Wolfpittes," that is, in English, " Pits for wolves," and which give their name to the adjacent village.' During harvest, while the reapers were employed in gathering in the produce of the fields, two children, a boy and a girl, completely green in their persons, and clad in garments of a strange colour, and unknown materials, emerged from these excavations. While wandering through the fields in astonishment, they were seized by the reapers, and conducted to the village, and many persons coming to see so novel a sight, they were kept some days without food. But, when they were nearly exhausted with hunger, and yet could relish no species of support which was offered to them, it happened, that some beans were brought in from the field, which they immediately seized with avidity, and examined the stalk for the pulse, but not finding it in the hollow of the stalk, they wept bitterly. Upon this, one of the bystanders, taking the beans from the pods, offered them to the children, who seized them directly, and ate them with pleasure. By this food they were supported for many months, until they learnt the use of bread. At length, by degrees, they changed their original colour, through the natural effect of our food, and became like ourselves, and also learnt our language. It seemed fitting to certain' discreet persons that they should receive the sacrament of baptism, which was administered accordingly. The boy, who appeared to be the younger, surviving his baptism but a little time, died prematurely ; his sister, however, continued in good health, and differed not in the least from the women of our own country. Afterwards, as it is reported, she was married at Lynne, and was living a few years since, at least, so they say. Moreover, » See Book III. oh. v. 2 B^ry St. Edmunds, in Suffolk. ^ Wulpet, a market town, concei-ning which, see Camden's Brit. col. 443, who mentions this story from Newburgh. Ralph of Coggeshall, (cited by Picard in his notes upon this passage,) mentions this occurrence, but refers it to the reign of Henry II. He derived his information, as he states, from Sir Richard de Calne, in whose house these children resided. en. XXVin.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 437 after they had acquired our language, on being asked who and whence they were, they are said to have replied, " We are in- habitants of the land of St. Martin, who is regarded with peculiar veneration in the country which gave us birth." Bein The philosophy of the Middle Ages upon the questions here touched upon by the author, may be seen in Tho. Aquinas Sum. p. 1. q. 110, art. iv. ^ See Chap. XXII. . » Ibid. 440 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [book. I. that not more than a hundred and forty knights and three thousand foot soldiers accompanied him into England. His arrival becoming known, such as had all along favoured his mother, eagerly flocked to him. His forces by this means being vastly increased, he laid siege to the castle of Malmesbury, which was garrisoned by king Stephen, The king, immediately collecting his adherents, with his son Eustace, a most courageous youth, flew hastily to the spot, and challenged the enemy to the conflict ; but he, remaining in his camp, and wisely declining for a time the decision of a battle, in consequence of the insufficiency of his numbers, afforded the eager enemy no opportunity for engaging. Whereupon the king, unable to attack the adversary with advantage, and deeming it unsafe longer to remain in sight of the enemy's camp, retreated without effecting his purpose, and the castle fell into the hands of the besieger. Henry, in this manner, daily increased in the number of his forces, and in the good wishes of his partisans. The nobles of the kingdom, who had formerly taken the opposite side, now gradually revolted to him ; insomuch that, by the augmentation of his power and the brilliancy of his successes, the fame of the duke (for so he was called) obscured the kingly title of his opponent. He next proceeded with his army, properly arrayed, to Stamford, which being quickly besieged and taken, he obtained the fortress, after a few days, and ejected the king's troops ; but when he heard that Ipswich, which had joined his party, was besieged by the king, in order that he might raise the siege by the defeat of the enemy, he hastened with his army into the province of the East Angles ; but receiving tidings, after a little while, of the surrender of the place, he turned aside, and attacked Nottingham, which is seated on the river Trent, Having taken and plundered the town, he retreated, declining the useless labour of assaulting the castle, which, from its situation, appeared impregnable ; next, turning to other affairs, he prospered in everything, as though accompanied by the favour of God. Chap. XXX. — Of the Treaty between king Stephen and prince Henry, While this dispute between the king and the duke was pro- tracted with doubtful issue, Eustace, the son of Stephen, a most illustrious youth, died' prematurely, by the will of God, affording, by his death, an admirable opportunity for laying the basis of a reconciliation between the princes. For, as long as he survived, the parties could never join, and unite in peace, as well on account of his youthful impetuosity, as from certain lofty pretensions, arising from his affinity with the king of France, Both these obstacles to an agreement were thus removed by the death of one person, as it is believed, by the favour of God, who entertained thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, for England, which was torn and exhausted with intestine evils ; and men, pacifically in- clined, anxiously turned their thoughts to persuade and accomplish ' He died at Bury St. Edmunds, in August 1153. CH.XXXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 441 a reconciliation — for the father, being agonized beyond measure at the death of a son, his destined successor, relaxed in his warlike preparations, and listened with more than usual patience to the language of peace. The duke, too, regarding the counsels of the wise, who spoke upon the preference of an honourable and firm compact to dubious chances ; a solemn and salutary con- ference was effected between them. By the mediation of their friends, piously and prudently providing for the public good, a peace was cautiously made, and firmly established between them. It was decreed, that, for the future, Stephen should reign solely in England, with the dignity and honour of a legitimate sovereign, and that Henry should succeed him in the kingdom, as his lawful heir. Each prince, adopting this mode of accommodation, as useful and honourable, and all hostile acts hitherto committed, as well as all crimes, being buried in eternal oblivion, they rushed into each other's embraces, while the bystanders burst into tears of joy. The king, adopting the duke as his son, solemnly declared him his rightful successor ; and the duke honoured the king as his father and sovereign in the presence of all. "William, too, the king's younger son, at the command of his father, did homage to the duke, and the duke made satisfaction to him by a solemn treaty. These matters having taken place by the favour of God, the king received England, and England received peace. For during many years, having been distinguished only by the empty name of king, he appeared at this time to assume the substantial enjoyment of such a title, and, as it were, then first to reign ; because, he then first rightfully put on the robe of a legitimate prince, having wiped out the stain of his tyrannical usurpation. The duke, continuing some time in England after the solemnization of this pacific arrangement, prepared to embark, and the king, with his son William, and many of the nobility, joyously attended him on his departure. "While this young prince, "William, as was his usual custom, was galloping his horse in the sight of his father, it happened that by a fall of the animal his rider was violently dashed upon the ground. Unable to rise, for he had fractured his leg, he was the cause of poignant grief to his parent, and the whole party. He was removed to Canterbury, that he might be cured there ; but the king, shocked at the untoward accident, gave his commands and benediction to the duke, and dismissed him ; who, after a prosperous voyage, joyfully returned to his own country, about the beginning of summer.^ Chap. XXXI. — Of the Divorce of the king of Feance from his wife, ind OF HER Marriage with the future king op England. About the same time a divorce took place between Louis, king of France, and Eleanor, his queen — certain bishops and nobles asserting their consanguinity, under the solemn testimony of an oath. This princess, who was the only daughter of the duke of Aquitain, previous to the before-mentioned expedition to Jeru- * He arrived in Normandy about the Easter of 1154. 442 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I. salem, had been married to the king of France, and, by her union, had joined the very extensive duchy of Aquitain to the kingdom of France. She had, at first, so completely bewitched the young man's affections, by the beauty of her person, that when, on the eve of setting out on that famous crusade, he felt himself so strongly attached to his youthful bride, he resolved not to leave her behind, but to take her with him to the Holy War. Many nobles, following his example, also took their wives with them; who, unable to exist without female attendants, introduced a mul- titude of women into those christian camps, which ought to be chaste, but which became a scandal to our army, as it has been shown above. When the king had returned home, together with his wife, branded with the ignominy of not having accomplished his design, their former affection began, by degrees, to grow cold ; and causes of dissension arose between them. The queen was highly offended at the behaviour of the king, and asserted that she had married a monk, and not a monarch. It is also said, that during her union with the king of France, she aspired to a mar- riage with the duke of Normandy, as more congenial to her feel- ings ; and that, in consequence, she had wished for, and procured a divorce. Wlierefore, the dissension increasing, and she, as it is jaid, becoming extremely urgent, and he making no resistance, the Dond of conjugal union between them was dissolved by the power of ecclesiastical law. At length, legally freed from her husband, and enabled to marry whom she pleased, she accomplished her most anxiously-desired match, leaving her two daughters with their father. Afterwards, by their father's paternal appointment, they were united to Henry,' and Theobald, the sons of the illustrious earl Theobald. The queen, and the duke of Normandy, having met at an appointed place, were then united by the conjugal tie, which was solemnised not very splendidly, in proportion to their rank, but with guarded prudence, lest any pompous preparation for their nuptials should allow any obstacle to arise. Soon afterwards, the duchy of Aquitain, which extends from the borders of Anjou and Britanny to the Pyrenees, which separate France from Spain, gradually withdrawing itself from the power of France, yielded to the dominion of the duke of Normandy, in right of his wife. The French, indeed, pined with envy, but were unable to arrest the duke's progress. Chap. XXXIL— Of the Council at London, and the Death of king Stephen. During this time king Stephen, making a progress ' through England with royal pomp, and exhibiting himself as a new monarch, was received and regarded by all with becoming respect, and those illegal fortresses, the receptacles of the abandoned, and the dens of thieves, were consumed at his presence, and melted like wax before the fire. Arriving, however, in the county of York, he found one 1 Mary became the wife of Henry, count of Champagne, and Alice married Thibaud, count of Blois. CH. SXXII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 443 Philip^ de Colville in a state of rebellion ; relying on the strength of his fortress, the courage of his party, and his abundant supplies of food and arms. The king, however, commanded him either to burn his fortress at Drax, or to surrender it to be burnt ; and, summon- ing his forces from the neighbouring provinces, laid siege to that stronghold, and bravely reduced it to subjection within a short time, though it was nearly inaccessible from the barriers interposed by rivers, woods, and lakes. It was now harvest time, and the king, having completed his designs in the city of York, and the adjacent county, was returning to the southern provinces, about the feast of St. Michael the Archangel [29th Sept.], intending to hold a council, at London, with the prelates and nobles, both on account of the concerns of the kingdom, and the vacancy of the see of York.^ The dignitaries, therefore, of the church aforesaid, with the abbots and priors of the subject province, attended on being summoned ; and having fixed upon Roger,^ the archdeacon of Canterbuiy, with the consent of the king, they formally demanded him from his archbishop, by whose successful intrigues the whole business of his election had been managed. When they had easily obtained him from the archbishop, who was sufficiently inclined, though he appeared reluctantly to yield to their entreaties, they added a fur- ther request, which was, that he would consecrate him, not as archbishop of Canterbury, but as legate of the holy See. This, also, being as readily complied with, he was consecrated in the church of St. Peter, at Westminster. On the breaking up of the council, the archbishop of York hastened to his cathedral, and, after the solemnity of hia admission (having provided for emer- gencies), he went to Rome, in person, to obtain the pall. The king, who was then residing in Kent, was taken ill subse- quently to the council ; and his malady increasing, he died,* after a few days, in the month of October, in the nineteenth year of his reign, and was buried at Faversham,' in the monastery which he himself had founded some years before. The tidings of his death soon reached the duke of Normandy, who at that time was laying siege with his army to a town " which had revolted. When advised by his friends to raise the siege, and to embark for Eng- land with all possible speed, lest, on account of his delay, his old opponents should plot some mischief against him ; he replied (reposing perfect confidence in the justice of his pretensions) that they durst not make the attempt to do so ; and, though his friends were extremely urgent with him, yet would he not abandon the siege, till he had completed his purpose against the castle, during which time England anxiously awaited him, and no disturbance in ^ See Dugd. Baron. L 626. ^ Archbishop Henry Murdac died 14th October, 1153 ; Hardy's Le Neve, iii.99. ^ Roger of Bishopsbridge, archdeacon of Canterbury, was consecrated archbishop of York, 10th October, 1154. Id. p. 100. * He died on the 25th of October, 1154. 5 See Dugd. Monast Anglic, iv. 568, (ed. Ellis.) ^ Namely, Torigni at no great distance from Coutance : see Robert de Monte. VOL. IV. G G 444 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [BOOK II. the meanwhile arose in any of his dominions. But here let my first Book terminate, that the second may commence with the reign of king Henry the second. Here ends the First Book. The Second Book. Chap. I. — The Commencement of the Keign of king Henry the second. In the eleven hundred and fifty-fourth year from the delivery of the Virgin, Henry, grandson of Henry the elder, by his daughter the late empress, having arrived in England from Normandy, after the demise of king Stephen, received his hereditary kingdom ; and, being greeted by all, and consecrated king with the holy unction,^ was hailed throughout England by crowds, exclaiming, " Long live the king ! " The people, having experienced the misery of the late reign, whence so many evils had originated, now anticipated better things of their new sovereign, more especially as prudence and resolution, and a strict regard to justice, were apparent in him ; and at his very outset he bore the appearance of a great prince. Moreover, he issued an edict, that such foreigners as had flocked to England, under king Stephen, for the sake of booty, as well as military service, — and especially the Flemings, of whom a vast number at that time burthened the kingdom, should return to their own country by an appointed day, to exceed which would be attended with certain danger. Terrified at this edict, they glided away in a moment, as quickly as a phantom vanishes ; while numbers wondered at their instantaneous disappearance. He next commanded the newly-erected castles, which were not in being in the days of his grandfather, to be demolished, with the exception of a few advantageously situated, which he wished to retain for himself, or his partisans, for the defence of the kingdom. He then paid serious attention to public regulations, and was anxiously vigilant that the vigour of the law, which in king Stephen's time had appeared lifeless and forgotten, should be revived. He ap- pointed officers of law and justice throughout his realm, for the purpose of restraining the audacity of offenders, and administering redress to complainants, according to the merits of the case; while he himself either enjoyed his pleasure or bestowed his royal care on more important avocations. As often, however, as any of the judges acted remissly or improperly, and he was assailed by the complaints of the people, the king applied the remedy of his royal revision, and properly corrected their negligence or excess. Such being the outset of the new sovereign, the peaceably disposed con- gratulated and commended, while the lawless muttered and were terrified. The ravening wolves fled, or were changed to sheep ; or, if not totally changed, yet they dwelt harmlessly amid the flock, through fear of the law. Swords were beaten into ploughshares, ' He was crowned at Westminster, on Sunday 19th December. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 445 and spears into pruning-hooks ; none learned war any more,* but all either enjoyed the leisure of that long-wished-for tranquillity now kindly accorded them by God, or were intent on their several employments. Chap. II. — Henby the second eestores the Royal Domains to their ancient STATE. The king, reflecting that the royal revenues, which, in the time of his grandfather, had been very ample, were greatly reduced, because, through the indolence of king Stephen, they had, for the most part, passed away to numerous other masters, commanded them to be restored entire by the usurper, of whatsoever degree, and brought back to their former jurisdiction and condition. Such as had hitherto become proprietors in royal towns and villages produced for their defence the charters which they had either extorted from king Stephen, or earned by their services : but these could avail them nothing, as the grants of an usurper could not be permitted to operate against the claims of a lawful prince. Highly indignant at first thereat, but afterwards terrified and dispirited, they resigned — though reluctantly, yet entirely, — everything they had usurped, and held for a considerable time as if by legal title. "Whilst all, throughout each county of the kingdom, submitted to the royal pleasure (with the exception of one, of whom brief mention will be made hereafter), the king proceeded beyond the Humber, and summoned William, earl of Albemarle,^ (who, in the times of Stephen, had been more truly a king there than his master,) to surrender in this respect, as well as the others, to the weight of his authority. Hesitating a long while, and boiling with indignation, he at last, though sorely hurt, submitted to his power, and very reluctantly resigned whatever of the royal domains he had possessed for many years, more especially that celebrated and noble castle of Scarborough, the situation of which we know to be as follows. Chap. III.— Op the Site of Scakborough Castle. A ROCK of stupendous height and size, nearly inaccessible on all sides from precipices, repels the ocean by which it is surrounded, except on a narrow ascent which stretches to the west; on its summit is a beautiful grassy plain, more than sixty acres in extent, possessing a fountain of fresh water, which issues from the rock. At its entrance, which is difficult of access, is situated a royal castle ; and beneath the ascent the town commences, extending its sides to the south and north, but fronting the west. It is defended on this side by its own wall, but on the east by the castle rock ; while both sides are washed by the sea. This place William, earl of Albemarle, above-mentioned, deemed extremely proper for the erection of a fortress ; and possessing vast influence in the county 2 He had been created earl of Yorkshire by king Stephen, and had possessiou of the larger portion of that county. See Dugd. Baron, i. 62. 446 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book K of York, he improved the nature of the situation by a costly work, and surrounded the whole superficies of the rock by a wall ; he also constructed a tower on the entrance of the ascent, which falling to decay in process of time, the king commanded a large and magni- ficent castle to be erected on its site. Chap. IV. — Of the Siege and Surrender of Bridgenorth, and the Restoration OF the northern parts op England by the king of Scotland to the king OF England. The king, succeeding in his affairs in this county according to his wishes, returned to the southern parts of England, and found in rebellion Hugh de Mortimer,' a valiant nobleman, who had usurped the royal castle of Bridgenorth for many years. When he was commanded to rest satisfied with his own property, and to restore what he had acquired belonging to the king, he most obstinately refused, and prepared for resistance in every possible way. The result, however, proved that his pride and indignation were greater than his courage : for the king, quickly assembling his army, besieged Bridgenorth, which surrendered after a bold resist- ance for several days; and he, whose heart was just before like that of a lion, became humble and suppliant, and received pardon. The king caused it to be intimated to the king of Scotland, who held, as his own proper right, the northern counties of England, (that is to say, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, which were formerly obtained by David, king of Scots, in the name of the empress Matilda, and her heirs,) that the king of England ought not to be defrauded of so large a portion of his dominions, nor could he tamely suffer it to be mutilated ; and that it was just, that what had been acquired in his name should be restored. The Scottish king prudently called to mind that the king of England had the superiority, both in regard to power and the justice of his cause, in the matter at issue : and although he might allege the oath which was sworn to his grandfather David, when he received knighthood from him, yet he restored the territories in question undiminished ; and in return he received from the king the county of Huntingdon, which belonged to him of ancient right. These matters being thus settled, England, for a time, enjoyed quiet and security throughout all her borders. Moreover, the king possessed the dignity of more extensive empire than any other who had hitherto reigned in England ; for it extended from the farthest boundary of Scotland to the Pyrenean ^ mountains. ' See Dugd. Baron, i. 139. ^ Henry was now duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, Poitou, Touraine, and Maine. CB. v.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 447 Chap. V. — Of the War with the Welsh, and theie Reconciliation ■with THE King. Not long afterwards a contention arose between the king and the Welsh — a restless and barbarous people — originating either through his making some unusual exactions, in consequence of his power, or on their insolently denying so great a prince his customary tribute, from too great a confidence in the protection aiforded by their woody mountains and valleys ; or else from their restlessness, and clandestine incursions into the neighbouring confines of the English. Having collected an immense army from every part of England, the king determined to enter Wales, wherever it afforded the easiest access. The Welsh, assembling together, kept watch on the borders, and cautiously avoided to descend into the plain, fearing to engage with men in mail, being themselves only lightly armed. They also lay concealed in their forests, and guarded their defiles. These Welsh are the remnant of the Britons, the first inhabitants of this island, now called England, but originally Britain; and it is notorious that they are of the same race and language as are the Britons on the continent : but when the Britons were being exterminated by the invading nations of the Angles, such as were able to escape fled into Wales, where, through the bounty of nature, they were secure against hostile attacks ; and there this nation continues to the present day. This region lies opposite Ireland, on the western ocean, and is, on the other side, united to the English territory. It is, also, almost entirely surrounded by the sea, or inaccessible woods and fast- nesses ; consequently, the approach, or entranee to it, is extremely difficult ; but within, it is known to possess impenetrable re- cesses, so that it is as dangerous for any prince to enter it with an army, as it is impossible afterwards to overrun it when entered. After its own nature, it produces men of savage manners, bold and faithless, greedy of the blood of others, and prodigal of their own ; ever on the watch for rapine, and hostile to the English, as if by a natural instinct. In consequence of its forests it has abundant pasture for cattle ; but having little level ground, and being barren of corn, is incapable of supplying its inhabitants with food, without importation from the adjacent counties of Eng- land ; and since it cannot command this, except by the liberaUty or permission of the kiftg of England, it is necessarily subject to his power ; and if at any time he is irritated at the marauding incursions of the Welsh, from which, through their unbridled fero- city, they can with difficulty refrain, they are unable long to endure his anger, but are compelled to make submission to him. The king,^ entering their confines, after much opposition — through the nature and difficulties of the country — met with a very inauspicious commencement to his designs ; for a portion ot his army, proceeding incautiously through a wooded and marshy district, was much endangered by falling into an ambush, which ' This expedition took place in the summer of 1157. 448 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. II. the enemy had laid for him on his route, and where Eustace Fitz- John, a great and aged person, and highly renowned for wealth and wisdom, among the noblest chiefs of England, together with Robert de Curei, a man of equal rank, and many others, un- fortunately perished. Those who had escaped the danger, sup- posing the king had fallen among the rest (though, by the favour oi God, he had forced his way through, and was now in safety), related his death to the troops, as they approached, and hastening to the defile, induced a large portion of the army, disheartened at the melancholy report, ingloriously to fly ; insomuch that Henry' of Essex, a man of the highest distinction, and hereditary standard-bearer to the king, throwing down the royal banner, by which the army was to be animated, took to flight, and proclaimed to all he met that the king was dead. For this misconduct he was afterwards publicly branded with treachery by a certain noble- man, and, by the king's command, compelled to single combat with his accuser, and was vanquished by him. The king, however, mercifully rescued him from sentence of death, ordered him to become a monk at Reading, and enriched his exchequer with his ample fortune — but of this hereafter. When the king, therefore, rapidly hastening to the spot, had gladdened the astonished army by his presence, the disordered troops, recovering their strength and spirits, joined their ranks, and for the future proceeded more cautiously against the wiles of the enemy; but when the king deemed it proper to attack the Welsh by sea also, and had ordered a large fleet to be prepared, the am- bassadors of the enemy approached, with overtures for peace, and shortly afterwards their princes suppliantly attended him. On their resigning to him some of the fortresses on their frontiers, to conciliate the favour of so great a prince, and doing him homage, with an oath, the calm of peace gratefully smiled, after the clouds of war had subsided ; and so the army returned home with joy, and the king betook himself to other concerns or amusements. Chap. VI. — How Nicholas, an Englishman, was made Pope. In the first year of the reign of king Henry the second died Anastasius,^ the successor of Eugenius, after having been pope one year. He was succeeded by Nicholas, bishop of Albano, who, changing his name with his fortune, was called Adrian. Of this man it may be useful to relate how he was lifted, as it were, from the dust, to sit in the midst of princes, and to occupy the throne of apostolical glory. He was born in England, and his father was a clerk of slender means, who, abandoning the world, and his > See Dugd. Baron, i. 463. Heame, in the notes to his edition, p. 718, has printed some remarks which he received from Anstis, on the nature of this hereditary oflBce held by Henry de Essex. 2 Anastasius IV. ascended the papal chair, 12th July, 1153, and died 3d December, 1154 ; whereupon Hadrian IV. succeeded on December 4, and died let September, 1159. CH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 449 Stripling boy. became a monk at St. Albans.* When grown, the son, being too poor to pay for his education, frequented this monas- tery for his daily subsistence. His father ashamed, and chiding his indolence with taunting expressions, drove him from the spot, with great indignation, and destitute of every comfort. Left to himself, and urged by hard necessity to attempt something, he went to France, ingenuously ashamed either to dig or to beg in Eng- land. Succeeding but indifferently in France, he went further, wandering beyond the Rhone into the district called Provence. Tliere is, in that country, a noble monastery of regular canons, dedicated to St. Rufus ; arriving at that place, and finding occa- sion for continuing there, he endeavoured to recommend himself to the fraternity, by discharging every possible service. As he was elegant in person, pleasant in countenance, prudent in speech, of ready obedience, he gained the favour of all ; and, being invited to assume the habit of a canon, he settled there for many years, the most exact observer of regular discipline. Being of excellent abilities, and fluent in speech, he attained, by frequent and un- remitted study, to great science and eloquence ; hence it came to pass, that, on the death of the abbot, the brethren unanimously and formally elected him their superior. After he had presided over them for some time, repentant, and indignant at having elected a foreigner to rule over them, they became faithless, and hostile to him. Their hatred, by degrees, became so excessive, that they now looked angrily at him, in whom they had before been well pleased ; and at length they instituted charges against him, and summoned him before the apostolical see. Eugenius, of pious memory, who at that time sat on the pontifical throne, w'hen he had heard the complaints of these rebellious children against their father, and perceived the prudence and modesty of his defence, interposed his effectual labours for the restoration of peace ; and strongly recom- mending, and often exhorting each party to be no longer at variance with the other, but to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, he dismissed them in amity. Malise, however, which knows no repose, could not be long at rest, and the tempest revived with redoubled fury. Tlie same venerable pontiff was again disturbed, his ears yet ringing with the complaints and accusations of the brethren : piously and prudently regarding each party, he said, " I know, my brethren, where the seat of Satan is ; I know what excites this storm among you. Depart ; choose a superior with whom you may, or rather, with whom you will be at peace, for this one shall burthen you no longer." Wherefore, dismissing the fraternity, and retaining the abbot in the service of St. Peter, he ordained him bishop of Albano ; and soon after, having proof of his activity, sent him as legate, with full power, among those savage nations the Danes ^ * See the account of tis birth and education which is given in the Lijes of the Abbots of St. Albans, by M. Paris, p. 66. - The " Annales Islandorum regii," (Langeb. Script, rerum Danic. iii. 56,) place his arrival in 1152, and the events which they record in immediate connexion with it show that he proceeded in his mission with energy and success. He attested the papal bulls of Eugenius IIL from 30th January, 1150, to 20th February, 1152, (about which time he probably set out on his voyage to Denmark.) and was again at Rome in November, 1154. See Jaffe, pp. 615, 657. 450 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. and Norwegians. Having wisely and actively executed his office amid these barbarous nations during several years, he returned to Rome in health and gladness, and was received by the pope and cardinals with honour and applause. A few days afterwards, Anas- tasius, the successor of Eugenius, died; and with the concurrent wishes of all, Nicholas, taking the name of Adrian, assumed the pontificate. Not unmindful of his early instruction, and chiefly in memory of his father, he honoured the church of the blessed martyr, Alban, with donations, and distinguished it with lasting privileges. Chap. VII. — The Reason of the Revolt of the king's brother Geoffrey, AND his Reconciliation. While England was enjoying peace and security from having quelled and subjugated the Welsh, king Henry was informed that his brother Geoffrey was exciting disturbances abroad. The cause of the dissension between the brothers was this. The illustrious earl of Anjou had begotten, of the late empress Matilda, three sons, — Henry, Geoffrey, and William. So when both the paternal and maternal rights being united in Henry, as the firstborn, belonged to him exclusively, the earl was unwilling that a provision for the others should be totally dependent on their brother's good-will, not knowing how he might be disposed towards them. In his last hours, therefore, he bequeathed by will the county of Anjou to his second son ; but, as England was at that time in suspense, he said, " When Henry shall have obtained the fulness of his mother's right, that is, Normandy together with England, let him yield to his brother Geoffrey the whole of the property which he shall have derived from his paternal ancestors. In the meantime let Geoffrey be satisfied with the three distinguished castles of Chinon, Loudun, and Mirabeau ; " ^ and, as Henry was at that time accidentally absent, though quickly to return, he bound the prelates and nobles who were present under oath, that his body should not be buried until his son had sworn that he would not nullify the will of his father. Shortly after his decease, his son, when he arrived to celebrate his exequies, heard of the adjuration of his father, and for a long time hesitated ; at length, all beseeching him not to suffer the corpse of his father to putrefy unburied, to his own eternal and inexpiable disgrace, he yielded to their solicitations, and, not without tears, took the required oath. When the funeral of his father was over, the will was opened — for the present he dissembled his grief ; but on succeeding to the kingdom, he caused to be intimated to the Roman pontiff, (as it is said,) the compulsion under which he had sworn to what he was not aware of; and as extorted oaths, or promises, are not binding unless ratified by subsequent assent, he (as they affirm) easily obtained absolution from his engagement — ■ for compulsory swearing, or promising, creates no necessity for ratification, which is only effected by the liberty of the will. Secured by this plea, neither out of respect to his father's will, nor ' Near the Loire, in the district of Tours. CH. TUI.J THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 451 his o\\Ti oath, would he make satisfaction to his brother. Irritated at this, Geoffrey having fortified the three castles aforesaid, which his father had left him, against all mischances, as he supposed, harassed the neighbouring provinces ; but the king, hastily assem- bling his army, laid siege to Chinon — a castle so called, whose strength was such that nature seemed to vie with human art in for- tifying and defending it ; but he reduced it in a short time, and pardoned his humiliated and suppliant brother ; and depriving- him of his castles, to prevent his ambitious views in future, he granted him a portion of level country for his support ; and when Geoffrey was pining with dejection — now accusing the severity of his brother, now sighing at the malevolence of fortune, an unexpected event transported him with joy — for the inhabitants of the noble city of Nantes having no certain ruler, or none with whom they might be well-pleased, admiring his activity and perseverance, chose him for their true and acknowledged lord, and on his arrival they delivered up to him their city with the adjacent province. Not long enjoying this good fortune, he was carried off by a premature death ; and the earl of Richmond,^ who at that time had very considerable autho- rity in Britanny, immediately entered the city as its legitimate owner. The king, on hearing this, issued an order for the earldom of Richmond to be applied to the service of his exchequer," and forthwith embarking for Normandy, he claimed the city of Nantes, by right of succession to his brother ; and so completely did he intimidate the earl by his extensive armament, that attempting hardly a feeble resistance, he soothed his opponent by relinquishing the city. Chap. VIII. — Of the Destruction of Milan ; and of the Eeucs of the IVIagi. Nearly about this time Frederick, emperor of Germany and Italy, laid siege to, took, and destroyed the city of Milan ; which for a long time had continued in a state of rebellion, from confi- dence in its strength and resources. The Lombards, a restless and warlike people, thirsting after unbounded liberty, and proud in con- sequence of the number of their cities, and the greatness of their strength, had many years before revolted in a great measure from the emperor of the Romans. But, while the most opulent cities .contended with each other for the superiority, and desired to govern the rest, they only augmented thereby the force of the emperor against themselves. At last, the Milanese surpassing in wealth and power, affected the supremacy of all Lombardy, and had already subdued some cities and destroyed others which resisted, when the people of Pavia, unequal in strength, but disdaining their control, went over to the party of the emperor. Other cities, following their example, entered into a treaty with him. Purposing to attack the Milanese who now were weakened by the desertion of all their 1 Conan, earl of Britanny and Richmond, concerning whom, with reference to the incidents mentioned in the text, see Dugd. Baron, i. 48. 2 Ralph de Glanville accounted for the proceeds of the honour of Richmond in 21 and 29 Hen. II. Ibid. 452 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. allies, the emperor collected the forces of his empire. Converting the desire of dominion into an obstinate defence of liberty, they, too, fortified themselves by every mode against the imperial assault. After having destroyed and demolished the suburbs, lest they should be as prejudicial to the besieged as serviceable to the besiegers, they took the same measures with a noble and ancient monastery without the walls, noted for the relics of saints, trans- ferring within the walls whatever was there discovered sacred and venerable, but more especially the bodies of the three Magi,^ who by reverencing the birth of the Savour with holy offerings became the first-fruits of the Gentiles to God and to the Lamb. This treasure, which had been formerly deposited in a secret part of this church, was unknown even to the officiating monks and clerks ; but when the church itself was pulled down to the foundations, it was dis- covered, and made evident by manifest proofs, which declared that those men, (whose memory is blessed,) after having honoured and adored their infant Saviour, returned into their own country, and were alive even after the triumph of His passion ; and having received the sacrament of baptism from the apostles in their ministry, migrated to Him whom they had formerly adored in His cradle, now to be honoured by Him when sitting on the right hand of His Father. Nor is it known by what persons their sacred relics were brought and deposited in this place. Their remains, however, were entire ; their bones and nerves covered by a skin dry and incorruptible, as it is supposed from the virtue of the balm with which, after the heathen mode, their bodies are presumed to have been anointed after death. In addition to this, a gold circle, as they say, encompassed their bodies when discovered, in order to keep them together. Milan was besieged by the emperor Frederick, the number of whose forces may be estimated from the circumstance of his being enabled to attempt the reduction of so very powerful a city, inordinately boasting of the multitude and boldness of her inhabitants. After various events, however, and multiplied encounters, it surrendered,^ and fell into the enemy's hands. The victorious emperor razed the city, but did not destroy the inhabitants, because they had sur- rendered themselves. He, however, dispersed them, and trans- ferred those celebrated relics of the Magi, there deposited, into Germany, to the inexpressible grief of the Lombards, and honoured the city of Cologne with the custody of this treasure. Chap. IX. — Of the Schism in the Chukch of Rome, the Council of Pavia, AND THE GaLLICAN CONVENTION. In the fifth year of his reign, Henry, the illustrious king of England, was solemnly crowned at Lincoln on Christmas-day,' not within the walls, indeed, on account, I suppose, of that ancient ' Picard here refers to the notes of BaroniuB upon the Roman Mai*tyrology of Jan. 6. 2 See Hist, d'ltalie par M. de Saint-Marc, v. 242. This incident occurred a.d. 1162. 3 A.D. 1157. CH. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 453 superstition which king Stephen (as before related)' laudably con- temned and ridiculed ; but in a village adjoining the suburbs. ^ In the following year, pope Adrian ^ paid the debt of nature ; on •whose decease, the cardinals, disagreeing in the choice of a sovereign pontiff, made a schism in the church ; and while parties were raging against each other, they broke also the bond of ecclesiastical peace throughout the world ; the greater and wiser part, indeed, fixing on RoUand, chancellor of the church of Rome, a religious and learned man, canonically consecrated him ; but a very incon- siderable portion fixing upon Octovian, a man of rank, fearless of the divine judgment, debased him with their unhallowed choice. Each party hurled the sentence of excommunication and condem- nation against its opponents, and anxiously sought the support of the churches and nobles to their cause. The former assumed the name of Alexander [HI.], the destined victor from the justice of his cause ; the other vainly assumed the title of Victor [IV.], an empty name, a deceitful omen, indicative only of future disgrace. This rent might soon have been made whole, and the few might have yielded, and been united to the many, had not the emperor Frederick, hating Alexander from his ancient dislike to RoUand, determined on embracing and seconding, by every possible means, the cause of Octovian. At length he commanded all the prelates of his dominions, that is to say, the Italian and German bishops, to assemble at Pavia, as if for discussing and investigating the claims of which party preponderated, but in fact, that, by depressing Alexander, and approving his opponent, they might celebrate the premature victory of the aforesaid Victor. He ordered the anta- gonists themselves also to be present, to abide by the decree of this council. Victor, indeed, attended, as if to abide the decision, but Alexander, not only guardedly, but even openly refused the pre- judgment, which, under the name of judgment, was preparing for him. The bishops, both from the German and Italian empire, assembled by the imperial order at Pavia,* with a multitude of prelates of inferior order, all on the side of Frederick, who, with his princes, made a formidable appearance. Whatever favoured the cause of Alexander, as there was no person to plead for him, was either suppressed in silence, or craftily perverted, or turned against him ; and what was wanting in truth to the merits of the adversary was supplied by art. In consequence of this, accepting Victor with all due solemnity, as the genuine successor of St. Peter, they passed sentence on Alexander by a general decree, aS a schis- matic and rebel against God. The emperor, with the whole assem- bly of princes and nobles, approved the acts of the council, and denounced punishment againt all recusants. Moreover, he anxiously solicited, by every method, the illustrious kings of Eng- land and France to perpetual amity, by embracing his side of the question in this dispute. Inflexible, however, and carefully sus- ' See I. xviii. 2 Called Wickford ; see Tyrrel's Hist, ii 303. ^ Hadrian died 1st Sept. 1159. * The history and proceedings of this spurious council may be seen in Labb. Concil. X. 1387. 454 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. pending their judgment, until they could perfectly know the truth of so delicate a matter, they also assembled,' out of each kingdom, at a suitable time and place, a most respectable council of prelates and nobles. On the part of Octovian appeared his two principal partisans, who had been his electors, and the authors of the schism, Guido, cardinal of Crema, and John, cardinal of St. Martin ; for Imarus, bishop of Tusculum, who had laid on him the hands of execration, had now departed this life. In behalf of the lord Alexander were present three cardinals, Henry of Pisa, John of Naples, and William of Pavia. The cardinal of Crema, then rising in the presence of the kings and prelates, before the whole mul- titude of the clergy and people there assembled, spoke on his own side, and against his adversary, with all his powers of genius and oratory. After he had concluded, William of Pavia, a most eloquent man, rising up, rebutted every allegation in the most convincing manner, and completely retorted nearly every word which the cardinal of Crema had uttered in behalf of his friend ; and this he did so effectually, that he appeared fairly entangled and caught in his own words. At last, in this combat, as it were of mutual altercation, the truth of the whole business became so apparent, that both kings no longer hesitated to abjure the cause of Octovian, and with their subject kingdoms to obey Alexander for the future, as a father in the things pertaining to God. On the departure of the before-mentioned schismatics with confusion and disgrace, our princes and prelates dissolved the assembly, having first solemnly hurled the sentence of excommunication against the rebels. In the meantime pope Alexander, residing securely in the terri- tories of the king of Sicily, whose firm friendship he possessed, waited an opportunity of passing into France. The whole western empire, with the exception of the German provinces, obeyed him in pastoral concerns. The emperor, indeed, from private animosity, when once given up to a reprobate mind, and deeming it beneath his imperial majesty to be convinced even by reason, deferred for a long time to yield to the evident truth. Chap. X.— Of the Expedition to Toulouse of the illustrious earl of Barcelona. The renowned king of England, Henry the second, in the seventh year of his reign, led his army into Gascony ; the cause of which famous expedition was as follows. The earl of Poictou ^ (who was also duke of Aquitain, grandfather of Elianor, queen first of France and then of England), being a man of such profuse expense that the surpassing affluence of his revenues was incapable of supporting his extravagance, was therefore obliged to borrow a large sum of money from the earl of St. Giles, a wealthy nobleman, to whom he pawned the noble city of Toulouse, with its appurtenances ; and, upon his death, he transmitted to his son the task of redeeming • On ttis conference, which occurred in Judy, 1160, Bee the fuller narrative of Robert de Monte. -' William, surnamed Geoffrey, who died in 1086. Anderson's Genealog. Tables, p. 636 CH. X.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 455 the pledge. He, too, resembling his father in prodigality, bequeathed to his heirs also the task of redeeming the city. Leaving an only daughter as his heir, who had married Louis, king of France, that prince claimed Toulouse, in right of his wife. Though the earl of St. Giles alleged no right whatever, yet he wholly usurped the city; and, watching his opportunity, appeased the king by marrying his sister Constance, widow of Eustace, son of king Stephen, who, on his demise, had returned to her brother ; but when the divorce between the king and queen of France afterwards took place, the question concerning the resignation of Toulouse to the rightful heirs was again agitated, for Elianor had now become the wife of the king of England. Upon the earl of St. Giles refusing to give it up, and vouching the king of France as having bestowed it upon him, the king of England collected an army throughout the whole of his dominions, and entered the territory of Gascony; and having also invited his friends either to follow or to meet him there, his army became augmented by immense numbers, and more especially by the earl of Barcelona,^ a great and powerful chief, not inferior to kings themselves. And here, as the opportunity presents itself, it may be worth while briefly to describe his more than kingly mind in royal magnificence, A little before our times, the illustrious king of Aragon,^ having several sons, through a pious impulse, dedicated one^ to Christ, in a monastery, designing that the rest should succeed him in turn. His destined successors, however, dying before him, last of all the father also departed this life. The nobles and people, fearing lest through the contentions of his nephews for the succession, the kingdom should be torn asunder, hastily assembled, and, providing for the approaching danger, im- mediately exalted the king's son from the cloister to the throne ; and having settled the government, they compelled him to marry, for the sake of having children to succeed him, pleading the urgency of the case in mitigation of its impropriety, and alleging that necessity had no law. At length he begat an only daughter;* and having managed the kingdom with commendable care until his daughter was of marriageable years, he summoned a meeting of the nobles. When they appeared before him, with nearly the whole military force of his realm, he addressed them to the following effect : " God Almighty pardon both you and me, my beloved friends ; I have done foolishly, but you have compelled me. But may not he who has fallen yet rise up again ? Will not that dreadful necessity, which you say is without law, restore whatever it has usurped against law, when there is no longer a reason for it ? Behold, you have an heir for the kingdom begotten by me. Let an honourable marriage be sought out for this young princess, and thus the emergencies of the state will be provided for.- Let the monk, therefore, return to his cloister, and for the future endeavour * Alfonso II., concerning whom, see Anderson's Tables, p. 706. 2 This was Alfonso I., king of Aragon. * Hamirez, who in 1093 had become a monk at St. Pons de Tomiers, in France. See Hist. d'Espagne, (8vo. Par. 1765.) i. 198, 235. * Petronilla, heiress of Aragon, bom 1135. Anderson, Ibid. 456 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book II. to heal his wounded conscience." All attempted to dissuade him ; but when his pious and laudable purpose could not be obviated, he betrothed his daughter, at the instance of the nobility, to a most noble youth,* the son of the earl of Barcelona; and, surrendering the kingdom with his daughter to him, this memorable personage, this singular despiser of the world, not longer enduring the remorse of his conscience, for purple resumed a cowl, and a cloister for a kingdom. After these transactions, they persuaded the youth that, as he was in possession of a kingdom, he should assume the crown and purple, the ensigns of royalty. This he refused, saying, " As none of my ancestors were of higher rank than a count, I am a count by nature : content with this, as I am not better, neither am I desirous to be greater than my forefathers ; therefore, that in me fortune may not surpass nature, I waive the name and ensigns of a king. Moreover, that in me fortune may ever yield to nature, retaining the title of count, I do not refuse the greatness and power of a kingdom. In addition to this, were I to assume the regal dignity, I should be surpassed by some kings in riches and honour ; but now, as I have the wealth of a kingdom with royal power, no count in the world can be equalled to the count of Bar- celona. Wherefore I prefer being the first count to being, perhaps, not even the seventh king." Thus did this admirable man either argue or jest, from a noble contempt of royal dignity when exhorted by his friends to assume a kingly title. Nor would he ever be called king or duke, but only count of Barcelona, although he possessed, with the kingdom of Aragon, the duchy of Provence — that is, all that region so called, which extends from the Rhone to the confines of Italy. Moreover, after his death, his son,^ according to the pre- rogative of maternal lineage, was solemnly crowned king by the Roman pontiff. The count of Barcelona, as well on account of his friend- ship for the king of England, as of his hostility to the earl of St. Giles, came, as we have related, with all the power of his subject people, to the expedition of Toulouse. "William surnamed Trencheveil, a noble and powerful man, lord of a few cities and many castles, also assisted the king of England with all the strength in his power, out of hatred to the count of St. Giles, in whose custody, as it is said, he had once been, and from whom he had escaped with difficulty, and not without being deprived of many of his lands. The count of St. Giles, indeed, greatly fearing the attack of so large an army, implored the assist- ance of the king of France, who was his wife's brother, and uncle of his children. Burning with zeal for his nephews, the king came in haste to Toulouse with as large an army as he could collect. When this became known to the king of England, he forebore to lay siege to the city, out of deference to the royal person who was therein, and employed his army in overrunning the province and sacking its fortresses. He retook the city of Cahors, which had revolted, together with numerous castles in its neighbourhood ; at the same time he captured and sacked many others. After this, * This was Kaymond Berengarius, count of Barcelona. ^ Alfonso II. CH. XL] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 457 when William Trencheveil had recovered possession of the for- tresses which had fallen by the fortune of war into the hands of the count of St. Giles, the king returned into Normandy. Chap. XL— Op the hoerid Mdrder op William Trencheveil, and how it WAS AVENGED. But since mention of this William has been incidentally made, I must not omit a circumstance which was afterwards brought against him by his people, from the exuberance of malignity, shewing what a trivial cause produced an ofTence which called loudly for ^expiation, and what a terrible instance of unheard-of vengeance followed. The circumstance is still fresh in memory, and I have ascertained it by frequent and undoubted relation. This man, great and noble among the great of that country, while peaceably governing his strongly defended territories on all sides — after the expedition to Toulouse, at which he had been present — was under the necessity of assisting his nephew, then suffering from a hostile incursion. Proceeding first himself with a con- siderable force, he commanded the residue of the army to follow. A large body of youth, expert in arms and elate in spirits, rushing from the subject cities of Bezieres and Carcassonne, joined the expedition. It happened that a certain man of Bezieres, relying on the multitude of his associates, rudely affronted a knight of some consequence by taking away his war-horse, (which they call a destrier,) and loading him with baggage on the march. The knight, supported by the whole body of the cavalry, made bitter complaint in presence of the commander, representing the outrage he had suffered, which, though not very costly, was yet highly disgraceful. Tlie commander, anxious to appease the knights, who decidedly declared that they would immediately quit the army if the people of Bezieres were to be gratified by the impunity of their townsmen, delivered up the aggressor to the will of the complainants, who, inflicting a trivial but rather disgraceful punishment, dismissed him, as dishonoured for the remainder of his days. At this, the citizens of Bezieres were vehemently enraged, as though the slight disgrace of an individual had brought shame on their whole body : conse- quently, all of them mournfully entreated their lord, on his return from the expedition, to wipe out the disgrace of his subject and devoted city, by some honourable and efficient means. He, from his obliging disposition, kindly and condescendingly replied, that he would readily rectify what had been done for the necessity of appeasing the knights, and solemnly promised that he would, on a given day, satisfy his desei-ving citizens according to their inclina- tions. Accepting this promise they remained quiet for a time. On the appointed day, their lord, thus pledged, attended \vith his friends and noble vassals, and, in the cathedral church, awaited the arrival of the citizens, to whom he was about to make satisfaction in the presence of the bishop. Craftily dissembling their anger, and concealing their armour and daggers under their cloaks, they came into the cathedral. The man, who had given the offence and 458 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book ir. received the punishment, hereupon stepping forward exclaimed, " Behold me, a wretched unhappy being, and one weary of life, from the circumstance of being obliged to live in ignominy — therefore deign, my lord, if it please you, to say whether you are willing to reverse my sentence, that I may be both desirous and able to survive." His lord then mildly and condescendingly replied, " I am ready, as I promised, to abide by the decision and award of the nobles and citizens here assembled." To this the offender rejoined, " You would speak to the purpose, if you would compensate me for the ignominy I have sustained by the grant of any honour from yourself ; but since you cannot deal back honour, by the same mode as you dealt out disgrace to me, I can only expiate my ignominy by your blood." Saying which, these most abandoned citizens unsheathed the daggers they had secreted, attacked, and massacred their liege lord, with his friends and nobles, before the sacred altar ; the bishop having in vain, nearly to his own destruction, endeavoured to frustrate this cruel assassination. When this astounding and detestable affair became known to the surrounding people, abhorring the deed, they all vowed condign vengeance upon the authors of this infernal conspiracy; and the neighbouring princes, supposing they would do service to God by annihilating this perverse people, prepared jointly to execute ven- geance on the delinquents. These offenders confiding in the strength of their city, likewise fortified themselves by every means in their power. The Roman pontiff, also, having heard of this atrocious outrage, immediately hurled the weapons of ecclesiastical malediction against the criminals ; while the king of Aragon, with other princes, forthwith laid siege to the accursed city. When the siege had been protracted for a time, and the difficulty of taking the town appeared to the assailants almost insurmountable, as well from the strength of the place, as from the resolute conduct of the besieged ; the besiegers, weary of delay, in order that they might effect something, concluded a peace with the citizens whom they were unable to subdue, and reconciled them to their liege lord, the son of him whom they had murdered, covenanting that they should make satisfaction for his father's death. The treaty being con- cluded, the siege was raised and all seemed settled. But this, as afterwards appeared, was effected by divine appointment, that they who were unconquerable by force, and who had by artful perfidy cruelly murdered their mild and amiable master, should receive a similar retribution to their own destruction, and that the same measure should be dealt to them by the son, which they had in the first instance measured to the father. For after some time, when a reflection was cast upon this son, by a nobleman, either in sport or in earnest, that he had sold the blood of his deceased father to his perfidious citizens, he was so hurt at this expression, that deem- ing it disgraceful to keep faith with the faithless, and being urged alike by shame and grief, he meditated on taking early vengeance, by whatsoever means, for his father's murder. Having imme- diately disclosed the secret of his preconceived design to the illustrious king of Aragon, he received from him a large body of CH. XII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 459 his most ferocious people, under pretence of affording him as- sistance against the count of St. Giles. Upon this, he proceeded hastily to the city of Bezieres (having first artfully spread a report that the count of St. Giles meditated an attack), and entreated the citizens to entertain the Aragonese, (since he was favoured with the friendship and assistance of the king of Aragon), who were on their march, and would shortly arrive, and to supply them with provisions upon fair terms of exchange. Whereupon the Aragonese, during several days arriving, not in bodies, indeed, lest they should appear formidable, and their approach hostile, but in small parties at a time, at 'length completely filled the city with their numbers. And when they were quartered in every part of the town, on a signal being given from the citadel, they flew to arms ; and, each man attacking the nearest citizens, they almost in a moment annihilated the entire population with insatiable fury. Thus, by God's just appointment, did this accursed people receive the due reward of their perfidy and cruelty. Moreover, these ministers of vengeance received, (as it is said,) as a reward for their labours, a residence in this city, now purified by the slaughter of its perfidious inhabitants. These matters having been related, because they appeared memorable at the time, let us return to the course of our narrative. Chap. XII. — The Reconciliation of the Kings of France and England. Henry the second, king of England, after returning from the expedition to Toulouse, remained in quiet but a short time ; for, in the following year, which was the eighth of his reign, the quarrel between him and the king of France, which had originated during the expedition in question, from some aggravated causes, now ripened into maturity, and burst forth; so that, by violent commo- tions, the peace of their subject provinces was disturbed. At length, vast armies w^ere collected by each party, and camps formed on their frontiers. Each prince remained stationary with his forces (as it appeared dangerous to advance and disgraceful to retreat), thinking it preferable, from the dubious chances of war, to act on the defensive, rather than become the assailant. Men of peaceable dispositions, therefore, embracing this pause as an opportunity for laying the basis of peace, ^ piously and carefully busied themselves, lest the pride and ambition of two individuals should effect the destruction of innocent nations. And since, as it is said, peace is generally best concerted under the buckler, these princes were easily persuaded to do that which at first they would not even deign to hear ; they were, consequently, reconciled, and their sub- jects returned home. In the same year, Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, died ;^ to whom Thomas, the king's chancellor, suc- ceeded in the following year. 1 The armistice extended from December 1159, to the festival of the Holy Trinity in the next year. 2 He died on the 18th of April, 1161, and Becket was elected archbishop on the 24th of May, 1162. VOL. IV. H H 460 CHURCH HISTORIANS OP ENGLAND. [BOOK. II. Chap. XIII.— Of the Entkance of Heretics into England, and their EXTEEMINATION. At this time certain heretics came into England, of that sect, as it is believed, commonly called Publicans.^ These, spread the poison of their heresy (which had originated from an un- known author in Gascony,) in many regions ; for such numbers are said to be infected with this pestilence throughout the extensive provinces of France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, that we may ex- claim, in the words of the prophet, " Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!" [Ps. iii. 1.] Finally, when the bishops and princes act towards them too leniently, these subtle foxes issue from their hiding-places, and, under the mask of piety, by leading astray the simple, lay waste the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts both grievously and widely ; but when the zeal of the faithful is kindled against them by the inspiration of God, they lie concealed in their dens, and become less noxious ; but still they cease not to annoy, by disseminating their secret poison. Their victims are rustics, and the half-witted, who are, consequently, slow to under- stand their fallacies ; but, when once tinctured with this heresy, they remain inflexible to all discipline ; whence it rarely happens that they are reconverted to the truth, when they are dragged from their lurking-places. From such, and similar heretical pests, Eng- land had always been free, though so many sprang up in other parts of the world. This island, however, when it was denominated Britain, from its inhabitants the Britons, gave birth to Pelagius, the future heresiarch in the -East, and in process of time admitted his error to her own shores ; to annihilate which the pious fore- sight of the Galilean church again and again sent forth the blessed German ; but when this island, after the expulsion of the Britons, became possessed by the Angles, and was no longer denominated Britain, but England, no poisonous heresy ever issued from it ; nor, till the time of king Henry the second, did heresy infuse itself from other countries for the purpose of propagation and extension. Then, also, by the assistance of God, such means were adopted to counteract the poison, that it must tremble at the idea of again entering the island. There were about thirty men and women who concealed their error, and came hither, for the purpose of disseminating their heresy, under the conduct of one Gerard, to whom all looked up as teacher and chief ; for he alone had any tincture of learning ; the others, Germans by birth and language, were both illiterate and silly, as well as uncouth and rude. After a short residence in England, they added to their party only one weak woman, who was overcome by their poisonous insinuations, and bewitched (as it is said) by certain sorceries. Indeed, they could not remain long concealed, for certain persons having carefully examined them, they being of a foreign sect, they were discovered, seized, and con- * See Charles Plessis d'Argentre Collectio Judiciorum de novis erroribns, i. 5. The extract from the Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshale, printed by Picard in his notes, p. G31, is worthy of notice. CH. xm.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 461 fined in public prisons. The king, however, being unwiUing to punish them without examination, commanded a council of the bishops to be assembled at Oxford.* Here, when they were solemnly interrogated concerning their faith, the man who appeared the best informed undertaking the cause, and speaking for all, replied that they were Christians, and highly venerated apostolical doctrine. Being questioned singly concerning the articles of the holy faith, they answered rightly concerning the substance of the doctrines of the heavenly Physician, but perversely concerning those remedies — that is, the holy sacraments, whereby He deigns to heal human infirmity ; they rejected holy Baptism, the Eucharist, and matrimony; and, with impious daring, derogated from the catholic unity, which admits of these divine assistances. When they were pressed by texts taken from the holy Scriptures, they said they believed as they had been taught, but were unwilling to dispute about their faith. When admonished to repent, and become united to the body of the Church, they despised all whole- some counsel. They laughed at the threats kindly held out to induce them to become wise through fear, misapplying the divine expression, " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous- ness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," [Matt. v. 10.] The bishops, therefore, guarding against the further dissemination of heresy, delivered them, as convicted heretics, to the catholic prince to be subjected to corporeal discipline. He commanded the mark of heretical ignominy to be branded on their foreheads, and that they should be whipped in the presence of the people, and expelled the city, and strictly inhibited any one to presume to entertain or supply them with any comfort whatever. Their sen- tence being proclaimed, they were conducted to their just punish- ment rejoicing, their leader preceding with hasty step, and singing, " Blessed shall ye be when men shall hate you." — To such a degree did the seducing spirit pervert the minds of those he had deceived. The woman whom they had led astray in England, having departed from them for fear of punishment, confessed her error, and was recovered to the Church. Moreover, this vile assemblage, with branded foreheads, was subjected to just severity, and he who had the supremacy over them underwent the stigma of a double brand, on his forehead and his chin, to designate his authority. Their garments being torn down to their waists, they were publicly scourged; and while the lash yet resounded, they were expelled the city, and miserably perished from the inclemency of the weather, for it was winter, while no person showed them the smallest pity. The pious severity of this discipline not only cleansed the kingdom of England from that pest which had crept into it, but also prevented its future intrusion, by the terror which it struck into heretics. 1 See WilMns' Concil. i. 438. 462 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IT. Chap. XIV. — Of the Council of Tours, celebrated by pope Alexander. At this time Alexander, the Roman pontiff, came by sea from ApuHa ' into France ; for, although, as it has been already said,^ the whole western world, as well as the states of Germany, is sub- ject to his power, in matters pertaining to God, yet from the adherents of Octavian besetting the passes, and not only spoiling of their effects, but even imprisoning the persons of all those whom they accidentally met either going to or returning from him — any access to the pope became extremely difficult. Being thus unable to discharge his high functions as he wished, and as was becoming, and to extend the arm of apostolical power to its proper length, he entrusted himself to the sea, and proceeding, at immi- nent peril, to the western provinces, he was met by the bishops^ and princes of the districts of the Galilean church, and gratified the anxious desires of numbers by his arrival. The noble kings of France and England also honoured him with a solemn meeting, as became their royal magnificence, and cheerfully paid obeisance to the illustrious exile. Assisted, therefore, by the favour of these princes, he summoned the pastors of the churches, and celebrated, with much pomp, a general council at Tours, on the octaves of Pentecost [19th May], in the year of our Lord's Incarnation, one thousand one hundred and sixty-three, the decrees of which council I have deemed it proper to insert in my narrative. Chap. XV. — The DEcmEES of the Council op Tours.* Canon I. Whereas a certain heinous custom has obtained a footing in certain places, contrary to the institutions of the holy fathers, that priests should be appointed to the rule of churches by a yearly stipend : this we inhibit by every possible mode, because so long as the priesthood is exercised under this venal recompense, no consideration is had to the reward of eternal retribution. Canon II.^ CovETOusNESs is not adequately branded with ignominy, among the people at large, if it be not avoided in every respect by those who are in holy orders, and more especially such as, despising the world, profess the monastic name and rule. Therefore, we prohibit any money being required from such as are willing to enter the monastic life : neither shall any priories nor any chaplaincies of monks or canons be sold for an annual rent; neither shall any payment be demanded from the person to whom such authority is permitted for the exercise of it. The authority of the holy fathers * He embarked at Genoa on 25tli March, 1162, and on 15tli of April we find him at Montpellier. Jaffe, p. 685. 2 See II. ix. 3 His letters to his various correspondents printed by Bouquet, xv. 774 — 777, prove the accuracy of this statement. * See Labb. Concil. x. 1418, where a different text of these decrees is printed. * See Labb. Can. v. CH. XV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 463 plainly declares such matters to be simony. Whosoever, therefore, shall presume to attempt this in future, let him be certain of having his portion with Simon. For burial, also, and the recovery of the chrism or holy unction, let no pecuniary demand be made, nor any one defend his guilt under pretext of custom, because length of time does not diminish sins, but increases them. Ca?jon III.^ Whereas, in certain bishoprics, deans or archpriests are ap- pointed, at an annual stipend, to represent bishops or archdeacons, and to despatch ecclesiastical causes, which certainly redounds to the detriment of priests and the subversion of justice ; we strictly inhibit this practice in future. If any one commit this offence, let him be expelled from the clergy. The bishop, also, who suffers this within his diocese, and permits ecclesiastical judgment to be per- verted by his own connivance, shall be punished by canonical censure. Canon !¥.=* It appears highly disgraceful that the smaller prebends of the clerks should be divided, while the larger benefices of the church remain entire. Therefore, that the church may possess unbroken unity, as well in its great as its smallest members, we prohibit the division of prebends or the exchange of dignities. Canon V.' Many of the clergy, and (with grief we speak it) of those also who have relinquished the world by profession, by vows, and by habit, while abhorring common usury as more manifestly damnable, yet, by loan of money to the necessitous, take their possessions into pledge, and take the current profits beyond their share agreed on ; therefore it is decreed, by the authority of this general council, that none of the clergy from this time shall presume to practise this or any other kind of usury. And if any one hitherto has received from the loan of money any person's possessions in pledge, under the pretext, if he has already received his share, let him restore possession absolutely to the debtor, after deducting expenses from the profits. If he be deficient, on receipt of such deficiency, let the possession revert freely to its owner. But if, after these consti- tutions, any of the clergy shall persist in the accursed lucre of usury, he shall bring his ecclesiastical office into jeopardy, unless, indeed, the benefice belong to the church, and this seemed to him a mode of rescuing it out of the hands of the laity. Canon VI.* In the district of Toulouse a damnable heresy has latfily arisen, which, after the nature of a canker, gradually diffusing itself over the neighbouring places, hath already infected vast numbers throughout Gascony and other provinces ; and while, serpent-like, it is concealed beneath its folds, in proportion to its unseen 1 See Labb. Can. vii. 2 Id. Can. i. ^ i^j. Can. ii. * Id. Can. iv. 464 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK ir. advances, so it injures more grievously the Lord's vineyard in the persons of the simple-hearted. Wherefore, we command the bishops, and all God's priests resident in those parts, to be vigilant, and to inhibit, under pain of anathema, all persons from sheltering in their territories or presuming to protect the known followers of such heresy. Neither shall they have intercourse with such either in selling or buying, in order that the consolations of society being denied them, they may be compelFed to renounce the errors of their ways. And whosoever shall attempt to contravene this in- junction, shall be included under their curse as a partaker of their crime. But if they shall be discovered by catholic princes, let them be taken into custody and incur the forfeiture of all their goods. And since they frequently assemble from divers parts at one hiding-place, and having no cause for dwelling together, but an agreement in error induces them to dwell in the same house, let all such receptacles be diligently sought out, and, when discovered, forbidden under canonical censure. Canon VII. ^ Although it appears excessively heinous, and worthy of divine vengeance, that certain of the laity should usurp in ecclesiastical matters that which belongs to the clergy, yet it creates greater alarm and grief that the origin of this error is said oftentimes to be found in the clergy themselves. For some of our brethren, our fellow bishops and prelates, grant to the laity the tithes and dis- posal of churches, and drive into the bye -paths of death such as ought to be recalled by their preaching to the path of life ; of whom the Lord says by the prophet,^ " They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity." Wherefore, we command that whosoever shall hereafter grant either church or tithe to any layman shall be severed from his place like a tree which cumbers the ground unprofitably ; and, till he shall amend, shall lie prostrate in the ruin of his downfal. Canon VIII.^ The envy of our ancient enemy does not so greatly strive to undermine the weak members of our church, but that he reaches out his hand against its desirable ones, and endeavours to supplant all its elect ; for as the Scripture * says, his food is choice. He supposes that he is working the downfal of many, whenever he succeeds in withdrawing from the church any valuable member by his craftiness. Hence it arises that, after his usual custom, trans- forming himself into an angel of light, under the mask of pre- scribing for the bodies of the sick brethren, and of more carefully performing ecclesiastical business, he leads certain professed monks from their cloister to study laws and make up medical prescriptions. Wherefore, lest under this pretence godly men be again entangled in worldly affairs, and themselves become internally losers, whilst they suppose they are assisting others in outward matters, by the 1 See Labb. Can. iii. ^ Hosea iv. 8. ^ See Labb. Can. viii. * Job sxxix. 29, (or xsxix. 32,) according to the Septuagiut. CH. XTL] the history of WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 465 consent of the present council, we ordain, that no one whatever, after making his religious vow or profession in any sacred place, shall be permitted to go out to study physic or civil laws; but if he shall depart, and not return to his cloister within the space of two months, let him be shunned by all as an excommunicated person, and in no case heard, if he wash to plead any cause. But if he return, let him always be the lowest of the brotherhood in the choir, in the chapter, at table, and elsewhere ; and (unless, per- chance, the mercy of the apostolical see shall intervene) let him lose hope of all promotion. Let ^ such bishops, abbots, and priors as connive at such enor- mity, without correcting it, be despoiled of their honours, and driven from the threshold of the church. An imperial sanction restrains the vexation and audacity of such as go to law wantonly, by condemning them in expenses and other sufficient remedy. Since, therefore, this is admitted to be consistent with holy canons, we command that, for the future, the party worsted in pecuniary causes shall be condemned in lawful expenses, to be paid to the vic- torious party, unless sentence be given against a person absent. Chap. XVI.— Of the King's Displeasure against the venerable Thomas, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Before the year had expired in which the council was held, the displeasure of the king of England waxed hot against the venerable Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, the unhappy source of the numerous and excessive evils which ensued. This Thomas was born in London ; he was a man of acute understanding and com- petent eloquence as w^ell as elegant in person and manner ; he was second to none in despatch of business ; he had been conspicuous in the service of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbur}\ and had received from him the archdeaconry of Canterbury, on the promo- tion of Roger ^ to the see of York. But when Henry the second, on the demise of Stephen, (as it has been before observed,) succeeded to his hereditary kingdom, he was unwilling to be without the services of a man fit to stand before kings, so he made Becket his royal chancellor.^ Being elevated to this office, he executed it with such reputation, and gained at the same time such high regard and dis- tinctions from his prince, that he seemed to share the government with him. Some years had elapsed in his secular services, when, behold, he was enlisted in ecclesiastical warfare, and obtained,* through the royal pleasure, the see of Canterbury. After a time, considering piously and sagaciously the responsibility of so high an honour, he on a sudden exhibited such a change in his habit and manners, that some observed, " This is the finger of God," ^ and * Picard has appended to his edition the following passage, which he copied from the Decret. V. ix. It does not occur in Labbe's text. 2 This happened a.d. 1154. * In A.D. 1158. See Brompton, pp. 1057, 1058. * Elected 24th May, 1162. See Hardy's Le Neve, i. 8. 5 Exod. viii. 19. 466 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n. Others, "This is a change effected by the hand of the Most High." ^ In the second year after his advancement, he was present at the council of Tours, where, as it is reported, being pricked by remorse of conscience, he privately resigned into the pope's hands the primacy, having, as it were, received it not regularly and canoni- cally, but by the agency and hand of the king. The pope, ap- proving of the transaction, restored to him his pastoral office by virtue of his ecclesiastical power, and healed the wounded con- seience of the scrupulous prelate. The bishops having returned from the council to their several sees, the royal and the priestly powers began to be at variance in England, and no small com- • motion arose concerning the prerogatives of the clergy. For it was intimated by the judges to the king, (who was diligently occupied in the concerns of the state, and who had ordered all malefactors to be indiscriminately banished,) that many crimes against public order, such as thefts, rapines, and murders, were repeatedly com- mitted by the clergy, to whom the correction of lay jurisdiction could not be extended. Finally, it was declared, in his presence, that during his reign more than a hundred murders had been com- mitted by the clergy in England alone. Hereupon the king, waxing extremely indignant, enacted laws, in the heat of his passion, against ecclesiastical delinquents, wherein he gave evidence of his zeal for public justice, though his severity rather exceeded the bounds of moderation. Still, however, the blame and the origin of the king's excess in this point attaches only to the prelates of our times, inasmuch as it proceeded entirely from them. For since the sacred canons enjoin that not only flagitious clerks, that is, such as are guilty of heinous crimes, but even such as are only slightly criminal, shall be degraded, — and the church of England contains many thousands such, like the chaff innumerable amid the few grains of corn, — what number of the clergy have there been deprived of this office during many years in England? The bishops, however, while anxious rather to maintain the liberties or rights of the clergy than to correct and root out their vices, suppose that they do God service, and the church also, by defend- ing against established law those abandoned clergy, whom tliey either refuse or neglect to restrain, as their office enjoins, by the vigour of canonical censure. Hence the clergy, who, called into the inheritance of the Lord, ought to shine on earth, in their lives and conversation, like stars placed in the firmament of heaven, yet take licence and liberty to do what they please with impunity ; and regard neither God, whose vengeance seems to sleep, nor men who are placed in authority ; more especially as episcopal vigilance is relaxed with respect to them, while the prerogative of holy orders exempts them from all secular jurisdiction. Thus, when the king had enacted certain statutes against the chaff of the holy order, that is to say, for the examination or punishment of the guilty clergy, in which perhaps (as it has been said) he exceeded the bounds of moderation, he conceived that they would be fully ratified could they be confirmed by the consent 1 See Ps. Ixxvi. 11. Vulg. CH. XVI.J THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 467 of the bishops. Tlierefore, having assembled * the prelates, to pro- cure their sanction by any means whatsoever, he so allured the whole of them, with the exception of one, by blandishments, or terrified them with alarms, that they deemed it necessary to yield to and obey the royal pleasure, and set their seals to the enactment of these new constitutions, — I say, with the exception of one, for the archbishop of Canterbury was alone inflexible, and remained un- shaken by every assault. Upon this, the king's fury became more vehemently incensed against him, in proportion as he appeared more indebted to the royal munificence for what had been given and received. Hence the king became hostile to him, and, seeking every occasion to attack him, demanded an account of eveiything he had formerly done in the kingdom, in his office as chancellor. The archbishop, with intrepid freedom, replied, that having dis- charged his secular duties, he had been completely transferred to the church by the prince in whose service he had been engaged, and that matters of bygone date ought not to be urged against him, but this more for a pretext than for truth. While the causes of the king's anger became daily more aggravated, on the day when the archbishop was to answer at large to the allegations against him, he ordered the solemn office of St. Stephen — " The princes sat and spake against me, and sinners persecuted me" — to be duly chanted before him at the celebration of mass. Afterwards he entered the court, carrying in his hand the silver cross, which was usually borne before him ; and when some of the bishops present wished to undertake the office of carrying the cross before their metro- politan, he refused, and, although entreated, he would not allow any other to bear the cross in that public assembly. The king, being already enraged beyond measure at these circumstances, had an additional incentive to his fury ; for in the following night the archbishop secretly escaped, and passed beyond the sea, where, being honourably received by the king, the nobility, and the bishops of France, he took up his residence for a time. The king of England, consequently, was furiously enraged at his absence ; and, giving way to unbridled passion more than became a king, took an unbecoming and pitiful kind of revenge, by banishing all the archbishop's relations out of England. Now, though many persons indeed generally, led by fond affection, but little prudence, do approve everything done by those whom they love and com- mend, yet I by no means deem that these actions of this venerable man are worthy of commendation, however they might proceed from laudable zeal, — because no benefit would result therefrom, and they only the more inflamed the royal anger, and melancholy results are known to have ensued from them, — any more than I commend the actions of the blessed prince of the apostles, now at the summit of apostolical eminence, in compelling the Gentiles to Judaise after his own example, in which the teacher of the Gentiles declares him to have been reprehensible, though it is manifest that he did it from motives of laudable piety. 1 Namely, at Clarendon, in Wiltshire, where the meetings commenced early in Januaiy, 1164, and occupied the remainder of the month. See MS. Cott. Claud, b. iL fol. 26. 468 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book ir. Chap. XVII. — Of the Death of Octavian, and the Return of pope Alexander into Italy. While pope Alexander continued to reside in France/ after the council of Tours, Octavian (otherwise called the Victor), sub- dued by fate, lost the victory of the contest he had entered into, and failed to realize the fallacious presage of the name which his adherents had bestowed upon him as a propitious omen. But now John de St. Martin, aided by imperial favour, made Guido of Cremona his colleague, in place of the vanquished Victor, lest they should appear to have lost the victory. Alexander, however, after some years' continuance in France, proceeding on his return home, waited at Montpellier ^ for a convenient passage into Apulia. But the emperor, still restless, endeavoured to tamper, as it is said, by private letters, and the most extensive promises, with William, lord of that city, to betray his guest ; but this illustrious man, honouring his illustrious visitor with becoming respect, proved himself to be of unshaken integrity; and, when the cardinals (in company with a number of valiant men, journeying to Jeru- salem), had embarked on board a vessel belonging to the Hospital- lers at Jerusalem, and having cast anchor out at sea, awaiting the arrival of the sovereign pontiff, it happened that the galley was attacked by a fleet of pirates on their passage, and, as the pontiff was approaching from his vessel to embark on board the galley, he observed the pirates round the ship, and therefore rowed back to the port of Maguelonne.* Although the courageous crew of the galley bravely resisted the pirates, and beat them oiF with disgrace and with loss, yet they deemed it improper to wait, at their own peril, any longer for the pope ; and setting sail, after a prosperous voyage they reached the coast of Sicily. Some days afterwards, the pope himself also embarked in another vessel, and passed over into Apulia, with a favouring gale, and without obstruction. He was respectfully received by the king of Sicily and his subjects ; and, after a time, he also found the Roman citizens, with the nobility, devoted and submissive to his command. Still, access to him from the transalpine countries was difficult, as the adherents of the emperor, or of the pretended pope, narrowly watched all passengers. Moreover, the emperor, that disturber of ecclesiastical tranquillity, did not long rejoice in the peace and unbroken pos- session of his dominions : for, treating haughtily the Lombards, who could not endure the German yoke, they recovered their ancient liberty; and Milan being restored, by its own citizens flock- ing thither from their dispersion, with the assistance of its con- federate states, they built also the city of Alexandria (so called ' After the council of Tours, in May, 1163, Alexander resided chiefly at Sens, with occasional visits to Dol, Bourges, and Clermont, until he proceeded on his journey homewards in June, 1165. See Jaffe, Regest. pp. 691 — 705. 2 He arrived at Montpellier on the 10th July, and remained there until the 10th of September, when he wrote the letter mentioned in the following note. ^ The ancient name for the diocese of Montpellier. See Gall. Christ, vi. 728. The statement of the text, respecting the apprehended attack of pirates, is con- firmed by a letter addressed by the pope himself to Henry, archbishop of Reims, which is printed in Bouquet, xv. 846. CH. xvin.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 469 from the name of the sovereign pope, in their devotion to whom they gloried), in a place well calculated to receive the first attacks of the Germans on their entrance into Italy. Immediately after its erection, the emperor, having laid siege to the place, was unable to subdue it ; and, retreating with his army, harassed to no purpose, he augmented the confidence of the enemy against him. Chap. XVIII. — Of the second Expedition into Wales, and the Conquest of Britannt. During the year in which pope Alexander (as it has been said) returned into Apulia from France, a fresh quarrel arose between the king of England and the Welsh, which deeply engaged both parties ; for when this untamed and ferocious people, petulantly breaking their treaty, and exposing to danger the hostages they had given in pledge of their covenant, disturbed the neighbouring pro- vinces of England, the king, collecting an immense army, both from his kingdom and foreign provinces, entered their territories with a mighty host. He was unable, indeed, to penetrate far, on _ account of the inextricable difficulties of their country, but, how- ever, curbing their incursions, he reduced them to such straits that they were compelled to treat of peace. The king, having led back his army from Wales, was called off to other concerns ; and fondly looking to the future advancement and prosperity of his sons, went over the sea ; for, having begotten four sons of Eleanor, formerly queen of France, he purposed leaving to Henry, his eldest-born, the kingdom of England, the duchy of Normandy, and the county of Anjou, while Richard was to preside over Aquitain, and Geoffrey over Britanny : John, his fourth and youngest son, he denominated " Lackland." Having three daughters, also, by the same queen, he betrothed one to the king of Spain, another to the duke of Saxony, and he purposed to affiance the third, not yet marriageable, to the then king of Sicily. As he meditated the appointment of his son to the sovereignty of Bri- tanny, he was now gradually preparing the means for the accom- plishment of this design, as he had not yet obtained its subjugation. He had, however, already prepared two modes of access to this province, that is to say, the city of Nantes, and the castle of Dol. It happened, also, that Conan, earl of Richemund, who was the sovereign of the greater part of Britanny, died, leavirig as his heir an only daughter, by the sister of the king of Scotland. Uniting this unmarriageable girl to his stripling son, he reduced her whole right under his own control. But there were in Britanny certain noblemen, of such wealth and power, that they would never deign to submit to the dominion of any person. From the hostile contention of these people during many years past, through lust of dominion, and impatience of subjection, the dis- trict formerly celebrated became so wasted and impoverished, that vast deserts were beheld where fruitful fields had formerly flourished : and, when the weaker were oppressed by the powerful, entreating the succour of the king of England, they spontaneously submitted 470 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK ir. to his control. By readily and generously granting aid to these weaker persons, he was enabled to subdue the stronger ; who, up to that time, from the greatness of their resources, and the in- accessible places in which they lived, were deemed impregnable. Thus, in a short time he succeeded in obtaining possession of the whole of Britanny ; and, having expelled or subdued its disturbers, he so regulated and tranquilhzed it throughout all its borders, that its inhabitants dwelling in peace, the desert by degrees re- sumed its fruitfulness. Chap. XIX. — Of the Decease of Malcolm, the most piotjs ktsq of the Scots. AriOUT this period, Malcolm, the most christian king of the Scots, of whom we have made becoming mention in the preceding Book,^ putting off mortality ^ at the call of Christ, did not lose his kingdom when associated with angels, but merely changed it. Celestial angels snatched away this man of angelical purity from among men, for in truth he was an earthly angel, of whom the world was not worthy. He was a personage of singular gravity, even in his early years ; and, being of transcendent and unexampled purity, amid the pride and luxury of empire, was hurried away from his virgin body to the Lamb, the son of the Virgin, about to follow Him whithersoever He went. He was snatched away by a premature death, indeed, lest the malice of the times should pre- vent his surpassing innocence and purity, when so many oppor- tunities and incentives were ready to impel the youthful monarch to a different course of life ; but, as his noble soul, amid its better qualities, had contracted some trifling blemishes from regal luxury, which, nevertheless, he endured rather than delighted in, the visitation of heaven, gentle, not violent, corrected him parentally, and purified him from vice. For some years previous to his death he so languished, and, in addition to other complaints, suffered such excruciating pains in his extremities, (that is, the head and feet,) that it might seem any penitent sinner would be perfectly purified by such correction. Hence, it is manifest that this child of God experienced the severity of parental castigation, not merely for purgation, but also for the probation and increase to his virtues, or for an augmentation to his merits. Thus, then, he slept with his fathers, and was buried at a place called Dunfermlin, in Scotland, and celebrated for the burial of its kings. His brother William^ succeeded him ; he was a man better calcu- lated, as it seemed, for the service of the world, but not more fortu- nate in the end than his brother in the management of his kingdom. He desired not merely to use, but to enjoy that world which his brother wished to use sparingly, and consequently piously, and in a praiseworthy manner. Though he endeavoured far to transcend his brother's limits in temporal dignity, yet he was unable to equal ' In the IStli chapter. 2 He died on the 9th of December, 1165. See Chron. of Melrose, ad an. ^ William, surnamed the Lion, king of Scotland, succeeded to the throne 24th December a.d. 1165, and in 1186 he married Ermengarda the daughter of the count de Beaumont. See the Chronicle of Melrose under these dates. CH. XX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NKW BURGH. 471 his glory even in earthly felicity. For a long time he deferred resorting to the benefit of marriage, (to which his brother preferred that highest excellence, pious and holy virginity,) either for issue, or as a remedy for incontinence. At length, however, by the admonition of more wholesome counsel, he married the daughter of a foreign prince, and afterwards not only lived more correctly but also reigned more happily. Chap. XX. — Of the Life and Death of the venerable hermit Godric. ' Nearly about this time, Godric,^ the venerable hermit of Finchal (a solitary place so called, not far from the city of Durham on the river Wear), ripe in years and virtues, rested in the Lord. In him might be clearly seen the holy and high pleasure of God, by His choosing the mean and contemptible things of this world to the confusion of the noble and the great. For, when this man was a rustic, and unlearned, and knew nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in such sort as He is manifested to the ignorant and unlettered ones in the first rudiments of the faith ; on the approach of youth he began to be inflamed with the Spirit, and to imbibe throughout his whole frame the holy fire which God sent upon earth. Most devoutly embracing celibacy (which he had acciden- tally heard was grateful to God, and of transcendent merit), this most unsophisticated man endeavoured to preserve a decent mean according with gravity, in meat and drink, in word and in gesture. He was quick to hear, but slow to speak, and extremely sparing of his discourse. He had learned to weep with those who weep, but knew not how to laugh with those that laughed, or to joke with those that joked. In his youth he visited the sepulchre of our Lord, walking there barefoot, and in extreme poverty ; and on his return home, he anxiously sought out a fitting place where he might serve God. He was admonished in a dream (as they say) to search for a place called Finchal, and (God willing) to reside there. Finding the place after a diligent search, there he dwelt, at first with a poor sister, and on her decease alone for a considerable time. The austerity of his life is represented as almost beyond human endurance. The place in question is woody, but it has a small level spot : in bringing this into cultivation by digging, he derived, some way or other, from it annual produce, which became his support, and was also able to give assistance to strangers. Being recommended to the church of Durham, by the virtiie of his most unspotted life, he so merited the concern of the holy brother- hood around him, that the senior monk was deputed to visit him frequently, as well for the instruction of his rustic simplicity, as to comfort him on certain days, by the participation of the holy ^ The life of this Godric, written by Reginald, a monk of Durham, who had waited upon him in his last illness, has been printed (8vo. Durh. 1847) by the Surtees Society from the unique MS. in the Bodleian Library, Laud 413. William of Newborough's narrative coincides, in its leading particulars, with that furnished by Reginald ; but this later biography furnishes innumerable minute particulars which are not to be found here. Godric died a.d. 1170. See the work just quoted, p. 326. 472 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book n. sacrament. For a considerable time the ancient enemy of man- kind tried his artifices to circumvent him ; but when he saw his stratagems prevail but little, he endeavoured to deceive his sim- plicity by illusions. This man of God, however, both cautiously avoided his hostile snares, and constantly despised and derided his sorceries. St. John the Baptist, whom he more especially loved, frequently visited, informed, and strengthened him. In this manner he lived, even to decrepit old age, and was bed- ridden some few years before his death, by the failure of his aged limbs ; and for many days supported the scanty remains of life in his decaying body by a moderate draught of milk. At this time, I had the good fortune to see and speak to him, as he was con- stantly lying down in his own oratory near the holy altar ; and then he appeared, in a measure, almost dead in all parts of his body, yet he spake with ease, perpetually repeating those words, so familiar to his lips, " Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." In his countenance, also, there was seen a surprising dignity, and an unusual grace. Thus, then, he died, old and full of days, and his body now occupies that same space where, when alive, lie was accustomed to kneel when praying, or to lie when sick. Chap. XXL— Of Ketell, and op the Gbace divinely imparted to him. There was, also, in our province of York, at a village called Farneham, another venerable man, named Ketell. He was a rustic indeed ; but, by virtue of his innocence and purity, he obtained a singular favour from the Lord. Of this man many very remarkable things were reported to me by men of veracity, a few of which I shall relate. When he was quite a youth, as he was one day returning home on horseback from the fields, his horse, as if stumbling, fell to the ground, and dismounted him. On getting up he saw, as it were, two little Ethiopians sitting in the road, and laughing together. He understood that they were devils, who were not permitted to injure him any further ; and he rejoiced that they had hurt him so httle. From that day he received this gift from God : ever after he could see demons ; and however anxious they might be to remain undis- covered, they could not elude his knowledge. He observed that they would rove about to afflict men, even in a slight manner, and that they rejoiced at having produced the most trifling injury. At length, sensible of the grace imparted to him, he became devoted to God, and frequently retired into solitude, for the sake of prayer. He abstained from eating of flesh, and from the use of linen ; he frequented the church at every vacant interval, being the first to enter and the last to depart ; he regarded not matrimony, but embraced celibacy ; and he continued until the end of his life in the service of one Adam, a clerk at Farneham. He concealed the secret of the gift imparted to him, nor would he divulge his visions, unless, perchance, to the priest as a secret of confession, or to his master, or to any other discreet person making strict inquiry. CH. XXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 473 Once, about sunset, as he stood before his master's door, he saw ten devils enter the village ; one of whom was larger, and ap- peared to be the master over the others. While they were standing on the same spot, and conferring together, as if secretly deliberat- ing on their plans, the leader of them despatched them in pairs among the houses, whilst he himself, with another, was desirous of entering the door where Ketell was standing ; but he said, " In the name of Christ, I forbid your entrance into this house, and, also, your abode in this village — call back your companions, and begone immediately." Unable to endure the adjuration of that holy name, they reluctantly obeyed, and lamented that their machi- nations were perceived by this man. Once, also, he saw some devils passing by with a vehicle closely covered up, and he heard the lamentations of persons shut up within it, while the devils were laughing. As he was accustomed to address spirits of that sort without alarm, he immediately said to them, "What means this?" To this they replied: "We are conducting to the place of punishment the sinful souls deceived and ensnared by us, and they are bewailing, while we are laughing at them. We are, also, anxious that you should be delivered to us, that we may rejoice with greater exultation over you too ; because you are our enemy." He replied, " Begone, ye most malignant, and let your laughter be turned into sorrow." Once, however, it happened that he was nearly experiencing the malice of these enemies. He had returned home from his rustic labour, and, being heavy with sleep, had neglected to fortify himself with the holy symbol. While sleeping alone in his customary place, two devils, fierce and terrible beyond measure, stood before him, and laying hold of him when roused up, said, " So ho, Ketell, you have fallen into our hands; you shall experience the resentment of those whom you feared not to attack, and whose deceptions you have so often betrayed." Stupified at this sudden mischance, he was anxious to invoke the name of Christ, and to cross himself, but all his endeavours were vain. His hands and tongue were tied, lest he should protect himself with the powerful defence of that holy sign and name. " Labour not in vain, Ketell," said they ; " we have bound your hand and tongue, nor can anything avail you against us.'' While they thus appeared to triumph over him, and anticipated the mischief they meditated perpetrating against him with threatening and abusive language, behold, a dazzling youth suddenly entered, with a battle-axe in his hand, and took his station between them. The weapon, on being gently touched with his finger, emitted a mighty sound. The devils, startled at the noise, left the man over whom they had begun to triumph, and fled. The youth, (whom I suppose to have been the angel of this man,) then approaching, said : " Your negligence, Ketell, has nearly, brought you into danger ; be careful that hereafter your insidious enemies do not find you off your guard." This same Ketell used to say, that some demons were large, robust, and crafty, and, when permitted by a superior power, ex- tremely hurtful ; others were small and contemptible, impotent in 474 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK U. Strength and dull in understanding; but all, according to their measure, mischievous to men, and highly pleased at injuring him, if even only slightly. Again, he said that he had seen some of this sort sitting by the wayside, throwing stumbling-blocks in the way of passengers, and malignantly laughing, if they could make either man or beast trip ; but more especially if the man, attributing it to his horse, vented his rage against him, either with curses or with spurs. Moreover, if the man, only trivially discomposed, uttered the name of his Saviour, (as is the laudable custom of some persons,) the devils immediately retreated sorrowfully and con- founded. Again, he mentioned that he once entered a public- house, and saw devils of this description in the likeness of apes, sitting on the shoulders of all who were drinking, voiding their spittle into the cups, and deriding the stupidity of these men with exulting gesture and ludicrous motions. And when, amid their compotations, prayers were said, (as is customary,) and the name of the Saviour resounded, they leaped off affrighted, being unable to endure the virtue of that sacred name; but when the rustics resumed their seats to drink again, the devils re-entered, and took their former situation with their accustomed gesticulations. At length this man, endowed from on high with such a singular gift, in per- ceiving the acts and fallacies of wicked spirits, having passed his life with great innocence and purity, fell asleep in the Lord, and was buried at Farneham. Chap, XXII. — Of the lonq-continued Vacancy in the Church op Lincoln. In the fourteenth year of the reign of king Henry the second, which was the eleven hundred and sixty-seventh from the delivery of the Virgin, Robert,* bishop of Lincoln, the successor of Alex- ander, died ; and the revenues of the bishopric being brought into the exchequer, the church was bereft of pastoral care for nearly seventeen years, that is, from the fourteenth year of this king's reign until his thirtieth ; so that it began to be believed that no one would hereafter act as bishop there ; and more especially on the authority of a certain lay-brother at Thame, who firmly asserted that, on the demise of the prelate aforesaid, there would be no future bishop of Lincoln. For this man (as it is said) appeared gifted with the spirit of prophecy, as well on account of the reputa- tion of his holy life, as from the fulfilment of several similar predictions ; in consequence of which, many people believed that he would not be deceived in this transaction. After a short time, this prophecy seemed doubtful, Geoffrey, the king's natural son, out of compliment to him, being elected to the bishopric aforesaid; but when, to give greater indulgence to luxury, he prostrated the period of canonical consecration (being satisfied with the ample revenues of the see, and ignorant of feeding the Lord's flock, 1 Robert de Chesney died 26th January, 1167-8, whereon Geofifrey Plantagenet, the king's natural son, was elected in 1173 ; but, as he did not obtain consecration, he was not regarded as the canonical bishop of Lincoln. He resigned the see in January, 1182, and then Walter de Constantiis was consecrated. CH. XXin.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 475 though skilled in shearing them), and occupied the church of Lincoln a long time, under the title of bishop elect, — the words of the man above mentioned began to revive in credit in the minds of numbers. After some interval, this more forcibly struck many people, when the king, repenting at having, through personal affec- tion, so highly promoted a delicate young man, and one by no means calculated for so honourable an eminence, (who was wisely induced to give up the right and title of bishop elect,) once more annexed the bishopric to the exchequer. However, the fallacy both of the prediction and persuasion was manifested in process of time, as will be mentioned in its proper place. Chap. XXIII. — Of the two Expeditions into Egypt of Amalric, king of Jerusalem. About the same time, Amalric, king of Jerusalem, invited by the king of Babylon, led a christian expedition into Egypt, now generally called the land of Babylon ; not, indeed, that very ancient Babylon of which the holy Scriptures speak, (which was first founded, after the deluge, in the land of the Chaldeans, by Ninus and Semiramis, and held the sovereignty of the East for more than one thousand years, and was long since destroyed, and now is said to be desolate,) but a certain Egyptian city, which (as we read) Cambyses, king of the Persians, on the subjugation of Egypt, founded and called Babylon. The cause of this expedition was as follows. The Turks, a crafty and warlike people, affecting the empire of Egypt under king Noradin, — because the Egyptians appeared conspicuous for their opulence, but less distinguished in arms, — under the conduct of Saraco, the chief commander of this prince (a man very expe- rienced in military affairs), undertaking a secret march through the furthest boundary of the Christians, invaded the Egyptian pro- vinces, and on the speedy capture or surrender of some cities, became terrible and insupportable to the king of Babylon. When the Saracen perceived that they were not to be restrained or repelled by Egyptian valour, he implored the assistance of a chris- tian king, promising great attachment for the future, together with a fixed and annual tribute. Immediately after the high-spirited Amalric had set his kingdom and deputed a portion of his army to receive the attack of Noradin, — if, perchance, in the meantime he should hazard an irruption, — he entered Egypt with the remaining part of the Christian army, and, forming a junction with the forces of the king of Babylon, besieged Saraco, with the Turks, in a certain city, and at length expelled them, straitened and vanquished, from the borders of Egypt, allowing them a free passage home through the christian territory. While these matters were transacting in Egypt, Noradin could not rest ; yet, pretending quiet, became still more injurious by artifice and stratagem. Finally, he seduced to his cause by bribery a certain person of our party, of renowned faith and fortitude, to whom were committed the care and custody of a city opposite to the territories of the enemy, now called VOL, IV. I I 476 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book II. Belinse, but originally Csesarea Philippi ; the Turks, clandestinely admitted by this naan, entering the city, put no one to death, but, expelling the Christians, together with the bishop, stiengthened the town with a fresh garrison. This unlucky accident, wounding the feelings of the king on his return from Egypt, obscured the glory of his triumph. Some years after, however, the troops of the Turks becoming more brave and spirited, and incited not so much by lust of dominion, as stimulated by the desire of avenging their repulse, once more, under the conduct of Saraco, penetrated into the heart of Egypt. On their approach, all the confidence of the Babylonish monarch deserted him ; in consequence of which, he immediately sent ambassadors to implore with the language of entreaty the customary aid of the Christian king ; who, presently arranging his affairs with more caution, and entering Egypt with considerable force of horse and foot, and joining the Egyptian army, resolved on attacking the Turks. They, craftily avoiding the decision of a battle, retreated into the deserts. While the Chris- tians were pursuing them, the festival of Easter occurred. Pitch- ing their camp on the celebrated river Nile, they performed the solemnities of that most sacred day with delight ; and when the supply of flesh for that day's joyous festival was but scanty, a singular circumstance took place, by favour of supernal Providence ; for, as we have heard from those who were present, when the Christian army, watching in the camp, had partaken of celestial food by the ministry of the priests, in reverence of that holy day, on a sudden an immense herd of wild boars and swine, rushing from the adjoining marshes, made for the camp. These valorous men then making use of their swords and spears, instead of hunting implements, slaughtered at their pleasure, not merely for food but for amusement, giving thanks, therefore, to the Donor of so unexpected a present. Thus they had such an abundant supply from this most grateful capture, that they loaded their beasts with food for a second and third repast from the spoils of that day. In the morning they proceeded in pursuit of their enemies ; but when the infantry were fatigued, the king ordered them to halt, and he hastened onward with the cavalry. When this was discovered by the subtle commander of the adverse army, he determined on opposing and trying the event of a battle, making sure of victory, from the absence of the infantry, as he was much superior in cavalry. A very severe and bloody engagement then followed, which was continued from the seventh hour of the day till evening. Each army, equally diminished in spirit and in number, retired to tlieir camps, separated only by a river, the fords over which the Christians had carefully secured for passing. But at night the king, summoning the commanders, bewailed his losses, attributing the disaster to the absence of the greater part of his forces, and acquainted them that, as they were harassed and wounded, the battle could not be renewed in the morning, but that they must return in silence to their associates. This meeting the approbation of all, at midnight they quietly retreated by the route they had come. The like also was done by the enemy, with equal alarm and CH. XXIV]. THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 47/ caution. The Turks, indeed, betook themselves to Alexandria ; but the Christian cavalry ^yas rejoined by their infantry. The king, moreover, recruiting his army, laid siege to Alexandria with in- creased forces ; and obtaining possession of it by surrender, after experiencing many difficulties, he once more expelled the Turks from the kingdom of Babylon, and returned home with great glory. Chap. XXIV. — Op the Dissension and Rkconciliation of the kings of France and England. In the sixteenth^ year of the reign of Henry the second, this prince and the king of France, having been a short time at variance, became again reconciled through the intervention of persons peace- ably disposed. Tlie cause of their differences was this : While king Stephen was formerly occupied with the commotions in England, the earl of Anjou had invaded and obtained possession of Normandy, with the exception of Gisors, and two other castles, as it were dependent on it, which had yielded to the power of the king of France. In process of time, Henry the second, king or England, son of the said earl, not brooking this diminution of his Norman dominion, saw the necessity of making use of art, rather than violence, in this affair. At length, by means of a skilful man, that is, Thomas, his chancellor, he so managed with the king of France, that his daughter, — by the daughter of the king of Spain, ^ who had been married to him after Eleanor, — should be betrothed to Henry his firstborn son ; those fortresses being given up as her dowry, which, nevertheless, were to be kept by the Templars in sequestration, as it were, until the children, who, on account of their 'age, could not as yet contract marriage, should be able to cohabit in due time — the king of England, in the meantime, having the guardianship of them both. King Henry, however, after the expiration of some years, impatient of longer delay, celebrated a premature marriage between the children, and received the castles from the Templars. AMiereupon the French king, being highly enraged, and accusing him of duplicity and the Templars of treachery, they proceeded to enmity and to battle. Being taught, however, by frequent experiments, that violence could effect nothing against the king's powei", and their indignation gradually subsiding, they admitted, that, on certain conditions, peace should be cori- cluded, and accordingly peace was concluded — not a firm- one, indeed — but only temporary, as afterwards appeared. Moreover, the two kings in question were never long at peace with each other ; their people, on both sides, being accustomed to pay the penalty which the kings had merited by their haughtiness. 1 The sixteenth regnal year of Henry extencjs frapi 19tli December, 1169, to 18th December, 1170. " On his divorce from Elianor, Louis VII. married Constantia, the daughter of Alfonsus VII., king of Castile, by whom he had Margaret, mentioned in the text. See Anderson's Genealog. Tables, p. 617. I I 2 478 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book n. Chap. XXV.— Of the Coronation op Henry the third, and the Murder OP St. Thomas. In the year one thousand one hundred and seventy from the dehvery of the Virgin, which was the seventeenth of the reign of Henry the second, the king caused his son Henry, yet a youth, to be solemnly anointed and crowned king at London, by the hands of Roger, archbishop of York, For the king not being yet appeased, the venerable Thomas,* archbishop of Canterbury, was still an exile in France, though the Roman pontiff and the king of France had interested themselves extremely to bring about a reconciliation. The moment Thomas heard of this transaction, jealous for his church, he quickly informed the pope of it (by whose favour and countenance he was supported), alleging that this had taken place to the prejudice of himself and his see : and he obtained letters of severe rebuke, for the purpose of correcting equally the archbishop of York, who had performed the office in another's province, and the bishops, who, by their presence, had sanctioned it. The king, however, continued but a short time in England after the corona- tion of his son, and went beyond sea ; and when urged by the frequent admonitions of the pope, and the earnest entreaties of the illustrious king of France, that he would, at least, condescend to be reconciled to the dignified exile, after a seven years' banishment, he at length yielded ; and a solemn reconciliation took place between them, which was the more desired and the more grateful in pro- portion to the time of its protraction. Wliile the king, therefore, continued abroad, the archbishop, by royal grant and permission, returned to his diocese ; having in his possession, unknown to the king, letters obtained from the pope against the archbishop of York, and the other prelates who had assisted at that most unfortunate coronation; which was the means of breaking the recently con- cluded peace, and had become the incentive to greater rage. These letters, for the suspension of the prelates, preceded him into England; and he followed them himself, burning with zeal for justice, but God knows whether altogether according to knowledge ; but it is not allowed to my insignificance, by any means, to judge hastily of the actions of so great a man. I think, nevertheless, that the blessed pope Gregory, during the slight and yet fresh reconci- liation of the king would have acted with more mildness, and would have deemed it proper, (considering the time and terms of their reunion,) to have winked at things, which might have been endured without injury to the christian faith, according to the language of the prophet, " The prudent shall keep silence at that time ; for it is an evil time." [Amos v. 13.] Therefore, what was done by the venerable pontiff at this juncture, I neither think worthy of com- mendation, nor do I presume to censure ; but this I say, that, if this holy man, through rather too great a fervency of zeal, was guilty of some little excess, yet was it all purged out in the fire of ' The incidents connected with this transaction, as far as Becket is concerned, are more fully explained in the documents immediately illustrative of the life of that individual, to which the reader is referred. OR. XXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 479 that holy suffering which is known to have ensued. Therefore, although holy men are to be loved and commended by us, who are so sensible of our great inferiority, still we are not bound to love or praise them for actions, in which they either do, or have shown the weakness of their human nature ; but merely, for such as we are bound implicitly to imitate. For who can say that they should be imitated in all things — when the apostle James asserts, " that in many things we offend all ? " [James iii. 2.] Wherefore, they are to be applauded, not in all their actions, but with prudence and caution, that God's prerogative may be kept inviolate, in whose praises, indeed, none can exceed, how much soever he may attempt it. The bishops, on account of the offence before mentioned (which I could wish to have remained unnoticed at the time), being suspended, at the instance of the venerable Thomas, from all episcopal functions, by the authority of the apostolic see, the king was exasperated by the complaints of some of them, and grew angry and indignant beyond measure, and losing the mastery of himself, in the heat of his exuberant passion, from the abundance of his perturbed spirit, poured forth the language of indiscretion. On which, four of the bystanders, men of noble race and renowned in arms, wrought themselves up to the commission of iniquity through zeal for their earthly master; and leaving the royal presence, and cr'^ssing the sea, with as much haste as if posting to a solemn banquet, and urged on by the fury they had imbibed, they arrived at Canterburv on the fifth day after Christmas, where they found the venerable archbishop occupied in the celebration of that holy festival with religious joy. Proceeding to him just as he had dined, and was sitting with certain honourable personages, omitting even to salute him, and holding forth the terror of the king's name, they commanded (rather than asked, or admonished him) forthwith to remit the suspension of the prelates who had obeyed the king's pleasure, to whose contempt and disgrace this act redounded. On his replying that the sentence of a higher power was not to be abrogated by an inferior one, and that it was not his concern to pardon persons suspended not by himself, but by the Roman pontiff, they had recourse to violent threats. Undismayed at these words, though uttered by men raging and extremely exas- perated, he spoke with singular freedom and confidence. In conse- quence, becoming more enraged than before, they hastily retired, and bringing their arms, (for they had entered without them,) they prepared themselves, with loud clamour and indignation, for the commission of a most atrocious crime. The venerable prelate was persuaded by his friends to avoid the madness of these furious savages, by retiring into the holy church. When, from hi^ deter- mination to brave every danger, he did not acquiesce, on the forcible and tumultuous approach of his enemies, he was at length dragged by the friendly violence of his associates to the protection of the holy church. The monks were solemnly chanting vespers to Almighty God, as he entered the sacred temple of Christ, shortly to become an evening sacrifice. ' The servants of Satan pursued 480 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book II. having neither respect as Christians to his holy order, nor to the sacred place, or season ; but attacking the dignified prelate as he stood in prayer before the holy altar, even during the festival of Christmas, these truly nefarious Christians most inhumanly mur- dered him. Having done the deed, and retiring as if triumphant, they departed with unhallowed joy. Recollecting, however, that perhaps the transaction might displease the person in whose behalf they had been so zealous, they retired to the northern parts of England, waiting until they could fully discover the disposition of their monarch towards them. The frequent miracles which ensued manifested how precious, in the sight of God, was the death of the blessed prelate, and how great the atrocity of the crime committed against him, in the cir- cumstances of time, place, and person. Indeed, the report of such a dreadful outrage, quickly pervading every district of the western world, sullied the illustrious king of England, and so obscured his fair fame among christian potentates, that, as it could scarcely be credited to have been perpetrated without his consent and man- date, he was assailed by the execrations of almost all, and deemed fit to be the object of general detestation. Upon hearing of this transaction of his adherents, and learning the stain cast by them upon his glory, and the almost indelible brand on his character, he was so grieved, that, it is related, for several days he tasted nothing. For, whether he should pardon those murderers or not, he was sensible that people would be inclined to think evil of him. Moreover, should he spare these nefarious wretches, he would seem to have lent either daring or authority to such a crime ; but, should he punish them for what they were supposed to have done not without his command, he would, on every hand, be most flagitious. In consequence, he thought it best to pardon them ; and regarding equally his own credit and their salvation, he ordered them to be presented to the holy see, to undergo a solemn penance. This was done accordingly ; and they, wounded in con- science, proceeded to Rome, and by the sovereign pope were ordered, by way of penance, to go to Jerusalem; where, as it is said, they all closed their lives, signally executing the appointed measure of their atonement ; but of this hereafter. Whilst almost all persons then attributed the death of this holy man to the king, and more especially the French nobles, who had been jealous of his good fortune, were instigating the aposto- lical see against him, as the true and undoubted author of this great enormity, the king sent representatives to Rome, to mitigate, by submissive entreaty, the displeasure which was raging against him. When they arrived at Rome, (as all men joined in execrating the king of England,) it was with difficulty that they were admitted. Constantly affirming, however, that this dreadful outrage was not committed either by the command or concurrence of their master, they, at length, obtained, that legates a latere from the pope, vested with full power, should be sent into France, who, on carefully in- vestigating, and ascertaining the truth of the matter, should admit the king either to the purgation of his fame, or punish him, if CH. XXVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 481 found guilty, by ecclesiastical censure, which was done accordingly. For two cardinals being despatched from the holy see — that is to say, the venerable Albert, who afterwards presided over it, and Theodinus — they arrived in France ; and a solemn meeting being summoned in the territory of the king of England, consisting of prelates and nobles, they formally undertook the purgation of this same prince ; there, humbly making his appearance, and firmly protesting that what had sullied his fame had taken place without his wish or command, and that he had never been so much afflicted with any transaction before. Indeed, he did not deny tJiat those murderers had, perhaps, taken occasion and daring to their excessive fury from some words of his too incautiously uttered ; when, hearing of the suspension of the prelates, he became infuriated, and spake unadvisedly. " And, on this account," said he, " I do not refuse the discipline of the Church: I will submit devotedly to whatever you decree, and I will fulfil your injunction." Saying this, and casting off his clothes, after the custom of public peni- tents, he submitted himself naked to ecclesiastical discipline. The cardinals, overjoyed at the humility of so great a prince, and weep- ing with joy, while numbers joined their tears, and gave praise to God, dissolved the assembly, — the king's conscience being quieted, and his character in some measure restored. Richard, prior of Dover, then succeeded the blessed Thomas in the see of Can- terbury. Chap. XXVI.— Of the Subjugation of the Irish by the English. About the same period, the English, under pretext of military service, secretly stole into the island of Ireland, intending to in- vade and possess a considerable portion of it hereafter, on gaining accession to their strength. Ireland (as we have heard) ranks next in magnitude to Britain among the islands ; but (as the venerable Beda ' observes) far excels it in serenity and salubrity of atmo- sphere— it abounds wonderfully^ in pasturage and fish, and possesses a soil sufficiently fruitful, when aided by the industry of a skilful cultivator ; but its natives are uncivilized, and barbarous in their manners, almost totally ignorant of laws and order ; slothful in agriculture, and, consequently, subsisting more on milk than corn. Again, it obtains by nature this singular prerogative and gift, in preference to all other nations, that it produces no venomous ^ animal, no noxious reptile ; and should such be carried thither from other countries, sure and speedy death ensues with the first breath which they draw of Irish air. Whatever is brought thence has been ascertained to be a remedy against poison : and, again, this is a singular fact, with regard to this island, namely, that while Great Britain — equally an island in the ocean, and not far remote — has experienced so many chances in war, so frequently fallen a prey to distant nations, so often been subjected to foreign sway, — being » Ecc. Hist. § 8. 2 See Girald. Camb. Topogi-apli. Hibernise, cap. iv. ap. Camd. Scriptore.=i, p. 700. * See Beda, as cited above. 482 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n. subdued and possessed first, by the Romans, next, by the Germans, then, by the Danes, and, lastly, by the Normans, — Ireland (though the Romans had dominion even over the Orkney Isles), being diffi- cult of access, and seldom and only slightly assailed by any nation in war, was never attacked and subdued, never subject to foreign control, until the year one thousand one hundred and seventy -one from the delivery of the Virgin, which was the eighteenth of the reign of Henry the second, king of England. For what the Britons assert as to this island having been under the subjugation ot their Arthur, is merely fabulous, as well as other anecdotes of him, fabricated from a pure lust of lying ; but by what means the Irish, by falling under the dominion of the king of England, put a period to their long, and, as it were, never-disturbed and inbred liberty, is easy to explain, as the occurrence is so recent. The reason for this change is as follows. Ireland, after the ancient custom of Britain, dividing itself into several kingdoms, and accustomed to have numerous kings, was perpetually rent asunder by their quarrels ; and, in proportion to her freedom from foreign warfare, had, at times, her vitals pitiably torn by her children rushing to mutual slaughter. It happened that a certain king in that country was assailed by the bordering princes, and, from being hard pressed and deficient in power, was nearly experiencing the rage of his enemies ; whereupon, taking counsel, he hastily des- patched his son into England, who summoned to his assistance military men, and a hardy band of youths, who were allured by the hope of great reward. Supported by their aid, he began first to take breath, then to gain strength, and, ultimately, to triumph over his enemies. Nor did he sutler his assistants to quit the country, but so nobly remunerated them, that, forgetful of their nation and their father's house, they took up their residence there. But when the fiercest of the people throughout Ireland began to rage and storm against this prince, for having introduced the English nation into the island, they, fearful on account of the scantiness of their numbers, sent to England for such persons as were struggling with poverty or greedy of gain, and by these means gradually augmented their power. Being as yet without a commander, they were like sheep without a shepherd; and, therefore, they invited earl Richard,^ a powerful nobleman from England, to become their leader. Being of high spirit, and extravagant beyond his fortune, for he had wasted his ample revenues and nearly exhausted his patrimony, and being harassed by the claims of his creditors, and, consequently, ripe for ambitious projects, he readily assented. Collecting a numerous and hardy band of young adventurers, he prepared within his territories a fleet to convey him to Ireland ; but when he was just ready to depart, he was prohibited from sailing by persons acting on behalf of the king. He, however, would not delay out of regard for any property he seemed to possess in England, but sailed over, and gladdened his impatient associates with his wished-for presence. Having united their forces, he deemed it expedient to ^ Richard de Clare, earl of Striguil, surnamed Strangbow. See Dugd. Baron. i. 203. on. SXVl] , THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH 483 risk and attempt some enterprise, to impress the barbarians with terror for the future : with daring impetuosity, then, he rushed against Dubhn, a maritime city, the metropoUs of Ireland, and, from its far-famed harbour, the rival of our London in commerce and importation. Having with bravery and despatch assailed and carried the city, he compelled persons at a distance, through appre- hension, to enter into affiance with him. By building fortresses in convenient places, and extending his dominion by degrees, he pressed with perseverance on the bordering districts, which endea- voured to maintain their ancient liberty. Moreover, affecting some little regard for this barbarous nation by a connexion with it, he took the daughter of the confederate king to wife, and received a considerable portion of the kingdom under the title of dowry. When these prosperous successes became known to the king of England, he was indignant at the earl for having achieved so great an enterprise, not only without consulting him, but even in defiance of him, and because he attributed to himself the glory of so noble an acquisition, which ought to have been ascribed to the king, as his superior. Hereupon he confiscated all the earl's property within his dominions ; and, lest any assistance should be derived to Ireland from England, he forbad all intercourse by sea. Threaten- ing still severer measures, he obliged him, now nearly a king, quickly to recover his good graces. In consequence, he extorted from him that most famous city, Dublin, and all the best of his acquisitions; and leaving him the residue, and restoring to him the whole of his English property, bade him be satisfied. After these things, this same earl, who shortly before, from the prodigal waste of his substance, had scarcely anything but his bare title of nobility, now was celebrated for his wealth in Ireland and England, and lived in great prosperity. Some years afterwards, a premature death,* however, closed his career. By this event was evidently manifested the uncertainty of fortune, which in this man's case so quickly disappeared, as well as its fallacy, which, when possessed, so suddenly eluded his enjoyment. From his Irish spoils, for which he had so diligently laboured, and been so anxiously em- ployed at the peril of his safety, he carried nothing with him on his departure ; but, bequeathing his hard-earned, perilous acquisi- tions to his ungrateful heirs, left at the same time, by his fall, a wholesome lesson to numbers. The king of England, shortly afterwards, went over into Ireland with a numerous army, and sub- jugated, by the terror of his name, without bloodshed, those kings of the island who, until that time, had been in a state of re- sistance ; and, disposing matters according to his wishes, returned into England, with safety and with gladness. • He died in April, 1176, according to Ealph de Diceto (col. 590); or in 1175, according to the testimony of an Irish Chronicle, cited by Dugd, Baron.i. 210. 484 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book II. Chap. XXVII. — How king Henry the thirds revolted from his Father, AND STIRRED UP THE KING OP FRANCE AND OTHERS AGAINST HIM. In the eleven hundred and seventy-third year from the delivery of the Virgin, which was the twentieth of the reign of king Henry the second, when the king had returned from Ireland into England, and shortly afterwards passed over from England into Normandy, an execrable and foul dissension arose between him and his son, Henry the third, whom, two years before, as it is said above, he had caused to be solemnly consecrated as king. When the prince grew up to the age of manhood, he was impatient to obtain, with the oath and name, the reality of the oath and name, and, at least, to reign jointly with his father; though he ought of right to rule alone, for, having been crowned, the reign of his father had, as it were, expired — at least it was so whispered to him by certain persons. He was, moreover, highly indignant, because his father had sparingly supplied him with money to meet the expenses of a royal establishment. Thus irritated and enraged against him, he secretly fled to his father-in-law, the king of France, in order thereby to create annoyance to his own father. Being graciously received by the French king — not so much because he was his son-in-law, as because he had withdrawn from his own father — he confided in his advice in all things; and being thus encouraged and instigated against his father by the virulent exhortations of the French, he was not terrified from violating the great law of nature by the example of the undutiful Absalom. As soon as his father had discovered the hatred of his son, and ascertained whither he had fled, he sent men of distinction to the king of France, with pacific words, demanding his son by paternal right, and promising that, if any thing should appear to require amendment with regard to him, by his advice he would immediately amend it. The king of France, upon hearing these words, asked, "Who is it that sends this message to me? " They replied, " The king of England." " It is false," he answered, " behold the king of England is here ; and he sends no message to me by you — but if, even now, you style his father king, who was formerly king of England, know ye that he, as king, is dead : and though he may still act as king, yet that shall soon be remedied, for he resigned his kingdom to his son, as the world is witness." The messengers being thus foiled returned to their lord. Soon after, the younger Henry, by the advice of the French, devising evil from every source against his father, went secretly into Aquitain, where his two youthful brothers, Richard and Geoffrey, were residing with their mother ; and with her connivance, as it is said, brought them with him into France : for their father had granted, for his lifetime, Aquitain to the one and Brittany to the other. Hence the younger Henry believed, from the suggestions of the French, that the people of Aquitain might very easily be gained over to his party by means ' So reckoned because crowned king during the life of hia father. See chap. XXV. CH. xsvm.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NE^YBURGH. 485 of Richard ; and the Bretons by the influence of Geoffrey. He also allied himself to the count ^ of Flanders, his father's cousin- german, a man of great power and immoderate presumption, which arose from his confidence in the numerous and warlike people whom he governed ; and him also he gained over by great promises with the consent of the king of France. Then many powerful and noble persons, as well in England as in foreign parts, either impelled by mere hatred, which until then they had dis- sembled, or solicited by promises of the vainest kind, began by degrees to desert the father for the son, and to make every prepa- ration for the commencement of war. The earl of Leicester, for instance, the earl of Chester, Hugh Bigot, Ralph de Fougeres,' and many others, formidable from the amount of their wealth and the strength of their fortresses. Many, who placed less con- fidence in their wealth and power, also declared the hostility of their minds by retiring into France, in order to remain inactive. To these was added a fiercer enemy, the king of Scots, who was ready to send into the English borders his cruel people, who would spare neither sex nor age. Thus, while so many and such powerful nobles departed from the elder king, and led all men against him, as if their lives depended on it, there were still a few who adhered faithfully and firmly to him, while the rest wavered around him in uncertainty, and timidly feared to be swept away by the victory of the younger sovereign. Then the elder king at length saw (for so it was commonly reported) how unadvisedly, in fact how foolishly, he had acted by prematurely creating a successor to himself; but he little expected that in so doing those persons who were watching for a new government would eagerly follow his son. Uneasy, therefore, at the troubled state of affairs, while internal and external foes were pressing upon him ; and trusting also very little to those who seemed to adhere to him, yet acted remissly, for the favour of his son, he sent for the mercenary forces of Braban^ons, called Rutse ; for the royal treasures (which were not spared in such an emergency) afforded him an abundant supply of ready money. Chap. XXVIII.— Of the Transactions at Aumale, Chateauneuf and Veeneuil. In the month of June, when kings are accustomed to go to war, the neighbouring princes, having collected their forces from every quarter, advanced in a hostile manner against the king of England, pretending, indeed, that they were only jealous for the son against the father ; than which nothing could be more absurd ; for in reality they engaged in this affair either through private hatred,^ like the king of France, or for the sake of gain, like the count of Flanders. The king of England was hardly prepared to receive the attacks of so many enemies, on account of the intestine com- motions which had arisen among his own subjects, and by which 1 The great naval preparations of Philip count of Flanders against England are mentioned by Gervase, col. 1402. 2 The lord of a fortress once the key of Brittany on the side of Normandy. 486 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. he was extremely perplexed. Therefore, when, on account of his inferior force, he was unable openly to meet his assailants, he yet attentively studied how to fortify and garrison the strongholds which were on his frontiers. The king of France, having encircled the town of Verneuil, a place well calculated to sustain a long siege, resolved not to proceed further until it was taken or sur- rendered ; but the count of Flanders, with his forces from Flanders, rushing in, laid siege to Aumale, which had been strongly garrisoned to little purpose, since the count of Aumale, lord of that town, like many others, wavered in his adherence to the elder king. It was certainly believed that he was in collusion with the count of Flanders, because the town, after a slight siege, was quickly taken; and when he was made captive by the count of Flanders, he not only surrendered all the garrison whom the king had sent thither, but he also gave up all his own castles. The Flemish army, animated by this fortunate commencement, proceeded to greater attempts, and boldly laid siege to the royal fortress called Chateau- neuf,^ and with their engines assailed it for many days. It at length surrendered ; yet the count of Flanders rejoiced not ; for his brother Matthew, count of Boulogne, whom he was pleased to regard as his future successor, since he never had, nor expected to have, any descendants by his own wife, was wounded near the knee by an arrow during the siege of that town. The wound becoming worse, he was confined to his bed ; and after a few days, while under medical treatment, he died. His death grieved his brother so much that he put an end to his expedition, and soon after returned in sorrow to his own country, upbraiding himself and imputing this unhappy event as a punishment for having attacked as an enemy for the sake of a wicked son, a king who was his cousin-german, and by whom he had never been injured, but by whom he had frequently been loaded with favours. On this coming to the knowledge of king Henry, he considered that he was now delivered for a time from one half of his sohcitude in the war, and he soon felt greater confidence in himself against the part which remained. Having assembled the forces that were in his pay, and as many others as thought he ought not to be deserted in his extremity, he sent a message to the king of France, who had already consumed the greater part of the summer in the siege of Verneuil, in the hope of soon gaining possession of it, to this effect ; that he must either raise the siege or prepare for a pitched battle on a certain day. At first, the French (who by nature are fierce and arrogant, especially when they seem to be superior in numbers and better prepared for war) scoffed at his message, thinking that he would not venture to act upon it. But when it became known to them that he was fearlessly approaching with his army in array, then they, for the first time, began to suspect that he would attempt something decisive. Their king forthwith hastily summoned his nobles, and consulted with them about the war, and then sent a bishop and an abbot to meet the king of England, and learn from his own mouth whether he was approaching to ' A small village on the line between Eologno and Abbeville. CH. XXIS.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 487 fight ; in the meanwhile he prepared his forces for the occasion. And lo, those who were sent met the king perfectly armed, pro- ceeding with a few attendants some furlongs ahead of his army ; he seemed in full confidence with himself, and was giving orders for something— I know not what. When they told him that the king of France wished to be certified about the battle, he said, with a fierce countenance and terrible voice, " Go, tell your king that I am at hand, as you see." And when they returned in haste, and described the ferocity and resolution of the prince who was fast approaching, the king of France and his nobles held a council, in which it was resolved that they should retire for the present, and decline the contest, that they might fight afterwards for the inherit- ance of their fathers. Thus they quitted their camp, and with their formidable forces retreated into France, armed, however, and with their ranks in array, that they might not seem to flee ; and so those who shortly before seemed like lions, from the fierceness of their minds, and their blustering and boastful words, were suddenly found to be like hares in retreating and running away. The king of England, however, was content with the disgraceful flight of his haughty enemies, and was unwilling to drive and pursue them in their retreat : but turning his army aside to plunder the hostile camp, he entered the city with solemn joy, and congratulated his people who had acted valiantly there. An abundance of corn, wine and provisions were found in the camp, with a variety of goods, which their enemies in their hasty flight were not able to carry away with them. Chap. XXIS. — Op those who "were taken at Dol. Though Henry's external foes, such as the king of France and the count of Flanders, whose power was very great, were thus, by the will of God, driven away, his enemies at home were by no means tranquil. Many of those assembled by agreement, and after uniting together obtained possession of the city of Dol, which indeed of right belongs to Brittany, though it is included within the limits of Normandy. On hearing this, the Brabanyons, in the king's service, soon arrived at the town, and attacked them, upon which a multitude of the insurgents fled into the town ; which soon after being also taken, they were compelled to retire within the narrow limits of one castle. When they were thus shut up, the report was carried with the utmost celerity to the king, who was at Rouen. He, forgetting both food and sleep, and constantly changing his relays, passed over a large tract of countr}^ and arrived so quickly that he seemed to have flown ; and while con- ducting the siege of the castle, the multitude which was enclosed therein, not enduring the confinement, implored his mercy. The king agreed to give them their liberty and to spare their limbs ; but upon the surrender of the castle, he ordered into custody all the noble captives found therein, and the earl of Chester, and Ralph de Fougeres, with about one hundred other nobles, fell, by the iudgment of God, into the hands of the king, whom they had 488 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book II. pursued with the bitterest hatred. However, they were treated by him with very much more clemency than they deserved, though for a time they were confined in chains; but the two nobles above- mentioned, who seemed more distinguished among the captives, after having satisfied the king that they would observe their fealty, obtained their release. In this business the clemency of so great a prince towards most treacherous betrayers and most atrocious enemies is beyond a doubt to be justly admired and applauded. Chap. XXX. — Of the Siege of Leicester, the AVar of the king of the Scots, and the Capture of the earl of Leicester, While such things as these were being performed by the king in person, or around him, in parts beyond the sea, similar events also happened in England. When the earl of Leicester, who first deserted the king, had corrupted many by his dishonest example, Richard de Lucy,^ who at that time governed England under the king, upon the receipt of the royal mandate, hastily collected an army, and besieged Leicester. The town was surrendered and burnt, but he omitted to attack the castle because he was called away to more urgent affairs. Moreover, the king of the Scots, knowing how much the king of England was engaged in Normandy, entered the English frontiers with an immense force of his bar- barous and blood-thirsty people, and besieged Carlisle, as well as wasted the whole of the adjacent province with rapine and slaughter; but when he found that a large army from the north of England was approaching, he relinquished the siege, and after the most horrid ravages in the county of Northumberland, he retired into his own dominions before our chiefs could come up with him. They advanced, however, with their forces across the Tweed, which divides the kingdoms of England and Scotland, and, unresisted, retaliated upon that hostile land ; but they were soon recalled to England by hasty messengers, though not before they had subtilly restrained the ferocity of the hostile king, by a needful truce. Thus, by a wily dissimulation, our chiefs concealed from him those events which had come to their knowledge ; for the earl of Leicester with a hostile fleet from Flanders had landed upon the coast of East Anglia, and being well received by his accomplice, Hugh Bigot,^ a powerful and crafty man, he remained there for some time with his army. Soon after, with the co-operation and guidance of the same Hugh, his army advanced upon the city of Norwich, and took it with very little trouble, it being without a garrison, and paralysed with sudden terror. After plundering it of all its wealth, the army returned to the camp loaded with spoil. With the same person as his counsellor and guide, he in like manner approached towards Dunwich, a celebrated maritime town, abounding in various kinds of treasures, intending to take it also by assault ; but he was 1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 566. ^ Hugh Bigod had been created earl of Norfolk, and as such had great influence in these districts. en. XXXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 489 dismayed at the firmness of the inhabitants, who unanimously pre- pared themselves to receive the attack of the enemy; and when he discovered that his attempts against them would be abortive, he returned without any success. Hugh having made as much use of this army as he desired, then signified to the earl of Leicester that he ought to conduct the foreign forces, which he had brought over, into those districts and castles which were under his own jurisdiction. The earl of Leicester, however, hesitated much and long, because he could not cross the country to Leicester without great danger, through the midst of the enemies' territory, who were said to be watching his march ; feeling, at length, confident in the numbers and valour of his allies (for he had about eighty chosen horse, and four or five thousand valiant foot), and thinking that no one would be able to oppose him on the way, because he had many friends among those who appeared to favour the king, he boldly commenced the journey, with all his forces, taking with him his wife, and Hugh de Castello,^ a French nobleman. But the nobles of the royal party, with an ample military force, were at St. Edmundsbury, watching him; and when the earl's army was near that place, they brought out their forces in array against his troops. The forces of the earl were not in a position to turn either to the right hand or to the left ; and so converting their constraint into courage, they boldly marched onward in order, and a desperate battle commenced ; the one party fighting for glory, and the other for safety. The victory, however, belonged to the royal party ; the earl was taken captive, with his wife, a woman of masculine mind, and also Hugh of Castello, together with almost all the cavalry ; but nearly the whole of the foot soldiers were killed. The prisoners of distinction were sent to the king in Normandy, and the rest were disposed of according to his discretion. Chap. XXXI.— Of the Defection of David the Scot and others from the King. This unfilial madness of the son against the father raged for nearly two years, and the more important events of the first year have already been set forth in the foregoing narration. For a short time, indeed, during the winter, in parts beyond the sea, there was a cessation from the tumults of war ; but it was not so in England ; for the troops, who were in the fortresses belonging to the earl of Leicester, after they had remained quiet for some time, cowed by the fate which had befallen their lord, again grew bold and inflamed, as it were, to avenge this disaster; and being joined by a multitude of the wicked ones, began to infest the neighbouring counties by their incursions; and feehng that they would act with more confidence in having a prince possessing a great name, they chose for their leader and chief Davids earl of Huntingdon, brother of the king of Scots, who was roving about successfully, and was proceeding prosperously in his further acts of iniquity. The earl of Ferrars also, and a nobleman named Roger ^ Hugh de ChS,teauneuf. 490 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. de Moubray, having now openly declared their intention, which they had long concealed, followed the rest of the revolters, scarcely restraining (even during the sacred time of Lent) the impulse of the fury they had conceived ; but after the solemnity of Easter they brolce out in daring adventures. Nor did the younger king at that time desist from alluring the English nobles who outwardly appeared to adhere to his father by promises and clandestine letters, and even by threats, that he might bring them over by any means to his own party ; from which cause it is said that there were only a few noblemen at that time in England who were not wavering in their adherence to the king, and ready to desert him at any time, unless some check should speedily be placed upon their intentions. Chap. XXXII.— Op the king's arrival in England, and what the Scots DID THERE. In the second year, therefore, of the contention that had com- menced, the war was once more renewed against the elder king of England by those powerful enemies, the king of France, the count of Flanders, and the king of Scots, with all their forces. The count of Flanders (already forgetful of his brother's death, and ambitious of possessing the English county called Kent, for which, in fact, he had already done homage to the younger Henry) was preparing a fleet to cross over into England with the young king and his forces. The king of France, intending to invade Normandy, was also preparing an army which he had collected from all quarters. When those preparations became known, the elder king, preferring that his possessions beyond the sea should be in peril rather than his own realm of England (and yet he carefully took measures that they should be fortified, for he foresaw that while he was absent, and as it were not in existence, no one in England would offer any opposition to the individual who was ex- pected to be his successor), and anticipating the movements of his enemies, he quickly embarked for England with some cavalry and one troop of Brabancjons. In the meantime, the king of the Scots,* with an infinite number of barbarians of his own nation, and his accessories of mercenary cavalry and infantry from Flanders, entered the English frontiers, and obtained possession of Burgh and Appleby, two royal fortresses in Westmoreland, which he found ungarrisoned. Departing thence, he determined to lay siege again to the city of Carlisle ; but an agreement being made by the affrighted citizens, that they would surrender the city to him on a certain day unless in the meantime a garrison sufficient for them should be sent by the king of England, he marched with his army to lay siege to a certain fortress by the river Tyne, called Prudhoe. Then Roger de Mowbray, whom we have before mentioned, came to him, and demanded assistance ; for after two of his fortresses had been valiantly stormed and taken by Geoffrey, the natural son of the king of England, who was then bishop elect of Lincoln, he ' The metrical chronicle of Jordan Fantosme, already given in the previous portion of this volume, may here be consulted with advantage. CH. XXXIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 491 had difficulty in holding possession of a third called Thirsk. This Roger, a long time before, had given his first-born son as a hostage to the king of the Scots, who was then meditating an irruption into the province of York, and had engaged to assist and obey him in all things ; and in his turn had received surety from him that he should never be left without assistance in any necessity whatso- ever ; but after the Scottish king had toiled at Prudhoe for many days with useless labour, (which was highly injurious to his own people,) on hearing that the military force of the county of York was raised against him, he crossed the Tyne and invaded the county of Northumberland. Everything was consumed by the Scots ; to whom no kind of food is too filthy to be devoured, even that which is fit only for dogs ; and while they were grasping their prey, it was a delight to that inhuman nation, more savage than wild beasts, to cut the throats of old men, to slaughter little children, to rip open the bowels of women, and to do everything of this kind that is horrible to mention. So while this army of most infamous robbers was poured into the miserable province, and the barbarians were reveUing in their inhumanity, the Scottish king himself, attended by a more honourable and civilized body of military, who kept watch around him, appeared to be unemployed, and remained in observation around a very strong castle called Alnwick, in order to prevent the possibility of a band of soldiers sallying from it, and so disturbing the plunderers, who were robbing and killing around them in every direction. Chap. XXXIII.— Of the Captuke of the King of Scots. While matters were thus progressing in the northern parts of England, the nobles on the king's side in the county of York, justly indignant that the Scots should infest the confines of England, assembled at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with a strong body of cavalry. The occasion was so urgent that they had not time to collect their infantry together, and they came thither on Friday, the sixth day of the week, wearied by a long and laborious march. While they were there consulting together what was to be done, the more pru- dent declared that much had already been done, since the king of Scots, upon hearing of their arrival, had retreated so far ; that this ought to suffice for the time, considering the smallness of their force, and that it was neither safe for themselves, nor useful to the king of England, to advance any further, lest they should appear to expose their scanty numbers to the infinite multitude of barbarians, to be devoured like a piece of bread ; that they had not more than four hundred horse, while the enemy's army was estimated at more than eighty thousand armed men. To this the more eager replied, that these most malignant foes ought to be attacked by all: means, and that they ought not to despair of victory, which, beyond a doubt, v.ould follow on the side of justice. Ultimately, the opinion of the latter prevailed (for God so willed it, that the event might be ascribed rather to the Divine decree than to human prudence or power), and the men of valour, among whom the principal were Robert de VOL. IV. K K 492 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK ii. Stuteville, Ralph de Glanville, Bernard de Baliol, and William de Vescy, being refreshed a little by a night's rest, set out early in the morning, and hastening forward with such swiftness as if propelled by some invisible power. For they marched twenty-four miles before five o'clock — a thing which seemed scarcely possible to be done by men loaded with the weight of armour; and while they were advancing, it is said that so dense a fog covered them that they liardly knew whither they went. Then the more prudent among them, pleading the peril of the way, declared that certain danger awaited them, unless they turned and went back. To this Bernard de Baliol, a noble and magnanimous man, said, " Let him who chooses go back, but I will go on though no one shall follow me, for I will not brand myself with perpetual infamy." While they were thus marching onward, the fog suddenly cleared away, and they saw the castle of Alnwick before them, and joyfully they thought that it would aiFord them a safe place of retreat if they should be pressed by the enemy ; when lo ! the king of Scots, with a troop of about sixty knights or rather more, was stationed for observation in the open fields not far off, as secure as if he dreaded nothing less than an irruption from our people ; the multitude of his barbarians, with part of the cavalry, being widely dispersed for plunder. When he first saw our men, he doubtless thought that they were some of his own, returning from plundering ; but, upon carefully observing our leaders' banners, he soon understood that we had now dared what he could not have suspected we would attempt. However, he was not terrified ; for being surrounded by that vast, though less concentrated army, he thought (nay he did not deign to doubt) that our few and scanty troops would easily be crushed by the multitude scattered around him. Fiercely, therefore, clashing his arms, and exciting his men by his words and example, he said, "Now it will appear who knows how to be a soldier;" and rushing first upon the enemy, the others following him, he was immediately met by our men, stricken down (his horse being slain under him), and taken prisoner with almost all his troop — for those who could have escaped, despising flight after he was taken prisoner, gave themselves up, of their own free will, into the hands of their enemies, in order that they might be taken prisoners along with him. Certain nobles also, who happened then to be absent, but not far off, on hearing what had occurred, soon came up at full gallop, and throwing themselves, rather than falling, into the hands of the enemy, thought it honourable to share the fate of their lord. Roger de Moubray, however, who was there at that time, on the king being captured, escaped and took refuge in Scotland. Our nobles returned joyfully in the evening with their royal prisoner to Newcastle, whence they had departed in the morning, and caused him to be safely kept in custody at Richmond, intending to send him at a convenient time to their illustrious lord the king of Eng- land. This battle was happily won, by the favour of God, on Saturday, the third of the ides of July [13th July], in the one thousand one hundred and seventy- fourth year from the fulness of time when the Word was made flesh ; and the intelligence was CH. XXXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 493 soon circulated far and wide, and received with gladness in all the counties of England, while the bells rang for solemn joy. Chap. XXXIV.— What happened to the Army and Territory of Scotland AFTER THE KiNG'S CAPTURE. The king of Scots being thus delivered into the hands of his enemies, the manifest vengeance of God did not permit his most hateful army to go unpunished. WHien the capture of their king was known, the barbarians were at first thunderstruck, and de- sisted from plunder; but soon after, as if impelled by the furies, they turned against each other the sword — now drunk with inno- cent blood — which they had taken up against their foes ; for there was in that army a great number of English, since the towns and boroughs of the kingdom of Scotland are inhabited by English. On this occasion the Scots, evincing their innate hatred against tliem, though concealed through fear of the king, cut off as many as they met, while those able to escape took refuge in the royal fortresses. There were also in that army two brothers, Gilbert ^ and Uctred, lords of the province of Galloway, with a numerous company of their own people ; they were the sons of Fergus, formerly prince of that province, and when their father died they succeeded him, for the king of Scots, who is lord paramount of that land, had divided the inheritance between them ; but Gilbert, the elder, discontented at being deprived of the whole of his pa- ternal possessions, had always in his heart hated his brother. For a while, however, the fear of the royal displeasure had restrained the impulse of the fury he had conceived ; but when the king was taken prisoner, finding himself delivered from this apprehension, he soon laid hands upon his brother, who was fearing nothing; and to gratify his execrable hatred, he killed him, though not by simple death, but with excruciating tortures. He then invaded Uctred's dominions; and barbarians, exercising their cruelty upon barbarians, committed no small slaughter. There was, however, a son of that brother who had been so nefariously killed, by name Roland, an acute and energetic youth, who, by the co-operation of his father's friends, resisted to the utmost his uncle's rage. Thus the whole kingdom of Scotland was in a state of anarchy, by the most equit- able disposal of God, who meted out to the wicked with that measure which they themselves had dealt to others ; that is to say, those who shortly before had disturbed the peace of a harmless people, and had thirsted for the blood of the English, by a most beautiful ordinance, received retribution from each other. Chap. XXXV.— Op the memorable Penance of the King op England, and OF ITS Consequence. King Henry the second had now come into England from Nor- mandy, to throw the strength of his presence against his son, who was expected to arrive with the Flemish forces ; but remembering 1 See Fordim VIII. xsv. torn. ii. p. 474. K K 2 494 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. n. how much he had sinned against the church of Canterbury, he proceeded^ thither immediately he had landed, and prayed, freely shedding tears, at the tomb of Thomas, the blessed bishop. On entering the chapter of the monks, he prostrated himself on the ground, and with the utmost humility entreated pardon ; and, at his urgent petition, he, though so great a man, was corporally beaten with rods by all the brethren in succession. On the following night, in a dream, it was said to a certain venerable old monk of that church, " Hast thou not seen to-day a marvellous miracle of royal humility? Know that the result of those events which are passing around him will shortly declare how much his royal humility has pleased the King of kings." I learned this from that most reverend and simple-minded man, Roger/ abbot of Byland, who, while relating it, said that he had heard it from a trustworthy person, who was accidentally staying at that very time in Kent. He who touches the mountains and they smoke,^ soon after clearly made known, by a notable proof, how much He valued ■\hat devotion of that smoking mountain ; for on that day, and, as it is said,* at that very hour in which that mountain gave forth smoke at Canterbury, the divine power overthrew his most mighty enemy the king of Scots, in the extreme confines of England : so that the reward of that pious work might not seem to have followed the work itself, but rather to have attended it, so that no man might be suflered to be in suspense on this point. This prince, departing from Canterbury, hastened to London ; and having sent his military forces forward against Hugh Bigot, he made a short stay there, having been let blood. When, lo ! in the middle of the night, a very swift messenger,^ sent by Ralph de Glanville, knocked at the gate of the palace. Being rebuked by the porter and the guards, and ordered to be quiet, he knocked the louder, saying that he brought good news on his lips, which it was positively necessary that the king should hear that very night. His perti- nacity at length overcame them, especially as they hoped that he came to announce good tidings. On being admitted within the door, in the same manner he over-persuaded the royal cham- berlains. When he was introduced into the royal chamber, he boldly went to the king's couch, and aroused him from sleep. The king, on awaking, said, " Who art thou?" To which he replied, " I am the attendant upon Ralph de Glanville, your faithful liege- man, by whom I have been sent to your highness ; and I come to bring good tidings." " Ralph, our friend ! is he well?" asked the king. " He is well, my lord," he answered ; " and, behold, he holds your enemy, the king of Scots, captive in chains at Rich- mond." The king, astonished at his news, said, " Say on ;" but he only reiterated his words. " Have you no letters?" he asked; on > Henry landed at Southampton on the 8th of July, and on the 12th he reached Canterbury, and there performed the penance mentioned in the text. 2 See Book I. chap. xv. Picard tells us that William of Newburgh dedicated to him his Commentaries upon the Canticles, concerning which see Tanner's Bibl. p. 595. 2 See Ps. clxiv. 5. * See Pauli, Gesch. von England, iii. 117. ^ Compare the narrative of Fantosme at this point. CH. XXXVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, 495 which he produced sealed letters, containing a detail of what had been done. The king, instantly inspecting them, leaped from his bed, and, with the deepest emotion, rendered thanks, moistened with pious tears, to Him who alone does wondrous things. He then summoned the people of his household, and made them par- takers of his joy. In the morning came also other messengers, reporting the same ; but only one, that is, he who had come first, received the gratuity. The good tidings were immediately made public, amidst the earnest acclamations of the people, and the ringing of bells in all parts of London. Chap. XXXVI. — Of the Siege op Eouen, and the insidious attack op the Assailants. In the meantime, the king of France, with an overpowering army, entered Normandy from the east — that is to say, where it seemed to lie open, by reason of the castles which had been taken by the count of Flanders ; and he advanced upon and besieged Rouen, the metropolis of that province. Rouen is one of the most famous cities in Europe, and is seated upon the great river Seine, by which the commerce of many regions is carried thither ; and it is so well protected by that river, and by the hills about it, that scarcely a third part of it could be besieged by a single army. The younger king and the count of Flanders, surrounded by vast forces, were watching for an opportunity of crossing the sea, with the fleet which they had prepared in the port of the Morini,^ where there is the shortest passage into England. However, upon hearing that the elder king was already in England, and doubtless powerfully prepared to receive their attacks, they thought it would be by no means safe for them to cross over thither. So they changed their intention ; thus rendering ineffectual the whole equipment of the fleet which they had prepared. Considering that the siege of Rouen would be a great undertaking, and that it would be a very profitable act to take that city, they concentrated those vast and terrible forces at that point, and increased the besieging army to an immense extent. Though so great an army had not been seen in Europe for many years previous, yet, on account of the difficult approaches to the city, they could scarcely lay siege to the third part of it. By the bridge across the river, there was both a free ingress into the town from the country, and also egress from the town into the country ; so that it was supplied with all manner of necessaries in abundance : while the hostile army, nigh at hand, looked on and envied them; so that, perhaps, we might quote the remark, that " Sicilian tyrants have not found a greater torment than envy." When strong and spirited men beheld this, almost all day going on quite near them, without the power to prevent it, they endured the sight with considerable vexation. The engines being ready to attack the city, the siege was commenced in earnest, and the army was divided into three divisions ; the natural day was also divided into eight hours, so that the men might succeed each other in turns — * Boulogne; concerning the district of the Morini, see Gallia Christ, x. 1526. 496 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. " [BOOK II. that is to say, those who were fresh might succeed the weary; and thus, by perpetually fighting, they should not leave the defenders of the walls the least time to breathe, either by day or night. But their object was defeated ; for the citizens opposed this arrange- ment by similar skill and precaution, and also divided themselves into three bodies, and by a careful distribution met the enemy, who continued the attack in succession. Thus they provided for themselves a competent remedy against the intolerable labour and fatigue by which it was thought they would be wearied out. After they had struggled for many days with their utmost strength, and neither party had gained or lost in any respect, on the natal day of St. Lawrence [10th Aug.], the king of France, out of reverence to that excellent martyr, whom he was accustomed especially and devoutly to venerate, commanded it to be solemnly proclaimed that repose should be allowed to the city on that day. The citizens gratefully embraced that favour, and enjoyed the short interval in the most jocund manner. Young men and maidens, old men and children, as much out of joy of the day, as to irritate the enemy, shouted with loud voices in the city; while a troop of military amused themselves with tilting, in the sight of the enemy, upon the banks of the river outside the town. The count of Flanders, as it is reported, went to the king, and said : " See, the city for which we have already toiled so much, is offered to us spontaneously, while those inside are leading dances, and those outside are sport- ing in security. Let the troops, therefore, silently take arms, and let the scaling-ladders be quickly placed against the wall, and we shall be masters of the town, before those men, now sporting out- side it in derision of us, will be able to regain the city." " Far be it from me to blemish my kingly honour by such a stain," said the king ; " for thou knowest that I have granted the city repose for this day, out of reverence to the most blessed Lawrence." Upon this, all the chiefs then present, with familiar boldness, reproved his mildness, and said, " Who asks whether it be deceit or valour in an enemy?" consequently he acquiesced. So, not by the voice of the trumpet, nor that of a herald, but by the whispers of the commanders alone in the tents, was the army made ready to rush upon the city. However, by the will of God it happened, that certain clerks were at that hour amusing themselves, in some way or other, in a lofty tower of a church within the town, from which it was the custom to give a signal to the citizens when the enemy came rushing toward the walls, by ringing a very ancient but won- derfully sonorous bell. One of these clerks happened to look out of the window, and, casting his eyes over the army spread out in their tents, was at first surprised at the unusual silence in the camp, which seemed to betoken some mystery. Soon after, looking more closely from that lofty place, he observed their clandestine preparations ; and when he had communicated the matter to his companions, they immediately gave the well-known signal to the city, by ringing Ruvell,* for so the bell was called. When this was ' Pauli, iii. 119, here quotes Cheruel, Hist, de Eouen, i. 27 (1844), for additional iuformation upon this incident of the bell. CH. XXXTII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 497 heard, both sides hastened forward with all their forces. The army that was already prepared rushed from the camp, and advanced to the wall with scaling-ladders ; and the cititzens, stimulated by the unexpected peril, seized their arms, and with ardent spirit and movements endeavoured to repel the assailants. Those also who were amusing themselves outside the town, came up with won- derful celerity. The enemy, having succeeded in placing their ladders against the wall, scaled the rampart, and then their shouts of triumph were heard. When, lo ! they were bravely attacked and repulsed by the citizens, and a most furious conflict with spears was waged upon the ramparts — arms and bodies met to- gether, and much blood was shed on either side ; and, at length, those who proudly had ascended were thrust headlong down again. Night put an end to the battle, and the treacherous army, after suffering much greater loss than they had inflicted, retired in con- fusion to the camp. The king threw the blame upon the count of Flanders, but the stain of such infamous treachery adhered most to the person of the king. From that day forward, it is certain that the besieged acted with more confidence, and the besiegers more slackly and hopelessly. Chap. XXXVII. — How the King eestored Peace to England, and relieved Rouen. In the meantime, king Henry the elder, remaining in England, sent for the governors of the castles belonging to the earl of Leicester, whom he had brought with him from Normandy in bonds, and admonished them that, for the safety of their lord, they should resign those castles, issuing from which they infested the provinces. They demanded permission to confer with their lord, but it was denied them ; upon which they said they would not obey the king's wishes, unless upon the certain release of their lord. The king replied, " I will make no agreement with you upon the subject ; but if you will do what I wish, you will do well." And it is reported, that when the holy relics were brought, he swore, saying, " So may God help me, and these holy things, but the earl of Leicester shall taste nothing until you do that which I desire with respect to his castles : you may, however, depart as quickly as you can." Then, seeing that certain and swift destruction was impending over their lord if they resisted any longer, they forthwith resigned the fortresses. Earl David, however, who had been the chief among them, having left the castle of Huntingdon, it soon afterwards surrendered to the king, and the earl hastily retired into Scotland. At these successes by the king, Hugh Bigot and the earl of Ferrars were terrified ; and they also came to an agreement of their own accord, and gave security for peace and fidelity. Matters, by the will of God, being thus arranged in-England, according to his vows, the king with a mighty army quickly crossed the sea, taking with him the king of Scots (who had been brought to him shortly before), the earl of Leicester, and the other noble captives. Amidst the exultations of the people throughout Nor- 498 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II. mandy, at his rapid and happy return, he entered Rouen/ in great pomp, in the sight of the enemy. A few days before, a messenger had arrived with the news of the capture of the king of Scots, at "which the enemy were greatly grieved ; but at the sudden and triumphal return of the king from England, they were stricken with astonishment. Confiding, however, in the strength of their in- numerable multitudes, they persisted in the siege. The king, at night, secretly sent out a troop of Welshmen, whom he had brought from England with him, and who, taking advantage of the darkness of the woods, concealed themselves in favourable places (for men of this kind are agile and expert in woods), in order that they might observe where the supplies were conveyed to the great army. The Welshmen, availing themselves of the opportunity, rushed out from the woods, attacked the convoys, and put the horsemen by whom they were guarded to flight; and having destroyed the whole equipage, with great slaughter of men and beasts of burthen, they retired back again to the woods. A report was soon spread that the forests were full of Welshmen ; and the army suffered hunger for the space of three days on account of their supplies being inter- cepted. In this necessity, the siege was abandoned, and the princes departed with their vast army, carrying away no other reward for the great labour^ than ignominy. They kept their ranks, however, in order to repel danger, if perchance the enemy should press upon their rear. Thus, whatever was prepared or attempted against the king of England by the malignity of his enemies, turned to his glory, God being propitious to him. Chap. XXXVIII.— Of the Reconciliation of the Kings, and the Tranquillity OF THEIE REALMS. While God thus smiled propitiously on this prince in all things which were done by him or around him, his enemies were so terrified and humiliated by his numerous illustrious and successful actions, that they began to treat of peace ; and those persons were now made mediators for restoring unity who had been the chief inciters to discord. Accordingly, a grand conference was held between the parties, in which the fatal rancour of the princes and the disquietude of provinces were alike appeased. The count of Flanders restored to the king of England whatever of right be- longed to him, but of which the chance of war had deprived him ; and he claimed, for the future, security for faithful friendship on doing homage. As for that most ungrateful son, he also returned into favour with his father ; and not only did he promise obe- dience and filial reverence for the future, by the surety of many persons who swore to answer for his fidelity, but the king, adopting a new precaution against these ungrateful and suspected sons, prudently exacted homage from them, which was solemnly rendered. For it was the will of his father, that he who had irreverently broken the strongest tie of nature like a spider's web, should at least be bound to that which is honourable and useful by ' He entered Rouen xipon Sunday, llth August. CH, XSXVIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 499 the civil law or the law of nations ; and since it is written, " A threefold cord is not quickly broken" [Eccl. iv. 12], the violator of nature in the natural law which ought to be observed to a father, might at least be true in consideration of homage and of the double tie of an oath and fealty ; and he must for the future beware lest his father — who was now not only his father, but his liege lord — should justly pronounce sentence against him as it had been declared of old by the Lord of lords, through his prophet, against a disobedient people, " If then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear?" [Mai. i. 6.] His youth- ful brothers also, whom he had influenced by the advice of the French, and led away from their father, he brought back to him ; and very little question was raised about them, since their youth was their excuse.^ Moreover, at the instance of the king of France, and of the other princes who were there, the illustrious king of England absolutely released the earl of Leicester, and the rest of the captives, excepting the king of Scots ; and after giving them their liberty, he restored their goods and honours. He intended also, at his own time, to act towards the king of Scots at once with prudence and clemency. In process of time, however, when he seemed to have forgotten those acts which had been done against him by the ungrateful and faithless, he suddenly ordered the walls of Leicester to be thrown down, and the fortifications of all those who had deserted him to be levelled ; thus taking care for the future, by breaking the horns of the proud, that they should be able to attempt nothing of the same kind on any succeeding occasion. He subsequently also released the king of Scots, upon his giving security- for the performance of certain stipulated covenants. Having come into England, he appointed the city of York for the performance of those stipulations. On his arrival there, in the midst of a great number of his nobles, he met the king of Scots, with the whole nobility of his realm, all of whom, in the church of the blessed prince of the Apostles, did homage and liegance to the king of England as their chief lord — that is, they bound them- selves by a solemn obligation to act with him and for him against all men, even before their own sovereign. The king of Scots also before the whole multitude of the nobles of each kingdom, in the accustomed manner acknowledged the king of England as his lord and he himself to be his liege man. He also delivered up to him the three principal fortresses of the kingdom, namely, Roxburgh, Berwick, and Edinburgh, as a security. These acts being per- formed, the people enjoyed the long- desired peace ; and the king of England became, by his success in so many enterprises, re- nowned throughout the world. Thus this worse than civil war, which was carried on between father and son, with such peril to so many persons, was ended. These things having been narrated, we now bring the second Book of our history to a conclusion. ' The terms of the agreement into which Henry entered with his sons may be seen in Rymer's Foedera, i. 30. 2 This document is printed in the Foedera, ibid. 500 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book III. The Third Book. Chap. I. — Of the Council op London, and the Contention op the Arch- bishops, AND the Inundation of Holland. In the one thousand one hundred and seventy-fifth year from the fulness of time in which the Truth was born upon earth, which was the twenty-second year of the reign of king Henry the second, a provincial council was celebrated in London by Richard, arch- bishop of Canterbury, legate of the holy see, sitting in full assembly with his suftragans and other ecclesiastical persons. In the following year, however, cardinal Hugh,^ legate of the apostolic see, came into England, though I know not for what object. Being about to hold a general council for the whole of England, by the sanc- tion of the royal favour, he summoned to London the ecclesiastics of both the provinces of Canterbury and York. On the day fixed for holding the council, when he was about to proceed in the ensigns of his office, a vehement contention arose between the two archbishops about the chief seat in the council ; for verily that apostolical rule " in honour preferring one another " [Rom. xii. 10], is so disregarded by the bishops of our time, that they, laying aside pastoral solicitude, contend with one another as obstinately as vainly for dignity; and almost all episcopal controversy entirely relates to precedency in honours. In a word, the archbishop of York having arrived the earlier, took possession of the chief seat, claiming the same as his own, in accordance with the ancient decree of St. Gregory, by whom it was appointed ^ that he who should be first consecrated should be esteemed the chief metro- politan of England. The archbishop of Canterbury, however, like a man who had sustained an injury, refused to take the lower room, and solemnly proclaimed his grievance in the matter of the seat which had been preoccupied ; but his attendants being more fiercely jealous of his dignity, proceeded from a simple strife of words to a brawl. The archbishop of York, the adverse party being the stronger, was driven with contumely from the place which he had so prematurely occupied, and exhibited to the legate his torn cope as a mark of the violence which had been used towards him; and he declared his intention to summon the archbishop of Canterbury with his followers before the holy see. Thus, while the metro- politans were contending, all business was thrown into confusion, and the council was not celebrated, but dispersed; and all those who had been summoned and had come together to hold a council, returned to their homes. In the same year in which the abovementioned cardinal came to England, the ocean, as if irritated at the sons of men, rose higher than usual, broke through the dykes of Holland, which had of old been raised against the tempestuous force of the waves, and broke into that low and flat country on the seventh of the ides of January [7th Jan.], drowning almost all the cattle, as well as a multitude of • Hugo, or Hugutio, cardinal of St. Augelo, and after of St. Clement ; see Pagi, a.d. 1175, § 2. 2 See Beda, E. H. i. 29, § 73. CH. II.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH 501 men : the rest were with difficulty saved by climbing trees, or getting on the tops of houses. After about two days, when the fury of the waves was satiated, the sea returned to its bounds ; but this irruption was fatal beyond measure to men and beasts, because, coming like a destroying thief in the night, it could not be seen and guarded against. Chap. II.— Of the Reconciliation of the lord the Pope and the Emperor. In the one thousand one hundred and seventy-seventh year from the delivery of the Virgin, and in the eighteenth year of the ponti- ficate of the lord pope Alexander, the inveterate rage of the em- peror Frederick against that venerabl e pontiff became pacified . Cursed be his anger, for it was fierce, and his wrath for it was cruel. ^ Blessed also be the Lord, who touches the mountains, and they smoke ; for he tames the angry, and mollifies the cruel. The principal schismatics had been swallowed up by the judgment of God — that is to say, Octovianus, who had first invaded the papacy, and Guido of Crema, the successor of his rashness ; and when John, abbot of Strumae,^ was the third to continue the error, the emperor at length, touched with compunction, began to treat of peace, by the instrumentality of wise and noble men. Thus these two great princes, the sacerdotal and the imperial, solemnly met together by the favour of God, and became as father and son, on the ninth of the kalends of August [24th July], and so the church was united after all the authors and favourers of schism were either touched with compunction or dead. For the person who, after the decease of Octovianus and Guido, had been the continuer of the schismatic fury, (now that the favour by which the emperor had surrounded him had expired,) was at last confused and dejected, and in a languishing condition. These events having happily come to pass, our lord the pope, as though he wished solemnly to cele- brate the joys of a restored unity, after the scandals of so long a period, appointed a general council to be holden at the Lateran, on the fifth of the ides of March [11th March], in the twentieth year of his pontificate, and in the one thousand one hundred and seventy- ninth year from the delivery of the Virgin. To this council he sum- moned the bishops of the whole Latin world, and the abbots of the principal monasteries. His intention, however, in convoking the council, was not very sincere, as was disclosed by an artful provision suggested by Roman avarice — for many of those who were sum- moned, and to whom the journey to the council appeared difficult or intolerable, obtained a relaxation upon the payment of money, which was very insolently and basely exacted, rather than offered. We think that the decrees of this council ought to be inserted in our history. * See Gen. xlix. 7. ^ See Pagi, a.d. 1178, § 1. 502 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK iir. Chap. III. — The Decrees ^ op the Lateran Council. Canon I.^ Although injunctions sufficiently clear have been issued by our predecessors, for the avoiding of discord in the election of the Roman pontiff ; because it has often happened, after such election the church has suffered a serious schism through the audacity of wicked ambition, we also, to avoid this evil, by the advice of our brethren, and the approbation of the sacred council, have deter- mined that something shall be added to these previous consti- tutions. We have, therefore, appointed that if perchance an enemy shall sow discord among the cardinals, and there shall not be entire concord among them as to who shall be elected pontiff, and two parts of them agree, while the third part refuses to concur, or pre- sumes to nominate another for itself ; then the bishop who has been elected and acknowledged by the two parts shall be received by the universal church. But if any one, confiding in the nomina- tion of the third part, shall usurp unto himself the name of bishop, though he cannot claim the reality, let him, as well as those who have received him. He under sentence of excommunication, and let them be punished by the privation of every sacred ordinance, and even the communion of the viaticum shall be denied to them, excepting only in their last extremity : and, unless they return to the paths of wisdom, let them receive their portion with Dathan and Abiram, whom the earth swallowed up alive. Moreover, if any should be elected to the apostolic office by fewer than by two parts, unless a greater assent and concord should follow, let him by no means be chosen, and let him be subject to the penalty aforesaid, if he should not be willing humbly to withdraw. From this, however, let no prejudice arise to the canonical institutions, and to other churches in which the sentence of the larger and wiser party ought to prevail. For whatever doubt may occur among them, it may be finally settled by the judgment of the superior, — but in the Roman court and church a special case exists, since re- course cannot be had to any superior. Canon II.' Renewing that which was done by our predecessor Innocent, of happy memory, we do hereby declare those ordinations to be void which were made by Octovianus and Guido, the heresiarchs, and also those by John of Strumae, who succeeded them, and by those persons who were ordained by them, — we also declare that those who have received ecclesiastical dignities or benefices through the aforesaid schismatics, are hereby deprived of what they obtained. Alienations or invasions of ecclesiastical matters which have been made by the same schismatics, or by laymen, are likewise void of all force, and revert to the church without any claim upon it. If any presume to oppose this, be it known to him that he lies under ' These decrees are printed in Labb. Concil. x. 1507, with many verbal varia- tions, and in a different order, as pointed out in the following notes. 2 Can. i. 3 Can. ii. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLT4M OF NEWBURGH. 503 sentence of excommunication : and we hereby decree, that those persons shall be suspended from holy orders and dignities who have voluntarily taken an oath to continue in schism. Canon III/ Forasmuch as maturity of age, gravity of manners, and know- ledge of literature ought to be expected and sought for in all holy orders and ministries of the church, much more ought these quali- ties to be looked for in a bishop, who, having charge of others, ought to show in himself how it behoves them to conduct them- selves in the house of the Lord. "Wherefore, lest that which has been done with regard to some persons, through the necessity of the times, should be drawn into a precedent by posterity, we appoint by the present decree that no one shall be elected as a bishop unless he shall have already completed the thirtieth year of his age, and was born in lawful matrimony, and can be shown to be praise- worthy both in life and knowledge. When he who has been elected and received confirmation of his election, and has obtained admi- nistration of the goods of the church, — after the time appointed by the canon for the consecration of bishops has elapsed, let him, to whom the benefices may pertain, which he holds, possess the free power of disposing of them. As to the inferior ministries, to wit, deaneries and archdeaconries, and others, having the cure of souls annexed to them, let no man whatsoever undertake them, nor even the government of parish churches, unless he have already attained the twenty-fifth year of his age, and is commend- able for his knowledge and morals ; but when he who has been appointed, either as an archdeacon or as a dean, and those who are nominated, and have not been ordained priests at the time fixed by the canon, let them be removed from such ofiice, and let it be conferred upon another person who is both able and willing to fill it suitably. Nor shall the shelter of an appeal avail him, if per- chance he should wish thereby to protect himself in the trans- gression of this decree. We further command that this shall be obser\'ed, not only with regard to those who shall be promoted in future, but (if the canons do not oppose it) to those who have been already promoted. Also be it known to clerks, that if they elect any one contrary to this form, they shall be both deprived of the power of election, and also suspended from ecclesiastical benefices for the space of three years. For it is meet that the severity of ecclesiastical discipline should coerce those whom the fear of God does not restrain from evil. Also, if the bishop shall have acted contrary hereto, in con- ferring the offices aforesaid, or shall have known it to be done, let him lose his power by the chapter, or by the metropolitan if the chapter be unwilling to agree. Canon IV.^ Although the discipline of the church, which is content with the judgment of priests — (so says the blessed pope Leo') — avoids ^ Can. iii. ' 2 Can. xsvii. ' Ep. iv. 604 , CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. III. punishments stained with blood, yet it may so be assisted by the laws of catholic princes, that men may often seek a salutary remedy, when they fear that a corporal punishment is impending over them, or apprehend that punishment may overtake them. Where- fore, since in Gascony, the country of the Albigenses, and the territories around Toulouse, and other places, the damnable per- verseness of the heretics ' (whom some call Cathari, some Publi- cani, some Paterini, and others by other names), has gained strength, so that now they practise their wickedness, not in secret like other people, but manifest their error in public, and draw simple and weak people to consort with them — we decree that they and those who defend them, and those who receive them, are under an anathema; and we prohibit any one, under an anathema, from maintaining them in a house, or sheltering them on their land, or from presuming to transact any business with them ; and if they should die in their sin, neither under pretence of any privileges granted by us to any persons whatsoever, nor upon any occasion whatsoever, shall an oblation be made for them, nor shall they receive burial among Christians. Canon V.' Concerning the men of Brabant and Aragon, of Navarre, of Basque and Coterell,' who practise such wickedness towards Christians, showing no deference to churches nor monasteries, and indifferent to age and sex alike, sparing neither widows and orphans, nor children and old men, but like pagans destroying and wasting all. things, — we, in like manner, decree that they and those who take them into their service, or keep them or support them, shall be excommunicated, and publicly denounced on Sundays and other festival days in all churches throughout those regions thus infested by them; and that they shall be as firmly involved in the same sentence and penalty as these heretics themselves, nor shall they be received into the communion of the church, unless they abjure that pestiferous society and heresy. Let them know, moreover, that they are released from the bond of fealty, or homage, or obe- dience of every kind, as long as they continue in such iniquity, to whomsoever they may be bound and held by any compact what- soever. We also enjoin all the faithful, for the remission of their sins, to oppose such calamities, and with arms protect christian people against them. Let also their goods be confiscated, and let princes freely sell such pestilent men into slavery ; but as for those persons who die there in true repentance, let them not doubt that they will have the indulgence granted to sinners, and the fruits of an eternal reward. Confiding also in the mercy of God, and in the authority of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, we relax two years of enjoined penance in favour of those faithful Christians who may have taken up arms against these heretics, and by the advice 1 On these hei-etics the remarks of Pagi (ad an. § 6 sei) may be consulted with advantage. ^ In Labbe's text this forms a part of Can. xxvii. ^ In Labbe the text stands thus : — " De Brabantionibus, et Aragonensibus, Navariis, Bascolis, Coterellis et Triaverdinis." See Pagi, ad an. § 9. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 505 of bishops or other prelates, liave fought against them to destroy them ; or if they should have a longer period [of penance] , we entrust it to the discretion of the bishops, to whom the care of this subject shall be consigned, that by their decision in the amount of the labour, the greater indulgence may be shown them ; but those who at the admonition of the bishops disdain to render obedience on this point, we decree that they be alienated from partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the mean- time, those who, in the ardour of faith, have undertaken that labour of attacking these persons, we take them, like those who visit the sepulchre of the Lord, under the protection of the church, and we ordain that they remain secure, as well in property as in person ; and if in the meantime any one shall presume to molest them, let him be punished with the sentence of excommunication by the bishop of the district. Let this sentence be observed by all men, until both the plundered goods be restored, and suitable satisfaction be made for the injuries inflicted ; — but let bishops and priests, who do not strongly resist such persons, be punished by suspension from their office, until they can obtain the mercy of the holy see. Canon VL^ A great evil having been observed (not less to the sin of those who do it than to the detriment of those who suffer it), in the rulers and counsellors of states in divers parts of the world, and also in those who have power in frequently imposing so many bur- thens on churches, and pressing them down with such heavy and frequent exactions, so that the priestly office seems to be placed in a worse position than it could have been under Pharaoh, who had not the knowledge of the divine law. He, indeed, when all others were reduced to slavery, restored ^ the priests and their possessions to their pristine liberty, and supplied a maintenance to them out of the public fund ; but these men now impose almost all their bur- thens upon the churches, and afflict them with so many troubles that what Jeremiah deplores seems to apply to them — the " princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary ! " [Lam, i. L] Whenever either fortifications, or expeditions, or any other things whatsoever are thought fit to be undertaken by them, they wish all to be completed out of the goods devoted to the uses of churches, and the poor clerks of Christ. The jurisdiction and authority of bishops and other prelates they also make void, so that no power seems to have remained to them over their own men ; which things are not less grievous to the churches than pitiable for those who seem to have utterly cast away the fear of God, and reverence for ecclesiastical order. Wherefore we most strictly prohibit them from presuming to attempt any such acts for the future, under the penalty of an anathema, unless the bishop or clergy have acknow- ledged the existence of such necessity and utility, so that^ the aid may be considered to have been conferred by the churches without constraint, the means of the laity not being sufficient to relieve the general wants. But if counsellors or others shall afterwards com- ' Can. six. 2 See Gen. xlvii. 22. 606 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [bOok III. mit such acts, and being admonished shall refuse to desist, let them, as well as their abettors, know that they lie under excom- munication, nor can they be restored to the unity of the faithful, unless they be penitent and make competent satisfaction. Canon VII.* Moreover because the audacity of certain laymen has pro- ceeded so far, that they, neglecting the authority of bishops, institute clerks in churches, and also remove them when they please, and likewise distribute the possessions and other goods of the church, for the most part according to their own will, and pre- sume to burthen with baillages and exactions the churches them- selves as well as their men ; we decree, therefore, that those persons who have already committed these acts shall be smitten by an anathema. The priest, however, or clerk, who may have received a church through laymen, without the authority of his own bishop, let him be deprived of communion ; and if he continue obstinate, let him be deposed from the ministry, and forfeit his orders. Canon VIII.^ ' Inasmuch as certain laymen compel ecclesiastics, and evenbishops themselves, to abide by their judgment, we decree that they who henceforth shall presume to do this shall be separated from the communion of the faithful. We, moreover, forbid those laymen who now detain tithes to the peril of their souls, to transfer them in any way to other laymen ; but if they have received them, and will not restore them to the church, let them be deprived of chris- tian sepulture. Canon IX.^ Forasmuch as in certain places the founders of churches or their heirs abuse the power in which the church has until now supported them ; though in God's church there ought to be one who presides, yet they attempt to elect many without regard to sub- jection, and while one church ought to belong to one rector, in order to extend their patronage they present many ; with regard to this, we appoint by the present decree, that if perchance the wishes of the founders are divided among several parties, he shall be appointed to the church who is aided by his greater merits, and who is elected and approved by the assent of the majority. But if this cannot be done without scandal, let the bishop present to the church, in such manner as it may best appear to him to be ordered by the will of God. Let him also do this if a question shall arise among several patrons concerning the right of patronage, if it shall not be settled among themselves within three months as to who is competent. Canon X.* Whereas such fierce cupidity has seized upon the minds of some men, that while they boast of the name of Christians, they convey arms, iron and timber for gallies to the Saracens ; and they become ' This canou does not occur in Labbe's text. ^ Not in Labbe's text. ^ Can. xvii. ^ Can. xxiv. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 507 equal to them (or even above them) in maUce by supplying them with arms and necessaries to fight against Christians ; and whereas there are also persons who for their own advantage command and govern the gallies and piratical ships of the Saracens ; — now such persons we adjudge to be cut oft' from the communion of the church, and we subject them to excommunication for their iniquity, and to be punished with deprivation of their goods by the catholic princes of the time, and the rulers of states, and taken for slaves, if they can be caught. We command also that a frequent and solemn excommunication be declared against them by the churches of maritime cities. Let them be further subject to the punishment of excommunication who presume to capture or despoil of their goods those Romans or other Christians, who, for business or other honourable causes, are employed in navigation. Those also who through damnable covetousness presume to despoil of their goods Christians who suffer shipwreck, to whom they are bound to give assistance according to the rule of faith, — let such as these know that, unless they restore what they have taken, they lie under excommunication. Canon XI, ^ Monks cannot be received into a monastery for money, nor shall they be permitted to hold private property. They shall not be appointed alone in villages and towns, or to any parish churches whatsoever : but let them remain in the greater convents, or with others of the brethren, that they await not the conflict of their spiritual enemies among secular men; for Solomon says, " Woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up" [Eccles. iv. 10]. But if any one shall pay anything for his reception, on demand made, let him not be promoted to holy orders, and he who received him punished by deprivation of his office ; he also who has held private property, unless it was en- trusted to him by the abbot for the execution of some business entrusted to him, let him be excluded from the communion of the altar ; and he w'ho at the point of death shall be found possessed of property, let no oblation be made for him, nor shall he receive sepulture among the brotherhood. We also command this to be observed with regard to divers religious orders ; but let the abbot who cares not for these things know that he incurs the loss of his office. Nor shall priories or dependent cells be given to any one who pays a price for them. Moreover, let givers and receivers be alienated from the ministry of the church. But priors who have been appointed in conventual churches shall not be changed, unless for a manifest and reasonable cause, that is to say, if they have been dilapidators, or if they live incontinently, or do anything for which they may deser\'edly be removed ; except, indeed, they be translated by the advice of the brethren, for the necessity of filling a greater office. Canon XIL^* Although the apostle Paul says,^ that more abundant honour should be shown to the weaker vessels, yet, on the contrary, some » Can. X, 2 Can. xxiii, 3 gee 1 Cor. xii. 23. VOL. IV. I, L 608 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. persons seeking things which are their own, but not those of Christ, do not permit leprous persons, who are not allowed to live with those who are in good health, to be aided by the ministry of their own priest, this must, indeed, be considered as far removed from christian charity. We, therefore, in our apostolic benignity, direct that wherever a sufficient number are congregated together in a community, and are able to establish a church with a cemetery for themselves, and to enjoy the ministrations of a priest of their own, they shall be permitted to have one without any opposition. Let them, however, take care that they be not in any way injurious to the parochial rights of old churches ; for this is conceded to them through pity, and we are unwilling that it should redound to the injury of others. We also appoint, that they be not compelled to pay tithes for their gardens and the pasturage of their animals. Canon XIII.^ No Jews or Saracens shall be permitted to have christian servants in their houses, either under the pretence of educating their children, or as slaves, or for any other purpose whatsoever. Moreover, let those be excommunicated who presume to live with them. We further declare, that the testimony of Christians against Jews is to be received in all causes, when Jews produce their own witnesses against Christians; and we decree, that all persons whom- soever who shall presume to prefer Jews to Christians in this respect shall be placed under an anathema, because Jews ought to be subject to Christians, and to be supported by them, simply for the sake of humanity. If any Jews, however, by the inspiration of God, shall turn to the christian faith, they shall not by any means be shut out from their possessions, since they ought to enjoy a better condition when converted to the faith than they had before they embraced it ; but if the contrary shall have been done, we enjoin the princes or rulers of those places, under the penalty of excommunication, to cause their hereditary portions and goods to be restored to them to the full value. Canon XIV.^ Inasmuch as some persons, putting no limit to their avarice, strive to obtain several ecclesiastical dignities and many parish churches, contrary to the institutes of the sacred canons, so that, though they be scarcely able to fulfil one office, yet they grasp the stipends of many, we most strictly enjoin that this shall not be done for the future. Therefore, when a church, or the ministry of churches, is about to be committed to any one, such a person should be sought for as may be able to reside on the spot, and per- form the duty of it himself : but if it has been done otherwise, let him who has received lose that which he has received contrary to the sacred canons ; and let him who gave be deprived of the power of giving. And, because the ambition of some persons has proceeded so far (so it is reported) as to hold, not two or three, but six or more, while they are not able to make due provision for two, ' Can. ssvi. ^ Cau. xiii. See Bingham, Orig. Eccl. book vi. ch. 4, § 8. en. HI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 509 we command that this be amended by our brethren our fellow- bishops ; and out of the multitude of those acting in opposition to the canons (which induces dissolute living and departure from duty, and also produces sure peril to souls), relief shall be afforded to the indigence of those who are able to serve in the churches. Canon XV. ^ Inasmuch as in almost all places the crime of usury has gained such strength, that men lay aside many other kinds of business, and practise usury as if it were lawful, and give no heed whatever to their condemnation written in the pages of both the Testaments, we direct that manifest usurers be neither admitted to the com- munion at the altar, nor have christian burial if they die in this sin : nor shall any one receive their offering. And he who shall have received it, or given them christian burial, shall not only be compelled to restore what he has received, but shall remain sus- pended from the execution of his office until he has rendered satis- faction at the will of his bishop. Canon XVI.=^ Although in offices of charity we are beholden, in the first place, to those from whom we are conscious that we have received a benefit, yet, on the contrary, certain clerks, although they have received many advantages from their churches, presume to transfer to other persons the goods which they have acquired through such churches : now, although it is certain that this is forbidden in the ancient canons, yet we likewise also forbid it. Willing also to pro- vide for the integrity of the churches, when either persons have died intestate or wished to confer property on others, we command that those goods remain in the power of the churches. Canon XVII.^ Moreover, since certain persons are appointed for money, in different places, who are called deans, and for a certain amount of money exercise episcopal jurisdiction, by the present decree we direct that those who in future shall presume to do this, shall be deprived of the office, and the bishop shall lose the power of con ferring such office. Canon XVIII." Since in all churches that which seems good to the elder and more numerous part of the brethren ought to be observed without hesitation, it is a grave evil, and one most worthy of reprehension, that in certain churches a few men impede the decrees of the many, not so much from reason as from self-will, and do not permit ecclesiastical arrangements to go on ; wherefore we appoint by the present decree, that, unless it shall be shown to be reasonable by the less numerous and inferior party, that which shall be deter- 1 Can. XXV. The nineteen following Canons, omitted in the previous editions of oiir author, were printed for the first time in that of Hearne. On the legislation of this Canon, see John Forbes a Corse, Theolog. Moral, lib. vii. par. 4, cap. 5. 0pp. i. 220. 2 Can. xv. ^ In Labbe's text this forms a portion of Can. xv. * Can. xvl L L 2 510 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III, mined by the counsel of the greater and wiser party shall always prevail, and be carried into effect without appeal. Nor shall it impede this regulation if any one, to preserve the custom of his church, should perchance say that he has been bound by an oath ; for those are not to be called oaths, but rather perjuries, which are introduced without any advantage to the church, and without being appointed by the holy fathers. But if any one shall presume to swear to customs of this kind, which are not sanctioned by reason nor consistent with holy institutions, let him be alienated from participation in the Body of the Lord until he has performed suitable penance. Canon XIX. Moreover, in like manner we direct that priests, clerks, monks, strangers, converts, merchants, and husbandmen, going and return- ing, and employed in agriculture, and the cattle which they use in ploughing, or on which they carry their seeds to the field, shall enjoy continual security ; nor shall any one presume anywhere to enact new statutes or exactions of tolls, or in any way to increase old ones. If any one shall act contrary to this decree, and shall not desist when admonished, let him be deprived of christian communion until he shall have done satisfaction. Canon XX.* Since the apostle determined that he and his should be sup- ported by the labour of their own hands, that he might deprive false apostles of the opportunity of pi'eaching, and yet should not be burthensome to those to whom he preached, it is considered very lamentable, (and proper subject for amendment,) that certain of our brethren and fellow-bishops are so oppressive to their subordi- nates in the procurations, as to compel them sometimes to sell the ecclesiastical ornaments, and consume in a short time the provision of a long period. Wherefore we decree, that archbishops visiting their dioceses, (adopting a scale suited to the differences of their provinces and the income of their churches,) shall not by any means exceed the number of forty or fifty horses ; bishops, thirty or twenty ; cardinals, nine or fifteen ; archdeacons, five or seven ; and the deans appointed under them shall be content with two horses. Nor shall they go on their visitations with dogs or birds for hunting ; but let them proceed as if they never seem to seek the things which pertain to themselves, but those which are of Jesus Christ. We forbid, also, bishops from presuming to oppress those under them with taillages and exactions ; but we uphold them, provided manifest and reasonable cause should exist; as, for example, when, among the many necessities which at divers times occur, they demand moderate aid from them out of charity. For, since the apostle says,' that the children ought not to lay up treasure for the parents, but the parents for the children, it seems very far from their paternal duty if the heads of the church are oppressive to those who are placed under them, and whom they ought in all cases of necessity to cherish like a shepherd. Arch- ' Can. iv. ■ 2 Cor. sii. 14. CH.III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 511 deacons, however, or deans, shall not presume to claim any exac- tions or taillages from priests or clerks. Moreover, let what has been decided with regard to moderation in the number of horses aforesaid be observed in those places where rents and ecclesiastical means are very ample ; in poorer places, however, we will that such measure be observed that the lower people may not be oppressed by the arrival of the greater, and that those who are accustomed to make use of fewer horses may not, under such indulgence, think that greater power is bestowed upon tJiem. Canon XXI.^ Also, no ecclesiastical benefice, or ministry, or church shall be given or promised to any one before it is vacant, lest such person should appear to desire the death of his neighbour, in whose place and office he may expect to succeed, since this is even found to be forbidden by the laws of the Gentiles themselves ; for it is base and blameworthy, by divine judgment, if we hold a place in the church of God through the expectation of future succession, which even men who are Gentiles condemn. Therefore, when it happens that the churches aforesaid, or any ecclesiasticcd offices whatever, be vacant, or even if now vacant, let them not remain long in suspense, but let them be conferred within six months on persons who may be able worthily to fulfil the ministry. But if the bishop, when it rests with him, delays, without reasonable cause, to appoint, let the ordination be made by the chapter. But if the ordination appertains to the chapter, and in like manner it has not done this within the time prescribed, let the bishop perform this office, for God's sake, and with the counsel of religious men. Or if, per- chance, all have neglected it, let the metropolitan, without contra- diction, dispose of them according to the will of God. Canon XXII.^ Moreover, if a bishop shall have ordained either deacon or priest without a definite title whereby he may procure the neces- saries of life, he shall provide him with a subsistence until he appoint him some competent office in a church, unless the person ordained be in such circumstances as to have a sufficiency either from family inheritance or some other honest means. Canon XXIII.^ As all things ought to be conducted with charity in the, ecclesi- astical body, and that which is freely given ought to be as freely imparted, it is most abominable that venality is said to exist in certain places of the church, to such a degree that a demand is made for instituting bishops or abbots, or other ecclesiastical per- sons, to their offices, and for inducting priests into the church, and for burial and services for the departed, and for nuptial bene- dictions, and other ecclesiastical rites ; in consequence of which, the person standing in need of such offices cannot succeed unless he can satisfy the demand of him who has it in his power to bestow ' Can. viiL 2 Can. v. ^ c^n. vii. 512 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK HI. them. Many persons suppose they have a right to do this, because they imagine such a law has grown out of custom, not being sufficiently aware, from their being blinded by avarice, that crimes assume their degree of guilt from the length of time during which they have ensnared the captive soul. Lest this should take place in future, we forbid any demand to be made either for installing ecclesiastical persons, or instituting priests, or burying the dead, or giving the blessing in marriage, or performing any other sacred rite. And should any person presume to contravene this injunction, let him be aware that he shall have his portion with Gehazi, whose extortion was punished by leprosy. Canon XXIV.' We prohibit the imposition of any new tax on churches, either by bishops, or abbots, or other prelates ; neither shall the old ones be increased, nor shall they presume to apply a portion of such revenues to their own use ; but the same freedom which superiors require to be allowed to themselves shall be granted with a good- will to their inferiors. If any shall have acted otherwise, such act shall be void. Canon XXV.-' Clerks in holy orders who retain in their houses such females as labour under the reproach of incontinence shall cast them out and live chastely, or be deprived of their ecclesiastical benefice. Canon XXVI.^ Whosoever shall be found guilty of that incontinence which is against nature, on account of which the anger of God came upon the children of disobedience, and destroyed five cities by fire ; if they be of the clergy, they shall be expelled from the church, or confined in a monastery to do penance ; if laymen, they shall be excommunicated, and separated from the society of the faithful. Canon XXVIL* Moreover, if any clerk, without a manifest and necessary cause, shall presume to frequent nunneries, he shall be forbidden by the bishop ; and if he do not desist, he shall become incompetent to occupy any ecclesiastical benefice. Canon XXVIII.^ Since the church of God, like an afTectionate mother, is bound to provide for the poor, as well in matters which concern the body as in those which redound to the profit of the soul ; therefore, lest the opportunity of reading and improving be denied to poor per- sons, who cannot be assisted from the resources of their parents, we command that in eaeh cathedral church some competent benefice be assigned to a master, who may gratuitously teach as ' In Labbe's text, a continuation of Can. vii. ^ Can. xi. ^ In Labbe, a continuation of the pi-evious Canon. * A continuation of the last Canon, in Labbe's text. * Can. xviii. On the vvholeaome arrangements marked out by this Canon, see Thoniassin, Vetus et Nova Ecclesia; Disciplina, i. 632, and especially ii. 278 scq. en. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 513 well the clerks of the same church as indigent scholars, so that the necessities of the teacher may be supplied, and the path to know- ledge laid open to the learner. In other churches, too, if any such provision shall have been made in former times, let it be restored. Let no one make any demand whatsoever for licence to teach, or require anything from those who teach, under pretext of any cus- tom, nor interdict any competent person requesting such licence. Moreover, he who shall presume to run counter to this statute shall forfeit all ecclesiastical benefice ; for it seems fitting, in the church of God, that the man should have no reward for his labour, who, through the covetousness of his mind, by seUing the liberty of teaching, endeavours to impede ecclesiastical improvement. Canon XXIX. ^ Clerks in subdeacons' or higher orders, as well as in minor orders, shall not presume to act as advocates in secular matters before a secular judge, unless prosecuting their own cause, or that of their church, and unless, perchance, for such wretched people as are not able to undertake their own causes. Neither shall any clerk presume to manage the concerns of vills, or any secular juris- diction, under any noble or secular personages, so as to become their judges. Should any one attempt to oppose this, since he acts in a secular manner against the doctrine of the apostle, who says, " No man that warreth [for God] entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" [2 Tim. ii. 4], he shall be removed from the service of the church, by reason of having abandoned and neglected his clerical office, and plunged himself in the tumults of the world, to find favour with men of rank. Moreover, we adjudge a severer punishment if any monk shall attempt any of the aforesaid acts. Canon XXX. '^ Treading in the steps of our predecessors, popes Innocent and Eugenius, of blessed memory, we forbid those abominable sports or meetings commonly called tournaments, wherein knights, at ap- pointed seasons, proudly exhibit their strength, and engage in rash conflict, whence frequently ensue the deaths of men and the peril of their souls. If any one shall die upon the spot, although penance shall not be denied him, if he ask it, still he shall be refused ecclesiastical sepulture. Canon XXXI.^' We command that the truce be inviolably observed by all from the fifth day of the week after sunset unto the second day of the week after sunrise, from our Lord's Advent until the Octaves or the Epiphany, and from Septuagesima until the Octaves of Easter ; and if any shall attempt to break this truce, if he make not satis- faction after the third admonition, his bishop shall pass sentence of excommunication on him, and acquaint the neighbouring bishops of it by writing. No bishop shall receive the excommunicated person into communion ; nay, he shall confirm the sentence, when 1 Can. zii. 2 Can. xx. ^ Can. xsi. 514 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [BOOK III. he has received it, by his own signature. Should, however, any one violate these commands, it shall be at the peril of his orders. And since a threefold cord is not quickly broken,' we command that the bishops, having regard to God alone, and the salvation of the people, laying aside all covetousness, do afford each other mutual counsel and assistance in firmly maintaining peace, and omit such matters neither through love or hatred. And if any one shall be found lukewarm in this business, he shall incur the loss of his own dignity. Canon XXXI I. == A very reprehensible custom has obtained in certain parts, that when our brethren, the bishops or archdeacons, suppose that certain persons will lodge an appeal in their causes, they hurl the sentence of suspension or excommunication against them, without any previous notification. Others also, while in dread of the sentence and discipline of a superior, without having suffered any grievance, interpose their appeal ere the cause is gone into, and thus pervert for the defence of their iniquity that privilege which was confessedly designed for the security of the innocent. Wherefore, that these same prelates may not without cause aggrieve their subordinates, nor the subordinates, out of mere caprice, under pretext of appeal elude the correction of the prelates, We, by the present decree, declare, that neither shall the prelates, without previous canonical admonition, hurl the sentence of suspension or excommunication against their subordinates, unless their crime be of that nature which necessarily calls for the punishment of suspension or excommunication ; nor shall their subordinates prematurely appeal, ere their cause is examined, in defiance of ecclesiastical discipline. But if any one, from the urgency of his case, shall think fit to appeal, let a sufficient time be fixed for prosecuting such appeal ; within which period, if he shall omit to prosecute his appeal, the bishop shall in such case freely exercise his authority. But if any person in any matter shall have appealed, and he against whom he has appealed shall appear, while the appellant neglects so to do, if he possess any property he shall make a suitable compensation to him for his expenses ; so that, awed at least by such an apprehension, no one may lightly appeal to the injury of another. More especially in religious houses we command this to be observed, lest monks or other religious persons, when about to be corrected for any excess by the regular discipline of their prelate and chapter, presume to appeal ; but let them humbly and devoutly undergo that which is enjoined them for their advantage. Canon XXXIII.' Since we ought to cherish our holy religion when planted, and plant it so that it be nurtured by every means, we never better perform this duty than when, by the authority of God committed to us, we endeavour to cherish in it what is right, and check what ' See Eccl. iv. 12. 2 Can. vi. 3 Can. ix. CH. in.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 515 may impede the progress of virtue. We find, however, from the heavy com-plaint of our brethren and fellow-bishops, that the Templars and Hospitallers, and others also of the monastic pro- fession, exceeding the privileges allowed them by the apostolical see, presume upon many things contrary to episcopal authority, which become a stumbling block to the people of God, and produce serious danger to souls. For they have laid down as a rule, that they may receive churches from the hand of the laity, admit excommunicated and interdicted persons to ecclesiastical rites, and allow them sepulture, institute and remove priests from their churches without legal authority, and in defiance of their better knowledge. And since it is granted to their fraternity, when going out to seek alms, that on their arrival the churches should be opened once a-year and divine services be performed in them, very many of them frequently assembling at an interdicted place, from one or more houses, abuse this indulgence of our privileges in administering offices and bui7ing the dead ; and then at inter- dicted churches presume to bury the dead ; and likewise, on the ground of fraternities which they form in many places, they weaken the strength of episcopal authority ; while, in opposition to the sentence of the bishops, under pretext of certain privileges, they determine to support all persons who are willing to become members of their fraternity. Wherefore, in all such matters wherein they are guilty of excess, not so much by the sense and determination of their chiefs, as for the judgment of certain inferior persons, we have resolved to remove those things wherein they offend, and also to determine matters that are doubtful. We forbid them, as well as all other monastic persons, to receive churches or tithes from the hand of the laity without the consent of the bishops, giving up even those which they have received in recent time contrary to this appointment ; and we command that all excommunicated persons, and such as are interdicted by name, shall be shunned by them and all others, according to the sentence of the bishops : they shall present to the bishops priests to be instituted to such churches which do not wholly in full right belong to them, to whom they shall be accountable for the care of the people, and shall render to the Templars a strict account in temporal matters ; nor shall they dare to remove priests when instituted without consulting the bishops. But if the Templars or Hospitallers come to an interdicted church, they shall be admitted to ecclesiastical service only once in the year ; nor shall they bury there any dead bodies. Moreover, we make this appointment concerning fraternities, that if they do not reside with their brethren aforesaid, but choose to remain on their own posses- sions, they shall not at all on this account be exempted from the sentence of the bishops, who shall exercise power over them as they do over their subordinates, where it may be necessary to correct them for their excesses. We make the same appointment, as concerns the brethren aforesaid, for all other religious persons who presumptuously seize on the right of the bishops, and oppose their canonical sentences and the tenour of our privileges ; but if 516 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. they shall contravene these institutions, the churches wherein they presume thus to act shall be subject to an interdict, and all their acts be deemed null and void. Chap. IV. — Op the Death of the King op France, and op the Events which OCCUEKED AT CONSTANTINOPLE. In the one thousand one hundred and eightieth year from the delivery of the Virgin, which was the twenty-seventh of the reign of Henry, king of England, and the forty-fourth of Louis, king of France, the same king of France departed this life. He was a man of fervent devotion towards God, and of singular lenity towards his subjects, and likewise one who highly venerated men in holy orders. He was, however, more easily led away than became a prince ; for in certain of his actions he fully verified the truth of the apostle's words, that " evil communications corrupt good manners " [1 Cor. xv. 33] ; for, yielding too much to the advice of certain nobles, who were little mindful of what was right and honourable, he frequently brought no small stain on his character, which was fair in other respects. An instance of this occurred in this, that he espoused the cause of an abandoned son against his pious father, and supported this violator of nature with all the resources of his kingdom. He was succeeded by his son Philip, his issue by the daughter of the most illustrious count Theobald, who had become his third wife. For after Eleanor (who, as it has been fully related in its place,* left him two daughters, and after the divorce between them had been espoused to the king of England), he took a consort of the royal blood of Spain, who, in like manner, leaving him two daughters, yielded to the common lot of all. The eldest of these is well known to have become the wife of Henry the younger, king of England, but without issue. His third queen, in like manner, had brought him a daughter of exquisite beauty, whose fortunes it may be permitted us briefly to mention. The emperor of Constantinople dying, left, as successor to the throne, a son of tender age, who was entrusted to the care of his uncle. This prince was brought up in all the delicacy suited to his age ; while, in the meantime, his guardian Andronicus managed the kingdom. It seemed advisable to the Greek nobility that the daughter of the king of France should be sought in marriage for this distinguished youth, and this was done accordingly. Ambas- sadors of rank were sent into France, who, on receiving the princess, not yet marriageable, from the hand of her father, conducted her with much pomp to Constantinople ; but when he had arrived at manhood, and she had become of marriageable age, and the imperial union was in preparation, that abandoned and powerful man Andronicus, as regent of the kingdom, enticing and corrupting the servants of the palace, murdered the youthful emperor, who was his own nephew, after clandestinely conveying him from the palace, without the knowledge of the people, into a certain island - See book i. cli. xsxi. CH. v.] THK HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 517 (as it is said) to be secretly put to death by some of his accom- pHces. " Immediately afterwards, assuming the imperial purple, he took possession of the empire ; and in order that nothing might be wanting to complete his most impious designs, he took to wife the destined bride of his nephew, being captivated by her beauty. After he had most insolently abused the power he had usurped, he excited a conspiracy against himself of such persons as execrated his wickedness or disdained his controul. This conspiracy, at length, gained such a height that a vast number of the party sud- denly burst furiously into the palace, and, hurling the fierce usurper from the throne, loaded him most justly with chains ; and that the empire might not suffer from the vacancy, they forthwith elected a new prince, at whose command the abandoned Andronicus was tortured to death. By these means the daughter of the king of France was defrauded of her wished-for and expected marriage in Greece, and defiled by a connexion with an infamous wretch ; neither did she obtain her expected dignity. Chap. V.— Of the Alteration of the Pubuc Monet, and Death of the Archbishop op York. In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of king Henry the second the form of public money was changed, on account of its being deteriorated by forgers ; this was a measure at that time highly necessary for public advantage, though extremely oppressive to the poor and the husbandmen. In the following year, which was the one thousand one hundred and eighty-first from the delivery of the Virgin, and the twenty- third of the pontificate of pope Alexander, this venerable pontiff paid the debt of nature, and was succeeded by Lucius. In the same year also died Roger, archbishop of York, a learned and eloquent man, and in temporal matters careful even to sin- gularity. In his episcopal office, indeed, that is in the care of souls, little solicitous ; but he was most diligently careful in pre- serving and advancing such things as God had not attached to his function, but which the world for God's sake had united to it. For in temporal advantages he had so benefited the archbishopric of York as to leave his successors hardly any concern, either for the augmentation of their revenues or the grandeur of their edifices. He so managed his opportunities of aggrandizement in money matters, and so much did he excel in the managetnent of them, that he scarcely ever let any chance pass by or failed to improve it. Instead of selecting persons of eminence, with whom (as though with jewels) the church of York had formerly glittered, he conferred benefices on striplings, or even boys still under discipline of their masters, better calculated from their, age to build up childish houses, to yoke mice in little wagons, to play together indiscriminately, and to ride on a long reed, than to sus- tain the character of dignitaries in the church. And this he did to the end, that, until they came of age, he might undertake the guardianship of the persons beneficed, and so might appropriate 518 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK Iir. to himself the whole profits of their preferment. Christian phi- losophers, that is, men of religious orders, he abhorred to such a degree, that he is reported to have said, that Thurstan, of blessed memory, formerly archbishop of York, had never been guilty of a greater crime than when he built that singular mirror of christian philosophy. Fountain's Abbey ; and when he perceived that the bystanders were ofiended at this expression, "You are laymen," he said, " and cannot comprehend the meaning of the expres- sion." He used to say also that clerical benefits ought to be con- ferred on self-indulgent persons rather than on monks ; a rule which he plainly observed scrupulously all his life, and made the condition of the monks worse in almost everything than that of the secular canons. Moreover, in this singular delusion — for he was in other respects extremely acute — he thought he rendered service to God, which is proved by the following incident. There came to him, when he was lying on his bed in his last sickness, and on the eve of his dissolution, the superior of a certain religious house with whom I was well acquainted, a man of worth and sincerity, humbly entreating that he would deign to confirm, with the attestation of his own seal, the pious gift of holy men which his reverend predecessors had, through respect to the love of God, confirmed to that house by authentic instruments. To this request he replied, " Behold, I am dying, and as I fear God, I presume not to do what you desire ;" and so firmly did he perse- vere in his resolution, that a grant of this nature could be made to any rather than philosophers of this kind. But that his design was, during life, rather to shear, than feed the sheep of God, was' evidenced at his departure ; for when lying at the point of death, this aged prelate retained in his treasures many thousand marks of silver, while so many of Christ's poor were suffering from want. When he could no longer brood over his riches, this tardy dis- penser bequeathed part of them among the poor, part to the churches, part to his friends and relatives. But after his death, the king, by his officers, seized what was found, and extorted what was not forthcoming from those to whom it had been given ; saying, that treasures hoarded by any person until death were the sole property of the king. This truly took place by God's appoint- ment that others might be terrified by his example, and learn to lay up their treasures in heaven, where neither the thief creeps in secretly, nor the plunderer breaks through. The like judgment of God was also evident immediately after in the case of John,^ the archdeacon, a crafty and avaricious man, who had been the adviser and assistant of the archbishop in all things ; for he, following his master the day after, left his wealth for the king. In such manner these two persons, inseparable in life, were in death divided by the shortest possible interval. The • In Twysden's MS. there occurred a hiatus at this point, and which extended to the middle of the fifteenth chapter in this book, occasioned by the loss of several leaves. This loss was supplied by a MS. in the library at Lambeth Palace. 2 Apparently John, archdeacon of Nottingham ; concerning whom, see Hardy's Lo Neve, iii. 150. CH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 519 archbishop in question died in the twenty-eighth year of his con- secration ; and immediately, the archbishopric being taken into the king's hands, the see of York remained vacant for ten years. Chap. VI.— Of Suere, King of Norway. ' In these times that very notorious priest, Suere, surnamed Birckebain, seized the government in that part of Germany which is called Norway ; and raging under the title of king for a con- siderable time, at length, on the decease of the sovereign of that country, obtained the government, as if legitimately; haply, per- chance by the appointment of God, hereafter to experience an exit similar to other kings of that land. For, as it is said, for more than a century back, although the succession of kings there had been rapid, yet none of them had ended his days by age or sickness, but all had perished by the sword, leaving the dignity of empire to their assassins as their lawful successors ; so that, indeed, the expression, " Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?"' may seem to apply to all who reigned there for so long a space of time. The nobility of that country, a little before the usurpation of this priest, being actuated by pious zeal to apply a remedy to this disgraceful evil — which had obtained, as it were, by long custom, the sanction of law — decreed that the new king should be solemnly consecrated with holy unction, and crowned, so that in future none might dare to lift his hand against the Lord's anointed. For until that time no one in that country had ever been consecrated king by £in eccle- siastical ceremony ; but whosoever had cruelly killed the king, from that moment assumed the regal character and power, shortly after about to leave the same fortune to his murderer by the law of an inveterate custom. This, truly, by a certain sort of christian sim- plicity, was supposed by many persons to take place because none of the former kings had been careful to have himself initiated with the solemnities of royal unction. Wherefore, on the death of Haco, who had succeeded king Inga (whom he had murdered when the succession appeared to pertain to a certain j^outh called Magnus, nephew of the same Inga), the wiser and more noble part of the kingdom, by common assent, caused this same youth to be solemnly consecrated as the Lord's anointed, and to be dignified with the diadem. This being done, they thought that the prince was made sacred to them, and the disgrace of the former usage was removed. But when the same Magnus, who now arrived at man's estate, had reigned for several years with equal energy and success, and all supposed that they had made sufficient provision against the storms of usurpation, the malice of the devil stirred up the priest aforesaid, as his proper engine, to disquiet the peace of this chris- tian people. After having for a time ministered in the sacred order which he had received in the church, this truly da'ring and ' See Lacombe, Hist, du Nord, a.D. 117S (ed. 1762). Sucre's various exploits may be traced in the Annales Islandorum Regii, A.D. 1168, 1174, 1176, printed in the third volume of Langebeck's Scriptores rerum Danicarum. ^ See 1 Kings xxi. 19. 520 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book m. crafty man, through extreme confidence in himself, began to aspire to the kingdom. Soon after, he surveyed the whole district, and diligently advanced the business of his meditated project by artfully assembling around him a band of bold and desperate men, lured by the hope of plunder; and availing himself of trackless deserts as fortresses, he annoyed the king by perpetual irruptions ; and when the sovereign pursued him with his army in array, he, artfully feigning flight, halted in some well-known narrow passes, and there so destroyed the royal forces, thus unfortunately surrounded and entangled in the defiles, that the king himself, hiding among the slaughtered bodies, with difficulty made his escape on the departure of the enemy. Elated at this success, and daily gaining strength, he obtained a fleet also, which afforded him an opportunity of over- running several provinces of the same kingdom. The king, how- ever, recruiting his forces and manning his fleet, proceeded against the enemy. Sucre was aware of this ; and then, once more, he craftily feigned flight, and retreated far out to sea. When this was known to the king, he believed that the departure of this marauder was real, and returned with his fleet into a certain port. Here, when the army, through joy at a vanquished enemy, were giving loose to banqueting, in fatal security, the execrable priest entering the harbour on the following night with his adherents, attacked the king's troops, who were overpowered with wine and sleep, and with little difficulty destroyed nearly the whole army, with the king's father and others of the nobility. The king, however, escaping, while others fell, lay concealed fas it is said) for several days in a nunnery near at hand, and, vainly sought after by the enemy, eluded them by the will of God. The tyrant, elated by this dis- aster, and the havock which he had inflicted upon his enemy, with equal cruelty and insolence proceeded on every side in triumph, exhibiting himself as a merciless master to the oppressed inhabit- ants,— but the king, after his concealment, being restored to safety and to his friends, began by degrees to recruit his strength, and to collect auxiliaries on all sides. He was now cautiously on his guard against the stratagems of his enemy, and at last, with a mighty array, proceeded against him. Presently on learning this, when he saw that the youth acted more warily and guardedly on account of his former mischances, and that he had the advantage in the number of ships and extent of forces, Sucre then had recourse to witchcraft. He had in his retinue a certain daughter of the devil, powerful in witchcraft, and deservedly to be compared to her of former times, of whom the noble poet* observes, that " The witch pretends that by her potent verse Some souls are freed, while others feel the curse, Just as she pleases ; that her art has force To stop the stars or rivers in their course — To conjure nightly phantoms ; when she wills, Earth roars beneath, and trees descend the hills." At length this witch (as it is reported), with astonishing confidence in her destructive art, asked of her protecting usurper in what man- » Virgil, iEneid, iv, 4S7. CH. VII.] THE HISTORY OF WiLLiAM OF NEWBURGH. 521 ner he would wish the enemies, which were before him, should perish. On his making choice that she should drown them, imme- diately, by the operation of the devil, (who, indeed, by the power of his angelic nature has most influence over earthly elements when permitted by a superior power,) the calm sea opened her mouth, and, in the sight of the enemy, swallowed up the greater portion of the royal fleet. On seeing this, the abandoned priest said, " Behold, my companions, how effectually the elements fight for us ; be careful lest, perchance, those escape whose certain destruction the sea has left for your valour, that she may not seem to have done all." Wherefore the residue of the royal army, confounded at the sudden destruction of their associates, was easily overpowered, and the king himself killed. On his death the affrighted kingdom sub- mitted to tyrannical usurpation. Suere, abjuring his sacred order, and marrying the daughter of the king of the Goths, was anxious to be solemnly crowned by the archbishop of that country ; but he, being a man of distinguished character, and neither to be prevailed upon by entreaties or threats to bedew that execrable head with holy unction, was by him expelled the country. After some years there arose from the race of former kings a very spirited youth, named John, whom vast numbers resorted to and supported. Though his first attempts were so prosperous that he had already become formidable to the tyrant, yet at length, through youthful ardour, rushing too inconsiderately into battle, he unfortunately and pre- maturely perished. After him sprang forth another youth from the royal stock, of great expectation, supported by many adherents ; but even he, before many years had passed, was vanquished in battle by the tyrant on Holy Palm Sunday, and with his partizans totally destroyed. Thus, by the rod of God's fury, nearly the whole of the royal seed, as well as every native enemy, being all despatched or banished, the great and terrific man at last, by the hand of a certain bishop, intimidated thereto by the threat of death, obtained the diadem of the kingdom with sacred unction, from the uncertain issue of a long-favoured tyranny, secure, as it were, by repeated successes. The motto of his seal is said to have been as follows : — " Suere, the great king, fierce as a lion, mild as a lamb ;" for he manifested clemency to his subjects, and paid respect to churches and monasteries. Chap. VII. — Op the Death op KIing Henry the Third, and of his Brother Geoffrey. In the one thousand one hundred and eighty- third year from the delivery of the Virgin, which was the thirtieth of the reign of Henry the second, king of England, Henry the third, the younger king of England, died prematurely, — prematurely as to age, "but far • advanced if his actions be considered; — for he had blemished his earlier years by an indelible stain, in imitation of the most aban- doned Absalom, as has been before related, — when he approached manhood he determined that this state of life should resemble his 522 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. boyish days ; and, not only an apostate to nature, but even to solemn covenants, he rebelled a second time against his father. The cause of his rebellion was as follows : — His father had com- mitted the government of the duchy of Aquitain to his son Richard, and had also surrendered to his son Geoffrey, now approaching manhood, the whole of his wife's domain, which was Brittany ; while Henry, his eldest son, under the expectation of legitimate succession, was either watching or proceeding towards the empire of his father. But on the occasion of some quarrel arising between the brothers, Henry was indignant that his father had advanced his brother Richard to the government of Aquitain, and attacked him, as if he had been an enemy, having entered into a compact with his brother Geoffrey, earl of Brittany, and other nobles of Aquitain. Their father, having in vain attempted to soothe his rebellious sons with offers of peace, entered the confines of Aquitain with an army, purposing to combat their wicked designs. Shortly after, Henry the younger, by the judgment of God, was attacked by a fever (the avenger of both his faithless acts), and the spirits of all who had conspired with him in like manner grew languid. When, from the severity of the malady he was despaired of by his physicians, being seized with compunction, he sent to his father, humbly confessing his offence, and requesting, as the last favour of parental affection, that he would condescend to visit his expiring son. On hearing this message, the bowels of the father yearned; but on his friends reminding him that it was not safe to trust himself to those iniquitous conspirators who were about his son, however affectionate it might be to visit his afflicted child, from excess of apprehension he did not go, but, as a token of regard and forgiveness, sent him a well- known ring as a pledge of his fatherly affection. He kissed the ring on receiving it, and expired as the archbishop of Bordeaux stood by. His body was conveyed to his father with much pomp of attendance, who affectionately came to meet it, and commanded it to be carried to Normandy for interment at Rouen. Such an end had this turbulent youth — born for the destruction of numbers, but yet so beloved and amiable to his dependants (as it is written, " the number of the unwise is endless"),^ that even when he was dead many extraordinary things were related of him. Finally, after his decease, some persons, induced by the love of falsehood and the most unblushing vanity, widely disseminated a report that cures of diseased people took place at his tomb, insomuch that he was believed either to have had good ground of offence against his father, or to have highly pleased the Almighty by his last repentance. Henry, however, tempering the grief he felt for his son, by the consideration that he was quit of an enemy, and spiritedly pressing upon the conspirators confounded at the misfortune of their chief, in a short time subdued them all, and received his son Geoffrey into favour. But Geoffrey, making no return for all the proofs he received of parental love, did not lay aside his hostile intentions, as it appeared afterwards. For shortly after, wavering and dubious with respec*" to his father, but courting by every possible means the > See Eccles. i. 13. Vulg. CH. VIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 523 friendship of the French, whom he knew to be jealous of his parent's glory, when he could not obtain from his father the district of Anjou, because Richard, his eldest brother, would by- no means give it up to him (though the king of France busied himself in the matter to no purpose), Geoffrey betook himself to the French party, as if by their power he could extort from his father and brother what was not to be obtained by soothing en- treaties. Thus, when he was actively serving under the king of France, he made many exertions to annoy his father; in the midst of which he was overtaken by the severe vengeance of God, and ended his projects and his life together at Paris, where he was buried; leaving but a small share of regret to his parent, to whom he had been so undutiful, but sore grief to the French, to whom he had been highly acceptable. He had a posthumous son by the only daughter of the earl of Brittany ; and when the king, his grandfather, had ordered his own name to be given to the child, it was opposed by the Bretons, and by solemn acclamation he received in holy baptism the name of Arthur. In such manner the Bretons, who are said long to have expected a fabulous Arthur, now with high hope nurture a real one, according to the opinion of certain prophets expressed in their grand and famous legends of Arthur. Chap. VIII. — Of the Death of the Archbishop of Canteebubt, and Institu- tion OP THE Bishop of Lincoln. In the same year in which Henry the third yielded to fate, Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, the successor of the venerable Thomas, also departed this life.^ He was a man only moderately learned indeed, but laudably inoffensive ; and that he might not engage in matters too high for him, he prudently kept within his own sphere. He was succeeded by Baldwin, a religious and learned man, who, from being abbot of Ford, became bishop of Worcester. More- over, in the same year, Walter of Coutance was made bishop of Lincoln, after the see had been vacant for nearly seventeen years ; by which means was nullified the prophecy, or rather the divination of a certain lay brother of Thame, ^ who had predicted by his own spirit, rather than that of God, that the church of Lincoln would never more possess a bishop. This divination, on account of the long-continued vacancy of that church, had such an eflect upon many people, that the aforesaid Walter, having undergone the office of consecration, proceeded to his see with considerable apprehension. His continuance here, however, was but of short duration ; for, being soon after elected to the archbishopric of Rouen, he bade adieu to his newly-espoused bride for the attractive blandishments of a fairer form. Here may be contemplated the vast influence of ambition,^ and how greatly it overbalances the 1 He died on the 16th of February, 1184, and the election of his successor, Baldwin, took place on the 16th of December, in the same year. 2 See Book II. chap. sxii. 3 The authors of the Gallia Christiana combat the accuracy of the character here given, and apparently with some reason. See their work, xi. 51 VOL. IV. M M 524 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. love of money, even in the most avaricious man ; indeed, it is sufficiently notorious, that just so much as the church of Rouen surpasses that of Lincoln in rank, so much does it fall short of it in temporal profit. Nevertheless, the man who so greatly aflfected the bishopric of Lincoln, on account of its ample revenues, pre- ferred to quit it and take a higher place with smaller profits, than by retaining it to sit lower but with a greater revenue. He is, indeed, reported to have hesitated for a long time, anxiously deli- berating whether he would prefer to be more exalted or more wealthy; but at last the lust of a higher throne triumphed over the love of greater gain. On his translation the church of Lincoln again remained vacant' for several years. Chap. IX. — Op the Expedition against Roland, and certain Occurkences in Ireland, Henry the second, the illustrious king of England, after the death of Henry the third, proceeding into England, marched with his army into the distant confines of his kingdom against Roland, prince of Galloway. For this Roland, on the death of Gilbert, who (as it has been before^ related), after having basely murdered his brother Uctred, and by chance of war prevailed against his sons (at the time when the king of Scotland had been made captive by our forces), had appropriated to himself the whole province of Galloway. The king of England, being appealed to by the sons of Uctred, commanded Roland to restore their paternal inheritance to his cousins ; and as he set at nought this command, the king, being indignant thereat, marched towards the province with a vast army both of horse and foot. Here, on his receiving some very agreeable intelligence from Ireland, elated with the news, he became more easy to be appeased. Wherefore, receiving satis- faction from Roland, he shortly after withdrew his army. But in order that the nature of this intelligence may be better explained, and as the occasion here presents itself, it may be necessary to mention a few circumstances relative to the state of Ireland. It has been recorded above ^ how earl Richard was com- pelled to relinquish his Irish acquisitions to the king, which the latter, by a seasonable arrival in Ireland, settled according to his own pleasure : but on his return into England, the military com- manders left there by him for the government of this subjugated province, desirous either of booty or fame, by degrees extended the boundaries allotted to them. One of these, namely, John de Curci,* together with a strong force of foot and horse, thought proper to make a hostile incursion on that province of Ireland called Ulster, which is separated from the kingdom of Scotland " Walter de Coutance was enthroned in the church of Rouen, on St. Matthew s day, 1185. See Gall. Christ, xi. 51. The see of Lincoln continued vacant for two years. - See Book II. chap, xsxiv. ^ See Book III. chap. xxvi. * See the treatise of Giraldus Cambrensis, entitled " Hibernia Expugnata," book II. chap. xvii. xviii., which fill up and illustrate the narrative here given in outline. CH. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 525 only by a narrow strait. It happened that there had arrived at this place from Scotland a most eloquent man, named Vivian, legate of the holy see ; and being honourably received by the king and bishops of that province, he had taken up his residence for a time in the maritime city of Down. The approach of the enemy, however, being known, the Irish consulted the legate what ought to be done in such an emergency. He replied, that they ought to fight for their country ; and he gave them his benediction with solemn prayers on the eve of the conflict. Thus inspired, they rushed with ardour to the battle ; but being easily overpowered by men clad in mail, and by the archers, they fled before them. The city of Down was consequently taken. The Roman legate, with his party, took refuge in a church distinguished for the reliques of its saints. For this prudent person had provided for himself, and had in readiness letters from the king of England addressed to his Irish commanders, in order that, being protected by their assistance, he might fulfil the object of his legation among their uncivilized people. Obtaining peace and security by this authority, he pro- ceeded to Dublin, and acting with confidence, either under the name of the sovereign pope or of the king of England, he assem- bled the prelates and abbots of Ireland, and there celebrated a general council. Wishing however to play the Roman over churches of uncivilized habits, and the king's officers announcing to him that he must either leave the country or act in concert with them, he returned into Scotland, not heavily laden with that Irish gold for which he had so much thirsted. John de Curci, with his followers, who had taken Down and its environs, was afterwards fruitlessly attacked by the kings of Ireland. Subduing Armagh, which (in honour of St. Patrick and of other native saints, whose sacred reliques repose in that place) is said to be the chief see of Ireland, he reduced to subjection the whole of that province. The men of this district are said to have been, till that time, superstitious in the celebration of Easter beyond all other people of Ireland. For, as I have learnt from the relation of a certain venerable bishop of that nation, they supposed they did God service by amassing during the revolution of the year, by theft and rapine, what they might lavish at the solemnity of Easter upon the most expensive banquetings, as if in honour of our Lord's resurrection ; and there was among them great rivalry, lest one should be outdone by the other in the most extra- vagant preparation and display of their dishes. The conquest of Ireland, however, put an end to this most superstitious custom, as well as to their state of national liberty. Among the nobles of the king of England who were in Ireland, Hugh de Lasci was esteemed the chiefest and most powerful. After the decease of the most energetic earl Richard, the king had conferred upon him very extensive possessions in that countiy, and had committed to him the management of his dominions ; but this Hugh, in a short time, so extended his boundaries, and prospered and increased so much in magnitude of wealth and power, that he now became formidable, not only to his enemies, but even to his M M 2 526 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book ni. associates, that is, the other royaUsts and nobles, — for he treated even these as his enemies if by chance they were not sufficiently obedient, and he now appeared rather to affect the kingdom of Ireland for himself than for the king of England ; so much so, indeed, that (as report states) he provided himself a royal diadem. The king, on hearing those circumstances, sent for him ; but he treated the command with contempt, and by this refusal gave evidence of the truth of the popular belief. After a short period, however, as though fortune had been zealous for the king of Eng- land, he perished by the perfidy of a person — one of the friendly Irish — who was a youth of his own household ; for when he had left his fortress, and gone into the country for the purpose of exercise, and being separated from his guards about a stone's- throw, had casually leant down to mark something on the ground, the faithless wretch, rejoicing that he had gained the long sought- for opportunity, struck him violently with a hatchet on the head, and severed it from his body. The attendants ran up in vain to avenge their master — but the assassin, avaiUng himself of an adjacent wood, and his own swiftness of foot, eluded their pur- suit. The news of this transaction gave excessive joy to the king of England then resident (as it has been said) on the extreme borders of his kingdom ; and soon after the aftairs of Ireland received from him a more cautious settlement. Chap. X. — Of the Arrival of the Patriarch in England ; the Death op THE King of Jerusalem — the Reign of his Son — and of Saladin. In the one thousand one hundred and eighty-fourth year from the delivery of the Virgin, which was the thirty-first of king Henry the second, the patriarch of Jerusalem, came into England, dis- patched on urgent business from the Eastern Church. That these causes, however, may be more manifest, we shall briefly glance at the affairs of Jerusalem from the time of king Amalric, of whom our former^ history has not been silent. This Amalric, after many great and fortunate exploits, died, and left his kingdom to his son Baldwin, not yet arrived at the state of manhood. He was a youth of great promise, though afflicted by God's secret judgment with leprosy ; and he governed the king- dom as long as he lived rather by strength of mind than of body. In order that a certain successor might not be wanting, on account of the dangers which threatened the state, he determined that the stock of the royal race should proceed from the marriage of his sister. About this time, Noradin, king of Syria and Mesopotamia, dying, who, after his bloody father, had been the rod of God's fury upon the Christians, Saladin arose, in his stead, no longer a rod, but a mallet. He was the nephew of Saraco, who (as it has been said^ before) had been chief commander in Noradin's army, and had succeeded to his uncle's office on his decease — a man of singular cunning, and possessed of a thousand mischievous arts. Moreover, on the demise of Noradin, he asked for his widow in marriage ; and 1 See Book II. chap, sxiii. ^ Ibid. CH. XI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 527 on her surrendering Damascus and its borders, he took possession of them also. Being extremely beloved by the Turkish soldiery, and advancing his power by artifice, and his artifice by power, he disinherited the son of Noradin, and obtained his very extensive empire. Next transferring his arms to Egj^pt, and dispatching the princes of that country, he seized on the most opulent kingdom of Babylon. Getting possession also of Lybia and Arabia, he gained an exalted name, surpassing that of other earthly potentates. Finally (as it is said), presiding over eight of the richest kingdoms, he thought that but little had been done by him, so long as the Christians, separated by a great gulf, that is, the Mediterranean Sea, possessed Jerusalem, Antioch, and the maritime cities of Syria, Wherefore, directing against them the whole force of his most extensive dominions, this man, beyond compare in secular power and cunning, endeavoured, by all possible means, to swallow up the people of God like a morsel of bread, and to tear down the cross of Christ throughout the regions of the East wherever it had been previously erected. Chap. XI. — How Saladin was overcome, and how he afterwards prevailed. About this time, Philip, ^ the illustrious count of Flanders, stricken with pious devotion, entered the land of Jerusalem with a numerous army, anxious to effect something against Saladin, and to extend the christian territory. Offended, however, by the Templars, he led the christian forces to Antioch, on the invitation of its prince, and with his co-operation he laid siege to a strongly fortified town called Hareng. He made no impression upon it, however, but retired with disgrace. Hearing that the land of the Lord was more than usually bereft of its defence, in consequence of this removal of its troops, Saladin made a sudden irruption into it at the head of a countless force ; and, making no stop on the frontiers, forthwith penetrated into the heart of the country, as though he should possess it. The christian prince, adorning the leprosy of his body by the energy of his mind, assembled as large an army as the time would permit; and, as he was about to fight the battle of his God, and not his own, he was undismayed at the number of his enemies. Preceded, therefore, by the cross of the Lord, and about to engage near the town of Rama, which his opponents had besieged, he rehed on the Divine assistance, and routed these terrific armies of an abandoned race. Saladin, taking to flight, escaped with difficulty, while thousands of his hosts were slain. This battle was successfully fought by the Christians, by Christ's assistance, on the seventh of the kalends of December. [25th Nov.] But in the following year, on account of the transgressions which, in the present life, God's providence less overlooks in his own than other people, the anger of Heaven waxed hot against the Christians who were resident in the Holy Land, as they did not conduct themselves in a holy manner ; — for when Saladin invaded 1 Philip d'Alsace, count of Flandera, set out on this expedition in 1177, and returned in the following year. 528 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [BOOK m- the christian territory, better equipped, and in a more formidable manner, desiring to wipe out the disgrace of the preceding year — and our own people, too. were far better arrayed, and in greater num- ber than before, and consequently less confident in God, while pre- sumptuous in themselves, had given battle on the frontier ; and God, who had formerly given grace to the humble, now resisted the proud ; a vast slaughter of the christian forces took place, a considerable number of the knights, together with the master of the Templars, were slain, with many of the nobility; — but this was only the begin- ning of sorrows. God's fury was not yet turned away, but his hand was stretched out still. For after Cesarea Philippi (which is now called Belinas, and was, as it were, the key of the christian territories against Damascus) had fallen into the hands of the enemy, the Tem- plars, as well from their own resources as what they had supplicated from all sides, built an important fortress at a place called Jacob's Ford, in order to prevent the foe from making unrestrained invasions within the christian territory from the side of Cesarea. The walls rose daily ; and a large party of armed men constantly kept watch there, lest the work should be impeded by any hostile incursion. For a long time this was winked at and endured by the Turks, but with envy and grief of heart, while the christian force was undiminished ; but when they saw them weakened in a measure by their recent over- throw, watching their opportunity, they surrounded the fortress aforesaid, now filled with men and arms, and applying their engines, they began their attack with spirit. The christian army, however, assembled at Tiberias to raise the siege, but not with its wonted alacrity. Here our chiefs, deliberating on what was to be done, deemed it by no means safe for them to encounter so numerous an enemy, while the holy cross was absent. Persons were sent to Jerusalem to procure that protecting standard immediately. In this interval the fortress was taken ; and being quickly demolished, the Turks retired with abundant spoils — for there was captured a large quantity of arms, and christian blood was shed profusely. Not long after this, Saladin, attacking the christian territory un- expectedly, captured and destroyed Neapolis (formerly called Sychem), and having occasioned considerable slaughter, betook himself again to his own kingdom, while our troops were being collected. Chap. XII. — Of the Cause op the Arrival op the Patriarch in Englakd. At this time the king of Jerusalem, being delivered from his leprosy by the kind hand of death, bequeathed his kingdom to his nephew on his sister-side, a boy of nine years old. After he was anointed king he was brought up, as his age required, under the guardianship of the count of Tripoli, with whom the chief manage- ment of everything appeared to rest entirely. Therefore, when the affairs of Jerusalem every day declined, and the intelligent part of the people were perpetually thinking about the saying of Solomon, " Woe to that land whose ruler is a child, and whose princes eat CH. XII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 529 in the morning;"^ it was determined by a general decree that an illustrious personage, whose authority might have weight, as well as the importance of his business, that is to say, the patriarch of the Holy Resurrection, should be dispatched into Europe for the purpose of requesting assistance from the christian princes against their most cruel enemy Saladin, and especially to the noble king of England, from whom was expected more vigorous and more ready aid than from the others. This same patriarch arriving at Rome, Eifter encountering the perils of the sea, and the patriarchal being united with the apostolical authority, when about to proceed on his mission, he received the following epistle from pope Lucius to the king of England : — The epistle of the sovereign pope to the king of England : ^ — " Lucius the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearest son in Christ, Henry the illustrious king of England, wishes health and the apostolical benediction. " Since your renowned predecessors have flourished, from a far date, in glory of arms and nobleness of mind beyond other earthly princes, and the faithful have experienced them to be their patrons in adversity, reverence is confidently and deservedly paid to you, when danger, if not absolute destruction, hangs over the people of Christ ; inasmuch as you are not only the heir of the kingdom, but also of the virtues of your ancestors. Our expectation is, that, by the arm of your royal dignity, help may be extended to Christ's members, since He, by His affection, hath permitted you to gain the summit of such high glory and eminence, and hath appointed you to be an impregnable barrier against those who wickedly assail His name. Wherefore, your excellence, already harassed on this account with frequent and troublesome appeals, is aware in what manner the land of Jerusalem (the especial inhe- ritance of the cross, in which the mysteries of our salvation were foretold and completed by the manifestation of the Truth itself, which He who created all things appointed to be His heritage by a peculiar privilege), overrun and surrounded by the aggression of a perfidious and most detestable race, unless quickly assisted, must fall headlong into ruin ; and thence must the christian religion (which God forbid) sustain irreparable loss. For Saladin, the most cruel persecutor of His holy and tremendous name, is so inflamed with the spirit of madness, and so employs the force of his whole wickedness for the utter destruction of the people of the faithful, that, unless the vehement assault of his ferocity be repressed by the interposition of some powerful restraint, he seems to entertain sure hope and confidence that he can even swallow up Jordan ; and the land consecrated by the sprinkling of the life- bestowing blood must be polluted by the contagion of his most pestilential superstition ; that land, which your glorious and-noble predecessors have rescued from the dominion of a faithless nation, 1 See Eccles. x. 16. - To be referred to a. D. 1184. Other copies, varying in a few particulars occur in Koveden, fol. 358 ; Rymer, i. 38; and in Mansi, Concil. xxii. 475. 530 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK HI. at the cost of numberless dangers and labours, must again become subject to the base controul of a most abandoned tyrant. " On account, therefore, of the pressure of this emergency and im- pending sorrow, we have thought fit to exhort your highness by an apostolical letter, nay, even to entreat you by a most solemn appeal, that (regarding the honour of Him who hath exalted you on high, and hath given you a glorious name, as far as human greatness goes) you would affectionately attend to the desolation of the land aforesaid ; and that you would give effectual diligence to take away His disgrace in this respect, who for your sake was willing to be held in mockery in that land ; to the end that, following the example of your predecessors, who delivered this land out of the jaws of the prince of darkness, it may still, by your exertions and God's assistance, be preserved in the service of the Lofty One. On this account, indeed, it behoves your highness to use greater soli- citude in so great a strait of calamity, because you know that this land is bereft of the protection of a king, and that its chiefs have thought fit to place every hope of its defence in your highness's protection ; and this your excellence may more correctly know, because they have dispatched to your highness those great and noble defenders of that land, our venerable brother E.^ the patriarch, and his beloved son, the master of the Hospital, that by their presence you should weigh (considering their dignity) how great must be the necessity for the sake of which these regions can so long endure the want of their help, in order that by their means they may more easily incline your regard to their petitions. Kindly receive, there- fore, the persons aforesaid, as if sent to you from the Lord Himself; treat them with becoming regard, and assent to their request so much the more readily, as greater favour and kindness is to be accorded them from respect to their gravity and rank. Let your wisdom recollect, and carefully revolve within itself the promise, whereby you have bound your highness with respect to giving assistance to this land ; and show yourself in this matter so pro- vident and anxious, that, in the tremendous day of judgment, you may not be accused by your own conscience, nor be con- demned by the sentence of that severe Judge who is not deceived. Farewell." Chap. XIII. — In what Manner the Patkiaech eetuened unsuccessful. The venerable patriarch, therefore, on his arrival in England, diligently employed himself on the business which had brought him thither. Having been received by the king with all becoming respect, he explained the causes of his laborious undertaking; and, in order that Henry might embark in such a holy service, as if destined by God, and earnestly solicited by all to bring down the pride of the most detestable Saladin, he exhorted him thereto by the influence of his high authority. When the king complacently admitted his wholesome counsel, and promised his reply after a ^ Eraelius, or Heraclius, was at tliis time the Patriarch of Jerusalem. See Baronii Annal. a.d. 1185, § 6. CH. XIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 531 due time for deliberation, the patriarch continued for some little space in England ; but the king, alleging the certain and excessive dangers which must attend his departure from his own kingdom, and promising a competent sum of money in aid of the Eastern Church, in lieu of his personal attendance, the patriarch, with hopes far less sanguine than on his arrival, retired into France, The king, too, went abroad, to superintend his affairs on the con- tinent; and when the seeds of a deadly discord between himself and the king of France were germinating, at the interposition ot the devil, who took every active means to hinder christian princes, mutually weakening their christian strength, from rendering any assistance to that land and city, whence flowed the salvation of all, and which was-'now exposed to danger of every kind, the venerable patriarch returned to his country without accomplishing his purpose. Chap. XIV. — Of the Disagkeemext of the Kings, and their subsequent Treaty. The evil of that discord which arose between the kings involved many nations ; for as each people was zealous for its respective monarch, they became so mutually hostile and resolute in their intentions, as though they individually sought their own advantage and reputation, or were about to avenge their own grievances. Multitudes of armed men, inflamed with the most ferocious spirit, assembled from different provinces on all sides, at a castle called Chateauroux, purposing, in their strange infatuation, to pour out their blood as an offering to the glory, or rather to the pride, of their kings ; for what can be more absurd than to be emulous of vain-glory, and that not our own, but another's ? and what more unjust or more pitiable than for so many thousands of Christians to run into danger for the benefit or mere pride of an individual ? After these two great armies had regarded each other with angry countenance for several days, from their opposite positions, while persons of pacific temper busied themselves in behalf either of a peace or a treaty, but all in vain, the fatal and tremendous day of engagement at length dawned. The troops were arranged for battle, and on the eve of engaging ; when, lo ! more (as it is said) through the secret whispers of the commanders, than through, public discussion, a truce for several days was proclaimed by the voice of a herald throughout each army. This notice sounded much more agreeably to the ears of all than the sound of the trumpet calling them to battle. The nations, in consequence, which just before had been fiercely raging, and the people who so lately imagined vain things, at the kind interposition of God, turned homeward with bloodless joy ; but the king of England, dismissing his army, remained upon the continent, rather mtent on the business of consolidating peace than stirring up the strife of conflict ; for, long since heartily tired of war, on account of his age, he was now led on to hostile intentions, not by desire, but by necessity alone. 532 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. Chap. XV. — Of the Prerogative op the Land op uErusalem, on account op WHICH IT so frequently DEVOURS ITS INHABITANTS. In the one thousand one hundred and eighty, seventh year from the fulness of time in which the Word was made flesh, during the reign of Frederick in Germany, of Philip in France, and of Henry the second in England, and while Urban, who had succeeded Lucius, presided over the holy see, the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the land of Jerusalem, and in the words of Jeremiah,' the stroke of an enemy smote her with severe correction. The holy city in which the name of God had been called upon from old time, in which the sacred prophecies abounded, in which the symbols of human redemption were displayed, and from which the waters of salvation flowed to the farthest ends of the earth — and the holy land (dreadful to think of) fell into the hands of a profane and unclean nation ; the land, I say, of the holy prophets which have been since the world began ; the land of the apostles, nay the land of our Lord and Saviour Himself, which He dignified with the mystery of His incarnation and nativity ; signalized with His abode, and preaching, and miracles ; consecrated with His passion, burial, and resurrection; irradiated with the triumph of His ascension, and the coming of the Comforter ; — of this land the beastly Saladin took possession — made it empty of the faithful, and destroying the symbols of the christian religion, profaned it with the abominations of his detested sect : and to him was granted not only a mouth speaking great things, but even an arm executing as much against the Lord, and against the people of His Christ. For with respect to this people was fulfilled the word of Jeremiah [xv. 2], or rather the word of the Lord speaking by his mouth, " Cast them out from my presence, and let them go forth, such as are for death to death : and such as are for the sword to the sword : and such as are for the famine to the famine : and such as are for the captivity to the captivity." No one, indeed, ought to doubt that the cause of this pitiable and signal overthrow arose from an overwhelming weight of sin ; and certainly from the beginning, in every country under heaven, God has borne with sins more patiently than in that land, which from the grace of so many great and signal Divine operations, either already miraculously performed there, or about to be performed, ought, (if I may use the expression,) by a kind of privileged necessity to be holy, or else not long unpunished. For, indeed, God chose this land from the beginning to be ennobled at His own good time with the miracles of His most surpassing con- descension, which, of a truth, far excel all other Divine operations; I mean, the miracles of His incarnation and of the redemption of mankind. Indeed, in favour of such things to be accomplished in this land at their season, it had always a pre-eminent privilege before all other countries, which truly it is known to possess in a more especial manner from what had already taken place there. Hence it is that the holy Scripture, in many places, so clearly sets forth its prerogative. Yet, regarding it with reference either to 1 See chap. xxs. 34. Vulg en. XV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 533 the glory of riches or its fertility, it may at once be admitted, that, in matters of this nature, it is rivalled by many nations, if not actually surpassed, unless we attach no credit to the descriptions given of India ; wherefore it is acknowledged either to have been, or to be at present, celebrated beyond all other regions from the single circumstance that in it was to be consummated, and really has been so, the great and wonderful mystery of human redemption. For if God had been inclined to grant to His peculiar people, that is, the seed of Abraham, an earthly inheritance for the sake of abundant fertility. He would have assigned them a settlement in India rather than in Syria ; but now a people being elected for this purpose by His Divine foreknowledge, that out of them the Offering for human redemption should be taken in His own good time. He gave them for a possession that land which He had chosen from the beginning, that there that propitiatory Sacrifice should be offered up. On this account He calls that land more especially His own, saying, " This land shall never be sold again, because it is mine, for ye were strangers and sojourners with me" [Levit. xxv. 23]. The first inhabitants, indeed, of this land, after the Deluge, were the Canaanites and the Amorites, and the people related to them — but God truly foreseeing that they must hereafter be dispersed, on account of their flagitious manners, brought thither Abi-aham, the future father of a noble race, from out of Hur of the Chaldeans, saying, " Unto thy seed will I give this land" [Gen. xii. 7]. Moreover, to Abraham himself he gave therein, as the apostle says,^ not so much as to set his foot on; and because, according to the Word of God, the sins of the Amorites were not yet accom- plished, that is, had not yet attained such maturity and strength as to induce God, who visits transgressions in mercy rather than in judgment, totally to exterminate these sinners ; therefore, by a prescient, just, and indulgent God, the filling up the measure of iniquity is patiently waited for, and the destruction of the guilty is delayed until the perfect consummation of their sins. In conse- quence, Abraham was not made possessor of that land, but a stranger ; and his posterity, after the sin of the Amorites had been filled up, took their land in possession — and as they possessed this land by the gift of God, so also, by His command, did they exter- minate the wicked. Do we suppose that this sinful nation trans- gressed more outrageously than the other nations of the universe, insomuch that, while the rest escaped, this only should suffer destruction ? Assuredly the darkness of error had involved the world, and no one was forbidden to do as he pleased out of respect to that Divine judgment, of the existence of which he was altogether ignorant. This nation did not singly undergo the severity of Divine visitation, merely because it was more abandoned than other people, but it was necessary that the land about to be signalized hereafter with the most splendid tokens of heavenly condescension," and at that time debased by the enormites of its inhabitants, should be purified by their extermination, and given for a heritage to the chosen people, that is, the seed of Abraham, who possessed the 1 Acts vii. 5. 534 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III. types of the holy faith — wherefore it is said to this people, by Moses, in the Book of Deuteronomy : It is not for thy righteous- ness that thou shalt go in and possess the land of those nations, but they are destroyed at thy entrance on account of their own wickedness, and that God might perform the word which he promised by an oath to thy fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.' Moreover, in Leviticus,^ it is said, by the word of God to the sons of Abraham: — Be not ye polluted in all things, in which the nations are defiled, which I will cast out in your sight : by whom the land is polluted, whose offences I will visit, so that it may cast out its inhabitants. Take heed, therefore, lest, in like manner, it cast you out also when ye shall have done the like, as it cast out the nation which was before you. Other regions, however, not pos- sessing this privilege, do not, in such manner, swallow up or cast out their inhabitants, though they be more deeply debased by transgressions; as that land afterward justly cast out even the seed of Abraham, to whom it was given as an heritage when it had polluted it by the enormity of its crimes ; and, indeed, it cast out into Babylon the greater part of it, that is, the ten tribes which were irrevocably banished ; but two tribes, that is, the tribe of Judah, from which the Lord Himself was to be born according to the flesh, and the tribe of Benjamin, which was to produce the vessel of election, though the former were to be recalled in due time, and the latter two after a season. But because' they knew not the time of their visitation, but by execrable infatuation killed their own Redeemer, this same land, notable for the performance of the heavenly mysteries accomplished within it, cast out with sorer judgment never to be recalled, while the Roman emperors Vespa- sian and Titus were the ministers of Divine vengeance. The fleshly seed of Abraham being thus exterminated, because it had so degenerated that God Himself said,* " It shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you"; the sanctuary of God was trodden under foot by the heathen until the time of that religious emperor Constantine the Great. For at that period the Holy Land, through the pious exertions of this prince, being cleansed from the impurity of heathen rites, was given as a heritage and possession to the true seed of Abraham, that is, to the Christians, by whom it was enjoyed for many years, till after the time of Saint Gregory — but, at length, even these dwellers, after having incensed the Divine indignation against them by the increase of their transgressions, the Holy Land, which had been polluted by them, devoured or cast out ; and the Hagarenes defiled it by their most beastly residence therein until the year one thousand and ninety-nine from the fulness of time when the Word was made flesh. For all that period the holy city, (as it has been above related,) by means of a christian army arriving from Europe, cast out its heathen inhabitants ; and herein was exactly fulfilled that prophecy of Noah,^ " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell 1 See Deut. ix. 4, 5. _ ^ gge Levit. xviii. 3. 3 Twysden's MS. is resumed at this point, having been defective from chap. v. * See Matt. x. 15. ^ Gen. ix. 27 CH. XVI.] THE HISTORY OF WilLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 535 in the tents of Shem ;" for from Shem sprung the nations of Ab., but the nations of Europe from Japheth. Therefore, in a manner, he received a dweUing in the tents of Shem, when the men of Eu.rope, on the expulsion of the Hagarenes, began to reside in Palestine, a province of Asia. The residence of the sons of Japheth in the Holy Land was about eighty-seven years, that is, from the year one thousand and ninety-nine from the delivery of the Virgin, till the year one thousand one hundred and eighty-seven. For at that time the Holy Land, after its wonted manner, cast out even these people, upon the increase of their transgressions, with which the power of the Hagarenes increased in proportion, though we cannot repeat it without a groan : for there were now in Jerusalem and its territory, not, as formerly, devout men from every nation under heaven, but, out of every christian country, abandoned, luxurious, and intem- perate people, mimics and stage-players, all of which kind had settled in the Holy Land, as in a common receptaele, and had polluted ^ it with unseemly habits and actions. Moreover, the present natives of this land, whom they called " PuIIani," becoming infected from their vicinity to the Saracens, differed but little from them either in faith or morals, and appeared to be a kind of neutral beings between the Christian and the Saracen population. In such manner the land of our Lord, alike debased in our times by strangers and by natives, has at length, by God's decree, cast out both of them, and now endures that most abandoned people, the Hagarenes, for a season, whom doubtless it will devour at God's good pleasure. It was recovered, indeed, by the Christians, during the papacy of Urban the second, and fell again into the hands of the Hagarenes, in the pontificate of Urban the third, after a lapse (as it has been said) of eighty-seven years. How this took place must be more fully explained, not for the sake of contemporaries, as the matter is of very recent recollection, and sufficiently known by all, but that a lasting knowledge of the signal evils which befel our times may, by the agency of my pen, be transmitted to the knowledge of posterity. Chap. XVI. — Of Gut, King op Jerusalem. This youth of nine years old, being anointed king of Jerusalem, next after his uncle, was soon after snatched away from this world, having been poisoned (as it is supposed) by his own guardian, the count of Tripoli, who, being a great and powerful man, and related to the former kings, aspired to the sovereignty, which he hoped would easily fall to him on the removal of his youthful ward. The patriarch, however, and part of the chiefs of the land, together with the Templars and Hospitallers, gave the kingdom to the mother of the deceased boy, the daughter of the very illustrious king Amalric, as the nearer and more rightful heir, though they blamed her unbecoming marriage ; for in the time of the'king her brother, in 1 Picard here refer.? us to the Historia Orientalis of Jacobus de Vitriaco, cap, Ixxiii., for a picture of their vices. 536 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK m. pursuance of her own wish, she had contracted a second marriage with a foreigner, one Guy of Poictou, who had fled from Henry the second, king of England, out of Aquitain, and had served with great credit under the king of Jerusalem. Having obtained pos- session of the fortresses and cities, by the assistance of the Templars and the patriarch, she gave the royal diadem to her own husband. On this occasion the nobility were incensed beyond measure ; nor could they endure with patience that a man who was a stranger, and not of the royal lineage, should be exalted over their heads, while there still remained a shoot of the royal family, by whom (as they believed) the kingdom might be more becomingly and more honourably governed. Many of them, indeed, dissembled their anger, and, either through fear or craft, were silent for a time ; and, as far as outward appearance went, obeyed this stranger prince in expectation of a proper opportunity to shake off his yoke. But the count of Tripoli, who was actuated by fiercer indignation, relying either on his own powers or artifices, openly resisted, and, with the rest, refused to submit to his controul ; and when he was strenuously attacked by the royal power, and compelled to sur- render, on account of the insufficiency of his own strength, he solicited and easily obtained the assistance of Saladin, who was endeavouring to undermine the christian power by craftily foment- ing discord among the parties. Soon after, during the month of May, he sent out the Turkish forces against the christian territory from the side of Tiberias, which he at that time possessed. These engaged with a certain party of the Templars, and made con- siderable slaughter of our people, and, laden with spoils, went ofi victorious. But not long afterwards, this same count, through the mediation of his friends, made, as it afterwards appeared, a pre- tended peace with the king ; for both himself and almost all the chiefs of the land, from their excessive indignation, had entered into a secret truce with Saladin, into whose hands (as it is said) they had covenanted to deliver the christian king, and to whom he also in turn was said to have pledged himself, that, on this event taking place, he would not disturb them from having the free disposal of the kingdom of Jerusalem. They had made a covenant with death, and with hell were they at agreement,^ supposing by this that the over-passing scourge, when it visited others, would not come upon them ; but after circumstances taught them that the holy prophecy was singularly fulfilled upon themselves — " Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand ; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then shall ye be trodden down by it" [Isa. xxviii. 18], " and misery alone shall give you understanding." Chap. XVII. — Of the Batile in which the Christian Army perished, and the King was taken, along with the holt Cross. Saladin, with eighty thousand cavalry, and more than that, as it is said, entered the frontiers of the Christians, v^ith greater con- ' See Isa. xxviii. 15. CH. XVII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 537 fidence than usual, and soon after advanced upon the city of Tiberias, and attacked the castle, into which the lady of the place had retired with a few soldiers. The king, on hearing this intelligence, with the utmost celerity collected an army of Christians from every quarter. Former kings, however, when about to proceed to battle, always left sufficient garrisons in their cities and castles, that they might not expose the realm to a double peril, by depriving the bones of their own marrow, that is, the cities and castles of the needful garrisons. Thus it was that, though they were frequently overcome by their enemies in battle, yet they were never known to place their realm in danger of being exterminated. But this king, who was appointed by a woman, to the ruin of the christian kingdom, commanded (lest woman should be innocent in so great an evil as this) by a most urgent edict, that the whole population should go forth to battle as one man ; so much so, indeed, that the officers directed by the king compelled the sick to march out along with the healthy, as if he would terrify Saladin by numbers. Thus, when all had gone forth as victims, rather than as combatants, and only a few very feeble persons remained in the cites along with the women and children, the whole of that famous kingdom of Jerusalem thus became dependent on the event of a single battle. The count of Tripoli, who was commanding the christian army, knowing well the localities, conducted it intentionally (as it is thought) into a rocky place, and into such defiles as soon imperilled it. While it was thus embarrassed, the enemy began to threaten it on every side ; so that the king, by the advice of his nobles, determined at all hazards to break through and give battle to the enemy. He permitted the Knights Templars to commence the attack, while he arrayed his army for the fight in bodies as opportunity permitted. The Templars, in a most valiant charge against the enemy, broke the dense order of the hostile troops, and put them either to flight or the sword ; and then it was that the infamous treachery of our own men, and their iniquitous collusion with the enemy, became clear. For the count of Tripoli, and the other nobles with their troops, setting at nought the arrangements which the king had made, neglected to follow the noble Knights of the Temple, and thus placed them in peril, as they were bravely defeating the enemy : and thus closely encompassed in the ranks of their foes, they were either made prisoners or slain. Our army, being now in a place without water, was fainting from heat and thirst ; and at this time six most infamous soldiers deserting from the camp went over to Saladin, and, after abjuring the christian faith, betrayed the hidden distresses of our people. Upon this intelligence, Saladin determined to attack our troops in every way ; and, after he had nearly cut them all to pieces, the king took flight. Tokedjn, the nephew of Saladin, pursued and took him, together with the wooden cross of our Lord. Thus, almost the whole of the Christians were either killed or made prisoners, very few es- caping by flight. The Knights of the Temple and of the Hospital, whom the sword had not destroyed on the field of battle, were 538 CHURCH HISTOKIANS OF ENGLAND. [book HI. separated from the other captives, and Saladin ordered them to be beheaded in his presence, and dehghted his eyes with this long- coveted enjoyment. The tyrant displayed his personal hatred against that most christian man Reginald de Chastillon ; — celebrated as much for his renown in arms as for the nobility of his mind ; he formerly administered with vigour the office of prince of Antioch, and presided at that time with distinction over the Christians on the confines of Arabia ; him he fiercely questioned ; and being answered with the firmness that became so great a man, he slew him with his own hand, thinking that much of his pleasure would be lost, if any one else but himself should shed such precious blood. The count of Tripoli, however, fled from the battle with his accomplices, while the Turks, (as it is said,) took no care to follow them. Chap. XVIII. —In what manner Saladin occupied the Land oi? Promise, WITH THE Holt City. Thus, when the victorious army was satiated with slaughter, and had turned to plunder, and after the battle had seized the prodigious spoils of the multitude that were either killed or taken prisoners — that most sanguinary tyrant proceeded with all his forces to the flourishing city of Ptolemais, which is now called Acre, and immediately took it, as it had been left unprovided with garrison, (as we have mentioned above,) and foolishly entrusted to those who, by reason of their age or sex, were unfit for war. Satiated with slaughter, and from a new sentiment of clemency, he permitted the multitude which he found therein to depart uninjured. Then turning to the other cities and towns, after a short campaign unstained with blood, Saladin reduced the whole strength of the territory of Jerusalem under his power, except the holy city itself, and Tyre and Ascalon ; for since the fortune of one battle had cut off all the garrisons of the cities and castles, this most fortunate tyrant found no difficulty in obtaining possession of the strongest fortresses of the Christians, which could have been reduced only by famine. The same scourge of Divine fury advanced also to the holy city. He compelled the patriarch and the people, dispirited by fear, to surrender, giving them their lives and liberties, that he might gain the credit of clemency; but he dismissed them after they were stripped of their arms and money. Having entered the city in great pomp, he profaned the churches which he had despoiled, and destroyed the cross, the banner of the Lord, after he had mocked it and scourged it. The temple of the Lord, also, which was ever held venerable, even by the Saracens themselves, he caused to be solemnly purified with rose-water, as if it had been defiled by the Christians, and then dedicated it to sacrilegious rites. But he showed some little reverence to the sepulchre of the Lord ; for, after carrying off all the ornaments of gold and silver, he commanded the Syrian Christians who were natives of that land to undertake the custody of it, and he issued an edict, "that no alien should approach it with irreverence." Either CH. XIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 539 through humanity, or for the sake of his own glory, he showed mercy to the sick persons who were lying in the celebrated Hospital of St. John : and he directed that every care should be taken of them until they died or recovered: and he committed this duty to certain of the brethren of the Hospital to be performed in freedom and security. These events took place at Jerusalem, about three months after that direful battle, in which the christian population perished : for that slaughter of the Christians was made in the octave of the feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles [6tli July] ; and the surrender of the holy city took place about the time of the solemnities of St. Michael the Arch- angel [29th Sept.]. Ascalon, also, a noble city, — to which many had tied after the battle on account of its excellent fortifications, and who had vainly filled it with abundance of arms and provisions, ■ — did not escape the power of the tyrant : for that most unfortu- nate king of Jerusalem, who had been taken prisoner in the battle, gave up this city in exchange for his own deliverance. The famous city of Tyre, which of old had been accustomed to resist the greatest assaults, was now the only one that spurned the power of the enemy: for, as histories relate, it had first found employ- ment for Nebuchadnezzar, that ancient and most powerful king ; and afterwards caused great labour to Alexander the Great. This, also, would have fallen into the hands of the enemy, with the same facility as the rest of the cities had done, but for a certain providence of Heaven which frustrated the intention of the tyrant, according to that passage in Isaiah, "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith. Destroy it not ; for a blessing is in it : so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all " [Isa. Ixv. 8] . The Lord, for the sake of His servants, was evidently unwilling to disperse and destroy everything, in order that a fit place of refuge might not be wanting for the Christians, who should come into that country; for the increasing crimes of our age demanded even this : so the Lord preserved this city, like a little grape of the church, as no small blessing to His own people. Though the manner in which it was preserved is, through the favour of Christ, sufficiently known to those who are now living, yet, for the sake of posterity, our narrative ought not to pass it over unrecorded. Chap. XIX.— How Conbad the Marquis fortified Ttre, and of the Death OF the Count of Tkipolis. The marquis de Monteferrat, a man great and powerful among the first nobles of the Roman empire, had come to Jerusalem for purposes of religion, having entrusted the care of his own territory to his son Conrad. When he had remained there in pious devotion for some days, and also, at his own expense, had manfully served God in the defence of the Holy Land, he was taken captive with other noblemen by the Hagarenes, in that battle by which the land itself was delivered into the hands of the infidel. At that very time, the younger marquis, whom I have mentioned, was hastening VOL. IV. N N 540 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK ill. towards Jerusalem with a band of valiant men, intending to pray there himself, and to assist his father ; — and it so happened that, on the third day after Ptolemais was taken, the marquis, on approaching the land with his vessels, where the christian ships were wont to seek a port, narrowly examining the appearance of the city from the sea, observed a change in it. The standards of the Christians no longer floated, resplendent to the beholders, on the tops of the towers and temples, for the abomination of the enemy had soon removed them : nor did the bells ring, as had been usual, when strangers were approaching the port. Thus, that prudent man, understanding that the city had fallen into the hands of the enemy, turned his course towards Tyre, where he landed, and found all the Tyrians so overwhelmed with grief and terror, that they were thinking of surrendering the city, after the example of Ptolemais ; for their spirits were depressed, and the tyrant was expected soon to appear. But, on the arrival of so noble a guest, they regained their courage a little ; and, having informed him of the miserable slaughter of the Christians, they entrusted themselves to his wholesome counsel, as a man sent by God for the consolation of the very few who were left. He, however, being prudent and of a good courage, bound them all, from the least to the greatest, by an oath, to obey him in all respects, while he should faithfully charge himself with the care of them all; wisely informing them that nothing could be done unless they acted unanimously under one chief and director. When this was done, he carefully fortified the city, all the people assisting. On the following day, the count of Tripolis and Reginald of Sidon came as if seeking for refuge, or for the defence of the city; and after they and a few of their followers had been admitted within the walls, they vainly endeavoured to corrupt the populace or to seize the citadel ; but they were soon detected, and with difficulty escaped, leaving, however, some of their followers in the city, whom the zealous marquis condemned to be hanged, as manifest traitors to the name of Christ. But when the count of Tripolis, (whom I have mentioned,) and his accomplices, saw that Saladin had broken faith in their compacts and settled himself in the kingdom of Jerusalem, expelling the inhabitants, and dividing it for a possession among his own people : then, at length, their vexation gave them understanding, and they were able to comprehend that the treaty into which they had entered with death and destruction, which had been annulled by the judgment of God, and the compact which they had made with hell was annihilated by the same just decree, and that they were deservedly borne down by the scourge that overwhelmed them and swept over them. So this count repented himself, though too late, and returned to his own city; and the vehemence of his grief turning to madness, he died a dreadful death. It is also said, that neither disease nor old age, but their intolerable distress and confusion, in a short time, swept away his accomplices from the land which they had betrayed. The citizens of Tripolis, moreover, after mature deliberation, chose — because the days were evil — Boamund, son of the prince of Antioch, for their lord, — a en. XX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 541 youth of approved valour and prudence, under whose rule the region of Tripolis was but seldom infested by the Turks; for it is said and believed that, though Saladin laid the country waste elsewhere with all his forces, yet he spared Tripolis and its confines, on account of the oath which had been between himself and the count of Tripolis. Chap. XX.— Of the Siege of Tyre, and the Return op the King from Captivitt. And thus Jerusalem, and all the other cities, except Tjtc, having surrendered, were immediately received under the protection of Saladin, who laid siege to that city also, which was acting faithfully under the marquis Conrad. Although, according to the testimony of ancient historians. Tyre formerly stood upon an island, yet, by the skill and labour of Alexander the Great, it was united to the continent; and the whole city being thus nearly surrounded by the sea, enjoys a port of the utmost security. The tyrant, consequently, disposed his fleet all round the city, lest the sea should be left open to the besieged ; and he endeavoured to attack it, by all possible means, on every side where it was not protected by the sea. The marquis, however, and his generals, apprehending that the pro- visions might be intercepted which were brought by the Italian ships, conveying supplies from Sicily and Apulia to the city, deter- mined to attack the enemy's fleet by sea. This was done ; and (God being propitious) whole multitudes of the enemy were slain or drowned, and several of the ships were taken ; while the re- mainder of their fleet was wrecked upon the coast, in the sight of Saladin, as they were trying to escape. He was so struck with consternation at this occurrence, that, after burning his engines of war and putting an end to the siege, he departed, attempting nothing further against that city. Soon after, turning the fury of his tyranny against the frontiers of the people of Antioch, he weakened the christian prince of that place, and enfeebled his power to such a degree, that, after Laodicea and other cities under his jurisdiction were taken, he left him scarcely any possession whatever outside the walls of Antioch. He also so straitened that great city itself, that he compelled the terrified citizens to enter into a compact that they would surrender by a certain day, unless a more powerful army from Europe should happen to arrive and prevent it. Moreover, our army at Tyre, under the marquis, was prospering and growing stronger every day; great numbers poured in from the christian countries beyond the sea. The king of Sicily also sent a valuable supply to them. Whereupon, they scoured the country far and wide in search of plunder, and, after succeeding valiantly and prosperously in their excursions, they returned laden with spoil. It happened that, among their spoils, a captive of unusual dignity fell into the hands of the marquis, and, with praiseworthy consideration, he exchanged him for his father, who, as I mentioned before, was taken prisoner in the great battle, and was living in misery in the power of the N N 2 542 CHURCH HISTORIANS OP ENGLAND. [book hi. enemy. The king of Jerusalem, however, whose return from cap- tivity I have just mentioned, was rather an impediment than a consolation to our people ; for, upon claiming Tyre from the marquis, as of royal right, and the marquis refusing to yield that city to him, as having been one which he had exposed to the enemy as much as the rest, and by himself preserved with much labour, the king retired to Tripolis, and, collecting many persons about him, he acted towards the marquis as if he were an enemy. While they were thus at variance, and some were taking the part of one, and some of the other, the affairs of the Christians in Syria made but little progress. In this matter, we may observe the subtle cunning with which Saladin, or rather the devil in Saladin, delivered the king of Jerusalem from captivity, who from the beginning had been the occasion of this disturbance and slaughter, and doubtless, under the appearance of right, had placed him in opposition to the interests of the Christians. Though this partly appeared in that variance, yet it appeared more clearly in those events which followed. Chap. XXI. — Of the Death op Pope Urban, and the Appointment of Gregory. While in the East such events came to pass with respect to the christian people. Urban,* the pope of Rome, sunk under the last lot of all ; and the venerable Albert, his chancellor, succeeded him, and was called Gregory. He was a man really conspicuous for the wisdom and simplicity of his life, being zealous in all things towards God, according to wisdom, and sharply reprehending the practice of those superstitions to which the multitude had become habituated through the rustic simplicity of cei'tain persons in the church, without the authority of the Scriptures. For this cause, he was thought by some persons of little discretion to be a dotard, through his brain being disturbed by excessive abstinence. It must be admitted that, although the extermination of the Christians in the East, and the irruption into the Holy Land, occurred under the pontificate of this Urban, it was nevertheless said of him, that he was distressed as little as possible by the report of such disasters. When the messengers came to the apostolic seat, about the festival of St. Luke the Evangelist [18th Oct.], bearing news of the cer- tainty that had unfortunately occurred within the octaves of the Apostles Peter and Paul [6th July], Urban had just been taken away from this life, and Gregory substituted in his stead. This venerable pontiff, sorely disquieted at the mournful news, was deeply moved, and rendered anxious by the intensity of his grief ; and he inconsolably deplored the enormous loss of reputation which had befallen the Christians. Studious, however, to apply some remedy, and meet so great an evil by pious foresight, lest it should extend further, he thereupon directed this epistle to the christian world. 1 Urban III. died on the 20th of October, 1187; and on the 21st of the same month was succeeded by Gregory VIII. ch. xxi.] the history of william of newburgh. 543 The Epistle ' of Pope Gregory. " Gregory, the servant of the servants of God, to all the faith- ful in Christ to whom these letters shall come, greeting and the apostolic benediction. " Having heard the severity of the tremendous judgment which the Divine hand has inflicted upon the territory of Jerusalem, we and our brethren are perplexed with such horror, and afflicted with such grief, that it does not easily occur to us what we ought to say or do, except to mourn with the Psalmist, and say, ' O Lord, the heathen are come into thine inheritance,' &c. [Ps. Ixxix. 1]. For on the occasion of that dissension which, by the suggestion of the devil, took place lately in the land, Saladin marched towards those parts with a multitude of armed men ; and when the king and the bishops, the Templars and Hospitallers, the barons and the knights, with the people of the land, came forth to battle, bearing the cross of the Lord (by which a sure protection used to be afforded them against the incursions of the pagans, from the commemoration and protection of the passion of Christ, who hung from it, and who redeemed all mankind upon it), in the battle which took place between these two parties, one portion of our army was separated from the rest, and the cross of the Lord was taken, the bishops were slaughtered, the king was made captive, and almost all the remainder were either slain by the sword or fell into the hands of the enemy ; so that very few are said to have escaped by flight. The Templars, also, and the Hospitallers themselves were beheaded in Saladin's sight. Though we can likewise exclaim with the prophet, ' Who will give to mine eyes a fountain of tears, and I will weep day and night for the slain of my people ! ' ^ yet we ought not to be so much dejected as to sink into mistrust. Let us, therefore, believe that God was angry with His people, and in His wrath permitted this to happen, because the people were as a mul- titude of sinners ; yet, when He is pacified by repentance. He will speedily relieve us through His mercy, and that, after our tears. He will bring back gladness. Whoever does not truly mourn, amidst such cause for mourning, seems forgetful not only of the christian faith, but even of humanity itself; while from the magnitude of the peril, and from the ferocity of the barbarians, thirsting for the blood of the Christians, and placing its whole merit in profaning holy things and taking away the worship of God from the earth, — every man of discretion will be able to appreciate all that we abstain from saying. Truly, when the prophets first, and afterwards the apostles, laboured in order that the worship of God might exist in that land, and might flow from it to every region through- out the world, — yea, what was ineffably greater, God, whose will it was to work salvation there, and who designed in His own. person to labour to this end, yet now the tongue cannot speak nor can the senses understand how grievous it is to us, and to all Christians, ' Other copies of this Epistle occur in Hoveden's Annals, a.d. 11S7 (Savile, f. 363, b) ; Benedict of Peterborough, a.d. 1187 ; and Mansi, Coucil. xxii. 527. - See Jer. ix. 1. 544 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK III, that this land should have suffered all that it has endured, as we read among the ancient people, — yet we ought not to believe that these events have happened from the injustice of the Judge who strikes, but rather that they have come to pass through the iniquity of a sinful people ; for that land has devoured its inhabitants, and has neither been able to enjoy a state of quiet for any length of time, nor to retain those persons who have transgressed the Divine law. Moreover, we, in the midst of our great sorrow for that land, ought to look not only to the sin of its inhabitants, but also to our own, and to those of the whole christian people, and to fear, lest what is left of that land may perish, and the power of the infidels rage In other lands ; for do not we hear from all quarters of dis- sensions and scandals between kings and princes, cities and states ? and thus we can say with the prophet, ' There is no truth nor knowledge of God in the land ; by stealing and lying, killing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.' ^ " Think, therefore, my sons, how all things pass away, and how you also will pass away with them: give, therefore, your wealth, give also yourselves — not for destruction, but for preservation — to Him from whom you have received both yourselves and all that you possess. Nor do we ask you to scatter your wealth, but rather to hoard it up in that treasure-house which you have in heaven, and lay up your treasures where moth and rust do not cor- rupt, nor do thieves break through and steal. Labour, also, for the recovery of that land in which, for our salvation, the Truth sprang out of the earth, and for our sake did not disdain to endure the sufferings of the cross. By your example, also, exhort others, that they may be strengthened to lay down their lives for their brethren, and may learn from you how to give up their persons and their goods in obedience to their Creator. Recollect, also, that it is no new thing for that land to be smitten by the Divine judgment; nor is it unreasonable to believe that, after being scourged and chastised, it shall obtain mercy. The Lord, indeed, could by His will alone have preserved it; but it is not for us to say why He has not done so : for perhaps it was his pleasure to make that country an example for others, and to prove whether there were any of an understanding heart, who would seek after God, and joyfully embrace the time of repentance offered to him, by laying down his life for his brethren, and, by finishing his course in a short time, save many lives. " Moreover, to those persons who shall undertake the labour of this journey with a contrite heart and humble spirit, and die in repentance and in the true faith, we promise eternal life and plenary indulgence for their sins ; but whether they survive, or whether they die, let them know that they shall have remission of that penance which has been imposed upon them for all the sins of which they have made a true confession, through the mercy of Almighty God, and by the authority of the apostles Peter and Paul, and of ourself. Their goods, also, from the time of their taking the cross, with their families, shall remain under the protection of ' See Hosea iv. 1, 2. en. XXIII.J THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 545 the holy Roman see, and of the archbishops, bishops, and other prelates of the church ; and none of those which they peaceably possessed on taking the cross shall be subject to any question until their return, or their death be most unquestionably known ; but their goods, in the meantime, shall remain entire and quiet. If they are bound to make usurious payments to any one, these they are not compelled to pay. Nor let them go in precious raiment, and with dogs or birds, or other things which may appear to serve rather for ostentation and pleasure than for necessary uses ; but let them go with moderate preparations and apparel, that they may seem to observe penitence rather than to affect vain -glory. " Dated at Ferentino,^ on the fourth of the kalends of November [29th Oct. 1187]." Chap. XXII— Op the Death op Pope Gregory. This epistle having been sent forth to the world, the same reverend pontiff, influenced by pious soUcitude, proceeded to Pisa, with the intention either of reconciling, by God's assistance, the people of that city with those of Genoa — for they had been separated by a long-continued and inveterate discord, — or of inducing them to suspend their fatal enmity by a truce of long continuance ; so that, by their ceasing or laying aside for a time their devotion to their own private interests, either party (their wealth being great, and their power mighty by land and sea) might act in common in the christian expedition. Having entered the city of Pisa, and sent for the principal men of Genoa, — according to the wisdom that was given him, which was aided by their reverence for the pontificate, — he exerted himself to allay the ferocity of their minds ; and while the work of peace was advancing by his religious labours, and the inveterate contentions of those warlike people were abating by meditating on the adoption of that more excellent way, he was seized with a fever at Pisa, and in a very few days he bid adieu to this world, to associate (as we may believe of so good a man) with the good pastors in heaven.^ To him succeeded Clement, who was there elected and enthroned, and who with pious care cherished the seeds of peace that had been cast, and led them to pro- duce fruit. Chap. XXIII. — How the Kings and many Nobles assumed the Cross. That mournful rumour of how ill managed were our affairs in the East in a short time pervaded the whole world, and carried astonishment and horror into the hearts of all Christians ; yet it roused the spirit of many to emulation by presenting a glorious occasion for exercising their valour. Richard, count of Poitou, son of the king of England, and his future heir, happened to receive the messenger of this intelligence towards the close of the day, and, without further deliberation, he immediately formed the praise- ' Read, Ferrara. 2 He died at Pisa on the 17th of December, 1187; and two days afterwards was Bucceeded by Clement III. 546 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book III. worthy intention with his whole heart ; and early in the morning of the day following, (as it is reported,) he solemnly received the sign of the cross as a token of his future pilgrimage and expedition. On hearing this, his father kept silence until the arrival of his son : and when he came, a few days after, he said, " You should by no means have undertaken so arduous an affair without consulting me; yet I will, nevertheless, offer no opposition to your pious design ; but I will forward it, so that it may be nobly fulfilled by you." It was then the winter time, and not one of the great princes had yet assumed the sign of the cross ; but all were hesitating in doubt upon this subject ; but, nevertheless, they constantly experienced the incitements of Divine fear. At length, the archbishop of Tyre, coming from the East, announced still worse intelligence ; he publicly deplored in such a manner the miseries of the Eastern Church, as well those present as those which were imminent, that the two mighty kings of England and France met together on the confines of their territories for a solemn conference, with the bishops and a great assembly of their nobles, for the purpose of consulting as to what steps they should take for the deliverance of the land of Jerusalem from the enemy ; and although they had been at discord a short time before, (as it has been related above,) and had not yet brought their hostility to an end, they for the time held it in suspense by a truce. In that conference, however, while with a religious intention they sought not their own, but the things which are of Christ, no allusion to their former rancour, not even the slightest, was introduced ; but for the sake of Christ all animosity and dispute were so completely forgotten, laid asleep, and buried, that you would think they were intent on the service of Christ, with equal earnestness. Thus, rising to a lofty fervour of devotion, they accepted the sign of the King of kings from the hands of the bishop above mentioned, intending soon to belt on their swords in His service, and devote not only all that was theirs, but even their own persons to that noble mihtary expedition. The duke of Burgundy, the count of Flanders, and the count of Champagne, with many other nobles from the kingdoms of France and England, and a vast number of military men, followed their example with joyful devotion ; and they, too, thought it glorious to adorn their own shoulders with the sign of the Lord, and to expose themselves for His sake to labours and perils. Having immediately appointed a time when they would commence their march, by common consent they sanctioned the following arrangement neces- sary for the provision and preparation of so great an undertaking and journey; which, after having been reduced into writing by the bishops, was forwarded to all the provinces of both kingdoms. The Statutes of the Kings on taking the Cross. " In consequence of that lamentable rumour of the destruction of the territory of Jerusalem, and the capture of the cross of the Lord, having come to the knowledge of the church of Rome, and the whole of Christendom, our lord the pope, and the church of Rome, desiring to relieve this misery with the wonted clemency of CU. XXIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 547 the apostolic see, have ordained the best remedy for all who should accept the cross, — that is to say, that from the dav on which any person whosoever shall assume the cross, he shall be released from every penance enjoined upon him for his sins, provided he be penitent for the same and has made confession, as well as for those which he may have forgotten. The kings of France and of England, with an immense multitude of archbishops, bishops and barons of both lands, having, by the ordinance of God's providence, taken the cross of the Lord ; by their united counsel, it is therefore ap- pointed, that every man, of the clergy as well as of the laity, shall give a tithe of all his rents for one year, and of the moveable goods which he now possesses, excepting the harvest of this present year, for the relief of the territory of Jerusalem ; but of the harvest of next year he shall, in like manner, give the tenth. Books and apparel are excepted, and the vestments and the entire chapel of clerks and their equipages, and the ornaments of churches, and, in like manner, the vestments and horses and arms of knights, and also the precious stones of both those classes : but whosoever has taken up the cross, whether clerk or layman, shall give nothing, and he shall receive the tenth of his possessions from the tenants, (excepting burgesses and husbandmen,) excepting such as by the consent of their lords have taken the cross. We, therefore, con- fiding in the mercy of God, remit to all persons freely rendering their tithes a moiety of the penances enjoined upon them. More- over, we remit the tithes which they have not paid as required by law, and also such sins as they may have forgotten ; but if there be a doubt whether any man has not paid his lawful tithe, let the truth be inquired into by seven lawful men of his neighourhood, and let it be commanded' that these matters be legally done, under the ban of an anathema. It is also enacted by the lords the kings, and conceded by the archbishops, and bishops, and all the barons, that every clerk or layman who shall assume the cross, if he has previously mortgaged his rents, shall have the issue of this year entire ; and, at the end of the year, the creditor shall once more receive the rents ; yet so that the proceeds which he shall receive therefrom shall be reckoned towards the payment of the debt, for interest shall not run upon debts contracted before the cross was taken up, so long as the debtor shall be upon his pilgrimage. All men, as well clerks as laymen, shall be able legally to mortgage their rents, whether church or others, for the period of three years; so that the creditors, whatever may happen to the debtors, shall be secure thereof. With regard also to those persons who may die in this pilgrimage, and to the money which they carried with them, for the maintenance of their servants, and the aid of the territory of Jerusalem, and the subsistence of the poor, let it be divided according to the counsel of discreet men, who shall be appointed for this purpose. It is also ordained that no man shall swear great oaths, and that no man shall play at hazard or dice, and that no man shall wear minever, or vaire,' or sable, or scarlet; and that all men, clerks as well as laymen, shall be content with two dishes of ' Two kinds of expensive furs. 548 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND [book IIT, meat of that which they buy; and that no man take any woman with him on this pilgrimage, excepting a laundress, who goes on foot, and of whom no suspicion can be entertained; and that no man have clothes that are slashed or laced." Chap. XXIV.— Op the Exaction of Tithes ; and how the Emperor and his People assumed the Cross. The assembly being dissolved, in which the kings had assumed the ensign of the Lord, and decreed these ordinances, with the con- sent of all the bishops and nobles who were present, the illustrious king of England returned expeditiously into his own kingdom, and there summoned a great council at a convenient place ; and, with the approbation of the prelates and the nobles of England, he established the observance of these ordinances, which had been accepted in the parts beyond the sea. Then the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Durham and Norwich, and many nobles of the realm, inflamed by the royal example, solemnly assumed the sacred sign; many, indeed, through mere devotion, but others with less sincerity ; that is to say, either by the orders of the king, or that they might recommend themselves to the favour of their sovereign, by anticipating his command. A great multitude of the clergy, knights, burgesses, and husbandmen, in all parts of England, took care to follow the example of the king and the nobles, as the same had been done in the provinces of France. Tithes were also demanded according to the form prescribed, and preparations were made, with the most vigilant care, for the necessary expenses of so long a pilgrimage. Neither did Frederick, the Roman emperor, long suffer himself to be found in this respect less devout or less active than the kings above mentioned. Having convoked the principal persons of the empire, he made known the intention of his magnanimous spirit; and, in a solemn manner, decorating the diadem of his imperial majesty with the symbol of the humility of the Lord, he presented to his princes and subjects that most influential emblem. So great a fervour of faith and devotion then shone forth in the mighty chiefs and warlike population of Germany, to undertake that most perilous expedition for the sake of Christ, that it might truly be said, this is "the finger of God" [Exod. viii. 19]; and thus almost all nations bearing the name of christian, fervently engaged in immense preparations for the commencement of their intended march. Chap. XXV. — How the Treaty was broken by the King, of France, and of the Death of the King of England which followed. While the devotion of the faithful princes and people was thus fervent, the malice of the ancient enemy was not at rest; and he desired the means of marring the commencement that was so good. For when the illustrious king of England was quietly residing in his own realm, and making preparations of all kinds for his future expedition, as became so great a monarch, the king of France, ca. XXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 549 instigated I know not how, broke the faith of the treaty, which, as had been solemnly consecrated between them, was to last until the return of each from the regions of the East ; and, holding in no reverence the sign of the cross, which they both had assumed as allies, broke out into a paroxysm of sudden fury, and, aided by the treachery of certain iniquitous persons (as it is said), he un- expectedly, and like an usurper, entered that noble castle which is called Chateauroux, and which was a possession of the king of England. Elated at this success, and altering, or rather stifling the scheme of an expedition to Jerusalem, he meditated exploits of more importance. These events having quickly become notorious, the king of England studied to act with mildness, for the sake of their pious enterprise, and before crossing the sea, he sent forward men high in honour, with words of peace to this false dealer: but he was not only rigid and inflexible to all fair proposals, but with yet more unbridled pride seemed inclined towards his danger- ous purposes. As soon as the king of England had crossed the sea, through the intervention of good men, they met together ; the king of England intending to set forth a complaint of the rupture of the treaty, and of the injury done to himself; and the king of France, as if he would justify all he had done, though, under the semblance of confidence in his own uprightness, he covered a mystery of iniquity, as he gave us to understand from what followed. Fer Richard, then count of Poitou, son of the king of England, who had been the first to accept the sign of the cross, as it has been said above, being enticed and led away, as it is believed, by the cunning of the French, in that solemn conference of the kings, deserted his father, and went over to the hostile party. While the causes of evil were growing still more serious, the father, shocked at this calamity, having uselessly wasted his words in pacific propositions to those who hated peace, returned home, scarcely knowing whom to trust, after having had experience of the ingratitude of his son. War was, therefore, commenced on both sides, but with unequal force and con- fidence; for count Richard, to whom his father had committed the duchy of Aquitain, led his father's army there over to the party of the king of France; and many powerful persons in Normandy, Anjou, and Brittany, with empty faith, openly deserted the father for the son, and for his sake augmented the army of the French — whence it came to pass, that, with the exception of mercenaries, a very small number assisted the king of England, and even the faith of these was wavering. Thus, the king of France, with the count of Poitou, and an unlimited number of troops, entered the territory of the king of England without resistance, and marched towards the city of Le Mans, where that king was staying with his army. Upon hearing this, and reviewing his troops, he saw that he was too weak to run the risk of a battle, and fearing to be besieged by the enemy, he fired the city; and throwing away a great deal of his baggage, he retired to a place of greater safety. After this, the army which appeared to follow him gradually melted away. Then John, the youngest of his sons, whom he most tenderly loved, withdrew from his father, lest he should appear unlike the rest of his brethren. 550 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book IIX, and less than a brother. The enemy, having gained possession of the city of Le Mans and its castle, advanced with impetuosity, and also took the city of Tours with its castle by storm, and proceeded in succession to lay siege to the city of Angers. The king of Eng- land, rendered anxious by so many misfortunes, and greatly grieved by the defection of his youngest son — (for he perceived that he had irritated his eldest son by entertaining an especial affection to his promotion) — yet his vexation gave him understanding, and he saw that the hand of the Lord was stretched out against him, and that He had designed the great change of affairs which had occurred around him as a punishment for those evils which he had com- mitted. At length, from great grief, he caught a fever, which gaining strength, after some days he ended his life at Chinon. Thus died that famous king Henry, the most renowned among the kings of the earth, and second to none of them either for the extent of his wealth, or, until lately, for his happy success. On hearing of his illness, his enemies proceeded with more mildness ; and having hastily made a truce, suspended the war; when, behold, it was announced that the star, which formerly had shone so brilliantly, had now set. Distressed at the intelligence, the count of Poitou bewailed his loss, and as an expiation for the little duty he had shown towards his father while living, he proved himself, though late, to be a son, in the respect which he exhibited at his father's funeral. His enemies, also, who had always been envious of his valour and surpassing glory, are said to have praised and lamented him when dead ; and it was obvious to the minds of all, how great are the vanity and fallacy of temporal excellence, when so unhappy a mischance suddenly took away one, who, a short time before, had shone so resplendent upon earth. His body (as he himself, at the point of death, with pious devotion had directed) was carried to that famous and noble nunnery which is called Fontevrault, and there, in the presence of his sons, and with the attendance of a multitude of nobles, it was buried with royal magnificence. For this monastery (distinguished by the title of a celebrated religious order) he had especially favoured while he lived, and had endowed with very many advantages, so that it was fitting he should there receive, in preference, a place of rest for his body in the expectation of the last resurrection, as was due as well to the favours which he had shown it as to his own wish. I ought not, I think, to pass over in silence what I remember to have heard from a certain venerable man, who asserted that he had heard from a religious friar of the same monastery the following anecdote. A certain commendable person of our congregation, entertaining an abundant afiection towards the king of England, as the principal patron of our monastery, was earnestly making supplication for his welfare to God Almighty; and when he was desirous to know what events would happen to that king, either through the mercy or through the judgment of the Supreme Ruler, previously to the time when the king assumed the sign of the cross, he received in his sleep such a revelation as this from the Lord, concerning that beloved king : "He shall lift up my ensign above CH. XXVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 551 liim, but amidst torments shall he bear torments : for the womb of his wife shall rise up again him, and at last he shall be veiled among those who wear the veil." The truth of the revelation was made clear in the devotion of this prince, by which he assumed the emblem of the Lord, and in the events which followed this act of his devotion, even unto his sepulture amidst the veiled/ as the preceding anecdote clearly showed. Chap. XXVI. — Of the Character of King Henry. Of a truth this king (as is well known) was endowed with many virtues that adorn the person of a king, and yet he was addicted to certain vices especially unbecoming a christian prince. He was 'prone to concupiscence, and exceeded the conjugal limit, maintain- ing in this the practice of his ancestors ; yet to his grandfather he yielded the palm in intemperance of this kind. He lived with the queen a sufficient time to raise a progeny ; but when she ceased to conceive, he fell into voluptuousness, and had illegitimate offspring. He delighted in the enjoyment of hunting, as much as his grand- father did, and more than was right, yet he was more mild than his grandfather in punishing transgressors of the forest laws ; for his grandfather, as it has been said in its place,^ observed but little or no distinction between the public punishments of those who slew men, and those who killed beasts of venery; but king Henry checked transgressors of this kind by imprisonment, or by temporary exile. He encouraged, more than was right, a nation perfidious and hostile to Christians, that is to say, the Jews, on account of the great advantages which he received from their usuries : and to such a degree that they were insolent and stiff-necked towards Christians, and imposed many burthens upon them. He was somewhat immo- derate in seeking after money ; but the excessive wickedness of the period v/as a justification for him in this respect, and was a proof that a decent limit had been observed by him ; with this excep- tion, that he allowed vacant bishoprics to remain void a long time, that he might receive the emoluments which thence accrued, and he sent to his treasury the profits, which should rather have been applied to ecclesiastical purposes. Yet he endeavoured (it is said) to defend this course, by an excuse that was not very regal. " Is it not better that these sums of money should be expended in affairs that are needful to the realm, rather than consumed in the pleasures of bishops ? For the prelates of our time do very little violence to themselves according to the ancient form, but, being remiss and lax in their duty, they embrace the world in their arms." Saying this, though he branded a mark of infamy upon our prelates, yet the defence he set up for himself was void of all show of reason. Certainly he deeply failed in his duty to the church of Lincoln,^ which is known to have been kept vacant for a long time, on account of its ample revenues ; yet, in order to expiate * That is, among the nuns of Fontevrault. - See Book I. chap, xxiii. ^ See Book II. chap. xxii. 552 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book hi. this offence, he made it his study, some years before his death, to provide for that church the care of a rehgious pastor. By queen Eleanor he had sons most renowned ; but, as the preceding narrative has shown, he was a most unhappy father in having these most illustrious children. This is believed to have happened by the judgment of God from a twofold cause. For the same queen had formerly been united to the king of France ; and when she was tired of that marriage, she aspired to a union with him, and sought causes for a divorce : when she was released by law from her first husband, in defiance of the church, by a certain lawless licence, if I may say so, he soon after united her to himself in marriage — whence it came to pass — the Almighty secretly balancing all things — that from her he begat a noble offspring to his own destruction. He loved his sons with such extreme tenderness, that he is known to- have done injury to many persons by his desire to promote their interests beyond what was right; and, therefore, he was justly punished by their wicked rebellion, and by the premature death of some of them. Yet it is manifest that all this happened by the beautiful ordinance of Him who watches from above. Moreover, because, as I believe, he had not sufficiently bewailed the rigour of that unfortunate obstinacy which he had entertained towards the venerable archbishop Thomas, therefore, I think, the end of that great prince was thus miserable ; and as the Lord, with holy severity, did not spare him in this world, it is our duty to believe that He will show mercy to him in another life ; for in his high position in the realm he was most studious in watching over and in cherishing public tranquillity ; he was a most fitting minister of God in bearing the sword for the punishment of evil-doers, and in guarding the quiet of good men ; and as he was an especial defender and preserver of the property and liberties of the church, as clearly appeared after his death. In his laws he displayed great care for orphans, widows, and the poor ; and in many places he bestowed noble alms with an open hand. He especially honoured religious men ; and commanded that their property should be protected by law, with as much equity as his own demesne lands. At the very commencement of his reign, with eminent piety, he corrected the ancient and inhuman custom with regard to the shipwrecked, and ordained that the duties of humanity should be shown to men who were rescued from the perils of the sea ; and he enjoined that heavy punishment should be inflicted upon those who ventured to molest them in any respect, or who presumed to plunder any of their goods. He never imposed any heavy tax on the realm of England, or on his possessions beyond the sea, until that last tax of a tenth for the purpose of an expedition to Jerusalem, and yet this tax of a tenth was equally imposed in other countries. He never laid tribute on churches or monas- teries, as other princes did, under pretence of necessity of any kind ; and with religious care he even secured their immunity from unjust burthens and public exactions. Regarding with horror the shedding of blood and the death of man, he made CH. XXVII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 553 it his Study to seek for peace: with arms, indeed, when he could not do otherwise, but more willingly with money, whenever he was able. With' these and other good qualities adorning his royal station, he was nevertheless not acceptable to many who had eyes only for his bad qualities. Men who were ungrateful, and treacherous as a deceitful bow, carped without ceasing at the failings of their prince, and would not endure to listen to his good qualities ; to such as these, the vexations of the sub- sequent time could alone give understanding, since the experience of present evils has brought back the remembrance of his -good times ; and though in his own days he was unpopular with almost all men, yet it now becomes clear that he was an eminent and valuable prince. Solomon, also, that pacific king who raised the people of Israel to the greatest height of honour, and to superlative wealth, yet gave but little satisfaction to his subjects, as those words sufficiently intimate, which were addressed to his son. " Thy father made our yoke grievous : now therefore ease thou somewhat of the grievous servitude of thy father, and we will serve thee" [2 Chron. x. 4]. Moreover, the same son replied to the people who complained, threatening them with childish levity thus, " My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins : for whereas my father did put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke ; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions " [Id, ver. 10, 11]. This, I remark, was said by him through levity; but in sober truth it applies to our times, and fits most suitably to the period in which we live ; though the foolish people are now chastised with scorpions and make less complaint than they did some years ago when they were chastised with whips. Henry the second, the illustrious king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitain, and count of Anjou, died in the thirty-fifth year of his reign, in the second year from the time he assumed the cross of the Lord, and when two years had passed of the christian warfare in the East. Chap. XXVII. — Of the toilsome and protracted Siege of Acre. ' According to the narration which has been given above, the kings already mentioned were contending with each other, and giving but little attention to the treaty into which they had entered with Christ a short time before, although he may appear excusable who was turned away from prosecuting his pious intention, not by his own wish, but by external violence. While Frederick, the Roman emperor, justly indignant at such discord, resolved not to wait for them ; and having entrusted the care of the empire to his eldest son, whom he had constituted king of the Lombards, he determined to march with his other son, the duke of^Suabia, through Pannonia and Thrace ; and choosing a time of the year suitable for his pilgrimage, he led with him a large army of the most valiant troops selected from the nations of Germany. Also, James de Aveniis, a man both vahant and noble, with many others 554 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book m. from the kingdom of France, together with no small amount of armed forces from other kingdoms in Christendom, arrived at Tyre, by a short way across the sea; while the emperor of the Latins, in consequence of the perfidy of the Greek emperor, was passing but slowly through the countries that were subject to him. With the sanction of the marquis, who for the time was acting as governor of Tyre, the French were joined by the Templars and Hospitallers, and advanced to besiege Ptolemais (now called Acre), which was sup- ported by a powerful garrison. Having the city in front, they sur- rounded themselves with a strong rampart, lest they should be assailed in the rear by the hostile army; but Saladin soon came up with an innumerable host, and having pitched his tents round the ramparts, as often as our men attacked the city, the Turks made an attack upon the ramparts : whence it came to pass that the siege was protractod a long time, with the utmost toil and peril to our men. While our own people received supplies by way of the sea, so also did the Turks, availing themselves of favourable winds, pro- vide the city with abundance of men, arms, and provisions. In what manner this city, which had fallen into the hands of the enemy with very little trouble, was at length taken, after it had given great employment to the christian army for a long time, shall be told in its proper place. Chap. XXVIII.— Of the Death of William, King op Sicily, and of the Evils which happened thereupon. At that time the hand of the Lord was heavy upon our people, who were placed in the greatest straits ; principally by taking from them their patron, the illustrious William, king of Sicily and duke of Apulia, by whose religious and powerful aid those poor and feeble remnants of Christianity in Syria were chiefly preserved. In fact, from the commencement of their desolation, he had been careful to aid them by competent supplies, when they could obtain nothing from kingdoms more distant, and when the fierceness of Saladin blazed most brightly on account of his recent victory. This loss, however, might have been endured if a destructive alter- cation had not arisen after his death, concerning the succession to the kingdom ; in consequence of which those beautiful regions were thrown into such confusion, and rendered so desolate, that no aid, such as had hitherto been given to the Christians who were struggling in Syria, could be supplied from that source. The cause of the disturbance (as is well known) was this : the king had married the daughter of the king of England, and had died without issue by her; moreover, his cousin-german, to whom the inheritance of the kingdom appeared to descend upon his death, had been married to the king of Lombardy, the son of the emperor of Germany ; but the Sicilians and Apulians, detesting the German rule, ha'd, under favour of the holy see, chosen for their king a nobleman named Tancred, of the race of their previous kings. Provoked at this, the king of Lombardy declared war against them ; and soon after, his father being removed from this life, he was CH. XXVIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 555 exalted to the dignity of the empire (as shall be mentioned in its proper course) ; and his fury being implacable, he sent against them an army of Italians and Germans ; but the result of this imperial expedition shall be told in another place. So great a disturbance of the affairs of the Sicilians and Apulians cut off from the sur- vivors of the Christians in the East the ample aid they had been accustomed to receive. And here we terminate the Third Book of our history, that in it the Fourth Book may begin with the reign of the illustrious king Richard. The End of the Third Book. The Fourth Book. Chap. I. — Of the Commencement of the Reign op King Richaed, and of THE Events which occurred at his Coronation. In the one thousand one hundred and eighty-ninth year from the fulness of time when the Truth arose from the earth — Clement presiding over the holy see, Heniy the son of Frederick holding supreme dominion over the Roman empire, and- Philip governing the French — Richard, the son of Henry the second, that most illustrious king of England, succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father. After the burial of his father, he entered upon his inheritance beyond the sea, and was received, amidst rejoicings and solemn vows, by the nobles as well as the people. After public affairs had been quickly arranged beyond the sea, he crossed over into England in a happy hour, where his arrival was expected with joy : and, in order that the accession of the new sovereign might be attended with general rejoicings, all prisoners were released through- out England by his proclamation, although at that time the jails were overflowing with numerous offenders, who were awaiting release or punishment. Thus, on his entrance into the kingdom, those jail- pests, by his clemency, went forth from prison to rob, and plunder, more boldly, perhaps, than ever. On the day appointed for his coronation, almost all the nobility of the kingdom, and from the parts beyond the sea, came to London, together with a great number of men of distinction. Richard — the only monarch of the age who bore that name — was consecrated king at London, and solemnly crowned by Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, on the third day of the nones of September [3d Sept.] ; a day which, from the ancient superstition of the Gentiles, is called Evil, or Egyptian, as if it had been a kind of presage of the event which occurred to the Jews. For that day is considered to have been fatal to Jews, and to be Egyptian rather than English; since England, in which their fathers had been happy and respected under the preceding king, was suddenly changed against them, by the judgment of God, into a kind of Egypt where their fathers had suffered hard things. Though this is an event that is fresh in our memory, and known to all who are now living, yet it is worth the VOL. IV. o o 656 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. trouble to transmit to posterity a full narration of it, as proof of an evident judgment from on High upon that perfidious and blas- phemous race. Not only christian nobles, but also the leading men among the Jews, had come together from all parts of England to witness the solemn anointing of the christian sovereign. For those enemies of the truth were on the watch, lest, perchance, the prosperity which they had enjoyed under the preceding monarch should smile upon them less favourably under the new king ; and they wished that his first acts should be honoured by them in the most becoming man- ner, thinking that undiminished favour would be secured by ample gifts. But whether it was that they were less acceptable to him than to his father, or whether he was on his guard against them, from some cause, (of which I am ignorant,) through a superstitious precaution, advised by certain persons, he forbade them (by a pro- clamation, it is said) to enter the church while he was being crowned, or to enter the palace while the banquet was being held after the solemnity of the coronation. After the celebration of the mass was finished, the king, glorious in his diadem, and with a magnificent procession, went to the banquet ; but it happened that, when he was sitting down with all the assembly of the nobility, the people, who were watching about the palace, began to crowd in. The Jews, who had mingled with the crowd, were thus driven within the doors of the palace. At this, a certain Christian was indignant ; and remembering the royal proclamation against them, he endeavoured, as it is said, to drive away a Jew from the door, and struck him with his hand. Aroused at this example, many more began to beat the Jews back with contempt, and a tumult arose. The lawless and furious mob, thinking that the king had com- manded it ; and supported them, as they thought, by his royal authority, rushed like the rest upon the multitude of Jews who stood watching at the door of the palace. At first they beat them unmercifully with their fists; but soon becoming more enraged, they took sticks and stones. The Jews then fled away; and, in their flight, many were beaten, so that they died, and others were trampled under foot and perished. Along with the rest, two noble Jews of York had come thither, one named Joceus, and the other Benedict. Of these, the first escaped ; but the other, following him, could not run so fast, while blows were laid upon him ; so he was caught, and to avoid death was compelled to confess himself a Christian ; and being conducted to a church, was there baptized. In the meantime, an agreeable rumour, that the king had ordered all the Jews to be exterminated, pervaded the whole of London with incredible celerity. An innumerable mob of lawless people, belonging to that city, and also from other places in the provinces, whom the solemnity of the coronation had attracted thither, soon assembled in arms, eager for plunder and for the blood of a people hateful to all men, by the judgment of God. Then the Jewish citizens, of whom a multitude reside in London, together with those who had come thither from all parts, retired to their own houses. From three o'clock in the afternoon till sunset, their dwellings were CH. I.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 557 sdrrounded by the raging people, and vigorously attacked. By reason of their strong construction, however, they could not be broken into, and the furious assailants had no engines. The roofs, therefore, were set on fire ; and a horrible conflagration, destructive to the besieged Jews, afforded light to the Christians who were raging in their nocturnal work. Nor was the fire destructive to the Jews alone, though kindled especially against them ; for knowing no distinction, it caught some of the nearest houses of the Christians also. Then you might have seen the most beautiful parts of the city miserably blazing in flames, caused by her own citizens, as if they had been enemies. The Jews, however, were either burnt in their own houses, or, if they came out, were received on the point of the sword. Much blood was shed in a short time, but the rising desire for plunder induced the people to rest satisfied with the slaughter they had committed. Their avarice overcame their cruelty; — for they ceased to slay; but their greedy fury led them to plunder houses, and carry off their wealth. This, however, changed the aspect of affairs, and made Christians hostile to Christians ; for some, envying others for what they had seized in their search for plunder and wicked emulation in avarice, were led to spare neither friends nor companions. These events were reported to the king as he was banqueting in festivity with all the assembly of nobles ; and Ranulph de Glanville, who was justiciary of the realm — a man both powerful and prudent — was thereupon sent from his presence, with other men of equal rank, that they might turn aside or restrain the audacity of the mob ; — but it was in vain, for in so great a tumult no one listened to his voice or showed respect to his presence : but some of the most riotous began to shout against him and his companions, and threatened them in a terrible manner if they did not quickly depart. They, therefore, wisely retired before such unbridled fury ; and the plunderers, with equal freedom and audacity, continued to riot until eight o'clock on the following day; and at that time satiety or weariness of rioting, rather than reason or reverence for the king, allayed the fury of the plunderers. This hitherto unheard-of occurrence in the royal city, and this destruction, so emphatically begun, of that unbelieving race, and this novel confidence of the Christians against the enemies of the Cross of Christ, distinguished the first day of the reign of that most illustrious king Richard ; — evidently presaging the promotion of Christianity in his days, not only according to the rule, by which doubtful events are rather to be explained for the better than for the worse, but also according to the most apt interpretation ; — for what does it signify more suitably, if it signifies anything, than that the destruction of that blas- phemous race ennobled equally the day, and the place, and his consecration as king, and that in the very commencement of his reign the enemies of the Christian faith began to grow weak, and to fall around him? Should not, therefore, the conflagration of a certain part of the city, or the unreasoning fervour of lawless men, affect every one in this way, and lead him to become a good o o 2 558 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. and pious interpreter of a noble result to come ? since, although events of this kind may militate against the order of that rule which is from on high, yet the Omnipotent may frequently execute His will (which is most good) by the will and the acts (which are most evil) of men even the most wicked ? Certainly, the new king, who was of a lofty and fierce disposition, was filled with indignation and grief that such events had occurred, almost in his presence, amidst the solemnities of his coronation, and at the commence- ment of his reign ; and he was irritated and anxious as to what he ought to do upon this occasion. To overlook so great and un- exampled an afiront to his royal dignity, and to let it pass unpunished, seemed an action unworthy of a king, and also injurious to the realm ; since his connivance at an atrocity so great would encou- rage the audacity of evil-doers to attempt similar acts of violence in the hope of impunity. Moreover, it would be utterly impossible to enforce the rigour of royal censure upon such an indefinite mul- titude of guilty persons. For, hatred towards the Jews, and the hope of plunder, had united in the performance of the work, which I have mentioned, almost all the retainers of the nobles who had come with their lords to the solemnity of the coronation, besides the nobles themselves, who were feasting with the king; and of them the number was so great that the ample space of the royal palace seemed all too small for them. It was, therefore, necessary to con- nive at that which could not be punished ; and, without doubt, it was ordained by God, that those who were the ministers of Divine vengeance upon the perfidious and the blasphemous, should not be subjected to human judgment on account of this. The design of that watchfulness which is on high, demanded that those blas- phemers, who, in the time of the late sovereign had been beyond measure stifthecked and perverse towards Christians, should be humbled at the commencement of the reign of his successor. That Benedict, however, who, as I have said, had received christian baptism under compulsion, yet not giving credence in his heart to that which was right, but only beating the air by the empty con- fession of his lips, being brought the next day to the king, and interrogated by him whether he was a Christian, replied, that he had been compelled by the Christians to be baptized, but in his heart he had always been a Jew ; and he w^ould rather die as such, since he could not possibly live now, for he was treading close upon death by reason of the blows he had received the day before. Being, therefore, cast out from the presence of the sovereign, the Christian apostate was restored to the Jews; and being made the child of hell two-fold more than before, he died after a few days — having been made a Christian only for this, that he might die an apostate. The king, however, after the slaughter of the Jews, established peace by proclamation ; of which, nevertheless, they did not long enjoy the fruits, as shall be narrated ^ in its place : for justice from on high required that the pride of that blasphemous race should be yet more severely punished. * See chaps, vii., viii., is. and x. CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 559 Chap. II.— Of the Appointments to vacant Churches after the coronation OF KING ElCHARD. Among the first subjects to which the new king gave his atten- tion, was that of the many vacant cathedral churches in England, in order that they should, by his nomination, enjoy their proper bishops. Therefore, Richard of Ely, the royal treasurer, accepted the see of London ; Godfrey de Lucy, the cathedral of Winchester; William Longchamp, the royal chancellor, the bishopric of Ely ; and Hubert, dean of York, the church of Salisbury. Moreover, to Geoffrey, the king's brother, — who had formerly been elected to the church of Lincoln, and for many years (as it has been said ' in its place) had been in possession of that church, and received its temporalities ; and, being at length removed thence, presided over the royal treasury until the decease of his father, — to him, I say, the king granted the metropolitan see of York, which had been void for nearly ten years. We have been informed that the election of this Geoffrey took place in this wise. On the death of his father, letters were obtained (as it is said) from the new duke, who was yet remaining in Normandy, by the artifice of certain persons in the interest of the same Geoffrey, and directed to the chapter of York, requesting that his brother Geoffrey should be elected archbishop ; and threatening peril to those who should resist the royal intention. The precentor, and those who were there (for the dean and many others were absent), were terrified and awed by those letters, and, regarding only the favour of their future monarch, they solemnly elected the aforesaid Geoffrey : but when the king had assumed his diadem, and was presiding over his paternal kingdom, he was angry at that election, and recalled those letters, by which the electors had been influenced, as being surreptitious, or, at any rate, not his. He was, however, pacified by the promise of a large sum of money, for the exigencies of his expedition to Jerusalem, and finally gave his assent : but what came to pass afterwards, with regard to that election, shall be explained in its place. Chap. III.— Of the Affection of the King towards his Brother John. The king, moreover, declared his personal affection, in a remark- able manner, to his uterine brother John; for, besides his extensive paternal acquisitions in Ireland, and the earldom of Mortaine, in Normandy, of which he had already received the gift from his father, the king bestowed upon him so many gifts in the kingdom of England, that he seemed to possess almost a third part of it. At length he conferred upon him Cornwall, Devonshire, Notting- hamshire, and Lancashire, with the adjacent province, and many other portions of the royal demesne. He likewise gave him the daughter of the earl of Gloucester, his own cousin in the fourth degree, with the whole of her paternal inheritance, which (as is well known) is very great. He thus provided for him in a way that was scarcely legitimate, and one that hardly became a brother ; ' See Book III. chap. xxii. 560 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK iv. but this immoderate and improvident liberality towards his brother produced many and great evils in the time that followed, and punished him, who bestowed so profusely, with deep regret. For John, being indulged with this tetrarchical power, became first ambitious of obtaining the monarchy, and afterwards faithless to his brother, and finally, manifestly hostile. This, however, will have its place in the order of our history, and be more fully explained. Chap. IV. — Op the Successor of Ranulph de Glanville in the Justiciar- SHip OF THE Realm. Ranulph de Glanville, a man of the greatest prudence, was still justiciar of the realm, as he had been in the time of the pre- vious king, though the king considered that he had become old, and acted with much less wisdom and forethought than he had shown when new in office. The justiciar, too, wished to be released from the burthen of this office, that he might with greater convenience prepare himself for his departure for Jerusalem, since he had assumed the sign of the Lord, under king Henry. He, therefore, solemnly renounced his office, and had less able succes- sors. The office was then entrusted by the king to the bishop of Durham, who did not hesitate to accept it ; though, if he had been wise, he would have been content with his own office, and con- tinued a minister of the Divine law rather than have become a minister of human law, since no one can worthily serve both ; and that injunction to the apostles, " Ye cannot serve God and mam- mon" [Matt. vi. 24], applies in the highest degree to the successors of the apostles. For if the bishop was willing equally to please a heavenly and an earthly king, and to divide himself between both offices, it is certain that the King in heaven — whose will it is that men should serve Him with all the heart, all the soul, and all the mind — does not approve, nor accept any half-service : but what will be the fate of the bishop who does not perform even half of those duties which belong to God, and which become a bishop, but commits his duties to unworthy persons, who perform them remissly, while he attends wholly to the affairs of this life, or to the court, or to public assemblies ? No one can administer half the functions of an earthly king by giving half his time to its require- ments. Wherefore, the bishop, whom I have mentioned, being already in years, after he had undertaken this secular office, resided in the south of England, and devoted himself entirely to public affairs. Chap. V.— "What the Ejnq dib in England before he embarked. The king of England (who, when he was earl of Poitou, was the first of the potentates who had accepted the cross of the Lord) then carefully made ready for his departure towards Jerusalem, and commenced all kinds of preparations for the necessary expenses, chiefly at the instance of the king of France, that they might set out together at a suitable time, and employ the interval of delay CH. v.] THE HISTORY OF M^ILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 561 which they had agreed upon, in making complete arrangements. Nor did he think that his paternal treasures, together with that which his father had amassed, especially for this journey, would be sufficient ; but he employed his own industry and labour in this work, thinking it would be disgraceful to him were he to stop short of the glory of his father even in this respect. He, therefore, by urgent letters, summoned the king of the Scots, who was then suffering under intense sorrow for the loss of the castles which had been taken from him, by the chances of war, (as was mentioned above,) that is to say, Roxburgh and Berwick ; for in the reign of king Henry he had recovered the third castle, which is called " Castellum Puellarum," [Edinburgh,] when, by his advice and good-will, he had received a wife from foreign parts. Coming, therefore, to the king of England, he agreed to pay him ten thou- sand marks of silver for the surrender of those castles ; and return- ing to his own country, he extorted that sum from his subjects by the exercise of royal power : when he had paid this to the king of England, he, with much joy, received the castles. The new king also craftily persuaded the bishop of Durham, whom he believed to be wealthy, to purchase from liim the province of his own bishopric, that he might become at once a bishop and the earl of that province, by annexing the earldom to the bishopric. In doing this, think of the acuteness of the king in getting the bishop's money, and of the immoderate ambition of the old bishop of a see which is known to be excessively rich, and yet not content, at his age; and who thought not of that prophetic passage, uttered even by the prophet of the Lord, " Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field" [Isa. v. 8], as he joined the earldom to the bishopric, without caring which was the greater. Thus, for the purchase of the earldom, he gave the king whatever he had accumulated in preparation for his expedition to Jerusalem, and all that he was able to rake together from his see. The king gloried in a bargain of this kind, and jokingly said, " I am a wonderful workman ; for out of an old bishop I have made a new earl." But when the bishop had thus divested himself of his money, which he had devoted to the sacred pilgrimage for the sake of Christ, he next studied how to revoke the vow he had made to Almighty God on solemnly assuming the cross ; and since he could not say to the Roman pontiff, by his messengers, " I have purchased an earldom, and therefore I cannot set out for Jerusalem ; so I pray thee have me excused " — which, indeed, he might have said with truth — he spoke of his failing age, and alleged that he was unequal to so laborious a pilgrimage. Being thus left to his own conscience, he thereupon weakly and irreverently cast away the sacred emblem of devotion, and rested in the possession of that precious pearl which he had found in the king, and for which he had given so much; which, however, is not a solid possession, but, in regard to the changes of times and things, is but brief and transitory. The king, however, with the same art by which he had exhausted the bags of this bishop, also enticed many others to vie with each other in pouring out their money in the purchase of certain dignities, or liberties, or public 562 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV employments, and even in the purchase of the royal demesnes. He thus dissipated his own property to set off early, as if he had no intention of returning : and when, in familiar boldness, he was blamed by his friends on account of this, he is said to have replied, " I would sell London also, if I could find a suitable purchaser." At length, amidst these sales he seemed to lose his judgment ; and on that account many persons bought more freely, because it was thought he would never return to his country : for he was said also to be already broken down and languid through the premature and im- moderate use of arms, in which he had indulged more than was pru- dent from his youth upwards, so that he seemed likely to be speedily exhausted by the labour of the Eastern expedition. Others said, that his system was so corrupted and consumed by a quartan ague, which he had endured for a long time, that he could not long exist in that disorder, and especially amidst labour so great. An argu- ment in favour of this view was a certain unbecoming symptom that appeared in him, together with paleness of the face and swell- ing of the limbs. Others even said, that he had more than a hun- dred issues on his body, to carry off the corruption of the humours. Such were the reports concerning the king that flew about in the ears and through the mouths of almost all men ; and his indiscreet and immoderate donations and sales gave the appearance of truth to them ; and, as if he understood that he would finish his career soon, he was supposed to care very little for the kingdom, because he divided or disposed of it in such a manner ; but afterwards it was clearly seen with what subtle craft he had done or feigned all this, in order that he might drain the bags of all those who seemed rich. After he had remained some months in England, he left the administration to his chancellor, the bishop of Ely, and crossed ' over into Normandy before the solemnities of Christmas. Almost ail men were enraged against him, on seeing so noble a king, when about to set out for distant countries, leave his own kingdom with so little ceremony ; and at his departure evince less care than became him, in committing, without the advice and consent of the nobility, the direction of affairs to a man who was a foreigner of obscure name, and whose industry and fidelity were not much approved ; — but whether they undervalued, justly or otherwise, this appointment made by the king, was shown clearly by the events of the time that followed. Chap. VI. — Of a certain Prodigy which at that time was seen IN THE Air. Nor ought I to pass over in silence a most amazing and fearful prodigy, which about this time was seen in England by many, who, to this day, are witnesses of it to those who did not see it. There is upon the public road which goes to London a town, by no means insignificant, called Dunstaple. There, as certain persons happened to be looking up at the sky in the afternoon, they saw in the clear ' He embarked at Dover, 12th Dec. 1189. See Gervase, ap. Decern Scriptt. 1563. CH.VU.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 563 atmosphere the form of the banner of the Lord, conspicuous by its milky whiteness, and joined to it the figure of a man crucified, such as is painted in the church in remembrance of the passion of the Lord, and for the devotion of the faithful As they stood thus in astonishment, gazing with their eyes fixed on this marvellous object, many persons going on the pubUc road wondered at their amazement, with faces upturned to the sky, and also looked up, and began to be equally astonished when they saw the novelty of this appearance. When this fearful sight had thus been visible for some time, and the countenances and minds of those who were curiously watching it were kept in suspense, the form of the cross was seen to recede from the person who seemed affixed to it, so that an intermediate space of air could be observed between them ; and soon afterwards this marvellous vision disappeared; but the effect remained, after the cause of this prodigy was removed. At length, the report of this was spread far and wide, and the rumour of this prodigious appearance was circulated, with the astonishment expressed at it. Let every one interpret this wonderful sight as he pleases ; for I am but a simple narrator of it, and not a presaging interpreter. What the Divinity may have intended to signify by it, I know not. Chap. VII. — "What was done against the insolence op the Jews at Lynn. When (as it has been related above) Richard, the illustrious king of England, had settled his kingdom as he wished, he crossed over into Normandy, and held a solemn conference with the king of France, at which both of them confirmed their oaths of mutual alliance, and, promising brotherly love on either side, bound them- selves yet more strongly to the expedition towards the East, with their nobles who had accepted the sign of the cross ; and appointed the next summer as the time of their departure. When these acts had been solemnly performed, each of the princes made prepara- tions in proportion to his own greatness and the magnitude of the undertaking. But while these things were passing in France, the zeal of the Christians against the Jews in England, which had been inflamed a short time before at London (as I have related), now vehemently broke forth ; not, indeed, from a pure motive — that is, on account of the faith — alone, but through envy at their prosperity or desire to seize their fortunes. Bold and covetous men thought they were doing service to God, while they were despoiling or ruining men who were rebels against Christ ; and they performed with joyful fury, and without even the slightest scruple of conscience, the work of their own covetousness. The justice of God, indeed, little approved of such deeds, but ordained them, as it is meet, that by these means He might coerce the insolence of that perfidious people, and bridle their blasphemous tongues. There is a city called Lynn, famous for its provisions and its commerce, where many of those people resided : arrogant from their numbers, the magnitude of their riches, and the royal pro- 564 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF" ENGLAND. [BOOK IV, tection ; and here the first movement was made against them (as we have heard) on an occasion of this kind. It happened that a certain person had been converted from their superstition to the christian faitla ; and thirsting for his blood, as a deserter and renegade, they sought for an opportunity of completing their malicious intent ; and on a certain day theyseized their arms and attacked him as he passed ; but he took refuge in the nearest church. Yet the raging Jews did not go quietly away, but with perverse fury and violence began to attack that church, to break the doors open, and drag the fugitive out for slaughter. A loud shout was raised by those who were within the church, — " Help for the Christian ! " was demanded with loud voices. The cries and the rumour m- flamed the christian population, and collected those who were near at hand, while those who were farther off armed themselves at the intelligence and ran to the rescue. The inhabitants of the place acted with remissness, for fear of the king ; but some stranger- youths, of whom a great multitude had come thither for the pur- pose of traffic, valiantly attacked those proud assailants. The Jews soon ceased to assault the church ; and, not being able to endure the attack of the Christians, took to flight, — in which some were killed ; their houses were attacked and plundered by the Christians, and at length burnt in avenging flames ; many of them bedewed with their blood either the hostile fire or the sword of the enemy. On the following day, a certain Jew, who was a celebrated phy- sician, arrived, and on account of his skill, and his orderly beha- viour, was held in honour, and treated with familiarity by Christians also ; but he, deploring the slaughter of his people, rather immo- derately, and by prophesying vengeance, roused the fury that was yet breathing. Him the Christians soon seized, and there made him the last victim of their rage against the Jews. The stranger- youths, loaded with plunder, sought their ships and quickly departed, apprehensive that they would be examined by the king's officers ; but the inhabitants of the place, when they were ques- tioned on this matter by the king's officers, threw the blame of the affair on the strangers who had already gone away. Chap. VIII.— What was done against the Jews at Stamford, and of a CERTAIN POPULAR SOPERSTITION. After these events, the movement of a new storm against the Jews arose at Stamford. At that place fairs are held during the solemnities of Lent ; to which had come a multitude of young men from different counties, who had received the sign of the Lord, and were about to set out for Jerusalem. They were indignant that the enemies of the cross of Christ, who lived there, should possess so much, while they themselves had so little for the expenses of so great a journey ; and they thought they would extort from the Jews, as unjust possessors, that which they could apply to the needful purposes of the pilgrimage which they had undertaken. Thinking, therefore, that they would render service unto Christ by attacking His enemies, whose goods they desired to en. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 565 possess, they boldly rushed upon them ; while none of the inha- bitants of the place, or those who had come to the fairs, opposed such attempts ; and some even co-operated with them. Several of the Jews were killed, and the rest, who escaped with difficulty, were received within the castle. Their houses, however, were plundered, and a great quantity of money was seized. The plun- derers decamped with the frui*;s of their labour ; and no one, through a desire to maintain public order, was questioned on account of this affair. One of these, by name John, a most audacious youth, going to Hampton, deposited a part of his money with a certain man, by whom — from a desire to obtain the same money — he was secretly murdered, and his body cast out of the town at night. When it was found, and accidentally recog- nised by some people, the avaricious murderer took to secret flight. Soon after, some old women having had some visions, and some delusions of fallacious prodigies appearing there, these simple people ascribed to the murdered youth the merit and glory of a martyr, and honoured his sepulchre with solemn watches. Roused by his reputation, the senseless common people came at first from places in the neighbourhood, and afterwards poured in from different counties, in a curious spirit of devotion, desiring to witness the miracles of the new martyr, or to obtain his intercession ; and no one came to his sepulchre empty-handed. This was laughed at by prudent people ; but it was agreeable to the clergy on account of the advantages that resulted from the superstition. The matter was referred to the bishop, — a man of exalted virtue; he came to the place in the spirit of strength, and profaned the marks of honour to this false martyr, which had been arranged by the care of the simple and the covetous; and he forbade this super- stitious veneration for the dead man, by his pontifical authority and by the interposition of an anathema. So, by the pious and efficacious labour of a good shepherd, the whole of that work of the spirit of deceit was extinguished and vanished away. Chap. IX. — How the Jews of Lincoln and York were treated. The people of Lincoln, hearing what had been done to the Jews, seizing the opportunity and animated by example, thought they might venture upon something; and having assembled to- gether, they broke out in a sudden commotion against the Jews who lived there with them. But they, having heard of the fear or destruction of their people in divers places, were rendered very cautious ; and after a few of them had been exposed to danger, they retired quickly with their money into the royal fortress. Thus this slight commotion was soon quieted. The people of York, however, neither by the fear of^ a most courageous prince, nor the vigour of the laws, nor reason, nor humanity, were prevented from satiating their personal fury in the general destruction of their perfidious fellow-citizens, and sweeping away the whole race in their city. Inasmuch as this is most 566 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book IV. worthy of remembrance, it ought to be transmitted to posterity by a full narration. Of the Jews of York (as I have mentioned above) the principal were Benedict and Joceus, men who were rich, and who lent on usury far and wide. Besides, with profuse expense they had built houses of the largest extent in the midst of the city, which might be compared to royal palaces ; and there they lived in abundance and luxury almost regal, like two princes of their own people, and tyrants to the Christians ; exercising cruel tyranny towards those whom they had oppressed by usury. When they were in London, at the solemnity of the royal coronation, Bene- dict (as it has been mentioned) had, by the judgment of God, a most unhappy lot assigned him for his end, and appeared to be in this accursed ; but Joceus, having been with difficulty rescued from danger for a time, returned to York. Now, although the king, after the tumult at London, had passed a law for the peace of the Jews, and acted in good faith towards them throughout England, according to the ancient custom ; yet, when the king was after- wards resident in the parts beyond sea, many people in the county of York took an oath together against the Jews, being unable to endure their opulence while they themselves were in want ; and, without any scruple of christian conscientiousness, thirsted for their perfidious blood, through the desire of plunder. Those who urged them on to venture upon these measures were certain per- sons of higher rank, who owed large sums to those impious usurers. Some of these, who had pledged their own estates to them for money, which they had received, were oppressed with great poverty ; and others who were under obligations, on account or their own bonds, were oppressed by the tax-gatherers to satisfy the usurers who had dealings with the king. Some also of those who had accepted the sign of the Lord, and were now in readiness to set out for Jerusalem, could more easily be impelled to aid the expenses of a journey undertaken for the Lord, out of the plunder of His enemies ; because they had very little reason to fear that any question would arise on this account after they had commenced their journey. Late at night no small portion of the city was blazing in a conflagration that was kindled by chance, or rather (as it is believed) by confederates ; so that while the citizens were occupied with their own houses, because of the peril of fire, they could offer no impediment to the plunderers. An armed band of the confederates, with iron tools made ready for the purpose, and with great violence, broke into the house of the said Benedict, who had died miserably at London (as it is mentioned above) ; in this house his wife and sons, and many others, were living ; and after they had slain all that were in it, they set fire to the roof also ; and while the fire was sullenly gaining strength, they swept away all the wealth, and left the house in flames ; and thus, favoured by darkness and well-laden, the plunderers retired to their secret retreat. The Jews, struck with consternation at this event, and especially Joceus.who was more eminent than the rest, earnestly entreated the governor of the royal castle, and secured his assist- CH. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURUH. 567 ance. They carried thither vast loads of their money, as if they had been royal treasurers ; and, moreover, they had a very vigilant guard for their own security. After some days, those nocturnal plunderers returned with greater confidence and ferocity; and, being joined by many others, they fiercely attacked the house of Joceus ; which, from the magnitude and strength of its construction, might be said to be equal to a castle of no small size. At length they took it ; and after plundering it, they set it on fire, while all those persons whose misfortune it was to be in the house, were destroyed either by the sword or by fire. Joeeus, however, cautiously foreseeing this misfortune, had a short time before removed into the castle with his wife and sons. In like manner, also, the rest of the Jews acted, very few remaining abroad to be victims. After the plunderers had decamped with the booty acquired by so daring a deed, a promiscuous mob rushed in when it was morning, and carried off different kinds of things, and household furniture of every sort, — the remains left by the plunderers and the fire. After this, those who had previously regarded the Jews with hatred, uniting with the confederates, and entertaining no respect for the vigour of the law, openly and with unbridled licence began to rage against them ; and, not being content with their substance, they gave to all they could find outside the castle the option either of holy baptism, or of death. At length, some who were baptized united them- selves with the Christians ; but they only feigned conversion, in order to escape death ; but others were slain without mercy, who refused to receive the sacrament of life, even though feignedly. While these events were occurring, the multitude which had fled into the castle seemed to be in safety. The governor of the castle, however, happening to go out upon some kind of business, when he wished to enter the castle again, he was not permitted by the multitude inside and on the watch, as they were uncertain whom they could trust, lest, perchance, his faith towards them might happen to waver ; and if he were corrupted, he might, after haying received them for protection, expose them to their enemies. However, he instantly went to the governor of the county, who happened to be there on the king's business,with a large company of knights of the shire, and complained that he was defrauded by the Jews of the custody of the castle, which had been committed to him. The governor was indignant and enraged against the Jews ; while those, in particular, who had been the authors of the confederacy, con- tinued to inflame his anger. They alleged that the timorous pre- caution of those miserable wretches was nothing else than a proud occupation of the royal castle, which of itself was greatly to the injury of the lord the king. Since many people were determined to attack those faithless men in every possible way, and to rescue the royal castle from them, the governor gave orders that the people should be assembled, and that the castle should be attacked. The irrevocable word went forth ; the zeal of the christian people was roused, and immense bands of armed men, not only from the city, but also from the county, gathered around the castle. Then 568 THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. the governor began to regret the order which he had issued, and endeavoured, in vain, to recal his command, and wished, but too late, to forbid the assault. But he had no power, either by the weight of reason or of authority, to restrain their minds, which were now inflamed, nor to prevent them from pursuing their design. The nobility of the city, and the more respectable citi- zens, apprehending danger from this commotion, cautiously declined to join such a riot ; but the whole class of workmen, and all the young men in the city, with a very great mob of country people, and not a few military men, assisted with such alacrity, and urged forward the work of blood, as if each one sought his own private advantage, and something great for himself. Many of the clergy, too, were present; and among them a certain hermit, who appeared more fervent than the rest. Equal zeal inflamed all ; thinking that they performed a great service to God, if they swept away a race rebellious against Christ, while, in their blinded understandings, they perverted that passage of David, that is to say, of the Lord, which is uttered in the person of the Saviour, " God shall let me see my desire upon my enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget" (Ps. lix. 11). In fact, the perfidious Jew that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ is suffered to live amongst Christians, from the same regard to christian utility, that causes the form of the cross of the Lord to be painted in the church of Christ ; that is to say, to perpetuate the highly beneficial remembrance of the passion of the Lord amongst all the faithful ; and while in the Jew we execrate that impious action, in that sacred form we venerate the Divine majesty with due devotion. Thus the Jews ought to live among Christians for our own utility ; but for their own iniquity they ought to live in servitude. The Jews who were living in Eng- land under king Henry the second, by a preposterous proceeding, had been made happy and famous above the Christians ; and out of their great prosperity, lifting themselves up imprudently against Christ, they had inflicted many sufferings upon the Christians : on which account, in the days of the new king, they underwent, by the just judgment of Christ, this peril of their lives — those lives which they possessed by his clemency ; and yet, in the admirable order of His justice, those men can by no means be excused, who, by an unexpected commotion, inflicted slaughter upon them. Chap. X. — Of the Destruction of the Jews at York. Thus were the Jews besieged in the royal castle ; and in conse- quence of the want of a sufficient supply of food, they would, with- out doubt, have been compelled to surrender, even if no one had attacked them from without, for they had not arms sufficient either for their own protection, or to repel the enemy. Nevertheless, they kept off" the besiegers with stones alone, which they pulled out of the wall in the interior. The castle was actively besieged for several days; and at length engines were goft ready and brought up. That hermit of the Premonstratensian order, whom I have mentioned, urged onward the fatal work more than any one else. CH. X.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 569 Roused by the rumour, he had lately come to the city, and in his white frock was sedulously engaged among the besiegers of the castle, repeating often, " Down with the enemies of Christ ! " with loud shouts, and inflaming the warriors by the example of his co-operation; and it is said that, during the days of the siege, before proceeding to the bloody work, he immolated in the morning the unbloody Sacri- fice, for he was a priest. To such an extent had he persuaded himself, by his mental blindness, that he was employed on a re- ligious matter, that he laboured to persuade others of it ; and when the engines were moved forward, he fervently helped with all his strength. Whence it came to pass, that, approaching the wall incautiously, and not observing a large stone which was falling from above, he was crushed by it ; he fell forward, and when he was Hfted up, he instantly expired. It thus became manifest that, either by reason of his profession, or of his order, a greater judg- ment * fell upon him than upon any other, for he was the only one of our people who happened miserably to die there. The engines being brought up, the capture of the castle was certain ; and it was no longer doubtful that the hour fatal to the besieged was come. During the following night the besiegers rested, rejoicing at the cer- tainty of their approaching victory: but the Jews, strong and un- bending through desperation alone, had but little rest, and debated among themselves what was to be done in such an emergency. There was among them a certain elder, a most famous doctor of the law, according to the letter which killeth, who had come from countries beyond the sea to instruct the Jews in England, as it is said. This man was held in honour among them all, and was obeyed by all, as if he had been one of the prophets. So, when at this conjuncture his advice was asked, he replied, " God, to whom we ought not to say. Why dost Thou this ? commands us to die now for His law — and behold our death is at the doors, as ye see ; unless, perchance, which be far from us, ye should think that the Holy Law ought to be deserted for the short span of this life, and should choose that which to good and manly minds is worse than any kind of death, that is to say, to live with the greatest dis- grace, as apostates, through the mercy of our impious enemies. Since, therefore, we ought to prefer a glorious death to an infamous life, it is plain that we ought to choose the most honourable and easy kind of death : for if we should fall into the hands of the enemy, we should die according to their pleasure, and amidst their mockery. Therefore, let us willingly and devoutly, with our own hands, render up to Him that life which the Creator gave to us, since He now claims it, and let us not wait for the aid of a cruel enemy to give back that which He reclaims. For this, indeed, many of our people are known to have done laudably in divers tri- bulations, setting before us a precedent for that choice which is most fitting for us to make." When he had said this, many embraced the fatal advice ; but to others this discourse seemed hard. Then the ' The MS. used by Hearne was defective from this poiat as far as chap. xii. (see p. 573, note '), but the missing portion was supplied by Twysden from a MS. in the library at Lambeth. 570 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK iv. elder said, " Let those to whom this good and pious counsel is not pleasing, sit apart, cut off" from this sacred band : for to us, for the sake of the Law of our fathers, this temporal life has already become vile." Many, therefore, went away, preferring to make trial of the clemency of their enemies, rather than die in this manner with their friends. Soon after, at the suggestion of that mad old man, to prevent their enemies from being enriched by their wealth, the fire consumed their precious vestments, in the sight of all ; and their most valuable vessels and other things, which could not perish in the flames, were by an artful kind of scheme prevented from being used again by being thrown into a place which I am ashamed to allude to. When this was done, the roof was set on fire, so that the flames, while a horrid deed was being done — for they were preparing their necks for the knife — might slowly gain strength among the solid timber, and deprive of life even those who had departed from the rest through love of life. Then it was decided, by the direction of that man who had grown old in evil days, that the men whose minds were more firm, should kill their wives and children, — that most infamous Joceus, with a very sharp knife, cut the throat of Anna, his most beloved wife, and spared not even his own children. Wlien this had been done by other men also, that most cursed old man cut the throat of Joceus, because he was more honourable than the rest. When all were killed, together with the leader of the crime, the fire which (as it was said) they had lighted when they were about to die, began to burn the interior of the castle. Those, however, who had chosen life, contended as well as they could against the flames, which had been lighted by their own people, in order that they themselves might die with them, though against their will ; and they fenced themselves in certain extreme parts of the castle, in which they would suffer least from the fire. This irrational fury of rational creatures against themselves is truly astonishing ; but whoever reads the History of the Jewish War, by Josephus, understands well enough, that mad- ness of this kind, arising from their ancient superstition, has con- tinued down to our own times, whenever any very heavy misfortune fell upon them. In the morning, when a large multitude of people had assembled together to storm the castle, they found the wretched Jews who had survived standing on the battlements, announcing, in melan- choly voice, the massacre of their people, which had taken place in the night ; and to give ocular proof of this great sacrifice, they threw the dead bodies over the wall, and cried out to this effect : " Behold the bodies of those unfortunate people, who, in their mad fury, inflicted death upon themselves ; and, when dying, set fire to the interior of the castle in order to burn us alive, because we refused to commit the like act, and chose rather to throw ourselves upon the mercy of the Christians. God, however, has preserved us from the fury of our brethren, and from the destruction of the flames, in order that we shall embrace your religion — for in our trouble we have gained understanding, and acknowledge the truth of Christ ; we, therefore, pray your charity, for we are prepared to do that en. SI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 571 which you usually require, to be cleansed by holy baptism — to put away our ancient ceremonies, and to be united to the church of Christ. Receive us, therefore, as brethren instead of enemies ; and let us live with you in the faith and peace of Christ." While they thus spoke, with tears in their eyes, many of our people looked with deep horror and astonishment upon the madness of those who were dead, and pitied the survivors ; but the chiefs of the confederacy (among whom was one Richard, truly surnamed JNIalbeste, a most daring fellow) were unmoved by pity for these miserable wretches. They deceitfully addressed kind words to them, and promised the favour they hoped, under the testimony of their faith, in order that they might not fear to come forth ; but, as soon as they came out, those cruel swordsmen seized them as enemies, and slaughtered them in the midst of their continual cries for the baptism of Christ. With regard to these persons, who were thus butchered with savage ferocity, I will affirm, without hesitation, that if, in their entreaty for holy Baptism, there was no fiction, they were baptized with their own ' blood, and were by no means defrauded of its efheacy ; but whether they sought the holy font feignedly or un- feignedly, the cruelty of those murderers is to be execrated. Their first crime, doubtless, was that of shedding human blood like water, without lawful authority ; their second, that of acting barbarously, rather through the blackness of malice, than the zeal for justice ; their third, was that of refusing the grace of Christ to those who sought it ; the fourth, that of deceiving those miserable people by telling lies to induce them to come forth to be victims. When the massacre was complete, the confederates proceeded immediately to the cathedral church, and, by violent representa- tions, compelled the terrified wardens to deliver up the acknow- ledgments of the debts by which the Christians were bound, and which had been deposited there by the Jews, who were the farmers of the royal revenues. Having obtained possession of those evidences of detestable avarice, they solemnly committed them to the flames in the midst of the church, and thus freed themselves, and many others, from their bonds. After these things were done, those among the confederates who had accepted the emblem of the Lord, commenced their intended journey before any inquiry could be instituted ; but the rest remained in the county under the appre- hension of an inquiry. These events at York occurred at the time of the Passion of our Lord, that is to say, on the day before Palm Sunday [17th March]. Chap. XI. — Of the King's Anger against the Murderers of the Jews. The act committed at York was soon reported to the king, beyond the seas, who, after the commotion at London, had granted peace ^ and legal security to the Jews within his realm. He was ind4gnant and enraged, not only on account of the treason against his royal 1 " . . . Tria sicut in Scripturis Baptismata, baptismus aquae, sanguinis et Flaniinis." S. Thomse Summa, p. 3. q. 66. art. xi. Cone. See also Bellai-m. Pe Sacramento Baptismi, lib. i. cap. vi. 2 See the king's Charter, dated at Rouen, 22d March, 1189, in Feed. i. 51. VOL. IV. P P 572 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. majesty, but for the great injury his revenue had sustained, — for whatever the Jews, who are the king's farmers, possess in goods, appertains to the treasury. A mandate was immediately issued to the bishop of Ely, the king's chancellor and guardian of the realm, ordering condign punishment to be inflicted on the perpetrators of this audacious act. The bishop, a man of fierce disposition, and desirous of glory, proceeded with an army to York, about the time of the solemnities of the Lord's Ascension [3d May], and com- menced an inquiry most formidable to the citizens. The principal ringleaders in the sedition, however, fled into Scotland ; and the citizens stoutly denied all agency in the tumult for which they were suffering, and which had arisen, neither by their wish, their advice, nor their co-operation ; and they pleaded that their scanty numbers had not been able to check the unbridled fury of that undisciplined mob. The chancellor, in the end, accepted pecuniary fines, which were imposed upon each man, according to the amount of his for- tune, in lieu of more severe punishment ; while the promiscuous and countless multitude, whose irregular zeal had chiefly caused that dreadful outbreak, could not, by any means, be brought to judgment, or punished. The chancellor then removed the person who presided over the county ; and, since he could not execute the king's mandate more efficaciously according to justice, he returned without shedding blood : nor, until this day, has any one been condemned to punishment for that massacre of the Jews. Chap. XII.— How the Kings arrived at Sicily, and how the King of England stormed Messina. In the following summer, in the one thousand one hundred and ninetieth year from the delivery of the Virgin, the illustrious kings of France and England commenced their journeys to Jerusalem, and, with suitable preparations, and a large army, met at Marseilles. After making such a delay there as was necessary, the king of France, in the autumn season, set sail first with his troops, and with prosperous gales arrived in Sicily; but the king of England remained at Marseilles some days after the departure of the king of France. At length, the fleet weighed anchor ; and, with the army under his command, he ventured upon the sea, and with propitious winds arrived at the same island. He who arrived first at Messina — that most renowned city — was received with such gladness by the citizens, that he determined to winter there ; and he who followed, after landing his forces, also desired to pass the winter there in a social manner, on account of the size of the city and its conveniences of every description. Therefore, he despatched some of his people forward for that purpose ; but the citizens, con- tent with the presence of one king among them, and refusing to be burthened with the entertainment of two great sovereigns, con- tumeliously drove from the city those whom he had sent forward, and killed a few of them in the tumult. At this the king of Eng- land was moved to wrath, and he considered that he ought to demand satisfaction of the people of Messina for the injury they CH. XII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 573 had done him ; but they, conscious of their own strength, and ' relying upon the assistance of their noble guests, proudly declined to give any satisfaction. At this insult the courageous monarch was inflamed to seek revenge ; and he commanded his troops to arm and attack the city. In this operation he not only urged forward his men by his command, but he animated them also by his own example ; and though the city was valiantly defended for some time by the citizens, as well as by the French, yet he broke into it mightily at last. After he had entered the city, as a victor, with the loss of but few of his men, he observed a becoming moderation in his revenge, and mollified the anger of his mind by the pleasure of his triumphant glory. Pacified, therefore, by the tardy satisfaction of the citizens, and by the respect which he com- pelled them to observe, he restrained his impetuosity and desisted from his threats. Soon after, out of regard to the king of France, he marched out of the city, which he willingly resigned to him and his army ; and he constructed a fortification outside the walls, and arranged his camp there, where he passed the winter with his troops, amidst abundance of every description. The king of France, however, considered the attack upon the city that had sheltered him as an insult towards himself, and, leaving out of view the advantage of that hospitality which he had enjoyed, he conceived an implacable rancour against the king of England, which entered even into the marrow of his bones. Though this was concealed for a time, yet it broke out in due season, and became manifest to the whole world, as it will be narrated in its place. While the kings were thus passing the winter in Sicily, immense bodies of troops, who had assembled from many countries, under the banner of the Lord, were passing the winter in Dalmatia, I stria, and Venice, and were awaiting with eagerness the approach of spring. Chap. XIII. — Of the Gekman Expedition, and of the Death of the Emperor. In the meanwhile, Frederick, emperor of Germany, who in the preceding year (that is, in the year one thousand one hundred and eighty-ninth from the delivery of the Virgin), with his son, the duke of Swabia, and the forces of Germany, had commenced their march towards Jerusalem, as it is said above. He was conducting his army at a slow pace, on account of the numerous obstacles, through the upper countries. Having passed Pannonia, he pro- ceeded to the dominions of the emperor of Constantinople, as he was desirous to obtain the favour of that christian monarch, in this expedition which was most eminently christian; but he found him little better than Saladin himself. At length, that Greek (for though the Greeks are Christians, yet they are known to abominate the Latins, not less, nay, even rather more ferociously than the Saracens j — that Greek, I say, (as it is reported,) after Jerusalem was taken, made a treaty with Saladin, that most atrocious enemy ' Here tlie hiatus mentioned p. 569, note ' ends. p p 2 574 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. of the christian name, promising that, by land and sea, he would, in his dominions, prohibit the passage of the Latins into Syria. Therefore, when the Latin emperor, by his messengers, sought as a Christian from the Greek emperor another Christian, that which Israel under Moses sought of old time from Sihon, king of the Amorites, " Let us pass through thy country : we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, ... we will go by the king's highway'. . . until we have passed thy borders" [Numb.xx. ] 7]; but that Greek, resembling the impious king in this respect, and being more faithful to Saladin than to Christ, was unwilling to allow the christian army even to pass through his territories. Whereupon the Latin emperor said to his men, " We seek Saladin, the enemy of Christ ; and, behold, one equal to, or rather worse than Saladin, openly stands in the way of those who are zealous for Christ. Let us, then, turn those arms against him that we have assumed against Saladin ; and open for ourselves a way with the sword, since we can do nothing else." This was pleasing to all ; and in a hostile manner they entered the territory, which was under the govern- ment of Constantinople, and valiantly attacked that most noble city Thessalonica, which they took ; and having reduced the adja- cent province tinder their power, they resolved to winter there. I certainly am not, by any means, of opinion that this movement, and attack upon christian men, can be approved, especially as they were made by Christians who had taken arms against Pagans, although those Christians acted in a manner far from brotherly ; neither, on the other side, was it right that Christians should have refused to concede a harmless passage to Christians. Lastly, this is proved by ancient examples, and those taken from the Holy Law. The people of Israel under Moses, on their petition to the king of the Amorites for a free passage, (as it has been said,) suffered a repulse, and, by the command of the Lord, made an attack upon him, and took possession of his territory. Perhaps our emperor and his men, regarding this precedent, invaded the terri- tory of the Greek emperor, in consequence of the passage that was denied him, when he ought rather, as I think, to have given atten- tion to another precedent. For, it is written, " Moses sent messengers unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, .... Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country : we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards .... we will go by the king's highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him. Thou shalt not pass by me. . . . And the children of Israel said unto him. We will go by the high-way : and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it : — there shall be no diffi- culty about the price, we can pass through so quickly. — And he said, Thou shalt not go through. . . . Wherefore Israel turned away from him."^ Behold, the children of Israel, acting under their great prophet Moses, twice suffered a repulse from their brethren, the sons of Esau, in their very moderate petition for a passage onlv ; and yet 1 See Numb. xx. 14—21. CH. XIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 575 they were not impelled by that affront received from a brother to seek revenge, or to open a passage with the sword ; but wisely they turned away from their ungrateful brethren, as if they remem- bered not the injury. But afterwards, in circumstances not dis- similar, they endured one repulse only from the Amorite, who was not of the race of Abraham ; and, by the command and aid of the Lord, they broke out in just revenge. Therefore, the christian emperor would have acted more wisely if he had turned away from the emperor, who, though disobliging, was yet a Christian ; and had sought another passage into Syria, though with much labour and increase of expense : and the event which followed clearly showed this. The Greek emperor, however, saw that it was no slight act of hostility which had been committed against him by the Latins, and conjectured from this light taste of their ferocity, that worse might again happen, unless he took precautions; therefore, he made a treaty with our emperor, and granted the passage which was demanded : and he made satisfaction, according to justice, for the expenses of the delay which he had caused, by having obstructed their passage. So the Latin emperor with his army passed through Constantinople, and made a prosperous passage over the strait which is called " The arm of St. George." On his arrival in Asia Minor, part of which is under the govern- ment of Constantinople, while the sultan of Iconium presides over the rest, he soon became terrible to that sultan and the Turks by his mighty acts. Whence it came to pass that this sultan, although he was great and powerful, studied to break the force that threatened him, more by art than by making trial of their strength; and with crafty dissimulation he treated with the emperor about the adoption of the christian faith; and, through the pious simplicity of the credulous Crusaders, he suspended their advance by frequent messengers, and by long discussions. After the cunning of this Gentile had thus deluded our people by his tricks, the christian army captured the city of Iconium, which was very large and very rich in plunder, which they seized. Soon after, by the arrangement of the emperor, the army was divided into two parts, and stationed in two camps, which were separated by a river that flowed between them. Having committed one division of the army to the com- mand of his son, the duke of Swabia, the emperor devoted the whole of his solicitude to the other division ; whereupon, suddenly, by the hidden judgment of God, a most lamentable accident' (which no one could have apprehended) deprived the world of a man of much renown. The emperor desiring to visit and consult his son, who was stationed on the other side of the river, mounted his horse, with the intention of fording the stream with a few of his attendants ; but he was dissuaded from his purpose by his com- panions, lest a man of his importance should rashly commit himself to an unknown current. Impelled, however, by fate, he did not obey; and forgetful of his imperial dignity, he spurred his horse, and it leaped forward into the gulf which seemed contemptible through its deceitful shallowness ; and while his companions were looking on. 576 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book IV, but unable to assist him, he was drowned in a moment. Some, however, say, that he went incautiously into the river in the hot weather, for the purpose of cooling himself, or of bathing, and that he was suddenly swallowed ' up by the waves, which were ignorant of the respect due to imperial dignity. Whichsoever of these accounts be true, it is evident that in this petty stream the waters entered in even unto his soul. Oh, the extreme depth of the judgments of God ! This man so great, and who, by a kind of Divine fervour, had quitted the luxuries and opulence of empire, and exposed him- self to a thousand perils for Christ's sake, — even he was cut off by an unforeseen and pitiable accident. Nevertheless, so great and so conspicuous was his transgression, that, perhaps, it could not be expiated amid the blandishments of empire; and, therefore, it became necessary (lest he should incur eternal punishment) that, by the merciful ordinance of the Divinity, he should be more severely chastened in the present life. For, indeed, during the time of the venerable pope Alexander, he had been the principal supporter of a fatal schism ; and by means of his imperial power, he was, for a long time the disturber of the peace of the church. At length, however, openly yielding submission to the truth, he, nevertheless, did not sufficiently bewail his heinous crime amid the luxuries of a palace. Moreover, lest on this account he should suffer grievous torments after death, or rather that the poignant misfortune of a sudden decease should perfectly wipe away this baleful evil, I believe that this matter was effected through that singular devotion with which, for Christ's sake, he left his kingdom and encountered dangers of such magnitude. The christian army was so confounded and grieved at the violent death of the emperor, that, losing all their spirits, they seemed on the eve of becoming a prey to their savage adversaries: but, taking courage in some degree, they manifested their attachment and obedience to the duke of Swabia, in place of his deceased parent. Taking with him the remains of his father, (which, as it is said, were with difficulty found, and rescued from the waters, some days after this most unfortunate accident,) he advanced with the army, and encountered a host of difficulties and labours. Finally, this im- mense force, gradually worn down and diminished by battle and disease on its long and tedious march, at last so languished and fainted, through fatigue and want of supplies, that, without per- forming any memorable exploit, its wretched remains arrived at Palestine, with the above-mentioned duke. After the bones of his father had been buried at Tyre, with due solemnity, he joined with all his retinue the christian armament, which was then besieging Acre, where he shortly afterwards died^ of disease. — Such a termina- tion, through the hidden counsels of God, experienced this famous expedition of the emperor of Germany. * This accident happened 10th June, 1190. =■' Frederick, duke of Swabia, died at Acre in 1191. en. XIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 577 Chap. XIV.— Of the Chancellor's Insolence and Pride after the King's Departure. The course of our narrative must now return from the East to our Western clime, and relate the situation of England during the king's absence. When Richard was departing (as above mentioned) on his Eastern expedition, he had committed his functions in the ad- ministration of the kingdom, together with its sinews — I mean the royal fortresses — to his chancellor, the bishop of Ely. This prelate, who, for audacity and artifice, was almost without an equal, having transmitted a great sum of money to Rome, had petitioned also to become the representative of the papal see ; and, by an entreaty of this kind, had easily obtained it. Craftily dissembling this circum- stance, he called together the bishops and nobility of the kingdom, as though on business relative to the state; and showing them, unexpectedly, the instrument conferring the legation on him, proudly exhibited himself as the representative of the holy see; at which, though numbers were displeased, they were by no means able to resist it. Finally, in order that he might appear to have reached the summit of power, and, from being equally conspicuous in scate and church, might grieve the eyes of his rivals, he cele- brated a general council of England, held in great consternation, at London, with equal pomp and vanity, under the pretext, indeed, of religion, and the mask of ecclesiastical benefit, but, in fact, only for the display of his personal ostentation. This he did so much the more confidently and securely, because, as there were then no metropolitans, he had less to fear from the rivalry or indignation of the bishops against him. For the see of York had been vacant for almost ten years, and the new archbishop of that see was resi- dent abroad; and, from the impediments he threw in his way, was unable, as yet, to obtain convenient consecration. Again, the archbishop of Canterbury, who, by virtue of the prerogative of his see, was the pope's representative in England, had taken the cross of Christ under king Henry, and, after the coronation of king Richard, had, in pursuance of his vow, proceeded to the East, and arriving at Tyre, had there departed this life, previous to the arrival of the kings. Thus, the chancellor, every obstacle to his progress in matters too great and wonderful for him being removed, relying on his twofold power, legatine and royal, domineered, with most consum- mate arrogance, equally over the clergy and the people. And, as it is written of a ^ certain person, that he used either hand for the right, so also did he, for the readier accomplishment of his designs, make use of either of these powers to supply the deficiency of the other. For, if his secular authority was ineffectual in com- pelling or restraining any of the powerful laity, he supphed the deficiency by the censure of apostolical coercion : but if, perchance, any of the clergy resisted his will, doubtless he overwhelmed such an one, vainly defending himself according to the canon, by the ' Picard thinks this au allusion to Judges iii. 15. 578 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. might of his secular arm. Nor was there any one who could hide himself from his indignation ; for the secular must fear the rod or the sword of his apostolical authority; and the ecclesiastic could defend himself by no mode, nor find any shelter against his royal dignity. At length, proud of his power beyond all bounds, that the metro- politan churches, which, as yet, seemed to mock his authority, might feel his consequence, he proceeded to make himself an object of terror to both of them. First, he took his journey to York, to whose bishop-elect^ he was most inimically disposed. On his despatching a mandate, with intimidations, to the clergy of that church to meet him, with due solemnity, as legate of the holy see, they thought fit to appeal against him : still, however, he paid no deference to this appeal to a higher power, but gave the appellants the option either to comply with his commands, or else, as guilty of treason, to be confined in the king's prison. Owing to this intimidation, they obeyed ; and, not even daring to whisper against him, they dis- sembled their sorrow, and allowed him, as if in triumph, all the honour and glory he required. The precentor ^ of this church, however, had just before gone out of the way, that he might not be a spectator of what must shock his feelings. Having discovered this, and raging against that absentee as though he had been a rebel, he, in his implacable fury, robbed him of all his effects by the hands of his attendants. Having plundered the archbishopric, and placed its revenues in the exchequer, this noble hero went his way; and, soon after, as no one dared longer oppose him, he claimed an equal triumph over the church of Canterbury. Thus, having humihated both the metropolitan sees, he made use of them at his pleasure. Finally, the laity at that time felt him to be a king, and more than a king in England — the clergy, a pope, and more than a pope ; and, indeed, both of them an intolerable tyrant. For, from the accession to his twofold power, he assumed a double tyranny; and abstaining only from his accomplices and associates, to all others he was alike unsparing, not merely through desire of money, but even from the pleasure of domineering. His pomp in almost everything exceeded that of a king. After the manner of Eastern princes, as if perpetually on the watch, he was desirous of having guards about his chamber. His progresses were attended by a thousand horse, and sometimes more ; under pretence of his legation, he extorted entertainment from all the monasteries throughout England : and from such small ones as could not support the burthen of his reception, he exacted a certain sum, that is to say, eight, or five marks, with which they were to buy off the charge of his entertainment. As for the larger ones, he preyed upon them like a locust. The revenues of the bishopric of Ely are known to be indeed ample, but what was their amount to supply the immoderate profusion of its bishop ? By the prodi- gality of his expenses, he exhausted not only the king's treasury, but also whatever he could scrape together from the kingdom, the 1 Geofifrey Plantagenet, already mentioned on more than one occasion. 2 Apparently William Testard, who became dean of York in 1214. See Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 150. GH. XIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 579 monasteries, and the churches, by any means, whether by himself or his creatures. He had appointed rulers over every province, more for the purpose of destruction than protection ; the most abandoned ministers of his rapacity, who would spare neither clergy, nor layman, nor monk, nor show any regard to them if it interfered with the advantage of the chancellor : for so he was called, though he was a bishop ; but of a truth, there was little or nothing of the bishop in him : whereas, as chancellor, he was notorious and terrible throughout all England. Moreover, he directed that the rulers of provinces, in order to overawe the inha- bitants, should, under pretence of public security, as if to repel or check the audacity of robbers, have under their command armed bands of savage barbarians, continually on the scent, by whose lawless and unrestrained violence innumerable outrages and enor- mities were committed in the different counties. And truly, as he could not trust himself to the nobility of the realm, who execrated his insolence and pride, he was careful to get over to his party numbers of powerful and noble persons, by uniting them in mar- riage to his female relations. For what man of quality was there at that time unmarried, or desirous of procuring a wife for his son or nephew, who would not with open arms accept the offer of one of the chancellor's relations (of whom he had brought over from Normandy multitudes for this purpose), and anxiously wish for an honourable alliance, under the hope of high advancement ? When, therefore, by these means, he had allied to himself many of the nobility, and had subdued others by intimidation, or soothed them by artifice and assiduity, his only object of dread was John, the king's brother, as he was far more powerful than the others, and expected to become the successor to the kingdom, should the king, perchance, not survive his laborious and perilous undertaking ; for his return was not uncertain, but from very probable causes was hardly to be expected. Lastly, lest from the likelihood of the king dying abroad, and John succeeding in due course, his own power should cease, he determined, it is said, to have recourse to artifice, in order that John, though of age, should not succeed his brother, but that he might lengthen out the period of his authority by introducing a successor of tender age. Wherefore, despatching his two brothers to the king of Scotland, he requested that he would unite with him in firmest league to set Arthur the Breton, Richard's grand-nephew,' over the kingdom of England; more especially as the succession of the realm most rightfully belonged to, him, as being the son of Geoffrey, the king's elder brother ; protesting that the king, in letters transmitted to him from Marseilles or Sicily, had designated Arthur, his nephew, as successor to the kingdom, in case he himself should not return ; and that he had commanded that the kingdom should be reserved for him (he being now little more than five years of age) until he came to man's estate. This secret, however, though only agitated in secret whispers, between these two powerful personages, was not long concealed from John. Dissembling the indignation which he had conceived with wary * • . . "ipsius pronepotem." . . . Ori The truer date is Friday, 4th Feb. See Pauli, iii. 263. 2 Hubert Walter, who was translated to Canterbmy shortly afterwards. Sea chap. XXXV., and Hardy's Le Neve, ii. 595. 6iO CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. to be a thing palpably indecent and dishonourable to declare war against a man who was at the time in captivity, and entirely without power; but malice, in its eagerness to injure another, has no regard for what is honourable. This high indignity to the king's person was displeasing to the imperial majesty; and the emperor entreated him to abstain from touching the possessions of the captive ; but the king of France, by vast promises, and such as equalled or even exceeded the sum promised by the captive king, endeavoured to tempt the emperor to deliver up Richard to him for safer custody, alleging that the world could not be at rest if so turbulent a man should escape. Indeed, he might probably have wrought on the mind of the emperor, who was not sufficiently firm on this point; but the nobles of the realm, kindly commiserating the captive, resisted this base machination. But Philip, incapable of rest from the ebullitions of malice, collected an army and invaded Normandy, and soon after received Gisors by treachery, (a noble castle and abundantly fortified,) from one Gilbert, to whose scanty fidelity it had been entrusted. Next, proceeding to certain other castles, he found none to oppose him ; — for the unhappy fate of their sovereign had so broken the spirit of his subjects, and weakened all their con- fidence, that, like sheep having no shepherd, they either voluntarily yielded, or fled from the face of the pursuer; and when Albemarle, Eu, and many other castles had come into his hands by a speedy surrender, he proceeded with his army to Rouen, the metropolis of Normandy; and threatening destruction with terrific voice to all who should resist him, he commanded the city to be yielded up. But the earl of Leicester, the king of England's most faithful com- panion in the Eastern expedition, aware of his approach, had just before entered the town, and by encouraging the citizens, had nobly excited them to act with energy against their most cruel enemy. After having vainly besieged the city during several days, and received more injury than he had inflicted, the French king sounded a retreat; and summoning his army to an easier enterprise, obtained without much difficulty the noble fortresses of Pascy and Iveri. Upon this, in order to restrain his impetuosity for a time, they who conducted the aftairs of the captive, as they were best able, deemed it expedient to purchase a truce for a certain period by an enormous sum. of money, and surrendered four chosen castles as a pledge. Nor did John, who, through desire for the kingdom, had become a rebel to nature, desist at this time from molesting his brother, but was the avowed supporter of the king of France in all things. For while he was devastating the Norman territory, John, relying on the royal fortresses which he had craftily taken from his brother when resident in the East, was disturbing the provinces of England with troops of miscreants, whom he had collected from all quarters, and heaping up endless curses on his own perfidious head ; but the nobles of the realm, firm in faith, and unbroken in spirit, sum- moning a formidable body of soldiers, opposed themselves to the law- less attempts of this mad-headed youth. Long and bravely besieging the castle of Windsor, which had fallen under his power, they compelled it to surrender. But when John saw his adherents. CH. XXXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 611 whom he could not assist, exposed to the dangers of a siege, he requested a treaty for their safety for a certain time, and gave up the castle ; after which he went abroad, and betook himself to the king of France. Chap. XXXV. — By what Means Hubert, Bishop of Salisbury, was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and op the Church of Contradiction. At this same time, prompted by his devotion to God, the illus- trious captive was unwilling that the church of Canterbury should be longer vacant : for since the venerable Baldwin, who (as was said above) proceeded to the East under the holy badge, and had ended his days at Tyre, no one had yet succeeded in the pastoral charge of that church. So the king wrote from Germany to the bishops and others, to whom such an important business pertained, that, making speedy provision for the primacy, they should hasten the election of a metropolitan. Nor did he conceal the intent of his own provision, but recommended to the electors a man in whom he was well pleased, inasmuch as he had been approved in many things, and universally esteemed ; wherefore the monks of Canter- bury, assembling with the bishops, and assenting to the king's pleasure, unanimously and solemnly elected Hubert, bishop of Salisbury, to the dignity of the primacy. After having required and received the pall from the Roman pontiff, he was enthroned ; and shortly after, having taken the habit of a canon at Merton, he manifested by his outward garb the religious purpose of his mind. Nor was he disagreeable to the monks of Canterbury, whom the too indiscreet zeal of his predecessor had embittered, yet without blemishing the honour of the deceased prelate. For this same Baldwin, more than justifiably hostile towards the monks of Can- terbury, (as it is said,) had been anxious to take from them their just right and privilege of electing a prelate. For this purpose he had begun to build ^ a church which should become the rival, as it were, of the principal church at Canterbury, wherein the monks officiate ; he there appointed also prebends for clerks, where, on the death of an archbishop of Canterbury, the suffragans might assemble, together with the clerks of that place, to deliberate on the election of a suc- cessor. The monks of Canterbury, however, not willing that this should be done to the prejudice of their dignity, raised a furious storm of controversy ; and despatching their own prior with many others, they appealed to the holy see. The archbishop, by virtue of the king's favour, being the more powerful, subdued and van- quished his opponents, not without war and bloodshed, and persisted in his work ; which, however, after a time he was obliged to aban- don, as his adversaries gained the ascendancy through the decision and powerful mandates of the holy see. In the end, this disgraceful contention between the shepherd and his own flock was with great scandal protracted for several years, as neither party thought it 1 Gervase of Canterbury, col. 1592 (ap. Decern Scriptt.), gives a detailed account of this dispute. 612 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV, fitting to give way, and each deemed it most ignominious to submit to the other. Wherefore, when this same prelate (evidently too indiscreet in this business, but in other respects a good, prudent, and religious man) died in the East, so far from his own church, the monks of Canterbury, little bewailing him, with sudden impulse and great joy levelled to the ground the work which had been the origin of the whole dispute, of which the progress had long since been suspended. Chap. XXXVI.i — How Hugh, Bishop of Chester, destroyed the Monastery OF Coventry. It is, indeed, a wonderful circumstance that so great a man (I allude to the venerable Baldwin), who, from being an arch- deacon, became a monk of the Cistercian order, then an abbot, and from abbot, bishop of Worcester, and from suflragan, primate ; receiving the archbishopric from him for whom he gave up the archdeaconry : — it is wonderful, I say, that a man of such singular piety should wish to increase the stock of secular canons, when it might seem more to have become him to have employed his salu- tary endeavours in diminishing that order, or making them pass into a religious fraternity, — a thing which certainly holy prelates and princes of old time are well known to have done in England. For anciently, secular clerks ministered in the noble churches of Can- terbury and Winchester ; to whom those holy persons, who were empowered thereto by Divine permission, gave an option either to relinquish their benefices and employments of which they were deemed unworthy, or by a laudable exchange to resolve upon taking holy orders. These persons, being driven by wholesome com- pulsion either to depart or exchange their orders, religious con- gregations have in a better manner preserved the dignity of the house of God until the present day. A holy prelate, therefore, in our times ought not to have perpetuated that race of men ; for the diminution of which, by a salutary change brought about through Christ's assistance, an opportunity should rather have been sought for ; but the yet flagrant crime of Hugh Nonant, bishop of Chester, or Coventry, far exceeds this, which must not be passed over in silence. The monastery of Coventry, originally founded, enriched, and adorned by the pious devotion of certain English nobles,^ had for three hundred years been conspicuous among the English churches, and, on account of its celebrity, had been the quiet residence of the bishop of Chester, who, for a considerable time, had otherwise been called bishop of Coventry. When a certain emissary of the devil, called Robert Marmion, had profanely destroyed this venerable house in the times of king Stephen, he became exposed (as it has been related in its place) ^ to the Divine indignation, and the same ^ This chapter was entirely wanting in the Antwerp edition, but Picard printed it in that of which he was the editor, placing it, however, at the end of the volume Its true position is indicated in the list of the contents of the chapters which occur in the MSS. at the beginning of each book. 2 By the earl Leofric and the lady Godiva, in 1043 or 1044. See Dugd. Monast. iii. 177, ed. Ellis. " ^ See Book I. chap. sii. CH. XXXVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 613 spot, by the interference of God, quickly returning to its splendour, had remained unmolested till the present degenerate times. For some years before this, Hugh Nonant aforesaid, — a crafty, bold, and shameless character, and one ready for daring enterprises, from his learning and eloquence, — when he had obtained the bishopric of Chester, by the secret judgment of Him " who maketh a hypocrite to reign on account of the sins of the people,"^ he began to contrive by every means to expel the monks of that place, and out of their property to form prebends for clerks which should be bestowed at his pleasure. At last, after sowing or fomenting discord between the prior and monks, when, by his hellish craft, he had excited the most offensive grounds of disquietude, he seized an opportunity for expelling them all by an armed force, like convicted and in- corrigible disturbers of ecclesiastical tranquillity, and as guilty of the enormous crimes which he laid to their charge. Soon after he despatched to the holy see advocates prepared for his purpose, stat- ing that the monks of Coventry, abandoning their religious duties, had become seculars ; and he demanded free liberty to set this church in order, according to his own pleasure. But the Roman pontiff acting with cautious procrastination, lest, perchance, any one should arrive to maintain the contrary on the part of the monks, suspended his determination for six months. At the expiration of this time, as no one appeared on behalf of the monks, he yielded to the bishop's request. The want of money was the cause of the tardy arrival of the monks; but at length they did appear, and for a long time they bewailed the injury done to them by their forcible expulsion. Still, it is notorious that they have laboured in vain, even to the present day, for the reversal or repeal of a sen- tence once clandestinely gained and prematurely passed ; so power- ful was either the influence, or the craft, or the money of the bishop. No correction of this abominable abuse has yet taken place ;^ for the monks being widely dispersed for their subsistence, the secular canons, by the bishop's authority, possess their property, which has been divided by him into prebends. And he himself, too, either in the commission or support of such an iniquitous measure, for a time made use of the cooperation of the bishop of Ely ; who, under the title of the king's chancellor, seemed at that period, as it were, to reign, and with shameless vanity acted as the counsellor and assistant to this same person in seizing on the sovereignty. Soon after, however, revolting from him with his usual inconsistency, he espoused the party of his adversary, John, the king's brother ; and, as it is said, infected him with the poisonous notion of rebeUing against his brother Richard. More- over, when the king was visited by his subjects, during his im- prisonment in Germany, he also, among others, hastened to him, that he might fathom his inclinations with respect to himself, and exculpate himself, through crafty dissimulation, from the disgraceful charge of perfidy with which he was branded by many. And when he was unable to deceive the prince by the pretences of his 1 Job xxxiv. 30. Vulg. 2 But see Angl. Sac. i. 435. They were restored in 1198. 614 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book iv. assumed devotion, despairing of his favour, and deeming it unsafe to return to his own diocese, attended by his hardened conscience, he proceeded into France. Chap. XXXVII. — Of the Murder of the Bishop of Liege; on which account THE King of England was endangered. Richard, the illustrious king of England, was still confined in Germany ; but as the avarice of the emperor was now satisfied, it was hoped that he would speedily liberate him. By an accidental chance, however, it happened that this hope was suspended, and the noble captive brought into danger in the following manner. The brother ^ of the duke of Louvaine had been elected to the bishopric of Liege, — a choice which was displeasing to the emperor, as he was apprehensive that the valiant duke should be enabled, by this accession to his brother's power, to make head against him ; for it is a thing well known that the bishop of Liege possesses a large military force, and has great power. The bishop-elect, therefore, through the emperor's opposition, could not obtain con- secration from his own metropolitan ; nevertheless, having pro- cured from the Roman pontiff a mandate to the bishops of France to ordain him, he was consecrated. However, through fear of the enraged potentate, he did not return to his own diocese; but, hoping that his indignation would be soothed by time, he resided for a season in France. The exasperated emperor was now urged on to the commission of a most atrocious crime. For some desperate wretches being hired by him (as it is believed), went to the bishop under the assumed character of exiles, and craftily lamenting to him their expulsion from their native German soil, gained so much upon his credulity, that with groundless com- miseration he took these basest of enemies under his immediate protection. But with crafty vigilance they watched an opportunity for the perpetration of their crime, and suddenly attacked him one day, when he had accidentally left the city with very few attendants, for the purpose of exercise, and killed him together with another ec- clesiastic; and then they escaped by flight, whilst his companions fled back to the city. With similar artifice other assassins are said to have been despatched to compass the death of the duke of Lou- vaine; but they being accidentally taken, revealed the whole mystery of this iniquity. In consequence of this heinous outrage, the archbishops of Cologne and Mentz, and the dukes of Saxony, Louvaine, and Lew- enburg, and many other nobles, became incensed and conspired against the emperor. Constrained by pressing necessity, in order that he might unite the power of France to his own, he entertained a disposition to break his faith and deliver up the king of England to the king of France for perpetual imprisonment, and for this purpose he solicited a solemn conference with him on a certain day at Vau- couleurs ; but this • interview of evil omen was prevented and obviated by another of a most salutary kind. For owing to certain 1 Albert, the first of the name; concerning whose murder, see Gall. Christ, iii. 878. CH. SXXVIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 615 discreet persons, who with laudable foresight opposed both the disturbance of the empire and the peril of the king of England, peace was restored (by the favour of God) between the emperor and his nobles ; and the whole cause of enmity which had arisen between the parties vanished into air. After a few days, the emperor coming to the place where the king of England was con- fined, in the presence and at the mediation of the bishops, dukes, and many other persons of rank, held a conference with him during several days ; and at length, on the vigil of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul [28th June], the whole affair between them being settled, and the sum fixed for the king's release, the emperor commanded him to be confined with greater honour for the future, that is, unencumbered with a chain. At last, by the emperor's command, the bishops, dukes, and all the nobility present swore, by the soul of their sovereign, that the king should certainly be released on payment of the sum agreed on, which was one hundred thousand pounds of silver; a third part of which was said to be due to the duke of Austria for having made the king captive. Chap. XXXVIII. — The Manner in which England was afflicted by the Captivity of the King. During this time, the king of England, fairly worn out with his long captivity, by frequent mandates admonished the regents of the realm, and all his liege and devoted people who were of any rank or consequence, to hasten his release by procuring the price of his ransom by every possible method. The royal officers accelerated the business throughout England, without sparing any one ; nor was there any distinction made between clergy and laymen, secular or regular, citizen or husbandman ; but all indifferently were compelled to pay the stipulated sum for the king's ransom, either in proportion to their substance or the amount of their revenues. Privileges, prerogatives, immunities of churches and monasteries, were neither pleaded nor admitted. Every dignity, every liberty was silent; nor had any one licence to say, " Such, and so great am I ; have me excused." Even the monks of the Cistercian order, who had hitherto been exempt from all royal exactions, were at this time more heavily burthened in proportion to their having formerly less experienced the weight of public pressure. For they were taxed and compelled to give up even the wool of their sheep, which is their chief means of support, and appears to be almost the only revenue they have for their necessary subsistence and expenses. It was thought that such a mass of money would exceed the sum of the king's ransom; however, it was found not to be sufficient, when the whole came to be collected in one sum at London ; but this is supposed to have happened through the fraud of the officers. In consequence of the inadequacy of the first collection, the king's officers made a second, and a third ; despoiling the more opulent of their money, and extenuating the manifest crime of exaction with the honourable title of royal ransom. Lastly, that no occasion 616 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book iv might be wanting, and that the locust might eat the leavings of the caterpillar, the palmer-worm the leavings of the locust, and the mildew the leavings of the palmer-worm, they proceeded to take the sacred vessels ; and as the venerable determination of the fathers had not only permitted, but even advised that such vessels should be used for the redemption of any christian captive, it was judged that they ought in a more especial manner to be applied to the redemption of a captive prince. Wherefore the sacred chalices, throughout the whole extent of England, were delivered to the royal collectors, or as matter of favour redeemed for something rather under their value. And when England now appeared almost wholly drained of money, and the king's tax-gatherers were tired and wearied of collecting money, still (as it is said) the whole accumulation of money was inadequate to cover the expense of the king's ransom ; and, therefore, the greater part of the appointed sum being paid to the emperor's ministers, the king, lest his release should be protracted beyond measure, craftily satisfied the emperor for the residue by competent hostages. Chap. XXXIX. — Of the Pkodigt of an trNUSUAL Redness appearing at THREE DIFFERENT TIMES IN THE AlR. At that time England groaned under complicated affliction, on account of the king's captivity, and such as before she had not ever apprehended ; the severity of which evil was manifested (as it is believed) by recent prodigies in the sky. For in the month of January, in the year wherein the king fell into the hands of the enemy [a.d. 1192], we beheld a terrible portent in the sky, no doubt indicative of the affliction which was coming upon us. For about the first watch of the night, the intermediate region of the sky between north and east grew so red that it appeared to blaze as it were ; though there was not the slightest cloud, and the stars were brightly shining ; and these, too, were so tinged with fiery redness, and streaked with white stripes, that they seemed to twinkle with a kind of blood-stained light. After this dreadful appearance had possessed the eyes and minds of the beholders with astonishment throughout all the borders of England, for nearly the space of two hours, by degrees gently vanishing it disappeared, leaving much conjecture concerning it. And in the month of February, in the following year [a.d, 1193], while the king of England was yet detained in Germany, and the news of his captivity was not generally known in England, a portent very similar appeared throughout England, in the same region of the sky, soon after midnight, when the religious orders were chanting their customary praises to God. We know that persons in different provinces were so terrified by the reflection of this tremendous redness on their glass windows, that many of them, supposing that some accidental fire had happened in the adjoining houses, left their chanting, and, marking the dreadful portent, returned to their psalmody. While many conjectures were formed on this repeated portent, the news of the king's captivity suddenly became rife. CH. XL.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 617 And. indeed, in that same year, when the king's detention had now become prolonged in Germany, and his speedy release was expected, on the fourth of the nones of November [2d Nov.], before daybreak, the selfsame token appearing for the third time in the same region of the sky, terrified (but in a less degree) the minds of the beholders ; for now they were accustomed to it, though it was the cause of increased conjecture and suspicion. Chap. XL. — How the King of France, when unable to prevent the Llberation of the King of England, again invaded Noemamdt. So when Richard, the illustrious king of England, had paid the avaricious emperor the greater portion of his ransom, as it has been related, and liad delivered the stipulated number of hostages from among the nobility who had come to visit him for the residue, after a long-continued captivity, a certain day was appointed and fixed for his release. When this was made known to the king of France and the unnatural John, they despaired of now being able to corrupt the emperor's mind into making the detention of the royal captive perpetual ; and consequently they used their utmost endeavours to protract it to the following year, in order that, during that period, they might, without opposition, freely occupy the lands under his rule, by which means his return, after the year was expired, would be rendered harmless. Thus, when they had made supplication to the emperor by their messengers for this purpose, and had promised a sum of money equal to that which he was to receive from the king of England, he (for he was beyond measure open to corruption) consulted his own nobles upon this subject ; but they, disgusted with the levity of the emperor, opposed him with the weight of more becoming counsel, saying, " The empire, lord emperor, has been sufficiently defiled by the unworthy im- prisonment of a most noble king ; do thou not fix an inexpiable stain upon its honour." And so the negotiation of this most infamous affair was left unfinished, and the messengers returned to their greatly grieved lords. This occurred during winter, a season altogether unfit for war ; yet they were so inflamed against the captive king, that their malice could not be assuaged ; and the king of France, with the coopera- tion of John, on a favourable opportunity, broke the truce, regard to which had seemingly kept him quiet for a short time, and again he invaded Normandy — for the courage of that ancient and most valiant people now languished, because they had neither duke, nor head, nor chief — and he occupied the city of Evreux and many castles, with httle difficulty, and hardly any loss of life. But after ravaging the country to a great extent, he, as if weary, suspended his ferocity for a time, next renewed the truce, and then sunk into repose. Nor was there any confidence or safety in peace ip those days in England ; for John's castles, filled with robbers, greedy of plunder, disturbed the quiet of the provinces, and the people of the surrounding counties, having received from Germany the king's mandate, prepared to attack and lay siege to those fortresses. And 618 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [book IV. lastly, a disgraceful contention arose between the archbishop of York and his own clergy at that time, which sprung, however, from a slight cause, like a great fire from a little spark ; the com- mencement, progress, and conclusion of which will be narrated in a more convenient place than this. Chap. XLL— How the King of Enqlanb, being freed from Captivity, returned to england. The king of England, therefore, after his tedious detention in Germany, which had now exceeded a year, was at length solemnly released in the month of January ; and the archbishop of Rouen, the bishop of Bath, and many noblemen, were left in his stead with the emperor, as hostages, either for the completion of the sum not yet paid, or as a guarantee for certain compacts : he then went to the port which is called Swine, intending, by the favour of God, to cross over from thence into his own kingdom. But being compelled to remain there for a short time, either for the sake of making necessary preparations, or on account of contrary winds, the emperor (as it is said) repented of the indulgence he had shown him, and thought of bringing him back after his release, and con- signing him to perpetual imprisonment. For as Pharaoh and the Egyptians, in old times, whom God had hardened, were led to repent of having at last, though by compulsion, sent away the people of God, whom they had oppressed in slavery, and said, " Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us ?" [Exod. xiv. 5.] Thus, also, that perfidious emperor and the Ger- mans, after they had released a christian king with tardy clemency, whom they had kept in long-continued custody solely for the sake of filthy lucre, said, " Why have we done this, sending forth to the peril of the world a tyrant of tremendous strength and singular savageness ? And since he was formerly betrayed and given into our hands by the elements ; as they are now adverse to him, and opposing his return to his own land, he doubtless expects similar danger. Therefore let him be quickly called back to his chains, never to be released any more." A whisper of this most iniquitous intention accidentally reached a certain person who bore goodwill towards the king ; and he, with friendly solicitude, by a swift mes- senger informed him, who suspected nothing of the sort, of their secret malignity to him, and thereby rendered him cautious, and advised him instantly to embark on board a ship which lay in the port, and trust his person to the elements rather than to faithless men ; and this was done with caution equally rapid and advan- tageous. Soon after, as it is said, the emissaries of the emperor arrived, and not finding their noble prey on dry land, and unable to pursue him across the water, they went back to their perfidious instructor with a suitable excuse for their failure. Imputing this escape of the far-off captive with regret to himself, he transferred his hasty but unavailing rage to the unoffending hostages, whom he had previously treated with much indulgence and liberality, but now he punished them by much closer imprisonment. The king en. XLII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 619 of England, however, taking refuge on the sea from the hostile troops, was received by favouring gales, which, as if in making satisfaction to him for betraying him the year before to the cruelty of the Germans, restored him safe and in health to his own king- dom, with all his attendants. Landing ^ at the port of Sandwich, in the month of March, during the fast of Lent, then, for the first time, he felt, as he stepped from the ship and trod on English soil, that he was delivered from captivity. Chap. XLII. — How Peace being restored in the Kingdom, the Ivjng was CROWNED AT WINCHESTER. Faster than the winds flew the report of the king's long-expected, but almost despaired-of return. The people immediately went to meet and congratulate him as he came to London. Then did the citizens, having heard of his approach, take up the oil of gladness instead of weeping, and put on the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. The appearance of that magnificent city was so splendid on his entrance, that the nobles of Germany, who came with him, and who thought that England was exhausted of its wealth by the payment of the royal ransom, were struck with astonishment when they beheld the greatness of its riches. One of these citizens, in the magnificent procession itself, as it is reported, turned towards the king, and said, " Thy people, O king, are endowed with marvellous prudence, for they display in security to thee the splendour of their riches, now that thou art restored to them; but a little while ago, they deplored their poverty while the prison of the emperor detained thee. For really, if he could have known of these English riches, he would not easily have believed that England could be exhausted of its wealth ; nor would he have thought of sending thee away without an intolerable amount of ransom." Very few only of the nobility and great men of the realm came to meet the king on his return, because almost all of them, by royal mandate, were occupied in the just and necessary duty of laying siege to John's fortresses. Indeed, before the return of the king to his own country they had taken Marlborough Castle, which had been strongly attacked; but the work was tedious and difficult : then, having divided their army, they besieged Notting- ham and Tickhill, castles strongly fortified. But the king, after the tediousness of his recent captivity, despising delay and enjoyment, after making a short stav in London, quickly proceeded to Notting- ham. The castle there is so well fortified by nature and art, that, if it possesses suitable defenders, it seems unconquerable except by starvation ; but as a security against the occurrence of this evil, by sagacious forethought, it contained supplies of provisions, laid up for many years, as well as plenty of arms and strong merK But when the king (who was never expected to return by those who wished him evil) came suddenly thither, the minds of those who were within the fortress were stricken with fear, and, as it were, ^ He landed at Sandwict, 13th March. 620 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV. fascinated by his unexpected presence : so that, as wax melts away before the face of the fire, so all their confidence melted away before the face of him, who suddenly appeared like a giant ; and immediately becoming enervated and weak, they began to treat of the surrender of this impregnable castle, which was in want of nothing needful for the endurance of a long siege : and when they were unable to find favour and honourable conditions from this most vehement king, they surrendered the fortress on disgraceful conditions, resigning it with all the arms, ammunition, and supplies. Moreover, in order to deprecate the severity of his judgment, they gave up their own bodies also to his uncertain and undeclared mercy ; but those who were in the other castle, which is unequal in strength, fell into the same peril and disgrace, though rather more excusably. Thus the king, with slight difficulty, obtained possession of two very strong fortresses ; and after the garrisons, which had surrendered themselves in the hope of his clemency, had been committed into custody, the king, with the solemn decision of the peers, judicially deprived his brother John of all his previous rights, on account of his enormous sin of ingratitude and perfidy ; for, by his immoderate and indiscreet bounty, the king had bestowed upon him horns that could be lifted up against himself. Thus every hostile movement in England sank into rest, when the power of so great a source of disturbance was cut down ; for he, a short time before, seemed to be the tetrarch of the realm of England. When these things were happily effected, by the favour of God, the king returned to his previous quarters, and with much joy celebrated the solemnity of Easter [10th April] at Southampton, with a great assembly of his nobles ; and on the octaves of Easter [17th April], washing away the ignominy of his captivity, at Win- chester, he appeared like a new king, refulgent in the diadem of his realm. And let this be the limit of this Book, which began with the first coronation of the most illustrious king Richard, and which, having narrated the events more recent in our memory, now con- cludes with the second coronation of the same king, in the fifth year of his reign, and the one thousand one hundred and ninety- fourth from the delivery of the Virgin. The End of the Fourth Book, THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. G21 The Fifth Book. Chap. I.— The Acts of the King after his Coronation, before he crossed THE Sea. After the solemnities of his coronation, the king remained a short time in England, and took care to arrange the state of affairs anew, as if he had then been made king for the first time : and almost everything which seemed to have pleased him at his first accession to the throne, he now thought necessary should be changed and altered at his second coronation. The kingdom, too, which he had divided in many ways, when he was about to under- take his journey to the East, (as it is more fully related in its place.) he now determined to restore to its original condition, and he demanded back all that he had at that time lightly bestowed or sold for a weighty price, as if he had only lent it. It was not lawful for any one to protect his right of tenure, by virtue of an agreement, or title, or instrument, while all were crushed by the power of the crown, and no one ventured to say to him, " Will he plead against me with his great power, or oppress me with the strength of his greatness ? " * but he spoke gently, and with subtilty, to those who had purchased the royal possessions, saying, " It does not become you to lend on usury to a royal personage ; therefore, if you have already received the money you lent me out of the fruits of your property, you ought to be content with that ; but if not, I will make it up from my own property, thus taking away every pretence for keeping it back ; for you have prudence enough to know the rescript of the holy see, by which you are forbidden to lend on usury to your own king, and your money ought by no means to be withheld from me, if, at a proper time, it should happen to be required." Terrified, at length, by the impending power of the king, they began to discover the artifices by which he had stripped them of their money for the expenses of his expedition to Jerusalem; and they resigned everything, without the slightest question about the profit, which they had not received. For not even the bishop of Durham, who purchased an earldom near to the borders of the Scots, for a large sum, and had now possessed it for some years, had any privilege above the rest in this respect ; but ceasing to be an earl, he fell back into a simple bishop ; and thus, much labour and much money were sacrificed, which, however, would not have been lost to him, if they had been applied to pious uses and laid up for treasure in heaven. Yet, when he conjectured, from the change in the king's countenance, that his disposition was less favourable to him, without waiting for any demand, he resigned the earldom ; nor even then, as it is said, did he by more ample con- cessions satisfy the king's desires, for they were insatiable. - Besides this, the king, either to liberate the hostages who were left with the emperor, or for the expenses of carrying on a war with the king of France, imposed upon the whole kingdom a tribute * See Job sxiii. 6. Vulg. S S 2 622 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book v. altogether unusual ; that is to sa5^ he demanded two shillings from every carucate of land without distinction, disregarding the privileges of the clergy, of religious persons, and of certain others. Also, when certain of the greater abbots of the Cistercian order waited on him to congratulate him, he said, " We approve your devotion and liberality to us, in giving the best of your substance, that is, the fleeces of your sheep, towards our ransom, as it was becoming; and if life should be granted to us, we think of repaying this favour with a favour; and that we maybe debtors to you for an everlasting favour, it behoves you once more to declare your affection towards us, and not think it hard to accommodate us with your wool of the present year ; for, when we were released by the emperor, we returned in great poverty to our own country, and, confiding in you in our most urgent necessity, we took from foreign merchants the value of your wool for our needful purposes, which we shall, doubtless, restore at our exchequer in the month of October, with thanks for your approved affection." In this manner, despoiling those religious persons, under the appearance of flattery, he reduced the most celebrated of their monasteries to an unusual state of poverty. When he had disposed of his affairs in England, and appointed a discreet man, that is to say, the archbishop of Canterbury, as chief justiciary of the kingdom, he proceeded towards the sea, with an army of Englishmen, which he had summoned to cross over with him. When he received news from parts beyond sea, that the forces of the French had assembled, and were meditating an irruption into Normandy, he waited with great impatience for an opportunity of crossing over, and very frequently chid the elements ; but, at length, the winds blew as he wished, and he crossed over. He was received by his people with congratulations ; and his pre- sence, after their long heaviness, raised their spirits to the greatest confidence. Chap. II.— Of the Proceedings v.-hich took place between the King of England and his Enemies, after he had crossed the Sea. In the meantime, the king of France laid siege to Verneuil, a city strongly fortified, which his father formerly besieged in vain ; and though his army was innumerable, yet, in this instance, he was destined to inherit the lot of his father : for the king of England being restored thus opportunely to his people in Normandy, by degrees drew his army together, and pitched his camp not far from Verneuil, at a castle which is called L'Aigle. When he had remained there some days, the French army declined the risk of engaging in battle with him ; and after they had toiled in be- sieging the city with great and useless labour, they raised the siege and retreated. But their king, as if to remove the disgrace of a shameful retreat, destroyed, in his perverse fury, the city of Evreux, which he had previously plundered , nor did he even spare the church of Saint Taurin,^ the most celebrated in that part of the 1 Near Evreux; see Gall, Christ, xi. 626, CH. II.J THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH, G23 country ; though when he had commanded it to be burnt, not one man, out of so great an army, could be found, through the fear of God, to execute so nefarious an order ; so he himself, as it is said, with some lost souls of that class of men whom they call " Ribalds," entered the sacred edifice and set it on fire. Afterwards, as it is said, whatever was carried out of that church was conveyed to the city of Chartres, and it acted like a firebrand to that most famous city ; in consequence of which it became in a state of combustion, and was food for the flames, until it was almost consumed. So the war in those parts was carried on between these two great kings, now with prosperous and now with adverse fortune alternately, as is usual. The rigorous captivity of the king of England had, a short time before, despoiled him of his treasures, and the avarice of his enemies had infringed upon the limits of his territories ; but after fortune had shown so much malice towards him, all that followed was prosperous ; for in the war he did not lose one foot of the land he possessed. Of the fortresses of which he had been despoiled, he recovered the noble castle which is called Loches, with several others, by the fortune of war. He also entered the territories of the enemy, and after some exploits, which were valiantly and prosperously performed, he came to Vendome, and rested his army there for several days. Tlie king of France, how- ever, when he thought that he had retired from that place, pitched his camp not far from Vendome ; but when he discovered the vicinity of the enemy, he retreated in the night. "When the morn- ing appeared, the king of England pursued the retreating army, and captured the carriages and baggage of the fugitive king, with certain secret treasures, and riches of various kinds, and much of his household goods. At that time, however, he was annoyed by certain wicked deserters in Aquitain ; that is to say, Geoffrey de Rancon, and the count d'Angouleme, very powerful men ; and who were bold through the countenance of the French, by whom they were insti- gated against the king of England. The son of Henry of Navarre, however, the relative of Berengaria, queen of England, entered Aquitain with an army, and devastated the territory of each of these deserters ; but when he received the news of the death of his father, he returned home for the purpose of securing the succession. After a short time, the decree of fate carried off this count de Ran- con, whom I have mentioned ; and the king of England coming up with his army, after a short siege, obtained possession of his famous castle, which is called Tailleburth;^ and soon after, directing his attack against the other deserter, he stormed the city of Angouleme, with sanguinary celerity. While these things were being acted, the king of France was proceeding very calmly, for he had skilfully kept liim in suspense, in the expectation of a truce, which was already a subject of debate between them. 1 Ou the Chareute, between Saiutes and St. Jean d'Angely. 624 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book t. Chap. III. — Of the Truce made between the Kings ; and of the Peace of THE Provinces, excepting from the Royal Taxes. In the one thousand one hundred and ninety-fourth year from the dehvery of the Virgin, about the feast of the Chief of the Apostles, which is called " Ad vincula" [1st Aug.], after many conflicts and various events, through the mediation of men of influence, a cessa- tion of arms (which is called a truce) was solemnly confirmed between the kings, for one year. This was very useful to the king of England for the restoration of his strength, which had been much exhausted by his captivity ; although, as it appeared to some persons, it was not very honourable, since he now held Normandy within limits which were much smaller than before. But considerations of expediency preponderated ; and it was important to consult the state of affairs, although with some small loss of reputation. This was done, and the provinces which were the seat of war enjoyed a short period of repose ; but in that cessation of evils, the avarice of the kings towards their subjects was vehemently manifested in their efforts to procure money, while they were meditating thoughts of war rather than of peace ; and were preparing themselves in all things for future movements. At last, in this business no oppor- tunity was overlooked ; and when it happened that a pretence (even an imaginary one) occurred, the royal tax-gatherers did not refrain from open violence in extorting money. In the meantime, those persons, especially, complained — but in vain — of their unusual burthens, who by the religious indulgence of former sovereigns were accustomed to enjoy freedom and immunity from every secular exaction ; that is to say, men of religion. And, indeed, the most christian fathers of the kings I have mentioned were eminent patrons and protectors of men devoted to religion ; but we grieve that their sons imitated them but little in this respect. Indeed, the king of England, on account of his wayward youth, was dreaded at the commencement of his reign, as one likely to be anything but a mild sovereign ; but with regard to the king of France, by reason of the remembrance of his father, and the peaceful habits of his early youth, better things were expected of his future conduct ; and men of every class prayed for his prosperity. When he returned home from the regions of the East, however, as it is mentioned above, he was changed into another being, through his implacable hatred towards the king of England ; and he showed himself severe to almost all men, and especially to the religious orders and the clergy, as if he would avenge himself on his own subjects ; whereas the king of England, through the favour of God, after he returned from captivity, was found more mild. For instance ; the venerable John, archbishop of Lyons, at that time happened to be in England, and was resident in London with some men of distinction, when several of them complained in his presence of the cruelty of their own sovereign. " Say not so," he said, " for I tell you that your king is a hermit in comparison with the king of France ;" and after introducing a few remarks on the habits of his sovereign, he added, that when he became of age, he spared his own treasures and CH. IV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 625 extorted all the expenses of the war, which he waged against the king of England, from the churches, and chiefly from the monasteries. Chap. IV. — How Knightly Exercises began to be practised in England, in THE TIME OP King Richard. In the course of the truce between these kings, those military practices, that is to say, exercises in arms, which are commonly called tournaments, began to be celebrated in England ; and the king, who established them, demanded a small sum of money to be paid by each person who wished to join in the sport. This royal exaction had no influence upon the willingness of the young knights, who were fired with the love of arms, nor did it check their ardour, nor prevent them from holding a solemn assembly for exercise ; but it is notorious that a military conflict of this kind is never held in England, for exercise alone, and the display of valour, without some quarrel arising; unless in the days of king Stephen, when, through his unbecoming weakness, there could be no vigour in the administration of public discipline. More- over, in the times of the kings before him, and also in the time of Henry the second, who succeeded Stephen, these knightly exercises were altogether forbidden in England ; and those who, perchance, sought glory in arms, and wished to join these sports, crossed over the sea, and practised them at the very ends of the earth. The illustrious king Richard, therefore, considering that the French were more expert in battle, from being more trained and instructed, chose that the knights of his own kingdom should be exercised within his own territor)^ so that from warlike games they might previously learn the real art and practice of war, and that the French should not insult the English knights as unskilful and uninstructed. Be it known, however, that exercises in arms of this kind were prohibited by three general councils, under three venerable pontiffs of Rome — wherefore pope Alexander, in the Lateran council, says, " ^ Walking in the footsteps of our prede- cessors, of happy memorj'-, popes Innocent and Eugenius, we pro- hibit those detestable meetings from being held, which are called tournaments, in which knights, by previous appointment, are accustomed to assemble, and with rash audacity to fight together, whence the deaths of men, and the peril of souls, frequently pro- ceed. If any of those knights, therefore, shall be mortally wounded there, although absolution may not be refused where he demands it, yet let him be deprived of christian sepulture." Although such a solemn assembly of knights is forbidden by authority, under a heayj censure, yet the fervour of those youths, who in their vanity seek glory in arms, and who rejoice" in the favour of kings, who desire to have expert soldiers, has treated with contempt the provisions of this ecclesiastical decree, even to the present day. ' Coucil. Later. III. cap. ss. ap. Labb. Concil. x. 151?. 626 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V, Chap. V. — Of the Eeturn of John to his Brother. At the same time, John, the brother of the king of England, -with great disgrace to himself, was serving in the army of the king of France, against his own brother. "While his brother Richard was detained in Germany, he had been led astray, and enticed by the French king ; so that, having broken the laws of nature, he had associated himself with his brother's enemies. As long as John had power, he was held in honour by the king of France ; but when he was deprived of the fortresses which he had received in England through the profuse liberality of his father or his brother, and had become powerless (having nothing wherewith to injure his brother), then the king of France despised him, as though he no longer needed his assistance. But when John saw that his brother had not only returned in safety to his own country, but was even prospering well, he sought at length to be reconciled to him. So, at the mediation of their mother, he returned as a suppliant, and was received with sufficient fraternal affection ; and afterwards he performed military service to him faithfully and valiantly against the king of France, — thus expiating former errors by his late ser- vices, and completely recovering the love of his brother towards him. Hugh de Nonant, bishop of Chester, a man unstable in all his ways, who, being pricked by his evil conscience, had fled from the face of the king of England into France, also appeased the king with no small sum of money; and having recovered his bishopric, he afterwards took care to make himself useful more in the affairs of the king than in the duties of his pastoral office. Chap. VI.'— How one Stephen was deluded by a Demon. Let me in this place commemorate what is reported to have happened to Stephen, the governor of Anjou, shortly before the return of the king of England from Germany. This Stephen had been raised by king Henry from a middle station to the greatest height in the government ; and during the life of that king had displayed prudence and moderation in his actions ; and he pleased king Richard, his son, so well, that when he was about to set out for foreign countries, he entrusted him with the same administra- tion of the same offices. Stephen, however, conjecturing that a king of such a delicate constitution probably would not return from the great and certain perils of such a very long and laborious pilgrimage, or perhaps would never return, began, in his long absence, to exceed the limits of the power entrusted to him, and to exercise himself in great matters, and in things too high for him.^ Wishing, however, to ascertain with the utmost certainty whether that prince would return to his own country, by the per- suasion of a certain familiar friend, he thought he would consult a man of Toledo upon the subject, who was famous in curious arts ; and he carried the reward of divination in his hands. The diviner ' This chapter is omitted in the Antwerp edition. ^ g^g Psal. cxxxi. 2. CH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 627 took the man, whom he intended to delude, into a secret place, and exhibited to him a certain head, which was to be addressed by him, saying, " Inquire from this head, but use few words, and be brief ; for he makes no response to a long speech, and to many words." Then Stephen said, "Shall I see king Richard?" and the evil spirit replied from the head, " No." Then he asked, " How long will my administration last, which I received from the kings ? " The spirit answered, " Until thy death." Thirdly, he inquired where he should die, and the response was, " In pluma." He was not permitted to inquire further ; but being dismissed by the sorcerer, he went away joyfully, to experience, in due time, the fallacies of the demon which had been called up. He after- wards commanded his servants to take every precaution not to bring anything made of feathers near him on any occasion what- ever, or to place anything of the kind under him ; by this precaution promising himself a very long life, since he was not to die unless " in pluma," or amidst feathers. So, from that time, he began to act very confidently, as if he foreknew future events, to trample upon his vassals, and to oppress a certain one especially of the nobles whom he suspected and hated. This individual being unequal to him in force, fled from the face of the pursuer into a certain castle that he had ; but the governor surrounded the castle with his forces to attack it; and he happened to be wandering rather care- lessly about, with a few attendants, for the purpose of ascertaining on what side it could most easily be taken, when suddenly his ad- versary, whom despair stimulated to acts of daring, sallied out with his men through a postern-gate, and seized his foe, who was thus delivered into his hands, as if by the judgment of God. He joyfully carried him within the walls ; and though he offered a large ransom for his life, yet he was cruelly put to the torture, and killed : but that castle was called "Pluma;" and the quibble of that delusive spirit was obvious, when he foretold that the unhappy man should die " in Pluma." This is similar to what happened long ago to Gerebert, the pseudo-pope. For he was devoted to sacrilegious magic, and he inquired of a brazen head when he should die ; and the reply was, " When it shall be your duty to celebrate the mass in Jerusalem." So, believing the response could not quibble, and thinking that he would never visit the holy city Jerusalem, he began to live secure, as if he would never die, or, at least, would live very long indeed ; but being worthy to be deluded by the devil, he was ignorant that there is a church at Rome called Jerusalem, where the Roman pontiff was accustomed every year to celebrate the sacred mysteries in a solemn manner on the Sunday when the Psalm, " Rejoice, O Jerusalem,"^ is sung. Therefore, when he was required at the proper season to perform the customary duty, he shuddered with horror at last, though too late, at the fallacious response, and he experienced the truth of it. A similar anecdote is also narrated of Alberic,^ formerly earl of ' The name of the fourth Sunday in Lent ; so called fi-om the commencement of the Introit. 2 See Dugd. Baron, i. 56. 628 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. Northumberland ; who, when he was great and powerful, not being content with his own station, went about to seek for higher honour; and having consulted an evil spirit, by means of a certain follo^A'er of that nefarious art, he heard that he should have " Grsecia." At length, leaving all that he possessed, he went towards the regions of the East, and entered Greece upon the faith of the oracle. After he had made a long stay in Greece to no purpose, and the Greeks happened to hear that he had come to reign over them, they drove him out of their territory, despoiled of all his goods, and they scarcely spared his life. After the lapse of some years, wearied by toil and affliction, he returned to Normandy, and was received with benignity by king Henry, on account of their old acquaintance ; and he, wishing to provide for the future welfare of his wearied friend, bestowed on him in marriage a noble widow with all her patrimony. At the solemn benediction, the priest said to her, " Lady Greecia, are you content to have this man?" for so she was called ; then he recognised at last the astuteness of the delusive spirit, who had lifted up his covetous mind with a vain hope, by foretelling that he should have " Grsecia." CnAP. VII.^— How THE Kingdom of the Normans in Sicily was over- , THROWN. In those days the highly flourishing kingdom of Sicily (which, from its commencement under Guischard, for more than a hundred years, had retained its condition unchanged) was overthrown, more by the malice of chance than by external violence, and passed away into the power of the emperor of Germany, with the provinces annexed to it; that is to say, Campania, Apulia, and Calabria. To set this forth distinctly, the commencement of the narration must be taken up at a little earlier period. In the time, then, of William the elder, who conquered the people of England, Guischard, who was descended from a family of moderate fortune in Normandy, finding that he gained but little profit by doing military service to that king, and having confidence in his own valour, was discontented with a humble station ; and so he departed from his native country with a few companions, and set out for Apulia. After he had fought there with great reputation, men of his own nation, poor and desirous of obtaining higher pay, were incited by his example, and by degrees resorted to him, and he became their chief. But those persons for whom he had fought a short time before began to malign and defraud him, and he sub- dued them in a short time ; and, availing himself of his increasing fortune, he grew so powerful that he reduced the opulent provinces of Apulia and Calabria under his power; and, by the wonderful felicity of his success, he also obtained possession of the kingdom of Sicily. Not content with this glory, he entered Greece in a hostile manner, and seized certain provinces of the emperor of Constantinople ; for, after encountering him in battle, he put his forces to flight, and compelled him to escape ingloriously. The ' This chapter is also omitted in the Antwerp edition. en. vu.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 629 emperor again prepared for war, and drew together, far and wide, the forces of the empire, while Guischard received a mandate from the Roman pontiff to bring, with the utmost celerity, assistance to the church of St. Peter, which was assailed by the emperor of Germany; so he left his son, Bohemond, in Greece ; but not long afterwards he was poisoned by his wife, who had been tempted by the same emperor ; and thus, by an unhappy end, after so much felicity, he showed how vain everything is that is of this world. He left, however, to his sons the entire right to his extensive conquests ; and they reigned after him in much happiness and glory, terrible to the Greeks and Africans, and also beyond the reach of the emperors of Germany. The succession continued in this most noble race until William, the son of William, who, after he had married the daughter of Henry, the illustrious king of England, had no children by her, and was carried off by an early death. To him succeeded Tancred, the bastard, by the choice and election of the nobility, — for all despised the government of the Germans. Moreover, Constantia, the aunt of the deceased king, when the right of succession appeared to lie open to competitors, upon the death of the king, had married Henry, the son of Frederick, emperor of Germany. He (when his father died in the expedition to the East, as it is set forth above) obtained the imperial power by legitimate succession, and made it his study to bring the territory, claimed by his wife, within the German rule. Having drawn together the forces of the empire, he invaded Campania and Apulia, and obtained several cities and many castles by surrender ; but when he besieged Naples, famous among cities, a pestilence arose in the camp, and cut off no small part of his numerous army ; he himself and the rest escaping with difficulty. His wife, how- ever, in the meantime, who was residing at Salerno, fell into the hands of the enemy; for the fleet of Tancred having arrived there, and with the assistance of the citizens (as it is said) put to flight the band of soldiers who were in attendance upon the queen at that place, she was taken prisoner and carried away into Sicily : where she was treated with honour by king Tancred, and, after a short time, resigned to her husband. When this same emperor returned into Germany, he meditated a second expedition into Apulia to do away with his previous defeat ; and as there was not sufficient money for the expenses of the war in his own treasury, he disgraced his empire by an inexpiable act of infamy. Having accidentally discovered an opportunity whereby he might promote his future expedition, he became forgetful of the honour of an emperor, and from a christian ruler became another Saladin ; for, instigated by avarice, he made captive the illustrious king of England, when he was returning unsuspiciously towards his own country from the East, where he had laboured much for Christ, as it is more fully related above ; and thus England, drained of its money, even to the holy chalices, provided the expenses of the war in Apulia with sufficient disgrace to the empire. Though the king was released, yet his hostages were retained in custody, because the fire of avarice, burning in the shameless breast of the emperor, had 630 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. not yet said to him, " It is sufficient." Therefore he drew together innumerable troops from all parts of the empire, intending to enter the frontiers of his enemies ; but before this warlike irruption, it happened that king Tancred and his sons yielded to the stroke of fate; nor was any male surviving of the royal race, who could presume to claim the vacant kingdom, especially as the hereditary right of his wife was joined to the power of the emperor. Advanc- ing, consequently, with an army, the emperor, in the name of his wife, obtained, without difficulty, the opulent regions of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. It is said, that he granted pardon to those who had opposed him under Tancred ; but he smote with cruel castigation the citizens of Salerno, and ruined that city, once so famous. The victorious Guischard is said to have formerly done the like to the citizens of the same city ; assigning to them, by this, the palm of perfidy, and by the example of punishment establishing discipline hereafter. Thus that noble kingdom, which by male succession had stood so long immovable, failed by a female inheritor, and fell, and thus passed away into a province of the German emperor, in the one thousand one hundred and ninety- fourth year from the delivery of the Virgin. Chap. VIII. — Of the horrible Death of the Duke of Austria. In the one thousand one hundred and ninety-fifth year from the delivery of the Virgin, Divine favour began to smile upon the illustrious king of England, after he had experienced such great misfortunes. For when, with much labour, he had prepared more than twenty thousand marks for the duke of Austria, to be trans- mitted early, the persons whom he had given to the duke as hostages for the payment of the sum exacted, suddenly presented themselves before the king, having milk and honey on their tongues ; for they announced that their wicked enemy had been overwhelmed by the weight of Divine judgment, and they ex- hibited much joy in proof of their announcement. They also related that before his death the land had been stricken by the scourge of the same Divine power in many ways ; so that from this it might be perceived that judgment was then approaching him with no tardy foot, unless he should speedily bring forth fruits meet for repentance ; for he had been guilty of those many evils which came upon the christian kingdoms from that most unhappy captivity of the king of England. For it is said that some cities of that land were destroyed by fire, for which there was no certain cause. The Danube, that very great river, overflowed, as if in vengeance, and covered some of the adjacent localities, with great destruction to the people. In the middle of summer the whole of that region was dried up by an unnatural and unusual drought, and unseasonably lacked the grace of its verdure ; the seeds of the fruits of the earth, when they ought to have sprung up, degene- rated into worms, and a disease spread abroad like a pestilence, and consumed the nobles of that land. These events did not terrify his wicked and avaricious heart, nor deter him from coveting en. Vlir.] THE HISTORY OP WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 6.31 the wealth of England yet more, though he had already received many thousand marks from the captive king ; and though he was under an anathema, pronounced by the Roman pontiflf, for those acts which he had committed against the king of England, yet being urged on more strongly by avarice, he proudly derided that sentence. Now the axe of Divine punishment was put to the root of that evil tree : but since it is written " Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" [Prov. xvi. 18], being enriched by the ransom of his noble captive, he convoked the nobles of the land, and resolved to celebrate the solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord with much ostentation and glory. Accordingly, on the first day he shone forth arrayed in splendour ; on the next day, however, he rendered glory to God ; for on the nativity of St. Stephen [20th Dec], after he had dined, he went forth to tilt with his knights, and his horse happening to fall, threw his rider, and crushed his foot so that the bones that were fractured broke through the skin, and projected outside. The physicians, who were soon summoned, entertained some solicitude about the cure of so great an injury, and applied those remedies which they thought expedient. On the next day, however, the foot appeared so blackened, that the physicians decided that ampu- tation was necessary ; and he himself, from the love of life, requested that the operation should be performed ; but there was no one, either physician or officer of the household, or even his son, who would perform it. At last, his chamberlain was called, and compelled to this, — while the duke himself, with his own hand, applied an axe to his shin bone, — he, by blows of a mallet, struck off his foot in about three strokes. The physicians then applied medicaments ; and when they visited him on the following day, they perceived, by no ambiguous signs, that he was at the gates of death ; and by their looks and words told him, " Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live" [Isa. xxxviii. 1]. Thus left without hope, he sent for the bishops who had been invited, and had come to the solemnity, and in the sight of his nobles he entreated to be released from the bond of the ana- thema with which he was involved by the Roman pontiff. An answer was returned by the whole of the clergy that he could by no means be absolved, unless under the warranty of an oath that he would stand by the judgment of the church with regard to the injuries which he had inflicted on the king of England ; and that his nobles, in like manner, should swear, that if, perchance, the judgment of the church could not- be carried into effect by him, they would, in every possible way, take care to provide that nothing which might be decided should become void. After he had solemnly confirmed this obligation, he received the gift of abso- lution ; and soon after he commanded that the hostages of the king of England should be set at liberty. After a short time, his sufferings becoming more severe, he expired ; and his son, who succeeded him, wished also to become heir to his father's avarice ; and lest the last will of his deceased father should be fulfilled, he joined with several noblemen, and opposed it. "Whence it came 632 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. to pass, by the laudable and invincible zeal of the clergy, that the body of the great duke remained unburied for some days, which cast a stain upon his disobedient son. At last, sorely troubled, he entirely released the hostages above mentioned, and wished to deliver to them four thousand marks, to be carried back to the king of England ; but they, on account of the perils of the roads, preferred returning unburthened to their own country ; and hastening home with alacrity, they were the first to announce their own deliverance. The king rejoiced at the news, gave thanks to God, and from that time is considered to have Uved more uprightly. Chap. IX.— What came to pass, by God's disposal, in the Province of Le Mans, foe the Correction of the King of England. Another event is reported to have happened also at that time, in the province of Le Mans, which aptly admonished the same king of his salvation. The thing is known to many; and we insert it in our narration, simply as it has been related to us by venerable men worthy of belief, who protested that they received it from the bishop of Le Mans. A certain man, one of the bishop's vassals, impelled by pious devotion, went to Spain to the shrine of the blessed apostle James, and returned home in safety. After a short time, burning still more with the heat of faith and devotion, he desired to visit the sepulchre of the Lord; a far more laborious pilgrimage. Bidding, therefore, farewell to his family, he commenced his journey at a seasonable time. Once, when he was walking alone, a person of enormous size, and terrible countenance, suddenly stood before him in the road. The man being startled, with elevated hand, put on the armour of Christ.' But the other, as if he regarded not the sign of salvation, said, " Thou wilt in no wise be able, by this means, to protect thyself from becoming mine ; but if thou wilt fall down and worship me, I will make thee rich and very famous." To this, the man, overcoming fear by boldness, replied with freedom, " It is clear that thou art a being of evil omen ; keep thy gifts to thyself ; for the bounty of God Almighty is sufficient for me, and Him alone do I adore." Then the other said, " It behoves thee to have something of me even against thy will;" and holding out, as it were, a cloak of slight material, he cast it over the head of the man, and instantly, by its fiery contact, it burnt up his hair and blackened also the skin of his head. Then the enemy, leaping for- ward, caught the trembling man by the arm. But the man, when urged by such necessity as this, conscious of his recent pilgrimage, called loudly upon St. James. The blessed apostle, reverend in his appearance, soon visibly appeared, and with his powerful word rebuked the evil assailant ; but when the man was rescued from the hands of his raging enemy, he listened in safety to those words, for the sake of which, as it is thought, that event befel him by the will of God. The apostle said to the evil one, " Say who thou ' That is, crossed himself. CH. X.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 633 art, and what is thy business." Compelled by this command, he replied, " I am an evil spirit, and hostile to the human race, and skilled in a thousand arts of doing injury. It was I who achieved that great scandal and downfal of the christian possessions in the East. I it was who sowed detestable discord between the christian kings in the Land of Promise, so that nothing could be done by them, nor could the work of God prosper in their hands. By the minister of my wickedness, that is to say, the duke of Austria, I made captive the king of England on his return from Syria, causing thereby manifold occasions of evil to christian realms ; and having accompanied that king, as he was returning from captivity, towards his own land, I now remain in these parts, and am frequently present at the royal couch, like a familiar minister; and I keep a watchful guard over his treasures, which are laid up at Chinon." Having spoken these words, the evil spirit disappeared : the apostle, also, having comforted the man, retired to the secret abode of his own brightness. The man, however, returned quickly to the city of Le Mans, and there unfolded all those events, in their order, to the bishop and men of discretion; and in proof of his good faith, he uncovered his head, which was deprived of hair, and exhibited his arm blistered by the grasp of that pestiferous hand. After this was done, he resumed his intended journey in a few days. Nor were these circumstances long hidden from king Richard; and being struck with compunction, through fear of Him who touches the mountains and they smoke, under the impulse of wiser counsel, from that time forth, as we have heard, he wished to render his couch more chaste, and he bestowed larger alms out of his treasures to the needy. Chap. X. — Of the Death op Hugh, Bishop of Durham. In these days, Hugh, bishop of Durham, yielded to fate in the forty-second year of his episcopate. And, indeed, of those chosen bishops, of whom the world was not worthy, we read of few that held office for so long a period ; but the bishops of our time, to whom the world is not crucified, but dominant, and who know not how to say with the prophet, "Woe^ is me, that my stay is prolonged," spend a short time only in works of piety, and grief afflicts them when they are compelled to leave their wealth and their pleasures, in proportion as their joy abounds, while they were in affluence. For that bishop, it is said (I know not how deluded), while he was in prosperity, prophesied that his age would be full of years, and, in the hearing of many, pronounced that he should pass ten years in blindness ; for his eyes would grow dark through old age ; therefore, relying in security upon the world, he found out, though too late, the falsehood of his opinion, when the approach of death came suddenly upon him. . Yet in this, whether any one deluded him, by divination, or whether he, depending on his own opinion, from the consideration of his good health, may have promised himself a verj' long life, is uncertain. ' Psal. cxix. 5. Yulg. 634 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book V. However, until his seventieth year, in which he died, and until the disease commenced by which he was taken away, he is understood to have lived free from bodily pain, sound and healthy. He was a man most prudent in the disposal of earthly affairs ; and most eloquent, though without much knowledge of literature. He thirsted after money, and was full of knowledge of the means how to acquire it. As a bishop, he was not content with spiritual power or excellence, but he went about seeking secular influence ; and with great loss of money that belonged to the church, and which ought rather to have been applied to religious uses, he sought for himself a great name, like that of the lofty ones of the earth. He delighted in the construction of castles, and the erection of noble buildings in many places ; but the more he studied to build upon the earth, the more remiss was he to build in heaven. Moreover, he had been taken from the allurements of a secular life, and at an age disallowed by the canons had been raised to the episcopacy, by reason of the nobility of his family alone ; and he studiously fulfilled that saying of Solomon, " And ^ whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them ; I withheld not my heart from any joy." Although he did not spare his wealth, but, lest any of the designs of his great mind should fail, he indiscreetly poured out the wealth that he had accumulated with much trouble, yet, in other respects, he was much more given to heaping up than scat- tering abroad. He was very indulgent to lepers, and built for them that noble hospital,^ not far from the city of Durham, with profuse liberality indeed, but partly by means which were not very honest ; applying, by his power, no small amount of other people's property to this devotional purpose, lest his own might be too much bur- thened by the expenditure. Moreover, after the destruction of the christian population in the East, when the christian princes and a great number of people assumed the cross of the Lord, he also chose to be the companion of their pious devotion. He afterwards, on Ash-Wednesday, solemnly assumed the sign of the Lord ; and, as a punishment for his sins, he changed his soft inner clothing for haircloth ; which, however, he did not wear for any length of time. Moreover, he did not neglect the opportunity of even casting away his sacred character ; and when he was warmly entreated by the king, he by no means refused the solicitudes of public administra- tion, as it was more fully told in its place ; and being after that craftily led on by the king, he purchased of him the earldom of North- umberland, and paid him all the money he had scraped together towards the expenses of his distant pilgrimage. After this was done, and the king had departed for the East, he at last removed the sacred sign from his shoulder; and in the new enjoyment of his two-fold honour of an old bishop and a young earl, he magnificently displayed his power and glory until the return of the king ; but when he came back to his kingdom from captivity in Germany, tlie bishop observed that the face of the king did not smile upon him, and he thought he could not pacify him in any other manner than 1 Eccles. ii. 10. 2 Sherburn Hospital, yet standing; see Dugd. Monast. vi. GC8. CH. XI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 635 by resigning the earldom, which he had bought for a heavy sum, and had possessed for a short space of time. He was not, however, able to propitiate him ; and he afterwards found him grievous from his importunate exactions ; for the king thought that the money- bags of so great a bishop could not easily he exhausted, especially when he ofl'ered large sums to redeem the earldom which he had formerly bought in vain. Afterwards, the king, having resolved to pass beyond the sea, eagerly demanded, by his royal power, the money which was offered to him, but without bestowing the earl- dom ; the bishop thereupon petitioned, by special messengers and by gifts, that the king, for the sake of the money which had passed between them, would restore the earldom to him, or, if he did not restore it, that he would desist from his exactions ; but the king cleverly cajoling his man (as he had done before), commanded him, by letters full of reverence, to come to London and pay the sum he had offered ; and, like a father of his country, he should henceforth be placed, with the archbishop of Canterbury, as ruler of the whole kingdom. Elated by this favour, the bishop with great joy commenced his journey to London. He arrived at one of his own vills, which is called Creik,^ on that Sunday [12th Feb.] when it is the custom of priests to anticipate Ash- Wednesday in Lent by a feast ; and there he gorged himself beyond the strength of his aged body, while his miserable stomach, which could enjoy nothing, was compelled, by the enticement of savours from the number of dishes, to take them in until it was overloaded. When he wished to be relieved of the excess of surfeit by an emetic, he was made much worse by it. So, from that day, he gradually grew weaker ; j-et, with obstinate spirit, he proceeded on his journey for some days, as far as Doncaster. As his disorder increased, he was not able to struggle on any further, and was conveyed by water to Hoveden, about the first Sunday in Lent [19th Feb.], and there he was confined to his bed. As he was now despaired of, his disorder growing worse, he made his will, by the persuasion of his friends who were present ; and at this time, though late, he displayed the fruits of repentance. He had but a slight sense of pain, as he said, though his weakness gradually increased, and at length prevailing over him, he ended his life : ^ when he was dead, the temporalities of his bishopric being thereupon brought into the treasury of the king's officers, who thoroughly examined all his secret hoards, and applied whatever was found to the king's service. Not even his servants and officers escaped from inquiry ; for, by the royal com- mand, they were subjected to a strict examination, as though they had plundered his goods ; and each, according to his ability, was compelled to make satisfaction out of his own substance. Chap. XL — Of the three illegitimate Children of the same Bishop, and OF HIM WHO succeeded. Moreover, the bishop in question, while he was treasurer of the church of York, a short time before he was raised to the episcopate, 1 Not far from York. 2 He died on the 3d of March, a.d. 1195. Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 284. VOL. IV. T T 636 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. begot three illegitimate children by different mothers; but this neither deterred him from seeking the office of bishop, through any respect for Divine decrees, nor did it impede his election ; for the canons of the church were loose, and the men acted with indis- cretion. St. Gregory, however, says, when writing^ to the clergy and nobles of the city of Naples : " We have learned by the report of certain persons that John, the deacon, who has been elected by the other party, has a little daughter. "Wherefore, if they had wished to act reasonably, they ought not to have elected him, nor should he have given his consent ; for with what presumption does he dare to approach the office of bishop, when he is convinced that as yet he does not possess continence of his person for any length of time, as his little daughter testifies?" If, therefore, that man, by reason of one daughter, ought not to have aspired or been elected to the office of bishop, much less ought this man to have done so, by reason of three little sons. Yet, having obtained the episcopacy, he made it his study to advance to wealth and a great name, that offspring which he begot before he became a bishop, through the allurements of carnal affec- tion. However, during his episcopate he had no more children. His first-born,^ whose mother was of noble birth, chiefly loved the warfare which is of this world. The next in order, by the provi- dent care of his father, held possession of many churches, together with the archdeaconry ' of Durham, yet more for the promotion of his pleasures than for any utility to the souls of men. The third son, also, whom his father loved most tenderly, by great trouble and expense on his part, became chancellor * to the king of France, and by his early death he deeply wounded the affection of his father. The second son (who survived his father) was left by him in much earthly prosperity ; but in the sixth month after his father's death he proved the vanity and fallacy of that felicity by following his father. At the end of a year from the death of that bishop, and after the bishopric had been despoiled in many ways by the king's officers, Philip,-' a native of Aquitain, accepted that see, with the royal assent ; for since he had been, for a long time, employed about the person of the king, a partaker of his labours, and acquainted with his secrets, the king wished to remunerate him nobly, as having merited highly from him ; but, lest he might appear to assume the honour to himself rather than to be called by God, as Aaron was, it was subtilely provided, and, by the untried but insatiable influence of the king, extorted from the electors, lest any one should think of voting against him, that they should elect him who was previously elected by the king, and that they should shadow forth the reality of the royal choice by the public appearance of an ecclesiastical ' Epp. L. viii. ep. 40, Picard. * Henry de Puteaco, mentioned by bishop Hugh in a charter printed in Raine's A ppendix to the three Durham historians, p. Isiv. 2 See Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 302. *■ Hugh de Puteaco accompanied the French king when he vieited the shrine of Becket in 1179, and is mentioned by Hoveden, f. 338. * Philip of Poitiers. CH. xri.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 637 election. For many persons who aspire to ecclesiastical honours through the influence of the great, are accustomed to submit to an appearance of an election, as if it were a fair one, though it has been produced by terror, in order that they may avoid the charge of having manifestly thrust themselves into office. But this they do in vain, since the apostle says, " Be not deceived, God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" [Gal. vi. 7]. Chap. XII.— How Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, celebrated a Council IN THE Church op York, under the name of Legate ; and of the Dispute WHICH exists between THE ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY AND YORK CON- CERNING THE Primacy. The bishop of Durham being dead, and the archbishop of York beyond the sea, to appease the anger of the king, which had been vehemently kindled against him, Hubert, archbishop of Canter- bury,— who possessed, throughout all England, not only regal power in the government of the kingdom, but also apostolic rule in the management of the church, — went to the metropolis of York to exhibit the glory of this united authority. By a mandate sent before him, he commanded the prelates of the whole province solemnly to come and meet him, and attend him ; and, suppressing for the time the name of primate, he entered the metropolitan church in great pomp, and exercised great power in it, celebrating a council with magnificence, under the name of legate of the holy see ; and no one opposed or protested against it, because all men M^ere either stricken with terror, or were but little devoted to their own metro- politan. When this was done, and his secular jurisdiction there also completed for that time, he returned to his own province. Here, I think, I should mention the reason or occasion about which the tw^o metropolitans of England have now contended during a long period of time. The archbishop of York is upheld by the distinct authority of St. Gregory;^ who, in writing to Augustine, the bishop of the Angles, says, " We wish the bishop of York to be subject to thee, my brother ; but after thy death let him pre- side over the bishops that he may have ordained, so that he may, in no respect, be subject to the bishop of London." And he added, " Between the bishops of London and York let there be hereafter this distinction in honour : let him be esteemed the first who was first ordained." The bishop of Canterbury, however, (whom St. Gregory calls the bishop of London,) asserts that this authority was abrogated at a subsequent period ; that is to say, when the Roman pontiff (as the venerable Beda ^ relates) ordained that most learned man, Theodore, as bishop over the church of Canterbury, whom he also appointed as primate over all the bishops of England. His successors for many ages are known to have been distinguished by the same prerogative ; whence it is clear that the prerogative was granted not to the person but to the church. On the part of the archbishop of York, it is answered that St. Gregory established a manifest and solid right, which at no time has been abrogated ; » See Beda, Ecc. Hist. I. xxis. § 73. « See id. IV. ii. § 25G. 638 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [BOOK V. although for a certain time, l)y reason of the time itself, it was not in use, as if the right were dormant and might be revived at the proper time. Forasmuch as the Angles had lately been converted to the faith of Christ, according to the history of the truthful Beda, rude and unlearned bishops of that nation had begun to preside over them ; and in order to instruct such men, the Roman pontifl", of necessity, with pious foresight, appointed the learned Theodore, not, indeed, making void the decree of the most blessed father Gregory, but only consulting the times ; but the successors of Theodore either considered that they ought in like manner to yield to the times, or when the times were better they were guilty of presumption ; since the bishops of the Angles, who presided over the church of York, with a kind of rustic simplicity, took but little care of the prerogative of their own see, and, from the days of Paulinus the bishop, neglected the use of the pall for many years. To this the archbishop of Canterbury replies, " That, although the use of the pall was restored to the church of York, many pontiffs of that church were notoriously subject to the jurisdiction of the cliurch of Canterbury, or to the archbishop, as their own primate." Tlie archbishop of York rejoins, " Although as the respect of tem- poral necessity could not generate any prejudice to the right of the church of York, so neither could the simplicity or the negligence of the bishops of that church do so, for St. Gregory willed that its right should not be annulled, but be firm and perpetual." ^ This vain contention concerning the primacy thus involved the metropolitans of England in a long and expensive labour. Each of them, however, most vainly writes himself " Primate of all England;" yet neither possesses the power signified by this title. Whence it was that the archbishop of Canterbury above mentioned thought he would suppress the title of primate, that he might be received by the church of York as legate of the apostolic see. This title certainly was not sincerely suppressed, but because it could not be assumed, as he could not come as primate. Truly, he might not have been favourably received, by reason of his legation, if the clergy of that church had wished to make use of the privilege which they had obtained some years before from the holy see, by which they and their archbishop were exempt from the jurisdiction of any legate appointed in England. Doubtless they dreaded him, not without cause, as one to be feared, and thought that he was one who ought to be contended against cautiously by reason of his prerogative ; and they preferred to be subject to him as legate, whom they wished as a friend and patron, rather than experience the pressure of a power against which they were unable to struggle. Chap. XIII. — Of the Ahmy off Saracens that entered Spain from Africa. In those days, that is, in the one thousand one hundred and ninety-fifth year from the delivery of the Virgin, the christian kings of England and France were still labouring under the disease ' On this dispute the reader may consult the authorities in the Decern. Scriptores, p. 17J55, and Wharton's Anglia Sacr. i, 05. en. XIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 639 of the bitterest hatred against one another; and, eager to commence hostilities, could hardly endure to wait for the termination of the truce, by which their malice was to a slight degree restrained. At this time a tremendous army of Saracens entered Spain, led (as it is said) by a certain false philosopher of their own superstition, who promised great things ; and being joined by the Saracens in the country, and bringing destruction with them, they rushed into the christian provinces. These Africans, — emulating the advancing fortunes of the oriental Saracens, who, under Saladin their chief, had invaded the kingdom of Jerusalem, and extirpated the title of the christian name from Arabia, and almost from Syria also, — were desirous to equal them in valour and glory ; and they designed to expel or to destroy the neighbouring christian nations, and to subject the whole of Spain to their degrading heresy. Their con- fidence was augmented because the times seemed to favour them ; since the christian kings of nearly all Europe were in a state of dissension with one another, and so intent on fulfilling the nefarious impulses of their own greediness, that scarcely any one of them could be expected to undertake military service for the propagation or defence of the christian faith in Spain. So, crossing the strait which separates Africa from Spain, and uniting the forces of the Spanish infidels to their own, they revelled in the christian provinces with unbridled and sanguinary audacity ; but our people, who, at first, were astonished at the sudden irruption of this infinite multitude, soon recovered their spirits, and determined to try the fortune of war. This land is so spacious, that beyond the part which is possessed by the Saracens, and which is no small one, it is ennobled by five christian kingdoms, which are not undistinguished, and which fought with various fortune against those unbelievers. Much blood was shed on either side; but at length God was propitious to our people, and the hostile army, deprived of the greater part of its strength, returned with dishonour to its own country to presume less strongly, for the future, on the vain philosophy of their leader. The rumour of this hostile irruption spreading far and wide, in a short time pervaded the whole of Europe, and announced things still more atrocious, while the christian population groaned deeply, and, with just complaint, accused their princes, who, uninflamed with Divine zeal, did not oppose themselves to the false faith which was gaining ground ; but, according to the words of the apostle, they were consumed one of another, biting and eating each other up. Thus fighting among themselves they exhausted the christian forces, which ought to be preserved entire against the enemies of the christian name. Nor were they admonished by the recent example of the territory of Jerusalem, which fell most unhappily into the hands of the Saracens, while our people were disputing among themselves. For it was not confidence in his owfi power and strength that animated and assisted Saladin, that enemy of our holy religion, against us, but the discord of our leaders, who appeared to rule the Holy Land, and which he had craftily dis- covered. Yet this is but little in comparison with our ancient 640 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. losses, which, in fact, flowed from the dissensions that enervated the strength of the christians. For when the Roman repubhc was flourishing of old, the empire of Christ was as great, yea, and even greater than the empire of Rome ; which, however, besides Europe, contained within its limits the most celebrated and the most extensive provinces of Asia, with almost all Africa ; yet, through the intestine evils of christian princes and people, it came to pass that the Arabians, who are also called Saracens, grew strong, and filled the earth with their nefarious sect, so that the christian religion possessed but little space beyond the confines of Europe. The same most pestilent error also crept into Europe from Africa, which was first infected, and which, in turn, has stained no small part of Spain, even unto the present day. For the sake of those who may happen to know nothing about it, I may explain, in a few words, according to the tradition of our ancestors, the origin of this most debased sect, and how it grew so strong as to corrupt so many nations and kingdoms. Chap. XIV. — Of Mahomet the false Prophet, and of the Law which he INTRODUCED THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF ErROR, AND HOW THE SAME LaW INFECTED MANY Nations. After the times of the blessed pope Gregory — when the Roman empire, which formerly extended from the British ocean as far as the confines of Persia, was so wasted by the commotions of tyrants and by civil wars, that it was hardly sufficient for its own defence against foreign nations — a pagan army of Persians, enraged against the Christians, occupied, with very little trouble, certain of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire and of the christian religion which were destitute of troops. There followed in the track of the Ishmaelites, who are correctly called Saracens, but more truly Hagarenes, a more consuming pest, which — according to what is written, " That which the palmer- worm hath left, hath the locust eaten" [Joel i. 4] — persecuted the surviving Christians in the East almost to the extremity of slaughter, acting under prince Mahomet the false prophet. He, in his youth, passing through many regions for the sake of traffic, being of a sharp apprehension, in frequent conversations with Christians and Jews, learned the ceremonies and modes of worship peculiar to each religion : and that the familiarity and cooperation of most evil spirits might not be wanting to aid him in fulfilling those schemes which he had already conceived in his mind, he took care to become initiated in magical arts. Instructed in these, and being a man wonderfully crafty and eloquent, he returned to his own nation, for he was an Ishmaelite, intending to venture upon great deeds : and like that evil beast in the Apocalypse, which " had two horns like a lamb, and spake as a dragon" [Rev. xiii. 11], in order that he might lead astray many by a lying appearance of innocence and simplicity, he cast a shadow over the venom of his pestilent words. At length, by words composed for seduction, and by the aid of magical arts, he so demented the queen of his nation, (for it was the custom of CH. XIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 641 that people to be ruled by women,) that she revered him as the highest prophet of God, and wished to marry him. By this mar- riage with her he obtained the supreme authority over that nation, and led away the people much more than before, since they were not only influenced by reverence towards their prince, but also believed that they would incur God's displeasure if they showed any remissness in obeying his highest prophet in any respect. In all things which he enjoined the people, who had been led away, or who might be led away by him, he assumed the person of the Deity as if He spoke by him; and, by a deceitful imitation of the true prophets, he commenced with " Thus saith the Lord ;" and because, in the delivery of the holy law, he knew that it was written, " The Lord spake to Moses, saying" — that it might be under- stood to be Divine, and not human, which was delivered by man, he also thought fit to insert in his books, " The Lord spake to Ma- homet his prophet, saying" — in order that what was feigned by him seductively, might be thought to have the weight of Divine autho- rity. And when not only his subjects, but many others also inclined towards him of their own free will, and depended on his decision in all things, he was inflamed with the desire of extending his dominion more widely under the pretext of propagating his religion; and, as if by the precept of God, he assailed the neighbouring nations. First, he invaded the christian provinces in the East ; he next turned his arms towards the lands which are under the govern- ment of Persia, — effecting by art and skill what he was unable to do by arms. Although he appeared to be religious in all things, yet he studied, in every way, to lead the conquered people to his own superstition, and to resign the ceremonies of their country, in- hibiting even the idolatry of the pagans whom he subdued; but he trampled down the Christians, even to the extermination of the holy name. In this manner, in Egypt and Lybia, Mesopotamia and Syria, realms of high renown, and in other provinces of the East, in which the observance of the christian religion formerly prevailed, it declined before the predominance of the Arabians, even until it was nearly extinct. When this plague-bearer, sent by God, had gone on prosperously in his inventions, according to the desires of his heart, and the form of the new Antichrist, deceit being measured out by his hand, he considered, by the suggestion of the delusive spirit, the mode by which he might spread the venom of delusion more widely, and draw men into his net more strongly : he incorporated by oaths, into one body, the people whom he had led astray. Therefore, in his crafty vanity he composed new laws for living, and new cere- monies for sacred worship ; and, in the most artful manner, he contrived that what appeared to be a Divine sanction should be obtained for his ministry, as if it were prophetic. A camel of elegant form had been privately fed from its. earliest years, and was accustomed to receive its food from his hands alone ; he suspended from its neck his sacrilegious volume, and sent it away before daylight. The animal, delighted at its liberty, to which it had never been accustomed, and fleeing from the touch of all 642 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. who came near it, roamed over the plains. A report soon spread that a most beautiful camel had appeared, carrying mysteries on its neck. The people ran together to behold this unusual sight ; and the affair was reported to him, also, who was the inventor of this nefarious contrivance. He went forth, as if to see the miracle. The animal, observing its feeder at a distance, ran up, and kneeling down licked the well-known hands. The people exclaimed that the merit of the prophet was clear ; they requested that the volume might be received into his sacred hands, and that whatever mystery it might contain should be laid open. "When it was open, he said, " Behold, this is the law, written not with the ink of man, but by an angelic hand ; which God Almighty sends from heaven by this animal to our nation to be observed perpetually. This book will teach you how to serve God, and what great things you may hope from Him by observing his law." In this manner, under the name of religion, he promulgated the sacrilegious inventions of his own heart, and appointed that the day on which this had occurred should be solemnly observed every year; and, as we have heard, the day is called by the Saracens the " Feast of the Camel," and is preceded by a fast of one month. Since he had learned equally the traditions of the Christians and the Hebrews, he inserted some of each into his own inventions, lest it might be difficult to place confidence in him, if he preached or sanctioned practices which were altogether unusual. For example, that he might please the Jews, he prohibited men from eating the flesh of swine : and because Ishmael, the patriarch of his race, was circumcised, he admitted the rite of circumcision. Also, in a kind of sacrilegious imitation of our baptism, he instituted frequent washings of the whole body in water, as if for expiation. He embraced and taught the first part of the apostolic sentence, " Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness" |Rom. xiii. 13]; but the rest of it he relaxed, through indulgence lliat was agreeable to the lascivious : for, as he was a man whose libidinous habits were flagrant, lest he should seem to do one thing and to teach another, he allowed his followers every indecency of carnal lust, impudently and mendaciously pretending that a good God would not be angry at such things; and by this foul and shameful licence he conciliated that obscene nation. He held in abomination gluttons and drunkards, who are grievous to the whole earth, and he taught sobriety ; he scoffed at the delights of the table, and interdicted the use of wine, except on a few fixed and solemn days. Whence it is, that while the Saracens are most filthy in the torrent of their lusts, through the indulgence of their deceiver, as it has been said, they are admitted to be superior to our people (oh sorrow !) in frugality ; and they reproach us (oh shame ! ) for our filthiness in feasting and drunkenness. That mallet of the christian name, Saladin, some years ago, when he inquired into the manners of our people, and heard that they usually had many kinds of meat at dinner, said, that such men were unworthy of the Holy Land. Whence it is certain, that when the luxury of our people was discovered, it incited and animated CH. XIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 643 the Saracens against us, for they gloried in their frugality, and seemed to say, " God has departed from those surfeited men ; let us pursue and take them, for there is none that can deliver them." Of the same Saladin I will also relate a memorable anecdote, in few words, which I heard from a man of veracity, and by which it will appear how subtle was this scofter at our religion in the commendation of his own sect. Two monks of the Cistercian order, who had been taken captive by Turkish robbers, were once presented to him. Understanding from their unusual habits that they were a class of Christians that professed philosophy, he inquired, through an interpreter, who they were, and of what condition or profession? They replied, that they were monks who professed the rule of the blessed father Benedict. He made many inquiries about the institutes of that rule ; and when, among other things, he heard of their celibacy, he inquired if they drank wine, and ate meat. They replied, that at all times they had a certain small allowance of wine for their use, but they were not permitted to eat meat, unless by reason of necessity or infirmity. Then he commanded them to be committed into custody of a more indulgent kind, and that animal food only should be supplied to them, with water to drink, for their maintenance, by two women, of comely appearance, who were deputed to wait upon them. They ate the meat and drank the water ; and following the example of the blessed Job, they made a covenant with their eyes, that they would by no means think of sin, but with sobriety for their com- panion they abstained from discourse, being careful guardians of their own chastity. Wlien Saladin was informed of this, he com- manded the meat and water to be changed for fish and wine ; and, indeed, if he did this with the intention that is spoken of by Solomon [Prov. xxxi. 6J, " Give wine to him that is of heavy heart ; let him drink and forget his poverty," then it was done of a good purpose ; but he was craftily laying a snare for them, that by his art he might delude their simplicity, and from this cast a calumny on their religion. So they drank the wine ; and while the women encouraged them to assuage their sorrow by a rather more indulgent draught, they by no means kept that apostolic rule, " Use a little wine for thy stomach's sake" [1 Tim. v. 23], for what is sufficient for the stomach is too little for hilarity; but when with hilarity forgetfulness of virtue crept in, the truth of that sen- tence of Solomon concerning wine became clear, for its beginning is pleasant, " but at the last it biteth like a serpent " [Prov. xxiii. 32]. At length, they fell into the arms of the designing wom'en. In the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone oif, and their sinful state discovered, they wept bitterly, and, moist with tears, were brought forward at the command of the contriver of this scheme, who said to them, " Why are you more sad than usual?" " Because," said they, "we have sinned grievously, being overcome with wine." Then said he, " When you fed on flesh, and drank water, you cautiously kept your purpose ; but without eating flesh, w'hen you were intoxicated with wine, you were found to be betrayers of your rule and of your purpose. From this it appears, that the 644 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book V. author of your philosophy, Benedict, was not very wise, since he forbade you to eat meat, by which the stabihty of the mind is not in the least disturbed, and gave you the use of wine, by which the vigour, even of the strongest reason, is enervated ; as you have proved by your recent example. Therefore, was not our philosopher and legislator more prudent, who prohibited to us the use of wine, and indulged us in eating meat, which is never harmful ? But what expiation is there among your people, when you have broken your vows?" Then they said, " Penance and satisfaction, accord- ing to the judgment of our senior." " Therefore," said he, " you cannot make expiation among us ; return to your own people for expiation according to your rites ; " and he dismissed them freely to return to their homes. He was a man imbued inveterately with that pestilential doctrine, and quick in scoffing at what he did not understand ; and so he seemed to sport with those men, and attempted to jest at wholesome doctrine, of which he was ignorant, carping with blind vanity at a man who was full of the Spirit of God ; of whom the blessed Gregory said that he had written a rule for monks excellent in discretion, and clear in its expression. For, in truth, it was a proof of excellent discretion, that for those who were engaged upon a sacred warfare, he took care to restrain the delights of the table, which soften and relax the mind ; and, according to the apostolic form of words, he wished to permit the moderate use of wine, by which the feeble flesh is revived, and the mind is not burthened. That pestiferous sect, which took its beginning through the spirit of error, and of that son of perdition, as I have said, after it had infected many provinces through the art and arms of its author, after his death, by the operations of Satan, grew yet stronger, and occupied the greater part of the world : for that pestilential man left disciples, at his death, who were the inheritors of his skill and power. By these the Persians (at that time the most powerful of all nations) were afterwards subdued, and yielded to the rule of the Arabs, with the whole extent of their em.pire ; and when they were subdued, they were led astray to receive their superstition, which was disguised under the name of religion, and under the semblance of piety. In process of time, the Arabians, who were also called Saracens, after going in a hostile manner to other parts of the world, for the sake of propagating their superstition, or of extend- ing their rule, laid siege to Constantinople. This city, with the provinces of Greece and Thrace, was successfully defended, but with difficulty; so they passed over into Africa, and, without much opposition, invaded rather than attacked those extensive provinces in that continent, which had been under the Roman government, but which were exhausted by civil wars ; and they possess them even unto this day, after exterminating our holy religion : for from the time of Constantine the Great the liberty of christian worship prevailed far and wide in Africa ; and those most valiant champions of our faith, the glorious doctor and martyr, Cyprian, and Augustine, that most brilliant vessel of christian wisdom, flourished there. Nor was that faithless race content with such success ; for with en. XV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. G45 perverse fury invading Spain, which is divided from Africa by a strait of no great width, they occupied a considerable part of it, which they possess at the present day, as an appendage for the occupation of their degrading heresy. They also passed over the Pyrenean mountains, by which France and Spain are divided, and advanced against the tierce valour of the French ; hoping and designing, while fortune favoured them, to bring the whole of Europe into their error, and under their rule, like as they had done to other countries. But Almighty God — whose judgments are a deep abyss, and who, when He pleased, has set bars and doors to so boisterous a sea, and has said, " Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" [Job xxxviii. 11] — He opposed an impenetrable obstacle to their rage, as they were spreading over the realm of France ; for the Roman empire was sinking, and the French had made preparations, a short time before, to receive this attack. The Arabians, unable to proceed any further, were driven back into Spain. Having thus explained how the wicked pest of the Hagarenes came first from the regions of the East into Africa and Spain, whose obscene progeny in our days, following the example of the faithless Orientals, has blazed forth with a new impulse against the Christians who reside in Spain, we now return to the order of our history. Chap. XV.— Of the War that was renewed between our Kings, after the TERMINATION OF THE TrUCE. The time of the truce being fulfilled, the illustrious kings of France and of England, as they had made a treaty of peace without any judgment, began in the month of July to renew the war with all their forces, although the nobility of both realms studied much to sow the seeds of concord. The cause of this un- happy perverseness was because the king of France could not be influenced by counsel, or respect of honour, to resign to the king of England those possessions which he had usurped from his jurisdiction, contrary to the law of nations, while he was detained in Germany ; and the king of England thought it unseemly for him to make peace while his territories were thus mutilated. Thus peace was rendered hopeless, even for the future ; and they met with their forces in a valley which is called Rulli.^ This valley is not far from Rouen, and it was under the jurisdiction of the king of England ; but when his misfortune in Germany befel him, like many other places, it fell into the hands of the king of France, along with its castle. After both armies had remained there for some days in their camps with the expectation of a battle, separated only by a moderately broad trench, and by a river that flowed between them; as the castle was difficult to defend, it seemed advisable to the king of France to destroy it, and then to retreat and preserve his forces entire, until the arrival of a more opportune time for battle. So he laboured day and night in undermining the centre tower and ' Probably Sullj', between Gouruay and Anmale. 646 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book V. the walls, while he craftily suspended the attack of his adversaries, by treating deceitfully for peace ; but the king of England, per- ceiving the deceit from the sudden fall of the centre tower, which had been undermined, with great spirit ordered the troops to pre- pare for battle. Upon this the French army, without awaiting the risk of battle, marched oft', but with their ranks in good order, that they might appear to retire with prudence, and not to flee away with disgrace. The king of England crossed the river with his troops, but did not choose to pursue those who were retreating; but, content for the time with his bloodless success, he gave his attention to the repairs of the castle. In this war the king of France, as we have heard, did nothing memorable, but the favour of propitious fortune smiled upon the king of England ; for, by the aid of the stipendiary soldiers (whom they call " Rutee "), he stormed and took Issoudun, with some other fortresses, and notably extended his confines into the province of Berri, thus compensating for his losses in Normandy. By the same mercenaries he also took prisoner the count of Auvergne, who had formerly deserted, and he made himself master of his fortresses. Then, through the endeavours of good men, a truce for two months was agreed upon, in order that the vintage might be attended to ; and many men who had previously shone in arms were less fiercely employed, to the end that, in the space of time, deliberations might be held concerning a truce, which, by the favour of God, might be either converted into a firm peace, or be at least continued for some years. Chap. XVI. — How the King op England was exculpated by the Letters OP THE Old Man of the Mountain from the Mueder of the Marquis. In these days came letters to the princes of Europe, from the Old Man of the Mountain ; for so were the princes of a certain Eastern nation, called Hansesisi, named in succession, not on account of age, but rather for wisdom and gravity. Of this prince and people we have made more full mention above, ^ when we described the death of Conrad, marquis of Montferrat, who it was believed had been slain by them. These letters were com- posed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin characters, and were written, not with ink, but in a manner most unwonted — with the blood of the mussel, as they themselves stated. A trustworthy man has assured me that he had both seen and read these letters when they were solemnly presented to the king of France, when resident at Paris ; the contents of which were as follow : — "The' Old Man of the Mountain to the Princes, and all the People of the Christian Faith, greeting : " Whereas we have heard that the murder of the marquis of Mont- ferrat has been attributed by many to the illustrious king Richard of England, as if he had been put to death by his contrivance, on J See Book IV. ch. xxiv. p. 595. 2 See Feed. i. 62, where this letter is printed, with some variation, from Brompton, col, 12.68. CH. XVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 647 account of some private grudge which had sprung up between them during the time when each was holding an appointment in the East — it concerns our honour, in order to clear the said king's fame, blackened by the suspicion of a false crime, to declare the truth of this aftair, which has hitherto remained concealed with ourselves. We are unwilling that the innocence of any one should suffer through our acts; but while we inflict no undeserved injury on the innocent, we, by God's help, will not suffer those who have offended against us to triumph long in the wrongs wrought against our sincerity. We signify, therefore, to the whole of you, calling Him to witness by whom we hope to be saved, that the marquis came by his death through no plot of the king; but indeed, in that he had offended us, and being admonished, had failed to amend, he perished justly by the hands of our agents, pursuant to our will and command. For it is our custom first to admonish those who have in any wise acted injuriously to our- selves or our friends, to make reparation unto us; and then, if they treat our admonition with contempt, to exact the full measure of revenge at the hands of our servants, who serve us with so much devotion, as to feel no doubt of being gloriously rewarded by God if they should fall in the execution of our commands. We have also heard it publicly reported of the king, that he had induced us (as though we were anj'thing but honest and trust- worthy! to send out certain of our people to lie in ambush for the king of France — which is, beyond all doubt, false, and an invention of the most causeless suspicion, seeing that he has, God knows, never attempted anything of the kind against ourselves; and that we, out of regard for our own honour, would suffer no evil to be plotted against a man who was undeserving of such treatment at our hands. Farewell." As soon as the king of France had heard these letters solemnly recited before him, he is reported to have said that the king of England stood most honourably acquitted of so infamous a charge, and that he could, without difficulty, enter into league with him for the future, as he had been prejudiced against him for no other reason stronger than a suspicion concerning the murder of the marquis, his dearest friend. In saying these things he made no mention of a matter by which he was, beyond a doubt, the more readily induced to enter into alliance with the king of England ; forasmuch as he, as it is said, aspired to the hand of his sister, who had been the consort of the king of Sicily, but of which he, however, failed to gain possession. For many noble ladies, fearing the recent example of the Danish maiden (to whom, after one night of wedlock, he had given a writing of divorce, foully, and with much scandal, putting her away), spurned his alliance. And besides ; in addition to the daughter of the count palatine, of whom mention has been above ' made, he was cozened out of a marriage which he had earnestly desired and looked forward to, with another most noble damsel of the German empire, in this wise. She, albeit another powerful person had greatly desired her 1 See Book IV. ch. xxxii. p. 604. 648 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [noOK v. hand, was conducted by her parents, who gave the preference to the petitions of royalty, with much pomp into France, and upon crossing the frontiers of her former suitor's domains, she threw herself, of her own accord, into his hands ; by whom being, according to her wish, retained, and solemnly married, she dis- appointed the king's desires. Moreover, the king of Denmark, taking to heart the dishonour done to his divorced sister, made allegation to the apostolic see, by fitting agents, that the divorce had not been properly conducted, but managed, by means of lies, in favour of the French king ; and having, by the production of genealogical evidence, established the fact that the kings of France and Denmark were not allied by any kindred or affinity, he earnestly demanded that judgment should be given to the effect that the divorce had been devised so as to let the king of France escape from the holy ordinance of matrimony. But it was in vain ; for the fear or the favour of the French king prevailed. Finally, after this, the same king, meeting with no hindrance either from the fear of God or the vigour of the church, took to wife the daughter* of a certain German duke, if, indeed, she may be called his wife, who appears more properly to have been his concubine, and to have been an intruder rather than a married woman. Chap. XVII Of the warlike Commotion that followed the Truce between THE Kings, and how thet entered into a Treaty at Issoddun. The truce being thus concluded, on which occasion it might be imagined that the hearts of the kings could have been easily softened to conciliation, their fury rekindled by certain weighty matters ; and at the instigation of the devil it burst into flame, and all hope of peace faded away. Winter was come ; and the solemn harbinger of Christmas, which is called the Lord's Advent, was even at the gate. But neither the severity of the winter, nor the religious attributes of the season, availed aught against their greedy desire to do evil ; the christian people were wasted by rapine, murder, and fire ; and might most justly have lamented and cried of their rulers unto the Lord of lords, — " They persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they have added unto the pain of my wounds." ^ For at this time they were labouring under the dis- cipline of the Lord, and the anger of God was not as yet turned away ; but his hand was outstretched still. And besides this ; the third year of a mighty famine, which had oppressed nearly the whole of Europe, now became heavier than in the two preceding years. Whereupon the cruelties of warfare began to rage on every side. The king of France, well assured that the king of England was elsewhere engaged, laid siege to the town of Issoudun, hoping to be able to carry it by storm, before his adversary (who was at a distance) could come up with him ; but he was disap- pointed in his expectation, for he found the town well provided ' Agnus de Meranie, the daughter of the duke of Dalmatia. Philip divorced tier also, and she died of a broken heart in 1211. ■' See Psal. Ixix. 27. Vulg. en. XVII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 649 with arms and provision. As soon as he approached the walls, in order to strike terror into the defenders, he swore with petulant vanity that he would not depart thence until the town was taken, while the valorous men, who were standing upon the walls, did not hesitate, it is said, to swear with gallant confidence to the contrary. During some days the siege was carried on with vehemence, but with the greater loss on the part of the besiegers. In the mean- time, the king of England, having received the news, hastened thither with alacrity; preceding with his hghter troops the bulk of his forces, which had received orders to follow him. He entered the city in safety ; for the besiegers offered no opposition to him ; but rather, as it were, preparing a passage for him. And now, he led out his troops in battle-array, with high courage, to the field; and the hearts of the French, on seeing their own inferiority in strength, sank within them. That day, forsooth, might have declared who should be the victor of this long-protracted contest, had not the prudence of the French cautiously considered the consequences which would result to themselves. For they were too weak to fight, and they honourably refused to flee, while they could scarcely hope to elude their fierce enemy, who pressed upon their rear from their own territories, even if they should attempt to escape either by valour or a dishonourable flight. Therefore, they persuaded their lord, — placed as he was in a strait, — to decline the dubious hazard of a battle, and to deign to accept an honourable peace. The French king (it must be confessed) was in the extreme rear of his army, which had changed its front, as if about to retreat, and which was valiantly and skilfully opposed to the van of their pursuers ; whereas the king of England mai-ched at the head of his men. When the king of France had, by the agency of his nobles, demanded a parley, they met each other, and on horse- back, at a little distance between the two armies, which halted to await the issue of the conference. Having thus conversed for a short space alone and without witnesses, they, unhelming their heads, cast themselves into each other's arms, in full view of their respective hosts. A mighty rejoicing of the forces, unstained with mutual blood, followed this agreement between their chieftains, and the sweet name of peace was repeated in loud acclamations. These occurrences took place, by God's favour, on the nones of December [5th Dec. 1195], and the people returned joyfully to their own homes, converting their warlike designs into the study of peace ; and the celebration of the approaching solemnity of Christ- mas. The princes, however, kept to themselves the terms of peace, which they had secretly determined on between themselves, and which was to be proclaimed at the time which they had agreed upon. For, surely, they could not, with befitting honour, again solemnly meet together for the confirmation of so great a business before the festivities of Christmas had been duly accomplished. 65G CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. Chap. XVIII. — How the Kings pkoclaimed the Treaty which had been agreed upon, which did not last long ; and of the commotion in Britanny. In the one thousand one hundred and ninety-sixth year from the deUvery of the Virgin, the month of January being now begun, the princes, attended by a vast concourse of nobles, met together on the confines of their dominions in solemn conclave, when that which they had privately arranged between themselves was publicly declared and confirmed. The king of France resigned to the king of England, Arques, Eu, Aumale, Neufchatel, and those other places which he had usurped from his jurisdiction during the period of his imprisonment in Germany, except Gisors and some other castles ; for the retention of which, by the assent of the king of England, the king of France remitted unto him all those towns in his jurisdictions which had fallen into his hands by the fortune of war — to wit. Tours, famous for the body of St. Martin, the city of Issoudun, and many other fortresses, both in Berri and Auvergne. Any future misunderstanding between the two princes was likewise cautiously provided against by a penal statute affecting the infringer of these agreements. But every precaution proved futile in strengthening the proposed peace, as was soon plainly manifested. At last, the king of France repenting of what he had done, and indignant with those of his subjects who had proffered peaceful counsels, became more inclined to break than preserve the treaty ; .while the king of England, content with no compensation for the mutilation (however trifling) of his frontiers, found, it is said, in the very formula of the prescribed peace, the means and opportunity of irritating the French king to infringe it. So once more did the rage for war break out between the princes, to whose impulse neither the sacred seasons of Lent and Easter, nor the inclemency of the weather, which was more severe and lasting than usual, nor the famine which was raging beyond measure throughout the pro- vinces, could oppose any obstacle, sufficient to induce them to suspend for awhile their anger which had been for a time mollified by the persuasions of their friends, and, in the interval of a truce, await the fitting season when kings should go forth to battle. An insurrection at this time also, against the king of England by the Bretons, who were bringing up among themselves the boy Arthur, under the mighty omen of his name, furnished an addi- tional inducement to the king of France to try once more the fortunes of war. For when king Richard demanded the tutelage of his nephew, then ten years old, until he became of legal age, in order that he might the more straitly bind Britanny in his interest against external events, the Breton nobles, resenting this more out of suspicion than precaution, and exerting themselves strongly in favour of the boy, departed with him from the face of his advancing uncle into the innermost parts of Britanny. But the progress and issue of this Breton revolt shall be more fully set forth in its own place. ^ ' See chapter xxx. of the present Book. THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. G51 Chap. XIX. — Of the sudden Death in England of the Abbot of Caen. At this time king Richard sent the abbot ^ of Caen into England from the parts beyond the sea, armed with authority to inquire narrowly and searchingly into those matters which concerned the revenue. Now this abbot was in literature but little skilled, but in temporal concerns eminently wise and eloquent ; wise (I say) according to that text, " The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light" [Luke xvi. 8] : for, whereas, having been raised from the discipline of the cloister to the rule of the monastery, he, according to the apostolic words, " No man that warreth [for God] entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" [2 Tim. ii. 4], by avoiding all secular business, should have shown himself a child of light, yet, by undertaking and busying himself with such affairs, he manifested himself to be a child of this world, either little heeding, or refusing to understand — as he might well have done — how inconsistent with the profession of a monk and the duty of an abbot was this sinful action. At last, having by constant obsequiousness obtained the prince's favour, under the colour, it is said, of fidelity and devotedness, he thought fit to suggest to him that much loss was inflicted on his treasury through the dishonesty of the royal officials, by the discovery and punishment of which the revenue might be doubled without any additional pressure upon the provinces. The prince lent a willing ear to these words, and besought him to undertake the manage- ment of this scheme, and furnished him with authority to sail over into England. Whereupon, acceding with devotion to the royal petition or command, he came to London to the archbishop of Canterbury, who was in charge of the kingdom, and signified to him the king's wishes, and the power which he himself had to carry out the royal desires. Albeit the archbishop of Canterbury did but little approve of the design, yet he did not think it his duty to gainsay the fulfilment of his appointed office. Thereupon the royal mandate went forth throughout England, that the sheriffs of the provinces should meet on a certain day in London to render up an account of their administrations before the abbot. Meanwhile, boastful and ostentatious of his power, he tarried during Lent in London, fated never to behold the festivities of Easter, nor to reckon accounts with those whom he had summoned after Easter, but destined to render up before Easter an account of his own stewardship to the Judge on high ; and the more prepared he was to reckon accounts with others, the less so was he to furnish his own : for but a few days after his arrival in England he departed out of the world ; and those persons who had dreaded his coming sorrowed not at his departure. ' Robert, the second abbot of St. Stephen's of Caen, of that name : see Gall. Christ, xi. 425. 652 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book V, Chap. XX. — Of a Conspikact made in London by one William, and how HE PAID THE PENALTY OF HIS AUDACITY. Between the death of the abovementioned abbot at London, and the violent end of a certain person who had lately risen into notice, designing great events, but very few days intervened. By the decrees of fate neither of them beheld the Easter rejoicings, while death separated but by a brief interval those who resembled each other by the similarity of their cause and designs. For the abbot, in his search after the king's profit and the tranquillity of the provinces, deemed it requisite to chastise the dishonesty and unbridled avarice of the royal officials ; whereas this man, being a citizen of London, as if under colour of fealty to the king, took upon himself to plead the cause of the poor citizens against the insolence of the rich, alleging in powerful terms — for he was most eloquent — that at every royal edict the rich spared their own fortunes, and imposed by their power the entire burden on the poor, and so defrauded the king's treasury of a large amount. He was born in London, and was named WiUiam, having a surname derived from his Long Beard, which he had thus cherished in order that he might by this token, as by a distinguishing symbol, appear conspicuous in meetings and public assembhes. He was of ready wit, moderately skiUed in literature, and eloquent beyond measure; and wishing, from a certain innate insolence of disposition and manner, to make himself a great name, he began to scheme new enterprises, and to venture upon the achievement of mighty plans. At last, a cruel and impudent act of his against his own brother served as a signal for his fury and wickedness against others ; for he had an elder brother in London from whom, during the period when he was at school, he had been accustomed to solicit and receive assistance in his necessary expenses : but when he grew bigger and more lavish in his outlay, he complained that this relief was too tardily supplied to him, and endeavoured by the terror of his threats to extort that which he was unable to procure by his entreaties. Having employed this means in vain, — his brother being but little able to satisfy him (owing to his being busied with the care of his own household), — and raging, as it were, for revenge, he burst out into crime ; and thirsting for his brother's blood after the many benefits which he had received from him, he accused him of the crime of high treason. Having come to the king, to whom he had previously recommended himself by his skill and obsequious- ness, he informed him that his brother had conspired against his life, — thus attempting to evince his devotion for his sovereign, as one who, in his service, would not spare even his own brother ; but this conduct met with derision from the king, who probably looked with horror on the malice of this most inhuman man, and would not suffer the laws to be polluted by so great an outrage against nature. Afterwards, by favour of certain persons, he obtained a place in the city among the magistrates, and began by degrees to conceive sorrow and to bring forth iniquity. Urged onward by two great vices, pride and envy, (whereof the former is a desire for selfish CH. XX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 663 advancement, and the latter a hatred of another's happiness,) and unable to endure the prosperity and glory of certain citizens, whose inferior he perceived himself to be, in his aspiration after greatness he plotted impious undertakings in the name of justice and piety. At length, by his secret labours and poisoned whispers, he revealed, in its blackest colours to the common people, the insolence of the rich men and nobles by whom they were unworthily treated ; for he inflamed the needy and moderately wealthy with a desire for unbounded liberty and happiness, and allured the many, and held them fascinated, as it were, by certain delusions, so closely bound to his cause, that they depended in all things upon his will, and were prepared, unhesitatingly, to obey him as their director in all things whatsoever he should command. A powerful conspiracy was therefore organized in London, by the envy of the poor against the insolence of the powerful. The number of citizens engaged in this plot is reported to have been fifty-two thousand, — the names of each being, as it afterwards appeared, written down, and in the possession of the originator of this nefarious scheme. A large number of iron tools, for the purpose of breaking the more strongly defended houses, lay stored up in his possession, which being after- wards discovered, furnished proofs of a most malignant conspiracy. Relying on the large number who were implicated by zeal for the poorer classes of the people, while he still kept up the plea of study- ing the king's profit, he began to beard the nobles in every public assembly, alleging with powerful eloquence that much loss was occasioned to the revenue through their dishonest practices ; and when they rose up in indignation against him in consequence, he adopted the plan of sailing across the sea, for the purpose of lamenting to the king that he should have incurred their enmity and calumny in the execution of his service. On his return to his own home again hebegan afresh, with his accus- tomed craftiness, to act with confidence, as if under the countenance of the royal favour, and to animate strongly the minds of his accom- plices. As soon, however, as the suspicion and rumour of the existence of this plot grew more and more confirmed, the lord archbishop of Canterbury, to whom the chief custody of the realm had been com- mitted, thinking disguise no longer expedient, addressed a congre- gation of the people in mild accents, refuted the rumours which had arisen, and, with a view to remove all sinister doubts on the subject, advised the appointment of hostages for the preservation of the king's peace and fealty. Tlie people, soothed by his bland address, agreed to his proposal, and hostages were given. Nevertheless, this man, bent upon his object, and surrounded by his rabble, pompously held on his way, convoking public meetings by his own authority, in which he arrogantly proclaimed himself the king or saviour of the poor, and in lofty phrase thundered out his intention of speedily curbing the perfidy of the traitors. The pride of his discourses is plainly show^n by what I have learned of a trustworthy man, who asserted that he himself had some days before been present at a meeting convened by him, and had heard him address the people. Having taken his text or theme from the Holy Scrip- u u 2 654 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. tures, he thus began : " With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" [Isa. xii. 3], — and applying this to himself, he continued, — " I am the saviour of the poor. Do ye, oh, poor I who have experienced the heaviness of rich men's hands, drink from my wells the waters of the doctrine of salvation, and ye may do this joyfully ; for the time of your visitation is at hand. For I will divide the waters from the waters. The people are the waters. I will divide the humble from the haughty and treacherous. I will separate the elect from the reprobate, as light from darkness." As he possessed a mouth speaking great things, and had horns like a lamb, he spoke like a dragon ; and the aforesaid ruler of the realm, by advice of the nobles, summoned him to answer the charges preferred against him. When the time was come, he pre- sented himself so surrounded by the populace, that his summoner being terrified, could only act with gentleness, and cautiously defer judgment for the purpose of averting danger. The period, there- fore, at which it was possible to find him unattended by his mob being discovered by two noble citizens, especially now that the people out of fear for the hostages had become more quiet, he sent out an armed force with the said citizens for his apprehension. As one of them was pressing him hard, he slew him with his own axe which he had wrested from his hand, and the other was killed by some one among those who had come to his assistance. Im- mediately upon this, he retreated with a few of his adherents and his concubine, who clave to him with inseparable constancy, into the neighbourhood of St. Mary, which is called Le-Bow, with the intention of employing it, not as a sanctuary, but as a fortress, vainly hoping that the people would speedily come to his aid; but they, although grieving at his dangerous position, yet, out of regard for the hostages or dread of the men-at-arms, did not hasten to his rescue. Hearing that he had seized upon the church, the admi- nistrator of the kingdom despatched thither the troops recently summoned from the neighbouring provinces. Being commanded to come forth and abide justice — lest the house of prayer should be made a den of thieves — he chose rather to tarry in the vain expectation of the arrival of the conspirators, until the church being attacked with fire and smoke, he was compelled to sally out with his followers : but a son of the citizen whom he had slain in the first onset, in revenge for his father's death, cut open his belly with his knife. Being, therefore, captured and delivered into the hands of the law, he was, by judgment of the king's court, first drawn asunder by horses, and then hanged on a gibbet with nine of his accomplices who refused to desert him. Thus, according to the Scriptures, " He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it ; and whoso breaketh down an hedge, a serpent shall bite him" [Eccl. x. 8], the contriver and fomenter of so much evil perished at the com- mand of justice, and the madness of this wicked conspiracy ex- pired with its author : and those persons, indeed, who were of a more healthful and cautious dispositions rejoiced when they beheld or heard of his punishment, washing their hands in the blood of the sinner. The conspirators, however, and seekers after CH. XSI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 655 novelty, vehemently deplored his death, taking exception at the ri2;our of public discipline in his case, and reviling the guardian of the realm as a murderer, in consequence of the punishment which he had inflicted on the mischief-maker and assassin. Chap. XXI. — How the Common People desired to honour this Man as a Martyr, and how this Error of theirs was extinguished. The extent to which this man had by his daring and mighty pro- jects attached the minds of the wicked to himself, and how straitly he had bound the people to his interests as the pious and watchful champion of their cause, appeared even after his demise. For whereas they should have wiped out the disgrace of the conspiracy by the legal punishment of the conspirator, whom they stigmatised as impious and approved of his condemners, they sought by art to obtain for him the name and glory of a martyr. It is reported that a certain priest, his relative, had laid the chain by which he had been bound upon the person of one sick of a fever, and feigned with impudent vanity that a cure was the immediate result. This being spread abroad, the witless multitude believed that the man who had deservedly suffered had in reality died for the cause of justice and piety, and began to reverence him as a martyr : the gibbet upon which he had been hung was furtively removed by night from the place of punishment, in order that it might be honoured in secret ; while the earth beneath it, as if consecrated by the blood of the executed man, was scraped away in handfuls by these infatuated creatures, as something consecrated to healing purposes, to the ex- tent of a tolerably large ditch. And now the fame of this being circulated far and wide, large bands of fools, " whose number," says Solomon, " is infinite," ^ and curious persons flocked to the place, to whom, doubtless, were added those who had come up out of the various provinces of England on their own proper business to London. The idiot rabble, therefore, kept constant watch and ward over the spot; and the more honour they paid to the dead man, so much the greater crime did they impute to him by whom he had been put to death. To such an extent did this most foolish error prevail as even to have ensnared, by the fascination of its rumours, the more prudent, had they not used great caution in giving a place in their memory to the stories they heard concerning him. For, in addition to the fact of his having (as we have before narrated) committed murder shortly before his execution, which alone should have sufficed to every judicious understanding as a reason against the punishment being considered a martyrdom, his own confession before death must redden with a blush the coun- tenances of those who would fain make unto themselves a martyr out of such a man, if any blood exist in their bodies. Since, as we have heard from trustworthy lips, he confessed, while awaiting that punishment by which he was removed — in answer to the admoni- tions of certain persons that he should glorify God by a humble though tardy confession of his sins — that he had polluted with ' See Eccles. i, 15. Vulg. 656 THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V, carnal intercourse with his concubine that church in which he had sought refuge from the fury of his pursuers, during the stay he had made there in the vain expectation of rescue ; and what is far more horrible even to mention, that when his enemies had broken in upon him, and no help was at hand, he abjured the Son of Mary, because he would render him no assistance, and invoked the devil that he at least would save him. His justifiers deny these tales, and assert that they were maliciously forged in prejudice to the martyr. The speedy fall of this fabric of vanity, however, put an end to the dispute : for truth is solid and waxes strong by time ; but the device of falsehood has nothing solid, and in a short time fades away. The administrator of the kingdom, therefore, carrying out the condign punishment of ecclesiastical discipline, sent out a troop of armed men against the priest who had been the head of this superstition, who put the rustic multitude to flight, and capturing those who endeavoured to maintain their ground there by force, consigned them to the royal prison. He also commanded an armed guard to be constantly kept upon that place, who were not only to keep off the senseless people who came to pray, but also to forbid the approach of the curious, whose only object was amusement. After this had lasted for a few days, the entire fabric of this figment of superstition was utterly prostrated, and popular feeling subsided. Chap. XXII.' — Of the Peodigy of a Dead Man, who wandered about AFTER Burial. In these days a wonderful event befel in the county of Bucking- ham, which I, in the first instance, partially heard from certain friends, and was afterwards more fully informed of by Stephen, the venerable archdeacon of that province. A certain man died, and, according to custom, by the honourable exertion of his wife and kindred, was laid in the tomb on the eve of the Lord's Ascen- sion. On the following night, however, having entered the bed where his wife was reposing, he not only terrified her on awaking, but nearly crushed her by the insupportable weight of his body. The next night, also, he afflicted the astonished woman in the same manner, who, frightened at the danger, as the struggle of the third night drew near, took care to remain awake herself, and surround herself with watchful companions. Still he came ; but being re- pulsed by the shouts of the watchers, and seeing that he was pre- vented from doing mischief, he departed. Thus driven off from his wife, he harassed, in a similar manner, his own brothers, who were dwelling in the same street ; but they, following the cautious example of the woman, passed the nights in wakefulness with their companions, ready to meet and repel the expected danger. He appeared, notwithstanding, as if with the hope of surprising them should they be overcome with drowsiness ; but being repelled by the carefulness and valour of the watchers, he rioted among the animals, both in-doors and out-of-doors, as their wildness and ' Chapters xxii. xxiii. xxiv. xxv. and xxvi. are omitted in the Antwerp edition. en. sxiii.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 657 umvonted movements testified. Having thus become a like serious nuisance to his friends and neighbours, he imposed upon all the same necessity for nocturnal watchfulness ; and in that very street a general watch was kept in every house, each being fearful of his approach unawares. After having for some time rioted in this manner during the night-time alone, he began to wander abroad in daylight, formidable, indeed, to all, but visible only to a few ; for oftentimes, on his encountering a number of persons, he would appear to one or two only, though at the same time his presence was not concealed from the rest. At length the inhabitants, alarmed beyond measure, thought it advisable to seek counsel of the church ; and they detailed the whole affair, with tearful lamenta- tion, to the abovementioned archdeacon, at a meeting of the clergy over which he was solemnly presiding. Whereupon he immediately intimated in writing the whole circumstances of the case to the venerable bishop of Lincoln, who was then resident in London, whose opinion and judgment on so unwonted a matter he was very properly of opinion should be waited for : but the bishop, being amazed at his account, held a searching investigation with his companions ; and there were some who said that such things had often befallen in England, and cited frequent examples to show that tranquillity could not be restored to the people until the body of this most wretched man were dug up and burnt. This pro- ceeding, however, appeared indecent and improper in the last degree to the reverend bishop, who shortly after addressed a letter of absolution, written with his own hand, to the archdeacon, in order that it might be demonstrated by inspection in what state the body of that man really was ; and he commanded his tomb to be opened, and the letter having been laid upon his breast, to be again closed : so the sepulchre having been opened, the corpse was found as it had been placed there, and the charter of absolution having been deposited upon its breast, and the tomb once more closed, he was thenceforth never more seen to wander, nor permitted to inflict annoyance or terror upon any one. Chap. XXIIL— Of a siiulae Occurrence at Berwick. In the northern parts of England, also, we know that another event, not unlike this, and equally wonderful, happened about the same time. At the mouth of the river Tweed, and in the jurisdic- tion of the king of Scotland, there stands a noble city which is called Berwick. In this town a certain man, very wealthy, but, as it afterwards appeared, a great rogue, having been buried, after his death sallied forth (by the contrivance, as it is believed, of Satan) out of his grave by night, and was borne hither and thither, pur- sued by a pack of dogs with loud barkings ; thus striking great terror into the neighbours, and returning to his tomb before daylight. After this had continued for several days, and no one dared to be found out of doors after dusk, — for each dreaded an encounter with this deadly monster, — the higher and middle classes of the people 658 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book v. held a necessary investigation into what was requisite to be done ; the more simple among them fearing, in the event of negligence, to be soundly beaten by this prodigy of the grave ; but the wiser shrewdly concluding that were a remedy further delayed, the atmo- sphere, infected and corrupted by the constant whirlings through it of the pestiferous corpse, would engender disease and death to a great extent ; the necessity of providing against which was shown by frequent examples in similar cases. They, therefore, procured ten young men renowned for boldness, who were to dig up the horrible carcase, and, having cut it limb from limb, reduce it into food and fuel for the flames. When this was done, the commotion ceased. Moreover, it is stated that the monster, while it was being borne about (as it is said) by Satan, had told certain persons whom it had by chance encountered, that as long as it remained unburnt the people should have no peace. Being burnt, tranquillity appeared to be restored to them ; but a pestilence, which arose in conse- quence, carried off the greater portion of them : for never did it so furiously rage elsewhere, though it was at that time general through- out all the borders of England, as shall be more fully explained in its proper place. Chap. XXIV. — Of certain Prodigies. It would not be easy to believe that the corpses of the dead should sally (I know not by what agency) from their graves, and should wander about to the terror or destruction of the living, and again return to the tomb, which of its own accord spontaneously opened to receive them, did not frequent examples, occurring in our own times, suffice to establish this fact, to the truth of which there is abundant testimony. It would be strange if such things should have happened formerly, since we can find no evidence of them in the works of ancient authors, whose vast labour it was to commit to writing every occurrence worthy of memory ; for if they never neglected to register even events of moderate interest, how could they have suppressed a fact at once so amazing and horrible, supposing it to have happened in their day ? Moreover, were I to write down all the instances of this kind which I have ascertained to have befallen in our times, the undertaking would be beyond measure laborious and troublesome ; so I will fain add two more only (and these of recent occurrence) to those I have already narrated, and insert them in our history, as occasion offers, as a warning to posterity. A few years ago the chaplain of a certain illustrious lady, casting off mortality, was consigned to the tomb in that noble monastery which is called Melrose. This man, having little respect for the sacred order to which he belonged, was excessively secular in his pursuits, and — what especially blackens his reputation as a minister of the holy sacrament — so addicted to the vanity of the chase as to be designated by many by the infamous title of " Hundeprest," or the dog-priest ; and this occupation, during his lifetime, was either laughed at by men, or considered in a worldly view ; but after his CH. XXIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 659 death — as the event showed — the guiltiness of it was brought to hght : for, issuing from the grave at night-time, he was prevented by the meritorious resistance of its holy inmates from injuring or terrifying any one within the monastery itself; whereupon he wan- dered beyond the walls, and hovered chiefly, with loud groans and liorrible murmurs, round the bedchamber of his former mistress. She, after this had frequently occurred, becoming exceedingly ter- rified, revealed her fears or danger to one of the friars who visited her about the business of the monastery; demanding with tears that prayers more earnest than usual should be poured out to the Lord in her behalf as for one in agony. With whose anxiety the friar — for she appeared deserving of the best endeavours, on the part of the holy convent of that place, by her frequent donations to it — piously and justly sympathised, and promised a speedy remedy through the mercy of the Most High Provider for all. Thereupon, returning to the monastery, he obtained the companionship of another friar, of equally determined spirit, and two powerful young men, with whom he intended with constant vigilance to keep guard over the cemetery where that miserable priest lay buried. These four, therefore, furnished with arms and animated with courage, passed the night in that place, safe in the assistance which each afforded to the other. Midnight had now passed by, and no monster appeared ; upon which it came to pass that three of the party, leaving him only who had sought their company on the spot, departed into the nearest house, for the purpose, as they averred, of warming themselves, for the night was cold. As soon as this man was left alone in this place, the devil, imagining that he had found the right moment for breaking his courage, incontinently roused up his own chosen vessel, who appeared to have reposed longer than usual. Having beheld this from afar, he grew stiff with terror by reason of his being alone ; but soon recovering his courage, and no place of refuge being at hand, he valiantly withstood the onset of the fiend, who came rushing upon him with a terrible noise, and he struck the axe which he wielded in his hand deep into his body. On receiving this wound, the monster groaned aloud, and, turning his back, fled with a rapidity not at all inferior to that with which he had advanced, while the admirable man urged his flying foe from behind, and compelled him to seek his own tomb again ; which opening of its own accord, and receiving its guest from the advance of the pursuer, immediately appeared to close again with the same facility. In the meantime, they who, impatient of the coldness of the night, had retreated to the fire ran up,' though somewhat too late, and, having heard what had happened, rendered needful assistance in digging up and removing from the midst of the tomb the accursed corpse at the earliest dawn. When they had divested it of the clay cast forth with it, they found the huge wound it had received, and a great quantity of gore which had flowed from it in the sepulchre ; and so having carried it away beyond the walls of the monastery and burnt it, they scattered the ashes to the winds. These things I have explained in a simple nar- ration, as I myself heard them recounted by religious men. G60 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. Another event, also, not unlike this, but more pernicious in its effects, happened at the castle which is called Anantis,' as I have heard from an aged monk who lived in honour and authority in those parts, and who related this event as having occurred in his own presence. A certain man of evil conduct flying, through fear of his enemies or the law, out of the province of York, to the lord of the before-named castle," took up his abode there, and having cast upon a service befitting his humour, laboured hard to increase rather than correct his own evil propensities. He married a wife, to his own ruin, indeed, as it afterwards appeared ; for, hearing certain rumours respecting her, he was vexed with the spirit of jealousy. Anxious to ascertain the truth of these reports, he pre- tended to be going on a journey from which he would not return for some days ; but coming back in the evening, he was privily introduced into his bedroom by a maid-servant, who was in the secret, and lay hidden on a beam overhanging his wife's chamber, that he might prove with his own eyes if anything were done to the dishonour of his marriage-bed. Thereupon beholding his wife in the act of fornication with a young man of the neighbourhood, and in his indignation forgetful of his purpose, he fell, and was dashed heavily to the ground, near where they were lying. The adulterer himself leaped up and escaped; but the wife, cunningly dissem- bling the fact, busied herself in gently raising her fallen husband from the earth. As soon as he had partially recovered, he upbraided her with her adultery, and threatened punishment ; but she answer- ing, " Explain yourself, my lord," said she ; " you are speaking unbecomingly, which must be imputed not to you, but to the sick- ness with which you are troubled." Being much shaken by the fall, and his whole body stupified, he was attacked with a disease, insomuch that the man whom I have mentioned as having related these facts to me visiting him in the pious discharge of his duties, admonished him to make confession of his sins, and receive the christian eucharist in proper form : but as he was occupied in thinking about what had happened to him, and what his wife had said, put off the wholesome advice until the morrow — that morrow which in this world he was fated never to behold ! — for the next night, destitute of christian grace, and a prey to his well-earned misfortunes, he shared the deep slumber of death. A christian burial, indeed, he received, though unworthy of it ; but it did not much benefit him : for issuing, by the handiwork of Satan, from his grave at night-time, and pursued by a pack of dogs with horrible barkings, he wandered through the courts and around the houses ; while all men made fast their doors, and did not dare to go abroad on any errand whatever from the beginning of the night until the sunrise, for fear of meeting and being beaten black and blue by this vagrant monster. But these precautions were of no avail ; for the atmosphere, poisoned by the vagaries of this foul carcase, filled every house with disease and death by its pestiferous breath. ' Possibly Annan, or Annand, in Dumfriesshire. ^ The castle of Anand was the property of the family of Bruce, who also had large possessions in Yorkshire'; see Dugd. Baron, i. 449. CH. XXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 661 Already did the town, which but a short time ago was populous, appear almost deserted ; while those of its inhabitants who had escaped destruction migrated to other parts of the country, lest they, too, should die. The man from whose mouth I heard these things, sorrowing over this desolation of his parish, applied himself to summon a meeting of wise and religious men on that sacred day which is called Palm-sunday, in order that they might impart healthful counsel in so great a dilemma, and refresh the spirits of the miserable remnant of the people with consolation, however imperfect. Having delivered a discourse to the inhabitants, after the solemn ceremonies of the holy day had been properly per- formed, he invited his clerical guests, together with the other persons of honour who were present, to his table. While they were thus banqueting, two young men (brothers), who had lost their father by this plague, mutually encouraging one another, said, " This monster has already destroyed our father, and will speedily destroy us also, unless we take steps to prevent it. Let us, there- fore, do some bold action which will at once ensure our own safety and revenge our father's death. There is no one to hinder us ; for in the priest's house a feast is in progress, and the whole town is as silent as if deserted. Let us dig up this baneful pest, and burn it with fire." Thereupon snatching up a spade of but indif- ferent sharpness of edge, and hastening to the cemetery, they began to dig ; and whilst they were thinking that they would have to dig to a greater depth, they suddenly, before much of the earth had been removed, laid bare the corpse, swollen to an enormous corpu- lence, with its countenance beyond measure turgid and suffused with blood ; while the napkin in which it had been wrapped ap- peared nearly torn to pieces. The young men, however, spurred on by wrath, feared not, and inflicted a wound upon the senseless carcase, out of which incontinently flowed such a stream of blood, that it might have been taken for a leech filled with the blood of many persons. Then, dragging it beyond the village, they speedily constructed a funeral pile ; and upon one of them saying that the pestilential body would not burn unless its heart were torn out, the other laid open its side by repeated blows of the blunted spade, and, thrusting in his hand, dragged out the accursed heart. This being torn piecemeal, and the body now consigned to the flames, it was announced to the guests what was going on, who, running thither, enabled themselves to testify henceforth to the circum- stances. "When that infernal hell-hound had thus been destroyed, the pestilence which was rife among the people ceased, as if the air, which had been corrupted by the contagious motions of the dread- ful corpse, were edready purified by the fire which had consumed it. These facts having been thus expounded, let us return to the regular thread of history. Chap. XXV. — Of a Sigx which was seen ik the Heavens, and of the STORMING OF CERTAIN CaSTLES. In the octaves of Pentecost [16th June, 1196J, and in the first hour of the day, two suns appeared in the heavens ; namely, the 662 CHURCH historians of England. [book t. true sun and a second, its equal in size and brilliancy. Nor was it easy to discern which of them was the true one, unless by its regular course; for the other appeared to follow it at a little higher elevation — a presage, perchance, of the evils [which ensued : and this sign I beheld with my own eyes, with some others who were with me. After we had for some time stood gazing at so unusual a spectacle in suspense and amazement, of a sudden, like men overcome with fatigue we were casting down our eyes, the coun- terfeit of the true sun vanished away. Nor was it long after this, that, the period of the truce which had slightly cheered the harassed people being completed, the bloodthirsty rage of the princes once more broke out. To arms rushed every one at full speed ; and the provinces lately so flourishing were devastated by fire and sword. The king of France with his forces besieged Aumale, and the king of England that castle which is called Nonancourt, which was for- merly in his possession, but which some time since had been seized by the French monarch. Having quickly gained possession of it, he was besought by his people to undertake the task of repelling the enemy and raising the siege ; but he paid no heed to their requests, either dreading a battle, which must have been bloody to the last degree, or trusting with confidence in the valour of his men who were gallantly defending the beleaguered fortress. Turning about, with the intention of laying waste the hostile frontiers, he studiously endeavoured to draw off" the besiegers without mutual bloodshed ; but persisting with stubborn determination in effecting his purpose, at last, after much labour and loss to his army, he obtained pos- session of the castle by surrender, and razed it to the ground. This loss but little afflicted the king of England, who was compensated for it by the possession of a more renowned castle ; which, however, fell not long after once more into the hands of the French king, having been surprised at a moment when it was inadequately de- fended. The enmity between the princes waxing fiercer and fiercer, the task of restoring peace was undertaken in vain by the well- disposed and prudent, for they closed their ears to all peaceful counsel. For, as it is written, " They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear ; which will not hearken to the voice of the charmers " [Ps. viii. 4, 5.] In this matter the cause of the king of England, who was only seeking his own right, was the more powerful, and his wrath beyond a doubt the juster, as has been shown above. Peace being thus despaired of,- — since neither the one could by any reasoning be induced to give up that which he held unlawfully, nor the other to rest until his right was re-established, — the more these proud princes chafed at one another, so much the more did the unhappy people lament ; for whenever kings rage, the innocent people suffer for it. Chap. XXVI. — Of a Famine and Pestilence which overran England. At this time the hand of the Lord lay heavy upon the christian people ; for, in addition to the madness of the kings which was ravaging the provinces, it inflicted upon them both pestilence OH. XXVU.] THE HISTORY OF ^VILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 663 and famine, insomuch that that prophecy seems almost fulfilled against us which says, " I have wounded thee with the v;ound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one " [Jer. xxx. 14]. A famine, produced by unseasonable rains, had for some years vehe- mently afflicted the people of France and England ; but by the disputes of the kings among themselves, it now increased more than ever : and when the lower orders of the people had perished every^'here from want, a most fell and cruel pestilence — while it in nowise spared those with whom food was abundant, so also did it shorten the long agony of hunger to the starving — followed on its track, as though the air had been poisoned by the dead bodies of the poor. In other regions, how the affairs of that period went on is but little known to us ; but, concerning England, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen,' during that time. On glided the flood of disease, sweeping away each day, and by that form of sickness which is called acute fever, so many persons, that scarcely could any be found either to tend the sick or to bury the dead. The customary ceremonies of the grave were dispensed with; and each hour of the day, whoever died, was speedily returned to the bosom of his mother earth, unless where some more noble or wealthy individual had breathed his last. In very many places large ditches were dug for the reception of the corpses, when, by reason of their multitude, it was impossible to inter each separately in the usual manner ; however, when so many died daily, even the healthy began to despond, and went about with pallid and cadaverous countenances, as if on the point of death. In the monasteries alone the disease took but little hold. At last, after raging everywhere for five or nearly six months, it yielded to the cold of winter, and was stayed. But the minds of the brawling princes were still harder even than this scourge, fierce as it was; for they joined winter to summer and autumn in their desire for war. Chap. XXVII. — How the Germans a second time took the Sign of the Cross. The king of England had a short time before received back his hostages who had been left with the German emperor, in acquit- tance of the sura which he had paid him for his ransom ; at whose arrival he is reported to have exclaimed, that he then for the first time felt freed from his captivity in Germany. Being thus released from so grievous an extortioner, he bent the whole power of his mind to warlike preparations ; for an expedition into Syria, to which he had devoted himself on his return thence in a thoughtless moment, must not be imputed to him : for an excuse is found for him with sober judges by the necessity he was reduced to, first by the German emperor, and afterwards by the French king. As if to atone for what he had been guilty of, through the guidance of a base avarice against a christian prince returning from the East, and to apply the monies of which he had despoiled England to ' See 1 John iv. 14. 664 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book v. pious uses, the emperor gave orders to succour the miserable remnant of the Eastern church. He considered, likewise, that it had been by his agency that those two great kings had abandoned Christ's cause, and had thought of their own interests only, and by their deadly hatred against one another had broken the strength of the Christians in a tyrannical manner. Anxious, therefore, to make amends for this injury by a work of religion, in the year one thousand one hundred and ninety-five from the delivery of the blessed Virgin, and about the solemnization of St. Andrew the apostle [30th Nov.], having convoked all the chief ecclesiastics and laymen of the empire at Worms, and declared his own devotion to them all, he incited very many of them to follow his illustrious example for Christ's sake. Afterwards, sitting in solemn state in the cathedral church for eight days successively, the legate of the apostolic see, who was come to him on this very business, being enthroned at his side, and surrounded by a great company of famous men ; while those who were eminent for wisdom, dignity, and eloquence, addressed each day the christian host with powerful oratory, so great a fervour of faith and devotion lighted up within the minds of the audience, that verily it might be said, " This is the finger of God." Every day the great prelates and most famous generals, together with a multitude of powerful persons, vied with each other in assuming the Lord's symbol of the cross ; and the emperor himself was prepared to be signed with the same ensign, like the rest : but he was dissuaded from his lofty purpose by the general opinion that he would better advance the welfare of the christian expedition by remaining in the empire, superintending the timely transport of provisions to the advancing army, and, when occasion should demand, of despatching reinforcements to the troops in service. Thus was the second expedition of the German and Italian nations into Syria made ready with all de- spatch ; while our kings, without any healthful or sober purpose, indulged their own fury alone to the peril of many. Chap. XXVIII. — Of the Dissension between King Eichaed and the Archbishop of Eouen. In these days a dispute arose between king Richard and Walter, archbishop of Rouen, which was the more disgraceful as they had formerly been united by the closest friendship : for this same prelate had, both before he came to the throne and afterwards, always served the prince with devotedness and fidelity, and had bound himself to him by many and distinguished services. At last, upon the king's expedition to the East, not being permitted to remain at home for the discharge of his office, lest his presence should be required, though only for a time, the archbishop set out with him to Sicily. The king, however, hearing of the tyrannical conduct of the bishop of Ely, to whom he had entrusted the guardianship and rule of the kingdom, sent him back into England, with orders to the said bishop to associate with him as a colleague in all affairs touching the administration of the realm. But not en. XXIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 665 being admitted into partnership by this man, who was jealous of his own glory, he forbore, and was silent for a time. The bishop, however, being not long after rudely assailed and ignominiously expelled by the nobles of the kingdom, who were impatient of his haughtiness, he carried on by general wish and decree the manage- ment of the realm with praiseworthy rule. When the king, after a long imprisonment in Germany, had completed his agreement with the emperor, and looked for a speedy release, he summoned to his presence this devoted bishop, and left him as a willing hostage for a large sum of money in the hands of the emperor. The king having thus returned into his kingdom, and being intent on warlike affairs, this prelate, for his sake, satisfied out of his own resources (it is said) the emperor's claims, and returned with glory to his own country. But the prince, who oftentimes spared not even his friends, being straitened by his warlike necessities, requited the favour less bountifully than the other had hoped for, chiefly on account of the bishop of Ely, who had the royal ear by virtue of his office, for he was his chancellor, and who said many things which were derogatory to him to the king ; for he had a prejudice against him for the reason above mentioned. Exasperated on account of the appropriation of certain rights of his church by the king — for, alleging the necessity for war as an excuse, he would by no means repay him at present, but promised to do so on the termination of hostilities — the archbishop appealed to the judgment of the apo- stolic see, and, suspending the exercise of Divine servace in his diocese, he hastened to Rome. The royal messengers also followed in his track ; and in the presence of the pope they withstood him to his face — never, indeed, denying those things which were put forward by him against the king, but excusing the royal poverty in deprecatory phrase. Thereupon the supreme pontiff is reported to have said to the accuser : " The unjust captivity of the king of England, on his return from the East, where he has been warring for Christ, whose emblem he bore, and the plundering he has undergone, while suffering a heavy and lengthened captivity in a German dungeon, are known to all the world. It would be more discreet, therefore, for you to dissimulate for awhile, even if he should have attempted greater things than these of which you speak." Thus saying, he strove to humour the prince, who was worn out, as it were, by injuries and engaged in a just war ; v.'hile he sent home the bishop, whom he had cajoled and pacified by some other means. Chap. XXIX.^ — Of the Death of the Bishop of Ely, who deserves rather to be called the chancellor. Among those, forsooth, whom the king thought fit to send to Rome in his cause, the most famous appear to have been th€ bishop of Ely, who was also the king's chancellor and the bishop -elect of Durham, who, on his arrival in Rome, gained his ordination at the hands of the supreme pontiff". The chancellor, however, on his ' This and the following chapters are omitted in the Antwerp edition. 666 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. departure from the king, fell sick, and getting worse, died in a few days — no longer to appear before the Roman pontiff for the purpose of pleading the cause of the king of the English, but at the tribunal of the King of the angels to give an account for himself. Concerning this bishop — who by few is styled bishop, but by all chancellor, because that from the time of his ordination he had served the palace much more than the church — concerning, I say, the manners and actions of this bishop, and what befel him on account of his insufferable pride, when the king on undertaking the Eastern pilgrimage had thought fit to entrust the administration of all things in England to him, has been in its own place set out above/ Being expelled from England, and living for a time in exile in France, as soon as he had heard that the king on his return from the East was detained in a German dungeon, he made it his first care to visit him, by which means he intended to prove the fervour of his devotion to him, and purchase by obsequious- ness his more favourable consideration for the future. By his services to the distinguished captive during the whole time of his shameful captivity, he rendered himself necessary to him in many ways ; and if by chance any feeling against him had taken posses- sion of the king's mind on account of the troubles in England, he dissipated the impression by services evincing fresh assiduity. "When the king's fortune once more changed, he returned with him into England, whence, tranquillity being restored, he followed him in his warlike expedition beyond the sea, and strenuously performed his duties as chancellor : those of the priest, however, only so far as that — devoid of pastoral care and burdens — he might appear a bishop merely in honour and advantage. Thus the name of bishop being eclipsed by that of chancellor, he w^as seldom called by it. After having laboured with the king for some years in his fierce and bloody war with the French, with an earnestness rather secular than episcopal, he at last (as has been said) fell a victim to disease. England rejoiced at his death, for the fear of him had lain like an incubus upon her ; for when he might have done much with the king, and being a man of vast spirit, could not have been forgetful of his former expulsion from England, it was evident that he would frequently plot evil against the land which had vomited him forth as some pestilential humour. The English nobles with reason dreaded him when alive, and they lamented but little when dead. ■ Chap. XXX. — Of the short War with the Bretons ; and how the forty years' Differences with Toulouse were ended. In these days the Bretons, who had already revolted from the king of England, were compelled, by the vast ravages committed on their frontiers by the royal troops, to return with their beloved Arthur into the king's favour and alliance. The war also of Tou- louse, which had been an undertaking of the greatest importance with the illustrious king Henry of England and his son Richard, and had tired out the strength of many for forty years, expired 1 See Book IV. chaps, xiv. and xv. CH. XXXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 667 by the mercy of God at the same period. For the count of St. Giles, having concluded his agreement with the king of England, married, with great honour, his sister,' — formerly the consort of the king of Sicily, after whose premature death she had returned to her brother, — and by this means lulled the inveterate hatred that ex- isted between them. Thus did the king of England, who had been engrossed with three separate wars, and was by so much the less powerful in each, two being now at an end, (namely, that in Brittany and that in Toulouse,) I'eturn untrammelled to the third, which he was waging with the king of France, and began to make himself more powerful and terrible to his enemies. War raged with the utmost intensity on every side ; and so great was the fury of the combatants, that they neither respected the holy period of Lent, during which they devastated by fire and pillage places pre- viously in a flourishing condition ; nor showed the priests of the Lord — whenever they by chance encountered them — any more mercy than they granted to the people. So long and deadly a contest between the irreconcilable princes might, forsooth, have been shortened by the victory of one of them, if they could only have met and engaged ; but so it was, that whenever one, relying on his own forces, wished to bring matters to an issue by a battle, the other, fearful of the doubtful event, cautiously declined it. In short, by mutual injury each sought to tire and wear out the other, and preferred the protraction of the war, in the hope of better for- tune, to its speedy termination by the glory of an uncertain victoiy. Chap. XXXI.— Of the Capture of the Bishop of Beauvais, The one thousand one hundred and ninety-seventh year from the delivery of the Virgin had now rolled on, and the fury of the princes had by no means abated ; as if in aid of the Lord's hand, and the heaping of his anger upon the christian people : for already was the fifth year of the mighty famine, which had vehe- mently distressed the countries of England and France, running its course. The king of France, who in the preceding year had acted with increased vigour, began now to slacken his efforts, and defend his own borders with less spirit ; while the king of England gradually increased in strength and prosperity. At length, sud- denly throwing himself upon a distinguished town called St. Valery, he carried it with great courage ; obtaining thereby possession of a port abounding in provision; and having pillaged the place, and razed the defences, he departed laden with spoil. Not long after, he stormed the castle called Milly, in the district of Beauvais, and shortly discovered a treasure ; that is to say, met with a success surpassing his expectation. For the bishop ^ of Beauvais, a man of fierce disposition, and illustrious by his kindred to the king, hearing that Milly was besieged, hastily took up arms — not those, 1 This was Joanna, -who mamed for ter second husband Raimund VI., count of Toulouse. She died 4th Sept., 1195. 2 Philip de Dreux, concerning whom, see Gal. Christ, ix. 732. VOL. IV. X X 668 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. indeed, of his own calling, but belonging to a secular, and not a spiritual warfare ; and, marching with an armed host against the enemy, boldly attacked and engaged them, like a leader of war rather than in religion. But he blamed not fortune aright : — for being by God's judgment vanquished, he was brought a most wel- come present, a captive and in chains, to the English king, against whom, both during his Eastern expedition and captivity in Ger- many and his return to his own land, he had always borne himself with a hostility beyond measure malignant. During his confine- ment in Rouen, it is said that two of the priests of his household came as suppliants to the king, entreating his favour, that they might minister to their lord in his captivity. " Judge ye," an- swered the king unto them, " between me and your lord. Let all the evils which he has either actually inflicted upon me, or plotted against me, be consigned to oblivion but one. Truly, on my return from the East, and detention by the Roman emperor, out of respect for my royal person I was treated with gentleness, and served with befitting honour : but one evening your lord came ; and for what purpose he was come, and what manner of business he had with the emperor at night, I in the morning became aware of ; for the emperor's hand was laid heavily upon me, and soon after I was loaded with so much iron that scarce could a horse or an ass have stood under the weight of it. Pronounce justly, therefore, what sort of imprisonment your lord should look for at my hand, who procured such for me at the hands of my gaoler ?" So the priests, having nothing to answer to these words, departed disappointed. Thus was the warlike bishop kept in chains, treated, perchance, by his enemies with greater lenity than he deserved, but, without doubt, more rudely than beseemed his office. He appealed, however, through his people, to the pope, that he should be freed from the hands of his detainer by ecclesiastical authority ; but the pope, prudently taking into consideration that the king of England had captured the bishop, not in the pulpit, but in the field of battle, and kept him in durance more as an unbending foe than a pacific prelate, was unwilling to annoy him with demands for the release of the prisoner, but answered the appealer sagely and dis- creetly, reproaching him with having preferred secular warfare to that of the church, and with having taken up the lance instead of the pastoral staff — the helmet for the mitre — the hauberk for the alb — the shield for the stole — and the sword of steel for that of the Spirit (which is the word of God) ; and refusing to command that he should be set at liberty by the king of England, though he pro- mised, at a fitting opportunity, to petition for it. So the imprisoned bishop despaired of freedom by any means short of the reconciliation of the princes ; and he who, formerly a fireband of war, had hated peace, sighed for it in the weariness of his dungeon with continual longing. THE HISTOR\ OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 669 Chap. XXXII. — Of the Desertion of some from the King op France, and ON WHAT account A TeUCE WAS MADE BETWEEN HIM AND THE KiNG OF England. At the same time there deserted from the king of France certain of the nobles of his kingdom, who were indignant at injuries en- dured at his hands, and complained that he was a hard master ; and joining themselves to the king of England, increased his strength, while they in their turn derived it afresh from him. Among whom the count of Flanders, in grief at having been defrauded by the French king of nearly half his hereditary rights, and strengthened with the king of England's gold, received sur- render of the noble town of Douay, which had been invested, and also gained possession of other fortresses. Encouraged by these successes, he laid siege to the city of Arras with increased con- fidence. Then did the kings, as if industriously avoiding mutual encounter, carry on their business of warfare in various places. The king of England stormed certain fortresses in the district of Bourges ; whilst the king of France blockaded the fortification called Angers, which had shortly before revolted from him. This was quickly surrendered and overthrown; and then he hastened to raise the siege of the city w^hich we have already mentioned. The besiegers, however, having been apprised of his approach, desisted from their operations, and, by giving ground, incited the proud enemy to pursuit : whilst by breaking down the bridges over the rivers in their rear, as he incautiously advanced, they endeavoured to cut oft' this retreat of his array. Thus more was effected by stratagem than by force. When by the intervention of friends between the parties peace was treated of, the count neither re- jected the ofier nor absolutely accepted it ; pretending that he had given sufficient security by the exchange of hostages with the king of England, and in return received such from him, that neither of them without the other could accept peace. "Whereupon an agree- ment having been made between the parties, which should be ratified in due time by the king of England, the king of France re- turned to his own country; while the count hastened to invite the English king to give an honourable consent to the peace. The kings, therefore, not so greedy of peace as tired of war, in the one thousand one hundred and ninety-seventh year from the delivery of the Virgin, in the month of September, met together in solemn conference on the borders, with their nobles and a large attendance of their subjects. On this occasion little was done in favour of a lasting peace, insomuch that the princes' minds were hard to be cured of their long and inveterate hatred ; but they preferred esta- blishing between themselves a truce of one year and four months, as an earnest of future peace. The treaties provided that the countries should be open to traders, the provinces enjoy mutual privileges, and also that prisoners on both sides should obtain their release for a sufficient and reasonable ransom. The conference X X 2 670 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. being concluded, leave was granted the combatants of returning to their own homes ; and the provinces, worn out with misery, ac- cepted this moderate repose with thanksgiving. Chap. XXXIII. — Of a wonderful Event that befel at Malton. In these days, in the month of August, within our province of York, upon the river Derwent, a wonderful circumstance occurred, which must not be passed over in silence, but inserted in our history for the information and warning of posterity. At the monastery of Canons Regular, which is called Malton, a furnace for burning lime was prepared. As soon as, according to custom, fire should be applied from the side underneath, after sunset, tlie provost of the place, with certain brothers, approached and took much pains lest so great a preparation should prove in vain. About the other side was a pit of moderate size, prepared for use, in depth not more than six or seven feet; and into this fell one of the friars, as he was going round to hurry on the work, and incautiously hastening in the dark. As soon as the provost perceived that he did not immediately come out again, he inquired if he were hurt. " I am killed," answered he ; which having spoken, he was hushed in the silence of death, to the great astonishment of all who were present, who, indeed, could have no suspicion of his fate ; for the spreading darkness of night concealed the interior of the pit. One of the bystanders, however, being asked to descend, to discover and announce what was the matter, went down ; and sinking imme- diately to the ground, he also silently fell asleep in death, neither making any announcement nor coming out again : another being, nevertheless, ordered to descend, was speedily swallowed up in the same fate. Fear then fell upon all who were round about ; yet, thinking that it was improper to remain inactive, for the sake of more cautiously exploring into the circumstance, they commanded a third to go down. He, it is said, fortifying himself with the sign of salvation, descended, and immediately exclaimed, " I die, I die; pull me out ! " Then they who were standing near, seizing the top of the small ladder by which he had gone down, and to which he was clinging, drew both out together. The dress, however, in which he was clad, was torn as if rent by the violent hands of some evil assailant. The man thus rescued from destruction lay long half- dead, without sense or voice, and foaming at the mouth, till return- ing by degrees to himself he languished for several days. His tunic, however, he regarded with horror as pestilential ; nor would he suffer it to be put on even after it had been mended. After the death of the said friar, and of the two young men who perished with him, upon a certain man descending on the following day to recover their bodies, he neither experienced any horrible sensations or suffered any hurt, but harmlessly, and with all confidence, raised the corpses from the deadly spot. No wound appeared on them, except in the left eyes, which looked bloody and bruised, displaying a livid mark about them, as if from a recent blow. CH. XXXIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 671 These things I have taken care to commit to writing, exactly as I heard them, either from the narration of those present, or of men who had heard those present. The cause of the event, truly, which I am compelled to marvel at for its novelty, I am unable to fathom. It happened, indeed, some years ago, in a certain town among the East Angles, that three workmen while engaged, at the desire of the inhabitants, in cleaning out an old well, and digging deeper, in the desire of producing a larger supply of water from the bowels of the earth, were suddenly deprived of life ; upon which the inha- bitants filled up that well with rubbish, and resolved that the place of their death should serve as an eternal sepulchre to the dead ; but this is not so wonderful, for a reason for it may possibly be given. Perchance the bottom of this well contained a hidden vein of quicksilver, or some other noxious matter, which, as it is be- lieved, upon being laid open by the diggers, emitted a fell and pestilential vapour, which, surprising all sense, would in a moment put an end to their existence. Chap. XXXIV.— Op the Reconciliation of King Richaed and the Arch- bishop OF Rouen; and of a cektain Prodigy. At this time the illustrious king Richard, and Walter, arch- bishop of Rouen, after a long enmity, re-established in more sober regard the ancient friendship which had existed between them; — the prelate yielding up his right in favour of the prince, and the prince making satisfaction to the prelate in those matters touching the right of the church of Rouen, which he had usurped by the neces- sity of war, — a just exchange. For when the king had marked out a most convenient spot in the town which is called Andeli, — and which was the patrimony of the church of Rouen, — for building a castle upon the river Seine for the defence of Normandy, fearing lest the same should be occupied in opposition to him by the French king, he thought it advisable to seize upon it at once. The work of man being wonderfully assisted by the nature of the ground, he began to build, at a lavish expense, a very strong castle in the teeth of the French king. But the said pontiff viewed this abstraction of the patrimony of his church with dissatisfaction ; and the French beheld with indignation, and vainly chafed against the invidious undertaking which they were unable to prevent. The prince, however, afterwards appeased the archbishop by a fitting compensation ; to wit, by giving in exchange to the church of Rouen, for the disputed district, the famous seaport which is called Dieppe. This being done, he henceforth lent himself to the work he had begun with a confidence more cheerful, and a care more diligent in proportion as his conscience was the lighter ; and the greater the defence he had secured for his own frontiers, the more did he chafe by this very fact the ferocity of the enemy. In that place, while this great undertaking was in progess, a won- derful event is related to have happened. For, as some not ignoble persons — who assert that they were present themselves — aver, in the 672 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V. month of May, a little before the solemnities of the Lord's Ascen- sion, as the king drew near, and urged on the work (for he came frequently to point out and hurry its completion, and took great pleasure in beholding its advancement), suddenly a shower of rain mixed with blood fell, to the astonishment of all the bystanders who were present with the king, as they observed drops of real blood upon their garments, and feared that so unusual an occur- rence might portend evil: but the king -was not dismayed at this, nor did he relax in promoting the work in which he took so great delight, that (unless I am mistaken) if even an angel from heaven had persuaded him to desist, he would have pronounced anathema against him. Here ends the History of William of Newburgh. THE EPISTLE OE EOEEET DE MONTE TO EOGEE, ABBOT OE BEG. THE EPISTLE OE EOEEET DE MONTE TO EOGEE, ABBOT OE BEC.^ To my lord and very dear father, Roger, by the grace of God, abbot of Bee, Robert, the abbot of Mont St. Michel, " de periculo maris," wishes all the affection which a son ought to render to a father, and all the duty which a servant owes to a lord. A CERTAIN youth coming to us, asked me, on your behalf, that I would send you a portion of our Chronicles, which contain a series of eighty-two years, namely, from the martyrdom of St. Thomas the martyr until the present time. Wishing, however, to give a superabundance to its abundance, I have taken care to add thereto whatever I have written since I departed from the church of Bee, containing a series of twenty-eight years. The remainder of what I wrote before I came to the Mount you have in the chronicles which, after great importunity, I obtained from the bishop of Beauvais. Of a truth, the book of the chronicles of Eusebius of Csesarea is exceedingly useful to solve many questions, as well of the old law as of the new, that is, of the Gospel ; for he commences his chronicles with the forty-third year of king Ninus, in which Abraham was born, and carries them on to the twentieth year of the emperor Constantine. These Jerome translated from Greek into Latin, adding, of his own composition, the narrative which extends from the twentieth year of Constantine to the death of Valens. Next follows Prosper, and carries on his history as far as the capture of Rome by Genseric, king of Africa. Then, after him, Sigebert, a monk of Gemblours, begins ; and he continues his history from the year three hundred and eighty-one to the year one thousand one hundred, in which year Henry the first, the king of the English, began to reign. I have endeavoured to add, some- what to his narrative of events, commencing with the day on which the elder Henry, the king of England, (the first of that name,) began to reign; and I have continued it until the year one thousand 1 The genuineness of this Epistle, transcribed from the Cotton MS. Domit. viii. has been questioned, in consequence of being addressed to Roger, abbot of Bee, who died in 1179 (Gall. Christ, xi. 230), or, according to our author, in 1180, while it alludes to the death of Roger, bishop of Avi-anches, which occurred in 1182. Pertz, however, dissents fi-om the validity of this conclusion, and ascribes the error to the carelessness of the scribe, who misread Osb. (Osbern, who waa abbot in 1182,) for Rob. Robert. In other respects the dates are accurate, as he remarks. See the Addenda to Pertz's edition, p. 841. 676 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. one hundred and eighty-two. Sigebert conducts his histoiy simul- taneously under nine kingdoms ; but as six of them have been destroyed, I have arranged my narrative under only three, that is, those of the Romans, the French, and the English. In imitation of this example, I cite only three kingdoms. In conclusion, I entreat you, my father, that you, and the holy congregation over whom God has given you to preside, that you would bear in memory my beloved father and lord, Richard,' bishop of Avranches, who died upon St. Mark's day [25th April], I wish long life and prosperity to your holiness. Here begins the Prologue, by Robert, to the following History of the Times, extending to the Year a.d. 1184.^ As I am about to speak, in the pages which follow, about chro- nography, that is to say, about the history of the times, I pro- pose, in the first place, to make a brief answer to those envious gainsayers who hold that my entire labour is valueless ; afterwards, I intend shortly to explain in this present Prologue, to those more amiable persons who wish me well, and who are awaiting our history, or rather demanding it, the plan upon which that history is written. To those persons who ask, " What need is there to commit to writing the lives, and characters, and histories of men, the prodigies which happened in heaven or earth, or the other elements ? " — I answer, that the good life and conversation of our predecessors are recorded for the imitation of those who follow after; but the examples of wicked men are held up, not for our imitation, but that we may avoid them. When prodigies, or portents (which betoken famine, or pestilence, or any other of the scourges with which God's vengeance deservedly visits the sins of the chil- dren of men) are recorded, they are recorded for this purpose, that their occurrence may recal to the recollection of sinners, that they have rendered themselves obnoxious to the wrath of the Almighty, and may hasten to avail themselves of the remedies of repentance and confession, by means of which they may become reconciled to God. For this cause Moses, the lawgiver, records (amongst other examples which the word of God aflbrds) the innocence of Abel, the jealousy of Cain, the simplicity of Jacob, the craftiness of Esau, the hardness of heart of the eleven sons of Israel, and the goodness of the twelfth, that is to say, of Joseph, and the punishment inflicted by fire and brimstone upon the five cities ; and all this we do, in order that we should imitate the good, dread to walk in the steps of the wicked, and shun the like miraculous fire, by hating the filthi- ness of sin. And not only did Moses do this, but also all the other writers of the word of God. Besides, all historical and moral ' Richard, bishop of Avranches, died 1182, as is mentioned by our author himself under that date ; but by the Benedictine editors of the Gallia Christiana (xi. 482) it is ascribed to the 29th of July in that year, upon the authority of the obituary of La Luzerne. 2 This date is written by Robert de Monte himself, upon an erasure. THE PROLOGUE OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 677 writers pursue the same plan ; they praise virtue, they censure vice, and thus admonish us to fear and love God. Those persons, therefore, are not to be listened to, who would have us despise chronicles, especially if written by Catholics, in which, as well as in other treatises, the general design is to afford useful information. Well aware of this, there have been many persons who have pro- fitably written chronicles. Among these I may mention Cyprian, bishop of Carthage and martyr, Eusebius of Ceesarea, the presbyter Jerome, Sulpius Severus, the friend of St. Martin, Prosper of Aquitain, the notary of the holy pope Leo, and Gregory the bishop of Tours ; and passing on to those of more recent times, Marianus Scotus, monk of Fulda, and Sigebert of Gemblours. These persons and many others, as well seculars as monks, whom I omit for the sake of brevity, were authors of chronicles. Having said thus much against the opponents to my undertaking, I now proceed to unfold my plan to those persons who wish it success. As I give the preference to Sigebert of Gemblours over all modern chroniclers, and hold his design in the highest estimation, I have made the attempt to append a kind of continuation to his annals. Having transcribed the best copies of the chronicles of Eusebius — • (which, commencing with Ninus, the earliest of the Assyrian kings, in the forty-third year of whose reign Abraham was born, extend to the twentieth year of the reign of Constantine, that most pious prince) — and having added to them the chronicles of Jerome, (that is to say, from the twentieth year of the aforesaid prince to the thirteenth year of the emperor Valens,) adding also, in its place, the chronicle of Prosper, (which reaches from the first year of Gratian to the fifth year of the emperors Valentinian and Martian,) he then appends his own history. He did not think fit to com- mence this at the point at which Prosper had ended, but where he had begun, that is to say, at the conclusion of the chronicles of Jerome, namely, from the year of our Lord's incarnation, three hundred and eighty-one. And this he did because his intention — although he was a modern writer — was this; to add various things, with which his diligent investigations into many histories had made him acquainted, to the facts which Prosper had already recorded. At the top of each page of his book he, in the first place, enters the names of various kings, that is to say, of the Romans, Persians, Franks, Britons, Vandals, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Huns; next, he places under each of these the names of their respective sovereigns ; and then beneath them, in the middle of the page, are given the years of each prince's reign, and in the margin the names of the Roman pontiffs, and the years of our Lord which accurately correspond with the years of the kings aforesaid. In his notice of the kingdom of the Britons, he mentions the name of no king of that island for nearly one hundred and twelve years, save only that of Aurehus Ambrosius. Likewise, when he has occasion to speak of the Angles, who succeeded the Britons, — the plan of his work so requiring it, — he gives no further information respecting them than what is to be found in the history written by the presbyter Beda, the teacher of the Angles ; whereas that nation possessed as 678 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. many kings after the death of Beda as it had numbered before. As to the dukes of the Normans, of them he speaks httle or nothing. And all this he did, not from carelessness, but simply because he had no materials for these three histories. Now, since on these points I am amply provided with matter, I have inserted, up to the year one thousand one hundred of our Lord's incarnation, the names, successions, and, occasionally, the more remarkable exploits of these dukes, the names of all the archbishops of Rouen, and those of some of the bishops of that province ; introducing them in his chronicle at the places to which they severally belong ; and I am in good hope that I shall be able to do the like for those kings of the Angles of whom he has made no mention. And my intention was to have performed the same good office for the kings of the Britons, could they have been conveniently disposed within Sigebert's chronicle. But since the earliest of the kings of Britain was Brutus, the great-grandson of iEneas, (from whom the island takes its name,) had I begun with him and introduced all his successors in chronological succes- sion, I should have been constrained to have interpolated their names, not only through Sigebert's book, but also through the entire body of the chronicles of Jerome, and the greater part of the annals of Eusebius. Since, then, it was unbecoming to make any addition of foreign matter to the writings of men of such recognised authority, (I mean Eusebius and Jerome,) and yet being desirous to satisfy the inquirer, I append to this Prologue an epistle by Henry, the archdeacon, in which he briefly enumerates all the kings of the Britons, from Brutus to Cadwallo, the last of those kings who had any power, and the father of Cadwallader, whom Beda calls Cedwalla. And this same Henry wrote the letter which I have mentioned, (for so it informs us,) being at the time at Bee, when he was on his way to Rome ; and I provided him with the copy of the entire history of the Britons from which he made his extracts. And since (as I have already mentioned) the aforesaid Sigisbert begins his chronicles with the year of our Lord's incarnation, three hundred and eighty-one, and carries that work onwards to the year one thousand one hundred, my design is to begin at that point, and to arrange, under the years of our Lord's incarnation, such incidents as have occurred in different provinces, but chiefly in Normandy and England, and have come to my knowledge. This I continue as faras the year one thousand one hundred and eighty-two.^ And I do this the more willingly because I desire to give a brief abstract, year by year, of the exploits of Henry the first, that most powerful king of the English and duke of the Normans, with whom my work commences. In this my undertaking I am assisted as well by the history of this king recently deceased, which I lately wrote and appended to the exploits of the dukes of Normandy,^ as also by the history of English aftairs, which commences with Julius Ceesar, and 1 Thus corrected by Robert, in another ink, and at a later period. The date originally stood 1150, as K. 0. 2 This work is extant, and will be given in its proper place in this Col- lection. THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 679 reaches beyond the death of this king Henry, that is to say, as far as the year one thousand one hundred and thirty-five, and of whicli the same Heniy, the archdeacon, is the author. Here ends the Prologue.' Here begins the Epistle respecting the Kings of the Britons, addressed by Henry, the Archdeacon, to Warin. " You ask of me, O Warin, the Briton, who art a poHte and pleasant man, why, when I am narrating the history of our country, I have begun from the time of Juhus Csesar, and have omitted the narrative of those most flourishing reigns which extended from Brutus to Julius ? ]\Iy answer is, that although I have very frequently made inquiry, both verbally and by writing, respecting the history of this period, I could never arrive at it ; so great is the cloud which jealous time throws over the glories of mortals, if it does not entirely extinguish them. In this present year, however, which is the one thousand one hundred and thirty-ninth^ from our Lord's incarnation, when on my way to Rome, in company with Theobald, arch- bishop of Canterbury, to my astonishment I discovered at Bee (where that archbishop had formerly been abbot) the writings which illustrated these very periods of history; and there also I met a monk of the same place, named Robert de Torinneio, a man devoted to the investigation and collection of books upon subjects as well divine as secular. "When he had inquired of me respecting the continuous history of the kings of England which I had published, and gladly listened to my account of the same, he presented to me, for my perusal, a book which treated of the kings of the Britons, who had occupied our island before the Angles, excerpts from which I send to you, dear friend, in an abridged form, such, indeed, as the brevity of a letter demands." ^ Here begin the Chronicles of Robert. Henry, the son of William the first, the king of the English and duke of the Normans, upon the death of his brother William, the king of the English, (who was buried in the church of St. Peter at W^inchester on the following day,) was there elected to be king. He gave the bishopric of Winchester to William Giftard. Proceed- ing to London, he was there consecrated by Maurice, the bishop of that see, having promised that the laws and customs should be amended so as to meet the wishes of the people. Upon hearing this, archbishop Anselm returned into England and married the 1 Written in red ink, apparently by Robert. Next follows a treatise, " De Immutatione Ordinis Mouachorum," after which come the Annals. - MXXX nonus in Robert's autograph — an obvious mistake. 3 As this document belongs to the historical writings of Henry of Huntingdon, the remainder is omitted here. ggQ CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1101— new king, Henry, to that noble damsel, Matilda, the daughter of Melcol, king of Scotland, and queen Margaret. Of how great sanctity were both the queens, I mean the queen and her mother, is fully described in the book respecting their lives which has appeared.^ By her king Henry became the father of a son named William, and a daughter who, as she bore her mother's name, also succeeded to her virtues. When this child was scarce five years old, Henry the fourth, the august emperor of the Romans, sent honourable legates to ask her for himself in marriage, and he obtained her. After the capture of the city of Jerusalem, of which we have spoken,^ and the great victory which was afterwards gained over the army of the admiral of Babilon, duke Robert returned into Normandy in the month of August, and was joyfully received by all the people. Thomas, archbishop of York, a man of a com- manding genius and the secretary of the Muses, ceased from among men : and he was succeeded by Gerard, the chanter, of Rouen. A.D. 1101. Henry, 45.^ Philip, 41. Henry I., 1. Henry, king of England, held his court at Westminster during Christmas,* and that at Easter at Winchester. After this his nobles became excited against him on account of the arrival of his brother Robert with an army. So the king despatched a fleet to prevent the arrival of his brother by sea ; of which, however, a portion submitted to Robert when he came. Having landed at Portsmouth before the kalends of August [1st Aug.], the king marched against him with a large body of men ; but the leaders of each of the armies, unwilling to come to blows, brought about a treaty of friendship between them to this effect, that a yearly revenue of three thousand marks of silver, arising from England, should be assigned to Robert, and that the survivor should become the heir of the deceased, in the event of his dying without a son. Twelve of the most important of the nobles of either side swore to this treaty. And so Robert continued in peace in the realm of his brother until the feast of Michaelmas [29th Sept.], and then he returned home. But that perverse bishop of Durham, Ralph, whom king Henry had put in prison by the advice of the people of England, contrived to escape out of custody ; and secretly hasten- ing into Normandy, by his advice and exhortations, he stirred up the anger of duke Robert against his brother. Conrad, ° the son of the emperor Henry, died in Italy, being to the last in a state of rebellion against his father. The emperor Henry overcame Henry of Lemburg, who had rebelled against him ; and having taken his castles, he brought him to submission ; but the emperor became reconciled to him by the payment of a ' Probably the " Vita Margaretao Scotorum Reginse, auctore Turgoto, monaclio Dnnelmensi," printed by Piukerton, in his "Vitse Sanctorum Scotiae," 1789. 2 It will be remembered that this portion of the Chronicle is, for the most part, a series of extracts from existing authorities; the present is from Henry of Huntingdon. '■' That is, the year 1101 was the forty-fifth of the reign of Henry, the emperor of the Romans, the forty-first of Philip, the king of the French, and the first of Henry I., the king of the English. * Robert de Monte commences his year at Christmas. * This clause is transcribed from Sigebert, Pertz, p. 368. A.D. 1104.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 681 large sum of money, and gave him the duchy of Loraine. So peace was restored. The ^ city of Csesarea was captured by the Christians. A.D. 1102. Henry, 46. Philip, 42. Henry I., 2. Henry," king of England, was justified in banishing Robert de Belesme, that most wicked and treacherous earl, who had risen in rebellion against him. For he first laid siege to Arundel castle; but as this fortress could not be taken without the greatest diffi- culty, in consequence of its outworks, he went and attacked Bruge,^ which he invested until it surrendered to him. So Robert de Belesme departed sorrowfully into Normandy. In this same year at Michaelmas [29th Sept.], archbishop Anselm held a council at London, in which he forbade the English priests from liaving wives — a thing not previously forbidden. This prohibition appeared to many to be a matter much tending to cleanness of living; but others held that it was dangerous, apprehensive that while straining after a degree of purity surpassing human strength, they should lapse into a depth of sin and horrible filthiness unbecoming the name of a Christian. In this council many abbots, who had ob- tained abbeys contrary to God's will, lost them in accordance to His will. While * Robert, earl of Flanders, was besieging the city of Cambrai, the emperor Henry set out on an expedition against him; but having laid siege to some of his castles, he was constrained to retire by the sharpness of the approaching winter. Stephen,^ earl of Blois, was killed at Ramala, on the eleventh of the kalends of August [18th July]. Hugh the Great died at Tarsus, and was succeeded by his son Ralph. A.D. 1103. Henry, 47. Philip, 43. Henry I., 3. Robert," duke of Normandy, came into England, where he re- mitted the annual payment of the three thousand marks which were due to him by the king; and this he did in consequence of different incidents which arose, and through the king's good ma- nagement. In this same year blood was perceived bubbling out of the earth at Hamstade in Berkshire. Robert,' earl of Flanders, was received into favour by the em- peror. The city of Acre, called formerly Ptolemais, was captured by the Christians: some people think that this was Accaron, but that is a mistake; for the one was called Philistea, the other Ptole- mais. Philistea, near Ascalon, is the city of Accaron; but Acre, that is, Ptolemais, has mount Carmel on its south. Boamund entrusted the care of the principality of Antioch to his nephew Tancred; he himself sailed for Apulia, and thence passed into France. Daibert, the first patriarch of Jerusalem, was succeeded by Ebremad. A.D. 1104. Henry. 48. Philip, 44. Henry I., 4. Circumstances^ occurred whence arose discord between -Henry, * From Fulcherius Carnotensis. ^ h_ Hvmtiiigdon. 3 Or Bridgenorth. * From Sigebert, p. 368. * From Fulcherius. * From H. Huntingdon. ' To the end of the year from Sigebert and Fulcherius. * The whole of the histoi-y of this year is from H. Huntingdon. 682 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1105— the king of England, and his brother Robert, the duke of the Normans ; in consequence of which Henry sent his troops into Normandy, where, having been joined by those persons who were playing the traitor to the duke, they inflicted upon his affairs no little damage by the plunderings, burnings, and slaughters which they perpetrated. William, earl of Mortueil, who had been disin- herited from England on account of his treachery, departed from the king and went into Normandy ; and, being a man of a strong mind and a fervent spirit, as well as of great courage, he proclaimed (and waged too) a calamitous war upon the king's adherents. Four rings of a white colour appeared round the sun at midday, indicative of coming events. A.D. 1105. Henry, 49. Philip, 45. Henry I., 5. In^ order to carry on his warfare against his brother, Henry, king of England, went over into Normandy, Caen he overcame with money, Baieux with arms, and by the aid of Fulco, count of Anjou. He also took many other castles; and nearly all the Norman nobility submitted themselves to the king. Having accomplished thus much, the king returned into England in August. The^ inhabitants of Jerusalem crushed the pagans by gaining over them a glorious victory. The son of the emperor Henry, in his hostility to his father, estranged from him all those persons whom he could influence, and rebelled against him, under the pretext of ameliorating the state and restoring the church. A.D. 1106. Henry, 50. Philip, 46. Henry I., 6. Robert,^ duke of Normandy, met his brother, king Henry, at Northampton ; and in friendly sort he entreated him that the brotherly love which had been interrupted might be renewed. But as God did not give his approval to this agreement, the duke, in his anger, returned into Normandy, whither the king followed him before August. While the king was laying siege to the castle of Tenerchebrai [Tinchebray], the duke of Normandy came upon him, accompanied by Robert de Belesme, and the earl of Mortueil and all his adherents. The king was not taken unawares, for he had with him all the nobility of Normandy, and the strength of England, and Anjou, and Brittany. The trumpets sounded for the battle ; and, accompanied only by a few followers, the duke of Normandy advanced with the greatest boldness ; and being skilled in the wars of Palestine, he fiercely drove back the royal troops, carrying himself like a man of wonderful and long-tried valour. Then the cavalry of the Britons — for the king, the duke, and the other troops were on foot, that they might fight the more stubbornly — dashed from the opposite side upon the duke's soldiers, and forthwith scattered them, whereupon that army was immediately dispersed and vanquished, being oppressed with its own bulk. A wonderful event this ! The man whom his father had cursed, and who had refused the kingdom of Jerusalem, could not hold his ground. As soon as Robert de Belesme perceived this, he con- sulted his own safety by flight. The brave duke of Normandy, 1 From H. Huntiugdon. ^ prom Sigebert, p. 368. » From H. Huntingdon. A.D. 1106.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 683 and the earl of Montreueil, were taken prisoners ; and so the Lord repaid duke Robert ; for although He had given him great renown for his actions at Jerusalem, yet the duke had refused the kingdom of Jerusalem when it was ofi'ered to him, preferring to be the slave of rest and idleness in Normandy, rather than to labour for the Lord of kings in His holy city. And, therefore, the Lord con- demned him to eternal idleness in an eternal prison. In token hereof a comet appeared this year : and also on Holy Thursday [2 2d March] two full moons were visible ; one on the east, and the other on the west. This* year was fulfilled the remark made by king William on the day before his death, about his younger son king Henry, of whom we are speaking. For while that very powerful king was causing notaries to write down the disposition which he was making of his revenues for the use of churches and the poor, and as a suppliant was despatching enormous treasures to the clergy of Mantes for the restoration of the churches which he had there burnt, and awarded the duchy of Normandy to Robert his eldest son, though at that time he was absent — and to William Rufus the kingdom of England, respecting the succession of whom to the throne he had despatched a letter to archbishop Lanfranc — Henry said to his father, "And what do you assign to me, father?" The king answered, " I give you five thousand pounds of silver out of my treasury." Henry answered ; " But what shall I do with the money if I am not to have a place of abode?" His father replied, " Be patient, my son, and be strong in the Lord. Take it quietly that your elder brothers have the precedence over you : Robert shall possess Normandy, and William shall obtain the monarchy of the whole of England : but in your own time you shall be the possessor of all the honour to which I have attained, and shall surpass your brothers both in wealth and power." On^ the fourth of the nones of February [2d Feb.], a star ap- peared in the heavens during the daytime, emitting a long stream of light, from the third hour until about the ninth, being about a yard distant from the sun. Contrary to the law of nature and of man, Henry, the son of the emperor, rebelled against his father ; and how dishonestly he used him is declared by a letter,^ written by his father's dictation, and addressed to Philip, king of the French. While the emperor Henry was tarrying at Liege, his son came to Aix la Chapelle, and being anxious to attack his father at Liege, he despatched some of his troops to seize the bridge at Viset, to prevent his attack from being resisted. This occurred on Maunday Thursday [22d March]. But the troops of the father hastened from all sides to gain possession of the bridge, from which they drove off the son's forces ; and some of the latter were taken prisoners, some drowned in the Maase, and some were killed, among the latter of whom was earl Bruno. So the son returned with disgrace from the attack which he had meditated against his 1 From Ordericus Vitalis, VII. xvi. (iii. 244.) 2 The remainder of the year is from Sigebert, p. 369. ' Printed by Baronius, A.D. 1106, § 1. VOL. IV. Y V 684 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1107— father. The inhabitants of Cologne preserved their faith to the emperor; but their archbishop stirred up the son against his father, whereupon Cologne was besieged, but not taken. The emperor Henry died at Liege, and was succeeded by his son of the same name ; who afterwards married that noble damsel, Matilda, the daughter of Henry, the king of England, when scarce five years old. Duke Henry (who had in his heart passed over from the side of the emperor to that of his son) was the cause of this son taking up arms against his father ; he now once more changed sides, and, abandoning the son for the father, attacked the troops of the former. But upon the death of the emperor, he surrendered himself, as a traitor, to the king's son, by whom he was placed in confinement ; from which, however, he contrived to escape. His duchy was given to Geoffrey, count of Louvain. A.D. 1107. Henry, 1. Philip, 47. Henry I., 7. Having* now destroyed his enemies, or reduced them to submis- sion, Henry, king of England, arranged the affairs of Normandy at his pleasure, and afterwards returned into England. He then threw into the darkness of a dungeon his brother, the illustrious duke, and the count of Montreueil ; and being thus entirely vic- torious, and for the first time feeling his power undisputed, he held his court at Windsor during Easter, at which the nobility of England and Normandy attended, in great fear and trembling. Before this time, while he was still a youth, and even after lie became a king, he was held in the greatest contempt ; but the Lord, whose judgments differ from those of the sons of men, who exalts the humble, and puts down the proud from their seats, abased Robert, who stood very high in general estimation, and was pleased to decree that the fame of the despised Henry should shine throughout the world. The Almighty Lord freely bestowed on him three gifts, — wisdom, victory, and riches ; by which he prospered in every undertaking, and surpassed all his predecessors. The report of his goodness and greatness penetrated into nearly every nation. Maurice,^ who had begun the building of the church of London, died, as also Edgar, king of Scotland, who, by the consent of king Henry, was succeeded by his brother Alexander. Boamund went from France into Apulia with a large army, and began to waste the land of Alexius, the emperor of the Greeks. The exiled Henry, being desirous of recovering his duchy, seized the town of Aix la Chapelle in despite to duke Godfrey, who, unwilling to submit to this, violently assaulted the town of Aix, terrified the townsmen out of their adherence to the late duke Henrj', and carried off with him some of the chiefer counts and many of the nobles. Henry himself, and his sons, had difiiculty in escaping by flight. The earl thought it beneath him to take his wife prisoner : and he admitted to his fealty the earls and the more illustrious of his captives, with whom he became reconciled upon the under- standing that they would fight on his side. A.D. 1108. Henry, 2. Philip, 48. Henry L, 8. ' From H. Huntingdon. ^ To the end of the year from Sigebert, p. 372. A. D. 1109.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 685 Upon' the departure of Philip, king of the French, Henry, king of England, crossed over into Normandy, waging a fierce war against Louis, the new king of France, Philip's son. Gerard, archbishop of York, having died, he was succeeded by Thomas. The emperor Henry marched against Robert of Flanders, and returned, having accomplished scarce any result, after a treaty of peace had been entered into, which, however, was rather pretended than real on both sides. Boamund, duke of Apulia, levied an army from every quarter, and proceeded to invade the empire of Constantinople. A. D. 1109. Henry, 3. Philip, 49. Henry I., 9. Messengers,^ conspicuous by their personal appearance, and the splendour of their appointments, were despatched by Henry the emperor of the Romans, to demand for their lord in marriage the daughter of Henry, the king of England. He held his court at London with unprecedented magnificence, and required that the legates should take the oaths, in the name of the emperor, at Pentecost : and this they did. The venerable Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, died, upon the eleventh of the kalends of May [21st April], on the fourth day of the week before Holy Thursday. In this year Easter fell as late as it could, that is to say, on the seventh of the kalends of May [25th April]. The same venerable individual was the author of many writings, of which it is thought fitting that a notice should here be given. While he was yet prior of the monastery of Bee, he wrote three treatises ; one upon Truth, the second upon the Liberty of the Will, the third upon the Fall of the Devil. He framed also a fourth, which he called " Upon Grammar," in which he replies to the questions of a scholar, whom he here introduces as disputing wnth himself, and proposes and solves many logical difficulties. He composed a fifth treatise also, which he called " Monologion," so named because in it he is the sole speaker, conversing as it were with himself. Herein, without referring to the holy Scriptures, he inquires what unaided reason teaches us respecting the existence of God, triumphantly proving that both Reason and Faith lead to the same conclusions, and, indeed, that they must necessarily conduct us to similar results. A sixth book — a small production — named the " Proslogion," followed next, weighty, however, in its statements and its subtle reasonings. It is so called because, in it, he addresses either himself or God. There is a seventh book, a collection of letters addressed to various correspondents who had consulted him upon different matters of their own, or had entreated his help in concerns in which they were interested. An eighth, upon the " Incarnation of the Word," comes next, written in the form of an epistle, and addressed to pope Urban, the chief pontiff of the holy Roman church. A ninth book was upon the question, "Why did God become man?" The tenth was upon the " Conception of the Virgin." The eleventh upon Contemplative Prayers, which many persons call Meditations, 1 The incidents of this year are from H. Huntingdon and Sigebert, p. 372. ^ From Henry of Huntingdon. Y Y 2 686 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1110— in which the reader will easily discover how entirely his mind was filled with the sweetness of the things of heaven. The twelfth, and last of his treatises, was upon the " Procession of the Holy Spirit;" for in the Council of Bari he had confuted the Greeks who had asserted that the Holy Spirit does not proceed from the Son ; upon occasion of which he composed this treatise, at the request of Ildebert, bishop of Mans. We have already given some informa- tion as to his nation, his life, and his manners. In* the diocese of Liege a sow littered a pig with the face of a man ; and a chicken was hatched having four legs. The emperor Henry proceeded on his march against the Hungarians ; but a treaty was entered into, and he returned. Hugh, abbot of Clugni, died, and was succeeded by Pontius. This year many persons were attacked by the Holy Fire, which made their limbs as black as coal. Philip, king of the French, died ; he was succeeded by his son Louis, who reigned twenty-nine years. A.D. 1110. Henry, 4. Louis, 1. Henry L, 10. Matilda,^ the daughter of Henry, the king of England, was given in marriage to the emperor Henry, with a splendour which (to use the briefest term) was fitting. The same king Henry received three shillings from each hide [of land] in England. At Pentecost [29th May] he held his court at New Windsor (which he himself had built) ; after which he dispossessed of their lands those persons who had done him any injury — that is to say, Philip de Brause, William Malet, and William Bainard ; but Helias, count of Mans, who had held this dignity from king Henry, was put to death. Upon this, Fulco, count of Anjou, the father of Geoffrey, obtained possession of the daughter [of the late earl], together with the city of Mans ; and he held it against the consent of king Henry. A comet of an unusual form appeared ; for, rising in the east, it mounted up far in the firmament, and then seemed to retrograde. William,' the forty-ninth archbishop of Rouen, died, and was succeeded by Geoffrey, the dean of Mans. Baldwin, king of Jeru- salem, took the cities of Beritum and Sidon. Gibelin became the third patriarch of Jerusalem. A comet appeared in the month of June, of which the rays shot out to the south, while many persons affirmed that this portent indicated that Henry was about to make an expedition into Italy. A.D. 1111. Henry, 5. Louis, 2. Henry I, 11. Henry,* the king of England and duke of Normandy, made an expedition into Normandy against Fulco, couat of Anjou, who, contrary to his will, held possession of Mans ; and upon him the king put into continuous execution the laws of war, with fire and sword. Robert, count of Flanders, one of the most illustrious in the expedition to Jerusalem, died ; but his memory shall live for ever. He was succeeded in his earldom by his son Baldwin, a youth of great courage in war. The emperor Henry' went to Rome, to appease the struggle ' To the end of the year is derived from Sigebert. ^ From H. Huntingdon. ' From the Annals of Rouen, printed by Du Chesne, Fulcherius Carnotensis, and Sigebert. * From H. Huntingdon. . ' From Sigebert, p. 372. A.D. 1112.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. f)87 which had arisen between the secular and ecclesiastical powers ; a dispute which, having originated under the blessed Gregory the seventh, the pope of Rome (also called Hildebert), and having been continued by his successors, Victor and Urban, and more espe- cially by Paschal, had now become a great stumbling-block to the whole world. The king — being anxious to make use of the autho- rity and custom, and the imperial privileges of the emperors, who now for more than three hundred years had held the sway, from the time of Charles the Great, (the earliest of the Prankish kings who governed the Romans,) under sixty-three popes — gave bishop- rics and abbeys at his pleasure by ring and pastoral staff. In opposi- tion to this traditional authority, the popes decreed in synod, that neither by staff nor ring could or ought an episcopal, or indeed any ecclesiastical investiture, to be given by the hand of a layman : and they excommunicated all persons who thus accepted the investiture of a bishop's see or any other ecclesiastical dignity. It was chiefly on this account that the emperor proceeded to Rome ; and if any of the Lombards resisted him in any way, he crushed them with a heavy hand. Upon the reconciliation which took place between the emperor and the pope — for he had made prisoners of the pope, the bishops, and cardinals — upon Easter-day [2d April], Henry was crowned emperor ; when, after the Gospel had been read, pope Paschal, (whose name was Raginerus,) standing before the altar of the apostles Peter and Paul, delivered, in the presence of all the princes, a privilege respecting the investiture of bishoprics and abbeys, as well by the ring as by the pastoral staff, — and it was to this effect ; that he [the emperor] should, at his pleasure, grant to the bishops and abbots of his realm (excepting such as were elected by violence or simony) the investiture of the staff or ring, and that after this investiture the bishop should confer canonical conse- cration, and to him should appertain the confirmation of the peace between the pope and the emperor, whilst in the celebration of the mass he should present him with the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ : " My lord emperor, this, the Body of our Lord, which was born of the Virgin Mary, and which suffered upon the cross for us, as the holy and apostolic church holds, do we give to you in confirmation of a true peace between myself and you." Dated on the ides of April, in the fourth indiction.^ A.D. 1112. Henry, 6. Louis, 3. Henry I., 12. Tancred,^ that gallant soldier, who had extended and enlarged the principality of Antioch so widely, that none of his successors could hold what he had acquired, now died, and was succeeded by his kinsman Roger, the son of Richard. Offended with the sins of mankind, God smote with lightning the church of St. Michael on the Mount, and it was burnt down along with all its buildings. King Henry of England banished from Normandy the count of Evreux and William Crispin, and took prisoner Robert de Belesme, whom we have already mentioned 1 See the biill, from which this is an extract, in Sigebert, p. 374. ^ The incidents of this year are collected from Fulcherius, Sigebert {p. 375), ami H. Huutiugdou. 088 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1113— Waldric, bishop of Laon, in his attempt to induce the inha- bitants of that city to revoke an oath by which they had wrongfully leagued themselves together, was stabbed and killed — horrible to relate — by those rebels in an insurrection which they had made. This occurred on the Thursday in Easter week, being the seventh of the kalends of May, in the Greater Litany [25th April]. A tumultuous attack of a mixed multitude of people was made upon the bishop's residence, which was burnt down ; and then the mother church of St. Mary, and the church of St. John the Baptist, within the abbey of the nuns, together with all the other churches in the vicinity, were destroyed by fire. The originators of this outbreak were punished with such severity by the king of the French, that their example may serve as a warning to prevent, as well the present generation as all succeeding ones, from the commission of a similar crime. At this time ^ master William de Campellis, formerly archdeacon of Paris, a man well versed in literature, assumed the habit of the Canons Regular ; and, along with certain of his scholars, he began to build a monastery for clerks outside the city of Paris, on a site which had formerly been occupied by the chapel of St. Vincent the martyr. But when he succeeded to the bishopric of Catalaunia,^ his disciple, the venerable Gelduvin, was made the first abbot there ; under whose government many noble clerks, well instructed in secular and divine literature, took up their abode. The most cele- brated of these was master Hugh of Lorraine, the author of several works, and a man remarkable no less for his literary acquirements than for his devout humility. In this year, also, Savigni was begun. A.D. 1113. Henry, 7. Louis, 4. Henry L, 13. In^ the following year (and not in the present) Henry, king of England, gave the archbishopric of Canterbury to Ralph, bishop of Rochester. At the same time also, on the decease of Thomas, archbishop of York, Tustin succeeded, between whom and Ralph there arose a mighty feud, because the archbishop of York would not (as was the custom) submit to the archbishop of Canterbury. The dispute was frequently discussed before the king, and as fre- quently before the pope; but it has not as yet been settled. Henry, king of England, led his army into Wales, and the Welsh submitted to whatever terms his arrogance chose to dictate. An immense comet appeared at the end of May ; but the king passed over into Normandy. In the month of May the corn and trees were so burnt up with the Holy Fire, that they disappointed the expectation of a crop. Some of the trees were withered up ; and then followed a terrible pestilence, which was accompanied by a continued flux, which generally proved fatal. On his return into England this year, king Henry committed Robert de Belesme to perpetual imprisonment at Warwick. 1 This paragraph, borrowed from another work of our author's, occurs in only one copy. - That is, of Chalons-sur-Marne ; see GaU. Christ, ix. 877. * The events of this year are collected from H. Huntingdon, and Anselm of Gemblours, p. 375. A.D. 1116.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 689 Sigebert, the venerable monk of Gemblours, died on the third of the nones of October [5th Oct.] : he was a man of incomparable learning in every department of knowledge, and the historian of bygone times, whose writings we have used in this present treatise. His death caused great grief to his surviving friends. A.D. 1114. Henry, 8. Louis, 5, Henry I., 14. Upon^ the death of Richard, the son of Richard, the son of earl Gislebert, a monk of Bee, who was the last abbot in the isle of Ely, king Henry appointed Hervey as its first bishop there ; and one county, that is to say Cambridgeshire, was removed from the bishop of Lincoln, and placed under the jurisdiction of this new bishop. Yet still eight counties, or provinces, remained to the see of Lincoln, namely, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, [North] amptonshire, Hunting- donshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire. Upon^ the decease, in Normandy, of that religious man Gisle- bert, bishop of Evreux, he was succeeded by Audoenus, a person of great holiness. A^ portion of the city of Mamistria was overthrown by an earth- quake, as also two castles, Mariscus and Triphalech, at no great distance from Antioch. Alexius,* the emperor of Constantinople, died, and was succeeded by his son John. A.D. 1115. Henry, 9. Lewis, 6. Henry L, 15. Having * caused all the nobles of his land to swear fealty to his son William, as to their lord, king Henry of England returned home. Mamistria was overthrown by an earthquake yet more violent than the former. In this year Arnulph, the fourth patriarch, having been deposed by the apostolic legate, proceeded to Rome, where he was restored by pope Paschal, from whom he received the pall. A.D. 1116. Henry, 10. Louis, 7. Henry L, 16.' At Christmas, king Henry was present at the dedication of the church of St. Allaans, which was consecrated by Robert, the venerable bishop of Lincoln, by the instrumentahty of Richard, the celebrated abbot of that place. Offa,^ king of Mercia, being a religious man, had some time before translated the body of that same martyr into the earlier monastery which he had built there, and which also he had enriched with many gifts. The monastery had been rebuilt, on a larger scale, by Paul, a monk of Caen, whom archbishop Lanfranc had ordained abbot there ; and it was this fabric which his successor Richard caused to be dedicated by Robert, bishop of Lincoln, in the pre- sence of king Henry. The body of the martyr aforesaid was trans- lated by Geoffrey, the successor of these abbots, into a shrine mar- vellously enriched with gold and precious stones, in the presence of ' For the information contained in this paragraph we are indebted to Robert ; but the incidents to which it relates occurred in A.D. 1107 and 1108. See Angl. Sacr. i. 617,; Dugd. Mon. i. 462, (ed. Ellis). 2 See Orr". Vital, xii. § 42 {iv. 301, ed. Le Prevost) ; Gall. Christ, xi. 573. 3 From Fulcherius Camotensis. * This sentence is wanting in several copies. 5 From H. Huntingdon and Fulcherius. '' From H. Huntingdon. ^ An addition by Robert do Moute. 690 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D.1116— Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of king Henry. It was this king OfFa who gave to the vicar of the blessed Peter, the pontiff of the city of Rome, a fixed and perpetual rent, called Romescot, arising from each dwelling-house through- out the whole of his realm. At that period there were in England priests so devoid of the love of money that, unless they were con- strained, they would not accept land on which to build monasteries; and there were kings so in love with religion, that, in their devotion, they would either build very extensive monasteries, or for their own salvation would abandon the world. Thus did Cedwalla and Ine, kings of Wessex ; of whom the former abandoning his earthly kingdom, in the second year of his reign, went to Rome, and being there baptized, died whilst yet in his white robes of baptism, in the year six hundred and eighty-eight after our Lord's incarnation. Ine reigned thirty-six years after Cedwalla; and leaving his realm to his relative, Athelhard, proceeded to Rome, and there died a pilgrim for the love of God. They were next followed by two successive kings of Mercia, Edelred, and his successor and relative, Chinred. In the year of our Lord's incarnation seven hundred, Edelred, the son of Penda, became a monk in the twenty-ninth year of his reign, and was buried at Bardeneie. His successor Chinred, after he had reigned five years, went to Rome, and having there become a monk, he continued in that place until the day of his death. He was ac- companied in his journey to Rome by OfFa, the son of Sighere, the king of the East Saxons, who, had he continued at home, would have mounted the throne ; but his devotion carried him thither, and he became a monk. Celwulf, also, the king of Northumbria, to whom Beda dedicated his History of the English, after having reigned eight years, became a monk, in the year of our Lord seven hundred and thirty-eight, being the third year after the death of Beda. Edbricht also, his relative and successor, in the twenty-first year of his reign, in like manner became a monk ; he was suc- ceeded in his kingdom by eight monarchs, all of whom were either betrayed, or expelled, or slain by their perfidious countrymen. Sibert, king of East Anglia, who had given an honourable reception to St. Fursey on his arrival from Ireland, and by whose liberality and assistance the same saint had built a monastery in the castle called Cnobheribric, which was afterwards augmented by king Anne and five of his nobles — this Sigbert, I say, became a monk, and left his kingdom to a relative of his own, named Egric. Many years after this he was compelled to go out to fight against king Penda ; but in the battle he refused to carry in his hand aught but a wand, and there he fell in the conflict, as well as king Egric and his army. Besides these, Sebbi, king of the West Saxons, in his devotion, assumed the monastic garb, and was buried in the church of St. Paul's, at London. Thus these eight kings abandoned their kingdoms for the sake of Christ the Bridegroom. But, to return to the point at which we digressed ; it is probable that the monastery of St. Alban's was free and exempt from the pay- ment of the tribute called Romescot, because that same king Offa was both the builder of that monastery, and the person who gave that A.D. 1117.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE JWONTE. 691 tribute to the church of Rome. Cnut, the king of the whole of England and Denmark, when on his way to Rome, in the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and thirty, regranted this tax, arising from the whole of England, to the holy church of Rome ; the former grant by OfFa having arisen only from that por- tion of England which was called Mercia. When king Henry^ sailed over into Normandy, at Easter (2d April], there was a great quarrel between him and Louis, the king of France. The cause was this : Tebald, count of Blois, the nephew of Henry, king of England, had taken up arms against his lord, the king of France ; and to aid the earl, the king of England had sent over some guards and troops, and thus occasioned no little annoy- ance to the king of France. A.D. 1117. Henry, 11. Louis, 8. Henry L, 17. Henry, king of England, found himself in the midst of the greatest difficulties ; for Louis, the king of France, and Baldwin, the count of Flanders, and Fulco, count of Anjou, had pledged themselves by an oath that they would deprive king Henry of Normandy, and transfer it to William,^ the son of Robert, earl of Normandy. Also many of king Henry's nobles revolted from him, which occasioned him a considerable loss. Yet he, not unmindful of his own interest, formed a treaty with earl Tebald, his nephew, of whom we have already spoken, and Conan, count of Britanny. The king of France and the duke of Flanders arrived in Normandy with their army ; but they had continued in it for only one single night, when they returned home without bloodshed, being afraid of ' From H. Huntingdon. 2 We may here introduce an extract respecting this count of Flanders, from the "Historia Restorata3 S.Martini EcclesiDe," by Herimannus Tornacensis, abbot of Tournay, from a.d. 1127 to 1136 (Bouq. xiii. 395). "At this period Henry, the king of England, went into Normandy, and waged war against his brother, count Robert, whom he took prisoner, and conveyed into England. His son William, a yoiith of ten years of age, being thus in exile, fled to Baldwin, count of Flanders, who educated him ; and when he was fourteen years old he made him a knight, and counselled him to rebel against his imcle, the king of England, who was keeping his father in prison ; and they two began to make frequent inroads into Normandy. King Henry sent a message requesting him to desist from such in- cursions, adding, that if he did Hot fio so, he, Henry and his army, would pay him a visit at Bruges. But the count immediately sent back for answer that the king need not trouble himself to do this, as he intended to come to Henry at Rouen. He immediately followed the messenger at the head of five hundred knights. On his arrival at Rouen, where the king was at that time resident, he stuck his lance into the gate of the city, and told the citizens to let the king know that the count of Flanders had arrived. The king (who had two thousand knights with him at the time) perceiving the audacity of the count, exclaimed (like the prudent man that he was), that he would not go out against such a crazy youth ; and laid the strictest injunctions upon his knights that none of them should presume to ven- ture outside the gate. ' For ' (said he) ' as soon as he is tired, he will go home again; and he cannot carry my land away with him.' The count was much grieved herewith, because he could not induce any one to come outside the city ; he went round and round the walls, calling out, but he did not know what to do; for he was well aware that his force was inadequate for the assault of such a stronghold. At length he perceived in the distance a herd of stags, which the king had enclosed in the neighbouring forest, and he cried out, ' If I can do nothing more, at least I will set his stags at liberty, and let them go free out of his enclosure.' No sooner had he said this, than he and his knights ran thither; and, drawing their swords, they cut down the strong stockade which enclosed the stags, and let them run at large over the fields. Having performed no greater feat than this, he retm-ned home into Flanders." 692 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1117— the arrival of king Henry with his EngUsh, Normans, and Bretons. During this year tlie king's necessities compelled him to oppress England with very frequent taxes and exactions. On the kalends of December [1st Dec], thunder and hail occurred; and in the same month, the sky was as red as if it had been in flames. On the vigil of our Lord's nativity [24th Dec] there arose a fierce wind, which tore up trees by the roots and overthrew houses. The moon was eclipsed ; and, in Lombardy, there occurred a terrible earth- quake, which destroyed churches, towers, houses, and men. Lord Pontius,* abbot of Cluny, being anxious to correct to the full the excesses of certain monks, in respect of food and clothing, who were employed in transacting the external affairs of that monastery, the monks rebelled against him ; and as their treachery increased, they accused him, in the presence of pope Paschal,^ on certain very grievous charges, which, however, were false. To these he did not condescend to reply ; stating that neither did he value their accusation nor his abbey ; and so, trusting in his own good conscience, and in the weight of his family (for he was the son of the count of Mergula), he abandoned his abbey, against the pope's wishes, and betook himself to Jerusalem. The others con- tinued in their wickedness, and elected as their abbot Ugo, the prior of Marciny ; * but he having died in the first year of his rule, they next chose a certain youth of noble family, called Peter.* I should be ashamed to relate how this Pontius, on his return from Jerusalem, wished once more to return to the government of the abbey which he had resigned, and how the schism, which hence arose, ended in the shedding of much human blood in the same monastery. Nevertheless, the government of the monastery of Cluny continued in the hands of this venerable Peter; and this he yet holds, thirty-two years ^ having elapsed since this occurrence. As for Pontius he, at length, died in the monastery called La Cava.* In this same year also died Ivo,^ bishop of Chartres, a religious man, and one well versed in literature. In his youth he had been a hearer of master Lanfranc, prior of Bee, who then lectured in that eminent school which he kept at Bee, upon subjects as well secular as divine ; — a school attended by numerous persons re- markable for the excellency of their family and manners. Lanfranc himself afterwards attained the highest point of the ecclesiastical dignity and eminence. After this, for some time Ivo presided over the convent of the Canons Regular at St. Quintins in Beauvais, to their advantage; but at length he was made a bishop; and for ^ For the history of the remainder of the year we are indebted to Robert de Monte. 2 The Benedictines and Pertz here point out an error into which Robert has fallen in respect to the date of this incident, which occurred in 1121 or 1122, before Calixtus II. Respecting Pontius, see Gall. Christ, iv. 1134. 3 Gall. Christ, iv. 487, 1137. * Peter the Venerable, concerning whom see Du Chesne's Bibliotheca Cluni- acensis, p. 621, and Gall. Christ, iv. 1137. ^ He died on the 1st of Jan. 1158, as is mentioned by our author hereafter; the calculation here given would lead us to a.d. 1150, the date of the first recension of these Aunals. 6 Gall. Christ, iv. 1136. '' Id. viii. 1126. A. D. 1119.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 693 nearly twenty-three years he ruled the church of Chartres man- fully and religiously. He left behind him many memorials of his industry, piety, and wisdom, chiefly in the monastery of the canons of St. Jean en Vallee,* which he built, and in which he was buried ; in erecting the houses of the bishop's palace ; in procuring for that palace the exemption from the evil customs and exactions of the count of Chartres ; and in writing many useful treatises. A.D. 1118. Henry, 12. Louis, 9. Henry I., 18. A long warfare^ occasioned the greatest annoyance to each of these two kings, Henry and Louis, and their nobles, until Baldwin, the most powerful count of Flanders, having been unhappily wounded at Eu in Normandy, in an insurrection of the soldiers, departed home. Robert, count of Meulan, the most judicious in the admi- nistration of secular matters of all those who remained at Jerusalem, and the private adviser of king Henry, departed from this life. He was succeeded by his sons, — the one, Galeran, being made earl of Meulan in Normandy ; the other, Robert, being made earl of Leicester in England. The second Matilda, the queen of the English, died:' she was the venerable wife of king Henry, and the mother of the empress ; of whose surpassing goodness and abundant excellence, were we to speak in detail, the day would be too brief. Amongst her other good works, she caused many churches in England and Normandy, and in other provinces, even to the present day, to shine with her gifts. She * was buried at Westminster. In the month of January,^ in this same year, died pope Paschal, who was succeeded by Gelasius, the one hundred and sixty-fifth pope. Alexius, also, the emperor of Constantinople, died ; his successor was John. Also Arnulf, the patriarch of Jerusalem, died, and many noblemen in other parts of the world. Baldwin, the first king of Jerusalem, died in the month of April. He was a most valiant soldier ; he attacked and took these places following. Acres, Caesarea, Berytus, Sydon, Tripolis, and Arsuth ; and he brought into subjection the lands of the Arabs as far as the Red Sea. After having reigned eighteen years, he was succeeded by his relative, Baldwin the second, earl of Edessa. A.D. 1119. Henry, 13. Louis, 10. Henry L, 19. In ^ the fifty-second year after the Normans had gained possession of England, and in the nineteenth of his reign, king Henry fought a glorious battle with the king of France. The first rank of the army, consisting of nobles, was under the command of William, the son of duke Robert, king Henry's brother ; the king himself took his place in that M'hich came next, attended by a large body of troops. On king Henry's side came, in the first rank, the nobi- lity ; in the second, the king himself on horseback with his own 1 Gall. Christ, viii. 1310. 2 Yrom H. Huntingdon. 2 The praises of Matilda are here appended by Robert to the slight notice of her death, which he had transcribed from the Annals of Rouen. "• This short sentence is written upon an erasure, and is wanting in two copies, which, instead of it, read, " On whose soul may the Creator have mercy ! " * From Fulcherius. ^ From H. Huntingdon. 694 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1119— family ; in the third, he had placed his sons with a considerable number of foot-soldiers. The front rank of the French immediately dismounted, and dispersed the troops of the knights of Normandy •, but when it next attacked the body in which king Henry was, it was itself broken ; consequently, the lines under the command of the kings next came into collision, and the battle raged fiercely on both sides. After the spears had been broken, they betook them- selves to their swords. In the meantime, William Crispin, a gallant knight, inflicted two blows with his sword on king Henry's head ; but although the mail was impenetrable, yet the energy with which the strokes were inflicted drove a small portion of the armour into the king's head, so that the blood gushed out. Moved to anger herewith, the king attacked his assailant in such wise, that, although he could not cut through his helmet, yet the impetus of the blow brought both the horse and the rider to the ground, and the knight was immediately taken prisoner at the king's feet. The line of in- fantry, in which were the sons of king Henry, had not yet come into action, but they prepared themselves for the conflict, and advanced against their antagonists ; perceiving which, the French were assailed with an unexpected terror, and took to flight. King Henry retained possession of the field as the conqueror, until the hostile nobles had been brought before him and had made submission. Then he returned to Rouen, while the bells rang, and the clergy praised and blessed God the Lord of hosts. In this same year died pope Gelasius, who had formerly been called John of Gadita, and was buried at Cluni. He was succeeded by Guy, the archbishop of Vienna, named Calixtus, the one hun- dred and sixty-sixth pope. Baldwin, count ^ of Flanders, died of the wound which he had received in Normandy, and was succeeded by his relative Charles, the son of St. Cnut, the king of the Danes. In ^ this same year, Roger, prince of Antioch, was slain by the Turks, along with seven thousand of his soldiers, near a town called Archasium. Thus, upon the death of the prince of Antioch, ' The following account, derived from the " Genealogia Comitum Flandrise," •written (apparently) about a.d. 1164 (Bouq. xiii. 411), is worthy of translation here : — " Baldwin, who was most illustrious in his day, and powerful above all the princes of the French, in his frequent wars had so highly exalted the kingdom of Flanders, as to make it an object of apprehension to neighbouring princes; and he would have expelled Henry, king of England, from Normandy, had not he been prevented by illness. For having collected a large army, he took with him William, the son of Robert, whom Henry, king of England, kept in prison, in- tending to besiege the town of Rouen, in which this king was then lying hidden, thereby to take him prisoner, or to defeat him, and drive him out from the kingdom. But as he was leading his army through Arras, he was suddenly seized with an illness, which originated in a trifling blow on the forehead,, which he had received a short time previously (a.d. 1118) fi-om a certain Breton. Having become paralyzed from the thiglis to the feet, he continued in this lingering state of dis- ease for full nine months. As the physicians could give him no assistance, he first made arrangements for the disposal of the whole of the realm of Flanders, and then commended himself to God and St. Bertin ; and thus, clothed in the dress of a monk, he gave up his soul to God, in the town of Roslar, in the eighth year of his government (a.d. 1119), and having been carried to St. Bertin's by Charles his successor, he was there honourably buried in the middle of the church, in the presence of the whole body of the nobility." 2 To the end of the year from Fulcherius of Chartrcs. A.D. 1123.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 695 Baldwin became the king — or to speak within bounds, the prince — of a second realm, which was added to the former. A.D. 1120. Henry, 14. Louis, 11. Henry I., 20. Having * overcome all his enemies in France, and restored peace, king Henry now returned with great joy into England ; but in the passage across the sea God's hidden judgments decreed that his two sons, William and Richard, and his daughter and niece,* together with many of the nobles, stewards, and chamberlains should perish by shipwreck on the day of the festival of St. Cathe- rine [25th Nov.]. Thus the conquering sea finds its way through the planks of the ship, and destroys the king's sons, and ends worldly honour.' A.D. 1121. Henry, 15. Louis, 12. Henry L, 21. Henry,* king of England, held his Christmas at Brantune with Tebald, count of Blois, his nephew. After this he married, at Windsor, Aeliz, the daughter of the duke of Louvain, on account of her beauty, and in the hope of issue. He spent his Easter [10th April] at Berkley; and at Pentecost [29th May], he and his new queen wore their crowns at London. As he was marching with an army against the Welsh, during the summer, they met him as suppliants, and came to such terms with him as he was pleased to dictate. A.D. 1122. Henry, 16. Louis, 13. Henry L, 22. King Henry' held his Christmas at Norwich, and his Easter [26th March] at Northampton, and his Whitsuntide [14th May] at Windsor. Thence he went to London and into Kent ; after ■which he advanced through the country to the north side of the Humber as far as Durham. Rciiph, archbishop of Canterbury, died, and also John, bishop of Bath. A.D. 1123. Henry, 17. Louis, 14. Henry L, 23. King Henry * celebrated his Christmas at Dunstable, whence he proceeded to Berkhampstead. Thence he went to that celebrated spot called Woodstock, where he had built a residence, and also had formed a chase for wild beasts ; and there Robert, bishop of Lincoln, died, of whom it is written, " Robert, that immortal honour to bishops, died, whom, however, fame shall keep in eternal memory. On the eleventh of January he left the dreams of this false world, and awoke to that which is eternal." Afterwards, at the festival of the purification [2d Feb.], the king gave the archbishopric of Canterbury to William de Curbuil, who was prior of Chichester. When he was at Winchester, during Easter [15th April], he gave the bishopric of Lincoln to that venerable man Alexander, the nephew of Roger, the bishop of Salisbury ; and the bishopric of Bath he gave to Geoffrey, the queen's chancellor. About Whitsun- tide [3d June], he crossed the sea. ' From H. Huntingdon, 2 One MS. reads thus : " William, his issue by his wife, and Richard, by his concubine, and a basebom daughter by the wife of the count of Perch, and his niece, the daughter of the earl of Chester, and many others." ^ Pertz here prints a short poem on this shipwreck, hitherto unedited, which he discovered in a MS. in the Ubrary at Brussels. It adds no new fact. * From H. Himtingdon. * Ibid. « Ibid. 696 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1123— In ^ this same year Hugh de Montfort, having completed an exceedingly strong castle at that place, he would give no informa- tion respecting it to the king, when he questioned him on the sub- ject ; and the count acted thus by the advice of his wife, the sister of Galerand, the count of Meulan, who had left the king in conse- quence of a dispute which had broken out between them. The king then laid siege to this castle and took it. Next, he attacked and captured another castle belonging to the same count at Pont- Audemer. After this he took Brionne, but with some difficulty. He distributed several of his nobles, with large bodies of soldiers, over different parts of Normandy ; and the war which now arose was very distressing to the country. Pope ^ Calixtus held a council at Reims, at which Louis, the king of France, was present. Afterwards (but in this same year^), the pope came into Normandy to have a conference with Henry, king of England ; and this great monarch and this high-priest met at the castle of Gisors. This Calixtus had succeeded Gelasius, who before his promotion to the papacy was called John of Gadita, and had been chancellor to pope Paschal, and who had dictated many learned letters. King* Henry surrounded the tower of Rouen (which the first Richard, the duke of Normandy, had built as his palace) with a high and broad turreted wall, within which he erected such buildings as were fitting for a royal residence. And to the town he added such new defences as were requisite. In this town there was a window called " Conan's Leap," because out of it this Henry had caused to be thrown down headlong a certain traitor, (a wealthy inhabitant of this city of Rouen,) by name Conan, whose intention it was to have delivered that city to the men of William, the king of the English;^ but he was prevented from doing so by the adherents of duke Robert, and chiefly by his brother Heniy, who at this time held with the duke, and who condemned this traitor to a death which he had well deserved. Besides this, he erected a very lofty tower in the castle of Caen, and carried up to a greater height the walls of that fortress, which had been built by his father : but the wall with which his father had surrounded the entire town he left untouched, just as it had been finished by his father. He strength- ened the castle called Arques with a tower and walls in a wonderful manner ; and the like he did for the castles of Gisors, Falaise, Argentan, Hiemes, Domfront, Ambrieres, and the castle of Vire, and Waure. The same may be said of the tower of Vernon. On the vigil of St. Martin [10th Nov.] loud thunder was audible, and hail of an immense size fell. Baldwin,® king of Jerusalem, was taken prisoner by Balac, a certain admiral, who in the previous year had captured Gos- I Added by Robert de Monte. ^ From H. Huntingdon. ' An error in chronology : the council of Reims was held in the end of October, 1119, and the meeting at Gisors occurred towards the end of November; see the Chron. of Melrose, A.D. 1119 (Ch. Hist. iv. 122). * Original matter. 5 This had occurred A.D. 1090; see Ord. Vitalis, viii. xv. (lii. 356). * From Fulcherius Caruotensis, A.D. 1124.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 697 celin de Turvaissel, the count of Edessa, and his kinsman Galeran. A.D. 1124. Henry, 18. Louis, 15. Henry I., 24. The aft'airs ' of Henry, king of England, prospered with him ; for his chamberlain, William of Tancarville, in company with many others of his barons, in an attack which they made on the seventh of the kalends of April [26th March], upon Galeran, count of Meulan, took him prisoner. He' was only a youth ; but an accom- plished soldier. They captured, also, Hugh de Montfort, his brother-in-law, and Hugh Fitz Gervase, and many other noblemen of great power and reputation. This occurred in a valley near Bourgtheroude,^ as they were on their way to strengthen the castle of Wateville. King Henry was then at Caen ; he could scarce believe his ears when the report reached him ; but he trusted his eyes. The prisoners were handed over to the king, who put them in ward ; and thus ended the great and destructive quarrel which had so injured the country. Tyre,'' called Sagitta by the moderns, was captured. The me- tropolis, however, is Sidon, now called Sur by its inhabitants, and is close at hand. On the taking of Tyre, a dispute respecting it arose between the patriarchs of Jerusalem and Antioch ; the latter of whom asserted that in ancient times Tyre was under the juris- diction of his church. He of Jerusalem founded his claim upon the privileges which had been granted by the Roman pontiffs. If ^ you have any inclination to hear or read about the dignities and privileges of those patriarchs of Jerusalem and Antioch, and the issue of this dispute, look into the history of what occurred in the first year (or thereabouts) after the capture of Jerusalem by the Christians. Antioch " is a city of exceeding beauty and strength, and very wealthy by reason of the abundance of its revenues. Within it there are four hills of some height ; on one of which — the loftiest of them all — stands the castle, which towers over the rest of the city. The buildings of the town, which lies beneath, are respectable, and are surrounded by a double wall. Of these the inner wall is extensive and lofty, formed of large squared stones firmly knit together. At the points of juncture in this wall stand four hundred and fifty towers, ornamented with beautiful embattle- ments, and defended with bulwarks. The outer wall is not so lofty, but it is of surpassing fairness. The city contains three hundred and forty churches. In respect to its size, it is the see of the patriarch, to whom one hundred and fifty-three bishops are 1 From H. Huntingdon. At the beginning of this year one MS. has the following addition : " The church at Savigui was dedicated to the Holy Trinity upon the kalends of June [1st June]; it had been begun, and carried on as far as the back of the choir, by the abbot Vital, and it was completed by the abbot Geoffrey. At this dedication there were present five bishops, namely, Curgia of Avranches, Richard of Coutances, Richard of Baieux, John of Seez, and Hildebert of Mans." 2 Robert de Monte has here made important additions to the narration of Henry of Huntingdon. ^ Near Rouen. ^ From Fulcherius Camotensis. 5 This sentence is interpolated by Robert de Monte. 5 This passage, descriptive of Antioch, is an abstract from the Letter of the Crusaders, printed by Pertz, Script, iii. 14. 698 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1125— subject. On the eastern side it is hemmed in by four mountains ; on the western side, the walls of the city are washed by a river named Pharpar. Ninety-five kings have occupied themselves in endeavouring to raise this city to its present state of excellency and nobility, of whom the chief, as well as the first, was Antioehus, from whom it derived its name of Antioch. William, of pious memory, the fifth abbot of the church of Bee, deceased, a man of illustrious and honest life, became monk of this place in the twenty-fifth year of his age, and after having spent fifteen years there as a private monk, he then succeeded the vene- rable Anselm in the government of that abbey. Having creditably held this office for thirty years, and six months all but six days, he departed from the world about the seventieth year of his age, after having been a monk for about forty-six. His ^ epitaph ought not to be passed over in silence. " This tomb covers William, the third abbot : he was an excellent, wise, and religious man, sighing after heavenly things, and abandoning all the concerns of this world ; following in christian poverty the poverty of Christ. His intellect, the excellency of his manners, and the splendour of his ancestry, made him dear and venerable to all men. His counte- nance and conversation proved him a man well qualified to rule. He continually observed purity of heart and body. He ruled Bee for thirty years, and improved it. To those who were obedient he was a gentle master; but to the proud he was severe. Having attained his seventieth year, he died, and his end was peaceful. Then the sign of Aries lost the associated light of Phoebus as the sixteenth day of April dawned. May God grant him to ascend the eternal kingdom, that he may reign for ever with the angelic host!" He ^ was succeeded by the pious Boso, a man admirably skilled in the New and Old Testaments, of admirable learning and incom- parable acquirements. God's power had endowed him with such abundant grace that no man, however troubled he might be, and destitute of advice, ever came to him for counsel but received from him, before his departure, direction and comfort. Thus be- loved by God and men, he was on terms of intimate familiarity with Henry, the English king; because he found him endowed with wonderful holiness and incomparable wisdom. Although he was oppressed with a sickness which was almost without intermission, yet he provided the convent and its accidental visitors with a super- abundance of such necessaries as were required. In* this same year died Teulf, bishop of Worcester, and Ernulf, bishop of Rochester. A.D. 1125. Henry, 19. Louis, 16. Henry I., 25. Being * in Normandy, king Henry gave the see of Worcester to Simon, the queen's clerk; and to Sifrid, the abbot of Glastonbury, he gave the bishopric of Chichester. Moreover William, archbishop of Canterbury, gave the bishopric of Rochester to his archdeacon John. ' An addition by Eobert de Monte. ^ Many additions are here made to the outline by H. Huntingdon. 2 From H. Huntingdon. * From the same authority. A.D. 1127.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 699 At Easter [29th March], John of Crema, a Roman cardinal, came into England, taking up his abode in the bishop's sees and abbeys, not without receiving great gifts ; and at the nativity of St. Mary [8th Sept.], he held a solemn council at London. Henry the emperor, who was the husband of Matilda, the daughter of Henry, the king of England, died. It is worth mentioning how severe Henry, king of England, was upon ill-doers. He caused nearly all the moneyers of the whole of England to be emasculated, and the right hands of those workers of iniquity to be cut off, because they had privily corrupted the coin. During this year corn rose to an unprecedented price, a horse-load of wheat being sold for six shiUings. Henry ^ the emperor was succeeded by Lothaire. Upon the death of Alexander, king of the Scots, he was succeeded by his brother David, a man of great sanctity and devotion, who had taken to wife a daughter of earl Gallef and Judith, the king's cousin ; he had possession of the two earldoms of Northampton and Huntingdon, which the earl Simon Senlis had received along with his aforementioned wife. She bore him a son named Henry, two daughters, Clarice and Hodierna. A.D. 1126. Lothaire, 1. Louis, 17- Henry L, 26. King ^ Henry celebrated his Christmas, and Easter [11th April], and "Whitsuntide [30th May], in Normandy; and about Michael- mas [29th Sept.], he returned into England, after having established such a peace as was worthy of a great king, with the princes of France. He brought over with him his daughter, the empress Matilda, the widow of that illustrious personage of whom we have just made mention. The people of that country wished to keep her among them as their mistress, but he [Henry] would not consent thereto. Robert, earl of Chester, died. Pope ^ Calixtus died, and was succeeded by Odo, bishop of Ostia, who was called Honorius ; he was the hundred and sixty- seventh pope. A.D. 1127. Lotharius, 2. Louis, 18. Henry L, 27- At * Christmas, king Henry kept his court at Windsor, whence he proceeded to London. During Lent ^ and Easter he was at Wood- stock, where a messenger brought him this message : " Charles, count of Flanders, who was sincerely attached to you, has been slain in an accursed conspiracy in the church at Bruges, by his own nobility ; and the king of France has given Flanders to his nephew William," who is your enemy. Encouraged exceedingly here- by, William has inflicted various torments upon all those persons who were traitors to Charles." Distressed at this intelligence, the 1 This paragi-aph is original. ^ The whole of this year is from H. Huntingdon. 3 An addition by Robert, but out of place, Calixtus having died on the 13th or 14th of December, 1124. * The whole year from H. Huntingdon. 5 Ash-Wednesday fell on the 17th of February, and Easter Sunday on the 3d of April. " This William was the son of Robert, duke of Normandy, Henry's eldest brother. Concerning the revolutions in Flanders at this period, see Panckoucke, Hist, de Flandre, p. 92, (ed. 1762.) VOL. IV. Z Z 700 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1128— king held a council at London, upon Rogation Sunday [8th May], and William, archbishop of Canterbury, did the same thing at Westminster, in the same town. Being at Winchester during Whitsuntide [22d May], he despatched his daughter, the empress, into France, to be married to Geoffrey, the son of Fulco, earl of Anjou, who was afterwards king of Jerusalem ; she was truly a woman of excellent disposition, kind to all, bountiful in her alms- givings, the friend of religion, of honest life, one who loved the church, by the abundance of whose gifts the church of Bee has attained no small degree of splendour. By her Geoffrey became the father of three sons ; Henry, Geoffrey, and William. In August, the king followed his daughter into Normandy. Richard, bishop of London, died, and his see was given to Gilbert Univer- salis, a most learned man. Also Richard, bishop of Hereford, died. A.D. 1128. Lothaire, 3. Louis, 19. Henry L, 28. After ^ having spent some time in Normandy, that most wise king, Henry, went in hostile array into France, because the king of the French gave protection to his enemy, with whom he was at war. Having tarried at Esparlum [Epernon] ^ for eight days, with the same confidence as if he had been within his own realm, he com- pelled king Louis to give no further aid to the earl of Flanders. Having done this, king Henry returned into Normandy. There arrived from the parts of Germany a certain duke, Theodoric,* accompanied by some of the Flemish nobility, and he laid claim to Flanders, at the suggestion of king Henry. But he was encountered in battle by William, the count of Flanders, and the conflict was a sharp one. Although the troops of count William were few, yet his heroic valour alone sufficed to supply their deficiency in numbers, as, stained with the blood of his enemies, he dispersed the hostile troops with a sword of lightning. The strength of his youthful arm terrified the adverse party, and put them to the rout. Whilst this victorious earl was besieging a castle which belonged to the enemy, and which would have surrendered on the day following, God decreed that he should receive a trifling wound on the hand, which occasioned his death. This most illustrious of youths earned for himself eternal reputation in a brief space. Hence it is said of him ; " This celebrated person died, whose back no arrow ever touched, whose feet never knew what it was to retreat. Whenever occasion required it, he was a thunderbolt; or, if not a thunderbolt, he was like one." Hugh de Paens, the master of the knights of the Temple of Jerusalem, came into England, and took back many persons with him to Jerusalem ; one of whom was Fulco, count of Anjou, who afterwards became king. Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham, died ; Terri de Auseis* succeeded William, count of Flanders.* ' The whole of the incidents of this year are narrated from H. Huntingdon. ^ At no great distance from Chartres concerning this locality, see the preface to the xiiith vol. of Bouquet, p. vii. ^ Thierri d'Alsace, who was descended from Gertrude, daughter of Robert le Frison ; Panckoucke, p. 94. * That is Thierri d'Alsaee; see the authority last quoted, p. 96. * Here another hand (which appears again in 1151), not that of the author, A.D. 1129.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 701 A. D. 1129. Lothaire, 4. Louis, 19. Henry I., 29. Fortunate * in the possession of nearly every advantage, Henry, the king of England, joyfully returned home, after having restored peace to France, Flanders, Normandy, Brittany, Mans, and Anjou. He held a large council at London, on the kalends of August [1st Aug.], on the question of the prohibition of the wives of priests ; at which were present William, archbishop of Canterbury, Tustan, archbishop of York, Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, Roger, bishop of Salisbury, Gislebert, bishop of London, John, bishop of Rochester, Sifrid, bishop of Sussex,^ Geoffrey, bishop of Bath, Symon, bishop of Worcester, Evrard, bishop of Norwich, Bernard, bishop of St. David's, and Hervey, the first bishop of Ely. The bishops of Winchester, Durham, Chester, and Hereford, were dead. It fared ill with those persons whom Hugh de Paiens (whom we have mentioned)^ took with him to Jerusalem; for the inhabitants of the Holy Land had offended God by their various crimes, and (as it is written in Moses and in the Books of Kings) their sins did not long go unpunished in those places. On the eve of St. Nicolas [5th Dec], a large body of the Christians were overcome by a few pagans, — the exact reverse of what formerly used to be the case. In the siege of Damascus, a considerable troop of Christians, going out in search of victuals, astonished the heathen by the spectacle of brave knights turning their backs like women ; whereupon they pursued them, and put many of them to death. Those of them who sought safety in flight, being in the mountains, were punished by God with a tempest of snow and cold, so that scarce one of them escaped. In this same year, Louis, king of France, caused his son Philip to be elevated to the throne. I will * tell the reader something respecting the succession of the princes of Apulia, which possibly may interest him. The first among the Normans who ruled inApulia — whileas yet theywere as strangers in the pay of Wimach, duke of Salerno — was Tustin, surnamed Scis- tellus. Upon his death, occasioned by the bite of a poisonous serpent which he killed, Ralph succeeded to the rule, and was the builder of the city of Aversa. His son Richard succeeded him as prince of Capua, who, on his death, bequeathed his principality to his son Jordan, as did Jordan to his son Richard, the younger. Some time after this, Drogo of Coutance, the son of Tancred de Alta- villa, became the prince of the Normans in Apulia, and was trea- cherously slain by Wazo, count of Naples, in the church of St. Laurence. His brother Hunfred, who came next, subdued the whole of Apulia to the Normans. Upon his death he entrusted the duchy of Apulia, together with his son Abaielard, to his bro- ther Robert, who was commonly called Wiscard, on account of his craftiness. This Robert was superior to all his brothers — all of whom, however, became dukes or counts — in valour, discretion, and adds : " James, a clerk of Venice, translated from Greek into Latin certain books of Aristotle, namely, the Topics, the Prior and Posterior Analytics, and the Elenchs, although there already existed a translation of those books." This passage is wanting in three copies. 1 From H. of Huntingdon. 2 That is, of Chichester. s See A.D. 1128. * From William of Jumiege, vi. 30 (p. 663, ed. Camd.). z z 2 702 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1130— eminence ; for he subdued Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily ; and cross- ing the sea, invaded the greater part of Greece and Africa. He did much good, and founded many bishoprics and abbeys. Abandoning'^ his first wife, a Norman woman, upon the plea of consanguinity, who bore him a son named Boamund, he married the eldest daughter of Gaumarius, prince of Salerno, with the approbation of her brother, Gisulf. Her younger sister married Jordan, the prince of Capua. Upon his death, Robert was succeeded, in his duchy of Apulia, by his son Roger, whom he had by his second wife, who bore him three sons and five daughters. "When this Roger and his sons died, his cousin by the father's side, Roger, the son of Roger, count of Sicily, the brother of Robert Wiscard, reigned alone over Apulia and Sicily. He became king in the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and thirty, in consequence of the dispute which broke out between the two popes who were then elected at Rome, one of whom, namely Anaclete, who was at Rome, granted him the privilege of wearing the royal crown. If^ any one is interested in hearing wonders, let him be informed that there arrived in Normandy a countless flight of birds, which came from a distance. They flew in flocks, making very long flights, and fought terribly with each other, prefiguring, possibly, the innu- merable evils which were about to arise upon the death of king Henry. A.D. 1130. Lothaire, 5. Louis, 20. Henry L, 30. Pope^ Honorius died, and was succeeded by Gregory, a cardinal- priest* of the church of Rome, who was named Innocent. He was the hundred and sixty-eighth pope. Another cardinal, Petrus Leonis by name, was intruded, at the same time, partly by a furious sedition of the people, and partly by the violence of his own relatives ; he was called Anaclete by the people. Both of them lived nearly eight years. Anaclete continued in the city to profit by the authority of his brethren, who were men of influence, and had the control of the castle of Crescentio. Innocent went on a visit to the nations on this side of the Alps ; hence arose the remark, " Peter possesses Rome, but Gregory the whole world." Henry,* the king of England, kept his Christmas at Winchester, and his Easter at Woodstock. There an accusation — but a false one — was brought against Geofl'rey de Clinton, that he was a traitor to the king. During Rogation-tide," he went to Canterbury to be present at the dedication of the new church there. In the month of September he passed over into Normandy ; at the nativity of St. Mary [8th Sept.], he was at Bee, having in his train Hugh, the newly-elected archbishop of Rouen, who had formerly been abbot of Reading. He was consecrated in the church of St. Ouen, by Richard, bishop of Baieux, and his fellow-bishops, upon Sunday (which was the festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross [14th ' From William of Jumifege, vii. 42 (p. 669). * To the end of the year is an addition made by Robert de Monte. ^ Original matter. * This is the original reading of A, and of K, and 0; but another hand has altered it to " deacon-cardinal," which is followed by P. ^ From H. Huntingdon. ^ Rogation Sunday occurred on the 4th of May. ' The following passage is an addition made to Huntingdon by our author. A.D. 1131.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 703 Sept.]), being the fiftieth archbishop of Rouen. Arragois/ earl of Murray, having been slain, David, the king of Scotland, held the earldom from that time forth. Gratian, bishop of Clusa, collected a very useful body of decrees out of the decrees, canons, doctors, and Roman laws, which are adequate for the decision of all such ecclesiastical causes as are agitated in the Roman court, or in any other ecclesiastical court. Master Omnebonum, bishop of Verona, who had been one of his scholars, afterwards abridged this collec- tion. Boamund, prince of Antioch, being slain, his wife married Raimund, the brother of William, earl of Poitou, who became prince of Antioch. A.D. 1131. Lothaire, 6. Louis, 21. Henry I., 31. After^ Easter [19th April], Henry, refusing to submit to Anaclete, gave a reception to pope Innocent, at Chartres. After Easter the same pope came to Rouen,^ where he was honourably entertained by king Henry, by whose influence he was acknowledged through- out the whole of France. During the summer, king Henry re- turned into England, bringing his daughter with him. On the nativity of St. Mary [8th Sept.], there was a large deliberative assembly held at Northampton, in which all the chief men of England took a part. It was herein decided that the king's daughter should be returned to the count of Anjou, her husband, he having claimed her. She was, accordingly, restored to him ; and he received her with the pomp worthy of such an illustrious princess. Reginald, abbot of Ramsey,* the builder of the new church, died after Easter [19th April]. During the month of October, in the same year, it happened that Philip, the son of the king of the French, who himself had recently been made king, while he was riding on horseback for his amusement, happened to meet with a hog, which running between the legs of his horse caused it to stumble, and threw the young king and broke his neck. See what a wonderful and unprecedented occurrence was this ! See how speedily and how easily his splendour was brought to nothing! In ^ this same month pope Innocent consecrated his brother Louis to be king at Reims, — a youth of tender years ; where the same pope held a council upon Sunday, the festival of St. Crispin and Crispinian [25th Oct.]. Louis loved God and the church, and then he lived \ery honourably. 1 What follows is wiitten upon an erasure by Robert. It is wanting in one MS. ; and instead of it two others read as follows : — '• In the same year Arageis, earl of Moray, along with Malcolm, the base son of Alexander, the brother of king David, and his predecessor, entered Scotland at the head of five thousand armed men, wishing to subdue the entire region. King David was at that time upon a visit at the court of the English king ; but his cousin Edward, who had the command of the troops, encountered him, and slew earl Arageis, killing, de- feating, and routing many of his followei-s. Thereupon he entered into Moray, which was thus deprived of a lord and defender, and the whole of that wide lord- ship, by God's permission, was from that time reduced under the power of the religious David, through the instrumentality of Edwai-d." 2 From H. Huntingdon. ^ The exact date of the interview at Chartres is doubtful ; but it is certain that the pope was at Rouen on ihe 10th of May. See a buU printed by Du Chesne in his Bibl. Cluniac. col. 1393 (ed. 1614); see also Malmesb. Hist, of his Own Times, § 5. (Ch. Hist. iii. 386.) * Dugd. Mon. ii. 547 (ed. Ellis). s Original matter to the end of the year. 704 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1132— A.D. 1132. Lothaire, 7- Louis, 22. Henry I., 32. King' Henry held his Christmas at Dunstable, and his Easter [10th April] at Woodstock. After Easter there was a great assembly at London, in which, amongst many other questions, there was a deliberation about the dispute between the bishop of St. David's and the bishop of Glamorgan, respecting the boundaries of their several dioceses. Baldwin^ the second, being the third king of Jerusalem, died ; he was succeeded by Fulco, count of Anjou, who had married the daughter^ of this Baldwin, by whom he became the father of two sons, Baldwin and Amauri. A* certain scholar, who was a clerk, was plunged in deep grief, and day and night lamented and wept like a woman in her travail ; when, upon a certain night, as he was between sleeping and waking through sorrow, he saw stand- ing by him the virgin-mother of our Lord, who had appeared to him, for he had invoked her. She was clothed in white garments, such as become virgins : she stretched out her hand, and removed his anxiety, giving him an entire cure of the grief by which he had been so long afflicted. A.D. 1133. Lothaire, 8. Louis, 23. Henry L, 33. Henry,^ king of England, held his court at Windsor during Christmas, being sick. At the beginning of Lent® there was a meeting at London, occasioned by the bishops of St. David and Glamorgan, and also in consequence of the dispute between the archbishop and the bishop of Lincoln. The king kept his Easter [2bth March] at Oxford, in the new hall. During Rogation' there was a second conference at Winchester, occasioned by the subjects which we have already mentioned. After Whitsuntide [14th May] he gave the bishopric of Ely to Nigel, and the bishopric of Durham to his chancellor Geoffrey. Shortly ' before this he had given the see of Winchester to Henry, abbot of Glastonbury, his nephew, who held both the abbey and the bishopric until his death. The see of Hereford he gave to Robert de Bectona, a Fleming, a man of religion ; and that of Chester to Roger, archdeacon of Lincoln, the nephew of Roger de Clinton. The last tenant of this diocese had been Robert, surnamed Peccatum, whose predecessor was Robert, a Norman of Limesia. Occupied in secular pursuits, rather than spiritual duties, this man had procured the monastery from Henry, bishop of Coventry, and there had fixed the chief episcopal see of the Mer- cians ; and so, at this present time, that bishopric has three sees, Lichfield, Chester, and Coventry, In" the year one thousand and seventy-five, being in the ninth year of the reign of William, king of England, a council 1 From H. Huntingdon. ^ Original matter to tlie end of the year. ' Namely, Melisenda. * The traces of rhythm which exist in the original, seem to show that we have here fragments of a metrical history. ^ From H. Huntingdon. " Ash-Wednesday fell-upon the 8th of Feb. ^ liogation Sunday was on the 30th of April. * Original. 9 From the Life of Lanfranc, by Milo Crispin, cap. xii. ap. Mabill, act. SS. Ord, L Bened. ix. 631. A.D. 1134.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 705 was held at London under the presidency of Lanfranc, arch- bishop of Canterbury, and primate of the whole island of Britain, supported by those venerable men Thomas, archbishop of York, and the other bishops and abbots of the island, together with many persons of religious orders, in which various matters were decided for the advantage as well of the laity as the clergy. Permission was there granted, by the king's munificence and the authority of the synod, to three bishops to translate their sees from towns to cities ; that is to say, Herman removed his from Sherburn to Salisbury ; Stigand, from Senlege ' to Chichester; Peter, from Lichfield to Chester. The case of some others, whose residence was still in villages or petty towns, was postponed until the king could hear the matter discussed. These ^ were the cases of Remigius, bishop of Dorchester, Giso " Hermeacensis," and Helfat of Wells ; of whom the first was afterwards translated to Lincoln, the second to Bath, and the third to Teldford, by the king's bounty, and at Lanfranc's suggestion. Eifat, who had been the chaplain to king William, was succeeded at Teldford by William de Belfou — a man of noble birth, and the chancellor of the same king. He lived for only a short period ; and he was succeeded — on the presentation of William the younger — by Herbert, a man of a large spirit, and well versed in literature. He had been a monk at Fecamp, and then prior ; he then succeeded his father as abbot of Ramsey, and ultimately became bishop of Thetford. He laid out a large sum of money in purchasing a considerable portion of the city of Norwich ; and having pulled down the houses and cleared a large space of ground, he built a very fine church upon a beautiful site overlooking the river Gerne, in honour of the Holy Trinity, as a memorial of that church in which he had himself formerly been a monk. In addition to this, he erected very large offices, such as were necessary for the convenience of the monks which he placed in that church to do God service : and he appeinted this to be the mother-church and the chief see of the bishopric of Norwich. King Henry also created a new bishopric at Carlisle, upon the borders of England and Scotland ; and he placed there, as its first bishop, Adalulf, the prior of the Canons Regular of St. Osw-ald, to whom he had been in the habit of confessing his sins. When this person became a bishop, he placed Canons Regular in the church of his see. The sun was eclipsed on the fourth of the nones of August : and on this same day the king sailed over into Normandy, from w^iich he did not again return ; while many persons anticipated evil from this sign. At this time veins of silver ore were discovered at Carlisle ; and the miners, who dug for it in the bowels of the earth, paid five hundred pounds yearly to king Henry. In the month of March, Henry, the eldest son of earl Geofi:rey and the empress Matilda, was born at Mans. A.D. 1134. Lothaire, 9. Louis, 24. Henry I., 34. 1 A mistake for Selsey. 2 With a few unimportant exceptions, the remainder of the year is original, but the details are not quite correct. 706 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1134— Geoffrey/ the second son of Geoffrey of Anjou, was born in the month of May, during Whitsuntide, at Rouen ; his mother, the empress Matilda, was in such imminent danger by the birth that her hfe was despaired of. On^ this occasion her prudence exhibited itself by indisputable tokens ; for with equal liberaUty and devotion, she distributed her treasures to orphans, widows, and others of the poor, and chiefly to churches and monasteries. She lavished more of this her bounty upon the monastery of Bee than upon any other monastery ; for she sent thither gold, and silver, and precious stones, and ample ornaments for the church. She ' requested of her father that she might be buried there. At the first he refused to grant her petition; adding, that it would be more fitting that she should be buried at Rouen, where rested her ancestors, Rollo and his son William ; but she made answer that her soul could know no joy, unless she obtained her petition in this respect at least. Then her father granted it ; but it was God's pleasure that she should be restored to health. During the whole of this year king Henry lingered in Normandy, rejoicing in his grandchildren Henry and Geoffrey. In this same year,* king Henry gave the bishopric of Baieux to Richard, the son of Robert, earl of Gloucester, and the bishopric of Avranches to Richard de Belfou. Robert, duke of Normandy, the eldest son of king William, who conquered England, died, and was buried at Gloucester. A.D. 1135. Lothaire, 10. Louis, 25. Henry I., 35. The ' moon was eclipsed on the fourth of the nones of January [2d Jan.]. A very high and terrible wind, which not only terrified the minds of men, but also overthrew towers and houses, and tore up trees by the roots, occurred on the vigil of the apostles St. Simon and St. Jude, [27th Oct.], which possibly was a portent of the death of the great king Henry, and the ruin of the entire realm. King" Henry spent the whole of this year in Normandy; and although he frequently made arrangements to return into England, he did not carry them into execution ; for he was detained there by his daughter, in consequence of various disputes which arose between himself and the count of Anjou, originating in the artifices of his daughter. Goaded on by these, the king's mind was filled with anger and rancour, which, in the opinion of some persons, were the cause of his death, acting as they did upon a temperament which was naturally frigid. On his return to St. Denis from hunting in the wood of Lions,' he dined off lampreys, a food which always did him harm, and of which he was exceedingly fond. His phy- sician had forbidden him to eat of this dish; but the king paid no attention to this salutary advice, following therein the remark, that we always strive after what is forbidden, and pine after things denied to us. This meal not only introduced into his stomach many an evil humour, but excited into activity those of a similar kind which ' Original. _ ^ From the Life of Henry I. in W. Gemet. vii. 27 (p. 681). ^ Id. ch. xxviii. (Ibid.) * Original to the end of the year. ^ Partly from the Annals of Rouen, partly original. * From H. Huntingdon. ^ Near liouen. A.D. 1135.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 707 were already within his system, and chilled to a dangerous extent the old man's body, thereby occasioning a sudden and great dis- turbance of the system. In her struggle against this attack, nature tln-ew him into an acute fever, for she attempted to cast off the obnoxious matter by which she was aggrieved. Unable to stand out the struggle, this great king died on the first of December, after having reigned thirty-five years and four months. " King * Henry is a proof how little rjches can avail, or rather that they are valueless. During his lifetime the king had loved peace ; and had been richer than all the other sovereigns of the western nations, over whom he bore the chief sway. The king was the father of the people, the protector of the orphan ; and when this good man dies, then the wicked rages, oppresses, and burns. On the one hand, England laments him ; on the other, the people of Normandy weep for him. The death of Henry, who formerly gave peace, now occasions war to both. The night of the first of December, when the sharp fever carried him off, has robbed the world of a treasure, and added to its sorrows. Here lies the reve-"^ rend king Henry — the pride of the world — celebrated for his under- standing, his riches, his condescension, his commendable firmness, his gentleness to the oppressed, his severity against the wicked, his excellency, his riches, and his humility." ^ Tliese ^ are the names of the castles which king Henry erected from the foundations on the borders of the province of Normandy : Drincurt, Chateauneuf on the Epte, Verneuil, Nonancourt, Bon- moulins, Colmemont, Pontorson, the castle of St. Denis in Leons, Vaudreuil, the towers at Evreux, those of Alen9on, and those of Coutance.^ Also he erected many monasteries in Normandy and England, namely, the monastery of Reading, the monastery of the Canons Regular at Cirencester ; the monastery Des Pres at Rouen, and the monastery of Mortemer. He also did many other works' of piety, — a fuller notice of which occurs in the book which we have written respecting his life. King* Henry, having died at St. Denis in the wood of Leons, on the fourth of the nones of December [2d Dec], his body was con- veyed into the city of Rouen by the archbishop, and the bishops, and the barons, of whom there was a large assembly : and it was opened in the church of St. Mary, and the heart, and the tongue, and the bowels were buried before the altar of the monastery Des Pres,^ while the remainder of his body (after having been sprinkled with salt) was wrapped up in hides and removed to Caen, and there placed in the monastery of St. Stephen, near the tomb of his father, until those who had the charge of his funeral found a favourable ; ' In the original this is a poetical passage, from AV. Gemet. vii. 33 (p. 684). 2 See W. Gemet. vii. 31, 32 (pp. 682, 683). ^ Three MSS. here add, " and the tower of St. John, near Mount' St. Michel, and many others which we have mentioned above ; " and the same copies omit the words, " He also erected many monasteries in Normandy and England." In A this passage is written upon an erasure, about a. D. 1185. * From H. Huntingdon, with a few additions respecting what was done witli Henry's corpse at Rouen. 6 See Gal. Christ, xi. 239. 708 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1135— wind for the removal of the corpse over into England. So within twelve days of our Lord's nativity it was buried within the monas- tery of St. Mary of Reading, which he had erected from the foun- dations, and had enriched with ornaments and possessions. Stephen, the nephew of the late king, (and then himself king,) was present at his funeral, as was also William, the archbishop of Can- terbury, and many other nobles of the realm. This ^ Stephen, when he was in his earldom of Boulogne, having heard of the death of his uncle, crossed over into England with all speed ; for he was a person of the greatest energy and boldness ; and although he had promised the kingdom of England to the daughter of king Henry, by an oath of fealty,^ nevertheless, in his audacity, he laid hands on the crown. William, archbishop of Canterbury, who himself had already made oath to the king's daughter, consecrated him as king ; after which he did not survive a whole year. Roger, the great bishop of Salisbury, who did this same thing the second time, and exhorted all others to do the like, gave him the crown and aided him to the utmost of his power. But the just sentence of God decreed that this very person whom he had created king should cause him to be imprisoned, tormented, and at last come to a wretched death. But why linger over these occurrences ? It is clear what was the end of all those persons, whether bishops or earls, who took this oath. When ^ they heard of the death of king Henry, the count of Anjou, and his wife Matilda, the daughter of the late king, had no difficulty in securing possession of the following castles in Nor- mandy, namely, Domfront, Argenteuil, Exmes, Ambieres, Goron, and Colmemont. The count had, in the meantime, granted these three last-mentioned fortresses to Gihell de Meduana [Mayenne], on these conditions, — that he would help him [the earl of Anjou] in securing the inheritance of his wife and his sons : for this Gihell had affirmed that these castles were within his own land. There * were also surrendered up to the earl aforesaid all the fortresses of William Talevac, count of Ponthieu, which he had in Normandy, and which had been in the possession of king Henry before his death, and from which he had expelled the said William. It was in consequence of this that some disagreement had sprung up between the king (before his death), and the earl, and the empress, because the former refused to give up this fortress to William. And yet there was another and more urgent cause of dispute ; namely, because the king refused to do fealty to his daughter and her hus- band— when they demanded it — for all the fortresses in Normandy and England ; and this they required of him out of regard to their sons, who were king Henry's lawful heirs. But count Geoffrey freely gave up all these fortresses to this William whom we have mentioned. ' From H. Huntingdon. ^ The original MS. ^ has an erasure before and after this word; other MSS. show that the reading thus altered was one which does not aJGFect the sense, or change the sentiment. 3 From W. Gemet. vii. 38 (p. 688). ♦ Original to the end of the year. A.D. 1135.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 709 Upon the death of the king, as we have stated, the nobles of Normandy lost no time in sending to earl Thibaud to come and take possession thereof. Accordingly, he came to Ruuen, and after- wards to Lisieux on the Saturday of the fast of the tenth month [December].' On the morrow, while he and Robert, earl of Glou- cester, were in conference, there arrived a messenger from England, stating that his brother Stephen was already made king ; upon hearing which, the earl of Gloucester surrendered the castle of Falaise, which he had then in keeping, having previously carried off a large portion of king Henry's treasure which had lately been brought thither from England. A.D. 11.36. Lothaire, 11. Louis, 26. Stephen, 1. King^ Stephen marched with a large army into Scotland, and king David came to terms of peace with him ; yet he did not do homage to him, because he was the first of all the laymen who had made oath to the empress ; however, Henry, king David's son, did homage to king Stephen, At Rogation-tide,^ when it had become generally known that the king was dead, Hugh Bigog ^ took the castle of Norwich ; which, however, he surrendered to the king, who also himself captured the castle of Bachentum, ■' because Robert its master had revolted from the king. Next, he laid siege to Exeter, which was held by Baldwin de Revers ; and when this castle had surrendered, the king deprived Baldwin of the Isle of Wight, and banished him from England. In ° the month of August, William, the third son of earl Geoffrey, was born at Ar- gentan. In the vigil of the Epiphany [5th Jan.] occurred a great tempest of wind. William, archbishop of Canterbury, died ; after' which the archiepiscopal see was vacant for some time. Many evils increased at this period, not only in England but also in Normandy, and in many other places. Boso,* of pious memory, the fourth abbot of the monastery of Bee, died, — a" man of great authority, illustrious in the world, and remarkable for his wisdom and prudence, and especially for the spirit of counsel. When about twenty-three years old, he became a monk of Bee under St. Anselm, the abbot of that place; he continued a simple monk for twenty years, then he was prior for nine years, under William the abbot, who was the successor of Anselm. After William, the whole congregation elected Boso to be abbot, and he presided over the abbey for twelve years and twelve days. He died upon the night of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, that is, upon the eighth of the kalends of July [24th June], in the seventy-first year of his age, and the forty-seventh after he had become a monk. And a few days afterwards, Thebald was elected abbot — a noble and excellent person — who at that time was prior. 1 Reference is here made to the Lent, or forty days' fast, before- Christmas ; concerning which see Martene, De Antiq. Monachorum Ritibus, III. i. § 6 (p. 262). 2 From H. Huntingdon. ^ Bogation Sunday fell upon the 2fitb of April. ^ Read, Bigot, with H. Huntingdon, 222. * Bathentum in H. Huntingdon, and the Gesta Regis Stephani. ^ This sentence is original. ' As far as — " places," an addition. 8 From W. Gemet. vii. 42 (689). » _^n addition by Robert. 710 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1137— "Having' finished his conflict with the flesh, that Israelite indeed, abbot Boso, departed on the day of the birth of the son of Zachary [24th June], — a greater than whom has not arisen from among those born of women. May the festival of this joyful day become to him, by God's permission, his entrance into the joys of paradise !" " In this tomb lies the dust of abbot Boso, that illustrious abbot of Bee, whose discourse was like a sword, removing and destroying vice ; to the proud he was a lion, to the meek a lamb, and gentle to the people. During his life his character was that of the serpent and the dove. When thou seest these lines, offer a prayer to God, whom we believe to be the destroyer of death, that Boso be plunged not in dark hell, but that he may ascend into heaven, there to be with God, together with all the faithful." The^ count Tebaud, the nephew of king Henry, instigated by Robert, earl of Leicester, laid siege to Pont St. Pierre, and took it out of the hands of Roger de Toeney. During^ this same year, many of the leading men of England died ; namely, William, archbishop of Canterbury, John, bishop of Rochester, William, bishop of Exeter, Richard Fitz-Gislebert, and his uncle Robert Fitz- Richard, and his cousin Richard Fitz-Baldwin, and the second William de Warren, earl of Surrey. In* the month of September, Geoffrey, count of Anjou, led a great army into Normandy, as far as Lisieux ; and at this time that city was burnt down. On his return he took Le Sap. During the same week, Galerius, count of Meulan, captured, at Agen, Roger de Toeney, who was occupied in plundering and burning. A.D. 1137. Lothaire, 12. Louis, 27. Stephen, 2. During ^ Lent, king Henry crossed over into Normandy, and be- sieged Lillebonne, which he took ; and it was held by Rabell, the chamberlain. Next he laid siege to Grantsilva.® At Evreux he had a conference with his brother, count Tebaud, to whom he promised to pay two thousand marks of silver annually ; and this he did because count Tebaud was angry that he, Stephen, being the younger, should obtain possession of the crown, which he said belonged to himself. Upon the surrender of Grantsilva, king Stephen came to an agreement with the king of France, to whom Eustace, Stephen's son, did homage for Normandy, which lies contiguous to the realm of France. Stephen then intended to enter the land of the count of Anjou ; but a great dispute now broke out in his army at Livarrou,^ occasioned by the robbery of a barrel of wine, which a certain Fleming carried off from an esquire of Hugh de Gornai. Hence arose a fierce feud between the Normans and Flemings, which compelled the king to return without having accomplished anything. Immediately after this, the count of Anjou collected an army considerably larger than that ' Poetry, in the original. ■ * Original. 2 From W. Gemet. vii. 40 (p. 688). * Original. ^ The whole of this year is original matter. " Not identified by the editors of Bouquet; but probably Grossoeuvre, near Evreux. ' Pi-obably Livarot, near Lisieux. A.D. 1138.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE, 711 which he had raised the year before ; but in consequence of the messages which passed between him and king Stephen, this duke granted a truce for three years, upon this condition, — that the king should make an annual allowance to him of two thousand marks of silver, payment of which sum for the current year was imme- diately made. Each party observed this truce for a single year, that is to say, as long as the festival of St. John [24th June] in the year ensuing. Matters being thus arranged, king Stephen returned into England during Advent.^ Louis the elder, the king of France, died, and was succeeded by his son, Louis, who married Alianor, the daughter of the duke of Aquitaine, by whom he had two daughters. In this same year died Lothaire, the emperor of the Romans, and was succeeded by his son, Conrad, tlie nephew of Henry the fourth, who had married the empress, and who had filled the throne before Lothaire. During the night of the kalends of August [1st Aug.], when king Louis died, the monastery of Corbie was burnt. So great was the drought this year, that even the ponds and several of the rivers were dried up ; in many places the earth was burnt up for a long time, the trees and shrubs were scorched in different places, and consumed as if by fire. Thibaud, the abbot elect of the church of Bee — a man of great probity and learning — was consecrated abbot of the same church, with the free consent of the whole church, at Rouen, by Hugh, the archbishop. A. D.M 138. Conrad, 1. Louis, 1. Stephen, 3. At Christmas,^ Stephen, king of England, laid siege to Bedford, at the surrender of which he marched into Scotland ; for David, the king of the Scots, who had made oath to the daughter of king Henr^r, had, by means of his subjects, acted in the most disgrace- ful manner, under the pretended garb of sanctity. For they had cut open women great with child, and had dragged forth the unborn children ; they had beheaded the priests at the altars, and perpe- trated many other abominations. Wherever these Scots found their way, all was full of horror : — there were the shrieks of women, the lamentations of the aged, the groans of the dying ; and the living were reduced to despair. King Stephen, therefore, aroused himself, and burnt and destroyed the southern parts of the realm of king David, who, in the meantime, did not dare to come into collision with him. After Easter [3d April] had passed, the fury of these accursed traitors burst forth ; for a certain person of the name of Talebot held the castle of Hereford in Wales against the king ; but the latter besieged it and reduced it into his own power. Robert, earl of Gloucester, held Bristol and Slede against him; Ralph Lovel held the castle of Cari; Paganell held that of Ludlow; W^illiam de Movim* the castle of Dunster ; Robert de Nicole the castle of Warham ; that of Melton was held by Eustace Fitz-John ; and William Fitz-Alan held that of Shrewsbury. This last castle 1 Advent Sunday fell on 28tli Nov. 2 Here commences MS. M. ' From H. Huntingdon. * Moun, or Moiun, are the readings of the text of H. Huntingdon. 712 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1139— the king took by assault, and hanged some of the prisoners. Hearing this, WalcheUn of Dover surrendered the castle of Dover to the queen, who was besieging him. The* king being thus busied in the southern parts of England, David, king of Scotland, marched with an immense army into Eng- land ; but he was manfully opposed by the barons of the northern parts of England, at the advice and command of Tustan, archbishop of York. They fixed a " Standart," that is to say, the royal ensign, at Alvertun, where, as fame reports, twelve thousand of the Scots were slain, exclusive of those who were afterwards discovered and slaughtered in the fields and woods. The English gained this happy victory at the cost of a trifling bloodshed. The leaders in this conflict were William, earl of Albemarle, William Piperell of Nottingham, Walter Espec, and Ilbert de Laci, whose brother was the only one of all the mounted troops who was slain. When the issue of this battle was communicated to king Stephen, he, and all those who were with him, were profuse in their thanks to God. This event took place in the month of August. During the Lord's Advent,^ Albric, the legate of the church of Rome, and bishop of Ostia, held a council at London ; and there, by the agency of king Stephen and the queen, that venerable man, Thibaud, abbot of the church of Bee, was made archbishop of Canterbury, two* years and a half having elapsed since he had been appointed abbot. By his advice the abbey of Bee continued without an abbot, under the rule of Richard de Belfou, the prior, from the nativity of our Lord, or a little before, until Whitsuntide,* that is, until he [Thibaud] returned from Rome. In this year, during the month of October, Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, besieged Falaise for fifteen days with a great army ; he was accompanied by Robert, earl of Gloucester, who had made terms of agreement with him about the previous Easter. Also, in this year the inhabitants of Exmes and Baieux were brought under subjection to him.* A. D. 1139. Conrad, 2. Louis, 2. Stephen, 4. After Christmas king Stephen besieged and took the castle of Slede ; then he marched into Scotland, where he so conducted matters, under the generalship of Mars and Vulcan, that the king of Scotland was compelled to come to an agreement with him. Returning into England, he brought with him Henry, the son of the Scottish king ; he took Ludlow, where this same Henry was nearly being made prisoner, for he was dragged from his horse by an iron grappling-hook ; but the king gallantly rescued him from his enemies. Having brought this matter to a successful issue, the king proceeded to Oxford, where occurred a transaction of unpre- cedented infamy, and notoriously disgraceful, which was this : — The king laid violent hands upon Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, his own nephew, whilst they were ^ From H. Huntingdon. ^ Advent Sunday fell on the 27th of November. ^ Original from this point to the end of the year. •• That is, until Whitsuntide [11th June], 1139. ^ One MS. here adds in the margin, " Geoffrey, the second abbot of Savigny, died." A.D. 1139.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 713 in his court, and willing to abide by whatever was right. He threw bishop Alexander into prison ; the bishop of Salisbury he took with him to a castle of the bishop's, called Devises, than which there was not a more magnificent fortress within the whole of Europe. There he pinched him with hunger; and placing a noose round the neck of his son, who had been chancellor, he threatened to hang him, — by which means he obtained possession of the castle; forgetful, however, of the assistance which the bishop, above all others, had rendered him when he first came into the realm. In like manner he took Shirburn, which is inferior in beauty only in a trifling degree to Devises. The bishop's treasures, which he carried off with him, enabled him to procure for his son Eustace, the sister of Louis the king of France, called Constance. Re- turning from thence, he acted in the same way with regard to bishop Alexander, until he extorted from him the most pleasant castle of Newark. The castle of Eslaford* was in like manner surrendered to him. Shortly after this, in the month of August, there passed over into England the daughter of king Henry, late the empress of Germany, (to whom England had been promised by oath,) together^ with Robert, earl of Gloucester, her brother; having received an invitation from William de Albinei, who had married Elizabeth, the late queen, — she having in her possession the castle and earldom of Arundel, which king Henry had given her in dower. Having at that time no other port, they landed at Arundel; and thence earl Robert boldly marched through the middle of the king's land, accompanied only by ten knights and ten mounted archers, until he reached Warengneford [Wallingford], and thence to Gloucester ; and he announced the arrival of the empress to Brian Fitz- Count and Milo of Gloucester. He had left the empress with his wife, and the remainder of his baggage in the castle of Arundel, where ^ she was besieged by king Stephen; but the king afterwards permitted her to depart to Bristol by treaty. Roger, the beforementioned bishop of Salsbury, died, being worn out no less by grief than by old age. Pope Innocent held a council at Rome, at which Thibaud, archbishop of Canterbury, was present. Lethard* was elected and appointed abbot of the church of Bee,* and this by the unanimous voice of the whole congregation. He was a man of remarkable holiness and learning ; born of a family belonging to Bee ; thoroughly skilled in both Testaments ; of ma- tured judgment; affable in address; moderate in his words; discreet in the administration of discipline; finding little joy in earthly things, but always rejoicing in those which are eternal; a lover of the good ; a corrector of the evil. He ruled the flock which was committed to him as well as the circumstances of the time would permit ; for at this period the country was disturbed with -uninter- rupted commotions.^ ' Sleeford ; see H. Huntingdon, 223. ^ Original matter. ^ To the end of the paragraph is derived from H. Huntingdon. * Original to the end of the year. ^ The passage to the end of the year is wanting in M. ^ Here C, F, if and 0, {and probably other copies,) correctly commence a new 714 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1140— [a.d. 1140.] King^ Stephen drove from his see Nigel, bishop of Ely, because he was the nephew of the bishop of Salisbury, his dislike to whom made him hate all his family. I am unable to state where he passed Christmas or Easter ; for the solemnities of the court, and the splendours of the royal household, which had come down from earlier times, now entirely departed ; the countless abundance of treasure vanished ; there was peace in no land ; everything was ruined by fires, slaughters, and plunderings ; everywhere was there lamentation, and grief, and horror. Amalric,' count of Evreux, died, and was succeeded by his brother, Simon. Rabell, the chamberlain, died ; his successor was his son, WiUiam. Henry, count of Eu, died, and his son, John, succeeded him. Tustan, archbishop of York, died, and was suc- ceeded by William, the treasurer of the same church. Audoenus, bishop of Evreux, died while in England, and was succeeded by Rotrod, — a rehgious man, adorned with good manners, and beloved by all ; he was the son of Henry, earl of Warwick. Geoffrey, earl of Anjou, laid siege to, and afterwards destroyed, the castle of Fontanel, (very strongly fortified both by nature and art,) situated within the territory of Exmes ; and this he did because Robert Marmiun, the lord of that castle, held Falaise against him. Henry, the nephew of king Stephen, became abbot of Fecamp. [a.d. 1141.] A.D. 1140.' Conrad, 3. Louis, 3. Stephen, 5. About^ Christmas, king Stephen besieged the city of Lincoln, the defences of which had been taken by the skill of Ralph, earl of Chester ; and the king remained before it until the Purification of St. Mary L2d Feb.]. At that date, this Ralph brought thither with him, as his companion, Robert, the son of king Henry, together with many nobles and valiant knights, to raise the siege. The earl, who was a very efficient and courageous soldier, had scarce crossed over a morass which was nearly impassable, when on the same day he drew up his forces in battle array, and attacked the king. Being a man of surpassing courage, he and his friends formed the first line ; the second consisted of those persons whom king Stephen had disinherited ; and the great duke Robert and his men formed the third. In the meantime, king Stephen, tossed about on a sea of cares, was hearing mass on this great festival, during which, as he was offering to God the usual waxen * taper — which was worthy of the donor — it broke as he placed it in the hands of bishop Alex- ander. The king took this as a sign that his own power was broken. The pix, also, in which was contained the body of the Lord, fell upon the altar, in the presence of the bishop ; the chain year (a.D. 1140), following herein Henry of Huntingdon. But MSS. A and 31 jn-oceed with, the narrative without any indication that a new year has com- menced at this point, and continue the error as far as 1153. Robert de Monte's chronology, although faulty, has been preserved in the text, out of respect to the authority of his autograph; but the true date has been given within brackets. ' From H. Huntingdon. This paragraph is omitted in K. 2 Original to the end of the yeai-. ^ Read, a. d. 1141. ■* The narrative of this and the following paragraph is from H. Huntingdon. 5 See Mai-tene, De Antiq. Ecclesire Disciplina, cap. xv. (p. 115.) A.D. 1141.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 715 by which it was suspended ^ having broken ; and this also was an omen of the king's downfal. Then this valiant king went forth to battle ; and with the greatest confidence he drew up his troops for the conflict. He placed round himself the whole body of the armed soldiers in the closest array possible, having previously sent off their horses ; and he directed that the earls and their followers should form two lines, and fight on horseback. The amount of cavalry, however, appeared to be exceedingly scanty when drawn out in battle array ; for these false and turbulent earls had brought but few men with them ; whereas the king's troop was very con- siderable, and displayed only one banner, and that was the king's. The battle commenced. The line consisting of those persons who had been disinherited led the way, and attacked with such im- petuosity the division in which was the king (accompanied by earl Alan, and the count of Meulan, and Hugh,^ earl of East Anglia, and earl Symon, and the earl of Warren), that it was at once scat- tered, and split into three sections ; that is to say, some were made prisoners, and some took to flight. The next line, led on by the earl of Albemarle, and William of Ipres, attacked the Welshmen, who were advancing from one side, and made them retreat. The division of the earl of Chester, however, assailed the troops which we have just mentioned, and scattered them in a moment, like the previous line. Thus all the king's knights were defeated and fled ; as also did William of Ipres, who formerly had been an earl, and a man of great worth. They who did not flee were taken pri- soners. It is a matter worthy of the notice and admiration of all, that king Stephen kept his ground like a lion, stand- ing single-handed in the field, so that no one dared approach him, grinding his teeth and foaming at the mouth like a wild boar, wielding in his hand a battle-axe, wdth the frequent blows of which he repelled the continued attacks of his assailants. Would that there had been one hundred such ! they would have held the field the longer. Even while thus alone, it was no easy matter to take him prisoner. Thus Stephen, king of England, was captured on the day of the purification of St. Mary [2d Feb.], and was miserably brought into Lincoln, which was now carried by the enemy. God's judgments having thus dealt with the king, he was carried off to the empress, and placed in ward within the tower of Bristol. Then the whole of the people of England accepted the empress as their ruler, with the exception of the men of Kent ; where the queen and William of Ipres '' resisted her to the utmost of their power. 1 See Durant, De Ritib. Ecclesise Catholics, I. xvi. § 4 (p. 57, ed. Lugd. 1675), Further illustrations of this custom, prevailing in the churches of Canterbury and Salisbury, may be seen in a note at p. 93 of the Vita St. Goderici, printed by the Surtees Society in 1847. 2 Hugh Bigot, earl of Norfolk; Dugd. Baron, i. 132. 3 The treatise, styled " Genealogia Comitum Flandrige," (Bouq. xiii. 413.) furnishes some interesting information respecting this William, regarded from a Flemish point of view. " William de Lo . . . having been expelled from Flanders, betook himself to Stephen, the king of the English, by whom he was received ■with the respect due to such an honourable individual, and in his service he remained. WMle WiUiam continued to reside within the royal city, he became VOL. IV. 3 A 716 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1141— The claims of the empress were admitted, first of all, by the Roman legate, who was bishop of Winchester, and next by the London- ers ; but they having driven her out, (either at the instigation of some crafty people or by God's command,) thereupon she ordered that the king should be placed in fetters, A few days after this she came up with her uncle, the king of Scotland, and her brother Robert, who had effected a junction of their troops, and laid siege to the town of the bishopric of Winchester ; but the bishop thereupon summoned the queen, and William of Ipres, and the rest of the English nobility. Thus a large army was collected on both sides. The army of the Londoners at length arrived ; and the enemies of the empress having received such an important accession to their forces, compelled her to withdraw ; in conse- quence of which, many were taken prisoners, among whom was Robert, the brother to the empress, in whose castle the king was confined, and whose liberation was effected by the capture of this single individual. They were mutually restored to liberty ; and thus they, whom God's justice had consigned to a miserable cap- tivity, were wonderfully delivered by his mercy. Robert was taken prisoner on the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross [14th Sept.]. In ' this year also, during the octaves of Easter,^ John, the bishop of Liseiux, submitted to Geoffrey, count of Anjou, and surrendered his city to him, which he had held for some time against him by force of arms. Moreover, all the chief men of the district of so illustrious for the excellency of his military discipline, that he made himself dear and acceptable to the king. And this was no more than he deserved; for very gallantly did he defend that king from all the assaults of his enemies. It so happened that Robert, earl of Gloucester, the base son of king Henry, had taken up arms against king Stephen, and had determined to deprive him of his life and his realm. Without more words, there was a battle stricken between them [a.D. 1141], in which the earl made the king prisoner, and placed him in custody. As soon as he was made acquainted with this, William took his troops with him, challenged Robert to battle, made him prisoner, and placed him in close confine- ment. By the intervention of several of the chief men and nobility of the realm, they were interchanged the one for the other ; and thus each of them was restored to his own friends. Not unmindful of the benefit thus conferred upon him, the king made a grant to his deliverer of the whole of the province called Kent, and assigned him an honourable position among the nobility of the realm, as long as he lived. While he had thus made himself a fear and a terror to the whole of England, God's providence, which scourgeth that it may instruct, ordained that he should lose his eyesight, but he lost none of the vigour of his intellect. The grace of God being thus shed abroad in his heart, he gave little heed to those things which were passing round about him; but provident for his future welfare, he opened the stores of his treasures, and spent large sums of money on the poor of Christ, and in the restoration of churches. Not long after this, king Stephen died, and the yotmger Henry succeeded, who, at the commencement of his reign, so cordially hated the Flemings, that he levelled with the gi-ound their castles and foi-tresses, deprived them of their possessions, and banished them (William amongst the rest) from England. This great-hearted William, formerly a prince so renowned in war, after he had returned into Flanders, which was his native country, spent ten years in quiet; and after having given much of his wealth (as we ourselves can testify) to churches and to the poor, he laid aside this mortal body at his castle called Lo, in a good old age; and there he was honourably buried in the church of the blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, on the eighth of the kalends of February [25th Jan. a.D. 1164]. May his soul become a partaker of the joys of paradise !" > Original to the end of the year, ^ Easter Sunday fell on the 6th of April. A.D. 1141.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 7l7 Lisieux surrendered to him. About Pentecost [18th May], the aforesaid bishop, John,^ died ; he had considerably augmented his episcopal residence by the addition of buildings and of ornaments ; besides which he surrounded the city with a wall — bishop Humbert ^ having destroyed that by which it had previously been defended, in order that he might build the church. His nephew, Arnulf, suc- ceeded him ; he was archdeacon of Seez, and a man of considerable prudence, eloquence, and literature. Waleran, count of Meulan, who was superior to all the rest of the Norman nobility in castles, income, and kindred, entered into an agreement with Geoffrey, count of Anjou, and he had a grant of the castle of Montfort, of which he had held possession since the death of king Henry : and besides this, all the inhabitants of Rouen submitted themselves to this noble prince ; not only the inhabitants of the city, but also those persons whose residence is on the other side of the Seine as far as the river Risle. Falaise, also, surrendered to Geoffrey, count of Anjou. The chapter-house of Bee was now commenced, at the recommendation and by the assistance of Robert of Neubourg. A.D. 1141.^ Conrad, 4. Louis, 4. Stephen, 6. During the summer, Robert, earl of Gloucester, crossed over into Normandy, taking with him the hostages ; that is to say, the sons of the English earls and nobility who adhered to the empress, and who entreated him to place them under the charge of count Geoffrey, who they expected would arrive in England and prepare himself for the subjugation of that kingdom. This the earl refused to do for a while, being apprehensive that the inhabitants of Anjou, and his other subjects, would rebel against him. Yet he entrusted him with his eldest son, Henry, who should accompany him. Imme- diately after this, in the presence of earl Robert, he besieged the castle of Aulnay/ and took it ; and then, having collected a still larger army, he advanced upon Mortain, which surrendered to him, asdidalsoTenchebrai, Cerisy, and Tilly, four castles which belonged to the count of Mortain. Next, the inhabitants of Avranches and Coutance yielded to this same earl. Louis,-^ the king of the French, persecuted the earl Tebaud, and wasted his lands, chiefly in Champagne, where he burnt Vitrey, — a beautiful castle, within which a large multitude of men and women of every age perished in the conflagration. Then pope Innocent laid the king's demesne lands under interdict, because he refused to receive the archbishop of Bourges, which, however, he afterwards did ; and then the pope absolved him of the oath which he had made in his folly. The church of Beaumont was given to the church of Bee. Stephen,'^ king of England, built a castle at Winchester. A great multitude of the enemy arriving unexpectedly, at a time when the royal troops were engaged in some hostile excursions, and^ could offer no resistance, compelled the king to take to flight ; but many 1 See Gall. Christ, xi. 774. Orderic Vitalis tells'us that he died on the 20th of May. 2 More commonly called Herbert, a.d. 1022—1049. Id. p. 766. 3 Read, A.D. 1142. Original. * Between Caen and Vire. ^ Original. ^ From H. Huntingdon. 3 A 2 718 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1142— of his party were taken prisoners. One of these was WiUiam Martel, the king's steward, who gave the important castle of Shir- burn for his ransom. This same year the king besieged the empress at Oxford, from after the feast of Michaelmas [29th Sept.], until the advent of our Lord [29th Nov.] ; but during that period (sometime about Christmas-tide) the empress escaped by night, and crossed the Thames, which at that time was frozen over. She had dressed herself in white, and thus avoided the observation of the besiegers, the ground being covered with snow at the time. She went to Wareng ;^ and so, at length, Oxford surrendered to the John," the emperor of Constantinople, received a fatal wound in his hand, occasioned by overstraining a bow with a poisoned arrow. His son Emanuel succeeded him. A.D. 1142.^ Conrad, 5. Louis, 5. Stephen, 7. Richard,* bishop of Baieux, died, and was succeeded by Philip de Harecourt ; also Richard, bishop of Avranches, to whom suc- ceeded Richard, the dean of the same church. In the same year, the count of Anjou continued to besiege Cherbourg, until it sur- rendered to him. Vernueil also surrendered, as did Vaudreuil. Also Walter Gifard, earl [of Buckingham],' and others of the inhabitants of Calais, became at peace with him. Pope Inno- cent died this same year, in the month of September, and was succeeded by Gui de Castello, a cardinal of the holy Roman church, who was called Celestine ; he was the one hundred and fifty-ninth pope ; and he held the papal see for five months and five days. During® Midlent," king Stephen was present at a council at London, which was held there by the bishop of Winchester, the legate of the city of Rome ; a procedure which was rendered neces- sary by the circumstances of the clergy ; for neither to them, nor yet to God's church, was any respect shown by the robbers, but clergy and laity were alike imprisoned and bailed. In this council it was decreed,* that no one who had laid violent hands on a clerk could be absolved by any person save the pope himself, and in his presence ; so that some little degree of safety was now vouchsafed to the clergy. In this same year king Stephen arrested Geoffrey de Mandeville in his court at St, Alban's, who, in order to regain his liberty, surrendered to the king the Tower of London and the castles of Walendene [Walden] and Plessy. Thus deprived of his property, the earl made an inroad upon the abbey of Ramsey ; ® and having driven out the monks, he introduced robbers in their stead. He was a man of great courage ; but his heart was hardened Godward. The bishop of Winchester, and afterwards the arch- bishop of Canterbury, went to Rome to treat about the legatine office, but pope Innocent^" was already dead. ' Wallingford, H. Huntingdon, 225. ^ Original. ^ j^e^d, a. D. 1143. * Original. ' See Dugd. Baron, i. 60. * Fi'om H. Huntingdon. ' Midlent Sunday occurred on the 14th of March. « See Wilkins, Concil. i. 421. » See Dugd. Monast. ii 647, (ed. Ellis.) " Innocent II. died at Rome, 24th Sept. 1143. See Jaff^, p. 598. A.D. 1143.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 719 Hugh/ a canon of St. Victor of Paris, a man of holy memor3% died ; he was a religious man, and well skilled in profane as well as sacred literature. The numerous books ^ which he left behind him are monuments of his learning. A.D. 1143.^ Conrad, 6. Louis, 6. Stephen, 8. King* Stephen laid siege to Lincoln, where, as the earl of Chester was erecting a fortification round the castle, of which he had taken possession by force, nearly eighty of his workmen were suffocated by the enemy. Leaving his design unaccomplished, the king retired in confusion. Earl Geoffrey de Mandeville occasioned the king much annoyance, and acquired the greatest reputation in all his exploits. During the month of August, God's majesty shone forth in a miracle worthy of his justice ; for two of those sinners who had converted the churches of God — from out of which they had expelled the monks — into castles, as they had shared in the guilt, so they shared in the punishment. One of these was Robert Marmiun, a brave soldier, who had perversely done this misdeed in the church of Coventry ; he was the only one of all his troops who was killed, and this happened before the monastery : he died excommunicate, and became a prey to everlasting death. Earl Geoffrey, while in the thickest of his troops, was the only one who received a wound, and that was inflicted by the arrow of a base foot-soldier ; he treated the matter lightly ; yet, a few days after, he died of the wound, being also in a state of excommunication. Behold, here is a token how the vengeance of God — which is to be praised by all his saints — overtakes the sinner ! Whilst this church was being held as a castle, blood exuded from the walls of the church and the cloister, manifesting God's wrath, and de- nouncing the destruction of the sinners. Arnulf, also, the earl's son, who, after the death of his father, had continued to hold the church as a castle, was taken prisoner and banished. The leader of the horse-soldiers fell from his charger and died, his brains being dashed out. When Rainer, who had the command of the infantry, (a man of some experience in breaking into and burning churches,) was afterwards crossing the sea, the ship stuck fast, and became immoveable. Lots were cast thrice, and they fell upon him ; whereupon he, his wife, and his money, were placed in a boat, and they speedily perished ; whereupon the vessel resumed her course over the appeased billows. Having^ collected a large army, Geoffrey, count of Anjou,, crossed the Seine at Vernon after the festival of St. Hilary [13th Jan.] ; and having encamped at the Holy Trinity," on the hill of Rouen, he was received by the citizens of Rouen with great pomp on the morrow, being the festival of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian [20th Jan.] ^ Original, written in A, upon an erasure. K and 0 have, instead, thfi-following sentence : " Emmanuel, the emperor of Constantinople, married the niece of Conrad, the emperor of the Romans, namely, the sister of Frederick, who was Conrad's successor." 2 See Cave, Hist. Lit. ii. 207. Du Pin, Hist. Eccl. x. 202. 3 Read, A.D. 1144. * From H. Huntingdon. 5 Founded, but with large additions, upon the Annals of Rouen. « SeeGall. Christ, xi. 124. 720 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1143 — During ihe time of his entry, and throughout the whole day until after the ninth hour, there was a very high wind, which overthrew trees and houses. On the surrender of the city, the men of the earl of Warren, who held with king Stephen, refused to give up the tower ; whereupon it was besieged by earl Geoffrey and Waleran, count of Meulan, and the others of the Norman nobility who had come to terms with the duke. They erected many engines, but they could not win the castle, partly on account of the strength of its position, and partly on account of the stability of the building. During the siege, Rotrod, count of Perch, died, leaving two young children behind him, Rotrod and Geoffrey ; his wife was afterwards given in marriage to his brother, Robert, by Louis king of France. At length the besieged, finding that their victuals were failing them, surren- dered the town of Rouen and themselves to Geoffrey, who had till this time been count of Anjou, but who henceforth became duke of Normandy. During the previous year^ a portion of the tower had fallen down, on that side on which Geoffrey had entered the city when it sur- rendered to him, and on which he had placed his engines of war to batter the said tower. Thus having done everything that was necessary within the tower and the city, this valiant duke prepared himself for the business which was still before him ; he collected a large army of horsemen, not only of his own retainers, but also those of his friends and others of the nobles, (for the count of Flanders, his sister's husband, had arrived with one thousand four hundred knights, and Louis, king of France, had also brought up his troops,) and then he set himself to besiege the castle of Drincourt, which was still held against him by the soldiers in the pay of the earl of Warren. Perceiving, however, that they could not keep the castle, they surrendered it to him, but very unwillingly. Hugh de Gournai delivered up the castle of Leons to him, apprehensive that the count would devastate all his possessions. Thus every- thing was reduced to peace within Normandy, with the sole excep- tion of the castle of Arques, which was still held by a Flemish monk, named William, because he had done fealty to king Stephen, although the men of count Geoff"rey blockaded it unceasingly ; and hereupon every man returned home. John,^ bishop of Seez, died, and was succeeded by a canon of the same church named Gerard, a pleasant man, and very learned. During the time of king Henry this John had done what ought not to be forgotten : — he had com- pelled the secular canons of his church to live according to the rule and institutions of St. Augustine, and had added necessary buildings and a cloister [to the church]. His uncle, John, bishop of Lisieux, and Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres, had attempted to do the same thing in their churches, but they had failed in their project. Pope Celestine died in the month of March [8th March], and was suc- ceeded by Girard, a citizen of Bolognia, a Canon Regular, chancellor of the church of Rome, and a cardinal by the title of the Church of the Holy Cross, or of Jerusalem, which is the same thing. He 1 Original to the end of the year. ^ Qg^]] Christ, si. 6S7. A.D. 1144.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 721 was afterwards styled Lucius the second ; he was the one hundred and seventieth pope, and sat one year. A.D. 1144.' Conrad, 7- Louis, 7. Stephen, 9. The ^ first matter in which king Stephen was busied was in checking the excesses of Hugh Bigot; but during the summer, earl Robert, and the whole body of the king's enemies, having built a castle at Farringdon, the king was not idle in collecting his troops and hastening hither, taking with him a formidable and large army of Londoners. A daily assault w^as made upon the castle ; and it was at last taken by a valiant effort, yet not without much bloodshed, whilst earl Robert and his adherents w-ere wait- ing, at no great distance from the king's troops, in expectation of the arrival of reinforcements. The king's fortune now at last began to change for the better, and to be in the ascendant. Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, once more went to Rome ; and on his return, in the following year, having obtained the pope's favour, he was joyfully received by his people. During ^ the summer, the castle of Arques surrendered to duke Geoffrey; William the monk, who held it, being accidentally killed in the tower by an arrow. In the same year, the Christians lost the city of Edessa, in the principality of Antioch, by treachery ; it was anciently called Rages, but Rohaeis by the moderns : and thus it passed into the hands of the Saracens, who put to death the Christians whom they found therein. Goscelin de Torvaisel the younger, the count of that city, was absent at the time. In this year, also, men began (for the first time) to drag wains laden with stones, timber, corn, and other articles, for the building of the church at Chartres, of which the towers were then being erected. The man who has not seen this, will not see the like. And not there only, but throughout nearly the whole of France and Nor- mandy, and in many other places, there was everywhere humility and affliction, — everywhere penance and the remission of sins, — everywhere grief and contrition. You might have seen women and men dragging themselves upon their knees through deep morasses, smitten with scourges ; everywhere were frequent miracles, and hymns of rejoicing offered up to God. Upon this unprecedented state of affairs, there is extant an epistle,* written by Hugh, arch- bishop of Rouen, addressed to Theodric, bishop of Amiens, who consulted him thereupon. It might have been said that the pro- phecy was fulfilled — " The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels." [Ezek.i. 20.] Duke Geoffrey repaired the bridge of Rouen, and made it very strong. Pope Lucius died in the month of March [15th Feb.], and was succeeded by Bernard, the abbot of the monastery of St. Anastasius, which is outside the walls of Rome, where pope Innocent (the fourth pope before this present one) had erected a new abbey for the monks of the order of Citeaux ; and Bernard, abbot of Clair- 1 Read, A.D. 1145. 2 Prom H. Huntingdon. ^ Original matter to the end of the year. ■* See it printed in Mabill. Annal. 1. Ixxvii. § Ixvi. (vi. 392), where are collected many illustrations of the existence of the spirit mentioned in the text. 722 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1145— veaux, when he sent the convent thither, had placed this Bernard over it, chiefly because the pope of Rome had promoted him to sacred orders some considerable time before he had become a monk in that place. He was born beyond the Alps, being a citizen of Pisa; he was ordained ^ in the first week of the month of March, and was named Eugenius, being the one hundred and seventy-first pope. The head ^ of the church of the monastery of Bee was com- menced on the day before the kalends of August [31st July], in the presence of Letard — that abbot of pious memory. A.D. 1145.* Conrad, 8. Louis, 8. Stephen, 10. Having* collected a large army, king Stephen built an im- pregnable castle, situated opposite Wallingford, where Ralph, earl of Chester (who had now entered into an agreement with the king), was present with a considerable body of troops. But afterwards, when the earl came to Northampton, in a peaceable manner, to attend the king's court, the latter seized him, when he was not apprehensive of any danger whatever, and threw him into prison until he should surrender not only the most important castle of Lincoln, which he had obtained from him by stratagem, but also all the other strongholds which were in his hands. Then the earl, being delivered from prison, became his own master. Influenced ^ by the miracles which occurred in the holy places, and by the spectacle of abundant affliction and humility brought here by the conveyances which arrived, — stimulated by the narra- tives of the miseries to which the Christians in the holy places were exposed by the inroads of the pagans, and by the preaching of Bernard, abbot of Clairveaux, a man of considerable authority, to whom this office had been assigned by pope Eugenius, — Louis, king of France; Conrad, emperor of Germany; his nephew, Frederic, duke of Suabia ; Galeran, the third count of Meulan ; earl William de Warren, his brother; Theodric de Alsatia, count of Flanders; with many other personages of great authority, Frank, French, Normans, English, and a countless multitude from other countries, not only knights and laymen, but also bishops, clerks, and monks, took the cross upon their shoulders, and made themselves ready for the expedition to Jerusalem. The king of France, and Robert his brother, and Geoffrey, count of Meulan, and many others, took the cross, near Vizelay, upon Palm Sunday [24th March] . The church of Tournai " began to have a bishop of its own ; for, from the time of St. Eligius, it had been under the bishop of Noyon. Duke Geoffrey decently restored and repaired the roof of the tower of Rouen, and the castle, which had been endamaged during the siege. Roger, king of Sicily, took from the pagans the province of Tripolis, in Africa. A toad'' was discovered enclosed within a hollow 1 He was consecrated ISth Feb. 1145 ; Jaff^, p. 617. ^ . . . " caput monasterii Becensis." . . . This sentence is wanting in M. 2 Read, a.d. 1146. * This paragraph is from H. Huntingdon. ^ Original to the end of the year. ^ See the circumstances connected herewith, as detailed in Gall. Christ, iii. 212. ^ This sentence is written by Robert (in A) upon an erasure caused by the removal of what here follows : " Richard de Linghenc took part in this expedition, and distinguished himself therein as an excellent soldier. He had recently arrived A.D. 1146.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 723 stone in the wall of the city of Mans ; after it was killed, toads were found in the walls of that place, where they had never been seen previously. An eclipse of the sun happened on the fifth of the kalends of November [28th Oct.].' A.D. 1146.' Conrad, 9. Louis, 9. Stephen, 11. At ^ Christmas, king Stephen wore his crown, in royal fashion, in the city of Lincoln, which no king had ventured to enter — deterred by some superstitions. Hence we may gather of how great courage king Stephen was, and how little he feared these imaginary dangers. Henry,* the son of duke Geoffrey and the empress, coming into Normandy from England,' was received by a solemn procession by the convent of Bee, upon the day of our Lord's ascension [29th May]. The controversy between the monks of Bee and the canons of Oxford, respecting the church of Beaumont, was decided at Paris," in the presence of pope Eugenius. In this same year the Canons Regular were introduced into the church of St. Genevieve, at Paris, by the authority of pope Eugenius, because the secular canons had inflicted some injury upon the pope's men in a certain procession. These canons had as their first abbot, Henry, the prior of the church of St. Victor, in which church he had taken holy orders. Louis, the French king, and his queen Alienor, and his com- panions whom we have already named, took their departure from Paris, in the presence of pope Eugenius, on their way to Jerusalem. It forms no part of our purpose to recount the troubles and miseries which they suffered in their journey, as they were passing through the territories of the emperor of Constantinople, from famine, disease, and the inroads of the unbelievers. But since that enter- prise had its commencement, for the most part, in pillaging the poor and robbing churches — the perpetrators of which disgraceful disorders escaped unpunished — nothing worthy of being remem- bered occurred in this expedition. Raimund,'' prince of Antioch, was killed by the Saracens ; his there from the district of Baieux, and had received, as a gift from king Roger, the earldom of the island of Audrum, of which that king had lately deprived the emperor of Constantinople." This passage also occurs in C, K, and 0, which omit the account of the discovery of the toad. ' Bouquet remarks that the true date of this eclipse is 26th Oct. 1147. 2 Read, a.d. 1147. ^ From H. Huntingdon. * Original to the end of the year. Omitting the passage which here com- mences, and ends with the words — " holy orders,"' the MS. C here substitutes the following passsge : " This year the lord Serlo, abbot of Savigni, dedicated him- self to the Cistercian order, along with all the abbeys which belonged to him ; and this he did by the hands of the lord Bernard, abbot of Clairveaux, in the pre- sence of the amiable pope Eugenius, and all the abbots of the chapter of Citeaux." Another hand then adds, in the margin, some remarks respecting the tenure of this property until a.d. 1243. ^ K, omitting the whole of the remaining narrative of this year, substitutes the following sentence : " Lord Hildiernus, the ninth abbot of St. Mary of Lire, of pious memory, died." •^ The charter by which the dispute was settled is dated at Paris, 27th May, 1147 ; see Mansi, Concil. xxi. 683. 7 This sentence, wanting in C and K, is a subsequent addition made in A by Robert himself. 724 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1147— wife survived along with their young son, Boamund the third, and their daughter Constance. A.D. 1147.' Conrad, 10. Louis, 10. Stephen, 12. The Christians ^ at last arrived at the holy places in Jerusalem, but after great labour ; and, about the month of August, they be- sieged Damascus ; but making little progress therein, in consequence of the treachery of the people of Jerusalem, they speedily returned. The christian princes in Spain had been more fortunate in the pre- vious year ; for the Spanish emperor, whose metropolis is Toledo, being aided by the inhabitants of Pisa and Genoa, had taken from the pagans the very noble city of Almaria. Relying upon the co- operation of the Normans and English, and many other auxiharies, whose fleet was on the way to Jerusalem, the king of Galicia rescued the city of Lisbon from the Hagarenes, in like manner as he had taken from them the city of Santarem in the year preceding. The count of Barcelona captured the city of Tortosa in the same year. Ascelin, bishop of Rochester, having died this year, Thebald, arch- bishop of Canterbury, appointed his brother Walter, archdeacon of Canterbury, to the said church. Roger,^ bishop of Chester, died in the expedition to Jerusalem, and was succeeded by Walter, the prior of Christ Church, Canterbury. Henry Murdac, a Cistercian monk, became archbishop of York. Pope Eugenius assembled a council at Reims, during Lent,* which was attended by Thebald, archbishop of Canterbury, who went thither privily, and contrary to the commands of king Stephen ; in consequence of which he was favourably received by the pope. Robert, bishop of Hereford, died, and was succeeded by Gislebert, abbot of Gloucester. Also, William de St. Barbara, dean of York, had been made archbishop of Durham * in the previous year. A.D. 1148." Conrad, 11. Louis, 11. Stephen, 13. About our Lord's advent,'' duke Geoffrey besieged and destroyed the castle of Robert Bertram,* in the earldom of Lisieux. Wonders were done by Eudo, the false prophet and heretic, who, having been condemned by the council of Reims, was thrust into the tower of the archbishop : — his beginning and end were equally bad. It is better to be silent than to speak of his enchantments and illusions, his sayings and doings. Reginald ^ de Castellione became prince of Antioch, having married the widow of prince Raimund. A.D. 1149." Conrad, 12. Louis, 12. Stephen, 14. Letard, of holy memory, the sixth abbot of the church of Bee, 1 Read, a.d. 1148. 2 The narrative, from this point onwards, is original. ^ Roger, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, died at Antiocli, 16th April, 1148, and his successor, Walter Durdent, was consecrated 2d Oct. 1149 ; Le Neve, i. 544. * The council commenced its sittings 21st March, 1148. The Chronicle of Melrose (p. 126), also, faultily places the date of this council in 1147. ^ He was consecrated at AVinchester, 20th June, 1143; Le Neve, iii. 283. ® The chronology is here correct. 7 In 1148 the first Sunday in Advent feU on the 2Sth of Nov. * In the texts of Pertz and Bouquet, the original stands thus, "castellum Roberti Bertranni Fag.," but no explanation is ofiered. 8 This sentence (omitted in 0) is added by Robert in A. . " This date is correct. A.D. 1149.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE, 725 died. This reverend man was a native of Bee, and became a monk under the venerable abbot WilUam ; and running his course of hfe nobly in that same monastery, he died therein — an old man and a virgin — on the sixth of the nones of July [2d July], on the Satur- day within the octaves of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, about the tenth hour of the day, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and the fiftieth of his monkdom. Being first the son of religion, and after- wards a father and dutiful lover thereof, he ruled with prudence, for ten years and twenty-three days, the abbey which had been entrusted to his care. " Freed from the body, thou departest hence, O father Letard, to that country for which thou hast so long sighed. Thou, a perfect father, art the sixth among the fathers, along with whom thou art made a partaker of abundant rewards. July having attained the sixth of the nones, was hastening onwards to the ides."' This holy man was succeeded by Roger, the second prior — one admirably skilled in both the Old and the New Testa- ment, and well read in ecclesiastical and secular learning. He was elected by the general voice of the entire congregation, within the octaves of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul; he received the bene- diction at St. Wandregesil, on the day of the festival of St. James the apostle [25th July], from the venerable Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, by whom he was placed in his seat in the presence of the convent of Bee ; from which period he watched with care, day and night, over the flock entrusted to his charge." IN'Iaster Vacarius, a Lombard by birth, a man of integrity and well skilled in the laws, \vas employed in the year one thousand one hundred and forty-nine in teaching Roman jurisprudence in England ; while many people, rich and poor, flocked to hear his expositions. At the suggestion of the poor, he excerpted ten books from the Codex and Digests — a collection which, if properly mastered, is sufficient for the decision of all legal questions which are usually discussed in the schools.^ After Easter [3d April], in this same year, died Robert, abbot of IVIont St. IVTichel, monk of Bee, who had considerably improved that monastery, both externally and internally. Duke Geoffrey besieged the castle of IMontreuil, in the district of Poitiers ; and there he erected three castles of stone : — the siege continued for three years, until the lord * of the castle of Berlai surrendered it to the count, who thereupon levelled the tower and castle with the ground. In this same year occurred a terrible whirlwind, which overthrew houses and destroyed trees and shrubs, and in which it is reported also that devils fought in the form of unclean animals. In the festival' of Whitsuntide [2 2d May], king David of Scotland ' A line then follows, the meaning of which is too obscure to admit of a satisfactory translation : — " Tuque datis septem partibus, octo metis." The three last lines of the original are written upon an erasure; the MSS. K and 0 here append ten additional lines. 2 The passage commencing with the words " this reverend man," and ending here, is omitted in M. 3 Pertz here refers his readers to Savigny, Gesch. des Rom. Rechts, iv. c. 36, p. 351. The whole of this passage is omitted in M. * Girald, according to Bouquet, or Girard, according to Pertz. ^ March, 1149, is the true date; but the chronology is here somewhat confused. 726 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1150— conferred the arms of knighthood upon Henry, the eldest son of duke Geoffrey, by his niece the empress Matilda, who in the previous year had crossed over into England from Normandy. In this same year, about August, Louis, king of France, returned from Jerusalem. For three successive months the winter was so ex- ceedingly severe, that the extremity of the cold injured the limbs of many persons ; and this continued during the greater part of the time when agricultural operations are carried on in the spring ; in consequence of which a great scarcity followed. The monastery of Corbie was again destroyed by fire.^ A.D. 1150.' Conrad, 13. Louis, 13. Stephen, 15. Tebaud, count of Blois, honoured Geoffrey, the son of duke Geoffrey, by investing him with the arms of knighthood. In con- sequence of duke Geoffrey having levelled the castle of Montreuil, and having laid siege to three stone castles for three years (a thing unheard of since the days of Julius Caesar), and having captured Bellai,^ the lord of the castle, all contrary to the wishes and in opposition to the commands of king Louis, a disagreement arose between that king and Geoffrey, duke of Normandy. During the previous year, Henry, the duke's son, had returned from England, and his father, the count, had put him in possession of the duchy of Normandy, the inheritance due to him from his mother. Thus a dispute having originated between the king and the duke, the former, accompanied by Eustace, the son of king Stephen, marched into Normandy with a large army, and sat down before the castle of Arques. On the other side was Henry, duke of Normandy, with a large army of the men of Normandy, Anjou, and Britanny ; but the leaders of the army being men of more mature age and discretion, did not permit him to come to a collision with the king his lord, unless he should have received from him a greater injury than he had already experienced. Shortly before this, and during the same year, while the duke was besieging the castle of Thorigni,* the arrival of the king com- pelled him to raise the siege, having accomplished nothing beyond having burnt the houses within the walls, extending as far as the tower and the small castle around it. Geoffrey, count of Anjou, took from Robert, count of Perch, the castle " Le Nube," ^ which John, the son of WilUam Talevaz, had lost the previous year. Incensed herewith, king Louis and his brother Robert, having collected a very large army, came to Seez, the city which belonged to William Talevaz, and burnt it. Having assembled a second army during the month of August, king Louis marched, with all his power, to the bank of the Seine, between Meulan and Mantes. Equally energetic, Geoffrey, count of Anjou, and Henry his son, duke of Normandy, marshalled their forces, and sat down on the borders of the duchy of Normandy, to defend their own. In the meantime, (as I believe, by God's disposal, ' " Henry, the lord of Fougores, died ; he had become a monk at Savigny," added in C. 2 More correctly, a.d. 1151. •'' Named Berlai, in the previous year. * Near St. Lo. ' Mont de la Nue, near Contilli. A.D. 1151.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 727 who foresaw that this matter could not be finished without much bloodshed, should the two armies come to blows,) king Louis was seized with an acute fever in the city of Paris, and was unable to leave his bed. Taking advantage hereof, some wise and religious men mediated between them, so that a truce, to hold good until the king's recovery, was mutually agreed upon. Upon his restor- ation to health, by God's mercy, peace was established ; and Gerald Berlai, the chief cause of the disagreement, was given up, and the king accepted the homage of duke Henry for the duchy of Normandy. While the father and the son joyfully took their departure from the city of Paris, and duke Henry had commanded that all the nobles of Normandy should assemble at Lisieux, on the festival of the exaltation of the Holy Cross [14th Sept.] next coming, in order to discuss with him his journey into England, his father was attacked with a severe fever at the castle of St. Ger- main-en-Laye, which carried him off upon the road appointed for all living, upon the seventh of the ides of September [7th Sept.]. He was a man of great worth and energy, and was universally lamented. He was the only person who had ever been buried within the walls of the city of Mans ; he was buried within the church of St. Julian, before the crucifix. " May^ God grant him to ascend to the kingdom of heaven, there to reign for ever with the angelic host ! " Before his death he made a grant to his eldest son, Henry, duke of Normandy, of the earldom of Anjou, and to his second son, Geoftrey, he gave four castles. In this same year died Sigerius,^ the abbot of St. Denis, who had been a liberal benefactor of ornaments, possessions, and buildings to that monastery. Odo, a monk of the same place, succeeded him, who had been appointed abbot of the church of Compeigne in the previous year, when the king had placed there the monks of St. Denis. Also, Algar,' bishop of Coutance, died; a very religious person, who had introduced regular canons into the church of St. Lo,* in Coutance, and in the church of St. Lo, in Rouen, and in the church of Cherbourg : he was succeeded by Richard, dean of Baieux. The human race, and chiefly the poor, was much troubled with unprecedented famine, pestilence, and Holy Fire. In the advent * of our Lord the rivers were unusually swollen, and swept away the bridges, even those of stone, and such houses as were near them. There was an earthquake on the night of the festival of St. Nicolas [6th Dec.]. Henry, duke of Normandy, was peacefully received by the people of Anjou, who did fealty to him ; and so he became duke of Normandy and count of Anjou. A.D. 115L'' Conrad, 14. Louis, 14. Stephen, 16 1 A poetical couplet in the original. 2 The celebrated Suger died 13th of January, a.d. 1152 : see Gall. Christ, vii. 376. • 3 He died a.d. 1151; id. xi. 875. * Id. p. 935, and Inst. 238, where the bull is printed by which this arrangement was effected. ^ In A.D. 1151, Advent Sunday occurred on the 2d of December. 6 Read, a.d. 1152. 728 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1151— Tebaud, the venerable count of Blois, died ; he was the nephew of Henry, and the brother of Stephen, the kings of England — a prince of great holiness, and very liberal towards the poor. His three sons succeeded him ; Henry, the eldest, became count of Troyes and Champagne, and all his father's possessions on the other side of the Seine; his second son, Tebaud, became the count of Chartres, Blois, and Le Dunois ; the third son, Stephen, had the honor of Sancerre, in the district of Bourges. In this same year died Conrad, the emperor of the Romans ; his successor was Lothaire, the nephew of Henry the fourth, the husband of the empress ; as he had never been crowned at Rome, it was not correct to style him emperor, but his title was king of the Romans. His nephew Frederick, the duke of Suabia, succeeded him. A dislike having sprung up between Louis, the king of France, and his wife, they were separated by the court christian, after a number of religious persons had assembled, during Lent,* at Beaugency ; and they had made oath before the archbishops and bishops, that they were within the forbidden degrees of kin to each other. After the close^ of Easter, Henry, duke of Normandy and earl of Anjou, assembled his Norman nobility and the other chief men, at Lisieux, and discussed with them his expedition into England. His uncle Rainauld, earl of Cornwall, had come for him during Lent.* About Whitsuntide [18th May], Henry, duke of Normandy, (either suddenly or deliberately,) married Alienor, countess of Poitiers, whom king Louis had divorced a short time previously on account of proximity of kindred ; hearing which king Louis became incensed against the duke ; for he had two daughters by her, and he did not wish that they should be disinherited, as they would be if she should have sons by another husband. After the feast of St. John [24th June], when duke Henry was at Barfieur, meaning to cross over into England with a body of armed men, a meeting was held, consisting of Louis, the king of France; Eustace, the son of Stephen, king of England; Robert, count of Perch ; Henry, count of Champagne, the son of count Tebaud, and Geoffrey, the brother of the duke of Normandy, with the design of depriving Henry of the lordships of Normandy and Anjou, and of the duchy of Aquitain, which his wife had brought him ; and, indeed, of stripping him of all his possessions, which these five intended to divide among themselves. When duke Henry heard of this conference, as also of the siege of Neuf Marche, at which all these princes already mentioned had assembled, (with the exception of his brother Geoffrey, who had undertaken to harass him to the uttermost within the district of Anjou,) he left Barfieur on the seventeenth of the kalends of August [l6th July], intending to assist the beleaguered castle with all his power. ' In 1152, Ash -Wednesday fell upon the 12th of February. 2 That is, the first Sunday after Easter, in this year the 6th of April. ' See note ^ A.D. 1151. THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 729 That very night there was a heavy thunder-storm ; and afterwards an immense dragon appeared in the heaven, flying from the west towards the east. But while the duke was collecting a large body of chosen horse and foot-soldiers, the castle was surrendered by the treachery of those on guard, who pretended that it had been taken by storm. Nearly all the Normans now thought that duke Henry would speedily lose the whole of his possessions ; yet he conducted himself with the greatest prudence, manfully defending himself on all sides, so as to win praise even from his enemies. About the end of August, having placed soldiers for the protection of Normandy, he himself went into the district of Anjou, where he harassed his brother Geoffrey until he consented to make terms of peace with him. A truce having been agreed upon between the king and himself, he then prepared to cross over into England ; in doing which we have cause to admire his courage. In this same year a man was told, in a dream, that he ought to cut off his hands and feet, that thus he might be saved ; and having done this, he expired. Michael,^ a monk of Bee, was made abbot of Preaux,^ on the festival of St. Thomas the Apostle [21st Dec.]. Pope Eugenius sent, as his legate into Ireland, a priest- cardinal of the church of Rome, named John,^ and surnamed Paparo, who took with him four palls, one of which he gave to the bishop of Dublin, and the others to three of the other bishops of that island ; and under each of these bishops, who received these palls, he placed in subjection five other bishops. This, however, was done contrary to the custom of the ancients, and trenched upon the dignity of the church of Canterbury, from whom the bishops of Ireland were wont to ask and receive the blessing of conse- cration. In this same year died Matilda, the wife of Stephen, king of England.* John, a monk of Seez, became second bishop of the Isle of Man, which is situated between England and Ireland, to the former of which it is nearer than to the latter, and hence the bishop of Man is subject to the archbishop of York. Its first bishop was Wimund,' a monk of Savigny ; but on account of his cruelty, he was driven out and blinded. William, bishop of Durham, died ; as also Ralph de Peronne, count of Virmandois, leaving behind him an infant son named Hugh, and one daughter, under the guardianship of Galeran, count of Meulan, his nephew. These children were born to him by his second wife, the daughter of William, duke of Aquitain ; the elder daughter became the wife of Louis, the king of France, by whom he had two daughters. Also Henry, the son of David, the king of Scotland, died. * This sentence does not occur in M. 2 Gall. Christ, si. 838. 3 See Chron. Melrose, A.D. 1151. But Giraldus Cambrensis, Top. Hiberu. iii. 17, (p. 742 Camd.,) refers this occurrence to a.d. 1152. * Here MS. G inserts a passage respecting the roonasteries of Clugny and Savigny, which is of no interest to the English reader. * See William of Newburgh, I. xxiv. p. 431. 730 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [a.D.1151— William de Romare, the younger, also died, during the life of his father William, leaving two sons by the sister of William, earl of Albemarle. In' the previous year [a.d. 1151], the vintage was scant and very late, in consequence whereof the wine was very dear and harsh : and in the present year, although the vintage was at the usual time, yet the wine was dearer than in the year preceding; wherefore, even in France, there sprung up taverns for the sale of beer and mead — a thing unheard of in former times. Geoffrey Arthur, who had translated the History of the Kings of Britain from the British language into Latin, became bishop of St. Asaph, in North Wales. There are at this time, in Wales, four bishoprics, and seventeen in England ; in eight of which episcopal sees are monks — a thing which seldom or never occurs in other pro- vinces ; but this is usual in England, because its first preachers, such as Augustine, Mellitus, Justus, and Laurence, were monks ; in the other eight sees there are secular canons, and in one canons regular. In this same year John the Roman (who from his boyhood had been a monk of St. Saba, afterwards the abbot of St. Mary, in the Roman capital, resigning which he had become a monk of Bee) proceeded to Rome ; and on his return from that city, he brought home with him the head of the blessed Felix the martyr, the friend of St. Audactus, which he gave gratuitously to the church of Bee. The pernicious doctrine of the heretic Henry having gained ground, especially in Gascony, the Lord raised up the spirit of a young girl in that province to refute this heresy. For during three days in each week she lay without speech and sensation, and even without breathing ; after which she returned to consciousness, and told how the blessed Mary was praying for the christian people, and how the blessed Peter had taught her the orthodox faith. After this she spoke wisely and orthodoxly of the faith ; by which, and by her refutation of the heresy of Henry, she restored to the bosom of our holy mother the church many of those per- sons whom he had seduced. Upon the treacherous surrender of the fortress of Neuf Marche to Louis, the king of the French, as we have already mentioned, the same king recalled his army to Chaumont.^ But Henry, duke of Normandy, collected a considerable force of chosen horse and foot-soldiers, and pitched his tents near the river Andelle ; and sitting down there, he inflicted injury for some time upon that part of Le Vexin which is situated between the rivers Andelle and Epte, and which belongs to the duchy of Normandy. But after the death of king Henry, Geoffrey, the count of Anjou, had granted it to Louis, king of France, for a period, in like manner as he had granted many others of the demesne lands of the duchy of Nor- mandy to certain of the nobles of the same province ; for he thought that by this means he would make them all the more prompt to assist him in the reduction of this earldom to his own ^ This passage does not occur in M. ^ Near Gisors. A. D, 1151. THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 731 control. And so duke Henry daily sent into that district men to pillage it of victuals for the use of his soldiers, and the cattle of his army; he destroyed there, also, and burnt to the ground, the castle of Bascherville, and two other castles, those of Chitrei and Etrepagni. The smoke told this result to the Frenchmen, who had pitched their camp on the other side of the river Epte, but who could not render any assistance to their own friends ; and next he assaulted, took, and burnt down the fortress of Hugh de Gournai, which is called La Ferte, with the exception of a turret which stands on a lofty mountain. This he did because Hugh had refused to render to the duke the service which was his due, and had afforded assistance to his enemies outside the castle of Gournai. Towards the middle of the month of August, king Louis caused his army to cross the Seine at Meulan ; hearing which, the duke passed over the same river with his army, at the bridge of Vernon, and marched to Verneuil with the utmost expedition, at the head of some light- armed troops ; for he had been given to understand by his spies, that the king was on his way thither. In this state of affairs, William de Pacy requested him to return to Pacy ^ with all speed, for that the king was marching thither with a large army. Impetuous and expeditious in all his movements, especially when required to render assistance to his friends, the duke turned his horse's head in that direction ; and with such speed did he and his companions push on to Pacy, that before they could reach it many of their horses died on the road, or were disabled, and compelled to stop by the wayside. Hearing of the arrival of the duke, the king adopted a more careful method of procedure, and would not enter his lands ; but on the same day he returned to Mantes. Having been invited by Gislebert de Tillieres, the duke burnt Brueroles, the castle of Hugh de Chateau-Neuf," and another fortress called " Maculfi- villa," situated in the district of Dreux. Returning thence into Normandy, he harassed Richer de Aquila, who had aided his enemies, and compelled him to give hostages for keeping the peace ; and he burnt down the castle of Bonmou- lins, in which he afforded a place of refuge for robbers, and men W'ho are excommunicate. About the end of the month of August, after having appointed troops for the security of Normandy, he went into the district of Anjou, and laid siege to Mont Sorel, in which he subjected the defenders to a long blockade, and at length took prisoners William, the master of that castle (who sided with his brother), and many other knights. In consequence of this reverse of fortune, as well as many others, his brother Geoffrey was compelled to be reconciled with him. The king of France, in the meantime, availed himself of the opportunity afforded by the duke's absence — instigated, moreover, by his brother, the count Robert, who had married the widow of Rotrou, earl of Mortain, and to whom the king had given the castle of Dreux — and had committed to the destructive flames part ' Pacy-sur-Eure, at no great distance from Evreux. ^ Chateau-Neuf en Timerais, a few miles to the north-west of Chartres. VOL. IV. 3 B 732 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1152.— of the town of Tilliers, and a certain village belonging to the castle of Verneuil. He did no injury to the castle of Nonancourt, although he surrourided it with his troops. A few days after this, a truce having been agreed upon between the king and the duke, the latter prepared to cross the sea. But before his departure, the king dissolved the truce ; wherefore, the duke abandoning his intention of passing over for a time, nevertheless, awaited among his shipping for a fair wind for the purpose, — thereby giving a remarkable instance of his firmness and daring. It was decreed by the chapter of Citeaux that henceforth no more abbeys should be erected ; for the number of the abbeys of that order had now reached to nearly five hundred. On the death of Conrad, the emperor of the Romans (which we have already mentioned), his nephew Frederic succeeded him.' Pope Eugenius caused to be translated into Latin, out of Greek, the book of Peter of Damascus. A.D. 1152." Frederic, 1. Louis, 15. Stephen, 17- Within the octave of the Epiphany [Jan. 6 — 13], Henry, duke of Normandy, crossed over into England with thirty-six ships. An eclipse of the sun took place on the seventh of the kalends of February [26th Jan.], about the eighth hour, the moon being twentj'^-seven days old. The duke of Normandy laid siege to that strongly-fortified castle of Malmesbury, and compelled the men of king Stephen, who were v/ithin it, to surrender, although the king, with many thou- sands of armed men, was in the neighbourhood. Gislebert,' the son of Richard died, and was buried at Clare, in the cell which Gislebert, his grandfather, had given to the monks of Bee ; his brother Roger succeeded him. After the octave of Easter [19 — 26th April], Louis, king of France, came very early in the morning from Mantes to Vernon, with a large army, and burnt down the suburbs lying outside the walls, together with a town called Longueville, which is very beautiful and fertile in its vineyards. Richard, the son of William de Vernon, had excited his anger ; for he had dared to plunder certain merchants who were under the king's protection. Gondrada, countess of Warwick, expelled the guards of king Stephen from out of the fortress of Warwick, and delivered that stronghold to Henry, the duke of Normandy. On the death of Roger, earl of Warwick, his son Henry succeeded him, who was born of Gondreda, the uterine sister of Geoffrey, count of Meulan. Simon, earl of Huntingdon, died also, and was succeeded by his son Simon, whose mother was the daughter of Robert, earl of Leicester. David, king of Scotland, died, — a very religious per- sonage,— and his two grandsons succeeded him, the sons of his son Henry (who had died in the previous year), by the daughter of William, earl of Warren, the sister of Geoffrey, count of Meulan, ' This sentence (which does not occur in K, M, nor 0) is added in il by a hand which has already appeared in A. D. 1128. ' The true date is a.d. 1153. ^ Gilbert de Clare, earl of Hereford, Dugd. Baron, i. 210. A.D. 1152.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 733 by the mother's side. The elder of these, that is to say, Malcolm, obtained the kingdom of Scotland ; his brother had the earldom of Lothian.' On the seventh of the ides of the month of July [9th July], pope Eugenius the third, of venerable memory, went the way of all flesh ; he was a very devout man, bountiful in his almsgiving, just in his decisions, affable and pleasant to all, as well the poor as the rich. Immediately after his death there appeared miracles at his tomb, which was erected, with splendour, in the church of the blessed Peter. He was succeeded by Conrad, bishop of Sabina, the vicar of the apostolic see for the performance of those functions which the pope discharged at Rome only, as a bishop, during the time when the papal chair is vacant ; he was a Roman by birth, a man of an advanced age, and of great weight with the Romans. He was named Anastasius the fourth, and was the one hundred and seventy-second pope. Henry, king of England, laid siege to the castle of Cravem,^ which king Stephen had built at no great distance from Warenge- fort, with the view of thereby checking the duke's soldiers, who were within this castle, from crossing the Thames by the bridge there. He had obtained possession of the greater portion of the castle of Cravem, when king Stephen appeared before it with no very considerable force, intending to give his adherents the aid which he had promised them ; whereupon the duke, — always courageous, — without abandoning the siege, prepared to meet the king in a pitched battle. Certain religious persons, however, moderated between them; and having treated with the leading men in the duke's army, matters were so arranged that a truce of five days was agreed upon, in order to aftbrd king Stephen the oppor- tunity of levelling the castle which he himself had erected, and which was then in a state of siege ; and he was also permitted to remove eighty of his surviving soldiers ; for the duke had already captured twenty of his soldiers in a wooden tower, and had be- headed sixty of his archers. When the duke was apprised of these conditions (which really were honourable ones), he took the matter very ill; and he made complaints of the want of faith on the part of his friends who had accepted such terms as these, and pledged his word for their performance : but rather than violate the pro- mises which they had made, he assented thereto. And so the blockade which had been drawn around Wallingford was raised, and king Stephen levelled Cravemense ; ^ for in the previous year the personal retainers of duke Henry who were resident within Wallingford, had overthrown not only the castle of Bretewelle, which had long annoyed them, but also the castle which king Stephen had built at the abbey of Reading, contrary to justice and equity. Next, duke Henry, along with three hundred soldiers, encountered William de Guercey, the sheriff of Oxford, and Richard de Lucy, > MS. C here adds a passage illustrative of the history of Citeaux and Savigny. 2 Crowmarsh, near Wallingford; concerning which see Camd. Brit. col. 164. ^ See the last note. 3 B 2 734 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.d. 1152.— and William Martell, and their companions, as they were coming into his property ; and he drove them back into Oxford, and took twenty of them prisoners. The irregular and light-armed troops who followed him had collected an immense booty from the adjoining district ; but this he directed should be given back to its lawful owners, remarking that he had come for the purpose of delivering the poor from the pillaging hands of their powerful oppressors, and not that he should plunder them himself. The duke of Normandy took a very strongly-fortified castle called Stamford ; it was remarkably rich, and the chief town of a county. About the end of the month of July, Louis, the king of the French, having collected an immense army from every part under his jurisdiction, laid siege for nearly fifteen days to the castle of Vernon. As no progress was made, either by his frequent assaults or his various engines, and the count of the Morini, whom we now-a-days call the Flemings (in whose consummate military skill the king placed the greatest reliance), was anxious to depart, the king grew apprehensive that he should be constrained to retire in disgrace, without having accomplished any advantage whatever ; whereupon he so dealt with Richard de Vernon, by secret treaties and promises, that he obtained from him thus much, namely, that his banner should be hoisted in his tower, which tower should be entrusted to the custody of Joel Fitz-Baldric, who in consequence was held in suspicion by both of them — that is to say, by both the king and Richard. In the month of September, the king of France came stealthily, and attended by a few followers, and burnt a portion of the town of Verneuil. On the death of William de Pacy, without children, the castle of Pacy was given up to Robert, the son of Robert, earl of Leicester, because it belonged to the house of Breteuil, to which he was the lawful heir on his mother's side. A dispute arose between Symon, count of Evreux, and the sons of Ascelin Joel, that is to say, between William Lupell, and Roger the Stammerer, which grew to such an extremity that the said earl depopulated nearly the whole of their land, with the exception of the castles. On' the nones of August [5th Aug.], a great thunderstorm occurred at Bee about sunset, and the lightning struck the top of the chimney of a certain chamber belonging to a house situated near the running stream ; and, cutting the chimney into two halves, it threw one half to the ground, and left the other half standing. A certain religious woman in the province of Lorraine, who was possessed of the spirit of prophecy, addressed a very obscure and mysterious letter to the chapter of Citeaux ; thus much, however, was intelligible in it, that she remarked somewhat upon their disordered discipline and lukewarm charity. She predicted that pope Eugenius would find peace (and death) about the eighth year of his pontificate. The third Baldwin, the king of Jerusalem, aided by the grace of ' This seutence does not occur in M, A.D. 1152. THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 735 God, after a long siege, took the city of Acres, and gave it to his brother Amahic, the earl of Joppa. The admirals of Roger, king of Sicily, took the important city of Tunis, in Africa. Richard, bishop of Avranches, having died on his way to Rome — induced to go thither in consequence of a dispute between the two abbots elect of the abbey of Mont St. Michel, — Herbert, the chaplain of the duke of Normandy, was made bishop of the see aforesaid. In the month of August, about the octaves of St. Lau- rence [17th Aug.], died Eustace, the son of Stephen, the king of the English ; because (as some say) he had plundered the land belonging to St. Edmund, king and martyr, on the festival of St. Laurence [10th Aug.]. In the same octaves, Alienor, the coun- tess of Poitiers, the wife of Henry, duke of Normandy, bore him a son; the boy was named William, — a name peculiar to the earls of Poitiers and the dukes of Aquitaine. The venerable Bernard, the first abbot of Clairvaux — a man of admirable religion and powerful learning — paid the penalty of our humanity by dying on the fourteenth of the kalends of September [19th Aug.], leaving behind him many a proof of his learning — the principal of which is a Commentary upon the Song of Songs. He was succeeded by Robert the Fleming, the abbot of Dunes. Henry Murdac died also ; he was archbishop of York, and a Cistertian monk. Stephen, king of England, and Henry, duke of Normandy, his kinsman, were reconciled upon the eighth of the ides of November [6th Nov.] (justice looking down from heaven), upon these terms: — First of all, the king, in the presence of his bishops and earls, and the rest of his nobility, acknowledged that duke Henry had an hereditary right to the kingdom of England ; and then the duke gave free permission to the king to hold the realm during the whole of his lifetime, if he so pleased ; but upon this understanding, that the king, the bishops, and the rest of the nobility, should make oath, that after the king's decease, the duke (if he were the sur- vivor) should obtain peaceful and unopposed possession of the kingdom. An oath was also made, that the possessions which had been unlawfully seized by intruders should be restored to those their ancient and lawful owners, in whose hands they had been in the time of the excellent king Henry ; and that the castles, which had sprung up to the enormous number of three hundred and seventy-five ^ since the death of that sovereign, should be levelled to the ground. Ralph, earl of Chester, died, leaving his son Hugh the successor of his property, whose mother was the daughter of Robert, earl of Gloucester. Robert de Montfort took prisoner his uncle Gualernun, earl of Meulan, at a conference which they had agreed upon hold- ing at no great distance from the town of Bernay, The castle of Orbec, in which the said count was incarcerated, was besieged by the men of earl Gualernun ; whereupon the prisoner was dismissed; but the town of Montfort had previously surrendered to his nephew. ' In A this number is erased. 736 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1153— A.D. 1153/ Frederic, 2. Louis, 16. Stephen, 18. Louis, the king of the French, married the daughter of Anforsus, king of Spain. Toledo is the chief city of the dominions of this king, who is called the emperor of Spain, because his sway extends over the petty kings of Aragon and Galicia. While Waleran, count of Meulan, was besieging the castle of Montfort, he was ignominiously put to flight by his nephew Robert; and two castles which he had erected near Montfort were de- stroyed. Roger, king of Sicily, died on the fourth of the kalends of March [26th Feb.], and was succeeded by his son William, whom his father, before his death, had elevated to the throne, and associated with himself in the government. He married the daughter of Garsia, the king of Navarre, the sister of Sancho the younger ; their eldest son was named Roger. Upon the death of Henry, archbishop of York, (as we have already mentioned,) pope Anastasius restored William in that see, and gave him his pall ; he also consecrated, in his presence at Rome, Hugh de Puisat (who was the nephew of Stephen, king of England) to be bishop of Durham. Pope Eugenius, the pre- decessor of Anastasius, had deposed this William. About Easter [4th April], Henry, duke of Normandy, crossed over into that country ; and by degrees and with prudence he began to resume possession of his own demesne lands, which his father, constrained by necessity, had granted to his nobles of Nor- mandy for a period. Proceeding thence into Aquitaine, he sup- pressed the rebellion of some insurgents. William, archbishop of York, returned into England ; where, as he was performing the Divine mysteries, he died, in consequence of poison having been introduced into the chalice — so, at least, report says. He was succeeded by Roger of Bishop's Bridge, archdeacon of Canterbury.^ In ^ the month of May, on the sixth of the kalends of June [27th May], being the Thursday within the octaves of Pentecost, God's mercy av>?arded a period of comparative repose to the monastery of the blessed Michael, " in Periculo Maris,"* after the tribulation which had oppressed it for nearly five years continuously; and this was brought about by the unanimous election by the whole convent of Robert de Torinnei,^ prior of the cloister of the monastery of Bee. In the same month (being then on his way home from Aquitaine), duke Henry gave his cordial assent to this election, at Rouen, on the day of the festival of St. John the Baptist [24th June] ; and it was most willingly confirmed by Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, a man of the greatest religion and energy, who was then 1 Read, a. d. 1154. ^ At this point, and before the commencement of the next paragraph, are in- troduced (whether by Robert himself or not is doubtful) the numerals 3, 17, 19, A. D. 1154 ; and the word " Meuse," with which the next line begins, is written upon an erasure. The true chronology is thus restored. These numerals are wanting in the other copies, with the exception of H. * The whole of this section is omitted in M. * As to the reason for this designation, see Gall. Christ, xi. 510. * This was our author himself. A. D. 1153.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 737 present, along with the empress, the duke's mother. On the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, in the month following [22d July], the aforesaid [abbot] elect received the benediction as abbot, at St. Philibert de Montfort, by Hubert, bishop of Avranches, and Girard, bishop of Seez, in the presence of Roger, abbot of Bee, Michael of Preaux, and Hugh of St. Sauveur at Coutances. In the month of August, an agreement was entered into between Louis, king of France, and Henry, duke of the Normans, upon these terms : — that the king would give up to him two castles, those of Vernon and Neuf-Marche ; and that the duke would give him two thousand marks of silver as a recompence for the losses which the king had sustained in the taking, fortifying, and holding of these fortresses. Reinald de Castelliolo was made prince of Antioch, having married Constantia, the widow of prince Raimund (whom the Turks had killed in the year in which Louis, the king of France, had returned from Jerusalem), who carried himself manfully against the Turks, and took from them three castles, which had formerly belonged to the Christians. About the kalends of October [1st Oct.], Henry, the duke of the Normans, having, by God's mercy, recovered from the dangerous sickness by which he had been attacked, was summoned by the French king ; and he and his army went into Le Vexin, and brought about a peace between the king and Gotscelin Crispin. Returning from thence, he besieged Torinnei for nearly fifteen days ; and there he began to build three castles. Upon the sur- render of the castle, and his reconciliation with Richard, the earl's son, who had held that garrison, a trustworthy message reached him as to the death of Stephen, the Enghsh king; whereupon, after having had a conference with his mother, the empress, and his brothers, Geoffrey and William, whom he had summoned, and the Norman bishops and nobles, he came to Barfleur, where he was detained for a whole month, waiting for a favourable wind for crossing. For Stephen, the king of England, had died upon the eighth of the kalends of November [25th Oct.] : his body was buried in the monastery of Fassehan [Feversham], which had been built by his wife Matilda, and in which she had been buried, as also his eldest son Eustace. England w^as perfectly tranquil, out of the love and fear which it bore towards duke Henry, whose accession to the throne no one called in question. Anastasius, the pope of Rome, died on the sixth of the "kalends of December [26th Nov.],^ and he was succeeded by Nicolas, bishop of Albano, who was styled Adrian the fourth. He was the one hundred and seventy-third pope ; he was a religious man, and an Englishman by birth, and had formerly been abbot of the Canons Regular of St. Rufus, in Provence, but had been made bishop of Albano by his predecessor, Eugenius. Gislebert, bishop of Poitiers,^ died ; he was a religious man, and abundantly learned; and he wrote an excellent Commentary upon the Psalms and the Pauline Epistles. ' He died on the 3d of Dec; see Jaffe, p. 658. = See Gall. Christ, ii. 1175. 738 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1155— Louis, king of France, went to pray at St. James's of Galicia ; and he was kindly welcomed into Spain by his brother-in-law, the emperor of Spain. Henry, the duke of the Normans, crossed over into England on the seventh of the kalends of December [25th Nov.], and there he was received with the greatest rejoicing by the clergy and laity. On the Sunday before Christmas-day [20th Dec] ^ (being the thirteenth of the kalends of January), he was unanimously elected king, and anointed by Theobald, the archbishop of Canterbury. All the bishops of the realm of England were present there — Roger, archbishop of York; Richard, bishop of London ; Henry, bishop of Winchester; Robert, bishop of Lincoln ; Walter, bishop of Chester ; Gislebert, bishop of Hereford ; Robert, bishop of Bath ; John, bishop of Wor- cester ; Robert, bishop of Exeter ; Hilary, bishop of Chester ; Goscelin, bishop of Salisbury ; Walter, bishop of Rochester; Nigel, bishop of Ely ; William, bishop of Norwich ; Hugh, bishop of Durham ; and Adalulf, bishop of Carlisle. The following religious and God-fearing men were also present from Normandy — the vene- rable Hugh, archbishop of Rouen; Philip, bishop of Baieux ; Arnulf, bishop of Lisieux ; and Herbert, bishop of Avranches. The nobles of that realm were also present ; and from the kingdom of France there were Tierri, count of Flanders, and many others. The moon was eclipsed upon the Sunday before Christmas-day.^ A.D. 1155. Frederic, 3. Louis, 18. Henry II., 1, King Henry began to resume into his own jurisdiction the towns, castles, and vills which appertained to the crown of the kingdom ; and this he did by destroying the newly-erected castles, and chiefly by expelling the Flemings from the realm, and by putting down those imaginary and false nobles amongst whom king Stephen had imprudently distributed nearly all the revenues of the exchequer. There was an earthquake on the fifteenth of the kalends of February [18th Jan.] ; it was felt most severely in Burgundy; so much so, that on the night of the festival of St. Prisca the virgin [18th Jan.] it was thrice felt at Cluni, and a certain uninhabited castle, at no great dis- tance from that place, was swallowed up, and the spot on which the castle had stood was filled with water, so deep that it could not be fathomed. On Monday, the day before the kalends of March [28th Feb.], queen Alienor, the wife of Henry, the king of England, gave birth to a son who was named Henry. Henry, king of England, caused to be forfeited the property of William Peveril,* of Nottingham, because he had administered poison to Ralph, earl of Chester. It is stated, that many persons were implicated in this crime and cognizant of it. Throughout the whole of the Lent [9th Feb.— 27th March] of this year, there were frequent earthquakes in Burgundy and Lom- bardy ; and on the eighteenth of the kalends of May [14th April], ' Eead, 19th of December, 2 That is, upon the 19th of December. But Bouquet questions the accuracy of this statement, and tella us that the eclipse must have occurred on the 21st of December. ^ See Dugd. Baron, i, 437. A.D. 1155.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 739 being Thursday, before sunrise, even we who were at Mont St. Michel perceived a tremulous motion of the earth. Robert, bishop of Exeter, died, and was succeeded by Robert, dean of Salisbury. Baldwin/ earl of Redivers, died, and was suc- ceeded by his son Richard. On the Sunday after the octave of Easter, being the fourth of the ides of April [10th April], king Henry (being at Waringefort)^ caused the nobles of the realm of England to sware fealty for that kingdom to his eldest son, William, and, in the event of the death of that child before he came of age, to his brother Henry. The dispute which had arisen between Henry, the king of England, and Roger, the son of Milo of Gloucester, on account of Gloucester castle, having been settled, Hugh de Mortimer, an arrogant and exceedingly presumptuous man, fortified his castles against the king ; all of which king Henry immediately besieged, (namely, Bruge,^ Wigmore, and Cleobury ;) the last of which he presently took and destroyed. An eclipse of the moon occurred on the fifteenth of the kalends of July [17th June], in the first hour of the night. On the nones of July [7th July] , Hugh de Mortimer was reconciled to king Henry, and surrendered his castles of Bruge and Wigmore. Garnerius, abbot of Marmoutier, died, and was succeeded by Robert, a native of Brittany. On the death of Roger, earl of Hereford, the son of Milo of Gloucester, he was succeeded by his brother "Walter, but only in his paternal inheritance ; for king Heniy retained in his own hand the earldom of Hereford and the city of Gloucester. Frederic, king of the Germans, went to Rome, where, contrary to the wishes of the Romans, he was well received by pope Adrian, by whom he was consecrated emperor in the church of St. Peter's. \\'lien he wished, however, to advance further — that is to say, into Apulia — he was opposed by the ambassadors of the pope, and also of Manuel, the emperor of Constantinople, who had married his sister,* who had resolved to invade and destroy that kingdom, and its king William; he immediately changed his plans and returned into his own country. Nor did William, king of Apulia, escape without a war ; for Robert, count of Baseville, a kinsman of his own,^ and Richard de Ling., count of Andria, thinking that the king was dead (which was a mistake ; for, though he had been ill, he recovered), cruelly ravaged the whole kingdom of Apulia. About the festival of St. Michael [29th Sept.], Henry, king of England, held a council at Winchester, where he deliberated with his nobility upon the conquest of Ireland, which he proposed to give to his brother William. Henry, bishop of Winchester, departed out of England without the king's permission, and surreptitiously; having previQusly sent 1 This sentence does not occur in 31. ^ "WallingforcL ^ Bridgenorth. * These five words are erased iaA; Manuel married Gertrude, the sister-in-law of Conrad, the German emperor. * Such is the corrected reading of A , which originally had, instead, " who had married his cousin." 740 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1156— over a large sum of money by the abbot of Cluni ; in consequence of which king Henry overthrew all his castles.' A.D. 1156. Frederic, 5. Louis, 19. Henry II., 2. King Henry crossed the sea, embarking at Dover and landing at Wisant. On the purification of St. Mary [2d Feb.], he was at Rouen, and in the following week he had a conference with Louis, the French king, on the confines of Normandy and France. Return- ing thence to Rouen, he had a visit from Terric, count of the Flemings, and his wife, (who was the king's aunt,^) and his own brother Geoffrey. The latter, having refused to accept what the king then offered him, departed into the district of Anjou, whither he was immediately followed by king Henry.* About this time there occurred a great flood of the Tiber ; on which occasion there was discovered, in a certain island of that river, a coffin containing the body of the blessed apostle Bartholo- mew. With the exception of the skin, it was found to be entire, and this had been kept at Beneventum, when the rest of the apostle's body had been translated to Rome by the emperor Otho, when he took that city. This was stated to be the case by two brazen tables, written in Greek and Latin letters, which were found along with the apostle's corpse. In the same church was also discovered the body of Paulinus, bishop of Nola. Geoffrey, the brother of Henry, king of England, expelled Howel, the count of Brittany, and took the city of Nantes, with the consent of the citizens. William, king of Sicily, entirely overthrew the city of Bari,with the exception of the church of St. Nicolas ; because the citizens fa- voured the interest of the Greeks, and had entered into a wicked conspiracy against him. The same king also conquered the Greeks by land and sea, and was enriched by their spoils ; he also re- covered into his own hands the castles and cities which he had lost. Likewise he disinherited his own relative, Robert de Basenville, because he had withdrawn from him. Yet this notwithstanding, he made peace with pope Adrian, to whom he granted the conse- crations of the bishops of his kingdom and dukedom, — as the church of Rome had formerly enjoyed these privileges ; respecting which there had been a dispute between his father, king Roger, and Innocent and Eugenius the Roman pontiffs. The same pope made a grant to him of the realm of Sicily, and the duchy of Apulia, and the principality of Capua.* In the octaves of Pentecost [10th June], Hugh, archbishop of Rouen, and Rotrou, bishop of Evreux, and Richard, bishop of Coutance, and Herbert, bishop of Avranches, disinterred the body * The original hand, which had copied the MS. 0 up to this point, here ends. ^ The wife of Thierri d' Alsace was Sibilla of Anjou; see Panckoucke, p. 97. * The first writing here ends in A, but what follows appears still to be in the hand of Robert. MS. O also ends with the words " district of Anjou ; " but another hand has added, " and constrained him to make peace with him. He left him none of the castles which he had in his custody, excepting the city of Nantes ; but he promised to make him an annual payment in money." * A change in the ink is i^erceptible at this point in A ; the writing, although by the same hand, gradually becomes less careful. A.D. 1156.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 741 of St. Firmatus, at Mortain.^ The said * archbishop then came to Mont St. Michel for the purpose of praying and paying us a visit, where for four days he cheered us with his pleasant conversation and advice ; and he caused the altar and crucifix to be consecrated by Herbert, bishop of Avranches, on the Friday [1 5th June]; and on the following Saturday [16th June], he himself consecrated the altar of the blessed Mary, in the northern crypt, which had been newly rebuilt. In this altar we have placed the relics — as we believe — of the very garments of our lady, which we had discovered in a leaden shrine within the old altar there. The cope of our Saviour was discovered, by Divine revelation, in the monastery of Argenteuil,^ within the district of Paris ; it was without seam, and of a reddish colour ; and (as was stated in a letter which was discovered along with it) it had been made for Himself when He was still a youth, by his glorious mother. On Wednesday, the third of the kalends of June [30th May],* being the vigil of our Lord's ascension, about mid-day, a very broad circle, of a fiery blue colour, appeared for nearly the space of half-an-hour round the sun. William, the eldest son of Henry, king of England, died, and was buried at Reading, at the feet of his great-grandfather, king Henry. Also, Athalulf, the first bishop of Carlisle, died. Also Gilbert de Gant ; and Simon ^ the younger, the son of earl Simon, being deficient in landed property, took his only daughter in mar- riage, along with his honour ; and this as a gift from king Henry. After a long siege, Henry, the king of England, took the castle of Mirabel, and also Chinon. Loudun also was surrendered to him, when he was reconciled with his brother Geoffrey, but upon these conditions : that the king would give him, annually, one thousand pounds of English money, and two thousand pounds of the money of Anjou ; and so, by God's favour, the discord which had so long existed between them was healed in the month of July. On the death of Alan, bishop of Rennes, he was succeeded by Stephen, abbot of St. Florence — a religious ^ man, well read, and eloquent. Ingelbaud, archbishop of Tours, died, and he was suc- ceeded by Gothus,^ a Breton, the bishop of St. Briac. Conon, earl of Richmond, came from England into Lesser Brit- tany, and laid siege to the city of Rennes, which he took, having put to flight the sheriff, Eudo, his father-in-law. During the month of July in this year there occurred frequent thunderstorms and tempests in Normandy ; in consequence of which the crops were destroyed in many places, and men were struck dead by the lightning. Heavy floods followed — and these began in the month of August — which prevented the crops from 1 See Gall. Christ, xi. 508. 2 The passage which narrates the visit to Mont St. Michel does not occur in the MSS. M and S. s See Gall. Christ, vii. 610. * A mistake ; Ascension-day was on the 24th of May. ^ The remainder of this sentence is an addition in A , but by the same hand. It occurs in M, 0, and I, but is wanting in K. ^ This epithet is erased in A, and omitted in 0 and S. ' JociuR, bishop of St. Briac, in Brittany. 742 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1157— being housed, and the seed from being sown in the following seed- time. The consequence of this long-continued inundation was this: that, as well in Normandy as in England, many towns, and churches, and old buildings fell down. Ralph de Fougeres captured Eudo, the seneschal of Porroet, in battle ; the result of which was, that the greater part of the inha- bitants of Brittany accepted Conon as duke of Brittany, with the exception of John of Dol, who still manfully held out against Conon and his adherents. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, married the daughter ' of William, count of Ma^on, along with whom he recovered the city of Besan9on, and many others, which her father had held of the duke of Burgundy ; but a part of that house remained in the pos- session of count Rainald, the damsel's uncle. ^ A. D. 1157. Frederic, 6. Louis, 20. Henry II., 3. Peter the Venerable, the abbot of Cluni, went after the way of all flesh, upon the eighth of the kalends of January [25th Dec.].^ In a naval expedition the admirals of Wilham, earl of Sicily, took the metropolitan city of Sibilla, situated between Africa and Babylon. This is the chief city of the kingdom of the island of Gerp, into which the king introduced Christian settlers, over whom he placed an archbishop. On the Saturday within the octaves of Easter [6th April], towards the south of a town called Landa Aronis,* in the district of Avranches, there arose, apparently from the earth, about noon, a whirlwind, which laid hold of and carried away everything within its reacii ; and at length a pillar of a blue and red colour, mounting up aloft, stood under the whirlwind, while arrows and spears were seen and heard as if fixed within the column, although there was no appearance of any person who moved them. In the whirlwind, which mounted above the pillar, there were visible various kinds of birds, which flew about within it. Immediately afterwards, there ensued a severe pestilence in the same village, in which the lord of the village himself deceased. Nor was the mortality confined to this village ; but in the present year it desolated many other places in Normandy and the adjacent regions. The monks of the cloister of Cluni, by an irregular election, or, to speak more properly, by an act of intrusion, placed over their family a certain person named Robert^ the Fat, half a layman, and a relative of the count of Flanders ; but this was opposed by those men of mature age and good reputation who had been appointed from this same monastery to the pastoral care. Girard,^ bishop of Seez, died. After the octaves of Easter [7th April], Henry, king of England, passed over into England from Barfleur, and Malcolm, king of ' A genealogical error has here been detected by Bouquet. 2 The passage here ending respecting the marriage of Frederick is a subsequent addition in A, but by the same hand. It also occurs in M and S, but is wanting in K. ^ A.D. 1146, according to our mode of calculation; Eobert de Monte com- mencing his year at Christmas. * Not identified. * See Gall. Christ, iv. 1140. « Id. xi. 689. A.D. 1157.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 743 Scotland, surrendered to liim all that belonged to Henry ; namely, the city of Carlisle, the castles of Edinburgh,^ Bamborough, New- castle-upon-Tyne, and the county of Lothian ; and the king put him in possession of the earldom of Huntingdon. In like manner, William, the son of king Stephen, who was count of the city of Coutances, (that is, of Mortain,) and who in England was the earl of Surrey, (that is, of Warren,) through his marriage with the daughter of the third William de Warren, surrendered Pevensea and Norwich to the king, as well as all that he held of the crown of England, and all his own fortresses, not only in Normandy, but also in England ; and the king put him in posses- sion of all that his father Stephen held upon that day and year when his grandfather Henry was alive and dead. Hugh Bigot sur- rendered all his castles to the king. On the death of Louis, the first abbot of St. Georges de Bos- cherville, he was succeeded by Victor, a monk of St.Victor. Roger de L'Aigle, a religious and God-fearing man, a Cluniac monk, became abbot of St. Ouen of Rouen, upon the resignation of Freher in consequence of ill-health. Terric, count of Flanders, and his wife, the aunt of Henry, king of England, went to Jerusalem ; and they left their son Philip, and the whole of their lands, in the care of Henry, king of England. About the festival of St. John the Baptist [24th June], king Henry fitted out a very large expedition; so that where formerly two knights had sufficed, now a third was summoned from over the whole of England, to be employed against the Welsh by sea and land. After ^ a siege, the Hagarenes recovered from the Christians the city of Almaria, in Spain, which they had lost, as well as some other castles ; and they put to flight Alforsus, the emperor of Spain. The grief and the shame which arose from this his expulsion occasioned the death of the emperor, which occurred presently afterwards; and thereupon a disagreement arose among his sons. Upon ^ the deposition of Robert, abbot of Cluni (who, along with some of his companions, died on his way back from Rome), Hugh, the prior of the cloister, was made abbot of that monastery. Upon the rupture of the truce which had been entered into between Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, and Loradi, the son of San- guin, king of Halapria, (occasioned by the plunder committed by the Saracens,) into which king Baldwin had entered unadvisedly, the pagans laid siege to the city of Abilina, which was, formerly called Caesarea Philippi ; and they destroyed all the streets, and saved only the principal fortress. But although the pagans had withdrawn for a time, upon the arrival of the life-giving cross and the army of the Christians, yet they made a second irruption ; and finding king Baldwin totally unprepared for them — for he had dis- missed his troops, and had no anticipation whates'er of any treachery ^ "Castrum Puellarum" (Maiden Castle) in the original. In A the word " puellarum " ia erased ; it is omitted in 0 and S, but occurs in K. 2 From this point both the style of writing and the ink are changed in A, ^ This sentence does not occur in M, but is to be found in S. 744 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. A.D. 1158— — they slaughtered many of the knights of the Temple, who alone had continued in company with the king; and Baldwin himself could scarce be persuaded to withdraw. An earthquake followed upon this disaster to the Christians ; it was felt most severely in the parts beyond the sea. The army of the admiral of Babylon also besieged Acaron for a whole month ; whereas, in the previous year, the king of Jerusalem had received tribute from both Babylon and Damascus. Amalric, count of Joppa, the brother of king Baldwin, married the daughter of Joscelin de Torvaissel, who, pre- vious to his capture of the Hagarenes, had been count of Rages, a place to which we now give the name of Rohais. Henry, king of England, having now completely subdued the Welsh, and restored to his barons those lands and castles of which they had been dispossessed by the Welshmen, in the time of king Stephen, and having cut down the forests and opened up the roads, fortified the castle of Rovelent [Rhudlan], which he gave to Hugh de Beauchamp. He also erected another castle, called Hasinge- werche ; ' and between these two fortifications he built a house for the knights of the Temple. In the month of September, a son was born to Henry, the king of England, and he was named Richard.^ A.D. 1158. Frederic, 7. Louis, 21. Henry H., 4. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, having crossed the Alps, after Easter [20th April], laid siege to that most noble city called Milan, which surrendered to him, and gave him hostages ; where- upon he advanced to inflict yet further injury, if possible, upon William, king of Sicily. Senche, king of Spain, died, and was succeeded by his son, whose mother was the daughter of Garcia, the king of Navarre. Geoflfrey, archbishop of Bourdeaux, died also ; he was a devout man, and a worthy sower of the word of God. Besides these, Tedbald, bishop of Paris, died. Upon the festival of St. John the Baptist [24th June], king Henry of England, girt with the arms of knighthood, at Carlisle, William, the son of king Stephen, earl of Mortain and Warren, of which earldom he was possessed in consequence of his marriage with the daughter of William, earl of Warren. This William had died in the expedition to Jerusalem.* ^ Eead, Basingwork. ^ Here end the MSS. D a'lid E. ^ Here (S' adds, " In the year 1157, on the ISth of May, the convent with their abbot, Richard of Bloseville, left Mortemer (at the command of Dom Stephen, then the abbot of Mortemer), and arrived at this place, which is called Botum, in the district of Rouen. For, after many entreaties, the empress l\Iatilda (the daughter of Henry, the great king of England, and the mother of the illustrious Henry, the king of England) had obtained the consent of this Stephen, abbot of Mortemer, that a convent shoiild be despatched from thence for the erection of an abbey of the Cistercian order, to the praise and honour of God, and of the blessed Mary, and of all saints." Concerning this Cistercian monastery of Botum, or Votum, or De Voto, see the Gall. Christ, xi. 313. Dugd. Monast. vi. 1028, 1029. According to Bouquet (xiii. 300), the Vatican MS. R thus records the proceed- ings of this year : — "A.D. 1158. Geoffrey, the second son of the empress, the brother of the king of the English and the count of Brittany, went the way of all flesh on the A.D. 1158.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 745 On the death of Geoffrey, count of Nantes, the brother of Henry, king of England, in the month of June, king Henry himself crossed seventh of the kalends of August [26th July], and he was hurled with great pomp in the city of Nautes, of which he had been the count. " Having subdued Wales, and made the whole of it pay tribute to him, on the vigil of the Assumption of St. Mary [14th Aug.], king Henry crossed over into Normandy. On his arrival at Rouen (which he soon reached), he had a confer- ence with Louis, the French king, between Gisors and Nevif Marche, on Thursday, the 11th (?) of the kalends of September [22d Aug.], along with the prelates of the church and the barons of both the provinces. And then, justice looking down from heaven, Louis, the king of the French, in the presence of the persons whom we have named, gave his eldest daughter by his second marriage, Con- stance ' by name, who was a little above six months old, in marriage to Heniy, the second son of the king of England, who had nearly attained his third year. Along with her he gave the whole of Le Vexin, with its castles, which by right had belonged of old to the king of England. The king, however, retained pos- session of this district, and all its fortresses, until the child was of marriageable age ; but on this condition, that if the son of the English king should die before their imion, then the brother next in succession, or following son or sons, should then take her to wife, and that the king of England would give as her dower ; in England, the city of Lincoln, and one thousand pounds, and the fees of three himdred knights ; and in Normandy, the city of Avranches, and two castles, and one thousand pounds, and two hundred knights' fees. The bishops on both sides were the securities for the carrying out of this compact. " In the month of September, Henry, the king of England, went to Paris, in order that he might convey into Normandy the daughter of the French king, whom he had accepted for his son. Louis, the French king, and a large retinue, met him with great pomp in the royal hall at Paris, which was decked out with the splendoiir befitting such a king, and there he received him, to the great joy of all. In the evening of that day they most amicably dined together, to the great contentment of all persons ; and on the morrow, the king of the French conducted Henry and his own daughter as far as Mantes. Whatever was neces- Bary, on the arrival and departure of the English king, was most liberally provided by the king of the French. " In the same month there was born to the king of the English, in England, his fourth son, who was named Geoffrey. 'In the same month, Henry, the king of England, attacked the Bretons with a great army. Terrified in no small degi-ee at his arrival, they surrendered to him their chief city, called Nantes, whose count had been the king's own brother, and they placed everything within his power. Beginning a castle at Pontorson, (which is distant two miles from Mont St. Michel,) king Henry, with an immense army, besieged Thoars, a very strong castle on the border-land between Poitiers and Angers, which castle (with the exception of the keep) surrendered to him within three days; and afterwards the keep surrendered, and the count was expelled. " In the month of November, as the king of the French was going to St. Michel 'de Periculo Maris,' for the purposes of devotion, he was met by the English king, who received him with the greatest honour at Passy, at Evreux, and at Neubourg, when he went to visit his daughter, who had residences at these places. Next, both kings were welcomed at Bee with a solemn procession, in which three bishops and many other persons took part ; and there they rested that night with the greatest joy, — the king of France in the greater hall, and the English king in the other; for the king of England had laid down this rule, that the French king shoiild always have the superior accommodation. Here it was that the king of the French observed that he could love no one so heartily as the king of England. A wonderful remai'k ! for who ever, until now, heard of the kings of England and France being so cordially united ? When they departed thence, the king of England accompanied the French king through all his cities and castles as far as Mont St. Michel, and thence through Rouen into France again ; providing, with an open hand, whatever was required throughout the entire journey. " During the same month, the sons of count Thiebaiid made peace with the king of England, with whom they had formerly been at discord; this was brought about by the king of the French." An error ; her name was Margaret. 746 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1158, over into Normandy in the month of August, and he had a con- ference with Louis, king of France, near the river Epte, respecting peace, and proposed that a marriage should be contracted between his son Henry and Margaret, the daughter of the king of the French. After oaths had been given on both sides, the king came to Ar- gentan ; and on the feast of the nativity of the blessed Mary [8th Sept.], he gave orders that the whole of the Norman army should be at Avranches on the festival of St. Michael [29th Sept.], to advance against Conon, earl of Brittany, unless he would surrender to the king the city of Nantes, of which he had taken possession. Upon an invitation from Louis, the king of the French, the king after this proceeded to Paris, accompanied by only a few attendants ; and there he was received with the greatest honour by king Louis, queen Constance, and the nobility of the realm, while the whole French nation rejoiced exceedingly, in consequence of the peace which had been concluded between the two realms, and at the arrival of a guest so distinguished. As for the king, he con- ducted himself with the greatest courtesy towards all persons, and also with great liberality, especially, towards the churches and the poor ; never would he consent to be met by a procession when he went to any church, even though he was much urged thereto by the entreaties and exhortations of the king of the French, and, indeed, by every one. On his return, he brought away with him the daughter of the French king, whom he placed under the care of Robert de Neubourg, a subject of his own, by whom she was to be educated. On the ninth of the kalends of October [23d Sept.], Henry, the king of England, became the father of another son, who was named Geoffrey. Upon the festival of St. Michael [29th Sept.], Conon, count of Rennes, accompanied by his Bretons, came to Avranches, and he surrendered to the king the city of Nantes, with the whole earl- dom of Mayne, which report calculated to be worth 60,000 solidi, of the money of Anjou. Thence the king proceeded to Mont St. Michel ; and after having heard mass at the high altar,' he and his barons dined at the monk's refectory. Abbot Robert had much difficulty to induce him to do this, and had to use many entreaties before he could succeed. After this, being in the new chamber of the abbot, he made a grant' to St. Michel's, and to the abbot and monks of the same place, of the churches of Pontorson, in the presence of abbot Robert, and Ralph the prior, and the monk Manerius, and Gervase, clerk of Thomas, the chancellor, and Adam, the scribe of Robert the abbot. On that same day he went to Pontorson, and there he marked out the site, and gave directions to his officers as to the plan on which the castle was to be rebuilt. Departing thence with a body of troops, he went to the city ot Nantes, to take possession of it. Having done so, and made such arrangements as to him seemed good, a few days afterwards, upon ' The passage whicli here commences and ends with the words, " of the abbot," is omitted in M and S. 2 The charter is printed by the editors of the Gall. Christ, xi. 114. Instr. A.D. 1158.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 747 a Tuesday, he laid siege to tlie castle of Thouars, with an immense army, and on the Friday of the same week he took it. After a short interval he went to meet Louis, the king of France, who, for the sake of devotion, was on his way to Mont St. Michel " de Periculo Maris." As soon as Louis entered into the duchy of Normandy, Henry attended him, and most liberally bore all his expenses. Robert de St. Pancrase, a monk of Mont St. Michel, was made abbot of Cernel.' On the festival of St. Clement, being Sunday [23d Nov.], both kings arrived at the Mount of the blessed Archangel ; and the king of the French was met and welcomed by the clergy and the people with immense rejoicings. In the procession (to say nothing of the monks of the convent, and the clergy, and a countless crowd of the common people) there were two chief priests, one an arch- bishop and the other a bishop, and five abbots. After they had heard mass, they returned to Avranches, conducted thither by the king, who loaded the king of France and his adherents with innu- merable royal gifts, and conducted him as far as the limits of the duchy. In the month of December, king Henry, and his relative Theo- bald, the count of Blois, came to terms of concord in this manner : count Theobald surrendered up to the king two of his castles, that is to say, Amboise and Freteval ; and Rotrou, count of Mor- taine, his brother-in-law (for Odo, duke of Burgundy, had married one of his sisters;^ count Rodrou, more generally styled the count de Perch, had married the second; while the third had become the wife of William Goiet) ; this Rodrou, I repeat, rendered up to king Henry two castles, Molines and Bon-Moulins, which were the demesne property of the duke of Normandy ; but, after the death of king Henry, count Rotrou, the father of this Rotrou, had seized them. King Henry made a grant to the same Rotrou of the castle of Belesme, for which he did homage to the king. In' the same year, Robert, abbot of Mont St. Michel, when he was adorning with gold and silver some antiquated portions of the shrine of St. Aubert the bishop, found therein all the bones of that saint, with the exception of the head, which was preserved apart by itself, in a silver vessel within that same church. Along with the body, he also discovered letters-testimonial respecting the same, together with a tablet of green marble.* The body of that blessed confessor and bishop, St. Aubert, was once more laid up in that shrine within three enclosures, together with the marble ; and a new writing accompanied the older one, which stated the year of our Lord's incarnation, and the name of the abbot at the time when the body was enshrined anew. In the same year were discovered, in an old chapel near the city of Milan, the bodies of the three Wise Men who had worshipped ' A Benedictine abbey in Dorsetshire; see Dugd. Mon. ii. 621, ed. Ellis. This j^nteuce does not occur in M or /S. - These three sisters were named Mary, Matilda, and Elizabeth ; Bouquet. ' The whole of this passage is omitted in M, 0, and S. * Two lines are here erased in A. VOL. IV. 3 C 748' CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1159. the infant Saviour at Bethlehem ; but out of fear for Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, who had come to besiege that city, they were raised and placed within the city itself. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, took from the pagans the greater Caesarea in Palestine, situated not far from Antioch. He also took the castle of Harenc, which he entrusted to Rainald de St.Valery. A.D. 1159.^ Frederic, 8. Louis, 22. Henry II., 5. ^ The Vatican MS. (marked R in the present edition) thus narrates the incidents of the present year (Bouquet, siii. 301); — " a. D. 1159. At Christmas, Henry, king of England, held his court at Cherbourg, in manner fitting so great a monarch ; that is to say, with a great retinue of nobility. " About ' the octaves of the Epiphany [13th Jan.] that pious father, Theobald, bishop of Paris, formerly prior of St. Martin de Campis, paid the debt of death, and tliere was a vacancy in the see for some little time. " The abbot of St. Evroul having been deposed, a monk of Bee, Robert de Blangy, was made abbot of the same place in the first week of Septuagesima [8th Feb.]. " Henry, the king of the English, at the beginning of Lent [25th Feb.], went along with his nobility as far as the city of Poitiers, to deliberate upon the sub- jugation of the city of Toulouse, which the dukes of Poitiers had formerly pos- sessed as of inheritance. The count of St. Giles, however (who had married Constance, the sister of the French king, by whom he had three sons), trusting in the strength of the walls of the city of Toulouse — which was considerable— and depending upon the assistance of the king of France, refused to obey him. A conference between the two sovereigns was hereupon held at the city of Tours ; and when they could not come to an agreement, Henry, king of England, com- manded that his army should assemble at the city of Poitiers, xipon the festival of St. John the Baptist [24th June]. It consisted of levies from England and Normandy, Mans and Anjou, Aquitaine, Gascony, and Brittany. So large were the sums of money which he received from all the bishoprics and abbeys of those provinces which have been mentioned, that he might have therewith provisioned the whole of that immense army, while around tlie city, even unto the feast of All Saints [1st Nov.]. " The day before the nones of May [6th May], the city of Rouen was burnt. " Henry, the king of England, with a great retinue of his nobility, was present during the solemn procession and mass at Bee, upon the festival of our Lord's ascension [21st May]; and having spent three days there, he returned to Rouen. " On the eighth of the ides of June [6th June], and on the seventh and the sixth [7th and 8th June] of the same, there was a conference at Heldincort* between the kings of France and England, and the bishops and barons of each party, to discuss the treaty of matrimony between the children of these mo- narchs, and about the army which Henry was about to despatch for the siege of Toulouse. They did not come to terms of agreement, because the king of France would not give his consent (out of regard to his sister and nephews) to the arrangement that he [Henry] stiould take possession of Toulouse. " England is at this time infested by a kind of robbers, unheard of until our days. They go about under the disguise of religion ; and having dressed them- selves up in the garments of monks, they join travellers; and when they have arrived in some lone road, or in some forest, they summon their companions by a signal, murder the travellers, and plunder them of their money and goods. "On the sixteenth •■' of the kalends of July [16th June], Malcolm, king of Scotland, sailed across into Normandy with forty-five ships. Upon his arrival at the city of Poitiers, where the army of the king of England was assembled, he was received by that sovereign with much honour. " After the festival of St. John the Baptist [24th June], Henry, king of Eng- land, inarched his army from the city of Poitiers onwards until they drew near to the city of Toulouse. I admit my inability to describe the greatness, the riches, and the abundant supplies of this army. " Master Peter Lombard — a man of great knowledge, and one who surpassed all * This and the paragraph next ensuing do not occur in the copy at Rouen. * This ia the reading of the Rouen MS. ; Bouquet's text gives Hilliricort, and suggests that the place meant may perhaps be Huiucour. * Bouquet reads "xvii. Kal Julii;" but the Rouen MS. is as above. A.D. 1159.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 749 King Henry spent the festival of Christmas, along with queen Alienor, at Ceesaris Burgum [Cherbourg], shortly before which period she had crossed over into Normandy. Henrjr, king of the other doctors of Paris — was elected bishop of Paris, and consecrated about the festival of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul [29th June]. " About the octaves of the same feast [6th July], Louis, king of France, had a conference with the king of the Engliish about obtaining a peace for the count of St. Giles, on account of the matter of Toulouse. But as they could not herein come to terms of agreement, a dispute sprung up between them about the terms of the previous peace; and they departed from each other, to the damage of the whole realm. So the king of France threw himself into Toulouse, which had been granted to himself and his nephews ; and there he steadily remained with the earl of the same place, so long as the king of England continued within the pro- vince. This latter sovereign, acting upon the advice of his councU, did not besiege the king, but he beleaguered the surrounding castles, which he speedily reduced, and miserably devastated the entire province. He took Montri^al and the city of Cahors, with the dependent province; and therein, after his own departure, he placed a large body of armed troops, as well for its safe keeping as for that of the other fortresses of which he had taken possession. These troops were under the authority of the king's chancellor.^ "As soon as the French and Normans heard of the feud between their re- spective sovereigns, they miserably attacked each other on the confines of France and Normandy. Then count Thiebaud, who had come to the assistance of the English king, did homage to him ; and by his directions he returned into France, which added to the misery of the Frenchmen. " On^ the kalends of August [1st Aug.], Robert de Neubourg, who had been appointed governor of the whole of Normandy — a man of great prudence and excellence — being weighed down by infirmity, became a monk of the church of Bee, having previously distributed to the poor his large possessions with a liberal hand. ... On the third of the kalends of September [30th Aug.], died Robert de Neubourg, after having been for nearly five weeks a monk of Bee. He left behind him, for the benefit of his elders in the church, an example of wonderful absti- nence, religion, and (in one word) of every virtue with which he had been enriched by God's power ; for as he had formerly been wealthy, so now he became one of the poorest of Christians. " On ^ the kalends of September [1st Sept.], pope Adrian went the way of all flesh, and he was succeeded by Rolland, the chancellor of the church of Rome, who was called Alexander. Some of the clergy, however, chose the cardinal-priest Octavian, who was named. Victor. " About the feast of St. IVIichael [29th Sept.], acting upon the recommendation of his leading men, the king of England returned into his own possessions, and rebuilt the castle of Etrepagni, near Gisors, which the king of the French had previously ruined. Upon the departure of the king of England for the aforesaid province (as we have mentioned), the French king immediately returned into his own realm, and received a large sum of money from the churches and from all his land. In the mean season, all the churches on either side poured out earnest prayers to the Lord that He would bring back the two kings to their previous friendship. But when the king of the French heard that the king of England had fortified the castle of which we have just spoken, he became apprehensive for his own subjects, and hurried thither. " In the meantime troubles multiplied in the land ; for about the festival of St. Martin [11th Nov.], the count of Evreux surrendered all his castles which were in France to the king of the English, who placed his own captains therein, as Simon de Auet had done. " Silvester,* abbot of ChitiUon, at this period departed from the world, and was succeeded by Gilbert, a monk of Evreux. " In the meantime, as the advent [29th Nov.] of our Lord drew near, the two kings were induced by the nobility of the country to enter into a truce which should continue until Whitsunday.^ ' This was Thomas Becket, 2 This paragraph does not occur in the Rouen MS. ^ This paragraph also is omitted in the MS. at Rouen. ■• This paragi-aph does not occur in the Rouen MS. 5 Namely, the 15th of May, 1160. But the Rouen MS. reads, "Until the octaves of A^Tiitsunday " [i. e. 22d of May]. 3c2 750 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1159. England, and Raimund, count of Barcelona, entered into a treaty of concord with each other at the castle of Blaye,' and they con- firmed it by oath. It was to this effect : that Richard, the king's son, should marry the count's daughter at the fitting time, where- upon the king should give them the duchy of Aquitaine. This Raimund^ is very powerful and wealthy, for he holds the kingdom of Aragon, as the inheritance of his wife ; and on his own side he possessed, by paternal right, the earldom of the city of Barcelona. But, to trace the matter a little further backwards;' Sancho, king of Aragon, had three sons, who succeeded him one after the other, namely, Sancho, Anfortius, and Remelius. The two eldest, who reigned in succession, died, without having sons ; whereupon (to prevent the throne from passing into the occupation of a foreign power) the people obtained the pope's permission to withdraw from his cloister the monk Remelius, (at that time already an old man,) and to make him their king; and further, (in order that there might be an heir to the realm,) they united him in marriage with Matilda,* the mother of William, viscount of Touars. By her he had a daughter, whom the count Raimund, of whom we have already spoken, married ; and by her he became the father of the damsel* who, as we have just mentioned, was to be given in wedlock to the king's son, and whose son was to become the future king of Aragon. But the count, although he possessed the kingdom of Aragon, and might have been styled king, had he so pleased, entirely rejected that title, reserving the realm for his son, to whom it belonged by descent from his mother's family. This year, as in the previous one, Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, besieged Milan, because the Milanese had rebelled against him. He overthrew the fortifications of Pavia and Placentia, and subjugated nearly the whole of Lombardy. Towards the middle of Lent [22d April], the king caused to be summoned the army of the whole of Normandy, England, Aquitaine, and those other provinces which were subject to him, because Raimund, count of St. Giles, refused to surrender to him the city of Toulouse, which the king demanded of him as the inheritance of his wife, queen Alienor; for Robert, count of Mortaine, the uterine brother of that king William who had conquered the realm of England, had one son, named William, who succeeded him, and who was taken prisoner by the first Henry, king of England, at the " On ' the Sunday before the nativity of our Lord [22d Nov.], Frogerius,^ the archdeacon, and the almoner of the king of England, was ordained bishop of Seez. " During this year, the floods occasioned by the rains (which fell almost without cessation from the festival of St. John the Baptist (24th June] until Michaelmas [29th Sept.] ) caused the Seine and the other rivers to overflow their banks, which inflicted great damage to the inhabitants of the surrounding districts." ' On the Garonne. 2 Tbis sentence must have been written while Raymond was living ; his death is mentioned A.D. 1162. ^ See William of Newburgh, p. 454. * Or Agnes, the daughter of William, duke of Aquitaine. ' Petronilla, or, as she is sometimes called, Urraca. 1 The remainder of the year does not occur in'the Rouen MS. 2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 689. A.D. 1159.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 751 battle of Tinchebrai ; and three daughters, one of whom married Andrew de Vitreio, another Geri de Laval, and the third [Emma] became the wife of [William], count of Toulouse, the brother of Raimund, count of St. Giles, who distinguished himself in the expedition to Jerusalem. By her the count of Toulouse had one only daughter [Philippa], who, upon the death of her father, became the wife of William, count of Poitou, and duke of Aquitaine, carrying with her to her husband, as her inheritance,^ the city and earldom of Toulouse. By her count William became the father of the William who succeeded him, and he was the father of Alienor, queen of England. But should any person inquire how the count of St. Giles afterwards became possessed of the city of Toulouse, the answer to the question is this : William, count of Poitou, whom we have already mentioned, pledged^ it to Raimund, count of St. Giles, his wife's uncle by the father's side, as a security for the money which that same William had expended in the crusade to Jerusalem ; whence it is that this Raimund is styled sometimes count of St. Giles, sometimes count of Toulouse, in the book which narrates the history of that same expedition. Upon his death, his son, Anforsius, obtained possession of the city; but he died at Jeru- salem at the time when Louis, king of France, had gone thither for the purposes of devotion ; and so also did his son, Raimund, who succeeded him, and who had married Constance, the sister of Louis, the king of France, already mentioned, who was the widow of count Eustace, the son of Stephen, king of England. And so king Henry, when he was about to embark in this expe- dition, out of regard to the length and difficulty of the journey, being unwilling to inconvenience as well the troops furnished by the landed proprietors, as also the multitudes of the townspeople and the rustics, received from the Normans a contribution of sixty shillings of the money of Anjou from each knight's fee, and from all the others in Normandy, England, and the rest of his lands, such a contribution as appeared reasonable to him. The barons, who held of him in capite, he took with him, and of hired soldiers a countless host. Malcolm, king of Scotland, came with the rest from beyond the sea to this expedition ; and at the same time he received from king Henry the belt of knighthood. This enterprise continued for well nigh three months. And although king Henry had taken the city of Cahors, and the greater part of the duchy of Toulouse was subject to him either by force or fear, yet he was unwilling to besiege the city of TOulouse ; paying respect herein to Louis, the king of France, who had fortified that city against Henry, king of England, and who watched over it day and night, in his anxiety to render aid to his brother- in-law, Raimund. In consequence of this state of aft'airs, bitter hostilities broke out between him and the king of the ^English, who observed that the very person from whose help he had expected 1 The editors of Bouquet remark (xiii. 303), that although the account here given corresponds with that of William of Newburgh, yet it is opposed by the authority of Mabnesbury, to which they give the preference. 2 Here again the accuracy of our author's statements is questioned by the same writers. 752 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1159. the most assistance was now his most dangerous opponent. King Henry, therefore, despatched home count Thiebaud, who held with him, that he might disturb those dominions of the French king ; but he was resisted by Henry, bishop of Beauvais, and Robert, the lord of the castle of Dreux, the brothers of the king of France, who distressed with fire and plunder some of the inhabitants resident on the outskirts of the duchy of Normandy, while the Normans retaliated upon them. A^ monk of Bee, named Robert de Blangi, became abbot of St. Evroul. In the month of July, Robert de Neubourg, the steward and justiciary of the whole of Normandy, being seized with illness, cast off his camel's hump ; I mean, he divided his immense riches among the churches, and the monasteries, and the poor; and at last he assumed the monastic dress in the monastery of Bee, — a place dearer to him than any other. There having spent a month in a fruitful penance, he put aside his earthly body on the third of the kalends of September [30th Aug.], and was buried within the chapter-house of Bee, the wonderful edifice of which he had reared at his own private costs. On the death of the venerable Milo, bishop of Tarvenne,^ Milo' was elected in his stead ; he, like his predecessor, had been the archdeacon of that same church, and a canon regular. But when Samson, archbishop of Rheims, wished to consecrate him, the clergy of the city of Boulogne (who had for a long period been under the bishop of Tarvenne) desiring to have a bishop of their own, as they used to have of old, hindered the archbishop's intention by appeal- ing to the pope, with the request that Milo should be consecrated* only under the title afforded by the church of Tarvenne. Milo refused to agree to this proposal, and while yet unconsecrated, he went to Rome to complain against these clerks ; and there he received consecration. Master Bernard Brito, chancellor of the church of Chartres, was made bishop of Cornouaille in Brittany. Master Peter Lombard obtained the bishopric of Paris by the management of Philip, the dean^ of that church, who was the brother of the French king, and who (as it is reported) passed over his own election in favour of this Peter. Pope Adrian having died in the month of September [1st Sept.], two different individuals were elected and consecrated; the chancellor Rolland, a priest-cardinal, by the title of St. Mark, a religious man, who was styled Alexander the Third, and was the one hundred and seventy-fourth pope ; and the other was Octavian, also a priest- cardinal, by the title of St. Mary in Cosmedin ; he was named Victor the Third, and he invaded the papal chair through the influence of his own power and the nobility of his kindred. ' This paragraph does not occur in M or S. 2 A eathedral near Boulogne, destroyed by Charles V. and Henry VIII. It was afterwards removed to Boulogne. See Gall. Christ, x. 1527, 1572. 3 Id. p. 1548. * See the documents in Gall. Christ, x. 405. Inst. ; Bouquet, xv. 718, 749. ^ He was the archdeacon, not the dean. A.D. 1160.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 753 Tregerius, the king's almoner, became bishop of Seez. Walter, bishop of Chester, died;^ also Robert, bishop of Exeter/ a religious man, and one who feared God. Terric, count of Flanders, returned from Jerusalem ; but his wife, Mabiria,^ contrary to her husband's wishes, remained with the abbess of St. Lazarus, at Bethany. In the month of October, Henry, king of England, having fortified the city of Cahors, and entrusted it to the keeping of his chancellor, Thomas, returned into Normandy. Before doing this, he had placed garrisons and auxiliary troops in the most appropriate localities, trusting herein to the assistance of Raimund Berenger count of Barcelona, and Trecheuel,^ count of Nismes, and William of Montpellier, and others, his faithful adherents. He advanced from Normandy with a powerful force upon the district of Beauvais, and levelled to the ground the exceedingly strong castle of Gerberoi, with the exception of a certain tower which his troops could not capture, in consequence of its defence by fire and smoke. He also burnt and destroyed many villages. Simon, count of Evreux, surrendered to Henry, the king of England, the fortresses which he held in France, namely, Rochfort, Montfort, Epernon, and the others. This was a heavy blow to the king of France, since it cut off a direct communication from Paris to Orleans and Etampes ; for king Henry had placed his Normans in those castles which had hitherto belonged to the count of Evreux. In consequence of this, a truce was entered into between the two kings, to extend from the month of December until the octaves of Whitsuntide.' William, count of Mortaine, died, in the month of October, when on his return from the expedition to Toulouse ; and as he de- ceased without issue, king Henry kept the earldom in his own hands. A.D. 1160. Frederic, 9. Louis, 23. Henry II., 6. King Henry and queen Alienor spent their Christmas at Falaise ; after which the queen sailed into England. On the calends of January [1st Jan.], there occurred an earth- quake in the district of Coutance, at the castle of St. Lo, about the first hour. Hardouin, dean of Mans, was made archbishop of Bourdeaux, a see which his predecessor had held scarce a year and a half. The empress Matilda, stricken by sickness, yielded to the sug- gestions of her son Henry, the king of the English, and meekly distributed her wealth among churches, monasteries, and the poor ; herein giving the preference to the monastery of Bee, as she had done in her previous illness."^ ' The exact date of the death of this bishop of Lichfield has afforded room for some speculation; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 544. " The MS. F here ends at the top of a page with the words . . . "and he was succeeded by " . . . ^ Read, Sibilla. ■* Read, " Triucavel, viscount of Nismes." 5 That is, the 22d of May, a.d. 1160. ® The Vatican MS. [R. in our numeration) thus commences the present year : — " Henry, king of England, was at Falaise at this Christmas-tide ; and decreed that no dean should bring an accusation against any person, without the testimony of such individuals in the neighbourhood as were of good life and fair reputation. 754 THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1160. The church of Baieux having been burnt down, bishop Phihp laboured manfully for its restoration. In the month of May a peace was concluded between Henry king of England and Louis king of France ; former treaties were reconsidered and confirmed, and those persons who had taken part on both sides were mutually reconciled. Matthew, the son of the count of Flanders, married the abbess of Rumsey (an unprecedented occurrence !) ; she was the daughter of king Stephen ; and with her he received the earldom of Boulogne. In the month of July, Henry, king of the English, assembled, at Neuf Marche, all the bishops, and abbots, and barons of Normandy ; and Louis had a like meeting at Beauvais. There the question was discussed respecting the acceptance of pope Alexander and the rejection of Victor ; and they came to the conclusion that the former should be received, and the latter renounced. In the month of September, Henry, bishop of Avranches, died, and was buried in the church of the blessed Mary at Bee, as his predecessor, Richard de Bello Fago, had been. In the same month. Alienor, the queen of England, crossed over into Normandy, at the king's request, bringing with her her son Henry and her daughter Matilda. Philip, the brother of Louis, the king of the French, died : he was dean of St. Martin's of Tours. ^ Constance, the queen of France, died in childbed ; but her daughter, the cause of her own death, survived her. In the month of October the kings of England and France had a conference, and mutually confirmed a treaty of peace ; and Henry, the son of Henry, the king of England, did homage to Louis, the king of France, for the duchy of Normandy, which is of the realm of France. A few days afterwards, Louis, the king of the French, married the daughter of the count Thibaud the elder : and shortly afterwards Henry, the son of Henry, the king of England, married, at Neubourg, the daughter of Louis, the king of the French, whose name was Margaret : and Henry, the king of Eng- land, took possession of three very strong castles, namely, Gisors, Neauphle, and Chateauneuf, situated on the river Epte, on the con- fines of Normandy and France, in consequence of a treaty which had been entered into with the king of France, to the efiect that, on the marriage of their children, king Henry should have those fortresses which belong to the duchy of Normandy. "When this intelligence reached them, the king of France and his brothers-in- law, Henry, Thibaut, and Stephen, were much incensed, and these three counts united their forces and began to fortify the castle of He also decreed that, in the decision of all causes which came before the judges of the several provinces, at their usual monthly sessions, nothing should be adju- dicated without the testimony of the neighbours; that no person should be injured, none prejudiced ; that peace should be observed ; that convicted robbers should be forthwith punished; that quiet should everywhere be enforced; and that the churches should enjoy their own possessions." The editors of Bouquet (xiii. 304) here remark, that up to this point the royal MS. at Paris (our K) corre- sponds with the Vatican copy {R) ; but that henceforward it coincides with the (then) printed editions, and is fuller in its narrative than the Paris MS. G. ^ A line is here erased in A. A.D. 1161.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 755 Chaumont, which was a fief of the castle of Blois, intending from that point to attack the district of Tours. But as this castle be- longed to the foe of Hugh, the son of Sulpice d'Amboise, which he held of the count Thibaud (for he held of king Henry the chief place of his honour, that is to say, Aniboise) — as soon as king Henry received this information, without waiting for his allies, he hastened thither, wishing to prevent the works at the castle, which, if completed, would afford the inmates increased facilities for over- running his lands. When count Thibaud heard of the arrival of the king of England, he departed from Chaumont, having first stored the garrison with provisions, and placed troops within it ; but it was besieged, and speedily taken by king Henry, who found therein thirty-five knights and four-score sergeants ; and he gave up the fortress to Hugh d'Amboise, who opposed count Thibaud to the best of his ability, because Sulpice, the father of this Hugh, had been wickedly put to death within the prison of the earl afore- said. After having fortified the castles of Amboise and Freteval, and having provided them with garrisons, king Henry spent his Christmas at Mans with queen Alienor. A.D. 1161.' Frederic, 10. Louis, 24. Henry H., 7. King Heniy took into his own possession the fortresses in Nor- mandy, belonging to the earl of Meulant and his other barons; and he gave them into the charge of his own adherents. He strength- ened and repaired nearly all of his castles which were situated on the borders of Normandy, but chiefly Gisors ; he made a park and a royal residence " circa fustes plantatos" at Chivellei,^ near Rouen. Near Caen he built a house for lepers, an astonishing structure. Moreover, he repaired the hall and the chambers before the town of Rouen ; and not only in Normandy, but also in the realm of England, in the duchy of Aquitaine, in the earldoms of Anjou, Mans, and Tours, did he either repair the old castles and royal residences, or build new ones. He built a castle in the town called Mandeville, upon the river Vire. Achard, abbot of St. Victor, at Paris, was made bishop of Avranches. AVilliara ^ the Englishman, prior of St. Martin de Campis, was made abbot of the church of Ramsey, in England. At the beginning of Lent [1st March], Hugh, archbishop of Dol, surrendered up his see, in consequence of his blindness, in the presence of Henr)^ king of England, and two legates of the church of Rome, namely, Hemy de Pisis and William de Pavia ': he had held this archbishopric for nearly six years, and had been very active in its restoration. Roger de Humez, archdeacon of Baieux, was elected in his place. Bartholomew, archdeacon of Exeter, was made bishop of Exeter. Richard Peccatum, archdeacon of Chester, was made bishop of that church. Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, died on the second day of Easter [17th April]. * A new hand, apparently that of Robert, here commences in A. 2 Not identified by the French Benedictines; but see Ord. Vitalis, v. 198. ' This sentence does not occur in either M or <5?. 756 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1162. After Easter, Henry, the king of the Enghsh, and Louis, king of the French, having collected their troops for the defence of their respective territories, were on the very eve of a battle, first in the Vexin, and afterwards in the Dunois, incited to discord by count Thibaud ; but a truce having been agreed upon, king Henry went into Aquitaine, after the festival of St. John [24th June] ; and, among his other energetic exploits, he laid siege to Castellio, in the city of Agen, — a fortress well protected both by nature and art, — which, to the terror and astonishment of the Gascons, he took within a week, upon the festival of St. Laurence [10th Aug.]. Queen Alienor gave birth to a daughter at Domfront : the child was baptized by Henry, the priest-cardinal and legate of the church of Rome ; the sponsors were Achard, bishop of Avranches, and Robert of St. Michel, " in Periculo Maris," with many others ; and she was named Alienor, after her mother. Maurice,^ archdeacon of Paris, became the bishop of that church. On the death of Juhell de Mayenne, his son Geoffrey succeeded him : he married the daughter of the earl of Meulant. A.D. 1162. Frederic, 11. Louis, 25. Henry H., 8. King Henry spent his Christmas at Baieux. In ^ the month of January, Geoffrey de Mayenne surrendered to Henry, the king of the English, three castles which his father had held since the death of the elder king Henry; namely, Goron, Ambieres, and Chateau- neuf, upon the river Colme.^ In the same year king Henry removed Aquiline de Furnis from the custody of the castle of Pontorson, because the inhabitants of Avranches complained that he oppressed their lands with heavy exactions and grievances ; and he placed it under the temporary charge of Robert, abbot de Monte. On the death of Sanctio [Samson], archbishop of Rheims, Henry, the brother of the French king (the bishop of Beauvais), succeeded him. Bartholomew, archdeacon of Rheims, was made bishop of Beauvais.^ On the first Sunday in Lent [25th Feb.], king Henry summoned the bishops, abbots, and barons of the whole of Normandy to a meeting at Rouen ; and having made a complaint against his bishops and their servants, and his own sheriffs, he ordered that a council should be held at Julia Bona^ This Julia Bona is a royal residence, in the district of Calais, near the Seine : it was much loved and frequented by the Normans. After having destroyed the city of Calais, Julius Caesar built the place of which we have been speaking, hence it was called Julia, after him ; — and thus comes the name still bestowed upon the entire district between the Seine and the sea. Richard, the first duke of the Normans, and the second duke, his son Richard, were raised from the tombs in which they had * These sentences do not occur in either M or S. * Now called the Colmont. * This and the following paragraph do not occur in the copies last mentioned. * Although the same hand continues the transcript in A, yet here, at the bottom of a page, the style of writing altei-s. ' Probably Lillebonne ; see the note in Bouquet, xiii. 306. A.D. 1162.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 757 been separately deposited at Fecamp/ and were more honourably interred behind the altar of the Holy Trinity. Henr}^ king of Eng- land, was present at this translation, with the bishops of Normandy; and he gave the wood of Hogis to that church. In Apulia, count Robert de Basenville rebelled against his cousin William, the king of Sicily ; and, as many confederates joined themselves with him, he won over to his side the greater part of the maritime cities. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, after a siege of three j^ears, reduced by starvation the city of Milan, and destroyed it entirely, with the sole exception of the cathedral and a few other churches. As the disagreement between the temporal and civil powers yet continued, in consequence of the schism of Octavian, whom Fre- deric, the king of the Romans, retained along with himself in Italy, Alexander, the pope of Rome, — trusting in the kings of France and England, Louis and Henry, who always devoutly pro- tect and venerate the church of Rome, — came by sea into the parts on this side the Alps, about Easter [8th April] ; and he was re- ceived at Montpellier,^ in Provence, with the honour which was fitting for him. Richard de Rivers,^ the lord of the Isle of Wight, in England, died, leaving, by the daughter of Rainald, the earl of Cornwall, a little son, named Baldwin. Stephen, surnamed Brugensis, the abbot of St. Michel de Clusa, and a monk of Cluni, was made abbot of Cluni;* as the abbot Hugh had gone over to the side of the emperor and Octavian.* On the death of Harduin, archbishop of Bordeaux, at Mont- pellier, while on his attendance at the papal court there, the bishop of Lectoure " succeeded him. On this side the Alps, but especially in Aquitaine, there was a great famine and mortality. Rainald de Castellione, prince of Antioch, while making an incautious inroad into the country of the Hagarenes, was taken prisoner, while many of his troops were either captured or slain. Thomas,' the chancellor of the king of England, was made arch- bishop of Canterbury. Ralph de Toene died, leaving an infant son by the daughter of Robert, earl of Leicester. In the month of .July it rained blood in Brittany, at a place called Retz ; and at the same place blood issued from the banks of a fountain, and also from the bread there. In" the same month died John de Dol, and left his lands and his daughter in the protection of Ralph de Fougeres ; but the king of England took the castle from him. 1 See Gall. Christ, xi. 204, 205. 2 He arrived at Montpellier on the 15th of April, 1162, and continued there until July ; see Jafle, p. 685. 3 Dugd. Baron, i. 255. « See Gall. Christ, iv. 1140, 1141. 5 Neither this nor the previous sentence occurs in M or S. 6 See Gall. Christ, i. 1076, ii. 816. ^ This sentence does not occur in M or S^ * The same remark applies to this sentence also. 758 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [a.D. 1163. William, king of Sicily, crossed over from Sicily into Apulia with a great army ; and having put to flight Robert de Basenville and his adherents, he recovered the cities and castles which had revolted from him. John,^ treasurer of York — a cheerful man, and one of an open hand, and very well learned — became bishop of Poitiers. Matthew, bishop of Angers, died, and was succeeded by Geoffrey of Seez, the dean of the same church, and the clerk of the king of the English. Leupus, king of Valencia and Murcia, although a heathen man and a Hagarene, sent immense presents in gold, and silk, and other precious wares, upon horses and camels, to Henry, the English Icing, who ere long meant to return the compliment. Raimund Berenger, count of Barcelona, died, to the grief of air good men, leaving a son, Anforsius, who became king of Aragon, — a realm which was his by descent on the mother's side. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, and Louis, the king of the French, had intended to have held a conference upon the river Saone (formerly called the Arar) respecting peace ; but they suddenly changed their plans, in consequence of the schism of Octavian, whose party the emperor had embraced : and so they returned home without any result. A short time afterwards, Louis, the king of the French, and Henry, the king of the English, met at Coucy-sur-Loire, and received Alexander, the pope of Rome, with the respect to which he was entitled ; where, acting as his grooms, they held the bridle-reins of his horse, the one on the right hand, the other on the left, and so conducted him to a tent which had been prepared for him. Thus by his mediation, and by God's favour, a firm peace was established between them. Richard,^ bishop of London, died. King Henry, having put his affairs into a good train, and settled everything respecting his castles in Normandy, Aquitaine, and Anjou, and also in Gascony, came to Barfleur at Advent-tide [2d Dec], wishing, if possible, to cross over [into England] before Christmas ; but the wind hindering him, he and queen Alienor spent that festival at Cherbourg. Manuel,^ the emperor of Constantinople, married Constance, the daughter of the second Boamund ; and her brother Boamund the third became prince, while his father-in-law Rainald continued in captivity. A.D. 1163. Frederic, 12. Louis, 26. Henry H., 9. In the month of January, king Henry crossed over into England, together with his queen, and he was received with the greatest joy by nearly all the chief men of the country, who were on the shore awaiting his arrival. His son Henry had arrived before himself ; and as in Normandy, so in England, he received the homage and fealty of the knights. ' The MSS. M and S omit this clause also. ' Omitted in M and S. ' This sentence, which occurs in all the copies, is a later addition in A, but by the same hand. A.D. 1163.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 759 On the death of [Heraclius], archbishop of Lyons, the clergy and people, at the instigation of the emperor Frederic, chose William, the son of count Thiebaut the elder, — an arrangement which was also sanctioned by pope Alexander. The city of Lyons, situated on this side of the Rhone, belongs to the realm of France ; but G[uigo], the count of Dauphiny, and the count of Frejus, had fraudulently withdrawn it from the archbishop in the previous year, nor could the archbishop recover it through the intervention of the French king ; in consequence of which he transferred himself to the emperor's party, who restored this city to him ; and from that time forth the archbishop held it of the emperor.' Rotrou, bishop of Evreux, and Rainald de St. Valery, caused an inquiry to be made through each diocese, by the king's orders, as to the lawful rents and customs due to the crown and the barons. Philip, bishop of Baieux, died in the month of February ; he was a prudent and far-sighted man in matters affecting the increase and recovery of the property of that church, to which he was very advantageous ; but the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. He had devoted himself to a monastic Ufe at the monastery of Bee ; but a man's way is not in himself. Anticipated by death, he could not carry out his intentions ; yet he had given seven-score volumes to the church.^ There was a duel between Robert de Montfort and Henry de Essex, in consequence of the latter having fled from a battle against the Welsh ; Henry was beaten, and disinherited, and became a monk at Reading, The Welsh submitted to the terms imposed upon them by king Henry. Malcolm, king of Scotland, did homage to Henry, the son of the king of England, and gave hostages to the king ; that is to say, he gave his younger brother, and some of the sons of his barons, as a security that he would keep the peace, and for the castles which the king desired to possess. A* certain servant lad killed the abbot of St. Maximin at Orleans, — at the instigation of the monks, as was beheved ; whereupon, pope Alexander* and Louis, king of the French, expelled nearly all the monks from thence, and dispersed them through different abbeys, and placed there the abbot of Marmoutier. Likewise, in the pre- vious year, as the abbot ^ of Lagny w-as out riding, he chanced to meet with a person who had offended him ; whereupon he threatened that he would catch him and put him to death. The man discharged an arrow which struck the abbot in the eye, and, passing through into his brain, killed him. He was succeeded by * Bouquet's editors, and upon good grounds, question the accuracy of this statement (xiii. 307). The entire passage is omitted in M and S. ^ A catalogue of these volumes is entered on the first leaf of the MS. A, from which it has been published by Ravaisson, " Rapport au Ministre," Par^ 1841. The notice of this donation does not occur in 3f or Ash- Wednesday fell on the 18th of February. 774 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1170— Margaret, the daughter of the French king, and the wife of the younger king Henry, went into England ; but yet she was not crowned there ; for the king's coronation was now over, and the bishops had departed. John, count of Auch, died, and was suc- ceeded by his son Henry, whose naother was the daughter of ■William de Albini,^ who was usually styled the earl of Arundel. He married queen Eliza, the widow of the first Henry, king of England, by whom he had William, his eldest son, and Geoffrey, and this countess, whom we have mentioned as the wife of John of Auch. On the day of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul [29th June] , there was a fearful earthquake in the parts beyond the sea, which over- threw the city of Tripoli, part of Damascus, and the greater portion of Antioch. The Hagarenes did not escape without having their share in this calamity ; for the scourge visited Halapre, the metropolis of the kingdom of Loradin, and several other cities of the Saracens. On the death of William, count of Nivernois, (which happened in the forests beyond the sea,) Matthew, count of Boulogne, the brother of Philip, count of Flanders, married his widow ; * she was the sister of the countess of Flanders : so these two brothers married two sisters (who were the daughters of Ralph, count de Vermandois, and were the nieces of Ahenor, queen of England, being the daughters of her sister), — thus each brother cunningly retained a share of the lands of Ralph de Parrona. The count Matthew, whom we have mentioned, had previously married the daughter of king Stephen, by whom he had two daughters ; after which she returned to the monastic life, from which she had been unwillingly* withdrawn. About August, king Henry returned into Normandy, leaving the younger Henry in England. King Henry established a peace between count Tedbald and Hervel de Iven. In the month of September, king Henry was sick, near unto death, at Mota * de Ger ; but by God's mercy, and by the prayers of God's servants, to whom he humbly committed himself, he recovered from the attack, and was restored to health. Giles, archdeacon of Rouen, was elected to the bishopric of Evreux; and Richard, archdeacon of Coutance, to the see of Avranches. Alienor, the daughter of Henry, king of England, was carried to Spain, and married with great pomp to the emperor Amfurst : his kingdom consists of that part of Spain called Castille, the metropolis of which is Toledo. This sovereign had not yet attained his fifteenth year ; and on account of his youth he was assailed by two princes, Fernandus of Galicia, his father's brother, and his mother's brother, Amfonsus of Navarre. On the death of Robert, son of Robert, earl of Gloucester, See Dugd. Baron, i. 118. ^ Helisende. She had been abbess of Rumsey ; see A.D. 1160. Near Domfront. A.D. 1171.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 775 Amauri, the eldest son of Symon, count of Evreux, at the com- mand of Henry, king of England, married the eldest daughter of the deceased earl. Before this time the said king had given in marriage to his cousin Hugh, earl of Chester, the daughter of the count of Evreux, who was also related to him by his father's side. The city of Mans was destroyed by fire. The cell of St. Victeur was also burnt down : by God's help, however, it was rebuilt with improvements. Henry, the king of England, went to Rochamadour for purposes of devotion : this place is situated within the district of Cahors, and is surrounded with hills and a fearful solitude. It is stated by some people that the blessed Amator was the servant of the blessed Mary, and for some time the nurse who carried our Lord in his arms ; and that, upon the assumption into heaven of the most pious mother of the Lord, this Amator was admonished to sail into Gaul, and there, for a long period, he spent a hermit's life at the spot I have named. At his death he was buried at the entrance of the oratory of the blessed Mary ; after which the place was for a long time little regarded ; for although the common belief was that the body of the blessed Amator was there deposited, the exact spot was unknown. But, in the year from our Lord's incarnation one thousand one hundred and sixty-six, a certain inhabitant of that locality, as he was near his end, gave directions to his family (possibly by divine inspiration) that they should bury his corpse at the door of the oratory. On the ground being broken up at that spot, the body of the blessed Amator was discovered entire ; and having been placed in the church near the altar, it is exhibited to pilgrims in a perfect condition ; and, through the blessed Mary, many miracles, hitherto unheard of, are there exhibited. But to return : it was to this place that king Henry came for the purpose of praying; and as he was now advancing, in hostile guise, upon the territories of his foes, (for he had collected an immense body of foot and horse-soldiers,) he came to the church, equipped as he w^as for battle ; but, so far from doing injury to any one, he made large provision for all, chiefly for the poor. Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, crossed over into England. Stephen, count de Sanceore, the brother of count Tebald, went to Jerusalem, taking with him the money which Louis, the king of France, had caused to be collected for the assistance of the church of Jerusalem. His nephew Odo,^ duke of Burgundy, went with him. A.D. 1171. Frederic, 20. Louis, 34. Henry H., 17. King Henry kept his Christmas at Bur,^ near Baieux. In this year the primate Thomas perished by the sword. On the fifth day after Christmas [29th Dec], this flower of the world was plucked ; and ceasing to blossom here below, bore fruit in heaven.^ Many thousands of armed Hagarenes crossed over from Africa into Spain. ' Read, "Hugh." 2 Apparently Bures, nearer Troam ; if so, nearer to Caen than Baieux. 3 These verses do not occur in K. 776 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1171— Hamo, bishop of Lehon/ was cruelly slain by the advice (as is reported) of his own brother, Guihomar, viscount of Lehon, and the younger Guihomar, his nephew. Conan, earl of Brittany,^ died ; whereupon the whole of Brittany, and the county of Guippewis,' and the honour of Richmond, passed to Geoffrey, the son of king Henry, who had married the daughter of this Conan. Haimeric, the abbot of St. Ouen, died. During Lent,* king Henry came to Pontorson, where he resided for fifteen days. He did the same during the Rogation-tide [2d May], and at Whitsuntide [16th May], at which period Gui- homar came and made a surrender to him of himself and his castles, terrified into this step by the large troop of knights and other armed men whom the king had despatched to crush him, should he refuse to submit. In ^ the following year St. Thomas was canonized by pope Alexander. The castle of Pontorson was burnt down ; as was also the city of Norwich, with the cathedral church and the offices of the monks. Humbert, count de Maurienne, sent [Benedict], abbot of St. Michael de la Cluse, to Henry, king of England, to settle a mar- riage between the king's son, John, and his own daughter, offering with her the whole of his possessions. This nobleman was the son of count Amatus,* and exceedingly wealthy in the possession of cities and castles ; and no one can go into Italy without passing through his lands. Theobald, count of Chartres, burnt many Jews who resided at Blois, because, in order to mark their contempt to the Christians, they had crucified a child at Easter, and afterwards had put him in a sack and thrown him into the Loire. When the body was discovered, they were found guilty of the crime ; whereupon (as we have stated) the count gave them up to the flames, excepting such of them as embraced the christian faith. During the reign of king Stephen, they did the same thing at Norwich, in England, to St. William : ' he was buried in the cathedral church there, and many miracles are performed at his tomb. The like thing occurred at Gloucester,* in the time of king Henry the second. And again ; these wicked Jews perpetrated the same crime at a castle in France, called Pontisare, upon St. Richard : ^ he was conveyed to Paris, and buried in the church there, where he shines by his many ' St. Paul de Lehon, near Dinan, in Finisterre. » See Dugd. Baron, i. 48. ^ That is Guingamp. * Ash-Wednesday fell on the 10th of February. ' See Capgrave, Nova Legend. Anglise, f. cccix. b. '' That is, Amadeus. ^ This passage is written upon an erasure in A , and by another hand ; and in the margin occurs this addition ..." canonized, that is, added to the catalogue of the saints. And it was commanded that his festival should be celebrated by all, but chiefly by the English." The same passage occurs in M and 0, and also (with a slight omission) in S. * See Job. Brompton, ap. Decern. Scriptt. col. 1050. ^ As this occurrence took place, A.D. 1179 (see Pagi, ad. an. § 17), the present must have been written, or interpolaledj after that date. A. D. 1171] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 777 miracles. These martyred persons are reported to be most liberal with their miracles about Easter-tide, if they have the opportunity. William Talvace, count of Ponthieu, died, and was succeeded in the earldom of Ponthieu by his nephew John, the issue of his eldest son Gui ; but his own son, count John, succeeded to the lands which he held of the king of England in Normandy, and in the district of Mans. He married the daughter of count EHas, the brother of Geoffrey, count of Anjou and duke of Normandy. King Henry the elder caused an inquiry to be made respecting the lands of which his grandfather had died seized in Normandy. He made a like investigation as to the lands, forests, and other demesnes, which were in the tenure of his barons and other re- tainers after the death of the said king, his grandfather ; and by this process he nearly doubled the rents which he had in Normandy. Ris, king of the Welsh, made peace with Henry, king of the English. His uncle, king Oen, had died in the previous year, and his sons had made submission to king Henry. Margaret, the wife of the younger king Henry, crossed over into Normandy. In the month of July, the king collected his barons at Argentan ; and as they were there, debating respecting the king's descent into Ireland, ambassadors from earl Richard* arrived, bearing a message from the earl, to the eilect that he was prepared to surrender the city of Dublin, and Waterford, and the other fortresses which he held in right of his wife, who was the daughter of the king of Dublin, and who was recently deceased. Having received this information, the king sent a message to the earl, that he would restore him his land in England and Normandy, and the open country in Ireland, of which he had become possessed through his wife ; and he also made him a grant of the office of constable, or seneschal, of the whole of Ireland. The ^ venerable Henry, bishop of Winchester, and abbot of Glas- 1 Namely, Richard Strongbow, earl of Striguil. 2 Hardy (Le Neve, iii. 7), remarking upon the discrepancy of the English chroniclers respecting the exact date of the death of Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, ascribes it to a.d. 1171. In this he is supported by the present Annals, and the yet more important authority of the documents contained in the Bibliotheca Cluniacensis. The following extract from the Chronicon Clunia- cense, is worthy of our notice. " During the time of this Peter the Venerable, the abbot of Cluny, and in the year of our redemption one thousand one hundred and fifty-five, that illustrious man, Henry, bishop of Winchester, came to Cluny, invited by the same abbot, Peter, and by the letters of pope Adrian IV., and summoned by Louis the younger, then king of France, and by nearly all the chief persons and nobility of Burgundy. By his prudence, and at his own expense, he nearly freed the abbey from the pressure of the heavy debt which weighed upon it ; so that, as he himself stated with his own lips, he expended more than seven thousand marks of silver in the discharge of the debt, in pur- chasing land, and laying in necessaries for the use of the establishment. For (as the chapter-book of the monastery of Cluny states) he annually fed the four hundred and sixty monks who at that time were in this monastery. This Henry, bishop of Winchester, had formerly been a scholar and then a monk in this monastery of Cluny, and (during his time) a most illustrious benefactor of our order. "This lord Henry of Winchester died on the fifth of the ides of Augvist [9th Aug.], A.D. 1171." Bibl. Cluniac. p. 593 ; see also p. 1625. 778 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1172— tonbury, died ; he was a liberal benefactor to the church of Win- chester, in his gifts of ornaments of gold and silver, and vestments of silk, and he also distributed his wealth with an open hand among the churches. For a short time before his death, he had been deprived of the use of his eyesight ; but this had augmented their spiritual powers. In the month of August, the king crossed over into England ; and having collected as well his troops as his treasures (both of which were essential for the expedition in which he was engaged), he sailed for Ireland on the eve of the blessed St. Luke the evangelist [Oct. 16.]. The letters which he sent to his son, king Henry, give an account of how prosperous was the voyage, how he landed, and how he was received. A.D. 1172. Frederic, 21. Louis, 35. Henry II., 18. King Henry the younger kept his Christmas at Bur, near Bayaux ; ^ and as he now, for the first time, held his court in Normandy, he was anxious that the festival should be celebrated with great magnificence. It may give some idea of the multitude which was there assembled, if we state the following incident : — William de St. John, the lieutenant of Normandy, and William Fitz-Hamo, the seneschal of Brittany, who had come along with Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, his lord,^ happening to dine together in one of the halls, forbade any person to dine in the same hall with them unless his name was William. When the others were turned out, there still remained in that building one hundred and seventeen persons, all of whom bore the name of William, to say nothing of the many others of the same name who dined in the hall with the king. Henry,' duke of Saxony and Bavaria, the son-in-law of Henry, king of England, went to Jerusalem with a large retinue of soldiers, full of mighty designs, which perhaps he would have put into execution had he not been thwarted by the king and the Templars. As for the treasures, which he had brought thither with him, he distributed them with a liberal hand among the poor, and the churches of the Holy Land. After Easter [16th April], the king returned from Ireland into England with the greatest expedition, having heard that pope Alexander had sent two legates, Albert* and Theodin, to him, respecting the case of Thomas, formerly archbishop of Canterbury, of pious memory. From England he crossed over into Normandy ; and having sent men of rank before his own arrival, the matter was discussed with the papal legates, in the first instance at Savigni, next at Avranches, and lastly at Caen, where it was terminated, as is attested by the public instruments, which were framed thereupon, and which were in the custody of each of the various persons who there assembled. King Henry had an interview with the king of France, and he sent into England the younger king, in order that his wife Margaret, ^ See A. D. 1171, p. 775. ^ In A these words are here erased. ' A change in the handwriting in A is here perceptible. See two letters from the pope to them, in Epp. St. Thomse ed. Lupus, p. 882. A.D. 1173.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 779 the daughter of the king of France, might be consecrated as queen. By the arrangement of the French king, she received the unction at the hands of Rotrou, archbishop of Rouen, and Giles, bishop of Evreux, who also crowned the king and his wife. About the feast of St. Michael [29th Sept.], the king assembled together the bishops of Normandy and Brittany, and he himself and the legates came to Avranches, to discuss the affairs of the church ; but, in consequence of the king's illness, little progress was made. In consequence of this meeting, many of the nobility paid us a visit at the Mount ; among whom were those most reli- gious men, Stephen, the lord abbot of Cluny, and Benedict, the lord abbot of La Cluse. where we admitted them into our society, and were admitted by them into theirs, as is witnessed by their letters of fraternity in our possession, and ours which they took away with them on their departure. The like was done for us in the chapter at Vezelai * by William, of pious memory, the abbot of Vezelai, so that we hold direct brotherhood with those three churches, namely, Cluny, La Cluse, and Vezelai, an arrangement equally pleasing to them and to ourselves. About the feast of St. Martin [11th Nov.], the younger king and his wife arrived from England, and had an interview with the king of France; that between the kings took place at Gisors, but with the queens at Chaumont. The French king received them most joyfully, as he would his children. A.D. 1173. Frederic, 22. Louis, 36. Henry IL, 19. King Henry and queen Alienor kept their Christmas in royal style at Chinon ; but the younger king and his wife Margaret spent the same festival at Bonneville. After this he followed his father into the district of Anjou, intending to continue in those parts until the purification of the blessed Mary [2d Feb.], at which time the king was to have a conference with the king of Aragon, and the count of Maurienne, and the count of St. Giles, respecting the affairs of Toulouse.^ William, abbot of Reading, was made archbishop of Bourdeaux. The count ^ of St. Giles came to an agreement with the king of England respecting Toulouse, having done homage to him and to his son Richard, the duke of Aquitaine. He also promised that he would present the king annually with forty very vaduable horses; and (if it were necessary) that he would furnish him, year by year, for forty days, with one hundred soldiers for his service. The elder king Henry having removed from his son's council, and from attending upon him, Asculf de St. Hilary, and some other young knights, the younger Henry left his father in anger, and came to Argentan ; for which place he set out by night, without the know- ledge of those attendants whom his father had attached to his retinue, and went to the king of France. He was followed by Robert, count of Bellent ; * who leaving his castles ungarrisoned, they were occupied by king Henry. Also, Hugh, earl of Chester, ' Near Avallon, at no great distance from Auserre. 2 Here this hand ceases, and the former resumes its labours. 2 Raimund. * That is, of Meulant. VOL. IV. 3 E 780' CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1173— then on his way home from St. James of Gahcia, followed ; and William Patric the elder, and his three sons, and many others of inferior rank ; whereupon the king destroyed the whole of their houses, woods, and forests. In like manner, the king was deserted by his queen Alienor, and his sons Richard, count of Poitou, and Geoffrey, count of Brittany. On the fourth day before Holy Thursday [2d April], the prior of Canterbury, and other persons of eminence, arrived at St, Barbara,* in the bishopric of Lisieux, to meet king Henry and the Roman legates, Albert and Theodin ; and they elected Roger, abbot of Bee, to be archbishop of Canterbury ; but he, pleading his infirmi- ties, refused to assent to the choice. Returning thence into Eng- land, they summoned the bishops and other persons of religion, and ^ elected, as archbishop, Richard, prior of Dover, one of their own monks. Richard, archdeacon of Poitou, was elected bishop of Win- chester ; Geoffrey, archdeacon of Lincoln, the natural son of king Henry, was elected bishop of Lincoln ; Geoffrey Ridel, archdeacon of Canterbury, was elected to the see of Ely; Robert Foliot, archdeacon of Lincoln, to that of Hereford; Rag.,^ the Lombard, archdeacon of Salisbury, to that of Bath ; and Goscelin, dean of Chichester, became bishop of Chichester. On the day fixed for the consecration of the archbishop elect of Canterbury and the rest, there was a general meeting of the bishops and the others who had assembled, at which the prior of Canterbury produced the letters of the younger king Henry, in which he prohibited their consecration ; and he cited to appear before the pope any one who presumed to lay upon them the hand of consecration. Thus the business remained unaccomplished ; and each person returned home again. The prior of Winchester was made abbot of Glastonbury. After Easter [8th April], Bernard de Ferte transferred himself and his castle to the younger sovereign. The same step was taken by Galerand de Ibera, Goscelin Crispin, Gilbert de Tillieres, Robert de Montfort, Ralph de Faie, Geoffrey de Lusignan, Hugh de St. Maur, and his son, and (on his arrival from England) William, the chamberlain of Tancarville. Philip, count of Flanders, took the castle of Albemarle, in which was its lord, William de Albemarle, and count Simon.* There- upon Henry, the count of Auch, surrendered himself and his castles to the young king and the count of Flanders. After the feast of St. John [24th June], Louis, the king of France, having assembled his barons from every part of his realm, laid siege to the castle of Verneuil for nearly an entire month. His army (as some persons report) consisted of seven thousand horse-soldiers, to say nothing of the accompanying multitude of followers. They met with a stout resistance from Hugh de Laci ' See Gall. Christ, xi. 858 ; and for its English possessions, Dugd. Monast. vi. 1112. 2 On the 3d of June, 1173 ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 9. ^ Reginald Fitz-Joceliae ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 129. * That is, Simon, count of Evreux. A.D. 1173.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 781 and Hugh de Beauchamp, the constables of the castles, along with the troops under them and the townspeople. The younger king Henry, and Philip, count of Flanders, with his brother Matthew, the count of Boulogne, besieged a new castle called Dringcurt, with a large army. The governors of this castle were Doun Bardulf, and Thomas his brother ; and they, perceiving that they could not hold out against the continued assaults of the besiegers, who were mining the walls, accepted a truce, and, going to their lord, the king of England, they stated to him that they were unable to resist the attacks of their enemies. The king, therefore, sanctioned the surrender of the castle to the count of Flanders. Matthew, count of Boulogne, the brother of Philip, count of Flanders, died of a wound which he had received at the siege of Dringcurt ; for which his brother, the count of Flanders, was sor- rowful, and girt with the arms of knighthood his brother Peter, ^ who had been elected to the bishopric of Cambrai. On the third of the ides of August [11th Aug.], that most religious man, the lord Stephen, the abbot of Cluny, went the way of all flesh, and was succeeded by Ralph, the prior of La Charite," the cousin of count^ Thiebaud. Roger, earl of Clare, died, and was succeeded by his son Gilbert, who married the daughter* of William, earl of Gloucester. Having assembled a large army, as well of horse-soldiers as of foot, king Henry came to Breteuil, being anxious to afford assist- ance to his retainers in Verneuil, who were besieged by Louis, the king of France. Hearing this, the last-named monarch, adopting the advice of his council, departed from the castle, leaving behind him a large quantity of his baggage and stores. King Henr}^ summoned the barons of Brittany, and demanded from them the oath of fealty : this some of them kept after a sort ; but Ralph de Fougeres played the traitor, and refused to appear at the king's summons. He began also to rebuild the castle of Fougeres, which the king himself had previously destroyed. When Hasculf de St. Hilary, and William Patric and his three sons, heard this, they rejoiced, and they joined him, going by cross-roads. The earl of Chester and count Eudo ^ followed. Henry, king of the English, sent his Braban9ons to waste the lands of Ralph de Fougeres ; and when they had nearly accomplished their mission, the greater portion of those persons who were em- ployed in supplying the army with provisions (having neither leader nor guard) was killed between St. James ^ and Fougeres by the troops of Ralph de Fougeres. This same Ralph burnt down the castle of St. James, and the like he did for the castle of Tilleul. King Henry came secretly to Fougeres, intending to surprise Ralph ; who, hearing of the king's arrival, took to flight ; but the 1 See Gall. Christ, iii. 30. 2 On the Loire ; see GaU. Christ, xii. 406. 2 This Ealph de Sully was the nephew of Henry, bishop of Winchester, the great benefactor to the monastery of Cluny; see Bibl. Cluniac. p. 1625. ^ See Dugd. Baron, i. 24. * Eudo de Porroet. ^ Between Avranches and Fougeres. 3 E 2 782 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D, 1173— king's soldiers carried off an amount of booty, such as scarce any of our people had ever seen before : for Ralph de Fougeres had given orders to the men of all his estates to drive their horses, herds, cattle, and all their substance into his forest ; but before they could reach its recesses they were intercepted by the enemy, and lost all. Having won over, by bribes and entreaties, the wardens who ought to have kept the castle of Combourg,* and of the city of Dol, for the ki«g of England, Ralph de Fougeres ob- tained possession of these strongholds ; understanding which, the king sent his Braban9ons to their assistance, along with some of his own troops to render them further help, if necessary. They were encountered by the earl of Chester, Ralph de Fougeres, Hasculf de St. Hilary, William Patric, and all the troops from the lands of Ralph de Fougeres, along with a great host of foot- soldiers. But these were scattered in a moment ; the horsemen took to flight, and many of the common people were killed. But the earl of Chester and Ralph de Fougeres, accompanied by sixty knights — unable to escape, for their enemies had taken posses- sion of the only road by which they could have saved them- selves— shut themselves up in a tower; but as for Hasculf de St. Hilary, and William Patric, and some others, they were taken prisoners at Pontorson. When count Eudo had arrived from France, he refused to stay with Ralph de Fougeres ; but he went into Porroet, and fortified Chateau Josselin, and took that of Ploesmel. The following occurrence ^ affords us an illustration of the courage, caution, and expedition of Henry, king of England. When the intelHgence of the siege of the tower of Dol reached him, he was at Rouen ; this was on the night preceding a Wednes- day. As soon as that day dawned, he left Rouen, and reached Dol on the following day, about the third hour, and laid siege to the tower. As soon as he had prepared his engines for the assault, the garrison (careful for their own safety) surrendered themselves and the tower to the king's pleasure. The king distributed them among his castles, where they were committed to prison ; but some of them he kept near himself, having accepted security from them that they would not escape. Desirous ^ of disturbing the tranquillity of the realm of England, Robert, earl of Leicester, crossed over thither, accompanied by his wife, and Hugh Chateauneuf,* his cousin, together with many soldiers. But he was intercepted, and his wife and Hugh de Chateauneuf were taken prisoners near St. Edmund's,^ by those who adhered to the king, and put in ward ; and there many of the Flemings were killed, and many of the others taken prisoners and put to death. This possibly occurred, because they had committed ^ Between Dol and Hedd. ^ Compare with the present narrative the metrical form of Jordan Fantosme, (Ch. Hist. iv. 249, &c.) 3 See Fantosme, p. 265. * Id. p. 266. * On the site of this battle, and the remains which have recently been dis- covered of those who fell in it ; see the interesting note of Gage, appended to the Chronica Joceliui de Brakelonda, p. 105. A. D. 1174.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 783 some plunder in the lands of St. Edmund/ king and martyr; a thing which no man is permitted to do unpunished. Ralph de Fougeres gave hostages to the king of England for himself and his sons, Ivell and William ; but he himself would not by any means consent to give himself up into the king's power ; but fled and hid himself in the woods. Geoffrey de Pouance," and Bonus, the abbot of Rugey,^ and others of the districts of Mayenne and Anjou, and the Norman, Ralph de Haia, having no fortified castles, harassed the king's lands from out of the forests ; for the king's Braban9ons had destroyed the castle of la Guerche, as they had previously levelled with the ground Fougeres, and the other castles which belonged to Ralph. Robert de Vitry died, and was succeeded by his son Andrew, whose mother was the sister of Roland de Dinan. As he had no other heir, this Roland adopted as the heir of all his lands another of his nephews, named Alan ; and this he did in the presence of the king. A. D. 1174. Frederic, 23. Louis, 37. Henry II., 20. King Henry kept his Christmas in the district of Baieux, at Bur. William, bishop of Tigal, * ended this human life, and was succeeded by Ivo the Breton, the archpresbyter of Tours. In the place of Haimo, the bishop of Leon, a certain arch- deacon of that church was elected, but not canonically, nay, rather, simoniacally ; and, although he had found favour both with the clergy and the people, yet he did not obtain consecration, being prevented by the decease of Jocius, archbishop of Tours ; in whose place the clergy of Tours elected Bartholomew, the dean of that church, an efficient young man of good family. William^ Patric, the younger, died at Paris, as did also his father, William Patric; he was succeeded by his son, Ingerran Patric, who married the daughter of Richard Fitz- Count. [Frogerius] abbot of St. Florente " died, and was succeeded by Ralph the Norman. Also, the debt of nature was paid by Nutritus, the recluse, an honest and very devout individual, at whose tomb, which is situated near the church of St. Mary, of Ardevon, God is magnified (as some report) by the cure of the infirm. Hamo de Landecop, a monk of Savigny, died in the previous year, who, on account of his good works done to the poor, was dear to God and men. [Peter] the archbishop of Tarentasia, who had been a Cistertian monk (through whom God is praised by the exhibition of miracles even in our days), was despatched along with Alexander, abbot of Citeaux, by the pope to the king of the French, to restore peace between king Henry of England and his son, the younger king ; but little progress was made, in consequence of the sins of mankind. ' See A.D. 1152, and the account of the death of Suane, given by Florence of Worcester and Simeon of Durham, A.D. 1014; Ch. Hist. ii. 262, iii. 519. ^ iSTear Angers, on the Verzee. ^ La Ro^ ( ?), near Crayon. * Treguier, near Lannion. ^ The passage which here commences, and ends with the word " Norman," is written upon an erasure in A. ^ On the Loire, near Ancenis. 784 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1174— About Easter [24th March], Richard, the archbishop elect of Canterbury, who had gone to Rome in the previous year, was conse- crated by pope Alexander at Anagnia. The archbishop of Tarentasia consecrated his companion Rag.' the bishop elect of Bath. The two queens were conducted into England, About the same time, Louis, the king of the French, assembled at Paris all those of the barons of his realm who obeyed him, to whom he unfolded his secret designs. The count of Flanders, the count Theobald, the count of Clermont, and many others, made oath that they would cross over into England, about the feast of St. John [24th June], along with the younger king, and would do their best to subjugate that kingdom. The others who remained behind likewise swore that they would advance with an army through Normandy, and would take all the castles they could ; that they would ravage the country, and lay siege to Rouen : and this they did, although to little purpose. When king Henry was in- formed of this by the French barons, — many of whom he retained in his pay, and had attached to himself by means of the large advantages and gifts which they had received from him, — he pro- vided with arms, troops, and victuals, those fortresses of his which lay on the frontier of Normandy, towards France. He also re- moved some of the keepers of the castles, in order that he might not be endangered and impeded by their treacherously surrendering them to his enemies. In a conference which he had with the Norman barons, he admonished and entreated them to acquit them- selves like men, remembering that their ancestors had frequently and disgracefully expelled the French from their district. Taking with him a few of the barons of Normandy (so few as scarce to be worth notice), he crossed over with his Braban9ons into England. We cannot but record the humility with which he visited the sepulchre of the blessed martyr Thomas. As soon as he came within sight of the church of Canterbury,^ he dismounted from his horse, and walked with the greatest devotion to that church, bare- foot and clothed in a woollen vest, through the mire and over the sharp stones. So devout was he in his prayers and tears at the tomb of that glorious martyr, that he constrained the spectators to weep also. This occurred on the Friday;* and the whole of that night he watched there, fasting. In the morning he went into the chapter-house of the monks, and submitted to be scourged by them ; herein imitating our Redeemer, who gave His back to the smiters : there was this difference, however, — the one did it for his own sins, the other for ours. On the same day on which he retired from the shrine, William, the king of Scotland, was made prisoner at Alnwick by the barons of Yorkshire ; for this king, along with Roger de Moubrai, and his other accomplices, had devastated the northern parts of England which border upon Scotland, for the whole of the summer. This joyful intelligence reached the king on the fourth day afterwards. 1 See A.D. 1173, p. 780, note ^ ^ gge William of Newburgh, II. xxxv. p. 493. 3 This was Friday, the 12th of July, 1174. A.D. 1175.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 785 Encouraged by this important piece of information, the king made peace with the earl Hugh Bigod ; and having placed William, king of Scotland, and Roger, earl of Leicester, in a place of safe custody, the king and his earls recrossed over into Normandy, leaving England (which, although it had been nearly lost to him, he had recovered within thirty days) in a state of tranquillity. On his arrival at Rouen, he sent his Welsh borderers across the Seine, that they might intercept in the forests the supplies which were coming up to the French army. The French, apprehensive of the Welsh on the one side, and of the king on the other, came to the king to treat about peace ; rejoicing at which, he fixed a meet- ing for discussing the matter at Gisors, on the nativity of the blessed Mary [8th Sept.]. At the appointed time, both parties met; but no progress was made, excepting that they agreed that another conference should be held, about the feast of Michaelmas [29th Sept.], between Tours and Amboise : and, by God's favour, a peace was established at that place, and the king's three sons humbly submitted themselves to him ; and the French king and the count of Flanders surrendered to the king of England the for- tresses which they had taken in Normandy. I, for my part, ascribe this peace to our Lady, the mother of Jesus Christ, because the whole army withdrew from the siege on the vigil of her assumption [14th Aug.]; so that the citizens of Rouen spent a happy day within her church (as was their duty), being freed from the anxieties of the siege/ After the feast of St. John [29th Aug.], Ammaric, king of Jeru- salem, died, and was succeeded by Baldwin, his fourth son. Also Loradin, king of Alapria, deceased ; and his successor was his son by the sister of the count of St. Giles, whom he had married when she was a captive in the expedition to Jerusalem. She and her son having made a truce for seven years, promised that they would pay a large sum of money to the king of Jerusalem. Saraguntat, the nephew of this Loradin, slew Amulanius of Babylon, and was made prince of Babylon and Alexandria. On the death of Drogo,^ the abbot of the Holy Trinity, he v/as succeeded by William de Esparvilla, monk of Bee, prior of Evremieu.^ Robert, abbot of Cormeilles,*' died, and his successor was Harduin, a monk of Bee, and prior of St. Theodmir.* A.D. 1175. Frederic, 24. Louis, 38. Henry H., 21. King Henry spent his Christmas at Argentan. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, came into Italy with his wife and children, and a great army, and besieged Alessandria, which held out until Easter [13th April]. He made no progress, but sustained many losses. Guarin de Gelardun, abbot of Pontigny, was made archbishop of Bourges, in like manner as his predecessor in the government of that monastery had become archbishop of Lyons. 1 See William of Newburgh, II. xxxvi. 495. 2 He was abbot of the Holy Trinity on Mont St. Catharine, near Rouen ; see Gall. Christ, xi. 127. 3 Id. p. 230. * Id. p. 847. 5 Or St. Himerius; see id. p. 813. 786 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1175— About Easter-tide [13th April], the younger king was reconciled with his father, who received from him and his brothers an oath which was satisfactory to him. Then the king despatched his son, duke Richard, into Aquitaine, and his other son, Geoffrey, count of Brittany, into Brittany, appointing Roland de Dinan as the warden of his lands. Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, departed from Ales- sandria ; and there was a treaty between the lord pope and himself about the restoration of peace ; to which, however, the emperor would not assent while Alessandria existed ; and the Lombards would not agree to its destruction : and so peace remained in suspense, while the emperor took up his abode at Pavia, unable either to advance or retreat. GeofTrey, duke of Brittany, regained possession of whatever he had been deprived of by count Eudo, namely, Vannes, Ploesmel,* Aunay, and the moiety of Cornouaile. After Easter [13th April], king Henry and his son, the younger king, crossed over into England, where he extracted large sums of money from the clergy and laity, the barons and knights, because they had taken many of his stags without his permission. The king of Scotland made peace with the king of England on these terms : he did homage and allegiance for all his lands, as his own lord ; and he consented that all the bishops of that land (ten in number), and the abbots, and the earls, and the barons, should do the like. However, the bishops and the abbots did not do this homage ; but they bound themselves by an oath that they would observe it, and that they would be in subjection to the archbishop and church of York, and would go thither for the purpose of consecration as often as it should be necessary. Moreover, king William surrendered his fortresses, namely, Roxburgh, and Maiden Castle,^ and a third,^ to the king of England, who placed his own governors therein, for whom the king of Scotland is bound to provide necessaries. Besides this, it was agreed that the king of England shall have the bestowal of the larger fees, bishoprics, abbeys, and other honours in Scotland ; or, at the least, that they should be given according to his advice. The prior of Canterbury was made abbot of Battle. Peter, prior of Montacute, was made abbot of Hyde; the prior of Bermondsey was promoted to Abingdon, and the prior of Win- chester to Westminster. We shall pass over in silence the smaller abbeys. John of Oxford, dean of Salisbury, was elected to the bishopric of Norwich. Reginald, earl of Cornwall,* a natural son of the former king Henry, died, and was buried at Reading ; whereupon the king retained in his own custody, and for the benefit of his younger son John, the earldom of Cornwall, and all the lands which had belonged to the earl within England, Nor- 1 Here, and elsewhere, the spelling in the MS. is Ploesmel. 2 That is, Edinburgh. In MS. H and K, after " Castrum Puellarum" is added, " id est, Edenesburch, et tertium, id est, Berewic." * Here, in A, is a blank left for the insertion of the name. See the last note; and also the treaty between William of Scotland and Henry of England, at Falaise; Rymer, Feed. i. 30. * See Dugd. Baron, i. 610. A.D. 1177.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 787 mandy, and Wales, with the sole exception of a small portion which he gave to the daughters of the deceased. Robert, abbot of the Mount, the writer of these Annals, going into England, obtained from the king a sealed charter of all the gifts made to the church of the Mount, — not only those already given, but also such as are given at the present time, or shall be given hereafter.' Richard, the son of the earl of Gloucester, died, and was suc- ceeded by his son Philip, the issue of the sister of Robert de Montfort. Henry, the brother of Louis, king of France, died, — he was arch- bishop of Rheims ; and also [Gui], count de Nivernois. There also occurred an incident much to be lamented, and which might be passed over in silence, save out of regard to the memory of an excellent man, Girard, abbot of Clairvaux, who was attacked during the night by a certain pretended^ monk of the same order, and received three mortal wounds from the knife of the assassin. He survived, however, for three days, and was enabled to make his confession, and to receive penance and the sacraments of the body of Christ. Richard,* archbishop of Canterbury, assembled a large council in England, at the city of London, in which was continued the old dispute* respecting the primacy of Britain, between himself and Roger, archbishop of York. In like manner, Bartholomew, archbishop of Tours, held a council at Rennes, with the bishops of Brittany. Hugh, the son of Petrus Leo, the legate of the Roman see^ crossed over into England.^ A.D. 1176. Frederic, 25. Louis, 39. Henry H.. 22. The frost and snow continued from the nativity of the Lord, [25th Dec], until the purification of the blessed INlary [2d Feb.]. Richerius de Aquila died, and was succeeded by his son Richerius. Richard, earl of Striguel, the son of earl Gilbert, died, leaving a little son by the daughter of the king of Dublin. He had obtained possession of certain cities in Ireland — that is to say, Dublin and Watrefelth, which king Henry, on his visit to that island, took into his own hands. The Irish promised that they would pay king Henry a tribute from the whole of the island, namely, from every house either one ox's hide, or twelve pieces of silver coin. On Easter-eve [3d April], about midday, there was a high wind, which overthrew houses and uprooted trees.*' A.D. 1177. Frederic, 26. Louis, 40. Henry II., 23. During Whitsun-week [12th — 18th June], the Lombards (chiefly the Milanese) defeated the army of the emperor Frederic, ^ Here a change in the style of the writing is perceptible ; but the hafld remains the same. 2 His name was Hugh de Basoches; see GaU. Christ, iv. 801. ^ A change in the writing, but not of the writer, occurs here. * See Johnson's Canons, ii. 64, ed. 1851. ^ A change in the style of writing ; but the same scribe continues. ^ Here the hand end^ at the end of a gathering. 788 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1177— who was then resident in the city of Pavia, and who escaped with great difficulty WilUam^ (the brother of count Tiebaut, the archbishop of Sens), bishop of Chartres, was translated to the archiepiscopal see of Rheims, and was succeeded at Sens by Guy, the provost of Auxerre, who was archdeacon of Sens. John^ of Salisbury was appointed to the city of Chartres ; he was an honest man and wise ; he had first been clerk to Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and afterwards to his successor, St. Thomas the martyr. On the death of [Bartholomew] bishop of Beauvais, he was succeeded by Philip, the son of count Robert, the brother of the king of the French. William, king of Sicily, duke of Apulia, and prince of Capua, sent an honourable embassage to Henry, king of England, asking his daughter Joanna in marriage, which request was granted. Roger, abbot of Jumiege, and monk of Bee, died. Also Ralph, abbot of Saumur, who was succeeded by Manerius, the sacrist of that place. William Courcei also died, leaving behind him a little son, by the daughter of Richerius de Aquila. William de Albinei, styled earl of Arundel, likewise deceased, leaving four sons, namely, William de Albinei, his eldest, and three others, his issue by queen Aeliza, the wife of Henry the first, the king of the English. This William married the widow of Roger, earl of Clare, the daughter of James de St. Hilary, and received with her all the lands which that James had held in England. Philip, count of Flanders, set out for Jerusalem along with a large body of troops. Hasculf de St. Hilary went to Jerusalem, and died while abroad. Peter,' the brother of Philip, count of Flanders, after having married [Matilda] the countess of Nivernois, who had been the wife of the lord of the castle of Issoudun, died ; possibly for this reason, that he had cast aside the spiritual warfare in which he had embarked, I mean his clerical office — for he had been elected to the bishopric of Cambrai ; * but leaving his spiritual warfare, he had become a soldier of this world. By the same countess he had one daughter. His widow became the wife of earl Robert, the son earl Robert, the brother of Louis, the king of the French, to whom he conveyed the earldom by this her fourth marriage. That venerable man, Robert, abbot of Marmoutier, died, and was succeeded by Peter, a monk of the same place. Ralph, abbot of Cluni, who was the cousin of count Thebaud, having been deposed, Walter, the prior of St. Martin des Champs, succeeded him ; and the late abbot became, for the second time, the prior of La Charite.* Robert de Blangy died, likewise an honest and religious man, a monk of Bee, and the abbot of St. Evroul. Osbert, also, abbot of Lire, paid the penalty of humanity," and was ^ William de Campania, concerning whose family and promotion see Gall. Christ, ix. 95. 2 i(j_ yjii. 1145. ^ The editors of Bouquet (xiii. 320, note ") here question the accuracy of some of our author's details. ■* See a. d. 1173, p. 781, note '. 5 Id. p. 781, note -. « See Gall. Chi-ist. xi. 646. A.D. 1177.J THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 789 succeeded by his younger brother Walter, in like manner as he himself had succeeded his elder brother William. It is a thing which seldom or never occurs, that three brothers should succeed each other in the government of any church. Hugh Bigot, the earl, died, and was succeeded by his son Roger. Roger de Cripta, a monk of the Holy Trinity of Canterbury, was made abbot of St. Augustin's, on the ejection of Clarenbaud, the elect of that monastery, who refused to accept the blessing from St. Thomas, and, therefore, it was far from him. On Holy Thursday [21st April], St. William was slain at Paris by the Jews, who were burnt with fire. Benedict, the prior of Canterbury, was made abbot of Burc [Peterborough] . In summer and autumn the drought was excessive, in conse- quence of which the greater part of the seed-corn, the crops, and the grass perished ; and the corn and the grapes ripened sooner than usual. On the ninth of the kalends of August [24th July], the lord pope Alexander, and Frederic, the Roman emperor, came to terms of concord in Venice,^ in the house of the patriarch of that city. In the month of August, Henry the elder, the king of England, and Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, his son, crossed over into Nor- mandy with a great retinue ; and they were met with great joy and honour by the younger king Henry, and Richard, duke of Aquitaine, Henry's son, along with many barons. Taking with him his sons, the younger Henry, and Richard, duke of Aquitaine, and having assembled his barons at the ford of St. Remi, he had a conference with the king of the French about peace, and the assumption of the cross for the service of God. Thence the king sent his son, the count of Brittany, with the other Bretons, to curb the pride of Guihomar de Lehon. For a considerable time, Maurice, the bishop of Paris, has been labouring earnestly and profitably for the building of the church of that city, the quire ^ of which is now finished, with the exception of the roof of the middle aisle. If this undertaking be completed, there will be none to compete with it on our side of the Alps. On the death of Waleran, the son of William Lupellus, the tower of Ivry ^ came into the king's hands ; he had long coveted it, but neither his father nor his grandfather had obtained possession of it. King Henry went into the district of Bourges, and took into his own keeping the castle of Ralph de Dolis, (because it belonged to his fief,) and likewise the only daughter of the lord of that castle, with all her inheritance, which report values at a price equivalent to the revenues of the whole of Normandy. He also was requested by the barons, who had it in custody, to take possession of the castle of Issoudun,* with all its appurtenances, (which belonged to 1 See the letters by the pope to Roger, archbishop of York, and Hugh, bishop of Durham, in Wilkuis, ConcU. i. 487 ; Hoved. f. 325. ^ . . . "cujus caput . . . excepto majori tectorio." — Oruj. •' Near Beaune. * Near Chateauroux. 790 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND, [a.D. 1177— the earldom of Anjou,) because Odo, the lord of that castle, had recently died, and had left behind him a young son ; but he would not accept it, because he had not the heir in his custody, the duke of Burgundy, his relative, having removed him clandestinely. The castle of Tournon — exceedingly strong both by nature and art — was surrendered to him by its viscount. King Henry also purchased, for six thousand marks of silver, the entire property of the earl of March, which, as the king states, is worth twenty thousand marks of silver. [Girald]^ bishop of Limoges, who was the count of that city, after having been blind for ten years, at length died. Richard, duke of Aquitaine, took that fortification from [Ademar] viscount of the castle situated near that city (in the monastery of which rests St. Martial) ;^ and upon good grounds, too, because he assisted the party of [William] count d'Angouleme, who was the duke's enemy. Ruaud, bishop of Vannes, died ; he was a religious man, and a Cistertian monk. Guihomar de Lehon came to the lord the king, promising that he should do with his (Guihomar's) lands whatever he pleased, larnagen de Roca surrendered that castle to the lord the king, and earl Geoffrey his son. As the summer had been remarkable for its drought, so was the winter for its great floods of water. In this year, about the festival of St. John [24th June], many people were drowned in the rivers. In the sea many ships also were lost; one of which perished at St. Valery, on board of which were Geoffrey, provost of Beverley, the nephew of Roger, archbishop of York, the chancellor of the younger king, and many other nobles. The like happened to many ships (some say thirty and more) which were bringing wine from the district of Poitou. At the festival of St. Martin [11th Nov.], the canons of Dol chose Roland, dean of Avranches, as their archbishop ; he was a religious and well-read man. At this election there were present, Henry, bishop of Baieux, and Richard, bishop of Avranches, Robert, abbot de Monte, and many men of religion. On the night of St. Andrew [29th Nov.], the wind was very stormy; and on that festival [30th Nov.], as well as on the vigil which we have mentioned, the moon appeared marvellously large in the morning, rising in the east, and proceeding towards the west ; and on this day the Christians fought with the pagans at St. George de Ramula. For Saladin (who had married the widow of Noradin, lately deceased) imagined that he could take the city of Jerusalem, as it was then without a garrison to defend it, because the count of Flanders had carried off nearly all the christian troops to assist at the siege of Harenc. And yet the king of Jerusalem, and the patriarch, and the other men of religion, although they had but a few knights and servants, defeated the countless host of the infidels by the power of the holy cross, which (as the pagans affirmed) appeared to reach from the earth even to the heavens. In this 1 See Gall. Christ, ii. 524. 2 Id. p. 553. A.D. 1178.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 791 victory the Christians enriched themselves with gold and silver, horses, arms, and victuals. A.D. 1178. Frederic, 27. Louis, 41. Henry II., 25. At Christmas-tide, king Henry the elder kept his court at Angers, where his sons were with him — namely, the younger king Henry, and Richard, duke of Aquitaine, and Geoffrey, duke of Brittany ,• and scarce at any other festival (except at his own coronation, or that of his son, the younger king) had he so many knights in his retinue. Stephen, bishop of Rennes, died ; he was an honourable and in- tellectual personage. A wonderful vision was revealed to this bishop, which he himself recounted, before his death, to a monk with whom I am well acquainted. A certain person appeared to him, and gently whispered these verses to him — " Cease to play thus idly, And make an effort quickly To raise thee from the dust." For the bishop had written voluminously, as well in verse as prose, but in a humorous style, and so as to receive the praise of men; and as He who has pity on mankind knew that he was at the point to die, He admonished him to abstain from such studies, and to do penance. This same person also wrote the life of St. Firmatus, the bishop, and the life of St.Vital, the first abbot of Savigny. At my request he also wrote fifty verses about old age, in the last of which he introduced one clause of the lines which I have cited. The mother of mercy (whom he had always devoutly served) appeared to him at his death. Geoffrey, bishop of Angers, died. In the middle of Lent, on the fourth of the kalends of April [29th March], the church of Bee was dedicated by Rotrou, arch- bishop of Rouen, and Henry, bishop of Baieux, and Richard, bishop of Avranches, and Giles, bishop of Evreux. At this dedi- cation were present the two kings of England, the father and the son, and John, the king's younger son. The elder king endowed the church with the annual payment of one hundred pounds of Anjou money, arising from his mills on the Roobec' Robert de Argentiis, the cellarer of Jumieges, was made abbot of the same church. Walter, the under-cellarer of St.Wandregisil,^ was made abbot of the same monastery. Ralph de St. Coulomb^ was made abbot of St. Evroul ; he was a monk of the same place. Jordan Tessun died, and was succeeded by his son Ralph, who did homage to the abbot of the Mount for the castle of Roche and of Coulomb. William, king of Sicily, granted his charter of dower to queen Joanna his wife ; part of which we introduce here : — ^ " We, William, by divine favour, king of Sicily, duke of Apulia, ' Bouquet's edition here reads Boobec, which is explained as meaning Bolbec ; but the con-ect reading is Robec, a stream which falls into the Seine, near Rouen. 2 St. Vaudrille, or Fontanelle, near Caudebec; see Gall. Christ, xi. 155. ^ Between Cancale and St, Malo. 792 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1179— and prince of Capua, by this present writing do give and grant in dower to our most beloved wife, queen Joanna, the daughter of the illustrious Henry, king of England, the city of Mont St. Angelo,^ the city of Sipontum, and the city of Vesta, with all the tenements and appurtenances to them justly belonging. We also grant to her, in service, of the tenements of the earl Godfrey, Alesine, Peschiza, Bizum, Caprile, Baranum, and Silizum, and all other things which that same count held of the honour of the said earl- dom of Mont St. Angelo. In like manner we grant to her, in service, Caudelarium, St. Clerus, Castellum Paganum, Bisontinum, and Cognanum. Moreover, we grant that the monastery of St. John de Lama, and that of St. Mary de Pulsano, shall form a portion of the tenure of this dower, together with all the holdings which these monasteries possess of the honour of the aforesaid earldom of Mont St. Angelo. And that this our grant and gift (which is written by the hand of Alexander, our notary) be preserved in memory and force, we have commanded that it be confirmed by a golden bull, which bears the impression of our seal." You will find the witnesses of this charter and the seal at the beginning of the book of Origen^ upon Numbers. Louis, the king of France, and Henry, the king of England, met together for a conference, not far from Nonencurt, where the subjects for discussion were about the establishment of a peace, and firm agreement between them that they should assume the cross and set out on an expedition to Jerusalem ; and if either of the kings should die during that undertaking, (which God forbid !) that then the survivor should take, as his own property, all the treasure, and all the men, and all the moveable goods of the deceased, and should carry on the expedition for their joint benefit. There was a great assemblage of heretics, called Agenenses, and many others, near Toulouse : these persons hold false doctrines re- specting the sacrament of the altar, and marriage, and the other sacraments. Peter,^ the Roman legate, and many other religious persons, together with the two kings, came thither to refute them ; but they made little progress. Robert de Montfort died, and was succeeded by his son Hugh, whose mother was the sister of Ralph de Fougeres. The city of Chartres was burnt, and the monastery of the blessed Peter de Valle;* but, by God's mercy, the church of St. Mary and the cloister of the clerks escaped. A.D. 1179. Frederic, 28. Louis, 42. Henry H., 26. Philip, count of Flanders returned from Jerusalem. Manuel, the emperor of Constantinople, sent honourable ambassadors to the king of France, asking his daughter in marriage for the emperor's son, to which the king assented. Pope Alexander sent Octavian, the subdeacon of the church of ^ Many of these names have not been identified. ^ Robert here refers to one of the volumes at that time deposited in the library of his own monastery. * A long letter written by him, respecting his i^roceedings with these hei-etics, may be seen in Baronius, A.D. 1178, § 23 seq. ^ See Gall. Christ, viii. 1213. A.D. 1179.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 793 Rome, into the province of Rouen, to summon the archbishop and his suffragan bishops, and the abbots of that province ; and in hke manner he despatched other subdeacons to the east and the west, the south and the north, requiring them to attend a general council, which was to be held during the ensuing Lent at Rome.^ [Ivo] bishop of Treguier," when on his way to Rome, was robbed of all his property and horses, and so severely beaten that he died within eight days. Geoffrey Lois, the son of a burgess of the same name at Guingamp, was elected in his stead. Henry the elder, king of England, crossed over into England, about the time of the fair of Mont Martin. Ralph, the brother of the viscount of Beaumont, and the cousin- german of Heniy, king of England, was elected to the bishopric of Angers. There was an eclipse of the sun on the ides of Septem- ber. The abbot of Grestain ' died, and was succeeded by WiUiam de Exonia, a monk of Bee. Richard, bishop of Coutance, died. In the same year died Robert, abbot of Marmoutier, whose suc- cessor was Peter, a monk of the same place, who also died, after having governed that abbey for nearly an entire year ; he was succeeded by Hervei de Villa Pirosa, a monk of the same place. The winter was very intense, and the snow lay on the ground for eight days after the nativity of our Lord, when it began to fall, until nearly the purification of the blessed Mary [2d Feb.]. There was a flood of waters, chiefly around the city of Mans, which swept away bridges, houses, and mills, and drowned many men. The like occurred at Angers, and in many other places. Geoffrey, the son of king Henry, and the duke of Brittany, dis- tinguished himself for his energy. For as well Guihomar, viscount of Lehon, who neither feared God nor regarded man, as his sons, were so entirely curbed by him, that he took into his custody all their castles and lands, leaving only two parishes to Guihummar the elder, and this until the festival of Christmas next following, when he and his wife were to proceed to Jerusalem, — perhaps never to return from thence. To the younger Guihummar he awarded eleven parishes, from the property of his father, retaining his brother Hervei with himself in his own retinue. In like manner acted Richard, duke of Aquitaine, the brother of this Geoffrey, towards Geoffrey de Rancun ; for he besieged, took, and destroyed the castle of Taillebourg,* (which to all appearance was so strongly fortified, both by nature and art, as to be im- pregnable,) and four other castles belonging to the same individual. The like he did to the lord of Ponz, one of the confederates of this Geoffrey ; for he destroyed his castle of Ponz. After the destruction of the castle of Taillebourg, while earl Richard, the son of king Henr)', had followed his father into England, to visit [the shrine of] St. Thomas, and to see his • The council sat on the 19th of March; see, for its proceedings, Labb. Concil. X. 1507; and William of Newburgh, p. 502. 2 Near Lannion. 3 gee Gall. Christ, xi. 482. * This, and the castle of Pons, are situated near Saintes, by the mouth of the river Gironde. 794 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1179— father, certain Bascles, and Navarese, and Braban9ons came to the city of Bourdeaux, and burnt and plundered as well the suburbs as the city itself. William, earl of Mandeville, became earl of Albemarle, having married Hadewis,^ the daughter of William, earl of Albemarle. Richard de Lucy renounced the world and its occupations ; and he was succeeded by his grandson by his son Geoffrey. While [Agnes] the daughter of the French king, being about to be wedded to the son of the emperor of Constantinople, had taken up her abode at St. Benedict upon the Loire,2 it happened that one of her domestics, in his anxiety to cause the fire to burn up speedily, poured some oil upon it, which caused the flames to issue from the top of the chimney ; and this catching the roof was the cause of the total destruction of the abbey. Having decided upon the coronation of his son Philip, the king of the French determined that the place for the ceremony should be Rheims, and that the period should be the assumption of the blessed Virgin [15th Aug.]; wherefore he made every arrangement necessary for such an important affair, and summoned all the barons of the entire nation of France to meet him on that occasion. The youth who was about to be crowned happened to be amusing himself in the woods, together with his companions, by hunting ; but he became separated from them, and lost the whole of them; and so spent an entire night, wandering up and down in the forest. At length he was discovered by a certain person, who was preparing charcoal for the use of the smiths, and thus restored to his com- panions ; but the lonely night which he had spent, and the fear, brought on such an illness that the coronation had to be post- poned for a time. Annoyed herewith, the king, his father, took a journey into England to pray for himself and his son at the shrine of St. Thomas, to whom he had shown great kindness during his exile in France ; but out of his love and honour to God and the blessed Thomas, this king gave to the monks continually serving God in the church of Canterbury, a hundred barrels' of wine, to be » See Dugd. Baron, i. 201, 205. * St. Benedict, or St. Florent-sur-Loire, near Angers. ' . . . " centum modios vini "... Orig. The following extract from the Obituary of Christchurch, Canterbury, (MS. Cott. Claud. C. VI. fol. 197,) contains a fuller history of this donation, and of the proceedings which followed thereupon : — " The most pious Louis, king of France, died, our brother and benefactor, who came to Canterbury to visit the [shiine of the] blessed Thomas, out of his regard to devotion ; and upon the tomb of that martyr he made an oSering of one hundred barrels of wine — by presenting a golden cup — which were to be received yearly, as a perpetual alms, in the district appertaining to the castle of Poissy ; and this donation of his he . also confii-med by his charter, a copy of which will be found below. Whereupon the reverend father in God archbishop Richard, the primate of all England, and the legate of the apostolic see, together with Alan, the prior, and the convent of the church of Canterbury, received that king and his companions into their confraternity, and granted them a participation in the benefits of the same church ; and appointed that certain other special arrangements should be made for the king and his friends. And to guard against this matter falling into oblivion, they gave these their letters to the king, drawn up in this form : — " ' To our dearest lord in Christ, Louis, by the grace of God, the most illus- trious king of the French, Richard, by the grace of God, archbishop of Canter- bury, primate of all England, and legate of the apostolic see, and Alan, styled A. D. 1179.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 795 yearly received by the said monks. But with how great honour and joy, and with what profuse Uberality he was received by king Henry, I have no power to describe, Manuel, the emperor of Constantinople, revenged himself this year upon Solyman, of Iconium, who had defeated him during the previous year, and had taken prisoners many of his knights ; and iDesides this, had deprived him of the Lord's cross. But now the emperor Manuel defeated him, and took prisoners many of his knights ; and Solyman abandoned the city of Iconium, leaving it empty. A certain astrologer thus prophesied concerning the calamities which were impending : — " In this present year, w^hich is the year one thousand one hundred and seventy-nine from our Lord's in- carnation, being the seventh year, in the month of September, in the twelfth indiction, when the sun is in Libra (if the Lord will it), there will be a conjunction of all the planets in Libra, and in the tail of the Scorpion. Here there is a wonderful illustration of the mutability of mutable things ; for a marvellous earthquake shall follow, while Saturn and Mars continue in the signs of the air, and there shall be death and disease. The same conjunction shows that there will be a great wind, which shall make the sky black and gloomy, and infected with poison ; and in the wind shall be heard a fearful voice, which shall terrify the hearts of men, and which shall also transport sand from the sandy regions, with which it shall cover the neighbouring cities of the plain, — first of all the eastern cities of Mecca, Baldae, and Babylon, and, indeed, all the cities con- tiguous to the sandy districts, — for none shall escape which shall the prior, and the conYent of Christ Church, Canterbury, with eternal health iu the Lord. " ' It has pleased the mercy of Almighty God to honour the church of Canter- bury by yom- presence dm-ing om* times ; on which occasion we, as it is our duty, so is it our pleasure, desu-e to be found prepared to render more abundant thanks to God. And since we be unable to answer the merits of your highness according to their deserts, — which, however, we woiild desire to do, — yet we have resolved upon the present occasion to do our best, even though it be little. And so, by the common will and consent of us aU, we have gi-anted to you, and our lady the queen, and your heirs and friends, a full participation in the benefits of the chm-ch of Canterbury, out of the love which you bore to Thomas of Canterbury, To this we add that one of our brethren shall daily celebrate a special mass of the Holy Ghost for you, and our lady the queen, and your heir, and your friends, as long as you are alive. Also, the priest, and the other brethren of lower orders, during the celebration of the masses, and chiefly during the reception of the Body and Blood of the Lord, shall be bound (as far as God herein shall inspire them) to commemorate you and yours. For this purpose, for the present time, we specially appoint three monks for you, whose duty it shall be to make constant prayer to God for the safety of yourself, the lady your queen, your son, and your friends. And as soon as the intimation of the day of your death shall reach us, there shall be made for you a service similar to that used for an archbishop of the church of Canterbury ; that is to say, each priest shall offer thirty masses, and all those of the inferior orders shall repeat the Psalter ten times, in addition to the office generally used in the convent ; and during the whole of that year, the allowance usually made to one monk shall be given to a poor man. When each anniversary shall arrive, there shall be made a special office for you in the con- vent ; each priest shall offer a separate mass, together with the other benefits and prayers which shall then be made. And that none of these provisions fall into forgetfulnesB at a future period, we have caused the whole of them to be tran- scribed into our Martyrology, and directed that they shall be read aloud, yearly, on the day when you are had in remembrance.' " VOL. IV. 3 F 796 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1180— not be covered up with sand and earth. These are the signs which shall precede these occurrences. During this year, before the planets shall concur in Libra, there shall be an eclipse of the sun, which shall obscure the whole of its disc ; and as the opposition advances, the whole moon shall suffer an eclipse. That of the sun shall be of a fiery colour, and irregular in shape, indicating a battle of the chief powers, with bloodshedding, near a river in the eastern world, and the like in the western. Then uncertainty shall fall upon the Jews and Saracens, until they shall entirely abandon their synagogues and mosques, and by God's commandment their sect shall be brought to nothing. And, therefore, it is intimated to you, that when you shall see this eclipse, you depart from the country with all your possessions." ^ A.D. 1180. Frederic, 29. Louis, 43. Henry IL, 27. Concerning the Council which Pope Alexander the Third held at Rome. At Mid-lent' [30th March], pope Alexander the third held a general council at Rome. We have a copy of the decrees ^ which • were there promulgated by him and the other fellow-bishops. Manuel, the emperor of Constantinople, gave his daughter in marriage to Rainerius, the son of William, prince of Montferrat. She was the issue of a former wife. As she vowed that she would never become the wife of any person who was not a king, the emperor, rejoiced at this resolution, caused himself to be crowned, together with his wife, and his son, Alexius, the younger emperor, and his wife, the daughter of the king of the French. In like manner he caused Rainerius, the son of the marquis of Montferrat, and his own daughter, whom he had given him in marriage, to be crowned ; and he gave him the honour of Thessalonica, the greatest dignity in his realm after the city of Constantinople. Conrad, the brother of the same Rainerius, captured and im- prisoned* Christian, the archbishop of Mayence, who was chan- cellor of the emperor of the Germans. The king of Marroc, under whose rule is the whole of Africa, as well as the government of the Saracens who are in Spain, hap- pening to be sending one of his daughters, who was about to be married to one of the kings of the Saracens, the fleet and the galleys of the king of Sicily discovered her, and brought her to their master ; whereupon the king, rejoiced herewith, made peace with her father, and gave her up ; and her father surrendered to the king of Sicily two cities, namely, Africa and Sibillia, of which the Saracens had dispossessed William, the king of Sicily, the father of the present monarch. The king of Jerusalem, that holy and honoured prince, although smitten ' of God (who " scourgeth every son whom He receiveth "), being assisted by the faithful beyond the seas, erected a castle upon 1 Here a change takes place in the style of the writing, but not in the writer. 2 The true date of the meeting of this council is the 5th of March, a.d. 1179. 2 See Labb. Concil. x. 1507. * According to the Gall. Christ, (v. 479), this occurred a.d. 1179. ' He was afflicted with leprosy; see Guil. Tyr. xxii. 29. A.D. 1180.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 797 the river Jordan ; ^A'hich is called Jacob's Ford, because there Jacob wrestled with the angel. The fortress was veiy strong by nature as well as art ; it was pleasant by reason of its groves and meadows, its fishes and mills ; and it was contiguous to the cities of Belinas and Damas : and because the Hagarenes use this ford in passing over into the lands of the Christians, the castle is very hateful to them. Roger, bishop of Worcester, died at Tours ; ^ he was a man honourable alike by birth and character ; his father, Robert, earl of Gloucester, was the son of Henry the first, king of England, and his mother was the daughter of Robert Belesme : Robert Fitz- Hamo, lord of Torigny, was his grandfather. Giles, bishop of Evreux, died.^ Roger, abbot of Bee, died ; a religious, honourable, learned, and God-fearing man. None of his predecessors (with the exception of St. Herluin, its first abbot) did so much for the monastery of Bee as he did ; for the church was nearly entirely built in his time, and dedicated, — and such is its beauty, that none in the whole of Normandy is its equal. He also built chambers, one above another, for the reception of guests and persons of importance ; and these chambers he provided with chimneys. He also erected an infirmary for the sick, of great beauty and size. He improved the house in its stone work, its windows, and its roofing. He also constructed an aqueduct, by which he conveyed from a considerable distance an excellent stream of water, which was distributed so as to supply the different offices of the monastery ; he also made a very fine tank for receiving the water, over which he erected a covering. To Robert, count of Meulan, he gave a wevy great sum of money, for permission to hold a market in the town of Bee. During his time there were taken from the church of Bee twelve abbots, to preside over different churches, of which number I, who write this, was the second. He governed the monastery of Bee thirty- one years all but ten days, and he was succeeded by Osbern, prior of Beaumont, a monk of that place. These three persons whom we have just mentioned, namely, the bishop of Worcester, the bishop of Evreux, and the abbot of Bee, were all cut off by a flux of the bowels. Philip, the son of Louis, the king of the French, was crowned ^ king at Rheims, by his uncle, William, archbishop of Rheims, and his suffragan bishops, on the festival of All Saints [1st Nov.]. The elder king of the English sent him gi'eat presents of gold and silver, and of the results of his hunting in England. The younger king of the English was present at this solemnity, attended by a large retinue of knights ; and, by his father's orders, he had brought with him such a provision for the journey, that he accepted free quarters from no one, either on the road thither or during the festival. ' A.D. 1179, according to Benedict of Peterborougli, and Roger Hoveden; see Le Neve, iii. 50. - In September, apparently in the year 1179 ; see GalL Christ. xL 679. But Benedict of Peterborough places his death in a.d. 1180. 2 This occurred a.d. 1179. 3 F 2 798 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1181— On the death of the venerable Gisbert, abbot of Troarn/ Dur- andus de Curvevilla, a monk of the same place, succeeded him. Robert, abbot of Fontenay, also died,^ and his successor was Robert, prior of St. Pierre-sur-Dive.' Walter, abbot of Cluny,* died, — a man who relieved that church from the pressure of a debt of four thousand marks with which it was burdened, although he presided over it for only a year and a half. William, a monk of the same place, was his successor : he had been abbot of Ramsey in England. He was the author of a wonderful thing : he wiped off the greater portion of the balance of the debt of the church of Cluny, amount- ing to fourteen thousand marks ; and this he did by the help of the monies which he had collected, and from the one thousand marks which Henry, king of England, had given him. Another marvel which he accomplished was this : he deposed from his stall the prior, whose custom it was to ride about with a retinue of forty horses ; and he commanded that he should in future be contented with three. And a third of the wonders which he brought about was this : he entirely put an end to the seven-score procurations which the burgesses claimed to" have of the gift of the abbots by immemorial custom. A war having broken out between the Christians and Salahadin, many were killed on both sides ; but the Christians suffered the most, and the master of the Temple was taken prisoner. Salahadin wished to exchange him for his nephew, whom the Christians held in captivity; but the master refused to agree to this arrangement, averring that the custom was among the knights of the Temple that nothing should be given in exchange for them, excepting a belt and a dagger ; and thus he died in captivity. Another misfortune befel us, which was this : Salahadin, at the head of an immense army, besieged the castle of Jacob's Ford; and, by the help of his engines and troops, he took it. As for the knights of the Temple whom he found therein, he cut them in two with saws ; the rest of the pri- soners, who were of inferior rank, he beheaded. Salahadin then proposed to restore the castle to the Christians, promising to rebuild it, and stock it with provisions, if they would give his nephew (of whom we have already spoken) in exchange ; but whether this be true or not, we do not yet know. A.D. 1181. Frederic, 30. Louis, 44. Henry H., 28. Henry, king of England, held his court at Nottingham.* William, abbot of Cluny, died at La Charite, on the morrow of the Epiphany [7th Jan.] ; he was a man much to be lamented, out of regard to the good which he did for his church ; but he lived for only a short time, not quite two years. Richard, abbot of St. Ouen,® died ; he was succeeded by that venerable man, Sanson, the prior of St. Stephen's, at Caen. ' On the river Dive, near Caen; see Gall. Christ, xi. 417. -■ Id. p. 413. 2 Id. p. 728. •* Here the chronology of our historian is decidedly faulty, as is proved by the Gall. Christ, iv. 1142. * According to Hoveden (f. 338, b.) Henry spent at Nottingham the Christmas of A.D. 1180, i.e. the 25th of December, A.D. 1179). « At Kouen ; see Gall. Christ, xi. 146. A.D. 1181.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 799 Richard de Humet,* the king's constable, after having Hved for a year and a half as a monk in the abbey of Aunay,^ which he had built, deceased ; leaving behind him, as the heirs to his lands, his three sons, William,^ Emorrann, and Jordan.* Louis, king of France, having fallen into extreme ill-health, the young king Philip, his son, bound himself by an oath (under whose influence I know not) to this effect : that, at the fitting time and place, he would marry [Elizabeth] the daughter of Baldwin/ count of Hainault, whose mother was sister of the count of Flanders. And this count made a grant to him that, after his death, he Philip should have possession, as of inheritance, of the district of Flanders ; although he, the count, might leave behind him issue male by the said countess of Hainault, his sister: and this the said king did without the counsel of the queen his mother, or his uncles, William, archbishop of Rheims, Henry, count of Treves, Thiebaut, count of Chartres, Stephen of Sancerre, and his other relatives. Indignant at this, they asked the aid of the elder Henry, king of England, against his younger nephew, Philip, the king of the French. Baldwin, abbot of Ford, a monk of the Cistertian order — a man of great religion and learning — was elected^ to the bishopric of "Worcester. Robert, abbot of Glastonbury, died ; also John,^ bishop of Chi- chester, who was succeeded by Sefrid, a canon of the same church. Before Easter,* the elder king Henry crossed over into Nor- mandy ; and during that festival he held his court at Mans. William, abbot of Caen, died," and was succeeded by Peter the sacrist, a monk of the same place. Upon Ascension-day,^" the younger king of the French, Philip, caused his wife to be consecrated queen ; and both he and she were crowned by the archbishop of Sens, at which the archbishop of Rheims, who previously had crowned him king, was exceedingly irate. Guarin de Girard, archbishop of Bourges, died ; " he had pre- viously been abbot of Pontigni. John,'- bishop of Chartres, died ; he had written an account of » See Dugd. Baron, i. 631. ^ See Gall. Christ, xi. 443. It is situated between Vire and Caen. ^ His sons William, Enguerran, and Jordan, attest a charter given by him to Aunay ; Gall. Christ, p. 89. Instr. * Here S adds, "a.d. 1181 (being the twenty-second year of the episcopate of pope Alexander, and the sixteenth of the archiepiscopate of Eotrold, arch- bishop of Rouen), on the third of the nones of March [5th March], was dedicated in honour of Mai-y, the mother of God, the church of St. Mary de Voto, situated within the district of Rouen, by Henry, bishoii of Eaieux, the assisting bishops being Richard, of Avranches, and Rainald, of Bath ; and this was done in the pre- sence of Henry, king of England, the son of the empress Matilda, being in the twenty-seventh year of his reign." ^ See Anderson's Royal Genealog. pp. 594, 595. 6 A.D. 1180 ; see Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 50. 7 a.d. 1180 ; see id. i. 239. * In a.d. 1180, Easter fell on the 20th of April, and by a comparison with Hoveden (f. 338, b.) it would appear that this is the correct date. A.D. 1179 ; see Gall. Christ, xi. 425. "> a.d. 1180, the 29th of May. " A.D. 1180; see Gall. Christ, ii. 56. '^ John of Salisbury died on the 25th of Oct. A.D. 1180; sec id. viii. 1118. 800 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a,D. 1181— the passion' of the blessed Thomas of Canterbury, archbishop and martyr, in whose family he had been during his exile. ^ Thiebaut,^ prior of Crispin, a monk of Cluny, was the successor of William, abbot of Cluny. Ingerran de Humet, the son of Richard de Humet, died; he was succeeded by his son Richard, whose mother was the daughter of William de Simillei.* My very dear friend, Geoffrey de Montfort, in Brittany, likewise died, to my great sorrow ; he was succeeded by his son, whose mother was the daughter of Rualend de Saie. Baldwin, the king of Jerusalem, gave his sister in marriage to a very renowned warrior, the brother of Geoffrey de Luzignan ; she was the widow of William, the son of the marquis of Montferrat; by her he had a son, who is now being reared and educated in the expectation of his becoming king of Jerusalem, should he hve. Louis, king of France,* died ; he was a religious and God- fearing man : he was buried in a certain monastery of the Cistertian order, which he had built. His successor was his son Philip, as we have before stated. Geoffrey, the natural son of the elder Henry, the king of the English, abandoned® the church of Lincoln, to which he had been elected, and became the chancellor to the king, his father. Manuel, the emperor of Constantinople, died, and was suc- ceeded by his son Alexius, the issue of the sister of Raimund, prince of Antioch. He married the daughter of Louis, the king of France. Mansamuz, the king of the Maldamites, who have gained the sway of nearly the whole of Africa, began to rebuild the ancient Carthage, aided herein by all the Hagarenes who reside in that country. The Solyman of Iconium died ; he had a great love for the Christians, and did them many kindnesses. His brother suc- ceeded him.' About a Woman who died on the Wednesdmj and arose on the Saturday. There was a very wealthy burgess in the place called Rochama- dour ; he lent some money to the monks of the church of St. Mary and St. Amator, who deposited with him, as security, the curtains of that church. On the near approach of the festival of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God, these monks asked the burgess that he would lend them the curtains which he had, in order that therewith they might adorn the church ; promising to ^ His life of Becket is printed by Giles, (8vo. Oxon. 1845,) among a collection of the biographies of that archbishop, i. 316. 2 Here a change takes place in the colour of the ink in A. ' A. D. 1179 ; see Gall. Christ, iv. 1142. - Wi-itten in J., upon an erasure. ^ On the 18th of September, A.D. 1180, and he was buried at Barbeaux ; see Bouquet, siii. 140. ^ According to the authorities quoted in Hardy's Le Neve (ii. 8), he resigned it on the 6th of January, A.D. 1182. ' Here, in J, two lines are erased. The MS. ^ here adds, "Henry, count of Treves, died, and was succeeded by his son Henry, whose mother was the daughter of the king of the French." A.D. 1181.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 801 restore them to him on the termination of this great solemnit5\ But the ear of his heart was closed, nor could he be induced by any of their entreaties ; but he answered them out of the pride of his spirit, telling them that these very curtains were hanging round his wife's bed ; and that as she had recently presented him with a son, the curtains could not on any account be removed thence. There is no need to be prolix. The festival passed over, and the church had not its festal ornament. But on the ensuing night, the blessed Mary, the mother of our Lord, appeared in a dream to the wife of this burgess, and said to her, " Your husband has committed a great sin, and this impious excess of his shall not be passed by unpunished. Upon the third day your child shall die ; and on the eighth day your husband also shall pay the penalty of death, and shall exchange for eternal punishments the temporal happiness of this life. As for you, you must go to my church which is in Bethlehem, where you shall see three graves ; the two on each side are pre-occupied, but you may take the middle one for your own use. Each Wednesday, about noon, your spirit shall faint within you, and a considerable quantity of blood shall gush from your mouth and nostrils, and you shall continue like one dead until noon on the ensuing Saturday ; on which day and hour, if you draw both your hands over your face, immediately your former colour and strength shall return to you." Having thus spoken, the blessed Mary departed. The woman was so terrified that she awoke, and pondering over what she had seen, it became firmly empressed on her memory. When the day dawned she began to recount her dream to her husband exactly as it had happened. The wretched man gave no heed to her words ; nor even when he witnessed the death of the child had he any thought of repenting ; but, according to the vision which had appeared, he died upon the eighth day, and so passed into hell torments. Terrified at this twofold death, and fully believing in the entire accomplishment of all that had been predicted by the dream, the woman hurried off to Rome, and detailed the incident to the pope. Besides, she constantly affirmed, that five years after this there would occur a very severe famine, in which a countless number of men would be cut oft' in consequence of the corrupt state of the atmosphere ; and that the Roman clergy would be stricken with a heavy blow, unless they abandoned those treacherous practices, which they had been in the habit of practising for a very long period up to the present time. Our lord the pope, being anxious to know more accurately how far the woman's words were founded upon the truth, handed her over to twelve matrons of good report, to whom he gave it in command, that when she swooned away they should thrust hot bodkins into her feet, and stain their clothes with the blood which issued from her mouth. Wonderful was the result ! On the Wednesday at noon, the woman, as she had predicted, grew pale and died away, so that none of the breath of life remained in her, and a copious stream of blood began to flow from her nostrils. Mindful of the pope's directions, the women thrust burning bodkins into her feet, but there was no movement. Next they washed 802 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1182 — their own garments with her blood ; but upon the Saturday, no trace whatever of the stain was visible, as soon as the vital breath returned into the woman. ^ A. D. 1182. Frederic, 31. Philip,!. Henry II., 29. The elder Henry, the king of England, kept his court at Angers,^ on the day of the nativity of our Lord. Ralph de Venneville, the archdeacon of Rouen, resigned the office of being the king's chancellor ; and the king gave him lands which produced a great rental. Geoffrey, the king's son, the bishop elect of Lincoln, was made the king's chancellor, and resigned ^ the see of Lincoln, to which he had been elected ; and the king gave him a large income arising from lands in England, Normandy, and Anjou. John, the son of Luke, the king's clerk, was elected * bishop of Evreux, Guihenoc, archdeacon of Rennes, was elected bishop of Vannes. The abbot of St. Remi, of Rheims, was elected ^ bishop of Chartres. Henry, count of Treves,^ died, and was succeeded by Henry, his son, whose mother was the daughter of Louis, the king of the French. Simon, count of Evreux, died, and his son Amauri succeeded him in the earldom of Evreux, in Normandy. About Easter,^ Alienor, the daughter of the king of England, the wife of Anfulsus, king of Castille, gave birth to a son, who was named Senchias ; she had already become the mother of a daughter. [Matilda] the prioress of Font St. Martin, a religious woman, and one of an illustrious family, (for she was the sister of the abbot of Savigny, who was the nephew of Simon, count of Evreux,)' be- came the abbess of the Holy Trinity at Caen. About the end of the month of July,'' the elder Henry, the king of England, crossed over into England. Geoffrey, the duke of Brittany, the son of king Henry, married the daughter of Conan, the count of Brittany. During the Easter solemnities, a certain wicked woman, who lived at the castle called Montoire," when she had received in her mouth the body of our Lord and Saviour, did not swallow it, but took it home and put it in a chest, after having wrapped it up in a linen cloth. A youth who was a lover of hers, having opened this chest, found that the host of the Lord's body was changed into the likeness of flesh and blood. The same thing occurred to a priest resident in a certain village belonging to the abbot of St. ^ Here there is a change in the colour of the ink, but the same writing is con- tinued. 2 That is, the 25th of December, a.d. 1181 ; Hoveden (fol. 851) says that he was then at Winchester. ^ January 6, a.d. 1182 ; Hardy's Le Neve, ii. 8. •» A.D. 1181 ; Gall. Christ, si. 579. ^ Certainly before, or in October, A.D. 1181; Gall. Christ, viii. 1150. ^ March 17, a.d. 1181 ; Bouquet. !' In A. D. 1182, the 28th of March. « Not before a.d. 1183, if the authority of the Gall. Christ, (viii. 433) be accepted. ^ Hoveden (fol. 350), by informing us that Henry landed at Portsmouth on Sunday, the 26th of July, enables us to decide that this occurred in a.d. 1181. " Near Vendome. A.D. 1182.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE 803 Peter of Chartres, when he was holding the Lord's body in his hands during the mass. The Hke miracle occurred, for the second time, in the bishopric of Chartres, during the time of Robert, the bishop from Brittany,^ when a countryman placed the body of the Lord in the hem of his cloak, and there he kept it until the hour of his death ; at which time it was found in the likeness of flesh. The same miracle occurred to another wicked woman in Flanders ; for having placed it in her chest, she afterwards discovered it in the form of flesh. Again, a like event happened in the city of Angers, where, as a certain priest was singing mass, he saw a boy, and this boy noticed that as the priest was consecrating the body of the Lord, there was a very beautiful child in his hand, who forthwith went out at the church-door, calling to all whom he met, and saying, " Come and see the wonders of the Lord!" and when they came into the church, they saw nothing but the outward form of bread.^ The same thing also occurred to a certain very holy priest near Fecamp, as he was singing mass on the day of the dedication of the church of the Holy Trinity at Fecamp. He despatched his deacon to summon the bishops, who had assembled for the dedication, and they came ; and then the priest, revested as he was, took it in his hands in the chalice and placed it upon the altar. The love of our Lord does such things as these to confirm in us — on whom the ends of the world are come^ — the faith of his sacraments. Wlien the mother of the soldan of Iconium drew near her end, she revealed to her son what she had always hitherto concealed; namely, that she was a Christian woman; and she entreated him to believe in Christ, that He is the Lord and King of all the world, and to love the Christians. This the soldan promised to do ; but he added, " that he could not continue openly to believe in the Saviour, for fear of the pagans." His mother said to him, " My son, when I am dead make for me a beautiful tomb, lofty like a pyramid, and upon the top of it place the sign of the cross of Christ." Wlien he answered, that " he did not dare to do so by daylight," his mother replied, " Well, then, do it by night." And this he did. On the morning, when the Hagarenes saw that sign, they were very much enraged against their prince, and wished to put him to death. Then one of them, mounted up upon a machine, attempted to pull down the cross; but it was God's pleasure that he should fall down and be killed. Another, attempt- ing the same exploit, shared the same fate. On the third day, there was gathered together an immense crowd of people, who in- tended pulling down the entire structure ; and as one of them was making himself more busy than his neighbours in the work of destruction, there came from heaven a storm of thunder and lightning, which first killed him, and then many thousands of the 1 Apparently Robert, the third bishop of that name, A. D. 1156—1164, although what we are told respecting the theological opinions of the ^first Robert would lead to the impression that this incident occurred during his episcopate; see Gall. Christ, viii. 1121. ^ . . . "prater speciem panis" . . . Grig. ^ See 1 Cor. x. 11. 804 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1182— people. Then the angel of the Lord appeared, and placed upon the pyramid a very shining sign of the cross : and from this time many persons believed in Christ ; and, up to the present day, they venerate and adore that cross. Arnulf, bishop of Lisieux, (after having presided over that diocese for forty years, having been most active in the erection of the church and some very beautiful houses,) resigned^ his bishopric and went to Paris, being about to live out the remainder of his days at St. Victor, in the fair residences which he had erected there for his own use. Ralph de Vennevill, archdeacon of Rouen, who had been the king's chancellor, was elected to the bishopric which we have just mentioned. In the previous year, a.d. 1181, died pope Alexander the third. Few of his predecessors for the last century had equalled him in learning; for he was a great master in the sacred writings, and of the highest authority in the decrees, and the canons, and the Roman laws : he solved and decided many very difficult and weighty questions in the decrees and laws. God had granted him this privilege, that whereas from the blessed Peter to himself there had been one hundred and seventy-four bishops of Rome, there were only three who exceeded him in the length of time during which they filled the see of the Roman church. The blessed Peter sat for twenty-five years ; Silvester the first, for twenty- three ; Adrian the first, for as many; and this Alexander, twenty- two. He held a council at Tours, a.d. 1163, in which he ana- thematised Octavian and his accomplices, and at which council we were present. Also he held a council at Rome, a.d. 1180, which was attended by a large number of people present, as well ecclesiastics as seculars ; amongst whom came a certain citizen of Pisa, by name Burgundio,^ — a man well skilled in the eloquence both of Greece and Rome. He brought with him the Gospel of St. John, which he had translated from Greek into Latin, and which John Chrysostom had expounded in the form of homilies. He also stated that he had previously translated the greater portion of the Book of Genesis, and he mentioned that John Chrysostom had expounded the whole of the New and Old Testament in Greek. This same pope Alexander had to bear for nearly twenty years with three schismatics, who followed one after the other in their schism, namely, Octavian, Guy, and Calixtus : but on their death he ended his life in the peace of the church. He was succeeded by Hubaud, bishop of Ostia, who took the name of Lucius ; he was the one hundred and seventy-fifth bishop of Rome. It is an ancient custom that the bishop of Ostia should ordain and consecrate the bishop of Rome, — a usage which had its origin in this circumstance : upon the martyrdom of the blessed Sixtus and St. Laurence, his deacon, the blessed presbyter Justin, along with the clergy of Rome, elected Dionysius to be the Roman pontiff, and he was consecrated by Maximus, the bishop of Ostia. Hence > See Gall. Christ, si. 778. ' Concerning him and his translations, see Oudin, ii. 1296 ; Cave, ii. 224. A.D. 1182.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 805 arose the custom that the bishop of Ostia ordains and consecrates the Roman pontiff; and he alone has the pall from among the articles which appertain to the ordination and consecration of the Roman pontiff. Pope Eugenius joined the bishopric of Velletri to that of Ostia, and thus out of two sees he formed one. He did the like with regard to the bishopric of Portua, which he associated with that of St. RufRna. Roger, bishop of York, died ; he was a man of letters, and active in heaping up earthly goods : he considerably augmented the cathedral church, and the episcopal houses, not only at York, but also in all his manors, by the addition of landed property, and rebuilt them so beautifully that the archbishopric of York might nearly rival that of Canterbury. He left behind him many riches, but they profited him not. Phihp, bishop of Rennes, died ; he had been the first abbot of Clairmont. Acting upon revelation, he levelled with the ground the quire' of the church of Rennes, during which process he found large sums of money, with which he began to rebuild the quire of the aforesaid church upon a better plan. • Humphrey de Bohun, who had been associated with the younger king Henry in the generalship of the army, died : this king had led the army into France, for the purpose of aiding the party of Philip, the king of France, against the count of Flanders. Henry,- abbot of Preaux, died,' and also William, abbot of St. Michael of Treport ; both of them were monks of Bee. A.D. 1181, on the third of the ides,* at the hour of noon, there was an eclipse of the sun, and nearly the third part of it was obscured ; and the eclipse, from its beginning to its end, occupied a period of one hour and thirty-eight minutes. In the same year there was an eclipse of the moon on the eleventh of the kalends of January [22d Dec] ; namely, on a Tuesday, in the night, in the third hour O;.' the night, when little less than the half of it was obscured, and the darkness continued for nearly two hours. In A.D. 1175,' an eclipse was twice visible in the moon : the former was in the first hour of the night in the greater Litany, after the day of St. Mark [25th April] the evangelist ; the second was on the night following the fourteenth of the kalends of November [19th Oct.], being nearly the third hour of the night, a.d. 1178,® we saw an eclipse in the moon on the night following the third of the nones of March [5th March], in the first hour of the night. In the same year there was an eclipse of the moon on the fourth of the kalends of September [29th Aug.] ; and in the same year and month, there was one of the sun on the ides of September [13th Sept.], about midday, which obscured nearly the whole of its ^ ..." caput ecclesise." . . . Orig. 2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 838, where it is stated that he died a.d. 1182^ ^ In 4 the single obit had been first written, and the addition of the other made afterwards. But both the obits occur in 0 and S. The MS. K (which ends at this point) reads, " Henry, abbot of Preaux, died ; he was a monk of Bee." ■* So the MS.; read the third of the ides of July [13th July]; and oompare Bouquet, xiii. 325. * An error for a.d. 1176. ^ A here incorrectly reads A.D. 1168. 806 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1182— orb. Also, A. D. 1 179, the moon was visibly eclipsed on the fifteenth of the kalends of September [19th Aug.], after the eighth hour of the night, on the Lord's day. In a.d. 1180, the sun was eclipsed on Tuesday, the fifth of the kalends of February [28th Jan.]. In the month of March,' the elder Henry, the king, crossed over into Normandy, with a large amount of gold and silver, ready to assist the French king by establishing a peace between him and the count of Flanders, — a thing which he brought about. Mabilia,^ the countess of Flanders, died without issue. An^ attempt was made by Andronius, a Greek, and the uncle, by the father's side, of Alexius, the emperor of Constantinople, to banish the emperor and his wife from the empire. This he did because Alexius had married the daughter of the king of France, and had taken into his confidence many of the Latins.* Andronius took into his pay the soldiers of Iconium and many of the Saracens, and treacherously gave them admission into the city, where they killed many of the Latins, who in turn killed many of the Saracens. Yet, by God's good pleasure, peace was established between them. ' John, bishop of Poitiers,' a man of great learning and eloquence, having been elected to the bishopric of Narbonne, proceeded to Rome that he might obtain the blessing ; but, by the consent of pope Lucius, the clergy of Lyons elected him archbishop of Lyons, which see has the primacy over the three archiepiscopates. The first of these (each of which was called " Ludunum") is upon the Rhone ; the second is upon the Seine, namely, Rouen ; the third is upon the Loir, that is, Tours ; the fourth. Sens, is upon the Yonne. Two or three earthquakes occurred this year, about the feast of Michaelmas. During this year there arose a great dispute between the king and his sons, respecting the castle of Clairvaux, which belonged to the fief of Angers ; for Richard, count of Poitou, had greatly strengthened it. The dispute which thus originated still continues between the king and his sons. The elder king Henry sent his army into Brittany ; and they besieged and took the castle of Rennes, and as it had been burnt down, they rebuilt it and fortified it. Afterwards the count of Brittany burnt down the greater part of that city, and the abbey of St. George, and Becherel,'' a castle belonging to Roger de Dinan. We have been informed by some people that Joanna, the wife of William, king of Sicily, the daughter of Henry, the king of England, had for her eldest son a child named Boaraund, who, as he was returning home from being baptized, was invested by his father with the duchy of Apulia by the livery of a golden sceptre which he held in his hand. And since I have begun to talk of the sons of the king of England, I ought not to pass by the king of Castille, who is called Anforsus, the little king, because his paternal ' A.D. 1182 ; see Hoved. f. 351. ^ Elizabeth, Bouq. siii. 325. 3 Here there is a change in the writing and orthography. * Here ends the MS. / (first hand), and also 0, the last leaves being lost. ■'' Here ends MS. / (second scribe). '' Near Hedee. A.D. 1182.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 807 uncle, Feirant,' is yet alive, upon whose death this Anforsus will be king over the whole of Spain. By God's favour, and by his own virtue, this Anforsus has married" my dearest lady and my baptismal daughter. Alienor, the daughter of the king of England, whose advice and assistance have been productive to him of many happy results. For, first of all, he took the city of Conches,^ the cathedral church of a widely extensive district ; and (as some report) he took a portion of the city of Cordova, which he fortified, and two cities belonging to king Lupus, Valencia and Murcia; and many other good deeds did he do, of the particulars of which we have not been informed. The third of this king's daughters, that is, Matilda, his eldest, married Henry, the duke of the Saxons, and Bavarians, and Suevi. No one holds such extensive possessions as he has, unless it be an emperor or a king ; for he has forty cities and sixty-seven castles, besides very many towns. A dispute, however, arose between him and Frederic, the emperor of the Romans, (notwithstanding that they were near kinsmen,) in consequence of which the emperor of that kingdom (acting upon the advice of the archbishops and bishops of the realm of Germany, who have nearly all the cities under their control) drove him into exile. Hereupon he came into Normandy, along with his wife and his children, to his father- in-law, king Henry, who expended large sums of money in his behalf, namely, fifty pounds of the money of Anjou daily. He shall yet recover his realm by God's assistance, and by the energy, power, and riches of the king of England. A.D. 1182. Frederic, 30. Philip, 1. Henry H., 27. King Henry kept his court at Caen ;* and having forbidden any of his barons from holding his court, he directed that they all should come to him. The aforesaid duke of Saxony arrived there; and there were assembled in that place one thousand knights and more. John,^ bishop of Chartres, died, and was succeeded by Peter, who had been abbot of St. Remi, at Rheims. Walter, bishop of Rochester, died ; he was the brother of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury; he was succeeded by Waleran, archdeacon of Baieux. Richard, bishop of Avranches,® our father, died ; he was well skilled in letters, both secular and sacred, — a man remarkable for his virgin purity of manners even from his mother's womb. Fulco' Paganell died, and was succeeded by his son William. Richard, abbot of Montsbourg, died,' and he was succeeded by ' Ferdinand, king of Leon. - This marriage took place in a. D. 1170. Here, at this point, a gathei-ing ends in A, and with it the present handwriting. What follows, as far as the conclusion of the year a. D. 1183, is by a different pen; then the former scribe resumes his work, and, with a little variation in the style of his writing, carries it on to the end of the volume. 3 Cuen^a, taken in A.D. 1177, and erected into an episcopal see in a. D. 1186; see Abrege Chrou. d'Espagne, i. 275, 280 (ed. Par. 1765). * The 25th of December, a.d. 1182; see Hoved. f. 352, b. 5 A second entry of his death, see p. 806. ^ See Gail. Christ, xiii. 482. " See Dugd. Baron, i. 432. ^ A Benedictine monastery in the district of Coutance, founded by William the Conqueror ; see Gall. Chriat. xi. 926. 808 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1182— Robert, the prior, a monk of the same place. John Commin, a clerk of the king of England, was made archbishop of Dublin, in Ireland. Peter,^ bishop of Chartres, died; and in his stead was elected Rainald de Mncon, the treasurer of St. Martin of Tours, the nephew of count Thiebaut. Walter^ de Coutance was made bishop of Lincoln; lie was con- secrated by Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, at Angers, in the royal chapel, and in the king's presence. The young king, our dearest lord, Henry the third, the son of king Henry the second, the most excellent and most illustrious king of the English, died at Chateau-Martel,* upon the third of the ides of June [11th June], being the festival of the blessed St. Barnabas the apostle. His death was the occasion to us of the deepest grief, not only because he was the son of our most dearly beloved lord, king Henry the second, the most excellent king of the English, but also because he was of the most handsome countenance, of the most pleasing manners, and the most free-handed in his liberality of all the individuals with whom we have ever been acquainted. No landed inheritance had as yet been assigned him, although he had an annual allowance from his father in money, which exceeded fifteen thousand pounds of the currency of Anjou ; but this was little to satisfy the largeness of his heart. In military matters, he was so eminent as to be unrivalled; for princes and 'counts — yea, even kings — feared him. As he drew near his end — conscious that he had been seduced by the advice of wicked men to rebel, for nearly a year, against God, and the holy church, and his father — he received penance from a certain most holy bishop, and many others ; and being in his extremity, he sent a letter to his father, requesting that he, the father, would make amends for the offences which he, the son, had committed against God and the holy church, and that he would deal mercifully with his mother, the queen of England, and his wife, the sister of Philip, the king of the French, and his knights and his retainers, to whom he had made many pro- mises which he was unable to fulfil, being thus carried off by a sud- den death. Before his decease, he had made arrangements for the interment of his body within the church of the blessed Mary, at Rouen ; where lie his first ancestors — that is, Rollo, and William Longsword, his son, dukes of Normandy ; as also earl William, his uncle ; a man whose death was much lamented. As the funeral procession was on its way, under the escort of Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, and many other ecclesiastics, and persons of the highest rank among the nobility, and others, they arrived at Mans, and the corpse was placed within the church of the blessed Julian. On the morrow, the people of Mans (chiefly the citizens) buried him in that place, contrary to the wishes and protestations of those persons who were in charge of the body. Hearing this, the father was much enraged, not only because they had buried the body of * An error in the chronology; see Gall. Christ, viii. 1150. * A.D. 1183, according to the authorities cited by Hardy, Le Neve, iii. 8. ' The words "Chateau Martel," are written upon an erasure in A. Here ends MS. Q. The yoiing king died on the evening of Saturday, the 11th of June, A.D. 1183; see William of Newburgh, III. vii. p 521. A.D. 1182.] THE CHRONICi.ES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 809 his son contrary to his wishes, but still more so because they had departed from the siege of the castle of Limoges without his per- mission— to say nothing of his wishes ; so he commanded that the body should be disinterred, and conveyed to the church of Rouen, where it was buried, with the honour due to such an individual, on the left-hand side of the altar of the blessed Mary, by the arch- bishops of Rouen and Canterbury, and the bishops, abbots, and other religious persons of Normandy. That venerable man, Albert, died ; he was bishop of Alet, a place which now-a-days is called St. Malo, the episcopal city of which was formerly called Alet. Master Girard, surnamed Puella, a man of great learning and worth, was elected bishop of Chester;' to which bishopric there belong three sees, Chester, Coventry, and Lichfield. Henry, the brother of Giles de Solerio,^ the nephew of the abbot of Fecamp, was elected archbishop of Bourges. For the second time, Andronius expelled from the city of Con- stantinople his nephew, the young emperor Alexius ; and having taken him prisoner, he drowned him, together -with his mother and his sister, in the sea. Then, as these persons were removed out of the way by death, Andronius, who had already tyrannically seized the government, commanded his eldest son Manuel to marry the widow of the deceased emperor Alexius, the sister of Philip, the French king, so that he might obtain through her the dignity of emperor. Too honourable to do this, he was put into chains ; and Andronius himself took her, and contracted with her an incestuous marriage — if it be worthy of the name of marriage ; and he caused his younger son, Calo-John, to be crowned along with himself. As the Latins were being murdered by the cruelty of this Andronius, a certain cardinal of the church of Rome, by name John, whom the Roman pontiff had despatched to Constantinople, at the petition of the emperor Manuel, — who was a religious man, and who wished, by the preaching of this cardinal, to bring the Greek church under the laws and authority of the church of Rome, — this John, I repeat, was in his own residence at the time when the Latins were being murdered ; and certain religious men came to him and entreated him to escape death by flight. When he heard this, he said, " This be far from me. I stand here for the unity of the church, by the command of lord pope Alexander." Then the perfidious Greeks rushed in upon him, and put him to death ; and then they tied a dog to his corpse, so as that the dog's tail was upon his mouth ; they dragged him through the streets of the city, and having dug a hole, there they burnt him. Afterwards some religious men took up his corpse from the hole, and buried it decently; and there miracles are frequently performed. Christian, archbishop of Mayence, died ;^ he did not conduct himself like a clerk, but more like a tyrant; for he went- about at the head of soldiers and Braban9ons; and many evils he did to the ' Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, elected January, A. D. 1183 ; seeLe Neve, i. 545. 2 That is, Henry de Sully; see Gall. Christ, ii. 56. 3 He died towards the end of September, a.d. 1183; see Gall. Christ, v. 479. 810 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [A.D. 1183 — church of Rome, and to the men of St. Peter, and to certain cities of Lombardy, who opposed his master, the emperor of Germany. Our dearest lord Rotrou,^ archbishop of Rouen, died. Wilham, earl of Gloucester, died without heirs, save his three daughters ;^ one of whom is the countess of Evreux; another is the wife of William, earl of Clare ; the third is in the hand of God, and in the power of the king, who can give her to whom he will. William,^ dean of Baieux, was elected to the bishopric of Coutance. William,* dean of the canons of St. Peter de Curte, (which is the royal chapel in the city of Mans,'^ was elected to the bishopric of Avranches. A.D. 1183. Frederic, 31. Philip, 2. Henry II., 29. King Henry kept his court at Caen.' Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, died ; as also Gerard, bishop of Chester, a man of great religion and learning. During the previous year our lady St. Mary, the mother of mercy, appeared to a certain carpenter, as he was at work in a wood, and presented him with a seal, on which were represented figures of herself and her Son, our Saviour. The legend around the figures was this : " O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace \" She also commanded him to carry that seal to the bishop of Puy, in order that he should proclaim within his province and the neighbouring districts, that all persons who wished to contribute towards the peace of holy church and her children, should cause seals of this sort to be made, and wear them in token of peace ; and should make themselves little white hoods, which should be emblematic of peace and innocence ; and by this out- ward and visible sign they should preserve peace, and destroy the enemies of peace. And this was done ; for many bishops, and counts, and men of the middle and lower orders, keep the peace, and persecute the enemies of peace. ^ William de Vecie died ; and also William de Lancaster, a man of great honour and of large possessions.' A.D. 1184. Frederic, 32. Philip, 2. Henry II., 30. King ^ Henry held his court at Mans. Our lord Walter,® bishop of Lincoln, was made archbishop of Rouen. In the beginning of Lent, that is, on Ash- Wednesday [14th Feb.], pope Lucius ordained many cardinals, amongst whom was master Melior, priest-cardinal, whom he also made his chamberlain ; the bishop elect of Dol was made a deacon-cardinal, as also master Ralph Nigel, our very dear friend, a man of great honour, and learning, and religion. ' The correct date is the 24th of November, a.d. 1183 ; see Gall. Chridt. si. 50. 2 See Dugd. Baron, i. 536. The youngest daughter became the wife of John, king of England. •* Elected a.d. 1179, but not consecrated for six years; see Gall. Christ xi. 876. * Id. p. 482. 5 That is, the 25th of December, a.d. 1182 ; see Hoved. f. 352. 0 Here ends MS. N. ^ In A two lines are here erased. The handwriting now grows larger, and so continues to the end of the MS. ** That is, on the 25th of December, A.D. 1183, which this year feU upon a Sunday; see Hoved. f. 355. » See Gall. Christ, xi. 51. A. D. 1185.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE, 811 Frederic,* the emperor of the Romans, caused one of his sons — not the eldest but the second-born — to be ordained king of Germany. Henry, king of England, by his wisdom and wealth, procured in marriage for Philip, count of Flanders, his relative, the sister of the king of Spanish Portugal. Laden with gold and silver, she came to the count of Flanders. Her father, although a very old man, is yet alive : ^ in his youth he took from the Hagarenes the city of Lisbon, assisted by the English and Normans. He translated thither tlie body of the blessed Vincent, Levite and martyr, as some say ; but the monk Amonius speaks in other terms of the translation of the body of that holy martyr, which occurred during the time of the emperor Charles. By permission of the pope, he converted that city into an archiepiscopal see, under which he placed six other cities which he had reconquered. Baldwin, bishop of Worcester, was consecrated archbishop of Canterbury. Waleran, bishop of Rochester, died : he was the chaplain of the archbishop of Canterbury ; and he was succeeded by Gislebert, archdeacon of Lisieux. John de Neelfa, archdeacon of Lisieux, was elected ^ bishop of Chester. Peter Girald was made bishop of St. Malo. A. D. 1185. Frederic, 33. Philip, 4. Henry H., 29. A great dispute arose between Philip, king of France, and Philip, count of Flanders, on account of the earldom of Flanders ; but the king of France collected a great army out of all his dominions, and constrained the count to do as he pleased. Frogerius,* bishop of Seez, died : he had greatly improved his cathedral church, and the whole of his demesne property. He left behind him immense riches in gold and silver, but they profited not. Roger, the elect of Montbourg,^ died, and was succeeded by William, a monk of the same place. John, the younger son of the king of England, whom they call Lackland (although he has many broad possessions and many earldoms), went into Ireland, meaning, should God be propitious, to become the king of that country. Robert, bishop of Nantes, a man of great honour, and our friend, died on his way back from Jerusalem. Geoffrey, bishop of Cornuaile, died. [Peter]," abbot of Pontigny, was made bishop of Arras. Thiebaut,^ abbot of Cluny, was made bishop-cardinal of Ostia ; he was succeeded by the son of the count of Clairmont, who had previously been abbot of a certain abbey of the Cistertian order, ' The accuracy of our hiGtorian is here questioned; see Pertz, p. 534. 2 Alphonsus Henriques, who died in a. D. 1185, aged ninety-one years ; see Hist. d'Espagne, i. 219, 281. 2 If elected bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, he was never consecrated, as the vacant see was filled up by Hugh de Nonant in a. D. 1185 ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 546. * See Gall. Christ, xi. 090. ^ j^. p. 926. " Id. iii. 328. 7 Id. iv. 1142. VOL. IV. 3 G 812 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D, 1185— from wliich he was translated to the abbey of Flavigny. Some lawsuits having thence arisen, he was made the abbot of St. Lucian the martyr, who was the first bishop of the city of Beauvais ; and lastly (as we have mentioned) he became abbot of Cluny. For the second time, there arose a great disturbance and dispute between Philip, king of France, and Philip, count of Flanders ; for the latter, being covered with shame, and burning with anger and wrath, because he had consented to do the king's bidding with regard to the earldom of Virmandois, betook himself for assistance to the king of Germany, the son of Frederic, the Roman emperor, to whom he did homage for the earldom of Flanders. This occa- sioned a great disturbance throughout the whole kingdom of France. During the previous year, Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, died ; he was a wise and religious man, and one who was very efiective against the Saracens, although a leper. Nor need we wonder at this : for God " scourgeth every son whom He receivetli." He was succeeded by his nephew, ' Henry, the son of his sister by William, the son of the count de Montferrat, the issue of the niece of Frederic, the emperor of the Romans. Afterwards, the count of Joppa^ married the mother of the said king Henry; and he is the guardian of this young king and his kingdom until such time as he shall arrive at full age. That venerable man, Bartholomew,' bishop of Exeter, died, and Jocelyn,'' bishop of Salisbury. Lucius, the pope of Rome, died,^ and was succeeded by Imbert, archbishop of Milan, who was called Urban the third.® Lord Walter, archbishop of Rouen, obtained from our lord Henry, the king of the English, permission, advice, and assistance to unite with the abbey De Voto,' near Cherbourg, the abbey of St. Elerius,^ which is situated upon the island of Gersosius, and which William Fitz-Hameric had erected upon the same^ island. The abbey De Voto had been built by the empress, king Henry's mother : and the abbey of St. Elerius was threefold richer than it, as well in its possessions in Normandy as in England. Both of them are of the order of Canons Regular. And thus tlie abbey De Voto is the head and mother church ; having and perpetually holding the abbey on the island, and all things thereto appertaining. The archbishop of Rouen aforesaid made his own chaplain abbot in this abbey ; he was a canon of the same order. One of the con- stables of the lord king Henry, Osbern de Hosa by name, who had the custody of the castle of Cherbourg, with the district belonging to it, by the king's command built for his own use a very beautiful house in the said abbey De Voto, which contained within it the * Robert is here faulty in his genealogy. - This was the celebrated Guy de Lusignan. ^ He died on the 15th of December, a. D. 1184 ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 368. * He died on the 18th of November, a.d. 1184; id. ii. 595. 5 He died on the 25th of November, a.d. 1185 ; see Jaflfe, p. 854. " Here, iu A, three lines are erased. (S adds, "he was the one hundred and eighty-seventh pope of Rome. ' .See p. 744, note ^. 8 St. Helliers, in Jersey; see Gall. Christ, xi. 410, 913. ^ The words, " Hameric had erected upon the same," are written upon an erasure in A. A.D. 1186.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 813 fitting ofiices, and in which he resided as long as he Hved, after having discharged the duties of his appointment, and was univer- sally respected. Eight days before his death he was made a canon/ and by the permission of the lord king he gave to the same abbey thirty-two marks of gold ; he also gave to the same abbey one hundred pounds of money, of the currency of Mans, to augment the possessions of the same abbey ; and he gave to the same abbey sixty marks of silver in plate, and as many in vessels. The aforesaid archbishop translated master William Hubaud - (who was abbot of Grestain, and a monk of Bee) to the abbey of St. Martin of Pontoise, although the abbey of Grestain is three- fold richer than the other. But either out of relationship, or the affection which he entertained towards him, and because they were natives of the same locality, he wished to have him near himself. A.D. 1186. Frederic, 34. Philip, 5. Henry II., 32. Our lord king Henry kept his Christmas ^ at Domfront. Henry de Brachavilla, the superior * of Troarn, was made abbot of Seez. In a certain monastery of St. Stephen^ the protomartyr, in the city of Paris, these reliques were discovered : thirty-two of the hairs of St. Mary ; the arm of St. Andrew the Apostle ; and the head of St. Denis the martyr, the bishop of the said city. ' The MS. A here ends on the bottom of the third leaf of the gathering ; the fourth and fifth, which contained the conclusion of the work, are now lost. An inspection, however, of the text supplied by S shows that only a small portion of the work has perished ; and from this source are derived the few lines which we have given above, and of the authenticity of which there can be no reasonable doubt. 2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 256. 3 That is, the 25th of December, a.d. 1185; see Moved, f. 3G0. ^ So Pertz's text, but probably an error for " sub-prior." The individual here named certainly was prior of Troarn (see Gall. Christ. 428), and became abbot of St. Martin of Seez (id. p. 721). ^ See Gall. Christ, vii. 250. END OF VOL. IV. CLAY, PRIKTER, BREAD STREET HIIL, LONDON. I'm I'lyi l'',',",''"""' Sem.nar,- 1 1012 01145 9098 DATE DUE iva HIGHSMITH #45230