A.D. 1097. HIS ADMINISTRATION. 91 or boar, or even a hare, was punished with the loss of the delinquent's eyes; and that at a time when the killing of a man could be atoned for by paying a moderate fine or composition. In forming the New Forest in the neighborhood of his palace at Winchester, the country around was "afforested," by which term we are to understand, not that it was planted with trees, but that it was rendered subject to the forest laws. It is said that many churches and villages in this tract were destroyed for the purpose of making the forest; but their number has been probably exaggerated. The numerous castles erected in all parts of England during the reign of the Conqueror were at once the means and the visible signs of Anglo-Saxon subjection. Of these strong-holds of the aristocracy, without which feudalism could not have been perfectly established, no fewer than 48 are recorded in Domesday Book as erected since the time of Edward the Confessor. William is said to have introduced the practice of the curfew (i.e., couvre feu) bell, upon the ringing of which all fires had to be covered up at sunset in summer, and about eight at night in the winter. This was regarded as a badge of servitude by the English; but it was the custom in Normandy, and indeed in many other countries, in the Middle Ages, and was observed as a precaution against fire. The whole number of persons registered in Domesday Book is about 283,000. With the cities and omitted counties we may reckon 300,000 heads of families in England in the reign of the Conqueror; and the whole population can not, therefore, be estimated at much more than a million. A.D. CHRONOLOGY OF REMARKABLE EVENTS. 1066. Coronation of William the Conqueror. 1071. Earl Hereward subdued in Lincolnshire and all England finally reduced. 1075. Insurrection of the Norman barons in England. A.D. 1078. Revolt of Prince Robert in Normandy. EMMVSISA MARCOVOCE PRIOREN: ERMAVIRIS MOLES CON MOIS & PRIOR PRIOR OMNIBVS AVTOR DONADATHENRICVSV DONADATOREM ESVEPERILLVORS ADEOPREMISSGLIAFIRAMANGELNSADCELVMRAPIATPOSTO Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen. From an enameled plate in the British Museum.* CHAPTER VI. WILLIAM II., HENRY I., STEPHEN. A.D. 1087-1154. $1. Accession of WILLIAM RUFUS. Conspiracy against the King. § 2. Invasion of Normandy, and other Wars. § 3. Acquisition of Normandy. § 4. Quarrel with Anselm, the Primate. § 5. Transactions in France. Death and Character of Rufus. § 6. Accession of HENRY I. His Charter. § 7. Marriage of the King. § 8. Duke Robert invades England. Accommodation with him. § 9. Henry invades and conquers Normandy. § 10. Ecclesiastical Affairs. Disputes respecting Investitures. § 11. Wars abroad. Death of Prince William. § 12. Henry's second Marriage. Marriage of his Daughter. His Death and Character. § 13. Accession of STEPHEN. Measures for securing the Government. § 14. Stephen acknowledged in Normandy. Disturbances in England. § 15. Matilda invades England, and obtains the Crown. Her Flight. § 16. For an explanation of the inscription, see Labarte, "Arts of the Middle Ages," p. xxiv. Prince Henry in England. Acknowledged as Stephen's Successor. Death and Character of Stephen. § 1. WILLIAM II., A.D. 1087-1100.-William, surnamed Rufus, or the Red, from the color of his hair, had no sooner procured his father's recommendatory letter to Lanfranc, the primate, than he hastened to England, and arrived before intelligence of his father's death had reached that kingdom. Pretending orders from the king, he secured the fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings; and got possession of the royal treasure at Winchester, amounting to the sum of 60,000 pounds. The primate, having assembled some bishops and some of the principal nobility, instantly proceeded to the ceremony of crowning the new king (Sept. 26); and by this dispatch endeavored to prevent all faction and resistance. The Norman barons, however, would, for many reasons, have preferred the succession of the Conqueror's eldest son Robert to the throne of England; and Odo, Bishop of Baieux, and Robert, Earl of Mortaigne, maternal brothers of the Conqueror, envying the great credit of Lanfranc, which was increased by his late services, availed themselves of this feeling, and engaged their partisans in a formal conspiracy to dethrone the king. But William, having gained the affections of the native English by general promises of good treatment, and of an amelioration of the forest laws, was soon in a situation to take the field; and by the rapidity of his movements speedily crushed the rebellion. Freed, however, from the danger of these insurrections, he took little care of fulfilling his promises to the English; who still found themselves exposed to the same oppressions which they had undergone during the reign of the Conqueror, and which were rather augmented by the violent and impetuous temper of the present monarch. The death of Lanfranc (1089), who retained great influence over him, gave soon after a full career to his tyranny; and all orders of men found reason to complain of an arbitrary and illegal administration. Even the privileges of the Church, held sacred in those days, were a feeble rampart against his usurpations; but the terror of William's authority, confirmed by the suppression of the late insurrections, retained every one in subjection, and preserved general tranquillity in England. § 2. Having thus strengthened his power in England, William invaded the dominions of his brother Robert in Normandy (1090). The war, however, was brought to an end by the mediation of the nobility on both sides, strongly connected by interest and alliances; and the two brothers also stipulated that, on the demise of either without issue, the survivor should inherit all his dominions. Prince Henry, disgusted that little care had been taken of his interests in this accommodation, retired to St. Michael's Mount, a strong for A.D. 1087-1091. ACQUISITION OF NORMANDY. 95 tress on the coast of Normandy, and infested the neighborhood with his incursions. Robert and William, with their joint forces, besieged him in this place, and had nearly reduced him by the scarcity of water; when the elder, hearing of his distress, granted him permission to supply himself, and also sent him some pipes of wine for his own table. Being reproved by William for this ill-timed generosity, he replied, "What, shall I suffer my brother to die of thirst? Where shall we find another when he is gone?" The king, also, during this siege, performed an act of generosity which was less suitable to his character. Riding out one day alone, to take a survey of the fortress, he was attacked by two soldiers and dismounted. One of them drew his sword in order to dispatch him, when the king exclaimed, "Hold, knave! I am the King of England." The soldier suspended his blow; and raising the king from the ground with expressions of respect, received a handsome reward, and was taken into his service. Prince Henry was soon after obliged to capitulate; and being despoiled of all his patrimony, wandered about for some time with very few attendants, and often in great poverty. Robert returned with William to England; and the king soon after, accompanied by his brother, led an army into Scotland, and obliged Malcolm to accept terms of peace (1091), which was mediated by Robert on the part of William, and by Edgar Atheling on that of Malcolm. Advantageous conditions were stipulated for Edgar, who returned to England; Malcolm consented to do homage to William; and Cumberland, formerly held by the Scottish kings as a fief under the English crown, was now reduced to an English county, and secured by the fortification of Carlisle. * § 3. All Europe, but especially France and Germany, was at this time carried away with the phrensy of the crusade preached by Peter the Hermit for the recovery of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. Robert, Duke of Normandy, impelled by the bravery of his spirit, had early enlisted himself among the crusaders; but being always unprovided with money, he resolved to mortgage his dominions for a term of five years; and he offered them to his brother William for the very unequal sum of 10,000 marks. The bargain was soon concluded; the king raised the money by violent extortions on his subjects of all ranks, even on the convents, which were obliged to melt their plate in order to furnish the quota demanded of them: he was put in possession of Normandy and Maine; and Robert, providing himself with a magnifirent train, set out for the Holy Land. § 4. William was destitute alike of religious feeling and re * The history of the Crusades is narrated in the Student's Gibbon, p. 545, seq. |