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THE CHUECH HISTORIANS
OE ENGLAND.

PRINTER, BREVD STR.E hT HILT,. LONDON.

THE CHUECH HISTOEIANS
OF ENGLAND.

VOL. IV.— PART II.

CONTAINING

THE HISTOBY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBUBGH*.
THE CHBONICLES OF BOBEBT DE MONTE.
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN,
WITH PREFACES AND NOTES,
BY THE REV. JOSEPH STEVENSON, M.A.
OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DURHAM :
VICAR OF LEIGHTON BUZZARD.

FLEET STREET and HANOVER STREET.
MDCCCLVI.

CONTENTS.

The History of William of Newburgh . .  395
The Chronicles of Robert de Monte  €73

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 history 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 1136.
In his Prefatory Epistle, he describes himself as " William, a canon
of Newborough," — a priory of Black or Augustine monks, — which
he appears 1 to have entered shortly after it was founded by Roger de
Moubray, in 1145.2 Here he probably spent the whole of his life.
He is said3 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,4 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
1 See Book I. chap. xv. p. 419.
2 See Tanner, Notit. Monaat., p. 658 ; Dugd. Monast. vi. 317.
3 Cave, ii. 253 ; Tanner, p. 595. In his first edition of the Scriptores Bri-
tannise (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.)
4 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 celebrated Ealred, or Ailred, forgetting that he died in
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.1
§ 4. As might have been anticipated from what has been already
stated, the manuscripts present no variations of recensions,2 nor are
the various readings either numerous or important. The copies
most worthy of notice are the foUowing : —
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. 3), 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 Angham et
de ultimo conquestu  Et primo videndum est et dicendum
qua de causa W., dux Normannicse, dictus Nothus, primo Angham
appetiit." MS. Cott. Vesp. B vi., on vellum, in quarto, writteD 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 atreatise by William of Newborough, "De Rebus Terra Sancte," 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.
2 Unless, perhaps, 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. xxiii „ ch.xxix.
Book v. ch. vi. „ ch. sxiv. ch sxx
„ ch. vn. „ oh. xxv. ch xxxiii
These chapters were also waiting in a copy which had belonged to John Josseline,
and which was collated by Ussher; see Hearne's edition, pp. 804 sqq., andJoanni
Joscelim Catalogus Historicorum, printed by Hearne, pT 281, at the end of bis
as follows ^!eSbUry' B thlS V16W be ad°Pted' the manuscripts may be classified
A. The copy used by Silvius;
That which formerly belonged to Josseline
. *** The 0°P!es ™?* bJ Hoard and Hearne-th'ose above specified- and two
in the possession of Henry Saville and — Bromlev collated lTvTWw
3 Cited also by Dugdale, Baron, i. 375, 463 as Med °n w l*tV , \ i
that its author is William of Newborough ' "°' but ,"th°Ut BtatlDS

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
Commeline, under the title, " Rerum Britannicarum Scriptores
vetustiores ac prsecipui," 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,2 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 variations, 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
1 See note '' on previous page.
2 It had previously belonged to Sir Roger Twysden, who had procured it from
Sir Henry Spelman ; see Hearne's Preface, p. lxiv.

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. 1 128, 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 accuracy1 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.2). He was summoned to attend
the council of Tours,3 in 1163; whence he proceeded to Rome, for
the purpose of obtaining bulls confirmatory of the privileges of his
monastery.4 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.5 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,6 of which the most important is the
Chronicle which is here translated.
1 Tet, 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 occurred in his own immediate
neighbourhood. (See a.d. 1114, 1117, 1123, 1126, 1140, 1143, 1146 sqq.; 11 SO,
1181, 1182.) Yet he is always truthful and honest ; and his errors are of such a
nature as not to detract materially from the general value of his narrative.
2 See also Gall. Christ, xi App. p. 114.
3 See his account of Pope Alexander III., A.D. 11S2, p. S04.
« Gall. Christ, xi. p. 520. 5 Id. xi 506.
6 These are —
(1) The History of Henry the First, referred to by bim (p. 676), and hitherto
considered as the eighth book of the History of William of Jumiege. A
translation of it will be given hereafter in 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 Ro
bert's autograph in the Chartulary of that monastery ; now in the Pubhc
Library at Avranches, No. SO.
(5) " Prologus in Flores S. Augustini," printed by D'Achery, p. 716.
(6) "Prologus in Plinhmi 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. XI
§ 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 1 1 50 he commenced 1 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.2
His original intention was to continue them no further than the
year 1150 ;3 but he did not long adhere to this resolution, for,
while at Bee, 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 0.
a.d. 1157, towards the end of the year. Here end D 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 S; and so probably N and 0.
a.d. 1181. Here ends MS. /, 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.
1 See p. 690, note 5.
2 His authorities are briefly the following : — Henry of Huntingdon furnishes
him with all his English history. For the affairs of Normandy he employs his
own History of Henry the First, Ordericus Vitalis, Fulcherius CarnotenBis (chiefly
for the account ofthe Crusades) ; Milo Crispin's Life of Lanfranc (Acta SS. Bolland.,
Man, torn, vi p. 833 ; Mabill., Acta SS. VI. ii. 632) ; the Life of William, by the
same author (Opp. Lanfranc, II. 313, ed. Giles) ; Eadmer's Life of Anselm (Opp.
S. Anselmi, fol. Paris, 1721; Acta S. Bolland., April, torn. II. p. 865) ; the Miracles
of S. Wolfran (D'Achery, Spiceleg. II. 826) ; and the Origines Cistertienses.
3 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. Balph de Diceto (ap. Dec. Scriptores,
p. 432) says that Robert's Chronicles end a.d. 1147 ; but no such copy of the text
is known: probably the statement is an error. However, under a.d. 1146, the
" Annales Abbatias S. Edmundi" (MS. Harl. 447 of the thirteenth century) have this
entry — " Robertus abbas scripsit hue usque."

xii PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE.
In 1 183 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.1 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. 1156. 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 the abbot
Roger (which may be seen at p. 763 of this volume), and wliich
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,2 episcopus Baiocensis ecclesia-: 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 Csesariensis episcopi ....
Exinde idem Ieronimus 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 h'istoriam, continentem res gestas Romanorum,
Francorum, Anglorum, usque ad praesens tempus ; continen
tem, scilicet, annos usque ad annum Dominicae Incarnationis
1184; quemlibrum praesentavit carissimo domino suo H. regi
Anglorum, continentem istam historiam et reliquas in hac
pagina notatas ; scilicet, Eusebii, Ieronimi, 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.' "
1 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 effect that the work extends
to a.d. 1184.
-,-,LPhiliP d° Hofcourt> from *-*>¦ lu- to 1164: see Robert de Monte, A.D.
1163, p. 759, note l.

PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. Xlll
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 different times after
wards. 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 maybe
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.
Jn 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 1 100.
C (E 2) ; originally belonging to the monastery of the Holy
Trinity, at Savigny, situated between Domfront and Mont St. Mi
chel;1 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 ; Mowed 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.
D (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. E (E 3 b). 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 earher. 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 mihtibus Templi," 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 1168, taken fromi. It is more fully noticed in Pertz's Archiv.
vii. 79.
F (E 4), a manuscript2 in quarto, upon vellum, of the thirteenth
century, formerly belonging to St. Peter of Jumiege, but now in
the Public 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 (C7 11. 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.
H (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. vm.) 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.
* Mentioned by Montfaucon, in his Bibliotheca, p. 1214.

PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE. XV
true chronology at a.d. 1154 (p. 736, note 2). 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. 1 1, 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 a 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 1 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, 1-152, 1161, would lead to the inference that it had derived
information from the monastery of Lire.2
L (E 8 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. Thomae de Accon',
London', ex dono domini Jacobi comitis Ormundiae." It ends, a. d.
1168, with the account of the earthquake at Catania; after which
follows the treatise, "De Immutatione Ordinis Monachorum."
M (E 8 b), a 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.
N (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 d), 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 N. It ended originally in a.d. 1156, and the
second hand ends in 1169.
1 See Gall. Christ, xi. 626. 2 Id. p. 644.

xvi PREFACE TO ROBERT DE MONTE.
P (E 8 e), an incomplete transcript from MS. Bodley, 212 ;
S66 P ' i
Q (E 8/), a manuscript in folio, upon paper, ™tten in the
fifteenth century, and now in the Royal 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 ff), a manuscript in the Vatican Library, No. IbZ, or azz
in the collection of the queen of Sweden. It approaches very
nearly to the text of S, but has some additions m the years 1 158,
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 h], 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, 2V(?), 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'Achery1 published 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,2 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.
Leighton Buzzard,
Sept. 30, 1856.
1 It ii appended to his edition of the Works of Guibertus, Abbas de Novigento.
In the preparation of his text, D'Achery used the autograph of Avranches, and the
manuscript marked F in the present edition.
- Monumenta Germanito Historica, Scriptores, torn. vi. fol. Hanov. 1844.

THE HISTOEY OE WILLIAM
OF NEWBUEGH.

VOL. IV. T/V D D

THE HISTOEY OF WILLIAM OF
NEWBUEGH.

THE PREFATORY EPISTLE.
A prefatory and apologetic Epistle to the ensuing Work, addressed
to the abbot of Rievaux, by William, canon of Newborough.
To his reverend father and lord, Ernald,1 abbot of Rievaux,
William, 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.

1 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 gam
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 historian1 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
effrontery, extols them far above the Macedonians and Romans.
He is called Geoffrey,2 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-
1 Reference is here made to Gildas, an extract from whose History occurs in
the Ecclesiastical History of Beda, I. xxii. § 50.
2 The celebratod 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 believes 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 ourt h 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, m 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 Caesar. 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, Bceotia, 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 romancer 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. -a
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 English
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, I 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, fiest Norman Kino 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 slauo-hter
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
anthonty 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. I.] 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,1 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 life, 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. A 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, l
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
1 We learn from Ordericus Vitalis that the name of this individual was Ascelin
Fitz-Arthur. The same story is repeated by Eadmer.

404 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I.
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. IL— Of William Rufcs, the second Norman kino of 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 nobility 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 ot his brother, his heart was elevated. He appeared to be
in prosperity (what in adversity he had carefuUy 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,1 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,2 too, succeeded
to the archbishopric of York, on the death of Thomas.
During this king's reign the Lord stirred up the spirit of the
Christians against the Saracens, who had, by the hidden decree of
1 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. m.] 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
valiant 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.1
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 throng. 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
I adequate to the discharge of the office, and not to wait for Robert,
I 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
1 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,1 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 AprU, 1109. » 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.1 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.2 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,3 archbishop
of Canterbury, resting with his fathers, William, who had been
prior of the regular canons at Chiec,4 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 emperor5 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 daughter6 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
1 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.
2 This is repeated by Richard of Hexham ; and a similar story is told of
Louis IX., king of France.
3 On the ninteenth of September, A. D. 1122, and was succeeded by William de
Curbellis, consecrated 18th February, 1123.
, * Concerning the priory of St. Osith of Chich, in Essex, see Dugd. Monast.
ii. 182.
5 Henry the fifth, the emperor of Germany.
6 Adela or Adelaide, daughter of Godfrey, count of Louvain, and duke of Lower
Lorraine; this alliance took place in 1121.

408 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK L
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,1 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 Ehsha2
reanimated the dead, so Henry's dead body gave death to the
living.

Chap. IV. — In what manner Stephen seized on England, in violation of
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
I Tha duration of Henry's reign was thirty-six years and four months.
a Sec 2 Kings xm. 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 veiy 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.1 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 of 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 reign,
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
1 See Chapter 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 m 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,1 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 Koger, bishop of Salisbury, and Alexander, bishop op
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 die 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 for 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.

OH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 411
the Lord of heaven, when he uttered the like 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,1 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,2 and filled them with religiou^
societies. And when the illustrious king Henry exacted from all
the prelates and nobles of the realm the oath to observe fidelity to S
his daughter in the succession of the kingdom, the bishop of Salis
bury (as it is mentioned above) not only readily took the oath j
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 I
those who were about to swear. But on the death of Henry, who J
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 which some add that of Banbury.
2 He was one of those entrusted in the establishment of the order of
Sempringham, and founded the nunnerieB of Havesholm and Thame. See Dugd.
Monast. ii 792.
VOL. IV. E E

412 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I.
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 woridlv 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 fulfiUed —
" 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, ah 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.
' GeoflreyPlantagenet count of Anjou, the husband of the empress Matilda, the
daughter of king Henry I., by whom he became the father of king Henry II.

CH. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 413
Chap. VIII. — The capture of 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. IS. — How king Stephen was Liberated, in consequence of the Capture
OF THE EARL OF 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 L
former glory. At last the bishop,1 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, sen lor
William of Ipres and the queen from Kent, which had alone
remained unchanged by the king's calamity, and numbers out ot
other counties, who were irritated at the overbearing tyranny ot 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.— Of the Flight of the Empress from Oxford, and of 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, I
in proportion to its weight. One of them, indeed, gained the j
cause ; but neither xeturned 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,1 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,2 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 te 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
1 Concerning him, see Dugd. Baronage, i. 200.
2 Namely, those of Walden 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,1 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 credible 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.
1 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,1 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.2 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. — Of 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
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 375.
2 His foundations were the monasteries of Meaux in Holderness, not far from
his castle of Skipsey (Dugd. Monast. i. 793) ; Bytham, in Lincolnshire (Id. p. 813) ;
and Thornton-upon-Humber (Id. ii. 198).

418 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. „ [BOOK L
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.

I Chap. XIV. — Of Thurstan, archbishop of York, and of the Foundation of
the Abbeys of 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, relinquished1
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 2 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 ofthe Cistertian order, recendy
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
it ouutains, 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 Rievaulx1 (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 Byland.
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,2 better known to me from its pro
pinquity, being jmly 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,3 Bernard, and Vitalis. These men, not
meanly instructed, and fervent in spirit, went through towns and
villages, sowing, according to Isaiah,4 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 Fontevraud5 for females, and
appointed there a regular discipline ; whilst Bernard at Tyron,6
and Vitalis at Savigny,' instituted regular monks, although each
distinguished his own by some peculiar injunctions. When, from
these three budding roots, the servants of God, male and female,
sprang up in distant provinces, some of the monks of Savigny
1 The foundation charter by Walter Espec, granted A. D. 1131, is printed by
Dugdale in his Monast. i. 729.
2 The History of the origin of the Cistercian abbey of Byland is related, with
considerable detail, by Philip, the third abbot of that establishment, whoBe narrative
is printed in the Monasticon, L 1027.
3 Robert de Arbrissel, the founder of the order of Fontevrault ; concerning
whom, see the Bollandists, Mens. Febr. iii. 593. 4 See Isaiah xxxii. 20.
s See Gallia Christ, ii. 1311. • 6 Id. viii. 1262 7 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, under 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 theh 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' of Semprinoham, and of the Order which he
rNSTTTUTED.
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
• An interesting account of the life and actions of Gilbert of Sempringham in
MoTsf ^669 Gilbertines, may be seen in Dugdale's

CH. xvn.] 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,1 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,2 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 skiU 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 3 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 HENRY SUCCEEDED.
On the decease of the venerable Thurstan, archbishop of York,
William,4 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,1 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 equaUy 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,2 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. XVIIL— Of the Cause of the Second Crusade to Jerusalem.
In the twelfth year of his reign, king Stephen having (as before-
mentioned) 3 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.5
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
1 Henry Murdac was consecrated 7th Dec. 1147.
» This is, apparently, the Osbert de Baines mentioned by Stubbes col 1721.
boo also Le Neve, m. 131. '
3 See Chapter XIII. * a D 1147
B:^st^x:rfAoltie to this s^m^ ^ *~

CH. XVIII.] 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,1 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 offering 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 Syria, 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 Jocelin ; 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 Baronius (a.d. 371, § 108), are
Socrates iv. 14; Sozom. vi. 18 ; and Theod. iv. 16.

424 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK L
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 of Eudo de Stella, and his Death.
About the same time, pope Eugenius1 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 hostihty 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,2 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
1 Eugenius III. was elected pope, 5th February, 1145 ; on 26th March, 1147, he
was at Clugni, and held a general council at Reims, which began its sittines on
21st March, 1148. 6 ^
2 See Robert de Monte, a.d. 1148 ; Otto of Frisingen, i. 55. The proceedings
of the council are preserved in Labb. Concil. a. 1107.

CH. 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 replied, " 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 elevatethe
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 king 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 whicli 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

OH. 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 by 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 favcur did not smile upon them,
polluted and corrupted as they were. Camps are called castra,1
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 grp.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 foraging by the ambush of the
enemy, the army first wasted away by hunger, next, 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
trie 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 of Antioch ; and of the Capture of
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
1 An etymology worthy of Isidore, (Orig. ix. 3,) from which it is 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 Machabaeus 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. While the enemy, elated by theh 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 enemv, 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.— Of the unsettled State of the domestic Affairs of England
UNDER KINO 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," [Judo-, xvii. 6;]
but in England, under king Stephen, the matter was worse; for, at

CH. XXIII.] 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;
jnany 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 own 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,1 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
1 He died, during the life of his father, in the year 1152.
2 See Dugd. Baron, i. 58. 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 1 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,2 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, bv pious humility ; so also we
believe that this other David wiped awav 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
•ts 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. ' See 1 Sam. siii. 14.

CH. XXIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 43*1
Chap. XXIV. — Of bishop Wimtjnd,1 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,2 forgetting that his episcopal office
required of him to be, with Peter, a fisher of men.3 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." —
' 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.
2 See Gen. x. 9. 3 Matt. 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 manyT 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. — Of Malcolm the most christian king of the Scots.
Malcolm, the elder of his grandsons, while yet a boy, succeeded
to David, king of the Scots, above mentioned.1 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, bv God's directing
1 In ehap, 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 of Hugh, bishop of Durham, and the
Restoration of William of York, and his Death.
But to return a while from Scotland. William1 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,2 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,3 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 apostohcal 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 William de S. Barbara died 14th November 1152
' Eugenius III. died 8th July, 1153, and was succeeded by Anastasius IV who
was consecrated on July 12. See Jaffe Regest. pp 652 653 Anaatasius XV' wni>
3 Bernard died 20th August, 1153, S. Bernard! Opera, i 94 ed 1SSQ
"Henry Murdac, archbishop of York, died 14th October, 1153 Le Neve,

CH. 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 Pentecost1 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 2 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 i
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,3 his archdeacon, to
1 Whitsunday fell upon 23d May, 1154.' The date of his death is 8th June.
See Le Neve, ih. 100.
2 Hoveden is one of those who gave credence to the report, which is disproved
by the evidence adduced by our historian.
3 Roger 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. I.
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.1

Chap. XXVII.— Of 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.3
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 direcdy, 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,
1 See Book III. ch. v. * Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk.
3 Wulpet, a market town, concerning 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 Riohard de Calne,
in whose house these children resided.

CH. XXVIII.] 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." Being further
asked where that land was, and how they came thence hither, they
answered, "We are ignorant of both those circumstances; we
only remember this, that on a certain day, when we were feeding
our father's flocks in the fields, we heard a great sound, such as we
are now accustomed to hear at St. Edmund's, when the bells are
chiming; and whilst listening to the sound in admiration, we became
on a sudden, as it were, entranced, and found ourselves among you
in the fields where you were reaping." Being questioned whether in
that land they believed in Christ, or whether the sun arose, they
replied that the country was Christian, and possessed churches ;
but said they, "The sun does not rise upon our countrymen ; our
land is little cheered by its beams ; we are contented with that
twilight, which, among you, precedes the sun-rise, or follows the
sun-set. Moreover, a certain luminous country is seen, not far
distant from ours, and divided from it by a very considerable
river." These, and many other matters, too numerous to par
ticularize, they are said to have recounted to curious inquirers.
Let every one say as he pleases, and reason on such matters
according to his abilities ; I feel no regret at having recorded an
event so prodigious and miraculous.

Chap. XXVIII. — Of certain Prodigies.
Some other wonderful and astonishing occurrences have hap
pened in our times, of which I shall mention a few. I call things
of this nature wonderful, not merely on account of their rarity, i
but because some latent meaning is attached to them. On splitting j
a vast rock, with wedges, in a certain quarry, there appeared two '
dogs, but, without any spiracle whatever, filling up the cavity of j
the rock which contained them. They seemed of that species
which are called harriers, but of fierce countenance, disagreeable
smell, and without hair. They report that one of them soon died ;
but that the other, having a most ravenous appetite, was for many
days fondled by Henry,1 bishop of Winchester.
Again, it is related, that in another quarry, while they were digging
very deep for materials for building, there was found a beautiful double
stone, that is, a stone composed of two stones, joined with some
very adhesive matter. Being shown, by the wondering workmen,
to the bishop, who was at hand, it was ordered to be split, that its
mystery (if any) might be developed. In the cavity, a little
reptile, called a toad, having a small golden chain around its neck,
was discovered. When the bystanders were lost in amazement
at such an unusual occurrence, the bishop ordered the stone to be
closed again, thrown into the quarry, and covered up with rubbish
for ever.
1 Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to 1171. See Hardy's Le
Neve, iii. 7.

438 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK I.
In the province of the Deiri,1 also, not far from the place of my
nativity, an extraordinary event occurred, which I have known
from my childhood. There is a village, some miles distant from
the Eastern Ocean, near which those famous waters, commonly
called Gipse,2 spring from the ground at various sources (not con
stantly, indeed, but every alternate year), and, forming a consi
derable current, glide over the low lands into the sea : it is a good
sign when these streams are dried up, for their flowing is said
unquestionably to portend the disaster of a future scarcity. A cer
tain rustic belonging to the village, going to see his friend, who
resided in the neighbouring hamlet, was returning, a little intoxi
cated, late at night ; when, behold, he heard, as it were, the voice
of singing and revelling on an adjacent hillock, which I have often
seen, and which is distant from the village only a few furlongs.
Wondering who could be thus disturbing the silence of midnight
with noisy mirth, he was anxious to investigate the matter more
closely ; and perceiving in the side of the hill an open door, he
approached, and, looking in, he beheld a house, spacious and
lighted up, filled with men and women, who were seated, as it
were, at a solemn banquet. One of the attendants, perceiving him
standing at the door, offered him a cup : accepting it, he wisely
forbore to drink ; but, pouring out the contents, and retaining the
vessel, he quickly departed. A tumult arose among the company,
on account of the stolen cup, and the guests pursued him ; but he
escaped by the fleetness of his steed, and reached the village with
his extraordinary prize. It was a vessel of an unknown material,
unusual colour, and strange form : it was offered as a great present
to Henry the elder, king of England, and then handed over to the
queen's brother, David, king of Scotland, and deposited for many
years among the treasures of his kingdom ; and, a few years since,
as we have learnt from authentic relation, it was given up by
William, king of the Scots, to Henry the second, on his desiring
to see it.
These and similar matters would appear beyond belief, were
they not proved to have taken place by credible witnesses. But if
the magicians (as it is written) were able by Egyptian incantations,
and some secret cooperation of evil angels, to turn rods into
serpents,3 and water into blood,* and to produce newly-formed
frogs,5 yet (as saith Augustine 6) we do not call these magicians the
actual creators either of serpents or frogs — as husbandmen are not
the makers of their harvests ; for it is one thing to form and pro
duce a creature from the farthest and remotest link in the chain of
causes— which He who does is God the sole Creator,— and another
from means and powers furnished by Him to superinduce a second
operation, that at such a time, or in such a manner, what is created
1 That is, in Yorkshire.
3 Tne editions previous to Hearne's read " Vipse." Camden mentions them, and
quotes this passage and his editor, Gibson, gives a long extract from a communi
cation respecting them made by " the pious Mr. Ray." See Brit col 901 902.
The correct form of the word, and the local pronunciation is Ginse ' '
3 Exod. vii. 8. ? Id. vii. 19. s tj' vii; -,'
0 De Trin. iii. 8; Opp. iii. 104, ed. 1664. - '

CH. XXIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 439
shall have such an effect, which not only evil angels, but also evil
men, are able to do. If, I say, by the permission of God, evil
angels had this power, by means of magicians, it is not wonderful
if they were able, by some power of angelic nature (more especially
when allowed by a Superior Power), to make those exhibitions in
question, partly by illusion and magic (as in the case of the
nocturnal revel on the hill), partly in reality (as of the dogs, or the
toad with the golden chain, or the cup), by which men may be
held in blind amazement ; and evil angels, when permitted, readily
do those things, whereby men may be more dangerously deceived.
Indeed, the nature of those green children, who sprang from the
earth, is too abstruse for the weakness of our abilities to fathom.1

Chap. XXIX — Of the Exploits of Henry the Second in England, during.
HIS DUKEDOM.
To return, however, to the series of an historical narrative.
Henry, the son of Matilda, late empress, by the illustrious earl of
Anjou, having received,2 as I before observed, the belt of knight
hood from his mother's uncle, the king of Scotland, re-embarked,
and came to his father, and for the future continued in his
service, and nobly imitated, in his disposition, his prudence and
fortitude, as well as eagerly emulated his military glory. After
some years, however, his father yielding to fate, he received the
whole of his paternal inheritance — that is, the counties of Anjou
and Maine, as well as the duchy of Normandy, the unoccupied
inheritance of his mother ; for as far as the kingdom of England,
which equally pertained to his mother by right, was concerned, it
was still usurped by king Stephen, although negligently and feebly
governed, as has been before remarked.3 Thus succeeding his
father, and in a short time equalling and even surpassing him, he
showed himself active and industrious on all sides, insomuch that
he was already formidable to those persons who were envious of
his brilliant outset ; and, when everything was now tranquil in his
foreign dominions, disdaining longer to be defrauded of the king
dom of England, which pertained to him by manifest right, he bent
his mind to this arduous and perilous undertaking. Apprehensive,
however, that, after his departure, some attack should be made on
Normandy by the king of France (in whose affinity king Stephen
exulted, for the sister of the former had been long since married to
Eustace, the son of the latter), he deemed it necessary carefully to
fortify his frontiers by garrisons properly disposed. Hence it hap
pened that he led but an inconsiderable army with him into
England, conceiving that he should ill consult the defence of his
foreign territories, of which he had now quiet possession, should he
withdraw his troops, and that necessary support would not fail him
in England. Even should this not be the case, yet certainties were
not to be sacrificed to uncertainties. Moreover, it is reported
1 The philosophy of the Middle Ages upon the questions here touched upon by
the author, may be seen in Tho. Aquinas Sum. p. I. q. 110, art. iv.
2 See Chap. XXII. 3 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, died1 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 1163.

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.1

Chap. XXXI. — Of the Divorce of the king of France from his wife, and
of her Marriage with the future kinq of 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-
1 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. Wherefore, the dissension increasing, and she, as it is
said, becoming extremely urgent, and he making no resistance, the
bond 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 accomphshed her
most anxiously-desired match, leaving her two daughters with their
father. Afterwards, by their father's paternal appointment, they
were united to Henry,1 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. XXXII. — 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. xxxn.] 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.2
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,3 the archdeacon of Canterbury, 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 his 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,4 after
a few days, in the month of October, in the nineteenth year of his
reign, and was buried at Faversham,5 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 town6 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
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 626.
2 Archbishop Henry Murdac died 14th October, 1158 ; Hardy's Le Neve,
iii 99.
3 Roger of Bishopsbridge, archdeacon of Canterbury, was consecrated archbishop
of York, 10th October, 1154. Id. p. 100.
4 He died on the 25th of October, 1154.
5 See Dugd. Monast Anglic, iv. 568, (ed. Ellis.)
6 Namely, Torigni at no great distance from Coutance : see Robert de Monte.
VOL. IV. G G

444 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n.
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 Reign 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,1
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 bootv, 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 ofthe 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,
1 He was crowned at Westminster, on Sunday 19th December.

OH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 445
and spears into pruning-hooks ; none learned war any more,1 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. I
Chap. II. — Henry the second restores 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,2 (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. — Of the Site of Scarborough 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
1 See Isaiah ii. 4.
2 He had been created earl of Yorkshire by king Stephen, and had possession
of the larger portion of that county. See Dugd. Baron, i. 62.
G G 2

446 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book It
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 Eestoration
of the northern parts of England by the king of Scotland to the kdiq
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,1 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.
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 139.
» Henry was now duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou,
Poitou, Touraine, and Maine.

CH- V.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 447

Chap. V. — Of the War with the Welsh, and their Eeconclliation 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 afforded 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 entrance 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 liberality
or permission of the king 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,1 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 of
his army, proceeding incautiously through a wooded and marshy
district, was much endangered by falling into an ambush, which
1 This expedition took place in the summer of 1157.

448 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. ri.
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 Curci, 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
Henry1 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 supphantly 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,2 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
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 463. Hearne, in the notes to his edition, p 718, has
printed some remarks which he received from Anstis, on the nature of thia
hereditary office held by Henry de Essex.
3 Anastasius IV. ascended the papal chair, 12th July, 1153, and died 3d
December ,1154; whereupon Hadrian IV. succeeded on December 4, and died
1st September, 1159.

CH. VI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 449
stripling boy, became a monk at St. Albans.1 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.
There 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, when 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. Maliae, however, which
knows no repose, could not be long at rest, and the tempest revived
with redoubled fury. The 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 2
1 See the account of his birth and education which is given in the Lives of the
Abbots of St. Albans, by M. Paris, p. 66.
-s 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 III. 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. VIL— 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 ; " 1 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
1 Near the Loire, in the district of Tours.

CH. vm.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 451
his own 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,1 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,2 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 Relics of the
Magi.
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 n.
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,1 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 ; theh 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 bis 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,1
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. IS.— Of the Schism in the Church of Rome, the Council of Path,
AND THE GaLUCAN CONTENTION.
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
Jan P6 Card h6re leferS ^ tllS D°teS °f BaTOnius uP°n the Roman Martyrology of
» See Hist, d'ltalie par M. de Saint-Marc, v. 242. This incident occurred a.d.
nC2- 3 a.d. 1157.

CH. IX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 453
superstition which king Stephen (as before related)1 laudably con
temned and ridiculed ; but in a village adjoining the suburbs.2
In the following year, pope Adrian 3 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 Rolland, 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 [III.], 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 Rolland,
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,4 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-
1 See I. xviii. 2 CaUed Wickford ; see Tyrrel's Hist. ii. 303.
3 Hadrian died 1st Sept. 1159.
4 The history and proceedings of this spurious council may be seen in Labb.
Concil. x. 1387.

454 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n.
pending their judgment, until they could perfectly know the truth
of so delicate a matter, they also assembled,1 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 2 (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
n ', °? *h!^OOIlfereIloe. which occurred in July, 1160, see the fuller narrative of
Robert de Monte.
-^William, surnamed Geoffrey, who died in 1086. Anderson's Genealog. Tables,

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,1 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,2 having several sons, through a pious impulse,
dedicated one 3 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
1 Alfonso II., concerning whom, see Anderson's Tables, p. 706.
8 This was Alfonso I., king of Aragon.
3 Ramirez, who in 1093 had become a monk at St. Pons de Tomiers, in France.
See Hist. d'Espagne, (8vo. Par. 1765.) i. 198, 235.
4 Petronilla, heiress of Aragon, bom 1135. Anderson, Ibid.

456 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n.
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,1 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,2 according to the pre
rogative of maternal lineage, was solemnly crowned king hy 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,
1 This was Raymond Berengarius, count of Barcelona. = Alfonso II.

OH. XI.] 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— Of the horrid Murder of 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 offence 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 oii-^
the multitude of his associates, rudely affronted a knight of some j
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.
The 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"T
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 deserving citizens according to their inclina
tions. Accepting this promise they remained quiet for a time. On
the appointed day, their lord, thus pledged, attended with 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 n.
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 xtppointment, did this accursed people receive
the due reward of their perfidy and cruelty. Moreover, these j
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 j
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 were 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,1 piously and carefully bussed 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 ;2 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 OF ENGLAND. [BOOK. n.
Chap. XIII.— Of the Entrance of Heretics into England, and their
Extermination.
At this time certain heretics came into England, of that sect,
as it is believed, commonly called Publicans.1 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 he 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 Gallican 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-
1 See Charles Plessis d'Argentre Collactio Judiciorum de novis erroribus, i. 5.
The extract from the Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshale, printed by Picard in his
notes, p. 631, ia worthy of notice.

CH. xm.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 461
fined in public prisons. The king, however, being unwilling to
punish them without examination, commanded a council of the
bishops to be assembled at Oxford.1 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 Wilkins' Concil. i. 438.

H H 2

462 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [HOOK n.
Chap. XIV.— Of the Council of Tours, celebrated by pope Alexander.
At this time Alexander, the Roman pontiff, camerby sea from
Apulia ' into France ; for, although, as it has been already said,2
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 bishops3 and
princes of the districts of the Gallican 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 Decrees of the Council of Tours.4
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.5
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
1 He embarked at Genoa on 25th March, 1162, and on 15th of April we find him
at Montpellier. Jaife, p. 685. ' See II. ix.
3 His letters to his various correspondents printed by Bouquet xv. 774  777.
prove the accuracy of this statement.
4 See Labb. Concil. x. 1418, where a different text of these decrees is printed.
s 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.
Canon III.1
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 IV.2
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.3
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.4
In the district of Toulouse a damnable heresy has lately 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. 3 Id. Can. ii. 4 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 compelled 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 dweUing 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.1
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,2 " 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
' See Labb. Can. iii. i Hosea iv. 8. » See Labb. Can. viii.
Job xxxix. 29, (or xxxix. 32,) according to the Septuagint.

ch. xvi.] 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 wish 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 well 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 Canterbury, and had
received from him the archdeaconry of Canterbury, on the promo
tion of Roger 2 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.3 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,4
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," 5 and
1 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.
3 In a.d. 1158. See Brompton, pp. 1057, 1058.
4 Elected 24th May, 1162. See Hardy's Le Neve, i. 8.
5 Exod. vhi. 19.

466 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK H.
others, "' This is a change effected by the hand of the Most High." l
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
science 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 they
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 especiaUy 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. lxxvi. 11. Vulg.

CH. xvr.j THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 467
of the bishops. Therefore, having assembled 1 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 everything
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
January, 1164, and occupied the remainder of the month. See MS. Cott. Claud.
b. ii. foL 26.

468 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK II.
Chap. XVII.— Of the Death of Octavian, and the Return of pope
Alexander into Italy.
While pope Alexander continued to reside in France,1 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 2 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.3 Although the courageous crew of the
galley bravely resisted the pirates, and beat them off 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 hia
journey homewards in June, 1165. See Jaff<5, Regest. pp. 691  705.
2 He arrived at Montpellier on the 10th July, and remained there until ths
10th of September, when he wrote the letter mentioned in the following note.
3 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. xvm.] 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.— Oj? the second Expedition into Wales, and the Conquest op
Britanny.
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, leaving as his
heir an only daughter, by the sister of the king of Scotland.
Uniting this unmanageable 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 n.
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 tranquillized it throughout all its borders,
that its inhabitants dwelling in peace, the desert by degrees re
sumed its fruitfulness.

Chap. XIX. — Op the Decease op Malcolm, the most pious king op the Scots.
About this period, Malcolm, the most christian king of the
Scots, of whom we have made becoming mention in the preceding
Book,1 putting off mortality 2 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 William3 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
1 In the 15th chapter.
2 He died on the 9th of December, 1165. See Chron. of Melrose, ad an.
3 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 Boaumont. See the Chronicle of Melrose under these dates.

CH. XX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 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. — Op the Life and Death op the venerable hermit Godric.
Nearly about this time, Godric,1 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 virtue 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
1 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 h.
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, he was accustomed to kneel
when praying, or to lie when sick.

Chap. XXI. — Op Ketell, and op the Grace 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 n.
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. — Op the long-continued Vacancy in the Church op Ltncolm.
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,1 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 Geoffrey Plantagenet,
the king's natural sou, was elected in 1173 ; but, as he did not obtain consecration,
he was not regarded as tho canonical bishop of Lincoln. He resigned the see in
January, 1182, and then Walter de Constantiis was consecrated.

CH. XXIII.] 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. — Op the two Expeditions into Egypt op Amalric, king op
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 tRe 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 n.
Belinee, but originally Caesarea Philippi ; the Turks, clandestinely
admitted by this man, entering the city, put no one to death, but,
expelling the Christians, together with the bishop, strengthened 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 clay'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
their 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. 477
caution. The Turks, indeed, betook themselves to Alexandria ; but
the Christian cavalry was 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 Reconciliation op the kings op
France and England.
In the sixteenth1 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. The 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 oi
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,2
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. Whereupon 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 power, and their indignation gradually subsiding,
they admitted, that, on certain conditions, peace shbuld be con
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 extends from 19th December, 1169, to
18th December, 1170.
2 On his divorce from Elianor, Louis VII. married Constantia, the daughter of
Alfonsus VIL, 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 II.
Chap. XXV. — Op the Coronation op Henry the third, and the Murder
op St. Thomas.
In the year one thousand one hundred and seventy from the
delivery 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,1 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. While 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
1 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.

CH. 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
jmgry and indignant beyond measure, and losing the mastery of
himself, in the heat of Tiis 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
crossing 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 Canterbury 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 his 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 n.
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 Fiance, 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 that 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. — Op the Subjugation op the Irish by the Englisbv
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 wonderfully2 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 venomous3
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
1 Ecc. Hist. § 8.
2 See Girald. Camb. Topograph. Hibernise, cap. iv. ap. Camd. Scriptores, 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 oi
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 suffer 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,1
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
1 Richard do Clare, earl of Striguil, surnamed Strongbow. See Dugd. Baron.
i. 203.

OH. XXVI.] , 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 Dublin, a maritime city, the metropolis 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,1 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.
1 He died in April, 1176, according to Ralph 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 n.
Chap. XXVII.— How king Henry the third1 revolted prom 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
1 So reckoned because crowned king during the life of his father. See
chap. XXV.

CH. XXVUI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 485
of Richard ; and the Bretons by the influence of Geoffrey. He
also allied himself to the count1 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,2
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 j
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 Brabancons, called
Rutee ; for the royal treasures (which were not spared in such an
emergency) afforded him an abundant supply of ready money.

Chap. XXVIII.— Op the Transactions at Aumale, Chateauneup and
Verneuil.
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 n.
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,1 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 hah of his solicitude in the
war, and he soon felt greater confidence in himself against the
part which remained. Having assembled the forces that were in
his jay, 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
1 A small village on the line between Bologne and Abbeville.

CH. XXIX.] 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 hke 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. XXIX. — 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 Brabancons, 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 country, 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 n.
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.— Op the Siege op Leicester, the "War op the king op the
Scots, and the Capture op the eabl op 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,1 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,2 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.
2 Hugh Bigod had been created earl of Norfolk, and as such had great influence!
in these districts.

CH. 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,1 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  Op the Depection op 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 feeling that they
would act with more confidence in having a prince possessing a
great name, they chose for their leader and chief David, 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 Chateauneuf.

490 ' CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IL
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 broke 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 (akeady 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 Brabancons. In the meantime, the king of the
Scots,1 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
1 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 NEWBORGH. 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
revelling 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. — Op the Capture op the King op 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,
would 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 hardly 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 afford 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 op Scotland
APTER 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. When 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
them, 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 op the King op England, and
op 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 Fordun VIII. xxv. 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
proceeded1 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,2 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,3 soon
after clearly made known, by a notable proof, how much He valued
that devotion of that smoking mountain ; for on that day, and, as
it is said,4 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 suffered 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,5 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,
"lam the attendant upon Ralph de Glanville, your faithful liege
man, by whqml have been sent to your highness ; and I come to
bring good timings." " 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
1 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.
' 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. 3 See Ps. clxiv. 5.
4 See Pauli, Gesch. von England, iii. 117.
5 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. — Op the Siege op Eoden, 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,1 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 —
1 Boulogne; concerning the district of the Morini, see Gallia Christ, x. 1526.

496 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK n.
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 tliat 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,1 for so the bell was called. When this was
1 Pauli, iii. 119, here quotes Cheruel, Hist, de Rouen, i. 27 (1844), for additional
information upon this incident of the bell.

CH. XXXVII.] 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 restored 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 n.
mandy, at his rapid and happy return, he entered Rouen,1 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. — Op the Reconciliation op the Kings, and the Tranquillity
OP THEIR 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
1 He entered Rouen upon Sunday, 11th August.

ch. xxxvin.] 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.1 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.
1 The terms of the agreement into which Henry entered with his sons may be
seen in Rymer's Foodera, i. 30.
2 This document is printed in the Foedera, ibid.

500 church historians of England. [bookhi.
The Third Book.
Chap. I.— Of the Council op London, and the Contention op the Arch
bishops, and the Inundation op 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 suffragans and other ecclesiastical persons. In
the following year, however, cardinal Hugh,1 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 2 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
1 Hugo, or Hugutio, cardinal of St. Angelo, and after of St Clement ; see Pagi,
a.d. 1175, § 2. 2 See Beda, E. H. i. 29, § 73.

CH. n.] ; 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. IL— Of the Reconciliation op 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 venerable pontiff becamepacified. Cursed
be his anger, for it was fierce, and his wrath for it was cruel.1
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 Strumee,2 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. 1 See Gen. xlix 7. 2 See Pagi, a.d. 1178, § 1.

502 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK DX,
Chap. III. — The Decrees a op the Lateran Council.
Canon I.2
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, lie 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.3
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 Struma?, 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
1 These docrees are printed in Labb. Concil. x. 1507, with many verbal varia
tions, and in a different order, as pointed out in the following notes.
J» Can. L s Can. ii.

CH. III.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM 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.1
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 office, 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 observed, 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 bis power by the chapter, or by the metropolitan if the
chapter be unwilling to agree. Canon IV.2
Although the discipline of the church, which is content with the
judgment of priests — (so says the blessed pope Leo3) — avoids
1 Can. iii. ' 2 Can, xxvii. 3 Ep. iv.

604 , CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book. HI.
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 l (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.2
Concerning the men of Brabant and Aragon, of Navarre, of
Basque and Coterell,3 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 heretics the remarks of Pagi (ad an. § 6 seq.) may be consulted with
advantage. 2 In Labbe's text this forms a part of Can. xxvii.
a In Labbe the text stands thus : — " De Brabantionibus, et Aragonensibus,
Navariis, Bascolis, CoterelliB et Triaverdinis." See Pagi, ad an. § 9.

CH. in.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 505
of bishops or other prelates, have 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 VI.1
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 2 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. 1.]
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-
1 Can. xix. 2 See Gen. xlvii. 22.

506 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK DX
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.1
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.2 ¦
Inasmuch as certain laymen compel ecclesiastics, and even bishops
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.3
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.4
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
1 This canon does not occur in Labbe's text. 2 Not in Labbe's text
' Can. xvii. 4 Can. xxiv.

CH. in.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 507
equal to them (or even above them) in malice 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 off 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.1
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 who 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 deservedly be removed ; except, indeed, they be
translated by the advice of the brethren, for the necessity of filling
a greater office. Canon XII.2
Although the apostle Paul says,3 that more abundant honour
should be shown to the weaker vessels, yet, on the contrary, some
'Can. x. 2 Can. xxiii. 3 See 1 Cor. xii. 23.
VOL. IV. L L

508 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book ih:
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.1
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.2
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,
1 Cau. xxvi. s Can. xiii. See Bingham, Orig. Eccl. book vi. ch. 4, § 8.

CH. ID.] 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.1
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.2
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.3
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
f erring such office. Canon XVIII.4
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
our 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.
Opp. i. 220. 2 Can. xv.
3 In Labbe's text this forms a portion of Can. xv. * Can. xvi.
L L 2

510 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK nr.
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.1
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 preaching, 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,1 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-
1 Can. iv. ' 2 Cor. xii. 14.

CH.nx] 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 them.
Canon XXI.1
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 ecclesiastical 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.2
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.5
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
1 Can. viii. 2 Can. v. 3 Can. vii.

512 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK nt
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.1
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.2
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.3
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 XXVII.4
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.5
Since the church of God, like an affectionate 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 each cathedral church some competent
benefice be assigned to a master, who may gratuitously teach as
1 In Labbe's text, a continuation of Can. vii. 2 Can. xi.
3 In Labbe, a continuation of the previous Canon.
1 A continuation of the last Canon, in Labbe's text.
• Can. xviii. On the wholesome arrangements marked out by this Canon, see
Thomassin, Veins et Nova Ecclesias Disciplina, i. 032, and especially ii. 278 seq.

CH. HI.] 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 selling the liberty of
teaching, endeavours to impede ecclesiastical improvement.
Canon XXIX.1
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.2
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 XXXL*
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 oi
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. xii. • 2 Can. xx. 3 Can. xxi.

614 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK in,
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,1 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 XXXII.2
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.3
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
1 See Eccl. iv. 12. a Can. vi. s Can. ix.

CH. in.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 515
may impede the progress of virtue. We find, however, from the
heavy complaint 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 burying 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 HL
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. IT. — Op the Death op the King op France, and op the Events which
occurred 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,1 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. ch. xxxi.

CH. v.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 517
(as it is said) to be secretly put to death by some of his accom
plices. 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. — Op the Alteration op the Public Money, and Death op 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 management 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 IJT.
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 offended 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, was1
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,2 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
1 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
loaves. This loss was supplied by a MS. in the library at Lambeth Palace.
2 Apparently John, archdeacon of Nottingham ; concerning whom see Hardy's
Le 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.— Op Suere, King, op 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?"1 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 an 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 youth 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 daring and
1 See Lacombe, Hist, du Nord, A.D. 1178 (ed. 1762). Suere's various exploits
may be traced in the Annales Islandorum Eegii, a.d. 1168, 1174, 1176, printed in
the third volume of Langebeck's Scriptores rerum Danicarum.
2 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 hy 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. Suere 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, Suere 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 poet1 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-
1 Virgil, ^Eneid, iv. 487.

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 infiuence 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 King Henry the Third, and op 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 IH.
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"),1 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 respecf to his father, but courting by every possible means the
1 See Eccles. i. 13. Vulg.

OH. vm.] 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. — Op the Death op the Archbishop op Canterbury, and Institu
tion op the Bishop op 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.1 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,2 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 effect 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,3 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. xxii.
The authors of the Gallia Christiana combat the accuracy of the character
here given, and apparently with Bome reason. See their work, si. 51
VOL. IV. M M

524 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOKrn.
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 affected
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 vacant1 for several years.

Chap. IX. — Op the Expedition against Eoland, and certain Occurrences 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 before2 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 above3 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,4 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
1 Walter de Coutance was enthroned in the church of Rouen, on St. Matthews
day, 1185. See Gall. Christ, xi. 51. The see of Lincoln continued vacant for
two years.
2 See Book II. chap, xxxiv. 3 See Book III. chap. xxvi.
1 See the treatise of Giraldus Cambrensis, entitled " Hibernia Expugnata,"
book II. chap. xvii. xviii., whicli fill up and illustrate the narrative here given
in outline.

OH. 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 country,
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 m.
associates, that is, the other royalists 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, availing 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 affairs of Ireland
received from him a more cautious settlement.

Chap. X. — Op the Arrival op the Patriarch in England ; the Death op
the King op Jerusalem — the Reign op his Son — and op 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 former1 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
said2 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. ehap. xxiii. 2 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 Egypt, and dispatching the
princes of that country, he seized on the most opulent kingdom of
Babylon. Getting possession also ef 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, 1 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 relied 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 Flanders, set out on this expedition in 1177, and
returned in the following year.

528 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK ra
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.— Op the Cause op the Arrival op the Patriarch in England.
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;"1 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,
after 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 : 2 —
" 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 enriploys 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.
2 To be referred to a.d. 1184. Other copies, varying in a few particulars" occur
in Hoveden, fol. 358 ; Rymer, i. 38 ; and in Mansi, Concil. xxii. 475.

530 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book ni.
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.1 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 Patriarch returned 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
1 Eraclius, or Heraclius, was at this 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. — Op the Disagreement 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 intent 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 m.
Chap. XV. — Op the Prerogative of the Land op «erusalem, on account of
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,1
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 fiowed to the farthest ends of the earth — and the
holy land (dreadful to think of) feU 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 ohap. xxx. 34. Vulg

OH. 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 Abraham, 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,1 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 in.
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.1
Moreover, in Leviticus,2 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 because3 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,4 " 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,5 " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell
1 Seo Dout. ix. 4, 5. 2 See Levit. xviii. 3.
3 Twysden's MS. is resumed at this point, having been defective from chap. v.
' Sco Matt. a. 15. 5 Gen. ix. 27

CH. XVI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 535
in the tents of Shem ;" for from Shem sprung the nations of Aa,
but the nations of Europe from Japheth. Therefore, in a manner,
he received a dwelling 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
polluted1 it with unseemly habits and actions. Moreover, the
present natives of this land, whom they called " Pullani," 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. — Op 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
^Picard here refers us to the Historia Orientalis of Jacobus de Vitriaco, cap.
lxxm., for a picture of their vices.

536 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK UI.
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 hneage, 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 oft
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,1 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. — Op the Batile in which the Christian Army perished, and the
King was taken, along with the holy Cross.
Saladin, with eighty thousand cavalry, and more than that, as
it is said, entered the frontiers of the Christians, with greater con-
1 See Isa. xxviii. 15.

CH. XVH.] 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. Tokedin, 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 HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK in.
separated from the other captives, and Saladin ordered them to be
beheaded in his presence, and delighted 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. XVIIL— In what manner Saladin occupied the Land op Promise,
with the Holy 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 [6th 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 fled 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. lxv. 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 Conrad the Marquis fortified Tyre, and op the Death
op the Count op Tripolis.
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 III.
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

OH. 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. — Op the Siege of Tyre, and the Return op the King from
Captivity.
And thus Jerusalem, and all the other cities, except Tyre, 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 OF ENGLAND. [BOOK m.
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. — Op the Death op Pope Urban, and the Appointment oi
Gregory.
While in the East such events came to pass with respect to the
christian people, Urban,1 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 certain 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 ! ' 2 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,
1 Other copies of this Epistle occur in Hoveden's Annals,. a.d. 1187 (Savile,
f. 363, o); Benedict of Peterborough, a.d. 1187; and Mansi, Concii xxii. 527.
2 See Jer. ix. 1.

544 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK UI.
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.'1
" 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
1 See Hosea iv. 1, 2.

CH. 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,1 on the fourth of the kalends of November
[29th Oct. 1187]." 
Chap. XXII. — Op the Death oi Pope Gregory.
This epistle having been sent forth to the world, the same
reverend pontiff, influenced by pious solicitude, 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.2 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-
1 Read, Ferrara.
2 He died at Pisa on the 17th of December, 1187; and two days afterwards was
succeeded by Clement III.

546 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book m.
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 military 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 tlie Kings on taking the Cross.
" In consequence of that lamentable rumour of the destruction
of the territoiy 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

CH. XXin.] 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 im'mense 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,1 or sable, or scarlet; and that all
men, clerks as well as laymen, shall be content with two dishes of
1 Two kinds of expensive furs.

548 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND [book ill.
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. — Or the Exaction op 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 op France, and
op the Death op the King op 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,

CH.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 the1 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 IIL
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 thathe 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 affection 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
him, 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,1 as the
preceding anecdote clearly showed.

Chap. XXVI. — Op the Character op 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,2 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 was 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,3 which is known to have been kept vacant for a long
time, on account of its ample revenues ; yet, in order to expiate
1 That is, among the nuns of Fontevrault.
2 See Book I. chap, xxiii. 3 See Book II. chap. xxii.

552 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK in.
this offence, he made it his study, some years before his death,
to provide for that church the care of a religious 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. — Op the toilsome and protracted Siege op 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 valiant and noble, with many others

554 church historians of England. [bookhi.
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. — Op the Death op "William, King op Sicily, and op 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, haa, 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. xxvm.] 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. — Or the Commencement op the Eeign of King Richard, and op
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, Henry 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 i
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

556 church historians of England. [book it.
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.
i 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
surrounded 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
Do 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 affront 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 stiffnecked 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 would 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.
1 See chaps, vii., viii., ix. and x.

CH. HI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 559
Chap. II. — Op the Appointments to vacant Churches after the coronation
op king Richard.
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 a
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. — Op the Affection op 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;
1 See Book III. chap. xxii.

560 church historians of England. [bookiv.
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. — Of the Successor op Ranulph de Glanville in the Justiciar-
ship op 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 hy 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 King did 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

OH. V.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM 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 him 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 rv*
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
all 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. — Op a certain Prodigy which at that time was seen
in the Atr.
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
1 He embarked at Dovor, 12th Dec. 1189. See Gervase, ap. Decern Scriptt. 1563.

CH.VIi.} 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 public 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 faith ; 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 they seized 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 in
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 da}', 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 op a
certain popular Superstition.
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

CH. 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 fruits 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 op 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 NEWBURGH. 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 having 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
vere 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
fco 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 hving 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. — Op the Destruction op 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 got 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
lifted 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*1
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 kands 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
1 The MS. used by Hearne was defective from this point 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. When 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

CH. XI.] 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 Malbeste, 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 own1 blood, and were by no means defrauded of its
efficacy ; 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. — Op the King's Anger against the Murderers op the Jews.
The act committed at York was soon reported to the king, beyond
the seas, who, after the commotion at London, had granted peace2
and legal security to the Jews within his realm. He was indignant
and enraged, not only on account of the treason against his royal
1 ". . . Tria sicut in Scripturis Baptismata, baptismus aquae, sanguinis et
Elaminis." S. Thoma? Summa, p. 3. q. 66. art. xi. Cone. See also Bellarm. De
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,
Istria, and Venice, and were awaiting with eagerness the approach
of spring.

Chap. XIII. — Op the German 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
Saracensj — that Greek, I say, (as it is reported,) after Jerusalem
was taken, made a treaty with Saladin, that most atrocious enemy
1 Here the hiatus mentioned p. 569, note ' ends.
p p 9

574 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK rv.
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 under 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."1
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. 11—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 1 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 3 of disease. — Such a termina
tion, through the hidden counsels of God, experienced this famous
expedition of the emperor of Germany.
1 This accident happened 10th June, 1190.
2 Frederick, duke of Swabia, died at Acre in 1191.

CH. 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 state 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 1 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 supplied 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
1 Picard thinks this an 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-elect1 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 precentor2 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 humiliated 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 Geoffrey Plantagenet, already mentioned on more than one occasion.
3 Apparently William Testard, who became dean of York in 1214. See
Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 150.

CH. 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,1 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
1 . . . " ipsius pronepotem." . . . Orig.

580 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
caution for a time, he busied himself in prudently gaining over to
his party all whom he could influence, and in eluding artifice by
artifice.

Chap. XV. — The Reasons why the King sent the Archbishop of Rouen
from Sicily into England.
While such things were taking place in England through the
overbearing insolence of an individual, a full account of them,
through the faithful relation of various persons, reached the ears
of the king, during his winter's residence in Sicily ; upon which he
immediately despatched into England Walter, archbishop of Rouen,
a man of prudence and modesty, who was wintering with him ;
appointing him, by the authority of a royal instrument, the asso
ciate and colleague of the chancellor in the management of every
thing, and strictly commanding him that, in this administration,
nothing should be transacted without his concurrence. He also
sent with him Hugh, surnamed Bardulf, a discreet and distinguished
man, to be governor of the province of York, which the chancellor's
brother was ravaging in a barbarous manner. Nevertheless, the
chancellor, in the plenitude of his own confidence, set the royal
mandate at defiance, alleging that he was best acquainted with the
king's intentions, to which he ought to pay more regard than to
sounds devoid of sense, that is, letters surreptitiously obtained.
And when the archbishop alluded to a meditated journey to Can
terbury, to fill up the vacancy in that church, as he had been
instructed by the king, the chancellor, already aspiring to the honour
of that see, quickly divested him of his solicitude in this respect,
furiously threatening that he should quickly repent his presump
tion, should he even attempt to go thither. In consequence of
this, the archbishop of Rouen continued in England without em
ployment. The chancellor, however, not enduring a colleague in
the management of the realm, devoured the kingdom like a raven
ous wild beast. This most audacious man, however, did not long
exercise his tyranny unmolested ; for difficulties gradually sprung
up around him, chiefly through the contrivance and instigation of
John, the king's brother, from the causes before mentioned ; but
the origin of the first commotion against him was as follows.

Chap. XVI. — On what account John, the King's Brother, opposed the
Chancellor.
Gerard de Camville,1 a wealthy nobleman, had purchased
from the king, at a great price, the custody of the castle of Lincoln,
which belonged to his wife by hereditary right, and had also bought
the government of the adjacent province for a certain period. But
while the king was occupied in his Eastern expedition, and hardly
any one expected his return, the chancellor having nearly the whole
of the royal fortresses throughout England in his power, was
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 627, where the statements of the text are confirmed and
illustrated by record evidence.

OH. XVH.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 581
anxious also to have the castle of Lincoln at his disposal ; so,
framing a reason, real or pretended, he first despoiled the aforesaid
Gerard of his government, and shortly after commanded him to
resign the fortress. Pressed by this emergency, he proceeded to
John, and, relying on his favour, set the order at defiance. The
chancellor, indignant, and purposing to besiege the castle, hastily
collected an army from his surrounding provinces ; but as he sus
pected many of the nobility, and justly conjectured that they were
more inclined towards John, he sent for a foreign force, which was
allured by the greatness of his pay. Their arrival, however, was
not awaited by this man, furious and impatient of delay ; for,
entering the city of Lincoln with vast forces, he obstinately laid
siege to the castle, and employed vast labour and expense in the
rapid formation of engines. While he was thus engaged in carry
ing on the siege, John, with his party, suddenly made an attack on
the royal fortresses of Nottingham and Tykehill ; and finding them
slenderly supplied with men and victuals, he carried them at the
end of two days. With increased confidence, he then told the
haughty opponent that he must either raise the siege and depart,
or otherwise be fully prepared to receive his attack immediately.
The chancellor aware that many of the nobility, who were appa
rently on his side, favoured John in their hearts, retreated with
confusion, and learnt, after a few days, that one of his horns was
broken off, that is, that his legatine office was at an end, by the
death of the Roman pontiff.1 Alarmed at this, through the medi
ation of his friends, he held a solemn conference with John, and
made peace with him on what terms he could. Soon after, how
ever, learning that the foreign armament, which he had sent for,
had landed in England, and was approaching, he resumed courage,
and broke the treaty, protesting that either himself or John must
be ousted from England ; implying that such a limited space was
all too small to contain two men so great and so aspiring. At
length, however, peace was concluded between them on new con
ditions ; for (as it is said) he satisfied John by abandoning Arthur's
interest, and gave security to restore the royal fortresses to John,
as the rightful heir, if, perchance, the king should not return from
abroad. After these transactions, John remained quiet for a time ;
but the chancellor, proceeding with his accustomed pride, did not
lay aside the tyrant : for, like another Herod, he feared John alone,
and, hearing him, did many things unwillingly, though it was evident
that he heard him with awe.

Chap. XVII. — Op the Capture op the Archbishop op York, and the Expul
sion of the Chancellor.
In the meantime, Geoffrey, archbishop elect of York, resided
abroad, and, (reversing the established order of things,) previous to
pontifical consecration, he asked and received the metropolitical
ensign, that is, the pall from the Roman pontiff. Moreover, his
consecration, after receiving the pall, was delayed for a considerable
1 Clement III. died about the end of March, 1191. See Ja£fe*, p. 886.

582 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
time, as a number of his enemies, and principally the chancellor
aforesaid, impeded him by various objections. Nevertheless,
through the perseverance of his chaplain, Simon the Apulian, a
man of prudence and learning, he carried his point at last ; and
obtaining a bull from pope Celestine, who had succeeded Clement,
to the archbishop of Tours, to consecrate him, if no appeal or
other impediment should interpose, he was formally consecrated at
Tours, in the month of August,1 in the year one thousand one
hundred and ninety-one from the delivery of the Virgin. When
this was known by his capital enemy, the chancellor, he presently,
in a tyrannical manner, invaded the possessions of the archbishop
of York, by means of his satellites ; and, with the exception of what
could not be carried away, this daring pilferer, or rather plunderer,
swept off the rest. He also commanded the seaports to be care
fully guarded, that the archbishop might not enter England without
molestation, or have access to his church : but he, nevertheless,
approaching boldly, landed at Dover, where, however, he encountered
a greater storm on shore than he had experienced at sea. For the
governor of Dover castle, who had married the chancellor's sister,
forbad his proceeding further after he had landed, and apprized the
chancellor of his arrival with the greatest possible despatch. By no
means dissembling the fury of his irritated mind, he ordered the
archbishop to be stripped of everything, to be dragged from the
monastery of Dover, where he had taken up his temporary
residence, and to be confined in the castle. When the officers
despatched by the tyrant arrived, they plundered his carriages,
baggage, and whatever else belonged either to him or to his
chaplains ; and finding him in the church, they paid neither
reverence to his illustrious rank, nor to the sanctity of the place ;
but violently tearing him from the holy altar, and ignominiously
dragging him from the building, together with his chaplains, they
shut him up in the castle, and truly made him a prisoner. The
report of this enormity, spreading rapidly, and flying, as it were,
upon the wings of the wind, in a short time was prevalent through
out all England. The nobility were indignant with the chancellor,
the commonalty execrated him, and all united in detestation of the
tyrant. John was grievously concerned at the captivity of his
brother, and was inflamed (and most justifiably) with desire, not
only for his liberation, but also to avenge him. In consequence,
he made ready for this purpose, by hastily collecting troops from
every district which belonged to him, as well as a considerable
number from Wales. These were soon after joined by the bishop
of Winchester, very many barons, some earls, and a copious
armament. Nor were the bishops of Bath and Chester 2 wanting
in this business, who but a little before had been the principal
associates and supporters of the chancellor ; but, offended with his
overbearing manners and inordinate pride, together with, or rather
before others, they raged against him both in speech and in action.
The chancellor, however, urged at last by vexation for having
1 Namely, the 18th of Aug. 1191, being the tenth Sunday after Trinity. See
Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 101. 2 Coventry is meant.

CH.XVII.j THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 583
kindled such a flame against himself, through his intemperate
conduct, ordered the captive prelate to be released. On his
liberation he came to London, and received a compensation for the
injurious outrage committed upon him in the abundant kindness
and good offices of various persons ; but the indignation which his
detention had excited in the minds of the prelates and nobility
could not be proportionably allayed by his liberation ; for their
spirits once roused were not to be tranquillized by this kind of
satisfaction ; but the wishes and inclinations of all united in
laudable perseverance to break the horns of this rhinoceros. The
chancellor being of sturdy and inflexible spirit, and forced to
activity by pressing necessity, surrounded his person with an army
of friends and foreign soldiers, and made a stand in a plain, not far
from Windsor, ready to receive the enemy, if, perchance, they
should think proper to advance. Alarmed, however, and terrified
at the number and confidence of the approaching army, he began
to retreat. Soon after, some of the nobility, who appeared to be
on his side, going over to John's party, although he might have
found a safe place of retreat in the adjacent royal fortress of
Windsor, yet, being harassed, and not knowing what to do, and
pressed by the enemy on the rear, he fled with his whole party
to London. Here entering the city, he humbly entreated the
citizens, — -to whom but a little before he had been an object
of dread, — not to desert him in this emergency; but remembering
his former arrogance and brutality, they manifested their favour to
John in preference. Disappointed, therefore, in his hopes, he did
all that remained for him to do, and took shelter from the face of
the approaching foe in the royal Tower with all his adherents, who
were so numerous, that, within the confined space of a single
fortress, their own multitude was far more prejudicial to them than
the valour of the indignant enemy without. The interior of the
Tower rocked with the pressure of the pent-up mass, soon to
disgorge those whom it had taken in to betray, rather than to
defend. At length, after one night, he, who was just before a
rhinoceros, but now a man again, went out to John and the other
assailants, and by his humble address obtained leave for the besieged
to depart. As for himself, after having given up the Tower, as
well as the other royal fortresses throughout England, he proceeded
to Dover, degraded and disgraced, to the husband of his sister.
Here, then, might be contemplated a man, who, a little before,
not content with human greatness, but almost thinking to exalt his
throne above the stars of heaven, and to ascend beyond the clouds,
bore the disgrace of his overthrow in such a manner that even
Sicilian tyrants could not find a greater torment than a mind like
his. Being a bishop, he ought to have retired to the management
of his own cathedral, had his disgrace produced in him a sober
understanding ; yet, on the contrary, after remaining some time at
Dover, he was anxious to go abroad, as if unable to endure his
degradation in England, or certainly for the sake of more freely
planning his schemes of vengeance in another country. Fearing,
however, that he should be arrested, he discovered a stratagem

584 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
of exquisite art, whereby to elude every obstacle. Having long
since put off the episcopal character, both in mind and merit,
he divested himself of the habit also ; and, after the custom of
the effeminate, he adapted most disgracefully to his limbs, which
were not only those of a man, but even of a bishop, a female
dress, a thing never before heard of; and covering his head and
the greater part of his face with a veil, he walked about amidst
the multitude on the shore, like a delicate woman, having a roll of
linen under his left arm, as if for sale, and in his right carrying -a
measure, thinking that through this disguise he should escape all
observation, and that there would be no obstacle to his embarkation
with the rest of the passengers. But being accidentally recognised
and exposed, the veil was torn off, and he was beaten by the
surrounding mob, as a detected cheat, in a very ignominious and
unepiscopal manner. Afterwards, he was brought before the
magistrate of the place, and detained until it should be known
what steps the nobility of the realm would take in this affair.
On learning what had happened, John exulted with the feelings
of an enemy, and was anxious to substantiate some charge for his
further degradation ; but the prelates, justly ashamed that the person
of a bishop should have encountered such a disgrace, laboured with
ecclesiastical energy for his release. He was, therefore, released ;
and outwardly dissembling, as far as he was able, his inward agony,
he went abroad.

Chap. XVIII. — Op the Settlement op the Kingdom after the Chancellor's
expulsion, and his fruitless attempts.
On the expulsion of the tyrant, who had caused the disturbances
in the kingdom, the bishops and nobles, together with John,
assembled at London, and began to deliberate on the settlement of
the kingdom. First of all, having sworn fidelity to king Richard,
(who, for Christ's sake, was on a foreign expedition,) they delivered
the management of the kingdom, by common consent, to the
archbishop of Rouen, the person whom the king had despatched
from Sicily to England for this very purpose ; and having removed
the officers of the late tyrant, they determined on the better
government of the province. Then England received peace in all
her borders, and began under her new masters to be properly
governed; since many of the evils, which had sprung up and
flourished under the tyrant, were cast forth with him, according
to the saying of Solomon, " Cast forth the scorner, and contention
shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease" [Prov. xxii. 10].
Moreover, the persons, by whose laudable activity this security had
been obtained for England, not ignorant of that man's artifices, and
that he would take care to be beforehand and inflame the king,
though so far distant, with lies prepared for his purpose, deemed
it necessary to declare the whole truth of these circumstances to
Richard by letters, attested by the seals of many persons. Again,
it seemed fit to the archbishop of Rouen, who was the principal
manager, and the bishops of the realm, that a pastor should be

CH. XVIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 585
quickly provided for the vacant primacy (to which the tyrant
had aspired, and perhaps did still aspire), in order that his hopes
should be disappointed. The chapter of Canterbury being sum
moned, according to custom, to elect their future metropolitan,
solemnly chose the bishop of Bath, — but, in a short time,1 even
before he was enthroned, he departed this life, and by his decease
revived the dying hopes of the chancellor. Being now resident
abroad, he poured his lamentations into the ears of pope Celestine,
through his emissaries, to the injury and disgrace of the king, who
was in pilgrimage on account of Christ; he bewailed his own
expulsion, and John's invasion of the kingdom ; and being re -ap
pointed legate of the holy see, as he had been under pope Clement,
he obtained a most formidable bull for the coercion of John, and
the restoration of England to its former state. This document,
however, was eluded by the caution of the bishops of England,
and it failed of its effects. Thus, discovering that while John was
adverse to him, nothing could be done, through means of secret
messengers he tampered with him ; and gaining his favour, either
by the actual payment, or promise, of a large sum of money, he
came confidently over to England. Landing at Dover, as soon as
he touched the shore which he had such fatal cause to remember,
as though to wipe off the disgrace which he had there incurred, he
displayed the ensigns of his legation, and shone forth conspicuously.
Still, he proceeded no further, but took up his residence with his
brother-in-law, until he could learn whether his enemies, swayed
either by regal or apostolical dread, would receive him ; as he had
now appeased John, the most formidable of them all. For this
cause he despatched messengers to London, and letters to the queen,
(the king's mother,) who had lately come from Sicily, and was then
accidentally resident at London with the archbishops of Rouen
and York, and her son John, and many others, bishops as well as
nobles. But here he found matters otherwise than he hoped.
For when John dissembled with all possible caution his collusion
with him, the truth was discovered from his irresolute conduct ;
and having been reproached for it by his mother and the rest, he
yielded at length, and subscribed to the general decree. In conse
quence, the whole of them, together with the queen, sending men of
influence to the chancellor, commanded him, with threats, quickly
to depart from the shores of England, for he was the disturber of
the kingdom, and a public foe. At length, terrified and confounded,
he retired and held his peace, groaning until a proper season.
But since, in our late narration, we have been relating how the
affairs of England stood during the king's pilgrimage abrbad, we
now come to particularize the events of his foreign expedition, as
we have heard them from those who were present.
1 Reginald Fitz-Josceline, bishop of Bath, was elected archbishop of Canter
bury, 27th Nov. 1191, but he died on the Christmas-day following. Hardy's Le
Neve, i. 130.

586 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book it.
Chap. XIX. — Of the Progress op the Kings prom Sicilt, and the Diffi
culties op the Christian Army at Acre.
While the illustrious kings of France and England were winter
ing in the island of Sicily, with the intention of pursuing their
journey in the spring, queen Eleanor (forgetful of her advanced
age, and thinking nothing either of the length or difficulty of the
undertaking, or the severity of the winter, when led on, or rather
forcibly attracted by maternal affection) came from the extremity
of the earth to her son in Sicily, bringing with her, as his destined
wife, the daughter of the king of Navarre, a lady of distinguished
beauty and modesty. It appeared to be quite as idle as unusual
to think of pleasure amid warlike preparations, and shortly after to
take with him to the wars the wife he had espoused. Still, this
circumstance was palliated in a youthful prince, not only on the
score of utility, but also of prudence. For, even at such a junc
ture, when he had no son to succeed him, it was useful to provide
issue ; and as he was frail by reason of his time of life, and his
luxurious mode of living, and exposed to danger for the sake of
Christ, he was wise in adopting such counsel as furnished him
with a competent remedy against the crying sin of fornication. So
he married the princess who came with his mother, purposing that
she should accompany him amid the perils of the ocean, and of
the battle, together with his own sister,1 a noble widow, the relict
of the illustrious William, formerly king of Sicily. She had sold
absolutely to king Tancred the very ample property of her noble
husband, which she possessed in Sicily or Calabria, under the title
of dower, in order that she might accompany her brother, and had,
by these means, vastly increased his treasures.
At length, the long-expected month of March arrived : the sea
was calm, the sky serene. A vast concourse of Christians, who
had left their homes ere winter began, and. passed that season in
different provinces, purposing to proceed into Syria, now embarked
with joy and alacrity. The aforesaid kings also weighed anchor
with their forces, — the king of France preceding the king of Eng
land, who designed to follow him in a few days. He arrived, after a
prosperous voyage, in Syria, about the octaves of Easter [April 1st],
and, with all his troops, joined the christian army, which (as it has
been said above) had now for nearly the space of two years laid
siege to the city of Ptolemais. The spirit of this army, which was
employed on a matter of such importance, and for so long a time
had been exposed to the open air, was as laudable as astonishing, as
well as its perseverance. It was blunted neither by accident, nor
peril, nor inconveniences, nor labours, from driving their most
atrocious enemies to the destruction they deserved. This city,
which had formerly been advanced by the Christians to the highest
pitch of celebrity, and was of considerable strength, after it had
fallen into the hands of the most impious Saladin (in which, in
proportion as his efforts were small, so much more manifest was
1 This was Joanna, born A.D. 1165, who married first, William II. of Sicily, and
secondly, Raimond VI. of Tolouse. She died in September, 1199.

CH. XIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 587
the judgment of God,) had many additional and stronger walls
erected for its defence at the prudent and lavish expense of the
same tyrant, as though it was to receive the first attack of the
Christians. All its defenders were chosen men, and there was
not a cowardly or feeble person within it ; and if it happened that
any one was incapacitated for service, he was immediately changed.
On account of the harbour, which lay close to the city, being pos
sessed by the Pagans, the assailing Christians could not prevent
them from getting every necessary supply, by seizing the oppor
tunity of favourable winds and seasons. The besiegers exhausted
their art and money in vain in the formation of different kinds of
engines ; for when advanced to the walls, they were consumed by
the enemy by a species of fire which is called Greek. Fire of this
composition is said to be of singular power, and not even to yield
to the opposing element of water. Again, the city possessed abund
ant supplies, while frequently our army suffered from extreme
want ; for our people, in consequence of the Turkish army keeping
perpetual watch, and preventing all egress, were unable to make
excursions into the adjacent region, for the sake of obtaining forage
and sustenance for the army. This extensive christian force, there
fore, was supported solely by supplies brought by sea ; and when
these, through any accident, became scarce, it wasted away with
the pangs of hunger. So great a number perished daily, through
want or disease, that the army sensibly diminished, and appeared as
though it must shortly be totally consumed. Still, by God's pro
vidence, the multitude was not even moderately lessened, though
subjected to such a considerable daily diminution ; for even greater
numbers than those, who every day were taken to eternal rest from
their labour in Christ's service, came out of the christian districts,
and Christ, by calling away the veterans, so renovated His army by
a fresh supply of soldiers, that the gain exceeded the loss. More
over, certain domestic evils, at the suggestion of the devil, were
serviceable to the enemy, in proportion to their increase among
our party. For Guy, formerly king of Jerusalem, and the marquis
of Mont Ferrat, disagreeing from the cause before mentioned,
had joined the army, and settled themselves in places distinct from
each other, as divided, indeed, in place as in inclination. Even
during the heat of the siege they had drawn many followers after
them ; insomuch, that while many of the chiefs espoused different
sides, the holy order of Hospitallers of Jerusalem became split into
two parties according to their several feelings. From this opposition
among the leaders the army became less effective, and the christian
cause made but little progress. Again, it is said that the infection
of avarice had tainted some of our princes, sums of money being
clandestinely sent to them by Saladin, to tempt them to relax their
efforts at the time when they would have been most efficient.
Such causes, therefore, combined in operating against the design
in view ; our army exhausted its efforts in vain for a considerable
time in attempting the subjugation of this city. But the king of
France, arriving with a fresh supply, increased the confidence of
the desponding ; and after that time they applied to the business
VOL. IV. Q Q

588 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOKrv.
with greater energy and exertion. At length, the king of France
more zealously favouring the marquis, and declaring that the person
who had saved only a remnant was preferable, in point of govern
ing the christian state, to him who had destroyed it, for a time
weakened the party who adhered to Guy.

Chap. XX. — By what Means the King op England obtained possession of
the Island of Cyprus.
The king of England having continued some days in Sicily after
the departure of the king of France, at length trusted himself with
his forces, and a far greater retinue, to the deceitful winds, having
in his company a great number of galleys, as well as ships of
burthen ; for he had not been indolent during his winter sojourn,
but had employed that leisure season in collecting the necessary
supplies for his army, and in completing engines for the war. By
the predeterminate provision of God, however, as it afterwards
appeared, a sudden tempest drove the shattered fleet on the island
of Cyprus, as if that it might be reassembled by the faithful and
safe hospitality of its christian inhabitants, and be soothed by their
attentions. But they encountered a greater tempest in the port
which they had wished for, than on the raging ocean ; for the
tyrant who had now for many years oppressed this island with his
barbarous sway, and had there usurped the title of emperor — being
in league with Saladin, the enemy of the christian race, and,
though called a Christian, more faithful to him than to Christ —
hastened forward with his army; and seizing the first who came
into port, more cruel than the waves which had driven them thither,
he treated them with barbarity; and when he had despoiled them
of all their effects, he hardly deemed them worthy of life. Some
also he shut up in prison, to be consumed by hunger; threatening,
with terrific voice, to treat the king, who was shortly expected, in
the same manner. Aware of this circumstance, and justly roused
to vengeance, he entered the harbour with all his fleet. The tyrant
was ready to receive him, and the battle began with fury on either
side. The Greek effeminacy, however, could not long withstand
the impetuosity of the Latins. The tyrant was overcome, and,
while attempting to fly, fell into the hands of the enemy; his army
was dispersed, and the city adjoining the port was taken. The king,
at first, was inclined to treat the tyrant with lenity ; and on his
promising whatever might be demanded for his release, he entered
into covenant with him, and gave him his liberty; but when set at
liberty he violated the treaty, and added perfidy to his former
atrocities. Repenting of his ill-timed clemency, the king deter
mined on seeking out, and hunting down the renegade. He in
vain attempted to collect his force and assemble his army, and fled
from the face of his pursuer ; but, at length, he was found by the
king in a certain monastery, where he lay concealed, for he was
betrayed by some of the islanders, by whom he was deservedly
hated ; and then he was seized, and confined with the chains which
he so richly deserved. When orders were given to put fetters on

¦OH. XXL] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 589
him, he is reported to have said, that if bound with iron chains he
should expire. To which the king replied, " He speaks well : and
as he is of noble race, I do not wish him to die : but, however,
that he may live without doing mischief, let him be bound in silver
chains." Soon after, the whole island, harassed by his barbarous
conduct, voluntarily submitted to the rule and service of king
Richard, resigning to him all the cities and fortresses, as well as the
tyrant's ample treasures, together with his only daughter. Having
prosperously concluded the affair, he celebrated with great pomp
this conquest, with his victorious troops, during several days in his
newly-acquired kingdom ; carefully devoting these magnificent
spoils to the furtherance of the christian expedition.
These matters were not concealed from the christian army which
was besieging Ptolemais, and which anxiously awaited his arrival; but
the report of his glorious enterprise, which demanded congratula
tion rather than blame, excused his unavoidable delay. Continuing,
however, rather more than two months in Cyprus, and arranging
matters of great importance in so short a period, he summoned his
high-spirited forces to embark for Syria. Therefore, having put
the island into that fitting state which his inclinations and the
nature of the case required, and having properly settled all things,
he went out of the harbour with favouring winds ; and, as he was
hastening in a straight course for Ptolemais, he espied, at a distance,
a vessel of very great burthen, which had been despatched by
Saladin to carry copious supplies to the besieged of that city. On
finding this to be the case, he ordered her to be attacked. But
when, on account of the enormous magnitude, and the valour or
her crew — who fought, as it were, from a lofty citadel — she could
not easily be taken, a quick mode of conquering her was sought by
the king's command, though with the loss of her cargo ; for, by a
certain contrivance, she was bored through under water. Thus, the
sea having been secretly let in through the apertures, she gradually
subsided with the weight, and at length sunk to the bottom, with
all her lading ; the whole cargo was thus lost, with part of her
crew — the remainder, by leaping on board the enemies' ships, wisely
preferred trusting themselves to the foe, rather than the deep — the
royal fleet, also, with safety and with exultation, reached the
wished-for shore.

Chap. XXI. — Op the Causes op the Difference which arose between the
Kings at Acre.
The illustrious king of England, departing from Cyprus, after
Pentecost [13th May], landed a few days before the festival of St.
John the Baptist [24th June], with all his forces at Ptolemais
(now commonly called Acre), and there he was received by all the
chiefs and the whole army with a degree of joy proportionable to
the anxiety with which he had been looked for. His surpassing
glory, however, had already begun to vex the king of France, and
he could with difficulty 'conceal the venomous workings of his soul
on beholding himself far inferior in strength and resources ; while
Q <**• 2

590 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
Richard, from the extent of his force and wealth, and the cele
brity of his successes, was proudly conspicuous above him, and
more favourably regarded by the army ; and whatever was now to
be carried into effect, seemed to be only awaiting his pleasure.
"Lord Jesu, sower of good, didst Thou not sow good seed in the
hearts of these two princes, as in thine own field ? whence, then,
had that field of thine tares so soon ? surely an enemy hath done
this — the enemy of mankind, envious of the zealous purpose of
the christian people, and desirous of frustrating such great labours
undertaken in Thy service. The good seed of holy fervency, which
Thine hand had sowed in the hearts of princes, to make them for
Thy sake relinquish the most opulent kingdoms, and exchange on
Thine account the luxuries of a palace for labours and perils, have
been overpowered by the pestilential tares of rivalry and conten
tion, by which such good seed, and sown by a hand so good, might
be rendered barren and unfruitful. Thou Lord, indeed, justly hast
permitted this ; but the cause of such permission rests with Thee ! "
Therefore (as it has been premised), when the king of England,
nobly triumphant, had joined the siege from Cyprus, presently the
seeds of dissension manifestly sprung up, at the instigation of the
devil, between him and the king of France, who was already sore
at his successes. For the king of France, according to the tenor
of the covenant solemnly ratified between them, previous to their
entrance on the expedition, namely, that they would equally divide
all their acquisitions, demanded a moiety of the profits of Cyprus,
as well in things immoveable as moveable, as belonging to himself
by manifest right. To this the king of England rejoined, that a
moiety of all things which they might acquire by their joint efforts
belonged to him by virtue of their treaty ; but that as he had gained
Cyprus by his own exertions, he ought not to require that, in the
acquisition of which he had not expended the slightest degree of
labour. To this he added, that when they undertook this expe
dition, their only design was to attack the Saracens, and, by God's
assistance, to wrest from them as much as possible ; and in pur
suance of such an intention was the treaty of division formed :
moreover, that he had not gone to a christian island intentionally,
but had accidentally turned aside thither for the purpose of avenging
an atrocious and flagrant outrage. In this manner these two
potentates differed ; and, indeed, the king of England altogether
refused the king of France a share of the booty he had taken ;
while the king of France accused the king of England of violating
the treaty, and breaking the covenant.
Again : another cause of dissension arose between them. The
king of France arriving first at the siege, as it has been stated, had
assisted with a greater share of his influence Conrad the marquis,
against Guy, formerly king of Jerusalem ; and when, after his un
avoidable delay in Cyprus, the king of England at length arrived,
the king of France endeavoured to bring him over to his senti
ments ; alleging that the preserver of even the trifling remains of
the christian nation, was preferable to the destroyer of the christian
kingdom. The king of England, however, more inclined to Guy's

CH. xxn.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 591
party, as he was an Aquitanian, whose whole kindred were in the
service of the king of England, did not accede to this pro
posal. And he further alleged, in his defence, that he had lost,
not betrayed, the christian realm ; for that he had not abandoned
it to the enemy, either through his own fault, or negligence, or
inactivity; but that others shamefully betraying it, he had lost
it without blame on his part ; being himself both betrayed and
ruined, together with his kingdom, and most nefariously delivered
over by his own people into the hands of the enemy; but, through
God's favour, he was liberated. Either, therefore, let his guilt in
this respect be made manifest, or else let the dignity be continued
to him which he did not deserve to lose.
The king of France was much hurt that his sentiments were not
approved by the king of England, and that by this means they
were even shaken ; and at that time, as he could not effect his pur
pose, he continued silent for a season. This dissension, however,
fomented greater strife and hatred; and when the party of Guy
seemed to prevail, through the favour of the king of England, the
marquis Conrad, fearing the king's power, returned with his ad
herents to Tyre. And now, truly, after the arrival of the king of
England, the christian army prevailed against the blockaded city, and
within thirty days nobly completed a work of such long continuance,
and such difficulty; and this was accomplished principally through
the zealous and powerful exertions of king Richard.

Chap. XXII. — Of the Storming of Acre, and the premature Departure op
the King of France.
The celebrated city of Ptolemais, now called Acre, after having
employed the assailing Christians with vast and continual labour,
was at length carried by storm in the one thousand one hundred
and ninety-first year from the delivery of the Virgin, on the fourth
of the ides of July [12th July], and in the fourth year after it had
fallen into the hands of the Turks. At the last its truly valiant
defenders, when its walls were giving way to the engines of the
Christians, and they saw the enemy on the eve of storming it, pro
vided for their personal security, which was all they could do, and
covenanted with our princes for the safety of their lives ; pro
mising that the life-bestowing cross should be honourably restored,
and accompanied by fifteen hundred christian captives, and a large
sum of money. To this emergency of his people, Saladin (who
was not far distant with a numerous army, but was unable to assist
them) gave his sanction ; and to carry these stipulations into effect,
a certain day was appointed with the Christians. In consequence,
the city being immediately surrendered, the christian army entered
it with joy and solemn thanksgiving — a vast store of arms and
goods of various kinds were found in the place, an abundance of
provisions, and some treasure ; but the persons who had for a long
time bravely defended the place, and at last had reluctantly given
it up, were detained in expectation of the day appointed by
Saladin.

592 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK fv.
At this juncture the king of France, branding himself with the
stigma of cowardice in the hour of battle, determined to return to
his own country; openly alleging the inconvenience which he ex
perienced from the heat, and his inability to breathe the atmosphere
of that country. This measure was extremely disagreeable to the
christian army generally, and seemed unbecoming the character of
so great a prince, more especially as many persons interpreted his
departure in a different manner, and, probably, more consistently
with truth. Moreover, Philip, the illustrious count of Flanders,
who, with other faithful Christians, had joined the expedition into
Syria, had there ended l the labours of his pious warfare, a little
before the capture of the city; and as the king appeared to covet
the possessions of Flanders thus vacated, it was believed that he
falsely condemned the unhealthiness of a foreign atmosphere, in
order that he might have a decent pretext for his departure. It was
also asserted, that he could not, without an evil eye and galled mind,
behold the resplendent glory of the king of England, whose power,
from the great insufficiency of his means, he was incapable of
equalling ; more especially as all that had been already done was
principally ascribed to him; and from this he came to the conclu
sion, that whatever should be achieved in future by the christian
army in the East would rather be attributed to Richard, as the
more powerful, than to himself. So, though he was not ignorant
of what people both thought and said of him, still, nevertheless,
he obstinately prepared for his departure. The king of England,
however, on account of their recent disagreement, distrusting his
good intentions, demanded, and received from him a security on
oath, in the presence of persons of honour, as it is said, to the
effect that he would abstain from injuring his territories or subjects
until his return.
Thus the noble king of France, prematurely leaving the christian
army, though he had lately joined it, took ship and departed within
fifteen days after the capture of the city, to the great disgrace of his
French subjects. Very many of them, indeed, who were unwilling
to forsake him, departed with him ; but the duke of Burgundy, the
count of Champagne, and those of the highest rank, from a con
sideration of their own character and feelings, or else to wipe
off the disgrace of their liege lord, resolved to continue in the Holy
Land, and to employ themselves in this sacred service for a season
longer. And, indeed, it is said, that on his departure he com
manded these persons to support the marquis's party, and, as often
as opportunity should present itself, to thwart the king of England;
and this command they certainly carried into effect afterwards,
either out of regard to the royal mandate, or through their own
petulance and malignity. On this account the christian enterprise
was less able to prosper, while the Christians acted with so little
sincerity and concord.
After the king had departed from Ptolemais, and by favourable
gales had reached Italy, he went to the Roman pontiff, and (as it is
said) with great importunity requested absolution from a certain
1 Philip d'Alsaoe had been killed at the siege of Acre, 1st June, 1191.

CH. XXIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 593
oath by which he declared he was involuntarily bound. This
subtle request was suspended for a short time by the still more
subtle pontiff, who, being soon after informed of the whole trans
action, by some persons who had arrived from Syria, observed,
" From that oath which you swore to the king of England for the
preservation of peace until his return, which, as a christian prince,
you ought to maintain without an oath, we by no means grant you
absolution ; but approving its rectitude and utility, we confirm it
by our apostolical authority." Thus detected in his craft, and
more straitly bound than he had come, he sought his country
with dishonour : and it was commonly reported among the French,
by certain inventors of falsehood, hereby thinking to palliate
their king's return, that the king of England, by insidiously and
wickedly seeking his life, had compelled him to depart prematurely,
in opposition to his intention.

Chap. XXIII. — Op the Transactions of our People in Syria after the
Departure of the King of France.
The king of France having thus retired from Syria, as has been
related, the king of England refreshed the harassed army with
necessary repose in the captured city ; yet he was not indolent in this
relaxation, for even then he was anxiously employed in repairing
the wall, which had been battered by the engines. At length the
day arrived, appointed by Saladin, in which were expected the
resignation of the holy cross, and the promised exchange of
prisoners ; but while he deluded our people with vain expectations,
the king of England, fired with just zeal, as the covenant was not
observed on the part of Saladin, ordered about two thousand six
hundred of the captives to be beheaded, who, on the capture of the
city, were detained under the terms of the agreement ; for with
prudent care he had reserved such as were more noble. At this
measure the indignation of the Turks raged furiously against their
king, that he should ungratefully and perfidiously expose to the
devouring sword those chosen youths, who at their own peril had
most strenuously laboured for his sake. At length, the spirits of
those who had charge- of the fortresses were so worn down and
broken, from fear of this example, that the tyrant, having no one to
whom he could entrust his fortresses, (as nearly all excused them
selves on account of the late signal vengeance thus inflicted,)
ordered them, as if not knowing what measures to take, to be
demolished. In consequence, fortifications, impregnable by any
force or engine, were daily demolished and deserted throughout all
the province. Indeed, after the departure of the king of France,
the army of the Lord began by degrees to dwindle away ; for many
thousands of those who had come first to the siege of Ptolemais,
having exhausted their substance, and being without resources for
a longer continuance, determined, more through necessity than
inclination, to return home. Numbers, also, though abounding in
every necessary, departed, either enervated by the continuance

594 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
of labour, the fear of danger, or the sole example of the king
of France.
At this time the king of England, opening his treasures, invited,
by liberal rewards, many nobles and princes of the army to continue
with their troops in the service of the Lord ; such as by a long ex
tended continuance had consumed the supplies which they had
brought with them ; and by disclosing their wants, reasonably pro
posed their return to their own country. Of this number was the
duke of Austria, of the German empire, who afterwards (forgetful of
so great a service, and too mindful of some petty injury) laid his
wicked hands upon the king, whose stipendiary he had been, while
on his return home, as will be shown in its place. The duke of
Champagne, also, was of the number ; who, from the renown of his
surpassing valour, afterwards obtained the supremacy over the
christian conquests, as will be explained in due course.
At length, the walls of the captured city being repaired and
the army sufficiently refreshed, the king of England, in the month
of September (for now nearly the whole army was completely under
his command), determined to march to the other maritime cities.
In consequence, the christian troops proceeded with regularity and
caution. A numerous Turkish force, under the conduct of Saladin,
watched their march at no great distance, declining any hazardous
issue of battle, but suddenly attacking their rear, and retreating
after having gained an advantage ; for they are a race of men
of singular dexterity in annoyance, and accustomed to fight as much
by subtlety as by force. Our army, therefore, after encountering
considerable fatigue and danger, arrived at Caesarea, a noble metro
polis when inhabited by the Christians, but at that time solitary
and desolate from hostile devastations ; and after a moderate rest
here, it proceeded with spirit on its destined march ; and when, as
the vanguard had advanced and was taking a position at Assur,
Saladin, watching an opportunity, attacked their rear with all his
forces. But our troops, being drawn up quickly in four companies,
bravely received the shock of the assailants, and, through God's in
terference, compelled them, with all their tremendous forces, to fly
disgracefully ; and upon that day, which was the seventh of the
ides of September [7th Sept.], such a dreadful carnage was there
made of the Turkish nobles as Saladin, it is said, during forty years
preceding, had never experienced in one day. Here fell of our
party James de Aveniis, a man conspicuously eminent, and, from
his surpassing excellence, most justly dear to all the christian army,
of which he had been the noble pillar for several years, and from
his zealous and resolute perseverance in his pious design had never,
in the slightest degree, tarnished his reputation. His praiseworthy
devotion was recompensed by Divine remuneration, for he died
gloriously in the service of Almighty God ; and as it is just to
believe, he exchanged, by the agency of a short suffering, his tem
poral for eternal felicity. The king of England, as well as the
whole army, lamented him extremely, as a veteran called away by
the King of angels.
Thence proceeding as far as Joppa, long since evacuated of its

CH.XXIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 595
christian inhabitants by barbarous incursions, and at that time left
and abandoned by the enemy, on seeing the fitness of the place,
Richard began to restore it with all his efforts; but Saladin, hearing
that he proposed laying siege to Ascalon, suddenly demolished that
most noble city, though far more strongly fortified than Ptolemais,
which had occupied the christian army for so long a period : so great
was his dread of the christian army after the recent havoc of his
people, and so much had the late example of those who had fallen
into the hands of the Christians at Ptolemais wrought upon the
minds of the Turks. He also levelled to the ground the remain
ing cities and fortresses of that country, with the exception of the
Holy City, and a very few castles ; and by sacrificing all its sub
stance, he rendered the whole province useless to his enemies.
Nor did he, for a long time, attempt any enterprise by open attack ;
but annoyed the enemy by stratagem, and by perpetually concealing
his artifices. Our party, too, after such a propitious commence
ment, could no longer effect anything great or memorable on
account of the internal discord which consumed it : for the chiefs
did not agree together, but differed with invidious rivalry ; nor
could they consult for the general good, as they adopted opposite
measures, from the diversity of their sentiments. So Conrad the
marquis, and the prince of that most noble and impregnable city 01
Tyre, in conjunction with the duke of Burgundy and the French
nobility, with their subject forces, opposed the king of England,
who espoused the party of Guy, formerly king of Jerusalem ; but
the king, relying on his spirit and power, exasperated, by the
ferocity of his indignant mind, those very persons whom he might,
perhaps, have attached to him by mildness. In consequence
of this, as our army was not unanimous, and differences prevailed,
the business of this mighty expedition was brought to a stand, and
made no progress whatever.

Chap. XXIV. — Of the Assassination of the Marquis Conrad.
The contention between these two rivals after a shadowy king
dom, conducted with equal and unnecessary acrimony, after having
excited numerous commotions in the army of the Lord, was at
length laid to rest by the interposition of the common lot of all.
For the queen of Jerusalem, who (as it has been before fully related)
had most inauspiciously married the aforesaid Guy," by her death
at length imposed silence on him, as his claim arose merely from
his marriage with her. The marquis, also, being infamously taken
off by assassins, ceased to affect the kingdom. Two of these mur
derers, despatched by some unknown evil-disposed person, had for
a considerable time been in his service as soldiers, perpetually
watching an opportunity for the commission of their crime, though
even at their own peril. Having found this, when as his familiars
they were near his person, they suddenly attacked him, and draw
ing out their concealed daggers, they despatched this most illustrious
man, in the midst of his own city, when he was attended by
a smaller retinue than usual.

596 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK rv.
It is reported, that there is a certain race of men in the East
living under the control of a powerful Saracen (whom they call
the Old Man), who are subservient and so seducible to their own
destruction, that lured and enticed by this man, whom they regard
in the light of a prophet, by the most artful devices of fallacious
promises, they believe they shall attain to eternal bliss after death,
if they obey his commands during their lifetime. This man, when
either under apprehension or suffering any present attack from a
powerful chief, sends assassins of this description suborned for his de
struction to make away with his enemy. These persons, hastening
with joy to death as to a solemn banquet, have no other ambition, or
object of pursuit, than to seize the opportunity for the perfect com
pletion of their orders, exposing themselves to certain peril, and
even dying in the assassination of their destined enemy. On
account of these people, more especially, the Eastern princes defend
themselves with a more watchful guard, and suffer none save
their nearest relations to approach them, except when surrounded
with their body-guards ; but since these desperadoes have fre
quently, when not strictly watched, darted through the thickest
guard, to despatch an illustrious victim, none of the potentates of
that land ever forcibly demanded tribute or obedience from the
Old Man, or presumed in any way whatever to disturb his quiet.
The Templars alone, during the prosperity ofthe Christians in Syria,
being contemners of death, dared to attack him, and compeUed him
to yield submission by treaty. For he knew that little was effected
if by means of his emissaries he could dispatch any of the
masters of that order, as they would immediately elect another,
and would rage more bitterly for revenge for him whom they had
lost. It is believed that they were persons of that most hateful
race who, not fearing death in the attempt, assassinated the prince
of Tyre, aforesaid, by artifice and hostility; for when seized and
strictly examined by whose authority or instigation they had thus
acted, being prepared and glad to die, they confessed nothing that
could be relied on or believed. It is still unknown, therefore, who
contrived a death of this kind for this most illustrious man ; but,
on account of his recent dispute with the king of England, many
persons were inclined to censure the king on this subject; and
the French, who were on the marquis's side, were his principal
defamers, and raised great obloquy against him, concerning the
murder of this illustrious man, nearly throughout the whole of the
Western world.1

Chap. XXV. — How the King op France attributed the Death op the
Marquis to the King of England j and of the Meeting at Paris.
As soon as the accident which had befallen the marquis became
known to the king of France, he lamented the unworthy fate of his
friend, but he joyfully seized the occasion to defame the king of
1 Two letters, professing to be written by the "Vetus de Monte," for the
purpose of exonerating Eichard from this charge, may be seen in the Feed. i.
01, 62.

CH. XXV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 597
England, which compensated for his grief; for although he was
resident in his own territories, at such a distance from Syria, he
either groundlessly feared Richard, who was then abiding in the
East, or, rather in order to increase prejudice towards him, he pre
tended to be in fear of his attempts ; and, as if assassins suborned
by him were on the watch, he never went abroad unless surrounded
by an armed guard, contrary to the custom of his ancestors. So
far was this carried, that it is reported that some persons who
approached too near, from their accustomed familiarity, were in
danger from their temerity ; and when many persons wondered at
this novelty in the king, in order that he might satisfy them on the
subject, and inflame his people against the king of England, he
assembled a council of his prelates and nobility at Paris. Here he
alleged many things against the king as facts, and, among others,
he asserted that he had most villanously despatched that most
illustrious man by cruel assassins ; and he produced letters trans
mitted to him (as he said) by certain persons of consequence,
wherein he was admonished to be most cautiously on his guard,
knowing that the king of England had already dispatched persons
from the East to lay plots for his life. " Wherefore," said he, " no
one ought to wonder that I take more than usual care of myself,
but still, if you think it unbecoming or superfluous, decide for its
removal." He added also, that it was his earnest desire quickly to
avenge the injuries which he himself had received from this mani
fest traitor. To these things many replied with adulation, that
what he had done for his personal safety, and what he had purposed
doing for vengeance, were equally just and honourable : but the
more prudent said, " The caution, O king, with which, perhaps,
you over- carefully guard against uncertain accidents we do not
blame ; but we by no means approve your purpose of ill-timed
vengeance. For even if those things be true which are said of the
king of England, still we ought not to act with petulance and pre
cipitation; but with due respect for what is honourable, let us wait
for the return home of one who is in foreign lands for Christ's sake.
If on his return he shall be able either to clear himself from his ac
cusation, or be inclined to make satisfaction for his delinquencies,
well and good ; but if not, then will be the time to seek vengeance,
taking justice as your companion ; — but if our suggestion be not
approved, let the Roman pontiff be consulted on these matters,
and his decision, as is proper, be awaited, who hath sanctioned,
under pain of a heavy censure, the abstinence from such things as
belong to the present pilgrims." By such an address, these well-
disposed persons, with the assistance of sober reason, repressed
for a time his mad impetuosity from invading the territories of the
absent king. Therefore he remained quiet for a season ; but still,
in this extorted rather than voluntary state of tranquillity, he
desisted not from savage machinations against England and her
king, by endeavouring artfully to rekindle the quarrel, long since
extinguished, between the English and their ancient enemies the
Danes. This truly malignant plot, however, by God's gracious
interference, was not injurious to the English, though it stained its

598 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
author with everlasting infamy. This matter is notorious ; and,
from the celebrity of the person, published throughout the
world.

Chap. XXVI. — How the King of France married the Sister of the Kino
of Denmark, and how he repudiated her.
So the king of France, sending persons of distinction to the
king of Denmark, solemnly demanded in marriage his sister,
a princess of most exemplary character. The king of Denmark
received the ambassadors with great respect, and willingly assented
to their request, by the counsel of his nobility. "And what,"
said he, " does your lord require for dowry ? " They replied, as
they had been instructed : " The ancient right of the king of Den
mark in the kingdom of England ; and, to obtain this, the fleet
and army of Denmark for a year." He rejoined, "Your king re
quests a difficult thing ; but still I will consider whether it ought
to be granted." When he had privately consulted the chiefs of
his kingdom on this subject, they answered, " We have plenty of
employment against the Pagans 1 and Vandals, our near neighbours;
shall we, therefore, neglecting them, commence hostilities against
the English, an unoffending christian nation, involving ourselves in
twofold peril ? For if we attack the English, we expose our terri
tories to the most savage barbarians who are near to us ; besides
this, the English nation is great and valiant, and powerful in
resources ; and is deemed competent to defend both its safety and
liberty against all external violence. Let the king of France, then,
seek, if he will, some other grant under the title of dowry, since
you, O king, ought not to procure an honourable alliance for your
sister at the peril of your country."
This sober advice met the king's approbation, and he ordered
the ambassadors to declare if they had any other proposition to
make ; but they, on the failure of their primary request, asked for
ten thousand marks of silver. To this the high-spirited king
replied, " The king of France now makes a very small request
indeed from the king of Denmark, considering the circumstances
and persons : we graciously accede to it, and will quickly gratify his
wishes." Then, having entered into treaty, and received the oath
of the ambassadors for the completion of the covenant, he de
livered the lady 2 to them, provided with the required sum ; and
also sent some distinguished persons of his court to attend her
into France. The king of France met her at Amiens, and there,
when solemnly united to him by the nuptial tie, he took her to his
bed. It is said that after one night only of nuptial intercourse, he
1 The heathen inhabitants of Livonia and Esthonia, for whose reduction the
order of the Teutonic knights was founded. In 1193, the year of the marriage
of his sister with Philip Augustus, Cnut made an inroad into the provinces just
named. See Lacombe, Hist, du Nord, i. 136.
' This was Ingeburga, the daughter of Waldemar I., and the sister of Cnut VI.,
kings of Denmark. She was married in 1193, and died in 1236. After having
Hved together for two months and three weeks, Philip repudiated her, upon
the plea that she was related to his former wife, queen Isabella ; but Celestine III.
interfered, and annulled the divorce. See Jaffe', p. 901.

OH. XXVH.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 599
put her away from him, though the cause of his dislike is not
known ; thus openly committing an act not only decidedly un
lawful, but also highly unbecoming the royal character. Various
causes, indeed, are assigned for this disgraceful levity. Some affirm
that it was on account of her unpleasant breath ; others, that he
repudiated her from some secret infirmity, or because he did not
find her a virgin. Surely, such causes as these are inadequate
and insufficient to break the bonds of christian wedlock. Still,
though the ground of this precipitate divorce be unknown, yet is
it well known that he who dug the pit fell into it : that is, he was
that person, who, (under the pretext of wedlock, impiously thirsted
after the blood of an inoffensive and christian nation,) by the
manifest judgment of God, reaped nothing but eternal disgrace
from these nuptials. And in order that he might put a fair face
on his foul conduct, and, at least, dissolve the contract of his
nuptial league among men, wliich he was unable to do before God,
he caused it to be insinuated, by crafty representations to the
Roman pontiff, that, by some inadvertence, he had been married to
his near relation, and demanded a release from his unlawful union.
But the pope appointed judges from the kingdom of the com
plainant, and bound them by a strict oath, that in this business
they would proceed according to the clear sense of the canon law.
Nevertheless, these persons, unjustly favouring their sovereign, pro
nounced a divorce ; the supposed affinity being sanctioned by the
execrable perjuryof two false bishops; that is to say, those of Beau-
vais and of Chartres. The perjured bishop of Beauvais,1 when
afterwards delivered into the hands of the king of England, by the
judgment of God, found him a very competent minister in the in
fliction of Divine vengeance. The bishop of Chartres,2 who, from
his dissolute manners, has but little of the bishop about him, still
survives, by the long-suffering of God, that he may compensate the
delay of his punishment by its abundant measure. Thus, the king of
France, legally freed, in the face of the church, from his detested
marriage, soon after aspired to another union ; which, however, he
did not accomplish, as will be related in its place.3

Chap. XXVII. — On what Account it was that the Archbishop of York hurled
the Sentence op Excommunication against the Bishop of Durham.
About this time Geoffrey, archbishop of York, and Hugh, bishop
of Durham, seeking their own too vehemently, and the things
of Christ too negligently, fell at variance, to their great and grievous
scandal : the one that he might be superior, the other that he
might not be inferior — but neither that he might be profitable ;
for so much, indeed, has the pastoral credit decayed in our times,
that even amid the shepherds of the church very rarely can one be
found that understandeth or seeketh after God, while almost all
seek after their own advantage. Some little time before this, when
1 Philip de Dreux ; see Book V. ehap. xxxi., and Gall. Christ, ix. 733.
2 Reginald de Bar; ibid. viii. 1153.
3 See chap, xxxii.

600 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK TV.
the fortune of the aforesaid Geoffrey, elect of York, was doubtful,
Clement, the Roman pontiff, swayed by partiality, had exempted
the bishop aforesaid, with all his dependents, from the jurisdiction
ofthe archbishop of York; but his successor, Celestine,1 restoring
the rights and dignities of the church of York, had nullified the
exemption. Geoffrey, therefore, being consecrated at Tours,2 by
mandate from the holy see, returned to his own diocese with
metropolitan honour; and being desirous of triumphing over the
bishop already mentioned, who had been hostile to him previous to
his consecration, he instantly demanded canonical profession from
him. When he was in nowise disposed to make this profession,
according to custom, and endeavoured to defend himself in it by
the subterfuge of appeal, and the objection of certain irregular
enactments, the archbishop too hastily, and more through personal
anger than sober advice, pronounced sentence of excommunication
against him. However, as the one openly despised and derided
the appeal and the objections, so did the other the sentence.
Shortly after, each of them despatched their representatives, pro
perly instructed, to the holy see : the one to confirm, the other
to invalidate and nullify the sentence which had been promulgated.
The archbishop, wishing to try the sincerity of the Romans, or
rather deeming it sufficient that he had just before propitiated them
with very profuse liberality in the business of his promotion, simply
offered his petition ; but the bishop, with more sagacity, thought it
necessary to make his request, as it is proper to make requests, to
the Romans ; and, in consequence, gained exactly such weight for
his cause as the extent of his promises warranted. So that, at
length, not only was it decreed in favour of him, that the sentence
was null, but also it was granted, either by way of soothing the
injury he had received, or for the humiliation of his insulting
adversary, that he should no longer be subject to him as his metro
politan. The bishop of Durham, thus exempted from the jurisdic
tion of a suspected power, displayed his victory with great pomp
and vanity. Indeed, the archbishop, after his previous famed
successes, found this the beginning of sorrows, as the sequel will
declare.

Chap. XXVIII. — Why our Party effected little in the East, and op the
Eeturn op the Crusaders.
In the meanwhile, the christian army, engaged in the service of the
King of kings in Asia, was occupied in frequently enduring labours
and perils. Still, however, the christian cause made but little
progress ; as much on account of the dissensions and jealousies of
the commanders (as has been said) as from various difficulties pre
senting themselves ; as though God had not been propitious.
Some advised that the Holy City, which was profaned by the
infidels, should be approached and attacked with all possible energy.
To others, from certain causes, this seemed impracticable. For the
1 See the bull of Celestine printed in the Appendix to the Three Durham
Historians, p. Ixiii. 2 On the 18th of August, 1191.

CH. XXVIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 601
land which just before had been fertile, and, as it were, the store
house of plenty of every kind, was now reduced to a desert, by the
malignant and crafty management of Saladin, in order that the
christian army might not derive the least subsistence from it ; in
consequence of which, it could not undertake any great enterprise,
at a distance from the sea, which alone supplied its exigencies
by shipping. But the king of England, having wintered on the
mountains, as he could do nothing more, began with earnest
diligence and vast expense to repair the maritime cities, which
the Turks had left after having destroyed them ; and more espe
cially Ascalon ; while his rivals vilified him, and circulated the basest
rumours respecting him throughout nearly the whole of the chris
tian world. For instance, they affirmed that he had laid stratagems
for the king of France ; that he had iniquitously murdered that
most truly christian man, the marquis Conrad, by assassins ; that
he had most basely connived with Saladin for betraying the Holy
Land, and, therefore, would not proceed to the siege of the Holy
City. But Richard, continuing what he had begun, magnanimously
despised the slander and machinations of his rivals. After the
death of the marquis Conrad, and when Guy, formerly king
of Jerusalem, his opponent, had been reduced to the simple title of
king, on the death of his wife, the king of England, with all his
chiefs and nobles, deliberated to whom they should entrust the
christian territories, as they were shortly to return home. They
unanimously decreed, that they would place the christian conquests
in the rule of Henry, the illustrious count of Champagne, in France,
who was nephew1 of the kings of England and France, by the sister
of both of them ; for he was a character worthy of such uncles.
This being done, and the christian fortresses altogether given up
to the new prince, as well as the garrisons in the cities being settled,
the princes and people, as if the term of service had expired, when
they had nothing to sustain their further continuance, began seve
rally to return home in the autumn of the second year after the
siege of Ptolemais. But of those persons who had continued
abroad for the sake of Christ, after the destruction of the christian
race in the Holy Land, not even a fourth part returned to their
native land. For, although the fervency of holy zeal {had excited
countless multitudes to this expedition, from nearly the whole of
the christian world, yet the sword, or disease, or want, or fatigue,
had consumed by far the greatest part of them. In this matter,
the depth of the wisdom of God must be considered, Who little
regards either the temporal safety or happiness of such of His people
as He has predestinated to eternal life, and by wise foresight makes
their worldly calamities obtain for them the possession of a heavenly
city. For there cannot be a doubt, that such persons as have left
their country and every human tie, — who have exposed themselves
to such mighty labours, perils, and slaughters for the sake of
Christ, and in this laudable zeal have ended their life in this world,
— ought to be numbered with those of whom it is said, " Blessed
1 On his position with reference to the royal families of England and France,
see Anderson's Genealog. Tables, p. 637.

602 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK IV.
are the dead which die in the Lord " [Rev. xiv. 13], when they
have died not only in the Lord, but also for the Lord. Indeed, I
would confidently assert that the Divine love acted with much
more clemency towards them, and that it was also far more for
tunate for those who, by terminating their existence in that expedi
tion, passed to eternity by a propitious and speedy passage, than for
the others, who, returning to their country in bodily safety, went
back again to their former lusts. For, truly, among those who
returned home from that expedition we perceive that some have
recurred to their original habits, after having endured such enor
mous sufferings for the sake of Christ. Strange, surely, does it
appear that the Lord should suffer those most holy places which
witnessed His Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension,
to be possessed and profaned by a most uncleanly nation. At
that time the reason for such Divine permission was hidden, but
now it is manifest; for, on account of this truly grievous and
shameful calamity, multitudes of sinners were converted to the
practice of piety ; and the hand of the Almighty Ruler, during the
space of five years, called so many thousand pious souls to eternal
rest as during the safety of the earthly Jerusalem — the Jerusalem
which is our mother — had not received for her consummation in
many preceding years. Thus our King — He who mightily rules to
the ends of the earth, and disposes of all things graciously, and
makes the best use of human ills — -while He delivered up His earthly
Jerusalem and its territories into the hands of the enemy, on
account of the sins of its inhabitants, carefully sought the good of
His heavenly Jerusalem.
Chap. XXIX.— By what Means the King of England liberated Joppa, and
of the Treaty between the Christians and the Turks.
Such persons as were not appointed to garrison the cities
returned home ; nor did the illustrious king of England, who had
now exhausted his treasures in the support of this protracted service,
possess the means for making a longer stay in Syria. Therefore,
having arranged his matters, and issued his commands to his
nephew, whom he left prince of a small kingdom, he returned to
Cyprus with his followers, purposing a speedy departure thence.
Saladin, on learning this, rushed with his army against Joppa,
which was insufficiently garrisoned, and quickly took it; and making
great havoc among the Christians, he besieged the remainder who
were shut up in the citadel. Our people, making use of the only
means in their power, that the remainder might not be utterly
destroyed, covenanted with this most abominable tyrant to sur
render the citadel by a certain day, unless a christian army should
come thither ; and he, not fearing the return of such of our party
as had departed, remained perfectly quiet, as though in the con
viction that he should quickly enter the citadel without bloodshed.
The king of England, however, when he heard of this untoward
accident, soon converted his sadness into valour, and, accompanied
by all those who were ashamed to desert him, quickly, with a

CH. XXIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 603
favourable gale, returned to Syria, and put the Turks to flight, who
were terrified at his unexpected and impetuous return. But they
again assembled ; and, relying on their vast multitudes, they vainly
attempted to besiege him in Joppa : for, going out in the spirit of
bravery, and not only discharging the duty of a consummate com
mander, but also of a most intrepid soldier, he engaged them for
several days in the open plains ; and, though with far inferior forces,
at length, by God's favour, he so wasted the formidable army of the
Turks, that, astonished at his invincible spirit, and thinking nothing
further could be attempted against him, they retired. Joppa being
thus liberated, he lay sick for some days at a castle called Caiphas.
On hearing this, Saladin (it is said) did not exult as over a debili
tated enemy, but grieved for the indisposition of an unconquerable
prince. He sent messengers to him, saying, " I am aware that you
cannot, even in health, prolong your stay in this country, and that,
on your departure, what the Christians have acquired with such vast
labour will be exposed to certain danger, and by trifling exertion
must fall into my hands. Nevertheless, for your sake, whose dis
tinguished valour I venerate, more than I fear your hostile spirit,
I grant the Christians a truce for three years. Let not Ascalon,
however, belong either to me or to them ; but let it be destroyed."
The king, whatever unwillingness he might feel at the destruction
of a city, in the recent repair of which he had exerted himself,
by employing most expensive labour to no purpose ; yet, by the
advice and desire of the patriarch, and the new prince, and of all
the Christians of that country, he agreed to the truce ; not very
honourable, indeed, as far as the destruction of the city was con
cerned; but for more cogent reasons which were extremely ne
cessary. Wherefore, by the efforts of the king of England, which
none but his enemies could blame, the treaty was concluded, and
confirmed, between the Christians resident in Palestine and the
Turkish subjects of Saladin ; and it was to continue from the
approaching festival of Easter for three years, three months, three
weeks, three days, and three hours. Moreover, it was granted and
firmly settled by Saladin, out of favour to the king of England, that
the Christians, during the whole continuance of the treaty, should
securely and freely visit the holy sepulchre, for the purpose of
offering up their prayers ; and that meeting with no molestation
from the Saracens in their approach or departure, after having
performed their solemn supplications, they should return with the
fruit of their devotion to the christian frontier.
The truce being thus ratified, as was fitting, a vast multitude
advanced to the Holy City ; and accomplishing their wishes by
a satisfaction which they had long and earnestly desired, they
returned home with joy. The king, who alone was reckoned for
ten thousand, could not accomplish his devotion in this respect,
while, through the advice of the prudent, he looked over-anxiously
to his own personal safety, in consequence of some dangers which
had arisen ; but Hubert, bishop of Salisbury, who had been his
inseparable and faithful companion, as well as his able coadjutor in
that expedition, undertook to perform this act of devotion in his
VOL. IV. R R

604 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book IV.
stead. It is reported that he visited for himself, and for the prince,
the sepulchre of the King of kings ; and pouring out there a deluge
of pious tears, and performing mass, he accomplished equally his
own and the king's vows, to whom he returned. These things
being done, the king declared his intention of returning home.
Out of pure liberality he presented the island of Cyprus to Guy,
formerly king of Jerusalem, a most courageous man ; and promis
ing his beloved nephew, whom he had set over the christian terri
tories, that he (Christ permitting) would return at the expiration
of the truce, he committed himself to the faithless gale. And, as
an evidence of his intended return, he retained the holy badge,
ornamented with which he had arrived.

Chap. XXX. — How, by the disposal of God, more was done by this Expe
dition for the heavenly than the earthly Jerusalem; and of the
Death of Saladin.
Such a termination, by the secret council of God, had this most
expensive, laborious, and perilous expedition of noble kings,
illustrious princes, and countless multitudes against Saladin, the
most savage enemy of the holy and tremendous name of God.
And yet, by all this expense, and peril, and labour, little was
effected for the recovery of the earthly Jerusalem, but a vast deal
was done for the supply of that which is above, as it has been
shown before. For God arranged better than human thought
could do ; since many thousands of Christians dying in this
laborious pilgrimage for Christ's sake, who, as far as their will
was concerned, might appear to have laboured in vain for the
recovery of the earthly Jerusalem ; they, like living stones, con
tributed with the fruit of their pious efforts to the building of that
Jerusalem which is above. Nevertheless, as it is to be imputed to
the degeneracy of our times, in which, from abounding iniquity,
charity grows cold, that the Holy Places, wherein the mysteries of
our redemption were celebrated, were delivered into the hands of
the impious ; so it is also, that the christian cause made but little
progress in the recovery of those places, though carried on with such
enormous labour and expense. Wherefore, through the indolence
and degeneracy of our times, the Holy City was to be subjected to
the trampling down and profanation of the Gentiles, until the
arrival of that time which is known only by God. For, doubtless,
at the proper season, according to ancient usage, the Holy Land
will cast out her most unclean occupants; and this, perhaps, may
be accomplished by a smaller christian force, in order that the
Divine power may thereby be more conspicuous. Hence, it is truly
observed, by a certain faithful warrior,1 " It is easy for many to
be shut up in the hand of a few; and there is no difference in the
sight of God, whether He deliver by many or by few." This,
indeed, was declared when one chased2 a thousand, and two put
ten thousand to flight : when Gideon, dispersing the multitude by
three hundred men, who had lapped3 up the water, triumphed over
' Namely, Judas Maccabseus ; see 1 Maccab. iii. 18. ' See Deut. xxxii 30.
3 See Judg. vii. 5.

CH. XXXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 605
innumerable people. But God is not to be tempted, that Chris
tians, because they have a good and powerful God, should, when
few in number, rush, fool-hardily and unadvisedly, against a host of
enemies. For God wills his people to trust in Him, in such
manner as not to neglect prudence and foresight. Hence it is
recorded, that formerly the holy commanders, when about to fight the
battles of the Lord, and aware of future victory from his own pro
mise, assembled a large multitude frequently at his command, and fre
quently even without his order : neither did they deem it honourable
or expedient to expose themselves to danger when few in number;
not, indeed, that the power of giving victory was easier to God
Almighty through the force of a host, but because man ought not
to be unmindful of that most wholesome commandment, namely,
"Ye shall not tempt the Lord thy God" [Deut. vi. 16] ; and
because it is better that many rather than few should be in the ser
vice of God ; not, evidently, that they can bring by their numbers
more aid to the Almighty ; but that, according to their numbers,
they may receive the rewards of their warfare from Him who dimi-
nisheth not his store, distribute however much He may. For soon
after the departure of the christian army from Syria, God dropped
upon his people the dew of his pity ; an earnest, as it were, of
greater favour. For He destroyed Saladin, the rod of the Lord's
fury, and the tremendous mallet of the christian name ; for when
revelling in joy and security, as having foiled all the bravery of the
kings of the West, he fell into the hands of the living God ;- and
dying, left to his effeminate heirs that extensive empire, which,
though not of royal blood, but of consummate art and valour, he
had erected out of the most opulent kingdoms ; and along with it
he bequeathed to them ample matter for war and contention. On
his death his empire was divided according to the number of his
successors, from whose disputes arose the greater confusion in his
house. The Christians, however, remained quietly in their cities,
under the command of prince Henry, awaiting the expiration
of the truce.

Chap. XXXI. — How the King of England was shipwrecked, and captured
by the Duke op Austria.
Thus the king of England departed from Syria, after having
previously sent forward his widowed sister and his wife, with nearly
all his family ; he himself then followed in a fast-sailing vessel,
with a small company more lightly equipped ; for impatiently dis
daining the tediousness attendant on the slow and tardy passage
over a wide ocean, he refused the safer conveyance of a larger
vessel, which from its bulk had less to fear from the tempestuous
blast: but this precipitancy became the means of delay. The queen,
with all her retinue, arrived after a slow but prosperous course
at Sicily, and there she continued in safety for a season, under
the protection of kingTancred; but the king, in consequence of
a severe gale which encountered the vessel, in which he had taken
his passage, was driven on the coast of Istria ; and suffering ship-
r r 2

606 THE CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book IV.
wreck between Aquileia and Venice, he with difficulty, and with
a few of his followers, escaped a watery death. Here, concealing
his dignity for a time among the other shipwrecked persons, on
account of possible danger, he learnt that the king of England was
detested by the people of that district, because of the death of the
marquis Conrad, which was laid to his charge, and that he could
not continue there in safety. In consequence, he made a fruit
less attempt to elude the danger that threatened him. For a report
being quickly spread, that some illustrious shipwrecked personage
was concealed or wandering about the country ; the nobility, to
gether with the commonalty, being immediately busied in searching
for him, a certain count, named Mainard, seized eight of his com
panions, though he himself secretly escaped by flight. Six more of
his companions being detained by one Frederick, at a place called
Frisar, in the archbishopric of Saltzburg, he hastened by night with
only three associates to the frontiers of Austria ; but Humbold,
duke of Austria, who (as it has before been related)1 had been his
stipendiary soldier in the army of the Lord, and experienced
his profuse liberality when in distress, forgetful of his kindness,
and raging to revenge some petty injury, though this greedy and
perfidious man thirsted still more after the English wealth, placed
vigilant guards around every pass and avenue to intercept the illus
trious fugitive's escape. At length he found him in the suburbs of a
town, through the disclosure (as it is said) of one of his companions,
who was cautiously watched when buying some expensive provisions;
and being threatened with death, he was compelled to reveal who it
was for whom he was providing such delicacies. Humbold de
spatched his attendants and made him captive; and when at length
the armed guards, commissioned by the duke, entering where
he was anxiously concealing himself, said, " Hail, king of England,
in vain do you disguise your person, your face betrays you ! " and
when the spirited monarch seized his sword, they proceeded: —
" Neither be alarmed, oh king, nor act rashly ; for you shall not
die, but rather shall be preserved from death in the midst of your
enemies, that is to say, the relations of the marquis Conrad, who
seek your life ; into whose hands were you to fall, even though you
had a hundred lives, not one of them would be safe." Thus the noble
king was made captive by the most iniquitous duke, in the month
of December, in the one thousand one hundred and ninety-second
year after the delivery of the Virgin, and, without any respect to his
royal dignity, was kept in chains.

Chap. XXXII. — In what Manner the King of France was deluded by the
Son of the Duke of Saxony, and disappointed op his expected Marriage.
This circumstance was quickly related to the Teutonic emperor,
who at that time was resident in Germany. Forgetful both of
imperial and even christian honour, and by means of the illustrious
captive's detention trusting to plunder the wealth of numerous
1 See Chap, xxiii.

CH. XXXII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 607
nations, he was extremely rejoiced ; and shortly after, anxious
to make the king of France partaker in his joy, he despatched
to him from Renhenza,1 on the fifth of the kalends of January
[28th Dec], a message 2 more grateful to him than gold or precious
stones. But he, rejoicing at another's misfortune, like one who
finds great spoils, presently divulged far and wide the untoward
calamity which had befallen the king, for the purpose of dispiriting
his subjects ; and manifesting the hostility of his heart, took every
measure to render the overthrow of the captive perpetual. He was
anxious to allure and entice, by great promises, John, the captive
king's brother, a man of much power and influence in England,
Ireland, and Normandy. He was easily able to gain him over to
his side, as he had been long since as desirous of his brother's
kingdom as of his destruction. Learning, while in England, the
news of his brother's captivity, he immediately went abroad ; and
hoping that he should easily mount the tottering throne, if he
could secure the power of the French, he entered into treaty with
them ; and setting at nought his fidelity to his brother, when
surrounded with danger, most shamelessly declared himself his
enemy. The king of France also wished to conciliate the emperor of
Germany, by entering into a bond of union with him ; for on his
will the fate of the captive king depended ; he, therefore, de
spatched messengers to him, and demanded in marriage his cousin,
the only daughter of the count palatine. The emperor, graciously
regarding this request, in furthering its completion sent for the
count palatine, a personage, it is said, next to the emperor in
extent of power. Nor was the mother of the young lady unaware
of this circumstance : and she, secretly conferring with her only
child, said to her, " Are you inclined to an honourable match, and
a royal couch ? for the king of France demands you as his con
sort." She replied, " I have heard from many persons in what
manner the king disgraced and repudiated a most noble lady, the
sister of the king of Denmark, and I dread such a precedent."
Her mother rejoined, " And who stands higher in your affection ? "
She replied, " If my wishes can be crowned with success, cer
tainly I will never be disunited from the person to whom I
understood I was betrothed from my infancy; that is, Hemy,
son of the duke of Saxony." Her mother proceeded, *' fie
assured, my daughter, of this, that being delivered by my
interference from the precedent you dread, you shall enjoy the
nuptials you desire." Soon after, this admirable maiden secretly
by letters sent for the said Henry, a most elegant and spirited
young man, who was nephew to the king of England on his
sister's side. He readily obeyed the summons; and with mutual
passion he received the beloved princess from the hand of her
mother ; and she, accelerating the business on account of the
emergency of the circumstances, caused the nuptials to be cele
brated in all due form, in order that, henceforth, those whom God
had joined together, man might not be able to put asunder. In
1 " Eohenza," MS. Picard. 2 See Hoved. p. 410.

608 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK TV.
the meantime, the father of the bride, persuaded by the emperor to
ennoble his daughter by royal wedlock, quickly heard the report of
what had been done. The emperor, too, hearing the circumstance,
and believing that it could not by any means have been effected
without his knowledge, was highly incensed against him, and
on his coming into his presence he sharply rebuked him, as
well from his dislike to the young man, as because the transac
tion was contrary to his wishes. But he appeased the indignant
and reproachful emperor, by saying, " By your salvation this has
taken place neither by my will nor with my knowledge ; but I
believe that my wife, your cousin, out of regard to an oath formerly
made by me and her, at the command of your father of blessed
memory, to the duke of Saxony, has done that in my absence for
which your highness is exasperated at me." Then the emperor
said, " Go, drive out that paltry fellow, and annul what has been
done." To which the other replied, " Do not speak in that
manner, O emperor ; for the business (as it is said) has proceeded
to such lengths that it cannot be annulled, but to the eternal dis
grace of my only daughter." The count palatine, then returning
home, spake kindly to his son-in-law ; and having received him as
a son, gave a rich dowry to his daughter. Thus he, who but just
before had repudiated his own wife with dishonour, by the judg
ment of God was disappointed of the union which he desired and
expected.
Chap. XXXIII. — By what Means the King op England came into the
Custody of the Emperor through the Duke of Austria.
The illustrious king of England was confined in chains by the
duke of Austria, who shortly before had served under him in Syria
against the Turks ; but the emperor, alleging that it was not fitting
for a king to be detained by a duke, though it was no disgrace to
royalty to be under the custody of an emperor, took measures to get
the noble captive into his possession. When this could not
be refused, he was resigned by the duke, and the avaricious
emperor took him into his own keeping, but covenanted to give the
duke a competent portion of any benefit therefrom arising. Thus
the christian emperor, debased by covetousness, and, as far as the
king; was concerned, transformed into a Saladin, disgraced the
Roman empire by a new and inexpiable stigma. For it was never
before heard that any christian king or emperor made captive
another christian potentate, who was merely returning home through
his territories from service in the Holy Land. " But what will not
the accursed hunger of gold urge mortal hearts to attempt?" The
Roman emperor, (oh, shameful disgrace !) hungry after his own
advantage, shut his eyes on everything honourable, everything just
and right, forgot his imperial dignity, and blushed not to become
another Saladin ; but the christian prince, who so far from his own
country had fought for Christ against Saladin and the Turks, when
he was returning home for a time with pious purpose, and bearing
with him still the holy ensign, as a token of his early return to the
East, met in Germany a worse king of the Turks, and a more

CH. XXXIV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. • 609
hostile Saladin, inasmuch as he was more avaricious. For, dis
guising his avarice, and covering his basest actions with the colour
DO ~ .....
of justice, he blackened his illustrious captive with lying inventions,
and boasted that the enemy of his empire, and the betrayer of the
Holy Land, wherein the Lord had wrought out our salvation, had
fallen into his hands to undergo, by the will of God, the severest
punishment. At last, about Palm Sunday [3d April],1 being
solemnly brought into his presence before all the nobility and
people, he attempted to terrify the king by the enumeration of
his grievous excesses ; but he, confiding in his clear conscience,
met his accusations by firm and unrestrained replies, so that even
the emperor seemed not only inclined to pity, but even to reve
rence him. For many persons being melted into tears of joy, he
condescendingly raised up the prostrate king, promising more
abundant favour for the future, and more extended comforts ; but
in reality greedily grasping after that immense sum of money pro
mised by the king himself, through the medium of the duke
of Austria, for his liberation. Wherefore, he did not think it
prudent to release the man whom, he was anxious to honour;
judging that he could have no better pledge for the promise than
the person of the promiser. The noble captive was now visited
by numbers, and experienced the most sedulous regard of his ad
herents during the whole time of his captivity. He was attended
by the bishop of Ely, as before mentioned, whom he had left chief
ruler of the kingdom when he was proceeding to the East ; but who,
on account of his overbearing manners, had long since been driven
out of England by the nobles of the realm ; nor did the bishop
depart from him, strenuously advocating his own concerns, and in
sinuating evil into the ear of the king with respect to those who
had expelled him. Hubert,2 also, the venerable bishop of Salisbury,
who had been the king's inseparable companion in Syria, on land
ing in Sicily, and learning what had happened to him (for the
untoward accident of the great prince had quickly resounded
throughout the world), immediately proceeded to join him ; and
shortly after he was despatched by the king into England, as well
for the necessary care of the realm, as for expediting the business
of his release ; for he had no other friend of whose fidelity, pru
dence, and sincerity, he had enjoyed such frequent proofs in various
emergencies.

Chap. XXXIV. — In what Manner the King of France invaded Normandy,
and how John raised Commotions in England.
Matters being in this situation with respect to the king of
England, Philip, king of France, despatching honourable persons
from his presence to him in Germany, solemnly renounced the
homage with which he was bound, and announced his hostile
intentions of declaring war against the captive. It appeared to all
1 The truer date is Friday, 4th Feb. See Pauli, iii. 263.
2 Hubert Walter, who was translated to Canterbury shortly afterwards. See
chap, xxxv., and Hardy's Le Neve, ii. £95.

610 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 affairs 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 op Canterbury, and op the Church op 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 l 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 rv.
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.1 — 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 suffragan, 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,2 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) 3 to the Divine indignation, and the same
1 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 Qodiva, in 1043 or 1014. See Dugd. Monast.
iii. 177, ed. Ellis. 3 See Book I. chap. xii.

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,"1 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 ;2 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 rebelling 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. — Op the Murder of the Bishop of Liege; on which account
the King op 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 1 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. S7S.

CH. XXXVni.] 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 Prodigy of an unusual Redness appeasing at
THREE DIFFERENT TIMES IN THE AIR.
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
Liberation of the King op England, again invaded Normandy.
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 had 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 little 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 in 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 rv.
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. XLI. — How the King op England, being freed prom 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

CH. 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 5 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. XLH. — How Peace being restored in the Kingdom, the King 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 stay 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 men. 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,
ul He landed at Sandwich, 13th March.
VOL. IV. S S

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.

Cn. I.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 621

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?"1 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
1 See Job xxiii. 6. Vulg.
S S 2

622 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK y.
altogether unusual ; that is to say, 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. — Op the Proceedings which took place between the King op
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,1 the most celebrated in that part of the
1 Near Evreux; see Gall. ChriBt. xi. 626.

CH.II.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 623
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. The 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;1 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
him in suspense, in the expectation of a truce, which was already a
subject of debate between them.
1 On the Charente, between Saintes and St. Jean d'Angely.

624 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book V.
Chap. III. — Op the Truce made between the Kings ; and of the Peace op
the Provinces, excepting from the Royal Taxes.
In the one thousand one hundred and ninety-fourth year from the
delivery 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 of 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 territory, 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, " 1 Walking in the footsteps of our prede
cessors, of happy memory, 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 heavy 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.
1 Concil. Later. III. cap. xx. ap. Labb. Concil. x. 1519.

626 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V.
Chap. V. — Op the Return op 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. VL1 — 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.2 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
1 This chapter is omitted in the Antwerp edition. 2 See 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,"1 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,2 formerly earl of
1 The name of the fourth Sunday in Lent ; so called from 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 follower
of that nefarious art, he heard that he should have " Graecia."
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 Graecia, 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 " Graecia."

Chap. VII.1— How the Kingdom op 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
1 This chapter is also omitted in the Antwerp edition.

CH. VH.] 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 disgfaced 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 op 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 dnhappy
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

CH. VIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 631
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 pontiff, 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 lived more
uprightly.

Chap. IX. — What came to pass, by God's disposal, in the Province of Le
Mans, por the Correction op the King op 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.1 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
1 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 of 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, " Woe1 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 very long life, is uncertain.
1 Psal. cxix. 5. Vulg.

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 1 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,1 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, the
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. 668.

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 offered 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,1 on that Sunday [1 2th 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 ;
yet, 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 : 2 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. XI. — Op the three illegitimate Children op the same Bishop, and
OP 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. [BOOKV.
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 writing1 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,2 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 3 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
1 Epp. L. viii. ep. 40, Picard.
2 Henry de Puteaco, mentioned by bishop Hugh in a charter printed in Raine's
Appendix to the three Durham historians, p. lxiv.
3 See Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 302.
* Hugh de Puteaco accompanied the French king when he visited the shrine of
Becket in 1179, and is mentioned by Hoveden, f. 338.
5 Philip of Poitiers.

CH. m] 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 of York, under the name of Legate ; and op 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 were 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 two 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;1 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 2 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 ;
1 See Beda, Ecc. Hist. I. xxix. § 73. 2 See id. IV. ii. § 256.
T T 2

638 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V.
although for a certain time, by 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 pontiff,
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
church of Canterbury, or to the archbishop, as their own primate."
The 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." 1
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 Army of 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
1 On this dispute the reader may consult the authorities in the Decern. Scriptores,
p. 1735, and Wharton's Anglia Sacr. i, 65.

CH. xm.] 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 own 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 republic 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 op the Law which he
introduced through the Spirit op Error, axd 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"
jRom. xiii. 13]; but the rest of it he relaxed, through indulgence
that 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 then-
deceiver, as it has been said, they are admitted to be superior to
our people (oh sorrow !) in frugality ; and they reproach us (oh
sharne !) 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 scoffer 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. When 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. 6], " 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 women. In
the morning, when the effect of the wine was gone off, 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,
when 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 stability 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 empire ; 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

CH. XV.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 645
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 fierce 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.1 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
1 Prohably Sully, between Gournay and Aumale.

646 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK VI
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 off, 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 " Ruta*;"), 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 of England was exculpated by the Letters
of the Old Man of the Mountain prom the Murder 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,1 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 2 Old Man of the Mountain to the Princes, and all the
People of the Christian Faith, greeting :
" Whereas we have heard that the murder ofthe 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
1 See Book IV. ch. xxiv. p. 595.
2 See Feed. i. 62, where this letter is printed, with some variation, from
Brornpton, eol 1268.

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 affair, 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 anything 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 1 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. [book 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
daughter1 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  Op the warlike Commotion that followed the Truce between
the Kings, and how they entered into a Treaty at Issoudun.
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." 2 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
1 Agnus de Meranie, the daughter of the duke of Dalmatia. Philip divorced
her also, and she died of a broken heart in 1211.
2 See Psal. lxix. 27. Vulg.

CH. 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 lighter 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 marched 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.

650 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK V.
Chap. XVIII. — How the Kings proclaimed the Treaty which had been
agreed upon, which did not last long ; and op the Commotion in
Britanny. In the one thousand one hundred and ninety-sixth year from the
delivery 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.1 1 See chapter xxx. of the present Book.

CH. XIX.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 651
Chap. XIX. — Or the sudden Death in England op the Abbot op 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.

VOL. IV. U U

652 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [book v.,

Chap. XX. — Of a Conspiracy made in London by one William, and how
HE PAID THE PENALTY OF HIB 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 William, 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 pubhc assemblies. He was of ready
wit, moderately skilled 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 rehef
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. 653>
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 ofthe 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. The 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 shown 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 Y.
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 !
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. XXI.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 655
novelty, vehemently deplored his death, taking exception at the
rigour 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 op 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
1 See Eccles. i. 15. Vulg.

f356 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.1 — Of the Prodigy op 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
1 Chaptors xxii. xxiii. xxiv. xxv. and xxvi. are omitted in the Antwerp edition.

.CH. XXIII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 657
unwonted 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. XXIII. — Of a similar 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
light : 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
horrible 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.

660 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,1 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,2 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 1 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.
1 Possibly Annan, or Annand, in Dumfriesshire.
2 The castle of Aimnd \vas the property of the family of Bruce, who also had
largo possessions in Yorkshire ; see Dugd. Baron, i. 119.

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 already 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. — Op a Sign which was seen in the Heavens, and of the
STORMING OF CERTAIN CASTLES.
In the octaves of Pentecost [16th June, 1196], and in the first
hour of the day, two suns appeared in the heavens ; namely, the

662 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [BOOK Vi
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

CH. XXVII.] THE HISTORY OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 663
and famine, insomuch that that prophecy seems almost fulfilled
against us which says, " I have wounded thee with the wound 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
everywhere 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,1 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 Sion 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 sum 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
1 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. — Op the Dissension between King Bjchard and the
Archbishop of Rouen.
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

GH. 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 service 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 ; while
he sent home the bishop, whom he had cajoled and pacified by
some other means.

Chap. XXIX.1 — Op 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 the 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,
1 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.1 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 was 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. — Op 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,1 — 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,) return 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 victory.

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 2 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 married for her second husband Eaimund VI., count
of Toulouse. She died 4th Sept., 1195.
2 Philip de Dreux, concerning whom, see GaL Christ, is. 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.

CH. XXXII. j THE HISTORV OF WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH. 669

Chap. XXXII. — Or the Desertion of some from the King op France, and
on what account a truce was made between him and the king
op 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 which 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 off this retreat of his army. 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 offer 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 Tittle 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, the
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.

OH. XXXTV.] 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 op King Richard and the Arch
bishop of Rouen; and of a certain 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. [B00KV.
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.

nTHE EPISTLE OE EOBEET DE MONTE
TO EOGEE, ABBOT OE BEO.

THE EPISTLE OE EOBEET DE MONTE
TO EOGEE, ABBOT OE BEC.1

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
Caesarea 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 Avranches, which occurred in 1182.
Pertz, however, dissents from the validity of this conclusion, and ascribes the
error to the carelessness of the scribe, who misread Osb. (Osbern, who was
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 history 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,1 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. 1184.2
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 affords) 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
1 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 Caesarea, 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 Aurelius 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 little 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 jEneas, (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
far as the year one thousand one hundred and eighty-two.1 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,2 as also by the
history of English affairs, which commences with Julius Caesar, 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 which
the same Henry, the archdeacon, is the author.
Here ends the Prologue.1

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 polite and
pleasant man, why, when I am narrating the history of our
country, I have begun from the time of Julius Csesar, and have
omitted the narrative of those most flourishing reigns which
extended from Brutus to Julius ? My 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-ninth2 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." 3

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
Winchester on the following day,) was there elected to be king.
He gave the bishopric of Winchester to William Giffard. 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 Monachorum," after which come the Annals.
2 MXX.X 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.

680 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. E. 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.1 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,2 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, 45.3 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,5 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
1 Probably the " Vita Margarets) Scotorum Reginse, auctore Turgoto, monacho
Dunelmensi," printed by Pinkerton, in his "Vitse Sanctorum Soothe," 1789.
! 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. 11 That is, the year 1101 was the forty-fifth of the reign of Henry, the emperor
of the RomanB, the forty-first of Philip, the kihg of the French, and the first of
Henry I., the king of the English.
' Robert de Monte commences his year at Christmas.
5 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 Caesarea was captured by the Christians.
a.d. 1102. Henry, 46. Philip, 42. Henry I., 2.
Henry,2 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,3
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 having 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, apprehensivekhat 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,5 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,0 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.
Circumstances8 occurred whence arose discord between Henry,
1 From Fulcherius Carnotensis. 2 H. Huntingdon.
3 Or Bridgenorth. * From Sigebert, p. 368. 5 From Fulcherius.
6 From H. Huntingdon.
7 To the end of the year from Sigebert and Fulcherius.
8 The whole of the history of thiB 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.
In1 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. The2 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,3 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,
'- From H. Huntingdon. 2 From Sigebert, p. 368. s 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 offered 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
[22d March] two full moons were visible ; one on the east, and the
other on the west.
This1 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,
ray 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."
On2 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,3 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 attach 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.
3 Printed by Baronius, A.D. 1106, § 1.
VOL. IV. Y Y

684 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. HOT —
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.
Having1 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 he
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,2 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 Henry, and
carried off with him some of the chiefer counts and many of the
nobles. Henry himself, and his sons, had difficulty 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 I., 8.
1 From H. Huntingdon. 2 To the end of the year from Sigebert, p. 372.

A.D. 1109.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 685
Upon1 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,2 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 Beo,
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 with 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.
2 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.
In1 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 I., 10.
Matilda,2 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,3 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 1,11.
Henry/ the king of England and duke of Normandy, made an
expedition into Normandy against Fulco, count 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 Henry5 went to Rome, to appease the struggle
1 To the end of the year is derived from Sigebert. 2 From H. Huntingdon.
' From the Annals of Rouen, printed by Du Chesne, Fulcherius Carnotensis,
aud Sigebert. * From H. Huntingdon. 5 From Sigebert, p. 372.

A.D. 1112.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 687
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 Frankish 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.1
a.d. 1112. Henry, 6. Louis, 3. Henry I., 12.
Tancred,2 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 bull, from which this is an extract, in Sigebert, p. 374.
2 The incidents of this year are collected from Fulcherius, Sigebert (p. 375),
and H. Huntingdon.

688 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,2
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 I., 13.
In3 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.
2 That is, of Cholons-sur-Marne ; see Gall. Christ, ix. 877.
3 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.
Upon1 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, [Northamptonshire, Hunting
donshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire.
Upon2 the decease, in Normandy, of that religious man Gisle
bert, bishop of Evreux, he was succeeded by Audoenus, a person
of great holiness.
A3 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,4 the emperor of Constantinople,
died, and was succeeded by his son John.
a.d. 1115. Henry, 9. Lewis, 6. Henry I., 15.
Having 5 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 I., 16. 6
At Christmas, king Henry was present at the dedication of
the church of St. Albans, which was consecrated by Robert, the
venerable bishop of Lincoln, by the instrumentality of Richard, the
celebrated abbot of that place.
Offa,7 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
1 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 Carnotensis.
4 This sentence is wanting in several copies.
5 From H. Huntingdon and Fulcherius. ° From H. Huntingdon.
7 An addition by Robert de Monte.

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 compeUed 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 MONTE. 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 Henry1 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 I., 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,2 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
1 From H. Huntingdon.
2 We may here introduce an extract respecting this count of Flanders, from
the "Historia Restoratae S.Martini Ecelesise," byHerimannusTornacensis, 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 youth 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 uncle, 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 not do 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 ho intended to come to Henry at Rduen.
He immediately followed the messenger at tho 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 (hke 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 wallB, 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 returned home into Flanders."

692 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1117—
the arrival of king Henry with his English, Normans, and Breton?.
During this year the 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,1 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,2 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 ; 3 but he having died in the first year of his rule,
they next chose a certain youth of noble family, called Peter.4 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 5 having elapsed since this occurrence.
As for Pontius he, at length, died in the monastery called La Cava.8
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
1 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.
4 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 Annals.
0 Gall. Christ, iv. 1136. 7 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,1 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 warfare2 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 : 3 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 4 was buried at Westminster.
In the month of January,5 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 I., 19.
In 6 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 which 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 From H. Huntingdon.
3 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.
4 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 ! "
5 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 Vienne, named Calixtus, the one hun
dred and sixty-sixth pope.
Baldwin, count 1 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 z 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,
1 The following account, derived from the " Genealogia Comitum Flandria?,"
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. HIS) from a certain Breton. Having become
paralyzed from the thighs 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 Chartres.

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 J 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,2
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.3
a.d. 1121. Henry, 15. Louis, 12. Henry I., 21.
Henry,4 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 I., 22.
King Henry 5 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. Ralph, archbishop of Canterbury,
died, and also John, bishop of Bath.
a.d. 1123. Henry, 17. Louis, 14. Henry I., 23.
King Henry 6 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.
1 From H. Huntingdon.
2 One MS. reads thus : " William, his issue by his wife, and Richard, by his
concubine, and a baseborn daughter by the wife of the count of Perch, and his
niece, the daughter of the earl of Chester, and many others."
3 Pertz here prints a short poem on this shipwreck, hitherto unedited, which
he discovered in a MS. in the library at Brussels. It adds no new fact.
* From H. Huntingdon. 5 Ibid. ° Ibid.

696 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.d. 1123—
In1 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 2 Calixtus held a council at Reims, at which Louis, the king
of France, was present. Afterwards (but in this same year3), the
pope came into Normandy to have a conference with Henry, king
of Englarfd ; 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.
King4 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 ;5 but he was prevented from doing so by the adherents
of duke Robert, and chiefly by his brother Henry, 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-
1 Added by Robert de Monte. J From H. Huntingdon.
3 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).
4 Original matter.
5 This had occurred a. D. 1090 ; see Ord. Vitalis, viii. xv. (iii. 356).
0 From Fulcherius CarnotenBis.

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 affairs * 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 3 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 nobleman
of great power and reputation. This occurred in a valley near
Bourgtheroude,3 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,4 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 5 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 6 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 thiB year one MS. has the following
addition : " The church at Savigni 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, Curgis 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.
3 Near Rouen. 4 From Fulcherius Carnotensis.
5 This sentence is interpolated by Robert de Monte.
8 This passage, descriptive of Antioch, is an abstract from the Letter of the
Crusaders, printed by Pertz, Script, iii. li.

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 Antiochus, 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 2 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.
In3 this same year died Teulf, bishop of Worcester, and Ernulf,
bishop of Rochester.
a.d. 1125. Henry, 19. Louis, 16. Henry I., 25.
Being 4 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.
1 An addition by Robert de Monte.
2 Many additions are here made to the outline by H. Huntingdon,
3 From H. Huntingdon. 4 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
s\x shillings.
Henry1 the emperor was succeeded by Lothaire. Upon the
death of Alexander, king of the Scots, he was succeeded by his
brother David, a manLof 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 I., 26.
King 2 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 3 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 I., 27.
At i Christmas, king Henry kept his court at Windsor, whence he
proceeded to London. During Lent 5 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,6 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
¦ " This paragraph is original.
2 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.
4 The whole year from H. Huntingdon.
5 Ash-Wednesday fell on the 17th of February, and Easter Sunday on the 3d
.of April.
6 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 I., 28.
After 1 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] 2 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,3
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.5 ' The whole of the incidents of this year are narrated from H. Huntingdon.
2 At no great distance from Chartres concerning this locality, see the preface
to the xiiith vol. of Bouquet, p. vii.
3 Thierri d' Alsace, who was descended from Gertrude, daughter of Robert le
Frison ; Panckoucke, p. 94.
4 That is Thierri d'Alsaoe; see the authority last quoted, p. 96.
s 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. 1L29. Lothaire, 4. Louis, 19. Henry I., 29.
Fortunate a 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,2 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)3 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 in Apulia — while as yet they were 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.
3 See A.D. 1128. 4 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. Abandoning1
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.
If2 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 I., 30.
Pope3 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 Crescendo. 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,5 the king of England, kept his Christmas at Winchester,
and his Easter at Woodstock. There an accusation — but a false
one — was brought against Geoffrey de Clinton, that he was a traitor
to the king. During Rogation-tide,6 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
1 From William of Jumiege, vii. 42 (p. 669).
2 To the end of the year is an addition made by Robert de Monte.
3 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.
5 From 1 1. Huntingdon. 6 Rogation Sunday occurred on the 4th of May.
7 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,1 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.
After2 Easter [1 9th April], Henry, refusing to submit to Anaclete,
gave a reception to pope Innocent, at Chartres. After Easter the
same pope came to Rouen,3 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,4 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 5 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 very honourably.
1 What follows is written 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 followers. 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
rehgious David, through the instrumentality of Edward."
2 From H. Huntingdon.
3 The exact date of the interview at Chartres is doubtful; but it is certain
that the pope was at Rouen on the 10th of May. See a bull 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.)
4 Dugd. Mon. ii. 547 (ed. Ellis). 5 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.
King1 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.
Baldwin2 the second, being the third king of Jerusalem, died ;
he was succeeded by Fulco, count of Anjou, who had married the
daughter3 of this Baldwin, by whom he became the father of
two sons, Baldwin and Amauri. A4 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 I., 33.
Henry,5 king of England, held his court at Windsor during
Christmas, being sick. At the beginning of Lent6 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
[26th March] at Oxford, in the new hall. During Rogation7 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 8 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.
In9 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.
2 Original matter to the end of the year. 3 Namely, Melisenda.
4 The traces of rhythm which exist in the original, seem to show that we have
here fragments of a metrical history.
5 From H. Huntingdon. 6 Ash-Wednesday fell upon the 8th of Feb.
7 Rogation Sunday was on the 30th of April. 8 Original.
0 From the Life of Lanfranc, by Milo Crispin, cap. xii. ap. Mabill, act. SS. Ord.
L Bened. ix. 651.

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 1 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 2 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. Elfat, 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
appointed 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. Oswald, 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 which 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 Geoffrey 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,1 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 life was despaired of. On2 this occasion her prudence exhibited
itself by indisputable tokens ; for with equal liberality 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 3 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,4 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 5 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 rain of the entire realm.
King6 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,7 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
1 Original. ' From the Life of Henry I. in W. Gemet. vii. 27 (p. 681).
3 Id. ch. xxviii. (Ibid.) 4 Original to the end of the year.
5 Partly from the Annals of Rouen, partly original.
6 From H. Huntingdon. 7 Near Rouen.

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
threw 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 riches 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
j 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."
These 2 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 Alencon, and those of
Coutance.3 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.
King4 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,5 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
1 In the original this is a poetical passage, from W. Gemet. vii. 33 (p. 684).
2 See W. Gemet. vii. 31, 32 (pp. 682, 683).
3 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.
4 From H. Huntingdon, with a few additions respecting what was done with
Henry's corpse at Rouen.
5 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,2 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 3 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 4
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. 1 From H. Huntingdon.
2 The original MS. A has an erasure before and after this word; other MSS.
show that the reading thus altered was one which does not affect the sense, or
change the sentiment.
3 From W. Gemet. vii. 38 (p. 688). * Original to the end of the year,

A.D. 1136.] 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 Rouen, and after
wards to Lisieux on the Saturday of the fast of the tenth month
[December].1 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. 1136. Lothaire, 11. Louis, 26. Stephen, 1.
King 2 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,3 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,5 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. In6 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,8 of pious memory,
'the fourth abbot of the monastery of Bee, died, — a9 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, Thebaid 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. 3 Rogation Sunday fell upon the 26th of April.
4 Read, Bigot, with H. Huntingdon, 222.
s Bathentum in H. Huntingdon, and the Gesta Regis Stephani.
6 This sentence is original. ** As far as— "places," an addition.
8 From W. Gemet. vii. 42 (689). » An addition by Robert.

710 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1137—
" Having1 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."
The2 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. During3 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. In4 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.
During5 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.6 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
1 Poetry, in the original. 2 OriginaL
3 From W. Gemet. vii. 40 (p. 688). 4 Original.
5 The whole of this year is original matter.
0 Not identified by the editors of Bouquet; but probably Grossoeuvre, near
Evreux. ' Probably Livarot, near Lisieux,

A.D. 1138.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 71 1
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.1
Louis the elder, the king of France, died, and was succeeded by
his son, Louis, who married Manor, 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, the 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.2 1138. Conrad, 1. Louis, 1. Stephen, 3.
At Christmas,3 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
Henry, 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 ;
William de Movim4 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 28th Nov.
2 Here commences MS. M. 3 From H. Huntingdon.
4 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, Walchelin of Dover surrendered the castle of Dover
to the queen, who was besieging him.
The1 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,2 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, two3 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,4 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.5
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
1 From H. Huntingdon. 2 Advent Sunday fell on the 27th of November.
3 Original from this point to the end of the year.
4 That is, until Whitsuntide [11th June], 1139.
0 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 Eslaford1 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,) together2 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, where3 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. Lethard4 was elected and appointed abbot of the church of Bee,5
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.6
1 Sleeford ; see H. Huntingdon, 223. 2 Original matter.
3 To the end of the paragraph is derived from H. Huntingdon.
• Original to the end of the year.
s The passage to the end of the year is wanting in M.
i Here 0, F, K and 0, (and probably other copies,) correctly commence a new

714 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1140-^
[A.D. 1140.]
King1 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,2 count of Evreux, died, and was succeeded by his
brother, Simon. Rabell, the chamberlain, died ; his successor was
his son, William. 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 religious 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
Fontanei, (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.
\yHenry, the nephew of king Stephen, became abbot of Fecamp.
\ [a.d. 1141.] a.d. 1140.3 Conrad, 3. Louis, 3. Stephen, 5.
About4 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 [2d 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 batde 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 5 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 ilf
proceed 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.
1 From H. Huntingdon. This paragraph is omitted in K.
2 Original to the end of the year. 3 Read, a.d. 1141.
4 The narrative of this and the following paragraph is from H. Huntingdon.
'* See Martene, De Antiq. Ecclesia) Discipllna, 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,2 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, with 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 3 resisted her to the utmost of their power.
1 See Durant, De Ritib. Ecclesia? Catholicse, 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 Flandrise," (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. While William 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 1 this year also, during the octaves of Easter,2 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 Ins 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
hiB 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 iu 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 Httle 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 younger Henry succeeded, who, at the commencement of
his reign, so cordially hated the Flemings, that he levelled with the ground their
castles and fortresses, 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 ! "
1 Original to the end of the year. 2 Easter Sunday fell on the 6th of April.

A.D. 1141.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 717
Lisieux surrendered to him. About Pentecost [18th May], the
aforesaid bishop, John,1 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 2
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. 1141.3 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,4 and took it ; and then, having collected a still
larger army, he advanced upon Mortain, which surrendered to him,
as did also Tenchebrai, 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,5 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 interdipt, 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,6 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. 5 Original.
6 From H. Huntingdon. 3 A 2

718 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1142—
of his party were taken prisoners. One of these was William
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 -,1 and so, at length, Oxford surrendered to the
king. John,2 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. 1142.3 Conrad, 5. Louis, 5. Stephen, 7.
Richard,4 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],5 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.
During6 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,8 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 ; 9
and having driven out the monks, he introduced robbers in their
stead. He was a man of great courage ; but his heart was hardened
God ward. The bishop of Winchester, and afterwards the arch
bishop of Canterbury, went to Rome to treat about the legatine
office, but pope Innocent10 was already dead.
1 Wallingford, H. Huntingdon, 225. > Original. 3 Read, A.D. 1148.
4 Original. 5 See Dugd. Baron, i. 60.
0 From H. Huntingdon. 7 Midlent Sunday occurred on the 14th of March.
8 See Wilkins, Concil. i. 421. 9 See Dugd. Monast. ii 547, (ed. Ellis.)
10 Innocent II. died at Rome, 24th Sept. 1143. See Jaffe' p. 5U8.

A.D. 1143.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 719
Hugh,1 a canon of St. Victor of Paris, a man of holy memory,
died ; he was a religious man, and well skilled in profane as well
as sacred literature. The numerous books 2 which he left behind
him are monuments of his learning.
a.d. 1143.3 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.
Having5 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,6 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.]
1 Original, written in A, upon an erasure. K and 0 have, instead, the 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.
6 See Gall. Christ, xi. 124.

720 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1143 —
During the 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 r 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 Geoffrey blockaded it unceasingly ; and
hereupon eveiy man returned home. John,2 bishop of Seez, died,
and was succeeded by a canon of the same church named Gerard,
a pleasant man, and veiy 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. 2 Gall. Christ, xi. 687.

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. 1144.1 Conrad, 7- Louis, 7. Stephen, 9.
The2 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 was 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 were waitr
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.
During3 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,4 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 From H. Huntingdon.
3 Original matter to the end of the year.
4 See it printed in Mabill. Annal. 1. lxxvii. § lxvi. (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 l in the first week of the month of March,
and was named Eugenius, being the one hundred and seventy-first
pope. The head 2 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. 1145.3 Conrad, 8. Louis, 8. Stephen, 10.
Having4 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 5 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 'jus 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, *Frerich, 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 6 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 18th Feb. 1145 ; Jaffe*, p. 617.
2 . . . " caput monaster"! Becensis." . . . This sentence is wanting in M.
3 Read, a.d. 1146. 4 This paragraph is from H. Huntingdon.
5 Original to the end of the year.
6 See the circumstances connected herewith, as detailed in Gall. Christ, iii. 212.
7 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.].1
a.d. 1146.2 Conrad, 9. Louis, 9. Stephen, 11.
At 3 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,4 the son of duke Geoffrey and the empress, coming into
Normandy from England,5 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,6 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,7 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 0, K, and 0, which omit
the account of the discovery of the toad.
1 Bouquet remarks that the true date of this eclipse is 26th Oct. 1147.
2 Read, a.d. 1147. 3 From H. Huntingdon.
4 Original to the end of the year. Omitting the passage which here com
mences, and ends with the words — " holy orders," ' the MS. 0 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.
s 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."
0 The charter by which the dispute was settled is dated at Paris, 27th May,
1147 ; see Mansi, Concil. xxi. 683.
' This sentence, wanting in 0 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. 1147.1 Conrad, 10. Louis, 10. Stephen, 12.
The Christians 2 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 auxiliaries,
whose fleet was on the way to Jerusalem, the king of GaUciarescued
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, Thebaid, arch
bishop of Canterbury, appointed his brother Walter, archdeacon of
Canterbury, to the said church. Roger,3 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,4 which was attended by Thebaid,
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 5 in the previous year.
a.d. 1148.6 Conrad, 11. Louis, 11. Stephen, 13.
About our Lord's advent,7 duke Geoffrey besieged and destroyed
the castle of Robert Bertram,8 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 D de Castellione became
prince of Antioch, having married the widow of prince Raimund.
a.d. 1149.10 Conrad, 12. Louis, 12. Stephen, 14.
Letard, of holy memory, the sixth abbot of the church of Bee,
1 1 Read, A.D. 1148.
2 The narrative, from this point onwards, is original.
5 Roger, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, died' at Antioch, 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.
5 He was consecrated at Winchester, 20th June, 1143 ; Le Neve, iii. 283.
6 The chronology is here correct.
7 In 1148 the first Sunday in Advent fell on the 28th of Nov. '
8 In the texts of Pertz and Bouquet, the original stands thus, "castellum
Robert! Bertranni Fag.," but no explanation is offered.
9 This sentence (omitted in 0) is added by Robert in A. '
10 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 William ; and running his course of life
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."1 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.2 Master Vacarius, a
Lombard by birth, a man of integrity and well skilled in the laws,
was 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.3
After Easter [3d April], in this same year, died Robert, abbot of
Mont St. Michel, monk of Bee, who had considerably improved
that monastery, both externally and internally. Duke Geoffrey
besieged the castle of Montreuil, in the district of Poitiers ; and
there he erected three castles of stone : — the siege continued for
three years, until the lord 4 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 festival5 of Whitsuntide [22d May], king David of Scotland
1 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.
4 Girald, according to Bouquet, or Girard, according to Pertz.
5 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.1
a.d. 1150.2 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,3 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 originateeWa^tween the king and the duke, the
former, accompanied by^Eustacp, 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,4 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," 5 which John, the son of William 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,
1 " Henry, the lord of Fougeres, died ; he had become a monk at Savigny,"
added in G.
2 More correctly, a.d. 1151.
3 Named Berlai, in the previous year. 4 Near St. Lo.
5 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. " May1 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, Geoffrey, he gave four castles.
In this same year died Sigerius,2 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,3 bishop of Coutance, died;
a very religious person, who had introduced regular canons into
the church of St. Lo,4 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 5
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. 1151.6 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.
a He died a.d. 1151; id. xi. 875.
1 Id. p. 935, and Inst. 238, where the bull is printed by which this arrangement
was effected.
5 In a.d. 1151, Advent Sunday occurred on the 2d of December.
• 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,1 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 close2 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.3 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 Barfleur, meaning to cross over into England with a body of
armed meju.-a-*aaeeting was held, consisting of Louis, the king of
France; ''EustaceJ the son of Stephen, king of England; Robert,
count ofTPerch ; 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 Barfleur on the seventeenth of the kalends of August [16th
July], intending to assist the beleaguered castle with all his power.
1 In 1152, Ash-Wednesday fell upon the 12th of Februaiy.
2 That is, the first Sunday after Easter, in this year the 6th of April.
3 See note 1.

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,1 a monk of Bee, was made abbot of Preaux,2 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,3 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.4 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,5 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.
1 This sentence does not occur in M.
2 Gall. Christ, xi. 838.
3 See Chron. Melrose, a.d. 1151. But Giraldus Cambrensis, Top. Hibern. iii.
17, (p. 742 Camd.,) refers this occurrence to A. D. 1152.
Here MS. 0 inserts h, passage respecting the monasteries of Clugny and
Savigny, which is of no interest to the English reader.
5 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. In1 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, ana
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.2 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
1 This passage does not occur in If. 2 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 Baschervilfe, 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 J 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,2 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
who 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
1 Pacy-sur-Eure, at no great distance from Evreux.
2 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 surrounded 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.1
Pope Eugenius caused to be translated into Latin, out of Greek,
the book of Peter of Damascus.
a.d. 1152.2 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
twenty-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 within it, to surrender, although the king, with many thou
sands of armed men, was in the neighbourhood.
Gislebert,3 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,
1 This sentence (which does not occur in K, M, nor 0) is added in A by a
hand which has already appeared in A. D. 1128.
3 The true date is a.d. 1153.
3 Gilbert de Clare, carl 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.1 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,2
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 afford 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 ; 3 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,
1 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.
3 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.
On1 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
1 This sentence 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 Amalric, 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.], dieoS,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 J 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. 1 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.2
In 3 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 awarded a period of comparative repose to the monastery of
the blessed Michael, " in Periculo Maris,"4 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,5 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.
2 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 " Mense," 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 S.
' The whole of this section is omitted in M.
4 As to the reason for this designation, see Gall. Christ, xi. 510.
5 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 English 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 was perfectly tranquil, out of the
love and fear which it bore towards duke Henry, wfyose 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.],1 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,2 died ; he was a religious man, and
abundantly learned; and he wrote an excellent Commentary upon
the Psalms and the Pauline Epistles.
1 He died on the 3d of Dec; see JafK, p. 658. 2 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.2
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,8 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],
1 Read, 19th of December.
2 That is, upon the 19th of December. But Bouquet questions the accuracy of
this statement, and tells us that the eclipse must have occurred on the 21st
of December. 3 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,1 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)2
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,3 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 nonesof 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 Henry 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.
When 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,4 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,5 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 previously sent
1 This sentence does not occur in M. 2 Wallingford.
3 Bridgenorth.
* These five words are erased in A; Manuel married Gertrude, the sister-in-law
of Conrad, the German emperor.
5 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.1
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,2) and his own
brother Geoffrey. The iatter, having refused to accept what the
king then offered him, departed into the district of Anjou, whither
he was immediately followed by king Henry.3
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.4
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.
• 2 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. (7 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."
4 A change in the ink is perceptible 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.1 The said 2 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 [15th 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,3 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],4
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 5 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,7 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. ' See Gall. Christ, vii. 510.
4 A mistake ; Ascension-day was on the 24th of May.
5 The remainder of this sentence is an addition in A, but by the same hand.
It occurs in M , 0, and /, but is wanting in K.
6 This epithet is erased in A, and omitted in 0 and S.
7 Jocius, 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 daughter1
of William, count of Macon, along with whom he recovered the city
of Besancon, 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.2
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.].3
In a naval expedition the admirals of William, 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,4 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 reach ; 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 Robert5 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,6 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
1 A genealogical error has here been detected by Bouquet.
2 The passage here ending respectmg 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 A'.
3 a.d. 1146, according to our mode of calculation; Robert de Monte com
mencing his year at Christmas. 4 Not identified.
5 See GaU. Christ, iv. 1140. « Id. xi. 689.

A.D. 1157.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 743
Scotland, surrendered to him all that belonged to Henry ; namely,
the city of Carlisle, the castles of Edinburgh,1 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 2 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 3 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 whatever of any treachery
1 " Castrum Puellarum " (Maiden Castle) in the original. In A the word
" puellarum" is 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.
3 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.
j 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.2
a.d. 1158. Frederic, 7. Louis, 21. Henry II., 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.
Geoffrey, 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.3
1 Read, Basingwork. 2 Here end the MSS. D aad E.
3 Here Sadds, "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 Matilda (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 should 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 buried with great
pomp in the city of Nantes, 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 al; Rouen (which he soon reached), he had a confer
ence with Louis, the French king, between Gisors and Neuf 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 Henry,
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 union, 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
hundred 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 Mng 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 splendour 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
sary, 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 degree 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 should 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 remark ! 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 Thiebaud 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."

1 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,1 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 grant2 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 of
Nantes, to take possession of it. Having done so, and made such
arrangements as to him seemed good, a few days afterwards, upon
1 The passage which here commences and ends with the words, " of the abbot,"
is omitted in A[ and S.
1 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 the 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.1
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;2 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.
In3 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.4 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
1 A Benedictine abbey in Dorsetshire; Bee Dugd. Mon. ii. 621, ed. Ellis. This
ssntence does not occur in M or S.
1 These three sisters were named Mary, Matilda, and Elizabeth ; Bouquet.
3 The whole of this passage is omitted in M, 0, and S.
4 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. 1159.1 Frederic, 8. Louis, 22. Henry II. , 5.
1 The Vatican MS. (marked R in the present edition) thus narrates the incidents
of the present year (Bouquet, xiii. 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 there 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 jn 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. Gile3, 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, upon 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 the 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 2
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] should 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 s 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, marched 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

1 This and the paragraph next ensuing do not occur in the copy at Rouen.
2 This is the reading of the Rouen MS. ; Bouquet's text gives Hilliricort, and
suggests that the place meant may perhaps be Huincour.
8 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 Caesaris Burgum [Cherbourg], shortly before which
period she had crossed over into Normandy. Henry, 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 English 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 i and there he steadily remained with the
earl of the same place, bo long as the king of England continued within the pro
vince. This latter sovereign, acting upon the advice of his council, did not
besiege the king, but he beleaguered the surrounding castles, which he speedily
reduced, and miserably devastated the entire province. He took Montreal 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.1
"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 Mb directions he returned into France,
which added to the misery of the Frenchmen.
" On 2 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 3 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. Michael [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,4 abbot of Chatillon, 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 h. truce which
should continue until Whitsunday.5

1 This was ThomaB Becket.
2 This paragraph does not occur in the Rouen MS.
3 This paragraph also is omitted in the MS. at Rouen.
1 This paragraph does not occur in the Rouen MS.
¦ Namely, the 15th of May, 1160. But the Rouen MS. reads, "Until the
octaves of Whitsunday" [i.e. 22d of May].
3 c 2

V

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,1 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
Raimund2 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 ;3 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,4
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 damsel5
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,2 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."
1 On the Garonne.
2 Tbis sentence must have been written while Raymond was living ; his death
is mentioned a.d. 1162. 3 See William of Newburgh, p. 454.
' Or Agues, the daughter of William, duke of Aquitaine.
B 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,1 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, pledged2 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 affairs, 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 Malmesbury, 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.
A1 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,2 Milo3
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 consecrated4
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 dean5 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.
1 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.
1 See the documents in Gall. Christ, x. 405. InBt. ; Bouquet, xv. 748, 749.
5 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;1 also Robert, bishop of Exeter,2
a religious man, and one who feared God.
Terric, count of Flanders, returned from Jerusalem; but his wife,
Mabiria,3 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,4 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 froni 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.5 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.6
1 The exact date of the death of this bishop of Lichfield has afforded room
for some speculation; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 544.
2 The MS. F here ends at the top of a page with the words ..." and he was
succeeded by " . . .
3 Read, Sibilla. 4 Read, " Trincavel, viscount of Nismes."
, i That is, the 22d of May, a.d. 1160.
6 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 Philip
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.1 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 effect 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
Bhould 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 (fi) ; but that henceforward it coincides with the
(then) printed editions, and is fuller iu its narrative than the Paris MS. G.
1 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, Amboise) — 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. 1161.1 Frederic, 10. Louis, 24. Henry IL, 7-
King Henry 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,2 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. William 3 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 Henry, king of England, and two legates of the church
of Rome, namely, Henry 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].
1 A new hand, apparently that of Robert, here commences in A.
2 Not identified by the French Benedictines; but see Ord. Vitalis, v. 198.
3 This sentence does not occur in either M. or &

756 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1162.
After Easter, Henry, the king of the English, 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,1 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 II. , 8.
King Henry spent his Christmas at Baieux. In 2 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
ofthe elder king Henry; namely, Goron, Ambieres, and Chateau -
neuf, upon the river Colme.3
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.4 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 Bona5. 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
1 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 alters.
' Probably Lillebonne ; see the note in Bouquet, xiii. 306.

A.D. 1162.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 757
been separately deposited at Fecamp,1 and were more honourably
interred behind the altar of the Holy Trinity. Henry, 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
years, 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,2 in Provence, with the honour which was
fitting for him.
Richard de Rivers,3 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;4 as the abbot
Hugh had gone over to the side of the emperor and Octavian.5
On the death of Harduin, archbishop of Bordeaux, at Mont
pellier, while on his attendance at the papal court there, the bishop
of Lectoure 6 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,7 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 GaU. Christ, xi. 204, 205.
2 He arrived at Montpellier on the 15th of April, 1162, and continued there
until July ; see Jaff(S, 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.
7 This sentence does not occur in M or &]
8 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,1 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
king, who ere long meant to return the compliment. Raimund
Berenger, count of Barcelona, died, to the grief of all' 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,2 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,3 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 IL, 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.
1 The MSS. il and $ omit this clause also.
'' Omitted in M and 5.
3 This sentence, which occurs in all the copies, is a later addition in A, but by
tho 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.1
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 life 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.2
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.
A3 certain servant lad killed the abbot of St. Maximin at Orleans,
— at the instigation ofthe monks, as was believed ; whereupon, pope
Alexander4 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 5 of Lagny was 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
1 Bouquet's editors, and upon good grounds, question the accuracy of this
statement (xiii. 307). The entire passage is omitted in M and S.
2 A catalogue of these volumes is entered on the first leaf of the MS. A, from
wliich it has been published by Ravaisson, " Rapport au Ministre," Par. 1841. The
notice of this donation does not occur in M or <S.
3 The paragraphs, extending from this point to the passage ending with the
words " bishopric of Worcester," p. 760, do not occur in M or S.
4 See the papal bull (dated the 11th of July, 1163), in Mansi, xxi. 1026, and
Bouquet, xv. 800.
5 Concerning him and his successor, see Gall. Christ, vii. 497, 498 ; Mabill.
Annal. Ord. St. Bened. Ixxix. § 180.

760 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1164.
Hugh, the natural son of count Thiebaud the elder, who had been
at first a monk at Tiron; and during the time of king Stephen, his
uncle had for a while been abbot at Homme in England, abandon
ing which he became abbot of Chertsey. Leaving this also, he came
into France to his nephews, Henry and Thiebaud; and, as we have
mentioned, he became abbot of Lagny.
Gislebert,1 bishop of Hereford, was translated to the bishopric
of London, on the death of Richard, the bishop of that see ; and
master Robert de Melun, of English extraction, and an old man,
was made bishop of Hereford. Roger, the son of Robert, earl of
Gloucester, was elected to the bishopric of Worcester.
In the month of March died Baldwin, the third king of Jeru
salem, a man to be everywhere lamented ; he was succeeded by his
brother Amauri. God's mercy granted to this Baldwin the privilege
of taking Ascalon, of driving out the Hagarenes, and rescuing from
bondage God's worship : an honour accorded neither to David for
his holiness, nor to Solomon for his wisdom and his riches, nor
to Hezekiah for his justice ; nor, indeed, to any previous king.
During the octaves of Whitsuntide [19th May], pope Alexander
held a council at Tours,2 in which he excommunicated Octavian,
with the other schismatics, and those who held with them. In3
this council two bishops were expeUed from the church of Pampe-
luna, to the title of which they had both been consecrated ; and a
third was appointed. One of these expelled bishops had been
consecrated by the hands of the archbishop of Terracona, his
metropolitan, the other by the archbishop of Toledo, the primate
of the whole of Spain. Yet they were permitted to retain their
episcopal orders ; and a grant was made them, that, if any vacant
churches would postulate them, they might become the bishops of
those sees.4
a.d. 1164. Frederick, 13. Louis, 27. Henry II. , 10.
Terric, count of Flanders, went to Jerusalem for the third time.
Philip, his eldest son succeeded him, and married the second
daughter of Ralph, the elder count of Virmandois ; but her
brother, the younger count Ralph, being smitten with leprosy,
Terric became the lord of the two earldoms in right of his wife,
namely Virmandois and Montdidier.
Rainald the [bishop] elect of Cologne, the chancellor of Frederic,
the emperor of the Germans, translated to Cologne, from Milan,
the bodies of the three Magi.5 As they had been preserved in
balsam and other aromatic spices, they continued entire, as far as
the skin, and hair, and outward appearances were concerned. I was
informed by a person, who told me that he had seen them, that
(as far as one could form an opinion by their face and hair) the
first was about fifteen years old ; the second, thirty ; and the
1 This was the celebrated Gilbert Foliot ; see Le Neve, i. 457.
2 See AVilliam of Newburgh, p. 462; Labb. Concil. x. 1417.
3 The passage which here begins, and extends as far as the words ... "of the
martyr Nabor," p. 761, is omitted in M and S.
1 Here the style of the writing is a little changed in A.
5 A letter from Rainald to the clergy of Cologne, giving an account of these
his acquisitions, may be seen in Labb. Concil. x. 1186.

A. D. 1164.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 761
third, forty. By the gift of a certain emperor, the blessed Eustor-
gius translated them to Milan from Constantinople, along with the
table upon which they were placed, on a little wagon, which was
drawn by two cows, aided by God's power and pleasure. The same
Rainaldus also translated thence the body of the blessed Valeria,
the mother of the martyrs Gervasius and Prothasius, and the head
of the martyr Nabor.
William, the brother of king Henry, died at Rouen, on the third
of the kalends of February [30th Jan.], and was buried in the
church of St. Mary.
About the octaves of Easter [19th April], king Henry caused the
church of the blessed Mary, at Reading, to be dedicated ; and for
three days he made royal provision for the convent of the monks
and the guests ; and he endowed the church with no mean dower.1
Hamelin, Henry's natural brother, married the countess of
Warren, the widow of William, earl of Mortaine, the Jwe$rer of
king Stephen : she was the daughter of the third William, the earl
of Warren, who went to Jerusalem with Louis, king of France, and
died there, leaving no issue but the aforementioned countess.
In the district of Beauvais, St. Giles, accompanied by some
other illustrious personages, appeared to a certain husbandman in
a vision of the night, and told him that, on the morrow, as soon as
his ploughshare entered the first furrow, he would find a little iron
cross ; and he commanded him to carry it to his church. Then
the countryman asked him whether he was required to carry it to
the church of St. Giles in Provence ? to which question the saint
replied, " No : but to St. Giles at Coutance ; for there it is that
my body rests." He did so : and there many miracles were per
formed. Octavian, the schismatic, died at the city of Lucca; he had
assumed the name of Victor : and he was succeeded in his error
by Wido of Crema, named Paschal the Fourth.
Thiebaut, count of Chartres, married the daughter of Louis, king
of France, and the king made him a grant of the office of steward
of France, —a dignity which had been held of old by the count of
Anjou, whose duties in this respect have been discharged, in our
times, by Pialph de Parrona, vsho did homage for the same, and
served him as his liege lord. His 2 eldest brother, Henry, count
of Treves, took back the daughter of king Louis whom he had
previously dismissed.
Having completely subjugated Lombardy, (in which there are
twenty-five cities, with three archiepiscopal sees, namely, Milan,
Ravenna, and Genoa,) the emperor Frederic both restored the
revenues of the crown, to the amount of fifty thousand marks, and
established peace therein, for the security both of the natives and
of strangers. Yet this notwithstanding Verona and some other
cities rebelled against him.3
1 See an abstract of his benefactions, Dugd. Monast. iv. 29.
2 The passage which here begins, and ends with the words . . . "subjugated'
Lombardy," . . . are written in A upon an erasure.
3 The MSS. M and S omit the passages from " In the district of Beauvais," to
the end of this paragraph.

762 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1165.
The Welsh did not keep faith with king Henry, but ravaged and
overrun the country nearest to them, influenced thereto by a cer
tain prince of theirs, named Ris, and another person named Oen,
the uncle to Ris, and as bad as himself.
Walter1 Giffar[d], earl of Buckingham, having died without an
heir, his county in England, and the whole of his lands in Nor
mandy, reverted into the possession of the king.
Richard de Humet, the constable of king Henry, summoned the
barons of Normandy and Brittany ; and in the month of August he
took the castle of Combourg in Brittany for the behoof of the king;
it had been in the tenure of Ralph de Fougeres after the death of
John de Dol. In the same month there fell a shower of blood at
Retz, in the bishopric of Dol.
Ralph,2 bishop of Chartres, a religious man, died.
Hugh, the venerable archbishop of Rouen, died on the fourth of
the ides of October [12th Oct.]. He was a man of great learning,
and the author of many pleasant works ; and he was also bountiful
to widows, orphans, and the poor. He presided over the church
of Rouen, honourably and efficiently, for nearly thirty years.3
Almaric,4 king of Jerusalem, was taken into the pay of the
admiral of Babylon ; for whose assistance he advanced with his
army to deliver a city of his named Barbasta, which was held
against him by Salegon, the steward of Noradin, who had obtained
possession of it by fraud. After the siege had continued for some
time, the city was at last taken and restored to the admiral. After
having reconciled them with each other, and restored many
captives to liberty, the king returned home ; but not before he had
doubled the tribute paid by the admiral, which, until this time, had
amounted to an annual payment of thirty thousand pieces of gold.
In the meantime, however, Noradin had inflicted great injury upon
the Christians ; for he had taken a castle of theirs named Harenc,
and also made a prisoner of Boamond the younger, the prince of
Antioch ; and after the Saracens had killed many of the Christians,
they obtained possession of Habilina, that is, Belinas.
a.d. 1165. Frederick, 14. Louis, 28. Henry IL, 11.
Henry, king of England, crossed over into Normandy during
Lent,5 and on the octaves of Easter [11th April] he had a con
ference with the king of the French at Gisors. Returning from
thence to Rouen, he gave a friendly reception to his cousin Philip,
count of Flanders. He likewise had a visit from the ambassadors
of Frederic, the emperor of the Germans, namely, Rainald, the
archbishop of Cologne, (who was the emperor's chancellor,) and
many others, men of great influence ; who, on the emperor's part,
requested the king that he would give one of his daughters in
marriage to Henry, duke of Bavaria, and another of them to his
1 Wanting in the MSS. last mentioned. 2 Omitted in M and S.
8 The MS. S here adds, " Walleran, the illustrious count of Meulan, died, who
contributed many benefits in lands, iu woods, in vineyards, and in rents, upon the
church of the blessed Mary 'de Voto,' which is situated in the district of
Calais." Concerning this church, see p. 744, note 3.
* In A there is here a change in the style of the writing, and the colour of the ink.
' Ash-Wednesday fell upon the 1 7th of Feb.

A.D. 1165.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 763
son, who, however, at that time was but a youth. Oaths having
been demanded and given, the king afterwards sent his ambassadors
into Germany, in order that they might receive from the emperor
and his princes oaths to the same effect, as to the articles of agree
ment respecting which they had already mutually come to an un
derstanding. Rotrou, bishop of Evreux, became archbishop of Rouen.
Henry,1 dean of Salisbury, was chosen to the see of Baieux.
On the death of Roger, abbot of St. Wandregisil, a religious man,
Anfrid, the sacristan of the same monastery, succeeded him.
Having been summoned by the king, Alienor, queen of England,
came into Normandy, bringing with her Richard her son, and her
daughter Matilda ; but upon the king's return into England, where
he was about to advance with a powerful army against the Welsh,
the queen remained in the parts on this side of the sea.
Leaving Sens, where he had resided for nearly two years,
Alexander, the pope of Rome, arrived at Montpellier ; 2 and em
barking in a fleet, he went into the lands of William, king of Sicily,
although not without being exposed to some dangers while on the
sea, from the pirates of the German emperor.
William,3 the brother of count Thiebaut, was elected to the
government of the church of Chartres ; the pope having given
him a licence, in consequence of his youth, that his consecration
thereto should be postponed for five years.
In the month of August the queen of Louis, king of the French,
gave birth to a son, who was named Philip. In the month of
October a daughter was born to queen Alienor at Angers, and her
baptismal name was Johanna.
Robert,4 abbot de Monte, gave directions that the relics of St.
Laurence (which consisted of that bone of the arm which is called
the " eschinum," and four other smaller bones belonging to the
same martyr) should be deposited in [a certain reliquary in the
shape of] an arm excellently formed of gold and silver ; just as he
had previously placed the head of Innocent, the companion of St.
Maurice, in a certain cup gilt within and without. Suppo,5 abbot
de Monte, had removed, by his entreaties and by the payment of a
sum of money, these relics to the monastery of St. Michael from
the monastery of St. Benigerus of Frutoria, where he had formerly
been abbot ; they consisted of the articles already mentioned, to
gether with a portion of the body of St. Agapitus, the martyr, that
is to say, some of the flesh and four of the ribs. This monastery of
Frutoria is in Lombardy, in the bishopric of Vercelli.
That religious youth, Malcolm, king of Scotland, died, and was
succeeded by his brother William.
The6 lightning struck the church of St. Michel, on the tower
and in other places, and yet, by God's mercy, it sustained no
1 This and the following sentence doea not occur in M or &
2 See William of Newburgh, p. 468. 3 Omitted in M and 8.
1 The whole of this paragraph is omitted in M and S.
5 a.d. 1033—1061; see Gall. ChriBt. xi. 515.
6 The two copies last mentioned here conclude the year. In E the sentences
which here follow are a later addition, but by the same hand.
VOL. IV. 3 D

764 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1166 —
injury. Robert, abbot of Marmoutiers,1 died, and was succeeded
by Robert de Blois.
a.d. 1166. Frederic, 15. Louis, 29. Henry IL, 12.
Having fortified the marches between the English and the Welsh,
and made all arrangements respecting his castles and his troops, king
Henry crossed over into Normandy during Lent.2 Next, he had a
conference respecting peace with the king of the French. Having
heard that this king intended to transmit to Jerusalem, for the
defence of the christian faith, one penny arising from every twenty
shillings of his own treasures and rents, and to raise the same
amount from those of all his subjects, as well clerks as laymen,
which was to be done annually for five 3 years ; this high-spirited
monarch caused the proceeds of the first year to be doubled through
out all his dominions, — the payment of one penny for each twenty
shillings to continue during the other years of the term specified.
Waleran, count of Meulan, who had become a monk at Preaux,
died ; he was succeeded by his son Robert, whose mother was the
sister of Simon, count of Evreux.4 This same Robert married the
daughter of Reginald, earl of Cornwall.5
William, king of Sicily, died, and was succeeded by his son
William. William Talvace, count of Seez, and his son John, and John, his
grandson, the son of his eldest son Gui, count of Ponthieu, made
a grant to king Henry of the castles of Alencon and Roche-Mabille,
with the appurtenances to these castles belonging. Possibly they
lost their possessions, because they and their ancestors had long kept
up evil customs there, which king Henry immediately set about
reforming.6 In the month of September died Stephen, bishop of Rennes ;
and in England, Robert, bishop of Bath, died.
The king [Henry] dealt according to his pleasure with the nobles
of the district of Mans, and the region of Brittany, and with their
castles; because, before he had sailed, they had been less obedient
than was fitting to the queen's commands, and (as is reported) had
bound themselves with an oath to make common cause, if any one
of them were injured. Having collected troops from almost all his
dominions on this side of the sea, the king besieged the castle of
Fougeres, which he took and levelled with the ground. A ' treaty
of marriage between his son Geoffrey and Constance, the daughter
of earl Conan of Brittany and Richmond, having been entered into,
this earl made a grant to the king of the entire duchy of Brittany,
with the exception of the earldom of Guingamp, which had de
scended to him from his grandfather, count Stephen. The king
received the homage of nearly all the barons of Brittany at Touars.
1 Marmoutiers-les-Tours.
2 Ash-Wednesday fell on the 9th of March.
3 . . . " for four years "... MS. 0.
4 In A the original scribe has erased three words at this point. The entire
paragraph is wanting in M and S. 5 See Dugd. Baron, l. 610.
0 Here, at the bottom of a page, there is a slight change in the style of the
writing in A. The whole sentence is omitted in M and S.
7 MS. 0 here reads, " Having discussed an imaginary treaty of marriage " . .

A.D. 1167.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 765
Thence he came to Rennes; and, by taking possession of that city,
the capital of Brittany, he became the lord of the whole duchy.
And as he had never yet seen either Combourg or Dol, he paid
them a passing visit after they had become his own property.
Coming to Mont St. Michel, for the purpose of devotion, he spent
that night at Genest. There ' he was met by William, the king of
Scotland, and the bishop 2 of Man, and those other thirty-one
islands, which are situated between Scotland, Ireland, and England.
These thirty-two islands are holden of the king of Norway, by the
king of the Isles, by this tribute, that, whenever there is a new king,
the king of the Isles gives him ten marks of gold ; and then, during
the whole of his life, does nothing further for him until a new king
be appointed in Norway. The bishop, whom we have mentioned,
came as ambassador from this king to the king of England ; for this
king is a relative of the king of England, through his mother, the
empress Matilda.
a.d. 1167. Frederic, 16. Louis, 30. Henry II. , 13.
At 3 Christmas, king Henry was at Poitiers, and his son Henry
came to him from England.
Before i Lent,5 the king arrived at Rouen; and upon the death of
Roger, abbot of St. Ouen's, a man of great devotion, he gave that
abbey to Haimeric, the cellarer of Bee. Shortly before this time,
there had died in England Robert, bishop of Hereford, and Robert,
bishop of Lincoln.
During Lent [22d Feb.— 9th April], the king of England had
a conference with the count de St. Giles, at Grammont. After
Easter [9th April], he conducted a body of soldiers into the district
of the Arvernoise, and devastated the lands of count William,
because he had pledged himself, in the presence of the king, to
abide by justice in respect to his nephew, whom he had disinhe
rited (I mean, the young count of Arvernoise) ; but grown old in his
wickedness, he broke his faith, and joined himself to the party of
the French king, and sowed discord between them. Also, by the
management of Jocius, archbishop of Tours, a sharp disagreement
originated between Henry, king of England, and Louis, king
of France, concerning the collection of the money which was to be
sent to Jerusalem, and which was deposited at Tours. The king of
England wished to send it by his own ambassadors, because it had
been raised within his own district ; but the king of France was
desirous that it should be transmitted by emissaries of his own,
because to him belongs the city of Tours. The city of Tours, with
the cathedral, was burnt down.
Almaric, king of Jerusalem, (summoned by the admiral ot
Babylon, with whom he was in league,) besieged Alexandria, the
1 Here there is a change in the int in A.
2 Apparently Reginald, a Norwegian. Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 323; Keith's
Scottish Bishops, p. 298.
3 From this point there is an entire change in the ink and the writing ; the mode
of spelling proper names sometimes differs from what has hitherto been adopted.
4 This clause does not occur in either M or S.
5 Ash- Wednesday fell on the 22d of February.
3 D 2

766 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1167 —
chief town of Egypt, and took' it, and gave it up to the admiral,
who decreed that this city should pay a yearly tax of fifty thousand
bezants, without reference to the fifty-seven thousand which he had
from Babylon. The same king married the niece of Manuel, the
emperor of Constantinople, with whom he received countless
treasures. About ' Whitsuntide [28th May], Frederic, the emperor of the
Germans, sent out his troops, who slew many of the Romans, —
who ere long were about to repay him with the same coin. About
the month of July, he himself besieged and took the " Roma
Leonina," 2 and destroyed some portions near the church of St.
Peter — the porch, namely, and some other parts. He also carried
to Rome the antipope, Wido of Crema, by whose hands he caused
his wife to be crowned empress. God's vengeance immediately
followed; for his cousin Charles, the son of Conrad, who had
been emperor before Frederic died,3 and Rainald, archbishop of
Cologne, his chancellor, (by whose instigation he had committed
much wickedness,4) and the bishop of Liege, and many other
bishops and nobles, likewise perished. It is reported that,
during the time when the plague was at its height, twenty-five
thousand men died in his army. With the exception of Pavia
and Vercelli, the cities of Lombardy, twenty-five in number, rebuilt
Milan, and revolted from the emperor.
In the octaves of Whitsuntide [4th June], the kings of England
and France had a conference in the Vexin to discuss peace ; but
no good resulted from it, for the lenity of king Louis was
negatived by the asperity of his nobility. Consequently, both
parties collected innumerable armies from all their dominions,
and eventually fortified their castles. The king of the French
having burnt some villages on the border district, between Mantes
and Passy, king Henry became angry, (although he had great
regard for king Louis,) and burnt down the exceedingly rich and
well -fortified castle of Chaumont, in which the French king had
deposited his treasures and stores for the prosecution of the war,
and many other towns in the neighbourhood. Hearing this,
the king of France became exceedingly angry; and having
collected his forces, he burnt the extensive farms which St. Ouen
held in Le Vexin, namely, " Vadum Nigasii " [Gani], and other
towns, as also Andelys, an excellent town, the property of the
blessed Mary and the archbishop of Rouen. Also he devastated
other localities which belonged to the church of the Holy Trinity,
at Rouen. There was no want, however, of a speedy vengeance ;
for upon that same day many of his soldiers, upon their return to
their camp, fainted from thirst, heat, dust, and fear, and died.
The same event had occurred to his father on a previous occasion; 5
for when he was on the eve of a battle with the elder king Henry
of England, (whose forces were superior to his own,) he had spent
1 The whole of this paragraph is omitted in M and S.
2 Concerning the origin of this designation, see Pertz, Script, vi. p. 339.
3 Here, in A, three words are erased, as also at C.
1 See the previous note. 6 a.d. 1119, see p. 682.

A.D. 1168.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 767
the night before the engagement in the same village, and the
French (who, according to the authority of the Roman emperor
Valentinian, are called Franks from their ferocity) made a stable for
their horses in the church of the blessed Mary at Andelys.
In consequence of this some of them were taken prisoners, and
others of them were put to flight.
In the month of August a truce was entered into, by oath,
between the kings Henry and Louis; it was to continue until
Easter.1 Thence proceeding into Brittany, king Henry reduced
all its inhabitants into subjection, even the inhabitants of Lehon ;
for Guihunmar, the son of Hervei, the viscount of Lehon, whose
daughter had become the wife of count Gui, stricken by terror,
gave hostages, and submitted to the king, when he saw that his
strong castle was taken and burnt down, and every other fortress
either taken or given up.
Whilst the king still continued in Brittany, the intelligence of the
death of his mother, the empress Matilda, reached him : this event
had occurred at Rouen, on the fourth of the ides of September
[10th Sept.], and she was buried at Bee. Her affectionate son
distributed countless treasures among churches, monasteries, lepers,
and others of the poor, for the good of her soul. This empress
had founded the monastery " De Voto,"2 in the district of Calais,
near Julia Bona, and had filled it with Cistercian monks.3 She
also built two monasteries for canons, one near Cherbourg,4 and
the other in the wood of Goffer.5 She also left a large sum of
money for the " Mons Lapideus,"6 on the Seine near Rouen, which
she had commenced.
Richard,7 abbot of St. Pierre-sur-Dive,8 died, and was succeeded
by Ranner, a monk of Caen. Michael, the abbot of Preaux,9
died ; he had been a monk of Bee : his place was filled by Henry,
who was also a monk of Bee, and the hostillan there.
Jocio, archbishop of Tours, came to terms of peace with the
king of England.
The10 venerable Hugh, abbot of Cerisy,11 paid the penalty of mor
tality by his death, after having presided over that monastery for
nearly fifty years : he was succeeded by Martin, a monk of the
same place.
Queen Alienor crossed over into England, taking with her
Matilda, her daughter.
On Christmas eve there appeared in the west two stars of a
fiery hue ; one was large, the other small, and they appeared in
conjunction : afterwards they went wide apart from each other, and
then disappeared. John,12 the son of the king of England, was
born. a.d. 1168. Frederic, 17. Louis, 31. Henry IL, 14.
1 That is, until the 31st of March, 1163.
2 See a.d. 1158, p. 744, note 3. 3 See a.d. 1162, p. 756, note 5.
1 Gall. Christ, xi. 940. 5 Id. p. 943. 6 Id. p. 124.
7 The whole of this paragraph is omitted in if and S. 8 Gall. Christ, xi. 728.
0 Id. p. 834. '° Omitted in M and 8. n Gall. Christ, xi. p. 408.
12 This concluding sentence is added in A by another hand, but ia found in tha
other copies.

768 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. D. 1168—
At Christmas, king Henry was at Argentan, and there he held a
great court in his new hall.
Matilda, the daughter of king Henry, was conveyed into Germany,
with an immense sum of money, and in very great state, to her
husband, Henry, duke of Saxony and Bavaria, one of which duchies
he held from his father, the other from his mother. He was the
son of duke Henry, who was the issue of a daughter of the emperor
Lothaire, who had filled the throne before Conrad. This Henry
(I mean the younger, he who married the daughter of the English
king) had gained so wide a district from the pagans, that is, the
Sclaves and Vends, that he had erected out of it three episcopal
sees. Terric,1 count of Flanders, died, and was succeeded by his son,
Philip, who for some time previously had held the rule of that
earldom, whilst his father was absent on the expedition to Jeru
salem. Stephen2 de Fougeres, the chaplain to king Henry, became
bishop of Rennes. The monastery of Fecamp was burnt
down. In3 the month of February, a wonderful occurrence happened in
the district of Mans, at the castle of Frenay,4 which belongs to
Roscelin, the viscount of Mans (the husband of Matilda, a base-
born daughter of the first Henry, the king of England, and the
aunt of Henry the second, by whom he had issue Richard, who
succeeded him, and William, to whom Henry the second gave in
marriage the daughter of Rolland de Reus and his land), — at this
castle, as I was saying, the river Sarte, which flows past its walls,
was dried up for nearly an hour and a half, so that foot-passengers
might cross it without wetting their shoes ; whereas, at other times,
it was no easy matter for horses to pass over without swim
ming. The same thing happened at London to the river Thames,5
during the time of Henry the first. On the fourteenth of the
kalends of March [16th Feb.] there occurred an earthquake, and a
fiery globe was seen flying through the sky.
The greater part of the inhabitants of Poitou and Aquitaine —
namely, [Aldebert] count de March, [William] count de Angou-
lesme, Haimeric de Lusignan, Robert de Sillei, and his brother
Hugh, and many others, wishing to rebel against the king [of
England], and intent upon burning and plundering the poor, ra
vaged the whole country. No sooner did the active king hear of
this than he hastened thither; and, in order to check their madness,
he first took that strongly-fortified castle of Luzignan, and then
garrisoned it, destroying their villages and towns. When he had
filled these castles with his troops, and stocked them with the
necessary supplies of provisions, he left the queen there with
1 Here in A occurs the erasure of nearly half a line.
2 The MSS. M and S here pass on to the paragraph which commences, " The
greater' part."
3 Here a gathering of the MS. A ends, after which the previous hand resumes its
labours. 1 Frenay le Vicomte, between Mans and Alencon.
6 See the Saxon Chron. and Florence of Worcester, a.d. 1114.

A.D. 1168.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 769
Patrick,1 earl of Salisbury, the uncle of Rotrou, count of Perch ;
and, on the octaves of Easter [7th April], he proceeded into Nor
mandy, where he was about to hold a conference, between Passy
and Mans, with the king of the French, in order to expostulate
with him upon the injuries which he had inflicted : for the in
habitants of Poitou had come to the king of the French, and had
given him their hostages against the king of England, whose sub
jects they were. Hence originated a great dispute on both sides ;
and as the king of the French refused to surrender these hostages,
whom he was unjustly keeping, a truce was entered into, which was
to hold until the octaves of St. John [1st July]. But about the
octaves of Easter [7th April], earl Patrick was killed through the
treachery of the people of Poitou, and was buried at St. Hilary : he
was succeeded by his son, the issue of a daughter of William, earl
of Ponthieu, the mother of the countess of Warren.
Before the truce was entered into, the king of England had cited
Eudo, viscount of Porroet, (who hitherto had been styled count, but
the title was a shadow,) and upon whom he had lavished so many
benefactions, that he had made him his retainer and ally ; but this
he refused to do, as also did some of the natives of Brittany, who
had confederated with him — namely, Oliver, the son of Oliver de
Dinan, and Rolland, his cousin. Incensed herewith (and not with
out good cause), the king commenced proceedings against their
head — I mean Eudo — whose lands he plundered and burnt; and,
in the first place, he destroyed Chateau-Joscelin, the principal
castle which belonged to him. Further, he deprived him of the
earldom of Briac, the chief town of which is the city of Vannes,
which the king took into his own custody, the port of which is
highly praised by Julius Ceesar, in the book which he wrote, " De
Bello Gallico ;"2 and besides this, he caused him to lose the half of
Cornouaille. He besieged the castle of Aurai ; and having taken it,
he garrisoned it. Having thus devastated the territories of this
Eudo, and reduced them under his own power, he proceeded
towards the district belonging to the people of Dinan ; he placed a
garrison within the castle of Hedee, which was surrendered to him
by Geoffrey de Montfort ; and he destroyed Tinteniac. Next he
attacked Becherel, a very strong castle, belonging to Rolland de
Dinan : the siege continued for some days ; but he employed
military engines against it, took it, and garrisoned it. .The castle of
Lehon was next to have been assailed ; for it was in this fortress
that Rolland chiefly trusted, as it was exceedingly well fortified
both by nature and art : but the period at which he must attend
the conference with the king of France was now too close at hand
to admit of this assault being undertaken.
Thus, having abandoned the land of Rolland to plunder and the
flames, he acted in like manner in those remote districts situated
near the river Ranee ; for, crossing that stream, he made a descent
near Lehon, and pillaged all, sparing only the monks of Lehon.
Marching round Dinan, he destroyed part of the country, — part of
it he spared. In the district of Alet he did the same.
1 See Dugd. Mon. i. 175. 2 Lib. III. cap. viii.

770 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1168—
In the octaves of St. John [1st July], he came to Ferte-Bernard,
where the kings discussed about peace ; but the matter came to
nothing, and they separated : for, acting like the inhabitants of
Poitou, those of Brittany had given hostages to the king of France,
and pledged themselves on their faith that they would enter into a
compact with him, to the effect that neither of them, without the
other, would come to terms of peace with the king of England. In
consequence of this it was that the inhabitants of Brittany (asso
ciated herein with some of the people of Le Mans, through whose
territories they had secretly passed) were present at the conference.
Thus the war was carried on, on both sides, until Advent-tide [1st
Dec], and the country on each border was fortified. King Henry
played a safe game ; he came to terms of peace with his cousin
Matthew, count of Boulogne, and promised that if he would aban
don his claim upon the earldom of Mortain, he (Henry) would
give him a large annual sum of money [for 1 Matthew had married
the daughter of king Stephen, who had been count of Mortain].
But when this Matthew was anxious to march to the assistance of
the king of England, his lord and relative, John, count of Ponthieu,
prevented him from passing through his land, in consequence of
which he and his numerous light-armed troops were compelled of
necessity to reach the king by sea. When he heard of this, the king —
at the request of this Matthew — marched with his soldiers into the
lands of count John, and vented his anger upon it, by burning the
district Le Vimeu,2 and destroying by fire more than forty towns.
Appearing suddenly before a town in Normandy, called Chene-
brun, the king of the French burnt it, and took in it four knights.
When he heard of this, the king of England pursued him, and
took prisoners many of his soldiers, amongst whom the steward of
Philip, count of Flanders, was caught with a hook. The castle
belonging to Hugh de Chateauneuf, called Brezolles, was given up
to the flames; so that its name now corresponded *with its fate.
The like was done by his soldiers (for at the time he was absent) to
Chateauneuf. The greater portion of the lands of the count de
' Perch shared the same devastation, in which he took a personal
interest. Besides3 these his exploits, the king of England did
many things in this war of which we have not been informed, or
i^if we have heard of them, \ve have forgotten them.
Robert, earl of Leicester, died, leaving a son of the same name,
who received with his wife, when he married, the inheritance of
Grantmenil. Hervey de Lehon died in Brittany, and was succeeded
by Guihomar, his son. Besides these, Gui de Crema, the anti-
pope, died at Rome, and was followed in his schism by a certain
spurious clerk, Calixtus by name. The archbishop of Sens died,
and was succeeded by William, the bishop elect of Chartres, to
whom a grant of the bishopric of Chartres for two years was made
by pope Alexander.
1 The words enclosed in brackets do not occur in M, although they are in S.
2 A district lying between the rivers Authie and Somme.
3 M and S here pass on to the sentence beginning with the. words, " After
Henry" . . .

A.D. 1169.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 771
After Henry, duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had visited the court
of his father-in-law, king Henry of England, he returned home laden
with presents. The Lombards built a city at no great distance
from Vercelli, to which they gave the name of Alessandria, in
honour of pope Alexander ; and it was peopled by inhabitants drawn
from the various cities of Lombardy.
a.d. 1169. Frederic, 18. Louis, 32. Henry II. , 15.
King Henry spent his Christmas at Argentan. Bernard,1 bishop
of Nantes, died.
The kings of France and England came to an agreement at the
Epiphany of our Lord [6th Jan.]. Henry, the son of Henry, the
king of England, did homage to his father-in-law, the king of the
French, for the earldom of Anjou and the duchy of Brittany, of
which this king had made a grant to this son-in-law whom we
have named. As for Normandy, he had already done homage for
it ; and the king of France had granted him the office of steward
of France, which belongs to the fief of Anjou. Richard, the son
of Henry, the king of England, did homage to the king of France
for the duchy of Aquitaine.
William2 Malet took Robert de Sillei prisoner.
At the purification of the blessed Mary [2d. Feb.], Henry, the
son of the king of England, was at Paris, and waited at table,
as steward of France, upon the French king. This office 3 (or, as
it was anciently called, the office of the mayor of the royal house
hold) was given by Robert, king of France, to Geoffrey Grisagonella,
count of Anjou, as a reward for the services which he had rendered
against Otho, the emperor of Germany. He also gave him what
ever he possessed within the bishopric of Anjou. But afterwards,
when Geoffrey, count of Perch, and David, count of Mans, had
rebelled against the same Robert, king of France, this king, aided
by Geoffrey Grisagonella, besieged the fortress of Mortain, and took
it. And as David, count of Mans, refused to come to the king,
when summoned thereto by him, the king transferred his homage
to Geoffrey Grisagonella, together with his city, and all his posses
sions within the bishopric of Mans.
Henry, the son of Henry, the king of the English, did his
homage to Philip, the son of Louis, the king of the French.
Henry, king of England, had a conference with Louis, the king
of the French, at St. Germains-en-Laye.
At the command of his father Henry, Geoffrey, the son of the
king of England, did homage to his brother Henry for the duchy
of Brittany.
On4 the death of Hasculf de Solinnei, his son Gislebert suc
ceeded. Also, Richard de Hara died, leaving three daughters.
During Lent5 king Henry went to Gascony, and having destroyed
many castles, such as held out against him, and fortified others, he
1 This obit does not occur in M or 8.
2 Omitted in the two MSS. last mentioned.
3 See the treatise of Hugo de Cleeriis; cf. Bouquet, xii. 492, and the editor's
notes upon that passage.
4 This paragraph is omitted by M and 8.
5 Ash- Wednesday fell on the 5th of March.

772 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.D. 1169 —
came to terms of agreement with the counts d'Angouleme and
de la Marche, as well as several others of less repute.
During the month of May, Geoffrey, the son of the king of
England, came to Rennes, where he was received with the greatest
respect, in the church of St. Peter, by Stephen, bishop of Rennes,
and Autbert, bishop of Alet, Robert, abbot of Mont St. Michel,
and many other persons of religion ; and there he received the
homage of the barons of Brittany.
King Henry made broad and deep ditches between France and
Normandy to keep away the robbers. Also, in the district of
Anjou, on the Loire, he made embankments (called "torsise" ") to
repel the waters which were so destructive to the corn-lands and
the meadows : these extended for nearly thirty miles. He also
caused residences to be built for the men who had charge of these
embankments ; and he gave directions that these superintendents
should be exempt from military service, and many other fiscal
exactions.2 Hilary, bishop of Chester,3 and Nigel, bishop of Ely, died;
also Richard, abbot of Bernai,4 and Silvester, abbot of Rennes.
In the month of August, (now that everything within the
districts of Poitou and Gascony had been nearly restored to
perfect tranquillity,) king Henry came into Normandy ; and the
Bretons hastened to him when he cited them.
Catania, a city in Sicily, was smitten and overthrown by an
earthquake, and many perished in it.5
King Henry erected an exceedingly strong castle and a very
large tower at the enclosure in the forest of Malaffre,6 which is
called Bealveer.
Roger Malebranche' having taken the city of Beziers by
stratagem, which the citizens held out against him, put the whole
of its inhabitants, men and women, to death by hanging them, or
by other torments, and he filled the town with new inmates ; for
the inhabitants of Beziers had cruelly murdered their lord, William8
Trenchevel, the father of Roger Malebranche, in a church,
together with his little son.
King Henry made mills and places for fishing in the river
Mayenne at Angers.
William Goeth having died in the expedition to Jerusalem, earl
Thiebaud wished to get possession of Montmirail and the other
fortresses which had belonged to the deceased, in which Hervei de
Iven was enfeoffed ; for he had married the eldest daughter of the
1 Dachery, in his note upon Trevet's Annals, A. D. 1169, remarks that they were
then (and perhaps are still) called " Les turcies de la Loire."
2 The latter portion of this sentence is written by Robert upon an erasure. It
does not occur in either M or S, which also omit the following obits.
3 Bishop of Chichester ; see Le Neve. * Gall. Christ, xi. 831.
5 Here end the MSS. L and M, and the second handwriting in 0, as well as the
abridged text in P and S. Possibly 2V and £ might be added to the list. In M
a short continuation by a monk of Vaumont is appended. " The church of Fecamp
was consumed on the 14th of the kalends of July [18th June], being the Wednes
day after the octaves of Whitsuntide," added in 0 and S.
0 Not identified. 1 See William of Newburgh, II. 11, p. 457.
" Read, "Roger."

A.D. 1170.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 773
William Goeth, who was the issue of one of the sisters of count
Thiebaud. When Hervei saw that he could not hold out against
count Thiebaud, (who was supported by the king of the French,
being his brother-in-law,) he gave up to king Henry Montmirail,
and another castle named St. Agnan in the district of Bourges,
for which he received a sum of money ; and treaties were entered
into thereupon. This was the signal for the renewal of hostilities
between the king and the count.
a.d. 1170. Frederic, 19. Lewis, 33. Henry IL, 16.
At Christmas, Henry was at Nantes, in Brittany. Robert,
archdeacon of Nantes, was made bishop of that see, by the
consent of king Henry, — thus succeeding his uncle Bernard.
During Lent 1 the sea passed over its usual limits, in consequence
of which the lands on the coast, which had been sown with corn,
were destroyed in many places, the sea having swept over them.
This washing away of the land exposed to view in England the
bones of a giant, whose body is reported to have been thirty feet
long. In the course of the same Lent, king Henry crossed over into
England, and yet not without danger.
Gislebert de Avranches having been drowned at sea, he was
succeeded by Fulco Painel, who had married his eldest sister.
The sheriffs throughout England were censured by the king,
because they harassed the people by their extortions and
plunderings. After Whitsunday [24th May], king Henry summoned his son
Henry to come into England, and caused him to be crowned king at
Westminster in London, to the great joy of the clergy and people.
He was anointed by Roger, archbishop of York ; for Thomas, of
Canterbury, was resident in France for nearly six successive years.
At this consecration there were present Gislebert, bishop of London;
Josceline, bishop of Salisbury ; Walter, bishop of Rochester ;
Richard, bishop of Chester ; Bartholomew, bishop of Exeter ; and
Hugh, bishop of Durham. Roger, bishop of Worcester, was absent
in Normandy, and Henry, bishop of Winchester, and William, bishop
of Norwich, were prevented from attending in consequence of
illness. There was a vacancy in several episcopal sees ; for Aldulf,
bishop of Carlisle, and Robert, bishop of Hereford, and Robert,
bishop of Bath, and Robert, bishop of Lincoln, and Hilary, bishop
of Chichester, and Nigel, bishop of Ely, had fallen asleep in the
Lord ; and their bishoprics were not yet filled up. There were
present from Normandy, Henry, bishop of Baieux, and Frogerius,
bishop of Seez, who had accompanied the king into England.
Some people are offended that the archbishop of York anointed the
younger Henry as king ; but they should be made acquainted with
the fact that William the first, the conqueror of England, was
anointed and consecrated king by that most religious man, Alvered,
archbishop of York, although Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury,
(who had been excommunicated by the pope,) was resident in the
island of Britain. 1 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 mother was the daughter of
William de Albini,1 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 [29 th 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 ;2 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 Alienor, 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
^unwillingly3 withdrawn.
About August, king Henry returned into Normandy, leaving the
younger Henry in England. King Henry established a peace
between count Tedbald and Hervei de Iven.
In the month of September, king Henry was sick, near unto
death, at Mota 4 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,

1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 118. 2 Helisende.
s She had been abbess of Rumsey ; see a.d. 1160.
4 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 j
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
was 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,1 duke of Burgundy, went with
him. a.d. 1171. Frederic, 20. Louis, 34. Henry II. , 17.
King Henry kept his Christmas at Bur,2 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.3 Many thousands of armed Hagarenes crossed over from Africa
into Spain. 1 Read, "Hugh."
2 Apparently Bures, nearer Troarn ; 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,1 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,2 died ; whereupon the whole of Brittany,
and the county of Guippewis,3 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,4 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 5 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,6 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,8 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 : 9 he was conveyed to Paris,
and buried in the church there, where he shines by his many
1 St. Paul de Lehon, near Dinan, in Finisterre.
2 See Dugd. Baron, i. 48. '¦> That is Guingamp.
4 Ash-Wednesday fell on the 10th of February.
* See Capgrave, Nova Legend. Angliae, f. cccix. b. 6 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.
8 See Joh. Brompton, ap. Decern. Scriptt. col. 1050.
' Ab this occurrence took place, a.d. 1179 (see Pagi, ad. an. § 17), the present
passage must have been written, or interpolated, 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 Elias, 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 Richard1 arrived, bearing a message
from the earl, to the effect 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 2 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-hook 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 August
[9th Aug.], a.d. 1171." Bibl. Cluniac. p. 593 ; Bee 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 ; J 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, wno had come along with
Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, his lord,2 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,3 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, Albert4 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,
1 See A. D. 1171, p. 775. 2 In A these words are here erased.
2 A change in the handwriting in A is here perceptible.
See two letters from the pope to them, in Epp. St. Thomae ed. Lupu3, 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 x 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 II. , 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.2
William, abbot of Reading, was made archbishop of Bourdeaux.
The count 3 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 valuable 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;4 who leaving his castles ungarrisoned,
they were occupied by king Henry. Also, Hugh, earl of Chester,
1 Near Avallon, at no great distance from Auxerre.
2 Here this hand ceases, and the former resumes its labours.
3 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 Galicia, 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,1
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 2 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.,3 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.4 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
1 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.
3 Reginald Fitz-Joceline ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 129.
4 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,1
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,2
the cousin of count3 Thiebaud.
Roger, earl of Clare, died, and was succeeded by his son Gilbert,
who married the daughter4 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 Henry 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 5 followed.
Henry, king of the English, sent his Brabancons 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 6 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 Gall. Christ, xii. 406.
3 This Ralph de Sully was the nephew of Henry, bishop of Winchester, the
great benefactor to the monastery of Cluny; see Bibl. Cluniac. p. 1625.
4 See Dugd. Baron, i. 24. 5 Eudo de Porroet.
6 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,1 and of
the city of Dol, for the king of England, Ralph de Fougeres ob
tained possession of these strongholds ; understanding which, the
king sent his Brabancons 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 occurrence2 affords us an illustration of the
courage, caution, and expedition of Henry, king of England.
When the intelligence 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 liimself, having accepted security from
, them that they would not escape.
Desirous 3 of disturbing the tranquillity of the realm of England,
Robert, earl of Leicester, crossed over thither, accompanied by his
wife, and Hugh Chateauneuf,4 his cousin, together with many
soldiers. But he was intercepted, and his wife and Hugh de
Chateauneuf were taken prisoners near St. Edmund's,5 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
1 Between Dol and Ho'de'.
2 (.'ompare with the present narrative the metrical form of Jordan tantosme,
(Ch. Hist. iv. 249, &c.)
2 See l-'antosme, p. 265. * Id. p. 266.
' « On the site of this battle, and the remams which have recently been dis-
covered of those who full in it ; see the interesting note of Gage, appended to the
Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda, p. 105.

A.D. 1174.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 783
some plunder in the lands of St. Edmund,1 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,2 and Bonus, the abbot of Rugey,3 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 Brabancons 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. ^ 4
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, 4 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 5 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 6 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.
1 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.
2 Near Angers, on the Verzee. 3 La Rod (?), near Crayon.
* Treguier, near Lannion.
5 The passage which here commences, and ends with the word " Norman," is
written upon an erasure in A.
5 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.1
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 Brabancons 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,2 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;3 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 \ " See 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
[l4thAug.]; 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.1
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,2 the abbot of the Holy Trinity, he was
succeeded by William de Esparvilla, monk of Bee, prior of
Evremieu.3 Robert, abbot of Cormeilles,4 died, and his successor
was Harduin, a monk of Bee, and prior of St. Theodmir.5
a.d. 1175. Frederic, 24. Louis, 38. Henry II., 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.
Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, regained possession of whatever he
had been deprived of by count Eudo, namely, Vannes, Ploesmel,1
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,2 and a third,3 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,4 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 A*, after " Castrum Puellarum " is added,
" id est, Edenesburch, et tertium, id est, Berewic."
3 Here, in A, is a blank left for the insertion of the name. See the last note;
and alKO the treaty between William of Scotland and Henry of England, at
FalaiBe; 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.1
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 pretended2 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,3 archbishop of Canterbury, assembled a large council
in England, at the city of London, in which was continued the
old dispute4 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.5
a.d. 1176. Frederic, 25. Louis, 39. Henry IL, 22.
The frost and snow continued from the nativity of the Lord,
[25th Dec], until the purification of the blessed Mary [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.6
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,
1 Here a change in the style of the writing is perceptible ; but the hand remains
the same.
2 His name was Hugh de Basoches; see Gall. Christ, iv. 801.
3 A change in the writing, but not of the writer, occurs here.
4 See Johnson's Canons, ii. 64, ed. 1851.
5 A change in the style of writing ; but the same scribe continues.
6 Here the hand ends 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
William1 (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. John2 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,3 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 ;4 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.5 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,6 and was
1 William de Campania, concerning whose family and promotion see Gall.
Christ, ix. 95/ _ 2 Id. viii. 1146.
3 The editors of Bouquet (xiii. 320, note ") here question the accuracy of some
of our author'B details. * See a.d. 1173, p. 781, note '.
5 Id. p. 781, note 2. 6 See Gall. Christ, xi. 646.

A.D. 1177.] 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,1 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 quire2 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 3 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,4 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 Wilkins, Concil. i. 487 ; Hoved. f. 325.
2 . . . " cujus caput . . . excepto majori tectorio." — Orig.
3 Near Beaune. 4 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]1 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) ;2 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.
Iarnagen 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. " 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 IL, 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 cf 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.1
Robert de Argentiis, the cellarer of Jumieges, was made abbot
of the same church. Walter, the under-cellarer of St.Wandregisil,z
was made abbot of the same monastery. Ralph de St. Coulomb3
was made abbot of St. Evroul ; be 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,
1 Bouquet's edition here reads Boobec, which is explained as meaning Bolbec ;
but the correct reading is Robec, a stream which falls into the Seine, near Rouen.
2 St. Vaudrille, or Fontanelle, near Caudebec; see Gall. Christ, xi. 155.
3 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,1
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 Origen2 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,3 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;4 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 II. , 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
1 Many of these names have not been identified.
2 Robert here refers to one of the volumes at that time deposited in the library
of his own monastery.
3 A long letter written by him, respecting his proceedings with these heretics,
may be seen in Baronius, a.d. 1178, § 23 seq.
4 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 like 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.1 [Ivo] bishop of Treguier,3 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 Henry, 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 3 died, and was succeeded by William
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,4 (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 Henry, had followed his father into
England, to visit [the shrine of] St. Thomas, and to see his
1 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 See GalL Christ, xi. 482.
4 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 Brabancons 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,1 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 barrels3 of wine, to be
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 201, 205.
2 St. Benedict, or St. Florent-sur-Loire, near Angers.
3 . . . " centum modios vim "... 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 [shrine of the] blessed Thomas, out of his regard to
devotion ; and upon the tomb of that martyr he made an offering 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 thecastle of Poissy; and this donation
of his he . also confirmed 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 liberality 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
besides 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, which 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, Baldee, and Babylon, and, indeed, all the cities con
tiguous to the sandy districts, — for none shall escape which shall
the prior, and the convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, with eternal health in
the Lord.
" ' It has pleased the mercy of Almighty God to honour the church of Canter
bury by your presence during our times ; on which occasion we, as it is our duty,
so is it our pleasure, desire 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 would 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 all, we have granted to you, and our
lady the queen, and your heirs and friends, a full participation in the benefits of
the church 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 speckl 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
forgetfulness 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." 1
a.d. 1180. Frederic, 29. Louis, 43. Henry IL, 27.
Concerning the Council which Pope Alexander the Third held at Rome.
At Mid-lent 2 [30th March], pope Alexander the third held a
general council at Rome. AVe have a copy of the decrees 3 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
prisoned4 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 5 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.
3 See Labb. Concil. x. 1507.
' According to the GalL Christ, (v. 479), this occurred A.D. 1179.
3 He was afflicted with leprosy; see GuiL Tyr. xxii. 29.

A.D. 1180.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 797
the river Jordan ; which is called Jacob's Ford, because there Jacob
wrestled with the angel. The fortress was very 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.2
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 very 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 3
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 great 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. /
1 a.d. 1179, according to Benedict of Peterborough, and Roger Hoveden; see
Le Neve, iii. 50.
2 In September, apparently in the year 1179 ; see Gall Christ, xi. 579; But
Benedict of Peterborough places his death in A.D. 1180.
3 This occurred A.D. 1179.
3 F2

798 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.d. 1181—
On the death of the venerable Gisbert, abbot of Troarn,1 Dur-
andus de Curvevilla, a monk of the same place, succeeded him.
Robert, abbot of Fontenay, also died,2 and his successor was Robert,
prior of St. Pierre-sur-Dive.3 Walter, abbot of Cluny,4 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 fortv
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 II. , 28.
Henry, king of England, held his court at Nottingham.5
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,6 died ; he was succeeded by that
venerable man, Sanson, the prior of St. Stephen's, at Caen.
1 On the river Dive, near Caen; see Gall. Christ, xi. 417.
2 Id. p. 413. 3 Id. p. 728.
4 Here the chronology of our historian is decidedly faulty, as is proved by the
Gall. Christ, iv. 1112.
s 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).
0 At Rouen; see Gall. Christ, xi. 146.

A.D. 1181.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 799
Richard de Humet,1 the king's constable, after having lived for a
year and a half as a monk in the abbey of Aunay,2 which he had
built, deceased ; leaving behind him, as the heirs to his lands, his
three sons, William,3 Emorrann, and Jordan.4
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,5 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 6 to the bishopric of
Worcester. Robert, abbot of Glastonbury, died ; also John,7 bishop of Chi
chester, who was succeeded by Sefrid, a canon of the same church.
Before Easter,8 the elder king Henry crossed over into Nor
mandy ; and during that festival he held his court at Mans.
William, abbot of Caen, died,9 and was succeeded by Peter the
sacrist, a monk of the same place.
Upon Ascension-day,10 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 ; u he had pre
viously been abbot of Pontigni.
John,12 bishop of Chartres, died ; he had written an account of
1 See Dugd. Baron, i. 631.
2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 443. It is situated between Vire and Caen.
3 His sons William, Enguerran, and Jordan, attest a charter given by him to
Aunay ; Gall. Christ, p. 89. Instr.
4 Here S adds, " a. d. 1181 (being the twenty-second year of the episcopate
of pope Alexander, and the sixteenth of the archiepiscopate of Rotrold, arch
bishop of Rouen), on the third of the nones of March [5th March], was dedicated
in honour of Mary, the mother of God, the church of St. Mary de Voto, situated
within the district of Rouen, by Henry, bishop of Baieux, 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."
6 See Anderson's Royal Genealog. pp. 594, 595.
6 a.d. 1180 j see Hardy's Le Neve, iii. 50. 1 a.d. 1180 ; see id i. 239.
8 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. 10 a.d. 1180, the 29th of May.
11 a.d. 1180; see Gall. Christ, ii. 56.
12 John of Salisbury died on the 25th of Oct. a.d. 1180; see id. viii. 1148.

800 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a. d. 1181 —
the passion1 of the blessed Thomas of Canterbury, archbishop and
martyr, in whose family he had been during his exile.2
Thiebaut,3 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 Sirnillei.4
My very dear friend, Geoffrey de Montfort, in Brittany, likewise
died, to my great sorrow ; he was succeeded by his son, whbse
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 live.
Louis, king of France,5 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, abandoned5 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.7
About a Woman who died on the Wednesday 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
1 His life of Becket is printed by Giles, (Svo. Oxon. 1845,) among a collection of
tho biographies of that archbishop, i. 316.
2 Here a change takes place in the colour of the ink in A.
3 A. D. 1179 ; see Gall. Christ, iv. 1142 l Written in A, upon an erasure.
6 On the 18th of September, a.d. 1180, and he was buried at Barbeaux; see
Bouquet, xiii. 140.
D According to the authorities quoted in Hardy's Le Neve (ii. 8), he resigned it
on the 6th of January, a.d. 1182.
7 Here, in A, two lines are erased. The MS. A" 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 solemnity.
But the ear of his heart was closed, nor could he be induced by anv
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 off 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.1
a.d. 1182. Frederic, 31. Philip, 1. Henry II., 29.
The elder Henry, the king of England, kept his court at Angers,2
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 3 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 4 bishop of
Evreux. Guihenoc, archdeacon of Rennes, was elected bishop of Vannes.
The abbot of St. Remi, of Rheims, was elected 5 bishop of Chartres.
Henry, count of Treves,6 died, and was succeeded by Henry, his
son, whose mother was the daughter of Louis, the king ofthe French.
Simon, count of Evreux, died, and his son Amauri succeeded
him in the earldom of Evreux, in Normandy. About Easter,7
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,) 8 be
came the abbess of the Holy Trinity at Caen.
About the end of the month of July,9 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,10 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.
1 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.
3 January 6, a.d. 1182 ; Hardy's Le Neve, ii. 8.
4 a. D. 1181 ; Gall. Christ, xi. 579.
6 Certainly before, or in October, a.d. 1181; GalL Christ, viii 1150.
0 March 17, a.d. 1181 ; Bouquet.
7 In A. D. 1182, the 28th of March.
8 Not before a.d. 1183, if the authority of the Gall. Christ, (viii. 433) be
accepted. 9 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.
10 Noar Vondflme.

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 like miracle occurred, for the second
time, in the bishopric of Chartres, during the time of Robert, the
bishop from Brittany,1 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.2 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 come3 — the faith of his sacraments.
When 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." When 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.
2 . . "prseter speciem panis" . . . Orig. 3 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,) resigned1 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,2 — 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, xi. 778.
2 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. Ruffina.
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.
Philip, bishop of Rennes, died ; he had been the first abbot of
Clairmont. Acting upon revelation, he levelled with the ground
the quire1 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,2 abbot of Preaux, died,3 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,4 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. 1 175/ 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. 1178,6
we saw an eclipse in the moon on the night following the third of
he 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
if the kalends of September [29th Aug.] ; and in the same year
md month, there was one of the sun on the ides of September
r13th Sept.], about midday, which obscured nearly the whole of its
1 . . . " caput ecclesiae." . . . Orig.
2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 838, where it is stated that he died a.d. 1182.
:1 In A 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."
4 So the MS.; read the third of the ides of July [13th July]; and compare
Bouquet, xiii. 325. 5 An error for A D. 1176.
6 A here incorrectlv 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,1 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,2 the countess of Flanders, died without issue.
An3 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.4 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,5 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,6 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 Boamund, 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
1 a.d. 1182 ; see Hoved. f. 351. 2 Elizabeth, Bouq. xiii. 325.
3 Here there is a change in the writing and orthography.
4 Hero ends the MS. I (first hand), and also 0, the last leaves being lost.
'• llorc ends MS. / (second scribe). ° Near He'due.

A.D. 1182.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 807
uncle, Feirant,1 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 married2 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,3 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 IL, 27-
King Henry kept his court at Caen ; 4 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,5 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,6 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,8 and he was succeeded by
1 Ferdinand, king of Leon.
2 This marriage took place in a.d. 1170. Here, at this point, a gathering 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 Cuenca, taken in a.d. 1177, and erected into an episcopal see in a.d. 1186;
see Abrege" Chron. d'Espagne, i. 275, 280 (ed. Par. 1765).
4 The 25th of December, a.d. 1182; see Hoved. f. 352, b.
5 A second entry of his death, see p. 806. 6 See Gall. Christ, xiii. 482.
7 See Dugd. Baron, i. 432.
8 A Benedictine monastery in the district of Coutance, founded by William
the Conqueror ; see Gall. Christ, 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,1 bishop of Chartres, died; and in his stead was
elected Rainald de Mocon, the treasurer of St. Martin of Tours,
the nephew of count Thiebaut.
Walter2 de Coutance was made bishop of Lincoln; he 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,3 upon the third of the ides
of June [1 1th 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
1 An error in the chronology; see Gall. Christ, viii. 1150.
2 a.d. 1183, according to the authorities cited by Hardy, Le Neve, iii. 8.
1 The words " Chateau Martel," are written upon an erasure in A . Here
ends MS. Q. The young 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 CHRONICLES 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;1 to which bishopric there
belong three sees, Chester, Coventry, and Lichfield.
Henry, the brother of Giles de Solerio,2 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 ;3 he did not conduct
himself like a clerk, but more like a tyrant; for he went about at
the head of soldiers and Brabancons; and many evils he did to the
1 Bishopof Coventry and Lichfield, elected January, A. D. 1183 ; see Le Neve, i. 545.
1 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,1 archbishop of Rouen, died.
William, earl of Gloucester, died without heirs, save his three
daughters ;2 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,3 dean of Baieux, was elected to the bishopric of
Coutance; William,4 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. l
a.d. 1183. Frederic, 31. Philip, 2. Henry IL, 29. !1
King Henry kept his court at Caen.5 -1
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.6
William de Vecie died ; and also William de Lancaster, a man
of great honour and of large possessions.7
a.d. 1184. Frederic, 32. Philip, 2. Henry IL. 30.
King 8 Henry held his court at Mans. Our lord Walter,9 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.
1 The correct date is the 24th of November, a. d. 1183 ; see Gall. Christ, xl 50.
2 See Dugd. Baron, i. 536. The youngest daughter became the wife of John,
king of England.
3 Elected a.d. 1179, but not consecrated for six years; see Gall. Christ xi. 876.
4 Id. p. 482. 5 That is, the 25th of December, a.d. 1182 ; see Hoved. f. 352.
0 Here ends MS. N.
7 In A two lines are here erased. The handwriting now grows larger, and so
continues to the end of the MS.
8 That is, on the 25th of December, a.D. 1183, which this year fell upon a
Sunday; see Hoved. f. 355. 9 See Gall. Christ, xi 51.

A.D. 1185.] THE CHRONICLES OF ROBERT DE MONTE. 811
Frederic,1 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 : 2 in his youth he took from the Hagarenes the city of
Lisbon, assisted by the English and Normans. He translated
thither the body of the blessed Vincent, Levite and martyr, as
sorxe say; but the monk Amonius speaks in other terms of the
translation of the body of that holy martyr, which occurred during
the dme 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 3 bishop of
Chester. Peter Girald was made bishop of St. Malo.
a.d. 1185. Frederic, 33. Philip, 4. Henry IL, 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,4 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,5 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],6 abbot of Pontigny, was made bishop of Arras.
Thiebaut,7 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,
1 The accuracy of our historian is here questioned ; see Pertz, p. 534.
3 Alphonsus Henriques, who died in a.d. 1185, aged ninety-one years ; Bee Hist.
d'Espagne, i. 219, 281.
3 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. 690. 6 Id. p. 926.
0 Id. iii. 323. 7 Id. iv. 1142.
VOL. IV. 3 G

812 CHURCH HISTORIANS OF ENGLAND. [a.d. 1185—
from which 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 effective
against the Saracens, although a leper. Nor need we wonder at
this : for God " scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." He was
succeeded by his nephew,1 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 2 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,3 bishop of Exeter, died, and
Jocelyn,4 bishop of Salisbury.
Lucius, the pope of Rome, died,5 and was succeeded by Imbert,
archbishop of Milan, who was called Urban the third.6
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,7 near Cherbourg, the abbey of
St. Elerius,8 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 the 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 hero faulty in his genealogy.
2 This was the celebrated Guy de Lusignan.
3 He died on the 15th of December, a.d. 1184 ; see Hardy's Le Neve, i. 368.
4 He died on the 18th of November, a.d. 1184; id. ii. 595.
" He died on the 25th of November, a.d. 1185 ; see Jaffe, p. 854.
" Here, in A, three lines are erased. iSadds, "he was the one hundred and
eighty-seventh pope of Rome. 7 See p. 744, note 3.
" St. Helliers, in Jersey ; see Gall. Christ, xi. 410, 913.
0 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 offices, and in which he resided as long as he lived, after
having discharged the duties of his appointment, and was univer
sally respected. Eight days before his death he was made a canon,1
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 2
(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 IL, 32.
Our lord king Henry kept his Christmas 3 at Domfront.
Henry de Brachavilla, the superior * of Troarn, was made abbot
of Seez.
In a certain monastery of St. Stephen5 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.
1 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 wliich there can be no reasonable
doubt. 2 See Gall. Christ, xi. 256.
3 That is, the 25th of December, A.D. 1185; see Hoved. f. 360.
* 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). 5 See Gall. Christ, vii. 250.

END OF VOL. IV.

R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL, LONDON.