OXFORD MEDIEVAL TEXTS

General Editors
V. H. GALBRAITH R. A. B. MYNORS
C. N. L. BROOKE

ORDERICI VITALIS
HISTORIA
JECCLESIASTICA
 THE ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF
ORDERIC VITALIS
VOLUME II
BOOKS III AND IV

EDITED AND TRANSLATED

WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
MARJORIE CHIBNALL

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
Bibl. nat., MS. lat. 5506, vol. ii, f. I recto (ultra-violet photograph) 1968
The first page of Book III of the Ecclesiastical History
written in Orderic's hand
 /,
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I
PREFACE
THE present edition of the Historia Ecclesiastic a of Orderic Vitalis
has been planned to include all the thirteen books of the original;
but Volume I, containing Books I and II, will be the last to appear.
Orderic in fact began his history with Book III, originally
Book I, and later redesigned it so as to include a separate chrono-
graphy as Books I and IL These books are therefore of a slightly
different character from the main part of the history, and the
delay in their publication should cause no inconvenience to
students. By publishing the volumes in this order the General
Introduction, which can best be written when all work on the
edition has been completed, can be placed at the beginning of the
first volume. But, ·for the convenience of students, each volume
will contain a short introduction rel~vant to the text as it is
published, and will be as far as possible self-contained.
This volume owes more than I can express to the three general
editors, Professor V. H. Galbraith, Professor Sir Roger Mynors,
and Professor C. N. L. Brooke, whose stimulus, corrections, and
scholarly advice have been generous and unfailing. Dom David
Knowles has kindly answered my queries on liturgical problems.
I am grateful also to Dr. V. H. Clover, Professor Frank Barlow,
and Professor Lucien Musset for communicating to me the results
of their researches before these had appeared in print.
In working on Orderic I have never ceased to be conscious of
my debt to two great scholars of the past: Auguste Le Prevost and
Leopold Delisle, whose magnificent edition of the Ecclesiastical
History is one of the finest achievements of nineteenth-century
scholarship. Nothing but the inaccessibility of this work, and the
fact that historical knowledge has advanced in the hundred years
since it was published, could ever have justified a new edition.
In acknowledging my debt to Delisle, whose loving interest in
Orderic extended throughout his life, I am happy to remember
my debt to another. Dr. H.P. Morrison of Nelson's overcame all
practical difficulties in the way of including this remarkable, but
very lengthy, work in the present series, and to him I owe the
inspiration of a living link with Delisle.
;j
vi PREFACE
My own interest in Orderic is an old one, for I was born almost
within sight of the church where he was baptized. But my serious
interest in his writings began as an undergraduate and was con-
tinued as a Research Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The CONTENTS
later stages of the work have been made possible by generous
grants from the Leverhulme Trustees, and from the British
Academy. My study of the manuscripts has been assisted by Bihl. nat. M~. l~t. 55~6, vol. ii,. f. 1 ~ecto. The first page of Book II of
the learned help of the staff in the Department of Manuscripts the Ecclesiastical History, written m Orderic's hand frontispiece
at the Bibliotheque Nationale, the Norman provincial archives, and ABBREVIATED REFERENCES
IX
the Centre nationale de la Recherche scientifique; and by Dr.
R. W. Hunt of the Bodleian Library and Dr. H. M. Colvin of St. INTRODUCTION
xiii
John's College, Oxford. I owe much to the patience and skill of (i) The author and his work
the readers of the Clarendon Press. At every stage of the work the xiii
(ii) The sources of Books III and IV vix
help and encouragement of my husband have been unfailing, and
to him this book is dedicated. (iii) The historical value of Books III and IV XXIX
M.C.
(iv) Manuscript, punctuation, and spelling xxxix
Cambridge, September Ig67 ORDER IC VIT ALIS
Book III
2
Book IV
190

APPENDIX I. The descent of the lands of the lords of

Belleme

APPENDIX II. The life and legend of St. Judoc (St.

Josse)

APPENDIX III. Early narrative sources for the Norman

Conquest
368
GENEALOGICAL TABLE. The family of Giroie (Gere) facing 370
INDEX OF QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS
371
GENERAL INDEX
373
 ABBR EVIA TED REFERENCES
AA.SS Acta Sanctorum, ed. J. Bollandus and others
(Antwerp, Brussels, 1643, etc.).
AM Amato di Montecassino, Storia de' Normanni,
volgarizzata in antico francese, ed. V. de Bar-
tholomaeis (Rome, 1935).
Annals of Caen Annalis Historia Brevis in Monasterio S.
Stephani Cadomensis Conscripta, in Duchesne,
HNS, pp. 1015-21.
Barlow, VER Vita .IEdwardi Regis, ed. Frank Barlow (Lon-
don: Edinburgh, 1962).
Bessin Concilia Rotomagensis Provinciae, ed. Guillel-
mus Bessin (Rouen, 1717).
BHL Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, ed. Socii
Bollandiani. Vols. l, 2, and suppl. (Brussels,
1898-1911).
BSAN Bulletin de la Societe des Antiquaires de Nor-
mandie.
Carmen Carmen de Hastinguae proelio in Fr. Michel,
Chroniques anglo-normandes, vol. iii (Rauen,
1840), pp. 1-38.
GDF Calendar of Documents preserved in France,
vol. i, ed. J. H. Round (London, 1899).
Chalan don F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination
normande en Italie et en Sicile, 2 vols. (Paris,
1907).
Colgrave Felix's Life of St. Guthlac, ed. B. Colgrave
(Cambridge, 1956).
Delisle, 1l4anuscrits L. Delisle, 'Notes sur les manuscrits auto-
autographes graphes d'Orderic Vital' in Materiaux pour
!'edition de Guillaume de Jumieges, ed. J. Lair
(Paris, 1910).
Douglas, WC David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror
(London, 1964).
Duchesne, HNS Historiae Normannorum scriptores antiqui, ed.
A. Duchesne (Paris, 1619).
Du Matey, Alenfon Du Motey, Les origines de la Normandie et du
duche d'Alenfon (Paris, 1920).
Eadmer, Hist. Nov. Eadmer, Historia Novorum, ed. M. Rule (RS,
2 vols.) (London, 1882-5).
 x ABBREVIATED REFERENCES
EHR English Historical Review.
EYC Early Yorkshire Charters, i-iii, ed. W. Farrer,
and iv-xii, ed. C. T. Clay (Yorkshire Archaeo-
logical Society, Edinburgh: Wakefield, 1914-
65).
Fauroux
Recueil des actes des dues de Normandie (9rr-
ro66), ed. Marie Fauroux (Mem. Soc. Ant.
Norm. xxxvi) (Caen, 1961).
Fecamp
L'abbaye benedictine de Fecamp, 2 vols.
(Fecamp, 1959-60).
Foreville Guillaume de Poitiers: Histoire de Guillaume
le Conquerant, ed. Raymonde Foreville (Paris,
1952).
Freeman, NC E. A. Freeman, The History of the Norman
Conquest of England, 2nd ed., 5 vols. and index
vol. (Oxford, 1870-9).
FW Florence of Worcester, Chronicon ex chronicis,
ed. B. Thorpe (Eng. Hist. Soc.) (London,
1848-9).
GC Gallia Christiana (Paris, 1715-1865).
GEC The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland,
Ireland ... , by G. E. C., rev. edit., 13 vols. in
14 (1910-59).
Giles, Scriptores Scriptores rerum gestarum Willelmi conquestoris,
ed. J. A. Giles (Caxton Soc., vol. iii) (London,
1845).
GM Geoffrey of Malaterra, De rebus gestis Rogerii
Calabriae et Siciliae comitis, ed. E. Pontieri
(Rerum I talicarum Scriptores, v, pt. i) (Bologna,
1928).
GP William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Pontificum
Anglorum, ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton (RS)
(London, 1870).
GR William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Regum
Anglorum, ed. W. Stubbs (RS), 2 vols. (Lon-
don, 1887-9).
Halphen, Anjou L. Halphen, Le comte d'Anjou au Xle siecle
(Paris, 1906).
Hardy Descriptive catalogue of MSS. relating to the
History of Great Britain, ed. T. D. Hardy,
3 vols. in 4 (RS) (1862-71).
Hefele C. J. von Hefele, Histoire des Conciles, ed.
H. Leclercq (Paris, 1907 ff.).
Jumieges Jumieges: Congres scientifique du XI Ile cen-
tenaire, 2 vols. (Rouen, 1955).
ABBREV IA TED REFERENCES xi
Kehr, IP P. Kehr, Italia pontificia (Berlin, l906ff.)
Knowles, Monastic The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc, ed.
Constitutions David Knowles (London: Edinburgh, 1951).
Knowles, MO David Knowles, The Monastic Order in
England (Cambridge, 1963).
Lair Duclo of St. Quentin, De moribus et actis
primorum Normanniae ducum, ed. J. Lair
(Mem. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxiii) (Caen, 1865).
Latouche, Maine R. Latouche, Histoire du comte du Maine
pendant le xe et le Xle siecle (Paris, 1910).
Lemarignier, Exemption J.-F. Lemarignier, Etude sur les privileges
d' exemption et de juridiction ecclesiastique des
abbayes normands (Archives de la France
monastique, xliv) (Paris, 1937).
Le Prevost Orderici Vitalis Ecclesiasticae Historiae Libri
Tredecim, ed. A. le Prevost (Societe de
l'Histoire de France), 5 vols. (Paris, 1838-55).
Le Prevost, Eure A. le Prevost, Memoires et notes pour servir
a l'histoire du departement de l'Eure . . . , ed.
L. Delisle and L. Passy, 3 vols. (Evreux,
1862-9).
Liber Eliensis Liber Eliensis, ed. E. 0. Blake (Camden Third
Series, vol. xcii) (London, 1962).
LTK Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche (Freiburg i.
Br., 1957-65).
Mab. AA.SS Acta Sanctorum ordinis sancti Benedicti, ed.
J. Mabillon (Paris, 1668-1701).
Manitius M. Manitius, Geschichte der lateinischen
Literatur des Mittelalters, 3 vols. (Munich,
l9II-31).
Mansi Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima col-
lectio, ed. J. D. Mansi (Florence: Venice:
Paris, 1759 ff.).
Marx Guillaume de Jumieges, Gesta Normannorum
Ducum, ed. J. Marx (Soc. Hist. Norm.) (Rouen:
Paris, 1914).
Mathieu Guillaume de Pouille, La geste de Robert
Guiscard, ed. M. Mathieu (lstituto siciliano
di studi bizantini e neoellenici; Testi e monu-
menti. Testi, iv) (Palermo, 1961).
Mem. Soc. Ant. Norm. Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires de
Normandie.
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
Migne, PL Migne, Patrologia Latina.
xii ABBREVIATED REFERENCES
Poree A.-A. Poree, Histoire de l' abbaye du Bee,
2 vols. (Evreux, 1901).
Reges ta Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, vol. i, ed.
H. W. C. Davis (Oxford, 1913); vol. ii, ed. INTRODUCTION
C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956).
Roman de Rou Wace, Roman de Rou, ed. H. Andresen (Heil-
bronn, 1877-9). (i) The author and his work: date of composition of Books III and IV
RS Rolls Series. of the Ecclesiastical History
RSB Regula Sancti Benedicti.
0RDERIC VITALIS 1 of St. Evroul is one of the most remarkable
R. Tor. Chronique de Robert de Torigni, ed. L. Delisle,
2 vols. (Societe de l'histoire de Normandie)
of Anglo-Norman historians; and the Ecclesiastical History to
(Rauen, 1872-3). which he devoted the last thirty years of his life is his greatest
Scott, Arch. Aeliana, F. S. Scott, 'Earl Waltheof of Northumbria' in work. The little that we know of his life comes from incidental
xxx. Archaeologia Aeliana, vol. xxx (1952), pp. 149- notices in his writings. He was of mixed descent; his father was
215. Odelerius of Orleans, a priest in the household of Roger of Mont-
TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. gomery, and his mother must have been an Englishwoman, since
VCH Victoria History of the Counties of England. Orderic repeatedly refers to himself as angligena, and his father
was French. Born near Shrewsbury in rn75 and baptized with the
name of Orderic in St. Eata's church at Atcham, he began his
grammatical studies under a priest in Shrewsbury at the age of
five, and remained there till he was ten. From an early age he was
destined for the cloister. His father's decision not to place him as
an oblate in the new monastery of St. Peter's at Shrewsbury, but
to send him to the distant Norman monastery of St. Evroul is best
described in Orderic's own words. 2 As an old man completing
the thirteenth book of his History he thanked God for the many
mercies of his past life, and enumerated them.
It was not thy will, 0 God [he wrote], that I should serve thee longer
in that place, for fear that I might be less attentive to thee among kins-
folk, who are often a burden and an impediment to thy servants, or
might in any way be distracted from obeying thy law through human
affection for my family. And so, 0 glorious God, who didst command
Abraham to depart from his country and from his kindred and from his
father's house, thou didst inspire my father Odelerius to renounce me
utterly and submit me in all things to thy governance. So, weeping, he
gave me, a weeping child, into the care of the monk Reginald, and sent
me away into exile for love of thee, and never saw me again. And I, a
mere boy, did not presume to oppose my father's wishes, but obeyed
1
For a full account of his life and work see L. Delisle, 'Notice sur Orderic
Vital' in Orderici Vita/is Historiae Ecclesiasticae Libri Tredecim, ed. A. le Prevost
(Paris, 1838-55), v, pp. 1-cvi; and Hans Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis (Wiesbaden,
1955).
2
Le Prevost, v. 134-5.

L

xiv INTRODUCTION
him in all things, for he promised me for his part that if I became a monk
I should taste of the joys of Heaven with the Innocents after my death.
... And so, a boy of ten, I crossed the English channel and came into
Normandy as an exile, unknown to all, knowing no one. Like Joseph
in Egypt I heard a language which I could not understand. But thou
didst suffer me through thy grace to find nothing but kindness and
friendship among strangers. I was received as an oblate in the abbey of
St. Evroul by the venerable abbot Mainer in the eleventh year of my
life .... The name of Vitalis was given me in place of my English name,
which sounded harsh to the Normans.
Here at St. Evroul in the course of time he was successively
ordained subdeacon, deacon, and priest; and here, apart from
short journeys, the remainder of his life was spent in following the
ordered round of the cloister, reading, writing, and copying books.
He was one of the finest calligraphers of his day and almost
certainly taught in the scriptorium; but unlike the contemporary
historian who most nearly resembles him-William of Malmes-
bury-he never achieved, and probably never desired, monastic
office. Imaginatively he could project himself into the characters
of the men he described, but he was no ecclesiastical statesman;
there was more of Thierry of Mathonville than Robert of Grand-
mesnil1 in his make-up.
His earliest work, certainly in progress before l 109, consisted
of interpolations in the Gesta N ormannorum Ducum of William of
Jumieges. z Possibly before this was completed, or at least very
soon afterwards, he began work at the command of his abbot,
Roger of Le Sap ( 1091-1123), on the history of his o";n mon~stery
of St. Evroul.3 This work, which began as a chapter m the history
of the church in Normandy, finally took shape as the present
Book III of the Ecclesiastical History. Books I and II were written
These men are described below, pp. 40, 42, 64.
1
Guillaume de Jumieges, Gesta Normannorum Ducum, ed. Jean. Marx (Paris,
2 may have been working intermittently on his first book for as
191 4), pp. xxv-xxvii, 151-98. Delisle, writing before the interi;>olation.s had been
identified as the work of Orderic Vitalis, thought that one version, which ~e c~lls
a 'third edition', had been made with the aid of Book III of the Ecclesiastical
History in 1125-30. Although the edition of Marx, ba~ed on th~ later work of
Delisle shows that in fact Orderic himself wrote these mterpolat1ons, and there
is no r~ason to suppose that they were any later than 1109, J .. de Ghellinck still
gives a date of 1125-30 for a 'third edition' of William of Jum1eges from the pen
of Orderic himself (L' essor de la litterature latine au XIle siecle (Brussels:
Louvain, 1946), p. 99). This statement appears to be entirely without justifica-
tion
3 Le Prevost, i. 2-3 ; ii. 300.
INTRODUCTION xv
probably as a separate chronography, and were only brought
within the framework of a single work as Orderic's conception of
the scope of the work widened to take in the whole history of the
Church, from the birth of Christ to the moment when age and
infirmity would compel him to lay down his pen. Book III is not
only the oldest part of the Ecclesiastical History; it is also the book
whose composition occupied the longest time. In it the reader may
trace the growth and transformation of Orderic's own views on the
nature of what he was writing.
One or two archaic touches in the first few chapters suggest that
Orderic may have been writing in the first decade of the twelfth
century, 1 but the first proofs of date come in II14-15. William
Gregory, who had taken his vows under Abbot Robert of Grand-
mesnil (1059-61), had, Orderic writes, now completed fifty-four
years as a monk. 2 A little later he states that Benedict, the young
son of Arnold of Echauffour who had been sent as an oblate to St.
Evroul three months before his father's death (c. 1063), had passed
fifty-two years in the community.3 Other references support the
same date. 4 His statement at the end of the book that he had seen
the works of John of Worcester and Sigebert of Gembloux would
be more valuable if his journeys could be dated precisely.s But at
the end of the book he suggests that he is breaking off his work for
a short while and has already planned his fourth book, and this
implies a date near to l l 2 5. The fourth book refers in the first few
pages to the death of Ralph, abbot of Battle, on 29 August II24;
and there are later references to Turgis, who became bishop of
Avranches in 1094, having held his see for about thirty years; to
the death of Abbot Geoffrey of Crowland in 1124; and to the
accession of Hildebert to the see of Tours. 6 Everything points
to a date about l l 2 5 for this book; so the preceding volume was
most likely finished as late as l 123 or II24. If this is so, Orderic
much as ten or twelve years.
When Abbot Roger persuaded or commanded Orderic to begin
1 For instance, when Orderic describes Duke William's investment of
Thierry as abbot of St. Evroul in 1050 by handing him the pastoral staff he
adds the words 'sicut moris est' (below, p. 18). This acceptance of lay investi-
ture as customary would be very surprising after the early years of the twelfth
century. 2 Below, pp. 84-86.
3 Below, p. 126. 4 Cf. below, p. 84 n. 3. s Below, p. 188.
6 Below, pp. 192, 200, 302, 348.
xvi INTRODUCTION
the work it was to be a history of the church of St. Evroul. 1 Such
a history could not avoid including an account of the families who
had founded and endowed it; and since its foundation was in one
sense an episode in the saga of the families of Belleme and Giroie 2
the wider world of feudal affairs could scarcely be excluded,
though Orderic put up a show at least of keeping within his
assigned limits. When towards the middle of the book he wrote of
the marriage of William the Conqueror and named his children
he could still, with an effort, refrain from embarking on the history
of the ducal family. 'What a book the right man could make of
their great deeds!' he exclaims, 'but our lot lies in the cloister; we
know nothing of worldly business; such things are not for us.' 3
The affairs of the duchy and the English succession intruded from
time to time in the course of the next few chapters, but were
resolutely kept in the background. Then suddenly, immediately
after an account of the life and miracles of St. Judoc, Orderic
embarked without apology on the story of the Conquest of
England. From that moment, throughout the few remaining folios
of the third and the whole of the fourth books, he was openly and
avowedly writing a much wider work which he called, in different
places, both a church history and a history of the Normans.4 This
change in itself suggests that the writing of the book may have been
spread over a number of years. The Preface to the third book,
added later, indicates that he secured the approval of his superiors
for the wider project, which he modestly attributes to their
commands.
(ii) The sources of Books III and IV
Orderic drew upon the resources of a well-established library.
Very little had been saved from the period of the first foundation
before the Viking attacks; but Thierry, first abbot of the restored
monastery, had made the copying of books and the building up of
a library one of his first cares.s By the time Orderic began work
1
Le Prevost, ii. 300.
2 Cf. Annales de Normandie, viii (1958), 106-8. 3 Below, p. 104.
4 Below, p. 188, 'recclesiasticre historire ... primum libellum hie terminare
dispono'; Le Prevost, ii. 301, 'inspirante Deo Normannorum gesta et euentus
Normannis promere scripto sum conatus'.
5 G. Northier, 'Les bibliotheques medievales des abbayes benedictines de
Normandie', in Revue Mabillon, xlvii (1957), 219-44.
INTRODUCTION xvii
in the scriptorium the monastery had been provided with a notable
collection of service books, commentaries on the Scriptures, and
.patristic literature. This was the period when other interests ,
important but less central to the monastic life, were provided for,
and historical works increased in number. Orderic's teacher, John
of Rheims, may possibly have written the early history of the
1:1onastery_ and a sho~t chronicle to II 12, as well as composing
lives of samts. 1 • Certamly the Annals of Rouen, which acquired
a great vogue m Norman and English monasteries before the
chronolo~ical work ?f Sigebert of Gembloux gained ascendancy,
were copied at St. Evroul about rn98, 2 and became the basis of
the Annals of St. Evroul. 3 Orderic himself copied the whole of
B~de's. Historia Anglorum,4 both copied and interpolated the
Hzstorza N ormannorum Ducum of William of J umieges, and had
a share in keeping up the Annals of St. Evroul during the reign
of H~nry I. 5 These books lay to his hand when he was working
on his own Ecclesiastical History. He could also draw on lives of
saints, calendars, lists of obits, and service books transcribed by the
early monks. The ~harters of the monastery, which were being
enro_lled very possibly under his supervision,6 supplied many
details of grants and privileges.
He also borrowed freely from neighbouring monastic libraries
and hunted out historical works during his travels. The library
of t~e abbey of Bee was always accessible to monks of St. Evroul;
and ~twas here that Orderic saw Eadmer's Life of St. Anselm and
possibly also Lanfranc's De corpore et sanguine Domini. Later the
historical ~ebt was more than repaid when Robert of Torigni,
who took his monastic vows at Bee in 1128 and remained there till
he became abbot of Mont-St.-Michel, borrowed and made free
1
Cf. Delisle, 'Notice sur Orderic Vital' (Le Prevost, v. xxiii n. 2), and Hans
Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis, p. 59.
2
Dom J. Laporte, Les annales de l'abbaye Saint-Pierre de Jumieges (Rouen,
1954), p. IO.
3
Printed by Delisle (Le Prevost, v. 139-73).
4 Rouen, Bibliotheque municipale, MS. 1343.
~ J. _Laporte, 'Tableau des services obituaires assures par les abbayes de
Sa~nt-Evroul et de Jumieges', ~n Revue Mabillon, xlvi (1956), 141-55.
. Ar: early cha_rter ro_ll of St. Evroul, rescued by Delisle from a parchment shop
m Pans and printed m Le Prevost, v. 182-95, is now Bibi. nat. MS. Nouv.
Acq. L~t. 2527._ It is written in several hands, one of them very like Orderic's
own, with all hts personal idiosyncrasies in forming the 'g', the '-orum' 1 and
the two types of '-que', yet quite plainly not his. Possibly the scribe had been
trained under him.
822204 b
xviii INTRODUCTION
use of the writings of Orderic himself, particularly his interpola-
tions in William of Jumieges. 1
If Saint-Evroul ever owned a copy of the Gesta Guillelmi of
William of Poitiers it disappeared very early from the library. It
is not mentioned in the twelfth-century catalogue, and is not to be
found in any of the volumes that have survived to th~ present da~.
But this proves nothing, for the records of other medieval monastic
libraries are equally silent.2 Possibly it was not much copied. One
manuscript only, with the beginning and end missing, survived
long enough to be acquired by Sir Robert Cotto~, bor:owed by
Duchesne, and printed by him. 3 Duchesne described. it a~ ~ery
old and possibly autograph, but gave no evidence for his opm10~.
The manuscript vanished from the knowledge of scholars after his
day, and all later editions of the. work ?ave of necessity ~este~ on
the edition of Duchesne. 4 Ordenc admired the Gesta Guzllelmz for
its style and for its authenticity as an eyewitness account; he copied
from it extensively, sometimes word for word, and preserved part
-perhaps the greater part-of the lost conclusion in his own
fourth book. So from the point where Duchesne's text breaks off
to the point where Orderic indicates that William of Poitiers e~~ed
his history the editor is faced with the problem of det~r~mmg
which parts of the narrative are based on the work of W dham of
Poitiers and so are contemporary with the events described, and
which parts are derived from other, possibly later and possibly
oral, sources.
This problem becomes particularly complex in the passages. o,n
the early life of Lanfranc, where several paragraphs of Ordenc s
narrative are very close to passages in Miles Crispin's Vita
Lanfranci. Unfortunately, though the Vita has been printed by
Mabillon and d' Achery,s no modern edition of it exists, and the
date of composition is uncertain. Miles was precentor of Bee in
1 For his early life see R. Tor. (1893), ii. ii-v. Cf. R_. Howlett, Introduction
to Chronicle of Robert of Torigni in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry ~I
and Richard I, iv (RS, 1889), pp. xxix-xxxvii; and M. Chibnall, 'Ordenc
Vitalis and Robert of Torigni' in Melanges du millenaire monastique du Mont-
Saint-Michel, ii. 133-9.
2 The work was also known to Robert of Torigni. See his Interpolations in
William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 264).
3 Historiae Normannorum scriptores antiqui (Paris, 1619), Preface and
pp. 178-z13.
4 Cf. Foreville, pp. 1-lvii.
s Migne, PL, cl. 19-57.
INTRODUCTION xix
the early twelfth century, and his working life can be roughly
dated since he was certainly a monk in Anselm's lifetime and
lived to complete a life of Abbot Letard (d. u49). 1 But this does
not indicate when he began to write his life of Lanfranc, and
Manitius even suggests unconvincingly that Orderic derived his
description of Lanfranc from the Vita Lanfranci. 2
Admittedly, style and structure show conclusively that those
passages that Orderic has in common with the Vita were not his
own composition. He composed his work in rhymed prose ;3 when
copying from other authors he normally made slight changes in
word order and added words and phrases of his own to preserve
his complex rhythmical patterns; or occasionally he sacrificed his
own rhyme and rhythm entirely to preserve intact a sentence
which he either particularly admired or could not mould to the
pattern of his own prose. In the passages which he shares with
Miles Crispin both methods appear, as one illustration shows:
Orderic Vitalis (below, p. 248).
Hie ex nobili parentela ortus,
Papiae urbis I taliae ciuibus.J
ab annis infantiae in scolis liberalium artium studuit,
et saecularium legum peritiam ad patriae suae morem intentione laica
feruidus edidicit.
Adolescentulus orator ueteranos aduersantes in actionibus causarum
frequenter praecipitauit:J
torrente facundia apposite dicendo senes superauit.
In ipsa aetate sententias depromere sapu.it,
quas gratanter iurisperiti aut iudices aut praetores ciuitatis
acceptabant.
At cum in exilio uelut Plato quondam achademicus phylosopharetur.J
ignis aeternus mentem eius incendit,
et amor uere sapientiae cordi eius illuxit.
1
Cf. d'Achery's notes in Migne, PL, cl. 57 ff.
2
Geschichte der lateinischen Literatur (1931), iii. 524. It is difficult to see how
Manitius reconciles this with his earlier statement (ibid., p. 80) that Miles
Crispin wrote the Vita Lanfranci about 1I38, which is eleven or twelve years
after Orderic wrote his fourth book of the Ecclesiastical History.
3
Cf. K. Polheim, Die lateinische Reimprosa (Berlin, 1925), pp. 415-16;
Hans Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis, pp. u8 ff.
xx INTRODUCTION
Vita Lanfranci (cap. v).
Hie igitur homo religione, sapientia omni aevo memorabilis, nobili
ortus parentela, ab annis puerilibus eruditus est in scholis liberalium
artium et legum saecularium ad suae morem patriae. Adolescens orator
veteranos adversantes in actionibus causarum frequenter revicit, torrente
f acundiae accurate dicendo. In ipsa aetate sententias depromere sapuit, quas
gratanter jurisperiti aut judices vel praetores civitatis acceptabant. Meminit
horum Papia. At cum in exsilio philosopharetur, accendit animum ejus
divinus ignis et illuxit cordi ejus amor verae sapientiae.
Up to 'senes superauit' and in the last two lines Orderic has
adapted his source to the needs of his rhymes: from 'in ipsa' to
'phylosopharetur' he appears to have copied word for word, and
the rhyme has broken down. Although the phrase 'uelut . . .
academicus' is not in the existing text of Miles it must almost
certainly have been in the work copied by Orderic. It is too apt
to have been added by him and it upsets the rhythm; moreover,
Orderic does not mention Plato in any other place in his History
and can hardly have known enough about him to have brought him
in on his own initiative. If the phrase occurred in the original
text of Miles it has been omitted by scribal or editorial error, but
it is also possible that Miles never copied it.
Indeed there seems little doubt that Miles no less than Orderic
was copying. He implies as much, for he introduces this material
just after the section of his work taken verbatim from the Vita
Herluini of Gilbert Crispin with the statement that he is interrupt-
ing the flow of his narrative to give information he has found
elsewhere. The most likely explanation of the common passages
is that both writers copied from a lost common source. This is
made even more likely by the fact that a possible source can be
suggested in the lost ending of the Gesta Guillelmi of William of
Poitiers. Orderic was no classical scholar; but classical allusions
multiply in his description of Lanfranc. The comparison of
Lanfranc to Herodian in grammar, Aristotle in dialectic, and
Cicero in rhetoric might very well have come from the pen of
William of Poitiers; and there is one echo of William's style and
thought which is even closer. In a passage where William speaks
of the merits of Maurilius of Rouen and Gerbert of St. Wan-
drille he observes that their minds were by divine grace more
penetrating than that of Plato, and that they strove to win eternal
INTRODUCTION xxi
joy whilst they lived in the exile of this world. 1 There is an as-
sociation of ideas between this and the statement, clearly made
by Orderic and implied in the Vita Lanfranci, that Lanfranc,
like Plat~, o~cupied himself with philosophy during his 'exile',
before his mmd was kindled by divine fire: an association so close
that it bears out the suggestion of common authorship. So the
evidence suggests very strongly that both Orderic and the Vita
Lanfranci copied some passages from William of Poi tiers· or
conceivably that both used an early draft of a life of Lanf;anc
that included extracts from William of Poitiers. This means that
in passages comm~n to Orderic and the Vita the possibility of
the statements bemg nearly contemporary evidence cannot be
disregarded.
Orderic saw and used some of the great monastic chronicles
of his contemporaries whilst he was working on Books III and
IV, though he never had copies under his hand for extensive
referer:ice. The foundations of chronology had been laid by
Eusebms of Caesarea and St. Jerome, but for the later centuries
a number of monastic annals or chronicles still competed for
general favour. The general chronicle of Marianus Scotus was
used as a base by some historians. Marianus did not work as
a continuator, but rewrote the early history of the world with
scripture and the earlier ecclesiastical histories as his sources
carrying the narrative up to the third quarter of the eleventh
century. Although his chronology was faulty his work was taken
over by several historians, including the author of the Worcester
chronicle known as 'Florence of Worcester'. 2 Orderic visited
Worcester and found the monk John at work on this chronicle· he
s~ems to hav~ derived some of his knowledge of earlier Engiish
history from 1t. He also saw at Cambrai a copy of the chronicle of
Sigebert of Gembloux, 3 whom he wrongly names 'Engelbert'.
Sigebert's work, finished only in r r 12 and not widely disseminated
when Orderic saw it, rapidly became the accepted continuation of
Eu~ebiu~ and .Jerome. Manuscripts multiplied, and many later
writers, mcludmg Robert of Torigni and John of Salisbury, wrote
1
Foreville, pp. 13z-4.
2
S~e be~ow, p. _186 n. z. MS. C.C.C. Oxford 157 (now deposited in the
Bodleian Library) is a Worcester manuscript, and may have been the volume
see_n by. Orderic whilst it was still being written. The part up to c. 1110 is
written m a hand or hands of the early twelfth century.
3
Below, p. 188.
xxii INTRODUCTION
their histories as further continuations of it. Orderic himself,
1
however, made only restricted use of it.
Whether Orderic actually saw the writings of any south Italian
historians is a little more doubtful. St. Evroul had close ties with
the Normans of south Italy, for members of the Giroie family
settled there and when the second abbot, Robert of Grandmesnil,
was driven into exile amongst his kinsmen there he peopled his
newly endowed monastery of St. Eufemia with monks of St.
Evroul. Geoffrey of Malaterra, who wrote the history of Sicily in
the last decade of the eleventh century, had begun his monastic
life at St. Evroul and wrote in the monastery of St. Agatha of
Catania, a daughter house of St. Eufemia. 2 Orderic knew of his
work and paid a tribute to its fine qualities, but he might have
known of it and its contents through one of his fellow monks who
had visited south Italy. The monk Benedict, who had spent three
years in the abbey of St. Eufemia, was remarkable for his retentive
memory and delighted his fellow monks by describing in detail
all that he had seen and read ;3 and he may have been the source
of Orderic's information. At least the resemblances between the
Historia Ecclesiastica and the De Rebus Gestis are broad and general
only, whereas there are some clear contradictions.4 Further, in
spite of the natural interest felt in Normandy about the doings of
kinsfolk in Apulia and Calabria and the existence of a very early
manuscript of the work of William of Apulia at Mont-St.-Michel, 5
there is no known evidence for any manuscript of Geoffrey of
Malaterra in Normandy at any time. Orderic could have known
of Count Roger's deeds in Sicily and Greece from independent
oral sources. Indeed historians have found him a useful check on
Geoffrey's narrative, 6 for his accounts of such events as the arrival
of Robert of Grandmesnil in Italy and Count Roger's marriage
1 Cf. R. Tor. i, pp. iii-xx.iii.
2 L. T. White, Latin Monasticism in Norman Sicily (Cambridge, Mass.,
1938), p. 109; E. Pontieri, Introduction to GM, pp. iv-vi.
3 Below, p. 126.
4 For instance, Orderic says (below, p. 104) that Roger's first wife Judith
had no children, whereas Geoffrey mentions a daughter by name (GM, p. 90).
Again, Orderic described the Norman invaders of the ninth century as Danish
in origin, and Geoffrey believed them to be Norwegian (GM, p. 7).
s M. Mathieu, 'Le manuscrit 162 d'Avranches' in Byzantion, xxiv (1954),
124.
6 Cf. L.-R. Menager, 'Fondations monastiques de Robert Guiscard' in
Quellen und Forschungen, xx.xix (1959), 12-17.
INTRODUCTION xxiii
with Judith are complementary to Geoffrey's history rather than
identical with it. Such knowledge as Orderic had of the De Rebus
Gestis was most probably second-hand, and did not make up the
whole of his information about events in Calabria and Sicily. He
has a number of stories in common with Amatus of Montecassino ,1
but there are significant variations, and resemblances are probably
accounted for by a common interest in the region of Salerno and
Capua. 2
Amatus to~k as his hero Richard, prince of Capua, and the
monks of St. Evroul knew something of Richard's history because
William of Montreuil, son of William Giroie, married Richard's
daughter and later rebelled against his father-in-law. The same
events occur in both histories from different angles: Amatus was
naturally critical of William's rebellion against Richard and his
attempts to. repudiate his wife, whereas Orderic wrote and perhaps
knew nothmg but good of the benefactor of his monastery. In
addition to contemporary accounts of events there was a fund of
legend that became entangled in history; each writer drew on it
according to his taste, and certain stories of real or fabulous
exploits may be associated with the name of any early Norman
hero. On the whole Orderic was stricter in his Historia Ecclesiastica
than he had been in his interpolations in William of J umieges,
where he had included some dragon-slaying and other legendary
feats. In his History he gives more credence to personal reminis-
cences, even though they reached him at second or third hand,
and less to troubadour songs and folk tales. But apart from
some knowledge, probably indirect, of Geoffrey of Malaterra
he seems to have used no written sources for south Italian
history.
The same problem of whether he is using a lost source or relying
on popular legend or verbal testimony occurs in his account of the
more spectacular exploits of the Normans nearer home, notably the
conquest of England. For this he made extensive use of William of
Poitie~s, and more restricted use of William of Jumieges and Guy
of Amiens. 3 But some statements in his narrative of the Conquest
1
Amato di Montecassino, Storia de' Normanni, ed. V. de Bartholomaeis
(Rome, 1935). The work of Amatus, written between 1080 and 1086 survives
only i~ a thirteenth-century French translation; but Leo of Ostia copied
extensively from the lost Latin text.
2
Cf. below, Introduction, Part iii, pp. xxx-xxxii.
3
Cf. below, Appendix III.
xxiv INTRODUCTION
cannot be traced to any known earlier writer. Where he names
among the combatants at Hastings local men with interests in
St. Evroul his testimony is almost certainly direct and reliable.
His statement that Tostig went from Flanders to Normandy to
promise support to William if he attacked England is plausible,
but no more, and its source is unknown. Elsewhere he appears to
stray more definitely into legend. In general, in spite of his English
sympathies, he accepts the 'official' version of Harold's oath and
perjury and the projected marriage alliance. Some details of the
story, however, find their earliest written expression in Orderic's
work. In his interpolations in William of J umieges he gives the
earliest account known to me of Gyrth's attempt to dissuade
Harold from going into battle on the ground that he, Gyrth, who
had taken no oath, could defend his country without perjury.I
This is repeated in the Historia Ecclesiastica and later had a wide
appeal, especially in literary accounts of the battle. William of
Malmesbury also tells the story, but as manuscripts of William
of Jumieges with Orderic's interpolations were multiplied at an
early date this could be explained without positing a lost common
source.z In any case, whether Orderic was dramatizing inde-
pendently, or whether he took the story from a lost account,
probably poetical, of the battle, it reads more like special pleading
than historical evidence.
No problem is more perplexing in the study of sources than the
relationship of the works of two exact contemporaries to each
other. In a number of passages relating to the history of the Con-
quest, the early history of Crowland, and the scandals at Glaston-
bury in 1082 Orderic and William of Malmesbury handle the
same themes in a similar way. The two men had similar scholarly
interests; they belonged to monasteries which, though not in close
contact with each other, each had some ties with the abbey of
Jumieges. It is hard to believe that they were ignorant of each
other's existence, yet no proof exists that either ever consciously
used the work of the other. William of Malmesbury may possibly
have used the Gesta N ormannorum Ducum of William of J umieges
with the interpolations of Orderic, but even that is conjectural.
1 Marx, p. 196.
2 If this is true it would prove, as Stubbs suggested, that William of Malmes-
bury knew the work of \Villiam of Jumieges. Cf. Haskins, Norman Institutions,
p. 268 n. 20.
L
INTRODUCTION xxv
Beyond that they are known to have had common sources: the
oral traditions treasured at Crowland, and the work of Florence
of Worcester.I Orderic liked to acknowledge his sources, and
would probably have mentioned William's name had he seen his
work. As far as we know no copy of the Ecclesiastical History ever
came to England. In the present state of the evidence therefore
no direct borrowings by William from the Ecclesiastical History
can be detected, and the most likely common source is Florence
of Worcester. 2
Orderic's work is of particular importance to the historian of
Crowland abbey because it is the earliest surviving epitome of
monastic history from the time of Guthlac to the late eleventh
century. Though no more reliable, as a record, than the sources
on which Orderic depended for his information, it fixes to within
a few years the date of the traditions he used, which were later
woven into the Vitae Abbatum3 and the History of the Pseudo-
Ingulf.4
Much scholarship has been devoted to the exposure of the
Pseudo-Ingulf, 5 but though there is now no doubt that the History
in its present form is a late forgery too little serious attention has
been given to the question of the date of the various elements in
the final chronicle. Many books and records perished, Orderic tells
us, in the fire of 1091 ; 6 so the early twelfth century was a time of
replacement by the inevitable process of forgery to strengthen the
rights of the abbey in its estates. Moreover, there was at the same
time a strong intellectual movement with a special emphasis on
history. Ingulf himself was a man of some education, a royal
scribe according to Orderic, first initiated into monastic life at St.
Wandrille; and he may have begun the work of collecting and
restoring materials for the history of Crowland after the fire. Abbot
1
For William of Malmesbury's sources see Hugh Farmer, 'William of
Malmesbury's life and works', in Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xiii. 39-54.
2 See M. Chibnall, 'Corbie et l'Angleterre', in Corbie, abbaye royale (Amiens,
1962), pp. 226-9, and below, p. 270 n. 1.
J Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Vespasian B XI.
4 Historia Ingulfi (Rerum Anglicarum Scriptorum Veterum (Oxford, 1684)),
i. 1-107. A copy in the Cambridge University Library contains the manuscript
notes of W. G. Searle.
5 See F. Liebermann, 'Ueber ostenglische Geschichtsquellen', in Neues
Archiv, xviii (1892), 245-55; W. G. Searle, Ingulf and the Historia Croylandensis
(Cambridge, 1894).
6
Below, p. 346.
xxvi INTRODUCTION
Geoffrey, who succeeded him, had been educated at Orleans and
was also a man of letters. But the level of learning in the monastery
seems to have been low; presumably no native historian could be
found, for the prior and subprior sought out historians of other
monasteries to preserve the traditions of their own house. The two
men invited were William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis.
Orderic's visit occurred some time during the abbacy of Geoffrey
of Orleans, previously prior of St. Evroul ( l 109-24); Searle's
suggestion of a date about l l l 5 1 may be based only on the
reasonable but unproved assumption that he was one of the many
visiting monks who came for the dedication of the new church in
l l 14. He wrote an epitome of Felix's Life of St. Guthlac and
a short account of the early history of Crowland. William of
Malmesbury was there whilst working on the Gesta Pontificum,
that is, not later than the summer of l 125· Both mention the prior
or subprior as one of their chief sources of information. 2 There is
no evidence that either saw the work of the other, or even was
aware of his existence: similar statements are to be expected when
both writers drew on the same source of oral tradition.
Another slightly later source, the Guthlac Roll, also embodies
many of the same traditions. This beautiful document consists of
tinted outline illustrations of the life of St. Guthlac and the early
endowment of Crowland: they may have been intended as designs
for windows in the new church and date probably from the third
quarter of the twelfth century. One illustration in particular,
.lEthelbald and twelve benefactors, comes very close to the history
related by Orderic. 3
Probably Orderic left a copy of his epitome and short history
at Crowland, but the earliest surviving copy is in a thirteenth-
century manuscript, now Douai, Public Library, MS. 852. This
contains a number of different readings, and the spelling is some-
times nearer to the Guthlac Roll than the spelling in the autograph
manuscript of the Historia Ecclesiastica. Possibly the manuscript
from which MS. Douai 852 derived was also used by the scribe of
the Guthlac Roll. But there are significant differences: Thurketel's
1 Searle, Ingulf, p. 18.
2
Below, p. 328; GP, p. 322. If the same man gave the information to both,
then William's visit, after he had been promoted prior, must have been the later
of the two.
3 The Guthlac Roll, ed. Sir G. F. Warner (Roxburghe Club, Oxford, 1928),
p. 15, pl. xviii.
INTRODUCTION xx vii
gift is described in the Guthlac Roll as a sixth part of his patri-
mony, whereas Orderic and MS. Douai 852 agree in making it
six out of sixty manors, or one-tenth. Another possible explanation
is that the scribe of the Guthlac Roll drew in part at least upon the
same oral tradition as Orderic and William of Malmesbury. 1 MS.
Douai 852 or the original from which it was copied was almost
certainly used by Henry of Avranches for his versification of the
history of Crowland's foundation, 2 and the two have one mistake
in common. Orderic himself had given the dimensions of the site
offered by .lEthelbald for the foundation of a monastery as five
miles to the east, three to the west, two to the south, and two to the
north; but the scribe of the Douai MS., presumably reading v
for ii enlarged the last two measurements to five miles each, and
so did Henry of Avranches. The description of the site in the
forged charter of the Pseudo-Ingulf is so different as to suggest
that the charter seen by Orderic was a different version.J But it is
clear from many verbal similarities listed by W. G. Searle that the
writer of the final version of the Pseudo-Ingulf copied freely from
Orderic, as did the writer of the Vitae Abbatum.
It is hard enough to try to date the first appearance of a tradition
in this tangle; harder still to establish any solid core of truth in
the tradition. But Domesday Book confirms that Crowland held
the six manors mentioned by Orderic as gifts of Thurketel at least
before the Conquest, 4 and since the possession of these lands was
secure there was no motive for inventing an early donation. The
Anglo-Saxon chronicle further confirms the facts given by Orderic
about Thurketel-that he was a relation of Archbishop Oscytel
and a clerk of London-though it shows too that the dates are
almost certainly wrong; he cannot have founded or refounded
Crowland earlier than 97 I, though Orderic places the event in
Eadred's reign (946-55).s There are then good grounds for
believing that the monastery of Crowland dated at least from this
1
Liebermann has pointed to three historical errors in the Guthlac Roll that
cannot derive from either Felix or Orderic (Neues Archiv, xviii. 251).
2
Cambridge University Library, MS. Dd. xi. 78. For authorship see B.
Colgrave, Felix's Life of Guthlac (Cambridge, 1956), pp. 22-23.
3 Liebermann, however (Neues Archiv, xviii. 250), thought that the charters
seen by Orderic were probably the forged charters of 716 and 966 in Pseudo-
Ingulf. 4 Domesday Book (1783), i. 192b-3, 222b, 231.
5 See D. Whitelock, 'The conversion of the Eastern Danelaw', in Saga Book
of the Viking Society, xii (1937-45), 175.
xx viii INTRODUCTION
time and that it received the six manors from the hand of Thurke-
tel. The attempt to place the original foundation of Crowland in
.lEthel?ald's reign is, however, tendentious, and in doing so
Ordenc relates a legend in open contradiction with the account in
Felix's Life of Guthlac, where .lEthelbald heard of the saint's
death whilst still an uncrowned exile.
For the history of Crowland between the time of Guthlac's life
there and the tenth century we have only:
I. The statements of Orderic and William of Malmesbury in
the twelfth century, that monastic life never ceased from the
time of Guthlac, which both appear to have been derived
from the subprior or prior of Crowland in their own day.
2. The charter in the Pseudo-Ingulf, which is certainly a
forgery.
3· T~e evidence of the narratives in the Pseudo-Ingulf, of the
Vitae Abbatum, and of late marginal insertions in MS. Douai
8 52; for which no sources earlier than the twelfth century
have yet been found.
4. The single statement in Orderic that Kenulf was abbot of
the monastery 'per aliquod tempus ... in diebus illis' and
gave his name to Kenulfestan, a boundary stone. This may
be no more than the rationalization of the name on a genuine
boundary stone.
All this amounts to very little, and the five abbots traditionally
name~ before Thurketel are no more than shadows. Orderic gives
no obits before Thurketel: a strong indication that none were
celebrated at the time of his visit to Crowland.
Apart from Thurketel's endowment only one other manor is
mentioned by Orderic as an early gift-Barnack, said to have been
given by Waltheof. But there is no evidence that Crowland ever
held land there: certainly the monks held nothing at the time of
Domesday. Pseudo-Ingulf, the only other writer to record this
gift to Crowland, may have taken the statement from Orderic,
though he adds a further detail-that the date was 1061. If the
monks of Crowland tried to assert any claim to these valuable
quarries they were unsuccessful. Alternatively there may have been
a genuine grant of stone from the quarries without any permanent
gift of land.
Orderic certainly had some written sources at his disposal. He
INTRODUCTION xx ix
knew the day of the month, but not the year, of each abbot's
death, so presumably worked with a monastic calendar recording
obits; he refers also to charters of .lEthelbald and Edgar, thereby
implying that the first forged charters were already in existence.
For the most part, however, the written records of Crowland's
history begin in the early twelfth century, and Orderic made an
important contribution towards the record with his epitome of
monastic history. 1
The 'Life of St. Judoc' towards the end of Book III was written
by Orderic as a background to the establishment of a priory at
Parnes, where the relics of the saint were alleged, on very dubious
authority, to rest. It is simply an abbreviation of three other works:
the anonymous Life by a ninth-century monk; the life and miracles
compiled by Isembard of Fleury-en-Vexin about the year moo;
and a lost account of the 'translation' of the saint's bones to St.
Martin's, Parnes, and subsequent miracles composed by William
of Merlerault, monk of St. Evroul. 2 Unlike the account of Crow-
land's early history it is in no sense an original work.
(iii) The historical value of Books III and IV of the
Ecclesiastical History
The historical value of Orderic's work depends partly on his
sources, partly on his distance from events and the way he handled
his sources. The events described in Books III and IV took place
almost entirely before he was born, and he had no direct personal
knowledge of any of them. Inevitably its value is uneven.
As a social history of the eleventh century it is unparalleled. In
the family sagas of Giroie, Grandmesnil, and Belleme are recorded
the way of life of the military, landed families of Normandy: their
complex ties of allegiance, their traditions of inheritance, the
adventurous and perilous way of life which both helped the
successful to establish branches in distant regions and kept down
the population of land-holding men to a level the community
could support. They show too the place of monastic houses in the
families of the patrons who founded them. And the account of
the early days of the community at St. Evroul is a true reflection
of the economic, spiritual, and intellectual interests of a reformed
1 Liebermann (Neues Archiv, xviii. 250) said that the literature of Crowland
was born during the five weeks that Orderic spent there.
2
See below, Appendix II.
J
 xxx INTRODUCTION
Benedictine house with Cluniac leanings, before its way of life
came under fire from the newer orders. Orderic recorded the
recollections of men who had lived amongst the conditions they
described. They might misinterpret motives and confuse details
of particular events: but this did not vitiate the record they left of
the society in which they had been born. The value of this part
of the history is plain, and needs no further emphasis.
As a record of political events it must be measured by different
standards. Early south Italian history, for instance, had passed
through a distorting glass. St. Evroul had continuing personal
contacts with St. Eufemia in Calabria, and the fact that Roger
Guiscard had stayed at St. Evroul and met his wife Judith there
on his way to make his fortune in the south opened the way, no
doubt, to some sources of political gossip at the highest possible
level. But Orderic had no written sources for the early history of
the Norman settlement. This was a difficulty he shared with others,
for all the earliest traditions of the arrival of the Normans in
southern Italy are confused by legends.
The most reliable account occurs in Raoul Glaber, who prob-
ably owed his information to William of Dijon and Odilo of
Cluny, and wrote his third book in the 1030s, before the Norman
exploits had assumed legendary proportions. He records that a
Norman lord, Rodulf, exiled by Duke Richard II, was persuaded
by Benedict VIII to assist the Lombards rebelling against Greek
rule. 1 The second tradition is that of the 'legend of invitation',
which has two main forms. Amatus of Montecassino wrote that
the exploits of forty valiant pilgrims against the Saracens in
Salerno 'before the year 1000' 2 led Prince Gaimar of Salerno to
send to Normandy for more fighting men; and William of Apulia
believed that the invitation came from the Lombard rebel Melo
after a chance meeting with Norman pilgrims at the shrine of St.
Michael in the Gargano. A further element in the story is pro-
vided by accounts of groups of exiles escaping from ducal anger
1
Raoul Glaber, Les cinq livres de ses histoires, ed. M. Prou (Paris, 1887),
iii. 3 (pp. 52-54). This agrees with versions in Ademar of Chabannes and Leo
of Ostia; cf. E. Joranson, 'The inception of the career of the Normans in Italy-
legend and history', in Speculum, xxiii (1948), 353-96, especially 370-2.
2
V. de Bartholomaeis in his edition (AM, p. 25) has emended this date to
1016; but both E. Joranson and M. Mathieu (La geste de Robert Guiscard
(Palermo, 1961), p. 262) regard this as an arbitrary attempt to fit the story into
the pattern of Melo's rebellion.
INTRODUCTION xxxi
at different dates: Amatus records the flight of Gilbert Buatere
with his brothers Rainulf, Asclettin, Osmund, and Rodulf after
the murder of William Repostel in the presence of Duke Robert. 1
Geoffrey of Malaterra has a similar story of the flight of Tancred
of Hauteville's son Serio from Normandy to Brittany after killing
a favourite of Count Robert 1. 2
Orderic wrote too long after the events for his testimony to have
any independent value, and was the first in a long line of historians
to attempt a conflation of the various traditions with which he
was familiar. The name of Pope Benedict has survived to produce
a travesty of the dating, for the exiled Normans known to him, as
to Amatus, were those who fled from Duke Robert after 1027, and
were certainly not the first settlers. Osmund Drengot is probably
the same person as Osmund, brother of Gilbert Buatere in
Amatus's story. Orderic also shares with AmatusJ the tradition of
Norman pilgrims aiding Gaimar of Salerno against the Saracens:
he did not know the tradition of the Gargano meeting with Melo.
The truth seems to have been that the Normans went to south
Italy as pilgrims and adventurers, first appearing as isolated
individuals in the late tenth century,4 becoming involved in larger
numbers in the Lombard and Greek struggles from 1017, and
increasing their settlement more rapidly after 103 1. They fought
on all sides; it is likely that Pope Benedict encouraged some of
them, but the political conditions of south Italy were of the kind
to attract mercenaries. Different traditions relate to different
groups of them: almost all are to some extent contaminated by
legend. Two of the most recent writers on the subject, E. Joranson
and M. Mathieu, 5 by carefully distinguishing the various tradi-
tions and the different groups and individuals have at last broken
away from the attempts at conflation that began in Orderic's time,
and have probably gone as far as it is possible to go in winnowing
a few grains of history out of all the legends. Orderic is valuable in
showing the attitude of his contemporaries to the south Italian
kingdom :6 he has nothing to add to the facts before the close ties
1
AM, pp. 25-26. 2 GM I. xxxviii (p. 24).
3 These traditions were independently derived. Cf. above, p. xxiii.
4 See M. Mathieu, La geste de Robert Guiscard, p. 339; N. Tamassia, Studi
sulla storia giuridica dell'Italia meridionale (Bari, 1957), pp. 103-7.
5 Op. cit. above, p. xxx nn. 1 and 2.
6
Cf. E. M. Jamison, 'The Sicilian Norman kingdom in the mind of Anglo-
Norman contemporaries', in Proc. Brit. Acad. xxiv (1938), pp. 237-85.
 xxxii INTRODUCTION
of St. Evroul with Calabria began through the migration of monks
to found St. Eufemia.
Where Orderic has written sources he uses them in different
ways, sometimes abbreviating, sometimes quoting extensively,
sometimes more briefly citing from memory. William of Poitiers
certainly has pride of place in these two books, because he lived
nearest to events and was an eyewitness of some of them. Orderic
quotes at length and verbatim from the Gesta Guillelmi much more
freely than from any other source; he adds, however, evidence he
regarded as reliable from other authorities, and occasionally
imposes his own interpretation on the whole. This gives a special
value to the fourth book. For Orderic alone preserves substantial
parts of the conclusion of William of Poitiers, who in spite of his
faults of exaggeration and rhetorical inflation was in a position to
know the facts of the campaigns of King William in 1068-70; and
so Orderic gives the fullest and most valuable account of these
campaigns. Without this the historian of the second stage of the
conquest would be lost indeed. In his narrative of the first stage,
where comparison with the text of William is possible, Orderic
keeps very close to the original for descriptions of campaigns and
tactics, merely pruning out the more lengthy classical analogies,
and adding on his own initiative a harsher criticism of Norman
'oppression' and an expression of sympathy with the English. It
is reasonable to suppose that he handled his source in much the
same way in those chapters where comparison is no longer pos-
sible, and that the details of the campaigns in the west and north
of England are virtually contemporary. It is less certain that the
original William of Poitiers has survived without significant modi-
fication in the account of King William's ecclesiastical reorganiza-
tion.
Orderic's account of the deposition of Stigand will illustrate
some of the problems of interpretation. This is a passage that is
paralleled in Miles Crispin's Vita Lanfranci and, whatever the
source common to the two, there are variations in the accounts
which make it plain that at least one of the two has departed from
his source.
Orderic Vitalis (below, p. 236):
Post haec Guillelmus rex dominicam resurrectionem in urbe Guenta
I
I
l[
celebrauit ubi cardinales Romanae aecclesiae coronam ei solenniter
L
INTRODUCTION xxxiii
imposuerunt. Nam ex petitione ipsius Alexander paP_a tres idoneos ei ut
karissimo filio legauerat uicarios Ermenfredum pontificem Sedunorum et
duos canonicos cardinales. Quos apud se ferme annuo spacio retinuit
audiens et honorans eos tanquam angelos Dei . . . Maxima uero ac
utillima sinodus Windresoris celebrata est, anno millesimo septuagesimo
ab incarnatione Domini. Rex et cardinales eidem concilio praesederunt
et illic Stigandum pridem reprobatum anathemate deposuerunt.
Vita Lanfranci (cap. vi):
Post /iaec venerunt ad regem in Angliam tres legati simul, Ermin-
fre~us Sedunorum episcopus, _et duo ~lerici cardinales, missi a.cl pet~t~on~m
ipszus a papa Alexandro, qm eum m Pascha coronam regm cap1tl eJUS
imponentes, in regem Anglicum confirmaverunt. Congregata est ergo
synodus magna Windresoris in qua, praesidente rege, ab ipsis legatis
dejecti sunt quidam episcopi indigni episcopatu. . . . Inter quos
deposuerunt Stigandum cum anathemate reprobatum ..•
In Orderic, though royal initiative is indicated, the cardinals
play a much more significant role. The king listens to them as if
they had been angels of the Lord: they preside at the synod jointly
with the king. In the version of the Vita Lanfranci the king pre-
sides, the legates take appropriate ecclesiastical action in his
presence. An independent account from Florence of Worcester 1
provides a check on the facts:
Concilium magnum in octavis Paschae Wintoniae celebratum est,
jubente et praesente rege Willelmo, domino Alexandro papa consentiente,
et per suos legatos Earmenfredum Sedunensem episcopum, et presby-
teros J ohannem et Petrum cardinales sedis apostolicae, suam auctorita-
tem exhibente. In quo concilio Stigandus Doroberniae archiepiscopus
degradatur.... Die autem Pentecostes rex apud Windesoram vene-
rando Baiocensi canonico Thomae Eboracensis ecclesiae archiepi-
scopatum, et Walcelino suo capellano Wintoniensis ecclesiae dedit
praesulatum; cujus iussu mox in crastino praedictus Sedunensis
episcopus Armenfridus synod um tenuit, Johanne et Petro praefatis
cardinalibus Romaro reversis.
In this version the king summoned the council of Winchester and
was present: the cardinals, exercising papal authority, deposed
Stigand. It is a shade nearer to the Vita than to Orderic on the
organization of the council; it differs from both on the place.
Florence makes it plain that Stigand was deposed at Winchester
I FW ii. 5-6.
822204 c
 xxxiv INTRODUCTION
at Easter, and that two of the cardinals had left England by the
time further ecclesiastical appointments were made at Windsor at
Pentecost. Both Orderic and the Vita, and so presumably their
common source, say that Stigand was deposed at Windsor. This
raises of course the greatest difficulty in the hypothesis that the
common source is always William of Poi tiers, 1 for it is arguable
that one writing so near to events would not have telescoped two
councils. But it certainly does not rule him out, for if he was not
with the king at the time he may have believed that Stigand was
deposed at the same time as several other ecclesiastics at Pen-
tecost; the Worcester chronicler, on the other hand, had the
advantage of a contemporary witness in Bishop Wulfstan of Wor-
cester, who was actually present at the proceedings and inspired
the early stages of the collection of material for the Worcester
Chronicle.
Whatever the truth, it is a striking fact that Orderic, who
certainly saw the version of Florence and may have seen a version
in William of Poitiers fairly close to that of the Vita Lanfranci,
has given a subtle slant to his presentation. Florence of Worcester
certainly did not suggest that the king regarded the legates as
angels of the Lord, and the expression is not characteristic of
William of Poitiers. Combined with an old-fashioned acceptance
of the right of the king to appoint bishops, 2 there is in Orderic
a hint of a much more fully developed post-Gregorian papalism.
It would be wrong to try to rationalize these inconsistencies in the
outlook of a man who had already, by II25, lived through half
a century of profound change. But when his History is used to
illustrate the relative share of pope and king in the reshaping of
the church in England, or even the exact procedure in the 'coun-
II cils' and 'synods' where king and legates were both present, the
I
ways in which Orderic may unconsciously have modified his
I
sources in writing his history cannot be ignored.
Where the narrative sources fail, and Orderic drew upon good
oral traditions, the reader has to face a similar problem of un-
conscious interpretation. The Gesta of William of Poitiers came
to an end in 1071, and Orderic then drew upon miscellaneous
oral sources in an extremely interesting account of the distribution
1 There seems to be no doubt that he was the common source of the passage
analysed above, Introduction, pp. xix-xx.
2
Cf. above, p. xv n. i; also J. Yver in BSAN lvii (1965), 271-9.
INTRODUCTION xxxv
of lands and offices by King William. He had an intimate know-
1
ledge of some families from his own childhood memories and the
information monks at St. Evroul were able to give him of their
own kinsfolk or the lords whom they had served as chaplains
before taking monastic vows. There are good reasons for looking
closely at anything he has to say about the families of Mont-
gomery-Belleme, Grandmesnil, Warenne, and Hugh of Avranches,
earl of Chester. But he was generalizing from miscellaneous
information, and describing events that took place at different
dates. He has frequently been misquoted on the very difficult
problem of earls and earldoms, 2 partly because genealogists have
given an unhistorical emphasis to the question of when earldoms
were 'created'. Yet the title of the Norman counts, as D. C.
Douglas has shown, was normally a personal dignity: the terri-
torial official in Normandy was the vicomte. Again, it is doubtful
whether any Norman count became an earl (comes) in England
during the Conqueror's reign, 3 perhaps for this very reason that
status, once conferred, cannot be doubled. There were English
earls, called 'comites' by the Latin chroniclers: there were also
military and administrative functions, sometimes of a regional
nature, that tended to give the English earldoms a territorial
colour. And William undoubtedly established men, often Norman
vicomtes, as earls with control of the chief towns and royal
demesne in frontier provinces that might very reasonably be
called counties palatine.4 Orderic as a boy had some knowledge
of conditions in the palatine earldom of Shropshire: his later per-
sonal knowledge of political and social relationships derived from
Normandy. Moreover, he had to express himself in a language
originally framed to fit Roman institutions, and only slowly being
remoulded to provide the technical terms required in a rapidly
evolving society. On several occasions he uses the expression
'dedit comitatum'; but when describing the grant of Chester to
Hugh of Avranches he says 'dedit consulatum'. It is impossible
1 Below, pp. 260-6.
2
There is a useful discussion of earls, counts, and vicomtes in Douglas, WC,
pp. 294-6.
3
There is no satisfactory proof that Robert of Martain was ever called earl of
Cornwall, whatever his rights in the county.
4
For the meaning of this term in eleventh-century England, see J. Boussard,
Le gouvernement d'Henri II Plantegenet (Paris, 1955), pp. 17, 197-8; and
W. E. Wightman, 'The palatine earldom of William fitzOsbern in Gloucester-
shire and Worcestershire', in EHR lxxvii (1962), 6.
xxxvi INTRODUCTION
to be certain whether he meant to imply a difference, or was
merely falling into a rhetorical device for varying his narrative by
the use of an intended synonym. I have deliberately translated the
first 'gave the county' and the second 'gave the office of earl',
thereby preserving the ambiguity. It may confidently be asserted
that William I did not 'grant earldoms', but that Henry I, in
whose time Orderic wrote, did. The actions of William Rufus are
in greater doubt, and how far the office was hereditary is open to
debate. I have tried not to prejudge the issue in the translation.
When Orderic speaks of William as 'giving the county of Surrey'
to William of W arenne one cannot be certain whether he confused
dates and anticipated later events, or correctly referred to the
grant of some comital rights in Surrey of which there is no other
record.
A similar difficulty exists in translating his references to 'castles'.
He uses a number of terms, including 'oppidum', 'castrum', and
'castellum', which may in different places mean 'castle', 'fortified
town', or simply 'town'. Similarly the term 'oppidani' is applied
sometimes to townsmen, sometimes to members of a garrison.
For the history of feudalism the interpretation may be important,
and statements about early castle-building have sometimes been
based on references by Orderic to a 'castrum' or 'castellum'.
Where either the context or other literary or archaeological evi-
dence makes it plain that a castle existed I have translated 'castle';
in cases of real doubt I have preserved the ambiguity in the
ambiguous term 'stronghold'.
Outside Normandy Orderic had good sources of information in
the south-west frontier regions, and his evidence for the regions
of Belleme, Maine, and Anjou is always deserving of careful con-
sideration, even when his interpretations of facts are weighted by
his hatred of the Belleme family. 1 For Brittany and Flanders his
information was vague and unreliable in the extreme; though
occasionally, as in his statement that William fitzOsbern took only
ten men to the campaign in Flanders, a concrete and probably
authentic detail survives as a reminder that not all his sources
were wrong or garbled. 2
Orderic's statements on rights of inheritance in any region need
particularly careful examination. His work brings out sharply the
truth of R. W. Southern's suggestion that though there were
1 See below, Appendix I. 2
Below, p. 282.
INTRODUCTION xxxvii
ncertainties over the right of hereditary succession in the early
~welfth century the reign of Henry I 'is a turning-point in this
important matter'. 1 For Orderic, writing when the reign of
Henry I was far advanced, shows none of the reasonable hesita-
tions of modern historians. He is almost obsessed with the rights
of succession by primogeniture not only to fiefs, but to castles and
offices: indeed he insists too much. This must haye been a matter
on which the patrons and noble friends of St. Evroul and their
sons, Orderic's fellow monks, felt strongly, as men feel about
a half-established right that is still liable to be challenged. 2
Through the influence of his contemporaries it became one of the
premisses which Orderic accepted so axiomatically that he used
it to interpret events throughout the past hundred years. He
assumed that primogeniture must have applied to the Belleme
inheritance in the 1030s, whereas some problems of tenure can be
better explained by some form of division. He is so certain of the
rights of the eldest surviving son that in describing the rebellions
of a lord, like Tostig or Robert le Frison, whose cause seemed just
to him he assumes that he must have been a disinherited eldest
son. In these two cases evidence shows Orderic to have been wrong.
But the possibility of similar errors of interpretation should not be
forgotten when his statements cannot be checked elsewhere. It
may be true that William I was unfortunate in the families he
raised to wealth and high office, since most of the next generation
rebelled against him. Yet this assumes that he conceded the most
sweeping claims to hereditary right. There is no clear proof, for
instance, that in the brief four years between 1071 and 1075
Roger of Hereford held all the offices as well as the fiefs of his
father. Orderic believed that he rebelled through ambition and
the desire for a third of England. Yet there is always a possibility
that his discontent was due to not receiving all that his father, in
a period of exceptional emergency, had enjoyed.J
l R. W. Southern, 'The place of Henry I in English history', in Proceedings
of the British Academy, xlviii (1962), 145.
2
For various aspects of hereditary succession in Normandy, see R. Genestal,
Le Parage Normand (Bibliotheque d'Histoire du Droit Normand, Caen, 191 l);
H. Navel, 'Recherches sur les institutions feodales en Normandie', in BSAN Ii
(1948-51), 5-175, especially pp. 35-36; J. Yver, 'Les chateaux forts en Nor-
mandie jusqu'aumilieu du xiie siecle', in BSAN Iiii (1955-6), 28-115, especially
pp. 47, 61-62.
3
For Orderic's assumptions about inheritance cf. below, p. 120 n. 3, p. 130
n. 2, p. 139 n. 3 ; Appendix I.
xxxviii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION xxxix
If some information was unconsciously misinterpreted in the penalty for treason, whereas Roger of Hereford suffered forfeiture
telling some was quite deliberately enlivened in accordance with and life imprisonment for the same offence because he came under
accepted historical practice. The convent~on that truth was con- French law. 1 So clearly and explicitly is this stated that it sug-
sistent with putting imaginary speeches mto the mouths of the gests a deliberate report to that effe~t, possibly offi~ially put out
leading men of any age began with the Greeks, and was still to justify the harshness of an execution that was umversally con-
respectable when Samuel Johnson was 'sole com~oser' of ~he demned.
speeches in the House of Lords fo~ the. G~ntleman s M_agazine.
Orderic accepted it as part of the h1stonan s task. But it meant (iv) Manuscript, punctuation, and spelling
that sometimes rumours, confused in themselves, were used as
A detailed account of the manuscripts and earlier editions will
the basis of imaginary dramatic dialogues. In interpreting them
be given in the General Introduction to Volume I of this edition.
the only safe precept is caveat lector. Yet there is historical value
Descriptions already exist in print in Delisle's memoir (Le
of a kind even in Orderic's most inflated and rhetorical dialogues.
Prevost, v. xciii-cvi) and the biography of Orderic by Hans Wolter
They record what he believed might have been said, possibly too
(Ordericus Vitalis (Wiesbaden, 1955), pp. 8-1~, 66 ~.). The text
the arguments he had heard others use. The conversation between
here printed is based on the holograph manuscript, B1bl. nat. MS.
King William and his chaplain Samson of Bayeux 1 is imaginary.
Lat. 5506, vol. ii, ff. 1-roov, from which all existing later manu-
Nevertheless it shows the attitude of the more advanced reformers
scripts derive. This is plainly an author's copy, and there can be
to episcopal office, and suggests the personalities and poli!ics
little doubt that the greater part of it, including the rubrics, was
involved. Samson-educated, intelligent, and worldly-was JUSt
written by Orderic himself. Except for a very few lines it is written
the man to have seen his own imperfections from the standpoint
throughout either in the same hand or in two remarkably similar
of a reforming pope, and to have appreciated that the only way to
hands ; and careful corrections in the same hand or hands some-
get a Norman nominee into the turbulent and. half-conquered
times modify the statements of the first version. The dominant
city of Le Mans was by finding a man of the r.1ght charac.ter to
hand also copied and corrected a number of books, including the
secure papal backing. There is very likely a gram of truth m the
Gesta N ormannorum Ducum of William of J umieges with the
rumours on which Orderic based his dialogue. And, true or false,
interpolations of Orderic, and added en:ries i~ others. These
it illuminates the motives that might have actuated the men of
entries include a note of the feast of St. Evroul m a calendar of
his day.
Thorney Abbey (St. John's College, Oxford, MS. f. 21v), a book
Again, the debate of the conspirators at the ill-fated marriage
that may very well have been in Orderic's own hands when he
feast at Exning is imaginary. 2 Yet it conveys many arguments
stayed in the near-by monastery of Crowland, and probably visited
against William's rule in England that must have been widespread:
Thorney itself. Proof that the dominant hand was Orderic's is
that he slew and exiled the legitimate heirs, oppressed the country
given by Delisle in his 'Notes sur les manuscrits autographes
he had conquered by force not right, and was himself a bastard
d'Orderic Vital', which prefaces Jules Lair's Materiaux pour l'edi
unworthy to rule. It is in fact one of the few surviving records of
tion de Guillaume de Jumieges (Paris, 1910), pp. 9-11; and the
the interpretation of events that the 'official' narratives of William
same conclusion was reached by Pertz when in 1863 he described
of Poitiers, William of J umieges, and the Bayeux Tapestry were
it as 'Codex autographus olim Sancti Ebrulfi Uticensi' .2 But
designed to counter by their carefully selected. presentation ~f
whereas Delisle believed that the hand was Orderic's throughout,
events and justification of William's claims: narratives that Ordenc
Le Prevost had earlier suggested that Orderic was assist~d by
indeed accepted as true in his own account of the Conquest. Also,
scribesJ and indeed a study of the manuscripts of St. Evroul
the debate brings out the fact that Waltheof forfeited his life
because he was subject to English law which prescribed a death 1
Below, pp. 314, 318. 2 MGH. SS. xx. 51.
1 Below, pp. 300-2. 2
Below, pp. 310-14. 3 Le Prevost, iii. 1 34 n. 1.

l
 xl INTRODUCTION
shows the existence of a hand characterized by Dom Laporte as
that of Orderic's alter ego. 1 It is possible that Orderic was assisted
at times by a scribe who had learnt to write under his guidance,
and had modelled himself remarkably closely on his master. The
strongest evidence for a second scribe is a form of capital 'M' that
occasionally occurs in passages where the hand does not seem to
have quite the artistry of Orderic's characteristic hand. But other-
wise the slight differences may be due to no more than changes of
pen or variations in temperature and numbness in the hand that
held it. Whatever the truth of this, there can be no doubt that this
is the author's manuscript, in the sense of being executed entirely
under his supervision and mostly, if not quite all, in his own hand.
Orderic's corrections were so careful that the manuscript has
been printed almost as he left it. A few words added in thirteenth-
century and later hands, which have become incorporated in
earlier editions, have been omitted. The manuscript is very clear
apart from a hole and a bad stain on f. l in the Preface to Book
III. Examination of the earliest transcripts, which all date from
the sixteenth century (Bihl. nat. MSS. Lat. 5122, 5123, 5124),
proves that the damage already existed when these were written:
the scribes have simply omitted half a paragraph. Duchesne
patiently made out what was legible, but there is little doubt that
where the writing was obliterated he filled in with appropriate
words, which in places will not fit the gaps, or accord with the
few additional letters that have become legible under an ultra-
violet lamp. Later editions simply printed from Duchesne. In this
edition the gaps have not been filled. The illegible fragment is
mostly moral platitude, though it does include the sentence
rendered by Duchesne, 'De quibusdam itaque amicis Dei dominis-
[que ac rectoribus populi sui in superiori parti] libenter locutus
sum.' 2 This has been taken to be a plain reference to Books I
and II. In fact it is briefer and more obscure; it could refer to
another work by Orderic. But by the time the Preface and rubric
were added the work had been replanned, and this was already
I
I, Book III. So there is no reason to doubt that Duchesne's guess at
11
'I
the substance of the passage was reasonably near to the original.
II In this edition the original punctuation has been retained.
Orderic wrote the whole of the Historia Ecclesiastica in a carefully
1
Revue Mabillon, xlvi (1956), 142, 147-8.
2
Duchesne, HNS, p. 457.
INTRODUCTION xii
composed rhythmic and rhyming prose. It was certainly meant to
be read aloud; and the punctuation marks were both indications to
the reader of the pauses and pitch of voice, and an integral part
of the style. Orderic punctuated according to the rules current in
early twelfth-century Benedictine monasteries, which represented
a complete change from the classical rules recommended by
Cassiodorus and modified by Alcuin. 1 He observed roughly the
same conventions as did Eadmer.
Apart from the question mark, he used two main stops, though
the first had different functions:
l. Medial stops. These are in appearance like the modern full
stop: Orderic normally placed them a little above the line.
If followed by a capital letter they mark the end of a sentence;
Orderic does not use capitals elsewhere. Otherwise they mark
a pause either between two parts of a sentence of rough
equality, or between a main and a subordinate clause. 2
2. A symbol .J which indicates a change in pitch; the voice
would be dropped for the following clause. Frequently as in
Eadmer it comes at the end of a subordinate clause, when
a main clause begins. In places it is not easy to see why
Orderic has used .J rather than a medial stop; but he may
have intended to vary his rhythmical effects by subtle
variations in the pitch of the voice. A more profound know-
ledge of twelfth-century prose rhythms, as they were in-
fluenced by music and the liturgy, is necessary to be certain
what was intended.
Where Orderic most differs from Eadmer is in his use of rhyme.
The sentences are of greatly varying lengths, so arranged that the
internal rhymes come at the points of punctuation. To the modern
ear the effect is monotonous; yet if the structure of his sentences
is studied it reveals considerable complexity and subtlety, and an
ear for dramatic effects. 3 There is no doubt that the punctuation
1
The indispensable introduction to early medieval systems of punctuation
will be found in R. W. Southern, The Life of St. Anselm by Eadmer (London:
Edinburgh, 1962), pp. xxv-xxxiv.
2
In printing the modern conventions for the use of capital letters have been
followed; the medial point, when it occurs in the middle of a sentence, is
represented by a comma. Inverted commas follow modern practice: Orderic
does not use them.
3 See H. Wolter, Ordericus Vita/is, pp. 120-2.
 F

xlii INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION xliii
contributed towards the total effect: and since we have the manu- and Gere; and at present a number of historians favour Gere, by
script in the author's own hand for three-quarters of the Historia derivation from the family castle of St. Ceneri-le-Gere (or le-
Ecclesiastica the arguments in favour of preserving the author's Gerei). However, as one branch of the family migrated to south
punctuation are very strong. Italy, where the name survived as Giroy, I have felt justified in
Moreover, punctuation and style are one guide to Orderic's use using the form Giroie.
of his sources. As a historian he made use both of other historical Since the great edition of A. le Prevost ( Orderici Vitalis Historiae
narratives and of documents: sometimes he quoted literally from Ecclesiasticae Libri Tredecim (Societe de l'Histoire de France,
them. Although at times by a slight change in punctuation and 5 vols., Paris, 1838-55), finished with the collaboration of Leopold
word order he could tailor another man's work to fit the rhythms Delisle, has been cited for over a hundred years the pages of that
of his own prose, sometimes he took over sentences literally as he edition are indicated by numbers in the margin, for convenience
found them. Variations from his normal punctuation usually indi- of reference.
cate quotation from works written in different styles-whether
the historical narratives of William of Poitiers 1 and others, or the
charters of his monastery, or the decretals of early popes embedded
in the canons of a Norman church council. In reading the Historia
Ecclesiastica the discerning student needs a good ear to determine
its reliability: but he has a better chance of distinguishing Orderic's
own composition from his quotations out of earlier, possibly lost,
sources, if the text is printed as Orderic wrote it, than if the
punctuation is modernized.
The value of vagaries of spelling is more dubious. 2 Orderic
seems, like Eadmer, to have distinguished between e and ae,
which he too wrote as f?. Where he consistently spells a word in
one way the original spelling has been printed as a guide to pro-
nunciation. But where the spelling is inconsistent, with occasional
variations, it has been standardized in the text.
There are, unfortunately, no internationally accepted conven-
tions for spelling medieval place and personal names. In the
translation I have usually followed the common modern practice
of giving the modern spelling of any place-names that can be
identified and any personal names still in common use, whilst
preserving the medieval spelling elsewhere (i.e. Roger of Tosny,
but Fulbert de Beina; Edward (not Eadward), but Ealdred).
Over the spelling of two recurring names, however, I have
departed slightly from this principle. The site of Orderic's abbey
is now St. Evroult, but I have not been able to bring myself to
break from the form so long familiar in the works of Delisle and
Knowles, and have kept the form St. Evroul. Again, the recurring
family name of Geroius has been rendered at different times Giroie
1
Cf. above, pp. xix-xx. 2 Cf. Southern, op. cit., p. xxxiv.

L
 HISTORIA JECCLESIASTICA

822204 B

L
 I ncipit lib er tercius cecclesiasticce hystoricea
ii. An laudandum creatorem in cunctis operibus suis indesinenter
1 UNENDING praise of the Creator in all his works is our perpetual
instare debemus, cuius ineffabilem potentiam et magnitudinem
discutere non possumus, nee efficaciam qua sullimitas eius et
infatigabilis benignitas a nobis enarrari possit habemus. Incle
ueteris et noui testamenti pagina tractat, inde omnis sapiens
perscrutatur et cogitat, sed immensitatem profunditatum sapientire
Dei nemo penetrat. Scientia karitatis Christi supereminet omni
humanre prudentire: quam inuestigare et amplecti totoque nisu
1
sequi iustum est et plenum salutis perpeture. Ob hoc beati homines
quorum laus est in autenticis codicibus, et sociati angelis gaudent
in ccelestibus:.1 contemptis transitoriis inhiabant perennibus, et
I abhorrentes carnalia salubriter fruebantur spiritualibus. Per
ii. 2 arduum iter uirtutum uestigia Saluatoris prosecuti sunt:' et salu-
tare nobis exemplum reliquerunt, ut sequaces eorum per iusticire
semitam ad perennem hrereditatem f estinemus:' ad quod opus
peccatis prementibus [ ] et imbecilles sumus. Semper
i tamen debemus [ perti]naciter niti, ut ipsos [et
I
i ] et post eos curramus, quatinus illorum
I
I
m[ ] quandoque bcatis adiungi collegiis dante Deo
possumus. De qui bus itaque amicis Dei dominis [m ede
] libenter locutus sum:' de quibus meditari siue loqui
fideliter iocundum est animre et commodum, de interioribus mor-
bis salubre remedium. N unc autem a magistris aliud michi opus
iniungitur, et de Normannicis euentibus materia porrigitur, quon-
iam ipsi de Dacia prodeuntes non litteris sed armis studuerunt,
et usque ad Guillelmi nothi, tempora magis bellare quam legere
uel dictare laborauerunt. Bellicos siquidem actus trium ducum
Duclo Vermendensis decanus 1 eloquenter enarrauit, affiuensque
multiplicibus uerbis et metris panigiricum super illis edidit, et
ii. 3 Ricardo Gunnoridre gratiam eius captans transmisit. Quern
Guill elm us cognomento Calculus 2 Gemmeticcnsis cenobita secutus
a Book III begins on the verso off. 1. The Preface and its rubric were added
later than the main text, on the vacant recto, and slightly compressed in the
vacant space at the top off. Iv. By the time the rubric was written the plan of
the work was complete, and the tercius is not a correction.
1
See Duclo of St. Quentin, De moribus et actis primorum Normanniae
ducum, ed. J. Lair (Mero. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxiii, Caen, 1865).
Here begins the third book of the Ecclesiastical History
duty: for we can never define his ineffable power and greatness,
and have no words to describe his perfection and infinite mercy.
The books of the Old and New Testament treat of this; all men of
wisdom study and meditate upon it, yet no man can plumb the
infinite depths of the wisdom of God. The knowledge of the love
of Christ surpasses all human wisdom; and to contemplate it and
strive with all our might to follow it is very right and abounding
in salvation. For this the saints whose praise is sung in authentic
writings, now joined with the angels, give thanks in heaven:
spurning transitory things they formerly gave their minds to
things eternal, and abandoned the pleasures of the flesh for the
more real joys of the spirit. They followed the footsteps of the
Saviour along the difficult road of virtue, and left a salutary example
for us, so that we might hasten after them along the narrow path
of righteousness to our eternal home: a task for which the burden
of our sins makes us weak [and unwilling]. Yet we must always,
[so far as in us lies,] strive patiently to follow after them, so that
by their m[erits and the grace of God] we may be joined with the
company of the blessed. I have gladly spoken of some of these
friends of God [at the command of] my superiors, for to meditate
on them or write about them is goodly and pleasing to the soul,
and a sound remedy for spiritual troubles. But now another task
is laid on me by my masters, and the subject offered me is the
deeds of the Normans, who issuing from Denmark were more
addicted to the pursuit of arms than of learning, and up to the
time of William the Bastard devoted themselves to war rather than
reading or writing books. Duclo, dean of St. Quentin, 1 has elo-
quently described the warlike deeds of the first three dukes,
composing a panegyric full of verbal flourishes and varied metres,
which he offered to Richard son of Gunnar to win his favour. This
work was next skilfully abbreviated by William called Calculus, 2
2
William of Jumieges, Gesta Normannorum Ducum, ed. J. Marx (Societe de
l'Histoire de Normandie, 1914).
 4 BOOK III
eleganter adbreuiauit, et de quatuor ducibus qui successerunt
breuiter et diserte res propalauit.
ii. 4 Opus in primis arripiam de uinea Domini sabaoth! quam
ipse forti dextera colit et protegit in toto mundo contra insidias
Behemoth. 1 Hrec nimirum in regione qure olim N eustria, nunc
uero uocatur N ormannia.1 2 laborantibus colonis sparsim suas
propagines emisit, et multiplicem fructum hominum in sancti-
tate permanentium Deo obtulit. Multa enim a bonis cultoribus
crenobia ibidem constructa sunU ubi rami ipsius uitis id est boni
Christiani semetipsos contradiderunt, ut tutius contra insidias
spiritualium hostium fine tenus decertarent. Nam beatus prre-
sul Audoenus qui multa probitate tam sreculari quam spirituali
tempore Dagoberti regis Francorum et Lodouei filii eius floruit!
unum crenobium sanctimonialium Fiscanni condidit et aliud
monachorum Rotomagi, ubi ipse anno dominicre incarnationis
[DCL]axxvm 0 tumulatus requieuit,3 ibique per annos CLXV usque-
ii. s quo N ormanni Rotomagum deuastarent iacuit. In die bus prrefati
pontificis, sanctus Wandregisilus ingens monachorum agmen
Fontinellre adunauit, et beatus Philibertus fortis signifer insignis
aciei apud Gemmeticum emicuit. Prrecedenti quoque tempore,
hoc est dum Hilpericus et Childebertus nepos eius Francis
imperabant, et regali auctoritate insontes a peruersis defensabant..i
Baiocensis Ebrulfus in Vticensi saltu angelica demonstratione
doctus monasterium instaurauit, 4 et agrestes incolas qui rapinis
et latrociniis ante deseruierant correxit, et doctrinre pabulo ac
miraculorum exhibitione ad melioris uitre uiam prouocauit. Sic
Dominus aliis eciam in locis per bonos agricolas uineam suam
propagauit, et salutis sue dulcedinem Gallorum cordibus ubertim
infudit.
Postquam regnum Francorum fauente Deo ualde super uicinas
gentes sublimatum est, et frequentibus triumphis regum suorum
Pipini Karolique Magni et Ludouici Pii dilatatum est..i nimia
cupiditas et superbia atque libido proceres et mediocres infimosque
a Hole in MS.; DCL supplied from Bib!. Nat., MS. Lat. 5122.
1 The metaphor of the Lord's vine (Isaiah v. 2, etc.), a very popular one, is
also used by William of Jumieges in Book I, ch. i. Orderic uses his work as
a source for this section, as well as the Annals of St. Evroul (printed Delisle,
in Le Prevost, v. 139-73).
2
Neustria was in fact more extensive than Normandy; but the identification
of the two was common in Norman writers of this time.
J These dates, 678 for the death of St. Ouen and 843 for his translation, are
probably taken from the Annals of St. Evroul. These give the dates 677 and
L L
BOOK III s
a monk of Jumieges, who published a succinct and lucid account
of the four dukes who were next in succession.
My first task is to tell of the vine of the Lord of Hosts, which his
strong right-hand tends and preserves throughout the world
against the wiles of Behemoth. 1 For when husbandmen had
ploughed the fields in the region once called N eustria and now
Normandy2 the vine put forth shoots here and there, and bore to
God an abundant harvest of men dwelling in holiness. In this
region many monasteries were founded by faithful labourers, and
there true Christians who are the branches of this vine dedicated
themselves to seek salvation in the lifelong struggle against the
wiles of spiritual foes. The holy bishop St. Ouen, who in the days
of Dagobert king of the Franks and Clovis his son was renowned
for integrity in both temporal and spiritual affairs, founded one
cell for nuns at Fecamp and another for monks at Rouen; here
his bones were brought to rest in the year of Our Lord 678,3 and
here they remained for a hundred and sixty-five years until the
northmen sacked Rouen. In his time too St. Wandrille brought
together a great army of monks at Fontenelle, and St. Philibert
won fame as the gallant standard-bearer of a famous spiritual
legion at Jumieges. Before this time, whilst Chilperic and his
nephew Childebert reigned over the Franks and used their royal
power to protect the innocent from the unrighteous, Evroul of
Bayeux founded a monastery in the forest of Ouche at a spot
shown him by an angel ;4 here he tamed the barbarous natives who
up to then had lived by rapine and plunder, and by preaching the
gospel and performing miracles brought them to a better way of
life. And in other places too the Lord planted his vine with the help
of faithful husbandmen, till the hearts of the Gauls overflowed
with the sweetness of his salvation.
But though the kingdom of the Franks was at first by the grace
of God exalted over its neighbours, and enlarged through the
many victories of its kings, Pippin, Charlemagne, and Louis the
Pious, later the sins of greed, pride, and lust filled the hearts of
842 (Le Prevost, v. 149, 153), but an error of one year was easily made in reading
the crowded entries of monastic annals. The correct date of St. Ouen's death is
c. 684 (LTK i. 1026).
4
Towards. the end of the seventh century (H. Wolter, Ordericus Vita/is,
P: 19). Ordenc makes use of the life of St. Evroul, which he copied into his
history later (Le Prevost, iii. 56).
 6 BOOK III
ii. 6 inuaserunt, et in nequitiarum laqueos prrecipitantes contra salu-
tis sure auctorem ne fideliter ei obredirent erexerunt. Prredictis
cladibus omnis ordo clericorum et laicorum impulsatus a pristi-
no robore corruit...1 mundique blandimentis succumbens omisso
splendore pristini rigoris elanguit, diuina autem pietas peccanti-
bus diu pepercit, multisque modis ad prenitentiam inuitauit. Re-
sipiscentibus autem a malicire laqueis ueniam clementer contuliu
sed perseuerantibus in nequitiis iracundire sure flagellum intulit.
Tempore Karoli regis Francorum qui Simplex 1 agnominatus
est..; Brier cognomento Costa Ferrea filius Lotbroci regis Danorum 2
cum Hastingo nutricio suo et ingenti iuuenum multitudine ad
depopulandas gentes de uagina sua egressus est.3 Ex insperato
de mari quasi turbo uehemens in Galliam intrauit.,,1 et oppida
urbesque cum sanctorum crenobiis repente concremauit, et per
triginta annos super Christianos cum suis complicibus insatiabiliter
furuit. Tune Rotomagus et N ouiomum Turonisque et Pictauis
ii. 7 alireque prn:cipure urbes combustre sunt. Inermes populi occi-
duntur, monachi et clerici disperguntur, et sanctorum corpora
aut in suis tumulis iam destructis edibus absque cultu relinquun-
tur, aut a piis cultoribus ad peregrina loca deuehuntur. Sed
dispensante diuinre pietatis arbitrio, ex eadem gente uncle uenit
N eustrire desolatio ...1 inde nimirum non multo post processit con-
solatio. Nam completis fere xxxta annis post cladem Hastingi...14
Rollo dux cum ualida Danorum iuuentute N eustriam ingressus
est, et Gallos diuturnis inuasionibus uehementer atterere nisus est.
Nam conserto cum Gallis prrelio, Rolland um signiferum eorum
occidit, et Rainaldum Aurelianensium ducem cum exercitu
Francorum hello uictum fugauit. Parisiorum urbem quatuor annis
obsedit, sed earn impediente Deo non obtinuit. Baiocas expugnauit
et cepit, et Berengarium comitem eius interemit, Popamque filiam
eius in coniugium accepit, ex qua Willelmum cognomento
Longam Spatam procreauit. His aliisque innumeris conflictibus
ii. 8 Gallos protriuit, assiduisque rapinis et incendiis prene totam
Galliam usque in Burgundiam deuastauit. Tantos impetus Gallis
1Probably an error for Charles the Bald.
2
Orderic follows "William of Jumieges, who took his information from Duda,
in suggesting a Danish origin for the Norman leaders. See H. Prentout, Etude
critique sur Dudon de St. Quentin (Paris, 1916), pp. 44-46.
3 The very brief account of early Norman invasions is derived from William
of Jumieges, with a few statements from the Annals of St. Evroul. Although
Orderic omitted a great deal of legendary material he accepted much that was
untrue. The original Hasting is probably Hasting son of Thor-Wolf, who was
certainly not active in Normandy much before 859; in the early Norman writers
he assumed semi-legendary proportions. His companion Bjorn was certainly
not Bjorn Ironsides. For a criticism of sources and conflicting interpretations
BOOK III 7
all men from ~he highest to the lowest. They fell headlong into
the snares of vice, defied the author of their salvation, and refused
to hear his commands. Corruption spread till every order of clerks
and laymen declined from its early vigour, yielded to the tempta-
tions of the world, and languished with the brightness of its first
discipline tarnished, though divine grace long spared the sinners
and urged them to repentance in divers ways. Those who with-
drew from the snares of evil gained the forgiveness of God; but
all who hardened their hearts in their wickedness felt the scourge
of his wrath.
In the time of Charles the Simple, 1 king of the Franks, Bjorn
Ironsides, son of Lotbroc king of the Danes, 2 with Hasting his
tutor and a great host of young men issued from his lair to slaughter
and destroy. 3 Unexpectedly, like a violent storm, he burst upon
the coasts of Gaul, burning cities and towns and religious houses
without warning: and for thirty years he and his minions raged
insatia~l~ against the Christians. Then Rouen and N oyon, Tours
and Po1tters and other great cities were burned. The defenceless
populace was slaughtered, monks and clerks were scattered and
the bodies of the saints were either left unvenerated in their t~mbs
amongst the ruins or carried by faithful worshippers to remote
places. But by the grace of divine providence, from the selfsame
people who brought destruction to N eustria came, not long after-
ward.s, reparation. For, barely thirty years after the scourge of
Hastmg, 4 Rollo led a strong force of young Danes into N eustria
and strov~ with all ~is might to annihilate the Gauls, attacking
them agam and agam. In one battle with the Gauls he slew
Rol~nd, their standard-bearer, and defeated and put to flight
Regmald duke of Orleans and the Frankish army. For four years
he besieged Paris, though by God's grace he never took it. He
stormed and captured Bayeux, slew its count Berengar, and took
to wife his daughter Poppa who bore him a son, William Long-
sword. So in more conflicts than I can name he slowly crushed
the Gauls and laid waste most of the country, burning and
plundering as far as Burgundy. ·when the Gauls could endure
see H. Pr~ntout.' Et1!'de critique sur Dudon de St. Quentin, Johannes Steenstrup,
Normandzets Hzstorie (Copenhagen, 1925), and Vogel, Die Normannen und das
fr~nkische .Reich bis zur Griindung der Normandie (799-9n) (Heidelberg, 1906).
Ordenc probably follows the Annals of St. Evroul, which give 876 as the
date of Rollo's appearance in Normandy. His dating of all these events is vague
and sometimes inconsistent.
 p
8 BOOK III
non ferentibus, cunctisque communiter pro pace supplicantibus.J
Karolus rex Rolloni filiam suam nomine Gislam in matrimonium
dedit, totamque terram a flumine quod Epta uocatur usque ad
mare Oceanum imperpetuum possidendam concessit. 1
Anno itaque ab incarnatione Domini nccccxn° Rollo dux
a domno Francone Rotomagensium archiepiscopo baptizatus est:'
idolisque contemptis quibus antea deseruierat cum toto exercitu
suo deuote christianitatem suscepit.J completisque quinque annis
ex quo baptizatus est obiit. 2 Willelmus au tern filius eius qui post
eum xxv annis ducatum N ormannorum tenuit:1 Gemmeticense
monasterium quod sanctus Philibertus construxerat sed Hastingus
ii. 9 destruxerat in pristinum statum restituit. 3 Anno autem incarnationis
dominicre nccccxLII 0 4 regnante Ludouico rege Francorum, fraude
Arnulfi Flandrensis satrapre Willelmus dux occisus est: et Ricardus
1
filius eius qui tune decem annorum erat dux N ormannorum factus
est, et inter uarios euentus nunc prosperos nunc aduersos liv
annis ducatum fortiter adeptus est. Inter reliqua bona qure fecit,
tria crenobia construxit. Vnum Fiscanni in honore sanctre Trini-
tatis, aliud in monte Tumba in honore sancti Michrelis archangeli,
tertium Rotomagi in honore sancti Petri apostoli sanctique
Audoeni archiepiscopi.s
ii. 10 Deinde anno incarnationis dominicre nccccxcv1 defuncto
Ricardo seniore, Ricardus Gunnorides filius eius successit, et
ducatum N ormannire triginta annis religiose tenuit. 6 Hie uero
Fontinellense crenobium quod sanctus Wandregisilus redificauerat
sed Hastingus dissipauerat reredificauit.J7 et I udith uxor eius soror
Gaufredi Britonum comitis crenobium apud Berna1cums in honore
sanctre Dei genitricis Marice condidit.
Defuncto autem Ricardo Gunnoridre.J Ricardus iuuenis filius
1 The question of Rollo's marriage or betrothal to a daughter of King Charles,
which is mentioned only in Dudo and works derived from him, is still under
discussion. The original grant of land did not include the whole of Normandy,
but only the regions of Roumois, Caux, Talou, the Evrecin, and the Lieuvin.
Cf. Marx, p. 28 n. 1.
2 Orderic has misinterpreted a statement in Dudo, who said that Rollo died
five years after he had handed over authority to his son William (which he did
in 927), not five years after his baptism. See Lair, op. cit., p. 76.
3 The monastery of Jumieges was restored possibly in 940, possibly earlier.
See L. Musset, 'Les destins de la propriete monastique durant les invasions
normandes: l'exemple de Jumieges', in Jumieges, i. 52.
4 Orderic's statement that William Longsword had held the duchy for twenty-
five years before 942 is due to his erroneous dating of the death of Rollo in 917.
5 All three abbeys were restored during his reign: Le Prevost wrongly accused
BOOK III 9
no more, and all with one voice clamoured for peace, King Charles
gave his daughter Gisla to Rollo as his wife, and surrendered
to him in perpetuity all the land between the river Epte and
the sea. 1
Finally, in the year of Our Lord 912 Duke Rollo was baptized
by Franco, archbishop of Rauen; and renouncing the idols he had
hitherto worshipped accepted the Christian faith along with his
whole army. Five years after his baptism he died. 2 And William
his son, who held the duchy of Normandy for the next twenty-five
years, restored to its former greatness the abbey of Jumieges, 3
which St. Philibert had founded and Hasting had destroyed. In
the year of Our Lord 942,4 when Louis was king of the Franks,
Duke William was assassinated through the treachery of Arnulf
count of Flanders; and Richard his son, who was then ten years
old, became duke of Normandy. For fifty-four years, through good
and ill, he valiantly held the duchy. Among his good deeds was
the building of three monasteries: one at F ecamp in honour of
the Holy Trinity, another on Mont-St.-Michel in honour of St.
Michael the archangel, and the third at Rouen in honour of
St. Peter the apostle and St. Ouen the archbishop.s
After the elder Richard had died in the year of Our Lord 996,
Richard his son by Gunnor succeeded him and governed the duchy
piously for thirty years. 6 He restored the monastery of Fontenelle,7
which St. Wandrille had founded and Hasting had sacked; and
Judith his wife, sister of Geoffrey count of Brittany, founded
a monastery at Bernay8 to the honour of Mary, the mother of God.
After the death of Richard Gunnor's son, young Richard his son
Orderic of making the foundation of St. Ouen too early (Lemarignier, Exemp-
tion, p. 28 n. 8; p. 38 n. 39). Mont-St.-Michel was restored in 966, Fecamp in
990 (cf. Fauroux, pp. 22, 72-74; L. Musset, 'La contribution de Fecamp a la
reconquete monastique de la Basse-Normandie (990-1066)' in Fecamp, i. 57-66).
Often the process began with the restoration of temporalities, and a true monas-
tic revival came later. For the various stages see L. Musset, 'Les domaines
de l'epoque franque et les destinees du regime domanial du IXe au Xie siecle',
BSAN xlix (1942-5), 44·
6 Orderic's dates for the reigns of Richard I and Richard II, which corre-
spond with those in the Annals of St. Evroul, are now generally accepted. Cf.
Fauroux, p. 532 and passim.
7 The restoration of St. W andrille began in the reign of Richard I (Musset,
Fecamp, p. 44; Fauroux, no. 52); but Richard II certainly made an important
contribution to the restoration of property and the revival of religious life. Cf.
Fauroux, nos. 7, 30, 46, 55; no. 27 is a forged charter to St. Wandrille.
8 Judith gave her dowry for the foundation of the monastery of Bernay. Cf.
Richard II's charter of confirmation in 1025 (Fauroux, no. 35).
 IO BOOK III
eius successit, et uix anno uno et dimidio ducatu potitus obiit.
ii. n Deinde Rotbertus frater eius principatum Normannire suscepit,
et septem annis ac dimidio insigniter tenuit, 2 patrumque suorum
sequax Cerasiacensem abbatiam instaurare coepit.3 Timore uero
Dei compunctus terrenum honorem reliquit:1 et spontanea
peregrinatione arrepta sepulchrum Domini quod est in Ierusalem
adiit, et inde rediens apud Niceam urbem Bithinire anno ab
incarnatione Domini MXXXV obiit. Porro Willelmus filius eius qui
0
tune octo annorum erat ducatum N ormannorum suscepit, et
multorum insidiis emulorum impetitus Liil annis strenue tenuit. 4
I pse parentum suorum studia sequi erga Dei cultum sategit,
Deoque fauente diuitiis et potestate omnem patrum suorum
gloriam transcendit. Apud Cadomum duo crenobia construxit,
unum monachorum in honore sancti Stephani prothomartyris, et
ii. 12 aliud sanctimonialium in honore sanctre Trinitatis. Barones
N ormannire principum suorum tantum feruorem erga sanctam
religionem uidentes imitari affectarunt...1 et ad simile opus se suos-
que amicos pro salute animarum suarum excitarunt. Vnus alium
in bono opere festinabat prreire..1 elemosinarumque largitate
digniter superare. Quisque potentum se derisione <lignum iudi-
cabat:' si clericos aut monachos in sua possessione ad Dei militiam
rebus necessariis non sustentabat.
Igitur Rogerius de Toenio crenobium Castellionisa construxit,s
ubi Gislbertus abbas uir magnre honestatis et sapientire laudabiliter
fl.omit. Goscelinus de Archis extra muros Rotomagi in monte
crenobium Sanctre Trinitatis fundauit, 6 cui uenerandus ab bas
ii. 13 Isembertus sapientia et religione pollens prrefuit. Willelmus
Aucensis comes instinctu religiosre coniugis sure Lezscelinre,
a prope Conchis added in a later hand.
1
Richard succeeded to the duchy on 26 August 1026 and died on 6 August
1027 (Fauroux, nos. 34, 59). Most Norman chroniclers say correctly that he
died before the end of his first year as duke (Annals of St. Evroul, p. 156;
William of Jumieges, ed. Marx, p. 100; Annals of Jumieges, ed. Laporte, p. 55).
But since he was associated with his father as duke during the year 1025-6
BOOK III I I
1
succeeded him, but died after holding the duchy for a bare year
and a half. 1 Next Robert his brother succeeded to the duchy of
Normandy, and governed it well for seven and a half years. 2
Following in the footsteps of his ancestors he began to endow an
abbey at Cerisy. 3 But the fear of God drove him to renounce
worldly honours, and voluntarily undertake a pilgrimage to the
tomb of Our Lord in Jerusalem; and he died on the way home at
Nicaea, a city of Bithynia, in the year of Our Lord 1035.
Next William his son, who was eight years old at the time, was
invested with the duchy of Normandy; and in spite of the plots
of his many enemies he ruled it indefatigably for fifty-three years.4
He strove to imitate the zeal of his ancestors for the Church of
God; and God granted him wealth and power to outshine them
all. At Caen he built two abbeys, one for monks in honour of St.
Stephen the first martyr, and the other for nuns in honour of the
Holy Trinity. The barons of Normandy were inspired by the piety
of their princes to do likewise, and encouraged each other to under-
take similar enterprises for the salvation of their souls. They vied
with each other in the good work, and competed in giving alms
generously as befitted their rank. Each magnate would have
thought himself beneath contempt if he had not supported clerks
and monks on his estates for the service of God.
So Roger of Tosny built the monastery of Conches, 5 where that
upright and prudent man, abbot Gilbert, lived a life of great merit.
Goscelin of Arques founded the abbey of the Holy Trinity on
a hill outside the walls of Rouen, 6 and there the venerable Isembert,
a man of remarkable wisdom and piety, became abbot. William
count of Eu was persuaded by his pious wife Lesseline to build
(Fauroux, nos. 34, 35, 36, 55) Orderic may have had some grounds for thinking
that his reign lasted about a year and a half.
2 Robert the Magnificent was in fact duke from 6 August 1027 to 2 July
1035, which is very nearly eight years.
3 Cerisy was founded by Duke Robert on 12 November 1032 (Fauroux,
no. 64).
4 William's reign from 2 July 1035 to 9 September 1087 was not quite a full
fifty-three years.
s Conches was founded c. 1035.
6 Gozelinus vicomte of Arques and Emmeline his wife founded the abbey of
La-Trinite-du-Mont, Rouen, c. 1030 (Fauroux, nos. 60, 61). According to
M. Fauroux, Isembert was blessed in 1031 and died 1 November 1051 (Fauroux,
p. 293 n. 2). There is, however, conflicting evidence from which R. Fawtier in
Analecta Bollandiana, xli (1923), 363-4 has argued that he was abbot from
1033 to 1054.
l
r---;
I
BOOK III
abbatiam sanctre Marire super riuulum Dime construxit:' cuius
regimen Ainardus Teutonicus uir sanctitate et litterarum scientia
prreditus diu tenuit. 1
Tempore Rotberti ducis Gislebertus comes Brionnire in pagum
Vimmacensem cum tribus armatorum millibusa expeditionem
fecit:' sed ei iuxta desiderium suum prospere non contigit. Nam
Ingelrannus Pontiui comes cum ualida manu obuius ei fuit:' com-
missoque certamine uictum cum suis in fugam coegit, et ex
fugientibus multos cepitb uel occidit:' uel uulneribus debilitauit.
Tune ibi quidam miles nomine Herluinus periculum metuens,
totoque nisu pro salute sua fugiens:' Deo deuouit quod si de
imminenti periculo sospes euaderet, nulli ulterius nisi Deo soli
militaret. Dei nutu discrimen honorifice euasit, uotique sui memor
sreculum reliquit, et in patrimonio suo in loco qui Beccus dicitur
ii. 14 crenobium sanctre Dei genitrici Marire condidit. 2 Pastores autem
sanctre Dei ecclesire prrefatum uirum pro nobilitate et religione
elegerunt:' nouoque monasterio quod inchoauerat prrefecerunt.
Cuius regiminis tempore Lanfrancus et Anselmus aliique pro-
fundi sophistre illuc ad scolam Christi conuenerunt, ibique
Willelmus Geroii filius et Hugo comes Mellenti aliique prreclari
milites militiam Christi assumpserunt. Ibi usque hodie multi
clericorum et laicorum sub monachili scemate uiuunt:' et contra
Zabulum dimicantes Deo laudabiliter seruiunt. Vnfridus de Vetulis
Turoldi filius, duo crenobia unum monachorum et aliud sancti-
monialium Pratellis inchoauit, qure Rogerius de Bellomonte filius
eius multum amauit, et de redditibus propriis gratanter ditauit.3
Willelmus Osberni filius duo monasteria in proprio fundo con-
struxit, unum Lirre et aliud Cormeliis ubi ipse humatus quiescit. 4
Alii etiam N ormannorum proceres quamplurimi prout poterant.J
monachorum seu monacharum domus in diuersis locis construe-
ii. 15 bant. Horum exemplis Hugo de Grentemaisnilio et Rotbertus
uehementer prouocati.J deuouerunt et ipsi ex possessionibus quas
a MS. milibus b MS. coepit
1 The formal foundation of the abbey of St. Pierre-sur-Dive took place in
1046 or 1047, after the death of William count of Eu. He may have assisted his
wife Lesseline in the first stages of the foundation. Robert of Torigni states that
the abbey was founded by Lesseline with the assistance of her sons. Ainard was
abbot from 1046 or 1047 until his death in 1078. See Fauroux, p. 27 n. 35;
Douglas, 'The earliest Norman counts' in EHR lxi (1946), 135-7; Marx, p. 253;
GC xi. 153-4.
2 Orderic's account of Herluin's conversion differs from the accounts in the
Vita Herluini of Gilbert Crispin and the Altera Vita Herluini. See Poree, i. 30-
33. Herluin established a small monastic community at Bonneville in 1034; it
L
BOOK III 13
the abbey of St. Mary on the little river Dive, and it was long
governed by the German Ainard,. a holy and learne? man: 1
In the time of Duke Robert Gilbert count of Bnonne mvaded
the canton of Le Vimeu with three thousand armed men, but the
expedition turned out badly for him. For Enguerrand count of
Ponthieu opposed him with a strong force, defeated him in
a pitched battle, and put his men to flight with heavy. losse~ in
killed, maimed, and captured. It was there that a certam kmght
named Herluin, fleeing in terror and fearing for his life, vowed to
God that if he escaped alive from such dire peril he would never
fight again, save for God alone. By God's will he came unscathed
through all perils; and, mindful of his vow, he abandoned the
world and built a cell to the honour of the blessed Mary, Mother
of God, on his family estate in a place called Bee. 2 The leaders of
God's holy Church, recognizing his high birth and piety, made
him abbot of the new monastery which he had founded. During
his abbacy Lanfranc and Anselm and many other profoundly
learned scholars came there to the school of Christ; and there
William son of Giroie and Hugh count of Meulan and other
renowned knights put on the armour of Christ. There many clerks
and laymen have lived and still live under the monastic rule,
fighting against the devil and working for the glory of God.
Humphrey of Vieilles, son of Turold, began to build two monas-
teries at Preaux, one for monks and the other for nuns; and his
son Roger of Beaumont, who greatly loved these houses, endowed
them lavishly out of his revenues. 3 William fitzOsbern built two
monasteries on his own estates, one at Lyre and the other at
Cormeilles,4 where his bones lie buried. And many other Norman
lords founded monasteries and nunneries in various places
according to their means. Fired by their example Hugh and Robert
of Grandmesnil vowed that they too would endow a monastery
was transferred to Bee, where he had a small property and bought other land
c. 1039. Poree, i. 38-43.
J Humphrey of Vieilles founded the monastery of St. Peter of Preaux
c. 1034-5 (Fauroux, nos. 88, 89). The foundation of the nunnery of St. Leger
of Preaux was a little later, probably before 1050, the likely date of Humphrey's
death (Fauroux, no. 149), though Robert of Torigni (R. Tor. i. 48) puts it in
1054. Orderic's statement in his interpolations in William of Jumieges (Marx,
p. 159) that Roger of Beaumont built a monastery at Preaux does not necessarily
contradict this, as it may refer to the later stages of construction.
• William fitzOsbern founded the abbey of Lyre c. 1046 (Fauroux, no. 120)
and Cormeilles c. 1060 (cf. Marx, p. 180).
 14 BOOK III
iure hrereditario possidebant, pro salute sua et pro salute arn-
marum antecessorum suorum crenobium construere. 1
Igitur cum apud Nuceretum uillam suam prope Grentemaisni-
lium redificare crenobium statuissent, iam iamque operi insiste-
rent..1 ad aures Willelmi filii Geroii auunculi sui peruenit, quod
nepotes sui Hugo et Rotbertus crenobium redificare coepissent.
Hie nimirum in sreculo miles fuerat magnre sublimitatis, hostibus
terribilis.1 et amicis fidelis. Filios et fratres multosque nepotes
habuit in armis potentes.J hostibusque uicinis seu longe positis
ualde feroces. Hunc Willelmus cognomento Talauacius 2 Willelmi
Belesmensis filius ad nuptias suas inuitauit..1 eumque nil mali
suspicantem sine reatu oculis priuauit, amputatisque genitalibus
auriumque summitatibus crudeliter deturpauit. V nde pro tanto
facinore perosus cunctis factus est..1 et post aliquot temporis a filio
etiam suo nomine Arnulfo de toto ho no re suo eiectus est. 3
ii. 16 Geroianus Willelmus omni uita sua recclesiam Dei dilexit..i et
monachos ac clericos aliosque religiosos homines honorauit. Bis
in Ierusalem sepulchrum Domini expetiit. Semel dum incolumis
erat et prosperitate prreditus."' iterumque post infortunium quod
ei euenisse retulimus. Post reditum secundre peregrinationis
sreculum reliquit ..i et Beccum expetens monachilem habitum ibidem
assumpsit, et Vticensem recclesiam sancti Petri eidem loco deuote
tradidit. ltaque Herluinus abbas Lanfrancum monachum qui
postea Cantuariorum archiepiscopus extitit, cum tribus monachis
Vticum direxit, et per eos seruitium Dei quod deciderat inibi
restaurari fecit. Tune locus ipse desertus erat, et succrescens edera
maceriam recclesire cooperiebat. Duo soli senes clerici Restoldus
et Ingrannus ibidem morabantur."' et in tanta heremo sub paupere
uita Deo pro posse suo famulabantur.
Post aliquot temporis, Willelmus ubi uota nepotum suorum de
construenda ut prrediximus abbatia comperit..1 accessit ad eos et
dixit, 'Gaudeo ualde karissimi mei quod Deus omnipotens cordi
uestro inspirare dignatus est."' ut in ipsius nomine domum fabri-
cetis. Sed uidetis quia locus iste ubi coepistis redificare habitationi
monachorum aptus non est.J quia ibidem aqua deest, et nemus
ii. 17 longe est. Certum est quod absque istis duobus elementis, monachi
esse non possunt. Sed si meis consiliis adquiescere uolueritis.1
aptiorem locum intimabo uobis. Est locus in Vticensi pago, ubi
quondam amicus Dei beatus Ebrulfus abbas habitauit, ibique
1
For the history of the founders of St. Evroul cf. Orderic's interpolations in
William of Jumieges (Marx, pp. 161-4). See family tree below, facing end page.
2
For William 'Talvas' see G. H. White, 'The lords of Belleme and Alern;:on'
in Notes & Queries, clii (1927), 435-8.
J Cf. Appendix I.
L
BOOK III 15
out of their hereditary estates, for the salvation of their souls and
the souls of their ancestors. 1
When they had resolved to build a monastery at N orrey, a manor
of theirs near Grandmesnil, and had made some little progress with
the work, word reached their uncle, William son of Giroie, that
his nephews Hugh and Robert had set to work to build a monastery.
This man, whilst he fought in the battles of the world, had been
a knight of great renown, formidable to his enemies and faithful
to his friends. His sons and brothers and many nephews were
redoubtable warriors, who struck terror into the hearts of their
enemies far and near. William called Talvas, 2 son of William of
Belleme, had invited him to his wedding feast; and when he came
suspecting no treachery Talvas had unjustly and cruelly mutilated
him, by blinding and emasculating him and cropping his ears.
Because of this outrage Talvas became an object of universal
hatred and some time later was expelled from his fiefs by his own
son Arnold. 3
William son of Giroie loved the church of God all his life long,
and showed respect to monks and clerks and other men of reli-
gion. He had twice been on pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre at
Jerusalem; once in the days of his prosperity and again after the
shameful assault which I have just described. On his return from
the second pilgrimage he renounced the world and took monastic
vows at the abbey of Bee, which he piously endowed with the
church of St. Peter of Ouche. So Abbot Herluin sent Lanfranc,
who later became archbishop of Canterbury, with three monks to
the church of Ouche to restore the service of God which had fallen
into decay. The place was then deserted, and a thick growth of ivy
covered the outer wall of the church. Two aged clerks, Restold
and Ingran, alone remained there, serving God in humble poverty,
as best they might in this wilderness.
Some time afterwards, when William learned, as I have related,
of his nephews' vows to build an abbey, he sought them out and
said: 'I am overjoyed, my dear kinsmen, that almighty God has
moved your hearts to build a house in his name. But as you see
the place where you have begun to build is quite unsuitable for
a monastery, because there is no water or wood within a reasonable
distance. Monks cannot live without these two necessities. If you
will listen to my advice, I will tell you of a better place. In the forest
of Ouche there is a place where formerly a true friend of Christ,

16 BOOK III
magnum gregem monachorum aggregauit, et inde post multorum
perpetrationem miraculorum ad Christum feliciter migrauit. 1 Illius
ergo crenobium ibi restaurate quod destructum est a paganis:
ibique nimiam aqure copiam inuenietis. Nemus eidem loco con-
tiguum habeo: unde ad omnia necessaria recclesire sufficienter
1
administrabo. Venite, et locum uidete. Et si uobis placuerit! Deo
ibi domum communiter redificemus, hominesque fideles qui pro
nobis pie intercedant aggregemus, et de nostris possessionibus
iustisque redditibus tantum eis demus, ut libere semper possint
uacare diuinis laudibus.' His auditis! Hugo et Rotbertus consi-
lium eius laudauerunt, et prredictum locum perlustrare cum
eo uenerunt. Venientibus illis:' libellus uitre sancti patris Ebrulfi
Rotberto oblatus est. Quam diligenter legit.J et Hugoni aliisque
sociis suis prudenter exposuit. Quid multa? Vticensis locus placuit
ambobus fratribus. Sed quia idem locus crenobio Beccensi iam
delegatus fuerat, aliquantique monachi ex eodem crenobio ut iam
diximus illic conuersabantur:' abbati Herluino et monachis Becci
in mutua uicissitudine uillam qure dicitur Rosseria 2 dederunt,
sicque prredictum locum liberum reddiderunt.
ii. 18 Anno ab incarnatione Domini millesimo quinquagesimo in-
dictione quarta firmato consilio de restaurando apud Vticum
crenobio.J Willelmus et Rotbertus filii Geroii, et Hugo ac Rotbertus
filii Rotberti de Grentemaisnilio Willelmum ducem Norman-
norum adierunt, suamque uoluntatem illi reseruauerunt, atque ut
principali auctoritate ad opus salubre sibi auxiliaretur postu-
lauerunt. Locum etiam srepe nominatum communi consensu ita
liberum tradiderunt eius tutelre, ut nee sibi nee aliis quibuslibet
aliquam consuetudinem seu redditum prreter beneficia orationum
aliquando a monachis liceret uel hominibus eorum exigere. Dux
autem bonre uoluntati eorum gratanter adquieuit! et testamentum
de rebus quas optimates sui sancto Ebrulfo dabant confirmauit, et
Malgerio Rotomagensi archiepiscopo suffraganeisque episcopis
subscriptionibus suis corroborandum tradidit.3 Deinde Hugo et
Rotbertus a duce accepta licentia eligendi abbatem Gemmeti-
cum expetierunt! et a domno Rotberto eiusdem recclesire abbate
Teodericum monachum ad abbatire sure regimen requisierunt.
Abbas uero iustre petitioni nobilium uirorum libenter fauit! et
monachum quern ad pastoralem curam idoneum nouerat illis con-
cessit. Illi autem gaudentes eum duci prresentauerunt. At ille
1 St. Evroul died 29 December 706 (LTK iii. 636). Very little is known of the
community he established. In 900 the church was occupied by a community of
canons. See M. Philippe Lauer, Recueil des Actes de Charles III le Simple, roi
de France (893-923) (Paris, 1949), no. xxxv, pp. 74-76.
F
BOOK III 17
the blessed abbot Evroul, lived and gathered about him a great
flock of monks; whence after performing many miracles he passed
1
to eternal joys with Christ. 1 Why not restore this monastery of his
which was destroyed by pagans ? You will find abundance of water
there, and I have a wood near by from which I will supply every-
thing you need for the church. Come and see the place. If you
agree, we will combine our resources to build a church, fill it with
holy men who will make continual intercession for us, and endow
it so liberally with our lands and revenues that they will be able
to devote their whole lives to the worship of God.'
Hugh and Robert heartily approved his advice, and went with
him to survey the place. When they had come there a book con-
taining the life of St. Evroul was given to Robert. He read it
through, and expounded its contents to Hugh and his other
companions. What more need I say? The site in the forest of
Ouche satisfied both the brothers. But since the place had already
been assigned to the monastery of Bee, and some monks of that
house were dwelling there, they agreed on an exchange, and gave
the neighbouring manor of La Roussiere 2 to Herluin and the
monks of Bee, who renounced all claims to the site.
In the year of Our Lord IO 50, the fourth Indiction, after
deciding to restore the monastery at Ouche, William and Robert,
the sons of Giroie, and Hugh and Robert, the sons of Robert of
Grandmesnil, sought out William duke of Normandy and revealed
their intentions to him, asking him to give his princely support to
so worthy an undertaking. By common consent they gave the
chosen site into his protection, free and quit from all customs and
dues which anyone might try to exact from the monks or their
men, saving only prayers. The duke gladly approved their good
intention, and confirmed the charter of gifts which his magnates
were giving to St. Evroul, passing it on to Mauger, archbishop of
Rauen, and his suffragans for corroboration with their subscrip-
tions. 3 When Hugh and Robert had obtained ducal permission
to choose an abbot they visited Jumieges and asked Abbot Robert
to let them have his monk Thierry as the first head of their house.
The abbot was very willing to grant so reasonable a request from
men of rank, and let his monk, whom he knew to be worthy
to undertake cure of souls, go with them. Well-pleased, they
2
Cf. Fauroux, p. 32.
3 Cf. the charter of Duke William: Fauroux, no. 122; Le Prevost, v. 173-8.
82220i c
 F
18 BOOK III
ueneratione congrua eum suscepit:' datoque baculo pastorali sicut
moris est 1 Vticensi recclesire prrefecit. Deinde Luxouiensis epi-
ii. 19 scopus Hugo cum Osberno archidiacono aliisque clericis suis
Vticum perrexit, et uenerabilem Teodericum crenobitam secum
honorifice duxit, eumque ibi iii 0 nonas octobris die Dominico 2
uenerabiliter consecrauit. Ordinatus autem non in superbiam
elatus est:'3 sed religionis uiam uerbis et operibus ostendebat his
quibus prrelatus est. Hie nimirum ab infantia in domo Domini
nutritus fuerat.J diutinoque sedimine religiosam uitam iugiter
ducere didicerat. In sanctis orationibus atque uigiliis, necnon in
abstinentia assiduus erat. Frigoribus etiam in tantum corpus
proprium affiigebat:' ut per totam aliquando hyemem sine pellicia
permaneret. Quadam itaque die dum secundum morem sibi
consuetum sacrificium Deo offerre uoluisset.J pelliciam miri
candoris super altare positam inuenit. Quam non manibus homi-
num sed angelorum illic earn esse positam non dubitans.J Deo
gratias egit. Et indutus earn gratulanter sacrificium diuinum
peregit. Hoc ita gestum fuisse in Gemmeticensi recclesia dum
adhuc claustralis esset monachus.J a monachis ueracibus qui tune
I I
in supradicto monasterio morabantur audiuimus. Hunc uenera-
bilis Teodericus Gemmeticensis abbas4 de sacro fonte leuauerat,
et sub monachili iugo in scola Christi educatum multum dilexerat.
Quern dum idem ad uirile robur uenisset, bonisque moribus
laudabiliter polleret.J uicarium sui ad animarum lucra fratribus
ii. 20 constituit, atque ad infantum magisterium et ad curam claustralis
prioratus tuendam promouit. Deinde sicut supradictum est, idem
uir Domini tempore Rotberti abbatis de Gemmetico assumptus
est, et Vticensi nouellre abbatire prrelatus est:' anno ab incarnatione
Dominica millesimo L 0 indictione rva qui erat annus xrxus Henrici
regis Francorum, et xvus ducatus Willelmi ducis Normannorum.
Ad constructionem uero noure domus Rodulfum nepotem suum
et Hugonem cantorem, aliosque idoneos fratres permissu abbatis
sui de Gemmetico secum adduxit. Cum quibus et per quos
regularem obseruantiam et modestum rigorem aptamque seriem
in diuino cultu feruenter erexit. Diuersre autem retatis et quali-
tatis ad conuersionem uenientes suscepit.J et secundum regulam
sancti patris Benedicti diligenter instituit. Nam ipse in primis
1 Lay investiture was certainly the custom in 1050, but was contrary to canon
law by the time of Orderic. His us~ of the present tense may possibly indicate
that the custom died slowly.
2 In fact 5 October did not fall on a Sunday in any year between 1046 and
1057.
J Cf. RSB, cap. !xii. Evidently Thierry was ordained priest and blessed as
abbot at the same time.
1
BOOK III 19
presented him to the duke, who received 1:.im with due reverence
and invested him with the church of St. Evroul by handing him
the pastoral staff as the custom is. 1 Afterwards Hugh, bishop of
Lisieux, with Osbern the archdeacon and other clerks, brought the
good monk Thierry in solemn state to St. Evroul and reverently
blessed him there on Sunday, 5 October. 2 He did not regard his
ordination as a matter for vain glory, 3 but both in word and deed
set an example of true religion to the monks under him. Brought
up, indeed, from childhood in the house of God, he had learned
to lead a life of continual devotion, and never failed in his prayers,
fasts, and vigils. He forced his body to endure extreme rigours of
cold by sometimes going through the whole winter without
a cloak. One day when he was going to offer up the sacrifice of the
Mass as he always did, he found a cloak of dazzling whiteness laid
upon the altar. Rendering thanks to God, since he realized that the
hands not of men but of angels must have laid it there, he grate-
fully clad himself in it and completed the divine office. This
happened in the church of J umieges when he was a cloister monk
there, and I learned of it from fellow monks of his whose word can
be trusted. Thierry, the reverend abbot of Jumieges,4 who loved
him dearly, had stood godfather to him and brought him up under
the monastic rule in the school of Christ. When he had grown to
manhood and excelled in every virtue, Abbot Thierry gave him
charge of the brethren's spiritual welfare in his place, and pro-
moted him to be master of the oblates and claustral prior. After-
wards as I have related this servant of God was translated from
Jumieges in the time of Abbot Robert, and made abbot of the new
monastery of St. Evroul. This was in the year of Our Lord IO 50,
the fourth Indiction, which was the nineteenth year of Henry
king of the Franks and the fifteenth of William duke of Normandy.
He obtained permission from his abbot to bring with him his
nephew Ralph, Hugh the cantor, and other chosen brethren to
help in building up the new community. With their aid, by working
devotedly, he established regular life, moderate but firm discipline,
and a well-ordered liturgy. He received men of all ages and ranks
into the monastery, and patiently taught them to live under the
rule of St. Benedict. Among the first whom he taught a better
4 Thierry was a pupil of William of Dijon, and abbot of Jumieges from 1017
to c. 1027 (Dom J. Laporte, 'Les listes ahbatiales de Jumieges', in Jumieges,
i. 445, 457).
I
lj
20 BOOK III
Gunfridum et Rainaldum, et Fulconem filium Fulconis decani
aliosque nonnullos gramaticre artis peritos in scola Christi emen-
dationem uitre humiliter docuit. Riculfum quoque senem et
Rogerium rusticos presbyteros, et Durandum ortolanum, et Gois-
fredum atque Olricum aliosque simplices discipulos benigniter
tractauit. Et quia profunda Scripturarum sintagmata percipere
nequibant.J lacte pii hortatus dulciter pauit, et sanctis actibus
ostensis in fide et religione salubriter corroborauit. Ipse etiam
Herbertum et Berengarium, Goscelinum et Rodulfum, Gisle-
bertum et Bernardum, Ricardum et Willelmum aliosque plures
bonre indolis pueros diligenter instruxit in domo Domini ad bene
legendum.J ad canendum, ad scribendum, et ad alia bona studia
ii. 21 quae semis Dei ueram theoriam qurerentibus competunt uigilanter
exercendum. Porro agrestes incolre ubi tantre sanctitatis studium
in rure sterili olimque diu deserto uiderunt.J admirari coeperunt.
Et inde quidam salutem, nonnulli uero detrimentum sibi sum-
pserunt. Nam quidam eorum conuersationem uidentes eos imitati
sunt:' et alii inuidentes diuersis molestiis insecuti sunt.J utrique
uero debitam mercedem equissimo iudice Deo reddente adepti
sunt. N obiles et mediocres inspirante Deo illuc confluebant, et
orationibus seruorum Dei sese cum deuotione commendabant.J
exhibitisque caritatis muneribus, Deum qui famulos suos in
infructuoso cespite pascebat benedicebant.
Meritis itaque sancti patris Ebrulfi Vticensi recclesia surgente,
et per studium laboremque Geroianorum ad honorem Dei undi-
que crescente.J Rogerius de Montegomeri Oximensis uicecomes
contribulibus suis coepit inuidere, quod eo plus feruerent in Dei
amore, et omnino definiuit intra se quod pro salute animre sure
faceret opus consimile. Vnde asciuit Gislebertum Castellionis
abbatem cum monachis suis, qui monachilem apud Nuceretum
ordinem tenere inchoauerant, sed mutato consilio Hugonis et
Rotberti sicut supra retulimus eorum uelle sequi noluerant,
immo pro immutatione constructionis eos leuitatis arguentes
reliquerant. Quos prrefatus Rogerius accersiit, eisque ad redifi-
ii. 22 candum abbatiam Troarnum tradidit, 1 et inde xii canonicos quos
Rogerius pater suus 2 ibidem constituerat eiecit. Expulsis autem
clericis quia gulre et libidini aliisque carnis uoluptatibus deser-
uierant et srecularibus emolumentis.J collocauit ibidem mona-
chos regularibus imbutos disciplinis. Porro monachi iussu patris
1 The foundation of the abbey of Troarn must have been begun in or soon
after 1050; the church was dedicated in 1059 (R.-N. Sauvage, L'abbaye de Saint-
Martin de Troarn, pp. 4-14; Fauroux, no. 144).
l
BOOK III :21
way of life through humility in the school of Christ were Gunfrid
and Reginald, Fulk the son of Fulk the dean, and other learned
grammarians. But Riculf, an old man, and Roger, who were
country priests, Durand the gardener, Geoffrey, and Olric and
other simple converts were treated with more indulgence. Know-
ing that they could not understand the more profound books of the
Scriptures, he sustained them with colloquies within their grasp,
and strengthened their faith and discipline by the example of
his own holy life. He himself instructed Herbert and Berengar,
Goscelin and Ralph, Gilbert and Bernard, Richard and William,
and many other boys of talent in the monastic school; and taught
them to excel in reading aloud, singing, writing, and all other
studies necessary for the servants of God who seek true knowledge.
Soon the countryfolk around began to marvel that a school of such
piety had sprung up in a barren wilderness which had been
uninhabited for many years. This became a way of salvation for
some and perdition for others. For some imitated the holy living
of these men; others, filled with envy, sought to harm them in one
way or another, and each received his due reward, according to the
just judgement of God. Men of high and humble birth flocked
there by divine guidance, piously commended themselves to the
prayers of the servants of God and with charitable gifts, gave thanks
to the Lord who fed his servants in a barren land.
So the church of Ouche flourished to the glory of God through
the merits of St. Evroul and the toil and foresight of the sons of
Giroie; until Roger of Montgomery, vicomte of the Hiemois,
began to fear that his compatriots would surpass him in the love
of God, and made a private resolution to undertake a similar
foundation for the salvation of his soul. He sought out Gilbert
abbot of Conches and his monks, who had begun to follow the
monastic rule at Norrey and when Hugh and Robert changed their
plans (as I described) charged them with fickleness for abandoning
their original design and refused to accept their new enterprise.
To these men Roger entrusted the reform of the abbey of Troarn, 1
driving out the twelve canons whom his father Roger had estab-
lished there. 2 After expelling these clerks, who were wholly given
over to gluttony, carnal lusts, and worldly profit, he replaced them
with monks vowed to regular discipline. From that time monks
2
For the ancestors of Roger II of Montgomery see G. H. White, Genealogist,
N.s. xxxvii (1921), 60, 64.
 22 BOOK III
Gisleberti strictam religionis uiam in recclesia sancti Martini arri-
puerunt, et sequacibus suis seruandam usque ad mortem commi-
serunt...1 quam successores eorum sub eruditis patribus Gerberto,
Durando, et Arnulfo usque hodie laudabiliter tenere sategerunt.
De Geroio Ernaldi Grossi de Corte Sedaldi Abonii Britonis filii
filio cuius progenies Vticensibus multa beneficia contuliU libet
hie posteris breuiter intimare quis qualisue fuerit. 1 Hie ex magna
nobilitate Francorum et Britonum processit..1 miraque probitate
et audacia temporibus Hugonis Magni et Rotberti regum Fran-
corum nobiliter uiguit. Hildiardi uero sorori eius tres filii et
undecim filire fuerunt, qme honorabilibus uiris nuptre multos
filios pepererunt, qui succedenti tempore in Gallia et Anglia atque
Apulia hostibus in armis magno terrori fuerunt. Geroius inter
reliqua fortia opera qure fecit...1 cum Willelmo Belesmensi contra
ii. 23 Herbertum Cenomannensium comitem pugnauit. 2 Victo autem
Willelmo et fugiente cum suis Geroius stetit, bellumque donec
Herbertum cum omnibus suis in fugam cogeret uiriliter sustinuit...1
uictoriamque nactus usque hodie ab his qui norunt laudari pro-
meruit. Huie quidam Normannorum potens miles nomine Helgo
unicam filiam suam in matrimonium optulit, et Monasteriolum
ac Escalfoium totamque terram suam his duobus oppidis sub-
iacentem donauit. Ille uero Helgone paulo post defuncto totum
honorem eius possedit...1 et uirgo qure firmata ei fuerat immatura
morte prreuenta ante nuptias obiit. Deinde Willelmus Belesmensis
Geroium Rotomagum ad Ricard um ducem N ormannireJ adduxit...1
quern liberalis dux agnita uirtute eius honorauit, eique totam
terram Helgonis hrereditario iure concessit. Geroius autem inde
rediens Gislam Turstini de Basteburgo4 filiam in coniugio accepit...1
ex qua septem filios et quatuor filias genuit, quorum nomina sunt
hrec, Ernaldus, Willelmus, Fulcoius, Radulfus Malacorona, Rod-
bertus, Hugo, et Geroius, Heremburgis, Haduisa, Emma, Adelais.
Srepe nominatus heros quanquam prole et diuitiis amplisque
possessionibus in hoc mundo abundanter floruerit, Deum tamen
ii. 24 qui omnia prrestat fideliter amauit, et recclesiam eius cultumque
et ministros coluit. Sex in nomine Domini basilicas de propriis
1 The refoundation of St. Evroul belongs to the period in the second quarter
of the eleventh century when the lords of Belleme were trying to secure an
independent fief on the frontiers of Normandy and Maine; and their vassals,
Giroie and his sons, seem also to have aimed at building up a quasi-independent
patrimony by holding a balance between their two feudal lords, William of
Belleme and Geoffrey of Mayenne, vassal of the count of Maine. See M. Chibnall,
'Ecclesiastical patronage and the growth of feudal estates at the time of the
Norman Conquest', in Anna/es de Normandie, viii (1958), 103-8. Orderic's
account in his interpolations in William of Jumieges (Marx, pp. 161-4) is much
briefer.
l
BOOK III 23
under the authority of abbot Gilbert began to establish strict
religious life in the church of St. Martin; and their successors,
faithful to the charge committed to them, have carried on the
tradition of sound observance all their lives under the learned
abbots Gerbert, Durand, and Arnulf, and still do so today.
Now I must briefly tell who and what manner of man was this
Giroie, son of Arnold the Fat of Courceraut, son of Abbo the
Breton, whose descendants were such generous benefactors of St.
Evroul. 1 He was a member of one of the best families in France and
Brittany, and led a life of great courage and distinction whilst
Hugh the Great and Robert were kings of the Franks. His sister
Hildiard became the mother of three sons and eleven daughters;
they made good marriages and bore many sons who were destined
to become the scourge of their enemies in Gaul, England, and
Apulia. Amongst the many valiant deeds of Giroie was his combat
with William of Belleme against Herbert count of Maine. 2 When
William's forces were routed and put to flight Giroie stood firm
and held the field valiantly until Herbert and his men were driven
back, winning a victory that is still praised by all who know of
it. A powerful Norman knight named Heugon offered his only
daughter in marriage to Giroie, with Montreuil and Echauffour
and all the land dependent on them as her dower. When Heu-
gon died a little while afterwards Giroie entered into possession
of all his fiefs, but his betrothed died an untimely death before
the marriage. To legalize this William of Belleme took Giroie to
Richard duke of Normandy 3 at Rouen, and the generous duke,
recognizing his valour, received him favourably and granted him
all the land of Heugon by hereditary tenure. After his return
Giroie married Thurstan of Bastembourg's daughter Gisla,4 and
had by her seven sons and four daughters, namely, Arnold,
William, Fulk, Ralph 'Ill-tonsured', Robert, Hugh, and Giroie;
Heremburge, Hawise, Emma, and Adela.
This renowned hero, amply blessed with children, riches, and
wide estates, never allowed his worldly wealth to smother his love
of God the giver of all things, but cherished his Church and the
servants ministering there. He built and endowed six churches to
2
This conflict was probably in or soon after 1020. See G. H. White, 'The
first house of Belleme', in TRHS xxii (1940), 77; Latouche, Maine, pp. 22-23.
3 Either Richard II or Richard III.
4
For Thurstan of Bastembourg and his descendants see D. C. Douglas, The
Domesday JMonachorum of Christ Church, Canterbury (London, 1944), pp. 65-67.
 24 BOOK III
facultatibus redificauit. Nam apud Vernucias construxit duas rec-
1
clesias, unum sanctre Dei genitrici Marire, aliamque sancto Paulo
doctori gentium. In uilla qure Gloz dicitur in pago Lexoui-
ensi terciam condidit, sancto Petro apostolorum principi. Apud
Escalfoium quartam Andrere apostolo. Apud Monasteriolum 2
quintam fabricauit sancto Georgio martyri. Apud Altam Ripam
sextam instaurauit sancto Martino confessori. Talibus patronis
subuenientibus et in hoc sreculo prredictus uir diu honorifice
uixit:' et defunctus eorum meritis ueniam peccaminum et beatam
requiem in societate fidelium ut credimus optinuit.
Defuncto autem Geroio, filii eius in puerili retate constituti
erant, solique duo Ernaldus et Willelmus milites erant. Gisle-
bertus ergo Brionnire comes in sua confidens uirtute:' terminosque
suos cupiens dilatare, super pupillos cum ualida manu audacter
irruit, eisque Monasteriolum auferre bellica ui uoluit. Illi autem
aggregata cognatorum et satellitum caterua in aperto campo
fortiter eidem restiterunt.J eumque multa strage peracta uictum in
fugam coegerunt, seseque ulciscentes burgum qui Sappus dicitur
ii. 25 non multo post ei uiolenter abstulerunt. Sed Rodbertus dux eos
reconciliauit, orphanisque compatiens et probitati eorum con-
gratulans, ut firma pax fieret Sappum eis a Gisleberto comite
consilio suo impetrauit. Porro idem comes quia post aliquot annos
prredictis septem Geroii filiis molestus fuit, eisque Sappum quern
illis consilio Rodberti ducis concesserat reauferre uoluit.J quam-
uis multa hominum stipatus multitudine fuerit, eorum audacia et
uiribus mortem suscepit.3
Omnes enim isti fratres fuerunt strenui et dapsiles, in militia
callidi et agiles.J hostibus terribiles, sociisque blandi et affabiles.
Diuersis euentibus creuerunt:' et nichilominus ut se habet humana
conditio deciderunt. Longum est et michi impossibile uarios
singulorum actus disserere.J sed de fine tantum uniuscuiusque libet
parumper posteris hie insinuare. Ernaldus qui primogenitus erat
uir fortis et probus, quadam die dum apud Monasteriolum
iocaretur, et cum quodam forti iuuene luctaretur, forte super
quoddam acutum scannum lapsus est:' confractisque tribus costis
ii. 26 post tres dies defunctus est. 4 Willelmus in ordine natiuitatis
1 See Le Prevost, Eure, iii. 348 f.
2 Ibid. ii. 421.
3 Count Gilbert of Brionne was assassinated during the troubles of Duke
William's minority, probably early in 1041, at the instigation of Ralph of Gace,
a son of Robert archbishop of Rouen (Douglas, WC, p. 40). Robert son of
Giroie was among the assassins. Orderic avoids openly condemning the murder
in this history of the founders of his monastery, but he stigmatized it as an evil
and cruel deed in the final corrections he made in his interpolations in William
L
BOOK III 25
the glory of God: two at Verneuces, 1 one in the name of the blessed
Mary, the Mother of God, and the other of St. Paul the apostle
of the gentiles; a third at Glos in the Lieuvin in honour of St.
Peter the chief apostle; a fourth at Echauffour in honour of
St. Andrew the apostle; a fifth at Montreuil 2 for St. George the
martyr; and a sixth at Hauterive for St. Martin the confessor.
With such holy intercessors it is no wonder that the goodly man
lived long and honourably, and after his death earned through
their merits, as we trust, remission of sins and blessed peace in the
company of the faithful.
When Giroie died most of his sons were minors, only Arnold
and William having assumed knighthood. So Gilbert count of
Brionne, who was chafing to enlarge his estates, judged himself
strong enough to attack the boys with an armed force, and attempt
to wrest Montreuil from them. They, however, were able to make
a stand against him with a strong company of kinsmen and
dependants; and after driving him back with heavy losses they
carried the war into his camp and soon wrested the town of Le
Sap from him. Duke Robert succeeded in reconciling them, and,
taking pity on the orphans who had shown such splendid courage,
he persuaded Count Gilbert to let them keep Le Sap as a pledge
of peace. Finally, some years later, the count turned against the
seven sons of Giroie and tried to recover Le Sap, which Duke
Robert had persuaded him to surrender; and he met his death
through their courage and daring, though he was closely guarded
by many of his own men. 3
All these brothers were valiant and courtly; in war nimble and
cunning, to their enemies a scourge, to their friends gracious and
gentle; varied were their fortunes as they grew to manhood, but
their end was the common lot of all flesh. There is no space her,..
for me to unfold the tale of their many exploits, and I can only
leave a brief note of the manner of their deaths for future genera-
tions. Arnold the eldest, a brave and upright man, was accidentally
thrown against the sharp corner of a step during a friendly wrestling
match with another young athlete at Montreuil; and after breaking
three ribs he died within three days.4 William the second-born
of Jumieges (Marx, p. 156; MS. Rouen II74, f. 135, clearly shows the later
alteration of this passage).
4 If 'William, son of Arnold of Montreuil', who gave the church and tithe of
Giverville to the monks of La-Trinite-du-Mont, Rouen, c. 1050-6 (Fauroux,
no. 138), was son of this Arnold, he may have been illegitimate.
 BOOK III
secundus diu mx1t, omnique uita sua cunctis fratribus suis
imperauit. Erat enim multum facundus et iocosus, largus et
animosus, subiectis amandus, et obstantibus formidandus. Nullus
uicinorum audebat terram eius ullo modo inuadere! nee aliquam
inquietudinis consuetudinem ab hominibus eius exigere. Episco-
pales consuetudines in toto Monasterioli et Escalfoii fundo
habebat:1 nee ullus archidiaconorum ibidem presbyteros eiusdem
honoris circumuenire audebat. 1 Nam Geroius pater eius post-
quam Hilgonis fiscum ut supradictum est optinuit: incolas illius 1 Heugon's revenues, as I have already told, he asked the country
patrire de quo episcopatu essent inquisiuit. Illi autem dixerunt se
nullius episcopatus esse. At ille, 'Hoc omnino iniustum est. Absit
a me.J ut sim absque pastore et iugo ecclesiasticre disciplinre.'
Deinde quis uicinorum prresulum religiosior esset inuestigauit.
Agnitisque uirtutibus Rogerii Luxouiensis episcopi.J ei totum
honorem suum subiugauit, et Baldricum de Balgenzaio generosque
suos Wascelinum de Ponte Erchenfredi et Rogerium de Merula 2
terras suas qure simili libertate abutebantur prrefato pontifici
similiter submittere persuasit. Rogerius itaque prresul uidens quod
prrefati optimates sibi sponte sua humiliarentur, congratulatus
est eis.J deditque priuilegium ut clerici terrre sure non irent ad
ii. 27 placitandum extra potestatem eorum, nee opprimerentur iniu-
stis circumuentionibus archidiaconorum. Hoc autem priuilegium
Geroianus Willelmus fortiter tenuit.J et a domno Hugone episcopo
Vticensibus monachis optinuit.
I pse Hiltrudem filiam Fulberti de Beina qui tempore Ricardi
ducis castrum Aquilre construxerat uxorem duxit, ex qua Ernal-
dum de Escalfoio genuit, deinde Emmam Walchelini de Taneto
filiam in coniugium accepit, qure Willelmum qui post in Apulia
bonus N ormannus cognominatus est peperit.
Sepe memoratus uir a ducibus N ormannorum Ricardo et
Rotberto diligebatur, pro fide quam dominis suis Rotberto Bele-
smensi, et Talauacio, 3 et Goisfredo, aliisque uel eris uel amicis
seruabat, plurima detrimenta et pericula patiebatur. 4 Nam ipse
1
See Lemarignier, Exemption, p. 68. Giroie's action brought a district that
was outside the Lieuvin and had been part of the diocese of Seez permanently
into the diocese of Lisieux. As the lords of Belleme kept the bishopric of Seez
in their family at this date there seem to have been political motives for his action.
2
Giroie's daughter Heremburge married Walchelin of Pont-Echanfray; and
his daughter Emma married Roger of Merlerault (below, p. 30).
3 Robert of Belleme and William Talvas were two of the six sons of William I
of Belleme. For the problems connected with the descent of the fiefs after the
murder of Robert c. 1033 in the castle of Ballon see Appendix I.
4 The possibility of being the vassal of two lords (cf. F. L. Ganshof, 'Depuis
quand a-t-on pu, en France, etre vassal de plusieurs seigneurs?' in Melanges
Paul Fournier (Paris, 1929), pp. 261-71) meant that William Giroie was required
L
BOOK III 27
lived for many years, and acted as head of the family to the end of
his life. He was gifted and debonair; generous and open-hearted;
a master to revere and a foe to dread. No neighbour of his ever
dared to trespass on his rights or impose any unjust exactions
on his men. He enjoyed all the episcopal dues in his estates
at Montreuil and Echauffour, and no archdeacon ever dared to
molest the priests in this fief. 1 For after his father Giroie secured
folk who was their bishop. They answered that they had no bishop.
Whereat he exclaimed: 'This is altogether wrong. Heaven forbid
that I should live without a spiritual shepherd, or the yoke of
ecclesiastical authority.' Then he inquired which of the neighbour-
ing bishops was most holy in living; and since the virtues of Roger
bishop of Lisieux were outstanding Giroie placed the whole
honour under his authority, and also persuaded Baudri of Boc-
quence and his own sons-in-law Walchelin of Pont-Echanfray
and Roger of Merlerault 2 to place their lands, which enjoyed
a similar licence, under the same prelate. Bishop Roger for his
part, since these lords made voluntary submission of their lands
to him, commended their wisdom and granted them exemption,
so that the clergy on their lands should be neither dragged to
pleas outside their territories nor oppressed by archdeacons with
their unjust exactions. William son of Giroie maintained his right
to this privilege, and granted it to the monks of St. Evroul with
Bishop Hugh's permission.
William himself married Hiltrude, daughter of Fulbert de Beina,
who had built the castle of Laigle in the time of Duke Richard,
and had by her a son, Arnold of Echauffour. His second wife was
Emma, daughter of Walchelin of Tannee, and she bore him a son,
William, who later on in Apulia was known as 'the good Norman'.
This same man earned the affection of the Norman dukes
Richard and Robert, and suffered many losses and perils for the
loyalty that he always showed to his lords Robert of Belleme
and TalvasJ and Geoffrey and other lords and fricnds. 4 For he
to defend the castle of Montaigu for his lord Geoffrey of Mayenne when it was
attacked by his other lord William Talvas. The ambiguity of his position
probably accounts for Talvas's savage attack on him a few years later, for which
Orderic offers no explanation. These events occurred a number of years before
the refoundation of St. Evroul in 1050; the date c. 1044 suggested by du Motey
(Du Motey, Alenron, p. 187 n. 2) for the fortification of St. Ceneri is con-
jectural, but quite possible.
 BOOK III
sponte destruxit castrum Montis Acuti quod suum erat pro
ii. 28 redemptione domini sui Goisfredi de Meduana quern Willelmus
Talauacius ceperat, nee exire de carcere permittebat, nisi prre-
dictum deiceretur castrum quod ualde metuebat. Postquam autem
Goisfredus de uinculis Talauacii euasit.J Geroiano baroni pro
magna fide quam in eo reppererat, castrum sancti Serenici super
Sartam ei erexit. Multa de Willelmo possem referre, sed quia
pluribus occupor curis cogor ad alia transire. De fine uero eius
latius in sequentibus edisseram:' nunc de fratribus eius ut supra
promisi compendiose detegam.
Fulcoius qui tertius erat, medietatem Monasterioli habuit, duos-
que filios Geroium et Fulcoium ex concubina procreauit. Ipse post
mortem Rotberti ducis cum compatre suo Gisleberto comite quern
conducebat occisus est. 1 Rotbertus castrum sancti Serenici cum
circumiacente prouincia diu tenuit, eique Willelmus dux Ade-
laidem consobrinam suam in coniugium dedit, ex qua filium
nomine Rotbertum qui nunc Henrico regi Anglorum militat
procreauit. Verum post multas mirandasque probitates quas
gessit, magnis simultatibus ortis inter N ormannos et Andegauenses
castrum sancti Serenici contra Willelmum ducem tenuit:' ibique
anno ducatus eiusdem ducis xxv 0 obsessus est! pomoque uenenato
quod coniugi sure ui rapuerat comesto post quinque dies mortuus
est. 2 Radulfus autem, quintus frater Clericus cognominatus est:'
quia peritia litterarum et aliarum artium apprime imbutus est.
Hie et Mala Corona uocabatur:' eo quod in iuuentute sua milita-
ribus exercitiis et leuitatibus detinebatur. Artis medicinre peri-
tissimus fuit.J multarumque rerum profunda secreta unde senes
ii. 29 liberis et nepotibus suis adhuc pro admiratione loquuntur agnouit.
Denique relictis mundi lenociniis ad Maius Monasterium confugit:'
ibique sub Alberto abbate monachus factus Deum suppliciter
rogauit, ut insanabilis leprre morbo in corpore fedaretur:' quatinus
a peccatorum sordibus in anima emundaretur. Quod pie depre-
catus est obtinuit..1 et post conuersionis annos fere sex feliciter
decessit.J Hugo sextus frater iuuentute florens, fortuna inuidente
raptus est. Nam dum quadam die de castro sanctre Scolasticre
cum fratribus suis multisque satellitibus rediret...1 secus recclesiam
1
Cf. above, p. 24 n. 3.
2 Robert took the side of Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou, in the attack upon
Normandy that led to the battle of Varaville. For a reconstruction of events
see J. Dhondt, 'Les relations entre la France et la Normandie sous Henri 1er• in
Normannia, xv (1939), 465-86; and 'Henri I, !'Empire et l'Anjou' in Revue
Beige de Philologie et d'Histoire, xxv (1947), 87-109. If Orderic's dating is correct
(cf. below, p. 79), Robert died on 6 February 1060. The engagement at Varnville
was not decisive, and war continued at least until the late summer of 1060
(Halphen, Anjou, pp. 79-80; Dhondt, Normannia, xv (1939), 482-5).
L
BOOK III 29
voluntarily destroyed his own castle of Montagu to secure the
ransom of his lord Geoffrey of Mayenne, whom William Talvas had
captured and would only release on condition that this castle,
which was a threat to his power, was demolished. Once Geoffrey
was free from the clutches of Talvas he rewarded his faithful vassal,
Giroie's son, by building a castle at St. Ceneri-sur-Sarthe for
him. What volumes I could write about William if only so many
other topics were not demanding my attention! Later I will have
more to say about the latter part of his life, but for the moment
I must keep my promise to touch briefly on the careers of his
brothers.
Fulk the third-born, who held half the fee of Montreuil, had
two sons Giroie and Fulk by a concubine. After the death of Duke
Robert he was killed with his fell ow countryman, Count Gilbert,
whilst riding in his bodyguard. 1 Robert held the castle of St.
Ceneri with the region around for many years, and Duke William
gave him his cousin Adelaide to wife. She bore him a son Robert,
who is now fighting for King Henry of England. After performing
many wonderful deeds of prowess he was involved in the great
conflicts between the Normans and Angevins, and held the castle
of St. Ceneri against Duke William. Whilst he was besieged there
in the twenty-fifth year of the duke's reign he died, five days after
eating a poisoned apple which he had snatched from his wife's
hand. 2 As for Ralph the fifth brother, he was nicknamed 'the clerk'
because he was thoroughly versed in grammar and the other liberal
arts. He was also called 'Ill-tonsured' because of his predilection
for knightly sports and frivolities in his youth. He excelled in
medical studies, and old men still speak with awe to their children
and grandchildren of his understanding of the mysteries of things.
Finally he gave up the pleasures of the world and sought refuge at
Marmoutier, where he took vows under Abbot Albert and humbly
implored God to afflict his body with an incurable leprosy so that
his soul might be cleansed from its foul sins. His prayers were
answered, and almost six years after his conversion he died in
peace. 3 Hugh the sixth brother was snatched away by envious
fortune in the flower of youth. One day, whilst he was returning
3 Below, pp. 74-76, 104. OrdericstatesthatRalphwas a monk for seven years.
He died on 19 January 'not long after the departure of his nephew, Robert of
Grandmesnil', and so presumably in 1062. His profession at Marmoutier
therefore can be dated c. 1055.

30 BOOK III
sancti Germani in territorio Escalfoii cum consodalibus suis sese
lanceando exercuisset:' eum armiger eius dum incaute missile
iaceret, grauiter percussit. Qui mox ut erat mansuetus eundem
armigerum ad se uocauit, eique clam dixit, 'Velociter fuge .. 1 quia
grauiter uulnerasti me. Misereatur tui Deus. Fuge antequam
fratres mei hoc animaduertant:' et te pro hoc euentu interficiant.'
N obilis itaque iuuenis eodem die occubuit. Geroius iunior omni-
bus dum adhuc primo flore iuuentutis uernaret, prredam in terra
Lexouiensis recclesire rapuit, et inde Monasteriolum regressus et
in amentiam uersus interiit. Sic licet diuersis modis una mors
omnes Geroii filios rapuit:' nee ullum ex eis ad senium usque
peruenire permisit.
Primogenita quoque filiarum Eremburgis data est Wascelino de
ii. 30 Ponte Erchenfredi, ex qua Willelmus et Radulfus orti sunt...1 qui
postmodum in Apulia et Sicilia Rotbertum Wiscardum Calabrire
ducem multum iuuerunt. Deinde Haduisa sociata est Rodberto
de Grentemaisnilio qure peperit ei Hugonem et Rodbertum et
Ernaldum, et totidem filias. 1 Quo defuncto: coniuncta est Willelmo
1
Rodberti archiepiscopi filio, et peperit ei Iudith:12 qure postmodum
Rogerii comitis Sicilire coniunx fuit. Tercia Geroii filia fuit Emma,
qure data est Rogerio de Merula, ex qua Rodulfus et Willelmus
Rodulfi et Rogerii uicinorum nostrorum pater orti sunt. Quarta
Adelais sociata est Salomoni de Sabloilo eique peperit Rainardum:
cuius proles nomine Lisiardus nunc Henrico regi Anglorum grande
prrestat in Andegauenses auxilium. Hrec de Geroiana progenie
dixisse sufficiat. N unc ad materiam uncle aliquantisper digressi
sumus redeamus.
In primo anno quo Vticensis abbatia fundata est Willelmus et
Rodbertus filii Geroii, et Hugo et Rodbertus nepotes eorum cum
filiis et nepotibus et baronibus suis apud Vticum congregati sunt:'
et de utilitate rudis crenobii quad inchoauerant tractantes com-
muniter statuerunt, ut quisque sese cum omni parte substantire
ii. 3 l sure sancto Ebrulfo in fine suo concederet, nee aliquis eorum
decimam uel recclesiam uel aliud quidlibet ad recclesiam pertinens
alicubi claret, nee etiam uenderet nisi primo Vticensibus ad
emendum offerret. Hoc libenter confirmauerunt Fulcoinus pre-
sbyter et Osmundus Basseth, Lupetius et Fulco filii Fredelendis,
Odo Rufus et Ricardus filius Gulberti, Rodbertus de Torp, et
Geroius de Logis, et alii barones eorum.
Tune et prrefati monasterii constructores possessionum suarum
1 Two of these daughters were Agnes, wife of Robert of Moulins-la-Marche,
and Adeliza, wife of Humphrey of Tilleul.
2
For Judith's marriage see GM, p. 35; and G. de Blasiis, L' lnsurrezione
Pugliese e la Conquista Normanna (Naples, 1869), ii. 357.
f
BOOK III 31
from the castle of St. Ceneri with his brothers and a large retinue,
he and some friends stopped near the church of St. Germain near
Echauffour to amuse themselves by throwing lances; an ill-aimed
shaft carelessly thrown by his squire wounded him mortally.
Greathearted as he was he called the squire and whispered to him,
'Fly at once, for your wound will be my death. May God have
mercy on you. Fly before my brothers discover this and slay you
for it.' The noble youth died that same day. Giroie the youngest
of all died in the flower of his youth, for he raided the land of
the church of Lisieux and on his return to Montreuil perished in
a fit of madness. So in different ways all the sons of Giroie were
carried away by death, and not one of them survived to old age.
Heremburge the eldest of the daughters was married to Walche-
lin of Pont-Echanfray, and their sons William and Ralph later fought
loyally for Robert Guiscard, duke of Calabria, in Apulia and Sicily.
Next Hawise was wedded to Robert of Grandmesnil, and bore him
Hugh and Robert and Arnold and three daughters. 1 After his
death she married William, son of Archbishop Robert, and bore
him a daughter Judith 2 who became wife of Roger count of Sicily.
Giroie's third daughter, Emma, was given to Roger of Merlerault,
1 and her children were Ralph and William, the father of our
neighbours Ralph and Roger. The fourth daughter Adela was
joined to Solomon of Sable and bore him a son Rainard, from whom
is descended Lisiard, now a staunch supporter of King Henry of
England against the Angevins. That must suffice for the history
of the sons of Giroie. Now I must return to my theme, from which
I have digressed a little.
In the first year after the foundation of St. Evroul William and
Robert, the sons of Giroie, their nephews Hugh and Robert, and
their sons and kindred and vassals assembled at St. Evroul to
discuss the welfare of the modest cell they had established. They
agreed that each of them should give himself with all his sub-
stance to St. Evroul on his death, and that none of them would
give or even sell any church or tithe or other ecclesiastical pro-
perty without first offering it for sale to the monks. Many of their
vassals, including Fulcuin the priest and Osmund Basset, Lupetius
and Fulk sons of Fredelende, Odo Rufus and Richard son of
Gulbert, Robert de Torp, and Giroie de Logis readily gave their
consent to this.
Then the founders of St. Evroul took stock of their wealth, and
 F
32 BOOK III
quantitatem computauerunt:' et bonam portionem pro possibilitate
sua recclesire qure inchoabatur dederunt.
1 Possessiones itaque quas Rodbertus et Hugo et Ernaldus filii
Rotberti de Grentemaisnilio pro salute sua Vticensi recclesire
tradiderunt:' hre sunt. In N ucereto recclesia cum omni decima et
terra presbyteri cum arabili terra trium carrucarum, et uilla qure
dicitur Solengiacus. In Oillei cum omni beneficio quod tenuit
Tezscelinus clericus etiam decima molendinorum ipsius uillre.
Anglisca quoque Villa cum monasterio . .lEcclesia autem uillre qure
Villaris dicitur cum uno hospite. In uilla uero qure nuncupatur
ii. 32 0th monasterium et terra presbyteri cum uno hospite, et decima
molendinorum eiusdem uillre, et in monasterio de Waiprato
dederunt etiam talem partem qualem tenuit Rotbertus pater
eorum. Prreterea decimam de Buinna, et in Belmeis terciam partem
molendini cum decima eiusdem. Beneficiumque Fulcuini presby-
teri recclesiam scilicet et decimam de Grentemaisnil:' ac decimam
molendini Oliueti. Vnum hospitem in Collauilla cum decima
ii. 33 totius uillre. Decimam quoque cerre necnon et denariorum Sancti
Petri inter montes. Insuper recclesiam in uico qui uocitatur Fogei,
et decimre partem Coluncellre quam tenuit Rodbertus pater
eorum. Terram uero de Cueleio 2 dedit Hugo petentibus sponte
dominis eiusdem uillre, quorum alodium erat eidem crenobio,
immo et decimam omnium carrucarum eius et pecorum, et deci-
mam de monte Caluet tam de theloneo quam de annona . .lEcclesiam
autem de Louigneio cum terra presbyteri. Prreterea terram qure
appellatur Noer Mainardi. In loco qui dicitur Maisnil BernardiJ
terram unius aratri, et terram uillre Tanaceti. Prreter hrec mona-
sterium de Mancellis cum terra presbyteri, et de Sappo decimam
ii. 34 thelonei. Villam quoque qure uocatur Maisnil Dode, et recclesiam
de Limboth cum terra presbyteri, et portionem quam tenuit
Haduisa mater eorum in Veteri Maisnil. Ad N ouum Mercatum
dedit Hugo quartam partem monasterii sancti Petri, et decimam
medietatis thelonei totius uillre, et molendinorum similiter. In
Seiri Fontana monasterium et terciam partem decimre cum
omnibus primitiis, et quinque cortilagia. 4
Willelmus autem Geroii filius consentientibus et condonantibus
filiis suis Ernaldo et Willelmo, et fratribus Rodberto et Rodulfo
1 The following information was derived by Orderic from charters in the
archives of St. Evroul. The originals of the main foundation charters are lost;
later copies have been published in Le Prevost, v. 173-80, and Fauroux,
no. 122, who gives a critical text with variant readings. In the thirteenth-century
cartularies there are two recensions of the charter (Fauroux, B, probably the
earlier but undated, and C, which is dated); an eighteenth-century monk, Dom
Lenoir, made transcripts from the archives of St. Evroul (Fauroux, D, E) which
BOOK III 33
assigned a handsome portion of it according to their means to the
church they had established.
iThese are the endowments which Robert and Hugh and
Arnold the sons of Robert of Grandmesnil gave to St. Evroul for
the salvation of their souls: In N orrey, the church with the whole
tithe and glebe land and three carucates of arable land, and the vill
called Soulangy. In Ouilly the tithes of the village mills with the
whole benefice held by Tescelin the clerk; Angloischeville with its
church; the church of Villers with one peasant; in the vill called
0 near Argentan the church and glebe with one peasant and the
tithe of the village mills; and their father Robert's share of the
church of Gueprei. Also the tithe of La Bigne, the third of
the mill of Beaumais with its tithe; the benefice of Fulcuin the
priest, namely the church and tithe of Grandmesnil; the tithe of
the mill of Olivet; in Colleville one peasant with the tithe of the
whole vill; the tithe of wax and money dues of St. Peter of Entre-
mont; also the church in the village called Fougy, and their father
Robert's share of the tithe of Coulonces. Hugh gave the estate of
Culley2 to the abbey at the free request of the lords of the vill,
who held it as an alod, and the tithe of all his ploughs and stock;
also the tithe of Montchauvet both in tolls and grain; the church
of Louvigny with the priest's glebe; the estate known as Le
Noyer-Menard; one ploughland in the place called Mesnil
Bernard, 3 and the land of the vill of La Tanaisie. In addition to
these he gave the church of Manselles with the glebe; the tithe of
tolls at Le Sap; the vill called Mesnil Dode; the church and glebe
of Limbeuf; and their mother Hawise's share in Vieux-Mesnil.
At Neufmarche Hugh gave a quarter of the church of St. Peter,
with the tithe of half the tolls and mills of the whole vill, and in
Serifontaine the church, a third of the tithe and all the first fruits,
and five curtilages. 4
William son of Giroie, with the consent and co-operation of his
sons Arnold and William and his brothers Robert and Ralph
'Ill-tonsured', who renounced their claims, gave St. Evroul the
are nearer to the second recension, C, but contain additional material. Orderic
seems to have used much the same material; his version is closest to D and E;
but he also made use of the lost prototype of B, notably in the clause relating
to the election of the abbot. He has too some additional information about the
names and kindred of some of the benefactors.
2
Now Rabodanges. 3 Now La Goulafriere.
4 Hugh's gift in Neufmarche is not in Fauroux, no. 122.
822204 D
 34 BOOK III
Mala Corona, monasterium de Escalfo decimamque eiusdem
uilhe thelonei prredicto ccenobio cum terra presbyteri Adelelmia
et decimationem totius silme ad eandem uillam pertinentis tam de
suibus quam de nummis, ipsamque siluam ad necessaria omnia.
Insuper et monasteria omnia qure tune in dominio suo habebat,
quorum unum in honore sancti Georgii constructum est in uilla
qure Monasteriolus dicitur, duo Vernuciis, unum in honore
sanctre Marire:1 alterum in honore sancti Pauli. In Sappo duo,
unum in honore sancti Petri, alterum in honore sancti Martini.
Hrec omnia largitus est cum decimis et terris ad ipsa pertinentibus.
ii. 35 Ad hrec decimas theloneorum omniumque consuetudines tam
siluarum quam aliarum rerum qure tune debebantur illi in Escalfo
et in Monasteriolo atque in Sappo.
Igitur postquam Dei donante gratia est ordinatus prredicti
ccenobii Theodericus abbas.J emit ipse ab Ernaldo pnefati Willelmi
filio consentiente Rotberto suo auunculo et iubente Willelmo
comite terram de Balgenzaio 1 sicut earn tenuerat Baldricus eius-
dem comitis archearius, et partem terrre Escalfo qure est sita inter
Aquam nigram 2 et Carentonam et Exartum Henrici, et decimam
molendini de Escalfo. Dedit prreterea terram Altreripre ipse
Ernaldus eidem ccenobio et qurecumque ad earn pertinebant cum
omnibus monasteriis suis et terris presbyterorum et terram de
Doith Mulsut.
ii. 36 Denique Willelmus frater eius filius supradicti Willelmi
annuente Geroio fratre eius ac cognatis, uidelicet Geroio atque
Fulcoio, tribuit memorato loco omnia monasteria qure in potestate
sua habebat, accepta haud modica pecunia ab abbate prrefati
ccenobii. Ex quibus unum erat situm in Maisnil Bernardi, in
honore sancti Sulpicii, alterum in honore sancti Leodegarii
in Roiluilla, aliud uero in Moenai in honore sanctre Marire, et
medietatem eiusdem Moenai quam tenebat Rodbertus ipso etiam
annuente. Vnum etiam de Ternant, et in Exarz unum in honore
sancti Petri. In Algerun unum cum tota uilla, et in Bosco Herberti
unum. Hrec omnia libenter pro redemptione animarum suarum
cum omnibus decimis et terris presbyterorum tam ipse Willelmus
quam domini eorundem monasteriorum, 3 scilicet Rogerius Gula-
fret de Maisnil Bernardi, Herfredus de Roiluilla, Rotbertus de
a MS. Adelelmique; corrected from Fauroux, no. 122, B. Fauroux, no.
C, D, E omit Adele/mi.
1 Bocquence had been part of the endowment of the canons of St. Evroul
in 900 (Lauer, Recueil des Actes de Charles Ill (893-923) (Paris, 1949), no.
xxxv). Before the refoundation most of the lands had been secularized and
lost; this was one of the few properties which was repurchased. If the charter
BOOK III 35
church of Echauffour with the tithe of the tolls of the vill, the land
of Athelelm the priest and the tithe of all the woodland depending
on the vill, both in swine and money, and all the wood they needed
for their own use; in addition all the churches of his demesne,
namely the church of St. George in the vill of Montreuil, the
churches of St. Mary and St. Paul at Verneuces, and the churches
of St. Peter and St. Martin in Le Sap. His gift included all the
tithes and lands pertaining to these churches; and he added the
tithes of tolls and all customary payments due to him from
the woods and other property in Echauffour, Montreuil, and Le
Sap.
After Thierry had by God's gracious will been ordained abbot
of St. Evroul he bought from William's son Arnold, with the
consent of his uncle Robert and the authority of Duke William,
the land of Bocquence, 1 as Baudri, Duke William's archer, had
held it, and part of the lands of Echauffour between Noireauz and
Charenton, and Essart-Henri and the tithe of the mill of Echauffour.
Arnold also gave St. Evroul property at Hauterive, with all its
churches and glebes and appurtenances, and the estate of Le
Douet-Moussu.
Next his brother William, son of William Giroie, with the
consent of his brother Giroie and his kinsmen Giroie and Fulk
sold to the abbot of St. Evroul all the churches he possessed for
a c'onsiderable sum. These were the churches of St. Sulpice in
Mesnil Bernard, St. Leger in Reville, St. Mary in Monnai, and
half the vill of Monnai, with the consent of Robert who held it;
another church in Ternant, the church of St. Peter in Les Essarts-
en-Ouche, another church in Les Augerons with the whole vill,
and another in Le Bois-Hebert. These churches, with all their tithes
and glebe lands, were given freely to the monastery of St. Evroul,
for the salvation of the souls of the donors: namely William him-
self and the lords of the churches,3 Roger Goulafre of Mesnil Ber-
nard, Herfred of Reville, Robert of Monnai, Henrede of Ternant,
correctly describes the transaction, the only explanation I can suggest is that
Baudri, the Duke's archer, held by a type of precarial tenure at the duke's
122, command, on former church land that had more recently been secularized and
acquired by the family of Giroie from Heugon. For Baudri and the later
military obligations of St. Evroul cf. below, pp. 80-82.
2
'Black water' is peculiar to Orderic; it is probably an early name for the
place that, after settlement, became Touquettes. All extant versions of the
charter (B, C, D, E) have Touquettes.
3 The names of these lords are not in Fauroux, no. 122.
 BOOK III
Moenaio, Henredus de Ternanto, Willelmus Presbyter de Exarz,
Willelmus Prrepositus de Algeron, Rogerius Faitel de Bosco
Herberti prredicto crenobio tradiderunt.
Item Willelmus donauit eidem crenobio in Vernuciis terram
unius carrucre, ob redemptionem animre Emmre matris sure.
Dedit prreterea molendinorum medietatem de Vernuciis annuente
fratre eius Ernaldo et qure inibi habebat in suo dominio, terram
Warini et lucum Landigulre, et in Vernuciis terram Burnendi, et
ii. 37
duos piscatores de Ternanto et in Monasteriolo tres furnos et
unum burgensem. . .
Deinde Willelmus filius Wazscelini de Ponte Erchenfred1 ded1t
prrefato crenobio recclesiam sanctre Marire, et qurecumque Os-
bernus presbyter tenebat, cum redecima thelonei, et decimam
molendinorum seu carrucarum quas ibi et ubicunque habebat uel
habiturus erat. Similiter et omnia monasteria qure habebat uel
habiturus erat. In Roiluilla earn partem quam ipse habebat.
Postea Rotbertus Helgonis filius consentientibus et condonanti-
bus eius dominis Willelmo scilicet atque Rotberto cum filiis ac
nepotibus eorum recclesiam sancti Martini super fluuium W aioli 1
monachis prrefati crenobii uendidit, et in eodem loco terram
presbyteri cum alia terra octo carrucarum quam emerunt non
modico precio. Dedit etiam medietatem monasterii de Sappo
Andrere cum terra presbyteri, et medietatem terrre sure totius
uillre. Rodbertus uero filius Theodelini dedit aliam eiusdem mona-
sterii medietatem, cum medietate totius uillre.
Denique recclesiam sanctre Marire a supradicto crenobio prisco
tempore constructam cum silua ibi presente comparauit Teo-
ii. 38 dericus abbas a Willelmo et Ricardo filiis Rodulfi cognomento
Fraisnel decem et octo libris, sicut tenuerat earn quidam mona-
cus nomine Placidus. Prreter hrec uendidit Hubertus de Vncins
prredicto abbati recclesiam eiusdem uillre cuma arpenta terrre. 2
Hrec omnia supradicta concessit dominus eorum Willelmus filius
Osberni senescalci.
Post hrec Rotbertus Geroii filius annuens et confirmans qure-
cunque fratres uel nepotes ipsi et eorum homines prredicto loco
donauerant:.1 dedit etiam de prrediis suis ipsi loco Sanctum Sere-
nicum, Sanctum Petrum de Potestate Nidi, et omnes decimas
ad ipsa loca pertinentes, et dimidium uirgulti sancti Serenici,
piscationesque in Sarta ad placitum monachorum ibi habitantium,
sanctamque Mariam de monte Wantelen, decimamque Siralais
a MS. et
1 The detail 'super fluuium Waioli' is peculiar to Orderic. St. Martin-sur-
Guiel is now Heugon. If, as Le Prevost followed by Lauer thought probable,
BOOK III 37
William the priest of Les Essarts, William Provost of Les Auge-
rons, Roger Faitel of Le Bois-Hebert.
He also gave St. Evroul one ploughland in Verneuces for the
weal of the soul of his mother Emma. In addition he gave, with
his brother Arnold's consent, half the mills of Verneuces and all
that he held in demesne, the land of W arin and the grove at Les
Landelles; the land of Burnendus in Verneuces; two fishermen at
Ternant; and three ovens and one burgess in Montreuil.
Next William son of Walchelin of Pont-Echanfray gave St.
Evroul the church of St. Mary and all that Osbern the priest held,
with the second tithe of the tolls and the tithe of the mills and
ploughs which he already possessed or might later acquire any-
where. Likewise he gave all the churches which he held or might
acquire; and his share of Reville.
Afterwards Robert son of Heugon, with the consent and co-
operation of his lords William and Robert and their sons and
nephews, sold to the monks of St. Evroul the church of St. Martin
beside the river Guiel, 1 together with the glebe land and the land
of eight ploughs, for which the monks paid a considerable price.
He also gave half the church of Le Sap Andre with the glebe land
and his half of the vill; and Robert son of Theodelin gave the other
half of the church and vill to the abbey.
Lastly, Abbot Thierry paid eighteen pounds to William and
Richard the sons of Ralph Fraisnel for the church of Notre-Dame-
du-Bois, which the earlier community of St. Evroul had built,
with the wood around it, to be held as the monk Placidus had held
it. Also Hubert of Anceins sold to the abbot the church of
Anceins with a measure of land. 2 All these grants were confirmed
by the lord of these men, William son of Osbern the steward.
Afterwards Robert son of Giroie gave his consent and approval
to the gifts his brothers and nephews and their men had made to
St. Evroul and gave the monks from his own portion the churches
of St. Ceneri-le-Gerei, St. Peter of La Poeste-des-Nids, with all
the tithes due to them; also half the wood of St. Ceneri and
fisheries in the Sarthe for the enjoyment of the monks living there;
the church of St. Mary of Mount Gandelain and all the tithe of
'Agon' in the charter of Charles III is to be identified as Heugon, this represents
a fragment of the old endowment of St. Evroul which was recovered by the
new monastery (Le Prevost, 'Anciennes divisions territoriales de la Normandie',
in Mem. Soc. Ant. Norm., 2 serie, i (1840), 53).
2
The gift of Hubert of Anceins is not in Fauroux, no. 122.
 p
BOOK III
totam, et de cunctis honoribus quas ipse adepturus erat. Deinde
Radulfus filius Godefredi eius miles dedit eidem loco recclesiam
de Radon illo concedente. Inter hrec audiens quidam miles bonus
de Drocis Wado nomine condonauit recclesiam sancti Michaelisa
sitam super Arna in pago Ebroicensi consentientibus dominis suis
et filiis et parentibus et amicis.
Hre sunt donationes quas Willelmus et Rodbertus et nepotes
eorum Hugo et Rodbertus aliique cognati eorum Vticensi ccenobio
dederunt: et cartam inde facientes 1 Willelmo duci Normannorum
1
confirmandam prresentauerunt. Ille uero petitiones eorum libenter
ii. 39
suscepit, et donationes eorum prredicto ccenobio benigniter con-
cessit. Tituli quoque principalis priuilegio Vticensem recclesiam
: ' insignauit, ut libera et ab omni extranea subiectione in perpetuum
maneat immunis. De electione autem abbatis loci eiusdem totum
concessit consilio fratrum, salua tamen regularis disciplinre
ratione, id est ut non amicicire aut consanguinitatis aut certe
pecunire amor uota eligentium corrumpat. 2 Denique prrefatus
princeps in fine testamenti hoc inseruit: et his illud uerbis corro-
1
borauit. Hane donationis cartulam ego Will elmus N ormannorum
comes scribi feci, et manibus archiepiscopi Rotomagensium et
episcoporum abbatumque ac principum quorum nomina et signa
subter scripta habentur sub excommunicatione confirmandam
I I
Ii tradidi, quatinus inconuulsa et astipulata hinc et in reliquum
permaneat, ut si quis earn infringere prresumpserit, aut aliquid per
se uel per alium quocunque ingenio damnum inferre uoluerit:1 ex
auctoritate Dei et omnium sanctorum abh omni christianitate si
non emendauerit, excommunicatum et in reternum maledictum
se nouerit. His dictis.~ Willelmus dux signo crucis cartam signauit.J
Deinde subscripserunt Malgerius archiepiscopus Rotomagensium
filius Ricardi Gunnoridre ducis Normannorum, Hugo episco-
pus Luxouiensis filius Willelmi comitis Aucensis, Odo episcopus
Baiocensis uterinus frater Willelmi ducis, Willelmus episcopus
Ebroicensis filius Gerardi Fleitelli, Gislebertus abbas Castellionis,
Willelmus et Rodbertus et Rodulfus filii Geroii, nepotes eorum
ii. 40 Hugo de Grentemaisnillio, Rodbertus et Ernaldus, et Willelmus
filius Waiscelini, Rodulfus de Toenio, Rodulfus Taison, Rogerius
de Monte Gomeri, Willelmus Osberni filius, Ricardus de Belfou,
a Sancti Michaelis inserted in the margin in the same hand. It is not in
Fauroux, no. 122. b ab supplied from Fauroux, no. 122.
1
See below, n. 3.
2
From 'De electione' to 'corrumpat' Orderic's version corresponds to B.
3 From 'deinde subscripserunt' to 'confirmauerunt' Orderic is closest to C,
D, E, which vary greatly from B. None of the witnesses named in B but not
BOOK III 39
. Ciral and of any other fiefs he might acquire. His knight Ralph
son of Godfrey gave the church of Radon with his consent. And
a certain worthy knight of Dreux, named Wado, on learning of
these things, gave the church of St. Michael on the Avre in the
Evrecin, with the consent of his lords and his sons, kinsfolk, and
friends.
These are the gifts which William and Robert and their nephews
Hugh and Robert and other relatives gave to the church of St.
Evroul; which they recorded in a charter 1 and took to William
duke of Normandy for his confirmation. He readily granted their
petition, and graciously confirmed their gifts to the abbey. He also
favoured the church of St. Evroul with a ducal privilege exempting
it for all time from subjection to any other authority. Further he
granted that the election of the abbot might be wholly vested in the
brethren, saving always the precepts of the rule that votes were
not to be influenced by friendship or kinship or above all by
bribery. 2 Finally the duke inserted this clause at the end of the
privilege, and confirmed it with these words: 'I, William count of
the Normans, have caused this charter of donation to be written
and have handed it to the archbishop of Rouen and the bishops,
abbots, and lords whose names and subscriptions follow for con-
firmation, with the intention that it should remain ratified and
inviolate henceforth for ever; so that if anyone presumes to
infringe its provisions, or seeks to diminish them in any way
directly or indirectly and fails to make amends he is warned that
by the will of God and all the saints he will be excommunicated
throughout Christendom and eternally damned.' Uttering these
words Duke William signed the charter with the sign of a cross.J
Next Mauger, archbishop of Rouen, the son of Richard Gunnor's
son, duke of Normandy, added his cross; and after them Hugh
bishop of Lisieux, son of William count of Eu; Odo bishop of
Bayeux, half-brother of Duke William; William bishop of Evreux,
son of Gerard Fleitel; Gilbert abbot of Conches, William, Robert,
and Ralph, the sons of Giroie; their nephews Hugh, Robert, and
Arnold of Grandmesnil, and William son of Walchelin; Ralph of
Tosny, Ralph Teison, Roger of Montgomery, William fitzOsbern,
in C, D, E occur in Orderic's list. But all the men named by Orderic are in
C, D, E amongst others, if it is accepted that Hugh and Robert of Grandmesnil
correspond with 'Robert, huius cartule auctor et factor' and Hugh his brother.
This is likely, and Orderic indeed implies as much in the phrase 'cartam inde
facien tes'.
 F
BOOK III
Ricardus de Sancta Scolastica, et alii quamplures N ormannire
procerum, qui in saltu Leonis ad curiam ducis super flumen
Loiris ante recclesiam Sancti Dionisii aggregati sunt, et Vticensis
recclesire testamentum anno dominicre incarnationis ML0 indictione
1vaa confirmauerunt.
Eodem anno Rodbertus de Grentemaisnillio srecularem habi-
tum mutauit, et sub regimine Teoderici abbatis apud Vticum mona-
chile scema subiit. Hie nimirum ut supra tetigimus, Rodberti de
Grentemaisnillio strenuissimi baronis filius, fuit ex Haduisa Geroii
filia procreatus. In infantia litteras affatim didicit, quarum inter
sodales tenaci memoria insigniter uiguit. Sed postquam annos
adolescentire attigit: spretis litterarum ociis ad armorum laborem
1
cucurrit, et Willelmi ducis armiger .v. annis extitit. Deinde ab
eodem duce decenter est armis adornatus, et miles effectus pluri-
bus exeniis nobiliter honoratus. Consideratis autem mortalium
casibus, elegit magis in domo Domini abiectus manere:1 quam in
tabernaculis peccatorum ad tempus ut frenum florere. 1 Nam sepe
recolebat srecularis militire pericula."' qure pater suus aliique
innumerabiles experti sunt, qui dum hostes fortiter inuaserunt,
incidentes in laqueum quern aliis parabant occubuerunt. Rot-
bertus enim pater eius cum Rogerio de Toenio contra Rogerium
de Bellomonte dimicauit, 2 in quo conflictu Rogerius cum filiis suis
ii. 41 Elberta et Elinancio peremptus est."' et Rotbertus in intestinis letale
uulnus suscepit. Incle reuectus tribus septimanis superuixit, ter-
ramque suam filiis suis Hugoni et Rotberto diuisit. Deinde xiv 0
kal. iulii defunctus est."' et secus recclesiam sanctre Marice apud
Nuceretum sepultus est. Incle Rodbertus filius eius permotus est."'
et meliori militia exerceri nisus est. Crenobium itaque in prrefata
uilla sicut satis supra dictum est pro salute sua suorumque
decreuit construere, eique totam partem patrimonii sui Hugone
fratre suo consentiente liberaliter submittere. Sed mutato consilio
per Willelmum Geroii filium auunculum suum."' facto generali
testamento cum Hugone fratre suo de rebus quas supra memora-
uimus uenit Vticum, ibique secundum regulam sancti Benedicti
deuote professus est monachatum. Multos labores pro subuentione
pauperis recclesire sustinuit."' opesque parentum suorum qui
diuiciis abundabant multoties rapuit, et pro salute eorum ad
subsidia fi.delium karitatiue distribuit. Haduisre nanque matri
sure datis Ix libris Rodomensium, subripuit mariagium suum hoc
a epacta sexta in C, D, E
1 Psalm lxxxiii (lxxxiv). 11 (10), with an echo of Psalm lxxxix (xc). 6.
2 This feud took place during William's minority, in or soon after 1040 (Le
Prevost, v. 229; Douglas, WC, p. 85).
BOOK III 41
Richard of Beaufour, Richard of Ste. Scholasse, and many other
Norman magnates who were assembled at the duke's court held
in front of the church of St. Denis on the river Lieurre, in the
forest of Lyons. All these confirmed the privilege of St. Evroul in
the year of Our Lord 1050, the fourth of the indiction.
In the same year Robert of Grandmesnil abandoned the world
and entered religion at St. Evroul under Abbot Thierry. He, as
I said before, was the son of that most valiant lord Robert of
Grandmesnil, and of Hawise daughter of Giroie. As a boy he was
diligent in his studies, and stood out among his schoolfellows for
his remarkable memory. But when he became a youth he put
learning and leisure aside to give himself up to the strenuous art of
war, and was squire to Duke William for five years. After receiving
his arms and being raised to knighthood by the duke he was
honourably endowed with riches. But having regard to mortal
frailty he chose rather to be a servant in the house of the Lord
than for a little while to flourish like grass in the tents of wicked-
ness. 1 He often called to mind the perils of earthly warfare
endured by his father and many like him who had met the death
they intended for others whilst bravely attacking their enemies.
For on one occasion his father Robert fought with Roger of Tosny
against Roger of Beaumont, 2 and in that conflict Roger together
with his sons Elbert and Elinant was slain, and Robert received
a mortal wound in his bowels. He was carried home and survived
for three weeks; on 18 June he died after dividing his land between
his sons Hugh and Robert, and was buried by the church of St.
Mary at Norrey. Deeply moved by this tragedy, Robert set his
mind on fighting in better warfare. So as I have already fully
related, he first resolved to found a monastery in that same village
for the salvation of his soul, and, with his brother Hugh's consent,
to endow it with his whole patrimony. But by the advice of his
uncle William Giroie he changed his plans, and together with· his
brother Hugh made a general deed granting the properties
described above; he then came to St. Evroul where he devoutly
took monastic vows according to the rule of St. Benedict.
He laboured ceaselessly to mitigate the poverty of the church;
often he appropriated the riches of his over-wealthy relatives and
forced them to profit their souls by charitably distributing their
goods for the needs of the faithful. By paying sixty Rouen livres
to his mother Hawise he was able to carry off her dowry, Le
 r=
42 BOOK III
est N oer Mainardi, Vetus Maisnil, Tanesiam, et Maisnil Dode, et
Vticensi tradidit recclesire. Tune etiam magnum psalterium uariis
picturis decoratum dono matris sure Vticensibus contulit, quod
usque hodie monachorum concio psalmodiis intenta frequenter
ad laudem Dei reuoluit. 1 Hoc uolumen Emma coniunx Edelredi
ii. 42 regis Anglorum Rodberto Rotomagensium archiepiscopo fratri
suo prresentauerat:' et Willelmus eiusdem prresulis filius de
camera patris sui familiariter sustulerat, dilectreque sure coniugi
Haduisre omnimodis placere uolens detulerat. Alia quoque multa
bona prrefatus uir recclesire sure adquisiuit:' et tam in ornamentis
recclesiasticis quam in necessariis subsidiis procurandis fratribus
acceptabilis fuit.
Venerabilis autem Teodericus abbas monasticre religioni
feruenter insistebat...1 et sibi commissre congregationi uerbis et
operibus prodesse studebat. Hie fuit natione N ormannus de pro-
uincia Talogiensi 2 oriundus, statura mediocris, eloquio suauis,
facie rubicundus, sacris litteris eruditus, et ab infantia usque ad
canos diuino cultui mancipatus. Sed sicut zizania in messe triticea
importune oriuntur, qure tempore messionis a diligenti messore
funditus eradicabuntur, ignique non parcenti tradentur:' sic filii
nequam succrescentes agmini piorum inseruntur, sed a iusto iudice
prrefinito tempore detegentur, meritisque suppliciis districte sub-
dentur.
Sub prrefato abbate monachus quidam nomine Romanus in
Vticensi grege conuersabatur, qui instinctu dremonis staminia,
femoralia, et cretera huiusmodi furabatur. Qui dum a patre
Teoderico cur talia facinora perpetraret srepius corriperetur...1
omnino furtum se fecisse denegabat quod multoties paulo post
confitebatur. Quadam autem nocte dum in lecto suo iaceret
ii. 43 arreptus est a dremonio, uehementerque uexatus. Hunc cum
monachi horribiliter clamantem audirent ad eum accesserunt,
illumque propulsantes et aquam benedictam super illum spar-
gentes, uix aliquando a uexatione demoniaca eruere quiuerunt.
Qui ad se reuersus intellexit propter furta qure egerat diabolum
talem potestatem super se accepisse...1 promisitque quod ab hac
nequitia de cretero custodiret se. Sed postea more canis ad suum
uomitum reuersus esU uncle capitium illius abbas Teodericus fecit
abscidi, eumque de ccenobio expelli. Eiectus autem de collegio
1 This book is probably the Psalterium magnum of the twelfth-century
catalogue of St. Evroul. Whilst a tenth-century English psalter formerly
belonging to St. Evroul has survived, and is in the Public Library of Rouen
(MS. 24), this is not likely to be the psalter mentioned by Orderic as it is a small
quarto volume. See Genevieve Nortier, 'Les bibliotheques medievales des
abbayes benedictines de Normandie', in Revue Mabillon, xlvii (1957), 223.
BOOK III 43
Noyer-Menard, Vieux-Mesnil, ~a Tanaisie, and Le Mesnil-Dode,
and give it to the church of St. Evroul. By his mother's gift also he
acquired for the monks of St. Evroul a great Psalter, richly illu-
minated, which is still in almost daily use by the choir as they chant
psalms to the glory of God. 1 This is the book that Emma, wife of the
English king Ethelred, gave to her brother Robert archbishop of
Rouen; his son William carried it off from his father's chamber, as
sons do, and gave it to his beloved wife Hawise whom he sought
to please in all things. Robert procured many other gifts for his
church, both ecclesiastical ornaments and useful revenues; and his
labours on behalf of his brethren made him popular among them.
Thierry, the venerable abbot, fervently upheld monastic dis-
cipline, and strove by example and precept to promote the wel-
fare of the community entrusted to his care. He was a Norman
by birth, coming from the region of Le Talou :2 a little man with
a sweet voice and rosy cheeks, well-versed in all holy learning and
devoted all his life long to the service of God. But, just as tares
spring up unwanted amongst the wheat and must when harvest
comes be ruthlessly uprooted by the good reaper and flung to the
consuming flames; so worthless sons grow up in the ranks of the
faithful, to be unmasked by the just judge at the appointed hour
and handed over to the punishment they deserve.
Whilst Thierry was abbot a certain monk called Romanus, who
belonged to the community of St. Evroul, was tempted by a demon
to steal linen and breeches and things of that kind. Again and
again he was rebuked by Father Thierry for such misdeeds and
stoutly denied his guilt, only to make confession soon afterwards
each time. One night as he lay in bed he was set upon by a demon
and horribly tormented. Hearing his hideous shrieks the monks
rushed to his aid, and by shaking him and sprinkling him with
holy water finally succeeded in freeing him from the devil that
possessed him. When he came to himself he recognized that the
devil had gained this power over him through the thefts he had
committed, and promised to guard himself against such wrong-
doing in future. But as a dog returns to his vomit so did he.
Finally, Abbot Thierry had him unfrocked and expelled from the
convent. After he was driven from the community he set out, the
2
The vill of Mathonville was in fact just in the region of Roumois (pagus
Rotomagensis), on the borders of Talou (pagus Tellau). See Le Prevost, Mem.
Soc. Ant. Norm. i (1840), 11.
 F
44 BOOK III
fratrum iter ut dicunt in Ierusalem arripuit:' sed omnino nescimus
qualem postea finem sortitus fuerit.
Quidam presbyter Anseredus nomine in territorio uillre qure
Sapus dicitur commanebat, qui uitam leuem pluribus modis duce-
bat. Hie dum ab regritudinis incommodo fatigaretur:' a monachis
supradicti ccenobii habitum sancti Benedicti sibi dari poposcit.
Quod cum adeptus fuisset, ad ccenobium est delatus:' atque in
infirmaria positus. Qui postquam ab eadem regritudine conualuit,
illam leuitatem quam in sreculari conuersatione agitauerat .1 in
quantum poterat resumebat. Et sicut quidam sapiens de talibus
di cit,
Ccelum non animum mutat qui trans mare currit.1 1
iste habitum tantummodo non mores mutauit. Cuius uitam et
conuersationem cum abbas Teodericus ualde reprehensibilem
cerneret, illumque sacrum ordinem odio habere audiret, man-
ii. 44 dauerat enim patri suo et matri ut ipsum calumpniarentur et de
ccenobio abstraherent, timens ne illius miseria alii fratres uicia-
rentur..1 apostolicum prreceptum in illo adimplere uoluit ita
dicentis, 'Auferte malum ex uobis' . 2 Et illud, 'Infidelis si discedit
discedat'.J Permisit itaque de ccenobio illum exire, et ad sreculum
redire. Qui peccatis suis peccata accumulans, cuidam mulierculre
seipsum copulauit. Sed cum illa non ei suffi.ceret:' alteram uocabulo
Pamula in amorem sui asciuit, pactumque ut secum ad sanctum
Egidium4 illam deduceret cum ea fecit. Volebat enim parentibus
et amicis suis incognitum esse, quod earn diligeret. Cumque illi
mulieri locum designasset ubi simul iungerentur pariterque
proficiscerentur:' cum quibusdam peregrinis ad sanctum Egidium
euntibus iter arripuit. At illa ipso ignorante ab hac pactione
resiluit, et alteri clerico se sociauit. At uero Anseredus cum ad
locum quern mulieri designarat peruenisset, eamque non rep-
perisset..1 dixit his cum quibus gradiebatur, 'Oportet me ad
domum meam reuerti, quia rem michi necessariam obliuioni
tradidi. Vos uero in eundo moras innectere nolite..J quia celeriter
prosequar uos.' Qui cum domum in qua illa mulier mane bat nocte
ingressus fuisset:' inuenit illos discumbentes. At illa statim dilectori
suo aduentum illius intimauit. Qui securi manu arrepta in capite
illum percussit, et exanimem reddidit. Deinde illum in saccum
intromisit, et longius pertraxit..1 atque humo cooperiens occuluit.
Qui cum post multos dies inuentus fuisset, denudauerant enim
1 Adapted from Horace, Ep. I. xi. 27. 2 l Corinthians v. lJ.
3 l Corinthians vii. 15. Cf. RSB, cap. xxviii.
4 Saint-Gilles in Provence was a favourite centre of pilgrimage, as well as
BOOK III 45
brethren say, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; but I know nothing
of his fate thereafter.
A certain priest named Ansered lived in the vill of Le Sap and
was very lax in his morals. Exhausted by a severe illness he begged
the monks of St. Evroul to grant him the habit of St. Benedict.
When he had received it he was carried to the monastery and laid
in the infirmary. But afterwards he recovered from his illness and
returned as far as possible to the lax habits of his life as a secular
priest. As a certain sage records of such a man:
Travel may change the scene but not the mind, 1
so this man changed his dress, not his way of life. Abbot Thierry
clearly perceived that his life and conduct were most shocking and
that he hated the monastic rule, for he had asked his father and
mother to claim him and take him away from the monastery;
and fearing that the other brethren might be infected by Ansered's
vices, resolved to fulfil the precept of St. Paul which says: 'Put
away from among yourselves that wicked person' ,Z and again, 'If
the unbelieving depart, let him depart' .3 So he allowed him to leave
the cloister and return to the world. Ansered, heaping sin on sin,
kept company with a common woman, and not content with her
made love to another called Rosie, with whom he agreed to go to
the shrine of St. Gilles. 4 In this way he hoped to keep his passion
for her from his family and friends. He agreed upon a place where
she was to join him, so that they could go on their way together,
and took the road with a group of pilgrims journeying to the shrine
of St. Gilles. She, unknown to him, broke her word and consorted
with another clerk. When Ansered reached the place where he had
arranged to meet the woman and she was not there he said to his
companions, 'I must go back home to fetch something I have
forgotten. Do not wait for me; I shall soon overtake you again.'
Going by night to the woman's lodging he found the two in bed
together. She at once gave warning of his coming to her lover, and
he, snatching up an axe, struck Ansered on the head and laid him
dead on the floor. Putting the body in a sack he dragged it some
distance, and dug a hole in the ground to hide it. When, days later,
it was found, after wild animals had scratched it up and eaten the
a place of call on the routes to Compostella, Rome, or Jerusalem. Cf. P. Riant,
Expeditions et Pelerinages des Scandinaves en Terre Sainte (Paris, 1865), p. 85;
and Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary, ed. M. N. Adler (London, 1907), p. 4.
 F
BOOK III
ii. 45 eum bestire et coxam illius et tibiam comederant.J tantus fretor
,I de eo ebulliebat, ut null us ad eum accedere posset. Nam per
I fretorem qui longius sentiebatur inuentus est. Et accipientes eum
I
pater eius et mater qui plus creteris amabant.J extra poliandrum
recclesire sepelierunt. Ecce quali morte iste multatus est.J qui ad
sreculi uanitatem redire maluit, quam inter seruos Dei uitam
ducere, per quam ad creleste regnum posset conscendere.
Alius presbyter Adelardus nomine cum per infirmitatem
habitum monachicum sumpsisset, recclesiam de Sapo cum decima
quam in feudo tenebat, Deo et sancto Ebrulfo ac monachis ipsius
in perpetuum possidendam tradidit. Qui postea cum ad sanitatem
redisset, prenitere de hoc quod egerat coepit, atque ad sreculum
redire statuit. Quod cum abbas Teodericus audisset, regulam
sancti Benedicti eidem recitari fecit, dixitque illi, 'Ecce lex sub
qua militare uis. Si potes obseruare.J ingredere. Si uero non potes.J
liber discede.' N olebat enim aliquem huiusmodi hominem ui
retinere. At ille in sua pertinatia male induratus de crenobio
exiuit, et habitum srecularem quern reliquerat reassumpsit. Cum-
que recclesiam de Sapo quam monachis dederat iterum accipere
uoluisset.J Hugo de Grentemaisnillio qui tune honorem de Sapo
obtinebat ei non permisit. Qui Friardellum ad suos parentes erat
enim de bonis parentibus abiit, et postea fere xv annis ibidem
uixit. N unquam tamen postmodum fuit integre sanus.J sed assiduis
fatigabatur infirmitatibus. Denique cum mortem sibi imminere
ii. 46 cerneret, et reterna propter apostasire reatum supplicia metueret.J
abbati Mainerio qui post uenerabilem Teodericum quartus idem
rexit crenobium supplicauit, ut habitum sancti Benedicti quern
peccatis suis facientibus reliquerat sibi redderet. Quern cum
adeptus fuisseU tribus ebdomadibus superuixit, et ibidem uitam
; I finiuit. Infirmitas enim illius tam grauis erat, qure officio muliebri
carere non poterat, ideoque uiuus deferri nequiuit ad monasterium
uncle discesserat.
In die bus Willelmi ducis N ormannire I uo filius Willelmi
Belesmensis Sagiensem episcopatum regebat.J et hereditario iure
ex paterna successione fratribus suis Warino et Rodberto atque
Willelmo deficientibus, Belesmense oppidum possidebat. 1 Hie
erat litterarum peritus, et corpore decorus, sagax et facundus,
facetus, multumque iocundus. Clericos et monachos ut pater
filios amabat, et inter prrecipuos amicos abbatem Teodericum
uenerabiliter colebat. Sepe conueniebant ad priuata colloquia.J
nam Sagiorum urbs septem solummodo leugis distat ab Vticensi
abbatia. Prrefati prresulis neptem nomine Mabiliam Rogerius de
1
See Appendix I.
BOOK III 47
whole of one leg, it gave forth such a stench that no one could go
near it. Indeed the foul smell first led to its discovery. His father
and mother, who loved him above all others, recovered the remains
and had them buried outside the churchyard. What a wretched
death this man suffered, who chose rather to return to worldly
vanity than to seek the way to heaven among the servants of God!
There was another priest, Adelard by name, who put on the
habit of a monk during a severe illness, and gave the church and
tithe of Le Sap which he held in fee to the monks of St. Evroul in
perpetuity. Later when he recovered his health he began to regret
what he had done on his sick bed, and decided to return to the
world. When Abbot Thierry heard of this he had the rule of St.
Benedict read to him and then said, 'This is the law under which
you are trying to live. If you can keep it, remain here; if you cannot
you are free to go.' For he preferred not to keep a man of such
character by force. The man himself, hardened in his obstinacy,
left the abbey and put on once more the secular garb that he had
abandoned. But when he attempted to resume possession of the
church of Le Sap which he had given to the monks, Hugh of
Grandmesnil, lord of the honour of Le Sap, refused to allow it.
So he went back to his family at Friardel, for he was well-born,
and lived there for almost fifteen years. But he never enjoyed good
health and suffered one illness after another. At last when he saw
his death approaching he began to fear eternal punishment for his
sin of apostasy; and he besought Mainer, the fourth abbot to rule
the monastery after the venerable Thierry, to clothe him once
more in the habit of St. Benedict which he had abandoned through
his sins. His request was granted, and he survived for three weeks
more and ended his life there. But his illness was so far advanced
that he needed a woman to nurse him and so it was impossible for
him to return alive to the monastery he had forsaken.
In the time of William duke of Normandy Ivo son of William
of Belleme held the bishopric of Seez, and on the deaths of his
brothers Warin and Robert and William inherited the town of
Belleme from his father .1 He was a fine figure of a man, learned,
shrewd, and eloquent, witty and never at a loss for a jest. As
a father loves his children, so he loved his clerks and monks; and
he counted Abbot Thierry among his special friends. They often
enjoyed each other's company, for Seez is only seven leagues away
from St. Evroul. Roger of Montgomery, vicomte of Exmes, had
i I
F
BOOK III
Monte Gomerici Oximensium uicecomes in coniugium habebat:11
per quam magnam partem possessionis Willelmi Belesmensis
optinuerat. Qui prredicti pontificis instinctu et consilio recclesiam
sancti Martini apud Sagium Teoderico abbati tradidit, eumque ut
ibidem crenobium monachile construeret cum coniuge sua sum-
ii. 47 mopere rogauit. 2 At ille haud segniter assignatum opus in nomine
Domini inchoauit..J ibique Rogerium Vticensem monachum et
sacerdotem et Morinum et Engelbertum aliosque ex discipulis suis
constituit. Ipse quoque sepius eundem locum uisitabau et ibidem
aliquando tribus seu quatuor septimanis commanebat, et incepti
operis perfectioni pro amore Dei et utilitate sequentium totis
nisibus insistebat. Prrefata uero Mabilia multum erat potens
et srecularis, callida et loquax nimiumque crudelis. Valde tamen
uirum Dei Teodericum diligebat, eique licet aliis religiosis
hominibus nimis dura esset in quibusdam obrediebat. Rodbertum
quoque de Belesmia primogenitum filium suum cuius crudelitas
in diebus nostris super miseras plebes nimium efferbuiU ipsi et
Rogerio aliisque monachis apud Sagium morantibus ad abluendum
sacro baptismatis fonte obtulit.
Vera karitas illum in quo regnat bonis facit amabilem, et
peruersis formidabilem. Ideo sepe nominatus abbas a bonis
merito diligebatur.J et a prauis timebatur. Exteriores enim curas
in quantum poterat, pro dulcedine intimre contemplationis de-
uitabat..J seseque diuino cultui feruenti sedulitate mancipabat. Assi-
duus nempe in orationibus erat:' et in opere manuum quod sibi
competebat. Nam ipse scriptor erat egregius, et inclita insitre
sibi artis monimenta reliquit Vticanis iuuenibus. Collectaneum
ii. 48 enim et gradale ac antifonarium propria manu in ipso crenobio
conscripsit. A sociis etiam suis qui secum de Gemmetico uenerant,
preciosos diuinre legis codices dulcibus monitis exegit. Nam
Rodulfus nepos eius Eptaticum scripsit et missalem ubi missa in
conuentu cotidie canitur. Hugo autem socius eius expositionem
super Ezechielem et Dialogum, J primamque partem Moralium.J
Rogerius uero presbyter Paralipomenon librosque Salomonis ter-
ciamque partem Moralium. 4
Prrefatus itaque pater per supradictos et per alios quos ad hoc
opus flectere poterat antiquarios octo annis quibus Vticensibus
1
See Appendix I.
2
The first stages in the restoration of the abbey of St. Martin of Seez must
belong to the period before Abbot Thierry left St. Evroul for Jerusalem in
August 1057. As Orderic says that Thierry had been living with the little com-
munity at Seez for a considerable time before that (below, p. 68) the first steps
must have been taken in 1055 or 1056 at latest. But the formal charter of
foundation (GC, xi, col. 151 D) was granted only in 1060.
BOOK III 49
married the bishop's niece Mabel, and secured through her the
lion's share of the possessions of William of Belleme. 1 On the
bishop's advice he gave the church of St. Martin at Seez to Abbot
Thierry and both he and his wife urged him to establish a monas-
tery there. 2 The abbot readily undertook the appointed work in
the name of the Lord, and established there Roger, a monk of St.
:Evroul in priest's orders, with Morinus and Engelbert and others
from his own community. He himself often visited the place, and
sometimes spent three or four weeks there, striving with all his
might to bring the newly undertaken work to perfection for the
love of God and the profit of future generations. This Mabel whom
I mentioned was a forceful and worldly woman, cunning, garru-
lous, and extremely cruel. But she had a great respect for the man of
God, Thierry, and though she was merciless to other men of reli-
gion she sometimes listened to him. So she brought her first-born
son Robert of Belleme, whose name is now a byword for his cruelty
to the wretched peasantry, to Thierry and Roger and the other
monks at Seez that he might be washed in the holy font of baptism.
When true charity governs a man's heart it makes him lovable
to good men and terrible to the wicked. This same abbot was
rightly loved by the virtuous and feared by evil-doers. Desiring
the joys of contemplation he delegated administrative duties as
far as possible, and gave himself up whole-heartedly to the divine
service. He was always at his prayers, and performed the manual
work that was proper for him. Being a brilliant calligrapher he
left to the young monks of St. Evroul some worthy monuments of
his skill. He copied a book of Collects, a Gradual, and an Anti-
phonary in the monastery with his own hand. By gentle persuasion
he induced some of the companions who had accompanied him
from Jumieges to copy precious volumes of the divine law. Ralph
his nephew wrote a Heptateuch and a Missal for the daily use
of the convent; Hugh his friend a Commentary on Ezekiel and
a DialogueJ and the first part of the Moralia; Roger the priest the
Chronicles and books of Solomon, and the third part of the
Moralia.4
With the aid of these and other scribes whom he persuaded to
undertake the task the reverend father secured in the eight years
3 One of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great. The twelfth-century catalogue of
St. Evroul (Delisle, J.Vlanuscrits autographes, p. 15) includes 'Libri Dialogorum'.
4 The catalogue also includes 'Moralia beati Gregorii, III volumina' (ibid.).
822204 E
~ r
I I
50 BOOK III
prrefuit:' omnes libros Veteris et N oui Testamenti, omnesque libros
facundissimi papre Gregorii Vticensium bibliotecre procurauit.r
Ex eius etiam scola excellentes librarii, id est Berengarius qui post-
modum ad episcopatum Venusire prouectus est..1 Goszcelinus et
Rodulfus, Bernardus, Turchetillus, et Ricardus aliique plures
processerunt .1 qui tractatibus Augustini et Ieronimi, Ambrosii, et
Isidori, Eusebii et Orosii aliorumque doctorum bibliotecam sancti
Ebrulfi repleuerunt, et exemplis suis ad simile studium secuturam
ii. 49 iuuentutem salubriter cohortati sunt. Hos uir Domini Teodericus
docebat:' et sepe commonebat, ut uagre mentis ocia omnino
deuitarent, qure corpori et animre ualde nociua esse solent. Hoc
etiam eis referre solitus erat. 'Quidam frater in monasterio quo-
dam de multis transgressionibus monasticre institutionis repre-
hensibilis extitit..1 sed scriptor erat et ad scribendum deditus
quoddam ingens uolumen diuinre legis sponte conscripsit. Qui
postquam defunctus est:' anima eius ante tribunal iusti iudicis ad
examen adducta est. Cumque maligni spiritus earn acriter accusa-
rent, et innumera eius peccata proferrent.1 sancti angeli e contra
librum quern idem frater in domo Dei scripserat ostentabant, et
ii. 50 singillatim litteras enormis libri contra singula peccata diligenter
computabant. Ad postremum una solum littera numerum pecca-
torum excessit.1 contra quam demonum conatus nullum obiecere
peccatum prreualuit. Clementia itaque iudicis fratri pepercit.J
animamque ad proprium corpus reuerti prrecepit, spaciumque
corrigendi uitam suam benigniter concessit.
'Hoc karissimi fratres frequenter cogitate.1 et ab inanibus noxiis-
que desideriis corda uestra emundate, manuumque uestrarum
opera domino Deo iugiter sacrificate. Ocia uelut letale uirus totis
nisibus deuitate.1 quia sicut sanctus pater noster Benedictus <licit,
"Ociositas inimica est animre." 2 Illud etiam sepe uobiscum
reuoluite, quod in uitis Patrum dicitur a quodam probato doctore,J
quia unus solummodo dremon temptando uexat laborantem
in bonis monachum, mille uero dremones impugnant ociosum,
innumerisque temptationum iaculis undique stimulatum cogunta
fastidire monasteriale claustrum, et appetere damnosa sreculi
a MS. cogit
1
These are the works that formed the indispensable basic library of any great
Benedictine monastery in this period (see N. R. Ker, English MSS. in the
Century after the Norman Conquest (Oxford, 1960), pp. 8-10). Le Prevost (ii.
48 n. 2) believed that none of the works copied by Thierry and his pupils had
survived. But G. Nortier ('Les bibliotheques medievales des abbayes bene-
dictines de Normandie: La bibliotheque de St. Evroul' in Revue Mabillon,
xlvii (1957), 219-44, especially 222-3) points out that the manuscripts of the
fathers which have been assigned to the twelfth century might have been written
BOOK III 51
of his abbacy copies of all the books of the Old and New Testa-
ments and the complete works of Pope Gregory the Great for
the library of St. Evroul. 1 Many excellent copyists, including, to
name a few, Berengar who was later promoted to the bishopric
of Venosa, Goscelin, Ralph, Bernard, Thurkill, and Richard,
were trained in his school; they filled the monastic library with
the treatises of Jerome and Augustine, Ambrose and Isidore,
Eusebius and Orosius, and other fathers; and their example was
an inspiration to young monks engaged in the same work. The
venerable Thierry taught these young men, urging them repeatedly
to avoid mental sloth which could harm body and soul alike. He
used often to tell them the following story: 'In a certain monastery
there dwelt a brother who had committed almost every possible
sin against the monastic rule; but he was a scribe, devoted to his
work, who had of his own free will completed a huge volume of
the divine law. After his death his soul was brought for judgement
before the throne of the just judge. Whilst the evil spirits accused
him vehemently, bringing forward all his many sins, the holy
angels showed in his defence the book that he had written in the
house of God; and the letters in the huge book were carefully
weighed one by one against his sins. In the end one letter alone
remained in excess of all the sins; and the demons tried in vain to
find any fault to weigh against it. So the judge in his mercy spared
this brother, and allowed his soul to return to his body for a little
while, so that he might amend his life.
'Bear this in mind, my dearest brethren, cleanse your hearts of
all vain and sinful desires, and offer the works of your hands to the
Lord God as a never-ceasing sacrifice. Strive constantly to avoid
sloth as deadly poison, for as our holy father Benedict says:
"Idleness is the enemy of the soul." 2 Live with this precept, which
an experienced doctorJ has written in the lives of the Fathers, that
only one demon tempts the monk who is active in doing good, but
a thousand demons assault the slothful monk and prick him with
so many temptations that he comes to scorn the monastic cloister
by able scribes of the eleventh who established the form of writing copied later;
and this could mean that the works of Augustine, Ambrose, and Jerome pre-
served at Alen9on and Rouen (Alen9on MSS. 2, 10, 11, 72, 73; Rouen MSS.
461, 484) date from this time. In addition a number of clearly eleventh-century
manuscripts survive: a passional (Alen9on MS. 18); a psalter (Alen9on MS. 14);
an evangelistary (Rouen MS. 31); and a sacramentary (Rouen MS. 273).
2
RSB, c. xlviii. 3 Cassian, Institutes, x. 23.
 F
52 BOOK III
spectacula et noxiarum experientiam uoluptatum. Et quia largis
sustentare pauperes eleemosinis non potestis, quoniam terrenas
opes non habetis:' nee ingentia templa sicuti reges aliique potentes
sreculi faciunt erigere potestis, qui regularibus claustris septi
omnique potestate priuati estis:' saltim secundum Salomonis
hortatum "omni custodia corda uestra seruate", 1 Deoque pla-
cere totis nisibus indesinenter contendite. Orate, legite, psallite:'
scribite, aliisque huiusmodi actibus insistite, eisque contra dre-
monum temptamenta uos sapienter armate.'
Talibus monitis pater Teodericus discipulos suos instruebat,
et arguendo, obsecrando, increpando 2 ad bonum opus uigilanter
ii. 51 incitabat, ad quod ipse prius tam orando quam scribendo uel alia
bona faciendo consurgebat. Pro huiusmodi studiis a quibusdam
blasphematur monachis:' qui mundiales curas diuinis prreponebant
offi.ciis. Proh dolor, uncle illum plus uenerari debebant:' inde magis
illi detrahebant. Dicebant enim, 'Talis homo non debet abbas esse,
qui exteriores curas nescit neglegitque. Vnde uiuent oratores, si
defecerint aratores? Insipiens est qui plus appetit in claustro legere
uel scribere, quam uncle fratrum uictus exhibeatur procurare.'
I Hrec itaque et his similia quidam superbi dicebant, et seruo Dei
I~ plures iniurias inferebant. Sed Willelmus filius Geroii pro sancti-
tate eius eum semper honorabat, et tumultus insurgentium quos
I'
!l: hie nominare nolo competenti seueritate compescebat, atque pro
uiro Dei contra omnes querelas intus et foris ratiocinia prompte
reddebat. Post aliquot temporis prrefatus heros pro utilitatibus
Vticensis recclesire in Apuliam ire decreuit:' quo abeunte nee inde
postmodum redeunte uir Dei Teodericus in Normannia ualde
desolatus remansit. · side. Some time later this gallant soldier decided to visit Apulia
Sicut bonis ualde displicet uita malorum:' sic prauis moribus
grauis esse solet uita bonorum. Vnde sicut boni diuino spiritu
inflammati prauos ad rectitudinem multis modis student incitare:'
I sic peruersi dremonica malignitate instigati rectos ad prauitatem
!' frequenter nituntur incuruare. Et quamuis eos non possint
funditus prosternere:' nonnunquam tamen solent eos in uia Dei
perturbare, diuersisque modis uexando plerunque in operatione
sancta tardiores effi.cere. Sic quidam infandi homines dum Vticensis
recclesia consurgeret, et in bonis operibus aucta coram Deo et
ii. 52 hominibus effulgeret.J coeperunt uarias simultatum causas contra
ipsam colligere, et turbatis rebus qure ad uictum et uestitum et
1
Proverbs iv. 23. 2 Cf. 2 Timothy iv. 2.
l
BOOK lll 53
and longs to see the pernicious sights of the world and experience
its perilous delights. And since you cannot scatter generous alms
to feed the poor when you yourselves have no worldly wealth,
nor build great churches like kings and other princes of the world
when you live enclosed in monastic seclusion and have no earthly
power, at least follow the counsel of Solomon and keep your heart
unspotted from the world, 1 striving with all your might to do the
will of God. Pray, read, chant psalms, write, persevere with such
things, and consciously arm yourselves with them against the wiles
of the devil.'
With such words as these Thierry used to teach his pupils, and
by reproving, rebuking, and exhorting 2 encourage them to a good
life, himself setting an example by prayer and such good works as
copying books. Som~ monks who thought worldly business more
important than the service of God blamed him for his zeal in these
matters. So much the worse for them, who belittled him for the
very things that should have made him revered! They would say
amongst themselves, 'A man like this has no right to be abbot, for
he cannot understand practical affairs and neglects them. The men
who pray cannot live without the men who plough. This man is
a fool who spends his time reading and writing in the cloister
instead of procuring the means of livelihood for the brethren.' So
spoke the sons of pride who were ready to slander this good man.
But William son of Giroie always honoured him for his holiness;
he sternly rebuked the murmurs of the rebels, whose names I will
not reveal, and put forward a ready defence for the man of God
against all attacks both within the monastery and in the world out-
in the interests of the monastery; he set off never to return, leaving
the righteous Thierry desolate in Normandy.
Good men condemn the lives of the wicked, and sinners are
displeased by the lives of the saints. Just as the holy spirit inspires
good men to bring sinners to repentance, the devil tempts evil-
doers to corrupt men of virtue. And though the wicked can never
utterly destroy the good they can sometimes turn them from the
right road, and by distracting them in various ways temper their
zeal for righteousness. So it came about that as the monastery of
St. Evroul was rising as a shining example of good works in the
sight of God and men, certain infamous men began to find various
pretexts to attack it and persecute it by trying to appropriate the
 F
54 BOOK Ill
agapen seruorum Dei datre erant ipsam affiigere. Sed benignus
Iesus qui est uerus recclesire sponsus, quamuis sreuirent ad depri-
mendam recclesire nauem maris fluctus:' ipse mirabiliter emicuit in
ereptione suorum comprimendo contrarios conatus.
Quid tune temporis contigerit Mabilire Willelmi Talauacii filire.J
ueraciter explicabo licet prrepostero ordine. Ipsa dum apud Vti-
cum in inicio monasticus ordo regulariter seruaretur, et omnibus
aduenientibus karitatis officia ut hactenus ibidem mos est exhi-
berentur.J propter odium quod erga fundatores illius crenobii
ferebat, plures molestias nequiter excogitatas eidem loco infere-
bat. Quippe contra Geroienses pater eius et ipsa omnisque illius
progenies diu perdurans odium habuerunt. Vnde quia Rogerius
de Monte Gomerici uir eius monachos amabat et honorabat, nee
ipsa eis aperta malicia nocere audebat.J crebrius cum multitudine
militum quasi hospitandi gratia ad monasterium diuertebat, sicque
monachos qui paupertate in sterili rure affiigebantur grauabat.
Quondam cum ibidem cum centum militibus hospitaretur, et a
domno Teoderico abbate redargueretur, cur cum tanta ambitione
ad pauperes crenobitas uenisset, eamque admoneret ut ab hac
stulticia se coherceret.J illa inflammata respondit, 'Maiorem
numerum militum adducam de cretero quam adCluxi.' Ad hrec
abbas ait, 'Crede michi nisi ab hac improbitate resipueris.J quad
noles patieris.' Quad et ita contigit. Nam in subsequenti nocte
passio illam inuasit.J et fortiter uexare coepit. At illa mox inde sese
iussit cfferri. Qure dum fugere de terra sancti Ebrulfi territa
) ,
ii. 53 festinaret, et ante domum cuiusdam burgensis nomine Rogerii
Suisnarii transireU inde quandam infantulam lactantem assumi
prrecepit, orique eius mamillam suam in qua maxima pars infirmi-
tatis collecta erat ad suggendum tradidit. Infans itaque suxit, et
1I, paulo post mortua est.J mulier uero conualescens ad propria
reuersa est. 1 Postea fere xv annis uixit, 2 sed Vticum postquam
ibidem sicut supra diximus flagella Dei castigata est nunquam
adire prresumpsit, et ne habitatoribus illius crenobii ullatenus
noceret, seu prodesset, toto nisu se custodiuit, quamdiu in
erumnosis huius uitre felicitatibus postea uixit. Abbatem tamen
Teodericum dilexit, eique magis quam Vticensi recclesire cellam
,
I)
I
1 G. H. White (TRHS xxii (1940), 87 n. 1) suggests that Abbot Thierry had
doctored her supper; but I find the suggestion as incredible as Orderic found
the suggestion that Oliver of Belleme had murdered his brother (Marx, pp. 164-
5): it was not in Thierry's character. Du Motey has a different, very far-fetched
interpretation of events, which is favourable to Mabel (Du Motey, Alenfon,
p. 223). The story must have become so distorted and improved by wishful
thinking that the element of truth in it remains a matter of pure speculation.
. :.i Fifteen appears to be a mistake. Du Motey (ibid.), misreading xxv for xv
BOOK III 55
possessions which had been given to the servants of God for their
food and clothing and spiritual needs. But bountiful Jesus who is
the true spouse of the Church miraculously stretched forth his
hand over the raging waves that threatened to engulf the ship of
the church, and bade them be still.
Now I will te11 a true story of Mabel, daughter of William
Talvas, although it is a little premature here. From the earliest
days of St. Evroul the monastic rule was strictly observed there,
and alms were distributed to all comers as is still the custom now·
but this woman so hated the founders of the monastery that sh~
devised nefarious ways of injuring the monks. For her father and
she and all their descendants had a lasting feud with the sons
of Giroie. Since her husband Roger of Montgomery loved and
protected the monks she dared not do them any open harm,
but frequently descended on the monastery with a great retinue
of knights, demanding hospitality: in this way she brought the
monks, who were struggling to wring a living from the barren
soil, to the verge of ruin. Once when she was staying there with
a hundred knights Abbot Thierry asked her why she must come
with such worldly pomp to a poor monastery and warned her to
;estrain. her va~ity; . whereat she flew into a rage and replied,
Next time I will brmg even more knights with me.' The abbot
replied, 'Believe me, unless you depart from this wickedness, you
will s~ffer for it.' And indeed she did. For the very next night she
fell sick and suffered great agony. Hastily she commanded her
attendants to take her away. As she was fleeing in terror from the
lands of St. Evroul she passed by the house of a certain townsman
called Roger Sowsnose, and compelled his infant child to suck
the nipple which was causing her most pain. The child sucked
and forthwith died; but the woman recovered and returned home. r
She lived about fifteen years more ;2 but after she had felt the hand
of God at St. Evroul she never went near the place again, and took
care to avoid dealings either for good or ill with the monks as long
as she enjoyed the transitory pleasures of mortal life. But she loved
Abbot Thierry, and it was to him rather than the whole convent
and dating Mabel's death in 1082, makes the year 1057. G. H. White (loc. cit.
above, p. 54 n. l) suggests early l 06 5 on the assumption that Mabel died in
1079. But Thierry left St. Evroul in 1057, and his warning must have been given
before that. Even if Mabel died in 1077, the date favoured by J. F. A. Mason
(Trans. Shropshire Arch. Soc., lvii (1961-4), 152-5), she must have lived twenty
years after this episode .
 F
56 BOOK III
sancti Martini ut per anticipationem supra diximus commen-
dauit.1
2 In sede apostolica Benedicto papa residente.J Sarraceni de
Affrica in Apuliam nauigio singulis annis ueniebant.J et per singulas
Apulire urbes uectigal quantum uolebant a desidibus Langobardis
et Grrecis Calabriam incolentibus impune accipiebant. His diebus
Osmundus cognomento DrengotusJ Willelmum Repostellum qui
sese de stupro filire eius in audientia optimatum N ormannire
arroganter iactauerat, inter manus Rodberti ducis in silua ubi
uenabantur occidit.J pro quo reatu a facie eius prius in Britanniam
deinde in Angliam, postremo Beneuentum4 cum filiis et nepotibus
aufugit. Hie primus N ormannorum sedem in Apulia sibi elegit.J
et a principe Beneuentanorum oppidum ad manendum sibi suisque
hreredibus accepit. Deinde Drogo quidam N ormannus miles cum
centum militibus in Ierusalem peregre perrexit, quern inde
reuertentem cum sociis suis Waimalchus dux apud Psalernum
ii. 54 aliquantis diebus causa humanitatis ad refocilandum retinuit.
Tune uiginti milia Sarracenorum Italico littori applicuerunt.J et
a ciuibus Psalernitanis tributum cum summis comminationibus
exigere coeperunt. Duce autem cum satellitibus suis uectigal
a ciuibus colligente de classe egressi sunt:' et in herbosa planicie
qure inter urbem et mare sita est ad prandium cum ingenti securi-
tate et gaudio resederunt. Cumque N ormanni hoc comperissent,
ducemque pro leniendis barbaris pecuniam colligere uidissent.J
Apulos amicabiliter increpauerunt quod pecunia sese ut inermes
uidure redimerent, non ut uiri fortes armorum uirtute defenderent.
Deinde arma sumpserunt, Afros secure uectigal expectantes
repente inuaserunU multisque milibus fusis reliquos cum dede-
core ad naues aufugere compulerunt. N ormanni itaque aureis
et argenteis uasis aliisque spoliis multis et preciosis onusti redi-
erunt, multumque a duce ut ibidem honorifice remanerent rogati
sunt:' sed quia reuisendi patriam cupidi erant, poscentibus non
adquieuerunt. Attamen promiserunt ei quod aut ipsi ad eum
redirent, aut de electis iuuenibus N ormannire aliquos ei cito
mitterent. Postquam uero natale solum attigerunt:' multa qure
uiderant et audierant uel fecerant seu passi fuerant compatriotis
suis retulerunt. Deinde quidam eorum promissa complentes,
reciprocato calle Italiam repedarunt.J exemploque suo leuia
1 This may explain why St. Martin, Seez, was independent from its refounda-
tion, and was never in any kind of subjection to St. Evroul.
2 For Orderic's account of the coming of the Normans to southern Italy see
Introduction, pp. xxx-xxxii.
3 He was probably Osmund, brother of Gilbert Buatere in the history of
Amatus (AM, p. 25 n. 1).
J
L
BOOK III 57
that she submitted the cell of St. Martin, as I have already re-
lated.1
zJn the days of Pope Benedict Saracens sailed freely every year
from Africa to Apulia, exacting arbitrary tribute from the effete
Lombard inhabitants of the Apulian cities and the Greek settlers
in Calabria. At this time Osmund, surnamed Drengot,3 fled with
all his family from the wrath of Duke Robert first to Brittany, then
to England, and finally to Apulia. 4 After William Repostel had
boasted at court before all the Norman lords of seducing his
daughter, Osmund had slain him in the arms of Duke Robert
whilst they were hunting in the woods. He was the first Norman
to· settle in Apulia and receive a stronghold for himself and his
heirs from the prince of Benevento. Later a Norman knight called
Drogo who had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was return-
ing home with a hundred knights was hospitably entertained at
Salerno by Duke Gaimar. Whilst they were resting and recovering
their strength twenty thousand Saracens suddenly descended on
the shore, demanding tribute from the citizens of Salerno with
brutal threats. They came ashore and, anticipating no danger, gave
themselves up to feasting and mirth on the grassy plain between
the city and the sea, whilst the duke and his servants collected the
tribute from the citizens. When the Normans heard of this and
saw the duke collecting money to appease the barbarians they
chaffed the Apulians for purchasing their liberty like helpless
widows instead of defending it as men should, sword in hand.
Then they armed themselves and, falling upon the Africans who
were quietly waiting for their tribute, slaughtered many and forced
the rest to retreat ingloriously to their ships. They returned laden
with golden and silver vessels and other priceless spoils; but they
were deaf to the duke's pleas that they should remain as his
honoured subjects because they longed to see their native land
again. However, they promised either to return themselves or to
send him some of the flower of the Norman youth with all speed.
As soon as they reached their native soil they gave a full account
of all their adventures to their fellow countrymen. Some of them
fulfilled their promise by retracing their steps to Italy, and their
4 The name Benevento was often loosely used by Norman writers to cover the
whole region of the old duchy. Amatus gave a different route for Gilbert
Buatere and his brothers, saying that they travelled through Rome and Capua
(AM, p. 26).
 F
58 BOOK III
multorum corda ad sequendum se excitarunt. Nam Turstinus
cognomento Citellus 1 et Ragnulfus, Ricardus Anschetilli de
Quadrellis filius, 2 filiique Tancredi de Alta Villa, Drogo uide-
licet atque Vnfridus, Willelmus et Hermannus, Rodbertus cogno-
ii. 55 mento Wiscardus et Rogerius, et sex fratres eorum.J Willelmus
de Monsteriolo et Ernaldus de Grentemaisnillio, aliique multi
N ormanniam reliquerunt, et Apuliam non simul sed diuersis
temporibus adierunt. Illuc autem peruenientes primo quidem
Waimalchi ducis aliorumque potentum stipendiarii contra paganos
facti sunt:' postea exortis quibusdam simultatuum causis eos qui-
bus antea seruierant impugnauerunt, et Psalernum atque Barum
Capuamque cum tota Campania et Calabria uirilibus armis sibi
subegerunt. In Sicilia quoque Panormum urbemque Cathanensem
Castrumque Iohannis cum aliis urbibus et prreclaris oppidis qure
usque hodie heredes eorum possident optinuerunt.3
ii. 56 Inter N ormannos qui Tiberim transierant Will elmus de Mona-
sterio lo Willelmi Geroiani filius maxime floruit, et Romani exer-
citus princeps militire factus uexillum sancti Petri gestans uberem
Campaniam subiugauit.4 Hie Vticensibus quorum frater et amicus
erat, et qui bus plura antequam de N ormannia migrasset ut supra
retulimus dederat, mandauit ut ad se legatum fidelem mitterent
pro deferendis muneribus qure eis prreparabat. Hoc Willelmus
1
pater eius ut audiuit:' sese ad hanc legationem pro utilitate sanctre
11 ii. 57 recclesire libenter prresentauit. Incle Teodericus abbas et lretus et
',I !
' tristis effectus est. Lretus pro tanta senioris deuotione qua ferue-
bat, et qure eum tam laboriosum iter arripere monebat. Tristis
1
In his interpolations in William of Jumieges Orderic makes Thurstan Scitel
the hero of several legendary exploits (Marx, p. 188); and the legend was further
developed in Benoit of St. Maur (cf. AM, p. 42 n. l). He is also called Toustain
le Begue (Chalandon, i. 66).
2 4 William of Montreuil probably went to Italy soon after 1050, since he
Richard son of Anquetil of Quarrel became count of A versa and prince of
Capua. Chalandon states without showing any evidence that his father was
I' Anquetil, brother of Gilbert Buatere (Chalandon, i. 112). This has been
Ii
generally accepted and is a reasonable conjecture. Cf. also AM, p. 110 n. 2.
i:
I' The date of Richard's arrival in Italy is uncertain. For his career see A. Gallo,
Aversa Normanna (Naples, 1938), pp. 3 f.
3 merely that he carried the papal banner, not that he held a banner fief: P. Kehr
Orderic is concerned merely to give a brief preface explaining the position
of William of Montreuil in Italy. Bands of Normans appeared as mercenaries
fighting on all sides in southern Italy from 1016 onwards, and rapidly began to
i I
acquire territory on their own behalf. The first sons of Tancred of Hauteville,
William, Drogo, and Humphrey, arrived about 1038; their younger half-
brother Robert followed in 1047; Roger Guiscard and the other younger
brothers came later. Orderic is mistaken in calling one of them Herman. The
names of the cities conquered by the Normans are recited at random: Capua,
claimed in 1058, was in Norman hands by 1062; Bari fell only in 1071 and
!/
BOOK III 59
example inspired many others to follow th:m with high hopes. S~
Thurstan called Citellus 1 and Ragnulf, Richard son of Anquet1l
of Quarrel,2 and the sons of Tancred of Hauteville, namely Drogo
and Humphrey, William and Herman, Robert called Gaiscard
and Roger and their six brothers, also William of Montreuil and
Arnold of Grandmesnil and many others left Normandy: and in
little groups at various times took the road to Apulia. For a time
afte~ their arrival they fought as mercenaries for Duke Gaimar
and other nobles against the infidel; but afterwards quarrels broke
out and they turned against their former masters, conquering
Salerno, Bari, and Capua, and the whole of Campania and
Calabria by force of arms. In Sicily too they secured the towns of
Palermo, Catania, Castro Giovanni, and other cities and famous
towns which their heirs enjoy to the present day. 3
One of the most distinguished Normans to cross the Tiber was
William of Montreuil, son of William Giroie, who became com-
mander of the papal army and carried the banner of St. Peter to
victory in fertile Campania. 4 He was a friend and brother to the
monks of St. Evroul, and had bestowed many gifts on them before
leaving Normandy, as I have already related; and now he asked
them to send a trustworthy messenger to take home the treasures
he intended for them. When his father William heard of this he
gladly offered to undertake the mission for the profit of Holy
Church. Abbot Thierry heard the news with mixed feelings,
rejoicing that the old man should feel such devotion that he
would undertake this perilous journey, yet mourning at the loss of
Palermo in 1072. See Chalandon, i. 48-50, 67, 216; J. Gay, L'Italie meridionale
et I' Empire byzantin (Paris, 1904), pp. 437 f.
was wealthy and established there by 1056, the latest possible date for his offer
of presents to the monastery. He married a daught~r of ~ichard of Capua, ~ut
after attempting to repudiate her and rebelling agamst Richard he took service
under Alexander II about 1064, and became a mercenary leader in the papal
army (Chalandon, i. 215-22). The reference to the vexillum Sancti Petri sh.ows
considers that the first true papal enfeofments were made in 1059, but describes
William as a mercenary leader ('Die Belehnungen der siiditalienischen Norman-
nenfiirsten <lurch die Papste (1059-1192)' in Abhandlungen der PreujJischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften 1934 (Berlin, 1935), no. 1, pp. 3-52, especially 6-8.
See also C. Erdmann, 'Kaiserliche und papstliche Fahnen in hohen Mittelalter',
in Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken, xxv
(1933-4), 4). The deeds of William occur also in the chronicle of Amatus; but
Amatus, writing a little nearer to events, assigns him a more modest role than
Orderic (AM, pp. 261-3).
 F
60 BOOK III
pro magno solamine, quod in prrefato seniore amittebat.J quia ad
omne bonum promptus existebat. Denique uir Dei et Rodbertus
prior totusque conuentus domnum Willelmum Deo commenda-
uerunt, eique Gunfridum peritissimum monachum et Rogerium
Gemmeticensem egregium scriptorem, aliosque duodecim hono-
rabiles famulos associauerunt. Ille autem transcensis Alpibus
Romam petiit:' et inde iter carpens in Apulia filium aliosque
amicos et affines ac parentes inuenit. Qui uiso eo ualde gauisi
sunt:' eumque cum magno honore aliquo tempore secum reti-
nuerunt, eique ad sustentationem recclesire pro qua mendicabat,
multa et magna munera dederunt. Ipse uero egenis fratribus suis
festinanter subuenire uolens, Gunfridum monachum cum magno
censu remisit, sed occulto Dei iudicio disponente aliter quam
sperabatur euenit. Nam Gunfridus Romam uenit.J ibique in
monasterio sancti Pauli apostoli hyemare decreuit. 1 A Romanis
autem pro cupiditate auri quod ferebat ueneno infectus est.J sicque
uenerabilis peregrinus in confessione Christi idus decembris
defunctus est. Willelmus quoque non multo post iter redeundi
cum ingenti pecunia iniit.J sed ad urbem qure a Caieta nutrice
Troiani Enere Caieta 2 uocatur ueniens lretiferam egritudinem
incurrit. Tune duos milites Anschetillum de N oerio Ascelini filium
ii. 5s et Teodelinum de Tanesia ad se uocauit, eisque dixit, 'Ecce xii
socii nostri qui nobiscum alacres de Normannia exierunt, sicut
uidetis in hac patria defuncti sunt.J me quoque grauis morbus nunc
inuasit, et ad ultima impatienter compellit. N unc itaque tibi
Anschetille sub testimonio Teodelini pecuniam quam procuraui
commendo, ut earn sine fraude deferas domno abbati Teoderico,
et Rodberto nepoti meo aliisque monachis sancti Ebrulfi pro qui-
bus nunc exulo. Ambo sancti Ebrulfi homines estis.J eique fidem
seruare debetis. Non uos ulla decipiat cupiditas. Sagaciter perpen-
dite, quod defunctis omnibus sociis uestris, meritis sancti Ebrulfi
uos soli superstites estis, fortassis ut ei hoc seruitium fideliter
exhibeatis. Vticensibus quos in Christo sicut meipsum diligo ex
parte mea ultimum ualedicite, et ut pro me omnipotentem
Dominum fideliter exorent suppliciter rogitate.' Hrec et alia
multa dicens, aurum et pallia preciosa calicemque argenteum
aliasque preciosas species protulit.J diligenter numerauit, et
Anschetillo tradidit. Non multo post ingrauescente morbo nobilis
Ii
i I
heros in confessione Christi nonas februarii 3 mortuus est.J et in
ii
i
1
The monastery of St. Paul had been restored by Odo of Cluny in 936
I
(Gregorovius, iii. 311).
2
Cf. Virgil, Aen. vii. 1-4.
L
BOOK III 61
a devoted friend who had never failed to help in all good works.
Finally, the holy abbot, Robert the prior, and the whole convent
commended Lord William to God and sent him with Gunfrid,
one of the ablest monks, the distinguished calligrapher Roger of
Jumieges, and twelve other worthy attendants. He travelled across
the Alps to Rome, and then took the road on to Apulia to join his
son and other friends and kinsmen. They welcomed him warmly
and entertained him magnificently for a time, giving him many
rich gifts for the support of the church on whose behalf he was
begging. He, wishing to help the needy monks as quickly as
possible, sent back brother Gunfrid with a great store of wealt?.
But God willed otherwise than he intended. For when Gunfnd
came to Rome he decided to spend the winter in the monastery
of St. Paul the apostle; 1 and the Romans, greedy for the gold that
he carried, poisoned him there. So the holy pilgrim died on
13 December in the faith of Christ. Shortly afterwards William
himself set out for home with great wealth; but he fell mortally
sick in the town that is named after Gaeta, nurse of the Trojan
Aeneas. 2 Calling to his bedside two knights, Anquetil of Noyer,
son of Ascelin, and Theodelin ofTanaisie, he addressed them thus:
'You see how twelve of the companions who set out gladly with
us from Normandy have died in this land; and I too am now
grievously ill and have not long to live. So now with Theodelin
as witness I entrust to you, Anquetil, the wealth that I have
collected; you are to take it intact to Abbot, Thierry and my
nephew Robert and the other monks of St. Evroul, for whose
sakes I left my native land. You are both men of St. Evroul and
owe fealty to the abbey. Resist all temptation to dishonesty. Think
seriously of the fact that you alone remain alive of all your com-
panions, spared by the intercession of St. Evroul, perhaps to
perform this service for him. Carry my last greetings to the monks
of St. Evroul, whom I love in Christ as dearly as myself, and
implore them to pray devoutly to almighty God for my soul.'
With such words as these he brought out the gold and precious
vestments, a silver chalice, and many other rich treasures, counted
them carefully, and entrusted them to Anquetil. Soon afterwards
his disease grew worse, an~ this valiant lord died in the faith of
Christ on 5 February,3 and was honourably buried in the cathedral
3 In the Necrology of St. Evroul (Bihl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10026) his obit was
celebrated on s February.
1
I
l r•!-
BOOK III
recclesia sancti Herasmi episcopi et martyris ubi sedes est episco-
palis honorifice sepultus est. Deinde Anschetillus et Teodelinus
Gallias adierunt, et ad propria prospere reuersi sunt. Post aliquot
dies Anschetillus Vticum adiit, fratribus obitum domni Willelmi
et sociorum eius nunciauit...1 sed de commissa sibi pecunia quam in
ii. 59 usus suos iam ipse nequiter distraxerat omnino tacuit. Crenobitre
autem audita morte fundatoris recclesire sure nimium contristati
sunt...1 precesque et missas et alia beneficia pro anima eius Deo cui
uiuunt omnia 1 fideliter obtulerunt, qure successores eorum usque
hodie feruenter obseruare satagunt. Anschetillo domum suam
repetente, Teodelinus socius eius Vticum uenit...1 et a monachis
quid sibi de Apulia delatum fuisset inquisiuit. Cumque nil nisi
meroris nuncium de morte amicorum eis delatum esse comperisset
obstupuit..J et omnem rei ueritatem de omnibus qure sibi prospere
uel aduerse in peregrinatione contigerant intimauit. Mox Teo-
dericus abbas Anschetillum asciuit...1 commissamque pecuniam ab
eo repetiit. At ille primo cuncta negare coepit.. 1 sed postmodum
a Teodelino conuictus rei ueritatem recognouit. 'Pecuniam' inquit
'quam reposcitis, a domino meo Willelmo suscepi, cuius aliquam
partem ad usus nostros in uia distraxi.. 1 partem uero Remis consilio
domini mei Rodulfi Maire Coronre qui illic mihi obuiauit com-
mendaui.' Quod audientes monachi Remis illum bis direxerunt
prius cum Rainaldo monacho de Sappo:' deinde cum Fulcone ad
Geruasium archiepiscopum 2 pro censu deposito. Prrefatus autem
metropolitanus monachum sancti Ebrulfi gratanter suscepit...1
eumque in negocio pro quo uenerat adiuuit quantum potuit. Nam
idem dum Crenomannensium episcopus fuerat, et curiam Wil-
lelmi ducis Normannorum cui ualde familiaris erat crebro expete-
ii. 60 ret:' apud Vticum sepe fuerat honorifice susceptus, et cum omni
familia sua amicabiliter habitus. Viso itaque Fulcone monacho
beneficia beneficiis recompensare uoluit. Sed quia iam longum
tempus effiuxerat, et Anschetillus ea qure repetebat insipienter
deposuerat..J uix potuit recuperare pauca et uiliora ex his qure in
Apulia susceperat. Calicem solummodo argenteum et duas casulas
dentemque elephantis et ungulam griphis cum aliis quibusdam
rebus difficulter exegit. Deinde monachi consideratis fraudibus
Anschetilli, eum in iudicio in curia sancti Ebrulfi statuerunt, ubi
Ricardus de Abrincis filius Turstini3 aliique multi proceres ad
1 although Richard of Avranches, son of Thurstan,3 and many other
Cf. Luke xx. 38: 'omnes ... uiuunt ei.'
2
Gervase of Chateau-du-Loir, bishop of Le Mans (1036-55), archbishop of
Rheims (1055-67).
BOOK III
church of St. Erasmus, bishop and martyr. Anquetil and Theo-
delin finally returned to Gaul and came safely home. A few days
later Anquetil visited St. Evroul and informed the brethren of the
death of Lord William and his companions, but said nothing at
all of the money entrusted to him which he had already iniquitously
appropriated for his own use. When the monks heard of the death
of the founder of their church they were filled with mourning, and
offered up prayers and masses and other benefits for his soul to
God for whom all things have life. 1 These prayers have been
devoutly continued by their successors up to the present day. After
Anquetil had gone home his companion Theodelin came to St.
Evroul and asked the monks what they had received from Apulia.
When he learned that nothing had been given them but the sad
news of the death of their friends he was amazed, and gave them
a true account of everything both good and bad that had happened
to him on his pilgrimage. At once Abbot Thierry sent for Anquetil
and told him to give up the money entrusted to him. At first he
denied everything, but in the end he was forced to admit the truth
of Thierry's accusation. 'It is true,' he said, 'that I received the
money you demand from my lord William; but I had to use some
of it for my expenses on the road, and the rest I left at Rheims on
the advice of my lord Ralph "Ill-tonsured" who met me there.'
When the monks learned of this they sent him twice to Gervase
archbishop of Rheims, 2 first with the monk Reginald of Le Sap, and
then with Fulk to bring back the money left there. The archbishop
welcomed the monk of St. Evroul and did all he could to help him
in his mission. For when he was bishop of Le Mans he had been
a close friend of William duke of Normandy, and on his frequent
visits to the duke's court he had often been hospitably entertained
at St. Evroul with his whole household. So when he saw the monk
Fulk he wished to repay past generosity. But since much time had
passed and Anquetil had deposited the treasures foolishly they had
the greatest difficulty in recovering even a few of the poorer objects
that he had been given in Apulia. With difficulty they secured the
silver chalice and two chasubles, an elephant's tooth, and a griffin's
claw and a few other things. So the monks summoned Anquetil to
judgement in the court of St. Evroul for his dishonesty; and
3
Richard vicomte of A vranches was son of Toustain (Thurstan) Goz and
father of Hugh earl of Chester.
 f
BOOK III
adiuuandum eum affuerunt. Sed monachis rationabiliter con-
querentibus iusto iudicio determinatur:i est:' ut omnem feudui:;n
quam ipse de sancto Ebrulfo tenebat ~m1tt.eret.1 Tandem suad~nt1-
bus amicis utriusque partis concordia tahs facta est. Anschetillus
reatum suum palam confessus uadimo~i~m abba~i ~eoderico
dedit, monachis ut sui misererentur hum1hter supphcamt, et pro
recompensatione damni quod illis per ignauiam suam fec~rat,
Vticensis burgi terciam partem quam ex paterna hrered1tate
habuerat sancto Ebrulfo coram multis testibus concessit, et
donation~m per unam pallam ex serico uncle cappa c~ntoris facta
est super altare posuit. Monachi igitur p!etate motl errata sua
clementer ei indulserunt et omnem rehquum feudum suum
prreter hoc quod amico~um persuasior:ie obtule~~: .b~nigniter
permiserunt. Ipse non multo post Apuham expetut. 1b1que oc-
cisus est.
ii. 61 Antiquus hostis nunquam cessat recclesire quietem uariarum
stimulis temptationum impugnare:' et per eos. quos P?test mun-
danre uanitati subiugare, in simplicitate cathohcre fide1 prudenter
uigilantes et in uirtutum culmine uiriliter st.ante~ atro~iter .mole-
stare. V nde dum uidisset regulare monastenum m Vticens1 saltu
opitulante Deo surrexisse, et Teodericum abbatem in ~erbo et
operatione multis animabus iuuenum atque senum opp1do pr?:
desse ..1 exardescens inuidia qua prothoplastum Adam per uet1ti
fructus gustum de paradiso expuliU Rodbertum priorem contra
abbatem suum post discessum Willelmi Geroiani . insolen~er
excitauit, magnaque dissensione diu perdurante mobiles sub1e-
ctorum animos grauiter inquietauit. Erat idem Rodbertus ut
superius satis dictum est prreclarre nobilitatis frater scilicet
Hugo~is de Grentemaisnillio, c~i adh~c. inerat iuu.enilis leuitas .~t
indom1tum robur atque sreculans amb1t10. In cast1tate atque alus
quibusdam sacris karismatibus erat laudabilis ..1 sed e contra ut
Flaccus ait
Nichil est ab omni parte beatum, 2
in nonnullis reatibus erat reprehensibilis. Nam in bonis seu malis
qure cupiebat uelox ad peragendum erat ac feruidus ..1 et auditis siue
uisis qure nolebat ad irascendum festinus, magisque prre~sse quam
subesse et imperare potius quam obsecundare cup1dus. Ad
accipiendum atque ad dandum apertas habebat manus:' et os
promptum furori suo satisfacere inordinatis faminibus. Et quia
ii. 6 2 ipse ut dictum est excelsre generositatis lampade renitebat, et ex
1 For the court of St. Evroul see Haskins, Norman Institutions (Harvard,
1925), p. 24.
2 Horace, Odes ii. 16, 11. 27-28.
BOOK III 65
Jords came to support him the reasonable plea of the monks pre-
vailed, and he was justly condemned to lose the whole fief he held
of St. Evroul. 1 Finally, through the mediation of friends this
agreement was made between the two parties: Anquetil publicly
confessed his guilt, gave pledges to Abbot Thierry, and humbly
begged the monks for pardon; and as compensation for the loss
they had sustained through his fault he granted to St. Evroul
before many witnesses a third part of the town of Ouche, which he
had as his inheritance from his father, in token of which he laid
on the altar a silken cloth which was used to make a cope for the
cantor. Moved by this pious gift the monks charitably forgave his
misdeeds, and graciously allowed him to keep the whole of his fief
except the part that he had surrendered by the amicable compro-
mise. Soon afterwards he went back to Apulia and was killed there.
The old enemy never ceases to disturb the peace of the Church
with every kind of trial, and uses those who are moved by worldly
ambition to torment the men who fight single-mindedly for the
catholic faith and make a brave stand for the cause of virtue. So
when he saw that a Benedictine monastery had, by the help of
God, been established in the forest of Ouche, and that the abbot
Thierry was by his teaching and example leading the souls of
young and old to salvation, he was consumed with the same
envy that caused the first man Adam to be expelled from para-
dise for tasting the forbidden fruit. After the departure of William
Giroie he incited Prior Robert to oppose his abbot in every way,
and through protracted and serious dissension to distract the
impressionable monks. For this Robert, as I have explained, was
very highly born, being a brother of Hugh of Grandmesnil; he
had still the shallowness of youth together with tremendous
energy and worldly ambition. He deserved praise for his chastity
and certain other spiritual gifts; but unfortunately as Horace says:
'Nothing that is is good in every part', 2
and he had some grievous failings. For if he thought anything,
whether good or bad, desirable, he was after it at once; and if he
saw or heard anything which displeased him he flew into a rage;
he preferred to lead rather than to follow, and to command rather
than to obey. Open-handed in both giving and receiving he was
quick to express his anger in violent utterance. And because a~
I said he was conspicuous for his generosity, for he had both
822204 F
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i I
66 BOOK III
patrimonio suo crenobium illud fundauerat, et collectis undecun-
que ad cultum Dei fratribus subsidiisque necessariis procuratis
ditauerat..i ideo regularis disciplinre iugo in nouella domo coherceri
non poterat. Frequenter itaque patri suo clam detrahebat...i eo quod
ipse uir Dei plus spiritualibus quam srecularibus negociis intende-
bat. N onnunquam aperte cum eo litigabat, et nonnullas eius
constitutiones de rebus exterioribus simpliciter factas uituperabat.
Vnde seruus Dei plerunque ad Sagiense asilum secedebat..i ibique
sex uel octo septimanis habitabat ..i et in pace opus Dei faciebat,
hominumque salutem pro posse suo diligenter procurabat. Sic
expectabat emendationem contumeliosi fratris ..i et implebat
apostoli prreceptum dicentis, 'Date locum irre'. 1 Sed postquam
rancorem et scandala non deficere sed magis ad detrimenta
fratrum augeri perspexit...i Willelmo duci Normannorum pastora-
lem baculum cum tota abbatia reddere uoluit. Dux autem sagaci
usus consilio..i omnem huius rei ordinationem iniunxit Maurilio
Rotomagensium archiepiscopo .. i ut causam dissensionis sollicite
indagaret, et quid agendum esset cum consilio sapientium recte
diffiniret.
Anno itaque dominicre incarnationis MLVI 0 indictione vma
i. residente in sede apostolica Victore papa, Henricus cognomento
I
Bonus Imperator Romanorum filius Cononis 2 imperatoris obiit,
i eique Henricus filius eius successit, et annis quinquaginta regnauit.
I: ii. 63 Eodem anno Maurilius episcopus et Fulbertus 3 sophista con-
siliarius eius, et Hugo Luxouiensis episcopus et Ansfridus Pratel-
lensis abbas, atque Lanfrancus Beccensium prrepositus et alii
plures profundre sagacitatis uiri Vticum conuenerunU ibique
sollemnitatem sanctorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli iii kal. iulii 0
celebrauerunt. Tune auditis et sollerter discussis dissensionum
fomentis Teodericum abbatem ut hactenus extiterat prreesse
iusserunU Rodbertum uero priorem ut paupertatem Christi
sequeretur patrique suo spirituali pro Deo humiliter in omnibus
obtemperaret copiosa sermocinatione admonuerunt. Deinde prre-
fatis monitoribus ad propria redeuntibus, Vticensis grex ali-
quantulum in pace quieuit..i sed post unum annum comperta
Willelmi Geroiani morte iterum rediuiua lis surrexit et discordia
corporum animarumque saluti contraria crenobitas ualde tur-
bauit. Amator autem pacis Teodericus undique angustiatus est.
Nam apud Sagi um nequibat animarum saluti proficere ..i nee cellam
I ibi ceptam a Rogerio et uxore eius ad perfectionem erigere..i quia
i
I i 1 Romans xii. 19.
I• i was harried on all sides. He could neither carry on his spiritual
2 An alternative form of Conrad.
3 Probably Fulbert who occurs as bishop's chancellor in deeds of c. 1045 and
before 1056 (GCxi. instr. 121; Cart. St. Pere-de-Chartres, ed. Guerard, p. 176).
i
BOOK III
founded the abbey out of his patrimony and, after the brethren
had been gathered together for the worship of God, had procured
the endowments necessary to enrich them, nothing could make
him accept regular discipline in the newly founded community.
He often secretly criticized the holy abbot, his father, because he
was more concerned with spiritual than secular affairs. At times
he openly attacked him and disparaged some of his decisions on
administrative matters which were a little unworldly. So the man
of God frequently took refuge at Seez, where he would remain for
six or eight weeks, worshipping God in peace and striving after
his own fashion for the salvation of men. In this way he awaited
a change of heart in his quarrelsome brother and fulfilled the pre-
cept of the apostle which says, 'Give place unto wrath'. 1 But when
he saw that the ill-feeling and disorder, far from abating, were
actually increasing to the great harm of the community, he wished
to give back his pastoral staff and the whole abbey to William duke
of Normandy. The duke, however, after taking sound advice
entrusted the settlement of the whole affair to Maurilius archbishop
of Rouen, who was to inquire carefully into the cause of dispute,
take good counsel, and determine what ought to be done.
In the year of Our Lord 1056, the eighth Indiction, whilst
Victor was pope, Henry called the Good, Emperor of the Romans
and son of the Emperor Conrad, 2 died and was succeeded by his
son Henry who reigned for fifty years. In the same year Bishop
Maurilius, the learned Fulbert3 his counsellor, Hugh bishop of
Lisieux, Ansfrid abbot of Preaux, Lanfranc prior of Bee, and
many other men of sound judgement came to St. Evroul and there
celebrated the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul on 29 June.
After hearing and carefully discussing the causes of disagreement
they commanded Abbot Thierry to retain his authority, and with
lengthy arguments admonished Prior Robert to imitate the poverty
of Christ and humbly obey his spiritual father, who was God's
servant, in all things. After these mentors had gone home the
community at St. Evroul enjoyed peace for a little while; but after
·'a year, when news came of William Giroie's death, renewed strife
broke out; and the convent was rent with dissension which
endangered both bodies and souls. The lover of peace, Thierry,
work at Seez, nor complete the establishment of the cell which
had been founded there by Roger and his wife, because they were
:
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68 BOOK III
ipsi pluribus srecularium rerum curis tune occupabantur:' et
ab inimicis suis undique impugnabantur. Apud Vticum sibi uel
aliis affatim ut uellet prodesse non poterat:' propter importuni-
tates quas a quibusdam potentioribus monachis illatas tolera-
bat. Tandem postquam diu secum quid secundum Deum ageret
deliberauit.J omnia relinquere et sepulchrum Domini in Jerusalem
adire decreuit.
Deinde iv0 kal. septembris de Sagio ubi tune diu moratus fuerat
ii. 64 Vticum uenit, conuocatis in capitulum fratribus uoluntatem suam
aperuit, omnes admonuit, absoluit, benedixit, Deoque commen-
dauit. Postea Luxouium adiit, et Hugoni episcopo a quo ualde
amabatur curam animarum reddidit, sicque multis flentibus
amicis sanctam peregrinationem pro Christo suscepit. Herbertus
autem de Monasteriolo primus monacus quern ipse in Vticensi
recclesia susceperat cum eo peregre profectus est:' et Willelmus
clericus cognomento Bona Anima Radbodi Sagiensis episcopi
filius qui succedenti tempore Rotomagensem metropolim fere
xxxvi annis nactus est. 1
In diebus illis erat quoddam honorabile xenodochium 2 in con-
finio Baioariorum et Hunorum..13 quad fideles et potentes Christi-
ani de circumiacentibus prouinciis instituerant ad susceptionem
pauperum et peregrinorum. Tune Ansgotus Normannus huic
xenodochio electione indigenarum prreerat. Is nimirum Rogerii
Toenitis qui Hispanicus uocabatur cognatus erat, et sub ducibus
Normannorum Ricardo et Rodberto nobiliter militauerat, sed
timore Dei compunctus omnia mundi reliquerat, et peregrina-
tionem atque spontaneam paupertatem omni uita sua tenendam
pro Christo arripuerat. Hie ut Teodericum abbatem cum sociis
suis uidit, optime recognouit, et aliquot diebus ut compatriotas
amicabiliter retinuit, atque omnem humanitatem eis exhibuit.
ii. 65 Interea quidam religiosus Baioariorum pontifex peregre pro-
ficiens illuc aduenit:' quern hospitalis Ansgotus cum omnibus
suis clientibus more solito uenerabiliter aliquot diebus ibidem reti-
nuit. Deinde uenerabilem Teodericum cum suis pedissequis ei
suppliciter commendauit..i et quantre sanctitatis apud Deum et
sublimitatis erga homines in sua patria esset luculenter enarrauit.
Prresul autem audita uiri sanctitate Dea gratias egit, eumque ut
decebat tantum uirum benigniter suscepit.1 secumque reuerenter
1
Gundulf, later bishop of Rochester, accompanied William Bonne-Ame on
this pilgrimage. The Vita Gundulfi (Wharton, Anglia Sacra, ii. 274-5) gives
a very brief account of the difficulties of the journey, but does not mention
Thierry's death.
2
At Melk.
;i Orderic uses the term 'Huns' very loosely, probably here to describe the
BOOK III
too taken up with temporal cares and attacked by too many
enemies. At St. Evroul he could do nothing for the salvation of
others or himself because of the insolence which he endured from
some of the more influential monks. Finally, after he had long
pondered in his soul how best to serve God he determined to
abandon everything and go on a pilgrimage to the tomb of Our
Lord in Jerusalem.
So on 29 August he returned to St. Evroul after a long stay at
Seez, and announced his decision to the assembled brethren in the
chapter house; he gave them good counsel, absolved and blessed
them and commended them to God. Afterwards he went to
Lisieux and gave up his pastoral charge to Bishop Hugh, who
loved him dearly; and leaving his many friends mourning his
departure he set out on his holy pilgrimage for the love of Christ.
With him went Herbert of Montreuil, the first monk he had pro-
fessed in the church of St. Evroul, and William the clerk, called
Bonne-Ame, son of Radbod bishop of Seez, who later occupied the
archbishopric of Rauen for nearly thirty-six years. 1
In those days there was a certain fine hospital 2 on the frontiers
of the lands of the Bavarians and Huns,3 which had been founded
by wealthy Christians from the neighbouring provinces for the
entertainment of pilgrims and the poor. At this time a Norman
named Ansgot had been elected by the denizens as prior of the
hospital. He was related to Roger of Tosny, called the Spaniard,
and had served with distinction under the dukes of Normandy,
Richard and Robert; but fearing God he forsook the things of the
world for Christ's sake and gave up his life to pilgrimage and
voluntary poverty. When he saw Abbot Thierry and his com-
panions he welcomed them with open arms; and for several days
entertained his fellow-countrymen, showing them every kindness.
At this time a certain holy bishop from Bavaria, who was setting
out on a pilgrimage, arrived at the hospice and was entertained for
some days by Ansgot and his brethren with their accustomed
hospitality. Ansgot warmly recommended the blessed Thierry and
his attendants to him, and gave a glowing account of the abbot's
holy life and perfect conduct in his own country. When the bishop
learned of such sanctity he gave thanks to God, and gladly receiv-
ing the good man into his company he escorted him reverently to
Magyars. The conversion of the Magyars had opened the land route to the Holy
Land by way of the Danube; cf. Raoul Glaber (ed. M. Prou), III. i (p. 52).
 f
70 BOOK III
usque Antiochiam deduxit. Ibi diuersa peregrinis uoluntas oborta
est. Nam quidam eorum terrestre iter ut ceperant:' usque in
Ierusalem tenere uolebant. Alii uero barbariem gentium metu-
entes, 1 nauigio per pontum ire decreuerunt:' quorum consilio
pontifex et abbas aliique plures assensum prrebuerunt. Cumque
prresul nauem nautasque peritos perquireret, et quidam religiosus
archimandrita crenobii Sancti Symeonis in portu Syrire 2 Teo-
dericum cum suis comitibus honorabiliter detineret:' Herbertus
Vticensis monachus iter accelerandi desiderio fatigabatur, magis-
que per terram quam per mare sancta loca expetere nitebatur.
i Abbas itaque suus ei licentiam eundi quo uellet dedit. Ille autem
I
terrestre iter carpens cum turma peditum usque Laodiciam
peruenit:' ibique uehementer regrotans, sociis abeuntibus diu
remansit. Et postquam uix de lectulo surrexit.J non in antea pedem
tetendit, sed Eois partibus relictis occidentalem N ormanniam
quantocius repetiit.
'I Deinde prresul et Teodericus et Willelmus Bona Anima sociique
eorum in portu Sancti Symeonis nauem ascenderunt...J et sulcantes
requora in Ciprum insulam nauigauerunt, ibique in littore maris
ii. 66 abbatiam in honore Sancti Nicholai confessoris Mirreorum archi-
prresulis conditam inuenerunt.3 Cumque recclesiam introissent,
ibique prout crelestis gratia singulis inspirauerat Deum orassent:'
Teodericus post multas lacrimas de oratione surrexit, et labore
senectutis tedioque maris aliisque incommodis fractus in recclesia
anxius resedit. Tune ab episcopo sibi fidissimo comite quid sibi
contigisset cum interrogaretur:' respondit, 'Terrestrem Jerusalem
mi pater adire decreui.. J sed credo michi aliter a Domino disponi.
Anxietate corporis ualde crucior.J uncle celestem magis quam
terrestrem Jerusalem appetendam esse arbitror.' Cui episcopus ait,
'Ego karissime frater nunc ibo tibi hospitium procurare.J et tu
interim hie sedens requiesce.' Episcopus itaque hospitium sibi
querere perrexit:' et Teodericus ad altare accessit.J ibique diu
Deum cui ab infantia fideliter seruierat orauit. Deinde coram
altari se ad Orientem prostrauit, pannos circa se honeste
1 Only two or three years before Lietbert bishop of Cambrai and his com-
panions had been so discouraged by the difficulties of the route that they had
turned back at Lattakieh (Comte Riant, Inventaire critique des lettres histori'ques
des croisades (Paris, I 880 ), p. 5 3).
2 St. Symeon, at the mouth of the Orantes, was the port of Antioch.
3 Cf. Le Prevost, iii. 205-18, for an account of the translation of the relics of
St. Nicholas by the inhabitants of Bari in 1087. Orderic's interest in a saint
whose cult spread rapidly among the Normans must have been stimulated by
Thierry's death in this monastery. The whole account of Thierry's pilgrimage
and death was derived by Orderic from the traditions of his own monastery.
I
I
l
BOOK III 71
Antioch. Here there was some disagreement amongst the pilgrims
about the way they should take. For some wished to press on along
the land route all the way to Jerusalem; many others, the bishop
and abbot amongst them, preferred to go by sea for fear of the
barbarity of the peoples thereabouts. 1 So the bishop went in
search of a ship and crew, whilst Thierry and his companions
were entertained by the abbot of a Greek monastery in the Syrian
port of St. Symeon. 2 But Herbert, the monk of St. Evroul, was
impatient to be on his way and wished to make the journey to the
holy places by land rather than by sea. He received permission
from his abbot to take the route of his choice; and so setting out
along the land road with a host of foot pilgrims he reached
Lattakieh. Here, however, he fell dangerously ill and remained
behind long after his comrades had gone on. And when at last he
staggered from his bed he did not go on another foot, but left
the lands of the East and returned westward with all speed to
Normandy.
Thereafter the bishop, with Thierry, William Bonne-Ame, and
their attendants, embarked in the harbour of St. Symeon and
ploughed through the waves to the island of Cyprus. Here on
the sea-shore they came upon an abbey founded in honour of St.
Nicholas the confessor, archbishop of Myra.3 They entered the
church; and, after each had prayed to God according to the
heavenly grace that was in him, Thierry who had wept abundantly
rose from his knees; but worn out by old age, the trials of the
voyage, and other infirmities he sank down again exhausted in
the church. His faithful companion the bishop asked what ailed
him; to which he answered: 'I made plans to visit the earthly
Jerusalem, my father, but I believe that God has other plans for
me. My body is in great pain, and it seems that I should turn my
desires towards the heavenly rather than the earthly Jerusalem.'
Whereat the bishop replied: 'Dear brother, I will go and find
a lodging for you, and you shall rest here until my return.' Whilst
the bishop hastened to look for a lodging, Thierry went up to the
altar and prayed earnestly to God whom he had served faithfully
since his childhood. There before the altar he bowed himself
towards the East, and gathering his robes around him lay down
Mabillon's account in the Acta Sanctorum (Mab. AA.SS. vi (2), 127-36) is
based entirely on the Historia Ecclesiastica and the interpolations of Orderic in
William of Jumieges, which Mabillon believed to be an independent authority.
 F'
BOOK III
composuit, super dextrum latus recubans quasi dormire uolens
caput suum super marmoreum gradum reclinauit, manusque
super pectus in modum crucis aptauit sicque kal. augusti fide-
lem spiritum Deo creatori reddidit.
ii. 67 Episcopus autem hospicio prreparato ministrum hominis Dei
accersiit:1 eumque pro uiro Dei in recclesiam misit. Ille uero ut
seruum Dei defunctum in recclesia inuenit:' territus ad antistitem
rediit, euentumque insperatum tremulus retulit. Sed episcopus
uirum Dei tam subito migrasse non credens ait, 'Tedio maris
nimioque estu bonus senior ualde fatigatus est.J ideoque nunc in
refrigerio recclesire super frigidum marmor suaui sopore detentus
est. Eamus nunc eum uisitare.' Prresul itaque cum clericis suis in
recclesiam processit. Qui ut comparem suum diligenter tetigit,
eumque morte gelidum repperit:1 stupens condoluit. Mox omnes
peregrinos qui iam per diuersa hospitia prandere procurabant in
recclesia congregari pra!cepit.J indigenisque illius loci uitam defuncti
peregrini fideliter retulit. Illi uero comperta eius religione gauisi
sunt.J et obsequia sua impensasque creteris peregrinis benigniter
optulerunt. Deinde prresul defuncto exequias cum clericis suis
persoluit.J eique sepulturam ante portas recclesire a reliquis pere-
grinis fieri iussit. llli autem baculis suis ubi pontifex prreceperat
fossam fecerunt, ad defuncti glebam prresente antistite accesserunt:1
et deferre ad tumulandum uoluerunt. Sed nutu Dei ita corpus
aggrauatum est.J ut a loco dormitionis nullatenus moueri potuisset.
Quod cernens episcopus cum omnibus qui aderant ualde miratus
est.J diutinoque cum sociis stupentibus quid agerent tractatu
potitus est. Tandem diuina edoctus inspiratione dixit, 'Vir iste
magnre sanctitatis fuit:1 et uita eius ut nunc lucide manifestatur
Deo placuit. Vnde ut reor digniori loco debet sepeliri:' et a no bis
celebriori reuerentia pro posse nostro debet amodo tractari. Nunc
ii. 68 igitur ego cum clericis nostris pro anima eius diuinre maiestati
persoluam celebrationem missre.J uos autem iuxta altare congruam
ei sepulturam prreparate.' At illi libenter obrediere iubenti. Deinde
missa uenerabiliter finita, et fossa diligenter prreparata.J tumulan-
dum corpus sine grauamine sustulerunt.J et secus aram decenter
sepelierunt, ubi postmodum multi febribus aliisque incommodis
laborantes meritis eius sanati sunt.
BOOK III 73
on his right side like a man about to sleep, with his head leaning
against the marble step and his hands crossed on his breast. So on
the first of August he rendered up his faithful soul to God his creator.
Meanwhile the bishop had procured lodgings, and sent the holy
man's attendant to find him in the church. When this man dis-
covered the servant of God dead in the church he rushed back in
fear to the bishop, and trembling told him the grievous news. But
the bishop, who could not believe that the holy abbot had passed
away so suddenly, said, 'The discomforts of the voyage and the
excessive heat have exhausted the good old man, and now in the
shelter of the church he has fallen quietly asleep on the cool marble.
Let us go and find him.' So the bishop went to the church with
his clerks. But when he gently touched his companion and found
him stiff in death he marvelled and was filled with grief. He sent
word to all the pilgrims, who were already preparing for their meal
in the various inns, bidding them assemble in the church; and gave
a true account of the dead pilgrim's life to the country-people.
The knowledge of his holiness gladdened their hearts, and they
freely offered help and money to the other pilgrims. Then the
bishop and his clerks performed the last offices for the dead man,
and commanded the other pilgrims to prepare a burial place out-
side the door of the church. They dug a grave with their staves
where the prelate had commanded, and returning with the bishop
to the place where the earthly remains of the dead man lay they
attempted to take him up for burial. But God willed that the body
should become too heavy to be moved from the place where he
had fallen asleep. At this the bishop and all the other witnesses
wondered greatly; and for a long time he debated with his be-
wildered companions what ought to be done. Then, inspired by
the Holy Spirit, he said, 'This was a man of great sanctity; and
his life, as is now made manifest, was pleasing to God. And so
I believe he ought to be buried in a worthier place with all the
ceremony and reverence that we can show him. So now with the
help of my clergy I will offer up a mass for his soul to almighty
God; and you shall prepare a fitting tomb for him before the
altar.' Gladly they obeyed. When mass had been said with due
reverence, and the grave carefully prepared they lightly lifted up
his body for burial and decently interred it before the altar. There
in the years to come many who were suffering from fevers and
other sicknesses were healed by his merits.
 F
74 BOOK III
Vticenses autem monachi postquam reuerendi patris obitum
relatu sociorum eiusdem N ormanniam repetentium cognouerunt,
ualde contristati sunt..J et debitum pro anima eius seruitium Deo
fideliter celebrauerunt, et memoriam eius singulis annis usque
hodie kal. augusti celebriter exoluunt. Religiosa quoque instituta
qure ipse ex doctrina uenerabilium abbatum Ricardi Veredunensis
et Willelmi Diuionensis atque Teoderici Gemmeticensis didicerat,
et nouellre recclesire sibi commissre fideliter tradiderat: diligenti
1 Dijon, and Thierry of J umieges and brought with him when the
studio usque hodie obseruant, et nouiciis ad religionis conuer-
sationem conuersis sollerter insinuant.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLIX indictione xu .J Vticenses
Rodbertum de Grentemaisnilio sibi elegerunt abbatem..J rationa-
biliter considerantes in prrefati uiri electione multimodam com-
moditatem, tam propter eius prreclaram generositatem:' quam
propter ardentem monasticre rei procurationem et in agendis
rebus efficaciam et strenuitatem. Hunc itaque confirmato totius
ii. 69 congregationis consensu Ebroas duxerunt, ibique Willelmo duci
prresentauerunt..J eique monachorum electionem atque petitionem
intimauerunt. Dux autem eorum petitioni adquieuit, et prrefato
uiro qui electus erat per cambutam Iuonis episcopi Sagiensis
exteriorem abbatire potestatem tradidit..J Willelmus uero Ebroi-
censis episcopus interiorem animarum curam per pontificalem
benedictionem xi0 kal. iulii spiritualiter commendauit. Rodbertus
itaque iam abbas effectus res monasterii diligenter coepit tractare.J
et ex parentum suorum diuitiis necessarium semis Dei subsidium
sufficienter administrare. Iustas obseruationes quas pius prrede-
cessor eius instituerat non solum non imminuit..J sed etiam pro
ratione et tempore auctoritate maiorum uel exemplo uicinorum
percitus augmentauit. I pse quidem dum adhuc neophitus erat,
permissu uenerabilis Teoderici Cluniacum perrexerat..J ubi tune
monasticre phalangi Hugo abbas temporibus nostris speciale
monachorum decus pneerat. Vnde dum post aliquot tempus red-
iret, magnanimi Hugonis munificentia Bernefridum illustrem
monachum qui postmodum episcopus factus est secum adduxit..J
eumque ut mores Cluniacensium Vticensibus intimaret aliquandiu
honorifice retinuit. 1 Sub eo ad conuersationem Mainerius Gun-
scelini de Escalfoio filius ueniU qui post aliquot annos eiusdem
ccenobii regimen suscepit, annisque xxi et mensibus vii utiliter
tenuit.
Eodem tempore Rodulfus cognomento Mala-Corona Vticum
uenit, ibique cum Rodberto abbate suo uidelicet nepote diutius
1
St. Evroul was an autonomous abbey, and never had any constitutional
ties with Cluny, or shared in its exemption privileges. But because of this
imitation of Cluniac custom and other personal contacts it has often been
BOOK III 75
When the news of the reverend father's death was brought back
to Normandy by his companions, the monks of St. Evroul mourned
deeply. They performed the offices due for the repose of his soul,
and his obit has been observed ever since on the first of August.
The monks, moreover, still preserve with loving care the religious
customs which he learned from Richard of Verdun, William of
new church was committed to his care. All novices are carefully
instructed in them.
In the year of Our Lord rn59, the twelfth Indiction, the monks
of St. Evroul elected Robert of Grandmesnil as their abbot. There
were sound reasons for the choice: the monks respected Robert
for his noble birth and tireless energy on behalf of the monastery,
and his industry and ability as an administrator. After unanimously
acclaiming his election the monks escorted him to Evreux and
presented him to Duke William informing him o~ their election
and desire for his approval. The duke granted their request, and
invested the elect with temporal authority by means of the pastoral
staff of I vo bishop of Seez. William bishop of Evreux gave him
episcopal blessing and entrusted him with the cure of souls on
21 June. From the moment that he became abbot Robert gave
his mind to the business of the monastery and provided support
for the servants of God from the wealth of his kindred. He re-
spected and preserved the monastic observances established by his
pious predecessor; and further added to them as time and circum-
stances required, stimulated by the example of the fathers and the
practices of neighbouring houses. He himself as a novice had
received permission from the venerable Thierry to visit Cluny
when Abbot Hugh, the chief luminary of the monks of our day,
was at the head of the community. After he had spent some time
there, Hugh generously allowed him to bring back Bernfrid,
a worthy monk who later became a bishop, to reside in the
monastery and instruct the monks of St. Evroul in the customs of
Cluny. 1 It was during this term of office that Mainer, son of
Gunscelin of Echauffour, abandoned the world; later he became
abbot and ruled capably for twenty-one years and sev~n months.
About that time Ralph 'Ill-tonsured' came to St. Evroul and
resided for a long time with Abbot Robert, his nephew. He, as
regarded as an abbey that was Cluniac in spirit. Cf. Hans Wolter, Ordericus
Vitalis, pp. 38-40.
 tU!
BOOK lit
habitauit. Hie nimirum ut paulo superius breuiter meminimus ab
infantia litteris affatim studuit..1 et Gallire Italireque scrutando
ii. 70 scolas secretarum indaginem rerum insigniter attigit. Nam in
grammatica et dialectica.1 in astronomia quoque nobiliter eruditus
est et musica. Physicre quoque scientiam tam copiose habuit, ut
in urbe Psalernitana ubi maxime medicorum scolre ab antiquo
tempore habentur.1 neminem in medicinali arte prreter quandam
sapientem matronam sibi parem inueniret. 1 At quamuis tanta
litterarum peritia polleret, non tamen ocio sed militire labori diu
mancipatus est..1 et tam manu quam consilio in bellico discrimine
prreclarus inter coessentes suos multoties probatus est. Multa
adhuc qure nobis mira uidentur Mosterolenses referunt..1 qure de
subtilibus experimentis eius contra morbos uel alios insperatos
euentus uel ipsi uiderunt, uel a patribus suis quibus ipse longa
comitate notissimus fuit audierunt. Ipse tandem titubantis mundi
ruinam metuens, et prudenti tergiuersatione prrecauens:' sreculi
luxu calcato Maius Monasterium sancti Martini Turonensis ex-
petiit, et sub Alberto uenerabili abbate monachili regulre septem
annis militauit. Qui postquam in ordine confirmatus fuiU abbate
suo permittente Vticum uenit, nepotem scilicet solatiari suum qui
iam nouellre regimen recclesire suscepit. Et quia idem heros pro
multis flagitiis quibus se grauiter onustum sentiebat, a Domino
morbum leprre multis precibus sibi obtinuerat:' quandam in
honore sancti Ebrulfi constructam capellam a nepote suo recepit,
ii. 71 ibique Goscelinum monachum ad Dei seruitium suique solacium
habens plurimo tempore deguit..1 multisque qui ad eum pro
sapientia et nobilitate sua confluebant consilio pietatis profuit.
Ipso multum hortante Rodbertus abbas Hugonem Luxoui-
ensem episcopum monachorum fidelem magistrum et patremz
accersiit..1 a quo prredictam capellam in honore sanctorum confes-
sorum Ebrulfi, Benedicti, Mauri, et Leudfredi secundo nonas
Maii dedicari fecit. 3 Tradunt hanc recclesiam a temporibus san-
cti Ebrulfi conditam fuisse .1 ipsumque dum supernre ardentius
inherere uolebat theorire, intermissis exterioribus curis ad ipsam
confugere solitum fuisse. Locus ipse est amenus et solitarire uitre
satis congruus. Nam in ualle riuus sterilis Carentonre defluit:' et
Luxouiensem episcopatum ab Ebroicensi dirimit. In cacumine
1
This lady may have been legendary; a story of a very learned lady of
Salerno also occurs later in 'Les dous amanz' in the version of Marie de France.
See Bibliotheca Normannica, ed. Karl Warnke, iii (Halle, 1900), 117 (cited
E. M. Jamison, Proc. Brit. Acad. xxiv (1938), pp. 275-6).
2
Orderic's high opinion of Hugh bishop of Lisieux was shared by William
of Poitiers, who knew him well (Foreville, pp. 136-42).
3 members of Abbot Robert's family. His half-sisters Judith and Emma took the
The chapel of St. Evroul in its early years seems to have served not only as
BOOK III 77
I related briefly above, had been a passionate student of letters
from an early age and had visited the schools of Gaul and Italy to
pursue his investigations in~o th~ mysteries of things. H~ was very
learned in grammar and dialectic, astronomy and music; and so
skilled in medicine that in the city of Salerno, which is the ancient
seat of the best medical schools, no one could equal him except one
very learned woman. 1 But although he was so widely read he
spent much time out of the study in the battlefield, and many
times proved himself foremost among his fellows in both strategy
and feats of arms. The natives of Montreuil still tell remarkable
tales of his skill in treating the victims of disease and accident, both
from their own knowledge and from the accounts of their fathers,
amongst whom he had lived for many years and enjoyed great
repute. But in the end, fearing that the cities of the world were
built on sand, and wisely turning his back on them, he spurned
earthly glory and became a monk under Abbot Albert in Mar-
moutier, the abbey of St. Martin at Tours, where he remained
for seven years of strenuous discipline. After he had taken his
final vows he received permission from his abbot to come to St.
Evroul and help his nephew, who had just undertaken the rule
of the new church. And because this brave Christian felt that his
sins were a grievous burden to him, he implored God to afflict him
with leprosy: when at last his prayer was answered his nephew
granted him a chapel built in honour of St. Evroul. Here he lived
for a long time with a monk named Goscelin to act as his com-
panion and assist him in the divine office, giving holy counsel to
the many who, hearing of his wisdom and fame, flocked to see him.
At his insistence Abbot Robert visited Hugh bishop of Lisieux,
a faithful teacher and father to the monks, 2 and asked him to
dedicate the chapel to the honour of St. Evroul, St. Benedict, St.
Maur, and St. Leutfrid, confessors, on 6 May. 3 The tradition is
that this chapel had been founded in the lifetime of St. Evroul,
and whenever the saint wished to give himself up wholly to divine
contemplation he used to put aside worldly cares and take refuge
there. It is a blessed spot, well-fitted for a life of solitude. The
river Carenton flows through a barren valley, dividing the
bishoprics of Lisieux and Evreux. High on the hills a dense wood
a retreat for monks needing a more solitary life, but also as a place of refuge for
veil here before they followed him to Italy. See below, pp. 102-4.
 BOOK III
uero montis silua crebris frondibus uentorum flabra suscipit:' in
decliuo autem montis inter riuum et siluam uiridiarium recclesiam
circumcingit. Ante portas recclesire Vticus fons oritur.J a quo omnis
circumiacens regio Vticensis dicitur.
Ne miretur quis quod Luxouiensium prresulem in Ebroicensi
prresulatu dedicationem fecisse diximus. 1 In diebus illis tres
generosi prresules magnreque ciuilitatis:' tribus prreerant con-
terminis parrochiis. Hugo Willelmi Aucensis comitis filius prreerat
Luxouiensibus, et Willelmus Gerardi Fleitelli filius recclesiastica
ii. 72 iura dabat Ebroicensibus.J et Iuo Willelmi Belesmensis filius reter-
nre salutis curam exhibebat Sagiensibus. Hi tres in N ormannia tune
maxime pollebant diuini cultus feruore, et unanimi consensu tan-
toque nectebantur amore.J ut quisquis eorum in diocesi confinis
sui uelut in propria prout tempus et ratio poscebat omne diuinum
opus exerceret sine litigio et liuore.
Stimulante Sathana qui nunquam humano generi nocere
desistit.J nimia inter Francos et Normannos seditio exarsit. Nam
Henricus rex Francorum et Goisfredus Martellus fortissimus
Andegauensium comes N ormannorum fines cum forti manu
intrauerunt.J et detrimenta quamplurima N ormannis intulerunt. 2
Porro Willelmus acerrimus dux N ormannorum iniurias multoties
non segniter ultus est. Nam plerosque Gallorum et Andegauensium
cepit, nonnullos occidit.J multos autem in carcere diu clausos
affiixit. Qui singulos conflictus et dampna qure sibi uicissim
intulerunt diligenter uoluerit perscrutari:' legat libros Willelmi
Gemmeticensis crenobitre cognomento Calculi, et Willelmi Picta-
uini Lexouiensis recclesire archidiaconi.J qui de gestis Norman-
norum studiose scripserunt, et Willelmo iam regi Anglorum
fauere cupientes prresentauerunt.
Sub ea tempestate3 Rodbertus Geroii filius contra Willelmum
1
In the region of St. Evroul diocesan boundaries were by no means clearly
defined in the early eleventh century, and the reorganization of the hierarchy, with
the establishment of distinct territorial archdeaconries, was only slowly achieved
after the disorders of Duke William's minority. See Douglas, 'Les eveques de
Nonpandie (1035-1066)' in Anna/es de Normandie, viii (1958), 94-102. Although
St. Evroul had rights of exemption, at least in the parishes of Echauffour and
Montreuil (Lemarignier, Exemption, p. 284, and above, p. 26), which at
a later date would have entitled the abbot to ask a bishop other than his diocesan
to perform acts of consecration, it is likely that the arrangements about 1060
still reflected the more informal conditions of the early stages of reorganization.
2
This paragraph covers a number of years. Henry I and Geoffrey count of
Anjou had become reconciled by 15 August 1052 (Douglas, WC, p. 387;
Soehm~e, Catalogue des Actes d'Henri I, no. 91). Whilst Henry l's invasion of
Normandy was repulsed at Mortemer in February 1054, war along the borders
of Maine continued for many years. Geoffrey of Anjou died in 1060, and in
1063 Duke William conquered Maine, but could not pacify it (see William of
BOOK III 79
breaks the violence of the gales; below the wood, where the hill
slopes down towards the stream, stands the church surrounded
by an orchard. The source of the river Ouche, which gives its
name to the whole region, bubbles up at the door of the church.
No one need be surprised to hear of the bishop of Lisieux
dedicating a church in the bishopric of Evreux. 1 At that time three
prelates of high birth and great statesmanship governed the three
neighbouring sees. Hugh, son of William count of Eu, governed
Lisieux; William son of Gerard Fleitel dispensed ecclesiastical
justice in Evreux, and I vo son of William of Belleme had the cure
of souls at Seez. These three were remarkable in Normandy for
their religious zeal and perfect agreement; so great was their
mutual affection that any one of them might perform any religious
function in his neighbour's diocese, as time and circumstances
required, without envy or litigation, as he would in his own.
Satan, who never ceases to molest the human race, now stirred
up great enmity between the French and the Normans. Henry,
king of the French, and Geoffrey Martel, the valiant count of
Anjou, invaded Norman territory with a powerful army, wreaking
havoc among the Normans ;2 whereat William, most warlike duke
of the Normans, took swift and thorough vengeance. Of the
French and Angevins who fell into his hands he slew some, and
threw many others into prison where they suffered long. But those
who wish to know the details of the conflicts and injuries which
each side inflicted on the other may read about them in the books
of William called Calculus of Jumieges and William of Poitiers
archdeacon of Lisieux, who carefully recorded the deeds of the
Normans and, after William became king of England, dedicated
their works to him to gain his favour.
About this time3 Robert son of Giroie rebelled against Duke
Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 58-84); William of Jumieges (Marx, pp. 129-31);
Halphen, Anjou, pp. 76-80; Latouche, Maine, pp. 31-36).
3 Though the exact date of Robert Giroie's resistance is uncertain the siege
of St. Ceneri must have been about 1059-60. Latouche (Maine, p. 61 n. 6)
dates it 1054, on the basis of this passage in Orderic; but plainly Orderic's
previous paragraph refers to events spread over several years. Robert died on
6 February, most probably in the year 1060. Orderic speaks of his uhcle Robert
of Grandmesnil (consecrated 21 June 1059) as abbot at the time; and since there
was a period of reconciliation before Duke William disinherited Arnold of
Echauffour and drove Robert out of St. Evroul early in 1061, the year 1061
would be too late. Since Robert's wife, Adelaide, was a kinswoman of Duke
William it is possible that she did poison him, though tales of poisoning were
widespread and not always true (cf. Douglas, WC, Appendix F, pp. 408-15). It
 ,a
80 BOOK III
ducem rebellauit..1 et accersitis Andegauensibus castra sua Sanctum
ii. 73 scilicet Serenicum et Rupem Ialgiensem fortiter muniuit, et contra
ducem cum N ormannico exercitu obsidentem aliquandiu tenuit.
Sed quia mortalium robur labile est subitoque ceu flos fceni marcet..1
prrefatus heros post innumeras probitates dum ad ignem in hieme
lretus sederet, coniugemque suam Adelaidem qure ducis conso-
brina erat quatuor mala manu gestare uideret..> duo ex illis fami-
liariter iocando ei rapuit, et nescius quod uenenata erant uxore
contradicente comedit. Qui mox ueneno infectus est..1 et post quin-
que dies cum multo merore suorum viii0 idus februarii defunctus
est. Quo mortuo..1 Ernaldus Willelmi Geroiani filius in loco patrui
sui surrexit, oppidanos precibus monitisque corroborauiU ducique
uiriliter resistere pro paterna hrereditate imperauit. Cuius animosi-
tatem callidus dux blandis hortatibus leniuit..> pacemque secum
facere cum pluribus promissis persuasit. At ille consilio ab amicis
accepto duci adquieuit, eique fidelitatem fecit..> et ab eo Monaste-
riolum et Escalfoium ac Sanctum Serenicum totamque patrum
suorum hrereditatem recepit. Deinde Rodbertus abbas pace facta
a duce requisiuit.1 ut auunculi sui corpus quod apud Sanctum
Serenicum tribus septimanis humatum iacuerat, Vticum transferri
concederet. At ille hostilis odii memor primo denegauit..1 post-
modum erubescens quod in mortuum seuiret concessit. Mox
impiger abbas Rodberti Geroiani glebam in trunco Vticum
transtulit ..1 ibique in claustro monachorum honorifice sepeliuit.
Cuncti qui aderant mirabantur..1 quod nullus de corpore tribus iam
ii. 74 septimanis exanimi fcetor sentiretur. Tradunt quidam quod uis
ueneni quo idem interierat ..1 omnem defuncti cadaueris humorem
exsiccauerat, ideoque nullus inde fretor uiuorum naribus effundi
moleste poterat.
Redeunte ad naturale ius Ernaldo Vticenses monachi gauisi sunt..>
et in uicinos insolentes qui inermes iniuste opprimebant illius ope
erecti sunt. Temporibus Teoderici abbatis et Rodberti successoris
eius Baldricus et Wigerius de Balgenzaio et homines sui contra
monachos insolenter agebant, et non solum eis ut dominis [non]a
obediebant..> uerum etiam plurimis inquietudinibus ipsos homi-
i
I I nesque eorum sepius contristabant. Quod Rodbertus postquam
abbatire regimen suscepit..> diutius ferre indignum duxit. Nam
accepto fratrum consilio prrefatos rebelles pro contumacia sua
Ernaldo consanguineo suo tradidit..> ut ipse ceruicositatem eorum
a non inserted in the margin in a later hand.
is just possible that the year was 1059 when Robert, though not yet abbot, was
in charge of the community after Thierry's departure for Jerusalem (cf. below,
p. 84 n. 3).
l
BOOK III 81
William, and with Angevin aid fortified his castles of St. Ceneri
and La Roche-Mabile. For a while he held them against the duke,
who invested them with his Norman forces. But human strength
is transient and withers as the flower of grass. When this brave
warrior, who had survived many conflicts, was sitting peacefully
at the winter fireside, he noticed that his wife Adelaide, the duke's
kinswoman, had four apples in her hand; playfully he snatched
two of them not knowing they were poisoned, and ate them in
spite of her protests. The poison spread through his body, and
five days later, on 6 February, he died lamented by his followers.
After his death Arnold son of William Giroie rose up in his uncle's
place, and by prayers and threats won the townspeople to his side
and compelled them to defend his paternal inheritance against the
duke. But the wily duke broke down his enmity with smooth
words and fair promises, and induced him to make peace. So on
the advice of his friends he submitted to the duke and did homage
to him, receiving from him Montreuil, Echauffour, St. Ceneri, and
all his paternal inheritance. When he and the duke had made peace
Abbot Robert asked that the body of his uncle which had lain
buried for three weeks at St. Ceneri might be carried to St.
Evroul. He at first, cherishing his hatred, refused this; but after-
wards, ashamed of such vindictiveness towards a dead man, gave
way. Forthwith the resolute abbot had the mortal remains of
Robert Giroie carried in a coffin to St. Evroul and decently buried
in the monks' cloister. All who were present were amazed that
there should be no offensive stench from a corpse three weeks old.
Some hold that the poison by which he perished had so dried up
the moisture in his body that no stench could escape to offend
the nostrils of the living.
The monks of St. Evroul rejoiced at Arnold's recovery of his
birthright, and welcomed his help against their aggressive neigh-
bours who never scrupled to persecute the helpless. In the time
of Abbots Thierry and Robert, Baudri and Viger of Bocquence
and their men made themselves a burden to the monks, refusing
to obey them as their lords and going so far as to inflict all kinds
of annoyances on them and their men. After Robert had taken
over the administration of the abbey he resolved that this was to
be endured no longer. Taking counsel with his brother monks he
handed over the obstinate rebels to his kinsman Arnold for life,
so that his secular arm might bend the stiff necks of men who had
822204 G
 l'
BOOK III
qui monachorum mansuetudinem pacifice pati dedignabantur
quamdiu uiueret, militari manu protereret. At ille multis diuersis-
que seruitiis eos aggrauauit: et ipsos hominesque eorum munitiones
1
suas apud Escalfoium et Sanctum Serenicum custodire coegit. 1
I I Vnde illi Rodbertum abbatem et monachos obnixe petierunt: ut 1
iterum potestati eorum restitui mererentur, promittentes eis
omnem subiectionem et emendationem. Abbas uero cum monachis
eorum precibus adquieuit:1 et Ernaldum ut eos recclesire seruituti
qure humilibus et mansuetis uere libera est redderet petiit. His
I!
diebus Rogerius primogenitus Engenulfi de Aquila filius occisus
est. De cuius morte Engenulfus et Richuereda uxor eius ualde
affiicti Vticum uenerunt:' et beneficium atque orationes mona-
ii. 75 chorum pro sua filiique sui Rogerii salute petierunt et receperunt,
optimumque eiusdem Rogerii equum Deo et monachis pro eius
anima optulerunt. Hunc ergo equum quia preciosus erat Ernaldus
ut sibi donaretur petiit:1 et Baldricum hominesque suos et terram
j de Balgenzaio pristinre monachorum potestati concessit. Quod et
I
ita factum est. Ernaldus equum consobrini sui Rogerii a Rodberto
abbate accepit:' et Baldricum totamque terram de Balgenzaio
recclesire dominio reddidit. Baldricus autem quod grauia Ernaldi
seruitia euaserat gaudens dominatum suum quern in uilla sancti
Ebrulfi habebat monachis dedit:' et terram quam supra riuulum
Ductus Villaris habebat et terram Normanni Micre et Benigni
tradidit. Tune Baldricus Rodberto abbati iunctis manibus
fidelitatem fecit, et subiectionem iusticiamque de se suisque
hominibus promisit, et summopere ne honorem eius de potestate
monachorum amplius proiceret poposcit. Hoc itaque monachis
confirmantibus ratum fuit:1 et tam ipse quam Rodbertus filius eius
usque in hodiernum diem pro terra de Balgenzaio solummodo
monachis militauit.
Vticensis quippe abbatia in feudo de Balgenzaio consistit:' et
sepefatus Baldricus magnre nobilitatis fuit. Nam Gislebertus
comes Brionnre nepos Ricardi ducis N ormannorum Baldrico
Teutonico qui cum Wigerio fratre suo in Normanniam uenerat
Ricardo duci seruire neptem suam in coniugium dedit:' ex qua
nati sunt sex filii et plures filire, Nicholaus scilicet de Bascheuilla et
ii. 76 Fulco de Alnou, Rodbertus de Curceio et Ricardus de Noua Villa,
Baldricus de Balgenzaio et Wigerius Apuliensis. 2 Hi nimirum sub
1 For the fief of Bocquence see above, p. 34 n. 1. It is plain from Orderic's
account that feudal obligations might vary from fee to fee, and that the con-
ditions of castle guard were not yet precisely defined. See Haskins, Norman
Institutions, pp. 19-21.
2 There are some discrepancies in the sources about the family of Baudri of
Bocquence which have led to difficulties. Although Orderic, following a charter
BOOK III 83
scorned to endure the light yoke of the monks. He soon piled all
kinds of oppressive services upon them, and forced them and their
men to perform castle guard at Echauffour and St. Ceneri. 1 In
consequence they besought Abbot Robert and the monks to take
them back under their authority, promising to be obedient and
amend their ways. The abbot and monks heeded their prayers
and asked Arnold to restore them to the service of the Church
which, to the humble and obedient, is perfect freedom. About this
time Roger, eldest son of Engelnulf of Laigle, was killed; and
Engelnulf with his wife Richvereda came in deep mourning to St.
Evroul, to beg for the fellowship and prayers of the monks for
themselves and their son. Their wish was granted and they offered
Roger's best horse to God and the monks for the good of his soul.
Since the horse was a magnificent beast Arnold asked for it as
a gift, offering in return to restore Baudri with his men and the
land of Bocquence to the monks. So it was arranged. Arnold
received his kinsman Roger's horse from Abbot Robert, and
restored Baudri and the whole land of Bocquence to the lordship
of the church. Baudri, thankful to be relieved from the oppressive
lordship of Arnold, gave the monks his holding in the vill of St.
Evroul and his land on the stream of Douet Villers and the land of
Norman Mica and Benignus. Then Baudri did homage, placing
his hands in those of Abbot Robert, promising obedience and suit
of court for himself and his men, and asking above all that his
honor should never again be alienated from the lordship of the
monks. This was granted and confirmed by the monks; and to this
day he and his son Robert after him have done military service to
the monks alone for the land of Bocquence.
The abbey of St. Evroul stands in the fee of Bocquence, and
this same Baudri was of high rank. For Gilbert count of Brionne,
nephew of Richard duke of Normandy, gave his niece in marriage
to Baudri the German, who with his brother Viger had come to
Normandy to serve Duke Richard. Six sons and several daughters
were born to her: Nicholas of Baqueville and Fulk of Aunou;
Robert of Courcy, Richard of N euville, Baudri of Bocquence, and
Viger of Apulia. 2 These men all throve in the service of Duke
of William I, describes Baudri as the son of Baudri the German, the king's archer,
a charter of Henry II calls him Baudri, son of Nicholas. Le Prevost, without
putting forward any evidence, identified him with Baudri de Guitri, whose
father's name was Nicholas (Le Prevost, iii. 248 n. 1). This seems quite un-
justifiable. Orderic was likely to be well-informed at least about the younger
 f
BOOK III
duce Willelmo magna strenuitate uiguerunt:' multisque diuiciis et
honoribus ab eo ditati fuerunt, et hreredibus suis amplas posses-
siones in N ormannia dimiserunt.
Baldricus qui honorem de Balgenzaio cum Wigerio fratre suo 1
possedit:' Helisabeth sororem suam Fulconi de Bonaualle strenuo
militi in coniugium dedit, et recclesiam sancti Nicholai 2 quam pater
suus construxerat cum adiacenti fundo in mariagio concessit.
Fulco autem futuri temporis memor Teodericum filium suum
quern Teodericus abbas de sacro fonte leuauerat Deo ad mona-
chatum in crenobio Vticensi optulit:' ipsumque puerum et prre-
fatam recclesiam sancti Nicholai pro anima sua amicorumque
suorum salute in prresentia Rodberti abbatis sancto Ebrulfo
concessit. Hoc etiam Baldricus et Wigerius et Willelmus de Bona-
ualle aliique parentes eorum gratanter concesserunt:' et ipsi aliique
multi qui affuerunt legitimi testes suprascriptre concessionis ad
utilitatem recclesire extiterunt. Tune RogeriusJ Tancredi de Alta-
uilla filius in Italiam pergens ibidem affuiU qui postea iuuante
Deo Siciliam magna ex parte optinuit, et Afros Siculosque et alias
gentes in Christum non credentes qure prrefatam insulam deuasta-
ii. 77 bant armis inuasit, protriuit et superauit. Puer autem Teodericus
mundo subtractus, Deoque donatus lvii annis in monachili
schemate uixit, et per singulos gradus usque ad sacerdotium
legitime ascendens honeste Deo militauit.
Eodem tempore Wido cognomento Bollein senioris Geroii
pronepos4 cum Hodierna coniuge sua in pago Corboniensi
honorabiliter uigebat:' et in ordine militari diuitiis ampliatus rem
suam honeste regebat. Huie erant plures filii, N ormannus et
Walterius qui militire laboribus deseruierunt.J Goisfredus quoque
et Willelmus cognomento Gregorius, qui litteris imbuti stemma
sacerdotii nacti sunt. Prrefatus Wido nutu Dei et instinctu Rod-
berti abbatis cognati uidelicet sui Vticenses multum dilexit, et
Willelmum filium suum qui tune ferme nouem annorum erat
mundo sibique abdicauiU Deoque sub monachili iugo in reccle-
sia Vticensi seruiturum in die festiuitatis omnium Sanctorum
generations of the family, since Baudri's nephew Thierry was a monk at St.
Evroul. And the charter of Henry II is not entirely satisfactory: though probably
not a forgery it was either the work of a careless scribe or had undergone
retouching (Haskins, Norman Institutions, pp. 12-13). The scribe may have
mistaken Baudri's brother Nicholas for his father.
1
This is corroborated by a charter of Baudri's wife, Billeheud, approved by her
sons Robert and Baudri, and witnessed by their uncle Viger (Le Prevost, v. 184).
2 Probably Saint-Nicholas-des-Laitiers, adjacent to Bocquence.
3 Roger Guiscard, according to Chalandon, went to Italy after Robert
Guiscard became count of Apulia, probably in the later months of 1057 (Chalan-
don, i. 148-50). If, therefore, he was present when the young Thierry became
L
BOOK III
William and received many gifts of wealth and honors from him,
so that they were able to leave wide lands in Normandy to their
descendants.
Baudri, who with his brother Viger 1 held the honor of Boc-
quence, gave his sister Elizabeth in marriage to a brave knight,
Fulk of Bonneval, and assigned as her marriage portion the church
of St. Nicholas 2 which his father had built, with the adjoining land.
Fulk himself, mindful of the life to come, gave his son Thierry,
whom Abbot Thierry had baptized, to God as a monk in the
monastery of St. Evroul. With the boy he gave this same church
of St. Nicholas for the salvation of his soul and the souls of his
friends, and the gift was witnessed by Robert, abbot of St. Evroul.
Baudri, Viger, William of Bonneval, and other kinsmen freely
confirmed the grant; they and many others who were present acted
as legal witnesses of the gift for the church's needs. Tancred of
Hauteville's son Roger was present then on his way to Italy ;J later
by God's aid he won the greater part of Sicily, attacking and
conquering the Africans, Sicilians, and other infidel peoples who
were pillaging the island. The boy Thierry, who had been taken
from the world and offered to God, lived as a monk for fifty-seven
years; and rising by the usual stages to the priesthood, proved
himself a worthy soldier of God.
About this time Guy surnamed Bollein, great-grandson of the
elder Giroie, 4 was with his wife Hodierna living as befitted his rank
in the Corbonnais; he had made his fortune as a knight and was
managing his affairs well. He had several sons: Norman and
Walter, who devoted themselves to knightly occupations; Geoffrey
and William called Gregory, who were well-read and won the
laurels of priesthood. Guy himself, by God's will and the en-
couragement of his kinsman Abbot Robert, was a good friend to
the monks of St. Evroul; and on All Saints' Day he gave up his
son William, a boy of just nine years, to renounce the world and
serve God as a monk in the church of St. Evroul. Then William
an oblate at St. Evroul with the church of St. Nicholas as his dowry, this
ceremony must have taken place just after the departure of Abbot Thierry of
Mathonville for Jerusalem. Robert was then prior, not abbot: but Orderic
might have described him by a later title, particularly if a deed recording the
gift was drawn up some time later, after Robert's election. This would place
Thierry's death in I I 14, after fifty-seven years as a monk.
4 It is not clear to which branch of the family of Giroie Guy belonged.
'Pronepos' usually means great-grandson, but might possibly mean great-
nephew.
 f*
86 BOOK III
tradidit. Tune Willelmus prrepositus miles egregius prredicti pueri
auunculus.J recclesiam de Algeron 1 cum tota uilla sancto Ebrulfo
dedit.J et se totamque substantire sure partem in fine suo eidem
patrono fideliter deuouit. Gratia Dei Willelmum puerum bonis
moribus adornauit, et in bonis studiis uigilantem effecit.J uncle
a prrelatis suis Gregorius cognominari meruit. Hie in gremio
sanctre matris recclesire diligenter educatus, et omnino a mundi
strepitu et carnali luxu remotus.J utili scientia qure huiusmodi
recclesire filiis maxime competit, nobiliter floruit. Nam peritus
lector fuit et cantor.J prrecipuusque scriptor et librorum illuminator.
ii. 78 Opera manuum eius ad legendum et canendum nobis adhuc
ualde prosunt.J et per similis exercitii probitatem nos a nobis
ociositatem depellere erudiunt. In orationibus et uigiliis ab infantia
fuit assiduus.J et usque ad senectutem ieiuniis aliisque maceratio-
nibus carnis moderate intentus. Obseruator monastici ordinis
diligens.J et ad redarguendum sanctre regulre transgressores
feruens. Epistolas Pauli et Prouerbia Salomonis aliaque quam-
plura sanctre Scripturre sintagmata tenaci memoria condiderat.J et
in cotidianis locutionibus suis ad exhortationem eorum quibus
confabulabatur proferebat. Huiuscemodi studiis intentus iam liv
annos in monachili ordine transegiU et adhuc ut per bonum finem
ad reternre quietis stabilitatem pertransire possit, sub Rogerio
abbate bonis actibus solito more insistit. 2
Cum Vticense crenobium aucto conuentu xl monachorum
gloriose corroboraretur, et ordo monasticus secundum normam
diuinre legis ibidem regulariter obseruaretur.J longe lateque pro-
cedens fama uolitabat, et multos ad amorem eiusdem recclesire
inuitabat. Quidam autem pestifero liuore inficiebantur: proprire- 1
que malicire uulnifico missili puniebantur. Rodbertus uero abbas
genuina largitate prreditus undecumque uenientes ad conuersionem
libenter suscipiebau et qureque fratribus ad uictum seu uestitum
necessaria erant uiriliter procurabat. Redditus nimirum Vticensis
recclesire qure in sterili pago surgebat, ad tantam dapsilitatem
prrefati patris non sufficiebat.J sed ipse ut diximus ex genero-
sis parentibus prodierat, et opes eorum ad usum monachorum
prout uolebau amica familiaritate consentiente plerunque accipi-
ebat.
1 The church of Augerons was one of the seven churches granted to St.
Evroul by William of Montreuil, son of William Giroie, as recorded in the
general foundation charter of IOSO (Fauroux, no. 122). Orderic (above, pp. 34-
36) adds the fact, not in the charter, that the lords of these churches, including
William Provost of Augerons, joined William of Montreuil, presumably their
overlord, in these gifts. Possibly they retained a life interest in their churches,
since the final gift by William Provost took place when his son became an oblate
t
BOOK III
Provost, a worthy knight who was the boy's uncle, gave the church
and whole vill of Augerons to St. Evroul, 1 and at the end of his life
offered himself and all his property to the same saint. By God's
grace the boy William grew to be of such sound character and
application in his studies that he earned the name of Gregory from
his superiors. Carefully brought up in the bosom of holy mother
church, and removed from all worldly strife and carnal lust, he
distinguished himself in those kinds of knowledge that are most
useful to sons of the church. He was an able reader and chanter,
and a distinguished scribe and illuminator of books. The works
executed by his own hands for reading and singing are still models
which encourage us to put away idleness and follow his example.
From his childhood up he carefully observed the offices of prayer
and vigil, and even in old age he performed adequately the neces-
sary fasts and other mortifications of the flesh. A faithful follower
·of the monastic rule himself, he was eager to reprove those who
broke it. He committed to his tenacious memory the Epistles of
Paul and the Proverbs of Solomon and several other books of Holy
Writ, and quoted them in daily conversation for the benefit of
those with whom he talked. Immersed in these studies he has
already spent fifty-four years in monastic life, and still under
Abbot Roger continues to lead a life of habitual virtue in the
assurance of passing after a good end to his eternal rest. 2
So through the years the monastery of St. Evroul grew in fame
and its numbers increased to forty monks; the monastic rule was
faithfully kept there according to the precepts of the divine law,
and the high repute of the church spread far and wide to win many
friends. Some, however, who were infected with hateful envy were
justly wounded by their own malice. Abbot Robert, a large-hearted
man, welcomed converts from all sides and tirelessly procured
resources to feed and clothe the brethren. To be sure the revenues
of the church of St. Evroul, which had been founded in a barren
region, did not suffice for the reverend abbot's generosity; but as
I said he came of noble stock, and drew at will on the resources
of his relatives, with their friendly consent, for the needs of
his monks.
at St. Evroul about ten years later. But the possibility that the foundation charter
underwent later retouching cannot be excluded.
2
If Orderic's figures are correct, he was writing this passage not earlier than
l l 14 (above, p. 84 n. 3), and since William became an oblate before Abbot
Robert left for Italy in 1061 Orderic's statement was made not later than l 115.
 t'
88 BOOK III
ii. 79 Idem in primo anno sui regiminis quia uetus recclesia quam
sanctus Ebrulfus construxerat, parua et rusticani operis erat.J
ingentem basilicam insigni opere coepit, quam in honore sanctre
Dei genitricis Marire construere multisque sanctorum altaribus
ampliare decreuit. Nam propter reliquias sanctorum qure in ueteri
rede a temporibus sancti Ebrulfi conditre sunt.J sed eorum nomina
uel gesta seu loca depositionis pro antiquitate ignorantur ab his qui
I supersunt, disposuit nouam redem tam magnam facere ut uetustam
:I omnino circundaret.J et ossa seu mausolea sanctorum qure ibidem
latent semper honorifice contineret. Sed procellis tribulationum
incumbentibus cessare ab incepto opere coactus est.J quod nullus
successorum eius ea mensura uel ordine seu lo.co quo ipse desti-
nauerat prosequi ausus est.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLIX0 indictione xma.J Henricus
rex Francorum post multas probitates quibus in regno gloriose
uiguit, potionem a Iohanne medico Carnotensi qui ex euentu
Surdus cognominabatur spe longioris et sanioris uitre accepit. 1
,I Sed quia uoto suo magis quam prrecepto archiatri obsecundauit,
et aquam dum ueneno rimante interiora nimis angeretur clam
a cubiculario sitiens poposcit, medicoque ignorante ante purga-
tionem bibit.J proh dolor in crastinum cum magno multorum
merore obiit. Sceptra Francorum Philippa filio suo qui adhuc
puerilibus annis detinebatur reliquit.J et Balduino Flandrensium
duci puerum cum regno ad tutandum commendauit. Huiusmodi
ii. 80 tutela tanto duci bene competebat.J quippe qui Hadalam Rodberti
regis Francorum filiam in coniugium habebat ex qua Rodbertum
Fresionem et Mathildem reginam Anglorum et Vdonem Treue-
rensium metropolitam aliosque magnre sullimitatis uiros genuerat.
Eodem anno Fridericus filius Gotheloinis ducis qui et Stephanus
papa dictus est obiit.J cui Gerardus qui et Nicholaus successit.2
Hie annus erat tercius Henrici quarti, filii Henrici filii Conradi
imperatoris et Agnetis imperatricis, qui Lxxxvn° loco ab Augusto
regnare cepiU et annis quinquaginta regnauit.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLXIII Nicholaus papa obiiU cui
1
King Henry in fact died on 29 August 1060. His son Philip I was then eight
years old, and Baldwin V, count of Flanders, uncle of the young king, acted as
BOOK III 89
In the first year of his rule, since the old church built by St.
Evroul was small and roughly made, he decided to build a great
church of fine workmanship to the honour of Mary the holy
Mother of God, and to embellish it with many altars of the saints.
Because the remains of so many saints have been buried in the old
church since the time of St. Evroul, and the passage of time has
deprived our generation of all knowledge of their names and deeds
and exact places of burial, he determined to build a new church
large enough to enclose the old one altogether and provide a
worthy setting for the bones and sepulchres of the saints buried
there. But gathering storms of trouble interrupted the work he
had begun, and none of his successors ventured to complete the
project on the scale or plan or in the place he had intended.
In the year of Our Lord IO 59, the thirteenth Indiction, Henry
king of the French, who had won great renown throughout his
kingdom for his achievements, asked his doctor John of Chartres-
nicknamed 'Blockhead' after this accident-to prescribe a potion
to improve his health and prolong his life. 1 But, following his own
desires instead of the precepts of his physician, he asked his
chamberlain privately for water to quench his thirst, because the
medicine still in his stomach caused him great pain, and drank it
without his doctor's knowledge before he had been purged. Alas!
the next day he died, mourned by many. He bequeathed his sceptre
to his son Philip, still a boy, and entrusted the regency of the
kingdom and wardship of the lad to Baldwin count of Flanders.
The duke was worthy of this trust, and indeed had taken to wife
Adela, daughter of Robert king of the French, and numbered
among his distinguished children Robert of Frisia, Matilda queen
of England, and Odo archbishop of Trier.
In the same year Frederick son of Duke Gozelon, who became
pope as Stephen, died and was succeeded by Gerard who took the
name of Nicholas. 2 This was the third year of Henry IV, son of
Henry son of the Emperor Conrad and the Empress Agnes, who
was the eighty-seventh emperor since Augustus and reigned for
fifty years.
In the year of Our Lord 1063 Pope Nicholas died, and was
his guardian until 1067. For Baldwin's power and influence cf. William of
Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 46-48).
2
Pope Stephen IX died on 29 March 1058, and Nicholas II was elected in
late December 1058. The dates of his death and of King Henry's are correctly
given in the Annals of St. Evroul (Le Prevost1 v. 157).
 90 BOOK III
I t
Alexander Lucensis episcopus successit. 1 Quo tempore:' Sigifridus
Magoncire et Gunterus Babenbergre 2 aliique quamplures episcopi
uel no biles multo comitatu Ierusalem perrexerunt. a
Eodem tempore3 inter Willelmum N ormannire ducem et pro-
ceres eius dissensio grauis exorta est. Nam cupiditate furente unus
alium supplantare conabatur, grauesque seditiones ad detrimenta
miserorum diuersis ex causis oriebantur.J uncle quidam crudelioris
animi lretabantur, alii pietatis et modestire amatores nimis con-
ii. 81 tristabantur. Tune Rogerius de Montegomerici et Mab ilia uxor
eius exorta simultate gaudebant, et blandis adulationibus sibi
ducem alliciebant.J et contra uicinos suos callidis factionibus
commotum acrius ad iram concitabant. 4 Animosus autem dux
plus requo irre frena relaxans.J prrecipuos milites Rodulfum de
Toenia et Hugonem de Grentemaisnilio atque Ernaldum de
Excalfoio et barones eorum exhereditauit, et sine probabilibus
culpis diu exulare coegit. Tune etiam Rodbertus Vticensium abbas
ad curiam ducis accitus est.J et ad diem statutum de quibusdam
reatibus uncle falso accusatus fuerat respondere iussus est. Hunc
nimirum Rainerius Castellionensis monachus quern ipse priorem
Vticensibus prrefecerat, et ad intima consilia sua uelut fidelem
amicum indubitanter accersierat.J de quibusdam ludibriis et
improuidis dictis ducique priuatim derogantibus apud ipsum
accusauerat. Ille uero ut ducem contra se totamque suam paren-
telam uehementer furentem et nocere cupidum sensit, indicioque
amicorum suorum maliuolentiam ducis sibi damna membrorum
inferre uolentis ueraciter agnouit.J consilio H ugonis Lexouiensis
episcopi imminentem furiam declinare prius quam dampnum
irreparabile pateretur elegit. Tercio itaque regiminis sui anno vi0
kal. februarii postquam sabbato ad uesperas antiphonam 'Peccata
mea Domine's pronunciauerat discessit.J ascensisque equis cum
duobus monachis Fulcone et Vrso Galliam expetiit, et inde Nicho-
lao papre euentus suos reuelaturus adiit.
ii. 82 lnterea N ormannicus dux per consilium venerabilis Ansfridi
Pratellensium abbatis et Lanfranci Beccensium prioris, aliarumque
personarum ecclesiasticarum Osbernum Cormeliensium priorem a
Rainerio abbate Sanctre Trinitatis de Monte Rotomagi requisiuiU
a Eodem anno . .. perrexerunt added in the margin in Orderic's hand
1
The date of Nicholas II's death was 19/27 July 1061; Alexander was
elected c. 30 September 1061.
2
See Riant, Inventaire critique des lettres historiques des croisades, pp. 55-56;
Lambert of Hersfeld, MGH SS v. 168. The pilgrimage set out in 1064.
3 i.e. about the time of the death of the king of France. The two paragraphs
immediately preceding are later interpolations by Orderic himself.
4 Orderic attributes the exile of Arnold of Echauffour, and his death after
BOOK III 91
succeeded by Alexander bishop of Lucca. At this time Siegfried
1
of Mainz and Gunter of Bamberg and several other bishops and
nobles with a great following set out for Jerusalem. 2
About the same time 3 serious troubles broke out between
William duke of Normandy and his magnates. For one would try
through jealousy to oust another from his position, and various
disturbances broke out which caused wretchedness to the poor;
troubles such as these delighted the cruel and distressed all who
loved justice and seemliness. Then Roger of Montgomery and
Mabel his wife made the most of the disorders of the time, flattered
the duke into taking their part, and cunningly incited him to anger
against their neighbours. 4 The quick-tempered duke gave full
reign to his anger, and singling out the knights Ralph of Tosny,
Hugh of Grandmesnil, and Arnold of Echauffour and their men
deprived them of their lands, and drove them into long exile
without any proof of guilt. Then too Robert, abbot of St. Evroul,
was summoned to the duke's court, and on the appointed day
commanded to answer several false charges. He was actually
accused by Rainer, monk of Conches, whom he had made prior
of St. Evroul and always trusted as a friend in his most secret
counsels, of having privately made several jests and casual remarks
derogatory to the duke. Knowing that the duke was raging against
him and all his kindred, and was out for their blood, and being
warned by his friends that the duke's fury would not stop short
of violence to him, he resolved on the advice of Hugh bishop of
Lisieux to flee from the threatened wrath rather than risk suffering
irreparable harm. So on Saturday 27 January, in the third year
of his rule, after reciting the antiphon Peccata mea Domines at
Vespers, he took his departure; and mounting horse with two
monks Fulk and Ursus, fled to France and thence hastened to lay
his cause before Pope Nicholas.
Meanwhile the duke of Normandy, on the advice of Ansfrid
abbot of Preaux and Lanfranc prior of Bee and other ecclesiastics,
asked Rainer, abbot of La Trinite-du-Mont in Rouen, to send for
he became reconciled with Duke William and returned to Normandy, to the
machinations of Mabel of Belleme; and this is accepted by G. H. White (TRHS
xxii (1940), 87). But the recent rebellion of Robert Giroie may have caused
William's hostility to the family.
5 The antiphon for the Magnificat, sung at Vespers on Saturdays from the
octave of Epiphany to Septuagesima Sunday. See Breviarium ad Usum Sarum,
ed. F. Procter and C. Wordsworth (Cambridge, 1879-86), p. cccciv.
 ia
i
I
I
BOOK III
eique nil tale suspicanti per cambutam Maurilii archiepiscopi
in sinodo Rotomagensi curam Vticensis abbatire commendauit.
Deinde Hugo episcopus iussu ducis eum Pratellis adduxit:' ibique
subito nescientibus monachis Sancti Ebrulfi abbatem consecrauit,
secumque postea Vticum adduxit:' et mestis Vticensibus ex imperio
ducis imposuit. Illi autem ancipiti discrimine anxiati sunt. Nam
uiuente abbate suo qui prrefatam recclesiam fundauerat, eosque
ad monachatum susceperat, et sine probabilibus culpis non per
iudicium sinodi sed per tirannidem furentis marchisi expulsus
fuerat:' alium abbatem suscipere dubitabant, nee palam refutare
propter ducis animositatem audebant. Tandem consilio prredicti
prresulis elegerunt pati uiolentiam, gratisque dato sibi magistro
exhibere obedientiam.J ne si sine iugo permanerent Dei offenderent
potentiam et ad destructionem nouelli crenobii grauiorem ducis
contradicendo excitarent maliuolentiam.
Porro Ernaldus de Excalfoio iniuriam exhereditationis sure
acriter uindicabat.J et rapinis incendiisque hominumque capturis
uel occisionibus Lexouiensem pagum per triennium inquietabat.
ii. 83 Quadam nocte cum quatuor militibus Excalfoium uenit:' et in
castrum cum suis clam ingressus in magnam uociferationem pro-
rupit. Quam ut Ix milites ducis audierunt:' magnum cum Ernaldo
exercitum adesse putauerunt, territique castrum quod custodire
debebant relinquentes aufugerunt. At ille ignem iniecit.J et dam-
pnum ingens hostibus suis intulit. Burgum quoque Vticensem
igne combussit.J et per omnes angulos recclesire cum satellitibus
suis nudos enses in dextris uibrantibus Osbernum abbatem ad
occisionem diu quesiuit. Sed ille Dei nutu defuit. Post aliquot
autem dies Hermannus celararius Ernaldum priuatim adiit.J
ipsumque quod abbatiam quam pater suus pro salute animre sure
construxerat destruere niteretur benigniter redarguit. At ille
monita semi Dei pie suscepiU memorque paternre pietatis pro
malefactis contra crenobium Sancti Ebrulfi plorauit, prenitensque
congruam emendationem promisit. Non multo post Vticum uenit,
pro male gestis super aram uadimonium posuiu indulgentiam
petiit, abbatique Osberno securitatem dedit. Prrefatus enim
monachus subtili relatu ei ueraciter intimauit.J quod prredictus
abbas cognati sui locum non per cupiditatem inuaserit, sed ui
BOOK III 93
Osbern, prior of Cormeilles; when he came little suspecting the
outcome the duke invested him with the cure of the abbey of St.
:Evroul in a synod at Rouen, using the pastoral staff of Archbishop
Maurilius. Then at the duke's command Bishop Hugh took him
to Preaux, and suddenly, without the knowledge of the monks of
St. Evroul, blessed him abbot; next, escorting him to St. Evroul,
he imposed him by the duke's authority on the bereaved com-
munity. They found themselves on the horns of a dilemma. For
they hesitated to accept another abbot in the lifetime of their own
superior, who had founded the monastery and received their
vows, and was now driven out without proven guilt not by the
judgement of a synod but through the tyranny of the raging duke;
yet they dared not openly disobey for fear of the duke's vengeance.
Finally, on the bishop's advice, they determined to endure the
violence and obey the master who had been gratuitously thrust
upon them, for fear both of offending God if they remained
without government, and of provoking the duke to destroy the
young monastery in a fit of hostile rage.
Afterwards Arnold of Echauffour took fierce vengeance for the
unjust seizure of his lands, and for three years disturbed the peace
of the Lieuvin by plundering, burning and slaying, and imprison-
ing men. One night he came to Echauffour with four knights, and
entering the castle by stealth made such an uproar that the sixty
knights of the duke imagined he was bringing a great army with
him and fled terrified, abandoning the castle which they ought
to have guarded. He set fire to it, causing heavy loss to his enemies.
He also set fire to the town of St. Evroul, and for many hours he
and his minions stormed into every corner of the monastery,
brandishing their naked swords and clamouring for Abbot Osbern's
blood. But by the will of God he happened to be elsewhere. A few
days later Herman the cellarer sought out Arnold in private, and
made him see that he was threatening to destroy the abbey which
his father had founded for the salvation of his soul. Arnold meekly
accepted the rebukes of the servant of God, and remembering his
father's piety wept for his sins against the abbey of St. Evroul,
and penitently promised to make due amends. Not long after-
wards he came to St. Evroul, laid a pledge of reparation for his evil
deeds on the altar, asked for forgiveness, and promised protection
to Abbot Osbern. For Herman the monk had told him the truth in
plain language: that the abbot had not usurped his kinsman's
 94 BOOK III
principis et instinctu magistrorum suorum compulsus desolatre
recclesire regimen inuitus susceperit.
Denique Rodbertus abbas Nicholaum papam Romre inuenit:'
eique causam itineris sui diligenter intimauit. At ille compatriotam
suum nam genere Francus erat benigniter suscepit, querimoniam
eius cum pietate audiuit.J fidumque suffragium in sua necessitate
spopondit. Rodbertus autem ad parentes suos in Apuliam ubi
urbes et oppida quamplura ui armorum iam optinuerant transiuit,
et completa cum eis locutione cum litteris apostolicis et duobus
cardinalibus clericis N ormanniam repetiit.J et Iuliambonam ubi
tune temporis Willelmus dux curiam suam tenebat audacter adiit.
Audiens uero dux quod Rodbertus abbas cum legatis papre
abbatiam Vticensem quesiturus aduenisset:' et Osbernum ducis
iussu substitutum abbatem uelut inuasorem alieni iuris calumnia-
turus esset, uehementer iratus dixit se quidem legatos papre de
fide et religione christiana ut communis patris libenter susceptu-
rum.J sed si quis monachorum de terra sua calumniam sibi con-
trariam inferret, ad altiorem quercum uicinre silure per capicium
irreuerenter suspensurum. Quod audiens Hugo prresul Rodberto
intimauit.J et ut furibundi principis presentiam declinaret admo-
nuit. At ille festinanter inde discessit:' et in pagum Parisiensem
ad uenerandum Hugonem abbatem cenobii sancti Dyonisii1
Gallorum apostoli secessit, et apud ipsum cognatus quippe suus
erat et apud alios amicos ac parentes suos qui inter Gallorum pro-
ceres pollebant aliquandiu honorifice habitauit. Incle Osberno
abbati mandauit ut coram Romanis cardinalibus in pago Carno-
ii. 85 tensi ambo adessent:' ibique negocio utriusque diligenter indagato
a personis recclesiasticis, diffinitum iudicium secundum ordinati-
onem sanctorum canonum indubitanter subirent. Diem quoque
et locum quando et ubi conuenirent designauit. At ille mandatum
quidem suscepit, et ad curiam Romanam se libenter iturum dixit.J
sed alio consilio accepto ad statutum tempus et locum minime
accessit. Vnde Rodbertus per quendam famulum Vticensium quern
Ernaldus ceperat litteras misit:' in quibus ex auctoritate papre
Osbernum inuasorem excommunicauit, omnesque monachos
Vticensis cenobii ut se sequerentur imperiose inuitauit.
Quis referre potest quot tribulationibus Vticensis recclesia intus
et exterius tune quatiebatur? En Rodbertus eiusdem fundator et
rector de sede sua iniuste fugatus, cogebatur uagari per externas
1
Hugh IV, abbot of St. Denis from 1049 to 1061 or
BOOK III 95
place through ambition, but had been forced by the advice of his
superiors and the duke's threats to accept the government of the
bereaved church against his will.
Meanwhile Abbot Robert found Pope Nicholas at Rome and
explained in detail the reason for his journey. The pope, who was
a Frenchman, welcomed his compatriot, gave a fair hearing to his
plea, and promised him full support in his need. Robert then went
on to see his kinsfolk in Apulia, where they had conquered towns
and strongholds by force of arms; and after visiting them returned
to Normandy. Accompanied by two cardinals and bearing papal
letters he boldly approached Lillebonne, where Duke William was
holding his court. When the duke heard that Abbot Robert was
approaching in the company of papal legates to claim the abbacy
of St. Evroul and charge the duke's candidate Osbern with
usurpation of his rights, he flew into a violent rage, declaring that
he was ready to receive legates of the pope, their common father,
in matters touching the Christian faith, but that if any monk from
his duchy dared to bring a plea against him he would ignore his
cloth and hang him by his cowl from the top of the highest
oak-tree in the wood near by. On hearing this Bishop Hugh sent
warning to Robert and advised him not to come within sight of the
raging duke. He beat a hasty retreat and took refuge near Paris
with a kinsman of his, Hugh abbot of the monastery of St. Denis
the apostle of Gaul. 1 For a time he was entertained by him and
other friends and kinsmen who were powerful magnates in France.
From there he sent word to Abbot Osbern that they should both
go to the district of Chartres and there submit their case to
the Roman cardinals, and receive judgement from ecclesiastical
persons as the sacred canons prescribed. He appointed a day and
place for their meeting. When Osbern received the mandate he
said at first that he would willingly go to the Roman court; but in
the end he took other advice and failed to appear on the appointed
day at the prescribed place. Whereat Robert sent letters by the
hand of a servant of the abbey, whom Arnold had captured, in
which by papal authority he excommunicated Osbern as an
intruder and peremptorily commanded all the monks of the abbey
of St. Evroul to follow him.
Who can tell of the manifold tribulations that the church of St.
Evroul then endured? The monks saw Robert, founder and abbot
1062. of the monastery, unjustly expelled, and forced to eat the bitter
L
 BOOK III
domus, et eiusdem in loco sreculari potestate successit uir extra-
neus, qui licet sollers esset ac religiosus et in ordine feruidus
susp~ctus tamen et meticulosus non satis credebat indigeni~
fratnbus. Vnde quidam ex ipsis audita excommunicatione qua
su!fectus abbas percussus fuerat, et hortatu patris Rodberti quo
fih?s suos ex consensu papre post se uenire iusserat, N ormanniam
relmquentes abbatem suum comitati sunt.J et apostolicam sedem
expetierunt. Pene omnes discedere uoluerunt: sed infantes et
1 bad, with papal support, commanded his sons to follow him, left
infirmiores qui artiori custodia constringebantur inuiti reman-
serunt. Alii uero qui forti?res erant, et maiorem licentiam usurpa-
bant, patrem suum secut1 sponte exularunt, quorum nomina hrec
su.nt, He~bertus et i:ubertus de Mosterolo et Berengarius Ernaldi
films scnptor prrec1puus. Hi tres a puericia in domo Domini
ii. 86 sollerter educati, studiisque bonis imbuti.J omni uita sua utiles
per~anserunt diuino cultui. Rainaldus Magnus grammaticre artis
pentus, et Thomas Andegauensis nobilitate famosus et Rod-
bertus Ga~aliel cantor e~regius, Turstinus, Rainaldus 'capreolus
et Walterms Paruus. Ht N eustriam natale sol um deseruerunt
uariosque casus perpessuri Sicaniam expetierunt.J uncle quida~
eorum postmodu!11 redierunt, nonnulli uero pastorem suum fine
tenns muantes m Calabria ultimum diem clauserunt. Porro
~omnus Mainerius quern Rodbertus abbas ante primam disces-
s1.onem sua~ c.lau~tralem priorem constituerat, quia post paucos
dies pr~fect10ms ems Beccum perrexeraU primusque de substitu-
endo aho ab.bate cum. Lanfranco Beccensium priore tractauerat,
eundem . c~1 profess1~nem fecerat.J implacabiliter offenderat.
Vnde mm1s ems terntus, et improperiis fautorum eius cum
dedecore lacessitus.J consilio et permissu Osberni abbatis Clunia-
cum .p:rrexit, ibique per unum annum rigorem Cluniacensium
experm sub uenerando Hugone archimandrita feruenter edidicit 1
Vticensis autem recclesia in huiusmodi mutatione uehement~r
deso.lata esU .~u~tisque p.o.ssessionibus quas prius possederat
spohata est. V1cm1 emm mt11tes qui homines seu cognati Geroia-
norum fueranU naturalibus expulsis hreredibus monachis Sancti
Ebrulfi graues molestias et dampna inferebant. Nam unusquisque
terram uel ecclesiam seu decimam auferebat, et nouus abbas ut
a~u:na rerum donationes ignorabat.J et indagare ab his in quibus
mm1me. confidebat, certitudinem rerum quas Rodbertus filius
ii. 87 Helgoms et Geroius filius Fulcoii de Mosterolo seu Rogerius
1
Mainer became abbot of St. Evroul in 1066; and his year of discipline at
','I Cluny helped to give a Cluniac stamp to the customs of St. Evroul. Cf. above,
P· 74 n. 1.
BOOK III 97
bread of exile, whilst an intruder was thrust into his place by the
secular power: and though this man was of sound religion and
meticulous in his observation of the monastic rule he was both
distrusted and afraid of confiding in the monks of the abbey. So
some of them, learning that excommunication had been pro-
nounced against the intruded abbot, and that their father Robert
Normandy and accompanied their abbot to the apostolic see.
Almost all wished to leave; but the young and the sick, who were
not free agents, were obliged to remain unwillingly behind. Others
who were stronger and free to do as they chose voluntarily followed
their father into exile. These are their names: Herbert and Hubert
of Montreuil, and Berengar son of Arnold, a distinguished scribe;
these three, brought up from childhood in the house of God and
imbued with sound learning, devoted their whole lives to furthering
the worship of God. Others were Reginald the Great, a learned
grammarian; Thomas of Anjou of high birth; Robert Gamaliel,
a talented chanter; Thurstan, Reginald Chamois, and Walter the
Small. All these left their native Normandy and endured various
hardships on their way to Sicily. Some later returned home; others,
serving their master to the last, ended their lives in Calabria. Then
Mainer, who had made his monastic profession to Abbot Robert
and been appointed claustral prior before his abbot's first depar-
ture, gave serious offence by breaking his journey at Bee and
discussing with Lanfranc prior of Bee the possibility of substitut-
ing another abbot. Terror at Robert's threats and shame at the
reproaches of his supporters so moved him that he obtained
permission from Abbot Osbern to migrate to Cluny; and there
for a year he gladly underwent the full rigour of the Cluniac rule
under the venerable Abbot Hugh. 1
During these uncertainties the church of St. Evroul suffered
great loss, and was robbed of many of her former possessions. The
knights of the region, who were the men of kinsfolk of the family
of Giroie, inflicted all kinds of injuries on the monks of St. Evroul
after the rightful heirs had been expelled. Each one would snatch
some land or a church or tithes; the new abbot who was a stranger
did not know the details of the endowment, and hesitated to try
to learn, from men he did not trust, the real status of the prop-
erty that Robert son of Heugon, Giroie son of Fulk of Montreuil,
822204 H
 F
BOOK III
Gulafra aliique peruersi affines rapiebant dubitabat. 1 Vnde multa
Vticensis recclesia tune perdidit."' qure usque hodie recuperare
nullatenus potuit.
Defuncto Nicolao papa Alexander successit..J ad quern Rodbertus
abbas cum xi monachis Sancti Ebrulfi accessit, eique suas suo-
rumque iniurias luculenter deprompsit. At ille paterno solamine
benigniter eos refocilauit, eisque in urbe Roma 2 recclesiam sancti
Pauli apostoli tradidit.J ut ibi habitantes ordinem suum tenerent,
donec sibi congruam habitationem inuenirent. Deinde Rodbertus
Willelmum de Mosterolo consobrinum suum ad auxilium sui
requisiuit, promptissimumque ad subueniendum inuenit. Prre-
dictus quippe miles papre signifer erat, armisque Campaniam
optinuerat.J et Campanos qui diuersis scismatibus ab unitate
katholica dissidebant sancto Petro apostolo subiugauerat.3 Hie
exulanti consanguineo cum monachis suis medietatem antiqure
urbis qure Aquina dicitur dedit. Postea Rodbertus Ricardum
ii. 88 principem Capure filium Anschetilli de Quadrellis adiit. Ipse uero
multis blanditiis ei fauit .J sed promissorum blandimenta operum
completione non peregit. Rodbertus autem ut friuolis promissioni-
bus delusum se perspexiu iratus degenerem parentelam eius quam
bene nouerat ei exprobauit, 4 ipsumque relinquens ad Rodbertum
Wiscardum Calabrire ducem se contulit. Ille uero ut dominum
naturalem eum honorifice suscepit..J multumque ut ipse cum
monachis suis semper secum permaneret rogauit.s Huius pater
Tancredus de Altauilla de pago Constantino extitit:' qui de duabus
legittimis uxoribus quas desponsauerat xii filios pluresque filias
habuit, quorum uni nomine Goisfredo paternre hereditatis agros
concessit, aliosque omnes ut extra solum ea quibus indigerent
uiribus et sensu sibi uendicarent admonuit. Illi autem non simul
1
For the gifts which Robert son of Heugon and Roger Goulafre now with-
drew cf. above, pp. 35-36. Orderic later accused Roger Goulafre of having
connived at the murder of his lord, Arnold of Echauffour (below, pp. 122-3).
2
The church of St. Paul is actually outside the walls of Rome.
3 Cf. above, p. 59 n. 4. At the time of Robert's appeal, in the autumn of
1061, William was still a knight of Richard of Capua, and had not yet entered
the papal service. Although he had just been granted the right to a number of
cities, including Aquino, these had not yet been conquered. Presumably Abbot
Robert was not able to enjoy possession of the half of Aquino offered to him,
since he went on to find other benefactors and settled elsewhere. See L.-R.
Menager, 'Les fondations monastiques de Robert Guiscard', in Quellen und
Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 15-17. The 'schismatics' against whom William
led the papal forces may have been supporters of the anti-pope Cadalus, but
they may equally well have been other Normans who had seized ecclesiastical
property. Cf. Chalandon, i. 221-2; Hefele, iv. 1231, 1250-5. Delarc, Les
Normands en Italie (Paris, 1883), pp. 520-1, criticized Orderic's version, and
suggested that William's campaigns for the pope were not in Campania, but in
BOOK III 99
Roger Goulafre, and other lawless neighbours had seized. 1 So the
church of St. Evroul lost at that time many possessions that she
has never, to this day, been able to recover.
After the death of Nicholas, Alexander became pope; to him
came Abbot Robert with eleven monks of St. Evroul, and gave
a full and true account of the wrongs done to him and his monks.
The pope consoled them with paternal solicitude and gave them
the use of the church of St. Paul the apostle in the city of Rome, 2
so that they could live there according to their rule until he found
a dwelling suitable for them. Then Robert sought aid from his
cousin, William of Montreuil, and found him more than willing
to give help. This knight, who was standard-bearer of the pope,
had conquered Campania by force of arms and forced the in-
habitants, who were then schismatics cut off from the Catholic
Church, to accept the authority of St. Peter the Apostle.3 He gave
his exiled kinsman and his monks half an ancient city called
Aquino. Afterwards Robert approached Richard prince of Capua,
son of Anquetil of Quarrel, who gave him fair words, but never
followed them up with deeds. When Robert realized that he was
being deceived by empty promises, he angrily reminded the prince
of his base parentage, of which he was well aware ;4 and shaking
the dust off his feet he betook himself to Robert Guiscard, duke
of Calabria. The duke entertained him honourably as his lord, and
pressed him and his monks to settle permanently there.s His father,
Tancred of Hauteville, was a native of the Cotentin, who had had
twelve sons and several daughters by his two lawful wives. He
passed on his whole inheritance to his son Geoffrey, and advised
the others to seek their living by their strength and wits outside
the Sabine region east of Rome. The only two sources are Amatus, who admired
Richard of Capua, and Orderic, who admired William of Montreuil, 'the good
Norman'.
4 Richard I, prince of Capua, is generally believed to have been a son of
Anquetil of Quarrel, brother of Gilbert Buatere (above, p. 58 n. 2). Le Prevost
suggests that Quarrel is derived from Linieres-la-Quarrel. On what grounds
Abbot Robert charged him with base ancestry is not clear.
s Robert Guiscard's patronage of Benedictine monks helped to establish
loyal centres for the diffusion of Norman culture. See E. Pontieri, Introduction
to GM, pp. v-vi; E. Pontieri, 'L'abbazia benedettino di Sant'Eufemia in
Calabria e l' Abbate Roberto di Grantmesnil', in Archivio Storico per la Sicilia
Orientale, xxii (1926), 92-II5; Menager, art. cit. above, p. 98 n. 3; L.-R.
Menager, 'La "byzantinisation" religieuse de l'ltalie meridionale et la politique
monastique des Normands d'Italie', in Revue d' Histoire Ecclesiastique, liv (1959),
33-34.
 100 BOOK III
sed diuerso tempore sub specie peregrinorum peras et baculos
portantes ne a Romanis caperentur in Apuliam abierunt, omnes-
que uariis euentibus aucti duces aut comites in Apulia seu Calabria
uel Sicilia effecti sunt:1 de quorum probis actibus et strenuis
euentibus Goisfredus monachus cognomento Malaterra hortatu
Rogerii comitis Sicilire elegantem Ii bell um nuper edidit. 1 Horum
ii. 89 sullimior et potentior Rodbertus Wiscardus extitit:' qui post
obitum fratrum suorum Drogonis et Vnfridi principatum Apulire
diu tenuit, et Langobardis Grrecisque qui magnis in urbibus et
oppidis confidentes ius antiquum pristinamque libertatem de-
fendere nitebantur uirtute bellica subactis ducatum Calabrire
optinuit. Ionio mari transfretato cum modica sed forti Norman-
norum Cisalpinarumque gentium manu Macedoniam inuasit,
contra Alexium imperatorem Constantinopolitanorum bis con-
flixit:1 ipsumque terra marique hello uictum cum ingenti multi-
tudine fugauit. 2
I
I, Prrefatus heros ut diximus Rodbertum abbatem cum monachis
suis honorabiliter suscepit, et recclesiam Sanctre Eufemire, qure
super littus Adriatici maris ubi ruinre antiqure urbis quam Brixam
nominabant adhuc parent sita est ei tradidit, ibique monachile
ii. 90 crenobium in honore sanctre Dei genetricis Marire construi prre-
cepit. 3 Magnas possessiones tam ipse dux quam alii N ormanni
prredictre recclesire dederunt.J et orationibus fidelium qui illic
congregati seu congregandi erant ad militiam Christi sese com-
mendauerunt. Ibi Fredesendis uxor Tancredi de Altauilla sepulta
est.J pro qua Wiscardus filius eius quendam magnum fundum
eidem recclesire largitus est. Idem princeps crenobium sanctre
Trinitatis in ciuitate Venusia prredicto patri commendauit. 4
Ille autem Berengarium filium Ernaldi filii Helgoniss Vticen-
sem monachum elegit.J et ad suscipiendum regimen Venusien-
sis cenobii Alexandro papre prresentauit. Qui post perceptam
benedictionem quamdiu Alexander et Gregorius ac Desiderius
1
For Geoffrey of Malaterra see Introduction, pp. xxii-xxiii.
2
Robert Guiscard's war against the Emperor Alexius Comnenus was under-
taken much later, in 1081, under the pretext of restoring Michael VII to the
throne. The campaign that led to the capture of Durazzo is fully described by
William of Apulia (Mathieu, pp. 212-32).
3
Orderic's earlier account in his interpolations in William of Jumieges is
more accurate (Marx, p. 191): ' . . . quamdam parvam ecclesiam supra littus
Calabrici maris sitam, quae in honore Sanctae Eufemiae virginis et martyris
dedicata erat ei tribuit.' The name of the ruined Roman city was, however,
Lampetia, not Brixia. Whether Orderic really confused St. Eufemia with another
village of the same name at the other end of Italy, near Brescia, is doubtful (Le
Prevost, ii. 89 n. 3; Marx, p. 186 n. 4).
4 La Trinita, Venosa, was a Lombard foundation of the tenth century, which
l
BOOK III 101
their native land. They separately and at various times journeyed
to Apulia, disguised as pilgrims with scrip and staff for fear of
capture by the Romans; all of them prospered in one way
or another and became dukes or counts in Apulia or Calabria or
Sicily: and their glorious and valiant deeds have been described
by the monk Geoffrey called Malaterra, who recently wrote
a distinguished book at the command of Roger count of Sicily. 1
The greatest and most powerful of all was Robert Guiscard, who
held the principality of Apulia for many years after the death of
his brothers Drogo and Humphrey. Next he won the duchy of
Calabria, by triumphing in battle over the Lombards and Greeks
who tried to defend their ancient rights and liberties behind the
walls of their great cities and towns. Crossing the Ionian sea with
a small but formidable force of Normans and other northern
people, he invaded Macedonia, twice engaged Alexius the Emperor
of Constantinople in battle, and put him to flight with all his army
after defeating him on land and sea. 2
The same warrior, as I was saying, welcomed Abbot Robert and
his monks with all honour and gave him the church of St. Eufemia,
which stands on the shore of the Adriatic sea, where the ruins of
an ancient city called Brixia are still visible, telling him to build
a monastery there in honour of Mary the holy mother of God.J The
duke and other Norman lords endowed the church with great
estates, and commended themselves to the prayers of the faithful
who were to fight for Christ then and in the years to come.
Fredesenda, wife of Tancred of Hauteville, was buried there; and
in return her son Guiscard gave a large estate to the church. The
same prince put the monastery of the Holy Trinity at Venosa
under the authority of Brother Robert. 4 He selected Berengar son
of Arnold son of Heugon,s a monk of St. Evroul, to govern the
monastery at Venosa, and presented him to Pope Alexander.
After his blessing he governed the church of Venosa ably through-
out the pontificates of Alexander and Gregory and Desiderius,
had been abandoned during the Norman invasions and restored in part by
Drogo of Hauteville between 1046 and 1051. It was rededicated by Nicholas II
in 1059 (Menager, Quellen und Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 36-37). The establish-
ment of monks of St. Evroul here most probably took place in 1063 (ibid., p. 44).
s Menager has caused a strange confusion by calling Berengar the son of
Arnold of Echauffour (ibid., p. 45 n. 95). Berengar's father, Arnold, son of
Heugon, was quite a different person from Arnold of Echauffour, and Hans
Wolter's genealogical table (Ordericus Vitalis, facing p. 252), criticized by
Menager, is correct on this point.
 102 BOOK III
r BOOK III
apostolicam sedem rexerunt, curam Venusiensis abbatire honora-
biliter tenuit:' deinde temporibus Vrbani papre a plebe electus
episcopatum eiusdem urbis suscepit. 1 Hie nobili parentela exortus
ab infantia sub Teoderico abbate apud Vticum Christo militauit:'
peritiaque legendi et canendi optimeque scribendi fl.omit. Deinde
ut diximus abbatem suum secutus, et ab ipso ad pastoralem curam
adsumptus:' pusillum gregem xx monachorum quern recepit,
mundanisque uanitatibus uehementer occupatum et in Dei cultu
ualde pigrum inuenit:' postmodum gratia Dei iuuante ad numerum
centum monachorum augmentauit. Tanto etiam bonarum studio
uirtutum nobilitauit eos, ut ex ipsis plures episcopi et abbates
,I ii. 91 assumerentur:' sanctreque matri .lEcclesire ad honorem ueri regis
pro salute animarum prreficerentur. Prreterea magnanimus dux
tercium crenobium in honore sancti Michahelis archangeli in
urbe Mellito constructum Rodberto abbati tradidit:' 2 quod ipse
Willelmo lngranni filio qui apud Vticum natus et ad clericatum
promotus fuerat sed apud sanctam Eufemiam monachatum
susceperat commendauit. 3 In his itaque tribus monasteriis Italire
Vticensis cantus canitur:'4 et monasticus ordo usque hodie prout
opportunitas illius regionis et amor habitantium permittit ob-
seruatur.
Dure sorores uterinre Rodberti abbatis ludith et Emma apud
Vticum in capella sancti Ebrulfi morabantur:' et sub sacra uelamine
mundo renunciasse Deoque soli per mundiciam cordis et corporis
inherere credebantur.s Qure cum Rodbertum fratrem suum in Apu-
lia sreculari potentia sat uigere au dissent, seseque in N ormannia
despicabiles et sine adiutorio perspexissent:' iter in Italiam inierunt,
et relicto uelamine sanctitatis totis nisibus mundum amplexatre
sunt:' et ambre maritis ignorantibus quod Deo dicatre essent
nupserunt. Nam Rogerius Sicilire comes I udith in coniugium
accepit.J aliusque comes cuius nomen non recolo Emmam matri-
monio suo coniunxit. Sic ambre uelamen sanctre religionis speci-
men pro mundi amore reliquerunt, et quia primam fidem irritam
1
Berengar was abbot of Venosa from 1063 to 1094, and was consecrated
bishop of Venosa by Pope Urban II in December 1094· He died two years later
(Menager, Quellen und Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 46-47).
2 5 Cf. above, p. 76 n. 3. Robert's sisters may have taken the veil as much to
The church of St. Michael, later Holy Trinity, Mileto, was probably
a foundation of Robert's brother Roger, but Robert secured its filiation to St.
l
103
until in the time of Pope Urban he was elected by the people as
bishop of the city. 1 He was nobly born and had been brought up
from childhood under Abbot Thierry at St. Evroul as a soldier of
Christ; he excelled in reading and chanting and above all in
calligraphy. Following his abbot, as I have related, he received
from him the pastoral cure. The little flock of twenty monks
entrusted to his care was entirely given up to worldly vanities and
neglectful of divine worship; but by the grace of God he increased
their number to a hundred and reformed their morals so thoroughly
that they provided several bishops and abbots to govern holy
Church for the glory of the true King and the salvation of souls.
In addition the generous duke gave a third monastery, built in the
city of Mileto in honour of St. Michael, to Abbot Robert ;i and
he appointed as its head William son of Ingran, who had been
born and ordained priest at St. Evroul, but took his monastic vows
at St. Eufemia. 3 So in these three Italian monasteries the liturgy
of St. Evroul is chanted4 and the monastic rule has been observed
to the present day, as far as the customs of the region and the
allegiance of the inhabitants allow.
Abbot Robert had two sisters, Judith and Emma, who had taken
up their abode in the chapel of St. Evroul at Ouche, and were
believed to have renounced the world to take the veil and serve
God alone in purity of heart and body. 5 But when they heard that
their brother Robert was honoured by the secular power in Apulia,
whilst they in Normandy were despised and helpless, they took the
road for Italy and, putting off the sacred veil, threw themselves
whole-heartedly into a worldly life. Both married without telling
their husbands that they were vowed to God. Roger count of Sicily
took Judith to wife, and another count whose name I cannot recall
married Emma. So both of them abandoned the veil, the token
of holy religion, for love of the world; and because they were
Eufemia, and it was formally dedicated by Arnold, archbishop of Cosenza, on
29 December 1080 (ibid., pp. 58-59).
3
William son of Ingran had been prior of St. Eufemia before he was made
abbot of Mileto (Le Prevost, iii. 175). He died in 1097.
4
Dom Hesbert has indicated similarities between the twelfth-century
Troper of St. Evroul (Bibi. Nat. MS. Lat. 10508) and Tropers of Catania and
Troia, which prove that there was close liturgical contact with the southern
Italian monasteries. See R. J. Hesbert, 'Les Sequences de Jumieges' (Jumieges,
pp. 943-58), p. 952; 'Les Tropes de Jumieges' (Jumieges, pp. 959-68), p. 964.
protect themselves against Duke William's anger as from any sense of vocation.
 r·
104 BOOK III
ii. 9 2 fecerunt:' ambre in hoc sreculo steriles permanserunt, et in breui
1
puncto temporali felicitate functre celestem sponsum offenderunt.
Post discessionem Rodberti abbatis Rodulfus Mala-Corona
auunculus eius uidens acerbam tribulationem in parentes suos
grauiter seuire, et extraneos in Vticensi domo quam ipse fratres-
que sui Deo construxerant dominationem exercere.J relicta capella
sancti Ebrulfi ubi supra diximus eum habitasse, 2 Mai us Mona-
sterium in quo monachilem professionem fecerat expetiit! ibique
non multo post completis in ordine monastico vii annis xiv Kalen-
das Februarii glorioso fine quieuit.
Per idem tempus Goisfredus Martellus Andegauensium fortis-
simus comes post multa in rebus sreculi fortia gesta obiit, et quia
liberis caruit.J Goisfredo nepoti suo Alberici Wastinensium comitis
filio honorem suum reliquit. 3 Quern Fulco frater eius cognomento
Richinus post aliquot tempus fraudulenter cepit, principatum eius
arripuit.J ipsumque in castro quod Chinon uocatur per xxx annos
carceri mancipauit.
His temporibus Willelmus N ormannire dux probitate et pote-
state ualde crescebat, cunctisque uicinis suis liberalitate et magni-
I ficentia supereminebat. Hie generosam Mathildem Balduini ducis
i I
ii ii. 93 Flandrensium filiam neptem scilicet ex sorore Henrici regis Fran-
corum coniugem accepit:' ex qua dante Deo filios et filias habuit,
Rotbertum uidelicet et Ricardum.J Willelmum et Henricum, Ade-
lizam et Constantiam, Ceciliam et Hadalam. 4 De his ingentem
hystoriam dicaces hystoriographi texere possunt:' si ocio remoto
studioque admoto uarios illustrium euentus posteris promulgare
satagunt. Nos autem quia srecularibus curiis non insistimus, sed in
i. claustris monasterii degentes monasticis rebus incumbimus:' ea
I qure nobis competunt breuiter adnotantes ad inceptam materiam
redeamus.
Bello N ormannis contra uicinos Britones et Cenomannenses
insurgente.J Willelmus dux consilio seniorum statuit inter dissi-
dentes proceres suos pacem firmare, et exules reuocare.s Igitur
1 Judith was the first wife of Roger Guiscard (GM, p. 35 n. 2). Orderic is
mistaken: she had at least two daughters, Adelaide and Emma (Chalandon,
i. 350-1; GM, p. 90). 2
See above, pp. 29, 74-76.
3 Geoffrey Martel died on 14 November 1060. His nephew Geoffrey le
Barbu who succeeded him was the son of his sister Ermengard and Geoffrey
(not Aubrey), count of Gatinais (Halphen, Anjou, pp. 127 n. 3; 133 n. 2).
Geoffrey le Barbu was imprisoned by his brother, Fulk le Rechin, on 4 April
1067 (ibid., p. 146).
I 4 For the children of William and Matilda see Douglas, WC, pp. 393-5.
'i Orderic elsewhere (below, p. 225) names five daughters, including Agatha in
addition to the four named here. In the Handbook of British Chronology (ed.
Powicke and Fryde, London, 1961), p. 31, Adelaide and Agatha are regarded
J
BOOK III 105
faithless to their first vows both remained childless all their lives, 1
and for a short period of earthly happiness incurred the wrath of
the heavenly bridegroom.
After the departure of Abbot Robert his uncle Ralph 'Ill-
tonsured', seeing that bitter tribulations afflicted his kinsmen and
that strangers ruled the monastery of St. Evroul which he and his
brothers had built to the glory of God, left the chapel of St.
Evroul, where as I said he was dwelling, 2 and returned to Mar-
moutier where he had taken his vows. Not long afterwards he
made a glorious end there on 19 January, having completed seven
full years of monastic life.
About this time Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou, who had led
a life distinguished for its military prowess, died; and as he had
no children his honor descended to his nephew Geoffrey, son
of Aubrey count of Gatinais.3 Shortly afterwards this man was
treacherously captured by his brother Fulk le Rechin, deprived
of his principality, and imprisoned in the castle of Chinon for
thirty years.
At this period William duke of Normandy was growing in power
and influence, and surpassing all his neighbours in the magni-
ficence and display of his way of life. He took as his wife the
highly born Matilda, daughter of Baldwin count of Flanders, and
niece of Henry king of France through his sister. The marriage
was blessed with sons and daughters: Robert, Richard, William,
and Henry; Adelaide, Constance, Cecilia, and Adela. 4 Skilful
historians could write a memorable history of these great men and
women if they applied themselves with energy to the task of hand-
ing on their exploits to future generations. We, however, who
have no experience of the courts of the world, but spend our lives
in the daily round of the cloisters where we live, will briefly note
what is relevant to our purpose, and return to our chosen topic.
When war broke out between the Normans and their neighbours
the Bretons and men of Maine, Duke William took counsel with
his leading magnates and determined to make peace between his
factious nobles and recall those who had been exiled.s Consequently
as the same person. But Orderic distinguishes between them (Le Prevost, ii.
391).
5 William invaded Maine in 1062 or 1063 (below, p. 116 n. 2) and Brittany
in 1064 (Douglas, WC, p. 178). Fauroux (no. 225, p. 433) indicates a general
reconciliation of Duke William with the rebellious barons of Perche and the
Bellemois in 1063.
 106 BOOK III
r BOOK II I
optimates suos Rodulfum de Toenia et Hugonem de Grente-
maisnilio quos supra diximus eum exhereditasse.J et extra solum
cum suis satellitibus fugasse, supplicationibus Simonis de Mon-
teforti et Waleranni de Britolio Beluacensi, aliorumque poten-
tum amicorum et uicinorum delinitus reuocauit, eisque paternas
hereditates restituit. Ernaldus quoque post triennalem werram
ii. 94 treuias a duce accepit, et in Apuliam ad amicos et parentes suos
qui magnis ibidem opibus pollebant perrexit..i uncle non multo post
cum ingenti pecunia rediit, ducique pallam preciosam detulit.
Sedatis aliquantulum procellis quibus Vticensis recclesia graui-
ter impulsabatur.J Osbernus rector eiusdem qui magnis curarum
tumultibus angebatur, et mordaci conscientia pro apostolico
anathemate quo percussus fuerat intus affligebatur.J consilio
consensuque fratrum domnum Mainerium Cluniaco reuocauit
I sent recalled Dom Mainer from Cluny and made him prior, after
I' et eum Fulcherio quern Rodbertus abbas priorem constituerat
deposito subrogauit. Erat idem Osbernus Herfasti filius de pago
Calcegio oriundus, ab infantia litteris admodum eruditus, ser-
mone facundus, ingenio acer ad omnia artificia scilicet sculpen-
di, fabricandi.J scribendi, et multa his similia faciendi. Statura
mediocris, perfectre retatis.J capite affatim onusto nigris canisue
capillis. Asper erat ineptis et contumacibus, misericors infirmis
et pauperibus.J et competenter largus priuatis et extraneis. In
ordine feruidus ..1 et eorum quibus fratres corporaliter seu spiri-
tualiter indigebant procurator sollertissimus. luuenes ualde co-
hercebat:' eosque bene legere et psallere atque scribere uerbis
et uerberibus cogebat. Ipse propriis manibus scriptoria pueris et
indoctis fabricabat, tabulasque cera illitas prreparabat.J operisque
modum singulis constitutum ab eis cotidie exigebat. Sic ocia
depellens iuueniles mentes intentione utili sagaciter onerabat.J
easque futuro tempore scientire diuitiis ditatas prreparabat. Hie
ii. 95 canonicus Luxouiensis sub domno Herberto antistite fuerat,
postea uolens artiori norma constringi habitum srecularem re-
liquerat:' et ad nouum crenobium quod Goscelinus de Archis in
monte Rodomi Sanctre Trinitati construebat, ubi tune uenera-
bilis lsembertus abbas uir mirre peritire nostris temporibus in-
comparabilis pollebat.J mores emendare secundum beneplacitam
uoluntatem Dei confugerat. Hunc Rainerius abbas lsemberti
successor iam in ordine probatum ad construendum crenobium
,.
107
on the intercession of Simon of Montfort, Waleran of Breteuil in
Beauvoisis, and many other important friends and neighbours he
recalled from exile the magnates Ralph of Tosny and Hugh
of Grandmesnil, whom he had disinherited and driven abroad with
their followers as I related, and restored their paternal inheritance
to them. Arnold also, after three years of warfare, was persuaded
to make a truce with the duke; and after journeyingto Apulia where
his friends and kinsmen enjoyed rich possessions, he soon returned
laden with wealth and presented a costly mantle to the duke.
When the storms that had beaten against the church of St.
Evroul were abated, Osbern, the administrator of the monastery,
who was distressed by the disorders of his charge and deeply
troubled in his conscience by the papal anathema pronounced
against him, took counsel with the brethren, and with their con-
removing Abbot Robert's prior, Fulk. This Osbern was the son
of Herfast, a native of the Pays de Caux; he was well-versed in
letters from childhood, a fluent speaker and a gifted craftsman,
excelling in carving, metalwork, architecture, penmanship, and
many other arts of this kind. He was of medium height, in the
prime of life, with a fine head of black hair streaked with grey.
Severe to the idle and disobedient, he was indulgent to the poor
and weak; generous enough to both friends and strangers, strict
in religious observances, and infinitely painstaking in ministering
to the spiritual and bodily needs of the brethren. He drove the
novices hard and did not hesitate to use the whip as well as words
in teaching them to read and chant and write well. With his own
hands he made the metal styles and wax-covered tablets for the
boys and beginners, and exacted the daily tasks from each indi-
vidually. So, preventing idleness, he wisely bent their young
minds to useful employment and prepared them richly to receive
the treasures of learning in later years. He had been a canon of
Lisieux in the time of Bishop Herbert; afterwards, wishing for
a stricter way of life, he left the world and sought refuge in the new
monastery of La Trinite-du-Mont which Goscelin of Arques had
built at Rouen, where the venerable Isembert, a man of such worth
that there is none to equal him in our own time, was abbot. Here
he hoped by God's grace to lead a better life. When he had taken
his vows and shown his worth Abbot Rainer, Isembert's successor,
sent him to help build the monastery of Cormeilles, where the
 108 BOOK III
Cormelias misiU ubi tune temporis prreclarus heros Willelmus
Osberni filius dapifer Normannorum abbatiam sanctre Dei geni-
trici Marire condere cepit. Depulso autem Rodberto abbate de
loco suo ut supra satis dictum est.J Osbernus ignarus ~t inuitus ad
regimen Vticensis recclesire assumptus est, quo per qumque annos
et tres menses prout seuitia iniqui temporis permisit diligenter et
utiliter potitus est. 1 •
Hie quendam recclesire sure monachum ualde sap1entem et
religiosum nomine Witmundum permissu abb~tis sui s~cum
adduxit.J cuius monitis et auxiliis usus est quandm apud Vt1cum
uixit. Prrefatus monachus grammaticre artis et musicre peritissi-
mus erat:1 quod no bis adhuc testantur antiphonre et. responsor~a
qure ipse condiderat. Plures enim dulcisonos cantu~ m trophano
et antiphonario edidit. 2 Hie hystoriamJ sancti patns Ebrulfi ad-
ii. 96 ditis ix antiphonis et tribus responsoriis perfecit. Nam ad uespe-
ras super psalmos quatuor antiphonas condidit, et in s~cundo
nocturno tres ultimas adiecit.J quartum etiam responsormm et
octauum et duodecimum et antiphonam ad cantica4 et ad secundas
uesperas ad canticum de Euangelio pulcherrimam antiphonai:n
edidit. I psam nimirum hystoriam Arnulfus cantor Carnotens1s
Fulberti episcopi discipulus secundum usum clericorum rogatu
Rodberti abbatis iam ediderat:1 et duobus iuuenibus monachis
Huberto et Rodulfo a prredicto patre Carnotum missis primitus
cantauerat. Porro Rainaldus Caluus responsorium ad laudem
Domini quod ad uesperas canitur.J et vii antiphonas edidit qure in
Vticensibus antiphonariis scriptre reperiuntur. Hymnos quoque
plures de eodem patre Rogerius de Sappa aliique studiosi fratres
ex deuotione pia dictauerunt.-1 suisque posteris in bibliotheca Vti-
censi commendauerunt.
Nimia sollicitudine anxius Osbernus abbas propter apostolicum
anathema, cui coactus erat subiacere.J consilio sapientum decre-
uit legatum Romam mittere, et apostolicre sedis benedictionem
humiliter expetere. Witmundo itaque sapienti monacho supplices
iussit litteras dictare.J et Bernardo iuueni cognomento Matheo
nobili antiquario diligenter scriptitare. Textus autem epistolre
huiusmodi est. 5
'Domino apostolico Alexandro, uice beati Petri totius orbis patri
1 Abbot Osbern died on 27 May 1066, having been appointed abbot in
February 1061.
2 A twelfth-century troperwith neums still survives (Bihl. Nat. MS. Lat. 10508).
3 Historia is here a technical liturgical term, applied to certain parts of the
office for a saint. See Knowles, Monastic Constitutions, p. 6 n. 3.
4 There was invariably one antiphon only for the three canticles of the third
nocturn at Matins.
BOOK III 109
great William fitzOsbern, steward of Normandy, had begun to
found an abbey dedicated in the name of Mary the holy mother
of God. After Abbot Robert was driven from his monastery, as
I have related in full, Osbern was appointed without his know-
ledge and against his will to administer St. Evroul; and there for
five years and three months 1 he loyally held sway as far as the
lawlessness of those evil days allowed.
With his abbot's consent he took with him from his own
monastery a very learned and pious monk, Guitmund by name:
and as long as he lived at St. Evroul he relied on the advice and
guidance of this man. Guitmund was a man highly skilled in
literary and musical composition, as the antiphons and respon-
sories which he composed bear witness to this day, for they include
some of the sweetest melodies in our troper and antiphonary.2
He gave the final form to the office 3 for our holy father, St.
Evroul, by adding nine antiphons and three responsories. He
composed four antiphons for the psalms at Vespers and added the
three last antiphons for the second nocturn at Matins, as well as
the fourth, eighth, and twelfth responsories and the antiphon for
the canticles ;4 he also composed a most beautiful antiphon for the
Magnificat at second Vespers. This office had originally been com-
posed at the request of Abbot Robert by Arnulf, precentor of
Chartres, a pupil of Bishop Fulbert, according to the secular rite;
and it was sung to two young monks, Hubert and Ralph, sent to
Chartres by the same abbot. Afterwards Reginald the Bald com-
posed a responsory to the praise of the Lord, which is sung at
Vespers, and seven antiphons which you can find written in the
antiphonaries of St. Evroul. Roger of Le Sap and other learned
monks of their piety composed several hymns in honour of the
same saint, and preserved them for future generations in the
library of St. Evroul.
Continually tormented by the papal anathema which he had
been forced to incur, Abbot Osbern took counsel and determined
to send a representative to Rome and humbly beg for pardon from
the apostolic see. He told the learned monk Guitmund to compose
a letter of appeal and young Bernard called Matthew, a fine copyist,
to write it. The text of the letter is as follows :s
'To the lord Pope, Alexander, as vicar of St. Peter most
5
The letter is not in the style of Orderic, and there seems no reason to doubt
that it is a copy of the letter actually sent.
 IIO BOOK III
excellentissimo: quidam abbas longe positus nomine Osbernus
1
crenobii Sancti Ebrulfi in N ormannica patria.J salutem ueraffi,
ii. 97 subiectionem humillimam, et orationem pro posse deuotam.
Quoniam ante omnes et super omnes recclesire prrelatos Domine
pater uestrum est in uniuerso orbe totius christianitatis sollici-
tudinem gerere, animarum lucra ardenti desiderio querere, dis-
cordantes ad concordiam uestra auctoritate reuocare.J iccirco ego
abbas ignotus, intra gremium tamen uestrre custodire manens, ad
uos tanquam ad clementissimum consolatorem aperta uoce ex toto
nisu mentis exclamo, preces fundo, solacium imploro, ut me per
I gratiam uestram a quadam ordinis nostri fluctuatione quam patior,
secundum rectitudinem auctoritatis eripere dignemini. Cuius
fluctuationis causa hrec est. Sancti Ebrul:fi abbatiam quam ego
nunc teneo.J quondam ante me domnus abbas Rodbertus con-
sanguineus Willelmi N ormanni militis fidelis uestri tenuerat, sed
quodam contrario sibi contingente earn reliquit et discessit. Prin-
ceps autem prouincire et prrelati recclesire.J me in eodem loco abba-
tem constituerunt. Et ut michi super hoc trepidanti asseruerunt
et asserunt recte ac secundum Deum me ordinauerunt.J nescio si
uerum dicunt. Hoc solum ex mea conscientia :firmiter scio.J quia
non prece, non precio.J non familiaritate, non obsequio.J nee ullius
calliditatis ingenio, sed solo obedientire prrecepto quantum ad me.J
abbatis nomen et onus suscepi, et suscipiendo nullam calumniam
audiui. Prrefatus ergo Rodbertus abbas longe a nobis asportatus,
in prouincia Calabrire cuiusdam monasterii pater est effectus.J et ibi
grauiter aduersum me ira odioque mouetur, calumniatur, com-
minatur, dicens me locum suum inuasisse contra Deum. Ex qua
ii. 98 dissensione.J et animre subditorum utique periclitantur, et ego
inter utranque partem ualde fluctuans hesito. Videlicet, quia et
prrelatis meis me bene loco stare asseruantibus ac persistere
iubentibus inobediens fore non audeo.J et fratris calumniantis iram
odiumque uehementer formido, presertim cum sacerdotes et
monachi simus ambo. Dum enim uox apostolica terribiliter omni-
bus intonet dicens, "Omnis qui odit fratrem suum homicida est".JI
quis enarrare sufficit quam graue homicidium perpetrat monachus
sacerdos fratrem odiens ? Et si ita ad altare sacrificat, eum animam
suam dampnare quis ignorat? Proinde domine apostolice totius
christianitatis pater reuerentissime terra tenus prostratus ad pedes
misericordire uestrre lacrimosis gemitibus prrecordialiter effi.agito.J
ut uos qui in loco beati Petri summa uigilantia oues dominicas
1 1 John iii. 15.
BOOK III III
renowned father of the whole world, a certain abbot, Osbern by
name, of the re~ote monastery of St. Evroul in the region of
Normandy, greetmg, humble submission, and most devoted
prayers. Holy father, it is your right before and above all the pre-
lates of the church to watch over the whole Christian world work
tirelessly fo: the preservation of souls, and resolve dispu~es by
your authorit.Y: Therefor~ I, an abbot unknown yet dwelling under
your care, raismg my voice cry aloud to you as my most merciful
preserver, pour out prayers and implore your aid graciously to
save me ?Y your lawful power from the grave disturbance of my
order which I no~ endure. The nature of the disturbance is this.
The abbey of St. E~roul, which ~ ~ow hold, was formerly held by
A~bot Robert, a kmsman of Wilham the Norman your faithful
kmght; ~ut he was forced by adversity to abandon it and go away.
The prmce of this province and the prelates of the Church
appointed me abbot in the same place, and, as they assured me to
alla~ my fears, established me in due and proper form: I cannot
say if they spe.ak truly. This alone I know for certain: that not by
prayer, nor price, nor favour, nor request, nor any form of deceit,
but only by the precept of obedience did I, as far as in me lay,
~ccept the name and burden of the office of abbot; and when I took
it I heard no word of accusation. This same Abbot Robert is far
rem~ved from us a~d has become the head of a monastery in the
provmce of Calabria, wh~re he is moved by hatred and anger to
accus~ and abuse me,. saymg that I have usurped his place against
the will of God_. This dispute both undoubtedly endangers the
souls of the subject monks and causes me to hesitate vacillating
between the two sides. For on the one hand I dare ~ot be dis-
obedient to my superiors who command me to remain steadfastly
at my post; on the other I dread in my heart the anger and hatred
of the brother who accuses me, all the more because we are both
prie.sts a.nd monks. For since the voice of the apostle sounds
terribly m our ears saying: "Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murd~rer", 1 who is there that can tell how grievous a murder is
~o?1mi~ted by the monk and priest who hates his brother? And
if m this state he offers up the sacrifice of the Mass, who can fail
to know that he imperils his soul? Therefore, lord Pope, most
reverend father of the Christian world, I implore you with tears
and groans, prostrate before your mercy seat, beseeching you who
are compelled day and night in the place of St. Peter to feed the
 112 BOOK Ill
alere, 1 et a luporum insidiis custodire debetis.J huius lupinre dis-
cordire malum inter me et fratrem hunc de quo loquor Rodbertum
ex zelo Dei per iudicium requitatis abolere festinetis, et omnem
hanc fluctuationem a corde meo penitus auferatis. Ita scilicet ut ex
imperio uestrre auctoritatis..1 et me et ordinationis mere auctores
et eundem Rodbertum calumniatorem ad iustissimam rei dis-
cussionem coram idoneis legitimisque iudicibus in unum conuenire
faciatis, quatinus si in abbatia bene positus repertus fuero ..1 per-
sistam, si male..1 discedam. Quod si per gratiam uestram feceritis:
et officium quidem uestrum laudabiliter implebitis, et nos ambos
fratres in pacis dulcedinem conducetis. Nam siue persistere siue
ii. 99 discedere michi contingat:I profecto et fratris iracundia ex iudicii
definitione mitigata quiescet, et ego a fluctuatione libera~us..i Deo
postmodum famulari potero securus. 0 rectorum reccles1re rector
et patrum pater, qui omnibus tribulatis ad refugium constitutus
estis..1 per beatam potestatem ligandi et solve?di quam s~p~a omn~s
terrigenas possidetis, 2 hrec uerba mea cordis aure perc1p1te:I et m
quantum recte sonant, agite quod poscunt. Et ut me simpliciter
loqui credatis..1 ad testimonium conscientire mere omnia scientem
Deum appello, qui me ex corde et ore qure loquor intuetur pro-
ferre. Hoc tandem in fine uerborum pie domine pronus et supplex
summopere deposco, ut per hunc eundem quern uobis dirigo
legatum in litteris sigillo uestro signatis michi. ~emandare. ~a~erna
pietate curetis: qualiter hrec uerba mea sent1t1s uel rec1p1hs, et
quid inde acturus estis..1 et quando, et ubi ..1 quatinus dum certum
dederitis responsum fluctuationi mere, ad clementissimum con-
solatorem me gaudeam exclamasse. Valete pater gloriose, rector
excellentissime, summum in terra caput recclesire. Valete.J et super
ouilia dominica uigilate. Quod utinam sic agatis: ut ad ultimum
iudicium securus ueniatis. Amen.'
Hane epistolam Willelmus pres biter Sancti Andrere de Excalfoio3
detulit: Romreque Alexandro papre prresentauit. Qua coram
Romano senatu perlecta, et prudenti examinatione ?iligenter
discussa:I uenerandus papa rogante Rodberto abbate qm prresens
erat Osbernum absoluit, et prrefatre legationis baiulum cum bene-
dictione apostolica gauden~em ad suos relll:isit. Rod?ertu~ enix:i
iam de reditu in Normanmam propter feroc1tatem W1llelm1 ducts
ii. loo diffisus, et in Calabrire partibus ut supra diximus..i a Wiscardo
aliisque N ormannis alienas diuitias usurpantibus ~onorabiliter
retentus..1 mitigato furore quern contra Osbernum prms habuerat,
1 Cf. John xxi. 15-17.
2 Cf. Psalms xlviii. 3 (Vulgate).
3 The church of St. Andrew of Echauffour had been given to St. Evroul by
BOOK III IIJ
Lord's sheep and preserve them from the assaults of wolves,
1
speedily and justly by the zeal of the Lord to settle this wolfish
discord between me and my brother Robert of whom I speak, and
to remove all doubts utterly from my heart; and beg you by your
authority to summon me and the promoters of my appointment
and this same Robert who accuses me to meet for a lawful dis-
cussion of the affair before properly constituted judges: if I should
be found justly appointed to the office of abbot, let me remain; if
unjustly, let me depart. If by your grace you do this you will dis-
charge your duty righteously and bring us, brothers as we are,
back to the joys of concord. For whether it is my lot to remain or
to depart the judgement will cause my brother's anger to abate,
and I shall be released from uncertainty to serve God more surely.
0 ruler of the rulers of the Church and father of the fathers, who
are appointed to be a refuge to all in trouble, by the blessed power
of binding and releasing, which you have over all sprung from the
earth, 2 hear my words with the ear of your heart, and in so far as
I ask rightly grant my request. Believe me when I tell you this,
for I call to witness of my good faith God, who sees all things
and knows that I speak from the heart. Finally, holy father, I
humbly beg that above all by your fatherly care you send back
to me by this same messenger a letter sealed with your seal,
telling me how you have received my appeal, and what action you
will take, and when, and where; so that when finally your answer
has put an end to my uncertainty I may be glad that I cried out to
my most merciful protector. Farewell, renowned father, highest
lord, supreme head of the Church on earth. Farewell; keep safe
watch over the Lord's sheep-fold. May you so do that you may be
saved at the last judgement. Amen.'
William, priest of St. Andrew of Echauffour,3 took this letter to
Rome and presented it to Pope Alexander. When it had been read
out in the Roman consistory and thoroughly studied and discussed
the worthy pope, at the request of Abbot Robert who was present,
absolved Osbern and sent the envoy back home rejoicing, with
the papal blessing. Robert indeed, exiled from Normandy through
the duke's fury, and warmly welcomed in Calabria, as I have
related, by Guiscard and other Normans who had won spoils
there, allowed the anger he had once cherished against Osbern to
William Giroie (above, pp. 32-34). Priests of churches belonging to monastic
houses served the monks in various ways.
822204 I
 t•
!
114 BOOK III
nunc apud papam pro eo benignus intercessor exstat..1 quern antea
subtiliter accusando crudeliter impugnauerat. Completa uero
legatione Willelmus presbiter ad cos a quibus directus fuerat
prospere remeauit..1 et relatis qure Romre uiderat et audierat
Vticenses lretificauit.
Securior itaque Osbernus curam recclesire quam susceperat.1
intus et exterius laudabiliter exercebat. N eophitos ad conuersio-
nem non nisi quattuor susceperat..J propter procellas persecutio-
num quas perpessus fuerat, sed illos quos a prredecessoribus suis
susceptos inuenerat:' diligenter et utiliter in sanctis artibus educa-
bat. Hie constituit generale anniuersarium fieri singulis annis
vi 0 kal. iulii pro patribus et matribus, pro fratribus et sorori:
bus omni um monachorum Vticensis crenobii. 1 In rotulo quidem
longissimo omnium fratrum dum uocante Deo ad ordinem ueniunt
nomina scribuntur.1 deinde patrum et matrum eorum fratrumque
ac sororum uocabula subscribuntur. Qui rotulus penes aram toto
anno seruatur, et sedula commemoratio inscriptorum in conspectu
Domini agitur.1 dum ei a sacerdote in celebratione missre dicitur,
'Animas famulorum famularumque tuarum quorum nomina ante
sanctum altare tuum scripta adesse uidentur.1 electorum tuorum
iungere digneris consortio'. 2 Anniuersarium uero de quo loquimur.1
vi 0 kal. iulii sic agitur. Omnia signa sero et maneJ ad officium
defunctorum diu pulsantur, uolumen mortuorum super altare
ii. IOI dissolutum palam expanditur.1 et deprecatio prius pro defunctis
postea pro uiuis parentibus et benefactoribus cunctisque fidelibus
Deo fideliter offertur. Missa uero matutinalis ab abbate celebriter
canitur.1 cum quo sacratis indumentis omnes ministri reuestiuntur.
Ab elemosinario autem tot pauperes quot monachi sunt ipsa die
in crenobio colliguntur.1 et in xenodochio pane et potu unoque
generali sufficienter a celarario pascuntur, et post capitulum ab
omni conuentu mandatum pauperum sicut in cena Domini
peragitur. Hoc sicut Osbernus abbas constituit, Vticensis recclesia
1
The development of special commemorations for benefactors and friends
and of fraternities with bonds of prayers and alms for deceased members owed
much to the example of Cluny. See H. E. J. Cowdrey, 'Unions and con-
fraternities with Cluny', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, xvi (1965), 152-62,
especially pp. 158-9. The roll mentioned by Orderic no longer survives; but
there is an entry in the twelfth-century Liber Vitae of St. Evroul (Bibi. Nat.
MS. Lat. 10062, f. 80) recording the later establishment by Abbot Roger of
a commemoration for the Feast of All Souls, with alms for the poor and prayers,
which ends, 'Hoc etiam a supradicto abbate statutum est, ut ipso die officium
mortuorum ... ita omnino festiue atque eodem modo agatur quo uero anniuer-
sario parentum nostrorum vi. kal. lulii agitur'.
BOOK III 115
bate and was ready to intercede amicably with the pope for the
a
man 'whom he had previously bitterly attack ed wit · h specious
·
accusations. Having accomplished his mission William the priest
returned rejoicing to those who had sent him, and gladdened the
hearts of the monks of St. Evroul by his account of all that he had
seen and heard in Rome.
Now that he was confirmed in his authority Osbern was able to
give wise government in the internal .and external affairs of ?is
church. His persecution and all the disturbances that went with
it prevented him from receiving more than four new converts,
but he spared no pains in instructing those who had taken the
vows under his predecessors in knowledge and religion. He
established a general anniversary, to be held every year on 26 June
for the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters of all the monks
of St. Evroul. 1 There is a very long roll on which the names of all
the brethren are inscribed, when called by God they take the habit,
followed by the names of their fathers and mothers, brothers and
sisters. This roll is kept all year upon the altar, and those whose
names are inscribed on it are diligently remembered in the sight of
God, when the priest says during the celebration of Mass, 'Vouch-
safe, 0 Lord, to grant the souls of these thy servants and hand-
maidens, whose names are preserved before thy holy altar,
fellowship with thy saints' .2 The anniversary I mentioned is kept
on 26 June in this way. Both evening and morning 3 all the bells
are rung for some time for the office of the dead; the roll of the
dead is untied and laid out on the altar, and prayers are offered to
God first for the dead, then for living parents and benefactors and
all the faithful. The Morrow Mass is solemnly sung by the abbot,
and he and all his assistants are clad in the sacred vestments. On
that day the almoner assembles in the convent as many poor
persons as there are monks, and the cellarer provides each one
with his portion of bread and drink and a main course in the guest
house; and after the chapter all the monks wash the feet ?f the
poor as they do on Maundy Thursday. The church of St. Evroul
has faithfully observed this festival as Osbern instituted it up to
the present day, and it has been freely adopted by the monks of
2 For other forms of commemoration of the dead see J. B. L. Tolhurst, The
Monastic Breviary of Hyde Abbey, Winchester (Henry Bradshaw Society,
London, 1932-42), vi. 66, 73.
3 i.e. at Vespers on 25 June and Lauds on 26 June.
 II6 BOOK III
usque in hodiernum diem uigilanter custodit.J et Nogionensibus
atque Balcherensibus 1 aliisque sequacibus suis ardenter tradidit.
Sepe nominatus uir Dei pauperes ut supra diximus et regrotos
ualde amabat:' et eorum indigendoa et necessaria largiendo subueni-
ebat. Vnde constituit ut vii leprosi pro amore Dei perenniter ab
Vticensibus alerentur.J eisque de cellario fratrum panis et potus vii
monachorum cotidie largiretur. Quod ipse et Mainerius succes-
sor eius libenter tenuerunt! quamdiu in regimine uitales auras
hauserunt. Sed hrec a Serlone successore eorum prout uoluntas
hominum uariatur constitutio postea mutata est.J iterumque
a Rogerio qui successit eis ternarius infirmorum numerus in
nomine Domini reformatus est.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini mlxiv 0 post mortem Herberti
ii. 102 iuuenis Cenomannensium comitis 2 Willelmus dux cum ualida
manu armatorum Sartam fluuium transiit! multosque Cenoman-
norum sese illius manui subdentes clementer suscepit, et quamdiu
postea uixit, annis scilicet xxiv, subiectos iure possedit. Prrefa-
tus nimirum iuuenis post obitum Herberti senioris patris sui qui
uulgo Euigilans Canem cognominabatur, b propter grauissimas
infestationes quas a per:fidis affinibus suis Andegauensibus in-
cessanter patiebatur.JJ consilio Bertre4 matris sure se suumque
patrimonium fortissimo duci Normannorum commendauerat, et
Margaritam sororem suam Rodberto eiusdem ducis filio in con-
iugium dederat! cum qua hrereditatem suam comitatum scilicet
Cenomannensem si sine liberis obiret concesserat. Sed quia
Walterius Pontesiensium comes filius Drogonis comitis qui cum
Rodberto seniore Normannorum duce in Jerusalem ierat, et in
illo itinere peregrinus obierat.J Biotam Hugonis Cenomannensium
comitis filiam, s qure amita prredicti iuuenis erat, in coniugium
habebat, totum comitatum Cenomannensem calumniabatur et ex
parte possidebat. Nam ipsam urbem qure caput est prouincire
a Sic in MS. bMS. cognomibatur
1
Noyon, founded in 1108, was a priory dependent on St. Evroul (Le Prevost,
iv. 277 f.); St. George of Boscherville, originally a college of canons, was
reformed as an independent abbey with monks from St. Evroul in l l 14 (Le
Prevost, iii. 382-3).
2
Count Herbert died on 9 March 1062, and Duke William invaded Maine
within the next year. Most Norman chronicles give the date I063 for this
campaign, and indeed Orderic's statement that William lived twenty-four years
afterwards implies 1063. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle places the attack in 1062.
But the campaign was long, and may have lasted from 1062 into 1063. There is
BOOK III 117
Noyon-sur-Andelle and St. George of Boscherville, and others 1
who have followed their lead.
As I related, this same man of God was a true friend to the poor
and sick and made provision for all their needs. He ordained that
seven lepers should always be supported by the monks for the
love of God, and should daily receive the food and drink of seven
monks from the conventual cellarer. Both he and his successor
Mainer observed this as long as they lived and ruled the convent.
But the will of men is variable; and this ordinance was afterwards
changed by their successor Serio, and also by Roger the next
abbot, so that the number of the sick to be supported in the name
of the Lord has been reduced to three.
In the year of Our Lord 1064, after the death of Herbert the
young count of Maine, 2 Duke William crossed the river Sarthe
with a strong army, received with forbearance the submission of
many of the men of Maine, and acquired lawful dominion over
them which he retained for the remaining twenty-four years of his
life. This was the state of affairs after the death of the elder
Herbert, nicknamed 'Wake-dog' because he always had to resist
the harrying of his treacherous neighbours in Anjou.3 The young
count his son took the advice of his mother Bertha4 and com-
mended himself and his patrimony to the powerful duke of
Normandy, giving his sister Margaret in marriage to the duke's
son Robert. With her he gave her inheritance, which was the
county of Maine if he died without children. But Walter count of
Pontoise also laid claim to Maine; he was the son of the Count
Drogo who went to Jerusalem with Robert I, duke of Normandy,
and died on his pilgrimage, and he based his claim on his mar-
riage to Biota daughter of Hugh count of Maine,s who was the
young Herbert's paternal aunt; he had already taken possession of
part of the county. His vassals, amongst whom were Geoffrey of
no reliable evidence that it continued as late as 1064. See Prentout, Histoire de
Guillaume le Conquerant (1936), pp. 151-2; Halphen, Anjou, pp. 178-9; La-
touche, Maine, pp. 33-34; Douglas, WC, p. 174.
3 Orderic is mistaken in the genealogy of the counts of Maine. Herbert II
was the son of Hugh IV and grandson of Herbert 'Wake-dog' (Latouche,
Maine, p. 28). For the corrected family tree see ibid., Appendix III, pp. II3-15.
4 Bertha of Blois was a daughter of Stephen, count of Blois; she married first
Alan III, count of Brittany, and after his death Hugh IV of Maine.
5 Biota was a daughter of Herbert 'Wake-dog', not of Count Hugh. Orderic,
however, correctly calls her the paternal aunt of the young Count Herbert II.
See Latouche, Maine, p. 115.
 II8 BOOK Ill
Goisfredus de Meduana et Hubertus de Sancta Susanna 1 aliique
potentes in fidelitate Walterii ac~it~r tenebant! q~ia ~o~manni~um
iugum his quibus imminet gramss1mum est s.ubire n.u:i1s form1da-
ii. 103 bant. Itaque dum magnanimus dux frequ~nt1 exped1t10ne rebelles
impeteret, et ipse ut bellica sors expet1t dampna pateretu~ et
dampna hostibus inferret.J prredictus comes. Waltenus et B10t~
coniunx eius per inimicorum machinament.a s1mul ut fe~unt, let.ah
ueneno fraudulenter infecti obierunt. 2 Qmbus defunct1s secunor
dux cum magno robore rebelles e~petiit,. C~no~annica~ ur?em
ciuibus ultro sese dedentibus cum mgent1 tnpud10 recep1t.J eique
dominus Ernaldus3 eiusdem urbis prresul cum clericis et monachis
reuestitis textus crucesque ferentibus honorabiliter obuiam pro-
cessit.
Porro Goisfredus de Meduana4 tantre felicitati ducis inuidit.J
eique in quantum potuit, aduersarios excitando aliisque m~dis
mala machinando nocere studuit. Vnde dux postquam protermam
eius ut per se sine multorum detrimento. ~or~igeretur aliqua~diu
tolerauit.J contra perseuerantem in neqmtia mgentem exerc1~u1?
mouit, Ambreras oppidum eius cepit! 5 et Meduanam po~t .dmt1-
nam obsidionem combussit. His itaque duobus castelhs s1b1 sub-
actis Goisfredi contumaciam fregit.J sibique ipsum qui fortissimus
Cenomannorum alios tumentes secum resistere suadebat seruire
coegit. Quo superato, pene omnes illius. complices ~t a_d rebellan-
dum fautores terrore curuati sunt.J et W1llelmum prmc1pem quern
ii. 104 diuina manus protegebat timere eique obsecundare coacti sunt.
Ipse speciosam uirginem Margaritam Stigand~ poten~i uiro .de
Mansione Odonis6 ad nutriendum commendamt.J sed 1psa prms
quam nubiles annos attingeret sreculi ludibriis ~reJ?t~ felicite~ ~bii~,
et Fiscanni ubi monachile ccenobium sanctre et mdm1dure Tnmtatis
gloriose pollet humata quiescit.
Eodem tempore Rodbertus de Waceio filius RadulJ?hi filii Rod-
berti archiepiscopi sine liberis mortuus est.J et W1llelmus dux
1 Hubert of Sainte-Suzanne was vicomte of Le Mans.
2 Orderic is the only authority for this story of poisoning, and even he relates
it with reservations. Walter and Biota died at Falaise, according to Orderic
(below, p. 312). The story is not in William of Poitiers, who provided much of
the material for Orderic's account of the invasion of Maine. D. C. Douglas is
sceptical of the poisoning (WC, p. 410); but the story is accepted by Latouche
(Maine, p. 34) and Foreville (p. 92 n. 3), who points out that Walter, as a nephew
of Edward the Confessor, might have become a rival claimant to the English
throne.
J This must be a mistake; for Vougrin, Arnold's predecessor, did not die
until II May 1065 (Latouche, Maine, p. 35 n. 1).
4 Geoffrey of Mayenne, faithful vassal of the count of Anjou, represented the
Angevin interest in Maine. Cf. Halphen, Anjou, p. 179.
L
BOOK III II9
Mayenne and Hubert of Sainte-Suzanne were valiantly defending
1
the capital city of the province, for they were afraid of falling under
the dreaded yoke of the Normans. Whilst the gallant duke was
leading attack upon attack against the rebels, now gaining, now
losing, as is the fortune of war, Count Walter and his wife Biota
both died at the same time, poisoned-so the rumour goes-by
the evil machinations of their enemies. 2 When they were dead the
duke was better able to lead a powerful force against the rebels; and
he received the submission of Le Mans, where the citizens freely
gave themselves up with great rejoicing, and Arnold3 bishop of
the town came out to meet him ceremoniously in full robes, with
his clergy and monks, bearing gospel books and crosses.
From that time Geoffrey of Mayenne4 envied the duke's good
fortune and did all in his power to harm him by intriguing with
his enemies and plotting evil in other ways. For a while the duke
endured his insolence, hoping to punish him alone without in-
juring others, but as Geoffrey persisted in his crimes he led a
great army against him, capturing his town of Ambrieress and
burning Mayenne after a long siege. Once these two strongholds
had been subdued Geoffrey's resistance was broken, and he who
had been the strongest of the men of Maine and had induced other
malcontents to join him in rebellion was forced to submit to the
duke. Once he had been defeated almost all his supporters and
rebellious followers gave way to terror and were forced to fear
and obey Duke William, protected as he was by divine providence.
The duke entrusted the beautiful maiden, Margaret, to the care
of Stigand, the powerful lord of Mesidon ;6 but before she reached
marriageable age she was snatched away from the snares of this
world; and dying happily rests in peace at Fecamp, where a thriving
monastery stands to the glory of the holy and undivided Trinity.
At this time Robert of Gace, son of Ralph, Archbishop Robert's
son, died without issue, and Duke William who was his kinsman
5 Latouche (Maine, p. 35 n. 1) points out that Ambrieres had been in the
hands of the dukes of Normandy since 1054. Halphen, however (Anjou, p. 79
n. 1), regards this statement as proof that Geoffrey had recovered some of the
ground previously lost to William of Normandy; and although Orderic makes
a number of mistakes in his account of the war in Maine this is no reason
for rejecting the whole of his story where it does not conflict with known
facts.
6
Cf. Davis, Regesta, i. xxiv. Stigand of Mesidon was a ducal dapifer at
least as early as 1061 (CDF, no. 7n). He gave part of his property to St. Ouen,
Rouen, in memory of his son Eudo in 1063 (Fauroux, no. 158).
 120 BOOK III
cognatus eius totam hrereditatem eius in dominio suo nactus est.
Tune ipse terram Rodberti de Witot qui propter occisionem
Gisleberti comitis exulabat, 1 Goisfredo Mansello fratri uicecomi-
tis Ruberti dedit:1 2 a quo domnus Osbernus abbas Sancti Ebrulfi
uillam qure Ductus Ertu dicitur et Trunchetum et Maisnil Ros-
celini emit. Hoc Willelmus dux concessit, et in carta confirmauit,
ii. 105 coram optimatibus Normannire, Willelmo Osberni filio, Ricardo
de Abrincis Turstini filio, Rogerio de Monte Gomerici et multis
aliis in carta notatis. J
Rodbertus uero de Witot post longum tempus duci reconciliatus
est! et honore suo recuperato4 prrefatam terram Sancto Ebrulfo
calumniatus est. Sed non multo post hello Anglico ubi et ipse in
genu uulneratus est peracto.J letiferam regritudinem incurrit. Qui
dum mortem sibi appropriare sensit.J totam terram quam ab ipso
calumniatam esse iam diximus, bono animo fidelibus Dei pro
redemptione animre sure concessit. Hoc autem apud Doueram
coram Odone Baiocensi episcopo et Hugone de Grentemaisnilio,
Hugone quoque de Montefortis et Hugone filio Fulcoldi, aliisque
multis magnis et mediocribus Sancto Ebrulfo concessum est.
Deinde quia idem miles fere xl nepotes militire titulis feroces
habuit.J ipsis inter se seuientibus uix unquam usque in prresentem
diem hrereditas eius in pace permanere potuit. Nam Mathiellus6
et Ricardus frater eius ac Nigellus atque Rualodus Brito Nigelli
gener diuersis temporibus successerunt.J multasque malicias in-
fortuniis comitantibus exercuerunt. Vnusquisque eorum prre-
fatam possessionem Sancto Ebrulfo calumniatus est.J sed iudicio
Dei qui recclesiam suam potenter ubique protegit imminente ab
iniusta calumnia cessare coactus est. Mathiellus enim sub magno
duce Willelmo, et Ricardus aliique calumniatores sub duce Rot-
berto eiusque fratribus Willelmo Rufo et Henrico, recclesiam Dei
1 Raoul of Gace was responsible for plotting the murder of Gilbert of Brianne
(Marx, p. 156; Douglas, WC, p. 43). This passage suggests that Robert of Vitot
may have been one of the assassins.
2 The identity of Hubert is uncertain. Stapleton suggested that he might be
Hubert of Sainte-Suzanne, vicomte of Maine (Le Prevost, iii. r 94 n. 2). Latouche
did not include Geoffrey Mancel among the brothers of Hubert in his recon-
struction of the genealogy of the vicomtes of Maine (Latouche, Maine, p. 131);
though the name Geoffrey did occur in the two previous generations.
3 M. Fauroux accepts this as a record of a genuine lost charter (Fauroux,
no. 155), but is hesitant in positively identifying Hubert. There are many
obscurities in the transaction: Orderic implies that the property came to
William as a kinsman rather than as duke or lord; but William was a distant
I
~
I
4
BOOK III 121
added the whole of his inheritance to his demesne. At this time
too the duke gave the estates of Robert of Vitot, who had been
exiled for his share in the murder of Count Gilbert, 1 to Geoffrey
Mancel, brother of Hubert the vicomte ;2 and from him Abbot
Osbern of St. Evroul bought the vill called Le Douet-Artus, and
Tronchet and Mesnil-Rousset. Duke William gave his consent
and confirmed the sale in a charter witnessed by the Norman
magnates William fitzOsbern, Richard of Avranches son of Thur-
stan, Roger of Montgomery, and many others named in the char-
ter.3
As it happened Robert of Vitot long afterwards made his peace
with the duke, recovered his fiefs, 4 and claimed these lands from
St. Evroul. However, a little later, after the English war in which
he was wounded in the knee, he fell seriously ill; and when he
realized that he was on the point of death he granted the whole of
the land which, as I said, he had claimed, freely, for the redemp-
tion of his soul, to the servants of God. This grant to St. Evroul
was made at Dover, and witnessed by Odo bishop of Bayeux,
Hugh of Grandmesnil, Hugh of Montfort,s and Hugh son of
Fulcold, and many others of high and low rank.
Afterwards since this knight had almost forty kinsmen, all
proud of their knightly status, who were continually at war with
one another, his inheritance has scarcely been undisputed for
a day up to the present time. For Matthew6 and Richard his
brother and Nigel and Rualon the Breton, Nigel's son-in-law,
inherited at various times, and did many evil deeds that brought
disasters in their train. Each one of them claimed this land from
St. Evroul; but the judgement of God, who gives mighty protection
to his Church everywhere, was always at hand to force them to
abandon their unjust claims. All these men tried with violent
threats to despoil the Church of God of its possessions, Matthew
in the reign of the great Duke William, Richard and the other
claimants under Duke Robert and his brothers William Rufus
cousin, and this seems improbable. It is likely that hereditary succession was
less normal in 1063 than at the time Orderic was writing.
• For the general reconciliations of this period just before William began his
principal campaigns of expansion see above, p. 104 n. 5.
s Odo of Bayeux and Hugh of Montfort were put in charge of the garrison
at Dover immediately after the battle of Hastings (below, p. 204). Robert's
grant can therefore be dated as late 1066 or early 1067.
6 Matthew of Vitot was killed during the fighting in Maine in 1084-5
(Le Prevost, iii. 199-200).
 122 BOOK III
rebus habitis spoliare cum multis minis conati sunt.J sed rege regum
suos adiuuante quod nequiter optabant perpetrare nequiuerunt.
ii. 106 Ernaldus de Excalfoio, Willelmi Geroiani filius postquam de
Apulia prospere remeauit.J Willelmum ducem adiit, eique preci-
osissimam pallam prresentauit.J suamque ab ipso humiliter hrere-
ditatem requisiuit. Dux autem considerans nobilitatem uiri et
ingentem probitatem, recolensque suam contra Cenomannos et
Britones aliosque sibi resistentes proborum militum paucitatem.J
iam lenior effectus ei reatus indulsit, datisque induciis patri-
monium suum se illi redditurum spopondit.J et usque ad statutum
terminum per terram suam eundi et redeundi liberam securitatem
concessit. Ernaldus itaque uana ducis promissione percepta
lretatus est.J sed frustra ut paulo post dilucidatum est. Nam
Mabilia Talauacii filia letali ueneno cibum et potum infecit.J
eumque dum de curia ducis in Galliam remearet refici iussit, sed
illi per quendam amicum suum doli conscium tantum nefas
innotuit. Vnde dum apud Excalfoium ad quosdam amicos suos
colloqueretur, et a clientibus prrefatre mulieris ad conuiuium cum
summa prece inuitaretur.J memor amici iussionis nullatenus
adquieuit, sed omnino cibum et potum in quo letum inesse
metuebat repudiauit. Verum Gislebertus frater Rogerii de Monte
Gomerici qui prredictum Ernaldum conducebat, utpote qui
penitus doli nescius erat.J scifum accepit, super equum residens
merum bibiu et ueneno infectus apud Raimalastum tertia die
obiit. Sic perfida mulier dum mariti sui emulum extinguere
putauit.J mariti sui unicum fratrem qui multa honestate in annis
ii. 107 adolescentire et equestri probitate pollebat occidit. Non multo
post dum primo conatu se delusam esse ingemuit.J ad concupitum
facinus perpetrandum alio nisu non minus ferali denuo insur-
rexit. Nam Rogerium militem cognomento Gulafram qui Ernal-
di cubicularius erat precibus et promissis circumuenit.J citoque
fraudulentum satellitem nefariis uotis inclinauit. Deinde pesti
feras potiones hrec prreparauit.J ille autem Ernaldo domino suo et
Geroio de Corbreuilla atque Willelmo cognomento Goiet de Monte
Miralio propinauit. Sic una tabe tres proceres apud Corbreuil-
lam simul infecti sunt. 1 Sed Geroius atque Willelmus qui ad
proprias domus delati sunt.J ibique sui curam ad libitum suum
exercere potuerunt, Deo effectum remediis medicorum prrestante
1
Cf. Douglas, WC, p. 414.
I
j
BOOK III 123
and Henry; but they were never able to gain their unlawful ends,
for the King of kings protected his servants.
When Arnold of Echauffour, William Giroie's son, returned
after making his fortune in Apulia he sought audience with Duke
William and presented him with a costly mantle, humbly begging
for the restoration of his inheritance. The duke, bearing in mind
the high birth and outstanding valour of the man, and reflecting
that he had all too few loyal knights for overcoming the resistance
of the men of Maine and Brittany, was inclined to treat him with
indulgence and excuse his offences; he made a truce with Arnold,
promising to restore his patrimony to him and granting him
freedom of movement throughout the duchy for as long as the
truce should last. When Arnold heard the empty promise of the
duke he was overjoyed; but time was soon to show that his hopes
were vain. For Mabel, daughter of Talvas, prepared poisoned
food and drink, and offered him refreshment on his way back to
Gaul from the duke's court; he, however, was given warning of u
the treachery by a friend who knew her wickedness. When this
woman's servants approached as he was talking to some friends
!l
at Echauffour, and most pressingly invited him to dine with her, he
remembered the friend's warning and was firm in his refusal to II
touch the food and drink which he feared might be poisoned.
11
It happened that Gilbert, Roger of Montgomery's brother, who II
was escorting Arnold and had no suspicion of foul play, accepted
a cup and drank the wine undiluted without dismounting from his
horse: the poison quickly took effect and he died two days later
at Remalard. So this treacherous woman who attempted to
murder her husband's rival succeeded in killing her husband's
only brother, a man who showed the highest integrity in his youth
and was remarkable for his knightly virtues. But she took to heart
the failure of her first attempt, and not long afterwards devised
another scheme no less deadly to bring about the end she desired.
She succeeded in winning over Arnold's chamberlain, a knight
called Roger Goulafre, and by persuasion and bribes soon made
him a willing tool to her nefarious wishes. Again she prepared
poisoned cups, which the chamberlain offered to Arnold his .lo~d
and Giroie of Courville and William called Gouet of Montm1ra11.
Thus three nobles were poisoned together at Courville. 1 Giroie
and William, however, who were taken back to their own homes
and could secure proper remedies, recovered through the grace of
 124 BOOK III
conualuerunt. Porro Ernaldus qui exulabat, nee sui curam in extra-
neis penatibus sufficienter exercere ualebat:' aliquantis diebus
regrotauit, tandemque ingrauescente morbo kal. Ianuarii expirauit.
Hie pridie quam obisset, dum solus in camera lecto decumberet.J
quendam seniorem pulcherrimum quern sanctum Nicholaum
prresulem ratus est manifeste non in somniis uidit, a quo huiusce-
modi mandata audiuit, 'De sanitate corporis tui frater sollicitus
esse noli quia eras sine dubio morieris.J sed toto nisu procura
ii. 108 qualiter anima tua saluetur in examine iusti et reterni iudicis.' His
dictis senex repente disparuit, et reger mox Vticum misit.J et ab
eiusdem loci fratribus uisitari rogauit. Illi autem Fulconem de
Warlenuilla 1 cito miserunt Corbreuillam. Ibi namque prrefatus
miles cum Geroio eiusdem oppidi domino cuius propinquus et
amicus erat.J exulationis sure tempore per triennium moratus
fuerat, et inde per Corbonienses et Drocenses atque Morinos
aliosque quos in auxilium sui aduocare potuerat.J iniuriam expul-
sionis sure forti werra uindicauerat. Illuc Fulcone confestim ad-
ueniente reger ualde gauisus esU et manifestata reuelatione quam
pridie uiderat sreculoque relicto cum benigna deuotione animi
monachus effectus est. Deinde peccata sua lugens et in Deo
gaudens eodem die mortuus est, et corpus eius Vticum delatum
est.J ibique in claustro monachorum a domno abbate Osberno et
a conuentu sancti Ebrulfi honorifice sepultum est.
Defuncto itaque Ernaldo tota Geroianorum nobilitas pene
corruit..1 nee ullus posterorum stemma priorum ex integro usque
hodie adipisci potuit. Hie Emmam Turstini cognomento Halduc
filiam uxorem duxerat.J ex qua Willelmum et Rainaldum ac
Petronillam atque Geuam aliosque filios et filias habuerat. Qui
patre dum adhuc uiridi iuuenta maxime floreret in teneris annis
destituti, et in externis domibus ut supra satis ostendimus con-
stituti..J coacti sunt inopias pluresque iniurias ab infantia perpeti.
ii. 109 Mater ad Eudonem fratrem suum Normannici ducis dapiferum 2
qui in pago Constantino diuitiis et potestate inter N ormannire
proceres eminebat secessit.J et tam apud illum quam apud alios
amicos suos in uiduitate pene xxx annis honeste uixit. Castitate
1
Fulk of Guernanville, son of Fulk dean of Evreux, was one of the first
monks of St. Evroul, and was frequently charged with responsible tasks (cf.
below, p. 146; Le Prevost, ii. 396-8).
2
Emma's brother was Eudo, son of Richard called Thurstan Haldup,
vicomte of the Cotentin (GC, xi. 917). The number of stewards at the court of
the early Anglo-Norman kings is uncertain: it is likely that there were four
(Douglas, WC, pp. 145-6; Regesta, ii. xi). Because Eudo the Steward, who
frequently witnessed William's acts, was a son of Hubert of Ryes (Handbook of
British Chronology, p. 72), it does not follow that Orderic has confused the two
men, as Le Prevost thought. Since Orderic knew Eu do son of Thurstan's nephew,
BOOK III 125
God and skill of their doctors; but Arnold who was far from home
and could not get proper attention in the houses of others lay ill
for some days; and at length, growing worse, he breathed his last
on I January. The day before his death, whilst he lay alone on the
bed in his chamber, an old man of beauteous countenance, whom
he took for St. Nicholas the bishop, appeared to him not in a
dream but to his waking eyes, and spoke these words of command
to him: 'Give no more thought, my brother, to the health of your
body, for tomorrow you must die; but strive to bring about the
salvation of your soul before the just tribunal of the eternal
Judge.' Having spoken, the old man vanished, and the sick man
sent speedily to St. Evroul for brethren of the monastery to visit
him. They at once dispatched Fulk of Guernanville 1 to Courville;
For Arnold had stayed there for three years during his exile with
Giroie, his friend and kinsman, the lord of the town, and had
made it the centre from which, with the aid of the men of the
Corbonnais, of Dreux, and of Mortagne and any who would come
to his aid, he had carried out a furious war of vengeance for the
injustice of his banishment. The sick man showed great joy at
Fulk's speedy arrival, and after describing his vision of the
previous day he renounced the world and with true piety of spirit
became a monk. Then, repenting his sins and rejoicing in God, he
died that same day; his body was carried to St. Evroul and
reverently buried in the monks' cloister by Osbern the lord abbot
and the whole convent of St. Evroul.
After Arnold's death the noble family of Giroie fell on evil
days; and up to the present not one of their descendants has been
able quite to restore the fortunes of his ancestors. Arnold had
married Emma, the daughter of Thurstan Haldup, and had by her
William and Reginald, Petronilla and Geva, and several other sons
and daughters. At an early age they were deprived of their father
who was still in the flower of manhood; and being forced to dwell
in the houses of others, as I have already related, had to endure
hardship and want from infancy. Their mother took refuge with
her brother Eudo, steward of the duke of Normandy, 2 one of the
wealthiest and most powerful of the Norman nobles in the Coten-
tin, and passed almost thirty years of honourable widowhood both
the monk Benedict, well he is likely to be right. In fact Eudo son of Thurstan
is called steward of King William in a charter of his nephew, Robert of La-Haye-
du-Puits, to Lessay (CDF, nos. 921, 922, 923; Regesta, i. xxiii; ii. 353-4).
 126 BOOK III
I \
et mansuetudine aliisque bonis honestatibus laudabilis extitit.J
ac ad ultimum prope finem suum sreculare scema reliquit, et a
domno Rogerio abbate Sanctre Trinitatis Exaquii sacrum uelamen
cum deuotione accepit. 1
Willelmus de Excalfoio primogenitus Ernaldi filius ut annos
adolescentire attigit:' curiam Philippi regis Francorum adiit, regis-
que armiger factus ei seruiuit..i donec ab eo arma militaria accepit.
Deinde Apuliam ubi parentes magnre sul!imitatis h~bebat app~tii!..i
a quibus amicabiliter retentus per plunmas prob1tates m~lt1ph­
citer excreuit. Ibi nobilem de genere Langobardorum comugem
accepit..i et possessionem xxx castellorum sub Rodberto co~ite
Lorotelli nepote scilicet Wiscardi optinuit. 2 Ex frecunda mul~ere
multiplicem utriusque sexus sobolem recepit..i et Normanmam
oblitus inter Winilos fere xl annis honorabiliter uixit. 3
ii. 110 Rainaldus autem minimus filiorum Ernaldi tribus mensibus
ante patris obitum Osberno abbati traditus est:' et in Vticensi
recclesia sub regulari disciplina diligenter educatus est..i et a prrefato
abbate Benedictus dulcedinis gratia cognominatus est. Pater eius
dum ipsum Deo ad monachatum optulit..i terram unius carrucre
apud Sanctum Germanum in parrochia Excalfoii 4 Sancto Ebrulfo
concessit, quam pro infortuniis qure ipsum hreredesque eius
perpessos esse retulimus recclesia iam dudum perdidit.
Prrefatus puer quinquennis erat dum monachile iugum subiit..i
et .Iii. annis sub quatuor abbatibus per aduersa et prospera forti-
ter portauit. Eruditionem legendi et canendi et ipse affatim didi-
cit..i et aliis postquam ad uirilc robur peruenit, sine fraudis litura
gratis intimauit. Memoria uero narrandi qure uiderat uel audi-
erat magnifice uiguit..i delectabilique relatu rerum quas in diui-
nis uoluminibus seu peritorum assertionibus rimatus est, socios
multoties leniuit. Mitibus et modestis indoctisque neophitis
affabilitate et obsequiis semper placere studuit..i sed superbis et
simulatoribus nouitatumque commentoribus audaci contradicti-
one uiriliter resistere decreuit. Bis in Apuliam permissu Rogerii
1 Emma received the veil from the hands of Roger, first abbot of Lessay, in
1094 (GC xi. 918).
2 Robert, count of Loritello, son of Guiscard's half-brother Geoffrey, played
an important part in the Norman conquest of the Abruzzi and along the Adriatic
coast (Chalandon, i. 226-7, 249-50).
3 William of Echauffour was one of the few Normans mentioned by Orderic
whose descendants left a trace in the southern Italian documents. See E. M.
Jamison, 'The Sicilian-Norman kingdom in the mind of Anglo-Norman con-
temporaries', Proc. Brit. Acad. xxiv (1938), 244; Catalogus Baronum, in G.
del Re, Cronisti e scrittori sincroni napoletani (Naples, 1845), i. 581, where the
name of his descendants becomes corrupted to Guillelmus de Sclavo. The
Lombards among whom he lived were the Lombards of southern Italy: Menager
BOOK III 127
there and with other friends. She was a woman of great chastity
and gentleness, endowed with every virtue: towards the end of
her life she too abandoned the world and reverently received the
veil from Roger, lord abbot of the monastery of Holy Trinity,
Lessay. 1
Arnold's eldest son William of Echauffour went to the court of
Philip king of the French as soon as he reached adolescence, and
served the king as his squire until he received the weapons of
knighthood from his hands. Then he travelled to Apulia, where
he had kinsfolk of high rank who received him kindly, and won
a reputation by his many exploits. He took to wife a noblewoman
of Lombard stock, and secured possession of thirty towns under
Robert count of Loritello, nephew of Guiscard. 2 His wife proving ,
fruitful, he had many sons and daughters; and for almost forty
,~
IJ
years he lived with great honour among the Lombards, forgetting I'
Normandy. 3
Reginald, the youngest of Arnold's sons, had been entrusted to
the care of Abbot Osbern three months before his father's death;
he was brought up at St. Evroul under monastic discipline and
given the name of Benedict by the abbot because of his sweet
nature. When his father offered him to God as a monk he gave
a ploughland at St. Germain in the parish of Echauffour4 to St.
Evroul; but as a result of the misfortunes which he and his heirs
endured the church lost it long ago.
This boy was five years old when he submitted to monastic
discipline, and for fifty-two years under four abbots he observed
its precepts in prosperity and adversity. He was thoroughly versed
in reading and singing, and after he grew up taught these freely to
others with meticulous accuracy. He enjoyed a wonderful memory
for describing everything he had seea or heard, and often delighted
his companions by his exquisite account of what he had discovered
in the scriptures or the works of the learned. Full of kindness and
helpfulness towards those who were gentle and humble and
unlearned among the neophytes, he strove with all his might to
correct the arrogant and hypocritical and pretentious. He was
twice sent to Apulia by Abbot Roger on behalf of the church of
is mistaken (Quellen und Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 45) in saying that he lived
in Lombardy.
4
St. Germain was at this date one of the dependent chapels in the parish of
Echauffour: later it became an independent parish.
 128 BOOK III
abbatis propter utilitatem Vticensis recclesire perrexit.J ibique
Willelmum fratrem suum aliosque multos ex parentela sua qui in
ii. 111 extera regione diuitiis abundabant inuenit. Cum Willelmo abbate
Sanctre Eufemire 1 filio Unfridi de TelJiolo fere tribus annis in
Calabria mansit.J et inde remeans prredicti abbatis cuius ipse
consobrinus erat dono cappam ex alba purpura 2 Sancto Ebrulfo
detulit. Hie ab infantia monasticas obseruationes laudabiliter
tenuit.J diuinoque cultui nocte dieque feruenter inhesit. Psal-
modiam tam infatigabiliter uidimus eum plerumque tenere.J ut
uix unus uersiculus ab aliis in choro suo psalleretur ipso tacente.
Sed sicut scriptum est, 'multre tribulationes iustorum' .J3 hie
multas aduersitates perpessus est importunitate tumultuum in-
1
teriorum et exteriorum. Nam quia rigid us et asper erat temera-
111 1
riis, atque adulari dedignabatur hypochritis.J sepe conturbatus est
eorum infestationibus multimodis. Et quia oculus Dei omnia
intuetur, subtilique iudicio redarguit ea etiam qure hominibus
laudanda uidentur:' prredictum fratrem ab infantia infirmitate
corporis corripuit, et hue usque ut iustus iustificetur adhuc
membrorum debilitatem augmentare non desistit. Is enim in
puericia quia immoderatus erat.J et ad omne opus ut reliquis
fratribus fortior uideretur, toto nisu insurgebat, ruptura intesti-
norum dum terram gestaret lesus est.J ipsoque sibi non parcente
lesura eadem insanabilis effecta est. Denique iam per septem annos
tam graui oppressus est passione.J ut nee manum ad os nunc possit
erigere, nee propria ui quodlibet officium sibi exhibere. Summe
Deus qui sanas contritos corde.J clementer illius miserere, ipsum-
ii. 112 que ab omni expurgans scelere.J ereptum de carnis molesto carcere,
in reterna requie famulorum tuorum collegio insere.
Dure Ernaldi filire post mortem patris et desolationem suorum.J
optauerunt Deo magis placere modesta compositione morum,
quam sreculo subiacere corruptibili pulchritudine corporum. Vnde
uirginitatem ambre Deo dicauerunt.J mundoque spreto sancti-
moniales effectre sunt. Nam Petronilla in crenobio S. Marire
Andegauis uelum suscepit, diuque secundum morem aliarum
uirginum diligenter sacrum ordinem seruauit.J ac deinde per decem
annos iam inclusa sanctitatis fama et uirtutis exemplo longe late-
que multis innotescit. Porro Geua soror eius in crenobio sanctre
1
William, prior and second abbot of St. Eufemia (d. c. 1103), was a nephew
of Abbot Robert of Grandmesnil, and a close kinsman of Benedict (Menager,
Quellen und Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 20).
l
BOOK III 129
St. Evroul, and found there his brother William and many other
kinsmen who were prospering in this foreign land. For almost three
years he stayed in Calabria with William abbot of St. Eufemia, 1
a son of Humphrey of Tilleul, and when he returned home he
brought as a gift to St. Evroul from his cousin Abbot William a
cope of purple silk. 2 He was strict in his observance of the monas-
tic rule from early childhood, and worshipped God with devotion
both night and day. I have frequently watched him chanting the
psalms so meticulously that he scarcely missed a single versicle
sung by the others on his side of the choir. But it is truly written:
'Many are the affiictions of the righteous' ;3 and this man has had
much to endure, and misfortunes have pressed on him from all
sides. For because he was stern and hard to the insolent and never
stooped to flatter hypocrites, they were always making trouble for
him. And because the eye of God sees all things and sometimes
in its absolute justice seems to criticize the things that men praise,
he has affiicted this same brother from childhood with ill health
and physical weakness that has increased up to the present day,
in order that the righteous man may be justified. Even as a boy
because he would do nothing by halves and exerted himself to
surpass all the other brethren in every kind of work, he brought
on an intestinal rupture by carrying a load of earth; and as he still
would not spare himself he made it incurable. And now for the
past seven years he has suffered such agony that he cannot raise
his hand to his mouth nor do even the simplest thing for himself
unaided. Almighty God, who healest the contrite in heart, have
mercy upon him, and when he is purged from all sin free him from
this harsh prison of the flesh, granting him eternal rest in the
company of thy faithful servants.
Two of Arnold's daughters, after their father's death and the
ruin of their family, chose rather to serve God by discipline of life
than to prosper in the world through physical beauty, which is
doomed to decay. Both vowed themselves to God as virgins, and
renouncing the world became nuns. Petronilla took the veil in
St. Mary's, Angers, where for long she faithfully observed all the
precepts of regular discipline, and within ten years was renowned
far and wide for her piety and holy life. And her sister Geva, who
2 Literally 'of white purple'. For the cope at this date cf. Edmund Bishop,
Liturgica Historica, pp. 262 ff.
3 Psalms xxxiii. 20 (xxxiv. 19).
822204 K
 f
!
130 BOOK III
Trinitatis, quod Mathildis regina apud Cadomum construxit:' sub
Beatrice abbatissa 1 sacram seriem diu gerendo et docendo sibi et
aliis laudabiliter profecit. Hrec de fundatoribus recclesire nostrre, et
eorum dicta sunt progenie..1 nunc ad narrationem redeamus hystorire.
Inclitus N ormannire marchio Willelmus contra Beluacenses qui
fines suos depopulari conabantur, castrum quod Nouus-Mercatus
dicitur..1 expulso pro quadam leui offensa Goisfredo naturali
hrerede ad tuendum plurimis baronum suorum commendauit, 2
sed uix ullus eorum propter infestantes Milliacos et Gerberritos
ii. 113 aliosque confines uno anno tutari potuit. Tandem magnanimus
dux Hugoni de Grentemaisnilio qui audaci probitate et dapsilitate
prrecipuus erat..J consilio Rogerii de Monte Gomerici qui sibi
nimis uicinre fortitudini eius inuidebat, eique scandalum qualibet
arte uel euentu prrestruere cupiebat:' prredictum oppidum cum
Geroldo dapifero 3 commendauit, et medietatem dedit. At ille
tuitionem prrefatre munitionis gratanter suscepit:' Deoque iuuante
intra unum annum duos Beluacensium maximos optimates cepit,
conterritisque reliquis hostibus totam regionem in illo climate
pacificauit.
Nouo-Mercato quatuor canonici recclesiam Sancti Petri apostoli
possidebant, sed Dei cultum negligenter agebant:' uitamque suam
multum sreculariter ducebant. Vnde magnanimus Hugo medie-
tatem qure sibi competebat recclesire, monachis Sancti Ebrulfi
concessit tali tenore:' ut dum morte uel alio quolibet casu canonici
deficerent, monachi succederent. Quod et ita factum est. Nam
'1
duobus canonicis qui in parte Hugonis erant inde discedentibus
monachi successerunt...1 et recclesire medietatem usque hodie
possederunt, ibique Rodbertus Caluus et Radulfus de Rosseria
necne Iohannes de Belnaio aliique probi modo habitauerunt.4
Quodam tempore inter sepe nominatum Hugonem et Radulfum
ii. 114 comitem Medantensium Philippi regis Francorum uitricums grauis
1
This reference is puzzling. The fifth abbess of Caen was Beatrice of
Hugueville, but she did not become abbess until some time after l 128, when
Geva must have been advanced in years. At the time Orderic most probably
wrote this passage (c. 1 1 1 5, some fifty-two years after Benedict became a monk
c. 1063) Cecilia was abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen, having succeeded the first
abbess, Matilda, in 1113.
2
This rapid sketch of the events leading up to the establishment of a de-
pendent cell at Neufmarche-en-Lions must not be taken too literally. Hugh
of Grandmesnil must have had some rights in the church of St. Peter as early
as 1050 if, as the foundation charter alleges, he then gave a quarter of the
church to St. Evroul (above, p. 32). There may well have been less security of
hereditary succession to castles in the mid-eleventh century than when Orderic
wrote (cf. J. Yver, 'Les chateaux forts en Normandie jusqu'au milieu du xne
siecle', in BSAN liii (1955-6), 28-115). The motives attributed to Duke William
and Roger of Montgomery are most likely pure supposition on Orderic's part.
BOOK III
131
entered the monastery of Holy Trinity which Queen Matilda
founded at Caen has earned high repute under Abbess Beatrice 1
for the way she has followed the sacred rule and taught it to
others. Now I have said enough about the founders of our Church
and their descendants, and I must return to the course of my
narrative.
William the renowned duke of Normandy, in the course of
defending his frontiers against the ravages of the men of Beauvais,
expelled Geoffrey the natural heir of the castle of N eufmarche for
some trivial offence, and entrusted the defence of the castle to
several of his barons ;2 but scarcely one of them could defend it for
as much as a year against the attacks of the men of Milli and
Gerberoi and other frontier regions. Finally the great duke granted
half the town to Hugh of Grandmesnil, a man of outstanding
bravery and courtesy, and entrusted the defence of it to him and
Gerold the steward.J He did this on the advice of Roger of Mont-
gomery, who was jealous of his neighbour's courage and anxious
to devise some misfortune for him by any means in his power.
Hugh, however, gladly undertook to defend this stronghold, and
by the grace of God captured the two chief lords of the Beauvaisis
within a year, and so terrified his other enemies that he pacified
all the region around.
In Neufmarche four canons occupied the church of St. Peter,
but they neglected the divine office and led a very worldly life.
So the illustrious Hugh gave the half of the church that belonged
to him to the monks of St. Evroul, on the understanding that after
the death or removal by other means of the canons the monks were
to take their place. This was duly carried out. When the two canons
who occupied Hugh's half of the church had departed, the monks
took possession of it and have held it up to the present: Robert the
Bald and Ralph of La Roussiere and John of Beaunai and other
virtuous men after them have resided there. 4
At one time fighting broke out between Hugh and Ralph, count
of Mantes, stepfather of the king of France ;s and when Hugh
3 Gerold the steward is a frequent witness of Duke William's charters: cf.
Fauroux, p. 61 and passim.
4 A few years after Orderic wrote this account William of Roumare further
endowed the priory and increased the number of monks to seven (Le Prevost,
iv. 485).
5 Ralph of Crepy, called count of Mantes, married Henry I's widow Anne
in 1062.
 132 BOOK III
r
I
seditio exorta est. Cumque Hugo cum prredicto consule audacter
congressus est..1 quia militum impar ei numerus erat fugere com-
pulsus est. In hac fuga Ricardus de Heldrici-Corte nobilis miles
de pago Vilcassino uulneratus est. Nam dum uadum Eptre flu-
minis equo uelociter fugiens ingressus est...1 persequentis militis
lancea super equum a tergo acerrime percussus est. Qui mox ad
Nouum-Mercatum delatus est a commilitonibus suis..1 morique
metuens consilio Hugonis in cuius familia seruierat in armis,
deuouit amodo se militaturum sub monachili norma uirtutum
exerciciis. Vticenses ergo monachos accersiit...1 et Osberni abbatis
magisterio se mancipauit. Postea donante Deo qui peccatores
diuersis occasionibus de baratro perditionis retrahit..1 Ricardus
aliquantum non tamen ex integro conualuit, et fere septem annis
in ordine feruidus uixit..1 atque pluribus modis recclesire profecit.
Hie etenim patrimonium suum quod in pago Vilcassino possederat,
quia uxorem et liberos non habuerat..1 post uulneris lesionem Sancto
Ebrulfo sponte secum contulit, et a Fulcone patruo suo atque
Herberto Pincerna 1 qui capitalis dominus erat aliisque parentibus
suis integram huius rei concessionem optinuit. Ipse nimirum
quamuis plaga eius nunquam clausa esset, et inde sanies quantum
testa oui anseris capere posset, ut refertur ab his qui uiderunt
cotidie deflueret.1 conuentum ordinate sequi ardenter studebat,
ii. 115 et ministeria qure ordini competebant alacriter exhibebat. Eundo
uel equitando quo sibi iubebatur ibau et recclesiasticis utilitatibus
pro posse suo uerbis et actionibus instanter deseruiebat. Hunc
nimirum Osbernus abbas plus aliis diligebau et in ipso ualde
uelut in suo proprio confide bat. Vnde ad nouam basilicam quam
inchoare disponebat.1 curam et impensas magisteriumque lato-
morum ei commendabat.
0
[P]rrefatus pater huius Ricardi precibus et hortatu Franciam 2
adiit, et Rodbertum eloquentem ac Herbertum de Serranz et
Fulcoium de Caldreio aliosque milites et plebeios Vilcassinienses
ad sui noticiam dulci colloquio inuitauit, fundumque Heldrici-
Cortis prrefatis proceribus et uicinis annuentibus et congaudenti-
bus in dominium Sancti Ebrulfi recepit. Inde rediens in lectum
decidit. Post aliquot dies morbo ingrauescente in capitulum
deductus uenit..1 et epistolam quam Alexandro papre misisse
eundem supra diximus palam recitari iussit. Quod ita factum est ut
cunctis manifestum fieret, quod ipse abbatiam Rodberto abbati
a Space for rubric.
1
Also called Herbert of Serans.
2
i.e. the French Vexin.
BOOK Ill t33
boldly engaged the count in combat with inferior forces he was put
to flight. In the course of this flight Richard of Heudicourt, a
noble knight of the Vexin, was wounded. It happened that when
he was urging his horse through the ford of the river Epte in his
mad flight he received a serious wound in the back from the lance
of one of his pursuers. His comrades carried him at once to Neuf-
marche; and as he lay in fear of death he took the advice of Hugh,
in whose household he had served as a knight, and determined
from that time forward to fight under the monastic rule by the
practice of virtue. Accordingly he sent for monks from St. Evroul
and submitted himself to the government of Abbot Osbern.
Afterwards by the grace of God. who by divers opportunities
rescues sinners from the pit of damnation, Richard made a partial
recovery, and lived for nearly seven years as a zealous monk, doing
much good for the Church. As he had neither wife nor children
he granted his patrimony in the Vexin freely with himself to St.
Evroul after he received his wound; and he secured confirmation
of this gift in its entirety from his uncle Fulk, his overlord Herbert
the Butler, 1 and his other kinsmen. He himself, though his wound
never healed properly and every day, as those who saw it relate,
discharged as much matter as would fill a goose's egg, strove to
follow the daily routine of the cloister and carry out speedily all
the duties which befitted his standing in the community. He went
on foot or horseback wherever he was sent, and in all he said and
did strove ceaselessly for the welfare of the church. Consequently
Abbot Osbern loved him more than all the others, and reposed
special trust in him. Since he was preparing to build the new
church he entrusted to Richard the management of finance and
supervision of the masons.
Through brother Richard's earnest entreaty the abbot went to
France, 2 invited Robert 'the eloquent', Herbert of Serans, Foucher
of Chaudry, and many other men of high and low rank in the
Vexin to meet him for an amicable settlement; and with the
consent and agreement of these nobles and their neighbours
received the property of Heudicourt as the demesne of St. Evroul.
On his way home he fell ill. A few days later as his sickness increased
he had himself borne into the chapter-house, and commanded that
the letter which as I related he had sent to Pope Alexander should
be read aloud. This was done so that it should be manifest to all
that he had not wrongfully deprived Abbot Robert of his office,
 134 BOOK III
non surripuisset:' sed inuitus ac obredientice uiolentia coactus regi-
men suscepisset. Denique fratres hortatu corroborauit:' ac ut sibi
errata indulgerent suique memores essent obsecrauit. Sicque data
confessione, et sacrosancta Dominici corporis percepta communi-
one:' postquam moderamen Vticensis cecclesice quinque annis et
tribus mensibus tenuit, vi 0 kal. iunii inter manus fratrum letanias
ii. 116 pro eo pie canentium obiit. In crastinum uero Vitalis Bernai-
censium abbas ad tumulandum amicum suum accessit, et in
claustro crenobiali iuxta cecclesiam Sancti Petri principis aposto-
lorum sepeliuit:' uncle Mainerius successor eius ipsum post annos
x et vii cum ossibus Witmundi socii sui in capitulum nouum
transtulit. 1
Anno ab incarnatione Domini mlxvi 0 , indictione iv 0 •.1 mense
aprili fere xv diebus a parte Circii apparuit stella quce cometes
dicitur, qua ut perspicaces astrologi qui secreta physicce subtiliter
rimati sunt asseuerant mutatio regni designatur. 2 Eduard us enim
rex Anglorum Edelredi regis ex Emma Ricardi senioris Norman-
norum ducis filia filius paulo ante obierat, et Heraldus Goduini
comitis filius regnum Anglorum usurpaueraUJ iamque tribus
mensibus ad multorum detrimcntum periurio et crudelitate aliis-
que nequitiis pollutus tenuerat. Iniusta nempe inuasio nimiam
inter quasdam gentes dissensionem commouit..1 multisque matribus
filiorum et coniugibus maritorum necem et luctum peperit.
Eduardus nimirum propinquo suo Willelmo duci Normannorum
primo per Rodbertum4 Cantuariorum summum pontificem..1 postea
ii. l 17 per eundem Heraldum integram Anglici regni mandauerat con-
cessionem, ipsumque concedentibus Anglis fecerat totius iuris
sui hceredem. Denique ipse Heraldus apud Rotomagums Willelmo
1
The dilapidated church where the community of St. Evroul had first been
established was dedicated in the name of St. Peter; and the original dedication
of the restored abbey was in the names of St. Peter and St. Evroul (above, p. 14;
Fauroux, p. 289). Abbot Robert planned a new, much larger, church, in honour
of St. Mary; but building was delayed through his expulsion from the abbey.
Abbot Osbern was preparing to rebuild it when he died, and the next abbot
Mainer successfully carried through the building of a new church and cloister.
The original dedication was preserved in the altar of St. Peter (Le Prevost,
ii. 399, 408). The scanty ruins which still survive are of a later church built in
the thirteenth century: but an eighteenth-century plan of the church shows the
position of seven altars in addition to the high altar (Societe Hist. et Arch. de
l'Orne, Fetes de Saint-Evroul, I9I2 (Alern;:on, 1912), pl. xi).
2
Halley's comet. It was noted by annalists all over Europe, most of whom
believed that it portended one or other of the changes in England. According to
the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (C, D, 1066) it first appeared on 24 April and shone
for a week. The length of time that it was visible varies in different accounts:
Orderic agrees with William of Jumieges. See Freeman, NC, iii, Appendix,
Note N.
BOOK III 135
but had undertaken the government unwillingly by force of
obedience. Then he encouraged the brethren and begged them to
pardon his mi~takes and ~e~p him in their n:emory .. So. after
making confess10n and recervmg Holy Commumon he died m the
arms of the brethren as they devoutly chanted litanies for him. He
had governed the church of St. Evroul for five years and three
months when he died on 27 May. On the morrow Vitalis abbot
of Bernay came for his friend's interment and buried him in the
conventual cloister, next to the church of St. Peter the chief
apostle. His successor Mainer had his remains and those of his
companion Guitmund translated to the new chapter-house seven-
teen years later. 1
In the year of Our Lord ro66, the fourth lndiction, during the
month of April, a star known as a comet appeared in the north-
west and remained visible for almost 15 days. Learned astrologers
who investigate the secrets of natural science declared that this
portended the transfer of a kingdom. 2 Indeed Edward king of
England, son of King Ethelred by Emma, daughter of Richard
the elder, duke of Normandy, had died shortly before; and Harold
son of Earl Godwin had usurped the kingdom of England 3 and
had already ruled it for three months and caused much harm,
stained as he was by perjury and cruelty and other vices. His
unjust usurpation had brought about warfare between peoples,
and had plunged many mothers into mourning for their sons and
wives for their husbands. The truth was that Edward had declared
his intention of transmitting the whole kingdom of England to his
kinsman William duke of Normandy, first through Robert arch-
bishop of Canterbury4 and afterwards through the same Harold,
and had with the consent of the English made him heir to all his
rights. Moreover, Harold himself had taken an oath of fealty to
Duke William at Rouens in the presence of the Norman nobles,
3
King Edward died on 4 or 5 January 1066, and Harold was crowned the
next day. Cf. Barlow, VER, p. 80 n. 2.
4
Robert Champart, abbot of Jumieges in 1037, bishop of London in 1044,
and archbishop of Canterbury in 1051. When Godwin regained power in 1052
Robert was driven into banishment and replaced by Stigand. Orderic's account
consistently follows the main lines of William of Jumieges (Marx, pp. 132-3)
and William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 30, 100).
5
There is general agreement in the sources that Harold took an oath of some
kind, but authorities differ on the place and exact nature of the oath. Orderic is
the only early writer to say that it was taken at Rouen; but this may have resulted
from a misreading of William of Poitiers, who had described Harold's reception
 BOOK III
T
I BOOK III
duci coram optimatibus Normanni<e sacramentum fecerat:' et homo
eius factus omnia qme ab illo requisita fuerant super sanctissimas
reliquias iurauerat. Tune etiam dux eundem Heraldum in expedi-
ii. 118 tione secum contra Conanum comitem Britonum duxerat:' armis-
que fulgentibus et equis aliisque insigniis cum commilitonibus suis
spectabiliter ornauerat. Erat enim idem Anglus magnitudine et
elegantia uiribusque corporis:' animique audacia et lingure facundia
multisque facetiis et probitatibus admirabilis. Sed quid ei tanta
dona sine fide qme bonorum omnium fundamentum est con-
tulerunt? In patriam nempe suam ut regressus est:' pro cupiditate
regni domino suo fidem mentitus est. Nam regem Eduardum qui
morbo ingrauescente iam morti proximus erat circumuenit.J eique
transfretationis sure et profectionis in N ormanniam ac legationis
seriem retulit. Deinde fraudulentis assertionibus adiecit.J quod
Willelmus N ormannire sibi filiam suam in coniugium dederit, et
totius Anglici regni ius utpote genero suo concesserit. 1 Quod
audiens regrotus princeps miratus est.J tamen credidit et concessit
quod uafer tirannus commentatus est.
Post aliquot temporis pire memorire rex Eduardus xxiv 0 anno
regni sui nonas ianuarii Lundonire defunctus est.J et in nouo
monasterio, quod ipse in occidentali parte urbis condiderat et
tune prrecedenti septimana dedicari fecerat2 prope altare quod
beatus Petrus apostolus tempore Melliti episcopiJ cum ostensi-
one signorum consecrauerata sepultus est. Tune Heraldus ipso
tumulationis die dum plebs in exequiis dilecti regis adhuc maderet
fletibus:' a solo Stigando archiepiscopo quern Romanus papa
suspenderat a diuinis officiis pro quibusdam criminibus, sine
communi consensu aliorum prresulum et comitum procerumque
a xxiv 0 anno . . . consecrauerat, written by Orderic over an erasure, over-
flowing into the margin.
at Rouen in the paragraph immediately preceding the taking of the oath (Fore-
ville, p. 102). According to William of Poitiers the oath was taken at Bonne-
ville before the campaign against Conan of Brittany; the Bayeux Tapestry
places it at Bayeux after the campaign. Eadmer (Hist. Nov., pp. 7-8) gives
full details of a pact between 'William and Harold, but does not say where the
oath was taken: the Vita Edwardi merely laments that Harold was too free
with his oaths (Darlow, VER, p. 53). For details see Freeman, NC, iii,
Appendix, Note U; D. C. Douglas in EHR ]xviii (1953), 526-45; below, Ap-
pendix III.
1
It is possible that Harold was betrothed to one of Duke William's daughters:
William of Poitiers (Foreville, p. 230) and Eadmer (Hist. Nov., p. 7) also say
L
137
and after becoming his man had sworn on the most sacred relics
to carry out all that was required of him. After that the duke had
taken Harold on an expedition against Conan count of Brittany,
and had given him splendid arms and horses and heaped other
tokens upon him and his companions. This Englishman was very
tall and handsome, remarkable for his physical strength, his
courage and eloquence, his ready jests and acts of valour. But
what were all these gifts to him without honour, which is the root
of all good? For as soon as he had returned to his own country he
betrayed his faith to his lord through greed for the kingdom. He
deceived King Edward who was then grievously ill and near to
death; he gave an account of his crossing and arrival in Normandy
and mission there, but then added falsely that William of Nor-
mandy had given him his daughter to wife and granted him as his
son-in-law all his rights in the English kingdom. 1 Though the
sick monarch was amazed, nevertheless he believed the story and
gave his approval to the cunning tyrant's wishes.
Soon afterwards King Edward of holy memory died at Lon-
don on 5 January in the twenty-fourth year of his reign, and was
buried in the new minster which he had founded to the west of
the city, 2 and had had dedicated only the week before, beside the
altar which St. Peter the apostle had miraculously blessed in the
time of Bishop Mellitus. 3 There on the day of the funeral, whilst
the crowds watched the last rites of their beloved king with
streaming eyes, Harold had himself consecrated by Archbishop
Stigand alone, whom the pope had suspended from divine service
for various misdeeds, without the common consent of the other
bishops, earls, and nobles, and so by stealth stole the glory of the
that there was a marriage project. Apart from this the details are embroideries
drawn from popular tradition or possibly saga. Orderic gives varying versions
in different places. In his interpolations in William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 191)
he writes: 'Deinde dux postquam Heraldus fidelitatem sibi de regno pluribus
sacramentis firmavit, Adelizam filiam suam cum medietate Anglici regni se
daturum eidem spopondit.' Later in the Historia Ecclesiastica he gives the lady's
name as Agatha (Le Prevost, ii. 391-2). Historically none of these details is
trustworthy.
2
Westminster Abbey was consecrated on 28 December 1065.
J The legend of the miraculous dedication of Westminster by St. Peter in
the time of Bishop Mcllitus is also told by William of Malmesbury (GP, p. 141).
The only verbal echo is in the words in occidentali parte, which is too slight to
prove that Orderic used the same source, or even a first draft of the Gesta
Pontificum. The story was widely current at the time (cf. Barlow, VER, p. xxxiii
n. 4).
 BOOK III
consecratus, furtim prreripuit diadematis et purpurre decus. 1
Audientes autem Angli temerariam inuasionem, quam Heraldus
T BOOK III
fecerat, irati sunU et potentiorum nonnulli fortiter obsistere parati
a subiectione eius omnino abstinuerunt. Alii uero nescientes
qualiter tirannidem eius qure iam super eos nimis excreuerat
euaderent, et e contra considerantes quod nee illum deicere nee
alium regem ipso regnante ad utilitatem regni substituere ualerent.J
colla iugo eius summiserunt, uiresque f~cino:i quod inchoauer~t
auxerunt. Mox ipse regnum quod neqmter muaserat.J horrend1s
sceleribus maculauit.
aEduinus uero et Morcarus comites filii Algari prrecipui con-
sulis Heraldo familiariter adheserunt, eumque iuuare toto cona-
mine nisi sunt~ eo quod ipse Edgiuam sororem eorum uxorem
habebat, qure prius Gritfridi fortissimi regis Gualo~um coni~nx
fuerat:' eique Blidenum regni successorem 2 et fiham nomme
ii. 120 Nest pepererat. Tune Tosticus Goduini comitis filius ~duerte~s
Heraldi fratris sui prreualere facinus, et regnum Anghre uarus
grauari oppressionibus.J regre t1:1lit, contradixit, et aperte r~pugna~e
decreuit. Vnde Herald us patns consulatum quern Tost1cus qma
maior natu erat,3 longo tempore sub Eduardo rege iam tenu-
erat:' ei uiolenter abstulit, ipsumque exulare compulit. 4 Exul
igitur Tosticus Flandriam expetiit, ibique socero suo Balduino
a The whole passage from 'Eduinus uero ... exhortationibus' is written by
Orderic over an erasure.
1
Archbishop Stigand had been excommunicated by Pope Leo IX and the
sentence had been renewed by Nicholas II and Alexander II after he received
the pallium from the anti-pope Benedict X. Ordcric's account follows William
of Poitiers (Forcville, p. 146), and the Bayeux Tapestry also supports the story
that Harold was crowned by Stigand. On the other hand, Florence of Worcester
(FW i. 224) and the chronicle of the archbishops of York (Chronica pontificum
ecclesiae Eboracensis (Historians of the Church of York, RS), ii. 348) say that he
was crowned by Ealdred, archbishop of York, who was also bishop of Worcester.
Both these writers were associated with Ealdred's churches and so likely to have
had reliable information. If Orderic's version is compared with that of \Villiam
of Poitiers it shows a hardening of the legend to Harold's discredit. The account
of Harold's seizure of the throne does not agree with the version in the Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle; the E version at least says that he had been chosen. A large
number of prelates, earls, and thanes must have come to Westminster for the
consecration of the new Minster a week before: many would have remained
because of the king's illness. Though Harold was crowned on the day of the
funeral he could have been accorded the formal acknowledgement and acclama-
tion that constituted election at this date, as Edward himself had been when he
was 'chosen by all the people of London' the day after Hardacnut died (see
M. McKisack, 'London and the succession to the Crown during the Middle
Ages', in Studies in Medieval History presented to F. M. Powicke (Oxford, 1948),
p. 76). William of Malmesbury, more cautiously, came to the conclusion that
crown and royal purple. When the English learned of Harold's
1
presumptuous usurpation, they were moved to anger; some of the
139
most powerful were ready to resist him by force and refused to
submit to him in any way. Others, however, not knowing how to
escape his tyranny which daily grew worse, and considering too
that they were powerless either to depose him or to establish
another king to profit the kingdom whilst he was in power, bowed
their necks to his yoke and so increased his power for evil. In
a short time the kingdom which he had nefariously seized was
polluted with crimes too horrible to relate.
The Earls Edwin and Morcar, sons of the great Earl JElfgar,
were close friends and adherents of Harold and gave him every
help in their power; for he had taken to wife their sister Edith.
She had formerly been the wife of Gruffydd, a great Welsh prince,
and had born him Bleddyn the heir to the throne 2 and a daughter
called Nest. But Tostig, Earl Godwin's son, seeing that the wicked-
ness of his brother Harold had prevailed, and that the kingdom
was groaning under every kind of oppression, took the matter to
heart, resolved to oppose him, and openly declared war on him.
At this Harold in anger deprived him of their father's earl-
dom which Tostig, the elder by birth,3 had held for a long time
under King Edward, and forced him into exile. 4 Banished from
home Tostig sought refuge in Flanders, and gave his wife Judith
opinions were divided between Harold, William, and Edgar Atheling, but there
was outward support for Harold at first.
2 Bleddyn, who with Rhiwallon ruled North Wales after Gruffydd's death,
was the half-brother, not the son, of Gruffydd. See J. E. Lloyd, 'Wales and the
coming of the Normans', in Trans. Soc. Cymmrodorion (1899-1900), p. 146.
3 This is untrue. Tostig was the third son of Earl Godwin, and Harold was
the second.
4 Orderic's chronology is wrong, and consequently his interpretation of
motives is wrong. The Northumbrian rebellion which forced Tostig into exile
took place in the autumn of 1065, before the death of King Edward (Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle, C, D, E, 1065). The reasons for the Northumbrian rebellion
are obscure, but F. Barlow points to a long-standing rivalry between Tostig and
the family of the earls of Mercia, and shows that he had also become involved
in Northumbrian feuds (Barlow, VER, p. 50 n. 4; p. 51 n. 1). Harold was sus-
pected of complicity in the rebellion (ibid., p. 53). Morcar, the youngest son
of Earl .!Elfgar of Mercia, acquired the earldom of Northumbria after Tostig's
flight, and he and his brother Edwin, who succeeded to his father's earldom of
Mercia were committed by the interests of their family to Harold's cause.
Harold:s marriage to their sister Edith may well have taken place about this
time: there is no evidence that he was married before the king's death. For the
earlier marriage of Edith to King Gruffydd (d. 1063) see J. E. Lloyd, op. cit.,
p. 134.
 140 BOOK Ill
Flandrensium satrapre I udith uxorem suam commendauit. r Deinde
festinus N ormanniam adiit, et Willelmum ducem cur periurum
suum regnare sineret fortiter redarguit.J seque fideliter si ipse cum
Normannicis uiribus in Angliam transfretaret regni decus opten-
turum illi spopondit. 2 Ipsi nempe iamdudum se inuicem multum
amauerant.J duasque sorores per quas amicicia srepe recalescebat
in coniugio habebant.3 Willelmus autem dux aduenientem ami-
cum cum gaudio suscepit, amicabili redargutioni eius gratias
ii. 121 egit:' eiusque exhortationibus animatus N ormannire proceres con-
uocauit.J et de tanto talique negocio quid agendum esset palam
consuluit.
Eo tempore Normannia prreclare uigebat sapientibus recclesi-
arum prrelatis et optimatibus. Nam sacer Maurilius ex monacho
metropolitanus episcopus prresidebat cathedrre Rotomagensi, et
Odo Willelmi ducis uterinus frater Baiocensi, Hugo frater Rodberti
Aucensis comitis Lexouiensi, et Willelmus Ebroicensi, Goisfre-
dus Constantiniensi, et Johannes filius Radulfi Baiocarum4 comitis
Abrincatensi, atque Iuo Belesmensis Willelmi filius Sagiensi.
Omnes hi pollebant et excellentia prreclarre generositatis.J et clari-
tudine religionis multimodreque probitatis.
Personre nichilominus laici ordinis prremincbant Ricardus
comes Ebroicensis Rodberti archiepiscopi filius, Rodbertus comes
Willelmi Aucensis satrapre filius, Rodbertus comes Moritoliensis
Willelmi ducis frater uterinus, Rodulfus de Conchis Rogerii
Toenitis filius Normannorum signifer, Willelmus Osberni filius
ducis cognatus et dapifer, Willelmus de Warenna et Hugo Pin-
cerna, Hugo de Grentemaisnilio, et Rogerius de Molbraio,
ii. 122 Rogerius de Bellomonte, et Rogerius de Montegomerici, Balduinus
et Ricardus Gislebcrti comitis filii, et alii plures militari stemmate
feroces, sensuque sagaci consilioque potentes.J qui Romano
senatui uirtute seu maturitate non cederent, sed ad laborem
tolerandum hostemque tam ingenio quam fortitudine uincendum
equiparari studerent.s
1
There is nothing in William of Poitiers about Tostig's early movements,
and Orderic may have taken some facts from Florence of Worcester. Tostig
went to Flanders at the beginning of November 1065. His wife Judith was said
by Florence of ·worcester and Orderic to be a daughter of Count Baldwin V;
but P. Grierson ('The relations between England and Flanders before the
Norman Conquest', in TRHS, 4th series, xxiii (1941), 99 n. 5) established that
she was a daughter of Count Baldwin IV by his second marriage to a daughter
of Duke Richard II of Normandy, and so a half-sister to Baldwin V. See also
Barlow, VER, pp. 24-25.
2
Orderic is alone in saying that Tostig went from Flanders to Normandy.
This is possible, in view of Judith's kinship with William's wife, Matilda; and
he could have sailed from the Cotentin as Orderic claims to the Isle of Wight,
i
I
l
BOOK III
into the charge of his father-in-law Baldwin, count of Flanders. 1
He himself hurried to Normandy, boldly rebuked Duke William
for allowing his perjured vassal to rule, and swore that he would
faithfully secure the crown for him if he would cross to England
with a Norman army. 2 For some time they had been close friends
and by marrying two sisters had strengthened the bonds between
them.3 Consequently Duke William greeted his comrade warmly
on his arrival, thanked him for his friendly chiding, and with his
encouragement called together the Norman nobles for a public dis-
cussion about what ought to be done in an affair of such moment.
At this time Normandy had a brilliant galaxy of bishops and
magnates. For blessed Maurilius, a monk, had become archbishop
of Rouen; Odo, the uterine brother of Duke William, was bishop
of Bayeux; Hugh, brother of Robert count of Eu, bishop of
Lisieux; William, bishop of Evreux, Geoffrey, of Coutances; John,
son of Ralph count of Bayeux,4 bishop of Avranches; and Ivo,
son of William of Belleme, bishop of Seez. All these were men of
extremely high birth, religious zeal, and every kind of virtue.
But the laymen were no less outstanding: Richard count of
Evreux, the son of Archbishop Robert; Count Robert, son of
William lord of Eu; Count Robert of Mortain~ uterine brother
of Duke William; Ralph of Conches, son of Roger of Tosny,
standard-bearer of the Normans; William fitzOsbern, the duke's
kinsman and steward; William of Warenne, Hugh the Butler;
Hugh of Grandmesnil and Roger of Mowbray; Roger of Beaumont
and Roger of Montgomery; Baldwin and Richard, sons of Count
Gilbert; and many others who had inherited the warlike courage
of their ancestors and excelled in judgement and wise counsel.
They would have yielded nothing to the Roman senate in talents
or experience, but bid fair to equal them in enduring toil and out-
witting as well as overpowering their enemies.s
where his appearance early in May 1066 is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle (C, D, 1066). In his earlier interpolations in William of Jumieges
(Marx, p. 192) Orderic had said more briefly 'Porro dux Tosticum comitem in
Angliam misit'. But even if it is true that Tostig's travels took him through
Normandy, the remainder of Orderic's story of collusion with Duke William is
pure invention. 3 In fact Judith was Matilda's aunt. Above, p. 140 n. 1.
4 Usually called 'of lvry'.
5
The account of William's consultation with his vassals is derived from
William of Poitiers (Foreville, p. 148), with additions; William does not name
the bishops and abbots, and gives a shorter list of eminent laymen. The com-
parison with the Roman senate is taken from William of Poitiers.
 142 BOOK III
Omnes hi ad commune decretum iussu ducis acc1tl sunt:' et
audita re tam grandi utpote diuersi diuersa senserunt. Animosiores
cupido duci fauere uolentes ad certamen ire socios incitabant.J
tantumque negocium sine mora incipere laudabant. Alii uero tam
laboriosum opus inire dissuadebant.J nimiumque ausis et in necem
prrecipitibus multa importuna et discrimine plena prretendebant.
Pericula maris et difficultatem classis opponebant.J Normanno-
rumque paucitatem non posse uincere Anglorum multitudinem
asserebant. Tandem dux Gislebertum Lexouiensem Archidia-
conum 1 Romam misit.J et de his qure acciderant ab Alexandro
Papa consilium requisiuit. Papa uero auditis rebus qme con-
ii. 123 tigerant, legitimo duci fauit:' audacter arma sumere contra per-
iurum prrecepit, et uexillum sancti Petri apostoli cuius meritis
ab omni periculo defenderetur transmisit. 2
II'"
~I ,,1 '
lnterea Tosticus in Angliam remeandi licentiam a duce accepit:'
~I i '. , eique auxilium suum tam per se quam per omnes amicos suos
~) Iii firmiter spopondit. Sed sicut scriptum est 'Homo cogitat, Deus
i
ordinat'.J euenit multo aliter quam sperabat. Nam de Constantino
pelagus intrauit.J sed Angliam attingere nullatenus potuit. Heraldus
enim mare nauium militumque copia munierat, ne quis hostium
sine graui conflictu introiret in regnum quod fraudulenter inua-
serat. Tosticus itaque magnis undique premebatur angustiis.J
utpote qui nee Angliam per bellum cum paucis contra innumeros
inuadere, nee N ormanniam propter contrarietatem uentorum pot-
erat repetere. Vnde zephiro nothoque aliisque uentis alternatim
impellentibus angores multos pertulit, et per requora uagabundus
discrimina plura metuit.J donec tandem post plurimos labores ad
Heraldum regem Nortwigenarum qui Harafagh cognominatur
accessit.3 Cui cum ab eo honori:fice susceptus fuisset, uidens quod
promissa qme Willelmo duci fecerat complere non posset.J mutata
ii. 124
intentione ait, 'Sullimitatem uestram magnifice rex supplex adeo,
et me seruitiumque meum maiestati uestrre fideliter offero.J ut
I'll
1 The name of \Villiam's envoy to Rome is given by Orderic only: St. Evroul
~,Ii i was in the diocese of Lisieux, and he may have had local knowledge.
2 William of Poitiers describes the standard in slightly different terms:
riW:
··111 'Hujus apostolici favorem petens dux ... vexillum accepit ejus benignitate velut
1¢111 suffragium sancti Petri, quo primo confidentius ac tutius invaderet adversarium'
(Foreville, p. 154). To Orderic, writing some fifty years later, it had become St.
Peter's banner. On the use of papal banners see above, p. 59 n. 4.
3 Harold Hardrada not Harold Fairhair. The Anglo-Saxon chronicles and
Florence of Worcester all make the same mistake. For varying accounts of
Tostig's movements see Freeman, NC iii, Appendix, Note AA. The English
sources say that Tostig went to Scotland for the summer. The story of his
presence in Norway comes only from Orderic and from the Norse sagas, and
the basis of it may simply be that Tostig and Harold Hardrada invaded England
T BOOK III
All these men came together at the duke's command to find
a common course of action, and on hearing of this tremendous
enterprise expressed as many different opinions as there were
143
different kinds of men. The more impetuous wished to further the
duke's ambition and urged their comrades to the struggle, giving
their voice in favour of undertaking the enterprise without delay.
Others, however, were against embarking on so lengthy an under-
taking, insisting that there were many dangers and difficulties in
the path of the overbold who were heading for destruction. They
pointed to the dangers of the crossing and the problem of raising
a fleet, asserting that a mere handful of Normans could not hope
to conquer a huge multitude of Englishmen. Finally the duke sent
Gilbert archdeacon of Lisieux 1 to Rome, to seek advice from the
pope on the situation. The pope listened to his account of all that
had taken place, gave his opinion in favour of the duke's just claim,
advised him to take up arms boldly against the perjurer, and sent
the standard of St. Peter the Apostle, by whose merits he might be
defended from every danger. 2
Meanwhile Tostig gained the duke's permission to return to
England, and promised faithfully that he and all his friends would
give him every assistance. But it is written, 'Man proposes, God
disposes', and things fell out otherwise than they planned. He
embarked from the Cotentin, but completely failed to reach
England. For Harold defended his sea coasts with a great force
of men and ships, to prevent any enemy from landing without
a major battle in the kingdom he had wrongfully usurped. Tostig
therefore found himself set in the midst of perils; he could neither
land in England because his forces were too weak to give battle,
nor return to Normandy because of unfavourable winds. Tossed
about by the west and south and other winds in turn he endured
one anxiety after another, and suffered many fears during his
wanderings through the deep; but at last after enduring much
he came to Harold called Fairhair, king of Norway.3 As he was
well received by the king and saw that he could not possibly fulfil
the promises he had made to Duke William, he changed his plans
and declared: 'Great king, I approach your throne as a suppliant,
offering myself and my service in good faith to your majesty, in
together. Tostig was, however, certainly in touch with Harold Hardrada during
the summer, whilst he was taking refuge with King Malcolm of Scotland
(Douglas, WC, p. 191).
 BOOK III
T BOOK III
possim restitui per uestrum suffragium honori ex paterna suc-
cessione debito. Nam Heraldus frater meus qui iure michi utpote
primogenito debuisset parere, fraudulenter insurrexit contra me:'
et regnum Anglire periuriis prresumpsit usurpare. V nde a uobis
quos uiribus et armis omnique probitate prrecipue uigere cogno-
sco.J uiriliter adiuuari utpote homo uester exposco. Proteruiam
perfidi fratris hello proterite, medietatem Anglire uobis retinete.J
aliamque michi qui uobis inde fideliter seruiam dum aduixero
optinete.' His auditis auidus rex ualde gauisus est. Deinde iussit
exercitum aggregari, bellica instrumenta prreparari.J et regiam
classem per sex menses diligenter in omnibus aptari. Erroneus
exul ad tantum laborem tirannum exciuit, eumque callida tergi-
uersatione taliter illexit.J ne ab eo quasi explorator regni sui cape-
retur, sed ut per eum quoquomodo iniuriam expulsionis sure de
malefido fratre ulcisceretur.
Nichilominus Normannorum marchio parabat suam profectio-
nem.J nescius infortunii quad prreoccupauerat suum prrecursorem,
et extra statutum cursum longe propulerat ad septentrionem. In
N eustria multre naues cum utensilibus suis diligenter paratre sunt.J
quibus fabricandis clerici et laici studiis et sumptibus adhibitis
pariter intenderunt. 1 Exactione principali de N ormannia numerosi
bellatores acciti sunt. Rumoribus quoque uiri pugnaces de uicinis
regionibus exciti conuenerunt.J et bellicis instrumentis ad prreli-
andum sese prreparauerunt. Galli namque et Britones, Pictauini
et Burgundiones, aliique populi Cisalpini ad bellum transmari-
num conuolarunt.J et Anglic::e prredre inhiantes uariis euentibus et
periculis terrre marique sese optulerunt. 2
Dum hrec pararentur Osbernus Vticensis abbas ut supra
retulimus obiit.J et monachilis conuentus de substituendo suc-
cessore ducem antequam transfretaret requisiuit. At ille apud
Bonamuillam inde cum proceribus suis consilium iniit. Denique
hortatu Hugonis episcopi aliorumque sapientum Mainerium
ii. 126 priorem elegit, eique per pastoralem baculum exteriorem curam
tradidit.J et prredicto antistiti ut ea qure sibi de spirituali cura
1 Orderic's account of lay and clerical contributions to the building of the
ships is a little more precise than that in William of Poitiers (Foreville, p. 150).
There is a list of those who contributed ships in the Brevis Relatio (cf. below,
Appendix III), pp. 21-22: the names include the ecclesiastics Remigius of
Fecamp, Nicholas abbot of St. Ouen, and Odo of Bayeux; and the laymen
William fitzOsbern, Hugh of Avranches, Roger of Mortemer, and Roger of
Montgomery. But since this is a later, unofficial list, there is no certainty that
the names or figures are accurate.
145
the hope of being restored by your aid to the honour which is mine
by right of inheritance. For Harold my brother, who ought rightly
to obey me as the first-born, has treacherously risen against me
and presumptuously on false pretences made himself king of
England. Therefore I seek help from you as your liegeman, know-
ing that you have a strong army and every military virtue. Destroy
my brother's upstart strength in war, keep half England for your-
self, and let me have the other half to hold as your faithful vassal
as long as I live.' These words pleased the king, for he was
covetous. At once he ordered an army to be gathered together,
weapons of war prepared, and the royal fleet fitted out for six
months. The wandering exile incited the tyrant to this great task
and misled him thus by using his wits to avoid being imprisoned
as a spy, and further to secure the king's aid to avenge his unjust
expulsion by his faithless brother.
All this time the duke of Normandy was preparing his expedi-
tion, knowing nothing of the misfortunes which had turned his
forerunner from his chosen course and driven him far away to the
north. In Normandy many ships were already fully equipped,
for both clergy and laity devoted their time and money to building
them. 1 At the prince's summons many warriors assembled from
all over Normandy. As rumours of the enterprise spread to the
neighbouring regions men with a lust for war flocked to the duke
and made ready their weapons for the fray. The men of Gaul and
Brittany, Poitou, and Burgundy, and other peoples from north of
the Alps, assembled for war overseas; panting for the spoils of
England they gladly threw themselves into the perils that awaited
them by land and sea. z
Whilst these preparations were being made Osbern abbot of St.
Evroul died as I have related, and the convent asked the prince to
provide a successor before he embarked. He took counsel on this
matter with his magnates at Bonneville, and on the advice of Bishop
Hugh and other men of judgement chose Mainer, the prior. Duke
William invested him with the temporalities by means of the
2
There were undoubtedly many mercenaries, some of whom were Norman
in William's army; William of Poitiers mentions them (Foreville, p. 150) and
enu~er~tes men of Maine, France, Brittany, and Aquitaine (Foreville, p. 192);
he implies later,_ however, that th~ victory at Hastings was won chiefly by
Normans (Forev1lle, p. 208). Ordenc adds more names to the list of William of
Poitiers: the accuracy of his details has been questioned by S. Korner, The
Battle of Hastings (Lund, 1964), p. 235.
822204 L
 146 BOOK III
compete bat suppleret prrecepit. Ille uero libenter omnia com-
1
pleuit. . . . spiritual cure. 1 The bishop gladly complied.
Eodem die 2 dux domnum Lanfrancum Beccensmm pnorem
coram se adesse imperauiU eique abbatiam quam ipse dux in
honore Sancti Stephani prothomartiris apud Cadomum honorabi-
liter fundauerat commendauit. Lanfrancus itaque primus Cado-
mensium abbas factus est..i sed paulo post 3 ad Cantuariensem
archiepiscopatum promotus est. Erat idem natione Langobardus,
liberalium artium eruditione affiuenter imbutus..i benignitate,
largitate, et omni religione prreditus, elemosinis aliisque bonis
studiis multipliciter intentus. Hie nimirum a die quo primitus
apud Bonamuillam ut prrelibauimus recclesire regime~ susc~piU
xxii annis et nouem mensibus multis in domo De1 fidehbus
proficiens nobiliter claruit.
Ii''"'
Venerandus Hugo episcopus magnanimum Dei clientem
Mainerium iussu ducis Vticum adduxit:1 eumque secundum
statuta canonum ante altare sancti Petri apostoli xvii kal. augusti
benedixit. Ille autem suscepto nomine abbatis et onere laudabiliter
uixit, et susceptum regimen uiginti duobus annis et vii mensibus
utiliter tenuit..i multisque modis monasterium sibi commissum
Jll'll intus et exterius iuuante Deo emendauit. Fratres autem benigniter
ii. 127 sedauit sollertia et ratione ..i qui aliquantulum turbati fuerant in
eius electione. Duos enim monachos qui religione geminaque
scientia pollebant, Rainaldum scilicet de Rupe et Fulconem de
Warlenuilla4 ad sui regimen elegerant..i ideoque ab eo qui per
pontificem et uicinos sine illorum consensu prreferebatur non
modicum desciuerant. Sepe in huiusmodi negocio ..i per deteriores
oriri solet turbatio. Nam dum improbi suam uiolenter prreponere
sententiam nituntur ..i regularis ordo saniusque consilium multoties
impediuntur. Omnipotens uero Deus recclesiam suam in omni
pressura potenter protegit, et errantes corrigit..i .a~ ne~ess.arium
solamen sicut uult et per quos uult clementer porng1t. Ems 1taque
prouidentia pnefatum Mainerium ut postea liquido patuit:' ad
1 Orderic accepts the ducal nomination as a matter of course. One version
~1:: ' of the foundation charter cited by Orderic (above, p. 38; cf. Fauroux, p. 289
1~111 n. (c)) promises free election by the monks, but this may be a traditional
formula. Cf. the similar formula included in the monastic statutes of Lanfranc,
though Lanfranc was authoritarian in his appointments of abbots (Knowles,
MO, p. 397).
z There is disagreement on the date of the appointment of Lanfranc as abbot
of St. Stephen's. Both Orderic and the Annals of St. Evroul (Le Prevost, v.
157) place it in 1066. The Bee sources, which are more likely to be accurate,
give an earlier date: the chronicle of Bee gives 1062, and Robert of Torigni 1063.
Anselm's statement that he was a monk of Bee for three years before becoming
prior (after Lanfranc's departure for Caen) supports 1063; and this date is
I
,1
BOOK III 147
pastoral staff, and instructed Bishop Hugh to invest him with the
On the same day 2 the duke summoned Lanfranc prior of Bee
to his presence, and entrusted him with the government of the
abbey which he himself had richly endowed at Caen in honour of
St. Stephen the first martyr. So Lanfranc became the first abbot
of Caen, but before very long3 he was promoted to the arch-
bishopric of Canterbury. He came of Lombard stock and was
remarkably well-versed in the liberal arts, a man full of kindness,
generosity, and piety, who devoted much time to alms and other
good works. For twenty-two years and nine months, after the day
when at Bonneville, as we have related, he first received the
government of a church, he led a life of high repute, doing much
good to countless servants in the house of God.
Bishop Hugh at the duke's command brought God's worthy
servant, Mainer, to St. Evroul, and blessed him in proper form
before the altar of St. Peter the apostle on 16 July. From the time
that he received the title and undertook the duties of abbot he led
a praiseworthy life, governing well for twenty-two years and seven
months, and generally improving-with God's help-both the
internal and external administration of the monastery committed
to his care. By his tact and good sense he soon appeased the
brethren, who had been somewhat perturbed at his election. Their
choice of an abbot had fallen on two men of equal piety and
learning, Reginald of La Roche and Fulk of Guernanville,4 and so
they emphatically rejected the man who had been set over them
by the bishop and other outsiders without their consent. In this
sort of case the more unruly monks frequently stir up riots. As
long as some rash spirits are determined to impose their will by
force it is impossible for orderly life and wise counsel to prevail.
But almighty God protects his church in every crisis, brings the
sinful to repentance, and provides whatever succour is necessary
as he thinks best through the agents of his choice. It was by his
providence, as was later revealed, that Mainer was promoted to
generally accepted (cf. Poree, i. 119; R. W. Southern, St. Anselm and his
Biographer, p. 30). The error at St. Evroul may have arisen because the abbey
church of Holy Trinity, Caen, was consecrated on 18 June 1066; and the oral
tradition in the monastery possibly confused this ceremony, which took place
at the time of Mainer's investiture, with the investiture of Lanfranc.
3 In 1070.
4 See above, p. 124 n. I.
 148 BOOK III
gubernandum Vticense ccenobium quod in sterili rure inter
nequissimos compatriotas situm erat promouit. Erat enim de
contiguo castello quod dicitur Excalfoium oriundus, grammatica,
dialectica et rethorica affatim imbutus, ad resecanda uitia sollers
et seuerus."' ad inserendas et intimandas fratribus uirtutes feruidus.
Obseruator monastici ordinis assiduus."' commissis sibi uiam uitre
monstrabat uerbis et operibus, multorumque ad operandum in
uinea Domini Sabaoth incitator factus est et prreuius, comesque
sollicitus.
Hie ccepit 1 nouam basilicam in honore sanctre Marire matris
Domini et sancti Petri apostoli ac sancti confessoris Ebrulfi, ibi-
que septem altaria sunt in honore sanctorum consecrata diuinre
maiestati. Vetus enim recclesia quam Sanctus Ebrulfus Hilperico
ii. 128 et nepote eius Hildeberto sceptra Francorum gestantibus 2 aposto-
lorum principi construxerat."' antiquitate ex magna parte diruta erat,
nee conuentui monachorum qui cotidie augebantur sufficiebat.
Porro redificium de lapidibus apud Vticum condere ualde labo-
riosum est."' quia lapidicina Merulensis unde quadrati lapides
aduehuntur ad sex miliaria longe est. Maxima ergo in colligendis
~I li l ;
'i I 1111111' equis et bobus et plaustris difficultas instabat procuratoribus."' per
quos congeries lapidum aliique ad tantum opus agebantur neces-
sarii apparatus. Prrefatus itaque abbas omni tempore regiminis
~11,:11
sui non quieuit."' sed multarum rerum sollicitudine anxius subiectis
~1
I
':I:
et posteris affatim profecit. fr:cclesiam namque claram et am-
:J;!liii
plam, Deique seruitium libere celebrantibus aptam."' claustrum et
capitulum, dormitorium et refectorium."' coquinam et cellarium,
1
aliasque officinas competentes usibus monachorum."' auxiliante
11;li
I
Deo perfecit cum subsidio et largitione fratrum et amicorum.
lliilil Lanfrancus enim archiepiscopus dum dedicationi Cadomensis
recclesire anno scilicet duodecimo post Anglicum bellum3 interfuit."'
,1rli'
: ii. 129 Mainerio abbati xliv libras Anglicre monetre et duos auri marcos
i:lll
1
erogauit, et postmodum de Cantia per domnum Rogerium de
'ltlli
Sappa qui sibi pro scientia litterarum notus et amicus erat xl
11 1
libras sterilensium misit. His igitur datis recclesire turris erecta
~It est."' et monachile dormitorium constructum est. Mathildis uero
~r11 ,w
1~111 ' 'I
regina preciosam infulam dedit et cappam ad Dei seruitium."' et
rlll1 I~
1 Some preliminary work had been done by his two predecessors.
2 St. Evroul died on 29 December 706, after some thirty-five years in the
forest of Ouche; and the church was built during the latter part of his life. As
Orderic believed that he died in 596 he presumably means Chilperic I (579-84)
and his nephew Childebert II, who succeeded him.
3 Although Orderic's date has been questioned (Lemarignier, Exemption,
pp. 270-1; Foreville, p. 128 n. 2), it is in fact correct. L. Musset has shown that
the church of St. Stephen's, Caen, was dedicated on 13 September 1077 (Actes
L,
BOOK III 149
govern the church of St. Evroul, which was situated in barren
country and surrounded by evil neighbours. For he came from
the near-by town of Echauffour, was thoroughly learned in gram-
mar, dialectic, and rhetoric, and showed himself vigilant and firm
in rooting out vice, and eager to inspire the brethren to all good
works. Himself a tireless observer of the monastic rule, he was able
to show his monks the way of life by his example as well as his
instruction, and he led many labourers to work in the vineyard
of the Lord of Hosts, where he himself toiled ceaselessly at their
side.
He began to build a new church 1 dedicated in the name of
Mary, the blessed mother of God, St. Peter the apostle, and St.
Evroul the confessor: and there seven altars in honour of the saints
were consecrated to God. By this time the old church, which St.
Evroul had built in honour of the chief apostle whilst Chilperic
and his nephew Childebert ruled over the Franks,2 had almost
crumbled away with age; and in any case it was too small for
a community of monks that grew larger every day. Moreover, to
build a stone church in the region of Ouche was a heavy labour,
for the stone quarry at Merlerault which provided the ashlar
blocks was six miles away. The overseers whose business it was
to procure great piles of stones and other equipment necessary for
the works had the greatest difficulty in finding enough horses,
oxen, and wagons. Abbot Mainer never spared himself all the
time he held office, but was always busied about many things in
the present and future interests of the community. By the grace of
God, and with the help and generous gifts of his brethren and
friends, he completed a fine and spacious church worthy of the
celebration of divine service, a cloister and chapter-house, dormi-
tory and refectory, kitchen and store-room, and other buildings
necessary for the daily life of the monks. Archbishop Lanfranc gave
him forty-four pounds of English money and two golden marks
when he came to the dedication of the church of Caen,3 twelve
years after the Conquest of England; and later sent him forty
pounds sterling from Kent, by the hand of Roger of Le Sap whom
he knew and loved as a man learned in letters. Thanks to these
gifts the tower of the church was erected, and a dormitory built for
the monks. Queen Matilda gave a costly chasuble and cope for the
de Guillaume le Conquerant et de la reine Mathilde pour les abbayes caennaises
(Mem. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxxvn (1967)), pp. 14-15.
 150 BOOK III
centum libras Rodomensium ad agendum tricorium. Willelmus
autem de Ros 1 Baiocensis clericus, qui in eadem ecclesia triplici
erat honore prreditus, erat enim cantor et decanus et archidia-
conus:' xl libras sterilensium dedit Vticensibus. Qui non multo
post sreculi pompas sponte relinquens Cadomensis monachus
factus est:' et inde priusquam unum annum in monachatu per-
ficeret ad Fiscannensis ccenobii regimen assumptus est. N omen
eius pro multis beneficiis qure Vticensibus contulit in rotulo gene-
rali2 scriptum est:' et pro ipso missas et orationes et elemosinas
sicut pro monacho professo prorsus agi statutum est. Plurimis
itaque fautoribus noure basilicre fabrica sullimata est:' et ince-
ptum opus tam recclesire quam domorum honorabiliter consum-
matum est.
Tempore regiminis Mainerii abbatis xc monachi diuersre
qualitatis et conditionis, quorum nomina conscripta sunt in
uolumine generalis descriptionis.n srecularem habitum in Vticensi
~ 111 scola reliquerunt, et instinctu laudabilique bonorum exemplo per
111~: ' ii. 130 arduum iter ad Dominum ire aggressi sunt. Ex ipsis quidam ipso
patre adhuc uiuente pnemium bonre conuersationis optinuerunt,
II ~i : .
1111111" aliique in sancto proposito diu permanserunt.J longamque militiam
I
uiriliter exercuerunt, Deoque deuotione placere et hominibus
bonorum operum exhibitione prodesse studuerunt. Nonnulli uero
nobilitate pollentes monasterio suo in multis subuenerunt.J et
a parentibus suis uel notis uel amicis decimas et recclesias et
ornamenta recclesiastica utilitati fratrum obtinuerunt. Singillatim
omnia qure domui sure singuli contulerunt omnino describere
nequeo.J sed tamen aliqua prout competentem referendi facultatem
uidero, iuuante Deo ueraciter intimare pro communi commodo
posteritati cupio.
l!ll,
Primus itaque monachorum Rogerius de Altaripa iussu prrefati
abbatis in pagum Vilcassinum perrexiU et Heldrici Cortem quern
. I ·~Ii! . 1
sicut supra retulimus Ricardus Vulneratus Sancto Ebrulfo dederat
i '1111;
111 possedit, terramque incultam et cultoribus pene uacuam inue-
ii""' nit. V nde in primis ibidem construxit oratorium de uirgultis in
~!I:; honore Sancti Nicholai Mirreorum prresulis.J ideoque uicus qui
nunc ibidem consistit capella Sancti Nicholai usque hodie nun-
1~111 'II i
cupatur ab incolis.J Frequenter contigit sicut ipse nobis referre
solebat, quod nocturnis temporibus dum in capella uirgea matu-
tinos cantabat.J lupus e contra deforis stabat, et quasi psallenti
1
Cf. below, p. 292. 2
Cf. above, p. 114.
3 This can be identified as La Chapelle-en-Vexin, near to Parnes; nothing
remains of St. Nicholas's Chapel, but the name is remembered in a hollow called
the 'Fond St. Nicholas'. It is about a dozen miles from Heudicourt (near
Etrepagni); if Heldrici Corti is in fact Heudicourt Richard must have taken his
BOOK III 151
divine office and a hundred Rouen pounds for work on the refectory.
And William of Rots, 1 a clerk of Bayeux, who held a triple honour
in that church since he was cantor and dean and archdeacon, gave
forty pounds sterling to the monks. Shortly afterwards he willingly
renounced the pomp of the world and became a monk at Caen,
and before he had completed a full year as a monk he was trans-
lated to Fecamp as abbot. By his many gifts to the church of St.
Evroul he earned a place for his name in the general roll, 2 and it
was resolved therefore to offer masses and prayers and alms for
him as for one of our own monks. So thanks to many benefactors
the fabric of the new monastery was raised, and the work begun on
the church and monastic buildings worthily completed.
Whilst Mainer was abbot ninety monks from every walk of life,
whose names are written in the general register of the monastery,2
renounced the world to submit themselves to discipline at St.
Evroul, and set out along the narrow way of the Lord helped by
their own high enthusiasm and the good example of others. Some
of them secured the reward of virtuous living during Abbot
Mainer's lifetime; others lived longer, persevering in their holy
intentions, fighting strenuously against sin, and devoting them-
selves to worshipping God and giving an example of good conduct
to others. Some who came of noble families gave material support
to their monastery by securing gifts of tithes, churches, and
sacred ornaments for the use of the brethren from their kinsmen,
friends, and acquaintances. It would be impossible for me to
catalogue everything which each man bestowed on his house, but
I hope with God's aid to leave a true record of some things as
occasion offers, for the benefit of future generations.
Roger of Hauterive was the first monk to be sent by Abbot
Mainer to Heudicourt in the Vexin, which as I related Richard
'the Wounded' had given to St. Evroul, and found it a waste and
almost uninhabited region. To begin with he built there a chapel
of wattle and daub dedicated in honour of St. Nicholas bishop of
Myra, from which the hamlet that has grown up there has now
taken its name.3 As he used to relate to us, it often happened that
when he was singing Matins during the night watches in his
wattled chapel he would hear the wolf at the door growling as if
he were chanting the responses to the psalms. This holy man by
name from one village and held property in the other, unless there was a second
Heudicourt near La Chapelle, whose name has been changed.
 152 BOOK III
ii. I 3 I murmurando respondebat. Venerabilis itaque uir diuinitus adiu-
tus Herbertum Pincernam amoris glutino sibi adiunxit:' qui post
mortem Herberti cognati sui fratris uidelicet Ricardi Vulnerati
medietatem feudi eius Sancto Ebrulfo concessit. Ibi Rogerius
laborans beniuoli iuuamine patroni locum ipsum qui diu antea
propter werram et alia infortunia desertus fuerat excoluit:' ibique
Rogerius de Sappo post aliquot annos prredicto seniori succedens
recclesiam de lapidibus redificare coepit. Prrefatus enim miles in
toto Vilcassino multum uigebat, opibusque et filiis ualidisque
parentibus et affinibus ampliatus pene omnibus uicinis suis
eminebat. Vxor ei erat nomine Rollandis filia Odonis de Calui-
monte:' qure peperit ei Godefridum et Petrum, Ioannemque et
Walonem, et filias plures, ex quibus orta est copia magna nepotum.
Omnes isti pater scilicet et prredicti fratres milites fuerunt magnre
probitatis."' et quantum exterius patuit erga Deum et homines
probatre legalitatis. Mulier uero supradicta omni uita sua fuit
eximire honestatis."' et adhuc superstes est uiro liberisque de mundo
iamdudum sublatis. Horum benignitate et suffragio capella beati
Nicholai prresulis instaurata est."' et habilis habitatio monachorum
qui regulariter uiuunt et pacem amant usque hodie facta est. 1
Eodem tempore Fulcoius Radulfi de Caldreio 2 filius uenerabilem
Rogerium pro multimoda bonitate qua uigebat adamauit."' filium-
que suum ad leuandum de sacro baptismatis fonte benigniter ei
optulit, quern ille gratanter suscepit. Deinde cognitione et dilecti-
one paulatim crescente in illis, Fulcoius compatri suo concessit
ii. 132 recclesiam Sancti Martini de Parnis."' ad quam parrochia statutis
diebus congregabatur de septem adiacentibus uicis, ut uota sua
Deo redderent."' et laudes et prrecepta Dei ut decet audirent. At
ille Mainerium abbatem accersiit. Postquam autem prrefatus pater
Parnas aduenit."' Fulcoius annuente Wascelino fratre suo Sancto
Ebrulfo recclesiam concessit, et omnes consuetudines ad ipsam
recclesiam pertinentes, et in eadem uilla terram unius aratri, et
l'I decimam carrucre sure et duarum possessiones domorum, et unum
molendinum quod Tollens-Viam nuncupabatur. Archidiaconatum
quoque quern in feudo ab antecessoribus suis de archiepiscopo
Rotomagensi tenebat monachis dedit,3 et dominatum omnium
hospitum qui Parnis degebant ita monachis concessit."' ut si eidem
forisfacerent, non eos per domos eorum sed per alium fiscum
1 The chapel of St. Nicholas seems, contrary to the view of Le Prevost
(Eure, ii. 255-6), to have survived as a tiny cell of St. Evroul throughout the
Middle Ages. A prior of La Chapelle was present during Archbishop Rigaud's
visitation of Parnes in July 1256; and the revenue was then £45 annually (Reg.
Visit., ed. Bonnin, p. 255).
2 Chaudry is a hamlet of Parnes.
BOOK III 153
G d's aid won the affection of Herbert the Butler, who when his
~sman Herbert the brother of Richard 'the Wounded' died granted
half his fief to St. Evroul. Roger by his labour a~d t?e benevole~t
help of his patron brought the place under cult1vati~n, though 1t
bad long lain waste as a result of war and other disasters; and
Roger of Le Sap, who followed the old man a few years later, began
to build a stone church. The knight I have mentioned was a very
important man in the Vexin; thanks to great wealth, a large family,
and influential kinsfolk and connexions he was nearly the most
powerful man in the district. His wife, Rollande by name, was
a daughter of Eudo of Chaumont and she bore him Godfrey and
Peter, John and Walo, and several daughters from whom sprang
a numerous progeny. All these, both father and sons, were soldiers
of great courage who, to all outward appearances, rendered to God
and men their due. Rollande herself led a life of strict virtue; and
she is alive today, having survived her husband and children. By
the patronage and help of this family the chapel of the holy Bishop
Nicholas was established; and it has been a fit habitation where
monks can follow their rule and live in peace up to the present day. 1
At this time Foucher, the son of Ralph of Chaudry, 2 came to love
the holy Roger for his unfailing goodness, and asked him to stand
as godfather to his son. Roger gladly consented; and from that
time their friendship and affection steadily increased until Foucher
granted to his son's godfather the church of St. Martin of Parnes,
where on certain festivals the parishioners from the seven neigh-
bouring hamlets duly assembled to make their offerings to God,
and hear his word and solemn praise. Roger sent to Abbot Mainer
asking him to come; and when the abbot reached Parnes Foucher,
with the consent of his brother Walchelin, granted the church to
St. Evroul, with all the customs pertaining to it and one plough-
land in the vill, the tithe of his plough, two houses, and one mill
called Tollens-Viam. He also granted to the monks the arch-
deaconry which he and his ancestors had held in fee from the
archbishop of Rouen,3 and the lordship of all settlers living
in Parnes, with the stipulation that if they incurred a fine dis-
traint should be levied on some property other than their home
3 There are other cases where archidiaconal rights which had been secularized
were granted to monasteries, and the limited form of exemption which many
monasteries were coming to enjoy in various places has been compared to the
exercise of archidiaconal jurisdiction. Sec Lcmarignier, Exemf>tion, pp. 174-6.
 154 BOOK III
castigaret. 1 Parnenses autem exultabant eo quod monachis sub-
derentur, sperantes ut eorum patrocinio contra collimitaneos
T 1
N ormannos tutarentur: quorum infestationibus frequenter uexa-
1
bantur. 2 Succedenti quoque tempore dum Goisbertus medicusJ
haberet prioratum:' Fulcoius ut noua basilica inchoaretur totum
dedit cimiterium. Tune fundamentum noui operis inceptum est.J
quod opus plurimis impedimentis per xxxiv annos incumbentibus
nondum consummatum est. Pnefatus enim miles erat fortis et
ii. I 33 magnanimus.J et ad omnia qure cupiebat feruidus, ad iram uelox.J
et in militaribus exercitiis ferox. Promptus erat aliena procaciter
rapere, et sua imprudenter distrahere.J ut mereretur friuolam
dapsilitatis laudem habere. Hie habuit coniugem nomine Itam
filiam Heremari de Pontesia: qure peperit ei W alterium et Maine-
1 in order to win a worthless reputation for generosity. He had
rium, Hugonem et Geruasium, Hermarum et Fulcoium, et filiam
nomine Luxouiam. Mainerius et Fulcoius a puericia monachili
norma constricti sunt.J alii uero quattuor militari licentia perfuncti
sunt.
Fulcoius monachos quia sicut iam dixi moribus instabilis erat.J
aliquando multum diligebat, et contra omnes aduersantes obnixe
muniebat.J nonnunquam uero ipse grauiter opprimebat. Parnis
senex Rogerius et Goisbertus medicus, Rodbertus Caluus et
Haimericus.J Ioannes et lsembardus, aliique plures in monachatu
Deo famulati sunt.J ex quibus Bernardus cognomento Michahel
et Rainaldus, Teodericus et Walterius Caluus, et Willelmus
Cadomensis qui Alexander est cognominatus, in magna religione
uixerunt, ibique finem uitre sortiti uenerabiliter tumulati sunt.
Hrec omnia qure Fulcoius dederat, monachis concessit Rod-
bertus Eloquens de Caluimonte qui capitalis dominus erat. Non
multo post idem dum prredam de terra Sancti Audoeni uiolenter
educeret de equo armatus cecidit.J galeaque humo fixa colloque
fracto miserabiliter obiit, cuius cadauer apud Alliarias Mainerius
abbas in capitulo Flauiacensium fratrum ibidem degentium
ii. 134
sepeliuit.4 Tune filii eius Otmundus de Caluimonte et Wazso de
Pexeio et Rodbertus Beluacensis concesserunt Sancto Ebrulfo
omnia.J qure supra retulimus data esse ab antecessoribus eorum
uel concessa.
1
Special privileges of this type were normal to attract settlers to waste or
wooded districts.
2
For the work of Norman monasteries in the establishment of peace and
order cf. J. F. Lemarignier, 'L'exemption monastique et les origines de la
reforme gregorienne', in A Cluny, congres scientifique . .. (Dijon, 195?), p. 327.
3 For Goisbert, Ralph of Tosny's doctor, who was a monk at St. Evroul for
thirty years see Le Prevost, ii. 402, 439, 444, 467-8. He was for a time prior of
BOOK III
settlements. The men of Parnes welcomed the monks as their lords,
155
in the hope that their patronage would protect them against the
Normans of the vicinity, who continually disturbed them by their
brawls. 2 A little later, when Goisbert the doctor 3 held the priory,
Foucher gave the whole area of the cemetery so that a new church
could be built. Then the foundations of the new building were
laid; but the work suffered many interruptions and so has not
yet been completed even after thirty-four years. For it happened
that Foucher, though a brave and noble knight, was obstinate in
pursuing his aims, swift to anger and fierce in battle. He was
always ready to seize the property of others and dissipate his own
a wife lta, the daughter of Heremar of Pontoise, who bore him
Walter and Mainer, Hugh and Gervase, Heremar and Foucher,
and a daughter called Luxovia. Mainer and Foucher were disci-
plined under the monastic yoke from childhood ; the other four
lived freely as knights.
Foucher, as I have said, was so unstable in temperament that
at one moment he would show favour to the monks and help them
against all their enemies, and at another would himself be one of
their oppressors. A long line of monks served God at Parnes,
including the veteran Roger, Goisbert the doctor, Robert the
Bald and Aymer, John and Isembard, and many others; of whom
Bernard called Michael and Reginald, Thierry and Walter the
Bald, and William of Caen called Alexander lived with great piety,
died, and were honourably buried there. All Foucher's gifts to
the monks were confirmed by Robert 'the eloquent' of Chaumont,
the chief lord of the fee. Not long afterwards when he was violently
carrying away some booty from the territory of St. Ouen Robert
fell fully armed from his horse; his helmet struck the ground in
such a way that he broke his neck and died wretchedly. His body
was carried to Laillerie and buried by Abbot Mainer in the
II•
chapter-house of the brethren of St. Germer, who dwelt there.4
All that he or his ancestors had granted to St. Evroul, as I related
above, was then confirmed by his sons, Otmund of Chaumont,
Wazo of Poissy, and Robert of Beauvais.
Maule, and he may have had some skill in architecture as well as medicine, for
the church of Maule too was reconstructed whilst he was prior.
4 There was a priory dependent on St. Germer at Laillerie, very nea1
Chaumont-en-Vexin.
 BOOK III
lEcclesia itaque de Parnis Vticensibus monachis commissa est,
qme in honore Sancti Martini Turonensis metropolitre antiquitus
T BOOK III
constructa esU ubi corpus Sancti Iudoci confessoris Christi
iamdiu reuerenter seruatum est. 1 Quis uel uncle fuerit iste.J breui-
ter inseram huic relationi nostrre, ueraciter hauriendo quredam de
uolumine scripto de sancta eius conuersatione. 2
Beatus Iudocus Iuthail regis Britonum filius et frater Iudicail
regis, dum ad regnum petebatur, relictis litteris quas apud
Lanmailmon3 discebat, cum xi peregrinis Romam euntibus per-
egre profectus est. Haimo autem Pontiui dux obiter eum quern
nobilem nouerat detinuiU sibique capellanum presbiterum ordi-
nari fecit. Post annos uero septem I udocus in heremo Braic4 ad
riuum Alteire octo annis Deo seruiuit.J ubi aues diuersi generis
et pisciculos manu sua uelut mansueta pecora pascebat. Pro uno
411~1~. ~
i1.I'' 'I ii. I 35 pane quern solum habuerat, et quatuor pauperibus murmurante
~r Vulmaro ministro eius diuiserat.J quatuor nauiculas copia cibi et
1: ' ~ 1•.' potus onustas per Alteire riuos tractas a Deo recepit. Deinde
Runiacos super flumen Quantiam oratorium sancto Martino con-
1
1 i 1111:.
, . Iii'. struxit:' ibique xiv annis habitauit. Aquila xi gallinas ei rapuit.
.i111ll'I Denique cum gallum rapuisset:' uir Dei signum crucis cum prece
1
dedit. Mox aquila rediit, gallum incolumem exposuit.J et continuo
expirauit. a[Q]uondam dum I udocus cum duce Haimone in densa
ill!I,,
silua habitationem sibi congruam quereret et dux uenatu fessus
I, 11111:,
nimiaque siti estuans dormireU uir Dei baculum quo utebatur
:11 1
1
humi defixit, et precibus ad Deum fusis fontem eduxit. Quern
regri illuc uenientes uenerantur.J et inde bibentes cito sanantur.
Seruus Dei duo manibus suis in silua ex lignis oratoria construxit.
Vnum eorum fecit Petro ccrli clauigero.J et aliud magnilogo Paulo.
Postea Romam perrexiU et inde multas sanctorum reliquias
detulit. Iuliula 6 puella a natiuitate ceca per uisum monita est.J ut
faciem suam ex aqua uncle I udocus man us suas ablueret lauaret.
Quod ut fecit.J uisum recepit. Hoc dum uir Dei Roma rediret
~11 I · I 'I
11111 actum esU et crux lignea ibi posita est, uncle locus ipse Crux
dictus est.
.i11',1
1111 111~ 1
a Space left for rubric.
f!I ~·11 1
1 The body of St. Judoc was also claimed by the monks of St. Josse-sur-
Mer at the mouth of the Canche. See below, Appendix II.
2 Orderic's sources are discussed below, Appendix II. Orderic at first follows
the Anonymous Life with occasional details added from the Life by Isembard.
3 Probably a monastery in honour of St. Maelmon, in the neighbourhood
of the Couesnon (J. Trier, Der Heilige Judocus (Breslau, 1924), p. 22).
4 Either La Broye or Raye (ibid., p. 24).
5 Most probably Villiers-Saint-Josse (ibid., p. 27).
157
So it was that the monks of St. Evroul entered into possession of
the church of Parnes, which had originally been founded in honour
of St. Martin, archbishop of Tours, and where the body of St.
J udoc the confessor has long been reverently preserved. 1 Who he
was and whence he came I have extracted from a book describing
his holy life, and will summarize here. 2
When the blessed J udoc, son of Hoel king of the Bretons and
brother of King J udicail, was offered the crown he abandoned his
studies at Lanmailmon 3 and set out on a pilgrimage to Rome with
eleven other pilgrims. But Haimo duke of Ponthieu, knowing him
to be of noble birth, intercepted him on the way and had him
ordained priest as his chaplain. Seven years later J udoc went to
the hermitage of Braic4 on the river Authie, where he served
God for eight years. Here he fed birds of every kind and little
fishes from his hand as if they were tame creatures. Once, when in
spite of the protests of Ulmar his servant he had divided his last
loaf amongst four beggars, he received four boats laden with food
and drink, which God sent down the river Authie. Afterwards he
built a chapel to St. Martin at Runiacums on the Canche, and lived
there for fourteen years. On one occasion an eagle carried off
eleven of his hens; finally, when it seized the cock the man of God
made the sign of the cross and uttered a prayer. The eagle swiftly
returned, dropped the cock, who was unharmed, and forthwith
fell down dead.
Once when J udoc had gone with Duke Haimo to find a suitable
place for a hermitage in a thick forest and the duke, worn out with
hunting and parched with thirst, had fallen asleep, the man of God
planted the staff he was using in the ground and offered prayers to
God. A stream sprang up in the place; and when the sick come to
worship there and drink the water they are speedily made whole.
This servant of God with his own hands built two wooden chapels
in the forest, one for Peter, who holds the keys of heaven, and the
other for Paul, the great preacher. Afterwards he went to Rome, and
brought back many relics of the saints. A girl called Julia, 6 who
had been blind from birth, was told in a vision to wash in the water
in which J udoc had bathed his hands. She did so, and received her
sight. This happened as the saint was on his way home from Rome;
and a wooden cross, from which the place has taken its name, was
erected to mark the spot.
6 The name of the girl is taken from lsembard.
I
-~
 158 BOOK III
Interea dum Iudocus Romam perrexisset:' Haimo dux lapideam
in heremo recclesiam construxit, quam post reditum hominis Dei
in honore beati Martini dedicari fecit:' et pro dote quandam
T
I
l
uillam proprietatis sure cum omnibus appendiciis ad earn perti-
ii. 136 nentibus dedit. Ibi fidelis athleta Dei Iudocus diu Deo militauit:'
et sanctre uitre cursu feliciter consummato idus decembris ad
Christum migrauit. 1
Duo nepotes eius Winnochus 2 et Arnochus ibidem ei succes-
serunt:' et sanctum corpus quod diu incorrupturn mansit, fre-
quenter aqua lauare et tondere consueuerunt. Drochtricus dux
i
!
I
i
Haimonis successor hoc audiuit:' sed credere dubitauit. Hoc igitur
procaciter explorare uolens, ui sacrum sepulcrum aperiri fecit:'
et intus irreuerenter intuitus et mox exterritus ait, 'Ah sancte
I udoce.' Statim surdus et mutus factus esU et usque ad mortem
omni corpore debilitatus est. Vxor autem eius infortunio uiri ter-
rita ad Deum ingemuit:' et pro saluatione animre duas uillas Crispi-
niacum et NetreuillamJ sancto Iudoco dedit. Hrec itaque tempore
Dagoberti filii Lotharii magni regisa Francorum gesta sunt.
Floriacensis Isembardus Herboldo abbati instigante Adelelmo
monacho describit:' quod anno ab incarnatione Domini nongente-
Ul1, simo lxxvii 0 , tempore Lotharii filii Ludouici regis Francorum
illl[ corpus Sancti I udoci sic inuentum sit. Rusticus qui dam nomine
H Stephanus qui ex officio molendini uictum qureritabat, in somnis
II~' ' a quo dam clari habitus uiro admonitus, ad locum Sancti I udoci
uenit, et relicta uxore cum filiis clericus effectus est. Corpus uero
ii. 137 Sancti Iudoci quod tune a cunctis mortalibus ubi esset ignorabatur,
ut per uisum instigatus fuerat intra recclesiam querere cepit, et
insinuante Pridiano Sigemano4 ad dexteram altaris Sancti Martini
sarcofagum inuenit. Cunctis inde gaudentibus, et Deo laudes
canentibus:' defossum est cum sancto corpore mausoleum, et a
terra sublatum. Hoc fama passim diuulgat, copiosa plebs undi-
que properat:' ut sancti corporis leuationem uideat, et ei uota cum
muneribus offerat. Multa ibidem facta sunt miracula:' et multarum
"''"
fll~
curata sunt infirmitatum genera. Tandem viii 0 kal. augusti corpus
sancti Iudoci:' ueneranter positum est super altare sancti Martini.
a MS. regni
1
He died c. 668.
2
Although Mabillon thought that this was St. Winnoch, the Bollandist
editor of the Lives of St. Winnoch has shown that there is nothing to connect
the two. See AA.SS. November, iii. 256.
BOOK III
Meanwhile, as J udoc was journeying to Rome, Duke Haimo
had a stone church built for the hermit, which was dedicated in
the name of St. Martin after the holy man's return. Haimo
159
endowed it with an estate he owned and all its appurtenances.
There J udoc fought as a faithful warrior of God for many years
until the course of his holy life was run, and he departed to Christ
on 13 December. 1
Two nephews of his, Winnoch 2 and Arnoch, took his place in
the hermitage, and regularly bathed and shaved his holy body,
which long remained uncorrupted. Drochtric the successor of
Duke Haimo heard of this, but refused to believe it. Presump-
tuously wishing to learn the truth he forced open the holy tomb,
and irreverently looked inside: springing back in terror he cried,
'Ah! Saint Judoc.' He was struck deaf and dumb on the spot, and
remained enfeebled in body until his death. His wife, terrified by
her husband's misfortune, sought God's mercy, and gave the two
vills of Crispiniacum and Netrevilla3 to St. J udoc for the salvation
of his soul. All these things were done in the days of Dagobert,
son of Chlotar the Great, king of the Franks.
Isembard of Fleury at the request of his abbot Aldhelm wrote to
the monk Herbold, describing how the body of St. J udoc had been
found in the year of Our Lord 977, when Lothair son of Louis was
king of the Franks. A certain peasant called Stephen, who earned
his bread as a miller, was told of the place by a man dressed in
shining raiment, who appeared to him in a dream. He came to
St. Judoc's hermitage, and leaving his wife and children became
a clerk. At that time no man living knew where the body of St.
J udoc was, but encouraged by his vision he began to look for it in
the church, and with the help of Pridian Sigeman,4 found the
coffin buried on the right of St. Martin's altar. So whilst all
rejoiced and sang praises to God the coffin containing the holy
body was unearthed and raised to the surface of the ground. The
news spread rapidly: a vast concourse of people hurried from all
sides to see the raising of the saint's body and make prayers and
offerings. Many miracles were performed there, and many kinds
of infirmity were cured. Finally, on 25 July the body of St. Judoc
was reverently placed above the altar of St. Martin.
3 Netrevilla is added from Isembard.
4 He had two names: Isembard (MS. Royal 8 B xiv, f. 119v) explains 'erat
enim binomius'.
 :p
160 BOOK III BOOK III 161

Ipso anno ibidem monasterium a fundamentis ceptum est: et 1

monasticus ordo reparari ceptus est, et reuerendus abbas Sige-
brandus1 constitutus est. Quadam nocte dum corpus Sancti Iudoci
seruaretur in recclesia Sancti Petri septem cerei ante reliquias
erant.1 quorum unus tantum ab edituo incensus erat, reliqui uero
sex custodibus dormientibus crelitus accensi sunt.
Sic alia uice in recclesia sua corpus Sancti I udoci erat..1 prresente
Sigemano lumen quod ui uentorum et inundatione pluuiarum
extinctum erat, diuinitus illuminatum est.
Dominico dum Pridianus 1 missam solenniter celebrabat, quidam
uassus Hilduini comitis nomine Guarembertus mala uoluntate
plenus erat..1 cupiens de rebus sancti qure uellet uiolenter auferre,
et Sigemano 1 depulso alterum suis moribus consentientem sub-
.,~,,"
rogare. Cum ergo in Euangelio legitur, 'Vtquid cogitatis mala in
,,I
I
i
•'1rr'' 'I· ii. 138 cordibus uestris ?' 2 cepit miser alte uociferari, inuisibiliter per-
I
'~
Jii~,, cussus.1 tercio uexatus, diuinitus tandem impulsus corruit..1 et
~ I",, ,, sanguinis coagulum ab ore euomuit. Post missam iussu Sigemani
~I':11~~1
I
editui foras asportatus est.1 et in crastinum meritis Sancti Iudoci
I
I
In the same year the church was rebuilt from its foundations
and the restoration of regular life began, with the reverend
Sigebrand 1 as abbot. One night whilst the body of St. Judoc was
being watched over in the church of St. Peter there were seven
candles before the reliquary. The sacristan had lighted one only,
but whilst the watchers slept the remaining six were kindled from
heaven.
Another time whilst the body of St. J udoc lay in his church
Sigeman saw a light, which wind and rain had extinguished,
relighted by divine intervention.
One Sunday, whilst Pridian 1 was celebrating Mass, a certain
vassal of Count Hilduin called Guarembert who was present
harboured evil designs. He hoped by expelling Sigemanr to
substitute another who would be subservient to him, so that he
could plunder at his will any of the saint's property he coveted.
When the passage in the Gospels was read aloud, ''Wherefore
think ye evil in your hearts ?' 2 the wretch was struck by an invisible
hand and began to cry aloud. Three times he was shaken by

sanam mentem recepit. Hoc tempore Hugonis magni contigit. a divine power and fell to the ground, vomiting clotted blood.
I! ?1111!' 1
Eadem die Ostrehildis mulier quredam egredi post missam de After the Mass Sigeman the sacristan had him carried away, and
111~,, basilica conabatur, sed ita in limine ianure pedum eius plantre next day he recovered his reason by the virtues of St. J udoc. This
~ !~, heserunt.1 ut nullatenus a quoquam diuelli posset, et nil mali nisi happened in the time of Hugh the Great.
I'I
'
IH '
i' quod a genibus usque ad plantam pedis nimium frigus sentiebat. On the same day a certain woman called Ostrehilda was leaving
i I" In crastino se Deo et Sancto I udoco ancillam deuouit..1 statimque the church after Mass when the soles of her feet became rooted to
i I
sanata pie uota compleuit. the threshold so that no one could drag her away, though she felt
i j 1111

no discomfort except for numbness from the knees downwards.

11 ,,, A ueracibus uiris Adelelmo et Richario monacho narratur, quod
Ii.I
I! I ~ dum a Stephano reliquire Sancti I udoci pro constructione basilicre The next day she offered herself as a handmaiden to God and St.
~I"
1

1
,
i i! 1111
ad monasterium Sancti Richarii deferrentur .1 inclita Bertsendis iam Judoc; and, recovering immediately, piously fulfilled her vows.
,l;I '' I ~II nubilis filia Alsindis passione renum usque ad pedes per biennium Aldhelm and the monk Richer, both trustworthy men, have
~II iii
'111111 nimis est prregrauata, ita ut nusquam ire nee etiam mouere sine told of a miracle that occurred whilst Stephen had the relics of
baiulo sese posset. Fusa uero prece cum fide a matre et filia ante St. J udoc translated to the monastery of St. Riquier during the
reliquias sancti confessoris regra sanata est .1 et mater uisa filire building of the new church. The noble Bertsenda, a daughter of
fllli'
sospitate admodum gauisa est, et preciosum pallium ueloci Alsinda of marriageable age, had suffered such pain from the hips
"'"''
flll!fil to the feet for two years that she was unable to walk, or even to
archiatro largita est.
Rodbertus quidam dum meridie solus iter faceret .1 uiso spiritu move, without a stick. When the mother and daughter had offered
a prayer in faith before the relics of the holy confessor the sick
1
Orderic gives the names as they occur in Isembard. It seems that Pridian woman was cured; and the mother was so filled with joy at her
Sigeman was called Sigebrand when he became abbot. 'Most probably, there-
fore, he was the Pridian who was celebrating mass in the miracle of Guarem- daughter's delivery that she offered a costly altar cloth to the
bert: if so, the sacristan Sigeman must have been a different Sigeman. speedy physician.
2
Matthew ix. 4. A certain man named Robert, who was travelling alone at noon,
822204 M

BOOK III
erroris in hominis specie penitus cecatus est. Qui post longum
tempus sanctum Iudocum expetiit, et se coram Widone abbate
seruum contradidit.J inundante ab oculis eius sanguine ipso die
lumen recepit, et ad uesperas monachos in scannis residentes se
uidisse palam asseruit.
Gunzso Lothariensis presbiter per septem fere annos <lira
ii. 139 manuum et pedum infirmitate debilitatus est.J quern in uisu quidam
Iudocum medicum in Pontiuo inquirere monuit. Ille uero con-
festim iussis paruit. Dominico hora fere tercia basilicam intrauit,
prostratus orauit.J pauimentum lacrimis humectauit, et peractis
precibus incolumis surrexit. Deinde gaudens mox missam cecinit.J
et populo saluationis sure seriem cum gratiarum actione ueraciter
retulit.
Lothariensis Wandelmarus dextrum oculum infirmitate amisit.J
et amicorum persuasu beatum Iudocum adire decreuit. Sed recti
callis ignarus forte cum socio ad fontem deuenit.J quern I udocus
adhuc uiuens meritis suis produxit. W andelmarus itaque fontem
limpidissimum uidit, socium detinuit, ibi resedit, manus faciemque
de fontis aqua abluit, et subito lumen amissum recepit. Sanatus
deinde ad monasterium gaudenter perrexit:' et gaudentibus amicis
Deo gratias egit.
Duo dremoniaci nomine Maginardi ad tum barn Sancti I udoci
mundati sunt.J et diu postea sani in sreculo uixerunt.
Sieburgis uxor Bertranni clarissimi uiri per decem continuos
menses fluxum sanguinis e naribus patiebatur.J qure ab amicis ut
sanaretur ad redem sancti ludoci perducta est. Ibi orauit sed non
statim sanata est.J ideoque basilicam egressa merens multas
querelas locuta est. Denique dum ad sua cum rancore animi
repedaret.J et crucem qure in uia posita est pertransisset.J mox
fllll sanguis e naribus fluere cessauit. Protinus illa gaudens retrogrado
flllill
pede ad monasterium sancti uiri reuersa est.J et peractis gratiarum
actionibus plene sanata est.
ii. 140 Rodbertus Taruuanensis dum meridie solus in estate agri sui
operam reuiseret, subito a dremone arreptus est! et in tantum
uexatus ut pene incessanter homines deuorare et qureque per-
fringere ab hoste stimularetur. Tres itaque fratres sui ieiunio
f'
i BOOK III 163
saw a demon disguised in the form of a man and became totall
blind. L~ng afterwards he made a pilgrimage to St. Judoc, an~
offered himself to the s~int's service in the presence of Abbot Guy.
Blood streamed from his eyes, and he received his sight that same
day; at vespers he declared that he had plainly seen the monks
sitting in their stalls.
Gunzo, a Lotharingian priest, had suffered great pain in his
hands and feet for almost seven years when he was advised in
a vision to seek a certain doctor called Judoc in Ponthieu. At once
he obeyed t?is command and entered the church one Sunday at
about the third hour; pros~ratin_g himself on the ground he prayed,
watered the pavement with his tears, and rose to find himself
cured. Rejoicing he soon celebrated Mass, gave the people a true
account of how he had been healed, and rendered thanks.
Wandelmar, a Lotharingian, lost his right eye through a disease
and ~as persuaded by his friends to seek help from St. Judoc. A~
he did not know the way he and his companion came by chance
upon the stream that Judoc in his lifetime had miraculously caused
to gush forth. W andelmar, seeing the clear stream asked his friend
to wait whilst he sat down and washed his face ~nd hands in the
water. Suddenly his lost sight was restored. After his cure he
hurried rejoicing to the church, and he and his friends gave thanks
to God with joyful hearts.
!wo men, both named Maginard, who were possessed by evil
spmts, were cleansed at the tomb of St. Judoc and lived in good
health for many years afterwards.
Sieburge, the wife of a nobleman named Bertrand who had
suffered continuously for ten months with bleeding fro~ the nose
was brought by her friends to the church of St. Judoc in search of
a cure. She prayed there, but was not cured immediately, and left
the church heavy at heart and complaining aloud. Whilst she was
returning home in bitterness of heart she passed by the cross set
up at the roadside, and forthwith the blood ceased to flow from
her nostrils. At once she retraced her steps, and returning to the
church of the saint offered up thanks and was completely healed.
Robert of Therouanne, who went alone at midday during the
summer to supervise the work on his estate, was suddenly seized
by a demon and torr:iented to such an extent by his adversary that
he was constantly dnven to break everything round him and attack
men with his teeth. At last his three brothers, after observing the
 164 BOOK III
quattuor temporum in iunio ad tumbam Sancti Iudoci uinctum
perduxerunt:' ibique a quarta feria usque ad sabbatum perman-
serunt. Exinde quietius se ccepit reger habere.J et integra recepta
sospitate, perpetualiter in seruum sancto I udoco tradidit se. Hoc
eodem rogante in festiuitate sancti Iohannis Baptistre Wido abbas
ambonem ascendens populo narrauit:' ipsumque prresentem casus-
que suos palam protestantem ostendit.
Quidam perfectre retatis per septem annos ita surdus mansit:'
ut nichil penitus audiret. Hunc uxor eius ad tumbam sancti
uiri adduxit:' ibique aliquantum orauit. Deinde mulier iubente
Pridiano uirum ad fontem sancti Iudoci perduxit:' et ter caput eius
propriis manibus ex aqua fontis perfudit. Mox auditum recupe-
., :.1 :::
It' rauit, ac ad recclesiam regressus missam quam per septem annos
non audierat audiuit.
Hrec omnia Floriacensis Isembardus gesta temporibus Hugonis
magni seu Rodberti regis Adelelmo rogitante descripsit:' sed postea
beatus I udocus multa petentibus magnalia quamuis per incuriam
scripta non sint agere non destitit. Mutatis regni principibus, et
sese proceribus mutuo perturbantibus.J iterum corpus sancti
I udoci pro timore hostium terra coopertum est:' et tamdiu ita
iacuit, donec omnibus mortuis qui abdiderant communis ignoran-
tia inuoluerit. Tempore Henrici regis Francorum monachis sepe
conquerentibus, quod ignorarent ubi patronus eorum requiesceret
ii. 141 Iudocus.J cuidam simplici laico diuinitus sanctum corpus insinu-
atur, quo detegente abbatis fratrumque studio solenniter leuatur.
Deinde monachi repertorem reliquiarum ad monachatum sus-
ceperunU et custodem sacri somatis eundem constituerunt, et
oblationes fidelium ei commiserunt.
Defuncto autem abbate successor eius non ut decuit edituum
111111·
dilexit, nee eum ut antecessor eius amicabiliter tractauit. V nde
',·_·j ·.' fllll
111111'
grauiter commotus sanctum corpus noctu assumpsit:' secumque in
Galliam asportauit. Goisfredus autem Gomercii municeps eundem
cum thesauro quern ferebat honorifice detinuit:' et magistratum
castellanre recclesire ubi quattuor erant canonici usque ad mortem
ei concessit. Post aliquot tempus Henricus rex Francorum ortis
quibusdam bellorum tumultibus Gomercium obsedit, et uiribus
Lt
BOOK III 165
fast of the ember days in June, brought him bound to the tomb of
St. J udoc and remained there from Wednesday until Saturday.
From that time the sick man's frenzy began to abate; and when he
was fully restored to health he vowed himself for ever as a servant
of St. Judoc. At his request Abbot Guy related this miracle to the
populace, when he preached from the pulpit on the feast of St.
John the Baptist; and Robert himself stood by for all to see,
loudly proclaiming his story.
An elderly man had suffered from such deafness for seven years
that he was utterly unable to hear a sound. His wife brought him
to the tomb of St. Judoc and knelt for a time in prayer. Afterwards
at the behest of Pridian she took her husband to the spring of St.
J udoc, and three times poured water from the spring over his head
with her own hands. He soon recovered his hearing; and returning
to the church heard the Mass which, for seven years, had been
inaudible to him.
All these things which happened in the time of Hugh the Great
or King Robert Isembard of Fleury wrote down at Aldhelm's
request; but since that time St. J udoc has continued to work many
miracles for the faithful which through carelessness have remained
unrecorded. But owing to changes of dynasty and civil strife
among the nobility the body of St. Judoc had to be buried else-
where for fear of desecration, and lay hidden until no one knew
where it was to be found. In the time of Henry, king of the Franks,
whilst the monks lamented that they did not know where the body
of their patron St. Judoc lay, its resting place was revealed by
God to a simple layman: on his information the abbot and
brethren reverently translated it. The monks then brought back
the finder of the relics to their monastery, appointed him guardian
of the holy body, and gave him charge of the oblations of the
faithful.
After the abbot's death his successor neither loved the sacristan
as he deserved, nor treated him with the same kindness as his
predecessor; and the man, greatly angered, stole away the holy
body by night and took it with him into Gaul. Geoffrey, castellan
of Gomerfontaine, persuaded him to remain there with the
treasure he was carrying, and made him the superior for life of
the church in the castle which was served by four canons. Some
time later, during a period of war, Henry king of the Franks
besieged the castle of Gomerfontaine, defeated Geoffrey's army
 166 BOOK III
Gallici exercitus Goisfredum expugnauit, et opp id um incendit.
Dum uero basilicam et castri redificia edax flamma consumeret,
et terribilis clamor impugnantium et expugnatorum ut in talibus
moris est undique personaret:' canonicus quidam ossa sancti I udoci
de feretro sustulit, et festinanter de incendio aufugit. H uic forte
satelles regius super pontem obuiauit, suffasciatum quid ferret
interrogauit, fatenti quod sacra uestimenta codicesque suos gere-
ret cuncta uiolenter abstulit..i et secum ad Parnense territorium
·I
huiusmodi thesaurum detulit. Idem uir Rodbertus uocabatur, et
Meslebren id est miscens furfurem cognominabatur..1 eratque de
I ii. 142 clientibus Radulfi de Caldreio, qui tune temporis inter prrecipuos
milites habebatur in exercitu Gallico. Miles itaque pnefatus tali
prreda ualde gauisus est..i et in recclesia Sancti Martini a presbitero
et parrochianis studiose collocatum est, iamque ibidem plusquam
septuaginta annis uenerabiliter seruatum est. Innumera inibi super
infirmos miracula facta sunt ..i et usque hodie promerente petencium
t'' fide ut tota uicinitas adtestatur frequenter fiunt.
llP ~
De translatione sacri corporis quam breuiter hie modo tetigimus,
I' ·.·· ~1·"''
et de plurimis qure Parnis prouenerunt infirmorum sanitatibus..1
"'
ii' I
Merulensis Willelmus uenerabilis monachus et sacerdos egregium
dictamen edidit, in quo ueraciter et luculenter de miris euentibus
ad sacra ossa gestis disseruit. 2 Philippus rex Francorum biennio
febricitauit, nee ulla medicorum arte sanari potuit. V nde post
biennium Parnas uenit, aquam tactu reliquiarum Sancti I udoci
sanctificatam bibit, et binis noctibus ante sanctum corpus in ora-
tionibus pernoctauit, ibique sanitatem dolore cessante recupera-
uit. Sanatus autem rex L solidos Pontesiensium3 sancto ludoco
optuliu et nundinas feria tercia Pentecostes celebrari singulis
annis ibidem in honore sancti ludoci annuit, et regalis auctorita-
tis prreceptione constituit. 4
ii. 143 Prreterea meritis sancti I udoci multa Parnis miracula facta sunt
cotidieque fiunt, quorum nonnulla scripta sunt..i et plura per
incuriam scientium seu per imperitiam uidentium uel experto-
rum silentio occultata sunt. Nos autem quamuis alia referre festi-
naremus, pauca de te sancte I udoce libenter perstrinximus..1 et
karismata tibi celitus data huic opusculo inseruimus, et pro
1
If Orderic's statement that these events took place seventy years before is
correct, the siege of Gomerfontaine must have been within a few years of 1050.
2 See below, Appendix II.
3 See A. Blanchet and A. Dieudonne, Manuel de numismatique franfaise
(Paris, 1912-36), ii. 111-12.
4 M. Prou accepts this as a description of a lost diploma of Philip I. See
Recueil des actes de Philippe 1er roi de France (Paris, 1908), no. clxvi (p. 409).
BOOK III 167
1 with a French force, and set fire to the town. 1 Whilst the hungry
flames were devouring the church and castle, and the terrible din
all too familiar at such times resounded on all sides from attackers
and attacked, one of the canons took the bones of St. Judoc out
of the reliquary and fled from the conflagration. But he was inter-
cepted on the bridge by one of the king's minions, who asked what
he was carrying in his bundle; and on his replying that it was his
sacred vestments and books the soldier tore the treasure from his
grasp and carried everything away with him to the region of
Parnes. This man's name was Robert and he was called Maslin,
from mixing bran; he was a dependant of Ralph of Chaudry, one
of the leading knights in the French army. This knight was over-
joyed at securing such a booty, and it was carefully placed by the
priest and parishioners in the church of St. Martin, where it has
been revered for over seventy years. Many miraculous cures have
been worked on the sick and continue to be worked to the present
day, when the faith of the suppliants is sufficient, as the whole
neighbourhood can bear witness.
For the full story of the translation of the holy body, which
I have briefly described, and all the cures of the sick which took
place at Parnes, you must turn to the eloquent narrative of
William of Merlerault, a reverend monk and priest, who gives an
authentic and vivid account of all the miracles worked around the
sacred bones. 2 Philip king of the French had suffered from a fever
for two years, and medical skill was powerless to cure him. So at
the end of the two years he came to Parnes, drank water made holy
by a touch of the relics of St. Judoc, and after spending two nights
in prayer before the holy body found that his pain had ceased and
his health was restored. On his recovery the king gave fifty shillings
pontoise 3 to St. Judoc, and by his royal authority established a fair
to be held there every year in honour of St. Judoc on the Tuesday
after Pentecost. 4
By the merits of St. Judoc many miracles were performed at
Parnes and are daily still being performed: some of them have
been written down, but many, through the negligence of those
who knew or the illiteracy of those who saw or experienced them,
have passed into oblivion. And now although I must hasten to
relate other matters, I have gladly spoken at least a few words
on your merits, St. Judoc, and have included in this humble work
an account of the spiritual gifts bestowed on you from heaven,
 ff
168 BOOK III
\
modulo paruitatis nostne deuote attollimus. Oramus itaque
gloriose fili regis Britonum et consors angelorum, ut nos Deo
commendes tuorum efficacia meritorum:' obtineasque nobis soci-
etatem sanctorum, cum quibus contemplantes in decore suo crea-
torem cunctorum, lreti collaudemus per omnia srecula sreculorum.
Amen.
Mense Augusto Herald us N oricorum rex cum Tosti co et ingenti
classe immensum pelagus intrauit, et Aparciate seu Borea fl.ante
ad Angliam applicuit:' et Eboracensem prouinciam primitus
inuasit. Porro Anglicus Herald us ut N orthwigenas in Angliam
uenisse audiuit:' Hastingas et Peneuesellum aliosque maris portus
Neustrire oppositos quos toto anno illo cum multis nauibus et
militibus callide seruauerat reliquit, et septentrionalibus aduersa-
riis ex improuiso emergentibus festinanter cum exercitu copioso
.1 •.1•1.'
~ 1-1 ,,.
occurrit. Deinde pugna utrinque acerrima commissa est:' in qua
11r nimius sanguis ex utraque parte effusus est, et innumerabilis
hominum bestiali rabie furentium multitudo trucidata est. Deni-
,l.i'
r "
1'111•
ii. 144
que instantibus Anglis uictoria cessit, et Herald us N oricorum rex
cum Tostico et omnibus copiis suis occubuit. 1 Locus etiam belli
r
1111 11)
~I"
1 pertranseuntibus euidenter patet, ubi magna congeries ossuuma
mortuorum usque hodie iacet:' et indicium ruinre multiplicis
II utriusque gentis exhibet.
11, ,, 2
Interea dum Angli bello Eboracensi occupati erant:' et custo-
diam maris ut diximus nutu Dei reliquerant, classis N ormannorum
qure spacio unius mensis in hostio Diure uicinisque portibus
Nothum prestolata est:' zephiri flatu in stationem Sancti Gualerici
delata est. Ibi multa pro se et pro amicis uota facta sunt:' et
preces innumerabilesque lacrimre effusre sunt. Nam necessarii
sodales seu kari siue propinqui qui domi remansuri erant, dum
quinquaginta milia militum3 cum copia peditum per horrendum
pelagus ad expugnandam in propria sede incognitam gentem ire
certabant:' fletibus et suspiriis multisque curis metus et cupiditatis
•11 ~I:
111 1111~ I
.
tam pro se quam pro amicis anxii erant. Tune ibi dux Willelmus
llHli ·'·
' •1111· ,,, a sic in MS.
i • b1· -~II
: 11111:. ::·
1
Harold Hardrada was joined, probably at the moment of invasion, by
Tostig, and sailed up the estuary of the Humber about 18 September. Their
forces won a victory at Fulford, not explicitly mentioned by Orderic, on 20 Sep-
tember: Harold defeated and slew them at Stamford Bridge on 25 September
(Douglas, WC, pp. l 93-4). Orderic may have taken some of his information from
Florence of \Vorcester, though Florence says, correctly, that Tostig came from
Scotland.
2 3
The substance of the passage from 'Interea dum Angli' to 'et nauibus
I II ~ I
propugnaculo' and many words and phrases are taken from William of Poi tiers
1 I
1 1
BOOK III 169
devoutly extolling them as highly as one so insignificant can do.
O glorious son of the king of the Bretons, now among the angels,
we beseech thee by the power of thy merits, commend us to God
and secure for us a place in the company of the saints, so that we
may behold the creator of the world in his glory, and join with
them in joyful praises to him for ever, world without end, Amen.
In the month of August Harold king of the Norwegians and
Tostig put to sea with a huge fleet, and driven by the arctic or
north winds to the English coast first landed in the county of
Yorkshire. When Harold of England learned of the arrival of the
Norwegians he abandoned Hastings and Pevensey and the other
seaports opposite Normandy, which he had been closely guarding
all year with a great force of men and ships, and made all haste to
lead a strong army against the enemies who had appeared so
unexpectedly in the north. The battle was bitterly contested by
both sides; terrible bloodshed took place, and in the mad fury
of the contending parties a countless multitude of men lost their
lives. In the end victory came to the relentless English, and
Harold king of the Norwegians with Tostig and all his forces fell
on the field of battle. 1 Travellers cannot fail to recognize the field,
for a great mountain of dead men's bones still lies there and bears
witness to the terrible slaughter on both sides.
2
Whilst the English were occupied with the war in Yorkshire
and, as I said, had by God's will left their shores undefended, the
Norman fleet, which for a month past had lain in the estuary of
the Dive and the harbours round about waiting for a south-west
wind, was blown by a westerly wind into the region of St. Valery.
There many offered up vows for themselves and their friends:
countless prayers were uttered and tears shed. For, whilst fifty
thousand knights3 and a great company of foot-soldiers were
struggling to cross a stormy sea to conquer an unknown people
fighting on their own soil, their loved friends and kinsfolk, who
were obliged to remain at home, wept and sighed and endured
many hopes and fears on behalf of themselves and their dear ones.
(Foreville, pp. 158-68). Orderic abbreviates considerably, omitting the com-
parison of William's achievements with those of Agamemnon, Xerxes, and
Aeneas, and a number of other classical allusions; he adds some moral com-
ments of his own. The phrase 'militibus committens' echoes W'illiam of Jumieges
(Marx, p. l 34).
The figure is Orderic's; it should be taken simply to mean a very large
number.
 BOOK III
i j
et omnis exercitus precibus et donis ac uotis 1 Deo se commen-
dauerunt:' et corpus sancti W alerici confessoris Christi pro
! '
secundo flatu extra basilicam detulerunt. Denique dum prosper
uentus multorum uotis optatus Deo uolente subito spirauit:'
protinus ardens uehementia duci~ omnes ad pupi:es conuoca_uit,
et nauigium inire uiriliter imperamt. N ormanmcus 1taque exerc1tus
iii 0 kal. octobris mare transfretauit, 2 nocte qua memoriam Sancti
it. 145 Michahelis archangeli katholica recclesia festiue peragit.J et nemine
resistente littus Anglire gaudens arripuit. Deinde Peneuesellum
et Hastingas occupauit, electisque militibus commendauit.J qure
sibi forent receptaculo, et nauibus propugnaculo.
Anglicus autem tirannus effuso fratris et hostis sanguine letus
intumuit.J et peracta multiplici strage uictor Lundoniam rediit.
Verum Heraldus quia prosperitas mundi ut fumus ante uentum
cito deficit.J3 imminente grauioris tribulationis pondere lretitiam
feralis trophei cito perdidit. N ec4 de fratricidio diu gaudere uel
securus esse potuit:' quia legatus ei N ormannos adesse mox
: fl•HI' nunciauit. I pse uero ut N ormannos in Angliam ingressos esse
1111 Mii
audiuit.J iterum se ad agonem uiriliter prreparauit. Erat enim
I
ll""
1111·
11111 'Ill
multum audax et probus, corpore fortis et pulcherrimus.J elo-
quentia lepidus, et affabilis fautoribus. Porro matre sua Githa qure
interitu Tostici filii sui ualde erat lugubris, aliisque fidelibus
amicis bell um ei dissuadentibus.J dixit ei Worth comes frater suus,
'Oportet karissime frater et domine.J u~ probitas .tua temperetur
11, ' discretionis moderamine. Nunc ex prreho Northw1genarum fessus
uenisti, iterumque festinas contra Normannos nunc prreliari?
Quiesce queso. Prudentertractare tecum uelis.J quid cum sacramen-
tis consuli Normannire promiseris. Caue ne periurium incurras,
1 William the Conqueror's gift of Tackley (Essex) to St. Valery was made
'ex voto et promissione debita in transfretatione facta conqueste anglicane'
(D. J. A. Matthew, The Norman Monasteries and their English Possessions
(Oxford, 1962), p. 30 n. 1).
2 William landed at Pevensey on 28 or 29 September: there is disagreement
among the sources. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D) says that William came
from Normandy to Pevensey on Michaelmas Eve, and (E) that he landed at
Hastings on Michaelmas Day. Freeman (NC, iii, Appendix, Note II) argued
ingeniously that both are right: William landed at Pevensey on 28 September,
and was at Hastings on 29 September. Stenton (Anglo-Saxon England, p. 583)
and Douglas (WC, p. 397) accept Freeman's date for the crossing, though
Douglas has reservations. But the evidence of the earliest French sources
disagrees with this. William of Poitiers says that William invaded England on
Michaelmas Day (29 September) (Foreville, p. 246); and the Annals of St.
Stephen's, Caen (Giles, Scriptores Rerum Gestarum Wille/mi Conquestoris, p. 166),
give the date as iii Kal. Octobris. The Carmen (11. 76-77) also names Michaelmas
Day, but whether or not its early date is accepted (cf. below, p. 184 n .. 2), it
is not independent of William of Poitiers, so does not strengthen the evidence
L,
BOOK III
171
There it was that Duke William and his whole army offered them-
selves to God, with prayers and gifts and vows, 1 and carried the
body of St. Valery the confessor out of the church to secure
a favourable wind. When at last by the grace of God the favour-
able wind sprang up in answer to so many prayers, the duke,
impatient to set out, called all his men forthwith to the ships and
commanded them to set sail with courage. So the Norman army
crossed the sea on 29 September, the night when the universal
church celebrates the feast of St. Michael the archangel, 2 and
reaching the coast of England, where they met with no opposition,
gladly came ashore. They took possession of Pevensey and Hastings
and gave them into the charge of chosen soldiers as a base for the
army and shelter for the fleet.
After shedding the blood of his brother and his enemy, and
causing fearful slaughter, the English tyrant, triumphant and
elated, returned victorious to London. But in truth, since worldly
fortune is driven away like smoke before the wind,3 Harold soon
forgot the joy of his fatal victory in the face of grave danger, and
had only a little space to feel proud and safe after his fratricide ;4
for a messenger came bearing the news of the Norman landing.
As soon as he learned that the Normans had invaded England he
made haste to prepare himself for a fight to the death. For he was
a brave and valiant man, strong and handsome, pleasant in
speech, and a good friend to his own followers. However, his
mother Gytha, already filled with mourning at the death of her
son Tostig and other good friends of his, tried to dissuade him
from war; and Earl Gyrth his brother spoke these words: 'My
dearest brother and lord, you should let discretion temper your
valour. You have just returned worn out after the war against the '.I
Norwegians ; are you now hastening to fight once more against
the Normans? Rest, I beg you. You ought to give careful thought
to the oaths you have taken to the duke of Normandy. Take care
either way. Cf. also Foreville, p. 164 n. 3; S. Korner, The Battle of Hastings,
p. 258. The question remains open.
3 Cf. Psalms !xvii (!xviii). 3; Wisdom v. 15.
4 The whole passage from 'Nee de fratricidio' to 'ad pugnam festinauit' is
taken almost verbatim from Orderic's own interpolations in William of Jumieges.
The original source is unknown, but it reads like a popular romance. Orderic
is the first historian to tell this story, which occurs soon after in William of
Malmesbury (above, Introduction, p. xxiv), and it illustrates the speed with which
embroideries on the legend of Harold were spreading. The Carmen also makes
much of Harold's fratricide.
 BOOK III
172
et pro tanto scelcre tu cum uiribus nostrre gcntis corruas.J no-
strreque progeniei permansurum dedecus exinde fias. Ego liber
ab omni sacramento, Guillelmo comiti nichil debeo. Audacter
igitur contra illum, pro natali solo certare paratus sum. Tu autem
frater mi quouis in pace quiesce, et euentum belli prrestolare:1
ne clara libertas Anglorum pereat in tua pernicie.'
His itaque auditis sermonibus:' Heraldus uehementer est
indignatus.;,Consilium istud quod amicis eius salubre uidebatur
spreuit, et germanum suum qui fideliter ei consiliabatur conuiciis
irritauit.J matremque suam qure nimis ipsum retinere secum
satagebat pede procaciter percussit. Deinde per sex dies undique
populos ad bellum asciuit, innumeram multitudinem Anglorum
contraxit.-i secumque adducens in hastes ad pugnam festinauit.
1 N octurno siquidem seu repentino incursu minus cautos oppri-
mere cogitabat.J et ne perfugio abirent septingentas naues armatis
onustas in mari opposuerat. Cuius accelerationem Willelmus dux
ut audiuiU omnes suos armari mane sabbati iussit, et ipse missam
audiuit.J et dominicis sacramentis corpus et animam muniuit,
reliquiasque sanctas super quas Heraldus iurauerat collo suo
humiliter appendit. Religiosi quoque uiri pugnaturis e Normannia
comitati fuerant. Nam duo pontifices Odo Baiocensis et Goisfredus
Constantinus aderant cum monachis et clericis multis.J quorum
ii. 147 officium erat pugnare precibus et consiliis. Bellum secundo idus
octobris hora tercia commissum esU totaque die ad multorum
milium perniciem ex utraque parte acerrime pugnatum est. 2 Dux
N ormannorum pedites sagittis armatos et balistis in fronte locauit,
item pedites loricatos in ordine secundo constituiU in ultimo
turmas equitum, in quorum medio fuit ipse dux cum firmissimo
robore.J uncle in omnem partem consuleret manu et uoce.
E contra ex omnibus undique regionibus copire Anglorum ad
locum qui Senlac antiquitus uocabatur3 conuenerant, studiumque
suum pars Heraldo sed cuncti patrire prrestabant.J quam contra
extraneos defensare uolebant. lbi protinus equorum opem reli-
querunt.J cunctique pedites densius conglobati constiterunt. Tur-
stinus filius Rollonis uexillum Normannorum portauit. 4 Terribilis
1 From 'nocturno' Orderic quotes William of Poitiers almost verbatim with
a few added statements of his own (Foreville, pp. 180-2, 184, 186).
2 Orderic adds the date, and the large number of slain.
3 Orderic adds the local name Senlac, which was derived from the Anglo-
Saxon Sandlacu (sand stream). See W. H. Stevenson, 'Senlac and the Malfosse',
in EHR xxviii (1913), 292-303.
4 Orderic adds the statement that Thurstan fitzRou carried the Norman
banner. He later appears holding land on the Welsh marches. See G. H. White,
Genealogists' Magazine, vi (1932-4), p. 53, and Douglas, History, xxviii (1943),
pp. 140-1. The narrative continues to follow William of Poitiers closely (Foreville,
BOOK III 173
that you do not commit perjury, and by this crime destroy the
flower of our people with yourself and bring shame on all our
posterity. I have taken no oath and owe nothing to Count William;
therefore I can boldly join combat with him for my native soil.
But you, my brother, should wait peacefully wherever you like
for the outcome of this war, lest the fair freedom of the English
should perish through your destruction.'
On hearing these words Harold flew into a violent rage. He
rejected the counsel that seemed wise to his friends, answered his
brother who was advising him for the best with reproofs, and,
when his mother clung to him to hold him back, insolently spurned
her with his foot. Then for six days he sent far and wide to summon
the populace to war, gathered a huge multitude of Englishmen
around him, and hastened to battle against the enemy.
1 His plan was to catch them unawares and overwhelm them by
an unexpected or night attack; and to prevent them escaping in
flight he kept seventy heavily armed ships at sea. But Duke
William heard of his hasty preparations, and on the Saturday
morning commanded all his men to prepare for battle. He himself
heard Mass, fortified his body and soul with the holy sacraments,
and humbly hung the sacred relics on which Harold had sworn ,,
round his neck. Several men of religion had come with the
warriors from Normandy. There were present two bishops, Odo
of Bayeux and Geoffrey of Coutances, with many monks and
clerks, whose duty was to support the fight with their prayers and
counsel. Battle was joined on 14 October at the third hour, and was
bitterly contended all day long with heavy slaughter on both sides. 2
The duke of Normandy placed foot-soldiers armed with arrows and
cross-bows in the front rank, foot-soldiers with hauberks in the
second, and finally squadrons of mounted knights; he himself,
surrounded by the best fighting men, took his place in the centre,
so that he could be heard and seen by all as he directed operations.
To oppose him a great multitude of English flocked together
from all sides to the place whose early name was Senlac, 3 some
desiring to support Harold's cause, but all wishing to defend their
country against invasion. Reaching the spot they all dismounted
from their horses and stood close together in a dense formation on
foot. Thurstan son of Rollo carried the standard of the Normans.4
pp. 186-92) as far as 'se momento deleuerunt' and then gives the substance
rather than the words of pp. 192-4.
 174 BOOK III
clangor lituorum pugme signa utrinque cecinit. N ormannorum
alacris audacia pugme principium dedit. Pedites itaque Nor-
manni propius accedentes Anglos prouocant, et in eos missili-
bus uulnera necemque dirigunt. Illi contra fortiter quo quisque
ualet ingenio resistunt. Aliquandiu summa ui certatur ab utrisque.
Pertinaci Anglorum seuicia perterriti pedites pariter equitesque
Britanni, et quotquot auxiliares erant in sinistro cornu auertuntur.J
et fere cuncta ducis acies eundem iam occisum credens cedit.
Dux autem prospiciens multam partem aduersre stationis prosilu-
isse et insequi terga suorum:' fugientibus occurrit, et hasta uer-
berans aut minans obstitit. Nudato insuper capite, detractaque
galea exclamans 'Me' inquit 'conspicite.J uiuo et uincam opitu-
lante Deo.' Protinus prolatis a duce uerbis audacire cedentes
animos receperunU et circumuenientes aliquot milia insecuta se
momento deleuerunt. Simili modo bis iterum fugam N ormanni
simulauerunt, 1 et insequentes Anglos repente giratis equis inter-
ceperunt:' et inclusos undique mactauerunt. Anglos itaque peri-
culosa simulatione deceperunt, disiunctos ab inuicem peremerunt,
multisque milibus trucidatis residuos alacrius aggressi sunt. In-
: .11"1':
111 ~·
J
stiterunte is Cenomannici, Franci, Britanni.J Aquitani, et misera-
1911 :1111 '' ~
biliter pereuntes cadebant Angli.
2
Interfuerunt huic prrelio Eustachius Bolonire comes, Guillel-
11," mus Ricardi Ebroicensis comitis filius, Goisfredus Rotronis
1~:
1
. :11 . . Moritonire comitis filius, Guillelmus Osberni filius, Rodbertus
11, .1 I tiro Rogerii de Bellomonte filius, Haimerius Toarcensis prreses,
Hugo stabulariorum comes, Gualterius Giphardus et Radulfus
Toenites, Hugo de Grentemaisnilio et Guillelmus de Guarenna.J
aliique quamplures militaris prrestantire fama celebratissimi, et
ii. 149 quorum nomina historiarum uoluminibus inter bellicosissimos
commendari deceat. Willelmus uero dux eorum prrestabat eis
fortitudine et prudentia. Nam ille nobiliter exercitum duxit,
cohibens fugam, clans animos, periculi socius.J sepius clamans ut
uenirent quam iubens ire. In hello tres equi sub eo confossi
1
The tactics of the battle of Hastings have been a subject of much debate.
R. Glover, 'English Warfare in 1066' (EHR lxvii (1952), 1-18), is sceptical of
the feigned flights. Douglas, lVC, p. 201, is slightly in favour of the manreuvre's
being a ruse, as William of Poi tiers thought; and so, more tentatively, is R. C.
Smail (Crusading Warfare (Cambridge, 1956), p. 78). But Smail has also
stressed (ibid., pp. 165-8) the tendency even of eyewitnesses to dramatize and
rationalize the battles they describe. It must be remembered that cavalry cannot
charge a second time until they have withdrawn and re-formed. Such a manreuvre
exposes their backs to the enemy, and may provoke a counter-attack aimed at
preventing their re-forming. Even an eyewitness could not easily distinguish
a planned withdrawal from a feigned flight, or assess the motives of the men who
counter-attacked.
BOOK III 175
The harsh bray of trumpets sounded the alarm for battle on both
sides. The Normans swiftly and boldly took the initiative in the
fray. For the Norman foot-soldiers closed to attack the English,
and killed and wounded many under a shower of missiles. They
resisted bravely by any means they could devise; and for a long
time both sides fought with all their might. The ferocious resolu-
tion of the English struck terror into the foot-soldiers and knights
of the Bretons and other auxiliaries on the left wing; they turned
to flee, and almost the whole of the duke's battle line fell back, for
the rumour spread that he had been killed. But the duke, seeing
a great part of the opposing army springing forwards to pursue his
men, met them as they fled, threatening and striking them with
his spear. Baring his head and lifting his helmet he cried, 'Look at
me: I am alive and with the aid of God I will gain the victory.'
No sooner had the duke spoken these brave words than their failing
courage was restored, and surrounding several thousand of their
pursuers they mowed them down almost at once. Twice more the
Normans feigned flight 1 in a similar way, and then suddenly
wheeling round their horses cut off the pursuing English and
slaughtered them. So they deceived the English by this hazardous
stratagem, and then when their ranks were broken destroyed
them piecemeal, slaying thousands and attacking the survivors yet
more fiercely. The men of Maine, France, Brittany, and Aquitaine
supported the Normans, and the English fell, to perish miserably.
2 Among those who took part in this battle were Eustace count
of Boulogne, William son of Richard count of Evreux, Geoffrey
son of Rotrou count of Mortagne, William fitzOsbern, Robert the
newly knighted son of Roger of Beaumont, Aymer, vicomte
of Thouars, Hugh the constable, Walter Giffard and Ralph of
Tosny, Hugh of Grandmesnil and William of Warenne, and many
others of military distinction and great renown, whose names
deserve to be remembered in the annals of history amongst the
very greatest warriors. But William their duke surpassed them all
in courage and wisdom. For he led his army brilliantly, checking
their flight and giving them courage; in the thick of danger he
more often called to them to follow him than commanded them
to advance. During the battle three horses were killed under him;
2 The list of companions of the Conqueror is taken from William of Poitiers
(Foreville, pp. 194-6). For comments, see ibid., p. 196 n. 10; G. H. White in
GEC xii, (i), Appendix L; and S. Korner, The Battle of Hastings, pp. 237-55.
 BOOK III
f BOOK III
ceciderunt. Ter ille intrepidus desiluit.-' nee diu mors uectoris
inulta remansit. Scuta, galeas et loricas irato mucrone moramque
dedignante penctrauit, clipeoque suo nonnullos collisit, auxilioque
multis suorum atque saluti sicut e contra hostibus perniciei fuit.
1
Ab hora diei tercia bellum acriter commissum est.1 et in primo
militum congressu Heraldus rex peremptus est. Deinde Leof-
winus comes frater eius cum multis milibus simili sorte perfunctus
est. Denique inclinata iam die uidentes Angli, quod rex suus et
primates regni, multreque legiones suorum interierint, et quod
N ormanni adhuc procaciter steterint, et terribiliter armis in
obstantes seuierint.1 in fugam conuersi quantocius abierunt, et
euentus uarios experti sunt. Alii raptis equis, nonnulli pedites:'
pars per uias, plerique per auia sese saluare conati sunt. 2 Nor-
manni autem dum Anglos fugere uiderunU tota nocte dominica
eos ad sui detrimentum obnixe persecuti sunt. Nam crescentes
ii. 150 herbre antiquum aggerem tegebant, ubi summopere currentes
Normanni cum equis et armis ruebant..1 ac sese dum unus repen-
te super alterum cadebat uicissim extinguebant. Ibi nimirum
fugientibus Anglis rediit confidentia. Cernentes enim opportuni-
tatem prrerupti ualli et frequentium fossarum in unum collecti
sunt..1 inopinato restiterunt, et N ormannis magnam stragem for-
titer intulerunt. 3 lbi Engenulfus Aquilensis4 oppidanus aliique
multi corruerunU acs ut fertur ab his qui interfuerunt, Norman-
norum ferme quindecim milia perierunt. Sic omnipotens Deus
pridie idus octobris.1 innumeros peccatores utriusque phalangis
puniit diuersis modis. Nam seuicie intolerabiliter grassante Nor-
mannorum, in die sabbati multauit multa milia Anglorum.1 qui
longe ante innocentem Alfredum6 cum suis pedissequis iniuste
necauerunt, atque prrecedente sabbato Heraldum regem et
I ~II~,',
111 :IJ" ,,~ Tosticum comitem aliosque multos absque pietate trucidauerunt.
~II~' "I
I .-11 .l 1
The statement that Harold was killed in the first onslaught is taken from
I ~~11: :,: William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 135). The rest of the paragraph is derived from
II ~(11 l·"I
' "' ,. William of Poitiers. Whilst the exact time and circumstances of Harold's death
tC'.J are uncertain, William of Jumieges is alone in putting it so early. The Bayeux
Tapestry, the Carmen (II. 540-50), and Florence of Worcester (i. 227) put it
ur:: late in the day (see Douglas, WC, p. 201). Very probably Orderic inserted this
:::J:' statement from "William of Jumiegcs in the middle of a passage based on
William of Poitiers because William of Poitiers made no attempt to state exactly
when Harold was killed, and William of Jumieges, rightly or wrongly, was
precise. The name of Earl Lcofwinc must have been taken from another source,
possibly Florence of Worcester (FW i. 227).
i, 2
From 'Normanni autem . . .' Orderic copies his own interpolations in
/i
William of Jumieges; but from 'fugientibus Anglis' to 'multi corruerunt ac'
he inserts in the middle of a sentence a brief passage from William of Poitiers
(Foreville, p. 202) and a new fact about the death of Engenulf of Laigle.
177
thrice, undaunted, he sprang to the ground and speedily avenged
the death of his steed. Shields, helmets, and hauberks were shattered
by his angry blade; tirelessly his shield smote against the enemy;
he brought help and encouragement to countless of his followers
and death and destruction to the enemy.
iso the battle raged from the third hour, and Harold the king
was slain in the first assault. Earl Leofwine his brother and many
thousand others later suffered the same fate. At last as the sun was
setting the English realized that their king had perished with the
chief nobles of the kingdom and many of their troops, whilst
the Normans grimly held their ground and dealt out destruction
to all who attacked them; their ranks broke and they fled with
all speed, to suffer divers fates. Some tried to escape on horses
they had managed to catch, others on foot either on the roads
or through the untrodden wastes. 2 When the Normans saw the
English flying they pursued them relentlessly through the whole
night till Sunday, to their own harm. For by chance long grasses
concealed an ancient rampart, and as the Normans came gallop-
ing up they fell, one on top of the other, in a struggling mass of
horses and arms. At this courage returned to the fleeing English.
Seeing that they could be sheltered by the broken rampart and
labyrinth of ditches they re-formed their ranks and unexpectedly
made a stand, inflicting heavy slaughter on the Normans.3 There
Engenulf castellan of Laigle4 and many others fell; ands as sur-
vivors relate about fifteen thousand Normans met their doom.
So on that fourteenth of October almighty God punished count-
less sinners in both armies in divers ways. For the Norman fury
became uncontrollable, and on that Saturday they massacred
many thousands of English who long before had unjustly murdered
the innocent Alfred6 with his servants, and only a week earlier had
slaughtered without mercy King Harold, Earl Tostig, and many
Cf. W. H. Stevenson, EHR xxviii (1913), 292-303.
J
+ Engenulf was the son of Fulbert de Beina, who had built the castle of
Laigle, and the fortunes of the family were well known to Orderic. G. H. White
(Genealogists' Magazine, vi (1932-4), 53) calls him 'the only prominent Norman
who lost his life in the battle'.
5 From 'ut fertur' to 'offenderunt' Orderic resumes his quotation from his
own interpolations in William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 197).
6
William of Poitiers made much of the murder of King Edward's brother
Alfred, for which he held Godwin responsible, in 1036 (Foreville, pp. 8-10).
Cf. Encomium Emmae Reginae, ed. A. Campbell (Camden Third Series, lxxii,
London, 1949), pp. lxiv-lxvii.
822204 N
 178 BOOK III
Idem quoque iudex dominica nocte Anglos uindicauit: et furentes
Normannos in cecam uoraginem prrecipitauit. Ipsi enim contra
prreceptum legis rem alienam immoderate concupierunt, ac
'ueloces' ut psalmographus <licit 'pedes eorum ad effundendum
sanguinem fuerunt'.J ideoque 'contritionem et infelicitatem in uiis
suis' offenderunt. 1
ii. 151 Dux Guillelmus Anglorum 2 cohortes inopinato conglobatas
cernens non substitit.,) sed Eustachium comitem cum militibus
quinquaginta auersum et receptui signa canere uolentem.J ne abiret
uirili uoce compellauit. Ille contra familiariter in aurem ducis
reditum suasit.J et proximam ei si pergeret mortem prredixit. Hrec
inter uerba percussus Eustachius inter scapulas ictu sonoro, cuius
grauitatem statim sanguis demonstrabat ore et naribus.,) quasi
moribundus ope comitum euasit. Dux autem uictoria consummata
ad aream belli regressus esU ibique miserabilem stragem non
absque miseratione uidendam intuitus est. Anglicre nobilitatis et
iuuentutis fios in cruore sordidatus late solum operuit. Heraldus
quibusdam signis est non facie recognitus, et in castra ducis
delatus.J ac ad tumulandum prope littus maris quod diu cum armis
seruauerat Guillelmo agnomine Maleto uictoris iussu traditus.
JVergibili fortuna mortalibus in terris suppeditante ualde
ii. 152 aspera et inopinata.J quidam de puluere prosiliunt ad magnarum
potestatum culmina, aliique de summo apice subito pulsi gemunt
in ingenti mesticia. Sic Githa Goduini comitis relicta, quondam
diuitiis gaudens et potentia.J nunc nimio merore est affecta, quia
grauibus infortuniis uehementer est afflicta. Nam septem filios
uiro suo peperit, Suenum, Tosticum, Heraldum, Guorth.,1 Elf-
garum, Leofuinum et Wlnodum. Omnes hi comites fuerunt,
magnoque corporis decore et sreculari probitate uiguerunU sed
•1 ~: '"
diuersos et atroces euentus separatim experti sunt. Elfgarus et
r"I ~Ill I~ Wlnodus Deum diligentes pie legitimeque uixerunt.J et in uera
~ ~l'i confessione prior Remis peregrinus et monachus et alter Sales-
ti ~I:' I" ~I
I
[, ., ., '~ berire uenerabiliter obierunt. Verum alii quinque diuersis in locis,
I •t'"l ''I~
uariisque studiis intenti armis interierunt. Mesta igitur mater
Utt~:: Guillelmo duci pro corpore Heraldi par auri pondus optulit, sed
::;,,J. 1 Adapted from Psalms xiii. 3 (Vulgate).
2 From 'cohortes' to 'iussu traditus' Orderic slightly abbreviates William of
Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 202-4).
3 The first part of the passage on the sorrows of Gytha is from Orderic's pen:
the text from 'pro corpore Heraldi' to 'iurant et obsides dant' is based very
closely on William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 204, 208-12). Orderic's independent
information on Gytha's family is unreliable: no other source mentions a son
.lElfgar, and Wulfnoth, who was sent as a hostage to Normandy in 1051, died in
captivity (Forcville, p. 32 n. r; Freeman, NC, ii, Appendix, Note F).
BOOK III 179
others. The same just judge avenged the English on the eve of
Sunday, and plunged the fierce Normans into the abyss of destruc-
tion. For they had been guilty of coveting the goods of other men,
contrary to the precept of the law, and as the psalmist says, 'Their
feet were swift to shed blood', and so they encountered 'sorrow and
wretchedness in their ways'. 1
When Duke William 2 saw that the English forces had un-
expectedly massed again he did not check his advance, but called
out loudly to Count Eustace, who had turned tail with fifty knights
and wished to sound the retreat, forbidding him to fly from battle.
Count Eustace, however, whispered privately to the duke that
he ought to turn back, prophesying speedy death for him if he
advanced any further. Whilst he was urging this Eustace received
a resounding blow between the shoulders; so gravely was he
wounded that blood poured from his nose and mouth and he was
helped, as if dying, from the field by his companions. Meanwhile
the duke had finally routed the enemy and returned to the battle-
field, where he gazed on a scene of destruction so terrible that it
must have moved any beholder to pity. For the mangled bodies
that had been the flower of the English nobility and youth covered
the ground as far as the eye could see. Harold was recognized by
some tokens, not by his face, and brought to the duke's camp; the
conqueror commanded William Malet to bury the body near to
the sea-shore, which in life he had defended so long with his
armed forces.
3Changeable fortune often brings a hard and bitter fate to
mortal men on earth, for some climb from the dust to the height
of power, others are dashed from great prosperity to groan in the
depths of despair. So Gytha, Earl Godwin's widow, who had once
enjoyed power and riches, now encountered bitter grief and was
sorely afflicted by heavy misfortunes. For she had borne seven
sons to her husband: Swein, Tostig, Harold, Gyrth, 1Elfgar,
Leofwine, and Wulfnoth. All became earls and were handsome to
behold and endowed with every manly virtue: but in their turn
they suffered diverse and terrible fates. 1Elfgar and Wulfnoth
loved God, kept his law all their lives, and died honourably in
the true faith, the one an alien and monk at Rheims, the other at
Salisbury. But the other five took up a career of arms and perished
in different places on various enterprises. Their sorrowing mother
offered Duke William Harold's weight in gold for his body; but the

180 BOOK III
ii. 153 magnanimus uictor tale commercium respuit.J indignum ducens
ut ad libitum matris sepeliretur, cuius ob nimiam cupiditatem
innumerabiles insepulti remanerent. I pse suis ingentem sepeliendi
curam exhiberi prrecepit.J Anglis quoque cunctis uolentibus quos-
que ad humandum liberam potestatem concessit. Suis autem prout
tune decuit sepultis Romaneium accessit, et expugnatis his qui
intus erant cladem suorum uindicauit.J quos illuc errore appulsos
fera gens adorta prrelio fuerat, et cum maxima utriusque partis
detrimento fuderat.
Deinde dux contendit Doueram, ubi multus populus congre-
gatus erat pro inexpugnabili ut sibi uidebatur munitione.J quia id
castellum situm est in acutissima rupe mari contigua. Castellani
autem dum obsidentem ducem metuerent, supplicesque dediti-
onem pararenU Normannorum armigeri pro cupidine prredre
ignem iniecerunt, et uoraci ft.amma leuiter uolitante pleraque
correpta et combusta sunt. Dux autem damno eorum qui sibi
subdere se uolebant compassus est.J preciumque restituendarum
redium dedit, aliaque amissa recompensauit. Recepto castro.J quo
minus erat per dies octo muniuit. Milites uero recentibus illic
carnibus et aqua utentes, multi proft.uuio uentris extincti sunU
plurimique usque ad finem uitre debilitati sunt. Dux inibi custo-
diam relinquens et dissenteria languentes.J ad perdomandum quos
deuicit proficiscitur. Vitro Cantuarii non procul a Douera occur-
runt.J fidelitatem iurant et obsides dant.
ii. 154 Interempto Heraldo 1 Stigandus Cantuariensis archiepiscopus et
prreclari comites Eduinus et Morcarus aliique primates Anglorum
qui Senlacio hello non interfuerunU Edgarum Clitonem filium
Eduardi regis Hunorum 2 filii Edmundi Irneside id est Ferrei
Lateris regem statuerunt, et cum eo contra externos hastes pro
ii. 155 patria et gente se fortiter pugnaturos minati sunt. Porro Guillelmus
duxJ ubi frequentiorem conuentum eorum audiuiU cum ualida
1111 ~
manu appropians non procul a Lundonia consedit, equitesque
'i t1111
I
quingentos illo prremisit. Qui egressam de urbe contra se aciem
!
I
•1111 1 ~
11P~ 11 ~ refugere intra mrenia compulerunt~ et multa strage filiorum et
,.Ill~
amicorum facta ciuibus ingentem luctum intulerunt. Incendium
u,~~ I
etiam urbanre cedi addiderunU et quidquid redificiorum citra
U"'J, I
j111f1,,' I
1 'Interempto Heraldo . . . minati sunt' is based on \Villiam of Poitiers
(Foreville, p. 214) and Florence of Worcester (FW, i. 228). Orderic's version
is slightly closer to Florence, except that Florence says that Archbishop Ealdred,
not Stigand, chose Edgar Atheling. The Norman writers were using the name
of Stigand to stress the unlawfulness of William's rivals for the crown.
2 Orderic uses the term Huns for the Magyars. Edward Atheling was never
king of Hungary, but he was exiled by Cnut and brought up at the Hungarian
court.
'f
I BOOK III 181
high-minded conqueror refused to make such a bargain, for he
thought it wrong that the man whose ambition had caused
thousands to lie unburied should be buried wherever his mother
chose. He ordered that his own men should be reverently interred,
and that the English should be allowed freedom to bury their dead
if they wished to do so. When his own dead had been given
honourable burial he advanced to Romney, defeated the garrison,
and avenged the slaughter of some of his men. They had landed
there in error and been routed in the ensuing battle by the fierce
defenders, with terrible losses on both sides.
Next the duke invested Dover, where a great multitude had
taken refuge, for since the castle was situated on a cliff falling
sheer to the sea it was believed to be an impregnable fortress. But
the garrison, terrified of the duke who led the attack, were already
preparing to make humble surrender when some Norman men-at-
arms, greedy for gain, set fire to some buildings and the hungry
flames spread rapidly, burning and destroying. The duke for his
part regretted the harm done to men on the point of surrender and
gave ample compensation, paying for the repair of the buildings.
Occupying the castle, he spent eight days in fortifying it where it
was weakest. Unfortunately whilst there the soldiers ate newly
slaughtered meat and drank water, so that many died of dysentery
and very many suffered the effects to the end of their lives.
Leaving behind a garrison and the sick, the duke set out to subdue
the people he had just defeated. The men of Kent came flocking
to him just outside Dover, to swear fealty and give hostages.
On the death of Harold, Stigand, 1 archbishop of Canterbury,
the great earls, Edwin and Morcar, and the other lords of England
who had not fought at the battle of Senlac elected as their king
Edgar Clito, son of Edward king of the Hungarians,z son of
Edmund called Ironside; and were preparing to fight vali:,mtly
with him against the invaders for their homeland and their own
people. So Duke WilliamJ with a strong force approached the
place where he knew they were assembled, and halting not far
from London sent forward five hundred horsemen. They repulsed
and drove back within the city walls a force that issued out to
oppose them, plunging the city into mourning for the many
citizens and others who perished there. Setting fire to the city
3 From 'ubi frequentiorum conuentum' to 'Guarengefort peruenit' the text
follows William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 214-16) very closely.

BOOK III
flumen erat cremauerunt. Dux autem Tamesim fluuium trans-
meauit, et ad oppidum Guarengefort peruenit.
1
Illuc Stigandus archiepiscopus aliique no biles Angli aduenerunt:1
Edgarum abrogantes pacem cum Guillelmo fecerunt, ipsumque
sibi dominum susceperunt.J et ipsi ab eodem benigniter suscepti
I pristinas dignitates et honores receperunt. Lundonii nichilominus
utile consilium percipientes sese in obsequium ducis tradiderunU 2
1 et obsides quot et quos imperarat adduxerunt. Edgarus Adelinus
'l qui rex constitutus fuerat ab Anglis.J resistere diffidens humiliter
'lIt:r Guillelmo se regnumque contulit. Ille uero quia idem puer mitis
et sincerus erat, et consobrinus Eduardi magni regis filius scilicet
nepotis eius erat.J amicabiliter eum amplexatus esU et omni uita
sua inter filios suos honorabiliter ueneratus est.
:i~! ii. I 56 Omnia disponente Dea in spacio trium mensium per Angliam
I
'· '"'' pacata sunt.J cunctique pr::esules regnique proceres cum Guillelmo
I
11.
"11
'
concordiam fecerunt, ac ut diadema regium sumeret sicut mos
'~ Anglici principatus exigit orauerunt. Hoc summopere flagitabant
N ormanni, qui pro fasce regali nanciscendo suo principi, subierunt
ingens discrimen maris et pr::elii.J hoc etiam diuino nutu subacti
optabant indigen::e regni, qui nisi coronato regi seruire hactenus
erant soliti.
Eo tempore Adelredus Eborachensis metropolitanus erat. Hie
::equitatem ualde amans, ::euo maturus, sapiens, bonus et eloquens.J
multis uirtutibus fulgebat, et per uestigia patrum regem regum
adire iugiter appetebat. Stigandus autem Cantuariensis s::ecularibus
curis et actibus nimis intentus erat.J et pro quibusdam reatibus ab
Alexandro papa interdictus fuerat.
Denique anno ab incarnatione Domini MLXVII indictione quinta.J
in die natalis Domini, 3 Angli Lundoni::e ad ordinandum regem
conuenerunt.J et N ormannorum turm::e circa monasterium in armis
, UI~: et equis ne quid doli et seditionis oriretur pr::esidio disposit::e
ii ilMli I
j fllil•I 1 fuerunt. Adelredus itaque archiepiscopus in basilica Sancti Petri
'tt::J apostolorum principis qu::e W estmonasterium nuncupatur ubi
, U~\~ ' Eduardus rex uenerabiliter humatus quiescit, in pr::esentia
::,"J:·.1 1
From 'Illuc Stigandus .. .' to the end of the account of William's coronation
Orderic freely adapts William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 216-20). A few phrases
-'obsides quot et quos imperarat adduxerunt', 'requitatem ualde amans, reuo
maturus, sapiens, bonus et eloquens', and 'rem sinistram arbitrati, flammam ...
imprudenter iniecerunt'-are taken over almost literally; but elsewhere Orderic
interprets and dramatizes the facts independently. He disregards the evidence
of Florence of Worcester, who said (FW i. 228) that Ealdred (not Stigand)
submitted, and that the Norman army continued to ravage up to the submission
at Berkhamsted.
'i
\ i
r'
I BOOK III 183
they burned all the houses south of the river. The duke himself
crossed the Thames and continued to Wallingford.
1
Archbishop Stigand and the other English nobles came to him
there. Renouncing allegiance to Edgar they made peace with
William, acknowledged him their lord, and were graciously taken
under his protection and reinvested with all their former offices
and honours. The Londoners also took the wise course and
surrendered to the duke,Z bringing him all the hostages he named
and required. Edgar Atheling, who had been proclaimed king by
the English, hesitated to take up arms and humbly submitted him-
self and the kingdom to William. Since he was a boy who was
gentle and honourable and a kinsman of the great King Edward-
for he was his nephew's son-the duke received him with affection,
and treated him as long as he lived like one of his own sons.
So by the grace of God England was subdued within the space
of three months, and all the bishops and nobles of the realm made
their peace with William, begging him to accept the crown ac-
cording to the English custom. No less insistent were the Nor-
mans, who had endured the great perils of sea and war to win
the crown for their duke. And this too by God's will was the wish
of the general populace, for they had never obeyed anyone except
a duly crowned king.
At the time Ealdred was archbishop of York. He was a man of
sober years and a lover of justice: wise, good, eloquent, and full
of virtue, following the way of the fathers towards the presence of
the King of kings. Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, on the
other hand, was immersed in worldly affairs and interests, and
had been suspended by Pope Alexander for his misdeeds.
So at last on Christmas Day in the year of Our Lord rn67,J the
fifth Indiction, the English assembled at London for the king's
coronation, and a strong guard of Norman men-at-arms and
knights was posted round the minster to prevent any treachery or
disorder. And, in the presence of the bishops, abbots, and nobles
of the whole realm of Albion, Archbishop Ealdred consecrated
William duke of Normandy as king of the English and placed the
2
Orderic omits the movements of the army towards London: the Londoners
submitted at Berkhamsted, not at Wallingford (Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England,
p. 589).
3
25 December 1066. Orderic begins the new year on Christmas Day. This
was normal at the time, and appears to have been the custom at St. Evroul;
cf. the Martyrology in Bibi. Nat. MS. Lat. 10062, ff. 37-77v.
 184 BOOK III
prresulum et abbatum procerumque totius regni Albionis Guillel-
ii. 157 mum ducem N ormannorum in regem Anglorum consecrauiU et
diadema regium capiti eius imposuit.
Interea instigante Sathana qui bonis omnibus contrarius est.J
importuna res utrique populo et portentum futurre calamitatis ex
improuiso exortum est. Nam dum Adeldredus prresul alloqueretur
Anglos, et Goisfredus Constantiniensis episcopus N ormannos, an
concederent Guillelmum regnare super se.J et uniuersi consen-
sum hilarem protestarentur una uoce non unius lingure locutione,
armati milites qui extrinsecus erant pro suorum tuitione.J mox
ut uociferationem gaudentis in recclesia populi et ignotre lingure
strepitum audierunt, rem sinistram arbitrati flammam redibus
imprudenter iniecerunt. Currente festinanter per domos incendio
plebs qure in recclesia lretabatur perturbata est.J et multitudo
uirorum ac mulierum diuersre dignitatis et qualitatis infortunio
perurgente celeriter basilicam egressa est. Soli prresules et pauci
clerici cum monachis nimium trepidantes ante aram perstiterunt,
et officium consecrationis super regem uehementer trementem uix
peregerunt.J aliique pene omnes ad ignem nimis furentem cucur-
rerunt, quidam ut uim foci uiriliter ocarenU et plures ut in tanta
111~1 '' perturbatione sibi prredas diriperent. Angli factionem tam in-
speratre rei dimetientes nimis irati sunU et postea N ormannos
semper suspectos habuerunt, et infidos sibi diiudicantes ultionis
tempus de eis peroptauerunt.
ii. 158 Susceptum itaque imperium Guillelmus rex in aduersis et
prosperis strenue utiliterque rexit.J eique uiginti annis et octo
mensibus ac diebus sedecim laudabiliter prrefuit. De cuius
probitate et eximiis moribus, ac prosperis euentibus et strenuis
admirandisque actibus.J Guillelmus Pictauinus 1 Lexouiensis archi-
diaconus affiuenter tractauit, et librum polito sermone et magni
sens us profunditate prreclarum edidit. I pse siquidem prredicti
regis capellanus longo tempore extitit, et ea qure oculis suis ui-
derit, et quibus interfuerit, copioso relatu indubitanter enucleare
studuit.J quamuis librum usque ad finem regis aduersis casibus
impeditus perducere nequiuerit. Guido etiam prresul Ambianen-
sis metricum carmen edidit, 2 quo Maronem et Papinium gesta
1 Orderic in this passage and below, pp. 258-60, tells almost all that is known
of the life of William of Poitiers. See Foreville, pp. vii-xiii.
2 Orderic (below, p. 214) says that Guy had already written this poem when
he came to England with Matilda in I068. The Carmen de Hastingae Praelio,
ed. F. Michel in Chroniques Anglo-Normandes (Rauen, 1836-40), iii. 1-38, and
J. A. Giles, in Scriptores rerum gestarum Willelmi conquestoris (London, 1845),
pp. 27-52, has long been attributed to Guy of Amiens. The formula L ...
W ... in the second line could be interpreted as Lanfrancum Wida, and Guy
was known from the statement of Ordcric to have written a poem of this kind.
BOOK III 185
royal crown on his head. This was done in the abbey church of
St. Peter the chief of the apostles, called Westminster, where the
body of King Edward lies honourably buried.
But at the prompting of the devil, who hates everything good,
a sudden disaster and portent of future catastrophes occurred.
For when Archbishop Ealdred asked the English, and Geoffrey
bishop of Coutances asked the Normans, if they would accept
William as their king, all of them gladly shouted out with one
voice if not in one language that they would. The armed guard
outside, hearing the tumult of the joyful crowd in the church and
the harsh accents of a foreign tongue, imagined that some treachery
was afoot, and rashly set fire to some of the buildings. The fire
spread rapidly from house to house; the crowd who had been
rejoicing in the church took fright and throngs of men and women
of every rank and condition rushed out of the church in frantic
haste. Only the bishops and a few clergy and monks remained,
terrified, in the sanctuary, and with difficulty completed the
consecration of the king who was trembling from head to foot.
Almost all the rest made for the scene of conflagration, some to
fight the flames and many others hoping to find loot for themselves
in the general confusion. The English, after hearing of the perpe-
tration of such misdeeds, never again trusted the Normans who
seemed to have betrayed them, but nursed their anger and bided
their time to take revenge.
So King William received the crown and reigned well and
justly in prosperity and adversity for twenty years, eight months,
and sixteen days. His virtue and high character, his successes and
praiseworthy deeds of valour, have been treated eloquently by
William of Poi tiers, 1 archdeacon of Lisieux, who has published
a book wonderfully polished in style and mature in judgement. He
himself was for many years the king's chaplain, and he set out to
describe authentically, in detail, all the events which he had seen
with his own eyes and in which he himself had taken part. But
unfavourable circumstances prevented him from continuing his
narrative up to the king's death. Guy bishop of Amiens also wrote
a poem2 describing the battle of Senlac in imitation of the epics of
The attribution of the Carmen to Guy was questioned by G. H. White (Genea-
logists' Magazine, ix (1944), 422 f., and GEC xii, part i, Appendix L) on the
grounds, first, that the author was ignorant of the hereditary situation in the
county of Ponthieu in I066 and so cannot have been Bishop Guy, the uncle of
Count Guy I of Ponthicu; and secondly, that the author copied from William
 T
I

186 BOOK I I I
heroum pangentes imitatus Senlacium bellum descripsit:1 Heral-
dum uituperans et condempnans, Guillelmum uero collaudans
et magnifi.cans.
ii. 159 Ioannes Wigornensis a puero monachus, natione Anglicus,
moribus et eruditione uenerandus, in his qure Mariani Scotti
cronicis adiecit, de rege Guillelmo et de rebus qure sub eo uel
sub filiis eius Guillelmo Rufo et Henrico usque hodie contigerunt
honeste deprompsit. 1 Marianus enim 2 in crenobio sancti Albani
martiris apud Magonciam monachus fuit.J ibique Cesariensem
Eusebium et leronimum,3 aliosque chronographos pro modulo
suo secutus sese benigniter exercuit, et dulcem fructum longi
studii magnorumque laborum quos in longinqua peregrinatione
pertulit, filiis recclesire tanta rimari per se non ualentibus karitati-
ue protulit. Sollerter itaque perscrutatis ueteribus et modernis
codicibus cronographyam edidit, in qua ab inicio mundi ex quo
Deus Adam de limo terrre plasmauit, per omnes libros Veteris
et Noui Testamenti et Romanorum Grecorumque historias dis-
currens optima qureque collegit, et enumeratis annis per regum et
consulum tempora usque ad diem mortis sure annalem hystoriam
laudabiliter distinxit. Quern prosecutus lohannes acta fere centum
ii. 160 annorum4 contexuit, iussuque uenerabilis Wlfstani pontificis et
monachi supradictis cronicis inseruiU in quibus multa de Romanis
of Poitiers, and so cannot have composed the poem before 1068. S. Korner (The
Battle of Hastings, pp. 93-96) has re-examined the evidence, and shown that
G. H. White has not proved the first point and that all that is certain about
the relationship of the two authors is that one had seen the work of the other.
Recently, Professor Barlow has brought forward strong evidence to show that
the Carmen was written before the end of the eleventh century, and was very
probably the work of Guy of Amiens between 1068 and 1070 ('The Carmen de
Hasting~ Proelio', Studies in International History, ed. K. Bourne and D. C.
Watt(London, 1967), pp. 35-67). ButiftheCarmenwas the work of Guy, Orderic
took nothing from it that he could not also have found in William of Poi tiers.
1 Chronicle was brought to England by Bishop Robert of Hereford within a few
There is no critical edition of the Worcester Chronicle attributed to
Florence, which has been published in its entirety by W. Howard (London,
1592) and by B. Thorpe (2 vols., English Historical Society, London, 1848-9)
from A.D. 449. Florence of Worcester, whose existence is known only from the
note on his death in the chronicle, may have collected materials, and perhaps
written the early part. The continuation, from at least l 118 when Florence
died and probably earlier, came from the pen of John of Worcester. The work
I: appears to have been in an early stage of composition in l 103 (The Chronicle of
John of Worcester, IIIB-40, ed. J. R. H. Weaver (Oxford, 1908), p. 8); and if
Orderic is right in saying that John began the work at the command of Bishop
Wulfstan (d. 1095) he may conceivably, as Darlington suggests (The Vita
Wulfstani of William of Malmesbury, ed. R. R. Darlington, Camden Third
Series, xl (London, 1928), pp. xv-xviii), have written the whole of it. He was
certainly at work on it when Orderic visited Worcester, but the date of Orderic's
journey is not known.
BOOK III 187
Virgil and Statius, abusing and condemning Harold but praising
and exalting William.
John, an Englishman by birth who entered the monastery of
Worcester as a boy and won great repute for his learning and piety,
continued the chronicle of Marianus Scotus and carefully recorded
the events of William's reign and of his sons William Rufus and
Henry up to the present. 1 This Marianus 2 was a monk in the abbey
of St. Alban the martyr at Mainz and there, following to the best
of his ability in the footsteps of Eusebius of Caesarea, J erome,3
and other annalists, he devoted himself to his task and generously
offered the sweet fruits of his protracted study and the great labour
he had undertaken in the long exile of this life to the sons of the
Church, who cannot investigate such things for themselves. So
when he had read both ancient and modern books he skilfully
shaped his chronography, in which, passing from the creation of
the world when God fashioned Adam from the dust of the earth,
through all the books of the Old and New Testaments and the
histories of the Greeks and Romans, he collected all the most
notable events; and numbering the years by the reigns of kings
and rulers he set out his annals exceedingly well up to the day of
his death. After him John, at the command of the venerable
Wulfstan bishop and monk, added to these chronicles events of
about a hundred years, 4 by inserting a brief and valuable summary
2 Marianus Scotus, an Irish monk who went into exile in 1056 to St. Martin's,
near Cologne, became a recluse at Fulda, and there began work on his Chronicle.
In 1069 he moved to Mainz, where he died in 1082 or 1083; his Chronicle ends
in 1073 and was continued by others. He disagreed with the era of the Incarna-
tion established by Dionysius Exiguus, and his chronology is twenty-two years
earlier. Although he found few followers for his dating on the Continent, his
years of its completion, and no doubt Robert gave it to his friend, Bishop
Wulfstan of Worcester (W. H. Stevenson, 'A contemporary description of the
Domesday Survey', in EHR xxii (1907), 72-84).
3 The Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea, with its continuation by St. Jerome,
Prosper of Aquitaine, and others, became accepted as the standard universal
history of the early Middle Ages, and was widely disseminated. After the time
of Bede most chroniclers confined themselves to recording the deeds of one region
or one people; attempts to produce an acceptable universal church history on
the lines of Eusebius-Jerome began again in the eleventh century. Marianus
Scotus, Orderic himself, and Sigebert of Gembloux were among those who
undertook the task.
4
The hundred years must be interpreted very freely: Orderic wrote this
passage not more than fifty years after the death of Marianus, and there is
material independent of Marianus relating to English affairs in the Worcester
Chronicle from the fifth century.
 188 BOOK III
et Francis et Alemannis aliisque gentibus qure agnouit.J utiliter
et compendiose narratione digna reserauit. In his utique cronicis
continentur omnes iudices et reges et pontifices Hebreorum,
a Moyse usque ad subuersionem Ierosolimorum.J dum sub Tito
et Vespasiano pro nece Saluatoris, et martirum eius iuste destru-
ctum est regnum Iudeorum. Omnes ibi nominantur consules et
dictatores, imperatores et pontifices Romanorum. Omnes quoque
reges qui regno Anglire pnefuerunt:' ex quo Hengist et Horsa
W ortigerno regi Britannire scandalo Gualorum militauerunt. His
etiam omnes episcopi cronicis annotati sunt.J qui regimen recclesi-
asticum in Anglia tenuerunt, ex quo Gregorius papa Augustinum
et Mellitum aliosque prredicatores uerbi Dei in Angliam misit:'
per quos Deus Adelbertum regem Cantire et Eduinum regem
N ordanhymbrorum aliosque principes eiusdem gentis ad fidem
ueritatis perduxit. Ex his opusculis Engelbertus Gemblacensis
monachus 1 quredam prreclara decerpsit, et multa de his qure de
insulanis Oceani scripta erant in eisdem insulis dimisit, et nichilo-
minus de Gothis et Hunis ac Persis aliisque barbaris gentibus
multa adiecit. Hrec ideo huic cartre gratis indidi.J ut istos codices
ii. 161 auidi lectores inquirant sibi, quia magnum sapientire fructum
ferunt, et uix inueniri possunt. A modernis enim editi sunt.J et
adhuc passim per orbem diffusi non sunt. V num eorum Wigornre
uidi in Anglia, et alterum Cameraco in Lotharingia. Familiariter
ostendit illic michi Fulbertus prudens abbas crenobii Sancti
Sepulcri, quod in septentrionali parte Cameraci, studio redificatum
est ac sumptibus Liberti eiusdem urbis episcopi, ubi idem prresul
honorifice meruit sepeliri.
2 Ad requiem iam fessus anhelo, et recclesiasticre historire quam
de contemporaneis et collimitaneis principibus atque didascalis
ueraci deprompsi calamo.J primum3 libellum hie terminare dis-
pono. In sequentibus uero latius de rege Guillelmo disseram, mi-
serasque mutationes Anglorum et N ormannorum sine adulatione
referam, nullius remunerationis a uictoribus seu uictis expetens
honorificentiam.
Explicit liher terciusa cecclesiasticce historice
a tercius over primus erased
This must be an error for Sigebert of Gembloux, whose chronicle became
a widely accepted standard universal history in the twelfth century. Sigebert
continued it till his death in 1112, but it was becoming known even before its
completion, and Ekkehard, abbot of Aura, referred to it in 1105. See Manitius,
iii. 332-46.
2 'Ad requiem . . . honorificentiam' is written over an erasure; from the
Ia
BOOK I II 189
of many deeds of the Romans and Franks, Germans and other
peoples ~horn he knew. In these chronicles you will certainly find
all the judges and kings and priests of the Hebrews from the time
of Moses to the sack of Jerusalem, when on account of the death
of our Saviour and his martyrs the kingdom of the Jews was justly
destroyed in the reigns of Titus and Vespasian. There are recorded
the names of all consuls and dictators, emperors and Roman
pontiffs, and all the kings who ruled over England from the time
when Hengist and Horsa fought against Vortigern king of Britain,
and put the Britons to shame. In these chronicles too you will
find lists of all the bishops who have ruled the church in England
from the time that Pope Gregory sent to England Augustine and
Mellitus and the other missionaries, through whom God brought
Ethelbert king of Kent, Edwin king of Northumbria, and other
princes of these peoples into the way of truth. Engelbert, a monk
of Gembloux, 1 extracted some important events from these works;
and, omitting much that had been written about the islanders of
the western ocean in those same islands, he added many of the
doings of the Goths, Huns, Persians, and other barbarians. I am
happy to mention these books in this record, so that would-be
readers may seek the manuscripts out for themselves, for they are
the fruits of great learning, and are hard to come by. They have
been written by men of this age, and are not yet widely circulated.
I saw one of them at Worcester in England and the other at Cam-
brai in Lorraine. It was kindly shown me by Fulbert, the worthy
abbot of St. Sepulchre's, a monastery founded in the north part
of Cambrai by Libertus, bishop of the city, who endowed it and
is honourably buried there.
2 And now, worn out, I sigh for rest; and am moved to bring to
an end this first3 book of the History of the Church, in which my
pen has faithfully recorded the doings of lords and learned men
,;
of my own age and neighbourhood. In the following books I will 'I
i'I
tell more of King William, and will record without distortion the 111
<I
chances and changes of English and Normans alike, for I look to
neither victors nor vanquished for the honour of any reward.
Here ends the third book of the History of the Church
colour of the ink and the pen used it may actually have been written at the same
time as Book IV, which is continued on the same page.
3 Orderic failed to change the primus to tercius in the text, though he changed
it in the rubric.
 lncipit /£her quartusa Ordrici Vitalis Vticensis
presbiteri et monachi
ii. 162 TEMPO RIB US Alexandri secundi papre plurima per orbem regna
calamitatibus concussa sunt: et multiplices populorum concursus
1
in sui perniciem debachati sunt. Hrec in occiduis partibus terri-
genre senserunt: et grauia subeuntes detrimenta nimis experti
1
sunt. Defunctis enim optimis regibus Henrico Francorum, et
Eduardo Anglorum:' Franci et Angli diu luxerunt funus eorum,
quia post illos uix adepti sunt dominos illis consimiles uirtutibus
et nectare morum. Patribus patrire de medio ablatis: successere
1 since they received as successors lords little like them in virtue and
tiranni abutentes freno regire dominationis. Anglia tune Heraldi
seuicia periurioque polluta corruit, et genuinis hreredibus orbata
externis prredonibus Guillelmo uictori fauentibus subiacuiU uncle
flebile tema de sua ruina piis historiographis ad dictandum tribuit.
Copiosam faciendi plures libros materiam eloquentes sophistre
habuerunt, qui regis Guillelmi curire diutius interfuerunt:' et
gesta eius ac uarios et prreclaros euentus ac intima et profunda
consilia nouerunt, et diuitiarum eius participes ultra natales suos
admodum promoti sunt. lEcclesire nempe qure sub eo uel ab eo
ad laud em Dei in N eustria uel Anglia factre sunt:' deuotionis eius
et largitatis in Dei cultu laudabile testimonium asserunt, boni-
que studii exemplum imitabile posteris pariunt. Crenobia quoque
plurima deuote construxit, et ab ipso uel ab aliis condita multum
emendauit, multimodisque gazis tripudians ditauit, et patrocinio
ii. 163 suo contra omnes aduersarios defensauit. Hrec utique palam at-
testantur in duobus monasteriis 1 crenobitre Cadomenses:1 in uno
monachi et in altero sanctimoniales. Hrec duo crenobia in ducatu
adhuc reterno regi fauens redificauerat..1 in quorum uno sibi et in
altero coniugi sure sepulturam elegerat.
Postquam bello peracto fortiter hostes subegit, et diadema
regium apud Lundoniam suscepiU crenobium Sanctre Trinitati
Senlac ubi bell um factum est construxit, 2 et multis opibus ac
a quartus over secundus erased
1
St. Stephen's and Holy Trinity.
z Battle Abbey. Among the abbeys to which William looked for men to
reform the English church were some outside Normandy: he had a special
regard for Marmoutier and Cluny. Marmoutier was among the houses with
which St. Evroul and other Norman abbeys were linked by prayers and obits.
Here begins the four th book of Orderic Vitalis
of St. Evroul
IN the time of Pope Alexander II many kingdoms far and wide
were afflicted with divers catastrophes; and many thousands of
men plunged into the pit of destruction. The inhabitants of the
western lands endured grave tribulations and dire calamities. For
when the virtuous kings, Henry of France and Edward of England,
were dead the French and English long had cause to mourn them,
graciousness. Once the fathers of the country were taken away,
tyrants who abused the power of royal dominion took their place.
England, desecrated by the cruelty and perfidy of Harold, was on
her way to ruin; and once deprived of lawful heirs, fell under the
sway of foreign invaders led by the conquering William. So she
provided a mournful theme of ruin for the pen of true historians.
Abundant material for writing many books lay to the hand of
those learned and eloquent men who through long years dwelt in
King William's court, witnessed his deeds and all the great
doings there, knew his deepest and most secret counsels, and were
endowed by him with riches that raised them above the station
they were born to. Moreover the churches, built by him and his
men to the glory of God in Normandy and England, stand as noble
witnesses to his piety and generosity in the service of God, and
an example of good works for future generations to imitate. For
he founded many monasteries, and enlarged and enriched other
men's foundations, lavishing treasure upon them and granting
them his patronage against all their enemies. All this is clearly
shown by the two monasteries of Caen, one for monks and the
other for nuns. 1 Whilst he was still no more than a duke he
founded these two abbeys to the glory of the eternal King, and
chose the one as his own, the other as his wife's, place of burial.
After he had gone to war, triumphed over his enemies, and
received a royal crown at London he built the abbey of the Holy
Trinity at Senlac, the site of the battle, 2 and endowed it with
See J. Laporte, 'Tableau des services obituaires assures par les abbayes de
Saint-Evroul et de Jumieges', in Revue Mabillon, xlvi (1956), 152-3.
 192 BOOK IV
fundis ut decet regalem munificentiam ditauit. Ibi Goisbertum
Maioris-Monasterii religiosum monachum abbatem constituiu
quo monitore monasticus ordo et regularis disciplina commode
uiguit. Maius enim Monasterium a sanctissimo Martino Turono-
ii. 164 rum archiepiscopo ceptum est.J ibique bonorum hominum religio
creuit inspirante Deo et multiplicata est. N ostris temporibus
Albertus et Bartholomeus, Bernardus et Hilgotus ac Guillelmus
Nanticensis abbates huic monasterio prrefuerunt .J qui sanctitate
et probitate multis profuerunt, et longe lateque famosi uicinis et
externis utiliter micuerunt. Post obitum Goisberti Henricus
Cantuariensis prior abbatis officium suscepiU et Bellense creno-
bium honorifice tenuit. 1 Quo defuncto Rodulfus Rofensis prior
monachusque Cadomensis successit, 2 studioque sanctitatis et
salutaris doctrime sibi multisque coessentibus prodesse sategit..J
et bona in senectute spiritualibus studiis feruidus adhuc insistit.
Tandem anno Henrici regis Anglorum uicesimo quinto:' religiosus
senex feliciter ad Dominum transiit e mundo.
Guillelmus rex3 multa Lundonire postquam coronatus esU
prudenter, iuste clementerque disposuit, quredam ad ipsius
ciuitatis commoda uel dignitatem, alia qure genti proficerent
uniuersre, nonnulla quibus consuleretur recclesiis terrre. lura
qmecumque dictauit:,I optimis rationibus sanxit. ludicium rectum
nulla persona nequicquam ab eo postulauit. N eminem nisi quern
non damnare iniquum foret damnauit. Suis quoque primatibus
digna sc et grauitate prrecepit, et diligentia requitatem suasit. Esse
ii. 165 iugiter in oculis habendum reternum regem .J cuius uicerint prre-
sidio. Nimium opprimi uictos non oportere, uictoribus professione
christiana pares.J ne quos iuste subegerint, iniuriis ad rebellandum
cogerent. Seditiones interdixiu credem et omnem rapinam fre-
nans ut populos armis, ita legibus arma. Tributis et cunctis rebus
ad regium fiscum reddendis .J modum qui non grauaret posuit.
Latrociniis, inuasionibus, maleficiis locum omnem intra suos
terminos denegauit. Portus et qurelibet itinera negociatoribus
patere, et nullam iniuriam fieri iussit. Sic omnino proba eius in
1
Henry, prior of Canterbury, was elected abbot of Battle in 1096, and died
in I 102.
2 From 1102 to 1107 Battle was administered by Geoffrey of St. Carilef as
custos; Ralph was elected only in 1107 (Chronicon Monasterii de Bello, pp. 47-51).
He died on 29 August 1124 (ibid., pp. 59-60). If then Orderic had ended Book
III when winter was closing in he had presumably begun Book IV in the spring
of 1125.
BOOK IV 193
wealth and possessions in keeping with his royal munificence.
There he appointed as abbot Goisbert, a monk of Marmoutier,
under whose rule monastic life and regular discipline were firmly
established. For Marmoutier had been founded by St. Martin,
the blessed archbishop of Tours, and there by divine grace the
worship of holy men took root and flourished. In our own times
Albert and Bartholomew, Bernard and Hilgot, and William of
Nantes, who have been abbots of this monastery, have been
conspicuous for their holiness and virtue, renowned far and wide
as shining lights to lighten the darkness of men both at home
and abroad. After Goisbert's death Henry, prior of Canterbury,
became abbot and directed the affairs of Battle with distinction. 1
On his death he was succeeded by Ralph, prior of Rochester and
monk of Caen, 2 who strenuously furthered the pursuit of holiness
and sound doctrine amongst his fellows, and has himself in his old
age tirelessly sought the fruits of spiritual studies almost to the
present day. Finally, in the twenty-fifth year of Henry king of
England the good old man gladly passed from this life to the Lord.
3After his coronation King William made many wise, just, and
merciful provisions whilst he was still in London; some were for
the advantage and honour of the city, others of the people in
general, others of the churches in the land. He ordained certain
laws and established them firmly. No one sought a just judgement
from him in vain. He punished none save those whom it would
have been unjust not to punish. On his magnates he enforced as a
lord conduct in keeping with his dignity, and as a friend counselled
equity: warning them to be always mindful of the eternal King by
whose aid they had conquered, not to overburden the vanquished
who were Christians no less than they were, and to avoid at all
costs oppressions that might goad to rebellion men whose defeat
had been just. He forbade disorders, murder, and plunder,
restraining the people by arms and the arms by laws. To the
collection of tribute and all dues owed to the royal treasury he set
a limit that was not oppressive. He forbade his own people to
commit thefts, forcible entries, or crimes anywhere. He ordered
that merchants should go freely in the harbours and on all high-
ways, and should suffer no harm. So all the first acts of his reign
3 'multa Lundonire ... in regnando initia fuere' is taken almost verbatim
from William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 230-6), omitting some details, a com-
parison with Scipio, and a comment on Archbishop Stigand.
822204 0
 194 BOOK IV
regnando m1cia fuere, et incrementa probitatum ad utilitatem
subditorum liquido fulsere .. 1 qure in bonis perseuerantia laudabilis-
que finis euidentibus indiciis confirmauere.
1Egressus Lundonia rex dies aliquot in propinquo loco Bercingis
morabatur.. 1 dum firmamenta quredam in urbe contra mobilitatem
ingentis ac feri populi perficerentur. Eduinus et Morcarus filii
JElfgari comitis fere omnium Anglorum genere ac potentia
maximi, ad regem ueniunt...1 ueniamque si qua in re contra eum
senserant poscunt, et se cunctaque sua eius clementire tradunt.
ii. 166 Deinde Coxo 2 comes fortitudine et probitate singularis, et Tur-
chillus de Limis, 3 Siwardus et Aldredus4 filii JEdelgari prone-
potes Eduardi regis, Edricus quoque cognomento Guilda id est
siluaticus,s nepos Edrici pestiferi ducis cognomento Streonre6 id
est adquisitoris, aliique complures nobiles et opibus ampli Guil-
lelmo pacificantur! datisque sacramentis omnes possessiones suas
cum honore adipiscuntur. Rex inde progrediens diuersas regni
partes accessit...1 et ubique utilia sibi et incolis terrre ordinauit.
Custodes in castellis strenuos uiros ex Gallis collocauit, et opulenta
beneficia pro quibus labores ac pericula libenter tolerarent distribuit.
7lntra mrenia Guentre opibus et munimine nobilis urbis et mari
1 From 'Egressus Lundonia' to 'distribuit' the account of William's encamp-
ment at Barking during the construction of the fortress, later to become the
Tower of London, and the submission of further prominent Englishmen to him
is taken from William of Poitiers. Orderic, however, adds the names of Thurkill,
Siward, and Ealdred, and Edric the Wild. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle followed
by Florence of Worcester put the submission of Edwin and Morcar before the
coronation, at Berkhamsted. It is impossible to tell which version is nearer to
the truth; there must have been submissions from prominent Englishmen both
before and after the coronation. It is even conceivable, as Douglas suggests
(WC, p. 207) that William of Poitiers confused Barking with Berkhamsted.
2 Copsi, Tostig's ally, was to be made earl of Northumbria by William in
1067, shortly before his death (Freeman, NC iv, Appendix, Note F). Orderic
frequently carries back the title by which a man was best known into the period
before he held it.
3 Stapleton (Le Prevost, ii. 166 n. l) and Round (VCH Warwick, i. 277, 283)
have suggested that this Thurkill is Thurkill 'of Arden', a well-known Warwick-
shire landholder. But this is only a hypothesis (cf. E. 0. Blake, Liber Eliensis,
p. 179 n. 4).
4 There has been much speculation on these two brothers, and possibly
Orderic's information was faulty. Freeman thought (NC iv. 21 n. 2) that to
answer the description they must have been descendants of Uhtred by his third
wife .lElfgifu, half-sister of Edward, but could find no trace of them in the
genealogies of Simeon of Durham. Both Freeman and Le Prevost assumed that
Siward was Siward Barn, who later took refuge at Ely with Morcar (for whom
see Round, VCH Warwick, i. 283, 327, who thought him a Warwickshire land-
owner; and E. 0. Blake, Liber Eliensis, pp. 173 n. 1, 291, who thought him
Siward of Maldon; and F. S. Scott, Arch. Aeliana, xxx (1952), 172, who brought
forward evidence that he was a Northumbrian noble, possibly of the family of
BOOK IV 195
were righteous, and his righteousness continued for the advantage
of his subjects, with every outward indication of a happy outcome
through his determined pursuit of good.
1Leaving London, the king spent a few days at Barking near by,
whilst a fortress was being completed in the city as a defence
against the numerous and hostile inhabitants. Edwin and Morcar,
the sons of Earl JElfgar, amongst the highest-born and the most
powerful of all the English, came to the king, asked pardon for
their hostility to him, and submitted themselves and all their
goods to his mercy. Then Earl Co psi, 2 a man of great courage and
integrity, and Thurkill of Limis, 3 Siward and Ealdred, 4 the sons
of .!Ethelgar, grandsons of King Edward, Edric known as the
Wild,s nephew of the infamous ealdorman Edric called Streona, 6
or 'the Rapacious', and many other men of wealth and high birth
made their peace with William, and were allowed to keep all their
possessions honourably when they had sworn fealty. The king
went on from there to other parts of his kingdom, and everywhere
disposed affairs to the advantage of the inhabitants as well as of
himself. He appointed strong men from his Norman forces as
guardians of the castles, and distributed rich fiefs that induced
men to endure toil and danger to defend them.
1He built a strong fortress within the walls of Winchester,
the Northumbrian earls). But this Siward cannot have been Siward Barn:
Orderic later mentions him as a Shropshire landowner in connection with the
foundation of Shrewsbury Abbey (Le Prevost, ii. 416), and he appears in the
charters of the Abbey (Dugdale, Monasticon, iii. 518-22).
s Florence of Worcester describes Edric the Wild in almost the same terms :
'Edricus cognomento Silvaticus filius .lElfrici fratris Edrici Streonae', but says
in direct contradiction to Orderic that Edric's land was overrun because he
refused to submit to William (FW ii. 1). Florence places his reconciliation with
William in 1070 (FW ii. 7). For Edric, who was a landholder in Herefordshire
and Shropshire, see Freeman NC iv, Appendix, Note E. Domesday Book
records that some land in Shropshire which had belonged to him passed to Earl
Roger (VCH Shropshire, i. 329, 338). In view of Orderic's connexion with
Shropshire and Earl Roger he may have based his statement on local traditions,
though these would not necessarily have been true.
6 Edric, ealdorman of Mercia 1007-17, went over to Cnut in 1015. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (1016) speaks bitterly of his treachery, and the F version
says (1017) that he was 'very rightly' killed.
' The substance and many phrases from 'Intra mrenia' to 'sreculari
pollebat' are taken from William of Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 238-40). William
fitzOsbern was steward of Normandy and a kinsman of the Conqueror (see
D. C. Douglas, 'The ancestors of William fitzOsbern', in EHR lix (1944),
62-79). Odo of Conteville, bishop of Bayeux 1049-97, was William's half-
brother. The remainder of the paragraph comes from Orderic's own knowledge.
 196 BOOK IV
ii. 167 contigme ualidam arcem construxit.J ibique Guillelmum Osberni
filium in exercitu suo prrecipuum reliquit, eumque uice sua toti
regno uersus Aquilonem prreesse constituit. Doueram uero totam-
que Cantiam Odoni fratri suo commendauit, qui multa liberalitate
et industria sreculari pollebat. His duobus prrefecturam Anglire
commisit, 1 et cum eis Hugonem de Grentemaisnilio et Hugonem
de Monteforti Guillelmumque de Guarenna aliosque acerrimos
bellatores dimisit. Quidam eorum subiectos laudabiliter rexerunt.J
nonnulli uero modestia carentes immoderate suos oppresserunt.
2
Rex ita cura regni commissa Peneuesellum se recepit.J ubi
multus ad eum equitatus3 Anglorum conuenit. Ibi militibus
repatriantibus larga manu stipendia data sunt. Solutis itaque
nauibus mense martio rex Guillelmus in altricem terram prospere
peruehitur, secumque honorifice adduxit Stigandum archi-
prresulem, Edgarum Adelinum Eduardi regis consobrinum, et
tres clarissimos comites, Eduinum, Morcarum, et Gualleuum,
Egelnodum quoque Cantuariensem satrapam aliosque complures
altre nobilitatis et mirre pulchritudinis. Benigna calliditate est usus,
ut ipsis auctoribus nichil sub decessum suum nouaretur.J gens uero
tota minus ad rebellionem ualeret spoliata principibus. Denique
diuitias suas et honores eis in N ormannia ostendit, ut eos uelut
obsides in potestate sua secum teneret.J quorum auctoritas uel
salus propinquis et compatriotis maximi esset.
ii. 168 4Adueniente Guillelmo rege cum magna sreculi gloria.J admodum
tota letata est N ormannia. Dies erant hiberni et quadragesimales,
sed in episcopiis et ccenobiis ubi nouus ueniebat rex.J iniciabantur
Paschalia festa. Nichil relinquebatur.J quod in studio talis honorifi-
centire agi solitum est. Prreterea si quid nouum adinueniri potuit
addebatur. Quam pietatem ipse confestim multiplici dono recom-
pensauit, donans pallia, libras auri, aliaque magna altaribus
famulisque Christi. JEcclesias autem quas prresentia sua non
uisitauit..; muneribus missis lretificauit.
Ad ccenobium Sanctre Trinitatis Fiscanni Paschas celebrauit.J
ubi frequentia prresulum et abbatum nobiliumque uirorum
1
For the position of these two men cf. Francis West, The Justiciarshi'p in
England Io66-I232 (Cambridge, 1966), p. 4.
2
'Rex itaque ... maximi esset' is based upon William of Poitiers (Foreville,
pp. 242-4). The name of lEthelnoth of Canterbury is added to the noble
hostages, probably on the authority of Florence of Worcester (FW ii. I; cf.
Round, VCH Surrey, i. 282-3).
3 The term 'equitatus' comes from William of Poitiers, and as he goes on
immediately to name some of the men implied, including Archbishop Stigand,
he cannot have meant it in any military sense. It may be an echo of a classical
term, implying men of rank; or it may simply mean a party of leading English-
men on horseback.
BOOK IV t97
a wealthy, well-fortified city near to the sea, and left there William
fitzOsbern, one of the greatest of his followers, appointing him
his vicar over the whole of southern England. To his brother Odo,
a man conspicuous for his magnificence and activity in secular
affairs, he entrusted Dover and the whole county of Kent. To
these two men he gave the command in England, 1 leaving with
them Hugh of Grandmesnil, Hugh of Montfort, William of
Warenne, and other valiant soldiers. Some of these men governed
their people well; others irresponsibly heaped heavy burdens on
them.
zThe king, having provided for the administration of the king-
dom, betook himself to Pevensey, where many Englishmen of
high rank 3 came to meet him. There he gave liberal rewards to
those knights who were returning home. And so, putting to sea
in the month of March, King William crossed safely to his native
shore, taking with him in honourable captivity Archbishop
Stigand, Edgar Atheling, a cousin of King Edward, and the three
leading earls Edwin, Morcar, and Waltheof, JEthelnoth 'governor'
of Canterbury, and other men of high rank and handsome person.
By this friendly stratagem he ensured that they would cause no
disturbances during his absence, and that the people in general,
deprived of their leaders, would be powerless to rebel. And he
displayed his wealth and honours in Normandy, whilst keeping
with him virtually as hostages those men whose authority and
safety counted for most with their kinsfolk and fellow countrymen.
4All Normandy was overjoyed at the arrival of King William
with so splendid a train. It was winter still and Lent was not over;
but wherever the king reached a cathedral or monastery the Easter
festival began. Nothing was omitted that is customary on such
occasions, and if anything new could be devised it was added. He
straightway rewarded such piety with many gifts, giving altar
cloths, large weights of gold, and other great gifts to the altars and
ministers of Christ. Even the churches he was unable to visit in
person were made to share in the rejoicings by receiving donations.
He celebrated Easters at the abbey of the Holy Trinity at
Fecamp, in the midst of a great gathering of prelates, abbots, and
4
'Adueniente ... ob nouitatem prredicarent'; omitting a long comparison
of William I with Julius Caesar, Orderic continues to follow William of Poitiers
(Foreville, pp. 254-6, 260-2).
s Easter Sunday was on 8 April in 1067.
 198 BOOK IV
conuenit. Tune Radulfus comes Philippi regis F rancorum uitricus
multaque nobilitas Francire affuit, et crinigeros Anglicre Brittanire
alumnos curiose intuebatur:' et regis regiorumque satellitum
indumenta intexta atque crustata auro admirabatur, uasa uero
aurea uel argentea seu bubalina cornua fuluo metallo circa ex-
tremitates utrasque decorata laude attollebat. Denique plurima
huiuscemodi competentia regali magnificentire Franci magna
notabant:' qure reuersi domum ob nouitatem prredicarent.
Celebrata Paschre solennitate rex dedicari basilicam Sanctre
Marire super Diuam2 prrecepit:' ubi ipse cum magno cretu opti-
ii. 169 matum et mediocrium kal. maii reuerenter interfuit, et utillima
totius populi commoditati edicta sub uoce preconis promulgauit.3
Deinde kal. Iulii ecclesiam Sanctre Marire apud Gemmeticum
dedicari fecit:' et ipse sacro misterio ueneranter affuit. 4 Vtranque
nimirum ex prrediis dominii sui largiter dotauit:' suaque prresentia
dum sanctum misterium celebraretur deuote sullimauit. Maurilius
Rotomagensis archiepiscopus cum suffraganeis episcopis hanc
dedicationem humiliter et deuote perpetrauit, et paulo post duo-
decimo episcopatus sui anno in lectum decubuit. Peracto autem
quicquid religioso Dei uernulre competit:' quinto idus augusti ad
Dominum cui diu seruierat migrauit. Corpus uero eius in episco-
pali recclesia quam ipse ante quinque annos 5 indictione prima
sanctre Dei genitrici Marire dedicauerat delatum est:' et ante
crucifixum honorifice tumulatum est. Epitaphium autem eius
a Ricardo Herluini filio eiusdem recclesire canonico editum est:' et
super ipsum in cupri laminis ex auro sic scriptum est,
Humani ciues lacrimam nolite negare
Vestro pontifici Maurilio monacho.
Hunc Remis genuit, studiorum Legia nutrix
Potauit trifido fonte philosophico.
Vobis hanc redem ceptam perduxit ad unguem,
Lretitia magna fecit et encenia.
Cum tibi Laurenti uigilat plebs sobria Christi:'
Transit, et in ccelis laurea festa colit.
1 Ralph, count of Crepy and Valois, had married Henry l's widow, Anne of
Russia, probably in l06I. See Guibert de Nogent (De vita sua, i, c. lo; ed. G.
Bourgin, p. 28) for a short sketch of his character.
2 The abbey of St. Mary, Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive.
3 The precise meaning of this statement is uncertain. William of Poitiers
speaks of the good order that William maintained during the summer in
Normandy, and he may have promulgated a peace edict.
4 Information about the dedication of the abbey church of Jumieges and the
death of Maurilius comes from William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 137). William's
generosity to abbeys founded both by the ducal house and by his barons
was conspicuous at this time; gifts included the manor of Pusey (Berks.) to
BOOK IV 199
1 lay lords. Count Ralph, the stepfather of Philip king of the
French, 1 and many of the French nobles were there, eyeing
curiously the long-haired denizens of England, wondering at the
splendid garments, interwoven and encrusted with gold, worn by
the king and his court, and praising the gold and silver vessels, and
horns of wild oxen decorated with gold at both ends. Indeed the
French noted many such things, fitting the magnificence of a
king, and, because they had not met them before, spread abroad
accounts of them when they returned home.
After the Easter celebrations the king gave orders for the
consecration of the church of St. Mary on the Dive, 2 where he
himself came with all due reverence, accompanied by many men
of high and low degree, on 1 May, and had certain ordinances for
the common good publicly promulgated.3 Then on 1 July he
had the church of St. Mary of Jumieges dedicated,4 and was him-
self present with all reverence at the holy mysteries. He endowed
both generously with estates diverted from his demesne, and
exalted them by his presence during the celebration of the sacred
mysteries. Maurilius archbishop of Rouen, with his suffragan
bishops, devoutly performed the ceremony of dedication and
shortly afterwards-being then in the twelfth year of his episco-
pacy-he fell sick. After accomplishing all the duties of a holy
bondsman of God he passed to the Lord whom he had long served
on 9 August. His body was carried to the episcopal church which
he himself, five years before,s in the first indiction, had dedicated
in honour of Mary the holy Mother of God, and was honourably
buried before the rood.
His epitaph was composed by Richard son of Herluin, canon of
Rouen cathedral, and inscribed above his tomb in gold letters on
bronze plates. It runs thus:
0 mortal men, do not deny a tear
For Maurille, monk and bishop, buried here;
Nurtured by Rheims and schooled by Liege, he
Drank from the triple fount philosophy.
For you this fair cathedral, new begun,
He raised, and gave glad benediction.
Then Laurence, on thy holy vigil, he
Passed into heaven to keep thy feast with thee.
Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive some time before 1086, and part of Hayling Island to
Jumieges (see Matthew, Norman Monasteries, pp. 31-32).
5 Four years before, in October 1063.
 200 BOOK IV
ii. 170 Post mortem antistitis sui Rotomagensis ::ecclesia ~anfrancum
Cadomensium abbatem sibi pr::esulem elegit...1 et rex Guillelmus
cum optimatibus suis omnique populo libentissime concessit. Sed
uir Deo deuotus et humilitati studens tanti primatus sarcinam
refutauit, 1 et sibi ad hunc apicem toto conatu Iohannem Abrinca-
tensium pr::esulem pr::eferre sategit. 2 Porro ut canonice fieret ista
coniugatio...1 Romam adiit, pr::edict::e ordinationis licentiam ab
Alexandro papa impetrauiU sacrum quoque pallium uncle et ipsi
et toti N ormanni::e gloriandum erat cum licentia deportauit.
lohannes itaque de sede Abrincatensi quam vii annis et iii
mensibus rexerat assumptus est:' et metropolitanus Rotomagensis
factus est. Hie ardore uirtutum in uerbis et operibus multipliciter
feruebat! nimioque zelo in uitia ut Phinees3 seuiebat. Quantum
uero ad s::eculi dignitatem attinebat:' magn::e nobilitatis lampade
cluebat. Erat enim filius Radulfi comitis Baiocensium:'4 qui frater
fuerat uterinus Ricardi senioris ducis N ormannorum. Decem
ii. 171 itaque annis metropolitanum regimen fortiter et diligenter gessit...1
multumque contra impudicos presbyteros pro auferendis pelicibus
laborauit, a quibus dum in sinodos concubinas eis sub anathemate
prohiberet lapidibus percussus aufugiU fugiensque de ::ecclesia
'Deus uenerunt gentes in h::ereditatem tuam' 6 fortiter clamauit.
In loco eius Michahel natione Italicus, eruditione litterarum
imbutus, studio religionis uenerandus...1 ad culmen Abrincatensis
episcopatus electione legitima est promotus. 7 Qui plus quam xx
annis laudabilis pastor floruit:' et Rodberti ducis tempore beatus
senex obiit. Quo defuncto Turgisus successiU iamque pr::esulatum
ferme xxx annis tenuit.
1 Lanfranc's refusal probably indicates that King William already intended
him for Canterbury when he could secure the removal of Stigand.
2 John, bishop of Avranches from 1060 to 1067, and archbishop of Rouen
1067 to 1079, is best known for his important liturgical treatise, De Officiis
Ecclesiasticis. See R. Delamare, Le 'De Officiis Ecclesiasticis' de Jean d'Avranches
(Paris, 1923); GC xi. 31, 32. Papal permission had to be sought for the transla-
tion of a bishop to another see. For Alexander's letter, written at the request of
Lanfranc, see Acta Archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium, ed. Mabillon (Vetera
Analecta (Paris, 1723), pp. 222-6), p. 224. Orderic certainly knew some early
lives of the archbishops of Rouen; cf. Delisle in Le Prevost, v. lxxi-lxxii.
3 Cf. Numbers xxv. 7-8.
4 Raoul (or Ralph) of Ivry; see Douglas, EHR lix (1944), 72-74; and lxi
(1946), 131.
5 Orderic is the sole authority for this episode. Mansi prints the extract from
Orderic under the year 1074, with the heading 'Synodus Rotomagensis' (Mansi,
xx. 442). But it most probably occurred during the Council of Rouen, dated by
Orderic as 1072, when John attempted to enforce canons 2 and 3 of the 1064
Council of Lisieux (below, p. 290 n. 1). There were comparable disturbances
in 1074 in synods at Poitiers and Paris, when the papal decrees promulgated at
the Lenten Synod of 1074 against clerical marriage were published (Hefele,
BOOK IV 201
After th.e death of its archbishop the church of Rouen elected
Lanfranc, abbot of Caen, as its head, both King William with his
magnates and the populace at large gladly consenting. But this
man, who had given himself to God in all humility, refused the
burden of such office, 1 and strove with all his might to have John
bishop of Avranches raised to this dignity in preference to him. 2
Finally, to ensure that the translation should be canonical he went
to Rome to obtain licence for John's consecration from Pope
Alexander, and with the licence brought back the sacred pallium,
so giving himself and all Normandy alike just cause for con-
gratulation.
John therefore was translated from the see of Avranches which
he had ruled seven years and three months, and raised to the arch-
bishopric of Rouen. He was a man who showed his zeal for virtue
in both words and deeds, and like Phineas3 led a merciless cam-
paign against vice. As for worldly dignities, he belonged to the high-
est nobility; for he was a son of Ralph count of Bayeux,4 who was
a uterine brother of Richard I, duke of Normandy. For ten years
he fulfilled his duties as metropolitan with courage and thorough-
ness, continuously striving to separate immoral priests from their
mistresses: on one occasion when he forbade them to keep concu-
bines he was stoned out of the synod,s and fled exclaiming
with a loud voice: 'O God, the heathen are come into thine
inheritance.' 6 To replace him Michael, an Italian by birth and
a man of considerable learning and piety, was lawfully promoted
to the bishopric of Avranches. 1 He remained a model bishop for
over twenty years, and died at a good old age in the time of Duke
Robert. On his death he was succeeded by Turgis, who has now
occupied the bishopric for about thirty years.
v. 89-90, 111-14). John also held a council in 1074 (Bessin, pp. 64-66) but the
decrees do not include any enforcing clerical celibacy. It has, therefore, some-
times been assumed (Hefele, v. 113; R. Delamare, Le 'De Officiis Ecclesiasticis' de
Jean d'Avranches (Paris, 1923), p. xxv) that John must have held a second
council in the same year, at which the disturbance occurred. This assumption
seems unwarranted. John, a reformer of the temper of Phineas, need not have
waited for the renewed papal decrees before attempting to enforce the canons
previously promulgated at Lisieux, to which as bishop of Avranches he must
have assented; and if Orderic has correctly dated the Council in 1072 he did not
wait. Douglas, WC, p. 333, shows some hesitation about accepting the date, but
cites no positive evidence against it.
6 Psalms lxxviii (lxxix). 1.
7 Michael, bishop of Avranches c. 1068-c. 1094, was a chaplain of William I
(Regesta, i. xix).
 ··ff
202 BOOK IV
Interea N ormannico fastu Angli opprimuntur.J et prresidibus
superbis qui regis monitus spernebant admodum iniuriabantur.
Prrefecti minores qui munitiones custodiebant:' nobiles et medi-
ocres indigenas iniustis exactionibus multisque contumeliis ag-
grauabant. Odo nimirum episcopus et Guillelmus Osberni filius
regis uicarii nimia ceruicositate tumebant.J et clamores Anglorum
rationabiliter audire eisque requitatis lance suffragari despicie-
ii. 172 bant. 1 Nam armigeros suos immodicas prredas et incestos raptus
facientes ui tuebantur, et super eos qui grauibus contumeliis
affecti querimonias agebant magis debachabantur. Amissa itaque
libertate Angli uehementer ingemiscunt:' et uicissim qualiter
intolerabile iugum sibique hactenus insolitum excutiant subtiliter
inquirunt. Igitur ad Suenum regem Danorum dirigunt, z atque
ut regnum Anglire quod Suenus et Chunutus aui eius armis
optinuerunt reposcat expetunt. Vitro in exilium aliqui profugiunt,
quo extorres uel a potestate N ormannorum sint liberi.J uel opibus
alienis aucti contra eos ad recidiuum certamen reuertantur. Qui-
dam autem ex eis pulchrre iuuentutis fl.ore uernantes longinquas
regiones adierunt, et militire Alexii imperatoris Constantinopoli-
tani sese audacter optulerunt. Erat idem multum sapiens et mirre
dapsilitatis..1 contra quern Rodbertus Wiscardus Apulire dux cum
suis omnibus arma leuauerat in auxilium Michahelis, quern Danai
de throno imperiali expulerant indignatione senatorire potestatis.J
Exules igitur Anglorum fauorabiliter a Grecis suscepti sunt:' et
N ormannicis legionibus qure nimium Pelasgis aduersabantur
oppositi sunt. Augustus Alexius urbem qure Cheuetot dicitur4
Anglis ultra Bizantium condere cepit, sed postea nimium in-
festantibus N ormannis eos ad urbem regiam reduxit, et eisdem
principale palacium cum regalibus thesauris tradidit. Hae itaque
de causa Saxones Angli Ioniam expetierunt, et ipsi ac hreredes
1 Here Orderic, possibly drawing on childhood memories, departs com-
pletely from William of Poitiers, who praises the administration of William
fitzOsbern and Odo of Bayeux, and regards the English disturbances as
unwarranted. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, 1066) agrees with Orderic: 'And
Bishop Odo and Earl William stayed behind and built castles far and wide
I i throughout the country and distressed the wretched folk'; but Florence does
not speak of oppression whilst William was in Normandy (FW ii. 2).
i 2
The statement that help was sought from the Danes comes from William
of Poitiers, and the sentence beginning 'ultro in exilium' is taken almost ver-
I' batim from him (Foreville, p. 264). Orderic is independent in his account of the
fortunes of the English amongst the Greeks. They formed an important element
I
I
I
BOOK IV 203
But meanwhile the English were groaning under the Norman
yoke, and suffering oppressions from the proud lords who ignored
the king's injunctions. The petty lords who were guarding the
castles oppressed all the native inhabitants of high and low degree,
and heaped shameful burdens on them. For Bishop Odo and
William fitzOsbern, the king's viceregents, were so swollen with
pride that they would not deign to hear the reasonable plea of the
English or give them impartial judgement. 1 When their men-at-
arms were guilty of plunder and rape they protected them by
force, and wreaked their wrath all the more violently upon those
who complained of the cruel wrongs they suffered.
And so the English groaned aloud for their lost liberty and
plotted ceaselessly to find some way of shaking off a yoke that was
so intolerable and unaccustomed. Some sent to Swein, king of
Denmark, 2 and urged him to lay claim to the kingdom of England
which his ancestors Swein and Cnut had won by the sword. Others
fled into voluntary exile so that they might either find in banish-
ment freedom from the power of the Normans or secure foreign
help and come back to fight a war of vengeance. Some of them who
were still in the flower of youth travelled into remote lands and
bravely offered their arms to Alexius, emperor of Constantinople,
a man of great wisdom and nobility. Robert Guiscard, duke of
Apulia, had taken up arms against him in support of Michael,
whom the Greeks-resenting the power of the senate-had driven
from the imperial throne. 3 Consequently the English exiles were
warmly welcomed by the Greeks and were sent into battle against
the Norman forces, which were too powerful for the Greeks alone.
The Emperor Alexius laid the foundations of a town called Civitot4
for the English, some distance from Byzantium; but later when
the Norman threat became too great he brought them back to the
imperial city and set them to guard his chief palace and royal
treasures. This is the reason for the Anglo-Saxon exodus to Ionia;
in the Varangian guard (cf. GM iii. 27 (p. 74)). Orderic anticipates somewhat;
Alexius Comnenus did not become emperor until 1081.
3 There are conflicting stories of the revolution in which the Emperor
Michael VII lost his throne in 1078. Orderic's version in its broad outlines
agrees with that of Geoffrey of Malaterra (GM iii. 13 (pp. 64-65), and Le
Prevost, iii. 166). The 'senate' probably refers to the centralized bureaucracy
under the logothete Nicephoritzes. Cf. G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine
State (Oxford, 1956), p. 306.
4 Civitot, near Nicaea. Alexius also founded a Cluniac monastery there: cf.
Giles Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable (Harvard, 1967), ii. 292.
 :204 BOOK IV
ii. IiJ eorum sacro imperio fideliter famulati sunt:' et cum magno honore
inter Traces Cesari et senatui populoque kari usque nunc per-
stiterunt.
Multimodis Normannorum oppressionibus Angli ad rebellionem
lacessiti Boloniam legatos miserunU et Eustachio 1 comiti ut cum
classe diligenter militibus et armis instructa ad suscipiendam
Doueram acceleraret mandauerunt. Olim cum eodem inimicicias
ingentes habuerant, 2 sed nunc quia simultates inter illum et
regem· insurrexerant.J eumque bellandi peritum et in prrelio
felicem experimentis cognouerant, pacem cum illo fecerunt:' et
munitionem Douerre contra regem illi tradere conati sunt.
Eustachius autem suscepto Cantiorum ueredario classem paratam
ascendit.J noctisque conticinio ut oppidum ex insperato prre-
occuparet cum suis festinanter transfretauit. Milites multos secum
duxit:' sed equos prreter admodum paucos reliquit. Vicinia omnis
fuit armata, et maxime Cantiorum caterua:' qme toto nisu suffra-
gari Eustachio erat conata. Pr::esul Baiocensis et Hugo de Monte-
forti qui primi munitionis custodes erant:' ultra flumen Tamesim
ii. 174 abierant, et maiorem militum partem secum duxerant. Auctior
numerus hostium ex ulterioribus accederet.J si biduana obsidio
fieret. Sed dum hostes uehementer impetum facere in oppidum
molirentur, custodes ad defensandum impigri reperti sunt.J et
feruentissime qua locus poterat impugnari restiterunt. Acerrime
per aliquot horas diei utrinque certatum est. Sed dum Eustachius
diffideret.J eruptionemque propugnatorum qua turpius abigeretur
timeret, receptui ad naues cani signa iubet. Denique oppidaniJ
confestim portas patefecerunt.J auideque et caute sequentes nouis-
simos conciderunt. Fugientes uero Baiocensem episcopum cum
agmine copioso subito superuenisse rati sunt.J eaque formidine
uelut amentes per aui::e rupis prrecipitium se deiecerunt, et tali
compendio fedius quam ense uirorum perierunt. In illa fuga
diuersis generibus mortis multi periere. Plerique abiectis armis
ii. 175 acumine saxeo exanimati sunt! nonnulli telo suo se sociosque suos
1 Eustace had been one of the 'foreign favourites' of King Edward, and had
married his sister Goda, widow of Dreux count of the Vexin. William of
Poitiers (Foreville, pp. 264-8) and William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 138) are
obviously interdependent and agree in substance on Eustace of Boulogne's
unsuccessful attempt to seize Dover. Both say that Eustace came at the invitation
of the men of Kent: Orderic differs in attributing the appeal to Norman oppres-
sion. Otherwise his account is close to that of William of Poitiers, and frequently
repeats phrases word for word. The raid probably took place in the autumn of
1067 (Douglas, WC, p. 212).
2
This refers to the conflict of Eustace's men-at-arms with the townsmen of
BOOK IV 205
the emigrants and their heirs faithfully served the holy empire, and
are still honoured among the Greeks by Emperor, nobility, and
people alike.
The English, goaded to rebellion by Norman oppression, sent
ambassadors to Boulogne to urge Count Eustace 1 to equip a fleet
with soldiers and arms and hasten to the attack of Dover. Once they
had numbered him among their bitterest enemies, 2 but now,
because there was jealousy between him and the king and they
knew by experience his prowess in war and fortune in battle, they
made peace with him and attempted to hand over Dover castle
to him to hold against the king. When Eustace had received the
envoy of the men of Kent he equipped his fleet, embarked, and
made a hurried crossing with his men in the early part of the night,
hoping to make a surprise attack on the castle. He took many
knights with him, but left behind all but a few of the horses. All
the neighbouring countryside was armed, especially a troop of
Kentishmen who assisted Eustace by every means in their power.
The bishop of Bayeux and Hugh of Montfort, who were the chief
custodians of the castle, were away on the other side of the
Thames and had taken the greater part of the garrison with them.
The number of the enemy would have been swollen by men flock-
ing from all sides, if the siege had lasted as long as two days. But
whilst the enemy struggled furiously to breach the fortifications
the garrison quickly rallied to defend them, and staunchly resisted
wherever the attack was strongest. For some hours the battle was
grimly fought. But Eustace hesitated, and fearing a counter-attack
which might inflict shameful defeat on him ordered the sounding
of a retreat to the ships. At once the garrisonJ opened their gates,
and falling on the rearguard fiercely, but in good order, cut them
to pieces. The fugitives, imagining that the bishop of Bayeux had
suddenly arrived on the scene with a strong force, lost their heads,
and in panic went rushing down the precipice of the trackless
cliffs, to perish more shamefully through this short cut than from
the enemy's sword. Many died different deaths in that mad flight.
Some, flinging away their arms, were dashed to pieces on the sharp
rocks; some, clutching each other as they fell, killed themselves
Dover in 1051, when he came to visit his brother-in-law, King Edward (Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle, D, E, 1051).
3
C. Warren Hollister (The Military Organisation of Norman England,
p. 222) took 'oppidani' as 'townsmen'; but the sense requires 'garrison'. Cf.
J. 0. Prestwich in EHR lxxxi (1966), 106.
 206 BOOK IV
una labentes necarunt, et multi letaliter uulnerati uel collisi
spirantes ad mare deuoluti sunt. Plures etiam qui ad puppes
propere anhelant, dum salutis nimium cupidi trepidant.J suaque
multitudine naues deprimunt, subito submersi pereunt. Equites
Normanni quantos consectari possunt.J comprehendunt uel occi-
dunt. Eustachium 1 uero eripiunt uelocitas cornipedis, noticia
tramitis, paratiorque nauis. Ibi nobilissimus tiro nepos eius captus
est. Angli per diuerticula plura euaserunt:' quia pauci multos
insequi per diuersa castellani nequiuerunt.
Non multo post Eustachius consul Willelmo regi reconciliatus
est:' eiusque amicicia longo tempore postmodum perfunctus est.2
Erat enim idem comes magnre nobilitatis.J ex prosapia scilicet
Karoli Magni Francorum strenuissimi regis. 3 Erat quoque magnre
potestatis.J utpote sullimis princeps trium comitatuum, Bolo-
niensis, Githnensis et Tarwanensis. Generosam et religiosam
nomine Ittam habuit uxorem:' Godefredi Lotharingire ducis
sororem, qure peperit ei tres filios, Godefredum et Balduinum ac
Eustachium.J et filiam qure nupsit quarto Henrico imperatori
Alemannorum. 4
ii. 176 Dum plurimi Anglorum pro amissa libertate pristina quam
repetere peroptabant machinarentur rebellionem:' multi ex ea-
dem gente fuerunt Deo seruantes fidem, et constitutum ab ipso
uenerantes regem, prrecepto enim apostoli dicentis, 'Deum timete.J
regem honorificate.'s Coxo itaque 6 comes prosapia et potentatu
inter Anglos prrecelsus, animique magis singularitate prudentis
et omnino honesti prrecipuus.J Guillelmo regi fideliter fauebat,
et eius causam multo fauore probabat. Satellites uero sui ab eo
dissidebant:' quia factionum deterrimi fautores ac socii erant. Di-
uersis igitur modis eum appetebant.J et precibus minisque ac
I The surviving text of William of Poitiers omits Eustace's name and reads:
'Eripiunt velocitas equi, notitia tramitis navisque paratior. Nobilissimus autem
tiro, nepos ejus, comprehensus est.' Without Eustace's name the 'nepos eius'
hardly makes sense. It is likely that the printed text of William of Poitiers is
corrupt, and that the version of Orderic is nearer to the original. 'Villiam of
Jumieges wrote: 'Eustachius autem ad mare divertens cum paucis, indecenter
navigio aufugit', which suggests that he should be mentioned by name at this
point.
2 William of Poi tiers (Foreville, p. 268) speaks of the reconciliation of Eustace
and William, which must therefore have taken place very soon afterwards, not
later than 1074. Orderic supplies the descent of Eustace from an independent
source. For his English property see J. H. Round, 'The Counts of Boulogne
as English Lords', in Studies in Peerage and Family History (London, 1901),
pp. 147-81.
J Eustace was descended from Charlemagne through his mother, Matilda of
Louvain. See family tree in J. C. Andressohn, The Ancestry and Life of Godfrey
of Bouillon (Indiana University Publications, Bloomington, 1947), p. 19.
BOOK IV 207
and their companions with their own weapons; others, mortally
wounded or battered, fell into the sea to drown. Others still, who
succeeded in reaching the ships, were so eager to escape to safety
that they overcrowded and swamped the boats, drowning the
occupants. The Norman knights gave chase and captured or slew
all they could. Eustace 1 himself was saved by the speed of his
horse, his knowledge of the path, and a ship ready to weigh anchor.
One youth of high birth, his nephew, was captured. The English
escaped by many different paths, because the garrison was too
small to pursue such large numbers in different directions.
Not long afterwards Count Eustace became reconciled to King
William, and thereafter showed warm friendship towards him for
many years. 2 For the count was a man of the very highest birth,
sprung from the stock of Charlemagne, most renowned king of
the Franks. 3 He was very powerful as well, for he was the ruler
of three counties: Boulogne, Guines, and Therouanne. He had
a highly born and pious wife named Ida, sister of Godfrey duke
of Lorraine, who bore him three sons-Godfrey, Baldwin, and
Eustace-and a daughter who married Henry IV, emperor of the
Germans.4
Although a large number of the English plotted rebellion
through a desire to recover the liberty they had once enjoyed and
now lost, many of the same people kept their faith to God and
revered the king established by him, as the apostle commands
when he says: 'Fear God, honour the king.'s So it came about that
Earl Copsi, 6 one of the most nobly born and powerful of the
English, who was a statesmanlike and honest man, was a faithful
adherent of King William, and gave strong support to his cause.
But his vassals were of a different opinion, and stirring up vile
factions themselves, joined with other malcontents. They brought
every kind of pressure to bear upon him, and besought him with
4 Eustace's second wife, Ida of Lorraine, also a descendant of Charlemagne,
brought him the county of Bouillon. Their three sons were Eustace, who
inherited his father's extensive English honors, and the later crusading leaders,
Godfrey and Baldwin of Bouillon. They had no other children, and Orderic's
statement about their daughter is wrong (Andressohn, op. cit., p. 22 n. 3).
5 1 Peter ii. 17.
6 'Coxo itaque ... subiectis fidelibus' follows William of Poitiers (Foreville,
pp. 268-70) very closely. For Copsi see above, p. 194. He was killed by Oswulf
son of Eadwulf, a rival cla,imant to the earldom of Northumbria (Stenton,
Anglo-Saxon England, p. 593), probably on 12 March 1067 (Scott, Arch.
Aeliana, xxx (1952), 172).
 208 BOOK IV
obtestationibus inuadebant, ut extraneos desereret..> et bonorum
hominum sure nationis et consanguinitatis uoluntati obsecundaret.
T
!
Sed dum mens in tenore boni firmiter fixa non posset a rectitudine
dimoueri.1 concitatis contra eum comprouincialibus per insidias
occisus est pro integritate fidei. Sic asseruit casu suo uir eximius.1
quod maiestas domini sui semper kara debeat esse subiectis
fidelibus.
1Tunc Adeldredus primas Eborachensis aliique pontifices
quidam utilitati regire studebant..1 quia sapientis monitum scien-
ii. 177 tes requitati optemperabant. 'Time' inquit 'Dominum fili mi et
regem.' 2 Tune etiam aliquot sapientissimi ciuium urbanorum, et
nonnulli ex militibus ingenuis quorum nomen et opes ualebanU
et multi ex plebeiis contra suos pro Normannis magnopere in-
surgebant.
lnterea Willelmus rex dum moraretur in Normannia.1 tranquilli-
tati eius in longum prospiciebat sollicitudine maxima. lustas leges
et recta iudicia ex consultu sapientum diuitibus et pauperibus
reque sanxit..> optimosque iudices et rectores per prouincias
Neustrire constituit. Sacra crenobia et fundos illis datos regalibus
priuilegiis et tuitionibus ab iniustis exactionibus liberauit. Omni-
bus tam aduenis quam indigenis pacem in tota terra sua prreconis
uoce propalauiU et super fures ac seditiosos patrireque quietis
contemptores graues iustasque ultiones rigide peruulgauit.
Rumores interim de transmarinis partibus diuersi aduolitabant,
et optatis molesta permiscentes regem inquietabant.1 et ex mali-
uolentia Anglorum cum nisu Danorum aliarumque barbararum
gentium magnam cladem N ormannis orituram intimabant. Rex
igitur Mathildi coniugi sure filioque suo Rodberto adolescenti
principatum Neustrire commisit...;3 et cum eis religiosos prresules
ii. 178 et strenuos proceres ad tutandam regionem dimisit. Deinde sexta
nocte decembris ad hostium amnis Deppre ultra oppidum Archas
accessit, primaque uigilia gelidre noctis Austro uela dedit, et mane
portum oppositi littoris quern Vincenesium uocitant prosperrimo
cursu arripuit. lam aura hiemalis mare seuissimum efficiebat..1 sed
sancti Nicholai Mirreorum prresulis solennitatem lEcclesia Dei
celebrabat, et in N ormannia pro deuoto principe fideliter orabat.
Omnipotentia ergo diuina qure omnes ubique et semper quos uult
1 The last sentence in the surviving text of William of Poitiers (Foreville,
p. 270) runs: 'Sane pontifices quidam obsequio regio studebant, maxime
Adelred primas Eboracensis .... 'Clearly, therefore, Orderic took the substance
of this passage from William of Poitiers. But from here top. 258 the extent of his
debt to this source can be judged only by inference. 2 Proverbs xxiv. 21.
3 William of Jumieges says (Marx, p. 139) that the duchy was entrusted to
Robert.
BOOK IV
prayers, threats, and entreaties to abandon the foreigners and come
into line with the good men of his own nation and kindred. But
209
since his mind was firmly set on the pursuit of good and he could
not be moved from the right path, they stirred up the men of the
district against him and he was murdered in an ambush for his
steadfast loyalty. So by his death this famous man upheld the duty
of faithful subjects to cherish the majesty of their lord in all things.
1 At that time Ealdred, archbishop of York, and some of the
other bishops were acting in the king's interests, for they knew the
just saying of the sage, which runs: 'My son, fear thou the Lord
and the king.' 2 At that time too some of the most able citizens of
the towns, some native knights of wealth and good name, and many
of the common people rose unequivocally on the Norman side
against their fellow countrymen.
Meanwhile King William remained in Normandy, giving all
his thoughts to establishing an enduring peace in the country.
With the advice of discerning men he laid down just laws, gave
fair judgements to rich and poor alike, and appointed the best
possible men as judges and officials in the provinces of Normandy.
He took holy monasteries and their endowments under his pro-
tection, granting them royal charters of exemption from unjust
exactions. He sent out heralds to proclaim peace for all men,
denizens and foreigners alike, and threatened thieves, rebels, and
all disturbers of the peace with severe but just punishments.
During this time various rumours from across the Channel
were passing from mouth to mouth and causing alarm to the king,
for they contained evil reports as well as good and hinted that the
Normans were to be massacred by the hostile English, supported
by the Danes and other barbarous peoples. So the king entrusted
the duchy of Normandy to his wife Matilda and his young son
Robert, 3 leaving God-fearing bishops and warlike lords to help
them protect the province. Then during the night of the sixth of
December he reached the mouth of the Dieppe river beyond the
town of Arques, and, setting sail with a southerly wind in the first
watch of a bitter night, made a good crossing and reached the
harbour of Winchelsea on the opposite shore next morning. The
wintry season made the sea rough; but the church of God was
celebrating the feast of St. Nicholas, bishop of Myra, and all over
Normandy prayers were offered for the good duke. And so divine
providence, which at all times and in all places guides to prosperity
822204 p
 210 BOOK IV
prospere gubernat..1 beniuolum regem inter hiemales tempestates
ad portum salutis cum gaudio dirigebat. Rex in illa transfretatione
Rogerium de Monte-Gomerici quern tutorem N ormannire dum
ad bellum transmarinum proficisceretur cum sua coniuge dimi-
serat secum minauit:' eique primo Cicestram et Arundellum ac post
aliquot temp us Scrobesburiensem comitatum donauit. 1
Aduentui regis Angli occurrerunt..1 ipsumque tam honorificentia
monasteriali quam srecularibus officiis sullimauerunt. 2 Ipse
Lundonire Dominicam Natiuitatem celebrauit:' ibique pontificibus
Anglis proceribusque multa calliditate fauit. Ipse omnes officioso
affectu demulcebat, dulciter ad oscula inuitabat, cunctis affabili-
tatem ostendebat, benigne si quid orabant concedebat, prompte
ii. 179 si nunciabant aut suggerebant auscultabat. Desertores huiusmodi
arte aliquoties reducuntur. Pari sedulitate et sollertia Gallos nunc
instruebat..1 nunc ut contra omnes dolos et insidias singulorum
:11; semper ubique parati forent clam Anglis commonebat. Cunctre
~' I ~I
1tl ,1• urbes et regiones quas ipse adierat, uel prresidiis occupauerat..1 ad
~1
I
18
i
nutum ei parebant. Circa terminos regni occidentem aut plagam
,II
j /1, !~i septentrionalem uersus effrenis adhuc ferocia superbiebat:' et
Anglire regi nisi ad libitum suum famulari sub rege Eduardo
aliisque prioribus olim despexerat.
Exonia libertatem uendicare prima contendit.1 sed fortissimis
athletis fortiter earn inuadentibus uicta succubuit. Hrec urbs
diues est et antiqua, in piano sita, operose munita.1 a littore marino
quo ex Hibernia uel Britannia minore breuissimo aditur spacio,
distans miliaria circiter duo. Ciues earn tenebant furiosi, copiosre
multitudinis~" infestissimi mortalibus, Gallici generis puberes ac
senatus. Hi nimirum socios e pagis3 finitimis i:iquiete arcessebant,
mercatores aduenas hello habiles retinebant, et pinnas ac turres
et qureque necessaria sibi censebant..1 in munimentis addebant uel
1
Orderic's statement that Roger of Montgomery remained in Normandy and
followed William to England only at the end of 1067 is borne out by the great
charter of Troarn, issued in Roger's presence on All Saints' Day, 1067, and con-
firmed in 1068 by King William (R. N. Sauvage, L'Abbaye de St. Martin de
Troarn, p. 14 n. 6). S. Korner (The Battle of Hastings, p. 246 n. 56) has recently
tried to revive Freeman's assertion, inadequately based on the Roman de Rou
and Robert of Torigni, that Roger of Montgomery fought at the Battle of
Hastings: but he offers no additional evidence and merely states 'there is no
'I
reason to suppose that Orderic had special knowledge', which is manifestly
I
I
I' untrue. The exact extent of the lands he acquired in Sussex, probably at Christ-
I mas, 1067, is uncertain; he was given Shropshire in 1071 after Earl Edwin's
fall, and may possibly have held the title of earl from that date. See J. F. A.
BOOK IV 2II
all whom it wills, brought the godly king rejoicing through the
winter storms to the safety of the harbour. On this voyage the
king was accompanied by Roger of Montgomery, whom he had
left with his wife to act as regent of Normandy when he first sailed
to conquer England; and who now received Chichester and
Arundel, and a little later the county of Shropshire. 1
Crowds flocked to meet the king on his arrival, and he was
welcomed with monastic and civil ceremonies. 2 He celebrated
Christmas at London, and made himself very gracious to the
English bishops and lay lords. He was at great pains to appease
everyone, invited them to receive the kiss of peace, and smiled on
them all; he willingly granted any favours they sought, and gave
ear readily to their statements and proposals. Such skilful conduct
often brings back to the fold persons whose loyalty is doubtful.
As for the Normans, sometimes he would school them to behave
with the same artful attention, sometimes he would warn them,
behind the backs of the English, never to relax for a moment.
Every city and district which he had visited in person or occupied
with his garrisons obeyed his will. But in the marches of his king-
dom, to the west and north, the inhabitants were still barbarous,
and had only obeyed the English king in the time of King Edward
and his predecessors when it suited their ends.
r Exeter was the first town to fight for liberty, but fell vanquished
before the valiant forces that fiercely assaulted it. It is a wealthy
and ancient city built in a plain, strongly fortified·; and only two
miles away from the sea-shore and the shortest routes to Ireland
and Brittany. 1 A great force of citizens held it,-, young and old
seething with anger against every inhabitant of Gaul. Further, they
had repeatedly sent for allies from the neighbouring districts, 3 had
detained foreign merchants with any aptitude for war, and had
built or restored their towers and battlements as they judged
Mason, 'Roger de Montgomery and his sons (1067-1102)', in TRHS, 5th series,
xiii (1963), 2-4.
2 The account of William's court at Christmas, 1067, and his campaigns in
1068 has many echoes of the style of William of Poitiers, and must be derived
from him.
3 Round's translation 'the neighbouring coasts' (Feudal England, p. 433) is
based on a misprint-plagis for pagis-in the earlier editions of Orderic. Since the
term for a Gallo-Roman, and later Carolingian, administrative division is trans-
ferred to England the exact meaning is uncertain: technically it might conceivably
be applied to hundreds or shires, but probably it is used here in a general, non-
technical, sense.
 212 BOOK IV
restaurabant. Alias quoque ciuitates ad conspirandum in eadem
legationibus instigabant.J et contra regem alienigenam toto nisu se
prreparabant,icum quo antea de nullo negotio egerant. Rex uero
T
I
'
ubi hrec certlus comperit.J primoribus ciuitatis iurare sibi fide-
litatem mandauit. At illi remandauerunt ei dicentes, 'Neque
sacramentum regi faciemus:' neque in urbem eum intromittemus,
sed tributum ei ex consuetudine pristina reddemus.' 1 E contra sic
ii. 180 eis remandauit rex dicens, 'Non est michi moris ad hanc con-
ditionem habere subiectos.' Deinde cum exercitu ad fines eorum
accessit.J et primo in ea expeditione Anglos eduxit. Maiores mox
ut regem cum exercitu appropinquare cognoscunt.J obuiam
aduenienti procedunt, pacem poscunt.J portas ei patere dicunt,
imperata qurelibet sese facturos promittunt.J et obsides ilico
quantos rex iubet adducunt. Reuersi ad conciues qui supplicia
pro reatu nimis metuebant.J nichilominus machinantur hostilia
qure ceperant, multisque pro causis ad oppugnandum sese incita-
bant. Quod audiens rex qui ad quattuor miliaria consistebat ab
urbe.J ira repletus est ac admiratione.
Inprimis itaque rex cum quingentis equitibus propere perrexit.J
ut locum et mrenia uideret, et quid hastes agerent deprehenderet.
Portre offirmatre erant.J densreque turbre in propugnaculis et per
totum muri ambitum prostabant. Denique regio iussu exercitus
ad urbem admotus est.Jet unus ex obsidibus prope portam oculis
priuatus est. Pertinacia furentis populi nullo timore, nee ulla
reliquorum obsidum flectitur miseratione.J sed acuitur ad de-
fensandum se suosque lares tota obstinatione.- Rex autem fortiter
urbem obsidione concludit.J militari feritate inuadit, et per pluri-
mos dies 2 obnixe satagit ciues desuper impugnare.J et subtus
murum suffodere. Tandem municipes ingenti hostium instantia
utile consilium coacti capiunt, ad deprecationem descendunt~ · et
formosissima iuuentus maioresque natu cum clero gestante sacros
libros et huiusmodi ornatum ad regem exeunt. Protinus princeps
moderatus humiliter prostratis clementer pepercit.J confitenti
ii. l 81
populo reatus indulsit, 3 acsi nescisset quod illi eidem proterue
restiterant..1 et quod militibus crudeliter et contumeliose illuserant,
quos ipse de N ormannia miserat.J et tempestas ad portum illorum
1 Domesday Book shows that TRE the farm was £ 18 annually; that geld of
half a mark was paid only when London, York, and Winchester paid it; and that
the city owed the same service for land and sea expeditions as five hides of land
(VCH Devon, i. 407).
2 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, 1067 (for 1068)) says that the siege lasted
for eighteen days.
J The entry for Exeter in Domesday Book confirms this by showing that the
obligations of the city to the king remained unchanged. See Round, Feudal
England, pp. 446-50.
BOOK IV
necessary. They sent envoys urging other cities to combine with
them in similar measures and prepared to fight with all their
strength against the foreign king, i with whom they had had no
:21 :l
dealings before that time. When the king knew the truth of this
he commanded the leading citizens to swear fealty to him. But
they sent back the following message: 'We will neither swear
fealty nor admit him within our walls; but we will pay tribute to
him according to ancient custom.' 1 The king in his turn replied
as follows: 'It is not my custom to have subjects on such terms.'
Thereupon he marched on them in force, and for the first time
called out Englishmen in his army. When the chief citizens heard
that the king was approaching with an army they went to meet
him, begged for peace, offered to open their gates to him, promised
to obey all his commands, and brought him all the hostages he
demanded. But in spite of this, on returning to their fellow
citizens, who were terrified of punishment for their previous
disloyalty, they continued their hostile preparations, encouraging
each other to fight for many reasons. On learning of this the king,
now only four miles from the city, was filled with rage and
astonishment.
First of all he rode nearer with five hundred knights to recon-
noitre the ground, examine the fortifications, and learn what
measures the enemy were taking. The gates were closed, and
a great force had manned the ramparts and the whole circuit of
the walls. So by the king's command the whole army closed in on
the city, and one of the hostages was blinded within sight of the
gates. But neither fear nor any pity for the remaining hostages
could shake the resolution of the angry citizens; instead their
obstinate determination to defend themselves and their homes
grew all the stronger. The king, however, closely besieged the city,
attempting to storm it, and for many days 2 he fought relentlessly
to drive the citizens from the ramparts and undermine the walls.
Finally, the citizens were compelled by the unremitting attacks of
the enemy to take wiser counsel and humbly plead for pardon~ ·
The flower of their youth, the older men, and the clergy bearing
their sacred books and treasures went out to the king. As they
humbly threw themselves on his mercy that just prince graciously
granted them pardon and forgave their guilt, 3 deliberately over-
looking the fact that they had wantonly resisted him, and had
insulted and ill-treated certain knights sent by him from Normandy,
 214 BOOK IV
appulerat. Exonii gaudent gratesque Deo referunt:1 quad post tot
iras terribilesque minas spe melius alienigenre regi pacificati sunt.
Rex autem a rebus eorum abstinuit, et portas urbis ualente fidaque
custodia muniuit:' ne gregarii milites repente introirent, et pecunias
T
!
'.
ciuium uiolenter diriperent.'"'Locum uero intra mrenia ad extruen-
dum castellum delegit, ibique Balduinum de Malis filium Gisle-
berti comitis 1 aliosque milites prrecipuos reliquit:' qui necessarium
opus conficerent, prresidioque manerent .. Ipse postea ulterius in
Cornu Britannire contendebat. Composito ubique motu quern
deprehendit, exercitum dimisit! et Guentam ad uacandum illic
Paschali festo rediit.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLXVIII 0 Guillemlus rex legatos
honorabiles in N eustriam direxit, et Mathildem coniugem suam
ad se uenire prrecepit. Protinus illa mariti iussis libenter obediuit.J
et cum ingenti frequentia uirorum ac nobilium feminarum
transfretauit. In clero qui ad diuina ei ministrabat.J celebris Guido
Ambianorum prresul eminebat, qui iam certamen Heraldi et
ii. 182 Guillelmi uersifice ediderat. 2 Adelredus Eboracorum metropo-
litanus qui maritum inunxerat."' Mathildem ad consortium regii
honoris die Pentecostes3 anno secundo regni prrefati regis inunxit.
Decorata regio diademate matrona priusquam annus perficeretur
filium nomine Henricum peperit."' quern totius terrre sure in
Anglia hreredem constituit. Hie dum dociles annos attigisset
litterarum scientiam didicit,4 et post utriusque parentis obitum
militire agones fortiter exercuit. Tandem multimodre probitatis
clarus titulis.J principatum paternum tenuit pluribus annis.
Eodem annos egregii iuuenes Eduinus et Morcarus filii Elfgari
comitis rebellauerunt, et cum eis multi alii ferociter insurrexerunt!
quorum motus Albionis regnum uehementer turbauerunt. Guillel-
mus etenim rex quando Eduinus comes cum eo concordiam
fecerat, eique fratrem suum et prene terciam partem Anglire
subdiderat.J filiam suam se in coniugem ei daturum spoponderat,
sed postmodum fraudulento consultu Normannorum qui nimis
1 Count Gilbert of Brionne.
2 For Guy of Amiens see above, p. 184 n. 2.
3 11 May 1068. Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, 1067 (for 1068)); FW ii. 2.
4 It was not uncommon at this time for the youngest sons of Norman lords,
many of whom entered the Church, to be given some education.
s Orderic, incorporating much material from William of Poitiers, gives the
most detailed account we have of King William's campaigns when he carried
the conquest of England to the west and north in 1068-9. There are notices of
a few episodes in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, 1067 (for 1068)), where the
chronology is very confused, and in Florence of Worcester; but many state-
ments cannot be checked in any other source. In view of William of Poitiers's
position as one of the king's chaplains and the early date of his narrative, the
I
'!
BOOK IV
who had been driven by a storm into their harbour. The men of
Exe~er rejoi7ed and gave tha_nks to God that, in spite of their
foreign kmg s wrath and ternble threats, they had succeeded in
215
appeasing him far beyond their hopes. The king refrained from
seizing their goods and posted a strong and trustworthy guard at
the ga~es, so that the r~nkand file of the army could not suddenly
break m and loot the city. He chose a spot within the walls where
a castle was to be built, and left there Baldwin of Meules son of
Count Gilbert, 1 and other leading knights to complete the building
of the castle and remain as a garrison. He himself went on further
into Cornwall. After putting down every disturbance that came to
his notice he disbanded his army, and returned to Winchester to
celebrate the feast of Easter there.
In the year of Our Lord 1068 King William sent ambassadors
to Normandy to summon his wife Matilda to join him. At once
she gladly obeyed her husband's commands, and crossed with
a great. company of vassals and noble women. Among the clergy
who mmistered to her spiritual needs the most eminent was Guy
bishop of Amiens, who had already celebrated the battle between
Harold ~nd William in verse. 2 Ealdred archbishop of York, who
had anomted her husband, now anointed Matilda as queen consort
on Whit Sunday3 in the second year of King William's reign.
The royal lady, within a year of her coronation, bore a son called
Henry, whom she made heir to all her lands in England. When he
reached the age for schooling, he acquired some literacy :4 and
after the death of both his parents he became a valiant leader in
war. Finally, distinguished by his numerous virtues, he has ruled
his father's dominions for many years.
In the same year 5 the noble youths Edwin and Morcar, sons
of Earl lElfgar, rebelled, and many others with them; so that the
realm of Albion was violently disturbed by their fierce insurrection.
For when King William had made his peace with Earl Edwin
granting him authority over his brother and almost a third of
England, he had promised to give him his daughter in marriage;
but later, listening to the dishonest counsels of his envious and
greedy Norman followers, he withheld the maiden from the noble
accounts of the movements of the Norman army are likely to be substantially
accurate; but neither Orderic nor William of Poitiers was always well-informed
on the i;>olitical c~nditions in the marcher regions before the Conquest, or on
the family connexions of the men involved.
 216 BOOK IV
~ I"
inuidi sunt et cupidi.J concupitam uirginem et diu expectatam
denegauit nobilissimo iuueni. V nde iratus cum fratre suo ad
rebellionem incitatus est! eumque magna pars Anglorum et
Gualorum secuta est. Feruens a:ffectus erat prrefatis fratribus erga
Dei cultum.J et bonorum reuerentiam hominum. Erat eis ingens
pulchritudo, nobilis et ampla cognatio.J late ualens potentatus et
nimia in eos popularium dilectio. A clericis et monachis ad Deum
crebra pro illis fi.ebat oratio.J et a turbis pauperum cotidiana
supplicatio.
ii. 183 Elfgarus comes Couentrense crenobium construxit.J et magnis
redditibus ad uictum monachorum inibi consistentium largiter
ditauit. 1 Godioua uero religiosa comitissa omnem thesaurum suum
eidem recclesire contulit.J et accersitis aurifabris quicquid in auro
et argento habuit, ad construendum sacros textus et cruces ac
imagines sanctorum aliaque mirifica recclesire ornamenta 2 deuote
distribuit. Deuoti Deo dignique religionis laude parentes elegantem
et multa laude dignam ediderunt sobolem, Eduinum, Morcarum.J
et unam filiam nomine Aldit qure primo nupsit Gritfrido regi
Gualorum, post cuius mortem sociata est Heraldo regi Anglorum.J
Tempore Normannicre cladis qure nimiis oppressionibus
Anglos immoderate conquassauit.J Blidenus rex Gualorum ad
auunculos suos4 suppetias uenit, secumque multitudinem Britonum
adduxit. Congregatis autem in unum multis Anglorum et Gua-
lorum optimatibus, fit generalis querimonia de iniuriis et oppres-
sionibus.J quibus intolerabiliter Angli affiigebantur a N ormannis
et eorum contubernalibus. Legationibus quoscunque poteranU per
omnes Albionis terminos in hostes clam palamque stimulabant.
Fit ex consensu omnium pro uendicanda libertate pristina procax
conspiratio.J et obnixa contra Normannos coniuratio. Exoritur in
finibus Transhumbranis uehemens perturbatio. s Seditiosi siluas,
paludes.J restuaria et urbes aliquot in munimentis habent. Ebora-
chensis ciuitas ardentissime furit ..i quam sanctitas pontificis sui
sedare nequit. Plures in tabernaculis morabantur, in domibus ne
1 The abbey of Coventry was founded in 1043 by Earl Leofric of Mercia,
father of Earl JElfgar, and his wife Godgifu or Godiva. Orderic is wroflg in
making her JElfgar's wife: she was his mother, and the grandmother of Edwin
and Morcar.
2 These probably included some of the works of Mannig, abbot of Evesham,
: I
a skilled goldsmith, who is known to have made 'plurima opera . . . valde
laudabilia' for Coventry (Knowles, Monastic Order, p. 536).
3 See above, p. 138.
BOOK IV
youth, who greatly desired her and had long waited for her. At
217
last his patience wore out and he and his brother were roused
to rebellion, supported by a great many of the English and
Welsh. These brothers were zealous in the service of God, and
well-disposed to good men. Both were remarkably handsome,
nobly connected with kinsfolk whose power and influence were
widespread, and well-loved by the people at large. Clerks and
monks ceaselessly offered prayers to God on their behalf; and
throngs of the poor daily made supplication.
Earl .lElfgar built a monastery at Coventry, and endowed it
lavishly with revenues for the maintenance of the monks estab-
lished there. 1 And Godiva, his pious countess, lavished all her
treasure upon the church: sending for goldsmiths she gave them
her whole store of gold and silver to work into covers for gospel
books, crosses, images of the saints, and other marvellously
wrought ecclesiastical ornaments. 2 These parents, so devoted to
God and beneficent to the church, had a progeny both fair and
greatly to be praised: Edwin, Morcar, and one daughter called
Edith, who married first Gruffydd king of the Welsh and after his
death Harold king of England. J
When the Norman conquest had brought such grievous bur-
dens upon the English, Bleddyn king of the Welsh came to the
help of his uncles, 4 bringing a great army of Welshmen with him.
After large numbers of the leading men of England and Wales
had met together, a general outcry arose against the injustice and
tyranny which the Normans and their comrades-in-arms had
inflicted on the English. They sent envoys into every corner of
Albion to incite men openly and secretly against the enemy. All
were ready to conspire together to recover their former liberty,
and bind themselves by weighty oaths against the Normans. In
the regions north of the Humber violent disturbances broke out.s
The rebels prepared to defend themselves in woods, marshes, and
creeks, and in some cities. The city of York was seething with
discontent, and showed no respect for the holy office of its arch-
bishop when he tried to appease it. Many men lived in tents,
4 Orderic is wrong in making Bleddyn a son of Gruffydd. See J. E. Lloyd,
History of Wales (3rd ed., London, 1939), ii. 368-9.
5 The disturbances in the north were due in part to local feuds, and only in
part to resistance to the Norman nominee, Copsi, who was killed within a few
weeks of his appointment as earl. For conditions at this time see F. S. Scott,
Arch. Ae/;ana, xxx (1952), 171-4.
 :218 BOOK IV
mollescerent requiescere dedignabantur:' uncle quidam eorum
T
Ii
a Normannis siluatici cognominabantur.
Rex igitur secessus regni prouidentius perlustrauit.J et opportuna
loca contra excursiones hostium communiuit. Munitiones enim
quas castella Galli nuncupant.J Anglicis prouinciis paucissime
fuerant, et ob hoc Angli licet bellicosi fuerint et audaces:'
ad resistendum tamen inimicis extiterant debiliores. Rex ita-
que castrum apud Guareuicum condidit:1 et Henrico Rogerii
de Bellomonte filio ad seruandum commisit. 1 Tune Eduinus et
Morcarus cum suis anceps prrelii discrimen perpendentes, et
pacem hello non incongrue prreponentes.J gratiam regis petierunt,
et specie tenus obtinuerunt. Deinde rex Snotingheham castrum
construxit:1 et Guillelmo Peuerello commendauit.
ii. 185 Hrec Eborachenses ut audierunt:' extimentes maturata deditione
uim declinauerunt, regique claues ciuitatis cum obsidibus dederunt.
Ipse tamen quia fidem illorum suspectam habuiU in urbe ipsa
munitionem firmauit, 2 quam delectis militibus custodiendam
tradidit. Tune Archillus potentissimus N ordanhimborum cum
rege concordiam fecit.J ei'que filium suum obsidem tradidit. Prresul
quoque Dunelmi 3 regis in gratiam accessit:' et pro Malcomo rege
Scotorum pacis mediator interuenit, et acceptas conditiones in
Scotiam detulit. Malcomus autem licet ab Anglis requisitus fuerit,
et ualidam expeditionem in eorum auxilium facere parauerit.J
audita tamen legatione pacis quieuit, et cum prresule Dunelmi
nuncios suos ouanter remisit.J per quos Guillelmo regi fidele
obsequium iurauit. Sic utiliter sibi consuluit, populoque suo
multum placuit.J quod pacem hello prreposuit. Nam Scotica gens
licet in prrelio aspera sit.J ocium tamen et quietem diligit, nollet
a uicinis inquietari regnis.J christianre religionis plus quam
armorum intenta studiis. Rex post hrec in reuersione sua Lincolire,
Huntendonre, et Grontebrugre castra locauit.J et tutelam eorum
fortissimis uiris commendauit.
His temporibus quredam N ormannicre mulieres seua libidinis
face urebantur, crebrisque nunciis a uiris suis flagitabant ut cito
reuerterentur:' addentes quod nisi reditum maturarent, ipsre sibi
alios coniuges procurarent. Non enim ad maritos suos propter
1 It has been suggested (GEC xii (ii). 358) that Henry was probably too young,
and Orderic may have antedated a later appointment. But this is a passage
which is almost certainly based on William of Poitiers (cf. Liber Eliensis, p. 190),
who had an intimate knowledge of the Beaumont family (Foreville, p. 192 n. 2).
Though Henry's elder brother Robert only fought his first major battle at
Hastings he took a leading part in it (ibid., p. 192), and if Henry was only
a year younger, or even a younger twin, he would have been quite capable of
taking charge of the new castle at Warwick two years later.
BOOK IV
disdaining to sleep in houses lest they should become soft; so that
219
the Normans called them 'wild men'.
To meet the danger the king rode to all the remote parts of his
kingdom and fortified strategic sites against enemy attacks. For
the fortifications called castles by the Normans were scarcely
known in the English provinces, and so the English-in spite of
their courage and love of fighting-could put up only a weak
resistance to their enemies. The king built a castle at Warwick and
gave it into the keeping of Henry, son of Roger of Beaumont. 1
After this Edwin, Morcar, and their men, unwilling to face the
doubtful issue of a battle, and wisely preferring peace to war,
sought the king's pardon and obtained it at least in outward
appearance. Next the king built Nottingham castle and entrusted
it to William Peverel.
When the men of York heard this they were terrified, hastened
to surrender lest worse befell, and sent the king hostages and the
keys of the city. As he was very doubtful of their loyalty he
fortified a castle in the city 2 and left trustworthy knights to guard
it. Then Archill, the most powerful of the N orthumbrian nobles,
made peace with the king and gave him his son as a hostage. The
bishop of Durham 3 also returned to the king's favour, and became
mediator for peace with Malcolm king of Scots, taking the terms
of peace to Scotland. Malcolm, although he had already been
wooed by the English rebels and had prepared a strong force to
send to their aid, was ready to listen to the envoys and lay down
arms; he gladly sent back with the bishop of Durham ambassadors
to swear fealty and obedience to King William on his behalf. Thus
he took the wisest course, and greatly pleased his subjects, by
preferring peace to war. For the Scottish people, though fierce in
war, prefer ease and peace, seek no quarrel with their neighbours,
and give more thought to the religion of Christ than the pursuit
of arms. When this was done the king retired, building castles at
Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge on his way, and garrisoning
them strongly.
At this time certain Norman women, consumed by fierce lust,
sent message after message to their husbands urging them to
return at once, and adding that unless they did so with all speed
they would take other husbands for themselves. For they dared
2
On the site of the existing Clifford's Tower. See VCH Yorks., The City of
York, p. 521. 3 Bishop .lEthelwine, 1056-71.
 ii. 186
220 BOOK IV
inusitatam sibi adhuc nauigationem transfretare audebant, nee
in Anglia eos expetere ubi iugiter in armis erant:' et cotidianas
expeditiones non sine magna sanguinis utriusque partis effusione
frequentabant. Rex autem inter tot bellorum motiones secum
T
.
.
l BOOK IV
milites suos retinere cupiebat, et terras cum redditibus et magnis
potestatibus eis amicabiliter ~fferebat:1 et maiora. dum totu~ .re:
gnum ab aduersariis undique hberatum esset prom1ttebat. Leg1t1m1
barones strenuique pugiles multipliciter anxiabantur: dum regem1
suum cum fratribus suis et amicis sociisque sedulis circundari bellis
intuebantur, ipsique si discederent infidi proditores timidique
desertores palam censeri uerebantur. Rursus honorabiles ~thletre
quid facerent, si lasciure coniuges thorum suum adulteno pol-
luerent, et progeniei sure perennis maculre notam et infamiam
generarent? Vnde Hugo de Grentemaisnil qui prresidatum
Gewissorum id est Guentanre regionis iam habuerat, et sororius
eius Vnfridus de Telliolo 1 qui Hastingas a prima die constructionis
ad custodiendum susceperat: aliique multi discesserunt! et regem
1
inter exteros laborantem tristes et inuiti deseruerunt. Deinde
famulari lasciuis dominabus suis in N eustriam reuersi sunt:1 sed
honores quos iam nactos hac de causa reliquerunt, ipsi uel hreredes
eorum nunquam postea recuperare potuerunt. 2
ii. 187 Multimodis desolationibus Anglia nimis attrita est:' et tam ab
indigenis quam ab alienigenis ualde aggrauata est. Incendia,
rapinre, et cotidianre cedes miseram gentem inuaserunt:1 percus-
serunt, deiecerunt et conquassauerunt. Aduersa fortuna miseros
tam uictos quam uictores muscipula sua irretiuit..1 nunc ense,
nunc fame, nunc peste irreuerenter prrecipitauit, prout omni-
potens arbiter unicuique dispensauit. Rex uero perspectis impor-
tunitatibus terrre solidarios milites conuocauit..1 omnesque regali
munificentia pro militari seruitute muneratos domum abire be-
nigniter permisit.
Anno tertio regni sui Guillelmus rex Dunelmensem comi-
tatum3 Rodberto de Cuminis tradiditl qui mox cum militibus
1
On the evidence of this passage J. F. A. Mason has included the name of
Humphrey of Tilleul among the companions of the Conqueror ('The com-
panions of the Conqueror; an additional name' in EHR lxvi (1956), 61-69).
Humphrey had two sons who were monks at St. Evroul (Le Prevost, iii. 281)
and Orderic was well-informed about his family. He was probably given charge
! i of the first castle built at Hastings before the battle was fought (see L. C.
Loyd, Anglo-Norman Families, p. 85).
2 The evidence of Domesday Book confirms that Humphrey lost his English
estates, as he held nothing in 1086; but Hugh of Grandmesnil either retained or
recovered his.
not join their men themselves, being unaccustomed to the sea-
crossing and afraid of seeking them out in England, where they
were engaging in armed forays every day and blood flowed freely
221
on both sides. The king, with so much fighting on his hands, was
most anxious to keep all his knights about him, and made them
a friendly offer of lands and revenues and great authority, promis-
ing them more when he had completely rid the kingdom of all
his enemies. His loyal barons and stalwart fighting-men were
gravely perturbed, for they saw that continual risings threatened
the king and their brothers, friends, and allies, and feared that if
they abandoned him they would be openly branded as traitors and
cowardly deserters. On the other hand, what could honourable
men do if their lascivious wives polluted their beds with adultery
and brought indelible shame and dishonour on their offspring?
As a result Hugh of Grandmesnil, who was governor of the Gewis-
sae-that is, the region round Winchester-and his brother-in-
law Humphrey of Tilleul, 1 who had held the castle of Hastings
from the day of its foundation, and many others departed from the
country heavy at heart, and unwilling to go because they were
deserting the king whilst he was struggling in a foreign land. They
returned to Normandy to oblige their wanton wives; but neither
they nor their heirs were ever able to recover the fiefs which they
had held and chosen to abandon. 2
England was exhausted with tribulation after tribulation, suffer-
ing at the hands of Englishmen and foreigners alike. Fire, rapine,
and daily slaughter brought destruction and disaster on the
wretched people and utterly laid waste the land. Ill-fortune held
victors and vanquished alike in its snare, bringing down on them
war, famine, and pestilence as the omnipotent Judge thought fit.
So the king, seeing the sufferings of the land, assembled his
mercenary soldiers; and, after rewarding them with royal munifi-
cence for their service in war, graciously allowed them to return
to their homes.
In the third year of his reign King William bestowed the county
of Durham3 on Robert of Commine, who shortly afterwards came
3 This statement does not conflict with the fact that Robert of Commine
was known as Earl of Northumbria, since Orderic does not use the word 'comi-
tatus' in the later sense of 'earldom' (cf. above, Introduction, pp. xxxv-xxxvi).
There are slightly varying accounts of the disturbances in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle (D, E, 1068 (for 1069)) and Simeon of Durham (RS ii. 186). See
Scott, Arch. Aeliana, xxx (1952), 175.
 222 BOOK IV
quingentis cm1tatem confidenter adiit. Prima uero nocte ciues
collecti sunt..1 et ipsum cunctosque milites prreter duos fuga
elapsos mactauerunt. Fortissimi uiri nequiuerunt defendere se:'
oppressi tempore, dolo et multitudine.
Non multo post Rodbertus Ricardi filius Eborachensis prresidii
custos cum multis peremptus est. Fiducia deinceps Anglis creuit
contra Normannos..I a quibus uidebant nimium uexari suos
collegas et amicos. Fides, sacramentum et salus obsidum uilia
fuerunt iratis..i pro amissis patrum suorum prrediis, et occisis
parentibus et compatriotis.
ii. 188 Marius Suenus, Gaius Patricius, 1 Edgarus Adelinus, Archillus
et quatuor filii Karoli aliique potcntes et factiosi conuenerunt..1 et
consociata manu ciuium ac finitimorum munitionem regis in
Eboracho impugnare ausi sunt. Willelmus cognomento Maletus 2
prreses castrensis regi denunciauit se defecturum.1 nisi maturum
obsessis conferat auxilium. Rex ocius aduenit..1 in obsidentes ruit,
nee ulli pepercit. Multi capti, plerique interfecti, creteri sunt
fugati. Rex autem dies octo in urbe morans alterum prresidium
condidit.J3 et Guillelmum comitem Osberni4 filium ad custodi-
endum reliquit. Ipse uero letus Guentam rediit: et Paschale
festum ibi celebrauit. Rursus Angli post regis discessum contra
utrunque prresidium congregati sunt .1 sed Guillelmo comite cum
suis uiriliter in quadam ualles dimicante non prreualuerunt, sed
pluribus eorum captis seu trucidatis alii fuga mortem distulerunt.
Bellicis turbinibus undique insurgentibus admodum occupatus,
coniugem sibi multum dilectam Mathildem remisit in Norman-
niam rex Guillelmus.1 ut ab Anglico tumultu seposita in pace
religiosis actibus uacaret, incolumemque prouincire statum cum
Rodberto puero seruaret. 6 Hrec consanguinea Philippi Francorum
regis erat, 1 et ex regibus Gallire ac imperatoribus Germanire
1 Marleswein had been sheriff of Lincoln before the Conquest. Gospatric
was descended from Earl Uhtred of Northumbria by his third wife .lElfgifu.
This Latin form of his name also occurs in the Vita Edwardi (Barlow, VER,
p. 35); it may be a corruption of the Old Welsh guas Patric (Scott, Arch.
Aeliana, xxx (1952), 173 n. 97).
2 For William Malet see D. C. Douglas, History, xxviii (1943), 138.
3 This castle was west of the Ouse, on the edge of the city, and later became
known as the 'Old Baile' (VCH Yorks., The City of York, p. 528).
4 See D. C. Douglas, 'The ancestors of William fitzOsbern', in EHR lix
(1944), 62-79; and J. H. Round, Studies in Peerage and Family History, p. 205.
s Since the text implies fighting in the city, ualle is probably a mistake for
uallo.
6 William of Jumieges (Marx, p. 139) says that Normandy was entrusted
BOOK IV 223
to the city with five hundred knights, suspecting nothing. But
during the first night the citizens fell upon them in a body,
slaughtering him and all his knights except two who managed
to escape. Brave as they were the men had no chance to defend
themselves, for they were attacked unawares, deceitfully, and by
overwhelming numbers.
Not long afterwards Robert son of Richard, guardian of the
castle at York, was slaughtered with many of his men. The English
now gained confidence in resisting the Normans, whom they saw
as oppressors of their friends and allies. Fealty, oaths, and the
safety of the hostages were forgotten in their anger at the loss of
their patrimonies and the deaths of their kinsmen and fellow
countrymen.
Marleswein, Gospatric, 1 Edgar Atheling, Archill, the four sons
of Karl, and other powerful rebels met together, and joining forces
with the citizens and men of the district dared to launch an attack
on the royal castle in York. William called Malet, 2 who was
castellan there, sent word to the king that he would be compelled
to surrender unless his beleaguered forces were speedily relieved.
Swift was the king's coming; he fell on the besiegers and spared
no man. Many were captured, more killed, and the remainder put
to flight. The king remained a further eight days in the city, built
a second castle,3 and left Earl William fitz0sbern4 as castellan
there. He himself returned to Winchester with a thankful heart,
and celebrated Easter there. The English made one further attack
on both castles after the king's departure; but they could not
prevail against Earl William and his men who engaged them hotly
in one of the baileys, 5 killing and capturing many whilst the
remainder prolonged their lives for a while through flight.
Whilst he was quelling the storms of war that rose on every side,
King William sent his beloved wife Matilda back to Normandy so
that she might give up her time to religious devotions in peace,
away from the English tumults, and together with the boy Robert
could keep the duchy secure. 6 She was a kinswoman of Philip
king of France, 7 she sprang from the stock of the kings of Gaul
to Robert when King William returned to England in 1068. If Robert was born
in 1051, the earliest possible date, he would then have been seventeen years old.
There is charter evidence that might support Matilda's visit to Normandy in the
summer of 1069 (Douglas, WC, p. 218 n. 1).
7
Matilda and Philip I were first cousins: Matilda's mother Adela was
Henry I's sister.
 224 BOOK IV
originem ducebat, eximiaque tam generis quam morum nobilitate
clue bat. Egregio marito edidit utriusque sexus optatam sobolem, 1
T
I
i
.
'
ii. 189 Rodbertum et Ricardum, Guillelmum Rufum et Henricum,
Agatham et Constantiam, Adelizam, Adelam et Ceciliam:' quibus
in hac uariabili uita sors diuersa prouenit, et dicacibus sophistis
ingentes libros edendi uberem materiam tribuit. Reginam hanc
simul decorauere forma, genus, litterarum scientia, cuncta morum
et uirtutum pulchritudo, et quad his laude immortali dignius est
firma fides et studiosus amor Christi. Elemosina cui cotidie fer-
uenter hrec era insistebat...1 marito agonizanti in procinctu bellico
plus quam fari norim succurrebat.
Duo filii Heraldi regis Anglire, mesti pro patris occisione suique
propulsione...1 confugerant ad Dyrmetum regem Hibernire. Eius et
principum regni suffragio adiuti sunt:' et lxvi naues armata manu
oneratas ducentes Exonio appulerunt. 2 Deinde progredientes a
littore terram audacius depopulari ceperunt...1 et ferro igneque fu-
ii. 190 rentes maxima patrare damna conati sunt. Protinus illis Briennus
Eudonis comitis Britannire minoris filius3 et Guillelmus Gualdi
cum armis obuii fuerunt, et duobus uno die conflictibus hor-
rendam multitudinem in earn paucitatem redegerunt...1 ut residui
duabus scaphis subtracti aufugerent, et Hiberniam luctu reple-
rent. At nisi nox prrelium diremisset:' ne nuncius quidem cladis
repatriauisset. I uste id omen co mitatum est natos pro tiranno
genitore uindictam qurerentes...1 et huic intentioni opem ferentes.
Inter hrec4 Gisa Goduini uxor Heraldi genitrix ingentem gazam
clanculum sumpsit...1 et pro timore Guillelmi regis in Galliam non
reditura transmeauit.
In illa tempestate Suenus rex Danorum magnam classem Danis
et Anglis accuratissime instruxit, duosque filios suos et Osbernum
fratrem suum pontificesque duos comitesque tres dilectissimos
prrefecit, et in Angliam misit.s Multotiens enim pecuniis Anglorum
et obnixis precibus fuerat sollicitatus, et ruina suorum qui nuper
1 The sons are well known: Richard died young; Robert became duke of
Normandy, and William and Henry kings of England. The daughters are
enumerated with variations in different places, and Orderic is not consistent.
See above p. 104 n. 4.
2 The sons of Harold made at least two raids from Ireland. This must be the
attack of Midsummer 1069, described by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D,
1069), when Count Brian turned them back. Florence (FW ii. 3) like the D
chronicle gives the number of ships as sixty-four. Orderic's details are closer
to the chronicle than to Florence. In describing an earlier raid in 1068 Florence
names three sons of Harold: Godwin, Edmund, and Magnus; the first two
sometimes occur in later sources alone. Orderic exaggerates the number of the
slain.
3 See EYC iv. 16, 84-85 for Count Brian.
BOOK IV
and emperors of Germany, and was renowned equally for nobility
of blood and character. She bore her distinguished husband the
225
offspring he desired, both sons and daughters: 1 Robert and
Richard, William Rufus and Henry, Agatha and Constance,
Adelaide, Adela, and Cecilia. They in this uncertain life met with
varying fortunes, and left abundant material for eloquent and
learned men to compose mighty tomes. The queen herself was
endowed with fairness of face, noble birth, learning, beauty of
character, and-what is and ever will be more worthy of praise-
strong faith and fervent love of Christ. The alms which this
princess daily distributed with such zeal brought more succour
than I can express to her husband, struggling on the field of battle.
Two of the sons of Harold, king of England, mourning for the
death of their father and their own defeat, fled to Dermot king of
Ireland. Both he and the princes of his kingdom gave them
support, and they landed at Exeter 2 in command of sixty-six ships
loaded with armed men. Moving inland and gaining confidence
they began to lay waste the land; and destroying with fire and
sword they did all the harm they could. Forthwith Brian, son of
Eudo count of Brittany, 3 and William Gualdi led an armed force
against them, and in the course of two battles fought in one day
reduced this fearful multitude to so few that the survivors escaped
in two light skiffs, and filled Ireland with mourning. Indeed if
night had not put an end to the battle not one would have survived
to carry home news of the disaster. How just that such a fate
should befall sons seeking to avenge a tyrant father and all those
who aided them in this enterprise!
Whilst these events were taking place, 4 Gytha, widow of Godwin
and mother of Harold, secretly gathered together a great store of
treasure and, through fear of King William, fled to France, never
to return.
At this time Swein king of Denmark fitted out a great fleet of
Danes and English; and giving the command to his two sons,
Osbern his brother, two bishops, and three earls whom he held in
high esteem, sent it to England.s He had received many messengers
from the English begging for help and sending subsidies; and
4 Orderic leaves the date vague. According to Florence (ii. 2) Harold's mother
Gytha fled overseas to Flanders when Exeter fell to the Normans early in 1068.
5 Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, E, 1069); FW ii. 3. The fleet, which first
appeared off the coast of Kent, arrived at the mouth of the Humber in early
September 1069.
822204 Q
 ii. 191
BOOK IV
in Heraldi conflictu occisi fuerant motus.1 quin etiam proxima
cognatione ad regni cupidinem incitatus, utpote nepos Eduardi
regis Hardecunuti filius. 1 Hie ingenti potentia pollebat. Vniuersas
T BOOK IV
regni sui uires contrahebat..1 quibus a uicinis regionibus et amicis
auxilia magna coaceruabat. Adiuuabant eum Polenia, Frisia necne
Saxonia. Leuticia quoque pro Anglicis opibus auxiliares turmas
mittebat. In ea populosissima natio consistebat, qure gentilitatis
adhuc errore detenta uerum Deum nesciebat:1 sed ignorantire
muscipulis illaqueata Guodenen et Thumm Freamque aliosque
falsos deos immo dremones colebat. Hrec gens terra marique
prreliari perita erat, quam Suenus cum rege suo sepe uicerat:1
sureque ditioni subegerat. Multis itaque triumphis sullimatus:' ut
sibi adhuc augeret potentiam et decus, contra Guillelmum regem
I
'l ~:
I I
: '
ut prrediximus.1 magnam classem in Angliam misit Suenus.
Appulsos Doueram regiorum militum occursus reppulit. Itidem
,11 apud Sanguicum abacti sunt, sed a N ormannis repulsi sunt. N acti
opportunitatem egrediendi apud Gepesuicum in prredam diffusi
sunt:1 sed prouinciales congregati xxx necauerunt, et reliquos in
effugium coegerunt. Egressus N orthguici ad similem discursionem
Radulfus de Guader inuasit:1 et multis ferro, multis aqua uitam
ademit, et reliquos. turpiter nauigium arripientes in pelagus abire
ii. 192 compulit. Rex autem Guillelmus tune in Dana silua erat, ibique
pro more uenatui uacabat. Illic audito aduentu Dacorum, statim
nuncium direxit Eborachum.1 monens suos ut sese cautius in eos
prrepararent, ipsumque si forte necessitas posceret aduocarent.
Remandauerunt custodes prresidiorum:1 non indigeri subuentu
eius ad annum. lam Adelinus, Gualleuus, Siguardus aliique
prrepotentes Angli ad Danos contulerant se. Peruentum est ad
Humbrre lati fluminis hostium. Adelinus ibi seorsum ab socia
turba cum quibusdam suorum prredatum ierat. Quos insiliens
familia regis e Lincolia cepit omnes.1 exceptis duobus cum Adelino
elapsis, et nauim confregit, quam custodia pauens deseruit.
Dani Eborachum accedunt..1 nimisque incolarum contubernio
aucti sunt. Gualleuus enim, Gaius Patricius, Marius Suenus,
1
This is wrong: Swein was the son of Earl Ulf and Cnut the Great's sister
Estrith; he was a first cousin of Hardacnut, the son of Cnut and Emma, but
there was no blood kinship with Emma's son by her first marriage, Edward the
Confessor. The Scandinavian interest in the English throne derived from Cnut,
and not from the children of Emma's first marriage.
I
I
~
he was moved by the death and disaster that had overtaken his
men in Harold's war; but he was influenced even more by his
desire for the kingdom to which, as nephew of King Edward and
227
son of Hardacnut, 1 he had a claim of inheritance. He was a man
who enjoyed great power and he strained all the resources of his
kingdom as well as amassing numerous troops from the neigh-
bouring regions, which were friendly towards him. Poland, Frisia,
and Saxony all helped. Lithuania also sent many auxiliary troops
to the aid of the English. In this region was a teeming race which
was still blinded by heathen error and did not know the true God;
ensnared by ignorance the people worshipped Wodin, Thor,
Freya, and other false gods, or rather demons. They excelled in
fighting on sea and land, but Swein had frequently gained victories
over them and their king and reduced them to submission. And
so, grown over-confident through his victories, and hoping to
raise his power and reputation still higher, Swein-as I said
before-sent a mighty fleet to England against King William.
Landing at Dover they were attacked by royal forces and driven
off to Sandwich, where they were again repulsed by the Normans.
They seized an opportunity of landing and plundering around
Ipswich, but the inhabitants rallied against them, killed thirty, and
drove the rest away. When they landed at Norwich on a similar
foray Ralph of Gael fell upon them, killed many, drove others to
their death by drowning, and forced the rest to take shameful
flight to their ships and put to sea. King William at the time was
enjoying one of his regular hunting expeditions in the Forest of
Dean. The moment he heard of the coming of the Danes he sent
a messenger to York to tell his men to prepare for an attack and
send for him if they were hard-pressed. The custodians of the
castles there replied that they could hold out without help for
a year. But already the Atheling, Waltheof, Siward, and the other
English leaders had joined the Danes. The enemy reached the
wide estuary of the Humber. There the Atheling left the main
body of troops to go on a foraging raid with some of his followers.
The king's garrison, sallying out from Lincoln, fell on them
unawares, took all prisoner except the Atheling and two men who
escaped with him, and broke up the ship, which was abandoned by
its panic-stricken guards.
The Danes reached York, and a general rising of the inhabitants
swelled their ranks. Waltheof, Gospatric, Marleswein, Elnoc,
 BOOK IV
Elnocinus, Archillus et quattuor filii Karoli antesignani erant,
et Danos N orthwigenasque prrecedebant. Castellani obuiam eis
inconsultius exeunt:' et intra urbis mcenia infeliciter confiigunt.
Non ualentes resistere multitudini:1 omnes aut interimuntur aut
capiuntur. 1 Castella desolata patent. Securo regi casus suorum
nunciatur, terribilitas hominum maior quam sit amplificantea fama
refertur:' et quod cum ipso dimicaturi confidenter prrestolentur.
Rex ergo tam dolore quam ira conturbatur:' ac ad hostes cum
exercitu properare conatur. Illi uero metu magni debellatoris in
Humbram aufugiunt:' et ripre qure Lindissem attingit applicant.
ii. 193 Ipse illuc cum equitatu contendit, nefarios quosdam in paludibus
pene inaccessibilibus reperit, gladioque punit, et aliquot latibula
diruit. In ripam alteram euadunt Dani, opperientes tempus quo
se sociosque suos possent ulcisci.
Eo tempore Saxones occidentales de Dorseta et Summerseta
cum suis confinibus Montem-Acutum assilierunt:' sed diuino nutu
impediti sunt. Nam Guentani, Lundonii, Salesberii, Gaufredo
Constantiensi prresule ductore superuenerunt, quosdam per-
emerunt, partim captos mutilauerunt, reliquos fugauerunt. Guali
et Cestrenses prresidium regis apud Scrobesburiam obsederunt:'
quibus incolre ciuitatis cum Edrico Guilda potenti et bellicoso uiro
aliisque ferocibus Anglis auxilio fuerunt. Idem apud Exoniam
Exoniensis comitatus habitatores fecere:' et undique coadunata
turba ex Cornu Britannire. Nam supremi fines Anglorum occi-
dentem uersus et Hiberniam Cornu Britannire, id est Cornuallia
nominantur. Exonire ciues regi fauebant:' non immemores pres-
surarum quas olim passi fuerant. Protinus rex ubi hrec accepit:1
comites duos Guillelmum et Briennum2 laborantibus subuenire
prrecepit. Verum priusquam illi Scrobesburiam peruenissent:' urbe
combusta hastes discesserant. Defensores quoque Exonire subito
194 eruperunt.J et impetu in se obsidentes abegerunt. Fugientibus obuii
Guillelmus et Briennus grandi cede temeritatem punierunt.
Rex interim apud Estafort quam plurimos factiosarum partium
facili prouentu deleuit. In tot certaminibus sanguis utrinque
multus effunditur:' et tam inermis quam armata plebs diuersis
infortuniis hinc inde miserabiliter concutitur. Lex Dei passim
a MS. amplicante
1 York fell on 20 September 1069.
2 William fitzOsbern and Count Brian.
BOOK IV 229
Archill, and. the four sons of Karl were in the advance guard and
led the Damsh and Norse forces. The garrison made a rash sally
to attack them and. engaged them ill-advisedly within the city
walls. Unable to resist such numbers they were all slain or taken
prisoner . 1 The castles were left undefended. News of their fate
reached the king who had thought himself secure, and rumour
exaggerated the fearful numbers of the enemy, who were said to
be confi?ently awaiting battle with the king himself. The king was
filled with sorrow and anger, and mustering his army made all
speed to join battle. But the enemy, fearing the conqueror, had
fled across the Humber and landed on the Lindsey side. The king
hastened to the spot with his knights, hunted out some of the ill-
doers who had taken refuge in the almost inaccessible marshes,
put them to the sword, and wiped out their hiding-places. The
Danes escaped back to the other shore, waiting for a suitable
opportunity to avenge themselves and their comrades.
About this time the West Saxons of Dorset and Somerset with
their neighbours attacked Montacute, but by the will of God failed
to take it. For the men of Winchester, London, and Salisbury,
under the leadership of Geoffrey bishop of Coutances, marched
against the~, killed some, captured and mutilated others, and put
the rest to flight. The Welshmen and men of Chester besieged the
royal stronghold at Shrewsbury, and were assisted by the native
citizens, the powerful and warlike Edric the Wild, and other
untameable Englishmen. The men of Devon were attacking Exeter
in the same way, allied with hordes from Cornwall. This most
westerly part of Britain, lying towards Ireland, is called the 'horn
of Britain', or Cornwall. The citizens of Exeter took the king's
side, for they were not likely to forget the hardships they had once
endured. As soon as the king had word of these happenings he
sent two earls, William and Brian, 2 to help the hard-pressed
defenders. But before they could reach Shrewsbury the enemy
had burned the town and scattered. The garrison of Exeter
suddenly broke out, surprising the besiegers and driving them
away; William and Brian, meeting the fugitives, punished their
audacity with great slaughter.
Meanwhile the king had had no difficulty in crushing large
forces of rebels at Stafford. In all these battles much blood had
fl.owed on both sides, and combatants and non-combatants alike
had been reduced to great wretchedness by the disturbances.
 z30 BOOK IV
uiolatur.J et recclesiasticus rigor prene ab omnibus dissoluitur.
Cedes miserorum multiplicantur, animreque cupiditatis et irre
T BOOK IV
stimulis sauciantur et cateruatim hinc inde ad inferna raptantur,
damnante Deo cuius iudicia iustissima esse comprobantur. Rex
Guillelmus cum a Lindisse reuerteretur:' reliquit ibi germanum
suum Rodbertum Moritoliensem comitem et Rodbertum Aucen-
sem, qui Danorum excursiones arcerent. Dani aliquandiu delituere.
Verum postquam tuta sunt opinati:' conuiuiis prouincialium qure
uulgo firmam appellant illecti ad terram egrediuntur. Ambo
comites ex improuiso eos inuadunt, epulas cruore confundunt:'
instant trepidis, ad naues usque cedendo fugientes persequuntur.
Diuulgatur iterum eosdem latrunculos Eborachum aduenire.J qua
N atalem Dominicum celebrent, seque ad prreliandum prreparent.
Properans illo rex e Snotingeham.J prrepeditur ad Fracti Pontis
ii. 1 95 aquam, impatientem uadi nee nauigio usitatam. Reditum suadenti-
bus non adquiescit. Pontem fieri uolentibus.J id opportunum non
esse respondet, ne hostis repente super eos irruereU et inferendre
cladis occasionem in ipso opere haberet. Tres ebdomadas illic
detinentur. Denique Lisois audax miles quern de Monasteriis
agnominabant flumen summopere attemptabat, et uadum supra
infraque queritabat. Per multam demum difficultatem locum
transmeabilem deprehendit.J et cum LX magnanimis equitibus
pertransiuit, super quos hostium multitudo irruit.J sed his acer-
rime repugnantibus non prreualuit. Postero die Lisois reuersus
prodit uadum, nee mora traducitur exercitus. Itur per siluas,
paludes, montana, ualles, artissimo tramite qui binos lateraliter
ire non patiebatur. Sic Eboracho appropinquatum est.J sed Danos
aufugisse nunciatum est. Rex autem tribunos et prresides cum
armatorum manu qui restaurarent in urbe castella direxit.J et alios
nichilominus in ripa Humbrre qui Danis resisterent reliquit. Ipse
uero in saltuosa quredam et difficillime accessibilia loca con-
tendit.J et abditos illic hastes persequi summopere studuit. Spacio
centum miliariorum castra eius diffunduntur. Plerosque gladio
uindice ferit, aliorum latebras euertit.J terras deuastat, et domos
cum rebus omnibus concremat. Nusquam tanta crudelitate usus
est Guillelmus. Hie turpiter uitio succubuit.J dum iram suam regere
Everywhere the law of God was broken, and ecclesiastical dis-
cipline universally undermined. Massacres of wretched people
increased, souls were imperilled by the sins of envy and anger
231
and in their thousands swept away to Hell, damned by God whose
judgement is assuredly most just. When King William returned
from Lindsey he left behind his brother, Robert count of Mortain
with Robert count of Eu to prevent the Danes from breaking out:
For a while the Danes lay in hiding; but when they judged it safe
they came. out of the ma.rshes to share the feasts of the country
people which are colloqmally known as 'feorms'. The two counts
fell upon them ~mexpe~tedly and cut them to pieces as they sat
at table; spreadmg pamc they pursued and cut down those who
fled for the ships. It was rumoured abroad that these brigands had
returned to York to celebrate Christmas and prepare themselves
for battle. As the king hurried there from Nottingham his way was
barred at Pontefract by the river, which was neither fordable nor
safe .for navigati~n. He rejected all .advice to turn back. To the sug-
gest10n that a bndge should be bmlt he answered that it would be
unsafe to give the enemy a chance of falling suddenly on them
and inflicting heavy slaughter whilst they were engaged in bridge-
building. They were delayed there for three weeks. At length
a knight of outstanding courage, Lisois of Moutiers, made a deter-
mined effort to cross the river, riding up and down stream in
search of a ford. At last he found a place that could be forded with
great difficulty, and with sixty gallant knights made the crossing.
The enemy attacked them in large numbers, but they fought back
fiercely and beat off the attackers. Next day Lisois returned to
point out the ford, and led the army over without delay. Their
route now lay through woods, marshes, mountains, valleys, along
paths so narrow that two men could not walk abreast. So at last
they approached York only to learn that the Danes had fled. The
king assigned officers and castellans with armed retainers to repair
the castles in the city, and left others on the bank of the Humber
to ward off the Danes. He himself continued to comb forests and
remote mountainous places, stopping at nothing to hunt out the
enemy hidden there. His camps were spread out over an area of
a hundred miles. He cut down many in his vengeance; destroyed
the lairs of others; harried the land, and burned homes to ashes.
Nowhere else had William shown such cruelty. Shamefully he
succumbed to this vice, for he made no effort to restrain his fury
 232 BOOK IV
contempsit, et reos innocuosque pari animaduersione peremit.
~·
Iussit enim ira stimulante segetibus et pecoribus cum uasis et
omni genere alimentorum repleri, et igne iniecto penitus omnia
simul comburi, et sic omnem alimoniam per totam regionem
Transhumbranam pariter deuastari. 1 V nde sequenti tempore tam
grauis in Anglia late seuit penuria, et inermem ac simplicem
populum tanta famis inuoluit miseria, ut christianre gentis utrius-
que sexus et omnis retatis homines perirent plus quam centum
milia. In multis Guillelmum nostra libenter extulit relatio, 2 sed
in hoc quod una iustum et impium tabidre famis lancea reque
transfixit laudare non audeo. Nam dum innocuos infantes iuuenes-
que uernantes et floridos canicie senes fame periclitari uideo:'
misericordia motus miserabilis populi meroribus et anxietatibus
magis condoleo, quam tantre cedis reo friuolis adulationibus
fauere inutiliter studeo. a Prreterea indubitanter assero:' quod
impune non remittetur tam feralis occisio. Summos enim et imos
intuetur omnipotens iudex:' et reque omnium facta discutiet ac
puniet iustissimus uindex, ut palam omnibus enodat Dei perpetua
lex.
Inter bella Guillelmus ex ciuitate Guenta iubet afferri coronam,
aliaque ornamenta regalia et uasa, et dimisso exercitu in castris
Eborachum pergit, ibique Natale Saluatoris nostri concelebrat.
Rursum comperit hostile collegium in angulo quodam regionis
latitare, mari uel paludibus undique munito. 3 V nicus aditus per
solidum intromittit:' latitudine tantum uiginti pedum patens.
4Prredam abundantem contraxerant, securi agitabant:' nullam sibi
::r
1·1,l11i1;11
uim nocere posse putabant. At tamen ut agmen regium approxi-
mare audierunt:' noctu quantocius abierunt. Rex ardens infestos
ii. 197 sibi hostes ad flumen Tesiam insequitur, et auia perrumpit.J
quorum asperitas interdum peditem eum ire compellit. Super
Tesiam sedens quindecim dies transegit. Ibi reconciliati sunt
Gualleuus prresens et Gaius Patricius absens sacramento per
legatos exhibito. Horum paulo ante contubernales iam periclita-
bantur Dani:' ut uagi piratre fluctibus et uentis iactati. Vrgebat eos
a magis and quam ... studeo added later by Orderic.
1 The severity of William's harrying of the north is shown by the amount of
waste recorded in Domesday Book, though the waste areas were partly due to
other causes (T. A. M. Bishop, 'The Norman settlement of Yorkshire', in Studies
in Medieval History presented to F. M. Powicke (Oxford, 1948), pp. l-14).
2 In the condemnation of William it is certainly Orderic and not William
of Poitiers who speaks.
3 The most likely site for the camp is Tod Point, near Coatham, on the
southern shore of the mouth of the Tees, though Bamburgh has been suggested.
See Scott, Arch. Aeliana, xxx (1952), 181-3.
!i
1
BOOK IV
and punished the innocent with the guilty. In his anger he com-
233
manded that all crops and herds, chattels and food of every kind
should be brought together and burned to ashes with consuming
fire, so that the whole region north of Humber might be stripped
of all means of sustenance. 1 In consequence so serious a scarcity
was felt in England, and so terrible a famine fell upon the humble
and defenceless populace, that more than rno,ooo Christian folk
of both sexes, young and old alike, perished of hunger. My
narrative has frequently had occasion to praise William, 2 but for
this act which condemned the innocent and guilty alike to die by
slow starvation I cannot commend him. For when I think of help-
less children, young men in the prime of life, and hoary grey-
beards perishing alike of hunger I am so moved to pity that
I would rather lament the griefs and sufferings of the wretched
people than make a vain attempt to flatter the perpetrator of such
infamy. Moreover, I declare that assuredly such brutal slaughter
cannot remain unpunished. For the almighty Judge watches over
high and low alike; he will weigh the deeds of all men in a fair
balance, and as a just avenger will punish wrongdoing, as the
eternal law makes clear to all men.
In the midst of the fighting William sent to the city of Win-
chester for his crown and other royal insignia and plate, left his
army in camp, and came to York to celebrate Christmas there. He
learned that another enemy band was lying hidden in a narrow
neck of land sheltered on all sides by sea or marshes.3 It could be
reached only by one narrow causeway, no more than twenty feet
wide. 4They had laid in ample supplies and believed themselves
safe, regarding their position as impregnable. In spite of this, on
learning that a royal force was approaching, they instantly fled
away by night. The king, raging, pursued his bitter enemies to the
river Tees, forcing his way through trackless wastes, over ground
so rough that he was frequently compelled to go on foot. He spent
fifteen days encamped on the bank of the Tees. There Waltheof
and Gospatric submitted to him and took oaths of fealty, Waltheof
in person and Gospatric by proxies. Their recent allies the Danes
were now in grave peril as wandering pirates, at the mercy of
4 From 'pnedam abundantem' to 'incolumem usque Cestram perduxit' on
p. 236 Orderic's text can be proved to be very close to William of Poi tiers', since
many phrases occur also in the Liber Eliensis, whose author borrowed freely
from William of Poitiers. See Liber Eliensis, pp. xxviii, 188-91.
 234 BOOK IV
I
non minus fames quam tempestas. Pars naufragio periit. Residui
I'
uitam uilissima pulte sustentabant, nee solum milites gregarii,
uerum ipsi quoque principes, comites atque pontifices. Carnes
penitus defecerant:' quibus diu rancidis et putridis uescebantur.
Egredi ad comportandum rapinas non audebant:' neque littus
propter incolarum terrorem uspiam adtingere. Tandem magnre
classis exigme reliquire Daciam repetierunt, et Sueno regi suo
magna discrimina qure perpessi sunt:1 nimiamque ferocitatem
hostium suorumque ruinam sodalium flebiliter retulerunt.
Mense ianuario rex Guillelmus Haugustaldam reuertebatur
a Tesia, 1 uia qure hactenus exercitui erat intemptata:' qua crebro
acutissima iuga et uallium humillimre sedes, cum uicinia serenitate
uerna gaudet, niuibus compluuntur. At ille in acerrimo hiemis
gelu transiuit:' animosque militum alacritate sua confirmauit. Illud
iter difficulter peractum est:' in quo sonipedum ingens ruina facta
est. Anxius pro sua quisque salute extitit.J dominique parum aut
amici meminit. In ea difficultate rex cum senis tantum equiti-
ii. 198 bus aberrauiU et noctem integram· ubinam essent quos ductabat
ignarus exegit. Eborachum reuersus complura illic castella re-
,1!'1
staurauit.J et urbi ac regioni commoda ordinauit. Deinde mouet
,'!!t expeditionem contra Cestrenses et Gualos.J qui prreter alias offensas
11il nuperrime Scrobesburiam obsederunt. Exercitus autem qui dura
11ill
tolerauerat:' in hoc itinere multo duriora restare timebat. Vere-
I !I!
batur enim locorum asperitatem hiemis intemperiem, alimentorum
': :J1 inopiam et hostium terribilem ferociam. Andegaui, Britones et
' I I :~1 ;1
Cenomanni seruitiis ut dicebant intolerabilibus oppido graua-
bantur, uncle pertinaciter a rege missionem petentes conquere-
bantur. Sui nimirum ad expurgationem depromebant non posse
obsequi domino semper noua et immoderata audenti, nimiaque
prrecipienti. Rex autem constantiam Iulii Cresaris in tali necessi-
tate secutus est:' nee eos multo precatu seu nouis promissis retinere
1 King William had spent Christmas at York; this is the first mention of
Hexham, and it is not on the route from the mouth of the Tees to York, where
he was 'returning'. There are consequently difficulties in taking the passage at
its face value, and as William of Poi tiers is unlikely to have had first-hand know-
ledge of the region, various possible errors have been suggested (see Scott,
Arch. Aeliana, xxx. 182-4). (1) That Tees is a mistake for Tweed, and Waltheof's
camp was at Bamburgh, not Coatham. (2) That William of Poitiers mistook
Helmeslac (Helmsley), a place probably unknown to him, for the more familiar
Haugustaldam, and that William in fact marched from Coatham to York by way
of Helmsley and the Hambledon Hills. On the other hand, Simeon of Durham
~
' BOOK IV :235
winds and waves. They suffered as much from hunger as from
storms. Some perished through shipwreck. The remainder sus-
tained life with vile pottage; princes, earls, and bishops being no
better off than the common soldiers. Their supplies of meat-
even of the rancid and putrid flesh they had long been eating-
were completely exhausted. They dared not venture out to seek
plunder, or even come to shore for fear of the inhabitants. Finally,
the meagre remnants of the great fleet returned to Denmark and
told King Swein the woeful story of all the hazards they had
endured, the terrible savagery of the enemy, and the loss of their
comrades.
In January King William left the Tees and returned to Hexham, 1
following a route no army had hitherto attempted, where towering
peaks and the precipitous valleys between them would be deep
in snow even when the countryside around blossomed with the
spring. Undeterred, he crossed them in the depths of a bitter
winter, encouraging his soldiers by his own cheerfulness. With
great difficulty they struggled on, losing many horses on the way.
Every man thought only of his own safety, giving little heed to his
lord or friends. During this difficult passage the king, accom-
panied by only six knights, lost his way and for a whole night
wandered vainly in search of the men he was leading. Safely back
at York he restored the castles there and established order in the
city and surrounding district. Then he undertook an expedition
against the Welsh and the men of Chester, who had recently
crowned their many lawless acts by besieging Shrewsbury. His
army, which had already endured great hardship, feared that even
greater trials were in store in this journey. They feared the wildness
of the region, the severity of winter, the scarcity of food, and the
terrible ferocity of the enemy. The men of Anjou, Brittany, and
Maine loudly complained that they were grievously burdened with
intolerable duties, and repeatedly asked the king to discharge
them from his service. They urged in defence of their conduct that
they could not obey a lord who went from one hazard to another
and commanded them to do the impossible. The king, however,
maintained a calmness worthy of Julius Caesar in this crisis, and
did not deign to attempt to hold them with prayers and promises.
(Historia Regum, RS ii. 188) speaks of the king's army's being spread out to harry
the country from York to Durham; and if this is so William may have returned
to York from the Tees indirectly by way of Hexham.
ii
 236 BOOK IV
dignatus est. Audacter inceptum iter init, .fidasque si?i cohortes
se sequi prrecipit, desertor~s ue~o uelut ~ner~e~ pamd?sq~e et
inualidos si discedant parmpend1t. Post diffic1lhmas fatiga~10nes
uictoribus requiem promittit:' n~c ?d honores. po~se pe:t.mgere
nisi per labores asserit. Indefess1m 1taque p~rg1t ma eqmtl nu?-
quam ante experta, in qua sunt montes .ardm et ~alles. profund1s-
simre.J riui et amnes perieulosi, et uoragmosa uallmm 1ma. In hac
uia gradientes sepe nimio uexabantu~ imbre.J m~x~a inter~um
grandine. Aliquando prrestabant cunctls usum eqm m palud1bus
eneeti. I pse rex multoties agiliter pedes cunetos prreced~bat,
et laborantes manibus impigre adiuuabat. Tandem exerc1tum
incolumem usque Cestram perduxiU et in tota Merciorum !:gione
ii. 199 motus hostiles regia ui compeseuit. a Tune Cestrre m~mt1~r:em
condidit et in reuersione sua apud Estafort alteram locamU mihtes
et alimonias abunde utrobique imposuit. Perueniens inde Sales-
buriam prremia militibus ibi p~o tanta toleran~ia largissi~e ?i~­
tribuit, bene meritos collaudamt, et cum grat1a multa dtmlSlt.
Desertores autem ad dies quadraginta ultra discessum commili-
tonum per indignationem retinuit.J eaque prena delictum quod
peius meruit castigauit. . . . .
Post hree Guillelmus rex Domm1eam Resurrect10nem m urbe
Guenta celebrauit.J ubi cardinales Romance reeclesire coronam ei
solenniter imposuerunt. Nam ex petitione 1 ipsius Alexander papa
tres idoneos ei ut karissimo filio legauerat uicarios.J Ermenfredum
pontificem Sedunorum et duos canonieos 2 cardinales. Quos apud
se ferme annuo spacio 3 retinuit.J audiens et honorans eos tanquam
angelos Dei. In diuersi~ lo~is !n
pluri~is r:eg~eiis s~c eger.e.J sic~t
indigas canoniere exammat10ms et ordmat10ms reg10nes 11las d1-
nouere. Maxima uero ac utillima sinodus Windresoris celebrata
est, anno millesimo septuagesimo ab incarnatione Domini. Rex
et cardinales eidem concilio prresiderunt.J et illic Stigandum
pridem reprobatum anathemate deposuerunt. 4 Periuriis enim et
homicidiis coinquinatus erat, nee per hostium in archiprresulatum
introierat. Nam a duobus episcopiis Norfulcano et Guentano
a MS. compescucuit
1 This passage has many phrases in common with the Vita Lanfranci (cap. 6,
Migne, PL, cl. 40). See above, Introduction, pp. xxxii-xxxiii.
2
At this date the term 'canonicus' could be used simply of any secular clerk,
as distinct from a monk.
J Florence says that the cardinals John and Peter returned to Rome before
Pentecost, and only the bishop of Sion (Sitten) remained (FW ii. 6). If this is
Peter Bibliothecarius he was certainly subscribing bulls by at least October.
"" According to Florence (FW ii. 5-6) Stigand was deposed in a Council
held at Winchester at Easter, 1070, and Thomas was appointed to York and
BOOK IV
237
He continued on the venture he had so boldly undertaken, com-
manded his faithful troops to follow him, and counted any who
chose to desert him as idle cowards and weaklings. He promised
that the victors should enjoy rest when their great labours were
over, assuring them that they could not hope to win rewards
without toil. And so he pushed on with determination along a road
no horseman had attempted before, over steep mountains and
precipitous valleys, through rivers and rushing streams and deep
abysses. As they stumbled along the path they were lashed with
rain and hail. Sometimes all were obliged to feed on horses which
had perished in the bogs. The king himself, remarkably sure-
footed, led the foot-soldiers, readily helping them with his own
hands when they were in difficulties. So at last he brought his
army safely to Chester and suppressed all risings throughout
Mercia with royal power. He built a castle at Chester and another
at Stafford on his return, garrisoning both and supplying them
with abundant provisions. Then going on to Salisbury he distri-
buted lavish rewards to the soldiers for all they had endured,
praised those who had shown prowess, and discharged them with
warm thanks. But in his anger he kept back those who had wished
to desert him for forty days after the departure of their comrades,
and in this way punished a crime that had deserved far more.
After these events King William celebrated Easter in Win-
chester, where he was solemnly crowned by cardinals of the
Roman Church. For in reply to his petition 1 Pope Alexander had
sent three suitable legates to this cherished son of his, Ermenfrid
bishop of Sion and two cardinal priests. 2 He persuaded these men
to remain with him for a year ;J and listened to their counsels and
honoured them as though they had been angels of God. They took
part in much business up and down the country, as they found
needful in regions which lacked ecclesiastical order and discipline.
An important and influential synod was held at Windsor in the
year of our Lord 1070. The king and cardinals presided over the
council and Stigand, who had already been excommunicated, was
deposed there. 4 He had defiled himself with perjury and homicide;
and he had not honestly entered into the archbishopric by the
right door, but had climbed in from the two bishoprics of Norfolk
Walchelin to Winchester on Whitsunday, 1070, in the king's court at Windsor,
t~e day before the bishop of Sion held a synod. Orderic, possibly misled by
his source, has telescoped two courts.
1
J
I'
t

238 BOOK IV
infanda gradatione ambitionis ac supplantationis ascenderat. 1
ii. 200
Suffraganei quoque aliquot deiecti sunt:' indigni pontificatu propter
criminosam uitam et curre pastoralis inscitiam. Constituti autem
sunt nominandi prresules Normanni duo regii capellani, Gual-
chelinus Guentanorum et Thomas Eborachorum, 2 unus in loco
depositi, alter defuncti, uterque prudens, plenus mansuetudine
et humanitate, uenerabilis et amabilis hominibus, uerens et
amans Deum medullitus. Item alii subrogati sunt traducti ex
Gallia, litterati:' decorati moribus ac studiosi diuinorum amatores.
Multimodre honestatis studio in multis rex Guillelmus laudabilis
claruit:' maximeque in ministris Dei ueram religionem cui pax
interdum et prosperitas mundi famulatur semper amauit. Hoc
fama multiplex adtestatur:' hoc operum exhibitione certissime
comprobatur. Nam dum pastor quilibet completo uitre sure
termino de mundo migraret, et .lEcclesia Dei proprio rectore
uiduata lugeret:' sollicitus princeps prudentes legatos ad orbatam
domum mittebat, omnesque res recclesire ne a prophanis tutoribus
dissiparentur describi faciebat. Deinde prresules et abbates alios-
que sapientes consiliarios conuocabat, et eorum consilio quis
melior et utilior tam in diuinis rebus quam in srecularibus ad
regendam Dei domum uideretur summopere indagabat. Denique
illum quern pro uitre merito et sapientire doctrina prouisio sapien-
tum eligebat:' beniuolus rex dispensatorem et rectorem episcopatus
uel abbatire constituebat. Hane nimirum obseruationem quinqua-
ii. 201
ginta sex annis custodiuit:' quibus regimen in ducatu Normannire
seu regno Anglire tenuit, et inde religiosum morem et exemplum
posteris dereliquit. Simoniacam heresim omnimodis abhorrebat,
et ideo in eligendis abbatibus uel episcopis non tam opes seu
potentiam quam sanctitatem et sapientiam personarum con-
siderabat. Probatas uirtute personas crenobiis Anglire prrefecit,
quorum studio et rigore monachatus qui iam aliquantulum
tepuerat reuixit.J et qui defecisse uidebatur ad pristinum robur
surrexit.3
1 There were canonical grounds for the deposition of Stigand, who held the
r\11111111 sees of Winchester and Canterbury in plurality and had received his pallium
from an anti-pope. Some early writers make vague charges: Eadmer (Hist. Nov.,
p. 9) speaks of 'multa mala et horrenda crimina'; but Orderic's accusations of
homicide and perjury have no basis in known fact.
2 Thomas, treasurer of Bayeux, was a protege of Odo of Bayeux. He is also
called king's chaplain by Hugh the Chantor (History of the Church of York, ed.
Charles Johnson, p. 2). For his family see C. N. L. Brooke, 'Gregorian reform
in action', in Camb. Hist. Journal, xii (1956), 12 n. 39. Walchelin is called king's
chaplain by Florence of Worcester.
BOOK IV 239
and Winchester, up the shameful ladder of ambition and intrusion.1
Some suffragans were deposed at the same time because th ·
. f u 1 rives a_n d ignorance
sm · '
of the pastoral cure made eir
them un-
worthy of episcopal office. Two Normans, chaplains of the king,
were .chosen t~ be nominated as bishops; Walchelin as bishop
of Wi_nchester m place of the deposed Stigand, and Thomas as
archbishop of York,2 ':here the see was vacant through death.
Both were men of foresight, full of kindness and humanity, vener-
able and lovable to men, venerating and loving God in their in-
most souls. Others were promoted and brought over from France.
a11 were men of learning and virtuous life, devoted to the divin~
1
cut.
K.ing William was justly renowned for his reforming zeal· in
particular he always loved true religion in churchmen for on ~his
the p~a~e and prosperity of the world depend. There is evidence
of this m t~e reputation he enjoyed everywhere, and unquestion-
able proof m the works he performed. For when a bishop or abbot
had come to the ~nd of his life and died, and God's widowed
church was mo~rnmg the loss of its head, this pious prince sent
competent. officials. to the bereaved house and had all the churc h
property mventoned to prevent its dilapidation by sacrilegious
keepers. Then he summoned his bishops and abbots and other
prudent counsellors, and with their advice tried to find the man
most capable of g~verning the house of God in both spiritual and
secular matters. Fmally, the wise king appointed as administrator
and ruler of the abbey or bishopric whoever seemed to his hi h-
est counsel!ors specially distinguished in life and doctrine.1-£e
followed this course. for the fifty-six years that he ruled the duchy
of Normandy and kmgdom of England; so leaving a pious prece-
d~nt for othe:s to fo~lo':. The heresy of simony was detestable to
him, and so m appomtmg abbots or bishops he gave less weight
to wealth and pow~r than to wisdom and a good life. He appointed
abbots of ~n~w? virtue to ~~e Engli~h monasteries, so that by their
zeal a.nd disc1plme monast1c1sm, which for a time had been lax and
faltenng, revived and was restored to its former strength.3
3
~ing :William's churc? appoi?tments were far more influenced by secular
cons1derat10ns than ?rder~c here implies: but it is true that respect for church
reform
1 f was one cons1derat10n
· that counted with him · Cf· Davi"d K now 1es, 'Les
~a 1o?s monast1ques entre l~ ~?rmandie et l'Angleterre', in :Jumieges, i. 2 6 1 - 7 .
rdenc was well. a~are of cnttc1sms of William's church policy; but he chose
to express them indirectly (cf. below, p. 272).
 240 BOOK IV
rAugustinus enim et Laurentius aliique primi pnedicatores
Anglorum monachi fuerunt, et in episcopiis suis uice canonicorum
quod uix in aliis terris inuenitur monachos pie constituerunt.
Crenobia multa et prreclara construxerunt:' et conuersis instituta
regularia uerbis et exemplis tradiderunt. Magnifice igitur mona-
chilis ordo plus quam ducentis annis in Anglia fioruit, et Christiana
religio reges Anglorum Edelbertum et Eduinum, Osualdum et
Offam aliosque plures feliciter cohercuit.J et salubriter in montem
uirtutum sustulit, donec Edmundus Estanglorum rex cum duobus
aliis Anglire regibus paganorum gladio martir occubuit. Tune
ethnici reges Dano rum Oskytel et Gudrun, Anuind et Halfdene,
ii . .202
Inguar et Hubba cum turmis suis Angliam inuaserunt, recclesias
monachorum et clericorum concremauerunt, populumque Dei ut
bidentes mactauerunt.
Post aliquot annos Elfredus Gewissorum 2 rex filius Edeluulfi
regis in paganos surrexit, et uirtute Dei hostes aut peremit, aut
expulit aut subegit, et primus omnium regum monarchiam totius
Anglire solus obtinuit. Probitate et liberalitate laudabilique pro-
111 uidentia omnes Anglire reges prrecedentes et subsequentes ut reor
,, excellit, annisque xxix laudabiliter in regno peractis Eduardo
seniori filio suo sreptra reliquit. Pacificato itaque regni statu
I I
I I'~: religiosi principes et episcopi crenobia iterum ceperunt restaurare.
!II Et quia omnes monachi totius Albionis perempti fuerant aut
1·11 ..
I,:: fugati supradicta rabie gentilium.J miserunt egregium iuuenem
1::1111
Osualdum ad Floriacense cenobium, quod in Gallia Leodebodus
1t:
I
1
,,1111
Aurelianensis construxit supra Ligerim fluuium:' tempore Lodouei
I ·~II :11
filii Dagoberti regis Francorum.3 Locus ille admodum uenerabilis
est, ossibus sancti Benedicti patris et magistri monachorum:' qure
Aigulfus monachus a Mummolo abbate destinatus de Beneuentana
ii. 203 prouincia detulit in Aurelianensem pagum. Hoc nimirum contigit
post depopulationem Cassiniensis monasterii, 4 quam beatus pat~~
Benedictus cum lacrimis prredixerat Teoprobo monacho nob1h
1 The account that follows of the early history of monasticism in Engla?d
was composed as Orderic says (below, p. 246) from notes taken from ea~her
annals. The authors used include Bede and Florence of Worcester, and possibly
a Life of St. Oswald.
z The original name of the West Saxons. For the survival of this obsolete
form, recorded by Bede, cf. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 21 n. I.
BOOK IV 241
1We must recall that Augustine and Laurence and the other first
missionaries to the English were monks, and instead of canons
established monks in their episcopal centres, a practice almost
unknown elsewhere. They founded many great monasteries, and
both by their lives and by their teaching established regular
monastic customs amongst the converts. So the monastic order
throve and prospered in England for over two hundred years, and
Christian religion governed the lives of the English kings, l:Ethel-
bert, Edwin, Oswald, Offa, and many others, guiding their steps
to salvation by the arduous path of virtue, until Edmund king
of the East Angles and two other English kings fell as martyrs
under heathen swords. Then the heathen Danish kings, Oskytel
and Guthrum, Anwend and Halfdene, Inguar and Ubba invaded
England with their hordes, burning monasteries and churches
and slaughtering the Christian folk like sheep.
After some years Alfred king of the Gewisse, 2 son of King
1Ethelwulf, mustered his forces against the pagans, and by God's
help either slew or drove out or conquered the enemy, so that he
became the first king to hold sway over the whole of England. In
goodness, nobility, and statesmanship he stood, I believe, head
and shoulders above all the kings of England who came before and
after him; and after a glorious reign of twenty-nine years he left
the sceptre to his son, Edward the Elder. When order had been
restored in the kingdom and religion revived, lords and bishops
again began to found monasteries. And since all the monks
throughout the whole realm of Albion had been either slaughtered
or driven out by the heathen fury of which I spoke, they sent
Oswald, a noble young man, to the monastery of Fleury, which
Leodebod of Orleans had founded in France on the banks of the
Loire in the time of Clovis son of Dagobert, king of the Franks.3
The place is hallowed by the bones of St. Benedict, father and
teacher of monks, which brother Aigulf at the command of Abbot
Mummolus carried off from the province of Benevento into the
canton of Orleans. This I should mention happened after the sack
of Monte Cassino, 4 which the blessed father Benedict foretold,
weeping, to brother Theoprobus, a worthy servant of God; as we
3
The monastery of Fleury (Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire) was founded c. 651 in
the reign of Clovis II, son of Dagobert I.
4
Monte Cassino was sacked in 577; the translation of the relics to Fleury
took place nearly a hundred years later, in 672-4 (P. Schmitz, Histoire de l'Ordre
de Saint-Benoit, i (Maredsous, 1942), 30).
822204 R
 242 BOOK IV
seruo Dei.-1 ut in secundo dialogorum libro legimus, quern Petro
subdiacono luculenter edidit insignis doctor papa Gregorius. 1
T BOOK IV
Defuncto Clepone rege antequam Autarith filius eius ad
imperandum esset idoneus, et tota gens Langobardorum sine rege
subiugata esset xxxiv ducibus..1 pnedones Guinilorum furibundi
noctu impetum fecerunt, et Cassiniense monasterium depopulati
sunt..1 sed omnes monachi protegente Deo incolumes cum Bonito
abbate suo euaserunt. 2 Deinde c et x annis eadem desolatio ibidem
permansit..1 donec Petronax Brixensis episcopus Cassinum Montem
adiit et ibidem auxiliante Zacharia papa nobile crenobium re-
staurauit:13 quod usque in hodiernum diem magnifice sullimatum
cotidie crescit. Dum prrefata itaque desolatio perduraret, et
Cassinus Mons cultoribus careret..1 Floriacensis domus uolente
Deo ditata est precioso corpore prrecipui patris Benedicti, cuius
translationem Cisalpini crenobitre singulis annis solenniter et
ii. 204 deuote celebrant v. idus iulii. Illuc Osualdus reuerendus adolescens
accessit ut monachus fieret..i et monachilem normam edisceret,
suamque uitam secundum uoluntatem Dei salubriter coherceret,
aliosque huius ordinis amatores per apostolorum uestigia supernre
uocationis ad brauium pertraheret. Quod ita factum est.
Post aliquot annos Osualdus a Floriacense archimandrita be-
nigniter rogantibus Anglis redditus est..i et quia multiplici tam
sagacitate quam bonitate pollebat omnibus Anglire cenobiis prre-
positus est. 4 Venerabiles quoque uiri Dunstanus ac Adeluoldus
eum summopere adiuuerunt, et Glastoniam ac Abundoniam
primitus institutis regularibus instruxerunt. His doctoribus fideli-
ter obedierunt reges Anglorum .lEdelstanus, .lEdredus, Edmundus
et prrecipue Edgarus Edmundi filius. Quo regnante Dunstanus
Dorobernire metropolitanus factus est ..1 ac Adeluoldus Guentoni-
ensis prresul intronizatus est. Osualdus autem prius Guigornensem
episcopatum..1 ac postea rexit Eborachensem archiprresulatum.
Horum precibus Floriacensis Abbo sapiens atque religiosus
crenobita missus est trans mare..1 et monasticum usum docuit
Ramesire,s et in aliis monasteriis Anglire! sicuti tenebatur in
St. Gregory the Great, Libri Dialogorum, ii. 17.
1
The information about Lombard history comes from Paul the Deacon's
2 and taught the monastic customs observed in France at that time
History of the Lombards, ii. 31, 32; iv. 17.
3 The restoration took place about a hundred and forty years later, in 717-20,
by Petronax, who came from Brescia but was not a bishop, with the help of
Willibald. Pope Zachary sent a gift of books, including the Rule of St. Benedict
(P. Schmitz, op. cit. i. 64-65).
4 Orderic over-emphasizes the importance of Fleury and Oswald in the
tenth-century monastic revival: the Lotharingian houses, notably St. Peter's,
may read in the second book of the Dialogues which the renowned
scholar Pope Gregory addressed so eloquently to Peter the sub-
243
deacon.1
After the death of King Cleph, when his son Autarith was
a minor and the Lombard people, being kingless, were governed
by thirty-four dukes, fierce Lombard brigands made a night attack
on the monastery of Monte Cassino and sacked it; but God pre-
served the monks and all escaped safely with Bonitus their abbot.2
Thereafter the place stood empty and desolate for a hundred and
ten years, until Petronax bishop of Brescia went to Monte Cas-
sino and there, with the help of Pope Zachary, restored the great
monastery, 3 which has continued to grow in fame from that day
to this. But during the period of devastation, whilst Monte Cas-
sino lay deserted, the abbey of Fleury by God's will received the
precious gift of the first father Benedict's body. His translation is
solemnly and devoutly celebrated by monasteries north of the
Alps every year on I I July. It was to this place that the holy young
man Oswald journeyed to take his vows, learn monastic discipline,
and submit his life to the will of God to secure his salvation and
lead others who sought this way of life in the footsteps of the
apostles towards the prize of their heavenly vocation. His desires
were fulfilled.
After some years the abbot of Fleury graciously sent Oswald
back to the English who desired his return; and because he ex-
celled no less in wisdom than in virtue he was put in authority
over all the monasteries of England.4 With the help of Dunstan
and 1.Ethelwold, both holy men, he first established regular disci-
pline at Glastonbury and Abingdon. These doctors of the church
were faithfully obeyed by the English kings, Athelstan, Edred,
Edmund, and above all Edmund's son, Edgar. In Edgar's reign
Dunstan became archbishop of Canterbury and 1.Ethelwold
bishop of Winchester. Oswald for his part governed first the see
of Worcester and afterwards the see of York. At their earnest
request Abbo, a holy and wise monk of Fleury, crossed the sea
to Ramsey 5 and other English monasteries. The pursuit of holiness
Ghent and, to a lesser extent, Corbie, contributed customs. Cf. Dom T. Symons,
'Sources of the Regularis Concordia', in Downside Review, xl (1941), 14-36,
143-70, 264-89. For the work of Dunstan and .lEthelwold as well as Oswald see
Knowles, MO, pp. 36-56.
5 Abbo was at Ramsey from c. 986 to 988.
 BOOK IV
244
Gallia eodem tempore. Studium sanctitatis et totius honestatis
ii. 205 prrefatos antistites illuminauit: et ~og?1atibus. eorum ac m~raculis
per eos exhibitis commode 1rradiamt, mult1sque uulganbus et
litteratis profuit.
Tune crenobium Medeshamstede quod pridem tempore Vulferi
regis Merciorum Sexuulfus pont~fex construxit.J .~deluoldus pr~­
sul sub Edgaro rege in uico. qm ?1odo Burg d1c1t1;1r ~e~taur~mt,
et basilicam in honore sanct1 Petn apostolorum prmc1p1s ed1tam
magnis opibus ditauit.1 Deinde Torneiense, Eligense, et alia. m':11~a
monasteria pluribus in locis fabricata sunt..1 et conuentus m ilhs
monachorum aut clericorum aut sanctimonialium sollerter locati
sunt. Copia reddituum singulis monasteriis largiter impartiebatur,
uncle sufficiens uictus et uestitus theoricis administraretur.1 ne pro
penuria rerum necessariarum in diuino cultu aliquatenus uacil-
lantes frangerentur.
Sic in Anglia monasticus ordo renouatus est, et in multis
crenobiis gloriosum agmen monachorum contra Sathanam uir-
tutum armis munitum est, et perseueranter dimicare in prrelio
Domini donec uictoria potiatur nobiliter edoctum est. Verum post
aliquot tempus ad expurgandum triticum ubi exuberant~a zizani:
orum nimis multiplicata est:' iterum sub Egelredo rege fiho Edgan
grauissima tempestas ab aquilone Anglis oborta est. Nam uesanus
ii. 206
ydolatra Suenus rex Danorum Anglire cu?1 uali~a cl.a~se _Pag~­
norum applicuit, ac ut nimius turbo super 1mpromdos 1hco irrmt..1
pauidusque rex Egelredus cum filiis suis Eduardo et Elfredo et
Emma regina in N ormanniam aufugit. Non multo po~t Suenu~
dum nimis in Christianos seuiret a sancto Edmundo mssu De1
peremptus est..1 2 et Egelredus audita mort~ inimici ad sua regr~ssu~
est. Deinde Chunutus rex Dacorum ut dmersos euentus patns sm
comperit..1 duos reges Lacman Suauorum. et Ol~~um N.oricorum
sibi asciuit et cum ingenti exercitu Angham adnt. Demque post
multas str~ges defuncto Egelredo rege et Ed~undo .Irniside filio
eius Angliam optinuit.1 et ipse postmodum filuque ems Heraldus
et Hardecunutus plus quam xl annis possedit.
His tempestatibus Cantuaria metro~olis .obsessa. ~~ combu~~a
est.J et sanctus Elfagus archiepiscopus dmers1s supphcus a gentih-
bus Danis martirizatus est. Tune alire urbes concrematre sunt.1 et
episcopales ac monachiles recclesire cum li~ris et ornament~s
destructre sunt. Grex quoque fidelium per dmersa tot procelhs
1 Peterborough was refounded in 966, Ely in 970, and Thorney in 972.
2 Florence has the same story of Swein's sudden death at the instance of St.
Edmund, as a punishment for levying tribute from St. Edmundsbury (FW
i. 168-9).
BOOK IV 245
and a good life distinguished these three bishops, inspired their
teaching and the miracles they performed, and brought great
comfort to learned and simple men alike.
During King Edgar's reign Bishop lEthelwold restored the
monastery of Medeshamstede which had first been built by Bishop
Seaxwulf in the reign of Wulfhere, king of the Mercians; he built
in the town now called Peterborough a monastery in honour of
Peter, chief of the apostles, and endowed it richly. 1 Afterwards
Thorney, Ely, and many other monasteries were founded up and
down the country, and convents of monks, clerks, or nuns were
duly established in them. An abundance of revenues was showered
upon all these monasteries, so that their contemplation should not
fail for lack of food and clothing, and they should not be found
wanting in the service of God because they were without the
necessities of life.
So the monastic order was reformed in England ; and in many
houses a noble army of monks was armed with the power of virtue
against Satan and taught to fight unremittingly in the Lord's
battles until they should win a glorious victory. But after some
years in the time of Ethelred son of Edgar a terrible storm swept
on the English from the north, to winnow the wheat where
numerous tares abounded. For a fierce idolater Swein, king of the
Danes, landed in England with a great fleet manned by heathen
followers; descending like a mighty whirlwind on the unsuspecting
people he drove the terrified King Ethelred with his sons Edward
and Alfred and his queen Emma into Normandy. Not long after-
wards God suffered Swein to be slain by St. Edmund whilst he
was raging against the Christians, 2 and Ethelred, on learning of
his enemy's death, returned to his own land. But Cnut, king of
Denmark, on hearing of his father's fate allied with two other
kings, Lacman of Sweden and Olaf of Norway, and with a mighty
army invaded England. Finally, after much carnage, on the death
of King Ethelred and his son, Edmund Ironside, he conquered
England, which he and his sons Harold and Hardacnut ruled for
more than forty years.
During these wars the archiepiscopal city of Canterbury was
besieged and burned, and St. lElfheah the archbishop was tortured
and martyred by the heathen Danes. Other cities too were burned,
and cathedrals and monasteries with all their books and treasures
were destroyed. The Christian flock everywhere suffered in the
 246 BOOK IV
ii. 207 agitatus est.J et luporum dentibus patens uariis modis horribiliter
dilaniatus est.
Prolixam digressionem sed nisi fallor non inutilem protelaui:'
et de priscis annalibus collecta recensui, ut c~u~a manif:ste pat~at
studioso lectori.J cur Anglos agrestes et pene 1lhtteratos muenermt
N ormanni, 1 quos olim optimis institutionibus sollerter instruxerunt
pontifices Romani. Gregorius enim et Bonefacius eximios doctores
cum libris et omnibus recclesiasticis utensilibus Anglis miserunt:'
ac ut karissimos filios ad omne bonum educantes erudierunt.
Deinde Vitalianus papa tempore Osuii et Egberti regum sapientis-
simos uiros Theodorum archiepiscopum et Adrianum abbatem
in Angliam misit:' quorum peritia ~tu~ioque Ang~icu~ .cleru~ ta~
latina quam greca eruditione affatlm 1mbutus mirab1hter mgmt.
His sequenti tempore florentes Albinus abbas et Aldelmus p:re~ul
successerunt, quorum sollertia et religio multos docue.ru~U scr~ptts­
que laudabilia uirtutum suarum monimenta postentat1 effigiaue-
runt. Hos omnes et plures alias perspicax Beda laudibus extulit,
et indagine liberalium artium rerumque secretarum perfectis equi-
paxari laborauit. Salutiferum panem ueter~s e~ noui test~menti
pueris recclesire dilucidando confregit, abd1ta m explanat1onum
libris plus quam lx reserauit.J et sic tam apud suos quam apud
externos perennem sibi memoriam promeruit. 2 • •
ii. 208 Preciosis lapidibus in muro crelestis Jerusalem fehc1ter col-
locatis.J3 triticeisque granis in apotheca ueri Ioseph diligenter
reconditis, silices in plateis stratre sunt.J et palere in sterquilinium
proiectre sunt, et irreuerenter a prretereuntibus c?nculcatre. su~~·
Sic omnipotentis Dei iusto nutu postquam elect1 de trans1torus
ad reterna migrarunt, dum Daci ut iam descripsimus diuino et
humano metu carentes per Angliam diu debachati sunt.J innumerre
contra Dei legem prreuaricationes temere patratre sunt. Humana
exercitia qure semper ad nefas prona sunU subtractis rectoribus
cum uirga disciplinre per infandos actus abominabilia facta sunt.
Huiuscemodi dissolutio clericos et laicos relaxauerat.J et utrunque
sexum ad omnem lasciuiam inclinauerat. Abundantia cibi et potus
luxuriem nutriebat, leuitas et mollicies gentis in flagitium quen-
quam facile impellebat. Destructis monasteriis monastica religio
1 For a similar assessment of the illiteracy of the English cf. William of
Malmesbury, GR ii. 304-5.
2 St. Evroul possessed a number of the scriptural commentaries of Bede (cf.
the 1140 Library catalogue in Delisle, Manuscrits autographes, pp. 16-17); and
Orderic had himself copied part of the Ecclesiastical History of Bede (Rauen,
1,
MS. 1343).
3 Cf. Revelation xxi. 19, 20.
BOOK IV 247
storms; and falling a helpless prey to heathen wolves was cruelly
torn to pieces by them.
I have digressed at length, but not I hope in vain, and have
summarized notes taken from earlier annals so that the patient
reader may clearly understand why the Normans found the
English a rustic and nearly illiterate people, 1 although they had
once been fully instructed in the best customs by the Roman
pontiffs. For Gregory and Boniface sent eminent teachers with
books and every kind of church fitting to England to instruct their
beloved sons there and prepare them for a good life. Afterwards
Pope Vitalian in the time of King Oswy and King Egbert sent two
men of great learning, Archbishop Theodore and Abbot Adrian,
to England; and through their skill and industry the English clergy
became wonderfully well-versed in both Greek and Latin learning.
As time went on Abbot Albinus and Bishop Aldhelm took over
their work, and by their learning and piety taught many, in their
writings fashioning worthy monuments of their talents. All these
and many others have been commemorated by the judicious Bede,
who strove to be their equal, perfect as they were in knowledge
of the liberal arts and all recondite learning. He broke the saving
bread of the Old and New Testaments among the children of the
Church, illuminating and explaining the mysteries in more than
sixty commentaries; and by so doing earned undying fame both
at home and abroad. 2
When the precious jewels had been set in their places in the wall
of the heavenly Jerusalem, 3 and the grains of wheat carefully
garnered into the barn of the true Joseph, the barren rocks were
spread to mend the road, and the chaff scattered on the dunghill,
to be carelessly trodden underfoot by the passers-by. So by the
just decree of almighty God, after the elect had left this transitory
world for their eternal home, when the Danes-as I have already
related-had long raged through England showing no respect for
things human or divine, the law of God began to be shamelessly
disregarded. Human activities always tend towards evil; and if
rulers with power to enforce law are removed appalling acts and
shocking desecrations are committed. This lack of discipline
affected clergy and laity alike, and inclined both sexes to every
kind of lust. Abundance of food and drink gave rise to luxury, the
shallowness and flabbiness of the people made them all prone to
crime. After the destruction of the monasteries regular life was
 248 BOOK IV
debilitata est:' et canonicus rigor usque ad Normannorum tempora
reparatus non est. Per longum itaque retro tempus transmari-
norum monachatus deciderat, et parum a srecularitate conuersatio
monachorum differebat. Habitu fallebant ac professionis uocabulo,
dediti ganere, peculiis, innumeris fredisque prreuaricationibus. Hie
itaque ordo Guillelmi regis instinctu ad instituta regularia corrige-
batur, ac ad consuetudines beatificas perductus ualde honorabatur.
Aliquanti ab bates a rege nouiter ordinati sunt.J et. complures .cren?-
bitre in monasteriis Gallicis competenter edoct1 sunt. Qm reg10
ii. 209 iussu Anglis prrelati disciplinam instituebant.J et religiositatis
exempla proponebant. Crenobio beati Petri apostolo~um principis,
quod Anglorum primus doctor construxerat Augustmus.J fan:osus
abbas scientia et bonitate pollens prrelatus est Scollandus. Hie ex
nominato stemmate in N ormannia natus, 1 in Monte Michahelis
archangeli ad periculum maris regulariter educatus.J ad emenda-
tionem morum Cantuariis a N ormannis est prrelatus. Similiter in
aliis monasteriis cita magistrorum mutatio facta esU qure quibus-
dam utilis et nonnullis periculosa tam magistris quam subditis
facta est.
Cantuariensis cathedra in qua sedens Augustinus decreto
Gregorii papre prrefuit omnibus episcopis Britannire 2 deposito
Stigando decreta est Lanfranco Cadomensium abbati regis et
omnium optimatum eius beniuola electione. 3 Hic ex nobili
parentela ortus, Papice urbis Italice ciuibus ...1 ab annis infantire in
scolis liberalium artium studuit, et srecularium legum peritiam
ad patrire sure morem intentione laica feruidus edidicit. Adole-
scentulus orator ueteranos aduersantes in actionibus causarum
frequenter prcecipitauiU torrente facundia apposite dicendo senes
superauit. In ipsa retate sententias depromere sapuit, quas gra-
tanter iurisperiti aut iudices aut prretores ciuitatis acceptabant.
At cum in exilio uelut Plato quondam achademicus phylo-
sopharetur.J ignis reternus mentem eius incendit, et amor uerre
1 Le Prevost (ii. 209 n. l) suggests that he may have come from a family in
Pontecoulant (Pons Scollondi).
2 For the claims of Canterbury to the primacy see R. W. Southern, 'The
Canterbury Forgeries', in EHR lxxiii (1958), 193-226, and the forthcoming
edition of the letters of Lanfranc by Mrs. V. H. Clover. This sentence is not in
Orderic's style, and is unpunctuated: it may be taken from William of Poitiers.
Cf. Vita Lanfranci, cap. vi: 'remansit vacua Dorobernensis cathedra, in qua
pretiosus Christi confessor Augustinus omnibus praefuit Britanniae episcopis.'
3 The account of Lanfranc's early life from 'Hie ex nobili' to 'illuxit' is very
close to the Vita Lanfranci, cap. v, and is possibly taken by both writers from
William of Poitiers. See above, Introduction, pp. xix-xxi. The problem of
Lanfranc's alleged early legal studies has been discussed by J. H. Wigmore in
Law Quarterly Review, lviii (1942), 61-81, and by R. W. Southern, 'Lanfranc
BOOK IV 249
undermined, and canonical discipline was not restored until the
time of the Normans. Indeed for a long time previously monasti-
cism had been declining on that side of the Channel, and monks
differed very little from seculars in their way of life. They wore no
habit and took no vows; they indulged in feasting and private
property and countless foul transgressions. But by the governance
of King William this order was brought back to a regular way of
life and salubrious customs, so that it once again deserved respect.
Some abbots were newly appointed by the king, and a number of
monks were sent for instruction into French monasteries. When at
the king's command they became abbots in England these men
restored discipline and gave examples of sound monastic life.
Scolland, a renowned abbot famed for his learning and virtue, was
appointed to the monastery of St. Peter, first of the apostles, which
Augustine the first missionary of the English had built. He came
of renowned stock in Normandy, 1 and had been brought up to the
monastic life in Mont-Saint-Michel in peril of the sea, before being
promoted by the Normans to restore the customs of Canterbury.
In other monasteries too a change of master speedily took place
which was profitable to many, but in some places fraught with
dangers, for the abbots no less than the monks.
The see of Canterbury-which in Augustine's time was given
jurisdiction over all the bishops of Britain by decree of Pope
Gregory 2-was, after Stigand's deposition, by the wise choice of
the king and his leading counsellors assigned to Lanfranc, abbot
of Caen. 3 Sprung from noble parents who were citizens of Pavia
in Italy, he had studied in the schools of the liberal arts from his
childhood, and had become deeply learned in civil law, intending
after the custom of his countrymen to pursue a lay career. Even
as a young orator he frequently got the better of his experienced
adversaries in lawsuits, and by his floods of eloquence and apt
choice of words defeated his seniors. At that time he showed so
much wisdom in interpreting judgements that lawyers, judges, and
civic officials gladly accepted his opinion. But when in exile he
turned, like Plato, the old Academician, to philosophy, then a light
of Bee and Berengar of Tours', in Studies in Medieval History presented to F.M.
Powicke, pp. 27-32, especially 29-30. If, however, this account is not only earlier
than Orderic, but as early as c. 1074, then it is much nearer to a contemporary
account than R. W. Southern suggests. The story of the brilliant young lawyer
at Pavia may well be a legend, but it seems at least to be a legend that was current
in Lanfranc's lifetime.
 250 BOOK IV
ii. 210 sapientire cordi eius illuxit. Animaduertebat cum 1Ecclesiaste quod
nondum .!Ecclesiasticre lectionis usu didicit:' quia mundi bona
uanitas. Repentino itaque animi. conten:ptu iactans. mun~u~ ac
se! arripiensque religionis profess10.nem ~u~o regulan subd1dit s.e.
Crenobiolum Beccense in N ormanma loci situ et paupertate elegit,
quod prudentia ipsius uigilantissirr.iaque cura locupl~~auit, e~ i.n
statum pulcherrimi ordinis pro~exit:' dun: .seuera mit~que di~c.i­
plina regeret fraternum collegmm, humihque et utih consiho
sanctum abbatem nomine Herluinum. Neophitum exulem dum
sese uitiis et mundo mortificaret, et pro intimis ac supernis
maxime laboraret.J publicauit Deus inspect~r. cogitationur.n, ut
lucerna poneretur super candelabrum, Dommiq~e c?nuementer
illuminaret amplissimam domum. 1 Coactu obred1entire de clau-
strali quiete protractus magister processit, quo docente phyloso-
phicarum ac diuinarum litterarum b~bl~otecha effulsit. In utr~que
, I
nodos qurestionum soluere potentlssimus erat. J:Ioc magistro
primitus N ormanni litteratoriam artem perscrutati sunt! et de
scola Beccensi eloquentes in diuinis et srecularibus sophistre
processerunt. Nam antea sub tempore sex ducum Neustrire uix
ullus N ormannorum liberalibus studiis adhesit.J nee doctor
inueniebatur donec prouisor omnium Deus N ormannicis horis
Lanfrancum appulit. Fama peritire illius in tota ubertim innot1;1it
Europa:' uncle ad magisterium eius multi conuenerunt de Francia,
de W asconia, de Britannia necne Flandria.
Admirandum cognoscerent ingenium sibi studiumque Lanfranci
Herodianus in grammatica, Aristoteles in dialectica:' Tullius in
ii. 2u rethorica, Augustinus et Ieronimus aliique legis et gratire exposi-
tores in sacra pagina. Athenre quando incolumes flore?ant, e~
excellentissime ad prrecipiendum sedebant! Lanfranco m omm
genere eloquentire aut disciplinarum assurgerent, ~t percept~s ab
eo commodis allegationibus instrui cuperent. 2 Stud10sus fmt idem
crenobita gladio uerbi perimere sectas:' si qure fidem lacesseren~
katholicam. Profecto Beringerium Turonensem quern nonnulh
heresiarcham putabant, et eius dogma damnabant, quo de salutis
hostia mortem animabus propinabat:' spiritualis eloquii mucro-
ne confodit in sinodo Romana et Vercellensi.J Ibi sanctissime
1
Cf. Matthew v. 15.
2 Cf. Vita Lanfranci, cap. v: 'Studiosus fuit idem coenobita verbi gladio
perimere sectas, si quas advertisset catholicam laedere fidem.'
a For this controversy see R. W. Southern, 'Lanfranc of Bee and Berengar of
I Tours', in Studies in Medieval History presented to F. M. Pozvt"cke, pp. 27-32.
i
For the Councils of Rome (Easter 1050), Vercelli (September 1050), Tours
(1054), and Rome (1059) see Hefele, iv. 1040-61, 1108-10, u69-77. T?e
I; account given here seems to be based on Lanfranc's De Corpore et Sanguine
Domini (Migne, PL, cl. 409-10, caps. I and 2).
BOOK IV 251
eternal inflamed his mind, and love of true wisdom shone in his
heart. He discovered with Ecclesiastes-though he had not yet
studied the book of Ecclesiastes-that worldly goods are vanity.
Suddenly, therefore, despising the world and himself, he took
religious vows and submitted himself to regular discipline. He
chose the tiny monastery of Bee in Normandy, because of its
remoteness and poverty; and then enriched it by his wisdom and
painstaking administration, raising it to a condition of perfect
order, ruling the community of brethren with a discipline that was
both strict and merciful, and humbly proffering sound counsel to
the holy abbot, Herluin. When he was a novice in exile he strove
by mortification to purge himself of his sins and worldly ambitions,
toiling day and night for spiritual and heavenly things; but God,
who sees into all hearts, decreed that the light should be placed
on a candlestick to give light to all that is in the house of the Lord. 1
And so, forced by his vow of obedience to leave the peace of the
cloister, he emerged as a master in whose teaching the fundamental
texts of philosophy and the Bible were displayed. In both subjects
he could unravel the most knotty problems with supreme skill. It
was from this master that the Normans first learned the liberal
arts, so that scholars well versed in both sacred and secular learning
emerged from the school of Bee. For at an earlier period under the
six dukes of Normandy scarcely any Norman spent his time in
liberal studies, and no man of learning was to be found there until
all-provident God sent Lanfranc to the borders of Normandy. The
fame of his learning spread all over Europe, until many flocked
from France, Gascony, Brittany, and Flanders to sit at his feet.
By intellect and learning Lanfranc would have won the applause
of Herodian in grammar, Aristotle in dialectic, Cicero in rhetoric,
Augustine, Jerome, and the other commentators on the Old and
New Testaments in scriptural studies. The Athenians themselves,
when they were at their most flourishing, and excelled in teaching,
would have given place to Lanfranc in every branch of eloquence
or learning, and after hearing his apt proofs would have been eager
to learn from him. 2 As a monk he was always quick to slash with
the sword of the Word any sects that were damaging catholic
doctrine. Certainly ·in synods at Rome and Vercelli his spiritual
eloquence cut down Berengar of Tours,J whom some judged a
heresiarch and condemned his doctrine in which he administered
spiritual poison through his treatment of the host of salvation.
 252 BOOK IV
exposuit, ueracissime comprobauit:' panem ct uinum qme domini-
cre mensre superponuntur, post consecrationem esse ueram car-
nem et uerum sanguinem Domini redemptoris. Profundissimis
disputationibus Beringerium Romre Turonisque palam euicit:'
omnemque heresim anathematizare scriptoque ueram fidem pro-
fiteri coegit. Deinde blasphemus heresiarcha quia mestus erubuit,
quod libellos peruersi dogmatis Romre suis ne ipse cremaretur
manibus in ignem coniecerit.J discipulis pecunia pariter ac
fallacia corruptis recens scriptum domi condidit, et per eosdem
peregre transmisit.J ut uetus error approbatius fulciretur, et in
futuros perdurabilior annos porrigeretur. Ad quod destruendum
Lanfrancus dilucido edidit uenustoque stilo libellum, sacris
auctoritatibus ponderosum.J et indissolubiliter constantem conse-
quentiis rationum, uerre intelligentire astructione de Eucharistia
copiosum.J facundo sermone luculentum, nee prolixitate tedio-
sum.1 Multre recclesire abbatem uel pontificem incredibili desiderio
ii. 212 sibi Lanfrancum petierunt, quern etiam Roma Christiani orbis
caput sollicitauit epistolis, et precatu retinere conata est et ui. Sic
omnibus emicuit honorabilis.J quern uirtus et sapientia decorarat
specialis.
Sedunensis igitur episcopus postquam Stigandum ut iam dictum
,I est deposuit, Lanfrancum ad regimen pontificale inuitauit.J et in con-
.I cilio episcoporum ac abbatum Normannire petitionem recclesire Dei
denunciauit. 2 Ille autem perturbatus tam graue sibi onus extimuit.J
et inducias ad deliberandum petiit, indubitatum tenens quod simul
ire non posset monachi ocium.J et archiprresulis negotium. Abbas
Herluinus imperaU cui obsecundare uelut Christo solebat. Regina
cum filio principe precatur.J maiores quoque ideo collecti studiose
hortantur. Non abnuit ille prrecipiti sententia.J quia omne factum
et dictum eius discretionis dirigebat norma. Obredientiam
11111
.. 11
offendere cauet.J simul tantos qui rogant, fauent, adhortantur .
, ,~
Ill
Mestus ergo trans mare uadit excusatum se.J sperans iocunditatem
"'"' in reuersione. Rex cum gaudio adiutorem culturre Christianre
1
The treatise De Corpore et Sanguine Domini, which Orderic could easily
have seen at Bee.
2
Lanfranc was nominated as archbishop on 15 August 1070 (cf. FW ii. 7).
Lanfranc's letter to Alexander II (ed. Giles, no. 3) refers to the council in
Normandy, convened by the legates Ermenfrid and Hubert to persuade him
to accept the see of Canterbury. The further details of the command of Herluin
and the queen's plea are supplied by Orderic, and may be imaginary. Lanfranc's
I',
BOOK IV
253
In these synods Lanfranc demonstrated by his holy learning and
proved beyond all shadow of doubt that the bread and wine which
are placed on the Lord's table become after consecration the very
body and blood of Our Lord and Saviour. In the most learned
disputations he publicly worsted Berengar at Rome and Tours
forcing him to pronounce anathema on all heresy and to profes~
the true faith in writing. Afterwards the blasphemer and heretic
blushing for shame because at Rome he had burned the books con~
taining his errors with his own hands for fear of being burned
himself, ~omposed a new work at home for the disciples he had
partly bnbed and partly corrupted by his errors, and secured its
dissemination by them so that the old error should be revived, and
take a new lease of life in future years. To destroy this new error
L~nfranc c~mposed a tre.atise in a lucid and elegant style, heavy
with quotat10ns from Scripture and the Fathers, strictly logical in
its deductions from the premisses, abounding in proofs of the true
meaning of the Eucharist, distinguished in eloquence, but con-
taining nothing superfluous. 1 Many churches appealed urgently
to Lanfranc to become their bishop or abbot, and even Rome, the
head of the Christian world, sent letters of invitation to him and
tried to persuade and even force him to remain. So, being dis-
tinguished by ability and wisdom, he was honoured above all.
After th~ bi~hop of Sion had deposed Stigand, as I have already
related, he _mv1ted Lanfranc to undertake the duties of archbishop,
and told him of the earnest wish of holy church in a council of
Norman bishops and abbots. 2 Lanfranc, however, inwardly
troubled, feared to undertake so heavy a burden, and asked for
t~me to consider his reply; holding it for a fact that the contempla-
tion proper to a monk could not be combined with the active duties
of an archbishop. Abbot Herluin, whom he was accustomed to
obey as implicitly as Christ, commanded him to go; the queen
with the prince her son implored him; and the nobles who were
assembled there added their prayers. He did not give a hasty
refusal, because every word and deed of his was the outcome of
considered judgement. He was unwilling to sin against obedience,
or to offend so many who were asking, urging, and imploring
him. So, sad at heart, he journeyed across the sea to excuse him-
self, hoping for a joyful return. The king gladly and reverently
letter suggests that the obedience that made him yield was obedience to the
Roman see.
 254 BOOK IV
reuerenter suscepit:' et excusatione reluctantem humilitate et maie-
state pulchre pugnans deuicit.
ii. 213 Anno itaque Dominicre incarnationis M 0 LXX0 Lanfrancus
Cadomensium primus abbas diuinitus Anglis institutor datus est.J
et honestissima electione ac fi.deli consecratione Cantuariensis
recclesire archiprresul iv kal. septembris intronizatus est. 1 Cuius
ordinationi multi prresules et abbates interfuere, cum maxima
cleri populique multitudine. Presentes et absentes totius Albionis
incolre tripudiarent, atque multum leti Deo gratias agerent.J si
quantum boni crelitus sibi tune impartiretur agnoscerent.
In Cadomensi abbatia Guillelmus Radbodi Sagiensis episcopi
filius Lanfranco successit.JZ quern post nouem ut reor annos inde
rex Guillelmus ad regendam Rotomagensem metropolim prouexit.
Hie consobrinus Guillelmi prresulis Ebroicensium filii Girardi
Fleitelli fuit, cuius potentia tern pore Ricardorum in N eustria
maxime uiguit. Canonicus et archidiaconus Rotomagensis Maurilio
pontifici paruit, magisque Dei am ore feruens cum Theoderico
Vticensi abbate peregre perrexit:' et gloriosum Saluatoris sepul-
chrum in Jerusalem reuerenter adiit. Incle reuersus pristinos
prrecauens labores amittere, mundi lenociniis penitus subtraxit
se.J et in Beccensi crenobio diuinre gratanter inhesit militire. Dein
cum Lanfranco ad instructionem neophitorum qui in Cadomense
castrum ad Christi seruitutem confluebant protractus est:' quorum
ipse paulo post pater et magister laudabilis factus est.
ii. 214 Defuncto Guillelmo Ebroicensium episcopo Balduinus ducis
capellanus successit.J et prresulatum fere .vii. annis regulariter
rexit.3 Quo defuncto Gislebertus Osberni filius canonicus et archi-
diaconus Lexouiensis successit:' et episcopatum plus quam xxx
annis utiliter tenuit, et res recclesire multis modis auxit, soller-
tiaque sua emendauit. Iuone uero Sagiensium prresule defuncto
Rodbertus Ruberti de Ria4 filius successit, qui fere xii annis prre-
sulatui prrefuit:' et ipse circa Dei cultum feruens religiosos multum
dilexit.
1Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (A, 1070).
2For William Bonne-Ame, son of Radbod, bishop of Seez, abbot of Caen
(1070-9), and archbishop of Rouen (1079-II 10), see Hist. Litt. de la France,
ix. 496; cf. above, p. 69.
3 For the character of the episcopate at this time see Douglas, WC, pp. 319-20.
Baldwin was bishop from before 18 June 1066 to 23 December 1070 (GC xi.
571-2): slightly less than five years. Gilbert was bishop from 1071 to u12.
BOOK IV 255
welcomed this ally in the Christian cause; and meeting his excuses
with humility combined with royal authority finally overcame his
reluctance.
And so in the year of Our Lord I 070, Lanfranc, the first abbot
of Caen, was by God's will sent to instruct the English, and after
his praiseworthy election and fitting consecration was enthroned
as archbishop of Canterbury on 29 August. 1 Many bishops and
abbots and a huge throng of clergy and people were present at this
ceremony. But whether present or absent all the inhabitants of
Albion would have rejoiced and given thanks to God with glad-
ness, if they had known then how much good heaven was bestowing
on them.
As abbot of Caen Lanfranc was succeeded by William, son of
Radbod bishop of Seez, 2 who nine years later, as far as I can
remember, was translated by King William to be archbishop of
Rouen. He was a kinsman of William, bishop of Evreux, the son
of Gerard Fleitel, who had been a most powerful lord in Normandy
in the time of the Richards. As canon and archdeacon of Rouen he
was subject to Archbishop Maurilius, and being filled with the
love of God had accompanied Thierry, abbot of St. Evroul, on his
pilgrimage, and had reverently visited the glorious tomb of the
Saviour in Jcrusalem. On his return, eager to discard his former
duties, he withdrew entirely from the deceits of the world, and
thankfully joined the army of God as a monk at Bee. Thence he
was sent with Lanfranc to instruct the novices who were flocking
to the service of Christ in the city of Caen; and not long afterwards
he was wisely chosen to be their father and abbot.
On the death of William bishop of Evreux, Baldwin, one of
the duke's chaplains, succeeded him and for seven years compe-
tently administered the diocese. 3 He was followed after his death
by Gilbert fitzOsbern, canon and archdeacon of Lisieux, who for
more than thirty years ably carried out his episcopal duties,
increasing the church endowments in many ways, and carrying
on the work of reform. After the death of I vo bishop of Seez,
Robert son of Hubert of Ryes4 succeeded him and occupied the
see for about twelve years; he was zealous in the service of God
and a very good friend to monks.
4 Hubert of Ryes became famed in legend for his loyalty to Duke William
during the revolt of 1047 (Roman de Rou, vv. 3657-750). He was the father of
Eudo the Steward as well as of Robert.

256 BOOK IV
His temporibus opitulante gratia Dei pax in Anglia regnabat .1
et securitas aliquanta procul repulsis latronibus habitatores terra~
refouebat. Ciuiliter Angli cum N ormannis cohabitabant in burgis,
castris et urbibus .1 conubiis alteri alteros mutuo sibi coniungentes.
ii. 215 Vicos aliquot aut fora urbana Gallicis mercibus et mangonibus
referta conspiceres.1 et ubique Anglos qui pridem amictu patrio
compti Francis uidebantur turpes, nunc peregrino cultu alteratos
uideres. N emo pnedari audebat:' sed unusquisque sua rura tuto
colebat, suoque compari sed non per longum tempus hilariter
applaudebat. Fiebant et reparabantur basilicre.1 et in eis sacri
oratores obsequium studebant Deo debitum persoluere. Regnans
in rege diligentia boni uigilabat.1 et quoscumque poterat, feruenter
ad bona excitabat. Anglicam locutionem plerunque sategit edi-
scere, ut sine interprete querelam subiectre gentis posset intelligere.1
et scita rectitudinis unicuique prout ratio dictaret affectuose
depromere. Ast a perceptione huiusmodi lectionis durior retas
ilium compescebat..1 et tumultus multimodarum occupationum ad
alia necessario attrahebat.
Verum quia humani generis aduersarius tanquam leo rugiens
terram circumit, querens quern dente crudelitatis sure comminuere
possit.1 1 iterum ingens turbatio Anglis oritur atque N ormannis,
atque ad multorum detrimentum diu perfida seuit Erinis. Nam
rex Guillelmus consilio prauorum male usus laudi sure dampnum
ingessit:' dum fraudulenter inclitum comitem Morcarum in
Eliensi insula conclusit, sibique confederatum et nil mali machi-
nantem uel suspicantem obsedit. 2 Versipelles autem inter eos nun-
cii discurrerunt, et dolosam conditionem nequiter pepigerunt:'
scilicet ut se comes regi redderet, eumque rex pacifice ut fidum
amicum susciperet. Obsessus nempe diu poterat ibidem sese
inaccessibilitate loci defendere:' aut nimia ui accidente per circum-
ii. 216 fl.uens fl.umen usque in Oceanum nauigio diffugere. Sed ille falsis
allegationibus simpliciter adquieuit.1 et cum suis ad regem pacifice
de insula exiuit. Rex autem metuens ne Morcarus iniurias sibi et
1Cf. l Peter v. 8.
2The basic facts are taken from William of Poitiers (cf. below, p. 258),
though the interpretation and many details are probably Orderic's. There is
a slightly different version in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, E, 1072 for 1071)
and in Florence of Worcester (FW ii. 9), based partly on the Chronicles. These
sources suggest that Edwin was killed whilst Morcar was still in Ely; and that
the forces in Ely surrendered because King William had succeeded in cutting
them off with land and sea forces. Both these discrepancies could be explained
if Orderic had inflated the information in William of Poitiers with later legend.
BOOK IV 257
At this time by the grace of God peace reigned over England;
and a degree of security returned to its inhabitants now that the
brigands had been driven off. English and Normans were living
peacefully together in boroughs, towns, and cities, and were inter-
marrying with each other. You could see many villages or town
markets filled with displays of French wares and merchandise, and
observe the English, who had previously seemed contemptible
to the French in their native dress, completely transformed by
foreign fashions. No one dared to pillage, but everyone cultivated
his own fields in safety and lived contentedly with his neighbour.
Unhappily this was not to last. Churches were built and restored·,
and in them pious men devoted their lives to rendering to God the
prayers and praises due to him. The king's passion for justice
dominated the kingdom, encouraging others to follow his example.
He struggled to learn some of the English language, so that he
could understand the pleas of the conquered people without an
interpreter, and benevolently pronounce fair judgements for each
one as justice required. But advancing age prevented him from
acquiring such learning, and the distractions of his many duties
forced him to give his attention to other things.
But in truth, since the enemy of mankind walketh about the
earth as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devourx with his
cruel tee~h, another great and lasting disturbance arose among
the English and Normans, and the false Furies stormed over
the .land, des~roying thousands. For King William, ill-advisedly
relymg on evil counsellors, brought great harm to his reputation
by treacherously surrounding the noble Earl Morcar in the Isle of
Ely, and besieging a man who had made peace with him and was
neither doing nor expecting any harm. 2 Crafty messengers went
to and fro between them, and infamously proposed treacherous
terms: namely, that the earl should surrender to the king, and the
king should receive him in peace as a loyal friend. For the besieged
could have held out almost indefinitely thanks to the inaccessibility
of the place; or if the attacking forces seemed too great might have
slipped away by boat along the surrounding rivers to the sea. But
he in his simple honesty believed these false stories, and peacefully
led his men out of the island to seek the king. The king, however,
fearing that Morcar might wish to avenge all the wrongs that he
~egend rapidly gathered round the last stand of Morcar, Hereward, and others
mEly.
82220( s
 258 BOOK IV
compatriotis suis nequiter illatas ulcisceretur, et per eum aliqure
seditiones impacabiles in regno Albionis orirentur.J illum sine
manifesto reatu uinclis iniecit, omnique uita sua in ergastulo
cohercuit, et cautelre Rogerii oppidani Belmontis mancipauit.
Quod formosissimus iuuenis Eduinus comes ut audiuit, emori
quam uiuere peroptauit.J nisi Morcarum fratrem suum iniuste
captum liberasset, aut uberrimo sanguine N ormannorum sese
uindicasset. Sex igitur mensibus a Scottis et Gualis uel Anglis
auxilia sibi quresiuit. Interea tres fratres qui ei familiares prre-
cipuique satellites erant N ormannis eum prodiderunt:' et ipsi
eundem cum xx equitibus toto nisu sese defendentem occiderunt.
Tune ad hoc facinus exestuatio marina N ormannos adiuuit.J qure
ad riuulum quendam Eduinum morari coegit, eique fugam
penitus ademit. Audita per Angliam Eduini morte, luctus ingens
ii. 217 non solum Anglis sed et Normannis et Francis ortus est.J qui eum
uelut socium seu cognatum cum multis fletibus planxerunt. Nam
idem ut supra dictum est fuerat ex religiosa parentela natus,
multisque bonis deditus.J prout poterat inter tanta srecularium
curarum impedimenta positus. Corporis pulchritudine in multis
milibus eminebat.J et clericorum atque monachorum pauperumque
benignus amator erat. Rex autem Guillelmus comperta proditione
qua sepefatus Merciorum consul perierat pietate motus fleuit:' et
proditores qui pro fauore illius ei caput domini sui deferebant
seuerus in exilium expulit.
Hue usque Guillelmus Pictauinus historiam suam texuiU in qua
Guillelmi gesta Crispi Salustii stilum imitatus subtiliter et elo-
quenter enucleauit. 1 Hie genere N ormannus de uico Pratellensi
fuit.J ibique sororem qure in monasterio sancti Leodegarii sancti-
monialibus prreerat habuit. Pictauinus autem dictus est:' quia
Pictauis fonte phylosophico ubertim imbutus est. Reuersus ad
suos omnibus uicinis et consodalibus doctior enituit, et Lexouien-
ses episcopos Hugonem et Gislebertum archidiaconatus officio in
recclesiasticis rebus adiuuit. In rebus bellicis ante clericatum asper
ii.218 extitit:' et militaribus armis protectus terreno principi militauit.
Et tanto certius referre uisa discrimina potuit .J quanto periculo-
sius inter arma diris conflictibus interfuit. In senectute sua taci-
turnitati et orationi studuit..J et plus in dictando seu uersificando
quam sermocinando ualuit. Subtiles et concinnos uersus atque
1 Cf. above, Introduction, p. xxxii; p. 184 n. I.
BOOK IV 259
and his fellow countrymen had endured, and might foment fur-
ther hostile risings in the realm of Albion, flung him into fetters
without any open charge, and kept him in prison to the end of his
days under the charge of Roger castellan of Beaumont. When the
fair youth Earl Edwin learned of this he determined to prefer death
to life unless he could free his brother Morcar from unjust cap-
tivity, or avenge him fully in Norman blood. So for six months
he sought support amongst the Scots, Welsh, and English. But
during this period three brothers who were his most intimate
servants betrayed him to the Normans; and they slew him with
twenty knights, all fighting desperately to the last. The Normans
owed their success in part to a high tide, which penned up Edwin
beside a tidal stream and prevented his escape. When the news of
Edwin's death spread through England, Normans and French
alike joined the English in mourning and lamenting him as though
he had been a close friend or kinsman. For he, as I have already
told, came of pious parents, and had devoted himself to all the
good works that were possible for one caught up in so many
worldly duties. He was so handsome that few could compare with
him: and was a generous friend to clergy and monks and to the
poor. King William, when he heard of the treachery that had
brought this Mercian earl to his death, was moved to righteous
tears, and when the traitors brought the head of their master to
him, hoping for a reward, he angrily commanded them to leave
the country.
William of Poitiers has brought his history up to this point,
eloquently describing the deeds of King William in a clever
imitation of the style of Sallust. 1 He was a Norman by birth,
a native of Preaux, and had a sister there who became abbess of
the nunnery of St. Leger. We call him 'of Poitiers' because he
drank deeply of the fountain of learning there. When he returned
home he was conspicuous for his learning in his native parts, and
as archdeacon helped the bishops of Lisieux, Hugh and Gilbert,
in the administration of their diocese. He had been a brave soldier
before entering the church, and had fought with warlike weapons
for his earthly prince, so that he was all the better able to describe
the battles he had seen through having himself some experience
of the dire perils of war. In his old age he gave himself up to silence
and prayer, and spent more time in composing narratives and
verse than in discourse. He published many subtly linked verses,
 260 BOOK IV
ad recitandum habiles frequenter edidit:' studioque iuniorum qui-
bus ipsi emendarentur sine inuidia erogauit. Contextionem eius de
Guillelmo et eius pedissequis breuiter in quibusdam secutus sum,
non tamen omnia qme dixit nee tam argute prosequi conatus sum.
Amodo iuuante Deo ea qure succedenti tempore nostris in uiciniis
euenerunt notabo..1 indubitanter ratus quod sicut ego ea qure
a prioribus edita sunt libenter reuoluo, sic iuniores eosque qui
nondum nati sunt prresentis temporis euentus sollerter inquisituros
estimo.
\ Rex Guillelmus deiectis ut diximus Merciorum max1m1s
'consulibus, Eduino scilicet interfecto, et Morcaro in uinculis
constricto..1 adiutoribus suis inclitas Anglire regiones distribuit, et
ex infimis N ormannorum clientibus tribunos et centuriones
ditissimos erexit. Willelmo dapifero Normannire Osberni filio
insulam Vectam et comitatum Herfordensem dedit:' 1 eumque cum
Gualterio de Laceio 2 aliisque probatis pugilibus contra Britones
bellis inhiantes opposuit. Horum audacia Brachaniaunos primi-
ii. 219 tus inuasit, et Gualorum reges Risen et CaducanJ ac Mariadoth
aliosque plures prostrauit. Cestram et comitatum eius Gherbodo
Flandrensi iamdudum rex dederat...14 qui magna ibi et difficilia
tam ab Anglis quam a Gualis aduersantibus pertulerat. Deinde
legatione coactus suorum quos in Flandria dimiserat, et quibus
hrereditarium honorem suum commiserat...1 eundi citoque redeundi
licentiam a rege acceperat, sed ibi aduersa illaqueatus fortuna in
manus inimicorum inciderat, et in uinculis cohercitus mundanaque
felicitate priuatus longre miserire trenos depromere didicerat.
Interea rex Cestrensem consulatum Hugoni de Abrincis filios
Ricardi cognomento Goz concessit, qui cum Rodberto de Rode-
lento6 et Rodberto de Malopassu aliisque proceribus feris multum
Gualorum sanguinem effudit. Hie non dapsilis sed prodigus erat:'
non familiam secum sed exercitum semper ducebat. In dando uel
1 For the position of William fitzOsbern see W. E. Wightman, 'The palatine
earldom of William fitz Osbern in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire (1066-
1071)', in EHR lxxvii (1962), 6-17.
2 For the conquests of Walter of Lacy and William fitzOsbern in Wales see
J. E. Lloyd, 'Wales and the coming of the Normans', in Trans. Soc. Cymm.
(1899-1900), pp. 146-61; and Hist. Wales, ii. 375; W. E. Wightman, The Lacy
Family in England and Normandy, I066-II94 (Oxford, 1966), pp. 167-8. Cf.
also William of Malmesbury, GR ii. 314.
3 Cadwgan was probably the last of the line of Hywel ap Rhys (J. E. Lloyd,
in Trans. Soc. Cymm. (1899-1900), p. 147 n. 1).
+ Gerbod cannot have held the county of Ch~ster long, for Hugh of Avranches
BOOK IV ~1
intended for declamation, and was so free from jealousy that he
invited his juniors to criticize and improve them. I have abridged
his history of William and his followers for some matters, but
I have not tried to include all that he says, or to imitate his
artistry. Now by God's will I will record the events that later
befell our neighbours, holding for certain that, just as I gladly
read the narratives of my predecessors, so my younger contem-
poraries and those yet unborn will be eager to learn the events of
this present age.
After King William had defeated the leading Mercian earls as
I have related-Edwin being dead, and Morcar languishing in
prison-he divided up the chief provinces of England amongst
his followers, and made the humblest of the Normans men of
wealth, with civil and military authority. He gave William fitz-
Osbern, steward of Normandy, the Isle of Wight and county of
Hereford,1 and set him up in the marches with Walter of Lacy2
and other proved warriors, to fight the bellicose Welsh. Since his
followers would dare anything, fitzOsbern made a first attack
on Brecknock, and defeated the Welsh kings Rhys, Cadwgan,3
Maredudd, and many others. The king had already given the city
and county of Chester to the Fleming Ger bod, 4 but he was con-
tinually molested by the English and Welsh alike. At length he
received a message from the men he had left behind in Flanders
to administer his hereditary honor, urgently requiring his return,
and obtained permission for a short visit from the king. But there
by misfortune he fell into the hands of his enemies; and loaded
with fetters and deprived of all earthly happiness he learned
through long wretchedness to compose songs of lamentation.
Meanwhile the king granted the county of Chester to Hugh of
Avranches, 5 son of Richard called Goz, who with Robert of
Rhuddlan, 6 Robert of Malpas, and other fierce knights, wrought
great slaughter amongst the Welsh. He was more prodigal than
generous; and went about surrounded by an army instead of
succeeded him before 22 February 1071 (R. H. George, 'The contribution of
Flanders to the Conquest of England', in Revue Beige de Philologie et d' Histoire,
v (1926), 87 n. 28). His sister Gundreda married William of Warenne (EYC
viii, ed. C. T. Clay (1949), 40-46).
5 Hugh, son of Richard vicomte of the Avranchin.
6
Robert of Rhuddlan was a son of Humphrey of Tilleul. His brother
Arnold became a monk at St. Evroul, and it was through him as well as through
members of Earl Hugh's household that Orderic derived his information (Le
Prevost, iii. 286-7).
 BOOK IV BOOK IV 2 63

accipiendo nullam rationem tenebat. 1 I pse terram suam cotidie
deuastabaU et plus aucupibus ac uenatoribus quam terrre culto-
ribus uel creli oratoribus applaudebat. Ventris ingluuiei nimis
seruiebat:' uncle nimire crassiciei pondere prregrauatus uix ire
poterat. Carnalibus lenociniis immoderate inherebat. Ex pelicibus
plurimam sobolem utriusque sexus genuit:' qure diuersis infortuniis
absorpta iam pene tota deperiit. Ermentrudem filiam Hugonis de
ii. 220 Claromonte Beluacensi uxorem duxit, ex qua Ricardum Cestrensis
comitatus h::eredem genuit:' qui iuuenis adhuc liberisque carens
cum Guillelmo Adelino Henrici regis Anglorum fi.lio et multa
nobilitate vii kalend. decembris 2 naufragio periit.
Rex Guillelmus Rogerio de Montegomerici in primis castrum
Arundellum et urbem Cicestram dedit:' cui postea comitatum
Scrobesburire qure in monte super Sabrinam fluuium sita est
adiecit.3 Hie sapiens et moderatus et amator ::equitatis fuit, et
comitatem sapientum atque modestorum dilexit. Tres sapientes
clericos Godebaldum et Odelerium ac Herbertum diutius secum
habuit.J quorum consiliis utiliter paruit. 4 W arino autem Caluo
corpore paruo sed animo magnos Amieriam neptem suam et
pr::esidatum Scrobesburire dedit.J 6 per quern Gualos aliosque sibi
aduersantes fortiter oppressit, et prouinciam totam sibi commissam
pacifi.cauit. Guillelmum cognomento Pantulfum et Picodum atque
i autdh onty
'I· ii. 221 Corbatum filiosque eius Rogerium et Rodbertum aliosque fide-
les fortissimosque uiros comitatui suo prrefecit:' quorum sensu et
II, uiribus benigniter adiutus inter maximos optimates magnifi.ce
cffioruit. 7
IrIP Rex Guillelmus Gualleuo comiti filio Siuardi potentissimo
,,
Ill
Anglorum comitatum N orthamtonire dedit, eique I udith neptem
111
IN
suam ut firma inter eos amicicia perduraret in matrimonio
ill coniunxius qure duas filias speciosas marito suo peperit. Gualterio
111
,.
Iii
a ho~sehold. He ~ept no check on what he gave or received. 1 His
huntmg was a daily devastation of his lands for he th ht
. bl f .c 1 ' oug more
htg y o 1ow ers and hunters than husbandmen or monks. A slave
to gluttony, he st~ggered under a mountain of fat, scarcely able to
move. He was given over to carnal lusts and had a numerous
progeny of .sons a.nd daughters by his concubines; but almost all
of them died miserably in one way or another. He married
Ermentrude, daughter of Hugh of Claremont in Beauvaisis, by
whom .he had an heir . to the . of Chester , named R"ich ar d.,
. county
b ut t h 1s yout h perished without issue in the company of p ·
·11· f · nnce
W1 iam, son o Kmg Henry , and many nobles , in the sh"1pwreck on
25 N ovemb er.2
King William gave Roger of Montgomery first of all Arund 1
castle and the town of Chichester; and afterwards granted him thee
county of Shrewsbury,
S 3 H . a town standing on a hill above th e nver
·
evern. . e was a wise and prudent man, a lover of justice, who
always enjoyed the company of learned and sober men F
h h d · · . or many
years . e a m his household three learned clerks, Godebald
Odelem~s, and Herbert, whose advice was very profitable to him.;
To Warm .the .Bald, a .man . small in body but grea t m · sp1nt,s
· ·
h e gave h is mece Am1ena and the sheriffdom of Sh b
I · h' rews ury, 6
emp oymg im ~o crush the Welsh and other opponents and pacify
the whole . . provmce placed under his rule . He gave pos1·t·10ns of
m the county to William called Pantulf, p·1cot , Cor b et
h·
an 1s. so.ns Roger and Robert, and other brave and loyal men;
and t~e1r judgement and courage helped to give him an assured
place m the first rank of the nobility.7
King ~illiam gave the county of Northampton to Earl Waltheof,
son ~f Siward~ one of t~e greatest of the English, and married him
to his own mece Jud1th to strengthen the bonds of friendship
between them ;8 later she bore her husband two beautiful daughters.
the contrasted 'great !n.
spirit' is something of a commonplace. Cf. William of

I~
1 'rationem tenere' may mean a formal reckoning. If this statement should M!lmesbury on Rem1gms of Lincoln, GP, p. 313.
Iii
be taken in a technical sense, it implies that some form of accounting was normal See. J. F. A. ~ason in Trans. Shrop. Arch. Soc. Ivi (i96o), pp. 245 _ 7 .
in a large baronial household at this date.
2
In n20.
7
Thi~ means simply that the~ were made Earl Roger's leading tenants in
Shropshire, n~t that they were given any administrative office (ibid 247 )
3 See above, p. 210 n. I. 8
The marriage took place c. 1070 F S Scott in Arch A 1· ., p. ·
4 Odelerius was the father of Orderic. For these clerks see J. F. A. Mason, 158 h W h · · · · e zana, xxx (1952)
'The officers and clerks of the Norman Earls of Shropshire', in Transactions of , sug~ests. t ~t a1t eof was already earl of Huntingdon before the Conquest'
the Shropshire Archaeological Society, lvi (1960), 253; M. Chibnall in Annales de But the 1i:nph~at10ns of the office of earl are far from clear at this date; and what~
ever earlier nghts he may have held in Huntingdon, Waltheof seems to have
Normandie, viii (1958), 113-14. been. granted or regranted the county after his rebellion at the ( f h"
s Eyton suggested (History of Shropshire, vii. 203) that this must be a boy- marriage. , 1me o 1s
hood reminiscence. Orderic may have remembered that Warin was small, but

264 BOOK IV
quoque cognomento Gifardo comitatum Buchingeham..1 1 et Guil-
lelmo de Guarenna qui Gundredam sororem Gherbodi coniu-
gem habebat dedit Suthregiam. 2 Odoni uero Campaniensi nepoti
Tedbaldi comitis, qui sororem habebat eiusdem regis, filiam
scilicet Rodberti ducis, dedit idem comitatum Hildernessce,J et
ii. 222 Radulfo de Guader genero Guillelmi filii Osberni comitatum
Northwici.4 Hugoni uero de Grentemaisnilio municipatum Le-
grecestrces commendauit..1 aliisque nobilibus uiris municipatus
urbium et prcesidatus cum magnis honoribus et potestatibus
prouide distribuit. Henrico Gualchelini de Ferrariis filio castrum
Stutesburice quod Hugo de Abrincis prius tenuerat concessit..16
aliisque aduenis qui sibi coheserant magnos et multos honores
contulit, et in tantum quosdam prouexit.1 ut multos in Anglia
ditiores et potentiores haberent clientes, quam eorum in N eustria
fuerant parentes.
Quid loquar de Odone Baiocasino prcesule qui consul palatinus
erat, et ubique cunctis Anglice habitatoribus formidabilis erat, ac
ueluti secundus rex passim iura dabat ?7 Principatum super omnes
comites et regni optimates habuit, et cum thesauris antiquorum
Cantiam possedit.1 in qua iamdudum i£dilbertus Irminrici filius,
Eadbald et Ercombertus, et Egbert atque Lotheris frater eius
regnauerunt, primique regum Anglorum a discipulis Gregorii
papce fidem Christi susceperunt, et diuince legis obseruatione
1 In 1086 Walter Giffard held land in ten counties with his principal estates
in Buckinghamshire, where he was the leading lay tenant. He acted as one of the
Domesday commissioners (J. H. Round in VCH Bucks. i. 212-13). He is not
I If
called earl either by Orderic or in any record before 1097; and to translate this
II statement 'conferred the earldom', as does the Complete Peerage, is confusing
I I ~
(see GEC ii. 386; above, Introduction, pp. xxxv-xxxvi).
I~I~ 2 There are difficulties in this statement, because in 1086 William of Warenne,
,,
Ill
whose principal estates lay in Sussex and Norfolk, was not a tenant-in-chief in
Surrey, and there is no hint of any comital dues being owed to him. He was made
earl of Surrey just before his death in 1088 (cf. Le Prevost, iii. 317; EYC
viii. 5), and probably the estates at Shere, Reigate, and Darking, which were later
members of the honor of Warenne, were granted at that time (W. Farrer,
Honors and Knights' Fees, iii. 355). In fact he is not known to have had any
special authority in Surrey in the Conqueror's lifetime. Orderic probably took
his information from William of Warenne's nephew Roger, who was a monk at
St. Evroul for forty-six years (Le Prevost, ii. 396; iii. 12, 16-18), and correctly
names William's wife, Gundreda, sister of Gerbod, earl of Chester (cf. above,
p. 260 n. 4; EYC viii. 40-46). Either William was granted by the Conqueror
judicial and military rights in Surrey which have so far escaped notice, or
Orderic has antedated the grant to him whilst writing this passage, though
correctly dating it elsewhere.
3 Eudo, the disinherited count of Champagne, who had taken refuge in
Normandy, was the third husband of the Conqueror's sister Adelaide, countess
BOOK IV 265
To Walter called Giffard he gave the county of Buckingham,1 and
to William of Warenne who had taken Gherbod's sister Gun-
dreda to wife he gave Surrey. 2 He also gave the county of Holder-
ness to Eudo of Champagne, nephew of Count Theobald, who had
married the king's sister, a daughter of Duke Robert ;3 and the
county of Norfolk to Ralph of Gael, a son-in-law of William
fitzOsbern. 4 He appointed Hugh of Grandmesnil castellan of
Leicester :5 and he made a statesmanlike distribution of castella-
nies, sheriffdoms, great fiefs, and rights to other lords. Henry son
of Walchelin of Ferrieres received the castle of Tutbury, which
Hugh of Avranches had held before;6 and the king granted many
great honors to other adventurers who had supported him, and
favoured them so highly that they had many vassals in England
wealthier and more powerful than their own fathers had been in
Normandy.
What shall I say of Odo, bishop of Bayeux, who was an earl
palatine dreaded by Englishmen everywhere, and able to dispense
justice like a second king ?1 He had authority greater than all earls
and other magnates in the kingdom, and gained much ancient
treasure, as well as holding Kent where in former times Ethelbert
son of Ermenric, Eadbald and Erconbert, Egbert and Hlothere his
brother had reigned and been the first English kings to receive
Christian baptism from the disciples of Pope Gregory, and earn
of Aumale. There is little doubt that she was the daughter of Duke Robert,
though whether by Herleve or a different concubine is uncertain (GEC xii, pt. i,
Appendix K). Her husband acquired Holderness after 1086 (GEC i. 351-2;
EYC iii. 26; Chronica Monasterii de Melsa (RS), i. 89-90), a further indication
that this paragraph is a general account of the acquisition of wealth and honour
by Norman families, not limited chronologically to 1070-1. Holderness had its
own sheriffs, but was not in fact a shire (see Mason in TRHS, 5th series, xiii
(1963), 18).
4 Ralph was lord of Gael in Brittany, and a son of Ralph the Staller, who had
also been earl before him. He is called earl of Norfolk, Norfolk and Suffolk, or
the East Angles from 1069 (GEC ix. 571-3; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D, E,
1076 for 1075; William of Malmesbury, GR ii. 313). Some years later, in 1075,
he married the daughter of William :fitzOsbern.
5 For Hugh's position as castellan see F. M. Stenton, The First Century of
English Feudalism (Io66-n66) (Oxford, 1932), p. 234 n. 2; L. Fox, 'Leicester
Castle', in Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society, xxii (1944-5),
131-2.
6 Henry of Ferrers received a remarkably compact honor with the caput at
Tutbury in Staffordshire, but the bulk of the estates in Derbyshire. Cf. VCH
Staffs. iv. 30, 48; VCH Derby. i. 299-300.
7 Cf. above, Introduction, p. xxxv; Francis West, The Justiciarship in
England, pp. 4-6.
 266 BOOK IV
perennis uitre brauium mercati sunt. Permixta ni fallor in hoc uiro
uitia erant cum uirtutibus:' sed plus mundanis inherebat actioni-
bus, quam spiritualis theorire karismatibus. Ccenobia sanctorum
ualde conqueruntur quod multa eis Odo detrimenta fecerit."' et
ii. 223 fundos sibi antiquitus a fidelibus Anglis datos uiolenter et iniuste
abstulerit. 1
Gaufredus quoque Constantiniensis episcopus, de nobili Nor-
mannorum progenie ortus, 2 qui certamini Senlacio fautor acer
et consolator interfuit, et in aliis conflictibus qui postmodum
aduenas et indigenas utrinque contriuerant magister militum fuit."'
dono Guillelmi regis ducentas et octoginta uillas quas a manendo
manerios uulgo uocamus optinuit,3 quas omnes nepoti suo Rod-
berto de Molbraio propter nequitiam et temeritatem suam non diu
possessuro moriens dereliquit.
Eustachius quoque Boloniensis et Rodbertus Moritoliensis,
Guillelmus Ebroicensis et Rodbertus Aucensis atque Goisfredus
Rotronis filius Mauritaniensis, 4 aliique comites et optimates quos
singillatim nominare nequeo:' magnos redditus et honores in Anglia
receperunt a rege Guillelmo. Sic extranei diuitiis Anglire dita-
bantur, pro quibus filii eius nequiter interficiebantur:' uel extorres
per extera regna irremeabiliter fugabantur. Ipsi uero regi ut fei:tur
mille et LX librre sterilensis monetre, solidique xxx et tres oboh ex
ii. 224 iustis redditibus Anglire per singulos dies redduntur:' 5 exceptis
muneribus regiis et reatuum redemptionibus aliisque multiplici-
bus negociis qure regis rerarium cotidie adaugent. Rex Guillelmus
omne regnum suum diligenter inuestigauit, et omnes fiscos eius
sicut tempore regis Eduardi fuerant ueraciter describi fecit. 6
Terras autem militibus ita distribuit, et eorum ordines ita dis-
posuit."' ut Anglire regnum lx milia militum indesinenter haberet, 7
I'
I~ ac ad imperium regis prout ratio poposcerit celeriter exhiberet.
1 The charge of spoliation brought against Odo of Bayeux led to the great
trial on Penenden Heath when Lanfranc defended against Odo the rights of his
own church and of the churches of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, and Rochester,
and Odo was ordered to make restitution. See D. C. Douglas, The Domesday
Monachorum of Christ Church Canterbury (London, 1944), pp. 30-31; Textus
Roffensis, ed. Hearne (Oxford, 1720), pp. 141-4; J. Le Patourel, 'The rep?rts
of the trial on Penenden Heath' in Studies . . . presented to F. M. Powicke,
pp. 15-26.
z For his career see J. Le Patourel, 'Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances', in EHR
lix (1944), 129-60. He belonged to the family of Mowbray.
3 Allowing for the difficulty of defining all 'manors' with precision, the state-
ment of the number of his manors is an accurate one, as Domesday Book shows.
+ Orderic here deals with a group of men who were already members of
comital families before the Conquest. If Geoffrey, son of Rotrou of Mortagne
BOOK IV ~7
the prize of eternal life by their observance of the divine law. In
this man, it seems to me, vices were mingled with virtues, but he
was more given to worldly affairs than to spiritual contemplation.
Holy monasteries had good cause to complain that Odo was doing
great harm to them, and violently and unjustly robbing them of
the ancient endowments given them by pious Englishmen. 1 Then
there was Geoffrey bishop of Coutances, of noble Norman stock, 2
who had fought in the battle of Senlac as well as offering up
prayers, and had led his knights in various other battles between
English and invaders. He received from King William two hun-
dred and eighty vills, colloquially called 'manors' from manere
(to stay).3 These he left on his death to his nephew, Robert of
Mowbray, who soon lost them through his folly and treachery.
Likewise Eustace count of Boulogne, Robert of Martain,
William of Evreux, and Robert of Eu and Geoffrey son of Rotrou
of Mortagne4 and other earls and magnates too numerous to name
received great revenues and fiefs in England from King William.
So foreigners grew wealthy with the spoils of England, whilst her
own sons were either shamefully slain or driven as exiles to wander
hopelessly through foreign kingdoms. It is said that the king him-
self received each day in sterling money a thousand and sixty-one
pounds ten shillings and three halfpence from the ordinary revenue
of England,s not counting royal tribute and judicial fines and
many other sources of revenue which daily swelled the royal
treasures. King William carefully surveyed his whole kingdom,
and had an exact description made of all the dues owed in the
time of King Edward. 6 Also he allocated land to knights and
arranged their contingents in such a way that the kingdom of
England should always have 60,000 knights,7 ready to be mustered
at a moment's notice in the king's service whenever necessary.
count of Perche, who had fought at Hastings, acquired any lands in England,
he had apparently abandoned or exchanged them by 1086, for he was not
a tenant-in-chief in Domesday Book (J. F. A. Mason, 'The companions of the
Conqueror: an additional name', in EHR lxvi (1956), 66). His children, how-
ever, were to acquire English interests, as his daughter Margaret married Henry
of Beaumont, earl of Warwick (GEC xii, pt. ii, 360), and his son Rotrou married
Maud, illegitimate daughter of Henry I (GEC xi, Appendix D, p. I 12).
s In spite of the precision of the three halfpence, the figure as it stands is
much too large.
6 A reference to the Domesday Inquest.
7 This is an exaggerated figure: like the king's income it is approximately
ten times the likely number.
 268 BOOK IV
Adeptis itaque nimiis opibus quas alii aggregarant:' Normanni
furentes immoderate tumebant, et indigenas diuino uerbere pro
reatibus suis percussos impie mactabant. Manciadre Maronis
disticon completum in illis cernimus
Nescia mens hominis fati sortisque futurre.1
Et seruare mod um rebus sullata secundis. 1
N obiles puellre despicabilium ludibrio armigerorum patebant.1 et
ab immundis nebulonibus oppressce dedecus suum deplorabant.
Matronre uero elegantia et ingenuitate spectabiles desolatre geme-
bant:' maritorum et omnium pene amicorum solatio destitutre
magis mori quam uiuere optabant. Indociles parasiti admirabantur,
et quasi uecordes e superbia efficiebantur.1 uncle sibi tanta potestas
ii.
225 manasset, et putabant quod quicquid uellent sibi liceret. lnsipi-
entes et maligni cur cum tota contritione cordis non cogitabant,
quod non sua uirtute sed Dei gubernantis omnia nutu hostes
uicerant, et gentem maiorem et ditiorem et antiquiorem sese
subegerant, in qua plures sancti prudentesque uiri regesque
potentes micuerant, multisque modis domi militireque nobiliter
uiguerant? Sententia ueritatis iugiter eis timenda, et cordi medul-
litus inserenda esset dicentis, 'Eadem mensura qua mensi fueritis:'
remetietur uobis.' 2
Nonnulli etiam recclesiastici uiri qui sapientes et religiosi
uidebantur, regali curire pro dignitatibus cupitis obnixe famula-
bantur:' et diuersis assentationum modis non sine dedecore re-
ligiosre opinionis adulabantur. Sicut tironibus sure a principibus
erogabantur stipendia militire, sic quibusdam coronatis pro famu-
latu suo dabantur a laicis episcopatus et abbatire recclesiarum
prrepositurre archidiaconatus et decanire alireque potestates et
dignitates recclesire, quas meritum sanctitatis et sapientire doctrina
solummodo deberent optinere. Clerici et monachi nunc terreno
principi pro talibus stipendiis inherebant..1 et pro temporali com-
modo multiplex seruitium quod diuino cultui non competit
indecenter impendebant. Prisci abbates srecularis comminatione
potestatis terrebantur, et sine sinodali discussione de sedibus suis
iniuste fugabantur:' pro quibus stipendiarii non monachi sed
1
Virgil, Aen. x. 501-2 (correctly mens hominum). 2
Luke vi. 38.
BOOK IV 269
So when the Normans had become over-wealthy on the spoils
garn~red by others, they arrogantly abused their authority and
mercilessly slaughtered the native people like the scourge of God
smiting them for their sins. Their conduct calls to mind the couplet
of the Mantuan Maro:
Flown with success, such men know no restraint
Ignorant both of fate and things to come. 1 '
Noble maidens were exposed to the insults of low-born soldiers,
and lamented their dishonouring by the scum of the earth.
Matrons, highly born and handsome, mourned the loss of their
loving husbands and almost all their friends, and preferred death
to life. Ignorant men fell an easy prey to parasites, and, puffed up
with pride beyond all reason, gloried in the power that had come
to them and imagined that they were a law unto themselves.
0 fools and sinners! why did they not ponder contritely in their
hearts that they had conquered not by their own strength but by
the will of almighty God, and had subdued a people that was
greater, and more wealthy than they were, with a longer history:
a people moreover amongst whom many saints and wise men and
mighty kings had led illustrious lives, and won distinction in
many ways at home and on the battlefield ? Instead they should
have remembered with fear, and pondered in the depths of their
hearts the true saying that is written: 'With the same measure that
ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. '2
There were even some churchmen, wise and pious in outward
appearance, who waited on the royal court out of covetousness for
high office, and, to the great discredit of their cloth, shamelessly
pandered to the king. Like recruits who receive wages from their
officers for their service in war some of these tonsured clerks
accepted from laymen, as a reward for their service at court,
bishoprics and abbeys, the provostships of churches, arch-
deaconries, deaneries, and other ecclesiastical offices and honours
which should have been granted only on grounds of piety and holy'
learning. Clerks and monks now served an earthly prince for such
wages as these, and to secure worldly advancement undertook all
kinds of business that prevented their proper performance of their
spiritual duties. Venerable abbots, terrified by the threats of lay
lords, were driven from their cures unjustly, without a hearing in
any synod: and in their place hirelings, tyrants rather than monks,
 2~ BOOK IV
tiranni contra sanctorum scita canonum intrudebantur. Conuentio
ii. 22 6 et profectus fiebat inter commissos greges et archimandritas
huiuscemodi.1 qualis inter lupos et bidentes sine defensore solet
fieri, quod facile probari potest ab his qui interfuerunt in Turstino
Cadomensi et conuentu Glestoniensi. 1 Nam dum proteruus abbas
cogeret Glestonios cantum quern Anglia discipulis beati Gregorii
papre didicerant relinquere et ignotum sibi nee auditum antea
cantum a Flandrensibus seu N ormannis ediscere orta est lis
acerrima quam mox secuta est sacri ordinis ignominia. Dum enim
monachi noua nollent suscipere instituta, et contumacis magistri
persisteret pertinacia.1 laici ero suo suffragati sunt ferentes spicula.
A quibus ex insperato monachorum concio est circumdata.1 et pars
eorum crudeliter est percussa, ac ut fertur letaliter sauciata. Multa
his similia referri possent:' si lectoris animum salubriter redifica-
rent. Verum quia hrec sunt minus leta.1 his omissis festinus stilum
uertam ad alia.
Guitmundus uenerabilis monachus crenobii quod crux Heltonis
dicitur,2 ubi gloriosus confessor Christi Leudfredus tempore
Hildeberti et Hilperici iuniorum regum Domino feliciter xlviii
annis militasse legitur..13 regio iussu accersitus pontum transfre-
tauit, et oblatum sibi a rege et proceribus regni onus recclesiastici
regiminis omnino repudiauit. Erat enim reuo maturus et religio-
sus ac scientia litterarum eruditissimus.1 cuius ingenii prreclarum
' When the king asked him to remain with him in England until
ii. 227 specimen euidenter patet in libro de corpore et sanguine Do-
mini contra Berengarium et in aliis opusculis ipsius. 4 Hie itaque
cum a rege rogaretur, ut in Anglia secum moraretur, et con-
gruum tempus eum promouendi prrestolaretur.1 secum subtiliter
:1
r This conflict is also described in Florence of Worcester (FW ii. 16-17);
•i Anglo-Saxon Chronicle E, 1083; and William of Malr:-iesburJ'., GP, p. 197, and
De Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae (ed. Gale, Scnptores, 1. 331-2; see a.lso
J. A. Robinson, Somerset Historical Essays (London, 1921), pp. 2-3)._ Whilst
the account of Thurstan's violence comes from the contemporary chronicle, the
statement that the new chant was one cause of grievance is first found in
Florence. Worcester was a stronghold of the pure Gregorian tradition (Knowles,
MO, pp. 553-5); Orderic certainly and William of Malmesbury proba.b~y took
the liturgical details from the Worcester chronicle or the oral trad1t10ns. of
Worcester. William of Malmesbury's De Antiquitate contains the puzzling
BOOK IV
271
were intruded, against the decrees of canon law. Between such
shepherds and the flocks committed to their keeping existed such
harmony as you would find between wolves and helpless sheep,
as all who saw the conduct of Thurstan of Caen in Glastonbury
Abbey know. 1 For when the tyrannical abbot tried to compel the
monks of Glastonbury to abandon the chant that the English had
received from the disciples of St. Gregory the Great, and learn an
alien and novel chant from Flemings and Normans, a most bitter
struggle broke out, which soon led to horrible sacrilege. The
monks refused to accept the new customs; their master persisted
in his obstinacy, and called armed retainers to his aid. They silently
surrounded the choir of monks, and unexpectedly shot cruel
arrows into their midst, so that some, as men tell, were mortally
wounded. Many similar episodes could be related, if they would
be edifying to the reader. But since these make mournful reading,
let us pass over them and go on to more cheerful things.
Guitmund, a venerable monk of the abbey called the Cross of
2
Helton, where as the records tell us the glorious confessor of the
faith, Leufroi, served God for forty-eight years in the time of the
young kings Childebert and Chilperic,3 was summoned by royal
command across the Channel, and emphatically refused the burden
of ecclesiastical office which the king and his magnates wished to
lay upon him. He was a man of mature age, pious, and most
learned in letters, who has left a proof of his keen intelligence in
the book that he wrote against Berengar 'On the body and blood
of Our Lord', and in other lesser works. 4
a suitable opportunity for his promotion came, he debated the
statement 'Huius rei testis est Orosius Anglorum historiographus': the thirteenth-
century MS. (Trinity College, Cambridge, R 5. 33) contains some inaccuracies
and if Orosius were a misreading of 'Ordricus' the statement would make bette;
sense. Unfortunately, proof is lacking that William of Malmesbury ever saw the
work of Orderic (cf. above, Introduction, pp. xxiv-xxv).
2
La-Croix-Saint-Leufroi. Orderic's information on Guitmund was inaccurate
on several points, and probably came from oral sources .
• St. Leu~roi (d. 738) was abbot of the community he founded during the
3
reigns of Ch1ldebert III (694/5-711) and Chilperic II (715-21). Cf. the Vita in
MGH, Scriptores Rerum Meroving. vii. 1-18.
~ J?e ~or?~re et sanguine Christi libri III (PL cxlix. 1427-94) and Confessio
Trimtatis (1b1d. 1495-1502). He was a pupil of Lanfranc c. 1060, and wrote his
De corpore c. 1076 (cf. H. W. Klewitz, 'Studien i.iber die Wiederherstellung der
romischen Kirche in Si.iditalien <lurch <las Reformpapsttum', in Quellen und
Forschungen, xxv (1933-4), 122 n. 2).
 ~2 BOOK IV
deliberauit, suique uotum propositi aliud esse demonstrans regi
respondit, 1
'Multre causre me repellunt ab recclesiastico regimine: quas
omnes singillatim nolo nee decet exprimere. In primis infirmitates
meas quibus in corpore et anima incessanter premor considero.J
quibus diligenter perspectis diuinum examen uehementer perti-
mesco, merens quod in uia Dei cotidie labor et a ueritate uacillo.
Et dum meipsum salubriter moderari nequeo, qualiter aliorum
uitam ad salutis uiam dirigere ualeo? Omnibus uigili mente
perlustratis non uideo, qua lege digniter prreesse ualeam illorum
cuneo:1 quorum extraneos mores barbaramque loquelam nescio,
quorum patres karosque parentes et amicos occidistis gladio.J uel
exhreredatos opprimitis exilio, uel carcere uel indebito intolerabili-
que seruitio. Scrutamini scripturas et uidete si qua lege sancitur.J
ut Dominico gregi pastor ab inimicis electus uiolenter imponatur.
.!Ecclesiastica electio prius debet ab ipsis subiectis fi.delibus cum
sinceritate fieri.J ac postmodum astipulatione patrum et amicorum
si canonica est reuerenter confirmari. Alioquin.J cum karitate debet
ii. 228 emendari. Quod hello et effusione multi cruoris truculenter
rapuistis.J qua ratione michi aliisque contemptoribus mundi qui
sponte pro Christo nudati sumus propriis, sine culpa impartiri
potestis? Generalis omnium religiosorum lex est a rapinis omnino
abstinere.J et de prreda etiam si offertur pro iustitire obseruantia
nolle recipere. Dicit enim Scriptura: "Immolans ex iniquo:
oblatio est maculata." 2 Et paulo post "Qui offert sacrificium ex
substantia pauperum.J quasi qui uictimat filium in conspectu patris
sui."3 Hrec et his similia diuinre legis prreconia pertractans ex-
pauesco.J et totam Angliam quasi amplissimam prredam diiudico,
ipsamque cum gazis suis uelut ignem ardentem contingere formi-
do. Et quia Deus iubet ut quisque proximum suum diligat sicut
seipsum:14 sine dolo dicam uobis id quod michi crelitus est inditum.
Quod michi utile reor.J uobis quoque salubre arbitror. Ergo quod
amicabiliter loquar non uideatur amarum.J sed tu strenue princeps
et commilitones tui qui graue tecum inierunt periculum, nostrre
admonitionis benigno corde suscipite eloquium. Opera Dei
1 Although this speech has been included amongst Guitmund's works in
Migne (PL cxlix, 1509-12) as Oratio ad Guillelmum I Anglorum regem it is
plainly the work of Orderic, whose normal practice was to present a point of view
in the form of a dramatic speech. In giving a reconstruction of the reasoning that
might have led Guitmund to refuse preferment in England, Orderic voices
criticisms that he must have heard both of William's church policy from later
reformers and of the justice of his claims in England. His whole handling of the
episode is coloured by views that were more likely to have been held in Kormandy
in 1125 than in the reign of William I.
2 Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 21 ('Immolantis ex iniquo oblatio est maculata').
BOOK IV 273
~at~er ca:efully in his ow~ mind and finally showed the king that
his mtent10ns were very different by replying: 1
'! am unwillin~ to accept ecclesiastical office for many reasons
which I do. not wish to expound at length, even if it were proper
to do so. First of ~ll I must consider the weaknesses of both body
and soul from which I suffer, the knowledge of which forces me to
fear divine judgement since, alas, each day as I lose my footing on
the way of God I wander from the narrow path. And since I can-
not keep my own feet on the way of salvation how can I direct
others along that way? After carefully examining the matter
I cannot see what right I have to govern a body of men whose
strange customs and barbarous speech are unknown to me, whose
be~ove~ ance~tors a~d friends you have either put to the sword,
dnven mto bitter exile, or unjustly imprisoned or enslaved. Read
~he S~r~ptures, and see if there is any law to justify the forcible
1m~osit10n .on a people of God of a shepherd chosen from among
their enemies. We must first have a full ecclesiastical election by
those who are to be governed, and then if that is canonical it must
be confirmed by the fathers of the church and their fellows· other-
wise it should be charitably corrected. How can you ex~ect to
avoid sin if you bestow on me and others, who have fled from the
world and renounced all temporal goods for love of Christ the
spoils that you have seized by war and bloodshed? It is a fu~da­
mental law for men of religion to abstain from all plunder and
refu~e to accept. booty even when it is offered as a reward for just
service. For Scripture says: "The sacrifice of injustice is a polluted
offering" ;2 and a little later, "Whoso offereth a sacrifice of the
substance of the poor is like one that slayeth a son in his father's
sight." 3 Considering these and other precepts of the divine law
I a~ sorely ~fraid ;. I deem all England the spoils of robbery and
shrmk from it and its treasures as from consuming fire. And since
C:od commands that. each one of us should love his neighbour as
hn~self, 4 I tell. you simply what is enjoined on me from on high.
This precept is necessary for my salvation, and, I consider, for
yours also. Do not regard as harsh condemnation the words
I speak .out ?f affection, but do you, 0 mighty prince, and your
compamons m battle who have faced great perils with you, listen
to the words of my counsel with well-disposed hearts. Give due
3 Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 24.
4 Cf. Matthew xix. 19; xxii. 39.
822204 T

274 BOOK IV
cunctis diebus uitre uestrre sagaciter considerate, et iudicia eius
qure incomprehensibilia sunt in omnibus operibus uestris timete.J
et sic uestram uitam requa lance moderari ad uoluntatem Dei
satagite, ut ipse arbiter reternus qui omnia iuste disponit placabilis
sit uobis in ultimo discrimine. Non uos decipiant adulatores uana
securitate.J nee insolentes pro secundis euentibus prresentis uitre,
ii. 229 uos letaliter obdormire suadeant in mundana prosperitate. Si
uicistis Anglos in congressione.J super hoc superbire nolite, sed
spiritualis nequitire grauius ac periculosius certamen cautius agite,
quod restat adhuc et imminet uobis cotidie. Mutationes regnorum
frequenter factre sunt in orbe terrarum.J sicuti sparsim legimus
multiplicium per campos scripturarum, quibus liberalium a Deo
impertita est noticia litterarum. Babilonii sub Nabuchodonosor
rege Iudeam et .lEgiptum et alia regna sibi plurima subegerunt.J
sed post lxx annos 1 ipsi cum Balthasar rege suo a Medis et Persis
quibus prreerant Darius 2 et Cirus3 nepos eius uicti et subiugati
sunt. Deinde sub Alexandro Magno Macedones post ccxxx annos
Darium4 regem Persarum cum multis legionibus deuicerunt.J et
ipsi nichilominus post aliquot annos Romanis per totum orbem
phalanges suas destinantibus cum Perseo rege suo uicti succu-
buerunt. Greci sub Agamemnone et Palamede Troiam obsederunt,
et Priamum regem Laomedontis filium ac liberos- eius Hectorem
et Troilum, Paridem et Deifebum, Amphimacumque trucida-
uerunt, et famosum Phrigire regnum post decennem obsidionem
ferro et flamma depopulati destruxerunt. Troianorum una pars
sub Enea duce regnum ltalire obtinuit, alia pars cum Antenore per
longum iter ac difficile Daciam adiit.J ibique sedem ponens usque
in hodiernum diem habitauit.s Romani regnum Ierosolimorum
quod Dauid aliique potentes successores eius spoliis allophilorum
ditauerunt, et subactis barbaris gentibus qure in circuitu erant
sullimauerunt..1 sub Vespasiano et Tito subuerterunt, et nobile
templum post primre redificationis eius annos mille lxxxix
ii. 230 diruerunt .1 quando undecies centena milia Iudeorum ferro seu
1 The statements about the four great Empires and the decline of the first
three are probably derived from the Chronicle of Eusebius-Jerome. Seventy
years was the accepted length of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. Cf.
Eusebii Pamphili Chronici Canones, ed. J. K. Fotheringham (London, 1923),
pp. 176, 180, 182, 206.
2 Darius I.
3 Presumably Cyrus the Great, though he was not related to Darius. Cyrus the
4 XXVl.
younger was a son of Darius II. Darius III.
BOOK IV 275
considera~io? to the works of God all the days of your life, show
fear of his judgements which pass human understanding in all
your deeds, and so strive to bend your life to the will of God that
!
~he Eternal udge who governs all things may be merciful to you
in the last judgement. Let not vain flatterers deceive you into
a false security, or persuade you to be satisfied with the good
fortune. of your present life, and stifle your soul with worldly
prosperity. Do not allow your victory over the English to be
a cause of pride to you: but instead gird yourself for the harder
and more dangerous battle against the evils of the spirit, for that
is a fight you must continue to wage every day. There are frequent
revolutions in earthly kingdoms, as we find them scattered over
t~e fields of many book~ in which God has chosen to supply us
with knowledge of the liberal arts. Under King Nebuchadnezzar
the Babylonians conquered Judea, Egypt, and many other king-
doms: but seventy years later 1 they themselves and their king
Balthasar were conquered and enslaved by the Medes and Persians
under Darius 2 and his kinsman Cyrus.J And after another two
hundred and thirty years the Macedonians led by Alexander the
Gre~t conquered Darius4 king of the Persians and the mighty
P~rsian ~rm~: yet nevertheless many years later they too together
with their kmg Perseus fell defeated before the Roman legions
who were being sent out over all the world. The Greeks under
~gamemnon and Palamedes besieged Troy, and after a ten-year
siege ravaged the renowned Phrygian kingdom with fire and sword
slaying King Priam son of Laomedon and his sons Hector and
Troilus, Paris, Deiphobus, and Amphimachus. One band of
Trojans under Aeneas won the kingdom of Italy; another band
under Antenor journeyed by a long and difficult road to Denmark,
where they settled and have remained to the present day.s The
kingdom of Jerusalem, which David and his mighty successors
had enriched with the spoils of foreign peoples and raised above
all the barbarian races who dwelt around, was, in the time of
Vespasian and Titus, overthrown by the Romans, who destroyed
the noble Temple one thousand and eighty-nine years after its
first foundation, and caused 1, 100,000 Jews to perish by famine and
5 The Trojan stories derive directly or indirectly from Dares Phrygius. For
the legend of the Trojan origin of the Franks cf. Liber Historiae Francorum in
MGH Scriptores Rerum Meroving. ii. 241-4; The Fourth Book of the Chronicle
of F_redegar, ed. J. M. Wallace-Hadrill (London: Edinburgh, 1960), pp. xi-xii,
 BOOK IV
fame perierunt. Franci Gallis tempore Sunnonis ducis associati
1
sunt.J et Romanorum iugo de ceruice sua uiriliter excusso super
eos regnare ceperunt. Angli Saxones ducibus Hengist et Horsa
Britonibus qui nunc Guali uocantur.J imperium dolis et fortitudine
iam fere de annis abstulerunt. Guinili qui de Scandinauia insula
sorte eiecti sunt:' regnante Albuino rege filio Audonis partem
Italire qure nunc Langobardia dicitur inuaserunt, et Romanis
diutius resistentes nunc usque tenuerunt. Omnes hi quos uictoria
turgentes recolui."' paulo post miserre subiacuerunt perniciei, pari-
que cum uictis contritione torti."' irremediabiliter gemunt in cloacis
Ere bi.
'Normanni sub Rollone duce Neustriam Karolo Simplici
subtraxerunt."' iamque cxc annis 2 contradicentibus Gallis et cum
bellico tumultu sepe calumniantibus tenuerunt. Quid de Gepidis
et Wandalis, Gothis et Turcis, Hunis et Herulis, quid de aliis
loquar barbaris, quorum conatus ad nichil est aliud nisi furari et
rapere, et conculcata pace iugiter furere? Terram turbant, redes
concremant."' orbem uexant, opes dissipant.J homines iugulant,
omnia fredant et inquietant. His itaque signis mundi portenditur
finis."' sicut ipsius patenter edocemur uoce ueritatis, "Exurget gens
l
ii. 23 I contra gentem, et regnum aduersus regnum, et erunt terrremotus
magni per loca, et pestilentire et fames, terroresque de crela et
signa magna erunt.' '3
li1
,.
Cladibus innumeris premitur sic iugiter orbis.
'His et multis huiuscemodi rotatibus in rebus humanis sollerter
inspectis."' non in se glorietur uictor de ruina com paris, quia nee
ipse stabit nisi quantum iusserit dispositio conditoris. Conuer-
sionem locutionis mere nunc ad te 0 rex faciam.-' quam tu queso
tibi benigniter haurias propter salutem reternam. N ullus patrum
tuorum ante te regale stemma gessit, nee hereditario iure tantum
decus tibi prouenit.-' sed gratuita largitione omnipotentis Dei, et
amicicia Eduardi consanguinei tui. Edgarus Adelinus aliique
plures ex linea regalis prosapire orti.-' secundum leges Hrebreorum
aliarumque gentium propinquiores sunt hreredes diadematis
Anglici. Illis nimirum remotis sors tibi cessit prouectionis.-' sed
[I I I Dei iudicium quanto occultius tanto terribilius imminet tibi ad
I
I 1
The historical commonplaces that follow are stated too generally for their
sources to be traced.
2
As Rollo's conquests were recognized in 911 this figure is inaccurate, both
for the date when Guitmund was supposed to be speaking and for the date when
Orderic was actually writing.
3 Luke xxi. I 1.
BOOK IV
1
277
the sword. The Franks, allied with the Gauls in the time of their
duke Sunno, shook the yoke of the Romans from their necks and
began to rule over them. It is now about six hundred years since
th~ Anglo-Sax~n~, under Hengist and Horsa, by their courage and
gmle won domm10n over the Britons who are now called Welsh.
The Lombards, driven by fate from the island of Scandinavia were
led by King Alboin son of Audoin into the part of Italy now ~alled
Lomb.ardy, and after long struggles against the Romans they
established a rule which still endures. All these proud conquerors
whom I have enumerated soon themselves fell conquered by
death; and now tormented by the same anguish as their victims
groan hopelessly in the depths of Hell.
'The Nor~ans under their duke Rollo wrested Normandy from
Charles t~e Simple, and have now held it for a hundred and ninety
years a?amst the attacks of the Gauls, who frequently claimed it at
the pomt of the sword. 2 What shall I say of the Gepids and
Vandals, Goths and Turks, Huns and Heruli and other barbar-
ians .whose only thought is to plunder and ravage and destroy in
despite of peace? They disturb the land, burn houses, harass
old and young, destroy prosperity, butcher men, spread ruin and
trouble everywhere. All these signs portend the end of the world,
as ':e may le~rn from the words of truth: "Nation shall rise against
nat~on ~nd kmgdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall
be m divers places and famines and pestilences and fearful sights
and great signs shall be from heaven." 3
So toils the world by countless wars oppressed.
'By these and countless other revolutions in human affairs we
may ~earn that t?e victor has no cause for glorying over his equal:
for his power will last only as long as divine providence ordains.
And now, 0 king, may I bring the substance of my discourse back
to you, begging you in the name of charity to mark my words for
your eternal salvation. Not one of your forebears before you has
enjoy:d roy~l authority, and such honour has come to you not by
hereditary nght but by the free gift of almighty God and the
friendship of your kinsman Edward. Edgar Atheling and several
others of the royal line are, according to the laws of the Hebrews
and other peoples, nearer heirs to the English crown. When they
~ere set aside the chance of advancement fell to your lot; but the
Judgement of God, which is all the more terrible because it is

278 BOOK IV
reddendam rationem commissre uillicationis. Hrec benigno ex
corde sullimitati uestrce locutus sum..1 humiliter deposcens ut mens
uestra semper sit memor nouissimorum, nee uos nimis implicet
prosperitas prresentium, quam sequi solet intolerabilis dolor et
ingens luctus ac stridor dentium. Gratire Dei uos et amicos atque
fideles uestros commendo..1 Normanniamque cum uestra licentia
redire dispono, et opimam Anglire prredam amatoribus mundi
quasi quisquilias derelinquo. Liberam paupertatem amo Christi
quam Antonius et Benedictus amplexati sunt:' magis quam diuitias
ii. 232 mundi quas Crresus et Sardanapallus nimis amauerunt, et post-
modum misere pereuntes hostibus suis deseruerunt. Christus enim
pastor bonus ue diuitibus huius mundi minatur..1 qui uoluptatibus
uanis et superfl.uis hie perfruuntur. Pauperibus uero spiritu pro-
mittit beatitudinem in regno crelorum...1 1 quam nobis det ipse qui
uiuit et regnat per omnia srecula sreculorum. Amen.'
Admiratus rex cum proceribus suis insignis monachi con-
stantiam, supplex ac deuotus impendit ei decentem reuerentiam..1
et competenter honoratum iussit eum remeare in N eustriam, ibique
quo uellet suam prrestolari prresentiam. Auditum est passim post-
quam Guitmundus ad septa monasterii sui remeauit...1 quod ipse
I
, I
monachilem pauperiem diuitiis episcoporum prreposuerit, et quod
obtentum Anglire in prresentia regis et optimatum eius rapinam
appellaueriU et quod omnes episcopos uel abbates qui nolentibus
Anglis in recclesiis Anglire prrelati sunt rapacitatis redarguerit.
Verba igitur eius per Angliam late diuulgata sunt..1 et subtiliter
uentilata multis displicuerunt, qui sequaces eius esse spernentes
ingenti liuore contra eum exarserunt. Non multo post defuncto
lohanne Rotomagensium archiepiscopo rex et alii plures Guit-
mundum ad archiepiscopatum elegerunt.. 1 2 sed emuli eius quos idem
uituperauerat ne archiprresul fieret quantum potuerunt impedie-
runt. In tanto uiro nil obiciendum inuenerunt..1 nisi quod filius
esset presbiteri.J Ille autem ab omni auaricia purgari uolens, et
inter exteros paupertate premi quam inter suos dissensiones fouere
malens.. 1 Odilonem monasterii sui abbatem reuerenter adiit, et
1 Cf. Matthew v. 3.
2 There is no confirmation of this statement, and it is doubtful if King
William would have proposed him for the archbishopric of Rouen if he had
emphatically refused preferment in England a little while before. The chronology
is certainly wrong, as Guitmund appears in the circle of Gregory VII as early as
1077, and the see of Rouen was not vacant until 1079.
~
BOOK IV
9
hidden from sight,. waits till the day when you must render account
of your stewardship. I have spoken to your majesty in good faith
fr~m the heart: humbly beseeching you always to be mindful of
thn~gs to c?me~ and not to be entirely immersed in present pros-
perity,. which is oft~n followed by unspeakable grief and great
mournmg and gnashmg of teeth. I commend you and your friends
and vassals t~ the grace of God; I am ready, with your permission,
to return to Normandy; and I abandon the rich plunder of England
as so ~uch tr~sh to the men of the world. I prefer the free poverty
of Chnst, :Which Anthony and Benedict embraced, to the worldly
we~lth which Croesus and Sardanapalus loved too well and after
thei: wretched deaths left to be enjoyed by their enemies. For
Chnst the good shepherd warns us, Woe to the rich men of this
world w~o enjoy vain and useless pleasures. To the poor in spirit
he pr?mises bles.sedness in the kingdom of Heaven;i and may he
who live~ and reigns for ever and ever grant this to us. Amen.'
The kmg, who with his chief magnates marvelled at the stead-
f~stne~s of the redoubtable monk, humbly and devoutly treated
hi.m with the reverence he deserved; he sent him back to Normandy
with due. honours to await his coming in any place he chose. But
after Gmtmund had returned to the shelter of his own monastery
the r~port sp~ead abroad that he had preferred monastic poverty
to episcopal nches, and that in the king's presence he had called
t~e conqu~st of England and its riches plunder, and had charged
with ra~ac1ty all the bishops and abbots who had been promoted
to English churches against the will of the English. His words
were rep~ated all over England, and reached the ears of many who
had no wish to follow his example, but took offence and harboured
r~sentment against him. Not long afterwards when John arch-
bishop o~ Rouen died the king and many others chose Guitmund
as arch?ish.op ;z ~ut the enemies whom he had denounced did
everythmg m their p~wer to prevent him from obtaining the see.
They could find nothi~g to criticize in this good man, except that
he was ~h~ son of a ~nest. 3 He, however, wishing to be cleared of
all suspic10n of avance, and preferring rather to endure poverty
abr?ad than to be a cause of strife at home, reverently approached
Oddo, the abbot of his monastery, and humbly sought and obtained
This w~uld hardly have prevented his preferment in 107 9 . William Bonne-
3
A
mb_e, who m fact became archbishop of Rouen at this date was the son of
a 1shop. '
 BOOK IV
ii. 233 humiliter ab illo licentiam peregrinandi petiit et accepit. Porro
illitteratus abbas metiri nesciebat.J quantus sapientire thesaurus
in prrefato doctore latebat. Ideo desiderabileJ? philos_ophum de
monasterio suo facile dimisit, quern Gregorius septimus papa
uenientem ad se gaudens suscepit.J car?inalem sanctre. Roman~
.lEcclesire prrefecit, 1 et Vrban_us papa .iam pr?bat1:1~ m multis
metropolitanum Aduersis urbis solenmte~ ordi.nam~. Hrec ~rbs
tempore Leonis papre noni a N ormani:is q1:1i pnmo A~uh~~
incoluerunt constructa est:' et a Romams qma ab aduersis sib1
cretibus redificabatur Aduersis dicta est. 3 Hrec utique diuitiis
opulenta, Cisalpinorum prompta strenuitate bellicosa.J hostibus
metuenda fidis clientibus sociisque colenda.J N ormannorurn
optione s;li papre gratanter ob.redit, a 9u~ Guitmun?urn sophista~
ii. 234 mistici decoris pallio insigmter redimitum pontific~m ac~epit.
Prrefatus archiprresul recclesiam sibi commiss~m d!u rex1t:' _et
apostolicis priuilegiis ab omni mortalium exact10ne _hber plausit.
Plebem studiose docuit meritis et orationibus protexit.J atque post
multos agones in uirtu;um exercitiis ad Domim.~m perrexit. 4 •
Anno quinto regni sui Guillelmus rex ~mllelm':1m Osberm
filium misit in N ormanniam.J ut cum Mathilde regma tueretur
prouinciam. Tune nimia dissensio inter principatu~ hreredes in
Flandria surrexit. Balduinus enim gener Rodberti regis Francorum
fortissimus Flandrensium satrapa fuit:' et ex Hadala coniuge sua
filios ac filias plures multimoda indole pollentes habu.it. ~odbertus
Fresio Arnulfus Balduin us, Vdo Treuerum archiepiscopus et
Henri~us Clericu~, et Mathildis regina, atque Iudith uxor !ostici
comitis soboles Balduini et Hadalre sunt:' 5 de quorum monbus et
uariis euentibus sophistre magna uolumina componere possunt.
Rodbertus primogenitus iamdudum patren: o~enderat, a. qu~
repulsus et eiectus ad Florentium ducem F ~es10nu~ pat~is S1;11
hostem secesserat, eique fauorabiliter sermens fiham ems m
1 Guitmund was never a cardinal. The confusion may have arisen because in
1 077 he went to Germany with the legates of Gregory VII, Cardinal-deacon
Bernard and Bernard, abbot of St. Victor, Marseille (G. Meyer von Knonau,
Jahrbucher des deutschen Reiches unter Heinrich IV. und Heinrich V. (Leipzig,
1894), ii. 778 n. 55).
2 Urban II consecrated him bishop of Aversa in 1088. The see was not an
archbishopric (cf. P. Kehr, IP viii. 281-3). Orderic's mistake may have ~ris~n
because, owing to the rivalry of the churches o.f Naples and Cap~a for Juris-
diction over Aversa, the bishopric had at the time no clear superior, and for
a while stood in a special relationship to the pope.
J The city was rebuilt by Rainulf Drengot soon after 1022 (~. Gallo, 4versa
Normanna (Naples, 1938), pp. 3-4). Leo IX, however, established a bishop-
ric there c. 1053 (Kehr, IP viii. 281). The etymology is fancif~l, since the re-
stored city had already been called A versa or Ad versa for thirty years; and
BOOK IV
from him permiss10n to journey abroad. As it happened his
illiterate abbot could not judge what a treasure of wisdom was
concealed in this learned man. So he made no effort to retain the
worthy philosopher in his monastery; Pope Gregory VII, how-
ever, gladly welcomed him when he came to him, and made him
a cardinal of ~he holy Roman Church ;_1 later Urban II solemnly
c?nsecrated him, a man of proven worth, as archbishop of the
city of Aversa. 2 This city was built in the time of Pope Leo IX by
the Normans who first settled in Apulia; and was called Aversa
by the Romans because it had been built by their adversaries.3
It was resplendent with wealth, and endowed with the warlike
courage of the races north of the Alps, an enemy to be feared and
a friend and ally to be sought. The Normans, with the consent of
its citiz.ens, had mad~ it subject to the pope alone, and he appointed
the philosopher Gmtmund as pontiff and conferred on him the
pallium with its symbolic meaning. As archbishop he ruled the
church entrusted to his care for many years, and rejoiced in
the exemption from all impositions granted by the Pope. He
zealousl~ taught his peo?l~, interceded for them by his prayers
and ments, and after stnvmg long in the battle of righteousness
passed to the Lord. 4
I In the fifth year of his reign King William sent William fitz-
Osbern to Normandy to act as regent of the province with Queen
Matilda. At that time there was great strife amongst the heirs of
I the county of Flanders. For Baldwin, a son-in-law of King Robert
o~ France, was a very powerful count of Flanders, and had by his
wife Adela a numerous progeny of gifted sons and daughters.
Robert the Frisian, Arnulf, Baldwin, Odo archbishop of Trier,
Henry the clerk, Queen Matilda, and Judith the wife of Earl
Tostig were the children of Baldwin and Adela,s and scholars
could fill many volumes with the story of their deeds and merits.
Robert, the eldest, had already quarrelled with his father, and
being disowned and exiled went over to his father's enemy
Florence duke of Frisia, who gave him his daughter in marriage
the. suggestion ~hat it was called. Adversa because it was a rampart of Naples
ag~mst Capua is unacceptable smce the city was founded too early even for
this (Mathieu, p. 345, Appendix top. 267).
4
He died before 1097 (Kehr, IP viii. 282-3).
'!'~ere. are many mistakes in Orderic's account of Flemish affairs. Judith,
5
Tost1g s wife, was the daughter of Baldwin IV, not Baldwin V; and Arnulf was
the elder son of Baldwin VI.
 BOOK IV
coniugium acceperat. 1 Vnde Flandrensis dux uehementer iratus
infremuit, Fresionem eum prre ira cognominauit.J et eum omnino
ii. 235 extorrem denuncians Arnulfum iuris sui hreredem constituit. Non
multo post Balduinus dux defunctus est.J et Arnulfus Morinorum
ducatum paruo tempore nactus est. 2 Nam Rodbertus Fresio in-
gentem Fresionum aliarumque gentium cateruam aggregauit.J et
Flandriam obnixe expugnauit. Philippus autem rex Francorum,
qui consanguineus erat eorum:' ad auxilium Arnulfi exercitum
Gallorum adunauit, et Guillelmum comitem N ormannire custo-
dem accersiit. Ille uero cum decem solummodo militibus regem
adiit.J et cum eo alacriter quasi ad ludum ina Flandriam accessit.J
Rodbertus autem Fresio exercitum Henrici imperatoris cuneis
suis sociauit, 4 et dominico septuagesimre x kal. martii manes
imparatos prreoccupauit.J et Philippo rege cum Francis fugiente
Arnulfum fratrem suum et Balduinum nepotem suum 6 et Guillel-
mum comitem telis suorum occidit. Postea Morinorum ducatum
diu tenuit.J moriensque filiis suis Rodberto Ierosolimitano et
Philippo reliquit.7 Guillelmi uero comitis corpus in Normanniam
ii. 236 a suis delatum est.J et in ccenobio Cormeliensi cum magno suorum
luctu sepultum est. Duo quippe ccenobia monachorum in suo patri-
monio construxerat in honore sanctre Dei genitricis Marire. Vnum
quidem erat Lirre secus Riselam fluuium ubi Adeliza uxor eius
tumulata est:' aliud uero Cormeliis ubi ipse ut diximus conditus
est. N ormannorum maximum strenuitate baronem ualde omnes
planxerunt.J qui largitates eius et facetias atque mirandas probitates
nouerunt. Hrereditas eius a rege Guillelmo filiis eius distributa est.
Willelmus maior natu Britolium et Paceium et reliquam partem
a alacriter quasi ad ludum in substituted by Orderic for one word, erased
1
Robert was the second, not the eldest, son of Baldwin V. There is a good
critical study of his life in C. Verlinden, Robert I le Frison (Antwerp: Paris, 1935).
Little is known of his early life: his connexion with Frisia seems to have begun
with his marriage with Gertrude, widow (not daughter) of Florence I, in 1063.
This marriage led to his nickname 'the Frisian'. The marriage was not opposed
by his father (Verlinden, op. cit., pp. 16, 27-28).
2 p. 64).
Baldwin V died in 1067 and his son Baldwin VI in 1070. It was after the
death of Baldwin VI that Robert the Frisian challenged the authority of his son,
Count Arnulf, a boy of fifteen.
3 Philip intervened as overlord and kinsman: in addition he was given the
town of Corbie. His army was made up of feudal contingents from his vassals;
and William fitzOsbern certainly attended as deputy of William of Normandy
to fulfil the feudal obligations of the duke, not for the various personal reasons
assigned to him by different chroniclers. The number of knights may be
correctly stated, since ten is a possible number for a token feudal contingent at
this date: in 1101 Count Robert II of Flanders agreed to provide ten knights
BOOK IV
as a reward for meritorious service.' At this the duke of Flanders
flew into a violent rage, called Robert 'the Frisian' in derision,
disinherited him completely, and recognized Arnulf as his lawful
heir. Not long afterwards Duke Baldwin died, and Arnulf secured
the duchy of Flanders for a short while only. 2 For Robert the
Frisian gathered together a huge army of Frisians and other
peoples, and launched a violent attack on Flanders. Philip, king
of France, who was a kinsman, mustered an army of Frenchmen
to aid Arnulf, and summoned Earl William as regent of Normandy
to accompany him. He in fact took only ten men to the king's
army, and rode off gaily to Flanders as though he were going to
a tournament.J Robert the Frisian, however, secured the support
of the Emperor Henry's army for his forces,4 and on the morning
of Septuagesima Sunday, 20 February,s fell upon his enemy
unawares, putting King Philip and his Franks to flight, and
slaying in battle his own brother Arnulf, his nephew Baldwin, 6
and Earl William. Afterwards he held the duchy of Flanders for
a long time, and on his death left it to his sons, Robert of Jerusa-
lem and Philip.7 The body of Earl William was borne back to Nor-
mandy by his men and buried with great mourning in the abbey
of Cormeilles. For he had founded two monasteries on his estates
in honour of Mary, the holy mother of God. One was at Lyre,
beside the river Risle, where his wife Adeliza was buried; and the
other at Cormeilles where, as I have related, he himself was in-
terred. The bravest of the Normans., renowned for his generosity,
ready wit, and outstanding integrity, he was universally mourned.
King William divided his inheritance amongst his sons: William
the elder received Breteuil and Pace and the remainder of the
for King Henry I of England in certain" circumstances (Verlinden, op. cit.,
pp. 59-64). .
4
Relations between Robert the Frisian and Henry IV were hostile at the
time, and there can have been no question of an alliance (Verlinden, op. cit.,
5
Verlinden (op. cit., pp. 65-66) argued from the charter of foundation of St.
Peter's, Cassel, that the battle was fought on the feast of St. Peter on 22 February
1071. Orderic is at least correct in stating that 20 February was Septuagesima
Sunday in 1071.
6
Robert's nephew Arnulf was killed at Cassel; but his nephew Baldwin
survived to become count of Hainault and take part in the First Crusade.
' He died on 13 October 1093 and his son Robert, who had been associated
with him in the government of the county since 1086, succeeded him as count.
The suggestion that Philip had some share in the county is false (Verlinden,
op. cit., pp. 136-7).
 BOOK IV
paterm mns m N ormannia optinuiU et omni uita sua fere xxx
annis tenuit. Rogerius autem iunior frater comitatum Herforden-
sem totumque fundum patris in Anglia optinuit.J sed paulo post
propter perfidiam et proteruiam suam ut in sequentibus enoda-
bitur perdidit.
Regime Mathildi licet potenter regnaret, et innumeris opibus
abundaret:' luctus ingens ortus est de morte patris, de desolatione
matris:' de crudelitate unius fratris, qui ruina subito facta est
alterius fratris:' et kari nepotis cum multis amicis. Sic omnipotens
Deus immemores sui terrigenas percutit, superbos deicit.J et quad
dominetur excelsus super omnem terram lucide ostendit. Rod-
ii. 237 bertus itaque Fresio totam sibi Flandriam subegit, et fere xxx
annis possedit, 1 amiciciamque Philippi regis Francorum facile
promeruit. I psi nempe maiorum origine erant consobrini:' et
ambo coniuges habebant filias Florentii Fresionum marchisi, 2 et
filii eorum uinculo huiusmodi necessitudinis hue usque tenentur
constricti. Porro inter N ormannos et Flandritas recidiua dissensio
prodiit:' et propter necem fratris regime aliorumque a:ffinium et
maxime pro casu Guillelmi comitis diu perdurauit.3 Turbatis
in N ormannia rebus rex Anglire regnum optime disposuit:' et
ipse in N ormanniam ut ibidem omnia recte et utiliter edomaret
properauit. Audito undique regis aduentu pacis amatores lretati
sunt:' sed filii discordire et fredi sceleribus ex conscientia nequam
adueniente ultore contremuerunt. Tune N ormannorum et Ceno-
mannensium maiores congregauit:' et omnes ad pacem et iusticiam
tenendam regali hortatu corroborauit. Episcopos quoque et
recclesiasticos uiros admonuit ut bene uiuerent:' ut legem Dei
iugiter reuoluerent, ut recclesire Dei communiter consulerent, ut
subditorum mores secundum scita canonum corrigerent, et omnes
caute regerent.
Anno igitur ab incarnatione Domini millesimo septuagesimo
secundo congregatum est concilium in metropolitana Rotoma-
ii. 238 gensis urbis sede, 4 in basilica beatre et gloriosre Dei genitricis
semper uirginis Marire.J cui Iohannes eiusdem urbis archiepiscopus
1His rule lasted a little over twenty-two years.
2 Philip's wife was Bertha, only daughter of Count Florence; Robert married
Florence's widow (above, p. 282 n. 1).
3 Relations between England and Flanders did not improve till the reign
of William Rufus (Verlinden, op. cit., pp. 78-79, 107-12).
4 The acts of the 1072 Council of Rouen are preserved only by Orderic.
There is no reason to doubt their substantial accuracy. Orderic also copied the
canons of the Council of Lillebonne, 1080, which can be checked by a sealed
copy of the Acta, and are known to be accurate (Delisle, in Le Prevost, v.
BOOK IV ~5
paternal inheritance in Normandy, and held it for the remainder
of his life which lasted about thirty years. But Roger the younger
brother, who received the county of Hereford and all his father's
estates in England, soon lost them through his treachery and
perversity, as will appear in due course.
Although Queen Matilda was now a powerful ruler with vast
resources at her command she was overwhelmed with grief at her
father's death, her mother's bereavement, and the cruelty of her
brother, who had brought about the ruin of another brother,
a dear nephew, and many friends. So omnipotent God strikes
mortal men who are unmindful of him, overthrows the proud, and
shows that he reigns on high over all the earth. Robert the Frisian
established his rule over all Flanders, held it for about thirty
years, 1 and easily won the friendship of Philip, king of France.
These two men were cousins by blood, and both had married
daughters of Florence, marquis of Frisia, 2 and their sons are still
bound to one another by the ties of kinship. But mutual and lasting
hostility arose between the Normans and Flemings, partly because
of the slaying of the queen's brother and other kinsfolk, but chiefly
because of the fate of Earl William. 3 Whilst Normandy was in
a disturbed condition the king of England admirably disposed the
affairs of his kingdom and then hurried to Normandy in order to
make a just and statesmanlike settlement there. At the news of
the king's coming peace-lovers everywhere rejoiced, but trouble-
makers and criminals trembled in their evil hearts and quailed
before the approaching avenger. He assembled the nobles of
Normandy and Maine and used all his royal powers of persuasion
to move them to peace and just government. He admonished the
bishops and churchmen to live good lives, meditate continually on
the law of God, take common action for the good of God's Church,
correct those subject to their jurisdiction according to canon law,
and govern all with discrimination.
As a result in the year of Our Lord 1072 a council was assembled
in the archiepiscopal city of Rauen, 4 in the church of the blessed
and glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. John, archbishop
of the city, presided over it, and following in the footsteps of the
lxxxviii). They were among the extracts copied from Orderic in Bihl. Nat. MS.
Lat. 4861, a thirteenth-century MS. of St. Taurin d'Evreux, possibly made at
Fecamp. They have been printed with the detailed notes of Dom Godin in
Bessin, pp. 54-62, and Mansi, xx. 33-48. See also R. Delamare, Le 'De Officiis
Ecclesiasticis' de Jean d'Avranches (Paris, 1923), pp. xv-xviii.
 286 BOOK IV
prreerat, et uestigia patrum secutus utilitati recclesiasticre omni-
modis consulebat.J cum suffraganeis suis Odone Baiocensi,
Hugone Luxouiensi.J Rodberto Sagiensi, Michahele Abrincatensi
et Gisleberto Ebroicensi. In primis disputatum est de fide sanctre
et indiuidure Trinitatis.J quam secundum instituta sanctorum
conciliorum scilicet Niceni, Constantinopolitani, primi Ephesini,
Calcedonensis concilii corroborauerunt, sanxerunt, se toto corde
credere professi sunt. Post hanc katholicre fidei professionem.J
annexa sunt hrec subscripta katholicre doctrinre fidei capitula.
In primis statutum est a nobis, ut secundum statuta patrum crismatis
et olei baptismatis et unctionis consecracio competenti hora id est post
nonam secundum statuta sanctorum patrum fiat. Hoc etiam debet
episcopus prreuidere.J ut in ipsa consecratione xii sacerdotes sacer-
dotalibus uestibus indutos uel quamplures secum habeat.
Item. In quibusdam prouinciis mos detestabilis inoleuitJ quod
quidam archidiaconi pastore carentes ab aliquo episcopo particulas olei
et crismatis accipiunt, et ita oleo suo commiscent, quod et dampnatum
est. Sed unusquisque archidiaconus chrisma et oleum suum totum
episcopo a quo consecrabitur.J ut proprio episcopo prresentet.
Item. Chrismatis et olei distributio a decanis summa diligentia et
ii. 239 honestate fiat, ita ut interim dum distribuerint albis sint induti.J et
talibus uasculis distribuatur, ut nichil inde aliqua negligentia pereat.
Item statutum est ut nullus missam celebret qui non communicet.
Item. Nullus sacerdos baptizet infantem nisi ieiunus et indutus alba
et stola nisi necessitate.
Item. Sunt quidam qui uiaticum et aquam benedictam ultra octauum
diem reseruantJ quod et dampnatum est. Alii uero non habentes hostias,
consecratas iterum consecrantJ quod terribiliter interdictum est.
Item. Donum sancti Spiritus ut non detur nisi ieiunis et a ieiunis,
neque ipsa confirmatio absque igne fiat statutum est. Hoc etiam
statutum est ne in dandis sacris ordinibus apostolicre auctoritatis
uiolatores inueniamur. Legitur enim in decretis Leonis papre, 1 quod
non passim diebus omnibus sacri ordines celebrentur, sed post diem
sabbati in eius noctis exordio qure in prima sabbati lucescit his qui
consecrandi sunt ieiunis a ieiunantibus sacra benedictio conferatur.
Quod eiusdem obseruantire eritJ si mane ipso dominico die continuato
1 Leo I to Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria (Migne, PL liv, Epist. 9, cols.
625-6); cf. lvo of Chartres, Decretum (Migne, PL clxi), part vi, cap. 70. Leo
prescribed the day and the necessity of fasting, but not the candles.
BOOK IV
287
Fathers ordained all things for the general good of the Church
w~t? the concurrence of his suffragans, Odo of Bayeux, Hugh of
~1s1eux, Robert of Seez, Michael of Avranches, and Gilbert of
Evreux. First of all they debated the doctrine of the holy and
undiv~ded T:inity, _which they approved, confirmed, and professed
to believe with their whole hearts, according to the definitions of
the holy councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus I, and
Chalcedon. After this profession of Catholic faith the following
chapters on Catholic doctrine were added:
First, it is ordained by us that according to the statutes of the Fathers
the consecration of the chrism and oil for baptism and unction shall take
place at a suitable time, namely after Nones, as the Fathers decreed.
The bishop should see to it that to perform this consecration he is
accompanied by twelve priests or more if possible, clad in sacerdotal
vestments.
A~ain: In some p~ovinces an abominable custom has grown up, that
c~rtam arc~deacons m the absence of their own bishop obtain drops of
oil and chnsm from another bishop and mix them with their own oil
which is utterly forbidden. Each archdeacon is to offer the whole of hi~
chrism and oil to the bishop who is to consecrate it as he would to his
own bishop. '
.Again: The distribution of chrism and oil is to be made by the deans
with great care. and reverenc:e, and whilst they are distributing it they
are to be clad m albs; and it is to be distributed in such vessels that
nothing is lost through carelessness.
Again it was ordained that no one should celebrate Mass without
himself taking communion.
Again.= No priest is to baptize an infant unless he is fasting and
dressed m alb and stole, except in cases of necessity.
Again: ~here are som~ wh.o keep.the viaticum and holy water longer
than the _eighth day, which 1s forbidden. Others having no bread for
consecration consecrate the consecrated host a second time, which is
utterly prohibited.
Again: It was ordained that the gift of the Holy Spirit should be given
only by and to those who are fasting, and that confirmation should not
take place witho~t lighted candles. This was ordained so that we might
not be found gmlty of violating papal authority in giving holy orders.
For it can be read in the decretals of Pope Leo 1 that holy orders are not
to ~e ~elebrated at any tin:e on any day; but after Saturday in the
beg1~mng of the follo~mg mght holy benediction shall be given to those
destmed for consecration, both those who give and those who receive
fasting at the time. The same thing is to be observed if it is celebrated

BOOK IV
sabbati ieiunio celebretur. A quo tempore prrecedentis noctis inicium
non recedit..1 quod ad diem Resurrectionis sicut etiam in Pascha Domini
declaratur pertinere non dubium est.1
Item. Quattuor temporum obseruatio competenti tempore secundum
diuinam institutionem communi obseruantia a nobis seruetur, 2 id est
prima ebdomada martii, secunda iunii, tercia septembris, eadem
decembris ob reuerentiam Dominicre Natiuitatis. Indignum enim ualde
est ut sanctorum institutio aliquibus occupationibus uel mundiali
sollicitudine destituatur.
ii. 240 Item. Clerici qui non electi nee uocati aut nesciente episcopo sacris
ordinibus se subintromittunt, aliquibus uero episcopus ut diaconibus
manum imponit, alii ceteras ordines non habentes diacones aut pre-
sbiteri consecrantur.1 hi digni sunt depositione.
Item. Qui coronas benedictas habuerunt et reliquerunt:1 usque ad
dignam satisfactionem excommunicentur. Clerici qui ordinandi sunt:1
in v feria ueniant ad episcopatum.
Item. Monachi et sanctimoniales qui relictis suis recclesiis per orbem
uagantur, alii pro nequitiis suis a monasteriis expulsi, quos pastorali
auctoritate oportet compellere, ut ad monasteria sua redeant. Et si
expulsos abbates recipere noluerint:' uictum eleemosinre eis tribuant,
qure etiam manuum labore adquirant:' quousque si uitam suam emen-
dauerint uideantur.
Item. Emuntur et uenduntur curre pastorales scilicet recclesire par-
rochianre tam a laicis quam a clericis, insuper etiam a monachisl quod
ne amplius fiat interdictum est.
Item. Ne nuptire in occulto fiant neque post prandium..1 sed sponsus
et sponsa ieiuni a sacerdote ieiuno in monasterio benedicantur, et ante-
quam copulentur progenies utrorumque diligenter inquiratur. Et si
infra septimam generationem aliqua consanguinitas inuenta fuerit, et
si aliquis eorum dimissus fuerit.1 non coniungantur.J Sacerdos qui contra
hrec fecerit..1 deponatur.
1 The celebration of the Office for Easter Sunday begins by ancient custom
immediately after Vespers on Holy Saturday. For the Easter ritual see David
Knowles, The Monastic Constitutions of Lanfranc (London: Edinburgh, 1951),
pp. 43-47; R. Delamare, Le 'De Officiis Ecclesiasticis' de Jean d'Avranches,
pp. cxxvii-cxxix.
2 Cf. the enforcement of the Ember Day fasts by the Council of Mainz, 1049
(Hefele, iv. 1032).
BOOK IV 289
on ~he .morning of the Sunday, Saturday's fast being continued. The
begmmng of the preceding night is certainly reckoned part of this day
as at East:r the same part of the night is reckoned part of the Day of
Resurrect10n. 1
Again: We are to observe Ember days at appropriate times as they
have been divinely instituted and are commonly observed :2 na~ely, the
first "'.eek of March, the second of June, the third of September, and
the third of December so as not to clash with the celebration of Christ-
mas. For it is not fitting that a holy festival should be desecrated by any
business or worldly cares.
~gain: Th:re are some clerks who, without being elected or ap-
pomted or without the bishop's knowledge, intrude themselves into
holy orders, by getting themselves ordained priests when they are not
yet deacons, or deacons or priests when they are not even in minor
orders: all these are to be deposed.
Again: Those who have received the tonsure and abandon it are to
be excommunicated until they make satisfaction. Clerks who are to be
ordained [on a Sunday] are to come to the bishop's seat on the Thursday
before.
Again, concerning monks and nuns who have left their monasteries
and are wandering at large, and those who have been expelled from their
m~nasteries for their sins and ought to be forced to return there by
episcop~l authority: If the abbot will not take them back, alms shall
be provided for them, which they shall earn by the labour of their own
hands until it can be judged whether they have amended their way
of life.
Again: Pastoral cures, that is, the cure of parish churches, are being
?ought and sold by laymen and clergy and even by monks; this practice
ls to cease.
Again: Marriages are not to be celebrated in secret or after dinner:
the h~sband and.wife, both fasting, shall be united in a church by a priest
~ho .is also fastmg, and before the marriage is consummated careful
~nqmry sha!l ~e made into the ancestry of both. And if any consanguinity
lS found w1thm the seventh degree, and if either of them has been
repu~iated, they are not to be married. J Any priest who disobeys this
rule is to be degraded.
3
A~ t~is date can~n law was far from clear on the subject of divorce and
r~pudiat10n, and the nght of either party to remarry after repudiation. Repudia-
tion ~n grounds of a~~l~ery, or enslavement, or long absence was accepted in
practic~: _on _the p_ossibihty of remarriage both practice and theory varied. This
canon is m ~me w_ith th~ hardening of canon law in favour of the indissolubility
of the m~rnage tie, ~hich was ~haracteristic of the late eleventh century. See
A. Esmem, Le Manage en drozt canonique (Paris, 1891), ii, ch. 2, especially
pp. 68-79.
822204 u
 BOOK IV
290
De sacerdotibus et leuitis et subdiaconibus qui feminas sibi usur-
pauerunt, concilium Luxouiense 1 obseruetur.J ~.e recclesias per s~ ~equ~
ii. 241
per suffraganeos regant, nee aliquid de beneficus habeant. Arch1d1~com
qui eos regere debent, non permittantur aliquam habere nec.concu~mam
nee subintroductam mulierem, nee pelicem, sed caste et mste umant,
et exemplum castitatis et sanctimonire subditis prrebeant. Oportet etiam
ut tales decani eligantur, qui sciant subditos redarguere et emendare.J
quorum uita non sit infamis, sed merito prreferatur subditis. . but is more virtuous than that of the men they rule.
Item. Interdictum est ne aliquis qui uiuente sua uxore de adulteno
calumniatus fuerit:' post mortem illius unquam de qua calumniatus
fuerit accipiat. Multa enim mala inde euenerunt. Nam plurimi de causa
haca suas interfecerunt.
Item. Nullus cuius uxor uelata fuerit.J ipsa uiuente unquam aliam
accipiat. . .. .
Item. Si uxor uiri qui peregre aut alias profectus fuent, aln mro
nupserit.J quousque prioris mortis certitudinem habeat, excommunicetur
usque ad dignam satisfactionem.
Item statutum est ne hi qui publice lapsi in criminalibus peccatis
inueniuntur citissime in sacris ordinibus restituantur. Si enim lapsis
ut ait beatus Gregorius 2 ad suum ordinem reuertendi licentia con-
cedatur.J uigor canonicre procul dubio frangitur disciplinre, dum per
reuersionis spem praure actionis desideria quisque concipere non
formidat. Vnde hoc ratum manere oportet, ut in crimine publice lapsus
ii. 242
ante peractam prenitentiam in pristino gradu nullatenus restituatur.J
nisi summa necessitate post dignam quidem longre prenitentire satis-
factionem.
Item. Si aliquis lapsus dignus depositione repertus fuerit, et ad eum
deponendum tot coepiscopos quot auctoritas postu~at 3 scilicet in sace:-
dotis vi.J in diaconi depositione iii/ unusquisque qm adesse non potent,
uicarium suum cum sua auctoritate transmittat.
Item statutum est ut nullus in quadragesima prandeat:' antequam
nona hora peracta uespertina incipiat. Non enim ieiunat:' qui ante
manducat.
Item statutum est ut in sabbato Paschre officium ante nonam non
incipiatur. Ad noctem enim Dominicre Resurrectionis respicit o~ cui~s
reuerentiam Gloria in excelsis Deo et Alleluia cantatur, quod etiam m
a The sense requires uxores
1 This is Canon 2 of the Council of Lisieux, 1064: 'Postea sancitum e~t de
villanis presbiteris atque diaconibus, ut nullus abinde uxorem vel co~cubm~
seu introductam mulierem duceret: qui vero a tempore Rotomagens1s conc1l11
BOOK IV 291
Let the ruling of the council of Lisieux 1 be observed concerning
priests and deacons and subdeacons who keep women: that they are
not to govern churches themselves, nor appoint substitutes, nor receive
any profits from their benefices. The archdeacons who ought to govern
them are not allowed to have any concubine or supposed wife or harlot,
but are to live chastely and properly giving an example of chastity and
holiness to the clergy under them. Deans should be chosen from men
able to correct and guide those under them, whose own life is not evil,
Again: It is forbidden that any man accused of adultery with another
woman during his wife's lifetime should ever marry this woman after
the death of his wife. For many evils can arise from allowing this, since
many men have murdered their wives with this intent.
Again: No man whose wife has taken the veil shall marry another as
long as she lives.
Again: If any wife whose husband has gone on a pilgrimage or else-
where take another husband without proof of the death of the first, she
is to be excommunicated until she has made amends.
Again: It is ordained that any priests who have been found guilty of
grave sins shall not be prematurely reinstated in holy orders. For if, as
St. Gregory says, 2 lapsed clerks are allowed to resume their orders, the
strength of canonical discipline will be undermined; since some men
will not hesitate to commit evil deeds if they can hope for reinstatement.
So this decree is to be observed, that any clerk who has publicly fallen
into grievous sin shall not be restored to his previous status until he has
completed his penance, except in cases of great necessity; and even then
only after he has made amends by a very long penance.
Again: If any clerk has been condemned to deposition for his faults,
and it is impossible for all the bishops required by law3-namely, six
for priests and three for deacons-to be present, then any one who can-
not come in person shall send his vicar to represent him.
Again, it is decreed that no one shall dine in Lent before the ninth
hour is past, and Vespers begin. For a man cannot be said to fast if
he has already dined.
Again, it is decreed that on Holy Saturday the office shall not be
begun before the ninth hour. For it is held to be part of the night of Our
Lord's resurrection, when out of reverence Gloria in excelsis Deo and
Alleluia are sung, as appears in the beginning of the office in the blessing
duxerat perderet.' See Delisle, Journal des Savants, 1901, pp. 516-21, reprinted
Hefele, iv, Appendix IX, pp. 1420-3.
2 Gregory I to Constantine, bishop of Milan: cf. Gratian, Decretum, i. 50
1
c. i, 'Si }apsis'.
3 The numbers were laid down by the Second Council of Carthage, 387
or 390, canon 10 (Hefele, ii. 78).

292 BOOK IV
officii initio cerei scilicet benedictione demonstratur. Narrat liber
1 of the candle. The Book of Offices relates 2 that there should b
offi.cialis 2 quod in hoc biduo non fit sacramenti celebratio. Vocat autem
hoc biduum sextam feriam et sabbatum.J in quo recolitur luctus et
mesticia apostolorum.
Item. Si alicuius sancti festiuitas in ipsa die euenerit in qua celebrari
non possitJ non ante sed infra octauum diem celebretur.
Item iuxta sanctorum Patrum decreta scilicet Innocentii papre et
Leonis statuimus, 3 ne generale baptisma nisi sabbato Paschre et Pente-
ii. 243
costes fiat. Hoc quidem seruato, quod paruulis quocumque tempore,
quacumque die petierint regenerationis lauacrum non negetur. Vigilia
uel die Epiphanire ut nullus nisi infirmitatis necessitate baptizetur.J
omnino interdicimus.
Huie concilio consenserunt lohannes archiep,iscopus Rotoma-
gensis recclesire, Odo Baiocensis episcopus, Michahel Abrincatensis
episcopus, Gislebertus Ebroicensis episcopus, et quamplures
etiam uenerabiles abbates.J quibus eo tempore ccenobia Normannire
nobiliter pollebant, et monachicum rigorem seruabant.
Operre precium esse reor patrum memoriam posteris intimare!
qui Normannire monasteria sub rege Guillelmo prudenter rexere,
et reterno regi qui incommutabiliter regnat studuerunt usque ad
mortem digniter obsecundare. Sequaces eorum multa de eis ut reor
scripta posteritati dimisere:1 sed tamen quosdam quos prre creteris
amo non pro temporali mercede, sed pro solo amore sapientire et
religionis sibi ccelitus inditre! duke michi est cum magistris meis
in hac saltem pagina nominare.
Fiscannense ccenobium in prospectu maris positum, creatrici
et gubernatrici omnium sanctre et indiuidure Trinitati dicatum!
a Ricardo primo duce N ormannorum nobiliter fundatum, a
secundo multis honoribus et diuitiis largiter ampliatum! post
Guillelmum Diuionensem uirum sapientem et in religione
feruentissimum, Johannes uenerabilis abbas 4 annis quinquaginta
et uno rexit! post quern Guillelmus de Ros Baiocensis clericus sed
ii. 244 Cadomensis monachus fere xxvii annis tenuit. Hie ut mistica
I nardus in domo Domini fragrauit karitate, largitate, multimodaque
For the blessing of the Easter candle cf. R. Delamare, Le 'De Officiis
1 to be no relevant letter of Innocent I. Cf. Burchard of Worms Decretorum Libri
Ecclesiasticis' de Jean d'Avranches, p. 35.
2 Ibid., pp. 31-32.
3 Cf. the letter of Leo I to the bishops of Sicily, prescribing the celebration of
general baptism at Easter and Pentecost, not at Epiphany (Migne, PL, liv.
695-705, Ep. xvi). This and similar decretals of Pope Gelasius and Pope
Siricius were preserved in eleventh-century canonical collections: there appears
BOOK IV 293
1
1b . f e no
ce e ration o the sacrament during these two days-namely, Friday
and Saturday, when we commemorate the mourning and sorrow of the
apostles.
Again: If any saint's day fall on a day when it cannot be celebrated
it is to. be .celebrated within the week following, but not in advance. '
Agam, m accordance with the decrees of the holy fathers, popes
Innocent and Leo, 3 we decree that general baptism shall be celebrated
only on _the Saturda~s of Easter and Pentecost, always provided that
the baptism of salvat10n ~hall not be refused to infants at any time or
on an! day. But we forbid anyone to be baptized on the Vigil or day
of Epiphany, except in cases of illness.
The decrees of_ this council were approved by John archbishop
of Rouen, Odo bishop of Bayeux, Michael bishop of Avranches
Gilbert bishop of Evreux, and a number of venerable abbots wh~
at that time brought fame to the Norman abbeys and preserved
monastic discipline.
I consider it a worthy task to preserve for later generations
the memory of those fathers who governed the monasteries of
No~m~ndy so wisely in the time of King William, and strove all
their. hves t~ serve the eternal King whose reign is immutable.
I believe their followers have left long accounts of their lives for
future generations, but nevertheless it is a pleasing task for me at
least to name here with my own masters a few whom I love above
all the rest, not for any worldly profit, but simply for love of the
wisdom and piety with which heaven endowed them.
1:he monastery of Fecamp, standing within sight of the sea and
dedicat~d to the _holy and undivided Trinity, creator and governor
of all thmgs, which was amply founded by Richard the first, duke
of Normandy, and further endowed with many estates and riches
by the second Richard, was ruled first by William of Dijon a
wise and deeply religious man, and then for fifty-one years by ;he
venerable Abbot John.4 After him William of Rots, a clerk of
Bayeux and_ monk of c.aen, held office for about twenty-seven
years. He, hke the mystical spikenard in the house of the Lord
'
XX (Migne, PL, cxl), iv, capp. 2, 4, 5. '
4 Fo~ John, abbo~ of ~~camp 1028-78, see Dom Leclercq and J. P. Bonnes,
8
Un maitre de la vie spmtuelle au Xl siecle, Jean de Fecamp (Paris 1946) ·
also L. Musset, 'La vie economique de l'abbaye de Fecamp sous l'abbatiat d~
Jean. de Ravenne', in Fecamp, i. 67-79; Dom A. Wilmart in Auteurs spirituels
(Pans, 1932), pp. 126-37.
 294 BOOK IV
benignitate. Opera qure palam sedulo fecit, uel in occulto coram
paucis arbitris omnipotenti Deo libauit.J attestantur quis spiritus
in illo habitauit, ipsumque totum possidens ad solium Domini
Sabaoth coronandum perduxit.
De Fontanellre monasterio Guntardus 1 crenobita electione
sapientum assumptus est.J et post obitum Rodberti abbatis Gem-
meticensibus rector datus est. Spiritualis doctrinre pabula com-
missis ouibus curiose impendiu et rigorem monastici ordinis
uiriliter tenuit. Mansuetos et obredientes ut pater filios mulcens
honorauiU in reprobos autem et contumaces regulreque con-
temptores ut seuerus magister disciplinre uirgam exercuit. Deni-
que ad concilium quod Vrbanus papa anno ab incarnatione
Domini MXCV indictione III apud Clarummontem tenuit.J prrefa-
tus pater cum creteris collegis suis N ormannire pastoribus perrexit,
ibique iubente Deo finem uitre sexto kal. decembris accepit, cui
Tancardus 2 Fiscannensis prior fems ut leo successit.
Defuncto Herluino qui fundator et primus abbas Beccensis
monasterii extitit, et multis karismatibus florens recclesire filiis
ii. 2 4 5 in uita sua sine dolo profuit.J uenerabilis Anselmus 3 multiplici
litterarum scientia pleniter imbutus successit, et prrefatum
crenobium doctis ac religiosis fratribus donante Deo laudabiliter
repleuit. Deinde aucto seruorum Dei numero copia rerum non
defuit, sed confluentibus amicis nobilibus ac necessariis fratribus
necessaria ubertas honorifice prouenit. Ad consilium probatissimi
sophistre clerici et laici concurrebant, et dulcia ueritatis uerba
qure de ore eius fluebant, fautoribus iusticire quasi sermones
angeli Dei placebant. Hie natione !talus Lanfrancum secutus
Beccum expetiiu et instar Israhelitarum auro diuitiisque .!Egipti-
orum id est sreculari eruditione philosophorum onustus terram
repromissionis desideranter adiit. Monachus autem factus crelesti
theorire omnimodis inhesit:' et de uberrimo fonte sophyre melliflua
doctrinre fluenta copiose profudit. Obscuras sacrre Scripturre sen-
tentias sollerter indagauit, strenue uerbis aut scriptis dilucidauit:'
1 For a brief study see G. Gontard, 'Saint Gontard, moine de Fontenelle,
abbe de Jumieges', inJumieges, i. 69-72. This is, however, mainly based on the
information supplied by Orderic.
2 The appointment of Tancard aroused considerable opposition at Jumieges,
and he appears to have been forced to give up active administration of the abbey
within a few years, though he may have remained titular abbot till his death.
Cf. J. Laporte, 'Les listes abbatiales de Jumieges', in Jumieges, i. 458.
J Orderic had read the Vita Anselmi of Eadmer, but did not have a copy of 1t
by him. Most of his information came from his friends at Bee, or from a rather
BOOK IV
295
gave forth a sweet savour of charity, beneficence, and every kind
of goodness. The works which he daily performed for all to see
or offered in secret to omnipotent God before few witnesses'
testify to the spirit that dwelt in the man and, possessing hi~
wholly, brought him to a crown of glory before the throne of the
Lord of Hosts.
The monk Gontard 1 was transferred from the abbey of St.
Wandrille by the choice of wise men; and became abbot of
Jumieges after the death of Abbot Robert. He carefully fed the
sheep committed to his charge with the food of spiritual doctrine,
and steadfastly upheld the discipline of monastic life. He tended
and loved the obedient and gentle as a father loves his children;
but to the reprobate and contumacious and breakers of the rule
he was a stern master, wielding the rod of discipline. In time this
same abbot, together with other abbots and bishops of Normandy,
attended the council held by Pope Urban at Clermont in the year
of Our Lord 1095, the third Indiction; and there by God's
ordinance he ended his life on 26 November. He was succeeded
by Tancard 2 prior of Fecamp, a man fierce as a lion.
On the death of Herluin, the first founder of the abbey of Bee,
a man of many spiritual gifts who had given his life to the service
of the sons of the church, the venerable Anselm,3 who was dis-
tinguished by his remarkably wide learning, succeeded him, and
with God's help filled the monastery of Bee with learned and
pious monks. However, as the number of God's servants increased
they did not want for material sustenance, for rich gifts flowed in
as noble friends and brethren flocked to the abbey. Clerks and
laymen came to sit at the feet of the renowned philosopher, and
the sweet words of truth that fell from his lips were as welcome to
righteous men as if they had come from an angel of God. He was
a native of Italy, who had followed Lanfranc to Bee; and like the
Israelites laden with the gold and treasures of Egypt-that is
the learning of secular philosophers-he had eagerly approached
the promised land. After becoming a monk he gave himself up
entirely to spiritual learning and a sweet stream of doctrine
poured abundantly from the unfailing fountain of his wisdom.
He pondered deeply on the obscure statements in the Scriptures,
. illuminating them in his teaching and writing, and explained the
inaccurate recollection of the contents of the Vita (cf. R. W. Southern, St. Anselm
and his Biographer (Cambridge, 1963), p. 144 n. 3).

296 BOOK IV
et perplexa prophetarum dicta salubriter enodauit. Omnia uerba
eius utilia erant:' et beniuolos auditores redificabant. Dociles disci-
puli epistolas tipicosque sermones eius scripto retinuerunt:11 qui-
bus affatim debriati non solum sibi sed et aliis multis non
mediocriter profecerunt. Hoc Guillelmus et Boso successores eius
multipliciter senserunt:' qui tanti doctoris sintagmata insigniter
sibi hauserunt, et sitientibus inde desiderabilem potum largiter
propinauerunt. Anselmus affabilis et mansuetus erat, et cunctis
simpliciter interrogantibus karitatiue respondebat. Inquirentibus
amicis pie libros edidit mirre subtilitatis ac profunditatis De
Trinitate, De ueritate, De libero arbitrio, De casu diaboli, et Cur
Deus homo factus est. 2 Fama sapientire huius didascali per totam
ii. 2 46 latinitatem diuulgata est:' et nectare bonre opinionis eius occiden-
talis recclesia nobiliter debriata est. Ingens in recclesia Beccensi
liberalium artium et sacrre lectionis sedimen per Lanfrancum
crepit, et per Anselmum magnifice creuit:' ut inde plures pro-
cederent egregii doctores et prouidi nautre ac spirituales aurigre,
quibus ad regendum in huius sreculi stadia diuinitus habenre
commissre sunt recclesire. Sic ex bono usu in tantum Beccenses
crenobitre studiis litterarum sunt dediti, et in questione seu pro-
latione sacrorum enigmatum utiliumue sermonum insistunt
seduli.-1 ut prene omnes uideantur philosophi, et ex collocutione
eorum etiam qui uidentur inter eos illiterati et uocantur rustici:'
possint ediscere sibi commoda spumantes grammatici. Affabilitate
mutua et karitatis dulcedine in Domini cultu gaudent, et infatiga-
bili religione ut uera docet eos sapientia pollent. De hospitalitate
Beccensium sufficienter eloqui nequeo. Interrogati Burgundiones
et Hispani aliique de longe seu de prope aduentantes respondeant.J
et quanta benignitate ab eis suscepti fuerint sine fraude proferant,
eosque in similibus imitari sine fictione satagant. Ianua Bec-
censium patet omni uiatori, eorumque panis nulli denegatur
karitatiue petenti. Et quid plura de eisdem loquar? Ipsos in bonis
perseuerantes custodiat, et ad portum salutis incolumes perducat:'
qui gratis crepit peragitque bonum quod in eis choruscat.
ii. 2 47 Gerbertus Fontinellensis, 3 et Ainardus Diuensis, 4 ac Durandus
1 For records of Anselm's sayings cf. R. W. Southern, St. Anselm and his Bio-
grapher, p. 222.
2 The works of St. Anselm have been edited by F. S. Schmitt, O.S.B., Sancti
Anselmi Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi Opera Omnia (6 vols., Edinburgh, 1946-61).
3 Gerbert, abbot of St. Wandrille (1062-89), was honoured as a saint in the
liturgy of his monastery. Cf. G. Gontard in Jumieges, i. 70.
BOOK IV 297
dark sayings of the prophets for men's spiritual good. All his
wor~s were precious, and edified his eager pupils. They kept copies
of his letters and. figurative sayings 1 from which they and many
ot?ers were to dn~k. deeply and slake their thirst for knowledge.
His. successors, Wilham and Boso, were fully aware of this, and
havmg themselves been refreshed by the works of this great
scholar they prepared an abundant draught for all who thirsted
aft~r them. Anselm was gentle and affectionate, and always gave
a kmd reply to those who questioned him in true sincerity. To
satisfy the queries of his friends he published books of remarkable
depth and penetration, On the Trinity, On Truth, On Free Will,
On the Fall of Satan, and Why God was made Man.z The fame
of this master's learning was spread all over the Latin world, and
the western Church was wonderfully refreshed by the nectar of
his true knowledge. A great store of learning in both the liberal
arts and theology was assembled by Lanfranc in the abbey of Bee
and magnificently increased by Anselm so that the school sent ou~
man! distinguished scholars and also prudent pilots and spiritual
char~oteers w~o have been entrusted by divine providence with
holdmg the rems of the churches in the arena of this world. So
by good custom the monks of Bee are so devoted to the study
of_ le~ters, so. eager to solve theological problems and compose
edifying treati~es? that ~lmost all of them seem to be philosophers;
~~d by associat10n with them, even with those who pass as
illiterates and are called rustics at Bee, the most erudite doctors
ca~ learn thing.s t~ their advantage. The whole community is full
of JOY and charity m the service of God, and because true Wisdom
is their teacher they are unfailing in their devotions. I cannot speak
too highly of the hospitality of Bee. If you ask Burgundians and
Sp~niards and others coming from far and near they will reply by
givmg you a full account of the kindness they have received, and
thereafter they do their best faithfully to imitate it. The doors of
Bee are always open to any traveller, and their bread is never
denied to anyone who asks for it in the name of Christ. What more
shall I say of them? May He who freely creates and sustains the
go?d that shines forth in them keep them in their holy ways, and
bnng them safely to the harbour of salvation.
Gerbert of St. Wandrille3 and Ainard of Dive4 and Durand of
4
Abbot of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive 1046-c. 1078, and a close friend of Durand
of Troarn.
 BOOK IV
Troarnensis, 1 quasi tres stellre radiantes in firmamento creli:1 sic
isti tres archimandritre multis modis rutilabant in arce Adonai.
Religione et karitate multiplicique peritia pollebant, studioque
diuinre laudationis in templo Dei iugiter inhiabant. Inter prrecipuos
cantores scientia musicre artis ad modulandum suauiter potiti sunt:'
et dulcisonos cantus antiphonarum atque responsoriorum edi-
derunt. De summo Rege quern laudant cherubin et seraphim et
omnis militia crelorum, de intacta uirgine Maria qure nobis pepe-
rit saluatorem sreculorum, de angelis et apostolis ac martiribus.J
de confessoribus ac uirginibus, mellifluas laudes ex dulcissimo
corde manantes prompserunt...1 et .lEcclesire pueris ad concinendum
Domino cum Asaph et Eman, .lEthan et Idithun et filiis Chore 2
:fideliter tradiderunt.
Nicholaus Ricardi tercii ducis N ormannorum filius, a puero
Fiscannensis monachus.J crenobium Sancti Petri principis aposto-
lorum in suburbia Rotomagensi fere LX annis rexit, mirreque
magnitudinis et elegantire basilicam crepit:' in qua corpus sancti
Audoeni eiusdem urbis archiepiscopi cum aliis multis sanctorum
reliquiis requiescit. 3 Alii quoque plures tune erant monachorum
patres in Neustria..1 quorum numerosa prreterire compellor kari-
smata, ne lectori generet fastidium prolixitas nimia.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLXXIII indictione XI.J Ale-
xander papa secundus postquam Romanam et apostolicam sedem
XI annis rexit, e mundo migrauit..1 et Gregorius septimus qui in
I,
baptismate Hildebrannus dictus est successit, et in kathedra
ponti:ficali xvn4 annis sedit. Hie a puero monachus 5 in lege
Domini ualde studuit...1 multumque feruidus propter iusticiam
multas persecutiones pertulit. Passim per orbem apostolica edicta
destinauit, ct nulli parcens crelestibus oraculis terribiliter intonuit~
omnesque ad nuptias regis Sabaoth minis precibusque inuitauit.
Poscenti papre uenerandus Hugo Cluniacensis abbas Odonem
prrefati monasterii priorem, 6 qui Remensis recclesire canonicus
1
Durand, abbot of Troarn 1059-88, had studied philosophy, music, and
theology under Isembert at Sainte-Catherine-du-Mont, Rauen; he also wrote
against Berengar. For his life see R. N. Sauvage, L'Abbaye de Saint Martin de
Troarn (Caen, 1911), pp. 287-9; R. Heurtevent, Durand de Troarn (Paris, 1912).
2
Cf. 2 Chronicles v. 12; Psalms passim.
3 Nicholas was abbot of St. Ouen c. 1036-c. 1091 or 1092. Enough of the
romanesque church begun by him in 1056 or 1066 has survived to justify the
praise of Orderic. See A. Masson, L' Eglise Saint-Ouen de Rouen (Paris, 1927),
pp. IO, 28-29.
BOOK IV
299
1
Troarn may be compared to three stars shining in the firmament
of heaven, so brightly did these three abbots glow in the temple of
the Lor~'. They were talented men, distinguished by piety and
true rehg10n, and they devoted themselves unceasingly to the
praise and ':orship of God in the liturgy. They stood out among
the most sk1~led masters of the art of musical composition, and
wro~e ~elod~ous chants for antiphons and responses. They had
music m the1~ souls, and composed praises of the King of kings,
whom cherubm and seraphin and all the host of heaven adore· of
the pure Virgin Mary who bore the Saviour of the world, of an~els
and apostles and martyrs and of confessors and virgins; and these
they handed on to the choristers of the Church for singing the
praises of the Lord with Asaph and Heman, Ethan and Jeduthun,
and the sons of Ko rah. 2
Nicholas, son of Richard III duke of Normandy, who became
a monk at Fecamp whilst still a boy, ruled the abbey of St. Peter,
chief of the Apostles, in the suburb of Rouen for almost sixty
years, and began a church of remarkable size and beauty where
the body of St. Ouen, archbishop of that city, rests with many
other relics of the saints.J There were very many other true
fathers of their monks in Normandy whose innumerable spiritual
gifts I am compelled to pass over for fear that too long a catalogue
might weary the reader.
In the year of Our Lord rn73, the eleventh Indiction, Pope
Alexander II died after governing Rome and the Holy See for
eleven years; and Gregory VII, who had been called Hildebrand
at baptism, succeeded him and remained in the papal chair for
seventeen 4 years. He was a man who had been a monk from boy-
hood, 5 profoundly learned in the law of God, and because of his
great zeal for justice he endured many persecutions. He sent papal
mandates all over the world, and relentlessly thundered out his
holy judgements, sparing no man, but with prayers and threats
inviting all to the wedding feast of the King of Hosts. This pope
as~ed the venerable Hugh, abbot of Cluny, to send to Rome Odo,
pnor of Cluny, 6 who had been a canon of Rheims, with other
4
Probably a slip of the pen for twelve (xn).
5
Gre?'ory had been a monk only for a very short time, probably in 1047-8
(see Christopher Brooke, Europe in the Central Middle Ages 962-II 54 (London,
1964), p. 250 n. 1).
6
Odo became cardinal bishop of Ostia in 1078, and was later elected pope as
Urban II.
 ~o BOOK IV
fuerat, cum aliis idoneis crenobitis Romam transmisit..1 quos papa
uelut a Deo sibi missos adiutores ouanter suscepit. Odonem
nempe prrecipuum sibi consiliarium elegit, et Ostiensi recclesire
pontificem constituit: cuius sedis prreroga:iua est .a Romano
electum clero suscipere, et papam bened1cere. Ahos quoque
monachos papa prout ratio dictabat promouit! et diuersarum
recclesiarum tutelre digniter prrefecit.
Defuncto Ernaldo Cenomannorum episcopo.1 1 Guillelmus rex
ii. 249
dixit Samsoni Baiocensi capellano suo, 2 'Cenomannensis episcopa-
tus sedes suo uiduata est antistite.1 in qua uolente Deo te nunc uolo
subrogare. Cenomannis a canina rabie ?icta urbs est. a~tiqua, ~t
plebs eius finitimis est procax et sangumolenta, dom1msque sms
semper contumax et rebellionis auida. Pontificales igitur habenas
tibi tradere decerno, quern a puericia nutriui et amaui sedulo ..1 et
nunc inter maximos regni mei proceres sullimare desidero.'
Samson respondit, 'Secundum apostolicam traditionem oportet
episcopum irreprehensibilem esse. 3 Ego autem in omni ui~a mea
sum ualde reprehensibilis, omnibusque mentis et corpons ante
conspectum deitatis sum pollutus flagitiis! nee tantum decus
contingere possum pro sceleribus meis miser et despicabilis.' Rex
dixit, 'Callidus es et perspicaciter uides .1 quod tu rit~ peccatorem
te confiteri debes. Fixam tamen in te statui sententiam, nee a te
statutum conuellam..1 quin episcopatum suscipias, aut alium qui
pro te prresul fiat porrigas.' His auditis gauisus Samson ait, '~_i.mc
domine mi rex optime locutus es.1 et ad hoc agendum admm1cu-
lante Deo me promptum inuenies. Ecce in capella tua est quidam
pauper clericus.1 sed nobilis et bene morigeratus. Huie prresulatum
commenda in Dei timore.1 quia dignus est ut estimo tali honore.'
Regi autem percunctanti quis esset..1 Samson respondit, 'Hoellus
dicitur et est genere Brito .1 sed humilis est et reuera bonus homo.'
Mox iubente rege Hoell us accersitur, ignarus adhuc ad quid
uocaretur. Cumque rex iuuenem in humili habitu macilentum
uidisset despexit .1 et conuersus ad Samsonem dixit, 'Istene est
ii. 250 quern tu tantopere prrefers ?' Samson r~sp~:mdi.t, 'Et~arr_i. dom_ine.
Hunc sine dubio fideliter effero..1 hunc m1ch1 me1que s1m1hbus mre
prrepono. Mitis est et benignus..1 inde magis prresulatu dignus. Pro
macie corporis: non sit contemptibilis. Humilis habitus..1 gratiorem
1Arnold bishop of Le Mans died in 1081.
2For the life and character of Samson see V. H. Galbraith, 'Notes on the
career of Samson, bishop of Worcester (1096-1112)', in EHR lxxxii (1967),
86-101. If the conversation is accurate in substance Samson later either changed
his views or amended his life, for he became bishop of Worcester in 1096.
But cf. above, Introduction, p. xxxviii.
3 1 Timothy iii. 2.
BOOK IV 301
chosen monks; and welcomed them as if they had been sent from
God to help him. He chose Odo as his chief counsellor and made
him bishop of Ostia, a see which has the traditional right of
acknowledging as pope the man chosen by the Roman clergy and
crowning him. The pope promoted the other monks also according
to their talents, and gave them authority over various churches.
When Arnold bishop of Le Mans died 1 King William said to his
chaplain, Samson of Bayeux :2 'The church of Le Mans is widowed
by the loss of its bishop, and to this I desire, God willing, to
promote you. The city of Le Mans took its name of old from
canine madness, and its people are insolent and bloodthirsty
neighbours, and disobedient and rebellious subjects to any master
they may have. Therefore I think it wise to hand the reins of
episcopal power to you, whom I have educated from boyhood and
loved dearly, and now wish to raise to equal rank with the greatest
lords of the land.' Samson replied: 'By apostolic precept a bishop
must be blameless. 3 But I am a man who has been guilty of sin
all my life, and am stained in the sight of God with every kind of
vice of the flesh and the spirit; I could never deserve this honour
since my sins make me wretched and despicable.' The king made
answer, 'You are shrewd and clear-sighted and do well to describe
yourself as a sinner. Nevertheless I have laid a charge on you and
will not abandon it: either you must accept the bishopric or you
must find another man to become bishop in your place.' At these
words Samson was cheered and said, 'Now, my lord King, you
are talking sense, and with God's help you will find me ready to
obey forthwith. You have in your chapel a certain clerk who is
poor but well-born and obedient. Entrust him with the bishopric
as you fear God; for I judge him worthy of this honour.' When the
king inquired who he was, Samson replied, 'His name is Hoel and
he is a Breton; but he is a humble and truly good man.' At the
king's command Hoel was sent for, without being told the cause
of the summons. But when the king saw an emaciated youth in
mean apparel he felt only contempt, and turning to Samson asked,
'Can this be the man whom you wish to advance so highly?'
Samson replied, 'Even so, my lord. I bring forward this man in all
good faith: and rightly do I prefer him to myself and men like me.
He is meek and gentle and therefore all the more deserving of
episcopal dignity. He is not to be despised for his wasted body. His
humble dress makes him more acceptable to men of true wisdom.
 302 BOOK IV
eum assignat sapientibus. Ad exteriora tantum non respicit Deus:'
sed intuetur ea qure latent extrinsecus.' Rex igitur prudens
sapientis uerba intente percepit:' et sagaciter examinare crepit.
Diffusas autem cogitationes suas in se reuersus rationis ligamine
paulatim restrinxit.J nominatumque clericurn statim ad se accersiit,
eique curam et sreculare ius Cenomannensis episcopatus com-
misit. 1 Decretum regis clero insinuatum est:' et prrefati clerici
bonre uitre testimonium ab his qui nouerunt uentilatum est. Pro
tam pura et simplici electione deuota laus a fidelibus Deo reddita
est.J et electus pastor ad caulas ouium suarum ab episcopis et
reliquis fidelibus quibus hoc a rege iussum fuerat honorifice
perductus est. At ille non minus obstupuit in tam subita pro-
motione ad prresulatum.J quam Dauid reprobatis a Samuhele
primogenitis fratribus in prouectione ad regnum. Sic Hoellus
Cenomannorum prresul factus esU et pontificali stemmate per
xv annos sancte perfunctus est. Episcopalem basilicam in qua
corpus sancti I uliani confessoris primi Cenomannorum prresulis
requiescit, et alia bona opera recclesire Dei necessaria condere
cepit:' et pro temporis opportunitate qure cepta erant perficere
studuit. Quo defuncto egregius uersificator Hildebertus successit, 2
et fore xxx annis prresulatum laudabiliter tenuit. Basilicam uero
episcopii quam prredecessor eius inchoauerat consummauiU et
ii. 251 cum ingenti populorum tripudio ueneranter dedicauit. 3 Qui non
multo post anno scilicet ab incarnatione Domini MCXXV. indi-
ctione IV.J ut Gislebertus Turonensis archiepiscopus cum Calixto
secundo papa Romre obiit, sub Honoria papa metropolitanam
sedem Turonicre urbis sancta recclesia precibus et iussis cogente
ascendit.J ibique laudabilibus studiis et actibus adhuc insistit.
Sicut mare nunquam tutum certa soliditate quiescit, sed in-
quietudine iugi turbatum more suo defluit:' et quamuis aliquando
tranquillum obtutibus spectantium appareat, solita tamen fluctua-
tione et instabilitate nauigantes territat:' sic prresens sreculum uolu-
bilitate sua iugiter uexatur, innumerisque modis tristibus seu lretis
euidenter uariatur. Inter proteruos mundi amatores qui bus ipse
mundus non sufficit:' immanis altercatio frequenter oritur et in
immensum crescit. Et dum quisque superior esse emulumque
r Hoel became bishop of Le Mans in 1081/2, but owing to the opposition of
Fulk of Anjou his consecration did not take place until 1085. See Latouche,
Maine, pp. 79, 86; GC xiv. 374-5.
2 Hildebert of Lavardin, bishop of Le Mans 1096-c. September l 125, was
one of the first men of letters of his age. See F. J.E. Raby, A History of Christian-
Latin Poetry (Oxford, 1953), pp. 265-73; F. J. E. Raby, A History of Secular
Latin Poetry in the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1934), i. 317-29; P. van Moos, H. von
Lavardin (Stuttgart, 1965), and the forthcoming edition of his poetry by
A. B. Scott.
BOOK IV 303
Fo~ God does not reg~rd outward things, but looks into the things
which are outwar?ly hidden.' The king was shrewd enough to note
t~ese words of WISdo~ and ponder them in his heart. Recovering
himself, he mastered his scattered thoughts as reason dictated· and
at once calling back the clerk Hoel he invested him with the' cure
oft?~ bishopric of Le Mans and all secular right in it. 1 The king's
decis10? was made known to the clergy, and evidence of Hoel's
good life was spread abroad by those who knew him. True
Chr!stians praised God and gave thanks to Him for so just and
st~aightforward a? election, and the chosen shepherd was escorted
with honour to his sheepfold by the bishops and other churchmen
who had been appointed b!' the king to do this. He for his part
was no less astounded by his sudden promotion than David when
Samuel set aside hi_s elder brothers and raised him to the kingship.
So_ Hoel beca_me bishop of Le Mans and devoutly performed his
episcopal duties for fifteen years. He began to build the cathedral
church where lies the body of the holy confessor Julian the first
bishop of Le Mans, and also began other good works for ~he profit
of the church of God, doing his best as far as opportunities arose
to. complete these und~rtakings. After his death the famous poet
~ildebert su~cee~ed him, 2 and for almost thirty years honestly
discharged his episcopal duties. He finished the cathedral church
wh~ch his predecessor had begun, and solemnly dedicated it
amidst great popular rejoicing.J Not long after this, in the year of
Our Lord II~5, the fourth Indiction, when Gilbert archbishop of
Tours had died at. Rome at the same time as Pope Calixtus the
second, and Hononus was pope, he rose to the metropolitan see of
Tours in response to the prayers and commands of good church-
men; and there, notable both for his studies and his life he still
.
remams. '
Just as the sea is never wholly still and safe, but is tossed con-
t~nually as it ebbs and flows; and although it may seem calm some-
times to those who are safe on shore nevertheless by its continual
~ovem~nt and tossing fills sailors with fear: so this present age
is contmually troubled by change and fluctuates ceaselessly
through all the changing moods of joy and sorrow. Amongst the
perverse love~s of the world, who can never be wholly satisfied by
the ~orld, disputes frequently arise and grow to immense pro-
portions. And when everyone strives to raise himself and become
3
The cathedral of Le Mans was consecrated in l 120.
 BOOK IV
suum proterere mtltur, requitatis immemor legem Dei trans-
greditur:' et pro adipiscendo quod unusquisque ambit humanus
cruor crudeliter effunditur. Hoc historicorum antiqui codices
copiose referunt:' hoc moderni rumor es per uicos et plateas
indesinenter asserunt, uncle quidam ad prresens lretantur.J alii
ii.
252 nichilominus flent et contristantur. De casibus huiusmodi quredam
in hoc nostro libello breuiter tetigi.J et ueraciter adhuc addere libet
alia prout a senioribus edidici.
Herbertus Cenomannorum comes ex prosapia ut fertur Karoli
Magni originem duxit.J et uulgo sed parum latine cognominari
Euigilans-canem pro ingenti probitate promeruit. Nam post
mortem Hugonis patris sui quern Fulco senior sibi uiolenter
subiugarat, in eundem arma leuans nocturnas expeditiones cre-
bro agebat.J et Andegauenses homines et canes in ipsa urbe uel
in munitioribus oppidis terrebat, et horrendis assultibus pauidos
uigilare cogebat. 1
Hugo filius Herberti postquam Alannus Britannorum comes
a N ormannis in N ormannia impotionatus occubuiU Bertam ipsius
relictam Tedbaldi Blesensium comitis sororem in coniugium
accepit, qure filium nomine Herbertum et tres filias ei peperit.2
Vna earum data est Azsoni marchiso Ligurire. Alia nomine
Margarita Rodberto filio Guillelmi ducis N eustrire desponsata est.J
qure uirgo in tutela eiusdem ducis defuncta est. Tercia uero
ii. 253 Iohanni domino castri quod Flecchia dicitur nupsit.J qure marito
suo tres liberos Goisbertum, Heliam et Enoch peperit.
Defuncto Goisfredo Martello fortissimo Andegauorum comite.J
successerunt ex sorore duo nepotes eius filii Alberici comitis
W astinensium e qui bus Goisfredus qui simplex et tractabilis
moribus erat iure primogeniti nactus est principatum. Guillelmus
autem N ormannorum princeps post mortem Herberti iuuenis
hrereditatem eius optinuit.J et Goisfredus comes Rodberto iuueni
cum filia Herberti totum honorem concessit, et hominium debi-
tamque fidelitatem ab illo in prresentia patris apud Alencionem
recepit. 3 Non multo post Fulco cognomento Richinus contra
Goisfredum fratrem dominumque suum rebellauit, eumque per
1 For a different explanation of the nickname 'Wake-dog' see above, p. 116.
2
Orderic's information about the family of the counts of Maine was un-
reliable, and his mistakes have been corrected by Latouche, Maine, Appendix
III, pp. 113-15. Hugh and Bertha had a son Herbert and a daughter Margaret,
but the other two daughters attributed to Count Hugh IV were in fact his
sisters. Gersendis married Azzo of Este, and Paula married John of La Fleche.
Her three sons are correctly named by Orderic.
3 Orderic's account, like that of William of Poitiers, is designed to show the
legitimacy of William's position in Maine, though he clearly states the point of
BOOK IV 305
better than his equals, he forgets justice and defies the law of God;
and as all snatch at the same things human blood is cruelly shed.
The old history books are full of stories that prove this; and in our
own day it is shown by the many rumours that pass through towns
and villages, bringing to some momentary joy, to others weeping
and mourning. I have briefly mentioned some events of this kind
in my book, and now I can add true accounts of others as I have
learned them from my elders.
Herbert count of Maine, who was said to be descended from the
stock of Charlemagne, came to be called colloquially but not very
elegantly 'Wake-dog' because of his remarkable valour. Not long
after the death of his father Hugh, whom the elder Fulk had
defeated by force of arms, he raised an army against this same
Fulk and secretly led a series of night attacks, terrifying the men
and dogs of Anjou alike in Le Mans and other fortified towns, and
by his fierce attacks forcing them to keep anxious vigil. 1
After Count Alan of Brittany had been poisoned in Normandy
by the Normans, Herbert's son Hugh took to wife Bertha, widow
of Alan and sister to Theobald count of Blois; and she bore him
a son named Herbert and three daughters. 2 One of these was given
in marriage to Azzo marquess of Liguria. Another, called Margaret,
was betrothed to Duke William's son Robert, but died whilst still
a maiden in the guardianship of the duke. The third married
John, lord of the stronghold called La Fleche, and bore her
husband three children: Goisbert, Elias, and Enoch.
On the death of Geoffrey Martel, the redoubtable count of
Anjou, two nephews, sons of his sister by Aubrey count of
Gatinais, were next in succession; and of these Geoffrey, who was
gentle and easily led, acquired the county by right of primo-
geniture. But William, duke of Normandy, secured young Her-
bert's inheritance after his death, and Count Geoffrey granted
the whole fief and the hand of Herbert's daughter to his young son
Robert, receiving Robert's homage and fealty at Alens:on in the
presence of his father.3 Not long afterwards Fulk called Le Rechin
rebelled against his brother and lord, Geoffrey, captured him
view of the rebels. Latouche, Maine, p. 54 n. 1, has cited evidence to show that
Maine was in a relation of vassalage to Anjou throughout the eleventh century.
Both Latouche, Maine, p. 35 n. 2, and Halphen, Anjou, p. 180, date the
homage of Robert Curthose to Geoffrey le Barbu in 1063, after William's
victory. Latouche suggests that Geoffrey gave up his claim to effective possession
of the county to preserve the rights of suzerainty.
822204 x
 306 BOOK IV
proditionem comprehendit, et plus quam xxx anms m carcere
Chinonis castri clausum tenuit. In tanta permutatione res mun-
dame in Andegauensi prouincia et in confiniis eius turbatre sunt:
et proceres patrire ad diuersa studia prout quenque propria uolun-
tas agitabat conuersi sunt.
Fulcone nimium mesto quod Normanni Cenomannicis impe-
rarent.J et consulatum sui iuris illo nolente possiderent, seditiosi
ii. 254 ciues et oppidani confines gregariique milites in exteros unanime
consilium ineunt! arcem urbis et alia munimina uiriliter armati
ambiunt, et Turgisium de Traceio 1 Guillelmumque de Firmitate
aliosque regis municipes expugnant et eiciunt. 2 Quosdam fortiter
sibi resistentes perimunt.J aliosque uinculis crudeliter iniciunt,
et cum libertate talem de N ormannis ultionem triumphantes
assumunt. Deinde regio tota perturbatur, et ibidem Normannica
uis offuscatur.J ac pene ab omnibus quasi generalis lues passim
impugnatur. Goisfredus Meduanensis aliique optimates Cenoman-
norum pari conspiratione contra N ormannos insurgunt.J aliqui
tamen licet pauci pro uariis euentibus et causis Guillelmo regi
fauent et obrediunt.
Magnanimus rex Guillelmus diris rumoribus de trucidatione
suorum auditis iratus est.J ac ad compescendam hostium inuasionem
et proditorum rebellionem armis meritam ultionem facere molitus
est. Regali iussu N ormannos et Anglos celeriter asciuit, et multas
armatorum legiones in unum conglomerauit, prudenter ad bellum
milites peditesque cum ducibus suis disposuit, et cum eis Ceno-
mannensem pagum terribilis adiuit. In primis Fredernaicum
ii. 2 55 castrum cum phalange sua obsedit,3 ibique Rodberto de Belesmia
cingulum militire prrecinxit. Hubertus autem oppidanus pacem
cum rege pepigit, castra sua Fredernaicum et Belmontem reddidit:'
eique aliquanto tempore postmodum seruiuit. Deinde rex Silleium
obsedit, sed castrensis erus regem supplex expetiit, et optatam
pacem impetrauit. Regi nimirum cum nimia uirtute properanti
nullus audebat resistere! sed omnes oppidani ac pagenses cum
clericis et omnibus religiosis pacificum marchionem decreuerunt
digniter suscipere, eiusque dicioni legitimre colla gratanter sum-
mittere. Tandem rex Cinomannis uenit, pluribus cateruis urbem
j' obsedit! edicta regalia suis opportune intimauit, et urbanis
1 For Turgis of Traci see Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Vincent du Mans,
i
I
i I
ed. R. Charles and S. Menjot d'Elbenne (Le Mans, 1886), nos. 252, 597, and
I
Latouche, Maine, p. 36 n. 3. He returned to Le Mans after the revolt and
became seneschal.
2 For this revolt in 1069 see Douglas, WC, p. 223; Latouche, Maine, p. 36.
BOOK IV ~7
through treachery, and kept him imprisoned in the castle dungeon
at Chinon for more than thirty years. This civil strife greatly
disturbed the province of Anjou and its neighbours, and the local
nobility took different sides entirely as their own interests dictated.
Whilst Fulk resented the lordship of the Normans in Maine
and their arbitrary dominance of a county that was rightly his,
the unruly citizens and men from the neighbouring towns and
mercenary soldiers united in a general conspiracy against the
foreigners; with a strong army they surrounded the citadel and
other defences of the city, and defeated and drove out Turgis of
Traci 1 and William of la F erte and the rest of the royal garrison. 2
They cut down some who resisted gallantly and brutally im-
prisoned others in fetters, and so took vengeance on the Normans
whilst winning their liberty. Consequently the whole district was
thrown into disorder: the Norman power there grew weak and
was attacked by all and sundry as a general curse. Geoffrey of
Mayenne and other nobles of Maine joined the conspiracy and
rose against the Normans; some, however, though only a few,
remained faithful to King William for various reasons.
When terrible rumours of the slaughter of his men reached the
great King William he flew into a rage, and began preparations to
drive back and subdue the invading enemies and disloyal rebels
by force of arms, and punish them as they deserved. By royal
command he speedily brought together a great force of Norman
and English soldiers, assembled knights and foot-soldiers with
their leaders in battle array, and descended like a scourge on the
county of Maine. First of all he besieged the castle of FresnayJ
and there knighted Robert of Belleme. However, Hubert the
castellan sought peace with the king, surrendered his strongholds
of Fresnay and Beaumont, and for some time afterwards remained
in his service. The king next besieged Sille, and here the leader of
the garrison begged for peace and obtained it. For no one dared
to resist the king as he advanced with so mighty an army; but
townsmen and countrymen, clerks and monks alike deemed it
wise to accept him as a ruler who brought peace, and cheerfully
bow their necks to the yoke of his lawful sway. Finally, the king
reached Le Mans, and surrounding it with his numerous army he
let his own men hear the royal ultimatum which he peremptorily
3
Fresnay was besieged in 1073. See Halphen, Anjou, p. 181; Latouche,
Maine, p. 38.
 308 BOOK IV
imperiose mandauit.J ut prudenter sibi consulerent, et urbem ante
assultus et cedes atque concremationes sibi cum pace redderent.
In crastinum autem accepto salubri consilio ciues egressi sunt:' et
supplices regi claues ciuitatis detulerunt, seseque dedentes a rege
benigniter suscepti sunt. Reliqui uero Cenomannenses territi sunt.J
ut tantam inundationem immanis exercitus per fines suos diffundi
uiderunt, iamque suos complices et fautores defecisse ante faciem
probatissimi bellatoris nouerunt. lpsi quoque pacis legatos
uictori destinauerunt.J et datis ab utrisque dextris ipsi regalibus
signis sua uexilla gaudentes associauerunt, et exinde in domo sua
et sub uite 1 sua morari et ludere si libet quiete permissi sunt.
Pacatis itaque sine magno discrimine Cenomannensibus, et
ii. 256 pacifice sub Guillelmi regis dicione degentibus, Fulco comes noxio
liuore nequiter infectus est.J et contra quosdam N ormannis fauentes
insurgere conatus est. 2 Tune ei Johannes de Flecchia potentissimus
Andegauorum prrecipue infensus eraU quia Normannis adherebat.
Qui ubi prrefatum comitem cum ferratis agminibus festinare super
se pro certo comperit.J confrederatos sibi affines expetiit, auxilium-
que Guillelmi regis requisiuit et impetrauit. Nam rex impiger
Guillelmum de Molinis et Rodbertum de Veteri Ponte aliosque
fortissimos et multoties probatos bellatores Iohanni destinauit.J
quos ille ad dcfendenda cum satellitibus suis oppida sua diligenter
composuit. Hoc audiens Fulco uehementer doluit, et undecumque
contractis uiribus castrum Iohannis obsedit. Hoellus quoque comes
cum multitudine Britonum Fulconi suppetias aduenit.J et cum eo
Iohannis uim et opes acriter coartare studuit. Guillelmus autem
rex ut tantam multitudinem girasse suos agnouit:' regali edicto
N ormannos et Anglos iterum exciuit, aliasque sibi subditas gentes
ut fortis magister militum conglobauit.J ac ut ferunt LX milia
ii. 2 57 equitum contra hostiles cuneos secum eduxit. Andegauenses
uero et Britones comperto regis et agminum eius aduentu non
fugerunU sed potius Ligerim fluuium audacter pertransierunt, et
transuecti ne timidiores spe fugiendi segnius prreliarentur scaphas
suas destruxerunt. Dum utrreque acies ad ambiguum certamen
pararentur, horribilesque pro morte et miseriis qure mortem
1 Cf. Micah iv. 4.
2 It seems very likely that Orderic here confuses the events of two campaigns
of Fulk against La Fleche. The first took place in late 1076 or early 1077; Hoel,
count of Brittany, had a Breton rebellion on his hands at this date, and he is
more likely to have been fighting with Fulk during the second attack in 1081.
See Douglas, WC, Appendix E (pp. 401-7).
BOOK IV 309
issued to ~he townsmen, warning them to save their own lives by
surrendenng the town peacefully before the assault, bringing
destruction by fire and sword, could begin. Next day the citizens,
choosing the wiser course, came out and humbly offered the keys
of the city to the king, who graciously accepted their surrender.
The remaining men of Maine were now terrified by the invasion
of this huge army which was overrunning their whole territory,
and the knowledge that their friends and supporters had collapsed
at the sight of the renowned war-leader. They too sent ambassa-
dors to ask the conqueror for peace; and when pledges of peace had
been given they thankfully joined their standards with the royal
banners, and were allowed to return home and live quietly, each
man under his vine 1 , as he chose.
When the men of Maine had been subdued without any serious
fighting, and allowed to live peacefully under King William's rule,
Count Fulk became bitterly jealous, and tried to attack the sup-
porters of the Normans. 2 At that time John of La Fleche, the most
powerful of the Angevin lords, was particularly obnoxious to him
because of his friendship for the Normans. When John knew for
certain that the count was leading strongly armed forces against
him, he sought support from his neighbours and sent to ask King
William for help, which came at once. The indefatigable king sent
William of Moulins, Robert of Vieux-Pont, and other brave
veterans to John's aid, and he carefully disposed them with his
own men for the defence of his stronghold. This news caused
Fulk great anxiety, and concentrating his scattered forces he
invested John's castle. Count Hoel too came with a strong force
of Bretons to support Fulk, and the two joined forces and en-
deavoured to overwhelm John's defences. But when King William
learned that such a powerful force had surrounded his men, once
again he took action like the great military leader he was, and
mustered an army of Normans and English and all his other
subject peoples, so that-as men tell-he was able to lead 60,000
knights against the opposing forces. The Angevins and Bretons
did not give flight when they heard of the approach of the king
and his armies, but instead boldly crossed the river Loire and when
the crossing was completed burned their boats to prevent the faint-
hearted from merely putting up a show of fighting in the hope of
retreat. Whilst both forces were preparing for the uncertain verdict
of battle, and many were enduring the pangs of fear at the thought
 310 BOOK IV
reproborurn sequuntur, timores mentibus multorum ingereren-
tur:' quidam Romanre a::cclesire cardinalis presbiter et religiosi
monachi diuino nutu adsunt, principes utriusque legionis diuinitus
animati adeunt, obsecrant et redarguunt. Viritim ex parte Deibel-
lum prohibent:' admonendo et rogando pacem suadent. Gratanter
his iunguntur Guillelmus Ebroicensis et Rogerius aliique comi-
tes strenuique optimates, qui sicut erant prompti et audaces ad
legitimos agones.J sic nimium perhorrebant per superbiam et in-
iusticiam subire conflictus detestabiles. Veredariis itaque Christi
semina pacis serentibus.J ambitiosorum tumor conquiescit nimius,
et formidantum timor paulatim decrescit pallidus. Multa demum
consilia :fiunt. Diuersi tractatus aguntur.J uerba uerbis obiciuntur.J
Deo tamen uincente legati pacis utrinque suscipiuntur. Rodberto
iuueni regis :filio comes Andegauensis Cenomannense ius con-
cedit, cum toto honore quern idem a comite Herberto cum Mar-
garita sponsa sua suscepit:' denique Rodbertus Fulconi debitum
homagium ut minor maiori legaliter impendit. Iohannes autem
aliique Andegauenses qui hactenus pro rege contra consulem
ii. 258 rebellauerant principi suo reconciliati sunU et Cenomannenses
nichilominus qui contra regem pro comite insurrexerant paci:ficati
sunt. Sic gratia Dei mitigante corda principum reatus prenitentium
utrobique indulti sunt.J et beniuolre plebes serena pace tem-
pestuosam nigredinem tumultuum procul pellente palam letata::
sunt. Ha::c nimirum pax qua: inter regem et prrefatum comitem in
loco qui uulgo Blancalanda uel Brueria dicitur facta est:' omni uita
regis ad profectum utriusque prouincire permansit. 1
Verum eodem tempore 2 alia tempestas grauissima orta est.J qua:
seua nimis et damnosa multis in Anglia facta est. Duo potentis-
simi Anglorum comites Rogerius Herfordensis, et sororius eius
Radulfus N ortiwicensis, pariter decreuerunt ut palam rebellarent.J
et principatu Anglia: Guillelmo regi surrepto sibi ius immo
tirannidem assumerent. Castella igitur sua certatim offirmant,
arma prreparant, milites aggregant.J uicinis et longinquis in quibus
confidebant, legatos suos frequenter destinant.J et in suum admi-
niculum quoscumque possunt promissis et precibus inuitant. Con-
sideratis rerum permutationibus, et temporum opportunitatibus.J
1
This pact between William and Fulk is also mentioned in the Angevin
annals (Halphen, Anna/es Angevines, p. 88); and if, as Orderic says, it initiated
a lasting peace between the two, it must have taken place in 1081. See Douglas,
WC, pp. 404-5.
2
The rebellion of the earls took place in 1075: Orderic must therefore have
BOOK IV
311
of death and the woes that come to sinners after death, there
chanced to be present by God's will a certain cardinal priest of
the Roman church and some holy monks who were inspired by
God to approach the leaders of both sides and plead with them.
They forbade the battle in the name of God, and pleaded the
cause of peace. William of Evreux and Roger and other counts and
magnates readily took up the same theme, for though they were
bold and ready for action in any just struggle they shrank from
~~teri~g into ignoble conflicts which had begun through pride and
1IlJUSt1ce. Once the ambassadors of Christ had sown the seeds of
peace, the arrogance of the bold evaporated and the pallid fears
of ~he cowardly gradually subsided. Many parleys took place;
vanous terms were proposed; there was a battle of words. But the
final vi~tory lay with God, and the peacemakers were supported by
both sides. The count of Anjou recognized the claim of young
Robert, the king's son, to Maine, with the whole fief which he had
received from Count Herbert when he was betrothed to Margaret.
Afterwards Robert did homage to Fulk as a vassal to his lord. John
and the other Angevins, who up to this time had been in rebellion
against the count on the king's behalf, were reconciled with their
lord; and the men of Maine who had risen for the count against
the king were pardoned. So by the grace of God who softens the
hearts of princes the sins of the repentant in both armies were for-
given; and the innocent populace gave rein to their rejoicing as
the clear skies of peace succeeded the black storms of war. Indeed
this peace, which was made between the king and the count of
Anjou in the place called in the vernacular Blancheland or Bruyere,
lasted all the king's life, to the great profit of both provinces. 1
At the same time 2 another grave disturbance broke out, which
brou?ht sorrow and disaster to many in England. Two powerful
Engh~h earls, Roger of Hereford and his brother-in-law Ralph of
Norwich, plotted together to stir up rebellion, wrest the realm of
England from King William, and assume authority-or rather
tyranny-over it. To this end they fortified their castles, prepared
weapons, mustered their knights, and sent messengers to all far
and near whom they trusted, using prayers and promises to per-
suade potential supporters to help them. Considering the changes
of fortune and the advantages of the present moment they said to
been very confused about the chronology of the wars between Fulk and William
that he had just described.
 312 BOOK IV
ii. 259 dicunt sibi confrederatis et assentantibus, 'Cuncti sapientes def-
finiunt congruum tempus pr.rstolandum esse:1 et dum tempus
adest gratum et habile, famosum opus a probis insigniter inchoari
debere. Ad regni decus optinendum, tempus nunquam uidimus
magis idoneum:1 quam nunc confertur nobis per ineffabile Dei
donum. Degener utpote nothus est qui rex nuncupatur, et in
propatulo diuinitus monstratur.J quod Deo displicet, dum talis
ems regno prresidet. Transmarinis conflictibus undique circum-
datur.J et non solum ab externis sed etiam a sua prole impugnatur,
et a propriis alumnis inter discrimina deseritur. Hoc eius nequitire
promeruerunt:1 qure per totum orbem nimis propalatre sunt. Nam
ipse Guillelmum Guarlengum Moritolii comitem 1 pro uno uerbo
exhrereditauit.J et de N eustria penitus effugauit. Gualterium
Pontesii comitem Eduardi regis nepotem cum Biota uxore sua
Falesire hospitauit:1 et nefaria potione simul ambos una nocte
ii. 260 peremit. 2 Conanum quoque strenuissimum consulem ueneno
infecit, quern mortuum Britannia tota pro ingenti probitate in-
effabili luctu defleuit. 3 Hrec et alia multa erga cognatos et affi-
nes suos scelera Guillelmus peregit.J qui super nos et compares
nostros adhuc similia perpetrare non desistit. Nobile regnum
Anglire temere inuasit, genuinos hreredes iniuste trucidauit.J uel
in exilium crudeliter pepulit. Suos quoque adiutores per quos
super omne genus suum sullimatus est non ut decuisset honorauit,
sed multis qui sanguinem suum in eius satellicio fuderunt ingratus
extitit.J et pro friuolis occasionibus ad mortem usque uelut hostes
puniit. Vulneratis uictoribus steriles fundos et hostium depo-
pulatione desolatos donauit:1 et eisdem postmodum restauratos
auaricia cogente abstulit seu minorauit. Omnibus igitur est odio:'
et si periret multis esset gaudio. Ecce maior pars exercitus trans
pontum moratur assiduisque bellis acriter occupatus detinetur.
Angli sua solummodo rura colunt, conuiuiis et potationibus non
prreliis intendunt.J summopere tamen pro suorum exitio paren-
tum ultionem uidere concupiscunt.' Hrec et his similia seditiosi
dicentes, et sese ad concupitum nefas omnimodis cohortantes:'
ii. 261 Gualleuum Northamtonire comitem ad colloquium accersiunt, et
1 William Werlenc, count of Mortain, was disinherited in 1055 or 1056. See
Douglas, WC, pp. 99, 138; Marx, pp. 171-2. These speeches are imaginary, but
they embody criticisms of King William that must have been widely circulated.
Cf. above, Introduction, pp. xxxviii-xxxix.
2 Cf. above, p. 118 n. 2.
I
3 Orderic gives a more detailed account of the alleged poisoning of Conan in
I'
:I
BOOK IV 313
their allies and supporters: 'All thinking men believe that an
opportune moment must be seized; and that the brave should set
their hands to a great venture when the time is ripe. We have
never known a time more apt for winning the realm than that
which has now come to us through the grace of God. The man
who now calls himself king is unworthy, since he is a bastard, and
heaven has made it plain that it is not God's pleasure that such
a leader should govern the kingdom. He is harassed on every side
by wars overse~s; he is attack~d as much by his own kin as by
strangers, and 1s deserted by his closest followers in the thick of
battle. This is his just desert for his sins, which are all too well
known everywhere. For he disinherited William Werlenc count
of Mortai°:, 1 for a hasty word and drove him out of N or~andy;
he entertamed. W~lter. count of ~ontoise, a nephew of King
Edward, and his wife B10ta at Fala1se, and murdered both in one
night with a poisoned draught. 2 He also poisoned that most valiant
count, Conan, a man of such valour that his death cast the whole
of. Brittany ~n~o deep mourning.3 These and many others are the
cnmes of Wilham against his kindred and connexions and he does
not hesitate to commit similar evil deeds against us a~d our peers.
H~ presumpt~ously invaded the fair kingdom of England and
unjustly slew its true heirs or drove them into harsh exile. He did
not reward the supporters who raised him above his own people
as he ought to have done, but showed ingratitude to many who
had. shed their blood in his service and on the slightest pretext
pumshed them with death as if they had been enemies. To victors
who had endured wounds he gave barren estates, wasted and
depopulated by his army; and after they had made these lands
fertile he began to covet them, and either took them back or
appropriated part of them. All men hate him; and his death would
~a use ~reat rejoicing. Consider now; the greater part of his army
1s de~amed overseas, heavily engaged in continual fighting. The
English are concerned only in tilling their fields: feasts and con-
vivialities are more to their taste than battles; nevertheless they
yearn to see the ruin of their kinsmen avenged.' ·with these and
similar arguments, urging each other to undertake the treachery
they had conceived, the conspirators sought the ear of Waltheof
earl of Northampton and tempted him with such reasoning as this:
his inte_rp~lations in William of Jumieges (Marx, pp. 193-4); but the story is
unconvmcmg and unsupported elsewhere. Cf. Douglas, WC, pp. 409-10.
 BOOK IV
multis eum modis temptantes talia promunt, 'Ecce peroptatum
tempus 0 strenue uir modo uides.J ut tibi recuperes exemptos
honores, et accipias iniuriis tibi nuper illatis debitas ultiones.
Adquiesce nobis et indesinenter inhere:' et terciam partem An-
glire nobiscum sine dubio poteris habere. Volumus enim ut status
regni Albionis redintegretur omnimodis.J sicut olim fuit tempore
Eduardi piissimi regis. Vnus ex nobis sit rex et duo duces:' et sic
nobis tribus omnes Anglici subicientur honores. Guillelmus
innumeris bellorum ponderibus transmare prregrauatus est.J et pro
certo scimus quod in Angliam ulterius rediturus non est. Eia
nobilis heros, consultus obserua tibi generique tuo commodis-
simos, omnique genti ture qure prostrata est salutiferos.'
Walleuus respondit, 'Maxima in talibus negociis cautela neces-
saria est.J et integra fides in omnibus gentibus ab omni homine
domino suo seruanda est. Guillelmus rex fidem meam ut maior
a minori iure recepit:' ac ut ei semper fidelis existerem in matri-
!,
monium michi neptem suam copulauit. Locupletem quoque
comitatum michi donauit.J et inter suos familiares conuiuas con-
numerauit. Et tanto principi qualiter infidus esse queam, nisi
penitus mentiri uelim fidem meam? In multis notus sum regioni-
bus.J et magnum quod absit fiet dedecus, si publice diuulger ut
proditor sacrilegus. N usquam de traditore bona cantio cantata est.
Omnes gentes apostatam et proditorem sicut lupum maledicunt,
et suspendio <lignum iudicant et opprimunt.J et si fors est patibulo
cum dedecore multisque probris affigunt. Achitophel et Iudas
traditionis scelus machinati sunt:' parique suspensionis supplicio
nee crelo nee terra digni semetipsos peremerunt. Anglica lex 1
capitis obtruncatione traditorem multat.J omnemque progeniem
eius naturali hrereditate omnino priuat. Absit ut mea nobilitas
maculetur proditione nefaria.J et de me tam turpis per orbem
publicetur infamia. Dominus Deus qui Dauid de manu Golire et
Saulis, Adadezer et Absalon potenter liberauit.J me quoque de
multis periculis in mari et in arida gratuito eripuit. I psi me fideliter
commendo, et in ipso fiducialiter spero.J quod traditionem in uita
mea non faciam, nee angelo Sathanre similis efficiar per apostasiam.'
i
1' I
Radulfus igitur Brito atque Rogerius hrec audientes ualde
contristati sunt.J eumque coniuratione terribili ne consilium eorum
detegeret constrinxerunt. Non multo post coniurata rebellio per
regiones Anglire subito erupit:' et manifesta contradictio contra
1 This is correctly stated (Pollock and Maitland, History of English Law,
i. 51-52). The punishment in Norman law was forfeiture and imprisonment.
Cf. Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, p. 604, and above, Introduction, p. xxxix.
BOOK IV 315
'See, gallant lord, now is the appointed hour for you to recover
your lost fi~fs and take just vengeance for the injuries you have
suff~red. Jom our party and stand with us; we can promise you
a third part of England. We wish to restore all the good customs
that the realm of Albion enjoyed in the time of the virtuous King
Edward. One of us shall be king and the other two dukes; and so
all the honors of England shall be subject to the three of us
William is overwhelmed by countless wars overseas and we kno~
for certain that he will never return to England. Co~e, noble lord:
respect the counsels that hold out the greatest hope for you and
your ~escendants, and will bring salvation to your people, now
sunk m slavery.'
Waltheof replied: 'In such affairs the greatest caution is neces-
s.ary; and eve.ry ma~ ~n every country owes absolute loyalty to his
he~e lord._ Kmg W~lham has lawfully received the oath of fealty
which I his vassal rightly swore, and has given his niece to me in
marriage as a pledge of lasting loyalty. He has given me a rich
earldom and counted me among his closest friends. How can I
be unfaithful to such a lord, unless I utterly desecrate my faith?
! am k?own all over the country, and it would cause great scandal
1f-:--which _Heaven forbid-I were publicly proclaimed a sacri-
legious traitor. No goo~ song is ever sung of a traitor. All peoples
brand apostates and traitors as wolves, and consider them worthy
of hanging and-if they can-condemn them to the 0o-allows with
ev.ery kind o~ ignominy and insult. Achitophel and Judas com-
mitt~d the crime of treachery, and both took their own lives by
hanging themselves, as men unworthy of either earth or heaven.
The. law ?f England 1 punishes the traitor by beheading, and
deprives his whole progeny of their just inheritance. Heaven for-
bid that I should stain my honour with the guilt of treachery, and
that such shame should be voiced abroad about me. The Lord
God, who delivered David out of the hand of Goliath and of Saul
Adarezer, and Absalom, has by his grace delivered me also fro~
m~ny dang.ers ?Y sea and land. To him I commend myself in all
faith; and m him I faithfully hope that I may never be guilty of
treachery in my life nor imitate the apostasy of the fallen angel
Satan.'
. When l_lalph t.he Breton and Roger heard these words they were
bitterly disappointed and bound him by a terrible oath not to
reveal their conspiracy. Not long afterwards the rebellion they had

316 BOOK IV
regales ministros late processit. 1 Guillelmus itaque de Guarenna
et Ricardus de Benefacta filius Gisleberti comitis, quos rex pneci-
puos Anglire iusticiarios 2 constituerat in regni negotiis.J rebellantes
conuocant ad curiam regis. Illi uero prreceptis eorum obsecundare
contempnunU sed proteruiam prosequi conantes in regios satelli-
tes prreliari eligunt. N ec mora Guillelmus et Ricard us exercitum
Anglire coadunant.J acriterque contra seditiosos in campo qui
Fagaduna dicitur dimicant.3 Obstantes uero uirtute Dei superant:1
ii. 26 et omnibus captis cuiuscumque conditionis sint dextrum pedem
3
ut notificentur amputant. Radulfum Britonem ad castrum suum
fugientem persequuntur.J sed comprehendere nequeunt. Conglo-
bata deinceps multitudine Northguicum obsident et impugnant,
socios fortitudine et industria militari corroborant.J et crebris
assultibus uariisque machinationibus inclusos hostes circumdant,
et per tres menses importune premunt et fatigant. Vindex deforis
exercitus cotidie crescit et confortatur.J et copia uictus aliarumque
rerum eis ne deficientes abscedant abunde administratur. Radulfus
autem de Guader ut sese sic inclusione constrictum uidit, et
nullum adiutorium a suis complicibus sperauit:1 munitionem suam
fidis custodibus caute commisit, et ipse proximum mare ingressus
Daciam pro auxiliis nauigio adiit. 4 Interea uicarii regis Guillelmus
et Ricardus municipes oppidi ad deditionem coartant, et regem
cito missis transpontum nunciis pro suprascriptis motibus ac-
celerant.J ut uelociter redeat ad sui tuitionem regni obsecrant. 5
Impiger igitur rex ut legationes suorum audiuit, N ormannicas
et Crenomannicas res prouide disposuit.J et omnibus optime locatis
in Angliam celeriter transfretauit. Qui postquam omnes ad curiam
suam regni proceres conuocauit.J legitimos heroes et in fide pro-
batos blandis affatibus lretificauit, rebellionis autem incentores et
fautores cur mallent nefas quam iusticiam rationabiliter inter-
rogauit. Custodibus regi pacificatis N orguicum redditum esU et
1 Orderic's account of the rebellion agrees in some points with Florence of
Worcester (FW ii. 10-12) and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D, E; but has some
details not found elsewhere. The source for these is unknown: they may have
been part of the Crowland tradition. For a discussion of events see F. S. Scott,
Arch. Aeliana, xxx (1952), 205-7.
2 The term justiciar later acquired a technical sense: at this date it implies an
ad hoc authority (cf. Francis West, The Justiciarship in England, p. 8).
3 Florence says the place was near Cambridge: Orderic alone gives the name
'Fagaduna'. This has not been identified: Le Prevost suggests Beechamwell
(Norfolk), but this is an unlikely derivation. Whereas Orderic names William of
Warenne and Richard of Clare, Florence states that the royal army was led by
Geoffrey of Coutances and Odo of Bayeux: a letter of Lanfranc to King William
(d'Achery, no. xxxv; Giles, no. 38), describing the suppression of the rebellion,
BOOK IV 317
plotted broke out all over England and the king's servants met with
open opposition everywhere. 1 William of Warenne and Richard of
Bienfait,. son. of ~o~nt Gilbert, whom the king had appointed
among his chief mmisters 2 for all business in England, summoned
the rebels to the king's court. They, however, scorned the sum-
m.ons, preferring to continue in their evil ways, and joined battle
with the king's men. Without delay William and Richard mustered
the English army and engaged in a hard-fought battle with the
rebels in a plain called Fagaduna.3 Holding their ground they won
the field by God's help, and left their mark on all prisoners of
whatever rank ~y cutting off their right foot. They pursued Ralph
the Breton to his castle, but could not capture him. Then concen-
trating their forces they besieged and attacked Norwich encour-
agi~g th~ir friends by their.bravery and military skill, and,harrying
their besieged foes by contmual assaults with every kind of engine
of w~r. For three months they continued their relentless pressure,
wean~g out the enemy. The avenging army was daily strengthened
by rei?~orcements, .and an abundant supply of food and other
~ecessities :was ~rovided for all their needs so that they could con-
tmue the siege mdefinitely. When Ralph of Gael realized that he
w~s shut in without hope of receiving any help from his accom-
plices, he entrusted the defence to a loyal garrison and himself took
to the sea near by and boarded a ship to seek help in Denmark.4
Meanwhile the king's ministers, William and Richard, urged the
garrison of the town to surrender and sent messengers post-haste
across th~ sea to tell the king of these events and implore him to
return with all speed to the defence of his kingdom.s
~hen the tireless king received these reports from his men he
q~ickl! settled affairs in Normandy and Maine, and leaving every-
~hmg m excellent order sailed at once to England. After summon-
mg all the magnates of the kingdom to his court he warmly praised
the men who had kept the law and remained true to him, and
formally a~k~d ~he for:nen.tors and Sl}ppor.:ter~<:>f ~ebelli<_:m why they
preferred miqmty to justice. The garrison of Norwich made peace
names Geoffrey of Coutances and William of Warenne among those at Norwich.
Very probably all four were actively engaged in defeating the rebels.
4
As Cnut of Denma~k .led a ~eet of over 200 ships to pillage the English
coast shortly afterwards 1t 1s possible that Ralph did visit Denmark as Orderic
says, before returning to Brittany. '
5 Lanfranc in fact wrote to the king to say that the situation was well in hand
and that there was no need for him to return (E'pistolae, ed. Giles, nos. 37, 38). '

exhereditatus est. Expulsus itaque cum uxore sua Brittaniam
repetiit:' patrium ius quod ei sc.eptrig~r Anglicus a~ferre. ?o~
potuit. Ibi Guader et Monsfort1s. ~pt1ma castella. ems ~1c10m
subiacent:' qme liberi eius hereditano mre usque hod1e poss1dent.1
1
I pse autem post multos annos tempore Vrbani papre crucem
Domini suscepit, et cum Rodberto secu?do ~orm~nnoru.m duce
contra Turcos Ierusalem perrexit, et m ma De1 premtens et
peregrinus cum uxore sua obiit. . . . ,) .
Rogerius uero comesa ad cunam ~e~1s uocatus uemt. et 1~­
quisitus manifestam toti mun do prod1t1~ne1? negare ~on pot~1t.
Igitur secundum leges ~ ormannoru~ md1catus est. et am1ssa
omni hrereditate terrena m carcere reg1s perpetuo damnatus est. 2
Ibi etiam regi multoties neq~iter detraxit.J et contumacibus acti~
implacabiliter regem offend1t. Nam quondam dum pl~bs De1
Paschale festum congrue celebraret, et rex s~ructum prec1~sarum
uestium Rogerio comiti per idoneos satellites 1? erg~st~lo mittere~ .J
ille piram ingentem ante se iussit prreparan, et 1b1dem regalia
ornamenta 3 clamidem sericamque interulam et renonem de
preciosis pellibus peregrinorum murium sub~to coll1;bu~i. Quod
audiens rex iratus ait , 'Multum superbus est qm
. hoc m1ch1
. . dedecus
fecit..J sed per splendorem Dei de carcere m~o m omm mta .mea non
exibit.'4 Sententia regis tam fixa permans1t.J quod nee etiam post
mortem regis ipse nisi mortuus de uin~ulis ex!it. Rainaldus et
ii. 265 Rogerius filii eius optimi tirones Her:nco re~1 fall1;ulantur:.J et
clementiam eius qme tardissima eis msa est m duns agombus
prrestolantur. 5 • • • • ,)
Vere gloria mundi ut flos frem dec1d1t et ar~sc1~. ac uelut fum~s
deficit et transit. Vbi est Guillelmus Osberm films, Herfordens1s
comes et regis uicarius.J N ormannire dapifer et magister militum
bellicosus? Hie nimirum primus et max1mus oppressor Ai:ig!orum
extitit..J et enormem causam per temeritatem suam enutnmt, per
quam multis milibus ruina miserre mortis incubuit. Verum iustus
a de Britolio has been added after uero and Herfordensis after comes, both in
a later hand. Though printed in earlier editions they were not written by
Orderic
1 The Breton fiefs descended to Ralph's eldest son William; on his death in
1 119 they passed to the second son, Ralph, in whose line they remained ( GEC
ix. 574). . 2
Se.e above, p. 3~4 n. I.
3 In view of the pretensions of the conspirators the gift that Ordenc regards
as a courtesy may well have been taken as an insult.
4 The date of his death is unknown: it must have been after 1087 (GEC
vi. 450).
I
I
BOOK IV 319
and surrendered to the king, and Ralph of Gael earl of Norwich
'
forfeited his English fiefs. So he was forced into exile; and
returning to Brittany with his wife took up his patrimony, which
the English monarch had no power to confiscate. In Brittany he
was lord of the two strong fortresses of Gael and Montfort, and
his children hold them by hereditary right to this day. 1 He himself
many years later, in the time of Pope Urban, took the cross and
set out for Jerusalem with Robert the second, duke of Normandy,
to fight against the Turks; as a pilgrim and penitent following the
way of God he died, together with his wife.
However, Earl Roger obeyed the summons to the king's court,
and when questioned could not deny the treachery that was plain
for all to see. Consequently he was judged by the laws of the
Normans, and condemned to perpetual imprisonment after for-
feiting all his earthly goods. 2 Even in prison he continued to abuse
the king in many ways, and give him still greater offence by his
provocative behaviour. For once, whilst the Christian populace
was reverently celebrating the Easter feast, the king sent honour-
able servants with a store of valuable garments to Earl Roger in
his prison; whereat he commanded that a huge pyre should be
prepared and the royal fineryJ-cloak and silken tunic and mantle
of ermine skins from distant parts-burned at once. At the news of
this the king exclaimed in wrath, 'It is a proud man who insults
me in this way; but by God's glory he shall never leave my prison as
long as he lives.' 4 The king's sentence was so lasting that even after
the king's death nothing but death released him from his fetters.
His sons Reginald and Roger became some of the best soldiers
in the service of King Henry; and are still awaiting his pardon
which seems to them in their bitter conflicts too long delayed.s
Truly the glory of this world falls and withers like the flower of
grass: even as smoke it fades and passes. Where is William fitz-
Osbern, earl of Hereford, regent of the king, steward of Nor-
mandy, and gallant leader in battle? He indeed was the first and
greatest oppressor of the English, and harshly supported a huge
following, which caused the ruin and wretched death of many
5
Reginald at some date found favour with Henry I, for he married Emmeline,
daughter of Hamelin of Ballon, and by 1130 held the Ballon fief in Wiltshire iure
uxoris (J. H. Round, Studies in Peerage and Family History, pp. 201-5). It is
possible that when Orderic wrote this book in 1125-6 he had not yet acquired
the property; on the other hand, Orderic's information may not have been up
to date. Nothing further is known of Roger.
 320 BOOK IV
iudex omnia uidet.J et unicuique prout meretur digne redibet.
Proh dolor ecce Guillelmus corruit.J audax athleta recepit quod
promeruit. Vt multos ense trucidauit, ipse quoque ferro repente
interiit. Denique post eius occasum, antequam lustrum com-
pleretur annorum.J spiritus discordire filium eius et generum contra
dominum suum et cognatum hostiliter exciuit, qui Sicchimitas
I I contra Abimelech quern occisis LXX filiis Ierobaal sibi prrefece-
rant commouit. 1 En ueraciter a me descripta est offensa pro qua
Guillelmi progenies eradicata sic est de Anglia.Jut nee passum pedis
nisi fallor iam nanciscatur in illa.
Gualleuus comes ad regem accersitus est.J et per delationem
Iudith uxoris sure accusatus est.J quod prredictre proditionis
conscius et fautor fuerit, dominoque suo infidelis extiterit. Ille
autem intrepidus palam recognouit, quod proditorum nequis-
simam uoh~ntatem ab eis audierit, sed eis in tam nefanda re nul-
I I
I
lum omnino assensum dederit. Super hac confessione iudicium
indagatum est:' et censoribus inter se diuersa sentientibus per
plures inducias usque in annum protelatum est. Interea prrefatus
heros apud Guentam in carcere regis erat, et multoties peccata
ii. 266 sua deflebat.~ qure ibidem religiosis episcopis et abbatibus sepe flens
enarrabat. Spacio itaque unius anni iuxta sacerdotum consilium
pcenituit.J et cotidie centum quinquaginta psalmos Dauid, quos in
infantia didicerat in oratione Deo cecinit. 2 Erat idem uir corpore
magnus et elegans.J largitate et audacia multis milibus prrestans.
Deuotus Dei cultor, sacerdotum et omni um religiosorum supplex
auditor.J recclesire pauperumque benignus amator. Pro his et
multis aliis karismatibus quibus in ordine laicali specialiter frue-
batur, a suis et ab exteris qui Deo placita diligere norunt multum
diligebatur.J et ereptio eius a uinculis in annua procrastinatione
omnimodis expetebatur. Denique prreualens concio emulorum
eius in curia regali coadunata est.J eumque post multos tractatus
reum esse mortis deffinitum est:' qui sodalibus de morte domini
sui tractantibus consenserit, nee eos pro erili exitio perculerit:'
nee aperta delatione scelerosam factionem detexerit. N ec mora
Gualleuus a Normannis qui euasionem eius ualde timebant:' sibi-
que prredia eius et largos honores adipisci cupiebant, extra urbem
Judges ix.
1
If Waltheof had learned the psalms of David as a boy he may have been
2 revealed the conspiracy. Without delay the Normans, who coveted
intended to be a monk before the death of his elder brother. Cf. Scott, Arch.
Aeliana, xxx (1952), 156. But at this point Orderic, who was using Crowland
traditions, begins to pass from history into hagiography.
BOOK IV
thousands. Verily the just judge sees all things and rewards each
321
l
one according to his deserts. For alas! see how the brave warrior
William fell .and recei~ed just retribution. He who slew many by
the sword himself perished suddenly by the sword. And within
five years of his death the spirit of discord moved his son and
son-in-law to rebellion against their lord and kinsman, as it had
stirred the men of Shechem against Abimelech whom they had
made their leader after he slew the seventy sons of Jerubbaal.1
See now, I have truthfully related the crime for which the whole
progeny of William was obliterated in England so thoroughly that,
unless I am mistaken, they no longer possess a foot of English
ground.
Earl W altheof was summoned before the king and accused, on
the deposition of his wife Judith, of being a party to the conspiracy
and proving. unfaithful to his lord. He, however, fearlessly and
openly admitted that he had learned from the traitors of their
infamous intention, but had refused to give them any support in
such a shameful affair. Judgement was demanded on the grounds
of this confession: but as the judges could not agree among them-
selv~s a d~cis~on was postponed several times and delayed a year.
Dunng this time the brave earl was kept in the king's prison at
Winchester, where with tears and lamentations he repeatedly con-
fessed his sins to holy bishops and abbots. There for the space of
a ~ear he did penance as the priests advised, chanting to God
daily the hundred and fifty psalms of David which he had learned
in childhood. 2 He was a handsome man of splendid physique,
exceptional for his generosity and courage: a devoted Christian
who showed humble obedience to all priests and monks and truly
loved the Church and the poor. On account of these spiritual
virtues and many others in which he surpassed most laymen he
was dearly loved by his own subjects and by god-fearing men
everywhere; and it was generally supposed during the year's delay
that he would be released from imprisonment. But a powerful
group of his enemies met in the king's court and after long dis-
cussions judged him worthy of death, because he had given tacit
consent to his companions in their plot to kill their lord and had
neither resisted their attempt to destroy their master nor openly
the wealth and wide fiefs of W altheof and were deeply concerned
lest he should escape, led him out of the town of Winchester early
822204 y
 322 BOOK IV
Guentam mane dum adhuc populus dormiret ductus est:' in
montem ubi nunc recclesia sancti Egidii abbatis et confessoris
constructa est. lbi uestes suas quibus ut consul honorifice indutus
processit.J clericis et pauperibus qui forte aderant ad hoc specta-
culum deuote distribuit, humoque procumbens cum lacrimis et
singultibus Dominum diutius exorauit.
Cumque carnifices trepidarent, ne ciues exciti prreceptum regis
impedirent.J et tam nobili compatriotre suo suffragantes regios
lictores trucidarent, 'Surge' inquiunt prostrato comiti:' 'ut nostri
compleamus iussum domini.' Quibus ille ait, 'Paulisper expectate
propter omnipotentis Dei clementiam.J saltem ut dicam pro me
et pro uobis orationem dominicam.' Illis autem permittentibus
surrexit.J et flexis tantum genibus oculisque in crelum fixis et
manibus tensis 'Pater noster qui es in crelis' palam dicere cepit.
Cumque ad extremum capitulum peruenisset, 'Et ne nos inducas
in temptationem' dixisset.J uberes lacrimre cum eiulatu pro-
I ruperunt, ipsumque preces inceptas concludere non permiserunt.
I. Carnifex autem ulterius prrestolari noluit:' sed mox exempto gladio
fortiter feriens caput comitis amputauit. Porro caput postquam
prresectum fuit.J cunctis qui aderant audientibus clara et articulata
uoce dixit, 'Sed libera nos a malo amen.' Sic Gualleuus comes
apud Guentam ii. kal. maii 1 mane decollatus esU ibique in fossa
corpus eius uiliter proiectum est.J et uiridi cespite festinanter
coopertum est. Expergefacti ciues compertis rumoribus ualde
contristati sunU uirique cum mulieribus ingentem planctum de
casu Gualleui comitis egerunt. Post quindecim dies rogatu ludith
et permissu regis Vlfketelus Crulandensis abbas uenit, et cadauer
quod adhuc integrum cum recenti cruore acsi tune idem uir
obisset erat sustulit, ac in crenobium Crulandense cum magno
luctu multorum detulit, et in capitulo monachorum reuerenter
sepeliuit.
ii. 268 N unc michi libet huic opusculo nostro quandam adbreuia-
tionem inserere:' quam rogante uenerabili Vulfuino priore, nuper
feci de uita sancti Guthlaci heremitre. Felix quidam orientalium
Anglorum episcopus, 2 natione quidem Burgundus.J sed sanctitate
uenerandus, edidit gesta sanctissimi anachoritre prolixo et ali-
quantulum obscuro dictatu.J qure pro posse meo breuiter dilucidaui
1 A slip for lunii: elsewhere Orderic gives the date as 31 May, which agrees
with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, D, 1077 (for 1076).
2 Little is known of Felix, author of the Life of St. Guthlac, but he was
BOOK IV 323
in the morning whilst the people slept, and took him up the hill
where the church of St. Giles, abbot and confessor, now stands.
There he piously divided among the clergy and poor who happened
to be present the rich garments which he wore as an earl, and
prostrating himself on the ground gave himself up for a long time
to prayer, with weeping and lamentation.
But since the executioners feared that the citizens would wake
and prevent them carrying out the royal will, and show sympathy
for their noble fellow countryman by murdering the royal guards,
they addressed the prostrate earl in these words: 'Get up,' they
said, 'so that we may carry out our lord's orders.' To this he
replied, 'Wait a little longer, for the love of almighty God, at least
until I have said the Lord's prayer on your behalf and mine.' As
they agreed he rose, and kneeling with his eyes raised to heaven and
his hands stretched out he began to say aloud, 'Our Father, which
art in Heaven'. But when he reached the last sentence and said,
'And lead us not into temptation,' such tears and lamentations
broke from him that he could not finish his prayer. The executioner
refused to wait any longer, but straightway drawing his sword
struck off the earl's head with a mighty blow. Then the severed
head was heard by all present to say in a clear voice, 'But deliver
us from evil. Amen.' This was the manner in which Earl Waltheof
was executed at Winchester on the morning of 30 April, 1 his body
being flung unceremoniously into a ditch and hastily covered with
freshly cut turf. As the citizens woke and heard the sad story they
were plunged into mourning, and men and women alike loudly
bewailed the fate of Earl W altheof. A fortnight later at the re-
quest of Judith and with the king's permission Ulfketel, abbot of
Crowland, came and disinterred the body, which still remained
incorrupt with the blood as fresh as if he had just died. It was
carried to Crowland amidst general mourning and reverently
buried in the monks' chapter-house.
And now I am able to include in this modest work of mine
a summary which I recently made of the life of St. Guthlac the
hermit at the request of the venerable Prior Wulfwin. A certain
Felix, bishop of the East Angles, 2 of Burgundian origin and
revered for his sanctity, wrote the deeds of this most holy hermit
in a lengthy book somewhat obscure in style, which to the best of
certainly not Bishop Felix, who died before Guthlac was born. See Felix's Life
of St. Guthlac, ed. Bertram Colgrave (Cambridge, 1956), pp. 8, 15-16.
 3~ BOOK IV
fratrum benigno rogatu, cum quibus quinque septimanis Cru-
landire commoratus sum uenerabilis Goisfredi abbatis karitatiuo
iussu. Occasio loquendi de beato heremita sese optulit nostrre
narrationi, per Gualleuum comitem qui fidus frater et adiutor
extitit Crulandensis monasterii.J sicut ex relatione seniorum
ueraciter intimabo in cake huius epitomi. lndubitanter credo quod
non minus proderunt fidelibus Cisalpinis sancta gesta trans-
marinorum Saxonum uel Anglorum, quam Grrecorum uel
lEgiptiorum.J de quibus prolixre sed delectabiles commodreque
collationes crebro leguntur congestre sanctorum studio doctorum.
Prreterea reor quod quanto res hrec minus olim nostratibus patuit.J
tanto karitatis igne feruentibus et pro transactis reatibus ex intimo
corde dolentibus gratiosius placebit.
Tempore Ethelredi regis Anglorum, Guthlacus ex patre
Ii Penualdo ab origine Ides eri Merciorum, matre uero Tetta natus
I
! i ii. 26 9 est:' quo nascente cceleste prodigium populis palam ostensum est.
Manus enim e nubibus ad crucem porrecta est.J qure ante hostium
domus parientis Tettre stare uisa est. Post octo dies infans
baptizatur.J et Guthlacus id est belli munus a tribu quam Guthla-
cingas dicunt appellatur. Post mitem puericiam dum adolescentire
calorem sensisset, et heroum fortia gesta considerasset.J aggregatis
satellitum turmis ad arma se conuertit, sibique aduersantium,
uillas et munitiones igne ferroque deuastat et disperdit.J immensis-
que prredis direptis terciam partem sponte his quibus ablatum est
pro amore Dei remittit.
Deinde transcursis nouem annis in quibus hostes ualde affiixe-
rat cedibus et rapinis.J considerata mortalis uitre fragilitate, et
caducarum rerum instabilitate.J territus ad seipsum redit, seque
acsi mortem prre oculis uideret discutit.J et emendatioris uitre
uiam aggredi satagit. Igitur complices suos relinquit, parentes et
patriam comitesque adolescentire sure pro Christo contempnit, et
xxiv retatis sure anno abrenunciatis sreculi pompis Ripadum mona-
sterium adiit, ibique sub abbatissa nomine Elfdrid tonsuram
habitumque clericalem suscipit. Postea ab ebrietate omnique
lasciuia toto nisu declinauit.J omnique honestati et religioni pro
humano posse studuit. Per biennium sacris litteris et monasticis
BOOK IV 325
my ability I abbreviated and clarified at the kind request of the
brethren and loving command of Abbot Geoffrey, with whom
I passed five weeks at Crowland. An opportunity of speaking of
the blessed hermit occurs at this point in my narrative, since Earl
Waltheof was a good friend and brother of the abbey of Crowland
as I have learned from the senior monks and shall truthfully
relate in a postscript to this abridgement. I steadfastly believe that
the holy deeds of the Angles and Saxons of England could be no
less edifying to northern Christians than the deeds of Greeks and
Egyptians, which devoted scholars have fully recorded in lengthy
narratives that are freely studied and give much pleasure. More-
over, I believe that, little as these things are known amongst our
own countrymen, they must prove all the more pleasing and full
of grace to men of ardent charity who lament their past sins from
the bottom of their hearts.
In the time of Ethelred king of the English Guthlac was born.
His father was Penwalh, of the stock of Icel, a Mercian lord; and
his mother was Tetta. At his birth a heavenly portent appeared to
all beholders; for a hand was stretched out from the clouds towards
the cross standing in front of the house where Tetta was in labour.
Eight days later the child was baptized and called Guthlac, mean-
ing 'gift of war', from the tribe which are called Guthlacingas.
After a gentle childhood he felt the passions of youth, and fired
by the brave deeds of heroes he gathered together bands of
followers and gave himself up to the pursuit of arms, wasting and
destroying the towns and villages of his foes by fire and sword,
and winning great booty; but he always freely gave back a third
part of it for the love of God.
At the end of nine years in which he had troubled his enemies
with slaughter and pillage he began to reflect on the frailty of
mortal life and the transience of temporal things, and awoke in
terror to his plight. He felt as though death stared him in the face,
and resolved to turn towards a better way of life. So he left his
fellow warriors, rejecting his kinsmen and home and the com-
panions of his youth for the love of Christ: and in the twenty-
fourth year of his life renounced the empty show of the world and
entered the monastery of Repton, where he received the tonsure
under the abbess JElfthryth. After this he turned away from all
feasting and fleshly lusts, applying himself with his whole mind to
religious devotions. For two years he lived a life of holy learning
 BOOK IV
disciplinis imbutus est:' sed his tantuII?- content us non est .. Nam
heremiticre uitre singulare certamen arnpere conatus est.J ub1 cum
ii. 270 hoste comminus luctatus est.
Adepta tandem a senioribus licentia:' a quodam nomine Tatuuino
ad insulam qure dicitur Crouland scafula adductus est piscatoria.
1Est in mediterraneis Anglire partibus immensre magnitudinis
acerrima palus, qure a Grontre fluminis ripis incipit, nunc stagnis,
nunc fl.actris interdum nigris 2 laticibus et crebris insularum
nemoribus et flexuosis riuigarum anfractibus ab austro in aquilonem
maritenus longissimo tractu protenditur. Illic plures inhabitare
temptauerant.J sed pro incognitis heremi monstris et diuersarum
terroribus formarum atram habitationem reliquerant. Guthlacus
itaque estiuis temporibus Crulanda perscrutata, fratres ~uos et
magistros quos insalutatos dimiserat reuisere profectus est:' iterum-
que post tres menses cum duobus pueris ad electam heremum viii
kal. septembris cum iam ipse xxvi annorum esset regressus est.
Tune sancti Bartholomei apostoli solennitas celebratur:'3 quern
socium sibi et adiutorem in cunctas aduersitates summopere
precatur.
Quindecim annis non laneis uel lineis sed pelliceis solummodo
tegminibus indutus est.J et ordeiceo pane ac lutu~e~ta 4 aqua ~t
ex his parum post solis occasum usus est. Innumens illum m?d1s
ii. 271 Sathan temptauit, a et irretire uel de heremo expellere laboramt.
Quondam dum per tres dies incepti operis desperatione lassa-
retur:' en Bartholomeus fidus adiutor matutinis uigiliis instanti
palam apparet, et prreceptis spiritualib~s trepi~antem con.fo~ans
auxilium in omnibus ei spondet, et m mult1s temptat10mbus
promissa sua fideliter complet. . . . Once, when he had passed three whole days in weariness and
aAlia die duo demones in hommum specie ad eum uemunt.J
eumque temptantes ut nimium ieiunando Moysen et Helia1? alios-
que Egyptios patres imitaretur incitant. At ille psallens m con-
temptum illorum ordeicei panis particula uesci cepit.
Aliquando dum uir Dei peruigil precibus intempesta nocte
insisteret.J cateruas dremonum undique ingredi cellam suam uidet.
a From 'et irretire' to 'ei spondet' and 'Alia die' to 'uesci cepit' the MS. is
in a hand quite different from Orderic's. 'Et in multis ... complet' is added by
Orderic
r From 'Est in' to 'protenditur' Orderic, who began by abbreviating Felix,
follows the text very closely, though 'aterrima' is spelt 'acerrima' (cf. Colgrave,
p. 86). His version is nearest to MS. Harleian 3097 (Colgrave, p. 30).
2 Because of large deposits of peat the waters of the fens, though very clear,
often appear dark in colour. This can still be seen at Wicken Fen, where a small
area of uncultivated fen is preserved.
BOOK IV 327
and monastic discipline, but this could not satisfy him; he wished
instead to undertake the single-handed struggle of a hermit's life,
where a man may wrestle with the enemy face to face.
So after obtaining permission from his superiors he was taken
to the island of Crowland in a fishing boat by one named Tatwine.
1There is in the midland region of England a forbidding fen of
great dimensions, which begins at the banks of the river Granta
and extending in a waste of pools and marshes, interspersed with
the black2 waters of streams, the wooded growth of islands, and
the tortuous windings of rivers, stretches endlessly from the south
to the sea-~hore in the north. Many had tried to live there, but
other hermits had been forced by strange monsters and all manner
of terrible shapes to abandon their dismal habitation. Guthlac
surveyed the isle of Crowland in the summer months, and then
returned for a final visit to his brethren and masters, whom he had
left without a word of farewell. Three months later he came back
with two boys, on 25 August, to his chosen hermitage, being then
twenty-six years old. It was then the feast of St. Bartholomew the
apostle, 3 whom he always called upon as his friend and comforter
in his many trials.
For fifteen years he wore neither woollen nor linen garments,
but only the skins of beasts, partaking of nothing but barley
bread and clear water, 4 and of these only very little, after sunset.
And in countless ways Satan tempted him, trying to ensnare him
or drive him out of his hermitage.
despair of ever completing the work which he had begun, behold,
suddenly Bartholomew his faithful comforter appeared to him as
he kept his morning vigil, allaying his fears with spiritual consola-
tion, and promising him unfailing help-which later he faithfully
gave him during his many temptations.
Another day two demons came to him in the shape of men and
tempted him to imitate Moses and Elijah and the Egyptian fathers
also by excessive fasting. But he continued to chant psalms and
defied them by partaking of his morsel of barley bread.
Another time when the man of God kept vigil, lost in prayers
at dead of night, he saw bands of demons crowding into his cell
3
This date, instead of the usual 24 August, is taken from Felix (cf. Colgrave,
p. 91).
4 Possibly 'muddy'; but cf. above, p. 326 n. 2.
 328 BOOK IV
Quern ligatis membris extra cellam ducunt.J et in cenosam paludem
immergunt. Deinde per paludis asperrima loca inter densa
ueprium uimina asportant, et post dilacerationem membrorum
de heremo illum discedere imperant. Quo nolente.J ferreis eum
flagris uerberant, ac post ingentia tormenta inter nubifera gelidi
aeris spacia subuectant, indeque a septentrionali plaga innumeris
dremonum turmis aduentantibus usque ad Tartari fauces minant.
Tune Guthlacus uisis gehennre prenis terretur.J sed minis dremo-
num contemptis ad Deum medullitus suspirat. N ec mora sanctus
Bartolomeus crelesti luce splendidus illi adest.J et cum magna
quiete ab ipsis hostibus reduci ad propriam sedem iubet. Illi uero
gementes apostoli iussis obsecundant.J et angeli gaudentes dulciter
ei obuiam cantant, 'Ibunt sancti de uirtute in uirtutem.'
ii. 273 Multoties et multis modis dremones Guthlacum terrere nite-
bantur.J sed ipse Domino iuuante illos et cuncta molimina eorum
frustrabatur. Imperterritus in uirtutum arce stetit.J duros labores
in agone pertulit.J diabolicosque conatus pessundedit. Tempore
Crenredi regis Merciorum Becelmus clericus ad occidendum
uirum Dei a dremone stimulatus dum ipsum tondereU ab eodem
increpatus est cur tantum facinus in corde gestaret. At ille mox ut
se prreuentum uidit, erubescens ad pedes sancti cecidit! scelus
fatetur, ueniamque precatur.J perceptaque indulgentia se socium
illius fore pollicetur.
Coruus raptam cartulam in medio stagni dimisit, nee illam in
arundine pendentem aqua meritis uiri Dei lesit.J quam idem
scriptori mesto saluam reddidit.
1 Duo corui in insula degentes beato Guthlaco ualde infesti
erant, ita ut quicquid frangere, mergere, diripere, contaminare
potuissent.J irreuerenter intus forisque damnantes perderent, qu~s
uir Dei pro uirtute patientire benigniter tolerabat. Incultre soh-
tudinis uolucres et uagabundi cenosre paludis pisces ad uocem
eius"'uelut ad pastorem ocius natantes uolantesque ueniebant.J et de
ma;u eius uictum prout uniuscuiusque natura indigebat accipie-
bant.
Prresente uenerabili uiro Wilfrido, duabus irundinibus gaudenter
1 'Duo corui ... accipiebant' follows the text of Felix very closely (Colgrave,
pp. 118-20).
BOOK IV 329
from all sides. Binding his limbs they dragged him from his cell
and plunged him into the foul marsh. Then they dragged him
through the wildest parts of the fen, through dense thickets of
thorns, and when his body was torn and bleeding commanded him
to depart from his hermitage. Since he refused they beat him with
iron rods and after subjecting him to cruel tortures, swept him
through the cloudy reaches of the chilly sky, and there with count-
less swarms of devils who joined them from the northern regions
they drove him before them to the jaws of Hell. Then at the sight
of the pains of Hell Guthlac trembled inwardly, but scorning the
threats of the demons he cried to God from the depths of his heart.
And at once St. Bartholomew, shining with heavenly glory, stood
beside him and quietly ordered his enemies to take him back to his
hermitage. They obeyed the commands of the apostle with groans,
and glad throngs of angels came to meet him singing: 'The saints
shall go from strength to strength.'
On many occasions and in many ways demons tried to terrorize
Guthlac, but with God's help he defeated all their efforts. He stood
unafraid in the citadel of his strength, endured agonizing labours,
and defeated all the wiles of the devil. In the time of Coenred
king of the Mercians a clerk named Beccel was tempted by the
devil to slay the man of God whilst he was shaving him; but
Guthlac inquired why he contemplated such a deed in his heart.
Seeing his thoughts discovered, he instantly fell, confused, at the
saint's feet, confessed his crime and sought pardon; and when this
was granted promised to become Guthlac's companion.
A jackdaw dropped a document it had seized into the middle
of a pool; yet by the merits of the man of God it was undamaged
by the water as it caught on a reed, and Guthlac restored it safely
to the anxious scribe.
Two jackdaws who nested in the island gave Guthlac great
trouble by breaking, dropping in the water, tearing, and fouling
everything they could, and impudently damaging or carrying off
everything they could find inside and outside the cell. But the
man of God endured them kindly, through the virtue of patience.
The wild birds of the waste and the untamed fishes of the marshy
pools came swiftly flying and swimming at his call, as a flock of
sheep to their shepherd; and each received the food proper to his
kind from Guthlac's hand. 1
Whilst the venerable Wilfrid was with him two swallows came
 330 BOOK IV
illum secundum suam naturam uisitantibus, et cum cantu brachiis
et genibus pectorique illius insidentibus.J festucam in uentinula
posuit, et sic auibus nidum in sua cella designauit. Non enim in
casa Guthlaci sine licentia eius nidificare audebant.
I straw in a basket to indicate to the birds where they could nest
ii. 273 Quondam dum prrefatus Wilfridus exulem Edelbaldum ad
hominem Dei adduxisset.J manicasque suas in naui qua aduecti
fuerant oblitus fuisset, rapace scorui rapuerunt. Quod mox uir Dei
I the man of God greedy jackdaws stole the gloves which he had
in uestibulo domus sedens in spiritu Dei agnouit, et inter collo-
quia Wilfrido intimauit.J nee multo post uirtute fidei et orationis
gementi pro damno restaurauit.
W ehtredus inclitus iuuenis orientalium Anglorum a dremonio
inuasus est:' et quattuor annis miserabiliter uexatus est. Se et
quoscumque poterat, ligno, ferro, unguibus et dentibus laniabat.
Quondam dum multitudo illum ligare temptaret:' arrepta bipenne
tres uiros occidit. Post quattuor annos Crolandiam adductus est:'
quern uir Dei manu arripiens intra oratorium suum duxit, et illic
continuis tribus diebus ieiunans et orans ab omni inquietudine
maligni spiritus curauit.
Egga prrefati exulis Edelbaldi comes dum ab immundo spiritu
peruasus est:' ita ut quid esset uel quo sederet uel quid ageret
omnino nesciret, a sociis suis ad Guthlaci limina perductus est.
Deinde mox ut se cingulo uiri Dei succinxit:' integrum sensum
recepit, omnique postmodum uita sua idem cingulum et sanam
mentem habuit.
Prreterea uir Dei Guthlacus spiritu prophetire pollens:' futura
prredicere et prresentibus absentia narrare solitus est. Cuidam
abbati qui ad eum causa pire locutionis uenerat:' de duobus clericis
qui ad casam uidu reante horam terciam pro appetenda ebrietate
diuertissent, cuncta per ordinem intimat.
ii. 274 Alios duos fratres quod binas flasculas celia impletas sub
palustri sablone abscondissent increpat, eisque pro tanta um
Dei sagacitate stupentibus et ad solum prostratis benigniter
indulsit.
Fama de beato Guthlaco longe lateque celeriter uolante:' multi
ad eum ueniunt diuersorum ordinum gradus, abbates, monachi,
I
BOOK IV 331
fluttering in to converse with him in their own way, twittering as
they perched on his arms and knees and breast; and he placed some
in his cell. For they dared not build their nest in Guthlac's hut
without his permission.
Once when this same Wilfrid brought the exiled lEthelbald to
carelessly left in the boat that had brought them there. At once the
man of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit as he sat in the porch of
his cell, knew this, and interrupted his discourse to tell Wilfrid;
soon afterwards by the strength of his faith and prayers he restored
them to Wilfrid who was lamenting his loss.
Hwaetred, a noble East Anglian youth, was possessed by a devil
and had been miserably tormented for four years. He continually
wounded himself and any others he could reach with his nails and
teeth and any pieces of wood or metal that lay to hand. Once when
a great number of men were struggling to bind him he snatched
a double-winged axe and slew three men. After four years of mad-
ness he was taken to Crowland, where the man of God took him
by the hand and led him into his cell: and after three days of
continual prayer and fasting he was entirely delivered from the
evil spirit.
Ecga, a companion of the exiled lEthelbald, being troubled by
an unclean spirit so that he had no idea of who or where he was
or what he was doing, was brought by his companions to Guthlac's
threshold. As soon as he girded himself with the belt of the man of
God he recovered his senses, and for the rest of his life he kept the
belt and enjoyed his sanity.
Further the man of God, Guthlac, possessed the spirit of
prophecy, and could foretell the future and relate what was then
happening in other places. He told a certain abbot who was
visiting him for holy discourse all the details of the behaviour of
two clerks, who had gone to a widow's house for a drinking bout
before the third hour.
Again he upbraided two brothers who had hidden two flasks full
of beer in the sandy soil of the marsh, and when they humbly
prostrated themselves before the man of God, amazed at his
knowledge, he gently forgave them.
As the fame of St. Guthlac spread far and wide a great multitude
of different ranks and orders came flocking to him: abbots, monks,
 332 BOOK IV
comites, diuites, uexati, pauperesque de proximis Merciorum
finibus, et de remotis Britannire partibus pro salute corporis aut
animre. Et quisque id pro quo fideliter uenerat:' salubriter optine-
bat . .lEgrotus enim remedium:' tristis gaudium, prenitens conso-
lationem, et quisque anxius recipiebat alleuationem, per uiri Dei
allocutionem, et efficacem orationem.
Obba comes incliti exulis Edelbaldi dum per agrestia rura
graderetur, spinre latentis sub herbis incultre telluris fixura in pede
lesus est..1 ita ut a planta usque ad lumbos totum corpus eius
tumesceret, nee eum nouus dolor sedere uel stare uel iacere quiete
sineret. Vnde uix Crulandiam peruenit. Mox ut ad uirum Dei
perductus est..I et causa uexationis ex ordine relata est.J Guthlacus
luterio melotinre in quo sole bat orare ipsum circumdedit, statimque
dicto citius spinula de pede eius uelut sagitta ab arcu demissa
resiliit. Eadem itaque hora omni humore sedato reger conualuit..1
et Deo gratias cum his qui hoc uiderant letus retulit.
ii. 275 Quondam Headda prresul cum quibusdam clericis et laicis ad
Guthlacum uenit .1 inter quos de beato uiro uaria locutio obiter fuit.
Pnedictus autem episcopus comperta in uenerabili uiro diuinre
gratire luculentia, et in exponendis sacris Scripturis sapientire
affiuentia..J postquam insulre Crolandire recclesiam xii kal. septem-
bris dedicauit, eundem seruum Dei suscipere sacerdotii stemma
inuiolabili obredientire prrecepto coegit. Dein ad prandium ponti-
ficis sanctus uir contra morem suum uenire coactus est. Vbi dum
Wigfridum librarium uideret procul sedere .1 cepit ab eo inquirere
de hesterna promissione.1 qua sociis in uia iactauerat se examina-
turum utrum idem uera potiretur an simulata religione. Mox ille
erubuit..1 soloque prostratus ueniam petiit et optinuit, cunctis
mirantibus quod illorum in uia locutio per spiritum uiro Dei lucide
tota patuerit.
Reuerentissima Egburg abbatissa Aldulfi regis filia per legatum
suppliciter rogante, Guthlacus sarcofagum plumbeum et in eo
linteum ad inuoluendum se post obitum suscepit..1 et scissitanti
BOOK IV
333
earls, men of wealth, the troubled in spirit, and the poor from the
near-by regions of Mercia and the remote parts of Britain, all
seeking to be healed in body or soul. And each one obtained what-
ever, having faith, he had come to seek for his salvation. For
through the discourse and prayers of the man of God the sick
were made whole, the sorrowful were gladdened, the penitent
forgiven, and the oppressed comforted.
Ofa, a retainer of the famous lEthelbald in his exile, chanced
whilst walking through the country fields to be wounded in the
foot by a sharp thorn hidden under the grasses of the fallow field,
so that his whole body swelled from the sole of his foot to his loins,
and he was in such anguish that he could neither sit nor stand nor
lie without pain, and could scarcely drag himself to Crowland. As
soon as he had been brought to the man of God, and the cause of
his suffering explained, Guthlac placed round him the sheepskin
covering which he wore at prayer, and instantly, swifter than
words, the sharp thorn sprang from his foot like an arrow shot
from a bow. At the same moment the swelling subsided and the
sick man recovered and joyfully gave thanks to God, as did all who
saw the miracle.
At one time Bishop Headda came to Guthlac with a number of
clerks and laymen who expressed different opinions of the saint
as they journeyed there. But the bishop found in the holy man
such a store of divine grace and such abundance of wisdom in
expounding the Holy Scriptures that after he had dedicated the
church of Crowland on 21 August he compelled the servant of
God by virtue of his vow of obedience to receive the dignity of
priesthood. Afterwards the holy man was obliged against his
custom to dine with the bishop. When he saw the scribe Wigfrith
sitting far off he began to remind him of his promise made the
day before, when he had boasted to his comrades on the road that
he would examine Guthlac to discover if he were a man of true
religion or a fraud. Covered with confusion, Wigfrith flung him-
self on the ground and begged for pardon, which was granted;
whilst all present marvelled that their conversation on the journey
should have been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the man of God.
The very reverend Abbess Ecgburh, daughter of King Aldwulf,
sent a messenger begging Guthlac to accept from her a leaden
coffin and linen shroud to wrap round him after his death. He did
so, and when she asked who would inherit the place after him he
 334 BOOK IV
quis hreres post se loci illius esset, adhuc paganum esse respondit.
Quod ita factum est. Nam Cissa qui post eum sedem eius possedit:'
post aliquot annos in Britannia baptismum percepit.
Clito Edelbaldus quern Ceolredus rex hue et illuc ualde per-
sequebatur:' inter dubia pericula exinanitis uiribus suis suorum-
que ad uirum Dei ut solebat uenit, ut ubi humanum consilium
defecisset.J diuinum adesset. Quern beatus Guthlacus blande
ii. 276 consolatus est.J eique per Spiritum Dei promisit dominationem
gentis sure et principatum populorum et conculcationem inimi-
corum, et hrec omnia non armorum ui nee effusione sanguinis sed
de manu Domini habiturum. Eo cuncta ordine completa sunt:'
quo a uiro Dei uaticinata sunt. Nam Ceolredus rex mortuus est:'
ac Edelbaldus regnum eius nactus est.
Completis in heremo xv annis uenerabilis Guthlacus ante
Pas cha quart a feria regrotare crepit, die tam en Paschre contra
uires exurgens missam cantauit. Septima uero die infirmitatis
Beccel famulo suo iussiU ut post obitum suum Pegam sororem
suam illuc aduenire faceret, et ab illa corpus eius sindone in
sarcofago quam Egburg illi miserat inuolueretur. Tune ille crepit
uirum Dei cum adiuratione rogare, ut ante suum funus sibi inti-
maret, quis cum eo uespere et mane loqui cotidie audiebatur.
Almus Dei athleta post modicum interuallum anhelans ait, 'Fili
mi de hac re sollicitari noli. Quod uiuens ulli hominum indicare
nolui:' nunc tibi manifestabo. A secundo etenim anno quo hanc
heremum habitare ceperam, mane uespereque semper angeluma
consolationis mere ad colloquium meum Dominus mittebat, qui
michi misteria qure non licet homini narrare monstrabat:' qui
duriciam laboris mei crelestibus oraculis sulleuabat, qui absentia
michi monstrando ut prresentia prresentabat. 0 fili, hrec dicta mea
conserua.J nullique alii nunciaueris nisi Pegre aut Egberto ana-
choritre.' His dictis suauis odor de ore eius processisse sentiebatur,
ita ut totam domum nectareus odor repleret. N octe uero sequenti
ii. 277 dum prrefatus frater nocturnis uigiliis incumberet:' a media nocte
usque in auroram totam domum igneo candore circumsplendescere
uidebat. Oriente uero sole uir Dei sulleuatis paulisper membris
uelut exurgens, et manus ad altare extendens.J communione
corporis et sanguinis Christi se muniuit, et eleuatis oculis ad
a angelum omitted in MS.; supplied from Felix
BOOK IV 335
gave answer saying that the man was still a pagan. This was found
to be true. For Cissa, who was to occupy the seat after him was
baptized in Britain a few years later. '
The atheling lEthelbald, who was being hunted out by King
Ceolred and had exhausted both his own strength and his men's in
dire peril, came as he had done before to the man of God · so that
spiritual counsel might sustain him when human help fail~d. And
indeed the blessed Guthlac gently consoled him, promising him
through the Holy Spirit that he should win the crown, govern his
people, and defeat his enemies, and that all these things should
come about not by armed force and bloodshed, but as a free gift
of Go~. And all ca~e to pass as the man of God had prophesied.
For King Ceolred died and lEthelbald acquired the kingdom.
After fifteen full years in his hermitage Guthlac fell sick on the
Wednesday before Easter; but on Easter Sunday he summoned
h~s ~ailing str~ngth to rise and sing Mass. On the seventh day of
his illness he instructed his servant Beccel that after his death he
sho~ld. send for his sister Pega to wrap his body in its shroud and
lay it in the coffin which Ecgburh had sent him. Then Beccel
began earnestly to conjure the man of God to tell him before he
died, .who it was .that could be heard speaking with 'him every
morning and evening. The beloved soldier of God, after hesitating
for a moment, said with a sigh: 'My son, do not trouble yourself
on that account. The truth which, while I lived, I would tell to
no man, I will now reveal to you. Ever since the second year after
I took up my dwelling in this hermitage, the Lord has sent an
angel every morning and evening to converse with me for my
consolation and reveal mysteries that no man may tell. He lightened
th~ burden of my toil with heavenly revelations, and showed me
things far off as though they were present. 0 my son, keep these
words of mine in your heart and reveal them to none save Pega
and the anchorite Ecgberht.' When he had finished speaking
a sweet odour came from his mouth, so that the whole house was
filled with the heavenly fragrance. On the following night, whilst
the same brother was keeping the night watches, he saw the whole
house aglow with a white fire from midnight till dawn. At sunrise
the man of God raised himself slightly as if about to rise, and
stretching out his hands towards the altar strengthened him-
self with the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ: then
as he lifted up his eyes to heaven and raised his hands on high
 BOOK IV
crelum et extensis in altum manibus, anno ab incarnatione
Domini DCCXV 1 animam ad perenne gaudium emisit.
Inter hrec Beccel conspicit crelesti splendore domum repleri,
turrimque uelut igneam e terra in crelum erigi..i ad cuius com-
parationem sol quasi lucerna in die pallescere uidebatur. Cantibus
quoque angelicis spacium totius aeris detonari audiebatur..i insula
etiam diuersorum aromatum odoriferis spiraminibus fragrat.
Predictus itaque frater ualde tremefactus eximiam choruscationem
sufferre non ualens, arrepta naui uirginem Christi Pegam adiuit,
eique fraterna mandata seriatim retulit. Quibus auditis:1 ilia
uehementer ingemuit. Postera uero die cum prredicto fratre
Crolandiam uenit, et tercia die felicia membra in oratorio secun-
dum iussionem eius sepeliuit, ubi Dominus postea propter amici
sui merita in sanandis regrotis plura miracula fecit.
Ad anniuersarium sancti Guthlaci soror eius Pega presbiteros
et alios recclesiastici ordinis uiros aggregauit, et sepulchrum eius
aperuit, ut corpus eius in aliud mausoleum transferret. Tune
totum corpus integrum quasi adhuc uiueret inuenerunt, et uesti-
menta omnia quibus inuolutus erat antiqua nouitate et pristino
ii. 278 candore splendebant. Mirantibus cunctis et stupentibus ac
trementibus prre miraculo quod uidebant:1 Pega spiritualiter com-
mota sacrum corpus reuerenter in sindone quam eo uiuente
Egbert anachorita in hoc officium miserat reuoluit, et sarcofagum
super terram quasi quoddam memoriale posuit, ubi usque hodie
honorabiliter requiescit.
Illuc prrefatus exul Edelbaldus audita sancti uiri morte merens
adiit:1 cui post lacrimas et longam orationem in proxima casula
dormienti sanctus uir apparuit, eumque consolans sceptrum regni
antequam annus finiatur promisit. Signum quoque poscenti
dedit.J quod in crastinum ante horam terciam habitatoribus
Crolandire insperata uictus solatia darentur. Nee mora effectus
dicta sequitur. V nde idem Edel baldus postquam regnum adeptus
est:1 miris ornamentorum structuris mausoleum uenerabilis
Guthlaci decorauit.
Quidam paterfamilias in prouincia Wisa oculorum lumen per
annum perdidit:1 nee illud ullis pigmentorum fomentis recuperare
potuit. Tandem cum fide Crolandiam perductus colloquium
uirginis Christi Pegre appetiit, cuius permissu intra oratorium ad
1 The date is not in the early MSS. of Felix (Colgrave, p. 158). It occurs in
MS. Douai 852, which made use of Orderic's epitome.
BOOK IV 337
his soul departed to eternal bliss. This was in the year of Our
Lord 715. 1
All this time Beccel saw the house filled with heavenly light,
and a tower as it were of fire stretched from earth to heaven,
beside which the sun grew as pale as a lamp in the daytime. The
whole sky rang with the songs of angels; the island was perfumed
with the sweet scent of different spices. This same brother,
trembling and unable to look upon a light so dazzling, leaped into
a boat and went to the Christian virgin, Pega, to tell her all her
brother's behests. On hearing them she was deeply moved. The
next day she journeyed to Crowland with the same brother and
on the third day buried the blessed body in the oratory as Guthlac
had commanded. There the Lord afterwards, through the merits
of his servant, performed divers miracles in healing the sick.
On the anniversary of St. Guthlac his sister Pega assembled
a number of priests and other clergy and opened the tomb, so that
his body might be translated to another sepulchre. Then they
found his whole body incorrupt as if he were still alive, and all
the old vestments in which it was wrapped new and shining with
their first whiteness. Whilst all wondered and were silent, trembling
at the miracle they beheld, Pega, deeply moved in her heart,
reverently wrapped the holy body once more in the shroud which,
during his lifetime, the holy recluse Ecgberht had sent for the
purpose, and placed the coffin on the ground as a monument to
him; and there it is revered to the present day.
There the exiled lEthelbald came mourning when he heard of
the saint's death; and when after much prayer and weeping he fell
asleep in a neighbouring hut the holy man appeared to him,
offering him consolation and promising him the throne of the
kingdom before the end of the year. On lEthelbald's request he
gave him as a sign that next day before the third hour an un-
expected gift of food should come to the inhabitants of Crowland.
His words were soon proved true. So when lEthelbald ascended
the throne he beautified the tomb of St. Guthlac with richly
decorated ornaments.
The head of a certain family of the peoples of Wissa was blind
for a whole year, and the application of poultices of various kinds
utterly failed to restore his sight. At length, having faith, he was
brought to Crowland and sought speech with the holy virgin Pega,
by whose permission he lay down beside the holy body in the
822204 z
 338 BOOK IV
corpus sanctum recubuit. Illa uero partem glutinam salis a sancto
ii. 279 uiro ante consecratam in aquam rasit:' et inde aquam intra palpe-
bras ceci guttatim stillauit. Ad tactum primre guttre oculis lumen
redditum est:' uncle illuminatus paterfamilias per merita sancti
Guthlaci Deo gratias egit. Multi quoque alii diuersis infirmitatibus
grauati, auditis rumoribus miraculorum beati Guthlaci:1 palustrem
Crulandiam ubi sanctum corpus quiescit adeunt, eiusque meritis
sanitatem integram adepti Deo gratias referunt.
Hue usque Felicis episcopi scripta de uenerabili Guthlaco
breuiter secutus sum: et huic opusculo inserui ad laudem Dei
1
et fidelium edificationem morum. Cetera qure restant de con-
structione Crulandensis crenobii et habitatione monachorum:' ex
ueraci relatione Ansgoti subprioris aliorumque proferam senio-
rum. 1 Rex Edel baldus ut beatum consolatorem suum miraculis
choruscare comperit, locum sepulturre eius gaudens expetiit:' et ea
qure beato uiro iam regnum adeptus donauerat ~eruientibus ei
perenniter concessit. Nam quodam tempore dum idem rex causa
uisitandi patronum suum antequam migraret:' Crulandiam adiret,
et uir Dei quietam mansionem in eadem insula sibi ab eo concedi
postularet:' quinque miliaria ad orientem id est ad .f~ssam qure
Asendic dicitur et tria ad occidentem duoque ad mend1em et duo
ad aquilonem concessit, et ab omni redditu atque consuetudine
sreculari omnibus modis absoluit, et inde cartam sigillo 2 suo
ii. 280 signatam in prresentia episcoporum procerumque suorum confir-
mauit.
Et quia palustris humus Crulandire ut ipsum nomen intimat,
Crulandia enim crudam id est cenosam terram significat:' lapideam
molem sustinere non poterat, prrefatus rex ingentes ex quercu
palos innumerre multitudinis humo infigi fe~it:' duramq~e ~erram
nouem miliariis per aquam de Vppalonda 1d est supenon terra
scaphis deferri et paludibu~ commisceri s~tuit, et s.i~ lapidea~
quia sacer Guthlacus oratorio contentus est hgneo bas1hcam crep1t
et consummauit. Deinde religiosos ibi uiros aggregauit:1 crenobium
condidit ornamentis et fundis aliisque diuitiis locum ditauit:' ad
honore~ Dei et sancti anachoritre quern ualde dilexerat, pro dulci
consolatione quam ab eo dum exulabat multoties perceperat.
1 For the sources and reliability of Orderic's epitome of early Crowland
history see above, Introduction, pp. xxv-xxix.
2 If Orderic used the same forged charter as the Pseudo-Ingulf he has here
slipped in a variation of his own-'sigillo' for 'signo'. Cf. W. G. Searle, lnf!ulJ
and the Historia Croylandensis, p. 157. Whilst 'sigillo' could be, as Searle pomts
out, thought of as a diminutive of 'signo', Orderic probably thought in terms
BOOK IV 3~
oratory. Meanwhile she scraped into some water a block of
glutinous salt which had once been consecrated by the saint, and
then let the water drip between the eyelids of the blind man. As
the first drop touched him his sight returned, and the father,
restored to sight by the merits of St. Guthlac, rendered thanks to
God. Many others who were sick of various diseases, on hearing
stories of the miracles of St. Guthlac, came to the marsh of Crow-
land where his holy body rested, and being restored to health by
his merits gave thanks to God.
So far I have abridged and followed the Life of St. Guthlac by
Bishop Felix, and included it in my modest work for the glory
of God and edification of the faithful. I add what follows of the
building of Crowland abbey and establishment of the monks there
from the trustworthy account of the subprior Ansgot and other
senior monks. 1 When King lEthelbald heard glowing reports of
the miracles of his most blessed spiritual comforter, he gladly
sought out the place of his burial and there granted in perpetuity
to those who guarded it everything that he had given the saint
himself when he won his kingdom. For on one occasion when the
king came to Crowland to visit his patron before his death the man
of God asked to be given a peaceful dwelling-place in that island,
and he then granted him the land for five miles to the east as far as
the ditch called Asendic, three to the west, two to the north, and
two to the south, exempted it from every kind of due and secular
obligation, and confirmed his charter to this effect sealed and
subscribed 2 in the presence of his bishops and lay lords.
And since the marshy ground of Crowland-as the name implies,
for Crowland means rough or boggy land-could not support the
weight of a stone building, the king had a great number of enormous
oaken piles driven into the ground; he also had solid earth brought
by boat from the higher ground of Upland nine miles away and
mixed with the marshy soil; and on these foundations completed
a stone church to replace the wooden oratory which had contented
St. Guthlac. Then he assembled men of religion and founded
a monastery which he enriched with ornaments and estates and
all manner of wealth to the honour of God and the holy hermit
who had frequently brought sweet consolation to him in the years
of his exile, and whom he had loved dearly. He loved the place all
of the sealed charter normal in his day; and so, even at the cost of stretching
the syntax, the phrase has been translated 'sealed and subscribed'.
 340 BOOK IV
Eundem itaque locum omni uita sua dilexit, nee unquam post
primam instaurationem quam idem rex fecit:' sedes Crulandire
religiosorum habitatione monachorum usque in hodiernum diem
caruit. r Kenulfus quidam in die bus illis magnre famre fuit, qui
monasterium sancti Guthlaci per aliquot tempus rexit:' a quo
Kenulfestan adhuc dicitur lapis quern ipse pro limite contra
Depingenses posuit.
ii. 281 Variis bellorum tempestatibus Anglia postmodum perturbata,
et barbaris sub ducibus Inguar et Halfdene ac Gudrun aliisque
tirannis superuenientibus a Dacia uel N orregania, Angligenarum
regum qui naturaliter Anglire prrefuerant !11utati?ne fac~a, Crulan-
dense monasterium depopulatum est, s1cut aha plunma, orna-
menta sua sibi sunt sublata, et uillre deuastatre, laicisque contra
canonicum ius in dominium redactre. Sed diuina pietas qure
permittit propter peccata populi hypochritas per aliquot temporis
regnare .1 nouit etiam castigatis filiis tempora serena per admini-
strationem legitimorum principum redintegrare. Vnde prrefatis
tirannis qui sanctum Edmundum Estanglorum regem cum .multis
aliis fidelibus uiris occiderunt, et recclesias sanctorum et hab1tacula
Christianorum igne succenderunt..1 diuino nutu peremptis, uel alio
quolibet modo deiectis.1 Alfredus Adeluulfi regis filius Deo iuuante
prreualuit, et primus omnium regum J?Ona:chia~ toti~s Anglire
solus optinuit. Post hunc Eduardus films ems qm senior cogno-
minabatur diu utiliter regnauit.1 moriensque tribus filiis suis
Edelstano et Edmundo ac Edredo regnum reliquit. Qui regnum
Anglire omnes per ordinem tenuerunt.1 et quisque tempore suo
laudabiliter regnare et subiectis prodesse studuit.
Tempore Edredi regis Turketelus quidam clericus Lundoniensis
fuit, qui a prrefato rege ut sibi Crulandiam donaret expetiit..1 2 cu~
ii. 282 rex quod petierat libenter annuit. Erat enim idem clericus de regah
progenie, cognatus Osketeli Eborachensis metropolitre.1 . multas
habens diuitias magnasque possessiones, quas omnes parmpende-
bat propter reternas mansiones. Crulandiam quippe u~ .dixim_u~
non pro augendis fundis a rege poposcerat, sed q~ia rehg10sos 1?1
uiros in solitudine scilicet qure undique palud1bus et stagms
circumdabatur cognouerat..1 contemptis omnibus huius s~cu~i
delectamentis diuino cultui se mancipare decreuerat. Ordmat1s
itaque prudenter rebus suis, Crulandire monachus. factus es~~ et
aucta ibidem studio eius monachorum congregat10ne mag1ster
1 Cf. William of Malmesbury, GP, p. 321.
2 From this point Orderic's account of the refoundation of Crowland is more
firmly based on ascertainable fact, though the date is probably erroneous, and
there may be confusion with the founding of Bedford. Crowland was most
probably refounded after 971. See D. Whitelock, 'The Conversion of the
BOOK IV 341
his life, and from the day of its first foundation by the king to the
present the island of Crowland has never been without holy
monks. 1 A certain Kenulf, who was abbot of the monastery of St.
Guthlac, had a great reputation in his own day; and the stone, still
called Kenulf's stone, which he set up as a boundary between his
lands and those of Deeping, takes its name from him.
Later England was much troubled by various storms of war,
and the native English kings who ruled the country were sup-
planted by the barbarous rulers Inguar and Halfdene and Guthrum
and other tyrants coming from Denmark and Norway. The
monastery of Crowland was sacked like many others; its orna-
ments were stolen and its estates laid waste and converted into
lay demesnes contrary to canon law. But divine mercy, which
suffers pretenders to reign for a short time as a punishment for the
sins of the people, knows when the people of God have been
sufficiently chastised, and restores the peaceful government of
rightful rulers. So these tyrants-who had martyred St. Edmund,
king of the East Angles, and many other Christian men and burned
holy churches and the houses of the faithful-were by God's will
themselves slain or overthrown in some other way, and Alfred son
of lEthelwulf triumphed with the help of God and became the
first king to rule over the whole of England. Afterwards his son
Edward called the Elder reigned well for many years, and on his
death left the kingdom to his three sons Athelstan and Edmund
and Eadred. They all ascended the throne in turn, and each one
devoted himself throughout his whole reign to good and just
government.
In the time of King Eadred a clerk called Thurketel of London
asked the king to grant Crowland to him. 2 The king readily granted
his request. This clerk was of royal blood, a kinsman of Oscytel
archbishop of York, owning many great and wealthy estates all
of which he abandoned for his eternal home. As I said, he asked
the king for Crowland, not to increase his property but because
he knew the holy men who dwelt in that wilderness in the heart
of the watery fen, and rejecting all the joys of the world wished
to devote himself to the service of God. So after putting all his
own affairs into order he became a monk of Crowland, and after
the numbers of the community had grown through his zeal he
Eastern Danelaw', in Saga Book of the Viking Society, xii (1937-45), 174-5.
For Thurketel cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (B, C, 971); Liber Eliensis, pp. 96, 105.
342 BOOK IV
eorum et abbas nutu Dei et bonorum electione effectus est. Hie
familiarissimus fuit amicus sanctis prresulibus qui tune temporis
regebant recclesiam Dei, Dunstano archiepiscopo Cantuariensi.J
Adelwoldo Wintoniensi, et Oswaldo Wigornensi et postmodum
archiepiscopo Eborachensi:' eorumque consiliis summo nisu
sategit famulari. Hie ut diximus magnre generositatis fuit, et Ix
maneria de patrimonio parentum suorum possedit:' pro quorum
animabus sex uillas 1 scilicet W enliburg et Be bi, Wiritorp et
Elmintonam, Cotenham et Oghintonam, Crulandensi recclesire
dedit, et testamentum inde sigillo strenuissimi regis Edgari filii
Edmundi regis signatum confirmauit. Dunstanus etiam archi-
episcopus cum suffraganeis episcopis prredictarum rerum donatio-
nem facto crucis in carta signo corroborauit."' et quisquis prrefatre
recclesire de prrenominatis abstulerit, nisi digna satisfactione emen-
dauerit:' reternre maledietionis anathemate exeommunieauit.
Denique post multum temporis Turketelo iv idus iulii defuncto.J
Egelricus nepos eius suceessit, et completo uitre sure cursu alii
Egelrico qui de cognatione eius erat abbatiam Crulandire dimisit.
Quo defuncto."' Osketelus magnre nobilitatis monachus eiusdem
recclesire abbas effectus est. Porro Leuioua soror eius Enolfesburire
domina erat."' ubi tune temporis corpus sancti Neoti abbatis et
confessoris iacebat, sed <lignum tanto uiro seruitium ibi tune non
fie bat. Vnde prrefata mulier Witheleseiam accessit, et fratrem
suum Osketelum abbatem cum quibusdam Crulandensibus mo-
nachis illuc accersiit, ibique corpus sancti N eoti quod reuerenter
secum detulerat monachis quos digniores se credebat tradidit. At
illi munus a Deo sibi collatum gratanter susceperunt, et iuxta
altare sanctre Dei genitricis Marire in aquilonali parte honorabiliter
collocauerunt. lbi usque hodie a fidelibus ueneranter excolitur."' 2
eiusque festiuitas ii kal. augusti celebratur. Osketelo autem xii kal.
nouembris defuncto Godricus successit:' quo uiam uniuersre carnis
xiv kal. februarii ingrediente Brihtmerus abbatiam suscepit.
Tune temporis Pegelandre crenobium erat:' cui nobilis uir
Wlfgeatus abbas prreerat. Illie etenim sancta Pega soror sancti
1 Orderic uses the terms manerium and villa interchangeably. Cf. F. M. Page,
The Estates of Crowland Abbey (Cambridge, 1934), p. 18.
2 There are conflicting traditions about the movements of the relics of St.
Neot, and the Crowland story is incompatible with that of the restored Priory
of St. Neot's. The Crowland tradition, first written down by Orderic, is the
only source for Crowland's claims: the claims of St. Neot's are supported by
a list of saints and their resting-places (ante 1020) which suggests that the body
BOOK IV 343
rose to the fore and became abbot by the will of God and election
of good men. He was a close friend of the saintly bishops who
ruled God's Church at that time: Dunstan archbishop of Canter-
bury, lEthelwold of Winchester, and Oswald, first bishop of
Worcester and later archbishop of York; and he always strove
to be guided by their counsels. He was as I have related of the high-
est nobility, possessing sixty manors in his patrimony; and for
the souls of his ancestors he gave six of them 1-Wellingborough,
Beeby, Wothorpe, Elmington, Cottenham, and Oakington-to
the church of Crowland, confirming the gift under the seal of the
valiant King Edgar son of King Edmund. Archbishop Dunstan
and .his suff~agans also confirmed the gift of this property by
makmg the sign of the cross on the charter and excommunicating
eternally anyone who robbed the church of these possessions
unless he made full amends.
When at length Thurketel died on 28 June his nephew Egelric
succeeded him, and after his death left the abbey of Crowland to
another Egelric who was his kinsman. When he died Oscytel
a very highly born monk of Crowland, became abbot. At tha~
time his sister Leofgifu was lady of Eynesbury where lay the body
of St. N eot, abbot and confessor, but insufficient reverence was
shown there to this great man. So the lady came to Whittlesea, sent
for her brother, Abbot Oscytel, and some monks of Crowland to
meet her there, and handed over the relics of St. N eot which she
had reverently carried with her to the monks whom she believed
to be more worthy. They gladly accepted the gift bestowed on them
by God, and placed it reverently on the north side of the church,
by the altar dedicated to Mary the blessed mother of God. There
it is reverently adored by the faithful to this day,2 and his anni-
versary is celebrated on 31 July. Oscytel died on 21 October and
Godric succeeded him, and after his death on 19 January Brihtmer
became abbot.
At that time there was a monastery at Peakirk under the noble
Abbot Wulfgeat. For in that place the holy Pega, sister of St.
was still at St. Neot's in the early eleventh century (Liebermann, Die Heiligen
Eng~ands, p. 13, ii, no. 24); and the testimony of St. Anselm himself, who
certified c. 1080 that he had found it intact at Eynesbury (Sancti Anselmi Opera
Omnia, ed. Schmitt, iii, Ep. 473). Possibly it was temporarily transferred for
safety to Crowland in the late tenth century. Anselm may have hoped to silence
contradictory rumours; but he did not silence the monks of Crowland who
tried, through Orderic, to provide a written record of their claims. '
 344 BOOK IV
Guthlaci diu Domino militauerat. Qme postquam uenerandus frater
suus defunctus est: austeriori labore uitam suam pro amore Christi
examinare satis conata est. Vnde Romam adiit, sanctorum aposto-
lorum limina supplex pro se suisque requisiuit: ibique vi idus
1
ianuarii uitam gloriose finiuit. 1 In recclesia qure ibidem in honore
eius a fidelibus condita est tumulata quiescit:' multisque uirtutibus
his qui fideliter earn deposcant pie succurrens ueneranda nitescit.
Postquam Brihtmerus Crulandire abbas vii. idus aprilis obiit:'
Wlfgeatus Pegelandre pater Eduardum regem Egelredi filium
petiit, ut greges duorum crenobiorum permitteret adunari, Dei-
que ad laudem sub uno abbate et sub una lege unum conuentum
ii. 285 effici. Quod ille mox benigniter concessit. Wlfgeatus itaque post-
quam longo tempore Crulandire curam gessit, nonas iulii obiit:
et Vlfketelus Burgensis recclesire monachus Crulandire regimen
a rege Eduardo iubente Leofrico abbate suo suscepit. Hie xxiv
annis Crulandire prrefuit."' recclesiamque nouam quia uetus ruinam
minabatur construere crepit. Eius ad hoc opus inspirante Deo
Walleuus comes Northamtoniensis filius Siwardi ducis Northum-
'
brorum adiutor fuit."' et uillam qure Bernecha dicitur seruientibus
Deo et sancto Guthlaco dedit. 2 Qui non multo post malignitate
Normannorum qui ei nimis inuidebant."' eumque pro ingenti
probitate eius metuebant, iniuste cum luctu multorum pridie kal.
iunii Guintonire decollatus est: et corpus eius I uditha uxore illius
rogante et Guillelmo rege permittente ab Vlfketelo abbate Cru-
landiam delatum est.
Post non multum temporis prrefatus abbas quoniam Angligena
erat et N ormannis exosus ab emulis accusatus est."' et a Lanfranco
archiepiscopo depositus et Glestonire claustro deputatus est.J
Deinde Ingulfus Fontinellensis monachus abbatiam Crulan-
dire dono Guillelmi regis recepit, et xxiv annis per plurimas ad-
uersitates rexit. Hie natione Anglicus erat, scriba regis fuerat:
1 For Pega see Colgrave, pp. 192-3.
2 There is no corroboration of this alleged gift of Barnack, though Pseudo-
lngulf in repeating the story adds the date 1061 which is not in Orderic (ed.
W. Fulman in Rerum Anglicarum Scriptorum Veterum, i (Oxford, 1684), 67).
In 1066 Barnack was held by Bondi, who was Earl Waltheof's man (cf. Scott,
Arch. Aeliana, xxx. 163-4), and Waltheof may have made a grant of stone from
the quarries to Crowland.
J Wulfketel probably came under suspicion for his friendship with Waltheof,
though he was not finally deposed and sent to Glastonbury until c. 1085. See
Knowles, MO, pp. 105-6. There is some uncertainty about the date. But the
unpublished Thorney annals, written in an early twelfth-century hand (St.
John's College, Oxford, MS. 17, f. 29), say that he was deposed at a Council
BOOK IV 345
Guthlac, had served God for many years. After the death of her
venerable brother she wished to undergo a more severe discipline
for the love of Christ; and so going on pilgrimage to Rome to pray
for herself and her people at the threshold of the apostles she
brought her life to a glorious close there on 8 January. 1 She now
rests at peace in the church which the faithful built there in her
memory, and is greatly revered by those who faithfully seek her
intercession and are succoured by her many miracles.
After the death of Brihtmer abbot of Crowland on 7 April,
Wulfgeat, father abbot of Peakirk, petitioned King Edward son
of Ethelred to allow the two communities to be united, so that
they might become one convent for the glory of God under one
abbot and one law. This request was graciously conceded. So
Wulfgeat had charge of Crowland for many years, and when he
died on 7 July Wulfketel a monk of Peterborough was made abbot
of Crowland by the choice of King Edward with the permission
of Abbot Leofric of Peterborough. He governed Crowland for
twenty-four years and began to build a new church, for the old
one was on the point of falling down. Waltheof earl of North-
ampton, the son of Siward, earl of Northumbria, was inspired by
God to help him in this work by granting the manor of Barnack2
to the monks serving God and St. Guthlac. A little later, through
the malice of the Normans who were envious of him and feared
him for his great integrity, he was unjustly beheaded at Win-
chester on 3 I May, amidst general mourning; and his body, at
the request of Judith his wife and with the permission of King
William, was taken to Crowland by Abbot Wulfketel.
Not long afterwards the same abbot, who was an Englishman
hated by the Normans, was accused by his enemies, deposed by
Lanfranc, and sent to the monastery of Glastonbury.3 Then
Ingulf, monk of St. Wandrille, received the abbey of Crowland
from the hand of King William, and ruled it for twenty-four years
through many adversities. He was English by birth and had been
held at Gloucester at Christmas, and that Folcard was deprived of the administra-
tion of Thorney at the same time. This marginal entry could be meant to refer
to any of the years 1083, 1084, or 1085; possibly this obscurity is the source of
the statement made later in the Red Book of Thorney (Camb. U. L. MS. Add.
3021, vol. ii, ff. 415v-16) that Folcard was removed in 1084. But since according
to the Acta Lanfranci (V. H. Clover, The Correspondence of Archbishop Lanfranc,
unpublished Cambridge Ph.D. thesis, Appendix III, p. 7) this council was the
one which took place at Christmas 1085, that is the most likely date for the entry
in the Thorney annals, and therefore for the deposition of Wulfketel.
 BOOK IV
ii. 286 postmodum Jerusalem perrexerat. Vnde reuersus Fontinellam ex-
petiit, et a uiro eruditissimo Gerberto eiusdem crenobii abbate
monachilem habitum suscepit.J sub quo iam in ordine instru-
ctus prioratum amministrauit. Hunc ab abbate suo rex quia prius
eum nouerat requisiuit.J et Crulandensibus prreposuit. Qui post-
quam Crulandire regimen habuit.J prredecessori suo precibus beni-
uolis apud Willelmum regem subuenire sategit. Vlfketelus itaque
permissu regis Burgum ad suam scilicet recclesiam rediit.J ibique
post aliquot annos vii idus iunii obiit.
Porro abbas Ingulfus prout potuit.J suscepto monasterio
prodesse studuit, sed aduersa nutu Dei quamplurima pertulit.
Nam pars recclesire cum officinis et uestibus et libris multisque
aliis rebus necessariis repentino igne combusta est. I pse quoque
graui morbo podagrre detentus.J diu ante mortem suam languit,
sed uiuaci animo subditis prodesse non desiit. Hie corpus Gualleui
comitis de capitulo iussit in recclesiam transferri:' et aquam uncle
ossa lauarentur calefieri. Sed postquam sarcofagi opertorium
reuolutum est.J corpus xvi. dormitionis sure anno integrum sicut in
die quo sepultum fuerat et caput corpori coniunctum repertum
est. Filum tamtummodo quasi pro signo decollationis rubicundum
uiderunt.J monachi et laici quamplures qui affuerunt. Translato
ii. 287 autem in recclesiam corpore et honorabiliter sepulto prope altare:'
miracula ibidem facta sunt sepissime. Hoc ueraciter regri experi-
untur:' qui cum fide petentes optatre sanitatis gaudium crebro
adipiscuntur.
Tandem Ingulfo abbate xvi kal. decembris defuncto Goisfredus
successit.J et in multis recclesire Crulandensi et habitatoribus eius
studio bonitatis et honestatis profuit. Hie genere fuit Francigena
ex urbe Aurelianensi, scolas liberalium artium secutus ab reuo
puerili.J affatim imbutus peritia litterali, mundum perosus desi-
derioque flagrans crelesti.J monachile scema in crenobio sancti
Ebrulfi abbatis suscepit, quod idem sanctus tempore Childeberti
regis Francorum apud Vticum construxit. Ibi nimirum quia locus
idem magis religione quam diuitiis srecularibus abundat, Gois-
fredus tiro sub Mainerio abbate qui magni feruoris fama pollebat:'
monachile iugum suscepit diuque gessit, et per diuersa officia
BOOK IV 347
a royal clerk; but after his return from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem
he had gone to St. Wandrille and received the monastic habit from
the learned scholar Gerbert, who was abbot of the monastery; and
after receiving instruction in the monastic life he became prior
under him. This was the man whom the king, knowing his worth,
demanded from his abbot and put in charge of Crowland. After
he became abbot of Crowland he used all the influence he had on
King William on behalf of his predecessor; with the result that
the king allowed Wulfketel to return to his own abbey of Peter-
borough, where he died some years later on 7 June.
During this time Abbot Ingulf did all in his power for the
monastery committed to him, but God permitted him to suffer
several misfortunes. For part of the church with the domestic
buildings and vestments, books, and other necessary furnishings
was suddenly destroyed by fire. And he himself was grievously
crippled with gout for many years towards the end of his life: but
he continued to work for the welfare of his flock with his active
mind. It was he who ordered the body of Earl W altheof to be
translated from the chapter-house to the church, and had water
heated for washing the bones. But after the lid of the coffin had
been opened the body, which had been buried for nearly sixteen
years, was found as incorrupt as on the day of its burial, and more-
over the head was joined to the body. The monks and numerous
laymen who were present saw only a thin red mark as a sign of his
execution. After the body had been transferred to the church and
honourably buried near to the altar many miracles were wrought
there. The truth of this is proved by the sick, for those who come
in faith often receive the welcome gift of healing.
When at length Abbot Ingulf died on 16 November Geoffrey
succeeded him and brought great gain to the monks of Crowland
by his love of goodness and virtue. He was a Frenchman from the
town of Orleans, who had studied in the schools of liberal arts
from boyhood and was deeply learned in letters; but, hating the
world and burning with divine love, he took the monastic habit in
the monastery of St. Evroul the abbot, which the saint had built
in the region of Ouche during the reign of Childebert king of the
Franks. Choosing the place because it was richer in holiness than
in worldly wealth, the novice Geoffrey took up and carried the
monastic yoke for many years under Abbot Mainer, whose zeal
was rightly renowned; and when his ability had been proved in
 BOOK IV
probatus post annos xv conuersionis sure ad prioratus ministerium
promoueri meruit. Denique anno ab incarnatione Domini MCIX
iussu Henrici regis Anglorum Crulandensis recclesire regimen
ii. 288 suscepit, nouamque basilicam pulcherrimi operis et alia bona
quamplurima iam inchoauit:' et per xv annos quibus abbatis
officium gessit, ad salutem sui sibique subiectorum iuuante Deo
consummare studuit.
Huius regiminis anno tercio ad tumbum Gualleui comitis mira-
cula demonstrari primitus ceperunt:' quorum auditis rumoribus
Angli ualde letati sunU et Anglicre plebes ad tumulum sui com-
patriotre quern a Deo iam glorificari signis multiplicibus audiunt,
tam pro gaudio noure rei quam pro suis necessitatibus deprecaturi
frequenter accurrunt. Quod ut quidam de N ormannis monachus
nomine Audinus uidit, uehementer stomachatus aduenientes
derisit, et prrefato comiti cum irrisione detraxit, dicens quod
nequam traditor fuerit, et pro reatu suo capitis obtruncatione
multari meruerit. Hoc ut Goisfredus abbas audiuit:' dulciter eum
quia extraneus erat redarguit, dicens quod diuinis operibus non
deberet detrahere.1 quia Deus pollicitus est usque ad consum-
mationem sreculi prresentiam suam fidelibus suis exhibere, 1 et
promittit ex intimo corde prenitentes potare de fonte sure in-
fatigabilis misericordire. Protinus dum idem abbas talia dicendo
temeritatem insipientis compescere uellet:' et ille magis magisque
incongrua uerba proferret, in prresentia srepedicti patris subita
infirmitate in prrecordiis percussus est..1 et post paucos dies in
recclesia sancti Albani prothomartyris Anglorum ubi monachilem
professionem fecerat defunctus est. a[S]equenti uero nocte Gois-
fredus abbas dum in lecto quiesceret, et de supradictis euentibus
plura secum subtiliter tractaret.1 mox in uisu se astare loculo
ii. 289 Walleui comitis uidet, sanctosque Dei Bartholomreum apostolum
et Guthlacum anachoritam in albis nitentes secum astare uidet.
Apostolus uero ut uidebatur caput comitis corpori redintegratum
accipiens dicebat, 'Acephalus non est.' .lEcontra Guthlacus qui
ad pedes stabat..1 respondit, 'Comes hie fuit.' Apostolus autem
inceptum monadicon 2 sic perfecit, 'At modo rex est.' Abbas his
auditis et relatis fratres lretificauit, Dominumque Deum glorifi-
cauit..1 qui omni tempore credentibus in se clementiam suam
impendere non desistit. Consummatis in regimine quindecim
a Space for rubric
1 Cf. Matthew xxviii. 20.
2 An unusual adaptation of the Greek word µova~tKos.
BOOK IV 349
various offices he was promoted to the priorate, fifteen years after
his profession. Finally, in the year of Our Lord 1109 he was
ordered by Henry king of England to accept the charge of the
church of Crowland. He began the building of a new church of
exquisite workmanship and undertook various other good works,
which he strove with God's help to bring to completion for his
salvation and that of the monks under him throughout the fifteen
years he held office.
In the third year of his rule miracles first began to take place at
the tomb of Earl Waltheof; the news of them gladdened the hearts
of the English and the populace came flocking in great numbers to
the tomb of their compatriot, knowing from many signs that he was
already favoured of God. They were moved as much by thanks-
giving for the new miracles as a desire to pray for succour in their
own troubles. When a certain Norman monk called Ouen saw this
he was greatly vexed and began to mock the pilgrims and denigrate
the earl, saying that he was a false traitor who had deserved
execution as a punishment for his guilt. When Abbot Geoffrey
heard of this he rebuked the monk gently because he was a
foreigner, saying that the works of God ought not to be mocked,
for God has promised to give proofs of his presence to his faithful
people until the end of the world, 1 and still promises that all who
are penitent at heart shall drink at the fountain of his inexhaustible
mercy. Then whilst the abbot strove by such words as these to
check the fool's tirade and he became more and more offensive in
his speech, he was suddenly struck down with severe sickness in
the abbot's presence, and a few days later died in the church
of St. Alban the first English martyr, where he had made his
monastic profession. On the following night whilst Abbot Geoffrey
lay in bed turning over these events curiously in his mind he
suddenly saw himself in a vision by the coffin of Earl W altheof,
and two saints of God, Bartholomew the apostle and Guthlac the
hermit, standing beside him arrayed in shining white. The apostle,
so it seemed, perceiving that the earl's head was joined once more
to the body said, 'Headless no more.' Guthlac who was standing
at the foot of the coffin said in reply, 'That was earl heretofore,'
and the apostle completed the verse 2 with the words, 'Now is
king evermore.' ·when the abbot had heard and recounted these
things he gladdened the hearts of the brethren, and glorified God
for his unfailing mercy at all times to true believers. When the
 350 BOOK IV
annis uenerandus abbas et sacerdos Goisfredus nonas iunii obiit:'
cui Gualleuus Angligena Crulandensis cenobii monachus frater
Gospatricii 1 de magna nobilitate Anglorum successit. Miraculis
siquidem Crulandire crebrescentibus monachi gauisi sunt.J et
tanti comitis corpus pro posse suo gratanter honorauerunt, et
Vitali Angligenre 2 uersibus heroicis epitaphium eius edere ius-
serunt. Mox ille iussis paruit.J et corde meditata sic ore protulit,
En tegit iste lapis hominem magnre probitatis,
Danigenre comitis SiwardiJ filius audax
Walleuus comes eximius iacet hie tumulatus.
Vixit honorandus, armis animisque timendus,
a[E]t tamen inter opes corruptibiles et honores.J
Christum dilexit, Christoque placere sategit,
a[.lE]cclesiam coluit, 4 clerum reuerenter amauit.J
Precipue monachos Crulandenses sibi fidos,
a[D]enique iudicibus Normannis ense peremptus.J
Luce sub extrema maii petit artubus arua,
ii. 290 a[C]uius eri gleba Crulandia gaudet aquosa.J
Quam dum uiuebat, ualde reuerenter amabat,
a[O]mnipotens animre requiem det in retheris arce.
Pro interfectione Gualleui comitis Guillelmus rex a multis
reprehensus est.J et multis contra eum insurgentibus iusto Dei
iudicio multa aduersa perpessus est.J nee unquam postea diuturna
pace potitus est. I pse quidem contra omnes quia animosus erat
uiriliter restitit.J sed prosperis euentibus ad uotum ut antea non
tripudiauit, nee crebris uictoriarum titulis exultauit. In tredecim
annis quibus postmodum uixit, armatorum aciem de campo non
fugauit.J nee oppidum obsidens bellica uirtute cepit. Omnipotens
arbiter omnia iuste disponit.J nullumque facinus impunitum re-
linquit, quia hie aut in futuro sreculo omnia punit.
Guillelmus rex cupiens fines suos dilatare, sibique Britones ut
sibi obsecundarent sicut olim Rolloni et Willelmo aliisque ducibus
N ormannicis seruierant uolens subiugare.J cum ingenti exercitu
a Space for rubric
1
Gospatric and Abbot Waltheof were sons of Earl Gospatric of Northumbria
who, after losing his earldom, went to Scotland and became earl of Dunba;
~?imeon of Durham, Opera Omnia, ed. Thomas Arnold (RS), London, 1882-5,
11. 199).
BOOK IV 351
fifteen years of his rule were completed the venerable abbot and
priest Geoffrey died on 5 June, and was succeeded by W altheof,
an English monk of Crowland and brother of the nobly born
Englishman Gospatric. 1 The monks of Crowland rejoiced as the
miracles grew daily more frequent, and showed all reverence to
the relics of the earl. They asked the Englishman Vitalis 2 to com-
pose his epitaph in heroic verse. He speedily obeyed their com-
mands, and after meditating in his heart recited these lines:
Beneath this stone a man of highest virtue-
The valiant son of Siward, 3 earl and Dane-
Waltheof, most glorious earl, lies nobly buried.
Honoured in war, revered by all, he flourished;
Yet knowing worldly wealth and fame are shadows
He gave his love to Christ, and sought to please him,
Cherished his Church,4 and humbly loved his clergy,
Cherishing most the faithful monks of Crowland.
Sentenced to die by cruel Norman judgement,
At the last dawn of May he fell, beheaded.
The marshy soil of Crowland which, while living,
He had so deeply loved received his body.
God grant his soul eternal rest in Heaven.
King William was censured by many men for the execution of
Earl W altheof and by the just judgement of God he had to face
many rebellions and suffer great adversity; so that he could never
again enjoy lasting peace. Because of his remarkable courage he
stoutly stood up to all enemies, but he did not invariably enjoy
success as before, nor was he cheered by frequent victories. In the
thirteen years of life which remained to him he never once drove
an army from the field of battle, nor succeeded in storming any
fortress which he besieged. The omnipotent judge orders all things
rightly and leaves no sin unpunished, for he never fails to mete out
punishment either in this world or in the world to come.
As King William wished to extend his frontiers and to subdue
the Bretons who had once obeyed Rollo and William and the other
dukes of Normandy, he besieged the town of Doi with a huge
2
i.e. Orderic Vitalis himself.
3 Siward was a Danish adventurer who acquired the earldom of Northumbria
and married the daughter of Earl Ealdred II.
4 There is charter evidence of Waltheof's gifts to }arrow, Bury St. Edmunds,
and the see of Lincoln. See Scott, Arch. Aeliana, xxx. 197-202.
 352 BOOK IV
Dolense oppidum obsedit, multisque terroribus et minis castren-
1 1
ses terruit, nee se inde discessurum nisi munitionem optineret
cum iuramento asseruit. Denique nutu Dei regentis omnia res
aliter euenit. Nam sepedictus rex dum in tentoriis suis superbe
moraretur, et in diuitiis suis ut potens gloriaretur:' Alannum
Fergannum 2 comitem Britannire cum multis armatorum agminibus
suppetias obsessis properare audiuit, territusque cum castrensibus
ii. 291 qui de auxilio sibi aduenienti nichil adhuc nouerant pacem iniit:'
et confestim non sine magno rerum damno recessit. Tentoria et
manticas cum uasis et armis et multimoda suppellectili celeriter
abeuntes reliquerunt, quarum rerum dispendium ad quindecim
milia librarum sterilensium perdentes cum multis gemitibus
estimauerunt. 3 Deinde prudens rex ut se uincere uirtute Britones
non posse perspexit.J aliud consilium sibi posterisque suis com-
modum sollerter prrecogitauit. 4 Cum Alanno Fergano fcedus
amicicire firmauit, eique Constantiam filiam suam in coniugium
Cadomi honorifice copulauit. Qure cum uiro suo fere xv annis
uenerabiliter uixit.J et toto affectu subiectis et coessentibus prod-
esse studuit. Semper enim nectari pacis inhiauit, pauperes ama-
uit, omnesque Dei cultores ueneranter honorauiu quos nimirum
sine liberis moriens contristauit. Amatores requitatis in Britan-
nia multum exultarent, si de fortunata progenie laudabiles sibi
hreredes imperarent.J qui genuina bonitate indomitis Britonibus
iusticire libram insinuarent, eosque secundum normam diuinre
legis et humanre rationis ire cogerent. Fergannus comes post
ii. 2 9 2 obitum Constantire filiam comitis Andegauorum uxorem duxit, ex
qua filium nomine Conanum genuit.J cui nu per Henricus Anglorum
rex filiam suam 5 in matrimonio pro connexione pacis coniunxit.
Circa hrec tempora reuerendus Ainardus Diuensium primus
abbas in lectum decidit.J et completis in eo qure seruo Dei compe-
tunt xix kal. februarii obiit. 6 Hie fuit natione Teutonicus, gemina-
que scientia pleniter imbutus.J uersificandi et modulandi cantusque
1
The attack on Dol in September-October of 1076 was directed partly
against Earl Ralph and his Breton followers. William was defeated by the
arrival of the king of France and some Angevin forces. There are better accounts
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D, E, 1077 for 1076); FW ii. 12; and the
Annales dites de Renaud (Halphen, Annales, p. 88).
2
A mistake for Hoel. Alan Fergant did not succeed his father until 1084.
3 The figure is inflated; but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle agrees that there was
a serious loss of men, horses, and treasure.
4
Orderic's account of Breton affairs is very confused, and all efforts to
reconcile it with other evidence have failed (cf. Freeman, NC iv, Appendix
WW; Douglas, WC, Appendix E). Many details must be rejected as inaccurate.
Constance married Alan Fergant in 1086 and died in 1090, after less than five
years as his wife. Staplet.on suggested (Le Prevost, iii. 29-30) that Constance
j
BOOK IV
353
army, terrorizing the garrison with his acts of cruelty and threats
and swearing that he would never retreat until he had taken the
fortress. But by the will of God who directs all things the outcome
was different. For whilst the king was proudly encamped there,
making a great show of his wealth and power, he heard that Alan
Fergant,z count of Brittany, was hastening to the help of the
besieged with a huge force of men-at-arms; greatly alarmed he
negotiated for peace with the garrison who as yet did not know
that help was at hand, and hastily and not without damage to
his property withdrew. In their precipitous retreat the soldiers
abandoned tents and baggage, with vessels and arms and furnish-
ings of all kinds. They ruefully estimated the loss of these goods
at fifteen thousand pounds sterling.3 Then the statesman king,
recognizing that he could not conquer the Bretons by force, de-
vised another plan to profit himself and his heirs. 4 He made a
treaty of friendship with Alan Fergant and gave him his daughter
Constance in marriage with great ceremony at Caen. She lived
with her husband as a faithful wife for fifteen years and did every-
thing in her power to further the welfare of her subjects and
fellow creatures. For she longed for sweet peace wherever she
went, loved the poor, and showed great reverence to all the ser-
vants of God, who were deeply grieved when she died leaving no
issue. All peace lovers in Brittany would have been overjoyed if
there had been any heirs of this blessed union to rule them, to
hold the balance of justice virtuously for the unmastered Bretons
and govern them according to the precepts of divine law and
~uman reason. After the death of Constance Count Fergant mar-
ried the daughter of the count of Anjou, by whom he had a son
called Conan. This son has recently been joined in matrimony
with the daughter of King Henry of England,s as a bond of peace
between them.
About this time the venerable Ainard, first abbot of Dive,
sickened and, when all the rites fitting for a servant of God had
been performed, died on 14 January. 6 He was a German by birth,
well versed in the twin sciences of poetry and music, and a most
may have been betrothed in infancy to Alan Fergant in 1076 and married ten
years later: nothing is known of her age and there is no supporting evidence for
this theory.
5
Conan III married Maud, an illegitimate daughter of Henry I (GEC xi,
Appendix D, p. l 14).
6
For Ainard cf. above, pp. 296-8. He died c. 1078.
822204 A a
 354 BOOK IV
suaues edendi peritissimus. ~oc ~uider_iter prob~ri po~es~ .in
historiis Kiliani Guirciburgens1s ep1scop1 et Katenme mrgm1s.J
aliisque plurimis cantibus quos ~legar_it~r ~dem edidit in lau?em
Creatoris. In iuuentute uero stud10 rehg10ms flagrans uenerabilem
Isembertum abbatem expetiit, eiusque disciplinis p:o. an.10re Dei
se gratanter submisit, et in ccenobio s~nctre !nmtat1s1 quod
Goscelinus de Archis in monte Rotomag1 ad onentalem plagam
construxerat monachatum suscepit. Incle nutu diuino ab recclesire
rectoribus anno dominicre incarnationis MXLVI pertractus est:'
ii. 293 ac super candelabrum ut luce~et m?nibus .qui in domo s':1nt
positus est.z Ordinatus aute~ Dme~~1s abbat1re quam Lezscelma
comitissa Guillelmi Aucens1s com1t1s uxor construxerat curam
suscepit:' annisque triginta et uno bene uiuens et d?ce~s utiliter
tenuit, et senex plenusque dierum cursum prresent1s mtre. con:-
pleuit. Venerabilis Durandus Troarnensis .abbas corpus ems m
basilica sanctre Marire sepeliuit, et memorabile carmen quod. super
laminam mausolei eius sculperetur edidit..i in quo mores et mrtutes
prrefati archimandritre et karismata qure diuinitus inserta illi
fuerant luculenter sic patefecit,
Hie iacet Ainardus redolens ut pistica nardus..i
Virtutum multis floribus et meritis,
A quo fundatus locus est hie et redificatus
Ingenti studio nee modico pretio.
Vir fuit hie magnus probitate suauis ut agnus,
Vita conspicuus, dogmate precipuus,
Sobrius et castus, prudens, simplex et honestus,
Pollens consilio, clams in officio.
Mentis huic grauitas erat et maturior retas,
Canaque cesaries, sed tenuis facies.
Quern nonas decimas februo promente kalendas
Abstulit ultima sors et rapuit cita mors.
Pro quo qui transis supplex orare memor sis..i
Vt sit ei saties alma Dei facies.
Diuensis recclesia rectore proprio uiduata Fulconi Vticen~iu~
prioriJ ad regendum data est..i et ipse a Rodbe~o Salanens1
episcopo abbas consecratus est. P.rrefa~a do~us ab 1~so tempore
Guillelmi regis et Rodberti secund1 d1:1c1s plunbus a~ms gubernata
est:' et magnifice secundum opportumtatem tempons prouecta est.
Later Ste-Catherine-du-Mont, Rouen.
1
2
Cf. ~atthew v. 15. ,
Abbot of St. Pierre-sur-Dive, c. 1078-92, 1099-1106, with seven years
3
exile, 1092-9 (see Le Prevost, iv. 19, 215).
BOOK IV 355
skilled writer of melodious songs. This is plain to all from the
offices of Kilian, bishop of Wiirzburg, and the virgin Catherine
and many other sweet songs which he composed to the glory of
his Creator. Whilst still a young man thirsting after the life of
religion he sought out the venerable Abbot Isembert and will-
ingly submitted to his discipline for the love of God, and made his
profession in the monastery of Holy Trinity, 1 which Goscelin of
Arques had built on the hill at Rouen in the western quarter of the
city. From there by God's will he was removed by the rulers of
the Church in the year of Our Lord 1046, and set on a candlestick
so that he might give light to all who are in the house. 2 After being
ordained he was given the cure of the abbey of Dive, which
Countess Lesceline, wife of William count of Eu, had founded.
He held this office for thirty-one years of good life and salutary
teaching and when he was old and full of days he finished the
course of his earthly life. The venerable Durand abbot of Troarn
buried his remains in the church of St. Mary, and composed
a memorable poem which was engraved on a metal plate on his
tomb. In this the character and virtues of the abbot and the
spiritual gifts which heaven had bestowed on him were described
in glowing terms:
Here Ainard lies: his many virtues bloom
Fragrant as purest spikenard round his tomb.
Through him this house was first to Heaven vowed
And by his patient skill richly endowed.
A man of meekness and great probity,
Of upright life, skilled in theology,
Sober and chaste he was, mature in age;
Wisdom and honour were his heritage.
In counsel most profound, he ruled this place
Firmly, with hoary locks and gentle face.
Swift death and cruel fate snatched him away
In January, on the fourteenth day.
0 passer-by, be mindful in thy prayer
That he the sweet delights of Heaven may share.
Fulk, prior of St. Evroul, 3 was appointed to govern the widowed
church of Dive, and was consecrated abbot by Robert bishop of
Seez. For several years in the time of King William and Duke
Robert II the church was governed by him and nobly fostered as
far as the difficult times allowed. This same leader took with him
 BOOK IV
ii. 294 Quattuor prredictus hreros secum duxit Vticenses monachos,
Bernardum cognomento Mathreum cognatum suum et Ricardum,
Guillelmum de Mosterolo et Turchetillum promptos et utiles
librarios, et in diuino cultu peritissimos. Hi nimirum pacifici
adiutores ei fuerunt..J et primi ad iugum Domini ferendum nocte
dieque humeros suos auide supposuerunt, aliisque alacriter
'Venite nobiscum in Bethel' 1 uerbo et indeficienti exemplo
coessentibus suis dixerunt.
[T]aurbulentis tempestatibus quas a Cenomannensibus et Nor-
mannis permotas esse diximus .J fomes ut ferunt et causa fuit
Rodbertus regis filius. Nam Guillelmus princeps ante Senlacium
bellum et post in quadam sua regritudine Rodbertum primo-
genitam sobolem fecerat suum hreredem:' et iussit omnes optimates
ei facere homagium et fidelitatem. 2 At illi gratanter imperanti
adquieuerunt. Adolescens autem post mortem Margaritre sponsre
sme.J ambitione iuuenili noxioque sodalium instinctu debitos
honores requisiuit a patre, principatum uidelicet Cenomannorum
et N eustrire. Porro prouidus pater hinc inde multa circumspiciens
postulata denegauit..J filioque suo ad nanciscendum qure petierat
ii. 295 tempus opportunum bene prrestolari persuasit. Ille uero quod nil
a patre consequi poterat egre tulit.J et arroganter contra eum
plerunque litigauit. Erat enim loquax et prodigus, audax et in
armis probissimus, fortis certusque sagittarius, uoce clara et libera,
lingua diserta, facie obesa, corpore pingui breuique statura, uncle
uulgo Gambaron cognominatus est et Breuis-ocrea.
Quondam dum rex contra Corbonienses 3 expeditionem facere
prrepararet, et in oppido Richerii quod pro nido aquilre ibidem in
quercu reperto dum castrum a Fulberto fieret, Aquila dicitur
in domo Gunherii hospitaretur.J lis inter filios regis oritur dre-
monica, uncle postmodum multre pullulauerunt lites et facinora. 4
Nam duo fratres Guillelmus Rufus et Henricus patri fauebant,
a Space for rubric.
1 Cf. Luke ii. 15.
2 William formally recognized Robert as his heir in Normandy on more than
one occasion, the first time being just before the invasion of England (cf. C. W.
David, Robert Curthose (Harvard, 1920), pp. 12-18). There is some charter evi-
dence that he may have been formally invested with the duchy about 1077, but
he enjoyed no real power.
J Orderic does not specify the names of the lords of the Corbonnais against
whom this attack was being prepared. But this frontier was in a constant state
of war, and William's enemies must have been encouraged by his defeat at Dol
BOOK IV 357
four monks of St. Evroul: Bernard called Matthew, his kinsman,
an~ Richard, William of Montreuil, and Thurkill, who were
qmck and conscientious scribes, very well versed in the liturgy.
They were his chief helpers in the work of peace, always the first
day and night to take the yoke of the Lord on their own shoulders
gladly saying to their other fellow monks by word and unfailin~
example, 'Come with us to Bethlehem.'1
It is said that the real instigator of the disturbances we have
described between the Normans and the men of Maine was
Robert the king's son. For Duke William, both before the battle
of Senlac and afterwards when he was sick, had named his first-
born son Robert as his heir, and ordered all the nobles to do
ho~age and swear fealty to him. 2 They were ready enough for
their part to accept his rule. But in his adolescence, after the death
of his betrothed, Margaret, he was moved by youthful ambition
and the fatal advice of his comrades to ask his father for Maine
and Normandy as honors that were rightly his. However, his
prudent father, after considering all the circumstances, refused the
request and persuaded his son to wait for a more opportune time
to ac.quire them .. He, however, took offence because he could get
nothmg out of his father, and arrogantly came to blows with him
on a number of occasions. He was talkative and extravagant, reck-
less, very courageous in battle, a powerful and sure archer with
a clear, cheerful voice and a fluent tongue. Round-faced, short and
stout, he was commonly nicknamed 'fat-legs' and 'curt-hose'.
Once when the king was preparing an expedition against the
men of the Corbonnais3 and was lodging in Gunher's house in
Richer's town called Laigle-because of an eagle's nest found in
an oak tree whilst Fulbert was building the castle-a fiendish
dispute arose amongst the king's sons, which gave rise to many
battles and outrages later. 4 For two of the brothers, William Rufus
and Henry, were on good terms with their father, and deeming
and the active hostility of King Philip. The later reference to making peace with
Count _Rotrou of.Mortagne is usually taken to mean that the hostile preparations
were aimed at him (cf. Douglas, WC, p. 238; David, Robert Curthose, p. 22).
But see below, p. 360 n. 1.
4
Orderic here treats for the first time the first quarrel of Robert Curthose
with his father, which began in late 1077 or early 1078 and culminated in the
siege of Gerberoi in 1079. He returns to the subject more fully in Book V (Le
Pr~vost, ii. 377-90), where he seems to introduce into the earlier period events
which must have taken place during Robert's second quarrel and second exile.
Cf. David, Robert Curthose, pp. 19-20.
 BOOK IV
uiresque suas fraternis uiribus requas arbitrantes indignum duce-
bant:' quod frater eorum solus habere patrium ius ambiebat, et
agmine clientum sibi obsequente patri par estimari peroptabat.
Vnde in Aquilensi castro ad hospitium Rodberti quod in domo
Rogerii Calcegii susceperat uenerunt, ibique super solarium sicut
ii. 296 militibus moris est tesseris ludere ceperunt. Deinde ingentem
strepitum fecere, et aquam super Rodbertum et asseclas eius qui
subtus erant fudere. Tune Iuo et Albericus de Grentemaisnilio
dixerunt Rodberto, 'Vt quid tantam pateris iniuriam? Ecce fratres
tui super caput tuum ascenderunt, et immundiciis in contemptu
tuo nos tecum polluunt. N onne uides quid hoc significat? Lippis
etiam liquido patet. Nisi festinanter infectum tibi dedecus punieris
deiectus es:' nee ultra resurgere uales.' His siquidem auditis furi-
bundus surrexit.J et in cenaculum contra fratres suos irrepere
accelerauit. Mox orto clamore de hospitio suo rex accurrit.J et
regali auctoritate filiorum iurgia suorum ad tempus compescuit.
Sequenti uero nocte Rodbertus cum pedissequis suis equitatum
regis deseruit, Rotomagum expetiit, et arcem regiam furtim
prreoccupare sategit. Verum Rogerius de Iberico pincerna regis
qui turrim custodiebat, ut conatus insidiantium prrecognouit.J
contra fraudes malignantium diligenter arcem prremuniuit, missis-
que legatis ordinem rei domino suo regi celeriter intimauit. At ille
nimis iratus factiosos omnes comprehendi iussit. Illi uero edictum
huiusmodi audientes admodum territi sunt.J et quibusdam captis
alii extorres fugerunt, et extera petentes saluati sunt.
Tune Hugo de Nouocastello nepos et hreres Alberti Ribaldi
ii. 297 primus prredictos exules suscepiU eisque N ouumcastellum,
Raimalast atque Sorellum, aliaque municipia sua pro depopulanda
N eustria patefecit. Erat enim gener Rogerii comitis, habens in
matrimonio Mabiliam sororem Roberti Belesmensis:' qui regis
filium secutus fuerat cum Radulfo de Conchis aliisque plurimis.
Prauo quippe ausu desertores detestabile nefas exorsi sunt.J et
oppida diuitesque fundos pro inani spe et promissis floccipendendis
reliquerunt. Rex autem terras eorum manu propria sibi subegit:'
et de redditibus eorum stipendiarios dimicantes contra eosdem
remunerauit.
His motionibus incolre et uicini terribiliter agitati sunt.J et arma
passim contra regem seu pro rege leuauerunt. Galli et Britones,
J
BOOK IV 359
their strength equal to that of their brother Robert thought it
shameful that he aimed at the whole inheritance and, surrounded
by a swarm of obsequious sycophants, considered himself equal to
his father. So they came to the town of Laigle, where Robert had
taken up residence in the house of Roger Cauchois, and began to
play dice in the upper gallery, as soldiers do. They made a great
noise about it and soon began to pour down water on Robert and
his sycophants underneath. Then I vo and Aubrey of Grandmesnil
said to Robert, 'Why do you put up with such insults? Just look
at the way your brothers have climbed up above your head and are
defiling you and us with filth to your shame. Don't you see what
this means? Even a blind man could. Unless you punish this insult
without delay it will be all over with you: you will never be able
to hold up your head again.' Hearing these words he leaped to his
feet in a towering rage, and dashed to the upper room to take his
brothers unawares. The noise issuing from his lodging quickly
brought the king to the spot, and he patched up the quarrel for
the time being. But on the next night Robert and his followers
deserted the king's army, hastened to Rouen, and attempted to
seize the royal citadel by stealth. However, Roger of Ivry the
king's butler, who was guarding the tower, got wind of the attack
and carefully fortified the citadel against the wiles of the miscreants,
and sent messengers speeding to carry a full report of the situation
to the king. He flew into a terrible rage, and ordered all the con-
spirators to be seized. They, however, were greatly alarmed at the
news of this edict, and though a few were captured the rest fled
into exile and saved their skins by taking refuge abroad.
Hugh of Chateauneuf, nephew and heir of Aubert Ribaud, was
the first to offer protection to the exiles, and he placed a number of
his fortresses including Chateauneuf, Remalard, and Sorel at their
disposal, so that from there they could raid Normandy. He was
as it happened a son-in-law of Earl Roger, having as his wife
Mabel the sister of Robert of Belleme, who together with Ralph
of Conches and many others had followed the king's son. With
misguided daring these deserters embarked on a wicked enterprise,
leaving their towns and rich estates for vain hopes and worthless
promises. The king replied by confiscating their estates, and using
the revenues to pay mercenaries to fight against them.
The inhabitants of these regions and their neighbours suffered
terribly from the disturbances; and now one and now another took
 360 BOOK IV
Cenomanni et Andegauenses:' aliique populi fluctuabant, et quern
merito sequi deberent ignorabant. Bellis itaque passim insurgenti-
bus cordatus rex exercitum aggregauit, et in hastes pergens cum
Rotrone Mauritaniensi comite pacem fecit.1 Hie nimirum dum
terras Carnotensis recclesire qure perpeture Virgini Marire dedicata
est plerumque prredaretur, et ab episcopo cum clero frequenter
ob hoc redargueretur, et incorrigibilis perseuerans excommuni-
caretur.1 animaduersione diuina obsurduit, et sic ad mortem usque
surdus permansit. Rex Guillelmus hunc precio conduxit..1 secumque
ad obsidionem quia Raimalast de feudo eius erat minauit. Quatuor
ii. 298 castra in giro firmauit .1 ibique milites ad arcendos castrenses apte
locauit. 2 Interea dum quadam die Haimericus de Vilereio dapi-
ferum regis Francorum3 qui ad eum diuerterat deduxisset, et cum
tribus militibus ad castrum suum ubi hostes regis tutabantur re-
mearet..1 forte de regia phalange quatuor equites exierunt, eique
obuiantes aditum iam proximre munitionis sure opturauerunt.J
ipsumque percutientes ilico peremerunt. Deinde cadauer infausti
prredonis uelut occisum suem super equum sustulerunt, et
delatum ante mappalia Rogerii comitis 4 contra quern diu hostiliter
seuierat proiecerunt. Gulferius autem filius eius tam diro patris
infortunio territus pacem cum rege pepigit..1 eique postmodum et
hreredibus eius per annos ferme quinquaginta £.delis extitit.
Multa terrigenis imminent infortunia, qure si diligenter scri-
berentur omnia:' ingentia replerent uolumina. N unc hiemali frigore
rigens aliis occupationibus uacabo .1 prresentemque libellum hie
terminare fatigatus decerno. Redcunte uero placidi ueris sereno,
ea qure minus plene disserui siue qure restant in sequentibus
replicabo.1 Deoque iuuante casus guerrre pacisque nostratuum
ueraci stilo copiose dilucidabo.
Explicit liber quartus Vitalis Ordrici Vticensis presbiteri et monachi
1 This is usually taken to mean that William was at war with Rotrou (cf.
above, p. 356 n. 3). But there is no other evidence of hostilities between the
two, and the meaning may be rather that the king formed an alliance with
Rotrou and bought his active support.
2 This was William's· characteristic method of investing an inexpugnable
fortress with the minimum of men. Cf. the sieges of Brionne and Domfront
(Foreville, pp. 18, 36).
3 The reference to a steward of the king of France suggests that Philip I was
already encouraging William's enemies. Cf. David, Robert Curthose, pp. 23-24.
4 Roger of Montgomery.
BOOK IV 361
up arms either for or against the king. Frenchmen and Bretons,
men of Maine and Anjou and other peoples vacillated, not knowing
which side they ought to support. And so whilst fighting broke out
sporadically here and there the prudent king mustered his army,
and set out against his enemies after making a peace with Rotrou
count of Mortagne. 1 This man had repeatedly plundered the lands
of the cathedral church of Chartres, which was dedicated in
honour of the Virgin Mary, and by remaining obdurate in spite of
frequent remonstrances by the bishop and clergy had incurred
excommunication; by divine judgement he became deaf and never
again recovered his hearing. King William secured his support by
a subsidy and took him with him to the siege of Remalard which
was in his fee. He built four fortifications around it, 2 and placed
in them soldiers to invest the garrison. At this time it chanced
that while Aymer of Villerai, who had been giving safe escort to
the steward of the king of FranceJ after a visit, was returning with
three knights to his castle-where the enemies of the king lodged
safely-four knights rode out from the king's forces and en-
countered him by chance. They barred the way to his near-by
stronghold, struck him from his horse and slew him on the spot.
Then slinging the carcass of the luckless bandit like a slaughtered
sow across a horse, they carted it to the tents of Earl Roger,4
against whom he had fought for many years, and flung it on the
ground. Gouffier, his son, was so horrified by his father's miserable
fate that he made his peace with the king and has remained faithful
to him and his heirs for almost fifty years since.
Mortal men are oppressed by many misfortunes, which would
fill great volumes if the whole tale of them were written down. But
now, numbed by the winter cold, I turn to other pursuits; and,
weary with toil, resolve to end my present book here. When the
warmth of sweet spring returns I will relate in the following books
everything that I have only briefly touched upon, or omitted
altogether; and with the help of God, I will fully and truly describe
the fortunes of our people in war and peace.
Here ends the fourth book of Orderic Vitalis of St. Evroul,
priest and monk
 APPENDIX I
l J
The Descent of the Lands of the Lords of Belleme
THE lands which the house of Belleme assembled during the early
eleventh century occupied a key position along the southern frontiers
of Normandy, from Brittany to the county of Chartres. 1 Whils~ the
lords of the honors aimed at establishing a quasi-independent territory
they profited from the possibility of being vassals of seyeral lords.
From the first quarter of the eleventh century William I of Belleme
held Alen9on as a fief of the duke of Normandy; but the castle. of
Domfront was held until the mid-century wars of Normandy and Mame
as a fief of the count of Maine. The lordship of Belleme itself was
incorporated in the county of Perche, which was feudally dependent on
Normandy for a time, but ultimately became a fief of the king of France.
Ecclesiastically, Le Mans was almost a family bishopric until the death
of Avesgaud of Belleme c. 1040, but as Angevin pressures increased in
Maine the bishopric of Seez in Normandy was successfully restored by
William I of Belleme, and his fourth son, I vo, became bishop of Seez
in 1035. The lordship of Belleme has aptly been described by Lemari-
gnier as 'un bastion avance de la Normandie, que les dues normands
n' ont jamais pu incorporer definitivement a leur etat'. But they came
nearest to doing so in the middle years of the eleventh century. The
marriage of Mabel of Belleme to Roger of Montgomery, vicomte of
Exmes and favourite of Duke William, was the most important single
step in the increase of Norman authority in this region. Since, then, the
succession in the lands of Belleme was an important element in the
power politics of the mid-eleventh century, the fate of the inheritance
is of more than antiquarian interest. The critical years were those
between the death of William I of Belleme c. 1028 and the death of I vo
of Belleme, bishop of Seez, in 1070, which left Mabel and her husband
Roger of Montgomery in sole control of the whole complex of fiefs.
Since Orderic spent his life in a monastery almost on the frontiers of
the Belleme lands, and had a profound, though hostile, interest in the
family who were the bitterest enemies of the founders of St. Evroul, his
testimony for this period is important, but not always reliable.
1
See J. F. Lemarignier, Recherches sur Z'homrnage en marche et les frontieres
feodales (Lille, 1945), pp. 63-67; J. Boussard, 'La seigneurie de Belleme aux
xe et Xie siecles', in ~Melanges . .. Halphen, pp. 43-54.
j
APPENDIX I
William of Belleme had six sons: 1 Fulk and Warin, who died before
their father, Benedict, who became a monk, Robert, who apparently
succeeded to his father's estates but was murdered c. 1033, Ivo, and
William Talvas. The family fortunes reveal the violence and dangers
of the times: the surviving legitimate issue of all these sons consisted
only of Warin's daughter, Adeline, who married Rotrou, count of
Mortagne, and William Talvas's children: Arnold and Mabel by his
first wife, and Oliver, probably by his second wife but possibly illegiti-
mate, who became a monk of Bee in his old age.
A few facts can be established by charter evidence. I vo was lord of
Belleme before he became bishop of Seez in 1035 ;2 his younger brother
William Talvas was never called William of Belleme. William's son
Arnold attests a charter of October 1048 which G. H. White regards
with some suspicion but M. Fauroux accepts as genuine ;3 he was
therefore probably still living at this date. For the date of the death of
William Talvas there is conflicting charter evidence. He appears to
have been living in 1053 ;4 and G. H. White dates a charter of lvo of
Belleme attested by William Talvas as between the death of Geoffrey
Martel (14 November 1060) and 1062. But this is later than the founda-
tion charter of Mabel of Belleme and Roger of Montgomery for the
abbey of Seez, dated before the death of King Henry of France on
4 August 1060, which refers to William Talvas as though he were
already dead.s The evidence of his being alive after 1053 is therefore
too slender to bear much weight. In any case, he seems to have lost
control of any fiefs he formerly held before 1053.
Apart from these few shreds of evidence, events can be reconstructed
only from the chroniclers. Of the information given by Orderic some is
manifestly false. He alleges in his Interpolations in William of Jumieges
that after Robert's murder in prison William Talvas 'successit in honore
paterno', and again that William Talvas 'omnem patris sui fundum
adeptus est'. 6 In the Historia Ecclesiastica he describes the expulsion
of William from his whole honor by his son Arnold as a punishment
for his crimes,1 and Ivo's succession as lord of Belleme ('hereditario
iure ex paterna successione, fratribus suis Warino et Rodberto at-
que Willelmod eficientibus Belesmense oppidum possidebat'). 8 Since
1
See G. H. White, 'The first house of Belleme', in TRHS, 4th series, xxii
(1940), 67-99. A different, but more subjective, interpretation of the evidence
is given by Du Motey, Alenfon, pp. 111-306.
2
G. H. White, op. cit., p. 81.
3 Ibid., p. 86; Fauroux, no. 115.
4 Du Motey, Alenfon, pp. 216-17.
s GC xi, Instruments, p. 151, no. 1, 'Dederunt ergo supradictae ecclesiae
pro redemptione animarum suarum et predecessoris sui Willelmi, et aliorum
parentum, terram quam Willelmus eorum predecessor tenuit in suo dominio ... '.
6
Marx, pp. 155, 161. 7 Above, p. 14. 8 Above, p. 46.
 APPENDIX I
charters show that William never had Belleme, but certainly held some
fiefs including Seez, the only possible explanation seems to be some
form of division. Orderic, I would suggest, is blinded to this by his
obsession with primogeniture. 1 The facts can only be explained if more
allowance is made for division of an inheritance by family settlement
and seignorial pressure than would have been easy or readily acceptable
at the time Orderic was writing. But exactly how, or on what principle,
the lands were divided remains a matter for conjecture; 2 the fact that
I vo, the elder of the two brothers, was a priest added to the complica-
tions. It is possible, as G. H. White suggests, that William Talvas was
left to hold any of the family lands in Normandy that he could win by
the sword. The rights of his children are even more uncertain.
Orderic alleges that William's son Arnold rebelled against his father
and drove him out of his estates; and there seems to be some indirect
evidence in support of this in the Gesta of William of Poitiers. Although
William never mentions Talvas or Arnold in discussing the seizure of
the castle of Alern;on by Geoffrey Martel, he speaks of traitors within
the stronghold;3 and later he refers also to treachery at Domfront.4
Arnold's 'rebellion' may have been one element in the struggle of the
count of Anjou and duke of Normandy for control of Maine and the
frontier fortresses. All dates in these campaigns are highly controversiaI.s
On one or two points, however, Orderic's evidence seems relevant. He
alleges that after the death of Arnold of Belleme the disturbances
occurred which led to the burning of the cathedral of Seez and Bishop
I vo' s reprimand at the Council of Rheims, in 1049. 6 If his chronology is
correct Arnold's death must have occurred in late 1048 or early 1049.1
From the time of Arnold's death Mabel and her half-brother Oliver
were the likely heirs of the Belleme lands once William Talvas and I vo
were either dead or set aside.
Nothing explicit is heard at this time of any claims by Warin's
daughter Adeline and her husband Rotrou of Mortagne; and why
Oliver, if a legitimate son, was excluded we do not know, as he became
a monk of Bee only in his old age. 8 But Mabel's marriage to Roger of
1
Above, Introduction, pp. xxxvi-xxxvii.
2
Cf. Du Matey, Alenfon, pp. 169-70; G. H. White, TRHS xxii (1940), 83.
3 Foreville, p. 34. William of Malmesbury (GR ii. 288) also speaks more
circumstantially of treachery, but he may only be elaborating information he had
taken from William of Poitiers.
4 Foreville, p. 36. Halphen thought that Domfront was an error for Alern;:on,
but J. Marx regards it as an independent and valuable piece of evidence (Marx,
p. 125 n. 1).
5 See Douglas, WC, Appendix B, pp. 383-90, for a summary of the present
state of the controversy. 6 Marx, pp. 164-8.
7 He was alive in October 1048; cf. Fauroux, no. u5.
8 G. H. White, TRHS xxii (1940), 85.
J
APPENDIX I
Montgomery, who played a conspicuous part in the Domfront cam-
paign, 1 cannot have taken place much later than 1050, since their
daughter Emma occurs as abbess of Almeneches c. 1074. 2 Orderic, in
describing the difficulties of the community that Mabel and Roger tried
to establish at Seez under Thierry of St. Evroul, speaks of the almost
continuous fighting in which they were involved. Very likely, as G. H.
White has suggested, the inheritance passed to Mabel through a private
arrangement of her father and Roger of Montgomery, approved by the
duke of Normandy. William Talvas, whatever the date of his death,
never appears in possession of his fiefs after Arnold's rebellion, and
Roger had to fight to establish his position in them. By 1060 when St.
Martin's, Seez, was founded he was secure in this region: in 1070, when
I vo died, he and Mabel entered into the remainder of the Belleme
inheritance. The result was a strengthening of Norman influence on
the frontiers of Maine and Perche, and there can be no doubt of the
active approval and encouragement of Duke William in achieving this.
It marks the furthest advance of Norman power into the region of
Belleme, from which later it had to recede.
The question of Arnold's rebellion raises one chronological difficulty;
if it occurred about 1048 and was associated with the campaigns around
Domfront and Alens;on described by William of Poitiers, then it is one
argument against the later date suggested for these campaigns, namely
1051-2 rather than 1048-9, which is supported by Prentout and
Douglas. 3 There are in fact some difficulties in accepting the evidence
for either date. The answer to an almost insoluble problem may lie in
the suggestion of M. de Bouard that the fighting in this area may have
been of some years' duration. 4 William of Poitiers after all only high-
lights a few incidents in campaigns that may have been prolonged; and
Duke William's later career showed that he was perfectly capable of
carrying on more than one campaign at once, so that it is not necessary
to assume that the fighting forced on him in this region could only have
occurred when his hands were free elsewhere. Hostilities could very
well have broken out in this region in 1048-9, and been renewed in
1051. William of Poitiers, after all, was highly selective even when not
over-writing his hero. In dealing with a period where the evidence is so
exiguous and warfare was almost continuous, it is important not to
imagine that the few engagements of which we have some knowledge,
even if accurately reported, were the only things that happened.
1 Foreville, pp. 38-40. 2 Marx, p. 124 n. 2.
3 See above, p. 364 n. 5·
+ Guillaume le Conquirant (Paris, 1958), pp. 38-42.

APPENDIX II
The Life and Legend of St. Judoc (St. Josse)
SINCE the feast of St. Judoc falls on 13 December his life has not yet
come under the critical eye of the Bollandists. Mabillon edited the
earliest and best life of the saint, by an anonymous monk of the early
ninth century, from a manuscript of Jumieges. 1 This describes the life
and early cult of the saint. A later version was written by Isembard,
monk of Fleury-en-Vexin, about the year 1000. 2 Its purpose was almost
certainly to publicize the 'discovery' of the saint's body in 977. Since
the monastery of St. Judoc had been raided by Vikings and the relics
taken to Winchester for safety in 901, 3 and there is evidence that they
were still there later than 977, the circumstances of this discovery have
justifiably been described by P. Grosjean as 'suspicious'.4 Isembard's
Life has never been published. It was written after the restoration of the
abbey of St. J udoc with the aid of Cluniac monks from Fleury-en-
APPENDIX II
Merlerault, monk of St. Evroul, which has not survived. 1 This in-
cludes a second 'discovery' of the body during a siege of Gomerfontaine
(in Trie-la-Ville), probably about the year 1050, and explains its trans-
lation to the church of St. Martin at Parnes, where a cell of St. Evroul
was established a little later. If the circumstances of the first 'discovery'
were suspicious those of the second are doubly so: this alleged transla-
tion is not mentioned in other authorities, and the monks of St-Josse-
sur-Mer continued to secure repeated certifications of the authenticity
of their relics. 2 The fate of these relics after their removal to Winchester
is a matter of great uncertainty. The most recent account of St. Josse
by J. Trier3 is unfortunately neither sufficiently accurate nor sufficiently
critical, 4 and many problems await the experienced hands of the
Bollandists when they reach the final stages of their great work.
1
For his works see Hist. litt. de la France, vii. 602-3. Collections of his
homilies were in the Library of St. Evroul; cf. Catalogue of c. 1140, printed by
Delisle, 'Notes sur les manuscrits autographes d'Orderic Vital', p. 15; and
Catalogue of 1682 (Bibi. nat., MS. Lat. 13073, nos. 65, 66). But ap~rt from
Orderic's statement nothing is known of this work on the translation and
miracles of St. Judoc (BHL, i. 669).
2
Cf. Bihl. nat., MS. Lat. 11926, f. 115v.
J Der heilige Jodocus, sein Leben und seine Verehrung (Breslau, 1924).

Vexin, and was certainly intended to affirm the authenticity of the relics. • Cf. review in Analecta Bollandiana, xliii (1925), 193-4.
An eleventh-century manuscript in the British Museum (MS. Royal
8 B xiv) 5 contains the' Invencio corporis' and miracles; but unfortunately
the beginning is damaged and the first five chapters containing the
life are missing. I have not been able to trace the Life referred to by
Delisle6 as part of a Vitae et Acta Sanctorum among the manuscripts of
the Residu St. Germain; but there is a volume of seventeenth-century
transcripts of materials relating to St- Josse-sur-Mer from the same
collection (Bibi. nat., MS. Lat. 11926, formerly Residu St. Germain
164, p. 19, no. 9), which contains a copy of Isembard's version of the
Life. This begins 'Dominis et patribus sub patrocinio Sancti Judoci
consistentibus'. Orderic certainly used both these lives: the early part
of his account is an abbreviation of the anonymous Life, with a
few names added from Isembard; and an abbreviation of Isembard
carries on the story. 1 The third part is based on a work by William of
1
Mab. AA.SS. ii. 565-71. Cf. also BHL, no. 4504; T. D. Hardy, Descriptive
Catalogue, i. 265 (no. 688); and Bibi. nat., MS. Lat. 1864, ff. 164v-7v.
2
BHL, no. 4505.
J P. Grierson, 'Relations between England and Flanders before the Norman
Conquest', in TRHS, 4th series, xxiii (1941), 78.
4
Analecta Bollandiana, lxx (1952), 404.
s Cf. Hardy, Descriptive Catalogue, i. 266-8, no. 689.
6
'Notice sur Orderic Vital', in Le Prevost, v. lx.xxvi.
1 Above, pp. 158-64.

J

APPENDIX III
Early Narrative Sources for the Norman Conquest
AL THOUGH the Norman Conquest is fairly well documented for an
event of the eleventh century, the sources are difficult to handle and
far from satisfactory. In attempting to assess their accuracy, and the
value of Orderic's narrative in relation to them, it is important to
appreciate the date and purpose of their composition, and their rela-
tionship to each other.
Two of the earliest narratives were written to justify and exalt King
William. They are the Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of
Jumieges (ed. Jean Marx, Societe de l'Histoire de Normandie, Rauen:
Paris, 1914), dedicated to King William and completed not long after
1070, probably in 1071-2; and the Gesta Guillelmi ducis Normannorum
et regis Anglorum of William of Poitiers (ed. Raymonde Foreville, Les
classiques de l'histoire de France au moyen age, Paris, 1952), composed
probably a little later. The latter was written at King William's com-
mand and contains strong elements of rhetoric and panegyric. There is
a useful critical introduction to R. Foreville's edition, but the evidence
for the date of composition needs reconsideration in the light of new
evidence on the date of the dedication of St. Stephen's, Caen (above,
p. 148 n. 3), and the events of 1073-4 in Byzantium (see M. Mathieu,
Guillaume de Pouille (Palermo, 1961), p. 339). These two writers are
certainly interdependent; the controversial problems of their relation-
ship are discussed with reference to earlier literature by R. Foreville
('Guillaume de Jumieges et Guillaume dePoitiers', inJumieges, pp. 643-
53); the evidence on balance suggests that William of Poitiers wrote
a little later than William of J umieges, probably in 1073-4, and made
use of his much briefer and balder narrative.
A third literary source, the Carmen de Hastingae proelio attributed to
Guy of Amiens (ed. Fr. Michel in Chroniques anglo-normandes (Rauen,
1836-40), iii. 1-38, and J. A. Giles, Scriptores, pp. 27-51), has never
been critically edited. It certainly has some material in common with
the narrative of William of Poitiers, but which of the two was the
borrower has never been conclusively proved. G. H. White (GEC
xii, pt. i, Appendix L) suggested a date early in the twelfth century;
but F. Barlow (cf. above, p. 184 n. 2) has recently put forward very
strong evidence to show that the poem was written before the end of the
eleventh century, and has made a good case for its composition by
J
APPENDIX III
Bishop Guy of Amiens c. 1068-70, to further the cause of Eustace of
Boulogne after his disgrace. Whatever its date it is of limited value as
evidence because of its literary structure and rhetorical flourishes.
Closely connected with this group of written sources is the unique
record of the Bayeux Tapestry, of which the best edition is The Bayeux
Tapestry, ed. Sir Frank Stenton (London, Phaidon Press, 1957). This
volume contains a valuable survey of the historical background by Sir
Frank Stenton. If it was made, as the evidence suggests, for Bishop Odo
of Bayeux, possibly for display in one of his palaces, it must have been
executed before Odo's death in 1097 (see C.R. Dodwell, 'The Bayeux
Tapestry and the French secular epic', in The Burlington Magazine,
cviii (Nov. 1966) ). The workmanship and artistic design. appear to
be English; in historical presentation it 'is clearly followmg a story
parallel to that of William of Poitiers' (Stenton, op. cit., p. 22). Its
value as independent evidence depends on whether the story de-
picted was derived from selective use of William of P~itiers supple-
mented by legend or local tradition, or whether the material common to
the two was derived by both independently from reliable witnesses.
Because of the difficult and still unsolved problems of interrelation-
ship between these four sources it cannot be assumed that their agree-
ment on any statement strengthens the probability of its truth. Pe~haps
the most important way in which they corroborate each other 1s by
rough agreement on an event, which could be seen, and disagreement
on the hidden motives of the men involved in it. One example of this
can be found in the accounts of Harold's oath (cf. above, p. 135 n. 5).
Completely independent of this group of sources is a group of
English chronicles (Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, versions C, D, E), of
which one at least, D, was written very soon after the events described.
These various versions can conveniently be compared in the text of
B. Thorpe, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Rolls Series, London, 1861);
and in translation in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. Dorothy White-
lock, with D. C. Douglas and S. I. Tucker (London, 1961); this
edition contains useful references to recent critical literature. The
chronicles are very valuable, but brief, and with unfortunate gaps; all
versions, for example, have nothing at all to record for the crucial year
1064, which is the probable date of Harold'~ visit to_ Normandy: .
Another completely independent source 1s the Vita !Edwardt Regis,
written in England, most probably by a Flemish monk in 1066-7. This
very difficult work is now available in the critical edition of Frank
Barlow (London: Edinburgh, 1962); its special value lies i~ the fact
that it was written for Queen Edith, and probably reflects her views.
A few facts can be gleaned from a group of brief Latin annals, written
in various Norman and a few English monasteries from the closing years
822204 Bb
 370 APPENDIX III
of the eleventh century, and based on the annals of Rouen for the period
up to 1087. Not all have been critically edited, and they are best
approached through the careful introduction of Dom J. Laporte to his
edition of the annals of Jumieges (Les annales de l' abbaye Saint-Pierre
de Jumieges, Rouen, 1954). Some, notably the Annals of Caen, include
a few facts and dates drawn from local tradition, but not written down
until about forty years after the events, and so not wholly reliable.
Twelfth-century histories at times incorporate material drawn from
earlier sources, and this may be valuable if it can be isolated from
unreliable legend and tradition. In particular the chronicle known as
Florence of Worcester made use possibly of a brief life of Archbishop
Ealdred, and of versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle very like C and D
(cf. above, p. 186 n. 1; and S. Korner, The Battle of Hastings, pp. 43,
47). Eadmer's Historia Novorum in Anglia is independent of surviving
earlier written sources for some aspects of its treatment of the events ?Vi Ro
of the Conquest, and important for the English side; it gives a con- abl
St.
vincing interpretation of Harold's motives. The text has been printed
by M. Rule (Eadmeri Historia Novorum in Anglia (Rolls Series, London,
1884); but Rule's Introduction on the date and plan of the work has
been entirely superseded by R. W. Southern, Saint Anselm and his
Biographer, pp. 298-313. Lona=
Some of the shorter narratives, notably the Brevis relatio written in wil
the reign of Henry I (printed by Silas Taylor from MS. Bodl. Hyp. 93
in History of Gavelkind (London, 1663), pp. 185-210, and in an un-
critical and conflated version by J. A. Giles, Scriptores, pp. 1-23), still
await accurate editing.
Detailed discussion of the problems raised by these sources and the
way in which they handle particular topics has produced voluminous
literature. A useful select bibliography will be found in D. C. Douglas, ~)
William the Conqueror, pp. 427-47.

II

' I
i
he period
are best
1rte to his
int-Pierre
i, include
ten down
GIROIE
iable.
(GERE)
1wn from
I -- I
I --- I- - I - I
.ted from I I I I =r= (2) W1.ll.iam
I I

known as Arnold Hiltrude of (1) =r= William =r= (2) Emma of Fulk Robert =r= Adelaide, Ralph Heremburge =r= Walchelin Hugh Giroie Robert of (1) =r= Hawise Emma =r= Roger of Adelaide]- Solomon
Laigle I Tannee cousin of 'malacorona', Grandmesnil son of Merlerault of Sable
of Pont
·chbishop William the monk of Echanfray Archbishop
~ C and D Conqueror Marmoutier Robert
s, pp. 43,
surviving
b.e events
~s a con-

1 printed
?William Emma, =r= ~mold of
daughter
of Thurstan
Echauffour
William of
Montreuil
1
Gir oie
I

Fulk Robert
.1-. -------1
Wilham Ralph
I
Hugh _
1
. of
Adehza
Beaumont
--i--~-,--

Robert,
abbot of
St. Evroul
Arnold
- I
Agnes
--
=
-
Robert
of Moulins
La Marche
I
1
Adelina_ Humphrey
of
Tilleul
I
Judith = Roger I
of Sicily
Emma
I Ralph
I
William Reginald

London,
ifaldup I
work has
i and his
I ~l ------ ----- I I I
I I I I I I I I I I
William, Roger, Arnold, Lisiard
Lombard c~ William of Reginald Petronilla, Gcva, ( 1) Agnes of = Robert Hugh William= Mabel, I vo = daughter Agnes = William Adelina = Roger Rohais = Robert Robert of
wife Echauffour (Benedict), nun at nun at Briquessait daughter of Gilbert of Sai of I vry of Courcy Rhuddlan abbot of monk of monk of
l'ritten in monk of Angers Ca en (2) Emma of of Robert of Ghent St. Eufemia St. Evroul St. Evroul
Hyp. 93 St. Evroul Etouteville Guiscard
n an un- (3) Lucy d.
of Savaric,
-23), still son of Ralph,
vicomte of
Maine
>and the
luminous
Douglas, The Family of Giroie (Gere)

I
-------------------------1
 INDEX OF QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS
A. THE BIBLE

References to the Authorized Version are stated in parentheses where they differ
from those of the Vulgate

page page
Numbers: Matthew:
! I
xxv. 7-8 200 v. 3 278
Judges: v. 15 250, 354
chap. ix, passim 320 ix. 4 I60
xix. I9 272
2 Chronicles:
v. I2 xxii. 39 272
298
xxviii. 20 348
Psalms: Luke:
xiii. 3 (Vulgate) I78 ii. 15 356
xxxiii (xxxiv). 20 (19) I29 vi. 38 268
xlviii. 3 (Vulgate) II2 xx. 38 62
lxvii (!xviii). 3 170 xxi. II 276
lxxviii (Ixxix). I 200 John:
lxxxiii (lxxxiv). 1 I (Io) 40 xxi. I5-I7 I 12
lxxxix (xc). 6 40 Romans:
Proverbs: xii. 19 66
iv. 23 52 1 Corinthians :
xxiv. 21 208 v. 13 44
Ecclesiastes : vii. 15 44
ii. I 250 I Timothy:
Ecclesiasticus : iii. 2 300
xxxiv. 21 272 2 Timothy:
xxxiv. 24 272 iv. 2 52
1 Peter:
Wisdom: 206
ii. 17
v. I5 170 v. 8 256
Isaiah: 1 John:
v. 2 4 iii. 15 110
Micah: Revelation :
iv. 4 308 xxi. I9, 20 246

B. CLASSICAL, PATRISTIC, AND MEDIEVAL SOURCES

References are given only to citations or passages showing clear verbal echoes:
for sources of factual information see General Index
Benedict, St. : Cassian:
Regula Institutes, x. 23 50
Gregory the Great:
xxviii 44 Ep. v. 4 290
xlviii 50 Libri Dialogorum
lxii 18 ii. 17 240-2
372 INDEX OF QUOTATIONS AND ALLUSIONS
Horace: II. 9 170
Ep. I. xi. 27 44 II. 14 172
Odes, ii. 16. 27-28 64 II. 15, 16 172
John of A vranches: II. 17
'De officiis Ecclesiasticis,' p. 35 292 II. 18
174
174
GENERAL INDEX
Lanfranc: II. 19 174
II. 22 174-6 Persons and places named in the text are indexed under the form given in the
De Corpore et Sanguine
II. 23 176 translation. English places are identified by the county; French places by the
Domini, capp. 1, 2 250-2
II. 24 176-8 department and, where necessary, the canton and commune
Leo I:
Ep. ix II. 25 178-80
286
Ep. xvi II. 27 180 Abbo, monk of Fleury, 242, 243 n.
292 .lElfgar, earl of Mercia, father of
Virgil: II. 28 180-2 5. Edwin and Morcar, 138, 194, 214;
Aeneid, vii. 1-4 II. 30 182-4 Abimelech, 320.
60 wrongly said to have founded Cov-
x. 501-2 II. 33 192-4 Abingdon (Berks.), abbey, 242.
268 entry, 216 and n. 1; his sons, see
II. 34 194 Abruzzi, 126 n. 2.
William of Jumieges: Edwin, Morcar; his daughter, see
II. 35 194 Absalom, 314.
Gesta N orrnannorum ducum Edith.
II. 36 194-6 Accounting, in baronial households,
VII. xiii (xxxi) 134 .lElfgar, called son of Godwin by
II. 37 196 262 n. 1.
VII. xiv (xxxiv-xxxv) 170 Orderic, 178 and n. 3; ? monk at
II. 38 196 Achitophel, 3 14.
VII. xv (xxxvi) 176 Rheims, 178.
II. 41 196 Acta Archiepiscoporum Rothomagen-
VII. xviii (xxxix) 204 .lElfgifu, wife of Earl Uhtred, half-
II. 44 196-8 sium, 200 n. 2.
William of Poitiers: sister of Edward the Confessor, 194
II. 46 202 Adarezer, 314.
Gesta Guillelmi ducis n. 4, 222 n. 1.
II. 47 204-6 Adela, daughter of Giroie, wife of
II. I .lElfheah, archbishop of Canterbury
140 II. 48 206-8
II. 6, 7 Solomon of Sable, 22, 30. (1005-12), 244.
168-70 II. 49 208 Adela, daughter of King Robert I of .lElfthryth, abbess of Repton, 324.
France, wife of Baldwin V count Aeneas, 60, 274.
of Flanders, 88, 280; mother of .lEthelbald, king of Mercia (716-57),
Queen Matilda 223 n. 7. xxvi, xxviii, 330, 332, 334, 336, 338;
Adela, daughter of William the Con- his charter to Crowland, xxvii, xxix,
queror, 104, 224. 338 and n. 2.
Adelaide, daughter of Duke Robert I .lEthelbert I, king of Kent (560-616),
of Normandy, countess of Aumale, 240.
marries (3) Eudo of Champagne, .lEthelnoth of Canterbury, 196 and
264 and n. 3.·· n. 2 •
Adelaide, daughter of Roger Guiscard .lEthelwine, bishop of Durham (1056-
and Judith, 104 n. I. 71), 218, 219 n. 3.
Adelaide, daughter of William the .lEthelwold, bishop of Winchester
Conqueror, 104, 224; possibly the (963-84), 242 and n. 4, 244, 342.
same person as Agatha, 104 n. 4; .lEthelwulf, king of the West Saxons
said to have been betrothed to (839-58), father of Alfred, 240, 340.
Harold, 136 n. 1. Africa, 56.
Adelaide, wife of Robert son of Giroie, Agamemnon, 274.
cousin of William the Conqueror, Agatha, ( ?) daughter of William the
28, 79 n. 3, 80; her son Robert, 28. Conqueror, possibly the same as
Adelard, priest, later monk of St. Adelaide, 104 n. 4, 214; said by
Evroul, 46. Orderic to have been betrothed to
Adeline, daughter of Warin son of Harold, 136 n. 1.
William of Belleme, wife of Rotrou Agon (? Heugon), given to St. Evroul,
of Mortagne, 363, 364. 36 and n. 1.
Adeliza, wife of William fitzOsbern, Aigulf, monk, 240.
buried at Lyre, 282. Ainard, abbot of St. Pierre-sur-Dive,
Adrian, abbot of SS. Peter and Paul, 12 and n. 1; 296, 297 n. 4; his life
Canterbury, 246. and works, 352-4; his epitaph, 354.

J
374
n. 4, 304.
GENERAL INDEX
Alan III, duke of Brittany, his death,
304; his wife Bertha of Blois, I 17
Alan Fergant, duke of Brittany, 352
and nn. 2, 4; his wife Constance of
Normandy, 352 and n. 4.
Alban, St., martyr, 348.
Albert, abbot of Marmoutier, 28, 76,
192.
Albinus, abbot of SS. Peter and Paul,
Canterbury, 246.
Alboin, king of the Lombards, 276.
Alcuin, his punctuation, xli.
Aldhelm, abbot of Fleury-en-Vexin,
158, 164.
Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne (705-9),
246.
Aldhelm, monk, 160.
Aldwulf, king of the East Angles
(663/4-713), 332.
Alern;:on (Orne), 304, 362, 365; castle
of, 364.
Alexander the Great, 274.
Alexander II, pope (1061-73), xxxiii,
90 and n. I ' 98, I oo, I 82, I 90, 200
and n. 2, 252 n. 2, 298; letter of
Osbern abbot of St Evroul to,
108-12, 132; sends standard to
William duke of Normandy, 142;
sends legates to England, 236.
Alexius Comnenus, emperor, 100 and
n. 2, 202 and n. 2, 203 n. 4.
Alfred, king of the West Saxons (871-
99), 240, 340.
Alfred, son of King Ethelred and
Emma, 244; his murder, 176, 177
n. 6.
Amatus of Montecassino, xxiii, xxx,
xxxi, 56 n. 3, 57 n. 4, 58 n. I, 59 n. 4,
98 n. 3.
Ambrieres (Mayenne), captured by the
Normans, 118, 119 n. 5.
Ambrose, St., his works in library of
St. Evroul, 50 and n. 1.
Amiens, bishop of, see Guy.
Amieria, wife of W arin the Bald,
niece of Roger of Montgomery, 262.
Amphimachus, 274.
Anceins, (Orne, cant. La Ferte-
Frenel), 36.
Angers, abbey of St. Mary (Le Ron-
cerai), 128.
Angevins, 360; wars with Normans,
28; wars with King Henry I, 30;
in army of William the Conqueror,
234.
Angloischeville ( Calvados, cant.
l I02, I22, 126, 280.
Falaise-Sud), 32.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, xxvii, I 34
n. 2, I38 n. I, 140 n. 2, I42 n. 3,
I70 n. 2, I94 n. 1, I95 n. 6, 202 n. I,
2I2 n. 2, 2I4 n. 3, 5, 22I n. 3, 224
n. 2, 225 n. 5, 254 n. I, 256 n. 2, 265
n. 4, 316 n. I, 322 n. 1, 340 n. 2, 352
nn. I, 3, 369, 370.
Anglo-Saxons, 276.
Anjou, xxxvi, I I 6, 304 n. 3; count of,
118 n. 4; counts of, see Fulk Nerra,
Fulk le Rechin, Geoffrey II (Mar-
tel), Geoffrey III (le Barbu).
Annals of Caen, I70 n. 2, 370.
Annals of Jumieges, 10 n. I, 370.
Annals of Rouen, xvii, 369-70.
Annals of St. Evroul, xvii, 4 nn. I, 3,
6 n. 3, 7 n. 4, 9 n. 6, 10 n. I, 146 n. 2.
Anne of Russia, wife of King Henry I
of France and later of Ralph count
of Crepy, 131 n. 5, 198 n. 1.
Anquetil of Noyer, son of Ascelin,
knight of St. Evroul, 60-64, judged
in the court of St. Evroul, 62-64.
Anquetil (Asclettin) of Quarrel, father
of Richard prince of Capua, 58 and
n. 2, 98, 99 n. 4; his brother, see
Gilbert Buatere.
Anselm, St., abbot of Bec-Hellouin,
archbishop of Canterbury (1093-
1109), xix, 12, 342 n. 2; becomes
prior of Bee, 146 n. 2; becomes
abbot of Bee, 294; his character and
learning, 294-6; Life of, see Eadmer.
Ansered, priest of Le Sap, monk at St.
Evroul, 44-46.
Ansfrid, abbot of Preaux, 66, 90.
Ansgot, subprior of Crowland, xxvi,
338.
Ansgot, kinsman of Roger of Tosny,
68.
Antenor, the Trojan, 274.
Anthony, St., 278.
Antioch, 70.
antiphons, 298; composed by monks
of St. Evroul, 108; peccata mea
Domine, 90.
antiphonaries, 48, 108.
Anwend, Danish king, 240.
J
Aquino, 98 and n. 3.
GENERAL INDEX
Apulia, 26, 30, 56, 58, 60, 62, 94, Ioo,
Aquitaine, men from, in William the
Conqueror's army, 145 n. 2, 174.
archdeaconries, territorial, 78 n. 1.
archdeacons, duties of, 286, 290.
archidiaconal rights, 26, 152, I 53 n.
3.
Archill, 218, 222, 228.
Argentan (Orne, cant. Argentan), 32.
Aristotle, xx, 250.
Arlette (see Herleve).
Arnoch, nephew of St. Judoc, 158.
Arnold, bishop of Le Mans, I I 8 and
n. 3, 300.
Arnold, son of Giroie, 22, 24.
Arnold, son of Heugon, father of
Berengar abbot of Venosa, Ioo,
IOI n. 5.
Arnold, son of Humphrey of Tilleul,
becomes a monk at St. Evroul
261 n. 6.
Arnold, son of Robert of Grandmesnil
30, 32, 38; goes to Apulia, 58.
Arnold, son of William Talvas, 14,
363-5.
Arnold of Courceraut, father of Giroie,
22.
Arnold of Echaffour, son of William
son of Giroie, 26, 32, 34, 36, 80, 82;
disinherited, 79 n. 3, 90; attacks
abbot Osbern, 92-94; recalled from
exile in Apulia, 106, 122; becomes
a monk at St. Evroul, 124; his
alleged murder, 98 n. 1, 122-4; not
the father of Berengar abbot of
Venosa, IOI n. 5; his wife, see
Emma; his sons, see Reginald
(Benedict), William of Echauffour;
his daughters, see Geva, Petronilla.
Arnulf, abbot of Troarn, 22.
Arnulf I, count of Flanders, betrays
William Longsword, 8.
Arnulf III, count of Flanders, son of
Baldwin VI not Baldwin V, 280,
28I n. 5, 282 and n. 2.
Arnulf, precentor of Chartres, 108.
Arques, vicomte of, see Goscelin.
Arundel, 2Io.
Asaph, 298.
Ascelin, father of Anquetil of Noyer,
60.
xxxi; see Anquetil of Quarrel.
Asendic, boundary of Thorney's land,
375
Asclettin, brother of Gilbert Buatere,
338.
Atcham (Salop), St. Eata's church,
xiii.
Athelelm, priest, 34.
Athelstan, king of the West Saxons
(924-39), 242, 340.
Athenians, 250.
Aubrey, count of Gatinais, not the
father of Geoffrey le Barbu and Fulk
le Rechin, I04 and n. 3, 304.
Aubrey, son of Hugh of Grandmesnil,
358.
Augerons (Les) (Eure, cant. Broglie),
34, 86 and n. I.
Augustine, St., archbishop of Canter-
bury (597-604), I 88, 240, 248 and
n. 2.
Augustine, St., bishop of Hippo, 250;
his writings, 50 and n. I.
'
Augustus, emperor, 88.
Autarith, king of the Lombards, 242.
'
Authie, river, I56.
Aversa, city built, 280 and n. 3.
A versa, count of, see Richard, son of
Anquetil.
Avesgaud of Belleme, bishop of Le
Mans, 362.
A vranches, bishop of, see Michael,
Turgis.
Avre, river, church of St. Michael on,
38.
Aymer, monk of St. Evroul, I 54.
Aymer, vicomte of Thouars, at
Hastings, I74·
Aymer of Villerai, 360; his son
Gouffi.er, 360.
Azzo of Este, marquess of Liguria, 304
and n. 2; his wife, see Gersendis.
Babylonians, 274.
Baldwin, bishop of Evreux, 254 and
n. 3; chaplain to King William I,
254.
Baldwin IV, count of Flanders, I40
n. I, 281 n. 5.
Baldwin V, count of Flanders, 88 and
n. I, 138-40, I40 n. I, 280, 281 n. 5,
282 and n. 2 ; his wife, see Adela; his
sons, see Baldwin VI, Henry, Odo,
archbishop of Treves, Robert the
Baldwin V (cont.)
GENERAL INDEX

Frisian; his daughter, see Matilda,

queen of England.
Baldwin VI, count of Flanders, 281
Beaumais (Calvados, cant. Morteaux-
Coulibcruf), 32.
Beaumont (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Ile-
Adam), 306.
l GENERAL INDEX
Berengar of Tours, his controversy
with Lanfranc, 250-2; opposed by
Durand of Troarn, 298 n. l; opposed
by Guitmund of Aversa, 270, 271
fort-sur-Risle), 12 n. 2.
Bonneville-sur-Touques (Calvados
377
Bonitus, abbot of Monte Cassino, 242.
Bonneville-Aptot (Eure, cant. Mont-

n. 5, 282 n. 2. Beaumont, family of, 218 n. 1, See n. 4. cant. Pont-l'Eveque), 135 n. 5, 144:
Baldwin, count of Hainault, not killed Henry, Roger, Robert. Berkhamsted (Herts.), 182 n. l, 183 146.
at Cassel, 282 and n. 6. Beauvais (Oise), men of, 130. n. 2, 194 n. I. Boscherville, abbey of St. George, re-
Baldwin of Bouillon, king of Jerusalem, Beccel, 328, 334, 336. Bernard, abbot of Marmoutier, 192. formed by monks from St. Evroul,
son of Eustace of Boulogne, 206, Bede, 187 n. 3, 240 nn. l, 2; his Bernard, abbot of St. Victor, Mar- u6 n. I; imitates their customs,
207 n. 4. Ecclesiastical History, xvii, 246 and seille, papal legate, 280 n. 1. 114-16.
Baldwin of Meules, son of Count Gil- n. 2; his Scriptural commentaries, Bernard, cardinal and papal legate, Boso, abbot of Bee, 296.
bert of Brionne, 140; at Exeter, 214. 246 and n. 2. 280 n. I. Bouillon, county of, 207 n. 4; see
Ballon, castle of, 26 n. 3. Bedford, abbey, 340 n. 2. Bernard, monk of St. Evroul, 20, 50. Baldwin, Godfrey.
Balthasar, king, 274. Bee, chronicle of, 146 n. 2. Bernard called Matthew, monk of St. Boulogne, county of, 206; count of,
Bamberg, Gunter bishop of, 90. Bec-Hellouin (Eure) abbey, 12, 14, 16, Evroul, 108; goes to St. Pierre-sur- see Eustace.
Bamburgh (Northumberland), 232 n. 96, 250, 252 n. 1, 294-6; library of, Dive, 356; kinsman of Fulk the Brecknock, 260.
3, 234 n. I. xvii; school of, 250, 296; abbots of, prior, 356. Brescia, 100 n. 3.
baptism, canons concerning, 286, 292. see Anselm, Boso, Herluin, Letard, Bernard (Michael), monk of St. Evroul, - Petronax of, 242 and n. 3.
Bari, 58, 70 n. 3. William of Beaumont; precentor of, 154. Breteuil-sur-Iton (Eure), 282.
Barking (Essex), 194 and n. I. see Miles Crispin; priors of, see Bernay, abbey, founded, 8; abbot of, Bretons, 360; their wars against the
Barnack (Northants.), xxviii, 344 and Anselm, Lanfranc; monks of, see see Vitalis. Normans, 104, 122; in William the
n. 2. Lanfranc, Oliver, Robert of Tori- Bernfrid, monk of Cluny, 74. Conqueror's army, 144, 145 n. 2,
Bartholomew, St., 326, 328, 348. gni, William Bonne-Ame, William Bertha, wife of Philip I king of France, 174, 234; among the pupils of
Bartholomew, abbot of Marmoutier, Giroie. daughter of Florence count of Lanfranc, 250.
192. Beeby (Leicester), 342. Frisia, 284 and n. 2. Brevis relatio, 144 n. 1, 370.
Battle Abbey (Sussex), founded, 190- Belleme, family of, xvi, xxix, xxxv, Bertha of Blois, wife of Alan III of Brian, son of Eudo count of Brittany
2, 190 n. 2; abbots of, see Goisbert, xxxvi, 26 n. l, 362-5; lands in- Brittany, and subsequently of Hugh (Count Brian), 224 and nn. 2 and
Henry, Ralph. herited, xxxvii; lords of, 22 n. 1 ; IV of Maine, 116, I 17 n. 4, 304; her 3, 228.
Baudri of Bocquence, son of Baudri lordship of, 362; see Arnold, Aves- brother, see Theobald, count of Brihtmer, abbot of Crowland, 342-4.
the German, 26, 80, 82 and n. 2, 84; gaud, Fulk, I vo, Mabel, Warin, Blois. Brionne (Eure), 360 n. 2; see Gilbert.
Duke William's archer, 34 and n. 1. William I; town of, inherited by Ivo Bertsenda, daughter of Alsinda, healed Britons, 276.
Baudri the German, 82; his brother, of Belleme, 363. by St. J udoc, 1 60. Brittany, xxxvi, 210, 317 n. 4, 318;
see Viger; his sons, see Baudri of Benedict, St., 240, 278; relics, 240, Biota, wife of Walter of Pontoise, 116, dukes of, see Alan III, Alan Fergant,
Bocquence, Fulk of Aunou, Nicho- 241 n. 4, 242; Rule of, 18, 40, 44 n. 118 and n. 2, 312; daughter of Conan, Hoel; kings of, see Hoel,
las of Baqueville, Richard of Neu- 3, 46, 50, 242 n. 3. Herbert 'Wake-dog', not Count Judicail.
ville, Robert of Couci, Viger of Benedict VIII, pope (1012-24), xxx, Hugh, II7 n. 5. Brixia, I oo and n. 3.
Apulia; his daughter, see Elizabeth. xxxi, 56. Bigne (La) (Orne, cant. Trun), 32. Braye, La (? Braic), 156 and n. 4.
Baudri de Guitri, not Baudri of Boc- Benedict (Reginald), son of Arnold of Bithynia, 10. Buckingham, county of, 264 and n. 1.
quence, 82 n. 2. Echauffour, monk of St. Evroul, xv, Bjorn, companion of Rollo, 6 n. 3. Burgundians, 296; in William the
Bavaria, bishop from, accompanies xxii, l 24 n. 2, l 26-8. Bjorn Ironsides, son of Lotbroc, 6 and Conqueror's army, 144.
Abbot Thierry to the Holy Land, Benedict, son of William I of Belleme, n. 3. Burgundy, 6.
68-72. 363. Blancheland, peace between Normandy Burnendus, land-holder in Verneuces,
Bavarians, 68. Benevento, 56, 57 n. 4; region of, 240. and Anjou at, 3 1 o. 36.
Bayeux (Calvados), 6, 135 n. 5. Benignus, 82. Bleddyn, king of Gwynedd and Powis, Bury St. Edmund's, abbey, 350 n. 4.
-archdeacon of, see William of Rots. Benoit of St. Maur, 58 n. 1. 138, 139 n. 2, 217. butler, king's, see Roger of Ivry.
-bishop of, see Odo. Berengar, count of Bayeux, killed by Bocquence (Orne, cant. La Ferte- Byzantium, 202.
- cathedral, canon of, see Thomas; Rollo, 6. Frenel), 34; fee of, 82; see Baudri
cantor and dean of, see William of Berengar, son of Arnold son of of. Cadalus, anti-pope, 98 n. 3.
Rots. Heugon, bishop of Venosa, monk of Bois-Hebert (Le) (Eure, cant. Broglie, Cadwgan, Welsh king, 260 and n. 3.
-Tapestry, 135 n. 5, 138 n. 1, 176 St. Evroul, 20, 50; goes to Italy, 96; commune Verneusses), 34. Caen (Calvados), 352.
n. 1 1 369. becomes abbot, then bishop of Bondi, man of Earl Waltheof, 344 - abbey of Holy Trinity, 130;
Beatrice of Hugueville, abbess of Holy Venosa, 1 00-2; not the son of n. 2. founded, 10, 190; consecrated in
Trinity, Caen, 130 n. 1. Arnold of Echauffour, 101 n. 5. Boniface V, pope (619-25), 246. 1066, 146 n. 2; abbesses, see Beatrice

J
 Caen (Calvados} (cont.):
GENERAL INDEX
- abbesses of Holy Trinity (cont.):
of Hugueville, Cecilia, Matilda; nun
of, see Geva.
- abbey of St. Stephen's, founded,
10, 146, 190; church dedicated on
13 Sept. 1077, 148 and n. 3, 368;
abbots of, see Lanfranc, William
Bonne-Ame; monks of, see Ralph,
abbot of Battle, Thurstan, abbot of
Glastonbury, William of Rots.
Calabria, 56, 58, 96, 100, 112, 128.
Calixtus II, pope (1119-24), 302.
Cambrai, xxi, 188; Libertus, bishop of,
188; abbey of St. Sepulchre's 188.
Cambridge, castle built at, 218.
Campania, 58, 98 and n. 3.
Canche, river, 156 and n. 1.
I Canterbury, archbishopric of, 146,
200 n. I ; rights over other English
sees, 248 and n. 2.
- Christ Church cathedral priory, its
lands, 266 n. I; prior of, see Henry,
abbot of Battle; monk of, see Eadmer.
- St. Augustine's abbey, 266 n. 1 ;
abbot of, see Scolland; formerly
abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, abbots
of, see Adrian, Albinus.
-archbishops of, see .lElfheah, An-
selm, Dunstan, Lanfranc, Mellitus,
Robert, Stigand, Theodore.
Canterbury (Kent), 244.
Capua, 57 n. 4, 58, 280 n. 3; arch-
bishopric of, 280 n. 2.
- prince of, see Richard, son of
Anquetil.
Carmen de Hastingae Proelio, 170 n. 2,
171 n. 4, 176 n. I; possibly the work
of Guy, bishop of Amiens, 184 n. 2,
368-9.
Carthage, council of (387 or 390),
291 n. 3.
Cassel, battle of, 282, 283 n. 5.
Cassian, 50 n. 3.
Cassiodorus, his rules for punctuation,
xli.
castles, 194, 202, 310; as siege-works,
360; terms used to describe, xxxvi;
built by William the Conqueror in
England, 21 8; at Ballon, 26 n. 3 ; at
Brianne 360 n. 2; at Cambridge,
218; at Chateauneuf-en-Timerais,
358; at Chester, 236; at Chinon, 104,
306; at Domfront, 360 n. 2; at
Dover, 180, 204; at Echauffour, 9 2 ;
at Exeter, 214; at Fresnay, 307; at
Gomerfontaine, 164-6; at Hastings
l bod, 260; given to Hugh of
220, 220 n. 1; at Huntingdon, 218;
at Laigle, 26, 177 n. 4; at Leicester
264, 26 5 n. 5 ; at Lincoln, 218; a;
London, 194; at Montaigu, 28; at
Nottingham, 21 8 ; at Remalard
358; at La Roche Mabille, 80; a;
Rauen, 358; at St. Ceneri-le-Gerei
26 n. 4, 28, 80; ( ?) at Shrewsbury:
228; at Sorel, 358; at Stafford, 236;
at Tutbury, 264, 265 n. 6; at War-
wick, 218; at Winchester, 194-6; at
York, 218 and n. 2, 222, 228, 230;
second castle built at York, 222.
Castleguard, service at Echauffour and
St. Ceneri-le-Gerei, 82 and n. 1.
Castro Giovanni, 58.
Catania, 58; abbey of St. Agatha, xxii;
troper of, 103 n. 4.
Catherine, St., office of, 354.
Cecilia, daughter of William the
Conqueror, 104, 224; abbess of Holy
Trinity, Caen, 130 n. 1.
Ceolred, king of Mercia (709-16), 334.
Cerisy, abbey, founded, 10.
Chalcedon, council of, 286.
Chapelle-en-Vexin, La (Oise), cell of
St. Evroul, 150 and n. 3; 152 and
n. I.
chaplains, of William the Conqueror,
184, 214 n. 5, 238 and n. 2, 254,
300.
Charentonne, river, 34, 76.
Charlemagne, emperor, 4; descen-
dants of, 206 and n. 3, 207 n. 4.
Charles the Bald, king of France,
6 n. I.
Charles III (the Simple}, king of
France, 6, 276; charter of, 36 n. 1.
Chartres, 94; bishop of, see Ivo.
- cathedral, 360; precentor of, see
Arnulf.
- county of, 362.
Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais (Eure et
Loir), castle of, 358.
Chaudry (Oise, cant. Chaumont),
152 n. 2.
Chaumont-en-Vexin (Oise), 155 n. 4;
see Eudo, Otmund, Robert the Elo-
quent.
GENERAL INDEX
Chester, 232 n. 4, 236; castle built at,
236; county of, 262; given to Ger-
Avranches, 260; earl of, see Hugh
of Avranches; men of, 228, 234.
Chichester (Sussex), 210.
Childebert II, king of the Franks
(error for Childebert III), 4, 148
and n. 2, 346.
Childebert III, king of the Franks,
270, 271 n. 3; see also Childe-
bert II.
Chilperic I, king of the Franks, ( ?) 4,
148 and n. 2.
Chilperic II, king of the Franks, 270,
271 n. 3.
Chinon, castle of, 104, 306.
Chlotar II (the Great), king of the
Franks, 158.
Cicero, xx, 250.
Ciral (Orne, cant. Carrouges), 36.
Cissa, 334.
Civetot, near Nicaea, 202, 203 n. 4.
Cleph, king of the Lombards, 242.
Clermont, council held there in 1095,
294.
Clovis II, king of the Franks, 4, 240,
241 n. 3.
Cluny, abbey, 74, 96, 106, 19on. 2; its
influence on St. Evroul, xxx; cus-
toms of, 74, 96 and n. 1; abbots of,
see Hugh I, Odo; prior of, see Odo;
monk of, see Bernfrid.
Cnut, king of England, king of Den-
mark, 180 n. 2; 202, 226 n. 1, 244;
his sons, see Hardacnut, Harold I.
Cnut, son of King Swein of Denmark,
317 n. 4·
Coatham (Yorks.), 232 n. 3, 234 n. I.
Coenred, King of Mercia (704-9), 328.
Colleville-sur-Mer (Calvados, cant.
Trevieres), 32.
Cologne, 187 n. 2.
Conan III, duke of Brittany, 135 n. 5,
136, 312 and n. 3, 352; his wife
Maud, 353 n. 5·
Couches, abbey of, founded, 1o; abbot
of, see Gilbert; monk of, see Rainer.
Conrad II, emperor, his son Henry
III, 66.
Constance, daughter of William the
Conqueror, 104, 224; marries Alan
Fergant, 352 and n. 4.
Constantinople, 202; council of, 286.
cope, 128, 129 n. 2; used by cantor,
64; use in divine office, 148.
Copsi, earl of Northumbria, 206, 207
n. 6, 208; submits to William, 194
379
and n. 2; killed 207 n. 6, 217 n. 5.
Corbet, man of Roger of Montgomery,
262, 263 n. 7; his sons Roger and
Robert, 262.
Corbonnais, men of, 124; lords of, 356
and n. 3.
Cormeilles, abbey, founded, 12; Wil-
liam fitzOsbern buried there, 282;
prior of, see Osbern; monks of, see
Guitmund, Osbern, abbot of St.
Evroul.
Cornwall, men of, 228.
Cotentin, 140 n. 2, 142; vicomte of, see
Thurstan Haldup.
Cottenham (Carobs.), 342.
Couesnon, river, 156 n. 3.
Coulonces (Orne, cant. Trun), 32.
councils, summoned by William the
Conqueror, at Winchester and
Windsor ( 1070), xxxiii-xxxiv, 2 36-8;
at Lillebonne (1080), 284 n. 4.
- ecclesiastical, xlii, 250 n. 3, 252;
legatine, in Normandy (1070), 252
and n. 2; at Rauen (1072), canons
of, 284-92; doctrinal affirmations
made in councils of Nicaea, Con-
stantinople, Ephesus I, Chalcedon,
286; see also Carthage, Clermont,
Lisieux, Mainz, Paris, Poitiers,
Rheims, Rome, Rauen, Tours,
Vercelli.
Courville (Eure-et-Loir), 122, 124.
Coutances, bishop of, see Geoffrey.
Coventry, abbey, 216 n. 2; founded,
216 and n. 1.
Crispiniacum, 158.
Croesus, 278.
Croix-St-Leufroi, La, abbey, 270;
Odilo, abbot of, 278-80.
Crowland, abbey, early history and
legends of, xxiv-xxix, 338-50; tradi-
tions of, 316 n. I, 320 n. 2; church
rebuilt, 348; abbots of, see Brihtmer,
Egelric I, Egelric II, Geoffrey,
lngulf, ( ?) Kenulf, Oscytel, Thur-
ketel, Ulfketel, Waltheof, Wulfgeat,
Wulfketel; subprior of, see Ansgot;
monks of, 350.
380
cated, 332.
GENERAL INDEX
Crowland, Guthlac's church at, dedi-
- island of, 326, 330, 332, 336,
338.
Crusade, First, 283 n. 6, 318.
Culley, see Rabodanges.
Cyprus, 70.
Cyrus the Great, king, 274 and n. l.
Cyrus the Younger, king, 274 n. 3.
Dagobert I, king of the Franks, 4,
158, 240, 241 n. 3.
Danes, invade England under Swein
and Cnut, 244; their devastations in
England, 246; attack England,
1069, 224 f.; return to Denmark,
232-4.
Danube, route to Holy Land, 68 n. 3.
Dares Phrygius, 275 n. 5.
Darius I, king, 274 and n. 2.
Darius III, king, 274 and n. 4.
David, 274, 314; psalms of, 320 and
n. 2.
Dean, forest of, 226.
Deeping (Lines.) 340.
Deiphobus, son of Priam, 274.
Delisle, Leopold, xliii.
Denmark, 234, 274, 316, 317 n. 4, 340;
kings of, see Cnut, Swein Estrithson,
Swein F orkbeard.
Derbyshire, 265 n. 6.
Dermot, king of Ireland, 224.
Desiderius, see Victor III, pope.
Devon, men of, 228.
Dionysius Exiguus, l 87 n. 2.
Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria,
286 n. I.
Dive, abbey, see St. Pierre-sur-Dive.
Dive, estuary of, l 68.
Dal (Ille-et-Vilaine), 356 n. 3; be-
sieged, 352.
Domesday Book, 212 nn. l, 3, 220 n. 2,
232 n. l, 266 nn. 3, 4.
Domesday commissioners, 264 n. l.
Domesday Inquest, 266 and n. 6.
Domfront (Orne), 360 n. 2, 364, 365;
castle of, 362.
Dorking (Surrey), 264 n. 2.
Dorset, men of, 228.
Douet-Artus (Le) (Orne, cant. La
Ferte-Frenel, cne. Heugon), 120.
Douet-Moussu (Le) (place that has
now disappeared) (Orne, cant.
La Fertc-Frenel, commune St.
Evroult-N.-D. du Bois), 34.
Douet Villers (unidentified), 82.
Dover (Kent), 120, 196; occupied by
l GENERAL INDEX
the Normans, 180; castle attacked
by Eustace of Boulogne, 204 and
n. l ; Danes repulsed at, 226.
- garrison of, 204 and n. 3.
- townsmen of, 204 n. 2, 205
n. 3.
Dreux (Eure-et-Lair), men of, 124.
Dreux, count of the Vexin, 204 n. l.
Drochtric, duke of Ponthieu, 158.
Drogo, count of the Vexin, father of
Walter of Pontoise, II6; dies on
pilgrimage, l l 6.
Drogo, Norman pilgrim, 56.
Drago, son of Tancred of Hauteville,
58 and n. 3, 100.
Duda of St. Quentin, 2 and n. l, 6 n. 2,
8 nn. l, 2.
Dunstan, St., archbishop of Canter-
bury (960-88), 242 and n. 4, 342.
Durand, abbot of Troarn, 22, 296-8,
297 n. 4, 298 n. l, 354·
Durand, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
Durazzo, 100 n. 2.
Durham, 234 n. l ; given to Robert of
Commine, 220.
- bishop of, see lEthelwine.
Eadmer, of Canterbury, monk of
Christ Church, xli; his Historia
Novorum, 135 n. 5, 136 n. l, 370;
his Vita Anselmi, xvii, 294 n. 3.
Eadred, king of the West Saxons ( 946-
55), xxvii, 340.
Ealdred, archbishop of York (1061-9),
180 n. l, 182 and n. l, 208 and n. l;
(?)crowns Harold, 138 n. I; crowns
William I, 182-4; crowns Queen
Matilda, 214; lost Life of, 370.
- son of lEthelgar, 194 and n. l;
identity uncertain, l 94 n. 4.
Earls, xxxv-xxxvii, 262-6; palatine,
264; see also Chester, East Anglia,
Hereford, Kent, Mercia, Norfolk,
Northumbria, Shropshire, Surrey.
Easter ritual, canons regulating, 290-2.
Ecga, healed by St. Guthlac, 330.
Ecgberht, anchorite, 334, 336.
Ecgburh, abbess, daughter of King
Aldwulf, 332, 334·
j
Echauffour (Orne, cant. Le Merle-
rault), 22, 34, 80, 122; castle of,
92; service of castle guard at, 82;
Essart-Henri in, 34; ecclesiastical
rights in, 26; parish of, 78 n. 1 ;
church and tithe of, 34; church of Edwin, king of Northumbria (616-32),
St. Germain in, 30; church of St.
Andrew, 24; William, priest of, II2;
town of, l 48; see Arnold of.
Edgar, king of England (957-75),
xxix; 242; 244; 342.
Edgar Atheling, son of Edward Athe-
ling, 180, l 82, 196; his claim to the Ekkehard, abbot of Aura, l 88 n. l.
English crown, 138 n. 1, 276; rebels
in 1069, 222, 226.
Edith, daughter of Earl lElfgar,
marries (1) King Gruffydd, 138, 139
n. 4, 216; (2) Harold son of Godwin,
139 n. 4, 216; mother of Nest, 138;
not the mother of Bleddyn, 139 n. 2.
Edith, queen, wife of Edward the
Confessor, 369.
Edmund, St., king of the East Angles
(855-70), 240, 244 and n. 2, 340.
Edmund, king of the West Saxons
(939-46), 242, 340, 342.
Edmund, son of Harold, 224 n. 2.
Edmund Ironside, king of England
(April-Nov. 1016), 244; father of
Edward Atheling, l 80.
Edred, king of the West Saxons, 242.
Edric Streona, 194, 195 n. 6.
Edric the Wild, 194 and n. 1, 195 n. 5,
228.
Edward the Elder, king of the West
Saxons(899-924),240,340.
Edward Atheling, father of Edgar,
180; not king of Hungary, 180 n. 2.
Edward the Confessor, king of Eng-
land (1042-66), 138, 139 n. 4, 182,
190, 194 and n. 4, 196, 204 n. 1, n. 2,
210, 344; in exile in Normandy,
244; elected king, 138 n. 1; makes
Duke William his heir, 134, 276;
dies, 134, 135 n. 3, 136; buried at
Westminster, 184; uncle of Walter,
count of the Vexin, 118 n. 2; not the
uncle of Swein Estrithson, 226 n. 1 ;
revenues of England in his time,
266.
Edwin, earl of Mercia, son of Earl
lElfgar, 139 n. 4, 196; grandson of
Earl Leofric, 216 n. l; supports
Harold in 1066, 138; submits to
William in 1066, 194 and n. 1; rebels
in 1068, 214-16; makes peace in
1068, 218; his fall in 1071, 210 n. 1;
his death, 256-8, 260.
188, 240.
Egbert I, king of Kent (664-73), 246,
264.
Egelric I, abbot of Crowland, 342.
Egelric II, abbot of Crowland, 342.
Egypt, 274.
Elbert, son of Roger of Tosny, 40.
Elias, son of John of La Fleche, 304.
Elijah, 326.
Elinant, son of Roger of Tosny, 40.
Elizabeth, sister of Baudri of Boc-
quence, wife of Fulk of Bonneval,
84.
Elmington (Northants.), 342.
Elnoc, 228.
Ely, 194 n. 4; abbey, 244 and n. 1;
isle of, 256 and n. 2.
Ember days, fast of, 162-4; canons
concerning, 288 and n. 2.
Emma, queen, daughter of Duke
Richard I of Normandy, wife of (1)
King Ethelred, (2) King Cnut, 42,
I 34, 226 n. I, 244·
Emma, daughter of Giroie, wife of
Roger of Merlerault, 26 n. 2, 30,
36.
Emma, daughter of Robert I of
Grandmesnil, 76 n. 3 ; takes the veil
at St. Evroul, 102, 103 n. 5; marries
in Italy, 102.
Emma, daughter of Roger Guiscard
and Judith, l 04 n. l.
Emma, daughter of Roger of Mont-
gomery, abbess of Almeneches,
365.
Emma, daughter of Walchelin of
Tannee, wife of William son of
Giroie, 26.
Emma, wife of Arnold of Echauffour,
daughter of Thurstan Haldup, 124,
126; becomes a nun, at Lessay, 126.
Emmeline, wife of Goscelin of Arques,
II n. 6.
Emmeline, wife of Reginald son of
Roger of Hereford, daughter of
Hamelin of Ballon, 319 n. 5.
 GENERAL INDEX
Empires, four great, 274 and n. 1.
Engelbert, monk of St. Evroul, at St.
Martin's, Seez, 48.
Engenulf of Laigle, 82; son of Fulbert
de Beina 177 n. 4; killed at Hastings,
176 and n. 2; his son Roger, 82; his
wife Richvereda, 82.
England, Norman conquest of, 168 f.,
narrative sources for, 368-70.
- pacification of, 256.
- kings of, see under names of indivi-
dual kings.
English church, reform of, l 90 n. 2,
and see William the Conqueror.
Englishmen, at William l's corona-
tion, 184; rebel against the Normans,
see Normans and William the Con-
queror; at Constantinople, 202 and
n. 2; some support William the Con-
queror, 206-8 ; serve in his army in
England, 2 l 2, 228; and in Maine,
306, 308.
Enguerrand, count of Ponthieu, 12.
Enoch, son of John of La Fleche, 304.
Entremont, see St. Pierre-d'Entre-
mont.
Ephesus, first council of, 286.
Epte, river, 132.
Erconbert, king of Kent (640-64),
264.
Ermenfrid, bishop of Sion (Sitten),
papal legate in England, xxxiii, 236
and n. 3, 252 n. 2.
Ermengard, sister of Geoffrey Martel,
wife of Geoffrey, count of Gatinais,
104 n. 3.
Ermenric, king of Kent, 264.
Ermentrude wife of Hugh of Avran-
ches, daughter of Hugh of Clare-
mont, 262.
Essart-Henri, see Echauffour.
Essarts-en-Ouche (Les) (Eure, cant.
Broglie, commune Verneusses),
church of St. Peter, 34.
Ethan, 298.
Ethelbert I, king of Kent (560-616),
188, 264.
Ethelred, king of England (978-1016),
42, 134, 244, 344; his wife, see
Emma; his sons, see Alfred, Edward
the Confessor.
Ethelred, king of Mercia (674-704),
324-
Eu, count of, see William.
Eudo, count of Brittany, his son Brian,
224.
Eudo, son of Thurstan Haldup, 124
l Falaise (Calvados), 312.
and n. 2.
Eudo of Champagne, nephew of Count
Theobald, 264 and n. 3; acquires
Holderness, 264 and n. 3; his wife,
Adelaide, countess of Aumale, 264
and n. 3.
Eudo of Chaumont, father-in-law of
Herbert the Butler, 152.
Eudo the Steward, son of Hubert of
Ryes, 124 n. 2, 255 n. 4.
Eusebius of Caesarea, xxi, 186, 187 n.
3 ; his works in library of St. Evroul
50; his chronicle, 187 n. 3, 274 n. I.
Eustace II, count of Boulogne, 206
and nn. 1, 2, 3, 207 n. 4, 369; at
Hastings, 174, 178; attacks Dover,
204, 206 ; his lands in England,
266; his mother, Matilda of Lou-
vain, 206 n. 3; his wife, Ida of Lor-
raine, 207 n. 4; his sons, Baldwin,
Eustace, and Godfrey, 206, 207 n. 4.
Eustace, son of Eustace II, count of
Boulogne, 206, 207 n. 4.
Evesham, abbot of, see Mannig.
Evrecin, 38.
Evreux, 74.
- abbey of St. Taurin, manuscript
belonging to, 284 n. 4.
- bishops of, see Baldwin, Gilbert
fitzOsbern, William son of Gerard
Fleitel.
- bishopric of, 76, 78.
- dean of, see Fulk.
Evroul, St., confessor and abbot,
founds a monastery in the forest of
Ouche, 4, 14-16, 148 and n. 2, 346;
his retreats, 76; office of, in the
abbey of St. Evroul, 108.
Exeter(Devon), 224, 225 n. 4; farm of,
212 and n. 1; rebels in 1068, 210-
14; castle built at, 214; attacked by
rebels in 1069, 228; citizens of, re-
main loyal in 1069, 228; garrison
of, 228.
Exning, marriage-feast at, xxxviii.
Eynesbury (Hunts.), 342 and n. 2.
Ezekiel, Commentary on, 48.
Fagaduna (unidentified), 316 and n. 3.
j
GENERAL INDEX
Fecamp (Seine-lnferieure), abbey, 196,
292 ; founded by Duke Richard I
8; Margaret of Maine buried at'
118; abbots of, see John, Remigius'
William of Dijon, William of Rots'.
priors of, see Tan card; monk of se;
Nicholas; manuscript copied at,'284
n. 4.
- Merovingian nunnery at, 4.
Felix, author of Lzfe of St. Guthlac
xxvi, 322; his Life abbreviated, 324~
38; not Bishop Felix, 322 n. 2.
'feorms', name for country feasts, 230.
Flanders, 138, 140 n. 1; Gerbod re-
turns to, 260; war in, xxxvi, 280-
2; relations with England, 284 and
n. 3; pupils of Lanfranc from, 250.
- count of, see Arnulf I, Arnulf III
Baldwin IV, Baldwin V, Baldwi~
VI, Robert I, Robert II.
Fleche, La (Barthe), 308 n. 2; see John.
Fleury, abbey (St. Benoit-sur-Loire),
240, 241 n. 3, 242 and n. 4; Abbo
monk of, 242.
Fleury-en-Vexin, abbey, abbot of,
see Aldhelm; monks of, 366.
Florence I, duke of Frisia, 280, his wife Fulk, monk of St. Evroul, goes to
Gertrude, 282 n. 1 ; his daughter
Bertha, 284 n. 2.
Florence of Worcester, chronicle
known as, xxi, xxv, xxxiii, 138 n. 1,
140 n. 1, 142 n. 3, 168 n. 1, 176 n. 1, Fulk, son of Giroie, 22, 28; his sons,
18on. 1, 182 n. 1, 186-8, 194n. 1, 196
n.2, 202n. 1, 214n. 3, 224 n. 2, 225
n. 5, 236nn.3,4, 24on. 1, 256 n. 2,
270 n. 1, 316 n. 1, 316 n. 3, 370.
Folcard, administrator of Thorney,
344 n. 3.
Fontenelle, see St. Wandrille.
forest, of Dean, 226; see Ouche.
Foucher of Chaudry, son of Ralph of
Chaudry, 132, 152-4; his wife Ita,
154;hissons, Walter, Mainer, Hugh,
Gervase, Heremar, Foucher, 154;
his daughter Luxovia, l 54; his
brother, Walchelin, 152.
Foucher, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
154.
Fougy (Orne, cant. Exmes, commune
Bourg-St.-Leonard), 32.
France, king of, 362.
France, kings of, see Charles, Henry,
Hugh, Louis, Philip; men from in
Duke William's army, 144, 145
174; pupils of Lanfranc from, 250.
Franco, archbishop of Rouen, 8.
r:.2,
Franks, 276; legend of Trojan origins
of, 275 n. 5.
Fredelende, his sons, Lupetius and
Fulk, 30.
Fredesenda, wife of Tancred of
Hauteville, 100.
Frenchmen, 360; see France, men from.
French nobles, at Fecamp, Easter
1067, 198.
Fresnay, castle of, 306, 307 n. 3.
Friardel (Calvados, cant. Orbec), 46.
Frisia, 226.
Fulbert, abbot of St. Sepulchre's,
Cambrai, l 88.
Fulbert, chancellor ( ?) of the arch-
bishop of Rouen, 66 and n. 3.
Fulbert de Beina, 177 n. 4, 356; his
son, see Engenulf.
Fulcuin, priest, 30, 32.
Fulda, 187 n. 2.
Fulford (Yorks.), battle of, 168 n. 1.
Fulk, dean of Evreux, his son, see Fulk
of Guernanville.
Italy with Robert of Grandmesnil,
90.
Fulk, prior of St. Evroul, becomes
abbot of St. Pierre-sur-Dive, 354.
see Fulk, Giroie.
Fulk, son of Fredelende, 30.
Fulk, son of Fulk son of Giroie, 28,
34.
Fulk, son of William I of Belleme
363. '
Fulk, uncle of Richard of Hendicourt,
132.
Fulk of Aunou, son of Baudri the
German, 82.
Fulk of Bonneval, 84; his wife, see
Elizabeth; his son, see Thierry.
Fulk of Guernanville, son of Fulk the
dean, monk of St. Evroul 20 62
124 and n. 1, 146. ' ' '
Fulk of Montreuil, his son Giroie, 96.
Fulk le Rechin, count of Anjou, 104
and n. 3, 302 n. 1, 304-6; attacks
La Fleche, 308 and n. 2; makes
peace with William the Conqueror,
Fulk le Rechin (cont.)
GENERAL INDEX
310 and n. 1; his daughter marries
Alan Fergant, 352.
Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, 304.
Gael (Ille-et-Vilaine, cant. Saint-
Meen), 318; see Ralph.
Gaeta, 60; cathedral of St. Erasmus in,
62.
Gaimar, prince of Salerno, xxx, xxxi;
56, 58.
Gandelain (Mount Gandelain) (Orne,
cant. Alern;on-Ouest), church of St.
Mary in, 36.
Gascony, pupilsofLanfrancfrom, 250.
Gaul, schools of, 76.
Gelasius I, pope (492-6), 292 n. 3.
Geoffrey, castellan of Gomerfontaine,
164-6.
Geoffrey, count of Gatinais, 104 n. 3;
his wife, see Ermengard; his sons,
see Fulk le Rechin, Geoffrey le
Barbu.
Geoffrey, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
Geoffrey, son of Guy 'Bollein', 84.
Geoffrey, son of Rotrou count of
Mortagne, 174, 266 and n. 4.
Geoffrey, son of Tancred of Haute-
ville, father of Robert count of Lori-
tello, 126 n. 2.
Geoffrey of Malaterra, xxii, xxiii, xxxi,
lOO, 104 n. 1, 202 n. 2, 203 n. 3.
Geoffrey of Mayenne, 11 8 and n. 4,
306; lord of William Giroie, 22 n. l,
26, 28.
Geoffrey of Mowbray, bishop of
Coutances, 140, 185, 316 n. 3; fights
at the battle of Hastings, 172, 266;
his lands in England, 266 and n. 2;
leads an army of Englishmen in
1069, 228.
Geoffrey of Neufmarche, 130.
Geoffrey of Orleans, abbot of Crow-
land, previously monk and prior of
St. Evroul, xv, xxv-xxvi, 324, 346-8,
350.
Geoffrey of St. Carilef, custos of
Battle Abbey, 192 n. 2.
Geoffrey le Barbu, count of Anjou,
304 and n. 3 ; son of Geoffrey (not
Aubrey) count of Gatinais, 104 and
n. 3; deposed and imprisoned, 104
and n. 3, 306.
Geoffrey Mancel, brother of Hubert
~
1
GENERAL INDEX
Gilbert fitzOsbern, bishop of Evreux, power in 1052, 135 n. 4; his wife,
the vicomte, 120 and n. 2. i
254 and n. 3, 258, 292; canon and see Gytha; his sons, see Gyrth,
Geoffrey Martel, count of Anjou, 28
archdeacon of Lisieux, 254, ( ?) 142. Harold, Leofwine, Swein, Tostig,
n. 2, 78 n. 2, 364; invades Nor-
Gilbert of Brianne, count, 12, 82; Wulfnoth, ( ?) .lElfgar.
mandy, 78; dies, 14 Nov. 1060,
murdered, 24, 28, 120 and n. 1 ; Godwin, son of Harold, 224 n. 2.
104 and n. 3, 304; his nephews, see
his son, Baldwin of Meules, 140, Goisbert, abbot of Battle, formerly a
Geoffrey le Barbu, Fulk le Rechin.
214 and n. l; his son Richard, 140. monk at Marmoutier, 192.
Gepids, 276.
Gilbert Maminot, bishop of Evreux, Goisbert, son of John of La Fleche,
Gerard Fleitel, father of William
286. 304.
bishop of Evreux, 254.
Giroie (Gere), family of, xvi, xxix, Goisbert the doctor, monk of St.
Gerberoi (Oise, cant. Songeons), 357
xlii-xliii, 34 n. 1, 96; in Italy, xxii. Evroul, prior of Maule, prior of
n. 4; men of, 130.
Giroie, son of Arnold of Courceraut, Parnes, 154 and n. 3.
Gerbert, abbot of St. Wandrille, xx-
son of Abbo, 20, 22-24, 26; his wife, Goliath, 3 14.
xxi, 296 and n. 3, 346.
see Gisla; his sister, see Hildiard; Gomerfontaine (in Trie-la-Ville), siege
Gerbert, first superior of Troarn, 22.
his sons, see Arnold, Fulk, Giroie, of, 164-6, 367; castle of, 166.
Gerbod of Flanders, receives the
Hugh, Ralph, Robert, William; his Gontard, St., monk of St. Wandrille
county of Chester, 260 and n. 4;
daughters, see Adela, Emma, Haw- and abbot of Jumieges, 294 and n. 1.
his sister Gundreda, 260 n. 4, 264
ise, Heremburge. Goscelin, monk of St. Evroul, com-
and n. 2.
Giroie, son of Fulk of Montreuil, 96. panion of Ralph 'Ill-tonsured', 76.
Gere, family of, see Giroie.
Giroie, son of Fulk son of Giroie, 28, Goscelin, monk of St. Evroul, trained
Gerold the steward, 130, 131 n. 3.
34. in the school under Thierry, 20, 50.
Gersendis, daughter of Herbert 'Wake-
Giroie, son of Giroie, 22, 30. Goscelin of Arques, founds abbey of
dog', not of Hugh IV of Maine, 304
Giroie, ( ?) son of William Giroie, 34. La-Trinite-du-Mont, Rouen, 1 o,
n. 2, wife of Azzo marquess of
Giroie de Logis, 30. 11 n. 6, 106, 354; his wife, Emme-
Liguria 304 and n. 2.
Giroie of Courville, 122, 124. line, 11 n. 6.
Gertrude, wife (not daughter) of
Gisla, daughter of Charles the Simple, Gospatric, earl of Northumbria, 222
Florence I duke of Frisia, marries
possibly wife of Rollo, 8. and n. 1, 226; submits to William,
Robert the Frisian, 282 n. 1, 284 n. 2.
Gisla, daughter of Thurstan of Bas- 232; later becomes earl of Dunbar,
Gervase, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
tembourg, wife of Giroie, 22. 350 n. I.
154. Giverville (Eure, cant. Thiberville),
Gervase of Chateau-du-Loir, bishop of Gospatric, son of Gospatric, earl of
25 n. 4· Northumbria, brother of Waltheof
Le Mans, later archbishop of
Glastonbury, abbey, 242, 344 and n. abbot of Crowland, 350 n. 1.
Rheims, 62 and n. 2.
3; disturbances at in 1083, xxiv, 270 Goths, 276.
Geva, daughter of Arnold of Echauf-
and n. l ; abbot, see Thurstan of Gouffier, son of Aymer ofVillerai, 360.
four, l 24; becomes a nun at Holy
Caen. Goulafriere (La) (Eure, cant. Broglie)
Trinity, Caen, 128-30, 130 n. I.
Glos-la-Ferriere (Orne, cant. La (previously Le Mesnil-Bernard), 32
Gewissae, 220, 240.
Ferte-Frenel), church of St. Peter, and n. 3; church of St. Sulpice in,
Giffard, see Walter.
24. 34.
Gilbert, abbot of Conches, 10, 20-22,
Gloucester, council of (1085), 344 n. 3. Grandmesnil (Calvados, cant. St.
38. Goda, wife of Eustace of Boulogne,
Gilbert, archbishop of Tours, his Pierre-sur-Dive), 14, 32.
sister of Edward the Confessor, Grandmesnil, family of, xxix, xxxv;
death, 302.
widow of Dreux count of the Vexin, see Hugh, Robert.
Gilbert, archdeacon of Lisieux, 142.
204 n. I. Granta, river, 326.
Gilbert, brother of Roger of Mont-
Godebald, clerk of Roger of Mont- Greeks, 202, 204, 274; in Calabria, 56;
gomery, 122. , gomery, 262. in S. Italy, 100.
Gilbert, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
Godfrey, duke of Lorraine, 206. Gregorian chant, 270 and n. I.
Gilbert Buatere, xxxi, 57 n. 4; brother
Godfrey, son of Herbert the Butler, Gregory I, the Great, St., pope (590-
of Anquetil of Quarrel, 58 n. 2,
152. 604), 188, 242, 246, 248, 264, 270,
99 n. 4; his brothers, see Asclettin
Godfrey of Bouillon, 206, 207 n. 4. 290 n. 2; complete works in library
(Anquetil), Osmund, Rainolf, Ro-
Godiva, wife of Earl Leofric (not Earl of St. Evroul, 50; Dialogues of, 242,
dulf. .lElfgar), 216 and n. I.
Gilbert Crispin, his Vita Herluini, xx, in library of St. Evroul, 48, 49 n. 3 ;
Godwin, Earl of Wessex, I 77 n. 6; Mora/ia of, in library of St. Evroul,
12 n. 2. father of Harold, 134; restored to 48, 49 n. 4·
822204 cc
 GENERAL INDEX
Gregory VII, pope (1073-85), 100,
278 n. 2, 280 and n. 1 ; early life and
election as pope, 298, 299 n. 5·
Gruffydd, king of Gwynedd and
Powis, 138, 139 n. 2, 216.
Guarembert, vassal of Count Hilduin,
160.
Gueprei (Orne, cant. Trun), 32.
Guines, county of, 206.
Guiscard, see Robert, Roger.
Guitmund, bishop of Aversa, monk of
La-Croix-St.-Leufroi, 270, 271 n.
2; criticizes William the Con-
queror's church policy, 272-8; his
writings, 270, 271 n. 4, 272 n. 1; be-
comes bishop, not archbishop, of
Aversa, 280 and n. 2; not a cardinal,
280 n. 1.
Guitmund, monk of St. Evroul, for-
merly monk of Cormeilles, accom-
panies Osbern to St. Evroul, 108;
buried in the chapter-house, 134.
Gundreda, wife of William of Warenne,
sister of Gerbod of Flanders, 260
n. 4; 264 and n. 2.
Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, 68
n. I.
. I
Gunfrid, monk of St. Evroul, 20; dies
at Rome, 60.
Gunher, inhabitant of Laigle, 356.
Gurmor, wife of Duke Richard I,
8.
Gunscelin of Echauffour, his son,
Mainer, 74.
Gunter, bishop of Bamberg, 90.
Gunzo, Lotharingian priest, 162.
Guthlac, St., his life, xxvi, 322-38,
348; see Felix.
Guthlac Roll, the, xxvi-xxvii.
Gu thrum, king of the Danish kingdom
of East Anglia (880-90), 240, 340.
Guy, abbot of St. Judoc, 162, 164.
Guy, bishop of Amiens, author of a
poem on the battle of Hastings,
xxiii, 184-6, 214 and n. 2; his poem
possibly the Carmen de Hastingae
Praelio, 1 84 n. 2, 368-9; uncle of
Guy I, count of Ponthieu, 184 n. 2;
accompanies Queen Matilda in
1068, 214.
Guy I, count of Ponthieu, 184 n. 2.
Guy 'Bollein', great-grandson (or
great-nephew) of Giroie, 84, 85
n. 4; his wife, see Hodierna, his
sons, see Geoffrey, Norman, Walter,
William Gregory.
Gyrth, earl of East Anglia, son of
Godwin, xxiv, 170-2, 178.
Gytha, wife of Earl Godwin, 170-2,
l GENERAL INDEX
178-80, 178 n. 3; goes to France
and then to Flanders in 1068, 224,
225 n. 4·
Haimo, duke of Ponthieu, 156-8.
Halfdene, king of the Scandinavian
kingdom of York (875/6-83), 240,
340.
Halley's comet, 134 and n. 2.
Hambledon Hills (Yorks.), 234 n. I.
Hamelin of Ballon, his daughter
Emmeline, 319 n. 5·
Hardacnut, king of England and Den-
mark, son of Cnut, 244; dies, 138
n. 1 ; cousin, not father of Swein
Estrithson, 226 and n. 1.
Harold Godwinson, king of England
(Jan.-Oct. 1066), 186,190, 226, 370;
son of Godwin earl of Wessex and
Gytha, 178; his visit to Normandy
in(?) 1064, 134-6, 369; his oath to
William the Conqueror, xxiv, 134-
6, 170-2, 369; possibly betrothed to
William's daughter, 136 and n. 1;
becomes king of England, 134,
13 5 n. 3, 144; crowned by ( ?) Stigand,
136-8; his quarrel with Tostig, 138,
139 n. 4, 144; his defence of England,
142, 170; his victory at Stamford
Bridge, 168; defeated and killed at
Hastings, 176-80 ; buried by the sea-
shore, 178; his mother, see Gytha;
his brothers, see Gyrth, Leofwine,
Tostig; his (second) wife, see Edith,
daughter of Earl 1Elfgar; his sons,
224 and n. 2, see Edmund, Godwin,
Magnus.
Harold Hardrada, king of Norway
(not Harold Fairhair), 142 and n. 3;
defeated and killed at Stamford
Bridge, 168 and n. 1, 176.
Harold Harefoot, king of England
(1037-40), son of Cnut, 244.
Hasting,(?) son of Thor-Wolf, 6 and
n. 3, 8.
Hastings (Sussex), 168, 170 and n. 2;
castle at, 220 and n. :i ·
j
Hastings, battle of, 145 n. 2, 172-8,
210 n. 1, 266 n. 4; Norman com-
batants named, xxiv; see also Senlac.
Hauterive (Orne, cant. Le-Mele-sur-
Sarthe), 34; church of St. Martin,
24, 34.
Hawise, daughter of Giroie, wife of
(1) Robert I of Grandmesnil, (2)
William son of Robert Archbishop of
Rauen 22, 36, 32, 40; her dowry
acquired for St.Evroul, 40-42.
Hayling Island (Hants), 198 n. 4.
Headda, bishop of Lichfield and Lei-
cester, 332.
Hebrews, laws of, 276.
Hector, son of Priam, 274.
heirs, see inheritance.
Helmsley (Yorks.), 234 n. 1.
Heman, 298.
Hengist, king of Kent (c. 455-c. 488),
188, 276.
Henrede, lord of the church of Ter-
nant, 36.
Henry, abbot of Battle, formerly prior
of Canterbury, 192 and n. 1.
Henry III, emperor, 66 .
Henry IV, emperor, 66, 282; son of
Emperor Henry Ill and Agnes, 88.
Henry I, king of England (1100-35),
xxxvii, 28, 30, 120, 186, 192, 282
n. 3, 318, 348, 356-8, 370; son of
William the Conqueror, 104, 224
and n. 1 ; his birth and education,
214; his grant of offices, xxxvi; his
son William drowned, 262; his
daughter Maud marries Conan III
of Brittany, 353 n. 5.
Henry I, king of France, 18, 78 and
n. 2, 104, 130, 164, 190, 363; his
death, 88; his wife, Anne of Russia,
131 n. 5, 198 n. 1; his son, see Philip
I; his sister Adela, 223 n. 7.
Henry, son of Roger of Beaumont,
218 and n. 1.
Henry, son of Walchelin of Ferrieres,
castellan of Tutbury, 264, 265 n. 6.
Henry of A vranches, his verse history
of Crowland, xxvii.
Herbert, bishop of Lisieux, 106.
Herbert, brother of Richard 'the
wounded', 1 52.
Herbert, clerk of Roger of Mont-
gomery, 262 and n. 4.
Herbert (Wake-dog), count of
Maine, 22, 116, 117 n. 3, 304; his
son, see Hugh IV; his daughters, see
Biota, Gersendis, Paula.
Herbert II, count of Maine son of
Hugh IV count of Maine, 304 and
n. 2; dies, 116 and n. 2, 117 n. 3.
Herbert of Montreuil, monk of St.
Evroul, 20, 68; his pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, 68, 70; goes to Italy, 96.
Herbert of Serans (also called Herbert
the Butler), 132 and n. 1, 152; his
wife Rollande, 152; his sons, God-
frey, John, Peter, Walo, 152.
Herbold, monk, 158.
hereditary tenure, 22, 120 n. 3, 130
n. 2; see also inheritance.
Hereford, bishop of, see Robert.
Hereford, county of, given to William
fitzOsbern, 260; given to Roger, son
of William fitzOsbern, 284.
Heremar, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
154.
Heremar of Pontoise, father of Ita
wife of Foucher of Chaudry, 154.
Heremburge, daughter of Giroie, wife
of Walchelin of Pont-Echanfray, 22,
26 n. 2, 30.
heresy, charges of, against Berengar of
Tours, 250-2; of simony, 238.
Hereward, his last stand at Ely, 256
n. 2.
Herfast, father of Osbern abbot of St.
Evroul, a native of the Pays de Caux,
106.
Herfred, lord of the church of Reville,
34.
Herleve (Arlette), mother of William
the Conqueror, possibly not the
mother of Adelaide, 264 n. 3.
Herluin, abbot of Bec-Hellouin, 12,
14, 250, 252 and n. 2; his death,
294.
Herman, cellarer of St. Evroul, 92.
Herman, wrongly called son of Tan-
cred of Hauteville, 58 and n. 3.
Herodian, xx, 250.
Heruli, 276.
Heudicourt (?Eure, cant. Thiberville),
13 2, 1 5o and n. 3 ; see Richard.
Heugon, modern name for St. Martin-
sur-Guiel (Orne, cant. La Ferte-
Frenel), 36 and n. 1.
 GENERAL INDEX
Heugon, lord of Montreuil and
Echaffour, 22, 26, 34 n. 1.
Hexham (Northumberland), 234 and
n. I.
Hildebert of Lavardin, bishop of Le
Mans, 302 and n. 2; becomes
archbishop of Tours, xv, 302.
Hildebrand, see Gregory VII.
Hildiard, daughter of Arnold of
Courceraut and sister of Giroie, 22.
Hilgot, abbot of Marmoutier, 192.
Hiltrude, daughter of Fulbert de
Beina, wife of William son of
Giroie, 26.
Hlothere, king of Kent (673-85), 264.
Hodierna, wife of Guy 'Bollein', 84.
Hoel, bishop of Le Mans, 300-2.
Hoel, duke of Brittany, 308 and n. 2,
352 n. 2.
Hoel, king of the Bretons, father of
St. Judoc, 156.
Holderness (Yorks.), 264 and n. 3;
sheriffs of, 264 n. 3.
Holy Orders, canons concerning,
286-8.
Honorius II, pope (1124-30), 302.
Horsa, brother of Hengist, 188, 276.
hostages, 196 and n. 2, 212, 218.
households, baronial, xxxv, 132, 260 n.
6, 262.
Hubert, castellan of Fresnay, 306.
Hubert, papal legate, 252 n. 2.
Hubert of Anceins, 36, 37 n. 2.
Hubert of Montreuil, monk of St.
Evroul, goes to Italy, 96.
Hubert of Ryes, father of Robert
bishop of Seez and Eudo the
Steward, 254, 255 n. 4; his loyalty
in 1047, 255 n. 4.
Hubert of Sainte-Suzanne, 118, vi-
comte of Le Mans, 118 n. 1.
Hubert the vicomte, possibly Hubert
of Sainte-Suzanne, 120 n. 2; his
brother, Geoffrey Maucel, 120 and
nn. 2, 3.
Hugh I, abbot of Cluny, 74, 96, 298.
Hugh IV, abbot of St. Denis, 94.
Hugh, bishop of Lisieux, son of
William count of Eu, 26, 38, 66, 78,
90, 94, 258, 286; brother of Robert
count of Eu, 140; blesses Thierry
as abbot of St. Evroul, 1 8; receives
Abbot Thierry's resignation, 68; de-
dicates the chapel of St. Evroul, 76
and n. 2; blesses Osbern as abbot
of St. Evroul, 92; advises Duke
William, 144; blesses Mainer as
abbot of St. Evroul, 146.
l n. 6; his son William, 128.
Hugh, count of Meulan, 12.
Hugh IV, count of Maine, son of
Herbert 'Wake-dog', 304 and n. 2;
his wife Bertha of Blois, 1 1 7 n. 4,
304 and n. 2; his son, see Herbert;
his daughter, see Margaret.
Hugh, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
154.
Hugh, son of Fulcold, 120.
Hugh, son of Giroie, 22, 28-30.
Hugh Capet, king of France, 22, 160,
164.
Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester,
144 n. 1; his character, 260-2; given
the county of Chester, xxxv, 260 and
n. 4, 261 n. 5; his household, 261
n. 6, 262; holds castle of Tutbury,
264; his wife Ermentrude, 262; his
son Richard, 262.
Hugh of Chateauneuf, 358; his wife
Mabel, daughter of Roger of Mont-
gomery, 358.
Hugh of Claremont in Beauvaisis,
father of Ermentrude wife of Hugh
of A vranches, 262.
Hugh of Grandmesnil, son of Robert I
of Grandmesnil, 12-16, 20, 30, 32,
38 n. 3, 46, 64, 120, 130, 140, 196,
220 and n. 2; his gifts to St. Evroul,
38; inherits a share of his father's
land, 40; exiled, 90; recalled from
exile, 106; lord of Richard of Heudi-
court, 132; at Hastings, 174; made
castellan of Leicester, 264, 265
n. 5.
Hugh of Montfort, 120, 196; castellan
of Dover, 121 n. 5, 20+
Hugh the Butler, 140.
Hugh the cantor, monk of Jumieges
and later of St. Evroul, 18; copies
books for the library, 48.
Hugh the constable, at Hastings, 174.
Humber, river, 216, 228, 230, 232;
estuary of, 168 n. 1, 225 n. 5, 226.
Humphrey, son of Tancred of Haute-
ville, 58 and n. 3, 100.
Humphrey of Tilleul (Le), 220 and
nn. 1, 2; his son Arnold, 260 n. 6;
GENERAL INDEX
his son Robert of Rhuddlan, 260
Humphrey of Vieilles, son of Turold,
12; his son, see Roger of Beaumont.
Huns, 68 and n. 3, 276.
Huntingdon, castle built at, 218; earl
of, see W altheof.
Hwaetred, healed by St. Guthlac, 330.
Hywel ap Rhys, Welsh king, 260 n.
3.
lcel, early Mercian leader, 324.
Ida of Lorraine, second wife of Eustace
of Boulogne, sister of Godfrey duke
of Lorraine, 206, 207 n. 4.
Ingran, clerk, of St. Peter's, Ouche,
14.
lnguar (Ivar), joint-king of the Scan-
dinavian kingdom of York, 240,
340.
lngulf, abbot of Crowland, previously
monk of St. Wandrille, xxv, 344,
346; see Pseudo-lngulf.
inheritance, Orderic's views on, xxxvi-
xxxvii; patrimony inherited, 46, 64,
80, 98, 282-4, 3 18; lands divided,
40, 282-4, 364; patrimony held,
260; monasteries endowed out of
inherited lands, 12-14, 120, 132,
342; heirs disinherited, 80, 130, 138,
144, 280-2, 312; heirs reinstated,
106, 122; Robert Curthose re-
cognized as William l's heir in Nor-
mandy, 356 and n. 2; family settle-
ments, 364; see also hereditary
tenure.
Innocent I, pope (401-7), 292 and
n. 3.
investiture, lay, xv n. 1, 18, 74, 92,
144-6, 302.
Ionia, 202.
Ipswich (Suffolk), Danes repulsed at,
226.
Ireland, 210, 224 and n. 2.
Isembard, monk of Fleury-en-Vexin,
author of a Lzfe of St. Judoc, xxix,
156 n. 2, 157 n. 6, 158, 159 nn. 3, 4,
160 n. 1, 164, 366.
lsembard, monk of St. Evroul, 154.
lsembert, abbot of La-Trinite-du-
Mont, (later Sainte-Catherine-du-
Mont), Rouen, 10, 11 n. 6, 106, 298
n. 1, 354·
Isidore, St., works of, in library of
St. Evroul, 50.
Isle of Wight, 140 n. 2, 260.
Ita, wife of Foucher of Chaudry, 154;
daughter of Heremar of Pontoise,
154.
Italy, schools of, 76.
lvo, bishop of Chartres, his Decretum,
286 n. 1.
I vo of Belleme, bishop of Seez, son of
William I of Belleme, 46-48, 74, 78,
140, 362-5; his death, 254.
lvo of Grandmesnil, 358.
Jarrow, abbey, 350 n. 4.
J eduthun, 298.
Jerome, St., 250; his works in library
of St. Evroul, 50 and n. 1; his con-
tinuation of the chronicle of Euse-
bius, xxi, 186, 187 n. 3, 274 n. 1.
Jerubbaal, sons of, 320.
Jerusalem, kingdom of, 274; pilgrim-
ages to, 10, 14, 44, 48 n. 2, 56, 68,
70, 90, II6, 254, 318, 346; sack of,
188.
Jews, Babylonian captivity of, 274 and
n. I.
Jews, history of, 188.
John, abbot of Fecamp, 292, 293 n. 4.
John, cardinal, papal legate in England,
xxxiii-xxxiv, 236 and n. 3.
John, monk of St. Evroul, 154.
John, son of Herbert the Butler, 152.
John of Avranches, archbishop of
Rouen, son of Ralph of lvry, pre-
viously bishop of A vranches, 140;
translated to the see of Rouen, 200;
attacks clerical marriage, 200; his
De Officiis Ecc/esiasticis, 200 n. 2;
holds council at Rouen in 1072, 200
n. 5, 284-6, 292; and in 1074, 200
n. 5; his death, 278.
John of Beaunai, monk of St. Evroul,
130.
John of Chartres, doctor to Henry I, 88.
John of La Fleche, 304, 308, 310; his
wife, see Paula; his sons Goisbert,
Elias, Enoch, 304.
John of Rheims, monk of St. Evroul,
teacher of Orderic, xvii; his writ-
ings, xvii.
John of Salisbury, xxi-xxii.
390
186 n. 1.
Josse, St., see Judoc, St.
Judas Iscariot, 314.
GENERAL INDEX
John of Worcester, his share in the
Worcester Chronicle, xv, xxi, 186-8,
Judea, 274.
Judicail, king of the Bretons, brother
of St. Judoc, 156.
Judith, sister of Geoffrey count of Brit-
tany and wife of Duke Richard II,
8.
Judith, wife of Roger Guiscard, xxii
n. 4, xxiii, 104 n. 1; half-sister of
Robert of Grandmesnil, 76 n. 3;
takes the veil at St. Evroul, 102, 103
n. 5; her daughter, xxii n. 4; her
daughters, Adelaide and Emma, 104
n. I.
Judith, wife of Tostig, daughter of
Count Baldwin IV (not Baldwin V)
of Flanders, 140 and nn. 1, 2, 141
n. 3, 280, 281 n. 5.
Judith, wife of Earl Waltheof, niece
of William the Conqueror, 262, 263
n. 8, 320, 322, 344.
Judoc, St. (St. Josse), life and miracles
of, xvi, xxix, 156-66; sources for his
life, 366-7; relics at Winchester,
366; his father, see Hoel; his brother,
see J udicail.
Julia, healed by St. J udoc, 156.
Julian, St., first bishop of Le Mans,
302.
Julius Caesar, King William com-
pared to, 234.
Jumieges, abbey, founded, 4; restored
by William Longsword, 8; provides
the first monks for St. Evroul, 16,
18, 48; church consecrated, 1 July
1067, 198 and n. 4; abbots of, see
Gontard, Robert, Tancard, Thierry;
monks of, see Hugh, Ralph, Thierry
of Mathonville, William Calculus of
Jumieges.
Karl, the sons of, 222, 228.
Kent, 148; county of, given to Odo of
Bayeux, 196, 264; coast of, 225 n. 5;
men of, 204; kingdom of, 264; kings
of, see Erconbert, Ermenric, Ethel-
bert, Hengist, Hlothere.
Kenulf, reputed abbot of Crowland,
xxviii, 340.
Kilian St., bishop of Wiirzburg,
office of, 354.
knights, owed to King William from
England, 266 and n. 7; see St
Evroul. ·
l GENERAL INDEX
Korah, sons of, 298.
Lacman, imaginary person, not king
of Sweden, 244.
Lacy, see Walter.
Laigle (Orne), 356, 358; castle built
at, 26, 177 n. 4, 356.
Laillerie, priory at, 154 and n. 4.
Lampetia, ancient city, 100 n. 3.
Landelles (Les) (Eure, cant. Broglie,
commune Verneusses), 36.
Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury
(1070-89), previously prior of Bee
and abbot of St. Stephen's, Caen,
his early life, 248 and n. 3; his learn-
ing, 248-50; monk at Bee, 12, 14;
his controvery with Berengar of
Tours, 250-2; his teaching at Bee,
294, 296; as prior of Bee, 66, 90, 96;
made abbot of St. Stephen's, Caen,
146 and n. 2; refuses the arch-
bishopric of Rouen, 200 and n. 1 ;
appointed archbishop of Canter-
bury, 248, 252 and n. 2; consecrated
archbishop of Canterbury, 254; de-
fends the lands of Canterbury and
Rochester, 266 n. 1 ; deposes Wulf-
ketel of Crowland, 344; his gift to
St. Evroul, 148; letters of, 248 n. 2,
252 n. 2; letters of, to William I,
316 n. 3, 317 n. 5; monastic statutes
of, 146 n. 1; his De corpore et san-
guine Domini, xvii, 250 n. 3, 253 and
n. 1 ; biography of, see Miles Crispin.
Lanmailmon, 156.
Lattakieh (Laodicea in Syria), 70 and
n. I.
Laurence, St., 198.
Laurence, archbishop of Canterbury
(604-19), 240.
legates, papal, 94; in England, xxxii-
xxxiv, 236-8; in Germany in 1077,
280 n. 1 ; in Normandy, 252 n. 2.
Leicester, castle of, 264, 265 n. 5.
Leo I, pope (440-61), 286 and n. 1,
292 and n. 3.
Leo IX, pope (1049-54), 280 and n. 3.
Leo of Ostia, xxiii n. 1.
Leofgifu, lady of Eynesbury, sister of
Abbot Oscytel of Crowland, 342.
Leofric, abbot of Peterborough, 344.
Leofric, earl of Mercia, founds Coven-
try Abbey, 216 n. 1; his wife Godiva
216 and n. 1.
Leofwine, son of Godwin, 178; killed
at Hastings, 176 and n. 1.
Lessay, abbey, 124n. 2, 126; abbot of,
see Roger.
Lesseline, wife of William, count of
Eu, 10, 12 n. 1, 354.
Letard, abbot of Bec-Hellouin, xix.
Leufroi, St., founds abbey of Helton
(La Croix-Saint-Leufroi), 270, 271
n. 3.
Liber Eliensis, 219 n. 1, 233 n. 4, 340
n. 2.
Libertus, bishop of Cambrai, 188.
Liege, 198.
Lietbert, bishop of Cambrai, 70 n. 1.
Lieurre, river, 40.
Lillebonne (Seine-Maritime), 94;
council of (1080), 284 n. 4.
Limbeuf (Eure, cant. Le Neu-
bourg, commune Criquebeuf-la-
Campagne), 32.
Lincoln, 226; castle built at, 218.
Lincoln, bishopric of, 350 n. 4.
Lincoln, sheriff of, see Marleswein.
Lindsey, 228, 230.
Linieres-la-Quarrel (Lignieres-la-
Carelle) (Sarthe, cant. La Fresnay),
99 n. 4·
Lisiard, son of Rainard, 30.
Lisieux (Calvados), 68.
- archdeacons of, see Gilbert fitz-
Osbern, Osbern, William of Poitiers.
- bishop of, 78; see Herbert, Hugh,
Roger.
- cathedral of, lands of, 30; canons
of, see Gilbert fitzOsbern, Osbern
abbot of St. Evroul.
- council of (1064), 200 n. 5, 290
n. I.
- diocese of, 76, 78, 142 n. 1; boun-
daries changed, 26 n. 1.
Lisois of Moutiers, 230.
Lithuania, 226.
Loire, river, 308.
Lombards, 242, 276; in Apulia, 56;
126; in Calabria, 1oo.
London, 136, 190, 192, 210, 212 n. 1;
391
its share in royal elections, 138 n. 1;
surrenders to the Normans, 180-2 ;
men of, 228; Tower of, 194 and n. 1.
Lothair, king of France (954-86),
158.
Louis IV, king of France, 8.
Louis the Pious, king of the Franks, 4.
Louvigny, (Calvados, cant. Caen-
Ouest), 32.
Lupetius, son of Fredelende, 30.
Luxovia, daughter of Foucher of
Chaudry, 154.
Lyons-la-Foret (Eure, cant. Lyons-la-
Foret), 40.
Lyre, abbey of, founded, 12, 282.
Mabel, wife of Hugh of Chateauneuf,
daughter of Roger of Montgomery,
358.
Mabel of Belleme, daughter of William
Talvas, wife of Roger of Mont-
gomery, 46-48, 362, 363-5; her
character, 48; founder of St. Mar-
tin's, Seez, 66-68; her hostility to
the family of Giroie, 90, 122; her
enmity towards St. Evroul, 54;
respects Abbot Thierry, 54-56; date
of her death, 54 n. 2; her son,
see Robert of Belleme.
Macedonia, 1oo.
Macedonians, 274.
Maelmon, St., 156 n. 2.
Maginard, two men of the same name,
162.
Magnus, son of Harold, 224 n. 2.
Magyars, 68 n. 3, 180 n. 2.
Maine, Orderic and history of, xxxvi;
struggle of Normans to control,
362; invaded and conquered by
William the Conqueror (1062-3),
78 n. 2, 104, 105 n. 5, 116-18; Anjou
retains suzerainty over, 304 and
n. 3; revolts against the Normans,
306-8.
Maine, men of, 360; hostility to
Normandy, 122; at Hastings, 174;
Maine, men of (cont.)
in William the Conqueror's army
in England, 234.
Maine, count of, 362; see Herbert,
Hugh.
- vicomte of, see Hubert of Sainte-
Suzanne.
392 GENERAL INDEX
Mainer, monk, prior, and abbot of St.
Evroul, son of Gunscelin of Echauf-
four, 74; becomes a monk at St.
Evroul, 74; made claustral prior of
St. Evroul, 96, 106, 144; visits
Cluny, 96 and n. l, 106; invested
and blessed as abbot of St. Evroul,
144-6; his work as abbot, 116, 146-
50, l 54, 346; rebuilds the abbey
church and cloister, 134 and n. l,
148; receives Orderic Vitalis as an
oblate monk, xiv; receives Adelard
as a monk, 46.
Mainer, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
154·
Mainz, abbey of St. Alban at, 186,
187 n. 2.
- archbishop of, 90; see Siegfried.
- council of, 288 n. 2.
Malcolm, king of Scots, 142 n. 3, 218.
manerium, Orderic's use of the term,
266, 342 n. I.
l\1annig, abbot of Evesham, 216 n. 2.
Mans, Le, submits to William the
Conqueror, 118, 308; bishopric of,
xxxviii, 362; bishops of, see Arnold,
Avesgaud of Belleme, Hildebert of
Lavardin, Hoel, Julian (St.), Vou-
grin; cathedral of, built, 302; con-
secrated, 303 n. 3 ; vicomte of, see
Hubert of Sainte-Suzanne.
Manselles (Eure, cant. Beaumesnil,
commune Ajou), 32.
Maredudd, Welsh prince, 260.
Margaret, daughter of Hugh IV,
count of Maine, betrothed to Robert
Curthose, 116, 304, 310, 356; dies,
118, 304.
Marianus Scotus, 187 nn. 3, 4; his
chronicle, xxi, l 86 and n. 2.
Marleswein, sheriff of Lincoln, 222
and n. l, 226.
Marmoutier, abbey (St. Martin's,
Tours), 28, 29 n. 3, 76, 104, 190 n.
2, I 92; abbots of, see Albert, Bartho-
lomew, Bernard, Hilgot, William of
Nantes; monks of, see Goisbert,
Ralph 'Ill-tonsured'.
Marriage, canons concerning, 288,
289 n. 3, 290.
- of clergy forbidden, at Lisieux
(1064), 200 n. 5; at Rouen (1072),
200 and n. 5, 290.
Martin, St., archbishop of Tours, 156,
192.
Mathonville (Seine-Inferieure, cant.
St. Saens), see Thierry.
Matilda, abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen,
130 n. I.
Matilda, queen of England, wife of
William the Conqueror, 140 n. 2,
141 n. 3, 252 and n. 2, 284; daughter
of Baldwin V, count of Flanders,
88; marries William the Conqueror,
104; regent in Normandy, 208, 210,
222 and n. 6, 280; crowned at
Pentecost, 1068, 214; founds Holy
Trinity, Caen, 130; her gifts to St.
Evroul, 148-50; her mother, see
Adela; her children, 104 and n. 4,
224.
Matilda of Louvain, mother of
Eustace I of Boulogne, 206 n. 3.
Matthew of Vitot, 120, 121 n. 6; his
brother Richard, 120.
Maud, wife of Conan III of Brittany,
illegitimate daughter of Henry I,
352, 353 n. 5·
Mauger, archbishop of Rouen, 16, 38.
Maule (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Meulan),
church and priory of, 154 n. 3.
Maule, prior of, see Goisbert the
doctor.
Maurilius, archbishop of Rouen, xx-
xxi, 66, 92, 140, 254; his death and
epitaph, 198 and n. 4.
Medes, 274.
Medeshamstede, see Peterborough.
Melk, hospital at, 68.
Mellitus, bishop of London (601/4-
617), archbishop of Canterbury
(619-24), 136, 137 n. 3, 188.
Melo, his rebellion against the Greeks,
xxx, xxxi.
mercenary soldiers, in the papal ser-
vice, 59 n. 4, 98 and n. 3, in William
the Conqueror's army, 144, 145 n. 2,
220.
Mercia, 332; rebellions in, 236.
- earls of, I 39 n. 4; see lElfgar, Edwin,
Leofric.
Merlerault, Le (Orne, cant. Le Merle-
rault), stone-quarries of, 148; see
Roger, William.
Mesnil Bernard, see Goulafriere (La).
Mesnil-Dode (Le) (name of place now
GENERAL INDEX
disappeared, Orne, cant. La Ferte-
Frenel, commune Heugon), 32, 42.
Mesnil-Rousset (Le) (identification un-
certain), 120.
Meulan, count of, see Hugh.
Michael, bishop of A vranches, 200,
286, 292.
Michael VII, emperor, 100 n. 2, 202,
203 n. 3.
Miles Crispin, his Vita Lanfranci,
xviii-xxi, xxxiii-xxxiv, 236 n. I,
248 nn. 2, 3 1 250 n. 2.
Mileto, abbey of, 102; abbot of, see
William, son of Ingran.
military service, 34 n. 1; owed to
William the Conqueror from Eng-
land, 266; owed to the king of
France, 282 n. 3 ; owed to St.
Evroul, 82; extra service demanded,
236.
Milli (Oise, cant. Marseille-le-Petit),
men of, 130.
mills, 32, 34, 36, 152.
Monnai (Orne, cant. La Ferte-Frenel),
church of St. Mary in, 34.
Montacute (Somerset), 228.
Montaigu, castle of (? St. Pierre-des-
Nids (Mayenne, cant. Pre-en-Pail)),
26 n. 4 1 28.
Montchauvet (Calvados, cant. Beny-
Bocage), 32.
Monte Cassino, abbey, 240, 241 n. 4,
242; abbot of, see Bonitus, Petro-
nax.
Montfort (Ille-et-Vilaine), 318.
Montgomery, Roger of, see Roger of
Montgomery.
Montreuil-I' Argille (Eure, cant. Bro-
glie), 22, 30, 34, 76, 80; attacked by
Gilbert of Brionne, 24; ecclesias-
tical rights in, 26; fee of, 28; vill
of, 34; ovens and burgess in, 36;
parish of, 78 n. 1. church of St.
George, 24, 34.
- see William of.
Mont-St-Michel, abbey, founded by
Duke Richard I, 8; manuscripts at,
xxii; abbot of, see Robert of Torigni;
monk of, see Scolland.
Morcar, earl of Northumbria, son of
Earl lElfgar, 139 n. 4, 196, 216 n. 1;
supports Harold, I 3 8; submits to
William the Conqueror, 194 and
393
n. 1; rebels in 1068, 214-16; makes
peace with William in 1068, 218;
his revolt at Ely and imprisonment,
194 n. 4, 256-8, 260.
Morin1:1s, monk of St. Evroul, at St.
Martin's, Seez, 48.
Mortagne (Orne), men of, 124; coun
of, see Rotrou.
Mortain, count of, see Robert, William
Werlenc.
Mortemer (Seine-lnferieure, cant.
Neufchatel), battle of (1054), 78 n. 2.
Moses, 188, 326.
Moulin d'Olivet (Le) (Orne, cant.
Trun, commune Saint-Gervais-des-
Sablons), 32.
Mount Gandelain, see Gandelain.
Mowbray, see Geoffrey, Robert, Roger.
Mummolus, abbot, 240.
Naples, 280 n. 3.
- archbishopric of, 280 n. 2.
Nebuchadnezzar, King, 274.
Neot, St., relics of, 342 and n. 2.
Nest, daughter of Gruffydd, 138.
Netrevilla, 158, 159 n. 3.
Neufmarche (Seine-Inferieure, cant.
Gournay), 132; castle of, 130.
- church of St. Peter, 32, 130; priory
of St. Evroul established at, 130,
131 n. 4.
Nicaea, 10, 203 n. 4.
- council of, 286.
Nicephoritzes, logothete, 203 n. 3.
Nicholas, abbot of St. Ouen, Rouen,
144 n. I.
Nicholas II, pope (1059-61), 88, 94,
98.
Nicholas, St., bishop of Myra, 70 and
n. 3, 124; chapel dedicated to, 150;
feast of, 208.
Nicholas, son of Richard III, duke of
Normandy, monk of Fecamp, abbot
of St. Ouen, Rouen, 298 and n. 3.
Nicholas of Baqueville, son of Baudri
the German, 82.
Nigel, kinsman of Robert of Vitot,
120; his son-in-law, Rualon the
Breton, l 20.
Noireau, see Touquettes.
Norfolk, 264 and n. 2, 265 n. 4; earls
of, 265 n. 4.
Norman, son of Guy 'Bollein', 84.
394
Norman Mica, 82.
GENERAL INDEX
Normandy, frontiers of, 362; invaded
by French and Angevins, 78 n. 2;
foundation of monasteries in, 4-16;
see also under names of monas-
teries; lack of learning in before the
time of Lanfranc, 250; King Ethel-
red takes refuge in, 244; bishops and
magnates of, 1 40.
Normandy, dukes of, see Richard I,
Richard II, Richard III, Robert
Curthose, Robert the Magnificent,
Rollo, William Longsword, William
the Conqueror.
Normans, Danish origin suggested, 2,
6 and n. 2; established in Nor-
mandy, 6-8, 276; in southern Italy,
xxii-xxiii, xxx-xxxii, 56-60, 96-104,
122, 126-8, 280; their conquest of
England, see England and William
the Conqueror; at the coronation
of William I, 184; in England:
some settle peacefully, 256; some
oppress the English, 202-4, 268-
70, 3 18-20; some abandon their
lands, 218-20.
Norrey-en-Auge (Calvados, cant. Mor-
teaux-Couliboeuf), 14, 20; church
of St. Mary at, 32, 40.
Northampton, county of, given to
W altheof, 262.
Northumbria, rebellion in, 139 n. 4.
- earls of, see Copsi, Gospatric,
Morcar, Robert of Commine,
Siward, Tostig, Uhtred.
- kings of, see Edwin, Oswald, Oswy.
Norway, 142 n. 3, 340.
- king of, see Harold Hardrada.
Norwich, 226, 316 and n. 3.
Notre-Dame-du-Bois, church of, see
St. Evroul.
Notre-Dame-du-Hamel, see Pont-
Echanfray.
Nottingham, 230; castle built at, 218.
Noyer-Menard (Le) (Orne, cant.
Gace, commune La Trinite-des-
Laitiers), 32, 42.
Noyon (Oise), sacked by the Vikings, 6.
Noyon-sur-Andelle (now Charleval
(Eure, cant. Granville)), priory of
St. Evroul at, 1 16 and n. 1.
0 (dep. Orne, cant. Mortree), 32.
Oakington (Carobs.), 342.
oblates, xiii-xiv, 84-86, 126, 154.
Odelerius of Orleans, father of Orderic
Vitalis, xiii-xiv; clerk of Roger of
Montgomery, 262 and n. 4.
Odilo, abbot of La-Croix-St.-Lenfroi
278-80.
Odo, abbot of Cluny, 60 n. 1.
Odo, archbishop of Trier, son of Bald-
win V, count of Flanders, 88.
Odo, prior of Cluny, 298, 299 n. 6;
previously a canon of Rheims, 298;
becomes cardinal bishop of Ostia,
300; elected pope as Urban II,
299 n. 6.
Odo of Conteville, bishop of Bayeux,
half-brother of William the Con-
queror, 38, 120, 121 n. 5, 140, 144
n. 1, 195 n. 7, 286, 292; at the battle
of Hastings, 172; granted Dover and
the county of Kent, 196; vice-
gerent in England, 202 and n. I;
guards Dover castle, 204; his au-
thority in Kent and the kingdom of
England, 264-6; helps to suppress
rebellion in England, 316 n. 3; his
spoliations, 266 and n. 1 ; possibly
commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry,
369.
Odo Rufus, 30.
Ofa, retainer of King .lEthelbald,
332.
Offa, king of Mercia, 240.
Olaf II (St. Olaf), erroneously said to
have allied with Cnut, 244.
Oliver, son of William Talvas, monk
of Bee, 54 n. 1, 363, 364.
Olivet, see Moulin d'Olivet (Le).
Olric, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
Orderic Vitalis, monk of St. Evroul,
author of the Historia .lEcclesiastica,
his birth and upbringing, xiii-xiv;
his writings, xiv-xvi; sources used,
xvi-xxix; his language, xxxv-xxxvi;
his hand-writing, punctuation, and
style, xxxix-xlii; visits Cambrai, xxi,
188; visits Crow land, xxvi, xxxix,
324, 350; visits Worcester, xxi, 186
n. 1, 188; probably visits Thorney,
xxxix; condemns William's harry-
ing of the North, 232 and n. 2;
composes an epitaph for Earl Wal-
theof, 350; his father, see Odelerius
1
~
Orleans, 240, 346.
GENERAL INDEX
of Orleans; his master, see John of
Rheims.
Orosius, works in library of St. Evroul,
50.
Osbern, abbot of St. Evroul, 94, 96,
' 126, 132; son of Herfast, 106; pre-
viously canon of Lisieux, monk of
La-Trinite-du-Mont, Rauen, and of
Cormeilles, 106; prior of Cormeilles,
92; made abbot of St. Evroul, 92;
his character, 106; excommunicated,
94, 96; appeals to Rome, 108-14; his
work as abbot, 106-8; establishes a
general anniversary for benefactors,
114; alms dispensed under him,
1 16 ; acquires property for St.
Evroul, 120; prepares to build a
new church, 132 1 134 n. I; dies,
27 May 1066 1 134, 144.
Osbern, archdeacon of Lisieux, 18.
Osbern, brother of Swein Estrithson,
224.
Osbern, the priest, 36.
Oscytel, abbot of Crowland, 342.
Oscytel, archbishop of York (956-71) 1
xxvii, 340.
Oskytel, Danish king, 240.
Osmund Basset, 30.
Osmund Drengot, ? brother of Gil-
bert Buatere, xxxi, 56 and n. 3.
Ostrehilda, converted by St. J udoc, 16o.
Oswald, king of Northumbria (633-
41), 240.
Oswald, St., bishop of Worcester
(961-72), archbishop of York (972-
92), 240 and n. 1, 242 1 342; pre-
viously monk of Fleury, 242.
Oswulf, son of Eadwulf, 207 n. 6.
Oswy, king of Northumbria (654-70) 1
246.
Otmund of Chaumont, son of Robert
'the eloquent', 1 54.
Ouche, see St. Evroult-en-Ouche.
- forest of, 16 1 64 1 148 and n. 2.
- region of, 14 1 346.
- river, 78.
Ouen, Norman monk, 348.
Ouen, St., archbishop of Rouen, 4, 298.
Ouilly-le-Tesson (Calvados, cant.
Bretteville-sur-Laize), 32.
Pace, (Eure) 282.
Palamedes, 274.
Palermo, 58.
395
pallium, received from pope, 200; from
anti-pope, 138 n. 1, 238 n. 1.
Paris, besieged by Rollo, 6.
- synod at in 1074, 200 n. 5.
Paris, son of Priam, 274.
parish churches, built, 22-24; to be
offered for sale to St. Evroul, 30;
sale of forbidden, 288.
Parnes (Oise, cant. Chaumont), 150
n. 3; settlers in, 152-4.
- church of St. Martin, relics of St.
Judoc there, 156, 166, 367; given
to St. Evroul, 1 52; priory of St.
Evroul established at, xxix, 152 n. 1,
I 56, 367; priors of, see Goisbert the
doctor, Roger of Hauterive.
patrimony, see inheritance.
Paul the Deacon, his History of the
Lombards, 242 n. 2.
Paula, wife of John of La Fleche,
daughter of Herbert 'Wake-dog',
not of Hugh IV of Maine, 304 and
n. 2; her sons, 304.
Pavia, birthplace of Lanfranc, xix-xx,
248; Lanfranc's alleged studies at,
248 and n. 3.
Peakirk (Northants.), monastery of,
342; united to Crowland, 344.
Pega, sister of Guthlac, 334, 336-8,
342, 344 and n. 1.
Penenden Heath (Kent), trial on,
266 n. 1.
Penwalh, father of Guthlac, 324.
Perche, county of, 362; count of, see
Rotrou.
Perseus, king, 274.
Persians, 274.
Peter, cardinal, papal legate in
England, xxxiii-xxxiv, 236; possibly
Peter Bibliothecarius, 236 n. 3.
Peter, St., miracle of, 136, 137 n. 3.
Peter, son of Herbert the Butler,
152.
Peter, subdeacon, 242.
Peter Bibliothecarius ( ?), see Peter,
cardinal.
Peterborough, abbey, 346; replaces
former abbey of Medeshamstede,
244 and n. 1 ; abbot of, see Leofric.
Petronax, abbot of Monte Cassino,
242 ; not bishop of Brescia, 242 n. 3.
I
I
GENERAL INDEX
Petronilla, daughter of Arnold of
Echauffour, 124; becomes a nun at
Angers, 128.
Pevensey (Sussex), 168, 196; William
the Conqueror lands at, 170 and
n. 2.
Philibert, St., founds a monastery at
J umieges, 4, 8.
Philip I, king of France, 126, 166,
198, 222, 223 n. 7, 282 and n. 3,
284, 356 n. 3; minority of, 88;
lost diploma of, 166 n. 4; his
stepfather, see Ralph of Crepy;
his steward, 360 and n. 3.
Philip, son of Robert the Frisian, 282,
283 n. 7.
Picot of Sai, man of Roger of Mont-
gomery, 262.
pilgrimages, to Compostella, 44 n. 4;
to Jerusalem, 10, 14, 44, 48 n. 2, 56,
68-70, 90 and n. 2, 116, 254, 318,
346; to Rome, 44 n. 4, 156, 344; to
Saint-Gilles, 44 and n. 4.
pilgrims, Norman, in the Gargano,
xxx; assist Gaimar of Salerno, xxxi;
Normans disguised as, 100.
Pippin the Short, king of the Franks,
4.
Placidus, monk, 36.
Plato, xix, xx, xxi; compared to Lan-
franc, 248.
Pontefract (Yorks.), 230.
Poeste-des-Nids, La, see St. Pierre des
Nids.
poisoning, accusations of, 60, 79 n. 3,
So, 118 and n. 2, 122-4, 304, 312
and n. 3.
Poitiers (Vienne), sacked by the
Vikings, 6; synod at (1074), 200 n.
5 ; William of Poitiers studied there,
258.
Poitou, men of, in William the Con-
queror's army, 144.
Poland, 226.
Pont-Echanfray, early name of Notre-
Dame du Hamel (Eure, cant. Bro-
glie), 36.
Ponthieu, counts of, see Enguerrand,
Guy.
Ponthieu, dukes of, see Drochtric,
Haimo.
pope, appeals to, 94, 108-14, 142;
banner of, 58, 59 n. 4, 142 and n. 2;
standard-bearer of, 98; mercenary
soldiers of, 59 n. 4, 98 and n. 3.
- See also legates, pallium, and names
of individual popes.
Poppa, daughter of Berengar, 7.
Preaux (Eure, cant. Pont-Audemer)
92; William of Poitiers born at, 258:
Preaux, abbey of St. Leger, founded
12 and n. 3; sister of William of
Poitiers abbess there, 258.
Preaux, abbey of St. Peter, founded
12 and n. 3 ; abbot of, see Ansfrid. '
Priam, king of Troy, son of Laomedon,
274.
Pridian Sigeman, successor to St.
Judoc, 158, 159 n. 4, 160, 164; later
called Sigebrand, 160 n. 1.
Prosper of Aquitaine, 187 n. 3.
psalter, given by Queen Emma to
Robert, archbishop of Rouen, 42.
Pseudo-lngulf, chronicle of, xxv,
xxvii, 338 n. 2, 344 n. 2.
Pusey (Berks.), 198 n. 4.
Rabodanges (Orne, cant. Putanges)
(previously Culley), 32 and n. 2.
Radbod, bishop of Seez, father of
William Bonne-Ame, archbishop of
Rouen, 254 and n. 2.
Radon (Eure, cant. Alern;on-Est), 38.
Ragnulf, 58.
Rainard, son of Solomon of Sable,
30.
Rainer, abbot of La-Trinite-du-Mont,
Rouen, 90, 106.
Rainer, monk of Conches, prior of St.
Evroul, 90.
Rainulf Drengot, brother of Gilbert
Buatere, xxxi, 280 n. 3.
Ramsey, abbey, 242, 243 n. 5.
Raoul Glaber, his account of the
Normans in southern Italy, xxx.
Ralph, abbot of Battle, xv, 192 and
n. 2; formerly monk of Caen and
prior of Rochester, 192.
Ralph, count of Crepy and Mantes,
stepfather of King Philip I, 130,
198; his wife, Anne of Russia, 131
n. 5, 198 n. I.
Ralph, monk of St. Evroul, trained in
the school under Thierry, 20, 50,
( ?) 108.
Ralph, nephew of Thierry, monk of
GENERAL INDEX
J umieges and later of St. Evroul,
copies a Heptateuch and a Missal,
48.
Ralph, son of Godfrey, vassal of
Robert son of Giroie, 38.
Ralph, son of Ralph of Gael, 3 1 8 n. 1.
Ralph, son of Roger of Merlerault, 30.
Ralph, son of Walchelin of Pont-
Echanfray, 30.
Ralph, son of William son of Roger of
Merlerault, 30.
Ralph Fraisnel, 36, his sons Richard
and William, 36.
Ralph 'Ill-tonsured', son of Giroie,
later monk of Marmoutier, 22, 28,
29 n. 3, 32-34, 38, 62; at St. Evroul,
74; his early studies, 76; becomes a
monk at Marmoutier, 28, 76; re-
turns to Marmoutier, 104; dies, 104.
Ralph of Chaudry, 166; his son, see
Foucher.
Ralph of Conches, see Ralph of Tosny.
Ralph of Gace, son of Robert arch-
bishop of Rouen, 1 1 8 ; instigates
the assassination of Gilbert of
Brionne, 24 n. 3 ; his son, see Robert
of Gace.
Ralph of Gael, earl of Norfolk, 264;
son of Ralph the Staller, son-in-law
of William fitzOsbern, 265 n. 4; de-
feats the Danes in 1069, 226; rebels
against King William, 310-16; his
sons, William and Ralph, 318 n. 1.
Ralph of lvry, count of Bayeux, father
of John of Avranches, 140, 200 and
n. 4.
Ralph of La Roussiere, monk of St.
Evroul, 130.
Ralph of Tosny (also called 'of
Conches'), 38; son of Roger of
Tosny, 140; exiled, 90; recalled
from exile, 106; standard-bearer of
the Normans, 140; at the battle of
Hastings, 174; supports Robert
Curthose, 358; his doctor Goisbert,
154 n. 3.
Ralph Teison, 38.
Ralph the Staller, earl of Norfolk,
father of Ralph of Gael, 265 n. 4.
Raye (Pas-de-Calais, cant. Hesdin)
( ?Brahic), 156 n. 4.
Reginald, duke of Orleans, 6.
Reginald, monk, xiii.
Reginald, monk of St. Evroul, 154.
Reginald (Benedict), son of Arnold
of Echauffour, 124; see Benedict,
monk of St. Evroul.
397
Reginald, son of Roger earl of Here-
ford, 3 18, 3 19 n. 5 ; his wife Emme-
line, 319 n. 5.
Reginald Chamois, monk of St.
Evroul, goes to Italy, 96.
Reginald of La Roche, monk of St.
Evroul, 146.
Reginald of Le Sap, monk of St.
Evroul, 20, 62.
Reginald the Bald, monk of St.
Evroul, 108.
Reginald the Great, monk of St.
Evroul, goes to Italy, 96.
Reigate (Surrey), 264 n. 2.
Remalard (Orne), 122, 358, 360.
Remigius, abbot of Fecamp, 144 n. 1.
Repton (Derby), 324.
Restold, clerk, of St. Peter's, Ouche,
14.
Reville (Eure, cant. Broglie, commune
La-Trinite-de-Reville), 36 ; church
of St. Leger, 34.
Rheims, 62, 178, 198; archbishop of,
see Gervase; canon of, see Odo, prior
of Cluny.
- council of (1049), 364.
Rhiwallon, ruler of North Wales, 139
n. 2.
Rhys, Welsh king, 260.
Richard, abbot of Verdun, 74.
Richard, count of Evreux, son of
Archbishop Robert, 140; his son,
William, 174.
Richard I, duke of Normandy, 8, 292;
half-brother of Ralph of lvry, 200;
his wife, see Gunnor; his sons, see
Richard II, Robert, archbishop of
Rouen; his daughter, see Emma.
Richard II, duke of Normandy, xxx,
2, 8, 23 n. 3, 292; uncle of Count
Gilbert of Brionne, 82; father-in-law
of Baldwin IV of Flanders, 140
n. 1; his wife, see Judith; his sons,
see Richard III, Robert I, Mauger,
archbishop of Rouen.
Richard III, duke of Normandy, 8-10,
23 n. 3, 26, 68; his son, Nicholas,
298.
Richard, monk of St. Evroul, 20, 50.
 GENERAL INDEX
Richard, monk of St. Evroul and later
of St. Pierre-sur-Dive, 356.
Richard I, prince of Capua, count of
Aversa, son of Anquetil of Quarrel,
xxiii, 58 and n. 2, 98 and n. 3, 99
n. 4.
Richard, son of Gulbert, 30.
Richard, son of Herluin, canon of
Rauen, 198.
Richard, son of Hugh of Avranches,
drowned in the White Ship, 262
and n. 2.
Richard, son of Ralph Fraisnel, 36.
Richard, son of William the Con-
queror, 104, 224 and n. I.
Richard Haldup, see Thurstan.
Richard of A vranches, son of Thur-
stan Goz, 62, 63 n. 3, 120, 260
and n. 5; his son, see Hugh of
Avranches, earl of Chester.
Richard of Beaufour, 38.
Richard of Bienfait, see Richard of
Clare.
Richard of Clare, son of Count Gilbert
of Brianne, also called Richard of
Bienfait, 140, 316 and n. 3.
Richard ('the wounded') of Heudi-
court, monk of St. Evroul, 132,
1 50; his brother, see Herbert.
Richard of Neuville, son of Baudri the
German, 82.
Richard of Ste. Scholasse, 40.
Richer, monk, 160.
Richer I of Laigle, 356.
Richvereda, wife of Engenulf of
Laigle, 82.
Riculf, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
Rigaud, archbishop of Rauen, 152
n. I.
Robert, healed by St. Judoc, 160-2.
Robert III, abbot of Jumieges, 16, 18;
his death, 294.
Robert, archbishop of Rauen, son of
Richard I, duke of Normandy, 30,
42; his sons, see Ralph of Gace
Richard, count of Evreux, William~
Robert, bishop of Hereford, 187 n. 2.
Robert, bishop of Seez, son of Hubert
of Ryes, 254, 255 n. 4, 286, 354.
Robert, count of Eu, son of William
of Eu, brother of Hugh, bishop of
Lisieux, 140, 230, 266.
Robert I (the Frisian), count of
GENERAL INDEX
Flanders, son of Baldwin V, count archbishop of Canterbury (1051-2),
of Flanders, x~xvi~, 88, 280-2, 28 4 134, 135 n. 4·
and nn. I, 2; his wife, see Gertrude· Robert de Torp, 30.
his sons, see Robert II, Philip. ' Robert Gamaliel, monk of St. Evroul,
Robert II (of Jerusalem), count of goes to Italy, 96.
Flanders, 282 and n. 3, 283 n. 7. Robert Guiscard, son of Tancred of
Robert, count of Loritello, son of Hauteville, duke of Apulia and Cala-
Geoffrey of Hauteville, 1 26 and bria, 30, 58 and n. 3, 84 n. 3, 112,
n. 2. 126 and n. 2, 202; his victories in
Robert (of Conteville), count of Calabria, 1 oo; his war against
Martain, half-brother of William Alexius Comnenus, 1 oo and n. 2,
the Conqueror, xxxv. n. 3, 140, 230; 202 ; founds the monastery of St.
his English lands, 266. Eufemia, 98-100; subjects the
Robert I (the Magnificent), duke of abbeys of Venosa and Mileto to St.
Normandy, son of Richard II, father Eufemia, 100, 102.
of William the Conqueror, xxxi, 10, Robert of Beauvais, son of Robert 'the
12, 24, 26, 28, 56, 68; his daughter eloquent', 154.
Adelaide, 264 n. 3. Robert of Belleme, son of Roger of
Robert II (Curthose), duke of Nor- Montgomery, baptized, 48; knighted
mandy, son of William the Con- at Fresnay in 1073, 306; supports
queror, 104, 120, 200, 224 and n. 1, Robert Curthose, 358.
354; betrothed to Margaret of Robert ('the eloquent') of Chaumont-
Maine, 116, 304, 310; does homage en-Vexin, 132, 154; his sons Ot-
for Maine to Geoffrey le Barbu, 304 mund of Chaumont, Robert of
and n. 3; and to Fulk le Rechin, 310 Beauvais, Wazo of Poissy, 154.
and n. 1; regent in Normandy, 208 Robert of Commine, earl of Northum-
and n. 3, 222 and n. 6; his quarrel bria, 220, 221 n. 3.
with his father, 356-60; goes on the Robert of Couci, son of Baudri the
First Crusade, 318. German, 82.
Robert II (the Pious), king of France, Robert of Gace, son of Ralph son of
22, 164. Archbishop Robert, 118.
Robert, son of Corbet, 262. Robert I of Grandmesnil, 30, 32; his
Robert, son of Giroie, 16, 22, 30; one share in the foundation of St.
of the assassins of Gilbert of Evroul, 12-16, 20, 36; killed in an
Brianne, 24 n. 3; his share in the attack on Roger of Beaumont, 40;
endowment of St. Evroul, 32, 34, his wife, see Hawise ; his sons, see
36, 38; rebels against William I, Arnold, Hugh, Robert.
28 and n. 2, 78, 79 n. 3; dies, c. Robert II of Grandmesnil, abbot of St.
1060, 79 n. 3, 80; buried at St. Evroul, son of Robert I of Grand-
Evroul, 80; his wife, see Adelaide; mesnil, xiv, xv, xxii, 30, 32; his
his son, see Robert; his vassal, see character, 64-66; his gifts to St.
Ralph, son of Godfrey. Evroul, 38 and n. 3; his early life,
Robert, son of Heugon, 36, 96, 98 n. 1. 40; becomes a monk at St. Evroul
Robert, son of Richard, governor of in 1050, 40; his visit to Cluny, 74;
York, 222. prior of St. Evroul, 60; his opposi-
Robert, son of Robert son of Giroie, tion to abbot Thierry, 66; elected
28. abbot of St. Evroul in 1059, 74; his
Robert, son of Roger of Beaumont, work as abbot, 80-82, 108; plans to
218 n. 1. rebuild the church of St. Evroul,
Robert, son of Theodelin, 36. 88, 1 34 n. 1 ; expelled from St.
Robert, son of William I of Belleme, Evroul in 1061 and driven into exile,
26, 46, 363. 79 n. 3, 90, 94-96, 104, 108, 132-4;
Robert Cham part, abbot of J umieges, appeals to the pope, 94, 98; Abbot
399
Osbern's appeal against him, 110-
14; receives gifts in Calabria, 98-
100; renounces his claim to St.
Evroul, 112-14; becomes abbot of
St. Eufemia, 100-2.
Robert of La-Haye-du-Puits, 124 n. 2.
Robert of Malpas, 260.
Robert of Monnai, 34; lord of the
church of Monnai, 34-36.
Robert of Mowbray, nephew of
Geoffrey of Mowbray bishop of
Coutances, 266.
Robert of Rhuddlan, son of Hum-
phrey of Tilleul, 260, 261 n. 6.
Robert of Therouanne, healed by St.
J udoc, 162-4.
Robert of Torigni, monk of Bee and
abbot of Mont-St.-Michel, his
use of Orderic's writings, xvii-xviii;
his use of Sigebert of Gembloux,
xxi; cited, 12 n. 1, 13 n. 3, 146 n. 2,
210 n. 1.
Robert of Vieux-Pont, 308.
Robert of Vitot, 120.
Robert Maslin, 166.
Robert the Bald, monk of St. Evroul,
130, 154.
Roche-Mabille, La (Orne, cant. Alen-
9on-Ouest), castle of, 80.
Rochester, cathedral priory, lands of,
266 n. 1 ; prior of, see Ralph.
Rodulf, brother of Gilbert Buatere,
xxx, xxxi.
Roger, abbot of Lessay, 126 and n. 1.
Roger, bishop of Lisieux, 26.
Roger, earl of Hereford, son of
William fitzOsbern, xxxvii, xxxix;
inherits his father's English lands,
284; rebels against king William,
310-18; his sentence and death in
prison, 3 18 and n. 4; his sons
Reginald and Roger, 318, 319 n. 5.
Roger, monk of St. Evroul, formerly
a country priest, 20; ( ?) at St.
Martin's, Seez, 48.
Roger, son of Corbet, 262.
Roger, son of Engenulf of Laigle,
killed, 82.
Roger, son of Roger earl of Hereford,
318, 319 n. 5.
Roger, son of William son of Roger
of Merlerault, 30.
Roger Cauchois, 358.
400
Bois-Hebert, 36.
GENERAL INDEX
Roger Faitel, lord of the church of Le
Roger Goulafre, 96-98, 98 n. 1 ; lord of
the church of Mesnil Bernard, 34;
chamberlain of Arnold of Echauf-
four, 122.
Roger Guiscard, son of Tancred of
Hauteville, count of Sicily, xxii,
xxx, 58, 84 and n. 3, 100, 102; his
wife, see Judith.
Roger of Beaumont, son of Hum-
phrey of Vieilles, 12, 40, 140; Mor-
car imprisoned in his charge, 258;
his sons, Henry and Robert, 174,
218 and n. 1.
Roger of Hauterive, monk of St.
Evroul, at the chapel of St. Nicho-
las, 150; prior of Parnes, 152-4.
Roger of Ivry, king's butler, 358.
Roger of J umieges, monk of St.
Evroul, 48, 60.
Roger of Le Sap, abbot of St. Evroul,
(1091-1123), 116, 126-8; as monk
of St. Evroul composes hymns, 108;
praised for his learning, 148; at La
Chapelle, 152; Orderic's Ecclesia-
stical History written at his com-
mand, xiv.
Roger of Merlerault, 26, 30; his wife,
see Emma, daughter of Giroie; his
sons, see Ralph, William.
Roger I of Montgomery, 20; his sons,
see Roger II of Montgomery, Gilbert
Roger II of Montgomery, vicomte of
the Hiemois, later earl of Shrews-
bury, 38, 90, 120, 130, 140, 144 n. 1,
310, 360 and n. 4, 362-5; founds the
abbey of Troarn, 20-2; founds the
abbey of St. Martin, Seez, 48 and
n. 2, 66-68; his marriage with Mabel
of Belleme, 46-48; protects St.
Evroul, 54; regent in Normandy in
1066, crosses to England 1067, 210;
receives Chichester, Arundel, and
the county of Shropshire, 211 and
n. 1, 262; his lands in Shropshire,
195 n. 5; his household, xiii, 262
and n. 4; his wife, see Mabel of
Belleme; his son, see Robert of
Belleme; his daughters, see Emma,
Mabel; his brother Gilbert, 122; his
niece Amieria, 262; his men, 262, 263
n.7.
Roger of Mortemer, 144 n. 1.
Roger of Mowbray, 140.
Roger of Tosny, called the Spaniard,
68, 140; founds the abbey of
Conches, 10; killed, 40; his sons
see Elbert, Elinant, Ralph of Tosny '.
his kinsman Ansgot, 68.
Roger Sowsnose, 54.
Roland, standard-bearer of the Franks
killed by Rollo, 6.
Rollande, wife of Herbert 'the Butler'
daughter of Eudo of Chaumont:
152.
Rollo, duke of Normandy, 276 and
n. 2, 3 50; his invasions, 6; bap-
tized, 8; his wives, see Gisla,
daughter of Charles the Simple,
Poppa, daughter of Berengar; his
son, see William Longsword.
Romans, 60, 100, 274, 276, 280.
Romanus, monk of St. Evroul, 42-44.
Rome, 57 n. 4, 60, 94, 108, 112, 114,
142, 236 n. 3, 298, 344; pilgrimages
to, 44 n. 4, 156-8, 344; council at
(1050), 250 and n. 3; council at
(1059), 250 n. 3, 252; Lenten Synod
(1074) at, 200 n. 5.
Rome, church of St. Paul without the
walls, 60 and n. 1, 98.
Romney (Sussex), 180.
Rotrou I, count of Mortagne and
Perche, 266 and n. 4, 356 n. 3, 360
and n. 1, 363, 364; his wife, Adeline,
363, 364; his son, see Geoffrey.
Rouen (Seine-Maritime), 22, 134, 135
n. 5, 358; sacked by the Vikings, 4,
6; synod at (1061), 92; castle at,
358.
- council of 1072 at, 200 n. 5, 284;
canons of, 286-92; of 1074 at, 200
n. 5.
- archbishop of, 152; see Franco, John
of Avranches, Mauger, Maurilius,
St. Ouen, Rigaud.
- archbishopric of, 278 n. 2.
- archdeacon of, see William Bonne-
.Ame.
- cathedral, 284; Maurilius buried
there, 198; canons of, see Richard,
son of Herluin, William Bonne-
.Ame.
- abbey of Ste. Catherine-du-Mont
(originally La-Trinite-du-Mont),
l GENERAL INDEX
298 n. 1, 354; founded, 10; abbots
of, see Isembert, Rainer; monks of,
25 n. 4, see Osbern, abbot of St.
Evroul.
- abbey of St. Ouen, founded by
Duke Richard I, 4, 8; abbey church
' built, 298 and n. 3; abbots of, see
Nicholas, son of Richard III.
- See also Annals of Rouen.
' Roussiere (La) (Eure, cant. Beau-
mesnil), 16.
Rualon the Breton, 120.
Runiacum (?Villiers St. Josse), 156
and n. 5.
Sabine region, 98 n. 3.
St. Agatha of Catania, abbey, daughter-
house of St. Eufemia, xxii, 103 n. 4.
St. Alban's (Herts.), abbey, 348.
St. Cereri-le-Gerei (Orne, cant.
Alens;on-Ouest), castle of, xliii, 26
n. 4, 28, 82; besieged by William I
c. 1059-60, 79 n. 3, 80; church of,
36.
St. Denis, abbey, 94; Hugh IV, abbot
of, 94 and n. 1.
St. Eufemia (Calabria), abbey of xxii,
xxx, xxxii, l 28; founded by Robert
Guiscard, 100; abbots of, see Robert
of Grandmesnil, William; abbeys
subject to, see Venosa, abbey of La
Trinita, Mileto, abbey of.
St. Eufemia, church given to Robert
of Grandmesnil, lOO.
St. Evroul, abbey of, refounded in
1050, 16-18, 22 n. 1, 26 n. 4;
foundation charter, 30-38; property
acquired, xvii, 30-40, 40-42, 58,
80-86, 130-4, 150-4; rights of free
election at, 38, 146 and n. 1; eccle-
siastical privileges of, 26, 78 n. 1 ;
library of, xvi-xvii, 48-50, 108;
school of, 20, 50; Cluniac influence
on customs, 74, 96 n. 1; liturgy at,
108; liturgical contacts with monas-
teries in south Italy, 102, 103 n. 4;
general anniversary at, I I 4-16 ;
general roll of benefactors, l 50;
hospitality of, 62; alms dispensed,
l 1 6; church originally dedicated to
St. Peter, 14, 134 and n. 1; building
of new church planned, 88, 132;
church and monastic buildings re-
822204
401
built, 148-50; feudal court of, 62-64;
military service due to, 82; knights
of, see Theodelin of Tanaisie,
Anquetil of Noyer; persecuted by
Mabel of Belleme, 541, and see Mabel
of Belleme; difficulties after the ex-
pulsion of Robert, 96-98.
- abbots of, see Mainer, Osbern,
Robert of Grandmesnil, Roger of
Le Sap, Serlo, Thierry of Mathon-
ville.
- cellarer of, see Herman.
- monks of, 42, 98, 114, 220 n. 1. and
passim; see Adelard, Ansered, Ar-
nold of Echauffour, Benedict (Regi-
nald), Berengar son of Arnold,
Bernard, Bernard called Matthew,
Bernard called Michael, Durand,
Engelbert, Fulk of Guernanville,
Geoffrey, Geoffrey of Orleans, Gil-
bert, Goisbert the doctor, Goscelin,
Guitmund, Gunfrid, Herbert, Hu-
bert of Montreuil, Hugh of Mont-
reuil, Isembard, John, John of
Beaunai, John of Rheims, Morin us,
Olric, Orderic Vitalis, Ralph, Ralph
of La Roussiere, Reginald, Reginald
the Bald, Reginald Chamois,
Reginald of La Roche, Reginald
of Le Sap, Reginald the Great,
Richard, Richard of Heudicourt,
Riculf, Roger, Roger of Hauterive,
Robert Gamaliel, Robert the Bald,
Romanus, Thierry, Thierry, son of
Fulk of Bonneval, Thomas of Anjou,
Thurkill, U rsus, Walter the Bald,
Walter the Small, William, William
Gregory, William of Caen (Alex-
ander), William of Merlerault,
William of Montreuil.
- priories of, see La Chapelle-en-
Vexin, Maule, Noyon-sur-Andelle,
Parnes.
- priors of, see Fulk, Geoffrey of
Orleans, Rainer.
St. Evroul, canons of, endowment in
900, 34 n. l, 36 n. 1.
St. Evroul, chapel of, 76-78, 104.
St. Evroul, church of Notre-Dame-du-
Bois, 36.
St. Evroul, town granted to monks,
64; burnt by Arnold of Echauffour,
92.
nd

402
(Orne), see St. Evroul.
GENERAL INDEX
Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois
Saint-Georges-de-Boscherville, Seine-
lnferieure, cant. Duclair), 116 and
n. I.
St. Germer, monks of, 154.
Saint-Gilles (Gard), pilgrimage to,
44 and n. 4.
St. Josse-sur-Mer, abbey, claims the
relics of St. Judoc, 366-7; monks
of, 156 n. I.
St. Neot's (Hunts.), priory, 342 n. 2.
St. Nicholas-des-Laitiers (Orne, cant.
La Ferte-Frenel), church of, 84 and
n. 2.
St.-Pierre-sur-Dive, abbey of St. Mary
at, 12 and n. l, 198 and nn. 2, 4, 354;
abbots of, see Ainard, Fulk; monks
of, see Bernard called Matthew,
Richard, Thurkill, William of Mon-
treuil.
St.-Pierre-d'Entrement (Orne, cant.
Tinchebray), 32.
St.-Pierre-des-Nids (La Poeste-des-
Nids) (Mayenne, cant. Pre-en-Pail),
36.
St. Riquier, abbey, 160.
Sainte-Suzanne (Mayenne), see Hu-
bert of.
St. Symeon, on the Orantes, 70.
St. Valery-sur-Somme (Somme), 168-
70; abbey of, 170 and n. I.
St. Wandrille (Fontenelle), abbey,
restored, 8; abbot of, see Gerbert;
monks of, see Gontard, lngulf.
Salerno, xxiii, xxx, 56, 58; medical
schools in, 76; prince of, see Guai-
mar.
Salisbury (Wilts.), 178; 236; men of,
228.
Sallust, 258.
Samson of Bayeux, bishop of Wor-
cester (1096-1112), chaplain of
William the Conqueror, refuses the
bishopric of Le Mans, xxxviii, 300-2;
later bishop of Worcester, 300 n. 2.
Sandwich (Kent), 226.
Sap (Le) (Orne, cant. Vimoutiers), 32,
34, 44; surrendered to the sons of
Giroie, 24; churches of St. Martin
and St. Peter, 34, 46.
Sap-Andre (Le) (Orne, cant. Gace),
36; church of, 36.
Saracens, routed by Norman pilgrims
xxx-xxxi, 56.
Sardanapalus, 278.
Sarthe, river, 116; fisheries in, 36.
1
I
Saxony, 226.
Scandinavia, 276.
schools, of Gaul, 76; of Italy, 76; at
Liege, 198; at Orleans, 346; medi-
cal, at Salerno, 76; see Bec-Hellouin,
Poitiers, St. Evroul.
Scolland, abbot of St. Augustine's,
Canterbury, 248 and n. 1 ; previously
monk of Mont-St.-Michel, 248.
Scotland, 142 n. 3, 168 n. 1, 218, 350
n. 1 ; king of, see Malcolm.
Seaxwulf, bishop of Lichfield (675-
c. 691), 244.
Seez, bishop of, see I vo of Belleme,
Robert, son of Hubert of Ryes;
bishopric of, 362.
- cathedral of, 364.
- church of St. Martin, reform of
entrusted to Abbot Thierry of St.
Evroul, 48, 54-56; abbey of St.
Martin, early stages of foundation,
c. 1055-60, 48, 66-68, 365; formally
founded in 1060, 363, 365.
- diocese of, 78; boundaries changed,
26 n. 1.
Senlac, name of site of Battle of
Hastings, 172 and n. 3, 180, 186,
190, 266, 356.
Serifontaine (Oise, cant. Coudrai-
Saint-Germer), 32.
Serlo, abbot of St. Evroul (1089-91),
116.
Serlo, son of Tancred of Hauteville,
xxxi.
Shere (Surrey), 264 n. 2.
Shrewsbury (Salop), Orderic Vitalis
born near, xiii; attacked by rebels,
228; besieged, 234; earl of, see Roger
of Montgomery. · n. 1, 193 n. 3, 196 andn. 3, 2oon. l;
Shrewsbury, abbey of St. Peter at,
xiii.
Shropshire, county of, 210 and n.
I.
Shropshire, earldom of, xxxv.
Sicily, 30, 58, 84, 96, loo.
Sieburge, wife of Bertrand, healed by
St. Judoc, 162.
Siegfried, archbishop of Mainz, 90.
Sigebert of Gembloux, wrongly called
GENERAL INDEX
Engelbert, chronicle of, xv, xvii,
xxi-xxii; 187 n. 3, 188 and n. I.
Sigebrand, abbot, 160 and n. 1; see
Pridian Sigeman.
Sigeman, sacristan, 160; not Pridian
Sigeman, 160 n. I.
Sille (Sarthe), 306.
Simeon of Durham, 221 n. 3, 234 n. I.
Simon of :Montfort, 106.
Sion (Sitten), bishop of, see Ermenfrid.
Siricius, Pope (384-99), 292 n. 3.
Siward, earl of Northumbria, father of
Waltheof, 344, 350 and n. 3.
Siward, son of lEthelgar, 194 and n. 1;
identity uncertain, 194 n. 4.
Siward Barn, 194 n. 4.
Siward of Maldon, 194 n. 4.
Solomon of Sable, 30, his wife, see
Adela, his son, see Rainard.
Somerset, men of, 228.
Sorel (Eure-et-Loir, cant. Anet),
358.
Soulangy (Calvados, cant. Falaise-
Nord), 32.
Spaniards, 296.
Stafford, rebels defeated at in 1069,
228; castle built at, 236.
Staffordshire, 26 5 n. 6.
Stamford Bridge (Yorks.), battle of,
168 and n. I.
Statius, l 84.
Stephen, finds the relics of St. Judoc,
158, 160.
Stephen, count of Blois, his daughter
Bertha, 117 n. 4.
Stephen IX, pope (1057-8), 88.
stewards, of William the Conqueror,
124 and n. 2; see Eu do, Gerold,
William fitzOsbern; of the king of
France, 360.
Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury
(1052-70), 180 and n. 1, 182 and
( ?) crowns Harold, I 38 and n. 1;
excommunicated, 138 n. 1; deposed,
xxxii-xxxiv, 236-8, 236 n. 4, 238
n. 1, 248.
Stigand of Mesidon, 118, 119 n. 6.
Sunno, Frankish leader, 276.
Surrey, county of, given to William of
Warenne, xxxvi, 265; earl of, see
William of Warenne.
Sussex, 264 n. 2.
w
Swein, son of Godwin, 178.
Swein Estrithson, king of Denmark,
202, 224-6, 234; his claim to the
English throne, 226 and n. 1; his
family, 226 n. 1; his brother Osbern,
224.
Swein Forkbeard, king of Denmark,
202, 244 and n. 2.
Tackley (Essex), 170 n. I.
Talou (Le), 8 n. 1, 42.
Tanaisie (La) (Eure, cant. Broglie,
commune La Goulafriere), 32, 42;
Theodelin of, 60-62.
Tancard, prior of Fecamp and abbot
of Jumieges, 294 and n. 2.
Tancred of Hauteville, 58; his wife,
Fredesenda, 100; his family, 98; his
sons, see Drogo, Humphrey, Robert
Guiscard, Roger Guiscard, Serlo,
William.
Tatwine, 326.
Tees, river, 232 and n. 3., 234 and
n. I.
Ternant (Orne, cant. La Ferte-Frenel,
commune Monnai) church of, 34;
fishermen at, 36.
Tescelin, clerk, 32.
Tetta, mother of Guthlac, 324.
Thames, river, 182, 204.
Theobald, count of Blois, his sister
Bertha, 304.
Theobald, count of Champagne, 264.
Theodelin of Tanaisie, knight of St.
Evroul, 60-62.
Theoprobus, 240.
Therouanne, county of, 206.
Thierry, abbot of Jumieges, 18, 74.
Thierry, monk of St. Evroul, 154.
Thierry, son of Fulk of Bonneval,
monk of St. Evroul, 82 n. 2, 84.
Thierry of Mathonville, abbot of St.
Evroul (1050-7), xiv, 58, 60, 62,
80, 102; his character and early
career, 16-18, 42; brought from
Jumieges to be abbot of St. Evroul,
16 ; invested as abbot by Duke
William, xv n. 1, 16-18; acquires
property for St. Evroul, 34, 36; his
insistence on monastic discipline,
42-52; his skill as a calligrapher,
48; builds up a library at St. Evroul,
xvi, 48-50; relations with Cluny,
 GENERAL INDEX
Thierry of Mathonville (cont.)
74; respected by Mabel of Belleme,
54-56; baptizes Robert of Belleme,
48, and Thierry, son of Fulk of
Bonneval, 84; attempts to establish
a cell at St. l\1artin's, Seez, 48 and
n. 2, 66, 365; criticized for his un-
worldliness, 52; gives up his pastoral
charge and leaves for Jerusalem, 48
n. 2, 66, 68, 84 n. 3; his pilgrimage
to Jerusalem, 68-72, 254; his death
in Cyprus, 72; celebration of his
obit, 74.
Thomas, canon of Bayeux, archbishop
of York (1070-1100), xxxiii, 236 n.
4, 238 and n. 2.
Thomas of Anjou, monk of St. Evroul,
goes to Italy, 96.
Thorney, abbey, 244 and n. l; visited
by Orderic, xxxix; annals of, 344
n. 3·
Thurketel, abbot of Crowland, xxvi-
xxviii, 340-2.
Thurkill, monk of St. Evroul and
later of St. Pierre-sur-Dive, 356;
trained in the school under Thierry,
50.
Thurkill of Arden, 194 n. 3.
Thurkill of Limis, 194; possibly
Thurkill of Arden, 194 n. 3.
Thurstan, monk of St. Evroul, goes
to Italy, 97.
Thurstan of Bastembourg, 23 n. 4; his
daughter Gisla, 22.
Thurstan of Caen, abbot of Glaston-
bury, 270 and n. I.
Thurstan (Richard) Haldup, vicomte
of the Cotentin, 124 and n. 2.
Thurstan Scitel (Citellus), called
Toustain le Begue, 58 and n. l.
Thurstan, son of Rollo (fitzRou),
carries Norman banner at Hastings,
172 and n. 4.
Tiber, river, 58.
tithes, given to St. Evroul, 30, 32, 34,
36, 46, 150, 152; taken from St.
Evroul, 96.
Titus, emperor, 188, 274.
Tod Point, near Coatham (Yorks.),
232 n. 3.
Tosny, see Ralph of, Roger of.
Tostig, son of Godwin, 170, 178, 194
n. 2; not the eldest son of Godwin,
139 n. 3; his rebellion and banish-
ment, xxxvii, 138-40; his move-
ments in exile, xxiv, 140 and n. 1,
l 42-4; defeated and killed at Stam-
ford Bridge, 168 and n. l, 176.
Touquettes (? Noireau) (Orne, cant.
La Ferte-Frenel), 34, 35 n. 2.
Tours, sacked by the Vikings, 6;
council at (1054), 250 n. 3, 252.
- abbeyof St. Martin, see Marmoutier.
- archbishop of, see Gilbert, Hilde-
bert of Lavardin.
Toustain le Begue, see Thurstan
Scitel.
treason, different penalty for in Nor-
man and English law, xxxviii-xxxix,
314 and n. r.
Troarn (Calvados), abbey of St.
Martin's, founded, 20 and n. 1 ;
charter of, 210 n. l; abbots, see
Arnulf, Durand, Gerbert ( ?).
Troia, abbey of, troper of, 103 n. 4.
Troilus, son of Priam, 274.
Trojans, legends of, 274, 275 n. 5.
Tronchet (Le) (Eure, cant. Breteuil-
sur-Iton, commune Le Chesne),
120.
tropers, 103 n. 4, 108 and n. 2.
Troy, siege of, 274.
Turgis, bishop of Avranches, xv, 200.
Turgis of Traci, 306 and n. 1.
Turks, 276, 318.
Tutbury (Staffs.), 265 n. 6; castle of,
264.
Tweed, river, 234 n. 1.
Ubba, Danish leader, 240.
Uhtred, earl of Northumbria, 194 n. 4,
222 n. 1 ; his wife .lElfgifu, l 94 n. 4,
222 n. I.
Ulf, earl, father of Swein Estrithson,
226 n. 1 ; his wife, Estrith, 226 n. l.
Ulfketel, abbot of Crowland, 322.
Ulmar, servant of St. Judoc, 156.
Upland, near Crowland, 338.
Urban II, pope (1088-99), 280 and
n. 2, 294, 318; see Odo, prior of
Cluny.
U rsus, monk of St. Evroul, goes to
Italy, 90.
Vandals, 276.
GENERAL INDEX
Varangian guard, 202 n. 2.
Varnville, battle of, 28 n. 2.
Venosa, abbey of La Trinita, subjected
to St. Eufemia, 100; abbot of, see
Berengar.
- bishopric of, 50; bishop of, see
Berengar.
Vercelli, council at (1050), 250 and
n. 3·
Verneuces (Verneusses) (Eure, cant.
Broglie), 36; churches of St. Mary
and St. Paul, 24, 34.
Vespasian, emperor, 188, 274.
Vexin (French), 132 n. 2.
Vexin (Norman), 132, 150, 152.
Vexin, count of, see Walter.
Victor II, pope (1055-7), 66.
Victor III (Desiderius), pope (1086-
7), 100.
Vieux-Mesnil (Le) (Orne, cant. Le
Merlerault, commune Echauffour),
32, 42.
Viger of Bocquence (also called of
Apulia), son of Baudri the German,
80, 82, 84.
Villers-Canivet (Calvados, cant. Fa-
laise-Nord), 32.
Villiers St.-Josse (Pas-de-Calais), pos-
sibly Runiacum, 156 n. 5.
Vimeu, Le, 12.
Virgil, l 84.
Vita ./Edwardi Regis, 135 nn. 3, 5, 137
n. 3, 139 n. 4, 140 n. l, 369.
Vita Lanfranci, see Miles Crispin.
Vitalian, pope (657-72), 246.
Vitalis, abbot of Bernay, 134·
Vortigern, king of Britain, l 88.
Vougrin, bishop of Le Mans, l 18
n. 3.
Wado of Dreux, 38.
Walchelin, bishop of Winchester,
chaplain of William the Conqueror,
xxxiii, 236 n. 4, 238 and n. 2.
Walchelin, brother of Foucher of
Chaudry, 152.
Walchelin of Ferrieres, hiss on Henry,
264.
Walchelin of Pont-Echanfray, 26, 30;
his sons, see Ralph, William.
Waleran of Breteuil, 106.
Wales, Norman conquests in, 260 and
n. 2.
Wallingford (Berks.), 182, 183 n. 2.
Walo, son of Herbert the Butler, l 52.
Walter, count of Pontoise (the Vexin),
son of Count Drogo, 116, 118 and
n. 2, 3 l 2; his wife, see Biota.
Walter, son of Foucher of Chaudry,
154·
Walter, son of Guy 'Bollein', 84.
Walter Giffard, at Hastings, l 7 4;
granted the county of Buckingham,
264 and n. l; not called earl before
1097, 264 n. I.
Walter of Lacy, 260 and n. 2.
vValter the Bald, monk of St. Evroul,
154·
Walter the Small, monk of St. Evroul,
goes to Italy, 96.
Waltheof, abbot of Crowland, 350; son
of Gospatric, earl of Northumbria,
350 n. l.
Waltheof, earl of Northampton, son of
Siward, earl of Northumbria, 196,
262; receives the county of Hunt-
ingdon, 263 n. 8; marries Judith,
niece of William the Conqueror, 262,
263 n. 8; takes part in the Northern
Rebellion of 1069, 226; submits to
William, 232; implicated in the
rebellion of 1075, 312-20; sentenced
and beheaded, xxxviii, 320-2; bene-
factor of Crowland, xxviii, 324, 344
and n. 2; buried at Crowland, 322,
344, 346; his epitaph, 3 50; miracles
at his tomb, 346, 348; his wife, see
Judith; his daughters, 262.
Wandelmar, Lotharingian, 162.
Wandrille, St., founds a monastery at
Fontenelle, 4.
Warenne, family of, xxxv; see William.
Warenne, honor of, 264 n. 2.
Warin, his land in Les Landelles, 36.
Warin, son of William I of Belleme,
46, 363; his daughter Adeline, 363.
Warin the Bald, sheriff of Shropshire,
262 and n. 5; his wife Amieria,
niece of Roger of Montgomery, 262.
Warwick, castle built at, 21 8; castellan
of, 218 and n. I.
Wazo of Poissy, son of Robert 'the
eloquent', 1 54.
Wellingborough (Northants.), 342.
Welsh, 216, 234; attack Shrewsbury
228; originally the Britons, 276.
,....
GENERAL INDEX
Westminster, abbey, dedication of,
136, 137 n. 3, 138 n. 1; coronation
of William I in, 184.
Wigfrith, 332.
Wilfrid, 328, 330.
William, abbot of St. Eufemia, son
of Humphrey of Tilleul, 128 and
n. I.
William, bishop of Evreux, son of
Gerard Fleitel, 38, 74, 78, 140,
254.
William I, count of Eu, 10, 12 n. I,
140, 354; his wife, see Lesseline;
his sons, see Hugh, bishop of
Lisieux, Robert.
William, count of Evreux, son of
Richard, 266, 3 lo; at Hastings,
174.
William, monk of St. Evroul, 20.
William, priest of St. Andrew of
Echauffour, I 12-14.
William, son of Arnold of Montreuil,
25 n. 4.
William, son of Giroie, 22, 24, 26-28,
36, 40, 64; blinded and mutilated
by William Talvas, 14; becomes a
monk at Bee, 1 2, l 4; begins to found
an abbey (St. Evroul), 14-16; his
gifts to St. Evroul, 30, 32-34, 38;
goes to Apulia, 52, 58; his death,
60, 62, 66; his wives, see Emma,
Hiltrude; his sons, see Arnold of
Echauffour, William of Montreuil.
William, son of King Henry I,
drowned in the White Ship, 262
and n. 2.
\Villiam, son of Ingran, abbot of
l\1ileto, 102; previously prior of St.
Eufemia, 103 n. 3.
William, son of Ralph Fraisnel, 36.
William son of Ralph of Gael, 318
n. I.
William, son of Robert archbishop of
Rauen, 30, 42; his wife, see Hawise;
his daughters, see Emma, Judith,
wife of Roger Guiscard.
William, son of Roger of Merlerault,
30; his sons, Ralph, 30, Roger, 30.
William, son of Tancred of Haute-
ville, 58 and n. 3.
William, son of Walchelin of Pont-
Echanfray, 30, 38; his gifts to St.
Evroul, 36.
William, son of William of Belleme
his death, 46.
William, son of William fitzOsbern,
inherits his father's Norman lands,
'
282.
William Bonne-Ame, archbishop of
Rouen, son of Radbod bishop of
Seez, 68, 254 and n. 2, 279 n. 3;
his pilgrimage to the Holy Land,
68-70, 254; previously canon and
archdeacon of Rouen, monk of Bee,
abbot of Caen, 254 and n. 2.
William fitzOsbern, steward of Nor-
mandy, xxxvi, 36, 38, 140, 144 n. l,
l 95 n. 7, 196, 228, 284; at Hastings,
174; vicegerent in England, 202 and
n. 1 ; castellan at York in 1069,
222; receives the Isle of Wight and
county of Hereford, 260 and nn. 1
and 2; acts as regent in Normandy,
280; founds abbey at Cormeilles, 12,
l 08, 282; and at Lyre, l 2, 282; killed
at the battle of Cassel, 282 and n. 3;
buried at Cormeilles, 282; ruin of
his descendants, 3 l 8-20; father-in-
law of Ralph of Gael, 264, 26 5 n. 4;
his sons, see Roger, William.
William Gouet of Montmirail, l 22.
William Gregory, son of Guy 'Bollein',
monk of St. Evroul, xv, 84, 86.
William Gualdi, 224.
William of Apulia, xxii, xxx, loon. 2.
William of Beaumont, abbot of Bee,
296.
William I of Belleme, 22, 26 n. 3, 362,
363; his sons, see Benedict, Fulk,
Ivo bishop of Seez, Robert, \Varin,
William Talvas.
William of Bonneval, 84.
William of Caen (Alexander), monk
of St. Evroul, l 54.
William of Dijon, abbot of Fecamp,
19 n. 4, 74, 292.
William of Echauffour, son of Arnold
of Echauffour, 124; goes to Apulia,
l 26 and n. 3, l 28; his Lombard
wife, 126.
William (Calculus) of Jumieges, 2;
dedicates his work to William I, 78,
368; his GestaNormannorumDucum,
xiv, xvii, xxiv, xxxix, 6 n. 2, 134 n.
2, 169 n. 2, 176 n. 1, 198 n. 4, 204
n. 1, 206 n. 1, 208 n. 3, 222 n. 6,
1 GENERAL INDEX
368; Orderic's interpolations in, xiv
n . .z, xvi, xvii, xxiii, xxiv, 13 n. 3,
14 n. 1, 22 n. 1, 24 n. 3, 100 n. 3,
136 n. 1, 140 n. 2, 171 n. 4, 176 n. 2,
177 n. 5, 312 n. 3, 363, 364.
William of La Ferte, 306.
William of Malmesbury, xiv, xxiv,
xxv, xxvi, xxvii, xxviii, 138 n. 1,
171 n. 4, 246 n. 1, 265 n. 4, 270 n. 1,
340 n. I.
William of Merlerault, monk of St.
Evroul, his lost work on St. J udoc,
xxix, 166, 366-7.
William of Montreuil, monk of St.
Evroul and later of St. Pierre-sur-
Dive, 356.
William of Montreuil, son of William
son of Giroie, 26, 32; his gifts to St.
Evroul, 34-36; his career in Italy,
xxiii, 58, 59 n. 4, 98 and n. 3.
William of Moulins, 308.
'William of Nantes, abbot of Marmou-
tier, 192.
William of Poitiers, archdeacon of
Lisieux, chaplain of William the
Conqueror, 78, 184 and n. 1, 258-
60; dedicates his work to William,
78; his Gesta Guillelmi ducis, xviii,
xx-xxi, xxiii, xxxii, xxxiv, xiii, 135
n. 5, 136 n. 1, 138 n. 1, 140 n. 1, 141
n. 5, 142 n. 2, 144 n. 1, 145 n. 2,
169 n. 2, 170 n. 2, 172 nn. 1, 4, 175
n. 2, 176 nn. 1, 2, 177 n. 6, 178 nn.
2, 3, 180 n. 1, 181 n. 3, 182 n. 1, 184
nn. 1, 2, 193 n. 3, 194 n. 1, 195 n. 7,
196 nn. 2, 3, 197 n. 4, 198 n. 3,
202 nn. 1, 2, 204 n. 1, 206 nn. 1, 2,
208 n. 1, 211 n. 2, 214 n. 5, 218 n. 1,
232 n. 2, 233 n. 4, 234 n. 1, 248
nn. 2, 3, 256 n. 2, 304 n. 3, 364-5,
368-9.
William of Rots, abbot of Fecamp,
previously cantor, dean, and arch-
deacon of Bayeux, and monk of
Caen, 151, 292-4.
William of Roumare, 131 n. 4.
William I of Warenne, 140, 174, 196,
264, 316 and n. 3; granted Surrey,
xxxvi, 264 and n. 2; earl of Surrey
in 1088, 264 n. 2; his wife, see
Gundreda.
William Longsword, duke of Nor-
mandy, son of Rollo, 6, 8, 350.
•
William Malet, at Hastings, 178;
castellan of York, 222 and n. 2.
William Pantulf, man of Roger of
Montgomery, 262, 263 n. 7.
William Peverel, castellan of Notting-
ham, 218.
William Provost, lord of the church
of Les Augerons, 36; uncle of
William Gregory, 86 and n 1.
William Repostel, his murder, xxxi, 56.
William II (Rufus), king of England,
son of William the Conqueror,
xxxvi, 104, l 20, 186, 224 and n. 1,
284 n. 3, 356-8.
William Talvas, son of William I of
Belleme, 14, 26 and n. 4, 28, 122,
363-5; his sons, see Arnold, Oliver,
his daughter, see Mabel.
William the priest, lord of the church
of Les Essarts, 36.
William the Conqueror, king of Eng-
land, duke of Normandy, son of Rob-
ert the Magnificent, 2, 18, 34, 40,
46, 82-8~ 18~ 188, 29~ 35~ 362;
his minority, 24 n. 3 ; the importance
of the Belleme lands in his cam-
paigns, 365; his campaigns around
Domfront and Alen~on, 365; his
campaigns against Geoffrey Martel
and Henry I, 78; his victory at
Mortemer, 78 n. 2; exiles members
of the Giroie-Grandmesnil family
after troubles in the duchy, 78, 79
n. 3, So, 90; recalls them from exile,
122, 130; invades and conquers
Maine (1062/3), 104, 105 n. 5, l 16
and n. 2, l 1 8; invades Brittany
(1064), 105 n. 5; his claim to the king-
dom of England, 134-6; his alleged
agreement with Tostig (1066), xxiv,
140-2; consults his vassals on the
invasion of England, 140-2; seeks
papal support for his invasion of
England, 142; prepares to invade
England, 144; invades England,
168-70; his victory at Hastings,
172-80; advances to London, 180-
2; crowned king of England at
Westminster, 182-6; in Normandy
in 1067, 196-202, 208; appoints
regents in Normandy and returns to
England, Dec. 1067, 208; at Lon-
don, Christmas, 1067, 210, 211 n. 2;
,..
GENERAL INDEX
William the Conqueror (cont.)
his campaign against Exeter, 1068,
210-14; at Winchester, Easter
1068, 214; his campaigns in 1068-
70, xxxii, suppresses the rebellion
of 1068, 218 f.; at Winchester at
Easter I 069, 222; resistance to his
rule, 22+ f.; celebrates Christmas
1069, at York, 232, 234 n. 1;
his campaigns against the rebels in
1069, 228 f.; harries the North, 230-
2, 232 n. I; puts down the revolt
at Ely, 256-8; appoints regents in
Normandy in 1071, 280; rebellion
of the earls against him, 1075, 310-
18; his attempt to subjugate Maine,
300-10; makes peace with Fulk le
Rechin of Anjou, 310 and n. 1; in-
vades Brittany, 350; his quarrel with
his son Robert, 356-60; his mea-
sures to pacify England, 192-4; his
castle-building in England, 194-6,
218, and see castles; reconciled to
Count Eustace of Boulogne, 206 and
n. 2; his maintenance of justice in
England, 256; and in Normandy,
284; opposition to his rule in
England, xxxvm; criticized for
the execution of Waltheof, 350;
distributes lands and offices in Eng-
land after 1070, xxxv, 260-8; his re-
venues in England, 266; his court
as duke of Normandy, 62; at Lille-
bonne, 94; at Bonneville in June
1066, 144-6; founds St. Stephen's
and Holy Trinity, Caen, 10, 191;
founds Battle Abbey, 190-2; his
church appointments in Normandy,
146, 200, 254; his relations with the
abbey of St. Evroul: invests Thierry
as abbot, xv n. 1, 18; Thierry wishes
to return the staff, 66; confirms the
election of Robert of Grandmesnil,
and invests him, 74; appoints and in-
vests Osbern, 90-92, 110; appoints
and invests Mainer, 144-6; con-
firms charters to St. Evroul, 16, 38,
l 20; confirms charter to Troarn,
2 lo n. 1 ; invests Hoel as bishop of
Le Mans, 302; his church policy
in England, 236 f.; criticized, 272-
8 ; his reform of monastic life in
England, 248; holds council at Win-
chester in 1070, xxxii-xxxiv, 236;
holds council at Windsor in 1070,
xxxiii-xxxiv, 236; appoints Lan-
l GENERAL INDEX
York, 212 n. 1; rebels in 1068, 216;
surrenders in 1068, 218; attacked
by the Danes, 226-8, 230; King
Yark, archbishop of, see Ealdred,
Oswald, Thomas.
Yorkshire, 168.
franc archbishop of Canterbury, 'William at, 232, 234 andn. I; castles
252-4; his church appointments in in, 218, 222 and n. 3, 230. Zachary, pope (741 52), 242 and n. 3.
England,238,248-54,268-70,344;
his interest in historical writing, 78,
368; his army, see, mercenary sol-
diers, military service; his fleet, 144,
168; his chaplains, xxxiii, xxxviii
184, 201 n. 7; his clerks, 344-6;
his stewards, 124 n. 2; see also
stewards; his wife, see Matilda;
his sons, see Henry I, Richard
Robert Curthose, William Rufus'
his daughters, see Adela, Adelaide'.
( ?) Agatha, Cecilia, Constance.
William Werlenc, count of Martain
disinherited, 312 and n. 1. '
Willibald, 242 n. 3.
Winchester (Hants), 212 n. 1, 214,
220, 320-2, 344; men of, 228; relics
of St. Judoc at, 366, 367.
- bishop of, see .lEthelwold, Stigand,
Walchelin; bishopric of, 238 n. 1.
- castle built at, 194-6.
- council at (1070), xxxii-xxxiv, 236
and n. 4.
Windsor, council and court at (1070),
xxxiii-xxxiv, 236 and n. 4.
Winnoch, nephew of St. Judoc, 158;
not St. Winnoch, 158 n. 2.
Wissa, 'provincia' of, 336.
Worcester, Orderic's visit to, 186 n. 1,
188; Gregorian chant at, 270 n. 1.
Worcester, bishop of, see Ealdred,
Oswald, Samson of Bayeux, Wulf-
stan.
Worcester chronicle, 186 n. 1, see
Florence of Worcester, John of
Worcester.
Wothorpe (Lines.), 342.
Wulfgeat, abbot of Peakirk and Crow-
land, 344.
Wulfhere, king of Mercia (657-74),
244.
Wulfketel, abbot of Crowland, 344
and n. 3, 346.
Wulfnoth, son of Godwin, 178; died
in captivity in Normandy not at
Salisbury, 178 n. 3.
Wulfstan, St., Bishop of Worcester
(1062-95), xxxiv, 186 n. 1, 187 n. 2.