ENGLAND. 



601 



History. 



Dissensions 

 in Wil- 

 liam's fa- 

 mily. 



A. D. 1076. 



Robert re- 

 rolts; 



A. D. 1079. 



but is again 

 received in- 

 to favour 



A. D. 1081. 



*omedy 



loss of their eyes or hands ; and Fitz-Auber, a noble 

 Normr.n, and Waltheof, the only two noblemen who 

 suffered death on this occasion, were beheaded. The 

 fate of \Valtheof was greatly lamented by his country- 

 men ; snd it was supposed that he owed his death to 

 the instigations of his wife. 



When William first formed the design of invading 

 England, he had, on the application of the French 

 court, declared Robert, his eldest son, his successor in 

 Normandy, and had obliged his barons to do him ho- 

 mage as t'heir future prince : but after he found himself 

 firmly established upon the English throne, he still re- 

 tained the sovereignty of that duchy; and when Robert 

 put him in mind of his promise, he positively refused 

 to fulfil it Robert inherited his father's military va- 

 lour and was equally haughty and impatient of con- 

 troul. The denial of what he supposed his just right, 

 kindled his indignation, which he had not the policy 

 to conceal. He openly shewed his discontent ; and 

 being farther irritated by an imaginary affront, he left 

 the court, and attempted to enforce his claims, by tak- 

 ing up arms against his father. He made an attempt 

 to surprise the citadel of Rouen ; but his design was 

 frustrated by the vigilance of the governor. He then 

 fled to Hugh de Neufchatel, a powerful Norman ba- 

 ron, who assured him of his protection and assistance; 

 and was soon after joined by most of the young nobi- 

 lity of Normandy and Maine. This unexpected and 

 almost general insurrection of his Norman subjects, 

 compelled William to have recourse to England. He 

 assembled an army of Englishmen under the command 

 of his ancient captains, and passing over into Norman- 

 dy, soon re-established his authority in all his continen- 

 tal dominions. Robert, with the principal insurgents, 

 shut himself up in the castle of Gerberoy, which the 

 king of France had prepared for his reception, and 

 where he was immediately besieged by his father. The 

 garrison made a vigorous defence, and, conscious of 

 their treason, were determined against submission. 

 They harassed the besiegers by continual sallies ; and 

 many a bloody encounter took place under the walls of 

 Gerberoy. In one of these, Robert and his father were 

 op|>osed without knowing each other, their faces being 

 concealed by their helmets ; and being both valiant, 

 they charged with such fury, that William was dis- 

 mounted. The arm of Robert was just lifted to strike, 

 when it was arrested by the voice of his father. Stiin^ 

 with remorse for his unnatural conduct, he immediate- 

 ly fell on his knees, and implored his father's forgive- 

 ness. William, smarting under the disgrace of his fall, 

 was at first implacable ; but afterwards, reflecting on 

 the generosity of his son, and influenced also by the 

 mediation of the queen, he again received him into fa- 

 vour. 



William employed the interval of peace in making a 

 general survey of all the lands in the kingdom. He 

 appointed commissioners for this purpose, who cir 

 in their register, by the verdict of juries, the extent of 

 lands in each district, their proprietors, their tenures, 

 and their value ; describing also the quantity of mea- 

 dow, pasture, wood, and arable land, which they con- 

 tained ; and in some counties, the number of tenants 

 and peasants who lived upon them. This register w;-s 

 called Domesilaif Hook, and is still preserved in the Ex- 

 chequer. Had William always employed his leisure in 

 such praise-worthy undertakings, it would have done 

 honour to his memory ; but he was generally occupied 

 with other pnr-uits, which, while they ministered mere- 

 ly to his amusement, oltea brought poverty and wretch- 



VOt. Tin." PART II. 



edness upon his unhappy subjects. His love of hunt- History, 

 ing, particularly, was carried to such a pitch, that, not * ~~ '"" 

 content with the extensive forests which former kings 

 possessed in all parts of England, he resolved to make 

 a new one near Winchester, and for this purpose depo- 

 pulated the county of Hampshire for an extent of thirty 

 miles. The inhabitants were driven from their homes, 

 their habitations demolished, and their property taken 

 from them, without any compensation being made to 

 the sufferers. The severest laws were also enacted 

 against those who should hunt in the king's forests ; 

 and the killing of a deer or a boar was punished by the 

 loss of the offender's eyes, while the crime of murder 

 could be expiated by a moderate fine. 



The amusements of the king, however, were inter- A. D. 1083. 

 rupted by the death of his consort Matilda, to whom Death of 

 he was tenderly attached ; and about three years after the <l ucen - 

 he was called to Normandy, to repress the insolence 

 and violence of some French barons, who had been en- 

 couraged by their sovereign to make inroads into his 

 territories. In all the dissensions in Normandy, the 

 insurgents had been in general instigated, and secretly 

 supported, by the French ; and William knew well, 

 that they were at best but insidious friends. He there- 

 fore resolved to make his vengeance fall upon those 

 who were the real disturbers of his tranquillity. His 

 rage was on this occasion greatly heightened by the 

 railleries of Philip, the French king. He had become 

 very corpulent, and, being confined to bed by sickness, 

 the Frenchman observed, that his brother of England 

 was long in being delivered of his big belly. When 

 William was informed of this, he sent Philip word, that 

 he would soon be up, and at his churching would pre- 

 sent such a number of lights at Notre Dame as would 

 set all France in a flame. He accordingly took the War "!> 

 field, and, entering the Isle of France, reduced the town trant ' c '- 

 of Mante to ashes, and carried slaughter and desolation 

 wherever he appeared. His progress, however, was 

 stopt by an accident which put an end to his life. 

 When leaping a ditch, the pommel of the saddle brui- 

 sed his belly, which was soon followed by a mortifica- 

 tion. On his deathbed, he endeavoured to atone for 

 the many cruelties and acts of violence which he had 

 committed upon his English subjects, by ordering Earl 

 Morcar and the other English nobles to be set at liber- 

 ty, and by making rich presents to churches and mo- 

 nasteries. He left Maine and Normandy to his eldest 

 son Robert, England was bequeathed to William, and 

 Henry was put in possession of the greatest part of his 

 personal tre:isures. He died in the (i'id year of his A. D. 1087. 

 age, and '21st of his reign over England. 



William II surnamed Rufus, from his red hair, im- William II. 

 mediately hastened to England, before intelligence of 

 his father's death had readied that kingdom, and ha- 

 ving secured the fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and 

 Hastings, and seized upon the royal treasure, he was 

 crowned by Lanfranc the primate. His accession, how- 

 ever, was soon followed by conspiracies and dissensions. 

 The barons were more attached to Robert, on account 

 of his open mid generous character, as well as his pre- 

 ferable title, being the eldest son. Many of them also 

 pos''"< ii estates both in England and Normandy, and 

 were unwilling that the two territories should be sepa- 

 rated, as, in the event of a war, they would be obliged 

 to resign either their ancient patrimony, or their new 

 acquisitions. At the head of the discontents were Odo, 

 Bishop of Baieux, and Robert, Earl of Mortain^e, ma- Conspiracy 

 temal brothers of the Conqueror, who, being joined by against th*. 

 some of the most powerful noblemen in the 

 4 o 



