WAREHAM : ITS INVASIONS AND BATTLES. 97 



amongst them the gallows, which he contended his ancestors had 

 enjoyed. 



In the reign of Henry Wareham Castle gained some fame as a 

 State prison. Henry's brother, Robert, Duke of Normandy, 

 attempted to regain his lost crown, and in his endeavours " Robert 

 de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel," was confederate. 

 Tidings of the treason reached Henry, and in consequence the 

 extensive possessions of Robert were forfeited and the offender 

 banished from the kingdom. The English had invaded Normandy, 

 and it is recorded that "In 1104 Henry I., who had overthrown 

 his brother Robert and taken him prisoner in Normandy, sent him 

 over to England and had him confined in the Castle at Wareham." 

 Subsequently, Henry and Robert became reconciled, but it would 

 be unreasonable to suppose that the breach between two such 

 inveterate enemies could be healed. Notwithstanding, Robert 

 spent the Christmas of 1106 with the King at Westminster, and by 

 reason of a quarrel during that festival Robert again sought safety 

 in flight. We gather from the Saxon Chronicle that in the year 

 1112 Henry, who was fighting in Normandy, "caused Robert de 

 Belesme to be seized and put in prison ; " and the following year, 

 " in the summer, he sent hither Robert de Belesme to be confined 

 in Wareham Castle." 



Wareham Castle " was famous for the imprisonment and death 

 of Robert de Belesme, Earl of Montgomery, who, rebelling against 

 Henry I., he brought him from Reresburg, in Normandy, 1114 (?), 

 (Hutchins) and committed him, sub arctissima custodia, to this 

 Castle, where he starved himself to death. He was the greatest, 

 richest, and wickedest man of his age. The time of his death is 

 not mentioned." 



At the death of Henry the Throne of England was usurped by 

 " Stephen, Earl of Boulogne," a grandson of the Conqueror, and 

 he having supplanted the rightful owner, a new series of calamities 

 commenced viz., a civil war. Wareham participated in this 

 struggle, and again became a scene of bloodshed, misery, and ruin. 

 King Henry's illegitimate son Robert was by that monarch created 



