E * N G 
that ferved to aggravate his guilt: he was accordingly 
tried, condemned, and executed. His infamous wife did 
not long enjoy the fruits of her perfidy; but, falling 
fome time,after under the king’s difpleafure, was aban¬ 
doned by the world, and palled the reft of her life in con¬ 
tempt, rentorfe, and mifei'y. Some aftert, that this no¬ 
bleman fell a facrifice to the cruelty of Odo, not of Wil¬ 
liam ; but, however that may be, it is certain that Wal- 
theoff, and f'itz-Aubert, a noble Norman, who was alfo 
beheaded on this occafioii, were the only perfons of note 
that were executed during the reign of William the Con¬ 
queror. Having thus re-eftab!iftied the peace of his 
government, and extinguifhed the laft embers of rebellion 
with a deluge of blood, William returned once more 
to the continent, in order to purine Ralph de Gueder, 
who, efcapirig from England, had taken refuge with the 
count of Bretagne. Finding him, however, too power¬ 
fully protected by that prince, inftead of profecuting his 
vengeance, he wifely came to a treaty with the count, in 
which Gueder was included. 
William, A. D. 1076, having thus fecured the peace of 
his dominions, naturally expefted reft from his labours. 
But fuch is the blindnefs of human hope, that he found 
enemies where he leaf! expected them, and fuch too as 
ferved to embitter all the latter part of his life. His laft 
troubles were excited by his own children, from the del- 
truftion of whom he could expeft to reap neither glorynor 
gain. He had four fons, Robert, Richard, William, and 
Henry, befides feveral daughters. Robert, his eldeft fon, 
furnamed Curthofe, from the (hortnefs of his legs, was 
a prince who inherited all the bravery of his family and 
nation, but was more bold than prudent, and more en- 
terprifing than politic. Eager after fame, and impatient 
that his father fttould (land in the way, he afpired at that 
independence to which his temper, as well as circum- 
ftances of fituation, confpired to invite him. He had for¬ 
merly been promifed by his father the government of 
Maine, a province of France, which had fubmitted to 
William, and was alfo declared fuccelfor to the dukedom 
of Normandy. However, when he came to demand the 
execution of thefe engagements, he received an abfolute 
denial ; the king fitrewdly obferving, that it was not his 
cuftotn to throw off his clothes till he went to bed. Robert 
openly (hewed It is refentment, and-was often heard to 
exprefs his jealoufy of his two furviving brothers, Wil¬ 
liam and Henry, Richard having been killed by a (tag, in 
hunting. Thefe younger fons, by greater affiduity, had 
wrought upon the affections of the king, and were the 
moft obnoxious to Robert. A mind, therefore, fo well 
prepared for refentment, foon found a caufe for open rup¬ 
ture. The princes were one day in fport together, and, 
in the idle petulance of play, took it in their heads to 
throw water upon their elder brother as he palled through 
the court. Robert, alive to fufpicion, turned this frolic 
into a ftudied indignity ; and, having thefe jealoufies fur¬ 
ther inflamed by one-of his favourites, he drew his fword, 
and ran up ftairs to take revenge. The whole caftle was 
filled with tumult, and it was not without difficulty that 
the king himfelf was able to appeafe it. But he never 
could allay the animofity which from that moment pre¬ 
vailed in his family. Robert, attended by feveral of his 
confederates, withdrew to Rouen, hoping to furprife the 
caftle ; but his defign was defeated by the governor. 
The flame, thus kindled, engaged all the young nobi¬ 
lity of Normandy and Maine, as well as of Anjou and 
Bretagne, to efpoufe his quarrel ; even his mother, it is 
fajd, J'upported him by fedret remittances, and aided his 
obftinate refiftance of bis father by private encourage¬ 
ment. Tliis unnatural conteft continued for feveraL years; 
and William was obliged to have recourfe to England for 
firpport againft his fon. Accordingly, drawing an army 
of Englifhmen together, he led them over into Norman¬ 
dy ; where he foon compelled Robert and his adherents 
to quit the field, and he was quickly reinftated in all his 
dominions. As for Robert, being no longer able to refill 
Vol; VI. No. 372. 
.AND. 561 
his father, lie was obliged to take (belter in the caftle of 
Gerberoy, which the king of France had provided for 
him, where he was (liortly after befieged by bis father. 
As the garrrfon was ftrong, and confcious of guilt, they 
made a moft gallant defence; and many were The (kir- 
mifties and duels that were fought under its walls. In 
one of thefe, accident brought the king and his fon toge¬ 
ther; but, being both concealed by their helmets, they 
attacked each other with mutual fury. A fierce and 
dreadful combat enfued between them, till at laft the 
young prince wounded his father in the arm, and threw 
him from his horfe. The next blow would probably 
have put an end to the king’s life, had he not called for 
affiftance. Robert immediately recollected his father’s 
voice ; and, (lung with a confcioufnefs of his crime, he 
leaped from his horfe, and raifed the fallen monarch from 
the ground. He then proftrated himfelf in his prefence, 
and craved pardon for his offences, promifing for the fu¬ 
ture a drift adherence to his duty. The refentment har¬ 
boured by the king was not fo eafily appeafed ; perhaps 
his indignation at being overcome by the (tripling added 
to his anger: inftead, therefore, of pardoning his fon, he 
gave him his malediction, and departed for his own camp 
on Robert’s horfe, which the prince had affifted him to 
mount. However, the conduft of the fon ferved, after 
fome reflection, to appeafe the father. As (oon as Wil¬ 
liam was returned to Rouen, he became reconciled to 
Robert, and brought him back to England, where he 
was fuceefsfully employed in retaliating an invalion of 
Malcolm king of Scotland. 
William, A. D. 1081, being thus freed from foreign 
and domeftic enemies, began to have (ufficient leifure for 
a more attentive application to the duties of peace. For 
this purpofe, the Doomfday Book was compiled by his 
order, which contains a general furvey of all the lands in 
the kingdom ; their extent in each diftrict; their proprie¬ 
tors, tenures, value, the quantity of meadow, pafture, 
wood, and arable land, which they contained ; and in 
fome counties, the number of tenants, cottagers, and 
people of all denominations, who lived upon them. This 
detail enabled him to regulate the taxations in fuch a 
manner, that all the inhabitants were compelled to pay 
their (hare in proportion to their abilities. He was no 
lefs careful of the methods of faving money than of accu¬ 
mulation. He referved a very ample revenue for the 
crown; and, in the general diftribution of land among his 
followers, he kept pofleflion of no lefs than fourteen hun¬ 
dred of the choiceft manors in different parts of the king¬ 
dom. Such was his income, that it is juftly faid to have 
exceeded that of any Englifh prince either before or (ince 
his time. No king of England was ever fo opulent or ar¬ 
bitrary ; none fo able to lupport the fplendour and mag¬ 
nificence of a court; none had fo many places of trnftand 
profit to be (tow ; and none, confequently, had his com¬ 
mands attended with fuch implicit obedience. 
There was one pleafure to which William, as well as 
all the Normans and ancient Saxons, was addifted, which 
was hunting. To indulge the fport in its utmoft extent, 
he is faid to have depopulated that beautiful part of the 
county of Hants called the New Foreft, for thirty miles 
in extent, juft as he had done in Northumberland ; turn¬ 
ing out the inhabitants, deftroying all the villages, and 
making the wretched outcafts no compenfation. In the 
time of the Saxon kings, all noblemen without diftinftion 
had a right to hunt in the royal forefts ; but William ap¬ 
propriated all thefe to himfelf, and publiflied very fevere 
laws to prohibit bis fubjefts from encroaching on this 
part of his prerogative. The killing of a deer, a wild 
boar, or even a hare, was puniftied with the lofs of the 
delinquent’s eyes, at a time when the killing of a man 
might be atoned for by paying a moderate fine. 
As the king’s wealth and power were fo great, it may 
be eafily fuppofed that the riches of his minifters were in 
proportion. Thofe of his uterine brother Odo, biftiop 
of Baieux, were fo great, that he refolved to purchafe 
7 D the 
