FRA 
quiflted half the city of Sens, as the price of his alliance ; 
and that city, with Melun, Soiffons, and the adjacent 
towns, were feized by the confederates. Henry, incapable 
of telifting the torrent, efcaped with only twelve faithful 
followers into Normandy, and threw himfelfon the gene, 
rous friendfhip of duke Robert. The liberality of his 
protector juftified his confidence; and the treafures and 
forces of Normandy were devoted to his fervice. On one 
fide, the Normans, commanded by the duke in perfon, 
carried all before them; while the king himfelf thrice 
defeated the count of Champagne, who efcaped with dif¬ 
ficulty the purfuit of the victor. The temped was at 
length bullied by the mediation of Fulk count of Anjou ; 
Conftance funk beneath the pangs of difappointed rage ; 
prince Robert was gratified with the duchy of Burgundy ; 
the fubmifiion of the counts of Flanders and Champagne 
was followed by the reft of the vaffkls ; and the ferviccs of 
the duke of Normandy were compensated by the duchies 
of Gifors, Chaumont, and Pontoife. To the enterprifes 
of war fucceeded a negociation of marriage; and Henry, 
peaceably eftablifhed on the throne, in 1032, contracted 
liimfelf to Matilda, the daughter of Conrad king of Ger. 
many. Yet hiftorians more than doubt the confummation 
of thefe nuptials; and about ten years afterwards we find 
Henry efpoufed to Anne a daughter of Jerofolaus prince 
of Rufiia, who claimed her defeent from the dynafty of 
Bafil, the Roman emperors of the eaft. 
The fafiiionable fuperftition of the times had now im¬ 
proved the minds of men with the merit of pilgrimages 
to the Holy Land ; the martial fpirit and gallantry of the 
Normans were peculiarly inflamed with this fpecies of 
adventure; and Robert duke of Normandy, affiiming the 
pious garb of a pilgrim, prepared to vifit the facred fe- 
pulchre of Jerufalem. His fubjedts had acknowledged 
as his heir his fon William, whofe regular pretenfions 
were obftrutled by the illegitimacy of his birth ; the 
young duke was therefore committed to the care of Henry 
king of France. But the nobles of Normandy difdained 
the rule of an infant; and the helplefs years of the future 
Conqueror of England were infulted and contemned by his 
turbulent barons. The king of France, whether actuated 
by policy or friendfhip, with a numerous army entered 
the frontiers, confumed with fire the town of Argentan, 
and occupied the important fortrefs of Tilleres. Thefe 
diforders were increafed by the intelligence, that duke 
Robert, on his return from the Holy Land, had expired 
at Nice, A. D. 1037. The minifters who yet preferved 
their fidelity unfhtiken, and who watched over the tender 
years of duke William, Hill implored the protection of 
the king of France ; and Henry declared his refolution of 
vindicating the infulted authority of the Norman prince; 
his friendfhip was ardent and effectual ; he patted the 
frontiers, and at the valley of Dunes, between Caen and 
Argentan, encountered the revolted barons. The rebels 
maintained their ground with obftinate valour; the king 
himfelf was expofed to imminent danger, and, thrown 
from his horfe in the violence of the charge, was only 
preferved by the immediate fuccour of his attendants; 
but his victory was glorious and decifive.* the battle of 
Dunes firmly fixed the feeptre in the hands of the duke 
of Normandy. 
The acquifitions of the. Normans were not confined to 
their fettlements in France; and under different leaders 
their arms penetrated into the fertile regions of Italy, 
eftablifhed an independent fovereignty in Apulia, and foon 
afterwards embraced the kingdom of Naples, and reduced 
to their obedience the ifland of Sicily. Whether their 
progrefs in Apulia had alarmed the vigilant Henry, or 
that he early difeerned the lofty genius and unbounded 
ambition of William, that monarch foon after violated 
the friendfhip he had profeffed, and feemed conftantly to 
repent of the afiiftance he had afforded to the duke of 
Normandy. He therefore entered into a confederacy for 
the deftruCtion of the very prince he hud been fedulous 
to fupport; and, in 1054, entered Normandy with a pow- 
Vol. VII. No. 458. 
N C E. 665 
erful army. One divifion of thefe forces was led by Henry 
in perfon; the other he enfrufted to his brother Eudes. 
But the fuperior number of his troops was not fnfficient 
to overcome the obftacles thrown in his way by the va¬ 
liant and politic William ; tliofe led by himfelf were con¬ 
tinually harraffed, and repeatedly furprifed ; and the army- 
commanded by his brother was defeated in a decifive 
aCfion with cruel {laughter. PreflTed or broken on every 
fide, the French were compelled haftily to evacuate a 
country which they had unjuftly invaded ; and the terms 
of peace, which foon after followed, were dictated by the 
victorious duke of Normandy. 
The conftitution of Henry was now vifibly impaired ; 
his late defeat probably preyed upon his mind ; and, fen- 
fible of his approaching diffolution, he determined to pro¬ 
vide for the tranquillity of the kingdom by the aflbeiation 
of the heir to the throne. Of his three fons by Anne, 
Philip the eldeft, then only feven years of age, was fo- 
lemnly crowned at Rheims by the archbifhop of that 
city; and Henry named Baldwin count of Flanders as the 
guardian of his infancy, in cafe he himfelf (bonld not live 
to fee him attain the vigour of manhood. His fears were 
juft; in the Auguft following the coronation of Philip, 
Henry breathed his laft, in the fifty-fixth year of his age, 
and the thirtieth of his reign. 
The character of this monarch is chiefly ftained by his 
ungenerous attempt againfl the dominions of-the duke of 
Normandy; and the injuftice of the enterprife did not 
ferve to reconcile him to the mortification of defeat; yet 
the firmnefs of mind with which he refilled the encroach¬ 
ing fpirit of the pope, has merited the praife of the hifto- 
rian. Leo IX. had entered France, and in a council held 
at Rheims had degraded feveral bifhops contrary to the 
will of the king ; pope Nicholas II. was defirous of tread¬ 
ing in the footfteps of his predeceftor; but he in vain fo- 
licited the confent of Henry to a fimilar vifit; he ftedfaftly 
declined the proffered honour; and the Roman pontiff, 
after a fruitlefs negociation, was compelled to relinquifh 
his fpiritual plans of perfecution. 
On the death of Henry, Baldwin count of Flanders, 
the'guardian of Philip, was appointed regent of France. 
He poffelled every quality which could recommend him to 
this important truft ; his valour was tempered by caution, 
and his vigilance was fuperior to all the machinations of 
evil-minded and defigning men. The people of Aquitaia 
endeavoured to take advantage of the youth of their fo- 
vereign ; but they were chaftifed by the arm of Baldwin; 
and the anxious guardian, amidft the complicated cares 
of government, negledled not to beftow upon his royal 
pupil fuch an education as might contribute to his own 
happinefs, and that of the people over whom he was de. 
{lined to reign. 
Yet the adminifiration of Baldwin has not efcaped cen- 
fure : it has been imputed to him as an inexcnfeable 
error, that he fuffered fo ambitious a neighbour as the 
duke of Normandy to extend the limits of his dominions, 
and to atchieve the important conqneft of England ; for 
particulars of which the reader is referred to the article 
England, vol. vi. p. 558. Perhaps he was influenced 
by a natural regard for a prince who had married his 
daughter ; or perhaps he dreaded his enterprifing fpirit, 
and was willing to Secure the immediate tranquillity of 
the country he ruled, by diverting the ftream of conqueft 
another way. Whatever were his motives, the confe- 
quences were for ever fatal to the interefts and indeperu 
dence of the French monarchy ; the fplendid acquifition 
of the crown of England was pregnant with a Series of 
bloody and deftrudlive wars, which always contributed to 
exhanft, and frequently threatened to iubvert, the mo= 
narchy of France. 
The death of Baldwin, regent of France, quickly fuc¬ 
ceeded the invafion and conqueft of England by "William 
of Normandy ; and in the fifteenth year of his age, A. D. 
1067, Philip affumed the peaceable adminifiration of his 
dominions. The able minifters who had been promoted 
S G fey 
