Archaeological Journal/Volume 3/Observations in Disproof of the Pretended Marriage of William de Warren
OBSERVATIONS IN DISPROOF OF THE PRETENDED MARRIAGE OF WILLIAM DE WARREN, EARL OF SURREY, WITH A DAUGHTER BEGOTTEN OF MATILDIS, DAUGHTER OF BALDWIN, COMTE OF FLANDERS, BY WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, AND ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAMILY IN NORMANDY.
The Cotton Manuscript Vespasian F. xv. contains the Nigrum Registrum prioratus de Lewes quod fieri fecit Robertus Auncell, prior, Anno Domini 1444, which was formerly belonging to the earls of Dorset, whose ancestor had a grant from the crown of the site of the priory of Lewes, and was subsequently in the hands of Sir Edward Byshe and Doctor Matthew Hutton, by whom it was given to Sir Robert Cotton. Being of so late a date the narrative portion of its contents is utterly unworthy of being considered as any authority, and the assertion it contains that William de Warren, the founder, was made earl of Surrey by William the Conqueror, and that he married his daughter, is disproved by the charter, copied from another register of Lewes (which was in the possession of John Selden, Esquire, in 1049, and doubtless of earlier date) by Dugdale, and printed in the Monasticon in 1655. In neither of these repositories is there any copy of the original charter of foundation, which had been sent to the abbey of Cluny, in Burgundy, to which this priory was a cell, by reason of the refusal of Hugh, the abbot, to send over monks until he had received the said charter, and had obtained the king's license for their admission into England.
The first endowment made during the reign of William the Conqueror is now only to be collected from the entries of its possessions in Domesday book, and from an original charter of that king, which is preserved in the Cottonian manuscript, Vespasian F. 111 fol. 1, now in part illegible, owing to decay and the application of some chemical mixture, with a view to render the writing distinct. In the new edition of the Monasticon is a copy of this charter, with the words filiæ meæ after Gonfredæ, as part of the original; but, in fact, erroneously, as they are interlined in a modern hand of the fifteenth century. In another Cotton MS., Vespasian E. 11, is an early fragment of a register of Lewes, which, under the heading Comes vetus, details the possessions of Lewes, which are confirmed by this royal charter in this form:—
Willelmus comes primus, concedente filio suo secundo Comite, dedit nobis pro anima Gundrade uxoris sue Waltuna cum pertinentiis suis, scilicet, dimidiam Walpolam et terram de Chenewica et terram Brunsuen. Reddit sancto Pancratio viii libras cum x solidis, quos accrevit Ranulfus Decanus quando placitavit contra Achi. Godwinus diaconus reddit xx soli- dos de terra sua et Stangelinus junior et Mainerius filius ejus xx solidos. Stangelinus presbiter de Limea reddit pro terra sua xvi libras. Godricus miles de Walsocha reddit xx solidos pro terra sua. Ceteri homines nostri de Walsocha pertinent ad Waltunam et hoc quod reddunt est in firma de Waltuna, et tercia pars de Anamera, que nostra est, pertinet ad Waltunam et redditus ejus est in firma de Waltuna. In Wella piscatores reddunt ix solidos et ceteri homines nostri reddunt et pertinent ad Waltunam. Waltuna et quicquid habemus infra Maresia reddunt lx et xi libi-as et x solidos.
The charter of William the Conqueror is apparently as follows:—
Notum sit presentibus et futuris quod ego Willelmus (gratia Dei) rex Anglorum concedo monasterio Sancti Pancratii quod si + ta est apud Leuuas pro anima domini et antecessoris mei regis eduuardi et pro anima patris mei comitis + Rotberti et pro mea ipsius anima et uxoris mee Matildis regine et filiorum atque successorum meorum et pro anima + Guillelmi de uuarenna et uxoris sue Gon (dra) de (pro me et heredibus meis) quandam mansionem nos + tram nomine Waltonam cum omnibus que ad eandem mansionem pertinent, que Willelmus ac illam mansionem tenet + de me. Concedo etiam ut monachi in eodem monasterio conversantes et conversaturi ea libertate pos + sideant, qua ecclesie, quas barones mei, me concedente, construunt, possident, elemosinas, quas ego eis concessi. + Et ita quod ego in ista elemosina habeam quicquit in illis habeo. Et ut donatio hec firma et inconcussa + perpetuo maneat signo sancte crucis manu propria confirmavi et manibus fidelium meorum testificandam + liberavi.
S. Wil + lelmi Regis. S. Rob + berti (filii Regis.) S. Willelmi + filii Regis. S. Hainrici + filii Regis. S. Willelmi de + Warenna. S. Tho + me archicpiscopi . S. Os-j-mundi episcopi. S. Wauche lini episcopi. S. Remigii + episcopi. S. Willelmi + episcopi Dunelmensis. S. Hain + rici. S. Richardi + de Ton(ebrige) (S. Alani + comitis Britannie) S. Walteri + Giffardi. S. Eduuardi + vicecomitis. S. Milonis + Crispini.
Waltuna tenuit Toche liber homo tempore regis eduuardi. Modo tenet Sanctus Petrus. iiii carucatæ terræ, semper ix villani, &c. Tota valet xvii libras et x solidos. Tota habet iiii leugas in longo et ii quarentenas in lato, quicumque ibi teneat, et redit ii solidos de gelto de xx solidis. Hoc est de feudo Fedrici.
This notification applies to all the lands that were held by the Saxon Toche; and in Domesday, under Terræ Willelmi de Warene, in Cambridgeshire, f. 196 b, we have this statement of his degree of affinity to William de Warene.
In Trepeslav Hundredo. In Trumpinton tenet Willelmus iiii hidas et dimidiam. Terra est v carucarum. In dominio sunt iie et ix villani cum iiii bordariis habentes iii carucas. Ibi i molinum de xx solidis. Pratum v carucarum. Pastura ad pecora villæ et iiii socos. Valet et valuit vi libras. Tempore regis Eduuardi vii libras. Hanc terram tenuit Tochi de Eclesia de Ely, die quo rex Eduuardus fuit vivus et mortuus, nee potuit dare nec vendere, nec ab Eclesia separare. Hanc terram postea habuit Frederi, frater Willelmi.
Domesday again furnishes us in the survey of the lands of William de Warren, in Norfolk, with the proof that this brother of William de Warren was a Fleming, and this entry is of singular importance in subverting the fabled royal descent of Gundrada, as a daughter of William the Conqueror; it occurs in vol. ii. fol. 169, b. Hundredum de Grenehou.
In Pagrava tenet Sanctus Ricarius i carucatam terre (de fedo Fedrici) quam tenuit quidam liber homo tempore Regis Edwardi. Tunc iiii villani et semper, modo ii bordarii. Semper in dominio i caruca et semper inter omnes dimidia caruca. Tunc valuit xx solidos, modo xxv solidos.
In Acra tenuit quidam liber homo i carucatam terræ, semper vi villani et i bordarius et iii servi et i caruca in dominio. Tunc inter omnes iii carucæ, modo i. Silva ad xv porcos. Semper dimidium molinum. Tunc valet et semper xx solidos, hoc est de fedo Fretherici. Wimerus tenet.
The monastery designated by the name of Sanctus Petrus in these extracts from Domesday is that of Cluny, and that under the name of Sanctus Ricarius had anciently the Latin name of Centulum, and at the present day its site is the small town of Saint Ricquier, canton of Ailly-le-haut-Clocher, arrondissement of Abbeville, Departement of La Somme, being included in the pagus Pontivus, or Ponthien, in the diocese of Amiens. In the chronicle of this abbey, printed by D'Achery, in his Spicilegium, is a copy of a charter of Guy, Comte of Ponthieu, made at the solicitation of abbot Gervinus, annuentibus Proceribus meæ provinciæ in præsentia Regis Philippi Marchionisque Balduiui, necnon etiam principum regalis palalii, granting to St. Ricqnier the fourth part of a vill, called Outrebois, with these witnesses, signum Balduini juvenis comitis, signum Frederici, &c. Actum est hoc anno Regis Philippi imperii vi. Incarnationis Dominicæ mlxvii. In this the second year of the reign of William the Conqueror in England, Abbot Gervinus passed over to his court, and obtained from him a confirmation of the gifts made to his monastery in the days of King Edward, being present Ralph, earl of Norfolk, with his son of the same name, who joined in this petition to the king, as they themselves had been the donors. His charter has this preamble: Bi nomine Sanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis, ego Guillelmus concessu Dei Anglorum Rex, affectu mei profectûs in Domino, et prece compulsus Domni Abbatis Gervini Monasterii sancti Richarii, quod est situm in pago comitatûs Ponlivi, nihilominus quoque hortatu amicorum meorum, Radulfi scilicet comitis, necnon et filii ejus Radulfi, annuentibus etiam unanimiter meæ curiæ Primatibus, regio more concedo quicquid hi ambo, videlicet pater et filius, fratrum prælibati Sancti devote concesserunt usibus. Quarum igitur ecclesiarum vel mansionum, ut cunctis manifestetur cognitio, dignum duximus in præsenti denominatim manifestare scripto. Hæc est Sancti Richarii terra in Anglicis finibus sita a Radulfo comite eidem Sancto tradita. The places named are Sporle, South Acre, Custhorp, Cotes, Pickenham, Narford, Swaffham and Gaywode, Earl Ralph by his wife of the race of the Bretons in France had inherited the towns of Gael and Montfort in Britanny, being himself probably a Fleming, and died during the reign of the Conqueror. He was succeeded in his title of earl of Norfolk, by his son of the same name, whose conspiracy in 1074 is fully described by William of Malmesbury, in which Roger, earl of Hereford, brother of his wife, and Waltheof, earl of Huntingdon, were involved. At the time of the survey his vast possessions in Norfolk were in the king's hands, and it is also probable that Frederic, brother-in-law of William de Warren, was engaged in the same conspiracy, as the whole of his fief had been transferred to that illustrious Norman. At the same time the abbey of St. Ricquier lost the possessions of their gift, and with the single exception of the carncate of land in Little Pagrave, there is no other mention of this abbey at the time of this survey. Sporle was subsequently given to the Benedictine abbey of St. Florent at Saumnr in the reign of Henry the Second, and it was the site of an alien priory, dissolved in the parliament held at Leicester 2 Hen. V. 1424, and made parcel of the endowment of Eton college by Henry VI. in the nineteenth year of his reign. Pagrave was a berewic of Sporle or Spurley, and divided between earl Ralph and Frederic, and hence the names of Great Pagrave and Little Pagrave; at which last was a chapel in the parish of Sporle, now destroyed[1].
The name of Warren was that of a river, which has its source in the commune of Omonville-sur-Varenne and falls into the canal of Dieppe below the castle of Arques, from which it has now the appellation of riviere d' Arques. Seated upon the left bank of this river was the bourg, which anciently had the same name as the river, the chief residence of the family, who bore the local surname; and it was only at a period subsequent to the raising of a fair mound in the valley for the site of the castle, that another epithet derived from this structure attached to its locality, as in the name of Bel Encombre we have the literal translation of Bellus Cumulus. Bellencombre is now the cheflieu of a canton in the arrondissement of Dieppe, departement of La Seine Inferieure, with a population of 927 inhabitants. The cartulary of the monastery of the Holy Trinity of the Mont de Rouen, subsequently designated the abbey of Sainte Catherine after the acquisition of her relics, a manuscript of the eleventh century, furnishes the earliest notice of the first baron of this name in Normandy. From it we learn that Rodulf de Warren was a sharer and coheir with Roger, son of the bishop, in an extensive fief in the vicinity of Rouen, and that they had also several vills in the pays de Caux, and hence he was doubtless identical with Radulf, son of the bishop, whose name occurs in the following instrument, inserted in the cartulary of the cathedral church of Rouen, which regards the two communes of Douvrend and Bailly la riviere, near Dieppe.
Hoc scriptum est quomodo villa de Duuerent a dominicatu Archiepiscopatus exiit et quomodo postea rediit. Duerent fuit in dominico Sancte Marie. Hugo Archiepiscopus tulit de dominicatu et dedit cuidam militi, Odoni, in matrimonio sororis sue. Mortuo Odone dedit iterum Hugo sororem suam cuidam Henrico cum eadem terra. Postea defuncto Henrico clamat eam Walterus, comes de Medanta, propter hoc quod Henricus suus consanguineus erat, et ita ei dedit Robertus Archiepiscopus. Postea redemit eam Robertus Archiepiscopus, qui eam sibi dederat, pleno pilleo de denariis, et ita redacta est terra de Duerent in dominicatu sancte Marie. In quo Robertus Archiepiscopus dominicatu triginta annis et plus quiete tenuit; sed postea amore captus filiorum Ricardo filio suo injuste tradidit.
Membra ipsius terre sunt hec; Putham, Duuerendel, Puteolis, Airumesnil Hagenonmesnil, Hugonismesnil, Rainulfivallis, Le Coldret, Hupei, Cornepit; et partes de Baslei, scilicet Montane, Muntut et Extriemontem, quas adquisivit Robertus Archiepiscopus judicio Ricardi Comitis et principum ejus in appendiciis Duuerent; ad quarum divisionem et saisionem misit Ricardus Comes Goscelinum filium Hecdonis, Ricardum vicecomitem filium Tescelini, et Radulfum filium Episcopi, et Osbertum de Augia. Hi manducaverunt ipse die cum archiepiscopo in silva, que dicitur Blanca, et flagellaverunt ibi plures puerulos atque eos bene refocillaverunt in recordatione et memoria hujus facti. Fuerunt etiam quamplures conpatriote, scilicet, Walterus et Wacelinus frater ejus de Euermo, Hagenon de Hubovilla, Ricardus de Sancto Supplicio, Reinerus de Berengerivilla et Ricardus de Capitevallis et multi alii[2].
The cartulary of the abbey of St. Amand contains this record, proving the identity of Roger, son of the bishop, and consequently that of his brother Ralph, as sons of Hugh, bishop of Coutances:—
Cum prescriptis beneficiis illud etiam in hoc privilegio (i. e. Willelmi Regis Anglorum quinto anno regni sui) annotatur donum, quod Rogerius filius Hugonis episcopi Constaucie urbis, ecclesie gloriose Dei genitricis Marie et beati Amandi Christi antistitis, que est infra muros urbis Rothomagensis, concessit quando filiam suam, videlicet, Emmam Christi obsequio mancipavit. In comitatu Talou hoc mansum, quod vulgo vocatur Herboumesnil, predictus Rogerius dedit cum uno molendino. In eodem comitatu terrani que vocatur de la Mare prefate ecclesie tribuit, quam nunc tenet Walchelinus. Preterea hanc terram, quam nunc Turoldus presbyter et fratur ejus Turchitillus tenent, cum hiis, que pertinent ad illam, donavit similiter Rogerius. In hac elemosina habeatur quedam piscaria, que de censu xv solidos solvit monachis Sancti Dionisii unoquoque anno + Signum Willelmi Normannorum comitis. + Signum ipsius Rogerii.
Aubermesnil is a commune in the canton of Blangy, arrondissement of Neufchatel, departement of La Seine-Inferieure, between Mortemer and Foucarmont, a district which had anciently the name of the comté of Talou, as comprising the territory limited by the river Bresle, anciently named Augus; and it was doubtless parcel of the fief, of which the castle of Mortemer was originally the chief seat, and from which the descendants of Roger, as well as himself, had their surname. Hugh, bishop of Coutances, was present at the dedication of the church of Fecamp in the year 990, and survived as late as the year 1020. Also of his endowment was the priory of St. Lo of Rouen, to which he transferred seven canons, of those who had been appointed to the cathedral of Contances, afterwards the usual place of residence of his successors in the capital of the duchy, being inclusive of the church of Blosseville-Bonsecours, in the vicinity of the Mont de Rouen, a commune, which was shared between his sons. According to the continuator of William, the monk of Jumiéges, whose own history closed with the accession of Robert Courte-heuze to the ducal throne, and who from internal evidence was doubtless a monk of the abbey of Bec Herluin, the families of Warren and Mortemer derived their descent from a common ancestor, and such tradition was undoubtedly correct. In the text of Duchesne we read this paragraph of this writer, under the heading Quomodo eadem Comitissa sorores suas et neptes nobilioribus Normannorum in conjugium tradidit et de posteritate earumdem, having reference to the countess Gunnor, wife of Richard I. Comte of Normandy, deceased in 996.
Et quoniam de sororibus Gunnoris Comitissæ fecimus mentionem, libet etiam de illis, qui secundo gradu consanguinitatis affines eidem fuere, prout ab antiquis accepimus, aliqua dicere. Habuit ergo ex fratre suo Herfasto eadem Comitissa nepotem Osbernum de Crepon, patrem videlicet Willelmi, Comitis Herefordiæ, viri per omnia laudabilis. Neptes vero plures prædicta Gunnor habuit: sed solummodo de quinque, quibus maritis nupserint, audivi. Una itaque earum matrimonio copulata est patri primi Willelmi de Warenna, ex qua natus est idem Willelmus, postea Comes Surreiæ, et Rogerius de Mortuomari, frater ipsius. Altera Nicholao de Bascheritvilla, ex cujus posteritate natus est Willelmus Martellus et Walterus de Sancto Martino.
The memory of the aged people from whom this writer received this information, cannot be implicitly relied upon, and the lapse of time requires that we ascend a generation higher, so as to fix the marriage of this nameless niece with one contemporary with Richard I. in the person of Hugh, afterwards bishop of Contances, and father of Ralph de Warren and Roger de Mortemer, as this contemporary charter witnesses.
Non inconsulte antiquorum ritu approbatum constat, ut quod in constabiliendis rebus concors fidelium sententia approbat, hoc fideli litteræ tradatur, quæ longiore ævo perdurat. Cujus vivaci testimonio cunctis tam presentibus quam et nostris minoribus notum facimus, nos fratres in Retomagensi monte Sanctæ Trinitati, Deo nostro, in unum servientes, quod habita cum Rodulfo Warethnæ emptionis conventione in perpetuum hujus nostri loci alodium, e vicino ejus centum acres silvæ triginta emimus libris, et quattuordecim acres terræ arabilis in Blovilla decem aliis libris, et item beneficium coci ejus Odonis apud villain dictam Merdeplud aliis decem libris. Item quoque pratum ponti Hunfridi subjacens decern libris. Item ab eodem Rodulfo terram unius carrucæ ad Blovillam pro sexdecim libris et terram præti Sottevillæ pro decem libris accepimus; et in ejus necessitate pallium unum pro viginti libris et xxx solidis dedimus. Item de supradicta silva centum acras emimus a Rogerio filio Episcopi, qui et particeps et coheres est ejusdem allodii. xv libris. Sed et ipsam partem de castellario, quæ nostræ emptioni est coutinua et ad ipsum pertinebat, emimus xxx solidis. Supradictas autem centum acres quidam noster familiaris, nomine Rogerius, sue adjutorio nos confortavit emere, quum ipse prior xv libras pro sexaginta acres dedit, et post ad centenam perfectionem aliis xv libris, quas solvimus, pervenire nos fecit. Hujus emptionis affirmatorem dominum nostrum Willelmum, Normannorum ducem, ex ejus signo subter agnoscendum constat, et Rotomagensis archiepiscopi Malgerii subsignatam auctoritatem, et hujus rei ne quis infringere presumat affirmationem.
Signum Willelmi comitis. Signum Archipræsulis Malgerii. Signum ejusdem Rodulfi de Guarethna. Signum Beatricis, uxoris ejus. Signum Rogerii filii episcopi. Signum Hubertii filii Turoldi. Signum Willelmi. Signum Hugonis. S. Hepponis. S. Rotberti. S. Warnerii forestarii. S. Erchemboldi. S. Gunfridi. Signum Snelli. Signum Willelmi filii Rogerii, heredis scilicet ipsius, qui, ut omni paternæ conventioni annueret, partem suam condonaret, xiiii libras et x solidos a nobis accepit. Signum Hugonis fratris ejus. Signum Rodulfi de Cruizmara. S. Turoldi filii Osberni de Freschenes. Signum Gulberti filii Rodulfi de Cruizmara. Signum Hugonis de Flamenvilla. Ex nostra parte signum Ricardi, senescal. S. Bernardi coci. S. Ansfredi coci. S. Ascelini prepositi. S. Rodulfi filii Benzelli.
Manger, archbishop of Rouen, was the successor of Archbishop Robert, his paternal uncle, deceased in 1037, which see he retained until May, 1055. Blosseville, Eauplet, and Pont Honfroi, are in the immediate vicinity of the Mont de Rouen, and Sotteville-lez-Rouen lies next its suburb on the south side of the Seine. The use of the word castellarium, in the sense of castellaniæ districtus, attests the tenure of this land of Roger to have been annexed to the castle of Mortemer, and among the witnesses are the two sons of Roger, William and Hugh, the former of whom ratified the sale made by his father. Below in the same cartulary we read:
Item Rodulfus de Warenna, consensu uxoris suæ vocabulo Emmæ, domno Rainerio abbati et Monachis Sanctæ Trinitatis totam portionem suam silvæ montium Blovillæ et Scurræ septem libris denariorum vendidit, quarta feria ante Pascha Domini, Willelmo, inclito duce Normannorum, assensum prebente. S. ejusdem Willelmi comitis. S. ipsius Rodulfi. Signum Emmæ, uxoris ejus. S. Hugonis de Flamenvilla. S. Leudonis. Ex nostra parte. S. Ansfredi, coci. S. Bernardi, coci. S. Warnerii forestarii. S. Alberici forestarii.
Owing to this arrangement Monsieur Deville, the editor of this cartulary, plausibly assumes that these charters were in chronological order, and consequently appended this note; "hic enim invenitur Rodulfus I. de Warenna, conjux Beatricis, postea Emmæ, ex qua Rodulfum II. et Willelmum I. filios habuit. Hic Willelmus I. comitatus est Willelmum Conquestorem in Angliam, a quo recepit fere trecenta maneria, postea a Willelmo Rufo, comitatum Surreiæ," at the foot of the following charter:
Vir quidem, nomine Hugo de Flamenvilla, vendidit Sanctæ Trinitatis monachis decimam, quam tenebat de domino suo Rodulfo de Warethna in Amundi Villa et terram unius mansi, annuente ipso Rodulfo, qui etiam, accepto precio a monachis, dedit illis consuetudinem moltæ, quæ sui juris erat in prædicto manso; et in Maltevilla decimam, quam ex supradicto viro et ex alio, nomine Willelmo, filio Walonæ, tenebat, et unum hortum et decimam culturæ de Ramara. Item in eadem villa, &c. In Flamenvilla quoque ipse predictus Hugo totam propriæ carrucæ decimam, necnon ct omnium virorum ejusdem villa ad se pertinentium, tam vernaculorum quam rusticorum, nobis tradidit et donavit. Post modicum tempus pretaxati Hugonis dominus, scilicet supra memoratus Rodulfus et uxor ejus, vocabulo Emma, ac filii eorum Rodulfus et Willelmus, ad nostrum venerunt monasterium; una cum eis venit ipse Hugo, rogavit eos ut harum omnium conventionum donationem in perpetuam hereditatem facerent, et coram altari sancta Trinitatis suis manibus cartam signarent, et fecerunt. Harum omnium conventionum testes multi sunt, et maxime hi, qui eodem die, quo ejus puer monachus est effectus, interfuerunt. Cum quibus ipse etiam predictus Hugo cartam manu sua firmavit, ibidem abbate Rainerio cum suis monachis astante.
S. Rodulfi de Warethna. S. Vidonis de Briothna. S. Willelmi, filii Walonis. S. Emmæ, uxoris Rodulfi de Warethna. S. Rodulfi, filii eorum. S. Willelmi fratris ejus. S. ipsius Hugonis de Flamenvilla. S. Rotberti filii ejus. S. Gisleberti filii ejusdem. S. Rodulfi de Wesneval. Ex nostra parte. S. Ricardi senescal. S. Osmundi, marescal. S. Bernardi coci. S. Ansfredi coci.
Eodem anno, quo in conjugium sortitus est Normannorum Marchio, Willelmus nomine, Balduini comitis filiam, dedit sancto Petro Pratelli consuetudines, quas habebat in quadam terra, que Wascolium vulgo vocatur, scilicet, hainfaram, utlac, rat, incendium, bernagium, bellum. Pro quibus abbas ejusdem loci Ansfridus nomine ei dignam dedit pecuniam, id est, x libras denariorum et orationes loci Pratelli. Eodem anno quidam miles de Warenna, Radulfus nomine, annuente conjuge sua Beatrice, dedit sancto Petro Pratelli quicquid in eadem terra, scilicet, Wascolio, habebat in plano, in aqua et silva; et ideo dedit ei predictus abbas societatem loci et quinque uncias auri et centum solidos et anulum aureum unum appendentem novem nummos et unum coclar argenteum. Huic conventioni interfuerunt testes ex parte Abbatis Rogerius filius Hunfridi, eo tempore vicecomes Rotomagi, et Girardus, comitis botellarius, et Guarnerius et Gotmundus et Gaufridus milites Abbatis et Christianus et Herbertus presbyteri. Ex parte vero Radulfi, Godefridus, frater ejus, et Hilbertus filius Turoldi de Fontanis et Robertus filius Ansfridi de Ivetot.
Ansfridus succeeded as abbot of Preaux, his predecessor Einardus in 1050, and the marriage of Duke William with Matilda did not take place until 1053, so that we are able to fix this date as that of the above grant, and to add a third brother Godefridus to the issue of Hugh, bishop of Coutances. Vascœuil is situate on the river Andelle, in the vicinity of the forest of Lyons. On the other hand the cartulary of the Holy Trinity affords two specific dates as to the time of his being the husband of Emma.
Notum sit omnibus sanctæ ecclesie filius tam præsentibus quam etiam futuris, qualiter vir quidam illustris, nomine Rodulfus de Warenna, cum conjuge sua, vocabulo Emma, divina favente gratia, quatuor suis juris ecclesias cum omnibus appenditiis suis, videlicet, harum villarum, id est, Amundi villæ, Anglicevillæ, Flamenvillæ, Maltevillæ, domno Abbati Rainerio et monachis ejus pro xxx libris denariorum, in alodio vendiderunt et tradiderunt. Sed et unicuique ecclesiæ contiguos sex jugeres terræ, quos acres dicimus, supradicto abbati et monachis in perpetuam hereditatem tradiderunt. Hoc ergo actum est favore et auctoritate Willelmi, consulis Normanniæ, qui etiam hujus negotii donationem firmavit, et proprio adnotationis signo cartam corroboravit.
Signum ejusdem Willelmi comitis. Signum Rodulfi de Warenna. Signum Emmæ uxoris ejus. Signum Hugonis de Flamenvilla. Ex nostra parte. Signum Bernardi coci. S. Ricardi Senescal. S. Osberni Bruncosted. S. Ansfredi coci. S. Heddonis de Chanaan. Acta sunt hæc anno ab Incarnatione Domini M.LVIIII.
Omnibus sanctæ ecclesiæ filiis notum sit, quod Rodulfus de Warenna ejusque conjux, vocabulo Emma, cum filiis suis, Rodulfo scilicet atque Willelmo, post annos fere xvi, quam quatuor villarum Caletensis pagi, Maltevillæ, videlicet, Flamenvillæ, Amundivillæ et Anglicevillæ ecclesias et earum decimas nobis vendiderant, convenientes in hoc monasterio anno dominicæ incarnationis MLXIIII, omnem totius Osulfivillæ ejusdem Caletensis pagi, cum ecclesia, decimam, quam a Guillelmo filio Rogerii filii Hugonis episcopi xxx libris denariorum emerant, pro redemptione animarum suarum in perpetuam hereditatem nobis dederunt, et donationem super altare Sancta Trinitatis posuerunt coram testibus.
Signum ipsius Rodulfi. Signum Emmæ uxoris ejus. Signum Rodulfi filii eorum. Signum Willelmi, fratris ejus. Signum Hugonis de Flamenvilla. Signum Rainaldi. Signum Guillelmi, filiorum ejus. Signum Gisleberti, clerici. Signum Leudonis. Ex nostra parte testes: Ricardus senescal. Bernardus, cocus; Ricardus de Appivilla; Guillelmus, sartor; Rainaldus, Anglicus; Walterius, cocus; Albericus de Blovilla; Osbernus Bruncosted.
The five churches named in these evidences are those of Mauteville-l'Eneval, otherwise Motteville-les-deux-clochers, Flamanville-l'Eneval, Emanville, Anglesqueville-sur-Saane and Auzouville l'Eneval, the affix of L'Eneval being derived from the manor of Eneval in the parish of Pavilly, which was the head of a barony, including these parishes in the pays de Caux, in times subsequent to the annexation of Normandy to the realm of France. Besides the proof thus afforded of the co-heirship of these two brothers in the pays de Caux, we find that Roger, son of Bishop Hugh, sold to the monastery of the Holy Trinity and to the abbot Rainerius the multure of all his men, both free men and husbandmen, living under his rule in Blosseville and Le Mesnil Enard and Neuvillette, and in Lescure and Eauplet, as well as of his own house situate in the city of Rouen, for seven pounds, with the consent of his wife Odain, and their sons William and Hugh. In like manner Ralph de Warren sold for the same sum to the aforesaid abbot the multure of all the men belonging to him in the same villages. The last mention of this baron in the same cartulary occurs in this form, and from it we may infer that he had not been present at the battle of Hastings.
Ea tempestate qua Guillelmus, dux Normannorum egregius, cum classico apparatu ingentique exercitu, Anglorum terram expetiit, quidam miles, nomine Osmundus de Bodes, cum aliis illuc profectus, et langore correptus atque ad extrema perductus, pro animæ suæ remedio, dedit sanctæ Trinitati omnem decimam terræ suæ in alodio, quam domini sui Rodulfi de Warenna tenebat beneficio. Unde et eidem domino suo Rodulfo, ut hoc annueret, xxx solidos dedimus; quod et fecit ante altare Sanctæ Trinitatis.
Signum Rodulfi de Warenna. Signum ejusdem Osmundi. Signum Rodulfi heredis Osmundi. Testes, Alveredus de la Bruere; Goiffredus del Busc; Ricardus de Drincurt; Ilbertus de Longocampo, Bernardus cocus; Robertus pistor.
From these evidences we are able to deduce these facts; that Ralph or Rodulf, son of the bishop, was twice married, and that his two sons were the issue of his first wife, Beatrice, as otherwise they would not have attained sufficient age to have been in arms as early as the year 1055, the exact date of the battle of Mortemer, both according to Ordericus Vitalis, who states it to have occurred in the eighth year after the battle of Val-es-dunes, in 1047, and according to Robert du Mont, who has inserted an account of it in his additions to the chronicle of Sigebert, monk of the abbey of Gemblours in Brabant, under that year. The account of the former writer is put into the discourse, which he attributes to William the Conqueror on his death-bed, in these words; "in time past King Henry (of France) highly incensed against me dispatched a vast army of Franks in two divisions, in order to overwhelm our territories by a double invasion. He himself introduced one phalanx into the diocese of Evreux, in order that he might devastate every thing as far as the river Seine, and entrusted another to Odo his brother, and Reginald de Clermont, and to two counts, Ralph de Montdidier and Guy of Ponthieu, that they might quickly enter Normandy by the fords of the Epte, and lay waste Bray and Talou, and the whole of the Roumois, with sword and fire, and from thence continue their ravages, until they reached the sea. I therefore, upon receipt of this intelligence, without delay set out to meet the foe, placed myself with my forces along the bank of the Seine, continually in front of the king's tents, and wheresoever he strove to depopulate my land, with arms and iron I prepared to encounter him. Meanwhile I sent Robert, comte of Eu, and Roger de Mortemer, and other most valiant knights, against Odo and his legions. Who, whilst near a castle, which is called Mortemer, they rencountered the French, the troops of both armies being ready, a terrible battle was fought with great effusion of blood on both sides. On the one party the Gauls were furious, animated with the desire of winning the land; on the other the Normans dealt blows in rage, burning with the hope of escaping defeat, and of defending themselves and their hearths. At length, by the divine aid, the Normans conquered and the French fled. This battle they fought beyond the Seine, in winter before Lent, the eighth year after the battle of Val-es-dunes. Then Guy, comte of Ponthieu, was made prisoner, and Odo, with Reginald and others, who were fleet of foot, was routed. Comte Rodulf likewise would have been in like manner a prisoner, unless Roger, the leader of my forces, had favoured him; for he had long since done homage to him. Wherefore in this his necessity he rendered to him a fair and sufficient service, in as much as he protected him for three days in his castle, and afterward conducted him safe to his home. For this offence I ejected Roger from Normandy, but soon after, being reconciled, I restored to him the rest of his honours, save the castle of Mortemer, in which he had saved my enemy, and this I took from him rightly, as I believe. Yet nevertheless I gave it to William de Warren, his kinsman, a loyal youth." The same writer also mentions William de Warren as having been present at the battle of Hastings.
The word used by this writer to denote the degree of relationship between Roger de Mortemer and his nephew William de Warren is simply consanguineus; yet the continuator of William of Jumieges describes him as son of the first William de Warren, through ignorance of his real descent, in this passage, at Rogerius de Mortuomari, filius primi Willelmi de Warrenna, monasterium sancti Victoris in proprio solo fundavit. Robert du Mont, in his Tractatus de Abbatibus et Abbatiis Normannorum et ædificatoribus carum, writes at Rogerius do Mortuomari, filius Walterii de Sancto Martino, frater vero primi Willclmi de Warrenna, monasterium in proprio solo fundavit, in utter forgetfulness that it was the niece of the Countess Gunnor, married to Nicholas de Baqueville, who was mother of William Martel and of Walter de St. Martin, as we learn from the continuator of William de Jumieges, (who by many is supposed to have been this identical Robert du Mont, who was a monk and claustral prior of Bec-Herluin, before being elected abbot of Mont St. Michel in 1154,) in the paragraph cited above. The castles of St. Victor and St. Riquier-en-riviere were those which remained to Roger de Mortemer after the offence, and near the former was a priory dependant upon the abbey of St. Ouen, which upon the petition of Roger de Mortemer and Advisa his wife, in 1074, was erected into an abbey, and to which the family of Warren were benefactors[3].
Ordericus Vitalis in the fourth book of his Ecclesiastical History, has a paragraph enumerating the several earldoms given in England to his followers by William the Conqueror, inclusive of Walter, surnamed Gifard and William de Warren;
Gualterio quoque cognomento Gifardo, comitatum Buckingeham et Guillelmo de Guarenna, qui Gundredam sororem Gherbodi conjugem habuit, dedit Sutregiam.
As regards both these earldoms, the writer has anticipated their grants by a few years, as the title of earl is not given to either in Domesday Book, and we know from an authentic charter that the latter owed his elevation to King William Rufus. Gorbod, the brother of Gundreda, is mentioned in a preceding paragraph by this writer in these terms:
Cestram et comitatum ejus Gherbodo Flandrensi jamdudum rex dederat; qui magna ibi et difficilia tam ab Anglis quam a Guallis adversantibus pertulerat. Deinde legatione coactus suorum, quos in Flandria dimiserat, et quibus hereditarium honorem suum commiserat, eundi, citoque redeundi licentiam a rege acceperat; sed ibi adversa illaqueatus fortuna in manus inimicorum inciderat, et in vinculis coercitus, mundanaque felicitate privatus, longæ miseriæ threnos depromere didicerat.
This hereditary honour in Flanders was situate in Lower Picardy, and attached to it was the office of defender of the monastery of Sithiu, dedicated in honour of St. Peter; but in later times the town of Sithiu acquired another name from St. Audomarus, (St. Omer,) as did also the monastery from its first abbot, St. Bertinus. His father bore the same name as himself, and was witness to a charter of Baldwin, bishop of Therouanne, then the capital of the pagus Tarvanensis, (le Thérouennais ou pays des Morins,) including Picardy, Artois, and Flanders, ratifying an exchange between him and Rodericus, abbot of St. Bertin, of certain lands for three churches and their appurtenances, done in the church of the Holy Mother of God, Mary, at Therouanne, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1026, reigning Robert King of the French, Balduino vero marchionatum agente triccsimo nono, to which Signum Gerbodonis, advocati. Signum Ernulfi advocati, are the only lay signatures. In 1056 a serious altercation took place between Bovo abbot of St. Bertin and Gerbod, the avoué of this house, by reason of unjust exactions levied by the latter in the town of Arques upon their servants and tenants, the settlement of which Baldwin, then Comte of Flanders, surnamed Pius, and Insulanus from Lille, a town of Flanders, the place of his birth, undertook, as we learn from his charter, made with the consent of both parties, and to which was this date:
Acta est hec confirmatio a me Balduino, Flandrensium Dei gratia marchione, anno dominice incarnationis millesimo quinquagesimo sexto, indictione nona, regnante Henrico Francorum Rege, in villa Sancti Audomari in basilica sancti Petri, die sancto Epiphanie, astantibus hujus rei testibus strenuis viris, quorum nomina subter tenentur inserta: Signum Balduini, incliti marchionis. Signum Drogonis, episcopi Taruannensis. Signum Gerardi, Cameracensis episcopi. Signum Bovonis, abbatis. Signum Leduini abbatis. Signum Eustatii comitis. Signum Rogeri, comitis. Signum Ingelramni comitis. Signum Roberti de Bethunia. Signum Rodulfi Gandensis. Signum Elgoti Attrebatensis. Signum Gerbodonis advocati. Signum Anselmi. Signum Alolfi de Hesdin. Signum Elvardi militis. Signum Huberti, militis. Signum Walteri militis. Signum Christiani, scriptoris hujus privilegii.
To another charter of the same Comte of Flanders reciting the origin and possessions of the abbey of Bergues-Saint-Winox, which having been first belonging to secular canons, was by him changed into a Benedictine abbey, with this date; actum est hoc Bergis in solemni curia Pentecostes anno Dominice Incarnationis millesimo sexagesimo septimo, indictione quarta, adstante Drogone Teruanensi episcopo, we have these, signatures; Signum Balduini gloriosi comitis. Signum Adelæ Comitissæ. Signa Balduini attque Roberti, filiorum ejus. Signum Eustachii comitis Boloniæ. S. Rogeri de Sancto Paulo. S. Anselmi de Hesdin. S. Joannis Attrebatensis. S. Hugonis Anct. Signum Gerbodonis Advocati de Sancto Bertino. Signum Raingoti de Gant. Signum Balduini de Gant. S. Alardi Ernes. S. Cononis filii ejus. Signum Erembaldi Castellani de Brugis. Signa Erkenberti Præpositi et aliorum multorum[4].
Gerbod the witness to these several charters, was doubtless father of Gerbod, earl of Chester, whose history is detailed by Ordericus Vitalis, and who was also a benefactor to the abbey of St. Bertin at St. Omer during the time of his absence from England with leave from the Conqueror, together with his wife Ada, as appears by this charter, which has this heading in the cartulary of the abbey; Traditio Gerbodonis et Adæ conjugum tercie partis sui allodii ville Ostresele.
In nomine sancte et individue Trinitatis. Nos seculares homines semper huic mundo dediti, nimium illecebris inservimus hujus seculi. His eciam morbidis, caducis et transitoriis commodis toti inheremus; eterna vero et magis desideranda, proh dolor! bona nichil pendimus. Unde, dum cotidie hinc exire cogimur nudi, et nichil preter peccata portantes, tenibili Dei nostri juditio discutiendi representamur. Tunc queque terris habita non solum prodesse, sed obesse prevalent; elemosinarum vero bona, si qua sunt, familiariter arrident. Quod ego Gerbodo et Ada, conjux mea, considerantes, atque vite perhennis sollicitudinem gerentes, nobis quod in eternum expediat providere, et aliquantulum Deum nobis debitorem cupimus efficere. Credimus enim et certum tenemus quod quicquid ecclesie servis, scilicet Dei, pro ejus amore deliberatur, non hominibus sed ipsi Deo donatur. Sic enim dictum audivimus in evangelio: Quamdiu fecistis uni ex his fratribus meis minimis, michi fecistis. Quod autem Deo nostro datur, nequaquam dando amittitur, sed denuo recipiendum sapienter ei creditur. De quo apostolus; Scio cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est depositum meum servare in ilium diem. Tunc nulla erit sollicitudo eriginis aut tinee vel furum; nee tantumdem recipietur, sed centuplum, ut Dominus in evangelio; omnis qui reliquerit agros in nomine meo centuplum accipiet, et vitam eternam possidebit. Hec ego omnia sciens, et omnia credens, alodium meum, hoc est, terciam partem tocius ville Ostreseld quod prius conjugi mee in dotalitium dederam, ea ipsa consenciente et rogante, Deo et Sancto Petro Sanctoque Bertino, firma do traditione, ea scilicet ratione, ut abbas ipsius loci, ill omni meo anniversario, meeque coujugis, refectionem ibidem Deo famulantibus fratribus faciat, ut eo libentius ipsi fratres pro redemptione nostra ad Dei aures pulsent. Pro qua scilicet anime mee redemptione hane traditionem facio, meorumque militum subsignatione firmo.
Signum Elvardi. Signum Huberti. Signum Rameri Halreth. Signum Odgrini.
This vill is on the sea coast, in the canton of Marquise, arrondissement of Boulogne-sur-mer, departement du Pas de Calais, and has now the name of Audresselles, and the following charter affords proof that the date of this grant was anterior to the year 1087, and is inserted next in the cartulary under the heading, Exemplar carte Johannis Abbatis de Villa Astresela.
In nomine Patris &c. Quoniam &c. Quapropter ego Johannes Sithiensium abbas notum facio sanctum Bertinum in villam, Ostrasele nuncupatam, delatum, quatinus altiori consilio mei et fratrum ibidem sui juris allodium sine aliqua contradictione sibi vendicaret, sicque ab omni controversia liberum quidem ac quietum imjjerpetuum permaneret; ubi inter reliqua, Arnulfus atque Gerbodo frater suus, ex conventione utrinque facta et concessa, homines nostri manibus efFecti, quatuor marchas argenti, unusquisque videlicet duas, et hoc constituto tempore, id est, in festivitate Sancti Micaelis, in beneficium singulis annis recipiunt; eo scilicet pacto atque conditione, ut nullo ingenio, nulla ratione, in predictum Sancti allodium, causa aliquid usurpandi seu eciam placitandi, se aliquatenus ingerant, nee postremo quicquam quod ad dampnum ecclesie respiciat umquam inibi agere presumant; insuper vero omnes suos liberos ac servos, quemadmodum seipsos, a simili injuria compescant. Si quando autem, placito aliquo adgravato, ministerialis et custos ejusdem boni rem suis juribus in effectum ducere nequiverit, tunc tandem, si sibi id utile visum fuerit, ab eo vocati et moniti veniant, simulque, consilio et auxilio in quantum prevalent, una cum eo, salva fidelitate ecclesie, omnia tractent atque disponent, terciumque nummum ex eodem placito provenientem, tunc tantum, ejus rei gratia, habeant, ultra hoc nil umquam, ut dictum est, de cetero intromittentes. Facta est igitur hec talis conventio in presentia nostra, cunctis super hoc assensum unanimiter prebentibus, anno ab incarnatione Domini millesimo octogesimo septimo, indictione decima, regnante Francorum rege Philippo, presente Lamberto Hejaniensi abbate, multis quoque aliorum spectabilium personis. Quas videlicet in presentium subscriptione, ad corroborandum hujus rei testimonium, attitulari placuit ex nomine, hoc modo; Balduinus de Ganda. Razo de Ganera. Razo et Africus frater ejus de Moneta. Rothardus de Sotligehem et Rotneth frater suus et Sigerus de Westernhem et Rodulphus de Hervetingehem. Gerardus de Kimbresaca et aliis multis, quos longum est memorare.
Quibus expletis, astante ibidem sacrosancto corpore beati Bertini, cum aliis reliquiis, decretum est et exclamatum, ut, quicumque supramemoratam conventionem aliquando violare presumeret, eterno anathemati subjaceret, nisi digna penitencia reconciliatus, a tanto errato cito resipisceret. Fiat, fiat.
Arnulf and Gerbodo named in this charter were doubtless the sons of Gerbodo earl of Chester and of Ada his wife, the original grantors of the third part of the vill of Audreselles, and the fact of their becoming the men of the abbot is a strong proof of the truth of their father's history as told by Oderic Vitalis, which had resulted in the loss of his title of avoué of the abbey of St. Bertin. Authentic evidences, thus proving the high rank of this family in Flanders, accord with the inference suggested by the text of an excellent historian, that Matilda, the daughter, of Baldwin comte of Flanders, had Gerbodo, the avoué of St. Bertin, for her first husband, and that the issue of this marriage were Gerbodo, earl of Chester, Frederic, and Gundrada wife of William de Warren. The second marriage of Matilda with William duke of Normandy, was in contemplation prior to the close of the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1049, during which a council was held at Rheims for reforming the discipline of the Church and for the regulation of morals, under the presidency of Pope Leo the Ninth, commencing on the third day of October; for in a record of the acts of the third day of its sitting, the following passage occurs descriptive of what was done on that occasion by the Pope.
Excommunicavit etiam comites Engelrannum et Eustachium propter incestum et Hugonem de Braina, quia legitimam uxorem dimiserat et aliam sibi in matrimonio sociaverat. Interdixit et Balduino comiti Flandrensi ne filiam suam Willelmo Nortmanno nuptui daret; et illi ne eam acceperat, Vocavit etiam comitem Tetbaldum, quoniam suam dimiserat uxorem.
Such was the solemn prohibition promulgated at this council against this intended union, and which was so far effectual that until the imprisonment of this Pope, in 1053, by the Normans of Naples, none took place. In that year, according to the Chronicle of Tours, William duke of Normandy married Matilda, the divorced wife of Gerbodo, the mother of the children named above. The charter of William Warren, in the reign of William Rufus, who had created him earl of Surrey, contains distinct evidence that the wife of King William the Conqueror was the mother of his wife, in the following paragraph:
Volo quod sciant qui sunt et qui futuri sunt, quod ego Willelmus de Warrenna Surreie comes, donavi et confirmavi Deo et sancto Petro et abbati et conventui de Cluniaco ecclesiam Sancti Pancratii, que sita est sub castro meo Lewiarum, et eidem Sancto Pancratio et monachis Cluniacensibus, quicumque in ipsa ecclesia Sancti Pancratii Deo serviunt, iniperpetuum donavi pro salute anime mee et anime Gundrade uxoris mee et pro anima domini mei Willelmi Regis, qui me in Anglicam terram adduxit et per cujus licentiam monachos venire feci, et qui meam priorem donationem confirmavit, et pro salute domine mee Matildis Regine, matris uxoris mee, et pro salute domini mei Willelmi Regis, filii sui, post cujus adventum in Anglicam terram hanc cartam feci et qui me comitem Surreie fecit, et pro salute omnium heredum meorum et omnium fidelium Christi vivorum et mortuorum, in sustentationem predictorum monachorum Sancti Pancratii, mansionem Falemeram nomine, totim quicquid ibi in dominio habui, cum hida terre, quam Eustachius in Burgemera tenet et ad ipsum mansionem pertinet. Mansionem quoque Carlentonam nomine quam domina mea Matildis Regina dedit Gundrade uxori mee et mihi, et hoc concessit et con- firmavit dominus mens rex Willelmus in auxilium ad fundandum novos monachos nostros; totum quod ibi habuimus.
The entries in Domesday, as to Palmer in Sussex and Carlton in Cambridgeshire, describe them as held of William de Warene at that time by St. Pancras, and the abbot of Cluny; but as regards the last-named place, it is there simply stated that Earl Algar had held the land. His Saxon predecessor in all his other lands in that county had been Tochi, the thane of King Edward, whence it is probable that the four hides and two acres so excepted were of the gift of Queen Matilda, as mentioned in the charter.
Pope Leo IX. was imprisoned by the Normans from the 23rd of June, 1053, until the 12th of March, 1054; and during this interval the marriage of William the Conqueror with the wife of Gorbod took place, not in Flanders, but in Normandy. Baldwin, her father, himself conducted her into Ponthieu, the district bordering upon Normandy, where he was met by his future son-in-law, and at the frontier-town of the duchy, Eu, the ceremony of marriage was performed. William, the monk of Jumieges, a contemporary writer, thus narrates the attendant circumstances, in chapter 21 of his seventh book, under the heading Quod dux Willelmus duxit Mathildem filiam Balduini Flandrensis, neptem Henrici Regis.
Jam duce juvenili robore vigente, transcensis annis adolescentiæ, cœperunt optimates ejus de successione prolis cum eo attentius tractare. Audiens autem Balduinum Flandriæ comitem quandam habere filiam regali ex genere descendentem, nomine Mathildem, corpore valde elegantem animoque liberalem, hanc, suorum consultu, missis legatis, a patre petiit uxorem. Ex ejus proposito animo Balduinus Satrapa admodum gavisus, non modo petitam dari decrevit, verum etiam cum muneribus innumeris eam ad usque Oucense castrum adduxit; ubi Dux, militum stipatus catervis, advenit, illamque sibi jure conjugali despondit, et cum maximo tripudio ac honore Rotomagi mœnibus intulit. Genuit autem ex ea procedente tempore filios quatuor, Robertum, qui post eum ducatum Normanniæ aliquamdiu tenuit, et Willelmum, qui regno Angliæ tredecim annos præfuit et Richardum, qui juvenis decessit, et Henricum, qui fratribus, tam Regi quam Duci, successit et filias quatuor; de quibus omnibus, tam viris quam feminis liber subsequens, qui de gestis nobilissimi Regis Henrici inscribitur pro modulo nostro, Deo iuvante, pertractabit.
As regards these last sentences they are an obvious interpolation by the monk of Bee, as William of Jumieges did not survive more than a year the decease of the Conqueror, to whom his work was dedicated. William of Poictiers, another contemporary writer, merely describes the marriage in similar terms;
Marchio hic, fascibus et titulis amplior quam strictim sit explicabile, natam suam, nobis acceptissimam dominam, in Pontivo ipse præsentavit socerus generoque digne adductam. Introductioni hujus sponsæ civitas Rotomagensis vacabat jocundans.
The Chronicle of Tours alone fixes the time of this marriage in the course of the year 1053, but no record has come down to us as to the name of the prelate or priest who, in defiance of the prohibition of the Pope, ventured to perform the ceremony. The archbishop of Rouen, Malger, uncle of Duke William, boldly launched the thunders of excommunication against the offending parties; and his pretext for so doing has been imputed to the nearness of kindred between the married couple, inasmuch as her grandmother was a daughter of Duke Richard the Second of Normandy, and aunt of William the Conqueror. But it is doubtful if this was the original motive which induced the prohibition, and the peculiarity of the birth of William the Conqueror, as being illegitimate, certainly forbids such a conclusion, coupled with the silence of the Pope at the council of Rheims. There is, on the contrary, the clearest testimony that Matilda was already a mother, and the long delay between the time of her being sought in marriage by Duke William, when first smitten with her beauty and accomplishments, and the ceremony at Eu, was probably necessary to effect a divorce between Gorbod, her first husband, and his destined bride. In the course of the year 1055, Malger, the archbishop, was deposed from his see in a provincial council at Lisieux; and according to William of Malmesbury, the secret cause of this proceeding was owing to his steadfast opposition to the marriage, rather than to any irregularities of conduct.
Ferunt quidam esse arcanam depositionis causam; Matildem, quam Willelmus acceperat, proximam sibi sanguine fuisse. Id, Christianæ fidei zelo, Malgerium non tulisse, ut consanguineo cubili fruerentur; sed in nepotem et comparem excommunicationis jaculum intentasse. Ita, cum iræ adolescentis uxoriæ querelæ accederent, excogitatas occasiones quibus persecutor peccati sede pelleretur. Sed postmodum provectioribus annis, pro expiatione sceleris, ilium sancto Stephano Cadomis monasterium ædificasse, illam beatæ Trinitati in eodem vico idem fecisse; utroque pro sexu suo personas inhabitantium eligente.
The reconciliation with Rome was deferred to the time of the pontificate of Nicholas the Second, crowned 18th January, 1059, deceased 21st July, 1061.
The writer of the life of Lanfranc imputes to that eminent man a like opposition to the marriage of the Conqueror on the ground of consanguinity, which brought upon him the wrath of his sovereign, who caused the monastery of La Pré de Rouen, a cell to the abbey of Bec, of which he was Prior, to be burnt down, and pronounced against him a sentence of banishment;
Hujus tam improvidæ jussionis causam aiunt, quod idem Lanfrancus contradicebat nuptiis filiæ comitis Flandriæ, quam ipse dux copulaverat in matrimonio, quia proxima carnis consanguinitate jungebatur. Unde auctoritate Romani Papæ, tota Neustria fuerat ab officio Christianitatis suspensa et interdicta.
On his road to exile he encountered the Duke, and the result of the interview was a reconciliation, on condition of his going to Rome to make peace with the Pope;
Ut ageret pro duce Normannorum et uxore ejus apud Apostolicum, pro qua re illuc perrexerat. Igitur locutus cum Papa Nicolao ostendit, quia ejus sententia illos tantum gravabat, qui cos nec coniunxerant, nee separare poterant; nam Dux puellam, quam acceperat, nullo pacto dimittere vellet. Hoc audiens et verum esse advertens summus Pontifex, dispensatione habita, coniugium concessit; eo tamen modo quatenus Dux et uxor ejus duo monasteria construerent, in quibus singulas congregationes virorum ac mulierum coadunarent, qui ibi sub norma sanctæ religionis die noctuque Deo deservirent et pro salute eorum supplicarent. Paruit Dux Apostolicæ dispensationi et ædificaverunt duo monasteria in prædio, quod antiquitas Cadomum nuncupabat.
These two monasteries, or rather their churches, yet remain in proof of the atonement to which they were feign to submit, in order that they might merit to be admitted into the bosom of the Church, against whose precepts they had so grievously transgressed; but no papal bull attests that this penance was enjoined merely for marrying within the degrees of kindred.
The issue of this marriage were the four sons named above, and six daughters, Agatha, Constantia, Adeliza, Adela, Matilda, and Cecilia, although Orderic Vitalis twice enumerates only five in his History, first in the fourth book in the order they are put down above, omitting Matilda, and again in the seventh book, where he places Adeliza before Constantia. Agatha, the eldest daughter, was first betrothed to Harold, king of England, and afterwards to Alfonso, king of Leon and the Asturias, in 1068, who died on her journey to Spain a virgin, and whose body was brought back to her native soil, and interred in the cathedral of Bayeux. Adeliza, the second daughter, became a nun in the abbey of St. Leger-de-Preaux, of the foundation of Humphrey de Vieilles, father of Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger. Constantia was the wife of Alan Fergant, comte of Brittany, married at Caen in 1075, and deceased, without leaving issue, in 1090. Adela was the wife of Stephen, comte of Blois, afterwards of Chartres, married at Breteuil in 1081, and by him, slain in Palestine in 1101, mother of five sons, William, Theobald, Stephen, Henry, and Humbert; and of three daughters, Alice, wife of Miles, comte of Brai; Matilda, wife of Richard, earl of Chester; and Eleanora, wife of Ralph, comte of Vermandois. Cecilia was abbess of the Holy Trinity of Caen, and according to Ordericus Vitalis, received the veil from Arch- bishop John, at Fecamp, in the year 1075, and, after having been abbess for nearly fourteen years, died on the 13th of July, 1127. As the truth of this assertion has been controverted by the editors of the Gallia Christiana and the recent editor of the above historian, it seems advisable that the paragraph should be inserted in order to test its accuracy.
Anno ab incarnatione Domini M°LXX°V°. indictione xiii° Guillelmus Rex Fiscanni sanctum Pascha celebravit, Ceciliamque filiam suam per manum Johannis archiepiscopi Deo consecrandam obtulit. Quæ cum grandi diligentia in cœnobio Cadomensi educata est et multipliciter erudita, ibique sanctæ et individuæ Trinitati dicata sub venerabili Mathildi abbatissa virgo permansit, sanctæ regulæ fideliter subjugata. Defuncta vero prædicta matre post annos xlvii regiminis sui, hæc successit, et fere xiv annis sanctimonialium regimen laudabiliter gessit, annoque Dominicæ incarnationis M°CC°XXVII° iii° idus Julii de hoc sæculo migravit. Sic quinquaginta duobus annis habitu et ordine, studioque pio laudabiliter monacha, post- quam a patre oblata est Deo, servivit, annoque xxvi° regni Henrici tratris sui obiit.
In the charter of foundation of the Holy Trinity, dated 18th June, 1066, a few months previous to the Conquest, we read—
Preterea præfatus comes gloriosissimus et uxor ejus cum filiis suis Deo eodem die obtulerunt filiam suam Ceciliam nomine, favente archiepiscopo Rothomagensi, cum ceteris presulibus, quatinus in eodem loco deifice, videlicet, Trinitatis ipsa in habitu religionis perenniter serviret, cujus munere tam prolem quam cetera bona, intelligunt se possidere.
But as the youngest daughter of the Conqueror, it is probable that she was then an infant, and hence the real time of her taking the veil was at the feast of Easter, 5th April, 1075, after attaining the age of fourteen years. At the time of the decease of the Abbess Mathildis, who had been previously abbess of St. Leger-de-Preaux during seven years, on the 6th of July, 1113, a precatory roll, called a titulus, was sent round to the several monasteries, beseeching their prayers for her, and for Mathildis, queen of the English, and for her daughters Adelidis, Mathildis, and Constantia, then deceased; and from it alone we learn the existence of this sixth daughter of the Conqueror and Queen Matilda, and it is doubtless correct, as otherwise there would have been no daughter bearing the name of her parent[5].
In conclusion of this lengthened essay, proving that Gundreda, as sister of Ghorbod and Frederic, the one the avoué of the abbey of St. Bertin, the other a benefactor to the abbey of St. Ricquier, both in a territory then ruled by the comte of Flanders, was also a native of the same province, the following charters, taken from the cartulary of the Holy Trinity of Caen, in the Bibliotheque du Roi at Paris, are now first presented to English readers, as a proper appendix to an account of this royal lineage of England's Conqueror.
Ego Robertus Willelmi Anglorum Regis filius, Normannorum atque Cenomannorum princeps, pro salute anime mei meique patris et matris atque antecessorum meorum do concessu Henrici mei fratris ecclesie sancte Trinitatis de Cadomo et Cecilia mee sorori sanctisque monialibus ibidem Deo servientibus id totum quod erat mei juris extra murum Cadomi usque ad predictam ecclesiam ita solutum et quietum ut in meo tenebam dominio, Vallem Guê totam videlicet atque domos cunctas usque ad murum et usque ad aquam Olnule cum omnibus redditibus; pescationem quoque aque Olnule totam, sicut Rex habebat in suo dominio. Ad hoc autem mercatum in villa, que dicitur Oistrehan et teloneum et tantum quantum tenet territorium ejusdem ville. Hujus rei fuerunt testes et liberatores Simon de Camilleio, Savericus filius Cane, Radulfus capellanus de Airi, Rogerus Poignant, Rogerius Mala Corona dispensator, Toraldus Hostiarius. Ex parte Henrici filii regis affuerunt Rannulfus filius Ulgerii. Odo camerarius ejusdem Henrici. Ex parte Sancte Trinitatis fuerunt receptores et testes Godefridus de Caluiz, Gislebertus de Caluiz, Johannes filius Godefridi Coci. Rainaldus filius Anschitilli de Herovilla et Odo ejus frater. Godefridus filius Herberti. Radulfus de Folebec. Odo frater Durandi Boisart. Arturus filius Ermenfridi.
Signum Roberti comitis. Signum Henrici regis Willelmi filii. Signum Radulfi Capellani. Signum Rogerii de Curcella. Signum Gaufridi de Calmunt. Signum Willelmi Camerarii. Signum Roberti de Montfort. Signum Gualterii de Meduana. Signum Hugonis Brittonis. Signum Rogerii Dispensatoris. Signum Roberti Balduini filii. Signum Ricardi Painel. Signum Symonis de Chimilleio. Signum Saverici filii Cane.
Cecilia filia regis Dei gratia Abbatissa sancte Trinitatis Cadomi presentibus et futuris ad quos littere iste pervenerint, salutem. Sciatis quod ego concessi Erengot molendinario ducere et facere molendinum nostrum, quod erat in Frigido Vico, super terrara suam in Gamara. Et Erengot crevit nobis redditum molendini de uno modio frumenti et de uno modio ordei. Et sciendum quod molendinus non reddebat ante nisi duos modios nostre abbatie, et sic concessimus ci molendinum tenendum in feodo hereditarie sibi et heredibus suis. Ego feci molendinum de meis lignis et refacare debeo quando deterioraverit. Bladum de abbatia nostra debet moliri ad molendinum. Et Erengot et heredes ejus habebunt de nostro blado tredecimum sextarium de moutura et ei computabitur in suo redditu cum dica. Hoc totum factum est concessu Ivonis Taillcbose salvo suo redditu.
THOMAS STAPLETON.
- ↑ The remaining text of this charter of the Conqueror is as follows:—"Villa vocabulo Esperlais, ubi habentur hospites xxxvii, qui persolvunt annualiter unusquisque in Nativitate Domini duos equos oneratos de brais; a festivitate Sancti Joannis Baptistæ usque ad festum Sancti Michaelis tribus diebus omne opus Domini sui: ceterum quod residuum est de anno, semel in hebdomada erunt ad omne opus, quod eis injunctum fuerit. Habentur inibi sex carrucæ, sylva optima, terra arabilis et inculta, prata omnibus nutrimentis aptissima. Est et alia villa, quæ vocatur Acra, ubi habentur hospites ii. molendina iii, quæ solvunt xxxv oras denariorum. Præterea omnes homines villæ metent segetes tribus in hebdomada diebus et omnes carrucæ arabunt tribus diebus ad frumenta et ad avenas. Est et tertia villa, quæ vocatur Culesturpo, quæ solvit quinque oras denariorum et carrucis suis arant terras tribus ad frumenta et ad avenas diebus. Sequitur quarta villa, quæ vocatur Achotes, et alia, quæ vocatur Apicheneam, ubi habentur omnes prædictæ consuetudines carrucarum. His jungitur Merefort, ex qua viii carrucas duobus diebus ad frumenta et ad avenas; et in Augusto xxv homines duobus diebus ad messem metendam consuetudinaliter Dominus villæ habebit. Vocatur villa sequens lingua eorum Assuafam, de qua habetur omnis decima tam annonæ quam aliarum rerum. Est et alia quæ vocatur Guenite, ubi est molendinum unum et sylva, piscatio quoque optima. Hoc autem iterum iterumque cum interdicto affirmationis affirmo, ne alicujus tyranni invasione posthac usurpetur quovis modo. Hæc itaque charta ut posteris nostris immutabilis perduret, regia nostra eam auctoritate firmamus." In Domesday this place has the name of Sparle, and it is thus mentioned under the heading Norfolc. Terre Regis quas Godricus servat. Hundredum de Grenchov de xiiii lelis. Sparle tennit Rex Ædwardus et hoc manerium fuit de regno, sed rex Edwardus dedit Radulfo Comiti. Huic manerio jacet i beruita, que vacatur Paggrava. Est etiam adhuc alter beruita, que vocatur Acra. Alia beruita Pichenham. Hoc totum manerium simul valuit tempore Regis Edwardi x libras et quando Godricus recepit xxii; modo xxxiiii libras et ii solidos. Swaffham, another capital manor, had been given to Alan, earl of Brittany, the husband of a sister of the second carl Ralph, as we learn from Domesday. Hundredum de Grenehov. Terre Alani comitis. Suafham pertinuit ad regionem et Rex Edwardus dedit Radulfo comiti. Hence in each case a brother-in-law was benefited by these forfeitures.
- ↑ Hugh was Archbishop of Rouen from 942 to 989; theson of Hugh de Calvacamp and brother of Ralph, to whom he gave the bourg of Toeni, in |he canton of Gaillon, arrondissement of Louviers, departement de l'Eure, ancestor of the illustrious race who bore this surname. Walter, third of the name, comte of the Vexin Français, of Chaumont, Pontoise and Mantes, son of Drogon, comte of the Vexin and of Amiens, was husband of Biota, and with her died from the effects of poison at Falaise in 1063. Archbishop Robert was son of Richard I. and Gunnor, and succeeded to Archbishop Hugh, whose prelacy continued for forty-seven years until 1037, when he died, leaving three sons, Richard, Ralph, and William. Of the localities named Douvrendelle, Pulcheux, Agranville, Angreville, Humesnil, Hernouval and Huppy are all hamlets in the parish of Douvrend, and Montigny, Motuy and Etrimont in that of Bailly-en-Riviere; and the name Blanques is yet that of the wood, and of a hamlet adjoining, where the parties dined, and the boys were first flogged and then feasted in memory of this act. Envermeu, Ybouville, St. Sulpice, Bellengreville and Capval are adjoining parishes.
- ↑ The following charter is evidence of the extent of these benefactions, and fully corroborates the assumed descent of the houses of Warren and Mortimer from a common ancestor:
Hamelinus, Comes Guarenne, venerabili Rotomagensis Ecclesie archiepiscopo et decano ceterisque ejusdem Ecclesie personis et omnibus hominibus suis Francis et Anglis, salutem. Sciates me concessisse et charta mea confirmasse pro salute anime mee et uxoris mee Isabelle Comitisse et Guillelmi filii mei, et parentum et antecessorum nostrorum, omnes donationes, quas Guillelmus de Guarenna et Comes Guillelmus, filius ejus, et homines sui dederunt Deo et ecclesie sancti Victoris monachisque ibidem Deo servientibus, tam in ecclesiis quam in decimis, tam in terris quam in redditibus, et in aliis donationibus; scilicet ecclesiam de Bellencumbre cum decima eidem pertinente et decimam molendinorum et thelonei ejusdem ville. Quia vero ab antiquo prefati monachi in ipso redditu molendinorum videlicet et thelonei non amplius quam viginti libras habuerant, ego ex proprio dono meo concessi illis et confirmavi ut integram habeant decimam, sive minuatur redditus sive augeatur. Apud Brachetuit terram, ubi presbyter manet, et quatuor acras terre et quatuor mansuras; sed una de illis cambiata est pro alia apud Lovetot; item apud Brachetuit totam decimam ovium mearum. Concessi etiam totus nemus Rogerii de Cresseio a nemore Pasnagii usque ad semitam de valle Hidose fovee, sicut idem Rogerius, presente comite Guillelmo et concedente, Deo et sancto Victori dedit et donum super altari cum illo posuit. Concessi etiam, sicut ipse Rogerius concessit, sequentiam ejusdem nemoris in terram suam, ita ut monachi talem habeant inde justitiam, qualem ipse habebat. Habebit idem Rogerius tres charitates per annum, unam ad Nativitatem, et aliam ad Pascha, tertiam ad festum Sancti Victoris et ad festum Sancti Martini botas vel duos solidos; in unaquaque charitate erunt quatuor simenelli et unum sextarium vini. Ecclesiam quoque de Capramonte et medietatem ejusdem ville, tam in terra quam in aqua. Ecclesiam etiam Sancti Audoeni de Sylva cum decima et decem acras terre. Apud Montem David duas mansuras et unam apud Monsteriolum, datas a Radulpho de Cresseio pro anima fratris sui Hugonis. Relaxavi etiam et concessi ex proprio dono meo redditum, quem de duabus prefatis mansuris, scilicet, Montis David, habere consueveram, videlicet unam minam avene, duas bidentes et duas gallinas, quamdiu abbas et monachi easdem mansuras in suo dominio tenuerint. Quartam quoque partem ecclesie Sancti Helerii et decimam eidem parti pertinentem, datam a Rogerio de Wassonvilla; duas garbas de decima de Almaisnil et Capramonte de feudo meo datas a Rogerio et Amelio fratre ejus. Iterum apud Brachetuit duas partes decime. Quare volo et firmiter precipio quod predicti monachi habeant et teneant omnes predictas donationes bene et in pace, libere et quiete et honorifice sicut antecessores mei illas eis dederunt et chartis suis confirmaverunt et sicut alie ecclesie per Normanniam constitute melius et liberius tenent vel tenucrunt tempore antecessorum meorum. Et ut etiam hec omnia firma et stabilia et inconcussa in perpetuum existant sigilli mei et sigilli uxoris mee Isabella Comitisse, dignum duxi munimine roborari, istos adhibendo testes Guillelmum de Guarenna filiuin meum, Adam de Poninges, Guillelmum de Blossevilla, Guillelmum de Greinosavilla, Eliam de Almeisnil, Hugonem de Bellomonte, Hugonem de Angulo sacerdotem, Guarinum sacerdotem de Sancto Audoeno, Gualterum sacerdotem de Bosavilla. Guarinum prepositum, Guillelmum des Estaus, Rogerum Camerarium et Hugonem fratrem ejus et Radulphum prepositum abbatis et plures alios. Bellencombre is in the vicinity of the abbey of St. Victor, and Bractuit, Louvetot, Cressy, Quevremont, St. Ouen, Montreuil, St. Helier, Bus Aumesnil, Vassonville are all parishes and hamlets in the same neighbourhood.
- ↑ There is also a charter of Robert Frison, Comte of Flanders, concerning the vill of Arques, which contains this recital; Palustrem eciam terram que inter arabilem terram de Arkes et Elst ultra vetus monasterium, et in oriente vetus fossatum in silva ac inter Hindringeled et vetustam Mere atque in occidente novum fossatum interjacet; quam pater meus Balduinus Comes, Gerbodone advocato concedente, sancto Bertino, quia ei in corpore viventi tradita fuerit, liberam possidendam confirmavit, and has this date and signatures; Actum est hoc anno inearnationis Domini millesimo nonagesimo tercio, indictione prima, in presentia predicti comitis Roberti et filii ejus Roberti et procerum suorum, quos ob testimonium hic annotari placuit. Signum Roberti, comitis, qui hanc cartam scribi fecit. Signum Roberti junioris. Signum Roberti, advocati. Signum Cononis. Signum Rodgeri, castellani. Signum Thumbaldi de Ypres. Signum Raingeri, dapiferi. Du Cange gives this explanation of the word Advocatus. "Advocati ecclesiarum, qui jura, bona et facultates Ecclesiarum tuebantur, an office, which was abolished at the council of Rheims in 1148."
- ↑ The Titulus Sancti Leodegarii Pratelli de morte Mathildis, primæ parthenonis Sanctæ Trinitatis Cadomensis Abbatissæ, has these verses:
Dum sic polleret, super hoc dum fama volaret,
Abstulit hanc nobis gemmam regina Mathildis,
Tradens cœnobium sibi matris jure regendum.
Quod sub honore Dei construxerat ipsa Cadomi.