mandy and garrisoned his castles against the duke. The fortresses and towns held by Shrewsbury and his son were many and strong, and some were of special importance, because they were situated on the borders of Normandy. Bishop Odo urged the duke, now that he had Robert in prison, to drive the whole of the accursed race of Talvas out of his duchy. He dwelt on the strength of the house, and the evil its members would bring upon him. For a while the duke obeyed his counsel; he made war on Robert's castles, and forced Saint Cenery, Alençon, and Bellême to surrender. Then he disbanded his army, made peace with Bellême's father, Earl Roger of Shrewsbury, and let Bellême out of prison. As long as Duke Robert held his duchy he had cause to repent his weakness. Tall and strong, a daring oldier, ever coveting the lands of others, and ever striving to make them his own, a false, restless, and cruel man, Bellême was mighty to do evil. From his mother he inherited not merely the savage and greedy temper for which she was famed, but a remarkable readiness of speech. He was noted too for his skill as a military engineer. Unlike his father, and, indeed, his countrymen generally, he had no religious feelings. But that which most impressed men about him was his extraordinary cruelty. If the stories of his evil deeds rested only on the authority of Orderic, it would be necessary to remember that he was the hereditary foe of the house of Geroy, to whom the chronicler's monastery of St. Evroul was deeply indebted. But Orderic's account receives the strongest confirmation in the record of the horror with which Robert's memory was regarded by the next generation. Greedy of gain as he was, he would refuse to allow his captives to be ransomed that he might have the pleasure of torturing them (ib, 707 D). He is said by Henry of Huntingdon, a writer of the time of Henry II, to have impaled both men and women (De Mundi Contemptu ap. wharton, Anglia Sacra, ii. 698). William of Malmesbury says that once when he held a little boy, his own godson, as a hostage, he tore out his eyes with his own nails, because the child's father did something that displeased him (Gesta Regum v. 398). The 'Wonders of Robert of Bellême' became a common saying (De Mundi Contemptu p. 699). In Maine 'his abiding works are pointed to as the works of Robert the Devil,' a surname that has been transferred from him to the father of the Conqueror (freesman, William Rufus, i. 181-3). William II, for the love he bore Earl Roger of Shrewsbury and his countess, Mabel, showed favour to their son, in spite of the part he took in the war against him in England, and procured him to wife Agnes, the daughter and heiress of Guy, count of Ponthieu, who bore him a son, named William Talvas after his great grandfather. Robert treated her cruelly, and long kept her a prisoner in his castle of Bellême, until she escaped by the help of a chamberlain, and fled for refuge to the Countess Adela of Chartres.
After Robert was set free he made war upon his neighbours, on Hugh of Novant, Geoffrey, count of Perche, and others, maiming and blinding his captives, and bringing many to poverty. Jealous at hearing that Gilbert of L'Aigle had received Exmes from the duke, he besieged the castle in January 1090, hoping to take the place by surprise. Gilbert, however, made a stout resistance, and at the end of four days was reinforced by one of his house. A long siege would have given Robert's enemies time to gather, and he gave up the attempt. A full record of his wars in Normandy will be found in Orderic's 'Ecclesiastica Historia.' If he found that the lord he designed to plunder was able to withstand his first attack, he wasted no time in a siege, and turned aside to seek some easier prey. This method of warfare explains the passage in which Orderic speaks of his frequent failures (Orderic, 708 A). When the citizens of Rouen revolted against the duke, and were about to deliver their city to Rufus in the autumn of 1090, Robert joined Henry of Coutances (Henry I) in putting down the rebellion. The duke wished to pardon the citizens, but Bellême and William of Breteuil robbed many of their goods, and carried many off to tlioir dungeons. Early in the next year Robert was in turn helped by the duke in his private wars. The burghers who dwelt round Robert's castles suffered much evil from their lord. One of his towns, Domfront, dared to rebel against him. The citizens chose Henry of Coutances as their lord, and he successfully defended them against Robert's attacks. In the summer of 1094 Robert harried the lands of Robert, son of Geroy, the owner of Saint Cenery. Robert of Geroy, or rather his ally Henry, was the aggressor on this occasion. Robert found Saint Cenery undefended ; he burnt the castle and carried off his enemy's little son. The child died shortly afterwards, and the friends of the house of Geroy believed that he was poisoned by his captor's orders (ib, 707 A). In 1094 Earl Roger of Shrewsbury died. His English earldom and estates passed, according to custom, to his second son, Hugh, and Robert took all his possessions in Normandy. While the inheritance of his father was his by right, it was held that he
