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tional distinction between the two Dominations, 999-1024 avoiding any confusion between the rights of the Duke of Burgundy and the rights of the Duke of France-the throne he sought, and the possessions which enabled his son to win the sceptre. Since Charles le-Chauve's reign, Burgundy Division of had been divided into the "Duchy of Burgundy' and the "County of Burgundy," afterwards empha- the Duchy tically denominated the "Franche Compté," such compté. appellation testifying that the fief was not held of the Counts of Burgundy, but of the Sovereign.

Burgundy, .", Cisjurane,

This interesting country, so picturesquely covered by the roots of the Jura, and including various territories wrested from the Duke in later times by the formidable and fraudulent Switzers, was dependant upon the Crown of France. But the political relations subsisting between the Dukes or Counts of Burgundy and the Fleur de lis, rank amongst the vexed questions of French constitutional history.

and Transjurane, into

and the

Franche

Deficiency of

Historians, and consequent

her History.

Burgundy was distinguished by the sanctity, Burgundian the opulence, and the numbers of her religious institutions. Her ecclesiastical annals are there- obscurity of fore sufficiently ample; but no Historian of any note was nurtured in the Abbeys, consequently, her secular annals are defective and imperfect, and the wide discrepancies between the authorities, concerning the dates of events, when they ought to run parallel with the occurrences in France and Normandy, frequently perplex the narrative.

VOL. III.

I

999-1024

965-1002, Henri le

Duke of

the Capetian.

line.

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At the period when Hugh Capet acquired the throne, the Duchy was held by Henry, his Grand first brother, distinguished in history as Henri leBurgundy of Grand, though, according to the ordinary sense in which this much abused and often mischievous epithet is employed, we cannot discover any appropriateness in the application thereof to him. Henry was really a good man, a quiet man; never did he give the slightest disturbance to his neighbours, never did he perform a warlike deed, never did he engage in any intrigues political or amatory, his time and mind being completely engrossed by higher objects. A Charter, however, can be quoted in which Hugh Capet bestows upon his brother the title of "Grand Duke," but the original is not extant. Possibly, the expression intended to bestow upon Henry a superior constitutional dignity, became colloquially attached to his name.

Adalbert, son

of Berenger,
King of

Italy, (see
Vol. II.,

marries Ger

berga of

Chalons

Otho Guil

son.

By a strange concurrence of circumstances, the legitimate representative of the Lombard 671-672 Kings of Italy had settled in Burgundy. The romantic adventures of the Prince and Pirate, laume their Adalbert, or Albert, the son of King Berenger and bold Guilla, have been elsewhere told. Strenuous and astute, Adalbert sobered as he grew older, and, wandering beyond the Alps, he espoused Gerberga, daughter of the much honoured Lambert, Count of Chalons, by whom he had one child, Otho Guillaume.

Adalbert gathered to his fathers, Gerberga

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upon Adal

marries

who adopts

Otho

effected the conquest of worthy old Duke Henry. 965-1024 May we not suppose that she possessed her Gerberga, namesake's energetic qualities: at all events her bert's death, son was distinguished by valour and talent; Duke Henry, and, such was the influence which they both Guillaume. gained over the venerable Duke, that he adopted the youth, declaring him his successor and heir. Duke Henry did not possess any legal power to make such a grant; and, upon his demise, the Duchy reverted to the Crown. But Otho Guillaume fully deserved the authority, and, one individual alone foreprized, he obtained the general support of the Burgundian Clergy and Nobility.

1003.

invasion of

Powerful

assistance

Robert by

Bon.

King Robert, albeit entranced by his poetry, The great diligent in works of charity and piety, and per- Burgundyplexed and plagued by his cross-grained Beauty, rendered to had fully prepared for the contingency of his dear Richard leUncle's death, and forthwith applied to Richard of Normandy for aid. Equally on the alert was the Duke; and a large army, amounting or magnified to the number of thirty thousand men, mustered under the Norman standard, which was borne aloft by Roger de Toesny. Very powerful did the united families of Toesny and Conches become in England, and the Standard bearer's grandson married the Adeliza Judith, the widow of the unfortunate Waltheoff, Earl of Huntingdon.

Round numbers are necessarily incorrect: making, however, in this case, the fullest allowance for any exaggeration, far did the force brought up by Richard exceed any contingent

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999-1024 which King Robert could claim as a right from the Duke of Normandy, Rollo's heir. Richard, in fact, acted in the character of an ally rather than as a feudatory. Nor can we doubt but that a large portion of his troops were mercenaries serving for their solde or pay; and they cared not against whom they drew the sword. Normandy was overflowing with a military population, anxious for employment, and for plunder. It was the universal feeling that the land was not wide enough for them.

1003-1004. Auxerre besieged by

and

Normans.

Rapid was the march of the combined armies. the French Duke Henry had scarcely been gathered to his fathers, when the assailants presented themselves before Auxerre, the frontier City between Champagne and Burgundy. Secured against an enemy by the broad Saone and the encircling walls and towers, popular belief imparted a greater power of defence to "Autissiodurum" than could be bestowed merely by lime and stone. The inhabitants were persuaded that the protection given by Saint Germain to the locality where his corpse was deposited, rendered the Place impregnable.

Landric, Count of Nevers, commanded the city. The Abbey had been fortified. Abbot Adalric interceded on behalf of the citizens, but fruitlessly; and Richard and his Normans commenced the blockade.

This was a season of remarkable atmospheric and cosmical phenomena. A fiery dragon shot

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Atmospheric phenomena

-meteors-extraordi

-raising of the Siege.

quivering across the heavens, rising in the north 999-1024 and setting in the south. A portentous mist then came on, shrouding earth and sky. Auxerre was involved in darkness. The Arbalisters nary, omens could not aim their bolts,-those weapons so destructive when sighted by the Norman eye and supported by the Norman arm,—whilst all the missiles told upon the besiegers. King Robert, however, contending against every difficulty, continued his operations steadily; and the charters dated from his Camp, pending the siege, exemplified the vigour of his royal authority at the very time he was most stoutly opposed: but the perseverance of the Auxerrois was rewarded; the invading forces, abandoning the Leaguer, struck their tents and moved on.

Support

Burgundians

Guillaume.

An obstinate warfare ensued. Otho Guillaume, suppoy the able and active, had won the people's hearts, and to Otho the Burgundians availed themselves of the natural defences afforded by their mountainous regions. Only one single Noble adhered to King Robert, Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre as well as Count of Chalons, who will ultimately appear in a ludicrous as well as humiliating position. What think ye of a Count-Bishop, literally saddled and figuratively bridled?

Normans and French advanced up the coun-Siege of try. Avalon,-whose Celtic name strangely interests us by the recollections which the sound suggests of the mythic Arthur's sepulture,-Avalon, dreary Avalon-was invested by the enemy,

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