1080

Walchere and Leobwine are also slain.

The riot becomes rebellion.

wine shrunk from his fate. The attacks upon the building continued; the massy walls and iron-bound doors of the church at first resisted. Fire was threatened: the miserable Walchere came forth, and standing upon the threshold earnestly prayed for pardon. "Good rede, short rede, slay the bishop," was the pithy advice given by the outcry of a Waltheof, the most determined of the bishop's enemies. wrapped his head in his garment and was slain. The church was fired. Leobwine madly rushed out, and was cut to pieces, and all within perished.

He

11. The rebellion spread throughout the country: the insurgents attacked Durham, occupied the city, and laid siege to the castle; but after four days' blockade they were compelled to abandon this enterprize, though the whole country continued in a state of insurrection. But there was a governor in England fully able to punish them. Odo, at this period, was supreme in command. Whether acting by his own discretionary powers, or, as is more probable, by William's directions, he advanced to the north. Northumbria was completely devastated. Had the Earl of Northumbria been a layman, the offence against the civil authority would have deserved severe punishment, but the clerical character of the victim encreased the indignation excited by his murder, and furnished an excuse, and in some degree a reason

ODO PACIFIES NORTHUMBRIA.

547

1080

pacification.

for the greatest severity. The country was
entirely desolated; the innocent, and they Odo's
were many, who had taken no part in the in-
surrection, were all subjected to the same
punishment; and those who opposed no re-
sistance whatever to the Norman forces, were
either put to death or cruelly mutilated, a prac-
tice constantly and consistently employed by
the Normans, and which equally had the effect
of awing the people and of irritating them
against their oppressors.

Malcolm continued bound by the homage rendered at Abernethy, only until he could disavow the engagement which he had formed. He could not consider the Norman as his legitimate superior, and the miserable conflict prevailing in Normandy between the father and the son might well encourage all the enemies of the new dynasty to anticipate that a family thus divided was hastening to ruin. Malcolm crossed Malcolm the border, and penetrated as far as the Tyne. The country was defenceless. Captives, cattle, English sterling silver, rewarded the invaders, and the spoil was carried off by Malcolm in safety, and therefore with honour, to his own land; and it is most probable that, at the same period, the greater portion of Cumbria was regained by the Scottish sovereign.

ravages

England.

12. Important affairs in Normandy: a coun- Normandy. cil held at Lillebonne under William's presidency, in which some of the best laws of the govern

1080

to England:

ment of the country were made, prevented his immediate return to England, and he took the opportunity of testifying his reconciliation with Robert, by appointing him commander of the forces intended to enforce the obedience of the Robert sent Scottish sovereign. Robert, for the first time in his life, repaired to Britain. The measure had been wisely considered by William. It was a testimony to the people of mutual confidence, and the station and power thus assigned to the son so lately in parricidal rebellion, might be considered as the most sincere token of the pardon he had obtained, and that the enemies of William could no longer found their expectations of success upon family disunion. But whether from the want of conduct on the part of the commander, or of efficiency in the troops, the expedition was shamefully unsuccessful. Robert advanced as far as a place called by the chroniclers Eaglesuret, in which strange orthography there is little difficulty in recognizing the Celtic name of Bridekirk in Annandale. Further, he dared not go, and he returned again to the south; but the expedition was not entirely useless, nor without a most memorable monument, as he directed the building of the new castle upon the Tyne. When Robert again met his father, or whether they ever met again, is uncertain. The reconciliation was hollow and insincere: the dissensions were renewed: Robert broke away again from his father; and resorting, first to Flanders

Invades
Scotland:

Returns

to the

continent.

and then to France, resumed his course of disobedience, injuring and annoying his parent by all the means in his power, and encouraging and encouraged by that parent's most inveterate

enemies.

1080

Difficulties

Though repressed by Odo's vigour, the spirit of William. of the Northumbrian rebellion still rankled in the heart of the people, and what was of greater importance and threatening far greater danger, was the distrust with which William now began to regard his brother. Furthermore, the aspect of affairs in Denmark was lowering, and William, quitting Normandy, repaired to England. was accompanied by sorrowing and declining Matilda. Both might now well need the help of each other's society, and she continued his efficient friend and counsellor to the last.

He

13. A new bishop and a good one, William de St. Carileph, was nominated by the King as the successor of Walchere. Wise, well-instructed and prudent, he applied himself wholly to the restoration of the desolated see. He properly considered this important object as the common concern the nobles and laity of the country were consulted: the advice of the metropolitan of all England was sought; and all acted under the sanction of the sovereign and his consort. It appeared better for the future stability of the see that the communities dispersed at Wearmouth and at Jarrow should be united on the spot where the body of St. Cuthbert was deposited. Pope

Walchere's successor.

1081

550

DURHAM.

Gregory confirmed the union, which also received the sanction of the legislature: that stately Foundation cathedral arose which still subsists, as it were in solemn triumph, and Durham became the great ecclesiastical metropolis of the north.

of Durham.

St. Cuthbert, to use the familiar expression of the age, preserved all his territorial rights between Tyne and Tees; and in proportion as our jurisprudence became more matured, the progress and even the fictions of the law gave them greater stability, and the palatine rights of the bishop became as well defined as those of the crown. But William de St. Carileph was neither honoured nor troubled by being invested with the perilous administration of the Northumbrian earldom-the dignity which had brought his predecessor to destruction. It became needful to provide for this most important government: a border country, filled with an inimical population, but which nevertheless needed to be rendered a barrier against an enemy.

14. Difficulties were now coming fast upon William, such as he had never known before. In the earlier years of his reign, he had the comfort and aid of many a wise counsellor and many a trusty friend; but they were dropping away apace: a new generation was arising from whom he was estranged: those nearest to him had become cold or treacherous, and amongst strangers he had to choose between rash and untried youth and Northum Waning and declining age. As Earl of Northum

Earldom of

bria.