REVOLT AGAINST ROBERT. 153 between Duke Robert Archbishop and Count of Evreux. would cut them off from every chance of the suc- 1024-1035 cession. Each resented the exclusion from the inheritance as an unpardonable injury; and Belesme-Talvas had spoken out for them all. Hostilities Amongst the disappointed kindred, the most for- and his uncle, midable was Robert, the married clerk, Arch- of Rouen, bishop of Rouen, and Count of Evreux, Duke Robert's uncle, the legitimated son of Guenora, the marriage subsequent to cohabitation being fully satisfactory to the Norman mind; and he was also the lawful heir. Had Robert died at this juncture, leaving only Arletta's stigmatized issue, then, if law was law, the rights of the Count Bishop were incontestable. There were not those wanting, especially, as we may collect, amongst the nobles, who roused Duke Robert's suspicions against his relations; and, wisely preparing to prevent the danger, he laid siege to Evreux. In this position the Archbishop assembled large forces. Reduced to great straits, he attempted to support himself by his spiritual authority; and he fulminated an excommunication against his nephew, at the same time, placing Normandy under a general interdict. The Archbishop then withdrew to the court of King Robert, who received him hospitably. Duke Robert relented. Some say that he discovered he had acted on false suggestions, and he recalled the Archbishop, who thenceforth avoided giving occasion of offence. 1024-1035 the Bishop of Bayeux. 154 ROBERT'S STRENUOUSNESS. % 20. This annoying contest concluded, another of a similar character emerged. Hugh, Bishop of Bayeux, was the son of Ralph, Count of Ivri, the half-brother of Richard Sans-peur, the queller of rebels, who had crushed the insurgent peasantry; and, whether by right or by wrong, the Bishop took possession of Ivri. He caused the awe-inspiring dungeon tower to be well prepared Robert and for defence. But Duke Robert, according to his accustomed tactics, was enabled to reduce this important possession without bloodshed. He blockaded the castle so straitly, that Bishop Hugh, like his cousin the Archbishop, was obliged to sue for mercy. It was granted, but upon the hardest terms. He went forth, and wandered many years in exile. The too celebrated Odo, Arletta's son by Herlouin de Conteville, the husband taken by her after Duke Robert's death, and who figures at full length in the acts and transactions of the Conquest, was Hugh's congenial successor. Robert proceeding boldly onwards, now assailed a far more dangerous enemy. Fully was he conscious of the spite which the Talvas entertained towards him. But he had the great feudatory in his grip, and he knew how to work his ducal prerogatives. Alençon, where, as we collect from subsequent events, the Duke's connexion with the loathed Tanner's daughter had excited great and permanent disgust, was held by Talvas, jure beneficii; or, in more modern ROBERT'S IMPORTANCE. constitutional terminology, a Feud. 155 Robert's 1024—1035 purse commanded Robert's soldiery; and, raising his troops, he besieged the town. renders. § 21. The Ducal forces were so vigilant that Talvas could not discover any means of escape; he was now paying the cost of the imprecations he had fulminated before the cradle. Haughty Talvas surTalvas was compelled to seek pardon-pardon was granted,-but, painful the pinch sustained by the Premier baron. He submitted to the chastisement, which was now becoming a species of established law. Unshod and half stripped he came forth, the saddle girt upon his old gibbous shoulders. Robert was satisfied; and Talvas, having rivetted his broken oath, prepared for mischief, when the good time for turbulence. should really come. of Robert le. § 22. Robert le-Magnifique's position, geo-importance graphical, political, and social, enabled him to ex- Magnifique. ercise considerable influence over his neighbours' affairs. Normandy presents herself as one of the great powers composing the Capetian Confederacy -perhaps the greatest. France and England beheld in the Norman Duke, a Potentate who could support or menace either kingdom. Emma's husband had jarred against Richard le-Bon; and the matrimonial connexion had failed to extinguish the smouldering enmity. Ethelred's unhappy expedition against the Cotentin testified the anxiety created in England by the possibility of an invasion from the warrior-teeming, iron-bound 1024-1035 Baudouin a-la-bellebarbe Robert's 156 ALLIANCE WITH FLANDERS. coast; which, culminating at Cherbourg, always threatened the Channel shores. Moreover, the smiling countenance which the Norman Sovereigns turned towards their Danish kinsmen, was a suspicious feature in their policy. § 23. Flanders, at this juncture, afforded refuge under to Duke Robert a favourable opportunity of protection. manifesting his own political importance. The younger Baudouin, known in history as Baudouin de Lisle,―he who had espoused the Adela,-rose against his father, Baudouin-à-la-belle-barbe. The venerable parent, expelled by the valiant, sagacious, but undutiful son, sought refuge in the Castle of Falaise,-Falaise—for it was in this stronghold that Robert resided and held his court, whilst he deserted the antient palace of Rouen. Did any harassing reminiscences haunt Rollo's banquet hall? Duke Robert willingly afforded his aid to the suppliant Count; he brought up his army into Flanders, perpetrating devastations so germane with the character of a Robert le-Diable, that some suppose it was by reason of the ferocity displayed during this foray, that he acquired his mythic name. Yet we may half condone the delight which must have been felt by a great grandson of Longue-épée, when he could punish the land of Old Arnold the murderer. Flemish revolt suppressedRobert pacifies the country. The insurgent nobles who headed the revolt abandoned the insurgent son; and, soliciting peace, they besought Robert to act as mediator. Tranquillity being restored, the pacification be- 1024-1035 tween Normandy and Flanders expanded into that amicable intercourse, which, old grudges forgotten, placed Baudouin de Lisle's excellent daughter, the affectionate Matilda, on the English throne-she,-who humanly speaking,-became the only source of real happiness which the weary Conqueror enjoyed. 1031. King Robert regal suc cession not settled in § 24. About this time good King Robert Death of was gathered to his fathers, a sexagenarian. His right of death marked a great crisis. Two generations yet entirely only of the royal Capetian line had reigned. France, Time is the essential element of regal authority. Never can the right of succession be firmly established in any Dynasty, until three generations and four have been permitted to occupy the throne. Hereditary right, so far as politic society is concerned, involves two conditions-primogeniture or seniority, and the principle of representation from heir to heir. But whether,employing the antient Anglo-Saxon formula,this right subsists only on the "Sword side," or male line, and fails altogether on the "Spindle side," or female line, as in France and most of the German Sovereignties; or whether it may subsist on the spindle side, but pass to the daughter's male heir, ascending to and descending from the stirps however distant, is a question which each nation's ethos and traditions must determine. Capetian France was still a kingdom of the first |