1075

tion of

Watheof encreases.

the great Norman Abbey of Fontenel,was probably considered by his patron as detaching him from the English cause. Not so: the honours rendered The venerato Waltheof encreased, and the more splendid shrine erected by the new Abbot near the High Altar of the church which he restored, attracted more and more votaries. Ingulph was entirely an Englishman at heart, and the legendary history which passes under his name, though interpolated and enlarged, may be considered, when compared with the brief but more authentic memorials preserved, as an exponent of his feelings. Ingulph was succeeded by Gosfrid of Orleans, who had professed in the monastery of St. Evreux. Learned and kind and liberal, he adopted, Frenchman as he was, all the religio loci. More and more did the veneration rendered to Waltheof encrease, and daily did the resort of English pilgrims become more and more numerous, and more and more were the miracles talked of which had been vouchsafed at the shrine. A Norman monk scoffed and scorned this devotion, offered at the tomb, as he said, of a traitor who had received condign punishment. Gosfrid reproved him kindly but solemnly. The sudden illness and speedy death of the reviler, and the vision which appeared to the Abbot, added still more to the national veneration.

at Croyland.

Time passed on, till at length he who has Ordericus preserved to us the living history of the times, Ordericus, visited the Abbey of Croyland. His

1075

blow to

talents were celebrated, and the epitaph which he was desired to compose, and which was inscribed upon the sarcophagus, perpetuated the remembrance of the injustice which the English nation had, in the person of Waltheof, sustained. His death a Nor did William ever recover from the moral prosperity. condemnation due to his injustice: and when the pilgrim brought his offerings to the shrine, he was told how William's good fortune deserted him from the day that Waltheof died. Never again during the remainder of his reign, did he enjoy peace; never did he prosper. He resisted his

William's

enemies as boldly as ever, for his prowess was undiminished, his mind unclouded; but his bow was broken, his sword was blunted: never again was he able to defeat the enemy in the field or to storm the beleaguered city, until that fatal success which brought him to the grave.

CHAPTER XII.

WILLIAM RETURNS TO THE

CONTINENT.-SIEGE OF DÔL.QUARRELS BETWEEN ROBERT AND HIS FATHER.-BATTLE OF GERBEROI.- -ROBERT'S SECOND OUTBREAK.-DISTURBIN NORTHUMBRIA.-BISHOP ODO'S IMPRISONMENT.

ANCES

-MATILDA'S DEATH.

1075-1083.

escapes and

Danes:

1. THE escape of Ralph Guader from Nor- Guader wich Castle gave further trouble to William. He joins the arrived safely in Denmark. Canute assembled a large fleet, upon which he embarked with the sturdy Earl Haco. They entered the Humber, surprised York, plundered the Minster, and sailed away with ample spoil. They made for Flanders ; some perished, apparently by a storm, but the success of the enterprize was sufficient, with the promised aid of Robert the Frizon, who continued to nourish an implacable enmity against his brother-in-law, to concert another and more formidable invasion.

Brittany.

Ralph Guader returned to Brittany, where Thence to he occupied the city of Dôl. Much enmity was arising against William. Philip of France never was otherwise than inimical, though not always in active hostility. All the borders of Normandy were more or less disturbed or inclined to give disturbance. The late transac

1075

Hoel and

Alan Fergant. 1066

William invades Brittany:

524

WILLIAM'S UNSUCCESSFUL

tions in England had revived the national antipathy between the Normans and the Bretons. Notwithstanding the ample patronage bestowed by William upon Alan le Roux, Earl of Richmond, they considered that they were entirely out of his good will. Upon the death of Conan II., Hoel, Count of Cornouailles and Nantes, had acquired, or attempted to acquire, the supremacy of the Duchy. By marriage with Hawisa, daughter of Duke Alan, he had acquired the county of Rennes. It was very doubtful whether the right could be transmitted through a female, and his authority was much contested. Ever since the Conquest, Hoel and Alan Fergant, his son, who acted as being conjoined to him in the sovereignty, had virtually cast off the Norman suzerainty.

:

The protection afforded to the rebel, Guader, gave William an additional incitement against Brittany; and soon after the execution of Waltheof, he crossed over. The Normans most willingly joined him the war had in a manner become national. Dôl was surrounded by the invading army. William swore bitterly that he would not depart until the town had surrendered at discretion. The garrison were terrified at his threats. Success appeared certain, yet, nevertheless, William continued in his camp, threatening and making demonstrations, but without attempting to assault the city, for the siege was converted into a sluggish blockade.

Is
by Fergant.

The delay was fatal; Alan Fergant advanced 1075 with a large force, magnified by report to 15,000 men. He was supported by powerful reinforce- repulsed ments from France, led on by King Philip in person. The besieged knew nothing of the army advancing to their rescue, and were even gaining some advantages over William, not distinctly specified, but which probably consisted in their having captured some of his men in their sallies; for they were such as to necessitate his making terms with them before his retreat. This he did disgracefully. He abandoned camp, baggage, horses, treasure to the amount, as it was reckoned, of thousands of pounds sterling, all of which rewarded the victors.

gains over

Brittany by

2. This check induced William to alter his William policy towards Brittany, and he acted wisely, marriage. according to a policy which the Normans and the Norman dynasty had followed with considerable success. The daughters of William and of Matilda, like all the members of this remarkable family, were distinguished; and no higher testimony can be found of Matilda's cultivation, as well as of her prudence, than the results which appeared in the character of her daughters. Agatha, the betrothed of Harold, had been sought in marriage by Alphonso, King of Galicia; but she could not transfer the affection she had felt for her first betrothed, unworthy though he was, to the Spaniard; and when sent to the Peninsula under the escort of the em