CHAP. IV. 1087. SOME writers have been desirous of refusing to this Prince the title of Conqueror, in the sense which that term commonly bears; and, on pretence that the word is sometimes in old books applied to such as make an acquisition of territory by any means, they are willing to reject William's title by right of war to the crown of England. It is needless to enter into a controversy, which, by the terms of it, must necessarily degenerate into a dispute of words. It suffices to say, that the Duke of Normandy's first invasion of the island was hostile; that his subsequent administration was entirely supported by arms; that in the very frame of his laws he made a distinction between the Normans and English, to the advantage of the former'; that he acted in every thing as absolute master over the natives, whose interest and affections he totally disregarded; and that if there was an interval when he assumed the appearance of a legal Sovereign, the period was very short, and was nothing but a temporary sacrifice, which he, as has been the case with most conquerors, was obliged to make of his inclination to his present policy. Scarce any of those revolutions, which, both in history and in common language, have always been denominated Conquests, appear equally violent, or were attended with so sudden an alteration both of power and property. The Roman state, which spread its dominion over Europe, left the rights of individuals in a great measure untouched; and those civilized conquerors, while they made their own country the seat of empire, found that they could draw most advantage from the subjected provinces by securing to the natives the free enjoyment of their own laws and of their private possessions. The barbarians, who subdued the Roman empire, though they settled in the conquered countries, yet being accustomed to a rude uncul IV. uncultivated life, found a part only of the land CHAP. sufficient to supply all their wants; and they were not tempted to seize extensive possessions, which they 1087. knew neither how to cultivate nor enjoy. But the Normans and other foreigners, who followed the standard of William, while they made the vanquished kingdom the seat of government, were yet so far advanced in arts as to be acquainted with the advantages of a large property; and having totally subdued the natives, they pushed the rights of conquest (very extensive in the eyes of avarice and ambition, however narrow in those of reason) to the utmost extremity against them. Except the former conquest of England by the Saxons themselves, who were induced, by peculiar circumstances, to proceed even to the extermination of the natives, it would be difficult to find in all history, a revolution more destructive, or attended with a more complete subjection of the ancient inhabitants. Contumely seems even to have been wantonly added to oppression"; and the natives were universally reduced to such a state of meanness and poverty, that the English name became a term of reproach; and several generations elapsed before one family of Saxon pedigree was raised to any considerable honours, or could so much as attain the rank of Baron of the realm ". These facts are so apparent from the whole tenour of the English history, that none would have been tempted to deny or elude them, were they not heated by the controversies of faction; while one party was absurdly afraid of those absurd consequences which they saw the other party inclined to draw from this event. But it is evident that the u H. Hunt. p. 370. Brompton, p. 980. So late as the reign of King Stephen, the Earl of Albemarle, before the battle of the Standard, addressed the officers of his army in these terms, Proceres Anglia clarissimi, & genere Normanni, &c., Brompton, p. 1026. See farther Abbas Rieval, p. 339, &c. All the Barons and military men of England still called themselves Normans. present IV. .1687. CHAP. present rights and privileges of the people, who are a mixture of English and Normans, can never be affected by a transaction, which passed seven hundred years ago; and as all ancient authors, who lived nearest the time, and best knew the state of the country, unanimously speak of the Norman dominion as a conquest by war and arms, no reasonable man, from the fear of imaginary consequences, will ever be tempted to reject their concurring and undoubted testimony. KING William had issue, besides his three sons who survived him, five daughters, to wit, (1.) Cicely, a nun in the monastery of Feschamp, afterwards abbess in the Holy Trinity at Caen, where she died in 1127. (2.) Constantia, married to Alan Fergent, Earl of Britany. She died without issue. (3.) Alice, contracted to Harold. (4.) Adela, married to Stephen, Earl of Blois, by whom she had four sons, William, Theobald, Henry and Stephen; of whom the elder was neglected on account of the imbecility of his understanding. (5.) (5.) Agatha, who died a virgin, but was betrothed to the King of Gallicia. She died on her journey thither, before she joined her bridegroom. * See note [L], at the end of the volume. CHAP. V. WILLIAM RUFUS. Accession of William Rufus. King. Conspiracy against the Invasion of Normandy.The Crusades. Acquisition of Normandy. -Quarrel with Anselm, the Primate. -Death- and Character of William Rufus. WILLIAM, surnamed Rufus, or the Red, from CHAP. sion of the colour of his hair, had no sooner pro- V. cured his father's recommendatory letter to Lanfranc, the Primate, than he hastened to take mea- 1087. sures for securing to himself the government of AccesEngland. Sensible that a deed so unformal, and William so little prepared, which violated Robert's right of Rufus. primogeniture, might meet with great opposition, he trusted entirely for success to his own celerity; and having left St. Gervas while William was breathing his last, he arrived in England before intelligence of his father's death had reached that king gence *. Pretending orders from the King, he secured the fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, whose situation rendered them of the greatest importance; and he got possession of the royal treasure at Winchester, amounting to the sum of sixty thousand pounds, by which he hoped to encourage and increase his partizans. The Primate, whose rank and reputation in the kingdom gave him great authority, had been entrusted with the care of his education, and had conferred on him the honour of knighthood; and being connected with him by 1087. CHAP. these ties, and probably deeming his pretensions V. just, declared that he would pay a willing obedience to the last will of the Conqueror, his friend and benefactor. Having assembled some Bishops, and some of the principal nobility, he instantly proceeded to the ceremony of crowning the new King; and by this dispatch endeavoured to prevent all faction and resistance. At the same time Robert, who had been already acknowledged successor to Normandy, took peaceable possession of that dutchy. Conspiracy against BUT though this partition appeared to have been made without any violence or opposition, there remained in England many causes of discontent, the King. which seemed to menace that kingdom with a sud den revolution. The Barons, who generally possessed large estates both in England and in Normandy, were uneasy at the separation of those territories; and foresaw, that as it would be impossible for them to preserve long their allegiance to two masters, they must necessarily resign either their ancient patrimony or their new acquisitions". Robert's title to the dutchy they esteemed incontestible; his claim to the kingdom plausible; and they all desired that this Prince, who alone had any pretensions to unite these states, should be put in possession of both. A comparison also of the personal qualities of the two brothers led them to give the preference to the elder. The Duke was brave, open, sincere, generous: Even his predominant faults, his extreme indolence and facility, were not disagreeable to those haughty Barons, who affected independence, and submitted with reluctance to a vigorous administration in their Sovereign. The King, though equally brave, was violent, haughty, tyrannical, and seemed disposed to govern more by the fear than by the love of his subjects. Odo, Bishop of Baieux, and Robert, Earl a Hoveden, p. 461. ΙΟ Order. Vitalis, p. 666. of |