WAR OF ALENÇON AND DOMFRONT. 279 Domfront, no less than Alençon, was of right a Norman CHAP. VIII. possession, both fortresses alike having been reared by the licence of Richard the Good.1 But even Alençon, what- Disloyalty of Alençon. ever may have been its origin, was at this time far from being a sound member of the Norman body-politic. As a lordship of William Talvas, it shared in the ambiguous character, half Norman, half French, which attached to all the border possessions of the house of Belesme. And, as events presently showed, its inhabitants shared most fully in the spirit in which the Lord of Alençon had cursed the Bastard in his cradle.2 We are told also that the citizens both of Alençon and of Domfront disliked the rule of William, on account of the strict justice which he administered and the checks which he put on their marauding practices. This complaint sounds rather as if it came from turbulent barons than from burghers; yet it is quite possible that the burghers of a frontier town, especially on a frontier which was very doubtful and ill defined, may have indulged in those breaches of the peace which it was William's greatest praise, both in Normandy and in England, to chastise without mercy. At any rate the people of Alençon Alençon were thoroughly disloyal to Normandy, and they by Geofwillingly received the Angevin Count and his garrison.4 frey. William returned the blow of Geoffrey's hammer in kind. 3 comitis Andegavorum, obsidione coronavit." So also Roman de Rou, 9382; 1 Will. Pict. 89. "Alençon ert de Normendie E Danfronz del Maine partie." "Perhibent homines antiquioris memoriæ, castra hæc ambo Comitis Ricardi concessu esse fundata, unum intra alterum, proxime fines Normanniæ." 2 See above, p. 184. So William of Malmesbury (iii. 231), "Pronis in perfidiam habitatoribus." 3 Will. Pict. 87. "Deferre haudquaquam volebant dominum sub quo licenter quæstum latrociniis contraherint: quali caussâ fuerant seducti inhabitantes Alentium." He then goes on with one of his panegyrics on William's stern justice. garrisoned William marches to CHAP. VIII. Leaving Alençon for a while to itself, he crossed the frontier, Angevin or Cenomannian as we may choose to Domfront; call it, and laid siege to Domfront. On his march he found his exploits that treason was not wholly extinguished, even among his on the way. own troops. He had gone on a foraging or plundering party with fifty horse;1 a traitor, a Norman noble, sent word of his whereabout to the defenders of the town, who sent forth, we are told, three hundred horse and seven hundred foot to attack the Duke unexpectedly. It sounds like romance when we read that William at once charged and overthrew the horseman nearest to him, that the rest were seized with a sudden panic and took to flight, that the Duke and his little band chased them to the gates of Domfront, and that William carried off one prisoner with his own hands.2 Such stories are no doubt greatly exaggerated; the details may often be pure invention; but, as contemporary exaggerations and inventions, they show the kind of merit which Normans then looked for in their rulers, and they show the kind of exploit of which William Traitors in himself was thought capable. And the perfectly casual mention of the traitor in the Norman camp is instructive in another way. It is no doubt merely an example of what often happened, and the way in which treason is spoken of as an everyday matter sets vividly before us the difficulties with which William, even now after the victory of Val-ès-dunes, had still to contend at every step.3 the Nor man camp. ་ 1 Will. Pict. 87. "Ubi approximabatur Danfronto, cum equitibus divertit quinquaginta, acceptum quæ stippendium augerent." But this curious euphemism for what one would have thought in those days hardly needed apology is explained in the next sentence, "Prædæ autem index castellanis prodidit ipsum quidam ex Normannis majoribus, intimans quo aut cur ierit, et quam paucis comitatus, atque hunc esse qui mortem fugæ præferret." 2 Ib. "Captum suis unum manibus retinuit." 3 Compare, on the chances of treason near William's person, those remarkable expressions of William of Jumièges (vii. 4) which have been already quoted in p. 198. WILLIAM AND GEOFFREY BEFORE DOMFRONT. 281 Domfront. William now laid siege to Domfront. The town was CHAP. VIII. strong both by its fortifications and by its natural position. Siege of The spirit of the citizens was high, and they were further strengthened by the presence of a chosen body of Angevin troops sent by Count Geoffrey. An assault was hopeless where two steep and narrow paths were the only ways by which the fortress could be approached even on foot.1 William surrounded the town with four towers,2 and the Norman army sat down before it. The Duke was foremost in every attack, in every ambush, in every night march to cut off the approach of those who sought to bring either messages or provisions to the besieged town.3 Yet we are told that he found himself so safe in the enemy's country that he often enjoyed the sports of hunting and hawking, for which the neighbouring woods afforded special oppor 4 comes to tunities. The siege had continued for some time in this 1048-1049. way, and it was now seemingly winter,5 when news was brought that Count Geoffrey was advancing with a large force to the relief of the town. A tale of knight-errantry Geoffrey follows, the main substance of which, coming as it does from relieve a contemporary writer, we have no ground for disbelieving, even though some details may have been heightened to enhance the glory of William. The story is worthy of attention as showing that, amidst all the apparent rudeness. 1 Will. Pict. 87. "Celerem irruptionem situs oppidi denegabat omni robori sive peritiæ; quum scopulorum asperitas pedites etiam deturbaret, præter qui angustis itineribus duobus atque arduis accederent." There is here something of the Norman trust in cavalry; there is a feeling as if a place where horsemen were of no use had some unfairness about it. 2 Ib. 3 Ib. "Castella circumponit quatuor." "Aliquando perdius et pernox equitans, vel in abditis occultus explorat, si qui offendantur aut commeatum advectantes, aut in legatione directi, aut pabulatoribus suis insidiantes." Ib. "Est regio illa silvis abundans ferarum feracissimis. Sæpe falconum, sæpissime accipitrum volatu oblectatur." Accipiter," so Mr. Dimock 66 explains to me, is the goshawk. From the point of view of the small birds, the distinction is probably of no great importance. 5 Ib. "Non loci difficultas, aut sævitia hiemis," &c. Domfront. William and Geof knight errantry. CHAP. VIII. of the times, some germs of the later follies of chivalry had already begun to show themselves. As the Angevin army Messages approached, William sent a message to Geoffrey by the between hands of two of his chosen friends, two youths who had grown up along with him, and who were destined to share frey. Early example of with him in all his greatest dangers and greatest successes. Both were men who lived to be famous in English history, Roger of Montgomery, the son-in-law of the terrible Talvas,1 and William, the son of that Osbern who had lost his life through his faithfulness to his master. These two trusty companions were sent to see Count Geoffrey, and to get from him an explanation of his purpose. Geoffrey told them that, at daybreak the next morning, he would come and beat up William's quarters before Domfront. There should be no mistake about his person; he would be known by such a dress, such a shield, such a coloured horse. The Norman messengers answered that he need not trouble himself to come so far as the Norman quarters; he whom he sought would come and visit him nearer home. Duke William would be ready for battle, with such a horse, such a dress, such manner of weapons.* The Normans appeared the next morning, eager for fight, and their Duke the most eager among them.5 But no 2 See above, p. 195. 1 See above, pp. 184, 194. 3 Will. Pict. 88. 66 Præsignat qualem in prælio equum sit habiturus, quale scutum, qualem vestitum." The device on the shield was therefore still left to the fancy of the wearer. Had the Counts of Anjou already possessed hereditary armorial bearings, the Normans could hardly have needed to be told what kind of shield Geoffrey would carry. Ib. "Illi contra opus non esse respondent instituto eum itinere longius fatigari. Nam continuo propter quem vadit adfore. Equum vicissim do nini sui præsignant, vestitum, et arma." Here, it may be remarked, is no special mention of the shield; it comes under the general head of "arma.” It is almost profanation to compare warfare of this sort with the patriot truggle at Maldon, yet there is in all this something analogous to Brihtnoth's over-chivalry in allowing the Northmen to cross the river. See however the instances quoted in vol. i. p. 271. 5 The reason given by William of Poitiers (u. s.) for the Duke's special FLIGHT OF GEOFFREY. 283 decamps. enemy was there to await them; before the Normans came CHAP. VIII. in sight, the Count of Anjou and his host had decamped. Geoffrey Geoffrey doubtless, like some later generals, retired only for strategical reasons; but the Norman writers can see no nobler motive for his conduct than his being seized with a sudden panic.1 Here, and throughout the war, the lions stand in need of a painter, or rather their painters suddenly refuse to do their duty. We have no Angevin account of the siege of Domfront to set against our evidently highly-coloured Norman picture. 2 marches and be The whole country now lay open for William to harry; William but he knew better than to waste time and energy on suddenly mere useless ravages. He determined rather to strike to Alençon, another sudden blow. Leaving a force before Domfront, sieges the he marched all night, through the enemy's country, along the course of the Mayenne, passing by Mehendin, Pointel, and Saint-Samson.3 He thus suddenly appeared before Alençon with the morning light. A bridge over the "Omnium zeal is one of the most amazing things that I ever came across. 1 Will. Pict. 88. "Subitaneo terrore consternatus Gaufredus, adversâ acie necdum conspectâ, profugio salutem suam cum agmine toto committit." Wace (9601) makes him make a little show of preparation for battle, but he presently yields to the wiser advice of a knight who counsels flight. Wace (9527-9628) puts this whole story later, after the taking of Alençon. He adds a third to the two messengers in William of Poitiers, namely William Fitz-Thierry (9539). 2 Will. Pict. u. s. "Novit esse prudentium victoria temperare, atque non satis potentem esse qui semet in potestate ulsciscendi continere non possit." William of Jumièges (vii. 18) adds another reason; "Ecce adsunt exploratores, Alencium castrum absque suorum detrimento eum capere posse nuntiantes." This is his first mention of Alençon. 3 Roman de Rou, 9436 et seqq. 4 Will. Gem. u. s. "Totâ nocte equitans diluculo Alencium venit." town. |