1104.]

The King's flowing locks cropped.

99

or wasted it in riotous living. Her ears being infected with the base insinuations of these people, she induced this stain on her noble mind, holy and meritorious in every other respect."1 The profound tranquillity that subsisted in her husband's dominions during his frequent absences in Normandy, is a proof that Matilda understood the art of domestic government, and practised it with a happier effect than the two first Anglo-Norman sovereigns, whose reigns were so greatly disturbed by insurrections.

Henry, after his successful campaign in Normandy, returned to England, in his personal appearance, at least, an altered man. The Anglo-Normans had adopted the picturesque Saxon fashion-which, however, was confined to persons of high rank-of wearing their hair long, and flowing in ringlets on their shoulders; and the king was remarkable for the luxuriance and beauty of his love-locks, which he cherished with peculiar care, no doubt out of a laudable desire to conform to the tastes of his queen, the daughter of a Saxon princess. His courtiers imitated the royal example, which gave great scandal to the Norman clergy. One day, while the king was in Normandy, he and his train entered a church, where an ecclesiastic of the name of Serlo, bishop of Seez, took up his parable on the sinfulness of this new fashion, “which," he protested, "was a device of the Evil One to bring souls into everlasting perdition; compared the moustached, bearded, and long-haired men of that age to filthy goats;" and, in short, made so moving a discourse on the unloveliness of their present appearance, that the king of England and his courtiers melted into tears: on which Serlo, perceiving the impression which his eloquence had made, drew a pair of scissors out of his sleeve, and, instead of permitting their penitence to evaporate in a few unmeaning drops, persuaded his royal and noble auditors to prove the sincerity of their repentance by submitting their ringlets to his discretion, and brought his triumph to a climax by polling the king and congregation with his own hands. After Henry had thus submitted his flowing ringlets to the reforming shears of Serlo, he published an edict, commanding his subjects to follow his example. Henry was then courting popularity in the duchy of Normandy, and well knew that the readiest way to effect his object, was to win the good report of the monks. He had previously scandalized all piously disposed persons, by choosing for his private chaplain a priest whose only merit consisted in being able to hurry over matins and mass in half an hour. This was Roger le Poer, afterwards the rich and potent bishop of Salisbury, whose hasty despatch of the morning service so charmed Henry, that he swore aloud in the church "that he had at length met with a priest fit for a soldier." Roger, when he received this flattering commendation from the lips of royalty, was only a poor curate at Caen,

1 Wm. of Malms.

but was advanced by Henry to the highest preferment in the church and state.

Queen Matilda did not long enjoy the society of her royal husband in England, and during the brief period he spent with her at Northampton, in the winter season, his whole time and thoughts were employed in raising the means for pursuing the war in Normandy. His unfortunate brother, Robert, finding himself sorely pressed on every side, and left, by his own improvident folly, without resources for continuing the contest, came over to England unattended, and, repairing to the court at Northampton, forced an interview with Henry' (who was reluctant to admit him into his presence), and earnestly besought his compassion; telling him, at the same time, "he was ready to submit everything to his brotherly love, if he would only permit him to retain the appearance of a sovereign." As it by no means suited Henry's policy to yield to the dictates of natural affection, he coldly turned away, muttering something to himself that was unintelligible to the bystanders, and which he could not be induced to explain. Robert's quick temper could not brook this contemptuous usage, and, in a paroxysm of rage, he indignantly assailed his brother with a storm of reproaches, mingled with abuse and menaces; and without waiting to employ the good offices of queen Matilda, through whose kindly influence it is possible he might have obtained reasonable conditions of peace, he departed from Northampton the same hour.2

In the spring, Henry once more committed the domestic affairs of his kingdom to the care of Matilda, and having levied an enormous tax on his subjects, to support the expenses of the war, embarked for Normandy. Matilda was principally employed, during the king's absence, in superintending the magnificent buildings at New Windsor, which were founded by Henry, and in the completion of the royal apartments in the Tower of London. She, as well as Henry, patronised Gundulph, the episcopal architect, to whom England is indebted for the most magnificent and lasting of her public buildings. Many useful public works, to which we have before alluded, furnished, under her auspices, employment for the working classes, and improved the general condition of the people. While civilization and the arts of peace were rapidly progressing, through the beneficial influence of Matilda, at home, the arms of her royal consort were universally triumphant in Normandy. The unfor tunate Robert Courthose, with his young son William (who was called Clito, or royal heir), with Stephen, earl of Mortagne, and all the nobles of their party, were taken prisoners at the decisive battle of Tinchebray, which was fought on the vigil of St. Michael, exactly forty years after the famous battle of Hastings. The English were much elated at this circumstance, whereby they flattered their national pride with the idea

1109.]

Matilda keeps Court at Westminster alone.

101

that the husband of their beloved queen, of Saxon lineage, had wiped away the dishonour of the Norman conquest, by subjugating Normandy to the yoke of England. Edgar Atheling, Matilda's uncle, was taken fighting for his friend Robert of Normandy. Henry instantly released the aged prince, for love of the queen his niece, say some of the chroniclers of that period, and at her intercession settled a pension upon him for

life.

Henry, now at the summit of his ambition, having verified the deathbed prediction of his father the Conqueror, that he should unite in his own person the inheritance of both his brothers, returned triumphantly to England with his unfortunate captives. Robert he sent to Cardiffcastle, where for a time his confinement was only a sort of honourable restraint.

the

Henry and Matilda kept their Easter this year at Bath, and, during summer, introduced the popular custom of making a royal progress through different parts of England. They held their court the following year, for the first time, at New Windsor, then called, from the picturesque winding of the river Thames, Windlesore. This beautiful retreat was originally used as a hunting-seat by William the Conqueror, who, for better security of his person, converted it into a fortress or castle; but the extensive alterations and improvements which the elegant tastes of the Beauclerc sovereign and his accomplished consort Matilda of Scotland effected, first gave to Windsor-castle the magnificent and august character, as a royal residence, which has rendered it ever since a favourite abode with succeeding sovereigns.

In the year 1108, the affairs of Normandy requiring the presence of the king, another temporary separation took place between Matilda and her royal lord. Indeed, from the time that the duchy of Normandy was subjected to his sway, it became a matter of necessity, in order to preserve his popularity with his continental subjects, to pass a considerable portion of his time among them: meanwhile, the peace and integral prosperity of England were best promoted by the presence of Matilda, who formed the bond of union between Henry of Normandy and the Saxon race. Therefore, it appears to have been a measure of political expediency for her to remain with her splendid court at Westminster or London, endearing herself daily more and more to the people by her works of princely charity and the public benefits she was constantly labouring to promote. Thus we see, on accurate examination, that, contrary to the assertions of one or two paradoxical writers, who have assumed that Matilda was not treated with the affection and respect that were her due in wedded life, she enjoyed a degree of power and influence in the state perfectly unknown to the Saxon queens. She was so nobly dowered, withal, that in after-reigns the highest demand ever

1 Sax. Chron.

made on the part of a queen-consort was, that she should be endowed with a dower equal to that of Matilda of Scotland.1

By close examination of the earliest authorities, we find, that the first parliaments held by the Anglo-Norman dynasty were the fruits of the virtuous influence of this excellent queen over the mind of her husband. But as the fact, whether parliaments were ever held before the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. has been a point of great contest among modern historians, we take leave to quote the following lines from Robert of Gloucester in support of the assertion,―first, that parliaments were held; and next, that they were held through the influence of Matilda :2

"When his daughter was ten years old, to council there he drew,

On a Whit-Sunday, a great Parliament he name (held]

At Westminster, noble enow, that much folk came."

Piers of Langtoft distinctly points out the classes of whom Matilda advised Henry to take counsel; viz., barons, lords of towns, and burgesses. Here are the lines:

"Mald the good queen gave him in counci

To love all his folk and leave all his turpeile [disputing,]

To bear him with his barons that held of him their fees [feofs,]

And to lords of towns and burgesses of cities."

Robert of Gloucester, from first to last, speaks of queen Matilda as an active agent in the government of England, and the restorer and upholder of the Saxon form of legislature, whose system was that of a representative constitution. He says,—

"The goodness that king Henry and the good queen Mold

Did to this land ne may never be told."

The year 1109 must have been an era of eventful interest to Matilda. Her royal husband having spent the winter and spring in Normandy,3 returned to England in the summer, to visit her and their infant family, and kept court with uncommon splendour in his new palace at Windsor, which had been completed in his absence. It was there that he received the ambassadors who came to solicit the hand of the princess Matilda for the emperor Henry V. The proposal was eagerly accepted by Henry Beauclerc ; and his daughter, then just turned of five years old, was solemnly espoused by proxy to her royal suitor, who was forty years her senior; but, on account of her tender age, the infant bride was allowed for the present to remain under the care of the mother.5

queen

her

In the year 1109, the mighty Norman chief, Fitz-Haymon, lord of Glamorgan, dying without sons, left the lady Aimabel, his young heiress, to the guardianship of the king. Henry, wishing to secure so 2 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 430. ryl. 8vo. edit. 4 M. Paris. H. of Hunt.

1 Tyrrell.

5 M. Paris.

3 Saxon Annals.

1109.]

The King and his shrewd-witted Ward.

103

Erich a prize for his eldest natural son Robert, proposed him to his fair ward, as a suitable husband for her. But the haughty Norman damsel, though only sixteen, intrepidly replied, "That the ladies of her house were not accustomed to wed nameless persons." Then the king answered, "Neither shalt thou, damsel; for I will give my son a fair name, by which he and his sons shall be called. Robert Fitzroy shall be his name henceforth.”—“ But,” objected the prudent heiress of Glamorgan," a name so given is nothing. Where are the lands, and what the lordship, of the man you will me to wed, sire ?"—" Truly," responded the king, with a smile, "thy question is a shrewd one, damsel: I will endow my son Robert with the lands and honours of Gloucester, and by that title shall he henceforth be called."

The lady Aimabel made no further demur, we are told, but wedded the king's son without delay. The fact was, the king was generously bestowing upon his son Robert the lands and honours which had been granted or sold to Fitz-Haymon, her deceased father, by William Rufus, and the young lady, who seems to have been gifted with no ordinary share of worldly wisdom, thought, no doubt, that she had better hold the lands and honours of Gloucester on the tenure of wife-service to the king's son, than lose them altogether. Such were the dealings of the Anglo-Norman sovereigns with their wards. The high-spirited heiress of Fitz-Haymon was, however, fortunate in the marriage that was thus arranged for her by her royal guardian. Robert Fitzroy was the princely earl of Gloucester who so valiantly upheld the title of his halfsister, the empress Matilda, to the English crown in the succeeding reign.

A tax of three shillings on every hide of land was levied to pay the portion of the princess Matilda, by which the sum of 824,000l. was raised; and the princess was sent over to her imperial husband with a magnificent retinue. Queen Matilda was in the next year left to keep court alone, in consequence of a formidable insurrection in Normandy in favour of William Clito, son of the unfortunate Robert Courthose, privately fomented by the earl of Flanders. King Henry, perceiving that all classes of his continental subjects were averse to the yoke of an absent sovereign, considered it expedient to forego the society of his queen and children for a period of nearly two years, while he held his separate state in Normandy.

which was

In the year 1112, we find the king and queen1 were together at Winchester, with their court, where they personally assisted at the removal of the bodies of Alfred the Great and his queen Alswitha from the ruinous chapel of Newminster, close to Winchester cathedral, to the magnificent abbey of Hyde, founded and endowed by Henry and Matilda,

1 Archæologia.

Henry VIII. brutally desecrated the Tlace where reposed the remains of these Englishmen of the

jatriot sovereigns.

eighteenth century, more barbarous still, converted the holy fane into a bridewell, and the bones of Alfred were by felon hands exhumed and dispersed.