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1100-1129 Henry I and the White Ship is in 12th Century Events.
On 5th August 1100 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 32) was crowned I King of England by Bishop Maurice at Westminster Abbey [Map].
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1100. And after this the Bishop of London, Maurice, consecrated him king (age 32); and all in this land submitted to him, and swore oaths, and became his men. And the king, soon after this, by the advice of those that were about him, allowed men to take the Bishop Ranulf of Durham (age 40), and bring him into the Tower of London [Map], and hold him there.
The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy by Orderic Vitalis. In the year of our Lord 1100, on Thursday, the fourth of the nones [ 20th ] of August, William Rufus was mortally wounded by an arrow in the New Forest, after having possessed the kingdom of England twelve years and nearly ten months. Thereupon Henry hastened to London with Robert earl of Mellent, and the following Sunday [5th August 1100] was placed on the throne in the church of St. Peter the apostle, at Westminster, being anointed by the venerable Maurice, bishop of London. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, was then an exile, as it has been already observed, and Thomas, archbishop of York, being lately dead1, that metropolitan see was still vacant. Henry was thirty years old when he ascended the throne, and his reign lasted thirty-five years and four months2. He ruled the dominions, divinely committed to him, with prudence and success in prosperity and adversity, and was distinguished among the princes of Christendom for his love of peace and justice. In his time the church of God was brilliantly endowed with wealth and honours, and all orders of the religious increased to the glory of the Creator. This is shown by the monks and clergy, who, during his reign, augmented their numbers and their dignity; this is proved in the case of anchorites, who, felling dense woods, and rearing among them the lofty spires of churches and abbeys, exult in their labours, and sing the praises of God with heart-felt peace, where once robbers and outlaws, abandoned to all wickedness, found their retreats.
Note 1. This is incorrect; the archbishop of York survived till the end of the following November. It is not even quite certain that he did not assist at the coronation of Henry I, placing the crown on his head, after the royal unction had been given by the bishop of London. At any rate the archbishop did not die till Sunday, November 28.
Note 2. In the MS. of St. Evroult the figures have been erased, and the six last words, "reigned five years and six months," interlined.
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On 11th November 1100, three months after acceeding to the throne, King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 32) and Matilda of Scotland (age 20) were married. She was crowned Queen Consort England. Baptised Edith she took the regnal name Matilda. The marriage brought together the houses of Normandy and Wessex; she was a great granddaughter of King Edmund I of England. She the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Margaret Wessex Queen Consort Scotland. He the son of King William "Conqueror" I of England and Matilda Flanders Queen Consort England.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. [11th November 1100]. And soon hereafter the king (age 32) took him to wife Maud (age 20), daughter of Malcolm, King of Scotland, and of Margaret the good queen, the relative of King Edward, and of the right royal132 race of England. And on Martinmas day she was publicly given to him with much pomp at Westminster, and the Archbishop Anselm (age 67) wedded her to him, and afterwards consecrated her queen.
Note 132. This expression shows the adherence of the writer to the Saxon line of kings, and his consequent satisfaction in recording this alliance of Henry with the daughter of Margaret of Scotland.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy. Chapter 8.10. How Henry, his brother, succeeded him, and took Matilda, daughter of the King of Scotland, as his wife.
CAPUT X. Quod Henricus frater ipsius ei successit, qui Mathildem filiam regis Scotiæ duxit in uxorem.
In December 1101 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 33) hosted his at Christmas Court at Westminster Palace [Map]. Gilbert de Clare (age 35) attended.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 25th December 1100. In this year at Christmas held the King Henry (age 32) his court in Westminster, and at Easter in Winchester, Hampshire [Map]. And soon thereafter were the chief men in this land in a conspiracy against the king; partly from their own great infidelity, and also through the Earl Robert (age 49) of Normandy, who with hostility aspired to the invasion of this land.
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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After 25th July 1101 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 33) and Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy (age 50), brothers, both sons of King William "Conqueror" I of England, signed the Treaty of Alton at Alton, Hampshire by which Robert Curthose III Duke Normandy agreed to renounce his claim to the English throne in exchange for a yearly stipend and other concessions.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. June 1101. Then at midsummer went the king (age 33) out to Pevensey [Map] with all his force against his brother (age 50), and there awaited him. But in the meantime came the Earl Robert up at Portsmouth, Hampshire [Map] twelve nights before Lammas; and the king with all his force came against him. But the chief men interceded between them, and settled the brothers on the condition, "that the king should forego all that he held by main strength in Normandy against the earl; and that all then in England should have their lands again, who had lost it before through the earl, and Earl Eustace also all his patrimony in this land; and that the Earl Robert every year should receive from England three thousand marks of silver; and particularly, that whichever of the brothers should survive the other, he should be heir of all England and also of Normandy, except the deceased left an heir by lawful wedlock." And this twelve men of the highest rank on either side then confirmed with an oath. And the earl afterwards remained in this land till after Michaelmas; and his men did much harm wherever they went, the while that the earl continued in this land.
The Second Battle of Ramla was foight on 17th May 1102 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Fatimids of Egypt at which the Crusader army defeated the army of Sharaf al-Ma'ali.
Stephen Blois II Count Blois and Chartres was killed during, or after, the battle. His son William succeeded Count Blois, Count Chartres.
On 8th January 1107 King Edgar I of Scotland (age 33) died. His brother Alexander (age 29) succeeded I King Scotland.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1107. This year died Maurice, Bishop of London, and Robert, Abbot of St. Edmund's bury, and Richard, Abbot of Ely. This year also died the King Edgar in Scotland (age 33), on the ides of January, and Alexander (age 29) his brother succeeded to the kingdom, as the King Henry (age 39) granted him.
On 30th July 1108 Philip I King of the Franks (age 56) died. His son Louis (age 26) succeeded VI King France: Capet.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1108. In this year was the King Henry (age 40) on the Nativity at Westminster, and at Easter at Winchester, and by Pentecost at Westminster again. After this, before August, he went into Normandy. And Philip, the King of France (age 55), died on the nones of August [30th July 1108], and his son Louis (age 26) succeeded to the kingdom. And there were afterwards many struggles between the King of France and the King of England, while the latter remained in Normandy.
Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall. Philip, King of France, passed away, and his son Louis succeeded him. Louis had six sons and one daughter. Philip1, who was anointed as king, but suffered a tragic and unheard-of misfortune. One day, while riding through Paris, his horse was startled by a diabolical pig, causing it to fall. Philip was thrown against a stone and crushed, and he died the following night [30th July 1108]. Immediately afterward, his brother Louis was crowned by Pope Innocent at their father's request. The third son, Henry, became a monk at Clairvaux and later Archbishop of Reims. The fourth son, Robert, became Count of Dreux and father of Robert, Count of Perche, as well as the Bishop of Beauvais and the Bishop of Orléans. The fifth son, Philip, became a cleric. The sixth son, Peter, married the daughter of Reginald of Courtenay and inherited his lands.
Philippus, rex Francorum, obiit, cui successit Ludovicus filius ejus, qui genuit sex filios et unam filiam, Philippum, qui fuit inunctus in regem, de quo inauditum contigit infortunium. Cum enim quadam die per Parisius equitaret, obvio porco diabolico offensus equus cecidit, et sessorem suum ad silicem contrivit, et nocte sequenti spiritum exhalavit; et statim Ludovicus, frater ejus, ab Innocentio papa coronatur petitione patris. Tertius filius regis fuit Henricus, monachus Claravalensis, et postea Remensium archiepiscopus. Quartus Robertus comes Drocensium, pater Roberti, comitis de Perche, et episcopi Belvacensis, et episcopi Aurelianensis. Quintus filius fuit Philippus, clericus. Sextus Petrus, qui duxit filiam Reginaldi de Cortenai, cum terra ipsius. Soror istorum regis filia fuit Constantia, qure primo tradita est Eustachio comiti Boloniensi, filio regis Stephani, ac postmodum Raimundo, comiti Sancti Ægidii, quam postea repudiavit.
Note 1. Philip of France, 1116–1131, co-ruled with his father from 1129. Orderic Vitalis, Book 4, 105: "In the year of our Lord, 1129, the seventh indiction, the boy Philip was chosen by his father Philip, and crowned as king at Rheims by Reynold II, archbishop of that see on Easter day; but two years afterwards he was so severely fractured by his horse falling under him, that he died at Paris." Abbot Suger, Life of Louis the Fat, Chapter 31: "Meanwhile there occurred a singular and utterly unheard-of misfortune for the kingdom of France. For the son of King Louis, a blooming and gracious boy, Philip, the hope of the good and the terror of the wicked, one day while riding through a suburb of the city of Paris, his horse, struck by a devilish pig that crossed its path, fell heavily and crushed its rider, that most noble boy, who, thrown upon the pavement, was shattered beneath the weight of the animal. At this calamity the city and all who heard of it were stricken with consternation, for that very day he had summoned the army for an expedition, and they cried aloud, wept, and lamented. They gathered up the tender boy, nearly dead, and carried him to a nearby house; but when night came, alas, he breathed out his spirit. How great and how wondrous the grief and mourning that fell upon his father, his mother, and the nobles of the realm, even Homer himself would not have sufficed to express it. He was buried according to royal custom in the church of blessed Denis, in the royal sepulchre, to the left of the altar of the Holy Trinity, in the presence of many bishops and nobles of the realm. His wise father, after grievous lamentations and bitter complaints of a life left bereft, at last, by the counsel of religious men, allowed himself to be consoled."
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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On 17th July 1119 at the Battle of Bures-en-Bray King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 51) fought against the army of Louis VI King of the Franks (age 37).
Baldwin VII Count Flanders (age 26) who was killed. His first cousin Charles (age 35) succeeded I Count Flanders. Marguerite Clermont Countess Flanders (age 14) by marriage Countess Flanders.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1119. In this same year died the Pope Gelasius, on this side of the Alps, and was buried at Clugny. And after him the Archbishop of Vienna was chosen pope, whose name was Calixtus. He afterwards, on the festival of St. Luke the Evangelist, came into France to Rheims, and there held a council. And the Archbishop Turstin of York went thither; and, because that he against right, and against the archiepiscopal stall in Canterbury, and against the king's (age 51) will, received his hood at the hands of the pope, the king interdicted him from all return to England. And thus he lost his archbishopric, and with the pope went towards Rome. In this year also died the Earl Baldwin of Flanders (age 26) of the wounds that he received in Normandy. And after him succeeded to the earldom Charles (age 35), the son of his uncle by the father's side, who was son of Cnute, the holy King of Denmark.
On 20th August 1119 at the Battle of Bremule at Gaillardbois Cressenville King Henry I "Beauclerc" England (age 51) and his son William Adelin Duke Normandy (age 16) defeated the army of Louis VI King of the Franks (age 37) who had invaded Normandy in support of William Clito Count Flanders (age 16) who claimed the Duchy of Normandy.
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. 1119. Wars between Henry and Lewis
War having broke out between Henry, king of England, and Lewis, king of France1, with the count of Anjou and the count of Flanders, king Henry seized an opportunity of making a separate peace with the count of Anjou, receiving his daughter in marriage with his son William, whom he had already declared heir of all his kingdom. The count of Anjou went to Jerusalem. After this, king Henry, with the concurrence of his nobles, made peace with the king of France, on which occasion his son William was invested with Normandy, to be held of the king of France. The king also made peace with his nobles who had unjustly and treasonably revolted against him, and also with the count of Flanders. An earthquake was felt in several parts of England on Sunday, the fourth of the calends of October (28th September), about the third hour of the day.
Note 1. Our author treats very summarily of the wars between the kings Henry and Lewis, which ended in the decisive battle of Bremull or Noyon, fought on the 20th August, 1119. Ordericus gives considerable details of these hostilities in the early chapters of his twelfth book (vol. iii., pp. 446—492, of the edition in the Antiq, Lib.). See also Henry of Huntingdon's History, ibid, pp. 247, 248.
Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon 1119. 1119. King Henry, in the fifty-second year after the Normans conquered England, and in the nineteenth year of his reign, fought a great battle with the King of France1. That king placed the first division of his army under the command of William, the son of Eobert, King Henry's brother, supporting him with the main body of his army* On the other side, King Henry posted his [Norman] vassals in the first line; the second, consisting of his household troops, he led himself on horseback; in the third, he placed his sons, with the main body of infantry. At the outset, the first line of the French unhorsed and quickly dispersed the Norman knights. It afterwards attacked the, division which Henry himself commanded, and was itself routed. The troops imder the command of the two kings now met, and the battle raged fiercely; the lances were shivered, and they fought with swords. At this time, William Crispin2 twice struck King Henry on the head, and though his helmet was sword-proof, the violence of the blow forced it a little into the king's fore-head, so that blood gushed forth. The king, however, returned the blow on his assailant with such force, that though his helmet was impenetrable, the horse and its rider were struck to the ground, and the knight was pre sently taken prisoner in the king's presence. Meanwhile, the infantiy, with whom the king's sons were posted, not being yet engaged, but waiting for the signal, levelled their spears, and charged the enemy. Upon which the French were suddenly daunted, and broke their ranks, and fled. King Henry, thus victorious, remained on the field until all file nobles of the defeated araiy were taken prisoners and brought before him. He then retiuned to Eouen, while the bells were ringing, and the clergy were chanting hymns of thanksgiving to the Lord God of hosts. This glorious victory has been thus celebrated in heroic verse:
Where Noyon's tow'rs rise o*er the plain.
And Oise flows onward to the Seine,
Two banner'd hosts in ranks advance:
Here, Lewis leads the powers of France;
Henry of England, there, commands His English and his Norman bands
See his arm the foremost crush.
The island spearmen onward rash;
While the bold chivalry of France
Recoils before the Norman lance;
And mattered oaths reveal their shame,
As they curse the conqueror's name.
So distant ages long shall tell
Of gallant Henry, first to quell
On his own soil the Frenchman's pride,
Where Noyon's field with blood was dyed;
And conq'ring England's mighty son
The spoils and laurell'd trophies won.
Note 1. Henry of Huntingdon omits mentioning in the text of his history where the battle was fought, but the verses which follow supply the name at the place, Noyon. We are indebted to Henry of Huntingdon for a full account of this very important and decisive action, of which the Saxon Gbreniele S'ves only a slight notice. Indeed, from this time, or shortly afterwards, enry of Huntingdon assumes the character of an original historian of events contemporary with the period in which he lived.
Note 2. Count of Evreux.
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On 24th January 1121, three months after the disaster that was the 25th November 1120-Sinking of The White Ship in which Henry's only legitimate son was drowned, with King Henry (age 53) needing an heir quickly, he and Adeliza of Louvain (age 18) were married at Windsor Castle [Map]. She by marriage Queen Consort England. Despite fourteen years of marriage they didn't have any children. Following Henry's death she married William D'Aubigny 1st Earl Lincoln 1st Earl of Arundel (age 12) with whom she had seven children. The difference in their ages was 35 years. She the daughter of Godfrey Reginar I Count Louvain (age 61) and Ida Chiny Countess Louvain. He the son of King William "Conqueror" I of England and Matilda Flanders Queen Consort England. They were half fourth cousin once removed.
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. Henry I marries Alice of Louvaine.
Henry, king of England (age 53), having been a widower for some time, that he might not in future lead a dissolute life, by the advice of Ralph, archbishop of Canterbury, and the barons of his realm, who assembled at London by his command on the feast of our Lord's Epiphany [6th January 1121], resolved to marry Alice (age 18), daughter of Godfrey, duke of Lorraine (age 61)1, a young maiden of great beauty and modesty. Envoys being sent over, they brought the future queen with signal honours from parts beyond the sea to Henry's court.
Note 1. Ducis Lotharingoe (or Lorraine), the reading in the text of all the printed editions of Florence. It is a mistake into which several of the English chroniclers have fallen, but Henry of Huntingdon and Roger of Wendover, as well as Ordericus Vitalis and William of Jumièges, describe Adelaide, or Alice, the second wife of Henry I., as daughter of Godfrey, duke of Lorraine.
Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon 1121. King Henry spent Christmas at Bramton, with Theobald, coimt de Blois. After that he married1 at Windsor, Alice, daughter of the Duke of Louvain, on account of her beauty. At Easter he was at Berkeley; and at Whitsuntide, he and the new queen wore their crowns at London. In the summer, he led an army into Wales, and the Welsh came humbly to meet him, and agreed to all which his royal pleasure required. At Christmas, such a violent wind as has scarcely ever been known not only blew down houses, but towers built with masonry.
An elegy written in praise of the queen's beauty:
"Why, royal Alice, does the Muse
To aid my song of thee refuse?
What if thy radiant charms amaze.
And we, in awe and silence, gaze!
"Not dazzl'd by thy diadem.
And many a sparkling precious gem.
We veil our sight in mute surprise,
But 'neath the lustre of thy eyes.
"All aids of ornament are scorn'd,
When charms are brightest unadorn'd;
But nature stamped her choicest grace
On thy fair form and beaming face.
"Though poor my lay, yet still I crave
You'll reckon me your humblest slave."
Note 1. The date of the marriage 24th January 1121 or 29th January 1121.
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Abbot John Whethamstede’s Chronicle of the Abbey of St Albans
Abbot John Whethamstede's Register aka Chronicle of his second term at the Abbey of St Albans, 1451-1461, is a remarkable text that describes his first-hand experience of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses including the First and Second Battles of St Albans, 1455 and 1461, respectively, their cause, and their consequences, not least on the Abbey itself. His text also includes Loveday, Blore Heath, Northampton, the Act of Accord, Wakefield, and Towton, and ends with the Coronation of King Edward IV. In addition to the events of the Wars of the Roses, Abbot John, or his scribes who wrote the Chronicle, include details in the life of the Abbey such as charters, letters, land exchanges, visits by legates, and disputes, which provide a rich insight into the day-to-day life of the Abbey, and the challenges faced by its Abbot.
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The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy by Orderic Vitalis. KING Henry, having lost his wife and his son, resolved after consulting his council, to contract another marriage, and having selected Adelaide, the beautiful daughter of the duke of Louvain, the marriage1 was celebrated with the Christian rites, the king wearing the ensigns of royalty; and the queen was crowned by the ministrations of the priesthood.2 She adorned the court and kingdom for fifteen years, but though richly endowed in other respects, to this day3 she has borne the king no child.
Note 1. The date of the marriage 24th January 1121 or 29th January 1121.
Note 2. The marriage was celebrated at Windsor, which being in the diocese of Salisbury, the bishop of that see was on the point of giving the nuptial benediction, and had already put on his pontifical robes, when the archbishop, Ralph d'Escures, who was supposed to be prevented from travelling by a paralytic affection, made his appearance, and gave directions to the bishop of Worcester to proceed with the ceremony, instead of the bishop of the diocese.
Note 3. This passage must have been written before the death of Henry I.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. [29th January 1121] This year was the King Henry (age 53) at Christmas at Bramton, and afterwards, before Candlemas, at Windsor was given him to wife Athelis (age 18); soon afterwards consecrated queen, who was daughter of the Duke of Louvain (age 61).
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. On the fourth of the calends of February [29th January 1121] the maiden (age 18) already mentioned as selected for queen was married to the king (age 53) by William, bishop of Winchester, at the command of Ralph, archbishop of Canterbury; and on the following day, the third of the calends of February (30th January), she was consecrated and crowned as queen by the archbishop in person.
Note. Some sources say 24th January 1121.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 8th March 1122. And in the Lent-tide before that, the town of Glocester [Map] was on fire: the while that the monks were singing their mass, and the deacon had begun the gospel, "Praeteriens Jesus", at that very moment came the fire from the upper part of the steeple, and burned all the minster, and all the treasures that were there within; except a few books, and three mass-hackles. That was on the eighth day before the ides of Marcia.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 19th May 1123. This same year, ere the Bishop of Lincoln came to his bishopric, almost all the borough of Lincoln was burned, and numberless folks, men and women, were consumed: and so much harm was there done as no man could describe to another. That was on the fourteenth day before the calends of June.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 26th March 1124. All this year was the King Henry (age 56) in Normandy. That was for the great hostility that he had with the King Louis of France (age 42), and with the Earl of Anjou (age 35), and most of all with his own men. Then it happened, on the day of the Annunciation of St. Mary, that the Earl Waleram of Mellent (age 20) went from one of his castles called Belmont to another called Watteville. With him went the steward of the King of France, Amalric, and Hugh (age 26) the son of Gervase (age 54), and Hugh of Montfort (age 49), and many other good knights. Then came against them the king's knights from all the castles that were thereabout, and fought with them, and put them to flight, and took the Earl Waleram, and Hugh, the son of Gervase, and Hugh of Montfort, and five and twenty other knights, and brought them to the king. And the king committed the Earl Waleram, and Hugh, the son of Gervase, to close custody in the castle at Rouen; but Hugh of Montfort he sent to England, and ordered him to be secured with strong bonds in the castle at Glocester [Map]. And of the others as many as he chose he sent north and south to his castles in captivity.
The Deeds of the Dukes of Normandy. [26th March 1124]... At length, the foot-soldiers were drawn up for battle in the usual manner, along with the mounted archers, of whom the royal army had in that place a very great number. These were sent forward on the right flank of the enemy. Then, as is customary at the opening of battles, a shout was raised on both sides. But before the ranks of the knights had come together, the line of the Count's forces was almost broken, because the archers on the king's right, where the enemy lacked the protection of shields, shot upon them without pause. It would take too long to recount everything in detail, but as we hasten on to other matters, we will explain briefly the outcome of the affair.
... Denique catervis more pugnantium, nec non et equitibus sagittariis, quorum inibi exercitus regius maximam multitudinem habebat, in dextra parte hostium præmissis, clamor ut in initio bellorum solet fieri, utrinque attollitur. Sed antequam militum cunei jungerentur, pars comitis instantia sagittariorum, qui eam in dextris, ubi carebant. protectione clypeorum, absque intervallo sagittabant, pene defecerat. Spaciosum esset ire per singula, sed nos ad cætera festinantes rei eventum succincte enodamus.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1127. This year held the King Henry (age 59) his court at Christmas in Windsor. There was David the king of the Scots (age 43), and all the head men that were in England, learned and lewd. And there he engaged the archbishops, and bishops, and abbots, and earls, and all the thanes that were there, to swear England and Normandy [Map] after his day into the hands of his daughter Athelicia (age 24), who was formerly the wife of the Emperor of Saxony. Afterwards he sent her to Normandy; and with her went her brother Robert, Earl of Glocester (age 28), and Brian, son of the Earl Alan Fergan (age 27);154 and he let her wed the son (age 13) of the Earl of Anjou (age 38), whose name was Geoffry Martel. All the French and English, however, disapproved of this; but the king did it for to have the alliance of the Earl of Anjou, and for to have help against his nephew William (age 24).
Note 154. See an account of him in "Ord. Vit." 544. Conan, another son of this Alan, Earl of Brittany, married a daughter of Henry I.
Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes
Récits d’un bourgeois de Valenciennes aka The Chronicle of a Bourgeois of Valenciennes is a vivid 14th-century vernacular chronicle written by an anonymous urban chronicler from Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut. It survives in a manuscript that describes local and regional history from about 1253 to 1366, blending chronology, narrative episodes, and eyewitness-style accounts of political, military, and social events in medieval France, Flanders, and the Low Countries. The work begins with a chronological framework of events affecting Valenciennes and its region under rulers such as King Philip VI of France and the shifting allegiances of local nobility. It includes accounts of conflicts, sieges, diplomatic manoeuvres, and the impact of broader struggles like the Hundred Years’ War on urban life in Hainaut. Written from the perspective of a burgher (bourgeois) rather than a monastery or royal court, the chronicle offers a rare lay viewpoint on high politics and warfare, reflecting how merchants, townspeople, and civic institutions experienced the turbulence of the 13th and 14th centuries. Its narrative style combines straightforward reporting of events with moral and civic observations, making it a valuable source for readers interested in medieval urban society, regional politics, and the lived experience of war and governance in pre-modern Europe.
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Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. 1127. Fealty sworn to the empress Matilda. As soon as the feast days [of Christmas] were over, the king (age 59) went to London, attended by all the men of rank in the realm who had flocked to his court, and there, by the king's command, William (age 57), the archbishop and legate of the see of Rome, and all the other bishops of England, and the nobles of the land, swore fealty to the king's daughter (age 24); engaging to defend her right to the crown of England, if she should survive her father, against all opposers, unless he should yet before his death beget a son in lawful wedlock, to become his successor. On the death of the emperor Henry, who had lived in marriage with her many years, without leaving children, she had returned to her father's court, where she was surrounded with all the honours becoming her station. The king, therefore, having lost his son William in the manner already described, and there being as yet no other direct heir to the kingdom, for that reason made over the right to the crown to his daughter, under the provisoe just mentioned.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 2nd March 1127. In the Lent-tide of this same year was the Earl Charles of Flanders (age 43) slain in a church, as he lay there and prayed to God, before the altar, in the midst of the mass, by his own men.
Chronicum Anglicanum by Ralph Coggeshall. 1127. Charles (age 43), Count of Flanders, was killed1.
MCXXVII. Occisus est Carolus comes Flandrensis.
Note 1. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. "In the Lent-tide of this same year was the Earl Charles of Flanders slain in a church, as he lay there and prayed to God, before the altar, in the midst of the mass, by his own men."
Orderic Vitalis: "On the calends [1st of March - a mistake for the 2nd] Charles, duke of Flanders, son of Canute, king of Denmark, attended by Tesnard, castellan of Bourbourg, and twenty men-at-arms went to the church at Bruges to hear mass. There, while praying to God prostrate on the floor, he was slain by Burchard de Lille, and thirty-two other men-at-arms, and almost all his attendants were cruelly massacred on the spot. William d'Ypres, having heard of this monstrous outrage, immediately blockaded the castle of Bruges, and beset the cruel murderers on all sides, until the king of France arrived with William the Norman, and after closely besieging the bloody butchers for the period of a month, took them, and cast them headlong from the highest tower."
The Murder of Charles the Good by Galbert of Bruges. [15] The murder of Count Charles, Tuesday, March 2, 1127.
In the year one thousand one hundred and twenty-seven, on the sixth day before the Nones of March [2nd March 1127], on the second day, that is, after the be ginning of the same month, when two days of the second week of Lent had elapsed, and the fourth day was subsequently to dawn, on the fifth Concurrent, and the sixth Epact, about dawn, the count at Bruges was kneeling in prayer1 in order to hear the early Mass in the church of Saint Donatian, die former archbishop of Rheims. Following his pious custom he was giving c»it alms to the poor, with his eyes fixed on reading die psalms, and his right hand outstretched to bestow alms; for his chaplain who attended to this duty had placed near the count many pennies which he was distributing to the poor while in the position of prayer2.
The office of the first hour was completed and also the response of the third hour, when "Our Father" is said, and when the count, according to custom, was praying, reading aloud obligingly; then at last, after so many plans and oaths and pacts among themselves, those wretched traitors, already murderers at heart, slew the count, who was struck down with swords and run through again and again, while he was praying devoutly and giving alms, humbly kneeling before the Divine Majesty3. And so God gave the palm of the martyrs to the count, the course of whose good life was washed clean in the rivulets of his blood and brought to an end in good works. In the final moment of life and at the onset of death, he had most nobly lifted his countenance and his royal hands to heaven, as well as he could amid so many blows and thrusts of the swordsmen; and so he surrendered his spirit to the Lord of all and offered himself as a morning sacrifice to God. But the bloody body of such a great man and prince lay there alone, without the veneration of his people and the due reverence of his servants. Whosoever has heard the circumstances of his death has mourned in tears his pitiable death and has commended to God such a great and lamented prince, brought to an end by the fate of the martyrs.
Note 1. Walter, c. 25, says that after praying long on his knees he went prone on the pavement; Herman, c. 28, merely says he was prostrate in prayer.
Note 2. Walter, c. 25, mentions his almsgiving only incidentally in connection with the severing of his right arm but Herman, c. 28, speaks of thirteen pennies which the count had placed on his psalter,
Note 3. Walter, c. 25, far more precise, says that Borsiard, with his six swordsmen, approached the count suddenly, from the rear and to the side, and touched the count's head lightly with his sword; when Charles lifted his head and turned at this touch, Borsiard smote him on the brow, casting his brains out on the pavement, and the accomplices joined in, striking his head and almost severing his right arm. Herman, c. 28, attributes the count's raising of his head to the warning cry, "Lord count, watch out!" uttered by a poor woman to whom Charles had just given a penny. Walter merely mentions the woman as a recipient of alms at this moment.
Note 4. The three major accounts of the murder, by Galbert, Walter, and Herman, differ somewhat in tone and detail but they are complementary and not contradictory. Galbert's is the least factual and most subjective, primarily concerned with the religious significance of the event. None of the three was an eyewitness, but each derived his account directly or indirectly from eyewitnesses, probably from among the clergy chanting the offices, to judge by the precision of the liturgical information. Galbert, at Bruges, was in the best position to secure the facts; be seems, however, to be more interested in the count's piety at the moment of his death than in the brutal details of his murder; his informant may well have been the "alms-chaplain" the only cleric he singles out. Walter, c 25, names as his witnesses to Charles’s "death and miracles" Hellas, deacon of Bruges, Fromold, provost of Veume, and "other clerics and laymen"; his informant from the scene of the murder must have had his eye on Borsiard, whose actions he follows closely. Herman's source was probably Abbot Gilbert of Eename, a dose friend of the count, who questioned one of the attending clergy; see Dom Nicolas Huyghebacrfs "Abt Giselbrecht van Eename en de Gelukzalige Karel de Goede: nota over Herman van Doornik," Sacrts Erudiri, I (1948), 225-31. Perhaps the special points noted in each case can be attributed to the different positions occupied by the derical witnesses in the chapel and their range of vision. It is curious that Galbert does not name Borsiard as the actual murderer here, as both Walter and Herman do, but he has already pictured Borsiard and his men pursuing Charles into the church in c. 12. Herman’s "old woman" is mentioned by Walter but not her warning cry, and she is omitted completely by Galbert; perhaps Herman’s usual strong sense of drama added this touch. Walter is the most outspoken in his denundation of Borsiard, whom he calls "master of deception, leader of crime," c. 25. Other briefer contemporary accounts are in substantial agreement with the major ones and add nothing new; for example, Trcmslatw S, Jonatt, ed. in part by E. Sackur, in Neues Archtv, XV (1890), 448-52; Suger, Vie de Louis VI le gros, c. 30; and Chronicon S. Andre cm Castri Cameraasii, lib. Ill, c. 34, MGH, SS VII, 547. The most vivid and lively is that of Suger, who also mentions Bertulf's "light touch" on the neck of the count,
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The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy by Orderic Vitalis. On the calends [1st of March]1 Charles, duke of Flanders, son of Canute, king of Denmark, attended by Tesnard, castellan of Bourbourg, and twenty men-at-arms went to the church at Bruges to hear mass. There, while praying to God prostrate on the floor, he was slain by Burchard de Lille, and thirty-two other men-at-arms, and almost all his attendants were cruelly massacred on the spot. William d'Ypres, having heard of this monstrous outrage, immediately blockaded the castle of Bruges, and beset the cruel murderers on all sides, until the king of France arrived with William the Norman, and after closely besieging the bloody butchers for the period of a month, took them, and cast them headlong from the highest tower.
Note 1. This fearful assassination took place on the 2nd March 1127 , not on the 1st of March. The count and Thesnard, châtelain of Bourbourg, without any attendants, were in the church of St. Donatien at Bruges, kneeling before the altar of our Lady or St. Basil, and the count was reciting the fourth of the penitential psalms, when the assassins, to the number of seven or eight only, fell upon them. It was Burchard, who having touched the count on the shoulder to make him turn his head, dealt him so violent a blow that his brains were scattered on the pavement. The assassins then hastened to Thesnard's house to butcher his two sons, Walter and Gilbert; and afterwards learning that Thesnard still showed signs of life, and had even been able to receive the last sacraments, they returned with fresh fury, and dragging him by the feet, fractured his skull as they hauled him down the steps before the church porch. Count Charles had the honour of a public service to his memory on the very day of his death. One of Thesnard's sons, named Henry, escaped the massacre of his family, and afterwards married Sibylla, commonly called the Rose, daughter of Manasses, count de Guignes. Bourbourg was at this time a place of importance, and Robert the Jerusalemite bore the title of Count de Bourbourg during the latter years of his father, Robert the Frisian. Almost all Burchard's accomplices, like himself, were of the family of Bertulf his uncle, provost of St. Domitien of Bruges, arch-chaplain and chancellor of Flanders, and the instigator of this bloody outrage. Their names were Guelric, Bertulf's brother, Robert his nephew, Walter another nephew, William de Verviers, Ingran Esmensis, Isaac, his cousin, Haket châtelain of Bruges, with some others.
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The Deeds of Louis le Gros by Suger. When therefore he had come to Bruges1 one day and, early in the morning, was present in the church of God, lying prostrate on the pavement and holding a book of prayers in his hand, he was praying when suddenly a certain Burchard, nephew of the aforementioned provost, a savage henchman, together with others of the same most wicked stock and other accomplices in that vile treachery, silently approached him from behind as he prayed, indeed as he spoke with God. Carefully drawing his sword, he gently touched the count’s neck as it lay bowed to the ground so that, when it was raised slightly, it might unexpectedly meet the striker’s blade; placing the sword against him, with a single blow the impious man most wickedly beheaded the pious one, the servant his lord.
Cum igitur quadam die Brugas venisset, summo mane ecclesie Dei assistens, pavimento prostratus, librum orationum manu tenens orabat, cum subito Buchardus quidam, nepos prepositi prefati, satelles truculentus, cum aliis de eadem sceleratissima radice et aliis tradicionis pessime complicibus oranti, immo Deo loquenti, tacite retrocedit, et caute gladio evaginato, collum terre prostratum comitis suavissime tangens, ut paululum erectum ferientis gladio se inopinate dirigeret, ensem ei applicans, uno ictu impius pium, servus dominum sceleratissime detruncat.
Note 1. On 2nd March 1127., in the church of Saint-Donatian, which communicated with the count’s house by a gallery (Galbert of Bruges, ed. Pirenne, p. 20).
1. Le 2 mars 1127, dans l'église Saint-Donatien, qui communiquait avec la maison du comte par une galerie (Galbert de Bruges, éd. Pirenne, p. 20).
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. All this year was the King Henry (age 60) in Normandy, on account of the hostility that was between him and his nephew (age 25), the Earl of Flanders (age 29). But the earl [William] was wounded in a fight1 by a swain; and so wounded he went to the monastery of St. Bertin; where he soon became a monk, lived five days afterwards, then died, and was there buried. God honour his soul. That was on the sixth day before the calends of August [27th July 1128].
Note 1. The Battle of Axspoele was fought on 21st June 1128.
Chronicon ex Chronicis by Florence and John of Worcester. William (age 25), count of Flanders, surnamed The Sad, falling into an ambush, was wounded by his enemies, and, his sufferings increasing, died, amidst universal lamentations, on the sixth of the calends of August [27th July 1128], and was buried at St. Bertin.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1129. This same year died Pope Honorius. Ere he was well dead, there were chosen two popes. The one was named Peter, who was monk of Clugny, and was born of the richest men of Rome; and with him held those of Rome, and the Duke of Sicily. The other was Gregory: he was a clerk, and was driven out of Rome by the other pope, and by his kinsmen. With him held the Emperor of Saxony, and the King of France (age 47), and the King Henry (age 61) of England, and all those on this side of the Alps. Now was there such division in Christendom as never was before. May Christ consult for his wretched folk.