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Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 2002-12 > 1039224809


From: Tim Powys-Lybbe <>
Subject: Re: Murder most foul
Date: Sat, 07 Dec 2002 01:33:29 GMT
References: <f6.2537c74f.2b201799@aol.com>
In-Reply-To: <f6.2537c74f.2b201799@aol.com>


In message <>
wrote:

> In a message dated 12/04/2002 6:32:31 PM Central Standard Time, JKent10581
> writes:
>
> > William the Conqueror died alone and no one would come to his aide?
> > That is hard to believe.
> >
> > Jno
>
> I must get back to the source; but I think that he was alone. A monk or
> priest or some other holy joe might have been with him at the last; but I do
> think that all of his "friends" had deserted him as he died. Surely someone
> else on this list can verify that.

I have "William the Conqueror" by David C Douglas pub by Yale University
press in 1964 and in a new edition in 1999 with a forward by Frank
Barlow. David Douglas in fact died in 1982. Barlow refers to this book
as: "It became both a standard work and a bestseller".

Pages 358 to 363 describe the Bastard's death and burial. I will not
quote it all but here's a few snippets:


"Some say that his horse, taking fright from the burning embers, threw
the corpulent king with such force against the high pommel of his saddle
that he was lethally ruptured; others affirm that he was suddenly
afflicted with some violent intestinal complaint."

"Two accounts of what transpired during the last days of the Conqueror's
life have survived. The one was written by an anonymous monk of Caen
shortly after the event. The other is from the gifted pen of Ordericus
Vitalis who wrote some fifty years later."

"It was a large company which gathered round the dying king at the
priory of Saint-Gervais, but the two most prominent members of his
family were significantly absent. Robert, his eldest son, was in
revolt... whilst Odo, the powerful bishop of Bayeux, was still being
held in captivity..."

"The great king was slowly dying in harrowing circumstances, but on his
death-bed he was surrounded by an assemblage which was not essentially
different from one of the the great courts which had supported so many
of the major decisions of his reign."

"... Conscious, moreover, of the disturbances which would inevitably
follow his death, he addressed to Lanfranc in England a sealed letter
confirming his acts, and he ordered William [his son] to depart without
delay. The young man thereupon promptly left his father's death-bed,
and riding in haste had already reached Wissant en route for England
when he heard of the Conqueror's death. Finally the king gave to his
son Henry a considerable sum of money, and he too immediately left
Saint-Gervais in order to secure it."

"Having made his depositions, William was anointed, and received the
sacrament from the archbishop of Rouen, and the final scene of his life
is described in a famous passage from Ordericus Vitalis, which, though
doubtless overcharged with emotion, may none the less be accepted as
trustworthy in its main outlines. The king passed the night of 8
September in tranquility, and awoke at dawn to the sound of the great
bell of Rouen cathedral.

"On his asking what it signified, his attendants replied: 'My lord, the
bell is ringing for Prime in the church of Saint Mary.' Then the king
raised his eyes and lifted his hands and said 'I commend myself to
Mary the holy Mother of God, my heavenly Lady, that by her intercession
I may be reconciled to her Son our Lord Jesus Christ.' And having said
this he died.

"Immediate confusion followed his passing, and some of the attendants
behaved as if they had lost their wits."

"Nevertheless, the wealthiest of them mounted their horses and
departed in haste to secure their property. Whilst the inferior
attendants, observing that their masters had departed, laid hands on
the arms, the plate, the linen, and the royal furniture, and hastened
away, leaving the corpse almost naked on the floor of the cell."

"And then a still more macabre episode took place, for the attendants
actually broke the unwieldy body when trying to force it into the stone
coffin, and such an intolerable stench filled the church that the
priests were forced to hurry the service to a close."


Please realise that there are chunks of text missing between these
snippets. The two inset paragraphs are, apparently, direct quotes from
Ordericus Vitalis.

--
Tim Powys-Lybbe
For a patchwork of bygones: http://powys.org


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