England under the Angevin Kings, Volumes I and II Flashcards
Kate Norgate · Public domain edition · 494 cards · 134 chapters
Kate Norgate’s England under the Angevin Kings argues that Angevin rule reshaped English government and lordship through conquest, succession disputes, and administrative change. This deck covers her preface and chapters on Cnut, Henry I, Robert of Bellême, and Tinchebray.
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Chapter 1 · Question
Who suggested Norgate undertake this history, and what happened to him before it was finished?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The book was undertaken at the suggestion of John Richard Green, to whose memory it is dedicated. Norgate says his counsels, criticisms, and sympathy guided her through the hardest early stages over eleven years. He never saw a page of the finished book, so she takes sole responsibility for its faults.
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Introduction4 cards
Who suggested Norgate undertake this history, and what happened to him before it was finished?
The book was undertaken at the suggestion of John Richard Green, to whose memory it is dedicated. Norgate says his counsels, criticisms, and sympathy guided her through the hardest early stages over eleven years. He never saw a page of the finished book, so she takes sole responsibility for its faults.
Chapter 1
What does Norgate say about responsibility for the book's errors and defects?
She states plainly that for its faults no one is answerable but herself. Though she credits Green's influence and hopes the book shows traces of it, she does not shift blame onto her mentor or her helpers. She asks only that, despite its errors and defects, it may show some trace of that influence.
Chapter 1
Which people and works does Norgate credit for help with maps and plans?
The map of Gaul in the tenth century is founded on one in Freeman's _Norman Conquest_. The Bristol and Lincoln plans are adapted from the _Proceedings of the Archæological Institute_, with Precentor Venables aiding on Lincoln. For Oxford she follows Goldie's _A Bygone Oxford_ and Parker's _Early History of Oxford_; for London, historian W. J. Loftie.
Chapter 1
Whom does Norgate thank for information and advice, and whom for constant personal kindness?
She thanks the Lord Bishop of Chester and Mr. Freeman, who helped with information and advice for the sake of the friend who had commended her to them. Her greatest help, she says, was the constant personal kindness and sympathy of Mrs. Green, to whom she feels a gratitude that cannot be put into words.
Chapter 1
CHAPTER I. (part 1)4 cards
How did the author interpret the Confessor's green-tree prophecy?
The author explains that the prophecy was understood a hundred years later: the green tree of the West-Saxon monarchy fell under Duke William, three alien reigns parted its branch from the stem, and Henry I's marriage to a princess of the old English blood-royal grafted it back in. One flower died young, but another bore the promised fruit.
Chapter 2
How does the author contrast Cnut's rule of England with Henry of Anjou's?
The author argues the parallel goes no further than both ruling England plus a larger continental dominion. Cnut's first kingdom was his centre and home; in his island-kingdom he was an Englishman among Englishmen. Henry of Anjou was virtually of no nationality, and England was simply the possession giving him his highest title and resources for continental schemes.
Chapter 2
What did Henry, the Conqueror's youngest son, receive at his father's death?
Henry was born in the purple, on English soil, but at nineteen he got no land. The dying Conqueror told him to have patience, promising he would one day be greater than his brothers, and left him a legacy of ten thousand pounds. Within a year Henry used three thousand pounds of it to buy the Cotentin, Avranchin, and Mont-St.-Michel from Duke Robert.
Chapter 2
How did Henry's character differ from his brothers, according to the author?
The author argues Henry was essentially a man of business, with no romantic or poetic temperament and none of chivalry's idealism. His strongest qualities were self-control and capacity for taking trouble, which his brothers lacked. But the author says his calmness came from a cold nature, not a noble mind curbing impetuosity, and he had no spark of higher genius.
Chapter 2
CHAPTER I. (part 2)4 cards
Why was Ivo of Grantmesnil fined to the verge of ruin?
Ivo was fined to the verge of ruin not for making war on the king in behalf of the duke, but for making war on his own neighbours for personal gratification. The chapter notes this private warfare was part of daily life for every baron in Normandy, but had never been seen in England before and never was seen there again while King Henry lived.
Chapter 3
What happened to Robert of Bellême after Henry besieged Bridgenorth?
Robert of Bellême was fortifying Bridgenorth and Arundel for open revolt when summoned to trial on forty-five charges of treason against the king of England and duke of Normandy. He failed to answer, so Henry besieged Bridgenorth, which surrendered in three weeks; Shrewsbury and Arundel followed. Robert bought safety for life and limb at the cost of all his English possessions.
Chapter 3
What terms did Henry offer Robert before Tinchebray, and what was the result?
Henry sent a final message saying he did not wish to deprive Robert of the duchy but to deliver Normandy from misrule. He proposed Robert give him half of Normandy, with castles and administration of justice and government throughout the whole, receiving the value of the other half annually from the English treasury. Robert declined, and the armies prepared for battle.
Chapter 3
How did the battle of Tinchebray end and what did it reverse?
At Tinchebray the Bretons and Cenomannians under Count Elias flanked the duke's army and cut down two hundred men in one charge; Robert of Bellême fled and the duke's army dissolved. Henry captured the duke, the count of Mortain, and many knights and foot. The victory made Normandy a dependency of England, reversing the work of Michaelmas Eve 1066 on Michaelmas Eve 1106.
Chapter 3
CHAPTER I. (part 3)2 cards
How did the Great Council's power and composition change under the Norman kings?
The Great Council, successor to the Witenagemot, lost all real share in legislation and government; of "counsel and consent," counsel became an empty phrase and consent a formality. It was a court rather than a council, its members qualifying as tenants-in-chief of the crown. Bishops kept their dignity as successors of the spiritual Witan, but by the compromise of 1107 they held temporalities by baronial homage and fealty, extending the same rule to lay members.
Chapter 4
What was the Curia Regis, and how did it relate to the Exchequer?
The Curia Regis was the King's Court, an inner circle of permanent counsellors managing financial and judicial administration. It absorbed the judicial powers of the Witenagemot, the king's thegns' court, and the feudal court of tenants-in-chief. As the Exchequer, it received royal revenues from sheriffs, reviewed taxation, and controlled the realm's finances. The two were so closely connected, sharing nearly the same great officers of the household, that drawing a line between them is often difficult.
Chapter 4
CHAPTER I. (part 4)3 cards
How did towns with no other lord come to be classified under the king?
The chapter states that once it was a recognized principle that everyone must have a lord and that all folkland belonged to the king, it followed that towns with no other lord were counted as royal demesnes, with their chief magistrate an officer of the crown—usually titled port-reeve in great cities.
Chapter 5
What was the firma burgi and why was it introduced?
The chapter explains that towns' financial interests were severed from their shires: a fixed aid replaced the unfair Danegeld, and to avoid extortion by the sheriff their contribution to the shire ferm was settled as a fixed round sum deducted and accounted separately as firma burgi—paid by the sheriff or, where specially granted, by the towns themselves.
Chapter 5
Why did Winchester remain important despite losing rank to London?
The chapter says Winchester lost its ancient rank—London superseded it as crowning-place and royal abode—but its crown connexion persisted: proximity to the New Forest made it a favourite royal residence, William built a castle and palace there and held Easter courts, and the Treasury (the 'Hoard') remained centred there until late in Henry II's reign.
Chapter 5
CHAPTER I. (part 5)4 cards
What trade rules did Newcastle's customs set for foreign merchants and burghers?
The customs of Newcastle provided that if a merchant vessel put in at the Tyne's mouth, burghers might buy what they willed; disputes with a foreign merchant had to be settled before the tide ebbed thrice. Foreign traders could carry wares ashore for sale except salt and herrings, which had to be sold on board. No merchant save a burgher could buy wool, hides, or other merchandise outside the town, nor within it except from burghers; only burghers could buy, make, or cut cloth for dyeing.
Chapter 6
Why was Bishop Remigius's see moved from Dorchester to Lincoln?
The removal followed a new post-Conquest practice of placing episcopal sees in the chief town of the diocese. Lincoln was beyond comparison the most important town of the vast Mid-Anglian diocese stretching from Thames to Humber. The same motive moved the Mercian bishopric from Lichfield to Chester and then Coventry, and made Norwich succeed Thetford in East-Anglia. The author notes reasons beyond sentiment or personal taste drove the translation.
Chapter 6
How did Lincoln's trade and self-government develop under Norman rule?
Two of Lincoln's quarters were transformed: the south-western covered by a castle, the south-eastern by a cathedral. The Witham's tide brought merchant vessels to the bridge, and the Foss Dyke canal, cleared by order of Henry I, linked Lincoln to the Trent at Torksey. The men of the city and merchants of the shire were banded in a merchant-gild, and in 1130 the citizens paid two hundred marks of silver and four of gold to hold the city in chief of the king.
Chapter 6
What did the D'Oillys contribute to Oxford's growth?
Under Robert of Oilly and his nephew, Oxford's waste dwellings were repaired and the town was girt with rampart and ditch; the mound at its western end became the nucleus of a mighty fortress. The first Robert built a bridge over the streams, founded S. George's-in-the-Castle and probably S. Peter's-in-the-East, restored decayed churches, and S. Michael, S. Mary the Virgin, and S. Mary Magdalene were founded in his or his nephew's time. The younger Robert founded Oseney Priory for Austin canons.
Chapter 6
CHAPTER I. (part 6)4 cards
How does the chapter describe London's physical layout and growth?
The author describes London not as a compact, symmetrical municipality but as "a shire covered with houses." Growth lay chiefly north-east of St Paul's, with crowded streets and lesser churches. The Wall-brook ran through it, with the East-Cheap beyond and a Jewish quarter to the north. Wealthier citizens lived in suburban houses with gardens, and population spread beyond the walls toward Westminster, Smithfield, and the northern woodlands.
Chapter 7
What privileges and recreations did London citizens enjoy according to the chapter?
By special privilege citizens could hunt stag, fallow-deer, boar and wild bull in the woodland belt stretching across northern Middlesex. The mass of young burghers instead strolled among northern gardens and springs in summer, and in winter slid, sledged and skated on the frozen Moorfields marsh. Smithfield hosted a great horse-fair every Friday, and two minsters plus Bermondsey abbey had schools.
Chapter 7
How did Norman and Flemish settlers integrate with English townspeople?
The author argues fusion began almost from the Conquest, helped by shared suffering under the Red King and worked out fully under Henry I's restoration of law and order. Norman merchants, traders and craftsmen settled by fair traffic and honest labour, not spoliation. Intermarriage became frequent, Norman fashions spread among English burghers, and in London the "men of Rouen" had traded long before they settled.
Chapter 7
Who were Gilbert Becket and Rohesia, and what does their household show?
Gilbert Becket, born at Rouen, and Rohesia of Caen were London burghers; Gilbert once served as port-reeve and was known for intelligence, industry and upright dealing. Rohesia weighed young Thomas against money, clothes and food given to the poor. The author notes their household in Cheapside differed in no way from ordinary well-to-do burgher households, except that it produced Thomas of Canterbury.
Chapter 7
CHAPTER I. (part 7)4 cards
What building materials were commonly used for houses in early twelfth-century England?
The chapter states that stone was too costly for any but great nobles or exceptionally wealthy Jews, and no other material existed except wood or rubble. Tile was only beginning to come into general use, sometimes for roofing, but most houses, even in great cities like London, were covered with thatch. Gilbert Becket's house burned repeatedly, and much of London burned with it.
Chapter 8
How did castle architecture of this period balance defence and decoration?
The author argues that all architectural energy went into military and ecclesiastical work, and the castle remained very simple. Outer-ward buildings were huts of wood or rubble; keeps, though enormously thick, were often shells divided by wooden partitions under thatch. Defence was the one all-important purpose, and the author says this stern simplicity gives early castles a grandeur beyond later elaborate fortifications, though it left the architect no scope for fancy.
Chapter 8
What was the system of landholding and labour on a feudal manor?
The lord's demesne was farmed partly by free tenants and partly by villeins' customary labour. Villein arable lay in open fields as strips of an acre or half-acre, scattered across fields; tenants contributed oxen to the common plough team in proportion to their land. Holdings were often virgates or half-virgates of about thirty or fifteen acres, owing two or three days' week-work plus boon-days, with rights to common pasture, meadow and woodland.
Chapter 8
What duties did the manor reeve or bailiff have?
The chapter says superintendence of manor matters was in the hands of the reeve or bailiff, charged with regulating its labour, maintaining its farming-stock, gathering its dues, letting unoccupied land, and keeping the general account of its revenues. At Fisherton, land for twelve full villeins lay unoccupied, and the reeve had to discharge its dues from his own purse and hire it out at the best rent he could get.
Chapter 8
CHAPTER I. (part 8)4 cards
Why did Henry choose clergy as chief ministers and give them bishoprics?
The author argues Henry made a practice of choosing chief ministers from the clergy and bestowing vacant bishoprics on them, rewarding past labours or ensuring continued zeal in temporal functions. This secured more able, vigorous and honest administrators than any other means. But the author notes the system drew grave objection: these bishops were worldly, fixed on duties as treasurer or justiciar rather than as bishop, and the secular clergy became a nursery of statesmen.
Chapter 9
What was the origin and character of the Austin canons?
The author states the Austin canons' movement was in origin not monastic but secular, arising from a protest against monasticism. Earlier attempts to enforce Chrodegang's eighth-century rule on secular canons failed, as clergy resented losing separate homes and property. Around the early twelfth century these reform attempts produced the Augustinians or Canons Regular, a compromise between old-style canons and monastic confraternities, leaning strongly toward the monastic side, holding all things in common and bound by vow.
Chapter 9
How did the Austin canons first enter England under Henry?
The author says the Austin canons crossed the Channel at the beginning of Henry's reign. Their first priory was founded in 1108 by Queen Matilda, 'Maude the good queen,' in the soke of Aldgate just within London's eastern wall, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Part of its endowment came from estates of an old English cnihtengild. Its first prior, Norman, a Kentishman who studied under S. Anselm, brought the order to Matilda's notice.
Chapter 9
Which bishopric did Henry found for his confessor Eadwulf, and how was it organized?
Before leaving England in 1133, never to return, Henry promoted his confessor Eadwulf, an Englishman and prior of an Augustinian house at Nostell in Yorkshire, to a new see at Carlisle, relieving the archbishop of York as Ely had earlier relieved Lincoln. Eadwulf constituted his chapter on his own order's principles. The author notes Carlisle was the last English bishopric founded before the Reformation and the only one whose cathedral was served by Austin canons.
Chapter 9
CHAPTER I. (part 9)3 cards
How did Cistercian monasticism differ in kind from earlier Benedictine monasticism?
The author argues Benedictine life was "in the world though not of it": abbeys were sited for resources and accessibility and became nuclei of lay settlements or towns. The Cistercians instead sought solitude, refusing tithes, building plainly, banning ornament, and forbidding houses of their order within a set distance of one another.
Chapter 10
What abuses among Benedictine houses does the chapter say the Cistercian scheme directly protested?
By the late tenth century monasteries had grown rich through vast landed property and privileges. Secularizing spirit crept into the cloister; laity endowed abbeys while leaving parish churches bare; and tithes of estates were diverted to unconnected abbeys. The Cistercians refused tithes entirely, saying monks had no right to them.
Chapter 10
How does the chapter describe the early life and travels of Godric before Finchale?
Born to poor free rustics near the Wash, Godric became a wandering chapman, then a merchant and ship's captain trading to Scotland, Brittany, Flanders and Denmark. He made pilgrimages to Rome, S. Gilles and Jerusalem, served as a steward, and was guided by visions of S. Cuthbert before settling at Finchale.
Chapter 10
CHAPTER I. (part 10)4 cards
What did the Peterborough monks do with the Worcester Chronicle and why?
Probably because a fire destroyed their own records and abbey in 1116, the monks of Peterborough borrowed a copy of the Chronicle from Worcester and wrote it out afresh for their own use, adding material from local history and other sources. Only in their version has the earliest Worcester Chronicle survived. A later scribe continued the annals in English for ten more years after 1120.
Chapter 11
How does the chapter characterize Florence of Worcester's Latin version of the Chronicle?
The author argues Florence infused violent party spirit, overlaying the plain annals with untraceable interpolations, additions and alterations that later writers too readily adopted, causing long confusion in early English history. Yet the author credits him: his Latin dress carried the Worcester tradition nationwide and inspired a new generation of historians, including Simeon of Durham and Henry of Huntingdon.
Chapter 11
What subjects did William of Malmesbury single out in his studies, and how did he describe history?
He says he tasted logic only with his ears and paid closer heed to physic, but searched deeply into moral philosophy and especially history, which preserves the manners of past times in a pleasing record and by example excites readers to follow good and shun evil. He assisted Abbot Godfrey's library scheme, claiming he outstripped all his elders in collecting books.
Chapter 11
What legends and relics at Malmesbury shaped William of Malmesbury's childhood?
He recalled a jester smitten with frenzy and cured after three days chained before Ealdhelm's shrine; the chasuble the saint hung on a sunbeam; a Bible Ealdhelm bought at Dover; royal charters and Æthelstan's gifts, with Æthelstan buried beneath the tower. A tomb was believed to hold John Scotus, said to have been pricked to death by pupils' styles.
Chapter 11
CHAPTER I. (part 11)4 cards
According to the chapter, what happened to the gleeman's position after the Norman Conquest?
The chapter states that the Norman Conquest doomed the unwritten popular verse of the gleeman to gradual extinction. His language was unintelligible to the new nobles, and jongleur and ménestrel from overseas took his place in court and castle; only the common people still welcomed him. Before his day ended, patriotic historians drew on his traditional lore.
Chapter 12
How does the chapter describe William of Malmesbury's use of popular ballads in his histories?
The chapter says William drank deeply from a stream at his own door, including a simple English ballad still chanted around Malmesbury about St Ealdhelm. It argues this song, passed from gleeman to twelfth-century historians, transformed the story of the later royal house of Wessex into a romance that often darkens the true character of the period it claims to illustrate.
Chapter 12
What does the chapter say about the daily life of a monk like William of Malmesbury?
The chapter argues William's monastic profession gave him worldly experience beyond reading. A community like Malmesbury had constant contact with every rank: king, bishop, baron, yeoman, pilgrim, merchant, and visiting monks. News and gossip reached it through these channels and was discussed freely within the convent walls. The abbot ranked as a great noble in the Great Council.
Chapter 12
What does the chapter say about Adelard of Bath's scholarly career?
The chapter describes Adelard, an old-English scholar, studying at Tours and Laon, then wandering through Salerno, Greece, Asia Minor, and possibly Bagdad or Cairo. After seven years he returned to England and translated an Arabic Euclid into Latin, which became a standard text for centuries. His Quæstiones Naturales, framed as a discussion with his nephew, pleaded for freer inquiry into natural science.
Chapter 12
CHAPTER I. (part 1)4 cards
Why did Henry want Thomas as archbishop while remaining chancellor?
Henry planned to rival the Emperor by having an archbishop serve as his chancellor, as the archbishops of Mainz and Cöln were arch-chancellors of Germany and Italy. He had even obtained a papal dispensation sanctioning the union of the two offices in one person, aiming to keep Thomas's services in two departments rather than one.
Chapter 13
What did Thomas warn Henry would happen if he became archbishop?
Thomas warned that their friendship would soon turn to bitter hate. He said he knew Henry's plans concerning the Church, that Henry would assert claims which he as archbishop must oppose, and that once the breach was made, jealous hands would ensure it was never healed. The author notes these words summed up his whole pontificate.
Chapter 13
How did Thomas originate Trinity Sunday?
Thomas began his archiepiscopal career by ordaining a new festival to be kept every year on the octave of Pentecost, the day of his consecration, in honour of the most Holy Trinity. In time the observance spread from Canterbury throughout all Christendom, which thus owes to an English archbishop the institution of Trinity Sunday.
Chapter 13
Who protested Thomas's election at Westminster and why?
Gilbert Foliot, alluding to the great scutage, declared Thomas utterly unfit for the primacy because he had persecuted the Church of God. Henry of Winchester answered him: if Thomas had been as Saul the persecutor, he should henceforth be as Paul the Apostle. The election was otherwise ratified without dissent.
Chapter 13
CHAPTER I. (part 2)2 cards
Whom did Thomas choose as his monitor to critique his conduct as archbishop?
Thomas chose Herbert of Bosham, drawing him aside on the ride from London to Canterbury after his election and charging him to watch his conduct closely and report without scruple whatever he saw amiss or heard criticized. Herbert worshipped the primate but fulfilled the charge zealously; the author notes his zeal was even less tempered by discretion than Thomas's own.
Chapter 14
How did Thomas pursue recovery of the alienated property of his see?
Thomas claimed every estate granted away by his predecessors on grounds or terms he judged detrimental to his church, enforcing claims without respect of persons: he turned out those holding archiepiscopal manors in ferm, disputed jurisdiction over Tunbridge with the earl of Clare, and reclaimed custody of Rochester castle from the Crown on a charter of the Conqueror. The author says this stirred up many enemies who complained to Henry.
Chapter 14
CHAPTER I. (part 3)3 cards
What did Henry II hope to achieve by making Thomas archbishop of Canterbury?
The author argues Henry sought a primate after his own heart to reduce clerical immunities to the standard of his grandfather's time. He intended to make Thomas his inseparable colleague in temporal administration and supreme spiritual authority in the realm, avoiding appeals to Rome and securing a guardian for the little king while Henry managed continental affairs—hoping to restore the golden age of William and Lanfranc.
Chapter 15
What three demands did Henry make of the bishops at Westminster in October?
Henry required that bishops be stricter in pursuing criminal clerks; that convicted and degraded clerks be handed to the secular arm for temporal punishment like laymen, per Henry I's practice; and that bishops renounce all claim to inflict temporal punishment such as exile or monastic imprisonment, which he called an infringement of his regal rights over all subjects and territory.
Chapter 15
How did Henry respond after the bishops refused unconditional acceptance of the customs?
Henry raged and swore but failed to make them withdraw the qualifying phrase. He strode suddenly out of the hall without taking leave of the assembly, and by morning had quit London. Thomas then received a summons to surrender honours he had held as chancellor and still retained, and the little Henry was soon taken out of his care.
Chapter 15
CHAPTER I. (part 4)4 cards
Why did churchmen object to the clause forbidding ordination of villeins without their lords' consent?
The author argues its real intention was likely to protect landowners from losing attached labour services, and possibly to stop villeins escaping lords' justice by becoming criminal clerks. But churchmen, trained to see the Church as a refuge for the poor and enslaved, saw only the other side and protested, in a contemporary poet's words, that God called all, bond and free, to His service.
Chapter 16
How did Thomas react when Henry demanded the bishops seal the Constitutions of Clarendon?
After six days of discussion, when each clause was read Thomas rose and gave his reasons for opposing it. When Henry finally called on him and all the bishops to affix their seals, Thomas burst out that he never would while breath remained in his body. Henry had to settle for the earlier verbal assent, gained on false pretences; Thomas took a copy as a witness against its contrivers and quit the assembly.
Chapter 16
What personal grievance embittered Henry's quarrel with Thomas over William's marriage?
Henry's brother William wanted to marry the widowed countess of Warren, but Thomas forbade the match on grounds of affinity, ending the scheme. William died at Rouen on January 29, 1164. A writer then a monk at Bec implies William died of disappointment and declares Henry shared that belief, thereafter viewing Thomas as little less than his brother's murderer.
Chapter 16
How did John the king's marshal remove his suit against Thomas to the royal court?
Under one of Henry's new legal procedures, a suitor who saw no chance of justice in his own lord's court could swear an oath to that effect with two witnesses and transfer the suit to a higher court. John used this to move his Pageham manor case from the archbishop's court to the king's. Thomas protested it was obtained by perjury, since John swore not on the Gospel but on an old song-book.
Chapter 16
CHAPTER I. (part 5)4 cards
What did Henry demand from Thomas regarding the chancery accounts, and how did Thomas respond?
Henry demanded full settlement of the chancery accounts, swearing 'by God's Eyes' he would have them in full; the total was eventually assessed at thirty thousand pounds according to several sources, though accounts vary. Thomas refused to entertain the demands, citing the release from all secular obligations granted at his consecration. The author notes the biographers' dates and figures are discordant and follows William Fitz-Stephen as most trustworthy.
Chapter 17
What advice did the bishops give Thomas, and whose counsel prevailed?
Gilbert of London advised unconditional surrender, while Henry of Winchester, who had already withstood the king to his face, opposed this and suggested offering two thousand marks as a compromise, which the king rejected. On Henry of Winchester's suggestion, it was decided Thomas should refuse the demands on the ground of the release granted at his consecration. The bishops carried this answer to the king, who rejected it as given without his authority.
Chapter 17
How did Thomas prepare himself before going to the council, and how did he enter?
Thomas celebrated the mass of S. Stephen, with its introit 'Princes have sat and spoken against me,' in the Benedictine chapel of S. Andrew outside Northampton's walls. Escorted by a crowd of poor folk rather than clerks and knights, he rode to the castle, took his cross from its usual bearer at the gate, and went forward alone in full pontificals carrying the crucifix like an uplifted banner, shocking friends and opponents alike.
Chapter 17
What was Gilbert Foliot's parting insult to Thomas, and who stayed with him?
After a long argument, Gilbert Foliot burst out, 'A fool you ever were, a fool I see you are still and will be to the end,' and turned away; the others followed, leaving Thomas with only William Fitz-Stephen and Herbert of Bosham. The king proclaimed Thomas a traitor, and a marshal forbade anyone to speak to him; William silently pointed to the crucifix, a lesson Thomas recalled when they met again in exile.
Chapter 17
CHAPTER I. (part 6)4 cards
Which Constitutions articles did the Pope's verdict mark as tolerated?
In the annotated edition of the Constitutions among Thomas's letters, each article carries the Pope's verdict, "Hoc toleravit" or "Hoc damnavit." The tolerated articles are 2, 6, 11, 13, 14 and 16. Alan of Tewkesbury, who first collected Thomas's letters, likely obtained this annotated copy from Lombard, archbishop of Benevento, who had been in Thomas's suite at Sens.
Chapter 18
What does the Thomas Saga claim was the subject of the Woodstock quarrel?
The Icelandic Thomas Saga says the dispute concerned not a general levy per hide but a special tax on Church lands — the "ungeld" William Rufus imposed to repay Duke Robert's costs, later called Jerusalem tax then Warfare-due, and by then exacted from every religious house as an ancient royal tax. Magnusson argues this must be the true history; Norgate disputes that reading.
Chapter 18
Why does Norgate reject Magnusson's argument about the Woodstock tax?
Norgate argues Magnusson ignores the English primate's constitutional position, which explains a protest made on behalf of the whole nation viewed spiritually, not merely the clerical order. She adds that Garnier's hearsay was gathered in England and could be checked by English followers, that the Red King's ungeld died with him, and that Henry II would hardly revive so obnoxious a measure during his early reforms.
Chapter 18
How does Norgate reconcile the conflicting dates for the Council of Clarendon?
Gervase gives January 13, Diceto January 25, and the official Constitutions January 30 as the closing day. Norgate suggests Gilbert Foliot's "triduo" describes the opening verbal discussion before the written Constitutions appeared: the council meets January 13, Thomas yields by the 15th, and the written report comes up January 25, with debate ending January 30.
Chapter 18
CHAPTER II. (part 1)4 cards
What natural and strategic features made Angers a formidable stronghold?
Angers occupied a lofty mass of black slate rock above the Loire, commanding routes to central, northern and southern Gaul via the Loire and its tributaries. Under the Romans it was Juliomagus, crowned by a citadel and ringed with rampart walls. The chapter calls it the true key of the Loire valley and the stronghold of the Neustrian border against attacks from the west by land or sea.
Chapter 19
How did the Treaty of Verdun in 843 divide the Karolingian realms?
By the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the original Frankish kingdom and its Saxon dependencies, roughly modern Germany, went to Louis; the Gallic conquests between the Moselle, Rhone, Pyrenees and ocean went to Charles the Bald; and Lothar as Emperor received a middle kingdom stretching from the Frisian to the Pontine marshes so he could hold Rome and Aachen. The chapter says this date marks the beginning of modern France and Germany.
Chapter 19
How did Count Lambert enable the northmen's first entry into the Loire?
Lambert, a Breton-born count of the Angevin march, asked Charles the Bald for the vacant county of Nantes. Refused, he renounced allegiance, offered himself to the Breton king Nomenoë, and when that failed he called in a pirate fleet cruising off Britanny. Thus, the chapter says, a man specially entrusted with the march's defence guided the northmen into the Loire; Nantes was stormed and sacked.
Chapter 19
What grant did Charles the Bald give Robert the Brave, and why?
Robert the Brave, count of the Angevin march, allied with the Bretons and the rebel Pepin of Aquitaine, apparently to secure aid against the northmen. Charles, pressed by difficulties and fearing the pirate ships, felt this wavering lord must be won back at any cost. Two years later Robert was invested with a vast duchy between Seine and Loire, with the task of keeping out Bretons and northmen.
Chapter 19
CHAPTER II. (part 2)4 cards
Why did Norgate consider Anjou's position as a marchland advantageous?
The author argues that Anjou's compact position as the south-western corner of France, bounded by the Loire and Mayenne, gave it a strong geographical base. Unlike Maine, it was not isolated by a desperate struggle for lost independence, and unlike Blois it was not distracted by scattered interests. A marchland must either be swallowed piecemeal or swallow its neighbours; Anjou chose expansion.
Chapter 20
What advantage did the counts of Blois have over the Angevins, and how did it fail them?
The counts of Blois began with larger territory and greater natural resources from fertile soil and wealthy towns. But the house grew too fast and outgrew its strength; its dominions became straggling, and expansion eastward into Champagne meant losses elsewhere. Touraine, its most precious possession, was gradually absorbed by the steady Angevin advance.
Chapter 20
What character traits does Norgate attribute to the Angevin counts?
The author describes them as a remarkable race with a strong family likeness: thorough in everything, whether good or evil; daring but not rash; persevering, watchful and tenacious; sometimes seemingly unscrupulous, yet with an irregular vein of piety; passionate almost like madmen but with method in their madness. Their chief aim was aggrandizement, but of Anjou as well as themselves.
Chapter 20
How did Fulk the Red acquire Loches, and why did it matter?
Fulk married Roscilla, daughter of Warner, lord of Loches, Villentras and Haye, and came into possession of Loches only as her dowry. Loches lay about twenty miles south of Amboise on the Indre. Combined with Amboise, this foothold in southern Touraine could serve as a basis for conquering the whole district.
Chapter 20
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What did Fulk the Good do for his marchland during his twenty years of peace?
The chapter describes Fulk as a practical, energetic ruler who rebuilt churches and towns wasted by the northmen and worked to recover losses from the long wars. Once Rudolf's victory drove the pirates from the Loire, settlers drawn by reports of the land's fertility and Fulk's wise government came to help re-people and cultivate the marchland. This peace lasted twenty years and ended only with his death.
Chapter 21
What charge was made against Fulk regarding Drogo's death, and how does Norgate judge it?
Breton suspicion later blamed Fulk for the death of Drogo, his wife's child by Alan Barbetorte, after the boy's mother remarried Fulk. The story says Fulk bribed the nurse to kill the child with boiling water. Norgate rejects it: the account is late, circumstantial, unconfirmed, and misnames Fulk, so it can leave no stain on the Good Count's memory.
Chapter 21
Why did the people of Nantes abandon Fulk and choose Hoel as ruler?
During a Norman raid on Britanny, the Normans captured the bishop of Nantes, leaving the citizens leaderless and in hourly fear of attack. They appealed urgently to Fulk, who promised succour but delayed. After a week the people drove off the invaders themselves, then threw off allegiance to Fulk and chose Hoel, son of Alan Barbetorte, as their ruler.
Chapter 21
What does the leper legend of Fulk the Good say, and what later sequel was added?
The tradition says Fulk, travelling to Tours, carried a leper on his shoulders to S. Martin's church despite others' horror; the burden vanished, and in a trance S. Martin told him he had unwittingly carried the Lord, like S. Christopher. Later generations added that an angel foretold his successors to the ninth generation would extend their power to the ends of the earth.
Chapter 21
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Why was Loudun strategically valuable beyond its own size?
Loudun lay about eighteen miles north-west of Poitiers, but it also looked north and east: up the Thouet valley toward Saumur, the border-fortress of Touraine and Anjou, and across the Vienne valley into southern Touraine. Norgate argues it was therefore precious less as a base against the lord of Poitiers than against the lord of Chinon, Saumur and Tours.
Chapter 22
How did Hugh Capet reward Geoffrey Greygown, and what was the grant actually worth?
Hugh Capet granted Maine to Geoffrey Greygown, tasking the lord of the Angevin march with reducing the Cenomannian counts, who refused allegiance to the house of France. The grant was merely nominal at the time, since Hugh (or David) of Maine held the county independently. Norgate notes that generations passed before its remote consequences were fully worked out.
Chapter 22
What happened to Geoffrey Greygown around Hugh Capet's coronation in 987?
Geoffrey stayed with Hugh besieging the rebel Odo "Rufinus" at Marson in Champagne. Hugh left to be crowned at Noyon on 1 June 987, leaving Geoffrey to finish the siege. Geoffrey fell sick and died before the place seven weeks after the coronation, and his body was carried back from Champagne to be buried beside his father in the church of S. Martin at Tours.
Chapter 22
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What evidence dates the counts' palace at Angers to the south-west corner of the city?
An account of the 1132 fire, driven by a north-east wind from S. Anian down past S. Laud and the Evière, burned the count's hall and chambers; this route would cross the castle site but not the bishop's palace. Ralf de Diceto places the counts' palace in his own day in the south-west corner, with newly built chambers fitting a rebuilding after the fire.
Chapter 23
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Why does Norgate distrust the Chronicle of St. Brieuc's account of Conan's defeat?
The author argues the chronicle is a late compilation by a violently patriotic Nantes writer who hated the Rennes party and the Angevins equally. His aim was to exalt Guerech and the house of Nantes, so he ignores the Angevin share in the first battle of Conquereux and makes Guerech a triumphant victor, even denying the Angevins credit for Conan's death.
Chapter 24
How does Norgate interpret the proverb 'the crooked overcame the straight'?
The proverb appears in the Hist. S. Flor. Salm. as a pun on Conan's nickname 'Tortus' or 'Curvus.' The author argues it makes no sense for the 992 battle, where the same writer says Conan was defeated and slain. Therefore it must refer to an earlier battle of Conquereux in which Conan won, since 'the crooked overcame the straight' means Conan was victorious.
Chapter 24
How does Norgate reconcile the Poitevin and Angevin accounts of Geoffrey's war with William?
Fulk Rechin says Geoffrey took Loudun and defeated William at Les Roches, with no hint of submission. The Chron. S. Maxent. says Geoffrey was compelled by necessity to submit to William, yet received Loudun and other fiefs from him. The author argues the two supplement each other: Geoffrey won first, then later reverses forced him to hold his conquests as fiefs of the count of Poitou.
Chapter 24
What pattern does Norgate identify in how Angevin and Breton chroniclers report the Conquereux battles?
The author argues each party chronicled its own successes and avoided mentioning its adversaries'. The Angevin writers are silent about the first battle of Conquereux, while the Bretons ignore the unsuccessful raid of Conan's sons. This negative evidence, taken with the proverb and the Nantes chronicler's bias, supports reconstructing the first battle as a victory for Conan.
Chapter 24
II.4 cards
How did Henry II end the East Anglian threat from Bigod and William of Blois in 1157?
Henry summoned the Whitsuntide council of 1157 to meet at Bury St Edmund's, contrary to precedent. This peaceful invasion of their territories brought both earls to submission. William of Blois gave up Pevensey and Norwich in exchange for his father's private estates; Hugh Bigod surrendered his castles likewise and was taken back into favour, later proving ungrateful again sixteen years afterward.
Chapter 25
Why did Henry II abandon his 1155 plan to conquer Ireland for his brother William?
At Michaelmas 1155 Henry laid before his barons a scheme to conquer Ireland as a provision for his brother William, backed by a papal bull since the Pope was traditionally held to own islands without another sovereign. The Empress, whose counsel Henry always deferentially sought, disapproved of the project. When Henry crossed the sea in January 1156 it was to suppress his second brother's rebellion in Anjou instead.
Chapter 25
What was scutage and why was it first levied on Church lands in 1156?
Scutage derived from the 'service of the shield': a knight's fee, usually five hides or £20 annual value, owed forty days of armed horseman service. Henry I's charter exempted lay tenants by knight-service from pecuniary charges on demesne lands, so Henry began with Church lands, whose holders claimed immunity from military service except in defence of the country but now held temporalities on the same tenure as lay baronies. The 1156 scutage funded Henry's war against his rebel brother in Anjou.
Chapter 25
What did the Pipe Roll of 1156 reveal about England's government and revenue?
The roll shows administrative breakdown: Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoreland send no account, being in the Scots king's hands; many shires record 'waste' and charges for repairing royal manors. Old items like Danegeld and judicial proceeds reappear, but the total is little more than a third of the 1130 sum, eked out by aids, gifts and the new scutage. The roll also testifies to revived justice, with judges visiting thirteen shires and Henry hearing suits even during the Bridgenorth siege.
Chapter 25
CHAPTER II. (part 1)4 cards
What did Henry do in England after Becket fled to France in 1164?
With Thomas gone, Henry was sole master of the field. The Constitutions of Clarendon were enforced without delay or difficulty. A year later an Assize issued from the same place laid the foundations of the later English system of criminal procedure. Legal and judicial reform continued almost unbroken for five years, unaffected by the strife between king and primate.
Chapter 26
Where did popular sympathy lie in the Becket quarrel, and why?
Sympathy fastened on the personal aspect, not the cause. Thomas was already a popular idol; the council's high-handed proceedings made him look a victim of royal tyranny, and cruel proscriptions of his connections deepened sympathy. But this was sympathy for the individual, not for clerical immunities, which had little hold on people or clergy.
Chapter 26
How did Gilbert Foliot view Thomas's conduct and the danger of the quarrel?
Gilbert held the Churchman should obey the accepted customs and seek their abrogation only by pacific means. He blamed Thomas for abandoning passive resistance and staking all on the king's good faith, and saw the strife as threatening ruin to Theobald's intellectual and religious revival and risking a widening schism with the Emperor's party.
Chapter 26
Why did Pope Alexander III avoid decisively backing Thomas?
Alexander was a pontiff in exile, dependent on untrustworthy sovereigns, facing an Emperor and anti-Pope with Italy and Germany against him, and unsure of Angevin fidelity. He feared driving Henry into schism, understood neither Henry nor Thomas, and preferred minimal involvement, drifting into shifts and double-dealing that irritated Henry and baffled Thomas.
Chapter 26
CHAPTER II. (part 2)3 cards
How did Earl Robert of Leicester oppose the German schismatic embassy?
Robert refused Reginald of Cöln the kiss of peace and had the altars at which Reginald had celebrated thrown down. Norgate says this saved Henry from publicly committing to the anti-pope's cause and England from open schism. It did not stop Henry sending two clerks to Würzburg to abjure Alexander and acknowledge Paschal, apparently in his name.
Chapter 27
How did Henry II plan to distribute his territories among his sons?
At thirty-three Henry planned an elaborate settlement: little Henry was to receive England, Normandy and Anjou, with election as joint-king in England as the first step; Aquitaine was if possible to go to Richard as his mother's heir; and Geoffrey was to acquire Britanny by marrying Conan IV's only daughter and securing the reversion of her father's lands.
Chapter 27
Why did Henry need Louis's assent and the Breton barons' consent for Geoffrey's Breton marriage?
Conan IV had only a daughter, whose hand and the reversion of his territories Henry wanted for Geoffrey. The arrangement required Conan's assent, Louis of France's, and that of the Breton barons, who resented Norman interference that had set Conan over them and resisted closer subjection. Louis encouraged their resistance; campaigns in 1166, 1167 and 1168 broke it, and in May 1169 Geoffrey received their homage.
Chapter 27
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What did Thomas do at Vézelay on Whitsun-eve 1166?
Thomas reached Vézelay on Whitsun-eve, where the abbot invited him to celebrate High Mass and preach. After the sermon he solemnly anathematized the royal customs and all their upholders, and excommunicated by name seven persons, including John of Oxford, Richard of Ilchester, Jocelyn de Bailleul, and the justiciar Richard de Lucy. He had intended to excommunicate Henry too, but desisted on learning the king was dangerously ill, issuing instead a public warning.
Chapter 28
How did Henry respond to Thomas's threat of censures in 1166?
Henry, at his wits' end, was advised by Arnulf of Lisieux to forestall the primate's censures by appealing to the Pope. John of Salisbury noted the irony that the king was flying in the face of his own Constitutions and confirming the very right of appeal he wished to abolish. A messenger was sent to England to close the ports, and the bishops of Lisieux and Séez set out for Pontigny to bid Thomas wait until the octave of Easter.
Chapter 28
Why did Thomas leave Pontigny in 1166, and where did he go?
Henry threatened the Cistercian abbots at their general chapter on Holy Cross day that if Thomas were not immediately expelled from Pontigny, he would send all the White Monks in his dominions to share the primate's exile. When the abbot of Pontigny brought this message home, Thomas could only bid him farewell. He left Pontigny on S. Martin's day 1166 and became the guest of Louis in the abbey of S. Columba at Sens.
Chapter 28
What papal brief surprised Gilbert Foliot, and what did it command?
A papal brief was thrust into Gilbert Foliot's hand as he stood before the high altar on his cathedral's patronal feast. It granted Archbishop Thomas a commission as legate for all England and commanded the bishops to render him unqualified obedience and to resign within two months whatever confiscated church property the king had placed in their charge. Gilbert, who had custody of the Canterbury estates, sent the news to Henry in distress.
Chapter 28
CHAPTER II. (part 4)4 cards
What claim did Gilbert of London make regarding the archbishopric, and how did opponents respond?
Gilbert advanced a claim that apparently rested on no historical foundation, the nearest basis being S. Gregory's abortive scheme to fix the two archbishoprics at London and York. His opponents said he derived the claim from the archpriests of Jupiter seated in Roman Londinium, denouncing him as their would-be representative and successor. Norgate notes one can scarcely understand how so wise and learned a man as Gilbert could make such an utterly unhistorical claim.
Chapter 29
How did Henry II obtain the papal brief allowing young Henry's coronation by York?
Three years earlier Henry had wrung from the Pope—then blockaded in Rome by Imperial troops and in extreme peril—a brief authorizing young Henry's coronation by the archbishop of York in default of the absent primate of all England. Despite many earlier and later rescripts confirming Canterbury's exclusive privileges, Henry had never ventured to use it, keeping it in reserve like Adrian's bull for Ireland.
Chapter 29
What happened at the coronation of young Henry on June 14, 1170?
The Pope's letter forbidding the coronation was forced upon Roger of York on Saturday the 13th, yet he nonetheless crowned and anointed young Henry in Westminster abbey the next morning. Gilbert of London, having extracted conditional absolution in the Pope's name from Archbishop Rotrou of Rouen, stood openly at Roger's side in the foremost rank of English bishops. Thomas's interdict and the Pope's ratification proved ineffective.
Chapter 29
What did Henry and Thomas agree at Fréteval, and what difficulties followed?
At Fréteval, on S. Mary Magdalene's day, Henry and Thomas conferred so long that followers grew impatient; Thomas dismounted and threw himself at the king's feet, Henry raised him and held his stirrup, and peace was made on terms amounting to mutual amnesty and a return to the pre-quarrel state. Difficulties then arose over restitution of confiscated Church property, absolution of excommunicated persons, and the kiss of peace, which Henry postponed.
Chapter 29
CHAPTER II. (part 5)4 cards
How did Henry II react when news of Becket's murder reached him at Argentan?
Henry stood speechless with horror, then burst into a frenzy of despair and shut himself in his rooms, refusing food, drink, or visitors. The author notes the news fell like a thunderbolt on the Norman court at Argentan, where the assembly had adjourned after the Christmas feast at Bures.
Chapter 30
What did the Pope do in response to Becket's murder?
The Pope ordered an interdict on Henry's continental dominions and excommunicated the murderers and anyone giving them aid, shelter, or support. He was restrained from pronouncing a like sentence on Henry himself only by Henry's promise to make compurgation and submit to penance. Two cardinal-legates were despatched to Normandy to enforce these decrees.
Chapter 30
How did Henry avoid the papal legates when they reached Normandy?
Henry left Normandy just as the legates arrived, having first secured Geoffrey's establishment as duke of Brittany after Duke Conan's death in February. He ordered the ports closed to all clerks and papal envoys, forbade anyone to follow him without special permission, and sailed for Ireland from Milford Haven on October 16.
Chapter 30
What did Henry do at Avranches in May 1172 to settle the Becket affair?
On Sunday May 21 Henry met the legates at Avranches, made his purgation for the primate's death, promised the required expiation, and abjured his obnoxious "customs," with his eldest son joining the abjuration. He also offered the spiritual obedience of Ireland, which he had secured for Rome. A public repetition and final absolution followed at Avranches before Michaelmas.
Chapter 30
CHAPTER III. (part 1)4 cards
According to the legend, how did the mysterious Angevin countess escape the armed men in church?
When four armed men seized her mantle at the Gospel, she shook it off; two of her children stood beneath its folds on each side. She left the two on her right behind, caught up the two on her left, and floated out through a church window, never seen on earth again. Richard Cœur-de-Lion commented that it was no wonder the Angevins lacked natural affection, coming from the devil and needing to return to him.
Chapter 31
What was the fixed principle guiding Fulk the Black's entire career?
The author argues Fulk's whole course was governed by one fixed principle: the consolidation of his marchland. Everything else was made subservient to this object. He seized every advantage offered by circumstances or by the misfortunes, mistakes, or weaknesses of foes and friends alike, pursuing it with relentless vigour. One thread of settled policy ran through his life, never broken even by his wildest temper or superstitious alarms.
Chapter 31
How did Fulk win his first victory at Conquereux before age fourteen?
Conan of Rennes dug hidden trenches across the swampy moor, covered with branches, leaves, and thatch, and strewed ferns over them. Fulk's charging troops fell in; two thousand were drowned, slaughtered, or crushed. Fulk was thrown from his horse but rose in rage, rallied his men, and the Angevins charged again, killing Conan and destroying his host. The author notes Rudolf Glaber instead says Conan was captured and lost a hand.
Chapter 31
What advantage did control of Nantes give Fulk, and how was the city governed afterward?
Control of Nantes secured control over the whole course of the Loire from Fulk's capital down to the sea, a major advantage in an age when waterways were the principal channels of communication for peace or war. After the victory, the citizens welcomed Fulk, the garrison surrendered and swore fealty, and the young bishop Judicaël, son of Count Hoel, was set up as count under Aimeric of Thouars, who ruled solely in Fulk's interest.
Chapter 31
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What did Fulk Nerra do after purchasing the field for his abbey at Beaulieu?
Fulk paid the stipulated sum, then carried the former owner on his shoulders from the middle of the field to the foot of the bridge and set him down, saying, "A man without wit his freehold must quit." By this ceremony the contract was completed. The field, whose Latin name Belli-locus suggests it may have been set apart for trial by battle, became the site of his abbey.
Chapter 32
Why did the Archbishop of Tours refuse to consecrate Fulk's abbey church, and how was it resolved?
The archbishop refused unless Fulk restored the stolen land of Montrichard to his see. Fulk swore to get the better of the primate and went to Rome. After several years' wrangling the case was decided in his favour, and in May 1012 the abbey-church of the Holy Trinity at Beaulieu was hallowed by a Roman cardinal-legate.
Chapter 32
How did Fulk Nerra deal with Hugh of Beauvais, and what was the consequence?
Fulk sent twelve armed men to assassinate Hugh of Beauvais, the king's seneschal and confidant of Robert's scheme to reunite with Bertha, at a hunting-party before the king's eyes. The crime went altogether unpunished and even uncensured save by one bishop, Fulbert of Chartres. It shows both royal helplessness and the independence and security Fulk had attained.
Chapter 32
What happened at Beaulieu right after the abbey church was consecrated in May 1012?
That very afternoon a sudden storm of wind blew up from the south, whirled round the church, and swept the whole roof completely off. Clergy and laity alike took the prodigy as a token of Heaven's wrath against Fulk's insolence and presumption. Fulk simply replaced the roof and pushed on the monastic buildings as if nothing had happened.
Chapter 32
CHAPTER III. (part 3)4 cards
Why did Fulk Nerra abandon the relief of Montboyau and march on Saumur?
Fulk had advanced toward Montboyau when he learned that Gelduin, lord of Saumur, had joined Count Odo at the siege. Fulk made a hurried night-ride across the Loire and Vienne and took Saumur by break of day, though its inhabitants fired the town before surrendering. This loss of his best stronghold on the Angevin border was the sole gain of Odo's grand expedition.
Chapter 33
What did Fulk and Odo agree to in their peace settlement?
After Odo's failed attempts to retake Saumur, the monks of S. Florence mediated between their former lord and their new patron. Odo definitively relinquished Saumur, and Fulk agreed to raze the Montboyau — specifically the keep on its summit, since the great earthwork itself still rises above the river. The struggle between Fulk and Odo was virtually over.
Chapter 33
What policy toward the French Crown did Fulk follow, and how did he act after Robert's death?
The author argues Fulk pursued steady loyalty to the lawful authority of the French Crown, against which the counts of Blois lived in perpetual opposition — a policy his descendants followed down to Henry Fitz-Empress. After Robert died in 1031, Fulk acted as peacemaker between Queen Constance and her son King Henry, then accompanied Henry on an expedition against Odo of Champagne at Sens.
Chapter 33
Why was the abbey of S. Nicolas at Angers founded, according to the legend?
Fulk vowed to build an abbey in honour of S. Nicolas as a thank-offering for deliverance from a storm at sea on his return from his second pilgrimage. A poetic legend says he watched a dove carry earth into a cavity opposite his hall, marked the spot, and made the dove's work the foundation-stone. A nunnery was founded nearby eight years later by his countess Hildegard.
Chapter 33
CHAPTER III. (part 4)4 cards
Which town does Norgate argue was the 'Metz' Fulk Nerra visited, and why?
The author argues it was Metz in the Gâtinais, not Metz in Lorraine. Lorraine would be completely out of the way for a traveller from Palestine to Anjou, while Gâtinais Metz lay close to Fulk's home and within his son-in-law's territory. She adds that the place was so insignificant that a careless writer like John of Marmoutier might easily forget its existence.
Chapter 34
How did Geoffrey Martel acquire Vendôme, and what did he do first there?
In 1030 or 1031 Geoffrey became master of the little county of Vendôme by purchase from his half-sister Adela, the only child of Fulk's ill-starred first marriage and heiress of her maternal grandfather Count Burchard. After doing homage to King Henry for the fief, his first act was to found an abbey dedicated to the Holy Trinity in the capital of his new dominions.
Chapter 34
What happened to William the Fat after Montcontour, according to the chapter?
William of Aquitaine was defeated on 20 September 1033 near S. Jouin-de-Marne, partly through treason in his own ranks, and taken prisoner. He was kept in a dungeon for three years by the count of Vendôme until Saintonge and several important towns were ceded and an annual tribute promised. Cruel prison treatment had done its work; he died three days after his release.
Chapter 34
How does Norgate judge Geoffrey Martel against his father Fulk?
The author argues Geoffrey was inferior to Fulk as statesman, ruler, strategist and man. His Aquitaine designs came to nothing; he mostly reaped Fulk's gains in Touraine and Maine; he inspired dread rather than devotion. She says Fulk 'sinned bravely' and impulsively, while Geoffrey sinned meanly and coldly, a coarser, lower nature, better represented by a sledge-hammer than a falcon.
Chapter 34
CHAPTER III. (part 5)4 cards
Why did Henry grant the investiture of Tours to the count of Anjou?
Henry proclaimed Tours forfeit because of Theobald of Blois's rebellion and granted its investiture to the count of Anjou. The author presents this as a master-stroke of policy: with Normandy in confusion after Duke Robert's death and few feudatories to rely on, Henry's one dependable vassal was the count of Anjou, so the grant both punished Theobald and secured Angevin support.
Chapter 35
How did Odo of Champagne's sons fare in their rebellion against Henry?
Theobald received Blois, Chartres and Tours; Stephen became count of Champagne. They rebelled, joined by the king's brother Odo, a youth of weak intellect whom they promised to dethrone Henry in favor of. Lacking a concerted plan, each was crushed singly: Odo was caught and imprisoned at Orléans, Stephen was defeated in battle by the king himself, and Theobald was left to others.
Chapter 35
Why was Tours so important in the minds of men, according to the chapter?
Tours was the holy city of Gaul and cradle of Gaulish Christianity. Its first bishop Gatian was one of seven missionaries sent from Rome during the Decian persecution; its third bishop, Martin, became apostle of all central Gaul, and Anjou and neighboring lands owed their conversion to him and his missionaries. The author argues its hold on men's minds came from this religious gift of Rome, more than roads or fortifications.
Chapter 35
What happened to Tours and S. Martin's Abbey during the northmen's invasions?
City and abbey became the chief bulwark of the Loire valley against the northmen, comparable to Paris and S. Denis on the Seine. The pirates were repeatedly driven back from the walls, but S. Martin's Abbey was burnt to the ground over and over again. For years the canons carried the saint's body from place to place for safety, and two of its returnings were annually celebrated at Tours.
Chapter 35
CHAPTER III. (part 6)4 cards
What military advice did Lisoy give Geoffrey before the battle against Theobald?
Lisoy urged Geoffrey to raise the siege of Tours, join his whole Angevin force with the contingent at Amboise, and stake everything on a pitched battle. He argued that singly either commander might be beaten, but united they would be irresistible, and one victory in the field would lay all Touraine at the victor's feet. He warned Geoffrey to act quickly and not be caught unawares.
Chapter 36
How did Geoffrey Martel obtain Tours and Touraine from Theobald after the battle?
Theobald was captured and held at Loches, but after three days, finding no silver or gold would buy his release, he yielded the only ransom Geoffrey would accept: the city of Tours and the whole county of Touraine. A nominal overlordship was reserved to Theobald, and Geoffrey did homage for the territory to him, though the account implies Theobald's rights over Tours itself were forfeited by rebellion.
Chapter 36
How did contemporaries explain the Angevins' easy victory over Theobald's army?
No one at the time doubted the Angevins owed their easy victory to Saint Martin, whose consecrated banner Geoffrey carried into battle. The few soldiers of Theobald who escaped declared they had seen Geoffrey's troops clad in shining white raiment and fled in horror, believing they fought the hosts of Heaven. The battle site was called 'S. Martin of the Battle.'
Chapter 36
What does Norgate argue the acquisition of Tours meant for the house of Anjou?
The author argues it closed the second stage of the Angevin career and was the most important period, since all later growth depended on it. Had Blois proved stronger, Anjou would have been swallowed up; had they been equals, both would have been neutralized. Fulk Nerra's genius, helped by Odo's folly, saved Anjou and turned the tide.
Chapter 36
CHAPTER III. (part 1)2 cards
What was the origin of the English invasion of Ireland under Henry II?
The chapter traces it to the coastal settlements founded by northern pirates in ninth-century Ireland. The wikings established bases at Dublin, Waterford, Cork and Limerick, and Dublin led a confederacy that supplied forces for Danish conquests in England. These Ostmen settlements created the lasting ties between England and Ireland that eventually led to the Angevin invasion.
Chapter 37
What was the practical extent of the Ard-Righ's authority in Ireland?
The chapter states the Ard-Righ's supremacy was little more than honorary pre-eminence attached to chosen descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages. It carried little effective authority and no territorial power. The monarch's traditional seat at Tara was a heap of ruins, and a tribal under-king had ousted him from the plain of Meath that legally formed his royal domain.
Chapter 37
CHAPTER III. (part 2)3 cards
What was the state of the Irish Church's diocesan system before the twelfth-century reforms?
The chapter states the Irish Church had never felt the organizing hand of a Theodore; its diocesan and parochial system was quite undeveloped, scarcely advanced beyond the primitive missionary stage. Six centuries after Patrick's death, clergy were still mission-priests in monastic establishments, and bishops were mostly heads of shifting mission-stations, nearly destitute of ecclesiastical authority.
Chapter 38
What did the synod of Kells in 1152 establish for the Irish Church?
Held by John Paparo in March 1152, the synod organized the diocesan and provincial system on lines unchanged till the sixteenth century. Sees were fixed and grouped under four archbishoprics: Armagh held primacy over Ulster and Meath, Tuam over Connaught, Cashel over Munster, and Gregory of Dublin received a fourth pallium over Leinster.
Chapter 38
Why did Adrian IV grant Henry II the bull for Ireland, and what symbolized it?
The chapter argues Adrian, believing the forged Donation of Constantine genuine, held the Papacy responsible for islands' welfare and saw Henry's offer as relief from an untieable knot. John of Salisbury presented the plan at Rome in summer 1155; Adrian sent a bull bidding Henry conquer for the Church's enlargement, plus a gold ring with a precious emerald as investiture.
Chapter 38
CHAPTER III. (part 3)4 cards
According to the chapter, what did Dermot offer Richard of Striguil in 1167 for military aid?
Dermot offered Richard of Striguil his daughter's hand together with the succession to his kingdom, in return for Richard promising to bring all the forces he could muster to help restore Dermot. Two half-brothers, Maurice Fitz-Gerald and Robert Fitz-Stephen, received a promise of the town of Wexford and its adjoining territory for like assurance of aid.
Chapter 39
What agreement did Dermot make with Roderic O'Conor, and why did it fail?
Dermot pledged to acknowledge Roderic as monarch of Ireland and was in turn acknowledged by Roderic as king of Leinster, on condition that he dismiss his foreign allies. The agreement was scarcely made when Maurice Fitz-Gerald landed at Wexford with some hundred and forty men, who at once joined Dermot in an expedition against Dublin.
Chapter 39
How was Dublin captured in 1170, according to the chapter?
Dermot demanded Dublin's instant surrender with thirty hostages; a dispute arose, probably between Irish and Danish inhabitants, over choosing the hostages, and Archbishop Laurence tried to compose it. Hasculf Thorgils' son, commanding the citadel, had promised to surrender next day when a sudden attack by Raymond the Fat and Miles Cogan carried the town before either leader knew what had happened; a second rush won the citadel.
Chapter 39
Why did Richard of Striguil go to Ireland in 1170, and what did he do on landing?
Richard was a ruined man whose lands were forfeited to the Crown; a letter from Dermot renewing his offers forced him to act. He appealed to Henry for restoration or license to repair his fortunes elsewhere; Henry ironically bade him go. On St Bartholomew's eve 1170 he landed at Waterford with twelve hundred men, was joined by Raymond the Fat, attacked Waterford, and married Dermot's daughter Eva.
Chapter 39
CHAPTER III. (part 4)4 cards
What edict did Henry II issue at the start of 1171 concerning his subjects in Ireland?
Henry forbade all further intermeddling of his subjects in Ireland, ordering those already there to return before Easter or be considered banished for life. Not one man returned. Richard of Striguil sent Raymond to Normandy with a written protest claiming his conquests were made with royal sanction and offering to place them at the king's disposal, while the Geraldines apparently accepted exile and resolved to hold their lands by the sword alone.
Chapter 40
Why did Dermot's death weaken Earl Richard's position in Irish law?
Dermot's devise of his kingdom to his son-in-law, like his grants to the Geraldines and his own homage to Henry, was void in Irish law. In Irish eyes his death removed the last excuse for the strangers' presence; their allies fell away and by midsummer the whole country rose against them, with Roderic O'Conor mustering the north and Archbishop Laurence of Dublin calling up the south.
Chapter 40
How did the Dublin garrison escape Roderic's siege?
After nearly two months of blockade and near starvation, the garrison of scarce six hundred sallied out and surprised Roderic's camp while he and his men were bathing. Roderic escaped with difficulty; fifteen hundred Irishmen were slain, many drowning, and the victors returned at sunset with scarcely a man missing and provisions enough to supply Dublin for a year. The besieging army dispersed at once.
Chapter 40
How did Robert Fitz-Stephen come to be captured at Wexford?
Three thousand men of Wexford and Kinsellagh, unable to take the fort of Carrick by force, resorted to fraud. Two bishops and monks swore on relics that Dublin was taken and the earl slain, and on a promise of liberty to escape to Wales Robert surrendered. His humbler followers were slaughtered to a man, and he and his five knights were cast into chains.
Chapter 40
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Which Irish ruler had not submitted to Henry II when he left Ireland?
The king of Connaught, Roderic, was the only ruler in Ireland, spiritual or temporal, who had not submitted to Henry. Trusting to the inaccessible nature of his country, he at first refused dealings with the invader, claiming to be sole rightful monarch of Ireland. He later met William Fitz-Aldhelm and Hugh de Lacy by the Shannon and promised tribute and fealty, but this was worthless without personal homage.
Chapter 41
What did the Irish bishops do at the Council of Cashel in 1172?
Summoned by two royal chaplains sent early in November, the Irish bishops met at Cashel in the first weeks of 1172. All except the archbishop of Armagh, who pleaded extreme age and infirmity, made full submission to Henry, pledged to conform to the pattern of the English Church, gave written promises to support Henry and his heirs as lawful sovereigns of Ireland, and joined him in reporting to Rome.
Chapter 41
Which chronicler does Norgate blame for misrepresenting the submissions?
Norgate blames Roger of Howden, not Gerald or anyone else, for the misrepresentation that the lay princes submitted 'exemplo clericorum' (by the example of the clergy). Howden places the bishops' submission first and then the lay princes'. Norgate says the champions of the Irish Church have justly denounced this ever since Dr. Lynch's time.
Chapter 41
How did Henry organize Ireland's government before leaving in 1172?
Henry let Richard of Striguil remain at Kildare as earl of Leinster and gave Hugh de Lacy general direction of government, plus a grant of Meath in fee and command of Dublin's citadel with twenty knights including Maurice Fitz-Gerald and Robert Fitz-Stephen. Dermot's grants to the half-brothers were annulled; Waterford and Wexford were garrisoned under a royal officer, with fortresses built or repaired. Henry also granted Dublin to the burghers of Bristol to colonize under Bristol's free customs.
Chapter 41
CHAPTER IV.4 cards
What did Bishop Gervase ask King Henry I of France to grant Count Geoffrey of Anjou?
Gervase, seeking a nearer and more directly interested protector against Count Herbert Bacco, besought King Henry to grant the patronage and advocacy of the see of Le Mans to Count Geoffrey of Anjou for his life. The grant was made, and Gervase then led a revolution that expelled Herbert Bacco and installed the boy Hugh as count.
Chapter 42
How did Geoffrey Martel treat Bishop Gervase after the grant, and with what result?
Geoffrey entrapped Gervase and imprisoned him for about seven years, despite the Council of Reims threatening excommunication in 1049 and the Pope pronouncing it in 1050. Gervase finally bought release by surrendering Château-du-Loir and swearing never to enter Le Mans while Geoffrey lived; he later became archbishop of Reims in 1057.
Chapter 42
How did Geoffrey Martel come to control Maine around 1051?
After Count Hugh died about 1051, his son was an infant and the bishop a captive in an Angevin dungeon, leaving the citizens no choice but submission. The twice-widowed countess and her children were driven out one gate as Geoffrey arrived at the other, and he was acknowledged master of Maine without a blow until his death.
Chapter 42
What earlier disasters did Le Mans and Maine suffer before Angevin domination?
Le Mans was sacked in 850 by the traitor count Lambert of Anjou with Bretons and Northmen under Nomenoë; Lambert was later killed by Count Gauzbert of Maine. In 851 Charles the Bald ceded western Cenomannia to the Breton king Herispoë, and in 924 Hrolf extorted overlordship of the county from King Rudolf.
Chapter 42
CHAPTER IV. (part 1)4 cards
What did the Assize of Clarendon (1166) establish for criminal justice?
It decreed that in every hundred, inquests be made by twelve lawful men of the hundred and four from each township, sworn to denounce robbers, thieves, murderers, and harbourers of such. The accused were arrested by the sheriff and held until brought before itinerant justices to undergo the ordeal of water and receive punishment according to its results. No personal privilege or territorial franchise was to shelter an accused criminal.
Chapter 43
How did Henry II's quarrel with Becket affect his relations with the barons?
The author argues Henry was driven to rely on the very feudataries his policy aimed to repress, and into hostility with the Church, his former surest aid. The barons saw that in crushing the primate Henry was crushing not only his own rival but theirs, since the Church's cause was bound up with the people's and the Crown's. Sceptre and crozier once parted, the barons could fight the king at an advantage.
Chapter 43
What was the 'Great Assize' and how did it use recognitors?
Henry II applied the sworn-inquest principle to civil litigation: disputes over possession of land could, if the litigants chose, be settled before the king's court justices by the unanimous oath of twelve lawful knights chosen from the district where the land lay, competent to swear to the truth of the claim. The ninth Constitution of Clarendon assumes it already in use for Church-land disputes.
Chapter 43
How was the aid for the king's eldest daughter's marriage assessed and recorded?
The aid was a feudal impost of one mark on every knight's fee. Because Domesday was found inadequate, a royal writ required tenants-in-chief to account for knights' fees and services under 'old infeoffment' (Henry I's time) or 'new infeoffment' since the resettlement. Answers were enrolled in the Black Book of the Exchequer, and the aid was levied accordingly.
Chapter 43
CHAPTER IV. (part 2)4 cards
Why did Henry refuse to grant his eldest son independent rule over England, Normandy, or Anjou?
The author explains that Henry never intended his sons to be independent rulers of their allotted territories. The eldest son's coronation was meant only to give him an inchoate royalty, enabling Henry to use him as a colleague and representative when needed, and to assure his ultimate succession to the English throne. Richard and Geoffrey were also too young for such an arrangement.
Chapter 44
What did young Henry demand after returning from his visit to the French king?
After returning from visiting his father-in-law, the young king confronted his father and demanded to be put in possession of his heritage, or at least some portion of it—England, Normandy, or Anjou—where he might dwell as an independent sovereign with his queen. The father refused. The Gesta say the demand was made on the advice of the French king and discontented barons.
Chapter 44
What strategic advantage did the counts of Maurienne hold according to the chapter?
The counts of Maurienne controlled the keys of every Alpine pass between Italy and north-western Europe, from the Great S. Bernard to the Col di Tenda. Nominally subject to the Emperor as king of Burgundy, they really controlled his most direct lines of communication with his Imperial capital, while western Europe's intercourse with Rome lay almost wholly at their mercy.
Chapter 44
What did Count Humbert's question about John's provision trigger?
Humbert asked what provision Henry intended for the landless bridegroom. Henry proposed endowing John with Chinon, Loudun, and Mirebeau, but the Angevin lands had been formally invested in the younger Henry and could not be dismembered without his consent, which he angrily refused. The request kindled his smoldering discontent into a flame, apparently fanned by Eleanor.
Chapter 44
CHAPTER IV. (part 3)4 cards
Which three prelates showed any disposition to countenance the rebellion?
Only three prelates on either side of the sea did so: in the south, William, the new-made archbishop of Bordeaux; in the north, Arnulf of Lisieux and Hugh of Durham. The author argues Arnulf's true character showed at last, as he tried to play the part of a great baron rather than a bishop, temporizing between the parties instead of making peace.
Chapter 45
What did young Henry offer William the Lion, and what did the Scottish king give in return?
Young Henry offered the cession of all Northumberland as far as the Tyne for William himself, and for his brother David confirmation in the earldom of Huntingdon plus a grant of the earldom of Cambridge. In return William accepted, giving the homage and services of both brothers. Jordan Fantosme adds Carlisle and Westmoreland to the offers and describes William's hesitation.
Chapter 45
What rewards did young Henry promise his foreign allies?
To the count of Blois he promised an annual pension and the restitution of Château-Renaud and Amboise. To Philip of Flanders he promised the earldom of Kent with a pension in English gold. To Matthew of Boulogne he promised the soke of Kirton-in-Lindsey and the Norman county of Mortain. Young Henry evidently relied chiefly on these foreign allies.
Chapter 45
How did Henry II spend his time at Rouen before the revolt broke out?
Henry kept headquarters at Rouen from Easter until the end of June, appearing to observers indifferent to the plots around him and absorbed in the pleasures of the chase. In reality he transacted quiet business: filling vacant English sees, appointing Ralf of Varneville as chancellor, and writing to continental allies. He depended on twenty thousand Brabantine mercenaries, whose wages his exhausted finances could not pay.
Chapter 45
CHAPTER IV. (part 4)4 cards
Who led the siege of Leicester in July 1173 and with what force?
Richard de Lucy and Earl Reginald of Cornwall besieged Leicester on July 3 at the head of "the host of England"—the national rather than feudal host. After three weeks and great expense the town was fired and surrendered on July 28; the castle held out under a truce until Michaelmas, the city walls were thrown down, and citizens left free on payment of a fine of three hundred marks.
Chapter 46
How did Henry respond to the failed Gisors negotiation with his sons?
At a meeting near Gisors before Michaelmas, the author states Henry offered his sons literally half his realms in wealth and honours, willing to strip himself of everything except regal powers of government and justice. The French king and disaffected barons refused precisely that reservation. The earl of Leicester then abused the king and drew his sword to strike him, breaking up the meeting.
Chapter 46
How was Earl Robert of Leicester defeated after landing in England?
Leicester landed at Walton in Suffolk on Michaelmas day, joined Hugh Bigod at Framlingham, and took and burned Haughley. Humfrey de Bohun and the earls of Cornwall, Gloucester and Arundel, with three hundred paid soldiers, marched from S. Edmund's under the saint's banner, overtook him near Fornham, and routed him. His Flemish mercenaries were slaughtered largely by peasants with forks and flails; he and his wife were captured.
Chapter 46
What happened at the siege of Dol in August 1173?
Henry's Brabantines intercepted a convoy and slaughtered its escort, driving Hugh of Chester and Ralf of Fougères into Dol, where they were blockaded with the support of the Avranches populace. The siege began August 20; Henry heard at Rouen the next day, arrived on the 23d, and on the 26th Dol and its garrison surrendered. This crushed the Breton revolt and the rest of the duchy submitted.
Chapter 46
CHAPTER IV. (part 5)3 cards
How was Robert of Mowbray captured and what happened to Kinardferry?
Robert of Mowbray, commanding at Kinardferry, saw his garrison threatened by lack of water and slipped out to seek help from friends at Leicester. He was surrounded and taken prisoner by the country-folk at Clay. On May 5 Kinardferry surrendered, and Geoffrey razed it before marching north to York.
Chapter 47
What happened at Norwich on June 18, 1174?
Hugh Bigod and his Flemish troops marched on Norwich, took it by assault, committed a vast slaughter of men and women, and sacked and fired the city. William of Newburgh explains the ease of the capture by saying a treacherous Lorrainer betrayed it. The raiders then returned toward Framlingham by way of Dunwich.
Chapter 47
What lawlessness in London forced Richard de Lucy to act?
While the justiciar warred with the barons, gangs of young men from noble citizen families, sometimes a hundred or more, robbed rich men's houses by night and killed lone pedestrians. One citizen ambushed raiders, cut off leader Andrew Bucquinte's right hand, and Bucquinte named accomplices including John Oldman, who offered five hundred marks to escape the gallows in vain.
Chapter 47
CHAPTER IV. (part 6)3 cards
What did Bernard de Balliol say when some wanted to turn back in the mist?
Bernard de Balliol declared that if no man would follow him, he would go on alone rather than bear the stain of cowardice for ever. Every one of the four hundred men then followed him, and when the mist cleared they saw the friendly castle of Alnwick, close to which the king of Scots lay with only about sixty knights.
Chapter 48
What terms did William the Lion accept after his captivity?
With the assent of his bishops and barons, William became the liegeman of the English king and his son for Scotland and all his other lands, and agreed their heirs should receive like homage and fealty from all future kings of Scots. Henry required the castles of Roxburgh, Jedburgh, Berwick, Edinburgh and Stirling as security.
Chapter 48
How did Henry treat the rebels in the general amnesty of 1174?
All prisoners except the king of Scots, the earls of Leicester and Chester and Ralf of Fougères were released at once; rebels returned to allegiance and were fully forgiven. Henry claimed nothing save restoration of castles to their pre-war condition and the right to take hostages and other security as he chose. These terms did not apply to England.
Chapter 48
CHAPTER V. (part 1)4 cards
How did Geoffrey Plantagenet get his surname?
The author explains that the surname comes from Geoffrey's boyish habit of wearing a sprig of planta-genista, the broom plant that turns Anjou and Maine gold in early summer. Inveterate usage then attached the name to his descendants as well as to himself, though the author notes it is curiously unlike most historical surnames in origin and meaning.
Chapter 49
What does the author identify as Geoffrey's serious character deficiency?
The author argues Geoffrey lacked steady principle and genuine feeling. His imagination was sensitive but his heart was cold; his impulses came from a quick fancy rather than an ardent soul. The author illustrates this with Geoffrey's jesting reply to the archbishop of Tours' threat of excommunication, claiming the archbishop had no jurisdiction over S. Martin's patrimony and that Geoffrey was one of his canons.
Chapter 49
How did the barons' revolt affect the young Geoffrey?
After Geoffrey sent Matilda away, disaffected barons who had waited for Fulk's departure rose across the Angevin lands, hoping to seize the boy-count and wring concessions from him. The author argues they unintentionally did him a great service: throwing him on his own resources made a man of him at once. He besieged, forced, tricked or frightened the rebels into submission, finally crushing the revolt by ravaging Lisiard of Sablé's estates.
Chapter 49
How does the author judge Geoffrey's marriage to Matilda?
The author argues Geoffrey's life was greatly spoilt by his marriage. The yoke binding a lad of fifteen to a woman of twenty-five, especially Matilda, pressed heavily on both, but probably injured the young husband most. Politically it cut him off from an independent career; the man was sacrificed to his posterity, chained to being an appendage to King Henry's heiress.
Chapter 49
CHAPTER V. (part 2)4 cards
What did Henry I finally do about the succession on his deathbed?
When Earl Robert of Gloucester and Archbishop Hugh of Rouen asked for his final instructions, Henry remained true to his purpose and once more bequeathed all his dominions on both sides of the sea to Matilda and her heirs for ever. He died on the night of December 1, 1135. The chapter notes that other versions of Henry's final testamentary dispositions would later appear.
Chapter 50
Why did Adela disinherit her eldest son William in favour of Theobald?
Stephen-Henry had left control of his affairs, including disposal of his territories, to his wife Adela. She judged her firstborn William a youth of slow wit, unfit for public life, and disinherited him. He was content, being conscious of his incapacity for government, and withdrew to a country-gentleman life on his wife's estates at Sully, while Theobald took on the family's duties.
Chapter 50
What position did Stephen of Blois hold under Henry I before 1135?
Henry had Stephen brought up at his court with his own son, knighted him, and gave him estates in England plus the Norman county of Mortain, making him first baron of the duchy. He also arranged Stephen's marriage to Matilda of Boulogne. After the White Ship disaster, from which illness saved him, Stephen became virtually the king's adoptive son and the first layman in the kingdom.
Chapter 50
Why does the chapter say Matilda had least to recommend her among the claimants?
The author argues Matilda's English royal birth carried little weight in Normandy, where she was almost a stranger, having left at eight to be the Emperor's child-wife and living mainly in Germany. Her Angevin husband was hated in Normandy. The practical choice lay between Matilda, Theobald of Blois, and Stephen, and the author suggests Theobald was the strongest candidate by personal qualifications.
Chapter 50
CHAPTER V. (part 3)4 cards
Why did the English barons and clergy accept Stephen over Matilda in 1135?
The author argues the decisive argument was objection to a woman's rule and the urgent need for a man to take government at once. Henry had been dead under three weeks and England was in confusion: a general raid on the forests followed by men turning arms on each other. Legal reasonings, including Hugh Bigod's oath that Henry absolved the barons and disinherited Matilda, mattered less than this disorder.
Chapter 51
What condition did Archbishop William demand before accepting Stephen as king?
The archbishop gave way only after demanding from Stephen a promise to restore and maintain the liberties of the Church. Bishop Henry of Winchester offered himself as surety on his brother's behalf, and this won Stephen the crown. Stephen received it at Westminster, probably on the last Sunday in Advent or Christmas day, issuing a coronation charter promising vaguely to maintain the laws of his predecessor.
Chapter 51
What defect does the author identify as ruining Stephen's kingship?
The author argues Stephen inherited the house of Blois's old curse, lack of steadfastness, derived from Odo II; Norman blood from his mother had little influence on him. His virtues—courage, mercy, generosity, courtesy—were real, but this defect turned them into weaknesses, reducing his reign to political inconsistencies and blunders and wrecking him on the rock of Angevin thoroughness.
Chapter 51
How did Stephen's election change the Norman barons' plan and Theobald's claim?
The Norman barons had decided at Neubourg to invite Count Theobald of Blois to take the duchy, and Theobald met Earl Robert of Gloucester at Lisieux on December 21. A messenger from England brought news of Stephen's election, so the barons accepted Stephen as duke of Normandy and Robert assented. Theobald withdrew his claim and made a truce with Geoffrey until the octave of Pentecost.
Chapter 51
CHAPTER V. (part 4)4 cards
Who led the northern resistance against the Scots at the Battle of the Standard?
Archbishop Thurstan of York guided the northern barons, though he was too feeble to ride and was sent back to pray in his cathedral. His place as spiritual adviser was taken by Ralf, bishop of the Orkneys, while Walter Lespec served as chief military adviser and addressed the host from the Standard cart.
Chapter 52
What was the Standard, and how was it constructed?
It was a cart with a pole fixed in it, surmounted by a silver pyx containing the Host and hung with the consecrated banners of S. Peter of York, S. John of Beverley and S. Wilfrid of Ripon. The English host clustered around it in one compact mass, and the battle took its name from it.
Chapter 52
How did the English behave after winning the Battle of the Standard?
They made no attempt at pursuit or retaliation. They returned in solemn procession, restored the holy banners to their churches with joy and thanksgiving, and each man went quietly home. The field was so strewn with Scottish baggage that the victors nicknamed it Baggamore.
Chapter 52
What caused the Scottish centre to flee at the Battle of the Standard?
An Englishman raised a gory head on a pole and cried out that it was David's. The Scottish centre then fled almost without waiting to be attacked, echoing the English at Assandun. David fought on nearly alone until his few companions dragged him off and forced him to retreat.
Chapter 52
CHAPTER V. (part 5)3 cards
Why did Miles of Gloucester renounce his allegiance to Stephen?
The chapter reports that Miles, Stephen's constable and sheriff of Gloucester, had welcomed the king into Gloucester with regal honours only weeks before, then followed Earl Robert's example and formally renounced his allegiance. The stated grounds of the defiance were the unlawfulness of Stephen's accession, his breach of engagements toward Robert, and the invalidity of oaths to Stephen because of the prior oath to Matilda.
Chapter 53
Why did Stephen abandon the siege of Bristol?
A war council debated damming the narrow strait to flood and isolate the city, with towers at the bridges and a camp before the castle. Another party, secretly sympathetic to the besieged, argued the dam's wood or stone would be swallowed by the river's depths or swept away by its current, painting the scheme as hopeless. Stephen gave it up, and with it all attempt at a siege of Bristol.
Chapter 53
What did the legate Alberic achieve in England?
Sent by Pope Innocent II after the anti-pope Anacletus died in 1138, Alberic landed as the revolt broke out. He made a visitation-tour ending in a council at Carlisle, where he tried to mediate between David of Scots and Stephen; David granted only a truce until Martinmas and promised to free captive Englishwomen. At a Westminster council Theobald, abbot of Bec, was elected archbishop of Canterbury.
Chapter 53
CHAPTER V. (part 6)4 cards
Why did Stephen seize the bishops at Oxford, and what happened to Nigel of Ely?
A dispute over quarters between the bishops' followers and those of the count of Meulan and Alan of Richmond led to a fray in which Alan's nephew was nearly killed; Stephen then seized the two Rogers and the bishop of Lincoln. Nigel of Ely, lodging outside the town, escaped to his uncle's castle of Devizes and prepared for a siege.
Chapter 54
How did Stephen force the surrender of Devizes castle?
Stephen brought the two Rogers as captives, lodged the elder in a cowshed, and threatened to hang the younger. The bishop vowed not to eat or drink until the castle surrendered, but Nigel refused to yield. The keep was held by the chancellor's mother, Matilda of Ramsbury, who surrendered when a rope was placed round her son's neck.
Chapter 54
What did the Council of Winchester decree, and how was Stephen treated?
The council decreed that prelates holding fortresses other than those belonging to their sees should place them under the king's control and confine themselves to canonical duties. Stephen's act was solemnly condemned, and he had to lay aside his royal robes and come as a humble penitent to receive the Church's censure, which saved him from ecclesiastical penalties but not political consequences.
Chapter 54
How did Geoffrey of Anjou's 1136 invasion of Normandy end?
Geoffrey invaded after his truce with Theobald of Blois expired, but the Normans, forgetting their differences at the sight of the Angevins, rose against him. He was wounded in the right foot while besieging Le Sap near Lisieux, and the next morning he fled with all his host.
Chapter 54
CHAPTER V. (part 1)4 cards
What did Henry II do about the eighteen justices after 1178 complaints?
The author states Henry inquired whether his justices treated people rightly; learning the realm was oppressed by eighteen justices, he chose five by counsel of wise men—two clerks and three laymen, all of his private household—to hear all complaints and remain at the king's court, referring unresolved questions to the king.
Chapter 55
How did the Assize of Northampton change criminal procedure and punishment?
It re-enacted presentment by twelve lawful men of each hundred and four of each township, followed by ordeal of water, but presentment was now made directly to the king's justices rather than the sheriff. Punishments grew harsher: forgers, robbers, murderers and incendiaries who formerly lost a foot now lost a hand too and had to leave the realm within forty days.
Chapter 55
What did the 1175 edict forbid regarding the king's opponents and arms?
Henry's opponents in the late war were forbidden, on pain of arrest as traitors, to come to court without special summons, or to come before sunrise or stay overnight. Wearing arms—knife, bow and arrows—was banned on the English side of the Severn. The author notes these prohibitions were only temporary and, except the forest-visitation, the only general severity after the rebellion.
Chapter 55
What was the forest-visitation and why did Henry impose it despite Richard de Lucy's protest?
Begun by Henry in person in summer 1175 and completed by ministers around Michaelmas 1177, it spared scarcely anyone, baron or villein, layman or priest. Richard de Lucy protested, showing a royal writ authorizing justiciars to open forests during the war. The author suggests the license was used far more widely than intended, and Henry's wrath at damage to vert and venison led transgressors to be placed 'at the king's mercy,' with fines in the 1176 Pipe Roll.
Chapter 55
CHAPTER V. (part 2)4 cards
What did the Assize of Arms of 1181 require of free laymen?
It declared that every free layman in the realm was bound to bear arms at the king's command. Arms were graded by rank, from the knight's full equipment down to the mail-coat, steel-cap and spear of the burgher and simple freeman. Justices enrolled names through lawful men of hundreds and towns and made men swear to equip themselves by S. Hilary's day.
Chapter 56
How were arms regulated under the Assize of Arms?
Each man's arms were to be kept carefully and used solely for royal service; they could not be taken out of the country or alienated. At the owner's death they passed to his heir. Anyone holding arms beyond those the Assize required had to dispose of them so they could still serve the king, and defaulters faced corporal punishment.
Chapter 56
How did Henry II's 1163 Welsh expedition against Rees Ap-Griffith succeed?
Marching from Shrewsbury into South Wales, Henry's troops crossed the stream Pencarn by another passage. A prophecy attributed to Merlin held that if a freckled strong man crossed the ford of Pencarn, the might of Cambria would perish. The Welsh guarded that ford, but Henry's horse reared and he sought another crossing, found the fatal spot, and dashed through. The Welsh despaired, and Henry marched unopposed to Pencader, where Rees submitted.
Chapter 56
What were the terms of the 1175 Treaty of Windsor with Roderic O'Conor?
Roderic submitted to become Henry's liegeman and to pay a yearly tribute of one hide 'pleasing to the merchants' for every ten head of cattle throughout Ireland. In return he was confirmed in the government and administration of justice over the whole island except Leinster, Meath and Waterford, and could rely on the royal constables to compel his vassals' obedience and collect their share of tribute.
Chapter 56
CHAPTER V. (part 3)3 cards
How did Henry II keep his English and Angevin policies distinct?
The author argues Henry kept two characters distinct in his own mind: king of England and supreme lord of the British Isles, and head of the house of Anjou. His English policy tended toward a strong national state with Scotland, Wales and Ireland as dependent allies, while his continental empire was distinctly Angevin with its centre at Angers. He never made either a mere dependency of the other.
Chapter 57
What was the character of Henry's policy in Gaul?
The author argues Henry's Gaulish policy was essentially the same as Fulk the Black's: a policy of consolidation rather than conquest. He never dreamed of pitting all his dominions against the French Crown for mastery of Gaul, nor of freeing himself from feudal obedience to the French king. He aimed at compacting and securing his territories and remaining the Crown's most influential vassal.
Chapter 57
Why did Henry refuse to give young Henry power over Anjou and Normandy?
The author suggests Henry could not part with authority over his ancestral dominions without parting with his ancestral dignities. Aquitaine and Britanny were appendages to the hereditary Angevin lands, but making Normandy and Anjou under-fiefs would in principle renounce his birthright and in practice mean abdication. So his schemes from 1175 aimed only at a fair partition after his death.
Chapter 57
CHAPTER V. (part 4)4 cards
What does Norgate say about Henry II's building in Anjou versus England?
The author argues that in England no material traces of Henry survive—not one stone of his dwellings remains and no public monument is linked to him. In the Loire valley, by contrast, Henry and Fulk Nerra share credit for nearly all important monuments except military works, which belong to Fulk alone. Henry built palaces, hospitals, bridges and embankments rather than donjons.
Chapter 58
How did Henry II's religious patronage differ from his predecessors'?
Church-building and abbey-founding met little sympathy from Henry; across his dominions only six religious houses could claim him as founder, one of them a Templar commandery. Instead, the author says, he was exceptionally munificent toward the sick and needy, funding lazar-houses and hospitals from ducal revenues and founding a leper hospital outside Caen in 1161.
Chapter 58
What was Henry II's greatest material benefaction to Anjou, and when was it built?
The author calls the embankment or Levée Henry's greatest and most lasting material benefaction to Anjou. It stretches along the Loire from Ponts-de-Cé, just above the Mayenne-Loire junction, some thirty miles eastward to Bourgueil. Norgate says he characteristically planned and executed it in the very midst of his struggle with the Church.
Chapter 58
What impression of Henry II did Angevin tradition preserve, compared with English tradition?
The author argues that Angevin memory of Henry was vivid, rivaling that of Fulk the Black, and recalled him as a peaceful prince who, like Fulk the Good, 'waged no wars,' since his reign was one of peace for his paternal dominions. English popular tradition, by contrast, remembered him only as the hero of a discreditable romance or as the man behind Thomas Becket's murder and his penance.
Chapter 58
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Why did Henry's rule over Aquitaine differ from his rule over Anjou and England?
The chapter argues that twenty years of Angevin rule did nothing to bridge the gulf between Aquitaine and France or Anjou. Henry was always a stranger among his wife's people, and revolt was more rife among the nobles of Poitou than anywhere else in his dominions. Their strife sprang less from political motives than from a love of strife for its own sake.
Chapter 59
What kind of culture did the chapter say existed among the nobles of southern Gaul?
The author describes a world where delicate poetry and fierce savagery, moral and political disorder, and refined intellectual culture mingled. The southern warrior was only half a knight if he could not sing his battles as well as fight them. From raid and siege he passed to the Court of Love, where contests of wit and song were conducted with life-and-death earnestness.
Chapter 59
How does the chapter characterize Bertrand de Born?
Quoting old Provençal sketches, the chapter describes Bertrand de Born as lord of Hautefort in the Limousin, with nearly a thousand men, at war with all his neighbours including his own brother Constantine. He was a good knight, warrior, servant of ladies and troubadour of sirventes. He was master of Henry and his sons whenever he chose, and always wanted them at war.
Chapter 59
How did Richard's upbringing and character fit him for ruling Aquitaine?
Richard was trained from age two for the office of duke of Aquitaine and was formally enthroned at Poitiers in 1172. The author argues he was probably least fitted of Eleanor's sons to win southern goodwill: his northern blood showed in his stature, strength and seamanship, and he chose Rouen as his resting-place. He subdued Aquitaine with ruthless, uncompromising rigour.
Chapter 59
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How did Henry avoid the papal legate's interdict threat over Richard and Adela's marriage?
Henry hurried to Normandy and met his sons, the legate, and Louis in turn, staving off the peril. At Nonancourt on September 25 the two kings made a treaty with no mention of marriages or dowries, agreeing instead to bury their differences under the cross: a joint crusade, arbitration of Auvergne and Berry disputes, and setting aside all other quarrels.
Chapter 60
How did Richard capture Geoffrey of Rancogne's fortress of Taillebourg?
Taillebourg sat on a lofty rock with three steep sides and a fourth guarded by a triple ditch and rampart, ringed by three lines of wall. Richard cleared the approaches ruthlessly, cutting vineyards, burning houses, and levelling obstacles, then pitched tents by the walls. A sally by the townsfolk let him into the town; three days later the castle surrendered with Geoffrey inside.
Chapter 60
Why did Louis VII travel to Canterbury, and what did Henry do?
When his son Philip fell sick almost to death, Louis dreamed that the martyr of Canterbury required him to visit the shrine as a condition of recovery. Henry met him at Dover and conducted him to Canterbury, where both spent three days fasting and praying before the shrine. Louis returned home to find his prayers answered.
Chapter 60
What happened to Queen Adela after Philip Augustus's coronation?
The author relates that the boy-king fell under the influence of his godfather, Philip of Flanders, whose policy was to control him by setting him against his father's old friends and even his mother. Philip tried to rob Adela of her dower-lands and persecuted her until she fled to her brothers for protection her powerless husband could not give.
Chapter 60
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How does the chapter characterize the younger Henry, the 'young king'?
The chapter calls him one of the most puzzling figures of the time: from his crowning to his death not one deed is recorded save ingratitude, selfishness, cowardice and treachery, yet he was loved and admired while alive and lamented after death. Gerald of Wales contrasts him with Richard: Henry was admired for mildness and liberality, Richard for seriousness and firmness.
Chapter 61
How does Bertrand de Born stir up the young king against Richard?
The troubadour satirizes the young king, who holds great titles but has no authority and cannot claim road tolls. He suggests resentment over Richard's castle at Clairvaux, built between Loudun and Poitiers on the Angevin side of the frontier, warning that its white walls will gleam in view from Mateflon. The chapter says his shafts were well aimed and rankled.
Chapter 61
What was the outcome of Henry II's attempt to define his sons' relations at Angers?
Henry made his three sons swear obedience to him and peace with each other, then called on the two younger to do homage to the eldest for their fiefs. Geoffrey obeyed; Richard refused, arguing there should be no distinction of rank between children of the same parents, and that if the father's heritage belonged to the eldest, the mother's was equally due to the second. Richard then left court and hurried to Poitou.
Chapter 61
What were the 'Caputii' and why did they form?
After the war's sudden end, mercenaries called 'Brabantines' ravaged Aquitaine worse than anything since the heathen northmen. A poor Auvergnat carpenter, urged by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, preached peace in the Le Puy district under his bishop's protection. Those like-minded, of any rank, pledged mutual support against wrong; named for their linen capes or hoods, the Caputii in a few years proved more than a match for the Brabantines.
Chapter 61
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Where did Matilda land in 1139, and who received her?
Matilda sailed with her brother Robert and 140 knights, landing at Arundel on the last day of September 1139. The ex-queen Adeliza, her stepmother, received her into the castle. Robert soon left to raise her friends in England, riding with only twelve knights across southern England to Bristol, while Stephen besieged Arundel.
Chapter 62
What scheme did Bishop Henry propose to Stephen regarding Matilda?
Bishop Henry argued it was useless to besiege the Empress at one end of England while her brother stirred up the other. He advised letting her join Robert at Bristol so all enemies would gather in one place. Stephen gave her a safe-conduct and had the count of Meulan and Bishop Henry himself escort her to her brother.
Chapter 62
How does the chapter characterize the years of civil war under Stephen?
The author argues the struggle was unworthy of the name of war, and the Crown's authority was a mockery and shadow. Henry I's system collapsed with his ministers; the feudal principle had full play, uncontrolled from above or below. The author says this breakdown revealed the system's radical defect: it rested on the purely personal foundation of the king's strong hand.
Chapter 62
What was the earldom of Chester's special status?
Chester was a great palatine jurisdiction inherited from Hugh of Avranches, granted by the Conqueror, comprising sole government and ownership of all Cheshire. Within its limits the earl ruled supreme; every acre save Church land was held under him, and the king had no direct authority there, claiming only homage. The author notes the earl held Chester by the sword as freely as the king held England by the crown.
Chapter 62
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Who made up the 'Disinherited' in Earl Robert's army at Lincoln?
The 'Disinherited' were men Stephen had deprived of lands and honours to give them to his own favourites, and whom Henry had raised up and Stephen cast down. Earl Robert claimed for them the right of striking the first blow, to avenge both their own wrongs and those of King Henry's heiress. They formed the van of the opposing army.
Chapter 63
Why did Stephen's advisers urge him to delay battle at Lincoln?
Many of Stephen's friends begged him not to risk everything in a pitched battle until he had gathered a larger force, and above all not on that holy day, since it was Sexagesima Sunday and the feast of the Purification. Sinister omens at mass—the breaking of the lighted taper in the king's hand and the falling of the pyx—strengthened their pleas, but Stephen was impatient and would hear of no delay.
Chapter 63
How was Stephen finally captured at Lincoln?
Stephen's cavalry fled, leaving him with his foot-soldiers. He fought alone, his sword broke, and a citizen of Lincoln gave him a two-handed Danish axe. When Chester charged, Stephen's blow broke the axe; then a stone, hurled no one knew whence, struck his head and he fell. He shook off William of Kahaines and surrendered only to Robert of Gloucester in person.
Chapter 63
What did Henry of Winchester argue at the Winchester council?
Henry said he had summoned the assembly as vicar of the Apostolic see to restore order. He contrasted the land's wretched state with the peace under King Henry, recalled that the crown had been promised to Matilda, and that Stephen was chosen only because she was absent. He had stood surety for Stephen's promises, which were shamefully broken; God's judgment had delivered Stephen to his rival, so the throne must be filled at once.
Chapter 63
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How did Bishop Henry's firing of Winchester affect the besieging army?
The bishop ordered the town fired; the wind spared the cathedral but carried flames north to Hyde abbey, devastating the area for the besiegers inside the city. Meanwhile the queen's forces outside intercepted convoys and killed escorts, so the besiegers faced famine. The author presents this as a coordinated squeeze between bishop and queen.
Chapter 64
How was Earl Robert of Gloucester captured after the rout at Winchester?
Robert sent his sister out first and brought up the rear with a small band. The bishop signaled attack once Matilda cleared the west gate; the queen's partisans routed the Lady's host. Robert covered his sister's retreat and cut his way out another direction, but William of Ypres and his Flemings overtook him at Stockbridge, surrounded him, and took him prisoner.
Chapter 64
What terms ended Earl Robert's captivity in November?
The queen first proposed a simple exchange of Robert for Stephen; Robert protested an earl was no equivalent for a king and demanded all his fellow captives be included, which their captors refused. A plan making Robert governor under Stephen failed because the Empress refused to modify her claims. With her party collapsing, the original simple exchange was revived and accepted in early November.
Chapter 64
Why was Oxford strategically vital to Matilda's position?
The author explains Oxford commanded the Thames valley, the highway from the eastern sea and capital into the western shires. While Stephen held it he controlled the valley and cut the Angevins off from eastern England and London. Matilda's 1141 acquisition reversed this, securing her line of communication west and hemming Stephen into the eastern half of his realm.
Chapter 64
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What happened to Geoffrey de Mandeville, and when?
Geoffrey de Mandeville, described as the worst of all the troublers of the land, had accepted titles and honours from both rival sovereigns and was never true to either. He met his death in the summer of 1144 in a skirmish with the king's troops. Soon afterwards his fellow-sinner Robert of Marmion was slain by the earl of Chester's men at the gates of the abbey of Bath, which he had desecrated.
Chapter 65
How did Stephen treat Earl Ralf of Chester after the Northampton crisis of 1146?
At Northampton the barons, distrusting Ralf, persuaded Stephen to refuse him help against the Welsh unless he surrendered his castles and gave hostages. Ralf refused, was accused of treason and imprisoned by the royal guards. Stephen soon released him on oath and hostages that he would give up all his castles; Ralf surrendered some, including Lincoln, but not all. The author notes it is hard to say how far Stephen was responsible.
Chapter 65
Why did Geoffrey of Anjou refuse to come to England in 1142?
When Earl Robert came at Whitsuntide 1142 to entreat Geoffrey to help Matilda reconquer England, Geoffrey refused. The author argues his political instinct was quicker and more practical than his wife's or her brother's: he saw the Angevins had lost their hold on England but had at last secured one on Normandy, and would not let temptation from over sea make him release it. Instead he made Robert help him conquer the duchy.
Chapter 65
What did Stephen do at Lincoln at Christmas after Ralf surrendered the castle?
Among the castles Ralf gave up to regain his freedom was Lincoln, which Stephen valued most. The king then resolved that the city which had seen his worst overthrow should see his highest triumph. Defying an old superstition forbidding an English king to appear in regal state within Lincoln's walls, he kept his midwinter feast there with splendour unknown for years and wore his crown at high mass in the minster on Christmas Day.
Chapter 65
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Why did Geoffrey of Anjou request that Henry be sent to him in 1147?
Geoffrey sent envoys to Earl Robert asking that Henry be allowed to visit him, even briefly. The author explains that Geoffrey wanted to get his heir out of a losing cause and bring him home to share in his own triumph, not to join his wife's desperate venture. The request was granted, and by Ascension-tide 1147 Henry was back at his father's side.
Chapter 66
What happened to Earl Robert of Gloucester after escorting Henry to Wareham?
Robert escorted Henry as far as Wareham, where they parted for the last time. Robert then caught a fever and died at Bristol early in the following November (1147). The author says the Empress felt all was lost, since her last chance expired with the brother whose patient devotion she had never fully appreciated until too late.
Chapter 66
What did the Empress do in early spring 1148?
The author states that in early spring 1148, feeling all was lost after her brother Robert's death, the Empress gave up the struggle and followed her son back to Normandy. She lived thenceforth in peace by her husband's side. The author adds that the knot the sword had failed to cut was left to be slowly disentangled by more skilful hands.
Chapter 66
What does the author conclude about the site of the battle of Lincoln?
The author rejects the local tradition placing the battle north of the city, arguing it is improbable and unsupported. The author suggests the armies met on the level tract west of the castle, below the ridge, since the ground south of the castle is too steep for a pitched battle. The author also proposes the armies crossed a paved ford near Brayford rather than the Trent.
Chapter 66
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How did Henry II react to the death of the young king?
Henry went almost out of his mind with grief when the prior of Grandmont brought him the news. The author notes that friends and foes alike mourned, though sober churchmen could not deny the dead man's sins; some chroniclers, like Roger of Howden, were impatient with Henry's grief, while William of Newburgh is called the one truly judicial commentator.
Chapter 67
How did Henry and Richard disagree over Aquitaine after the young king's death?
Henry wanted Richard, now heir, to surrender Aquitaine to John while keeping his prospects as future king, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou. Richard refused, saying that while he lived no one but himself should hold the duchy. Henry then let fifteen-year-old John raise an army, but the attempt came only after Henry returned to England in June 1184.
Chapter 67
How was the dispute over Margaret's dowry and Gisors resolved?
Margaret's only child had died in infancy, so her brother Philip of France demanded restoration of her dowry, especially Gisors. Henry refused, and conferences failed. In December a compromise was made: Henry did homage to Philip for his transmarine dominions and paid money compensation, while Gisors stayed in his hands as dowry of Adela, Richard's affianced bride.
Chapter 67
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Why did Henry II refuse to lead a crusade after the Patriarch's appeal?
At the Council of Clerkenwell on March 18, Henry asked the bishops and barons to advise him and promised to abide by their decision. They unanimously judged that he must stay home rather than abandon the work pledged by his coronation oath: keeping his realms in peace and order and securing them from external foes. The author argues this refusal was the highest tribute England could pay him.
Chapter 68
What did the Patriarch Heraclius bring Henry II at Reading in 1185?
Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the Grand Master of the Hospital arrived at Canterbury on a mission from the Holy Land. At Reading, with a burst of tears, Heraclius laid at Henry's feet the royal standard of Jerusalem, the keys of the city, those of the Tower of David and of the Holy Sepulchre, beseeching him in Baldwin's name to carry them back at the head of a crusading host.
Chapter 68
Why did John's mission as governor of Ireland fail in 1185?
John was received loyally by native princes and English settlers, but within months set them all against him. He treated English leaders with overbearing insolence, mocked and even pulled the beards of Irish chieftains at Waterford, sent mercenaries on a raid into North Munster where they were repulsed with great loss, and kept them penniless while spending their wages on his own pleasure. Henry recalled him by September.
Chapter 68
How did Henry II respond to John's failure in Ireland?
The author says Henry was blinded by partiality for his youngest child and blamed anything but the true cause. He planned to send John back with fuller powers, and applied to the new Pope Urban III for leave to have John anointed and crowned king of Ireland. Urban consented and sent a crown of peacock's feathers set in gold. John was hurried off again in 1186 before the coronation took place.
Chapter 68
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How did the two-year truce of 1175 come about and who negotiated it?
Henry opened negotiations for a truce, which was made for two years at Midsummer-eve 1175. According to Bertrand de Born, Philip was forced into it by discovering that his Champagne troops had been bought over by the English king. The actual negotiator was Richard, whose close companionship with the French king then made Henry suspicious of the terms.
Chapter 69
What happened between Richard and Henry after the truce, and how was it resolved?
Richard rode off with the king of France instead of returning to his father. He then went to Chinon, seized the Angevin treasury, and used it to fortify his castles in Poitou. A partizan of Richard says Philip showed him a letter in which Henry planned to marry Adela to John and make John heir to all but England and Normandy. The quarrel was apparently settled by Richard's reinstatement in Aquitaine and renewed homage.
Chapter 69
What disaster at Tiberias in July 1187 befell Guy of Lusignan and the Christians?
Guy of Lusignan, husband of Sibyl and defender of the realm, fought on despite being thwarted and betrayed by rivals. In a great battle at Tiberias in July 1187 he was made prisoner by the Turks, the Christians were totally defeated, and the relic of the Cross carried into battle fell with the king into the unbelievers' hands. Tidings reached Europe in October.
Chapter 69
How did Henry II respond to the fall of Jerusalem and organize the Saladin tithe?
Henry was so thunderstruck that for four days he suspended state business and refused to see anyone. At the archbishop of Tyre's account, both kings took the cross, and Henry issued from Le Mans the 'Saladin tithe,' requiring every man in his dominions to give a tithe of all personal property toward the crusade, excepting only a knight's or priest's necessary outfit. He obtained assent at a council at Geddington.
Chapter 69
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Why did Henry II have to disband his mercenaries and send Welsh auxiliaries home?
Henry lacked money to pay his soldiers. His realms had been nearly drained by the Saladin tithe, his own treasury was exhausted, and his troops, seeing no prospect of wages or plunder, began to slip away. He was therefore obliged to disband his mercenaries and send his Welsh auxiliaries back to their own country.
Chapter 70
What did Richard do at Bonmoulins when Henry refused to acknowledge him as heir?
Richard twice demanded to be acknowledged heir to all Henry's dominions; Henry put him off both times. Richard then declared he believed what had seemed incredible, ungirded his sword, and offered his homage and fealty to the king of France for the whole continental Angevin heritage. Philip accepted, promising to return Richard's recent conquests in Berry.
Chapter 70
What terms did Philip propose at the three-day conference that followed Bonmoulins?
Philip first proposed all parties return to their position before taking the cross; Henry was ready to accept, but Richard rejected it because it would force him to give up conquests from Toulouse worth a thousand marks or more in exchange for Châteauroux and a few castles held only precariously. Philip then offered to restore his conquests if Henry made his subjects do homage to Richard as heir and allowed Richard's marriage to Adela immediately; Henry refused.
Chapter 70
How did the legate John of Anagni try to impose peace between Henry, Philip and Richard in 1189?
Reaching Le Mans at Ascension-tide 1189, John excommunicated all troublers of the peace except the two kings themselves. He made the kings promise to submit their quarrels to his arbitration and that of the archbishops of Reims, Bourges, Canterbury and Rouen, and threatened them with excommunication if they failed to redeem the promise. The resulting conference at La Ferté-Bernard broke up when Philip defied the legate's interdict threat and accused him of taking English gold.
Chapter 70
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What plans did Henry change on the Tuesday morning after leaving Le Mans?
Henry had first intended to fall back on Normandy, rally his forces and summon help from England to renew the struggle with Philip; his followers still urged this course. But he changed his plans in the night, believing his end was near, and resolved to return to the Angevin lands and die at his hereditary post as count of Anjou.
Chapter 71
What oath did Henry make William Fitz-Ralf and William de Mandeville swear?
He made them swear that they would surrender the castles of Normandy to no one save John. He also bade Geoffrey take command of the troops, escort the barons as far as Alençon, and then return to rejoin him in Anjou.
Chapter 71
What terms did Philip impose on Henry at Colombières?
Henry did homage to Philip and promised Adela would be placed under guardians chosen by Richard, who would marry her after returning from Palestine. Richard was to receive the fealty of all Angevin barons on both sides of the sea; Henry would depart on crusade at Mid-Lent; he renounced claims on Auvergne and paid Philip twenty thousand marks. Three Norman or two Angevin castles plus Tours and Le Mans stood as pledges.
Chapter 71
How did Henry react when he learned John was on the list of traitors?
Roger Malchat read him the promised list, and the first name was Count John, his son. Henry faltered 'Say no more,' then started up asking whether John, his darling child for whom he had incurred all this misery, had forsaken him. He sank back, turned his face to the wall, and moaned that things should go as they will, caring no more for himself or the world.
Chapter 71
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How did William of Normandy secure Maine after Herbert II's death in 1064?
By the treaty with Herbert, Maine was to revert to William if Herbert died childless, which he did in 1064. William faced an Angevin claim to overlordship and Walter of Mantes's rival claim, but he took Le Mans, kept Margaret under his protection, and forced Geoffrey of Mayenne to surrender, ruling Maine as its Conqueror.
Chapter 72
What happened to Geoffrey the Bearded after Fulk Rechin seized Angers in 1067?
Fulk was admitted into Angers and Geoffrey fell with his capital. Pope Alexander II's remonstrances forced Fulk to release him, but Geoffrey was captured again in 1068 besieging Brissac. Fulk bought off the king of France by ceding the Gâtinais, and Geoffrey lay in a dungeon at Chinon for twenty-eight years while Fulk ruled Anjou.
Chapter 72
Why did the Angevin power decline after Geoffrey Martel's death, according to the author?
The author argues three causes: the reaction following a sudden rise, the exceptional greatness of William the Conqueror as a rival, and, more fatal than either, the house of Anjou divided against itself—the bitter dispute between Martel's nephews over his testamentary dispositions, with Fulk Rechin's restless intrigues sowing strife among the Angevin baronage.
Chapter 72
How does the author characterize Fulk Rechin?
The author argues Fulk Rechin deserves aversion and contempt: his surname means 'the Quarreller,' and he had the family's craft but not its statesmanship or perseverance. His ruling passion was self-indulgence rather than ambition, and he toiled and sinned for himself alone. Yet the author notes he is well-nigh the first lay historian of the Middle Ages.
Chapter 72
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Why did Elias of Maine abandon his crusade and fight at home instead?
Elias prepared to follow Robert of Normandy on crusade, but asked William Rufus for protection of his lands during his absence. William declared his resolve to regain all territories held by his father, so Elias saw he must fight his crusade at home rather than in the Holy Land. He was soon captured by Robert of Bellême and sent in chains to the king at Rouen.
Chapter 73
How did Elias of Maine finally secure his county from foreign rule?
After William Rufus died in August 1100, the Norman garrison of Le Mans appealed for succour to Robert of Normandy and Henry of England; both declined, so Elias received their submission and sent them home in peace. The foreign oppressor then trod the soil of Maine no more. Later Elias commended himself to Henry, and his Cenomannians helped decide the battle of Tinchebray in Henry's favour.
Chapter 73
What happened to Geoffrey Martel the Second and his planned marriage to Aremburg?
Aremburg, only child of Elias, was betrothed to Fulk Rechin's eldest son Geoffrey, called Martel the Second. The marriage, long deferred because of the bride's youth, was frustrated by the bridegroom's death. Geoffrey ruled Anjou well for three years after his father's abdication, until in May 1106, besieging a rebellious vassal at Candé, he was struck by a poisoned arrow and died next morning.
Chapter 73
What verdict does a later Angevin historian give on Fulk Rechin?
A later Angevin historian sums up Fulk Rechin: "Ill he began; worse he lived; worst of all he ended." The author argues Fulk's worthlessness nearly undid the work of Geoffrey Martel and Fulk the Black, reducing Anjou politically far below its former position, so that the title of count of Anjou became identified with weakness and disgrace.
Chapter 73
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Why did Fulk of Anjou refuse submission to Henry I over Maine?
Fulk became count of Maine through marriage to Aremburg, the heiress, after Elias's death in 1110. His predecessors had twice received homage from Henry's elder brother for that county, so he would not surrender Angevin rights without a struggle. He refused all submission to Henry and formed a league with the French Crown against the lord of England and Normandy.
Chapter 74
How did Henry I end the war with Fulk and Louis in 1113?
After Robert of Bellême's capture in November 1112 and the surrender of Alençon, Fulk and Louis sued for peace. At Pierre-Pécoulée in Lent 1113 Fulk performed homage for Maine, and his infant daughter was betrothed to Henry's son William. The treaty was confirmed at Gisors in March, after which Anjou and Blois fought side by side for Henry against rebels at Bellême.
Chapter 74
What unprecedented oath did Henry I exact in 1115?
Henry required first the barons of Normandy and then the Great Council of England to swear homage and fealty to his son William as destined successor. Norgate notes the ceremony was not unusual in France but quite without precedent in England. She argues it was likely a precaution against the war Henry foresaw must soon be renewed.
Chapter 74
How did Louis VI lose the battle of Brenneville in 1119?
Louis, in what Norgate calls the insane bravado of chivalry, disdained to order his men before attacking. Eighty French knights under the Norman traitor William Crispin charged the serried English ranks fighting on foot around Henry; all eighty were captured and the French fled. Norgate reports the Norman tale that of nine hundred knights only three were found dead.
Chapter 74
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How did Henry persuade Rome to annul the Clito's marriage to Sibyl?
By dint of threats, promises and bribes, Henry persuaded the court of Rome to annul the marriage on the ground of consanguinity. Norgate notes the kinship was real but was in exactly the same degree as that between Henry's own son and Sibyl's sister, a marriage to which no objection had ever been raised. The Clito refused to give up his bride and was excommunicated by the Pope.
Chapter 75
What did Fulk of Anjou do when the legate demanded the marriage be dissolved?
Fulk publicly burnt the legate's letter insisting on the dissolution, singed the beards of the envoys who carried it, and imprisoned them for a fortnight. The consequence was an interdict, which compelled him to submit. The newly married couple parted, and William the Clito became a wanderer once more.
Chapter 75
What oath did Henry make the barons and prelates swear in 1126–1127?
At the midwinter assembly of 1126–1127, Henry made the barons and prelates of England swear that, in case of his death without a lawful son, they would acknowledge his daughter Matilda as Lady of England and Normandy. Norgate calls this an unprecedented step, and its first result was that the king of France set himself to thwart it by again taking up William the Clito's cause.
Chapter 75
Why did Fulk V accept Baldwin II's offer of the Jerusalem crown?
Norgate argues Fulk's was no mere vulgar longing for a crown. By marrying Geoffrey to Matilda, Fulk had cut short his own career at home, leaving him only complete effacement or a new sphere of action. He had visited the East for a year and sent yearly contributions to the Knights of the Temple, so Baldwin's offer, coming just after Henry's, extricated all parties.
Chapter 75
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According to Norgate, what did Geoffrey Martel actually do with his territories at death?
The author argues Martel bequeathed his whole dominion to his elder nephew Geoffrey, not a divided inheritance. She reaches this by weighing three conflicting versions against charters: Geoffrey the Bearded is styled count of Anjou in documents of 1061–1066, and Fulk Rechin's own charter of 1068 calls Geoffrey nephew and heir. The division stories, she concludes, were inventions to save Fulk's character.
Chapter 76
What does Norgate suggest about the Angevin writers' treatment of the viscounts of Orléans?
She argues the Angevin writers did their best to efface the family altogether. Ralf de Diceto merely names the father of the two young counts; in the Gesta Consulum his very name is dropped, leaving readers in darkness about who Martel's nephews were. Fulk Rechin's side merges the Châteaulandon connection into the Angevin and treats him simply as grandson of Fulk Nerra.
Chapter 76
How does Norgate explain Fulk Rechin listing Maine among his possessions?
Fulk coolly includes Maine in his own possessions, which Mabille took as a blunder proving the Fragment's author was not what he claims. Norgate suggests it may tell the other way: a forger would have remembered Maine was lost and avoided such a glaring falsehood. The count ignores its de facto loss because he holds himself its overlord de jure, and Geoffrey the Bearded appears as titular overlord of Maine in 1063.
Chapter 76
What does Norgate conclude about Orderic's account of the Maine family marriages?
She notes Orderic gives the fullest pedigree, making Herbert's three daughters marry Azzo of Este, Robert, and John of La Flèche. But Orderic elsewhere has Elias trace descent through a grandmother, and the houses of Le Mans and La Flèche cannot have intermarried twice in two succeeding generations. One statement must be wrong; she says she cannot decide which.
Chapter 76
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What date does Norgate conclude for the marriage of Geoffrey and Matilda?
The author argues the true wedding date was the octave of Pentecost, June 17, 1128. She reaches this by weighing conflicting sources: the Fécamp chronicle says 1127, Orderic says 1129, and John of Marmoutier gives no year but places the wedding on the octave of Pentecost after Geoffrey's knighting. She treats John as the primary authority.
Chapter 77
Why does Norgate reject 1127 and 1129 for the wedding?
She argues 1127 fails because William of Malmesbury says Matilda did not go to Normandy until after Whitsuntide 1127, so a Pentecost wedding was impossible. 1129 fails because Fulk was present at the wedding but had married the princess of Jerusalem before Whitsuntide 1129. Only 1128 fits a Pentecost wedding.
Chapter 77
What does the Séez charter actually prove, according to Norgate?
The charter records Henry I giving his daughter to Geoffrey the younger and is dated 1127, Indiction VI. Norgate, following Mrs. Everett Green, says it proves nothing more than that the betrothal had taken place in 1127, not that the marriage itself occurred that year.
Chapter 77
How does Norgate assess John of Marmoutier's reliability?
She admits John's chronology is poor: whenever he dates by year he is almost always wrong, and he gives Geoffrey's age at death as forty-one instead of thirty-eight. But she argues this does not discredit his reckoning of days or his hero's age, and as Geoffrey's own biographer writing within sixty years, he is her primary authority.
Chapter 77
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Why did Henry of Winchester's legatine commission weaken the English Church?
The chapter states the commission set Henry over the head of the man who should have been the Church's representative and leader, placing in a mere diocesan bishop all and more than all the power that belonged by right to the primate of all Britain. England had long been exempt from legatine control, with the archbishop of Canterbury serving as legatus natus.
Chapter 78
Why was Henry of Winchester not translated to the vacant primacy?
Henry seems actually to have been elected to the vacant primacy, but a difficulty proved insuperable: translation of a bishop from one see to another required a special license from the Pope, and in this case the license was apparently refused. Stephen, or perhaps his wiser queen, then sought a primate elsewhere and brought over Theobald, a third abbot of Bec.
Chapter 78
How did Archbishop Theobald prepare for the future while Henry plotted?
Rather than fishing in troubled waters, Theobald looked to the future, gathering into his household the choicest spirits of the time: earnest, deep-thinking students and cultured, large-minded, dispassionate politicians. The author describes him making his palace a seminary, training-college, refuge, and home for a new generation of English scholars and statesmen, among whom Thomas Becket stood foremost.
Chapter 78
CHAPTER VII. (part 2)2 cards
What does William of Newburgh say about religious houses founded during Stephen's reign?
William of Newburgh, an Augustinian canon, exclaims that the many religious houses arising in Stephen's time are God's castles, where servants of the true Anointed King keep watch and young soldiers are trained against spiritual evil. He contrasts them with castles the mighty built for protection or neighbors' harm, and says more dwellings of God's servants arose in Stephen's short reign than in the whole previous century.
Chapter 79
How did Gilbert of Sempringham found the Gilbertine order and what was its structure?
Gilbert, son of a Norman father and Old-English mother, ran away from school to France, repented, studied letters, and returned home to teach boys and girls. Seven maidens and then several men followed his guidance, forming a double monastery at Sempringham under Bishop Alexander of Lincoln early in Stephen's reign. When Cîteaux refused to take charge, he devised a composite rule: canons under Austin's rule, lay-brothers, nuns and lay-sisters under Cîteaux, plus his own regulations.
Chapter 79
CHAPTER VII. (part 3)4 cards
Why did Pope Eugene suspend Archbishop William of York?
Eugene suspended William from all episcopal functions until William of Durham should take the oath required by Pope Innocent's sentence. William had earlier shown indifference to obtaining the pall and hurried to Rome only after Lucius died and Eugene succeeded. Instead of granting the pall, Eugene imposed the suspension. William then retired to Sicily under King Roger's protection.
Chapter 80
What happened when William's friends raided Fountains Abbey?
After William's suspension became known, his friends blamed Henry Murdac and made an armed raid on Fountains. They got little plunder from the freshly reformed Cistercian house, failed to find Murdac, and set the place on fire. Every stone perished except the church, which escaped as by miracle; Murdac had been lying unnoticed in prayer before the high altar.
Chapter 80
How was Henry Murdac elected and consecrated Archbishop of York?
After Eugene deposed William at the Council of Paris in spring 1147, the chapter of York met with the suffragan bishops of Durham and Carlisle and chose Henry Murdac by majority. Murdac was summoned from Clairvaux to the papal court at Trier, where on the octave of S. Andrew he received consecration and pall together from Eugene's own hand.
Chapter 80
How did Theobald of Canterbury reach the Council of Reims despite Stephen?
Stephen refused Theobald leave to quit England, set watches at every port, and swore at Henry of Winchester's instigation that Theobald would be banished if he went. Theobald slipped away in an old broken boat with only Roger of Pont-l'Evêque and Thomas of London. They reached Reims safely, and Eugene presented Theobald to the council as one who had swum rather than sailed for the Church.
Chapter 80
CHAPTER VII. (part 1)4 cards
How did Richard's succession to Henry II's realms proceed after Henry's death?
John's treason settled all doubts: throughout the Angevin dominions no voice challenged Richard's succession. The English marshal and Angevin barons at Fontevraud received him as lord. The seneschal of Anjou was imprisoned for failing to surrender royal treasure, apparently because the treasury was empty. Eleanor, by her son's desire, served as regent in England for about six weeks.
Chapter 81
What terms did Richard and Philip settle at their colloquy on St Mary Magdalene's day?
Philip demanded restitution of the Vexin. Richard put him off with a bribe of four thousand marks beyond the twenty thousand promised by Henry at Colombières, plus a vague understanding that Richard and Adela would marry after all. Philip then agreed to leave Richard undisturbed in his father's dominions, including castles and towns taken from Henry, except those of Berry and Auvergne.
Chapter 81
How was Richard's coronation on September 3 described, and what oath did it include?
Archbishop Baldwin crowned Richard at Westminster on September 3. No charter was issued; instead a threefold oath pledged the sovereign to maintain the peace of the Church, put down all injustice, and enforce righteousness and mercy. A formal election by clergy and people preceded the rite. The ceremony was the most splendid and elaborate ever seen in England and served as a precedent for later coronations.
Chapter 81
What were Richard's two stated objects in England, and how did he pursue them?
The author argues Richard's English policy had only two objects: to raise money for the crusade and to secure his realm's obedience during his absence in the East. He pursued both through a wholesale change of ministers, sheriffs and royal officers at the council of Pipewell or in the ten days before the Michaelmas Exchequer-meeting, making men pay for office or release from it.
Chapter 81
CHAPTER VII. (part 2)4 cards
What lands and honours did Richard shower on John after their reconciliation?
Richard gave John the county of Mortain, making him first baron of Normandy, plus English lands and honours including Marlborough, Luggershall, Lancaster, the Peak, Bolsover, Peverel, Wallingford, Tickhill, Nottingham and Derby, and the honour of Gloucester through marriage to Avice. He also granted John the shires of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset with their farms and jurisdictional profits.
Chapter 82
Why did Archbishop Baldwin object to John's marriage, and what was the outcome?
Baldwin protested because John and Avice were third cousins and had no papal dispensation. He laid all their lands under interdict, but John appealed, and a papal legate who arrived in November confirmed the appeal and annulled the primate's sentence. The marriage had already taken place at Marlborough on August 29.
Chapter 82
How does the chapter characterize Hugh of Puiset, bishop of Durham?
The author presents Hugh as a strong, popular, magnificent ruler: tall, dignified, eloquent, and a vigorous if not ideal pastor. As bishop of Durham he was earl palatine of his shire and his jurisdiction reached into Northumberland, making him a key figure in Anglo-Scottish relations. He navigated the Becket quarrel without disgrace and survived his own intrigues unscathed.
Chapter 82
Why was William of Longchamp poorly suited to govern England, despite Richard's trust?
The author argues Longchamp was loyal, energetic and able as a confidential secretary and foreign-affairs adviser, but unfit to rule England. He was a stranger to the land and people, ignorant of English, contemptuous of his surroundings, and unpopular with both the nation and his colleagues. The justiciar especially resented being subordinated to him.
Chapter 82
CHAPTER VII. (part 3)4 cards
How did William of Longchamp defeat Bishop Hugh of Durham's rival claim to power?
At Blyth, Hugh produced Richard's commission, but William adjourned to a second meeting at Tickhill, arriving first. There he showed a later royal letter (dated June 6) ordering obedience to him as chancellor, then arrested Hugh and forced him to give hostages for his castles. Hugh surrendered Windsor, Newcastle, Northumberland and Sadberge, keeping only his bishopric.
Chapter 83
What territories made John virtually independent of the central government in England?
Four shires in the south-west and one in Mid-England, plus numerous honours from Gloucester to Nottingham, belonged to John, who held all rights of government, administration and finance there answerable only to the king. He had his own justiciar, chancellor, seneschal and butler, and his own sheriffs and stewards, all appointed by him alone.
Chapter 83
How did contemporaries describe the chancellor's progress through England, and why was it resented?
One contemporary said William went up and down the country 'like a flash of lightning.' Norgate suggests this may allude to the disastrous effects of his passage rather than its speed. He travelled with a train of a thousand armed knights plus clerks and attendants, a ruinous burden on religious houses obliged to entertain them, worsened by heavy exactions from clerk and layman alike in the king's name.
Chapter 83
What competing claims to Richard's succession existed, and what did Richard and Longchamp each do about it?
The male Angevin line in Europe held only Richard, John, and the infant Arthur of Brittany. By primogeniture Arthur, Geoffrey's son, had the next claim; by English practice John, an adult and the king's brother, had a better chance. Richard arranged Arthur's marriage to a daughter of Tancred of Sicily on terms making Arthur his heir, while Longchamp sought the Scot king's recognition of Arthur as heir-presumptive.
Chapter 83
CHAPTER VII. (part 4)4 cards
How did the Winchester arbitration of April 25 resolve the chancellor-John dispute?
The bishops of London, Winchester and Bath with eleven lay arbitrators decided wholly against the chancellor. He could claim restitution of Nottingham and Tickhill but only to put them under two of John's partisans; his right to appoint wardens was nominally confirmed but practically dependent on John's dictation; he had to reinstate Gerard de Camville and promise to do his utmost to secure the crown for John if Richard died.
Chapter 84
What did the July 28 Winchester assembly decide about the disputed castles?
A fresh settlement reinstated Gerard in the Lincolnshire sheriffdom pending trial in the king's court; William and John were bound over to commit no more forcible disseizures; disputed castles were to be put in charge for the king through the archbishop of Rouen instead of the chancellor, with John given no voice in choosing castellans. If the chancellor broke the agreement or the king died, the castles went to John, but all reference to his claims on the succession was carefully omitted.
Chapter 84
Why did Richard summon Geoffrey to Normandy and make him swear absence from England?
Richard suspected Geoffrey of cherishing designs upon the crown, though the chapter says Geoffrey never did anything to justify the suspicion and showed every disposition to act loyally toward both brothers. After Geoffrey was ordained priest in September 1189, Richard's zeal for his promotion cooled, swayed by the bishop of Durham and a party in the York chapter. He was confirmed in York and his Anjou estates only on the eve of Richard's departure, then summoned in March and made to swear absence for three years like John.
Chapter 84
Why did Eleanor plead Geoffrey's cause at Rome, according to the chapter?
The chapter says natural feeling gave way to motives of policy. Eleanor saw that an archbishop of York might be useful in England holding the balance between Hugh of Durham and William of Ely, checking the legate's unlimited powers. Also, the long vacancy of York had let Hugh act as virtual metropolitan of northern England, and he resented the see being filled. The author argues reinstating York's archbishop would lead him to use his position for the kingdom and king.
Chapter 84
CHAPTER VII. (part 5)4 cards
Who excommunicated Richenda, her husband, and all her abettors at Oxford?
S. Hugh of Lincoln, described as the most venerated of living English prelates, at once excommunicated Richenda, her husband and all her abettors, with lighted candles at Oxford. This followed the outrage connected with Archbishop Geoffrey's arrest, which the Canterbury chapter and others warned could bring disaster.
Chapter 85
What condition secured Geoffrey's release after John's remonstrances?
John's vehement remonstrances procured Geoffrey's release, but only on condition that he would go straight to London and remain there until the case between him and the chancellor could be tried by an assembly of bishops and barons. The chapter notes this of course satisfied nobody.
Chapter 85
Why did the Saturday meeting at Lodden bridge fail to settle matters?
Saturday was accounted an unlucky day for contracts or settlements of any kind, so no one regretted the delay. The earls of Arundel, Warren and Norfolk appeared in the chancellor's stead, pleading his ill-health. John and the barons spent the day discussing complaints against the chancellor, and all agreed he must be put down at once.
Chapter 85
What did the London assembly at S. Paul's decide about John and the commune?
Barons and citizens met at S. Paul's, where the chancellor's victims aired grievances. Archbishop Walter of Rouen and William the Marshal produced the king's letter of February 20 accrediting Walter. John and the barons agreed to follow it, won the citizens' assent by swearing to maintain the commune, and the whole assembly swore fealty to Richard and to John as his destined successor.
Chapter 85
CHAPTER VII. (part 6)3 cards
Why did the English council pay John two thousand marks and expel the chancellor?
They saw that their only chance was to outbid William, the chancellor. They gave John two thousand marks out of the royal treasury; Walter of Rouen helped persuade the queen-mother, and the chancellor was bidden to depart out of the land. Bishop Stubbs interpreted the sum as including £500 raised from the chancellor's estates.
Chapter 86
Why did the legates excommunicate the seneschal and place Normandy under interdict?
When the cardinal-legates tried to enter Normandy to settle the dispute with the archbishop of Rouen, the seneschal refused them admittance and shut the gates of Gisors, pleading that by ancient custom the subjects of an English king could not admit legates without his consent. The legates then excommunicated the seneschal and laid all Normandy under interdict.
Chapter 86
Why did Richard's alliance with Tancred offend the new king of Germany?
King William of Sicily died childless, bequeathing his crown to Constance, wife of Henry of Germany, but Tancred seized it. Richard's alliance with Tancred, necessary to secure Sicily's co-operation for the crusade, was thus a mortal offence to Henry, who already had a grudge against England because Henry the Lion had extorted his restoration to forfeited estates that summer.
Chapter 86
CHAPTER VII. (part 8)4 cards
Why did Richard's second coronation seem necessary after his captivity?
Insular pride held that an English king alone among European sovereigns had no superior on earth, and this was offended by the transactions of Richard's captivity. Although the story that Richard formally surrendered England and received it back as an imperial fief may be an exaggeration, it seems to have been felt that the island-crown's majesty had been dimmed and needed distinct re-assertion.
Chapter 88
How did England respond to Richard's re-coronation, and how did Richard respond to England?
As Richard stood in royal robes, sceptre in hand and crown on head amid bishops and barons in the Old Minster, past shame was forgotten and England was ready to welcome him as a new king. But the welcome met with no response: on May 12, two months after landing at Sandwich, Richard sailed again for Normandy and returned no more.
Chapter 88
What does Coggeshall report about Richard's attitude during the re-coronation ceremony?
Richard himself seems to have resented the popular view of the ceremony, for Richard Coggeshall says he went through it 'aliquantulum renitens'—somewhat resisting or reluctant. This suggests the king did not share the popular sense that the crown's majesty needed restoring through this second coronation.
Chapter 88
Where and on what date did Richard sail from England for the last time?
On May 12, just two months after his landing at Sandwich, Richard again sailed for Normandy. This time he went to return no more. The chapter presents this departure as following directly upon his re-coronation in the Old Minster at Winchester.
Chapter 88
CHAPTER VIII. (part 1)4 cards
Who were Henry Fitz-Empress's parents, and why was a normal homeland attachment impossible for him?
Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and the Empress Matilda. The chapter explains that because Geoffrey was Angevin and Cenomannian by descent and Matilda was born in England of mixed Norman, Flemish, Scottish and West-Saxon ancestry, an instinctive attachment to one country was simply impossible for their child. Matilda transmitted a kind of cosmopolitanism rather than patriotism.
Chapter 89
Where was Henry born, and why does the chapter call that birthplace especially fitting?
Henry was born at Le Mans, in Maine, while Geoffrey and Matilda were there. The chapter says no other spot was half so appropriate: Maine, whose separate existence Normans, Angevins and Englishmen had all tried to deny, was the land that forced them into union. It was thus a fitting birthplace for a child who was to be neither Norman, Angevin nor English, yet all three at once.
Chapter 89
Who taught Henry, and what does the chapter say about each teacher's background?
Geoffrey chose Master Peter of Saintes, described as learned above all his contemporaries in the science of verse; he was neither Angevin, Cenomannian nor Norman. Henry stayed with him until late 1142, then lived in Earl Robert of Gloucester's household at Bristol for four years under Master Matthew, to be imbued with letters and good manners. Later a Master Matthew appears among Henry II's chancellors, likely the same teacher.
Chapter 89
Why did Henry's 1149 campaign in England come to nothing?
Henry landed in mid-May 1149 and was knighted by King David at Carlisle on Whit-Sunday; Stephen retorted by knighting his own son Eustace. David and Henry's intended campaign was frustrated when Ralf of Chester failed to keep his engagement. The two kings waited at York and Carlisle without fighting, and Henry withdrew overseas in January. The chapter says he saw the political scales were too evenly balanced for his maiden sword to tip.
Chapter 89
CHAPTER VIII. (part 2)4 cards
Why did Stephen change his policy toward the Church in 1151?
The author argues Stephen changed course because he was weary of fruitless labour and anxious to secure the crown for his son Eustace. He sent Eustace to mediate with Henry Murdac, reconciliation followed, and Murdac was enthroned at York on S. Paul's day 1151. Murdac then went to intercede with the Pope for papal sanction of Eustace as heir.
Chapter 90
What did Henry of Winchester do after his appeals and what did the Pope grant?
At Theobald's Mid-Lenten council in London, Henry of Winchester made appeals to Rome, one against his suspension from the council of Reims. He went in person to clear himself and obtained absolution. His friends sought renewal of the legation, a primacy over Wessex, or exemption from Canterbury, but Eugene was inexorable.
Chapter 90
How did Geoffrey of Anjou finally overcome Montreuil-Bellay's defenses?
After nearly twelve months' labour the 'Valley of Judas' still blocked Geoffrey's engines. He ordered the annual fair of Saumur transferred to Montreuil; in a fortnight the crowd and his soldiers filled the valley level. His engines then destroyed the outworks at the first assault, and a red-hot iron vessel of boiling oil set the timber insertions ablaze.
Chapter 90
Why did Louis VII's marriage to the Aquitaine heiress change the balance of power?
William IX of Aquitaine, dying on pilgrimage at Compostella, left his dominions to his daughter and bequeathed her as wife to young King Louis. The marriage gave Louis Poitou, Gascony, and overlordship between the Loire and Pyrenees, a territory five or six times his royal domain. The author argues France's truest interest was that England and Normandy be divided between the rivals.
Chapter 90
CHAPTER VIII. (part 3)3 cards
What dying advice did Geoffrey of Anjou give his son Henry?
Geoffrey's dying legacy to his son was advice not to change the old customs of the lands he was called to rule—neither by bringing Norman and English customs into Anjou, nor by transferring Angevin customs into the territories inherited from his mother. The chapter presents this as a piece of good advice given almost with his dying breath.
Chapter 91
How was Louis VII's marriage to Eleanor dissolved, and what did she do next?
After Suger's death removed the main obstacle, a Church council presided over by Archbishop Hugh of Sens at Beaugency dissolved the union on grounds of kinship. Eleanor set out for her own lands, escaping Count Theobald of Blois and Geoffrey of Anjou, who both tried to seize her. She then offered herself and her lands to Henry duke of the Normans, and they married at Poitiers at Whitsuntide.
Chapter 91
What coalition formed against Henry in 1152, and why did he refuse Louis's court?
Louis summoned Henry to answer for accepting Eleanor's hand without his overlord's consent, but Henry refused to appear or acknowledge the court's jurisdiction. Eustace then married Constance of France and regained the French alliance. Just after midsummer, Henry learned that Louis, Eustace, Robert of Dreux, Henry of Champagne, and his own brother Geoffrey had leagued to drive him from his possessions and divide them.
Chapter 91
CHAPTER VIII. (part 4)4 cards
What terms were agreed at Wallingford on November 6, 1153?
Stephen and Henry were to adopt each other as father and son; Stephen would keep the royal dignity for life, with Henry acting as justiciar and practical ruler under him; and after Stephen's death Henry would become king. The treaty was ratified at Winchester and the nobles later swore homage to Henry at Oxford, reserving faith to Stephen while he lived.
Chapter 92
How did Eustace's death affect Stephen's resistance?
With the life of Eustace ended the resistance of Stephen. His other sons were mere boys, so it was hopeless to set up even the eldest as a rival to Henry. Henry was already carrying all before him, with Stamford, Nottingham, Reading and Barkwell yielded and more than thirty fortresses coming over with Earl Robert of Leicester's adhesion.
Chapter 92
What did the settlement's ideal provisions call for?
The details survive in poetical form expressing what needed to be done rather than actual undertakings: crown rights resumed, the eleven hundred and fifteen adulterine castles destroyed, property restored to owners from King Henry's time, farms, houses, woods and flocks restored, clergy relieved of exorbitant demands, sheriffs held to strict duty, thieves punished with death, Flemings returned to farm and workshop, and one standard of money throughout the realm.
Chapter 92
What plot forced Henry to leave England in 1154?
Some Flemish mercenaries, to whom Henry and his peace were equally hateful, were conspiring to kill him on his return to Canterbury. The shock, added to an accident to Stephen's eldest surviving son William, said to have been aware of the plot, overwhelmed the king's nerves; he hurried his adoptive son out of the country. Henry passed through Canterbury, reached Rochester and London, and crossed safely to Normandy.
Chapter 92
CHAPTER VIII. (part 5)3 cards
What date do most sources give for the death of Henry II, and how does Gervase of Canterbury differ?
Most sources—the Chron. de Bello, Ann. S. Aug. Cant., and the reference at i. p. 299—give the same date. Gervase of Canterbury makes it December 17, but since he also calls it the Sunday before Christmas, he evidently means December 19.
Chapter 93
How does Henry of Huntingdon greet the new king, and what became of the book he promised?
Henry of Huntingdon greets the new king with some hexameter verses, then adds: 'Et jam regi novo novus liber donandus est' ('and now a new book must be given to the new king'). The book, if it was ever written, is lost.
Chapter 93
Which sources are cited for the date of Henry II's death in this passage?
The passage cites the Chron. de Bello (Angl. Christ. Soc., p. 72), Ann. S. Aug. Cant. ad ann. (Liebermann, Geschichtsquellen, p. 82), and a reference at i. p. 299, all giving the same date. Gervase of Canterbury (Stubbs, vol. i. p. 159) is cited separately for his divergent December 17.
Chapter 93
CHAPTER VIII. (part 1)4 cards
Who effectively governed England during Richard's absence after 1194, and in what offices?
Hubert Walter governed as justiciar and archbishop, wielding power more absolute than William of Longchamp had during the crusade. The author argues his second experiment in rule by deputy succeeded better than the first, partly because Richard was never truly out of reach and could return if needed, and because Hubert was far better qualified than Longchamp.
Chapter 94
What was Hubert Walter's training and background before becoming justiciar?
Hubert was trained under Ralf de Glanville, the great constitutional lawyer and administrator; his mother and Glanville's wife were sisters, and he was a clerk or chaplain in Glanville's household until 1186, when he became dean of York. He was consecrated to Salisbury in 1189 and served Richard in Palestine as adviser and diplomatic agent.
Chapter 94
How did Hubert Walter deal with Archbishop Geoffrey of York?
The two primates had quarrelled over the privileges of their sees. In June 1194, backed it can hardly be doubted by Hubert's influence, Geoffrey's chapter obtained a papal sentence practically condemning him without trial; royal justices sent by Hubert then confiscated his archiepiscopal estates except Ripon for refusing their jurisdiction. His appeal to Richard failed, leaving one primate for five years.
Chapter 94
What did Hubert Walter's 1194 commission to the itinerant justices extend, and how was the jury used?
The commission widened crown pleas to include matters such as churches in the king's gift, escheats, wardships and marriages, forgers, false measures, ransom arrears, and debts of murdered Jews, with money for the treasury as the evident chief object. Every item was to be handled on presentment of the sworn recognitors in each shire—the 'grand jury'—whose functions were thus extended from presenting criminals to all branches of judicial work.
Chapter 94
CHAPTER VIII. (part 2)4 cards
Why did Richard issue licenses for tournaments in England in 1194?
Richard defied Pope Celestine's prohibition and, on August 20, 1194, licensed tournaments in England on condition that each participant pay the Crown a sum varying by rank. Five places were appointed for holding them, and no one could enter the lists until he had paid for his license. Collection was entrusted to Theobald Walter, the justiciar's brother. The author notes tournaments had previously been kept out of England by Crown and Church authority.
Chapter 95
How did Richard raise money by manipulating the chancellor's seal?
On pretext of a quarrel with his chancellor, Richard took away the seal, ordered a new one made, and declared all acts passed under the old seal null and void until brought to him for confirmation—in other words, until they were paid for a second time. The author presents this as one of two desperate expedients Richard devised for replenishing his treasury, distinct from the tournament licenses.
Chapter 95
Who was William Fitz-Osbert and what did he preach?
William Fitz-Osbert, called 'William with the Long Beard,' was by birth a member of London's ruling class who became preacher and leader of the poorer citizens against the wealthy oligarchy. He denounced the aldermen's fiscal administration and, preaching in streets and at St Paul's, called himself 'the saviour of the poor,' expounding Isaiah's text about drawing water from the wells of the Saviour. The author notes contemporaries disputed whether zeal or ambition moved him.
Chapter 95
What did Hubert de Burgh (the justiciar) do about William Fitz-Osbert's agitation?
When William began boasting of the king's favour after a visit to Normandy, the justiciar intervened. He called the citizens together, tried to allay their discontent by reasonings and remonstrances, and persuaded them to give hostages for good behaviour. William defied this authority, preaching daily in the streets and even in St Paul's. The author notes the rumour of fifty thousand sworn followers must have been exaggerated, though the conspiracy was formidable enough to excuse the rulers' terror.
Chapter 95
CHAPTER VIII. (part 3)4 cards
What did Hubert Walter propose at the Oxford council of December 7, and what did Hugh of Lincoln object?
Hubert asked the barons, including bishops, to supply the king with three hundred knights serving at their own cost for a year, ignoring the alternative of a money payment for mercenaries. Hugh of Lincoln refused, arguing that the church of Lincoln owed the king military service only within England; outside its boundaries it owed no such thing, and he would rather return to his hermit's cell than lose its ancient immunities.
Chapter 96
How did Bishop Herbert of Salisbury respond to Hubert's request, and what happened to the two bishops?
Herbert replied that he could neither do nor say anything but what he had heard from the bishop of Lincoln, echoing Hugh's refusal. Richard ordered the property of both bishops confiscated; Salisbury's was seized, but no Englishman dared touch Lincoln's goods, fearing his curse. Hugh later forced a reconciliation in Normandy, while Herbert had to pay heavily for restoration.
Chapter 96
Why did the monks of Canterbury complain to Innocent III about Hubert Walter, and what was the result?
The monks charged that Hubert had violated his order by serving as the king's justiciar, judging cases of life and death and entangling himself in worldly business, leaving him unable to govern the Church properly. Innocent III wrote to the king forbidding priests to hold secular office and forbade bishops and priests throughout the Church from accepting such offices. Hubert resigned, and Richard had to accept it.
Chapter 96
What was significant about Hubert Walter's carucage survey of 1198?
Hubert levied five shillings on every carucate and fixed the carucate at a hundred acres for taxation, requiring all arable land to be re-measured. Commissioners, with sheriffs and chosen lawful men, took sworn testimony on ploughlands, keeping four copies of the roll. The author argues this extended the jury-inquest to taxation on real property and advanced local representation, though the commissioners' report is lost.
Chapter 96
CHAPTER VIII. (part 4)4 cards
What did Louis VI bequeath to his successors regarding the great feudatories?
The chapter states that Louis VI, in his twenty-nine-year reign, established absolute royal authority within the royal domain so firmly that the Crown's independence was secured. He bequeathed to his successors the work of destroying the independence of the great feudatories and bringing them one by one into subjection as absolute as that of the royal domain itself.
Chapter 97
Why did securing Chartres and Blois matter so much to the French king?
The chapter explains that the old Angevin march had ceased to be a marchland, and its character was transferred to Chartres and Blois. These counties were the first necessity for the king, but their counts needed his protection even more, since the whole width of his domains parted them from Champagne, where the bulk of their strength lay. Louis VII bound them to the royal house by marriage alliances.
Chapter 97
What did Philip gain from Flanders by 1191, and why was it valuable?
Vermandois was given to Philip in 1186, and in 1191 the death of the Flemish count made him master of all Flanders south of the Lys, promised as the dowry of Elizabeth of Hainaut. This brought the upper Somme valley, Péronne, Amiens and Arras, broke Flemish power, and made a Flemish-Norman junction well-nigh impossible.
Chapter 97
What did Richard give up to Philip, and what did it signify?
After his father's death, Richard bought Philip's assent to his peaceful succession by renouncing all claims on Auvergne and ceding two lordships in Berry, Graçay and Issoudun. The chapter calls the sacrifice trifling in itself but significant: it marked Richard's consciousness that a turning-point had come, and that the Angevins must henceforth stand on the defensive.
Chapter 97
CHAPTER VIII. (part 5)4 cards
Why did Richard withdraw his seal from Chancellor William and repudiate engagements made under it?
The chancellor and Richard's representatives in Normandy had concluded a truce with the French king lasting until All Saints' day. Richard used this proceeding as his pretext for withdrawing the seal from William and repudiating all engagements made under it, as mentioned earlier in the work.
Chapter 98
Why does the chapter say Normandy was the chief object of Philip's attack?
The author explains that Philip could invade Normandy more easily and with less risk than other parts of Richard's dominions, and because it was the key to all the rest: a French conquest would sever Richard's communications with Flanders, Germany, and England, since Angevin strength in Gaul rested chiefly on support from the island-realm.
Chapter 98
What happened to Constance of Britanny at Pontorson in 1196?
Summoned by Richard to a conference in Normandy, Constance was caught by her husband Earl Ralf of Chester as she touched Avranchin soil at Pontorson and imprisoned in his castle of S. James-de-Beuvron. The author says it is hard not to suspect Richard and Ralf plotted the capture, since Richard at once renewed his claim to wardship of Arthur.
Chapter 98
How did Richard secure his southern and eastern Aquitanian frontiers in 1196?
The author states Richard offered his sister Queen Jane of Sicily in marriage to the new Count Raymond VI of Toulouse, securing his eastern frontier through his sister's husband, just as his southern frontier was protected by his wife's brother, the king of Navarre. The withdrawal of Bertrand de Born into a monastery in 1196 also removed a chief source of disturbance.
Chapter 98
CHAPTER VIII. (part 6)4 cards
Why did Richard build Château-Gaillard on the rock of Andely?
Richard seized the site after the January 1196 treaty with Philip reserved Andely as a neutral zone and stipulated 'Andely shall not be fortified.' Both kings broke the agreement; with older Norman bulwarks like Gisors and Vernon resigned to Philip, Richard built a fortress to bar the Seine and shield Rouen from the French invader.
Chapter 99
How did Richard describe Château-Gaillard when it was finished?
The whole work was completed within a single year. Richard, who supervised it closely, called his barons to admire 'how fair a child was his, this child but a twelvemonth old,' and named it his 'saucy castle,' Château-Gaillard. The jesting name soon replaced the formal title 'the Castle on the Rock of Andely' in popular speech.
Chapter 99
How did Archbishop Walter respond to Richard building on his land?
Walter protested as soon as building began, and, getting no redress, laid Normandy under an interdict and took his complaint to the Pope in person. Richard sent envoys to appeal the interdict and arrange a settlement, but pushed on building regardless; the author notes even a rain of blood failed to shake his determination.
Chapter 99
What defensive features made up the Château-Gaillard complex?
Richard deepened the ravines so the rock was reachable only by one isthmus, then built a triple fortress on the plateau: an outer triangular ward with round towers and a ditch over forty feet deep, a middle wall with towers and bastions, and an elliptical citadel of seventeen semicircular bastions around a circular keep with twelve-foot walls. He also fortified the Isle of Andely and the New Andely town.
Chapter 99
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How did Richard receive his fatal wound at Châlus?
A defender on the turret, using a frying-pan as a shield, seized an arrow that had lodged in a wall crevice—seemingly shot by Richard himself—and fired it from a cross-bow. It struck Richard's left shoulder below the neck and glanced down deep into his side. Richard praised the shot, ordered the assault pressed harder, and rode back to his tent.
Chapter 100
What happened when Richard tried to remove the arrow?
He rashly tried to pull it out himself; the wood broke and the iron barb stayed embedded. A surgeon from Mercadier's staff tried to cut it out, but Richard was fat like his father, and the knife did more harm than the arrow. The wound swelled and inflamed, his restlessness worsened it, and mortification set in.
Chapter 100
How did Richard treat the man who shot him?
Richard had the garrison hanged except the shooter, who was brought before him. Asked why he had done it, the man said Richard had killed his father and two brothers and would have killed him too. Richard forgave him, ordered him freed with a gift of a hundred shillings. Mercadier later had him flayed and hanged anyway.
Chapter 100
How did Richard dispose of his body and prepare for death?
On the eleventh day after the wound, April 6, he confessed and took Communion, then gave directions: his brain and organs to Charroux, his heart to Rouen cathedral, his body at his father's feet at Fontevraud in token of penitence. He received extreme unction and died that day. He was buried in robes worn at his last English crowning.
Chapter 100
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Why was Henry's 1154 coronation seen as a new era in England?
The author argues it was an epoch almost as marked as 1066: for the first time since the Norman Conquest, a new king succeeded without a competitor and with the unanimous goodwill of all ranks and races. Normans and English alike welcomed him as the herald of a bright new day after nineteen winters of anarchy.
Chapter 101
What task faced Henry on becoming king in 1154?
The author describes it as the resuscitation of the body politic from utter decay: legal, constitutional and administrative machinery at a deadlock, and national resources material and moral exhausted. Henry, not yet twenty-two, had to subdue the remnant of disturbing forces, recover the old foundations of social and political organization, and build a lasting fabric of administration and law—almost single-handed.
Chapter 101
How does the chapter describe Henry's appearance and dress?
Henry was of moderate height, thick-set and broad-chested, with muscular arms, close-cropped tawny hair, a freckled skin, and grey eyes that flashed when the demon-spirit of his race was roused. Courtiers called his face lion-like. He dressed plainly, without display, and his rough hands were never gloved except when hawking; English knights nicknamed him 'Curtmantel' for his short Angevin cape.
Chapter 101
How did Henry's restlessness affect his court, according to Peter of Blois?
The author notes Henry constantly moved about and suddenly changed plans, so his clerks compared his court to the infernal regions. Peter of Blois complained he could never track the king, adding a fifth hard thing to Solomon's list: 'the way of a king in England.' He described chaos when announced plans were reversed, and men drawing swords over wretched lodgings.
Chapter 101
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What did Henry II recognize about the counsellors around him in Normandy for his English reforms?
The young king saw at once that for his work of reconstruction and reform in England the counsellors who surrounded him in Normandy were of no avail. He concluded he must trust solely to English help, selecting chief ministers partly from those who had held office under his predecessor and partly from his own English partizans best fitted for the task.
Chapter 102
Who were Henry II's two chief justiciars at the start of his reign, and how long did each serve?
Richard de Lucy held the post of justiciar at the close of Stephen's reign and retained it under Henry for five-and-twenty years, called by his sovereign "Richard de Lucy the Loyal." For thirteen years he shared the dignity and duties of chief justiciar with Earl Robert of Leicester, a former supporter of Stephen who transferred his allegiance to Henry and remained a trusty servant and friend.
Chapter 102
Why did Archbishop Theobald want Thomas Becket placed at the young king's side?
Theobald, in advanced age and feeble health, felt regulating Henry's strong passions and youthful impulses was too hard for his failing strength. He feared evil influences of courtiers on the king, feared for the English Church given whispers of Angevin hostility to religion, and feared his own soul lest Henry stray for lack of guidance. Becket's known qualifications obtained him the chancellorship.
Chapter 102
How did Thomas Becket's conduct and appearance as chancellor differ from Henry's?
Thomas magnified the chancellorship until he was second man in the kingdom and the king's friend and director. In deacon's orders but without taste for ministry, he took on state ceremonial and business with easy grace, riding in mail one day and dispensing justice the next. Tall and elegant, with dainty attire and open table, he contrasted with Henry's rough brown hands and careless appearance.
Chapter 102
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What was Thomas Becket's reputation regarding the court's moral temptations?
The chapter states that amid the countless temptations of a corrupt court, no stain ever rested on Thomas's personal honour. He shared in all the king's pursuits except the evil ones; Henry tried to entrap him into evil night and day but in vain. The one thing he would not tolerate was evil, and men of known bad character were barred from his doors.
Chapter 103
According to the author, did Thomas shape Henry's overall policy?
The author argues no. Thomas may have suggested individual measures and modified details, but Henry's policy as a whole bears the stamp of one mind—his own. Thomas's true merit was being Henry's best and most thorough fellow-worker, not so much counsellor or minister as his second self. The author says the theory that Thomas moulded policy opposes both events and the two men's characters.
Chapter 103
How did Henry enforce the treaty of Wallingford at Christmas 1153?
Holding court at Bermondsey, Henry with the counsel of assembled barons issued peremptory orders for the expulsion of Flemish mercenaries and the demolition of unlicensed castles. The Flemings vanished suddenly, like an army of spectres; the castles were razed without delay or disturbance. These preliminary obstacles cleared, he moved to abolish fiscal earldoms and reclaim crown lands and castles alienated during the anarchy.
Chapter 103
How did Henry deal with William of Aumale and William Peverel?
Henry knew he must carry the summons to William of Aumale in person. Moving north after the festival season, he was at York by end of January, where Aumale made complete surrender of Scarborough and all his other castles. William Peverel of the Peak, scared into a monastery by rumour of the king's approach and implicated in a plot to poison Earl Ralf of Chester, fled the country, leaving his fiefs to the king's mercy.
Chapter 103
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What did Archbishop Hubert declare about royal succession at John's coronation?
Hubert asserted that no one has antecedent right to succeed except by unanimous choice of the realm, after invoking the Holy Spirit, and by pre-eminence of character—citing Saul and David as chosen without royal race. He added that if one of the dead king's race excels, he should be chosen more readily. The author calls this the last formal public assertion of the old English doctrine of succession.
Chapter 104
How did Eleanor secure Aquitaine for John against Philip?
Eleanor joined Mercadier and his Brabantine mercenaries and overran Anjou with fire and sword to punish its abandonment of John. Then, to remove any pretext for French interference in the south, she met Philip at Tours and personally did homage to him for Poitou. By this means, the chapter states, Aquitaine was secured for John.
Chapter 104
What happened when John received the Norman investiture at Rouen?
Archbishop Walter invested John with the sword, lance and coronet of the duchy. As the lance was placed in his hands, John turned to laugh with young courtiers and let the symbol of ducal authority fall to the ground. His irreverent behaviour and refusal to communicate on Easter-day had already drawn a warning from S. Hugh; the incident was noted as an omen.
Chapter 104
What did the English barons do after Richard's death, and how was order restored?
News reached England on Easter Eve; next morning some nobles and knights began rapine and depredation. Archbishop Hubert excommunicated the evildoers and, with William the Marshal, summoned all men to swear fealty to John as heir of Henry Fitz-Empress. Castles were fortified until a Northampton conference, where the leaders promised John would render all men their rights; the barons then swore fealty and liege homage.
Chapter 104
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How did Henry II's continental empire differ from Cnut's?
The author argues Henry's territories lay in the heart of western Christendom, surrounding the French Crown on two sides and touching Spain and the Burgundian lands, making European involvement inevitable. Cnut's northern empire was more homogeneous and severed from Europe, connecting with the south mainly through his personal greatness. Henry also held his Gaulish fiefs as a vassal of the French king.
Chapter 105
What fiefs did Henry hold of the French king, and how?
Henry held not a single outlying province but at least five separate fiefs, each by different titles and tenures. Normandy came from his mother; Anjou was his paternal patrimony; Maine's status was disputed; Touraine owed homage to the count of Blois; and Aquitaine came through his marriage to Eleanor, whose second husband owed homage to her first for lands held in her name.
Chapter 105
What did Geoffrey Plantagenet's deathbed will require of Henry?
The story went that the dying Geoffrey made bishops and barons promise not to bury him until Henry swore to his will. Henry hesitated, then swore with tears. The will pledged him to give Anjou, Touraine and Maine to his brother Geoffrey once he held England and Normandy; until then Geoffrey got three castles. Henry later obtained papal absolution and refused to keep the oath.
Chapter 105
How did Henry subdue Geoffrey's revolt in 1156?
Henry besieged Geoffrey's three castles, using mercenaries paid from a scutage levied in England; a contemporary said Henry profited greatly from his chancellor's assistance. Loudun and Mirebeau fell, and in July Chinon's fall forced Geoffrey to surrender all claims for a money compensation. Henry restored Loudun to him. Eleanor then joined Henry in Aquitaine, where he took homage and hostages and kept Christmas at Bordeaux.
Chapter 105
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What did Louis VII grant Henry at the conference of August 31, 1158?
Louis did more than sanction Henry's claim to Nantes: he granted Henry a formal commission to arbitrate between the competitors for the dukedom of Brittany and settle the whole dispute as he thought good, by virtue of the office of grand seneschal of France. The author notes this office was then largely honorary and normally held by the count of Blois, but Louis admitted the Angevin claim when it suited his purposes.
Chapter 106
How was the dispute over Brittany and Nantes resolved in autumn 1158?
Henry summoned the feudal host of Normandy to Avranches for Michaelmas, but Conan submitted without battle, knowing he could not match Henry backed by the king of France. Conan was confirmed in the dukedom of Brittany in return for surrendering Nantes. Henry then took formal possession of Nantes, besieged rebellious Thouars, and escorted Louis on a triumphal progress through Normandy.
Chapter 106
Why does the author argue Nantes mattered more than its size suggests?
The author argues Nantes commanded the mouth of the Loire, the entrance-gate that made Angevin control of the river's navigable course useful. It also gave Henry a footing inside the Breton peninsula, which jutted between his Norman and Aquitanian lands. The author cites Gervase of Canterbury's summary that this was Henry's first step towards subduing the Bretons, and notes the privilege of arbitration might pave the way for further intervention.
Chapter 106
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Why did Louis VII's 1141 expedition against Toulouse fail to dislodge Alfonso Jordan?
The author notes that Theobald of Blois, one of Louis's best advisers, disapproved so strongly that he refused to take any part, and this refusal may have caused the expedition's abandonment. No record of its outcome survives beyond the fact that Alfonso Jordan kept Toulouse for the rest of his life and was succeeded undisturbed by his son Raymond V in 1148.
Chapter 107
How did the marriage alliances of 1154 reshape relations between France, Toulouse, and Henry?
After Aquitaine passed to Henry through Eleanor, the author explains that France's obvious policy was alliance with Toulouse against Henry's encircling power. This was cemented in 1154 by Raymond V's marriage to Constance, widow of Eustace of Blois and sister of Louis VII. Thus Henry's claim ran against the brother-in-law of Eleanor's overlord and former husband.
Chapter 107
What was the Great Scutage of 1159 and why was it levied?
Henry, facing a long and hard road to Toulouse and unwilling to vex country-knights, citizens and yeomen, took money instead of personal service, assessed on each knight's fee in Normandy and his other lands. The author argues this broke the old exemption of fiefs of the hauberk from pecuniary taxation, making the encroachment look like a favour, and established scutage as payment commuting personal attendance in the host.
Chapter 107
Why did the clergy react with such bitterness to the scutage of 1159?
The author states the assessment fell not only on lands owing shield-service but on all lands held in chief of the Crown and all Church lands regardless of tenure, based on the knight's fee worth twenty pounds a year. The clergy saw ancient ecclesiastical immunity set at naught, and the Church lands were wrung for even more than lay fiefs. Blame fell heavily on the chancellor, Thomas.
Chapter 107
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Who governed Henry II's conquered territory around Cahors in 1159, and how?
Thomas the chancellor and Henry of Essex the constable accepted the task after Henry's great barons declined it. Thomas fixed his headquarters at Cahors and held the country with his own followers, backed by Raymond of Barcelona, Trencavel, and William of Montpellier. He ruled harshly, putting down risings by proscription and the sword, storming towns and burning manors, and capturing three supposedly impregnable castles.
Chapter 108
How did Henry II's 1160 treaty with Louis settle the Vexin and the Toulouse dispute?
The treaty confirmed the betrothal of little Henry and Margaret and settled the Vexin on the infant couple. Louis formally restored to Henry all rights and holdings of the count of Poitou except Toulouse itself. Henry and Raymond made a one-year truce, each keeping present possessions, with freedom of action left to their respective allies. The author notes the Toulouse settlement advanced no further for thirteen years.
Chapter 108
How did Henry II outwit Louis over the Vexin dowry in 1160?
The treaty said the Vexin castles would pass to Henry once the children married with Holy Church's consent, and Louis evidently assumed this meant after three years. Henry, apparently at Thomas's instigation, had two cardinal-legates solemnize the marriage on November 2 at Neubourg. The treaty's written conditions were fulfilled, and the Templars handed over the Vexin castles at once. The author says Louis found himself thoroughly outwitted.
Chapter 108
Why did Thomas the chancellor oppose the marriage of Abbess Mary of Romsey?
Earl William of Warren died childless, leaving his sister Mary, abbess of Romsey, as sole heir to Boulogne. Henry devised a scheme, backed by papal dispensation, to marry her to Matthew, second son of the count of Flanders. Thomas vehemently remonstrated against marrying a nun and used his influence at Rome to block the dispensation, gaining only Matthew's enmity and a foretaste of the king's wrath.
Chapter 108
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What did Norgate argue was the true significance of Becket's life and death for England?
The author argues that the ecclesiastical struggle marked a turning-point in the social, even more than the political, history of Henry II's reign. It shifted the direction of moral and intellectual revival out of the hands of the higher clergy and monastic orders, scattered Theobald's reforming party, and left the Church without a leader.
Chapter 109
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How did the statesmen-chroniclers' court positions shape their histories?
Norgate explains that Richard Fitz-Nigel and Roger of Howden were royal administrators living at court, in contact with the chief actors and with access to official records and diplomatic correspondence. This gave their chronicles fullness, accuracy, balance and a cosmopolitan range covering states from Norway to Morocco and Ireland to Palestine, alongside Henry's wars and legal reforms.
Chapter 110
How does William of Newburgh's history differ from the court chronicles?
Norgate argues Newburgh's work is not a chronicle but a commentary on twelfth-century English history, political, ecclesiastical and social, seeking causes and moral significance rather than mere record. Its details are vague and its chronology tangled, yet his chapter on the causes and effects of Stephen's anarchy is worth more than the chroniclers' disjointed facts.
Chapter 110
What conditions at Newburgh priory shaped William's sources and outlook?
Newburgh was a young house on an old York-to-Tees road, near Rievaux and Byland, with which the canons had frequent contact; Abbot Ernald of Rievaux asked William to write the history. But its library was poor, travel in Yorkshire was hard and dangerous, and William seems never to have left his native shire, so his knowledge came indirectly.
Chapter 110
Why is William of Newburgh called 'the father of historical criticism'?
Norgate says his judicial calm breaks into passionate indignation only once: his protest against the rising pseudo-historical writers, above all Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose Celtic myths and inventions he scornfully demolished. This outburst earned him the title from Mr. Freeman in the Contemporary Review (1878), as the earliest protest against that school.
Chapter 110
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What is the earliest Arthurian romance as we possess it, and what binds the cycle together?
The earliest is the story of the Holy Grail, a new creation of twelfth-century religious mysticism: the cup from the Last Supper, brought by Joseph of Arimathea to Glastonbury, later caught away to Heaven. The 'quest of the Grail,' vowed by Arthur's knights at the Round Table and achieved only by Galahad, links the separate legends into one cycle.
Chapter 111
Who was Walter Map, and what was his literary purpose?
Map was a scholar, theologian, poet and royal servant born on the Welsh marches, employed by Henry II as justice-itinerant, ambassador and representative at the Lateran council of 1179. His De Nugis Curialium is a formless collection of folklore, tales and court gossip, but its purpose is earnest: to catch worldly readers with 'truth embodied in a tale' and point a moral.
Chapter 111
How does Walter Map's satire on the Church differ from John of Salisbury's?
John of Salisbury grieved over ecclesiastical decay and hoped for spontaneous reform by the clergy; the author says Map saw that dream buried with St Thomas and turned to bitter mockery and scathing sarcasm. His 'Bishop Goliath' embodies all clerical vice, and the satire was so daring he likely concealed his name.
Chapter 111
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How does Norgate characterize Gerald of Wales's literary style and method?
The author argues Gerald wrote in a bold, dashing, offhand style like a modern newspaper article, ranging freely over history, geography, science, politics, and court scandal. Sober scholars were shocked by his colloquialisms and disregard for classical tradition. To entertain readers, he collected marvelous and horrible Irish tales, the more frightful the more eagerly published, earning Irish scholars' condemnation for libels on their country.
Chapter 112
How did Gerald promote his Topography of Ireland at Oxford?
When old-fashioned critics protested, Gerald took the book to Oxford, where the most learned English clerks were, and read it publicly over three successive days, one division per day. He entertained the town's poor at his lodgings first, then the doctors and notable pupils, then the remaining scholars, knights, and burgesses. Elder teachers' murmurs were lost in the younger generation's applause.
Chapter 112
What does Norgate say about the rise of universities in the twelfth century?
The author argues the spirit of Gerald and Walter Map is the spirit of the rising universities, though the word 'university' is an anachronism for the twelfth century. Bologna grew from Irnerius's law lectures in 1113 and gained a charter from Frederick Barbarossa in 1158. Paris became Christendom's intellectual center under William of Champeaux, Abelard, and Peter Lombard, drawing teachers and scholars from every nation.
Chapter 112
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How did the study of canon and civil law develop differently in England than on the continent?
On the continent, canon law and civil law were followed by different persons, and canon law fell into neglect with its exclusively clerical professors. In England, clerical lawyers combined the two studies because canon procedure was founded on the Theodosian code; both later passed to lay lawyers, and canon law was preserved by being linked with civil law under lay doctores utriusque juris.
Chapter 113
What was the effect of Peter Lombard's 'Sentences' on theology, according to the chapter?
Peter Lombard wrote the 'Sentences' to counter the rationalizing dialecticians by applying their own methods to theology. The book remained the accepted theology text-book until the sixteenth century, but its effect was the opposite of what he desired: the endless doubtful disputations and hair-splittings he opposed only spread further.
Chapter 113
How did Henry II and Richard differ in their policy toward English towns?
Henry II mostly confirmed liberties from his grandfather's time with few new privileges, and held the communal movement in check: Gloucester, York, Totnes, Lidford, Bodmin and eighteen London 'adulterine gilds' were fined. Richard, from his first seven years, granted charters to many towns, and Lincoln won the right to elect its own reeve yearly.
Chapter 113
What privileges did John grant to London, and when?
John's first charter, issued from Normandy six weeks after his crowning, renewed the sheriffdom of London and Middlesex to the citizens and their heirs, letting them choose and remove sheriffs for three hundred pounds a year. On May 9, 1215, he granted the 'barons of the city of London' the right of annually electing their mayor.
Chapter 113
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How did the Abingdon consuetudinary of 1185 compare with Peterborough's Black Book of 1128?
The author argues Abingdon's dues were quite as heavy, if not heavier, but its labour-services were much lighter. Norgate cautions that the difference may not reflect progress over the half-century, since customs varied between localities and Abingdon's may never have been as hard as Peterborough's.
Chapter 114
What services did a typical villein holding two oxgangs owe the bishop of Durham in 1183?
Each paid two shillings sixpence scot-pennies, half a chalder of oats, sixteen pence aver-pennies, five cart-loads of wood, two hens and ten eggs. He worked three days weekly year-round except Easter-week, Whitsun-week and the twelve days of Christmas, plus four days' autumn boon-work with his family except the housewife, and reaped and ploughed specified oat lands.
Chapter 114
What change had occurred at Whickham manor by Bishop Hugh's 1183 survey?
Whickham's thirty-five villeins had formerly owed sixteenpence, three days' weekly work, autumn boon-days, mowing, reaping, ploughing, building a house, making three Tyne fisheries, carting, cornage, a cow, and hens and eggs per oxgang. Now the whole manor was let at farm, and all services and dues except a small tribute of hens and eggs were commuted for a rent of twenty-six pounds.
Chapter 114
What does Norgate conclude about the rural population under the Angevin kings?
The author argues the glimpses of rural conditions suggest the rural population was by no means excluded from the kingdom's progress. Even if their dues had grown heavier, she says this points to advancing agricultural prosperity and material comfort. She also sees growing craft-guild importance in towns, with weavers especially disliked by civic authorities.
Chapter 114
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What did Henry II's 1175/76 writ to Dublin's bailiffs grant the burghers of Chester?
It commanded that the burghers of Chester be free to buy and sell at Dublin as they had been wont to do, and have the same rights, liberties and free customs there as in his grandfather's days. Norgate links it to Bristol's colonization of Dublin and Chester's fear of exclusion from the Irish trade, though she notes the appeal itself is inferred, not documented.
Chapter 115
What did Richard grant the citizens of Cöln in 1194, and on what terms?
On the eve of his return from captivity, Richard granted the citizens of Cöln a gildhall in London, "with all their other customs and demands," for an annual payment of two shillings. Norgate adds that the hall of the other Teutonic merchants, later the Steel-yard, was probably established about the same period.
Chapter 115
What was Henry Fitz-Aylwine's Assize, and what did it aim to secure?
Issued at the opening of his mayoralty and dated 1189, it has been called "the earliest English Building Act." Norgate says it shows civic authorities trying to secure health and comfort in houses within their jurisdiction and to guard against fire, which had ruined many citizens. Even after it, most London dwellings remained wood or rubble with thatched roofs.
Chapter 115
What did Richard's 1194 ordinance on Jewish loans require for recording a debt?
Loans were to be made only in six or seven appointed places before two lawful Christians, two lawful Jews, two lawful writers and two named clerks. The deed was an indenture: one half sealed by the borrower went to the Jewish lender, the other into a chest with three locks, keys held by Christians, Jews and royal clerks respectively. Clerks kept a roll of copies; fees were threepence per deed, split between Jew and creditor, with a penny each to the two scribes and the roll-keeper.
Chapter 115
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According to the chapter, what did Norgate conclude about John's work by his return in 1206?
The author argues that, judging even from an imperfect survey, the work was practically done when John came home in 1206. The chapter frames this as a conclusion drawn from the evidence surveyed rather than a bare assertion, presenting 1206 as the point at which the enterprise was substantially complete.
Chapter 116
What does the index entry for Arthur record about his capture and imprisonment?
The index records that Arthur besieged Mirebeau, was captured there, and was imprisoned. It further lists his death and its consequences. These entries summarize the sequence of events as treated in the chapter, tying Arthur's capture at Mirebeau directly to his imprisonment and subsequent death.
Chapter 116
What does the index say about the Andely and Nouvel Andely in Philip's campaign?
The index states that Andely, Isle of, was besieged by Philip and taken, and that John's attempt to relieve it failed. Nouvel or Petit Andely was also taken by Philip, and the fate of its townsfolk is recorded. These entries track the fall of both strongholds during the campaign.
Chapter 116
What does the index record about the death of Arthur and its aftermath?
The index lists Arthur's death and notes its consequences, and separately records that his friends seized Angers, which John retook. It also notes that the barons of Britanny appealed to Philip against John. Together these entries link Arthur's death to the revolt and to Philip's involvement.
Chapter 116
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What was Dover's role in twelfth-century English trade?
The chapter identifies Dover as the chief mart of the wool trade, and also notes it as a site where Geoffrey of York was arrested in 1173-74. It appears among the towns listed alongside Devizes, Dorchester, Dunster and Dudley in the index of places.
Chapter 117
How does the chapter describe Eleanor of Aquitaine's political career?
Eleanor married Louis VII, was divorced, then married Henry II. She attempted divorce from Henry, later turned against him and was imprisoned. She served as regent for Richard, arranged his marriage, negotiated at Rome, ravaged Anjou and did homage to Philip, went to Spain, retired to Fontevraud, was besieged in Mirebeau, and died in 1204.
Chapter 117
What does the chapter record about Dublin's history?
Dublin's origin is given, it is called the metropolis of Leinster, and it was taken by Dermot Mac-Murrough and his allies, attacked by wikings, and blockaded by Roderic O'Conor. Henry II was at Dublin, colonized it, and Chester merchants held privileges there.
Chapter 117
What does the chapter say about the Flemings in England?
Flemings settled in England and Wales, and were present in England under Stephen. A plot to kill Henry is attributed to them, and they were expelled. They later landed in Suffolk and at Hartlepool. Flanders itself traded with England and was granted to William the Clito.
Chapter 117
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What did Henry II do to the estates and friends of Thomas the Primate after the council of Northampton?
After the council of Northampton, Henry II sent envoys to the Pope, confiscated the primate's estates, and banished his friends. These actions are listed among the effects of the quarrel between Henry and Thomas, which the chapter traces through their meetings at Northampton, Oxford, Woodstock, and later Montmirail, Montmartre, Fréteval, Tours, and Chaumont.
Chapter 118
What did Henry II propound at Westminster and publish at Clarendon?
At Westminster Henry propounded his grandfather's customs; at Clarendon he published the constitutions of Clarendon. The chapter places these among his legal and administrative reforms, alongside plans for reform in criminal legislature. Thomas met him at Northampton, Oxford, and Woodstock around these events, and the quarrel with Thomas is tied to this reform program.
Chapter 118
How did Henry II's conflict with Thomas affect his later actions toward him?
The quarrel had wide effects. Henry appealed to Rome, drove Thomas from Pontigny, and met him at Montmirail, Montmartre, Fréteval, Tours, and Chaumont. The chapter also notes rash words at Bures, after which Henry was absolved. Thomas was later murdered, and Henry made a pilgrimage to Canterbury, receiving news of William's capture afterward.
Chapter 118
What role did Henry II play in Ireland according to the chapter?
Henry II went to Ireland with a fleet, and Irish princes submitted to him. He settled Ireland and Dublin, appointed John king of Ireland, and later made John governor of Ireland. The chapter also mentions a bull for Ireland's conquest, Gerald's treatises on Ireland, and Henry's forbidding of the war in Ireland.
Chapter 118
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What did Louis VII do to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and what followed for Henry?
The chapter's index records that Louis VII divorced Eleanor (i. 392) and that she then married Henry, bringing Aquitaine to him. Earlier Louis had granted Normandy and other lands to Henry (i. 388, 389) and received Henry's homage (i. 443). The divorce thus reversed the Angevin windfall Louis had helped create.
Chapter 119
How did Louis VII's relationship with the counts of Blois and Anjou shift?
The chapter notes Louis VII's quarrel with Blois and his alliance with Anjou (i. 342), and that he helped Geoffrey conquer Normandy and granted him its investiture (i. 343). Later entries show strife with Blois (i. 384) and an alliance with Blois (i. 469, 471), showing his alignments reversed over time.
Chapter 119
What role did Louis VII play in the revolt of 1173 against Henry II?
The index states Louis supported young Henry's revolt (ii. 135, 136), attacked Normandy (ii. 143), and burned Verneuil (ii. 147). He met Henry II at Gisors (ii. 148) and besieged Rouen (ii. 164) before a truce (ii. 165). A renewed quarrel (ii. 212) ended in a treaty (ii. 213).
Chapter 119
What happened to Le Mans in the struggles between Henry II's sons and Philip?
Le Mans was where Henry Fitz-Empress was born (i. 268) and where Geoffrey was buried (i. 390). Later it was taken by Philip (ii. 259, 263), submitted to Arthur (ii. 389), was burnt by John (ii. 390), and given up to John (ii. 394). The young king was buried there (ii. 230).
Chapter 119
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What did Richard de Lucy do after protesting the forest visitation?
Richard de Lucy, the justiciar, protested against the forest visitation and then retired to a monastery. The chapter also notes his earlier roles: he shared in the election of Thomas, was excommunicated, took Leicester, marched against the Scots, and besieged Huntingdon.
Chapter 120
How did Robert II, earl of Leicester, respond to Reginald of Cöln's kiss of peace?
Robert II, earl of Leicester and justiciar, attended the council of Northampton and refused the kiss of peace offered by Reginald of Cöln. The chapter records this refusal alongside his joining Henry and his death.
Chapter 120
What happened to Robert III, earl of Leicester, after he rebelled?
Robert III, earl of Leicester, rebelled and went to England, where he was made prisoner. He was later restored and went on to repulse Philip from Normandy. The chapter lists these events in sequence without further detail on the terms of his release.
Chapter 120
CHAPTER X. (part 13)4 cards
What offices did William of Longchamp hold under Richard I?
William of Longchamp was bishop of Ely and chancellor, and became justiciar. He also served as legate. His rule provoked quarrels with John and with Geoffrey of York, and his fall followed appeals to the Pope and the excommunication of his enemies. He later went to England for Richard's ransom and died after a mission to Germany.
Chapter 121
What role did William the Marshal play for King John?
William the Marshal served as regent for John and was made earl of Striguil. He was sent to Normandy, went to relieve Les Andelys, acted as ambassador to Philip, and persuaded John to dismiss the host. Earlier he had rebelled against Henry II, fought Richard, and arranged Henry's funeral.
Chapter 121
What happened at York regarding the Jews in this chapter?
The chapter's index records a massacre of Jews at York, listed under the York entry alongside the dispute for the primacy, tumults at York, and a council there. It also notes Henry II and William the Lion at York and a commune at York.
Chapter 121
What was William Fitz-Osbert also known as, and where is he listed?
William Fitz-Osbert, also called Long-beard, appears in the index for Volume II at pages 345 to 347. The chapter gives no further detail about him beyond this name and page reference.
Chapter 121
CHAPTER XI. (part 1)4 cards
What principle guided Henry II's early reforms and administration?
The author states Henry II restored the state of things under his grandfather Henry I and Roger of Salisbury, treating "the time of my grandfather King Henry" as the universal standard in law, finance, and administration. He aimed to sweep away innovations of the preceding nineteen years and rebuild on the old foundations, rather than starting from the point where he found government.
Chapter 122
Who was the only English-born pope, and how did he rise to the papacy?
Nicolas Breakspear, son of a poor English clerk at Langley, became the only Englishman to reach the papal chair, as Adrian IV. Accounts differ: one says he begged at S. Alban's abbey gate, the other that the abbot dismissed him as insufficiently learned. He studied at Paris, joined the Austin priory of S. Rufus, became cardinal and bishop of Albano, legate to Norway and Denmark, and succeeded Anastasius III in 1154.
Chapter 122
What was the Curia Theobaldi and what role did it play?
The author describes Archbishop Theobald's household as a "little school of the prophets," a seminary where he trained the choicest rising spirits in his own views. Through his scholars came the revival of legal and ecclesiastical learning, renewed contact with western Churches, and negotiations with Rome that restored peace. He then sent them out to independent positions, hoping the Church would find fitting instruments for internal reform.
Chapter 122
Why did Theobald's consecration of Roger of Pont-l'Evêque prove a mistake?
Theobald elevated his archdeacon Roger to archbishop of York, hoping to seat a loyal disciple pledged to his ecclesiastical policy. But he consecrated Roger without requiring a profession of obedience, missing the chance to secure Canterbury's superior rights. The author says Theobald never discovered his error; Roger's old rival, and the English Church, bore its unhappy consequences.
Chapter 122
CHAPTER XI. (part 2)4 cards
How did John of Salisbury come to join Archbishop Theobald's household?
After about twelve years in the schools, John, without means, was sheltered by his friend Peter, abbot of Celle, as his nominal clerk. Peter supplied the means and St Bernard, who had discovered John's merits, furnished a letter of commendation to Theobald. John then made his way to the archbishop's court and soon became one of its busiest and most valued members.
Chapter 123
What did John of Salisbury do for Thomas Becket, and what did he count his chief honour?
John served Becket faithfully through good and evil report, clearing his path at risk to himself, criticizing his errors fearlessly while trying to avert their consequences and cover his retreat, and making light of his own poverty and exile. To the end of his life he counted Becket's friendship his chief title of honour, letting his own lustre brighten his friend's reputation.
Chapter 123
What abuses does the Polycraticus criticize in Henry II's England?
John sets first the inordinate love of the chase and the cruelties of the forest-law, despite dedicating the book to the chancellor who loved hunting. He also complains of the tardiness of royal justice and corrupt judges, whom he puns on as 'justices errant,' and of the decay of valour among young knights, as chivalry sank into mere formality, with consequences felt on the Welsh border.
Chapter 123
What does the author argue about John of Salisbury's character and position?
The author argues John was fit for far higher positions in Church or state, given his genial temper, sound and disinterested judgement, wit, scholarship, and worldly experience. Yet he never thought of his own position except as a means of serving others; his motto might have been 'I am a man under authority.' He left leadership to others and served them faithfully.
Chapter 123
CHAPTER XI. (part 3)3 cards
Who secured Gilbert Foliot's appointment as abbot of S. Peter's, Gloucester, in 1139?
Miles the constable, lord of Gloucester castle and sheriff of the county, secured the vacant abbey for Gilbert Foliot, who was a family connexion of his own. Stephen assented, though Norgate suggests this was hardly from favour to Miles, who had openly defied the king a year earlier; fear of offending a formidable deserter or reports of Gilbert's merits may have moved him.
Chapter 124
What position did Gilbert Foliot consistently occupy during his nine years at Gloucester?
Norgate says Gilbert consistently occupied what seems to have been his ideal through life: that of a churchman pure and simple, attached to no mere party in Church or state, but ready to work with each and all for ecclesiastical order and national tranquillity. Though he sympathized with the Angevin cause, his sympathies led him into no political partizanship.
Chapter 124
How did Gilbert Foliot become bishop of Hereford?
Theobald commanded Gilbert's attendance on the forbidden journey to Reims in 1148. Gilbert first excused himself, pleading the troubles of his house, but went nevertheless. When Bishop Robert of Hereford died during the council's session, the Pope and the primate rewarded Gilbert with the vacant see. He then did homage to Stephen for its temporalities despite earlier swearing to hold them only of Henry Fitz-Empress.
Chapter 124
D. Hardy’s _Itin. K. John_, a. 1 (_Introd. Pat. Rolls_). (part 1)4 cards
What terms did Philip demand of John at their personal meeting after the Midsummer truce expired?
Philip complained that John had occupied his brother's territories without investiture from and homage to Philip, calling it an unpardonable wrong. He required John to cede the whole Vexin to Philip in absolute ownership, and Poitou and the three Angevin counties for the benefit of Arthur. John refused, not yet being desperate enough to accept such humiliation.
Chapter 126
Why did William des Roches desert Philip and surrender Le Mans to John?
Philip celebrated capturing Ballon by levelling it, though it stood on Cenomannian soil and by Philip's own proclaimed theory should have gone to Arthur. William des Roches, Arthur's seneschal, protested this injury to his young lord; Philip retorted he would not for Arthur's sake refrain from dealing as he pleased with his own acquisitions. All his Breton allies momentarily deserted him.
Chapter 126
What did the treaty signed at Gouleton on May 22, 1200 concede to John?
The thirty thousand marks due to Philip were reduced to twenty thousand; Arthur was acknowledged as owing homage to his uncle for Britanny; and John was formally recognized by the French king as rightful heir to all his father's and elder brother's dominions. John did resign his claims on the Berry fiefs in favour of Blanche and Louis.
Chapter 126
How did John's marriage to Isabella of Angoulême disrupt the Lusignan family settlement?
Isabella, Ademar's only child, had been betrothed in boyhood to young Hugh the Brown of Lusignan and educated with him, in hopes their marriage would heal the family feud and unite Angoulême and La Marche. As soon as Ademar learned a king wanted his daughter, he took her from her bridegroom; she married John at Angoulême at the end of August.
Chapter 126
D. Hardy’s _Itin. K. John_, a. 1 (_Introd. Pat. Rolls_). (part 2)4 cards
What did Philip II do to force the surrender of Hugh of Gournay's castle?
Philip broke down the embankment holding back a reservoir connected to the river and the moat, releasing a flood that undermined the castle walls and nearly swept them away. The defenders had to escape and take shelter in the neighbouring forest. This was the last stronghold on the Norman border still loyal to the ducal house, held by Hugh of Gournay.
Chapter 127
What did Philip of France grant Arthur at Gournay after the campaign?
Philip gave Arthur the hand of his infant daughter Mary, the honour of knighthood, and investiture of all the Angevin dominions except the duchy of Normandy, which Philip evidently intended to conquer and keep for himself by right of conquest. Mary was one of the two children of Agnes of Merania, legitimatized by Innocent III.
Chapter 127
Why did Arthur and the Poitevin lords besiege Eleanor at Mirebeau?
They hoped capturing Eleanor would bring John to his knees. She was his most devoted ally and sagacious counsellor in continental affairs, and in strict feudal law she was still duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, a right untouched by John's forfeiture. So long as she lived to assert her claims for John, she could make that forfeiture null and void south of the Loire.
Chapter 127
What happened to Arthur and the besiegers when John reached Mirebeau?
John received news of his mother's danger on July 30 near Le Mans and appeared before Mirebeau on August 1. The town was lost and all castle gates but one broken down, with Eleanor in the keep. John's troops surprised and overpowered the besiegers, killing or capturing them all, including the Lusignans and Arthur himself.
Chapter 127
D. Hardy’s _Itin. K. John_, a. 1 (_Introd. Pat. Rolls_). (part 3)4 cards
How did John respond to messengers reporting Philip's conquests in Normandy?
John repeatedly told messengers to leave Philip alone, saying he would one day win back all that was being taken from him. He stayed inactive at Rouen while Philip captured castles such as Conches and Vaudreuil and imprisoned John's seneschals. The author notes that some barons attributed his indifference to magic, and many eventually abandoned him or joined Philip.
Chapter 128
Why did Philip target Château-Gaillard, and who commanded its garrison?
Philip concentrated all his energies on Château-Gaillard because there was no hope of voluntary surrender. John had entrusted the fortress to Roger de Lacy, constable of Chester, an English baron with no stake in Normandy whose interests were bound to the English king, and who was described as dauntless and highly capable militarily. The author states the place could only be won by a regular siege.
Chapter 128
How did the French breach the stockade and cross the Seine at Les Andelys?
While Philip's engines kept the island garrison occupied with missiles, a youth named Gaubert of Mantes and bold comrades swam with axes and hewed a breach in the stockade wide enough for boats. Flat-bottomed barges were moored across the stream as a bridge foundation, reinforced with stakes and towers, allowing Philip and most of his host to cross and encamp under the Lesser Andely.
Chapter 128
Why did John's night attack and river convoy fail to relieve Les Andelys?
John entrusted a night attack to William the Marshal, who was better suited to daylight action. The Marshal's troops routed sleeping camp-followers but were then driven off with heavy loss. The fleet, delayed by difficult navigation on the Seine, arrived late; the French sank two foremost ships with a heavy oaken beam, and the rest fled. The delay ruined John's plan, and the island fort soon fell.
Chapter 128
D. Hardy’s _Itin. K. John_, a. 1 (_Introd. Pat. Rolls_). (part 4)4 cards
What did John do to help Château-Gaillard during the three-month French investment?
According to the chapter, John did absolutely nothing: after returning briefly to Rouen in early October he made no move to check the blockade, then flitted aimlessly through the duchy, dismantled Pont-de-l'Arche, Moulineaux and Montfort, left Rouen on November 12, quit Normandy altogether on December 6, and kept Christmas at Canterbury at Archbishop Hubert's expense while the garrison held out for his sake.
Chapter 129
How did Bogis and his companions get inside John's new building at Château-Gaillard?
A young squire nicknamed Bogis spotted a small unbarred window at the south-eastern corner of the rampart, the sole external opening in John's new building. He and a few comrades scrambled down a shallower part of the ditch, crossed it, climbed the slope, and Bogis reached the window standing on a comrade's shoulders. He sprang in, lowered a rope, and drew the others up into the storehouse under the chapel.
Chapter 129
What architectural error of Richard's helped Philip finally take the citadel?
The chapter says Richard made the citadel's sole gate open at a less accessible point to the north-east, but most unaccountably left a portion of rock as a natural bridge over the ditch instead of a drawbridge. A wheeled 'cat' was crawled across it to the gate, sappers undermined the wall, and after a countermine and heavy engine fire the wall collapsed, leading to the garrison's surrender on March 6, 1204.
Chapter 129
What did John tell his remaining constables after Château-Gaillard fell?
When the constables of the remaining fortresses sent messages describing their difficulties and remonstrating with him for his tardiness, John bade them look for nothing from him and do each whatsoever they thought good. The chapter notes that on that March day he lost not only Château-Gaillard but his whole continental dominions north of the Loire, and within three months the duchy submitted.
Chapter 129
D. Hardy’s _Itin. K. John_, a. 1 (_Introd. Pat. Rolls_). (part 5)4 cards
Why was John's 1205 expedition to Poitou called off, and what did the troops do?
Archbishop Hubert and William the Marshal urgently entreated John to cancel the expedition, and after a show of resistance he yielded. The soldiers and sailors were fined in commutation of their services and dismissed, grumbling bitterly. John gained a considerable sum of money, and the primate and marshal took on themselves the shame of it.
Chapter 130
What happened when John was asked to sign the truce of Thouars in October 1206?
The terms were formally drawn up at Thouars on October 26, but when John's signature was required he could not be found. He had slipped away the night before and was out of reach at La Rochelle, from where he sailed for England on December 12.
Chapter 130
What did John say on hearing of Archbishop Hubert's death, and what does Norgate make of it?
John exclaimed, "Now for the first time am I truly king of England!" Norgate calls this the comment of an ungrateful master and words of ill omen for John himself even more than for his people, since he was now king of England and of England alone.
Chapter 130
How does Norgate characterize England at the point John is left with it alone?
The author argues England was no longer the exhausted, divided country once absorbed into Henry of Anjou's dominions. It was a new England, grown up silently under Henry, his ministers, and his successor's ministers, able to stand alone. Between this new England and its stranger-king, the day of reckoning was to come.
Chapter 130
M.4 cards
What does Norgate conclude about the three possible grantors of Maine to Geoffrey?
Norgate reasons that if Robert I granted Maine to an Angevin count, it was not Geoffrey Greygown, since Geoffrey was not born in 923. If Robert II granted it, Geoffrey was already dead. So if the grant was made to Geoffrey at all, it can only have been by Hugh Capet.
Chapter 131
How do the Angevin historians allegedly misuse Geoffrey Greygown?
Norgate argues the Angevin historians, knowing nothing of Geoffrey's real history, used him as a convenient lay figure on which to hang all pretensions wanting a foundation and all stories wanting a hero, in defiance of facts and dates. She notes they even transferred to him the capture of Melun in 999, an exploit that could only belong to Fulk Nerra.
Chapter 131
Why does Norgate doubt M. Mabille's objection about Mirebeau?
Mabille objected that the real Fulk Rechin would not have said Geoffrey pursued William to Mirebeau, a place that did not exist until Fulk Nerra built the castle in 1000. Norgate replies that Fulk may simply have meant the place where Mirebeau now stands, and that even if he thought the name existed in Greygown's day, that proves nothing against his identity, since Count Fulk could make slips like anyone else.
Chapter 131
What does the Gesta Consulum say King Robert granted Geoffrey?
The Gesta Consulum states that David of Maine and Geoffrey of Corbon refused homage to King Robert. The loyal Geoffrey of Anjou took his rebel namesake's castle of Mortagne and forced him to submit, while David held out. Robert then made a formal grant of David and his Cenomannia to Greygown and his heirs for ever.
Chapter 131
M.4 cards
What does the unprinted MS. of R. Glaber's history say about Constance's mother?
It describes Constance as "neptem prædicti Fulconis ... natam de Blancâ sorore ejus"—the niece of Fulk, born of his sister Blanche. The Gesta Consulum adopts this version. Norgate notes this as one of three pieces of evidence, but it conflicts with Bishop Ivo of Chartres, who makes Constance's mother a sister of Geoffrey Greygown rather than of Fulk.
Chapter 132
Whom does Norgate identify as Constance's mother, and on what grounds?
Norgate argues Constance's mother was Adelaide, called Blanche, who married King Louis the Lazy between 978 and 981, divorced after two years, then married William I of Arles around 982–983. Norgate says the dates fit exactly: William's first wife Arsindis was dead, and a daughter born then would be in her prime at Constance's marriage in 1000.
Chapter 132
How does Norgate assess the claim that Blanche was a daughter of Fulk the Good?
Norgate notes that only the Chron. S. Albin. makes this claim, that nobody else knew Blanche's origin, and that this "perplexed and perplexing" chronicler is a doubtful authority. Still, Norgate allows there is no intrinsic impossibility and that a tradition of Constance's kinship with the Angevins existed in the early twelfth century. From the dates, Norgate thinks Blanche was more likely Greygown's daughter than his sister.
Chapter 132
What does Note C conclude about the number and dates of Fulk Nerra's pilgrimages?
Norgate says sources disagree, but at least three journeys are abundantly evident: one before Beaulieu's foundation, one after Beaulieu and before S. Nicolas, and one from which he died. His death at Metz on June 21st, 1040 is undisputed, fixing the last pilgrimage. The first is fixed to 1003 by a charter Mabille quotes. The second's date and the third's reality remain undecided.
Chapter 132
M.4 cards
What date does the Baluze charter give for Bishop Rainald's death, and why is it doubted?
The Baluze charter dates Rainald's death to 1010, saying he died at Embrun while journeying to Jerusalem with 'Fulco vicecomes.' Norgate finds the date suspicious: the Chronicles of S. Albin, Vindoc, S. Flor, and the Obituary of S. Maurice all give 1005, and the Chron. S. Serg. dates his successor Hubert's consecration to 1007.
Chapter 133
Why does Norgate doubt that 'Fulco vicecomes' in the charter is Fulk Nerra?
The authors of Gallia Christiana quote the same charter but comment 'Fulco sedenim comes,' treating this Fulk as someone other than the count, since they describe the bishop's dealings with Fulk the Black long before 1010. Norgate notes they evidently take this Fulk to be someone else, though she wishes their witnesses were known.
Chapter 133
How does Norgate explain the Gesta's mention of Count Maurice, and what does it imply?
Since Maurice was Fulk's younger brother, never count, Norgate argues the tale is either pure myth or a distorted account of a regency Maurice held during Fulk's absence. A charter shows Fulk left his brother as regent on his first pilgrimage, so he may have done so again. On this theory, dating the Landry war dates Fulk's second pilgrimage, which she places in 1014–1015.
Chapter 133
What are the four pilgrimages of Fulk Nerra that Norgate settles on?
Norgate concludes the pilgrimages were: 1) 1003; 2) 1014–1015; 3) 1034–1035; 4) 1040. She rejects William of Malmesbury's version, which places the last journey about 1036–1037 and has Fulk dying at home, because it contradicts the Gesta, R. Diceto, and Fulk Rechin, who report his death on pilgrimage.
Chapter 133
M. Meyer’s note, _ib._ p. 69.4 cards
What did Henry promise Geoffrey during his final illness, and what did Geoffrey reply?
Henry told Geoffrey he had always been a true son and swore that, if he recovered, he would be the best of fathers and set Geoffrey among the chief men of the realm; if he died, may God reward him. Geoffrey answered that he desired no reward but his father's restoration to health and prosperity, then rushed out, overcome by emotion.
Chapter 134
What did the dying Henry hope to arrange for Geoffrey, and what gifts did he give him?
Henry murmured that he had hoped to see Geoffrey bishop of Winchester, or better still archbishop of York. He took off a gold finger-ring engraved with a leopard, the Angevin armorial device, and told Geoffrey to send it to the king of Castille, husband of his daughter Eleanor. He also directed that another precious ring from his treasures be given to Geoffrey, and gave him his blessing.
Chapter 134
How was Henry's body treated after death, and who arranged the burial?
Servants stripped the corpse and left it naked; they had plundered him during the three days of dying, and friends could find no cloth to cover him until the knight William de Trihan gave his own cloak. William the Marshal took command, summoned barons, had the corpse robed, and arranged a regal burial at Fontevraud within twenty-four hours despite having no resources.
Chapter 134
How did Richard behave at Fontevraud, and how did he treat William the Marshal?
Richard showed no sign of grief or joy and spoke not a word, going straight to the choir where the body lay. Some thought they saw blood flow from the dead king's nostrils until Richard left. After kneeling about the length of the Lord's Prayer, he called William the Marshal, noted the marshal had nearly slain him, and granted him a kingly pardon at once when William said he did not repent.
Chapter 134
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Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #68348 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-26. Cards reviewed 2026-10-26.
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