The History of England, Volume I Henry I Accommodation with Robert
by David Hume
The two armies lay in sight of each other for some days without coming
to action; and both princes, being apprehensive of the event, which
would probably be decisive, hearkened the more willingly to the
counsels of Anselm and the other great men, who mediated an
accommodation between them. After employing some negotiation, it was
agreed that Robert should resign his pretensions to England, and
receive in lieu of them an annual pension of three thousand marks;
that, if either of the princes died without issue, the other should
succeed to his dominions; that the adherents of each should be
pardoned and restored to all their possessions either in Normandy or
England; and that neither Robert nor Henry should thenceforth
encourage, receive, or protect the enemies of the other [s].
[ [s] Chron. Sax. p. 209. W. Malmes. p. 156.]
[MN 1102.] This treaty, though calculated so much for Henry’s
advantage, he was the first to violate. He restored, indeed, the
estates of all Robert's adherents; but was secretly determined, that
noblemen so powerful and so ill-affected, who had both inclination and
ability to disturb his government, should not long remain unmolested
in their present opulence and grandeur. He began with the Earl of
Shrewsbury, who was watched for some time by spies, and then indicted
on a charge, consisting of forty-five articles. This turbulent
nobleman, knowing his own guilt, as well as the prejudices of his
judges and the power of his prosecutor, had recourse to arms for
defence; but, being soon suppressed by the activity and address of
Henry, he was banished the kingdom, and his great estate was
confiscated. His ruin involved that of his two brothers, Arnulf de
Montgomery, and Roger Earl of Lancaster. Soon after followed the
prosecution and condemnation of Robert de Pontefract, and Robert de
Mallet, who had distinguished themselves among Robert's adherents.
[MN 1103.] William de Warenne was the next victim: even William Earl
of Cornwall, son of the Earl of Mortaigne, the king's uncle, having
given matter of suspicion against him, lost all the vast acquisitions
of his family in England. Though the usual violence and tyranny of
the Norman barons afforded a plausible pretence for those
prosecutions, and it is probable that none of the sentences pronounced
against these noblemen was wholly iniquitous, men easily saw or
conjectured, that the chief part of their guilt was not the injustice
or illegality of their conduct. Robert, enraged at the fate of his
friends, imprudently ventured to come into England; and he
remonstrated with his brother, in severe terms, against this breach of
treaty; but met with so bad a reception, that he began to apprehend
danger to his own liberty, and was glad to purchase an escape by
resigning his pension.
The indiscretion of Robert soon exposed him to more fatal injuries.
This prince, whose bravery and candour procured him respect while at a
distance, had no sooner attained the possession of power and enjoyment
of peace, than all the vigour of his mind relaxed, and he fell into
contempt among those who approached his person, or were subjected to
his authority. Alternately abandoned to dissolute pleasures and to
womanish superstition, he was so remiss, both in the care of his
treasure and the exercise of his government, that his servants
pillaged his money with impunity, stole from him his very clothes, and
proceeded thence to practise every species of extortion on his
defenceless subjects. The barons, whom a severe administration alone
could have restrained, gave reins to their unbounded rapine upon their
vassals, and inveterate animosities against each other; and all
Normandy, during the reign of this benign prince, was become a scene
of violence and depredation.
