APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
NOTE ON THE SOURCES
In a field already so well explored as that of Normandy and England in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, there is little need to enter into a detailed discussion of primary materials. A brief review, however, of the sources upon which the present volume is based may be a convenience and serve a useful purpose.
Among the narrative sources for the life of Robert Curthose, the Historia Ecclesiastica[1] of Ordericus Vitalis is, of course, by far the most important. One of the greatest historical writers of the twelfth century, the monk of Saint-Évroul has treated of Robert’s character and career at great length and with much vivacity and insight. And while one may admit with Gaston Le Hardy[2] that he was no friend of the duke, indeed, that as a churchman and as a lover of peace and of strong and orderly government he was strongly prejudiced against him and sometimes treated him unfairly, still it must be confessed that in the main his strictures are confirmed by other evidence and are presumably justified. Unfortunately, Ordericus Vitalis stands almost alone among early Norman writers in paying attention to the career of Robert Curthose. Some assistance, however, has been gained from William of Poitiers[3] and from the Gesta Normannorum Ducum, a composite work once solely attributed to William of Jumièges, but now at last made available in a critical edition which distinguishes the parts actually written by William of Jumièges, Ordericus Vitalis, Robert of Torigny, and others.[4] The Roman de Rou of Wace[5] has also been drawn upon, sometimes rather freely, but it is hoped always with due caution and discretion, for much picturesque detail concerning events in western Normandy, about which the author clearly possessed special information. For Robert’s relations with Maine, the contemporary Actus Pontificum Cenomannis in Urbe degentium[6] have been an almost constant guide, often confirming and even supplementing the more extensive but less precise narrative of Ordericus Vitalis. Matter of much importance has also from time to time been gleaned from the works of French and Flemish writers, such as the famous Vie de Louis le Gros by Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis,[7] the anonymous Chronique de Morigny,[8] and the Histoire du Meurtre de Charles le Bon by Galbert of Bruges.[9]
The English writers of the period have naturally proved invaluable. Of these, William of Malmesbury,[10] as we should expect, possesses the keenest insight into Robert’s character; but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle treats[11] of the events of Robert’s life with greater fulness and in more coherent and trustworthy chronological order. Florence of Worcester[12] is in general dependent upon the Chronicle, but occasionally he presents a different view or supplementary matter of independent value; and the same may be said of the Historia Regum, which is commonly attributed to Simeon of Durham,[13] in its relation to Florence of Worcester. Henry of Huntingdon,[14] who is also largely dependent upon the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, professes himself a first-hand authority from the accession of Robert Curthose and William Rufus to the ducal and royal thrones in 1087;[15] and his narrative becomes increasingly valuable as it advances, though he cannot be considered a really independent writer before 1126, i.e., a score of years after the close of Duke Robert’s active career at the battle of Tinchebray. For all the facts bearing upon Robert’s life with which it deals, the Historia Novorum in Anglia of Eadmer,[16] the companion and confidential adviser of Archbishop Anselm, is a strictly contemporary narrative of the highest value, though its specialized character considerably restricts its usefulness for the purposes of the present study. The brief chronicle of Hyde abbey,[17] which was compiled during the reign of Henry I, has often proved helpful, as have also other minor monastic narratives such as the chronicle of Abingdon[18] and the annals of Winchester,[19] of Waverley,[20] etc.
The documentary sources for the life of Robert Curthose are very meagre; but, such as they are, they are now all conveniently accessible. As a result of prolonged researches in the archives and libraries of Normandy and in the Bibliothèque Nationale, and after a careful sifting of all the printed materials, Professor Charles H. Haskins has been able to give us, in another volume of the Harvard Historical Studies, a definitive edition of seven hitherto unpublished ducal charters, together with a complete and annotated list of all the charters of the reign.[21] The best guides to the remainder of the documentary material bearing upon Robert’s life are the Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum by H. W. C. Davis[22] and the Calendar of Documents preserved in France illustrative of the History of Great Britain and Ireland by J. H. Round.[23] While both these works leave something to be desired, they have proved invaluable in the preparation of the present study; and it is earnestly to be hoped that the publication of the second volume of Davis’s work, containing the charters of Henry I, will not be long delayed.[24] For the full texts of documents, and for other scattered materials not calendared by either Round or Davis, it has been necessary to consult many special collections, e.g., the Livre noir of Bayeux cathedral,[25] the Chartes de Saint-Julien de Tours,[26] the Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Vincent du Mans,[27] the letters of Pascal II,[28] of Ivo of Chartres,[29] and of St. Anselm,[30] which are too numerous to be listed here in detail, and which have been fully cited in their proper places in footnotes.
The Crusade forms a special chapter in the record of Robert’s life for which it is necessary to draw upon a different group of sources. Of works by contemporary or early writers on the Crusade, the anonymous Gesta Francorum[31] is, of course, invaluable for all the facts with which it deals; but the Historia Hierosolymitana of Fulcher of Chartres[32] has proved of even greater service in the present study, because of the author’s close association with Robert Curthose on the Crusade from the time when the expedition left Normandy until it reached Marash in Armenia; concerning later events also Fulcher was by no means ill informed. The Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem of Raymond of Aguilers[33] is also a first-hand narrative by an eyewitness; and, while the author is at times rather hostile to Duke Robert and the Normans, he is nevertheless invaluable as representing the point of view of the Provençaux. Inferior to any of the foregoing, but still by a writer who was in the East and who was well informed, the Gesta Tancredi of Ralph of Caen[34] has proved of great assistance, as has also the voluminous, but less trustworthy, work of Albert of Aix,[35] which, when it has been possible to check it with other evidence, has contributed valuable information. Of western writers on the Crusade who did not actually make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, apart from Ordericus Vitalis,[36] who has already been mentioned, Guibert of Nogent[37] and Baldric, archbishop of Dol,[38] have been most helpful. The English writers, except William of Malmesbury,[39]—whose account is based almost wholly upon Fulcher of Chartres, and, apart from an occasional detail, is of little value—have not treated the Crusade with any fulness, and are of little service except for the beginnings of the movement. Of the Greek sources only the Alexiad of Anna Comnena[40] has been of much assistance. The Oriental writers are in general too late to be of great importance for the First Crusade, and they had, of course, no particular interest in Robert Curthose; but their writings have not been overlooked, and Matthew of Edessa,[41] Ibn el-Athir,[42] Kemal ed-Din,[43] and Usama ibn Munkidh[44] have been of service. The contemporary letters bearing upon the Crusade have been admirably edited, with exhaustive critical notes, by Heinrich Hagenmeyer.[45] Of charters, or documents in the strict sense of the word, there are almost none relating to the Crusade; but such as there are, they have been rendered easily accessible by the painstaking calendar of documents dealing with the history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem by Reinhold Röhricht.[46] It would be going too far afield to describe at this point the scattered materials from which the attempt has been made to draw up a list of the known associates and followers of Robert on the Crusade. They are fully cited in Appendix D.
For the chapter on Robert Curthose in legend, with which the narrative part of the present volume ends, it has been necessary to depart from the narrow chronological limits within which the rest of our researches have been conducted, and to explore a wide range of literature extending to the close of the Middle Ages. Most of the Robert legends make their appearance early, and can be traced to a certain extent in William of Malmesbury and Henry of Huntingdon and in Robert the Monk and Ralph of Caen. But their elaboration was in the main the work of chroniclers and romancers of a later period. Among Norman and English sources, the works of Geoffrey Gaimar, Wace, William of Newburgh, Ralph de Diceto, and Ralph Niger have proved most helpful for the twelfth century; of Roger of Wendover, Matthew Paris, and Robert of Gloucester, together with the anonymous Flores Historiarum and Livere de reis de Engletere, for the thirteenth; of Peter Langtoft, Ranulf Higden, and Henry Knighton, together with the anonymous Eulogium Historiarum, for the fourteenth; while Thomas Walsingham in the fifteenth century has occasionally been of service. Much material of a legendary character relating to Robert’s exploits in the Holy War has also been gleaned from the various versions of the poetic cycle of the Crusade, the most notable of which are the Chanson d’Antioche of the late twelfth century, the Chanson de Jérusalem, which probably dates from the thirteenth century, and the Chevalier au Cygne et Godefroid de Bouillon, edited by the Baron de Reiffenberg, which belongs to the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Such detailed criticism as it has seemed necessary to make of these widely scattered materials bearing upon Robert Curthose in legend has been placed in the footnotes of Chapter VIII, where the editions used have also been fully cited.