[30] It is the thesis of Latouche that “pendant tout le cours du XIᵉ [siècle] le comte du Maine s’était trouvé vis-à-vis de celui d’Anjou dans un état de vassalité,” and he points out that it was the policy of William the Conqueror and Robert Curthose to respect “le principe de la suzeraineté angevine.” Maine, pp. 54-56.
[31] Ibid., p. 35.
[32] Ordericus, ii, p. 253: “Guillelmus autem Normannorum princeps post mortem Herberti iuvenis haereditatem eius obtinuit, et Goisfredus comes Rodberto iuveni cum filia Herberti totum honorem concessit, et hominium debitamque fidelitatem ab illo in praesentia patris apud Alencionem recepit.” Ordericus is the sole authority for this homage; and his account of it is incidental to a brief resumé of the lives of the counts of Maine, and forms no part of his general narrative of William’s conquest of the county in 1063. The date of the homage, therefore, is conjectural. The revolt of the Manceaux took place soon after the death of Count Herbert; and since Geoffrey le Barbu supported the revolt, it seems natural to regard the homage as a final act in the general pacification, and to assign it to 1063. This is the view taken by Latouche (Maine, p. 35) as against Kate Norgate (England under the Angevin Kings, London, 1887, i, p. 217), who places the homage before the revolt.
[33] Latouche, Maine, p. 34.
[34] E.g., [before 1066] charter by Duke William establishing collegiate canons at Cherbourg (Revue catholique de Normandie, x, pp. 46-50); [before 1066] charter by Duke William in favor of Coutances cathedral (Round, C. D. F., no. 957); 1068 (indiction xiii by error for vi), confirmation by King William and by Robert of a charter in favor of La Couture, Le Mans (Cartulaier des abbayes de Saint-Pierre de la Couture et de Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, ed. the Benedictines of Solesmes, Le Mans, 1881, no. 15; cf. Latouche, Maine, p. 147, no. 35); 1074, charter by King William in favor of Bayeux cathedral (Davis, Regesta, no. 76).
[35] A donation by Gradulf, a canon of Saint-Vincent of Le Mans, is dated as follows: “Igitur hec omnia facta sunt in Bellimensi Castro viiiᵒ kal. Septembris, currente xivᵃ indictione, et Philippo rege Francorum regnante Robertoque, Willelmi regis Anglorum filio, Cenomannicam urbem gubernante.” Cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Vincent du Mans, ed. R. Charles and S. Menjot d’Elbenne (Le Mans, 1886), i, no. 589.
[36] Ordericus Vitalis (ii, p. 104) describes her as “speciosam virginem”; William of Poitiers (H. F., xi, p. 86) is more lavish of praise: “Haec generosa virgo, nomine Margarita, insigni specie decentior fuit omni margarita.”
[37] Interpolations de Robert de Torigny, in William of Jumièges, p. 268; William of Poitiers, in H. F., xi, p. 86; Ordericus, ii, p. 104. According to Gallia Christiana (ed. the Benedictines of Saint-Maur and others, Paris, 1715-75, xi, col. 205) Margaret died 13 December 1060; but this is clearly an error, since after the death of Count Herbert II (9 March 1062) she joined with Robert Curthose in doing homage to Geoffrey le Barbu, and this act took place apparently in the year 1063. Ordericus, ii, p. 253; and cf. supra, n. 32. Latouche suggests that the editors of Gallia Christiana have probably taken the day and the month from some obituary and are in error, therefore, only as to the year. Maine, p. 32, n. 6. It is probably only a desire for literary effect which leads William of Poitiers to say that Margaret was snatched away by death shortly before her proposed marriage: “Sed ipsam non longe ante diem quo mortali sponso iungeretur hominibus abstulit Virginis Filius.” Apparently at the time of her death Margaret had become a nun. Robert of Torigny states that she died a ‘virgo Christo devota’, and William of Poitiers says that she died practising great austerities and wearing a hair shirt.
[38] Supra, n. 34.
[39] Supra, n. 25.