Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy

by Charles W. David

Now, of the actual presence of English mariners on the Syrian coast acting in coöperation with the crusaders, there can be no doubt. Apart from the foregoing narrative, the fact is proved beyond question (a) by the well known letter of the clergy and people of Lucca in which they state that their citizen Bruno had journeyed from Italy to Antioch “with English ships,” had taken part in the siege, and had stayed on for three weeks after the victory;[9] and (b) by the letter of Patriarch Dagobert, written from Jerusalem in the spring of 1100, which mentions the presence of English ships, apparently at Jaffa.[10] While the English ships referred to in these letters are not necessarily, or even probably, identical with those mentioned by Raymond of Aguilers, the letters are still of great importance as demonstrating the general fact of the presence and activity of English mariners at this period in these distant waters.

As will appear below, Raymond’s account receives some further confirmation from Ordericus Vitalis and from Ralph of Caen.

(3) The narrative of Ordericus differs widely from that of Raymond of Aguilers. According to him, at the time when the Christians were themselves being besieged at Antioch (6-28 June 1098), a great number of pilgrims from England and other islands of the ocean landed at Laodicea and were joyfully welcomed by the inhabitants, who accepted their protection against the Turks. The chief among these pilgrims was Edgar Atheling.[11] Taking Laodicea under his protection, Edgar afterwards handed it over to Robert Curthose, whom he loved as a brother. Thus Robert gained possession of Laodicea, and came and dwelt there for some time with Normans, English, and Bretons. Then, leaving his own garrison in the fortresses, Robert pursued his way to Jerusalem. But meanwhile Ravendinos, protospatharius of Emperor Alexius, and other Greek officers came with an expedition by sea, and laid siege to Laodicea; and the citizens, sympathizing with the Greeks, their compatriots, expelled the men from beyond the Alps and admitted imperial governors.[12]

William of Malmesbury is the only other writer who mentions a journey of Edgar Atheling to the Holy Land, and his account is very different from that of Ordericus Vitalis. He makes no mention of English mariners, and he places Edgar’s arrival in the East, in company with a certain Robert, son of Godwin, at the time of the siege of Ramleh by the Saracens (May 1102).[13]

(4) Raymond of Aguilers is authority for the statement that Robert was absent from Antioch in the third month of the siege, apparently about Christmas 1097.[14]

A fuller explanation of this absence seems to be supplied by Ralph of Caen, who says that Robert, disgusted with the tedium of the siege, withdrew to Laodicea in the hope of ruling there; for the English at that time were holding it for the Emperor, and being menaced by a wandering band, had called in Robert as their protector. Robert accordingly went to Laodicea and gave himself up to idleness and sleep. Yet he was not altogether useless, for, having come upon opulence, he shared it generously with his needy comrades at the siege. Laodicea was then the only city on the Syrian coast which was Christian and which obeyed the Emperor; and Cyprus had filled it with an abundance of wine, grain, and cattle. Robert was very loath to turn his back upon such ease and plenty; and it was only after he had been thrice summoned, and even threatened with excommunication, that he reluctantly yielded to the entreaties of his comrades and returned to the hardships of the siege.[15]

From the place which this incident occupies in Ralph’s general narrative one would judge that it belongs to the spring of 1098; but he does not date it exactly, and his chronology at best is confused and by no means trustworthy. It may be conjectured that this account is to be connected with the above mentioned briefer but more trustworthy statement of Raymond of Aguilers, thus placing the episode in the winter of 1097-98. Ralph’s chronology is not to be regarded as impossible, however, since there is no record of Robert’s presence at Antioch between 9 February and the end of May, or even the first of June, and he may very well have enjoyed more than one sojourn in Laodicea.

Further evidence of the duke’s connection with Laodicea is found in a curious statement of Guibert of Nogent that Robert had once held it, but that when the citizens were unable to bear his excessive exactions, they drove his garrison from the fortresses and threw off his domination, and out of hatred abjured the use of the money of Rouen.[16]