[3] These qualities will become more evident in the sequel. Stenton characterizes Robert as “a gross anticipation of the chivalrous knight of later times.” William the Conqueror, p. 349.
[4] William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 459; Ordericus, ii, p. 295; iii, p. 262.
[5] The inimitable characterization of Ordericus Vitalis is worthy of reproduction in full. “Omnes ducem Rodbertum mollem esse desidemque cognoscebant… Erat quippe idem dux audax et validus, multaque laude dignus; eloquio facundus, sed in regimine sui suorumque inconsideratus, in erogando prodigus, in promittendo diffusus, ad mentiendum levis et incautus, misericors supplicibus, ad iustitiam super iniquo faciendam mollis et mansuetus, in definitione mutabilis, in conversatione omnibus nimis blandus et tractabilis, ideoque perversis et insipientibus despicabilis; corpore autem brevis et grossus, ideoque Brevis Ocrea a patre est cognominatus. Ipse cunctis placere studebat, cunctisque quod petebant aut dabat, aut promittebat, vel concedebat. Prodigus, dominium patrum suorum quotidie imminuebat, insipienter tribuens unicuique quod petebat, et ipse pauperescebat, unde alios contra se roborabat.” Ibid., iii, pp. 262-263. Cf. Ralph of Caen in H. C. Oc., iii, pp. 616, 642; William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, pp. 459-463.
[6] Two charters dated 24 May 1096 at Bayeux, ‘xviiii. anno principatus domni Roberti Willelmi regis Anglorum filii ducis Normannie,’ the one by Robert himself and the other by Odo of Bayeux and attested by Robert. Haskins, pp. 66-67, nos. 3, 4, and n. 19. The style here employed of dating the reign from 1077-78 is unusual. It is ordinarily dated from Robert’s actual accession to the duchy upon the death of the Conqueror in 1087. Cf., e.g., Davis, Regesta, nos. 308, 310.
[7] Ordericus Vitalis makes Robert say: “Quid ergo faciam, vel quid meis clientibus tribuam?… Mercenarius tuus semper esse nolo. Aliquando rem familiarem volo habere, ut mihi famulantibus digna possim stipendia retribuere.” Ordericus, ii, p. 378. Cf. Achille Luchaire, La société française au temps de Philippe-Auguste (Paris, 1909), pp. 280-282, where it is pointed out that such demands and the quarrels and the open warfare which frequently resulted from them were perfectly characteristic of the feudal age.
[8] Ordericus, ii, pp. 294, 377 ff.; William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 459; Registers of Gregory VII, bk. vii, no. 27, in Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum, ed. Philipp Jaffé (Berlin, 1864-73), ii, pp. 420-421.
[9] The date at which the quarrel began is uncertain. It must have been after 13 September 1077, when Robert was present with his parents and William Rufus at the dedication of Saint-Étienne at Caen. Supra, p. 16. The siege of Gerberoy, which marks its termination, took place in December and January 1078-79. Infra, n. 38.
[10] William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, pp. 316-317, 459-460; A.-S.C., a. 1079; Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 12; Chronicon Monasterii de Hyda, in Liber Monasterii de Hyda, ed. Edward Edwards (London, 1866), p. 297; Ordericus, ii, pp. 294-295, 377 ff.; Interpolations de Robert de Torigny, in William of Jumièges, p. 268; Registers of Gregory VII, bk. vii, no. 27, in Jaffé, Bibliotheca, ii, pp. 420-421.
[11] Interpolations de Robert de Torigny, in William of Jumièges, p. 268; cf. Ordericus, ii, pp. 294-295, 389.
[12] Ordericus Vitalis is the only early writer who treats in detail of the quarrels between Robert and the Conqueror. He discusses them at length in two places (ii, pp. 294-298, 377-390), but unfortunately his accounts are confused and very difficult to disentangle. There clearly were two quarrels and two periods during which Robert was in exile. Ordericus himself (ii, p. 390) is specific with regard to this; and we know independently that the first quarrel—followed by a relatively short period of exile—ended in the reconciliation after the siege of Gerberoy (1079) and that Robert was again in exile at the time of the Conqueror’s death (1087). Pretty clearly the second exile was for a longer period than the first. But the two accounts of Ordericus do not deal each with one of these quarrels. Rather they both purport to relate to the earlier quarrel and to the banishment which followed it. Yet it is obvious that Ordericus, lacking contemporary knowledge of the events, has confused the two episodes and has related incidents of the latter as if they belonged to the former. For example (ii, p. 381), he represents Robert as wandering in exile for a period of five years. Clearly this was not after the first quarrel, to which he relates it, since that could have been followed by no such extended banishment. In the narrative detail which follows I have attempted to disentangle the accounts of Ordericus Vitalis conjecturally, striving to preserve something of the vivacity of style of the original, without supposing that I have been able to arrive at rigorous historical accuracy. Ordericus’s own narrative is obviously in a high degree a work of imagination.