[33] Supra, n. 12.
[34] William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 331: “aliquantula simultas inter eos innata extremis annis fuerit pro Roberto filio, cui mater militarem manum ex fisci redditibus sufficere dicebatur”; Ordericus (ii, pp. 382-383) is much more detailed.
[35] Ordericus, ii, pp. 382-383.
[36] Ibid., pp. 386-387.
[37] Ordericus, ii, pp. 386-387; cf. Florence of Worcester, ii, pp. 12-13.
[38] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle seems to place the siege at the end of 1079, but this is an error. A.-S. C., a. 1079. The siege took place after Christmas 1078 and in the early weeks of 1079. Ordericus, ii, p. 387. This is made certain by a charter of Philip I in favor of Saint-Quentin of Beauvais, dated “in obsidione … circa Gerborredum, anno … millesimo septuagesimo viiiiⁿᵒ anno vero regni Philippi regis Francorum ixⁿᵒ xᵐᵒ.” Recueil des actes de Philippe Iᵉʳ, roi de France, ed. Maurice Prou (Paris, 1908), no. 94. Freeman, though having this charter in hand, still dates the siege in 1079-80. Norman Conquest, iv, pp. 642-643. But Prou has shown conclusively that Freeman is in error and that the correct date is unquestionably January 1079. Op. cit., p. 242, n. 1.
[39] Ordericus, ii, pp. 387-388.
[40] A.-S. C., a. 1079; Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 13.
[41] A.-S. C., a. 1079; Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 13; William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 317; Henry of Huntingdon, p. 206. According to the Chronicle the king was wounded in the hand, according to Florence in the arm. The Chronicon in Liber de Hyda, p. 279, is still different, stating that the king was wounded in the foot by an arrow.
[42] A.-S. C., a. 1079. Freeman with patriotic pride makes much of this exploit of Tokig the Englishman; but there appears to be no valid reason for accepting, as Freeman does, this version from the Chronicle and rejecting the different version of Florence of Worcester. Norman Conquest, iv, pp. 643-644; cf. pp. 850-852.