[72] Ordericus, ii, p. 256. Ordericus says that Fulk had the support of Hoël, duke of Brittany; but his narrative is confused—he apparently puts together the first and second sieges of La Flèche and treats them as one—and it is impossible to say whether Breton aid was given during Fulk’s first or second expedition.
[73] “Blessé grièvement à la jambe, à la suite d’un accident de cheval, et quittant le siège de la Flèche pour se faire transporter par eau à Angers.” Halphen, Anjou, p. 311, no. 233—from an eighteenth century copy of an undated notice in the cartulary of Saint-Nicolas of Angers.
[74] “Eo tempore quo Willelmus rex Anglorum cum Fulcone Andegavensi comite iuxta castellum Vallium treviam accepit.” Cartulaire de Saint-Vincent, no. 99. The document is undated, but it is witnessed by Abbot William of Saint-Vincent, who was appointed bishop of Durham 5 November 1080 and consecrated 3 January 1081. The ‘trevia’ of this document, therefore, cannot refer to the treaty of La Bruère (1081) and it seems probable that it refers to a truce concluded after the failure of the first attack upon La Flèche.
[75] “MLXXXI… Fulcho Rechim castrum Fisse cepit et succendit.” Annales de Saint-Aubin, in Halphen, Annales p. 5. “MLXXXI. In hoc anno … comes Andecavorum Fulcho iunior obsedit castrum quoddam quod Fissa Iohannis dicitur atque cepit necnon succendit.” Annales dites de Renaud, ibid., p. 88. Ordericus Vitalis does not admit that La Flèche was taken, doubtless because of the confusion which he makes between the two sieges. Ordericus, ii, p. 256.
[76] On the exaggeration of numbers by mediaeval chroniclers, see J. H. Ramsay, “Chroniclers’ Estimates of Numbers and Official Records,” in E. H. R., xviii (1903), pp. 625-629; and cf. the same, “The Strength of English Armies in the Middle Ages,” ibid., xxix (1914), pp. 221-227.
[77] Ordericus (ii, pp. 256-257) has given a spirited account; but he manifestly wrote without any clear conception of the geographical or topographical setting of the proposed engagement, and all efforts to render his account intelligible have proved in vain. For a discussion of the problems involved and of the conjectures which have been made, see Halphen, Anjou, p. 184.
[78] Freeman conjectures that this is the “ubiquitous Hubert,” cardinal legate of Gregory VII. Norman Conquest, iv, p. 562.
[79] Ordericus, ii, pp. 257-258.
[80] “Qui et ipse a Fulcone bello lacessitus, obsidibus pacis pro fide datis fratre suo, consule videlicet Mauritanie, et filio suo et multis aliis, recessit.” Halphen, Annales, p. 88.
[81] “Haec nimirum pax, quae inter regem et praefatum comitem in loco, qui vulgo Blancalanda vel Brueria dicitur, facta est, omni vita regis ad profectum utriusque provinciae permansit.” Ordericus, ii, p. 258.