[17] Ordericus (iii, pp. 268-270) speaks as though the conspiracy was started late in 1087, but his account lacks convincing precision and definiteness; and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a. 1087 for 1088) which is followed by Florence of Worcester (ii, p. 22), makes the positive statement that the plot was formed during Lent. Further, we know from Henry of Huntingdon (p. 211) that the bishop of Bayeux was present at the king’s Christmas court in 1087.
[18] A.-S. C., a. 1087.
[19] Ordericus Vitalis (iii, pp. 268-270) seems to indicate that it was begun in Normandy at some sort of a secret gathering of the barons; but the English writers convey the impression that it originated in England. Cf. William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 360; Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 21; Henry of Huntingdon, p. 214. It may, of course, have had a double origin.
[20] Henry of Huntingdon, p. 211.
[21] William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 360; cf. Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 21; Ordericus, iii, p. 270; Freeman, William Rufus, ii, pp. 466-467.
[22] William of Malmesbury G. R., ii, p. 360.
[23] The early writers are sharply divided in their account of William of Saint-Calais in connection with the rebellion of 1088. The southern English writers believed him guilty of treason. A.-S. C., a. 1087; Florence of Worcester, ii, pp. 21-22; Henry of Huntingdon, p. 214; William of Malmesbury, G. R., ii, p. 360. But a contemporary narrative by a Durham writer, who was an eyewitness of the bishop’s trial, represents him as the persecuted victim of malicious enemies who had poisoned the king’s mind against him. De Iniusta Vexatione Willelmi Episcopi Primi, in Simeon of Durham, Opera Omnia, ed. Thomas Arnold (London, 1882-85), i, pp. 170-195. And it should be remembered that his condemnation by the curia regis was not for the treason with which he was charged, but for his refusal to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the court. On the treatise De Iniusta Vexatione see Appendix B.
[24] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a. 1087) and Florence of Worcester (ii, p. 22) make the positive statement that the revolt broke out after Easter (16 April); but we know from a more reliable source that William Rufus took the first active measures against the bishop of Durham on 12 March, and it is clear that the rebellion was already under way at this time. De Iniusta Vexatione, in Simeon, Opera, i, p. 171; cf. p. 189.
[25] Florence of Worcester, ii, p. 21: “pars etenim nobiliorum Normannorum favebat regi Willelmo, sed minima; pars vero altera favebat Rotberto comiti Normannorum, et maxima”; A.-S. C., a. 1087; Henry of Huntingdon, p. 214. In general on the rebellion of 1088 and all the problems connected with it see Freeman, William Rufus, i, pp. 22 ff.; ii, appendices b, c, d, e.
[26] Ordericus, iii, p. 272.