[204] Chron. Petrib. 1088. “And se cyng mid his here ferde æfter, and besætt þone castel abutan mid swiðe mycele here fulle six wucan.” The artillery comes from Florence; “Accelerat, machinas parat, patruum utrumque obsidet; locus erat munitissimus; ad expugnationem indies laborat.” William of Malmesbury cuts the siege of Pevensey short, and Orderic leaves it out altogether.
[205] See Appendix E.
[206] See N. C. vol. iii. p. 395.
[207] Liber de Hyda, 299. “Willelmus de Warennia apud obsidionem Peveneselli sagitta in crure valde vulneratus, Leuwias cum omnium mœrore deportatus est.” The writer goes on to describe Earl William’s last testament and death. It will be remembered (see above, [p. 62]) that Orderic makes William of Warren die quietly at a later time; but, small as is the authority of the Hyde writer, it is strange if he altogether invented or dreamed this minute account.
[208] Chron. Petrib. 1088. “Syððan heom ateorede mete wiðinnan þam castele, þa gyrndon hi griðas, and agefan hine þam cynge, and se bisceop swór þæt he wolde út of Englelande faran, and ná mare cuman on þisan lande butan se cyng him æfter sende, and þæt he wolde agyfan þone castel on Hrofeceastre.” So William of Malmesbury (iv. 306); “Captum ad quod libuit jusjurandum impulit, ut Anglia decederet et Rovecestram traderet.”
[209] Chron. u. s. “Ealswa se bisceop ferde and sceolde agifan þone castel and se cyng sende his men mid him.” So Will. Malms. “Ad quod implendum eum cum fidelibus suis præmisit, lento pede præeuntes subsecutus…. Regii cum episcopo pauci et inermes (quis enim eo præsente insidias timeret?) circa muros desiliunt, clamantes oppidanis ut portas aperiant; hoc episcopum præsentem velle, hoc regem absentem jubere.”
[210] Will. Malms. u. s. “At illi, de muro conspicati quod vultus episcopi cum verbis oratorum non conveniret, raptim apertis portis ruunt, equos involant, omnesque cum episcopo vinctos abducunt.” This explains the shorter account in the Chronicle; “þa arisan þa men þe wæron innan þam castele, and namon þone bisceop and þes cynges men, and dydon hi on hæftmenge.” It is now that both the Chronicle and William give the names of the chief nobles who were in the castle. Henry of Huntingdon (1088, p. 215) strongly marks Odo’s treachery; “Eustachius consul et cæteri proceres qui urbi inerant, fallacia ipsius, episcopum regisque ministros ceperunt et in carcerem retruserunt.”
[211] See N. C. vol. ii. p. 104.
[212] Will. Malms, iv. 306. “Ille [rex]…. Anglos suos appellat; jubet ut compatriotas advocent ad obsidionem venire, nisi si qui velint sub nomine Niðing, quod nequam sonat, remanere. Angli, qui nihil miserius putarent quam hujusce vocabuli dedecore aduri, catervatim ad regem confluunt, et invincibilem exercitum faciunt.” This leaves out the fact that the proclamation was addressed both to French and English. The words of the Chronicle are express; “Ða se cyng undergeat þat þing, þa ferde he æfter mid þam here þe he þær hæfde, and sende ofer eall Englalande, and bead þæt ælc man þe wære unniðing sceolde cuman to him, Frencisce and Englisce, of porte and of uppelande.” We can hardly doubt that we have here the actual words of the proclamation. It must not be forgotten that, by the law of the Conqueror, Frenchmen who had settled in King Eadward’s day were counted as English. See N. C. vol. iv. p. 620.
[213] Ord. Vit. 667 B. “Animosus rex … oppidum Maio mense cum grandi exercitu potenter obsedit, firmatisque duobus castellis omnem exeundi facultatem hostibus abstulit.” It must have been late in May, as six weeks had been spent before Pevensey. Indeed, if the siege did begin in the Easter week, it must have been June.