[184]. Peterborough Chronicle, 1066. “And menn guldon him gyld ... and sithan heora land bohtan.”—D. B., ii., 360. “Hanc Terram habet abbas ... quando redimebant Anglici terras suas.” The combination of these statements led Freeman to make the suggestion referred to in the text.
[185]. It may be noted that there exist a few proved cases in which a Norman baron had married the daughter of his English predecessor, so that here the king’s grant to the stranger would only confirm the latter in possession of his wife’s inheritance.
[186]. D. B., i., 285 b. (Normanton on Trent).
[187]. Victoria History of Northamptonshire, i., 324.
[188]. Frequently printed, e.g., by Stubbs, Select Charters, 82.
[189]. Suggested by Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, 439.
[190]. Ordericus Vitalis, ii., 167. The mercenaries were paid off at Pevensey before William sailed for Normandy.
[191]. Peterborough Chronicle, 1087.
[192]. William of Poitiers (149) states that William Fitz Osbern was left in charge of the city “Guenta,” which is described as being situated fourteen miles from the sea which divides the English from the Danes, and as a point where a Danish army might be likely to land. These indications imply that Norwich (Venta Icenorum) was Fitz Osbern’s headquarters, although the name Guenta alone would naturally refer to Winchester (Venta Belgarum). The joint regency of Odo and William is asserted by Florence of Worcester, 1067, and the phrase in William of Poitiers, that Fitz Osbern “toto regno Aquilionem versus præesset,” suggests that the Thames was the boundary between his province and that of Odo. The priority of Fitz Osbern in the regency is suggested by the fact that in a writ relating to land in Somerset, he joins his name with that of the king in addressing the magnates of the shire. Somersetshire certainly formed no part of his direct sphere of administration at the time. For further references to this writ see below, Chapter XI.
[193]. The fullest list of names is given by Orderic, ii., 167.