The first point to which I would call attention is the identity of expression in the two charters, proving, as I urged above, their close and essential connection. It may be as well to place the passages to which I refer side by side.
| Charter to Geoffrey. | Charter to Aubrey. |
|---|---|
| Hanc autem conventionem et
donationem tenendam affidavi manu mea propria in manu ipsius
Comitis Gaufredi. Et hujus fiduciæ sunt obsides per fidem et
Testes, Robertus etc. Et conventionavi eidem Comiti Gaufrido pro posse meâ quod Comes Andegavie dominus meus assecurabit ei manu suâ propriâ illud idem tenendum et Henricus filius meus similiter, etc., etc. | Hanc autem conventionem et
donationem tenendam affidavi manu mea propria in manu Galfredi
Comitis Essex. Et hujus fiduciæ sunt obsides per fidem et Testes,
Robertus, etc. Et conventionavi eidem Comiti Alberico quod pro posse meo Comes Andegavie dominus meus assecurabit ei manu suâ propriâ illud idem tenendum et Henricus filius meus similiter, etc., etc. |
Putting together these passages with the fact that the witnesses also are the same in both charters, we see plainly that these two documents, while differing from all others of the kind, correspond precisely with each other. Above all, we note that it was to Geoffrey, not to Aubrey, that the Empress pledged her faith for the fulfilment of Aubrey's charter. This shows, as I observed, that Aubrey obtained this charter as Geoffrey's relative and ally, just as Geoffrey's less important kinsmen were provided for in his own charter.
Here we may pause for a moment, before examining this record in detail, to glance at another which forms its corollary and complement.
It will have been noticed that in both these charters the Empress undertook to obtain their confirmation by her husband and her son. We know not whether the charter to Geoffrey was so confirmed, but presumably it was. For, happily, in the case of its sister-charter, the confirmation by the youthful Henry was preserved. And there is every reason to believe that when this was confirmed the other would be confirmed also.
The confirmation by the future King Henry II. of his mother's charter to Aubrey de Vere may be assigned to July-November, 1142. His uncle Robert crossed to Normandy shortly after witnessing the original charter, and returned to England, accompanied by his nephew, about the end of December.[581] We may assume that no time was lost in obtaining the confirmation by the youthful heir, and though the names of the witnesses and the place of testing are, unluckily, omitted in the transcript, the fact that a Hugh "de Juga" acted as Geoffrey's proxy for the occasion supports the hypothesis that the confirmation took place over sea. That we have a confirmation by Henry, but not by his father, is doubtless due to Geoffrey of Anjou refusing, on this occasion, to come to his wife's assistance, and virtually, by sending his son in his stead, abdicating in his favour whatever pretensions he had to the English throne.
As Henry's charter is printed at the foot of his mother's by Vincent, I shall content myself with quoting its distinctive features, for the subject matter is the same except for some verbal differences.[582] There is some confusion as to the authority for its text. Vincent transcribed it, like that of the Empress, from the Hedingham Castle Register. Dugdale, in his Baronage, mixes it up with the charter granted by Henry when king, so that his marginal reference would seem to apply to the latter. In his MSS., however, he gives as his authority "Autographum in custodia Johis. Tindall unius magror. Curie cancellarie temp. Reg. Eliz." If the original charter itself was in existence so late as this there is just a hope that it may yet be found in some unexplored collection. From time to time such "finds" are made,[583] and few discoveries would be more welcome than that of the earliest charter of one of the greatest sovereigns who have ever ruled these realms, the first Plantagenet king.[584]
Charter of Henry of Anjou to Aubrey de Vere.
July-November, 1142.
"Henricus filius filiæ Regis Henrici, rectus heres Angl. et Normann. etc. Sciatis quod sicut Domina mea, viz. mater mea imperatrix reddidit et concessit, ita reddo et concedo.... Hanc autem convencionem tenendam affidavi manu mea propria in manu Hugonis de Juga,[585] sicut mater mea Imperatrix affidavit in manu Comitis Gaufr. Testibus," etc.