[843] Assigned to December 11 by William of Malmesbury (p. 727), and to December 4 by the Continuator (p. 113). The above facts are rather in favour of the former of the two dates.
APPENDIX F.
THE DEFECTION OF MILES OF GLOUCESTER.
(See p. [55].)
Miss Norgate assigns this event to the early summer of the year 1138,[844] on the authority of Gervase of Canterbury (i. 104). The statement of that writer is clear enough, but it is also clear that he made it on the authority of the Continuator of Florence. Now, the Continuator muddled in inextricable confusion the events of 1138 and 1139. In this he was duly followed by Gervase, who gives us, under 1138, first the arrest of the bishops at Oxford (June, 1139), then the diffidatio of the Earl of Gloucester, next the revolt of 1138 and the defection of Miles, next the invitation to the Empress (1139), followed by the Battle of the Standard (1138), and lastly the death of the Bishop of Salisbury (December, 1139). This can be clearly traced to the Continuator,[845] and conclusive evidence, if required, is afforded by the fact that Gervase, like the Continuator, travels again over the same ground under 1139. Thus the defection of Miles is told twice over, as will be seen from these parallel extracts:—
| Cont. Flor. Wig. (1138.) | Gerv. Cant. (1138.) |
|---|---|
| "Interim facta conjuratione adversus regem per predictum Brycstowensem comitem et conestabularium Milonem, abnegata fidelitate quam illi juraverant, missis nuntiis ad Andegavensem civitatem accersunt ex-imperatricem," etc., etc. | "Qui [Comes Glaornensis] ... fidei et sacramentis quibus regi tenebatur renuntiavit.... Milo quoque princeps militiæ regis avertit se a rege, ... Interea conjuratio in regem facta per comitem Glaornensem et Milonem summum regis constabularium invaluit, nam missis nuntiis ... asciverunt ex-imperatricem," etc., etc. |
| (1139.) | (1139.) |
| "Milo constabularius, regiæ majestati redditis fidei sacramentis, ad dominum suum, comitem Gloucestrensem, cum grandi manu militum se contulit, illi spondens in fide auxilium contra regem exhibiturum." | "Milo regis constabularius multique procerum cum multa militum manu ab obsequio regis recesserunt, et pristinis fidei sacramentis innovatis ad partem imperatricis tuendam conversi sunt." |
It is obvious from these extracts that the Continuator tells the tale of the constable's diffidatio and defection twice over; it is further obvious, from his own evidence, that the second of the two dates (1139) is the right one, for he tells us that so late as February, 1139, Stephen gave Gloucester Abbey to Gilbert Foliot "petente constabulario suo Milone."[846] When we find that this event is assigned by the author of the Gesta to 1139, that the constableship of Miles was not transferred to William de Beauchamp till the latter part of 1139, and that Miles is not mentioned among the rebels in 1138 (though his importance would preclude his omission), nor is any attack on Gloucester assigned to Stephen in that year, we may safely decide that the defection of Miles did not take place till the arrival of the Empress in 1139.
Since writing the above I have noted the presence of Miles of Gloucester among the followers of Stephen at the siege of Shrewsbury (August, 1138).[847] This is absolutely conclusive, proving as it does that Miles was still on the king's side in the revolt of 1138.
[844] England under the Angevin Kings, i. 295.