De issir s’en la vache acorerent.”
Hist. G. le Mar., ll. 16940–54.
(2) Roger makes no mention of the rally of the French in the lower town, the second fight on the hill-top (“entre le chastiel e le moustier,” see above, [pp. 42, 43]), the second retreat or flight of the French down hill, and the last fight on and near the bridge; he ends the battle with the death of Perche, and then goes on thus: “Videntes igitur Galligenae phalanges quod major eorum cecidisset, inierunt fugam tam pedites quam equites sibi nimis damnosam; nam flagellum portae australis, per quam fugerunt, quod ex transverso illius portae fuerat fabricatum, fugientes non mediocriter impedivit; etenim quotiescunque aliquis adveniens exire voluit, oportebat eum ab equo descendere et portam aperire, quo exeunte porta denuo claudebatur flagello ut prius posito ex transverso; sicque porta illa fugientibus nimis molesta fuit” (vol. iv., p. 23).
At first glance these two accounts might seem to relate to two distinct occurrences at two different gates. “La dererene porte,” which the cow blocked against the fugitives when they had been driven beyond the bridge “tote la rue contreval qui s’en veit dreit a l’hospital,” is clearly the Great (or West) Bar-Gate. This was quite literally the “outermost” or “hindermost” gate of Lincoln to the southward; and outside it, on the south side of the Sincil Dyke, stood two hospitals, one belonging to the Order of Sempringham and named after the Holy Sepulchre, the other a lazar-house dedicated to the Holy Innocents (Sympson, Lincoln, pp. 386, 338, 344, 351). On the other hand, Roger’s porta australis with the inconvenient sliding bar might, if we looked at his story alone, be taken to represent the south gate of the city proper, i.e., the Stone Bow. But a comparison of his story with that of the poet shews this to be impossible. Had it been the case, the greatest capture of prisoners must have taken place inside the gate; whereas the Biographer clearly indicates that most of the rebel barons (the De Quincys, Fitz Walter, “e moult d’autres dont point ne m’ennuie”) were captured in the fight on and near the bridge, i.e., outside the Stone Bow (ll. 16828–16939); and even after all this, there were still so many left that when the “hindermost gate” was at last reached, “La fu plus fort li encombriers, La ont molt pris de chevaliers” (ll. 16955–6). Moreover, ll. 16947–51 (“En la porte ... nule maniere”), especially ll. 16947–8, where this same “hindermost gate” is specially distinguished as cele qui le fleel porte, tally so closely with Roger’s words about the flagellum and its effects that we cannot separate the two incidents. The difference between the two accounts is simply that the poet gives us the whole topography and tells the whole story, cow and all, while Roger leaves out the cow-incident, just as he has left out several things of far greater importance (the second rally and repulse of the French among them) in his story of the battle as a whole.
NOTE V
THE TREATY OF KINGSTON
There can be no reasonable doubt that the series of dates so carefully given in our fullest and most strictly contemporary account of the transactions connected with the treaty between Henry and Louis—the account in the Histoire des Ducs de Normandie—is correct. One of the best contemporary English authorities, the Chronicle of Merton, is in accord with it as to the dates on which the treaty was made and Louis was absolved: “Hoc anno” (1217) “facta est pax ... in quadam insula extra Kingestune, feria tercia ante Exaltationem S. Crucis” (i.e., Tuesday, 12th September), “et in vigilia Exaltationis” (Wednesday, 13th September) “absolutus est dominus Lodowicus in eadem insula” (Chron. Merton, apud Petit-Dutaillis, pp. 514–515). Nearly all the other English chroniclers give a wrong date to the peace; some make it 11th September, others 13th September. The Patent Roll of 1216–17 settles the point against them all; “Si Reginaldus de Cornhill terminos redempcionis suae, statutos ante diem Martis proximam ante Exaltacionem Sanctae Crucis anno regni nostro primo, qua pax reformata fuit inter nos et Lodovicum domini regis Franciae primogenitum, servaverit,” etc. (Pat. Rolls, vol. i. p. 95, 25th September, 1217).
The Barnwell annalist (W. Cov., vol. ii. p. 239) gives no date for the peace, but says Louis was absolved “die Mercurii proxima post Exaltationem S. Crucis,” i.e., 20th September. Curiously enough, the copy of the treaty printed by D’Achéry (Spicilegium, ed. 1723, vol. iii. pp. 586–7) appears to have borne the date “Lamech, anno ab Incarnatione Domini MCCXVII, XX die Septembris.” Rymer, whose text (Foedera, I. i. p. 148) corresponds almost verbatim with D’Achéry’s in all other respects, has the word undecimo instead of the numerals XX. The title of “treaty of Lambeth,” by which—in defiance of all our authorities—the agreement is commonly known, is derived solely from the dating clause as printed by Rymer and D’Achéry. No original copy of the treaty appears to be now known. In the eighteenth century three versions of it were printed, one by Rymer, one by D’Achéry, a third by Martène and Durand (Thesaurus Anecdotorum, vol. i. pp. 857–859, ed. 1717). As to the source of Rymer’s copy we know absolutely nothing. D’Achéry’s text was taken from the cartulary of the monastery of S. Giles at Pontaudemer, that of Martène and Durand—which has no date at all—“ex MS. illustrissimi Marchionis Daubais.” Both of these must obviously have been mere copies; and they differ so widely from each other that they cannot have been derived, even remotely, from one and the same original. The Daubais text not only omits several clauses entirely, as well as all mention of place, date, witnesses, and seals, and gives other clauses in a shortened form, but it inserts one interesting clause of which there is no trace anywhere else—that about the Exchequer documents ([above, footnote 315]). The Pontaudemer text, on the other hand, is, except as regards the date, practically identical with that which, for want of knowing its source, we can only call Rymer’s. This last contains some verbal corruptions which may be due to Rymer himself; while in D’Achéry’s printed text there is at least one obvious error—the Legate’s name is given as “Gualterius.” The terms of the treaty in the Rymer-Pontaudemer version are substantially the same as those indicated by the chroniclers. The list of attestations comprises only the names of the signataries on the English side; they are the Legate, the King, the Regent, the Justiciar, the Earls of Chester, Salisbury, Warren, and Arundel, William d’Aubigny, William Brewer, William Marshal the younger, Falkes de Bréauté, Ralf de Mortimer, “L. de Erdivert,” Robert de Vipont, Geoffrey de Neville, Brian de Lisle, Philip d’Aubigné, and Richard the late King’s son; all of whom are stated to have set their seals to the treaty. This is a somewhat puzzling statement in view of the fact that the King had as yet no seal of his own. It may be that the Marshal’s seal on this occasion did duty twice, once for its owner and once for his royal ward; though we should have expected, if this were so, to find an explicit mention of the circumstance.
To me there seem to be only two alternative theories by which the printed texts of the treaty can be reconciled with each other and with the evidence of the chronicles: (1) that the document of which Rymer and D’Achéry each had a copy before him was a transcript (more or less exact) of the body of the original treaty of Kingston, to which the list of signataries and the date had been added (the latter incorrectly) from some unknown source; or (2) that the opening words—“Haec est forma pacis facta,” etc. (Rymer) or “Haec est forma finis et concordiae facta,” etc. (D’Achéry)—were in each case the unauthorized addition of a scribe, and that the original document was not an actually executed treaty, but the draft which Hugh de Malaunay carried to Louis on 11th September (above, [p. 56]), and that this draft was sealed by the Legate, King, and councillors, as a pledge of its authenticity and of their intention to abide by its contents. I incline to the latter alternative, for the following reasons:—
(1) The so-called “form of peace” speaks throughout of what Louis and Henry shall promise and swear, never once of what they have promised and sworn. It seems therefore to date from a time previous to the solemn oaths which Roger of Wendover says they took at Kingston. The actual treaty would not be sealed till the oaths were sworn.
(2) The difficulty about the dates, both of time and place, practically disappears if we adopt the second theory. The date in Rymer can hardly be explained away as a transcriber’s error, because the word undecimo is given in full; it must be either correct, or a downright blunder. Now, we know from Hist. Ducs (p. 203) that 11th September was the day on which Malaunay carried back to Louis the “form of peace drawn up in writing” (R. Wend., vol. iv. p. 30; cf. [above, pp. 56, 57]) for his acceptance. The Pontaudemer text may have been transcribed from a copy in which the word had been translated into numerals, and if so, “XI” might easily become “XX” in transcription. As for the place, we know that King and regent were at Chertsey every day from 6th September to 12th September, both days inclusive, and we possess no other notice of their having gone to Lambeth on the 11th; but there is no reason why they should not have done so; a prolongation of the truce till the 14th had been guaranteed on the 10th, and it would be quite safe and practicable for the Marshal and the Legate to bring their royal charge as near to London as Lambeth for a few hours, if they found it convenient to do so as a means of saving time in communicating with Louis.