[564] “Ranulf, earl of Chester, and his uterine brother, William de Romare, were the sons of Lucia, countess of Lincoln.”—Hardy.
[565] The joust signifies a contest between two persons on horseback, with lances: each singled out his opponent.
[566] That is, as appears after, to acknowledge her publicly as their sovereign.
[567] Marchio: this latterly signified marquis in the sense we now use it; but in Malmesbury’s time, and long after, it denoted a guardian of the borders: hence the lords marchers on the confines of Scotland and Wales; though it does not appear very clearly how this should apply to Wallingford, unless it was his place of birth.
[568] This seems an oversight: as he had before related, more than once that Stephen preceded Robert in taking the oath to Matilda.
[569] Virgil, Æn. i. 33.
[570] The garrison having sallied out against him, he suddenly passed a ford which was not generally known and, repelling the enemy, entered the town with them. Gesta Regis Stephani, 958.
[571] One of the MSS. omits from, “This circumstance,” to the end, and substitutes, ... “but these matters, with God’s permission, shall be more largely treated in the following volume.”
Transcriber’s Notes
Simple typographical errors were silently corrected, except as noted below.