William I by Marc Morris

Author:Marc Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141977850
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2016-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

8

Enemies Foreign and Domestic

The fall of Ely in 1071 marks an important turning point in William’s life, and not just because it proved to be the last English rebellion against his rule. It was also at this moment that his contemporary biographer, William of Poitiers, decided to put down his pen, depriving us of our most detailed guide to his master’s deeds and motives. Orderic Vitalis, who preserved the last part of Poitiers’s chronicle by reworking it into his own, noted that his source had come to an end and vowed to continue as best he could, but Orderic was writing almost half a century later and offers nothing like the wealth of information provided by the Conqueror’s own chaplain. Our knowledge of what William did for the rest of his career, therefore, is scanty compared to what we know of the earlier part.1

With rebellion in England apparently quelled, William was free to pay greater attention to the peripheries of his cross-Channel realm, and his first move was to invade Scotland. The Scottish king, Malcolm III, had been harbouring English fugitives since 1068, including the rival claimant to the throne, Edgar Ætheling, and at some point before 1070 he had demonstrated his commitment to their cause by marrying Edgar’s sister, Margaret. In August 1072 William therefore set out to persuade Malcolm to change his mind, leading an army across the border and sending his fleet to mount a naval blockade. The Scottish king submitted at Abernethy on the banks of the River Tay, recognizing William as his overlord and handing over hostages, among them his eldest son, Duncan. Presumably Malcolm also promised to stop sheltering English rebels like his new brother-in-law, because the next time we encounter Edgar Ætheling he is residing at the court of the Count of Flanders.2

As this implies, William’s relations with his Flemish in-laws had deteriorated sharply since his marriage to Matilda some twenty years earlier. In 1070 a succession dispute had broken out in Flanders between Matilda’s nephew, Arnulf, and her brother, Robert. William had given his backing to Arnulf, but it was Robert who emerged victorious when the two sides met in battle in February 1071, killing not only his nephew but also the Conqueror’s lifelong companion-in-arms, William fitz Osbern. From that point on, until the end of his reign, Flanders was for William what it had earlier been for Edward the Confessor: a hostile power, and a place of refuge for his enemies.3

Nor was the new Count of Flanders alone in his open hostility. In 1072 Robert married his half-sister, Bertha, to the young King of France, Philip I, newly emerged from the political tutelage that had proved so convenient for William in the 1060s, and now itching to revive the aggressive anti-Norman policy of his father. At the same time the new ruler of Anjou, Fulk Réchin, having won the struggle against his own brother, began to extend his power in a way not seen since the death of Geoffrey Martel. In

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