CHAPTER XI—­THE LAST YEARS OF WILLIAM—­1081-1087

Of two events of these last years of the Conqueror’s reign, events of very different degrees of importance, we have already spoken.  The Welsh expedition of William was the only recorded fighting on British ground, and that lay without the bounds of the kingdom of England.  William now made Normandy his chief dwelling-place, but he was constantly called over to England.  The Welsh campaign proves his presence in England in 1081; he was again in England in 1082, but he went back to Normandy between the two visits.  The visit of 1082 was a memorable one; there is no more characteristic act of the Conqueror than the deed which marks it.  The cruelty and insolence of his brother Ode, whom he had trusted so much more than he deserved, had passed all bounds.  In avenging the death of Walcher he had done deeds such as William never did himself or allowed any other man to do.  And now, beguiled by a soothsayer who said that one of his name should be the next Pope, he dreamed of succeeding to the throne of Gregory the Seventh.  He made all kinds of preparations to secure his succession, and he was at last about to set forth for Italy at the head of something like an army.  His schemes were by no means to the liking of his brother.  William came suddenly over from Normandy, and met Ode in the Isle of Wight.  There the King got together as many as he could of the great men of the realm.  Before them he arraigned Ode for all his crimes.  He had left him as the lieutenant of his kingdom, and he had shown himself the common oppressor of every class of men in the realm.  Last of all, he had beguiled the warriors who were needed for the defence of England against the Danes and Irish to follow him on his wild schemes in Italy.  How was he to deal with such a brother, William asked of his wise men.

He had to answer himself; no other man dared to speak.  William then gave his judgement.  The common enemy of the whole realm should not be spared because he was the King’s brother.  He should be seized and put in ward.  As none dared to seize him, the King seized him with his own hands.  And now, for the first time in England, we hear words which were often heard again.  The bishop stained with blood and sacrilege appealed to the privileges of his order.  He was a clerk, a bishop; no man might judge him but the Pope.  William, taught, so men said, by Lanfranc, had his answer ready.  “I do not seize a clerk or a bishop; I seize my earl whom I set over my kingdom.”  So the Earl of Kent was carried off to a prison in Normandy, and Pope Gregory himself pleaded in vain for the release of the Bishop of Bayeux.