WR IP Flashcards
Rebellion 1088: Why did many Norman magnates support Robert Curthose
- Cross-Channel Loyalties
- Sympathy for Curthose - primogeniture states he should by Norman custom inherit the throne
- Curthose more sympathetic and religious (if you believe accounts). Also would need more help than Rufus, so rewards would be likely.
- 1066 oath to Curthose
Rebellion 1088: How serious was the rebellion of 1088
- Widespread (South - Rochester & Pevensey in Kent and Sussex, respectively. En route to Normandy. North - Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumbria.)
- Powerful rebels (6 out of 10 great landholders)
- Kinsmen involved, e.g. Rufus’s half-uncles, Odo, bishop of Bayeux and earl of Kent and Robert, count of Mortain. Two wealthiest landholders in Norman England under William the Conqueror!
- Churchmen, e.g. William of Saint-Calais, bishop of Durham. Odo of Bayeux. A challenge to Rufus’s legitimacy?
- United cause: all rebels united around replacing Rufus with Curthose.
- External threat: resources from Normandy aiding the rebels, and Curthose intends to invade.
Rebellion 1088: how come he was able to deal with the rebellion so effectively
- Speed: dealt with English rebels before Curthose could arrive in England.
- Strategy: dealt with leading rebels, i.e. Bishop Odo and Count Robert, first. Secured strategically vulnerable, politically important regions first (Rochester)
- Propaganda: won the support of the surviving Anglo-Saxon nobility with promises of King Edward’s laws restored; called out the fyrd (a display of his legitimate kingship). Uses Anglo Saxon words as well (nithing)
Rebellion 1088: What were the consequences of the rebellion of 1088
- Older barons spared out of loyalty to his father
- Odo, Eustace of Boulogne and Robert of Bellême exiled and lands taken
- William of St-Calais exiled until 1091 when he regained royal favour
- No evidence of widespread confiscation
- Many paid fines to regain the king’s favour
- Gilbert FitzRichard of Tonbridge and Roger Bigod were pressured into making donations into the Rochester Cathedral
- Walter Giffard, Henry of Ferrers and Bernard of Neufmarché didn’t return to the court - weren’t happy to make peace quickly. (Bernard campaigned in Wales to get land, since he lacked royal patronage)
- Robert Curthose wanted to invade the 7th July but heard it was going badly in Rochester so didn’t. Never contested for England again.
- Odo and William of St-Calais are seen as a threat and a challenge to the king’s legitimacy.
- Rufus had to buy loyalty by giving away Demesne lands: William of Warenne (became Earl of Surrey and recieved some of Edith’s lands), Hugh of Avrances (already Earl of Chester, given demesne) and Henry de Beaumont who helped at the Rochester siege (became earl of Warwick, and was given the right to receive homage himself instead of directly to the king!)
Rebellion 1095: Who and why was there rebellion
- Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, rebels:
- Perhaps because of the way Rufus had denied his claims to certain lands and castles in his earldom.
- Felt undervalued, following killing of Malcolm and family?
- King was spying on him.
Rebellion 1095: events of the rebellion
- Hugh of Montgomery (earl of Shrewsbury) and William of Eu join, along with others including Gilbert of Tonbridge who was pardoned last time.
- Rufus besieges Newcastle, capturing Robert de Mowbray, and imprisoning him in Windsor.
- There was an attempt to replace king and it may have been planned since William was fighting the Welsh at the time, but was Geographically limited and there wasn’t much rebel action.
- Gilbert of Tonbridge - joined in rebellion but relented and told Rufus about an ambush - shows his leniency worked with some. William of Eu and Robert de Mowbray show his leniency didn’t work with others!
Rebellion 1095: what were the punishments
- Punishments:
- William of Eu blinded and castrated
- William of Aldrie (Godfather figure) hung
- Odo of Champagne imprisoned
- Roger de Lacy banished
- Hugh of Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury, readmitted to favour for £3000
- Many were spared since they may have been goaded to do another rebellion.
Background to Curthose and Rufus
- Curthose and WtC had a strained relationship, as Curthose became co-duke of Normandy in 1066 but WtC was the de-facto leader
- Curthose made a flight to Paris (Philip I) and raided the Vexin
- WtC and Curthose fought at Gerberoi in 1079, where Curthose struck William.
- Rufus, Henry and Robert of Mortain were on the Conqueror’s deathbed - not Curthose.
What was Rufus’s reputation
- Model knight
- Good relation with Lanfranc
- Bad relationship with the Church - oppressive and greedy
- Interested in worldly things
- Uses AS words - people were nithing if they didn’t help their king
- Benefactor for Battle Abbey
- Comparable to William IX
- Interested in hunting
- Ruthless and strong
- Selfish
- Blasphemous or aware of holy relics (by the face of Lucca)
- Only becomes religious when he thinks he’s going to hell (1093)
Ranulf flambard position
Exactor, placitator, not treasurer or justiciar.
Can read
Develops ordinary machinery of justice
William of Malmesbury stated that Flambard would double any tax Rufus ordered
Others are writing in Henry I’s reign
1094 - summoned the English fyrd to join expidition to normandy - ingenius according to J. Mason
Wanted to revise the descriptio of england for tax reasons (doesn’t happen). However, he does measure all the ploughlands with a rope
William of St. Calais died in 1096, Ranulf was appointed in 1099 and paid £1000
Part of the cathedral clergy of St Pauls
Why did Rufus require money
- Rufus gave out demesne and campaigned against Scotland and in Normandy, so needed money: Relied on ‘men raised from the dust’ - e.g. Rannulf Flambard and Richard de Redvers.
- Spent the money on Westminster Hall, Normandy Mortgage and War.
What were the sources of income
- Vacancies (e.g. Canterbury 1089-1093)
- Feudal dues:
- Relief - inheritance
- Marriage
- Scutage
- Aid - lord’s son is knighted, daughter married, king ransomed
- Wardship - bid to be a guardian
- Justice - fines or bribing the king for speed.
How much money did he actually make from royal estates, tax and justice?
Last 4 years of his reign, income doubled from Vacancies and from money in Normandy and Maine
Income:
Royal Estates - £15,000 per year
Tax - £4,000 per year
Justice - £10,000 per year.
Outline of relationship between Rufus and Anselm
- Rufus chooses Anselm when dying, and performs Lay Investiture.
- Anselm offered to pay £500 for his position as Archbishop of Canterbury - Rufus rejected it but in the end got nothing.
- Anselm cannot get his Pallium since he must recognise Urban II to do so - but Rufus refuses.
- Anselm’s three criteria to be Archbishop:
- Return Canterbury’s lands (harks back to Trial of Penenden Heath, 1075, Odo vs Lanfranc)
- King trusts all spiritual matters to his counsel
- Recognise Urban II as Pope
- According to Eadmer, the key issue between Rufus and Anselm was the recognition of Urban but in reality, it was about the restoration of Canterbury’s estates.
- Anselm paid homage to Rufus and said ‘the king gave me this archbishopric’ - it was only after being in Rome that he became a reformist
- Anselm stopped Walter of Albarno from holding a council in 1095, and said he would pay the Pope all the fealty save that he owed the king
- Anselm leaves in 1097 after a dispute about the quality of his troops sent to the king’s campaign to Wales.
- Anselm becomes a reformer while in Rome (council in 1099) and in 1102, his council causes major unrest as 200 bare-footed priests take to the streets, following a ban on clerical marriage.
Relationship between Rufus and church
- Founded Berdmonsey Priory and 31 other monasteries (Cluniac monastery in Northampton, St. Bodolph Priory in Colchester)
- Battle Abbey remembered him as a protector
- Those who wrote about him badly were oppressed by vacancies but new Churches didn’t write
- England had not seen Papal reform - Odo fought in Hastings, Geoffrey of Coutances apparently cared more about marshalling his knights than marshalling his cathedral.
- Anselm’s council in 1102 caused unrest (200 bare-footed priests). Was he just a protector of the clergy and their families?
What happened at the trial of William of Saint Calais
1088 - Punishing William for his involvement in the Revolt.
William claims he should be tried in ecclesiastical courts but Lanfranc and other bishops disagree - shows that Papal reform is almost non-existent by this point.
Only Geoffrey of Coutances is sympathetic, since he himself was part of the revolt as well!
What happened to monestaries in Rufus’s reign
- Rufus established 32 monasteries (too young and busy to chronicle - we only hear from established ones which were oppressed)
- New monasteries built in North, Scotland and Wales.
- Built 26 Benedictine and 6 Cluniac monasteries
- E.g. Northampton in 1093 (Cluniac), St Bodolph Priory in Colchester, 1093
Relationship between Rufus and the Welsh
1093, Rhys ap Tewdwr dies
Arnulf, son of Roger of Montgomery asserts his claim over Pembroke, as well as Bernard of Neufmarché over the Brecon region, and in the North, Hugh D’Avranches, Earl of Chester, and Robert of Rhuddlan build castles and dominate. By the end of 1093, it looks like the Normans will have full control.
Robert of Rhuddlan was killed and his head stuck on the mast of a ship by Gruffudd ap Cynan.
1094, Roger of Montgomery dies and by 1095, a full revolt happens.
In October 1095, William Rufus invades, but is frustrated by the Welsh guerilla tactics, and gives up.
In 1097, he marches through St. David’s to consolidate Pembroke. Not conclusive either. Gruffudd remains the dominant force in Wales.
In 1098, Hugh D’Avranches (Chester) and Hugh of Montgomery (Shrewsbury) invade to retake Gwynedd. They go as far as Anglesey, but then Magnus ‘Barelegs’, king of Norway, fights and kills Hugh of Montgomery.
William decides to give Hugh’s lands to Robert of Bellême, despite Arnulf already acting as Lord of Pembroke.
