Rollo and his Race; or, Footsteps of the Normans

Front matter

m © Ed il © . FIRST DUKE OF NORMANDY. London B.1. chard. Bentley,1848 VOL. I. on, FOOTSTEPS OF THE NORMANS. BY ACTON WARBURTON. This folk of Normandie Among us woneth yet, and ehalleth ever moe. RofieH of Gloucester's Chronicle. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: -JICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET 1848. LONDON : Printed hy s. & J. Bentley, Wilson, and Fley, Bnngor House. Shoe Lane. PEEFACE. It is a trite observation that the course of human improvement has corresponded with the progress of light, advancing from East to West. The analogy however is far from complete. It is true that Egypt, Syria, Greece, Italy, have successively imparted great impulse to man's amelioration. From this Western World we look towards the "Morning Land" for the gradual steps by which his Intellect, his Imagination, his Taste, rose at first and then mounted to maturity.

But meantime the Soul lay dead, unreached by the utmost bril liance of those faculties, that, like spangles on a pall, only gleamed over its decay. We turn to another quarter for the exhibi tion of those qualities belonging to man's loftier nature. The hardy races that issued from vol. i. b

Preface

. Scandinavia in the early middle ages, not only infused a vigorous blood into the veins of the effete old world, but also brought with them a remarkable elevation of soul. To the descent of these '■'Barbarians" of the North we trace the dawn of Modern Civilization. The Religious Sentiment emerged from the darkness of idolatry and unbelief; an unwonted Purity and Refinement shed new lustre upon the human Soul; and " Freedom reared in that august sunrise Her beautiful bold brow."* The religion of the Scandinavians before their intermixture with the nations of the south was of a remarkably pure and rational character. Unlike the religion of the classic world, it was intimately connected with their manners. Three great moral principles were its founda tion, and at the same time the guide of their conduct.

These were " to serve the Supreme Being with prayer and sacrifice; to do no wrong or unjust actions; and to be valiant and intrepid in fight." Principles of religion, such as these, had a wonderful effect, as may * Alfred Tennyson.

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. IX be imagined, on the character and manners of the people. Many superstitions and absurdi ties were subsequently introduced, but through them all we cannot fail to perceive the traces of a luminous and rational system of religion, resting on the above pure and simple basis. Latterly, indeed, the effect of these innova tions was to quench the belief of the more en lightened altogether. Self-reliance then be came their creed, — that innate Self-reliance that circumstances developed so grandly in the Norman. " Neither I, nor my companions," says one Gauthaker, " have any other religion than to trust to ourselves, and our good for tune, which seems to be quite sufficient for us." — " I do not wish," another warrior exclaims, " to revile the gods, but Friga seems to be of no importance : neither she nor Odin are any thing to us."

Another says, " I believe not in images nor demons, I have hitherto trusted to my own strength."* The superstitions that had crept into their religion, as well as the disbelief those superstitions had engendered, vanished alike when the North- * Bartholin, de Caus. p. 79—81.

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. X the only sensible impression left is ' that I am nothing.' " The Teutons adopted at first the circular form. They found that noble shape applied to base purposes in the Southern structures, and discerning its true destiny, they rescued it from its ignoble application, and employed it for their houses of prayer. The reverential sympathy that many of us acknowledge for this form, is not surprising, when we remember what forcible associations it has with the most solemn periods of this our mortal life. In such a shape does Heaven offer itself to the eyes of the wondering infant, when it first raises them to look for its future home. With this form the lover encircles the finger of his bride, to typify the eternity of that union, in which death is but an event. And when the shades of life's evening are closing round the old man, he feels that he is about to complete the circle of ex istence, and finds himself returning to the memories and thoughts of early days. The Teuton prayed of old in the open air — the vault of heaven above him — and

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. XI the salient feature of his style was but a copy of the roof of that great Natural Church, where he was wont to worship Him who " dwelleth not in temples made with hands." When the Teuton came to Southern climes and embraced Christianity, he taught stone and mortar to forget the grovelling horizontalities of Greek and Roman orders. Such might be fit the shrines of Jove, or Pallas, or Dian ; but the Lombard first, the Norman still more, raised his materials into forms that aspired to heaven. He had found the true God, and worked in the spirit of the Psalmist's grand apostrophe — " Lift up your heads ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in ! " The Teutonic and Grecian architecture differed as much in principle as did their primary types in the respective countries.

The Greek never shook off the debasing memory of the forest hut — the Teuton never lost the ennobling recollection of the Scandinavian landscape. I have alluded to the salient feature of the Teuton architecture — the arch. Let me here

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. notice the Niche — another most important mem ber — for on the accumulation of niches de pended mainly the "rich cavernous chiaro scuro " of the Northern styles. This, if introduced at all— which it rarely was — in the Grecian structures, was sustained by columns, and, among the Cisalpine architects, who worked under the influence of Gre cian example and tradition, the classic principle of columnar support was generally kept in view. But by the northern workmen it was rejected altogether, and we may conceive the self-supporting canopy of the niche to represent the poise of the precipice, while the aspiring pine that crowned it, with long bole and expanding top, might have suggested the finial into which the canopy was afterwards raised. It was from the North then that Civiliza tion received its best and greatest impulse.

At the fall of the Roman empire, the Teu tonic spirit, so long disciplined and preserved in the severity of Arctic regions, was infused into degenerate Europe. For eight centuries the Northmen, at intervals, continued to press towards lower latitudes, everywhere dissemi-

PREFACE.

. XIII nating their hardy habits, their pure ethics, and deep sentiments of freedom. Italy received the Lombards ; Spain, the Goths; Gaul, the Franks; and Our Island fell to the lot of the Saxons. Finally, at the close of the ninth century, came the Normans, and established them selves in Neustria. After a sojourn of a century and a half, these last passed over to England. As the Celt dwindled and gave way before the hardy Saxon, so the Saxon yielded to a still loftier race — with this difference however; that while both the national and political existence of the Celt became extinct, with the Saxons the latter alone ceased, the life of that nation being incorporated with its kindred race, the Nor mans, who not only directed the energies of this new compound state, but supplied them. The Saxon nation at the time of the Con quest had fallen to a state of languor, bordering on dissolution. The people were in a condition of abject slavery. The upper classes, reduced by wars and confiscations, but above all, by the custom of Gavelkind,

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. XIV were now sunk in luxury and corruption. The custom of gavelkind, that is, an equal distribution of land amongst the children, male and female, was highly prejudicial amongst a people like the Saxons, who regarded the possessor as the governor of land. It was not so in the Greek and Italian common wealths. In those the property of the land was, in all respects, similar to that of goods, and had nothing of jurisdiction attached to it ; the government was a merely political in stitution. Amongst such a people, the cus tom of distribution could be of no ill consequence, because it only affected property ; but, as government with the Saxons was an nexed to a certain possession in land, this possession, which was continually changing under the custom of gavelkind, kept the government iu a very fluctuating state ; so that their civil polity had in it an essential evil, which contributed to the sickly condition in which the Saxon state always remained, as well as to its final dissolution. There are some people who can never forgive a benefit, and one can hardly forbear a

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. XV smile, to observe how carefully many English writers in mentioning our race, exclude all epithets referring to our Norman regeneration. We are called by names to which there is now no corresponding entity — names of nations long since defunct — Angles, Saxons, Anglo- Saxons. Any term is used but the true ethno logical expression — Saxo-Normans. Never theless, words will not reanimate the dead ; and evade it as we will, this Empire was founded by the arm, and is vivified and sus tained by the spirit of that Race, whose prowess has written this great fact broad and clear on the front of history — the Supremacy of the Norman. Should some unhappy chance ever mope you up at Brighton, instead of throwing yourself from the pier in a fit of ennui, let the waves bear you to the opposite shore.

You are still within the pale of English history. If a Philosopher, it must deeply interest you to trace in the genius of the ancient inha bitants of the land, the germ of all that is best in the English character. If an Eccle siologist, you will read here the first pages of

PREFACE.

. the church architecture of our own island; and, as a Man, you cannot wander among the tombs where our great kinsmen lie, with out being proud of your common humanity — of your common origin, still more. In this land of Castles, and Abbeys, and Churches, Bigotry* and the Revolution have made terrible havoc — annihilating the monuments that even Time had forborne to touch. On the soil they first visited, the Footsteps of the Normans are few. But on that soil where they fixed their final home, the influences of Rollo and his Race abide in monuments more enduring and worthier than Castles or Abbeys. In the skill that tames the war horse — in the courage that " rules the wave " — in the enprgy, the perseverance, the honour, the piety of the English People. Nor have those influences suffered diminution from the wear of eight hundred years' There is a vitality in the Norman spirit on which Time seems to have no power.

Such as it was the day after Hastings, such is it now. * The Huguenots of the sixteenth century were hardly less frantic in their iconoclasm than the disciples of liberty.

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. XVII Then it inspired the Norman knight. It now breathes in the English gentleman. It is no unworthy pride that would introduce a little of the Northern sap into the family tree. And if to effect such an object history be some times twisted and heraldry suborned, let us look with indulgent eyes. Even at this day, in a country where titles command so much respect from the general worth of those who bear them, Norman blood is the proudest boast, and Nor man features the proudest distinction. The following pages are an attempt to collect some traces of the Genius of the Nor mans, and their influence on us, their posterity ; noticing by the way the principal of those characteristic monuments, that the Iconoclast has spared. If you are disposed to honour me with your attention for a while, though I pre sume not to say with Scott, that you will find "pleasant reading," it may be something to know that the book is wholly free from " any botheraticn about statistics or geology." Some letters to a friend (the old story!) were the basis of the work. This can be of no consequence one way or the other, except vol. i. c

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. to introduce an observation I was about to make concerning the style in which it is written. I was at first disposed to continue the familar manner of a private correspon dence, and for such a course I should not have been without many modern precedents. One is tempted to select some imaginary bosom friend, to whom to address one's lucu brations, for it seems to justify a careless ness of phraseology and familiarity of style, that gives great facility to composition. This species of self-indulgence, however, was virtuously rejected, as not sufficiently respect ful to the public. He who would write for that august abstraction, should, I conceive, put his ideas into a more formal costume. After all, I must admit that " writing for the public " involves a certain amount of delusion. There is something too vast and vague in that great Aggregate to summon up the energies requisite for him who would write a book !

Like being good, it is an achievement regarded as quite easy, by those only who never tried. Let me mention a small part of what you have to encounter.

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. XIX You must begin by scribbling a thousand pages or more. Then there is the dull punc tuation, the weary interlining, the horrid blotting out. Then the mangled paragraphs of the proof sheets, and the marginal com munications with the devil (the printer's). Next, the poor appearance of your finest fancies, now they stand before you dressed in plain serious type. And last and worst, you must come out from that privacy so dear to an Englishman, and stand, a kind of target for the anonymous shafts of the critic. The man who could venture upon such things with the public alone for his motive, must either be more than human, or deceive him self, — ay, though he write like a De Quincy, or a Macaulay, secure of fame. We are weak mortals all, aiid be sure that he who writes, holds ever in his mind's eye some less shadowy object — nearer — dearer.

He trusts a passage the stranger heeds not, may recall a summer ride through forest glade, green lane, or ferny park, far off beyond the hills. He hopes some thought, the common world cannot understand, may restore hours now nigh for- XX

PREFACE.

. gotten, of loiterings along green-sward ter race — twilight talk in, deep curtained oriel — or whispers through long tresses in some ball room's quiet corner, in the golden years before the flowers lost their perfume and the music sounded " painfully gay." Such are the sympathies to which he refers — such the hope that sustains him — this, his real inspiration. And thus, though he ad dresses the Public, he writes for One. PAOE 3 CONTENTS 01 THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Le Tre'port. — Early Frank Litanies. — Significant Interview between an Old Gentleman and a Young Lady. — The World's Destiny. — Progress and unne cessary Sacrifices. — Dawn of modern Civilization. — Christianity. — Greece.— Rome. — The Teutons. — The Normans. ......

Chapter II

The Normans the earliest civilized of the Teuton Tribes. — Fruits of Ambition. — The new Order. — Destruction and Replacement the Law of the World. — Vitality of the Teutonic Principle. — The Last Race. — England in Embryo. — Feudalism. — Its De- CONTENTS. PAGE 51 77 9.0 136 sects. — Its Advantages. — A provisional Form of So ciety. — The Normans unjustly judged.

Chapter III

Preface to the History of England — Chronological Route. — A Word on Architecture. — Footsteps of the Normans. ......

Chapter IV

Eu from the Hill-side Chapel. — Its Church. — Mo numents of the Guises. — To-day. — The Past. — Their Connexion. — History of the Town and Chateau.— Description of Louis Philippe — Duke of Valois — of Chartres — of Orleans — Chabaud-Latour the School master — Corby — Miiller — Lieutenant-General of France — King. ....

Chapter IX

Fecamp. — Boisrose\ — Richard the Fearless. — Richard the Good. — Robert the Magnificent. — His Love.— The Graves of the Good. . . .238 ERRATA. VOL. I. PAGE 73, line 21, after "the earliest," add " burst." 224, line 8, for " in their wanderings over," read " (their wanderings over,) in." vol. n. PAOE 130, line 6, for " Hombre," read " Hambie." 131, note, for " Appendix I." read " Appendix II." 135, Tie 10, for "with one reflection," read "with our reflections." 257, line 12, as a note to " S. P. Q. R." add " Senatus Populus Que Romanus." UPPER NORMANDY VOL. 1 B

Chapter I. Le Treport

— FRANK LITANIES. — SIGNIFICANT INTERVIEW BETWEEN AN OLD GENTLEMAN AND A YOUNG LADY. — THE WORLD'S DESTINY. — PROGRESS AND UNNECESSARY SACRIFICES. DAWN OF MODERN CIVILIZATION. — CHRIS- TIANITY. GREECE. — ROME. — THE TEUTONS. THE NOR- MANS. Till the war-drum throb no longer, and the battle-flag be furled, In the parliament of man, the federation of the world. There the common sense of most, shall hold a fretful realm in awe ; And the peaceful earth shall slumber, lapped in universal law. Alfred Tennyson. The line of the river Bresle divides the ancient provinces of Normandy and Picardy. Its waters wash the terrace whereon stands the Chateau d'Eu, the inheritance and fa vourite home of King Louis Philippe, the pre sent Count d'Eu, and are mingled with the B ; OR, sea, a mile and a half from thence, at the little town of Le Treport.

In old times Le Treport suffered much from its exposed position. Being one of the keys to the fair territory of Neustria,* its harbour was often vexed by the " roaming tall ships" of the Normans, who towards the close of the reign of Charlemagne, made it a frequent point of descent. Many a day in the old chuich upon the hill arose the Litany, " From the rage of the Normans, good Lord deliver us ; " many a day in the vale below paced the harassed natives in humble procession, the priests going before chanting the same prayer, while the Great Charles grew pale at Aix, and " with deep sighs and abun dance of teares, exclaimed, ' Heavy am I at the very heart, that in my owne lifetime these pirates dare to come upon my coasts, whereby I foresee what mischiefe they will worke upon my posterities " -j- A thousand years have fled away bequeath- * The ancient name of Normandy. t Speed, " Historie of Great Britaine." ing to Le Treport peace and seclusion.

An occasional tourist is now the only invader. It may be some straggler from the neighbouring Chateau d'Eu, or perhaps an enterprising Don from the banks of the Isis, in search of a spot embalmed in the Commentaries as the Ulterior Portus of Julius Cæsar, or the yacht of a rambling Englishman may occasionally drop anchor in the harbour, but the stranger comes not now to pillage or to slay, he comes only to lionize or to bathe. When the tall cliffs smile in a more genial sunshine, and the waves break in the warm autumn air, Le Treport offers to the believers in salt water the attractions of an excellent bathing establishment, and a smooth-shingled shore. The curiosities, too, with which time has enriched Le Treport may fairly entitle it to rank as a supplementary lion to the Chateau d'Eu. Robert the Second Count of Eu, founded a magnificent abbey here, within whose walls he and his wife Beatrix were buried.

After flourishing for many years, it was de stroyed during the English wars of the fifteenth ; OR, 30 eentury. Some of the ruins may be traced at the east end of the present church. Not far from the abbey stood a monastery of the Templars, very famous in its time. This was all but demolished after the sup pression of that order, by the command of Philip the Fair. The small portion which escaped destruction, has been economised to form the gable of the present barracks. The church is seated on a lofty eminence, to which you ascend by a long flight of steps. It is of the fourteenth century, and especially remarkable for the roof of its nave. All along the centre, from each intersection of the groin ings, vertical pendants have been introduced, projecting downwards into the church like shapely stalactites, to an extraordinary length ; the central pendant being ten feet long.

Over the western door extends an ancient porch of sandstone richly decorated in the style of the period. On the morning of the 2nd of September, 1843, this sequestered spot presented a significant spectacle. As the old town clock struck the hour of five in the afternoon, vo ciferous cheers from a thousand voices rent the air, the ground shook with salvos of artillery, and between the discharges was heard the grand national anthem of England, " God Save the Queen." A barge, from whose stern waved the tri color, lay beside the pier. An old man, accompanied by Lord Cowley and M. Guizot, descends the stairs. Having taken his seat, the barge glides towards a steam-boat anchored in the harbour, bearing at the mast-head the royal standard of England. It comes along side, the British flag is lowered, and hoisted again by the tricolor.

A few minutes and the barge returns, presenting to the assembled crowds the unwonted sight of the national em blems of the hereditary foes waving peacefully side by side.* * " Un evenement insigne et inattendu," a French writer terms this interview. The Siecle contained a most amusing article with reference to the circumstances under which this visit was arranged. The account given by that paper was, that Queen Victoria was exceedingly anxious to spend a few days in Ireland, but to this her Ministers remon- ; OR, Underneath their waving folds and beside the old man, sits one just on the eve of woman hood, in the most simple unpretending attire ; a robe of dark purple, a black mantle, her fair Teuton features shaded by a plain straw bonnet. The shouts of " Vive la Reine d'Angleterre," announce the Queen of the Saxo-Norman is landers, whose sceptre stretches over an empire the sun never takes leave of.

The old man — who is he ? By turns Duke of Valois, Duke of Chartres, Duke of Orleans, M. Chabaud Latour the schoolmaster, M. Corby the pri vate gentleman, M. Miiller the traveller, Lieu tenant-general of France, King Louis Philippe. More nobly freighted than the bark that strated in the strongest manner. The Queen gave way, but with such evident ill-humour, that the prime-minister thought it advisable to plan some other expedition. Just then the Princess Clementine arrived at Windsor, and Queen Victoria expressing a wish to visit France, Cle mentine said, "Oh! do come while papa is at the Chateau d'Eu." " Thus," says the Siecle, " the matter was arranged between these two illustrious ladies, sauf le consentement de ce maudit Sir Peel." The Queen, pro ceeds the French journal, finds ennui in her island (!) and yearns to visit our opera, our Versailles, our museums, &c. carried Cæsar and his fortunes, that barge is bearing to the shore, the monarchs of the greatest existing empires, the rulers of the bravest, the freest, the most enlightened peoples of the world, the friends of peace, the cham pions of civilization.

Thrice only since Normandy was re-annexed to France, had a British monarch paid a friendly visit to a French King on his own soil, and the circumstances attending each meeting are highly instructive, as painting the spirit of each time. The first occasion was when Louis XI. met Edward IV. at Pequigny after the peace of Amiens in 1475. Comines tells us the in terview took place on a long narrow island in the Somme, along the whole length of which a palisade had been erected, with interstices wide enough only to admit a man's arm. The monarchs stood on either side, and kissed each other through the bars. After the royal osculation, Louis jocularly proposed to Edward a visit to Paris, " where," said he, " you shall regale yourself with the ladies, and have plentiful enjoyment of all B ; OR, kinds ;" " moreover," he added, " I have a worthy cardinal who will absolve you from all your sins."

Edward, however, prudently de clined the tempting offer. This was the age of violence, deceit, and mistrust. The second occasion was the " Field of the Cloth of Gold ;" when Wolsey brought the despots of England and France together at Guisnes. Collected on the plains of Picardy, the trampled people looked on in stupid won derment, while exchequers that the sweat of their brows had filled, were exhausted by king and noble in mad extravagance and display. This was the age of despotism, baronial mag nificence, and popular degradation. The third and last occasion we have had the high privilege to see. The interview be tween Queen Victoria and King Louis Phi lippe is marked by no warlike precaution, no extravagant splendour, but they were safer in their mutual trust than Edward and Louis with the iron barrier between them, and the lustre shed by the loyalty of their free people, throws the splendour of Henry and Francis into immeasurable shade.

This is the age of good faith, simplicity, and constitutional government. It was an impressive scene. Here, in the chosen gate of old invasion, on the very spot, where Cæsar with his legions, Hastings with his wild sailors, Edward III. with his knights and yeomen, had in turn descended; here, under the shadow of the old church, where the Frank had often invoked the aid of heaven against the Norman, met the descendants of the ancient enemies, as dear long-parted friends. Nature, too, seemed to vie with the order and harmony of human things. The sky stretched above without a cloud; without a rip ple spread the sea below ; every wind was laid asleep. The elements were emulous of the peace of man. Few fitter spots could have been found to shadow forth the progress of civilization by combining its two great symptoms; Diplomacy for War; Constitutional, instead of Absolute Power.* In old times her British Majesty * The Spanish alliance was at this time in contempla tion, and it is generally believed, that if it did not origi- ; OR, would probably have come to resolve any ques tions at issue by the stupid argument of force — in the ridiculous position of the Irish saint who went about with his head in his hand — re lying only on the sinews of her "Red Islanders," and the temper of their steel.

To-day the warriors she brings are certain quiet-looking gentlemen in hats and frock-coats, furnished with weapons drawn from the armoury of reason and justice — Lord Aberdeen, commander of the forces. Heaven, as if to show its independence of human agents, often selects the most unworthy instruments to carry out its grandest purposes. As the sensual tyrant, Henry VIIL, was the means of securing to us the gospel in its purity and freedom, so to the cruel Louis XI. the world owes the idea of substituting Persuasion for Force. While his great rival, Charles the Bold, proceeding entirely by violence and appealing incessantly to war, may be regarded as the representative of the system of Force, Louis nate the visit, the subject entered largely into the topics touched on at the Chateau d'Eu. tried the system of Persuasion, appealed to the intellect of man, and endeavoured to pre vail through their understandings.

The idea soon spread, and from the fifteenth century the history of Europe becomes essentially di plomatic. A favourite notion of Canning's was the establishment of a kind of Amphictyonic council, composed of deputies from all the states of the world. To its decision all national disputes were to be referred as a substitute for the appeal to arms. The realisation of this idea it might be visionary to expect, but it is no more than a fair inference from the progress of events, that a day is approaching when the relations between governments shall be controlled as effectually by the Common Sense of all as those of indi viduals are by the laws of their respective societies. And as the judicial combat, and its modern successor, the duel, have been scouted from society, so War, which is the judicial com bat of nations, shall likewise cease to be.

It would be Quakerish and unpatriotic to ; OR, assert that war must of necessity be a crime. When waged in defence of our homes and altars it may be a glory and a virtue, calling forth a thousand lofty qualities that challenge our admiration ; but it never can be otherwise than an evil, and on the part of an unprovoked aggressor is so monstrous a proceeding that we cannot calmly regard it without marvelling how far our intellect may be perverted and how near the human nature may descend to the ferocity of the brute. We must pronounce civilization to have made but little way until war shall come to be regarded by all men as equally ferocious and irrational. Nor does the interview at Le Treport derive less significance from having brought together in the persons of Queen Victoria and Louis Philippe the representatives of the principle of constitutional power.