William Rufus, after his accession to the crown, caused a rich monument to be erected to the memory of his father, in the Abbey of St. Stephen. The tomb was opened about the middle of the sixteenth century, by the then Bishop of Bayeux, who found the body as perfect as at the hour it was buried. The prelate caused a portrait to be painted from the remains of the mighty Conqueror, after which the tomb was again closed.

It was again violated by the Calvinists, in 1562, and the bones of William dispersed by the licentious soldiery, who, disappointed, most probably, in their expectation of finding treasure, strewed them about the church. All that remained of the stately monument was destroyed during the French revolution, when not only the Conqueror's tomb, but that of Matilda, which had been restored by the nuns, were recklessly destroyed.

CHAPTER XXIV.

A clock wound up-a tale told to its close

But leaving on the page of memory

Scenes of old times, quaint pictures of the past,

Or lessons for the future.

HORWOOD.

THIS memoir of Queen Matilda would not be complete without some brief account of the ultimate fate of her children. Cicely, as we have seen, became a veiled nun, and ultimately succeeded the abbess of the convent of the Holy Trinity in her high office, and exercised it for many years. In fact, she is spoken of, by a contemporary writer, as living in the reign of Henry the First.

The second daughter, Constance, Duchess of Bretagne, died during the life-time of her mother.

Agatha, the third daughter, seems to have possessed much of her mother's temper and sensibility. She had, when a mere child, been betrothed to Harold, and maintained a singular fidelity to

his memory; for when her father bestowed her in marriage upon the King of Gallicia, Alphonso, she resisted by every means the detested union, and desired that heaven would take her, rather than permit it to take place.

Singular enough, her prayer was granted, and she expired on her way to Spain, before ever beholding the features of her unknown lord. Her body was interred at Bayeux, in the Church

of St. Mary.

Adela, the fourth daughter of William and Matilda, was wedded to Stephen, Earl of Blois. Her third son, Stephen, named after his father, succeeded eventually to the English crown, upon the death of his uncle, Henry I.

Gundered, the fifth and last daughter, was married to William De Warrenne, one of the most considerable nobles in Normandy, who was created by her father Earl of Surrey, in England. From her, many of our great families of the present day trace their descent from William the Conqueror.

Robert, who had been absent in Germany at the time of his father's death, succeeded him in the duchy of Normandy; whilst his brother, Rufus, backed by the influence of the primate and the favor of the Nobles, was crowned King of England.

Robert, or the "Unready," as he is styled by contemporary writers-from the fact of his always being out of the way when his presence was most requisite for his interests-soon afterwards joined the Crusaders under Godfrey of Boulogne, and mortgaged his duchy to his brother, William Rufus, for the sum of six thousand six hundred pounds of silver, in order to enable him to take part in the expedition.

Whilst in Palestine he married Sybilla, the daughter of a Count Conversana, by whom he had one son, named William.

Having greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Jerusalem, he became so popular with the Crusaders, from his bravery and generosity, that he was elected King of the Holy City. It is said that their choice was influenced by a sign from heaven-the waxtaper in the hands of the prince suddenly igniting of itself, as the electors were deliberating on Easter Eve whom they should elect.

The news of the death of William Rufus, by the hand of Sir Walter Tyrrell, in the New Forest, reaching him about this time, Robert declined the proffered crown, and prepared for his departure for England, where his younger brother, Henry, surnamed Beauclerc, from his learning, had already supplanted him. He had obtained possession of the treasures of the late king, and so successfully employed them, that the absent heir was forgotten, and Henry elected, or rather accepted in his place.

This was the same prince who, in company with William Rufus, caused the first explosion between Robert and the Conqueror, by throwing dirty water upon him and his companions, whilst the court of Normandy was at the Castle of the Eagle.

It seems to have been the fate of the unhappy Robert to have been loved only by his mother. His brothers proved his bitterest enemies, and his father the unnatural spoiler of his inherit

ance.

Determined not to yield to the usurpation of the second brother as he had yielded to the first, Robert prepared to assert his claim to England by force of arms; but, after various struggles, he was defeated by Henry Beauclerc, at the Battle of Tinchebray. The victor not only stripped him of his paternal inheritance, the duchy of Normandy, but kept him a close prisoner.

Robert Courthose expired in Cardiff Castle, after a painful captivity of eight-and-twenty years.

Although the queen of William the Conqueror passed but few years of her reign in England, the influence of her habits and tastes imperceptibly spread itself among the people. The Norman ladies who accompanied their lords had many of them been educated at her court, inherited the same love of learning, the same ideas of architecture and art, as their royal mistress: the consequence was favorable to the development of the civilization of a semi-barbarous people.

By her example schools were founded, the marriage tie became respected, and the rude, barbarous manners of the Saxons gradually softened and refined.

If the wife of William the Conqueror was not the greatest, she

certainly was one of the most remarkable women who ever shared the English throne. Her character may not have been faultless-indeed we cannot avoid admitting that it was stained with crimes; but some allowance must be made for the dark age in which she flourished, when revenge was considered a virtue, and blood-shedding looked upon as a venial offence.

Matilda of Flanders must be judged by her times, and not by the standard of the present day: we shall then find that she was an affectionate mother, a virtuous wife, a patroness of learning and religion, munificent to the poor, and cruel only to her enemies.

But then, as we previously stated, revenge was considered a virtue in the eleventh century.

MATILDA ATHELING,

QUEEN CONSORT OF HENRY I.

CHAPTER I.

'Tis vain to struggle with our destiny.

Resistance but more firmly links the cham
Which binds us to our doom.

MAIDS' CHRONICLE.

EDGAR ATHELING and his sisters-the last descendants of the great King Alfred, and the legitimate heirs of the throne—mistrusting the specious friendship of William the Conqueror, resolved on seeking an asylum from the dangers which awaited them in England, with the kindred of their mother in Germany: their father, Edward Atheling-known in history by the surname of the Outlaw-having married Agatha, the daughter of the Emperor Henry II. The party consisted of Edgar, his widowed mother, and her two daughters, Margaret and Christina.

It is from the elder of these princesses that Matilda, the subject of our present memoir, was born; the younger, Christina, devoting herself to a religious life.

Had the original intention of the royal fugitives, of proceeding to Germany, been executed, the descendants of Alfred, in all probability, would never again have worn the crown; but the vessel was providentially driven by stress of weather into the Frith of Forth.

Malcolm, the reigning King of Scotland-the son of that Dun

(281)