Charlemagne, “General Capitulary on the Missi” • Lambert of Ardres, The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres • Thomas of Monmouth, The Life and Passion of St. William of Norwich

Lambert of Ardres, The History of the Counts of Guines

and Lords of Ardres

Translated with an Introduction by

LEAH SHOPKOW

PENN

University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia

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succinctly laid out on account of certain incidents of my narrative, suffice to clarify the following matters concerning the lineage of Aalst and the lin- eage of Bourbourg and the lineage of Bethune. But now, let us return to the lineage of Ardres, so that I may bring the narrative I have undertaken to its conclusion.

123. How Arnold the Old married Gertrude.

And so, since my grandfather,446 the lord of Ardres, who was called the Old, attended the court of Flanders, and fame of his greatness reached all the nobles of the kingdom of France and resounded and with truthful voice spoke well of him, his reputation, magnificence, and knightly splendor came to the ears of Baldwin, the lord of Aalst. For that reason, Baldwin the Fat of Aalst invited him to be his guest one day at a certain tournament that was glorious and famous within the boundaries of Tournai, when Arnold had won and gotten for himself there the preponderance and glory of the day of battle and the tournament, and even the envious agreed. And Baldwin solemnly pro- vided him and his followers with very refined food and drink. When the next day came, the two talked things over in many words, and Arnold married and wed Gertrude, the noble man's sister, in legitimate marriage.447 At the same time that he took his wife, he accepted the allods she possessed in the castellany of Bergues, at Aardenbourg and Oostbourg, and around Y zendijke and Vulendick and Gaternesse.448

Then, Arnold, coming with his wife Gertrude to his Ardres, was received by the clergy and people in his church with the bells solemnly ringing; having made a brief prayer there, they were received together with joy into the castle of his house. For three days, as though they were celebrating the triennial feast of Bacchus there, they celebrated their solemn nuptials, abandoning them- selves to food and drink, in games and amusements, with pleasure and re- joicing. At these nuptials, Arnold performed this memorable feat, or rather one marvelous to relate.

124. How Arnold hanged a rogue on a gibbet.

Now, among the many folk coming together from many regions to at- tend the nuptials, there was a certain rogue, a beer-drinker- as the custom of that time was. When he dined in the house with the other feasters, he pro-

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claimed and boasted amongst them that he was such a great drinker that if the lord bridegroom would give him some sort of nag or horse, he would drink up a great keg, completely full of beer, that Arnold had in his cellar. When the bung had been pulled, he would place his mouth at the opening and not remove it until the keg was empty. And he would void his waste at the same time, as he had just prepared and arranged a place where he might pour out or release the urine from his manly rod. When the bridegroom took the bet, the rogue matched his deeds to the words and emptied the keg- Oh, the gluttony of drinkers! Oh, the indiscreet prodigality of princes!-just as he had predicted and accepted in the bet: he drained, chugged, drank, and, at the same time, urinated.

When it was empty, the wretch jumped amongst them and placed the bung of the keg in his mouth as a sign of jocularity, or rather of gluttony. He began boldly and repeatedly to demand in a clamorous and victorious voice the horse that he won in the agreement and by drinking. But the bridegroom looked at him with burning eyes and ordered that the horse be saddled for him and be given to him as quickly as possible according to the agreement. But Arnold's cronies had cut trees into a gibbet, as they were well-informed of the intention of their lord; they jumped up at once and hanged the rogue from the gibbet.449

Then Arnold knew his wife Gertrude and by her he had Arnold, called the Young or the Younger; Manasses and Baldwin and Hugh the monk; Ade- line; Agnes; and Alice.

125. How peace was made between Ardres and Fiennes.

At the time my grandfather Arnold, the lord of Ardres (called the Old to distinguish him, as I have said above, from his son Arnold the Younger), was living in peaceful tranquility and in prosperity, he enclosed and stilled the waters of the living springs at Bremes and made a fish pond, and built and constructed a mill over the fish pond, much to the indignation of the count of Guines, the people of Balinghem, and many others. Then the family of Fiennes rose up again with great force and strength and asked again for the hereditary allods in Ardres which they alleged belonged to them and were theirs.450 But since the family of Ardres responded with indignation that they would provide no allods or holdings to the family of Fiennes, the family of Fiennes retreated, driven to rage. Returning again and making an assault on Ardres, they began to attack and trouble them greatly. But the men of Ar-

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dres provoked and harassed the men of Fiennes in battle in a not dissimilar way and often carried off their possessions. But when they had gathered their troops, the men of Fiennes carried off with them not just their own posses- sions - how, indeed, does it help to cover up the truth? - but also they often carried off the goods of the men of Ardres along with their own. And for this reason, the lord of Ardres, my grandfather Arnold, enclosed the courtyard belonging to the men of Ferlinghem with a solid earthwork, the better to protect their animals. (This earthwork was later razed to the ground in the dedication of the little church established in that same courtyard.) Then when they had fought each other in this way for a long time and had provoked each other, and each side had wounded some of the other side, the opposing sides gnashed their teeth at each other.

But after a long struggle between this side and that and many attacks by warriors of both parties, in the end, those who were equally friendly to both sides mediated. Peace was established between them and they became friends and allies in the love that comes from kinship. Then the estates at Fiennes belonging to the family of Ardres, along with the serfs living there, fell to the family of Fiennes as part of their inheritance and remained as such; they ran from the enclosure of the cemetery through the middle of the market all around unbroken up to the castle. But the estates of the family of Fiennes at Ardres, if they held any, remained an inheritance for the family of Ardres forever.

126. The war between Ardres and Guines and how Arnold the Old fortified the town and the wood of Ardres with a great and long earthwork.

Then after these things had happened, Arnold's sons, both those who had been conceived in the love of pleasure and those born of his noble wife Gertrude, became knights and were in the flower of youth and grew great amidst the nobility of the Flemish court. And since Arnold failed to serve Count Manasses of Guines and not only was not loyal to him according to the tenor of homage, but was also a rebel and a contumacious man, Arnold refused to appear before him and respect him. So the count greatly molested him in many ways to the point that the count often put him to flight in his Ar- dres- indeed, I must not hide the truth-whether Arnold wished it or not. The count besieged and encircled Ardres, not without much bloodshed on either side, and turned the houses and similarly the village church to em-

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bers and reduced them to ash. (Oh, the blasphemous rage of persecuting ene- mies!) When Manasses drove the fleeing man into the stronghold of the castle, however, and could neither conquer it himself nor force it to surrender, the count heard that knights were gathering all around in aid of the family of Ardres, and for this reason he retreated from Ardres. Then the family of Ar- dres emerged enraged and ardent with fury,451 and when the knights allied to them arrived in aid, after many enemies had fallen on either side, they put the count to flight into Guines.

Nevertheless, truces were granted and accepted at the desire of both parties, and good faith in peace was given and accepted by both for a time. The earthwork of the exterior wall of the fortress of Ardres was repaired and enlarged and surrounded and penned in with fences and military hedge - hogs,452 and towers and war machines were built on top and prepared in de- fense against the attack of enemies. Then Arnold extended the great and deep and wide earthwork outside the village and cemetery, from the upper side of the fish pond as far as Fulbert's wood or grove. It enclosed and fortified both the communal lands of his people and the plain of the fields as well as the houses of the whole village of Ardres. And he ordered and had oaks and other trees planted together on top of the earthwork, as can be seen today. Then around the same time, he made his son Hugh a monk in the church of Saint-Bertin and, along with his son, he gave whatever the church of Saint- Bertin possesses to this day at Rodelinghem to the abbot and monks of that

place in free alms.453

There is one thing, however, that I include in the course of these words, that is as marvelous as it is memorable, to wit: when war's contest between the lords of Ardres and Guines was very great, while the men of Ardres were within the land of Guines, they were always rebellious and contumacious

toward the count of Guines and his men. They not only refused to show him the respect they owed him, but also persecuted and attacked him and his fol - lowers with indignation. And the count of Guines and his followers, when they stayed in the land of Guines, did no less; they plotted against and at- tacked the men of Ardres with similar persecution and harassment. Never- theless, the more rebellious and contumacious the lords of Ardres had been

toward the count of Guines and his men within the territory, when the former and the latter came together any place outside Guines, in foreign lands, in any court or hall, or even in any tournament or inn, the more prompt they were

in service and the more they were devoted with an unfeigned fidelity to the count and his men of Guines. And the men of Guines, no matter how greatly and with what justice and merit they were hostile toward the men of Ardres in

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their own country, were just as mild and totally benign to them abroad when- ever they came together, and they showed them a calm and almost peaceable countenance. Therefore, forestalling each other in honor [Rom. u:10], each showed the other the voluntary benefit of the loyalty they owed each other.

12J. How Arnold built a great and tall house in the castle of Ardres and this is its description.

Then afterward, when peace had been made and confirmed between Count Manasses of Guines and Lord Arnold of Ardres, using the marvelous skill of carpenters, Arnold constructed a wooden house above the keep of Ardres that surpassed the houses built of the same material in all of Flan- ders at that time. A certain architect or carpenter from Bourbourg named Louis, who differed little from Daedalus in the genius of this art, forged and constructed it.454 And he made and created an inescapable labyrinth of it; he attached room to room, chamber to chamber, and compartment to com- partment, and joined the granaries or storerooms to the cellars; he built the chapel above in a very suitable place on high in the eastern part of the house.

Then he built a three-storey structure in it and suspended storey upon storey a long way from the ground,455 as if in the air. The first storey, where there were cellars and granaries, also great chests, kegs, and vats, and other implements of the house, was on ground level. Then the common living and work spaces of the inhabitants were on the second floor, where there were workrooms, on one side the room of the bakers, on the other, that of the but- lers. Over here was the great chamber of the lord and his wife, in which they slept; the side chamber was contiguous to this, that is, the chamber or dormi- tory of the attendants and children. Here in a more private part of the great chamber there was a private alcove, where they used to make a fire at full dawn or at dusk or during an illness, or for letting blood or for warming the at- tendants or the weaned children.456 Then on this floor was the house kitchen, which was divided into two levels. On the lower level, they put pigs that were to be fattened up over here, over there the geese to be fed, and over there ca- pons and other fowl that were being prepared to be killed and eaten. On the second level of the kitchen, however, the cooks and those who supplied the kitchen stayed; on this level, the lord's very refined food was processed 457 and prepared to be eaten with varied sorts ofpreparation and labor on the part of the cooks. The food of household members and domestics was also prepared there through daily provisioning and d11tiful labor.

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On the top storey of the house, the rooms of the uppermost chambers 458

were constructed, in which the sons might lie when they wished over here, while the daughters of the lord of the house might lie down over there, as was suitable; vigilant servants, positioned and appointed to take care of the house, and the always ready guards might catch some sleep over yonder.

There were flights of stairs and passages from storey to storey, from the house into the kitchen, from room to room, and from the house into the loggia, and again from the loggia into the oratory or the chapel, which re - sembled the tabernacle of Solomon in its painting and carving. (The loggia is well named, for the following reason; the word is derived from logos, which means «word," and, indeed, they were accustomed to sit there amidst delights to converse.)

Now I have reminded you, fathers and lords, of these things concerning this house which you see and in which you live, not so much for you as for the people from foreign places who stay here with us. It is no wonder that guests and outsiders do not know all the rooms of this house, since many who have been raised from infancy and brought to man's estate in this house cannot know and comprehend the number of doors, gates, little entries, and windows.

128. Why the oven dues were granted at Ardres.

When this house of Solomonic glory had been built, Arnold went to England, where

With the king for some days he did rest, And did a bear of wondrous size request

from this same king. After his business throughout his land in England had been attended to and well organized, he took the bear back with him to Ar- dres. When it had been brought out and shown before the people and it had been baited by dogs and mangled almost to death and its hair had been torn out, everyone marvelled and was happy and pleased at the spectacle. But later on, when the people would gladly have seen it baited by dogs during the feast days and requested this, the bear-keeper refused for some time at the prompting of the lord. He demanded bread from the people to feed the bear-Oh, the foolishness of the simple people! Oh, the lamentable avarice of the lord, hardened by the melody of Scylla!! The foolish people (but not

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the rear-vassals and clergy) swore and promised the lord of their own free will that they would give the bear-keeper one loaf of bread from any oven in the citadel for any provisioning whatsoever to provide for and feed the bear; thus they might have and see the bear-baiting and spectacle every feast day for their pleasure. But alas for the bear-baiting! Through it the populace of Ardres were made sport of and seduced and corrupted into a bad usage and evil custom! For the exaction of oven dues for this bear grew into such an exe- crable custom, that this bear's bread may be extorted and demanded forever

· by the lords from the people's descendants, whether the wretched populace wills it or not, by right of custom, without any bear-baiting, unless the mercy of God and yours, most merciful father and lord, should come to their aid. Thus this bread is held to be the bread of affliction, which the lord possesses as if by right. On account of this right, he demands and extorts oven dues to this day as a right in certain places in Ardres which are recorded and held of old to be responsible for this.

i29. Of Gertrude's severity.

Now, Gertrude, the wife of Lord Arnold of Ardres, could glory that be- cause of the nobility of her family she arose from noble origins and that she was ennobled by the proud chastity of her words and deeds, and could extol and exalt herself, but she was ambitious for possessions and famous for the vice of cupidity and for notorious avarice. Consequently one day (I shall be silent about other events and matters concerning her), she ordered sheep to be exacted and collected throughout Ardres's jurisdiction to establish a sheep-farm. When her officials had already gathered some, or rather many, sheep, they came to the little tiny house of a very poor humble woman, in which the little woman of that domicile lived with her seven little children. She was crying and lamenting that she had nothing to give the children, who were also crying, to eat. And when these domestic ministers, worse than any serf, mocked the humble woman as if they were demanding a lamb from her, the woman answered simply that she had neither a sheep or cow, but that if they wished to take one of her little children to their lady, she would freely present it to be raised or fed. These most evil serfs went away and came to the lady and spoke ill of the little woman to her; they not only mocked the humble woman, but also basely accused her before the lady; hirelings were sent, who demanded the child promised to them. And in the end, the lady obtained the child she demanded, whether the humble woman liked it or not.

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The lady had it fed and adopted as her own in place of a sheep. But when the little girl (the child that had been exacted was of the feminine sex) then came to nubile years, the lady- for shame! - married her off to a man; she had now been turned into a bondmaid and was called a bondmaid, or rather she had been recorded as being one. The lady condemned her to servility and thrust her down and submerged her and her heirs in it forever.

This same Gertrude had brought some free people, as they say, with her from her land, to wit, from Oostbourg, to serve and minister to her at Ardres. She sometimes attacked them in rage and in a fury of words and called them - Oh, cruel mother and matron!- ungrateful, unfaithful, and serfs. And con- sequently, their posterity was reputed to be unfree by some of those who came later.

Now, a rather pretty young woman named Eremberg was repudiated 459

by a compatriot, who was the lady's servant, whom the lady had similarly brought with her from Flanders, so that Eremberg was rejected by many men. She wanted to have him as a husband and he refused and rejected her as un- worthy. So she ran to her lady and offered her hands to the lady in servitude so that she might manage to get and have as her husband the servant who was refusing to marry her. Although he completely rejected her as a wife, never- theless, she was married by him whether he was willing or not, and this same Gertrude made each of them a serf, with their descendants forever. 460

However, when my father Baldwin, the son of Arnold, lord of Ardres, and Gertrude, became the lord of Ardres after some years and went to Jerusa- lem, he freed these people, the others mentioned above, and the descendants of their lineage from this shameful servile condition, no matter for what rea- son they had formerly been recorded as such. Before God and all his populace, he manumitted and surrendered them as free men into the hands of Thierry, the abbot of blessed Mary of Capella. These same people and their children and their posterity and descendants were to pay the aforementioned abbot and his successors a single penny as an annual payment and four when they married or upon their deaths.461

130. How Arnold, who was devoted to the church of God, at length taking the Lord's cross upon himself, went to Antioch.

Now Arnold, although he was seen somewhat by worldly people as a secular man of the world, was very devout toward God and swift in his ser- vice. Consequently, although he had a chapel in his castle, as if to supplement