troness of religious houses, especially those devoted to the fair sex. To the convent at the ancient and stately abbey of Barking, whose abbess took precedence of every abbess in the kingdom, to that once celebrated school the nunnery of Stratford, to the conventual establishments of London, and to the monastery at Westminster, she was a frequent and diligent visitant, zealously preserving their governments free from abuses, and largely adding to their endowments. Whilst Matilda was cultivating peace and industry at home, success crowned the efforts of her royal lord in Normandy. At the speedily-terminated but decisive battle of Tinchebray-a large town in Normandy-fought on the vigil of St. Michael, Henry's victory was so complete, that he took prisoners the unfortunate Robert and his young son William, besides the Earl of Mortagne, Edgar Atheling, four hundred knights, and ten thousand soldiers. This victory, obtained forty years after the memorable battle of Hastings, greatly flattered the national pride of the English, who declared that, as the Normans had once been their masters, so now the husband of their good Saxon Queen had conquered the Normans. Having, to the fullness of his joy, obtained the crown of Normandy, Henry returned in triumph with his prisoners to England. Edgar, Matilda's uncle, he immediately released, and pensioned for life; his brother Robert he, with unrelenting severity, imprisoned in Cardiff Castle, in Wales, and the Earl of Mortagne and other nobles were confined in the Tower of London and other for tresses. In 1108, the king and queen kept court for the first time at New Windsor, which had formerly been used by William the Conqueror as a hunting castle, but which the taste and skill of the holy architect, Gundulph, had converted into a royal palace, so magnificent and picturesque, that it has ever since been a favourite residence with succeeding monarchs. In 1108, Henry again went to Normandy, which was threatened with invasion by the King of France. During his absence, Matilda resided at Westminster, where, surrounded by her splendid court, she, by works of charity and public uti lity, and by firmly upholding the Saxon form of legislature, ensured the good will of the people, whose social and political advancement she so loved to promote. Having spent the winter and spring in Normandy, Henry returned in the summer of 1109 to England, to enjoy the company of his queen and children. Shortly after his arrival, the court removed to Windsor Castle, where splendid preparations had been made for the reception of the ambassadors who came to request his daughter Matilda_in_marriage with the Emperor Henry the Fifth. Beauclerc joyfully accepted the proposal, and the wedding of the little princess, then only five years old, was celebrated by proxy, after which the youthful empress remained with her royal mother in England till the following year, when she was sent, with a magnificent retinue, to her imperial lord, to whom she was immediately espoused, and afterwards crowned by the Archbishop of Cologne, in the cathedral of Mentz; but the mar riage was not fully solemnized until 1114, when the princess, then but eleven years of age, was again crowned with great pomp, and afterwards conducted to the palace of her husband, Henry, who, although more than forty years her senior, treated her with great regard and tenderness. To pay the dowry of the princess Matilda, the king levied a tax of three shillings on every hide of land, by which the the sum of eight hundred and twenty-four thousand eight hundred pounds was raised. From this period the rebellious spirit of the Normans, and the frequent invasions of their neighbours, compelled Henry to spend the greater part of his time in his dukedom. The English, however, were so well pleased with the mild but just government of Matilda the Good, that they rather preferred the absence than the presence of their king. Nothing remarkable occurs in the annals of Matilda's court until 1115. In this year the Normans solemnly acknowledged her eldest born, William, gene rally styled by the English "the Athel- | yet in the flower of her age, closed her ing," as heir presumptive to the ducal eyes in the sleep of death. For sevencrown; after which the king returned, teen years and six months had the good with his royal son, then but twelve years queen ruled with motherly affection over old, to England, where, early in autumn, her loving English subjects, who now he called together that memorable coun- mourned her loss as a great national cacil of the nobles and the representatives lamity. The king's grief, when he reof the people, from which some histo-ceived the mournful tidings of the death rians date the origin of that buttress of British liberty, the House of Commons. "At this assembly," says Malmsbury, "all the freemen of England and Normandy, of whatsoever order and dignity, or to what lord soever they were vassals or tenants, were made to do homage and swear fealty to William, son of King Henry and Queen Matilda." During the Christmas festival of this year, Matilda and her royal lord were sumptuously entertained at the abbey of St. Alban's, by the Abbot Richards, whose guests they were. The building of the magnificent fabric had just been completed, and Matilda, being its most munificent patroness, she officiated at its consecration, which took place in the presence of a vast assembly of prelates and nobles, on Christmas day, 1115. In 1116, the king took his son, William, to Normandy, where he tarried till November, in the following year, when Matilda's health being in a declining state, he left his royal heir in charge of his Norman nobles, and returned to England. After a brief sojourn, his affairs compelled him to again embark for Normandy, where he was actively occupied chastising his unruly barons; when, on the first of May, 1118, Matilda, whilst of his consort, was bitter and deeply distressing; but the same circumstances that had hitherto detained him in Normandy prevented him from honouring her funeral with his presence. History mentions so many spots as the reposing place of the relics of Matilda the Good, that it is impossible, with certainty, to point to the site of her grave. Tyrrell assures us she was buried at Winchester. Piers of Langtoft claims the honour of owning her tomb for St. Paul's cathedral, and the monks of Reading stoutly maintained that in their own stately abbey lay the mortal remains of their royal benefactress. But the tradition most generally received is, that her obsequies were solemnized, with much grandeur, on St. Philip's day, in Westminster Abbey, where her body was entombed beside that of her sainted uncle, Edward the Confessor; and that a stately monument, which time has long since destroyed, was there raised to her memory by the citizens of London, who, to mark their affection for the first consort of Beauclerc, whom tradition has handed down to us with the endearing and honourable surname of "the Good," annually provided a pall, and oil to burn before her greatly-revered sepulchre. ADELICIA OF LOUVAINE, Second Queen of Benry the First. CHAPTER I. Henry's grief for the loss of Matilda-Protects his continental possessions from the French-Concludes a peace with France-His daughter Matilda crowned Empress of Germany, and his son William invested with the ducal crown of NormandyHenry embarks for England-Wreck of the Blanche Neuf, and loss of Henry's children-His grief-He is advised to marry-Proposes for Adelicia-Marries with great pomp at Windsor-Henry and Adelicia crowned at WestminsterHigh genealogy of Adelicia-Her beauty and elegant accomplishments-She becomes a favourite with the people-Upholds morality and religion, and affords munificent encouragement to learning-Her court becomes the court of the greatest scholars and minstrels of the times-She is praised by Henry of Huntingdon-The first menagerie erected in England. LTHOUGH Henry | the preceding year, been advantageously the First had bit- contracted to the illustrious Alice, daughterly bewailed the ter of Fulk, the powerful Earl of Anjou. loss of his queen, Ma- This marriage was solemnized at Litilda the Good, he sieux, in Burgundy county, and the was for a period too feasts and pageants with which it was actively engaged in celebrated only ceased in November, protecting his conti-1120, when the king, Prince William, nental possessions from the ambitious and the English nobles repaired to Bargrasp of the French King, Louis the Sixth, to seek consolation in a second marriage. But fierce and protracted as this contest was, victory at length declared in favour of the energetic Beauclerc, who now ruled in undisturbed possession the powerful dominions of England and Normandy. The year 1120, saw Henry at the summit of his greatness. With France he had just concluded a honourable peace; his daughter Matilda had been crowned Empress of Germany, and his son, Prince William, whom he had invested with the ducal crown of Normandy, had, in the June of fleur, whither they embarked for England, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, a day rendered memorable by the fatal wreck of the Blanche Neuf, or white ship, in which Prince William, two of the king's natural children, two of his nephews, and a host of youthful nobles found a watery grave. The royal fleet, which had sailed with the king and his train, but a few hours before the white ship commenced its voyage of death, reached Southampton in safety, and for three weary days did the monarch, in anxious expectation, await the arrival of his son. The sad successor of Anselm, whom death had snatched away in 1109-and other of his peers and prelates, advised Henry to espouse the far-famed beautiful Adelicia, daughter of Godfrey Barbatus, Duke of Louvaine. tidings of the wreck reached the court, | but none dared communicate it to the king. At length, however, a youthful page, at the request of Theobald de Blois, fell on his knees, and whispered to the impatient Henry, how the angry waters had, at one stroke, destroyed all on board In 1120, the king, with a numerous the ill-fated vessel, deprived him of his train, proceeded to Louvaine. The duke beloved heir, and blighted all his long-received him with great joy, and was so cherished plans. "You must not grieve, Sire," continued the page, "for the catastrophe is not the work of man, but the doing of the great Ruler of all destinies." "Grieve, forsooth!" exclaimed the king, who, during the recital, had become greatly excited. "By the devil's damnation, have you been cramming romances of hell into my ears, that I should become a raving maniac. The hope of my heart-the prop of my crown my poor William, dead! drowned! Oh, my heart will burst! Yet, say quick, whence comes this tale of woe! 66 As the tears of compassion moistened the cheeks of the little page, he replied, Sire, believe me, it is all true as gospel; every word that I have recited, you would have had from the lips of Theobald de Blois, had he have dared to salute the ears of royalty with such unwelcome intelligence." "Oh, St. Mary, St. Mary! that I should have lived to hear this," exclaimed the king, who, overcome by the shock, fell senseless on the floor. On recovering consciousness, his attendants removed him to his chamber, where, overwhelmed with sorrow, he lay for weeks on the bed of sickness, refusing food till life had almost given way. His heart was broken; and although convalescence returned, never once, even to the day of his death, was his grief-furrowed countenance again brightened by the smile of gladness. Melancholy had firmly grasped his constitution, and his temper had become so soured and hasty, that his nobles, whom he frequently abused with unkingly oaths, could scarcely endure his presence. It was evident that the throne being without a male heir, was the worm that corroded the king's heart; therefore, Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury--the well pleased with the munificent dower he fixed on the fair Adelicia, that, after the betrothment, which was celebrated on the sixteenth of April, he willingly consigned England's future queen to her affianced lord. The royal pair, after a prosperous voyage, arrived in England, at the close of the year; and the nuptials were publicly solemnized, with great pomp, at Windsor, on the feast of Canalemas, January the twenty-fourth, 1121. It was at this marriage, that an important prerogative of the see of Canterbury was established. King Henry desired the solemn offices to be performed by his favourite short-sermon preacher, Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, but the aged Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was a great stickler for the prerogatives of his see, claimed the right as his, which he enforced by calling a council of the clergy, who solemnly pronounced, that in whatever part of the kingdom the king and queen might be, they were the sole parishioners of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This dispute delayed the celebration of the royal nuptials; but, as the chagrined Beauclerc found it expedient to bow to the decision of the clergy, the learned primate performed the ceremony in triumph. Thwarted in the performance of his marriage ceremonials, the king resolved that on this occasion, himself and his bride should receive the insignia of royalty from the hands of his favourite prelate. The coronation took place at Westminster, on the day following the marriage. But the old paralytic Ralph was not so easily to be deprived of the important right of crowning the king and queen. Tottering into the church, just as Roger le Poer had hastily placed the crown on the brow of his royal master, he stopped the ceremony, smote the royal circlet from the offending monarch's head, and then recommencing the coronation with due form, crowned and anointed Henry and his fair young bride. Adelicia, not unfrequently styled "the fair maid of Brabant," was most nobly allied. Her father was the lawful representative of Charlemagne; her mother was the daughter of the Emperor Henry the Fourth, to whose son, Beauclerc had espoused his only legitimate daughter, Matilda, and her father's brother filled the pontifical chair as Pope Calixtus. Like many of her illustrious ancestors, Adelicia was remarkable for her exquisite beauty, and her elegant accomplishments. Her skill and taste in embroidery appear to have been remarkable, as she embroidered a standard in silk and gold for her father, which became greatly celebrated for its beauty of design and exquisite finish. History has forgotten to record the date of her birth, and the events of her early years, but the circumstances of her after-life render it probable that she had not seen twenty summers at the period of her marriage with Beauclerc. The young and beautiful Adelicia soon became a favourite with the people, and, in imitation of the bright deeds of her predecessor, Matilda the Good, she, with queenly influence, upheld religion, morality, and good order, and afforded munificent encouragement to learning and refinement. Her court was graced by the presence of the most gifted and erudite scholars and minstrels of the times, and the rudely extemporised rhymes that had so charmed the ears of Matilda the Good, were, by her exalted taste, made to give place to the more elaborated productions of the graduates of Oxford or Paris, who could read Latin, and whose works were penned with glossy ink, and emblazoned with gold and vermilion, on milk white parchment. The example of the queen excited a spirit of emulation amongst the nobles of her court, and the conduct of the nobles again influenced their vassals, so that at this period nothing was so fashionable as the pursuit or patronage of letters; indeed, the love of literature, and the exalted taste of Beauclerc and his consort, scattered the seeds of refinement and intellectual advancement so abundantly throughout the nation, that the civil wars of the succeeding reigns did but retard the future harvest. With a remarkable wisdom and grace, the youthful queen endeavoured to conform herself to the tastes of her royal lord. Henry loved magnificence, and above all, delighted to see his beautiful bride richly attired; and Adelicia, who preferred a poem to a jewel, the quiet praises of the learned to the huzzas of the multitude, so gratified his desire, that Henry of Huntingdon thus. addressed her in his celebrated Latin verses. "Your crown and jewels, when compared to In vain your costly ornaments are worn, The king's taste for animals had induced him to enclose a park at Woodstock, and form what was probably the first menagerie erected in England; and as the youthful Adelicia was no zoologist, the learned ecclesiastic, Philip de Thou, by her request, translated into Norman French a popular Latin work on the nature of animals, and the properties of precious stones. This treatise Adelicia studied with such especial care, that, says a chronicler," she could afterwards discourse about lions, bears, and unicorns, even more learnedly than Beauclerc himself." |