Page:The Queens of England.djvu/17

MATILDA OF FLANDERS. 7 manner. If this be characteristic of a jealous wife of those days, no less characteristic of an incensed husband, the descend- ant of the stout Vikings in the eleventh century, was the punishment which William inflicted on his wife on his return to Normandy — "He beat her," relates an old chronicler, "with his bridle so severely that she died soon after." The dying- soon after was a mistake, but the beating is not so improbable ; and as in the case of the wooing, so no doubt in this matri- monial quarrel, the dissension was of short duration ; for all historians agree that this period of their lives was one of great harmony. During the invasion of the Danes in England, and the troubles with which King William had to contend, his queen resided in Normandy, where, in her administration as regent, she exhibited great talents, and in positions of difficulty, great prudence and address. Robert, eldest son of the Conqueror, was, at the age of fourteen, associated with his mother in the regency of Normandy. He had received a promise from his father, when he undertook his expedition against England, that, should he be successful, and obtain the crown of that country, he would bestow on him the Dukedom of Normandy; but When Robert claimed from him the fulfillment of this engage- ment, the king plainly told him that he must not expect it during his lifetime. The respect which Robert entertained for his father might have withheld him from rebellion ; but the machinations of the king's enemies incited him to take up arms and to enforce his claim at once. In this revolt Robert was supported by the forces of the French, and by the people of Maine, who were strongly attached to him, and whom, in right of the little Countess of Maine, now dead, to whom Robert had been espoused while yet a child, they regarded as their rightful lord. He also received secret supplies from his mother, who by her sympathy and affection very naturally sought to com- pensate for the rigor of his father, and she accordingly fur- nished him both with money and soldiers. But the Conqueror quickly suppressed this rebellion ; and it is remarkable that the hero who had triumphed in England with an army of Normans and foreigners, brought on this occasion English forces to recover his dukedom. The meeting of William with his queen under these circumstances has a tragic grandeur in it. He reproached her with sorrowing severity, observing that his