944–945 Hugh immediately accepted the offer, can- 942-954 celling all his engagements in favour of the young Richard: they were not worth a thought; Richard was the son of Guillaume Longue-épeé, grandson of the robber Rollo. Who could dream there was any obligation to observe a covenant entered into for the benefit of a Dane? Hugh and Louis then determined the plan of invasion ;Whilst Louis advanced to Rouen, Hugh should Treaty bemarch concurrently to Bayeux and reduce that Louis and these simultaneous movements stronghold; would completely liberate France from the proud and insolent Northmen; scattering them like drift to Denmark beyond the sea-curse all who hold with them-curse them all! If the encouraging promises previously made by Hugh-le-Grand to Bernard de Senlis, that he would support the young Richard had been rapidly promulgated amongst the Normans, the news of his subsequent tergiversation now reached the Normans, and Bernard even more speedily. tween Hugh for the partition of Nor mandy. Grand for Facing the viola re tion of the pledge he had given on the be half of Ri It came in letters, it came in talk, and Bernard Bernard reproaches burnt with indignation. Rapidly, as was the Hugh-leVeteran's wont, he rode away to Paris. the Duke, the respect due to the Liege-lord strained, for a brief interval, the outraged Vassal's tongue. But this reticence could not last. Bernard mingled rebukes with warnings, upbraiding the Duke's treachery and sneering at his folly.The Duke of France was working to strengthen his royal rival. Would the Carlovingian refrain chard. 944-945 942-954 from resuming the ceded Provinces as soon as he could exert the power?-With some degree of contrition Hugh-le-Grand confessed the charge, scarcely attempting to excuse himself. He had made the covenant with King Louis, and the covenant he would keep, provided the King proved true to him; but, should Louis endeavour to over-reach the Duke, then the covenant should be held as null. The two § 20. Further consultations ensued between agree upon Bernard de Senlis and Bernard the Dane, and the a plan for separating vivacious plot budded forth into a new ramifi Hugh-le from Louis. Grand cation. Acute as were the two Bernards, they could not discover whether, on the whole, Hughle-Grand anticipated more advantage by helping Richard than by acting in combination with the King. But they fully ascertained that the preposterous alliance between the King of France and the Duke of France held them together only by a thread. Let Hugh receive any rebuff from Louis, let any suspicion be excited in Duke Hugh's mind, and the confederacy would be at an end. For the purpose, therefore, of gaining the positions which would respectively enable them to embarrass Louis and embroil him with Hugh, the associate Statesmen adopted a further ingenious device. It was settled between these two venerable intriguers, that, whenever the contingency for action arose, Bernard the Frenchman should deceive the King by truth, that is to say, appearing openly in his real character as the 944-945 King's enemy, whilst Bernard the Norman should 942–954 make a demonstration of being the King's friend: not merely separating themselves, but even carrying on war against each other, should occasion require; and each arranged his part accordingly. le Tri federates nard de Bernard de Senlis, whose strength was in the Isle of France, planned to make a diversion in favour of the Norman cause, by directing his attack against the core of the King's dominions. For this purpose he formed an alliance with Thibaut le Tricheur, whose power had been Thibaut rapidly increasing since the death of Herbert of cheur conVermandois. Thibaut enjoyed the distinction of with Berbearing the worst character in France, being Senlis. also one of her greatest potentates; for it is said that about this period five noble Counties obeyed him as their Lord-Tours and Meaux, and Beauvais, and Blois, and Chartres; and with him, Bernard de Senlis formed an alliance. But so thoroughly rotten were such compacts, that, although this co-operation was proposed and accepted for the benefit of Richard, Thibaut was planning, under the influence of the implacable step-mother Liutgarda, that it should, somehow or other, tend to Richard's harm. vites the rold Blaa Bernard the Dane, honest after his fashion, Bernard inand praiseworthily consistent in pursuing his great aid of Haobject the young Richard's restoration-availed tand. himself of the results produced by the dubious 944-945 942-954 policy which Guillaume Longue-épée had adopted towards the conclusion of his reign. When Guillaume had settled Harold in the Cotentin for the purpose of counterpoising the Romane interest by the Danish power, he had also secured the alliance, not merely of a political partizan, but of a trusty friend. We can, on the whole, hardly find the match of Harold Blaatand in this historical era; but the honest though unscrupulous Seaking had cruised away, and he was now in his own realm. To Harold therefore Bernard immediately applied himself, conveying to him the intelligence of Richard's rescue—a joyful event, however miserably darkened by the usurpation of the Heir's inheritance-and inviting him over for the purpose of supporting the rights of the orphan Sovereign. Harold immediately responded. He launched his keels and hoisted his sails preparatory to a new passage of arms. 944 Alain § 21. Armorica was at this period suffering Barbe-torte severely under the chronic plague of the Celtic Berenger-race-inveterate dissension.-Alain Barbe-torte and Juhel Civil wars of Armo- was no longer the wild man of the woods, wielding rica which Danes. attract the his club against the brute beasts, yet instead of drawing his sword against the enemies of his people, he was now raging against his old friend Juhel Berenger.-Beudic, the Count of Cornouaille, became mixed up in the quarrel-He was one of the powerful obscure, concerning whom, as is the case with many of his contemporaries, 944-945 we know nothing more than the sound of their 942-954 names in the dynastic genealogies. At this juncture the Danes were directing their course towards the confines of the Terra Normannorum, and they appeared close upon Britanny when the civil war began. It would have been as preternatural in an antient Ostman as in a modern Milesian, to witness an affray and abstain from joining in it, whether there was any chance of profiting by the turmoil, or whether there was no such chance. But, in the present case, over and above their general delight in pugnacity, the Danes had a special incitement,—the desire of visiting upon Alain Barbe-torte the affronts they had received from him, when, after his return from the greater Britain, he had regained his Land. The first port made by the Danes was the port of Dôl.-Disgracefully had the Northmen been worsted at the drunken bride-ale there; and now they more than compensated themselves for the shame. They surprized the City, perpetrating their habitual atrocities. Dôl was at this era a very important See, contesting the Metropolitan rights of Tours. The unlucky Bishop retreated to his Cathedral, indulging the vain fancy that the sanctity of the structure would repel the Pagans; but such numbers of the panic-struck flock poured in after their Pastor, that he was deplorably suffocated in the crowd. The Bretons |