Carloman.

schemes which Hugh-le-Grand had astutely 942-954 formed for the extirpation of the Carlovingian 945-946 race, by possessing himself of all the King's Death of children, had been partially frustrated by Ger- the babe berga's resoluteness. Lothaire had never come within the Tyrant's reach, and now the infant Carloman, wrested from the mother's embraces, died. Still, though this collateral assurance was lost, Hugh held the King entirely within his grasp; and he evinced that consistent inconsistency which characterized all his transactions with his Sovereign. Hugh would not Hugh-letouch a hair of the King's head, but he the King's legs in bolts and fetters. would not secure the Crown for himself, but he despoiled the King of all the means whereby he could recover or assert his dignity.

Grand en

locked creases the

rigour of

Hugh the King's

Hugh's extortionate demands were conveyed in terms of affected conscientiousness and offended feelings. He upbraided the King with his errors, he accused him of want of gratitude. How had the King treated him?- How great had been the King's imprudence in violating that constitutional compact which had been concluded, when, through Hugh's exertions, he was enabled to resume his ancestorial power? Had the son of Charles-le-Simple followed the counsel of his Protector and Guardian, would he not have escaped the misfortunes which had fallen upon him?-"I have made thee King, what

captivity.

945-946

942-954 hast thou given me in return?"-was the insulting interrogatory addressed by the Jailor to his Prisoner. "I have given thee Burgundy, and my royal rights in all the Gauls," Louis might have replied:-but Hugh, counting these gifts as nothing, peremptorily demanded the City and Tower of Laôn. Louis resisted with the obstinacy of despair. Laôn was the sole refuge remaining to his wife and family; he refused compliance, and, placed by Hugh-leGrand under the charge of Thibaut-le-Tricheur, he continued steady in his determination during a whole weary year.

His

A sad and miserable season.-Sleeping or waking, the iron entered into his soul. thoughts would be of the cell at Saint Médard, prepared to receive him, or he might dream of the dungeon at Peronne, where his father's life and captivity ended. So, at length, the apprehensions of death increasing upon him, he consented to surrender Laôn. Gerberga opened the Laon sur gates and descended from the rock, and HughCommand le-Grand marched in. The command of the given to Fortress was entrusted to Thibaut, an appointTricheur. ment testifying the satisfactory manner in which the Trickster had performed his duty on the Duke's behalf. Additional fortifications were erected, and the Tower and City occupied by a formidable garrison.

rendered.

of the place

Thibaut-le

38. After this tremendous hurricane of

§ 38.

945-946

leased, he

the having

desolation, Louis was re-united to Gerberga at 942-954 Compiegne, a joyous and yet a doleful meeting, their little child dead, friends and nobles Louis reslaughtered, the royal honour tarnished, nation humbled to the dust, Laôn, the stronghold, lost. All things adverse, but, com- demands. forted and supported by Gerberga, his spirit confident as ever.

agreed to

last Hugh-le

It was by Hugh-le-Grand that Louis had been recalled from his exile beyond the sea to occupy the throne. It was through Hugh-le-Grand that the royal authority was bestowed. He had been the means of depriving the heir of Charlemagne of that throne; and he now restored the heir in such a manner as to proclaim, that by virtue of his concession, the Sovereign was to resume his reign: he, Hugh-le-Grand, the arbiter of the fate of King and Kingdom.

Grand's

Grand "

Pursuant therefore to the policy which guided Hugh-lehim, and at the same time asserting the pre-novates" the Royal tensions he had never concealed, Hugh-le-Grand, authority. again standing forth as Protector, formally "renovated" the King's authority. He did so in the most explicit terms, treating the liberation of Louis from personal and physical restraint as a new accession. This accomplished, Hugh consented to descend into the rank of a subject, being the first to "commend" himself to the King, in which act he was followed by the rest of the Nobles. And thereupon ensued the de

re

945-946

919-954 finitive, and-according to the professed intention of the parties-the final settlement of the relations between the sole Sovereign of the Norman Duchy and the French Kingdom. The sting of all or any of the homages which the "Leader of the Pirates," or the "Son of the Breton Concubine," had performed, was to be taken out, and a perfect reciprocity established between France and the "Norman Monarchy." The Normans delighted in decorating themselves with this title and style, making the State bear testimony to the unity of the Sovereign power.

The renewal of

between

and

France.

Again, the Epte became the living witness of the compact; and, on her banks, the Potentates met and the Nobles assembled.-Young Richard, fresh, and bright, and fair, his aspect intelligent and acute, his presence royal. Louis, unarmed and in peaceful guise, and Hugh-le-Grand their common Patron. Where Robert Duke of France had stood, there stood his son, directing the solemn ceremony.

The Shrines, so often the accusing witcompact nesses of perjury, were brought forth, and the Normandy oath which Louis had taken when trembling at Rouen, was renewed, and in more stringent terms.-That Dominion which Rollo the Grandsire had won by so many battles, Richard shall henceforward have and hold, owing service to none but God.-Should any enemy attempt to disturb the right of the Norman Sovereign, the

945-946

declared

dent.

King of France shall be his help and aid in all 942-954 things. No other service shall Normandy render unless the King should grant the Duke some Richard Benefice within the Kingdom of France. There- indepenfore, as it was explained in after-time, the Duke of Normandy doth no more than promise faith and homage to the King of France. In like manner doth the King of France render the same fealty to the Duke of Normandy; nor is there any other difference between them, save that the King of France doth not render homage to the Duke of Normandy like as the Duke of Normandy doth to the King.

queror en

troops at

of the battle

of Hastings, by appeal

into the

humiliation

French

In these transactions, not recorded on roll The Conor parchment, or confirmed by seal or charter, courages his the Normans gloried, and on the battle-field Hastings they erected their trophy. For then did William exhort his Normans to emulate those of the ancestors who had kept the King of France in King. ward and bond, until he had restored the young Richard to his land, and submitting to the condition (imposed as a penance), that whenever the King and the Duke should meet in pacific. conference on the Border, the Duke should stand forth girt with his sword, whilst the King should present himself wholly disarmed, not having even a scrape-trencher blade or whittledagger, hanging by his side.

The covenant was rendered national.-First swore the King. Prelates, Bishops, Counts,