PROLOGUE
To the most reverend lord bishop of Soissons, Goslen, Suger by the patience of God abbot of St. Denis the areopagite, servant of God as best he can be, hoping to be united episcopally with the bishop of bishops.
We ought to submit ourselves and out works to the deliberation and judgement of those by whom, on the day of judgement, the sentence of love or hate will be pronounced according to deserts, when (Proverbs XXXI, 23) 'the noble man shall sit in the gates with the senators of this earth'. Therefore, best of men, even had you not occupied the episcopal throne, to which I am wholly devoted in Him to whom you are totally devoted - and I could say no more of you than that if you asked me to - I am sending to the decision of your approved wisdom the deeds of the most serene King of the French Louis. Thus, because he showed himself the most generous of lords in promoting us and also when we had been promoted, both I in writing and you in correcting may equally praise the man whom we have equally loved and whose death we equally lament and deplore. For friendship, even when it is born of benefits received, does not oppose charity, since He who ordered us to love our enemies did not forbid us to love our friends. So in payment of a double debt of gratitude and charity - although unequal not incompatible - let us erect him 'a monument more durable than bronze' (Horace, Odes III, 30, v. 1), when with my pen I describe his devotion to the church's worship of God and his marvellous zeal for the good of the kingdom, which the passage of time ought not to delete from
men's memory; nor should the ardent prayers of the interceding church cease from generation to generation, in acknowledgement of the great benefits it received from him.
May your highness occupy happily your episcopal throne among the senators of the sky.
Chapter 1
How valiant he was in youth, and with what energy he repelled the king of the English, William Rufus, when he attacked Louis' inherited kingdom.
The glorious and famous king of the French Louis, son of the magnificent king Philip, in the first flower of his youth, barely then twelve or thirteen years ole, was elegant and handsome, and had achieved such progress, by praiseworthy development both of his character and of his fine body that he gave promise of a swift and honourable enlargement of his future kingdom and encouraged warm hopes that he would defend the churches and the poor. This highborn youth, in accordance with the ancient custom of Charlemagne and other great kings, attested by imperial charters, attached himself to the saintly martyrs and their servants at St. Denis, as if from a naturally sweet disposition. He prolonged this friendship with their church formed in his boyhood throughout his whole life, displaying great liberality and reverence; so much so that, at the end of his life, he placed his hope in them second only to God, and gave himself up to them, body and soul, with devotion and deliberation, so that, had it been possible, he would have become a monk there.
In his youth, growing courage matured his spirit with youthful vigour, making him bored with hunting and the boyish games with which others of his age used to enjoy themselves and forget the pursuit of arms. And when he was troubled by the attacks of many great men of the kingdom and of the outstanding and magnanimous king of the English William, son of the even more magnanimous king William the conqueror of the English, his stout heart exalted at the chance to prove himself, his courage smiled at the test, he banished inertia, opened the gates to prudence, put an end to leisure, increased his concern. William king of the English was skilled in military arts, avid for praise and eager for fame. After his elder brother Robert was disinherited, he was fortunate to succeed his father William; then, after Robert's departure for Jerusalem, he obtained the duchy of Normandy. there he put so much pressure on the Norman frontiers of the French kingdom that wherever he could he forced the renowned young prince to fight.
While they fought, similarities and dissimilarities between them came to light. They were alike in that neither would yield; they were dissimilar in that one was a mature man, the other a youth; one rich, prodigal with the treasures of England, a brilliant recruiter and paymaster of soldiers; the other lacking in money, sparing in expending the treasures of his inherited kingdom, only brought an army together by energetic hard work, yet resisted boldly. you might have seen that young man dashing across the frontiers, now into Berry, now into the Auvergne, now into Burgundy, with a handful of men, and returning just as quickly to the Vexin, if he judged it necessary, to confront with his three or five hundred men King William with his thousand; and the vicissitudes of war being uncertain, sometimes he yielded, sometimes he put his enemy to flight.
In these encounters many captives were taken on both sides; the famous youth and his men captured among many others, the count Simon, the noble baron William de l'Aigle, an equally illustrious figure in England and in Normandy, Pagan of Gisors, for whose benefit the castle of Gisors was fortified for the first time; and on the other side, the king of England captured the bold and noble count Matthew of Beaumont, the illustrious and renowned baron Simon de Montfort, and Lord Pagan of Montjay. But while anxiety about hiring soldiers ensured the swift redemption of those from England, the rigours of a very long captivity emaciated the Frenchmen. They could not by any means escape from their chains until they took homage of the English king, joined his service, and promised on oath to attack and disturb their own king and his kingdom.
It was commonly said that that proud and impetuous king aspired to the French throne, because the famous prince was his father's only son by his most noble wife, the sister of Robert count of Flanders. The king also had two sons, Philip and Florus, by his second wife Bertrada, countess of Anjou. But they were not regarded as successors, had some misfortune brought about the death of the only heir. But because it is neither right nor natural that the French should be subject to the English, but rather the English to the French, events played against this repulsive hope. For when this mad idea had tormented King William and his men for three years or more, he lost heart when he understood that neither through the English nor through the French who were bound to him by ties of homage could he prevail. He sailed back to England, where he gave himself up to lasciviousness and the desires of his heart. One day, when he was hunting in the New Forest, he was suddenly hit by a mis-aimed arrow and died.
It was perceived that he had been struck by divine revenge, for which the probable reason was thought to be that he had been an intolerable oppressor of the poor, a cruel depredator of churches and, on the deaths of bishops or prelates, an irreverent dissipator and keeper of their goods. Some accused the most noble man Walter Tyrell of having shot the arrow. But I have often heard this Tyrell, unconstrained by either hope or fear, swear and assert on oath that, that day he neither entered the part of the wood where the king was, nor saw him at all in the forest. So it is clear that when such a great folly and such a great personage suddenly disappears into ashes, it must be by divine power, which brings it about that he who so sorely troubled others should be mush more sorely tried, and he who coveted everything should be despoiled of all. For God, who 'unbelts the swordbelts of kings' (Job 12, 18) subjects kingdoms and the law of kingdoms to himself. His younger brother succeeded William with great haste, since the elder, Robert, was on the great expedition to the Holy Land. Henry was a most prudent man, whose admirable and praiseworthy strength of body and mind offer most pleasing material for a writer. But this is not to my purpose, which is only to touch on such matters incidentally, just as I shall say something briefly of the kingdom of Lotharingia; for I have set out to record in writing a history of the deeds of the Franks, not of the English.
Chapter II
How he restrained Bouchard de Montmorency, a noble man, and all his followers from attacking St. Denis.
The famous young man Louis grew up to be cheerful, agreeable and kind, to the point that some people though him simple. As a distinguished and courageous defender of his father's kingdom, he provided for the needs of churches, and - a thing which went right against recent custom - worked for the peace of monks, labourers and the poor.
Then there arose disputes over certain customs between Adam, the venerable abbot of St. Denis, and Burchard, the noble lord of Montmorency. The argument reached such a pitch of anger that, throwing off homage, the two one-time allies fought it out with sword and fire. When this reached the ears of the Lord Louis, moved by sharp indignation, without delay he forced Burchard to appear before his father to submit to judgement. When Bouchard had lost his case, he would not accept the judgement. He was not held in captivity - that is not the French custom; but after his departure he quickly found out what unpleasantness and misfortune the disobedience of subjects earns from the royal majesty. The famous youth brought up an army against him and his confederates - for Burchard had been joined by the valiant and belligerent Mathew, count of Beaumont and Drogo de Mouchy. Louis ravaged Bouchard's lands, he threw down the fortified places, ruined the outer defences, though not the keep of the castle, and gave everything over the fire, famine and the sword. Inside the castle, they tried to put up effective resistance. So with the French and Flemish solders brought by his uncle Robert, Louis besieged it. By these and other blows he subjected the humiliated Bouchard to his will and pleasure, and having obtained satisfaction he put an end to the quarrel that had caused the trouble.
Then he attacked Drogo de Mouchy to avenge this and other unprovoked attacks, especially those on the church of Beauvais. Louis met him, surrounded by a great force of archers and crossbowmen, only a short distance from his castle, so that his flight should be shorter if he was beaten. Louis rushed against hi, prevented him from returning to the castle by forced of arms, and then dashed into the midst of the enemy and though the gate. Great champion and distinguished swordsman that he was, in the castle he was frequently struck and frequently struck others; yet he would neither withdraw nor permit himself to be repulsed until he had totally captured and reduced to cinders the whole castle up to the turret. Such was the ardour of the prince that he took no pains to get away from the fire even when it became dangerous to him and his army and made him very hoarse. And thus, having humbled his enemy to the arm of God in whose name he fought, he subjugated him as if were a sick man, and subdued him to his will.