General Notes

EARLDOM OF KENT (I) 1067 to 1088

EUDES [ODO], Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy, son of Herluin DE CONTEVILLE,by Herleve, mother of William the Conqueror, was born probably about1030, and in 1050 was Bishop of Bayeux, holding this see till his death.He witnessed charters of Duke William for St. Evroult 25 September 1050,for St. Wandrille in 1051, and for Mont St. Michel in 1054. He waspresent in 1063 at the consecration of Rouen Cathedral and the ProvincialCouncil held there, and at the ducal council at Lillebonne in 1066 whichdecided on the invason of England. He is said to have taken an activepart in the gathering of men and arms for the expedition, and to havesupplied ships for the conveyance of troops. He was present at the Battleof Hastings. William rewarded him with a grant of over 500 manors inEngland, of which about 200 were in Kent, and made him EARL OF KENT andWarden of Dover Castle. In Lent 1066/7 he and William FitzOsbern wereviceroys during the King's absence in Normandy, and are said by thechroniclers to have built castles throughout the land and to haveoppressed the poor. Eudes then and later acted as Justiciar, though theoffice may not have been definitely created at that time. In 1067, whilehe was away north of the Thames, the men of Kent revolted and summonedEustace, Count of Boulogne, to their aid, so that the King was compelledto return to England. Eudes was a witness to William's charters to St.Martin's-le-Grand in 1068 and to Deerhurst in 1069. After the death ofWilliam (FitzOsbern), Earl of Hereford, 20 February 1070/1, Eudes wasVice-Regent of the whole of England. He wrongfully acquired many manors,and after a trial by the county at Penenden Heath was made to surrenderthose in Kent which he had usurped from the lands of Christchurch,Canterbury. At Whitsuntide 1077 he was present at a national synod todecide on the primacy of Canterbury over York, and attested its decrees,and in the same year attended a Provincial Council at Rouen. He was againpresent at a Council at Rouen in 1074. In the same year William grantedto him and his successors in the see of Bayeux the honour of Grimold duPlessis, which had been forfeited after the battle of Val-és-dunes in1047. He was one of the leaders of the force of English and Normans whichsuppressed the rebellion of the Earls of Norfolk and Hereford in thesummer of 1075. In 1077 he took part in the dedication of the abbeychurches of St. Stephen at Caen and Le Bec, this last on 23 October. Hepresided in April 1080 at the court at Kentford which framed theliberties of Ely, and later in the year was sent to Northumberland toavenge the murder, in May, of Bishop Walcher at Gateshead. He harried thewhole district and carried off some of the ornaments of the church ofDurham. He witnessed numerous charters: early in 1081 those to Malmesburyby the King and Queen, in June following the King's charter atWinchester, confirming the liberties of St. Edmund's Abbey, and in 1082the charter of Bishop William of St. Calais concerning the liberties ofSt. Cuthbert, and charters of the King to the Abbeys at Caen. By thistime wealth and power may have corrupted him, and, according to Orderic,he began to scheme to become Pope, sending great gifts to influential menin Rome, and stirring up the Normans in England, who had begun to hankerafter fresh adventures, to accompany him to Italy. The King, hearing ofthis, came over from Normandy and arrested him, not, as Bishop of Bayeux,but as Earl of Kent, responsible to the King for the trust reposed inhim. He was sent over to Normandy and kept in prison at Rouen till 1087,when William on his deathbed ordered his release and that of other stateprisoners. He was present at the King's funeral at Caen. William IIrestored Eudes to his earldom, and he attended the King's Christmas courtin London. He was present at the foundation of St. Mary's, York, in 1088.In the rebellion which broke out at Easter in this year Eudes was one ofthe chief conspirators who sought to place his nephew Robert, Duke ofNormandy, on the throne. He fortified the castle of Rochester, plunderedthe King's lands in Kent, and especially harried those of Lanfranc, whomhe believed to be the cause of his arrest and imprisonment. The King tookTonbridge Castle, when Eudes fled to his brother Robert's castle ofPevensey, which, however, surrendered after six weeks' siege. He was sentguarded to Rochester to give the King possession of that castle, but thegarrison sallied out and took him, and his guards prisoners, so that hewas once more besieged. When the castle eventually capitulated, Eudes,"qui fere fuit secundus rex Angliae," was baniishad from England and lostirrevocably his honours and possessions in this country (a). He becameDuke Robert's chief minister in Normandy. In 1095 he attended the Councilof Clermont, at which Urban II proclaimed the Crusade, and was present atthe Council of Rouen in February 1095/6, where the decrees of Clermontwere promulgated (b). In September 1096 he accompanied the Duke on theCrusadc, and, dying at Palermo in February 1096/7, was buried in thecathedral there. At his death the Earldom of Kent became extinct. It wasunsuccessfully claimed by his nephew William, Count of Mortain.[Complete Peerage VII:124-9, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(a) Orderic puts into the mouth of William the Conqueror two speecheswhich describe the character of Eudes in the severest language: (i) madewhen he arrested Eudes, (ii) when he reluctanctly liberated him in 1087.The latter reads: "I wonder that you do not weigh more prudently who andwhat sort is the man for whom you plead.  Do you plead for one who hasbeen this long time a despiser of religion and a keen instigator ofdeadly sedition?  Have I not kept in restraint for four years thisbishop, who while he ought to have been the truly just ruler of theEnglish made himself the vilest oppressor of the people and the destroyerof monsteries?  By setting free this seditious man you do ill and areinviting an enormous penalty for yourselves.  It is quite clear that mybrother Eudes is light and ambitious, cleaving to fleshly desires andgreat cruelties, and will never alter from his harlotries and offensivevanities.  I have found this out quite clearly in many points, andtherefore have shut up not a bishop, but a tyrant.  And there cannot be adoubt that if he goes free he will disturb the whole country, and causeinjury to many thousands.  I say all this, not as an enemy, but as fatherof my country, taking care of the Christian people.  Had he behavedhimself chastely and modestly as a priest and minister of God ought everto do, I should have had greater joy in my heart than I could express."

(b)  ... His illegitimate son, John, was held in great esteem at thecourt of Henry I for his eloquence and probity.