General Notes

REFN: 6778AN
REFN: P3403
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Herald . London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
"William sat on his war-horse and called out Rogier, whom they name De Mon
tgomeri. ' I rely greatly on you. Lead your men thitherward and attack th
em from that side. William, the son of Osbern, the seneschal, a right go
od vassal, shall go with you and help in the attack, and you shall have t
he men of Boulogne and Poix and all my soldiers' " (i.e. pai d troops -- m
ercenaries). Such are the words Wace puts in the mouth of the Co nquero
r. And yet, according to Orderic, Roger De Montgomeri was not present at H
astings, having been left by the Duke in Normandy, governor of the duch
y. His statement is most explicit. King William, during his visit to his N
orman dominions in 1067, was greatly disquieted by the reports from Engla
nd of the disaffection of his new subjects, and the advantage tak
en of it by the Danes . "Leaving the government of Normandy," he proceed
s, "to his Queen Matilda, a nd his young son Robert, with a council of
religious priests and valiant nobl es, to be guardians of the state, he ro
de, on the night of the 6th of Decembe r, to the mouth of the river Diepp
e, below the town of Arques, and setting sa il with a south wind in the fi
rst watch of the cold night, reached in the mor ning, after a most prosper
ous voyage, the harbour on the opposite coast calle d Wincheste
r. . . . In his present voyage he was attended by Roger De Montgom eri, w
ho at the time of his former expedition to invaDe England was left with h
is wife, governor of Normandy." Now when we remember that the father of Or
deric was Odelirius of Orleans, one of the followers of this very Rog
er De Montgomeri when he came into England, and for his services receiv
ed a grant of land lying on the banks of the river Meole at the east ga
te of
Shrewsbury; t hat, with the help of his lord, he founded the monastery the
re of St. Peter and St. Paul, to which he retired in 1110, the Earl himse
lf having died therein fourteen years previously; that Orderic, born in 10
75, was at school at Shr ewsbury until he was ten years of age, when he w
as sent to Normandy, became a monk in the Abbey of St. Evreux, of which Ro
ger De Montgomeri was a patron a nd benefactor, revisited England in 111
5, and was living, at the age of sixty -six, in 1141, -- it surely follow
s, that of all the companions of the Conqueror he had ever seen or heard o
f, Roger De Montgomeri, Earl of Shrewsbury, his father's lord and frien
d, was the one respecting whom he must have possesse d the most accurate i
nformation. Is it likely, supposing Roger De Montgomeri had commanded a wi
ng of the invading army, and performed feats of bravery at Senlac, that h
is servant and protégé who came over with him, and must in that case ha
ve been present at Hastings himself, would have been silent on the subjec
t? Would not his deeds have been the theme of his whole
household, and of the very school-fellows of the young Orderic? Was the Lo
rd of Belesme amon gst the noble personages who accompanied King Willi
am on his visit to Normand y in 1067? and if not, what was he doing in Eng
land during the disturbances i n the King's absence? How was it that a m
an of his position and prowess was n ot associated with the other great wa
rriors appointed to guard the realm and administer justice throughout i
t? His name never occurs even incidentally dur ing that period. Against th
is, to me overwhelming evidence, we have to place t he statement of Willi
am of Poitiers, who, without any allusion to Roger De Mo ntgomeri, simp
ly says that Roger De Beaumont was the person at the head of the council a
ppointed by the Duke to assist Matilda in the government of Normandy, a
nd that of Wace, who circumstantially describes the actions of Roger De Mo
ntgomeri in the great battle. As the latter authority distinctly contra
di cts Willia