The Conqueror
“He came with the flower of his chivalry, haut princes at his side, in his ears the sound of trumpets, the jingle of horse-trappings, the creak and groan of his carts and wagons.
From every corner of his dominions his vassals flocked to his standard. Thibaut the great Count of Champagne was here; Aquitaine’s young Duke; Nevers’s prince; while here fluttered the emblem of Auvergne, and there the wind spread Angoulême’s banner out against the pale spring sky. Horse and foot, lords, knights, es...quires, and men-at-arms streamed over the border, wasting as they passed, with Rouen for their goal, and a Duke’s abasement for their guerdon.
The sword was out against William from Vermandois to the Pyrenees. For seven years his fellow-vassals had watched Normandy weld his Duchy to one loyal whole, wrest from Martel towns in Maine, repulse his suzerain with loss, thrusting out his Frontiers little by little. Those like Geoffrey the Count of Gascony and William of Auvergne who had sent eulogies and gifts to Normandy four years ago, to-day sent armed men.MoreLess
From every corner of his dominions his vassals flocked to his standard. Thibaut the great Count of Champagne was here; Aquitaine’s young Duke; Nevers’s prince; while here fluttered the emblem of Auvergne, and there the wind spread Angoulême’s banner out against the pale spring sky. Horse and foot, lords, knights, es...quires, and men-at-arms streamed over the border, wasting as they passed, with Rouen for their goal, and a Duke’s abasement for their guerdon.
The sword was out against William from Vermandois to the Pyrenees. For seven years his fellow-vassals had watched Normandy weld his Duchy to one loyal whole, wrest from Martel towns in Maine, repulse his suzerain with loss, thrusting out his Frontiers little by little. Those like Geoffrey the Count of Gascony and William of Auvergne who had sent eulogies and gifts to Normandy four years ago, to-day sent armed men.MoreLess
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