cleared the ground for himself with a strong hand. He had beaten his
feudal lord in the open field, and thus not only recovered a frontier
fortress lost during his minority, but also strengthened the
independence of the duchy. At the same time William had vanquished his
rebellious vassals in arms, banished them, deprived them of their
possessions, and got rid, with the Pope's consent, of an archbishop
who was allied with them. Death freed him from another mighty
opponent, the Duke of Brittany, who threatened him with a great
maritime expedition. It throws a certain light on his policy, to see
how he made himself master of the county of Maine in 1062. On the
ground that Count Heribert, whom he had supported in his quarrel with
Anjou, had become his vassal and made him his heir,[13] he overran
Maine, and put his adherents in possession of the fortresses which
commanded the land. However we may decide as to the details told us
about his relations to Edward and Harold, it seems undeniable that
William had received provisional promises from both--for Harold loved
to side with Edward. He was not the man to put up with their being
broken. The system, however, which through Harold's accession gained
the upper hand in England, was in itself hostile to the Norman one:
and that a king of England like the present might some day become
dangerous to the duke, amidst all the other hostilities which
threatened him, is clear. To these motives was now added the
approbation of the Roman See. The Pope's chief Council deliberated on
the enterprise, above all did the archdeacon of the Church,
Hildebrand, declare himself in its favour. He was reproached--then or
at a later time--with being the author of bloodshed; he declared that
his conscience acquitted him, since he knew well, that the higher
William mounted, the more useful he would be to the Church.[14]
Alexander II now sent the duke the banner of the Church. As a few
years before Robert Guiscard had become duke, so now a Norman duke was
to become king, in the service of the Church. The Normans were still
divided in their views as to the enterprise, but when this news
arrived, all opposition ceased, for in the service of S. Peter and the
Church men believed themselves secure of success; then lay and
spiritual vassals emulously armed ships and men; in the harbour of S.
Valery, which belonged to one of those who had been last gained over,
the Count of Ponthieu, the fleet and the troops ga