the construction of the abbeys.

They selected the city of Caen for the site. The place of this city will
be seen marked upon the map near the northern coast of Normandy.[G] It
was situated in a broad and pleasant valley, at the confluence of two
rivers, and was surrounded by beautiful and fertile meadows. It was
strongly fortified, being surrounded by walls and towers, which
William's ancestors, the dukes of Normandy, had built. William and
Matilda took a strong interest in the plans and constructions connected
with the building of the abbeys. William's was a very extensive edifice,
and contained within its inclosures a royal palace for himself, where,
in subsequent years, himself and Matilda often resided.

[Footnote G: See map, chapter ix.]

The principal buildings of these abbeys still stand, though the walls
and fortifications of Caen are gone. The buildings are used now for
other purposes than those for which they were erected, but they retain
the names originally given them, and are visited by great numbers of
tourists, being regarded with great interest as singular memorials of
the past--twin monuments commemorating an ancient marriage.

The marriage being thus finally confirmed and acquiesced in, William and
Matilda enjoyed a long period of domestic peace. The oldest child was a
son. He was born within a year of the marriage, and William named him
Robert, that, as the reader will recollect, having been the name of
William's father. There was, in process of time, a large family of
children. Their names were Robert, William Rufus, Henry, Cecilia,
Agatha, Constance, Adela, Adelaide, and Gundred. Matilda devoted herself
with great maternal fidelity to the care and education of these
children, and many of them became subsequently historical personages of
the highest distinction.

The object which, it will be recollected, was one of William's main
inducements for contracting this alliance, namely, the strengthening of
his power by thus connecting himself with the reigning family of
Flanders, was, in a great measure, accomplished. The two governments,
leagued together by this natural tie, strengthened each other's power,
and often rendered each other essential assistance, though there was one
occasion, subsequently, when William's reliance on this aid was
disappointed. It was as follows:

When he was planning his invasion of England, he sent to Matilda's
brother, Baldwin, who was then Count of Flanders, inviti