Chapter 5

Concerning Ebles, Count of Roucy

The noble church of Reims and the churches dependent on it found themselves a prey to the tyrannical, valiant and turbulent baron Ebles[1] of Roucy[2] and his son Guichard, who robbed it of its goods. Ebles was a man of great military prowess. Indeed he became so bold that one day he set out for Spain[3] with an army of a size fit only for a king. His feats of arms only made him more outrageous and rapacious in pillage, rape and all over evils. 

Many pitiful complaints had been laid against this powerful and wicked man. At least a hundred complaints had been made to King Philip and before his son two or three. So Louis, exercised by the charges assembled a relatively small army of about seven hundred knights from the most noble and valiant of French lords.[4] They hastened to Reims, where he fought vigorously for about two months, punishing the evils inflicted in the past on the churches, and ravaging, burning and pillaging the lands of the tyrant and his associates. It was well done; for the pillagers were pillaged, and the torturers exposed to equal or worse tortures than they had inflicted on others[5].

Such was the dedication of the prince and his army that throughout the whole time they were there they scarcely rested, except on Saturdays and Sundays[6]. They ceaselessly fought with lances or swords, to avenge by harrying the injuries the count had done. He fought not only against Ebles but also against all the barons of that area who, because of their family ties with the great men of Lotharingia, made up a formidable army.

Meanwhile there were many peace negotiations; and since the prince’s presence was demanded elsewhere by other preoccupations and dangerous affairs, he held a council with his men and then both besought and demanded peace for the churches from that tyrant. Then taking hostages, he forced Ebles to confirm the peace with oaths. When he had met him and sent him away humbled, he left the negotiations over Neufchatel to another time. [7]

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[1] Count Ebles II de Roucy was born around 1050 in France and died in 1104. He fought for the cause of Gregory VII in Italy and married Sibylle, daughter of Robert Guiscard about 1081 in France. He was the son and successor of Hilduin III of Ramerupt who became count of Roucy because of his marriage to Adela, daughter of Ebles I. The complex family background of Ebles de Roucy is discussed by Guenée, B., ‘Les Généalogies entre l’histoire at la politique: La fierté d’être capetien, en France, au moyen age’, Annales economies, societes civilisations, vol. xxxiii, (1978), pp. 450-477 especially 453.

[2] Roucy is on the River Aisne about twelve miles north-west of Reims and a hundred miles north-east of Paris.

[3] Ebles’ sister Felicia (1069-1086) was married to Sancho V (born 1067, died 1094), king of Aragon (1069-1094) and king of Navarre (1076-1094). In 1073, Ebles sought to establish a state with the support of Pope Gregory VII like those in Normandy and Southern Italy by taking land from the Moors but his plans came to nothing. See Defourneaux, Marcelin, Les Français en Espagne au XI^e at XII^e siècles, Paris, 1948.

[4] These ‘French lords’ came from the Capetian domain in the Ile-de-France.

[5] This occurred in the summer of 1102.

[6] The church, through the Truce of God tried to prevent fighting on Saturdays and Sundays though this was often ignored. The Battle of Hastings, for example, was fought on a Saturday. Louis’ conduct is particularly commendable in Suger’s eyes.

[7] Neufchatel sur-Aisne is upstream from Roucy, about twelve miles north of Reims. It can be implied in this and the following chapters that Louis did not do especially well in these encounters and it can be argued that he was coming off worse.

Chapter 4: How when he was besieging another castle belonging to the same Matthew, at Chambly a sudden storm forced his army to flee; how without Louis' valiant resistance his army would have been all but wiped out; and how Matthew humbly gave him satisfaction

In the same way[1], he led his army against another of the count’s castles called Chambly, pitched camp and ordered the siege engines to be brought up. But his hopes were totally dashed. The weather, which had been good, changed to wet and windy, then a violent storm broke out, with drenching rain, and the whole land was disturbed at night by the chorus of thunderclaps that scattered the army and frightened the horses so much that some people thought they should scarcely survive.

In the face of this unspeakable terror, at dawn part of the army prepared to take flight. While Louis was still sleeping in his pavilion, they craftily set fire to the tents. Because this was the signal for the retreat, the army rashly and in confusion hastened to depart, frightened by the unexpected retreat but not waiting to discuss it. The Lord Louis, confused by the impulsive rush and the great noise enquired what was going on, mounted his horse and rushed after the army, but because it had already dispersed far and wide he failed to bring it back. What could that young hero do than rush to arms with the few men he had managed to collect together, and make a wall to shield those who had fled ahead of him, and attack and be attacked time and again? Those who otherwise would have perished were able to flee quietly and securely; but because many of them fled in small groups far from him, they were captured by the enemy. Among these the most eminent were Hugh of Clermont himself and Guy of Senlis[2] and Herluin of Paris[3], as well as many knights of lesser birth and foot-soldiers.

Deeply wounded by this blow, for he had thus far been inexperienced in disaster when he returned to Paris he felt a totally unfamiliar anger arise in his soul. And as is usual among young men, at least those of them who aspire to valour, as anger moved him he fuelled it. Burning to avenge his injury at once, he gathered with wisdom and caution an army three times the size of the original one, and repeatedly declared with frequent sighs that he would rather face death than bear the shame. When his friends told Count Matthew, because he was a man of good breeding and courtesy, he regretted the shame he had accidentally inflicted on his lord and by repeated approaches sought to open the road to peace as quickly as possible.

With much civility and flattery he tried to pacify the young man, excusing himself, reasonably enough, on the ground that he has not inflicted this injury by design but by accident and showed himself willing to make all due satisfaction. Through many appeals, through the counsel of his household, and the rather belated insistence of his father, the young man’s anger was cooled. He pardoned the repentant noble, excused the injury, restored his losses as far as possible with the count’s cooperation, set free the captives, made peace with Hugh of Clermont, and thanks to the firm peace thus made was able to restore to him the part of the castle that was his.

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[1] The attack on Chambly took place immediately after the attack on Luzarches in 1102: ibid, Luchaire, Louis VI le Gros, Annales de son vie et de son règne, n° 19. Orderic Vitalis 4:287 does not mention the storm but attributes the flight of Louis’ force to a trick. Chambly is about three miles north-west of Beaumont and twenty-eight miles north of Paris.

[2] Guy II de Senlis, sometimes called Guy de la Tour was held in great regard by Louis and frequently accompanied him. He was the father of Guy III who became ‘butler’ of the king in 1108: see Depoin, Jean, (ed.), Cartulaire de Saint-Martin de Pontoise, five vols. Pontoise: Société Historique du Vexin, 1895-1909, vol. 4, pp. 282-283.

[3] Herluin of Paris was a member of a family that can be traced back to the tenth century. He was the nephew of Ansoud and Miles of Paris who, in a diploma of 1047 are placed among the ‘optimates palatii Regis’. Herluin acted as the prince’s tutor, a title that continued to be used after Louis became king in 1108 suggesting a close relationship with the monarch.