HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES - Julian Emperor

256 PETER AINSWORTHAtant es vus ces chevaliersE vunt saisir ces armesVestir haubercs e bruines,Prendre par les enarmesDunc oïssiez Deu aramir‘Mar m’avrunt entreacuntrédescenduz del paleis,igneus e demaneis,lacier ces healmes freis,ces escuz vianeis.li vielz Henri li reis:li traitre es chaumeis!’(ll. 153–58; cf. ll. 647–49)Amongst the other epic and feudal motifs and themes encounteredin the poem, we should mention, if only briefly, that of mauvais conseilwhich, in William the Lion’s case, involves his readiness to give greatercredence to untried strangers than to his own domestic advisors:Bien sout li reis d’Escoce adunkes guerreier,Ses enemis en guerre grever e damagier;Mes trop fud acustumé de cunseilz noveler.La gent estrange chierisseit, amot, e teneit chier.La sue gent demeine ne volt unkes amer,Ki lui e sun reaume deveient cunseillier.Bien i parut en haste —ja m’en orrez parler—Cum avint de sa guerre par malveis cunseillier.(ll. 637–44; cf. ll. 673–78)We are dealing here, manifestly, with a well-composed estoire and literarywork. However, in the last part of his poem Jordan Fantosmetakes great pains to stress to his listeners the reliability of his witnessaccounts (“Dehé ait Fantosmë, si ja m’orrez mentir!”, l. 1146),especially when relating episodes where he himself was an active participantin the fighting. His description of William the Lion at thesiege of Alnwick was not, he assures us, obtained by mere hearsay(“cum cil qui ad oï”) but, rather, from his own testimony as a direct,first-hand eyewitness:Li reis d’Escoce fud pruz, merveillus e hardi.Par devant Audnewic s’arestut desguarni.Jo ne cunt mie fable cum cil qui ad oï,Mes cum celui qu’i fud, e jo meismes le vi. (ll. 1766–69)Having rapidly donned helm and hauberk, the king mounts hiswarhorse and hurls himself into the press, killing the first man whogets in his way. After a fierce and bitter struggle, William falls preyto two contrary forces evoked in the poem by means of parallellaisses. The first is material: the lance of an English serjant or manat arms, which pierces the flank of the royal mount. As Fantosmeand his editor both note, all would have been well had it not been