urged Robert to claim England as the heritage of the eldest son of the
Conqueror. Robert listened to the tempter and sailed for England. When
he landed at Porchester he found that the Church and the English had
rallied to Henry. Robert's position was hopeless, and he made a treaty
with his brother, abandoning all claim to the crown.

3. =Revolt of Robert of Belleme. 1102.=--Henry knew that the great
barons wished well to Robert, and on one pretext or another he
stripped most of them of power. Robert of Belleme, the strongest and
wickedest of them all, rose in revolt. After capturing many of his
castles, Henry laid siege to his great fortress at Bridgenorth. The
barons who served under Henry urged him to spare a rebel who was one
of their own class. The Englishmen and the inferior Norman knights
thought otherwise. "Lord King Henry," they cried, "trust not those
traitors. They do but strive to deceive you, and to take away from you
the strength of kingly justice.... Behold, we all stand by you
faithfully; we are ready to serve and help you in all things. Attack
the castle vigorously; shut in the traitor on all sides, and make no
peace with him till you have him alive or dead in your hands."
Bridgenorth was taken, and Robert of Belleme, having been stripped of
his English land, was sent off to Normandy. Henry was now, in very
truth, king of the English. "Rejoice, King Henry," ran a popular song,
"and give thanks to the Lord God, because thou art a free king since
thou hast overthrown Robert of Belleme, and hast driven him from the
borders of thy kingdom." Never again during Henry's reign did the
great Norman lords dare to lift hand against him.

4. =The Battle of Tinchebrai. 1106.=--It was impossible for Henry to
avoid interference in Normandy. Many of his vassals in England
possessed lands in Normandy as well, where they were exposed to the
violence of Robert of Belleme and of others who had been expelled from
England. The Duke of the Normans would do nothing to keep the peace,
and Henry crossed the sea to protect his own injured subjects. Duke
Robert naturally resisted him, and at last, in =1106=, a great battle
was fought at Tinchebrai, in which Robert was utterly defeated. Duke
Robert was kept for the remainder of his life a prisoner in Cardiff
Castle, where he died after an imprisonment of twenty-eight years.
Henry became Duke of the Normans as well as king of the English, and
all Normandy was the better for the chan