ther
circumstance, which preserved them from the encroachments of their
barons. They were generals of a conquering army, which was obliged to
continue in a military posture, and to maintain great subordination
under their leader, in order to secure themselves from the revolt of
the numerous natives, whom they had bereaved of all their properties
and privileges. But though this circumstance supported the authority
of William and his immediate successors, and rendered them extremely
absolute, it was lost as soon as the Norman barons began to
incorporate with the nation, to acquire a security in their
possessions, and to fix their influence over their vassals, tenants,
and slaves: and the immense fortunes which the Conqueror had bestowed
on his chief captains served to support their independence, and make
them formidable to their sovereign.

He gave, for instance, to Hugh de Abrincis, his sister's son, the
whole county of Chester, which he erected into a palatinate, and
rendered by his grant almost independent of the crown [k]. Robert,
Earl of Mortaigne, had 973 manors and lordships: Allan, Earl of
Britany and Richmond, 442: Odo, Bishop of Baieux, 439 [l]: Geoffrey,
Bishop of Coutance, 280 [m]: Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, 107:
William, Earl Warrenne, 298, besides 28 towns or hamlets in Yorkshire:
Todenei, 81: Roger Bigod, 123: Robert, Earl of Eu, 119: Roger
Mortimer, 132, besides several hamlets: Robert de Stafford, 130:
Walter de Eurus, Earl of Salisbury, 46: Geoffrey de Mandeville, 118:
Richard de Clare, 171: Hugh de Beauchamp, 47: Baldwin de Ridvers, 164:
Henry de Ferrars, 222: William de Percy, 119 [n]: Norman d'Arcy, 33
[o]. Sir Henry Spellman computes, that, in the large county of
Norfolk, there were not, in the Conqueror's time, above sixty-six
proprietors of land [p]. Men, possessed of such princely revenues and
jurisdictions, could not long be retained in the rank of subjects.
The great Earl Warrenne, in a subsequent reign, when he was questioned
concerning his right to the lands which he possessed, drew his sword,
which he produced as his title; adding, that William the Bastard did
not conquer the kingdom himself; but that the barons, and his ancestor
among the rest, were joint adventurers in the enterprise [q].
[FN [k] Camd. in Chesh. Spellm. Gloss. in verb. COMES PALATINUS. [l]
Brady's Hist. p. 198, 200. [m] Order. Vital. [n] Dugdale's Baronage,
from Doomsday Book, vol. i. p. 60, 74; iii. 112,