w, William, was but six years of age when he committed him to
the care of Helie de St. Saen; and it is probable, that his reason for
intrusting that important charge to a man of so unblemished a
character was to prevent all malignant suspicions, in case any
accident should befall the life of the young prince. [MN 1110.] He
soon repented of his choice, but when he desired to recover possession
of William's person, Helie withdrew his pupil, and carried him to the
court of Fulk, Count of Anjou, who gave him protection [z]. In
proportion as the prince grew up to man's estate, he discovered
virtues becoming his birth; and wandering through different courts of
Europe, he excited the friendly compassion of many princes, and raised
a general indignation against his uncle, who had so unjustly bereaved
him of his inheritance. Lewis the Gross, son of Philip, was at this
time King of France, a brave and generous prince, who having been
obliged, during the lifetime of his father, to fly into England, in
order to escape the persecutions of his step-mother, Bertrude, had
been protected by Henry, and had thence conceived a personal
friendship for him. But these ties were soon dissolved after the
accession of Lewis, who found his interests to be in so many
particulars opposite to those of the English monarch, and who became
sensible of the danger attending the annexation of Normandy to
England. He joined, therefore, the Counts of Anjou and Flanders in
giving disquiet to Henry's government; and this monarch, in order to
defend his foreign dominions, found himself obliged to go over to
Normandy, where he resided two years. The war which ensued amongst
those princes was attended with no memorable event, and produced only
slight skirmishes on the frontiers, agreeable to the weak condition of
the sovereigns in that age whenever their subjects were not roused by
some great and urgent occasion. Henry, by contracting his eldest son,
William, to the daughter of Fulk, detached the prince from the
alliance, and obliged the others to come to an accommodation with him.
This peace was not of long duration. His nephew, William, retired to
the court of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, who espoused his cause; and
the King of France having soon after, for other reasons, joined the
party, a new war was kindled in Normandy, which produced no event more
memorable than had attended the former. [MN 1113.] At last the death
of Baldwin, who was slain in an