Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 1.djvu/170

156 Earl of Shrewsbury turned the tide of affairs. De Belesme, whose troops formed an important division of the army of the duke, suddenly fled from the field. A panic ensued among the Normans, and the brilliant deeds of valour performed by their leader failed to restore their courage or to secure the victory. After a desperate resistance, Robert, was taken prisoner, with many of the chief nobles who had fought under his banner.



Edgar Atheling also fell into the hands of Henry. At the instance of the queen, his niece, a pension was granted to him, and he is related to have passed the rest of his days on a small farm in England, where he lived in obscurity, and no historian has noted the time of his death or the place of his burial.

In A.D. 1106, a harder fate was reserved for the Duke of Normandy. He was confined in Cardiff Castle, which stood near to that of Gloucester, and had recently been conquered from the Welsh. At first some degree of liberty was permitted to him, and he was allowed to take exercise among the fields and woods of the neighbourhood. On one occasion, however, be made an attempt to escape on horseback, but he was pursued and taken in a marsh, which he had attempted to cross in his flight. It is related by some historians that, to prevent the possibility of another attempt of the same kind, the king ordered his brother;s sight to be destroyed by a painful operation. In this miserable condition, with light and liberty alike shut out, the once gay and gallant Duke of Normandy lingered on for twenty-eight years without quitting his prison. He died A.D.1135.

After the victory of Tenchebray, the whole of Normandy