Note 390 — Chapter XII · THE LATER REIGN OF WILLIAM IN NORMANDY.[159] 1051–1066. (continued 2)

I find no mention of Geoffrey as present, except in William of Jumièges (vii. 24), who makes him accompany the King. This account is followed by Benoît of Saint More, 35245;

“Li quens d’Anjou Gefrei Martel,

Qui del ovraigne esteit mult bel,

I vint od riche compaignie

E od ses archers de valie.”

But it is strange that William of Poitiers and the other writers should have left out so important a person, had he really been there, and his absence, hard as it is to account for it, agrees better with what follows.