Note 1520 — Chapter IV · (continued 5)

This fact comes from a letter of Bishop Ivo of Chartres (Du Chesne, iv. 219) addressed to King Philip; “Excellentiæ vestræ litteras nuper accepi, quibus submonebar ut apud Pontesium vel Calvummontem cum manu militum vobis die quam statueratis occurrerem, iturus vobiscum ad placitum quod futurum est inter regem Anglorum, et comitem Normannorum, quod facere ad præsens magnæ et multæ causæ me prohibent.” One of these reasons is that he will not have anything to do with Bertrada, against whom he again strongly exhorts the King. He himself will not be safe in the King’s court, because of her devices; such at least seems to be the meaning of the general remark, “Postremo novit vestra serenitas, quia non est mihi in curia vestra plena securitas, in qua ille sexus mihi est suspectus et infestus, qui etiam amicis aliquando non satis est fidus.” Another reason is more curious, and seems to imply that some fighting was looked for; “Præterea casati ecclesiæ, et reliqui milites pene omnes vel absunt, vel pro pace violata excommunicati sunt: quos sine satisfactione reconciliare non valeo et excommunicatos in hostem mittere non debeo.”