This nobleman, who was count of the Bessin, was
personally obnoxious to Rollo, for having refused him his daughter, the
beautiful Poppea, in marriage. But, on the capture of the town, Poppea
was taken prisoner, and compelled to share the conqueror's bed. Bayeux
arose from its ruins under the auspices of Botho, a Norman chieftain, to
whom Rollo was greatly attached, and who succeeded to the honors of
Berenger. By him the town was rebuilt, and filled with a Norman
population, the consequence of which was, according to Dudo of St.
Quintin, that William Longa-Spatha, the successor of Rollo, who hated
the French language, sent his son, Duke Richard, to be educated at
Bayeux, where Danish alone was spoken. And the example of the Duke
continued for some time to be imitated by his successors upon the
throne; so that Bayeux became the academy for the children of the royal
family, till they arrived at a sufficient age to be removed to the
metropolis, there to be instructed in the art of government.
The dignity of Count of the Bessin ceased in the reign of William the
Conqueror, in consequence of a rebellion on the part of the barons,
which had well nigh cost that sovereign his life. From that time, till
the conquest of Normandy by the French, the nobleman, who presided over
the Bessin, bore the title of the king's viscount; and, under this
name, you will find him the first cited among the four viscounts of
Lower Normandy, in the famous parliament of all the barons of this part
of the duchy, convened at Caen by Henry IInd, in 1152.
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