--The first historical mention of Falaise is in the year 1027;
during the reign of the fifth Norman Duke, Richard IIIrd, at which
period this town was one of the strong holds of the duchy, and afforded
shelter to Robert, the father of the Conqueror, when he rebelled against
his elder brother. Falaise on that occasion sustained the first of the
nine sieges, by which it has procured celebrity in history.--Fourteen
years only elapsed before it was exposed to a second, through the
perfidy of Toustain de Goz, Count of Hiesmes, who had been intrusted
with the charge of the castle, and who, upon finding that his own
district was ravaged by the forces of the King of France, voluntarily
offered to surrender to that monarch the fortress under his command, on
condition that his territory, the Hiesmois, should be spared. But Duke
William succeeded in retaking the place of his birth before the traitor
had an opportunity of introducing the troops of his new ally.--In the
years 1106 and 1139, Falaise opposed a successful resistance to the
armies of Henry Ist, and of Geoffrey Plantagenet. Upon the first of
these occasions, the Count of Maine, the general of the English forces,
retired with shame from before the walls; and Henry was foiled in all his
attempts to gain possession of the castle, till the battle of Tinchbray
had invested him with the ducal mantle, and had induced Robert himself
to deliver up the fortress in person to his more fortunate brother.
Pages:
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343