We only know what became of a
thigh-bone which was somehow rescued by a monk belonging to the abbey. He
kept it for some time, and in 1642 it was replaced in a new, but much less
gorgeous tomb. About one hundred years later, it was moved to another part
of the church, but in the Revolution this third tomb was broken into, and
the last relic of the Conqueror was lost. Then after some years, the Prefet
of Calvados placed upon the site of the desecrated tomb the slab of black
marble that still marks the spot. The inscription reads "Hic sepultus est,
Invictissimus Guielmus Conquestor, Normanniae Dux et Angliae Rex, Hujusce
domus Conditor Qui obit anno MLXXXVII."
When Lanfranc had been sent to the Pope by William with a view to making
some arrangement by which the King could retain his wife Matilda and at the
same time the good offices of the Church, his side of the bargain consisted
in undertaking to build two great abbeys at Caen, one for men and one for
women. The first we have already been examining, the other is at the
eastern side of the town on the hill beyond the castle. It is a more
completely Norman building than St Etienne, but its simple, semi-circular
arches and round-headed windows contrast strangely with the huge pontifical
canopy of draped velvet that is suspended above the altar, and very
effectually blocks the view of the Norman apse beyond.
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