Then he gave his land to his sons, in order that there might be no dispute after his death. He called together his barons[14], and said, "Listen to me, and see that ye understand. Normandy my inheritance, where the most of my race are, I give to Robert my son, the eldest born; and so I had settled before I came to be king. Moreover I give him Mans. He shall have Normandy and Mans, and serve the king of France for the same. There are many brave men in Normandy; I know none equal to them. They are noble and valiant knights, conquering in all lands whither they go. If they have a good captain[15], a company of them is much to be dreaded; but if they have not a lord whom they fear, and who governs them severely, the service they will render will soon be but poor. The Normans are worth little without strict justice; they must be bent and bowed to their ruler's will; and whoso holds them always under his foot, and curbs them tightly, may get his business well done by them. Haughty are they and proud; boastful and arrogant, difficult to govern, and requiring to be at all times kept under; so that Robert will have much to do and to provide, in order to manage such a people. "I should greatly desire, if God so pleased, to advance my noble and gallant son William. He has set his heart upon England, and it may be that he will be king there; but I can of myself do nothing towards it, and you well know the reason. I conquered England by wrong[16]; and by wrong I slew many men there, and killed their heirs; by wrong I seized the kingdom, and of that which I have so gained, and in which I have no right, I can give nought to my son; he cannot inherit through my wrong. But I will send him over sea, and will pray the archbishop to grant him the crown; and if he can in reason do it, I entreat that he will make him the gift. "To Henry my son, the youngest born, I have given five thousand livres, and have commanded both William and Robert, my other sons, that each, according to his power, will, as he loves me, make Henry more rich and powerful than any other man who holds of them."