It was only, indeed, the collapse, to all appearance, of her fortunes, that could have tempted Geoffrey to demand, or have induced the Empress to concede, terms so preposterously high. The fact that she was hoping, at this moment, to allure her husband to her side, that he might join her in a crowning effort, explains her eagerness to secure allies, at the cost of whatever sacrifice, and also, in consequence, the anxiety of those allies to bind her to her promises hard and fast. It further throws light on the constant reference throughout this charter to Geoffrey of Anjou and his son.
Turning to the names of her proposed sureties, we find among them five earls, of whom the Earls of Norfolk and of Pembroke invite special notice. The former had played a shifty part from the very beginning of the reign. He appears to have really fought for his own hand alone, and we find him, the year after this, joining the Earl of Essex in his wild outburst of revolt. With Pembroke the case was different. He had been among the nobles who, the Christmas before, had assembled at Stephen's court, and had attested the charter there granted to the Earl of Essex. He may, in the interval, have quarrelled with Stephen and joined the party of the Empress; but I think the occurrence of his name may be referred, with more probability, to another cause, that of his family ties. It is, indeed, to family ties that we must now turn our attention.
The Earl of Essex had included, as we have seen, in his demands on this occasion, provisions in favour of certain of his relatives, including apparently his sisters' husbands. But these by no means exhausted the concessions he had resolved to exact. He had come prepared to offer the Empress the support, not only of himself, but of a powerful kinsman and ally. This was his wife's brother, Aubrey de Vere.
It will be better to relegate to an appendix the relationship of these two families, without a clear understanding of which it is impossible to grasp Geoffrey's scheme, or to interpret aright these charters in their relation to one another, and in their bearing as parts of a connected whole. Unfortunately, the errors of past genealogists have rendered it a task of some difficulty to ascertain the correct pedigree.[563]