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THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book i-

Christian. By some he is called Robert, by othersRoger or Richard, Josberto or Osberto, Jesberto, orZeberto, which equally prove it a surname; and,certainly, to translate Osberto, Osbert is less changethan Joubert. So, he may very well have been a SirRobert Osbert of the family of that Norman whowas Bishop of Exeter, in 1102. 1 And, indeed, it isbut fair to indulge such surmises, that agree withhis being at the Court of England, under Henry I ; 2for it is quite remarkable that, where there were somany English-Norman knights, there should seemto be so few grand masters of that nation. Theremust have been many, but their names are dis-guised in the translations. But whatever countryhe was of by birth, he was a very charitable person,and made bye-laws for the sick, as Avell as Raymond;one of which, still extant, is that white bread begiven to the poor gentlemen, or “Seigneurs lespomes." And reading the deed about bread, andall those precautions, we ought to keep in mindthat it was in a country often the seat of Avar, anda city ever threatened with a siege, where theknights, and their healthy visitors too, might be

1 Sir Harris Mcolas: Synopsis, ii. 846.

2 Yertot: i. 105.