ETHELRED.--SETTLEMENT OF THE NORMANS.--EDMUND IRONSIDE.CANUTE.--
HAROLD HAREFOOT.--HARDICANUTE.--EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.--HAROLD.
[MN Ethelred. 978.]
The freedom which England had so long enjoyed from the depredations of
the Danes seems to have proceeded, partly from the establishments
which that piratical nation had obtained in the north of France, and
which employed all their superfluous hands to people and maintain
them; partly from the vigour and warlike spirit of a long race of
English princes, who preserved the kingdom in a posture of defence by
sea and land, and either prevented or repelled every attempt of the
invaders. But a new generation of men being now sprung up in the
northern regions who could no longer disburthen themselves on
Normandy; the English had reason to dread that the Danes would again
visit an island to which they were invited, both by the memory of
their past successes, and by the expectation of assistance from their
countrymen, who, though long established in the kingdom, were not yet
thoroughly incorporated with the natives, nor had entirely forgotten
their inveterate habits of war and depredation. And as the reigning
prince was a minor, and even when he attained to mans estate never
discovered either courage or capacity sufficient to govern his own
subjects, much less to repel a formidable enemy, the people might
justly apprehend the worst calamities from so dangerous a crisis.
The Danes, before they durst attempt any important enterprise against
England, made an inconsiderable descent by way of trial; and having
landed from seven vessels near Southampton, they ravaged the country,
enriched themselves by spoil, and departed with impunity. Six years
after, they made a like attempt in the west, and met with like
success. The invaders having now found affairs in a very different
situation from that in which they formerly appeared, encouraged their
countrymen to assemble a greater force, and to hope for more
considerable advantages. [MN 991.] They landed in Essex, under the
command of two leaders; and having defeated and slain at Maldon,
Brithnot, duke of that county, who ventured, with a small body, to
attack them, they spread their devastations over all the neighbouring
provinces. In this extremity, Ethelred, to whom historians give the
epithet of the UNREADY, instead of rousing his people to defend with
courage their honour and their property, hearkened to the advice of
Siricius, Archbishop of Canterbury, which was seconded by many of the
degenerate nobility; and paying the enemy the sum of ten thousand
pounds, he bribed them to depart the kingdom. This shameful expedient
was attended with the success which might be expected. The Danes next
year appeared off the eastern coast, in hopes of subduing a people who
defended themselves by their money, which invited assailants, instead
of their arms, which repelled them. But the English, sensible of
their folly, had, in the interval, assembled in a great council, and
had determined to collect at London a fleet able to give battle to the
enemy [a]; though that judicious measure failed of success, from the
treachery of Alfric, Duke of Mercia, whose name is infamous in the
annals of that age, by the calamities which his repeated perfidy
brought upon his country. This nobleman had, in 983, succeeded to his
father Alfere in that extensive command; but being deprived of it two
years after, and banished the kingdom, he was obliged to employ all
his intrigue, and all his power, which was too great for a subject, to
be restored to his country, and reinstated in his authority. Having
had experience of the credit and malevolence of his enemies, he
thenceforth trusted for security, not to his services, or to the
affections of his fellow-citizens, but to the influence which he had
obtained over his vassals, and to the public calamities, which he
thought must, in every revolution, render his assistance necessary.
Having fixed this resolution, he determined to prevent all such
successes as might establish the royal authority, or render his own
situation dependent or precarious. As the English had formed the plan
of surrounding and destroying the Danish fleet in harbour, he
privately informed the enemy of their danger; and when they put to
sea, in consequence of this intelligence, he deserted to them, with
the squadron under his command, the night before the engagement, and
thereby disappointed all the efforts of his countrymen [b]. Ethelred,
enraged at his perfidy, seized his son Alfgar, and ordered his eyes to
be put out [c]. But such was the power of Alfric, that he again
forced himself into authority; and though he had given this specimen
of his character, and received this grievous provocation, it was found
necessary to intrust him anew with the government of Mercia. This
conduct of the court, which in all its circumstances is so barbarous,
weak, and imprudent, both merited and prognosticated the most grievous
calamities.
[FN [a] Chron. Sax. p. 126. [b] Chron.. Sax. p. 127. W. Malm. p. 62.
Higden, p. 270. [c] Chron. Sax. p.128. W. Malm. p. 62.]
[MN 993.] The northern invaders, now well acquainted with the
defenceless condition of England, made a powerful descent under the
command of Sweyn, King of Denmark, and Olave, King of Norway; and
sailing up the Humber, spread on all sides their destructive ravages.
Lindesey was laid waste; Banbury was destroyed; and all the
Northumbrians, though mostly of Danish descent, were constrained
either to join the invaders, or to suffer under their depredations. A
powerful army was assembled to oppose the Danes, and a general action
ensued; but the English were deserted in the battle, from the
cowardice or treachery of their three leaders, all of them men of
Danish race, Frena, Frithegist, and Godwin, who gave the example of a
shameful flight to the troops under their command.
Encouraged by this success, and still more by the contempt which it
inspired for their enemy, the pirates ventured to attack the centre of
the kingdom; and entering the Thames in ninety-four vessels, laid
siege to London, and threatened it with total destruction. But the
citizens, alarmed at the danger, and firmly united among themselves,
made a bolder defence than the cowardice of the nobility and gentry
gave the invaders reason to apprehend; and the besiegers, after
suffering the greatest hardships, were finally frustrated in their
attempt. In order to revenge themselves, they laid waste Essex,
Sussex, and Hampshire; and having there procured horses, they were
thereby enabled to spread through the more inland counties the fury of
their depredations. In this extremity, Ethelred and his nobles had
recourse to the former expedient; and sending ambassadors to the two
northern kings, they promised them subsistence and tribute, on
condition they would, for the present, put an end to their ravages,
and soon after depart the kingdom. Sweyn and Olave agreed to the
terms, and peaceably took up their quarters at Southampton, where the
sum of sixteen thousand pounds was paid to them. Olave even made a
journey to Andover, where Ethelred resided, and he received the rite
of confirmation from the English bishops, as well as many rich
presents from the king. He here promised that he would never more
infest the English territories; and he faithfully fulfilled the
engagement. This prince receives the appellation of St. Olave from
the church of Rome; and notwithstanding the general presumption which
lies either against the understanding or morals of every one who in
those ignorant ages was dignified with that title, he seems to have
been a man of merit and of virtue. Sweyn, though less scrupulous than
Olave, was constrained, upon the departure of the Norwegian prince, to
evacuate also the kingdom with all his followers.
[MN 996.] This composition brought only a short interval to the
miseries of the English. The Danish pirates appeared soon after in
the Severn; and having committed spoil in Wales, as well as in
Cornwall and Devonshire, they sailed round to the south coast, and
entering the Tamar, completed the devastation of these two counties.
They then returned to the Bristol Channel; and penetrating into the
country by the Avon, spread themselves over all that neighbourhood,
and carried fire and sword even into Dorsetshire. [MN 998.] They
next changed the seat of war; and after ravaging the Isle of Wight,
they entered the Thames and Medway, and laid siege to Rochester, where
they defeated the Kentish men in a pitched battle. After this
victory, the whole province of Kent was made a scene of slaughter,
fire, and devastation. The extremity of these miseries forced the
English into councils for common defence both by sea and land; but the
weakness of the king, the divisions among the nobility, the treachery
of some, the cowardice of others, the want of concert in all,
frustrated every endeavour; their fleets and armies either came too
late to attack the enemy, or were repulsed with dishonour; and the
people were thus equally ruined by resistance or by submission. The
English, therefore, destitute both of prudence and unanimity in
council, of courage and conduct in the field, had recourse to the same
weak expedient which by experience they had already found so
ineffectual: they offered the Danes to buy peace, by paying them a
large sum of money. These ravagers rose continually in their demands;
and now required the payment of twenty-four thousand pounds, to which
the English were so mean and imprudent as to submit [d]. The
departure of the Danes procured them another short interval of repose,
which they enjoyed as if it were to be perpetual, without making any
effectual preparations for a more vigorous resistance upon the next
return of the enemy.
[FN [d] Hoveden, p. 429. Chron. Mailr. p. 150.]
Besides receiving this sum, the Danes were engaged by another motive
to depart a kingdom which appeared so little in a situation to resist
their efforts: they were invited over by their countrymen in Normandy,
who at this time were hard pressed by the arms of Robert, King of
France, and who found it difficult to defend the settlement, which,
with so much advantage to themselves and glory to their nation, they
had made in that country. It is probable, also, that Ethelred,
observing the close connexions thus maintained among all the Danes,
however divided in government or situation, was desirous of forming an
alliance with that formidable people: for this purpose, being now a
widower, he made his addresses to Emma, sister to Richard II., Duke of
Normandy, and he soon succeeded in his negotiation. [MN 1001.] The
princess came over this year to England, and was married to Ethelred
[e].
[FN [e] H. Hunt. p. 359. Higden, p. 271.]
[MN Settlement of the Normans.]
In the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth century, when the
north, not yet exhausted by that multitude of people, or rather
nations, which she had successively emitted, sent forth a new race,
not of conquerors, as before, but of pirates and ravagers, who
infested the countries possessed by her once warlike sons, lived
Rollo, a petty prince or chieftain of Denmark, whose valour and
abilities soon engaged the attention of his countrymen. He was
exposed in his youth to the jealousy of the King of Denmark, who
attacked his small but independent principality; and who, being foiled
in every assault, had recourse at last to perfidy for effecting his
purpose, which he had often attempted in vain by force of arms [f]: he
lulled Rollo into security by an insidious peace; and falling suddenly
upon him, murdered his brother and his bravest officers, and forced
him to fly for safety into Scandinavia. Here many of his ancient
subjects, induced partly by affection to their prince, partly by the
oppressions of the Danish monarch, ranged themselves under his
standard, and offered to follow him in every enterprise. Rollo,
instead of attempting to recover his paternal dominions, where he must
expect a vigorous resistance from the Danes, determined to pursue an
easier, but more important undertaking, and to make his fortune, in
imitation of his countrymen, by pillaging the richer and more southern
coasts of Europe. He collected a body of troops, which, like that of
all those ravagers, was composed of Norwegians, Swedes, Frisians,
Danes, and adventurers of all nations, who, being accustomed to a
roving unsettled life, took delight in nothing but war and plunder.
His reputation brought him associates from all quarters; and a vision,
which he pretended to have appeared to him in his sleep, and which,
according to his interpretation of it, prognosticated the greatest
successes, proved also a powerful incentive with those ignorant and
superstitious people [g].
[FN [f] Dudo, ex edit. Duchesne, p. 70, 71. Gul. Gemeticencis, lib.
2. cap. 2, 3. [g] Dudo, p.71. Gul. Gem. in Epist. ad Gul. Conq.]
The first attempt made by Rollo was on England, near the end of
Alfred's reign; when that great monarch, having settled Gothrum and
his followers in East Anglia, and others of those freebooters in
Northumberland, and having restored peace to his harassed country, had
established the most excellent military as well as civil institutions
among the English. The prudent Dane, finding that no advantages could
be gained over such a people, governed by such a prince, soon turned
his enterprises against France, which he found more exposed to his
inroads [h]; and during the reigns of Eudes, an usurper, and of
Charles the Simple, a weak prince, he committed the most destructive
ravages both on the inland and maritime provinces of that kingdom.
The French, having no means of defence against a leader who united all
the valour of his countrymen with the policy of more civilized
nations, were obliged to submit to the expedient practised by Alfred,
and to offer the invaders a settlement in some of those provinces
which they had depopulated by their
arms [i].
[FN [h] Gul. Gemet. lib. 2. cap. 6. [i] Dudo, p. 82.]
The reason why the Danes for many years pursued measures so different
from those which had been embraced by the Goths, Vandals, Franks,
Burgundians, Lombards, and other northern conquerors, was the great
difference in the method of attack which was practised by these
several nations, and to which the nature of their respective
situations necessarily confined them. The latter tribes, living in an
inland country, made incursions by land upon the Roman empire; and
when they entered far into the frontiers, they were obliged to carry
along with them their wives and families, whom they had no hopes of
soon revisiting, and who could not otherwise participate of their
plunder. This circumstance quickly made them think of forcing a
settlement in the provinces which they had overrun; and these
barbarians, spreading themselves over the country, found an interest
in protecting the property and industry of the people whom they had
subdued. But the Danes and Norwegians, invited by their maritime
situation, and obliged to maintain themselves in their uncultivated
country by fishing, had acquired some experience of navigation, and in
their military excursions pursued the method practised against the
Roman empire by the more early Saxons: they made descents in small
bodies from their ships, or rather boats, and ravaging the coasts,
returned with their booty to their families, whom they could not
conveniently carry along with them in those hazardous enterprises.
But when they increased their armaments, made incursions into the
inland countries, and found it safe to remain longer in the midst of
the enfeebled enemy, they had been accustomed to crowd their vessels
with their wives and children; and having no longer any temptation to
return to their own country, they willingly embraced an opportunity of
settling in the warm climates and cultivated fields of the south.
Affairs were in this situation with Rollo and his followers, when
Charles proposed to relinquish to them part of the province formerly
called Neustria, and to purchase peace on these hard conditions.
After all the terms were fully settled, there appeared only one
circumstance shocking to the haughty Dane: he was required to do
homage to Charles for this province, and to put himself in that
humiliating posture imposed on vassals by the rites of the feudal law.
He long refused to submit to this indignity; but being unwilling to
lose such important advantages for a mere ceremony, he made a
sacrifice of his pride to his interest, and acknowledged himself, in
form, the vassal of the French monarch [k]. Charles gave him his
daughter, Gisla, in marriage; and that he might bind him faster to his
interests, made him a donation of a considerable territory, besides
that which he was obliged to surrender to him by his stipulations.
When some of the French nobles informed him, that in return for so
generous a present it was expected that he should throw himself at the
king's feet and make suitable acknowledgments for his bounty, Rollo
replied, that he would rather decline the present; and it was with
some difficulty they could persuade him to make that compliment by one
of his captains. The Dane commissioned for this purpose, full of
indignation at the order, and despising so unwarlike a prince, caught
Charles by the foot, and pretending to carry it to his mouth, that he
might kiss it, overthrew him before all his courtiers. The French,
sensible of their present weakness, found it prudent to overlook this
insult [l].
[FN [k] Ypod. Neust. p. 417. [1] Gul Gemet. lib. 2. cap. 17.]
Rollo, who was now in the decline of life, and was tired of wars and
depredations, applied himself, with mature counsels, to the settlement
of his newly-acquired territory, which was thenceforth called
Normandy; and he parcelled it out among his captains and followers.
He followed, in this partition, the customs of the feudal law, which
was then universally established in the southern countries of Europe,
and which suited the peculiar circumstances of that age. He treated
the French subjects, who submitted to him, with mildness and justice;
he reclaimed his ancient followers from their ferocious violence; he
established law and order throughout his state; and after a life spent
in tumult and ravages, he died peaceably in a good old age, and left
his dominions to his posterity [m].
[FN [m] Ibid. cap. 19, 20, 21.]
William I. who succeeded him, governed the duchy twenty-five years;
and, during that time, the Normans were thoroughly intermingled with
the French, had acquired their language, had imitated their manners,
and had made such progress towards cultivation, that on the death of
William, his son Richard, though a minor [n], inherited his dominions:
a sure proof that the Normans were already somewhat advanced in
civility, and that their government could now rest secure on its laws
and civil institutions, and was not wholly sustained by the abilities
of the sovereign. Richard, after a long reign of fifty-four years,
was succeeded by his son of the same name in the year 996 [o]; which
was eighty-five years after the first establishment of the Normans in
France. This was the duke who gave his sister Emma in marriage to
Ethelred, King of England, and who thereby formed connexions with a
country which his posterity was so soon after destined to subdue.
[FN [n] Order. Vitalis, p. 459. Gul. Gemet. lib. 4. cap. 1. [o]
Order. Vitalis, p. 459.]
The Danes had been established during a longer period in England than
in France; and though the similarity of their original language to
that of the Saxons invited them to a more early coalition with the
natives, they had hitherto found so little example of civilized
manners among the English, that they retained all their ancient
ferocity, and valued themselves only on their national character of
military bravery. The recent as well as more ancient achievements of
their countrymen tended to support this idea; and the English princes,
particularly Athelstan and Edgar, sensible of that superiority, had
been accustomed to keep in pay bodies of Danish troops, who were
quartered about the country, and committed many violences upon the
inhabitants. These mercenaries had attained to such a height of
luxury, according to the old English writers [p], that they combed
their hair once a day, bathed themselves once a week, changed their
clothes frequently; and by all these arts of effeminacy, as well as by
their military character, had rendered themselves so agreeable to the
fair sex, that they debauched the wives and daughters of the English,
and dishonoured many families. But what most provoked the
inhabitants, was, that instead of defending them against invaders,
they were ever ready to betray them to the foreign Danes, and to
associate themselves with all straggling parties of that nation. The
animosity between the inhabitants of English and Danish race had from
these repeated injuries risen to a great height; when Ethelred, from a
policy incident to weak princes, embraced the cruel resolution of
massacring the latter throughout all his dominions [q]. [MN 1002.]
Secret orders were despatched to commence the execution everywhere on
the same day; and the festival of St. Brice [MN Nov. 13.], which fell
on a Sunday, the day on which the Danes usually bathed themselves, was
chosen for that purpose. It is needless to repeat the accounts
transmitted concerning the barbarity of this massacre: the rage of the
populace, excited by so many injuries, sanctioned by authority, and
stimulated by example, distinguished not between innocence and guilt,
spared neither sex nor age, and was not satiated without the tortures
as well as death of the unhappy victims. Even Gunilda, sister to the
King of Denmark, who had married Earl Paling, and had embraced
Christianity, was, by the advice of Edric, Earl of Wilts, seized and
condemned to death by Ethelred, after seeing her husband and children
butchered before her face. This unhappy princess foretold, in the
agonies of despair, that her murder would soon be avenged by the total
ruin of the English nation.
[FN [p] Wallingford, p. 547. [q] See note [D] at the end of the
volume.]
[MN 1003.]
Never was prophecy better fulfilled; and never did barbarous policy
prove more fatal to the authors. Sweyn and his Danes, who wanted but
a pretence for invading the English, appeared off the western coast,
and threatened to take full revenge for the slaughter of their
countrymen. Exeter fell first into their hands, from the negligence
or treachery of Earl Hugh, a Norman, who had been made governor by the
interest of Queen Emma. They began to spread their devastations over
the country; when the English, sensible what outrages they must now
expect from their barbarous and offended enemy, assembled more early,
and in greater numbers than usual, and made an appearance of vigorous
resistance. But all these preparations were frustrated by the
treachery of Duke Alfric, who was intrusted with the command, and who,
feigning sickness, refused to lead the army against the Danes, till it
was dispirited, and at last dissipated, by his fatal misconduct.
Alfric soon after died; and Edric, a greater traitor than he, who had
married the king's daughter, and had acquired a total ascendant over
him, succeeded Alfric in the government of Mercia, and in the command
of the English armies. A great famine, proceeding partly from the bad
seasons, partly from the decay of agriculture, added to all the other
miseries of the inhabitants. The country, wasted by the Danes,
harassed by the fruitless expeditions of its own forces, was reduced
to the utmost desolation; and at last [MN 1007.] submitted to the
infamy of purchasing a precarious peace from the enemy, by the payment
of thirty thousand pounds.
The English endeavoured to employ this interval in making preparations
against the return of the Danes, which they had reason soon to expect.
A law was made, ordering the proprietors of eight hides of land to
provide each a horseman and a complete suit of armour; and those of
three hundred and ten hides to equip a ship for the defence of the
coast. When this navy was assembled, which must have consisted of
near eight hundred vessels [r], all hopes of its success were
disappointed by the factions, animosities, and dissensions of the
nobility Edric had impelled his brother Brightric to prefer an
accusation of treason against Wolfnoth, Governor of Sussex, the father
of the famous Earl Godwin; and that nobleman, well acquainted with the
malevolence, as well as power of his enemy, found no means of safety
but in deserting with twenty ships to the Danes. Brightric pursued
him with a fleet of eighty sail; but his ships being shattered in a
tempest, and stranded on the coast, he was suddenly attacked by
Wolfnoth, and all his vessels were burnt or destroyed. The imbecility
of the king was little capable of repairing this misfortune: the
treachery of Edric frustrated every plan for future defence; and the
English navy, disconcerted, discouraged, and divided, was at last
scattered into its several harbours.
[FN [r] There were 243,600 hides in England. Consequently the ships
equipped must be 785. The cavalry was 30,450 men.]
It is almost impossible, or would be tedious, to relate particularly
all the miseries to which the English were thenceforth exposed. We
hear of nothing but the sacking and burning of towns; the devastation
of the open country; the appearance of the enemy in every quarter of
the kingdom; their cruel diligence in discovering any corner which had
not been ransacked by their former violence. The broken and
disjointed narration of the ancient historians is here well adapted to
the nature of the war, which was conducted by such sudden inroads as
would have been dangerous even to an united and well-governed kingdom,
but proved fatal, where nothing but a general consternation and mutual
diffidence and dissension prevailed. The governors of one province
refused to march to the assistance of another, and were at last
terrified from assembling their forces for the defence of their own
province. General councils were summoned; but either no resolution
was taken, or none was carried into execution. And the only expedient
in which the English agreed, was the base and imprudent one of buying
a new peace from the Danes, by the payment of forty-eight thousand
pounds.
[MN 1011.] This measure did not bring them even that short interval
of repose which they had expected from it. The Danes, disregarding
all engagements, continued their devastations and hostilities; levied
a new contribution of eight thousand pounds upon the county of Kent
alone; murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had refused to
countenance this exaction; and the English nobility found no other
resource than that of submitting every where to the Danish monarch,
swearing allegiance to him [MN 1013.], and delivering him hostages for
their fidelity. Ethelred, equally afraid of the violence of the enemy
and the treachery of his own subjects, fled into Normandy, whither he
had sent before him Queen Emma and her two sons, Alfred and Edward.
Richard received his unhappy guests with a generosity that does honour
to his memory.
[MN 1014.] The king had not been above six weeks in Normandy when he
heard of the death of Sweyn, who expired at Gainsborough, before he
had time to establish himself in his newly acquired dominions. The
English prelates and nobility, taking advantage of this event, sent
over a deputation to Normandy, inviting Ethelred to return to them,
expressing a desire of being again governed by their native prince,
and intimating their hopes, that being now tutored by experience, he
would avoid all those errors which had been attended with such
misfortunes to himself and to his people. But the misconduct of
Ethelred was incurable; and on his resuming the government, he
discovered the same incapacity, indolence, cowardice, and credulity,
which had so often exposed him to the insults of his enemies. His
son-in-law, Edric, notwithstanding his repeated treasons, retained
such influence at court as to instil into the king jealousies of
Sigefert and Morcar, two of the chief nobles of Mercia: Edric allured
them into his house, where he murdered them; while Ethelred
participated in the infamy of the action, by confiscating their
estates and thrusting into a convent the widow of Sigefert. She was a
woman of singular beauty and merit; and in a visit which was paid her,
during her confinement, by Prince Edmond, the kings eldest son, she
inspired him with so violent an affection, that he released her from
the convent, and soon after married her, without the consent of his
father.
Meanwhile the English found in Canute, the son and successor of Sweyn,
an enemy no less terrible than the prince from whom death had so
lately delivered them. He ravaged the eastern coast with merciless
fury, and put ashore all the English hostages at Sandwich, after
having cut off their hands and noses. He was obliged, by the
necessity of his affairs, to make a voyage to Denmark; but returning
soon after, he continued his depredations along the southern coast: he
even broke into the counties of Dorset, Wilts, and Somerset; where an
army was assembled against him, under the command of Prince Edmond and
Duke Edric. The latter still continued his perfidious machinations;
and after endeavouring in vain to get the prince into his power, he
found means to disperse the army; and he then openly deserted to
Canute with forty vessels. [MN 1015.]
Notwithstanding this misfortune, Edmond was not disconcerted; but,
assembling all the force of England, was in a condition to give battle
to the enemy. The king had had such frequent experience of perfidy
among his subjects, that he had lost all confidence in them: he
remained at London, pretending sickness, but really from apprehensions
that they intended to buy their peace, by delivering him into the
hands of his enemies. The army called aloud for their sovereign to
march at their head against the Danes; and, on his refusal to take the
field, they were so discouraged, that those vast preparations became
ineffectual for the defence of the kingdom. Edmond, deprived of all
regular supplies to maintain his soldiers, was obliged to commit equal
ravages with those which were practised by the Danes; and after making
some fruitless expeditions into the north, which had submitted
entirely to Canutes power, he retired to London, determined there to
maintain, to the last extremity, the small remains of English liberty.
[MN 1016.] He here found every thing in confusion by the death of the
king, who expired after an unhappy and inglorious reign of thirty-five
years. He left two sons by his first marriage, Edmond, who succeeded
him, and Edwy, whom Canute afterwards murdered. His two sons by the
second marriage, Alfred and Edward, were immediately, upon Ethelreds
death, conveyed into Normandy by Queen Emma.
[MN Edmond Ironside.]
This prince, who received the name of Ironside from his hardy valour,
possessed courage and abilities sufficient to have prevented his
country from sinking into those calamities, but not to raise it from
that abyss of misery into which it had already fallen. Among the
other misfortunes of the English, treachery and disaffection had crept
in among the nobility and prelates; and Edmond found no better
expedient for stopping the farther progress of these fatal evils, than
to lead his army instantly into the field, and to employ them against
the common enemy. After meeting with some success at Gillingham, he
prepared himself to decide, in one general engagement, the fate of his
crown; and at Scoerston, in the county of Gloucester, he offered
battle to the enemy, who were commanded by Canute and Edric. Fortune,
in the beginning of the day, declared for him; but Edric, having cut
off the head of one Osmer, whose countenance resembled that of Edmond,
fixed it on a spear, carried it through the ranks in triumph, and
called aloud to the English, that it was time to fly; for, behold! the
head of their sovereign. And though Edmond, observing the
consternation of the troops, took off his helmet and showed himself to
them, the utmost he could gain by his activity and valour was to leave
the victory undecided. Edric now took a surer method to ruin him, by
pretending to desert to him, and as Edmond was well acquainted with
his power, and probably knew no other of the chief nobility in whom he
could repose more confidence, he was obliged, notwithstanding the
repeated perfidy of the man, to give him a considerable command in the
army. A battle soon after ensued at Assington in Essex, where Edric,
flying in the beginning of the day, occasioned the total defeat of the
English, followed by a great slaughter of the nobility. The
indefatigable Edmond, however, had still resources; assembling a new
army at Gloucester, he was again in a condition to dispute the field;
when the Danish and English nobility, equally harassed with those
convulsions, obliged their kings to come to a compromise, and to
divide the kingdom between them by treaty. Canute reserved to himself
the northern division, consisting of Mercia, East Anglia, and
Northumberland, which he had entirely subdued; the southern parts were
left to Edmond. This prince survived the treaty about a month. He
was murdered at Oxford by two of his chamberlains, accomplices of
Edric, who thereby made way for the succession of Canute the Dane to
the crown of England.
[MN Canute 1017.]
The English, who had been unable to defend their country, and maintain
their independency, under so active and brave a prince as Edmond,
could, after his death, expect nothing but total subjection from
Canute, who, active and brave himself, and at the head of a great
force, was ready to take advantage of the minority of Edwin and
Edward, the two sons of Edmond. Yet this conqueror, who was commonly
so little scrupulous, showed himself anxious to cover his injustice
under plausible pretences; before he seized the dominions of the
English princes, he summoned a general assembly of the states, in
order to fix the succession of the kingdom. He here suborned some
nobles to depose that, in the treaty of Gloucester, it had been
verbally agreed either to name Canute, in case of Edmonds death,
successor to his dominions, or tutor to his children (for historians
vary in this particular); and that evidence, supported by the great
power of Canute, determined the states immediately to put the Danish
monarch in possession of the government. Canute, jealous of the two
princes, but sensible that he should render himself extremely odious
if he ordered them to be despatched in England, sent them abroad to
his ally, the King of Sweden, whom he desired, as soon as they arrived
at his court, to free him by their death from all farther anxiety.
The Swedish monarch was too generous to comply with the request, but
being afraid of drawing on himself a quarrel with Canute, by
protecting the young princes, he sent them to Solomon, King of
Hungary, to be educated in his court. The elder, Edwin, was
afterwards married to the sister of the King of Hungary, but the
English prince dying without issue, Solomon gave his sister-in-law,
Agatha, daughter of the Emperor Henry II., in marriage to Edward, the
younger brother; and she bore him Edgar Atheling, Margaret, afterwards
queen of Scotland, and Christiana, who retired into a convent.
Canute, though he had reached the great point of his ambition, in
obtaining possession of the English crown, was obliged at first to
make great sacrifices to it; and to gratify the chief of the nobility,
by bestowing on them the most extensive governments and jurisdictions.
He created Thurkill Earl or Duke of East Anglia, (for these titles
were then nearly of the same import,) Yric of Northumberland, and
Edric of Mercia, reserving only to himself the administration of
Wessex. But seizing afterwards a favourable opportunity, he expelled
Thurkill and Yric from their governments, and banished them the
kingdom; he put to death many of the English nobility, on whose
fidelity he could not rely, and whom he hated on account of their
disloyalty to their native prince. And even the traitor Edric, having
had the assurance to reproach him with his services, was condemned to
be executed, and his body to be thrown into the Thames; a suitable
reward for his multiplied acts of perfidy and rebellion.
Canute also found himself obliged, in the beginning of his reign, to
load the people with heavy taxes, in order to reward his Danish
followers: he exacted from them at one time the sum of seventy-two
thousand pounds; besides eleven thousand pounds, which he levied on
London alone. He was probably willing, from political motives, to
mulct severely that city, on account of the affection which it had
borne to Edmond, and the resistance which it had made to the Danish
power in two obstinate sieges [s]. But these rigours were imputed to
necessity; and Canute, like a wise prince, was determined that the
English, now deprived of all their dangerous leaders, should be
reconciled to the Danish yoke by the justice and impartiality of his
administration. He sent back to Denmark as many of his followers as
he could safely spare; he restored the Saxon customs in a general
assembly of the states; he made no distinction between Danes and
English in the distribution of justice; and he took care, by a strict
execution of law, to protect the lives and properties of all his
people. The Danes were gradually incorporated with his new subjects;
and both were glad to obtain a little respite from those multiplied
calamities from which the one, no less than the other, had, in their
fierce contest for power, experienced such fatal consequences.
[FN [s] W. Malm. p. 72. In one of these sieges, Canute diverted the
course of the Thames, and by that means brought his ships above London
bridge.]
The removal of Edmonds children into so distant a country as Hungary,
was, next to their death, regarded by Canute as the greatest security
to his government: he had no farther anxiety, except with regard to
Alfred and Edward, who were protected and supported by their uncle,
Richard Duke of Normandy. Richard even fitted out a great armament,
in order to restore the English princes to the throne of their
ancestors; and, though the navy was dispersed by a storm, Canute saw
the danger to which he was exposed from the enmity of so warlike a
people as the Normans. In order to acquire the friendship of the
duke, he paid his addresses to Queen Emma, sister of that prince; and
promised that he would leave the children whom he should have by that
marriage in possession of the crown of England. Richard complied with
his demand, and sent over Emma to England, where she was soon after
married to Canute [t]. The English, though they disapproved of her
espousing the mortal enemy of her former husband and his family, were
pleased to find at court a sovereign to whom they were accustomed, and
who had already formed connexions with them; and thus Canute, besides
securing by this marriage the alliance of Normandy, gradually
acquired, by the same means, the confidence of his own subjects [u].
The Norman prince did not long survive the marriage of Emma; and he
left the inheritance of the duchy to his eldest son of the same name;
who dying a year after him without children, was succeeded by his
brother Robert, a man of valour and abilities.
[FN [t] Chron Sax. p. 151. W. Malmes. p. 73. [u] W. Malmes. p. 73.
Higden, p. 275.]
Canute, having settled his power in England beyond all danger of a
revolution, made a voyage to Denmark, in order to resist the attacks
of the King of Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body of
the English, under the command of Earl Godwin. This nobleman had here
an opportunity of performing a service by which he both reconciled the
kings mind to the English nation, and, gaining to himself the
friendship of his sovereign, laid the foundation of that immense
fortune which he acquired to his family. He was stationed next the
Swedish camp, and observing a favourable opportunity which he was
obliged suddenly to seize, he attacked the enemy in the night, drove
them from their trenches, threw them into disorder, pursued his
advantage, and obtained a decisive victory over them. Next morning,
Canute seeing the English camp entirely abandoned, imagined that those
disaffected troops had deserted to the enemy: he was agreeably
surprised to find that they were at that time engaged in pursuit of
the discomfited Swedes. He was so pleased with this success, and with
the manner of obtaining it, that he bestowed his daughter in marriage
upon Godwin, and treated him ever after with entire confidence and
regard.
[MN 1028.] In another voyage, which he made afterwards to Denmark,
Canute attacked Norway, and expelling the just but unwarlike Olaus,
kept possession of his kingdom till the death of that prince. He had
now, by his conquests and valour, attained the utmost height of
grandeur; having leisure from wars and intrigues, he felt the
unsatisfactory nature of all human enjoyments; and, equally weary of
the glories and turmoils of this life, he began to cast his view
towards that future existence, which it is so natural for the human
mind, whether satiated by prosperity, or disgusted with adversity, to
make the object of its attention. Unfortunately, the spirit which
prevailed in that age gave a wrong direction to his devotion; instead
of making compensation to those whom he had injured by his former acts
of violence, he employed himself entirely in those exercises of piety
which the monks represented as the most meritorious. He built
churches, he endowed monasteries, he enriched the ecclesiastics, and
he bestowed revenues for the support of chantries at Assington and
other places, where he appointed prayers to be said for the souls of
those who had there fallen in battle against him. He even undertook a
pilgrimage to Rome, where he resided a considerable time; besides
obtaining from the pope some privileges for the English school erected
there, he engaged all the princes through whose dominions he was
obliged to pass to desist from those heavy impositions and tolls which
they were accustomed to exact from the English pilgrims. By this
spirit of devotion, no less than by his equitable and politic
administration, he gained, in a good measure, the affections of his
subjects.
Canute, the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign
of Denmark and Norway, as well as of England, could not fail of
meeting with adulation from his courtiers; a tribute which is
liberally paid even to the meanest and weakest princes. Some of his
flatterers, breaking out one day in admiration of his grandeur,
exclaimed, that every thing was possible for him; upon which the
monarch, it is said, ordered his chair to be set on the sea-shore,
while the tide was rising; and as the waters approached he commanded
them to retire, and to obey the voice of him who was lord of the
ocean. He feigned to sit some time in expectation of their
submission; but when the sea still advanced towards him, and began to
wash him with its billows, he turned to his courtiers, and remarked to
them, that every creature in the universe was feeble and impotent, and
that power resided with one Being alone, in whose hands were all the
elements of nature, who could say to the ocean, THUS FAR SHALT THOU
GO, AND NO FARTHER; and who could level with his nod the most towering
piles of human pride and ambition.
[MN 1031.] The only memorable action which Canute performed after his
return from Rome was an expedition against Malcolm, King of Scotland.
During the reign of Ethelred, a tax of a shilling a hide had been
imposed on all the lands of England. It was commonly called DANEGELT;
because the revenue had been employed either in buying peace with the
Danes, or in making preparations against the inroads of that hostile
nation. That monarch had required that the same tax should be paid by
Cumberland, which was held by the Scots; but Malcolm, a warlike
prince, told him, that, as he was always able to repulse the Danes by
his own power, he would neither submit to buy peace of his enemies,
nor pay others for resisting them. Ethelred, offended at this reply,
which contained a secret reproach on his own conduct, undertook an
expedition against Cumberland; but though he committed ravages upon
the country, he could never bring Malcolm to a temper more humble or
submissive. Canute, after his accession, summoned the Scottish king
to acknowledge himself a vassal for Cumberland to the crown of
England; but Malcolm refused compliance, on pretence that he owed
homage to those princes only who inherited that kingdom by right of
blood. Canute was not of a temper to bear this insult; and the King
of Scotland soon found that the sceptre was in very different hands
from those of the feeble and irresolute Ethelred. Upon Canutes
appearing on the frontiers with a formidable army, Malcolm agreed that
his grandson and heir, Duncan, whom he put in possession of
Cumberland, should make the submissions required, and that the heirs
of Scotland should always acknowledge themselves vassals to England
for that province [w].
[FN [w] W. Malmes p. 74.]
Canute passed four years in peace after this enterprise, and he died
at Shaftesbury [x]; leaving three sons, Sweyn, Harold, and
Hardicanute. Sweyn, whom he had by his first marriage with Alfwen,
daughter of the Earl of Hampshire, was crowned in Norway: Hardicanute,
whom Emma had borne him, was in possession of Denmark: Harold, who was
of the same marriage with Sweyn, was at that time in England.
[FN [x] Chron. Sax. p. 154. W. Malmes. p. 76.]
[MN Harold Harefoot. 1035.]
Though Canute, in his treaty with Richard, Duke of Normandy, had
stipulated that his children by Emma should succeed to the crown of
England, he had either considered himself as released from that
engagement by the death of Richard, or esteemed it dangerous to leave
an unsettled and newly-conquered kingdom in the hands of so young a
prince as Hardicanute; he therefore appointed by his will Harold
successor to the crown. This prince was, besides, present to maintain
his claim; he was favoured by all the Danes, and he got immediately
possession of his fathers treasures, which might be equally useful,
whether he found it necessary to proceed by force or intrigue in
insuring his succession. On the other hand, Hardicanute had the
suffrages of the English, who, on account of his being born among them
of Queen Emma, regarded him as their countryman; he was favoured by
the articles of treaty with the Duke of Normandy; and, above all, his
party was espoused by Earl Godwin, the most powerful nobleman in the
kingdom, especially in the province of Wessex, the chief seat of the
ancient English. Affairs were likely to terminate in a civil war;
when, by the interposition of the nobility of both parties, a
compromise was made, and it was agreed that Harold should enjoy,
together with London, all the provinces north of the Thames, while the
possession of the south should remain to Hardicanute; and till that
prince should appear and take possession of his dominions, Emma fixed
her residence at Winchester, and established her authority over her
sons share of the partition.
Meanwhile, Robert, Duke of Normandy, died in a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land, and being succeeded by a son, yet a minor, the two English
princes, Alfred and Edward, who found no longer any countenance or
protection in that country, gladly embraced the opportunity of paying
a visit, with a numerous retinue, to their mother Emma, who seemed to
be placed in a state of so much power and splendour at Winchester.
But the face of affairs soon wore a melancholy aspect. Earl Godwin
had been gained by the arts of Harold, who promised to espouse the
daughter of that nobleman, and while the treaty was yet a secret,
these two tyrants laid a plan for the destruction of the English
princes. Alfred was invited to London by Harold with many professions
of friendship; but when he had reached Guilford, he was set upon by
Godwins vassals, about six hundred of his train were murdered in the
most cruel manner, he himself was taken prisoner, his eyes were put
out, and he was conducted to the monastery of Ely, where he died soon
after [y]. Edward and Emma, apprized of the fate which was awaiting
them, fled beyond sea, the former into Normandy, the latter into
Flanders. While Harold, triumphing in his bloody policy, took
possession, without resistance, of all the dominions assigned to his
brother.
[FN [y] H. Hunt. p. 365. Ypod. Neustr. p. 434. Hoveden, p. 438.
Chron. Mailr. p. 156. Higden, p. 277. Chron. St. Petri de Burgo, p.
39. Sim. Dun. p. 179. Abbas Rieval. p. 366, 374. Brompton, p. 935.
Gul. Gem. lib. 7, cap. 11. Matth. West. p. 209. Flor. Wigorn. p.
622. Alur. Beverl. p. 118.]
This is the only memorable action performed during a reign of four
years, by this prince, who gave so bad a specimen of his character,
and whose bodily accomplishments alone are known to us by his
appellation of HAREFOOT, which he acquired from his agility in running
and walking. He died on the 14th of April, 1039; little regretted or
esteemed by his subjects, and left the succession open to his brother,
Hardicanute.
[MN Hardicanute. 1039.]
Hardicanute, or Canute the Hardy, that is, the robust, (for he too is
chiefly known by his bodily accomplishments,) though, by remaining so
long in Denmark, he had been deprived of his share in the partition of
the kingdom, had not abandoned his pretensions; and he had determined,
before Harolds death, to recover by arms what he had lost, either by
his own negligence, or by the necessity of his affairs. On pretence
of paying a visit to the queen-dowager in Flanders, he had assembled a
fleet of sixty sail, and was preparing to make a descent on England,
when intelligence of his brothers death induced him to sail
immediately to London, where he was received in triumph, and
acknowledged king without opposition.
The first act of Hardicanutes government afforded his subjects a bad
prognostic of his future conduct. He was so enraged at Harold for
depriving him of his share of the kingdom, and for the cruel treatment
of his brother Alfred, that, in an impotent desire of revenge against
the dead, he ordered his body to be dug up, and to be thrown into the
Thames; and, when it was found by some fishermen, and buried in
London, he ordered it again to be dug up, and to be thrown again into
the river; but it was fished up a second time, and then interred with
great secrecy. Godwin, equally servile and insolent, submitted to be
his instrument in this unnatural and brutal action.
That nobleman knew that he was universally believed to have been an
accomplice in the barbarity exercised on Alfred, and that he was on
that account obnoxious to Hardicanute; and perhaps he hoped, by
displaying this rage against Harolds memory, to justify himself from
having had any participation in his counsels. But Prince Edward,
being invited over by the king, immediately on his appearance
preferred an accusation against Godwin for the murder of Alfred, and
demanded justice for that crime. Godwin, in order to appease the
king, made him a magnificent present of a galley with a gilt stern,
rowed by fourscore men, who bore each of them a gold bracelet on his
arm, weighing sixteen ounces, and were armed and clothed in the most
sumptuous manner. Hardicanute, pleased with the splendour of this
spectacle, quickly forgot his brothers murder; and on Godwins
swearing that he was innocent of the crime, he allowed him to be
acquitted.
Though Hardicanute, before his accession, had been called over by the
vows of the English, he soon lost the affections of the nation by his
misconduct; but nothing appeared more grievous to them, than his
renewing the imposition of Danegelt, and obliging the nation to pay a
great sum of money to the fleet which brought him from Denmark. The
discontents ran high in many places; in Worcester the populace rose,
and put to death two of the collectors. The king, enraged at this
opposition, swore vengeance against the city, and ordered three
noblemen, Godwin, Duke of Wessex, Siward, Duke of Northumberland, and
Leofric, Duke of Mercia, to execute his menaces with the utmost
rigour. They were obliged to set fire to the city, and deliver it up
to be plundered by their soldiers; but they saved the lives of the
inhabitants, whom they confined in a small island of the Severn,
called Bevery, till, by their intercession, they were able to appease
the king, and obtain the pardon of the supplicants.
This violent government was of short duration. Hardicanute died in
two years after his accession, at the nuptials of a Danish lord, which
he had honoured with his presence. His usual habits of intemperance
were so well known, that, notwithstanding his robust constitution, his
sudden death gave as little surprise as it did sorrow to his subjects.
[MN Edward the Confessor. 1041.]
The English, on the death of Hardicanute, saw a favourable opportunity
for recovering their liberty, and for shaking off the Danish yoke,
under which they had so long laboured. Sweyn, King of Norway, the
eldest son of Canute, was absent; and as the two last kings had died
without issue, none of that race presented himself, nor any whom the
Danes could support as successor to the throne. Prince Edward was
fortunately at court on his brothers demise; and though the
descendants of Edmund Ironside were the true heirs of the Saxon
family, yet their absence in so remote a country as Hungary, appeared
a sufficient reason for their exclusion, to a people like the English,
so little accustomed to observe a regular order in the succession of
their monarchs. All delays might be dangerous; and the present
occasion must hastily be embraced; while the Danes, without concert,
without a leader, astonished at the present incident, and anxious only
for their personal safety, durst not oppose the united voice of the
nation.
But this concurrence of circumstances in favour of Edward might have
failed of its effect, had his succession been opposed by Godwin, whose
power, alliances, and abilities gave him a great influence at all
times, especially amidst those sudden opportunities which always
attend a revolution of government, and which, either seized or
neglected, commonly prove decisive. There were opposite reasons which
divided mens hopes and fears with regard to Godwins conduct. On the
one hand, the credit of that nobleman lay chiefly in Wessex, which was
almost entirely inhabited by English: it was therefore presumed that
he would second the wishes of that people, in restoring the Saxon line
and in humbling the Danes, from whom he, as well as they, had reason
to dread, as they had already felt the most grievous oppressions. On
the other hand, there subsisted a declared animosity between Edward
and Godwin, on account of Alfreds murder, of which the latter had
publicly been accused by the prince, and which he might believe so
deep an offence, as could never, on account of any subsequent merits,
be sincerely pardoned. But their common friends here interposed; and,
representing the necessity of their good correspondence, obliged them
to lay aside all jealousy and rancour, and concur in restoring liberty
to their native country. Godwin only stipulated, that Edward, as a
pledge of his sincere reconciliation, should promise to marry his
daughter Editha; and having fortified himself by this alliance, he
summoned a general council at Gillingham, and prepared every measure
for securing the succession to Edward. The English were unanimous and
zealous in their resolutions; the Danes were divided and dispirited:
any small opposition which appeared in the assembly was browbeaten and
suppressed; and Edward was crowned king, with every demonstration of
duty and affection.
The triumph of the English, upon this signal and decisive advantage,
was at first attended with some assault and violence against the
Danes; but the king, by the mildness of his character, soon reconciled
the latter to his administration, and the distinction between the two
nations gradually disappeared. The Danes were interspersed with the
English in most of the provinces; they spoke nearly the same language;
they differed little in their manners and laws; domestic dissensions
in Denmark prevented, for some years, any powerful invasion from
thence, which might awaken past animosities; and as the Norman
Conquest, which ensued soon after, reduced both nations to equal
subjection, there is no further mention in history of any difference
between them. The joy, however, of their present deliverance made
such impression on the minds of the English, that they instituted an
annual festival for celebrating that great event; and it was observed
in some counties even to the time of Spellman [z].
[FN [z] Spellm. Glossary, in verbo HOCDAY.]
The popularity which Edward enjoyed on his accession was not destroyed
by the first act of his administration, his resuming all the grants of
his immediate predecessors; an attempt which is commonly attended with
the most dangerous consequences. The poverty of the crown convinced
the nation that this act of violence was become absolutely necessary;
and as the loss fell chiefly on the Danes, who had obtained large
grants from the late kings, their countrymen, on account of their
services in subduing the kingdom, the English were rather pleased to
see them reduced to their primitive poverty. The kings severity also
towards his mother, the queen-dowager, though exposed to some more
censure, met not with very general disapprobation. He had hitherto
lived on indifferent terms with the princess; he accused her of
neglecting him and his brother during their adverse fortune [a]; he
remarked that as the superior qualities of Canute, and his better
treatment of her, had made her entirely indifferent to the memory of
Ethelred, she also gave the preference to her children of the second
bed, and always regarded Hardicanute as her favourite. The same
reasons had probably made her unpopular in England; and though her
benefactions to the monks obtained her the favour of that order, the
nation was not, in general, displeased to see her stripped by Edward
of immense treasure which she had amassed. He confined her, during
the remainder of her life, in a monastery at Winchester, but carried
his rigour against her no farther. The stories of his accusing her of
a participation in her son Alfreds murder, and of a criminal
correspondence with the Bishop of Winchester, and also of her
justifying herself by treading barefoot, without receiving any hurt,
over nine burning ploughshares, were the inventions of the monkish
historians, and were propagated and believed from the silly wonder of
posterity [b].
[FN [a] Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 237. [b] Higden, p. 277.]
The English flattered themselves that, by the accession of Edward,
they were delivered for ever from the dominion of foreigners; but they
soon found that this evil was not yet entirely removed. The king had
been educated in Normandy; and had contracted many intimacies with the
natives of that country, as well as an affection for their manners
[c]. The court of England was soon filled with Normans, who, being
distinguished both by the favour of Edward, and by a degree of
cultivation superior to that which was attained by the English in
those ages, soon rendered their language, customs, and laws,
fashionable in the kingdom. The study of the French tongue became
general among the people. The courtiers affected to imitate that
nation in their dress, equipage, and entertainments: even the lawyers
employed a foreign language in their deeds and papers [d]. But, above
all, the church felt the influence and dominion of those strangers:
Ulf and William, two Normans, who had formerly been the kings
chaplains, were created Bishops of Dorchester and London. Robert, a
Norman also, was promoted to the see of Canterbury [e], and always
enjoyed the highest favour of his master, of which his abilities
rendered him not unworthy. And though the kings prudence, or his
want of authority, made him confer almost all the civil and military
employments on the natives, the ecclesiastical preferments fell often
to the share of the Normans; and as the latter possessed Edwards
confidence, they had secretly a great influence on public affairs, and
excited the jealousy of the English, particularly of Earl Godwin [f].
[FN [c] Ingulph. p. 62. [d] Ingulph. p. 62. [e] Chron. Sax. p. 161.
[f] W. Malm. p. 80.]
This powerful nobleman, besides being Duke or Earl of Wessex, had the
counties of Kent and Sussex annexed to his government. His eldest
son, Sweyn, possessed the same authority in the counties of Oxford,
Berks, Gloucester, and Hereford; and Harold, his second son, was Duke
of East Anglia, and at the same time governor of Essex. The great
authority of this family was supported by immense possessions and
powerful alliances; and the abilities, as well as ambition of Godwin
himself, contributed to render it still more dangerous. A prince of
greater capacity and vigour than Edward would have found it difficult
to support the dignity of the crown under such circumstances; and as
the haughty temper of Godwin made him often forget the respect due to
his prince, Edwards animosity against him was grounded on personal as
well as political considerations, on recent as well as more ancient
injuries. The king, in pursuance of his engagements, had indeed
married Editha, the daughter of Godwin [g]; but this alliance became a
fresh source of enmity between them. Edwards hatred of the father
was transferred to that princess; and Editha, though possessed of many
amiable accomplishments, could never acquire the confidence and
affection of her husband. It is even pretended that, during the whole
course of her life, he abstained from all commerce of love with her;
and such was the absurd admiration paid to an inviolable chastity
during those ages, that his conduct in this particular is highly
celebrated by the monkish historians, and greatly contributed to his
acquiring the title of Saint and Confessor [h]. [MN 1048]
[FN [g] Chron. Sax. p. 157. [h] Wm. Malm. p. 80 Higden, p. 277.
Abbas Rieval. p. 366, 377. Matth. West. p. 221. Chron. Thom. Wykes,
p. 21. Anglia Sacra, vol. i. p. 241.]
The most popular pretence on which Godwin could ground his
disaffection to the king and his administration was to complain of the
influence of the Normans in the government; and a declared opposition
had thence arisen between him and these favourites. It was not long
before this animosity broke into action. Eustace, Count of Boulogne,
having paid a visit to the king, passed by Dover in his return; one of
his train, being refused entrance to a lodging which had been assigned
him, attempted to make his way by force, and in the contest he wounded
the master of the house. The inhabitants revenged this insult by the
death of the stranger; the count and his train took arms, and murdered
the wounded townsman; a tumult ensued; near twenty persons were killed
on each side; and Eustace, being overpowered by numbers, was obliged
to save his life by flight from the fury of the populace. He hurried
immediately to court and complained of the usage he had met with: the
king entered zealously into the quarrel, and was highly displeased
that a stranger of such distinction, whom he had invited over to his
court, should, without any just cause, as he believed, have felt so
sensibly the insolence and animosity of his people. He gave orders to
Godwin, in whose government Dover lay, to repair immediately to the
place, and to punish the inhabitants for the crime: but Godwin, who
desired rather to encourage than repress the popular discontents
against foreigners, refused obedience, and endeavoured to throw the
whole blame of the riot on the Count of Boulogne and his retinue [i].
Edward, touched in so sensible a point, saw the necessity of exerting
the royal authority; and he threatened Godwin, if he persisted in his
disobedience, to make him feel the utmost effects of his resentment.
[FN [i] Chron. Sax. p. 163. W. Malm. p. 81. Higden, p. 279.]
The earl, perceiving a rupture to be unavoidable, and pleased to
embark in a cause where it was likely he should be supported by his
countrymen, made preparations for his own defence, or rather for an
attack on Edward. Under pretence of repressing some disorders on the
Welsh frontier, he secretly assembled a great army, and was
approaching the king, who resided, without any military force, and
without suspicion, at Gloucester [k]. Edward applied for protection
to Siward, Duke of Northumberland, and Leofric, Duke of Mercia, two
powerful noblemen, whose jealousy of Godwins greatness, as well as
their duty to the crown, engaged them to defend the king in this
extremity. They hastened to him with such of their followers as they
could assemble on a sudden; and finding the danger much greater than
they had at first apprehended, they issued orders for mustering all
the forces within their respective governments, and for marching them
without delay to the defence of the kings person and authority.
Edward, meanwhile, endeavoured to gain time by negotiation; while
Godwin, who thought the king entirely in his power, and who was
willing to save appearances, fell into the snare; and, not sensible
that he ought to have no farther reserve after he had proceeded so
far, he lost the favourable opportunity of rendering himself master of
the government.
[FN [k] Chron. Sax. p. 163. W. Malm. p. 81.]
The English, though they had no high idea of Edwards vigour and
capacity, bore him great affection, on account of his humanity,
justice, and piety, as well as the long race of their native kings
from whom he was descended; and they hastened from all quarters to
defend him from the present danger. His army was now so considerable,
that he ventured to take the field, and marching to London, he
summoned a great council to judge of the rebellion of Godwin and his
sons. These noblemen pretended at first that they were willing to
stand their trial; but having in vain endeavoured to make their
adherents persist in rebellion, they offered to come to London,
provided they might receive hostages for their safety: this proposal
being rejected, they were obliged to disband the remains of their
forces, and have recourse to flight. Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, gave
protection to Godwin and his three sons, Gurth, Sweyn, and Tosti; the
latter of whom had married the daughter of that prince. Harold and
Leofwin, two other of his sons, took shelter in Ireland. The estates
of the father and sons were confiscated: their governments were given
to others: Queen Editha was confined in a monastery at Warewel: and
the greatness of this family, once so formidable, seemed now to be
totally supplanted and overthrown.
But Godwin had fixed his authority on too firm a basis, and he was too
strongly supported by alliances, both foreign and domestic, not to
occasion farther disturbances and make new efforts for his
re-establishment. [MN 1052.] The Earl of Flanders permitted him to
purchase and hire ships within his harbours; and Godwin, having manned
them with his followers, and with freebooters of all nations, put to
sea, and attempted to make a descent at Sandwich. The king, informed
of his preparations, had equipped a considerable fleet, much superior
to that of the enemy; and the earl, hastily, before their appearance,
made his retreat into the Flemish harbours [l]. The English court,
allured by the present security, and destitute of all vigorous
counsels, allowed the seamen to disband, and the fleet to go to decay
[m], while Godwin, expecting the event, kept his men in readiness for
action. He put to sea immediately, and sailed to the Isle of Wight,
where he was joined by Harold, with a squadron which the nobleman had
collected in Ireland. He was now master of the sea; and entering
every harbour in the southern coast, he seized all the ships [n], and
summoned his followers in those counties, which had so long been
subject to his government, to assist him in procuring justice to
himself, his family, and his country, against the tyranny of
foreigners. Reinforced by great numbers from all quarters, he entered
the Thames; and appearing before London, threw every thing into
confusion. The king alone seemed resolute to defend himself to the
last extremity; but the interposition of the English nobility, many of
whom favoured Godwins pretensions, made Edward hearken to terms of
accommodation; and the feigned humility of the earl, who disclaimed
all intentions of offering violence to his sovereign, and desired only
to justify himself by a fair and open trial, paved the way for his
more easy admission. It was stipulated that he should give hostages
for his good behaviour, and that the primate and all the foreigners
should be banished: by this treaty, the present danger of a civil war
was obviated, but the authority of the crown was considerably
impaired, or rather entirely annihilated. Edward, sensible that he
had not power sufficient to secure Godwins hostages in England, sent
them over to his kinsman, the young Duke of Normandy.
[FN [1] Sim. Dun. p. 186. [m] Chron. Sax. p. 166. [n] Ibid.]
Godwins death, which happened soon after, while he was sitting at
table with the king, prevented him from farther establishing the
authority which he had acquired, and from reducing Edward to still
greater subjection [o]. He was succeeded in the government of Wessex,
Sussex, Kent, and Essex, and in the office of steward of the
household, a place of great power, by his son Harold, who was actuated
by an ambition equal to that of his father, and was superior to him in
address, in insinuation, and in virtue. By a modest and gentle
demeanour, he acquired the good-will of Edward; at least softened that
hatred which the prince had so long borne his family [p]; and gaining
every day new partisans by his bounty and affability, he proceeded in
a more silent and therefore a more dangerous manner, to the increase
of his authority. The king, who had not sufficient vigour directly to
oppose his progress, knew of no other expedient than that hazardous
one, of raising him a rival in the family of Leofric, Duke of Mercia,
whose son Algar was invested with the government of East Anglia,
which, before the banishment of Harold, had belonged to the latter
nobleman. But this policy, of balancing opposite parties, required a
more steady hand to manage it than that of Edward, and naturally
produced faction, and even civil broils, among nobles of such mighty
and independent authority. Algar was soon after expelled his
government by the intrigues and power of Harold; but being protected
by Griffith, Prince of Wales, who had married his daughter, as well as
by the power of his father, Leofric, he obliged Harold to submit to an
accommodation, and was reinstated in the government of East Anglia.
This peace was not of long duration: Harold, taking advantage of
Leofrics death, which happened soon after, expelled Algar anew, and
banished him the kingdom; and though that nobleman made a fresh
irruption into East Anglia with an army of Norwegians, and overran the
country, his death soon freed Harold from the pretensions of so
dangerous a rival. Edward, the eldest son of Algar, was indeed
advanced to the government of Mercia; but the balance which the king
desired to establish between those potent families was wholly lost,
and the influence of Harold greatly preponderated.
[FN [o] See note [D] at the end of the volume. [p] Brompton, p. 948.]
[MN 1055.] The death of Siward, Duke of Northumberland, made the way
still more open to the ambition of that nobleman. Siward, besides his
other merits, had acquired honour to England by his successful conduct
in the only foreign enterprise undertaken during the reign of Edward.
Duncan, King of Scotland, was a prince of a gentle disposition, but
possessed not the genius requisite for governing a country so
turbulent, and so much infested by the intrigues and animosities of
the great Macbeth, a powerful nobleman, and nearly allied to the
crown, not content with curbing the kings authority, carried still
farther his pestilent ambition; he put his sovereign to death; chased
Malcolm Kenmore, his son and heir, into England; and usurped the
crown. Siward, whose daughter was married to Duncan, embraced, by
Edwards orders, the protection of this distressed family: he marched
an army into Scotland; and having defeated and killed Macbeth in
battle, he restored Malcolm to the throne of his ancestors [q]. This
service, added to his former connexions with the royal family of
Scotland, brought a great accession to the authority of Siward in the
north; but as he had lost his eldest son, Osberne, in the action with
Macbeth, it proved in the issue fatal to his family. His second son,
Walthoef, appeared, on his fathers death, too young to be intrusted
with the government of Northumberland; and Harolds influence obtained
that dukedom for his own brother Tosti.
[FN [q] W. Malm. p. 79. Hoveden, p. 443. Chron. Mailr. p. 158.
Buchanan, p. 115. edit. 1715.]
There are two circumstances related of Siward, which discover his high
sense of honour, and his martial disposition. When intelligence was
brought him of his son Osbernes death, he was inconsolable till he
heard that the wound was received in the breast, and that he had
behaved with great gallantry in the action. When he found his own
death approaching, he ordered his servants to clothe him in a complete
suit of armour; and sitting erect on the couch, with a spear in his
hand, declared that in that posture, the only one worthy of a warrior,
he would patiently await the fatal moment.
The king, now worn out with cares and infirmities, felt himself far
advanced in the decline of life; and having no issue himself, began to
think of appointing a successor to the kingdom. He sent a deputation
to Hungary, to invite over his nephew, Edward, son of his elder
brother, and the only remaining heir of the Saxon line. That prince,
whose succession to the crown would have been easy and undisputed,
came to England with his children, Edgar, surnamed Atheling, Margaret,
and Christina; but his death, which happened a few days after his
arrival, threw the king into new difficulties. He saw, that the great
power and ambition of Harold had tempted him to think of obtaining
possession of the throne on the first vacancy, and that Edgar, on
account of his youth and inexperience, was very unfit to oppose the
pretensions of so popular and enterprising a rival. The animosity
which he had long borne to Earl Godwin, made him averse to the
succession of his son, and he could not, without extreme reluctance,
think of an increase of grandeur to a family which had risen on the
ruins of royal authority, and which, by the murder of Alfred his
brother, had contributed so much to the weakening of the Saxon line.
In this uncertainty, he secretly cast his eye towards his kinsman,
William, Duke of Normandy, as the only person whose power, and
reputation, and capacity, could support any destination which he might
make in his favour, to the exclusion of Harold and his family [r].
[FN [r] Ingulph. p. 68.]
This famous prince was natural son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, by
Harlotta, daughter of a tanner in Falaise [s], and was very early
established in that grandeur from which his birth seemed to have set
him at so great a distance. While he was but nine years of age, his
father had resolved to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; a
fashionable act of devotion, which had taken the place of pilgrimages
to Rome, and which, as it was attended with more difficulty and
danger, and carried those religious adventurers to the first sources
of Christianity, appeared to them more meritorious. Before his
departure, he assembled the states of the duchy; and informing them of
his design, he engaged them to swear allegiance to his natural son,
William, whom, as he had no legitimate issue, he intended, in case he
should die in the pilgrimage, to leave successor to his dominions [t].
As he was a prudent prince, he could not but foresee the great
inconveniences which must attend this journey, and this settlement of
his succession, arising from the turbulency of the great, the claims
of other branches of the ducal family, and the power of the French
monarch; but all these considerations were surmounted by the
prevailing zeal for pilgrimages [u]; and probably the more important
they were, the more would Robert exult in sacrificing them to what he
imagined to be his religious duty.
[FN [s] Brompton, p. 910. [t] W. Malm. p. 95. [u] Ypod. Neust. p.
452.]
This prince, as he had apprehended, died in his pilgrimage; and the
minority of his son was attended with all those disorders which were
almost unavoidable in that situation. The licentious nobles, freed
from the awe of sovereign authority, broke out into personal
animosities against each other, and made the whole country a scene of
war and devastation [w]. Roger, Count of Toni, and Alain, Count of
Britany, advanced claims to the dominion of the state; and Henry I.,
King of France, thought the opportunity favourable for reducing the
power of a vassal, who had originally acquired his settlement in so
violent and invidious a manner, and who had long appeared formidable
to his sovereign [x]. The regency established by Robert encountered
great difficulties in supporting the government under this
complication of dangers; and the young prince, when he came to
maturity, found himself reduced to a very low condition. But the
great qualities which he soon displayed in the field and in the
cabinet gave encouragement to his friends, and struck a terror into
his enemies. He opposed himself on all sides against his rebellious
subjects, and against foreign invaders; and by his valour and conduct
prevailed in every action. He obliged the French king to grant him
peace on reasonable terms; he expelled all pretenders to the
sovereignty; and he reduced his turbulent barons to pay submission to
his authority, and to suspend their mutual animosities. The natural
severity of his temper appeared in a rigorous administration of
justice; and having found the happy effects of this plan of
government, without which the laws in those ages became totally
impotent, he regarded it as a fixed maxim, that an inflexible conduct
was the first duty of a sovereign.
[FN [w] W. Malm. p. 95. Gul. Gemet. lib. 7. cap. 1. [x] W. Malm. p.
97.]
The tranquillity which he had established in his dominions had given
William leisure to pay a visit to the King of England during the time
of Godwins banishment; and he was received in a manner suitable to
the great reputation which he had acquired, to the relation by which
he was connected with Edward, and to the obligations which that prince
owed to his family [y]. On the return of Godwin, and the expulsion of
the Norman favourites, Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury, had, before
his departure, persuaded Edward to think of adopting William as his
successor; a counsel which was favoured by the kings aversion to
Godwin, his prepossessions for the Normans, and his esteem of the
duke. That prelate, therefore, received a commission to inform
William of the kings intentions in his favour; and he was the first
person that opened the mind of the prince to entertain those ambitious
hopes [z]. But Edward, irresolute and feeble in his purpose, finding
that the English would more easily acquiesce in the restoration of the
Saxon line, had, in the mean time, invited his brothers descendants
from Hungary, with a view of having them recognised heirs to the
crown. The death of his nephew, and the inexperience and unpromising
qualities of young Edgar, made him resume his former intentions in
favour of the Duke of Normandy; though his aversion to hazardous
enterprises engaged him to postpone the execution, and even to keep
his purpose secret from all his ministers.
[FN [y] Hoveden, p. 442. Ingulph. p. 65. Chron. Mailr. p. 157.
Higden, p. 279. [z] Ingulph. p. 68. Gul. Gemet lib. 7. cap. 31.
Order. Vitalis, p. 492.]
Harold, meanwhile, proceeded after a more open manner in increasing
his popularity, in establishing his power, and in preparing the way
for his advancement on the first vacancy; an event which, from the age
and infirmities of the king, appeared not very distant. But there was
still an obstacle, which it was requisite for him previously to
overcome. Earl Godwin, when restored to his power and fortune, had
given hostages for his good behaviour, and, among the rest, one son
and one grandson, whom Edward, for greater security, as has been
related, had consigned to the custody of the Duke of Normandy.
Harold, though not aware of the dukes being his competitor, was
uneasy that such near relations should be detained prisoners in a
foreign country; and he was afraid lest William should, in favour of
Edgar, retain those pledges as a check on the ambition of any other
pretender. He represented, therefore, to the king, his unfeigned
submission to royal authority, his steady duty to his prince, and the
little necessity there was, after such a uniform trial of his
obedience, to detain any longer those hostages who had been required
on the first composing of civil discords. By these topics, enforced
by his great power, he extorted the kings consent to release them;
and in order to effect his purpose, he immediately proceeded, with a
numerous retinue, on his journey to Normandy. A tempest drove him on
the territory of Guy, Count of Ponthieu, who, being informed of his
quality, immediately detained him prisoner, and demanded an exorbitant
sum for his ransom. Harold found means to convey intelligence of his
situation to the Duke of Normandy; and represented, that while he was
proceeding to HIS court, in execution of a commission from the King of
England, he had met with this harsh treatment from the mercenary
disposition of the Count of Ponthieu.
William was immediately sensible of the importance of the incident.
He foresaw, that if he could once gain Harold, either by favours or
menaces, his way to the throne of England would be open, and Edward
would meet with no farther obstacle in executing the favourable
intentions which he had entertained in his behalf. He sent,
therefore, a messenger to Guy, in order to demand the liberty of his
prisoner; and that nobleman, not daring to refuse so great a prince,
put Harold into the hands of the Norman, who conducted him to Rouen.
William received him with every demonstration of respect and
friendship; and after showing himself disposed to comply with his
desire, in delivering up the hostages, he took an opportunity of
disclosing to him the great secret of his pretensions to the crown of
England, and of the will which Edward intended to make in his favour.
He desired the assistance of Harold in perfecting that design; he made
professions of the utmost gratitude in return for so great an
obligation; he promised that the present grandeur of Harolds family,
which supported itself with difficulty under the jealousy and hatred
of Edward, should receive new increase from a successor, who would be
so greatly beholden to him for his advancement. Harold was surprised
at this declaration of the duke; but being sensible that he should
never recover his own liberty, much less that of his brother and
nephew, if he refused the demand, he feigned a compliance with
William, renounced all hopes of the crown for himself, and professed
his sincere intention of supporting the will of Edward, and seconding
the pretensions of the Duke of Normandy. William, to bind him faster
to his interests, besides offering him one of his daughters in
marriage, required him to take an oath that he would fulfil his
promises; and in order to render the oath more obligatory, he employed
an artifice well suited to the ignorance and superstition of the age.
He secretly conveyed under the altar, on which Harold agreed to swear,
the relics of some of the most revered martyrs; and when Harold had
taken the oath, he showed him the relics, and admonished him to
observe religiously an engagement which had been ratified by so
tremendous a sanction [a]. The English nobleman was astonished; but
dissembling his concern, he renewed the same professions, and was
dismissed with all the marks of mutual confidence by the Duke of
Normandy.
[FN [a] Wace, p. 459, 460. MS. penes Carte, p. 354. W. Malm. p. 93.
H. Hunt p. 366. Hoveden, p. 449. Brompton, p. 947.]
When Harold found himself at liberty, his ambition suggested casuistry
sufficient to justify to him the violation of an oath, which had been
extorted from him by fear, and which, if fulfilled, might be attended
with the subjection of his native country to a foreign power. He
continued still to practise every art of popularity; to increase the
number of his partisans; to reconcile the minds of the English to the
idea of his succession; to revive their hatred of the Normans; and by
an ostentation of his power and influence, to deter the timorous
Edward from executing his intended destination in favour of William.
Fortune, about this time, threw two incidents in his way, by which he
was enabled to acquire general favour, and to increase the character,
which he had already attained, of virtue and abilities.
The Welsh, though a less formidable enemy than the Danes, had long
been accustomed to infest the western borders; and after committing
spoil on the low countries, they usually made a hasty retreat into
their mountains, where they were sheltered from the pursuit of their
enemies, and were ready to seize the first favourable opportunity of
renewing their depredations. Griffith, the reigning prince, had
greatly distinguished himself in those incursions; and his name had
become so terrible to the English, that Harold found he could do
nothing more acceptable to the public, and more honourable for
himself, than the suppressing of so dangerous an enemy. He formed the
plan of an expedition against Wales; and having prepared some light-
armed foot to pursue the natives into their fastnesses, some cavalry
to scour the open country, and a squadron of ships to attack the
seacoast, he employed at once all these forces against the Welsh,
prosecuted his advantages with vigour, made no intermission in his
assaults, and at last reduced the enemy to such distress, that, in
order to prevent their total destruction, they made a sacrifice of
their prince, whose head they cut off and sent to Harold; and they
were content to receive as their sovereigns two Welsh noblemen
appointed by Edward to rule over them. The other incident was no less
honourable to Harold.
Tosti, brother of this nobleman, who had been created Duke of
Northumberland, being of a violent tyrannical temper, had acted with
such cruelty and injustice, that the inhabitants rose in rebellion,
and chased him from his government. Morcar and Edwin, two brothers,
who possessed great power in those parts, and who were grandsons of
the great Duke Leofric, concurred in the insurrection; and the former,
being elected duke, advanced with an army to oppose Harold, who was
commissioned by the king to reduce and chastise the Northumbrians.
Before the armies came to action, Morcar, well acquainted with the
generous disposition of the English commander, endeavoured to justify
his own conduct. He represented to Harold, that Tosti had behaved in
a manner unworthy of the station to which he was advanced, and no one,
not even a brother, could support such tyranny without participating,
in some degree, of the infamy attending it; that the Northumbrians,
accustomed to a legal administration, and regarding it as their birth-
right, were willing to submit to the king, but required a governor who
would pay regard to their rights and privileges; that they had been
taught by their ancestors, that death was preferable to servitude, and
had taken the field, determined to perish rather than suffer a renewal
of those indignities to which they had so long been exposed; and they
trusted that Harold, on reflection, would not defend in another that
violent conduct, from which he himself, in his own government, had
always kept at so great a distance. This vigorous remonstrance was
accompanied with such a detail of facts, so well supported, that
Harold found it prudent to abandon his brothers cause; and returning
to Edward, he persuaded him to pardon the Northumbrians, and to
confirm Morcar in the government. He even married the sister of that
nobleman [b]; and by his interest procured Edwin, the younger brother,
to be elected into the government of Mercia. Tosti in rage departed
the kingdom, and took shelter in Flanders with Earl Baldwin, his
father-in-law.
[FN [b] Order Vitalis, p. 492.]
By this marriage Harold broke all measures with the Duke of Normandy;
and William clearly perceived that he could no longer rely on the
oaths and promises which he had extorted from him. But the English
nobleman was now in such a situation, that he deemed it no longer
necessary to dissemble. He had in his conduct towards the
Northumbrians, given such a specimen of his moderation as had gained
him the affections of his countrymen. He saw that almost all England
was engaged in his interests; while he himself possessed the
government of Wessex, Morcar that of Northumberland, and Edward that
of Mercia. He now openly aspired to the succession; and insisted,
that since it was necessary, by the confession of all, to set aside
the royal family, on account of the imbecility of Edgar, the sole
surviving heir, there was no one as capable of filling the throne as a
nobleman of great power, of mature age, of long experience, of
approved courage and abilities, who, being a native of the kingdom,
would effectually secure it against the dominion and tyranny of
foreigners. Edward, broken with age and infirmities, saw the
difficulties too great for him to encounter; and though his inveterate
prepossession kept him from seconding the pretensions of Harold, he
took but feeble and irresolute steps for securing the succession to
the Duke of Normandy [c]. While he continued in this uncertainty he
was surprised by sickness, which brought him to his grave, on the
fifth of January 1066, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and twenty-
fifth of his reign.
[FN [c] See note [F] at the end of the volume.]
This prince, to whom the monks gave the title of Saint and Confessor,
was the last of the Saxon line that ruled in England. Though his
reign was peaceable and fortunate, he owed his prosperity less to his
own abilities than to the conjunctures of the times. The Danes,
employed in other enterprises, attempted not those incursions which
had been so troublesome to all his predecessors, and fatal to some of
them. The facility of his disposition made him acquiesce under the
government of Godwin and his son Harold; and the abilities, as well as
the power, of these noblemen enabled them, while they were entrusted
with authority, to preserve domestic peace and tranquillity. The most
commendable circumstance of Edwards government was his attention to
the administration of justice, and his compiling, for that purpose, a
body of laws, which he collected from the laws of Ethelbert, Ina, and
Alfred. This compilation, though now lost, (for the laws that pass
under Edwards name were composed afterwards [d],) was long the object
of affection to the English nation.
[FN [d] Spellm. in verbo BELLIVA.]
Edward the Confessor was the first that touched for the kings evil:
the opinion of his sanctity procured belief to this cure among the
people: his successors regarded it as a part of their state and
grandeur to uphold the same opinion. It has been continued down to
our time; and the practice was first dropped by the present royal
family, who observed that it could no longer give amazement even to
the populace, and was attended with ridicule in the eyes of all men of
understanding.
[MN Harold. 1066. January.]
Harold had so well prepared matters before the death of Edward, that
he immediately stepped into the vacant throne; and his accession was
attended with as little opposition and disturbance, as if he had
succeeded by the most undoubted hereditary title. The citizens of
London were his zealous partisans: the bishops and clergy had adopted
his cause; and all the powerful nobility, connected with him by
alliance or friendship, willingly seconded his pretensions. The title
of Edgar Atheling was scarcely mentioned; much less the claim of the
Duke of Normandy: and Harold, assembling his partisans, received the
crown from their hands, without waiting for the free deliberation of
the states, or regularly submitting the question to their
determination [e]. If any were averse to this measure, they were
obliged to conceal their sentiments; and the new prince, taking a
general silence for consent, and founding his title on the supposed
suffrages of the people, which appeared unanimous, was, on the day
immediately succeeding Edwards death, crowned and anointed king, by
Aldred, Archbishop of York. The whole nation seemed joyful to
acquiesce in his elevation.
[FN [e] G. Pict. p. 196. Ypod. Neust. p. 436. Order. Vitalis, p.
492. M. West. p. 221 W. Malm. p. 93. Ingulph. p. 68. Brompton, p.
957. Knyghton, p. 2339. H. Hunt. p. 210. Many of the historians
say, that Harold was regularly elected by the states: some, that
Edward left him his successor by will.]