THE NORMAN KINGS
The strong men of the north had not bowed to William the Conqueror on
the field of Hastings, and when they heard that he was crowned, they
armed themselves against him. The King marched towards the north
slowly, burning and harrying the land as he passed, and his path was
marked by flaming villages and hayricks.
When he came into Yorkshire, he laid waste the land, and for nine years
not an acre was tilled beyond the Humber, and "dens of wild beasts and
of robbers, to the great terror of the traveller, alone were to be
seen."
The Saxons fled; some died of hunger by the wayside, some sold
themselves as slaves, and a few hid themselves in the Fens, a great
stretch of water and marsh land, in the east, dotted here and there
with islands and sometimes crossed in winter on sledges. There Hereward
the Wake built his camp in the swamps of Ely and there all true men
gathered round him. He was bold and hardy and even William said of him,
"if there had been in England three such men as he, they would have
driven out the Normans."
The King gave orders that a causeway should be built across the Fens
and he besieged the Saxons in Ely, and some said that Hereward was
betrayed. But William pardoned him and sent him to Normandy to command
his army. Many stories are told of his adventures. It was said that he
was slain one day as he slept in an orchard, for there were many in the
King's court who envied him.
The Conqueror was a wise king, and he desired to know what manner of
kingdom he had conquered. "He held a great council and very deep speech
with his wise men about this land, how it was peopled and by what men."
So he sent his clerks to every shire and commanded them to write down
on a great roll all that they could find out about the country. They
were to ask of the lord and of the freemen in the villages and of the
monks in the monasteries these questions: How much land have you? Who
gave you that land? What services do you owe the King for it? Have you
paid them? How many people dwell upon your land? How many soldiers must
you lend to the King if need be? How many cattle have you? Have you a
mill? (if they had, they owed every third penny to the King). Have you
a fish pond? (fish was a great luxury).
The lords and the monks were unwilling to answer, for they knew they
must pay to the King all that was due. "So narrowly did the King make
them seek out all this that there was not a single yard of land
(shameful it is to tell, though he thought it no shame to do) nor one
ox, nor one cow, nor one swine left out, that was not set down in his
rolls, and all these rolls were afterwards brought to him." These
records are called Domesday Book. The Kings, when they desired to get
money or soldiers from the great lords and monks, turned to the
Domesday Book.
When the book was brought to the King, he summoned the lords and
freemen to come to do him "homage." These men came and they placed
their hands between the King's hands and, kneeling before him, they
promised to be the King's men and to follow him in time of need. "Hear,
my lord," said the baron, "I become liege man of yours for life and
limb ... and I will keep faith and loyalty to you for life and death,
God help me."
William I made great peace in the land, and, as he was dying, he called
his three sons to him, and to Robert, the eldest, he gave Normandy and
to William Rufus, England. Then Henry turned sorrowfully to his father,
"And what, my father, do you give to me?" The King replied, "I bequeath
£500 to you from my treasury." Then said Henry, "What shall I do with
this money, having no corner of the earth I can call my own?" But his
father replied, "My son, be content with your lot and trust heaven,
Robert will have Normandy and William England. But you also in your
turn will rule over the lands which are mine and you will be greater
and richer than either of your brothers."
Rufus ruled over England thirteen years, and he was hated by the
people. Robert gave Normandy to his brother for a sum of money; and
thus Henry, when Rufus was dead, became Duke of Normandy and King of
England. He married a Saxon lady and "there was great awe of him in the
land, he made peace for man and beast."