A few years later, the Norman Conqueror built the Abbey of Battle on
the spot to commemorate the victory by which he gained his crown. He
directed that the monks of the abbey should chant perpetual prayers
over the Norman soldiers who had fallen there. Here, also, tradition
represents him as having buried Harold's body, just after the fight,
under a heap of stones by the seashore. Some months later, it is said
that the friends of the English King removed the remains to Waltham,
near London, and buried them in the church which he had built and
endowed there. Be that as it may, his grave, wherever it is, is the
grave of the old England. Henceforth a new people (though not a new
race, for the Normans originally came from the same Germanic stock as
the English did) (S62) will appear in the history of the island.
Several contemporary accounts of the battle exist by both French and
English writers, but one of the best histories of it is that which was
wrought in colors by a woman's hand. It represents the scenes of the
famous contest on a strip of canvas known as the Bayeux Tapestry
(S155), a name derived from the French town where it is still
preserved.
76. Close of the Period; what the Saxon Conquest of Britain had
accomplished.
The death of King Harold ends the Saxon or English period of history.
Before entering upon the reign of William the Conqueror let us
consider what that period had accomplished. We have seen that the
Jutes, Saxons, and Angles (SS36, 37) invaded Britain at a critical
period. Its original inhabitants had become cowed and enervated by
the despotism and the worn-out civilization forced on them by the
Romans (SS30-32).
The newcomers brought that healthy spirit of barbarism, that
irrepressible love of personal liberty, which the country sorely
needed. The conquerors were rough, ignorant, cruel; but they were
vigorous, fearless, and determined.
These qualities were worth a thousand times more to Britain than the
gilded corruption of Rome. But in the course of time the Saxons or
English themselves lost spirit (S36). Their besetting sin was a
stolidity which degenerated into animalism and sluggish content.