PREFACE.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] BATTLE OF HASTINGS.]
Normans and English, incited by different motives, have written of
king William: the former have praised him to excess; extolling to the
utmost both his good and his bad actions: while the latter, out of
national hatred, have laden their conqueror with undeserved reproach.
For my part, as the blood of either people flows in my veins, I shall
steer a middle course: where I am certified of his good deeds, I shall
openly proclaim them; his bad conduct I shall touch upon lightly and
sparingly, though not so as to conceal it; so that neither shall
my narrative be condemned as false, nor will I brand that man with
ignominious censure, almost the whole of whose actions may reasonably
be excused, if not commended. Wherefore I shall willingly and carefully
relate such anecdotes of him, as may be matter of incitement to the
indolent, or of example to the enterprising; useful to the present age,
and pleasing to posterity. But I shall spend little time in relating
such things as are of service to no one, and which produce disgust in
the reader, as well as ill-will to the author. There are always people,
more than sufficient, ready to detract from the actions of the noble:
my course of proceeding will be, to extenuate evil, as much as can be
consistently with truth, and not to bestow excessive commendation even
on good actions. For this moderation, as I imagine, all true judges
will esteem me neither timid, nor unskilful. And this rule too, my
history will regard equally, with respect both to William and his two
sons; that nothing shall be dwelt on too fondly; nothing untrue shall
be admitted. The elder of these did little worthy of praise, if we
except the early part of his reign; gaining, throughout the whole of
his life, the favour of the military at the expense of the people. The
second, more obsequious to his father than to his brother, possessed
his spirit, unsubdued either by prosperity or adversity: on regarding
his warlike expeditions, it is matter of doubt, whether he was more
cautious or more bold; on contemplating their event, whether he was
more fortunate, or unsuccessful. There will be a time, however, when
the reader may judge for himself. I am now about to begin my third
volume; and I think I have said enough to make him attentive, and
disposed to receive instruction: his own feelings will persuade him to
be candid.
_Of William the First._ [A.D. 1066-1087.]
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] WILLIAM THE FIRST.]
Robert, second son of Richard the Second, after he had, with great
glory, held the duchy of Normandy for seven years, resolved on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He had, at that time, a son seven years of
age, born of a concubine, whose beauty he had accidentally beheld,
as she was dancing, and had become so smitten with it, as to form a
connexion with her: after which, he loved her exclusively, and, for
some time, regarded her as his wife. He had by her this boy, named,
after his great-great-grandfather, William, whose future glory was
portended to his mother by a dream; wherein she imagined her intestines
were stretched out, and extended over the whole of Normandy and
England: and, at the very moment, also, when the infant burst into life
and touched the ground, he filled both hands with the rushes strewed
upon the floor, firmly grasping what he had taken up. This prodigy was
joyfully witnessed by the women, gossipping on the occasion; and the
midwife hailed the propitious omen, declaring that the boy would be a
king.
Every provision being made for the expedition to Jerusalem,[290] the
chiefs were summoned to a council at Feschamp, where, at his father’s
command, all swore fidelity to William: earl Gilbert was appointed his
guardian; and the protection of the earl was assigned to Henry, king of
France. While Robert was prosecuting his journey, the Normans, each in
his several station, united in common for the defence of their country,
and regarded their infant lord with great affection. This fidelity
continued till the report was spread of Robert’s death, upon which
their affection changed with his fortune; and then they began severally
to fortify their towns, to build castles, to carry in provisions, and
to seek the earliest opportunities of revolting from the child. In
the meantime, however, doubtlessly by the special aid of God who had
destined him to the sovereignty of such an extended empire, he grew up
uninjured; while Gilbert, almost alone, defended by arms what was just
and right: the rest being occupied by the designs of their respective
parties. But Gilbert being at this time killed by his cousin Rodulph,
fire and slaughter raged on all sides. The country, formerly most
flourishing, was now torn with intestine broils, and divided at the
pleasure of the plunderers; so that it was justly entitled to proclaim,
“Woe to the land whose sovereign is a child.”[291]
William, however, as soon as his age permitted, receiving the badge
of knighthood from the king of France, inspirited the inhabitants to
hope for quiet. The sower of dissension was one Guy, a Burgundian on
his father’s side, and grandson to Richard the Second by his daughter.
William and Guy had been children together, and at that time were
equally approaching to manhood. Mutual intercourse had produced an
intimacy between them which had ripened into friendship. Moreover,
thinking, as they were related, that he ought to deny him nothing,
he had given him the castles of Briony and Vernon. The Burgundian,
unmindful of this, estranged himself from the earl, feigning sufficient
cause of offence to colour his conduct. It would be tedious, and
useless, to relate what actions were performed on either side, what
castles were taken; for his perfidy had found abettors in Nigel,
viscount of Coutances, Ralph, viscount of Bayeux, and Haimo Dentatus,
grandfather of Robert, who was the occupier of many estates in England
in our time. With these persons, this most daring plunderer, allured
by vain expectation of succeeding to the earldom, was devastating
the whole of Normandy. A sense of duty, however, compelled the
guardian-king to succour the desperate circumstances of his ward.
Remembering, therefore, the kindness of his father, and that he
had, by his influence, exalted him to the kingdom, he rushed on the
revolters at Walesdun. Many thousands of them were there slain; many
drowned in the river Orne, by its rapidity, while, being hard-pressed,
they spurred their horses to ford the current. Guy, escaping with
difficulty, betook himself to Briony; but was driven thence by William,
and unable to endure this disgrace, he retired, of his own accord,
to Burgundy, his native soil. Here too his unquiet spirit found no
rest; for being expelled thence by his brother, William, earl of that
province, against whom he had conceived designs, it appears not what
fate befell him. Nigel and Ralph were admitted to fealty: Haimo fell in
the field of battle; after having become celebrated by his remarkable
daring for having unhorsed the king himself; in consequence of which
he was despatched by the surrounding guards, and, in admiration of his
valour, honourably buried at the king’s command. King Henry received a
compensation for this favour, when the Norman lord actively assisted
him against Geoffrey Martel at Herle-Mill, which is a fortress in
the country of Anjou. For William had now attained his manly vigour;
an object of dread even to his elders, and though alone, a match for
numbers. Unattended he would rush on danger; and when unaccompanied, or
with only a few followers, dart into the thickest ranks of the enemy.
By this expedition he gained the reputation of admirable bravery,
as well as the sincerest regard of the king; so that, with parental
affection, he would often admonish him not to hold life in contempt by
encountering danger so precipitately; a life, which was the ornament of
the French, the safeguard of the Normans, and an example to both.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1047.] GEOFFREY, EARL OF ANJOU.]
At that time Geoffrey[292] was earl of Anjou, who had boastingly
taken the surname of Martel, as he seemed, by a certain kind of good
fortune, to beat down all his opponents. Finally, he had made captive,
in open battle, his liege lord, the earl of Poitou; and, loading
him with chains, had compelled him to dishonourable terms of peace;
namely, that he should yield up Bourdeaux and the neighbouring cities,
and pay an annual tribute for the rest. But he, as it is thought,
through the injuries of his confinement and want of food, was, after
three days, released from eternal ignominy by a timely death. Martel
then, that his effrontery might be complete, married the stepmother
of the deceased; taking his brothers under his protection until they
should be capable of governing the principality. Next entering the
territories of Theobald, earl of Blois, he laid siege to the city of
Tours; and while he was hastening to the succour of his subjects, made
him participate in their afflictions; for being taken, and shut up in
prison, he ceded the city from himself and his heirs for ever. Who
shall dare cry shame on this man’s cowardice, who, for the enjoyment of
a little longer life, defrauded his successors for ever of the dominion
of so great a city? for although we are too apt to be severe judges of
others, yet we must know, that we should consult our own safety, if we
were ever to be placed in similar circumstances. In this manner Martel,
insolent from the accession of so much power, obtained possession of
the castle of Alençon, even from the earl of Normandy; its inhabitants
being faithlessly disposed. Irritated at this outrage, William
retaliated, and invested Danfrunt, which at that time belonged to the
earl of Anjou. Geoffrey, immediately, excited by the complaints of the
besieged, hastily rushed forward with a countless force. Hearing of his
approach, William sends Roger Montgomery[293] and William Fitz-Osberne
to reconnoitre. They, from the activity of youth, proceeding many miles
in a short time, espied Martel on horseback, and apprized him of the
dauntless boldness of their lord. Martel immediately began to rage, to
threaten mightily what he would do; and said that he would come thither
the next day, and show to the world at large how much an Angevin
could excel a Norman in battle: at the same time, with unparalleled
insolence, describing the colour of his horse, and the devices on the
arms he meant to use. The Norman nobles, with equal vanity, relating
the same of William, return and stimulate their party to the conflict.
I have described these things minutely, for the purpose of displaying
the arrogance of Martel. On this occasion, however, he manifested none
of his usual magnanimity, for he retreated without coming to battle; on
hearing which, the inhabitants of Alençon surrendered, covenanting for
personal safety; and, afterwards, those of Danfrunt also, listed under
the more fortunate standard.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1047.] WILLIAM OF ARCHES.]
In succeeding years William, earl of Arches, his illegitimate uncle,
who had always been faithless and fluctuating from his first entrance
on the duchy, rebelled against him; for, even during the siege of
Danfrunt, he had unexpectedly stolen away, and had communicated to
many persons the secrets of his soul. In consequence of this, William
had committed the keeping of his castle to some men, whom he had
erroneously deemed faithful; but the earl, with his usual skill in
deception, had seduced even these people to his party, by giving them
many things, and promising them more. Thus possessed of the fortress,
he declared war against his lord. William, with his customary alacrity,
contrary to the advice of his friends, laid siege to Arches, declaring
publicly, that the miscreants would not dare attempt any thing, if
they came into his sight. Nor was his assertion false: for more than
three hundred soldiers, who had gone out to plunder and forage, the
instant they beheld him, though almost unattended, fled back into
their fortifications. Being inclined to settle this business without
bloodshed, he fortified a castle in front of Arches, and turned to
matters of hostile operation which required deeper attention, because
he was aware that the king of France, who had already become adverse
to him from some unknown cause, was hastening to the succour of the
besieged. He here gave an instance of very laudable forbearance; for
though he certainly appeared to have the juster cause, yet he was
reluctant to engage with that person, to whom he was bound both by oath
and by obligation. He left some of his nobility, however, to repress
the impetuosity of the king; who, falling into an ambush laid by their
contrivance, had most deservedly to lament Isembard, earl of Ponthieu,
who was killed in his sight, and Hugh Bardulf, who was taken prisoner.
Not long after, in consequence of his miscarriage, retiring to his
beloved France, the earl of Arches, wasted with hunger, and worn to a
skeleton, consented to surrender, and was preserved, life and limb, an
example of clemency, and a proof of perseverance. During the interval
of this siege, the people of the fortress called Moulin, becoming
disaffected, at the instigation of one Walter, went over to the king’s
side. An active party of soldiers was placed there, under the command
of Guy, brother of the earl of Poitou, who diligently attended for some
time to his military duties: but on hearing the report of the victory
at Arches, he stole away into France, and contributed, by these means,
considerably to the glory of the duke.
King Henry, however, did not give indulgence to inactivity; but,
muttering that his armies had been a laughing-stock to William,
immediately collected all his forces, and, dividing them into two
bodies, he over-ran the whole of Normandy. He himself headed all
the military power which came from that part of Celtic Gaul which
lies between the rivers Garonne and Seine; and gave his brother Odo
the command over such as came from that part of Belgic Gaul which
is situated between the Rhine and the Seine. In like manner William
divided his army, with all the skill he possessed; approaching by
degrees the camp of the king, which was pitched in the country of
Briony, in such a manner, as neither to come to close engagement,
nor yet suffer the province to be devastated in his presence. His
generals were Robert, earl of Aux; Hugo de Gournay, Hugo de Montfort,
and William Crispin, who opposed Odo at a town called Mortemar. Nor
did he, relying on the numerous army which he commanded, at all delay
coming to action; yet making only slight resistance at the beginning,
and afterwards being unable to withstand the attack of the Normans,
he retreated, and was himself the first to fly. And here, while Guy,
earl of Ponthieu, was anxiously endeavouring to revenge his brother,
he was made captive, and felt, together with many others surpassing
in affluence and rank, the weight of that hand which was so fatal to
his family. When William was informed of this success by messengers,
he took care that it should be proclaimed in the dead of night, near
the king’s tent. On hearing which he retired, after some days spent in
Normandy, into France; and, soon after, ambassadors passing between
them, it was concluded, by treaty, that the king’s partizans should be
set at liberty, and that the earl should become legally possessed of
all that had been, or should hereafter be, taken from Martel.
It would be both tedious and useless, to relate their perpetual
contentions, or how William always came off conqueror. What shall we
say besides, when, magnanimously despising the custom of modern times,
he never condescended to attack him suddenly, or without acquainting
him of the day. Moreover, I pass by the circumstance of king Henry’s
again violating his friendship; his entering Normandy, and proceeding
through the district of Hiesmes to the river Dive, boasting that the
sea was the sole obstacle to his farther progress. But William now
perceiving himself reduced to extremities by the king’s perfidy, at
length brandished the arms of conscious valour, and worsted the royal
forces which were beyond the river--for part of them, hearing of his
arrival, had passed over some little time before--with such entire
loss, that henceforth France had no such object of dread as that
of irritating the ferocity of the Normans. The death of Henry soon
following, and, shortly after, that of Martel, put an end to these
broils. The dying king delegated the care of his son Philip, at that
time extremely young, to Baldwin earl of Flanders. He was a man equally
celebrated for fidelity and wisdom; in the full possession of bodily
strength, and also ennobled by a marriage with the king’s sister. His
daughter, Matilda, a woman who was a singular mirror of prudence in
our time, and the perfection of virtue, had been already married to
William. Hence it arose, that being mediator between his ward, and his
son-in-law, Baldwin restrained, by his wholesome counsels, the feuds of
the chiefs, and of the people.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1058.] FULK, EARL OF ANJOU.]
But since the mention of Martel has so often presented itself, I shall
briefly trace the genealogy of the earls of Anjou,[294] as far as the
knowledge of my informant reaches. Fulk the elder, presiding over that
county for many years, until he became advanced in years, performed
many great and prudent actions. There is only one thing for which I
have heard him branded: for, having induced Herbert earl of Maine
to come to Saintes, under the promise of yielding him that city, he
caused him, in the midst of their conversation, to be surrounded by
his attendants, and compelled him to submit to his own conditions:
in other respects he was a man of irreproachable integrity. In his
latter days, he ceded his principality to Geoffrey his son so often
mentioned. Geoffrey conducted himself with excessive barbarity to the
inhabitants, and with equal haughtiness even to the person who had
conferred this honour upon him: on which, being ordered by his father
to lay down the government and ensigns of authority, he was arrogant
enough to take up arms against him. The blood of the old man, though
grown cold and languid, yet boiled with indignation; and in the course
of a few days, by adopting wiser counsels, he so brought down the proud
spirit of his son, that after carrying his saddle[295] on his back for
some miles, he cast himself with his burden at his father’s feet. He,
fired once more with his ancient courage, rising up and spurning the
prostrate youth with his foot, exclaimed, “You are conquered at last!
you are conquered!” repeating his words several times. The suppliant
had still spirit enough to make this admirable reply, “I am conquered
by you alone, because you are my father; by others I am utterly
invincible.” With this speech his irritated mind was mollified, and
having consoled the mortification of his son by paternal affection,
he restored him to the principality, with admonitions to conduct
himself more wisely: telling him that the prosperity and tranquillity
of the people were creditable to him abroad, as well as advantageous
at home. In the same year the old man, having discharged all secular
concerns, made provision for his soul, by proceeding to Jerusalem;
where compelling two servants by an oath to do whatever he commanded,
he was by them publicly dragged naked, in the sight of the Turks, to
the holy sepulchre. One of them had twisted a withe about his neck, the
other with a rod scourged his bare back, whilst he cried out, “Lord,
receive the wretched Fulk, thy perfidious, thy runagate; regard my
repentant soul, O Lord Jesu Christ.” At this time he obtained not his
request; but, peacefully returning home, he died some few years after.
The precipitate boldness of his son Geoffrey has been amply displayed
in my preceding history. He dying, bequeathed to Geoffrey, his sister’s
son, his inheritance, but his worldly industry he could not leave him.
For being a youth of simple manners, and more accustomed to pray in
church, than to handle arms, he excited the contempt of the people of
that country, who knew not how to live in quiet. In consequence, the
whole district becoming exposed to plunderers, Fulk, his brother, of
his own accord, seized on the duchy. Fulk was called Rhechin, from his
perpetual growling at the simplicity of his brother, whom he finally
despoiled of his dignity, and kept in continual custody. He had a wife,
who, being enticed by the desire of enjoying a higher title, deserted
him and married Philip king of France; who so desperately loved her,
regardless of the adage,
“Majesty and love
But ill accord, nor share the self-same seat,”
that he patiently suffered himself to be completely governed by
her, though he was at the same time desirous of ruling over every
other person. Lastly, for several years, merely through regard for
her, he suffered himself to be pointed at like an idiot, and to be
excommunicated from the whole Christian world. The sons of Fulk were
Geoffrey and Fulk. Geoffrey obtaining the hereditary surname of
Martel, ennobled it by his exertions: for he procured such peace and
tranquillity in those parts, as no one ever had seen, or will see in
future. On this account being killed by the treachery of his people,
he forfeited the credit of his consummate worth. Fulk succeeding to
the government, is yet living;[296] of whom as I shall perhaps have
occasion to speak in the times of king Henry, I will now proceed to
relate what remains concerning William.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1058.] GEOFFREY MARTEL.]
When, after much labour, he had quelled all civil dissension, he
meditated an exploit of greater fame, and determined to recover those
countries anciently attached to Normandy, though now disunited by long
custom. I allude to the counties of Maine and Brittany; of which Mans,
long since burnt by Martel and deprived of its sovereign Hugo, had
lately experienced some little respite under Herbert the son of Hugo;
who, with a view to greater security against the earl of Anjou, had
submitted, and sworn fidelity to William: besides, he had solicited
his daughter in marriage, and had been betrothed to her, though he
died by disease ere she was marriageable. He left William his heir,
adjuring his subjects to admit no other; telling them, they might have,
if they chose, a mild and honourable lord; but, should they not, a
most determined assertor of his right. On his decease, the inhabitants
of Maine rather inclined to Walter of Mantes, who had married Hugo’s
sister: but at length, being brought to their senses by many heavy
losses, they acknowledged William. This was the time, when Harold was
unwillingly carried to Normandy by an unpropitious gale; whom, as is
before mentioned, William took with him in his expedition to Brittany,
to make proof of his prowess, and, at the same time, with the deeper
design of showing to him his military equipment, that he might perceive
how far preferable was the Norman sword to the English battle-axe.
Alan, at that time, earl of Brittany, flourishing in youth, and of
transcendent strength, had overcome his uncle Eudo, and performed many
famous actions; and so far from fearing William, had even voluntarily
irritated him. But he, laying claim to Brittany as his hereditary
territory, because Charles had given it with his daughter, Gisla, to
Rollo, shortly acted in such wise, that Alan came suppliantly to him,
and surrendered himself and his possessions. And since I shall have
but little to say of Brittany hereafter, I will here briefly insert an
extraordinary occurrence, which happened about that time in the city of
Nantes.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1065.] STORY OF TWO CLERKS.]
There were in that city two clerks, who though not yet of legal age,
had obtained the priesthood from the bishop of that place, more by
entreaty than desert: the pitiable death of one of whom, at length
taught the survivor, how near they had before been to the brink of
hell. As to the knowledge of literature, they were so instructed, that
they wanted little of perfection. From their earliest infancy, they
had in such wise vied in offices of friendship, that according to the
expression of the comic writer,[297] “To serve each other they would
not only stir hand and foot, but even risk the loss of life itself.”
Wherefore, one day, when they found their minds more than usually free
from outward cares, they spoke their sentiments, in a secret place,
to the following effect: “That for many years they had given their
attention sometimes to literature, and sometimes to secular cares;
nor had they satisfied their minds, which had been occupied rather
in wrong than proper pursuits; that in the meanwhile, the bitter day
was insensibly approaching, which would burst the bond of union which
was indissoluble while life remained: wherefore they should provide
in time, that the friendship which united them while living should
accompany him who died first to the place of the dead.” They agreed,
therefore, that whichever should first depart, should certainly
appear to the survivor, either waking or sleeping, if possible within
thirty days, to inform him, that, according to the Platonic tenet,
death does not extinguish the spirit, but sends it back again, as
it were from prison, to God its author. If this did not take place,
then they must yield to the sect of the Epicureans, who hold, that
the soul, liberated from the body, vanishes into air, or mingles with
the wind. Mutually plighting their faith, they repeated this oath in
their daily conversation. A short time elapsed, and behold a violent
death suddenly deprived one of them of life. The other remained, and
seriously revolving the promise of his friend, and constantly expecting
his presence, during thirty days, found his hopes disappointed. At
the expiration of this time, when, despairing of seeing him, he had
occupied his leisure in other business, the deceased, with that pale
countenance which dying persons assume, suddenly stood before him,
when awake, and busied on some matter. The dead first addressing the
living man, who was silent: “Do you know me?” said he; “I do,” replied
the other; “nor am I so much disturbed at your unusual presence, as I
wonder at your prolonged absence.” But when he had accounted for the
tardiness of his appearance; “At length,” said he, “at length, having
overcome every impediment, I am present; which presence, if you please,
my friend, will be advantageous to you, but to me totally unprofitable;
for I am doomed, by a sentence which has been pronounced and approved,
to eternal punishment.” When the living man promised to give all his
property to monasteries, and to the poor, and to spend days and nights
in fasting and prayer, for the release of the defunct; he replied,
“What I have said is fixed; for the judgments of God, by which I am
plunged in the sulphureous whirlpool of hell, are without repentance.
There I shall be tossed for my crimes, as long as the pole whirls round
the stars, or ocean beats the shores. The rigour of this irreversible
sentence remains for ever, devising lasting and innumerable kinds of
punishment: now, therefore, let the whole world seek for availing
remedies! And that you may experience some little of my numberless
pains, behold,” said he, stretching out his hand, dripping with a
corrupted ulcer, “one of the very smallest of them; does it appear
trifling to you?” When the other replied, that it did appear so; he
bent his fingers into the palm, and threw three drops of the purulent
matter upon him; two of which touching his temples, and one his
forehead, penetrated the skin and flesh, as if with a burning cautery,
and made holes of the size of a nut. When his friend acknowledged the
acuteness of the pain, by the cry he uttered, “This,” said the dead
man, “will be a strong proof to you, as long as you live, of my pains;
and, unless you neglect it, a singular token for your salvation.
Wherefore, while you have the power; while indignation is suspended
over your head; while God’s lingering mercy waits for you; change
your habit, change your disposition; become a monk at Rennes, in the
monastery of St. Melanius.” When the living man was unwilling to agree
to these words, the other, sternly glancing at him, “If you doubt,
wretched man,” said he, “turn and read these letters;” and with these
words, he stretched out his hand, inscribed with black characters,
in which, Satan, and all the company of infernals sent their thanks,
from hell, to the whole ecclesiastical body; as well for denying
themselves no single pleasure, as for sending, through neglect of their
preaching, so many of their subject-souls to hell, as no former age had
ever witnessed. With these words the speaker vanished; and the hearer
distributing his whole property to the church and to the poor, went to
the monastery; admonishing all, who heard or saw him, of his sudden
conversion, and extraordinary interview, so that they exclaimed, “It
is the right hand of the Almighty that has done this.”
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1065.] NEGOTIATION OF WILLIAM I.]
I feel no regret at having inserted this for the benefit of my readers:
now I shall return to William. For since I have briefly, but I hope not
uselessly, gone over the transactions in which he was engaged, when
only earl of Normandy, for thirty years, the order of time now requires
a new series of relation; that I may, as far as my inquiries have
discovered, detect fallacy, and declare the truth relating to his regal
government.
When king Edward had yielded to fate, England, fluctuating with
doubtful favour, was uncertain to which ruler she should commit
herself: to Harold, William, or Edgar: for the king had recommended him
also to the nobility, as nearest to the sovereignty in point of birth;
concealing his better judgment from the tenderness of his disposition.
Wherefore, as I have said above, the English were distracted in their
choice, although all of them openly wished well to Harold. He, indeed,
once dignified with the diadem, thought nothing of the covenant between
himself and William: he said, that he was absolved from his oath,
because his daughter, to whom he had been betrothed, had died before
she was marriageable. For this man, though possessing numberless good
qualities, is reported to have been careless about abstaining from
perfidy, so that he could, by any device, elude the reasonings of men
on this matter. Moreover, supposing that the threats of William would
never be put into execution, because he was occupied in wars with
neighbouring princes, he had, with his subjects, given full indulgence
to security. For indeed, had he not heard that the king of Norway was
approaching, he would neither have condescended to collect troops,
nor to array them. William, in the meantime, began mildly to address
him by messengers; to expostulate on the broken covenant; to mingle
threats with entreaties; and to warn him, that ere a year expired, he
would claim his due by the sword, and that he would come to that place,
where Harold supposed he had firmer footing than himself. Harold again
rejoined what I have related, concerning the nuptials of his daughter,
and added, that he had been precipitate on the subject of the kingdom,
in having confirmed to him by oath another’s right, without the
universal consent and edict of the general meeting, and of the people:
again, that a rash oath ought to be broken; for if the oath, or vow,
which a maiden, under her father’s roof, made concerning her person,
without the knowledge of her parents, was adjudged invalid; how much
more invalid must that oath be, which he had made concerning the whole
kingdom, when under the king’s authority, compelled by the necessity
of the time, and without the knowledge of the nation.[298] Besides it
was an unjust request, to ask him to resign a government which he had
assumed by the universal kindness of his fellow subjects, and which
would neither be agreeable to the people, nor safe for the military.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.]
In this way, confounded either by true, or plausible, arguments, the
messengers returned without success. The earl, however, made every
necessary preparation for war during the whole of that year; retained
his own soldiers with increased pay, and invited those of others:
ordered his ranks and battalions in such wise, that the soldiers
should be tall and stout; that the commanders and standard-bearers,
in addition to their military science, should be looked up to for
their wisdom and age; insomuch, that each of them, whether seen in
the field or elsewhere, might be taken for a prince, rather than a
leader. The bishops and abbats of those days vied so much in religion,
and the nobility in princely liberality, that it is wonderful,[299]
within a period of less than sixty[300] years, how either order should
have become so unfruitful in goodness, as to take up a confederate
war against justice: the former, through desire of ecclesiastical
promotion, embracing wrong in preference to right and equity; and the
latter, casting off shame, and seeking every occasion for begging
money as for their daily pay. But at that time the prudence of William,
seconded by the providence of God, already anticipated the invasion
of England; and that no rashness might stain his just cause, he sent
to the pope, formerly Anselm, bishop of Lucca, who had assumed the
name of Alexander, alleging the justice of the war which he meditated
with all the eloquence he was master of. Harold omitted to do this,
either because he was proud by nature, or else distrusted his cause; or
because he feared that his messengers would be obstructed by William
and his partisans, who beset every port. The pope, duly examining
the pretensions of both parties, delivered a standard to William,
as an auspicious presage of the kingdom: on receiving which, he
summoned an assembly of his nobles, at Lillebourne, for the purpose
of ascertaining their sentiments on this attempt. And when he had
confirmed, by splendid promises, all who approved his design, he
appointed them to prepare shipping, in proportion to the extent of
their possessions. Thus they departed at that time; and, in the month
of August, re-assembled in a body at St. Vallery,[301] for so that port
is called by its new name. Collecting, therefore, ships from every
quarter, they awaited the propitious gale which was to carry them to
their destination. When this delayed blowing for several days, the
common soldiers, as is generally the case, began to mutter in their
tents, “that the man must be mad, who wished to subjugate a foreign
country; that God opposed him, who withheld the wind; that his father
purposed a similar attempt, and was in like manner frustrated; that it
was the fate of that family to aspire to things beyond their reach, and
find God for their adversary.” In consequence of these things, which
were enough to enervate the force of the brave, being publicly noised
abroad, the duke held a council with his chiefs, and ordered the body
of St. Vallery to be brought forth, and to be exposed to the open air,
for the purpose of imploring a wind. No delay now interposed, but the
wished-for gale filled their sails. A joyful clamour then arising,
summoned every one to the ships. The earl himself first launching from
the continent into the deep, awaited the rest, at anchor, nearly in
mid-channel. All then assembled round the crimson sail of the admiral’s
ship; and, having first dined, they arrived, after a favourable
passage, at Hastings. As he disembarked he slipped down, but turned the
accident to his advantage; a soldier who stood near calling out to him,
“you hold England,[302] my lord, its future king.” He then restrained
his whole army from plundering; warning them, that they should now
abstain from what must hereafter be their own;[303] and for fifteen
successive days he remained so perfectly quiet, that he seemed to think
of nothing less than of war.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] HAROLD’S SPIES TAKEN.]
In the meantime Harold returned from the battle with the Norwegians;
happy, in his own estimation, at having conquered; but not so in
mine, as he had secured the victory by parricide. When the news of
the Norman’s arrival reached him, reeking as he was from battle, he
proceeded to Hastings, though accompanied by very few forces. No doubt
the fates urged him on, as he neither summoned his troops, nor, had
he been willing to do so, would he have found many ready to obey his
call; so hostile were all to him, as I have before observed, from his
having appropriated the northern spoils entirely to himself. He sent
out some persons, however, to reconnoitre the number and strength of
the enemy: these, being taken within the camp, William ordered to be
led amongst the tents, and, after feasting them plentifully, to be sent
back uninjured to their lord. On their return, Harold inquired what
news they brought: when, after relating at full, the noble confidence
of the general, they gravely added, that almost all his army had the
appearance of priests, as they had the whole face, with both lips,
shaven. For the English leave the upper lip unshorn, suffering the
hair continually to increase; which Julius Cæsar, in his treatise on
the Gallic War,[304] affirms to have been a national custom with the
ancient inhabitants of Britain. The king smiled at the simplicity of
the relators, observing, with a pleasant laugh, that they were not
priests, but soldiers, strong in arms, and invincible in spirit. His
brother, Girth, a youth, on the verge of manhood, and of knowledge and
valour surpassing his years, caught up his words: “Since,” said he,
“you extol so much the valour of the Norman, I think it ill-advised
for you, who are his inferior in strength and desert, to contend with
him. Nor can you deny being bound to him, by oath, either willingly,
or by compulsion. Wherefore you will act wisely, if, yourself
withdrawing from this pressing emergency, you allow us to try the
issue of a battle. We, who are free from all obligation, shall justly
draw the sword in defence of our country. It is to be apprehended, if
you engage, that you will be either subjected to flight or to death:
whereas, if we only fight, your cause will be safe at all events: for
you will be able both to rally the fugitives, and to avenge the dead.”
His unbridled rashness yielded no placid ear to the words of his
adviser, thinking it base, and a reproach to his past life, to turn his
back on danger of any kind; and, with similar impudence, or to speak
more favourably, imprudence, he drove away a monk, the messenger of
William, not deigning him even a complacent look; imprecating only,
that God would decide between him and the earl. He was the bearer of
three propositions: either that Harold should relinquish the kingdom,
according to his agreement, or hold it of William; or decide the matter
by single combat in the sight of either army. For William[305] claimed
the kingdom, on the ground that king Edward, by the advice of Stigand,
the archbishop, and of the earls Godwin and Siward, had granted it
to him, and had sent the son and nephew of Godwin to Normandy, as
sureties of the grant. If Harold should deny this, he would abide by
the judgment of the pope, or by battle: on all which propositions,
the messenger being frustrated by the single answer I have related,
returned, and communicated to his party fresh spirit for the conflict.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] BATTLE OF HASTINGS.]
The courageous leaders mutually prepared for battle, each according
to his national custom. The English, as we have heard, passed the
night without sleep, in drinking and singing, and, in the morning,
proceeded without delay towards the enemy; all were on foot, armed with
battle-axes, and covering themselves in front by the junction of their
shields, they formed an impenetrable body, which would have secured
their safety that day, had not the Normans, by a feigned flight,
induced them to open their ranks, which till that time, according to
their custom, were closely compacted. The king himself on foot, stood,
with his brother, near the standard; in order that, while all shared
equal danger, none might think of retreating. This standard William
sent, after the victory, to the pope; it was sumptuously embroidered,
with gold and precious stones, in the form of a man fighting.
On the other side, the Normans passed the whole night in confessing
their sins, and received the sacrament in the morning: their infantry,
with bows and arrows, formed the vanguard, while their cavalry, divided
into wings, were thrown back. The earl, with serene countenance,
declaring aloud, that God would favour his, as being the righteous
side, called for his arms; and presently, when, through the hurry of
his attendants, he had put on his hauberk the hind part before,[306]
he corrected the mistake with a laugh; saying, “My dukedom shall be
turned into a kingdom.” Then beginning the song of Roland,[307] that
the warlike example of that man might stimulate the soldiers, and
calling on God for assistance, the battle commenced on both sides. They
fought with ardour, neither giving ground, for great part of the day.
Finding this, William gave a signal to his party, that, by a feigned
flight, they should retreat. Through this device, the close body of
the English, opening for the purpose of cutting down the straggling
enemy, brought upon itself swift destruction; for the Normans, facing
about, attacked them thus disordered, and compelled them to fly. In
this manner, deceived by a stratagem, they met an honourable death
in avenging their country; nor indeed were they at all wanting to
their own revenge, as, by frequently making a stand, they slaughtered
their pursuers in heaps: for, getting possession of an eminence, they
drove down the Normans, when roused with indignation and anxiously
striving to gain the higher ground, into the valley beneath, where,
easily hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as
they stood below, they destroyed them to a man. Besides, by a short
passage, with which they were acquainted, avoiding a deep ditch, they
trod under foot such a multitude of their enemies in that place, that
they made the hollow level with the plain, by the heaps of carcasses.
This vicissitude of first one party conquering, and then the other,
prevailed as long as the life of Harold continued; but when he fell,
from having his brain pierced with an arrow, the flight of the English
ceased not until night. The valour of both leaders was here eminently
conspicuous.
Harold, not merely content with the duty of a general in exhorting
others, diligently entered into every soldier-like office; often would
he strike the enemy when coming to close quarters, so that none could
approach him with impunity; for immediately the same blow levelled both
horse and rider. Wherefore, as I have related, receiving the fatal
arrow from a distance, he yielded to death. One of the soldiers with
a sword gashed his thigh, as he lay prostrate; for which shameful and
cowardly action, he was branded with ignominy by William, and dismissed
the service.
William too was equally ready to encourage by his voice and by his
presence; to be the first to rush forward; to attack the thickest of
the foe. Thus everywhere raging, everywhere furious, he lost three
choice horses, which were that day pierced under him. The dauntless
spirit and vigour of the intrepid general, however, still persisted,
though often called back by the kind remonstrance of his body-guard;
he still persisted, I say, till approaching night crowned him with
complete victory. And no doubt, the hand of God so protected him, that
the enemy should draw no blood from his person, though they aimed so
many javelins at him.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] CUSTOMS OF THE ENGLISH.]
This was a fatal day to England, a melancholy havoc of our dear
country, through its change of masters. For it had long since adopted
the manners of the Angles, which had been very various according to the
times: for in the first years of their arrival, they were barbarians
in their look and manners, warlike in their usages, heathens in their
rites; but, after embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees, and in
process of time, from the peace they enjoyed, regarding arms only
in a secondary light, they gave their whole attention to religion.
I say nothing of the poor, the meanness of whose fortune often
restrains them from overstepping the bounds of justice: I omit men of
ecclesiastical rank, whom sometimes respect to their profession, and
sometimes the fear of shame, suffer not to deviate from the truth: I
speak of princes, who from the greatness of their power might have
full liberty to indulge in pleasure; some of whom, in their own
country, and others at Rome, changing their habit, obtained a heavenly
kingdom, and a saintly intercourse. Many during their whole lives in
outward appearance only embraced the present world, in order that they
might exhaust their treasures on the poor, or divide them amongst
monasteries. What shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits,
and abbats? Does not the whole island blaze with such numerous relics
of its natives, that you can scarcely pass a village of any consequence
but you hear the name of some new saint, besides the numbers of whom
all notices have perished through the want of records? Nevertheless, in
process of time, the desire after literature and religion had decayed,
for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy,
contented with a very slight degree of learning, could scarcely stammer
out the words of the sacraments; and a person who understood grammar,
was an object of wonder and astonishment. The monks mocked the rule
of their order by fine vestments, and the use of every kind of food.
The nobility, given up to luxury and wantonness, went not to church in
the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely, in a careless
manner, heard matins and masses from a hurrying priest in their
chambers, amid the blandishments of their wives. The commonalty, left
unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful, who amassed fortunes,
by either seizing on their property, or by selling their persons into
foreign countries; although it be an innate quality of this people,
to be more inclined to revelling, than to the accumulation of wealth.
There was one custom, repugnant to nature, which they adopted; namely,
to sell their female servants, when pregnant by them and after they
had satisfied their lust, either to public prostitution, or foreign
slavery. Drinking in parties was a universal practice, in which
occupation they passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed
their whole substance in mean and despicable houses; unlike the Normans
and French, who, in noble and splendid mansions, lived with frugality.
The vices attendant on drunkenness, which enervate the human mind,
followed; hence it arose that engaging William, more with rashness,
and precipitate fury, than military skill, they doomed themselves,
and their country to slavery, by one, and that an easy, victory. “For
nothing is less effective than rashness; and what begins with violence,
quickly ceases, or is repelled.” In fine, the English at that time,
wore short garments reaching to the mid-knee; they had their hair
cropped; their beards shaven; their arms laden with golden bracelets;
their skin adorned with punctured designs. They were accustomed to eat
till they became surfeited, and to drink till they were sick. These
latter qualities they imparted to their conquerors; as to the rest,
they adopted their manners. I would not, however, have these bad
propensities universally ascribed to the English. I know that many of
the clergy, at that day, trod the path of sanctity, by a blameless
life; I know that many of the laity, of all ranks and conditions, in
this nation, were well-pleasing to God. Be injustice far from this
account; the accusation does not involve the whole indiscriminately.
“But, as in peace, the mercy of God often cherishes the bad and the
good together; so, equally, does his severity, sometimes, include them
both in captivity.”
Moreover, the Normans, that I may speak of them also, were at that
time, and are even now, proudly apparelled, delicate in their food,
but not excessive. They are a race inured to war, and can hardly live
without it; fierce in rushing against the enemy; and where strength
fails of success, ready to use stratagem, or to corrupt by bribery. As
I have related, they live in large edifices with economy; envy their
equals; wish to excel their superiors; and plunder their subjects,
though they defend them from others; they are faithful to their lords,
though a slight offence renders them perfidious. They weigh treachery
by its chance of success, and change their sentiments with money.
They are, however, the kindest of nations, and they esteem strangers
worthy of equal honour with themselves. They also intermarry with their
vassals. They revived, by their arrival, the observances of religion,
which were everywhere grown lifeless in England. You might see churches
rise in every village, and monasteries in the towns and cities, built
after a style unknown before; you might behold the country flourishing
with renovated rites; so that each wealthy man accounted that day lost
to him, which he had neglected to signalize by some magnificent action.
But having enlarged sufficiently on these points, let us pursue the
transactions of William.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1066.] WILLIAM’S CORONATION.]
When his victory was complete, he caused his dead to be interred with
great pomp; granting the enemy the liberty of doing the like, if
they thought proper. He sent the body of Harold[308] to his mother,
who begged it, unransomed; though she proffered large sums by her
messengers. She buried it, when thus obtained, at Waltham; a church
which he had built at his own expense, in honour of the Holy Cross,
and had endowed for canons. William then, by degrees proceeding,
as became a conqueror, with his army, not after an hostile, but a
royal manner, journeyed towards London, the principal city of the
kingdom; and shortly after, all the citizens came out to meet him with
gratulations. Crowds poured out of every gate to greet him, instigated
by the nobility, and principally by Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury,
and Aldred, of York. For, shortly before, Edwin and Morcar, two
brothers of great expectation, hearing, at London, the news of Harold’s
death, solicited the citizens to exalt one of them to the throne:
failing, however, in the attempt, they had departed for Northumberland,
conjecturing, from their own feelings, that William would never come
thither. The other chiefs would have chosen Edgar, had the bishops
supported them; but, danger and domestic broils closely impending,
neither did this take effect. Thus the English, who, had they united in
one opinion, might have repaired the ruin of their country, introduced
a stranger, while they were unwilling to choose a native, to govern
them. Being now decidedly hailed king, he was crowned on Christmas-day
by archbishop Aldred; for he was careful not to accept this office from
Stigand, as he was not canonically an archbishop.
Of the various wars which he carried on, this is a summary. Favoured by
God’s assistance, he easily reduced the city of Exeter,[309] when it
had rebelled; for part of the wall fell down accidentally, and made
an opening for him. Indeed he had attacked it with the more ferocity,
asserting that those irreverent men would be deserted by God’s favour,
because one of them, standing upon the wall, had bared his posteriors,
and had broken wind, in contempt of the Normans. He almost annihilated
the city of York, that sole remaining shelter for rebellion, and
destroyed its citizens with sword and famine. For there Malcolm, king
of the Scots, with his party; there Edgar, and Morcar, and Waltheof,
with the English and Danes, often brooded over the nest of tyranny;
there they frequently killed his generals; whose deaths, were I
severally to commemorate, perhaps I should not be superfluous, though I
might risk the peril of creating disgust; while I should be not easily
pardoned as an historian, if I were led astray by the falsities of my
authorities.
Malcolm willingly received all the English fugitives, affording to each
every protection in his power, but more especially to Edgar, whose
sister he had married, out of regard to her noble descent. On his
behalf he burnt and plundered the adjacent provinces of England; not
that he supposed, by so doing, he could be of any service to him, with
respect to the kingdom; but merely to distress the mind of William, who
was incensed at his territories being subject to Scottish incursions.
In consequence, William, collecting a body of foot and horse, repaired
to the northern parts of the island, and first of all received into
subjection the metropolitan city, which English, Danes, and Scots
obstinately defended; its citizens being wasted with continued want.
He destroyed also in a great and severe battle, a considerable number
of the enemy, who had come to the succour of the besieged; though the
victory was not bloodless on his side, as he lost many of his people.
He then ordered both the towns and fields of the whole district to
be laid waste; the fruits and grain to be destroyed by fire or by
water, more especially on the coast, as well on account of his recent
displeasure, as because a rumour had gone abroad, that Canute, king of
Denmark, the son of Sweyn, was approaching with his forces. The reason
of such a command, was, that the plundering pirate should find no booty
on the coast to take with him, if he designed to depart again directly;
or should be compelled to provide against want, if he thought proper
to stay. Thus the resources of a province,[310] once flourishing, and
the nurse of tyrants, were cut off by fire, slaughter, and devastation;
the ground, for more than sixty miles, totally uncultivated and
unproductive, remains bare to the present day. Should any stranger
now see it, he laments over the once-magnificent cities; the towers
threatening heaven itself with their loftiness; the fields abundant
in pasturage, and watered with rivers: and, if any ancient inhabitant
remains, he knows it no longer.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1068.] SURRENDER OF MALCOLM.]
Malcolm surrendered himself, without coming to an engagement, and for
the whole of William’s time passed his life under treaties, uncertain,
and frequently broken. But when in the reign of William, the son of
William, he was attacked in a similar manner, he diverted the king from
pursuing him by a false oath. He was slain soon after, together with
his son, by Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, while, regardless
of his faith, he was devastating the province with more than usual
insolence. For many years, he lay buried at Tynemouth: lately he was
conveyed by Alexander his son, to Dunfermlin, in Scotland.
Edgar, having submitted to the king with Stigand and Aldred the
archbishops, violated his oath the following year, by going over to
the Scot: but after living there some years, and acquiring no present
advantage, no future prospects, but merely his daily sustenance,
being willing to try the liberality of the Norman, who was at that
time beyond the sea, he sailed over to him. They say this was
extremely agreeable to the king, that England should be thus rid of
a fomenter of dissension. Indeed it was his constant practice, under
colour of high honour, to carry over to Normandy all the English he
suspected, lest any disorders should arise in the kingdom during his
absence. Edgar, therefore, was well received, and presented with a
considerable largess: and remaining at court for many years, silently
sunk into contempt through his indolence, or more mildly speaking,
his simplicity. For how great must his simplicity be, who would yield
up to the king, for a single horse, the pound of silver, which he
received as his daily stipend? In succeeding times he went to Jerusalem
with Robert, the son of Godwin,[311] a most valiant knight. This was
the time when the Turks besieged king Baldwin, at Rama; who, unable
to endure the difficulties of a siege, rushed through the midst of
the enemy, by the assistance of Robert alone, who preceded him, and
hewed down the Turks, on either hand, with his drawn sword; but, while
excited to greater ferocity by his success, he was pressing on with
too much eagerness, his sword dropped from his hand, and when stooping
down to recover it, he was surrounded by a multitude, and cast into
chains. Taken thence to Babylon, as they report, when he refused to
deny Christ, he was placed as a mark in the middle of the market-place,
and being transfixed with darts, died a martyr. Edgar, having lost
his companion, returned, and received many gifts from the Greek and
German emperors; who, from respect to his noble descent, would also
have endeavoured to retain him with them; but he gave up every thing,
through regard to his native soil. “For, truly, the love of their
country deceives some men to such a degree, that nothing seems pleasant
to them, unless they can breathe their native air.” Edgar, therefore,
deluded by this silly desire, returned to England; where, as I have
before said, after various revolutions of fortune, he now grows old in
the country in privacy and quiet.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1103.] OF EDWIN AND MORCAR.]
Edwin and Morcar were brothers; the sons of Elfgar, the son of Leofric.
They had received charge of the county of Northumberland, and jointly
preserved it in tranquillity. For, as I have before observed, a few
days previous to the death of St. Edward the king, the inhabitants of
the north had risen in rebellion and expelled Tosty, their governor;
and, with Harold’s approbation, had requested, and received, one of
these brothers, as their lord. These circumstances, as we have heard
from persons acquainted with the affair, took place against the
inclination of the king, who was attached to Tosty; but being languid
through disease, and worn down with age, he become so universally
disregarded, that he could not assist his favourite. In consequence,
his bodily ailments increasing from the anxiety of his mind, he died
shortly after. Harold persisted in his resolution of banishing his
brother: wherefore, first tarnishing the triumphs of his family by
piratical excursions, he was, as I have above written, afterwards
killed with the king of Norway. His body being known by a wart between
the shoulders, obtained burial at York. Edwin and Morcar, by Harold’s
command, then conveyed the spoils of war to London, for he himself was
proceeding rapidly to the battle of Hastings; where, falsely presaging,
he looked upon the victory as already gained. But, when he was there
killed, the brothers, flying to the territories they possessed,
disturbed the peace of William for several years; infesting the woods
with secret robberies, and never coming to close or open engagement.
Often were they taken captive, and as often surrendered themselves,
but were again dismissed with impunity, from pity to their youthful
elegance, or respect to their nobility. At last, murdered, neither by
the force nor craft of their enemies, but by the treachery of their
partisans, their fate drew tears from the king, who would even long
since have granted them matches with his relations, and the honour of
his friendship, would they have acceded to terms of peace.
Waltheof, an earl of high descent, had become extremely intimate with
the new king, who had forgotten his former offences, and attributed
them rather to courage, than to disloyalty. For Waltheof, singly, had
killed many of the Normans in the battle of York; cutting off their
heads, one by one, as they entered the gate. He was muscular in the
arms, brawny in the chest, tall and robust in his whole person; the son
of Siward, a most celebrated earl, whom, by a Danish term, they called
“Digera,” which implies Strong. But after the fall of his party, he
voluntarily surrendered himself, and was honoured by a marriage with
Judith, the king’s niece, as well as with his personal friendship.
Unable however to restrain his evil inclinations, he could not preserve
his fidelity. For all his countrymen, who had thought proper to resist,
being either slain, or subdued, he became a party even in the perfidy
of Ralph de Waher; but the conspiracy being detected,[312] he was
taken; kept in chains for some time, and at last, being beheaded, was
buried at Croyland: though some assert, that he joined the league of
treachery, more through circumvention than inclination. This is the
excuse the English make for him, and those, of the greater credit,
for the Normans affirm the contrary, to whose decision the Divinity
itself appears to assent, showing many and very great miracles at his
tomb: for they declare, that during his captivity, he wiped away his
transgressions by his daily penitence.
On this account perhaps the conduct of the king may reasonably be
excused, if he was at any time rather severe against the English;
for he scarcely found any one of them faithful. This circumstance so
exasperated his ferocious mind, that he deprived the more powerful,
first of their wealth, next of their estates, and finally, some of
them of their lives. Moreover, he followed the device of Cæsar, who
drove out the Germans, concealed in the vast forest of Ardennes,
whence they harassed his army with perpetual irruptions, not by means
of his own countrymen, but by the confederate Gauls; that, while
strangers destroyed each other, he might gain a bloodless victory.
Thus, I say, William acted towards the English. For, allowing the
Normans to be unemployed, he opposed an English army, and an English
commander, to those, who, after the first unsuccessful battle, had
fled to Denmark and Ireland, and had returned at the end of three
years with considerable force: foreseeing that whichever side might
conquer, it must be a great advantage to himself. Nor did this device
fail him; for both parties of the English, after some conflicts
between themselves, without any exertion on his part, left a victory
for the king; the invaders being driven to Ireland, and the royalists
purchasing the empty title of conquest, at their own special loss, and
that of their general. His name was Ednoth,[313] equally celebrated,
before the arrival of the Normans, both at home and abroad. He was the
father of Harding, who yet survives: a man more accustomed to kindle
strife by his malignant tongue, than to brandish arms in the field
of battle. Thus having overturned the power of the laity, he made
an ordinance, that no monk, or clergyman, of that nation, should be
suffered to aspire to any dignity whatever; excessively differing from
the gentleness of Canute the former king, who restored their honours,
unimpaired, to the conquered: whence it came to pass, that at his
decease, the natives easily expelled the foreigners, and reclaimed
their original right. But William, from certain causes, canonically
deposed some persons, and in the place of such as might die, appointed
diligent men of any nation, except English. Unless I am deceived, their
inveterate frowardness towards the king, required such a measure;
since, as I have said before, the Normans are by nature kindly disposed
to strangers who live amongst them.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1074.] RALPH DE WALER.]
Ralph, whom I mentioned before, was, by the king’s gift, earl
of Norfolk and Suffolk; a Breton on his father’s side; of a
disposition foreign to every thing good. This man, in consequence
of being betrothed to the king’s relation, the daughter of William
Fitz-Osberne, conceived a most unjust design, and meditated attack on
the sovereignty. Wherefore, on the very day of his nuptials, whilst
splendidly banqueting, for the luxury of the English had now been
adopted by the Normans, and when the guests had become intoxicated and
heated with wine, he disclosed his intention in a copious harangue. As
their reason was entirely clouded by drunkenness, they loudly applauded
the orator. Here Roger earl of Hereford, brother to the wife of Ralph,
and here Waltheof, together with many others, conspired the death of
the king. Next day, however, when the fumes of the wine had evaporated,
and cooler thoughts influenced the minds of some of the party, the
larger portion, repenting of their conduct, retired from the meeting.
Among these is said to have been Waltheof, who, at the recommendation
of archbishop Lanfranc, sailing to Normandy, related the matter to
the king; concealing merely his own share of the business. The earls,
however, persisted in their design, and each incited his dependents
to rebel. But God opposed them, and brought all their machinations to
nought. For immediately the king’s officers, who were left in charge,
on discovering the affair, reduced Ralph to such distress, that seizing
a vessel at Norwich, he committed himself to the sea. His wife,
covenanting for personal safety, and delivering up the castle, followed
her husband. Roger being thrown into chains by the king, visited, or
rather inhabited, a prison, during the remainder of his life; a young
man of abominable treachery, and by no means imitating his father’s
conduct.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1074.] WILLIAM FITZ-OSBERNE.]
His father, indeed, William Fitz-Osberne,[314] might have been
compared, nay, I know not if he might not even have been preferred, to
the very best princes. By his advice, William had first been inspirited
to invade, and next, assisted by his valour, to keep possession of
England. The energy of his mind was seconded by the almost boundless
liberality of his hand. Hence it arose, that by the multitude of
soldiers, to whom he gave extravagant pay, he repelled the rapacity of
the enemy, and ensured the favour of the people. In consequence, by
this boundless profusion, he incurred the king’s severe displeasure;
because he had improvidently exhausted his treasures. The regulations
which he established in his county of Hereford, remain in full force
at the present day; that is to say, that no knight[315] should be
fined more than seven shillings for whatever offence: whereas, in
other provinces, for a very small fault in transgressing the commands
of their lord, they pay twenty or twenty-five. Fortune, however,
closed these happy successes by a dishonourable termination, when the
supporter of so great a government, the counsellor of England and
Normandy, went into Flanders, through fond regard for a woman, and
there died by the hands of his enemies. For the elder Baldwin, of whom
I have before spoken, the father of Matilda, had two sons; Robert, who
marrying the countess of Frisia, while his father yet lived, took the
surname of Friso: Baldwin, who, after his father, presided some years
over Flanders, and died prematurely. His two children by his wife
Richelda surviving he had entrusted the guardianship of them to Philip
king of France, whose aunt was his mother, and to William Fitz-Osberne.
William readily undertook this office, that he might increase his
dignity by an union with Richelda. But she, through female pride,
aspiring to things beyond her sex, and exacting fresh tributes from the
people, excited them to rebellion. Wherefore despatching a messenger to
Robert Friso, they entreat him to accept the government of the country;
and abjure all fidelity to Arnulph, who was already called earl. Nor
indeed were there wanting persons to espouse the party of the minor: so
that for a long time, Flanders was disturbed by intestine commotion.
This, Fitz-Osberne, who was desperately in love with the lady, could
not endure, but entered Flanders with a body of troops; and, being
immediately well received by the persons he came to defend, after some
days, he rode securely from castle to castle, in a hasty manner with
few attendants. On the other hand, Friso, who was acquainted with this
piece of folly, entrapped him unawares by a secret ambush, and killed
him, fighting bravely but to no purpose, together with his nephew
Arnulph.
Thus possessed of Flanders, he often irritated king William, by
plundering Normandy. His daughter married Canute king of the Danes,
of whom was born Charles,[316] who now rules in Flanders. He made
peace with king Philip, giving him his daughter-in-law in marriage,
by whom he had Lewis, who at present reigns in France; but not long
after, being heartily tired of the match, because his queen was
extremely corpulent, he removed her from his bed, and in defiance of
law and equity, married the wife of the earl of Anjou. Robert, safe
by his affinity with these princes, encountered nothing to distress
him during his government; though Baldwin, the brother of Arnulph,
who had an earldom in the province of Hainault and in the castle of
Valenciennes, by William’s assistance made many attempts for that
purpose. Three years before his death, when he was now hoary-headed,
he went to Jerusalem, for the mitigation of his transgressions. After
his return he renounced the world, calmly awaiting his dissolution with
Christian earnestness. His son was that Robert so universally famed in
the expedition into Asia, which, in our times, Europe undertook against
the Turks; but through some mischance, after his return home, he
tarnished that noble exploit, being mortally wounded in a tournament,
as they call it. Nor did a happier fate attend his son Baldwin, who,
voluntarily harassing the forces of Henry king of England, in Normandy,
paid dearly for his youthful temerity: for, being struck on the head
with a pole, and deceived by the professions of several physicians, he
lost his life; the principality devolving on Charles, of whom we have
spoken before.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1073.] DEFEAT OF THE DANES.]
Now, king William conducting himself with mildness towards the obedient
but with severity to the rebellious, possessed the whole of England
in tranquillity, holding all the Welsh tributary to him. At this time
too, beyond sea, being never unemployed, he nearly annihilated the
county of Maine, leading thither an expedition composed of English;
who, though they had been easily conquered in their own, yet always
appeared invincible in a foreign country. He lost multitudes of his men
at Dol,[317] a town of Brittany, whither, irritated by some broil, he
had led a military force. He constantly found Philip king of France,
the daughter of whose aunt he had married, unfaithful to him; because
he was envious of the great glory of a man who was vassal both to his
father and to himself. But William did not the less actively resist his
attempts, although his first-born son Robert, through evil counsel,
assisted him in opposition to his father. Whence it happened, that
in an attack at Gerborai, the son became personally engaged with
his father; wounded him and killed his horse: William, the second
son, departed with a hurt also, and many of the king’s party were
slain. In all other respects, during the whole of his life, he was
so fortunate, that foreign and distant nations feared nothing more
than his name. He had subdued the inhabitants so completely to his
will, that without any opposition, he first caused an account to be
taken of every person; compiled a register of the rent of every estate
throughout England;[318] and made all free men, of every description,
take the oath of fidelity to him. Canute, king of the Danes, who was
most highly elevated both by his affinity to Robert Friso and by
his own power, alone menaced his dignity; a rumour being generally
prevalent, that he would invade England, a country due to him from his
relationship to the ancient Canute: and indeed he would have effected
it, had not God counteracted his boldness by an unfavourable wind. But
this circumstance reminds me briefly to trace the genealogy of the
Danish kings, who succeeded after our Canute; adding at the same time,
somewhat concerning the Norwegians.
As it has been before observed, Harold succeeded in England;
Hardecanute, and his sons, in Denmark: for Magnus the son of Olave,
whom I have mentioned in the history of our Canute, as having been
killed by his subjects, had recovered Norway, which Canute had subdued.
Harold dying in England, Hardecanute held both kingdoms for a short
time. On his decease, Edward the Simple succeeded, who, satisfied with
his paternal kingdom, despised his foreign dominions as burdensome and
barbarous. One Sweyn, doubtlessly a most exalted character, was then
made king of the Danes.[319] When his government had prospered for
several years, Magnus, king of the Norwegians, with the consent of some
of the Danes, expelled him by force, and subjected the land to his own
will. Sweyn, thus expelled, went to the king of Sweden, and collecting,
by his assistance, Swedes, Vandals, and Goths, he returned, to regain
the kingdom: but, through the exertions of the Danes, who were attached
to the government of Magnus, he experienced a repetition of his
former ill-fortune. This was a great and memorable battle among those
barbarous people: on no other occasion did the Danes ever experience
severer conflict, or happier success. Indeed, to this very time, they
keep unbroken the vow, by which they had bound themselves, before the
contest, that they would consecrate to future ages the vigil of St.
Lawrence, for on that day the battle was fought, by fasting and alms;
and then also Sweyn fled, but soon after, on the death of Magnus, he
received his kingdom entire.
[Sidenote: [A.D. 1069.] DENMARK AND NORWAY.]
To Magnus, in Norway, succeeded one Sweyn, surnamed Hardhand; not
elevated by royal descent, but by boldness and cunning: to him Olave,
the uncle of Magnus, whom they call a saint; to Olave, Harold Harvagre,
the brother of Olave, who had formerly, when a young man, served
under the emperor of Constantinople. Being, at his command, exposed
to a lion, for having debauched a woman of quality, he strangled the
huge beast by the bare vigour of his arms. He was slain in England by
Harold, the son of Godwin. His sons, Olave and Magnus, divided the
kingdom of their father; but Magnus dying prematurely, Olave seized
the whole. To him succeeded his son Magnus, who was lately miserably
slain in Ireland, on which he had rashly made a descent. They relate,
that Magnus, the elder son of Harold, was, after the death of his
father, compassionately sent home by Harold, king of England; and that
in return for this kindness, he humanely treated Harold, the son of
Harold, when he came to him after William’s victory: that he took him
with him, in an expedition he made to England, in the time of William
the younger, when he conquered the Orkney and Mevanian Isles,[320]
and meeting with Hugo, earl of Chester, and Hugo, earl of Shrewsbury,
put the first to flight, and the second to death. The sons of the
last Magnus, Hasten and Siward, yet reign conjointly, having divided
the empire: the latter, a seemly and spirited youth, shortly since
went to Jerusalem, passing through England, and performed many famous
exploits against the Saracens; more especially in the siege of Sidon,
whose inhabitants raged furiously against the Christians through their
connection with the Turks.