posteritas ipsius Ducis, ei filia [see above, p. 197] petita atque
pacta est.” Ord. Vit. 532 B. “Alia, nomine Margarita, Rodberto
filio Guillelmi Ducis Neustriæ desponsata est.” And again (487 C);
“Margaritam sororem suam Rodberto ejusdem Ducis filio in conjugium
dederat, cum quâ hereditatem suam, comitatum scilicet Cenomanensem,
si sine liberis obiret, concesserat.”
Footnote 599
Will. Pict. 105. “Germanam Hereberti ... nato suo conjugare decrevit
[Willelmus], ut per eam ipse et progeniti ex ipso, jure quod nullâ
controversiâ convelli posset vel infirmari, Hereberti hæreditatem
possiderent sororius et nepotes.”
Footnote 600
Ib. 103. “Ne quærerent alium, præter quem ipse dominum eis,
hæredem sibi, relinqueret. Cui si volentes pareant, leve servitium
toleraturos fore, si vi subacti, forsitan grave.” See vol. ii. p. 169.
Footnote 601
Ord. Vit. 487 D. “Quia Normannicum jugum his quibus imminet
gravissimum est, subire nimis formidabant.”
Footnote 602
Ord. Vit. 487 D. “Walterius ... totum comitatum Cenomanensem
calumniabatur, et ex parte possidebat. Nam ipsam urbem, quæ caput
est provinciæ, Goisfridus de Meduanâ et Hubertus de Sanctâ Susannâ,
aliique potentes in fidelitate Walterii acriter tenebant.” William
of Poitiers says only (104), “At homines malefidi Galterium
Medantinum Comitem, cui soror Hugonis nupserat, receperunt invasorem
desertores.” But he presently mentions Geoffrey of Mayenne. On
Geoffrey, see above, p. 167.
Footnote 603
He was a native of Vendôme, who had been a knight (“miles quidam
primùm”), then a monk of Marmoutiers. He became Prior, and was
“Prior bonus, ædificator nimis.” Geoffrey Martel then removed him to
Angers, and made him Abbot of Saint Sergius and Bacchus, a decaying
monastery, which he restored (“destructum valdéque redactum ad
nihilum, magnum ex novo constituit”). None of his work remains there.
He was then chosen Bishop of Le Mans by the clergy and people under
a _congé d’elire_ and letter missive from Count Geoffrey (“Gaufridus
... congregavit populum terræ suæ et omnem clerum, ut Cenomannensi
ecclesiæ eligerent Episcopum.” Vet. An. iii. *311). It will be
remembered that the Count of Anjou had stepped into the position of
the King with regard to the Bishoprick. See above, p. 193.
Footnote 604
Vet. Ann. iii. 312*. “Quamvis pauperior et humilior antecessoribus
Episcopis fuerit, tamen majora opera exercere tentavit. Quinto
namque ordinationis suæ anno fundamenta matris ecclesiæ ampliora
quam fuerant inchoavit, sed morte inopinâ superveniente perficere
non potuit.” It illustrates the character of Vulgrin that this
is the only event of the year 1063 that the episcopal chronicler
finds to record. The conquest of Maine by William is mentioned only
incidentally in the life of the next Bishop, p. 314*.
Footnote 605
See above, p. 183.
Footnote 606
Ib.
Footnote 607
Will. Pict. 104. “Incendium confestim injicere, aut urbem totam
exscindere, ausos iniqua trucidare, quantùm ingenio abundavit et
viribus, potuisset. Sed hominum sanguini, quamquam nocentissimo,
parcere maluit solita illa temperantia.”
Footnote 608
Ib. “Maluit ... validissimam urbem relinquere incolumem, _caput atque
munimentum terræ_ quam in manu habebat.”
Footnote 609
This seems to be taken for granted throughout the story, and it is
implied in such expressions as that just quoted and others elsewhere.
William of Jumièges, in his shorter account (vii. 27), which, it will
be remembered (see at p. 169), is put out of place, speaks in the
same way; “Ad urbem Cenomannicam per aliquot annos arma convertit ...
Ad postremum victi Cenomanni, jam castellis per cunctum comitatum
subactis, dextras Duci dederant.”
Footnote 610
Will. Pict. 104. “Cenomannici ... anxii trepidique ... accito sæpiùs
Gaufredo, quem præses eorum Galterius dominum sibi ac tutorem
præfecit, prœlio decernere minati sunt nonnumquam, sed ausi numquam.”
Footnote 611
Will. Pict. 104. “Præsidia, ubi res postulavit, imponens.”
Footnote 612
Ib. “Perdomitis tandem castellis jam per totum comitatum subactis,
reddunt civitatem prævalenti.”
Footnote 613
We have seen (see above, p. 201) that Vulgrin began to rebuild the
church in the fifth year of his episcopate, that is this very year
1063. The only question is whether any part of his work still exists.
I will not enlarge on this purely architectural question, but will
simply refer to the account in the Vetera Analecta. The expression in
p. *313 might imply that the next Bishop Arnold destroyed every trace
of what Vulgrin began; but, as (p. 314*) it appears that Arnold’s own
work was confined to the choir and transepts, it is possible that
Vulgrin’s nave (or possibly a still earlier nave) may have survived.
The western portal of the church has a very ancient look.
Footnote 614
William of Poitiers (104) becomes eloquent on the “_joyeuse
entrée_.” Of the ecclesiastical part of the ceremony he tells us,
“Templa summoperè, quemadmodùm processiones, adornata effulgent,
redolent thymiamata, resonant sacra cantica.” So Orderic (488 A),
with a curious confusion between Bishop Vulgrin and his successor;
“Cœnomannicam urbem, civibus ultro sese dedentibus, cum ingenti
tripudio recepit, eique Domnus Ernaldus, ejusdem urbis Præsul
cum clericis et monachis revestitis textus crucesque ferentibus
honorabiliter obviam processit.” Of the laity William tells us,
“Studium est summis, mediis, infimis, placare infensum. Occurrunt,
clamant dominum suum, procidunt et inclinantur ejus dignitati;
fingunt hilares vultus, lætas voces, plausus congratulantes.”
Footnote 615
See the story of Bishop Hildebert, Vet. An. iii. 308.
Footnote 616
The building of the castle seems implied in Will. Pict. 104–105;
“Victori sufficiens pœna fuit perdomitos in potestatem suam venisse,
et urbis firmamentum suâ in reliquum custodiâ occupari.” So Roman de
Rou, 10211;
“Et il fist cax è pierre atraire;
Illoec fist une tur faire.”
This castle, “regia turris,” must be distinguished from the buildings
spoken of by William of Jumièges (vii. 27) and Benoît (35735); “In
quorum medio ad domandum eorum insolentiam, duo municipia (“deus
chasteaus” in Benoît) in Ponte Barbato, seu Barbello, stabilivit
suisque militibus custodienda commisit.” Orderic (773 A) expressly
distinguishes them; “Regia turris [elsewhere “turris principalis,
turris Cenomannica”], et Mons-Barbatus atque Barbatulus, Regi
[Guillelmo Rufo] subjiciuntur, et meritò, quia à patre ejus condita
noscuntur.”
Footnote 617
The conquest of Maine is recorded in a Latin entry in our own
Peterborough Chronicle, 1062; “Hoc anno subjugata est Cynomannia
Comiti Normanniæ Willielmo.”
Footnote 618
Will. Pict. 105. “Voluntariè Gualterus deditioni consensit, ne,
invasa protegens, hæreditaria amitteret. Clades a Normannis illata
vicinitati Medanti et Calvimontis metum ei faciebat de majori.”
Footnote 619
The direct charge against William is found only, as far as I
know, in the harangue which Orderic puts into the mouths of the
conspirators at the bride-ale of 1076 (534 B); “Gualterium Pontesii
Comitem, Eduardi Regis nepotem, cum Biotâ uxore suâ, Falesiæ
hospitavit, et nefariâ potione simul ambos unâ nocte peremit.” This
one would suppose to be after the surrender of Le Mans. But in the
account which Orderic elsewhere gives in his own person, William
is not distinctly accused, and the death of Walter and Biota is
made to happen while the war is going on (487 D); “Dum magnanimus
Dux frequenti expeditione rebelles impeteret ... prædictus Comes
Walterius et Biota conjux ejus per inimicorum machinamenta simul,
ut ferunt, letali veneno fraudulenter infecti obierunt. Quibus
defunctis, securior Dux ... rebelles expetiit.” But it is plain
from the narrative of William of Poitiers that Walter survived the
surrender of Le Mans, and it is not likely that he would be at
Falaise while the war was going on. This contradiction throws a good
deal of doubt on the whole story. See vol. ii. pp. 413–414. No one,
as far as I know, ever charged William with the death of Herbert, who
died even more opportunely for him than Walter.
Footnote 620
Will. Pict. 106. “Per legatos iterum iterumque monitus ad
obsequendum, mentem obstinatam non omisit.” William waxes very
eloquent in abuse of the “versutus homo, Gaufredus Meduanensis.” At
this distance of time he looks very like a loyal vassal, perhaps even
like a true patriot.
Footnote 621
Orderic (488 A) makes William take Ambrières, for whose capture we
have already had two dates, on the road; “Ambreras oppidum ejus
[Gaufredi] cepit,” &c.
Footnote 622
The river side, according to William of Poitiers (106), “nullâ vi,
nullo ingenio vel arte humanâ, attentari potest.” The land side was
not quite so impossible; “Alteri vero [lateri] munimenta lapidea,
pariterque difficillimus aditus propugnant.”
Footnote 623
See vol. ii. p. 206.
Footnote 624
See vol. ii. p. 286.
Footnote 625
Will. Pict. 106. “Hujus castri latus alterum ... alluitur scopuloso
rapidoque flumine, nam supra Meduanæ ripam in præruptâ montis rupe
situm est.”
Footnote 626
At Angers the cathedral crowns the hill, the castle commands the
river; the great monastery of the Holy Trinity lies on the other
side, in what was originally a mere suburb. But neither Angers nor Le
Mans has the steep double slope of Mayenne.
Footnote 627
See vol. ii. p. 264.
Footnote 628
Will. Pict. 106. “Gladiis, lanceis, missilibus, nihil geritur, nihil
gerendum speratur. Item neque ariete, neque tormento cæterisve
instrumentis bellicis. Siquidem locus omnino machinamentis importunus
erat.”
Footnote 629
Ib. “Equitum ac peditum copias tantas incassum fatigari cuncti ferè
opinantur, multi conqueruntur, nullâ spe animos eorum erigente, nisi
fortè morâ annuâ vel ampliore fames expugnet.”
Footnote 630
Ib. “En sollerti consilio ipsius [Willelmi] injecti ignes castrum
corripiunt.”
Footnote 631
Ib. 107. “Citissimè diffunduntur [ignes] more suo, sævius omni ferro
quæque obvia vastantes.”
Footnote 632
Ib. “Quae, sicut alibi capta plerumque grandia, militum potiùs quam
sua esse voluit continentissimus ac liberalissimus princeps.”
Footnote 633
William of Jumièges, as I have already said (see above, p. 169),
puts the taking of Mayenne, as a sequel to that of Le Mans, out
of place. He also makes the fire accidental (vii. 27); “Meduanum
verò, castellum cujusdam opulenti militis nomine Goiffredi, adhuc
restiterat, quod Dux exercitibus applicitis aliquamdiù oppugnans
cepit, igneque injecto per duos pueros, qui clam ad ludendum cum
oppidanis infantibus intraverant, combussit.” Wace (10250) says, “Li
bores esprit et aluma.” Ord. Vit. 488 A. “Meduanam post diutinam
obsidionem combussit.”
Footnote 634
I infer this, not only from the absence of any mention of his name
during the siege, and from the unlikelihood that such a man would
have yielded to what seems to have been a mere panic, but from the
expressions of William of Poitiers a little before (106); “Fuga,
astutia, validæque munitiones non modicum fiduciæ ministraverunt.
Statuit ergo prudentia repudiati domini latibulum carissimum
abalienare ei castrum Meduanum, æstimans multò satius ac dignius hâc
pœnâ ferire, quam fugitantem persequi, et victoriam levem ex eo capto
insignibus titulis addere.”
Footnote 635
See Vet. An. iii. *315; Ord. Vit. 706 C, 707 A, 771 D.
Footnote 636
Will. Pict. 107. “Restauratis quæ flamma corruperat, præsidioque
providenter disposito.” So Will. Gem. vii. 27. “Quod iterum
restauravit et custodibus suis mancipavit.” So Benoît, 35770. But
Wace (10253) says,
“_Lung tems aprez_ quant son leu vit
Le restora sainz cuntredit.
Gardes i mist ki l’atornerent,
Ki paiz tindrent e paiz garderent.”
Footnote 637
Will. Pict, u. s. “Insolitum triumphum, quasi de naturâ superatâ,
domum revexit cum immenso gaudio exercitûs.”
Footnote 638
Ord. Vit. 488 A. “Quo superato, penè omnes illius complices et ad
rebellandum fautores terrore curvati sunt, et Willelmum Principem,
quem divina manus protegebat, timere eique obsecundare coacti sunt.”
Footnote 639
Vet. An. iii. 314*. “Willelmus Princeps Normanorum ... Cenomannensem
comitatum, exstinctis atque omninò deletis ejusdem comitatûs
hæredibus, adquisierat.” Is this meant as a charge against William?
If so, it extends beyond Walter and Biota, and seems to prove too
much.
Footnote 640
Will. Pict. 105. “Quoniam pueri ætas nondum fuit matura conjugio
[Robert must have been four years younger than Margaret, whose father
died in 1051, two years before William’s marriage], in locis tutis
illam, prope nubilem, magno cum honore custodiri fecit, nobilium
atque sapientium virorum ac matronarum curæ commissam.” Orderic
(488 A) says she was entrusted “Stigaudo potenti viro de mansione
Odonis.” Compare the entrusting of William’s own daughter to Roger of
Beaumont; Orderic, 573 D.
Footnote 641
Ord. Vit. u. s. “Priusquam nubiles annos attingeret seculi ludibriis
erepta feliciter obiit.”
Footnote 642
Will. Pict. u. s. He enlarges on this at length.
Footnote 643
Will. Pict. u. s.
Footnote 644
Will. Pict. and Ord. Vit. u. s.
Footnote 645
See vol. ii. pp. 415, 420.
Footnote 646
See vol. ii. pp. 475, 476, 634.
Footnote 647
See vol. ii. p. 299 et seqq.
Footnote 648
See vol. ii. pp. 303, 421.
Footnote 649
See vol. ii. pp. 367 et seqq., 422.
Footnote 650
See Appendix R.
Footnote 651
See Appendix R.
Footnote 652
See vol. ii. pp. 537, 543.
Footnote 653
See vol. ii. p. 329, and cf. pp. 147, 149, 580.
Footnote 654
See vol. ii. p. 335.
Footnote 655
See Appendix R.
Footnote 656
See Appendices R. and S.
Footnote 657
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 1.
Footnote 658
So Eadmer (4) makes him go “cum ditioribus et honestioribus hominibus
suis [his own Thegns or personal _Comitatus_], auro et argento
vesteque pretiosâ nobiliter instructis.”
Footnote 659
See vol. ii. p. 151.
Footnote 660
Tapestry, pl. 1. It is singular however that, though a large part
of Bosham Church is as old as Harold’s time, or older, the picture
in the Tapestry is in no way like it—or indeed like any other human
erection.
Footnote 661
Tapestry, pl. 1.
Footnote 662
See above, p. 157.
Footnote 663
Will. Pict. 108. “Docuit enim avaritiæ calliditas Galliarum quasdam
nationes exsecrandam consuetudinem, barbaram, et longissimè ab omni
æquitate Christianâ alienam. Illaqueant potentes aut locupletes:
trusos in ergastula afficiunt contumeliis, tormentis. Sic variâ
miseriâ prope ad necem usque contritos ejiciunt sæpissimè venditos
magno.” So Will. Malms. ii. 228. “Barbarum et effrænatum morem
regionis esse ut qui evaserant in mari naufragium in terrâ invenirent
periculum.”
Footnote 664
I infer as much from the use of the word “illaqueant” in the last
quotation from William of Poitiers.
Footnote 665
Roman de Rou, 10765 et seqq. The sums of money are thus given (10776);
“Doint li vint livres solement,
Il l’en fera gaaigner cent,
Kar tel prison li liverra,
Ki cent livres u plus donra.”
Footnote 666
Bayeux Tapestry, plate 2. “Hic apprehendit Wido Haroldum.” Benoît
de Ste. Maure (36540) adds the odd comment, that those who were
seized in this fashion might have wished themselves in Sicily; “Mieuz
vousissent estre en Sezile.” Yet, when Benoît wrote, Sicily was a
settled Norman monarchy.
Footnote 667
So at least says William of Malmesbury (ii. 228); “Manus manicis,
pedes compedibus, præbuere.”
Footnote 668
This is quite plain from the Tapestry, plate 2. “Duxit eum ad Belrem
et ibi eum tenuit.” Wace (10784) says, “A Abevile l’ont mené,” and
makes Guy take him to Beaurain only after the news has reached
William (v. 10798);
“A Belrem le fist envéier
Por fere del Duc esluingnier.”
This I conceive to arise from a misconception of the words of William
of Jumièges, vii. 31; “In manus Widonis Abbatisvillæ Comitis incidit.
Quem idem Comes captum cum suis confestim in custodiâ trusit.” But
this does not imply that Abbeville was the place of imprisonment.
William of Poitiers, William of Malmesbury, and Benoît do not mention
any particular place. Anyhow it was not Saint Valery. See below,
Chapter xv. § 2.
Footnote 669
Roman de Rou, 10785;
“E Heraut a par un privé
En Normendie el Duc mandé.”
Eadmer (5) says, “Constrictus igitur Haraldus quemlibet ex vulgo,
promissâ mercede illectum, clam ad Comitem Normanniæ dirigit;” but
that the messenger was an Englishman appears from his moustache
in the Tapestry, plate 3. “Hic venit nuntius ad Wilgelmum Ducem.”
William of Malmesbury, ii. 228, gives another turn to the message, of
which I shall have to speak elsewhere. One expression is very odd;
“Si pecuniis exuenda captivitas esset, libens daret Willelmo Comiti,
non _semiviro_ Guidoni.” I do not know the meaning of this strange
epithet and spondaic cadence.
Footnote 670
Wace understood this. Roman de Rou, 10800;
“Li Dus pensa s’il le teneit,
K’il en fereit bien son espleit.”
Footnote 671
Will. Pict. 108. “Properè missis legatis.” The speed at which
they ride in the Tapestry (pl. 3) is beyond anything of the kind
represented in the whole story, except in the very thick of the
battle.
Footnote 672
Ib. “Precatu simul ac minis extortum.” William of Jumièges (vii. 31)
puts this still more strongly; “Dux autem ut hoc comperit, missis
legatis violenter illum extorsit.” But the other narratives do not
bear this out.
Eadmer (5) makes two messages, the latter stronger than the former;
“Ille [Willelmus] festinatò per nuncios mandat Domino Pontivi,
Haraldum cum suis ab omni calumniâ liberum sibi quantociùs mitti,
si pristinâ amicitiâ suo amodò vellet ex more potiri. Sed quum ille
hominem dimittere nollet, iterum in mandato accepit se necessariò
Haraldum missurum, alioquin certissimè sciret Willelmum Normanniæ
Ducem armatum pro eo Pontivum iturum.”
Footnote 673
Eadmer however makes him still plunder his captives; “Mittit igitur
virum cum sociis, primò tamen eis quæ meliora detulerant simul
ablatis.”
Footnote 674
See above, p. 116. That Eu was the place appears from Will. Pict.
108. “Ipse [Guido] adducens apud Aucense castrum sibi præsentavit.”
So Benoît, 36572. “Li amena à Ou tot quite.”
Footnote 675
Will. Pict. 108. “Guidoni bene merito, qui, nec pretio nec violentiâ
compulsus, virum quem torquere, necare, vendere potuisset pro libitu
ipse ... sibi præsentavit, grates rettulit condignas, terras tradidit
amplas ac multum opimas, addidit insuper in pecuniis maxima dona.”
The position of the lands comes from the Roman de Rou, 10806;
“E li Dus li a fet aveir
Lez l’ewe d’Alne un bel maneir.”
Footnote 676
“Harold Dux Anglorum” in the Tapestry, pl. 1. He bears the same title
in the Saxon Annalist (Pertz, vi. 764). See vol. i. pp. 289, 470; cf.
179, and ii. 635.
Footnote 677
In the Tapestry, plate 4, we merely read, “Hic Dux Wilgelm cum
Haroldo venit ad palatium suum.” It is here that the mysterious “unus
clericus et Ælfgyva” (see Appendix S.) are seen standing at the door
of the Palace. William of Poitiers (108) says more distinctly, “In
urbem sui principatûs caput Rothomagum introduxit.” So Benoît, 36577;
“Tot dreit à Roem la citè
L’en amena li Dux od sei.”
Footnote 678
Roman de Rou, 10810;
“A maint rice torneiement
Le fit aler mult noblement.”
Footnote 679
Snorro (Johnston, 190; Laing, iii. 76). “Sat Haralldr í hássæti à
adra hönd Jarli, enn til annarar handar kona Jarls, hon var hverri
kono frídari, er menn höfdo sed ... Jarl geck optazt snemma at sofa,
enn Haralldr sat lengi à kvölldom, oc taladi vid kono Jarls.” This
is an exact picture of old Norwegian, if not of Norman life. See
Keyser’s Private Life of the Old Northmen, pp. 72, 143; “The guests
... were shown to the beds appointed for them. But even after they
had retired for the night, they often had to quaff off a horn or
two, which the hostess, or one of the women of the house, would
bring them, while she seated herself the while by their bed-side and
entertained them by her conversation.”
Footnote 680
See Appendix R.
Footnote 681
See Appendix F.
Footnote 682
Namely that of William of Poitiers. See Appendix R.
Footnote 683
Harold (see vol. ii. p. 555) could hardly have been born before 1021,
but, as he became Earl in 1045 (see vol. ii. pp. 36, 37, 43), he is
not likely to have been born many years later. William (see vol. ii.
pp. 585–587) was born in 1027 or 1028.
Footnote 684
See Appendix O.
Footnote 685
See Appendix R.
Footnote 686
William of Poitiers (109), who puts the knighthood before the Breton
expedition, seems to extend it to Harold’s followers; “Qui venerant
cum ipso”—possibly Wulfnoth and Hakon—“armis _militaribus_ et
equis delectissimis instructos secum in bellum Britannicum duxit.”
“Militaribus” is doubtless to be taken in the technical sense.
The Tapestry (pl. 6) places the knighthood after the Breton war;
“Hic Willelm dedit Haroldo arma.” Wace follows William of Poitiers
(10812). Mr. Planché (Arch. Ass. June 1867, p. 145) says that Wace
lays the scene at Avranches. He probably refers to the Roman de Rou,
13723, but the knighthood is not there spoken of.
Footnote 687
William of Malmesbury (iii. 236) attributes the opposite motive to
William. He takes Harold, “volens ejus manum explorare; simul et
strictiori consilio, apparatum ostentans suum, conspicaturo quantùm
præstaret Anglicis bipennibus ensis Normannicus.” If Harold was set
to fight on horseback with his Danish axe in his hand, it might very
likely be so.
Footnote 688
The fullest accounts are in William of Poitiers (109) and the
Tapestry (pll. 4–6), but it is not easy to reconcile the two. The
other accounts are very short. Wace (10814) makes Harold accompany
William in three or four expeditions;
“Ne sai de veir treiz feiz u quatre,
Quant as Bretuns se dut combatre.”
This, as we shall see, is quite possible. See Appendix T.
Footnote 689
See vol. ii. p. 193.
Footnote 690
Conan was the grandson of Hadwisa, daughter of Richard the Fearless.
See vol. i. p. 508.
Footnote 691
See vol. ii. p. 181; cf. i. pp. 518, 526. William of Poitiers (109)
is inclined to dwell on these earlier wars, rather than on the
later guardianship of Alan. His son Conan is “paternæ rebellionis
renovator.”
Footnote 692
See above, p. 168.
Footnote 693
Will. Pict. 109. “Is [Conanus] in virum ferocissimum adultus, a
tutelâ diu toleratâ liber, capto Eudone patruo suo, atque vinculis
ergastularibus mancipato, provinciæ, quam dono paterno accepit, magnâ
cum truculentiâ dominari cœpit.” William of Malmesbury (iii. 236)
looks on him with more favour; “Viridis juventâ et præcellens robore,
Eudonem patruum vinxerat, multa egregia fecerat.”
Footnote 694
See Art de Vérifier les Dates, ii. 896.
Footnote 695
William of Poitiers goes back to the grant of Charles the Simple, who
gave Britanny to Rolf “in servitium perpetuum.” (See vol. i. p. 191.)
But he allows the constant revolts of the Breton Counts; “Comites
Britannici e jugo Normannicæ dominationis cervicem omnino solvere
numquam valuerunt, etsi multoties id conati totâ vi obluctando.” So
William of Malmesbury (iii. 236) speaks of William as “Britanniam ut
hæreditarium solum calumnians.”
Footnote 696
Will. Pict. 111. See below, p. 238.
Footnote 697
See vol. ii. p. 592.
Footnote 698
Will. Pict. 110. Britanny is “regio longè latèque diffusa, milite,
magis quam credibile sit, referta.” He goes on to say; “Partibus
e quidem in illis miles unus quinquaginta genuerat, sortitus more
barbaro denas aut ampliùs uxores; quod de Mauris veteribus refertur,
legis divinæ atque pudici ritûs ignaris. Ad hoc populositas ipsa
armis et equis maximè, arvorum culturæ aut morum minimè student.”
The word “denas” seems to show that this patriarchal state of things
was not confined to one particular knight. One hardly sees why the
ancient Moors should have been picked out as the horrid example,
rather than the modern Saracens or any other polygamous people.
The Chronicle of St. Michael’s Mount (Labbé, i. 350), under the year
1056, says of Conan’s uncle, “Hic Eudo multos habuit filios.” Was he
the “miles” whom William of Poitiers had specially in his eye?
Footnote 699
Will. Pict. 110. “Uberrimo lacte, parcissimo pane, sese transigunt.
Pinguia pabula gignunt pecoribus loca vasta et fermè nescia segetum.”
Footnote 700
Ib. “Prœlia cum ardenti alacritate ineunt: dum prœliantur, furibundi
sæviunt. Pellere soliti, difficilè cedunt.”
Footnote 701
Ib. “Quum vacant a bello, rapinis, latrociniis, cædibus domesticis,
aluntur sive exercentur.”
Footnote 702
See above, p. 166, and vol. ii. 284.
Footnote 703
Will. Pict. 109. “Conani in tantum jam temeritas crevit, ut quo die
terminos Normanniæ aggrederetur denuntiare non formidaret.” This sort
of bravado was chivalrous heroism in William; it is mere rashness and
insolence in Conan.
Footnote 704
Ib. “Dominus ejus [Conani] antiquo jure, sicuti Normannorum,
Willelmus, castellum quod Sancti Jacobi appellatum est interim
opposuit in confinio, ne famelici prædones ecclesiis inermibus, aut
ultimo terræ suæ vulgo, excursionibus latrocinantibus nocerent.”
The castle and town are still always known as Saint-James, never as
Saint-Jaques.
Footnote 705
Will. Pict. 110. “Nihili pendens terribilitatem hanc Dux Willelmus,
in quem diem adventum Conani meminit denuntiatum, eo ipse intra fines
ejus occurrit.”
Footnote 706
I presume that the “Ruallus” of William of Poitiers represents the
name Rhiwallon.
Footnote 707
See vol. ii. p. 476.
Footnote 708
See vol. i. p. 240. For the special mention of Dol, see Flodoard, 944.
Footnote 709
See vol. i. p. 510.
Footnote 710
Will. Pict. 110. Conan is engaged in “castri terræ suæ Doli
oppugnatione.”
Footnote 711
Unless possibly a larger proportion of beggars and of way-side
crosses than is usual in Normandy.
Footnote 712
The time of the invasion was autumn. “Stabant in aristis fruges
immaturæ.” They missed therefore the snowy bloom of a Breton, Norman,
or West-Saxon land in the time of spring. Snorro also (see above, p.
227) makes Harold’s visit in the autumn, but he makes him stay all
the winter.
Footnote 713
See vol. i. p. 330.
Footnote 714
Bayeux Tapestry, pll. 4, 5. “Hic Willelm Dux et exercitus ejus
venerunt ad Montem Michaelis.”
Footnote 715
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 5. “Hic Harold Dux trahebat eos de arenâ.” See
vol. ii. p. 38.
Footnote 716
See vol. i. p. 526.
Footnote 717
Will. Pict. 110. “Sistere tentat Conanum castri præses Ruallus,
revocat illudens, morari biduum precatur, sufficiens huic moræ
stippendium ab ipso sumpturum.”
Footnote 718
Ib. “Homo miserè exterritus, pavorem potiùs audiens, cursu instituto
longiùs profugit.” So the Tapestry, pl. 5; “Venerunt ad Dol et Conan
fugâ vertit.” On the mention of Rennes, see Appendix T.
Footnote 719
Will. Pict. 111. “Nec penes agricolas interesse, Normannico an
Britannico exercitu consumpti anni laborem amiserint.”
Footnote 720
Ib. “Sibi modo ad famam valuisse, non ad conservationem rerum, Conani
depulsionem.”
Footnote 721
Will. Pict. 110, 111. “Menstruâ penuriâ fatigatum exercitum
reducebat.” The Archdeacon’s minute setting forth of the workings of
the Duke’s mind is too long to copy.
Footnote 722
Ib. 111. “Excedenti jam Britanniæ limitem repente indicatur Gaufredum
Andegavensem cum ingentibus copiis Conano fuisse conjunctum, et ambos
postero die prœliatum affuturos.”
Footnote 723
See Appendix T.
Footnote 724
See vol. ii. pp. 220, 233.
Footnote 725
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 5.
Footnote 726
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 5.
Footnote 727
Ib. pl. 6. Cf. the legend of the death of Malcolm at Alnwick. See
Robertson, i. 147.
Footnote 728
See the Angevin Chronicle in Labbé, i. 276.
Footnote 729
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 6.
Footnote 730
Cf. vol. i. pp. 436, 585; ii. 384.
Footnote 731
Bayeux Tapestry, pl. 6.
Footnote 732
See above, p. 227.
Footnote 733
Ord. Vit. 492 A. “Omnia quæ ab illo requisita fuerant super
sanctissimas reliquias juraverat.”
Footnote 734
Wace, 10828. See Appendix R.
Footnote 735
Ib. 10838;
“Quant Heraut suz sa main tendi,
La main trembla, la char frémi.”
Footnote 736
Ib. 10858;
“Heraut forment s’espoanta
Des relikes k’il li monstra.”
Footnote 737
See Appendix R.
Footnote 738
See vol. ii. p. 300.
Footnote 739
See Appendix F.
Footnote 740
See vol. ii. pp. 431, 434.
Footnote 741
So say most of the accounts. See Appendix R.
Footnote 742
Will. Malms, iii. 238. “Liberatum se sacramento asserens, quod filia
ejus quam desponderat citrà nubiles annos obierat.”
Footnote 743
See vol. ii. pp. 43, 494.
Footnote 744
The apology put into Harold’s mouth by William of Malmesbury (iii.
238) is that he was “necessitate temporis coactus.” Wace (11965) puts
it more clearly still. Harold’s Biographer (Chron. Ang. Norm. ii.
187) argues the point at length. See Appendix U.
Footnote 745
See Appendix R.
Footnote 746
Compare the homage done by Richard the Fearless to Hugh the Great on
promising to marry his daughter. See vol. i. p. 248.
Footnote 747
See Appendix R.
Footnote 748
See above, p. 157.
Footnote 749
See vol. ii. pp. 365, 384, 385, 460.
Footnote 750
See the speech of Philip, Lord Wharton, on the Abjuration Bill of
1690. Macaulay, iii. 574.
Footnote 751
See the stories of the fidelity of Geroy and his son William to their
several feudal lords, vol. ii. pp. 230–232. On the other hand it is
constantly made an aggravation of the imprisonment of William of
Aquitaine by Geoffrey Martel, that it was a wrong done against his
lord. See vol. ii. p. 594. So the Peterborough Chronicle (1087) says
of the last expedition of William himself, that he “hergode uppan his
agenne hlaford Philippe þam cynge.”
Footnote 752
The authorities for this Chapter are essentially the same as those
for the last.
Footnote 753
Will. Pict. 109. “Non enim in longum sperabatur Edwardi ægrotantis
vita.”
Footnote 754
William of Poitiers (145–146) gets very eloquent on this head; I have
quoted the passage in Appendix G.
Footnote 755
The suddenness of the news is marked by William of Poitiers (121);
“Verus rumor insperatò venit Anglicam terram Rege Edwardo orbatam
esse et ejus coronâ Heraldum ornatum.”
Footnote 756
See above, p. 52, and vol. ii. pp. 336, 346, 358.
Footnote 757
In the Tapestry (pl. 8) we see the ship; “Hic navis Anglica venit
in terram Willelmi Ducis.” See Bruce, p. 87. The language of Wace
(10991) seems to imply a special messenger;
... “Un Serjant
Ki d’Engleterre vint errant,
Al Duc vint dreit.”
Footnote 758
Roman de Rou, 10983.
Footnote 759
See Prevost’s note, ii. 120.
Footnote 760
Ib. 10989;
“Mult aveit od li chevaliers
E dameisels et esquiers.”
On “dameisels,” “domicelli,” a diminutive of “dominus,” which now
survives both in French and English in the feminine only, see Ducange
in voc. Benoît (36640) applies the name, in the form “danzel,” to
Wulfnoth. In the pretended Laws of Eadward, it translates “Æðeling,”
with the comment, “Nos de pluribus, quia filios baronum vocamus
domicellos, Angli autem nullum præter filios Regum vocant” (Schmid,
516).
Footnote 761
Will. Malms. iii. 279. “Fuit ... roboris ingentis in lacertis, ut
magno sæpe spectaculo fuerit quod nemo ejus arcum tenderet, quem ipse
admisso equo pedibus nervo extento sinuaret.”
Footnote 762
Roman de Rou, 10995;
“Ke li Reis Ewart ert finez,
E Heraut ert à Rei levez.”
Footnote 763
Ib. 10997;
“Quant li Dus ot bien escolté,
E tute sout la vérité
...
Semblant fist d’home corocié.
L’ovre del boiz a tut lessié,
Sovant a sun mantel lacié,
E sovent l’a destachié;
Ne il à home ne parla,
Ne home à il parler n’osa.”
All these graphic details are peculiar to Wace. Benoît (36672) is
much shorter.
Footnote 764
Roman de Rou, 11012; “Sor un pécol sun chief a mis.” I suppose this
means, as Mr. Taylor translates it, _against_ a pillar. Wace’s
description is so perfect, that it is impossible to do anything but
simply repeat it. Otherwise this would be a good opportunity to
call up the image of the ancient pillared hall, as at Oakham and
Winchester, and once at Westminster, the one great apartment of the
palace, as of any other house, and seemingly open to all comers.
Footnote 765
Wace (11017) here says simply, “Li seneschal,” but from v. 11051 we
see who this seneschal was.
Footnote 766
Roman de Rou, 11020; “Par la sale ala chantusant.” “Fredonnant,
chantant légèrement,” says Pluquet; “humming a tune” in Mr. Taylor’s
version.
Footnote 767
Roman de Rou, 11051. “Li filz Osber el cuer hardi.”
Footnote 768
See Appendix U.
Footnote 769
See above, p. 70.
Footnote 770
See vol. i. p. 224.
Footnote 771
I leave it to canon lawyers to determine whether Harold’s precontract
to the daughter of William would in any way invalidate his marriage
with the widow of Gruffydd. However this may be, William could not
seriously expect that Harold would, on any such grounds, put away his
wife, especially when his wife was the sister of the two Northern
Earls. The question of course remains whether Harold really was
married at the time.
Footnote 772
So Eadmer and those who copy from him. See Appendix U.
Footnote 773
Will. Malms, iii. 238. See Appendix U.
Footnote 774
Eadmer, 5. “Si de filiâ suâ, quam debui in uxorem, ut asserit,
ducere, agit, super regnum Angliæ mulierem extraneam, inconsultis
principibus, me nec debere nec sine grandi injuriâ posse adducere
noverit.”
Footnote 775
Will. Malms. iii. 238. “Præsumptuosum fuisse quod, _absque generali
senatûs et populi conventu et edicto_, alienam illi hæreditatem
juraverit; proinde stultum sacramentum frangendum.” This is less
forcibly put by Eadmer (5); “Regnum quod necdum fuerat meum quo jure
potui dare vel permittere.”
Footnote 776
Numbers xxx. 3–5.
Footnote 777
Will. Malms. iii. 238. “Quantò magis quod ille, sub Regis virgâ
constitutus, nesciente omni Angliâ, de toto regno, necessitate
temporis coactus, impegerit, videatur non esse ratum.”
Footnote 778
Ib. “Præterea iniquum postulat ut imperio decedat, quod tanto favore
civium regendum susceperit; hoc nec provincialibus gratum, _nec
militibus tutum_.” I do not fully understand this last clause. Would
Harold’s Thegns and Housecarls have been specially exposed to danger
in case of William’s peaceful accession? Or does the historian write
by the light of his own time and of Domesday, remembering how much
more heavily William’s confiscations fell on the “milites” than on
the “provinciales.”
Footnote 779
Ib. “Ita revertebantur inanes nuntii, vel veris vel verisimilibus
argumentis præstricti.”
Footnote 780
Will. Malms. iii. 238. “Alter [Willelmus] interea illum [Haroldum]
per nuntios leniter convenire, de rupto fœdere expostulare,
precibus minas insuere: sciret se ante annum emensum ferro debitum
vindicaturum, _illuc iturum quo Haroldus tutiores se pedes habere
putaret_.” Is this last not very intelligible clause a scoff at the
English tactics of fighting on foot?
Footnote 781
See vol. i. p. 524 et seqq.
Footnote 782
Æsch. Ag. 1653. οἶδ’ ἐγὼ φεύγοντας ἅνδρας ἐλπίδας σιτουμένους.
Footnote 783
See above, p. 90.
Footnote 784
See vol. ii. p. 241.
Footnote 785
Will. Pict. 113. “Caussam viduæ, inopis, pupilli, ipse humiliter
audiebat, misericorditer agebat, rectissimè definiebat. Ejus æquitate
reprimente iniquam cupiditatem, vicini minùs valentis aut limitem
agri movere, aut rem ullam usurpare, nec potens audebat quisquam nec
familiaris.” Cf. vol. ii. p. 172.
Footnote 786
Ib. “Accipere solitus est avido auditu suavique gustu sacræ paginæ
sermones, iis, ut animæ epulum sumeret, delectari desiderans,
castigari, atque edoceri. Sumebat et honorabat condecenti reverentiâ
hostiam salutarem, Dominicum sanguinem.” I do not know that the word
“auditu” absolutely proves that William could not read, but it looks
like it. He was however fully aware of the advantages of learning,
even in laymen. See vol. ii. p. 274. This passage is also to be
noticed as one among several which show that communion in both kinds
was still allowed. The Archdeacon goes on to extol his sovereign’s
orthodoxy in the matter of Transubstantiation, and to tell how he
drove from his dominions the heresy which thought otherwise—“aliter
sentientem pravitatem”—that is doubtless the teaching of Berengar.
See vol. ii. pp. 116, 227.
Footnote 787
Ib. 114. “Ejus liberi pietatem Christianam infantes didicere
diligenti provisione ipsius.” This pious care answered better with
his daughters than with his sons.
Footnote 788
Ib. “Quoties ejus edicto et hortatu convenere Præsules,
Metropolitanus cum suffraganeis, de statu relligionis, clericorum,
monachorum, atque laicorum acturi. Synodis his arbitrum se deesse
nolebat.” The advantages of the prince’s presence are then dwelt upon.
Footnote 789
Ib. “Delato forte suas ad aures immani alicujus crimine, quod
Episcopus aut Archidiaconus _justo dementiùs_ vindicaverit, reum
majestatis æternæ teneri jussit incarceratum, quousque caussa domini
æquitate districta decerneretur, Episcopum aut Archidiaconum,
veluti adversarios divinæ partis, criminans in judicium devocandos,
feriendos gravi sententiâ.” The obscure words “justo dementiùs” mean,
I conceive, not that the ecclesiastical judges were too strict, but
that they let off offenders for money. On the doings of Archdeacons
see vol. ii. p. 230, and the passage of John of Salisbury there
referred to.
Footnote 790
Will. Pict. 115. “Lanfrancum ... intimâ familiaritate colebat;
ut patrem venerans, verens ut præceptorem, diligens ut germanum
aut prolem. Illi consulta animæ suæ, illi speculam quamdam, unde
ordinibus ecclesiasticis per omnem Normanniam prospiceretur,
commisit.”
Footnote 791
See vol. ii. p. 224.
Footnote 792
See the great anathema in Paul of Bernried’s Life of Gregory,
cap. lxxvi. (ap. Murat. iii. 336); “Henrico Regi, filio Henrici
Imperatoris, ... totius Regni Teutonicorum et Italiæ gubernacula
contradico.” Mark how, as constantly in Lambert, while Italy has a
name, Germany has none. See vol. i. pp. 172, 176.
Footnote 793
Compare Lord Macaulay’s remarks (ii. 624) on the different clauses
of the resolution by which the Crown was declared vacant after the
flight of James the Second.
Footnote 794
See above, p. 178, and vol. i. pp. 268, 519.
Footnote 795
See vol. i. p. 175. In the passage of Bruno there referred to, Philip
gets no higher title than “Latinæ Franciæ Rector.” Yet he is better
off that Charles the Bald, who, in the Annales Fuldenses under 875
(Pertz, i. 389), is only “Galliæ Tyrannus.”
Footnote 796
See vol. ii. p. 373.
Footnote 797
I hold, it may be remembered (see vol. i. p. 646), that the balance
of evidence is against Godwine’s churlish birth; but, if such a
rumour, true or false, were afloat, it would be enough. I do not
however find the point brought forward by any contemporary Norman
writer.
Footnote 798
See vol. i. p. 230.
Footnote 799
See vol. ii. pp. 277, 593.
Footnote 800
Henry of Huntingdon, as we have seen (see vol. i. p. 332), seriously
believed in William’s hereditary right. So elsewhere (761 E) he
speaks of his “jus cognationis.” The Ramsey Historian also (cap.
cxx.) says that William sought “regnum aviti propinquitate sanguinis
debitum.” But perhaps still more remarkable is the way in which
William of Poitiers (143), after describing William’s election and
coronation at Christmas, adds, “Et, si ratio sanguinis poscitur,
pernotum est quam proximâ consanguinitate Regem Edwardum attigerit
filius Ducis Rodberti, cujus amita, Richardi Secundi soror, filia
Primi, Emina, genitrix fuit Edwardi.”
Footnote 801
Compare the passage from Orderic (598 A) quoted in Appendix C.
Footnote 802
Liber de Hydâ, 291. “Dei etenim nutu multorum fit concursus
populorum, ultro se navibus ingerentium, qui audierant Angliam
argenti et auri omnibus opulentam, cibi et potûs omniumque frugum
uberrimam, omnibus præterea bonis esse refertam.” So Orderic (494 A)
speaks of William’s foreign followers as “Anglicæ prædæ inhiantes.”
Footnote 803
Will. Pict. 124. “Non eo animi viget [Heraldus] robore, quo vel
minimum quid meorum polliceri audeat. At arbitrio meo pariter quæ mea
sunt, quæque dicuntur illius, promittentur atque dabuntur.” To any
man but William one might have quoted the fable about the bear and
his skin.
Footnote 804
See vol. i. pp. 330, 633.
Footnote 805
Ib. p. 525, and above, p. 266.
Footnote 806
This comes among the three causes for William’s invasion given by
Henry of Huntingdon (761 D); “Primò, quia Alfredum cognatum suum
Godwinus _et filii sui_ dehonestaverant et peremerant: Secundò,
quia Robertum Episcopum et Odonem Consulem [see vol. ii. p. 564] et
omnes Francos Godwinus et filii sui arte suâ ab Angliâ exsulaverant:
Tertiò, quod Haraldus, in perjurium prolapsus, regnum, quod jure
cognationis [see above, p. 278] suum esse debuerat, sine aliquo jure
invaserat.”
Footnote 807
See vol. ii. p. 70.
Footnote 808
William of Poitiers (124) is emphatic on this head; William “non
tantùm ditionem suam et gloriam augere, quantùm ritus Christianos
partibus in illis corrigere intendit.”
Footnote 809
See vol. ii. p. 458.
Footnote 810
See Appendix W.
Footnote 811
See above, p. 151.
Footnote 812
See vol. ii. p. 291.
Footnote 813
See above, p. 258, and vol. ii. p. 198.
Footnote 814
See vol. ii. p. 211.
Footnote 815
See vol. ii. p. 589.
Footnote 816
See vol. ii. p. 210.
Footnote 817
See above, p. 116.
Footnote 818
See above, p. 118.
Footnote 819
See vol. ii. p. 199.
Footnote 820
See above, p. 159.
Footnote 821
See above, pp. 183, 201; vol. ii. 232.
Footnote 822
See vol. ii. pp. 185, 186.
Footnote 823
See above, pp. 129, 153.
Footnote 824
See above, p. 155.
Footnote 825
See above, p. 158.
Footnote 826
I get the details of this meeting and of the larger meeting at
Lillebonne from the Roman de Rou (11118 et seqq.), the only account
which carefully distinguishes the two. See Appendix W.
Footnote 827
Roman de Rou, 11156;
“S’il s’en voleient bien pener
Od la gent k’il poeit mander,
E Dex le volsist graanter,
Bien porreit sun dreit recovrer.”
Footnote 828
Ib. 11165. “Maiz sez homes è sez clers creie.” It is curious to find
the wealth of the Church pointed to so early as among possible ways
and means.
Footnote 829
Ib. 11171;
“Ceste parole lor mostrez,
Bien deivent al cunseil venir,
Ki el travail deibvent partir.”
This good constitutional doctrine almost forestalls the teaching of
our great constitutional poet of the thirteenth century;
“Igitur communitas regni consulatur,
Et quid universitas sentiat sciatur.”
Political Songs (Camden Soc.), p. 110. But, instead of “communitas
regni,” Normandy had only “grant barnage.”
Footnote 830
See vol. ii. p. 332.
Footnote 831
See vol. i. p. 197.
Footnote 832
See Ord. Vit. 493 A, B.
Footnote 833
Orderic twice stops to discuss the Roman origin of Lillebonne (554 C
and 864 B, C). It was founded by Caius Julius Cæsar on the site of a
Gaulish town called Caletum, which he had destroyed. It was called
Julia after his daughter. In Orderic’s own time it was barbarously
called “Illebona.” William of Malmesbury (iii. 238), from whom we
learn that Lillebonne was the place of meeting, calls it “Lillebona.”
Footnote 834
These points in the history of Lillebonne are said to have been made
out by the researches of M. Deville. But I am sorry to say that I
know those researches only through M. Joanne’s excellent Guide to
Normandy, p. 243. Lillebonne however is a place which speaks for
itself.
Footnote 835
See the view in Cotman’s Architectural Antiquities of Normandy, p. 75.
Footnote 836
William kept his court (“curia”) at Lillebonne in 1063. See Orderic,
482 A. A synod was also held there in 1080. See vol. ii. p. 241.
Footnote 837
Compare the Diets of Poland, at once the most aristocratic and the
most democratic of all assemblies. Compare also the whole history of
the States of Britanny, so well traced out by the Count of Carné, in
his _États de Bretagne_. The second order, the _Noblesse_, was always
more independent than either the Clergy or the Burghers, and its
internal constitution was that of a Landesgemeinde.
Footnote 838
This is implied in the words of William of Poitiers (124), “Quis enim
juxta præstitutum naves perfici, aut perfectis remiges inveniri,
annuo spatio posse speraret?”
Footnote 839
Roman de Rou, 11182;
“Ne pot mie sanz lor aïe
Aveir grant gent è grant navie:
Die chescun ke il li fera,
Kels genz è quantes nés merra.”
Footnote 840
Roman de Rou, 11186;
“Cil dient k’il en parlereient,
E par cunseil l’en respondreient,
E li Dus lor a graanté.”
Footnote 841
Ib. 11196;
“Mult se vont entrels dementant,
Par tropeax se vunt cunseillant,
Ci vint, ci quinze, ci quarante,
Ci trente, ci cent, ci seisante.”
Footnote 842
Ib. 11202;
“Li altres dient ke pas n’iront,
Kar mult deibvent è povres sont.”
Footnote 843
Will. Pict. 124. “Quis novâ hac expeditione pulcherrimum statum
patriæ in omnem redigi miseriam non timeret?”
Footnote 844
Ib. “Quis Romani Imperatoris opes eâ vinci difficultate non
affirmaret?” The ideas of Caius Julius Cæsar and of King Henry
the Fourth were perhaps a little intermingled in the mind of the
Archdeacon of Lisieux.
Footnote 845
Ib. 123. “Thesauris illum abundare, quibus partis suæ Duces et Reges
præpotentes conducantur.”
Footnote 846
Ord. Vit. 493. “Normannorum paucitatem non posse vincere Anglorum
multitudinem asserebant.”
Footnote 847
Will. Pict. 124. “Classem [Heraldum] habere plurimam, homines in
ministeriis nauticis peritissimos, qui sæpiùs pericula et prœlia
maritima sint experti; terrâ illius, uti divitiis, ita militis copiâ,
hanc multipliciter superari.”
Footnote 848
See the passage quoted in p. 293.
Footnote 849
Roman de Rou, 11214;
“N’atendez mie k’il vos priet,
Ne ne demandez nul respiet,
Alez avant, si li offrez
Mult plus ke faire ne poez.”
Footnote 850
Ib. 11220;
“Se la busuigne remaneit,
Par adventure tost direit,
A ço k’il est achoisonos,
Ke tut areit perdu par nos;
Fetes li tant ke il ne die
Ke s’erre seit par vos faillie.”
Footnote 851
Roman de Rou, 11228;
“Parlez por nos, ço vos préion,
La parole sor vos meton:
Vos direz ço ke vos voldrez,
Nos feron ço ke vos direz.”
Footnote 852
Ib. 11226;
“Sire, font il, la mer doton,
Ultre mer servir ne devon.”
Footnote 853
Ib. 11244;
“Por vos, ço dient, avancier,
Se lerreient en mer néier,
U en feu ardent geter.”
Cf. Psalm lxvi. 12.
Footnote 854
Roman de Rou, 11251;
“Se bien l’ont fet, mielx le feront;
Ensemble o vos mer passeront,
Vostre servise dobleront.
Ki solt mener vint chevaliers,
Quarante en merra volentiers,
E ki de trente servir deit,
De sesante servir vos velt,
E cil ki solt servir de cent,
Dous cent en merra bonement.”
Footnote 855
Roman de Rou, 11260;
“E jo merrai en boen amor
En la busoigne mon Seignor
Sesante nés apareillies
De homes cumbatanz chargies.”
Footnote 856
Ib. 11264;
“Li Barunz tuit se merveillierent,
Mult fremirent é grondillierent
Des paroles ke cil diseit,
E des pramesses k’il faseit,
Dunc il ne aveit nul garant.”
Footnote 857
Ib. 11272;
“Li servise ki est doblez
Creiment k’il seit en feu tornez,
Et en costume seit tenu,
Et par costume seit rendu.”
See Taylor’s note, p. 108.
Footnote 858
Roman de Rou, 11278;
“Nus hoem ne poeit altre entendre
Parole oïr ne raison rendre.”
Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 761 E), in his abridged narrative, cuts
the matter far too short. I do not remember any other writer who
mentions the trick of William Fitz-Osbern.
Footnote 859
So William of Malmesbury, iii. 238. “Super negotio singulorum
sententias sciscitatus.” But he perhaps goes too far when he speaks
of “omnes ejus voluntatem plausibus excipientes.”
Footnote 860
Roman de Rou, 11290;
“Ne ke jamez d’ore en avant,
Ço lor a miz en convenant,
N’ierent de servise requis,
Forz tel ke solt estre al païz,
E tel come lor ancessor
Soleient fere a lor Seignor.”
Footnote 861
Roman de Rou, 11298;
“E li Dus fist tot enbrever,
Nés fist è chevaliers nombrer.”
Footnote 862
I have read, in some peerage or book of genealogy, the pedigree
of some one who professes to be descended from one of the English
knights who went over to ask William to come and deliver them from
the tyranny of Harold. Truly pedigree-makers will say anything.
Footnote 863
See the account of Robert the son of Wymarc in William of Poitiers,
128.
Footnote 864
By the second I mean Ralph of Norfolk, of whose origin I shall speak
elsewhere. See Appendix LL.
Footnote 865
On the movements of Tostig see Appendix X.
Footnote 866
See vol. ii. p. 319.
Footnote 867
See vol. ii. p. 387.
Footnote 868
Ib. p. 434.
Footnote 869
See vol. ii. p. 501, and Appendix X.
Footnote 870
Ord. Vit. 492 D. “Tosticus ... festinus Normanniam adiit, et
Willelmum Ducem cur perjurum suum regnare sineret fortiter
redarguit.” The phrase “perjurus _suus_” is like the common phrase of
“the King’s rebels” and such like.
Footnote 871
Ib. “Seque fideliter, si ipse cum Normannicis viribus in Angliam
transfretaret, regni decus obtenturum illi spopondit.”
Footnote 872
Ord. Vit. 493 A. “Ejus exhortationibus animatus Normanniæ proceres
convocavit.”
Footnote 873
Ib. 492 D. See Appendix N.
Footnote 874
Ord. Vit. 493 C. “Interea Tosticus in Angliam remeandi licentiam a
Duce accepit; eique auxilium suum, tam per se quàm per omnes amicos
suos, firmiter spopondit. Sed, sicut scriptum est, ‘Homo cogitat,
Deus ordinat,’ evenit multò aliter quam sperabat. Nam de Constantino
pelagus intravit, sed Angliam attingere nullatenus potuit. Heraldus
enim mare navium militumque copiâ munierat, ne quis hostium sine
gravi conflictu introiret in regnum quod fraudulenter invaserat.
Tosticus itaque magnis undique premebatur angustiis, utpote qui
nec Angliam per bellum cum paucis contra in numeros invadere, nec
Normanniam propter contrarietatem ventorum poterat repetere.” It is
wonderful how many undertakings in this age were thwarted by stress
of weather.
Footnote 875
See the next Chapter.
Footnote 876
Ord. Vit. 494 A. “Galli namque et Britones, Pictavini et
Burgundiones, aliique populi Cisalpini ad bellum transmarinum
convolârunt, et Anglicæ prædæ inhiantes variis eventibus et periculis
terræ marique sese obtulerunt.” Lappenberg (543), and Mr. Thorpe
(ii. 286) more distinctly, hints that it was from mistaking the
meaning of the word “Cisalpini” that Thierry got his Piedmontese.
We have already seen something of the use of the word as well as of
“transmarinus.” See vol. i. pp. 181, 210 (note 1), 230, 627.
Footnote 877
Guy of Amiens (v. 259. M. H. B. 861 C, Giles 34) makes William count
up French, Bretons, Cenomannians, and adds,
“Appulus et Calaber, Siculus quibus jacula fervet;
Normanni faciles actibus egregiis.”
Footnote 878
Will. Pict. 122. “Convenit etiam externus miles in auxilium copiosus,
quos ex parte notissima Ducis liberalitas, _verum omnes justæ caussæ
fiducia contraxit_.”
Footnote 879
See Appendix W.
Footnote 880
See the story in Lambert and Berthold (ap. Pertz, v. 272) under the
year 1062. Milman, Latin Christianity, iii. 74.
Footnote 881
Lambert, 1063. “Adalbertus Premensis Archiepiscopus ... sæpiùs
colloquendo, obsequendo etiam atque adsentando, ita sibi Regem
brevi devinxerat, ut, cæteris episcopis posthabitis, totus in eum
inclinaretur, et ipse in regno communi penè monarchiam usurpare
videretur.” Milman, iii. 77.
Footnote 882
Lambert, 1065. “Per concessionem ejusdem Archiepiscopi [Adalberti
sc.] primùm se Rex arma bellica succinxit.”
Footnote 883
Ib. 1066. Milman, iii. 81.
Footnote 884
It was Stamfordbridge, not Senlac, which attracted the attention of
Lambert. See Appendix M.
Footnote 885
Henry, in his own troubles, sent an embassy to William (Bruno de
Bello Saxonico, c. 36, ap. Pertz, v. 342). See also the amazing
account of “Willehelmus Bostar” in Lambert, 1074. See vol. ii. p. 582.
Footnote 886
William of Poitiers says first, at an earlier time (120),
“Admirabatur, laudabat, ac venerabatur eum supra nomina Regum Imperii
Romani majestas, cujus olim gloriosissimus moderator Henricus,
Conradi Imperatoris Augusti filius, cum ipso etiam tum puero, veluti
cum nominatissimo Rege, amicitiam junxit ac societatem.” He now (123)
says, “Et Romanorum Imperatori [he was not yet Emperor] Henrico,
Henrici Imperatoris filio, nepoti Imperatoris Chounradi, noviter
junctus fuit in amicitiâ.” After the former passage the Archdeacon
adds, what is yet more amazing, that the Eastern Emperor wished
for William as a neighbour to help him to withstand the advance of
the Mahometans; “Optabat hunc vicinum et amicum nobilis et ampla,
multisque Regibus dominans Constantinopolis, quo propugnatore
sperneret gravem potentiam Babylonis.” The wise proverb τὸν Φραγκὸν
φίλον ἔχῃς γείτουα οὐκ ἔχῃς (Eginh. Vita K. 16) must have been
forgotten.
Footnote 887
See vol. ii. pp. 276, 373.
Footnote 888
Will. Pict. 123. “Cujus [Henrici] edicto in quemlibet hostem Germania
ei, postularet, veniret adjutrix.”
Footnote 889
Ib. “Rex quoque Danorum Suenus fidem legationibus ei spopondit, sed
inimicis ejus amicum exhibebat se fidelem, sicut in sequentibus
legendo ipsius detrimenta, spectabis.” This of course takes in the
help which Swend gave to the English insurgents after William’s
coronation, but it must be connected also with William’s assertion
(p. 132) that there were Danish troops at Senlac.
Footnote 890
See vol. ii. pp. 92, 93.
Footnote 891
Roman de Rou, 11326;
“En Belveisin, à Saint-Girmer
Ala li Dus el Rei parler.”
I fancy that the splendid church of this monastery is less known than
it should be to travellers and architectural students. It contains
nothing so old as the days of William and Philip, but, among other
magnificent portions, it has a Lady Chapel which reminds one at once
of the Chapel of Henry the Seventh at Westminster and of that of
Saint Lewis at Paris.
Footnote 892
Roman de Rou, 11330;
“Ke se tant aidier li voleit,
Ke par s’aïe éust son dreit,
Engleterre de li prendreit,
E volentiers l’en servireit.”
Footnote 893
Ib. 11362;
“Quant Engleterre ara cunquise,
Poiz jà n’areiz de li servise;
Petit sert, maiz meins servira,
Quant plus ara, meins vos fera.”
Footnote 894
See vol. i. pp. 96, 129–131, 247–250.
Footnote 895
Roman de Rou, 11368;
“Li Reis el Duc aidier ne vout,
Ainz le destorba quant il pout.”
Footnote 896
See Roman de Rou, 11390–11433, and Appendix W.
Footnote 897
See above, p. 86, and Appendix N.
Footnote 898
See Dugdale, Baronage, i. 400; Mon. Angl. v. 491; Ellis, i. 422.
The charter there quoted (later than 1274), by an amazing piece of
genealogy, makes Gilbert a son of Count Baldwin and a nephew of
William. “Giselbertus de Gaunt, filius Baldwini Comitis de Flandriâ
venit cum Willelmo Conquæstore avunculo suo in Angliam.”
Footnote 899
Dugdale, i. 425; Mon. Angl. vi. 959; Ellis, i. 420, 504. “Walterus
Bec ... venit cum Conquæstore et habuit hæreditatem suam in
Flandriâ.” He appears in Domesday as “Walterus Flandrensis.”
Footnote 900
See vol. ii. p. 136.
Footnote 901
See Appendix Y.
Footnote 902
See above, pp. 231, 233.
Footnote 903
On Odo, see above, pp. 168, 231. This Alan Fergant must be carefully
distinguished from his cousin Alan Fergant, who was afterwards Count
of Britanny, and who married William’s daughter Constance. See the
pedigree drawn out by Mrs. Green, Princesses, i. 25. So Roman de Rou,
11508;
“Alain Felgan vint el passage,
Ki des Bretunz out grant barnage.”
Footnote 904
Roman de Rou, 11511; “E li Sire i vint de Dinan.”
Footnote 905
Ib. 11505;
“Le visquens i vint de Toarz,
Haimon de bien grant poéir,
E ki poeit grant gent aveir.”
Cf. Will. Pict. 142, where his name is written “Haimerius.”
Footnote 906
Roman de Rou, 11312;
“Poiz a requis ses boens veizins,
Bretunz, Mansels et Angevins,
Cels de Pontif è de Boloigne,
K’od li viegnent en sa besoigne.”
Footnote 907
Liber de Castro Ambasiæ, c. iv., ap. D’Achery, iii. 276. He joined
William when he was “omnem militiæ valetudinem quam invenire potuit
in arma commovens,” and when “ex diversis regionibus optimi milites
et bellicosi gregatim convenirent.” After a fitting panegyric we
read, “Statim ut a Guillermo Duce fuit agnitus, super omnes ei
familiarior est habitus.”
Footnote 908
See the account of this war in the Gesta Consulum, D’Achery, iii.
259, where Fulk’s conduct to his brother is called a “persequutio,”
while Fulk himself (p. 233) speaks of his own “tribulatio” and the
“invasio” of his brother.
Footnote 909
Gest. Cons. 259, where we hear of “proditio” and “proditores,”
while Fulk (u. s.) speaks only of a “campestre prœlium in quo eum
[Geoffrey] Dei gratiâ superavi,” and adds delicately, “proinde accepi
civitatem Andegavæ.” See also the two Angevin Chronicles in Labbé, i.
276, and, more fully, 288. These troubles were among the effects of
the comet.
Footnote 910
Gest. Con. 260. “Fulco Richin Barbatum fratrem suum captum tenuit et
in vinculis Chainoni castro posuit.”
Footnote 911
See Appendix Z.
Footnote 912
Will. Gem. vii. 33. He is followed by Benoît, 36866–36963.
Footnote 913
See above, p. 207.
Footnote 914
See vol. ii. p. 412.
Footnote 915
The famous application of Pippin as to the lawfulness of deposing
Childebert was rather a case of conscience.
Footnote 916
See the very remarkable account of these struggles in Lambert, 1064.
Milman, iii. 83. With the high-minded comments of the impartial
Lambert it is well to compare the panegyric of the partizan William
of Poitiers (122). He at least had good reason to say that Alexander
“responsa edebat justa salutariaque.” So Benoît, 36787;
“A Rome ert donc pape Alixandre,
Jusz hoem, saintismes e verais,
Qui mult tint sainte Iglise en pais.”
He goes on, prematurely enough, to say,
“A lui tramist li _Reis_ Guillaume
Por mostrer l’ovre deu reaume.”
Footnote 917
Will. Malms. iii. 238. “Ne justam caussam temeritas decoloraret,
ad Apostolicum ... misit, justitiam suscepti belli quantis potuit
facundiæ nervis allegans.” The name of this eloquent ambassador comes
from Orderic, 493 B.
Footnote 918
Roman de Rou, 11446;
“E se ço ert ke Deus volsist
K’il Engleterre conquésist,
De Saint Pierre la recevreit,
Altre fors Dex n’en servireit.”
Footnote 919
William of Malmesbury (iii. 238) discusses the point; “Haroldus id
facere supersedit, vel quod turgidus naturâ esset, vel quod caussæ
diffideret, vel quod nuntios suos a Willelmo et ejus complicibus,
qui omnes portus obsidebant, impediri timeret.” There was clearly no
record or received tradition about the matter.
Footnote 920
I find no suggestion of the possibility of any hearing of the English
side anywhere but in the passage of William of Malmesbury just quoted.
Footnote 921
William of Malmesbury (u. s.) says that the Pope gave judgement,
“perpensis apud se utrimque partibus.” But it is from a letter
written long after to William by Hildebrand, then Gregory the
Seventh, that we learn how strong an opposition was made to William’s
claims. The letter is dated April 24th, 1080, and has chiefly
to do with the affairs of the see of Le Mans. Gregory says to
William; “Notum esse tibi credo, excellentissime fili, priusquam ad
pontificale culmen ascenderem, quanto semper te sinceræ dilectionis
affectu amavi, qualem etiam me tuis negotiis et quam efficacem
exhibui, insuper ut ad regale fastigium cresceres quanto studio
laboravi. _Quâ pro re a quibusdam fratribus magnam penè infamiam
pertuli, submurmurantibus quod ad tanta homicidia perpetranda, tanto
favore meam operam impendissem._ Deus verò in meâ conscientiâ testis
erat, quàm recto id animo feceram, sperans per gratiam Dei et non
inaniter confidens de virtutibus bonis quæ in te erant, quia quantò
ad sublimiora proficeres, tantò te apud Deum et sanctam ecclesiam
(sicut et nunc, Deo gratias, res est) ex bono meliorem exhiberes.”
Ep. Greg. VII. cxxxvi., ap. Bouquet, xiv. 648.
Footnote 922
See above, p. 89 et seqq.
Footnote 923
Orderic (482 B) tells a story how, at one stage of the endless
negotiations about Abbot Robert of Saint Evroul (see above, p. 184),
Robert came with certain Papal Legates to claim his Abbey; “Audiens
verò Dux ... vehementer iratus dixit se quidem Legatos Papæ de fide
et relligione Christianâ, ut communis patris, libenter suscepturum;
sed si quis monachorum de terrâ suâ calumniam sibi contrariam
inferret, ad altiorem quercum vicinæ silvæ per capitium irreverenter
suspensurum.” This was in 1063. William plainly recognized no Benefit
of Clergy, and when the witnesses are liable to be hanged, the
proceedings of the Court can hardly be called free.
Footnote 924
So at least Wace (12353) makes William say after he is landed in
England;
“E si saunt Engleiz de veir,
A tuz le velt fere saveir,
Ke cil sunt escumengié
De l’Apostoile è del clergié.”
Footnote 925
We may infer this last object from the care with which William
(see Will. Pict. 144) took, after his coronation, to send to Rome
“Sancti Petri pecuniam,” and also from his famous correspondence with
Gregory. See Lanfranc, ep. 10 (Giles, i. 32).
Footnote 926
Roman de Rou, 11452;
“Un gonfanon e un anel
Mult precios è riche è bel;
Si come il dit, de soz la pierre
Aveit un des cheveuls Saint Pierre.”
For a hair another reading has a tooth.
Footnote 927
The banner is mentioned by most writers. Will. Pict. 123.
“Vexillum accepit [Willelmus] ejus [Alexandri] benignitate, velut
suffragium Sancti Petri; quo primo confidentiùs ac tutiùs invaderet
adversarium.” Ord. Vit. 493 C. “Vexillum Sancti Petri Apostoli, cujus
meritis ab omni periculo defenderetur, transmisit.” Will. Malms. iii.
238. “Papa vexillum in omen regni Willelmo contradidit.” So Wace, u.
s., and Benoît, 36807. Wace calls it “gonfanon,” Benoît “enseigne.”
Footnote 928
In this Chapter we of course return to English authorities, to the
Chronicles and Florence, the latter now distinctly assuming the
character of an independent authority. These we have to compare
throughout with the great Norwegian account, the Saga of Harold
Hardrada in Snorro, many of the details of which are manifestly
mythical. A few scattered hints may also be picked up from German,
Norman, and other sources.
Footnote 929
Chronn. Ab. Wig. 1066. “And sona þaræfter [after the appearance of
the comet] com Tostig eorl fram begeondan sǽ into Wiht mid swa myclum
liðe swa he begytan mihte. And him man geald þar æigðer ge feoh ge
metsunge.” So Florence; “Non multò post, Comes Tostius _de Flandriâ_
[on this point see Appendix Z] rediens, ad Vectam insulam applicuit,
et postquam insulanos sibi tributum et stippendium solvere coegerat,
discessit.” The Peterborough Chronicler, followed, as he so often is,
by William of Malmesbury (ii. 228), as also by Henry of Huntingdon
(M. H. B. 762 A), takes no notice of Tostig’s movements till he
appears in the Humber. The Norman account, it will be remembered (see
above, p. 304), makes him not land in England at all till he comes
with Harold Hardrada.
Footnote 930
Chron. Ab. 1066. “And fór þa þanon, and hearmas dyde ægwar be þam
sæ riman þa he tó mihte, oð he becom to Sandwic.” Flor. Wig. “Circa
ripas maris, donec ad Sandicum portum veniret, prædas exercuit.”
Footnote 931
Will. Malms. iii. 238. “Præterea, qui [Haroldus] putaret minas
Willelmi numquam ad factum erupturas, quod ille conterminorum Ducum
bellis implicaretur, totum animum otio cum subjectis indulserat; nam
profectò, nisi quod Noricorum Regem adventare didicit, nec militem
convocare nec aciem dirigere dignatus fuisset.”
Footnote 932
Flor. Wig. 1066. “Mox, ut regni gubernacula susceperat, ... cœpit ...
pro patriæ defensione ipsemet terrâ marique desudare.”
Footnote 933
Chronn. Wig. Ab. “And Harold cyng his [Tostiges] broðor gegædrade
swa micelne sciphere and eac landhere, swa nan cyng her on lande ær
ne dyde forþam þe him wæs gecyðd þæt Wyllelm Bastard [“Willelm eorll
fram Normandige, Eadwardes cingces mæg,” Chron. Ab. and Fl. Wig.]
wolde hiðer [“cuman,” Ab.] and ðis land gewinnen, eallswa hit syððan
aeóde.”
Footnote 934
Chron. Ab. and Fl. Wig. “Ða cydde man Harolde kynge þe on Lundene
wæs.”
Footnote 935
Chron. Ab. 1066. “Þa Tostig þaet geaxode þaet Harold cing wæs toward
Sandwic, þa for he of Sandwic, and nam of þam butsekarlon sume mid
him, sume þances, sume unþances.” So Florence; “De butsecarlis
quosdam volentes, quosdam nolentes, secum assumens.”
Footnote 936
See vol. ii. p. 323.
Footnote 937
Chron. Ab. “And gewende þa norð into [Humbran] and þær hergode
on Lindesege.” So Florence; “Recessit, et cursum ad Lindesegiam
direxit.” Chronn. Wig. Petrib. “And þá hwile com Tostig eorl into
Humbran mid sixtigum scipum.” So William of Malmesbury, ii. 228;
“Eodem anno Tostinus, a Flandriâ in Humbram navigio sexaginta navium
delatus, ea quæ circa oram fluminis erant piraticis excursionibus
infestabat.”
Footnote 938
Chronn. Wig. Petrib. 1066. “And Eadwine eorl com mid landferde, and
adraf hine út.” The Abingdon Chronicler and Florence add Morkere; so
William of Malmesbury (ii. 228); “Ab Edwino et Morchardo, _concordis
potentiæ fratribus_, impigrè de provinciâ pulsus.”
Footnote 939
Chronn. Wig. Petrib. “And þa butsecarlas hine forsocan.”
Footnote 940
Ib. “And he for to Scotlande mid xii. snaccum.”
Footnote 941
See vol. ii. pp. 384, 452.
Footnote 942
Snorro, ap. Laing, iii. 70. The peace was made on the terms of the
_status in quo_.
Footnote 943
See the quotation from Adam of Bremen in vol. ii. p. 121.
Footnote 944
See Appendix X.
Footnote 945
See vol. ii. p. 627.
Footnote 946
See vol. ii. 90, 106, 151.
Footnote 947
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 193; Laing, iii. 78. See Appendix BB.
Footnote 948
“Enn Gamli Knútr konungr eignadiz at erfd Dana-ríki, en med hernadi
oc orrosto England” (Johnstone, 194). But England was Cnut’s first
Kingdom; he did not succeed to Denmark till the death or deposition
of his brother Harold. (See vol. i. pp. 403, 465.) This is another
proof how utterly the short reign of Harold was forgotten.
Footnote 949
Johnstone, p. 195. “Mæla menn þat, segir hann, at þer hinir Ensko se
eigi alltrúir.”
Footnote 950
Orderic (493 D) makes Tostig make this proposal to Harold;
“Medietatem Angliæ vobis retinete, aliamque mihi, qui vobis inde
fideliter serviam, retinete.” The proposal is quite in the spirit of
any one who represented, or claimed to represent, Northumberland.
Compare William’s alleged offer to Harold of England in the next
Chapter.
Footnote 951
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 195. “Því eignadiz Magnús Konungr Danmórk,
at þar landz höfdingiar veitto hönom; enn því feckt þú eigi at
allt landz-folk stód i múti þer. Því bardiz Magnús Konungr eigi
til Englandz, at allr landz-lydr villdi hafa Játvard at Konungi.”
It would almost seem as if, both in England and in Denmark, a
distinction was drawn between the chiefs and the mass of the people.
The people seem to be conceived as being, always and everywhere,
patriotic; but it was possible that some of the chief men in both
countries might be won over to the cause of the invader. This is
eminently true of England in the reign of Æthelred. The people, the
land-folk, of Denmark, says Tostig, resisted Harold; the people of
England were unanimous for Eadward. None but the Danish chiefs are
spoken of as supporting Magnus, and it is only from the chiefs in
England that Tostig looks for the means of fulfilling his promise to
Harold.
Footnote 952
See vol. ii. pp. 91–93.
Footnote 953
See above, p. 289.
Footnote 954
Snorro, ap. Laing, iii. 101;
“Severe was Harald, but we call
That just which was alike to all.”
Compare the discriminating comparison between him and his brother
Saint Olaf; Johnstone, 225; Laing, iii. 102.
Footnote 955
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 197; Laing, iii. 80. “Enn sumir sögdo, at
England mundi verda torsott, mann-folk ofa-mikit á, oc þat lid er
kallat er þínga-manna-lid, þeir voro menn sva fræknir, at betra var
lid eins þeirra enn II Harallds manna hinna besto.” Harold’s Staller
Ulf is scandalized at the comparison.
Footnote 956
Chron. Ab. 1066. “þa com Harold cyning of Norwegan norð into Tínan on
unwaran.”
Footnote 957
See the quotation from the Worcester Chronicle in p. 325.
Footnote 958
See vol. i. pp. 426, 427.
Footnote 959
See above, p. 325, note 4. The Abingdon Chronicle speaks of
“scip_fyrde_ and eac land_fyrde_,” that of Worcester of “scip_here_
and eac land_here_.” No doubt both kinds of force were called out.
The preparations of Harold are also strongly set forth by Orderic,
500 A; “Hastingas et Penevesellum aliosque portus maris Neustriæ
oppositos.... toto anno illo cum multis navibus et militibus callide
servaverat.” Compare also his account of Tostig’s expedition, see
above, p. 304. And, after all, no one does more justice to Harold
in this respect than the most hostile of all writers, William of
Poitiers (123); “Heraldus interea promptus ad decernendum prœlio,
sive terrestri sive navali, plerumque cum immani exercitu ad littus
marinum opperiens.”
Footnote 960
Chron. Ab. “Þa hit wæs to Nativitas Sanctæ Mariæ, þa wæs manna
metsung agán, and hig nan man þar na leng gehealdan ne mihte.” This
last expressive clause is left out by Florence, who says merely
“victu deficiente.” Cf. above, p. 167. Compare also the preparations
made for the defence of the southern coast in 1337, and the writ of
Edward the Third commanding the dispersion of the levies which are
described as “Hujusmodi onera importabilia sustinere non valentes.”
Rymer, vol. ii. part ii. p. 996; Longman, Edward III. i. 121.
Footnote 961
Chron. Ab. “And man draf þa scypu to Lundene, and manega forwurdon ær
hi þyder cómon.”
Footnote 962
See Appendix AA.
Footnote 963
See above, p. 65.
Footnote 964
Snorro, Johnstone, 196; Laing, iii. 80. “Sendi Haralldr konungr ord
um allan Noreg, oc baud út leidángri, hálfom almenningi.”
Footnote 965
Snorro gives him about two hundred ships of war, besides transports
and other smaller craft (“Haralldr konungr hefdi nær cc. skipa, oc
umfram vista-byrdingar oc smá-skútor.” Johnstone, 198; Laing, iii.
81); the three Chronicles, William of Malmesbury, and the Scholiast
of Adam of Bremen (iii. 51) give him three hundred, Florence five
hundred, while in Marianus Scotus (ap. Pertz, v. 559) the number
rises to “minùs mille.”
Footnote 966
Marianus, u. s. “Araldus, qui et _Arbach_ vocabatur, Rex
Nordmandorum, minùs mille navibus venit mense Septembri, Anglicam
terram regnaturus.” “Arbach” is an odd corruption of Hardrada. I
ought to have mentioned before that the English writers all transfer
to him the surname “Harfagra,” which belongs to the famous Harold of
the ninth century. A Flemish chronicler (Chron. S. Bavo. Corp. Chron.
Fland. i. 459), who copies Marianus, turns him into “Haricnuth, Rex
Nordanhymbrorum.”
Footnote 967
See vol. i. p. 204.
Footnote 968
Snorro, ap. Laing, iii. 30, 37.
Footnote 969
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 200; Laing, iii. 82. “Haralldr konungr, ádr
hann fór af Þrándheimi, hafdi þar látit taka til Konungs Magnus son
sinn, oc setti hann til ríkis í Noregi, er konungi fór í braut.”
Thora is simply called “Þora Þórbergs dóttir,” while Elizabeth is
“Ellisif drottning.”
Footnote 970
See vol. i. pp. 453, 475, 531, 533.
Footnote 971
Schol. ad Ad. Brem. iii. 51. “Insuper massa auri, quam Haroldus a
Græciâ duxit, ad Bastardum tali fortunâ pervenit. Erat autem pondus
auri quod vix bisseni juvenes cervice levarent.”
Footnote 972
This however Orderic seems to wish us to believe. William makes
his preparations (494 A), while still “nescius infortunii quod
præoccupârat suum præcursorem [Tosticum sc.] et extra statutum cursum
longè propulerat ad septemtrionem.”
Footnote 973
See Flor. Wig. 1098. Will. Malms. iv. 379. Ord. Vit. 768. The
expedition of Harold, Cnut, and Osbiorn in 1069 (see Florence in
anno) was undertaken directly for the deliverance of England. Magnus
in 1098 said expressly that he came not against England, but against
Ireland and the Isles.
Footnote 974
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 198; Laing, iii. 81. The name should be
noticed. Had every Harold his Gyrth?
Footnote 975
The “witch-wife” of Laing’s translation is a “tröll-kona” in the
original.
Footnote 976
On the career of Thorfinn, see Orkneyinga Saga, ap. Johnstone, Ant.
Celt. Scand. 176 et seqq.; Torfæi Orcades, i. 16 (p. 63 et seqq.);
also Robertson, Scotland under Early Kings, i. 111–129.
Footnote 977
The Orkneyinga Saga (Johnstone, p. 181) attributes to him an
expedition into England in the reign of Harthacnut, of which I find
no trace in English history.
Footnote 978
Mark the prevalence among the Northern nations of scriptural names,
when they were all but unknown in England. We have already had James,
King of the Swedes (see vol. i. p. 455); now we have Mary and Paul,
besides the Russian Elizabeth.
Footnote 979
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 200; Laing, iii. 83. So the Scholiast on Adam
of Bremen, iv. 31; “Haraldus, frater Olaph nequissimus, Orchadas suo
adduxit _Imperio_, _regnum_que suum dilatavit usque ad Riphæos montes
et Island.” Is the Kingdom of Norway, with Iceland for a part of it,
distinguished from the Empire of Britain? Adam is here discussing the
geography of the Riphæan mountains, but they are a familiar flourish.
See the extracts in vol. i. p. 208, where they are placed somewhere
in Britain.
Footnote 980
Chron. Wig. 1066. “Tostig him to beah and his man wearð.” Will.
Malms, ii. 228. “Ibi Regi Noricorum ... obvio manus dedit.” See
Appendix X.
Footnote 981
Adam Brem. iii. 51. “Tosti ... Regem Nordmannorum auxilio ducit
Haroldum, Regemque Scotorum, et occisus est ipse Tosti et Rex
Hiberniæ et Haroldus cum toto exercitu eorum a Rege Anglorum.” The
“Rex Scotorum” and the “Rex Hiberniæ” can hardly be the same person,
and Tostig was just now on the best terms with Malcolm.
Footnote 982
See the last quotation.
Footnote 983
Chron. Manniæ, 1047 (1066), p. 3 Munch. “De quâ fugâ [apud
Stamfordbrige] quidam Godredus cognomento Crouan, filius Haraldi
nigri, de Ysland fugiens venit ad Godredum filium Sytric qui tunc
regnavit in Manniâ, et honorificè susceptus est ab eo.” See Munch’s
note, pp. 50, 51. He however takes “Ysland” to mean not Iceland, but
Isla.
Footnote 984
Flor. Wig. 1066. “Citato cursu ostium Humbræ fluminis intraverunt.”
Footnote 985
For these accounts of the harrying of “Kliflönd,” “Skardaborg,” and
“Hellornes,” see Snorro, Johnstone, 201; Laing, iii. 83.
Footnote 986
Scarborough, unluckily, is not mentioned in Domesday, otherwise the
name of its lord might perhaps help us to recover the personality of
a man who must have been worth remembering.
Footnote 987
We read some way further on in the Abingdon Chronicle how Harold of
England found the fleet at Tadcaster.
Footnote 988
Flor. Wig. 1066. “In loco qui Richale dicitur applicuerunt.”
Footnote 989
The carelessness of Eadwine and Morkere is strongly set forth by
William of Malmesbury, ii. 228; “Ambo ergo [Harald Hardrada and
Tostig] consertis umbonibus terram Transhumbranam populabantur;
germanos recenti victoria feriatos, qui nihil minus quam talia
latrocinia metuerent, aggressi, victos inter Eboracum includunt.”
Footnote 990
See vol. i. p. 317.
Footnote 991
Marianus (Pertz, v. 559), describing the Battle of Fulford, mentions
the slaughter of a hundred priests; “Eburaci in auctumno plus
quam mille laicorum centosque [sic] presbyterorum bello occidit
de Anglis.” The Chronicle of Saint Bavon (see above, p. 340) cuts
down the number of priests killed to ten. The Hyde writer (292)
mistakes the battle for a storm and massacre at York, with a grievous
slaughter of priests; “Eboracam ... tandem ... capientes tantâ in eâ
cæde debacchati sunt, ut ex numero presbyterorum qui in eâ interfecti
sunt, quantus fuit cæterorum morientium numerus, utrumque conjici
potest undecies enim xx. [220?] presbyteri feruntur ibi occidisse.”
Footnote 992
The earlier writers do not give the name of the place; they are
satisfied with saying that it was near York. The Worcester and
Peterborough Chronicles say that the Northmen “comon to Eoforwic
and heom þær wið fuhton Eadwine Eorl,” etc. So Florence says “juxta
Eboracum,” and Marianus “Eburaci.” Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B.
762 A), after saying that the fight was “juxta urbem,” adds, “cujus
locus pugnæ in australi parte urbis adhuc ostenditur.” But to the
local knowledge of Simeon a still more exact account seemed needful.
He copies Florence as usual, but after the words “juxta Eboracum” he
inserts the words “apud Fulford.” The matter is elaborately discussed
by a writer in the Gentleman’s Magazine, August, 1863, p. 216 (cf.
p. 347), who is very busy with Snorro, Rapin, Thierry, and Drake’s
Eboracum, but who unluckily did not “possess a copy of Simeon.”
Footnote 993
See Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 202; Laing, iii. 84.
Footnote 994
Ib. “Þat var fen diúpt oc breitt oc fultt af vatni.”
Footnote 995
Snorro, ap. Johnstone, 202; Laing, iii. 84. “For þar fram merki
Mauro-kara Jarls.” Snorro does not speak of any exploits of Eadwine,
nor indeed does he mention his name. I am not sure that he does
not confound him with Waltheof, whom he describes as present in
the battle, calling him, as elsewhere, a brother of Morkere. (See
vol. ii. p. 553.) He gives him however his proper title as Earl of
Huntingdon. (See vol. ii. p. 560.) The presence of Waltheof is not
mentioned by any other writer. It was perhaps suggested by his later
exploits at York.
Footnote 996
Ib. 203; Laing, iii. 84. “Lá þar sva þyckt valrinn, at Nordmenn mátto
gánga þurfaetis yfir fenit.” He goes on to kill Morkere both in prose
and verse, but he lived at least till 1087. Cf. Chron. Ab. “And þær
wæs þæs Engliscan folces mycel ofslagen and adrenct and on fleam
bedrifen.” So Florence; “Multo plures ex illis in fluvio demersi
fuere quam in acie cecidere.”
Footnote 997
Snorro, Johnstone, 203; Laing, iii. 85. “Valþiófr Jarl [meaning most
likely Eadwine] oc þat lid er undan komz, flýdi upp til borgarinnar í
Jorvik, vard þar it mesta mannfall.”
Footnote 998
The details come from Snorro (Johnstone, 205; Laing, iii. 85), but
the capitulation is clear from the English writers. Chron. Ab. “And
þa æfter þam gefeohte, for Harold cyningc of Norwegan and Tostig
eorl into Eoferwic.” So Simeon, who, after the landing at Riccall,
inserts the words “et Eboracum gravi pugnâ obtinuerunt.” Snorro,
who understood the geography of the coast, gets all wrong in the
interior. He fancies that both Riccall and Stamfordbridge were close
to York.
Footnote 999
Chron. Ab. “And to fullan friðe gespræcon, þæt hig ealle mid him suð
faran woldon and þis land gegan.” Cf. vol. i. p. 394.