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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: William the Conqueror
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2008 [EBook #25848]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ William the Conqueror
+
+ BY
+
+ JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1902
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
+ eight hundred and forty-nine, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1877, by JACOB ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+In selecting the subjects for the successive volumes of this series, it
+has been the object of the author to look for the names of those great
+personages whose histories constitute useful, and not merely
+entertaining, knowledge. There are certain names which are familiar, as
+names, to all mankind; and every person who seeks for any degree of
+mental cultivation, feels desirous of informing himself of the leading
+outlines of their history, that he may know, in brief, what it was in
+their characters or their doings which has given them so widely-extended
+a fame. This knowledge, which it seems incumbent on every one to obtain
+in respect to such personages as Hannibal, Alexander, Cæsar, Cleopatra,
+Darius, Xerxes, Alfred, William the Conqueror, Queen Elizabeth, and Mary
+Queen of Scots, it is the design and object of these volumes to
+communicate, in a faithful, and, at the same time, if possible, in an
+attractive manner. Consequently, great historical names alone are
+selected; and it has been the writer's aim to present the prominent and
+leading traits in their characters, and all the important events in
+their lives, in a bold and free manner, and yet in the plain and simple
+language which is so obviously required in works which aim at permanent
+and practical usefulness.
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. NORMANDY                                              13
+
+   II. BIRTH OF WILLIAM                                      31
+
+  III. THE ACCESSION                                         51
+
+   IV. WILLIAM'S REIGN IN NORMANDY                           72
+
+    V. THE MARRIAGE                                          96
+
+   VI. THE LADY EMMA                                        119
+
+  VII. KING HAROLD                                          142
+
+ VIII. PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION                        164
+
+   IX. CROSSING THE CHANNEL                                 189
+
+    X. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS                               212
+
+   XI. PRINCE ROBERT'S REBELLION                            242
+
+  XII. THE CONCLUSION                                       265
+
+
+
+
+ ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ MAP--THE SITUATION OF NORMANDY                              14
+
+ WILLIAM AND ARLOTTE                                         40
+
+ WILLIAM'S ESCAPE                                            77
+
+ THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY                                        102
+
+ THE RESCUE                                                 127
+
+ HAROLD'S INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD                             147
+
+ WILLIAM RECEIVING TOSTIG'S TIDINGS                         166
+
+ MAP--NORMANDY                                              190
+
+ THE NORWEGIANS AT SCARBOROUGH                              218
+
+ WILLIAM'S HORSE STEPPING ON THE EMBERS                     281
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+NORMANDY.
+
+A.D. 870-912
+
+The Norman Conquest.--Claim of William to the throne.--The right of the
+strongest.--Map of Normandy.--The English Channel.--Nature of the French
+coast.--Nature of the English coast.--Northmen and Danes.--Character
+of the Northmen.--Their descendants.--The Dukes of Normandy.--The
+first duke, Rollo.--History of Rollo.--His rendezvous on the Scottish
+coast.--Expedition of Rollo.--His descent upon Flanders.--Difficulties
+encountered.--Rollo passes the Straits of Dover.--Charles the
+Simple.--Defeated by Rollo.--Treaty of peace.--Its conditions.--The
+three ceremonies.--Rollo's pride.--Kissing the king's foot.--The baptism
+and marriage.--Rollo's peaceful and prosperous reign.--Description
+of Normandy.--Scenery.--Hamlets.--Chateaux.--Peasantry.--Public
+roads.--Rouen.--Its situation.--The port of Rouen.--Its name of Le Havre
+de Grace.--Intermingling of races.--Superiority of the Norman stock.
+
+
+One of those great events in English history, which occur at distant
+intervals, and form, respectively, a sort of bound or landmark, to which
+all other events, preceding or following them for centuries, are
+referred, is what is called the Norman Conquest. The Norman Conquest
+was, in fact, the accession of William, duke of Normandy, to the English
+throne. This accession was not altogether a matter of military force,
+for William claimed a _right_ to the throne, which, if not altogether
+perfect, was, as he maintained, at any rate superior to that of the
+prince against whom he contended. The rightfulness of his claim was,
+however, a matter of little consequence, except so far as the moral
+influence of it aided him in gaining possession. The right to rule was,
+in those days, rather more openly and nakedly, though not much more
+really, than it is now, the right of the strongest.
+
+Normandy, William's native land, is a very rich and beautiful province
+in the north of France. The following map shows its situation:
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF ENGLAND AND PART OF FRANCE, SHOWING THE SITUATION
+OF NORMANDY.]
+
+It lies, as will be seen upon the map, on the coast of France, adjoining
+the English Channel. The Channel is here irregular in form, but may be,
+perhaps, on the average, one hundred miles wide. The line of coast on
+the southern side of the Channel, which forms, of course, the northern
+border of Normandy, is a range of cliffs, which are almost perpendicular
+toward the sea, and which frown forbiddingly upon every ship that sails
+along the shore. Here and there, it is true, a river opens a passage for
+itself among these cliffs from the interior, and these river mouths
+would form harbors into which ships might enter from the offing, were it
+not that the northwestern winds prevail so generally, and drive such a
+continual swell of rolling surges in upon the shore, that they choke up
+all these estuary openings, as well as every natural indentation of the
+land, with shoals and bars of sand and shingle. The reverse is the case
+with the northern, or English shore of this famous channel. There the
+harbors formed by the mouths of the rivers, or by the sinuosities of the
+shore, are open and accessible, and at the same time sheltered from the
+winds and the sea. Thus, while the northern or English shore has been,
+for many centuries, all the time enticing the seaman in and out over
+the calm, deep, and sheltered waters which there penetrate the land, the
+southern side has been an almost impassable barrier, consisting of a
+long line of frowning cliffs, with every opening through it choked with
+shoals and sand-banks, and guarded by the rolling and tumbling of surges
+which scarcely ever rest.
+
+It is in a great measure owing to these great physical differences
+between the two shores, that the people who live upon the one side,
+though of the same stock and origin with those who live upon the other,
+have become so vastly superior to them in respect to naval exploits and
+power. They are really of the same stock and origin, since both England
+and the northern part of France were overrun and settled by what is
+called the Scandinavian race, that is, people from Norway, Denmark, and
+other countries on the Baltic. These people were called the _Northmen_
+in the histories of those times. Those who landed in England are
+generally termed _Danes_, though but a small portion of them came really
+from Denmark. They were all, however, of the same parent stock, and
+possessed the same qualities of courage, energy, and fearless love of
+adventure and of danger which distinguish their descendants at the
+present day. They came down in those early times in great military
+hordes, and in fleets of piratical ships, through the German Ocean and
+the various British seas, braving every hardship and every imaginable
+danger, to find new regions to dwell in, more genial, and fertile, and
+rich than their own native northern climes. In these days they evince
+the same energy, and endure equal privations and hardships, in hunting
+whales in the Pacific Ocean; in overrunning India, and seizing its
+sources of wealth and power; or in sallying forth, whole fleets of
+adventurers at a time, to go more than half round the globe, to dig for
+gold in California. The times and circumstances have changed, but the
+race and spirit are the same.
+
+Normandy takes its name from the Northmen. It was the province of France
+which the Northmen made peculiarly their own. They gained access to it
+from the sea by the River Seine, which, as will be seen from the map,
+flows, as it were, through the heart of the country. The lower part of
+this river, and the sea around its mouth, are much choked up with sand
+and gravel, which the waves have been for ages washing in. Their
+incessant industry would result in closing up the passage entirely,
+were it not that the waters of the river must have an outlet; and thus
+the current, setting outward, wages perpetual war with the surf and
+surges which are continually breaking in. The expeditions of the
+Northmen, however, found their way through all these obstructions. They
+ascended the river with their ships, and finally gained a permanent
+settlement in the country. They had occupied the country for some
+centuries at the time when our story begins--the province being governed
+by a line of princes--almost, if not quite, independent
+sovereigns--called the _Dukes of Normandy_.
+
+The first Duke of Normandy, and the founder of the line--the chieftain
+who originally invaded and conquered the country--was a wild and
+half-savage hero from the north, named _Rollo_. He is often, in history,
+called Rollo the Dane. Norway was his native land. He was a chieftain by
+birth there, and, being of a wild and adventurous disposition, he
+collected a band of followers, and committed with them so many piracies
+and robberies, that at length the king of the country expelled him.
+
+Rollo seems not to have considered this banishment as any very great
+calamity, since, far from interrupting his career of piracy and
+plunder, it only widened the field on which he was to pursue it. He
+accordingly increased the equipment and the force of his fleet, enlisted
+more followers, and set sail across the northern part of the German
+Ocean toward the British shores.
+
+Off the northwestern coast of Scotland there are some groups of
+mountainous and gloomy islands, which have been, in many different
+periods of the world, the refuge of fugitives and outlaws. Rollo made
+these islands his rendezvous now; and he found collected there many
+other similar spirits, who had fled to these lonely retreats, some on
+account of political disturbances in which they had become involved, and
+some on account of their crimes. Rollo's impetuous, ardent, and
+self-confident character inspired them with new energy and zeal. They
+gathered around him as their leader. Finding his strength thus
+increasing, he formed a scheme of concentrating all the force that he
+could command, so as to organize a grand expedition to proceed to the
+southward, and endeavor to find some pleasant country which they could
+seize and settle upon, and make their own. The desperate adventurers
+around him were ready enough to enter into this scheme. The fleet was
+refitted, provisioned, and equipped. The expedition was organized, arms
+and munitions of war provided, and when all was ready they set sail.
+They had no definite plan in respect to the place of their destination,
+their intention being to make themselves a home on the first favorable
+spot that they should find.
+
+They moved southward, cruising at first along the coast of Scotland, and
+then of England. They made several fruitless attempts to land on the
+English shores, but were every where repulsed. The time when these
+events took place was during the reign of Alfred the Great. Through
+Alfred's wise and efficient measures the whole of his frontier had been
+put into a perfect state of defense, and Rollo found that there was no
+hope for him there. He accordingly moved on toward the Straits of Dover;
+but, before passing them, he made a descent upon the coast of Flanders.
+Here there was a country named Hainault. It was governed by a potentate
+called the Count of Hainault. Rollo made war upon him, defeated him in
+battle, took him prisoner, and then compelled the countess his wife to
+raise and pay him an immense sum for his ransom. Thus he replenished
+his treasury by an exploit which was considered in those days very
+great and glorious. To perpetrate such a deed now, unless it were on a
+_very_ great scale, would be to incur the universal reprobation of
+mankind; but Rollo, by doing it then, not only enriched his coffers, but
+acquired a very extended and honorable fame.
+
+For some reason or other, Rollo did not attempt to take permanent
+possession of Hainault, but, after receiving his ransom money, and
+replenishing his ammunition and stores, he sailed away with his fleet,
+and, turning westward, he passed through the Straits of Dover, and
+cruised along the coast of France. He found that the country on the
+French side of the channel, though equally rich and beautiful with the
+opposite shore, was in a very different state of defense. He entered the
+mouth of the Seine. He was embarrassed at first by the difficulties of
+the navigation in entering the river; but as there was no efficient
+enemy to oppose him, he soon triumphed over these difficulties, and,
+once fairly in the river, he found no difficulty in ascending to
+Rouen.[A]
+
+[Footnote A: See the map at the commencement of this chapter.]
+
+In the mean time, the King of France, whose name was Charles, and who
+is generally designated in history as Charles the Simple, began to
+collect an army to meet the invader. Rollo, however, had made himself
+master of Rouen before Charles was able to offer him any effectual
+opposition. Rouen was already a strong place, but Rollo made it
+stronger. He enlarged and repaired the fortifications, built
+store-houses, established a garrison, and, in a word, made all the
+arrangements requisite for securing an impregnable position for himself
+and his army.
+
+A long and obstinate war followed between Rollo and Charles, Rollo being
+almost uniformly victorious in the combats that took place. Rollo became
+more and more proud and imperious in proportion to his success. He drove
+the French king from port to port, and from field to field, until he
+made himself master of a large part of the north of France, over which
+he gradually established a regular government of his own. Charles
+struggled in vain to resist these encroachments. Rollo continually
+defeated him; and finally he shut him up and besieged him in Paris
+itself. At length Charles was compelled to enter into negotiations for
+peace. Rollo demanded that the large and rich tract on both sides of the
+Seine, next the sea--the same, in fact, that now constitutes
+Normandy--should be ceded to him and his followers for their permanent
+possession. Charles was extremely unwilling thus to alienate a part of
+his kingdom. He would not consent to cede it absolutely and entirely, so
+as to make it an independent realm. It should be a _dukedom_, and not a
+separate _kingdom_, so that it might continue still a part of his own
+royal domains--Rollo to reign over it as a duke, and to acknowledge a
+general allegiance to the French king. Rollo agreed to this. The war had
+been now protracted so long that he began himself to desire repose. It
+was more than thirty years since the time of his landing.
+
+Charles had a daughter named Giselle, and it was a part of the treaty of
+peace that she should become Rollo's wife. He also agreed to become a
+Christian. Thus there were, in the execution of the treaty, three
+ceremonies to be performed. First, Rollo was to _do homage_, as it was
+called, for his duchy; for it was the custom in those days for
+subordinate princes, who held their possessions of some higher and more
+strictly sovereign power, to perform certain ceremonies in the presence
+of their superior lord, which was called doing homage. These ceremonies
+were of various kinds in different countries, though they were all
+intended to express the submission of the dependent prince to the
+superior authority and power of the higher potentate of whom he held his
+lands. This act of homage was therefore to be performed, and next to the
+homage was to come the baptism, and after the baptism, the marriage.
+
+When, however, the time came for the performance of the first of these
+ceremonies, and all the great chieftains and potentates of the
+respective armies were assembled to witness it, Rollo, it was found,
+would not submit to what the customs of the French monarchy required. He
+ought to kneel before the king, and put his hands, clasped together,
+between the king's hands, in token of submission, and then to kiss his
+foot, which was covered with an elegantly fashioned slipper on such
+occasions. Rollo would do all except the last; but that, no
+remonstrances, urgencies, or persuasions would induce him to consent to.
+
+And yet it was not a very unusual sign or token of political
+subordination to sovereign power in those days. The pope had exacted it
+even of an emperor a hundred years before; and it is continued by that
+dignitary to the present day, on certain state occasions; though in the
+case of the pope, there is embroidered on the slipper which the kneeling
+suppliant kisses, a _cross_, so that he who humbles himself to this
+ceremony may consider, if he pleases, that it is that sacred symbol of
+the divine Redeemer's sufferings and death that he so reverently kisses,
+and not the human foot by which it is covered.
+
+Rollo could not be made to consent, himself, to kiss King Charles's
+foot; and, finally, the difficulty was compromised by his agreeing to do
+it by proxy. He ordered one of his courtiers to perform that part of the
+ceremony. The courtier obeyed, but when he came to lift the foot, he did
+it so rudely and lifted it so high as to turn the monarch over off his
+seat. This made a laugh, but Rollo was too powerful for Charles to think
+of resenting it.
+
+A few days after this Rollo was baptized in the cathedral church at
+Rouen, with great pomp and parade; and then, on the following week, he
+was married to Giselle. The din of war in which he had lived for more
+than thirty years was now changed into festivities and rejoicings. He
+took full and peaceable possession of his dukedom, and governed it for
+the remainder of his days with great wisdom, and lived in great
+prosperity. He made it, in fact, one of the richest and most prosperous
+realms in Europe, and laid the foundations of still higher degrees of
+greatness and power, which were gradually developed after his death. And
+this was the origin of Normandy.
+
+It appears thus that this part of France was seized by Rollo and his
+Northmen partly because it was nearest at hand to them, being accessible
+from the English Channel through the River Seine, and partly on account
+of its exceeding richness and fertility. It has been famous in every age
+as the garden of France, and travelers at the present day gaze upon its
+picturesque and beautiful scenery with the highest admiration and
+pleasure. And yet the scenes which are there presented to the view are
+wholly unlike those which constitute picturesque and beautiful rural
+scenery in England and America. In Normandy, the land is not inclosed.
+No hedges, fences, or walls break the continuity of the surface, but
+vast tracts spread in every direction, divided into plots and squares,
+of various sizes and forms, by the varieties of cultivation, like a vast
+carpet of an irregular tesselated pattern, and varied in the color by a
+thousand hues of brown and green. Here and there vast forests extend,
+where countless thousands of trees, though ancient and venerable in
+form, stand in rows, mathematically arranged, as they were planted
+centuries ago. These are royal demesnes, and hunting grounds, and parks
+connected with the country palaces of the kings or the chateaux of the
+ancient nobility. The cultivators of the soil live, not, as in America,
+in little farm-houses built along the road-sides and dotting the slopes
+of the hills, but in compact villages, consisting of ancient dwellings
+of brick or stone, densely packed together along a single street, from
+which the laborers issue, in picturesque dresses, men and women
+together, every morning, to go miles, perhaps, to the scene of their
+daily toil. Except these villages, and the occasional appearance of an
+ancient chateau, no habitations are seen. The country seems a vast
+solitude, teeming everywhere, however, with fertility and beauty. The
+roads which traverse these scenes are magnificent avenues, broad,
+straight, continuing for many miles an undeviating course over the
+undulations of the land, with nothing to separate them from the expanse
+of cultivation and fruitfulness on either hand but rows of ancient and
+venerable trees. Between these rows of trees the traveler sees an
+interminable vista extending both before him and behind him. In England,
+the public road winds beautifully between walls overhung with shrubbery,
+or hedge-rows, with stiles or gateways here and there, revealing hamlets
+or cottages, which appear and disappear in a rapid and endlessly varied
+succession, as the road meanders, like a rivulet, between its beautiful
+banks. In a word, the public highway in England is beautiful; in France
+it is grand.
+
+The greatest city in Normandy in modern times is Rouen, which is
+situated, as will be seen by referring to the map at the commencement of
+this chapter, on the Seine, half way between Paris and the sea. At the
+mouth of the Seine, or, rather, on the northern shore of the estuary
+which forms the mouth of the river, is a small inlet, which has been
+found to afford, on the whole, the best facilities for a harbor that can
+be found on the whole line of the coast. Even this little port, however,
+is so filled up with sand, that when the water recedes at low tide it
+leaves the shipping all aground. The inlet would, in fact, probably
+become filled up entirely were it not for artificial means taken to
+prevent it. There are locks and gateways built in such a manner as to
+retain a large body of water until the tide is down, and then these
+gates are opened, and the water is allowed to rush out all together,
+carrying with it the mud and sand which had begun to accumulate. This
+haven, being, on the whole, the best and most commodious on the coast,
+was called _the_ harbor, or, as the French expressed it in their
+language, _le havre_, the word _havre_ meaning harbor. In fact, the name
+was in full _le havre de grace_, as if the Normans considered it a
+matter of special good luck to have even such a chance of a harbor as
+this at the mouth of their river. The English world have, however,
+dropped all except the principal word from this long phrase of
+designation, and call the port simply Havre.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From Rollo the line of Dukes of Normandy continued in uninterrupted
+succession down to the time of William, a period of about a hundred and
+fifty years. The country increased all the time in wealth, in
+population, and in prosperity. The original inhabitants were not,
+however, expelled; they remained as peasants, herdsmen, and
+agriculturists, while the Norman chieftains settled over them, holding
+severally large estates of land which William granted them. The races
+gradually became intermingled, though they continued for many centuries
+to evince the superior spirit and energy which was infused into the
+population by the Norman stock. In fact, it is thought by many observers
+that that superiority continues to the present day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BIRTH OF WILLIAM.
+
+A.D. 912-1033
+
+Castle at Falaise.--Present ruins of the castle.--Scenery of the town
+and castle.--Wall and buildings.--Watch-towers.--Sentinels.--Enchanting
+prospect.--Chronological history of the Norman line.--Rollo.--William
+I., second duke.--Richard I., third duke.--Richard II., fourth
+duke.--Richard III., fifth duke.--Intrigues of Robert.--He becomes
+the sixth duke.--Robert and Henry.--William's mother.--Robert's
+first meeting with Arlotte.--He is captivated.--Robert sends
+for Arlotte.--Scruples of her father.--Arlotte sent to the
+castle.--Robert's affection for her.--Birth of William.--The nurse's
+prediction.--William's childhood.--He is a universal favorite.--Robert
+determines to visit the Holy Land.--Dangers of the journey.--He makes
+William his heir.--Surprise of the assembly.--The nobles do homage to
+William.--William is taken to Paris.--He is presented to the French
+king.
+
+
+Although Rouen is now very far before all the other cities of Normandy
+in point of magnitude and importance, and though Rollo, in his conquest
+of the country, made it his principal head-quarters and his main
+stronghold, it did not continue exclusively the residence of the dukes
+of Normandy in after years. The father of William the Conqueror was
+Robert, who became subsequently the duke, the sixth in the line. He
+resided, at the time when William was born, in a great castle at
+Falaise. Falaise, as will be seen upon the map, is west of Rouen, and it
+stands, like Rouen, at some distance from the sea. The castle was built
+upon a hill, at a little distance from the town. It has long since
+ceased to be habitable, but the ruins still remain, giving a picturesque
+but mournful beauty to the eminence which they crown. They are often
+visited by travelers, who go to see the place where the great hero and
+conqueror was born.
+
+The hill on which the old castle stands terminates, on one side, at the
+foot of the castle walls, in a precipice of rocks, and on two other
+sides, also, the ascent is too steep to be practicable for an enemy. On
+the fourth side there is a more gradual declivity, up which the fortress
+could be approached by means of a winding roadway. At the foot of this
+roadway was the town. The access to the castle from the town was
+defended by a ditch and draw-bridge, with strong towers on each side of
+the gateway to defend the approach. There was a beautiful stream of
+water which meandered along through the valley, near the town, and,
+after passing it, it disappeared, winding around the foot of the
+precipice which the castle crowned. The castle inclosures were shut in
+with walls of stone of enormous thickness; so thick, in fact, they were,
+that some of the apartments were built in the body of the wall. There
+were various buildings within the inclosure. There was, in particular,
+one large, square tower, several stories in height, built of white
+stone. This tower, it is said, still stands in good preservation. There
+was a chapel, also, and various other buildings and apartments within
+the walls, for the use of the ducal family and their numerous retinue
+of servants and attendants, for the storage of munitions of war, and for
+the garrison. There were watch-towers on the corners of the walls, and
+on various lofty projecting pinnacles, where solitary sentinels watched,
+the livelong day and night, for any approaching danger. These sentinels
+looked down on a broad expanse of richly-cultivated country, fields
+beautified with groves of trees, and with the various colors presented
+by the changing vegetation, while meandering streams gleamed with their
+silvery radiance among them, and hamlets of laborers and peasantry were
+scattered here and there, giving life and animation to the scene.
+
+We have said that William's father was Robert, the sixth Duke of
+Normandy, so that William himself, being his immediate successor, was
+the seventh in the line. And as it is the design of these narratives not
+merely to amuse the reader with what is entertaining as a tale, but to
+impart substantial historical knowledge, we must prepare the way for the
+account of William's birth, by presenting a brief chronological view of
+the whole ducal line, extending from Rollo to William. We recommend to
+the reader to examine with special attention this brief account of
+William's ancestry, for the true causes which led to William's invasion
+of England can not be fully appreciated without thoroughly understanding
+certain important transactions in which some members of the family of
+his ancestors were concerned before he was born. This is particularly
+the case with the Lady Emma, who, as will be seen by the following
+summary, was the sister of the third duke in the line. The extraordinary
+and eventful history of her life is so intimately connected with the
+subsequent exploits of William, that it is necessary to relate it in
+full, and it becomes, accordingly, the subject of one of the subsequent
+chapters of this volume.
+
+_Chronological History of the Norman Line._
+
+ROLLO, first Duke of Normandy.
+
+From A.D. 912 to A.D. 917.
+
+It was about 870 that Rollo was banished from Norway, and a few years
+after that, at most, that he landed in France. It was not, however,
+until 912 that he concluded his treaty of peace with Charles, so as to
+be fully invested with the title of Duke of Normandy.
+
+He was advanced in age at this time, and, after spending five years in
+settling the affairs of his realm, he resigned his dukedom into the
+hands of his son, that he might spend the remainder of his days in rest
+and peace. He died in 922, five years after his resignation.
+
+WILLIAM I., second Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 917 to 942.
+
+William was Rollo's son. He began to reign, of course, five years before
+his father's death. He had a quiet and prosperous reign of about
+twenty-five years, but he was assassinated at last by a political enemy,
+in 942.
+
+RICHARD I., third Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 942 to 996.
+
+He was only ten years old when his father was assassinated. He became
+involved in long and arduous wars with the King of France, which
+compelled him to call in the aid of more Northmen from the Baltic. His
+new allies, in the end, gave him as much trouble as the old enemy, with
+whom they came to help William contend; and he found it very hard to get
+them away. He wanted, at length, to make peace with the French king, and
+to have them leave his dominions; but they said, "That was not what they
+came for."
+
+Richard had a beautiful daughter, named Emma, who afterward became a
+very important political personage, as will be seen more fully in a
+subsequent chapter.
+
+Richard died in 996, after reigning fifty-four years.
+
+RICHARD II., fourth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 996 to 1026.
+
+Richard II. was the son of Richard I., and as his father had been
+engaged during his reign in contentions with his sovereign lord, the
+King of France, he, in his turn, was harassed by long-continued
+struggles with his vassals, the barons and nobles of his own realm. He,
+too, sent for Northmen to come and assist him. During his reign there
+was a great contest in England between the Saxons and the Danes, and
+Ethelred, who was the Saxon claimant to the throne, came to Normandy,
+and soon afterward married the Lady Emma, Richard's sister. The
+particulars of this event, from which the most momentous consequences
+were afterward seen to flow, will be given in full in a future chapter.
+Richard died in 1026. He left two sons, Richard and Robert. William the
+Conqueror was the son of the youngest, and was born two years before
+this Richard II. died.
+
+RICHARD III., fifth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 1026 to 1028.
+
+He was the oldest brother, and, of course, succeeded to the dukedom. His
+brother Robert was then only a baron--his son William, afterward the
+Conqueror, being then about two years old. Robert was very ambitious and
+aspiring, and eager to get possession of the dukedom himself. He adopted
+every possible means to circumvent and supplant his brother, and, as is
+supposed, shortened his days by the anxiety and vexation which he caused
+him; for Richard died suddenly and mysteriously only two years after his
+accession. It was supposed by some, in fact, that he was poisoned,
+though there was never any satisfactory proof of this.
+
+ROBERT, sixth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 1028 to 1035.
+
+Robert, of course, succeeded his brother, and then, with the
+characteristic inconsistency of selfishness and ambition, he employed
+all the power of his realm in helping the King of France to subdue his
+younger brother, who was evincing the same spirit of seditiousness and
+insubmission that he had himself displayed. His assistance was of great
+importance to King Henry; it, in fact, decided the contest in his favor;
+and thus one younger brother was put down in the commencement of his
+career of turbulence and rebellion, by another who had successfully
+accomplished a precisely similar course of crime. King Henry was very
+grateful for the service thus rendered, and was ready to do all in his
+power, at all times, to co-operate with Robert in the plans which the
+latter might form. Robert died in 1035, when William was about eleven
+years old.
+
+And here we close this brief summary of the history of the ducal line,
+as we have already passed the period of William's birth; and we return,
+accordingly, to give in detail some of the particulars of that event.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM AND ARLOTTE.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Although the dukes of Normandy were very powerful potentates, reigning,
+as they did, almost in the character of independent sovereigns, over one
+of the richest and most populous territories of the globe, and though
+William the Conqueror was the son of one of them, his birth was
+nevertheless very ignoble. His mother was not the wife of Robert his
+father, but a poor peasant girl, the daughter of an humble tanner of
+Falaise; and, indeed, William's father, Robert, was not himself the duke
+at this time, but a simple baron, as his father was still living. It
+was not even certain that he ever would be the duke, as his older
+brother, who, of course, would come before him, was also then alive.
+Still, as the son and prospective heir of the reigning duke, his rank
+was very high.
+
+The circumstances of Robert's first acquaintance with the tanner's
+daughter were these. He was one day returning home to the castle from
+some expedition on which he had been sent by his father, when he saw a
+group of peasant girls standing on the margin of the brook, washing
+clothes. They were barefooted, and their dress was in other respects
+disarranged. There was one named Arlotte,[B] the daughter of a tanner of
+the town, whose countenance and figure seem to have captivated the young
+baron. He gazed at her with admiration and pleasure as he rode along.
+Her complexion was fair, her eyes full and blue, and the expression of
+her countenance was frank, and open, and happy. She was talking joyously
+and merrily with her companions as Robert passed, little dreaming of the
+conspicuous place on the page of English history which she was to
+occupy, in all future time, in connection with the gay horseman who was
+riding by.
+
+[Footnote B: Her name is spelled variously, Arlette, Arlotte, Harlotte,
+and in other ways.]
+
+The etiquette of royal and ducal palaces and castles in those days, as
+now, forbade that a noble of such lofty rank should marry a peasant
+girl. Robert could not, therefore, have Arlotte for his wife; but there
+was nothing to prevent his proposing her coming to the castle and living
+with him--that is, nothing but the law of God, and this was an authority
+to which dukes and barons in the Middle Ages were accustomed to pay very
+little regard. There was not even a public sentiment to forbid this, for
+a nobility like that of England and France in the Middle Ages stands so
+far above all the mass of society as to be scarcely amenable at all to
+the ordinary restrictions and obligations of social life. And even to
+the present day, in those countries where dukes exist, public sentiment
+seems to tolerate pretty generally whatever dukes see fit to do.
+
+Accordingly, as soon as Robert had arrived at the castle, he sent a
+messenger from his retinue of attendants down to the village, to the
+father of Arlotte, proposing that she should come to the castle. The
+father seems to have had some hesitation in respect to his duty. It is
+said that he had a brother who was a monk, or rather hermit, who lived
+a life of reading, meditation and prayer, in a solitary place not far
+from Falaise. Arlotte's father sent immediately to this religious
+recluse for his spiritual counsel. The monk replied that it was right to
+comply with the wishes of so great a man, whatever they might be. The
+tanner, thus relieved of all conscientious scruples on the subject by
+this high religious authority, and rejoicing in the opening tide of
+prosperity and distinction which he foresaw for his family through the
+baron's love, robed and decorated his daughter, like a lamb for the
+sacrifice, and sent her to the castle.
+
+Arlotte had one of the rooms assigned her, which was built in the
+thickness of the wall. It communicated by a door with the other
+apartments and inclosures within the area, and there were narrow windows
+in the masonry without, through which she could look out over the broad
+expanse of beautiful fields and meadows which were smiling below. Robert
+seems to have loved her with sincere and strong affection, and to have
+done all in his power to make her happy. Her room, however, could not
+have been very sumptuously furnished, although she was the favorite in a
+ducal castle--at least so far as we can judge from the few glimpses we
+get of the interior through the ancient chroniclers' stories. One story
+is, that when William was born, his first exploit was to grasp a handful
+of straw, and to hold it so tenaciously in his little fist that the
+nurse could scarcely take it away. The nurse was greatly delighted with
+this infantile prowess; she considered it an omen, and predicted that
+the babe would some day signalize himself by seizing and holding great
+possessions. The prediction would have been forgotten if William had not
+become the conqueror of England at a future day. As it was, it was
+remembered and recorded; and it suggests to our imagination a very
+different picture of the conveniences and comforts of Arlotte's chamber
+from those presented to the eye in ducal palaces now, where carpets of
+velvet silence the tread on marble floors, and favorites repose under
+silken canopies on beds of down.
+
+The babe was named William, and he was a great favorite with his father.
+He was brought up at Falaise. Two years after his birth, Robert's father
+died, and his oldest brother, Richard III., succeeded to the ducal
+throne. In two years more, which years were spent in contention between
+the brothers, Richard also died, and then Robert himself came into
+possession of the castle in his own name, reigning there over all the
+cities and domains of Normandy.
+
+William was, of course, now about four years old. He was a bright and
+beautiful boy, and he grew more and more engaging every year. His
+father, instead of neglecting and disowning him, as it might have been
+supposed he would do, took a great deal of pride and pleasure in
+witnessing the gradual development of his powers and his increasing
+attractiveness, and he openly acknowledged him as his son.
+
+In fact, William was a universal favorite about the castle. When he was
+five and six years old he was very fond of playing the soldier. He would
+marshal the other boys of the castle, his playmates, into a little
+troop, and train them around the castle inclosures, just as ardent and
+aspiring boys do with their comrades now. He possessed a certain
+vivacity and spirit too, which gave him, even then, a great ascendency
+over his playfellows. He invented their plays; he led them in their
+mischief; he settled their disputes. In a word, he possessed a
+temperament and character which enabled him very easily and strongly to
+hold the position which his rank as son of the lord of the castle so
+naturally assigned him.
+
+A few years thus passed away, when, at length, Robert conceived the
+design of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This was a plan, not of
+humble-minded piety, but of ambition for fame. To make a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land was a romantic achievement that covered whoever
+accomplished it with a sort of sombre glory, which, in the case of a
+prince or potentate, mingled with, and hallowed and exalted, his
+military renown. Robert determined on making the pilgrimage. It was a
+distant and dangerous journey. In fact, the difficulties and dangers of
+the way were perhaps what chiefly imparted to the enterprise its
+romance, and gave it its charms. It was customary for kings and rulers,
+before setting out, to arrange all the affairs of their kingdoms, to
+provide a regency to govern during their absence, and to determine upon
+their successors, so as to provide for the very probable contingency of
+their not living to return.
+
+As soon, therefore, as Robert announced his plan of a pilgrimage, men's
+minds were immediately turned to the question of the succession. Robert
+had never been married, and he had consequently no son who was entitled
+to succeed him. He had two brothers, and also a cousin, and some other
+relatives, who had claims to the succession. These all began to maneuver
+among the chieftains and nobles, each endeavoring to prepare the way for
+having his own claims advanced, while Robert himself was secretly
+determining that the little William should be his heir. He said nothing
+about this, however, but he took care to magnify the importance of his
+little son in every way, and to bring him as much as possible into
+public notice. William, on his part, possessed so much personal beauty,
+and so many juvenile accomplishments, that he became a great favorite
+with all the nobles, and chieftains, and knights who saw him, sometimes
+at his father's castle, and sometimes away from home, in their own
+fortresses or towns, where his father took him, from time to time, in
+his train.
+
+At length, when affairs were ripe for their consummation, Duke Robert
+called together a grand council of all the subordinate dukes, and earls,
+and barons of his realm, to make known to them the plan of his
+pilgrimage. They came together from all parts of Normandy, each in a
+splendid cavalcade, and attended by an armed retinue of retainers. When
+the assembly had been convened, and the preliminary forms and
+ceremonies had been disposed of, Robert announced his grand design.
+
+As soon as he had concluded, one of the nobles, whose name and title was
+Guy, count of Burgundy, rose and addressed the duke in reply. He was
+sorry, he said, to hear that the duke, his cousin, entertained such a
+plan. He feared for the safety of the realm when the chief ruler should
+be gone. All the estates of the realm, he said, the barons, the knights,
+the chieftains and soldiers of every degree, would be all without a
+head.
+
+"Not so," said Robert: "I will leave you a master in my place." Then,
+pointing to the beautiful boy by his side, he added, "I have a little
+fellow here, who, though he is little now, I acknowledge, will grow
+bigger by and by, with God's grace, and I have great hopes that he will
+become a brave and gallant man. I present him to you, and from this time
+forth I give him _seizin_[C] of the Duchy of Normandy as my known and
+acknowledged heir. And I appoint Alan, duke of Brittany, governor of
+Normandy in my name until I shall return, and in case I shall not
+return, in the name of William my son, until he shall become of manly
+age."
+
+[Footnote C: Seizin, an ancient feudal term denoting the inducting of a
+party to a legal possession of his right.]
+
+The assembly was taken wholly by surprise at this announcement. Alan,
+duke of Brittany, who was one of the chief claimants to the succession,
+was pleased with the honor conferred upon him in making him at once the
+governor of the realm, and was inclined to prefer the present certainty
+of governing at once in the name of others, to the remote contingency of
+reigning in his own. The other claimants to the inheritance were
+confounded by the suddenness of the emergency, and knew not what to say
+or do. The rest of the assembly were pleased with the romance of having
+the beautiful boy for their feudal sovereign. The duke saw at once that
+every thing was favorable to the accomplishment of his design. He took
+the lad in his arms, kissed him, and held him out in view of the
+assembly. William gazed around upon the panoplied warriors before him
+with a bright and beaming eye. They knelt down as by a common accord to
+do him homage, and then took the oath of perpetual allegiance and
+fidelity to his cause.
+
+Robert thought, however, that it would not be quite prudent to leave his
+son himself in the custody of these his rivals, so he took him with him
+to Paris when he set out upon his pilgrimage, with view of establishing
+him there, in the court of Henry, the French king, while he should
+himself be gone. Young William was presented to the French king, on a
+day set apart for the ceremony, with great pomp and parade. The king
+held a special court to receive him. He seated himself on his throne
+in a grand apartment of his palace, and was surrounded by his nobles
+and officers of state, all magnificently dressed for the occasion. At
+the proper time, Duke Robert came in, dressed in his pilgrim's garb,
+and leading young William by the hand. His attendant pilgrim knights
+accompanied him. Robert led the boy to the feet of their common
+sovereign, and, kneeling there, ordered William to kneel too, to do
+homage to the king. King Henry received him very graciously. He embraced
+him, and promised to receive him into his court, and to take the best
+possible care of him while his father was away. The courtiers were
+very much struck with the beauty and noble bearing of the boy. His
+countenance beamed with an animated, but yet very serious expression,
+as he was somewhat awed by the splendor of the scene around him. He
+was himself then nine years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ACCESSION.
+
+A.D. 1035-1040
+
+Robert departs on his pilgrimage.--He visits Rome and
+Constantinople.--Robert's illness.--Litter bearers.--Death of
+Robert.--Claimants to the crown.--Theroulde.--William's military
+education.--The Earl of Arques.--William proclaimed duke.--The
+pilgrim knights.--They embrace William's cause.--Debates in the
+council on the propriety of William's return.--William's return to
+Normandy.--Its effects.--William's accomplishments.--Impression upon
+the army.--Claimants in the field.--Iron rule of the nobles.--Almost
+a quarrel.--Interview between William and Henry.--Henry's
+demand.--William's indignation.--Henry destroys one of William's
+castles.--Difficulties which followed.--War with Henry.--William rescues
+Falaise.--William received with acclamations.--Punishment of the
+governor.--The Earl of Arques.--Advance of Henry.--A dangerous
+defile.--Henry's order of march.--William's ambuscade.--Its
+success.--Pretended flight of the Normans.--Disarray of the
+French.--Rout of the French.--William's embassage to Henry.--The
+castle at Arques taken.--William crowned at Falaise.
+
+
+After spending a little time at Paris, Robert took leave of the king,
+and of William his son, and went forth, with a train of attendant
+knights, on his pilgrimage. He had a great variety of adventures, which
+can not be related here, as it is the history of the son, and not of the
+father, which is the subject of this narrative. Though he traveled
+strictly as a pilgrim, it was still with great pomp and parade. After
+visiting Rome, and accomplishing various services and duties connected
+with his pilgrimage there, he laid aside his pilgrim's garb, and,
+assuming his proper rank as a great Norman chieftain, he went to
+Constantinople, where he made a great display of his wealth and
+magnificence. At the time of the grand procession, for example, by which
+he entered the city of Constantinople, he rode a mule, which, besides
+being gorgeously caparisoned, had shoes of gold instead of iron; and
+these shoes were purposely attached so slightly to the hoofs, that they
+were shaken off as the animal walked along, to be picked up by the
+populace. This was to impress them with grand ideas of the rider's
+wealth and splendor. After leaving Constantinople, Robert resumed his
+pilgrim's garb, and went on toward the Holy Land.
+
+The journey, however, did not pass without the usual vicissitudes of so
+long an absence and so distant a pilgrimage. At one time Robert was
+sick, and, after lingering for some time in a fever, he so far recovered
+his strength as to be borne on a litter by the strength of other men,
+though he could not advance himself, either on horseback or on foot; and
+as for traveling carriages, there had been no such invention in those
+days. They made arrangements, therefore, for carrying the duke on a
+litter. There were sixteen Moorish slaves employed to serve as his
+bearers. This company was divided into sets, four in each, the several
+sets taking the burden in rotation. Robert and his attendant knights
+looked down with great contempt on these black pagan slaves. One day the
+cavalcade was met by a Norman who was returning home to Normandy after
+having accomplished his pilgrimage. He asked Duke Robert if he had any
+message to send to his friends at home. "Yes," said he; "tell them you
+saw me here, on my way to Paradise, carried by sixteen _demons_."
+
+Robert reached Jerusalem, and set out on his return; and soon after
+rumors came back to Paris that he had died on his way home. The accounts
+of the manner of his death were contradictory and uncertain; but the
+fact was soon made sure, and the news produced every where a great
+sensation. It soon appeared that the brothers and cousins of Robert, who
+had claimed the right to succeed him in preference to his son William,
+had only suspended their claims--they had not abandoned them. They began
+to gather their forces, each in his own separate domain, and to prepare
+to take the field, if necessary, in vindication of what they considered
+their rights to the inheritance. In a word, their oaths of fealty to
+William were all forgotten, and each claimant was intent only on getting
+possession himself of the ducal crown.
+
+In the mean time, William himself was at Paris, and only eleven years of
+age. He had been receiving a careful education there, and was a very
+prepossessing and accomplished young prince. Still, he was yet but a
+mere boy. He had been under the care of a military tutor, whose name
+was Theroulde. Theroulde was a veteran soldier, who had long been in
+the employ of the King of France. He took great interest in his young
+pupil's progress. He taught him to ride and to practice all the
+evolutions of horsemanship which were required by the tactics of those
+days. He trained him, too, in the use of arms, the bow and arrow, the
+javelin, the sword, the spear, and accustomed him to wear, and to
+exercise in, the armor of steel with which warriors were used, in those
+days, to load themselves in going into battle. Young princes like
+William had suits of this armor made for them, of small size, which they
+were accustomed to wear in private in their military exercises and
+trainings, and to appear in, publicly, on great occasions of state.
+These dresses of iron were of course very heavy and uncomfortable, but
+the young princes and dukes were, nevertheless, very proud and happy to
+wear them.
+
+While William was thus engaged in pursuing his military education in
+Paris, several competitors for his dukedom immediately appeared in
+Normandy and took the field. The strongest and most prominent among them
+was the Earl of Arques. His name was William too, but, to distinguish
+him from the young duke, we shall call him Arques. He was a brother of
+Robert, and maintained that, as Robert left no lawful heir, he was
+indisputably entitled to succeed him. Arques assembled his forces and
+prepared to take possession of the country.
+
+It will be recollected that Robert, when he left Normandy in setting out
+on his pilgrimage, had appointed a nobleman named Alan to act as regent,
+or governor of the country, until he should return; or, in case he
+should never return, until William should become of age. Alan had a
+council of officers, called the council of regency, with whose aid he
+managed the administration of the government. This council, with Alan at
+their head, proclaimed young William duke, and immediately began to act
+in his name. When they found that the Earl of Arques was preparing to
+seize the government, they began to assemble their forces also, and thus
+both sides prepared for war.
+
+Before they actually commenced hostilities, however, the pilgrim knights
+who had accompanied Robert on his pilgrimage, and who had been
+journeying home slowly by themselves ever since their leader's death,
+arrived in Normandy. These were chieftains and nobles of high rank and
+influence, and each of the contending parties were eager to have them
+join their side. Besides the actual addition of force which these men
+could bring to the cause they should espouse, the moral support they
+would give to it was a very important consideration. Their having been
+on this long and dangerous pilgrimage invested them with a sort of
+romantic and religious interest in the minds of all the people, who
+looked up to them, in consequence of it, with a sort of veneration and
+awe; and then, as they had been selected by Robert to accompany him on
+his pilgrimage, and had gone on the long and dangerous journey with him,
+continuing to attend upon him until he died, they were naturally
+regarded as his most faithful and confidential friends. For these and
+similar reasons, it was obvious that the cause which they should espouse
+in the approaching contest would gain a large accession of moral power
+by their adhesion.
+
+As soon as they arrived in Normandy, rejecting all proposals from other
+quarters, they joined young William's cause with the utmost promptitude
+and decision. Alan received them at once into his councils. An assembly
+was convened, and the question was discussed whether William should be
+sent for to come to Normandy. Some argued that he was yet a mere boy,
+incapable of rendering them any real service in the impending contest,
+while he would be exposed, more perhaps than they themselves, to be
+taken captive or slain. They thought it best, therefore, that he should
+remain, for the present, in Paris, under the protection of the French
+king.
+
+Others, on the other hand, contended that the influence of William's
+presence, boy as he was, would animate and inspire all his followers,
+and awaken every where, throughout the country, a warm interest in his
+cause; that his very tenderness and helplessness would appeal strongly
+to every generous heart, and that his youthful accomplishments and
+personal charms would enlist thousands in his favor, who would forget,
+and perhaps abandon him, if he kept away. Besides, it was by no means
+certain that he was so safe as some might suppose in King Henry's
+custody and power. King Henry might himself lay claims to the vacant
+duchy, with a view of bestowing it upon some favorite of his own, in
+which case he might confine young William in one of his castles, in an
+honorable, but still rigid and hopeless captivity, or treacherously
+destroy his life by the secret administration of poison.
+
+These latter counsels prevailed. Alan and the nobles who were with him
+sent an embassage to the court of King Henry to bring William home.
+Henry made objections and difficulties. This alarmed the nobles. They
+feared that it would prove true that Henry himself had designs on
+Normandy. They sent a new embassage, with demands more urgent than
+before. Finally, after some time spent in negotiations and delays, King
+Henry concluded to yield, and William set out on his return. He was now
+about twelve or thirteen years old. His military tutor, Theroulde,
+accompanied him, and he was attended likewise by the embassadors whom
+Alan had sent for him, and by a strong escort for his protection by the
+way. He arrived in safety at Alan's head-quarters.
+
+William's presence in Normandy had the effect which had been anticipated
+from it. It awakened every where a great deal of enthusiasm in his
+favor. The soldiers were pleased to see how handsome their young
+commander was in form, and how finely he could ride. He was, in fact, a
+very superior equestrian for one so young. He was more fond, even, than
+other boys of horses; and as, of course, the most graceful and the
+fleetest horses which could be found were provided for him, and as
+Theroulde had given him the best and most complete instruction, he made
+a fine display as he rode swiftly through the camp, followed by veteran
+nobles, splendidly dressed and mounted, and happy to be in his train,
+while his own countenance beamed with a radiance in which native
+intelligence and beauty were heightened by the animation and excitement
+of pride and pleasure. In respect to the command of the army, of course
+the real power remained in Alan's hands, but every thing was done in
+William's name; and in respect to all external marks and symbols of
+sovereignty, the beautiful boy seemed to possess the supreme command;
+and as the sentiment of loyalty is always the strongest when the object
+which calls for the exercise of it is most helpless or frail, Alan found
+his power very much increased when he had this beautiful boy to exhibit
+as the true and rightful heir, in whose name and for whose benefit all
+his power was held.
+
+Still, however, the country was very far from becoming settled. The Earl
+of Arques kept the field, and other claimants, too, strengthened
+themselves in their various castles and towns, as if preparing to
+resist. In those days, every separate district of the country was almost
+a separate realm, governed by its own baron, who lived, with his
+retainers, within his own castle walls, and ruled the land around him
+with a rod of iron. These barons were engaged in perpetual quarrels
+among themselves, each plundering the dominions of the rest, or making
+hostile incursions into the territories of a neighbor to revenge some
+real or imaginary wrong. This turbulence and disorder prevailed every
+where throughout Normandy at the time of William's return. In the
+general confusion, William's government scarcely knew who were his
+friends or his enemies. At one time, when a deputation was sent to some
+of the barons in William's name, summoning them to come with their
+forces and join his standard, as they were in duty bound to do, they
+felt independent enough to send back word to him that they had "too much
+to do in settling their own quarrels to be able to pay any attention to
+his."
+
+In the course of a year or two, moreover, and while his own realm
+continued in this unsettled and distracted state, William became
+involved in what was almost a quarrel with King Henry himself. When he
+was fifteen years old, which was two or three years after his return
+from Paris to Normandy, Henry sent directions to William to come to a
+certain town, called Evreux, situated about half way between Falaise and
+Paris, and just within the confines of Normandy,[D] to do homage to him
+there for his duchy. There was some doubt among William's counselors
+whether it would be most prudent to obey or disobey this command. They
+finally concluded that it was best to obey. Grand preparations were
+accordingly made for the expedition; and, when all was ready, the young
+duke was conducted in great state, and with much pomp and parade, to
+meet his sovereign.
+
+[Footnote D: See map at the commencement of chapter ix.]
+
+The interview between William and his sovereign, and the ceremonies
+connected with it, lasted some days. In the course of this time, William
+remained at Evreux, and was, in some sense, of course, in Henry's power.
+William, having been so long in Henry's court as a mere boy, accustomed
+all the time to look up to and obey Henry as a father, regarded him
+somewhat in that light now, and approached him with great deference and
+respect. Henry received him in a somewhat haughty and imperious manner,
+as if he considered him still under the same subjection as heretofore.
+
+William had a fortress or castle on the frontiers of his dukedom, toward
+Henry's dominions. The name of the castle was Tellières, and the
+governor of it was a faithful old soldier named De Crespin. William's
+father, Robert, had intrusted De Crespin with the command of the castle,
+and given him a garrison to defend it. Henry now began to make complaint
+to William in respect to this castle. The garrison, he said, were
+continually making incursions into his dominions. William replied that
+he was very sorry that there was cause for such a complaint. He would
+inquire into it, and if the fact were really so, he would have the evil
+immediately corrected. Henry replied that that was not sufficient. "You
+must deliver up the castle to me," he said, "to be destroyed." William
+was indignant at such a demand; but he was so accustomed to obey
+implicitly whatever King Henry might require of him, that he sent the
+order to have the castle surrendered.
+
+When, however, the order came to De Crespin, the governor of the castle,
+he refused to obey it. The fortress, he said, had been committed to his
+charge by Robert, duke of Normandy, and he should not give it up to the
+possession of any foreign power. When this answer was reported to
+William and his counselors, it made them still more indignant than
+before at the domineering tyranny of the command, and more disposed than
+ever to refuse obedience to it. Still William was in a great measure in
+the monarch's power. On cool reflection, they perceived that resistance
+would then be vain. New and more authoritative orders were accordingly
+issued for the surrender of the castle. De Crespin now obeyed. He gave
+up the keys and withdrew with his garrison. William was then allowed to
+leave Evreux and return home, and soon afterward the castle was razed to
+the ground.
+
+This affair produced, of course, a great deal of animosity and
+irritation between the governments of France and Normandy; and where
+such a state of feeling exists between two powers separated only by an
+imaginary line running through a populous and fertile country,
+aggressions from one side and from the other are sure to follow. These
+are soon succeeded by acts of retaliation and revenge, leading, in the
+end, to an open and general war. It was so now. Henry marched his
+armies into Normandy, seized towns, destroyed castles, and, where he was
+resisted by the people, he laid waste the country with fire and sword.
+He finally laid siege to the very castle of Falaise.
+
+William and his government were for a time nearly overwhelmed with the
+tide of disaster and calamity. The tide turned, however, at length, and
+the fortune of war inclined in their favor. William rescued the town and
+castle of Falaise; it was in a very remarkable manner, too, that this
+exploit was accomplished. The fortress was closely invested with Henry's
+forces, and was on the very eve of being surrendered. The story is, that
+Henry had offered bribes to the governor of the castle to give it up to
+him, and that the governor had agreed to receive them and to betray his
+trust. While he was preparing to do so, William arrived at the head of a
+resolute and determined band of Normans. They came with so sudden an
+onset upon the army of besiegers as to break up their camp and force
+them to abandon the siege. The people of the town and the garrison of
+the castle were extremely rejoiced to be thus rescued, and when they
+came to learn through whose instrumentality they had been saved, and
+saw the beautiful horseman whom they remembered as a gay and happy
+child playing about the precincts of the castle, they were perfectly
+intoxicated with delight. They filled the air with the wildest
+acclamations, and welcomed William back to the home of his childhood
+with manifestations of the most extravagant joy. As to the traitorous
+governor, he was dealt with very leniently. Perhaps the general feeling
+of joy awakened emotions of leniency and forgiveness in William's
+mind--or perhaps the proof against the betrayer was incomplete. They did
+not, therefore, take his life, which would have been justly forfeited,
+according to the military ideas of the times, if he had been really
+guilty. They deprived him of his command, confiscated his property, and
+let him go free.
+
+After this, William's forces continued for some time to make head
+successfully against those of the King of France; but then, on the other
+hand, the danger from his uncle, the Earl of Arques, increased. The earl
+took advantage of the difficulty and danger in which William was
+involved in his contests with King Henry, and began to organize his
+forces again. He fortified himself in his castle at Arques,[E] and was
+collecting a large force there. Arques was in the northeastern part of
+Normandy, near the sea, where the ruins of the ancient castle still
+remain. The earl built an almost impregnable tower for himself on the
+summit of the rock on which the castle stood, in a situation so
+inaccessible that he thought he could retreat to it in any emergency,
+with a few chosen followers, and bid defiance to any assault. In and
+around this castle the earl had got quite a large army together. William
+advanced with his forces, and, encamping around them, shut them in. King
+Henry, who was then in a distant part of Normandy, began to put his army
+in motion to come to the rescue of Arques.
+
+[Footnote E: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+Things being in this state, William left a strong body of men to
+continue the investment and siege of Arques, and went off himself, at
+the head of the remainder of his force, to intercept Henry on his
+advance. The result was a battle and a victory, gained under
+circumstances so extraordinary, that William, young as he was, acquired
+by his exploits a brilliant and universal renown.
+
+It seems that Henry, in his progress to Arques, had to pass through a
+long and gloomy valley, which was bounded on either side by precipitous
+and forest-covered hills. Through this dangerous defile the long train
+of Henry's army was advancing, arranged and marshaled in such an order
+as seemed to afford the greatest hope of security in case of an attack.
+First came the vanguard, a strong escort, formed of heavy bodies of
+soldiery, armed with battle-axes and pikes, and other similar weapons,
+the most efficient then known. Immediately after this vanguard came a
+long train of baggage, the tents, the provisions, the stores, and all
+the munitions of war. The baggage was followed by a great company of
+servants--the cooks, the carters, the laborers, the camp followers of
+every description--a throng of non-combatants, useless, of course, in a
+battle, and a burden on a march, and yet the inseparable and
+indispensable attendant of an army, whether at rest or in motion. After
+this throng came the main body of the army, with the king, escorted by
+his guard of honor, at the head of it. An active and efficient corps of
+lancers and men-at-arms brought up the rear.
+
+William conceived the design of drawing this cumbrous and unmanageable
+body into an ambuscade. He selected, accordingly, the narrowest and most
+dangerous part of the defile for the purpose, and stationed vast
+numbers of Norman soldiers, armed with javelins and arrows, upon the
+slopes of the hill on either side, concealing them all carefully among
+the thickets and rocks. He then marshaled the remainder of his forces
+in the valley, and sent them up the valley to meet Henry as he was
+descending. This body of troops, which was to advance openly to meet the
+king, as if they constituted the whole of William's force, were to fight
+a pretended battle with the vanguard, and then to retreat, in hopes to
+draw the whole train after them in a pursuit so eager as to throw them
+into confusion; and then, when the column, thus disarranged, should
+reach the place of ambuscade, the Normans were to come down upon them
+suddenly from their hiding-places, and complete their discomfiture.
+
+The plan was well laid, and wisely and bravely executed; and it was most
+triumphantly successful in its result. The vanguard of Henry's army were
+deceived by the pretended flight of the Norman detachment. They
+supposed, too, that it constituted the whole body of their enemies. They
+pressed forward, therefore, with great exultation and eagerness to
+pursue them. News of the attack, and of the apparent repulse with which
+the French soldiers had met it, passed rapidly along the valley,
+producing every where the wildest excitement, and an eager desire to
+press forward to the scene of conflict. The whole valley was filled with
+shouts and outcries; baggage was abandoned, that those who had charge of
+it might hurry on; men ran to and fro for tidings, or ascended eminences
+to try to see. Horsemen drove at full speed from front to rear, and from
+rear on to the front again; orders and counter orders were given, which
+nobody would understand or attend to in the general confusion and din.
+In fact, the universal attention seemed absorbed in one general and
+eager desire to press forward with headlong impetuosity to the scene of
+victory and pursuit which they supposed was enacting in the van.
+
+The army pressed on in this confused and excited manner until they
+reached the place of ambuscade. They went on, too, through this narrow
+passage, as heedlessly as ever; and, when the densest and most powerful
+portion of the column was crowding through, they were suddenly
+thunderstruck by the issuing of a thousand weapons from the heights and
+thickets above them on either hand--a dreadful shower of arrows,
+javelins, and spears, which struck down hundreds in a moment, and
+overwhelmed the rest with astonishment and terror. As soon as this first
+discharge had been effected, the concealed enemy came pouring down the
+sides of the mountain, springing out from a thousand hiding-places, as
+if suddenly brought into being by some magic power. The discomfiture of
+Henry's forces was complete and irremediable. The men fled every where
+in utter dismay, trampling upon and destroying one another, as they
+crowded back in terrified throngs to find some place of safety up the
+valley. There, after a day or two, Henry got together the scattered
+remains of his army, and established something like a camp.
+
+It is a curious illustration of the feudal feelings of those times in
+respect to the gradation of ranks, or else of the extraordinary modesty
+and good sense of William's character, that he assumed no airs of
+superiority over his sovereign, and showed no signs of extravagant
+elation after this battle. He sent a respectful embassage to Henry,
+recognizing his own acknowledged subjection to Henry as his sovereign,
+and imploring his protection! He looked confidently to him, he said, for
+aid and support against his rebellious subjects.
+
+Though he thus professed, however, to rely on Henry, he really trusted
+most, it seems, to his own right arm; for, as soon as this battle was
+fairly over, and while the whole country was excited with the
+astonishing brilliancy of the exploit performed by so young a man,
+William mounted his horse, and calling upon those to follow him who
+wished to do so, he rode at full speed, at the head of a small
+cavalcade, to the castle at Arques. His sudden appearance here, with the
+news of the victory, inspirited the besiegers to such a degree that the
+castle was soon taken. He allowed the rebel earl to escape, and thus,
+perhaps, all the more effectually put an end to the rebellion. He was
+now in peaceable possession of his realm.
+
+He went in triumph to Falaise, where he was solemnly crowned with great
+ceremony and parade, and all Normandy was filled with congratulations
+and rejoicings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WILLIAM'S REIGN IN NORMANDY.
+
+A.D. 1040-1060
+
+A lapse of twenty years.--Conspiracy of Guy of Burgundy.--The fool
+or jester.--Meetings of the conspirators.--Final plans of the
+conspirators.--Discovered by Galet.--Galet sets out in search of
+William.--He finds him asleep.--William's flight.--His narrow
+escape.--William is recognized.--Hubert's castle.--Hubert's
+sons.--Pursuit of the conspirators.--Defeat of the rebels.--Their
+punishment.--Curious incident.--Coats of armor.--Origin of
+heraldry.--Rollo de Tesson.--Keeping both oaths.--Changing
+sides.--Character of the ancient chieftains.--Their love of
+war.--Ancient castles.--Their interior construction.--Nothing
+respectable for the nobility but war.--Rebellions.--Insulting allusions
+to William's birth.--The ambuscade.--Its failure.--Insults of the
+garrison.--Indignation of William.--William's campaign in France.--His
+popularity.--William's prowess.--True nature of courage.--An
+ambuscade.--William's bravery.--William's victory.--Applause of the
+French army.--William firmly seated on his throne.--His new projects.
+
+
+From the time of William's obtaining quiet possession of his realm to
+his invasion of England, a long period intervened. There was a lapse of
+more than twenty years. During this long interval, William governed his
+duchy, suppressed insurrections, built castles and towns, carried on
+wars, regulated civil institutions, and, in fact, exercised, in a very
+energetic and successful manner, all the functions of government--his
+life being diversified all the time by the usual incidents which mark
+the career of a great military ruler of an independent realm in the
+Middle Ages. We will give in this chapter a description of some of these
+incidents.
+
+On one occasion a conspiracy was formed to take his life by secret
+assassination. A great chieftain, named Guy of Burgundy, William's
+uncle, was the leader of it, and a half-witted man, named Galet, who
+occupied the place of jester or fool in William's court, was the means
+of discovering and exposing it. These jesters, of whom there was always
+one or more in the retinue of every great prince in those days, were
+either very eccentric or very foolish, or half-insane men, who were
+dressed fantastically, in gaudy colors and with cap and bells, and were
+kept to make amusement for the court. The name of William's jester was
+Galet.
+
+Guy of Burgundy and his fellow-conspirators occupied certain gloomy
+castles, built in remote and lonely situations on the confines of
+Normandy. Here they were accustomed to assemble for the purpose
+of concocting their plans, and gathering their men and their
+resources--doing every thing in the most cunning and secret manner.
+Before their scheme was fully ripe for execution, it happened that
+William made a hunting excursion into the neighborhood of their
+territory with a small band of followers--such as would be naturally got
+together on such a party of pleasure. Galet, the fool, was among them.
+
+As soon as Guy and his fellow-conspirators learned that William was so
+near, they determined to precipitate the execution of their plan, and
+waylay and assassinate him on his return.
+
+They accordingly left their secret and lonely rendezvous among the
+mountains one by one, in order to avoid attracting observation, and
+went to a town called Bayeux, through which they supposed that William
+would have to pass on his return. Here they held secret consultations,
+and formed their final plans. They sent out a part of their number, in
+small bands, into the region of country which William would have to
+cross, to occupy the various roads and passes, and thus to cut off all
+possibility of his escape. They made all these arrangements in the most
+secret and cautious manner, and began to think that they were sure of
+their prey.
+
+It happened, however, that some of William's attendants, with Galet the
+fool among them, had preceded William on his return, and had reached
+Bayeux[F] at the time when the conspirators arrived there. The
+townspeople did not observe the coming of the conspirators particularly,
+as many horsemen and soldiers were coming and going at that time, and
+they had no means of distinguishing the duke's friends from his enemies;
+but Galet, as he sauntered about the town, noticed that there were many
+soldiers and knights to be seen who were not of his master's party.
+This attracted his attention; he began to watch the motions of these
+strangers, and to listen, without seeming to listen, in order to catch
+the words they spoke to each other as they talked in groups or passed
+one another in the streets. He was soon satisfied that some mischief
+was intended. He immediately threw aside his cap and bells, and his
+fantastic dress, and, taking a staff in his hand, he set off on foot to
+go back as fast as possible in search of the duke, and give him the
+alarm. He found the duke at a village called Valonges. He arrived there
+at night. He pressed forward hastily into his master's chamber, half
+forcing his way through the attendants, who, accustomed to the liberties
+which such a personage as he was accustomed to take on all occasions,
+made only a feeble resistance to his wishes. He found the duke asleep,
+and he called upon him with a very earnest voice to awake and arise
+immediately, for his life was in danger.
+
+[Footnote F: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+William was at first inclined to disbelieve the story which Galet told
+him, and to think that there was no cause to fear. He was, however, soon
+convinced that Galet was right, and that there was reason for alarm. He
+arose and dressed himself hastily; and, inasmuch as a monarch, in the
+first moments of the discovery of a treasonable plot, knows not whom to
+trust, William wisely concluded not to trust any body. He went himself
+to the stables, saddled his horse with his own hand, mounted him, and
+rode away. He had a very narrow escape; for, at the same time, while
+Galet was hastening to Valonges to give his master warning of his
+danger, the conspirators had been advancing to the same place, and had
+completely surrounded it; and they were on the eve of making an attack
+upon William's quarters at the very hour when he set out upon his
+flight. William had accordingly proceeded only a little way on his route
+before he heard the footsteps of galloping horses, and the clanking of
+arms, on the road behind him. It was a troop of the conspirators coming,
+who, finding that William had fled, had set off immediately in pursuit.
+William rode hastily into a wood, and let them go by.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM'S ESCAPE.]
+
+He remained for some time in his hiding-place, and then cautiously
+emerged from it to continue his way. He did not dare to keep the public
+road, although it was night, but took a wild and circuitous route, in
+lanes and bypaths, which conducted him, at length, to the vicinity of
+the sea. Here, about day-break, he was passing a mansion, supposing that
+no one would observe him at so early an hour, when, suddenly, he
+perceived a man sitting at the gate, armed and equipped, and in an
+attitude of waiting. He was waiting for his horse. He was a nobleman
+named Hubert. He recognized William immediately as the duke, and
+accosted him in a tone of astonishment, saying, "Why, my lord duke, is
+it possible that this is you?" He was amazed to see the ruler of the
+realm out at such an hour, in such a condition, alone, exhausted, his
+dress all in disorder from the haste with which he had put it on, and
+his steed breathless and covered with dust, and ready, apparently, to
+drop down with fatigue and exhaustion.
+
+William, finding that he was recognized, related his story. It appeared,
+in the end, that Hubert held his own castle and village as a tenant of
+one of the principal conspirators, and was bound, according to the
+feudal ideas of the time, to espouse his landlord's cause. He told
+William, however, that he had nothing to fear. "I will defend your
+life," said he, "as if it were my own." So saying, he called his three
+sons, who were all athletic and courageous young men, and commanded them
+to mount their horses and get ready for a march. He took William into
+his castle, and gave him the food and refreshment that he needed. Then
+he brought him again into the court-yard of the house, where William
+found the three young horsemen mounted and ready, and a strong and fleet
+steed prepared for himself. He mounted. Hubert commanded his sons to
+conduct the prince with all dispatch to Falaise, without traveling at
+all upon the highway or entering a town. They took, accordingly, a
+straight course across the country--which was probably then, as now,
+nearly destitute of inclosures--and conducted William safely to his
+castle at Falaise.
+
+In the course of the morning, William's pursuers came to Hubert's
+castle, and asked if the duke had been seen going by. Hubert replied in
+the affirmative, and he mounted his steed with great readiness to go and
+show them the road which the fugitive had taken. He urged them to ride
+hard, in hopes of soon overtaking the object of their pursuit. They
+drove on, accordingly, with great impetuosity and ardor, under Hubert's
+guidance; but, as he had purposely taken a wrong road, he was only
+leading them further and further astray. Finally they gave up the chase,
+and Hubert returned with the disappointed pursuers to his fortress,
+William having in the mean time arrived safely at Falaise.
+
+The conspirators now found that it was useless any longer to attempt to
+conceal their plans. In fact, they were already all exposed, and they
+knew that William would immediately summon his troops and come out to
+seize them. They must, therefore, either fly from the country or attempt
+an open rebellion. They decided on the latter--the result was a civil
+war. In the end, William was victorious. He took a large number of the
+rebels prisoners, and he adopted the following very singular plan for
+inflicting a suitable punishment upon them, and at the same time
+erecting a permanent monument of his victory. He laid out a public road
+across the country, on the line over which he had been conducted by the
+sons of Hubert, and compelled the rebels to make it. A great part of
+this country was low and marshy, and had been for this reason avoided by
+the public road, which took a circuitous course around it. The rebel
+prisoners were now, however, set at work to raise a terrace or
+embankment, on a line surveyed by William's engineers, which followed
+almost exactly the course of his retreat. The high road was then laid
+out upon this terrace, and it became immediately a public thoroughfare
+of great importance. It continued for several centuries one of the most
+frequented highways in the realm, and was known by the name of the
+Raised Road--_Terre levée_--throughout the kingdom. In fact, the remains
+of it, appearing like the ruins of an ancient rail-road embankment,
+exist to the present day.
+
+In the course of the war with these rebels a curious incident occurred
+at one of the battles, or, rather, is said to have occurred, by the
+historians who tell the story, which, if true, illustrates very
+strikingly the romantic and chivalrous ideas of the times. Just as the
+battle was commencing, William perceived a strong and finely-equipped
+body of horsemen preparing to charge upon the very spot where he
+himself, surrounded by his officers, was standing. Now the armor worn by
+knights in battle in those times covered and concealed the figure and
+the face so fully, that it would have been impossible even for
+acquaintances and friends to recognize each other, were it not that the
+knights were all accustomed to wear certain devices upon some part of
+their armor--painted, for instance, upon their shields, or embroidered
+on little banners which they bore--by means of which they might be
+known. These devices became at length hereditary in the great
+families--sons being proud to wear, themselves, the emblems to which the
+deeds of their fathers had imparted a trace of glory and renown. The
+devices of different chieftains were combined, sometimes, in cases of
+intermarriage, or were modified in various ways; and with these minor
+changes they would descend from generation to generation as the family
+coat of arms. And this was the origin of heraldry.
+
+Now the body of horsemen that were advancing to the charge, as above
+described, had each of them his device upon a little flag or banner
+attached to their lances. As they were advancing, William scrutinized
+them closely, and presently recognized in their leader a man who had
+formerly been upon his side. His name was Rollo de Tesson. He was one of
+those who had sworn fealty to him at the time when his father Robert
+presented him to the council, when setting out upon his pilgrimage.
+William accordingly exclaimed, with a loud voice, "Why, these are my
+friends!" The officers and the soldiers of the body-guard who were with
+him, taking up the cry, shouted "_Friends! friends!_" Rollo de Tesson
+and the other knights, who were slowly coming up, preparing to charge
+upon William's party, surprised at being thus accosted, paused in their
+advance, and finally halted. Rollo said to the other knights, who
+gathered around him, "I _was_ his friend. I gave my oath to his father
+that I would stand by him and defend him with my life; and now I have
+this morning sworn to the Count of Cotentin"--the Count of Cotentin was
+the leader of the rebellion--"that I would seek out William on the
+battle-field, and be the first to give him a blow. I know not what to
+do." "Keep both oaths," replied one of his companions. "Go and strike
+him a gentle blow, and then defend him with your life." The whole troop
+seconded this proposal by acclamation. Rollo advanced, followed by the
+other knights, with gestures and shouts denoting that they were friends.
+He rode up to William, told him that he had that morning sworn to strike
+him, and then dealt him a pretended blow upon his shoulder; but as both
+the shoulder and the hand which struck it were armed with steel, the
+clanking sound was all the effect that was produced. Rollo and his
+troop--their sworn obligation to the Count of Cotentin being thus
+fulfilled--turned now into the ranks of William's soldiery, and fought
+valiantly all day upon his side.
+
+Although William was generally victorious in the battles that he fought,
+and succeeded in putting down one rebellion after another with
+promptness and decision, still, new rebellions and new wars were
+constantly breaking out, which kept his dominions in a continual state
+of commotion. In fact, the chieftains, the nobles, and the knights,
+constituting the only classes of society that exercised any influence,
+or were regarded with any respect in those days, were never contented
+except when actively employed in military campaigns. The excitements and
+the glory of war were the only excitements and glory that they
+understood, or had the means of enjoying. Their dwellings were great
+fortresses, built on the summits of the rocks, which, however
+picturesque and beautiful they appear as _ruins_ now, were very gloomy
+and desolate as residences then. They were attractive enough when their
+inmates were flying to them for refuge from an enemy, or were employed
+within the walls in concentrating their forces and brightening up their
+arms for some new expedition for vengeance or plunder, but they were
+lonely and lifeless scenes of restlessness and discontent in times of
+quietness and peace.
+
+It is difficult for us, at this day, to conceive how destitute of all
+the ordinary means of comfort and enjoyment, in comparison with a modern
+dwelling, the ancient feudal castles must have been. They were placed in
+situations as nearly inaccessible as possible, and the natural
+impediments of approach were increased by walls, and gates, and ditches,
+and draw-bridges. The door of access was often a window in the wall, ten
+or fifteen feet from the ground, to which the inmates or their friends
+mounted by a ladder. The floors were of stone, the walls were naked, the
+ceiling was a rudely-constructed series of arches. The apartments, too,
+were ordinarily small, and were arranged one above another, in the
+successive stories of a tower. Nor could these cell-like chambers be
+enlivened by the wide and cheerful windows of modern times, which not
+only admit the light to animate the scene within, but also afford to the
+spectator there, wide-spread, and sometimes enchanting views of the
+surrounding country. The castle windows of ancient days were, on the
+contrary, narrow loop-holes, each at the bottom of a deep recess in the
+thick wall. If they had been made wide they would have admitted too
+easily the arrows and javelins of besiegers, as well as the wind and
+rain of wintery storms. There were no books in these desolate dwellings,
+no furniture but armor, no pleasures but drinking and carousals.
+
+Nor could these noble and valiant knights and barons occupy themselves
+in any useful employment. There was nothing which it was respectable for
+them to do but to fight. They looked down with contempt upon all the
+industrial pursuits of life. The cultivation of farms, the rearing of
+flocks and herds, arts, manufactures, and commerce--every thing of this
+sort, by which man can benefit his fellow-man, was entirely beneath
+them. In fact, their descendants to the present day, even in England,
+entertain the same ideas. Their younger sons can enter the army or the
+navy, and spend their lives in killing and destroying, or in awaiting,
+in idleness, dissipation, and vice, for orders to kill and destroy,
+without dishonor; but to engage in any way in those vast and magnificent
+operations of peaceful industry, on which the true greatness and glory
+of England depend, would be perpetual and irretrievable disgrace. A
+young nobleman can serve, in the most subordinate official capacity, on
+board a man-of-war, and take pay for it, without degradation; but to
+_build_ a man-of-war itself and take pay for it, would be to compel his
+whole class to disown him.
+
+It was in consequence of this state of feeling among the knights and
+barons of William's day that peace was always tedious and irksome to
+them, and they were never contented except when engaged in battles and
+campaigns. It was this feeling, probably, quite as much as any settled
+hostility to William's right to reign, that made his barons so eager to
+engage in insurrections and rebellions. There was, however, after all,
+a real and deep-seated opposition to William's right of succession,
+founded in the ideas of the day. They could not well endure that one of
+so humble and even ignominious birth, on the mother's side, should be
+the heir of so illustrious a line as the great dukes of Normandy.
+William's enemies were accustomed to designate him by opprobrious
+epithets, derived from the circumstances of his birth. Though he was
+patient and enduring, and often very generous in forgiving other
+injuries, these insults to the memory of his mother always stung him
+very deeply, and awakened the strongest emotions of resentment. One
+instance of this was so conspicuous that it is recorded in almost all
+the histories of William that have been written.
+
+It was in the midst of one of the wars in which he was involved, that
+he was advancing across the country to the attack of a strong castle,
+which, in addition to the natural strength of its walls and
+fortifications, was defended by a numerous and powerful garrison. So
+confident, in fact, were the garrison in their numbers and power, that
+when they heard that William was advancing to attack them, they sent out
+a detachment to meet him. This detachment, however, were not intending
+to give him open battle. Their plan was to lay in ambuscade, and attack
+William's troops when they came to the spot, and while they were unaware
+of the vicinity of an enemy, and off their guard.
+
+William, however, they found, was not off his guard. He attacked the
+ambuscade with so much vigor as to put the whole force immediately to
+flight. Of course the fugitives directed their steps toward the castle.
+William and his soldiers followed them in headlong pursuit. The end was,
+that the detachment from the garrison had scarcely time, after making
+good their own entrance, to raise the draw-bridges and secure the
+gates, so as to keep their pursuers from entering too. They did,
+however, succeed in doing this, and William, establishing his troops
+about the castle, opened his lines and commenced a regular siege.
+
+The garrison were very naturally vexed and irritated at the bad success
+of their intended stratagem. To have the ambuscade not only fail of its
+object, but to have also the men that formed it driven thus
+ignominiously in, and so narrowly escaping, also, the danger of letting
+in the whole troop of their enemies after them, was a great disgrace. To
+retaliate upon William, and to throw back upon him the feelings of
+mortification and chagrin which they felt themselves, they mounted the
+walls and towers, and shouted out all sorts of reproaches and insults.
+Finally, when they found that they could not make mere words
+sufficiently stinging, they went and procured skins and hides, and
+aprons of leather, and every thing else that they could find that was
+connected with the trade of a tanner, and shook them at the troops of
+their assailants from the towers and walls, with shouts of merriment and
+derision.
+
+William was desperately enraged at these insults. He organized an
+assaulting party, and by means of the great exertions which the
+exasperation of his men stimulated them to make, he carried some of the
+outworks, and took a number of prisoners. These prisoners he cut to
+pieces, and then caused their bloody and mangled limbs and members to
+be thrown, by great slings, over the castle walls.
+
+At one time during the period which is included within the limits of
+this chapter, and in the course of one of those intervals of peace and
+quietness within his own dominions which William sometimes enjoyed, the
+King of France became involved in a war with one of his own rebellious
+subjects, and William went, with an army of Normans, to render him aid.
+King Henry was at first highly gratified at this prompt and effectual
+succor, but he soon afterward began to feel jealous of the universal
+popularity and renown which the young duke began soon to acquire.
+William was at that time only about twenty-four years old, but he took
+the direction of every thing--moved to and fro with the utmost
+celerity--planned the campaigns--directed the sieges, and by his
+personal accomplishments and his bravery, he won all hearts, and was the
+subject of every body's praises. King Henry found himself supplanted,
+in some measure, in the regard and honorable consideration of his
+subjects, and he began to feel very envious and jealous of his rival.
+
+Sometimes particular incidents would occur, in which William's feats
+of prowess or dexterity would so excite the admiration of the army that
+he would be overwhelmed with acclamations and applause. These were
+generally exploits of combat on the field, or of escape from pursuers
+when outnumbered, in which good fortune had often, perhaps, quite as
+much to do in securing the result as strength or courage. But in those
+days a soldier's good luck was perhaps as much the subject of applause
+as his muscular force or his bravery; and, in fact, it was as deservedly
+so; for the strength of arm, and the coolness, or, rather, the ferocity
+of courage, which make a good combatant in personal contests on a
+battle-field, are qualities of brutes rather than of men. We feel a
+species of respect for them in the lion or tiger, but they deserve only
+execration when exercised in the wantonness of hatred and revenge by man
+against his brother man.
+
+One of the instances of William's extraordinary success was the
+following. He was reconnoitering the enemy on one occasion, accompanied
+only by four or five knights, who acted as his attendants and
+body-guard. The party were at a distance from the camp of the enemy, and
+supposed they were not observed. They were observed, however, and
+immediately a party of twelve chosen horsemen was formed, and ordered
+to ride out and surprise them. This detachment concealed themselves in
+an ambuscade, at a place where the reconnoitering party must pass, and
+when the proper moment arrived, they burst out suddenly upon them and
+summoned them to surrender. Twelve against six seemed to render both
+flight and resistance equally vain. William, however, advanced
+immediately to the attack of the ambuscaders. He poised his long lance,
+and, riding on with it at full speed, he unhorsed and killed the
+foremost of them at a blow. Then, just drawing back his weapon to gather
+strength for another blow, he killed the second of his enemies in the
+same manner. His followers were so much animated at this successful
+onset, that they advanced very resolutely to the combat. In the mean
+time, the shouts carried the alarm to William's camp, and a strong party
+set off to rescue William and his companions. The others then turned to
+fly, while William followed them so eagerly and closely, that he and
+they who were with him overtook and disabled seven of them, and made
+them prisoners. The rest escaped. William and his party then turned and
+began to proceed toward their own camp, conveying their prisoners in
+their train.
+
+They were met by King Henry himself at the head of a detachment of three
+hundred men, who, not knowing how much necessity there might be for
+efficient aid, were hastening to the scene of action. The sight of
+William coming home victorious, and the tales told by his companions of
+the invincible strength and daring which he had displayed in the sudden
+danger, awakened a universal enthusiasm, and the plaudits and encomiums
+with which the whole camp resounded were doubtless as delicious and
+intoxicating to him as they were bitter to the king.
+
+It was by such deeds, and by such personal and mental characteristics as
+these, that William, notwithstanding the untoward influences of his
+birth, fought his way, during the twenty years of which we have been
+speaking, into general favor, and established a universal renown. He
+completely organized and arranged the internal affairs of his own
+kingdom, and established himself firmly upon the ducal throne. His mind
+had become mature, his resources were well developed, and his soul,
+always ambitious and aspiring, began to reach forward to the grasping of
+some grander objects of pursuit, and to the entering upon some wider
+field of action than his duchy of Normandy could afford. During this
+interval, however, he was married; and, as the circumstances of his
+marriage were somewhat extraordinary, we must make that event the
+subject of a separate chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE MARRIAGE.
+
+A.D. 1045-1052
+
+Political importance of a royal marriage.--William's views in regard
+to his marriage.--His choice.--Matilda's genealogy.--Her relationship
+to William.--Matilda's accomplishments.--Her embroidery.--Matilda's
+industry.--The Bayeux tapestry.--The designs.--Uncouth
+drawing.--Preservation.--Elements of decay.--Great age of the Bayeux
+tapestry.--Specimens of the designs of the Bayeux tapestry.--Marriage
+negotiations.--Matilda's objections.--Matilda's refusal.--Her attachment
+to Brihtric.--Matilda's attachment not reciprocated.--Her thirst for
+revenge.--William and Matilda's consanguinity.--An obstacle to their
+marriage.--Negotiations with the pope.--Causes of delay.--William's
+quarrel with Matilda.--The reconciliation.--The marriage.--Rejoicings
+and festivities.--Residence at Rouen.--Ancient castles and
+palaces.--Matilda's palace.--Luxury and splendor.--Mauger, archbishop of
+Rouen.--William and Matilda excommunicated.--Lanfranc sent to negotiate
+with the pope.--His success.--Conditions of Lanfranc's treaty.--Their
+fulfillment.--William and Matilda's children.--Matilda's domestic
+character.--Objects of William's marriage.--Baldwin, Count of
+Flanders.--The blank letter.--Baldwin's surprise.
+
+
+One of the most important points which an hereditary potentate has to
+attend to, in completing his political arrangements, is the question of
+his marriage. Until he has a family and an heir, men's minds are
+unsettled in respect to the succession, and the various rival candidates
+and claimants to the throne are perpetually plotting and intriguing to
+put themselves into a position to spring at once into his place if
+sickness, or a battle, or any sudden accident should take him away. This
+evil was more formidable than usual in the case of William, for the men
+who were prepared to claim his place when he was dead were all secretly
+or openly maintaining that their right to it was superior to his while
+he was living. This gave a double intensity to the excitement with which
+the public was perpetually agitated in respect to the crown, and kept
+the minds of the ambitious and the aspiring, throughout William's
+dominions, in a continual fever. It was obvious that a great part of
+the cause of this restless looking for change and consequent planning to
+promote it would be removed if William had a son.
+
+It became, therefore, an important matter of state policy that the duke
+should be married. In fact, the barons and military chieftains who were
+friendly to him urged this measure upon him, on account of the great
+effect which they perceived it would have in settling the minds of the
+people of the country and consolidating his power. William accordingly
+began to look around for a wife. It appeared, however, in the end, that,
+though policy was the main consideration which first led him to
+contemplate marriage, love very probably exercised an important
+influence in determining his choice of the lady; at all events, the
+object of his choice was an object worthy of love. She was one of the
+most beautiful and accomplished princesses in Europe.
+
+She was the daughter of a great potentate who ruled over the country of
+Flanders. Flanders lies upon the coast, east of Normandy, beyond the
+frontiers of France, and on the southern shore of the German Ocean. Her
+father's title was the Earl of Flanders. He governed his dominions,
+however, like a sovereign, and was at the head of a very effective
+military power. His family, too, occupied a very high rank, and enjoyed
+great consideration among the other princes and potentates of Europe. It
+had intermarried with the royal family of England, so that Matilda, the
+daughter of the earl, whom William was disposed to make his bride, was
+found, by the genealogists, who took great interest in those days in
+tracing such connections, to have descended in a direct line from the
+great English king, Alfred himself.
+
+This relationship, by making Matilda's birth the more illustrious,
+operated strongly in favor of the match, as a great part of the motive
+which William had in view, in his intended marriage, was to aggrandize
+and strengthen his own position, by the connection which he was about to
+form. There was, however, another consanguinity in the case which had a
+contrary tendency. Matilda's father had been connected with the Norman
+as well as with the English line, and Matilda and William were in some
+remote sense cousins. This circumstance led, in the sequel, as will
+presently be seen, to serious difficulty and trouble.
+
+Matilda was seven years younger than William. She was brought up
+in her father's court, and famed far and wide for her beauty and
+accomplishments. The accomplishments in which ladies of high rank sought
+to distinguish themselves in those days were two, music and embroidery.
+The embroidery of tapestry was the great attainment, and in this art the
+young Matilda acquired great skill. The tapestry which was made in the
+Middle Ages was used to hang against the walls of some of the more
+ornamented rooms in royal palaces and castles, to hide the naked surface
+of the stones of which the building was constructed. The cloths thus
+suspended were at first plain, afterward they began to be ornamented
+with embroidered borders or other decorations, and at length ladies
+learned to employ their own leisure hours, and beguile the tedium of the
+long confinement which many of them had to endure within their castles,
+in embroidering various devices and designs on the hangings intended for
+their own chambers, or to execute such work as presents for their
+friends. Matilda's industry and skill in this kind of work were
+celebrated far and wide.
+
+The accomplishments which ladies take great pains to acquire in their
+early years are sometimes, it is said, laid almost entirely aside after
+their marriage; not necessarily because they are then less desirous to
+please, but sometimes from the abundance of domestic duty, which allows
+them little time, and sometimes from the pressure of their burdens of
+care or sorrow, which leave them no heart for the occupations of
+amusement or gayety. It seems not to have been so in Matilda's case,
+however. She resumed her needle often during the years of her wedded
+life, and after William had accomplished his conquest of England, she
+worked upon a long linen web, with immense labor, a series of designs
+illustrating the various events and incidents of his campaign, and the
+work has been preserved to the present day.
+
+At least there is such a web now existing in the ancient town of Bayeux,
+in Normandy, which has been there from a period beyond the memory of
+men, and which tradition says was worked by Matilda. It would seem,
+however, that if she did it at all, she must have done it "as Solomon
+built the temple--with a great deal of help;" for this famous piece of
+embroidery, which has been celebrated among all the historians and
+scholars of the world for several hundred years by the name of the
+_Bayeux Tapestry_, is over four hundred feet long, and nearly two feet
+wide. The wet is of linen, while the embroidery is of woolen. It was all
+obviously executed with the needle, and was worked with infinite labor
+and care. The woolen thread which was used was of various colors, suited
+to represent the different objects in the design, though these colors
+are, of course, now much tarnished and faded.
+
+The designs themselves are very simple and even rude, evincing very
+little knowledge of the principles of modern art. The specimens on the
+following page, of engravings made from them, will give some idea of the
+childish style of delineation which characterizes all Matilda's designs.
+Childish, however, as such a style of drawing would be considered now,
+it seems to have been, in Matilda's days, very much praised and admired.
+
+[Illustration: PLOWING. From the Bayeux tapestry.]
+
+[Illustration: SOWING. From the Bayeux tapestry.]
+
+We often have occasion to observe, in watching the course of human
+affairs, the frailty and transitoriness of things apparently most
+durable and strong. In the case of this embroidery, on the contrary, we
+are struck with the durability and permanence of what would seem to be
+most frail and fleeting. William's conquest of England took place in
+1066. This piece of tapestry, therefore, if Matilda really worked it,
+is about eight hundred years old. And when we consider how delicate,
+slender, and frail is the fibre of a linen thread, and that the various
+elements of decay, always busy in the work of corrupting and destroying
+the works of man, have proved themselves powerful enough to waste away
+and crumble into ruin the proudest structures which he has ever
+attempted to rear, we are amazed that these slender filaments have been
+able to resist their action so long. The Bayeux tapestry has lasted
+nearly a thousand years. It will probably last for a thousand years to
+come. So that the vast and resistless power, which destroyed Babylon and
+Troy, and is making visible progress in the work of destroying the
+Pyramids, is foiled by the durability of a piece of needle-work,
+executed by the frail and delicate fingers of a woman.
+
+We may have occasion to advert to the Bayeux tapestry again, when we
+come to narrate the exploits which it was the particular object of this
+historical embroidery to illustrate and adorn. In the mean time, we
+return to our story.
+
+The matrimonial negotiations of princes and princesses are always
+conducted in a formal and ceremonious manner, and through the
+intervention of legates, embassadors, and commissioners without number,
+who are, of course, interested in protracting the proceedings, so as to
+prolong, as much as possible, their own diplomatic importance and power.
+Besides these accidental and temporary difficulties, it soon appeared
+that there were, in this case, some real and very formidable obstacles,
+which threatened for a time entirely to frustrate the scheme.
+
+Among these difficulties there was one which was not usually, in such
+cases, considered of much importance, but which, in this instance,
+seemed for a long time to put an effectual bar to William's wishes, and
+that was the aversion which the young princess herself felt for the
+match. She could have, one would suppose, no personal feeling of
+repugnance against William, for he was a tall and handsome cavalier,
+highly graceful and accomplished, and renowned for his bravery and
+success in war. He was, in every respect, such a personage as would be
+most likely to captivate the imagination of a maiden princess in those
+warlike times. Matilda, however, made objections to his birth. She could
+not consider him as the legitimate descendant and heir of the dukes of
+Normandy. It is true, he was then in possession of the throne, but he
+was regarded by a large portion of the most powerful chieftains in his
+realm as a usurper. He was liable, at any time, on some sudden change of
+fortune, to be expelled from his dominions. His position, in a word,
+though for the time being very exalted, was too precarious and unstable,
+and his personal claims to high social rank were too equivocal, to
+justify her trusting her destiny in his hands. In a word, Matilda's
+answer to William's proposals was an absolute refusal to become his
+wife.
+
+These ostensible grounds, however, on which Matilda based her refusal,
+plausible as they were, were not the real and true ones. The secret
+motive was another attachment which she had formed. There had been sent
+to her father's court in Flanders, from the English king, a young Saxon
+embassador, whose name was Brihtric. Brihtric remained some little time
+at the court in Flanders, and Matilda, who saw him often at the various
+entertainments, celebrations, and parties of pleasure which were
+arranged for his amusement, conceived a strong attachment to him. He was
+of a very fair complexion, and his features were expressive and
+beautiful. He was a noble of high position in England, though, of
+course, his rank was inferior to that of Matilda. As it would have been
+deemed hardly proper for him, under the circumstances of the case, to
+have aspired to the princess's hand, on account of the superiority of
+her social position, Matilda felt that it was her duty to make known her
+sentiments to him, and thus to open the way. She did so; but she found,
+unhappy maiden, that Brihtric did not feel, himself, the love which he
+had inspired in her, and all the efforts and arts to which she was
+impelled by the instinct of affection proved wholly unavailing to call
+it forth. Brihtric, after fulfilling the object of his mission, took
+leave of Matilda coldly, while _her_ heart was almost breaking, and went
+away.
+
+As the sweetest wine transforms itself into the sharpest vinegar, so the
+warmest and most ardent love turns, when it turns at all, to the most
+bitter and envenomed hate. Love gave place soon in Matilda's heart to
+indignation, and indignation to a burning thirst for revenge. The
+intensity of the first excitement subsided; but Matilda never forgot and
+never forgave the disappointment and the indignity which she had
+endured. She had an opportunity long afterward to take terrible revenge
+on Brihtric in England, by subjecting him to cruelties and hardships
+there which brought him to his grave.
+
+In the mean time, while her thoughts were so occupied with this
+attachment, she had, of course, no heart to listen favorably to
+William's proposals. Her friends would have attached no importance to
+the real cause of her aversion to the match, but they felt the force of
+the objections which could justly be advanced against William's rank,
+and his real right to his throne. Then the consanguinity of the parties
+was a great source of embarrassment and trouble. Persons as nearly
+related to each other as they were, were forbidden by the Roman Catholic
+rules to marry. There was such a thing as getting a dispensation from
+the pope, by which the marriage would be authorized. William accordingly
+sent embassadors to Rome to negotiate this business. This, of course,
+opened a new field for difficulties and delays.
+
+The papal authorities were accustomed, in such cases, to exact as the
+price, or, rather, as the condition of their dispensation, some grant or
+beneficial conveyance from the parties interested, to the Church, such
+as the foundation of an abbey or a monastery, the building of a chapel,
+or the endowment of a charity, by way as it were, of making amends to
+the Church, by the benefit thus received, for whatever injury the cause
+of religion and morality might sustain by the relaxation of a divine
+law. Of course, this being the end in view, the tendency on the part of
+the authorities at Rome would be to protract the negotiations, so as
+to obtain from the suitor's impatience better terms in the end. The
+embassadors and commissioners, too, on William's part, would have no
+strong motive for hastening the proceedings. Rome was an agreeable
+place of residence, and to live there as the embassador of a royal duke
+of Normandy was to enjoy a high degree of consideration, and to be
+surrounded continually by scenes of magnificence and splendor. Then,
+again, William himself was not always at leisure to urge the business
+forward by giving it his own close attention; for, during the period
+while these negotiations were pending, he was occupied, from time to
+time, with foreign wars, or in the suppression of rebellions among his
+barons. Thus, from one cause and another, it seemed as if the business
+would never come to an end.
+
+In fact, a less resolute and determined man than William would have
+given up in despair, for it was seven years, it is said, before the
+affair was brought to a conclusion. One story is told of the impetuous
+energy which William manifested in this suit, which seems almost
+incredible.
+
+It was after the negotiations had been protracted for several years,
+and at a time when the difficulties were principally those arising
+from Matilda's opposition, that the occurrence took place. It was at
+an interview which William had with Matilda in the streets of Bruges,
+one of her father's cities. All that took place at the interview is not
+known, but in the end of it William's resentment at Matilda's treatment
+of him lost all bounds. He struck her or pushed her so violently as
+to throw her down upon the ground. It is said that he struck her
+repeatedly, and then, leaving her with her clothes all soiled and
+disheveled, rode off in a rage. Love quarrels are often the means of
+bringing the contending parties nearer together than they were before,
+but such a terrible love quarrel as this, we hope, is very rare.
+
+Violent as it was, however, it was followed by a perfect reconciliation,
+and in the end all obstacles were removed, and William and Matilda were
+married. The event took place in 1052.
+
+The marriage ceremony was performed at one of William's castles, on the
+frontiers of Normandy, as it is customary for princes and kings to be
+married always in their own dominions. Matilda was conducted there with
+great pomp and parade by her parents, and was accompanied by a large
+train of attendants and friends. This company, mounted--both knights and
+ladies--on horses beautifully caparisoned, moved across the country like
+a little army on a march, or rather like a triumphal procession
+escorting a queen. Matilda was received at the castle with distinguished
+honor, and the marriage celebrations, and the entertainments
+accompanying it, were continued for several days. It was a scene of
+unusual festivity and rejoicing.
+
+The dress both of William and Matilda, on this occasion, was very
+specially splendid. She wore a mantle studded with the most costly
+jewels; and, in addition to the other splendors of his dress, William
+too wore a mantle and a helmet, both of which were richly adorned with
+the same costly decorations. So much importance was attached, in those
+days, to this outward show, and so great was the public interest taken
+in it, that these dresses of William and Matilda, with all the jewelry
+that adorned them, were deposited afterward in the great church at
+Bayeux, where they remained a sort of public spectacle, the property of
+the Church, for nearly five hundred years.
+
+From the castle of Augi, where the marriage ceremonies were performed,
+William proceeded, after these first festivities and rejoicings were
+over, to the great city of Rouen, conducting his bride thither with
+great pomp and parade. Here the young couple established themselves,
+living in the enjoyment of every species of luxury and splendor which
+were attainable in those days. As has already been said, the interiors,
+even of royal castles and palaces, presented but few of the comforts and
+conveniences deemed essential to the happiness of a home in modern
+times. The European ladies of the present day delight in their suites of
+retired and well-furnished apartments, adorned with velvet carpets, and
+silken curtains, and luxuriant beds of down, with sofas and couches
+adapted to every fancy which the caprice of fatigue or restlessness may
+assume, and cabinets stored with treasures, and libraries of embellished
+books--the whole scene illuminated by the splendor of gas-lights, whose
+brilliancy is reflected by mirrors and candelabras, sparkling with a
+thousand hues. Matilda's feudal palace presented no such scenes as
+these. The cold stone floors were covered with mats of rushes. The
+walls--if the naked masonry was hidden at all--were screened by hangings
+of coarse tapestry, ornamented with uncouth and hideous figures. The
+beds were miserable pallets, the windows were loop-holes, and the castle
+itself had all the architectural characteristics of a prison.
+
+Still, there was a species of luxury and splendor even then. Matilda had
+splendid horses to ride, all magnificently caparisoned. She had dresses
+adorned most lavishly with gold and jewels. There were troops of valiant
+knights, all glittering in armor of steel, to escort her on her
+journeys, and accompany and wait upon her on her excursions of pleasure;
+and there were grand banquets and carousals, from time to time, in the
+long castle hall, with tournaments, and races, and games, and other
+military shows, conducted with great parade and pageantry. Matilda thus
+commenced her married life in luxury and splendor.
+
+In luxury and splendor, but not in peace. William had an uncle, whose
+name was Mauger. He was the Archbishop of Rouen, and was a dignitary
+of great influence and power. Now it was, of course, the interest of
+William's relatives that he should not be married, as every increase of
+probability that his crown would descend to direct heirs diminished
+their future chances of the succession, and of course undermined their
+present importance. Mauger had been very much opposed to this match,
+and had exerted himself in every way, while the negotiations were
+pending, to impede and delay them. The point which he most strenuously
+urged was the consanguinity of the parties, a point to which it was
+incumbent on him, as he maintained--being the head of the Church in
+Normandy--particularly to attend. It seems that, notwithstanding
+William's negotiations with the pope to obtain a dispensation, the
+affair was not fully settled at Rome before the marriage; and very soon
+after the celebration of the nuptials, Mauger fulminated an edict of
+excommunication against both William and Matilda, for intermarrying
+within the degrees of relationship which the canons of the Church
+proscribed.
+
+An excommunication, in the Middle Ages, was a terrible calamity. The
+person thus condemned was made, so far as such a sentence could effect
+it, an outcast from man, and a wretch accursed of Heaven. The most
+terrible denunciations were uttered against him, and in the case of a
+prince, like that of William, his subjects were all absolved from their
+allegiance, and forbidden to succor or defend him. A powerful potentate
+like William could maintain himself for a time against the influence and
+effects of such a course, but it was pretty sure to work more and more
+strongly against him through the superstitions of the people, and to
+wear him out in the end.
+
+William resolved to appeal at once to the pope, and to effect, by some
+means or other, the object of securing his dispensation. There was a
+certain monk, then obscure and unknown, but who afterward became a very
+celebrated public character, named Lanfranc, whom, for some reason or
+other, William supposed to possess the necessary qualifications for this
+mission. He accordingly gave him his instructions and sent him away.
+Lanfranc proceeded to Rome, and there he managed the negotiation with
+the pope so dexterously as soon to bring it to a conclusion.
+
+The arrangement which he made was this. The pope was to grant the
+dispensation and confirm the marriage, thus removing the sentence of
+excommunication which the Archbishop Mauger had pronounced, on
+condition that William should build and endow a hospital for a hundred
+poor persons, and also erect two abbeys, one to be built by himself, for
+monks, and one by Matilda, for nuns. Lanfranc agreed to these conditions
+on the part of William and Matilda, and they, when they came to be
+informed of them, accepted and confirmed them with great joy. The ban of
+excommunication was removed; all Normandy acquiesced in the marriage,
+and William and Matilda proceeded to form the plans and to superintend
+the construction of the abbeys.
+
+They selected the city of Caen for the site. The place of this city will
+be seen marked upon the map near the northern coast of Normandy.[G] It
+was situated in a broad and pleasant valley, at the confluence of two
+rivers, and was surrounded by beautiful and fertile meadows. It was
+strongly fortified, being surrounded by walls and towers, which
+William's ancestors, the dukes of Normandy, had built. William and
+Matilda took a strong interest in the plans and constructions connected
+with the building of the abbeys. William's was a very extensive edifice,
+and contained within its inclosures a royal palace for himself, where,
+in subsequent years, himself and Matilda often resided.
+
+[Footnote G: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+The principal buildings of these abbeys still stand, though the walls
+and fortifications of Caen are gone. The buildings are used now for
+other purposes than those for which they were erected, but they retain
+the names originally given them, and are visited by great numbers of
+tourists, being regarded with great interest as singular memorials of
+the past--twin monuments commemorating an ancient marriage.
+
+The marriage being thus finally confirmed and acquiesced in, William and
+Matilda enjoyed a long period of domestic peace. The oldest child was a
+son. He was born within a year of the marriage, and William named him
+Robert, that, as the reader will recollect, having been the name of
+William's father. There was, in process of time, a large family of
+children. Their names were Robert, William Rufus, Henry, Cecilia,
+Agatha, Constance, Adela, Adelaide, and Gundred. Matilda devoted herself
+with great maternal fidelity to the care and education of these
+children, and many of them became subsequently historical personages of
+the highest distinction.
+
+The object which, it will be recollected, was one of William's main
+inducements for contracting this alliance, namely, the strengthening of
+his power by thus connecting himself with the reigning family of
+Flanders, was, in a great measure, accomplished. The two governments,
+leagued together by this natural tie, strengthened each other's power,
+and often rendered each other essential assistance, though there was one
+occasion, subsequently, when William's reliance on this aid was
+disappointed. It was as follows:
+
+When he was planning his invasion of England, he sent to Matilda's
+brother, Baldwin, who was then Count of Flanders, inviting him to raise
+a force and join him. Baldwin, who considered the enterprise as
+dangerous and Quixotic, sent back word to inquire what share of the
+English territory William would give him if he would go and help him
+conquer it. William thought that this attempt to make a bargain
+beforehand, for a division of spoil, evinced a very mercenary and
+distrustful spirit on the part of his brother-in-law--a spirit which he
+was not at all disposed to encourage. He accordingly took a sheet of
+parchment, and writing nothing within, he folded it in the form of a
+letter, and wrote upon the outside the following rhyme:
+
+     "Beau frère, en Angleterre vous aures
+     Ce qui dedans escript, vous trouveres."
+
+Which royal distich might be translated thus:
+
+     "Your share, good brother, of the land we win,
+     You'll find entitled and described within."
+
+William forwarded the empty missive by the hand of a messenger, who
+delivered it to Baldwin as if it were a dispatch of great consequence.
+Baldwin received it eagerly, and opened it at once. He was surprised at
+finding nothing within; and after turning the parchment every way, in
+vain search after the description of his share, he asked the messenger
+what it meant. "It means," said he, "that as there is nothing writ
+within, so nothing you shall have."
+
+Notwithstanding this witticism, however, some arrangement seems
+afterward to have been made between the parties, for Flanders did, in
+fact, contribute an important share toward the force which William
+raised when preparing for the invasion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE LADY EMMA.
+
+A.D. 1002-1052
+
+William's claims to the English throne.--The Lady Emma.--Claimants
+to the English throne.--Ethelred.--Ethelred subdued.--He flies to
+Normandy.--Massacre of the Danes.--Horrors of civil war.--Ethelred's
+tyranny.--Emma's policy.--Emma's humiliation.--Ethelred invited to
+return.--Restoration of Ethelred and Emma.--War with Canute.--Ethelred's
+death.--Situation of Emma.--Her children.--War with Canute.--Treaty
+between Edmund and Canute.--Death of Edmund.--Accession of
+Canute.--Canute's wise policy.--His treatment of Edmund's
+children.--Canute marries Emma.--Opposition of her sons.--Emma again
+queen of England.--The Earl Godwin.--Canute's death.--He bequeaths
+the kingdom to Harold.--Emma's plots for her children.--Her
+letter to them.--Disastrous issue of Alfred's expedition.--His
+terrible sentence.--Edward's accession.--Emma wretched and
+miserable.--Accusations against Emma.--Her wretched end.--Edmund's
+children.--Godwin.--Harold.--Plans of Edward.--Plots and counterplots.
+
+
+It is not to be supposed that, even in the warlike times of which we are
+writing, such a potentate as a duke of Normandy would invade a country
+like England, so large and powerful in comparison to his own, without
+some pretext. William's pretext was, that he himself was the legitimate
+successor to the English crown, and that the English king who possessed
+it at the time of his invasion was a usurper. In order that the reader
+may understand the nature and origin of this his claim, it is necessary
+to relate somewhat in full the story of the Lady Emma.
+
+By referring to the genealogy of the Norman line of dukes contained in
+the second chapter of this volume, it will be seen that Emma was the
+daughter of the first Richard. She was celebrated in her early years for
+her great personal beauty. They called her _the Pearl of Normandy_.
+
+She married, at length, one of the kings of England, whose name was
+Ethelred. England was at that time distracted by civil wars, waged
+between the two antagonist races of Saxons and Danes. There were, in
+fact, two separate dynasties or lines of kings, who were contending, all
+the time, for the mastery. In these contests, sometimes the Danes would
+triumph for a time, and sometimes the Saxons; and sometimes both races
+would have a royal representative in the field, each claiming the
+throne, and reigning over separate portions of the island. Thus there
+were, at certain periods, two kingdoms in England, both covering the
+same territory, and claiming the government of the same population--with
+two kings, two capitals, two administrations--while the wretched
+inhabitants were distracted and ruined by the terrible conflicts to
+which these hostile pretensions gave rise.
+
+Ethelred was of the Saxon line. He was a widower at the time of his
+marriage to Emma, nearly forty years old, and he had, among other
+children by his former wife, a son named Edmund, an active, energetic
+young man, who afterward became king. One motive which he had in view in
+marrying Emma was to strengthen his position by securing the alliance of
+the Normans of Normandy. The Danes, his English enemies, were Normans.
+The government of Normandy would therefore be naturally inclined to
+take part with them. By this marriage, however, Ethelred hoped to detach
+the Normans of France from the cause of his enemies, and to unite them
+to his own. He would thus gain a double advantage, strengthening himself
+by an accession which weakened his foes.
+
+His plan succeeded so far as inducing Richard himself, the Duke of
+Normandy, to espouse his cause, but it did not enable Ethelred to
+triumph over his enemies. They, on the contrary, conquered _him_, and,
+in the end, drove him from the country altogether. He fled to Normandy
+for refuge, with Emma his wife, and his two young sons. Their names were
+Edward and Alfred.
+
+Richard II., Emma's brother, who was then the Duke of Normandy, received
+the unhappy fugitives with great kindness, although _he_, at least,
+scarcely deserved it. It was not surprising that he was driven from his
+native realm, for he possessed none of those high qualities of mind
+which fit men to conquer or to govern. Like all other weak-minded
+tyrants, he substituted cruelty for wisdom and energy in his attempts to
+subjugate his foes. As soon as he was married to Emma, for instance,
+feeling elated and strong at the great accession of power which he
+imagined he had obtained by this alliance, he planned a general massacre
+of the Danes, and executed it on a given day, by means of private
+orders, sent secretly throughout the kingdom. Vast numbers of the Danes
+were destroyed; and so great was the hatred of the two races for each
+other, that they who had these bloody orders to obey executed them with
+a savage cruelty that was absolutely horrible. In one instance they
+buried women to the waist, and then set dogs upon them, to tear their
+naked flesh until they died in agony. It would be best, in narrating
+history, to suppress such horrid details as these, were it not that in
+a land like this, where so much depends upon the influence of every
+individual in determining whether the questions and discussions which
+are from time to time arising, and are hereafter to arise, shall be
+settled peacefully, or by a resort to violence and civil war, it is very
+important that we should all know what civil war is, and to what
+horrible atrocities it inevitably leads.
+
+Alfred the Great, when he was contending with the Danes in England, a
+century before this time, treated them, so far as he gained advantages
+over them, with generosity and kindness; and this policy wholly
+conquered them in the end. Ethelred, on the other hand, tried the
+effect of the most tyrannical cruelty, and the effect was only to arouse
+his enemies to a more determined and desperate resistance. It was the
+phrensy of vengeance and hate that these atrocities awakened every where
+among the Danes, which nerved them with so much vigor and strength that
+they finally expelled him from the island; so that, when he arrived in
+Normandy, a fugitive and an exile, he came in the character of a
+dethroned tyrant, execrated for his senseless and atrocious cruelties,
+and not in that of an unhappy prince driven from his home by the
+pressure of unavoidable calamity. Nevertheless, Richard, the Duke of
+Normandy, received him, as we have already said, with kindness. He felt
+the obligation of receiving the exiled monarch in a hospitable manner,
+if not on his own account, at least for the sake of Emma and the
+children.
+
+The origin and end of Emma's interest in Ethelred seems to have been
+merely ambition. The "Pearl of Normandy" had given herself to this
+monster for the sake, apparently, of the glory of being the English
+queen. Her subsequent conduct compels the readers of history to make
+this supposition, which otherwise would be uncharitable. She now
+mourned her disappointment in finding that, instead of being sustained
+by her husband in the lofty position to which she aspired, she was
+obliged to come back to her former home again, to be once more
+dependent, and with the additional burden of her husband himself, and
+her children, upon her father's family. Her situation was rendered even
+still more humiliating, in some degree, by the circumstances that her
+father was no longer alive, and that it was to her brother, on whom her
+natural claim was far less strong, that she had now to look for shelter
+and protection. Richard, however, received them all in a kind and
+generous manner.
+
+In the mean time, the wars and commotions which had driven Ethelred
+away continued to rage in England, the Saxons gradually gaining
+ground against the Danes. At length the king of the Danes, who had
+seized the government when Ethelred was expelled, died. The Saxons then
+regained their former power, and they sent commissioners to Ethelred to
+propose his return to England. At the same time, they expressed their
+unwillingness to receive him, unless they could bind him, by a solemn
+treaty, to take a very different course of conduct, in the future
+management of his government, from that which he had pursued before.
+Ethelred and Emma were eager to regain, on any terms, their lost throne.
+They sent over embassadors empowered to make, in Ethelred's name, any
+promises which the English nobles might demand; and shortly afterward
+the royal pair crossed the Channel and went to London, and Ethelred was
+acknowledged there by the _Saxon_ portion of the population of the
+island once more as king.
+
+The _Danes_, however, though weakened, were not yet disposed to submit.
+They declared their allegiance to _Canute_, who was the successor in the
+_Danish_ line. Then followed a long war between Canute and Ethelred.
+Canute was a man of extraordinary sagacity and intelligence, and also of
+great courage and energy. Ethelred, on the other hand, proved himself,
+notwithstanding all his promises, incurably inefficient, cowardly, and
+cruel. In fact, his son Prince Edmund, the son of his first wife, was
+far more efficient than his father in resisting Canute and the Danes.
+Edmund was active and fearless, and he soon acquired very extensive
+power. In fact, he seems to have held the authority of his father in
+very little respect. One striking instance of this insubordination
+occurred. Ethelred had taken offense, for some reason or other, at one
+of the nobles in his realm, and had put him to death, and confiscated
+his estates; and, in addition to this, with a cruelty characteristic of
+him, he shut up the unhappy widow of his victim, a young and beautiful
+woman, in a gloomy convent, as a prisoner. Edmund, his son, went to the
+convent, liberated the prisoner, and made her his own wife.
+
+[Illustration: THE RESCUE.]
+
+With such unfriendly relations between the king and his son, who seems
+to have been the ablest general in his father's army, there could be
+little hope of making head against such an enemy as Canute the Dane.
+In fact, the course of public affairs went on from bad to worse, Emma
+leading all the time a life of unceasing anxiety and alarm. At length,
+in 1016, Ethelred died, and Emma's cup of disappointment and humiliation
+was now full. Her own sons, Edward and Alfred, had no claims to the
+crown; for Edmund, being the son by a former marriage, was older than
+they. They were too young to take personally an active part in the
+fierce contests of the day, and thus fight their way to importance and
+power. And then Edmund, who was now to become king, would, of course,
+feel no interest in advancing _them_, or doing honor to _her_. A son
+who would thwart and counteract the plans and measures of a father, as
+Edmund had done, would be little likely to evince much deference or
+regard for a mother-in-law, or for half brothers, whom he would
+naturally consider as his rivals. In a word, Emma had reason to be
+alarmed at the situation of insignificance and danger in which she found
+herself suddenly placed. She fled a second time, in destitution and
+distress, to her brother's in Normandy. She was now, however, a widow,
+and her children were fatherless. It is difficult to decide whether to
+consider her situation as better or worse on this account, than it was
+at her former exile.
+
+Her sons were lads, but little advanced beyond the period of childhood;
+and Edward, the eldest, on whom the duty of making exertions to advance
+the family interests would first devolve, was of a quiet and gentle
+spirit, giving little promise that he would soon be disposed to enter
+vigorously upon military campaigns. Edmund, on the other hand, who was
+now king, was in the prime of life, and was a man of great spirit and
+energy. There was a reasonable prospect that he would live many years;
+and even if he were to be suddenly cut off, there seemed to be no hope
+of the restoration of Emma to importance or power; for Edmund was
+married and had two sons, one of whom would be entitled to succeed him
+in case of his decease. It seemed, therefore, to be Emma's destiny now,
+to spend the remainder of her days with her children in neglect and
+obscurity. The case resulted differently, however, as we shall see in
+the end.
+
+Edmund, notwithstanding his prospect of a long and prosperous career,
+was cut off suddenly, after a stormy reign of one year. During his
+reign, Canute the Dane had been fast gaining ground in England,
+notwithstanding the vigor and energy with which Edmund had opposed him.
+Finally, the two monarchs assembled their armies, and were about to
+fight a great final battle. Edmund sent a flag of truce to Canute's
+camp, proposing that, to save the effusion of blood, they should agree
+to decide the case by single combat, and that he and Canute should be
+the champions, and fight in presence of the armies. Canute declined this
+proposal. He was himself small and slender in form, while Edmund was
+distinguished for his personal development and muscular strength. Canute
+therefore declined the personal contest, but offered to leave the
+question to the decision of a council chosen from among the leading
+nobles on either side. This plan was finally adopted. The council
+convened, and, after long deliberations, they framed a treaty by which
+the country was divided between the two potentates, and a sort of peace
+was restored. A very short period after this treaty was settled, Edmund
+was murdered.
+
+Canute immediately laid claim to the whole realm. He maintained that
+it was a part of the treaty that the partition of the kingdom was to
+continue only during their joint lives, and that, on the death of
+either, the whole was to pass to the survivor of them. The Saxon leaders
+did not admit this, but they were in no condition very strenuously to
+oppose it. Ethelred's sons by Emma were too young to come forward as
+leaders yet; and as to Edmund's, they were mere children. There was,
+therefore, no one whom they could produce as an efficient representative
+of the Saxon line, and thus the Saxons were compelled to submit to
+Canute's pretensions, at least for a time. They would not wholly give up
+the claims of Edmund's children, but they consented to waive them for a
+season. They gave Canute the guardianship of the boys until they should
+become of age, and allowed him, in the mean time, to reign, himself,
+over the whole land.
+
+Canute exercised his power in a very discreet and judicious manner,
+seeming intent, in all his arrangements, to protect the rights and
+interests of the Saxons as well as of the Danes. It might be supposed
+that the lives of the young Saxon princes, Edmund's sons, would not have
+been safe in his hands; but the policy which he immediately resolved to
+pursue was to conciliate the Saxons, and not to intimidate and coerce
+them. He therefore did the young children no harm, but sent them away
+out of the country to Denmark, that they might, if possible, be
+gradually forgotten. Perhaps he thought that, if the necessity should
+arise for it, they might there, at any time, be put secretly to death.
+
+There was another reason still to prevent Canute's destroying these
+children, which was, that if _they_ were removed, the claims of the
+Saxon line would not thereby be extinguished, but would only be
+transferred to Emma's children in Normandy, who, being older, were
+likely the sooner to be in a condition to give him trouble as rivals. It
+was therefore a very wise and sagacious policy which prompted him to
+keep the young children of Edmund alive, but to remove them to a safe
+distance out of the way.
+
+In respect to Emma's children, Canute conceived a different plan for
+guarding against any danger which came from their claims, and that was,
+to propose to take their mother for his wife. By this plan her family
+would come into his power, and then her own influence and that of her
+Norman friends would be forever prevented from taking sides against him.
+He accordingly made the proposal. Emma was ambitious enough of again
+returning to her former position of greatness as English queen to accept
+it eagerly. The world condemned her for being so ready to marry, for her
+second husband, the deadly enemy and rival of the first; but it was all
+one to her whether her husband was Saxon or Dane, provided that she
+could be queen.
+
+The boys, or, rather, the young men, for they were now advancing to
+maturity, were very strongly opposed to this connection. They did all in
+their power to prevent its consummation, and they never forgave their
+mother for thus basely betraying their interests. They were the more
+incensed at this transaction, because it was stipulated in the marriage
+articles between Canute and Emma that their _future_ children--the
+offspring of the marriage then contracted--should succeed to the throne
+of England, to the exclusion of all previously born on either side. Thus
+Canute fancied that he had secured his title, and that of his
+descendants, to the crown forever, and Emma prepared to return to
+England as once more its queen. The marriage was celebrated with great
+pomp and splendor, and Emma, bidding Normandy and her now alienated
+children farewell, was conducted in state to the royal palace in London.
+
+We must now pass over, with a very few words, a long interval of twenty
+years. It was the period of Canute's reign, which was prosperous and
+peaceful. During this period Emma's Norman sons continued in Normandy.
+She had another son in England a few years after her marriage, who was
+named Canute, after his father, but he is generally known in history by
+the name of Hardicanute, the prefix being a Saxon word denoting
+energetic or strong. Canute had also a very celebrated minister in his
+government named Godwin. Godwin was a Saxon of a very humble origin, and
+the history of his life constitutes quite a romantic tale.[H] He was a
+man of extraordinary talents and character, and at the time of Canute's
+death he was altogether the most powerful subject in the realm.
+
+[Footnote H: It is given at length in the last chapter of our history of
+Alfred the Great.]
+
+When Canute found that he was about to die, and began to consider what
+arrangements he should make for the succession, he concluded that it
+would not be safe for him to fulfill the agreement made in his marriage
+contract with Emma, that the children of that marriage should inherit
+the kingdom; for Hardicanute, who was entitled to succeed under that
+covenant, was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, and
+consequently too young to attempt to govern. He therefore made a will,
+in which he left the kingdom to an older son, named Harold--a son whom
+he had had before his marriage with Emma. This was the signal for a new
+struggle. The influence of the Saxons and of Emma's friends was of
+course in favor of Hardicanute, while the Danes espoused the cause of
+Harold. Godwin at length taking sides with this last-named party, Harold
+was established on the throne, and Emma and all her children, whether
+descended from Ethelred or Canute, were set aside and forgotten.
+
+Emma was not at all disposed to acquiesce in this change of fortune.
+She remained in England, but was secretly incensed at her second
+husband's breach of faith toward her; and as he had abandoned the child
+of his marriage with her for _his_ former children, she now determined
+to abandon him for _hers_. She gave up Hardicanute's cause, therefore,
+and began secretly to plot among the Saxon population for bringing
+forward her son Edward to the throne. When she thought that things were
+ripe for the execution of the plot, she wrote a letter to her children
+in Normandy, saying to them that the Saxon population were weary of the
+Danish line, and were ready, she believed, to rise in behalf of the
+ancient Saxon line, if the true representative of it would appear to
+lead them. She therefore invited them to come to London and consult with
+her on the subject. She directed them, however, to come, if they came at
+all, in a quiet and peaceful manner, and without any appearance of
+hostile intent, inasmuch as any thing which might seem like a foreign
+invasion would awaken universal jealousy and alarm.
+
+When this letter was received by the brothers in Normandy, the eldest,
+Edward, declined to go, but gave his consent that Alfred should
+undertake the expedition if he were disposed. Alfred accepted the
+proposal. In fact, the temperament and character of the two brothers
+were very different. Edward was sedate, serious, and timid. Alfred was
+ardent and aspiring. The younger, therefore, decided to take the risk of
+crossing the Channel, while the elder preferred to remain at home.
+
+The result was very disastrous. Contrary to his mother's instructions,
+Alfred took with him quite a troop of Norman soldiers. He crossed the
+Channel in safety, and advanced across the country some distance toward
+London. Harold sent out a force to intercept him. He was surrounded, and
+he himself and all his followers were taken prisoners. He was sentenced
+to lose his eyes, and he died in a few days after the execution of this
+terrible sentence, from the mingled effects of fever and of mental
+anguish and despair. Emma fled to Flanders.
+
+Finally Harold died, and Hardicanute succeeded him. In a short time
+Hardicanute died, leaving no heirs, and now, of course, there was no one
+left[I] to compete with Emma's oldest son Edward, who had remained all
+this time quietly in Normandy. He was accordingly proclaimed king. This
+was in 1041. He reigned for twenty years, having commenced his reign
+about the time that William the Conqueror was established in the
+possession of his dominions as Duke of Normandy. Edward had known
+William intimately during his long residence in Normandy, and William
+came to visit him in England in the course of his reign. William, in
+fact, considered himself as Edward's heir; for as Edward, though
+married, had no children, the dukes of the Norman line were his nearest
+relatives. He obtained, he said, a promise from Edward that Edward would
+sanction and confirm his claim to the English crown, in the event of his
+decease, by bequeathing it to William in his will.
+
+[Footnote I: The children of Ethelred's oldest son, Edmund, were in
+Hungary at this time, and seem to have been wellnigh forgotten.]
+
+Emma was now advanced in years. The ambition which had been the ruling
+principle of her life would seem to have been well satisfied, so far as
+it is possible to satisfy ambition, for she had had two husbands and two
+sons, all kings of England. But as she advanced toward the close of her
+career, she found herself wretched and miserable. Her son Edward could
+not forgive her for her abandonment of himself and his brother, to
+marry a man who was their own and their father's bitterest enemy. She
+had made a formal treaty in her marriage covenant to exclude them from
+the throne. She had treated them with neglect during all the time of
+Canute's reign, while she was living with him in London in power and
+splendor. Edward accused her, also, of having connived at his brother
+Alfred's death. The story is, that he caused her to be tried on this
+charge by the ordeal of fire. This method consisted of laying red-hot
+irons upon the stone floor of a church, at certain distances from each
+other, and requiring the accused to walk over them with naked feet. If
+the accused was innocent, Providence, as they supposed, would so guide
+his footsteps that he should not touch the irons. Thus, if he was
+innocent, he would go over safely; if guilty, he would be burned. Emma,
+according to the story of the times, was subjected to this test, in the
+Cathedral of Winchester, to determine whether she was cognizant of the
+murder of her son. Whether this is true or not, there is no doubt that
+Edward confined her a prisoner in the monastery at Winchester, where she
+ended her days at last in neglect and wretchedness.
+
+When Edward himself drew near to the close of his life, his mind was
+greatly perplexed in respect to the succession. There was one descendant
+of his brother Edmund--whose children, it will be remembered, Canute had
+sent away to Denmark, in order to remove them out of the way--who was
+still living in Hungary. The name of this descendant was Edward. He was,
+in fact, the lawful heir to the crown. But he had spent his life in
+foreign countries, and was now far away; and, in the mean time, the Earl
+Godwin, who has been already mentioned as the great Saxon nobleman who
+rose from a very humble rank to the position of the most powerful
+subject in the realm, obtained such an influence, and wielded so great a
+power, that he seemed at one time stronger than the king himself. Godwin
+at length died, but his son Harold, who was as energetic and active as
+his father, inherited his power, and seemed, as Edward thought, to be
+aspiring to the future possession of the throne. Edward had hated Godwin
+and all his family, and was now extremely anxious to prevent the
+possibility of Harold's accession. He accordingly sent to Hungary to
+bring Edward, his nephew, home. Edward came, bringing his family with
+him. He had a young son named Edgar. It was King Edward's plan to make
+arrangements for bringing this Prince Edward to the throne after his
+death, that Harold might be excluded.
+
+The plan was a very judicious one, but it was unfortunately frustrated
+by Prince Edward's death, which event took place soon after he arrived
+in England. The young Edgar, then a child, was, of course, his heir. The
+king was convinced that no government which could be organized in the
+name of Edgar would be able to resist the mighty power of Harold, and he
+turned his thoughts, therefore, again to the accession of William of
+Normandy, who was the nearest relative on his mother's side, as the only
+means of saving the realm from falling into the hands of the usurper
+Harold. A long and vexatious contest then ensued, in which the leading
+powers and influences of the kingdom were divided and distracted by the
+plans, plots, maneuvers, and counter maneuvers of Harold to obtain the
+accession for himself, and of Edward to secure it for William of
+Normandy. In this contest Harold conquered in the first instance, and
+Edward and William in the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+KING HAROLD.
+
+A.D. 1063-1066
+
+Harold and William.--Quarrel between Godwin and Edward.--Treaty between
+Godwin and Edward.--Hostages.--The giving of hostages now
+abandoned.--Cruelties inflicted.--Canute's hostages.--Godwin's
+hostages.--Edward declines to give up the hostages.--Harold goes to
+Normandy.--Harold's interview with Edward.--The storm.--Harold
+shipwrecked.--Guy, count of Ponthieu.--Harold a prisoner.--He is
+ransomed by William.--William's hospitality.--His policy in
+this.--William's treatment of his guests.--William's policy.--William
+makes known to Harold his claims to the English crown.--Harold's
+dissimulation.--William's precautions.--The betrothment.--William
+retains a hostage.--Harold's apparent acquiescence.--The public
+oath.--The great assembly of knights and nobles.--The threefold
+oath.--William's precaution.--The sacred relics.--Harold's
+departure.--His measures to secure the throne.--Age and infirmities of
+Edward.--Westminster.--Edward's death.--The crown offered to
+Harold.--Harold's coronation.--He knights Edgar.--Harold violates his
+plighted faith to William.
+
+
+Harold, the son of the Earl Godwin, who was maneuvering to gain
+possession of the English throne, and William of Normandy, though they
+lived on opposite sides of the English Channel, the one in France and
+the other in England, were still personally known to each other; for not
+only had William, as was stated in the last chapter, paid a visit to
+England, but Harold himself, on one occasion, made an excursion to
+Normandy. The circumstances of this expedition were, in some respects,
+quite extraordinary, and illustrate in a striking manner some of the
+peculiar ideas and customs of the times. They were as follows:
+
+During the life of Harold's father Godwin, there was a very serious
+quarrel between him, that is, Godwin, and King Edward, in which both the
+king and his rebellious subject marshaled their forces, and for a time
+waged against each other an open and sanguinary war. In this contest the
+power of Godwin had proved so formidable, and the military forces which
+he succeeded in marshaling under his banners were so great, that
+Edward's government was unable effectually to put him down. At length,
+after a long and terrible struggle, which involved a large part of the
+country in the horrors of a civil war, the belligerents made a treaty
+with each other, which settled their quarrel by a sort of compromise.
+Godwin was to retain his high position and rank as a subject, and to
+continue in the government of certain portions of the island which had
+long been under his jurisdiction; he, on his part, promising to dismiss
+his armies, and to make war upon the king no more. He bound himself to
+the faithful performance of these covenants by giving the king
+_hostages_.
+
+The hostages given up on such occasions were always near and dear
+relatives and friends, and the understanding was, that if the party
+giving them failed in fulfilling his obligations, the innocent and
+helpless hostages were to be entirely at the mercy of the other party
+into whose custody they had been given. The latter would, in such cases,
+imprison them, torture them, or put them to death, with a greater or
+less degree of severity in respect to the infliction of pain, according
+to the degree of exasperation which the real or fancied injury which he
+had received awakened in his mind.
+
+This cruel method of binding fierce and unprincipled men to the
+performance of their promises has been universally abandoned in modern
+times, though in the rude and early stages of civilization it has been
+practiced among all nations, ancient and modern. The hostages chosen
+were often of young and tender years, and were always such as to render
+the separation which took place when they were torn from their friends
+most painful, as it was the very object of the selection to obtain those
+who were most beloved. They were delivered into the hands of those whom
+they had always regarded as their bitterest enemies, and who, of course,
+were objects of aversion and terror. They were sent away into places of
+confinement and seclusion, and kept in the custody of strangers, where
+they lived in perpetual fear that some new outbreak between the
+contending parties would occur, and consign them to torture or death.
+The cruelties sometimes inflicted, in such cases, on the innocent
+hostages, were awful. At one time, during the contentions between
+Ethelred and Canute, Canute, being driven across the country to the
+sea-coast, and there compelled to embark on board his ships to make his
+escape, was cruel enough to cut off the hands and the feet of some
+hostages which Ethelred had previously given him, and leave them
+writhing in agony on the sands of the shore.
+
+The hostages which are particularly named by historians as given by
+Godwin to King Edward were his son and his grandson. Their names were
+Ulnoth and Hacune. Ulnoth, of course, was Harold's brother, and Hacune
+his nephew. Edward, thinking that Godwin would contrive some means of
+getting these securities back into his possession again if he attempted
+to keep them in England, decided to send them to Normandy, and to put
+them under the charge of William the duke for safe keeping. When Godwin
+died, Harold applied to Edward to give up the hostages, since, as he
+alleged, there was no longer any reason for detaining them. They had
+been given as security for _Godwin's_ good behavior, and now Godwin was
+no more.
+
+Edward could not well refuse to surrender them, and yet, as Harold
+succeeded to the power, and evidently possessed all the ambition of his
+father, it seemed to be, politically, as necessary to retain the
+hostages now as it had been before. Edward, therefore, without
+absolutely refusing to surrender them, postponed and evaded compliance
+with Harold's demand, on the ground that the hostages were in Normandy.
+He was going, he said, to send for them as soon as he could make the
+necessary arrangements for bringing them home in safety.
+
+Under these circumstances, Harold determined to go and bring them
+himself. He proposed this plan to Edward. Edward would not absolutely
+refuse his consent, but he did all in his power to discourage such an
+expedition. He told Harold that William of Normandy was a crafty and
+powerful man; that by going into his dominions he would put himself
+entirely into his power, and would be certain to involve himself in some
+serious difficulty. This interview between Harold and the king is
+commemorated on the Bayeux tapestry by the opposite uncouth design.
+
+What effect Edward's disapproval of the project produced upon Harold's
+mind is not certainly known. It is true that he went across the Channel,
+but the accounts of the crossing are confused and contradictory, some of
+them stating that, while sailing for pleasure with a party of attendants
+and companions on the coast, he was blown off from the shore and driven
+across to France by a storm. The probability, however, is, that this
+story was only a pretense. He was determined to go, but not wishing to
+act openly in defiance of the king's wishes, he contrived to be blown
+off, in order to make it seem that he went against his will.
+
+[Illustration: HAROLD'S INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD.]
+
+At all events, the _storm_ was real, whether his being compelled to
+leave the English shores by the power of it was real or pretended. It
+carried him, too, out of his course, driving him up the Channel to the
+eastward of Normandy, where he had intended to land, and at length
+throwing his galley, a wreck, on the shore, not far from the mouth of
+the Somme. The galley itself was broken up, but Harold and his company
+escaped to land. They found that they were in the dominions of a certain
+prince who held possessions on that coast, whose style and title was
+Guy, count of Ponthieu.
+
+The law in those days was, that wrecks became the property of the lord
+of the territory on the shores of which they occurred; and not only were
+the ships and the goods which they contained thus confiscated in case of
+such a disaster, but the owners themselves became liable to be seized
+and held captive for a ransom. Harold, knowing his danger, was
+attempting to secrete himself on the coast till he could get to
+Normandy, when a fisherman who saw him, and knew by his dress and
+appearance, and by the deference with which he was treated by the rest
+of the company, that he was a man of great consequence in his native
+land, went to the count, and said that for ten crowns he would show him
+where there was a man who would be worth a thousand to him. The count
+came down with his retinue to the coast, seized the unfortunate
+adventurers, took possession of all the goods and baggage that the waves
+had spared, and shut the men themselves up in his castle at Abbeville
+till they could pay their ransom.
+
+Harold remonstrated against this treatment. He said that he was on his
+way to Normandy on business of great importance with the duke, from the
+King of England, and that he could not be detained. But the count was
+very decided in refusing to let him go without his ransom. Harold then
+sent word to William, acquainting him with his situation, and asking him
+to effect his release. William sent to the count, demanding that he
+should give his prisoner up. All these things, however, only tended to
+elevate and enlarge the count's ideas of the value and importance of the
+prize which he had been so fortunate to secure. He persisted in refusing
+to give him up without ransom. Finally William paid the ransom, in the
+shape of a large sum of money, and the cession, in addition, of a
+considerable territory. Harold and his companions in bondage were then
+delivered to William's messengers, and conducted by them in safety to
+Rouen, where William was then residing.
+
+William received his distinguished guest with every possible mark of the
+most honorable consideration. He was escorted with great parade and
+ceremony into the palace, lodged in the most sumptuous manner, provided
+with every necessary supply, and games, and military spectacles, and
+feasts and entertainments without number, were arranged to celebrate his
+visit. William informed him that he was at liberty to return to England
+whenever he pleased, and that his brother and his nephew, the hostages
+that he had come to seek, were at his disposal. He, however, urged him
+not to return immediately, but to remain a short time in Normandy with
+his companions. Harold accepted the invitation.
+
+All this exuberance of hospitality had its origin, as the reader will
+readily divine, in the duke's joy in finding the only important rival
+likely to appear to contest his claims to the English crown so fully in
+his power, and in the hope which he entertained of so managing affairs
+at this visit as to divert Harold's mind from the idea of becoming the
+King of England himself, and to induce him to pledge himself to act in
+his, that is, William's favor. He took, therefore, all possible pains to
+make him enjoy his visit in Normandy; he exhibited to him the wealth
+and the resources of the country--conducting him from place to place to
+visit the castles, the abbeys, and the towns--and, finally, he proposed
+that he should accompany him on a military expedition into Brittany.
+
+Harold, pleased with the honors conferred upon him, and with the novelty
+and magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced, entered
+heartily into all these plans, and his companions and attendants were no
+less pleased than he. William knighted many of these followers of
+Harold, and made them costly presents of horses, and banners, and suits
+of armor, and other such gifts as were calculated to captivate the
+hearts of martial adventurers such as they. William soon gained an
+entire ascendency over their minds, and when he invited them to
+accompany him on his expedition into Brittany, they were all eager to
+go.
+
+Brittany was west of Normandy, and on the frontiers of it, so that the
+expedition was not a distant one. Nor was it long protracted. It was, in
+fact, a sort of pleasure excursion, William taking his guest across the
+frontier into his neighbor's territory, on a marauding party, just as a
+nobleman, in modern times, would take a party into a forest to hunt.
+William and Harold were on the most intimate and friendly terms possible
+during the continuance of this campaign. They occupied the same tent,
+and ate at the same table. Harold evinced great military talents and
+much bravery in the various adventures which they met with in Brittany,
+and William felt more than ever the desirableness of securing his
+influence on his, that is, William's side, or, at least, of preventing
+his becoming an open rival and enemy. On their return from Brittany into
+Normandy, he judged that the time had arrived for taking his measures.
+He accordingly resolved to come to an open understanding with Harold in
+respect to his plans, and to seek his co-operation.
+
+He introduced the subject, the historians say, one day as they were
+riding along homeward from their excursion, and had been for some time
+talking familiarly on the way, relating tales to one another of wars,
+battles, sieges, and hair-breadth escapes, and other such adventures as
+formed, generally, the subjects of narrative conversation in those days.
+At length William, finding Harold, as he judged, in a favorable mood for
+such a communication, introduced the subject of the English realm and
+the approaching demise of the crown. He told him, confidentially, that
+there had been an arrangement between him, William, and King Edward, for
+some time, that Edward was to _adopt_ him as his successor. William told
+Harold, moreover, that he should rely a great deal on his co-operation
+and assistance in getting peaceable possession of the kingdom, and
+promised to bestow upon him the very highest rewards and honors in
+return if he would give him his aid. The only rival claimant, William
+said, was the young child Edgar, and he had no friends, no party, no
+military forces, and no means whatever for maintaining his pretensions.
+On the other hand, he, William, and Harold, had obviously all the power
+in their own hands, and if they could only co-operate together on a
+common understanding, they would be sure to have the power and the
+honors of the English realm entirely at their disposal.
+
+Harold listened to all these suggestions, and pretended to be interested
+and pleased. He was, in reality, interested, but he was not pleased. He
+wished to secure the kingdom for himself, not merely to obtain a share,
+however large, of its power and its honors as the subject of another. He
+was, however, too wary to evince his displeasure. On the contrary, he
+assented to the plan, professed to enter into it with all his heart, and
+expressed his readiness to commence, immediately, the necessary
+preliminary measures for carrying it into execution. William was much
+gratified with the successful result of his negotiation, and the two
+chieftains rode home to William's palace in Normandy, banded together,
+apparently, by very strong ties. In secret, however, Harold was
+resolving to effect his departure from Normandy as soon as possible, and
+to make immediate and most effectual measures for securing the kingdom
+of England to himself, without any regard to the promises that he had
+made to William.
+
+Nor must it be supposed that William himself placed any positive
+reliance on mere promises from Harold. He immediately began to form
+plans for binding him to the performance of his stipulations, by the
+modes then commonly employed for securing the fulfillment of covenants
+made among princes. These methods were three--intermarriages, the giving
+of hostages, and solemn oaths.
+
+William proposed two marriages as means of strengthening the alliance
+between himself and Harold. Harold was to give to William one of his
+daughters, that William might marry her to one of his Norman chieftains.
+This would be, of course, placing her in William's power, and making her
+a hostage all but in name. Harold, however, consented. The second
+marriage proposed was between William's daughter and Harold himself; but
+as his daughter was a child of only seven years of age, it could only be
+a betrothment that could take place at that time. Harold acceded to this
+proposal too, and arrangements were made for having the faith of the
+parties pledged to one another in the most solemn manner. A great
+assembly of all the knights, nobles, and ladies of the court was
+convened, and the ceremony of pledging the troth between the fierce
+warrior and the gentle and wondering child was performed with as much
+pomp and parade as if it had been an actual wedding. The name of the
+girl was Adela.
+
+In respect to hostages, William determined to detain one of those whom
+Harold, as will be recollected, had come into Normandy to recover. He
+told him, therefore, that he might take with him his nephew Hacune, but
+that Ulnoth, his brother, should remain, and William would bring him
+over himself when he came to take possession of the kingdom. Harold was
+extremely unwilling to leave his brother thus in William's power; but as
+he knew very well that his being allowed to return to England himself
+would depend upon his not evincing any reluctance to giving William
+security, or manifesting any other indication that he was not intending
+to keep his plighted faith, he readily consented, and it was thus
+settled that Ulnoth should remain.
+
+Finally, in order to hold Harold to the fulfillment of his promises by
+every possible form of obligation, William proposed that he should take
+a public and solemn oath, in the presence of a large assembly of all the
+great potentates and chieftains of the realm, by which he should bind
+himself, under the most awful sanctions, to keep his word. Harold made
+no objection to this either. He considered himself as, in fact, in
+duress, and his actions as not free. He was in William's power, and was
+influenced in all he did by a desire to escape from Normandy, and once
+more recover his liberty. He accordingly decided, in his own mind, that
+whatever oaths he might take he should afterward consider as forced upon
+him, and consequently as null and void, and was ready, therefore, to
+take any that William might propose.
+
+The great assembly was accordingly convened. In the middle of the
+council hall there was placed a great chair of state, which was covered
+with a cloth of gold. Upon this cloth, and raised considerably above the
+seat, was the _missal_, that is, the book of service of the Catholic
+Church, written on parchment and splendidly illuminated. The book was
+open at a passage from one of the Evangelists--the Evangelists being a
+portion of the Holy Scriptures which was, in those days, supposed to
+invest an oath with the most solemn sanctions.
+
+Harold felt some slight misgivings as he advanced in the midst of such
+an imposing scene as the great assembly of knights and ladies presented
+in the council hall, to repeat his promises in the very presence of God,
+and to imprecate the retributive curses of the Almighty on the violation
+of them, which he was deliberately and fully determined to incur. He
+had, however, gone too far to retreat now. He advanced, therefore, to
+the open missal, laid his hand upon the book, and, repeating the words
+which William dictated to him from his throne, he took the threefold
+oath required, namely, to aid William to the utmost of his power in his
+attempt to secure the succession to the English crown, to marry
+William's daughter Adela as soon as she should arrive at a suitable age,
+and to send over forthwith from England his own daughter, that she might
+be espoused to one of William's nobles.
+
+As soon as the oath was thus taken, William caused the missal and the
+cloth of gold to be removed, and there appeared beneath it, on the chair
+of state, a chest, containing the sacred relics of the Church, which
+William had secretly collected from the abbeys and monasteries of his
+dominions, and placed in this concealment, that, without Harold's being
+conscious of it, their dreadful sanction might be added to that which
+the Holy Evangelists imposed. These relics were fragments of bones set
+in caskets and frames, and portions of blood--relics, as the monks
+alleged, of apostles or of the Savior--and small pieces of wood,
+similarly preserved, which had been portions of the cross of Christ or
+of his thorny crown. These things were treasured up with great solemnity
+in the monastic establishments and in the churches of these early times,
+and were regarded with a veneration and awe, of which it is almost
+beyond our power even to conceive. Harold trembled when he saw what he
+had unwittingly done. He was terrified to think how much more dreadful
+was the force of the imprecations that he had uttered than he had
+imagined while uttering them. But it was too late to undo what he had
+done. The assembly was finally dismissed. William thought he had the
+conscience of his new ally firmly secured, and Harold began to prepare
+for leaving Normandy.
+
+He continued on excellent terms with William until his departure.
+William accompanied him to the sea-shore when the time of his
+embarkation arrived, and dismissed him at last with many farewell
+honors, and a profusion of presents. Harold set sail, and, crossing the
+Channel in safety, he landed in England.
+
+He commenced immediately an energetic system of measures to strengthen
+his own cause, and prepare the way for his own accession. He organized
+his party, collected arms and munitions of war, and did all that he
+could to ingratiate himself with the most powerful and wealthy nobles.
+He sought the favor of the king, too, and endeavored to persuade him to
+discard William. The king was now old and infirm, and was growing more
+and more inert and gloomy as he advanced in age. His mind was occupied
+altogether in ecclesiastical rites and observances, or plunged in a
+torpid and lifeless melancholy, which made him averse to giving any
+thought to the course which the affairs of his kingdom were to take
+after he was gone. He did not care whether Harold or William took the
+crown when he laid it aside, provided they would allow him to die in
+peace.
+
+He had had, a few years previous to this time, a plan of making a
+pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but had finally made an arrangement with the
+pope, allowing him to build a Cathedral church, to be dedicated to St.
+Peter, a few miles west of London, in lieu of his pilgrimage. There was
+already a Cathedral church or _minster_ in the heart of London which was
+dedicated to St. Paul. The new one was afterward often called, to
+distinguish it from the other, the _west_ minster, which designation,
+Westminster, became afterward its regular name. It was on this spot,
+where Westminster Abbey now stands, that Edward's church was to be
+built. It was just completed at the time of which we are speaking, and
+the king was preparing for the dedication of it. He summoned an assembly
+of all the prelates and great ecclesiastical dignitaries of the land to
+convene at London, in order to dedicate the new Cathedral. Before they
+were ready for the service, the king was taken suddenly sick. They
+placed him upon his couch in his palace chamber, where he lay, restless,
+and moaning in pain, and repeating incessantly, half in sleep and half
+in delirium, the gloomy and threatening texts of Scripture which seemed
+to haunt his mind. He was eager to have the dedication go on, and they
+hastened the service in order to gratify him by having it performed
+before he died. The next day he was obviously failing. Harold and his
+friends were very earnest to have the departing monarch declare in _his_
+favor before he died, and their coming and going, and their loud
+discussions, rude soldiers as they were, disturbed his dying hours. He
+sent them word to choose whom they would for king, duke or earl, it was
+indifferent to him, and thus expired.
+
+Harold had made his arrangements so well, and had managed so effectually
+to secure the influence of all the powerful nobles of the kingdom, that
+they immediately convened and offered him the crown. Edgar was in the
+court of Edward at the time, but he was too young to make any effort to
+advance his claims. He was, in fact, a foreigner, though in the English
+royal line. He had been brought up on the Continent of Europe, and
+could not even speak the English tongue. He acquiesced, therefore,
+without complaint, in these proceedings, and was even present as a
+consenting spectator on the occasion of Harold's coronation, which
+ceremony was performed with great pomp and parade, at St. Paul's, in
+London, very soon after King Edward's death. Harold rewarded Edgar for
+his complaisance and discretion by conferring upon him the honor of
+knighthood immediately after the coronation, and in the church where the
+ceremony was performed. He also conferred similar distinctions and
+honors upon many other aspiring and ambitious men whom he wished to
+secure to his side. He thus seemed to have secure and settled possession
+of the throne.
+
+Previously to this time, Harold had married a young lady of England, a
+sister of two very powerful noblemen, and the richest heiress in the
+realm. This marriage greatly strengthened his influence in England, and
+helped to prepare the way for his accession to the supreme power. The
+tidings of it, however, when they crossed the Channel and reached the
+ears of William of Normandy, as the act was an open and deliberate
+violation of one of the covenants which Harold had made with William,
+convinced the latter that none of these covenants would be kept, and
+prepared him to expect all that afterward followed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE PREPARATIONS.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+Harold's brother Tostig.--He brings intelligence of Harold's
+accession.--William's strength and dexterity.--His
+surprise.--Fitzosborne.--His interview with William.--The great council
+of state.--The embassy to Harold.--Harold reminded of his promises.--His
+replies.--Return of the messenger.--William prepares for war.--William
+calls a general council.--Want of funds.--Means of raising
+money.--Adverse views.--Various opinions.--Confusion and disorder.--Plan
+of Fitzosborne.--It is adopted by William.--Success of Fitzosborne's
+plan.--Supplies flow in liberally.--Embassage to the pope.--Its
+success.--Reasons why the pope favored William's claims.--The banner
+and the ring.--Excitement produced by their reception.--William's
+proclamations.--Their effects.--William's promises.--Naval
+preparations.--Philip, king of France.--William's visit to
+him.--William's interview with Philip.--Philip opposes his
+plans.--Council of nobles.--Result of their deliberations.--William's
+return.--Final preparations.--Matilda made duchess regent.--William's
+motives.--Republican sentiments.--Hereditary sovereigns.--Enthusiasm of
+the people.--The two-tailed comet.
+
+
+The messenger who brought William the tidings of Harold's accession to
+the throne was a man named Tostig, Harold's brother. Though he was
+Harold's brother, he was still his bitterest enemy. Brothers are seldom
+friends in families where there is a crown to be contended for. There
+were, of course, no public modes of communicating intelligence in those
+days, and Tostig had learned the facts of Edward's death and Harold's
+coronation through spies which he had stationed at certain points on the
+coast. He was himself, at that time, on the Continent. He rode with all
+speed to Rouen to communicate the news to William, eager to incite him
+to commence hostilities against his brother.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM RECEIVING TOSTIG'S TIDINGS.]
+
+When Tostig arrived at Rouen, William was in a park which lay in the
+vicinity of the city, trying a new bow that had been recently made for
+him. William was a man of prodigious muscular strength, and they gave
+him the credit of being able to use easily a bow which nobody else
+could bend. A part of this credit was doubtless due to the etiquette
+which, in royal palaces and grounds, leads all sensible courtiers to
+take good care never to succeed in attempts to excel the king. But,
+notwithstanding this consideration, there is no doubt that the duke
+really merited a great portion of the commendation that he received for
+his strength and dexterity in the use of the bow. It was a weapon in
+which he took great interest. A new one had been made for him, of great
+elasticity and strength, and he had gone out into his park, with his
+officers, to try its powers, when Tostig arrived. Tostig followed him to
+the place, and there advancing to his side, communicated the tidings to
+him privately.
+
+William was greatly moved by the intelligence. His arrow dropped upon
+the ground. He gave the bow to an attendant. He stood for a time
+speechless, tying and untying the cordon of his cloak in his
+abstraction. Presently he began slowly to move away from the place, and
+to return toward the city. His attendants followed him in silence,
+wondering what the exciting tidings could be which had produced so
+sudden and powerful an effect.
+
+William went into the castle hall, and walked to and fro a long time,
+thoughtful, and evidently agitated. His attendants waited in silence,
+afraid to speak to him. Rumors began at length to circulate among them
+in respect to the nature of the intelligence which had been received. At
+length a great officer of state, named Fitzosborne, arrived at the
+castle. As he passed through the court-yard and gates, the attendants
+and the people, knowing that he possessed in a great degree the
+confidence of his sovereign, asked him what the tidings were that had
+made such an impression. "I know nothing certain about it," said he,
+"but I will soon learn." So saying, he advanced toward William, and
+accosted him by saying, "Why should you conceal from us your news? It is
+reported in the city that the King of England is dead, and that Harold
+has violated his oaths to you, and has seized the kingdom. Is that
+true?"
+
+William acknowledged that that was the intelligence by which he had been
+so vexed and chagrined. Fitzosborne urged the duke not to allow such
+events to depress or dispirit him. "As for the death of Edward," said
+he, "that is an event past and sure, and can not be recalled; but
+Harold's usurpation and treachery admits of a very easy remedy. You
+have the right to the throne, and you have the soldiers necessary to
+enforce that right. Undertake the enterprise boldly. You will be sure to
+succeed."
+
+William revolved the subject in his mind for a few days, during which
+the exasperation and anger which the first receipt of the intelligence
+had produced upon him was succeeded by calm but indignant deliberation,
+in respect to the course which he should pursue. He concluded to call a
+great council of state, and to lay the case before them--not for the
+purpose of obtaining their advice, but to call their attention to the
+crisis in a formal and solemn manner, and to prepare them to act in
+concert in the subsequent measures to be pursued. The result of the
+deliberations of this council, guided, doubtless, by William's own
+designs, was, that the first step should be to send an embassy to Harold
+to demand of him the fulfillment of his promises.
+
+The messenger was accordingly dispatched. He proceeded to London, and
+laid before Harold the communication with which he had been intrusted.
+This communication recounted the three promises which Harold had made,
+namely, to send his daughter to Normandy to be married to one of
+William's generals; to marry William's daughter himself; and to maintain
+William's claims to the English crown on the death of Edward. He was to
+remind Harold, also, of the solemnity with which he had bound himself to
+fulfill these obligations, by oaths taken in the presence of the most
+sacred relics of the Church, and in the most public and deliberate
+manner.
+
+Harold replied,
+
+1. That as to sending over his daughter to be married to one of
+William's generals, he could not do it, for his daughter was dead. He
+presumed, he said, that William did not wish him to send the corpse.
+
+2. In respect to marrying William's daughter, to whom he had been
+affianced in Normandy, he was sorry to say that that was also out of
+his power, as he could not take a foreign wife without the consent of
+his people, which he was confident would never be given; besides, he
+was already married, he said, to a Saxon lady of his own dominions.
+
+3. In regard to the kingdom: it did not depend upon him, he said, to
+decide who should rule over England as Edward's successor, but upon the
+will of Edward himself, and upon the English people. The English barons
+and nobles had decided, with Edward's concurrence, that he, Harold, was
+their legitimate and proper sovereign, and that it was not for him to
+controvert their will. However much he might be disposed to comply with
+William's wishes, and to keep his promise, it was plain that it was out
+of his power, for in promising him the English crown, he had promised
+what did not belong to him to give.
+
+4. As to his oaths, he said that, notwithstanding the secret presence of
+the sacred relics under the cloth of gold, he considered them as of no
+binding force upon his conscience, for he was constrained to take them
+as the only means of escaping from the duress in which he was virtually
+held in Normandy. Promises, and oaths even, when extorted by necessity,
+were null and void.
+
+The messenger returned to Normandy with these replies, and William
+immediately began to prepare for war.
+
+His first measure was to call a council of his most confidential friends
+and advisers, and to lay the subject before them. They cordially
+approved of the plan of an invasion of England, and promised to
+co-operate in the accomplishment of it to the utmost of their power.
+
+The next step was to call a general council of all the chieftains and
+nobles of the land, and also the _notables_, as they were called, or
+principal officers and municipal authorities of the _towns_. The main
+point of interest for the consideration of this assembly was, whether
+the country would submit to the necessary taxation for raising the
+necessary funds. William had ample power, as duke, to decide upon the
+invasion and to undertake it. He could also, without much difficulty,
+raise the necessary number of men; for every baron in his realm was
+bound, by the feudal conditions on which he held his land, to furnish
+his quota of men for any military enterprise in which his sovereign
+might see fit to engage. But for so distant and vast an undertaking as
+this, William needed a much larger supply of _funds_ than were usually
+required in the wars of those days. For raising such large supplies, the
+political institutions of the Middle Ages had not made any adequate
+provision. Governments then had no power of taxation, like that so
+freely exercised in modern times; and even now, taxes in France and
+England take the form of _grants_ from the people to the kings. And as
+to the contrivance, so exceedingly ingenious, by which inexhaustible
+resources are opened to governments at the present day--that is, the
+plan of borrowing the money, and leaving posterity to pay or repudiate
+the debt, as they please, no minister of finance had, in William's day,
+been brilliant enough to discover it. Thus each ruler had to rely, then,
+mainly on the rents and income from his own lands, and other private
+resources, for the comparatively small amount of money that he needed in
+his brief campaigns. But now William perceived that ships must be built
+and equipped, and great stores of provisions accumulated, and arms and
+munitions of war provided, all which would require a considerable
+outlay; and how was this money to be obtained?
+
+The general assembly which he convened were greatly distracted by the
+discussion of the question. The quiet and peaceful citizens who
+inhabited the towns, the artisans and tradesmen, who wished for nothing
+but to be allowed to go on in their industrial pursuits in peace, were
+opposed to the whole project. They thought it unreasonable and absurd
+that they should be required to contribute from their earnings to enable
+their lord and master to go off on so distant and desperate an
+undertaking, from which, even if successful, they could derive no
+benefit whatever. Many of the barons, too, were opposed to the scheme.
+They thought it very likely to end in disaster and defeat; and they
+denied that their feudal obligation to furnish men for their sovereign's
+wars was binding to the extent of requiring them to go out of the
+country, and beyond the sea, to prosecute his claims to the throne of
+another kingdom.
+
+Others, on the other hand, among the members of William's assembly, were
+strongly disposed to favor the plan. They were more ardent or more
+courageous than the rest, or perhaps their position and circumstances
+were such that they had more to hope from the success of the enterprise
+than they, or less to fear from its failure. Thus there was great
+diversity of opinion; and as the parliamentary system of rules, by which
+a body of turbulent men, in modern times, are kept in some semblance of
+organization and order during a debate, had not then been developed, the
+meeting of these Norman deliberators was, for a time, a scene of uproar
+and confusion. The members gathered in groups, each speaker getting
+around him as many as he could obtain to listen to his harangue; the
+more quiet and passive portion of the assembly moving to and fro, from
+group to group, as they were attracted by the earnestness and eloquence
+of the different speakers, or by their approval of the sentiments which
+they heard them expressing. The scene, in fact, was like that presented
+in exciting times by a political caucus in America, before it is called
+to order by the chairman.
+
+Fitzosborne, the confidential friend and counselor, who has already been
+mentioned as the one who ventured to accost the duke at the time when
+the tidings of Edward's death and of Harold's accession first reached
+him, now seeing that any thing like definite and harmonious action on
+the part of this tumultuous assembly was out of the question, went to
+the duke, and proposed to him to give up the assembly as such, and make
+the best terms and arrangements that he could with the constituent
+elements of it, individually and severally. He would himself, he
+said, furnish forty ships, manned, equipped, and provisioned; and he
+recommended to the duke to call each of the others into his presence,
+and ask them what they were individually willing to do. The duke adopted
+this plan, and it was wonderfully successful. Those who were first
+invited made large offers, and their offers were immediately registered
+in form by the proper officers. Each one who followed was emulous of the
+example of those who had preceded him, and desirous of evincing as much
+zeal and generosity as they. Then, besides, the duke received these
+vassals with so much condescension and urbanity, and treated them with
+so much consideration and respect, as greatly to flatter their vanity,
+and raise them in their own estimation, by exalting their ideas of the
+importance of the services which they could render in carrying so vast
+an enterprise to a successful result. In a word, the tide turned like a
+flood in favor of granting liberal supplies. The nobles and knights
+promised freely men, money, ships, arms, provisions--every thing, in
+short, that was required; and when the work of receiving and registering
+the offers was completed, and the officers summed up the aggregate
+amount, William found, to his extreme satisfaction, that his wants were
+abundantly supplied.
+
+There was another very important point, which William adopted immediate
+measures to secure, and that was obtaining the _Pope's_ approval of his
+intended expedition. The moral influence of having the Roman pontiff on
+his side, would, he knew, be of incalculable advantage to him. He sent
+an embassage, accordingly, to Rome, to lay the whole subject before his
+holiness, and to pray that the pope would declare that he was justly
+entitled to the English crown, and authorize him to proceed and take
+possession of it by force of arms. Lanfranc was the messenger whom he
+employed--the same Lanfranc who had been so successful, some years
+before, in the negotiations at Rome connected with the confirmation of
+William and Matilda's marriage.
+
+Lanfranc was equally successful now. The pope, after examining William's
+claims, pronounced them valid. He decided that William was entitled to
+the rank and honors of King of England. He caused a formal diploma to be
+made out to this effect. The diploma was elegantly executed, signed with
+the cross, according to the pontifical custom, and sealed with a round
+leaden seal.[J]
+
+[Footnote J: The Latin name for such a seal was _bulla_. It is on
+account of this sort of seal, which is customarily affixed to them, that
+papal edicts have received the name of _bulls_.]
+
+It was, in fact, very natural that the Roman authorities should take a
+favorable view of William's enterprise, and feel an interest in its
+success, as it was undoubtedly for the interest of the Church that
+William, rather than Harold, should reign over England, as the accession
+of William would bring the English realm far more fully under the
+influence of the Roman Church. William had always been very submissive
+to the pontifical authority, as was shown in his conduct in respect to
+the question of his marriage. He himself, and also Matilda his wife, had
+always taken a warm interest in the welfare and prosperity of the
+abbeys, the monasteries, the churches, and the other religious
+establishments of the times. Then the very circumstance that he sent his
+embassador to Rome to submit his claims to the pontiff's adjudication,
+while Harold did not do so, indicated a greater deference for the
+authority of the Church, and made it probable that he would be a far
+more obedient and submissive son of the Church, in his manner of ruling
+his realm, if he should succeed in gaining possession of it, than Harold
+his rival. The pope and his counselors at Rome thought it proper to take
+all these things into the account in deciding between William and
+Harold, as they honestly believed, without doubt, that it was their
+first and highest duty to exalt and aggrandize, by every possible means,
+the spiritual authority of the sacred institution over which they were
+called to preside.
+
+The pope and his cardinals, accordingly, espoused William's cause very
+warmly. In addition to the diploma which gave William formal authority
+to take possession of the English crown, the pope sent him a banner and
+a ring. The banner was of costly and elegant workmanship; its value,
+however, did not consist in its elegance or its cost, but in a solemn
+benediction which his holiness pronounced over it, by which it was
+rendered sacred and inviolable. The banner, thus blessed, was forwarded
+to William by Lanfranc with great care.
+
+It was accompanied by the ring. The ring was of gold, and it contained a
+diamond of great value. The gold and the diamond both, however, served
+only as settings to preserve and honor something of far greater value
+than they. This choice treasure was a hair from the head of the Apostle
+Peter! a sacred relic of miraculous virtue and of inestimable value.
+
+When the edict with its leaden seal, and the banner and the ring arrived
+in Normandy, they produced a great and universal excitement. To have
+bestowed upon the enterprise thus emphatically the solemn sanction of
+the great spiritual head of the Church, to whom the great mass of the
+people looked up with an awe and a reverence almost divine, was to seal
+indissolubly the rightfulness of the enterprise, and to insure its
+success. There was thenceforward no difficulty in procuring men or
+means. Every body was eager to share in the glory, and to obtain the
+rewards, of an enterprise thus commended by an authority duly
+commissioned to express, in all such cases, the judgment of Heaven.
+
+Finding that the current was thus fairly setting in his favor, William
+sent proclamations into all the countries surrounding Normandy, inviting
+knights, and soldiers, and adventurers of every degree to join him
+in his projected enterprise. These proclamations awakened universal
+attention. Great numbers of adventurous men determined to enter
+William's service. Horses, arms, and accoutrements were everywhere in
+great demand. The invasion of England and the question of joining it
+were the universal topics of conversation. The roads were covered with
+knights and soldiers, some on horseback and alone, others in bands,
+large or small, all proceeding to Normandy to tender their services.
+William received them all, and made liberal promises to bestow rewards
+and honors upon them in England, in the event of his success. To some
+he offered pay in money; to others, booty; to others, office and power.
+Every one had his price. Even the priests and dignitaries of the Church
+shared the general enthusiasm. One of them furnished a ship and twenty
+armed men, under an agreement to be appointed bishop of a certain
+valuable English diocese when William should be established on his
+throne.
+
+While all these movements were going on in the interior of the country,
+all the sea-ports and towns along the coast of Normandy presented a very
+busy scene of naval preparation. Naval architects were employed in great
+numbers in building and fitting out vessels. Some were constructed and
+furnished for the transportation of men, others for conveying provisions
+and munitions of war; and lighters and boats were built for ascending
+the rivers, and for aiding in landing troops upon shelving shores.
+Smiths and armorers were occupied incessantly in manufacturing spears,
+and swords, and coats of mail; while vast numbers of laboring men and
+beasts of burden were employed in conveying arms and materials to and
+from the manufactories to the ships, and from one point of embarkation
+to another.
+
+As soon as William had put all these busy agencies thus in successful
+operation, he considered that there was one more point which it was
+necessary for him to secure before finally embarking, and that was the
+co-operation and aid of the French king, whose name at this time was
+Philip. In his character of Duke of Normandy the King of France was
+his liege lord, and he was bound to act, in some degree, under an
+acknowledgment of his superior authority. In his new capacity, that is,
+as King of England, or, rather, as heir to the English kingdom, he was,
+of course, wholly independent of Philip, and, consequently, not bound
+by any feudal obligation to look to him at all. He thought it most
+prudent, however, to attempt, at least, to conciliate Philip's favor,
+and, accordingly, leaving his officers and his workmen to go on with
+the work of organizing his army and of building and equipping the fleet,
+he set off, himself, on an expedition to the court of the French king.
+He thought it safer to undertake this delicate mission himself, rather
+than to intrust it to an embassador or deputy.
+
+He found Philip at his palace of St. Germain's, which was situated at a
+short distance from Paris. The duke assumed, in his interview with the
+king, a very respectful and deferential air and manner. Philip was a
+very young man, though haughty and vain. William was very much his
+superior, not only in age and experience, but in talents and character,
+and in personal renown. Still, he approached the monarch with all the
+respectful observance due from a vassal to his sovereign, made known his
+plans, and asked for Philip's approbation and aid. He was willing, he
+said, in case that aid was afforded him, to hold his kingdom of England,
+as he had done the duchy of Normandy, as a dependency of the French
+crown.
+
+Philip seemed not at all disposed to look upon the project with favor.
+He asked William who was going to take care of his duchy while he was
+running off after a kingdom. William replied, at first, that that was a
+subject which he did not think his neighbors need concern themselves
+about. Then thinking, on reflection, that a more respectful answer would
+be more politic, under the circumstances of the case, he added, that he
+was providentially blessed with a prudent wife and loving subjects, and
+that he thought he might safely leave his domestic affairs in their
+hands until he should return. Philip still opposed the plan. It was
+Quixotic, he said, and dangerous. He strongly advised William to abandon
+the scheme, and be content with his present possessions. Such desperate
+schemes of ambition as those he was contemplating would only involve him
+in ruin.
+
+Before absolutely deciding the case, however, Philip called a council of
+his great nobles and officers of state, and laid William's proposals
+before them. The result of their deliberations was to confirm Philip in
+his first decision. They said that the rendering to William the aid
+which he desired would involve great expense, and be attended with great
+danger; and as to William's promises to hold England as a vassal of the
+King of France, they had no faith in the performance of them. It had
+been very difficult, they said, for many years, for the kings of France
+to maintain any effectual authority over the dukes of Normandy, and when
+once master of so distant and powerful a realm as England, all control
+over them would be sundered forever.
+
+Philip then gave William his final answer in accordance with these
+counsels. The answer was received, on William's part, with strong
+feelings of disappointment and displeasure. Philip conducted the duke to
+his retinue when the hour of departure arrived, in order to soothe, as
+far as possible, his irritated feelings, by dismissing him from his
+court with marks of his honorable consideration and regard. William,
+however, was not in a mood to be pleased. He told Philip, on taking
+leave of him, that he was losing the most powerful vassal that any lord
+sovereign ever had, by the course which he had decided to pursue. "I
+would have held the whole realm of England as a part of your dominions,
+acknowledging you as sovereign over all, if you had consented to render
+me your aid, but I will not do it since you refuse. I shall feel bound
+to repay only those who assist me."
+
+William returned to Normandy, where all the preparations for the
+expedition had been going on with great vigor during his absence, and
+proceeded to make arrangements for the last great measure which it was
+necessary to take previous to his departure; that was, the regular
+constitution of a government to rule in Normandy while he should be
+gone. He determined to leave the supreme power in the hands of his wife
+Matilda, appointing, at the same time, a number of civil and military
+officers as a council of regency, who were to assist her in her
+deliberations by giving her information and advice, and to manage,
+under her direction, the different departments of the government. Her
+title was "Duchess Regent," and she was installed into her office in a
+public and solemn manner, at a great assembly of the estates of the
+realm. At the close of the ceremonies, after William had given Matilda
+his charge, he closed his address by adding, "And do not let us fail to
+enjoy the benefit of your prayers, and those of all the ladies of your
+court, that the blessing of God may attend us, and secure the success of
+our expedition."
+
+We are not necessarily to suppose, as we might at first be strongly
+inclined to do, that there was any special hypocrisy and pretense in
+William's thus professing to rely on the protection of Heaven in the
+personal and political dangers which he was about to incur. It is
+probable that he honestly believed that the inheritance of the English
+crown was his right, and, that being the case, that a vigorous and manly
+effort to enforce his right was a solemn duty. In the present age of the
+world, now that there are so many countries in which intelligence,
+industry, and love of order are so extensively diffused that the mass of
+the community are capable of organizing and administering a government
+themselves, republicans are apt to look upon hereditary sovereigns
+as despots, ruling only for the purpose of promoting their own
+aggrandizement, and the ends of an unholy and selfish ambition. That
+there have been a great many such despots no one can deny; but then, on
+the other hand, there have been many others who have acted, in a greater
+or less degree, under the influence of principles of duty in their
+political career. They have honestly believed that the vast power with
+which, in coming forward into life, they have found themselves invested,
+without, in most cases, any agency of their own, was a trust imposed
+upon them by divine Providence, which could not innocently be laid
+aside; that on them devolved the protection of the communities over
+which they ruled from external hostility, and the preservation of peace
+and order within, and the promotion of the general industry and welfare,
+as an imperious and solemn duty; and they have devoted their lives
+to the performance of this duty, with the usual mixture, it is true,
+of ambition and selfishness, but still, after all, with as much
+conscientiousness and honesty as the mass of men in the humbler walks of
+life evince in performing theirs. William of Normandy appears to have
+been one of this latter class; and in obeying the dictates of his
+ambition in seeking to gain possession of the English crown, he no doubt
+considered himself as fulfilling the obligations of duty too.
+
+However this may be, he went on with his preparations in the most
+vigorous and prosperous manner. The whole country were enthusiastic in
+the cause; and their belief that the enterprise about to be undertaken
+had unquestionably secured the favor of Heaven, was confirmed by an
+extraordinary phenomenon which occurred just before the armament was
+ready to set sail. A comet appeared in the sky, which, as close
+observers declared, had a double tail. It was universally agreed that
+this portended that England and Normandy were about to be combined, and
+to form a double kingdom, which should exhibit to all mankind a
+wonderful spectacle of splendor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CROSSING THE CHANNEL.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+The River Dive.--Final assembling of the fleet.--Map.--Brilliant and
+magnificent scene.--Equinoctial gales.--The expedition detained
+by them.--Injurious effects of the storm.--Discouragement of the
+men.--Fears and forebodings.--Some of the vessels wrecked.--Favorable
+change.--The fleet puts to sea.--Various delays.--Its effects.--Harold's
+want of information.--He withdraws his troops.--Harold's vigilance.--He
+sends spies into Normandy.--Harold's spies.--They are detected.--William
+dismisses the spies.--His confidence in his cause.--Fears of William's
+officers.--He reassures them.--Arrival of Matilda with the Mira.--A
+present to William.--The squadron puts to sea again.--Its
+appearance.--Fleetness of the Mira.--Leaves the fleet out of
+sight.--William's unconcern.--Reappearance of the fleet.--The fleet
+enters the Bay of Pevensey.--Disembarkation.--Landing of the
+troops.--Anecdote.--The encampment.--Scouts sent out.--William's
+supper.--The missing ships.--The Conqueror's Stone.--March of the
+army.--Flight of the inhabitants.--The army encamps.--The town of
+Hastings.--William's fortifications.--Approach of Harold.
+
+
+The place for the final assembling of the fleet which was to convey the
+expedition across the Channel was the mouth of a small river called the
+Dive, which will be seen upon the following map, flowing from the
+neighborhood of the castle of Falaise northward into the sea. The grand
+gathering took place in the beginning of the month of September, in the
+year 1066. This date, which marks the era of the Norman Conquest, is one
+of the dates which students of history fix indelibly in the memory.
+
+[Illustration: NORMANDY.]
+
+The gathering of the fleet in the estuary of the Dive, and the
+assembling of the troops on the beach along its shores, formed a very
+grand and imposing spectacle. The fleets of galleys, ships, boats, and
+barges covering the surface of the water--the long lines of tents under
+the cliffs on the land--the horsemen, splendidly mounted, and glittering
+with steel--the groups of soldiers, all busily engaged in transporting
+provisions and stores to and fro, or making the preliminary arrangements
+for the embarkation--the thousands of spectators who came and went
+incessantly, and the duke himself, gorgeously dressed, and mounted on
+his war-horse, with the guards and officers that attended him--these,
+and the various other elements of martial parade and display usually
+witnessed on such occasions, conspired to produce a very gay and
+brilliant, as well as magnificent scene.
+
+Of course, the assembling of so large a force of men and of vessels, and
+the various preparations for the embarkation, consumed some time, and
+when at length all was ready--which was early in September--the
+equinoctial gales came on, and it was found impossible to leave the
+port. There was, in fact, a continuance of heavy winds and seas, and
+stormy skies, for several weeks. Short intervals, from time to time,
+occurred, when the clouds would break away, and the sun appear; but
+these intervals did not liberate the fleet from its confinement, for
+they were not long enough in duration to allow the sea to go down. The
+surf continued to come rolling and thundering in upon the shore, and
+over the sand-bars at the mouth of the river, making destruction the
+almost inevitable destiny of any ship which should undertake to brave
+its fury. The state of the skies gradually robbed the scene of the gay
+and brilliant colors which first it wore. The vessels furled their
+sails, and drew in their banners, and rode at anchor, presenting their
+heads doggedly to the storm. The men on the shore sought shelter in
+their tents. The spectators retired to their homes, while the duke and
+his officers watched the scudding clouds in the sky, day after day, with
+great and increasing anxiety.
+
+In fact, William had very serious cause for apprehension in respect to
+the effect which this long-continued storm was to have on the success
+of his enterprise. The delay was a very serious consideration in itself,
+for the winter would soon be drawing near. In one month more it would
+seem to be out of the question for such a vast armament to cross the
+Channel at all. Then, when men are embarking in such dark and hazardous
+undertakings as that in which William was now engaged, their spirits and
+their energy rise and sink in great fluctuations, under the influence of
+very slight and inadequate causes; and nothing has greater influence
+over them at such times than the aspect of the skies. William found that
+the ardor and enthusiasm of his army were fast disappearing under the
+effects of chilling winds and driving rain. The feelings of discontent
+and depression which the frowning expression of the heavens awakened in
+their minds, were deepened and spread by the influence of sympathy. The
+men had nothing to do, during the long and dreary hours of the day, but
+to anticipate hardships and dangers, and to entertain one another, as
+they watched the clouds driving along the cliffs, and the rolling of the
+surges in the offing, with anticipations of shipwrecks, battles, and
+defeats, and all the other gloomy forebodings which haunt the
+imagination of a discouraged and discontented soldier.
+
+Nor were these ideas of wrecks and destruction wholly imaginary.
+Although the body of the fleet remained in the river, where it was
+sheltered from the winds, yet there were many cases of single ships that
+were from time to time exposed to them. These were detached vessels
+coming in late to the rendezvous, or small squadrons sent out to some
+neighboring port under some necessity connected with the preparations,
+or strong galleys, whose commanders, more bold than the rest, were
+willing, in cases _not_ of absolute necessity, to brave the danger. Many
+of these vessels were wrecked. The fragments of them, with the bodies of
+the drowned mariners, were driven to the shore. The ghastly spectacles
+presented by these dead bodies, swollen and mangled, and half buried in
+the sand, as if the sea had been endeavoring to hide the mischief it had
+done, shocked and terrified the spectators who saw them. William gave
+orders to have all these bodies gathered up and interred secretly, as
+fast as they were found; still, exaggerated rumors of the number and
+magnitude of these disasters were circulated in the camp, and the
+discontent and apprehensions grew every day more and more alarming.
+
+William resolved that he must put to sea at the very first possible
+opportunity. The favorable occasion was not long wanting. The wind
+changed. The storm appeared to cease. A breeze sprang up from the south,
+which headed back the surges from the French shore. William gave orders
+to embark. The tents were struck. The baggage of the soldiers was sent
+on board the transport vessels. The men themselves, crowded into great
+flat-bottomed boats, passed in masses to the ships from the shore. The
+spectators reappeared, and covered the cliffs and promontories near, to
+witness the final scene. The sails were hoisted, and the vast armament
+moved out upon the sea.
+
+The appearance of a favorable change in the weather proved fallacious
+after all, for the clouds and storm returned, and after being driven, in
+apprehension and danger, about a hundred miles to the northeast along
+the coast, the fleet was compelled to seek refuge again in a harbor. The
+port which received them was St. Valery, near Dieppe. The duke was
+greatly disappointed at being obliged thus again to take the land.
+Still, the attempt to advance had not been a labor wholly lost; for as
+the French coast here trends to the northward, they had been gradually
+narrowing the channel as they proceeded, and were, in fact, so far on
+the way toward the English shores. Then there were, besides, some
+reasons for touching here, before the final departure, to receive some
+last re-enforcements and supplies. William had also one more opportunity
+of communicating with his capital and with Matilda.
+
+These delays, disastrous as they seemed to be, and ominous of evil, were
+nevertheless attended with one good effect, of which, however, William
+at the time was not aware. They led Harold, in England, to imagine that
+the enterprise was abandoned, and so put him off his guard. There were
+in those days, as has already been remarked, no regular and public modes
+of intercommunication, by which intelligence of important movements and
+events was spread every where, as now, with promptness and certainty.
+Governments were obliged, accordingly, to rely for information, in
+respect to what their enemies were doing, on rumors, or on the reports
+of spies. Rumors had gone to England in August that William was
+meditating an invasion, and Harold had made some extensive preparations
+to meet and oppose him; but, finding that he did not come--that week
+after week of September passed away, and no signs of an enemy appeared,
+and gaining no certain information of the causes of the delay, he
+concluded that the enterprise was abandoned, or else, perhaps, postponed
+to the ensuing spring. Accordingly, as the winter was coming on, he
+deemed it best to commence his preparations for sending his troops to
+their winter quarters. He disbanded some of them, and sent others away,
+distributing them in various castles and fortified towns, where they
+would be sheltered from the rigors of the season, and saved from the
+exposure and hardships of the camp, and yet, at the same time, remain
+within reach of a summons in case of any sudden emergency which might
+call for them. They were soon summoned, though not, in the first
+instance, to meet Harold, as will presently appear.
+
+While adopting these measures, however, which he thought the comfort and
+safety of his army required, Harold did not relax his vigilance in
+watching, as well as he could, the designs and movements of his enemy.
+He kept his secret agents on the southern coast, ordering them to
+observe closely every thing that transpired, and to gather and send to
+him every item of intelligence which should find its way by any means
+across the Channel. Of course, William would do all in his power to
+intercept and cut off all communication, and he was, at this time, very
+much aided in these efforts by the prevalence of the storms, which made
+it almost impossible for the fishing and trading vessels of the coast to
+venture out to sea, or attempt to cross the Channel. The agents of
+Harold, therefore, on the southern coast of England, found that they
+could obtain but very little information.
+
+At length the king, unwilling to remain any longer so entirely in the
+dark, resolved on sending some messengers across the sea into Normandy
+itself, to learn positively what the true state of the case might be.
+Messengers going thus secretly into the enemy's territory, or into the
+enemy's camp, become, by so doing, in martial law, _spies_, and incur,
+if they are taken, the penalty of death. The undertaking, therefore, is
+extremely hazardous; and as the death which is inflicted in cases of
+detection is an ignominious one--spies being hung, not shot--most men
+are very averse to encountering the danger. Still, desperate characters
+are always to be found in camps and armies, who are ready to undertake
+it on being promised very extraordinary pay.
+
+Harold's spies contrived to make their way across the Channel, probably
+at some point far to the east of Normandy, where the passage is narrow.
+They then came along the shore, disguised as peasants of the country,
+and they arrived at St. Valery while William's fleets were there. Here
+they began to make their observations, scrutinizing every thing with
+close attention and care, and yet studiously endeavoring to conceal
+their interest in what they saw. Notwithstanding all their vigilance,
+however, they were discovered, proved to be spies, and taken before
+William to receive their sentence.
+
+Instead of condemning them to death, which they undoubtedly supposed
+would be their inevitable fate, William ordered them to be set at
+liberty. "Go back," said he, "to King Harold, and tell him he might have
+saved himself the expense of sending spies into Normandy to learn what I
+am preparing for him. He will soon know by other means--much sooner, in
+fact, than he imagines. Go and tell him from me that he may put himself,
+if he pleases, in the safest place he can find in all his dominions,
+and if he does not find my hand upon him before the year is out, he
+never need fear me again as long as he lives."
+
+Nor was this expression of confidence in the success of the measures
+which he was taking a mere empty boast. William knew the power of
+Harold, and he knew his own. The enterprise in which he had embarked was
+not a rash adventure. It was a cool, deliberate, well-considered plan.
+It appeared doubtful and dangerous in the eyes of mankind, for to mere
+superficial observers it seemed simply an aggressive war waged by a duke
+of Normandy, the ruler of a comparatively small and insignificant
+province, against a king of England, the monarch of one of the greatest
+and most powerful realms in the world. William, on the other hand,
+regarded it as an effort on the part of the rightful heir to a throne to
+dispossess a usurper. He felt confident of having the sympathy and
+co-operation of a great part of the community, even in England, the
+moment he could show them that he was able to maintain his rights; and
+that he could show them that, by a very decisive demonstration, was
+evident, visibly, before him, in the vast fleet which was riding at
+anchor in the harbor, and in the long lines of tents, filled with
+soldiery, which covered the land.
+
+On one occasion, when some of his officers were expressing apprehensions
+of Harold's power, and their fears in respect to their being able
+successfully to cope with it, William replied, that the more formidable
+Harold's power should prove to be, the better he should be pleased, as
+the glory would be all the greater for them in having overcome it. "I
+have no objection," said he, "that you should entertain exalted ideas of
+his strength, though I wonder a little that you do not better appreciate
+our own. I need be under no concern lest he, at such a distance, should
+learn too much, by his spies, about the force which I am bringing
+against him, when you, who are so near me, seem to know so little about
+it. But do not give yourselves any concern. Trust to the justice of your
+cause and to my foresight. Perform your parts like men, and you will
+find that the result which I feel sure of, and you hope for, will
+certainly be attained."
+
+The storm at length entirely cleared away, and the army and the fleet
+commenced their preparations for the final departure. In the midst of
+this closing scene, the attention of all the vast crowds assembled on
+board the ships and on the shores was one morning attracted by a
+beautiful ship which came sailing into the harbor. It proved to be a
+large and splendid vessel which the Duchess Matilda had built, at her
+own expense, and was now bringing in, to offer to her husband as
+her parting gift. She was herself on board, with her officers and
+attendants, having come to witness her husband's departure, and to bid
+him farewell. Her arrival, of course, under such circumstances, produced
+universal excitement and enthusiasm. The ships in harbor and the shores
+resounded with acclamations as the new arrival came gallantly in.
+
+Matilda's vessel was finely built and splendidly decorated. The sails
+were of different colors, which gave it a very gay appearance. Upon them
+were painted, in various places, the three lions, which was the device
+of the Norman ensign. At the bows of the ship was an effigy, or
+figure-head, representing William and Matilda's second son shooting with
+a bow. This was the accomplishment which, of all others, his father took
+most interest in seeing his little son acquire. The arrow was drawn
+nearly to its head, indicating great strength in the little arms which
+were guiding it, and it was just ready to fly. The name of this vessel
+was the Mira. William made it his flag ship. He hoisted upon its mast
+head the consecrated banner which had been sent to him from Rome, and
+went on board accompanied by his officers and guards, and with great
+ceremony and parade.
+
+At length the squadron was ready to put to sea. At a given signal the
+sails were hoisted, and the whole fleet began to move slowly out of the
+harbor. There were four hundred ships of large size, if we may believe
+the chronicles of the times, and more than a thousand transports. The
+decks of all these vessels were covered with men; banners were streaming
+from every mast and spar; and every salient point of the shore was
+crowded with spectators. The sea was calm, the air serene, and the
+mighty cloud of canvas which whitened the surface of the water moved
+slowly on over the gentle swell of the waves, forming a spectacle which,
+as a picture merely for the eye, was magnificent and grand, and, when
+regarded in connection with the vast results to the human race which
+were to flow from the success of the enterprise, must have been
+considered sublime.
+
+The splendidly decorated ship which Matilda had presented to her husband
+proved itself, on trial, to be something more than a mere toy. It led
+the van at the commencement, of course; and as all eyes watched its
+progress, it soon became evident that it was slowly gaining upon the
+rest of the squadron, so as continually to increase its distance from
+those that were following it. William, pleased with the success of its
+performance, ordered the sailing master to keep on, without regard to
+those who were behind; and thus it happened that, when night came on,
+the fleet was at very considerable distance in rear of the flag ship. Of
+course, under these circumstances, the fleet disappeared from sight when
+the sun went down, but all expected that it would come into view again
+in the morning. When the morning came, however, to the surprise and
+disappointment of every one on board the flag ship, no signs of the
+fleet were to be seen. The seamen, and the officers on the deck, gazed
+long and intently into the southern horizon as the increasing light of
+the morning brought it gradually into view, but there was not a speck to
+break its smooth and even line.
+
+They felt anxious and uneasy, but William seemed to experience no
+concern. He ordered the sails to be furled, and then sent a man to the
+mast head to look out there. Nothing was to be seen. William, still
+apparently unconcerned, ordered breakfast to be prepared in a very
+sumptuous manner, loading the tables with wine and other delicacies,
+that the minds of all on board might be cheered by the exhilarating
+influence of a feast. At length the lookout was sent to the mast head
+again. "What do you see now?" said William. "I see," said the man,
+gazing very intently all the while toward the south, "four _very small
+specks_ just in the horizon." The intense interest which this
+announcement awakened on the deck was soon at the same time _heightened_
+and _relieved_ by the cry, "I can see more and more--they are the
+ships--yes, the whole squadron is coming into view."
+
+The advancing fleet soon came up with the Mira, when the latter spread
+her sails again, and all moved slowly on together toward the coast of
+England.
+
+The ships had directed their course so much to the eastward, that when
+they made the land they were not very far from the Straits of Dover. As
+they drew near to the English shore, they watched very narrowly for the
+appearance of Harold's cruisers, which they naturally expected would
+have been stationed at various points, to guard the coast; but none were
+to be seen. There had been such cruisers, and there still were such off
+the other harbors; but it happened, very fortunately for William, that
+those which had been stationed to guard this part of the island had been
+withdrawn a few days before, on account of their provisions being
+exhausted. Thus, when William's fleet arrived, there was no enemy to
+oppose their landing. There was a large and open bay, called the Bay of
+Pevensey, which lay smiling before them, extending its arms as if
+inviting them in. The fleet advanced to within the proper distance from
+the land, and there the seamen cast their anchors, and all began to
+prepare for the work of disembarkation.
+
+A strong body of soldiery is of course landed first on such occasions.
+In this instance the archers, William's favorite corps, were selected to
+take the lead. William accompanied them. In his eagerness to get to the
+shore, as he leaped from the boat, his foot slipped, and he fell. The
+officers and men around him would have considered this an evil omen; but
+he had presence of mind enough to extend his arms and grasp the ground,
+pretending that his prostration was designed, and saying at the same
+time, "Thus I seize this land; from this moment it is mine." As he
+arose, one of his officers ran to a neighboring hut which stood near by
+upon the shore, and breaking off a little of the thatch, carried it to
+William, and, putting it into his hand, said that he thus gave him
+_seizin_ of his new possessions. This was a customary form, in those
+times, of putting a new owner into possession of lands which he had
+purchased or acquired in any other way. The new proprietor would repair
+to the ground, where the party whose province it was to deliver the
+property would detach something from it, such as a piece of turf from a
+bank, or a little of the thatch from a cottage, and offering it to him,
+would say, "Thus I deliver thee _seizin_," that is, _possession_, "of
+this land." This ceremony was necessary to complete the conveyance of
+the estate.
+
+The soldiers, as soon as they were landed, began immediately to form an
+encampment, and to make such military arrangements as were necessary to
+guard against an attack, or the sudden appearance of an enemy. While
+this was going on, the boats continued to pass to and fro,
+accomplishing, as fast as possible, the work of disembarkation. In
+addition to those regularly attached to the army, there was a vast
+company of workmen of all kinds, engineers, pioneers, carpenters,
+masons, and laborers, to be landed; and there were three towers, or
+rather forts, built of timber, which had been framed and fashioned in
+Normandy, ready to be put up on arriving: these had now to be landed,
+piece by piece, on the strand. These forts were to be erected as soon as
+the army should have chosen a position for a permanent encampment, and
+were intended as a means of protection for the provisions and stores.
+The circumstance shows that the plan of transporting buildings ready
+made, across the seas, has not been invented anew by our emigrants to
+California.
+
+While these operations were going on, William dispatched small squadrons
+of horse as reconnoitering parties, to explore the country around, to
+see if there were any indications that Harold was near. These parties
+returned, one after another, after having gone some miles into the
+country in all directions, and reported that there were no signs of an
+enemy to be seen. Things were now getting settled, too, in the camp,
+and William gave directions that the army should kindle their camp fires
+for the night, and prepare and eat their suppers. His own supper, or
+dinner, as perhaps it might be called, was also served, which he
+partook, with his officers, in his own tent. His mind was in a state of
+great contentment and satisfaction at the successful accomplishment of
+the landing, and at finding himself thus safely established, at the head
+of a vast force, within the realm of England.
+
+Every circumstance of the transit had been favorable excepting one, and
+that was, that two of the ships belonging to the fleet were missing.
+William inquired at supper if any tidings of them had been received.
+They told him, in reply, that the missing vessels had been heard from;
+they had, in some way or other, been run upon the rocks and lost. There
+was a certain astrologer, who had made a great parade, before the
+expedition left Normandy, of predicting its result. He had found, by
+consulting the stars, that William would be successful, and would meet
+with no opposition from Harold. This astrologer had been on board one of
+the missing ships, and was drowned. William remarked, on receiving this
+information, "What an idiot a man must be, to think that he can predict,
+by means of the stars, the future fate of others, when it is so plain
+that he can not foresee his own!"
+
+It is said that William's dinner on this occasion was served on a large
+stone instead of a table. The stone still remains on the spot, and is
+called "the Conqueror's Stone" to this day.
+
+The next day after the landing, the army was put in motion, and advanced
+along the coast toward the eastward. There was no armed enemy to contend
+against them there or to oppose their march; the people of the country,
+through which the army moved, far from attempting to resist them, were
+filled with terror and dismay. This terror was heightened, in fact, by
+some excesses of which some parties of the soldiers were guilty. The
+inhabitants of the hamlets and villages, overwhelmed with consternation
+at the sudden descent upon their shores of such a vast horde of wild and
+desperate foreigners, fled in all directions. Some made their escape
+into the interior; others, taking with them the helpless members of
+their households, and such valuables as they could carry, sought refuge
+in monasteries and churches, supposing that such sanctuaries as those,
+not even soldiers, unless they were pagans, would dare to violate.
+Others, still, attempted to conceal themselves in thickets and fens till
+the vast throng which was sweeping onward like a tornado should have
+passed. Though William afterward always evinced a decided disposition to
+protect the peaceful inhabitants of the country from all aggressions on
+the part of his troops, he had no time to attend to that subject now. He
+was intent on pressing forward to a place of safety.
+
+William reached at length a position which seemed to him suitable for a
+permanent encampment. It was an elevated land, near the sea. To the
+westward of it was a valley formed by a sort of recess opened in the
+range of chalky cliffs which here form the shore of England. In the
+bottom of this valley, down upon the beach, was a small town, then of no
+great consequence or power, but whose name, which was Hastings, has
+since been immortalized by the battle which was fought in its vicinity a
+few days after William's arrival. The position which William selected
+for his encampment was on high land in the vicinity of the town. The
+lines of the encampment were marked out, and the forts or castles which
+had been brought from Normandy were set up within the inclosures. Vast
+multitudes of laborers were soon at work, throwing up embankments, and
+building redoubts and bastions, while others were transporting the arms,
+the provisions, and the munitions of war, and storing them in security
+within the lines. The encampment was soon completed, and the long line
+of tents were set up in streets and squares within it. By the time,
+however, that the work was done, some of William's agents and spies came
+into camp from the north, saying that in four days Harold would be upon
+him at the head of a hundred thousand men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+Tostig.--He is driven from England.--Expedition of Tostig.--He sails
+to Norway.--Tostig's alliance with the Norwegians.--The Norwegian
+fleet.--Superstitions.--Dreams of the soldiers.--The combined
+fleets.--Attack on Scarborough.--The rolling fire.--Burning of
+Scarborough.--Tostig marches to York.--Surrender of the city.--Arrival
+of King Harold.--Movements of Tostig.--Surprise of Tostig and his
+allies.--Preparations for battle.--Negotiations between Tostig and his
+brother.--The battle.--Death of Tostig.--The Norwegians retire.--Harold
+attempts to surprise William.--His failure.--Advice of Harold's
+counselors.--He rejects it.--Harold's encampment.--The country
+alarmed.--Harold's brothers.--He proposes to visit William's
+camp.--Harold's arrival at William's lines.--He reconnoiters the
+camp.--Harold's despondency.--His spies.--Their report.--William's
+embassadors.--Their propositions.--William's propositions
+unreasonable.--Harold declines them.--Further proposals of
+William.--Counter proposal of Harold.--Harold's forebodings.--Proposals
+of his brothers.--Night before the battle.--Scenes in Harold's
+camp.--Scenes in William's camp.--Religious ceremonies.--A martial
+bishop.--William's war-horse.--Preliminary arrangements.--Battle of
+Hastings.--Defeat of Harold.--He is slain.--Final subjugation of the
+island.--William crowned at Westminster.--William's power.--His
+greatness.
+
+
+The reader will doubtless recollect that the tidings which William first
+received of the accession of King Harold were brought to him by Tostig,
+Harold's brother, on the day when he was trying his bow and arrows in
+the park at Rouen. Tostig was his brother's most inveterate foe. He had
+been, during the reign of Edward, a great chieftain, ruling over the
+north of England. The city of York was then his capital. He had been
+expelled from these his dominions, and had quarreled with his brother
+Harold in respect to his right to be restored to them. In the course of
+this quarrel he was driven from the country altogether, and went to the
+Continent, burning with rage and resentment against his brother; and
+when he came to inform William of Harold's usurpation, his object was
+not merely to arouse _William_ to action--he wished to act himself. He
+told William that he himself had more influence in England still than
+his brother, and that if William would supply him with a small fleet
+and a moderate number of men, he would make a descent upon the coast and
+show what he could do.
+
+William acceded to his proposal, and furnished him with the force which
+he required, and Tostig set sail. William had not, apparently, much
+confidence in the power of Tostig to produce any great effect, but his
+efforts, he thought, might cause some alarm in England, and occasion
+sudden and fatiguing marches to the troops, and thus distract and weaken
+King Harold's forces. William would not, therefore, accompany Tostig
+himself, but, dismissing him with such force as he could readily raise
+on so sudden a call, he remained himself in Normandy, and commenced in
+earnest his own grand preparations, as is described in the last chapter.
+
+Tostig did not think it prudent to attempt a landing on English shores
+until he had obtained some accession to the force which William had
+given him. He accordingly passed through the Straits of Dover, and then
+turning northward, he sailed along the eastern shores of the German
+Ocean in search of allies. He came, at length, to Norway. He entered
+into negotiations there with the Norwegian king, whose name, too, was
+Harold. This northern Harold was a wild and adventurous soldier and
+sailor, a sort of sea king, who had spent a considerable portion of his
+life in marauding excursions upon the seas. He readily entered into
+Tostig's views. An arrangement was soon concluded, and Tostig set sail
+again to cross the German Ocean toward the British shores, while Harold
+promised to collect and equip his own fleet as soon as possible, and
+follow him. All this took place early in September; so that, at the same
+time that William's threatened invasion was gathering strength and
+menacing Harold's southern frontier, a cloud equally dark and gloomy,
+and quite as threatening in its aspect, was rising and swelling in the
+north; while King Harold himself, though full of vague uneasiness and
+alarm, could gain no certain information in respect to either of these
+dangers.
+
+The Norwegian fleet assembled at the port appointed for the rendezvous
+of it, but, as the season was advanced and the weather stormy, the
+soldiers there, like William's soldiers on the coast of France, were
+afraid to put to sea. Some of them had dreams which they considered as
+bad omens; and so much superstitious importance was attached to such
+ideas in those times that these dreams were gravely recorded by the
+writers of the ancient chronicles, and have come down to us as part of
+the regular and sober history of the times. One soldier dreamed that the
+expedition had sailed and landed on the English coast, and that there
+the English army came out to meet them. Before the front of the army
+rode a woman of gigantic stature, mounted on a wolf. The wolf had in his
+jaws a human body, dripping with blood, which he was engaged in
+devouring as he came along. The woman gave the wolf another victim after
+he had devoured the first.
+
+Another of these ominous dreams was the following: Just as the fleet was
+about setting sail, the dreamer saw a crowd of ravenous vultures and
+birds of prey come and alight every where upon the sails and rigging of
+the ships, as if they were going to accompany the expedition. Upon the
+summit of a rock near the shore there sat the figure of a female, with a
+stern and ferocious countenance, and a drawn sword in her hand. She was
+busy counting the ships, pointing at them, as she counted, with her
+sword. She seemed a sort of fiend of destruction, and she called out to
+the birds, to encourage them to go. "Go!" said she, "without fear; you
+shall have abundance of prey. I am going too."
+
+It is obvious that these dreams might as easily have been interpreted to
+portend death and destruction to their English foes as to the dreamers
+themselves. The soldiers were, however, inclined--in the state of mind
+which the season of the year, the threatening aspect of the skies, and
+the certain dangers of their distant expedition, produced--to apply the
+gloomy predictions which they imagined these dreams expressed, to
+themselves. Their chief, however, was of too desperate and determined a
+character to pay any regard to such influences. He set sail. His
+armament crossed the German Sea in safety, and joined Tostig on the
+coast of Scotland. The combined fleet moved slowly southward, along the
+shore, watching for an opportunity to land.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORWEGIANS AT SCARBOROUGH.]
+
+They reached, at length, the town of Scarborough, and landed to attack
+it. The inhabitants retired within the walls, shut the gates, and bid
+the invaders defiance. The town was situated under a hill, which rose in
+a steep acclivity upon one side. The story is, that the Norwegians went
+upon this hill, where they piled up an enormous heap of trunks and
+branches of trees, with the interstices filled with stubble, dried
+bark, and roots, and other such combustibles, and then setting the whole
+mass on fire, they rolled it down into the town--a vast ball of fire,
+roaring and crackling more and more, by the fanning of its flames in the
+wind, as it bounded along. The intelligent reader will, of course, pause
+and hesitate, in considering how far to credit such a story. It is
+obviously impossible that any mere _pile_, however closely packed, could
+be made to roll. But it is, perhaps, not absolutely impossible that
+trunks of trees might be framed together, or fastened with wet thongs or
+iron chains, after being made in the form of a rude cylinder or ball,
+and filled with combustibles within, so as to retain its integrity in
+such a descent.
+
+The account states that this strange method of bombardment was
+successful. The town was set on fire; the people surrendered. Tostig and
+the Norwegians plundered it, and then, embarking again in their ships,
+they continued their voyage.
+
+The intelligence of this descent upon his northern coasts reached Harold
+in London toward the close of September, just as he was withdrawing his
+forces from the southern frontier, as was related in the last chapter,
+under the idea that the Norman invasion would probably be postponed
+until the spring; so that, instead of sending his troops into their
+winter quarters, he had to concentrate them again with all dispatch, and
+march at the head of them to the north, to avert this new and unexpected
+danger.
+
+While King Harold was thus advancing to meet them, Tostig and his
+Norwegian allies entered the River Humber. Their object was to reach the
+city of York, which had been Tostig's former capital, and which was
+situated near the River Ouse, a branch of the Humber. They accordingly
+ascended the Humber to the mouth of the Ouse, and thence up the latter
+river to a suitable point of debarkation not far from York. Here they
+landed and formed a great encampment. From this encampment they advanced
+to the siege of the city. The inhabitants made some resistance at first;
+but, finding that their cause was hopeless, they offered to surrender,
+and a treaty of surrender was finally concluded. This negotiation was
+closed toward the evening of the day, and Tostig and his confederate
+forces were to be admitted on the morrow. They therefore, feeling that
+their prize was secure, withdrew to their encampment for the night, and
+left the city to its repose.
+
+It so happened that King Harold arrived that very night, coming to the
+rescue of the city. He expected to have found an army of besiegers
+around the walls, but, instead of that, there was nothing to intercept
+his progress up to the very gates of the city. The inhabitants opened
+the gates to receive him, and the whole detachment which was marching
+under his command passed in, while Tostig and his Norwegian allies were
+sleeping quietly in their camp, wholly unconscious of the great change
+which had thus taken place in the situation of their affairs.
+
+The next morning Tostig drew out a large portion of the army, and formed
+them in array, for the purpose of advancing to take possession of the
+city. Although it was September, and the weather had been cold and
+stormy, it happened that, on that morning, the sun came out bright, and
+the air was calm, giving promise of a warm day; and as the movement into
+the city was to be a peaceful one--a procession, as it were, and not a
+hostile march--the men were ordered to leave their coats of mail and all
+their heavy armor in camp, that they might march the more unencumbered.
+While they were advancing in this unconcerned and almost defenseless
+condition, they saw before them, on the road leading to the city, a
+great cloud of dust arising. It was a strong body of King Harold's
+troops coming out to attack them. At first, Tostig and the Norwegians
+were completely lost and bewildered at the appearance of so unexpected a
+spectacle. Very soon they could see weapons glittering here and there,
+and banners flying. A cry of "The enemy! the enemy!" arose, and passed
+along their ranks, producing universal alarm. Tostig and the Norwegian
+Harold halted their men, and marshaled them hastily in battle array. The
+English Harold did the same, when he had drawn up near to the front of
+the enemy; both parties then paused, and stood surveying one another.
+Presently there was seen advancing from the English side a squadron of
+twenty horsemen, splendidly armed, and bearing a flag of truce. They
+approached to within a short distance of the Norwegian lines, when a
+herald, who was among them, called out aloud for Tostig. Tostig came
+forward in answer to the summons. The herald then proclaimed to Tostig
+that his brother did not wish to contend with him, but desired, on the
+contrary, that they should live together in harmony. He offered him
+peace, therefore, if he would lay down his arms, and he promised to
+restore him his former possessions and honors.
+
+Tostig seemed very much inclined to receive this proposition favorably.
+He paused and hesitated. At length he asked the messenger what terms
+King Harold would make with his friend and ally, the Norwegian Harold.
+"He shall have," replied the messenger, "seven feet of English ground
+for a grave. He shall have a little more than that, for he is taller
+than common men." "Then," replied Tostig, "tell my brother to prepare
+for battle. It shall never be said that I abandoned and betrayed my ally
+and friend."
+
+The troop returned with Tostig's answer to Harold's lines, and the
+battle almost immediately began. Of course the most eager and inveterate
+hostility of the English army would be directed against the Norwegians
+and their king, whom they considered as foreign intruders, without any
+excuse or pretext for their aggression. It accordingly happened that,
+very soon after the commencement of the conflict, Harold the Norwegian
+fell, mortally wounded by an arrow in his throat. The English king then
+made new proposals to Tostig to cease the combat, and come to some
+terms of accommodation. But, in the mean time, Tostig had become himself
+incensed, and would listen to no overtures of peace. He continued the
+combat until he was himself killed. The remaining combatants in his army
+had now no longer any motive for resistance. Harold offered them a free
+passage to their ships, that they might return home in peace, if they
+would lay down their arms. They accepted the offer, retired on board
+their ships, and set sail. Harold then, having, in the mean time, heard
+of William's landing on the southern coast, set out on his return to the
+southward, to meet the more formidable enemy that menaced him there.
+
+His army, though victorious, was weakened by the fatigues of the march,
+and by the losses suffered in the battle. Harold himself had been
+wounded, though not so severely as to prevent his continuing to exercise
+the command. He pressed on toward the south with great energy, sending
+messages on every side, into the surrounding country, on his line of
+march, calling upon the chieftains to arm themselves and their
+followers, and to come on with all possible dispatch, and join him. He
+hoped to advance so rapidly to the southern coast as to surprise
+William before he should have fully intrenched himself in his camp, and
+without his being aware of his enemy's approach. But William, in order
+to guard effectually against surprise, had sent out small reconnoitering
+parties of horsemen on all the roads leading northward, that they might
+bring him in intelligence of the first approach of the enemy. Harold's
+advanced guard met these parties, and saw them as they drove rapidly
+back to the camp to give the alarm. Thus the hope of surprising William
+was disappointed. Harold found, too, by his spies, as he drew near, to
+his utter dismay, that William's forces were four times as numerous as
+his own. It would, of course, be madness for him to think of attacking
+an enemy in his intrenchments with such an inferior force. The only
+alternative left him was either to retreat, or else to take some strong
+position and fortify himself there, in the hope of being able to resist
+the invaders and arrest their advance, though he was not strong enough
+to attack them.
+
+Some of his counselors advised him not to hazard a battle at all, but
+to fall back toward London, carrying with him or destroying every thing
+which could afford sustenance to William's army from the whole breadth
+of the land. This would soon, they said, reduce William's army to great
+distress for want of food, since it would be impossible for him to
+transport supplies across the Channel for so vast a multitude. Besides,
+they said, this plan would compel William, in the extremity to which
+he would be reduced, to make so many predatory excursions among the more
+distant villages and towns, as would exasperate the inhabitants,
+and induce them to join Harold's army in great numbers to repel
+the invasion. Harold listened to these counsels, but said, after
+consideration, that he could never adopt such a plan. He could not be
+so derelict to his duty as to lay waste a country which he was under
+obligations to protect and save, or compel his people to come to his aid
+by exposing them, designedly, to the excesses and cruelties of so
+ferocious an enemy.
+
+Harold determined, therefore, on giving William battle. It was not
+necessary, however, for him to attack the invader. He perceived at once
+that if he should take a strong position and fortify himself in it,
+William must necessarily attack _him_, since a foreign army, just landed
+in the country, could not long remain inactive on the shore. Harold
+accordingly chose a position six or seven miles from William's camp,
+and fortified himself strongly there. Of course neither army was in
+sight of the other, or knew the numbers, disposition, or plans of the
+enemy. The country between them was, so far as the inhabitants were
+concerned, a scene of consternation and terror. No one knew at what
+point the two vast clouds of danger and destruction which were hovering
+near them would meet, or over what regions the terrible storm which was
+to burst forth when the hour of that meeting should come, would sweep in
+its destructive fury. The inhabitants, therefore, were every where
+flying in dismay, conveying away the aged and the helpless by any means
+which came most readily to hand; taking with them, too, such treasures
+as they could carry, and hiding, in rude and uncertain places of
+concealment, those which they were compelled to leave behind. The
+region, thus, which lay between the two encampments was rapidly becoming
+a solitude and a desolation, across which no communication was made, and
+no tidings passed to give the armies at the encampments intelligence of
+each other.
+
+Harold had two brothers among the officers of his army, Gurth and
+Leofwin. Their conduct toward the king seems to have been of a more
+fraternal character than that of Tostig, who had acted the part of a
+rebel and an enemy. Gurth and Leofwin, on the contrary, adhered to his
+cause, and, as the hour of danger and the great crisis which was to
+decide their fate drew nigh, they kept close to his side, and evinced a
+truly fraternal solicitude for his safety. It was they, specially, who
+had recommended to Harold to fall back on London, and not risk his life,
+and the fate of his kingdom, on the uncertain event of a battle.
+
+As soon as Harold had completed his encampment, he expressed a desire
+to Gurth to ride across the intermediate country and take a view of
+William's lines. Such an undertaking was less dangerous then than it
+would be at the present day; for now, such a reconnoitering party would
+be discovered from the enemy's encampment, at a great distance, by means
+of spy-glasses, and a twenty-four-pound shot or a shell would be sent
+from a battery to blow the party to pieces or drive them away. The only
+danger _then_ was of being pursued by a detachment of horsemen from the
+camp, or surrounded by an ambuscade. To guard against these dangers,
+Harold and Gurth took the most powerful and fleetest horses in the
+camp, and they called out a small but strong guard of well-selected men
+to escort them. Thus provided and attended, they rode over to the
+enemy's lines, and advanced so near that, from a small eminence to which
+they ascended, they could survey the whole scene of William's
+encampment: the palisades and embankments with which it was guarded,
+which extended for miles; the long lines of tents within; the vast
+multitude of soldiers; the knights and officers riding to and fro,
+glittering with steel; and the grand pavilion of the duke himself, with
+the consecrated banner of the cross floating above it. Harold was very
+much impressed with the grandeur of the spectacle.
+
+After gazing on this scene for some time in silence, Harold said to
+Gurth that perhaps, after all, the policy of falling back would have
+been the wisest for them to adopt, rather than to risk a battle with so
+overwhelming a force as they saw before them. He did not know, he added,
+but that it would be best for them to change their plan, and adopt that
+policy now. Gurth said that it was too late. They had taken their stand,
+and now for them to break up their encampment and retire would be
+considered a retreat and not a maneuver, and it would discourage and
+dishearten the whole realm.
+
+After surveying thus, as long as they desired to do so, the situation
+and extent of William's encampment, Harold's party returned to their own
+lines, still determined to make a stand there against the invaders, but
+feeling great doubt and despondency in respect to the result. Harold
+sent over, too, in the course of the day, some spies. The men whom he
+employed for this purpose were Normans by birth, and they could speak
+the French language. There were many Normans in England, who had come
+over in King Edward's time. These Norman spies could, of course,
+disguise themselves, and mingle, without attracting attention, among the
+thousands of workmen and camp followers that were going and coming
+continually around the grounds which William's army occupied. They did
+this so effectually, that they penetrated within the encampment without
+difficulty, examined every thing, and, in due time, returned to Harold
+with their report. They gave a formidable account of the numbers and
+condition of William's troops. There was a large corps of bowmen in the
+army, which had adopted a fashion of being shaven and shorn in such a
+manner that the spies mistook them for priests. They told Harold,
+accordingly, on their return, that there were more _priests_ in
+William's camp than there were soldiers in all his army.
+
+During this eventful day, William too sent a body of horsemen across the
+country which separated the two encampments, though his emissaries were
+not spies, but embassadors, with propositions for peace. William had no
+wish to fight a battle, if what he considered as rightfully his kingdom
+could be delivered to him without it; and he determined to make one
+final effort to obtain a peaceable surrender of it, before coming to the
+dreadful resort of an appeal to arms. He accordingly sent his embassy
+with _three_ propositions to make to the English king. The principal
+messenger in this company was a monk, whose name was Maigrot. He rode,
+with a proper escort and a flag of truce, to Harold's lines. The
+propositions were these, by accepting either of which the monk said that
+Harold might avoid a battle. 1. That Harold should surrender the kingdom
+to William, as he had solemnly sworn to do over the sacred relics in
+Normandy. 2. That they should both agree to refer the whole subject of
+controversy between them to the pope, and abide by his decision. 3.
+That they should settle the dispute by single combat, the two claimants
+to the crown to fight a duel on the plain, in presence of their
+respective armies.
+
+It is obvious that Harold could not accept either of these propositions.
+The first was to give up the whole point at issue. As for the second,
+the pope had already prejudged the case, and if it were to be referred
+to him, there could be no doubt that he would simply reaffirm his former
+decision. And in respect to single combat, the disadvantage on Harold's
+part would be as great in such a contest as it would be in the proposed
+arbitration. He was himself a man of comparatively slender form and of
+little bodily strength. William, on the other hand, was distinguished
+for his size, and for his extraordinary muscular energy. In a modern
+combat with fire-arms these personal advantages would be of no avail,
+but in those days, when the weapons were battle-axes, lances, and
+swords, they were almost decisive of the result. Harold therefore
+declined all William's propositions, and the monk returned.
+
+William seems not to have been wholly discouraged by this failure of his
+first attempt at negotiation, for he sent his embassage a second time
+to make one more proposal. It was, that if Harold would consent to
+acknowledge William as King of England, William would assign the whole
+territory to him and to his brother Gurth, to hold _as provinces_, under
+William's general sway. Under this arrangement William would himself
+return to Normandy, making the city of Rouen, which was his capital
+there, the capital of the whole united realm. To this proposal Harold
+replied, that he could not, on any terms, give up his rights as
+sovereign of England. He therefore declined this proposal also. He,
+however, now made a proposition in his turn. He was willing, he said, to
+compromise the dispute, so far as it could be done by _the payment of
+money_. If William would abandon his invasion and return to Normandy,
+giving up his claims to the English crown, he would pay him, he said,
+any sum of money that he would name.
+
+William could not accept this proposal. He was, as he believed, the true
+and rightful heir to the throne of England, and there was a point of
+honor involved, as well as a dictate of ambition to be obeyed, in
+insisting on the claim. In the mean time, the day had passed, while
+these fruitless negotiations had been pending. Night was coming on.
+William's officers and counselors began to be uneasy at the delay. They
+said that every hour new re-enforcements were coming into Harold's camp,
+while they themselves were gaining no advantage, and, consequently, the
+longer the battle was delayed, the less was the certainty of victory. So
+William promised them that he would attack King Harold in his camp the
+very next morning.
+
+As the time for the great final struggle drew near, Harold's mind was
+oppressed more and more with a sense of anxiety and with foreboding
+fears. His brothers, too, were ill at ease. Their solicitude was
+increased by the recollection of Harold's oath, and of the awful
+sanctions with which they feared the sacred relics might have invested
+it. They were not sure that their brother's excuse for setting it aside
+would save him from the guilt and curse of perjury in the sight of
+Heaven. So they proposed, on the eve of the battle, that Harold himself
+should retire, and leave them to conduct the defense. "We can not deny,"
+they said, "that you did take the oath; and, notwithstanding the
+circumstances which seem to absolve you from the obligation, it is best
+to avoid, if possible, the open violation of it. It will be better, on
+the whole, for you to leave the army and go to London. You can aid very
+effectually in the defense of the kingdom by raising re-enforcements
+there. We will stay and encounter the actual battle. Heaven can not be
+displeased with us for so doing, for we shall be only discharging the
+duty incumbent on all, of defending their native land from foreign
+invasion."
+
+Harold would not consent to adopt this plan. He could not retire
+himself, he said, at the hour of approaching danger, and leave his
+brothers and his friends exposed, when it was _his_ crown for which
+they were contending.
+
+Such were the circumstances of the two armies on the evening before the
+battle; and, of course, in such a state of things, the tendency of the
+minds of men would be, in Harold's camp, to gloom and despondency, and
+in William's, to confidence and exultation. Harold undertook, as men in
+his circumstances often do, to lighten the load which weighed upon his
+own heart and oppressed the spirits of his men, by feasting and wine. He
+ordered a plentiful supper to be served, and supplied his soldiers with
+abundance of drink; and it is said that his whole camp exhibited, during
+the whole night, one wide-spread scene of carousing and revelry, the
+troops being gathered every where in groups around their camp fires,
+some half stupefied, others quarreling, and others still singing
+national songs, and dancing with wild excitement, according to the
+various effects produced upon different constitutions by the
+intoxicating influence of beer and wine.
+
+In William's camp there were witnessed very different scenes. There were
+a great many monks and ecclesiastics in the train of his army, and, on
+the night before the battle, they spent the time in saying masses,
+reading litanies and prayers, chanting anthems, and in other similar
+acts of worship, assisted by the soldiers, who gathered, in great
+congregations, for this wild worship, in the open spaces among the tents
+and around the camp fires. At length they all retired to rest, feeling
+an additional sense of safety in respect to the work of the morrow by
+having, as they supposed, entitled themselves, by their piety, to the
+protection of Heaven.
+
+In the morning, too, in William's camp, the first thing done was to
+convene the army for a grand celebration of mass. It is a curious
+illustration of the mingling of the religious, or, perhaps, we ought
+rather to say, the superstitious sentiment of the times, with the
+spirit of war, that the bishop who officiated in this solemn service of
+the mass wore a coat of mail under his pontifical attire, and an
+attendant stood by his side, while he was offering his prayers, with a
+steel-pointed spear in his hand, ready for the martial prelate to assume
+as soon as the service should be ended. Accordingly, when the religious
+duty was performed, the bishop threw off his surplice, took his spear,
+and mounting his white charger, which was also all saddled and bridled
+beside him, he headed a brigade of horse, and rode on to the assault of
+the enemy.
+
+William himself mounted a very magnificent war-horse from Spain, a
+present which he had formerly received from one of his wealthy barons.
+The name of the horse was Bayard. From William's neck were suspended
+some of the most sacred of the relics over which Harold had taken his
+false oath. He imagined that there would be some sort of charm in them,
+to protect his life, and to make the judgment of Heaven more sure
+against the perjurer. The standard which the pope had blessed was borne
+by his side by a young standard bearer, who was very proud of the honor.
+An older soldier, however, on whom the care of this standard officially
+devolved, had asked to be excused from carrying it. He wished, he said,
+to do his work that day with the _sword_. While making these preliminary
+arrangements for going into battle, William, with the party around him,
+stood upon a gentle eminence in the middle of the camp, and in sight of
+the whole army. Every one was struck with admiration at the splendid
+figure which their commander made--his large and well-formed limbs
+covered with steel, and his horse, whose form was as noble as that of
+his master, prancing restlessly, as if impatient for the battle to
+begin.
+
+When all were ready, the Norman army advanced gayly and joyously to
+attack the English lines; but the gayety and joyousness of the scene
+soon disappeared, as corps after corps got fairly engaged in the awful
+work of the day. For ten long hours there reigned over the whole field
+one wide-spread scene of havoc and death--every soul among all those
+countless thousands delivered up to the supreme dominion of the most
+dreadful passions, excited to a perfect phrensy of hatred, rage, and
+revenge, and all either mercilessly killing others, or dying themselves
+in agony and despair. When night came, the Normans were every where
+victorious. They were in full possession of the field, and they rode
+triumphantly to and fro through Harold's camp, leaping their horses over
+the bodies of the dead and dying which covered the ground. Those of King
+Harold's followers that had escaped the slaughter of the day fled in
+hopeless confusion toward the north, where the flying masses strewed the
+roads for miles with the bodies of men who sank down on the way, spent
+with wounds or exhausted by fatigue.
+
+In the morning, William marshaled his men on the field, and called over
+the names of the officers and men, as they had been registered in
+Normandy, for the purpose of ascertaining who were killed. While this
+melancholy ceremony was going on, two monks came in, sent from the
+remains of the English army, and saying that King Harold was missing,
+and that it was rumored that he had been slain. If so, his body must be
+lying somewhere, they said, upon the field, and they wished for
+permission to make search for it. The permission was granted. With the
+aid of some soldiers they began to explore the ground, turning over and
+examining every lifeless form which, by the dress or the armor, might
+seem to be possibly the king's. Their search was for a long time vain;
+the ghastly faces of the dead were so mutilated and changed that nobody
+could be identified. At length, however, a woman who had been in
+Harold's family, and knew his person more intimately than they, found
+and recognized the body, and the monks and the soldiers carried it away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The battle of Hastings sealed and settled the controversy in respect to
+the English crown. It is true that the adherents of Harold, and also
+those of Edgar Atheling, made afterward various efforts to rally their
+forces and recover the kingdom, but in vain. William advanced to London,
+fortified himself there, and made excursions from that city as a centre
+until he reduced the island to his sway. He was crowned at length, at
+Westminster Abbey, with great pomp and parade. He sent for Matilda to
+come and join him, and instated her in his palace as Queen of England.
+He confiscated the property of all the English nobles who had fought
+against him, and divided it among the Norman chieftains who had aided
+him in the invasion. He made various excursions to and from Normandy
+himself, being received every where throughout his dominions, on both
+sides the Channel, with the most distinguished honors. In a word, he
+became, in the course of a few years after he landed, one of the
+greatest and most powerful potentates on the globe. How far all his
+riches and grandeur were from making him happy, will appear in the
+following chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PRINCE ROBERT'S REBELLION.
+
+A.D. 1076-1077
+
+William's oldest son.--His character.--William's conflicts with his
+son Robert.--William Rufus.--William's son Henry.--Robert nicknamed
+Short Boots.--Robert's betrothment.--William's motives.--Death
+of Margaret.--More trouble.--Robert's political power.--His
+ambition.--Robert claims Normandy.--William refuses it.--Castle at
+L'Aigle.--Quarrel between Robert and William Rufus.--The combatants
+parted.--Robert's rage.--Robert's rebellion.--Anxiety and distress of
+Matilda.--Measures of Matilda.--Advantages of William.--Robert lays
+down his arms.--Interview with his father.--Recriminations.--The
+interview fruitless.--Robert goes to Flanders.--His treasonable
+correspondence.--Action of Philip.--He sides with Robert.--Robert's
+dissipation.--Matilda sends him supplies.--Matilda's secret
+supplies.--She is discovered.--Matilda's messenger seized.--William's
+reproaches.--Matilda's reply.--William's anger.--Sampson's
+escape.--Things grow worse.--Preparations for war.--Matilda's
+distress.--William wounded by his son.--The battle goes against
+him.--Matilda's anguish.--The reconciliation.
+
+
+Ambitious men, who devote their time and attention, through all the
+early years of life, to their personal and political aggrandizement,
+have little time to appropriate to the government and education of their
+children, and their later years are often embittered by the dissipation
+and vice, or by the unreasonable exactions of their sons. At least it
+was so in William's case. By the time that his public enemies were
+subdued, and he found himself undisputed master both of his kingdom and
+his duchy, his peace and happiness were destroyed, and the tranquillity
+of his whole realm was disturbed by a terrible family quarrel.
+
+The name of his oldest son was Robert. He was fourteen years old when
+his father set off on his invasion of England. At that time he was a
+sort of spoiled child, having been his mother's favorite, and, as such,
+always greatly indulged by her. When William went away, it will be
+recollected that he appointed Matilda regent, to govern Normandy during
+his absence. This boy was also named in the regency, so that he was
+nominally associated with his mother, and he considered himself,
+doubtless, as the more important personage of the two. In a word, while
+William was engaged in England, prosecuting his conquests there, Robert
+was growing up in Normandy a vain, self-conceited, and ungovernable
+young man.
+
+His father, in going back and forth between England and Normandy, often
+came into conflict with his son, as usual in such cases. In these
+contests Matilda took sides with the son. William's second son, whose
+name was William Rufus, was jealous of his older brother, and was often
+provoked by the overbearing and imperious spirit which Robert displayed.
+William Rufus thus naturally adhered to the father's part in the family
+feud. William Rufus was as rough and turbulent in spirit as Robert, but
+he had not been so indulged. He possessed, therefore, more self-control;
+he knew very well how to suppress his propensities, and conceal the
+unfavorable aspects of his character when in the presence of his father.
+
+There was a third brother, named Henry. He was of a more quiet and
+inoffensive character, and avoided taking an active part in the
+quarrel, except so far as William Rufus led him on. He was William
+Rufus's friend and companion, and, as such, Robert considered him as his
+enemy. All, in fact, except Matilda, were against Robert, who looked
+down, in a haughty and domineering manner--as the oldest son and heir
+is very apt to do in rich and powerful families--upon the comparative
+insignificance of his younger brethren. The king, instead of restraining
+this imperious spirit in his son, as he might, perhaps, have done by a
+considerate and kind, and, at the same time, decisive exercise of
+authority, teased and tormented him by sarcasms and petty vexations.
+Among other instances of this, he gave him the nickname of _Short
+Boots_, because he was of inferior stature. As Robert was, however,
+at this time of full age, he was stung to the quick at having such a
+stigma attached to him by his father, and his bosom burned with secret
+sentiments of resentment and revenge.
+
+He had, besides, other causes of complaint against his father, more
+serious still. When he was a very young child, his father, according to
+the custom of the times, had espoused him to the daughter and heiress of
+a neighboring earl, a child like himself. Her name was Margaret. The
+earldom which this little Margaret was to inherit was Maine. It was on
+the frontiers of Normandy, and it was a rich and valuable possession. It
+was a part of the stipulation of the marriage contract that the young
+bride's domain was to be delivered to the father of the bridegroom, to
+be held by him until the bridegroom should become of age, and the
+marriage should be fully consummated. In fact, the getting possession of
+this rich inheritance, with a prospect of holding it so many years, was
+very probably the principal end which William had in view in contracting
+for a matrimonial union so very premature.
+
+If this was, in reality, William's plan, it resulted, in the end, even
+more favorably than he had anticipated; for the little heiress died a
+short time after her inheritance was put into the possession of her
+father-in-law. There was nobody to demand a restoration of it, and so
+William continued to hold it until his son, the bridegroom, became of
+age. Robert then demanded it, contending that it was justly his. William
+refused to surrender it. He maintained that what had passed between his
+son in his infancy, and the little Margaret, was not a marriage, but
+only a betrothment--a contract for a future marriage, which was to take
+place when the parties were of age--that, since Margaret's death
+prevented the consummation of the union, Robert was never her husband,
+and could not, consequently, acquire the rights of a husband. The lands,
+therefore, ought manifestly, he said, to remain in the hands of her
+guardian, and whatever rights any other persons might have, claiming to
+succeed Margaret as her natural heirs, it was plain that his son could
+have no title whatever.
+
+However satisfactory this reasoning might be to the mind of William,
+Robert was only exasperated by it. He looked upon the case as one of
+extreme injustice and oppression on the part of his father, who, not
+content, he said, with his own enormous possessions, must add to them by
+robbing his own son. In this opinion Robert's mother, Matilda, agreed
+with him. As for William Rufus and Henry, they paid little attention to
+the argument, but were pleased with the result of it, and highly enjoyed
+their brother's vexation and chagrin in not being able to get possession
+of his earldom.
+
+There was another very serious subject of dispute between Robert and his
+father. It has already been stated, that when the duke set out on his
+expedition for the invasion of England, he left Matilda and Robert
+together in charge of the duchy. At the commencement of the period of
+his absence Robert was very young, and the actual power rested mainly in
+his mother's hands. As he grew older, however, he began to exercise an
+increasing influence and control. In fact, as he was himself ambitious
+and aspiring, and his mother indulgent, the power passed very rapidly
+into his hands. It was eight years from the time that William left
+Normandy before his power was so far settled and established in England
+that he could again take the affairs of his original realm into his
+hands. He had left Robert, at that time, a mere boy of fourteen, who,
+though rude and turbulent in character, was still politically powerless.
+He found him, on his return, a man of twenty-two, ruder and more
+turbulent than before, and in the full possession of political power.
+This power, too, he found him very unwilling to surrender.
+
+In fact, when William came to receive back the province of Normandy
+again, Robert almost refused to surrender it. He said that his father
+had always promised him the duchy of Normandy as his domain so soon as
+he should become of age, and he claimed now the fulfillment of this
+promise. Besides, he said that, now that his father was King of England,
+his former realm was of no consequence to him. It did not add sensibly
+to his influence or his power, and he might, therefore, without
+suffering any sensible loss himself, grant it to his son. William, on
+his part, did not acknowledge the force of either of these arguments. He
+would not admit that he had ever promised Normandy to his son; and as to
+voluntarily relinquishing any part of his possessions, he had no faith
+in the policy of a man's giving up his power or his property to his
+children until they were justly entitled to inherit it by his death; at
+any rate, he should not do it. He had no idea, as he expressed it, "of
+putting off his clothes before he was going to bed."
+
+The irritation and ill-will which these dissensions produced grew deeper
+and more inveterate every day, though the disagreement had been thus far
+a private and domestic dispute, confined, in its influence, to the
+king's immediate household. An occasion, however, now occurred, on which
+the private family feud broke out into an open public quarrel. The
+circumstances were these:
+
+King William had a castle in Normandy, at a place called L'Aigle. He was
+spending some time there, in the year 1076, with his court and family.
+One day William Rufus and Henry were in one of the upper apartments of
+the castle, playing with dice, and amusing themselves, in company with
+other young men of the court, in various ways. There was a window in the
+apartment leading out upon a balcony, from which one might look down
+upon the court-yard of the castle below. Robert was in this court-yard
+with some of _his_ companions, walking there in an irritated state of
+mind, which had been produced by some previous disputes with his
+brothers. William Rufus looked down from the balcony and saw him, and by
+way, perhaps, of quenching his anger, poured some water down upon him.
+The deed changed the suppressed and silent irritation in Robert's heart
+to a perfect phrensy of rage and revenge. He drew his sword and sprang
+to the stair-case. He uttered loud and terrible imprecations as he went,
+declaring that he would kill the author of such an insult, even if he
+_was_ his brother. The court-yard was, of course, immediately filled
+with shouts and exclamations of alarm, and every body pressed forward
+toward the room from which the water had been thrown, some to witness,
+and some to prevent the affray.
+
+The king himself, who happened to be in that part of the castle at the
+time, was one of the number. He reached the apartment just in time to
+interpose between his sons, and prevent the commission of the awful
+crime of fratricide. As it was, he found it extremely difficult to part
+the ferocious combatants. It required all his paternal authority, and
+not a little actual force, to arrest the affray. He succeeded, however,
+at length, with the help of the by-standers, in parting his sons, and
+Robert, out of breath, and pale with impotent rage, was led away.
+
+Robert considered his father as taking sides against him in this
+quarrel, and he declared that he could not, and would not, endure such
+treatment any longer. He found some sympathy in the conversation of his
+mother, to whom he went immediately with bitter complainings. She tried
+to soothe and quiet his wounded spirit, but he would not be pacified. He
+spent the afternoon and evening in organizing a party of wild and
+desperate young men from among the nobles of the court, with a view of
+raising a rebellion against his father, and getting possession of
+Normandy by force. They kept their designs profoundly secret, but
+prepared to leave L'Aigle that night, to go and seize Rouen, the
+capital, which they hoped to surprise into a surrender. Accordingly, in
+the middle of the night, the desperate troop mounted their horses and
+rode away. In the morning the king found that they were gone, and he
+sent an armed force after them. Their plan of surprising Rouen failed.
+The king's detachment overtook them, and, after a sharp contest,
+succeeded in capturing a few of the rebels, though Robert himself,
+accompanied by some of the more desperate of his followers, escaped over
+the frontier into a neighboring province, where he sought refuge in the
+castle of one of his father's enemies.
+
+This result, as might have been expected, filled the mind of Matilda
+with anxiety and distress. A civil war between her husband and her son
+was now inevitable; and while every consideration of prudence and of
+duty required her to espouse the father's cause, her maternal love, a
+principle stronger far, in most cases, than prudence and duty combined,
+drew her irresistibly toward her son. Robert collected around him all
+the discontented and desperate spirits of the realm, and for a long
+time continued to make his father infinite trouble. Matilda, while she
+forbore to advocate his cause openly in the presence of the king, kept
+up a secret communication with him. She sent him information and advice
+from time to time, and sometimes supplies, and was thus, technically,
+guilty of a great crime--the crime of maintaining a treasonable
+correspondence with a rebel. In a moral point of view, however, her
+conduct may have been entirely right; at any rate, its influence was
+very salutary, for she did all in her power to restrain both the father
+and the son; and by the influence which she thus exerted, she doubtless
+mitigated very much the fierceness of the struggle.
+
+Of course, the advantage, in such a civil war as this, would be wholly
+on the side of the sovereign. William had all the power and resources of
+the kingdom in his own hands--the army, the towns, the castles, the
+treasures. Robert had a troop of wild, desperate, and unmanageable
+outlaws, without authority, without money, without a sense of justice on
+their side. He gradually became satisfied that the contest was vain. In
+proportion as the activity of the hostilities diminished, Matilda became
+more and more open in her efforts to restrain it, and to allay the
+animosity on either side. She succeeded, finally, in inducing Robert to
+lay down his arms, and then brought about an interview between the
+parties, in hopes of a peaceful settlement of the quarrel.
+
+It appeared very soon, however, at this interview, that there was no
+hope of any thing like a real and cordial reconciliation. Though both
+the father and son had become weary of the unnatural war which they had
+waged against each other, yet the ambitious and selfish desires on both
+sides, in which the contest had originated, remained unchanged. Robert
+began the conference by imperiously demanding of his father the
+fulfillment of his promise to give him the government of Normandy. His
+father replied by reproaching him with his unnatural and wicked
+rebellion, and warned him of the danger he incurred, in imitating the
+example of Absalom, of sharing that wretched rebel's fate. Robert
+rejoined that he did not come to meet his father for the sake of hearing
+a sermon preached. He had had enough of sermons, he said, when he was a
+boy, studying grammar. He wanted his father to do him justice, not
+preach to him. The king said that he should never divide his dominions,
+while he lived, with any one; and added, notwithstanding what Robert had
+contemptuously said about sermons, that the Scripture declared that a
+house divided against itself could not stand. He then proceeded to
+reproach and incriminate the prince in the severest manner for his
+disloyalty as a subject, and his undutifulness and ingratitude as a son.
+It was intolerable, he said, that a son should become the rival and
+bitterest enemy of his father, when it was to him that he owed, not
+merely all that he enjoyed, but his very existence itself.
+
+These reproaches were probably uttered in an imperious and angry manner,
+and with that spirit of denunciation which only irritates the accused
+and arouses his resentment, instead of awakening feelings of penitence
+and contrition. At any rate, the thought of his filial ingratitude, as
+his father presented it, produced no relenting in Robert's mind. He
+abruptly terminated the interview, and went out of his father's presence
+in a rage.
+
+In spite of all his mother's exertions and entreaties, he resolved to
+leave the country once more. He said he would rather be an exile, and
+wander homeless in foreign lands, than to remain in his father's court,
+and be treated in so unjust and ignominious a manner, by one who was
+bound by the strongest possible obligations to be his best and truest
+friend. Matilda could not induce him to change this determination; and,
+accordingly, taking with him a few of the most desperate and dissolute
+of his companions, he went northward, crossed the frontier, and sought
+refuge in Flanders. Flanders, it will be recollected, was Matilda's
+native land. Her brother was the Earl of Flanders at this time. The earl
+received young Robert very cordially, both for his sister's sake, and
+also, probably, in some degree, as a means of petty hostility against
+King William, his powerful neighbor, whose glory and good fortune he
+envied.
+
+Robert had not the means or the resources necessary for renewing an open
+war with his father, but his disposition to do this was as strong as
+ever, and he began immediately to open secret communications and
+correspondence with all the nobles and barons in Normandy whom he
+thought disposed to espouse his cause. He succeeded in inducing them to
+make secret contributions of funds to supply his pecuniary wants, of
+course promising to repay them with ample grants and rewards so soon as
+he should obtain his rights. He maintained similar communications, too,
+with Matilda, though she kept them very profoundly secret from her
+husband.
+
+Robert had other friends besides those whom he found thus furtively in
+Normandy. The King of France himself was much pleased at the breaking
+out of this terrible feud in the family of his neighbor, who, from being
+his dependent and vassal, had become, by his conquest of England, his
+great competitor and rival in the estimation of mankind. Philip was
+disposed to rejoice at any occurrences which tended to tarnish William's
+glory, or which threatened a division and diminution of his power. He
+directed his agents, therefore, both in Normandy and in Flanders, to
+encourage and promote the dissension by every means in their power. He
+took great care not to commit himself by any open and positive promises
+of aid, and yet still he contrived, by a thousand indirect means, to
+encourage Robert to expect it. Thus the mischief was widened and
+extended, while yet nothing effectual was done toward organizing an
+insurrection. In fact, Robert had neither the means nor the mental
+capacity necessary for maturing and carrying into effect any actual
+plan of rebellion. In the mean time, months passed away, and as nothing
+effectual was done, Robert's adherents in Normandy became gradually
+discouraged. They ceased their contributions, and gradually forgot their
+absent and incompetent leader. Robert spent his time in dissipation and
+vice, squandering in feasts and in the company of abandoned men and
+women the means which his followers sent him to enable him to prepare
+for the war; and when, at last, these supplies failed him, he would have
+been reduced gradually to great distress and destitution, were it not
+that one faithful and devoted friend still adhered to him. That friend
+was his mother.
+
+Matilda knew very well that whatever she did for her absent son must be
+done in the most clandestine manner, and this required much stratagem
+and contrivance on her part. She was aided, however, in her efforts at
+concealment by her husband's absence. He was now for a time in England,
+having been called there by some pressing demands of public duty. He
+left a great minister of state in charge of Normandy, whose vigilance
+Matilda thought it would be comparatively easy to elude. She sent to
+Robert, in Flanders, first her own private funds. Then she employed for
+this purpose a portion of such public funds as came into her hands. The
+more she sent, however, the more frequent and imperious were Robert's
+demands for fresh supplies. The resources of a mother, whether great or
+small, are always soon exhausted by the insatiable requirements of a
+dissolute and profligate son. When Matilda's money was gone, she sold
+her jewels, then her more expensive clothes, and, finally, such objects
+of value, belonging to herself or to her husband, as could be most
+easily and privately disposed of. The minister, who was very faithful
+and watchful in the discharge of his duties, observed indications that
+something mysterious was going on. His suspicions were aroused. He
+watched Matilda's movements, and soon discovered the truth. He sent
+information to William. William could not believe it possible that his
+minister's surmises could be true; for William was simply a statesman
+and a soldier, and had very inadequate ideas of the absorbing and
+uncontrollable power which is exercised by the principle of maternal
+love.
+
+He, however, determined immediately to take most efficient measures to
+ascertain the truth. He returned to Normandy, and there he succeeded in
+intercepting one of Matilda's messengers on his way to Flanders, with
+communications and money for Robert. The name of this messenger was
+Sampson. William seized the money and the letters, and sent the
+messenger to one of his castles, to be shut up in a dungeon. Then, with
+the proofs of guilt which he had thus obtained, he went, full of
+astonishment and anger, to find Matilda, and to upbraid her, as he
+thought she deserved, for her base and ungrateful betrayal of her
+husband.
+
+The reproaches which he addressed to her were bitter and stern, though
+they seem to have been spoken in a tone of sorrow rather than of anger.
+"I am sure," he said, "I have ever been to you a faithful and devoted
+husband. I do not know what more you could have desired than I have
+done. I have loved you with a sincere and true affection. I have honored
+you. I have placed you in the highest positions, intrusting you
+repeatedly with large shares of my own sovereign power. I have confided
+in you--committing my most essential and vital interests to your charge.
+And now this is the return. You employ the very position, and power, and
+means which your confiding husband has put into your hands, to betray
+him in the most cruel way, and to aid and encourage his worst and most
+dangerous enemy."
+
+To these reproaches Matilda attempted no reply, except to plead the
+irresistible impetuosity and strength of her maternal love. "I could not
+bear," she said, "to leave Robert in distress and suffering while I had
+any possible means of relieving him. He is my child. I think of him all
+the time. I love him more than my life. I solemnly declare to you, that
+if he were now dead, and I could restore him to life by dying for him, I
+would most gladly do it. How, then, do you suppose that I could possibly
+live here in abundance and luxury, while he was wandering homeless, in
+destitution and want, and not try to relieve him? Whether it is right or
+wrong for me to feel so, I do not know; but this I know, I _must_ feel
+so: I can not help it. He is our first-born son; I can not abandon him."
+
+William went away from the presence of Matilda full of resentment and
+anger. Of course he could do nothing in respect to her but reproach her,
+but he determined that the unlucky Sampson should suffer severely for
+the crime. He sent orders to the castle where he lay immured, requiring
+that his eyes should be put out. Matilda, however, discovered the
+danger which threatened her messenger in time to send him warning. He
+contrived to make his escape, and fled to a certain monastery which was
+under Matilda's special patronage and charge. A monastery was, in those
+days, a sanctuary into which the arm even of the most despotic authority
+scarcely dared to intrude in pursuit of its victim. To make the safety
+doubly sure, the abbot proposed that the trembling fugitive should join
+their order and become a monk. Sampson was willing to do any thing to
+save his life. The operation of putting out the eyes was very generally
+fatal, so that he considered his life at stake. He was, accordingly,
+shaven and shorn, and clothed in the monastic garb. He assumed the vows
+of the order, and entered, with his brother monks, upon the course of
+fastings, penances, and prayers which pertained to his new vocation; and
+William left him to pursue it in peace.
+
+Things went on worse instead of better after this discovery of the
+mother's participation in the councils of the son. Either through the
+aid which his mother had rendered, or by other means, there seemed to be
+a strong party in and out of Normandy who were inclined to espouse
+Robert's cause. His friends, at length, raised a very considerable
+army, and putting him at the head of it, they advanced to attack Rouen.
+The king, greatly alarmed at this danger, collected all the forces that
+he could command, and went to meet his rebel son. William Rufus
+accompanied his father, intending to fight by his side; while Matilda,
+in an agony of terror and distress, remained, half distracted, within
+her castle walls--as a wife and mother might be expected to be, on the
+approach of a murderous conflict between her husband and her son. The
+thought that one of them might, perhaps, be actually killed by the
+other, filled her with dismay.
+
+And, in fact, this dreadful result came very near being realized.
+Robert, in the castle at L'Aigle, had barely been prevented from
+destroying his brother, and now, on the plain of Archembraye, where this
+battle was fought, his father _fell_, and was very near being killed, by
+his hand. In the midst of the fight, while the horsemen were impetuously
+charging each other in various parts of the field, all so disguised by
+their armor that no one could know the individual with whom he was
+contending, Robert encountered a large and powerful knight, and drove
+his lance through his armor into his arm. Through the shock of the
+encounter and the faintness produced by the agony of the wound, the
+horseman fell to the ground, and Robert perceived, by the voice with
+which his fallen enemy cried out in his pain and terror, that it was his
+father that he had thus pierced with his steel. At the same moment, the
+wounded father, in looking at his victorious antagonist, recognized
+his son. He cursed his unnatural enemy with a bitter and terrible
+malediction. Robert was shocked and terrified at what he had done. He
+leaped from his horse, knelt down by the side of his father, and called
+for aid. The king, distracted by the anguish of his wound, and by the
+burning indignation and resentment which raged in his bosom against the
+unnatural hostility which inflicted it, turned away from his son, and
+refused to receive any succor from him.
+
+Besides the misfortune of being unhorsed and wounded, the battle itself
+went that day against the king. Robert's army remained masters of the
+field. William Rufus was wounded too, as well as his father. Matilda was
+overwhelmed with distress and mental anguish at the result. She could
+not endure the idea of allowing so unnatural and dreadful a struggle to
+go on. She begged her husband, with the most earnest importunities and
+with many tears, to find some way of accommodating the dispute. Her
+nights were sleepless, her days were spent in weeping, and her health
+and strength were soon found to be wasting very rapidly away. She was
+emaciated, wan, and pale, and it was plain that such distress, if long
+continued, would soon bring her to the grave.
+
+Matilda's intercessions at length prevailed. The king sent for his son,
+and, after various negotiations, some sort of compromise was effected.
+The armies were disbanded, peace was restored, and Robert and his father
+once more seemed to be friends. Soon after this, William, having a
+campaign to make in the north of England, took Robert with him as one of
+the generals in his army.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CONCLUSION.
+
+A.D. 1078-1087
+
+William's reign in England.--His difficulties.--Feelings of the
+English people.--Rebellions.--Amalgamation of the English and
+Normans.--William's labors.--Necessity of bringing a large Norman
+force.--Providing for them.--The British realm Normanized.--O yes! O
+yes! O yes!--Relics of the past.--Their future preservation.--Point
+of view in which the Norman Conquest is regarded.--Domesday
+Book.--Its great obscurity.--Specimen of the Domesday
+Book.--Translation.--Matilda's health declines.--Death of her
+daughter.--Matilda retires to her palace at Caen.--Her distress of
+mind.--Matilda's health.--Memorials of her.--William's declining
+years.--His fitfulness and discontent.--Philip ridicules
+William.--William's rage.--William's threats.--Conflagration of
+Mantes.--William's injury.--His great danger.--William's remorse.--His
+last acts.--Robert absent.--He receives Normandy.--William Rufus
+and Henry.--The king's will.--William's death.--Abandonment of
+the body.--Apprehensions of the people.--The body removed to
+Caen.--Extraordinary scenes.--The body conveyed to the monastery on
+a cart.--The procession broken up.--Scene at the interment.--The
+sarcophagus too small.--The body burst.--William Rufus obtains
+possession of the English throne.
+
+
+From the time of the battle of Hastings, which took place in 1066, to
+that of William's death, which occurred in 1087, there intervened a
+period of about twenty years, during which the great monarch reigned
+over his extended dominions with a very despotic sway, though not
+without a large share of the usual dangers, difficulties, and struggles
+attending such a rule. He brought over immense numbers of Normans from
+Normandy into England, and placed all the military and civil power of
+the empire in their hands; and he relied almost entirely upon the
+superiority of his physical force for keeping the country in subjugation
+to his sway. It is true, he maintained that he was the rightful heir to
+the English crown, and that, consequently, the tenure by which he held
+it was the right of inheritance, and not the right of conquest; and he
+professed to believe that the people of England generally admitted his
+claim. This was, in fact, to a considerable extent, true. At least
+there was probably a large part of the population who believed William's
+right to the crown superior to that of Harold, whom he had deposed.
+Still, as William was by birth, and education, and language a foreigner,
+and as all the friends and followers who attended him, and, in fact,
+almost the whole of the army, on which he mainly relied for the
+preservation of his power, were foreigners too--wearing a strange dress,
+and speaking in an unknown tongue--the great mass of the English people
+could not but feel that they were under a species of foreign
+subjugation. Quarrels were therefore continually breaking out between
+them and their Norman masters, resulting in fierce and bloody struggles,
+on their part, to get free. These rebellions were always effectually put
+down; but when quelled in one quarter they soon broke out in another,
+and they kept William and his forces almost always employed.
+
+But William was not a mere warrior. He was well aware that the
+permanence and stability of his own and his successor's sway in England
+would depend finally upon the kind of basis on which the civil
+institutions of the country should rest, and on the proper consolidation
+and adjustment of the administrative and judicial functions of the
+realm. In the intervals of his campaigns, therefore, William devoted a
+great deal of time and attention to this subject, and he evinced a most
+profound and statesmanlike wisdom and sagacity in his manner of treating
+it.
+
+He had, in fact, a Herculean task to perform--a double task--viz., to
+amalgamate two _nations_, and also to fuse and merge two _languages_
+into one. He was absolutely compelled, by the circumstances under which
+he was placed, to grapple with both these vast undertakings. If, at the
+time when, in his park at Rouen, he first heard of Harold's accession,
+he had supposed that there was a party in England in his favor strong
+enough to allow of his proceeding there alone, or with a small Norman
+attendance, so that he might rely mainly on the English themselves for
+his accession to the throne, the formidable difficulties which, as it
+was, he had subsequently to encounter, would all have been saved. But
+there was no such party--at least there was no evidence that there was
+one of sufficient strength to justify him in trusting himself to it. It
+seemed to him, then, that if he undertook to gain possession of the
+English throne at all, he must rely entirely on the force which he could
+take with him from Normandy. To make this reliance effectual, the force
+so taken must be an overwhelming one. Then, if Normans in great numbers
+were to go to England for the purpose of putting him upon the English
+throne, they must be rewarded, and so vast a number of candidates for
+the prizes of honor and wealth could be satisfied only in England, and
+by confiscations there. His possessions in Normandy would obviously be
+insufficient for such a purpose. It was evident, moreover, that if a
+large number of Norman adventurers were placed in stations of trust and
+honor, and charged with civil offices and administrative functions all
+over England, they would form a sort of class by themselves, and would
+be looked upon with jealousy and envy by the original inhabitants, and
+that there was no hope of maintaining them safely in their position
+except by making the class as numerous and as strong as possible. In a
+word, William saw very clearly that, while it would have been very well,
+if it had been possible, for him to have brought _no_ Normans to
+England, it was clearly best, since so many must go, to contrive every
+means to swell and increase the number. It was one of those cases
+where, being obliged to go far, it is best to go farther; and William
+resolved on thoroughly _Normanizing_, so to speak, the whole British
+realm. This enormous undertaking he accomplished fully and permanently;
+and the institutions of England, the lines of family descent, the
+routine of judicial and administrative business, and the very language
+of the realm, retain the Norman characteristics which he ingrafted into
+them to the present day.
+
+It gives us a feeling akin to that of sublimity to find, even in our own
+land, and in the most remote situations of it, the lingering relics of
+the revolutions and deeds of these early ages, still remaining, like a
+faint ripple rolling gently upon a beach in a deep and secluded bay,
+which was set in motion, perhaps, at first, as one of the mountainous
+surges of a wintery storm in the most distant seas. For example, if we
+enter the most humble court in any remote and newly-settled country in
+the American forests, a plain and rustic-looking man will call the
+equally rustic-looking assembly to order by rapping his baton, the only
+symbol of his office, on the floor, and calling out, in words mystic and
+meaningless to him, "O yes! O yes! O yes!"[K] He little thinks that he
+is obeying a behest of William the Conqueror, issued eight hundred years
+ago, ordaining that his native tongue should be employed in the courts
+of England. The irresistible progress of improvement and reform have
+gradually displaced the intruding language again--except so far as it
+has become merged and incorporated with the common language of the
+country--from all the ordinary forms of legal proceedings. It lingers
+still, however, as it were, on the threshold, in this call to order; and
+as it is harmless there, the spirit of conservatism will, perhaps,
+preserve for it this last place of refuge for a thousand years to come,
+and "_O yes_" will be the phrase for ordaining silence by many
+generations of officers, who will, perhaps, never have heard of the
+authority whose orders they unwittingly obey.
+
+[Footnote K: Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Norman French for Hearken! hearken!
+hearken!]
+
+The work of incorporating the Norman and English families with one
+another, and fusing the two languages into one, required about a century
+for its full accomplishment; and when at last it was accomplished, the
+people of England were somewhat puzzled to know whether they ought to
+feel proud of William's exploits in the conquest of England, or
+humiliated by them. So far as they were themselves descended from the
+Normans, the conquest was one of the glorious deeds of their ancestors.
+So far as they were of English parentage, it would seem to be incumbent
+on them to mourn over their fathers' defeat. It is obvious that from
+such a species of perplexity as this there was no escape, and it has
+accordingly continued to embarrass the successive generations of
+Englishmen down to the present day. The Norman Conquest occupies,
+therefore, a very uncertain and equivocal position in English history,
+the various modern writers who look back to it now being hardly able to
+determine whether they are to regard it as a mortifying subjugation
+which their ancestors suffered, or a glorious victory which they gained.
+
+One of the great measures of William's reign, and one, in fact, for
+which it has been particularly famous in modern times, was a grand
+census or registration of the kingdom, which the Conqueror ordered with
+a view of having on record a perfect enumeration and description of all
+the real and personal property in the kingdom. This grand national
+survey was made in 1078. The result was recorded in two volumes of
+different sizes, which were called the Great and the Little Domesday
+Book. These books are still preserved, and are to this day of the very
+highest authority in respect to all questions touching ancient rights of
+property. One is a folio, and the other a quarto volume. The records are
+written on vellum, in a close, abridged, and, to ordinary readers, a
+perfectly unintelligible character. The language is Latin; but a modern
+Latin scholar, without any means other than an inspection of the work,
+would be utterly unable to decipher it. In fact, though the character is
+highly wrought, and in some respects elegant, the whole style and
+arrangement of the work is pretty nearly on a par, in respect to
+scientific skill, with Queen Emma's designs upon the Bayeux tapestry.
+About half a century ago, copies of these works were printed, by means
+of type made to represent the original character. But these printed
+editions were found unintelligible and useless until copious indexes
+were prepared, and published to accompany them, at great expense of time
+and labor.
+
+Some little idea of the character and style of this celebrated record
+may be obtained from the following specimen, which is as faithful an
+imitation of the original as any ordinary typography will allow:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The passage, deciphered and expressed in full, stands thus--the letters
+omitted in the original, above, being supplied in italics:
+
+                                        IN BRIXISTAN HUND_redo_.
+
+     Rex ten_et_ BERMUNDESYE. HERALD_US_ com_es_ tenuit. T_unc_ se
+     def_en_d_ebat_ p_ro_ xiii. hid_is_, m_od_o pro xii. hid_is_. T_er_ra
+     e_st_ viii. car_rucatarum_. In d_omi_nio e_st_ una car_rucata_ et
+     xxv. vill_ani_ et xxxiii. bord_arii_ cu_m_ un_a_ car_rucata_. Ibi
+     nova et pulchra eccl_esia_, et xx. ac_ræ_ p_ra_ti. Silva v. porc_is_
+     de pasnag_io_.
+
+The English translation is as follows:
+
+                                        IN BRIXISTAN HUNDRED.
+
+     The king holds BERMUNDESYE. Earl HERALD held it [before]. At that
+     time it was rated at thirteen hides; now, at twelve. The arable
+     land is eight carrucates [_or_ plow-lands]. There is one carrucate
+     in demesne, and twenty-five villans, and thirty-three bordars, with
+     one carrucate. There is a new and handsome church, with twenty
+     acres of meadow, and woodland for five hogs in pasnage [pasturage]
+     time.
+
+But we must pass on to the conclusion of the story. About the year 1082,
+Queen Matilda's health began seriously to decline. She was harassed by
+a great many anxieties and cares connected with the affairs of state
+which devolved upon her, and arising from the situation of her family:
+these anxieties produced great dejection of spirits, and aggravated, if
+they did not wholly cause, her bodily disease. She was at this time in
+Normandy. One great source of her mental suffering was her anxiety in
+respect to one of her daughters, who, as well as herself, was declining
+in health. Forgetting her own danger in her earnest desires for the
+welfare of her child, she made a sort of pilgrimage to a monastery which
+contained the shrine of a certain saint, who, as she imagined, had power
+to save her daughter. She laid a rich present on the shrine; she offered
+before it most earnest prayers, imploring, with tears of bitter grief,
+the intercession of the saint, and manifesting every outward symbol of
+humility and faith. She took her place in the religious services of the
+monastery, and conformed to its usages, as if she had been in the
+humblest private station. But all was in vain. The health of her beloved
+daughter continued to fail, until at length she died; and Matilda,
+growing herself more feeble, and almost broken hearted through grief,
+shut herself up in the palace at Caen.
+
+It was in the same palace which William had built, within his monastery,
+many long years before, at the time of their marriage. Matilda looked
+back to that period, and to the buoyant hopes and bright anticipations
+of power, glory, and happiness which then filled her heart, with sadness
+and sorrow. The power and the glory had been attained, and in a measure
+tenfold greater than she had imagined, but the happiness had never come.
+Ambition had been contending unceasingly for twenty years, among all the
+branches of her family, against domestic peace and love. She possessed,
+herself, an aspiring mind, but the principles of maternal and conjugal
+love were stronger in her heart than those of ambition; and yet she was
+compelled to see ambition bearing down and destroying love in all its
+forms every where around her. Her last days were embittered by the
+breaking out of new contests between her husband and her son.
+
+Matilda sought for peace and comfort in multiplying her religious
+services and observances. She fasted, she prayed, she interceded for the
+forgiveness of her sins with many tears. The monks celebrated mass at
+her bed-side, and made, as she thought, by renewing the sacrifice of
+Christ, a fresh propitiation for her sins. William, who was then in
+Normandy, hearing of her forlorn and unhappy condition, came to see her.
+He arrived just in time to see her die.
+
+They conveyed her body from the palace in her husband's monastery at
+Caen to the convent which she had built. It was received there in solemn
+state, and deposited in the tomb. For centuries afterward, there
+remained many memorials of her existence and her greatness there, in
+paintings, embroideries, sacred gifts, and records, which have been
+gradually wasted away by the hand of time. They have not, however,
+wholly disappeared, for travelers who visit the spot find that many
+memorials and traditions of Matilda linger there still.
+
+William himself did not live many years after the death of his wife. He
+was several years older than she. In fact, he was now considerably
+advanced in age. He became extremely corpulent as he grew old, which, as
+he was originally of a large frame, made him excessively unwieldy. The
+inconvenience resulting from this habit of body was not the only evil
+that attended it. It affected his health, and even threatened to end in
+serious if not fatal disease. While he was thus made comparatively
+helpless in body by the infirmities of his advancing age, he was
+nevertheless as active and restless in spirit as ever. It was, however,
+no longer the activity of youth, and hope, and progress which animated
+him, but rather the fitful uneasiness with which age agitates itself
+under the vexations which it sometimes has to endure, or struggles
+convulsively at the approach of real or imaginary dangers, threatening
+the possessions which it has been the work of life to gain. The dangers
+in William's case were real, not imaginary. He was continually
+threatened on every side. In fact, the very year before he died, the
+dissensions between himself and Robert broke out anew, and he was
+obliged, unwieldy and helpless as he was, to repair to Normandy, at the
+head of an armed force, to quell the disturbances which Robert and his
+partisans had raised.
+
+Robert was countenanced and aided at this time by Philip, the king of
+France, who had always been King William's jealous and implacable rival.
+Philip, who, as will be recollected, was very young when William asked
+his aid at the time of his invasion of England, was now in middle life,
+and at the height of his power. As he had refused William his aid, he
+was naturally somewhat envious and jealous of his success, and he was
+always ready to take part against him. He now aided and abetted Robert
+in his turbulence and insubordination, and ridiculed the helpless
+infirmities of the aged king.
+
+While William was in Normandy, he submitted to a course of medical
+treatment, in the hope of diminishing his excessive corpulency, and
+relieving the disagreeable and dangerous symptoms which attended it.
+While thus in his physician's hands, he was, of course, confined to his
+chamber. Philip, in ridicule, called it "being in the straw." He asked
+some one who appeared at his court, having recently arrived from
+Normandy, whether the old woman of England was still in the straw. Some
+miserable tale-bearer, such as every where infest society at the present
+day, who delight in quoting to one friend what they think will excite
+their anger against another, repeated these words to William. Sick as he
+was, the sarcasm aroused him to a furious paroxysm of rage. He swore by
+"God's brightness and resurrection" that, when he got out again, he
+would kindle such fires in Philip's dominions, in commemoration of his
+delivery, as should make his realms too hot to hold him.
+
+He kept his word--at least so far as respects the kindling of the fires;
+but the fires, instead of making Philip's realms too hot to hold him, by
+a strange yet just retribution, were simply the means of closing forever
+the mortal career of the hand that kindled them. The circumstances of
+this final scene of the great conqueror's earthly history were these:
+
+In the execution of his threat to make Philip's dominions too hot to
+hold him, William, as soon as he was able to mount his horse, headed an
+expedition, and crossed the frontiers of Normandy, and moved forward
+into the heart of France, laying waste the country, as he advanced, with
+fire and sword. He came soon to the town of Mantes, a town upon the
+Seine, directly on the road to Paris. William's soldiers attacked the
+town with furious impetuosity, carried it by assault, and set it on
+fire. William followed them in, through the gates, glorying in the
+fulfillment of his threats of vengeance. Some timbers from a burning
+house had fallen into the street, and, burning there, had left a
+smoldering bed of embers, in which the fire was still remaining.
+William, excited with the feeling of exultation and victory, was riding
+unguardedly on through the scene of ruin he had made, issuing orders,
+and shouting in a frantic manner as he went, when he was suddenly
+stopped by a violent recoil of his horse from the burning embers, on
+which he had stepped, and which had been concealed from view by the
+ashes which covered them. William, unwieldy and comparatively helpless
+as he was, was thrown with great force upon the pommel of the saddle. He
+saved himself from falling from the horse, but he immediately found that
+he had sustained some serious internal injury. He was obliged to
+dismount, and to be conveyed away, by a very sudden transition, from the
+dreadful scene of conflagration and vengeance which he had been
+enacting, to the solemn chamber of death. They made a litter for him,
+and a corps of strong men was designated to bear the heavy and now
+helpless burden back to Normandy.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM'S HORSE STEPPING ON THE EMBERS.]
+
+They took the suffering monarch to Rouen. The ablest physicians were
+summoned to his bed-side. After examining his case, they concluded that
+he must die. The tidings threw the unhappy patient into a state of
+extreme anxiety and terror. The recollection of the thousand deeds of
+selfish ambition and cruelty which he had been perpetrating, he said,
+all his days, filled him with remorse. He shrunk back with invincible
+dread from the hour, now so rapidly approaching, when he was to appear
+in judgment before God, and answer, like any common mortal, for his
+crimes. He had been accustomed all his life to consider himself as above
+all law, superior to all power, and beyond the reach of all judicial
+question. But now his time had come. He who had so often made others
+tremble, trembled now in his turn, with an acuteness of terror and
+distress which only the boldest and most high-handed offenders ever
+feel. He cried bitterly to God for forgiveness, and brought the monks
+around him to help him with incessant prayers. He ordered all the money
+that he had on hand to be given to the poor. He sent commands to have
+the churches which he had burned at Mantes rebuilt, and the other
+injuries which he had effected in his anger repaired. In a word, he gave
+himself very earnestly to the work of attempting, by all the means
+considered most efficacious in those days, to avert and appease the
+dreaded anger of heaven.
+
+Of his three oldest sons, Robert was away; the quarrel between him and
+his father had become irreconcilable, and he would not come to visit
+him, even in his dying hours. William Rufus and Henry were there, and
+they remained very constantly at their father's bed-side--not, however,
+from a principle of filial affection, but because they wanted to be
+present when he should express his last wishes in respect to the
+disposal of his dominions. Such an expression, though oral, would be
+binding as a will. When, at length, the king gave his dying directions
+in respect to the succession, it appeared that, after all, he considered
+his right to the English throne as very doubtful in the sight of God. He
+had, in a former part of his life, promised Normandy to Robert, as his
+inheritance, when he himself should die; and though he had so often
+refused to surrender it to him while he himself continued to live, he
+confirmed his title to the succession now. "I have promised it to him,"
+he said, "and I keep my promise; and yet I know that that will be a
+miserable country which is subject to his government. He is a proud and
+foolish knave, and can never prosper. As for my kingdom of England," he
+continued, "I bequeath it to no one, for it was not bequeathed to me. I
+acquired it by force, and at the price of blood. I leave it in the hands
+of God, only wishing that my son William Rufus may have it, for he has
+been submissive to me in all things." "And what do you give _me_,
+father?" asked Henry, eagerly, at this point. "I give you," said the
+king, "five thousand pounds from my treasury." "But what shall I do with
+my five thousand pounds," asked Henry, "if you do not give me either
+house or land?" "Be quiet, my son," rejoined the king, "and trust in
+God. Let your brothers go before you; your turn will come after theirs."
+
+The object which had kept the young men at their father's bed-side
+having been now attained, they both withdrew. Henry went to get his
+money, and William Rufus set off immediately for England, to prepare the
+way for his own accession to the throne, as soon as his father should be
+no more.
+
+The king determined to be removed from his castle in Rouen to a
+monastery which was situated at a short distance from the city, without
+the walls. The noise of the city disturbed him, and, besides, he thought
+he should feel safer to die on sacred ground. He was accordingly removed
+to the monastery. There, on the tenth of September, he was awakened in
+the morning by hearing the city bells ringing. He asked what it meant.
+He was told that the bells were ringing for the morning service at the
+church of St. Mary. He lifted up his hands, looked to heaven, and said,
+"I commend myself to my Lady Mary, the holy Mother of God," and almost
+immediately expired.
+
+The readers of history have frequent occasion to be surprised at the
+sudden and total change which often takes place at the moment of the
+death of a mighty sovereign, and even sometimes before his death, in the
+indications of the respect and consideration with which his attendants
+and followers regard him. In William's case, as has happened in many
+other cases since, the moment he ceased to breathe he was utterly
+abandoned. Every body fled, carrying with them, as they went, whatever
+they could seize from the chamber--the arms, the furniture, the dresses,
+and the plate; for all these articles became their perquisites on the
+decease of their master. The almost incredible statement is made that
+the heartless monsters actually stripped the dead body of their
+sovereign, to make sure of all their dues, and left it naked on the
+stone floor, while they bore their prizes to a place of safety. The
+body lay in this neglected state for many hours; for the tidings of the
+great monarch's death, which was so sudden at last, produced, as it
+spread, universal excitement and apprehension. No one knew to what
+changes the event would lead, what wars would follow between the sons,
+or what insurrections or rebellions might have been secretly formed, to
+break out suddenly when this crisis should have arrived. Thus the whole
+community were thrown into a state of excitement and confusion.
+
+The monk and lay brethren of the monastery at length came in, took up
+the body, and prepared it for burial. They then brought crosses, tapers,
+and censers, and began to offer prayers and to chant requiems for the
+repose of the soul of the deceased. They sent also the Archbishop of
+Rouen, to know what was to be done with the body. The archbishop gave
+orders that it should be taken to Caen, and be deposited there in the
+monastery which William had erected at the time of his marriage.
+
+The tale which the ancient historians have told in respect to the
+interment is still more extraordinary, and more inconsistent with all
+the ideas we naturally form of the kind of consideration and honor which
+the remains of so great a potentate would receive at the hands of his
+household and his officers of state, than the account of his death. It
+is said that all the members of his household, and all his officers,
+immediately after his decease, abandoned the town--all eagerly occupied
+in plans and maneuvers to secure their positions under the new reign.
+Some went in pursuit of Robert, and some to follow William Rufus. Henry
+locked up his money in a strong box, well ironed, and went off with it
+to find some place of security. There was nobody left to take the
+neglected body to the grave.
+
+At last a countryman was found who undertook to transport the heavy
+burden from Rouen to Caen. He procured a cart, and conveyed it from the
+monastery to the river, where it was put on board a vessel, and taken
+down the Seine to its mouth, and thence by sea to Caen. The Abbot of St.
+Stephen's, which was the name of William's monastery there, came, with
+some monks and a procession of the people, to accompany the body to the
+abbey. As this procession was moving along, however, a fire broke out in
+the town, and the attendants, actuated either by a sense of duty
+requiring them to aid in extinguishing the flames, or by curiosity to
+witness the conflagration, abandoned the funeral cortège. The
+procession was broken up, and the whole multitude, clergy and laity,
+went off to the fire, leaving the coffin, with its bearers, alone. The
+bearers, however, went on, and conveyed their charge to the church
+within the abbey walls.
+
+When the time arrived for the interment, a great company assembled to
+witness the ceremonies. Stones had been taken up in the church floor,
+and a grave dug. A stone coffin, a sort of sarcophagus, had been
+prepared, and placed in the grave as a receptacle for the body. When all
+was ready, and the body was about to be let down, a man suddenly came
+forward from the crowd and arrested the proceedings. He said that the
+land on which the abbey stood belonged to him; that William had taken
+forcible possession of it, for the abbey, at the time of his marriage;
+that he, the owner, had been compelled thus far to submit to this wrong,
+inasmuch as he had, during William's life-time, no means of redress, but
+now he protested against a spoliation. "The land," he said, "is mine; it
+belonged to my father. I have not sold it, or forfeited it, nor pledged
+it, nor given it. It is my right. I claim it. In the name of God, I
+forbid you to put the body of the spoiler there, or to cover him with my
+ground."
+
+When the excitement and surprise which this denunciation had awakened
+had subsided a little, the bishops called this sudden claimant aside,
+examined the proofs of his allegations, and, finding that the case was
+truly as he stated it, they paid him, on the spot, a sum equal to the
+value of ground enough for a grave, and promised to take immediate
+measures for the payment of the rest. The remonstrant then consented
+that the interment might proceed.
+
+In attempting to let the body down into the place prepared for it, they
+found that the sarcophagus was too small. They undertook to force the
+body in. In attempting this, the coffin was broken, and the body,
+already, through the long delays, advanced in decomposition, was burst.
+The monks brought incense and perfumes, and burned and sprinkled them
+around the place, but in vain. The church was so offensive that every
+body abandoned it at once, except the workmen who remained to fill the
+grave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While these things were transpiring in Normandy, William Rufus had
+hastened to England, taking with him the evidences of his father's
+dying wish that he should succeed him on the English throne. Before he
+reached head-quarters there, he heard of his father's death, and he
+succeeded in inducing the Norman chieftains to proclaim him king.
+Robert's friends made an effort to advance his claims, but they could do
+nothing effectual for him, and so it was soon settled, by a treaty
+between the brothers, that William Rufus should reign in England, while
+Robert was to content himself with his father's ancient domain of
+Normandy.
+
+                              THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to
+ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.
+
+2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
+banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
+chapter for the reader's convenience.
+
+3. Page numbering in the list of engravings for the "Map of Normandy"
+has been changed from 189 to 190, to be consistent with the change
+needed in the HTML version of this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of William the Conqueror, Makers of History Series, by Jacob Abbott.
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: William the Conqueror
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2008 [EBook #25848]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
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+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h2>Makers of History</h2>
+
+<h1>William the Conqueror</h1>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h3>JACOB ABBOTT</h3>
+
+<p class="center">WITH ENGRAVINGS</p>
+
+<p class="gap">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 124px;">
+<img src="images/i001.jpg" width="124" height="150" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="smallgap">&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">NEW YORK AND LONDON</p>
+
+<p class="center">HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p>
+
+<p class="center">1902</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<p class="center">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand<br />
+eight hundred and forty-nine, by</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="center">In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District<br />
+of New York.</p>
+
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1877, by <span class="smcap">Jacob Abbott</span>.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<p>In selecting the subjects for the successive volumes of this series, it
+has been the object of the author to look for the names of those great
+personages whose histories constitute useful, and not merely
+entertaining, knowledge. There are certain names which are familiar, as
+names, to all mankind; and every person who seeks for any degree of
+mental cultivation, feels desirous of informing himself of the leading
+outlines of their history, that he may know, in brief, what it was in
+their characters or their doings which has given them so widely-extended
+a fame. This knowledge, which it seems incumbent on every one to obtain
+in respect to such personages as Hannibal, Alexander, C&aelig;sar, Cleopatra,
+Darius, Xerxes, Alfred, William the Conqueror, Queen Elizabeth, and Mary
+Queen of Scots, it is the design and object of these volumes to
+communicate, in a faithful, and, at the same time, if possible, in an
+attractive manner. Consequently, great historical names alone are
+selected; and it has been the writer's aim to present the prominent and
+leading traits in their characters, and all the important events in
+their lives, in a bold and free manner, and yet in the plain and simple
+language which is so obviously required in works which aim at permanent
+and practical usefulness.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="CONTENTS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">Chapter</td>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">Page</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">I.</td>
+<td align="left">NORMANDY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#WILLIAM_THE_CONQUEROR">13</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">II.</td>
+<td align="left">BIRTH OF WILLIAM</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_II">31</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">III.</td>
+<td align="left">THE ACCESSION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_III">51</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IV.</td>
+<td align="left">WILLIAM'S REIGN IN NORMANDY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IV">72</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">V.</td>
+<td align="left">THE MARRIAGE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_V">96</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VI.</td>
+<td align="left">THE LADY EMMA</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VI">119</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VII.</td>
+<td align="left">KING HAROLD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VII">142</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">VIII.</td>
+<td align="left">PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_VIII">164</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">IX.</td>
+<td align="left">CROSSING THE CHANNEL</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_IX">189</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">X.</td>
+<td align="left">THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_X">212</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XI.</td>
+<td align="left">PRINCE ROBERT'S REBELLION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XI">242</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="right">XII.</td>
+<td align="left">THE CONCLUSION</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Chapter_XII">265</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h2><a name="ENGRAVINGS" id="ENGRAVINGS"></a>ENGRAVINGS.</h2>
+
+<div class="centered">
+<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" summary="ENGRAVINGS">
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">&nbsp;</td>
+<td align="right">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">MAP&mdash;THE SITUATION OF NORMANDY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WILLIAM AND ARLOTTE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WILLIAM'S ESCAPE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_102">102</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE RESCUE</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">HAROLD'S INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WILLIAM RECEIVING TOSTIG'S TIDINGS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">MAP&mdash;NORMANDY</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_189">190</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">THE NORWEGIANS AT SCARBOROUGH</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td align="left">WILLIAM'S HORSE STEPPING ON THE EMBERS</td>
+<td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="WILLIAM_THE_CONQUEROR" id="WILLIAM_THE_CONQUEROR"></a>WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.</h2>
+
+<h2><a name="Chapter_I" id="Chapter_I"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter I.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Normandy.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 870-912</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Norman Conquest.<br />Claim of William to the throne.<br />The
+right of the strongest.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ne</span> of those great events in English history, which occur at distant
+intervals, and form, respectively, a sort of bound or landmark, to which
+all other events, preceding or following them for centuries, are
+referred, is what is called the Norman Conquest. The Norman Conquest
+was, in fact, the accession of William, duke of Normandy, to the English
+throne. This accession was not altogether a matter of military force,
+for William claimed a <i>right</i> to the throne, which, if not altogether
+perfect, was, as he maintained, at any rate superior to that of the
+prince against whom he contended. The rightfulness of his claim was,
+however, a matter of little consequence, except so far as the moral
+influence of it aided him in gaining possession. The right to rule was,
+in those days, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>rather more openly and nakedly, though not much more
+really, than it is now, the right of the strongest.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Map of Normandy.</div>
+
+<p>Normandy, William's native land, is a very rich and beautiful province
+in the north of France. The following map shows its situation:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 284px;">
+<img src="images/i010.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="284" height="350" alt="Map of England and part of France, showing the situation
+of Normandy." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Map of England and part of France, showing the situation
+of Normandy.</span></span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The English Channel.<br />
+Nature of the French coast.<br />Nature of
+the English coast.</div>
+
+<p>It lies, as will be seen upon the map, on the coast of France, adjoining
+the English Channel. The Channel is here irregular in form, but may be,
+perhaps, on the average, one hundred miles wide. The line of coast on
+the southern side of the Channel, which forms, of course, the northern
+border of Normandy, is a range of cliffs, which are almost perpendicular
+toward the sea, and which frown forbiddingly upon every ship that sails
+along the shore. Here and there, it is true, a river opens a passage for
+itself among these cliffs from the interior, and these river mouths
+would form harbors into which ships might enter from the offing, were it
+not that the northwestern winds prevail so generally, and drive such a
+continual swell of rolling surges in upon the shore, that they choke up
+all these estuary openings, as well as every natural indentation of the
+land, with shoals and bars of sand and shingle. The reverse is the case
+with the northern, or English shore of this famous channel. There the
+harbors formed by the mouths of the rivers, or by the sinuosities of the
+shore, are open and accessible, and at the same time sheltered from the
+winds and the sea. Thus, while the northern or English shore has been,
+for many centuries, all the time enticing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>the seaman in and out over
+the calm, deep, and sheltered waters which there penetrate the land, the
+southern side has been an almost impassable barrier, consisting of a
+long line of frowning cliffs, with every opening through it choked with
+shoals and sand-banks, and guarded by the rolling and tumbling of surges
+which scarcely ever rest.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Northmen and Danes.<br />Character of the Northmen.<br />Their
+descendants.</div>
+
+<p>It is in a great measure owing to these great physical differences
+between the two shores, that the people who live upon the one side,
+though of the same stock and origin with those who live upon the other,
+have become so vastly superior to them in respect to naval exploits and
+power. They are really of the same stock and origin, since both England
+and the northern part of France were overrun and settled by what is
+called the Scandinavian race, that is, people from Norway, Denmark, and
+other countries on the Baltic. These people were called the <i>Northmen</i>
+in the histories of those times. Those who landed in England are
+generally termed <i>Danes</i>, though but a small portion of them came really
+from Denmark. They were all, however, of the same parent stock, and
+possessed the same qualities of courage, energy, and fearless love of
+adventure and of danger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>which distinguish their descendants at the
+present day. They came down in those early times in great military
+hordes, and in fleets of piratical ships, through the German Ocean and
+the various British seas, braving every hardship and every imaginable
+danger, to find new regions to dwell in, more genial, and fertile, and
+rich than their own native northern climes. In these days they evince
+the same energy, and endure equal privations and hardships, in hunting
+whales in the Pacific Ocean; in overrunning India, and seizing its
+sources of wealth and power; or in sallying forth, whole fleets of
+adventurers at a time, to go more than half round the globe, to dig for
+gold in California. The times and circumstances have changed, but the
+race and spirit are the same.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Dukes of Normandy.</div>
+
+<p>Normandy takes its name from the Northmen. It was the province of France
+which the Northmen made peculiarly their own. They gained access to it
+from the sea by the River Seine, which, as will be seen from the map,
+flows, as it were, through the heart of the country. The lower part of
+this river, and the sea around its mouth, are much choked up with sand
+and gravel, which the waves have been for ages washing in. Their
+incessant industry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>would result in closing up the passage entirely,
+were it not that the waters of the river must have an outlet; and thus
+the current, setting outward, wages perpetual war with the surf and
+surges which are continually breaking in. The expeditions of the
+Northmen, however, found their way through all these obstructions. They
+ascended the river with their ships, and finally gained a permanent
+settlement in the country. They had occupied the country for some
+centuries at the time when our story begins&mdash;the province being governed
+by a line of princes&mdash;almost, if not quite, independent
+sovereigns&mdash;called the <i>Dukes of Normandy</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The first duke, Rollo.</div>
+
+<p>The first Duke of Normandy, and the founder of the line&mdash;the chieftain
+who originally invaded and conquered the country&mdash;was a wild and
+half-savage hero from the north, named <i>Rollo</i>. He is often, in history,
+called Rollo the Dane. Norway was his native land. He was a chieftain by
+birth there, and, being of a wild and adventurous disposition, he
+collected a band of followers, and committed with them so many piracies
+and robberies, that at length the king of the country expelled him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">History of Rollo.</div>
+
+<p>Rollo seems not to have considered this banishment as any very great
+calamity, since, far <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>from interrupting his career of piracy and
+plunder, it only widened the field on which he was to pursue it. He
+accordingly increased the equipment and the force of his fleet, enlisted
+more followers, and set sail across the northern part of the German
+Ocean toward the British shores.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His rendezvous on the Scottish coast.<br />Expedition of Rollo.</div>
+
+<p>Off the northwestern coast of Scotland there are some groups of
+mountainous and gloomy islands, which have been, in many different
+periods of the world, the refuge of fugitives and outlaws. Rollo made
+these islands his rendezvous now; and he found collected there many
+other similar spirits, who had fled to these lonely retreats, some on
+account of political disturbances in which they had become involved, and
+some on account of their crimes. Rollo's impetuous, ardent, and
+self-confident character inspired them with new energy and zeal. They
+gathered around him as their leader. Finding his strength thus
+increasing, he formed a scheme of concentrating all the force that he
+could command, so as to organize a grand expedition to proceed to the
+southward, and endeavor to find some pleasant country which they could
+seize and settle upon, and make their own. The desperate adventurers
+around him were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>ready enough to enter into this scheme. The fleet was
+refitted, provisioned, and equipped. The expedition was organized, arms
+and munitions of war provided, and when all was ready they set sail.
+They had no definite plan in respect to the place of their destination,
+their intention being to make themselves a home on the first favorable
+spot that they should find.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His descent upon Flanders.<br />Difficulties encountered.</div>
+
+<p>They moved southward, cruising at first along the coast of Scotland, and
+then of England. They made several fruitless attempts to land on the
+English shores, but were every where repulsed. The time when these
+events took place was during the reign of Alfred the Great. Through
+Alfred's wise and efficient measures the whole of his frontier had been
+put into a perfect state of defense, and Rollo found that there was no
+hope for him there. He accordingly moved on toward the Straits of Dover;
+but, before passing them, he made a descent upon the coast of Flanders.
+Here there was a country named Hainault. It was governed by a potentate
+called the Count of Hainault. Rollo made war upon him, defeated him in
+battle, took him prisoner, and then compelled the countess his wife to
+raise and pay him an immense sum for his ransom. Thus he replenished
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>his treasury by an exploit which was considered in those days very
+great and glorious. To perpetrate such a deed now, unless it were on a
+<i>very</i> great scale, would be to incur the universal reprobation of
+mankind; but Rollo, by doing it then, not only enriched his coffers, but
+acquired a very extended and honorable fame.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rollo passes the Straits of Dover.</div>
+
+<p>For some reason or other, Rollo did not attempt to take permanent
+possession of Hainault, but, after receiving his ransom money, and
+replenishing his ammunition and stores, he sailed away with his fleet,
+and, turning westward, he passed through the Straits of Dover, and
+cruised along the coast of France. He found that the country on the
+French side of the channel, though equally rich and beautiful with the
+opposite shore, was in a very different state of defense. He entered the
+mouth of the Seine. He was embarrassed at first by the difficulties of
+the navigation in entering the river; but as there was no efficient
+enemy to oppose him, he soon triumphed over these difficulties, and,
+once fairly in the river, he found no difficulty in ascending to
+Rouen.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Charles the Simple.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the King of France, whose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>name was Charles, and who
+is generally designated in history as Charles the Simple, began to
+collect an army to meet the invader. Rollo, however, had made himself
+master of Rouen before Charles was able to offer him any effectual
+opposition. Rouen was already a strong place, but Rollo made it
+stronger. He enlarged and repaired the fortifications, built
+store-houses, established a garrison, and, in a word, made all the
+arrangements requisite for securing an impregnable position for himself
+and his army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Defeated by Rollo.</div>
+
+<p>A long and obstinate war followed between Rollo and Charles, Rollo being
+almost uniformly victorious in the combats that took place. Rollo became
+more and more proud and imperious in proportion to his success. He drove
+the French king from port to port, and from field to field, until he
+made himself master of a large part of the north of France, over which
+he gradually established a regular government of his own. Charles
+struggled in vain to resist these encroachments. Rollo continually
+defeated him; and finally he shut him up and besieged him in Paris
+itself. At length Charles was compelled to enter into negotiations for
+peace. Rollo demanded that the large and rich tract on both sides of the
+Seine, next the sea&mdash;the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>same, in fact, that now constitutes
+Normandy&mdash;should be ceded to him and his followers for their permanent
+possession. Charles was extremely unwilling thus to alienate a part of
+his kingdom. He would not consent to cede it absolutely and entirely, so
+as to make it an independent realm. It should be a <i>dukedom</i>, and not a
+separate <i>kingdom</i>, so that it might continue still a part of his own
+royal domains&mdash;Rollo to reign over it as a duke, and to acknowledge a
+general allegiance to the French king. Rollo agreed to this. The war had
+been now protracted so long that he began himself to desire repose. It
+was more than thirty years since the time of his landing.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Treaty of peace.<br />Its conditions.<br />The three ceremonies.</div>
+
+<p>Charles had a daughter named Giselle, and it was a part of the treaty of
+peace that she should become Rollo's wife. He also agreed to become a
+Christian. Thus there were, in the execution of the treaty, three
+ceremonies to be performed. First, Rollo was to <i>do homage</i>, as it was
+called, for his duchy; for it was the custom in those days for
+subordinate princes, who held their possessions of some higher and more
+strictly sovereign power, to perform certain ceremonies in the presence
+of their superior lord, which was called doing homage. These ceremonies
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>were of various kinds in different countries, though they were all
+intended to express the submission of the dependent prince to the
+superior authority and power of the higher potentate of whom he held his
+lands. This act of homage was therefore to be performed, and next to the
+homage was to come the baptism, and after the baptism, the marriage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rollo's pride.</div>
+
+<p>When, however, the time came for the performance of the first of these
+ceremonies, and all the great chieftains and potentates of the
+respective armies were assembled to witness it, Rollo, it was found,
+would not submit to what the customs of the French monarchy required. He
+ought to kneel before the king, and put his hands, clasped together,
+between the king's hands, in token of submission, and then to kiss his
+foot, which was covered with an elegantly fashioned slipper on such
+occasions. Rollo would do all except the last; but that, no
+remonstrances, urgencies, or persuasions would induce him to consent to.</p>
+
+<p>And yet it was not a very unusual sign or token of political
+subordination to sovereign power in those days. The pope had exacted it
+even of an emperor a hundred years before; and it is continued by that
+dignitary to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>present day, on certain state occasions; though in the
+case of the pope, there is embroidered on the slipper which the kneeling
+suppliant kisses, a <i>cross</i>, so that he who humbles himself to this
+ceremony may consider, if he pleases, that it is that sacred symbol of
+the divine Redeemer's sufferings and death that he so reverently kisses,
+and not the human foot by which it is covered.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Kissing the king's foot.</div>
+
+<p>Rollo could not be made to consent, himself, to kiss King Charles's
+foot; and, finally, the difficulty was compromised by his agreeing to do
+it by proxy. He ordered one of his courtiers to perform that part of the
+ceremony. The courtier obeyed, but when he came to lift the foot, he did
+it so rudely and lifted it so high as to turn the monarch over off his
+seat. This made a laugh, but Rollo was too powerful for Charles to think
+of resenting it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The baptism and marriage.<br />Rollo's peaceful and prosperous
+reign.</div>
+
+<p>A few days after this Rollo was baptized in the cathedral church at
+Rouen, with great pomp and parade; and then, on the following week, he
+was married to Giselle. The din of war in which he had lived for more
+than thirty years was now changed into festivities and rejoicings. He
+took full and peaceable possession of his dukedom, and governed it for
+the remainder <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>of his days with great wisdom, and lived in great
+prosperity. He made it, in fact, one of the richest and most prosperous
+realms in Europe, and laid the foundations of still higher degrees of
+greatness and power, which were gradually developed after his death. And
+this was the origin of Normandy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Description of Normandy.<br />Scenery.<br />Hamlets.<br />Chateaux.<br />
+Peasantry.<br />Public roads.</div>
+
+<p>It appears thus that this part of France was seized by Rollo and his
+Northmen partly because it was nearest at hand to them, being accessible
+from the English Channel through the River Seine, and partly on account
+of its exceeding richness and fertility. It has been famous in every age
+as the garden of France, and travelers at the present day gaze upon its
+picturesque and beautiful scenery with the highest admiration and
+pleasure. And yet the scenes which are there presented to the view are
+wholly unlike those which constitute picturesque and beautiful rural
+scenery in England and America. In Normandy, the land is not inclosed.
+No hedges, fences, or walls break the continuity of the surface, but
+vast tracts spread in every direction, divided into plots and squares,
+of various sizes and forms, by the varieties of cultivation, like a vast
+carpet of an irregular tesselated pattern, and varied in the color by a
+thousand <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>hues of brown and green. Here and there vast forests extend,
+where countless thousands of trees, though ancient and venerable in
+form, stand in rows, mathematically arranged, as they were planted
+centuries ago. These are royal demesnes, and hunting grounds, and parks
+connected with the country palaces of the kings or the chateaux of the
+ancient nobility. The cultivators of the soil live, not, as in America,
+in little farm-houses built along the road-sides and dotting the slopes
+of the hills, but in compact villages, consisting of ancient dwellings
+of brick or stone, densely packed together along a single street, from
+which the laborers issue, in picturesque dresses, men and women
+together, every morning, to go miles, perhaps, to the scene of their
+daily toil. Except these villages, and the occasional appearance of an
+ancient chateau, no habitations are seen. The country seems a vast
+solitude, teeming everywhere, however, with fertility and beauty. The
+roads which traverse these scenes are magnificent avenues, broad,
+straight, continuing for many miles an undeviating course over the
+undulations of the land, with nothing to separate them from the expanse
+of cultivation and fruitfulness on either hand but rows of ancient and
+venerable trees. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>Between these rows of trees the traveler sees an
+interminable vista extending both before him and behind him. In England,
+the public road winds beautifully between walls overhung with shrubbery,
+or hedge-rows, with stiles or gateways here and there, revealing hamlets
+or cottages, which appear and disappear in a rapid and endlessly varied
+succession, as the road meanders, like a rivulet, between its beautiful
+banks. In a word, the public highway in England is beautiful; in France
+it is grand.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rouen.<br />Its situation.<br />The port of Rouen.<br />Its name of Le Havre
+de Grace.</div>
+
+<p>The greatest city in Normandy in modern times is Rouen, which is
+situated, as will be seen by referring to the map at the commencement of
+this chapter, on the Seine, half way between Paris and the sea. At the
+mouth of the Seine, or, rather, on the northern shore of the estuary
+which forms the mouth of the river, is a small inlet, which has been
+found to afford, on the whole, the best facilities for a harbor that can
+be found on the whole line of the coast. Even this little port, however,
+is so filled up with sand, that when the water recedes at low tide it
+leaves the shipping all aground. The inlet would, in fact, probably
+become filled up entirely were it not for artificial means taken to
+prevent it. There are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>locks and gateways built in such a manner as to
+retain a large body of water until the tide is down, and then these
+gates are opened, and the water is allowed to rush out all together,
+carrying with it the mud and sand which had begun to accumulate. This
+haven, being, on the whole, the best and most commodious on the coast,
+was called <i>the</i> harbor, or, as the French expressed it in their
+language, <i>le havre</i>, the word <i>havre</i> meaning harbor. In fact, the name
+was in full <i>le havre de grace</i>, as if the Normans considered it a
+matter of special good luck to have even such a chance of a harbor as
+this at the mouth of their river. The English world have, however,
+dropped all except the principal word from this long phrase of
+designation, and call the port simply Havre.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Intermingling of races.<br />Superiority of the Norman stock.</div>
+
+<p>From Rollo the line of Dukes of Normandy continued in uninterrupted
+succession down to the time of William, a period of about a hundred and
+fifty years. The country increased all the time in wealth, in
+population, and in prosperity. The original inhabitants were not,
+however, expelled; they remained as peasants, herdsmen, and
+agriculturists, while the Norman chieftains settled over them, holding
+severally <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>large estates of land which William granted them. The races
+gradually became intermingled, though they continued for many centuries
+to evince the superior spirit and energy which was infused into the
+population by the Norman stock. In fact, it is thought by many observers
+that that superiority continues to the present day.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_II" id="Chapter_II"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter II.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Birth of William</span>.</h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 912-1033</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Castle at Falaise.<br />Present ruins of the castle.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">though</span>
+Rouen is now very far before all the other cities of Normandy
+in point of magnitude and importance, and though Rollo, in his conquest
+of the country, made it his principal head-quarters and his main
+stronghold, it did not continue exclusively the residence of the dukes
+of Normandy in after years. The father of William the Conqueror was
+Robert, who became subsequently the duke, the sixth in the line. He
+resided, at the time when William was born, in a great castle at
+Falaise. Falaise, as will be seen upon the map, is west of Rouen, and it
+stands, like Rouen, at some distance from the sea. The castle was built
+upon a hill, at a little distance from the town. It has long since
+ceased to be habitable, but the ruins still remain, giving a picturesque
+but mournful beauty to the eminence which they crown. They are often
+visited by travelers, who go to see the place where the great hero and
+conqueror was born.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Scenery of the town and castle.<br />Wall and buildings.<br />
+Watch-towers.<br />Sentinels.<br />Enchanting prospect.</div>
+
+<p>The hill on which the old castle stands terminates, on one side, at the
+foot of the castle walls, in a precipice of rocks, and on two other
+sides, also, the ascent is too steep to be practicable for an enemy. On
+the fourth side there is a more gradual declivity, up which the fortress
+could be approached by means of a winding roadway. At the foot of this
+roadway was the town. The access to the castle from the town was
+defended by a ditch and draw-bridge, with strong towers on each side of
+the gateway to defend the approach. There was a beautiful stream of
+water which meandered along through the valley, near the town, and,
+after passing it, it disappeared, winding around the foot of the
+precipice which the castle crowned. The castle inclosures were shut in
+with walls of stone of enormous thickness; so thick, in fact, they were,
+that some of the apartments were built in the body of the wall. There
+were various buildings within the inclosure. There was, in particular,
+one large, square tower, several stories in height, built of white
+stone. This tower, it is said, still stands in good preservation. There
+was a chapel, also, and various other buildings and apartments within
+the walls, for the use of the ducal family and their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>numerous retinue
+of servants and attendants, for the storage of munitions of war, and for
+the garrison. There were watch-towers on the corners of the walls, and
+on various lofty projecting pinnacles, where solitary sentinels watched,
+the livelong day and night, for any approaching danger. These sentinels
+looked down on a broad expanse of richly-cultivated country, fields
+beautified with groves of trees, and with the various colors presented
+by the changing vegetation, while meandering streams gleamed with their
+silvery radiance among them, and hamlets of laborers and peasantry were
+scattered here and there, giving life and animation to the scene.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Chronological history of the Norman line.</div>
+
+<p>We have said that William's father was Robert, the sixth Duke of
+Normandy, so that William himself, being his immediate successor, was
+the seventh in the line. And as it is the design of these narratives not
+merely to amuse the reader with what is entertaining as a tale, but to
+impart substantial historical knowledge, we must prepare the way for the
+account of William's birth, by presenting a brief chronological view of
+the whole ducal line, extending from Rollo to William. We recommend to
+the reader to examine with special attention this brief <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>account of
+William's ancestry, for the true causes which led to William's invasion
+of England can not be fully appreciated without thoroughly understanding
+certain important transactions in which some members of the family of
+his ancestors were concerned before he was born. This is particularly
+the case with the Lady Emma, who, as will be seen by the following
+summary, was the sister of the third duke in the line. The extraordinary
+and eventful history of her life is so intimately connected with the
+subsequent exploits of William, that it is necessary to relate it in
+full, and it becomes, accordingly, the subject of one of the subsequent
+chapters of this volume.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Chronological History of the Norman Line.</i></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Rollo</span>, first Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From A.D. 912 to A.D. 917.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rollo.</div>
+
+<p>It was about 870 that Rollo was banished from Norway, and a few years
+after that, at most, that he landed in France. It was not, however,
+until 912 that he concluded his treaty of peace with Charles, so as to
+be fully invested with the title of Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p>He was advanced in age at this time, and, after spending five years in
+settling the affairs <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>of his realm, he resigned his dukedom into the
+hands of his son, that he might spend the remainder of his days in rest
+and peace. He died in 922, five years after his resignation.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">William I.</span>, second Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From 917 to 942.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William I., second duke.</div>
+
+<p>William was Rollo's son. He began to reign, of course, five years before
+his father's death. He had a quiet and prosperous reign of about
+twenty-five years, but he was assassinated at last by a political enemy,
+in 942.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard I.</span>, third Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From 942 to 996.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard I., third duke.</div>
+
+<p>He was only ten years old when his father was assassinated. He became
+involved in long and arduous wars with the King of France, which
+compelled him to call in the aid of more Northmen from the Baltic. His
+new allies, in the end, gave him as much trouble as the old enemy, with
+whom they came to help William contend; and he found it very hard to get
+them away. He wanted, at length, to make peace with the French king, and
+to have them leave his dominions; but they said, "That was not what they
+came for."</p>
+
+<p>Richard had a beautiful daughter, named Emma, who afterward became a
+very important <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>political personage, as will be seen more fully in a
+subsequent chapter.</p>
+
+<p>Richard died in 996, after reigning fifty-four years.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard II.</span>, fourth Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From 996 to 1026.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Richard II., fourth duke.</div>
+
+<p>Richard II. was the son of Richard I., and as his father had been
+engaged during his reign in contentions with his sovereign lord, the
+King of France, he, in his turn, was harassed by long-continued
+struggles with his vassals, the barons and nobles of his own realm. He,
+too, sent for Northmen to come and assist him. During his reign there
+was a great contest in England between the Saxons and the Danes, and
+Ethelred, who was the Saxon claimant to the throne, came to Normandy,
+and soon afterward married the Lady Emma, Richard's sister. The
+particulars of this event, from which the most momentous consequences
+were afterward seen to flow, will be given in full in a future chapter.
+Richard died in 1026. He left two sons, Richard and Robert. William the
+Conqueror was the son of the youngest, and was born two years before
+this Richard II. died.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard III.</span>, fifth Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From 1026 to 1028.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Richard III., fifth duke.<br />Intrigues of Robert.</div>
+
+<p>He was the oldest brother, and, of course, succeeded to the dukedom. His
+brother Robert was then only a baron&mdash;his son William, afterward the
+Conqueror, being then about two years old. Robert was very ambitious and
+aspiring, and eager to get possession of the dukedom himself. He adopted
+every possible means to circumvent and supplant his brother, and, as is
+supposed, shortened his days by the anxiety and vexation which he caused
+him; for Richard died suddenly and mysteriously only two years after his
+accession. It was supposed by some, in fact, that he was poisoned,
+though there was never any satisfactory proof of this.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Robert</span>, sixth Duke of Normandy.</p>
+
+<p class="center">From 1028 to 1035.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He becomes the sixth duke.<br />Robert and Henry.</div>
+
+<p>Robert, of course, succeeded his brother, and then, with the
+characteristic inconsistency of selfishness and ambition, he employed
+all the power of his realm in helping the King of France to subdue his
+younger brother, who was evincing the same spirit of seditiousness and
+insubmission that he had himself displayed. His assistance was of great
+importance to King Henry; it, in fact, decided the contest in his favor;
+and thus one younger brother was put down in the commencement of his
+career of turbulence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>and rebellion, by another who had successfully
+accomplished a precisely similar course of crime. King Henry was very
+grateful for the service thus rendered, and was ready to do all in his
+power, at all times, to co-operate with Robert in the plans which the
+latter might form. Robert died in 1035, when William was about eleven
+years old.</p>
+
+<p>And here we close this brief summary of the history of the ducal line,
+as we have already passed the period of William's birth; and we return,
+accordingly, to give in detail some of the particulars of that event.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 39-40]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i036.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="295" alt="William and Arlotte." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">William and Arlotte.</span>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's mother.</div>
+
+<p>Although the dukes of Normandy were very powerful potentates, reigning,
+as they did, almost in the character of independent sovereigns, over one
+of the richest and most populous territories of the globe, and though
+William the Conqueror was the son of one of them, his birth was
+nevertheless very ignoble. His mother was not the wife of Robert his
+father, but a poor peasant girl, the daughter of an humble tanner of
+Falaise; and, indeed, William's father, Robert, was not himself the duke
+at this time, but a simple baron, as his father was still living. It was
+not even certain that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+ever would be the duke, as his older brother, who, of course, would
+come before him, was also then alive. Still, as the son and prospective
+heir of the reigning duke, his rank was very high.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's first meeting with Arlotte.<br />He is captivated.</div>
+
+<p>The circumstances of Robert's first acquaintance with the tanner's
+daughter were these. He was one day returning home to the castle from
+some expedition on which he had been sent by his father, when he saw a
+group of peasant girls standing on the margin of the brook, washing
+clothes. They were barefooted, and their dress was in other respects
+disarranged. There was one named Arlotte,<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> the daughter of a tanner of
+the town, whose countenance and figure seem to have captivated the young
+baron. He gazed at her with admiration and pleasure as he rode along.
+Her complexion was fair, her eyes full and blue, and the expression of
+her countenance was frank, and open, and happy. She was talking joyously
+and merrily with her companions as Robert passed, little dreaming of the
+conspicuous place on the page of English history which she was to
+occupy, in all future time, in connection with the gay horseman who was
+riding by.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Robert sends for Arlotte.</div>
+
+<p>The etiquette of royal and ducal palaces and castles in those days, as
+now, forbade that a noble of such lofty rank should marry a peasant
+girl. Robert could not, therefore, have Arlotte for his wife; but there
+was nothing to prevent his proposing her coming to the castle and living
+with him&mdash;that is, nothing but the law of God, and this was an authority
+to which dukes and barons in the Middle Ages were accustomed to pay very
+little regard. There was not even a public sentiment to forbid this, for
+a nobility like that of England and France in the Middle Ages stands so
+far above all the mass of society as to be scarcely amenable at all to
+the ordinary restrictions and obligations of social life. And even to
+the present day, in those countries where dukes exist, public sentiment
+seems to tolerate pretty generally whatever dukes see fit to do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scruples of her father.<br />Arlotte sent to the castle.</div>
+
+<p>Accordingly, as soon as Robert had arrived at the castle, he sent a
+messenger from his retinue of attendants down to the village, to the
+father of Arlotte, proposing that she should come to the castle. The
+father seems to have had some hesitation in respect to his duty. It is
+said that he had a brother who was a monk, or rather hermit, who lived a
+life of reading, meditation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>and prayer, in a solitary place not far
+from Falaise. Arlotte's father sent immediately to this religious
+recluse for his spiritual counsel. The monk replied that it was right to
+comply with the wishes of so great a man, whatever they might be. The
+tanner, thus relieved of all conscientious scruples on the subject by
+this high religious authority, and rejoicing in the opening tide of
+prosperity and distinction which he foresaw for his family through the
+baron's love, robed and decorated his daughter, like a lamb for the
+sacrifice, and sent her to the castle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's affection for her.<br />Birth of William.<br />The nurse's
+prediction.</div>
+
+<p>Arlotte had one of the rooms assigned her, which was built in the
+thickness of the wall. It communicated by a door with the other
+apartments and inclosures within the area, and there were narrow windows
+in the masonry without, through which she could look out over the broad
+expanse of beautiful fields and meadows which were smiling below. Robert
+seems to have loved her with sincere and strong affection, and to have
+done all in his power to make her happy. Her room, however, could not
+have been very sumptuously furnished, although she was the favorite in a
+ducal castle&mdash;at least so far as we can judge from the few glimpses we
+get of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>interior through the ancient chroniclers' stories. One story
+is, that when William was born, his first exploit was to grasp a handful
+of straw, and to hold it so tenaciously in his little fist that the
+nurse could scarcely take it away. The nurse was greatly delighted with
+this infantile prowess; she considered it an omen, and predicted that
+the babe would some day signalize himself by seizing and holding great
+possessions. The prediction would have been forgotten if William had not
+become the conqueror of England at a future day. As it was, it was
+remembered and recorded; and it suggests to our imagination a very
+different picture of the conveniences and comforts of Arlotte's chamber
+from those presented to the eye in ducal palaces now, where carpets of
+velvet silence the tread on marble floors, and favorites repose under
+silken canopies on beds of down.</p>
+
+<p>The babe was named William, and he was a great favorite with his father.
+He was brought up at Falaise. Two years after his birth, Robert's father
+died, and his oldest brother, Richard III., succeeded to the ducal
+throne. In two years more, which years were spent in contention between
+the brothers, Richard also died, and then Robert himself came into
+possession <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>of the castle in his own name, reigning there over all the
+cities and domains of Normandy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's childhood.</div>
+
+<p>William was, of course, now about four years old. He was a bright and
+beautiful boy, and he grew more and more engaging every year. His
+father, instead of neglecting and disowning him, as it might have been
+supposed he would do, took a great deal of pride and pleasure in
+witnessing the gradual development of his powers and his increasing
+attractiveness, and he openly acknowledged him as his son.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is a universal favorite.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, William was a universal favorite about the castle. When he was
+five and six years old he was very fond of playing the soldier. He would
+marshal the other boys of the castle, his playmates, into a little
+troop, and train them around the castle inclosures, just as ardent and
+aspiring boys do with their comrades now. He possessed a certain
+vivacity and spirit too, which gave him, even then, a great ascendency
+over his playfellows. He invented their plays; he led them in their
+mischief; he settled their disputes. In a word, he possessed a
+temperament and character which enabled him very easily and strongly to
+hold the position which his rank as son of the lord of the castle so
+naturally assigned him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Robert determines to visit the Holy Land.<br />Dangers of the
+journey.</div>
+
+<p>A few years thus passed away, when, at length, Robert conceived the
+design of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This was a plan, not of
+humble-minded piety, but of ambition for fame. To make a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land was a romantic achievement that covered whoever
+accomplished it with a sort of sombre glory, which, in the case of a
+prince or potentate, mingled with, and hallowed and exalted, his
+military renown. Robert determined on making the pilgrimage. It was a
+distant and dangerous journey. In fact, the difficulties and dangers of
+the way were perhaps what chiefly imparted to the enterprise its
+romance, and gave it its charms. It was customary for kings and rulers,
+before setting out, to arrange all the affairs of their kingdoms, to
+provide a regency to govern during their absence, and to determine upon
+their successors, so as to provide for the very probable contingency of
+their not living to return.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Maneuvering among the chieftains.</div>
+
+<p>As soon, therefore, as Robert announced his plan of a pilgrimage, men's
+minds were immediately turned to the question of the succession. Robert
+had never been married, and he had consequently no son who was entitled
+to succeed him. He had two brothers, and also a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>cousin, and some other
+relatives, who had claims to the succession. These all began to maneuver
+among the chieftains and nobles, each endeavoring to prepare the way for
+having his own claims advanced, while Robert himself was secretly
+determining that the little William should be his heir. He said nothing
+about this, however, but he took care to magnify the importance of his
+little son in every way, and to bring him as much as possible into
+public notice. William, on his part, possessed so much personal beauty,
+and so many juvenile accomplishments, that he became a great favorite
+with all the nobles, and chieftains, and knights who saw him, sometimes
+at his father's castle, and sometimes away from home, in their own
+fortresses or towns, where his father took him, from time to time, in
+his train.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A council of nobles.<br />Robert announces his design.</div>
+
+<p>At length, when affairs were ripe for their consummation, Duke Robert
+called together a grand council of all the subordinate dukes, and earls,
+and barons of his realm, to make known to them the plan of his
+pilgrimage. They came together from all parts of Normandy, each in a
+splendid cavalcade, and attended by an armed retinue of retainers. When
+the assembly had been convened, and the preliminary forms and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>ceremonies had been disposed of, Robert announced his grand design.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he had concluded, one of the nobles, whose name and title was
+Guy, count of Burgundy, rose and addressed the duke in reply. He was
+sorry, he said, to hear that the duke, his cousin, entertained such a
+plan. He feared for the safety of the realm when the chief ruler should
+be gone. All the estates of the realm, he said, the barons, the knights,
+the chieftains and soldiers of every degree, would be all without a
+head.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He makes William his heir.</div>
+
+<p>"Not so," said Robert: "I will leave you a master in my place." Then,
+pointing to the beautiful boy by his side, he added, "I have a little
+fellow here, who, though he is little now, I acknowledge, will grow
+bigger by and by, with God's grace, and I have great hopes that he will
+become a brave and gallant man. I present him to you, and from this time
+forth I give him <i>seizin</i><a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> of the Duchy of Normandy as my known and
+acknowledged heir. And I appoint Alan, duke of Brittany, governor of
+Normandy in my name until I shall return, and in case I shall not
+return, in the name of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>William my son, until he shall become of manly
+age."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Surprise of the assembly.<br />The nobles do homage to William.</div>
+
+<p>The assembly was taken wholly by surprise at this announcement. Alan,
+duke of Brittany, who was one of the chief claimants to the succession,
+was pleased with the honor conferred upon him in making him at once the
+governor of the realm, and was inclined to prefer the present certainty
+of governing at once in the name of others, to the remote contingency of
+reigning in his own. The other claimants to the inheritance were
+confounded by the suddenness of the emergency, and knew not what to say
+or do. The rest of the assembly were pleased with the romance of having
+the beautiful boy for their feudal sovereign. The duke saw at once that
+every thing was favorable to the accomplishment of his design. He took
+the lad in his arms, kissed him, and held him out in view of the
+assembly. William gazed around upon the panoplied warriors before him
+with a bright and beaming eye. They knelt down as by a common accord to
+do him homage, and then took the oath of perpetual allegiance and
+fidelity to his cause.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William is taken to Paris.<br />He is presented to the French
+king.</div>
+
+<p>Robert thought, however, that it would not be quite prudent to leave his
+son himself in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>custody of these his rivals, so he took him with him
+to Paris when he set out upon his pilgrimage, with view of establishing
+him there, in the court of Henry, the French king, while he should
+himself be gone. Young William was presented to the French king, on a
+day set apart for the ceremony, with great pomp and parade. The king
+held a special court to receive him. He seated himself on his throne in
+a grand apartment of his palace, and was surrounded by his nobles and
+officers of state, all magnificently dressed for the occasion. At the
+proper time, Duke Robert came in, dressed in his pilgrim's garb, and
+leading young William by the hand. His attendant pilgrim knights
+accompanied him. Robert led the boy to the feet of their common
+sovereign, and, kneeling there, ordered William to kneel too, to do
+homage to the king. King Henry received him very graciously. He embraced
+him, and promised to receive him into his court, and to take the best
+possible care of him while his father was away. The courtiers were very
+much struck with the beauty and noble bearing of the boy. His
+countenance beamed with an animated, but yet very serious expression, as
+he was somewhat awed by the splendor of the scene around him. He was
+himself then nine years old.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_III" id="Chapter_III"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter III.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Accession.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1035-1040</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert departs on his pilgrimage.<br />He visits Rome and
+Constantinople.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">fter</span> spending a little time at Paris, Robert took leave of the king,
+and of William his son, and went forth, with a train of attendant
+knights, on his pilgrimage. He had a great variety of adventures, which
+can not be related here, as it is the history of the son, and not of the
+father, which is the subject of this narrative. Though he traveled
+strictly as a pilgrim, it was still with great pomp and parade. After
+visiting Rome, and accomplishing various services and duties connected
+with his pilgrimage there, he laid aside his pilgrim's garb, and,
+assuming his proper rank as a great Norman chieftain, he went to
+Constantinople, where he made a great display of his wealth and
+magnificence. At the time of the grand procession, for example, by which
+he entered the city of Constantinople, he rode a mule, which, besides
+being gorgeously caparisoned, had shoes of gold instead of iron; and
+these shoes were purposely attached so slightly to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>hoofs, that they
+were shaken off as the animal walked along, to be picked up by the
+populace. This was to impress them with grand ideas of the rider's
+wealth and splendor. After leaving Constantinople, Robert resumed his
+pilgrim's garb, and went on toward the Holy Land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's illness.<br />Litter bearers.</div>
+
+<p>The journey, however, did not pass without the usual vicissitudes of so
+long an absence and so distant a pilgrimage. At one time Robert was
+sick, and, after lingering for some time in a fever, he so far recovered
+his strength as to be borne on a litter by the strength of other men,
+though he could not advance himself, either on horseback or on foot; and
+as for traveling carriages, there had been no such invention in those
+days. They made arrangements, therefore, for carrying the duke on a
+litter. There were sixteen Moorish slaves employed to serve as his
+bearers. This company was divided into sets, four in each, the several
+sets taking the burden in rotation. Robert and his attendant knights
+looked down with great contempt on these black pagan slaves. One day the
+cavalcade was met by a Norman who was returning home to Normandy after
+having accomplished his pilgrimage. He asked Duke Robert if he had any
+message to send to his friends at home. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>"Yes," said he; "tell them you
+saw me here, on my way to Paradise, carried by sixteen <i>demons</i>."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of Robert.<br />Claimants to the crown.</div>
+
+<p>Robert reached Jerusalem, and set out on his return; and soon after
+rumors came back to Paris that he had died on his way home. The accounts
+of the manner of his death were contradictory and uncertain; but the
+fact was soon made sure, and the news produced every where a great
+sensation. It soon appeared that the brothers and cousins of Robert, who
+had claimed the right to succeed him in preference to his son William,
+had only suspended their claims&mdash;they had not abandoned them. They began
+to gather their forces, each in his own separate domain, and to prepare
+to take the field, if necessary, in vindication of what they considered
+their rights to the inheritance. In a word, their oaths of fealty to
+William were all forgotten, and each claimant was intent only on getting
+possession himself of the ducal crown.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Theroulde.<br />William's military education.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, William himself was at Paris, and only eleven years of
+age. He had been receiving a careful education there, and was a very
+prepossessing and accomplished young prince. Still, he was yet but a
+mere boy. He had been under the care of a military <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>tutor, whose name
+was Theroulde. Theroulde was a veteran soldier, who had long been in the
+employ of the King of France. He took great interest in his young
+pupil's progress. He taught him to ride and to practice all the
+evolutions of horsemanship which were required by the tactics of those
+days. He trained him, too, in the use of arms, the bow and arrow, the
+javelin, the sword, the spear, and accustomed him to wear, and to
+exercise in, the armor of steel with which warriors were used, in those
+days, to load themselves in going into battle. Young princes like
+William had suits of this armor made for them, of small size, which they
+were accustomed to wear in private in their military exercises and
+trainings, and to appear in, publicly, on great occasions of state.
+These dresses of iron were of course very heavy and uncomfortable, but
+the young princes and dukes were, nevertheless, very proud and happy to
+wear them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Earl of Arques.</div>
+
+<p>While William was thus engaged in pursuing his military education in
+Paris, several competitors for his dukedom immediately appeared in
+Normandy and took the field. The strongest and most prominent among them
+was the Earl of Arques. His name was William too, but, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>distinguish
+him from the young duke, we shall call him Arques. He was a brother of
+Robert, and maintained that, as Robert left no lawful heir, he was
+indisputably entitled to succeed him. Arques assembled his forces and
+prepared to take possession of the country.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William proclaimed duke.</div>
+
+<p>It will be recollected that Robert, when he left Normandy in setting out
+on his pilgrimage, had appointed a nobleman named Alan to act as regent,
+or governor of the country, until he should return; or, in case he
+should never return, until William should become of age. Alan had a
+council of officers, called the council of regency, with whose aid he
+managed the administration of the government. This council, with Alan at
+their head, proclaimed young William duke, and immediately began to act
+in his name. When they found that the Earl of Arques was preparing to
+seize the government, they began to assemble their forces also, and thus
+both sides prepared for war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The pilgrim knights.</div>
+
+<p>Before they actually commenced hostilities, however, the pilgrim knights
+who had accompanied Robert on his pilgrimage, and who had been
+journeying home slowly by themselves ever since their leader's death,
+arrived in Normandy. These were chieftains and nobles of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>high rank and
+influence, and each of the contending parties were eager to have them
+join their side. Besides the actual addition of force which these men
+could bring to the cause they should espouse, the moral support they
+would give to it was a very important consideration. Their having been
+on this long and dangerous pilgrimage invested them with a sort of
+romantic and religious interest in the minds of all the people, who
+looked up to them, in consequence of it, with a sort of veneration and
+awe; and then, as they had been selected by Robert to accompany him on
+his pilgrimage, and had gone on the long and dangerous journey with him,
+continuing to attend upon him until he died, they were naturally
+regarded as his most faithful and confidential friends. For these and
+similar reasons, it was obvious that the cause which they should espouse
+in the approaching contest would gain a large accession of moral power
+by their adhesion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">They embrace William's cause.<br />Debates in the council on the
+propriety of William's return.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as they arrived in Normandy, rejecting all proposals from other
+quarters, they joined young William's cause with the utmost promptitude
+and decision. Alan received them at once into his councils. An assembly
+was convened, and the question was discussed whether William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>should be
+sent for to come to Normandy. Some argued that he was yet a mere boy,
+incapable of rendering them any real service in the impending contest,
+while he would be exposed, more perhaps than they themselves, to be
+taken captive or slain. They thought it best, therefore, that he should
+remain, for the present, in Paris, under the protection of the French
+king.</p>
+
+<p>Others, on the other hand, contended that the influence of William's
+presence, boy as he was, would animate and inspire all his followers,
+and awaken every where, throughout the country, a warm interest in his
+cause; that his very tenderness and helplessness would appeal strongly
+to every generous heart, and that his youthful accomplishments and
+personal charms would enlist thousands in his favor, who would forget,
+and perhaps abandon him, if he kept away. Besides, it was by no means
+certain that he was so safe as some might suppose in King Henry's
+custody and power. King Henry might himself lay claims to the vacant
+duchy, with a view of bestowing it upon some favorite of his own, in
+which case he might confine young William in one of his castles, in an
+honorable, but still rigid and hopeless captivity, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>or treacherously
+destroy his life by the secret administration of poison.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's return to Normandy.</div>
+
+<p>These latter counsels prevailed. Alan and the nobles who were with him
+sent an embassage to the court of King Henry to bring William home.
+Henry made objections and difficulties. This alarmed the nobles. They
+feared that it would prove true that Henry himself had designs on
+Normandy. They sent a new embassage, with demands more urgent than
+before. Finally, after some time spent in negotiations and delays, King
+Henry concluded to yield, and William set out on his return. He was now
+about twelve or thirteen years old. His military tutor, Theroulde,
+accompanied him, and he was attended likewise by the embassadors whom
+Alan had sent for him, and by a strong escort for his protection by the
+way. He arrived in safety at Alan's head-quarters.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its effects.<br />William's accomplishments.<br />Impression upon the
+army.</div>
+
+<p>William's presence in Normandy had the effect which had been anticipated
+from it. It awakened every where a great deal of enthusiasm in his
+favor. The soldiers were pleased to see how handsome their young
+commander was in form, and how finely he could ride. He was, in fact, a
+very superior equestrian for one so young. He was more fond, even, than
+other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>boys of horses; and as, of course, the most graceful and the
+fleetest horses which could be found were provided for him, and as
+Theroulde had given him the best and most complete instruction, he made
+a fine display as he rode swiftly through the camp, followed by veteran
+nobles, splendidly dressed and mounted, and happy to be in his train,
+while his own countenance beamed with a radiance in which native
+intelligence and beauty were heightened by the animation and excitement
+of pride and pleasure. In respect to the command of the army, of course
+the real power remained in Alan's hands, but every thing was done in
+William's name; and in respect to all external marks and symbols of
+sovereignty, the beautiful boy seemed to possess the supreme command;
+and as the sentiment of loyalty is always the strongest when the object
+which calls for the exercise of it is most helpless or frail, Alan found
+his power very much increased when he had this beautiful boy to exhibit
+as the true and rightful heir, in whose name and for whose benefit all
+his power was held.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Claimants in the field.<br />Iron rule of the nobles.</div>
+
+<p>Still, however, the country was very far from becoming settled. The Earl
+of Arques kept the field, and other claimants, too, strengthened
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>themselves in their various castles and towns, as if preparing to
+resist. In those days, every separate district of the country was almost
+a separate realm, governed by its own baron, who lived, with his
+retainers, within his own castle walls, and ruled the land around him
+with a rod of iron. These barons were engaged in perpetual quarrels
+among themselves, each plundering the dominions of the rest, or making
+hostile incursions into the territories of a neighbor to revenge some
+real or imaginary wrong. This turbulence and disorder prevailed every
+where throughout Normandy at the time of William's return. In the
+general confusion, William's government scarcely knew who were his
+friends or his enemies. At one time, when a deputation was sent to some
+of the barons in William's name, summoning them to come with their
+forces and join his standard, as they were in duty bound to do, they
+felt independent enough to send back word to him that they had "too much
+to do in settling their own quarrels to be able to pay any attention to
+his."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Almost a quarrel.</div>
+
+<p>In the course of a year or two, moreover, and while his own realm
+continued in this unsettled and distracted state, William became
+involved in what was almost a quarrel with King Henry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>himself. When he
+was fifteen years old, which was two or three years after his return
+from Paris to Normandy, Henry sent directions to William to come to a
+certain town, called Evreux, situated about half way between Falaise and
+Paris, and just within the confines of Normandy,<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> to do homage to him
+there for his duchy. There was some doubt among William's counselors
+whether it would be most prudent to obey or disobey this command. They
+finally concluded that it was best to obey. Grand preparations were
+accordingly made for the expedition; and, when all was ready, the young
+duke was conducted in great state, and with much pomp and parade, to
+meet his sovereign.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Interview between William and Henry.</div>
+
+<p>The interview between William and his sovereign, and the ceremonies
+connected with it, lasted some days. In the course of this time, William
+remained at Evreux, and was, in some sense, of course, in Henry's power.
+William, having been so long in Henry's court as a mere boy, accustomed
+all the time to look up to and obey Henry as a father, regarded him
+somewhat in that light now, and approached him with great deference and
+respect. Henry received <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>him in a somewhat haughty and imperious manner,
+as if he considered him still under the same subjection as heretofore.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Henry's demand.<br />William's indignation.</div>
+
+<p>William had a fortress or castle on the frontiers of his dukedom, toward
+Henry's dominions. The name of the castle was Telli&egrave;res, and the
+governor of it was a faithful old soldier named De Crespin. William's
+father, Robert, had intrusted De Crespin with the command of the castle,
+and given him a garrison to defend it. Henry now began to make complaint
+to William in respect to this castle. The garrison, he said, were
+continually making incursions into his dominions. William replied that
+he was very sorry that there was cause for such a complaint. He would
+inquire into it, and if the fact were really so, he would have the evil
+immediately corrected. Henry replied that that was not sufficient. "You
+must deliver up the castle to me," he said, "to be destroyed." William
+was indignant at such a demand; but he was so accustomed to obey
+implicitly whatever King Henry might require of him, that he sent the
+order to have the castle surrendered.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Henry destroys one of William's castles.</div>
+
+<p>When, however, the order came to De Crespin, the governor of the castle,
+he refused to obey it. The fortress, he said, had been committed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>to his
+charge by Robert, duke of Normandy, and he should not give it up to the
+possession of any foreign power. When this answer was reported to
+William and his counselors, it made them still more indignant than
+before at the domineering tyranny of the command, and more disposed than
+ever to refuse obedience to it. Still William was in a great measure in
+the monarch's power. On cool reflection, they perceived that resistance
+would then be vain. New and more authoritative orders were accordingly
+issued for the surrender of the castle. De Crespin now obeyed. He gave
+up the keys and withdrew with his garrison. William was then allowed to
+leave Evreux and return home, and soon afterward the castle was razed to
+the ground.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Difficulties which followed.<br />War with Henry.</div>
+
+<p>This affair produced, of course, a great deal of animosity and
+irritation between the governments of France and Normandy; and where
+such a state of feeling exists between two powers separated only by an
+imaginary line running through a populous and fertile country,
+aggressions from one side and from the other are sure to follow. These
+are soon succeeded by acts of retaliation and revenge, leading, in the
+end, to an open and general war. It was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>so now. Henry marched his
+armies into Normandy, seized towns, destroyed castles, and, where he was
+resisted by the people, he laid waste the country with fire and sword.
+He finally laid siege to the very castle of Falaise.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William rescues Falaise.<br />William received with acclamations.<br />
+Punishment of the governor.</div>
+
+<p>William and his government were for a time nearly overwhelmed with the
+tide of disaster and calamity. The tide turned, however, at length, and
+the fortune of war inclined in their favor. William rescued the town and
+castle of Falaise; it was in a very remarkable manner, too, that this
+exploit was accomplished. The fortress was closely invested with Henry's
+forces, and was on the very eve of being surrendered. The story is, that
+Henry had offered bribes to the governor of the castle to give it up to
+him, and that the governor had agreed to receive them and to betray his
+trust. While he was preparing to do so, William arrived at the head of a
+resolute and determined band of Normans. They came with so sudden an
+onset upon the army of besiegers as to break up their camp and force
+them to abandon the siege. The people of the town and the garrison of
+the castle were extremely rejoiced to be thus rescued, and when they
+came to learn through whose instrumentality they had been saved, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>saw the beautiful horseman whom they remembered as a gay and happy
+child playing about the precincts of the castle, they were perfectly
+intoxicated with delight. They filled the air with the wildest
+acclamations, and welcomed William back to the home of his childhood
+with manifestations of the most extravagant joy. As to the traitorous
+governor, he was dealt with very leniently. Perhaps the general feeling
+of joy awakened emotions of leniency and forgiveness in William's
+mind&mdash;or perhaps the proof against the betrayer was incomplete. They did
+not, therefore, take his life, which would have been justly forfeited,
+according to the military ideas of the times, if he had been really
+guilty. They deprived him of his command, confiscated his property, and
+let him go free.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Earl of Arques.<br />Advance of Henry.</div>
+
+<p>After this, William's forces continued for some time to make head
+successfully against those of the King of France; but then, on the other
+hand, the danger from his uncle, the Earl of Arques, increased. The earl
+took advantage of the difficulty and danger in which William was
+involved in his contests with King Henry, and began to organize his
+forces again. He fortified himself in his castle at Arques,<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>was
+collecting a large force there. Arques was in the northeastern part of
+Normandy, near the sea, where the ruins of the ancient castle still
+remain. The earl built an almost impregnable tower for himself on the
+summit of the rock on which the castle stood, in a situation so
+inaccessible that he thought he could retreat to it in any emergency,
+with a few chosen followers, and bid defiance to any assault. In and
+around this castle the earl had got quite a large army together. William
+advanced with his forces, and, encamping around them, shut them in. King
+Henry, who was then in a distant part of Normandy, began to put his army
+in motion to come to the rescue of Arques.</p>
+
+<p>Things being in this state, William left a strong body of men to
+continue the investment and siege of Arques, and went off himself, at
+the head of the remainder of his force, to intercept Henry on his
+advance. The result was a battle and a victory, gained under
+circumstances so extraordinary, that William, young as he was, acquired
+by his exploits a brilliant and universal renown.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A dangerous defile.<br />Henry's order of march.</div>
+
+<p>It seems that Henry, in his progress to Arques, had to pass through a
+long and gloomy valley, which was bounded on either side by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>precipitous
+and forest-covered hills. Through this dangerous defile the long train
+of Henry's army was advancing, arranged and marshaled in such an order
+as seemed to afford the greatest hope of security in case of an attack.
+First came the vanguard, a strong escort, formed of heavy bodies of
+soldiery, armed with battle-axes and pikes, and other similar weapons,
+the most efficient then known. Immediately after this vanguard came a
+long train of baggage, the tents, the provisions, the stores, and all
+the munitions of war. The baggage was followed by a great company of
+servants&mdash;the cooks, the carters, the laborers, the camp followers of
+every description&mdash;a throng of non-combatants, useless, of course, in a
+battle, and a burden on a march, and yet the inseparable and
+indispensable attendant of an army, whether at rest or in motion. After
+this throng came the main body of the army, with the king, escorted by
+his guard of honor, at the head of it. An active and efficient corps of
+lancers and men-at-arms brought up the rear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's ambuscade.</div>
+
+<p>William conceived the design of drawing this cumbrous and unmanageable
+body into an ambuscade. He selected, accordingly, the narrowest and most
+dangerous part of the defile for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>purpose, and stationed vast
+numbers of Norman soldiers, armed with javelins and arrows, upon the
+slopes of the hill on either side, concealing them all carefully among
+the thickets and rocks. He then marshaled the remainder of his forces in
+the valley, and sent them up the valley to meet Henry as he was
+descending. This body of troops, which was to advance openly to meet the
+king, as if they constituted the whole of William's force, were to fight
+a pretended battle with the vanguard, and then to retreat, in hopes to
+draw the whole train after them in a pursuit so eager as to throw them
+into confusion; and then, when the column, thus disarranged, should
+reach the place of ambuscade, the Normans were to come down upon them
+suddenly from their hiding-places, and complete their discomfiture.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its success.<br />Pretended flight of the Normans.</div>
+
+<p>The plan was well laid, and wisely and bravely executed; and it was most
+triumphantly successful in its result. The vanguard of Henry's army were
+deceived by the pretended flight of the Norman detachment. They
+supposed, too, that it constituted the whole body of their enemies. They
+pressed forward, therefore, with great exultation and eagerness to
+pursue them. News of the attack, and of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>apparent repulse with which
+the French soldiers had met it, passed rapidly along the valley,
+producing every where the wildest excitement, and an eager desire to
+press forward to the scene of conflict. The whole valley was filled with
+shouts and outcries; baggage was abandoned, that those who had charge of
+it might hurry on; men ran to and fro for tidings, or ascended eminences
+to try to see. Horsemen drove at full speed from front to rear, and from
+rear on to the front again; orders and counter orders were given, which
+nobody would understand or attend to in the general confusion and din.
+In fact, the universal attention seemed absorbed in one general and
+eager desire to press forward with headlong impetuosity to the scene of
+victory and pursuit which they supposed was enacting in the van.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Disarray of the French.<br />Rout of the French.</div>
+
+<p>The army pressed on in this confused and excited manner until they
+reached the place of ambuscade. They went on, too, through this narrow
+passage, as heedlessly as ever; and, when the densest and most powerful
+portion of the column was crowding through, they were suddenly
+thunderstruck by the issuing of a thousand weapons from the heights and
+thickets above them on either hand&mdash;a dreadful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>shower of arrows,
+javelins, and spears, which struck down hundreds in a moment, and
+overwhelmed the rest with astonishment and terror. As soon as this first
+discharge had been effected, the concealed enemy came pouring down the
+sides of the mountain, springing out from a thousand hiding-places, as
+if suddenly brought into being by some magic power. The discomfiture of
+Henry's forces was complete and irremediable. The men fled every where
+in utter dismay, trampling upon and destroying one another, as they
+crowded back in terrified throngs to find some place of safety up the
+valley. There, after a day or two, Henry got together the scattered
+remains of his army, and established something like a camp.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's embassage to Henry.</div>
+
+<p>It is a curious illustration of the feudal feelings of those times in
+respect to the gradation of ranks, or else of the extraordinary modesty
+and good sense of William's character, that he assumed no airs of
+superiority over his sovereign, and showed no signs of extravagant
+elation after this battle. He sent a respectful embassage to Henry,
+recognizing his own acknowledged subjection to Henry as his sovereign,
+and imploring his protection! He looked confidently to him, he said, for
+aid and support against his rebellious subjects.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The castle at Arques taken.</div>
+
+<p>Though he thus professed, however, to rely on Henry, he really trusted
+most, it seems, to his own right arm; for, as soon as this battle was
+fairly over, and while the whole country was excited with the
+astonishing brilliancy of the exploit performed by so young a man,
+William mounted his horse, and calling upon those to follow him who
+wished to do so, he rode at full speed, at the head of a small
+cavalcade, to the castle at Arques. His sudden appearance here, with the
+news of the victory, inspirited the besiegers to such a degree that the
+castle was soon taken. He allowed the rebel earl to escape, and thus,
+perhaps, all the more effectually put an end to the rebellion. He was
+now in peaceable possession of his realm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William crowned at Falaise.</div>
+
+<p>He went in triumph to Falaise, where he was solemnly crowned with great
+ceremony and parade, and all Normandy was filled with congratulations
+and rejoicings.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IV" id="Chapter_IV"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IV.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">William's Reign in Normandy.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1040-1060</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">A lapse of twenty years.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">F</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">rom</span>
+the time of William's obtaining quiet possession of his realm to
+his invasion of England, a long period intervened. There was a lapse of
+more than twenty years. During this long interval, William governed his
+duchy, suppressed insurrections, built castles and towns, carried on
+wars, regulated civil institutions, and, in fact, exercised, in a very
+energetic and successful manner, all the functions of government&mdash;his
+life being diversified all the time by the usual incidents which mark
+the career of a great military ruler of an independent realm in the
+Middle Ages. We will give in this chapter a description of some of these
+incidents.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conspiracy of Guy of Burgundy.<br />The fool or jester.</div>
+
+<p>On one occasion a conspiracy was formed to take his life by secret
+assassination. A great chieftain, named Guy of Burgundy, William's
+uncle, was the leader of it, and a half-witted man, named Galet, who
+occupied the place of jester or fool in William's court, was the means
+of discovering and exposing it. These jesters, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>of whom there was always
+one or more in the retinue of every great prince in those days, were
+either very eccentric or very foolish, or half-insane men, who were
+dressed fantastically, in gaudy colors and with cap and bells, and were
+kept to make amusement for the court. The name of William's jester was
+Galet.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Meetings of the conspirators.</div>
+
+<p>Guy of Burgundy and his fellow-conspirators occupied certain gloomy
+castles, built in remote and lonely situations on the confines of
+Normandy. Here they were accustomed to assemble for the purpose of
+concocting their plans, and gathering their men and their
+resources&mdash;doing every thing in the most cunning and secret manner.
+Before their scheme was fully ripe for execution, it happened that
+William made a hunting excursion into the neighborhood of their
+territory with a small band of followers&mdash;such as would be naturally got
+together on such a party of pleasure. Galet, the fool, was among them.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Guy and his fellow-conspirators learned that William was so
+near, they determined to precipitate the execution of their plan, and
+waylay and assassinate him on his return.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Final plans of the conspirators.</div>
+
+<p>They accordingly left their secret and lonely rendezvous among the
+mountains one by one, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>in order to avoid attracting observation, and
+went to a town called Bayeux, through which they supposed that William
+would have to pass on his return. Here they held secret consultations,
+and formed their final plans. They sent out a part of their number, in
+small bands, into the region of country which William would have to
+cross, to occupy the various roads and passes, and thus to cut off all
+possibility of his escape. They made all these arrangements in the most
+secret and cautious manner, and began to think that they were sure of
+their prey.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Discovered by Galet.<br />Galet sets out in search of William.<br />He
+finds him asleep.</div>
+
+<p>It happened, however, that some of William's attendants, with Galet the
+fool among them, had preceded William on his return, and had reached
+Bayeux<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> at the time when the conspirators arrived there. The
+townspeople did not observe the coming of the conspirators particularly,
+as many horsemen and soldiers were coming and going at that time, and
+they had no means of distinguishing the duke's friends from his enemies;
+but Galet, as he sauntered about the town, noticed that there were many
+soldiers and knights to be seen who were not of his master's party. This
+attracted his attention; he began to watch the motions of these
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>strangers, and to listen, without seeming to listen, in order to catch
+the words they spoke to each other as they talked in groups or passed
+one another in the streets. He was soon satisfied that some mischief was
+intended. He immediately threw aside his cap and bells, and his
+fantastic dress, and, taking a staff in his hand, he set off on foot to
+go back as fast as possible in search of the duke, and give him the
+alarm. He found the duke at a village called Valonges. He arrived there
+at night. He pressed forward hastily into his master's chamber, half
+forcing his way through the attendants, who, accustomed to the liberties
+which such a personage as he was accustomed to take on all occasions,
+made only a feeble resistance to his wishes. He found the duke asleep,
+and he called upon him with a very earnest voice to awake and arise
+immediately, for his life was in danger.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's flight.<br />His narrow escape.</div>
+
+<p>William was at first inclined to disbelieve the story which Galet told
+him, and to think that there was no cause to fear. He was, however, soon
+convinced that Galet was right, and that there was reason for alarm. He
+arose and dressed himself hastily; and, inasmuch as a monarch, in the
+first moments of the discovery of a treasonable plot, knows not whom to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>trust, William wisely concluded not to trust any body. He went himself
+to the stables, saddled his horse with his own hand, mounted him, and
+rode away. He had a very narrow escape; for, at the same time, while
+Galet was hastening to Valonges to give his master warning of his
+danger, the conspirators had been advancing to the same place, and had
+completely surrounded it; and they were on the eve of making an attack
+upon William's quarters at the very hour when he set out upon his
+flight. William had accordingly proceeded only a little way on his route
+before he heard the footsteps of galloping horses, and the clanking of
+arms, on the road behind him. It was a troop of the conspirators coming,
+who, finding that William had fled, had set off immediately in pursuit.
+William rode hastily into a wood, and let them go by.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77-78]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i073.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="298" alt="William&#39;s Escape." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">William&#39;s Escape.</span></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">William is recognized.</div>
+
+<p>He remained for some time in his hiding-place, and then cautiously
+emerged from it to continue his way. He did not dare to keep the public
+road, although it was night, but took a wild and circuitous route, in
+lanes and bypaths, which conducted him, at length, to the vicinity of
+the sea. Here, about day-break, he was passing a mansion, supposing that
+no one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+would observe him at so early an hour, when, suddenly, he perceived a
+man sitting at the gate, armed and equipped, and in an attitude of
+waiting. He was waiting for his horse. He was a nobleman named Hubert.
+He recognized William immediately as the duke, and accosted him in a
+tone of astonishment, saying, "Why, my lord duke, is it possible that
+this is you?" He was amazed to see the ruler of the realm out at such an
+hour, in such a condition, alone, exhausted, his dress all in disorder
+from the haste with which he had put it on, and his steed breathless and
+covered with dust, and ready, apparently, to drop down with fatigue and
+exhaustion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hubert's castle.<br />Hubert's sons.</div>
+
+<p>William, finding that he was recognized, related his story. It appeared,
+in the end, that Hubert held his own castle and village as a tenant of
+one of the principal conspirators, and was bound, according to the
+feudal ideas of the time, to espouse his landlord's cause. He told
+William, however, that he had nothing to fear. "I will defend your
+life," said he, "as if it were my own." So saying, he called his three
+sons, who were all athletic and courageous young men, and commanded them
+to mount their horses and get ready for a march. He took William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>into
+his castle, and gave him the food and refreshment that he needed. Then
+he brought him again into the court-yard of the house, where William
+found the three young horsemen mounted and ready, and a strong and fleet
+steed prepared for himself. He mounted. Hubert commanded his sons to
+conduct the prince with all dispatch to Falaise, without traveling at
+all upon the highway or entering a town. They took, accordingly, a
+straight course across the country&mdash;which was probably then, as now,
+nearly destitute of inclosures&mdash;and conducted William safely to his
+castle at Falaise.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Pursuit of the conspirators.</div>
+
+<p>In the course of the morning, William's pursuers came to Hubert's
+castle, and asked if the duke had been seen going by. Hubert replied in
+the affirmative, and he mounted his steed with great readiness to go and
+show them the road which the fugitive had taken. He urged them to ride
+hard, in hopes of soon overtaking the object of their pursuit. They
+drove on, accordingly, with great impetuosity and ardor, under Hubert's
+guidance; but, as he had purposely taken a wrong road, he was only
+leading them further and further astray. Finally they gave up the chase,
+and Hubert returned with the disappointed pursuers to his fortress,
+William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>having in the mean time arrived safely at Falaise.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the rebels.<br />Their punishment.</div>
+
+<p>The conspirators now found that it was useless any longer to attempt to
+conceal their plans. In fact, they were already all exposed, and they
+knew that William would immediately summon his troops and come out to
+seize them. They must, therefore, either fly from the country or attempt
+an open rebellion. They decided on the latter&mdash;the result was a civil
+war. In the end, William was victorious. He took a large number of the
+rebels prisoners, and he adopted the following very singular plan for
+inflicting a suitable punishment upon them, and at the same time
+erecting a permanent monument of his victory. He laid out a public road
+across the country, on the line over which he had been conducted by the
+sons of Hubert, and compelled the rebels to make it. A great part of
+this country was low and marshy, and had been for this reason avoided by
+the public road, which took a circuitous course around it. The rebel
+prisoners were now, however, set at work to raise a terrace or
+embankment, on a line surveyed by William's engineers, which followed
+almost exactly the course of his retreat. The high road was then laid
+out upon this terrace, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>and it became immediately a public thoroughfare
+of great importance. It continued for several centuries one of the most
+frequented highways in the realm, and was known by the name of the
+Raised Road&mdash;<i>Terre lev&eacute;e</i>&mdash;throughout the kingdom. In fact, the remains
+of it, appearing like the ruins of an ancient rail-road embankment,
+exist to the present day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Curious incident.<br />Coats of armor.<br />Origin of heraldry.</div>
+
+<p>In the course of the war with these rebels a curious incident occurred
+at one of the battles, or, rather, is said to have occurred, by the
+historians who tell the story, which, if true, illustrates very
+strikingly the romantic and chivalrous ideas of the times. Just as the
+battle was commencing, William perceived a strong and finely-equipped
+body of horsemen preparing to charge upon the very spot where he
+himself, surrounded by his officers, was standing. Now the armor worn by
+knights in battle in those times covered and concealed the figure and
+the face so fully, that it would have been impossible even for
+acquaintances and friends to recognize each other, were it not that the
+knights were all accustomed to wear certain devices upon some part of
+their armor&mdash;painted, for instance, upon their shields, or embroidered
+on little banners which they bore&mdash;by means of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>which they might be
+known. These devices became at length hereditary in the great
+families&mdash;sons being proud to wear, themselves, the emblems to which the
+deeds of their fathers had imparted a trace of glory and renown. The
+devices of different chieftains were combined, sometimes, in cases of
+intermarriage, or were modified in various ways; and with these minor
+changes they would descend from generation to generation as the family
+coat of arms. And this was the origin of heraldry.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rollo de Tesson.<br />Keeping both oaths.<br />Changing sides.</div>
+
+<p>Now the body of horsemen that were advancing to the charge, as above
+described, had each of them his device upon a little flag or banner
+attached to their lances. As they were advancing, William scrutinized
+them closely, and presently recognized in their leader a man who had
+formerly been upon his side. His name was Rollo de Tesson. He was one of
+those who had sworn fealty to him at the time when his father Robert
+presented him to the council, when setting out upon his pilgrimage.
+William accordingly exclaimed, with a loud voice, "Why, these are my
+friends!" The officers and the soldiers of the body-guard who were with
+him, taking up the cry, shouted "<i>Friends! friends!</i>" Rollo de Tesson
+and the other knights, who were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>slowly coming up, preparing to charge
+upon William's party, surprised at being thus accosted, paused in their
+advance, and finally halted. Rollo said to the other knights, who
+gathered around him, "I <i>was</i> his friend. I gave my oath to his father
+that I would stand by him and defend him with my life; and now I have
+this morning sworn to the Count of Cotentin"&mdash;the Count of Cotentin was
+the leader of the rebellion&mdash;"that I would seek out William on the
+battle-field, and be the first to give him a blow. I know not what to
+do." "Keep both oaths," replied one of his companions. "Go and strike
+him a gentle blow, and then defend him with your life." The whole troop
+seconded this proposal by acclamation. Rollo advanced, followed by the
+other knights, with gestures and shouts denoting that they were friends.
+He rode up to William, told him that he had that morning sworn to strike
+him, and then dealt him a pretended blow upon his shoulder; but as both
+the shoulder and the hand which struck it were armed with steel, the
+clanking sound was all the effect that was produced. Rollo and his
+troop&mdash;their sworn obligation to the Count of Cotentin being thus
+fulfilled&mdash;turned now into the ranks of William's soldiery, and fought
+valiantly all day upon his side.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Character of the ancient chieftains.<br />Their love of war.</div>
+
+<p>Although William was generally victorious in the battles that he fought,
+and succeeded in putting down one rebellion after another with
+promptness and decision, still, new rebellions and new wars were
+constantly breaking out, which kept his dominions in a continual state
+of commotion. In fact, the chieftains, the nobles, and the knights,
+constituting the only classes of society that exercised any influence,
+or were regarded with any respect in those days, were never contented
+except when actively employed in military campaigns. The excitements and
+the glory of war were the only excitements and glory that they
+understood, or had the means of enjoying. Their dwellings were great
+fortresses, built on the summits of the rocks, which, however
+picturesque and beautiful they appear as <i>ruins</i> now, were very gloomy
+and desolate as residences then. They were attractive enough when their
+inmates were flying to them for refuge from an enemy, or were employed
+within the walls in concentrating their forces and brightening up their
+arms for some new expedition for vengeance or plunder, but they were
+lonely and lifeless scenes of restlessness and discontent in times of
+quietness and peace.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Ancient castles.<br />Their interior construction.</div>
+
+<p>It is difficult for us, at this day, to conceive how destitute of all
+the ordinary means of comfort and enjoyment, in comparison with a modern
+dwelling, the ancient feudal castles must have been. They were placed in
+situations as nearly inaccessible as possible, and the natural
+impediments of approach were increased by walls, and gates, and ditches,
+and draw-bridges. The door of access was often a window in the wall, ten
+or fifteen feet from the ground, to which the inmates or their friends
+mounted by a ladder. The floors were of stone, the walls were naked, the
+ceiling was a rudely-constructed series of arches. The apartments, too,
+were ordinarily small, and were arranged one above another, in the
+successive stories of a tower. Nor could these cell-like chambers be
+enlivened by the wide and cheerful windows of modern times, which not
+only admit the light to animate the scene within, but also afford to the
+spectator there, wide-spread, and sometimes enchanting views of the
+surrounding country. The castle windows of ancient days were, on the
+contrary, narrow loop-holes, each at the bottom of a deep recess in the
+thick wall. If they had been made wide they would have admitted too
+easily the arrows and javelins of besiegers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>as well as the wind and
+rain of wintery storms. There were no books in these desolate dwellings,
+no furniture but armor, no pleasures but drinking and carousals.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Nothing respectable for the nobility but war.</div>
+
+<p>Nor could these noble and valiant knights and barons occupy themselves
+in any useful employment. There was nothing which it was respectable for
+them to do but to fight. They looked down with contempt upon all the
+industrial pursuits of life. The cultivation of farms, the rearing of
+flocks and herds, arts, manufactures, and commerce&mdash;every thing of this
+sort, by which man can benefit his fellow-man, was entirely beneath
+them. In fact, their descendants to the present day, even in England,
+entertain the same ideas. Their younger sons can enter the army or the
+navy, and spend their lives in killing and destroying, or in awaiting,
+in idleness, dissipation, and vice, for orders to kill and destroy,
+without dishonor; but to engage in any way in those vast and magnificent
+operations of peaceful industry, on which the true greatness and glory
+of England depend, would be perpetual and irretrievable disgrace. A
+young nobleman can serve, in the most subordinate official capacity, on
+board a man-of-war, and take pay for it, without degradation; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>but to
+<i>build</i> a man-of-war itself and take pay for it, would be to compel his
+whole class to disown him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Rebellions.<br />Insulting allusions to William's birth.</div>
+
+<p>It was in consequence of this state of feeling among the knights and
+barons of William's day that peace was always tedious and irksome to
+them, and they were never contented except when engaged in battles and
+campaigns. It was this feeling, probably, quite as much as any settled
+hostility to William's right to reign, that made his barons so eager to
+engage in insurrections and rebellions. There was, however, after all, a
+real and deep-seated opposition to William's right of succession,
+founded in the ideas of the day. They could not well endure that one of
+so humble and even ignominious birth, on the mother's side, should be
+the heir of so illustrious a line as the great dukes of Normandy.
+William's enemies were accustomed to designate him by opprobrious
+epithets, derived from the circumstances of his birth. Though he was
+patient and enduring, and often very generous in forgiving other
+injuries, these insults to the memory of his mother always stung him
+very deeply, and awakened the strongest emotions of resentment. One
+instance of this was so conspicuous that it is recorded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>in almost all
+the histories of William that have been written.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The ambuscade.</div>
+
+<p>It was in the midst of one of the wars in which he was involved, that he
+was advancing across the country to the attack of a strong castle,
+which, in addition to the natural strength of its walls and
+fortifications, was defended by a numerous and powerful garrison. So
+confident, in fact, were the garrison in their numbers and power, that
+when they heard that William was advancing to attack them, they sent out
+a detachment to meet him. This detachment, however, were not intending
+to give him open battle. Their plan was to lay in ambuscade, and attack
+William's troops when they came to the spot, and while they were unaware
+of the vicinity of an enemy, and off their guard.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its failure.</div>
+
+<p>William, however, they found, was not off his guard. He attacked the
+ambuscade with so much vigor as to put the whole force immediately to
+flight. Of course the fugitives directed their steps toward the castle.
+William and his soldiers followed them in headlong pursuit. The end was,
+that the detachment from the garrison had scarcely time, after making
+good their own entrance, to raise the draw-bridges and secure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>the
+gates, so as to keep their pursuers from entering too. They did,
+however, succeed in doing this, and William, establishing his troops
+about the castle, opened his lines and commenced a regular siege.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Insults of the garrison.</div>
+
+<p>The garrison were very naturally vexed and irritated at the bad success
+of their intended stratagem. To have the ambuscade not only fail of its
+object, but to have also the men that formed it driven thus
+ignominiously in, and so narrowly escaping, also, the danger of letting
+in the whole troop of their enemies after them, was a great disgrace. To
+retaliate upon William, and to throw back upon him the feelings of
+mortification and chagrin which they felt themselves, they mounted the
+walls and towers, and shouted out all sorts of reproaches and insults.
+Finally, when they found that they could not make mere words
+sufficiently stinging, they went and procured skins and hides, and
+aprons of leather, and every thing else that they could find that was
+connected with the trade of a tanner, and shook them at the troops of
+their assailants from the towers and walls, with shouts of merriment and
+derision.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Indignation of William.</div>
+
+<p>William was desperately enraged at these insults. He organized an
+assaulting party, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>by means of the great exertions which the
+exasperation of his men stimulated them to make, he carried some of the
+outworks, and took a number of prisoners. These prisoners he cut to
+pieces, and then caused their bloody and mangled limbs and members to be
+thrown, by great slings, over the castle walls.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's campaign in France.<br />His popularity.</div>
+
+<p>At one time during the period which is included within the limits of
+this chapter, and in the course of one of those intervals of peace and
+quietness within his own dominions which William sometimes enjoyed, the
+King of France became involved in a war with one of his own rebellious
+subjects, and William went, with an army of Normans, to render him aid.
+King Henry was at first highly gratified at this prompt and effectual
+succor, but he soon afterward began to feel jealous of the universal
+popularity and renown which the young duke began soon to acquire.
+William was at that time only about twenty-four years old, but he took
+the direction of every thing&mdash;moved to and fro with the utmost
+celerity&mdash;planned the campaigns&mdash;directed the sieges, and by his
+personal accomplishments and his bravery, he won all hearts, and was the
+subject of every body's praises. King Henry found himself supplanted,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>in some measure, in the regard and honorable consideration of his
+subjects, and he began to feel very envious and jealous of his rival.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's prowess.<br />True nature of courage.</div>
+
+<p>Sometimes particular incidents would occur, in which William's feats of
+prowess or dexterity would so excite the admiration of the army that he
+would be overwhelmed with acclamations and applause. These were
+generally exploits of combat on the field, or of escape from pursuers
+when outnumbered, in which good fortune had often, perhaps, quite as
+much to do in securing the result as strength or courage. But in those
+days a soldier's good luck was perhaps as much the subject of applause
+as his muscular force or his bravery; and, in fact, it was as deservedly
+so; for the strength of arm, and the coolness, or, rather, the ferocity
+of courage, which make a good combatant in personal contests on a
+battle-field, are qualities of brutes rather than of men. We feel a
+species of respect for them in the lion or tiger, but they deserve only
+execration when exercised in the wantonness of hatred and revenge by man
+against his brother man.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">An ambuscade.<br />William's bravery.</div>
+
+<p>One of the instances of William's extraordinary success was the
+following. He was reconnoitering the enemy on one occasion, accompanied
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>only by four or five knights, who acted as his attendants and
+body-guard. The party were at a distance from the camp of the enemy, and
+supposed they were not observed. They were observed, however, and
+immediately a party of twelve chosen horsemen was formed, and ordered to
+ride out and surprise them. This detachment concealed themselves in an
+ambuscade, at a place where the reconnoitering party must pass, and when
+the proper moment arrived, they burst out suddenly upon them and
+summoned them to surrender. Twelve against six seemed to render both
+flight and resistance equally vain. William, however, advanced
+immediately to the attack of the ambuscaders. He poised his long lance,
+and, riding on with it at full speed, he unhorsed and killed the
+foremost of them at a blow. Then, just drawing back his weapon to gather
+strength for another blow, he killed the second of his enemies in the
+same manner. His followers were so much animated at this successful
+onset, that they advanced very resolutely to the combat. In the mean
+time, the shouts carried the alarm to William's camp, and a strong party
+set off to rescue William and his companions. The others then turned to
+fly, while William followed them so eagerly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>and closely, that he and
+they who were with him overtook and disabled seven of them, and made
+them prisoners. The rest escaped. William and his party then turned and
+began to proceed toward their own camp, conveying their prisoners in
+their train.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's victory.<br />Applause of the French army.</div>
+
+<p>They were met by King Henry himself at the head of a detachment of three
+hundred men, who, not knowing how much necessity there might be for
+efficient aid, were hastening to the scene of action. The sight of
+William coming home victorious, and the tales told by his companions of
+the invincible strength and daring which he had displayed in the sudden
+danger, awakened a universal enthusiasm, and the plaudits and encomiums
+with which the whole camp resounded were doubtless as delicious and
+intoxicating to him as they were bitter to the king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William firmly seated on his throne.<br />His new projects.</div>
+
+<p>It was by such deeds, and by such personal and mental characteristics as
+these, that William, notwithstanding the untoward influences of his
+birth, fought his way, during the twenty years of which we have been
+speaking, into general favor, and established a universal renown. He
+completely organized and arranged the internal affairs of his own
+kingdom, and established <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>himself firmly upon the ducal throne. His mind
+had become mature, his resources were well developed, and his soul,
+always ambitious and aspiring, began to reach forward to the grasping of
+some grander objects of pursuit, and to the entering upon some wider
+field of action than his duchy of Normandy could afford. During this
+interval, however, he was married; and, as the circumstances of his
+marriage were somewhat extraordinary, we must make that event the
+subject of a separate chapter.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_V" id="Chapter_V"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter V.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Marriage.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1045-1052</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Political importance of a royal marriage.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">O</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">ne</span>
+of the most important points which an hereditary potentate has to
+attend to, in completing his political arrangements, is the question of
+his marriage. Until he has a family and an heir, men's minds are
+unsettled in respect to the succession, and the various rival candidates
+and claimants to the throne are perpetually plotting and intriguing to
+put themselves into a position to spring at once into his place if
+sickness, or a battle, or any sudden accident should take him away. This
+evil was more formidable than usual in the case of William, for the men
+who were prepared to claim his place when he was dead were all secretly
+or openly maintaining that their right to it was superior to his while
+he was living. This gave a double intensity to the excitement with which
+the public was perpetually agitated in respect to the crown, and kept
+the minds of the ambitious and the aspiring, throughout William's
+dominions, in a continual fever. It was obvious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>that a great part of
+the cause of this restless looking for change and consequent planning to
+promote it would be removed if William had a son.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's views in regard to his marriage.<br />His choice.</div>
+
+<p>It became, therefore, an important matter of state policy that the duke
+should be married. In fact, the barons and military chieftains who were
+friendly to him urged this measure upon him, on account of the great
+effect which they perceived it would have in settling the minds of the
+people of the country and consolidating his power. William accordingly
+began to look around for a wife. It appeared, however, in the end, that,
+though policy was the main consideration which first led him to
+contemplate marriage, love very probably exercised an important
+influence in determining his choice of the lady; at all events, the
+object of his choice was an object worthy of love. She was one of the
+most beautiful and accomplished princesses in Europe.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's genealogy.</div>
+
+<p>She was the daughter of a great potentate who ruled over the country of
+Flanders. Flanders lies upon the coast, east of Normandy, beyond the
+frontiers of France, and on the southern shore of the German Ocean. Her
+father's title was the Earl of Flanders. He governed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>his dominions,
+however, like a sovereign, and was at the head of a very effective
+military power. His family, too, occupied a very high rank, and enjoyed
+great consideration among the other princes and potentates of Europe. It
+had intermarried with the royal family of England, so that Matilda, the
+daughter of the earl, whom William was disposed to make his bride, was
+found, by the genealogists, who took great interest in those days in
+tracing such connections, to have descended in a direct line from the
+great English king, Alfred himself.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her relationship to William.</div>
+
+<p>This relationship, by making Matilda's birth the more illustrious,
+operated strongly in favor of the match, as a great part of the motive
+which William had in view, in his intended marriage, was to aggrandize
+and strengthen his own position, by the connection which he was about to
+form. There was, however, another consanguinity in the case which had a
+contrary tendency. Matilda's father had been connected with the Norman
+as well as with the English line, and Matilda and William were in some
+remote sense cousins. This circumstance led, in the sequel, as will
+presently be seen, to serious difficulty and trouble.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's accomplishments.<br />Her embroidery.</div>
+
+<p>Matilda was seven years younger than William. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>She was brought up in her
+father's court, and famed far and wide for her beauty and
+accomplishments. The accomplishments in which ladies of high rank sought
+to distinguish themselves in those days were two, music and embroidery.
+The embroidery of tapestry was the great attainment, and in this art the
+young Matilda acquired great skill. The tapestry which was made in the
+Middle Ages was used to hang against the walls of some of the more
+ornamented rooms in royal palaces and castles, to hide the naked surface
+of the stones of which the building was constructed. The cloths thus
+suspended were at first plain, afterward they began to be ornamented
+with embroidered borders or other decorations, and at length ladies
+learned to employ their own leisure hours, and beguile the tedium of the
+long confinement which many of them had to endure within their castles,
+in embroidering various devices and designs on the hangings intended for
+their own chambers, or to execute such work as presents for their
+friends. Matilda's industry and skill in this kind of work were
+celebrated far and wide.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's industry.</div>
+
+<p>The accomplishments which ladies take great pains to acquire in their
+early years are sometimes, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>it is said, laid almost entirely aside after
+their marriage; not necessarily because they are then less desirous to
+please, but sometimes from the abundance of domestic duty, which allows
+them little time, and sometimes from the pressure of their burdens of
+care or sorrow, which leave them no heart for the occupations of
+amusement or gayety. It seems not to have been so in Matilda's case,
+however. She resumed her needle often during the years of her wedded
+life, and after William had accomplished his conquest of England, she
+worked upon a long linen web, with immense labor, a series of designs
+illustrating the various events and incidents of his campaign, and the
+work has been preserved to the present day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Bayeux tapestry.</div>
+
+<p>At least there is such a web now existing in the ancient town of Bayeux,
+in Normandy, which has been there from a period beyond the memory of
+men, and which tradition says was worked by Matilda. It would seem,
+however, that if she did it at all, she must have done it "as Solomon
+built the temple&mdash;with a great deal of help;" for this famous piece of
+embroidery, which has been celebrated among all the historians and
+scholars of the world for several hundred years by the name of the
+<i>Bayeux Tapestry</i>, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>is over four hundred feet long, and nearly two feet
+wide. The wet is of linen, while the embroidery is of woolen. It was all
+obviously executed with the needle, and was worked with infinite labor
+and care. The woolen thread which was used was of various colors, suited
+to represent the different objects in the design, though these colors
+are, of course, now much tarnished and faded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The designs.<br />Uncouth drawing.</div>
+
+<p>The designs themselves are very simple and even rude, evincing very
+little knowledge of the principles of modern art. The specimens on the
+following page, of engravings made from them, will give some idea of the
+childish style of delineation which characterizes all Matilda's designs.
+Childish, however, as such a style of drawing would be considered now,
+it seems to have been, in Matilda's days, very much praised and admired.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Specimens of the designs of the Bayeux tapestry.</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i098a.jpg" class="ispace bb" width="500" height="121" alt="Plowing. From the Bayeux tapestry." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Plowing</span>. From the Bayeux tapestry.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i098b.jpg" width="500" class="ispace bb" height="115" alt="Sowing. From the Bayeux tapestry." title="" />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Sowing</span>. From the Bayeux tapestry.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Preservation.<br />Elements of decay.<br />Great age of the Bayeux
+tapestry.</div>
+
+<p>We often have occasion to observe, in watching the course of human
+affairs, the frailty and transitoriness of things apparently most
+durable and strong. In the case of this embroidery, on the contrary, we
+are struck with the durability and permanence of what would seem to be
+most frail and fleeting. William's conquest of England took place in
+1066. This piece of tapestry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+therefore, if Matilda really worked it, is about eight hundred years
+old. And when we consider how delicate, slender, and frail is the fibre
+of a linen thread, and that the various elements of decay, always busy
+in the work of corrupting and destroying the works of man, have proved
+themselves powerful enough to waste away and crumble into ruin the
+proudest structures which he has ever attempted to rear, we are amazed
+that these slender filaments have been able to resist their action so
+long. The Bayeux tapestry has lasted nearly a thousand years. It will
+probably last for a thousand years to come. So that the vast and
+resistless power, which destroyed Babylon and Troy, and is making
+visible progress in the work of destroying the Pyramids, is foiled by
+the durability of a piece of needle-work, executed by the frail and
+delicate fingers of a woman.</p>
+
+<p>We may have occasion to advert to the Bayeux tapestry again, when we
+come to narrate the exploits which it was the particular object of this
+historical embroidery to illustrate and adorn. In the mean time, we
+return to our story.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Marriage negotiations.</div>
+
+<p>The matrimonial negotiations of princes and princesses are always
+conducted in a formal and ceremonious manner, and through the
+intervention <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>of legates, embassadors, and commissioners without number,
+who are, of course, interested in protracting the proceedings, so as to
+prolong, as much as possible, their own diplomatic importance and power.
+Besides these accidental and temporary difficulties, it soon appeared
+that there were, in this case, some real and very formidable obstacles,
+which threatened for a time entirely to frustrate the scheme.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's objections.<br />Matilda's refusal.</div>
+
+<p>Among these difficulties there was one which was not usually, in such
+cases, considered of much importance, but which, in this instance,
+seemed for a long time to put an effectual bar to William's wishes, and
+that was the aversion which the young princess herself felt for the
+match. She could have, one would suppose, no personal feeling of
+repugnance against William, for he was a tall and handsome cavalier,
+highly graceful and accomplished, and renowned for his bravery and
+success in war. He was, in every respect, such a personage as would be
+most likely to captivate the imagination of a maiden princess in those
+warlike times. Matilda, however, made objections to his birth. She could
+not consider him as the legitimate descendant and heir of the dukes of
+Normandy. It is true, he was then in possession of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>throne, but he
+was regarded by a large portion of the most powerful chieftains in his
+realm as a usurper. He was liable, at any time, on some sudden change of
+fortune, to be expelled from his dominions. His position, in a word,
+though for the time being very exalted, was too precarious and unstable,
+and his personal claims to high social rank were too equivocal, to
+justify her trusting her destiny in his hands. In a word, Matilda's
+answer to William's proposals was an absolute refusal to become his
+wife.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her attachment to Brihtric.<br />Matilda's attachment not
+reciprocated.</div>
+
+<p>These ostensible grounds, however, on which Matilda based her refusal,
+plausible as they were, were not the real and true ones. The secret
+motive was another attachment which she had formed. There had been sent
+to her father's court in Flanders, from the English king, a young Saxon
+embassador, whose name was Brihtric. Brihtric remained some little time
+at the court in Flanders, and Matilda, who saw him often at the various
+entertainments, celebrations, and parties of pleasure which were
+arranged for his amusement, conceived a strong attachment to him. He was
+of a very fair complexion, and his features were expressive and
+beautiful. He was a noble of high position in England, though, of
+course, his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>rank was inferior to that of Matilda. As it would have been
+deemed hardly proper for him, under the circumstances of the case, to
+have aspired to the princess's hand, on account of the superiority of
+her social position, Matilda felt that it was her duty to make known her
+sentiments to him, and thus to open the way. She did so; but she found,
+unhappy maiden, that Brihtric did not feel, himself, the love which he
+had inspired in her, and all the efforts and arts to which she was
+impelled by the instinct of affection proved wholly unavailing to call
+it forth. Brihtric, after fulfilling the object of his mission, took
+leave of Matilda coldly, while <i>her</i> heart was almost breaking, and went
+away.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her thirst for revenge.</div>
+
+<p>As the sweetest wine transforms itself into the sharpest vinegar, so the
+warmest and most ardent love turns, when it turns at all, to the most
+bitter and envenomed hate. Love gave place soon in Matilda's heart to
+indignation, and indignation to a burning thirst for revenge. The
+intensity of the first excitement subsided; but Matilda never forgot and
+never forgave the disappointment and the indignity which she had
+endured. She had an opportunity long afterward to take terrible revenge
+on Brihtric <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>in England, by subjecting him to cruelties and hardships
+there which brought him to his grave.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William and Matilda's consanguinity.<br />An obstacle to their
+marriage.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, while her thoughts were so occupied with this
+attachment, she had, of course, no heart to listen favorably to
+William's proposals. Her friends would have attached no importance to
+the real cause of her aversion to the match, but they felt the force of
+the objections which could justly be advanced against William's rank,
+and his real right to his throne. Then the consanguinity of the parties
+was a great source of embarrassment and trouble. Persons as nearly
+related to each other as they were, were forbidden by the Roman Catholic
+rules to marry. There was such a thing as getting a dispensation from
+the pope, by which the marriage would be authorized. William accordingly
+sent embassadors to Rome to negotiate this business. This, of course,
+opened a new field for difficulties and delays.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Negotiations with the pope.<br />Causes of delay.</div>
+
+<p>The papal authorities were accustomed, in such cases, to exact as the
+price, or, rather, as the condition of their dispensation, some grant or
+beneficial conveyance from the parties interested, to the Church, such
+as the foundation of an abbey or a monastery, the building of a chapel,
+or the endowment of a charity, by way <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>as it were, of making amends to
+the Church, by the benefit thus received, for whatever injury the cause
+of religion and morality might sustain by the relaxation of a divine
+law. Of course, this being the end in view, the tendency on the part of
+the authorities at Rome would be to protract the negotiations, so as to
+obtain from the suitor's impatience better terms in the end. The
+embassadors and commissioners, too, on William's part, would have no
+strong motive for hastening the proceedings. Rome was an agreeable place
+of residence, and to live there as the embassador of a royal duke of
+Normandy was to enjoy a high degree of consideration, and to be
+surrounded continually by scenes of magnificence and splendor. Then,
+again, William himself was not always at leisure to urge the business
+forward by giving it his own close attention; for, during the period
+while these negotiations were pending, he was occupied, from time to
+time, with foreign wars, or in the suppression of rebellions among his
+barons. Thus, from one cause and another, it seemed as if the business
+would never come to an end.</p>
+
+<p>In fact, a less resolute and determined man than William would have
+given up in despair, for it was seven years, it is said, before the
+affair <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>was brought to a conclusion. One story is told of the impetuous
+energy which William manifested in this suit, which seems almost
+incredible.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's quarrel with Matilda.</div>
+
+<p>It was after the negotiations had been protracted for several years, and
+at a time when the difficulties were principally those arising from
+Matilda's opposition, that the occurrence took place. It was at an
+interview which William had with Matilda in the streets of Bruges, one
+of her father's cities. All that took place at the interview is not
+known, but in the end of it William's resentment at Matilda's treatment
+of him lost all bounds. He struck her or pushed her so violently as to
+throw her down upon the ground. It is said that he struck her
+repeatedly, and then, leaving her with her clothes all soiled and
+disheveled, rode off in a rage. Love quarrels are often the means of
+bringing the contending parties nearer together than they were before,
+but such a terrible love quarrel as this, we hope, is very rare.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The reconciliation.</div>
+
+<p>Violent as it was, however, it was followed by a perfect reconciliation,
+and in the end all obstacles were removed, and William and Matilda were
+married. The event took place in 1052.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The marriage.<br />Rejoicings and festivities.</div>
+
+<p>The marriage ceremony was performed at one of William's castles, on the
+frontiers of Normandy, as it is customary for princes and kings to be
+married always in their own dominions. Matilda was conducted there with
+great pomp and parade by her parents, and was accompanied by a large
+train of attendants and friends. This company, mounted&mdash;both knights and
+ladies&mdash;on horses beautifully caparisoned, moved across the country like
+a little army on a march, or rather like a triumphal procession
+escorting a queen. Matilda was received at the castle with distinguished
+honor, and the marriage celebrations, and the entertainments
+accompanying it, were continued for several days. It was a scene of
+unusual festivity and rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>The dress both of William and Matilda, on this occasion, was very
+specially splendid. She wore a mantle studded with the most costly
+jewels; and, in addition to the other splendors of his dress, William
+too wore a mantle and a helmet, both of which were richly adorned with
+the same costly decorations. So much importance was attached, in those
+days, to this outward show, and so great was the public interest taken
+in it, that these dresses of William and Matilda, with all the jewelry
+that adorned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>them, were deposited afterward in the great church at
+Bayeux, where they remained a sort of public spectacle, the property of
+the Church, for nearly five hundred years.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Residence at Rouen.<br />Ancient castles and palaces.</div>
+
+<p>From the castle of Augi, where the marriage ceremonies were performed,
+William proceeded, after these first festivities and rejoicings were
+over, to the great city of Rouen, conducting his bride thither with
+great pomp and parade. Here the young couple established themselves,
+living in the enjoyment of every species of luxury and splendor which
+were attainable in those days. As has already been said, the interiors,
+even of royal castles and palaces, presented but few of the comforts and
+conveniences deemed essential to the happiness of a home in modern
+times. The European ladies of the present day delight in their suites of
+retired and well-furnished apartments, adorned with velvet carpets, and
+silken curtains, and luxuriant beds of down, with sofas and couches
+adapted to every fancy which the caprice of fatigue or restlessness may
+assume, and cabinets stored with treasures, and libraries of embellished
+books&mdash;the whole scene illuminated by the splendor of gas-lights, whose
+brilliancy is reflected by mirrors and candelabras, sparkling with a
+thousand hues. Matilda's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>feudal palace presented no such scenes as
+these. The cold stone floors were covered with mats of rushes. The
+walls&mdash;if the naked masonry was hidden at all&mdash;were screened by hangings
+of coarse tapestry, ornamented with uncouth and hideous figures. The
+beds were miserable pallets, the windows were loop-holes, and the castle
+itself had all the architectural characteristics of a prison.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's palace.<br />Luxury and splendor.</div>
+
+<p>Still, there was a species of luxury and splendor even then. Matilda had
+splendid horses to ride, all magnificently caparisoned. She had dresses
+adorned most lavishly with gold and jewels. There were troops of valiant
+knights, all glittering in armor of steel, to escort her on her
+journeys, and accompany and wait upon her on her excursions of pleasure;
+and there were grand banquets and carousals, from time to time, in the
+long castle hall, with tournaments, and races, and games, and other
+military shows, conducted with great parade and pageantry. Matilda thus
+commenced her married life in luxury and splendor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Mauger, archbishop of Rouen.<br />William and Matilda
+excommunicated.</div>
+
+<p>In luxury and splendor, but not in peace. William had an uncle, whose
+name was Mauger. He was the Archbishop of Rouen, and was a dignitary of
+great influence and power. Now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>it was, of course, the interest of
+William's relatives that he should not be married, as every increase of
+probability that his crown would descend to direct heirs diminished
+their future chances of the succession, and of course undermined their
+present importance. Mauger had been very much opposed to this match, and
+had exerted himself in every way, while the negotiations were pending,
+to impede and delay them. The point which he most strenuously urged was
+the consanguinity of the parties, a point to which it was incumbent on
+him, as he maintained&mdash;being the head of the Church in
+Normandy&mdash;particularly to attend. It seems that, notwithstanding
+William's negotiations with the pope to obtain a dispensation, the
+affair was not fully settled at Rome before the marriage; and very soon
+after the celebration of the nuptials, Mauger fulminated an edict of
+excommunication against both William and Matilda, for intermarrying
+within the degrees of relationship which the canons of the Church
+proscribed.</p>
+
+<p>An excommunication, in the Middle Ages, was a terrible calamity. The
+person thus condemned was made, so far as such a sentence could effect
+it, an outcast from man, and a wretch accursed of Heaven. The most
+terrible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>denunciations were uttered against him, and in the case of a
+prince, like that of William, his subjects were all absolved from their
+allegiance, and forbidden to succor or defend him. A powerful potentate
+like William could maintain himself for a time against the influence and
+effects of such a course, but it was pretty sure to work more and more
+strongly against him through the superstitions of the people, and to
+wear him out in the end.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Lanfranc sent to negotiate with the pope.</div>
+
+<p>William resolved to appeal at once to the pope, and to effect, by some
+means or other, the object of securing his dispensation. There was a
+certain monk, then obscure and unknown, but who afterward became a very
+celebrated public character, named Lanfranc, whom, for some reason or
+other, William supposed to possess the necessary qualifications for this
+mission. He accordingly gave him his instructions and sent him away.
+Lanfranc proceeded to Rome, and there he managed the negotiation with
+the pope so dexterously as soon to bring it to a conclusion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His success.<br />Conditions of Lanfranc's treaty.</div>
+
+<p>The arrangement which he made was this. The pope was to grant the
+dispensation and confirm the marriage, thus removing the sentence of
+excommunication which the Archbishop <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>Mauger had pronounced, on
+condition that William should build and endow a hospital for a hundred
+poor persons, and also erect two abbeys, one to be built by himself, for
+monks, and one by Matilda, for nuns. Lanfranc agreed to these conditions
+on the part of William and Matilda, and they, when they came to be
+informed of them, accepted and confirmed them with great joy. The ban of
+excommunication was removed; all Normandy acquiesced in the marriage,
+and William and Matilda proceeded to form the plans and to superintend
+the construction of the abbeys.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Their fulfillment.</div>
+
+<p>They selected the city of Caen for the site. The place of this city will
+be seen marked upon the map near the northern coast of Normandy.<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> It
+was situated in a broad and pleasant valley, at the confluence of two
+rivers, and was surrounded by beautiful and fertile meadows. It was
+strongly fortified, being surrounded by walls and towers, which
+William's ancestors, the dukes of Normandy, had built. William and
+Matilda took a strong interest in the plans and constructions connected
+with the building of the abbeys. William's was a very extensive edifice,
+and contained within its inclosures a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>royal palace for himself, where,
+in subsequent years, himself and Matilda often resided.</p>
+
+<p>The principal buildings of these abbeys still stand, though the walls
+and fortifications of Caen are gone. The buildings are used now for
+other purposes than those for which they were erected, but they retain
+the names originally given them, and are visited by great numbers of
+tourists, being regarded with great interest as singular memorials of
+the past&mdash;twin monuments commemorating an ancient marriage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William and Matilda's children.<br />Matilda's domestic
+character.</div>
+
+<p>The marriage being thus finally confirmed and acquiesced in, William and
+Matilda enjoyed a long period of domestic peace. The oldest child was a
+son. He was born within a year of the marriage, and William named him
+Robert, that, as the reader will recollect, having been the name of
+William's father. There was, in process of time, a large family of
+children. Their names were Robert, William Rufus, Henry, Cecilia,
+Agatha, Constance, Adela, Adelaide, and Gundred. Matilda devoted herself
+with great maternal fidelity to the care and education of these
+children, and many of them became subsequently historical personages of
+the highest distinction.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Objects of William's marriage.</div>
+
+<p>The object which, it will be recollected, was one of William's main
+inducements for contracting this alliance, namely, the strengthening of
+his power by thus connecting himself with the reigning family of
+Flanders, was, in a great measure, accomplished. The two governments,
+leagued together by this natural tie, strengthened each other's power,
+and often rendered each other essential assistance, though there was one
+occasion, subsequently, when William's reliance on this aid was
+disappointed. It was as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Baldwin, Count of Flanders.</div>
+
+<p>When he was planning his invasion of England, he sent to Matilda's
+brother, Baldwin, who was then Count of Flanders, inviting him to raise
+a force and join him. Baldwin, who considered the enterprise as
+dangerous and Quixotic, sent back word to inquire what share of the
+English territory William would give him if he would go and help him
+conquer it. William thought that this attempt to make a bargain
+beforehand, for a division of spoil, evinced a very mercenary and
+distrustful spirit on the part of his brother-in-law&mdash;a spirit which he
+was not at all disposed to encourage. He accordingly took a sheet of
+parchment, and writing nothing within, he folded it in the form <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>of a
+letter, and wrote upon the outside the following rhyme:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The blank letter.</div>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i4">"Beau fr&egrave;re, en Angleterre vous aures</span>
+<span class="i4">Ce qui dedans escript, vous trouveres."</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Which royal distich might be translated thus:</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<span class="i4">"Your share, good brother, of the land we win,</span>
+<span class="i4">You'll find entitled and described within."</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Baldwin's surprise.</div>
+
+<p>William forwarded the empty missive by the hand of a messenger, who
+delivered it to Baldwin as if it were a dispatch of great consequence.
+Baldwin received it eagerly, and opened it at once. He was surprised at
+finding nothing within; and after turning the parchment every way, in
+vain search after the description of his share, he asked the messenger
+what it meant. "It means," said he, "that as there is nothing writ
+within, so nothing you shall have."</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding this witticism, however, some arrangement seems
+afterward to have been made between the parties, for Flanders did, in
+fact, contribute an important share toward the force which William
+raised when preparing for the invasion.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VI" id="Chapter_VI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Lady Emma.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1002-1052</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's claims to the English throne.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">I</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">t</span>
+is not to be supposed that, even in the warlike times of which we are
+writing, such a potentate as a duke of Normandy would invade a country
+like England, so large and powerful in comparison to his own, without
+some pretext. William's pretext was, that he himself was the legitimate
+successor to the English crown, and that the English king who possessed
+it at the time of his invasion was a usurper. In order that the reader
+may understand the nature and origin of this his claim, it is necessary
+to relate somewhat in full the story of the Lady Emma.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Emma.</div>
+
+<p>By referring to the genealogy of the Norman line of dukes contained in
+the second chapter of this volume, it will be seen that Emma was the
+daughter of the first Richard. She was celebrated in her early years for
+her great personal beauty. They called her <i>the Pearl of Normandy</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Claimants to the English throne.</div>
+
+<p>She married, at length, one of the kings of England, whose name was
+Ethelred. England was at that time distracted by civil wars, waged
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>between the two antagonist races of Saxons and Danes. There were, in
+fact, two separate dynasties or lines of kings, who were contending, all
+the time, for the mastery. In these contests, sometimes the Danes would
+triumph for a time, and sometimes the Saxons; and sometimes both races
+would have a royal representative in the field, each claiming the
+throne, and reigning over separate portions of the island. Thus there
+were, at certain periods, two kingdoms in England, both covering the
+same territory, and claiming the government of the same population&mdash;with
+two kings, two capitals, two administrations&mdash;while the wretched
+inhabitants were distracted and ruined by the terrible conflicts to
+which these hostile pretensions gave rise.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ethelred.</div>
+
+<p>Ethelred was of the Saxon line. He was a widower at the time of his
+marriage to Emma, nearly forty years old, and he had, among other
+children by his former wife, a son named Edmund, an active, energetic
+young man, who afterward became king. One motive which he had in view in
+marrying Emma was to strengthen his position by securing the alliance of
+the Normans of Normandy. The Danes, his English enemies, were Normans.
+The government of Normandy would therefore be naturally inclined <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>to
+take part with them. By this marriage, however, Ethelred hoped to detach
+the Normans of France from the cause of his enemies, and to unite them
+to his own. He would thus gain a double advantage, strengthening himself
+by an accession which weakened his foes.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ethelred subdued.<br />He flies to Normandy.</div>
+
+<p>His plan succeeded so far as inducing Richard himself, the Duke of
+Normandy, to espouse his cause, but it did not enable Ethelred to
+triumph over his enemies. They, on the contrary, conquered <i>him</i>, and,
+in the end, drove him from the country altogether. He fled to Normandy
+for refuge, with Emma his wife, and his two young sons. Their names were
+Edward and Alfred.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Massacre of the Danes.<br />Horrors of civil war.</div>
+
+<p>Richard II., Emma's brother, who was then the Duke of Normandy, received
+the unhappy fugitives with great kindness, although <i>he</i>, at least,
+scarcely deserved it. It was not surprising that he was driven from his
+native realm, for he possessed none of those high qualities of mind
+which fit men to conquer or to govern. Like all other weak-minded
+tyrants, he substituted cruelty for wisdom and energy in his attempts to
+subjugate his foes. As soon as he was married to Emma, for instance,
+feeling elated and strong at the great accession of power <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>which he
+imagined he had obtained by this alliance, he planned a general massacre
+of the Danes, and executed it on a given day, by means of private
+orders, sent secretly throughout the kingdom. Vast numbers of the Danes
+were destroyed; and so great was the hatred of the two races for each
+other, that they who had these bloody orders to obey executed them with
+a savage cruelty that was absolutely horrible. In one instance they
+buried women to the waist, and then set dogs upon them, to tear their
+naked flesh until they died in agony. It would be best, in narrating
+history, to suppress such horrid details as these, were it not that in a
+land like this, where so much depends upon the influence of every
+individual in determining whether the questions and discussions which
+are from time to time arising, and are hereafter to arise, shall be
+settled peacefully, or by a resort to violence and civil war, it is very
+important that we should all know what civil war is, and to what
+horrible atrocities it inevitably leads.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ethelred's tyranny.</div>
+
+<p>Alfred the Great, when he was contending with the Danes in England, a
+century before this time, treated them, so far as he gained advantages
+over them, with generosity and kindness; and this policy wholly
+conquered them in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>the end. Ethelred, on the other hand, tried the
+effect of the most tyrannical cruelty, and the effect was only to arouse
+his enemies to a more determined and desperate resistance. It was the
+phrensy of vengeance and hate that these atrocities awakened every where
+among the Danes, which nerved them with so much vigor and strength that
+they finally expelled him from the island; so that, when he arrived in
+Normandy, a fugitive and an exile, he came in the character of a
+dethroned tyrant, execrated for his senseless and atrocious cruelties,
+and not in that of an unhappy prince driven from his home by the
+pressure of unavoidable calamity. Nevertheless, Richard, the Duke of
+Normandy, received him, as we have already said, with kindness. He felt
+the obligation of receiving the exiled monarch in a hospitable manner,
+if not on his own account, at least for the sake of Emma and the
+children.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Emma's policy.<br />Emma's humiliation.</div>
+
+<p>The origin and end of Emma's interest in Ethelred seems to have been
+merely ambition. The "Pearl of Normandy" had given herself to this
+monster for the sake, apparently, of the glory of being the English
+queen. Her subsequent conduct compels the readers of history to make
+this supposition, which otherwise would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>be uncharitable. She now
+mourned her disappointment in finding that, instead of being sustained
+by her husband in the lofty position to which she aspired, she was
+obliged to come back to her former home again, to be once more
+dependent, and with the additional burden of her husband himself, and
+her children, upon her father's family. Her situation was rendered even
+still more humiliating, in some degree, by the circumstances that her
+father was no longer alive, and that it was to her brother, on whom her
+natural claim was far less strong, that she had now to look for shelter
+and protection. Richard, however, received them all in a kind and
+generous manner.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Ethelred invited to return.<br />Restoration of Ethelred and
+Emma.</div>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the wars and commotions which had driven Ethelred away
+continued to rage in England, the Saxons gradually gaining ground
+against the Danes. At length the king of the Danes, who had seized the
+government when Ethelred was expelled, died. The Saxons then regained
+their former power, and they sent commissioners to Ethelred to propose
+his return to England. At the same time, they expressed their
+unwillingness to receive him, unless they could bind him, by a solemn
+treaty, to take a very different course of conduct, in the future
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>management of his government, from that which he had pursued before.
+Ethelred and Emma were eager to regain, on any terms, their lost throne.
+They sent over embassadors empowered to make, in Ethelred's name, any
+promises which the English nobles might demand; and shortly afterward
+the royal pair crossed the Channel and went to London, and Ethelred was
+acknowledged there by the <i>Saxon</i> portion of the population of the
+island once more as king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">War with Canute.</div>
+
+<p>The <i>Danes</i>, however, though weakened, were not yet disposed to submit.
+They declared their allegiance to <i>Canute</i>, who was the successor in the
+<i>Danish</i> line. Then followed a long war between Canute and Ethelred.
+Canute was a man of extraordinary sagacity and intelligence, and also of
+great courage and energy. Ethelred, on the other hand, proved himself,
+notwithstanding all his promises, incurably inefficient, cowardly, and
+cruel. In fact, his son Prince Edmund, the son of his first wife, was
+far more efficient than his father in resisting Canute and the Danes.
+Edmund was active and fearless, and he soon acquired very extensive
+power. In fact, he seems to have held the authority of his father in
+very little respect. One striking instance of this insubordination
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>occurred. Ethelred had taken offense, for some reason or other, at one
+of the nobles in his realm, and had put him to death, and confiscated
+his estates; and, in addition to this, with a cruelty characteristic of
+him, he shut up the unhappy widow of his victim, a young and beautiful
+woman, in a gloomy convent, as a prisoner. Edmund, his son, went to the
+convent, liberated the prisoner, and made her his own wife.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127-128]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i123.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="296" alt="The Rescue." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">The Rescue.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Ethelred's death.<br />Situation of Emma.</div>
+
+<p>With such unfriendly relations between the king and his son, who seems
+to have been the ablest general in his father's army, there could be
+little hope of making head against such an enemy as Canute the Dane. In
+fact, the course of public affairs went on from bad to worse, Emma
+leading all the time a life of unceasing anxiety and alarm. At length,
+in 1016, Ethelred died, and Emma's cup of disappointment and humiliation
+was now full. Her own sons, Edward and Alfred, had no claims to the
+crown; for Edmund, being the son by a former marriage, was older than
+they. They were too young to take personally an active part in the
+fierce contests of the day, and thus fight their way to importance and
+power. And then Edmund, who was now to become king, would, of course,
+feel no interest in advancing <i>them</i>, or
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>doing honor to <i>her</i>. A son who would thwart and counteract the plans
+and measures of a father, as Edmund had done, would be little likely to
+evince much deference or regard for a mother-in-law, or for half
+brothers, whom he would naturally consider as his rivals. In a word,
+Emma had reason to be alarmed at the situation of insignificance and
+danger in which she found herself suddenly placed. She fled a second
+time, in destitution and distress, to her brother's in Normandy. She was
+now, however, a widow, and her children were fatherless. It is difficult
+to decide whether to consider her situation as better or worse on this
+account, than it was at her former exile.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her children.</div>
+
+<p>Her sons were lads, but little advanced beyond the period of childhood;
+and Edward, the eldest, on whom the duty of making exertions to advance
+the family interests would first devolve, was of a quiet and gentle
+spirit, giving little promise that he would soon be disposed to enter
+vigorously upon military campaigns. Edmund, on the other hand, who was
+now king, was in the prime of life, and was a man of great spirit and
+energy. There was a reasonable prospect that he would live many years;
+and even if he were to be suddenly cut off, there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>seemed to be no hope
+of the restoration of Emma to importance or power; for Edmund was
+married and had two sons, one of whom would be entitled to succeed him
+in case of his decease. It seemed, therefore, to be Emma's destiny now,
+to spend the remainder of her days with her children in neglect and
+obscurity. The case resulted differently, however, as we shall see in
+the end.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">War with Canute.<br />Treaty between Edmund and Canute. Death of
+Edmund.</div>
+
+<p>Edmund, notwithstanding his prospect of a long and prosperous career,
+was cut off suddenly, after a stormy reign of one year. During his
+reign, Canute the Dane had been fast gaining ground in England,
+notwithstanding the vigor and energy with which Edmund had opposed him.
+Finally, the two monarchs assembled their armies, and were about to
+fight a great final battle. Edmund sent a flag of truce to Canute's
+camp, proposing that, to save the effusion of blood, they should agree
+to decide the case by single combat, and that he and Canute should be
+the champions, and fight in presence of the armies. Canute declined this
+proposal. He was himself small and slender in form, while Edmund was
+distinguished for his personal development and muscular strength. Canute
+therefore declined the personal contest, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>but offered to leave the
+question to the decision of a council chosen from among the leading
+nobles on either side. This plan was finally adopted. The council
+convened, and, after long deliberations, they framed a treaty by which
+the country was divided between the two potentates, and a sort of peace
+was restored. A very short period after this treaty was settled, Edmund
+was murdered.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Accession of Canute.</div>
+
+<p>Canute immediately laid claim to the whole realm. He maintained that it
+was a part of the treaty that the partition of the kingdom was to
+continue only during their joint lives, and that, on the death of
+either, the whole was to pass to the survivor of them. The Saxon leaders
+did not admit this, but they were in no condition very strenuously to
+oppose it. Ethelred's sons by Emma were too young to come forward as
+leaders yet; and as to Edmund's, they were mere children. There was,
+therefore, no one whom they could produce as an efficient representative
+of the Saxon line, and thus the Saxons were compelled to submit to
+Canute's pretensions, at least for a time. They would not wholly give up
+the claims of Edmund's children, but they consented to waive them for a
+season. They gave Canute the guardianship of the boys <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>until they should
+become of age, and allowed him, in the mean time, to reign, himself,
+over the whole land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Canute's wise policy.<br />His treatment of Edmund's children.</div>
+
+<p>Canute exercised his power in a very discreet and judicious manner,
+seeming intent, in all his arrangements, to protect the rights and
+interests of the Saxons as well as of the Danes. It might be supposed
+that the lives of the young Saxon princes, Edmund's sons, would not have
+been safe in his hands; but the policy which he immediately resolved to
+pursue was to conciliate the Saxons, and not to intimidate and coerce
+them. He therefore did the young children no harm, but sent them away
+out of the country to Denmark, that they might, if possible, be
+gradually forgotten. Perhaps he thought that, if the necessity should
+arise for it, they might there, at any time, be put secretly to death.</p>
+
+<p>There was another reason still to prevent Canute's destroying these
+children, which was, that if <i>they</i> were removed, the claims of the
+Saxon line would not thereby be extinguished, but would only be
+transferred to Emma's children in Normandy, who, being older, were
+likely the sooner to be in a condition to give him trouble as rivals. It
+was therefore a very wise and sagacious policy which prompted him to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>keep the young children of Edmund alive, but to remove them to a safe
+distance out of the way.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Canute marries Emma.</div>
+
+<p>In respect to Emma's children, Canute conceived a different plan for
+guarding against any danger which came from their claims, and that was,
+to propose to take their mother for his wife. By this plan her family
+would come into his power, and then her own influence and that of her
+Norman friends would be forever prevented from taking sides against him.
+He accordingly made the proposal. Emma was ambitious enough of again
+returning to her former position of greatness as English queen to accept
+it eagerly. The world condemned her for being so ready to marry, for her
+second husband, the deadly enemy and rival of the first; but it was all
+one to her whether her husband was Saxon or Dane, provided that she
+could be queen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Opposition of her sons.<br />Emma again queen of England.</div>
+
+<p>The boys, or, rather, the young men, for they were now advancing to
+maturity, were very strongly opposed to this connection. They did all in
+their power to prevent its consummation, and they never forgave their
+mother for thus basely betraying their interests. They were the more
+incensed at this transaction, because it was stipulated in the marriage
+articles between Canute and Emma that their <i>future</i> children&mdash;the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>offspring of the marriage then contracted&mdash;should succeed to the throne
+of England, to the exclusion of all previously born on either side. Thus
+Canute fancied that he had secured his title, and that of his
+descendants, to the crown forever, and Emma prepared to return to
+England as once more its queen. The marriage was celebrated with great
+pomp and splendor, and Emma, bidding Normandy and her now alienated
+children farewell, was conducted in state to the royal palace in London.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Earl Godwin.</div>
+
+<p>We must now pass over, with a very few words, a long interval of twenty
+years. It was the period of Canute's reign, which was prosperous and
+peaceful. During this period Emma's Norman sons continued in Normandy.
+She had another son in England a few years after her marriage, who was
+named Canute, after his father, but he is generally known in history by
+the name of Hardicanute, the prefix being a Saxon word denoting
+energetic or strong. Canute had also a very celebrated minister in his
+government named Godwin. Godwin was a Saxon of a very humble origin, and
+the history of his life constitutes quite a romantic tale.<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>He was a
+man of extraordinary talents and character, and at the time of Canute's
+death he was altogether the most powerful subject in the realm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Canute's death.<br />He bequeaths the kingdom to Harold.</div>
+
+<p>When Canute found that he was about to die, and began to consider what
+arrangements he should make for the succession, he concluded that it
+would not be safe for him to fulfill the agreement made in his marriage
+contract with Emma, that the children of that marriage should inherit
+the kingdom; for Hardicanute, who was entitled to succeed under that
+covenant, was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, and
+consequently too young to attempt to govern. He therefore made a will,
+in which he left the kingdom to an older son, named Harold&mdash;a son whom
+he had had before his marriage with Emma. This was the signal for a new
+struggle. The influence of the Saxons and of Emma's friends was of
+course in favor of Hardicanute, while the Danes espoused the cause of
+Harold. Godwin at length taking sides with this last-named party, Harold
+was established on the throne, and Emma and all her children, whether
+descended from Ethelred or Canute, were set aside and forgotten.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Emma's plots for her children.<br />Her letter to them.</div>
+
+<p>Emma was not at all disposed to acquiesce <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>in this change of fortune.
+She remained in England, but was secretly incensed at her second
+husband's breach of faith toward her; and as he had abandoned the child
+of his marriage with her for <i>his</i> former children, she now determined
+to abandon him for <i>hers</i>. She gave up Hardicanute's cause, therefore,
+and began secretly to plot among the Saxon population for bringing
+forward her son Edward to the throne. When she thought that things were
+ripe for the execution of the plot, she wrote a letter to her children
+in Normandy, saying to them that the Saxon population were weary of the
+Danish line, and were ready, she believed, to rise in behalf of the
+ancient Saxon line, if the true representative of it would appear to
+lead them. She therefore invited them to come to London and consult with
+her on the subject. She directed them, however, to come, if they came at
+all, in a quiet and peaceful manner, and without any appearance of
+hostile intent, inasmuch as any thing which might seem like a foreign
+invasion would awaken universal jealousy and alarm.</p>
+
+<p>When this letter was received by the brothers in Normandy, the eldest,
+Edward, declined to go, but gave his consent that Alfred should
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>undertake the expedition if he were disposed. Alfred accepted the
+proposal. In fact, the temperament and character of the two brothers
+were very different. Edward was sedate, serious, and timid. Alfred was
+ardent and aspiring. The younger, therefore, decided to take the risk of
+crossing the Channel, while the elder preferred to remain at home.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Disastrous issue of Alfred's expedition.<br />His terrible
+sentence.</div>
+
+<p>The result was very disastrous. Contrary to his mother's instructions,
+Alfred took with him quite a troop of Norman soldiers. He crossed the
+Channel in safety, and advanced across the country some distance toward
+London. Harold sent out a force to intercept him. He was surrounded, and
+he himself and all his followers were taken prisoners. He was sentenced
+to lose his eyes, and he died in a few days after the execution of this
+terrible sentence, from the mingled effects of fever and of mental
+anguish and despair. Emma fled to Flanders.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward's accession.</div>
+
+<p>Finally Harold died, and Hardicanute succeeded him. In a short time
+Hardicanute died, leaving no heirs, and now, of course, there was no one
+left<a name="FNanchor_I_9" id="FNanchor_I_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_I_9" class="fnanchor">[I]</a> to compete with Emma's oldest <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>son Edward, who had remained all
+this time quietly in Normandy. He was accordingly proclaimed king. This
+was in 1041. He reigned for twenty years, having commenced his reign
+about the time that William the Conqueror was established in the
+possession of his dominions as Duke of Normandy. Edward had known
+William intimately during his long residence in Normandy, and William
+came to visit him in England in the course of his reign. William, in
+fact, considered himself as Edward's heir; for as Edward, though
+married, had no children, the dukes of the Norman line were his nearest
+relatives. He obtained, he said, a promise from Edward that Edward would
+sanction and confirm his claim to the English crown, in the event of his
+decease, by bequeathing it to William in his will.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Emma wretched and miserable.<br />Accusations against Emma.<br />Her
+wretched end.</div>
+
+<p>Emma was now advanced in years. The ambition which had been the ruling
+principle of her life would seem to have been well satisfied, so far as
+it is possible to satisfy ambition, for she had had two husbands and two
+sons, all kings of England. But as she advanced toward the close of her
+career, she found herself wretched and miserable. Her son Edward could
+not forgive her for her abandonment of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>himself and his brother, to
+marry a man who was their own and their father's bitterest enemy. She
+had made a formal treaty in her marriage covenant to exclude them from
+the throne. She had treated them with neglect during all the time of
+Canute's reign, while she was living with him in London in power and
+splendor. Edward accused her, also, of having connived at his brother
+Alfred's death. The story is, that he caused her to be tried on this
+charge by the ordeal of fire. This method consisted of laying red-hot
+irons upon the stone floor of a church, at certain distances from each
+other, and requiring the accused to walk over them with naked feet. If
+the accused was innocent, Providence, as they supposed, would so guide
+his footsteps that he should not touch the irons. Thus, if he was
+innocent, he would go over safely; if guilty, he would be burned. Emma,
+according to the story of the times, was subjected to this test, in the
+Cathedral of Winchester, to determine whether she was cognizant of the
+murder of her son. Whether this is true or not, there is no doubt that
+Edward confined her a prisoner in the monastery at Winchester, where she
+ended her days at last in neglect and wretchedness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Edmund's children.<br />Godwin.<br />Harold.<br />Plans of Edward.</div>
+
+<p>When Edward himself drew near to the close of his life, his mind was
+greatly perplexed in respect to the succession. There was one descendant
+of his brother Edmund&mdash;whose children, it will be remembered, Canute had
+sent away to Denmark, in order to remove them out of the way&mdash;who was
+still living in Hungary. The name of this descendant was Edward. He was,
+in fact, the lawful heir to the crown. But he had spent his life in
+foreign countries, and was now far away; and, in the mean time, the Earl
+Godwin, who has been already mentioned as the great Saxon nobleman who
+rose from a very humble rank to the position of the most powerful
+subject in the realm, obtained such an influence, and wielded so great a
+power, that he seemed at one time stronger than the king himself. Godwin
+at length died, but his son Harold, who was as energetic and active as
+his father, inherited his power, and seemed, as Edward thought, to be
+aspiring to the future possession of the throne. Edward had hated Godwin
+and all his family, and was now extremely anxious to prevent the
+possibility of Harold's accession. He accordingly sent to Hungary to
+bring Edward, his nephew, home. Edward came, bringing his family with
+him. He had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>a young son named Edgar. It was King Edward's plan to make
+arrangements for bringing this Prince Edward to the throne after his
+death, that Harold might be excluded.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plots and counterplots.</div>
+
+<p>The plan was a very judicious one, but it was unfortunately frustrated
+by Prince Edward's death, which event took place soon after he arrived
+in England. The young Edgar, then a child, was, of course, his heir. The
+king was convinced that no government which could be organized in the
+name of Edgar would be able to resist the mighty power of Harold, and he
+turned his thoughts, therefore, again to the accession of William of
+Normandy, who was the nearest relative on his mother's side, as the only
+means of saving the realm from falling into the hands of the usurper
+Harold. A long and vexatious contest then ensued, in which the leading
+powers and influences of the kingdom were divided and distracted by the
+plans, plots, maneuvers, and counter maneuvers of Harold to obtain the
+accession for himself, and of Edward to secure it for William of
+Normandy. In this contest Harold conquered in the first instance, and
+Edward and William in the end.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VII" id="Chapter_VII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">King Harold.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1063-1066</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold and William.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">H</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">arold,</span>
+the son of the Earl Godwin, who was maneuvering to gain
+possession of the English throne, and William of Normandy, though they
+lived on opposite sides of the English Channel, the one in France and
+the other in England, were still personally known to each other; for not
+only had William, as was stated in the last chapter, paid a visit to
+England, but Harold himself, on one occasion, made an excursion to
+Normandy. The circumstances of this expedition were, in some respects,
+quite extraordinary, and illustrate in a striking manner some of the
+peculiar ideas and customs of the times. They were as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Quarrel between Godwin and Edward.<br />Treaty between Godwin and
+Edward.</div>
+
+<p>During the life of Harold's father Godwin, there was a very serious
+quarrel between him, that is, Godwin, and King Edward, in which both the
+king and his rebellious subject marshaled their forces, and for a time
+waged against each other an open and sanguinary war. In this contest the
+power of Godwin had proved so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>formidable, and the military forces which
+he succeeded in marshaling under his banners were so great, that
+Edward's government was unable effectually to put him down. At length,
+after a long and terrible struggle, which involved a large part of the
+country in the horrors of a civil war, the belligerents made a treaty
+with each other, which settled their quarrel by a sort of compromise.
+Godwin was to retain his high position and rank as a subject, and to
+continue in the government of certain portions of the island which had
+long been under his jurisdiction; he, on his part, promising to dismiss
+his armies, and to make war upon the king no more. He bound himself to
+the faithful performance of these covenants by giving the king
+<i>hostages</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Hostages.</div>
+
+<p>The hostages given up on such occasions were always near and dear
+relatives and friends, and the understanding was, that if the party
+giving them failed in fulfilling his obligations, the innocent and
+helpless hostages were to be entirely at the mercy of the other party
+into whose custody they had been given. The latter would, in such cases,
+imprison them, torture them, or put them to death, with a greater or
+less degree of severity in respect to the infliction of pain, according
+to the degree of exasperation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>which the real or fancied injury which he
+had received awakened in his mind.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The giving of hostages now abandoned.<br />Cruelties inflicted.<br />
+Canute's hostages.</div>
+
+<p>This cruel method of binding fierce and unprincipled men to the
+performance of their promises has been universally abandoned in modern
+times, though in the rude and early stages of civilization it has been
+practiced among all nations, ancient and modern. The hostages chosen
+were often of young and tender years, and were always such as to render
+the separation which took place when they were torn from their friends
+most painful, as it was the very object of the selection to obtain those
+who were most beloved. They were delivered into the hands of those whom
+they had always regarded as their bitterest enemies, and who, of course,
+were objects of aversion and terror. They were sent away into places of
+confinement and seclusion, and kept in the custody of strangers, where
+they lived in perpetual fear that some new outbreak between the
+contending parties would occur, and consign them to torture or death.
+The cruelties sometimes inflicted, in such cases, on the innocent
+hostages, were awful. At one time, during the contentions between
+Ethelred and Canute, Canute, being driven across the country to the
+sea-coast, and there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>compelled to embark on board his ships to make his
+escape, was cruel enough to cut off the hands and the feet of some
+hostages which Ethelred had previously given him, and leave them
+writhing in agony on the sands of the shore.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Godwin's hostages.</div>
+
+<p>The hostages which are particularly named by historians as given by
+Godwin to King Edward were his son and his grandson. Their names were
+Ulnoth and Hacune. Ulnoth, of course, was Harold's brother, and Hacune
+his nephew. Edward, thinking that Godwin would contrive some means of
+getting these securities back into his possession again if he attempted
+to keep them in England, decided to send them to Normandy, and to put
+them under the charge of William the duke for safe keeping. When Godwin
+died, Harold applied to Edward to give up the hostages, since, as he
+alleged, there was no longer any reason for detaining them. They had
+been given as security for <i>Godwin's</i> good behavior, and now Godwin was
+no more.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Edward declines to give up the hostages.</div>
+
+<p>Edward could not well refuse to surrender them, and yet, as Harold
+succeeded to the power, and evidently possessed all the ambition of his
+father, it seemed to be, politically, as necessary to retain the
+hostages now as it had been before. Edward, therefore, without
+absolutely <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>refusing to surrender them, postponed and evaded compliance
+with Harold's demand, on the ground that the hostages were in Normandy.
+He was going, he said, to send for them as soon as he could make the
+necessary arrangements for bringing them home in safety.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances, Harold determined to go and bring them
+himself. He proposed this plan to Edward. Edward would not absolutely
+refuse his consent, but he did all in his power to discourage such an
+expedition. He told Harold that William of Normandy was a crafty and
+powerful man; that by going into his dominions he would put himself
+entirely into his power, and would be certain to involve himself in some
+serious difficulty. This interview between Harold and the king is
+commemorated on the Bayeux tapestry by the opposite uncouth design.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold goes to Normandy.<br />Harold's interview with Edward.</div>
+
+<p>What effect Edward's disapproval of the project produced upon Harold's
+mind is not certainly known. It is true that he went across the Channel,
+but the accounts of the crossing are confused and contradictory, some of
+them stating that, while sailing for pleasure with a party of attendants
+and companions on the coast, he was blown off from the shore and driven
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>across to France by a storm. The probability, however, is, that this
+story was only a pretense. He was determined to go, but not wishing to
+act openly in defiance of the king's wishes, he contrived to be blown
+off, in order to make it seem that he went against his will.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 389px;">
+<img src="images/i143.jpg" width="389" class="bb ispace" height="350" alt="Harold&#39;s interview with Edward." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">Harold&#39;s interview with Edward.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">The storm.<br />Harold shipwrecked.<br />Guy, count of Ponthieu.</div>
+
+<p>At all events, the <i>storm</i> was real, whether his being compelled to
+leave the English shores by the power of it was real or pretended. It
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>carried him, too, out of his course, driving him up the Channel to the
+eastward of Normandy, where he had intended to land, and at length
+throwing his galley, a wreck, on the shore, not far from the mouth of
+the Somme. The galley itself was broken up, but Harold and his company
+escaped to land. They found that they were in the dominions of a certain
+prince who held possessions on that coast, whose style and title was
+Guy, count of Ponthieu.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold a prisoner.</div>
+
+<p>The law in those days was, that wrecks became the property of the lord
+of the territory on the shores of which they occurred; and not only were
+the ships and the goods which they contained thus confiscated in case of
+such a disaster, but the owners themselves became liable to be seized
+and held captive for a ransom. Harold, knowing his danger, was
+attempting to secrete himself on the coast till he could get to
+Normandy, when a fisherman who saw him, and knew by his dress and
+appearance, and by the deference with which he was treated by the rest
+of the company, that he was a man of great consequence in his native
+land, went to the count, and said that for ten crowns he would show him
+where there was a man who would be worth a thousand to him. The count
+came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>down with his retinue to the coast, seized the unfortunate
+adventurers, took possession of all the goods and baggage that the waves
+had spared, and shut the men themselves up in his castle at Abbeville
+till they could pay their ransom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is ransomed by William.</div>
+
+<p>Harold remonstrated against this treatment. He said that he was on his
+way to Normandy on business of great importance with the duke, from the
+King of England, and that he could not be detained. But the count was
+very decided in refusing to let him go without his ransom. Harold then
+sent word to William, acquainting him with his situation, and asking him
+to effect his release. William sent to the count, demanding that he
+should give his prisoner up. All these things, however, only tended to
+elevate and enlarge the count's ideas of the value and importance of the
+prize which he had been so fortunate to secure. He persisted in refusing
+to give him up without ransom. Finally William paid the ransom, in the
+shape of a large sum of money, and the cession, in addition, of a
+considerable territory. Harold and his companions in bondage were then
+delivered to William's messengers, and conducted by them in safety to
+Rouen, where William was then residing.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">William's hospitality.</div>
+
+<p>William received his distinguished guest with every possible mark of the
+most honorable consideration. He was escorted with great parade and
+ceremony into the palace, lodged in the most sumptuous manner, provided
+with every necessary supply, and games, and military spectacles, and
+feasts and entertainments without number, were arranged to celebrate his
+visit. William informed him that he was at liberty to return to England
+whenever he pleased, and that his brother and his nephew, the hostages
+that he had come to seek, were at his disposal. He, however, urged him
+not to return immediately, but to remain a short time in Normandy with
+his companions. Harold accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His policy in this.<br />William's treatment of his guests.</div>
+
+<p>All this exuberance of hospitality had its origin, as the reader will
+readily divine, in the duke's joy in finding the only important rival
+likely to appear to contest his claims to the English crown so fully in
+his power, and in the hope which he entertained of so managing affairs
+at this visit as to divert Harold's mind from the idea of becoming the
+King of England himself, and to induce him to pledge himself to act in
+his, that is, William's favor. He took, therefore, all possible pains to
+make him enjoy his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>visit in Normandy; he exhibited to him the wealth
+and the resources of the country&mdash;conducting him from place to place to
+visit the castles, the abbeys, and the towns&mdash;and, finally, he proposed
+that he should accompany him on a military expedition into Brittany.</p>
+
+<p>Harold, pleased with the honors conferred upon him, and with the novelty
+and magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced, entered
+heartily into all these plans, and his companions and attendants were no
+less pleased than he. William knighted many of these followers of
+Harold, and made them costly presents of horses, and banners, and suits
+of armor, and other such gifts as were calculated to captivate the
+hearts of martial adventurers such as they. William soon gained an
+entire ascendency over their minds, and when he invited them to
+accompany him on his expedition into Brittany, they were all eager to
+go.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excursion to Brittany.<br />Harold's talents.</div>
+
+<p>Brittany was west of Normandy, and on the frontiers of it, so that the
+expedition was not a distant one. Nor was it long protracted. It was, in
+fact, a sort of pleasure excursion, William taking his guest across the
+frontier into his neighbor's territory, on a marauding party, just as a
+nobleman, in modern times, would take a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>party into a forest to hunt.
+William and Harold were on the most intimate and friendly terms possible
+during the continuance of this campaign. They occupied the same tent,
+and ate at the same table. Harold evinced great military talents and
+much bravery in the various adventures which they met with in Brittany,
+and William felt more than ever the desirableness of securing his
+influence on his, that is, William's side, or, at least, of preventing
+his becoming an open rival and enemy. On their return from Brittany into
+Normandy, he judged that the time had arrived for taking his measures.
+He accordingly resolved to come to an open understanding with Harold in
+respect to his plans, and to seek his co-operation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's policy.<br />William makes known to Harold his claims to
+the English crown.</div>
+
+<p>He introduced the subject, the historians say, one day as they were
+riding along homeward from their excursion, and had been for some time
+talking familiarly on the way, relating tales to one another of wars,
+battles, sieges, and hair-breadth escapes, and other such adventures as
+formed, generally, the subjects of narrative conversation in those days.
+At length William, finding Harold, as he judged, in a favorable mood for
+such a communication, introduced the subject of the English realm and
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>approaching demise of the crown. He told him, confidentially, that
+there had been an arrangement between him, William, and King Edward, for
+some time, that Edward was to <i>adopt</i> him as his successor. William told
+Harold, moreover, that he should rely a great deal on his co-operation
+and assistance in getting peaceable possession of the kingdom, and
+promised to bestow upon him the very highest rewards and honors in
+return if he would give him his aid. The only rival claimant, William
+said, was the young child Edgar, and he had no friends, no party, no
+military forces, and no means whatever for maintaining his pretensions.
+On the other hand, he, William, and Harold, had obviously all the power
+in their own hands, and if they could only co-operate together on a
+common understanding, they would be sure to have the power and the
+honors of the English realm entirely at their disposal.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's dissimulation.</div>
+
+<p>Harold listened to all these suggestions, and pretended to be interested
+and pleased. He was, in reality, interested, but he was not pleased. He
+wished to secure the kingdom for himself, not merely to obtain a share,
+however large, of its power and its honors as the subject of another. He
+was, however, too wary to evince <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>his displeasure. On the contrary, he
+assented to the plan, professed to enter into it with all his heart, and
+expressed his readiness to commence, immediately, the necessary
+preliminary measures for carrying it into execution. William was much
+gratified with the successful result of his negotiation, and the two
+chieftains rode home to William's palace in Normandy, banded together,
+apparently, by very strong ties. In secret, however, Harold was
+resolving to effect his departure from Normandy as soon as possible, and
+to make immediate and most effectual measures for securing the kingdom
+of England to himself, without any regard to the promises that he had
+made to William.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's precautions.</div>
+
+<p>Nor must it be supposed that William himself placed any positive
+reliance on mere promises from Harold. He immediately began to form
+plans for binding him to the performance of his stipulations, by the
+modes then commonly employed for securing the fulfillment of covenants
+made among princes. These methods were three&mdash;intermarriages, the giving
+of hostages, and solemn oaths.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The betrothment.</div>
+
+<p>William proposed two marriages as means of strengthening the alliance
+between himself and Harold. Harold was to give to William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>one of his
+daughters, that William might marry her to one of his Norman chieftains.
+This would be, of course, placing her in William's power, and making her
+a hostage all but in name. Harold, however, consented. The second
+marriage proposed was between William's daughter and Harold himself; but
+as his daughter was a child of only seven years of age, it could only be
+a betrothment that could take place at that time. Harold acceded to this
+proposal too, and arrangements were made for having the faith of the
+parties pledged to one another in the most solemn manner. A great
+assembly of all the knights, nobles, and ladies of the court was
+convened, and the ceremony of pledging the troth between the fierce
+warrior and the gentle and wondering child was performed with as much
+pomp and parade as if it had been an actual wedding. The name of the
+girl was Adela.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William retains a hostage.<br />Harold's apparent acquiescence.</div>
+
+<p>In respect to hostages, William determined to detain one of those whom
+Harold, as will be recollected, had come into Normandy to recover. He
+told him, therefore, that he might take with him his nephew Hacune, but
+that Ulnoth, his brother, should remain, and William would bring him
+over himself when he came to take <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>possession of the kingdom. Harold was
+extremely unwilling to leave his brother thus in William's power; but as
+he knew very well that his being allowed to return to England himself
+would depend upon his not evincing any reluctance to giving William
+security, or manifesting any other indication that he was not intending
+to keep his plighted faith, he readily consented, and it was thus
+settled that Ulnoth should remain.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The public oath.</div>
+
+<p>Finally, in order to hold Harold to the fulfillment of his promises by
+every possible form of obligation, William proposed that he should take
+a public and solemn oath, in the presence of a large assembly of all the
+great potentates and chieftains of the realm, by which he should bind
+himself, under the most awful sanctions, to keep his word. Harold made
+no objection to this either. He considered himself as, in fact, in
+duress, and his actions as not free. He was in William's power, and was
+influenced in all he did by a desire to escape from Normandy, and once
+more recover his liberty. He accordingly decided, in his own mind, that
+whatever oaths he might take he should afterward consider as forced upon
+him, and consequently as null and void, and was ready, therefore, to
+take any that William might propose.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">The great assembly of knights and nobles.</div>
+
+<p>The great assembly was accordingly convened. In the middle of the
+council hall there was placed a great chair of state, which was covered
+with a cloth of gold. Upon this cloth, and raised considerably above the
+seat, was the <i>missal</i>, that is, the book of service of the Catholic
+Church, written on parchment and splendidly illuminated. The book was
+open at a passage from one of the Evangelists&mdash;the Evangelists being a
+portion of the Holy Scriptures which was, in those days, supposed to
+invest an oath with the most solemn sanctions.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The threefold oath.</div>
+
+<p>Harold felt some slight misgivings as he advanced in the midst of such
+an imposing scene as the great assembly of knights and ladies presented
+in the council hall, to repeat his promises in the very presence of God,
+and to imprecate the retributive curses of the Almighty on the violation
+of them, which he was deliberately and fully determined to incur. He
+had, however, gone too far to retreat now. He advanced, therefore, to
+the open missal, laid his hand upon the book, and, repeating the words
+which William dictated to him from his throne, he took the threefold
+oath required, namely, to aid William to the utmost of his power in his
+attempt to secure the succession to the English <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>crown, to marry
+William's daughter Adela as soon as she should arrive at a suitable age,
+and to send over forthwith from England his own daughter, that she might
+be espoused to one of William's nobles.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's precaution.<br />The sacred relics.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as the oath was thus taken, William caused the missal and the
+cloth of gold to be removed, and there appeared beneath it, on the chair
+of state, a chest, containing the sacred relics of the Church, which
+William had secretly collected from the abbeys and monasteries of his
+dominions, and placed in this concealment, that, without Harold's being
+conscious of it, their dreadful sanction might be added to that which
+the Holy Evangelists imposed. These relics were fragments of bones set
+in caskets and frames, and portions of blood&mdash;relics, as the monks
+alleged, of apostles or of the Savior&mdash;and small pieces of wood,
+similarly preserved, which had been portions of the cross of Christ or
+of his thorny crown. These things were treasured up with great solemnity
+in the monastic establishments and in the churches of these early times,
+and were regarded with a veneration and awe, of which it is almost
+beyond our power even to conceive. Harold trembled when he saw what he
+had unwittingly done. He was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>terrified to think how much more dreadful
+was the force of the imprecations that he had uttered than he had
+imagined while uttering them. But it was too late to undo what he had
+done. The assembly was finally dismissed. William thought he had the
+conscience of his new ally firmly secured, and Harold began to prepare
+for leaving Normandy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's departure.</div>
+
+<p>He continued on excellent terms with William until his departure.
+William accompanied him to the sea-shore when the time of his
+embarkation arrived, and dismissed him at last with many farewell
+honors, and a profusion of presents. Harold set sail, and, crossing the
+Channel in safety, he landed in England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His measures to secure the throne.<br />Age and infirmities of
+Edward.</div>
+
+<p>He commenced immediately an energetic system of measures to strengthen
+his own cause, and prepare the way for his own accession. He organized
+his party, collected arms and munitions of war, and did all that he
+could to ingratiate himself with the most powerful and wealthy nobles.
+He sought the favor of the king, too, and endeavored to persuade him to
+discard William. The king was now old and infirm, and was growing more
+and more inert and gloomy as he advanced in age. His mind was occupied
+altogether in ecclesiastical rites and observances, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>or plunged in a
+torpid and lifeless melancholy, which made him averse to giving any
+thought to the course which the affairs of his kingdom were to take
+after he was gone. He did not care whether Harold or William took the
+crown when he laid it aside, provided they would allow him to die in
+peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Westminster.<br />Edward's death.</div>
+
+<p>He had had, a few years previous to this time, a plan of making a
+pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but had finally made an arrangement with the
+pope, allowing him to build a Cathedral church, to be dedicated to St.
+Peter, a few miles west of London, in lieu of his pilgrimage. There was
+already a Cathedral church or <i>minster</i> in the heart of London which was
+dedicated to St. Paul. The new one was afterward often called, to
+distinguish it from the other, the <i>west</i> minster, which designation,
+Westminster, became afterward its regular name. It was on this spot,
+where Westminster Abbey now stands, that Edward's church was to be
+built. It was just completed at the time of which we are speaking, and
+the king was preparing for the dedication of it. He summoned an assembly
+of all the prelates and great ecclesiastical dignitaries of the land to
+convene at London, in order to dedicate the new Cathedral. Before they
+were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>ready for the service, the king was taken suddenly sick. They
+placed him upon his couch in his palace chamber, where he lay, restless,
+and moaning in pain, and repeating incessantly, half in sleep and half
+in delirium, the gloomy and threatening texts of Scripture which seemed
+to haunt his mind. He was eager to have the dedication go on, and they
+hastened the service in order to gratify him by having it performed
+before he died. The next day he was obviously failing. Harold and his
+friends were very earnest to have the departing monarch declare in <i>his</i>
+favor before he died, and their coming and going, and their loud
+discussions, rude soldiers as they were, disturbed his dying hours. He
+sent them word to choose whom they would for king, duke or earl, it was
+indifferent to him, and thus expired.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The crown offered to Harold.<br />Harold's coronation.<br />He knights
+Edgar.</div>
+
+<p>Harold had made his arrangements so well, and had managed so effectually
+to secure the influence of all the powerful nobles of the kingdom, that
+they immediately convened and offered him the crown. Edgar was in the
+court of Edward at the time, but he was too young to make any effort to
+advance his claims. He was, in fact, a foreigner, though in the English
+royal line. He had been brought up on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>Continent of Europe, and
+could not even speak the English tongue. He acquiesced, therefore,
+without complaint, in these proceedings, and was even present as a
+consenting spectator on the occasion of Harold's coronation, which
+ceremony was performed with great pomp and parade, at St. Paul's, in
+London, very soon after King Edward's death. Harold rewarded Edgar for
+his complaisance and discretion by conferring upon him the honor of
+knighthood immediately after the coronation, and in the church where the
+ceremony was performed. He also conferred similar distinctions and
+honors upon many other aspiring and ambitious men whom he wished to
+secure to his side. He thus seemed to have secure and settled possession
+of the throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold violates his plighted faith to William.</div>
+
+<p>Previously to this time, Harold had married a young lady of England, a
+sister of two very powerful noblemen, and the richest heiress in the
+realm. This marriage greatly strengthened his influence in England, and
+helped to prepare the way for his accession to the supreme power. The
+tidings of it, however, when they crossed the Channel and reached the
+ears of William of Normandy, as the act was an open and deliberate
+violation of one of the covenants <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>which Harold had made with William,
+convinced the latter that none of these covenants would be kept, and
+prepared him to expect all that afterward followed.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_VIII" id="Chapter_VIII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter VIII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Preparations.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1066</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's brother Tostig.<br />He brings intelligence of Harold's
+accession.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span>
+messenger who brought William the tidings of Harold's accession to
+the throne was a man named Tostig, Harold's brother. Though he was
+Harold's brother, he was still his bitterest enemy. Brothers are seldom
+friends in families where there is a crown to be contended for. There
+were, of course, no public modes of communicating intelligence in those
+days, and Tostig had learned the facts of Edward's death and Harold's
+coronation through spies which he had stationed at certain points on the
+coast. He was himself, at that time, on the Continent. He rode with all
+speed to Rouen to communicate the news to William, eager to incite him
+to commence hostilities against his brother.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 165-166]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i162.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="294" alt="William receiving Tostig&#39;s Tidings." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">William receiving Tostig&#39;s Tidings.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">William's strength and dexterity.</div>
+
+<p>When Tostig arrived at Rouen, William was in a park which lay in the
+vicinity of the city, trying a new bow that had been recently made for
+him. William was a man of prodigious muscular strength, and they gave
+him the credit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>
+of being able to use easily a bow which nobody else could bend. A part
+of this credit was doubtless due to the etiquette which, in royal
+palaces and grounds, leads all sensible courtiers to take good care
+never to succeed in attempts to excel the king. But, notwithstanding
+this consideration, there is no doubt that the duke really merited a
+great portion of the commendation that he received for his strength and
+dexterity in the use of the bow. It was a weapon in which he took great
+interest. A new one had been made for him, of great elasticity and
+strength, and he had gone out into his park, with his officers, to try
+its powers, when Tostig arrived. Tostig followed him to the place, and
+there advancing to his side, communicated the tidings to him privately.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His surprise.</div>
+
+<p>William was greatly moved by the intelligence. His arrow dropped upon
+the ground. He gave the bow to an attendant. He stood for a time
+speechless, tying and untying the cordon of his cloak in his
+abstraction. Presently he began slowly to move away from the place, and
+to return toward the city. His attendants followed him in silence,
+wondering what the exciting tidings could be which had produced so
+sudden and powerful an effect.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Fitzosborne.<br />His interview with William.</div>
+
+<p>William went into the castle hall, and walked to and fro a long time,
+thoughtful, and evidently agitated. His attendants waited in silence,
+afraid to speak to him. Rumors began at length to circulate among them
+in respect to the nature of the intelligence which had been received. At
+length a great officer of state, named Fitzosborne, arrived at the
+castle. As he passed through the court-yard and gates, the attendants
+and the people, knowing that he possessed in a great degree the
+confidence of his sovereign, asked him what the tidings were that had
+made such an impression. "I know nothing certain about it," said he,
+"but I will soon learn." So saying, he advanced toward William, and
+accosted him by saying, "Why should you conceal from us your news? It is
+reported in the city that the King of England is dead, and that Harold
+has violated his oaths to you, and has seized the kingdom. Is that
+true?"</p>
+
+<p>William acknowledged that that was the intelligence by which he had been
+so vexed and chagrined. Fitzosborne urged the duke not to allow such
+events to depress or dispirit him. "As for the death of Edward," said
+he, "that is an event past and sure, and can not be recalled; but
+Harold's usurpation and treachery <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>admits of a very easy remedy. You
+have the right to the throne, and you have the soldiers necessary to
+enforce that right. Undertake the enterprise boldly. You will be sure to
+succeed."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The great council of state.<br />The embassy to Harold.</div>
+
+<p>William revolved the subject in his mind for a few days, during which
+the exasperation and anger which the first receipt of the intelligence
+had produced upon him was succeeded by calm but indignant deliberation,
+in respect to the course which he should pursue. He concluded to call a
+great council of state, and to lay the case before them&mdash;not for the
+purpose of obtaining their advice, but to call their attention to the
+crisis in a formal and solemn manner, and to prepare them to act in
+concert in the subsequent measures to be pursued. The result of the
+deliberations of this council, guided, doubtless, by William's own
+designs, was, that the first step should be to send an embassy to Harold
+to demand of him the fulfillment of his promises.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold reminded of his promises.</div>
+
+<p>The messenger was accordingly dispatched. He proceeded to London, and
+laid before Harold the communication with which he had been intrusted.
+This communication recounted the three promises which Harold had made,
+namely, to send his daughter to Normandy to be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>married to one of
+William's generals; to marry William's daughter himself; and to maintain
+William's claims to the English crown on the death of Edward. He was to
+remind Harold, also, of the solemnity with which he had bound himself to
+fulfill these obligations, by oaths taken in the presence of the most
+sacred relics of the Church, and in the most public and deliberate
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>Harold replied,</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His replies.</div>
+
+<p>1. That as to sending over his daughter to be married to one of
+William's generals, he could not do it, for his daughter was dead. He
+presumed, he said, that William did not wish him to send the corpse.</p>
+
+<p>2. In respect to marrying William's daughter, to whom he had been
+affianced in Normandy, he was sorry to say that that was also out of his
+power, as he could not take a foreign wife without the consent of his
+people, which he was confident would never be given; besides, he was
+already married, he said, to a Saxon lady of his own dominions.</p>
+
+<p>3. In regard to the kingdom: it did not depend upon him, he said, to
+decide who should rule over England as Edward's successor, but upon the
+will of Edward himself, and upon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>English people. The English barons
+and nobles had decided, with Edward's concurrence, that he, Harold, was
+their legitimate and proper sovereign, and that it was not for him to
+controvert their will. However much he might be disposed to comply with
+William's wishes, and to keep his promise, it was plain that it was out
+of his power, for in promising him the English crown, he had promised
+what did not belong to him to give.</p>
+
+<p>4. As to his oaths, he said that, notwithstanding the secret presence of
+the sacred relics under the cloth of gold, he considered them as of no
+binding force upon his conscience, for he was constrained to take them
+as the only means of escaping from the duress in which he was virtually
+held in Normandy. Promises, and oaths even, when extorted by necessity,
+were null and void.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Return of the messenger.</div>
+
+<p>The messenger returned to Normandy with these replies, and William
+immediately began to prepare for war.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William prepares for war.</div>
+
+<p>His first measure was to call a council of his most confidential friends
+and advisers, and to lay the subject before them. They cordially
+approved of the plan of an invasion of England, and promised to
+co-operate in the accomplishment of it to the utmost of their power.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">William calls a general council.<br />Want of funds.<br />Means of
+raising money.</div>
+
+<p>The next step was to call a general council of all the chieftains and
+nobles of the land, and also the <i>notables</i>, as they were called, or
+principal officers and municipal authorities of the <i>towns</i>. The main
+point of interest for the consideration of this assembly was, whether
+the country would submit to the necessary taxation for raising the
+necessary funds. William had ample power, as duke, to decide upon the
+invasion and to undertake it. He could also, without much difficulty,
+raise the necessary number of men; for every baron in his realm was
+bound, by the feudal conditions on which he held his land, to furnish
+his quota of men for any military enterprise in which his sovereign
+might see fit to engage. But for so distant and vast an undertaking as
+this, William needed a much larger supply of <i>funds</i> than were usually
+required in the wars of those days. For raising such large supplies, the
+political institutions of the Middle Ages had not made any adequate
+provision. Governments then had no power of taxation, like that so
+freely exercised in modern times; and even now, taxes in France and
+England take the form of <i>grants</i> from the people to the kings. And as
+to the contrivance, so exceedingly ingenious, by which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>inexhaustible
+resources are opened to governments at the present day&mdash;that is, the
+plan of borrowing the money, and leaving posterity to pay or repudiate
+the debt, as they please, no minister of finance had, in William's day,
+been brilliant enough to discover it. Thus each ruler had to rely, then,
+mainly on the rents and income from his own lands, and other private
+resources, for the comparatively small amount of money that he needed in
+his brief campaigns. But now William perceived that ships must be built
+and equipped, and great stores of provisions accumulated, and arms and
+munitions of war provided, all which would require a considerable
+outlay; and how was this money to be obtained?</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Adverse views.</div>
+
+<p>The general assembly which he convened were greatly distracted by the
+discussion of the question. The quiet and peaceful citizens who
+inhabited the towns, the artisans and tradesmen, who wished for nothing
+but to be allowed to go on in their industrial pursuits in peace, were
+opposed to the whole project. They thought it unreasonable and absurd
+that they should be required to contribute from their earnings to enable
+their lord and master to go off on so distant and desperate an
+undertaking, from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>which, even if successful, they could derive no
+benefit whatever. Many of the barons, too, were opposed to the scheme.
+They thought it very likely to end in disaster and defeat; and they
+denied that their feudal obligation to furnish men for their sovereign's
+wars was binding to the extent of requiring them to go out of the
+country, and beyond the sea, to prosecute his claims to the throne of
+another kingdom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Various opinions.<br />Confusion and disorder.</div>
+
+<p>Others, on the other hand, among the members of William's assembly, were
+strongly disposed to favor the plan. They were more ardent or more
+courageous than the rest, or perhaps their position and circumstances
+were such that they had more to hope from the success of the enterprise
+than they, or less to fear from its failure. Thus there was great
+diversity of opinion; and as the parliamentary system of rules, by which
+a body of turbulent men, in modern times, are kept in some semblance of
+organization and order during a debate, had not then been developed, the
+meeting of these Norman deliberators was, for a time, a scene of uproar
+and confusion. The members gathered in groups, each speaker getting
+around him as many as he could obtain to listen to his harangue; the
+more quiet and passive portion of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>the assembly moving to and fro, from
+group to group, as they were attracted by the earnestness and eloquence
+of the different speakers, or by their approval of the sentiments which
+they heard them expressing. The scene, in fact, was like that presented
+in exciting times by a political caucus in America, before it is called
+to order by the chairman.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Plan of Fitzosborne.<br />It is adopted by William.<br />Success of
+Fitzosborne's plan.<br />Supplies flow in liberally.</div>
+
+<p>Fitzosborne, the confidential friend and counselor, who has already been
+mentioned as the one who ventured to accost the duke at the time when
+the tidings of Edward's death and of Harold's accession first reached
+him, now seeing that any thing like definite and harmonious action on
+the part of this tumultuous assembly was out of the question, went to
+the duke, and proposed to him to give up the assembly as such, and make
+the best terms and arrangements that he could with the constituent
+elements of it, individually and severally. He would himself, he said,
+furnish forty ships, manned, equipped, and provisioned; and he
+recommended to the duke to call each of the others into his presence,
+and ask them what they were individually willing to do. The duke adopted
+this plan, and it was wonderfully successful. Those who were first
+invited made large offers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>and their offers were immediately registered
+in form by the proper officers. Each one who followed was emulous of the
+example of those who had preceded him, and desirous of evincing as much
+zeal and generosity as they. Then, besides, the duke received these
+vassals with so much condescension and urbanity, and treated them with
+so much consideration and respect, as greatly to flatter their vanity,
+and raise them in their own estimation, by exalting their ideas of the
+importance of the services which they could render in carrying so vast
+an enterprise to a successful result. In a word, the tide turned like a
+flood in favor of granting liberal supplies. The nobles and knights
+promised freely men, money, ships, arms, provisions&mdash;every thing, in
+short, that was required; and when the work of receiving and registering
+the offers was completed, and the officers summed up the aggregate
+amount, William found, to his extreme satisfaction, that his wants were
+abundantly supplied.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Embassage to the pope.</div>
+
+<p>There was another very important point, which William adopted immediate
+measures to secure, and that was obtaining the <i>Pope's</i> approval of his
+intended expedition. The moral influence of having the Roman pontiff on
+his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>side, would, he knew, be of incalculable advantage to him. He sent
+an embassage, accordingly, to Rome, to lay the whole subject before his
+holiness, and to pray that the pope would declare that he was justly
+entitled to the English crown, and authorize him to proceed and take
+possession of it by force of arms. Lanfranc was the messenger whom he
+employed&mdash;the same Lanfranc who had been so successful, some years
+before, in the negotiations at Rome connected with the confirmation of
+William and Matilda's marriage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its success.</div>
+
+<p>Lanfranc was equally successful now. The pope, after examining William's
+claims, pronounced them valid. He decided that William was entitled to
+the rank and honors of King of England. He caused a formal diploma to be
+made out to this effect. The diploma was elegantly executed, signed with
+the cross, according to the pontifical custom, and sealed with a round
+leaden seal.<a name="FNanchor_J_10" id="FNanchor_J_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_J_10" class="fnanchor">[J]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Reasons why the pope favored William's claims.</div>
+
+<p>It was, in fact, very natural that the Roman authorities should take a
+favorable view of William's enterprise, and feel an interest in its
+success, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>as it was undoubtedly for the interest of the Church that
+William, rather than Harold, should reign over England, as the accession
+of William would bring the English realm far more fully under the
+influence of the Roman Church. William had always been very submissive
+to the pontifical authority, as was shown in his conduct in respect to
+the question of his marriage. He himself, and also Matilda his wife, had
+always taken a warm interest in the welfare and prosperity of the
+abbeys, the monasteries, the churches, and the other religious
+establishments of the times. Then the very circumstance that he sent his
+embassador to Rome to submit his claims to the pontiff's adjudication,
+while Harold did not do so, indicated a greater deference for the
+authority of the Church, and made it probable that he would be a far
+more obedient and submissive son of the Church, in his manner of ruling
+his realm, if he should succeed in gaining possession of it, than Harold
+his rival. The pope and his counselors at Rome thought it proper to take
+all these things into the account in deciding between William and
+Harold, as they honestly believed, without doubt, that it was their
+first and highest duty to exalt and aggrandize, by every possible means,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>the spiritual authority of the sacred institution over which they were
+called to preside.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The banner and the ring.</div>
+
+<p>The pope and his cardinals, accordingly, espoused William's cause very
+warmly. In addition to the diploma which gave William formal authority
+to take possession of the English crown, the pope sent him a banner and
+a ring. The banner was of costly and elegant workmanship; its value,
+however, did not consist in its elegance or its cost, but in a solemn
+benediction which his holiness pronounced over it, by which it was
+rendered sacred and inviolable. The banner, thus blessed, was forwarded
+to William by Lanfranc with great care.</p>
+
+<p>It was accompanied by the ring. The ring was of gold, and it contained a
+diamond of great value. The gold and the diamond both, however, served
+only as settings to preserve and honor something of far greater value
+than they. This choice treasure was a hair from the head of the Apostle
+Peter! a sacred relic of miraculous virtue and of inestimable value.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Excitement produced by their reception.</div>
+
+<p>When the edict with its leaden seal, and the banner and the ring arrived
+in Normandy, they produced a great and universal excitement. To have
+bestowed upon the enterprise thus emphatically the solemn sanction of
+the great spiritual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>head of the Church, to whom the great mass of the
+people looked up with an awe and a reverence almost divine, was to seal
+indissolubly the rightfulness of the enterprise, and to insure its
+success. There was thenceforward no difficulty in procuring men or
+means. Every body was eager to share in the glory, and to obtain the
+rewards, of an enterprise thus commended by an authority duly
+commissioned to express, in all such cases, the judgment of Heaven.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's proclamations.<br />Their effects.<br />William's promises.</div>
+
+<p>Finding that the current was thus fairly setting in his favor, William
+sent proclamations into all the countries surrounding Normandy, inviting
+knights, and soldiers, and adventurers of every degree to join him in
+his projected enterprise. These proclamations awakened universal
+attention. Great numbers of adventurous men determined to enter
+William's service. Horses, arms, and accoutrements were everywhere in
+great demand. The invasion of England and the question of joining it
+were the universal topics of conversation. The roads were covered with
+knights and soldiers, some on horseback and alone, others in bands,
+large or small, all proceeding to Normandy to tender their services.
+William received them all, and made liberal promises to bestow rewards
+and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>honors upon them in England, in the event of his success. To some
+he offered pay in money; to others, booty; to others, office and power.
+Every one had his price. Even the priests and dignitaries of the Church
+shared the general enthusiasm. One of them furnished a ship and twenty
+armed men, under an agreement to be appointed bishop of a certain
+valuable English diocese when William should be established on his
+throne.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Naval preparations.</div>
+
+<p>While all these movements were going on in the interior of the country,
+all the sea-ports and towns along the coast of Normandy presented a very
+busy scene of naval preparation. Naval architects were employed in great
+numbers in building and fitting out vessels. Some were constructed and
+furnished for the transportation of men, others for conveying provisions
+and munitions of war; and lighters and boats were built for ascending
+the rivers, and for aiding in landing troops upon shelving shores.
+Smiths and armorers were occupied incessantly in manufacturing spears,
+and swords, and coats of mail; while vast numbers of laboring men and
+beasts of burden were employed in conveying arms and materials to and
+from the manufactories to the ships, and from one point of embarkation
+to another.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Philip, king of France.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as William had put all these busy agencies thus in successful
+operation, he considered that there was one more point which it was
+necessary for him to secure before finally embarking, and that was the
+co-operation and aid of the French king, whose name at this time was
+Philip. In his character of Duke of Normandy the King of France was his
+liege lord, and he was bound to act, in some degree, under an
+acknowledgment of his superior authority. In his new capacity, that is,
+as King of England, or, rather, as heir to the English kingdom, he was,
+of course, wholly independent of Philip, and, consequently, not bound by
+any feudal obligation to look to him at all. He thought it most prudent,
+however, to attempt, at least, to conciliate Philip's favor, and,
+accordingly, leaving his officers and his workmen to go on with the work
+of organizing his army and of building and equipping the fleet, he set
+off, himself, on an expedition to the court of the French king. He
+thought it safer to undertake this delicate mission himself, rather than
+to intrust it to an embassador or deputy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's visit to him.<br />William's interview with Philip.</div>
+
+<p>He found Philip at his palace of St. Germain's, which was situated at a
+short distance from Paris. The duke assumed, in his interview <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>with the
+king, a very respectful and deferential air and manner. Philip was a
+very young man, though haughty and vain. William was very much his
+superior, not only in age and experience, but in talents and character,
+and in personal renown. Still, he approached the monarch with all the
+respectful observance due from a vassal to his sovereign, made known his
+plans, and asked for Philip's approbation and aid. He was willing, he
+said, in case that aid was afforded him, to hold his kingdom of England,
+as he had done the duchy of Normandy, as a dependency of the French
+crown.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Philip opposes his plans.</div>
+
+<p>Philip seemed not at all disposed to look upon the project with favor.
+He asked William who was going to take care of his duchy while he was
+running off after a kingdom. William replied, at first, that that was a
+subject which he did not think his neighbors need concern themselves
+about. Then thinking, on reflection, that a more respectful answer would
+be more politic, under the circumstances of the case, he added, that he
+was providentially blessed with a prudent wife and loving subjects, and
+that he thought he might safely leave his domestic affairs in their
+hands until he should return. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>Philip still opposed the plan. It was
+Quixotic, he said, and dangerous. He strongly advised William to abandon
+the scheme, and be content with his present possessions. Such desperate
+schemes of ambition as those he was contemplating would only involve him
+in ruin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Council of nobles.<br />Result of their deliberations.</div>
+
+<p>Before absolutely deciding the case, however, Philip called a council of
+his great nobles and officers of state, and laid William's proposals
+before them. The result of their deliberations was to confirm Philip in
+his first decision. They said that the rendering to William the aid
+which he desired would involve great expense, and be attended with great
+danger; and as to William's promises to hold England as a vassal of the
+King of France, they had no faith in the performance of them. It had
+been very difficult, they said, for many years, for the kings of France
+to maintain any effectual authority over the dukes of Normandy, and when
+once master of so distant and powerful a realm as England, all control
+over them would be sundered forever.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's return.</div>
+
+<p>Philip then gave William his final answer in accordance with these
+counsels. The answer was received, on William's part, with strong
+feelings of disappointment and displeasure. Philip conducted the duke to
+his retinue when the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>hour of departure arrived, in order to soothe, as
+far as possible, his irritated feelings, by dismissing him from his
+court with marks of his honorable consideration and regard. William,
+however, was not in a mood to be pleased. He told Philip, on taking
+leave of him, that he was losing the most powerful vassal that any lord
+sovereign ever had, by the course which he had decided to pursue. "I
+would have held the whole realm of England as a part of your dominions,
+acknowledging you as sovereign over all, if you had consented to render
+me your aid, but I will not do it since you refuse. I shall feel bound
+to repay only those who assist me."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Final preparations.<br />Matilda made duchess regent.</div>
+
+<p>William returned to Normandy, where all the preparations for the
+expedition had been going on with great vigor during his absence, and
+proceeded to make arrangements for the last great measure which it was
+necessary to take previous to his departure; that was, the regular
+constitution of a government to rule in Normandy while he should be
+gone. He determined to leave the supreme power in the hands of his wife
+Matilda, appointing, at the same time, a number of civil and military
+officers as a council of regency, who were to assist her in her
+deliberations by giving her information <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>and advice, and to manage,
+under her direction, the different departments of the government. Her
+title was "Duchess Regent," and she was installed into her office in a
+public and solemn manner, at a great assembly of the estates of the
+realm. At the close of the ceremonies, after William had given Matilda
+his charge, he closed his address by adding, "And do not let us fail to
+enjoy the benefit of your prayers, and those of all the ladies of your
+court, that the blessing of God may attend us, and secure the success of
+our expedition."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's motives.<br />Republican sentiments.<br />Hereditary
+sovereigns.</div>
+
+<p>We are not necessarily to suppose, as we might at first be strongly
+inclined to do, that there was any special hypocrisy and pretense in
+William's thus professing to rely on the protection of Heaven in the
+personal and political dangers which he was about to incur. It is
+probable that he honestly believed that the inheritance of the English
+crown was his right, and, that being the case, that a vigorous and manly
+effort to enforce his right was a solemn duty. In the present age of the
+world, now that there are so many countries in which intelligence,
+industry, and love of order are so extensively diffused that the mass of
+the community are capable of organizing and administering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>a government
+themselves, republicans are apt to look upon hereditary sovereigns as
+despots, ruling only for the purpose of promoting their own
+aggrandizement, and the ends of an unholy and selfish ambition. That
+there have been a great many such despots no one can deny; but then, on
+the other hand, there have been many others who have acted, in a greater
+or less degree, under the influence of principles of duty in their
+political career. They have honestly believed that the vast power with
+which, in coming forward into life, they have found themselves invested,
+without, in most cases, any agency of their own, was a trust imposed
+upon them by divine Providence, which could not innocently be laid
+aside; that on them devolved the protection of the communities over
+which they ruled from external hostility, and the preservation of peace
+and order within, and the promotion of the general industry and welfare,
+as an imperious and solemn duty; and they have devoted their lives to
+the performance of this duty, with the usual mixture, it is true, of
+ambition and selfishness, but still, after all, with as much
+conscientiousness and honesty as the mass of men in the humbler walks of
+life evince in performing theirs. William of Normandy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>appears to have
+been one of this latter class; and in obeying the dictates of his
+ambition in seeking to gain possession of the English crown, he no doubt
+considered himself as fulfilling the obligations of duty too.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Enthusiasm of the people.<br />The two-tailed comet.</div>
+
+<p>However this may be, he went on with his preparations in the most
+vigorous and prosperous manner. The whole country were enthusiastic in
+the cause; and their belief that the enterprise about to be undertaken
+had unquestionably secured the favor of Heaven, was confirmed by an
+extraordinary phenomenon which occurred just before the armament was
+ready to set sail. A comet appeared in the sky, which, as close
+observers declared, had a double tail. It was universally agreed that
+this portended that England and Normandy were about to be combined, and
+to form a double kingdom, which should exhibit to all mankind a
+wonderful spectacle of splendor.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Crossing the Channel.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1066</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The River Dive.<br />Final assembling of the fleet.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span>
+place for the final assembling of the fleet which was to convey the
+expedition across the Channel was the mouth of a small river called the
+Dive, which will be seen upon the following map, flowing from the
+neighborhood of the castle of Falaise northward into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>sea. The grand
+gathering took place in the beginning of the month of September, in the
+year 1066. This date, which marks the era of the Norman Conquest, is one
+of the dates which students of history fix indelibly in the memory.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Map.</div>
+
+<p><a name="secondmap" id="secondmap"></a></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 372px;">
+<img src="images/i185.jpg" class="jpg ispace" width="372" height="350" alt="Normandy." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">Normandy.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Brilliant and magnificent scene.</div>
+
+<p>The gathering of the fleet in the estuary of the Dive, and the
+assembling of the troops on the beach along its shores, formed a very
+grand and imposing spectacle. The fleets of galleys, ships, boats, and
+barges covering the surface of the water&mdash;the long lines of tents under
+the cliffs on the land&mdash;the horsemen, splendidly mounted, and glittering
+with steel&mdash;the groups of soldiers, all busily engaged in transporting
+provisions and stores to and fro, or making the preliminary arrangements
+for the embarkation&mdash;the thousands of spectators who came and went
+incessantly, and the duke himself, gorgeously dressed, and mounted on
+his war-horse, with the guards and officers that attended him&mdash;these,
+and the various other elements of martial parade and display usually
+witnessed on such occasions, conspired to produce a very gay and
+brilliant, as well as magnificent scene.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Equinoctial gales.<br />The expedition detained by them.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the assembling of so large a force of men and of vessels, and
+the various preparations for the embarkation, consumed some time, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>and
+when at length all was ready&mdash;which was early in September&mdash;the
+equinoctial gales came on, and it was found impossible to leave the
+port. There was, in fact, a continuance of heavy winds and seas, and
+stormy skies, for several weeks. Short intervals, from time to time,
+occurred, when the clouds would break away, and the sun appear; but
+these intervals did not liberate the fleet from its confinement, for
+they were not long enough in duration to allow the sea to go down. The
+surf continued to come rolling and thundering in upon the shore, and
+over the sand-bars at the mouth of the river, making destruction the
+almost inevitable destiny of any ship which should undertake to brave
+its fury. The state of the skies gradually robbed the scene of the gay
+and brilliant colors which first it wore. The vessels furled their
+sails, and drew in their banners, and rode at anchor, presenting their
+heads doggedly to the storm. The men on the shore sought shelter in
+their tents. The spectators retired to their homes, while the duke and
+his officers watched the scudding clouds in the sky, day after day, with
+great and increasing anxiety.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Injurious effects of the storm.<br />Discouragement of the men.<br />
+Fears and forebodings.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, William had very serious cause for apprehension in respect to
+the effect which this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>long-continued storm was to have on the success
+of his enterprise. The delay was a very serious consideration in itself,
+for the winter would soon be drawing near. In one month more it would
+seem to be out of the question for such a vast armament to cross the
+Channel at all. Then, when men are embarking in such dark and hazardous
+undertakings as that in which William was now engaged, their spirits and
+their energy rise and sink in great fluctuations, under the influence of
+very slight and inadequate causes; and nothing has greater influence
+over them at such times than the aspect of the skies. William found that
+the ardor and enthusiasm of his army were fast disappearing under the
+effects of chilling winds and driving rain. The feelings of discontent
+and depression which the frowning expression of the heavens awakened in
+their minds, were deepened and spread by the influence of sympathy. The
+men had nothing to do, during the long and dreary hours of the day, but
+to anticipate hardships and dangers, and to entertain one another, as
+they watched the clouds driving along the cliffs, and the rolling of the
+surges in the offing, with anticipations of shipwrecks, battles, and
+defeats, and all the other gloomy forebodings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>which haunt the
+imagination of a discouraged and discontented soldier.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Some of the vessels wrecked.</div>
+
+<p>Nor were these ideas of wrecks and destruction wholly imaginary.
+Although the body of the fleet remained in the river, where it was
+sheltered from the winds, yet there were many cases of single ships that
+were from time to time exposed to them. These were detached vessels
+coming in late to the rendezvous, or small squadrons sent out to some
+neighboring port under some necessity connected with the preparations,
+or strong galleys, whose commanders, more bold than the rest, were
+willing, in cases <i>not</i> of absolute necessity, to brave the danger. Many
+of these vessels were wrecked. The fragments of them, with the bodies of
+the drowned mariners, were driven to the shore. The ghastly spectacles
+presented by these dead bodies, swollen and mangled, and half buried in
+the sand, as if the sea had been endeavoring to hide the mischief it had
+done, shocked and terrified the spectators who saw them. William gave
+orders to have all these bodies gathered up and interred secretly, as
+fast as they were found; still, exaggerated rumors of the number and
+magnitude of these disasters were circulated in the camp, and the
+discontent and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>apprehensions grew every day more and more alarming.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Favorable change.<br />The fleet puts to sea.</div>
+
+<p>William resolved that he must put to sea at the very first possible
+opportunity. The favorable occasion was not long wanting. The wind
+changed. The storm appeared to cease. A breeze sprang up from the south,
+which headed back the surges from the French shore. William gave orders
+to embark. The tents were struck. The baggage of the soldiers was sent
+on board the transport vessels. The men themselves, crowded into great
+flat-bottomed boats, passed in masses to the ships from the shore. The
+spectators reappeared, and covered the cliffs and promontories near, to
+witness the final scene. The sails were hoisted, and the vast armament
+moved out upon the sea.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Various delays.</div>
+
+<p>The appearance of a favorable change in the weather proved fallacious
+after all, for the clouds and storm returned, and after being driven, in
+apprehension and danger, about a hundred miles to the northeast along
+the coast, the fleet was compelled to seek refuge again in a harbor. The
+port which received them was St. Valery, near Dieppe. The duke was
+greatly disappointed at being obliged thus again to take the land.
+Still, the attempt to advance had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>not been a labor wholly lost; for as
+the French coast here trends to the northward, they had been gradually
+narrowing the channel as they proceeded, and were, in fact, so far on
+the way toward the English shores. Then there were, besides, some
+reasons for touching here, before the final departure, to receive some
+last re-enforcements and supplies. William had also one more opportunity
+of communicating with his capital and with Matilda.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Its effects.<br />Harold's want of information.<br />He withdraws his
+troops.</div>
+
+<p>These delays, disastrous as they seemed to be, and ominous of evil, were
+nevertheless attended with one good effect, of which, however, William
+at the time was not aware. They led Harold, in England, to imagine that
+the enterprise was abandoned, and so put him off his guard. There were
+in those days, as has already been remarked, no regular and public modes
+of intercommunication, by which intelligence of important movements and
+events was spread every where, as now, with promptness and certainty.
+Governments were obliged, accordingly, to rely for information, in
+respect to what their enemies were doing, on rumors, or on the reports
+of spies. Rumors had gone to England in August that William was
+meditating an invasion, and Harold had made some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>extensive preparations
+to meet and oppose him; but, finding that he did not come&mdash;that week
+after week of September passed away, and no signs of an enemy appeared,
+and gaining no certain information of the causes of the delay, he
+concluded that the enterprise was abandoned, or else, perhaps, postponed
+to the ensuing spring. Accordingly, as the winter was coming on, he
+deemed it best to commence his preparations for sending his troops to
+their winter quarters. He disbanded some of them, and sent others away,
+distributing them in various castles and fortified towns, where they
+would be sheltered from the rigors of the season, and saved from the
+exposure and hardships of the camp, and yet, at the same time, remain
+within reach of a summons in case of any sudden emergency which might
+call for them. They were soon summoned, though not, in the first
+instance, to meet Harold, as will presently appear.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's vigilance.</div>
+
+<p>While adopting these measures, however, which he thought the comfort and
+safety of his army required, Harold did not relax his vigilance in
+watching, as well as he could, the designs and movements of his enemy.
+He kept his secret agents on the southern coast, ordering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>them to
+observe closely every thing that transpired, and to gather and send to
+him every item of intelligence which should find its way by any means
+across the Channel. Of course, William would do all in his power to
+intercept and cut off all communication, and he was, at this time, very
+much aided in these efforts by the prevalence of the storms, which made
+it almost impossible for the fishing and trading vessels of the coast to
+venture out to sea, or attempt to cross the Channel. The agents of
+Harold, therefore, on the southern coast of England, found that they
+could obtain but very little information.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He sends spies into Normandy.</div>
+
+<p>At length the king, unwilling to remain any longer so entirely in the
+dark, resolved on sending some messengers across the sea into Normandy
+itself, to learn positively what the true state of the case might be.
+Messengers going thus secretly into the enemy's territory, or into the
+enemy's camp, become, by so doing, in martial law, <i>spies</i>, and incur,
+if they are taken, the penalty of death. The undertaking, therefore, is
+extremely hazardous; and as the death which is inflicted in cases of
+detection is an ignominious one&mdash;spies being hung, not shot&mdash;most men
+are very averse to encountering the danger. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>Still, desperate characters
+are always to be found in camps and armies, who are ready to undertake
+it on being promised very extraordinary pay.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's spies.<br />They are detected.</div>
+
+<p>Harold's spies contrived to make their way across the Channel, probably
+at some point far to the east of Normandy, where the passage is narrow.
+They then came along the shore, disguised as peasants of the country,
+and they arrived at St. Valery while William's fleets were there. Here
+they began to make their observations, scrutinizing every thing with
+close attention and care, and yet studiously endeavoring to conceal
+their interest in what they saw. Notwithstanding all their vigilance,
+however, they were discovered, proved to be spies, and taken before
+William to receive their sentence.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William dismisses the spies.</div>
+
+<p>Instead of condemning them to death, which they undoubtedly supposed
+would be their inevitable fate, William ordered them to be set at
+liberty. "Go back," said he, "to King Harold, and tell him he might have
+saved himself the expense of sending spies into Normandy to learn what I
+am preparing for him. He will soon know by other means&mdash;much sooner, in
+fact, than he imagines. Go and tell him from me that he may put himself,
+if he pleases, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>the safest place he can find in all his dominions,
+and if he does not find my hand upon him before the year is out, he
+never need fear me again as long as he lives."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His confidence in his cause.</div>
+
+<p>Nor was this expression of confidence in the success of the measures
+which he was taking a mere empty boast. William knew the power of
+Harold, and he knew his own. The enterprise in which he had embarked was
+not a rash adventure. It was a cool, deliberate, well-considered plan.
+It appeared doubtful and dangerous in the eyes of mankind, for to mere
+superficial observers it seemed simply an aggressive war waged by a duke
+of Normandy, the ruler of a comparatively small and insignificant
+province, against a king of England, the monarch of one of the greatest
+and most powerful realms in the world. William, on the other hand,
+regarded it as an effort on the part of the rightful heir to a throne to
+dispossess a usurper. He felt confident of having the sympathy and
+co-operation of a great part of the community, even in England, the
+moment he could show them that he was able to maintain his rights; and
+that he could show them that, by a very decisive demonstration, was
+evident, visibly, before him, in the vast fleet which was riding at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>anchor in the harbor, and in the long lines of tents, filled with
+soldiery, which covered the land.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Fears of William's officers.<br />He reassures them.</div>
+
+<p>On one occasion, when some of his officers were expressing apprehensions
+of Harold's power, and their fears in respect to their being able
+successfully to cope with it, William replied, that the more formidable
+Harold's power should prove to be, the better he should be pleased, as
+the glory would be all the greater for them in having overcome it. "I
+have no objection," said he, "that you should entertain exalted ideas of
+his strength, though I wonder a little that you do not better appreciate
+our own. I need be under no concern lest he, at such a distance, should
+learn too much, by his spies, about the force which I am bringing
+against him, when you, who are so near me, seem to know so little about
+it. But do not give yourselves any concern. Trust to the justice of your
+cause and to my foresight. Perform your parts like men, and you will
+find that the result which I feel sure of, and you hope for, will
+certainly be attained."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival of Matilda with the Mira.<br />A present to William.</div>
+
+<p>The storm at length entirely cleared away, and the army and the fleet
+commenced their preparations for the final departure. In the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>midst of
+this closing scene, the attention of all the vast crowds assembled on
+board the ships and on the shores was one morning attracted by a
+beautiful ship which came sailing into the harbor. It proved to be a
+large and splendid vessel which the Duchess Matilda had built, at her
+own expense, and was now bringing in, to offer to her husband as her
+parting gift. She was herself on board, with her officers and
+attendants, having come to witness her husband's departure, and to bid
+him farewell. Her arrival, of course, under such circumstances, produced
+universal excitement and enthusiasm. The ships in harbor and the shores
+resounded with acclamations as the new arrival came gallantly in.</p>
+
+<p>Matilda's vessel was finely built and splendidly decorated. The sails
+were of different colors, which gave it a very gay appearance. Upon them
+were painted, in various places, the three lions, which was the device
+of the Norman ensign. At the bows of the ship was an effigy, or
+figure-head, representing William and Matilda's second son shooting with
+a bow. This was the accomplishment which, of all others, his father took
+most interest in seeing his little son acquire. The arrow was drawn
+nearly to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>its head, indicating great strength in the little arms which
+were guiding it, and it was just ready to fly. The name of this vessel
+was the Mira. William made it his flag ship. He hoisted upon its mast
+head the consecrated banner which had been sent to him from Rome, and
+went on board accompanied by his officers and guards, and with great
+ceremony and parade.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The squadron puts to sea again.<br />Its appearance.</div>
+
+<p>At length the squadron was ready to put to sea. At a given signal the
+sails were hoisted, and the whole fleet began to move slowly out of the
+harbor. There were four hundred ships of large size, if we may believe
+the chronicles of the times, and more than a thousand transports. The
+decks of all these vessels were covered with men; banners were streaming
+from every mast and spar; and every salient point of the shore was
+crowded with spectators. The sea was calm, the air serene, and the
+mighty cloud of canvas which whitened the surface of the water moved
+slowly on over the gentle swell of the waves, forming a spectacle which,
+as a picture merely for the eye, was magnificent and grand, and, when
+regarded in connection with the vast results to the human race which
+were to flow from the success of the enterprise, must have been
+considered sublime.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Fleetness of the Mira.<br />Leaves the fleet out of sight.</div>
+
+<p>The splendidly decorated ship which Matilda had presented to her husband
+proved itself, on trial, to be something more than a mere toy. It led
+the van at the commencement, of course; and as all eyes watched its
+progress, it soon became evident that it was slowly gaining upon the
+rest of the squadron, so as continually to increase its distance from
+those that were following it. William, pleased with the success of its
+performance, ordered the sailing master to keep on, without regard to
+those who were behind; and thus it happened that, when night came on,
+the fleet was at very considerable distance in rear of the flag ship. Of
+course, under these circumstances, the fleet disappeared from sight when
+the sun went down, but all expected that it would come into view again
+in the morning. When the morning came, however, to the surprise and
+disappointment of every one on board the flag ship, no signs of the
+fleet were to be seen. The seamen, and the officers on the deck, gazed
+long and intently into the southern horizon as the increasing light of
+the morning brought it gradually into view, but there was not a speck to
+break its smooth and even line.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's unconcern.</div>
+
+<p>They felt anxious and uneasy, but William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>seemed to experience no
+concern. He ordered the sails to be furled, and then sent a man to the
+mast head to look out there. Nothing was to be seen. William, still
+apparently unconcerned, ordered breakfast to be prepared in a very
+sumptuous manner, loading the tables with wine and other delicacies,
+that the minds of all on board might be cheered by the exhilarating
+influence of a feast. At length the lookout was sent to the mast head
+again. "What do you see now?" said William. "I see," said the man,
+gazing very intently all the while toward the south, "four <i>very small
+specks</i> just in the horizon." The intense interest which this
+announcement awakened on the deck was soon at the same time <i>heightened</i>
+and <i>relieved</i> by the cry, "I can see more and more&mdash;they are the
+ships&mdash;yes, the whole squadron is coming into view."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Reappearance of the fleet.</div>
+
+<p>The advancing fleet soon came up with the Mira, when the latter spread
+her sails again, and all moved slowly on together toward the coast of
+England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The fleet enters the Bay of Pevensey.</div>
+
+<p>The ships had directed their course so much to the eastward, that when
+they made the land they were not very far from the Straits of Dover. As
+they drew near to the English shore, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>they watched very narrowly for the
+appearance of Harold's cruisers, which they naturally expected would
+have been stationed at various points, to guard the coast; but none were
+to be seen. There had been such cruisers, and there still were such off
+the other harbors; but it happened, very fortunately for William, that
+those which had been stationed to guard this part of the island had been
+withdrawn a few days before, on account of their provisions being
+exhausted. Thus, when William's fleet arrived, there was no enemy to
+oppose their landing. There was a large and open bay, called the Bay of
+Pevensey, which lay smiling before them, extending its arms as if
+inviting them in. The fleet advanced to within the proper distance from
+the land, and there the seamen cast their anchors, and all began to
+prepare for the work of disembarkation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Disembarkation.<br />Landing of the troops.<br />Anecdote.</div>
+
+<p>A strong body of soldiery is of course landed first on such occasions.
+In this instance the archers, William's favorite corps, were selected to
+take the lead. William accompanied them. In his eagerness to get to the
+shore, as he leaped from the boat, his foot slipped, and he fell. The
+officers and men around him would have considered this an evil omen; but
+he had presence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>of mind enough to extend his arms and grasp the ground,
+pretending that his prostration was designed, and saying at the same
+time, "Thus I seize this land; from this moment it is mine." As he
+arose, one of his officers ran to a neighboring hut which stood near by
+upon the shore, and breaking off a little of the thatch, carried it to
+William, and, putting it into his hand, said that he thus gave him
+<i>seizin</i> of his new possessions. This was a customary form, in those
+times, of putting a new owner into possession of lands which he had
+purchased or acquired in any other way. The new proprietor would repair
+to the ground, where the party whose province it was to deliver the
+property would detach something from it, such as a piece of turf from a
+bank, or a little of the thatch from a cottage, and offering it to him,
+would say, "Thus I deliver thee <i>seizin</i>," that is, <i>possession</i>, "of
+this land." This ceremony was necessary to complete the conveyance of
+the estate.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The encampment.</div>
+
+<p>The soldiers, as soon as they were landed, began immediately to form an
+encampment, and to make such military arrangements as were necessary to
+guard against an attack, or the sudden appearance of an enemy. While
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>this was going on, the boats continued to pass to and fro,
+accomplishing, as fast as possible, the work of disembarkation. In
+addition to those regularly attached to the army, there was a vast
+company of workmen of all kinds, engineers, pioneers, carpenters,
+masons, and laborers, to be landed; and there were three towers, or
+rather forts, built of timber, which had been framed and fashioned in
+Normandy, ready to be put up on arriving: these had now to be landed,
+piece by piece, on the strand. These forts were to be erected as soon as
+the army should have chosen a position for a permanent encampment, and
+were intended as a means of protection for the provisions and stores.
+The circumstance shows that the plan of transporting buildings ready
+made, across the seas, has not been invented anew by our emigrants to
+California.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scouts sent out.<br />William's supper.</div>
+
+<p>While these operations were going on, William dispatched small squadrons
+of horse as reconnoitering parties, to explore the country around, to
+see if there were any indications that Harold was near. These parties
+returned, one after another, after having gone some miles into the
+country in all directions, and reported that there were no signs of an
+enemy to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>be seen. Things were now getting settled, too, in the camp,
+and William gave directions that the army should kindle their camp fires
+for the night, and prepare and eat their suppers. His own supper, or
+dinner, as perhaps it might be called, was also served, which he
+partook, with his officers, in his own tent. His mind was in a state of
+great contentment and satisfaction at the successful accomplishment of
+the landing, and at finding himself thus safely established, at the head
+of a vast force, within the realm of England.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The missing ships.</div>
+
+<p>Every circumstance of the transit had been favorable excepting one, and
+that was, that two of the ships belonging to the fleet were missing.
+William inquired at supper if any tidings of them had been received.
+They told him, in reply, that the missing vessels had been heard from;
+they had, in some way or other, been run upon the rocks and lost. There
+was a certain astrologer, who had made a great parade, before the
+expedition left Normandy, of predicting its result. He had found, by
+consulting the stars, that William would be successful, and would meet
+with no opposition from Harold. This astrologer had been on board one of
+the missing ships, and was drowned. William remarked, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>on receiving this
+information, "What an idiot a man must be, to think that he can predict,
+by means of the stars, the future fate of others, when it is so plain
+that he can not foresee his own!"</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Conqueror's Stone.</div>
+
+<p>It is said that William's dinner on this occasion was served on a large
+stone instead of a table. The stone still remains on the spot, and is
+called "the Conqueror's Stone" to this day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">March of the army.<br />Flight of the inhabitants.</div>
+
+<p>The next day after the landing, the army was put in motion, and advanced
+along the coast toward the eastward. There was no armed enemy to contend
+against them there or to oppose their march; the people of the country,
+through which the army moved, far from attempting to resist them, were
+filled with terror and dismay. This terror was heightened, in fact, by
+some excesses of which some parties of the soldiers were guilty. The
+inhabitants of the hamlets and villages, overwhelmed with consternation
+at the sudden descent upon their shores of such a vast horde of wild and
+desperate foreigners, fled in all directions. Some made their escape
+into the interior; others, taking with them the helpless members of
+their households, and such valuables as they could carry, sought refuge
+in monasteries and churches, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>supposing that such sanctuaries as those,
+not even soldiers, unless they were pagans, would dare to violate.
+Others, still, attempted to conceal themselves in thickets and fens till
+the vast throng which was sweeping onward like a tornado should have
+passed. Though William afterward always evinced a decided disposition to
+protect the peaceful inhabitants of the country from all aggressions on
+the part of his troops, he had no time to attend to that subject now. He
+was intent on pressing forward to a place of safety.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The army encamps.<br />The town of Hastings.<br />William's
+fortifications.<br />Approach of Harold.</div>
+
+<p>William reached at length a position which seemed to him suitable for a
+permanent encampment. It was an elevated land, near the sea. To the
+westward of it was a valley formed by a sort of recess opened in the
+range of chalky cliffs which here form the shore of England. In the
+bottom of this valley, down upon the beach, was a small town, then of no
+great consequence or power, but whose name, which was Hastings, has
+since been immortalized by the battle which was fought in its vicinity a
+few days after William's arrival. The position which William selected
+for his encampment was on high land in the vicinity of the town. The
+lines of the encampment were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>marked out, and the forts or castles which
+had been brought from Normandy were set up within the inclosures. Vast
+multitudes of laborers were soon at work, throwing up embankments, and
+building redoubts and bastions, while others were transporting the arms,
+the provisions, and the munitions of war, and storing them in security
+within the lines. The encampment was soon completed, and the long line
+of tents were set up in streets and squares within it. By the time,
+however, that the work was done, some of William's agents and spies came
+into camp from the north, saying that in four days Harold would be upon
+him at the head of a hundred thousand men.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_X" id="Chapter_X"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter X.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Battle of Hastings.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1066</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Tostig.<br />He is driven from England.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span>
+reader will doubtless recollect that the tidings which William first
+received of the accession of King Harold were brought to him by Tostig,
+Harold's brother, on the day when he was trying his bow and arrows in
+the park at Rouen. Tostig was his brother's most inveterate foe. He had
+been, during the reign of Edward, a great chieftain, ruling over the
+north of England. The city of York was then his capital. He had been
+expelled from these his dominions, and had quarreled with his brother
+Harold in respect to his right to be restored to them. In the course of
+this quarrel he was driven from the country altogether, and went to the
+Continent, burning with rage and resentment against his brother; and
+when he came to inform William of Harold's usurpation, his object was
+not merely to arouse <i>William</i> to action&mdash;he wished to act himself. He
+told William that he himself had more influence in England still than
+his brother, and that if William <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>would supply him with a small fleet
+and a moderate number of men, he would make a descent upon the coast and
+show what he could do.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Expedition of Tostig.</div>
+
+<p>William acceded to his proposal, and furnished him with the force which
+he required, and Tostig set sail. William had not, apparently, much
+confidence in the power of Tostig to produce any great effect, but his
+efforts, he thought, might cause some alarm in England, and occasion
+sudden and fatiguing marches to the troops, and thus distract and weaken
+King Harold's forces. William would not, therefore, accompany Tostig
+himself, but, dismissing him with such force as he could readily raise
+on so sudden a call, he remained himself in Normandy, and commenced in
+earnest his own grand preparations, as is described in the last chapter.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He sails to Norway.<br />Tostig's alliance with the Norwegians.</div>
+
+<p>Tostig did not think it prudent to attempt a landing on English shores
+until he had obtained some accession to the force which William had
+given him. He accordingly passed through the Straits of Dover, and then
+turning northward, he sailed along the eastern shores of the German
+Ocean in search of allies. He came, at length, to Norway. He entered
+into negotiations there with the Norwegian king, whose name, too, was
+Harold. This northern Harold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>was a wild and adventurous soldier and
+sailor, a sort of sea king, who had spent a considerable portion of his
+life in marauding excursions upon the seas. He readily entered into
+Tostig's views. An arrangement was soon concluded, and Tostig set sail
+again to cross the German Ocean toward the British shores, while Harold
+promised to collect and equip his own fleet as soon as possible, and
+follow him. All this took place early in September; so that, at the same
+time that William's threatened invasion was gathering strength and
+menacing Harold's southern frontier, a cloud equally dark and gloomy,
+and quite as threatening in its aspect, was rising and swelling in the
+north; while King Harold himself, though full of vague uneasiness and
+alarm, could gain no certain information in respect to either of these
+dangers.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The Norwegian fleet.<br />Superstitions.<br />Dreams of the soldiers.</div>
+
+<p>The Norwegian fleet assembled at the port appointed for the rendezvous
+of it, but, as the season was advanced and the weather stormy, the
+soldiers there, like William's soldiers on the coast of France, were
+afraid to put to sea. Some of them had dreams which they considered as
+bad omens; and so much superstitious importance was attached to such
+ideas in those times <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>that these dreams were gravely recorded by the
+writers of the ancient chronicles, and have come down to us as part of
+the regular and sober history of the times. One soldier dreamed that the
+expedition had sailed and landed on the English coast, and that there
+the English army came out to meet them. Before the front of the army
+rode a woman of gigantic stature, mounted on a wolf. The wolf had in his
+jaws a human body, dripping with blood, which he was engaged in
+devouring as he came along. The woman gave the wolf another victim after
+he had devoured the first.</p>
+
+<p>Another of these ominous dreams was the following: Just as the fleet was
+about setting sail, the dreamer saw a crowd of ravenous vultures and
+birds of prey come and alight every where upon the sails and rigging of
+the ships, as if they were going to accompany the expedition. Upon the
+summit of a rock near the shore there sat the figure of a female, with a
+stern and ferocious countenance, and a drawn sword in her hand. She was
+busy counting the ships, pointing at them, as she counted, with her
+sword. She seemed a sort of fiend of destruction, and she called out to
+the birds, to encourage them to go. "Go!" said she, "without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>fear; you
+shall have abundance of prey. I am going too."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The combined fleets.</div>
+
+<p>It is obvious that these dreams might as easily have been interpreted to
+portend death and destruction to their English foes as to the dreamers
+themselves. The soldiers were, however, inclined&mdash;in the state of mind
+which the season of the year, the threatening aspect of the skies, and
+the certain dangers of their distant expedition, produced&mdash;to apply the
+gloomy predictions which they imagined these dreams expressed, to
+themselves. Their chief, however, was of too desperate and determined a
+character to pay any regard to such influences. He set sail. His
+armament crossed the German Sea in safety, and joined Tostig on the
+coast of Scotland. The combined fleet moved slowly southward, along the
+shore, watching for an opportunity to land.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 217-218]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i214.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="285" alt="The Norwegians at Scarborough." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">The Norwegians at Scarborough.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">Attack on Scarborough.<br />The rolling fire.</div>
+
+<p>They reached, at length, the town of Scarborough, and landed to attack
+it. The inhabitants retired within the walls, shut the gates, and bid
+the invaders defiance. The town was situated under a hill, which rose in
+a steep acclivity upon one side. The story is, that the Norwegians went
+upon this hill, where they piled up an enormous heap of trunks and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+branches of trees, with the interstices filled with stubble, dried bark,
+and roots, and other such combustibles, and then setting the whole mass
+on fire, they rolled it down into the town&mdash;a vast ball of fire, roaring
+and crackling more and more, by the fanning of its flames in the wind,
+as it bounded along. The intelligent reader will, of course, pause and
+hesitate, in considering how far to credit such a story. It is obviously
+impossible that any mere <i>pile</i>, however closely packed, could be made
+to roll. But it is, perhaps, not absolutely impossible that trunks of
+trees might be framed together, or fastened with wet thongs or iron
+chains, after being made in the form of a rude cylinder or ball, and
+filled with combustibles within, so as to retain its integrity in such a
+descent.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Burning of Scarborough.</div>
+
+<p>The account states that this strange method of bombardment was
+successful. The town was set on fire; the people surrendered. Tostig and
+the Norwegians plundered it, and then, embarking again in their ships,
+they continued their voyage.</p>
+
+<p>The intelligence of this descent upon his northern coasts reached Harold
+in London toward the close of September, just as he was withdrawing his
+forces from the southern frontier, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>as was related in the last chapter,
+under the idea that the Norman invasion would probably be postponed
+until the spring; so that, instead of sending his troops into their
+winter quarters, he had to concentrate them again with all dispatch, and
+march at the head of them to the north, to avert this new and unexpected
+danger.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Tostig marches to York.<br />Surrender of the city.</div>
+
+<p>While King Harold was thus advancing to meet them, Tostig and his
+Norwegian allies entered the River Humber. Their object was to reach the
+city of York, which had been Tostig's former capital, and which was
+situated near the River Ouse, a branch of the Humber. They accordingly
+ascended the Humber to the mouth of the Ouse, and thence up the latter
+river to a suitable point of debarkation not far from York. Here they
+landed and formed a great encampment. From this encampment they advanced
+to the siege of the city. The inhabitants made some resistance at first;
+but, finding that their cause was hopeless, they offered to surrender,
+and a treaty of surrender was finally concluded. This negotiation was
+closed toward the evening of the day, and Tostig and his confederate
+forces were to be admitted on the morrow. They therefore, feeling that
+their prize was secure, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>withdrew to their encampment for the night, and
+left the city to its repose.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Arrival of King Harold.</div>
+
+<p>It so happened that King Harold arrived that very night, coming to the
+rescue of the city. He expected to have found an army of besiegers
+around the walls, but, instead of that, there was nothing to intercept
+his progress up to the very gates of the city. The inhabitants opened
+the gates to receive him, and the whole detachment which was marching
+under his command passed in, while Tostig and his Norwegian allies were
+sleeping quietly in their camp, wholly unconscious of the great change
+which had thus taken place in the situation of their affairs.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Movements of Tostig.<br />Surprise of Tostig and his allies.<br />
+Preparations for battle.</div>
+
+<p>The next morning Tostig drew out a large portion of the army, and formed
+them in array, for the purpose of advancing to take possession of the
+city. Although it was September, and the weather had been cold and
+stormy, it happened that, on that morning, the sun came out bright, and
+the air was calm, giving promise of a warm day; and as the movement into
+the city was to be a peaceful one&mdash;a procession, as it were, and not a
+hostile march&mdash;the men were ordered to leave their coats of mail and all
+their heavy armor in camp, that they might march the more unencumbered.
+While they were advancing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>in this unconcerned and almost defenseless
+condition, they saw before them, on the road leading to the city, a
+great cloud of dust arising. It was a strong body of King Harold's
+troops coming out to attack them. At first, Tostig and the Norwegians
+were completely lost and bewildered at the appearance of so unexpected a
+spectacle. Very soon they could see weapons glittering here and there,
+and banners flying. A cry of "The enemy! the enemy!" arose, and passed
+along their ranks, producing universal alarm. Tostig and the Norwegian
+Harold halted their men, and marshaled them hastily in battle array. The
+English Harold did the same, when he had drawn up near to the front of
+the enemy; both parties then paused, and stood surveying one another.
+Presently there was seen advancing from the English side a squadron of
+twenty horsemen, splendidly armed, and bearing a flag of truce. They
+approached to within a short distance of the Norwegian lines, when a
+herald, who was among them, called out aloud for Tostig. Tostig came
+forward in answer to the summons. The herald then proclaimed to Tostig
+that his brother did not wish to contend with him, but desired, on the
+contrary, that they should live <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>together in harmony. He offered him
+peace, therefore, if he would lay down his arms, and he promised to
+restore him his former possessions and honors.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Negotiations between Tostig and his brother.</div>
+
+<p>Tostig seemed very much inclined to receive this proposition favorably.
+He paused and hesitated. At length he asked the messenger what terms
+King Harold would make with his friend and ally, the Norwegian Harold.
+"He shall have," replied the messenger, "seven feet of English ground
+for a grave. He shall have a little more than that, for he is taller
+than common men." "Then," replied Tostig, "tell my brother to prepare
+for battle. It shall never be said that I abandoned and betrayed my ally
+and friend."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The battle.<br />Death of Tostig.<br />The Norwegians retire.</div>
+
+<p>The troop returned with Tostig's answer to Harold's lines, and the
+battle almost immediately began. Of course the most eager and inveterate
+hostility of the English army would be directed against the Norwegians
+and their king, whom they considered as foreign intruders, without any
+excuse or pretext for their aggression. It accordingly happened that,
+very soon after the commencement of the conflict, Harold the Norwegian
+fell, mortally wounded by an arrow in his throat. The English king then
+made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>new proposals to Tostig to cease the combat, and come to some
+terms of accommodation. But, in the mean time, Tostig had become himself
+incensed, and would listen to no overtures of peace. He continued the
+combat until he was himself killed. The remaining combatants in his army
+had now no longer any motive for resistance. Harold offered them a free
+passage to their ships, that they might return home in peace, if they
+would lay down their arms. They accepted the offer, retired on board
+their ships, and set sail. Harold then, having, in the mean time, heard
+of William's landing on the southern coast, set out on his return to the
+southward, to meet the more formidable enemy that menaced him there.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold attempts to surprise William.<br />His failure.</div>
+
+<p>His army, though victorious, was weakened by the fatigues of the march,
+and by the losses suffered in the battle. Harold himself had been
+wounded, though not so severely as to prevent his continuing to exercise
+the command. He pressed on toward the south with great energy, sending
+messages on every side, into the surrounding country, on his line of
+march, calling upon the chieftains to arm themselves and their
+followers, and to come on with all possible dispatch, and join him. He
+hoped to advance so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>rapidly to the southern coast as to surprise
+William before he should have fully intrenched himself in his camp, and
+without his being aware of his enemy's approach. But William, in order
+to guard effectually against surprise, had sent out small reconnoitering
+parties of horsemen on all the roads leading northward, that they might
+bring him in intelligence of the first approach of the enemy. Harold's
+advanced guard met these parties, and saw them as they drove rapidly
+back to the camp to give the alarm. Thus the hope of surprising William
+was disappointed. Harold found, too, by his spies, as he drew near, to
+his utter dismay, that William's forces were four times as numerous as
+his own. It would, of course, be madness for him to think of attacking
+an enemy in his intrenchments with such an inferior force. The only
+alternative left him was either to retreat, or else to take some strong
+position and fortify himself there, in the hope of being able to resist
+the invaders and arrest their advance, though he was not strong enough
+to attack them.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Advice of Harold's counselors.</div>
+
+<p>Some of his counselors advised him not to hazard a battle at all, but to
+fall back toward London, carrying with him or destroying every thing
+which could afford sustenance to William's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>army from the whole breadth
+of the land. This would soon, they said, reduce William's army to great
+distress for want of food, since it would be impossible for him to
+transport supplies across the Channel for so vast a multitude. Besides,
+they said, this plan would compel William, in the extremity to which he
+would be reduced, to make so many predatory excursions among the more
+distant villages and towns, as would exasperate the inhabitants, and
+induce them to join Harold's army in great numbers to repel the
+invasion. Harold listened to these counsels, but said, after
+consideration, that he could never adopt such a plan. He could not be so
+derelict to his duty as to lay waste a country which he was under
+obligations to protect and save, or compel his people to come to his aid
+by exposing them, designedly, to the excesses and cruelties of so
+ferocious an enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He rejects it.<br />Harold's encampment.<br />The country alarmed.</div>
+
+<p>Harold determined, therefore, on giving William battle. It was not
+necessary, however, for him to attack the invader. He perceived at once
+that if he should take a strong position and fortify himself in it,
+William must necessarily attack <i>him</i>, since a foreign army, just landed
+in the country, could not long remain inactive on the shore. Harold
+accordingly chose <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>a position six or seven miles from William's camp,
+and fortified himself strongly there. Of course neither army was in
+sight of the other, or knew the numbers, disposition, or plans of the
+enemy. The country between them was, so far as the inhabitants were
+concerned, a scene of consternation and terror. No one knew at what
+point the two vast clouds of danger and destruction which were hovering
+near them would meet, or over what regions the terrible storm which was
+to burst forth when the hour of that meeting should come, would sweep in
+its destructive fury. The inhabitants, therefore, were every where
+flying in dismay, conveying away the aged and the helpless by any means
+which came most readily to hand; taking with them, too, such treasures
+as they could carry, and hiding, in rude and uncertain places of
+concealment, those which they were compelled to leave behind. The
+region, thus, which lay between the two encampments was rapidly becoming
+a solitude and a desolation, across which no communication was made, and
+no tidings passed to give the armies at the encampments intelligence of
+each other.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's brothers.</div>
+
+<p>Harold had two brothers among the officers of his army, Gurth and
+Leofwin. Their conduct <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>toward the king seems to have been of a more
+fraternal character than that of Tostig, who had acted the part of a
+rebel and an enemy. Gurth and Leofwin, on the contrary, adhered to his
+cause, and, as the hour of danger and the great crisis which was to
+decide their fate drew nigh, they kept close to his side, and evinced a
+truly fraternal solicitude for his safety. It was they, specially, who
+had recommended to Harold to fall back on London, and not risk his life,
+and the fate of his kingdom, on the uncertain event of a battle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He proposes to visit William's camp.<br />Harold's arrival at
+William's lines.<br />He reconnoiters the camp.</div>
+
+<p>As soon as Harold had completed his encampment, he expressed a desire to
+Gurth to ride across the intermediate country and take a view of
+William's lines. Such an undertaking was less dangerous then than it
+would be at the present day; for now, such a reconnoitering party would
+be discovered from the enemy's encampment, at a great distance, by means
+of spy-glasses, and a twenty-four-pound shot or a shell would be sent
+from a battery to blow the party to pieces or drive them away. The only
+danger <i>then</i> was of being pursued by a detachment of horsemen from the
+camp, or surrounded by an ambuscade. To guard against these dangers,
+Harold and Gurth took the most powerful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>and fleetest horses in the
+camp, and they called out a small but strong guard of well-selected men
+to escort them. Thus provided and attended, they rode over to the
+enemy's lines, and advanced so near that, from a small eminence to which
+they ascended, they could survey the whole scene of William's
+encampment: the palisades and embankments with which it was guarded,
+which extended for miles; the long lines of tents within; the vast
+multitude of soldiers; the knights and officers riding to and fro,
+glittering with steel; and the grand pavilion of the duke himself, with
+the consecrated banner of the cross floating above it. Harold was very
+much impressed with the grandeur of the spectacle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's despondency.</div>
+
+<p>After gazing on this scene for some time in silence, Harold said to
+Gurth that perhaps, after all, the policy of falling back would have
+been the wisest for them to adopt, rather than to risk a battle with so
+overwhelming a force as they saw before them. He did not know, he added,
+but that it would be best for them to change their plan, and adopt that
+policy now. Gurth said that it was too late. They had taken their stand,
+and now for them to break up their encampment and retire would be
+considered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>a retreat and not a maneuver, and it would discourage and
+dishearten the whole realm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His spies.<br />Their report.</div>
+
+<p>After surveying thus, as long as they desired to do so, the situation
+and extent of William's encampment, Harold's party returned to their own
+lines, still determined to make a stand there against the invaders, but
+feeling great doubt and despondency in respect to the result. Harold
+sent over, too, in the course of the day, some spies. The men whom he
+employed for this purpose were Normans by birth, and they could speak
+the French language. There were many Normans in England, who had come
+over in King Edward's time. These Norman spies could, of course,
+disguise themselves, and mingle, without attracting attention, among the
+thousands of workmen and camp followers that were going and coming
+continually around the grounds which William's army occupied. They did
+this so effectually, that they penetrated within the encampment without
+difficulty, examined every thing, and, in due time, returned to Harold
+with their report. They gave a formidable account of the numbers and
+condition of William's troops. There was a large corps of bowmen in the
+army, which had adopted a fashion of being shaven and shorn in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>such a
+manner that the spies mistook them for priests. They told Harold,
+accordingly, on their return, that there were more <i>priests</i> in
+William's camp than there were soldiers in all his army.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's embassadors.<br />Their propositions.</div>
+
+<p>During this eventful day, William too sent a body of horsemen across the
+country which separated the two encampments, though his emissaries were
+not spies, but embassadors, with propositions for peace. William had no
+wish to fight a battle, if what he considered as rightfully his kingdom
+could be delivered to him without it; and he determined to make one
+final effort to obtain a peaceable surrender of it, before coming to the
+dreadful resort of an appeal to arms. He accordingly sent his embassy
+with <i>three</i> propositions to make to the English king. The principal
+messenger in this company was a monk, whose name was Maigrot. He rode,
+with a proper escort and a flag of truce, to Harold's lines. The
+propositions were these, by accepting either of which the monk said that
+Harold might avoid a battle. 1. That Harold should surrender the kingdom
+to William, as he had solemnly sworn to do over the sacred relics in
+Normandy. 2. That they should both agree to refer the whole subject of
+controversy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>between them to the pope, and abide by his decision. 3.
+That they should settle the dispute by single combat, the two claimants
+to the crown to fight a duel on the plain, in presence of their
+respective armies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's propositions unreasonable.<br />Harold declines them.</div>
+
+<p>It is obvious that Harold could not accept either of these propositions.
+The first was to give up the whole point at issue. As for the second,
+the pope had already prejudged the case, and if it were to be referred
+to him, there could be no doubt that he would simply reaffirm his former
+decision. And in respect to single combat, the disadvantage on Harold's
+part would be as great in such a contest as it would be in the proposed
+arbitration. He was himself a man of comparatively slender form and of
+little bodily strength. William, on the other hand, was distinguished
+for his size, and for his extraordinary muscular energy. In a modern
+combat with fire-arms these personal advantages would be of no avail,
+but in those days, when the weapons were battle-axes, lances, and
+swords, they were almost decisive of the result. Harold therefore
+declined all William's propositions, and the monk returned.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Further proposals of William.<br />Counter proposal of Harold.</div>
+
+<p>William seems not to have been wholly discouraged by this failure of his
+first attempt at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>negotiation, for he sent his embassage a second time
+to make one more proposal. It was, that if Harold would consent to
+acknowledge William as King of England, William would assign the whole
+territory to him and to his brother Gurth, to hold <i>as provinces</i>, under
+William's general sway. Under this arrangement William would himself
+return to Normandy, making the city of Rouen, which was his capital
+there, the capital of the whole united realm. To this proposal Harold
+replied, that he could not, on any terms, give up his rights as
+sovereign of England. He therefore declined this proposal also. He,
+however, now made a proposition in his turn. He was willing, he said, to
+compromise the dispute, so far as it could be done by <i>the payment of
+money</i>. If William would abandon his invasion and return to Normandy,
+giving up his claims to the English crown, he would pay him, he said,
+any sum of money that he would name.</p>
+
+<p>William could not accept this proposal. He was, as he believed, the true
+and rightful heir to the throne of England, and there was a point of
+honor involved, as well as a dictate of ambition to be obeyed, in
+insisting on the claim. In the mean time, the day had passed, while
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>these fruitless negotiations had been pending. Night was coming on.
+William's officers and counselors began to be uneasy at the delay. They
+said that every hour new re-enforcements were coming into Harold's camp,
+while they themselves were gaining no advantage, and, consequently, the
+longer the battle was delayed, the less was the certainty of victory. So
+William promised them that he would attack King Harold in his camp the
+very next morning.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Harold's forebodings.<br />Proposals of his brothers.<br />Night before
+the battle.</div>
+
+<p>As the time for the great final struggle drew near, Harold's mind was
+oppressed more and more with a sense of anxiety and with foreboding
+fears. His brothers, too, were ill at ease. Their solicitude was
+increased by the recollection of Harold's oath, and of the awful
+sanctions with which they feared the sacred relics might have invested
+it. They were not sure that their brother's excuse for setting it aside
+would save him from the guilt and curse of perjury in the sight of
+Heaven. So they proposed, on the eve of the battle, that Harold himself
+should retire, and leave them to conduct the defense. "We can not deny,"
+they said, "that you did take the oath; and, notwithstanding the
+circumstances which seem to absolve you from the obligation, it is best
+to avoid, if possible, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>open violation of it. It will be better, on
+the whole, for you to leave the army and go to London. You can aid very
+effectually in the defense of the kingdom by raising re-enforcements
+there. We will stay and encounter the actual battle. Heaven can not be
+displeased with us for so doing, for we shall be only discharging the
+duty incumbent on all, of defending their native land from foreign
+invasion."</p>
+
+<p>Harold would not consent to adopt this plan. He could not retire
+himself, he said, at the hour of approaching danger, and leave his
+brothers and his friends exposed, when it was <i>his</i> crown for which they
+were contending.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scenes in Harold's camp.</div>
+
+<p>Such were the circumstances of the two armies on the evening before the
+battle; and, of course, in such a state of things, the tendency of the
+minds of men would be, in Harold's camp, to gloom and despondency, and
+in William's, to confidence and exultation. Harold undertook, as men in
+his circumstances often do, to lighten the load which weighed upon his
+own heart and oppressed the spirits of his men, by feasting and wine. He
+ordered a plentiful supper to be served, and supplied his soldiers with
+abundance of drink; and it is said that his whole camp exhibited, during
+the whole night, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>one wide-spread scene of carousing and revelry, the
+troops being gathered every where in groups around their camp fires,
+some half stupefied, others quarreling, and others still singing
+national songs, and dancing with wild excitement, according to the
+various effects produced upon different constitutions by the
+intoxicating influence of beer and wine.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scenes in William's camp.</div>
+
+<p>In William's camp there were witnessed very different scenes. There were
+a great many monks and ecclesiastics in the train of his army, and, on
+the night before the battle, they spent the time in saying masses,
+reading litanies and prayers, chanting anthems, and in other similar
+acts of worship, assisted by the soldiers, who gathered, in great
+congregations, for this wild worship, in the open spaces among the tents
+and around the camp fires. At length they all retired to rest, feeling
+an additional sense of safety in respect to the work of the morrow by
+having, as they supposed, entitled themselves, by their piety, to the
+protection of Heaven.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Religious ceremonies.<br />A martial bishop.</div>
+
+<p>In the morning, too, in William's camp, the first thing done was to
+convene the army for a grand celebration of mass. It is a curious
+illustration of the mingling of the religious, or, perhaps, we ought
+rather to say, the superstitious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>sentiment of the times, with the
+spirit of war, that the bishop who officiated in this solemn service of
+the mass wore a coat of mail under his pontifical attire, and an
+attendant stood by his side, while he was offering his prayers, with a
+steel-pointed spear in his hand, ready for the martial prelate to assume
+as soon as the service should be ended. Accordingly, when the religious
+duty was performed, the bishop threw off his surplice, took his spear,
+and mounting his white charger, which was also all saddled and bridled
+beside him, he headed a brigade of horse, and rode on to the assault of
+the enemy.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's war-horse.<br />Preliminary arrangements.</div>
+
+<p>William himself mounted a very magnificent war-horse from Spain, a
+present which he had formerly received from one of his wealthy barons.
+The name of the horse was Bayard. From William's neck were suspended
+some of the most sacred of the relics over which Harold had taken his
+false oath. He imagined that there would be some sort of charm in them,
+to protect his life, and to make the judgment of Heaven more sure
+against the perjurer. The standard which the pope had blessed was borne
+by his side by a young standard bearer, who was very proud of the honor.
+An older soldier, however, on whom the care of this standard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>officially
+devolved, had asked to be excused from carrying it. He wished, he said,
+to do his work that day with the <i>sword</i>. While making these preliminary
+arrangements for going into battle, William, with the party around him,
+stood upon a gentle eminence in the middle of the camp, and in sight of
+the whole army. Every one was struck with admiration at the splendid
+figure which their commander made&mdash;his large and well-formed limbs
+covered with steel, and his horse, whose form was as noble as that of
+his master, prancing restlessly, as if impatient for the battle to
+begin.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Battle of Hastings.<br />Defeat of Harold.</div>
+
+<p>When all were ready, the Norman army advanced gayly and joyously to
+attack the English lines; but the gayety and joyousness of the scene
+soon disappeared, as corps after corps got fairly engaged in the awful
+work of the day. For ten long hours there reigned over the whole field
+one wide-spread scene of havoc and death&mdash;every soul among all those
+countless thousands delivered up to the supreme dominion of the most
+dreadful passions, excited to a perfect phrensy of hatred, rage, and
+revenge, and all either mercilessly killing others, or dying themselves
+in agony and despair. When night came, the Normans were every where
+victorious. They <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>were in full possession of the field, and they rode
+triumphantly to and fro through Harold's camp, leaping their horses over
+the bodies of the dead and dying which covered the ground. Those of King
+Harold's followers that had escaped the slaughter of the day fled in
+hopeless confusion toward the north, where the flying masses strewed the
+roads for miles with the bodies of men who sank down on the way, spent
+with wounds or exhausted by fatigue.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">He is slain.</div>
+
+<p>In the morning, William marshaled his men on the field, and called over
+the names of the officers and men, as they had been registered in
+Normandy, for the purpose of ascertaining who were killed. While this
+melancholy ceremony was going on, two monks came in, sent from the
+remains of the English army, and saying that King Harold was missing,
+and that it was rumored that he had been slain. If so, his body must be
+lying somewhere, they said, upon the field, and they wished for
+permission to make search for it. The permission was granted. With the
+aid of some soldiers they began to explore the ground, turning over and
+examining every lifeless form which, by the dress or the armor, might
+seem to be possibly the king's. Their search was for a long time vain;
+the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>ghastly faces of the dead were so mutilated and changed that nobody
+could be identified. At length, however, a woman who had been in
+Harold's family, and knew his person more intimately than they, found
+and recognized the body, and the monks and the soldiers carried it away.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">Final subjugation of the island.<br />William crowned at
+Westminster.<br />William's power.<br />His greatness.</div>
+
+<p>The battle of Hastings sealed and settled the controversy in respect to
+the English crown. It is true that the adherents of Harold, and also
+those of Edgar Atheling, made afterward various efforts to rally their
+forces and recover the kingdom, but in vain. William advanced to London,
+fortified himself there, and made excursions from that city as a centre
+until he reduced the island to his sway. He was crowned at length, at
+Westminster Abbey, with great pomp and parade. He sent for Matilda to
+come and join him, and instated her in his palace as Queen of England.
+He confiscated the property of all the English nobles who had fought
+against him, and divided it among the Norman chieftains who had aided
+him in the invasion. He made various excursions to and from Normandy
+himself, being received every where throughout his dominions, on both
+sides the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>Channel, with the most distinguished honors. In a word, he
+became, in the course of a few years after he landed, one of the
+greatest and most powerful potentates on the globe. How far all his
+riches and grandeur were from making him happy, will appear in the
+following chapter.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XI" id="Chapter_XI"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XI.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Prince Robert's Rebellion.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1076-1077</h3>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">A</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">mbitious</span>
+men, who devote their time and attention, through all the
+early years of life, to their personal and political aggrandizement,
+have little time to appropriate to the government and education of their
+children, and their later years are often embittered by the dissipation
+and vice, or by the unreasonable exactions of their sons. At least it
+was so in William's case. By the time that his public enemies were
+subdued, and he found himself undisputed master both of his kingdom and
+his duchy, his peace and happiness were destroyed, and the tranquillity
+of his whole realm was disturbed by a terrible family quarrel.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's oldest son.<br />His character.</div>
+
+<p>The name of his oldest son was Robert. He was fourteen years old when
+his father set off on his invasion of England. At that time he was a
+sort of spoiled child, having been his mother's favorite, and, as such,
+always greatly indulged by her. When William went away, it will be
+recollected that he appointed Matilda <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>regent, to govern Normandy during
+his absence. This boy was also named in the regency, so that he was
+nominally associated with his mother, and he considered himself,
+doubtless, as the more important personage of the two. In a word, while
+William was engaged in England, prosecuting his conquests there, Robert
+was growing up in Normandy a vain, self-conceited, and ungovernable
+young man.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's conflicts with his son Robert.<br />William Rufus.</div>
+
+<p>His father, in going back and forth between England and Normandy, often
+came into conflict with his son, as usual in such cases. In these
+contests Matilda took sides with the son. William's second son, whose
+name was William Rufus, was jealous of his older brother, and was often
+provoked by the overbearing and imperious spirit which Robert displayed.
+William Rufus thus naturally adhered to the father's part in the family
+feud. William Rufus was as rough and turbulent in spirit as Robert, but
+he had not been so indulged. He possessed, therefore, more self-control;
+he knew very well how to suppress his propensities, and conceal the
+unfavorable aspects of his character when in the presence of his father.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's son Henry.<br />Robert nicknamed Short Boots.</div>
+
+<p>There was a third brother, named Henry. He was of a more quiet and
+inoffensive character, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>and avoided taking an active part in the
+quarrel, except so far as William Rufus led him on. He was William
+Rufus's friend and companion, and, as such, Robert considered him as his
+enemy. All, in fact, except Matilda, were against Robert, who looked
+down, in a haughty and domineering manner&mdash;as the oldest son and heir is
+very apt to do in rich and powerful families&mdash;upon the comparative
+insignificance of his younger brethren. The king, instead of restraining
+this imperious spirit in his son, as he might, perhaps, have done by a
+considerate and kind, and, at the same time, decisive exercise of
+authority, teased and tormented him by sarcasms and petty vexations.
+Among other instances of this, he gave him the nickname of <i>Short
+Boots</i>, because he was of inferior stature. As Robert was, however, at
+this time of full age, he was stung to the quick at having such a stigma
+attached to him by his father, and his bosom burned with secret
+sentiments of resentment and revenge.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's betrothment.<br />William's motives.</div>
+
+<p>He had, besides, other causes of complaint against his father, more
+serious still. When he was a very young child, his father, according to
+the custom of the times, had espoused him to the daughter and heiress of
+a neighboring earl, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>a child like himself. Her name was Margaret. The
+earldom which this little Margaret was to inherit was Maine. It was on
+the frontiers of Normandy, and it was a rich and valuable possession. It
+was a part of the stipulation of the marriage contract that the young
+bride's domain was to be delivered to the father of the bridegroom, to
+be held by him until the bridegroom should become of age, and the
+marriage should be fully consummated. In fact, the getting possession of
+this rich inheritance, with a prospect of holding it so many years, was
+very probably the principal end which William had in view in contracting
+for a matrimonial union so very premature.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Death of Margaret.</div>
+
+<p>If this was, in reality, William's plan, it resulted, in the end, even
+more favorably than he had anticipated; for the little heiress died a
+short time after her inheritance was put into the possession of her
+father-in-law. There was nobody to demand a restoration of it, and so
+William continued to hold it until his son, the bridegroom, became of
+age. Robert then demanded it, contending that it was justly his. William
+refused to surrender it. He maintained that what had passed between his
+son in his infancy, and the little Margaret, was not a marriage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>but
+only a betrothment&mdash;a contract for a future marriage, which was to take
+place when the parties were of age&mdash;that, since Margaret's death
+prevented the consummation of the union, Robert was never her husband,
+and could not, consequently, acquire the rights of a husband. The lands,
+therefore, ought manifestly, he said, to remain in the hands of her
+guardian, and whatever rights any other persons might have, claiming to
+succeed Margaret as her natural heirs, it was plain that his son could
+have no title whatever.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">More trouble.</div>
+
+<p>However satisfactory this reasoning might be to the mind of William,
+Robert was only exasperated by it. He looked upon the case as one of
+extreme injustice and oppression on the part of his father, who, not
+content, he said, with his own enormous possessions, must add to them by
+robbing his own son. In this opinion Robert's mother, Matilda, agreed
+with him. As for William Rufus and Henry, they paid little attention to
+the argument, but were pleased with the result of it, and highly enjoyed
+their brother's vexation and chagrin in not being able to get possession
+of his earldom.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's political power.<br />His ambition.</div>
+
+<p>There was another very serious subject of dispute between Robert and his
+father. It has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>already been stated, that when the duke set out on his
+expedition for the invasion of England, he left Matilda and Robert
+together in charge of the duchy. At the commencement of the period of
+his absence Robert was very young, and the actual power rested mainly in
+his mother's hands. As he grew older, however, he began to exercise an
+increasing influence and control. In fact, as he was himself ambitious
+and aspiring, and his mother indulgent, the power passed very rapidly
+into his hands. It was eight years from the time that William left
+Normandy before his power was so far settled and established in England
+that he could again take the affairs of his original realm into his
+hands. He had left Robert, at that time, a mere boy of fourteen, who,
+though rude and turbulent in character, was still politically powerless.
+He found him, on his return, a man of twenty-two, ruder and more
+turbulent than before, and in the full possession of political power.
+This power, too, he found him very unwilling to surrender.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert claims Normandy.<br />William refuses it.</div>
+
+<p>In fact, when William came to receive back the province of Normandy
+again, Robert almost refused to surrender it. He said that his father
+had always promised him the duchy of Normandy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>as his domain so soon as
+he should become of age, and he claimed now the fulfillment of this
+promise. Besides, he said that, now that his father was King of England,
+his former realm was of no consequence to him. It did not add sensibly
+to his influence or his power, and he might, therefore, without
+suffering any sensible loss himself, grant it to his son. William, on
+his part, did not acknowledge the force of either of these arguments. He
+would not admit that he had ever promised Normandy to his son; and as to
+voluntarily relinquishing any part of his possessions, he had no faith
+in the policy of a man's giving up his power or his property to his
+children until they were justly entitled to inherit it by his death; at
+any rate, he should not do it. He had no idea, as he expressed it, "of
+putting off his clothes before he was going to bed."</p>
+
+<p>The irritation and ill-will which these dissensions produced grew deeper
+and more inveterate every day, though the disagreement had been thus far
+a private and domestic dispute, confined, in its influence, to the
+king's immediate household. An occasion, however, now occurred, on which
+the private family feud broke out into an open public quarrel. The
+circumstances were these:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Castle at L'Aigle.<br />Quarrel between Robert and William Rufus.</div>
+
+<p>King William had a castle in Normandy, at a place called L'Aigle. He was
+spending some time there, in the year 1076, with his court and family.
+One day William Rufus and Henry were in one of the upper apartments of
+the castle, playing with dice, and amusing themselves, in company with
+other young men of the court, in various ways. There was a window in the
+apartment leading out upon a balcony, from which one might look down
+upon the court-yard of the castle below. Robert was in this court-yard
+with some of <i>his</i> companions, walking there in an irritated state of
+mind, which had been produced by some previous disputes with his
+brothers. William Rufus looked down from the balcony and saw him, and by
+way, perhaps, of quenching his anger, poured some water down upon him.
+The deed changed the suppressed and silent irritation in Robert's heart
+to a perfect phrensy of rage and revenge. He drew his sword and sprang
+to the stair-case. He uttered loud and terrible imprecations as he went,
+declaring that he would kill the author of such an insult, even if he
+<i>was</i> his brother. The court-yard was, of course, immediately filled
+with shouts and exclamations of alarm, and every body pressed forward
+toward the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>room from which the water had been thrown, some to witness,
+and some to prevent the affray.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The combatants parted.</div>
+
+<p>The king himself, who happened to be in that part of the castle at the
+time, was one of the number. He reached the apartment just in time to
+interpose between his sons, and prevent the commission of the awful
+crime of fratricide. As it was, he found it extremely difficult to part
+the ferocious combatants. It required all his paternal authority, and
+not a little actual force, to arrest the affray. He succeeded, however,
+at length, with the help of the by-standers, in parting his sons, and
+Robert, out of breath, and pale with impotent rage, was led away.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Robert's rage.<br />Robert's rebellion.</div>
+
+<p>Robert considered his father as taking sides against him in this
+quarrel, and he declared that he could not, and would not, endure such
+treatment any longer. He found some sympathy in the conversation of his
+mother, to whom he went immediately with bitter complainings. She tried
+to soothe and quiet his wounded spirit, but he would not be pacified. He
+spent the afternoon and evening in organizing a party of wild and
+desperate young men from among the nobles of the court, with a view of
+raising a rebellion against his father, and getting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>possession of
+Normandy by force. They kept their designs profoundly secret, but
+prepared to leave L'Aigle that night, to go and seize Rouen, the
+capital, which they hoped to surprise into a surrender. Accordingly, in
+the middle of the night, the desperate troop mounted their horses and
+rode away. In the morning the king found that they were gone, and he
+sent an armed force after them. Their plan of surprising Rouen failed.
+The king's detachment overtook them, and, after a sharp contest,
+succeeded in capturing a few of the rebels, though Robert himself,
+accompanied by some of the more desperate of his followers, escaped over
+the frontier into a neighboring province, where he sought refuge in the
+castle of one of his father's enemies.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Anxiety and distress of Matilda.<br />Measures of Matilda.</div>
+
+<p>This result, as might have been expected, filled the mind of Matilda
+with anxiety and distress. A civil war between her husband and her son
+was now inevitable; and while every consideration of prudence and of
+duty required her to espouse the father's cause, her maternal love, a
+principle stronger far, in most cases, than prudence and duty combined,
+drew her irresistibly toward her son. Robert collected around him all
+the discontented and desperate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>spirits of the realm, and for a long
+time continued to make his father infinite trouble. Matilda, while she
+forbore to advocate his cause openly in the presence of the king, kept
+up a secret communication with him. She sent him information and advice
+from time to time, and sometimes supplies, and was thus, technically,
+guilty of a great crime&mdash;the crime of maintaining a treasonable
+correspondence with a rebel. In a moral point of view, however, her
+conduct may have been entirely right; at any rate, its influence was
+very salutary, for she did all in her power to restrain both the father
+and the son; and by the influence which she thus exerted, she doubtless
+mitigated very much the fierceness of the struggle.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Advantages of William.<br />Robert lays down his arms.</div>
+
+<p>Of course, the advantage, in such a civil war as this, would be wholly
+on the side of the sovereign. William had all the power and resources of
+the kingdom in his own hands&mdash;the army, the towns, the castles, the
+treasures. Robert had a troop of wild, desperate, and unmanageable
+outlaws, without authority, without money, without a sense of justice on
+their side. He gradually became satisfied that the contest was vain. In
+proportion as the activity of the hostilities diminished, Matilda became
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>more and more open in her efforts to restrain it, and to allay the
+animosity on either side. She succeeded, finally, in inducing Robert to
+lay down his arms, and then brought about an interview between the
+parties, in hopes of a peaceful settlement of the quarrel.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Interview with his father.</div>
+
+<p>It appeared very soon, however, at this interview, that there was no
+hope of any thing like a real and cordial reconciliation. Though both
+the father and son had become weary of the unnatural war which they had
+waged against each other, yet the ambitious and selfish desires on both
+sides, in which the contest had originated, remained unchanged. Robert
+began the conference by imperiously demanding of his father the
+fulfillment of his promise to give him the government of Normandy. His
+father replied by reproaching him with his unnatural and wicked
+rebellion, and warned him of the danger he incurred, in imitating the
+example of Absalom, of sharing that wretched rebel's fate. Robert
+rejoined that he did not come to meet his father for the sake of hearing
+a sermon preached. He had had enough of sermons, he said, when he was a
+boy, studying grammar. He wanted his father to do him justice, not
+preach to him. The king said that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>he should never divide his dominions,
+while he lived, with any one; and added, notwithstanding what Robert had
+contemptuously said about sermons, that the Scripture declared that a
+house divided against itself could not stand. He then proceeded to
+reproach and incriminate the prince in the severest manner for his
+disloyalty as a subject, and his undutifulness and ingratitude as a son.
+It was intolerable, he said, that a son should become the rival and
+bitterest enemy of his father, when it was to him that he owed, not
+merely all that he enjoyed, but his very existence itself.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Recriminations.</div>
+
+<p>These reproaches were probably uttered in an imperious and angry manner,
+and with that spirit of denunciation which only irritates the accused
+and arouses his resentment, instead of awakening feelings of penitence
+and contrition. At any rate, the thought of his filial ingratitude, as
+his father presented it, produced no relenting in Robert's mind. He
+abruptly terminated the interview, and went out of his father's presence
+in a rage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The interview fruitless.<br />Robert goes to Flanders.</div>
+
+<p>In spite of all his mother's exertions and entreaties, he resolved to
+leave the country once more. He said he would rather be an exile, and
+wander homeless in foreign lands, than to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>remain in his father's court,
+and be treated in so unjust and ignominious a manner, by one who was
+bound by the strongest possible obligations to be his best and truest
+friend. Matilda could not induce him to change this determination; and,
+accordingly, taking with him a few of the most desperate and dissolute
+of his companions, he went northward, crossed the frontier, and sought
+refuge in Flanders. Flanders, it will be recollected, was Matilda's
+native land. Her brother was the Earl of Flanders at this time. The earl
+received young Robert very cordially, both for his sister's sake, and
+also, probably, in some degree, as a means of petty hostility against
+King William, his powerful neighbor, whose glory and good fortune he
+envied.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">His treasonable correspondence.</div>
+
+<p>Robert had not the means or the resources necessary for renewing an open
+war with his father, but his disposition to do this was as strong as
+ever, and he began immediately to open secret communications and
+correspondence with all the nobles and barons in Normandy whom he
+thought disposed to espouse his cause. He succeeded in inducing them to
+make secret contributions of funds to supply his pecuniary wants, of
+course promising to repay them with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>ample grants and rewards so soon as
+he should obtain his rights. He maintained similar communications, too,
+with Matilda, though she kept them very profoundly secret from her
+husband.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Action of Philip.<br />He sides with Robert.<br />Robert's
+dissipation.</div>
+
+<p>Robert had other friends besides those whom he found thus furtively in
+Normandy. The King of France himself was much pleased at the breaking
+out of this terrible feud in the family of his neighbor, who, from being
+his dependent and vassal, had become, by his conquest of England, his
+great competitor and rival in the estimation of mankind. Philip was
+disposed to rejoice at any occurrences which tended to tarnish William's
+glory, or which threatened a division and diminution of his power. He
+directed his agents, therefore, both in Normandy and in Flanders, to
+encourage and promote the dissension by every means in their power. He
+took great care not to commit himself by any open and positive promises
+of aid, and yet still he contrived, by a thousand indirect means, to
+encourage Robert to expect it. Thus the mischief was widened and
+extended, while yet nothing effectual was done toward organizing an
+insurrection. In fact, Robert had neither the means nor the mental
+capacity necessary for maturing and carrying into effect any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>actual
+plan of rebellion. In the mean time, months passed away, and as nothing
+effectual was done, Robert's adherents in Normandy became gradually
+discouraged. They ceased their contributions, and gradually forgot their
+absent and incompetent leader. Robert spent his time in dissipation and
+vice, squandering in feasts and in the company of abandoned men and
+women the means which his followers sent him to enable him to prepare
+for the war; and when, at last, these supplies failed him, he would have
+been reduced gradually to great distress and destitution, were it not
+that one faithful and devoted friend still adhered to him. That friend
+was his mother.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda sends him supplies.<br />Matilda's secret supplies.<br />She is
+discovered.</div>
+
+<p>Matilda knew very well that whatever she did for her absent son must be
+done in the most clandestine manner, and this required much stratagem
+and contrivance on her part. She was aided, however, in her efforts at
+concealment by her husband's absence. He was now for a time in England,
+having been called there by some pressing demands of public duty. He
+left a great minister of state in charge of Normandy, whose vigilance
+Matilda thought it would be comparatively easy to elude. She sent to
+Robert, in Flanders, first her own private <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>funds. Then she employed for
+this purpose a portion of such public funds as came into her hands. The
+more she sent, however, the more frequent and imperious were Robert's
+demands for fresh supplies. The resources of a mother, whether great or
+small, are always soon exhausted by the insatiable requirements of a
+dissolute and profligate son. When Matilda's money was gone, she sold
+her jewels, then her more expensive clothes, and, finally, such objects
+of value, belonging to herself or to her husband, as could be most
+easily and privately disposed of. The minister, who was very faithful
+and watchful in the discharge of his duties, observed indications that
+something mysterious was going on. His suspicions were aroused. He
+watched Matilda's movements, and soon discovered the truth. He sent
+information to William. William could not believe it possible that his
+minister's surmises could be true; for William was simply a statesman
+and a soldier, and had very inadequate ideas of the absorbing and
+uncontrollable power which is exercised by the principle of maternal
+love.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's messenger seized.</div>
+
+<p>He, however, determined immediately to take most efficient measures to
+ascertain the truth. He returned to Normandy, and there he succeeded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>in
+intercepting one of Matilda's messengers on his way to Flanders, with
+communications and money for Robert. The name of this messenger was
+Sampson. William seized the money and the letters, and sent the
+messenger to one of his castles, to be shut up in a dungeon. Then, with
+the proofs of guilt which he had thus obtained, he went, full of
+astonishment and anger, to find Matilda, and to upbraid her, as he
+thought she deserved, for her base and ungrateful betrayal of her
+husband.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's reproaches.</div>
+
+<p>The reproaches which he addressed to her were bitter and stern, though
+they seem to have been spoken in a tone of sorrow rather than of anger.
+"I am sure," he said, "I have ever been to you a faithful and devoted
+husband. I do not know what more you could have desired than I have
+done. I have loved you with a sincere and true affection. I have honored
+you. I have placed you in the highest positions, intrusting you
+repeatedly with large shares of my own sovereign power. I have confided
+in you&mdash;committing my most essential and vital interests to your charge.
+And now this is the return. You employ the very position, and power, and
+means which your confiding husband has put into your hands, to betray
+him in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>the most cruel way, and to aid and encourage his worst and most
+dangerous enemy."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's reply.</div>
+
+<p>To these reproaches Matilda attempted no reply, except to plead the
+irresistible impetuosity and strength of her maternal love. "I could not
+bear," she said, "to leave Robert in distress and suffering while I had
+any possible means of relieving him. He is my child. I think of him all
+the time. I love him more than my life. I solemnly declare to you, that
+if he were now dead, and I could restore him to life by dying for him, I
+would most gladly do it. How, then, do you suppose that I could possibly
+live here in abundance and luxury, while he was wandering homeless, in
+destitution and want, and not try to relieve him? Whether it is right or
+wrong for me to feel so, I do not know; but this I know, I <i>must</i> feel
+so: I can not help it. He is our first-born son; I can not abandon him."</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's anger.<br />Sampson's escape.</div>
+
+<p>William went away from the presence of Matilda full of resentment and
+anger. Of course he could do nothing in respect to her but reproach her,
+but he determined that the unlucky Sampson should suffer severely for
+the crime. He sent orders to the castle where he lay immured, requiring
+that his eyes should be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>put out. Matilda, however, discovered the
+danger which threatened her messenger in time to send him warning. He
+contrived to make his escape, and fled to a certain monastery which was
+under Matilda's special patronage and charge. A monastery was, in those
+days, a sanctuary into which the arm even of the most despotic authority
+scarcely dared to intrude in pursuit of its victim. To make the safety
+doubly sure, the abbot proposed that the trembling fugitive should join
+their order and become a monk. Sampson was willing to do any thing to
+save his life. The operation of putting out the eyes was very generally
+fatal, so that he considered his life at stake. He was, accordingly,
+shaven and shorn, and clothed in the monastic garb. He assumed the vows
+of the order, and entered, with his brother monks, upon the course of
+fastings, penances, and prayers which pertained to his new vocation; and
+William left him to pursue it in peace.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Things grow worse.<br />Preparations for war.<br />Matilda's distress.</div>
+
+<p>Things went on worse instead of better after this discovery of the
+mother's participation in the councils of the son. Either through the
+aid which his mother had rendered, or by other means, there seemed to be
+a strong party in and out of Normandy who were inclined to espouse
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>Robert's cause. His friends, at length, raised a very considerable
+army, and putting him at the head of it, they advanced to attack Rouen.
+The king, greatly alarmed at this danger, collected all the forces that
+he could command, and went to meet his rebel son. William Rufus
+accompanied his father, intending to fight by his side; while Matilda,
+in an agony of terror and distress, remained, half distracted, within
+her castle walls&mdash;as a wife and mother might be expected to be, on the
+approach of a murderous conflict between her husband and her son. The
+thought that one of them might, perhaps, be actually killed by the
+other, filled her with dismay.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William wounded by his son.</div>
+
+<p>And, in fact, this dreadful result came very near being realized.
+Robert, in the castle at L'Aigle, had barely been prevented from
+destroying his brother, and now, on the plain of Archembraye, where this
+battle was fought, his father <i>fell</i>, and was very near being killed, by
+his hand. In the midst of the fight, while the horsemen were impetuously
+charging each other in various parts of the field, all so disguised by
+their armor that no one could know the individual with whom he was
+contending, Robert encountered a large and powerful knight, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>drove
+his lance through his armor into his arm. Through the shock of the
+encounter and the faintness produced by the agony of the wound, the
+horseman fell to the ground, and Robert perceived, by the voice with
+which his fallen enemy cried out in his pain and terror, that it was his
+father that he had thus pierced with his steel. At the same moment, the
+wounded father, in looking at his victorious antagonist, recognized his
+son. He cursed his unnatural enemy with a bitter and terrible
+malediction. Robert was shocked and terrified at what he had done. He
+leaped from his horse, knelt down by the side of his father, and called
+for aid. The king, distracted by the anguish of his wound, and by the
+burning indignation and resentment which raged in his bosom against the
+unnatural hostility which inflicted it, turned away from his son, and
+refused to receive any succor from him.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The battle goes against him.<br />Matilda's anguish.</div>
+
+<p>Besides the misfortune of being unhorsed and wounded, the battle itself
+went that day against the king. Robert's army remained masters of the
+field. William Rufus was wounded too, as well as his father. Matilda was
+overwhelmed with distress and mental anguish at the result. She could
+not endure the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>idea of allowing so unnatural and dreadful a struggle to
+go on. She begged her husband, with the most earnest importunities and
+with many tears, to find some way of accommodating the dispute. Her
+nights were sleepless, her days were spent in weeping, and her health
+and strength were soon found to be wasting very rapidly away. She was
+emaciated, wan, and pale, and it was plain that such distress, if long
+continued, would soon bring her to the grave.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The reconciliation.</div>
+
+<p>Matilda's intercessions at length prevailed. The king sent for his son,
+and, after various negotiations, some sort of compromise was effected.
+The armies were disbanded, peace was restored, and Robert and his father
+once more seemed to be friends. Soon after this, William, having a
+campaign to make in the north of England, took Robert with him as one of
+the generals in his army.</p>
+
+<hr class="large" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="Chapter_XII" id="Chapter_XII"></a><span class="smcap">Chapter XII.</span></h2>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">The Conclusion.</span></h2>
+
+<h3>A.D. 1078-1087</h3>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's reign in England.<br />His difficulties.<br />Feelings of the
+English people.<br />Rebellions.</div>
+
+<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">F</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">rom</span>
+the time of the battle of Hastings, which took place in 1066, to
+that of William's death, which occurred in 1087, there intervened a
+period of about twenty years, during which the great monarch reigned
+over his extended dominions with a very despotic sway, though not
+without a large share of the usual dangers, difficulties, and struggles
+attending such a rule. He brought over immense numbers of Normans from
+Normandy into England, and placed all the military and civil power of
+the empire in their hands; and he relied almost entirely upon the
+superiority of his physical force for keeping the country in subjugation
+to his sway. It is true, he maintained that he was the rightful heir to
+the English crown, and that, consequently, the tenure by which he held
+it was the right of inheritance, and not the right of conquest; and he
+professed to believe that the people of England generally admitted his
+claim. This was, in fact, to a considerable extent, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>true. At least
+there was probably a large part of the population who believed William's
+right to the crown superior to that of Harold, whom he had deposed.
+Still, as William was by birth, and education, and language a foreigner,
+and as all the friends and followers who attended him, and, in fact,
+almost the whole of the army, on which he mainly relied for the
+preservation of his power, were foreigners too&mdash;wearing a strange dress,
+and speaking in an unknown tongue&mdash;the great mass of the English people
+could not but feel that they were under a species of foreign
+subjugation. Quarrels were therefore continually breaking out between
+them and their Norman masters, resulting in fierce and bloody struggles,
+on their part, to get free. These rebellions were always effectually put
+down; but when quelled in one quarter they soon broke out in another,
+and they kept William and his forces almost always employed.</p>
+
+<p>But William was not a mere warrior. He was well aware that the
+permanence and stability of his own and his successor's sway in England
+would depend finally upon the kind of basis on which the civil
+institutions of the country should rest, and on the proper consolidation
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>and adjustment of the administrative and judicial functions of the
+realm. In the intervals of his campaigns, therefore, William devoted a
+great deal of time and attention to this subject, and he evinced a most
+profound and statesmanlike wisdom and sagacity in his manner of treating
+it.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Amalgamation of the English and Normans.<br />William's labors.<br />
+Necessity of bringing a large Norman force.<br />Providing for them.<br />The
+British realm Normanized.</div>
+
+<p>He had, in fact, a Herculean task to perform&mdash;a double task&mdash;viz., to
+amalgamate two <i>nations</i>, and also to fuse and merge two <i>languages</i>
+into one. He was absolutely compelled, by the circumstances under which
+he was placed, to grapple with both these vast undertakings. If, at the
+time when, in his park at Rouen, he first heard of Harold's accession,
+he had supposed that there was a party in England in his favor strong
+enough to allow of his proceeding there alone, or with a small Norman
+attendance, so that he might rely mainly on the English themselves for
+his accession to the throne, the formidable difficulties which, as it
+was, he had subsequently to encounter, would all have been saved. But
+there was no such party&mdash;at least there was no evidence that there was
+one of sufficient strength to justify him in trusting himself to it. It
+seemed to him, then, that if he undertook to gain possession <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>of the
+English throne at all, he must rely entirely on the force which he could
+take with him from Normandy. To make this reliance effectual, the force
+so taken must be an overwhelming one. Then, if Normans in great numbers
+were to go to England for the purpose of putting him upon the English
+throne, they must be rewarded, and so vast a number of candidates for
+the prizes of honor and wealth could be satisfied only in England, and
+by confiscations there. His possessions in Normandy would obviously be
+insufficient for such a purpose. It was evident, moreover, that if a
+large number of Norman adventurers were placed in stations of trust and
+honor, and charged with civil offices and administrative functions all
+over England, they would form a sort of class by themselves, and would
+be looked upon with jealousy and envy by the original inhabitants, and
+that there was no hope of maintaining them safely in their position
+except by making the class as numerous and as strong as possible. In a
+word, William saw very clearly that, while it would have been very well,
+if it had been possible, for him to have brought <i>no</i> Normans to
+England, it was clearly best, since so many must go, to contrive every
+means to swell and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>increase the number. It was one of those cases
+where, being obliged to go far, it is best to go farther; and William
+resolved on thoroughly <i>Normanizing</i>, so to speak, the whole British
+realm. This enormous undertaking he accomplished fully and permanently;
+and the institutions of England, the lines of family descent, the
+routine of judicial and administrative business, and the very language
+of the realm, retain the Norman characteristics which he ingrafted into
+them to the present day.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">O yes! O yes! O yes!<br />Relics of the past.<br />Their future
+preservation.</div>
+
+<p>It gives us a feeling akin to that of sublimity to find, even in our own
+land, and in the most remote situations of it, the lingering relics of
+the revolutions and deeds of these early ages, still remaining, like a
+faint ripple rolling gently upon a beach in a deep and secluded bay,
+which was set in motion, perhaps, at first, as one of the mountainous
+surges of a wintery storm in the most distant seas. For example, if we
+enter the most humble court in any remote and newly-settled country in
+the American forests, a plain and rustic-looking man will call the
+equally rustic-looking assembly to order by rapping his baton, the only
+symbol of his office, on the floor, and calling out, in words mystic and
+meaningless to him, "O yes! O yes! O <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>yes!"<a name="FNanchor_K_11" id="FNanchor_K_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_K_11" class="fnanchor">[K]</a> He little thinks that he
+is obeying a behest of William the Conqueror, issued eight hundred years
+ago, ordaining that his native tongue should be employed in the courts
+of England. The irresistible progress of improvement and reform have
+gradually displaced the intruding language again&mdash;except so far as it
+has become merged and incorporated with the common language of the
+country&mdash;from all the ordinary forms of legal proceedings. It lingers
+still, however, as it were, on the threshold, in this call to order; and
+as it is harmless there, the spirit of conservatism will, perhaps,
+preserve for it this last place of refuge for a thousand years to come,
+and "<i>O yes</i>" will be the phrase for ordaining silence by many
+generations of officers, who will, perhaps, never have heard of the
+authority whose orders they unwittingly obey.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Point of view in which the Norman Conquest is regarded.</div>
+
+<p>The work of incorporating the Norman and English families with one
+another, and fusing the two languages into one, required about a century
+for its full accomplishment; and when at last it was accomplished, the
+people of England were somewhat puzzled to know whether <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>they ought to
+feel proud of William's exploits in the conquest of England, or
+humiliated by them. So far as they were themselves descended from the
+Normans, the conquest was one of the glorious deeds of their ancestors.
+So far as they were of English parentage, it would seem to be incumbent
+on them to mourn over their fathers' defeat. It is obvious that from
+such a species of perplexity as this there was no escape, and it has
+accordingly continued to embarrass the successive generations of
+Englishmen down to the present day. The Norman Conquest occupies,
+therefore, a very uncertain and equivocal position in English history,
+the various modern writers who look back to it now being hardly able to
+determine whether they are to regard it as a mortifying subjugation
+which their ancestors suffered, or a glorious victory which they gained.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Domesday Book.<br />Its great obscurity.</div>
+
+<p>One of the great measures of William's reign, and one, in fact, for
+which it has been particularly famous in modern times, was a grand
+census or registration of the kingdom, which the Conqueror ordered with
+a view of having on record a perfect enumeration and description of all
+the real and personal property in the kingdom. This grand national
+survey was made in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>1078. The result was recorded in two volumes of
+different sizes, which were called the Great and the Little Domesday
+Book. These books are still preserved, and are to this day of the very
+highest authority in respect to all questions touching ancient rights of
+property. One is a folio, and the other a quarto volume. The records are
+written on vellum, in a close, abridged, and, to ordinary readers, a
+perfectly unintelligible character. The language is Latin; but a modern
+Latin scholar, without any means other than an inspection of the work,
+would be utterly unable to decipher it. In fact, though the character is
+highly wrought, and in some respects elegant, the whole style and
+arrangement of the work is pretty nearly on a par, in respect to
+scientific skill, with Queen Emma's designs upon the Bayeux tapestry.
+About half a century ago, copies of these works were printed, by means
+of type made to represent the original character. But these printed
+editions were found unintelligible and useless until copious indexes
+were prepared, and published to accompany them, at great expense of time
+and labor.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Specimen of the Domesday Book.<br />Translation.</div>
+
+<p>Some little idea of the character and style of this celebrated record
+may be obtained from the following specimen, which is as faithful an
+imitation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>of the original as any ordinary typography will allow:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i269.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="169" alt="" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<p>The passage, deciphered and expressed in full, stands thus&mdash;the letters
+omitted in the original, above, being supplied in italics:</p>
+
+<p class="right"><span class="smcap">In Brixistan Hund</span><i>redo</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Rex ten<i>et</i> <span class="smcap">Bermundesye</span>. <span class="smcap">Herald<i>us</i></span> com<i>es</i> tenuit. T<i>unc</i> se
+def<i>en</i>d<i>ebat</i> p<i>ro</i> xiii. hid<i>is</i>, m<i>od</i>o pro xii. hid<i>is</i>. T<i>er</i>ra
+e<i>st</i> viii. car<i>rucatarum</i>. In d<i>omi</i>nio e<i>st</i> una car<i>rucata</i> et
+xxv. vill<i>ani</i> et xxxiii. bord<i>arii</i> cu<i>m</i> un<i>a</i> car<i>rucata</i>. Ibi
+nova et pulchra eccl<i>esia</i>, et xx. ac<i>r&aelig;</i> p<i>ra</i>ti. Silva v.
+porc<i>is</i> de pasnag<i>io</i>.</p></div>
+
+<p>The English translation is as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+<span class="smcap">In Brixistan Hundred.</span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The king holds <span class="smcap">Bermundesye</span>. Earl <span class="smcap">Herald</span> held it [before]. At that
+time it was rated at thirteen hides; now, at twelve. The arable
+land is eight carrucates [<i>or</i> plow-lands]. There is one carrucate
+in demesne, and twenty-five villans, and thirty-three bordars, with
+one carrucate. There is a new and handsome church, with twenty
+acres of meadow, and woodland for five hogs in pasnage [pasturage]
+time.</p></div>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's health declines.<br />Death of her daughter.<br />Matilda
+retires to her palace at Caen.</div>
+
+<p>But we must pass on to the conclusion of the story. About the year 1082,
+Queen Matilda's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>health began seriously to decline. She was harassed by
+a great many anxieties and cares connected with the affairs of state
+which devolved upon her, and arising from the situation of her family:
+these anxieties produced great dejection of spirits, and aggravated, if
+they did not wholly cause, her bodily disease. She was at this time in
+Normandy. One great source of her mental suffering was her anxiety in
+respect to one of her daughters, who, as well as herself, was declining
+in health. Forgetting her own danger in her earnest desires for the
+welfare of her child, she made a sort of pilgrimage to a monastery which
+contained the shrine of a certain saint, who, as she imagined, had power
+to save her daughter. She laid a rich present on the shrine; she offered
+before it most earnest prayers, imploring, with tears of bitter grief,
+the intercession of the saint, and manifesting every outward symbol of
+humility and faith. She took her place in the religious services of the
+monastery, and conformed to its usages, as if she had been in the
+humblest private station. But all was in vain. The health of her beloved
+daughter continued to fail, until at length she died; and Matilda,
+growing herself more feeble, and almost broken hearted <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>through grief,
+shut herself up in the palace at Caen.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Her distress of mind.</div>
+
+<p>It was in the same palace which William had built, within his monastery,
+many long years before, at the time of their marriage. Matilda looked
+back to that period, and to the buoyant hopes and bright anticipations
+of power, glory, and happiness which then filled her heart, with sadness
+and sorrow. The power and the glory had been attained, and in a measure
+tenfold greater than she had imagined, but the happiness had never come.
+Ambition had been contending unceasingly for twenty years, among all the
+branches of her family, against domestic peace and love. She possessed,
+herself, an aspiring mind, but the principles of maternal and conjugal
+love were stronger in her heart than those of ambition; and yet she was
+compelled to see ambition bearing down and destroying love in all its
+forms every where around her. Her last days were embittered by the
+breaking out of new contests between her husband and her son.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Matilda's health.</div>
+
+<p>Matilda sought for peace and comfort in multiplying her religious
+services and observances. She fasted, she prayed, she interceded for the
+forgiveness of her sins with many tears. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>monks celebrated mass at
+her bed-side, and made, as she thought, by renewing the sacrifice of
+Christ, a fresh propitiation for her sins. William, who was then in
+Normandy, hearing of her forlorn and unhappy condition, came to see her.
+He arrived just in time to see her die.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Memorials of her.</div>
+
+<p>They conveyed her body from the palace in her husband's monastery at
+Caen to the convent which she had built. It was received there in solemn
+state, and deposited in the tomb. For centuries afterward, there
+remained many memorials of her existence and her greatness there, in
+paintings, embroideries, sacred gifts, and records, which have been
+gradually wasted away by the hand of time. They have not, however,
+wholly disappeared, for travelers who visit the spot find that many
+memorials and traditions of Matilda linger there still.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's declining years.<br />His fitfulness and discontent.</div>
+
+<p>William himself did not live many years after the death of his wife. He
+was several years older than she. In fact, he was now considerably
+advanced in age. He became extremely corpulent as he grew old, which, as
+he was originally of a large frame, made him excessively unwieldy. The
+inconvenience resulting from this habit of body was not the only evil
+that attended it. It affected his health, and even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>threatened to end in
+serious if not fatal disease. While he was thus made comparatively
+helpless in body by the infirmities of his advancing age, he was
+nevertheless as active and restless in spirit as ever. It was, however,
+no longer the activity of youth, and hope, and progress which animated
+him, but rather the fitful uneasiness with which age agitates itself
+under the vexations which it sometimes has to endure, or struggles
+convulsively at the approach of real or imaginary dangers, threatening
+the possessions which it has been the work of life to gain. The dangers
+in William's case were real, not imaginary. He was continually
+threatened on every side. In fact, the very year before he died, the
+dissensions between himself and Robert broke out anew, and he was
+obliged, unwieldy and helpless as he was, to repair to Normandy, at the
+head of an armed force, to quell the disturbances which Robert and his
+partisans had raised.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Philip ridicules William.</div>
+
+<p>Robert was countenanced and aided at this time by Philip, the king of
+France, who had always been King William's jealous and implacable rival.
+Philip, who, as will be recollected, was very young when William asked
+his aid at the time of his invasion of England, was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>now in middle life,
+and at the height of his power. As he had refused William his aid, he
+was naturally somewhat envious and jealous of his success, and he was
+always ready to take part against him. He now aided and abetted Robert
+in his turbulence and insubordination, and ridiculed the helpless
+infirmities of the aged king.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's rage.<br />William's threats.</div>
+
+<p>While William was in Normandy, he submitted to a course of medical
+treatment, in the hope of diminishing his excessive corpulency, and
+relieving the disagreeable and dangerous symptoms which attended it.
+While thus in his physician's hands, he was, of course, confined to his
+chamber. Philip, in ridicule, called it "being in the straw." He asked
+some one who appeared at his court, having recently arrived from
+Normandy, whether the old woman of England was still in the straw. Some
+miserable tale-bearer, such as every where infest society at the present
+day, who delight in quoting to one friend what they think will excite
+their anger against another, repeated these words to William. Sick as he
+was, the sarcasm aroused him to a furious paroxysm of rage. He swore by
+"God's brightness and resurrection" that, when he got out again, he
+would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>kindle such fires in Philip's dominions, in commemoration of his
+delivery, as should make his realms too hot to hold him.</p>
+
+<p>He kept his word&mdash;at least so far as respects the kindling of the fires;
+but the fires, instead of making Philip's realms too hot to hold him, by
+a strange yet just retribution, were simply the means of closing forever
+the mortal career of the hand that kindled them. The circumstances of
+this final scene of the great conqueror's earthly history were these:</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Conflagration of Mantes.<br />William's injury.<br />His great danger.</div>
+
+<p>In the execution of his threat to make Philip's dominions too hot to
+hold him, William, as soon as he was able to mount his horse, headed an
+expedition, and crossed the frontiers of Normandy, and moved forward
+into the heart of France, laying waste the country, as he advanced, with
+fire and sword. He came soon to the town of Mantes, a town upon the
+Seine, directly on the road to Paris. William's soldiers attacked the
+town with furious impetuosity, carried it by assault, and set it on
+fire. William followed them in, through the gates, glorying in the
+fulfillment of his threats of vengeance. Some timbers from a burning
+house had fallen into the street, and, burning there, had left a
+smoldering bed of embers, in which the fire was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>still remaining.
+William, excited with the feeling of exultation and victory, was riding
+unguardedly on through the scene of ruin he had made, issuing orders,
+and shouting in a frantic manner as he went, when he was suddenly
+stopped by a violent recoil of his horse from the burning embers, on
+which he had stepped, and which had been concealed from view by the
+ashes which covered them. William, unwieldy and comparatively helpless
+as he was, was thrown with great force upon the pommel of the saddle. He
+saved himself from falling from the horse, but he immediately found that
+he had sustained some serious internal injury. He was obliged to
+dismount, and to be conveyed away, by a very sudden transition, from the
+dreadful scene of conflagration and vengeance which he had been
+enacting, to the solemn chamber of death. They made a litter for him,
+and a corps of strong men was designated to bear the heavy and now
+helpless burden back to Normandy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281-282]</a></span></p><div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/i277.jpg" class="ispace" width="500" height="292" alt="William&#39;s Horse stepping on the Embers." title="" />
+<span class="caption smcap">William&#39;s Horse stepping on the Embers.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="sidenote2">William's remorse.<br />His last acts.</div>
+
+<p>They took the suffering monarch to Rouen. The ablest physicians were
+summoned to his bed-side. After examining his case, they concluded that
+he must die. The tidings threw the unhappy patient into a state of
+extreme <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>anxiety and terror. The recollection of the thousand deeds of selfish
+ambition and cruelty which he had been perpetrating, he said, all his
+days, filled him with remorse. He shrunk back with invincible dread from
+the hour, now so rapidly approaching, when he was to appear in judgment
+before God, and answer, like any common mortal, for his crimes. He had
+been accustomed all his life to consider himself as above all law,
+superior to all power, and beyond the reach of all judicial question.
+But now his time had come. He who had so often made others tremble,
+trembled now in his turn, with an acuteness of terror and distress which
+only the boldest and most high-handed offenders ever feel. He cried
+bitterly to God for forgiveness, and brought the monks around him to
+help him with incessant prayers. He ordered all the money that he had on
+hand to be given to the poor. He sent commands to have the churches
+which he had burned at Mantes rebuilt, and the other injuries which he
+had effected in his anger repaired. In a word, he gave himself very
+earnestly to the work of attempting, by all the means considered most
+efficacious in those days, to avert and appease the dreaded anger of
+heaven.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p><div class="sidenote">Robert absent.<br />He receives Normandy.<br />William Rufus and Henry.<br />
+The king's will.</div>
+
+<p>Of his three oldest sons, Robert was away; the quarrel between him and
+his father had become irreconcilable, and he would not come to visit
+him, even in his dying hours. William Rufus and Henry were there, and
+they remained very constantly at their father's bed-side&mdash;not, however,
+from a principle of filial affection, but because they wanted to be
+present when he should express his last wishes in respect to the
+disposal of his dominions. Such an expression, though oral, would be
+binding as a will. When, at length, the king gave his dying directions
+in respect to the succession, it appeared that, after all, he considered
+his right to the English throne as very doubtful in the sight of God. He
+had, in a former part of his life, promised Normandy to Robert, as his
+inheritance, when he himself should die; and though he had so often
+refused to surrender it to him while he himself continued to live, he
+confirmed his title to the succession now. "I have promised it to him,"
+he said, "and I keep my promise; and yet I know that that will be a
+miserable country which is subject to his government. He is a proud and
+foolish knave, and can never prosper. As for my kingdom of England," he
+continued, "I bequeath it to no one, for it was not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>bequeathed to me. I
+acquired it by force, and at the price of blood. I leave it in the hands
+of God, only wishing that my son William Rufus may have it, for he has
+been submissive to me in all things." "And what do you give <i>me</i>,
+father?" asked Henry, eagerly, at this point. "I give you," said the
+king, "five thousand pounds from my treasury." "But what shall I do with
+my five thousand pounds," asked Henry, "if you do not give me either
+house or land?" "Be quiet, my son," rejoined the king, "and trust in
+God. Let your brothers go before you; your turn will come after theirs."</p>
+
+<p>The object which had kept the young men at their father's bed-side
+having been now attained, they both withdrew. Henry went to get his
+money, and William Rufus set off immediately for England, to prepare the
+way for his own accession to the throne, as soon as his father should be
+no more.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">William's death.</div>
+
+<p>The king determined to be removed from his castle in Rouen to a
+monastery which was situated at a short distance from the city, without
+the walls. The noise of the city disturbed him, and, besides, he thought
+he should feel safer to die on sacred ground. He was accordingly removed
+to the monastery. There, on the tenth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>of September, he was awakened in
+the morning by hearing the city bells ringing. He asked what it meant.
+He was told that the bells were ringing for the morning service at the
+church of St. Mary. He lifted up his hands, looked to heaven, and said,
+"I commend myself to my Lady Mary, the holy Mother of God," and almost
+immediately expired.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Abandonment of the body.<br />Apprehensions of the people.</div>
+
+<p>The readers of history have frequent occasion to be surprised at the
+sudden and total change which often takes place at the moment of the
+death of a mighty sovereign, and even sometimes before his death, in the
+indications of the respect and consideration with which his attendants
+and followers regard him. In William's case, as has happened in many
+other cases since, the moment he ceased to breathe he was utterly
+abandoned. Every body fled, carrying with them, as they went, whatever
+they could seize from the chamber&mdash;the arms, the furniture, the dresses,
+and the plate; for all these articles became their perquisites on the
+decease of their master. The almost incredible statement is made that
+the heartless monsters actually stripped the dead body of their
+sovereign, to make sure of all their dues, and left it naked on the
+stone floor, while they bore their prizes to a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>place of safety. The
+body lay in this neglected state for many hours; for the tidings of the
+great monarch's death, which was so sudden at last, produced, as it
+spread, universal excitement and apprehension. No one knew to what
+changes the event would lead, what wars would follow between the sons,
+or what insurrections or rebellions might have been secretly formed, to
+break out suddenly when this crisis should have arrived. Thus the whole
+community were thrown into a state of excitement and confusion.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The body removed to Caen.</div>
+
+<p>The monk and lay brethren of the monastery at length came in, took up
+the body, and prepared it for burial. They then brought crosses, tapers,
+and censers, and began to offer prayers and to chant requiems for the
+repose of the soul of the deceased. They sent also the Archbishop of
+Rouen, to know what was to be done with the body. The archbishop gave
+orders that it should be taken to Caen, and be deposited there in the
+monastery which William had erected at the time of his marriage.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Extraordinary scenes.</div>
+
+<p>The tale which the ancient historians have told in respect to the
+interment is still more extraordinary, and more inconsistent with all
+the ideas we naturally form of the kind of consideration and honor which
+the remains of so great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>a potentate would receive at the hands of his
+household and his officers of state, than the account of his death. It
+is said that all the members of his household, and all his officers,
+immediately after his decease, abandoned the town&mdash;all eagerly occupied
+in plans and maneuvers to secure their positions under the new reign.
+Some went in pursuit of Robert, and some to follow William Rufus. Henry
+locked up his money in a strong box, well ironed, and went off with it
+to find some place of security. There was nobody left to take the
+neglected body to the grave.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The body conveyed to the monastery on a cart.<br />The procession
+broken up.</div>
+
+<p>At last a countryman was found who undertook to transport the heavy
+burden from Rouen to Caen. He procured a cart, and conveyed it from the
+monastery to the river, where it was put on board a vessel, and taken
+down the Seine to its mouth, and thence by sea to Caen. The Abbot of St.
+Stephen's, which was the name of William's monastery there, came, with
+some monks and a procession of the people, to accompany the body to the
+abbey. As this procession was moving along, however, a fire broke out in
+the town, and the attendants, actuated either by a sense of duty
+requiring them to aid in extinguishing the flames, or by curiosity to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>witness the conflagration, abandoned the funeral cort&egrave;ge. The
+procession was broken up, and the whole multitude, clergy and laity,
+went off to the fire, leaving the coffin, with its bearers, alone. The
+bearers, however, went on, and conveyed their charge to the church
+within the abbey walls.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">Scene at the interment.</div>
+
+<p>When the time arrived for the interment, a great company assembled to
+witness the ceremonies. Stones had been taken up in the church floor,
+and a grave dug. A stone coffin, a sort of sarcophagus, had been
+prepared, and placed in the grave as a receptacle for the body. When all
+was ready, and the body was about to be let down, a man suddenly came
+forward from the crowd and arrested the proceedings. He said that the
+land on which the abbey stood belonged to him; that William had taken
+forcible possession of it, for the abbey, at the time of his marriage;
+that he, the owner, had been compelled thus far to submit to this wrong,
+inasmuch as he had, during William's life-time, no means of redress, but
+now he protested against a spoliation. "The land," he said, "is mine; it
+belonged to my father. I have not sold it, or forfeited it, nor pledged
+it, nor given it. It is my right. I claim it. In the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>name of God, I
+forbid you to put the body of the spoiler there, or to cover him with my
+ground."</p>
+
+<p>When the excitement and surprise which this denunciation had awakened
+had subsided a little, the bishops called this sudden claimant aside,
+examined the proofs of his allegations, and, finding that the case was
+truly as he stated it, they paid him, on the spot, a sum equal to the
+value of ground enough for a grave, and promised to take immediate
+measures for the payment of the rest. The remonstrant then consented
+that the interment might proceed.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">The sarcophagus too small.<br />The body burst.</div>
+
+<p>In attempting to let the body down into the place prepared for it, they
+found that the sarcophagus was too small. They undertook to force the
+body in. In attempting this, the coffin was broken, and the body,
+already, through the long delays, advanced in decomposition, was burst.
+The monks brought incense and perfumes, and burned and sprinkled them
+around the place, but in vain. The church was so offensive that every
+body abandoned it at once, except the workmen who remained to fill the
+grave.</p>
+
+<hr class="medium" />
+
+<div class="sidenote">William Rufus obtains possession of the English throne.</div>
+
+<p>While these things were transpiring in Normandy, William Rufus had
+hastened to England, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>taking with him the evidences of his father's
+dying wish that he should succeed him on the English throne. Before he
+reached head-quarters there, he heard of his father's death, and he
+succeeded in inducing the Norman chieftains to proclaim him king.
+Robert's friends made an effort to advance his claims, but they could do
+nothing effectual for him, and so it was soon settled, by a treaty
+between the brothers, that William Rufus should reign in England, while
+Robert was to content himself with his father's ancient domain of
+Normandy.</p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Footnotes:</span></h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> See the <a href="#Page_14">map</a> at the commencement of this chapter.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Her name is spelled variously, Arlette, Arlotte, Harlotte,
+and in other ways.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> Seizin, an ancient feudal term denoting the inducting of a
+party to a legal possession of his right.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> See <a href="#secondmap">map</a> at the commencement of chapter ix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> See <a href="#secondmap">map</a>, chapter ix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> See <a href="#secondmap">map</a>, chapter ix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> See <a href="#secondmap">map</a>, chapter ix.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> It is given at length in the last chapter of our history of
+Alfred the Great.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_I_9" id="Footnote_I_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_I_9"><span class="label">[I]</span></a> The children of Ethelred's oldest son, Edmund, were in
+Hungary at this time, and seem to have been wellnigh forgotten.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_J_10" id="Footnote_J_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_J_10"><span class="label">[J]</span></a> The Latin name for such a seal was <i>bulla</i>. It is on
+account of this sort of seal, which is customarily affixed to them, that
+papal edicts have received the name of <i>bulls</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_K_11" id="Footnote_K_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_K_11"><span class="label">[K]</span></a> Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Norman French for Hearken! hearken!
+hearken!</p></div>
+
+<hr class="large" />
+<h3><span class="smcap">Transcriber's Notes</span></h3>
+
+<p>1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.</p>
+
+<p>2. The sidenotes used in this text were originally published as banners in the page headers, and have been moved to the relevant paragraph
+for the reader's convenience.</p>
+
+<p>3. Page numbering for the map of Normandy has been changed from 189 to 190, to reflect its final placement in the finished text.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: William the Conqueror
+       Makers of History
+
+Author: Jacob Abbott
+
+Release Date: June 20, 2008 [EBook #25848]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Makers of History
+
+ William the Conqueror
+
+ BY
+
+ JACOB ABBOTT
+
+ WITH ENGRAVINGS
+
+ NEW YORK AND LONDON
+ HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+ 1902
+
+
+
+
+ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
+ eight hundred and forty-nine, by
+
+ HARPER & BROTHERS,
+
+ In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
+ of New York.
+
+ Copyright, 1877, by JACOB ABBOTT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+In selecting the subjects for the successive volumes of this series, it
+has been the object of the author to look for the names of those great
+personages whose histories constitute useful, and not merely
+entertaining, knowledge. There are certain names which are familiar, as
+names, to all mankind; and every person who seeks for any degree of
+mental cultivation, feels desirous of informing himself of the leading
+outlines of their history, that he may know, in brief, what it was in
+their characters or their doings which has given them so widely-extended
+a fame. This knowledge, which it seems incumbent on every one to obtain
+in respect to such personages as Hannibal, Alexander, Caesar, Cleopatra,
+Darius, Xerxes, Alfred, William the Conqueror, Queen Elizabeth, and Mary
+Queen of Scots, it is the design and object of these volumes to
+communicate, in a faithful, and, at the same time, if possible, in an
+attractive manner. Consequently, great historical names alone are
+selected; and it has been the writer's aim to present the prominent and
+leading traits in their characters, and all the important events in
+their lives, in a bold and free manner, and yet in the plain and simple
+language which is so obviously required in works which aim at permanent
+and practical usefulness.
+
+
+
+
+ CONTENTS.
+
+
+ Chapter                                                    Page
+
+    I. NORMANDY                                              13
+
+   II. BIRTH OF WILLIAM                                      31
+
+  III. THE ACCESSION                                         51
+
+   IV. WILLIAM'S REIGN IN NORMANDY                           72
+
+    V. THE MARRIAGE                                          96
+
+   VI. THE LADY EMMA                                        119
+
+  VII. KING HAROLD                                          142
+
+ VIII. PREPARATIONS FOR THE INVASION                        164
+
+   IX. CROSSING THE CHANNEL                                 189
+
+    X. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS                               212
+
+   XI. PRINCE ROBERT'S REBELLION                            242
+
+  XII. THE CONCLUSION                                       265
+
+
+
+
+ ENGRAVINGS.
+
+
+                                                            Page
+
+ MAP--THE SITUATION OF NORMANDY                              14
+
+ WILLIAM AND ARLOTTE                                         40
+
+ WILLIAM'S ESCAPE                                            77
+
+ THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY                                        102
+
+ THE RESCUE                                                 127
+
+ HAROLD'S INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD                             147
+
+ WILLIAM RECEIVING TOSTIG'S TIDINGS                         166
+
+ MAP--NORMANDY                                              190
+
+ THE NORWEGIANS AT SCARBOROUGH                              218
+
+ WILLIAM'S HORSE STEPPING ON THE EMBERS                     281
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+NORMANDY.
+
+A.D. 870-912
+
+The Norman Conquest.--Claim of William to the throne.--The right of the
+strongest.--Map of Normandy.--The English Channel.--Nature of the French
+coast.--Nature of the English coast.--Northmen and Danes.--Character
+of the Northmen.--Their descendants.--The Dukes of Normandy.--The
+first duke, Rollo.--History of Rollo.--His rendezvous on the Scottish
+coast.--Expedition of Rollo.--His descent upon Flanders.--Difficulties
+encountered.--Rollo passes the Straits of Dover.--Charles the
+Simple.--Defeated by Rollo.--Treaty of peace.--Its conditions.--The
+three ceremonies.--Rollo's pride.--Kissing the king's foot.--The baptism
+and marriage.--Rollo's peaceful and prosperous reign.--Description
+of Normandy.--Scenery.--Hamlets.--Chateaux.--Peasantry.--Public
+roads.--Rouen.--Its situation.--The port of Rouen.--Its name of Le Havre
+de Grace.--Intermingling of races.--Superiority of the Norman stock.
+
+
+One of those great events in English history, which occur at distant
+intervals, and form, respectively, a sort of bound or landmark, to which
+all other events, preceding or following them for centuries, are
+referred, is what is called the Norman Conquest. The Norman Conquest
+was, in fact, the accession of William, duke of Normandy, to the English
+throne. This accession was not altogether a matter of military force,
+for William claimed a _right_ to the throne, which, if not altogether
+perfect, was, as he maintained, at any rate superior to that of the
+prince against whom he contended. The rightfulness of his claim was,
+however, a matter of little consequence, except so far as the moral
+influence of it aided him in gaining possession. The right to rule was,
+in those days, rather more openly and nakedly, though not much more
+really, than it is now, the right of the strongest.
+
+Normandy, William's native land, is a very rich and beautiful province
+in the north of France. The following map shows its situation:
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF ENGLAND AND PART OF FRANCE, SHOWING THE SITUATION
+OF NORMANDY.]
+
+It lies, as will be seen upon the map, on the coast of France, adjoining
+the English Channel. The Channel is here irregular in form, but may be,
+perhaps, on the average, one hundred miles wide. The line of coast on
+the southern side of the Channel, which forms, of course, the northern
+border of Normandy, is a range of cliffs, which are almost perpendicular
+toward the sea, and which frown forbiddingly upon every ship that sails
+along the shore. Here and there, it is true, a river opens a passage for
+itself among these cliffs from the interior, and these river mouths
+would form harbors into which ships might enter from the offing, were it
+not that the northwestern winds prevail so generally, and drive such a
+continual swell of rolling surges in upon the shore, that they choke up
+all these estuary openings, as well as every natural indentation of the
+land, with shoals and bars of sand and shingle. The reverse is the case
+with the northern, or English shore of this famous channel. There the
+harbors formed by the mouths of the rivers, or by the sinuosities of the
+shore, are open and accessible, and at the same time sheltered from the
+winds and the sea. Thus, while the northern or English shore has been,
+for many centuries, all the time enticing the seaman in and out over
+the calm, deep, and sheltered waters which there penetrate the land, the
+southern side has been an almost impassable barrier, consisting of a
+long line of frowning cliffs, with every opening through it choked with
+shoals and sand-banks, and guarded by the rolling and tumbling of surges
+which scarcely ever rest.
+
+It is in a great measure owing to these great physical differences
+between the two shores, that the people who live upon the one side,
+though of the same stock and origin with those who live upon the other,
+have become so vastly superior to them in respect to naval exploits and
+power. They are really of the same stock and origin, since both England
+and the northern part of France were overrun and settled by what is
+called the Scandinavian race, that is, people from Norway, Denmark, and
+other countries on the Baltic. These people were called the _Northmen_
+in the histories of those times. Those who landed in England are
+generally termed _Danes_, though but a small portion of them came really
+from Denmark. They were all, however, of the same parent stock, and
+possessed the same qualities of courage, energy, and fearless love of
+adventure and of danger which distinguish their descendants at the
+present day. They came down in those early times in great military
+hordes, and in fleets of piratical ships, through the German Ocean and
+the various British seas, braving every hardship and every imaginable
+danger, to find new regions to dwell in, more genial, and fertile, and
+rich than their own native northern climes. In these days they evince
+the same energy, and endure equal privations and hardships, in hunting
+whales in the Pacific Ocean; in overrunning India, and seizing its
+sources of wealth and power; or in sallying forth, whole fleets of
+adventurers at a time, to go more than half round the globe, to dig for
+gold in California. The times and circumstances have changed, but the
+race and spirit are the same.
+
+Normandy takes its name from the Northmen. It was the province of France
+which the Northmen made peculiarly their own. They gained access to it
+from the sea by the River Seine, which, as will be seen from the map,
+flows, as it were, through the heart of the country. The lower part of
+this river, and the sea around its mouth, are much choked up with sand
+and gravel, which the waves have been for ages washing in. Their
+incessant industry would result in closing up the passage entirely,
+were it not that the waters of the river must have an outlet; and thus
+the current, setting outward, wages perpetual war with the surf and
+surges which are continually breaking in. The expeditions of the
+Northmen, however, found their way through all these obstructions. They
+ascended the river with their ships, and finally gained a permanent
+settlement in the country. They had occupied the country for some
+centuries at the time when our story begins--the province being governed
+by a line of princes--almost, if not quite, independent
+sovereigns--called the _Dukes of Normandy_.
+
+The first Duke of Normandy, and the founder of the line--the chieftain
+who originally invaded and conquered the country--was a wild and
+half-savage hero from the north, named _Rollo_. He is often, in history,
+called Rollo the Dane. Norway was his native land. He was a chieftain by
+birth there, and, being of a wild and adventurous disposition, he
+collected a band of followers, and committed with them so many piracies
+and robberies, that at length the king of the country expelled him.
+
+Rollo seems not to have considered this banishment as any very great
+calamity, since, far from interrupting his career of piracy and
+plunder, it only widened the field on which he was to pursue it. He
+accordingly increased the equipment and the force of his fleet, enlisted
+more followers, and set sail across the northern part of the German
+Ocean toward the British shores.
+
+Off the northwestern coast of Scotland there are some groups of
+mountainous and gloomy islands, which have been, in many different
+periods of the world, the refuge of fugitives and outlaws. Rollo made
+these islands his rendezvous now; and he found collected there many
+other similar spirits, who had fled to these lonely retreats, some on
+account of political disturbances in which they had become involved, and
+some on account of their crimes. Rollo's impetuous, ardent, and
+self-confident character inspired them with new energy and zeal. They
+gathered around him as their leader. Finding his strength thus
+increasing, he formed a scheme of concentrating all the force that he
+could command, so as to organize a grand expedition to proceed to the
+southward, and endeavor to find some pleasant country which they could
+seize and settle upon, and make their own. The desperate adventurers
+around him were ready enough to enter into this scheme. The fleet was
+refitted, provisioned, and equipped. The expedition was organized, arms
+and munitions of war provided, and when all was ready they set sail.
+They had no definite plan in respect to the place of their destination,
+their intention being to make themselves a home on the first favorable
+spot that they should find.
+
+They moved southward, cruising at first along the coast of Scotland, and
+then of England. They made several fruitless attempts to land on the
+English shores, but were every where repulsed. The time when these
+events took place was during the reign of Alfred the Great. Through
+Alfred's wise and efficient measures the whole of his frontier had been
+put into a perfect state of defense, and Rollo found that there was no
+hope for him there. He accordingly moved on toward the Straits of Dover;
+but, before passing them, he made a descent upon the coast of Flanders.
+Here there was a country named Hainault. It was governed by a potentate
+called the Count of Hainault. Rollo made war upon him, defeated him in
+battle, took him prisoner, and then compelled the countess his wife to
+raise and pay him an immense sum for his ransom. Thus he replenished
+his treasury by an exploit which was considered in those days very
+great and glorious. To perpetrate such a deed now, unless it were on a
+_very_ great scale, would be to incur the universal reprobation of
+mankind; but Rollo, by doing it then, not only enriched his coffers, but
+acquired a very extended and honorable fame.
+
+For some reason or other, Rollo did not attempt to take permanent
+possession of Hainault, but, after receiving his ransom money, and
+replenishing his ammunition and stores, he sailed away with his fleet,
+and, turning westward, he passed through the Straits of Dover, and
+cruised along the coast of France. He found that the country on the
+French side of the channel, though equally rich and beautiful with the
+opposite shore, was in a very different state of defense. He entered the
+mouth of the Seine. He was embarrassed at first by the difficulties of
+the navigation in entering the river; but as there was no efficient
+enemy to oppose him, he soon triumphed over these difficulties, and,
+once fairly in the river, he found no difficulty in ascending to
+Rouen.[A]
+
+[Footnote A: See the map at the commencement of this chapter.]
+
+In the mean time, the King of France, whose name was Charles, and who
+is generally designated in history as Charles the Simple, began to
+collect an army to meet the invader. Rollo, however, had made himself
+master of Rouen before Charles was able to offer him any effectual
+opposition. Rouen was already a strong place, but Rollo made it
+stronger. He enlarged and repaired the fortifications, built
+store-houses, established a garrison, and, in a word, made all the
+arrangements requisite for securing an impregnable position for himself
+and his army.
+
+A long and obstinate war followed between Rollo and Charles, Rollo being
+almost uniformly victorious in the combats that took place. Rollo became
+more and more proud and imperious in proportion to his success. He drove
+the French king from port to port, and from field to field, until he
+made himself master of a large part of the north of France, over which
+he gradually established a regular government of his own. Charles
+struggled in vain to resist these encroachments. Rollo continually
+defeated him; and finally he shut him up and besieged him in Paris
+itself. At length Charles was compelled to enter into negotiations for
+peace. Rollo demanded that the large and rich tract on both sides of the
+Seine, next the sea--the same, in fact, that now constitutes
+Normandy--should be ceded to him and his followers for their permanent
+possession. Charles was extremely unwilling thus to alienate a part of
+his kingdom. He would not consent to cede it absolutely and entirely, so
+as to make it an independent realm. It should be a _dukedom_, and not a
+separate _kingdom_, so that it might continue still a part of his own
+royal domains--Rollo to reign over it as a duke, and to acknowledge a
+general allegiance to the French king. Rollo agreed to this. The war had
+been now protracted so long that he began himself to desire repose. It
+was more than thirty years since the time of his landing.
+
+Charles had a daughter named Giselle, and it was a part of the treaty of
+peace that she should become Rollo's wife. He also agreed to become a
+Christian. Thus there were, in the execution of the treaty, three
+ceremonies to be performed. First, Rollo was to _do homage_, as it was
+called, for his duchy; for it was the custom in those days for
+subordinate princes, who held their possessions of some higher and more
+strictly sovereign power, to perform certain ceremonies in the presence
+of their superior lord, which was called doing homage. These ceremonies
+were of various kinds in different countries, though they were all
+intended to express the submission of the dependent prince to the
+superior authority and power of the higher potentate of whom he held his
+lands. This act of homage was therefore to be performed, and next to the
+homage was to come the baptism, and after the baptism, the marriage.
+
+When, however, the time came for the performance of the first of these
+ceremonies, and all the great chieftains and potentates of the
+respective armies were assembled to witness it, Rollo, it was found,
+would not submit to what the customs of the French monarchy required. He
+ought to kneel before the king, and put his hands, clasped together,
+between the king's hands, in token of submission, and then to kiss his
+foot, which was covered with an elegantly fashioned slipper on such
+occasions. Rollo would do all except the last; but that, no
+remonstrances, urgencies, or persuasions would induce him to consent to.
+
+And yet it was not a very unusual sign or token of political
+subordination to sovereign power in those days. The pope had exacted it
+even of an emperor a hundred years before; and it is continued by that
+dignitary to the present day, on certain state occasions; though in the
+case of the pope, there is embroidered on the slipper which the kneeling
+suppliant kisses, a _cross_, so that he who humbles himself to this
+ceremony may consider, if he pleases, that it is that sacred symbol of
+the divine Redeemer's sufferings and death that he so reverently kisses,
+and not the human foot by which it is covered.
+
+Rollo could not be made to consent, himself, to kiss King Charles's
+foot; and, finally, the difficulty was compromised by his agreeing to do
+it by proxy. He ordered one of his courtiers to perform that part of the
+ceremony. The courtier obeyed, but when he came to lift the foot, he did
+it so rudely and lifted it so high as to turn the monarch over off his
+seat. This made a laugh, but Rollo was too powerful for Charles to think
+of resenting it.
+
+A few days after this Rollo was baptized in the cathedral church at
+Rouen, with great pomp and parade; and then, on the following week, he
+was married to Giselle. The din of war in which he had lived for more
+than thirty years was now changed into festivities and rejoicings. He
+took full and peaceable possession of his dukedom, and governed it for
+the remainder of his days with great wisdom, and lived in great
+prosperity. He made it, in fact, one of the richest and most prosperous
+realms in Europe, and laid the foundations of still higher degrees of
+greatness and power, which were gradually developed after his death. And
+this was the origin of Normandy.
+
+It appears thus that this part of France was seized by Rollo and his
+Northmen partly because it was nearest at hand to them, being accessible
+from the English Channel through the River Seine, and partly on account
+of its exceeding richness and fertility. It has been famous in every age
+as the garden of France, and travelers at the present day gaze upon its
+picturesque and beautiful scenery with the highest admiration and
+pleasure. And yet the scenes which are there presented to the view are
+wholly unlike those which constitute picturesque and beautiful rural
+scenery in England and America. In Normandy, the land is not inclosed.
+No hedges, fences, or walls break the continuity of the surface, but
+vast tracts spread in every direction, divided into plots and squares,
+of various sizes and forms, by the varieties of cultivation, like a vast
+carpet of an irregular tesselated pattern, and varied in the color by a
+thousand hues of brown and green. Here and there vast forests extend,
+where countless thousands of trees, though ancient and venerable in
+form, stand in rows, mathematically arranged, as they were planted
+centuries ago. These are royal demesnes, and hunting grounds, and parks
+connected with the country palaces of the kings or the chateaux of the
+ancient nobility. The cultivators of the soil live, not, as in America,
+in little farm-houses built along the road-sides and dotting the slopes
+of the hills, but in compact villages, consisting of ancient dwellings
+of brick or stone, densely packed together along a single street, from
+which the laborers issue, in picturesque dresses, men and women
+together, every morning, to go miles, perhaps, to the scene of their
+daily toil. Except these villages, and the occasional appearance of an
+ancient chateau, no habitations are seen. The country seems a vast
+solitude, teeming everywhere, however, with fertility and beauty. The
+roads which traverse these scenes are magnificent avenues, broad,
+straight, continuing for many miles an undeviating course over the
+undulations of the land, with nothing to separate them from the expanse
+of cultivation and fruitfulness on either hand but rows of ancient and
+venerable trees. Between these rows of trees the traveler sees an
+interminable vista extending both before him and behind him. In England,
+the public road winds beautifully between walls overhung with shrubbery,
+or hedge-rows, with stiles or gateways here and there, revealing hamlets
+or cottages, which appear and disappear in a rapid and endlessly varied
+succession, as the road meanders, like a rivulet, between its beautiful
+banks. In a word, the public highway in England is beautiful; in France
+it is grand.
+
+The greatest city in Normandy in modern times is Rouen, which is
+situated, as will be seen by referring to the map at the commencement of
+this chapter, on the Seine, half way between Paris and the sea. At the
+mouth of the Seine, or, rather, on the northern shore of the estuary
+which forms the mouth of the river, is a small inlet, which has been
+found to afford, on the whole, the best facilities for a harbor that can
+be found on the whole line of the coast. Even this little port, however,
+is so filled up with sand, that when the water recedes at low tide it
+leaves the shipping all aground. The inlet would, in fact, probably
+become filled up entirely were it not for artificial means taken to
+prevent it. There are locks and gateways built in such a manner as to
+retain a large body of water until the tide is down, and then these
+gates are opened, and the water is allowed to rush out all together,
+carrying with it the mud and sand which had begun to accumulate. This
+haven, being, on the whole, the best and most commodious on the coast,
+was called _the_ harbor, or, as the French expressed it in their
+language, _le havre_, the word _havre_ meaning harbor. In fact, the name
+was in full _le havre de grace_, as if the Normans considered it a
+matter of special good luck to have even such a chance of a harbor as
+this at the mouth of their river. The English world have, however,
+dropped all except the principal word from this long phrase of
+designation, and call the port simply Havre.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+From Rollo the line of Dukes of Normandy continued in uninterrupted
+succession down to the time of William, a period of about a hundred and
+fifty years. The country increased all the time in wealth, in
+population, and in prosperity. The original inhabitants were not,
+however, expelled; they remained as peasants, herdsmen, and
+agriculturists, while the Norman chieftains settled over them, holding
+severally large estates of land which William granted them. The races
+gradually became intermingled, though they continued for many centuries
+to evince the superior spirit and energy which was infused into the
+population by the Norman stock. In fact, it is thought by many observers
+that that superiority continues to the present day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+BIRTH OF WILLIAM.
+
+A.D. 912-1033
+
+Castle at Falaise.--Present ruins of the castle.--Scenery of the town
+and castle.--Wall and buildings.--Watch-towers.--Sentinels.--Enchanting
+prospect.--Chronological history of the Norman line.--Rollo.--William
+I., second duke.--Richard I., third duke.--Richard II., fourth
+duke.--Richard III., fifth duke.--Intrigues of Robert.--He becomes
+the sixth duke.--Robert and Henry.--William's mother.--Robert's
+first meeting with Arlotte.--He is captivated.--Robert sends
+for Arlotte.--Scruples of her father.--Arlotte sent to the
+castle.--Robert's affection for her.--Birth of William.--The nurse's
+prediction.--William's childhood.--He is a universal favorite.--Robert
+determines to visit the Holy Land.--Dangers of the journey.--He makes
+William his heir.--Surprise of the assembly.--The nobles do homage to
+William.--William is taken to Paris.--He is presented to the French
+king.
+
+
+Although Rouen is now very far before all the other cities of Normandy
+in point of magnitude and importance, and though Rollo, in his conquest
+of the country, made it his principal head-quarters and his main
+stronghold, it did not continue exclusively the residence of the dukes
+of Normandy in after years. The father of William the Conqueror was
+Robert, who became subsequently the duke, the sixth in the line. He
+resided, at the time when William was born, in a great castle at
+Falaise. Falaise, as will be seen upon the map, is west of Rouen, and it
+stands, like Rouen, at some distance from the sea. The castle was built
+upon a hill, at a little distance from the town. It has long since
+ceased to be habitable, but the ruins still remain, giving a picturesque
+but mournful beauty to the eminence which they crown. They are often
+visited by travelers, who go to see the place where the great hero and
+conqueror was born.
+
+The hill on which the old castle stands terminates, on one side, at the
+foot of the castle walls, in a precipice of rocks, and on two other
+sides, also, the ascent is too steep to be practicable for an enemy. On
+the fourth side there is a more gradual declivity, up which the fortress
+could be approached by means of a winding roadway. At the foot of this
+roadway was the town. The access to the castle from the town was
+defended by a ditch and draw-bridge, with strong towers on each side of
+the gateway to defend the approach. There was a beautiful stream of
+water which meandered along through the valley, near the town, and,
+after passing it, it disappeared, winding around the foot of the
+precipice which the castle crowned. The castle inclosures were shut in
+with walls of stone of enormous thickness; so thick, in fact, they were,
+that some of the apartments were built in the body of the wall. There
+were various buildings within the inclosure. There was, in particular,
+one large, square tower, several stories in height, built of white
+stone. This tower, it is said, still stands in good preservation. There
+was a chapel, also, and various other buildings and apartments within
+the walls, for the use of the ducal family and their numerous retinue
+of servants and attendants, for the storage of munitions of war, and for
+the garrison. There were watch-towers on the corners of the walls, and
+on various lofty projecting pinnacles, where solitary sentinels watched,
+the livelong day and night, for any approaching danger. These sentinels
+looked down on a broad expanse of richly-cultivated country, fields
+beautified with groves of trees, and with the various colors presented
+by the changing vegetation, while meandering streams gleamed with their
+silvery radiance among them, and hamlets of laborers and peasantry were
+scattered here and there, giving life and animation to the scene.
+
+We have said that William's father was Robert, the sixth Duke of
+Normandy, so that William himself, being his immediate successor, was
+the seventh in the line. And as it is the design of these narratives not
+merely to amuse the reader with what is entertaining as a tale, but to
+impart substantial historical knowledge, we must prepare the way for the
+account of William's birth, by presenting a brief chronological view of
+the whole ducal line, extending from Rollo to William. We recommend to
+the reader to examine with special attention this brief account of
+William's ancestry, for the true causes which led to William's invasion
+of England can not be fully appreciated without thoroughly understanding
+certain important transactions in which some members of the family of
+his ancestors were concerned before he was born. This is particularly
+the case with the Lady Emma, who, as will be seen by the following
+summary, was the sister of the third duke in the line. The extraordinary
+and eventful history of her life is so intimately connected with the
+subsequent exploits of William, that it is necessary to relate it in
+full, and it becomes, accordingly, the subject of one of the subsequent
+chapters of this volume.
+
+_Chronological History of the Norman Line._
+
+ROLLO, first Duke of Normandy.
+
+From A.D. 912 to A.D. 917.
+
+It was about 870 that Rollo was banished from Norway, and a few years
+after that, at most, that he landed in France. It was not, however,
+until 912 that he concluded his treaty of peace with Charles, so as to
+be fully invested with the title of Duke of Normandy.
+
+He was advanced in age at this time, and, after spending five years in
+settling the affairs of his realm, he resigned his dukedom into the
+hands of his son, that he might spend the remainder of his days in rest
+and peace. He died in 922, five years after his resignation.
+
+WILLIAM I., second Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 917 to 942.
+
+William was Rollo's son. He began to reign, of course, five years before
+his father's death. He had a quiet and prosperous reign of about
+twenty-five years, but he was assassinated at last by a political enemy,
+in 942.
+
+RICHARD I., third Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 942 to 996.
+
+He was only ten years old when his father was assassinated. He became
+involved in long and arduous wars with the King of France, which
+compelled him to call in the aid of more Northmen from the Baltic. His
+new allies, in the end, gave him as much trouble as the old enemy, with
+whom they came to help William contend; and he found it very hard to get
+them away. He wanted, at length, to make peace with the French king, and
+to have them leave his dominions; but they said, "That was not what they
+came for."
+
+Richard had a beautiful daughter, named Emma, who afterward became a
+very important political personage, as will be seen more fully in a
+subsequent chapter.
+
+Richard died in 996, after reigning fifty-four years.
+
+RICHARD II., fourth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 996 to 1026.
+
+Richard II. was the son of Richard I., and as his father had been
+engaged during his reign in contentions with his sovereign lord, the
+King of France, he, in his turn, was harassed by long-continued
+struggles with his vassals, the barons and nobles of his own realm. He,
+too, sent for Northmen to come and assist him. During his reign there
+was a great contest in England between the Saxons and the Danes, and
+Ethelred, who was the Saxon claimant to the throne, came to Normandy,
+and soon afterward married the Lady Emma, Richard's sister. The
+particulars of this event, from which the most momentous consequences
+were afterward seen to flow, will be given in full in a future chapter.
+Richard died in 1026. He left two sons, Richard and Robert. William the
+Conqueror was the son of the youngest, and was born two years before
+this Richard II. died.
+
+RICHARD III., fifth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 1026 to 1028.
+
+He was the oldest brother, and, of course, succeeded to the dukedom. His
+brother Robert was then only a baron--his son William, afterward the
+Conqueror, being then about two years old. Robert was very ambitious and
+aspiring, and eager to get possession of the dukedom himself. He adopted
+every possible means to circumvent and supplant his brother, and, as is
+supposed, shortened his days by the anxiety and vexation which he caused
+him; for Richard died suddenly and mysteriously only two years after his
+accession. It was supposed by some, in fact, that he was poisoned,
+though there was never any satisfactory proof of this.
+
+ROBERT, sixth Duke of Normandy.
+
+From 1028 to 1035.
+
+Robert, of course, succeeded his brother, and then, with the
+characteristic inconsistency of selfishness and ambition, he employed
+all the power of his realm in helping the King of France to subdue his
+younger brother, who was evincing the same spirit of seditiousness and
+insubmission that he had himself displayed. His assistance was of great
+importance to King Henry; it, in fact, decided the contest in his favor;
+and thus one younger brother was put down in the commencement of his
+career of turbulence and rebellion, by another who had successfully
+accomplished a precisely similar course of crime. King Henry was very
+grateful for the service thus rendered, and was ready to do all in his
+power, at all times, to co-operate with Robert in the plans which the
+latter might form. Robert died in 1035, when William was about eleven
+years old.
+
+And here we close this brief summary of the history of the ducal line,
+as we have already passed the period of William's birth; and we return,
+accordingly, to give in detail some of the particulars of that event.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM AND ARLOTTE.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Although the dukes of Normandy were very powerful potentates, reigning,
+as they did, almost in the character of independent sovereigns, over one
+of the richest and most populous territories of the globe, and though
+William the Conqueror was the son of one of them, his birth was
+nevertheless very ignoble. His mother was not the wife of Robert his
+father, but a poor peasant girl, the daughter of an humble tanner of
+Falaise; and, indeed, William's father, Robert, was not himself the duke
+at this time, but a simple baron, as his father was still living. It
+was not even certain that he ever would be the duke, as his older
+brother, who, of course, would come before him, was also then alive.
+Still, as the son and prospective heir of the reigning duke, his rank
+was very high.
+
+The circumstances of Robert's first acquaintance with the tanner's
+daughter were these. He was one day returning home to the castle from
+some expedition on which he had been sent by his father, when he saw a
+group of peasant girls standing on the margin of the brook, washing
+clothes. They were barefooted, and their dress was in other respects
+disarranged. There was one named Arlotte,[B] the daughter of a tanner of
+the town, whose countenance and figure seem to have captivated the young
+baron. He gazed at her with admiration and pleasure as he rode along.
+Her complexion was fair, her eyes full and blue, and the expression of
+her countenance was frank, and open, and happy. She was talking joyously
+and merrily with her companions as Robert passed, little dreaming of the
+conspicuous place on the page of English history which she was to
+occupy, in all future time, in connection with the gay horseman who was
+riding by.
+
+[Footnote B: Her name is spelled variously, Arlette, Arlotte, Harlotte,
+and in other ways.]
+
+The etiquette of royal and ducal palaces and castles in those days, as
+now, forbade that a noble of such lofty rank should marry a peasant
+girl. Robert could not, therefore, have Arlotte for his wife; but there
+was nothing to prevent his proposing her coming to the castle and living
+with him--that is, nothing but the law of God, and this was an authority
+to which dukes and barons in the Middle Ages were accustomed to pay very
+little regard. There was not even a public sentiment to forbid this, for
+a nobility like that of England and France in the Middle Ages stands so
+far above all the mass of society as to be scarcely amenable at all to
+the ordinary restrictions and obligations of social life. And even to
+the present day, in those countries where dukes exist, public sentiment
+seems to tolerate pretty generally whatever dukes see fit to do.
+
+Accordingly, as soon as Robert had arrived at the castle, he sent a
+messenger from his retinue of attendants down to the village, to the
+father of Arlotte, proposing that she should come to the castle. The
+father seems to have had some hesitation in respect to his duty. It is
+said that he had a brother who was a monk, or rather hermit, who lived
+a life of reading, meditation and prayer, in a solitary place not far
+from Falaise. Arlotte's father sent immediately to this religious
+recluse for his spiritual counsel. The monk replied that it was right to
+comply with the wishes of so great a man, whatever they might be. The
+tanner, thus relieved of all conscientious scruples on the subject by
+this high religious authority, and rejoicing in the opening tide of
+prosperity and distinction which he foresaw for his family through the
+baron's love, robed and decorated his daughter, like a lamb for the
+sacrifice, and sent her to the castle.
+
+Arlotte had one of the rooms assigned her, which was built in the
+thickness of the wall. It communicated by a door with the other
+apartments and inclosures within the area, and there were narrow windows
+in the masonry without, through which she could look out over the broad
+expanse of beautiful fields and meadows which were smiling below. Robert
+seems to have loved her with sincere and strong affection, and to have
+done all in his power to make her happy. Her room, however, could not
+have been very sumptuously furnished, although she was the favorite in a
+ducal castle--at least so far as we can judge from the few glimpses we
+get of the interior through the ancient chroniclers' stories. One story
+is, that when William was born, his first exploit was to grasp a handful
+of straw, and to hold it so tenaciously in his little fist that the
+nurse could scarcely take it away. The nurse was greatly delighted with
+this infantile prowess; she considered it an omen, and predicted that
+the babe would some day signalize himself by seizing and holding great
+possessions. The prediction would have been forgotten if William had not
+become the conqueror of England at a future day. As it was, it was
+remembered and recorded; and it suggests to our imagination a very
+different picture of the conveniences and comforts of Arlotte's chamber
+from those presented to the eye in ducal palaces now, where carpets of
+velvet silence the tread on marble floors, and favorites repose under
+silken canopies on beds of down.
+
+The babe was named William, and he was a great favorite with his father.
+He was brought up at Falaise. Two years after his birth, Robert's father
+died, and his oldest brother, Richard III., succeeded to the ducal
+throne. In two years more, which years were spent in contention between
+the brothers, Richard also died, and then Robert himself came into
+possession of the castle in his own name, reigning there over all the
+cities and domains of Normandy.
+
+William was, of course, now about four years old. He was a bright and
+beautiful boy, and he grew more and more engaging every year. His
+father, instead of neglecting and disowning him, as it might have been
+supposed he would do, took a great deal of pride and pleasure in
+witnessing the gradual development of his powers and his increasing
+attractiveness, and he openly acknowledged him as his son.
+
+In fact, William was a universal favorite about the castle. When he was
+five and six years old he was very fond of playing the soldier. He would
+marshal the other boys of the castle, his playmates, into a little
+troop, and train them around the castle inclosures, just as ardent and
+aspiring boys do with their comrades now. He possessed a certain
+vivacity and spirit too, which gave him, even then, a great ascendency
+over his playfellows. He invented their plays; he led them in their
+mischief; he settled their disputes. In a word, he possessed a
+temperament and character which enabled him very easily and strongly to
+hold the position which his rank as son of the lord of the castle so
+naturally assigned him.
+
+A few years thus passed away, when, at length, Robert conceived the
+design of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This was a plan, not of
+humble-minded piety, but of ambition for fame. To make a pilgrimage to
+the Holy Land was a romantic achievement that covered whoever
+accomplished it with a sort of sombre glory, which, in the case of a
+prince or potentate, mingled with, and hallowed and exalted, his
+military renown. Robert determined on making the pilgrimage. It was a
+distant and dangerous journey. In fact, the difficulties and dangers of
+the way were perhaps what chiefly imparted to the enterprise its
+romance, and gave it its charms. It was customary for kings and rulers,
+before setting out, to arrange all the affairs of their kingdoms, to
+provide a regency to govern during their absence, and to determine upon
+their successors, so as to provide for the very probable contingency of
+their not living to return.
+
+As soon, therefore, as Robert announced his plan of a pilgrimage, men's
+minds were immediately turned to the question of the succession. Robert
+had never been married, and he had consequently no son who was entitled
+to succeed him. He had two brothers, and also a cousin, and some other
+relatives, who had claims to the succession. These all began to maneuver
+among the chieftains and nobles, each endeavoring to prepare the way for
+having his own claims advanced, while Robert himself was secretly
+determining that the little William should be his heir. He said nothing
+about this, however, but he took care to magnify the importance of his
+little son in every way, and to bring him as much as possible into
+public notice. William, on his part, possessed so much personal beauty,
+and so many juvenile accomplishments, that he became a great favorite
+with all the nobles, and chieftains, and knights who saw him, sometimes
+at his father's castle, and sometimes away from home, in their own
+fortresses or towns, where his father took him, from time to time, in
+his train.
+
+At length, when affairs were ripe for their consummation, Duke Robert
+called together a grand council of all the subordinate dukes, and earls,
+and barons of his realm, to make known to them the plan of his
+pilgrimage. They came together from all parts of Normandy, each in a
+splendid cavalcade, and attended by an armed retinue of retainers. When
+the assembly had been convened, and the preliminary forms and
+ceremonies had been disposed of, Robert announced his grand design.
+
+As soon as he had concluded, one of the nobles, whose name and title was
+Guy, count of Burgundy, rose and addressed the duke in reply. He was
+sorry, he said, to hear that the duke, his cousin, entertained such a
+plan. He feared for the safety of the realm when the chief ruler should
+be gone. All the estates of the realm, he said, the barons, the knights,
+the chieftains and soldiers of every degree, would be all without a
+head.
+
+"Not so," said Robert: "I will leave you a master in my place." Then,
+pointing to the beautiful boy by his side, he added, "I have a little
+fellow here, who, though he is little now, I acknowledge, will grow
+bigger by and by, with God's grace, and I have great hopes that he will
+become a brave and gallant man. I present him to you, and from this time
+forth I give him _seizin_[C] of the Duchy of Normandy as my known and
+acknowledged heir. And I appoint Alan, duke of Brittany, governor of
+Normandy in my name until I shall return, and in case I shall not
+return, in the name of William my son, until he shall become of manly
+age."
+
+[Footnote C: Seizin, an ancient feudal term denoting the inducting of a
+party to a legal possession of his right.]
+
+The assembly was taken wholly by surprise at this announcement. Alan,
+duke of Brittany, who was one of the chief claimants to the succession,
+was pleased with the honor conferred upon him in making him at once the
+governor of the realm, and was inclined to prefer the present certainty
+of governing at once in the name of others, to the remote contingency of
+reigning in his own. The other claimants to the inheritance were
+confounded by the suddenness of the emergency, and knew not what to say
+or do. The rest of the assembly were pleased with the romance of having
+the beautiful boy for their feudal sovereign. The duke saw at once that
+every thing was favorable to the accomplishment of his design. He took
+the lad in his arms, kissed him, and held him out in view of the
+assembly. William gazed around upon the panoplied warriors before him
+with a bright and beaming eye. They knelt down as by a common accord to
+do him homage, and then took the oath of perpetual allegiance and
+fidelity to his cause.
+
+Robert thought, however, that it would not be quite prudent to leave his
+son himself in the custody of these his rivals, so he took him with him
+to Paris when he set out upon his pilgrimage, with view of establishing
+him there, in the court of Henry, the French king, while he should
+himself be gone. Young William was presented to the French king, on a
+day set apart for the ceremony, with great pomp and parade. The king
+held a special court to receive him. He seated himself on his throne
+in a grand apartment of his palace, and was surrounded by his nobles
+and officers of state, all magnificently dressed for the occasion. At
+the proper time, Duke Robert came in, dressed in his pilgrim's garb,
+and leading young William by the hand. His attendant pilgrim knights
+accompanied him. Robert led the boy to the feet of their common
+sovereign, and, kneeling there, ordered William to kneel too, to do
+homage to the king. King Henry received him very graciously. He embraced
+him, and promised to receive him into his court, and to take the best
+possible care of him while his father was away. The courtiers were
+very much struck with the beauty and noble bearing of the boy. His
+countenance beamed with an animated, but yet very serious expression,
+as he was somewhat awed by the splendor of the scene around him. He
+was himself then nine years old.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE ACCESSION.
+
+A.D. 1035-1040
+
+Robert departs on his pilgrimage.--He visits Rome and
+Constantinople.--Robert's illness.--Litter bearers.--Death of
+Robert.--Claimants to the crown.--Theroulde.--William's military
+education.--The Earl of Arques.--William proclaimed duke.--The
+pilgrim knights.--They embrace William's cause.--Debates in the
+council on the propriety of William's return.--William's return to
+Normandy.--Its effects.--William's accomplishments.--Impression upon
+the army.--Claimants in the field.--Iron rule of the nobles.--Almost
+a quarrel.--Interview between William and Henry.--Henry's
+demand.--William's indignation.--Henry destroys one of William's
+castles.--Difficulties which followed.--War with Henry.--William rescues
+Falaise.--William received with acclamations.--Punishment of the
+governor.--The Earl of Arques.--Advance of Henry.--A dangerous
+defile.--Henry's order of march.--William's ambuscade.--Its
+success.--Pretended flight of the Normans.--Disarray of the
+French.--Rout of the French.--William's embassage to Henry.--The
+castle at Arques taken.--William crowned at Falaise.
+
+
+After spending a little time at Paris, Robert took leave of the king,
+and of William his son, and went forth, with a train of attendant
+knights, on his pilgrimage. He had a great variety of adventures, which
+can not be related here, as it is the history of the son, and not of the
+father, which is the subject of this narrative. Though he traveled
+strictly as a pilgrim, it was still with great pomp and parade. After
+visiting Rome, and accomplishing various services and duties connected
+with his pilgrimage there, he laid aside his pilgrim's garb, and,
+assuming his proper rank as a great Norman chieftain, he went to
+Constantinople, where he made a great display of his wealth and
+magnificence. At the time of the grand procession, for example, by which
+he entered the city of Constantinople, he rode a mule, which, besides
+being gorgeously caparisoned, had shoes of gold instead of iron; and
+these shoes were purposely attached so slightly to the hoofs, that they
+were shaken off as the animal walked along, to be picked up by the
+populace. This was to impress them with grand ideas of the rider's
+wealth and splendor. After leaving Constantinople, Robert resumed his
+pilgrim's garb, and went on toward the Holy Land.
+
+The journey, however, did not pass without the usual vicissitudes of so
+long an absence and so distant a pilgrimage. At one time Robert was
+sick, and, after lingering for some time in a fever, he so far recovered
+his strength as to be borne on a litter by the strength of other men,
+though he could not advance himself, either on horseback or on foot; and
+as for traveling carriages, there had been no such invention in those
+days. They made arrangements, therefore, for carrying the duke on a
+litter. There were sixteen Moorish slaves employed to serve as his
+bearers. This company was divided into sets, four in each, the several
+sets taking the burden in rotation. Robert and his attendant knights
+looked down with great contempt on these black pagan slaves. One day the
+cavalcade was met by a Norman who was returning home to Normandy after
+having accomplished his pilgrimage. He asked Duke Robert if he had any
+message to send to his friends at home. "Yes," said he; "tell them you
+saw me here, on my way to Paradise, carried by sixteen _demons_."
+
+Robert reached Jerusalem, and set out on his return; and soon after
+rumors came back to Paris that he had died on his way home. The accounts
+of the manner of his death were contradictory and uncertain; but the
+fact was soon made sure, and the news produced every where a great
+sensation. It soon appeared that the brothers and cousins of Robert, who
+had claimed the right to succeed him in preference to his son William,
+had only suspended their claims--they had not abandoned them. They began
+to gather their forces, each in his own separate domain, and to prepare
+to take the field, if necessary, in vindication of what they considered
+their rights to the inheritance. In a word, their oaths of fealty to
+William were all forgotten, and each claimant was intent only on getting
+possession himself of the ducal crown.
+
+In the mean time, William himself was at Paris, and only eleven years of
+age. He had been receiving a careful education there, and was a very
+prepossessing and accomplished young prince. Still, he was yet but a
+mere boy. He had been under the care of a military tutor, whose name
+was Theroulde. Theroulde was a veteran soldier, who had long been in
+the employ of the King of France. He took great interest in his young
+pupil's progress. He taught him to ride and to practice all the
+evolutions of horsemanship which were required by the tactics of those
+days. He trained him, too, in the use of arms, the bow and arrow, the
+javelin, the sword, the spear, and accustomed him to wear, and to
+exercise in, the armor of steel with which warriors were used, in those
+days, to load themselves in going into battle. Young princes like
+William had suits of this armor made for them, of small size, which they
+were accustomed to wear in private in their military exercises and
+trainings, and to appear in, publicly, on great occasions of state.
+These dresses of iron were of course very heavy and uncomfortable, but
+the young princes and dukes were, nevertheless, very proud and happy to
+wear them.
+
+While William was thus engaged in pursuing his military education in
+Paris, several competitors for his dukedom immediately appeared in
+Normandy and took the field. The strongest and most prominent among them
+was the Earl of Arques. His name was William too, but, to distinguish
+him from the young duke, we shall call him Arques. He was a brother of
+Robert, and maintained that, as Robert left no lawful heir, he was
+indisputably entitled to succeed him. Arques assembled his forces and
+prepared to take possession of the country.
+
+It will be recollected that Robert, when he left Normandy in setting out
+on his pilgrimage, had appointed a nobleman named Alan to act as regent,
+or governor of the country, until he should return; or, in case he
+should never return, until William should become of age. Alan had a
+council of officers, called the council of regency, with whose aid he
+managed the administration of the government. This council, with Alan at
+their head, proclaimed young William duke, and immediately began to act
+in his name. When they found that the Earl of Arques was preparing to
+seize the government, they began to assemble their forces also, and thus
+both sides prepared for war.
+
+Before they actually commenced hostilities, however, the pilgrim knights
+who had accompanied Robert on his pilgrimage, and who had been
+journeying home slowly by themselves ever since their leader's death,
+arrived in Normandy. These were chieftains and nobles of high rank and
+influence, and each of the contending parties were eager to have them
+join their side. Besides the actual addition of force which these men
+could bring to the cause they should espouse, the moral support they
+would give to it was a very important consideration. Their having been
+on this long and dangerous pilgrimage invested them with a sort of
+romantic and religious interest in the minds of all the people, who
+looked up to them, in consequence of it, with a sort of veneration and
+awe; and then, as they had been selected by Robert to accompany him on
+his pilgrimage, and had gone on the long and dangerous journey with him,
+continuing to attend upon him until he died, they were naturally
+regarded as his most faithful and confidential friends. For these and
+similar reasons, it was obvious that the cause which they should espouse
+in the approaching contest would gain a large accession of moral power
+by their adhesion.
+
+As soon as they arrived in Normandy, rejecting all proposals from other
+quarters, they joined young William's cause with the utmost promptitude
+and decision. Alan received them at once into his councils. An assembly
+was convened, and the question was discussed whether William should be
+sent for to come to Normandy. Some argued that he was yet a mere boy,
+incapable of rendering them any real service in the impending contest,
+while he would be exposed, more perhaps than they themselves, to be
+taken captive or slain. They thought it best, therefore, that he should
+remain, for the present, in Paris, under the protection of the French
+king.
+
+Others, on the other hand, contended that the influence of William's
+presence, boy as he was, would animate and inspire all his followers,
+and awaken every where, throughout the country, a warm interest in his
+cause; that his very tenderness and helplessness would appeal strongly
+to every generous heart, and that his youthful accomplishments and
+personal charms would enlist thousands in his favor, who would forget,
+and perhaps abandon him, if he kept away. Besides, it was by no means
+certain that he was so safe as some might suppose in King Henry's
+custody and power. King Henry might himself lay claims to the vacant
+duchy, with a view of bestowing it upon some favorite of his own, in
+which case he might confine young William in one of his castles, in an
+honorable, but still rigid and hopeless captivity, or treacherously
+destroy his life by the secret administration of poison.
+
+These latter counsels prevailed. Alan and the nobles who were with him
+sent an embassage to the court of King Henry to bring William home.
+Henry made objections and difficulties. This alarmed the nobles. They
+feared that it would prove true that Henry himself had designs on
+Normandy. They sent a new embassage, with demands more urgent than
+before. Finally, after some time spent in negotiations and delays, King
+Henry concluded to yield, and William set out on his return. He was now
+about twelve or thirteen years old. His military tutor, Theroulde,
+accompanied him, and he was attended likewise by the embassadors whom
+Alan had sent for him, and by a strong escort for his protection by the
+way. He arrived in safety at Alan's head-quarters.
+
+William's presence in Normandy had the effect which had been anticipated
+from it. It awakened every where a great deal of enthusiasm in his
+favor. The soldiers were pleased to see how handsome their young
+commander was in form, and how finely he could ride. He was, in fact, a
+very superior equestrian for one so young. He was more fond, even, than
+other boys of horses; and as, of course, the most graceful and the
+fleetest horses which could be found were provided for him, and as
+Theroulde had given him the best and most complete instruction, he made
+a fine display as he rode swiftly through the camp, followed by veteran
+nobles, splendidly dressed and mounted, and happy to be in his train,
+while his own countenance beamed with a radiance in which native
+intelligence and beauty were heightened by the animation and excitement
+of pride and pleasure. In respect to the command of the army, of course
+the real power remained in Alan's hands, but every thing was done in
+William's name; and in respect to all external marks and symbols of
+sovereignty, the beautiful boy seemed to possess the supreme command;
+and as the sentiment of loyalty is always the strongest when the object
+which calls for the exercise of it is most helpless or frail, Alan found
+his power very much increased when he had this beautiful boy to exhibit
+as the true and rightful heir, in whose name and for whose benefit all
+his power was held.
+
+Still, however, the country was very far from becoming settled. The Earl
+of Arques kept the field, and other claimants, too, strengthened
+themselves in their various castles and towns, as if preparing to
+resist. In those days, every separate district of the country was almost
+a separate realm, governed by its own baron, who lived, with his
+retainers, within his own castle walls, and ruled the land around him
+with a rod of iron. These barons were engaged in perpetual quarrels
+among themselves, each plundering the dominions of the rest, or making
+hostile incursions into the territories of a neighbor to revenge some
+real or imaginary wrong. This turbulence and disorder prevailed every
+where throughout Normandy at the time of William's return. In the
+general confusion, William's government scarcely knew who were his
+friends or his enemies. At one time, when a deputation was sent to some
+of the barons in William's name, summoning them to come with their
+forces and join his standard, as they were in duty bound to do, they
+felt independent enough to send back word to him that they had "too much
+to do in settling their own quarrels to be able to pay any attention to
+his."
+
+In the course of a year or two, moreover, and while his own realm
+continued in this unsettled and distracted state, William became
+involved in what was almost a quarrel with King Henry himself. When he
+was fifteen years old, which was two or three years after his return
+from Paris to Normandy, Henry sent directions to William to come to a
+certain town, called Evreux, situated about half way between Falaise and
+Paris, and just within the confines of Normandy,[D] to do homage to him
+there for his duchy. There was some doubt among William's counselors
+whether it would be most prudent to obey or disobey this command. They
+finally concluded that it was best to obey. Grand preparations were
+accordingly made for the expedition; and, when all was ready, the young
+duke was conducted in great state, and with much pomp and parade, to
+meet his sovereign.
+
+[Footnote D: See map at the commencement of chapter ix.]
+
+The interview between William and his sovereign, and the ceremonies
+connected with it, lasted some days. In the course of this time, William
+remained at Evreux, and was, in some sense, of course, in Henry's power.
+William, having been so long in Henry's court as a mere boy, accustomed
+all the time to look up to and obey Henry as a father, regarded him
+somewhat in that light now, and approached him with great deference and
+respect. Henry received him in a somewhat haughty and imperious manner,
+as if he considered him still under the same subjection as heretofore.
+
+William had a fortress or castle on the frontiers of his dukedom, toward
+Henry's dominions. The name of the castle was Tellieres, and the
+governor of it was a faithful old soldier named De Crespin. William's
+father, Robert, had intrusted De Crespin with the command of the castle,
+and given him a garrison to defend it. Henry now began to make complaint
+to William in respect to this castle. The garrison, he said, were
+continually making incursions into his dominions. William replied that
+he was very sorry that there was cause for such a complaint. He would
+inquire into it, and if the fact were really so, he would have the evil
+immediately corrected. Henry replied that that was not sufficient. "You
+must deliver up the castle to me," he said, "to be destroyed." William
+was indignant at such a demand; but he was so accustomed to obey
+implicitly whatever King Henry might require of him, that he sent the
+order to have the castle surrendered.
+
+When, however, the order came to De Crespin, the governor of the castle,
+he refused to obey it. The fortress, he said, had been committed to his
+charge by Robert, duke of Normandy, and he should not give it up to the
+possession of any foreign power. When this answer was reported to
+William and his counselors, it made them still more indignant than
+before at the domineering tyranny of the command, and more disposed than
+ever to refuse obedience to it. Still William was in a great measure in
+the monarch's power. On cool reflection, they perceived that resistance
+would then be vain. New and more authoritative orders were accordingly
+issued for the surrender of the castle. De Crespin now obeyed. He gave
+up the keys and withdrew with his garrison. William was then allowed to
+leave Evreux and return home, and soon afterward the castle was razed to
+the ground.
+
+This affair produced, of course, a great deal of animosity and
+irritation between the governments of France and Normandy; and where
+such a state of feeling exists between two powers separated only by an
+imaginary line running through a populous and fertile country,
+aggressions from one side and from the other are sure to follow. These
+are soon succeeded by acts of retaliation and revenge, leading, in the
+end, to an open and general war. It was so now. Henry marched his
+armies into Normandy, seized towns, destroyed castles, and, where he was
+resisted by the people, he laid waste the country with fire and sword.
+He finally laid siege to the very castle of Falaise.
+
+William and his government were for a time nearly overwhelmed with the
+tide of disaster and calamity. The tide turned, however, at length, and
+the fortune of war inclined in their favor. William rescued the town and
+castle of Falaise; it was in a very remarkable manner, too, that this
+exploit was accomplished. The fortress was closely invested with Henry's
+forces, and was on the very eve of being surrendered. The story is, that
+Henry had offered bribes to the governor of the castle to give it up to
+him, and that the governor had agreed to receive them and to betray his
+trust. While he was preparing to do so, William arrived at the head of a
+resolute and determined band of Normans. They came with so sudden an
+onset upon the army of besiegers as to break up their camp and force
+them to abandon the siege. The people of the town and the garrison of
+the castle were extremely rejoiced to be thus rescued, and when they
+came to learn through whose instrumentality they had been saved, and
+saw the beautiful horseman whom they remembered as a gay and happy
+child playing about the precincts of the castle, they were perfectly
+intoxicated with delight. They filled the air with the wildest
+acclamations, and welcomed William back to the home of his childhood
+with manifestations of the most extravagant joy. As to the traitorous
+governor, he was dealt with very leniently. Perhaps the general feeling
+of joy awakened emotions of leniency and forgiveness in William's
+mind--or perhaps the proof against the betrayer was incomplete. They did
+not, therefore, take his life, which would have been justly forfeited,
+according to the military ideas of the times, if he had been really
+guilty. They deprived him of his command, confiscated his property, and
+let him go free.
+
+After this, William's forces continued for some time to make head
+successfully against those of the King of France; but then, on the other
+hand, the danger from his uncle, the Earl of Arques, increased. The earl
+took advantage of the difficulty and danger in which William was
+involved in his contests with King Henry, and began to organize his
+forces again. He fortified himself in his castle at Arques,[E] and was
+collecting a large force there. Arques was in the northeastern part of
+Normandy, near the sea, where the ruins of the ancient castle still
+remain. The earl built an almost impregnable tower for himself on the
+summit of the rock on which the castle stood, in a situation so
+inaccessible that he thought he could retreat to it in any emergency,
+with a few chosen followers, and bid defiance to any assault. In and
+around this castle the earl had got quite a large army together. William
+advanced with his forces, and, encamping around them, shut them in. King
+Henry, who was then in a distant part of Normandy, began to put his army
+in motion to come to the rescue of Arques.
+
+[Footnote E: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+Things being in this state, William left a strong body of men to
+continue the investment and siege of Arques, and went off himself, at
+the head of the remainder of his force, to intercept Henry on his
+advance. The result was a battle and a victory, gained under
+circumstances so extraordinary, that William, young as he was, acquired
+by his exploits a brilliant and universal renown.
+
+It seems that Henry, in his progress to Arques, had to pass through a
+long and gloomy valley, which was bounded on either side by precipitous
+and forest-covered hills. Through this dangerous defile the long train
+of Henry's army was advancing, arranged and marshaled in such an order
+as seemed to afford the greatest hope of security in case of an attack.
+First came the vanguard, a strong escort, formed of heavy bodies of
+soldiery, armed with battle-axes and pikes, and other similar weapons,
+the most efficient then known. Immediately after this vanguard came a
+long train of baggage, the tents, the provisions, the stores, and all
+the munitions of war. The baggage was followed by a great company of
+servants--the cooks, the carters, the laborers, the camp followers of
+every description--a throng of non-combatants, useless, of course, in a
+battle, and a burden on a march, and yet the inseparable and
+indispensable attendant of an army, whether at rest or in motion. After
+this throng came the main body of the army, with the king, escorted by
+his guard of honor, at the head of it. An active and efficient corps of
+lancers and men-at-arms brought up the rear.
+
+William conceived the design of drawing this cumbrous and unmanageable
+body into an ambuscade. He selected, accordingly, the narrowest and most
+dangerous part of the defile for the purpose, and stationed vast
+numbers of Norman soldiers, armed with javelins and arrows, upon the
+slopes of the hill on either side, concealing them all carefully among
+the thickets and rocks. He then marshaled the remainder of his forces
+in the valley, and sent them up the valley to meet Henry as he was
+descending. This body of troops, which was to advance openly to meet the
+king, as if they constituted the whole of William's force, were to fight
+a pretended battle with the vanguard, and then to retreat, in hopes to
+draw the whole train after them in a pursuit so eager as to throw them
+into confusion; and then, when the column, thus disarranged, should
+reach the place of ambuscade, the Normans were to come down upon them
+suddenly from their hiding-places, and complete their discomfiture.
+
+The plan was well laid, and wisely and bravely executed; and it was most
+triumphantly successful in its result. The vanguard of Henry's army were
+deceived by the pretended flight of the Norman detachment. They
+supposed, too, that it constituted the whole body of their enemies. They
+pressed forward, therefore, with great exultation and eagerness to
+pursue them. News of the attack, and of the apparent repulse with which
+the French soldiers had met it, passed rapidly along the valley,
+producing every where the wildest excitement, and an eager desire to
+press forward to the scene of conflict. The whole valley was filled with
+shouts and outcries; baggage was abandoned, that those who had charge of
+it might hurry on; men ran to and fro for tidings, or ascended eminences
+to try to see. Horsemen drove at full speed from front to rear, and from
+rear on to the front again; orders and counter orders were given, which
+nobody would understand or attend to in the general confusion and din.
+In fact, the universal attention seemed absorbed in one general and
+eager desire to press forward with headlong impetuosity to the scene of
+victory and pursuit which they supposed was enacting in the van.
+
+The army pressed on in this confused and excited manner until they
+reached the place of ambuscade. They went on, too, through this narrow
+passage, as heedlessly as ever; and, when the densest and most powerful
+portion of the column was crowding through, they were suddenly
+thunderstruck by the issuing of a thousand weapons from the heights and
+thickets above them on either hand--a dreadful shower of arrows,
+javelins, and spears, which struck down hundreds in a moment, and
+overwhelmed the rest with astonishment and terror. As soon as this first
+discharge had been effected, the concealed enemy came pouring down the
+sides of the mountain, springing out from a thousand hiding-places, as
+if suddenly brought into being by some magic power. The discomfiture of
+Henry's forces was complete and irremediable. The men fled every where
+in utter dismay, trampling upon and destroying one another, as they
+crowded back in terrified throngs to find some place of safety up the
+valley. There, after a day or two, Henry got together the scattered
+remains of his army, and established something like a camp.
+
+It is a curious illustration of the feudal feelings of those times in
+respect to the gradation of ranks, or else of the extraordinary modesty
+and good sense of William's character, that he assumed no airs of
+superiority over his sovereign, and showed no signs of extravagant
+elation after this battle. He sent a respectful embassage to Henry,
+recognizing his own acknowledged subjection to Henry as his sovereign,
+and imploring his protection! He looked confidently to him, he said, for
+aid and support against his rebellious subjects.
+
+Though he thus professed, however, to rely on Henry, he really trusted
+most, it seems, to his own right arm; for, as soon as this battle was
+fairly over, and while the whole country was excited with the
+astonishing brilliancy of the exploit performed by so young a man,
+William mounted his horse, and calling upon those to follow him who
+wished to do so, he rode at full speed, at the head of a small
+cavalcade, to the castle at Arques. His sudden appearance here, with the
+news of the victory, inspirited the besiegers to such a degree that the
+castle was soon taken. He allowed the rebel earl to escape, and thus,
+perhaps, all the more effectually put an end to the rebellion. He was
+now in peaceable possession of his realm.
+
+He went in triumph to Falaise, where he was solemnly crowned with great
+ceremony and parade, and all Normandy was filled with congratulations
+and rejoicings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+WILLIAM'S REIGN IN NORMANDY.
+
+A.D. 1040-1060
+
+A lapse of twenty years.--Conspiracy of Guy of Burgundy.--The fool
+or jester.--Meetings of the conspirators.--Final plans of the
+conspirators.--Discovered by Galet.--Galet sets out in search of
+William.--He finds him asleep.--William's flight.--His narrow
+escape.--William is recognized.--Hubert's castle.--Hubert's
+sons.--Pursuit of the conspirators.--Defeat of the rebels.--Their
+punishment.--Curious incident.--Coats of armor.--Origin of
+heraldry.--Rollo de Tesson.--Keeping both oaths.--Changing
+sides.--Character of the ancient chieftains.--Their love of
+war.--Ancient castles.--Their interior construction.--Nothing
+respectable for the nobility but war.--Rebellions.--Insulting allusions
+to William's birth.--The ambuscade.--Its failure.--Insults of the
+garrison.--Indignation of William.--William's campaign in France.--His
+popularity.--William's prowess.--True nature of courage.--An
+ambuscade.--William's bravery.--William's victory.--Applause of the
+French army.--William firmly seated on his throne.--His new projects.
+
+
+From the time of William's obtaining quiet possession of his realm to
+his invasion of England, a long period intervened. There was a lapse of
+more than twenty years. During this long interval, William governed his
+duchy, suppressed insurrections, built castles and towns, carried on
+wars, regulated civil institutions, and, in fact, exercised, in a very
+energetic and successful manner, all the functions of government--his
+life being diversified all the time by the usual incidents which mark
+the career of a great military ruler of an independent realm in the
+Middle Ages. We will give in this chapter a description of some of these
+incidents.
+
+On one occasion a conspiracy was formed to take his life by secret
+assassination. A great chieftain, named Guy of Burgundy, William's
+uncle, was the leader of it, and a half-witted man, named Galet, who
+occupied the place of jester or fool in William's court, was the means
+of discovering and exposing it. These jesters, of whom there was always
+one or more in the retinue of every great prince in those days, were
+either very eccentric or very foolish, or half-insane men, who were
+dressed fantastically, in gaudy colors and with cap and bells, and were
+kept to make amusement for the court. The name of William's jester was
+Galet.
+
+Guy of Burgundy and his fellow-conspirators occupied certain gloomy
+castles, built in remote and lonely situations on the confines of
+Normandy. Here they were accustomed to assemble for the purpose
+of concocting their plans, and gathering their men and their
+resources--doing every thing in the most cunning and secret manner.
+Before their scheme was fully ripe for execution, it happened that
+William made a hunting excursion into the neighborhood of their
+territory with a small band of followers--such as would be naturally got
+together on such a party of pleasure. Galet, the fool, was among them.
+
+As soon as Guy and his fellow-conspirators learned that William was so
+near, they determined to precipitate the execution of their plan, and
+waylay and assassinate him on his return.
+
+They accordingly left their secret and lonely rendezvous among the
+mountains one by one, in order to avoid attracting observation, and
+went to a town called Bayeux, through which they supposed that William
+would have to pass on his return. Here they held secret consultations,
+and formed their final plans. They sent out a part of their number, in
+small bands, into the region of country which William would have to
+cross, to occupy the various roads and passes, and thus to cut off all
+possibility of his escape. They made all these arrangements in the most
+secret and cautious manner, and began to think that they were sure of
+their prey.
+
+It happened, however, that some of William's attendants, with Galet the
+fool among them, had preceded William on his return, and had reached
+Bayeux[F] at the time when the conspirators arrived there. The
+townspeople did not observe the coming of the conspirators particularly,
+as many horsemen and soldiers were coming and going at that time, and
+they had no means of distinguishing the duke's friends from his enemies;
+but Galet, as he sauntered about the town, noticed that there were many
+soldiers and knights to be seen who were not of his master's party.
+This attracted his attention; he began to watch the motions of these
+strangers, and to listen, without seeming to listen, in order to catch
+the words they spoke to each other as they talked in groups or passed
+one another in the streets. He was soon satisfied that some mischief
+was intended. He immediately threw aside his cap and bells, and his
+fantastic dress, and, taking a staff in his hand, he set off on foot to
+go back as fast as possible in search of the duke, and give him the
+alarm. He found the duke at a village called Valonges. He arrived there
+at night. He pressed forward hastily into his master's chamber, half
+forcing his way through the attendants, who, accustomed to the liberties
+which such a personage as he was accustomed to take on all occasions,
+made only a feeble resistance to his wishes. He found the duke asleep,
+and he called upon him with a very earnest voice to awake and arise
+immediately, for his life was in danger.
+
+[Footnote F: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+William was at first inclined to disbelieve the story which Galet told
+him, and to think that there was no cause to fear. He was, however, soon
+convinced that Galet was right, and that there was reason for alarm. He
+arose and dressed himself hastily; and, inasmuch as a monarch, in the
+first moments of the discovery of a treasonable plot, knows not whom to
+trust, William wisely concluded not to trust any body. He went himself
+to the stables, saddled his horse with his own hand, mounted him, and
+rode away. He had a very narrow escape; for, at the same time, while
+Galet was hastening to Valonges to give his master warning of his
+danger, the conspirators had been advancing to the same place, and had
+completely surrounded it; and they were on the eve of making an attack
+upon William's quarters at the very hour when he set out upon his
+flight. William had accordingly proceeded only a little way on his route
+before he heard the footsteps of galloping horses, and the clanking of
+arms, on the road behind him. It was a troop of the conspirators coming,
+who, finding that William had fled, had set off immediately in pursuit.
+William rode hastily into a wood, and let them go by.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM'S ESCAPE.]
+
+He remained for some time in his hiding-place, and then cautiously
+emerged from it to continue his way. He did not dare to keep the public
+road, although it was night, but took a wild and circuitous route, in
+lanes and bypaths, which conducted him, at length, to the vicinity of
+the sea. Here, about day-break, he was passing a mansion, supposing that
+no one would observe him at so early an hour, when, suddenly, he
+perceived a man sitting at the gate, armed and equipped, and in an
+attitude of waiting. He was waiting for his horse. He was a nobleman
+named Hubert. He recognized William immediately as the duke, and
+accosted him in a tone of astonishment, saying, "Why, my lord duke, is
+it possible that this is you?" He was amazed to see the ruler of the
+realm out at such an hour, in such a condition, alone, exhausted, his
+dress all in disorder from the haste with which he had put it on, and
+his steed breathless and covered with dust, and ready, apparently, to
+drop down with fatigue and exhaustion.
+
+William, finding that he was recognized, related his story. It appeared,
+in the end, that Hubert held his own castle and village as a tenant of
+one of the principal conspirators, and was bound, according to the
+feudal ideas of the time, to espouse his landlord's cause. He told
+William, however, that he had nothing to fear. "I will defend your
+life," said he, "as if it were my own." So saying, he called his three
+sons, who were all athletic and courageous young men, and commanded them
+to mount their horses and get ready for a march. He took William into
+his castle, and gave him the food and refreshment that he needed. Then
+he brought him again into the court-yard of the house, where William
+found the three young horsemen mounted and ready, and a strong and fleet
+steed prepared for himself. He mounted. Hubert commanded his sons to
+conduct the prince with all dispatch to Falaise, without traveling at
+all upon the highway or entering a town. They took, accordingly, a
+straight course across the country--which was probably then, as now,
+nearly destitute of inclosures--and conducted William safely to his
+castle at Falaise.
+
+In the course of the morning, William's pursuers came to Hubert's
+castle, and asked if the duke had been seen going by. Hubert replied in
+the affirmative, and he mounted his steed with great readiness to go and
+show them the road which the fugitive had taken. He urged them to ride
+hard, in hopes of soon overtaking the object of their pursuit. They
+drove on, accordingly, with great impetuosity and ardor, under Hubert's
+guidance; but, as he had purposely taken a wrong road, he was only
+leading them further and further astray. Finally they gave up the chase,
+and Hubert returned with the disappointed pursuers to his fortress,
+William having in the mean time arrived safely at Falaise.
+
+The conspirators now found that it was useless any longer to attempt to
+conceal their plans. In fact, they were already all exposed, and they
+knew that William would immediately summon his troops and come out to
+seize them. They must, therefore, either fly from the country or attempt
+an open rebellion. They decided on the latter--the result was a civil
+war. In the end, William was victorious. He took a large number of the
+rebels prisoners, and he adopted the following very singular plan for
+inflicting a suitable punishment upon them, and at the same time
+erecting a permanent monument of his victory. He laid out a public road
+across the country, on the line over which he had been conducted by the
+sons of Hubert, and compelled the rebels to make it. A great part of
+this country was low and marshy, and had been for this reason avoided by
+the public road, which took a circuitous course around it. The rebel
+prisoners were now, however, set at work to raise a terrace or
+embankment, on a line surveyed by William's engineers, which followed
+almost exactly the course of his retreat. The high road was then laid
+out upon this terrace, and it became immediately a public thoroughfare
+of great importance. It continued for several centuries one of the most
+frequented highways in the realm, and was known by the name of the
+Raised Road--_Terre levee_--throughout the kingdom. In fact, the remains
+of it, appearing like the ruins of an ancient rail-road embankment,
+exist to the present day.
+
+In the course of the war with these rebels a curious incident occurred
+at one of the battles, or, rather, is said to have occurred, by the
+historians who tell the story, which, if true, illustrates very
+strikingly the romantic and chivalrous ideas of the times. Just as the
+battle was commencing, William perceived a strong and finely-equipped
+body of horsemen preparing to charge upon the very spot where he
+himself, surrounded by his officers, was standing. Now the armor worn by
+knights in battle in those times covered and concealed the figure and
+the face so fully, that it would have been impossible even for
+acquaintances and friends to recognize each other, were it not that the
+knights were all accustomed to wear certain devices upon some part of
+their armor--painted, for instance, upon their shields, or embroidered
+on little banners which they bore--by means of which they might be
+known. These devices became at length hereditary in the great
+families--sons being proud to wear, themselves, the emblems to which the
+deeds of their fathers had imparted a trace of glory and renown. The
+devices of different chieftains were combined, sometimes, in cases of
+intermarriage, or were modified in various ways; and with these minor
+changes they would descend from generation to generation as the family
+coat of arms. And this was the origin of heraldry.
+
+Now the body of horsemen that were advancing to the charge, as above
+described, had each of them his device upon a little flag or banner
+attached to their lances. As they were advancing, William scrutinized
+them closely, and presently recognized in their leader a man who had
+formerly been upon his side. His name was Rollo de Tesson. He was one of
+those who had sworn fealty to him at the time when his father Robert
+presented him to the council, when setting out upon his pilgrimage.
+William accordingly exclaimed, with a loud voice, "Why, these are my
+friends!" The officers and the soldiers of the body-guard who were with
+him, taking up the cry, shouted "_Friends! friends!_" Rollo de Tesson
+and the other knights, who were slowly coming up, preparing to charge
+upon William's party, surprised at being thus accosted, paused in their
+advance, and finally halted. Rollo said to the other knights, who
+gathered around him, "I _was_ his friend. I gave my oath to his father
+that I would stand by him and defend him with my life; and now I have
+this morning sworn to the Count of Cotentin"--the Count of Cotentin was
+the leader of the rebellion--"that I would seek out William on the
+battle-field, and be the first to give him a blow. I know not what to
+do." "Keep both oaths," replied one of his companions. "Go and strike
+him a gentle blow, and then defend him with your life." The whole troop
+seconded this proposal by acclamation. Rollo advanced, followed by the
+other knights, with gestures and shouts denoting that they were friends.
+He rode up to William, told him that he had that morning sworn to strike
+him, and then dealt him a pretended blow upon his shoulder; but as both
+the shoulder and the hand which struck it were armed with steel, the
+clanking sound was all the effect that was produced. Rollo and his
+troop--their sworn obligation to the Count of Cotentin being thus
+fulfilled--turned now into the ranks of William's soldiery, and fought
+valiantly all day upon his side.
+
+Although William was generally victorious in the battles that he fought,
+and succeeded in putting down one rebellion after another with
+promptness and decision, still, new rebellions and new wars were
+constantly breaking out, which kept his dominions in a continual state
+of commotion. In fact, the chieftains, the nobles, and the knights,
+constituting the only classes of society that exercised any influence,
+or were regarded with any respect in those days, were never contented
+except when actively employed in military campaigns. The excitements and
+the glory of war were the only excitements and glory that they
+understood, or had the means of enjoying. Their dwellings were great
+fortresses, built on the summits of the rocks, which, however
+picturesque and beautiful they appear as _ruins_ now, were very gloomy
+and desolate as residences then. They were attractive enough when their
+inmates were flying to them for refuge from an enemy, or were employed
+within the walls in concentrating their forces and brightening up their
+arms for some new expedition for vengeance or plunder, but they were
+lonely and lifeless scenes of restlessness and discontent in times of
+quietness and peace.
+
+It is difficult for us, at this day, to conceive how destitute of all
+the ordinary means of comfort and enjoyment, in comparison with a modern
+dwelling, the ancient feudal castles must have been. They were placed in
+situations as nearly inaccessible as possible, and the natural
+impediments of approach were increased by walls, and gates, and ditches,
+and draw-bridges. The door of access was often a window in the wall, ten
+or fifteen feet from the ground, to which the inmates or their friends
+mounted by a ladder. The floors were of stone, the walls were naked, the
+ceiling was a rudely-constructed series of arches. The apartments, too,
+were ordinarily small, and were arranged one above another, in the
+successive stories of a tower. Nor could these cell-like chambers be
+enlivened by the wide and cheerful windows of modern times, which not
+only admit the light to animate the scene within, but also afford to the
+spectator there, wide-spread, and sometimes enchanting views of the
+surrounding country. The castle windows of ancient days were, on the
+contrary, narrow loop-holes, each at the bottom of a deep recess in the
+thick wall. If they had been made wide they would have admitted too
+easily the arrows and javelins of besiegers, as well as the wind and
+rain of wintery storms. There were no books in these desolate dwellings,
+no furniture but armor, no pleasures but drinking and carousals.
+
+Nor could these noble and valiant knights and barons occupy themselves
+in any useful employment. There was nothing which it was respectable for
+them to do but to fight. They looked down with contempt upon all the
+industrial pursuits of life. The cultivation of farms, the rearing of
+flocks and herds, arts, manufactures, and commerce--every thing of this
+sort, by which man can benefit his fellow-man, was entirely beneath
+them. In fact, their descendants to the present day, even in England,
+entertain the same ideas. Their younger sons can enter the army or the
+navy, and spend their lives in killing and destroying, or in awaiting,
+in idleness, dissipation, and vice, for orders to kill and destroy,
+without dishonor; but to engage in any way in those vast and magnificent
+operations of peaceful industry, on which the true greatness and glory
+of England depend, would be perpetual and irretrievable disgrace. A
+young nobleman can serve, in the most subordinate official capacity, on
+board a man-of-war, and take pay for it, without degradation; but to
+_build_ a man-of-war itself and take pay for it, would be to compel his
+whole class to disown him.
+
+It was in consequence of this state of feeling among the knights and
+barons of William's day that peace was always tedious and irksome to
+them, and they were never contented except when engaged in battles and
+campaigns. It was this feeling, probably, quite as much as any settled
+hostility to William's right to reign, that made his barons so eager to
+engage in insurrections and rebellions. There was, however, after all,
+a real and deep-seated opposition to William's right of succession,
+founded in the ideas of the day. They could not well endure that one of
+so humble and even ignominious birth, on the mother's side, should be
+the heir of so illustrious a line as the great dukes of Normandy.
+William's enemies were accustomed to designate him by opprobrious
+epithets, derived from the circumstances of his birth. Though he was
+patient and enduring, and often very generous in forgiving other
+injuries, these insults to the memory of his mother always stung him
+very deeply, and awakened the strongest emotions of resentment. One
+instance of this was so conspicuous that it is recorded in almost all
+the histories of William that have been written.
+
+It was in the midst of one of the wars in which he was involved, that
+he was advancing across the country to the attack of a strong castle,
+which, in addition to the natural strength of its walls and
+fortifications, was defended by a numerous and powerful garrison. So
+confident, in fact, were the garrison in their numbers and power, that
+when they heard that William was advancing to attack them, they sent out
+a detachment to meet him. This detachment, however, were not intending
+to give him open battle. Their plan was to lay in ambuscade, and attack
+William's troops when they came to the spot, and while they were unaware
+of the vicinity of an enemy, and off their guard.
+
+William, however, they found, was not off his guard. He attacked the
+ambuscade with so much vigor as to put the whole force immediately to
+flight. Of course the fugitives directed their steps toward the castle.
+William and his soldiers followed them in headlong pursuit. The end was,
+that the detachment from the garrison had scarcely time, after making
+good their own entrance, to raise the draw-bridges and secure the
+gates, so as to keep their pursuers from entering too. They did,
+however, succeed in doing this, and William, establishing his troops
+about the castle, opened his lines and commenced a regular siege.
+
+The garrison were very naturally vexed and irritated at the bad success
+of their intended stratagem. To have the ambuscade not only fail of its
+object, but to have also the men that formed it driven thus
+ignominiously in, and so narrowly escaping, also, the danger of letting
+in the whole troop of their enemies after them, was a great disgrace. To
+retaliate upon William, and to throw back upon him the feelings of
+mortification and chagrin which they felt themselves, they mounted the
+walls and towers, and shouted out all sorts of reproaches and insults.
+Finally, when they found that they could not make mere words
+sufficiently stinging, they went and procured skins and hides, and
+aprons of leather, and every thing else that they could find that was
+connected with the trade of a tanner, and shook them at the troops of
+their assailants from the towers and walls, with shouts of merriment and
+derision.
+
+William was desperately enraged at these insults. He organized an
+assaulting party, and by means of the great exertions which the
+exasperation of his men stimulated them to make, he carried some of the
+outworks, and took a number of prisoners. These prisoners he cut to
+pieces, and then caused their bloody and mangled limbs and members to
+be thrown, by great slings, over the castle walls.
+
+At one time during the period which is included within the limits of
+this chapter, and in the course of one of those intervals of peace and
+quietness within his own dominions which William sometimes enjoyed, the
+King of France became involved in a war with one of his own rebellious
+subjects, and William went, with an army of Normans, to render him aid.
+King Henry was at first highly gratified at this prompt and effectual
+succor, but he soon afterward began to feel jealous of the universal
+popularity and renown which the young duke began soon to acquire.
+William was at that time only about twenty-four years old, but he took
+the direction of every thing--moved to and fro with the utmost
+celerity--planned the campaigns--directed the sieges, and by his
+personal accomplishments and his bravery, he won all hearts, and was the
+subject of every body's praises. King Henry found himself supplanted,
+in some measure, in the regard and honorable consideration of his
+subjects, and he began to feel very envious and jealous of his rival.
+
+Sometimes particular incidents would occur, in which William's feats
+of prowess or dexterity would so excite the admiration of the army that
+he would be overwhelmed with acclamations and applause. These were
+generally exploits of combat on the field, or of escape from pursuers
+when outnumbered, in which good fortune had often, perhaps, quite as
+much to do in securing the result as strength or courage. But in those
+days a soldier's good luck was perhaps as much the subject of applause
+as his muscular force or his bravery; and, in fact, it was as deservedly
+so; for the strength of arm, and the coolness, or, rather, the ferocity
+of courage, which make a good combatant in personal contests on a
+battle-field, are qualities of brutes rather than of men. We feel a
+species of respect for them in the lion or tiger, but they deserve only
+execration when exercised in the wantonness of hatred and revenge by man
+against his brother man.
+
+One of the instances of William's extraordinary success was the
+following. He was reconnoitering the enemy on one occasion, accompanied
+only by four or five knights, who acted as his attendants and
+body-guard. The party were at a distance from the camp of the enemy, and
+supposed they were not observed. They were observed, however, and
+immediately a party of twelve chosen horsemen was formed, and ordered
+to ride out and surprise them. This detachment concealed themselves in
+an ambuscade, at a place where the reconnoitering party must pass, and
+when the proper moment arrived, they burst out suddenly upon them and
+summoned them to surrender. Twelve against six seemed to render both
+flight and resistance equally vain. William, however, advanced
+immediately to the attack of the ambuscaders. He poised his long lance,
+and, riding on with it at full speed, he unhorsed and killed the
+foremost of them at a blow. Then, just drawing back his weapon to gather
+strength for another blow, he killed the second of his enemies in the
+same manner. His followers were so much animated at this successful
+onset, that they advanced very resolutely to the combat. In the mean
+time, the shouts carried the alarm to William's camp, and a strong party
+set off to rescue William and his companions. The others then turned to
+fly, while William followed them so eagerly and closely, that he and
+they who were with him overtook and disabled seven of them, and made
+them prisoners. The rest escaped. William and his party then turned and
+began to proceed toward their own camp, conveying their prisoners in
+their train.
+
+They were met by King Henry himself at the head of a detachment of three
+hundred men, who, not knowing how much necessity there might be for
+efficient aid, were hastening to the scene of action. The sight of
+William coming home victorious, and the tales told by his companions of
+the invincible strength and daring which he had displayed in the sudden
+danger, awakened a universal enthusiasm, and the plaudits and encomiums
+with which the whole camp resounded were doubtless as delicious and
+intoxicating to him as they were bitter to the king.
+
+It was by such deeds, and by such personal and mental characteristics as
+these, that William, notwithstanding the untoward influences of his
+birth, fought his way, during the twenty years of which we have been
+speaking, into general favor, and established a universal renown. He
+completely organized and arranged the internal affairs of his own
+kingdom, and established himself firmly upon the ducal throne. His mind
+had become mature, his resources were well developed, and his soul,
+always ambitious and aspiring, began to reach forward to the grasping of
+some grander objects of pursuit, and to the entering upon some wider
+field of action than his duchy of Normandy could afford. During this
+interval, however, he was married; and, as the circumstances of his
+marriage were somewhat extraordinary, we must make that event the
+subject of a separate chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE MARRIAGE.
+
+A.D. 1045-1052
+
+Political importance of a royal marriage.--William's views in regard
+to his marriage.--His choice.--Matilda's genealogy.--Her relationship
+to William.--Matilda's accomplishments.--Her embroidery.--Matilda's
+industry.--The Bayeux tapestry.--The designs.--Uncouth
+drawing.--Preservation.--Elements of decay.--Great age of the Bayeux
+tapestry.--Specimens of the designs of the Bayeux tapestry.--Marriage
+negotiations.--Matilda's objections.--Matilda's refusal.--Her attachment
+to Brihtric.--Matilda's attachment not reciprocated.--Her thirst for
+revenge.--William and Matilda's consanguinity.--An obstacle to their
+marriage.--Negotiations with the pope.--Causes of delay.--William's
+quarrel with Matilda.--The reconciliation.--The marriage.--Rejoicings
+and festivities.--Residence at Rouen.--Ancient castles and
+palaces.--Matilda's palace.--Luxury and splendor.--Mauger, archbishop of
+Rouen.--William and Matilda excommunicated.--Lanfranc sent to negotiate
+with the pope.--His success.--Conditions of Lanfranc's treaty.--Their
+fulfillment.--William and Matilda's children.--Matilda's domestic
+character.--Objects of William's marriage.--Baldwin, Count of
+Flanders.--The blank letter.--Baldwin's surprise.
+
+
+One of the most important points which an hereditary potentate has to
+attend to, in completing his political arrangements, is the question of
+his marriage. Until he has a family and an heir, men's minds are
+unsettled in respect to the succession, and the various rival candidates
+and claimants to the throne are perpetually plotting and intriguing to
+put themselves into a position to spring at once into his place if
+sickness, or a battle, or any sudden accident should take him away. This
+evil was more formidable than usual in the case of William, for the men
+who were prepared to claim his place when he was dead were all secretly
+or openly maintaining that their right to it was superior to his while
+he was living. This gave a double intensity to the excitement with which
+the public was perpetually agitated in respect to the crown, and kept
+the minds of the ambitious and the aspiring, throughout William's
+dominions, in a continual fever. It was obvious that a great part of
+the cause of this restless looking for change and consequent planning to
+promote it would be removed if William had a son.
+
+It became, therefore, an important matter of state policy that the duke
+should be married. In fact, the barons and military chieftains who were
+friendly to him urged this measure upon him, on account of the great
+effect which they perceived it would have in settling the minds of the
+people of the country and consolidating his power. William accordingly
+began to look around for a wife. It appeared, however, in the end, that,
+though policy was the main consideration which first led him to
+contemplate marriage, love very probably exercised an important
+influence in determining his choice of the lady; at all events, the
+object of his choice was an object worthy of love. She was one of the
+most beautiful and accomplished princesses in Europe.
+
+She was the daughter of a great potentate who ruled over the country of
+Flanders. Flanders lies upon the coast, east of Normandy, beyond the
+frontiers of France, and on the southern shore of the German Ocean. Her
+father's title was the Earl of Flanders. He governed his dominions,
+however, like a sovereign, and was at the head of a very effective
+military power. His family, too, occupied a very high rank, and enjoyed
+great consideration among the other princes and potentates of Europe. It
+had intermarried with the royal family of England, so that Matilda, the
+daughter of the earl, whom William was disposed to make his bride, was
+found, by the genealogists, who took great interest in those days in
+tracing such connections, to have descended in a direct line from the
+great English king, Alfred himself.
+
+This relationship, by making Matilda's birth the more illustrious,
+operated strongly in favor of the match, as a great part of the motive
+which William had in view, in his intended marriage, was to aggrandize
+and strengthen his own position, by the connection which he was about to
+form. There was, however, another consanguinity in the case which had a
+contrary tendency. Matilda's father had been connected with the Norman
+as well as with the English line, and Matilda and William were in some
+remote sense cousins. This circumstance led, in the sequel, as will
+presently be seen, to serious difficulty and trouble.
+
+Matilda was seven years younger than William. She was brought up
+in her father's court, and famed far and wide for her beauty and
+accomplishments. The accomplishments in which ladies of high rank sought
+to distinguish themselves in those days were two, music and embroidery.
+The embroidery of tapestry was the great attainment, and in this art the
+young Matilda acquired great skill. The tapestry which was made in the
+Middle Ages was used to hang against the walls of some of the more
+ornamented rooms in royal palaces and castles, to hide the naked surface
+of the stones of which the building was constructed. The cloths thus
+suspended were at first plain, afterward they began to be ornamented
+with embroidered borders or other decorations, and at length ladies
+learned to employ their own leisure hours, and beguile the tedium of the
+long confinement which many of them had to endure within their castles,
+in embroidering various devices and designs on the hangings intended for
+their own chambers, or to execute such work as presents for their
+friends. Matilda's industry and skill in this kind of work were
+celebrated far and wide.
+
+The accomplishments which ladies take great pains to acquire in their
+early years are sometimes, it is said, laid almost entirely aside after
+their marriage; not necessarily because they are then less desirous to
+please, but sometimes from the abundance of domestic duty, which allows
+them little time, and sometimes from the pressure of their burdens of
+care or sorrow, which leave them no heart for the occupations of
+amusement or gayety. It seems not to have been so in Matilda's case,
+however. She resumed her needle often during the years of her wedded
+life, and after William had accomplished his conquest of England, she
+worked upon a long linen web, with immense labor, a series of designs
+illustrating the various events and incidents of his campaign, and the
+work has been preserved to the present day.
+
+At least there is such a web now existing in the ancient town of Bayeux,
+in Normandy, which has been there from a period beyond the memory of
+men, and which tradition says was worked by Matilda. It would seem,
+however, that if she did it at all, she must have done it "as Solomon
+built the temple--with a great deal of help;" for this famous piece of
+embroidery, which has been celebrated among all the historians and
+scholars of the world for several hundred years by the name of the
+_Bayeux Tapestry_, is over four hundred feet long, and nearly two feet
+wide. The wet is of linen, while the embroidery is of woolen. It was all
+obviously executed with the needle, and was worked with infinite labor
+and care. The woolen thread which was used was of various colors, suited
+to represent the different objects in the design, though these colors
+are, of course, now much tarnished and faded.
+
+The designs themselves are very simple and even rude, evincing very
+little knowledge of the principles of modern art. The specimens on the
+following page, of engravings made from them, will give some idea of the
+childish style of delineation which characterizes all Matilda's designs.
+Childish, however, as such a style of drawing would be considered now,
+it seems to have been, in Matilda's days, very much praised and admired.
+
+[Illustration: PLOWING. From the Bayeux tapestry.]
+
+[Illustration: SOWING. From the Bayeux tapestry.]
+
+We often have occasion to observe, in watching the course of human
+affairs, the frailty and transitoriness of things apparently most
+durable and strong. In the case of this embroidery, on the contrary, we
+are struck with the durability and permanence of what would seem to be
+most frail and fleeting. William's conquest of England took place in
+1066. This piece of tapestry, therefore, if Matilda really worked it,
+is about eight hundred years old. And when we consider how delicate,
+slender, and frail is the fibre of a linen thread, and that the various
+elements of decay, always busy in the work of corrupting and destroying
+the works of man, have proved themselves powerful enough to waste away
+and crumble into ruin the proudest structures which he has ever
+attempted to rear, we are amazed that these slender filaments have been
+able to resist their action so long. The Bayeux tapestry has lasted
+nearly a thousand years. It will probably last for a thousand years to
+come. So that the vast and resistless power, which destroyed Babylon and
+Troy, and is making visible progress in the work of destroying the
+Pyramids, is foiled by the durability of a piece of needle-work,
+executed by the frail and delicate fingers of a woman.
+
+We may have occasion to advert to the Bayeux tapestry again, when we
+come to narrate the exploits which it was the particular object of this
+historical embroidery to illustrate and adorn. In the mean time, we
+return to our story.
+
+The matrimonial negotiations of princes and princesses are always
+conducted in a formal and ceremonious manner, and through the
+intervention of legates, embassadors, and commissioners without number,
+who are, of course, interested in protracting the proceedings, so as to
+prolong, as much as possible, their own diplomatic importance and power.
+Besides these accidental and temporary difficulties, it soon appeared
+that there were, in this case, some real and very formidable obstacles,
+which threatened for a time entirely to frustrate the scheme.
+
+Among these difficulties there was one which was not usually, in such
+cases, considered of much importance, but which, in this instance,
+seemed for a long time to put an effectual bar to William's wishes, and
+that was the aversion which the young princess herself felt for the
+match. She could have, one would suppose, no personal feeling of
+repugnance against William, for he was a tall and handsome cavalier,
+highly graceful and accomplished, and renowned for his bravery and
+success in war. He was, in every respect, such a personage as would be
+most likely to captivate the imagination of a maiden princess in those
+warlike times. Matilda, however, made objections to his birth. She could
+not consider him as the legitimate descendant and heir of the dukes of
+Normandy. It is true, he was then in possession of the throne, but he
+was regarded by a large portion of the most powerful chieftains in his
+realm as a usurper. He was liable, at any time, on some sudden change of
+fortune, to be expelled from his dominions. His position, in a word,
+though for the time being very exalted, was too precarious and unstable,
+and his personal claims to high social rank were too equivocal, to
+justify her trusting her destiny in his hands. In a word, Matilda's
+answer to William's proposals was an absolute refusal to become his
+wife.
+
+These ostensible grounds, however, on which Matilda based her refusal,
+plausible as they were, were not the real and true ones. The secret
+motive was another attachment which she had formed. There had been sent
+to her father's court in Flanders, from the English king, a young Saxon
+embassador, whose name was Brihtric. Brihtric remained some little time
+at the court in Flanders, and Matilda, who saw him often at the various
+entertainments, celebrations, and parties of pleasure which were
+arranged for his amusement, conceived a strong attachment to him. He was
+of a very fair complexion, and his features were expressive and
+beautiful. He was a noble of high position in England, though, of
+course, his rank was inferior to that of Matilda. As it would have been
+deemed hardly proper for him, under the circumstances of the case, to
+have aspired to the princess's hand, on account of the superiority of
+her social position, Matilda felt that it was her duty to make known her
+sentiments to him, and thus to open the way. She did so; but she found,
+unhappy maiden, that Brihtric did not feel, himself, the love which he
+had inspired in her, and all the efforts and arts to which she was
+impelled by the instinct of affection proved wholly unavailing to call
+it forth. Brihtric, after fulfilling the object of his mission, took
+leave of Matilda coldly, while _her_ heart was almost breaking, and went
+away.
+
+As the sweetest wine transforms itself into the sharpest vinegar, so the
+warmest and most ardent love turns, when it turns at all, to the most
+bitter and envenomed hate. Love gave place soon in Matilda's heart to
+indignation, and indignation to a burning thirst for revenge. The
+intensity of the first excitement subsided; but Matilda never forgot and
+never forgave the disappointment and the indignity which she had
+endured. She had an opportunity long afterward to take terrible revenge
+on Brihtric in England, by subjecting him to cruelties and hardships
+there which brought him to his grave.
+
+In the mean time, while her thoughts were so occupied with this
+attachment, she had, of course, no heart to listen favorably to
+William's proposals. Her friends would have attached no importance to
+the real cause of her aversion to the match, but they felt the force of
+the objections which could justly be advanced against William's rank,
+and his real right to his throne. Then the consanguinity of the parties
+was a great source of embarrassment and trouble. Persons as nearly
+related to each other as they were, were forbidden by the Roman Catholic
+rules to marry. There was such a thing as getting a dispensation from
+the pope, by which the marriage would be authorized. William accordingly
+sent embassadors to Rome to negotiate this business. This, of course,
+opened a new field for difficulties and delays.
+
+The papal authorities were accustomed, in such cases, to exact as the
+price, or, rather, as the condition of their dispensation, some grant or
+beneficial conveyance from the parties interested, to the Church, such
+as the foundation of an abbey or a monastery, the building of a chapel,
+or the endowment of a charity, by way as it were, of making amends to
+the Church, by the benefit thus received, for whatever injury the cause
+of religion and morality might sustain by the relaxation of a divine
+law. Of course, this being the end in view, the tendency on the part of
+the authorities at Rome would be to protract the negotiations, so as
+to obtain from the suitor's impatience better terms in the end. The
+embassadors and commissioners, too, on William's part, would have no
+strong motive for hastening the proceedings. Rome was an agreeable
+place of residence, and to live there as the embassador of a royal duke
+of Normandy was to enjoy a high degree of consideration, and to be
+surrounded continually by scenes of magnificence and splendor. Then,
+again, William himself was not always at leisure to urge the business
+forward by giving it his own close attention; for, during the period
+while these negotiations were pending, he was occupied, from time to
+time, with foreign wars, or in the suppression of rebellions among his
+barons. Thus, from one cause and another, it seemed as if the business
+would never come to an end.
+
+In fact, a less resolute and determined man than William would have
+given up in despair, for it was seven years, it is said, before the
+affair was brought to a conclusion. One story is told of the impetuous
+energy which William manifested in this suit, which seems almost
+incredible.
+
+It was after the negotiations had been protracted for several years,
+and at a time when the difficulties were principally those arising
+from Matilda's opposition, that the occurrence took place. It was at
+an interview which William had with Matilda in the streets of Bruges,
+one of her father's cities. All that took place at the interview is not
+known, but in the end of it William's resentment at Matilda's treatment
+of him lost all bounds. He struck her or pushed her so violently as
+to throw her down upon the ground. It is said that he struck her
+repeatedly, and then, leaving her with her clothes all soiled and
+disheveled, rode off in a rage. Love quarrels are often the means of
+bringing the contending parties nearer together than they were before,
+but such a terrible love quarrel as this, we hope, is very rare.
+
+Violent as it was, however, it was followed by a perfect reconciliation,
+and in the end all obstacles were removed, and William and Matilda were
+married. The event took place in 1052.
+
+The marriage ceremony was performed at one of William's castles, on the
+frontiers of Normandy, as it is customary for princes and kings to be
+married always in their own dominions. Matilda was conducted there with
+great pomp and parade by her parents, and was accompanied by a large
+train of attendants and friends. This company, mounted--both knights and
+ladies--on horses beautifully caparisoned, moved across the country like
+a little army on a march, or rather like a triumphal procession
+escorting a queen. Matilda was received at the castle with distinguished
+honor, and the marriage celebrations, and the entertainments
+accompanying it, were continued for several days. It was a scene of
+unusual festivity and rejoicing.
+
+The dress both of William and Matilda, on this occasion, was very
+specially splendid. She wore a mantle studded with the most costly
+jewels; and, in addition to the other splendors of his dress, William
+too wore a mantle and a helmet, both of which were richly adorned with
+the same costly decorations. So much importance was attached, in those
+days, to this outward show, and so great was the public interest taken
+in it, that these dresses of William and Matilda, with all the jewelry
+that adorned them, were deposited afterward in the great church at
+Bayeux, where they remained a sort of public spectacle, the property of
+the Church, for nearly five hundred years.
+
+From the castle of Augi, where the marriage ceremonies were performed,
+William proceeded, after these first festivities and rejoicings were
+over, to the great city of Rouen, conducting his bride thither with
+great pomp and parade. Here the young couple established themselves,
+living in the enjoyment of every species of luxury and splendor which
+were attainable in those days. As has already been said, the interiors,
+even of royal castles and palaces, presented but few of the comforts and
+conveniences deemed essential to the happiness of a home in modern
+times. The European ladies of the present day delight in their suites of
+retired and well-furnished apartments, adorned with velvet carpets, and
+silken curtains, and luxuriant beds of down, with sofas and couches
+adapted to every fancy which the caprice of fatigue or restlessness may
+assume, and cabinets stored with treasures, and libraries of embellished
+books--the whole scene illuminated by the splendor of gas-lights, whose
+brilliancy is reflected by mirrors and candelabras, sparkling with a
+thousand hues. Matilda's feudal palace presented no such scenes as
+these. The cold stone floors were covered with mats of rushes. The
+walls--if the naked masonry was hidden at all--were screened by hangings
+of coarse tapestry, ornamented with uncouth and hideous figures. The
+beds were miserable pallets, the windows were loop-holes, and the castle
+itself had all the architectural characteristics of a prison.
+
+Still, there was a species of luxury and splendor even then. Matilda had
+splendid horses to ride, all magnificently caparisoned. She had dresses
+adorned most lavishly with gold and jewels. There were troops of valiant
+knights, all glittering in armor of steel, to escort her on her
+journeys, and accompany and wait upon her on her excursions of pleasure;
+and there were grand banquets and carousals, from time to time, in the
+long castle hall, with tournaments, and races, and games, and other
+military shows, conducted with great parade and pageantry. Matilda thus
+commenced her married life in luxury and splendor.
+
+In luxury and splendor, but not in peace. William had an uncle, whose
+name was Mauger. He was the Archbishop of Rouen, and was a dignitary
+of great influence and power. Now it was, of course, the interest of
+William's relatives that he should not be married, as every increase of
+probability that his crown would descend to direct heirs diminished
+their future chances of the succession, and of course undermined their
+present importance. Mauger had been very much opposed to this match,
+and had exerted himself in every way, while the negotiations were
+pending, to impede and delay them. The point which he most strenuously
+urged was the consanguinity of the parties, a point to which it was
+incumbent on him, as he maintained--being the head of the Church in
+Normandy--particularly to attend. It seems that, notwithstanding
+William's negotiations with the pope to obtain a dispensation, the
+affair was not fully settled at Rome before the marriage; and very soon
+after the celebration of the nuptials, Mauger fulminated an edict of
+excommunication against both William and Matilda, for intermarrying
+within the degrees of relationship which the canons of the Church
+proscribed.
+
+An excommunication, in the Middle Ages, was a terrible calamity. The
+person thus condemned was made, so far as such a sentence could effect
+it, an outcast from man, and a wretch accursed of Heaven. The most
+terrible denunciations were uttered against him, and in the case of a
+prince, like that of William, his subjects were all absolved from their
+allegiance, and forbidden to succor or defend him. A powerful potentate
+like William could maintain himself for a time against the influence and
+effects of such a course, but it was pretty sure to work more and more
+strongly against him through the superstitions of the people, and to
+wear him out in the end.
+
+William resolved to appeal at once to the pope, and to effect, by some
+means or other, the object of securing his dispensation. There was a
+certain monk, then obscure and unknown, but who afterward became a very
+celebrated public character, named Lanfranc, whom, for some reason or
+other, William supposed to possess the necessary qualifications for this
+mission. He accordingly gave him his instructions and sent him away.
+Lanfranc proceeded to Rome, and there he managed the negotiation with
+the pope so dexterously as soon to bring it to a conclusion.
+
+The arrangement which he made was this. The pope was to grant the
+dispensation and confirm the marriage, thus removing the sentence of
+excommunication which the Archbishop Mauger had pronounced, on
+condition that William should build and endow a hospital for a hundred
+poor persons, and also erect two abbeys, one to be built by himself, for
+monks, and one by Matilda, for nuns. Lanfranc agreed to these conditions
+on the part of William and Matilda, and they, when they came to be
+informed of them, accepted and confirmed them with great joy. The ban of
+excommunication was removed; all Normandy acquiesced in the marriage,
+and William and Matilda proceeded to form the plans and to superintend
+the construction of the abbeys.
+
+They selected the city of Caen for the site. The place of this city will
+be seen marked upon the map near the northern coast of Normandy.[G] It
+was situated in a broad and pleasant valley, at the confluence of two
+rivers, and was surrounded by beautiful and fertile meadows. It was
+strongly fortified, being surrounded by walls and towers, which
+William's ancestors, the dukes of Normandy, had built. William and
+Matilda took a strong interest in the plans and constructions connected
+with the building of the abbeys. William's was a very extensive edifice,
+and contained within its inclosures a royal palace for himself, where,
+in subsequent years, himself and Matilda often resided.
+
+[Footnote G: See map, chapter ix.]
+
+The principal buildings of these abbeys still stand, though the walls
+and fortifications of Caen are gone. The buildings are used now for
+other purposes than those for which they were erected, but they retain
+the names originally given them, and are visited by great numbers of
+tourists, being regarded with great interest as singular memorials of
+the past--twin monuments commemorating an ancient marriage.
+
+The marriage being thus finally confirmed and acquiesced in, William and
+Matilda enjoyed a long period of domestic peace. The oldest child was a
+son. He was born within a year of the marriage, and William named him
+Robert, that, as the reader will recollect, having been the name of
+William's father. There was, in process of time, a large family of
+children. Their names were Robert, William Rufus, Henry, Cecilia,
+Agatha, Constance, Adela, Adelaide, and Gundred. Matilda devoted herself
+with great maternal fidelity to the care and education of these
+children, and many of them became subsequently historical personages of
+the highest distinction.
+
+The object which, it will be recollected, was one of William's main
+inducements for contracting this alliance, namely, the strengthening of
+his power by thus connecting himself with the reigning family of
+Flanders, was, in a great measure, accomplished. The two governments,
+leagued together by this natural tie, strengthened each other's power,
+and often rendered each other essential assistance, though there was one
+occasion, subsequently, when William's reliance on this aid was
+disappointed. It was as follows:
+
+When he was planning his invasion of England, he sent to Matilda's
+brother, Baldwin, who was then Count of Flanders, inviting him to raise
+a force and join him. Baldwin, who considered the enterprise as
+dangerous and Quixotic, sent back word to inquire what share of the
+English territory William would give him if he would go and help him
+conquer it. William thought that this attempt to make a bargain
+beforehand, for a division of spoil, evinced a very mercenary and
+distrustful spirit on the part of his brother-in-law--a spirit which he
+was not at all disposed to encourage. He accordingly took a sheet of
+parchment, and writing nothing within, he folded it in the form of a
+letter, and wrote upon the outside the following rhyme:
+
+     "Beau frere, en Angleterre vous aures
+     Ce qui dedans escript, vous trouveres."
+
+Which royal distich might be translated thus:
+
+     "Your share, good brother, of the land we win,
+     You'll find entitled and described within."
+
+William forwarded the empty missive by the hand of a messenger, who
+delivered it to Baldwin as if it were a dispatch of great consequence.
+Baldwin received it eagerly, and opened it at once. He was surprised at
+finding nothing within; and after turning the parchment every way, in
+vain search after the description of his share, he asked the messenger
+what it meant. "It means," said he, "that as there is nothing writ
+within, so nothing you shall have."
+
+Notwithstanding this witticism, however, some arrangement seems
+afterward to have been made between the parties, for Flanders did, in
+fact, contribute an important share toward the force which William
+raised when preparing for the invasion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE LADY EMMA.
+
+A.D. 1002-1052
+
+William's claims to the English throne.--The Lady Emma.--Claimants
+to the English throne.--Ethelred.--Ethelred subdued.--He flies to
+Normandy.--Massacre of the Danes.--Horrors of civil war.--Ethelred's
+tyranny.--Emma's policy.--Emma's humiliation.--Ethelred invited to
+return.--Restoration of Ethelred and Emma.--War with Canute.--Ethelred's
+death.--Situation of Emma.--Her children.--War with Canute.--Treaty
+between Edmund and Canute.--Death of Edmund.--Accession of
+Canute.--Canute's wise policy.--His treatment of Edmund's
+children.--Canute marries Emma.--Opposition of her sons.--Emma again
+queen of England.--The Earl Godwin.--Canute's death.--He bequeaths
+the kingdom to Harold.--Emma's plots for her children.--Her
+letter to them.--Disastrous issue of Alfred's expedition.--His
+terrible sentence.--Edward's accession.--Emma wretched and
+miserable.--Accusations against Emma.--Her wretched end.--Edmund's
+children.--Godwin.--Harold.--Plans of Edward.--Plots and counterplots.
+
+
+It is not to be supposed that, even in the warlike times of which we are
+writing, such a potentate as a duke of Normandy would invade a country
+like England, so large and powerful in comparison to his own, without
+some pretext. William's pretext was, that he himself was the legitimate
+successor to the English crown, and that the English king who possessed
+it at the time of his invasion was a usurper. In order that the reader
+may understand the nature and origin of this his claim, it is necessary
+to relate somewhat in full the story of the Lady Emma.
+
+By referring to the genealogy of the Norman line of dukes contained in
+the second chapter of this volume, it will be seen that Emma was the
+daughter of the first Richard. She was celebrated in her early years for
+her great personal beauty. They called her _the Pearl of Normandy_.
+
+She married, at length, one of the kings of England, whose name was
+Ethelred. England was at that time distracted by civil wars, waged
+between the two antagonist races of Saxons and Danes. There were, in
+fact, two separate dynasties or lines of kings, who were contending, all
+the time, for the mastery. In these contests, sometimes the Danes would
+triumph for a time, and sometimes the Saxons; and sometimes both races
+would have a royal representative in the field, each claiming the
+throne, and reigning over separate portions of the island. Thus there
+were, at certain periods, two kingdoms in England, both covering the
+same territory, and claiming the government of the same population--with
+two kings, two capitals, two administrations--while the wretched
+inhabitants were distracted and ruined by the terrible conflicts to
+which these hostile pretensions gave rise.
+
+Ethelred was of the Saxon line. He was a widower at the time of his
+marriage to Emma, nearly forty years old, and he had, among other
+children by his former wife, a son named Edmund, an active, energetic
+young man, who afterward became king. One motive which he had in view in
+marrying Emma was to strengthen his position by securing the alliance of
+the Normans of Normandy. The Danes, his English enemies, were Normans.
+The government of Normandy would therefore be naturally inclined to
+take part with them. By this marriage, however, Ethelred hoped to detach
+the Normans of France from the cause of his enemies, and to unite them
+to his own. He would thus gain a double advantage, strengthening himself
+by an accession which weakened his foes.
+
+His plan succeeded so far as inducing Richard himself, the Duke of
+Normandy, to espouse his cause, but it did not enable Ethelred to
+triumph over his enemies. They, on the contrary, conquered _him_, and,
+in the end, drove him from the country altogether. He fled to Normandy
+for refuge, with Emma his wife, and his two young sons. Their names were
+Edward and Alfred.
+
+Richard II., Emma's brother, who was then the Duke of Normandy, received
+the unhappy fugitives with great kindness, although _he_, at least,
+scarcely deserved it. It was not surprising that he was driven from his
+native realm, for he possessed none of those high qualities of mind
+which fit men to conquer or to govern. Like all other weak-minded
+tyrants, he substituted cruelty for wisdom and energy in his attempts to
+subjugate his foes. As soon as he was married to Emma, for instance,
+feeling elated and strong at the great accession of power which he
+imagined he had obtained by this alliance, he planned a general massacre
+of the Danes, and executed it on a given day, by means of private
+orders, sent secretly throughout the kingdom. Vast numbers of the Danes
+were destroyed; and so great was the hatred of the two races for each
+other, that they who had these bloody orders to obey executed them with
+a savage cruelty that was absolutely horrible. In one instance they
+buried women to the waist, and then set dogs upon them, to tear their
+naked flesh until they died in agony. It would be best, in narrating
+history, to suppress such horrid details as these, were it not that in
+a land like this, where so much depends upon the influence of every
+individual in determining whether the questions and discussions which
+are from time to time arising, and are hereafter to arise, shall be
+settled peacefully, or by a resort to violence and civil war, it is very
+important that we should all know what civil war is, and to what
+horrible atrocities it inevitably leads.
+
+Alfred the Great, when he was contending with the Danes in England, a
+century before this time, treated them, so far as he gained advantages
+over them, with generosity and kindness; and this policy wholly
+conquered them in the end. Ethelred, on the other hand, tried the
+effect of the most tyrannical cruelty, and the effect was only to arouse
+his enemies to a more determined and desperate resistance. It was the
+phrensy of vengeance and hate that these atrocities awakened every where
+among the Danes, which nerved them with so much vigor and strength that
+they finally expelled him from the island; so that, when he arrived in
+Normandy, a fugitive and an exile, he came in the character of a
+dethroned tyrant, execrated for his senseless and atrocious cruelties,
+and not in that of an unhappy prince driven from his home by the
+pressure of unavoidable calamity. Nevertheless, Richard, the Duke of
+Normandy, received him, as we have already said, with kindness. He felt
+the obligation of receiving the exiled monarch in a hospitable manner,
+if not on his own account, at least for the sake of Emma and the
+children.
+
+The origin and end of Emma's interest in Ethelred seems to have been
+merely ambition. The "Pearl of Normandy" had given herself to this
+monster for the sake, apparently, of the glory of being the English
+queen. Her subsequent conduct compels the readers of history to make
+this supposition, which otherwise would be uncharitable. She now
+mourned her disappointment in finding that, instead of being sustained
+by her husband in the lofty position to which she aspired, she was
+obliged to come back to her former home again, to be once more
+dependent, and with the additional burden of her husband himself, and
+her children, upon her father's family. Her situation was rendered even
+still more humiliating, in some degree, by the circumstances that her
+father was no longer alive, and that it was to her brother, on whom her
+natural claim was far less strong, that she had now to look for shelter
+and protection. Richard, however, received them all in a kind and
+generous manner.
+
+In the mean time, the wars and commotions which had driven Ethelred
+away continued to rage in England, the Saxons gradually gaining
+ground against the Danes. At length the king of the Danes, who had
+seized the government when Ethelred was expelled, died. The Saxons then
+regained their former power, and they sent commissioners to Ethelred to
+propose his return to England. At the same time, they expressed their
+unwillingness to receive him, unless they could bind him, by a solemn
+treaty, to take a very different course of conduct, in the future
+management of his government, from that which he had pursued before.
+Ethelred and Emma were eager to regain, on any terms, their lost throne.
+They sent over embassadors empowered to make, in Ethelred's name, any
+promises which the English nobles might demand; and shortly afterward
+the royal pair crossed the Channel and went to London, and Ethelred was
+acknowledged there by the _Saxon_ portion of the population of the
+island once more as king.
+
+The _Danes_, however, though weakened, were not yet disposed to submit.
+They declared their allegiance to _Canute_, who was the successor in the
+_Danish_ line. Then followed a long war between Canute and Ethelred.
+Canute was a man of extraordinary sagacity and intelligence, and also of
+great courage and energy. Ethelred, on the other hand, proved himself,
+notwithstanding all his promises, incurably inefficient, cowardly, and
+cruel. In fact, his son Prince Edmund, the son of his first wife, was
+far more efficient than his father in resisting Canute and the Danes.
+Edmund was active and fearless, and he soon acquired very extensive
+power. In fact, he seems to have held the authority of his father in
+very little respect. One striking instance of this insubordination
+occurred. Ethelred had taken offense, for some reason or other, at one
+of the nobles in his realm, and had put him to death, and confiscated
+his estates; and, in addition to this, with a cruelty characteristic of
+him, he shut up the unhappy widow of his victim, a young and beautiful
+woman, in a gloomy convent, as a prisoner. Edmund, his son, went to the
+convent, liberated the prisoner, and made her his own wife.
+
+[Illustration: THE RESCUE.]
+
+With such unfriendly relations between the king and his son, who seems
+to have been the ablest general in his father's army, there could be
+little hope of making head against such an enemy as Canute the Dane.
+In fact, the course of public affairs went on from bad to worse, Emma
+leading all the time a life of unceasing anxiety and alarm. At length,
+in 1016, Ethelred died, and Emma's cup of disappointment and humiliation
+was now full. Her own sons, Edward and Alfred, had no claims to the
+crown; for Edmund, being the son by a former marriage, was older than
+they. They were too young to take personally an active part in the
+fierce contests of the day, and thus fight their way to importance and
+power. And then Edmund, who was now to become king, would, of course,
+feel no interest in advancing _them_, or doing honor to _her_. A son
+who would thwart and counteract the plans and measures of a father, as
+Edmund had done, would be little likely to evince much deference or
+regard for a mother-in-law, or for half brothers, whom he would
+naturally consider as his rivals. In a word, Emma had reason to be
+alarmed at the situation of insignificance and danger in which she found
+herself suddenly placed. She fled a second time, in destitution and
+distress, to her brother's in Normandy. She was now, however, a widow,
+and her children were fatherless. It is difficult to decide whether to
+consider her situation as better or worse on this account, than it was
+at her former exile.
+
+Her sons were lads, but little advanced beyond the period of childhood;
+and Edward, the eldest, on whom the duty of making exertions to advance
+the family interests would first devolve, was of a quiet and gentle
+spirit, giving little promise that he would soon be disposed to enter
+vigorously upon military campaigns. Edmund, on the other hand, who was
+now king, was in the prime of life, and was a man of great spirit and
+energy. There was a reasonable prospect that he would live many years;
+and even if he were to be suddenly cut off, there seemed to be no hope
+of the restoration of Emma to importance or power; for Edmund was
+married and had two sons, one of whom would be entitled to succeed him
+in case of his decease. It seemed, therefore, to be Emma's destiny now,
+to spend the remainder of her days with her children in neglect and
+obscurity. The case resulted differently, however, as we shall see in
+the end.
+
+Edmund, notwithstanding his prospect of a long and prosperous career,
+was cut off suddenly, after a stormy reign of one year. During his
+reign, Canute the Dane had been fast gaining ground in England,
+notwithstanding the vigor and energy with which Edmund had opposed him.
+Finally, the two monarchs assembled their armies, and were about to
+fight a great final battle. Edmund sent a flag of truce to Canute's
+camp, proposing that, to save the effusion of blood, they should agree
+to decide the case by single combat, and that he and Canute should be
+the champions, and fight in presence of the armies. Canute declined this
+proposal. He was himself small and slender in form, while Edmund was
+distinguished for his personal development and muscular strength. Canute
+therefore declined the personal contest, but offered to leave the
+question to the decision of a council chosen from among the leading
+nobles on either side. This plan was finally adopted. The council
+convened, and, after long deliberations, they framed a treaty by which
+the country was divided between the two potentates, and a sort of peace
+was restored. A very short period after this treaty was settled, Edmund
+was murdered.
+
+Canute immediately laid claim to the whole realm. He maintained that
+it was a part of the treaty that the partition of the kingdom was to
+continue only during their joint lives, and that, on the death of
+either, the whole was to pass to the survivor of them. The Saxon leaders
+did not admit this, but they were in no condition very strenuously to
+oppose it. Ethelred's sons by Emma were too young to come forward as
+leaders yet; and as to Edmund's, they were mere children. There was,
+therefore, no one whom they could produce as an efficient representative
+of the Saxon line, and thus the Saxons were compelled to submit to
+Canute's pretensions, at least for a time. They would not wholly give up
+the claims of Edmund's children, but they consented to waive them for a
+season. They gave Canute the guardianship of the boys until they should
+become of age, and allowed him, in the mean time, to reign, himself,
+over the whole land.
+
+Canute exercised his power in a very discreet and judicious manner,
+seeming intent, in all his arrangements, to protect the rights and
+interests of the Saxons as well as of the Danes. It might be supposed
+that the lives of the young Saxon princes, Edmund's sons, would not have
+been safe in his hands; but the policy which he immediately resolved to
+pursue was to conciliate the Saxons, and not to intimidate and coerce
+them. He therefore did the young children no harm, but sent them away
+out of the country to Denmark, that they might, if possible, be
+gradually forgotten. Perhaps he thought that, if the necessity should
+arise for it, they might there, at any time, be put secretly to death.
+
+There was another reason still to prevent Canute's destroying these
+children, which was, that if _they_ were removed, the claims of the
+Saxon line would not thereby be extinguished, but would only be
+transferred to Emma's children in Normandy, who, being older, were
+likely the sooner to be in a condition to give him trouble as rivals. It
+was therefore a very wise and sagacious policy which prompted him to
+keep the young children of Edmund alive, but to remove them to a safe
+distance out of the way.
+
+In respect to Emma's children, Canute conceived a different plan for
+guarding against any danger which came from their claims, and that was,
+to propose to take their mother for his wife. By this plan her family
+would come into his power, and then her own influence and that of her
+Norman friends would be forever prevented from taking sides against him.
+He accordingly made the proposal. Emma was ambitious enough of again
+returning to her former position of greatness as English queen to accept
+it eagerly. The world condemned her for being so ready to marry, for her
+second husband, the deadly enemy and rival of the first; but it was all
+one to her whether her husband was Saxon or Dane, provided that she
+could be queen.
+
+The boys, or, rather, the young men, for they were now advancing to
+maturity, were very strongly opposed to this connection. They did all in
+their power to prevent its consummation, and they never forgave their
+mother for thus basely betraying their interests. They were the more
+incensed at this transaction, because it was stipulated in the marriage
+articles between Canute and Emma that their _future_ children--the
+offspring of the marriage then contracted--should succeed to the throne
+of England, to the exclusion of all previously born on either side. Thus
+Canute fancied that he had secured his title, and that of his
+descendants, to the crown forever, and Emma prepared to return to
+England as once more its queen. The marriage was celebrated with great
+pomp and splendor, and Emma, bidding Normandy and her now alienated
+children farewell, was conducted in state to the royal palace in London.
+
+We must now pass over, with a very few words, a long interval of twenty
+years. It was the period of Canute's reign, which was prosperous and
+peaceful. During this period Emma's Norman sons continued in Normandy.
+She had another son in England a few years after her marriage, who was
+named Canute, after his father, but he is generally known in history by
+the name of Hardicanute, the prefix being a Saxon word denoting
+energetic or strong. Canute had also a very celebrated minister in his
+government named Godwin. Godwin was a Saxon of a very humble origin, and
+the history of his life constitutes quite a romantic tale.[H] He was a
+man of extraordinary talents and character, and at the time of Canute's
+death he was altogether the most powerful subject in the realm.
+
+[Footnote H: It is given at length in the last chapter of our history of
+Alfred the Great.]
+
+When Canute found that he was about to die, and began to consider what
+arrangements he should make for the succession, he concluded that it
+would not be safe for him to fulfill the agreement made in his marriage
+contract with Emma, that the children of that marriage should inherit
+the kingdom; for Hardicanute, who was entitled to succeed under that
+covenant, was only about sixteen or seventeen years old, and
+consequently too young to attempt to govern. He therefore made a will,
+in which he left the kingdom to an older son, named Harold--a son whom
+he had had before his marriage with Emma. This was the signal for a new
+struggle. The influence of the Saxons and of Emma's friends was of
+course in favor of Hardicanute, while the Danes espoused the cause of
+Harold. Godwin at length taking sides with this last-named party, Harold
+was established on the throne, and Emma and all her children, whether
+descended from Ethelred or Canute, were set aside and forgotten.
+
+Emma was not at all disposed to acquiesce in this change of fortune.
+She remained in England, but was secretly incensed at her second
+husband's breach of faith toward her; and as he had abandoned the child
+of his marriage with her for _his_ former children, she now determined
+to abandon him for _hers_. She gave up Hardicanute's cause, therefore,
+and began secretly to plot among the Saxon population for bringing
+forward her son Edward to the throne. When she thought that things were
+ripe for the execution of the plot, she wrote a letter to her children
+in Normandy, saying to them that the Saxon population were weary of the
+Danish line, and were ready, she believed, to rise in behalf of the
+ancient Saxon line, if the true representative of it would appear to
+lead them. She therefore invited them to come to London and consult with
+her on the subject. She directed them, however, to come, if they came at
+all, in a quiet and peaceful manner, and without any appearance of
+hostile intent, inasmuch as any thing which might seem like a foreign
+invasion would awaken universal jealousy and alarm.
+
+When this letter was received by the brothers in Normandy, the eldest,
+Edward, declined to go, but gave his consent that Alfred should
+undertake the expedition if he were disposed. Alfred accepted the
+proposal. In fact, the temperament and character of the two brothers
+were very different. Edward was sedate, serious, and timid. Alfred was
+ardent and aspiring. The younger, therefore, decided to take the risk of
+crossing the Channel, while the elder preferred to remain at home.
+
+The result was very disastrous. Contrary to his mother's instructions,
+Alfred took with him quite a troop of Norman soldiers. He crossed the
+Channel in safety, and advanced across the country some distance toward
+London. Harold sent out a force to intercept him. He was surrounded, and
+he himself and all his followers were taken prisoners. He was sentenced
+to lose his eyes, and he died in a few days after the execution of this
+terrible sentence, from the mingled effects of fever and of mental
+anguish and despair. Emma fled to Flanders.
+
+Finally Harold died, and Hardicanute succeeded him. In a short time
+Hardicanute died, leaving no heirs, and now, of course, there was no one
+left[I] to compete with Emma's oldest son Edward, who had remained all
+this time quietly in Normandy. He was accordingly proclaimed king. This
+was in 1041. He reigned for twenty years, having commenced his reign
+about the time that William the Conqueror was established in the
+possession of his dominions as Duke of Normandy. Edward had known
+William intimately during his long residence in Normandy, and William
+came to visit him in England in the course of his reign. William, in
+fact, considered himself as Edward's heir; for as Edward, though
+married, had no children, the dukes of the Norman line were his nearest
+relatives. He obtained, he said, a promise from Edward that Edward would
+sanction and confirm his claim to the English crown, in the event of his
+decease, by bequeathing it to William in his will.
+
+[Footnote I: The children of Ethelred's oldest son, Edmund, were in
+Hungary at this time, and seem to have been wellnigh forgotten.]
+
+Emma was now advanced in years. The ambition which had been the ruling
+principle of her life would seem to have been well satisfied, so far as
+it is possible to satisfy ambition, for she had had two husbands and two
+sons, all kings of England. But as she advanced toward the close of her
+career, she found herself wretched and miserable. Her son Edward could
+not forgive her for her abandonment of himself and his brother, to
+marry a man who was their own and their father's bitterest enemy. She
+had made a formal treaty in her marriage covenant to exclude them from
+the throne. She had treated them with neglect during all the time of
+Canute's reign, while she was living with him in London in power and
+splendor. Edward accused her, also, of having connived at his brother
+Alfred's death. The story is, that he caused her to be tried on this
+charge by the ordeal of fire. This method consisted of laying red-hot
+irons upon the stone floor of a church, at certain distances from each
+other, and requiring the accused to walk over them with naked feet. If
+the accused was innocent, Providence, as they supposed, would so guide
+his footsteps that he should not touch the irons. Thus, if he was
+innocent, he would go over safely; if guilty, he would be burned. Emma,
+according to the story of the times, was subjected to this test, in the
+Cathedral of Winchester, to determine whether she was cognizant of the
+murder of her son. Whether this is true or not, there is no doubt that
+Edward confined her a prisoner in the monastery at Winchester, where she
+ended her days at last in neglect and wretchedness.
+
+When Edward himself drew near to the close of his life, his mind was
+greatly perplexed in respect to the succession. There was one descendant
+of his brother Edmund--whose children, it will be remembered, Canute had
+sent away to Denmark, in order to remove them out of the way--who was
+still living in Hungary. The name of this descendant was Edward. He was,
+in fact, the lawful heir to the crown. But he had spent his life in
+foreign countries, and was now far away; and, in the mean time, the Earl
+Godwin, who has been already mentioned as the great Saxon nobleman who
+rose from a very humble rank to the position of the most powerful
+subject in the realm, obtained such an influence, and wielded so great a
+power, that he seemed at one time stronger than the king himself. Godwin
+at length died, but his son Harold, who was as energetic and active as
+his father, inherited his power, and seemed, as Edward thought, to be
+aspiring to the future possession of the throne. Edward had hated Godwin
+and all his family, and was now extremely anxious to prevent the
+possibility of Harold's accession. He accordingly sent to Hungary to
+bring Edward, his nephew, home. Edward came, bringing his family with
+him. He had a young son named Edgar. It was King Edward's plan to make
+arrangements for bringing this Prince Edward to the throne after his
+death, that Harold might be excluded.
+
+The plan was a very judicious one, but it was unfortunately frustrated
+by Prince Edward's death, which event took place soon after he arrived
+in England. The young Edgar, then a child, was, of course, his heir. The
+king was convinced that no government which could be organized in the
+name of Edgar would be able to resist the mighty power of Harold, and he
+turned his thoughts, therefore, again to the accession of William of
+Normandy, who was the nearest relative on his mother's side, as the only
+means of saving the realm from falling into the hands of the usurper
+Harold. A long and vexatious contest then ensued, in which the leading
+powers and influences of the kingdom were divided and distracted by the
+plans, plots, maneuvers, and counter maneuvers of Harold to obtain the
+accession for himself, and of Edward to secure it for William of
+Normandy. In this contest Harold conquered in the first instance, and
+Edward and William in the end.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+KING HAROLD.
+
+A.D. 1063-1066
+
+Harold and William.--Quarrel between Godwin and Edward.--Treaty between
+Godwin and Edward.--Hostages.--The giving of hostages now
+abandoned.--Cruelties inflicted.--Canute's hostages.--Godwin's
+hostages.--Edward declines to give up the hostages.--Harold goes to
+Normandy.--Harold's interview with Edward.--The storm.--Harold
+shipwrecked.--Guy, count of Ponthieu.--Harold a prisoner.--He is
+ransomed by William.--William's hospitality.--His policy in
+this.--William's treatment of his guests.--William's policy.--William
+makes known to Harold his claims to the English crown.--Harold's
+dissimulation.--William's precautions.--The betrothment.--William
+retains a hostage.--Harold's apparent acquiescence.--The public
+oath.--The great assembly of knights and nobles.--The threefold
+oath.--William's precaution.--The sacred relics.--Harold's
+departure.--His measures to secure the throne.--Age and infirmities of
+Edward.--Westminster.--Edward's death.--The crown offered to
+Harold.--Harold's coronation.--He knights Edgar.--Harold violates his
+plighted faith to William.
+
+
+Harold, the son of the Earl Godwin, who was maneuvering to gain
+possession of the English throne, and William of Normandy, though they
+lived on opposite sides of the English Channel, the one in France and
+the other in England, were still personally known to each other; for not
+only had William, as was stated in the last chapter, paid a visit to
+England, but Harold himself, on one occasion, made an excursion to
+Normandy. The circumstances of this expedition were, in some respects,
+quite extraordinary, and illustrate in a striking manner some of the
+peculiar ideas and customs of the times. They were as follows:
+
+During the life of Harold's father Godwin, there was a very serious
+quarrel between him, that is, Godwin, and King Edward, in which both the
+king and his rebellious subject marshaled their forces, and for a time
+waged against each other an open and sanguinary war. In this contest the
+power of Godwin had proved so formidable, and the military forces which
+he succeeded in marshaling under his banners were so great, that
+Edward's government was unable effectually to put him down. At length,
+after a long and terrible struggle, which involved a large part of the
+country in the horrors of a civil war, the belligerents made a treaty
+with each other, which settled their quarrel by a sort of compromise.
+Godwin was to retain his high position and rank as a subject, and to
+continue in the government of certain portions of the island which had
+long been under his jurisdiction; he, on his part, promising to dismiss
+his armies, and to make war upon the king no more. He bound himself to
+the faithful performance of these covenants by giving the king
+_hostages_.
+
+The hostages given up on such occasions were always near and dear
+relatives and friends, and the understanding was, that if the party
+giving them failed in fulfilling his obligations, the innocent and
+helpless hostages were to be entirely at the mercy of the other party
+into whose custody they had been given. The latter would, in such cases,
+imprison them, torture them, or put them to death, with a greater or
+less degree of severity in respect to the infliction of pain, according
+to the degree of exasperation which the real or fancied injury which he
+had received awakened in his mind.
+
+This cruel method of binding fierce and unprincipled men to the
+performance of their promises has been universally abandoned in modern
+times, though in the rude and early stages of civilization it has been
+practiced among all nations, ancient and modern. The hostages chosen
+were often of young and tender years, and were always such as to render
+the separation which took place when they were torn from their friends
+most painful, as it was the very object of the selection to obtain those
+who were most beloved. They were delivered into the hands of those whom
+they had always regarded as their bitterest enemies, and who, of course,
+were objects of aversion and terror. They were sent away into places of
+confinement and seclusion, and kept in the custody of strangers, where
+they lived in perpetual fear that some new outbreak between the
+contending parties would occur, and consign them to torture or death.
+The cruelties sometimes inflicted, in such cases, on the innocent
+hostages, were awful. At one time, during the contentions between
+Ethelred and Canute, Canute, being driven across the country to the
+sea-coast, and there compelled to embark on board his ships to make his
+escape, was cruel enough to cut off the hands and the feet of some
+hostages which Ethelred had previously given him, and leave them
+writhing in agony on the sands of the shore.
+
+The hostages which are particularly named by historians as given by
+Godwin to King Edward were his son and his grandson. Their names were
+Ulnoth and Hacune. Ulnoth, of course, was Harold's brother, and Hacune
+his nephew. Edward, thinking that Godwin would contrive some means of
+getting these securities back into his possession again if he attempted
+to keep them in England, decided to send them to Normandy, and to put
+them under the charge of William the duke for safe keeping. When Godwin
+died, Harold applied to Edward to give up the hostages, since, as he
+alleged, there was no longer any reason for detaining them. They had
+been given as security for _Godwin's_ good behavior, and now Godwin was
+no more.
+
+Edward could not well refuse to surrender them, and yet, as Harold
+succeeded to the power, and evidently possessed all the ambition of his
+father, it seemed to be, politically, as necessary to retain the
+hostages now as it had been before. Edward, therefore, without
+absolutely refusing to surrender them, postponed and evaded compliance
+with Harold's demand, on the ground that the hostages were in Normandy.
+He was going, he said, to send for them as soon as he could make the
+necessary arrangements for bringing them home in safety.
+
+Under these circumstances, Harold determined to go and bring them
+himself. He proposed this plan to Edward. Edward would not absolutely
+refuse his consent, but he did all in his power to discourage such an
+expedition. He told Harold that William of Normandy was a crafty and
+powerful man; that by going into his dominions he would put himself
+entirely into his power, and would be certain to involve himself in some
+serious difficulty. This interview between Harold and the king is
+commemorated on the Bayeux tapestry by the opposite uncouth design.
+
+What effect Edward's disapproval of the project produced upon Harold's
+mind is not certainly known. It is true that he went across the Channel,
+but the accounts of the crossing are confused and contradictory, some of
+them stating that, while sailing for pleasure with a party of attendants
+and companions on the coast, he was blown off from the shore and driven
+across to France by a storm. The probability, however, is, that this
+story was only a pretense. He was determined to go, but not wishing to
+act openly in defiance of the king's wishes, he contrived to be blown
+off, in order to make it seem that he went against his will.
+
+[Illustration: HAROLD'S INTERVIEW WITH EDWARD.]
+
+At all events, the _storm_ was real, whether his being compelled to
+leave the English shores by the power of it was real or pretended. It
+carried him, too, out of his course, driving him up the Channel to the
+eastward of Normandy, where he had intended to land, and at length
+throwing his galley, a wreck, on the shore, not far from the mouth of
+the Somme. The galley itself was broken up, but Harold and his company
+escaped to land. They found that they were in the dominions of a certain
+prince who held possessions on that coast, whose style and title was
+Guy, count of Ponthieu.
+
+The law in those days was, that wrecks became the property of the lord
+of the territory on the shores of which they occurred; and not only were
+the ships and the goods which they contained thus confiscated in case of
+such a disaster, but the owners themselves became liable to be seized
+and held captive for a ransom. Harold, knowing his danger, was
+attempting to secrete himself on the coast till he could get to
+Normandy, when a fisherman who saw him, and knew by his dress and
+appearance, and by the deference with which he was treated by the rest
+of the company, that he was a man of great consequence in his native
+land, went to the count, and said that for ten crowns he would show him
+where there was a man who would be worth a thousand to him. The count
+came down with his retinue to the coast, seized the unfortunate
+adventurers, took possession of all the goods and baggage that the waves
+had spared, and shut the men themselves up in his castle at Abbeville
+till they could pay their ransom.
+
+Harold remonstrated against this treatment. He said that he was on his
+way to Normandy on business of great importance with the duke, from the
+King of England, and that he could not be detained. But the count was
+very decided in refusing to let him go without his ransom. Harold then
+sent word to William, acquainting him with his situation, and asking him
+to effect his release. William sent to the count, demanding that he
+should give his prisoner up. All these things, however, only tended to
+elevate and enlarge the count's ideas of the value and importance of the
+prize which he had been so fortunate to secure. He persisted in refusing
+to give him up without ransom. Finally William paid the ransom, in the
+shape of a large sum of money, and the cession, in addition, of a
+considerable territory. Harold and his companions in bondage were then
+delivered to William's messengers, and conducted by them in safety to
+Rouen, where William was then residing.
+
+William received his distinguished guest with every possible mark of the
+most honorable consideration. He was escorted with great parade and
+ceremony into the palace, lodged in the most sumptuous manner, provided
+with every necessary supply, and games, and military spectacles, and
+feasts and entertainments without number, were arranged to celebrate his
+visit. William informed him that he was at liberty to return to England
+whenever he pleased, and that his brother and his nephew, the hostages
+that he had come to seek, were at his disposal. He, however, urged him
+not to return immediately, but to remain a short time in Normandy with
+his companions. Harold accepted the invitation.
+
+All this exuberance of hospitality had its origin, as the reader will
+readily divine, in the duke's joy in finding the only important rival
+likely to appear to contest his claims to the English crown so fully in
+his power, and in the hope which he entertained of so managing affairs
+at this visit as to divert Harold's mind from the idea of becoming the
+King of England himself, and to induce him to pledge himself to act in
+his, that is, William's favor. He took, therefore, all possible pains to
+make him enjoy his visit in Normandy; he exhibited to him the wealth
+and the resources of the country--conducting him from place to place to
+visit the castles, the abbeys, and the towns--and, finally, he proposed
+that he should accompany him on a military expedition into Brittany.
+
+Harold, pleased with the honors conferred upon him, and with the novelty
+and magnificence of the scenes to which he was introduced, entered
+heartily into all these plans, and his companions and attendants were no
+less pleased than he. William knighted many of these followers of
+Harold, and made them costly presents of horses, and banners, and suits
+of armor, and other such gifts as were calculated to captivate the
+hearts of martial adventurers such as they. William soon gained an
+entire ascendency over their minds, and when he invited them to
+accompany him on his expedition into Brittany, they were all eager to
+go.
+
+Brittany was west of Normandy, and on the frontiers of it, so that the
+expedition was not a distant one. Nor was it long protracted. It was, in
+fact, a sort of pleasure excursion, William taking his guest across the
+frontier into his neighbor's territory, on a marauding party, just as a
+nobleman, in modern times, would take a party into a forest to hunt.
+William and Harold were on the most intimate and friendly terms possible
+during the continuance of this campaign. They occupied the same tent,
+and ate at the same table. Harold evinced great military talents and
+much bravery in the various adventures which they met with in Brittany,
+and William felt more than ever the desirableness of securing his
+influence on his, that is, William's side, or, at least, of preventing
+his becoming an open rival and enemy. On their return from Brittany into
+Normandy, he judged that the time had arrived for taking his measures.
+He accordingly resolved to come to an open understanding with Harold in
+respect to his plans, and to seek his co-operation.
+
+He introduced the subject, the historians say, one day as they were
+riding along homeward from their excursion, and had been for some time
+talking familiarly on the way, relating tales to one another of wars,
+battles, sieges, and hair-breadth escapes, and other such adventures as
+formed, generally, the subjects of narrative conversation in those days.
+At length William, finding Harold, as he judged, in a favorable mood for
+such a communication, introduced the subject of the English realm and
+the approaching demise of the crown. He told him, confidentially, that
+there had been an arrangement between him, William, and King Edward, for
+some time, that Edward was to _adopt_ him as his successor. William told
+Harold, moreover, that he should rely a great deal on his co-operation
+and assistance in getting peaceable possession of the kingdom, and
+promised to bestow upon him the very highest rewards and honors in
+return if he would give him his aid. The only rival claimant, William
+said, was the young child Edgar, and he had no friends, no party, no
+military forces, and no means whatever for maintaining his pretensions.
+On the other hand, he, William, and Harold, had obviously all the power
+in their own hands, and if they could only co-operate together on a
+common understanding, they would be sure to have the power and the
+honors of the English realm entirely at their disposal.
+
+Harold listened to all these suggestions, and pretended to be interested
+and pleased. He was, in reality, interested, but he was not pleased. He
+wished to secure the kingdom for himself, not merely to obtain a share,
+however large, of its power and its honors as the subject of another. He
+was, however, too wary to evince his displeasure. On the contrary, he
+assented to the plan, professed to enter into it with all his heart, and
+expressed his readiness to commence, immediately, the necessary
+preliminary measures for carrying it into execution. William was much
+gratified with the successful result of his negotiation, and the two
+chieftains rode home to William's palace in Normandy, banded together,
+apparently, by very strong ties. In secret, however, Harold was
+resolving to effect his departure from Normandy as soon as possible, and
+to make immediate and most effectual measures for securing the kingdom
+of England to himself, without any regard to the promises that he had
+made to William.
+
+Nor must it be supposed that William himself placed any positive
+reliance on mere promises from Harold. He immediately began to form
+plans for binding him to the performance of his stipulations, by the
+modes then commonly employed for securing the fulfillment of covenants
+made among princes. These methods were three--intermarriages, the giving
+of hostages, and solemn oaths.
+
+William proposed two marriages as means of strengthening the alliance
+between himself and Harold. Harold was to give to William one of his
+daughters, that William might marry her to one of his Norman chieftains.
+This would be, of course, placing her in William's power, and making her
+a hostage all but in name. Harold, however, consented. The second
+marriage proposed was between William's daughter and Harold himself; but
+as his daughter was a child of only seven years of age, it could only be
+a betrothment that could take place at that time. Harold acceded to this
+proposal too, and arrangements were made for having the faith of the
+parties pledged to one another in the most solemn manner. A great
+assembly of all the knights, nobles, and ladies of the court was
+convened, and the ceremony of pledging the troth between the fierce
+warrior and the gentle and wondering child was performed with as much
+pomp and parade as if it had been an actual wedding. The name of the
+girl was Adela.
+
+In respect to hostages, William determined to detain one of those whom
+Harold, as will be recollected, had come into Normandy to recover. He
+told him, therefore, that he might take with him his nephew Hacune, but
+that Ulnoth, his brother, should remain, and William would bring him
+over himself when he came to take possession of the kingdom. Harold was
+extremely unwilling to leave his brother thus in William's power; but as
+he knew very well that his being allowed to return to England himself
+would depend upon his not evincing any reluctance to giving William
+security, or manifesting any other indication that he was not intending
+to keep his plighted faith, he readily consented, and it was thus
+settled that Ulnoth should remain.
+
+Finally, in order to hold Harold to the fulfillment of his promises by
+every possible form of obligation, William proposed that he should take
+a public and solemn oath, in the presence of a large assembly of all the
+great potentates and chieftains of the realm, by which he should bind
+himself, under the most awful sanctions, to keep his word. Harold made
+no objection to this either. He considered himself as, in fact, in
+duress, and his actions as not free. He was in William's power, and was
+influenced in all he did by a desire to escape from Normandy, and once
+more recover his liberty. He accordingly decided, in his own mind, that
+whatever oaths he might take he should afterward consider as forced upon
+him, and consequently as null and void, and was ready, therefore, to
+take any that William might propose.
+
+The great assembly was accordingly convened. In the middle of the
+council hall there was placed a great chair of state, which was covered
+with a cloth of gold. Upon this cloth, and raised considerably above the
+seat, was the _missal_, that is, the book of service of the Catholic
+Church, written on parchment and splendidly illuminated. The book was
+open at a passage from one of the Evangelists--the Evangelists being a
+portion of the Holy Scriptures which was, in those days, supposed to
+invest an oath with the most solemn sanctions.
+
+Harold felt some slight misgivings as he advanced in the midst of such
+an imposing scene as the great assembly of knights and ladies presented
+in the council hall, to repeat his promises in the very presence of God,
+and to imprecate the retributive curses of the Almighty on the violation
+of them, which he was deliberately and fully determined to incur. He
+had, however, gone too far to retreat now. He advanced, therefore, to
+the open missal, laid his hand upon the book, and, repeating the words
+which William dictated to him from his throne, he took the threefold
+oath required, namely, to aid William to the utmost of his power in his
+attempt to secure the succession to the English crown, to marry
+William's daughter Adela as soon as she should arrive at a suitable age,
+and to send over forthwith from England his own daughter, that she might
+be espoused to one of William's nobles.
+
+As soon as the oath was thus taken, William caused the missal and the
+cloth of gold to be removed, and there appeared beneath it, on the chair
+of state, a chest, containing the sacred relics of the Church, which
+William had secretly collected from the abbeys and monasteries of his
+dominions, and placed in this concealment, that, without Harold's being
+conscious of it, their dreadful sanction might be added to that which
+the Holy Evangelists imposed. These relics were fragments of bones set
+in caskets and frames, and portions of blood--relics, as the monks
+alleged, of apostles or of the Savior--and small pieces of wood,
+similarly preserved, which had been portions of the cross of Christ or
+of his thorny crown. These things were treasured up with great solemnity
+in the monastic establishments and in the churches of these early times,
+and were regarded with a veneration and awe, of which it is almost
+beyond our power even to conceive. Harold trembled when he saw what he
+had unwittingly done. He was terrified to think how much more dreadful
+was the force of the imprecations that he had uttered than he had
+imagined while uttering them. But it was too late to undo what he had
+done. The assembly was finally dismissed. William thought he had the
+conscience of his new ally firmly secured, and Harold began to prepare
+for leaving Normandy.
+
+He continued on excellent terms with William until his departure.
+William accompanied him to the sea-shore when the time of his
+embarkation arrived, and dismissed him at last with many farewell
+honors, and a profusion of presents. Harold set sail, and, crossing the
+Channel in safety, he landed in England.
+
+He commenced immediately an energetic system of measures to strengthen
+his own cause, and prepare the way for his own accession. He organized
+his party, collected arms and munitions of war, and did all that he
+could to ingratiate himself with the most powerful and wealthy nobles.
+He sought the favor of the king, too, and endeavored to persuade him to
+discard William. The king was now old and infirm, and was growing more
+and more inert and gloomy as he advanced in age. His mind was occupied
+altogether in ecclesiastical rites and observances, or plunged in a
+torpid and lifeless melancholy, which made him averse to giving any
+thought to the course which the affairs of his kingdom were to take
+after he was gone. He did not care whether Harold or William took the
+crown when he laid it aside, provided they would allow him to die in
+peace.
+
+He had had, a few years previous to this time, a plan of making a
+pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but had finally made an arrangement with the
+pope, allowing him to build a Cathedral church, to be dedicated to St.
+Peter, a few miles west of London, in lieu of his pilgrimage. There was
+already a Cathedral church or _minster_ in the heart of London which was
+dedicated to St. Paul. The new one was afterward often called, to
+distinguish it from the other, the _west_ minster, which designation,
+Westminster, became afterward its regular name. It was on this spot,
+where Westminster Abbey now stands, that Edward's church was to be
+built. It was just completed at the time of which we are speaking, and
+the king was preparing for the dedication of it. He summoned an assembly
+of all the prelates and great ecclesiastical dignitaries of the land to
+convene at London, in order to dedicate the new Cathedral. Before they
+were ready for the service, the king was taken suddenly sick. They
+placed him upon his couch in his palace chamber, where he lay, restless,
+and moaning in pain, and repeating incessantly, half in sleep and half
+in delirium, the gloomy and threatening texts of Scripture which seemed
+to haunt his mind. He was eager to have the dedication go on, and they
+hastened the service in order to gratify him by having it performed
+before he died. The next day he was obviously failing. Harold and his
+friends were very earnest to have the departing monarch declare in _his_
+favor before he died, and their coming and going, and their loud
+discussions, rude soldiers as they were, disturbed his dying hours. He
+sent them word to choose whom they would for king, duke or earl, it was
+indifferent to him, and thus expired.
+
+Harold had made his arrangements so well, and had managed so effectually
+to secure the influence of all the powerful nobles of the kingdom, that
+they immediately convened and offered him the crown. Edgar was in the
+court of Edward at the time, but he was too young to make any effort to
+advance his claims. He was, in fact, a foreigner, though in the English
+royal line. He had been brought up on the Continent of Europe, and
+could not even speak the English tongue. He acquiesced, therefore,
+without complaint, in these proceedings, and was even present as a
+consenting spectator on the occasion of Harold's coronation, which
+ceremony was performed with great pomp and parade, at St. Paul's, in
+London, very soon after King Edward's death. Harold rewarded Edgar for
+his complaisance and discretion by conferring upon him the honor of
+knighthood immediately after the coronation, and in the church where the
+ceremony was performed. He also conferred similar distinctions and
+honors upon many other aspiring and ambitious men whom he wished to
+secure to his side. He thus seemed to have secure and settled possession
+of the throne.
+
+Previously to this time, Harold had married a young lady of England, a
+sister of two very powerful noblemen, and the richest heiress in the
+realm. This marriage greatly strengthened his influence in England, and
+helped to prepare the way for his accession to the supreme power. The
+tidings of it, however, when they crossed the Channel and reached the
+ears of William of Normandy, as the act was an open and deliberate
+violation of one of the covenants which Harold had made with William,
+convinced the latter that none of these covenants would be kept, and
+prepared him to expect all that afterward followed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE PREPARATIONS.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+Harold's brother Tostig.--He brings intelligence of Harold's
+accession.--William's strength and dexterity.--His
+surprise.--Fitzosborne.--His interview with William.--The great council
+of state.--The embassy to Harold.--Harold reminded of his promises.--His
+replies.--Return of the messenger.--William prepares for war.--William
+calls a general council.--Want of funds.--Means of raising
+money.--Adverse views.--Various opinions.--Confusion and disorder.--Plan
+of Fitzosborne.--It is adopted by William.--Success of Fitzosborne's
+plan.--Supplies flow in liberally.--Embassage to the pope.--Its
+success.--Reasons why the pope favored William's claims.--The banner
+and the ring.--Excitement produced by their reception.--William's
+proclamations.--Their effects.--William's promises.--Naval
+preparations.--Philip, king of France.--William's visit to
+him.--William's interview with Philip.--Philip opposes his
+plans.--Council of nobles.--Result of their deliberations.--William's
+return.--Final preparations.--Matilda made duchess regent.--William's
+motives.--Republican sentiments.--Hereditary sovereigns.--Enthusiasm of
+the people.--The two-tailed comet.
+
+
+The messenger who brought William the tidings of Harold's accession to
+the throne was a man named Tostig, Harold's brother. Though he was
+Harold's brother, he was still his bitterest enemy. Brothers are seldom
+friends in families where there is a crown to be contended for. There
+were, of course, no public modes of communicating intelligence in those
+days, and Tostig had learned the facts of Edward's death and Harold's
+coronation through spies which he had stationed at certain points on the
+coast. He was himself, at that time, on the Continent. He rode with all
+speed to Rouen to communicate the news to William, eager to incite him
+to commence hostilities against his brother.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM RECEIVING TOSTIG'S TIDINGS.]
+
+When Tostig arrived at Rouen, William was in a park which lay in the
+vicinity of the city, trying a new bow that had been recently made for
+him. William was a man of prodigious muscular strength, and they gave
+him the credit of being able to use easily a bow which nobody else
+could bend. A part of this credit was doubtless due to the etiquette
+which, in royal palaces and grounds, leads all sensible courtiers to
+take good care never to succeed in attempts to excel the king. But,
+notwithstanding this consideration, there is no doubt that the duke
+really merited a great portion of the commendation that he received for
+his strength and dexterity in the use of the bow. It was a weapon in
+which he took great interest. A new one had been made for him, of great
+elasticity and strength, and he had gone out into his park, with his
+officers, to try its powers, when Tostig arrived. Tostig followed him to
+the place, and there advancing to his side, communicated the tidings to
+him privately.
+
+William was greatly moved by the intelligence. His arrow dropped upon
+the ground. He gave the bow to an attendant. He stood for a time
+speechless, tying and untying the cordon of his cloak in his
+abstraction. Presently he began slowly to move away from the place, and
+to return toward the city. His attendants followed him in silence,
+wondering what the exciting tidings could be which had produced so
+sudden and powerful an effect.
+
+William went into the castle hall, and walked to and fro a long time,
+thoughtful, and evidently agitated. His attendants waited in silence,
+afraid to speak to him. Rumors began at length to circulate among them
+in respect to the nature of the intelligence which had been received. At
+length a great officer of state, named Fitzosborne, arrived at the
+castle. As he passed through the court-yard and gates, the attendants
+and the people, knowing that he possessed in a great degree the
+confidence of his sovereign, asked him what the tidings were that had
+made such an impression. "I know nothing certain about it," said he,
+"but I will soon learn." So saying, he advanced toward William, and
+accosted him by saying, "Why should you conceal from us your news? It is
+reported in the city that the King of England is dead, and that Harold
+has violated his oaths to you, and has seized the kingdom. Is that
+true?"
+
+William acknowledged that that was the intelligence by which he had been
+so vexed and chagrined. Fitzosborne urged the duke not to allow such
+events to depress or dispirit him. "As for the death of Edward," said
+he, "that is an event past and sure, and can not be recalled; but
+Harold's usurpation and treachery admits of a very easy remedy. You
+have the right to the throne, and you have the soldiers necessary to
+enforce that right. Undertake the enterprise boldly. You will be sure to
+succeed."
+
+William revolved the subject in his mind for a few days, during which
+the exasperation and anger which the first receipt of the intelligence
+had produced upon him was succeeded by calm but indignant deliberation,
+in respect to the course which he should pursue. He concluded to call a
+great council of state, and to lay the case before them--not for the
+purpose of obtaining their advice, but to call their attention to the
+crisis in a formal and solemn manner, and to prepare them to act in
+concert in the subsequent measures to be pursued. The result of the
+deliberations of this council, guided, doubtless, by William's own
+designs, was, that the first step should be to send an embassy to Harold
+to demand of him the fulfillment of his promises.
+
+The messenger was accordingly dispatched. He proceeded to London, and
+laid before Harold the communication with which he had been intrusted.
+This communication recounted the three promises which Harold had made,
+namely, to send his daughter to Normandy to be married to one of
+William's generals; to marry William's daughter himself; and to maintain
+William's claims to the English crown on the death of Edward. He was to
+remind Harold, also, of the solemnity with which he had bound himself to
+fulfill these obligations, by oaths taken in the presence of the most
+sacred relics of the Church, and in the most public and deliberate
+manner.
+
+Harold replied,
+
+1. That as to sending over his daughter to be married to one of
+William's generals, he could not do it, for his daughter was dead. He
+presumed, he said, that William did not wish him to send the corpse.
+
+2. In respect to marrying William's daughter, to whom he had been
+affianced in Normandy, he was sorry to say that that was also out of
+his power, as he could not take a foreign wife without the consent of
+his people, which he was confident would never be given; besides, he
+was already married, he said, to a Saxon lady of his own dominions.
+
+3. In regard to the kingdom: it did not depend upon him, he said, to
+decide who should rule over England as Edward's successor, but upon the
+will of Edward himself, and upon the English people. The English barons
+and nobles had decided, with Edward's concurrence, that he, Harold, was
+their legitimate and proper sovereign, and that it was not for him to
+controvert their will. However much he might be disposed to comply with
+William's wishes, and to keep his promise, it was plain that it was out
+of his power, for in promising him the English crown, he had promised
+what did not belong to him to give.
+
+4. As to his oaths, he said that, notwithstanding the secret presence of
+the sacred relics under the cloth of gold, he considered them as of no
+binding force upon his conscience, for he was constrained to take them
+as the only means of escaping from the duress in which he was virtually
+held in Normandy. Promises, and oaths even, when extorted by necessity,
+were null and void.
+
+The messenger returned to Normandy with these replies, and William
+immediately began to prepare for war.
+
+His first measure was to call a council of his most confidential friends
+and advisers, and to lay the subject before them. They cordially
+approved of the plan of an invasion of England, and promised to
+co-operate in the accomplishment of it to the utmost of their power.
+
+The next step was to call a general council of all the chieftains and
+nobles of the land, and also the _notables_, as they were called, or
+principal officers and municipal authorities of the _towns_. The main
+point of interest for the consideration of this assembly was, whether
+the country would submit to the necessary taxation for raising the
+necessary funds. William had ample power, as duke, to decide upon the
+invasion and to undertake it. He could also, without much difficulty,
+raise the necessary number of men; for every baron in his realm was
+bound, by the feudal conditions on which he held his land, to furnish
+his quota of men for any military enterprise in which his sovereign
+might see fit to engage. But for so distant and vast an undertaking as
+this, William needed a much larger supply of _funds_ than were usually
+required in the wars of those days. For raising such large supplies, the
+political institutions of the Middle Ages had not made any adequate
+provision. Governments then had no power of taxation, like that so
+freely exercised in modern times; and even now, taxes in France and
+England take the form of _grants_ from the people to the kings. And as
+to the contrivance, so exceedingly ingenious, by which inexhaustible
+resources are opened to governments at the present day--that is, the
+plan of borrowing the money, and leaving posterity to pay or repudiate
+the debt, as they please, no minister of finance had, in William's day,
+been brilliant enough to discover it. Thus each ruler had to rely, then,
+mainly on the rents and income from his own lands, and other private
+resources, for the comparatively small amount of money that he needed in
+his brief campaigns. But now William perceived that ships must be built
+and equipped, and great stores of provisions accumulated, and arms and
+munitions of war provided, all which would require a considerable
+outlay; and how was this money to be obtained?
+
+The general assembly which he convened were greatly distracted by the
+discussion of the question. The quiet and peaceful citizens who
+inhabited the towns, the artisans and tradesmen, who wished for nothing
+but to be allowed to go on in their industrial pursuits in peace, were
+opposed to the whole project. They thought it unreasonable and absurd
+that they should be required to contribute from their earnings to enable
+their lord and master to go off on so distant and desperate an
+undertaking, from which, even if successful, they could derive no
+benefit whatever. Many of the barons, too, were opposed to the scheme.
+They thought it very likely to end in disaster and defeat; and they
+denied that their feudal obligation to furnish men for their sovereign's
+wars was binding to the extent of requiring them to go out of the
+country, and beyond the sea, to prosecute his claims to the throne of
+another kingdom.
+
+Others, on the other hand, among the members of William's assembly, were
+strongly disposed to favor the plan. They were more ardent or more
+courageous than the rest, or perhaps their position and circumstances
+were such that they had more to hope from the success of the enterprise
+than they, or less to fear from its failure. Thus there was great
+diversity of opinion; and as the parliamentary system of rules, by which
+a body of turbulent men, in modern times, are kept in some semblance of
+organization and order during a debate, had not then been developed, the
+meeting of these Norman deliberators was, for a time, a scene of uproar
+and confusion. The members gathered in groups, each speaker getting
+around him as many as he could obtain to listen to his harangue; the
+more quiet and passive portion of the assembly moving to and fro, from
+group to group, as they were attracted by the earnestness and eloquence
+of the different speakers, or by their approval of the sentiments which
+they heard them expressing. The scene, in fact, was like that presented
+in exciting times by a political caucus in America, before it is called
+to order by the chairman.
+
+Fitzosborne, the confidential friend and counselor, who has already been
+mentioned as the one who ventured to accost the duke at the time when
+the tidings of Edward's death and of Harold's accession first reached
+him, now seeing that any thing like definite and harmonious action on
+the part of this tumultuous assembly was out of the question, went to
+the duke, and proposed to him to give up the assembly as such, and make
+the best terms and arrangements that he could with the constituent
+elements of it, individually and severally. He would himself, he
+said, furnish forty ships, manned, equipped, and provisioned; and he
+recommended to the duke to call each of the others into his presence,
+and ask them what they were individually willing to do. The duke adopted
+this plan, and it was wonderfully successful. Those who were first
+invited made large offers, and their offers were immediately registered
+in form by the proper officers. Each one who followed was emulous of the
+example of those who had preceded him, and desirous of evincing as much
+zeal and generosity as they. Then, besides, the duke received these
+vassals with so much condescension and urbanity, and treated them with
+so much consideration and respect, as greatly to flatter their vanity,
+and raise them in their own estimation, by exalting their ideas of the
+importance of the services which they could render in carrying so vast
+an enterprise to a successful result. In a word, the tide turned like a
+flood in favor of granting liberal supplies. The nobles and knights
+promised freely men, money, ships, arms, provisions--every thing, in
+short, that was required; and when the work of receiving and registering
+the offers was completed, and the officers summed up the aggregate
+amount, William found, to his extreme satisfaction, that his wants were
+abundantly supplied.
+
+There was another very important point, which William adopted immediate
+measures to secure, and that was obtaining the _Pope's_ approval of his
+intended expedition. The moral influence of having the Roman pontiff on
+his side, would, he knew, be of incalculable advantage to him. He sent
+an embassage, accordingly, to Rome, to lay the whole subject before his
+holiness, and to pray that the pope would declare that he was justly
+entitled to the English crown, and authorize him to proceed and take
+possession of it by force of arms. Lanfranc was the messenger whom he
+employed--the same Lanfranc who had been so successful, some years
+before, in the negotiations at Rome connected with the confirmation of
+William and Matilda's marriage.
+
+Lanfranc was equally successful now. The pope, after examining William's
+claims, pronounced them valid. He decided that William was entitled to
+the rank and honors of King of England. He caused a formal diploma to be
+made out to this effect. The diploma was elegantly executed, signed with
+the cross, according to the pontifical custom, and sealed with a round
+leaden seal.[J]
+
+[Footnote J: The Latin name for such a seal was _bulla_. It is on
+account of this sort of seal, which is customarily affixed to them, that
+papal edicts have received the name of _bulls_.]
+
+It was, in fact, very natural that the Roman authorities should take a
+favorable view of William's enterprise, and feel an interest in its
+success, as it was undoubtedly for the interest of the Church that
+William, rather than Harold, should reign over England, as the accession
+of William would bring the English realm far more fully under the
+influence of the Roman Church. William had always been very submissive
+to the pontifical authority, as was shown in his conduct in respect to
+the question of his marriage. He himself, and also Matilda his wife, had
+always taken a warm interest in the welfare and prosperity of the
+abbeys, the monasteries, the churches, and the other religious
+establishments of the times. Then the very circumstance that he sent his
+embassador to Rome to submit his claims to the pontiff's adjudication,
+while Harold did not do so, indicated a greater deference for the
+authority of the Church, and made it probable that he would be a far
+more obedient and submissive son of the Church, in his manner of ruling
+his realm, if he should succeed in gaining possession of it, than Harold
+his rival. The pope and his counselors at Rome thought it proper to take
+all these things into the account in deciding between William and
+Harold, as they honestly believed, without doubt, that it was their
+first and highest duty to exalt and aggrandize, by every possible means,
+the spiritual authority of the sacred institution over which they were
+called to preside.
+
+The pope and his cardinals, accordingly, espoused William's cause very
+warmly. In addition to the diploma which gave William formal authority
+to take possession of the English crown, the pope sent him a banner and
+a ring. The banner was of costly and elegant workmanship; its value,
+however, did not consist in its elegance or its cost, but in a solemn
+benediction which his holiness pronounced over it, by which it was
+rendered sacred and inviolable. The banner, thus blessed, was forwarded
+to William by Lanfranc with great care.
+
+It was accompanied by the ring. The ring was of gold, and it contained a
+diamond of great value. The gold and the diamond both, however, served
+only as settings to preserve and honor something of far greater value
+than they. This choice treasure was a hair from the head of the Apostle
+Peter! a sacred relic of miraculous virtue and of inestimable value.
+
+When the edict with its leaden seal, and the banner and the ring arrived
+in Normandy, they produced a great and universal excitement. To have
+bestowed upon the enterprise thus emphatically the solemn sanction of
+the great spiritual head of the Church, to whom the great mass of the
+people looked up with an awe and a reverence almost divine, was to seal
+indissolubly the rightfulness of the enterprise, and to insure its
+success. There was thenceforward no difficulty in procuring men or
+means. Every body was eager to share in the glory, and to obtain the
+rewards, of an enterprise thus commended by an authority duly
+commissioned to express, in all such cases, the judgment of Heaven.
+
+Finding that the current was thus fairly setting in his favor, William
+sent proclamations into all the countries surrounding Normandy, inviting
+knights, and soldiers, and adventurers of every degree to join him
+in his projected enterprise. These proclamations awakened universal
+attention. Great numbers of adventurous men determined to enter
+William's service. Horses, arms, and accoutrements were everywhere in
+great demand. The invasion of England and the question of joining it
+were the universal topics of conversation. The roads were covered with
+knights and soldiers, some on horseback and alone, others in bands,
+large or small, all proceeding to Normandy to tender their services.
+William received them all, and made liberal promises to bestow rewards
+and honors upon them in England, in the event of his success. To some
+he offered pay in money; to others, booty; to others, office and power.
+Every one had his price. Even the priests and dignitaries of the Church
+shared the general enthusiasm. One of them furnished a ship and twenty
+armed men, under an agreement to be appointed bishop of a certain
+valuable English diocese when William should be established on his
+throne.
+
+While all these movements were going on in the interior of the country,
+all the sea-ports and towns along the coast of Normandy presented a very
+busy scene of naval preparation. Naval architects were employed in great
+numbers in building and fitting out vessels. Some were constructed and
+furnished for the transportation of men, others for conveying provisions
+and munitions of war; and lighters and boats were built for ascending
+the rivers, and for aiding in landing troops upon shelving shores.
+Smiths and armorers were occupied incessantly in manufacturing spears,
+and swords, and coats of mail; while vast numbers of laboring men and
+beasts of burden were employed in conveying arms and materials to and
+from the manufactories to the ships, and from one point of embarkation
+to another.
+
+As soon as William had put all these busy agencies thus in successful
+operation, he considered that there was one more point which it was
+necessary for him to secure before finally embarking, and that was the
+co-operation and aid of the French king, whose name at this time was
+Philip. In his character of Duke of Normandy the King of France was
+his liege lord, and he was bound to act, in some degree, under an
+acknowledgment of his superior authority. In his new capacity, that is,
+as King of England, or, rather, as heir to the English kingdom, he was,
+of course, wholly independent of Philip, and, consequently, not bound
+by any feudal obligation to look to him at all. He thought it most
+prudent, however, to attempt, at least, to conciliate Philip's favor,
+and, accordingly, leaving his officers and his workmen to go on with
+the work of organizing his army and of building and equipping the fleet,
+he set off, himself, on an expedition to the court of the French king.
+He thought it safer to undertake this delicate mission himself, rather
+than to intrust it to an embassador or deputy.
+
+He found Philip at his palace of St. Germain's, which was situated at a
+short distance from Paris. The duke assumed, in his interview with the
+king, a very respectful and deferential air and manner. Philip was a
+very young man, though haughty and vain. William was very much his
+superior, not only in age and experience, but in talents and character,
+and in personal renown. Still, he approached the monarch with all the
+respectful observance due from a vassal to his sovereign, made known his
+plans, and asked for Philip's approbation and aid. He was willing, he
+said, in case that aid was afforded him, to hold his kingdom of England,
+as he had done the duchy of Normandy, as a dependency of the French
+crown.
+
+Philip seemed not at all disposed to look upon the project with favor.
+He asked William who was going to take care of his duchy while he was
+running off after a kingdom. William replied, at first, that that was a
+subject which he did not think his neighbors need concern themselves
+about. Then thinking, on reflection, that a more respectful answer would
+be more politic, under the circumstances of the case, he added, that he
+was providentially blessed with a prudent wife and loving subjects, and
+that he thought he might safely leave his domestic affairs in their
+hands until he should return. Philip still opposed the plan. It was
+Quixotic, he said, and dangerous. He strongly advised William to abandon
+the scheme, and be content with his present possessions. Such desperate
+schemes of ambition as those he was contemplating would only involve him
+in ruin.
+
+Before absolutely deciding the case, however, Philip called a council of
+his great nobles and officers of state, and laid William's proposals
+before them. The result of their deliberations was to confirm Philip in
+his first decision. They said that the rendering to William the aid
+which he desired would involve great expense, and be attended with great
+danger; and as to William's promises to hold England as a vassal of the
+King of France, they had no faith in the performance of them. It had
+been very difficult, they said, for many years, for the kings of France
+to maintain any effectual authority over the dukes of Normandy, and when
+once master of so distant and powerful a realm as England, all control
+over them would be sundered forever.
+
+Philip then gave William his final answer in accordance with these
+counsels. The answer was received, on William's part, with strong
+feelings of disappointment and displeasure. Philip conducted the duke to
+his retinue when the hour of departure arrived, in order to soothe, as
+far as possible, his irritated feelings, by dismissing him from his
+court with marks of his honorable consideration and regard. William,
+however, was not in a mood to be pleased. He told Philip, on taking
+leave of him, that he was losing the most powerful vassal that any lord
+sovereign ever had, by the course which he had decided to pursue. "I
+would have held the whole realm of England as a part of your dominions,
+acknowledging you as sovereign over all, if you had consented to render
+me your aid, but I will not do it since you refuse. I shall feel bound
+to repay only those who assist me."
+
+William returned to Normandy, where all the preparations for the
+expedition had been going on with great vigor during his absence, and
+proceeded to make arrangements for the last great measure which it was
+necessary to take previous to his departure; that was, the regular
+constitution of a government to rule in Normandy while he should be
+gone. He determined to leave the supreme power in the hands of his wife
+Matilda, appointing, at the same time, a number of civil and military
+officers as a council of regency, who were to assist her in her
+deliberations by giving her information and advice, and to manage,
+under her direction, the different departments of the government. Her
+title was "Duchess Regent," and she was installed into her office in a
+public and solemn manner, at a great assembly of the estates of the
+realm. At the close of the ceremonies, after William had given Matilda
+his charge, he closed his address by adding, "And do not let us fail to
+enjoy the benefit of your prayers, and those of all the ladies of your
+court, that the blessing of God may attend us, and secure the success of
+our expedition."
+
+We are not necessarily to suppose, as we might at first be strongly
+inclined to do, that there was any special hypocrisy and pretense in
+William's thus professing to rely on the protection of Heaven in the
+personal and political dangers which he was about to incur. It is
+probable that he honestly believed that the inheritance of the English
+crown was his right, and, that being the case, that a vigorous and manly
+effort to enforce his right was a solemn duty. In the present age of the
+world, now that there are so many countries in which intelligence,
+industry, and love of order are so extensively diffused that the mass of
+the community are capable of organizing and administering a government
+themselves, republicans are apt to look upon hereditary sovereigns
+as despots, ruling only for the purpose of promoting their own
+aggrandizement, and the ends of an unholy and selfish ambition. That
+there have been a great many such despots no one can deny; but then, on
+the other hand, there have been many others who have acted, in a greater
+or less degree, under the influence of principles of duty in their
+political career. They have honestly believed that the vast power with
+which, in coming forward into life, they have found themselves invested,
+without, in most cases, any agency of their own, was a trust imposed
+upon them by divine Providence, which could not innocently be laid
+aside; that on them devolved the protection of the communities over
+which they ruled from external hostility, and the preservation of peace
+and order within, and the promotion of the general industry and welfare,
+as an imperious and solemn duty; and they have devoted their lives
+to the performance of this duty, with the usual mixture, it is true,
+of ambition and selfishness, but still, after all, with as much
+conscientiousness and honesty as the mass of men in the humbler walks of
+life evince in performing theirs. William of Normandy appears to have
+been one of this latter class; and in obeying the dictates of his
+ambition in seeking to gain possession of the English crown, he no doubt
+considered himself as fulfilling the obligations of duty too.
+
+However this may be, he went on with his preparations in the most
+vigorous and prosperous manner. The whole country were enthusiastic in
+the cause; and their belief that the enterprise about to be undertaken
+had unquestionably secured the favor of Heaven, was confirmed by an
+extraordinary phenomenon which occurred just before the armament was
+ready to set sail. A comet appeared in the sky, which, as close
+observers declared, had a double tail. It was universally agreed that
+this portended that England and Normandy were about to be combined, and
+to form a double kingdom, which should exhibit to all mankind a
+wonderful spectacle of splendor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CROSSING THE CHANNEL.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+The River Dive.--Final assembling of the fleet.--Map.--Brilliant and
+magnificent scene.--Equinoctial gales.--The expedition detained
+by them.--Injurious effects of the storm.--Discouragement of the
+men.--Fears and forebodings.--Some of the vessels wrecked.--Favorable
+change.--The fleet puts to sea.--Various delays.--Its effects.--Harold's
+want of information.--He withdraws his troops.--Harold's vigilance.--He
+sends spies into Normandy.--Harold's spies.--They are detected.--William
+dismisses the spies.--His confidence in his cause.--Fears of William's
+officers.--He reassures them.--Arrival of Matilda with the Mira.--A
+present to William.--The squadron puts to sea again.--Its
+appearance.--Fleetness of the Mira.--Leaves the fleet out of
+sight.--William's unconcern.--Reappearance of the fleet.--The fleet
+enters the Bay of Pevensey.--Disembarkation.--Landing of the
+troops.--Anecdote.--The encampment.--Scouts sent out.--William's
+supper.--The missing ships.--The Conqueror's Stone.--March of the
+army.--Flight of the inhabitants.--The army encamps.--The town of
+Hastings.--William's fortifications.--Approach of Harold.
+
+
+The place for the final assembling of the fleet which was to convey the
+expedition across the Channel was the mouth of a small river called the
+Dive, which will be seen upon the following map, flowing from the
+neighborhood of the castle of Falaise northward into the sea. The grand
+gathering took place in the beginning of the month of September, in the
+year 1066. This date, which marks the era of the Norman Conquest, is one
+of the dates which students of history fix indelibly in the memory.
+
+[Illustration: NORMANDY.]
+
+The gathering of the fleet in the estuary of the Dive, and the
+assembling of the troops on the beach along its shores, formed a very
+grand and imposing spectacle. The fleets of galleys, ships, boats, and
+barges covering the surface of the water--the long lines of tents under
+the cliffs on the land--the horsemen, splendidly mounted, and glittering
+with steel--the groups of soldiers, all busily engaged in transporting
+provisions and stores to and fro, or making the preliminary arrangements
+for the embarkation--the thousands of spectators who came and went
+incessantly, and the duke himself, gorgeously dressed, and mounted on
+his war-horse, with the guards and officers that attended him--these,
+and the various other elements of martial parade and display usually
+witnessed on such occasions, conspired to produce a very gay and
+brilliant, as well as magnificent scene.
+
+Of course, the assembling of so large a force of men and of vessels, and
+the various preparations for the embarkation, consumed some time, and
+when at length all was ready--which was early in September--the
+equinoctial gales came on, and it was found impossible to leave the
+port. There was, in fact, a continuance of heavy winds and seas, and
+stormy skies, for several weeks. Short intervals, from time to time,
+occurred, when the clouds would break away, and the sun appear; but
+these intervals did not liberate the fleet from its confinement, for
+they were not long enough in duration to allow the sea to go down. The
+surf continued to come rolling and thundering in upon the shore, and
+over the sand-bars at the mouth of the river, making destruction the
+almost inevitable destiny of any ship which should undertake to brave
+its fury. The state of the skies gradually robbed the scene of the gay
+and brilliant colors which first it wore. The vessels furled their
+sails, and drew in their banners, and rode at anchor, presenting their
+heads doggedly to the storm. The men on the shore sought shelter in
+their tents. The spectators retired to their homes, while the duke and
+his officers watched the scudding clouds in the sky, day after day, with
+great and increasing anxiety.
+
+In fact, William had very serious cause for apprehension in respect to
+the effect which this long-continued storm was to have on the success
+of his enterprise. The delay was a very serious consideration in itself,
+for the winter would soon be drawing near. In one month more it would
+seem to be out of the question for such a vast armament to cross the
+Channel at all. Then, when men are embarking in such dark and hazardous
+undertakings as that in which William was now engaged, their spirits and
+their energy rise and sink in great fluctuations, under the influence of
+very slight and inadequate causes; and nothing has greater influence
+over them at such times than the aspect of the skies. William found that
+the ardor and enthusiasm of his army were fast disappearing under the
+effects of chilling winds and driving rain. The feelings of discontent
+and depression which the frowning expression of the heavens awakened in
+their minds, were deepened and spread by the influence of sympathy. The
+men had nothing to do, during the long and dreary hours of the day, but
+to anticipate hardships and dangers, and to entertain one another, as
+they watched the clouds driving along the cliffs, and the rolling of the
+surges in the offing, with anticipations of shipwrecks, battles, and
+defeats, and all the other gloomy forebodings which haunt the
+imagination of a discouraged and discontented soldier.
+
+Nor were these ideas of wrecks and destruction wholly imaginary.
+Although the body of the fleet remained in the river, where it was
+sheltered from the winds, yet there were many cases of single ships that
+were from time to time exposed to them. These were detached vessels
+coming in late to the rendezvous, or small squadrons sent out to some
+neighboring port under some necessity connected with the preparations,
+or strong galleys, whose commanders, more bold than the rest, were
+willing, in cases _not_ of absolute necessity, to brave the danger. Many
+of these vessels were wrecked. The fragments of them, with the bodies of
+the drowned mariners, were driven to the shore. The ghastly spectacles
+presented by these dead bodies, swollen and mangled, and half buried in
+the sand, as if the sea had been endeavoring to hide the mischief it had
+done, shocked and terrified the spectators who saw them. William gave
+orders to have all these bodies gathered up and interred secretly, as
+fast as they were found; still, exaggerated rumors of the number and
+magnitude of these disasters were circulated in the camp, and the
+discontent and apprehensions grew every day more and more alarming.
+
+William resolved that he must put to sea at the very first possible
+opportunity. The favorable occasion was not long wanting. The wind
+changed. The storm appeared to cease. A breeze sprang up from the south,
+which headed back the surges from the French shore. William gave orders
+to embark. The tents were struck. The baggage of the soldiers was sent
+on board the transport vessels. The men themselves, crowded into great
+flat-bottomed boats, passed in masses to the ships from the shore. The
+spectators reappeared, and covered the cliffs and promontories near, to
+witness the final scene. The sails were hoisted, and the vast armament
+moved out upon the sea.
+
+The appearance of a favorable change in the weather proved fallacious
+after all, for the clouds and storm returned, and after being driven, in
+apprehension and danger, about a hundred miles to the northeast along
+the coast, the fleet was compelled to seek refuge again in a harbor. The
+port which received them was St. Valery, near Dieppe. The duke was
+greatly disappointed at being obliged thus again to take the land.
+Still, the attempt to advance had not been a labor wholly lost; for as
+the French coast here trends to the northward, they had been gradually
+narrowing the channel as they proceeded, and were, in fact, so far on
+the way toward the English shores. Then there were, besides, some
+reasons for touching here, before the final departure, to receive some
+last re-enforcements and supplies. William had also one more opportunity
+of communicating with his capital and with Matilda.
+
+These delays, disastrous as they seemed to be, and ominous of evil, were
+nevertheless attended with one good effect, of which, however, William
+at the time was not aware. They led Harold, in England, to imagine that
+the enterprise was abandoned, and so put him off his guard. There were
+in those days, as has already been remarked, no regular and public modes
+of intercommunication, by which intelligence of important movements and
+events was spread every where, as now, with promptness and certainty.
+Governments were obliged, accordingly, to rely for information, in
+respect to what their enemies were doing, on rumors, or on the reports
+of spies. Rumors had gone to England in August that William was
+meditating an invasion, and Harold had made some extensive preparations
+to meet and oppose him; but, finding that he did not come--that week
+after week of September passed away, and no signs of an enemy appeared,
+and gaining no certain information of the causes of the delay, he
+concluded that the enterprise was abandoned, or else, perhaps, postponed
+to the ensuing spring. Accordingly, as the winter was coming on, he
+deemed it best to commence his preparations for sending his troops to
+their winter quarters. He disbanded some of them, and sent others away,
+distributing them in various castles and fortified towns, where they
+would be sheltered from the rigors of the season, and saved from the
+exposure and hardships of the camp, and yet, at the same time, remain
+within reach of a summons in case of any sudden emergency which might
+call for them. They were soon summoned, though not, in the first
+instance, to meet Harold, as will presently appear.
+
+While adopting these measures, however, which he thought the comfort and
+safety of his army required, Harold did not relax his vigilance in
+watching, as well as he could, the designs and movements of his enemy.
+He kept his secret agents on the southern coast, ordering them to
+observe closely every thing that transpired, and to gather and send to
+him every item of intelligence which should find its way by any means
+across the Channel. Of course, William would do all in his power to
+intercept and cut off all communication, and he was, at this time, very
+much aided in these efforts by the prevalence of the storms, which made
+it almost impossible for the fishing and trading vessels of the coast to
+venture out to sea, or attempt to cross the Channel. The agents of
+Harold, therefore, on the southern coast of England, found that they
+could obtain but very little information.
+
+At length the king, unwilling to remain any longer so entirely in the
+dark, resolved on sending some messengers across the sea into Normandy
+itself, to learn positively what the true state of the case might be.
+Messengers going thus secretly into the enemy's territory, or into the
+enemy's camp, become, by so doing, in martial law, _spies_, and incur,
+if they are taken, the penalty of death. The undertaking, therefore, is
+extremely hazardous; and as the death which is inflicted in cases of
+detection is an ignominious one--spies being hung, not shot--most men
+are very averse to encountering the danger. Still, desperate characters
+are always to be found in camps and armies, who are ready to undertake
+it on being promised very extraordinary pay.
+
+Harold's spies contrived to make their way across the Channel, probably
+at some point far to the east of Normandy, where the passage is narrow.
+They then came along the shore, disguised as peasants of the country,
+and they arrived at St. Valery while William's fleets were there. Here
+they began to make their observations, scrutinizing every thing with
+close attention and care, and yet studiously endeavoring to conceal
+their interest in what they saw. Notwithstanding all their vigilance,
+however, they were discovered, proved to be spies, and taken before
+William to receive their sentence.
+
+Instead of condemning them to death, which they undoubtedly supposed
+would be their inevitable fate, William ordered them to be set at
+liberty. "Go back," said he, "to King Harold, and tell him he might have
+saved himself the expense of sending spies into Normandy to learn what I
+am preparing for him. He will soon know by other means--much sooner, in
+fact, than he imagines. Go and tell him from me that he may put himself,
+if he pleases, in the safest place he can find in all his dominions,
+and if he does not find my hand upon him before the year is out, he
+never need fear me again as long as he lives."
+
+Nor was this expression of confidence in the success of the measures
+which he was taking a mere empty boast. William knew the power of
+Harold, and he knew his own. The enterprise in which he had embarked was
+not a rash adventure. It was a cool, deliberate, well-considered plan.
+It appeared doubtful and dangerous in the eyes of mankind, for to mere
+superficial observers it seemed simply an aggressive war waged by a duke
+of Normandy, the ruler of a comparatively small and insignificant
+province, against a king of England, the monarch of one of the greatest
+and most powerful realms in the world. William, on the other hand,
+regarded it as an effort on the part of the rightful heir to a throne to
+dispossess a usurper. He felt confident of having the sympathy and
+co-operation of a great part of the community, even in England, the
+moment he could show them that he was able to maintain his rights; and
+that he could show them that, by a very decisive demonstration, was
+evident, visibly, before him, in the vast fleet which was riding at
+anchor in the harbor, and in the long lines of tents, filled with
+soldiery, which covered the land.
+
+On one occasion, when some of his officers were expressing apprehensions
+of Harold's power, and their fears in respect to their being able
+successfully to cope with it, William replied, that the more formidable
+Harold's power should prove to be, the better he should be pleased, as
+the glory would be all the greater for them in having overcome it. "I
+have no objection," said he, "that you should entertain exalted ideas of
+his strength, though I wonder a little that you do not better appreciate
+our own. I need be under no concern lest he, at such a distance, should
+learn too much, by his spies, about the force which I am bringing
+against him, when you, who are so near me, seem to know so little about
+it. But do not give yourselves any concern. Trust to the justice of your
+cause and to my foresight. Perform your parts like men, and you will
+find that the result which I feel sure of, and you hope for, will
+certainly be attained."
+
+The storm at length entirely cleared away, and the army and the fleet
+commenced their preparations for the final departure. In the midst of
+this closing scene, the attention of all the vast crowds assembled on
+board the ships and on the shores was one morning attracted by a
+beautiful ship which came sailing into the harbor. It proved to be a
+large and splendid vessel which the Duchess Matilda had built, at her
+own expense, and was now bringing in, to offer to her husband as
+her parting gift. She was herself on board, with her officers and
+attendants, having come to witness her husband's departure, and to bid
+him farewell. Her arrival, of course, under such circumstances, produced
+universal excitement and enthusiasm. The ships in harbor and the shores
+resounded with acclamations as the new arrival came gallantly in.
+
+Matilda's vessel was finely built and splendidly decorated. The sails
+were of different colors, which gave it a very gay appearance. Upon them
+were painted, in various places, the three lions, which was the device
+of the Norman ensign. At the bows of the ship was an effigy, or
+figure-head, representing William and Matilda's second son shooting with
+a bow. This was the accomplishment which, of all others, his father took
+most interest in seeing his little son acquire. The arrow was drawn
+nearly to its head, indicating great strength in the little arms which
+were guiding it, and it was just ready to fly. The name of this vessel
+was the Mira. William made it his flag ship. He hoisted upon its mast
+head the consecrated banner which had been sent to him from Rome, and
+went on board accompanied by his officers and guards, and with great
+ceremony and parade.
+
+At length the squadron was ready to put to sea. At a given signal the
+sails were hoisted, and the whole fleet began to move slowly out of the
+harbor. There were four hundred ships of large size, if we may believe
+the chronicles of the times, and more than a thousand transports. The
+decks of all these vessels were covered with men; banners were streaming
+from every mast and spar; and every salient point of the shore was
+crowded with spectators. The sea was calm, the air serene, and the
+mighty cloud of canvas which whitened the surface of the water moved
+slowly on over the gentle swell of the waves, forming a spectacle which,
+as a picture merely for the eye, was magnificent and grand, and, when
+regarded in connection with the vast results to the human race which
+were to flow from the success of the enterprise, must have been
+considered sublime.
+
+The splendidly decorated ship which Matilda had presented to her husband
+proved itself, on trial, to be something more than a mere toy. It led
+the van at the commencement, of course; and as all eyes watched its
+progress, it soon became evident that it was slowly gaining upon the
+rest of the squadron, so as continually to increase its distance from
+those that were following it. William, pleased with the success of its
+performance, ordered the sailing master to keep on, without regard to
+those who were behind; and thus it happened that, when night came on,
+the fleet was at very considerable distance in rear of the flag ship. Of
+course, under these circumstances, the fleet disappeared from sight when
+the sun went down, but all expected that it would come into view again
+in the morning. When the morning came, however, to the surprise and
+disappointment of every one on board the flag ship, no signs of the
+fleet were to be seen. The seamen, and the officers on the deck, gazed
+long and intently into the southern horizon as the increasing light of
+the morning brought it gradually into view, but there was not a speck to
+break its smooth and even line.
+
+They felt anxious and uneasy, but William seemed to experience no
+concern. He ordered the sails to be furled, and then sent a man to the
+mast head to look out there. Nothing was to be seen. William, still
+apparently unconcerned, ordered breakfast to be prepared in a very
+sumptuous manner, loading the tables with wine and other delicacies,
+that the minds of all on board might be cheered by the exhilarating
+influence of a feast. At length the lookout was sent to the mast head
+again. "What do you see now?" said William. "I see," said the man,
+gazing very intently all the while toward the south, "four _very small
+specks_ just in the horizon." The intense interest which this
+announcement awakened on the deck was soon at the same time _heightened_
+and _relieved_ by the cry, "I can see more and more--they are the
+ships--yes, the whole squadron is coming into view."
+
+The advancing fleet soon came up with the Mira, when the latter spread
+her sails again, and all moved slowly on together toward the coast of
+England.
+
+The ships had directed their course so much to the eastward, that when
+they made the land they were not very far from the Straits of Dover. As
+they drew near to the English shore, they watched very narrowly for the
+appearance of Harold's cruisers, which they naturally expected would
+have been stationed at various points, to guard the coast; but none were
+to be seen. There had been such cruisers, and there still were such off
+the other harbors; but it happened, very fortunately for William, that
+those which had been stationed to guard this part of the island had been
+withdrawn a few days before, on account of their provisions being
+exhausted. Thus, when William's fleet arrived, there was no enemy to
+oppose their landing. There was a large and open bay, called the Bay of
+Pevensey, which lay smiling before them, extending its arms as if
+inviting them in. The fleet advanced to within the proper distance from
+the land, and there the seamen cast their anchors, and all began to
+prepare for the work of disembarkation.
+
+A strong body of soldiery is of course landed first on such occasions.
+In this instance the archers, William's favorite corps, were selected to
+take the lead. William accompanied them. In his eagerness to get to the
+shore, as he leaped from the boat, his foot slipped, and he fell. The
+officers and men around him would have considered this an evil omen; but
+he had presence of mind enough to extend his arms and grasp the ground,
+pretending that his prostration was designed, and saying at the same
+time, "Thus I seize this land; from this moment it is mine." As he
+arose, one of his officers ran to a neighboring hut which stood near by
+upon the shore, and breaking off a little of the thatch, carried it to
+William, and, putting it into his hand, said that he thus gave him
+_seizin_ of his new possessions. This was a customary form, in those
+times, of putting a new owner into possession of lands which he had
+purchased or acquired in any other way. The new proprietor would repair
+to the ground, where the party whose province it was to deliver the
+property would detach something from it, such as a piece of turf from a
+bank, or a little of the thatch from a cottage, and offering it to him,
+would say, "Thus I deliver thee _seizin_," that is, _possession_, "of
+this land." This ceremony was necessary to complete the conveyance of
+the estate.
+
+The soldiers, as soon as they were landed, began immediately to form an
+encampment, and to make such military arrangements as were necessary to
+guard against an attack, or the sudden appearance of an enemy. While
+this was going on, the boats continued to pass to and fro,
+accomplishing, as fast as possible, the work of disembarkation. In
+addition to those regularly attached to the army, there was a vast
+company of workmen of all kinds, engineers, pioneers, carpenters,
+masons, and laborers, to be landed; and there were three towers, or
+rather forts, built of timber, which had been framed and fashioned in
+Normandy, ready to be put up on arriving: these had now to be landed,
+piece by piece, on the strand. These forts were to be erected as soon as
+the army should have chosen a position for a permanent encampment, and
+were intended as a means of protection for the provisions and stores.
+The circumstance shows that the plan of transporting buildings ready
+made, across the seas, has not been invented anew by our emigrants to
+California.
+
+While these operations were going on, William dispatched small squadrons
+of horse as reconnoitering parties, to explore the country around, to
+see if there were any indications that Harold was near. These parties
+returned, one after another, after having gone some miles into the
+country in all directions, and reported that there were no signs of an
+enemy to be seen. Things were now getting settled, too, in the camp,
+and William gave directions that the army should kindle their camp fires
+for the night, and prepare and eat their suppers. His own supper, or
+dinner, as perhaps it might be called, was also served, which he
+partook, with his officers, in his own tent. His mind was in a state of
+great contentment and satisfaction at the successful accomplishment of
+the landing, and at finding himself thus safely established, at the head
+of a vast force, within the realm of England.
+
+Every circumstance of the transit had been favorable excepting one, and
+that was, that two of the ships belonging to the fleet were missing.
+William inquired at supper if any tidings of them had been received.
+They told him, in reply, that the missing vessels had been heard from;
+they had, in some way or other, been run upon the rocks and lost. There
+was a certain astrologer, who had made a great parade, before the
+expedition left Normandy, of predicting its result. He had found, by
+consulting the stars, that William would be successful, and would meet
+with no opposition from Harold. This astrologer had been on board one of
+the missing ships, and was drowned. William remarked, on receiving this
+information, "What an idiot a man must be, to think that he can predict,
+by means of the stars, the future fate of others, when it is so plain
+that he can not foresee his own!"
+
+It is said that William's dinner on this occasion was served on a large
+stone instead of a table. The stone still remains on the spot, and is
+called "the Conqueror's Stone" to this day.
+
+The next day after the landing, the army was put in motion, and advanced
+along the coast toward the eastward. There was no armed enemy to contend
+against them there or to oppose their march; the people of the country,
+through which the army moved, far from attempting to resist them, were
+filled with terror and dismay. This terror was heightened, in fact, by
+some excesses of which some parties of the soldiers were guilty. The
+inhabitants of the hamlets and villages, overwhelmed with consternation
+at the sudden descent upon their shores of such a vast horde of wild and
+desperate foreigners, fled in all directions. Some made their escape
+into the interior; others, taking with them the helpless members of
+their households, and such valuables as they could carry, sought refuge
+in monasteries and churches, supposing that such sanctuaries as those,
+not even soldiers, unless they were pagans, would dare to violate.
+Others, still, attempted to conceal themselves in thickets and fens till
+the vast throng which was sweeping onward like a tornado should have
+passed. Though William afterward always evinced a decided disposition to
+protect the peaceful inhabitants of the country from all aggressions on
+the part of his troops, he had no time to attend to that subject now. He
+was intent on pressing forward to a place of safety.
+
+William reached at length a position which seemed to him suitable for a
+permanent encampment. It was an elevated land, near the sea. To the
+westward of it was a valley formed by a sort of recess opened in the
+range of chalky cliffs which here form the shore of England. In the
+bottom of this valley, down upon the beach, was a small town, then of no
+great consequence or power, but whose name, which was Hastings, has
+since been immortalized by the battle which was fought in its vicinity a
+few days after William's arrival. The position which William selected
+for his encampment was on high land in the vicinity of the town. The
+lines of the encampment were marked out, and the forts or castles which
+had been brought from Normandy were set up within the inclosures. Vast
+multitudes of laborers were soon at work, throwing up embankments, and
+building redoubts and bastions, while others were transporting the arms,
+the provisions, and the munitions of war, and storing them in security
+within the lines. The encampment was soon completed, and the long line
+of tents were set up in streets and squares within it. By the time,
+however, that the work was done, some of William's agents and spies came
+into camp from the north, saying that in four days Harold would be upon
+him at the head of a hundred thousand men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS.
+
+A.D. 1066
+
+Tostig.--He is driven from England.--Expedition of Tostig.--He sails
+to Norway.--Tostig's alliance with the Norwegians.--The Norwegian
+fleet.--Superstitions.--Dreams of the soldiers.--The combined
+fleets.--Attack on Scarborough.--The rolling fire.--Burning of
+Scarborough.--Tostig marches to York.--Surrender of the city.--Arrival
+of King Harold.--Movements of Tostig.--Surprise of Tostig and his
+allies.--Preparations for battle.--Negotiations between Tostig and his
+brother.--The battle.--Death of Tostig.--The Norwegians retire.--Harold
+attempts to surprise William.--His failure.--Advice of Harold's
+counselors.--He rejects it.--Harold's encampment.--The country
+alarmed.--Harold's brothers.--He proposes to visit William's
+camp.--Harold's arrival at William's lines.--He reconnoiters the
+camp.--Harold's despondency.--His spies.--Their report.--William's
+embassadors.--Their propositions.--William's propositions
+unreasonable.--Harold declines them.--Further proposals of
+William.--Counter proposal of Harold.--Harold's forebodings.--Proposals
+of his brothers.--Night before the battle.--Scenes in Harold's
+camp.--Scenes in William's camp.--Religious ceremonies.--A martial
+bishop.--William's war-horse.--Preliminary arrangements.--Battle of
+Hastings.--Defeat of Harold.--He is slain.--Final subjugation of the
+island.--William crowned at Westminster.--William's power.--His
+greatness.
+
+
+The reader will doubtless recollect that the tidings which William first
+received of the accession of King Harold were brought to him by Tostig,
+Harold's brother, on the day when he was trying his bow and arrows in
+the park at Rouen. Tostig was his brother's most inveterate foe. He had
+been, during the reign of Edward, a great chieftain, ruling over the
+north of England. The city of York was then his capital. He had been
+expelled from these his dominions, and had quarreled with his brother
+Harold in respect to his right to be restored to them. In the course of
+this quarrel he was driven from the country altogether, and went to the
+Continent, burning with rage and resentment against his brother; and
+when he came to inform William of Harold's usurpation, his object was
+not merely to arouse _William_ to action--he wished to act himself. He
+told William that he himself had more influence in England still than
+his brother, and that if William would supply him with a small fleet
+and a moderate number of men, he would make a descent upon the coast and
+show what he could do.
+
+William acceded to his proposal, and furnished him with the force which
+he required, and Tostig set sail. William had not, apparently, much
+confidence in the power of Tostig to produce any great effect, but his
+efforts, he thought, might cause some alarm in England, and occasion
+sudden and fatiguing marches to the troops, and thus distract and weaken
+King Harold's forces. William would not, therefore, accompany Tostig
+himself, but, dismissing him with such force as he could readily raise
+on so sudden a call, he remained himself in Normandy, and commenced in
+earnest his own grand preparations, as is described in the last chapter.
+
+Tostig did not think it prudent to attempt a landing on English shores
+until he had obtained some accession to the force which William had
+given him. He accordingly passed through the Straits of Dover, and then
+turning northward, he sailed along the eastern shores of the German
+Ocean in search of allies. He came, at length, to Norway. He entered
+into negotiations there with the Norwegian king, whose name, too, was
+Harold. This northern Harold was a wild and adventurous soldier and
+sailor, a sort of sea king, who had spent a considerable portion of his
+life in marauding excursions upon the seas. He readily entered into
+Tostig's views. An arrangement was soon concluded, and Tostig set sail
+again to cross the German Ocean toward the British shores, while Harold
+promised to collect and equip his own fleet as soon as possible, and
+follow him. All this took place early in September; so that, at the same
+time that William's threatened invasion was gathering strength and
+menacing Harold's southern frontier, a cloud equally dark and gloomy,
+and quite as threatening in its aspect, was rising and swelling in the
+north; while King Harold himself, though full of vague uneasiness and
+alarm, could gain no certain information in respect to either of these
+dangers.
+
+The Norwegian fleet assembled at the port appointed for the rendezvous
+of it, but, as the season was advanced and the weather stormy, the
+soldiers there, like William's soldiers on the coast of France, were
+afraid to put to sea. Some of them had dreams which they considered as
+bad omens; and so much superstitious importance was attached to such
+ideas in those times that these dreams were gravely recorded by the
+writers of the ancient chronicles, and have come down to us as part of
+the regular and sober history of the times. One soldier dreamed that the
+expedition had sailed and landed on the English coast, and that there
+the English army came out to meet them. Before the front of the army
+rode a woman of gigantic stature, mounted on a wolf. The wolf had in his
+jaws a human body, dripping with blood, which he was engaged in
+devouring as he came along. The woman gave the wolf another victim after
+he had devoured the first.
+
+Another of these ominous dreams was the following: Just as the fleet was
+about setting sail, the dreamer saw a crowd of ravenous vultures and
+birds of prey come and alight every where upon the sails and rigging of
+the ships, as if they were going to accompany the expedition. Upon the
+summit of a rock near the shore there sat the figure of a female, with a
+stern and ferocious countenance, and a drawn sword in her hand. She was
+busy counting the ships, pointing at them, as she counted, with her
+sword. She seemed a sort of fiend of destruction, and she called out to
+the birds, to encourage them to go. "Go!" said she, "without fear; you
+shall have abundance of prey. I am going too."
+
+It is obvious that these dreams might as easily have been interpreted to
+portend death and destruction to their English foes as to the dreamers
+themselves. The soldiers were, however, inclined--in the state of mind
+which the season of the year, the threatening aspect of the skies, and
+the certain dangers of their distant expedition, produced--to apply the
+gloomy predictions which they imagined these dreams expressed, to
+themselves. Their chief, however, was of too desperate and determined a
+character to pay any regard to such influences. He set sail. His
+armament crossed the German Sea in safety, and joined Tostig on the
+coast of Scotland. The combined fleet moved slowly southward, along the
+shore, watching for an opportunity to land.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORWEGIANS AT SCARBOROUGH.]
+
+They reached, at length, the town of Scarborough, and landed to attack
+it. The inhabitants retired within the walls, shut the gates, and bid
+the invaders defiance. The town was situated under a hill, which rose in
+a steep acclivity upon one side. The story is, that the Norwegians went
+upon this hill, where they piled up an enormous heap of trunks and
+branches of trees, with the interstices filled with stubble, dried
+bark, and roots, and other such combustibles, and then setting the whole
+mass on fire, they rolled it down into the town--a vast ball of fire,
+roaring and crackling more and more, by the fanning of its flames in the
+wind, as it bounded along. The intelligent reader will, of course, pause
+and hesitate, in considering how far to credit such a story. It is
+obviously impossible that any mere _pile_, however closely packed, could
+be made to roll. But it is, perhaps, not absolutely impossible that
+trunks of trees might be framed together, or fastened with wet thongs or
+iron chains, after being made in the form of a rude cylinder or ball,
+and filled with combustibles within, so as to retain its integrity in
+such a descent.
+
+The account states that this strange method of bombardment was
+successful. The town was set on fire; the people surrendered. Tostig and
+the Norwegians plundered it, and then, embarking again in their ships,
+they continued their voyage.
+
+The intelligence of this descent upon his northern coasts reached Harold
+in London toward the close of September, just as he was withdrawing his
+forces from the southern frontier, as was related in the last chapter,
+under the idea that the Norman invasion would probably be postponed
+until the spring; so that, instead of sending his troops into their
+winter quarters, he had to concentrate them again with all dispatch, and
+march at the head of them to the north, to avert this new and unexpected
+danger.
+
+While King Harold was thus advancing to meet them, Tostig and his
+Norwegian allies entered the River Humber. Their object was to reach the
+city of York, which had been Tostig's former capital, and which was
+situated near the River Ouse, a branch of the Humber. They accordingly
+ascended the Humber to the mouth of the Ouse, and thence up the latter
+river to a suitable point of debarkation not far from York. Here they
+landed and formed a great encampment. From this encampment they advanced
+to the siege of the city. The inhabitants made some resistance at first;
+but, finding that their cause was hopeless, they offered to surrender,
+and a treaty of surrender was finally concluded. This negotiation was
+closed toward the evening of the day, and Tostig and his confederate
+forces were to be admitted on the morrow. They therefore, feeling that
+their prize was secure, withdrew to their encampment for the night, and
+left the city to its repose.
+
+It so happened that King Harold arrived that very night, coming to the
+rescue of the city. He expected to have found an army of besiegers
+around the walls, but, instead of that, there was nothing to intercept
+his progress up to the very gates of the city. The inhabitants opened
+the gates to receive him, and the whole detachment which was marching
+under his command passed in, while Tostig and his Norwegian allies were
+sleeping quietly in their camp, wholly unconscious of the great change
+which had thus taken place in the situation of their affairs.
+
+The next morning Tostig drew out a large portion of the army, and formed
+them in array, for the purpose of advancing to take possession of the
+city. Although it was September, and the weather had been cold and
+stormy, it happened that, on that morning, the sun came out bright, and
+the air was calm, giving promise of a warm day; and as the movement into
+the city was to be a peaceful one--a procession, as it were, and not a
+hostile march--the men were ordered to leave their coats of mail and all
+their heavy armor in camp, that they might march the more unencumbered.
+While they were advancing in this unconcerned and almost defenseless
+condition, they saw before them, on the road leading to the city, a
+great cloud of dust arising. It was a strong body of King Harold's
+troops coming out to attack them. At first, Tostig and the Norwegians
+were completely lost and bewildered at the appearance of so unexpected a
+spectacle. Very soon they could see weapons glittering here and there,
+and banners flying. A cry of "The enemy! the enemy!" arose, and passed
+along their ranks, producing universal alarm. Tostig and the Norwegian
+Harold halted their men, and marshaled them hastily in battle array. The
+English Harold did the same, when he had drawn up near to the front of
+the enemy; both parties then paused, and stood surveying one another.
+Presently there was seen advancing from the English side a squadron of
+twenty horsemen, splendidly armed, and bearing a flag of truce. They
+approached to within a short distance of the Norwegian lines, when a
+herald, who was among them, called out aloud for Tostig. Tostig came
+forward in answer to the summons. The herald then proclaimed to Tostig
+that his brother did not wish to contend with him, but desired, on the
+contrary, that they should live together in harmony. He offered him
+peace, therefore, if he would lay down his arms, and he promised to
+restore him his former possessions and honors.
+
+Tostig seemed very much inclined to receive this proposition favorably.
+He paused and hesitated. At length he asked the messenger what terms
+King Harold would make with his friend and ally, the Norwegian Harold.
+"He shall have," replied the messenger, "seven feet of English ground
+for a grave. He shall have a little more than that, for he is taller
+than common men." "Then," replied Tostig, "tell my brother to prepare
+for battle. It shall never be said that I abandoned and betrayed my ally
+and friend."
+
+The troop returned with Tostig's answer to Harold's lines, and the
+battle almost immediately began. Of course the most eager and inveterate
+hostility of the English army would be directed against the Norwegians
+and their king, whom they considered as foreign intruders, without any
+excuse or pretext for their aggression. It accordingly happened that,
+very soon after the commencement of the conflict, Harold the Norwegian
+fell, mortally wounded by an arrow in his throat. The English king then
+made new proposals to Tostig to cease the combat, and come to some
+terms of accommodation. But, in the mean time, Tostig had become himself
+incensed, and would listen to no overtures of peace. He continued the
+combat until he was himself killed. The remaining combatants in his army
+had now no longer any motive for resistance. Harold offered them a free
+passage to their ships, that they might return home in peace, if they
+would lay down their arms. They accepted the offer, retired on board
+their ships, and set sail. Harold then, having, in the mean time, heard
+of William's landing on the southern coast, set out on his return to the
+southward, to meet the more formidable enemy that menaced him there.
+
+His army, though victorious, was weakened by the fatigues of the march,
+and by the losses suffered in the battle. Harold himself had been
+wounded, though not so severely as to prevent his continuing to exercise
+the command. He pressed on toward the south with great energy, sending
+messages on every side, into the surrounding country, on his line of
+march, calling upon the chieftains to arm themselves and their
+followers, and to come on with all possible dispatch, and join him. He
+hoped to advance so rapidly to the southern coast as to surprise
+William before he should have fully intrenched himself in his camp, and
+without his being aware of his enemy's approach. But William, in order
+to guard effectually against surprise, had sent out small reconnoitering
+parties of horsemen on all the roads leading northward, that they might
+bring him in intelligence of the first approach of the enemy. Harold's
+advanced guard met these parties, and saw them as they drove rapidly
+back to the camp to give the alarm. Thus the hope of surprising William
+was disappointed. Harold found, too, by his spies, as he drew near, to
+his utter dismay, that William's forces were four times as numerous as
+his own. It would, of course, be madness for him to think of attacking
+an enemy in his intrenchments with such an inferior force. The only
+alternative left him was either to retreat, or else to take some strong
+position and fortify himself there, in the hope of being able to resist
+the invaders and arrest their advance, though he was not strong enough
+to attack them.
+
+Some of his counselors advised him not to hazard a battle at all, but
+to fall back toward London, carrying with him or destroying every thing
+which could afford sustenance to William's army from the whole breadth
+of the land. This would soon, they said, reduce William's army to great
+distress for want of food, since it would be impossible for him to
+transport supplies across the Channel for so vast a multitude. Besides,
+they said, this plan would compel William, in the extremity to which
+he would be reduced, to make so many predatory excursions among the more
+distant villages and towns, as would exasperate the inhabitants,
+and induce them to join Harold's army in great numbers to repel
+the invasion. Harold listened to these counsels, but said, after
+consideration, that he could never adopt such a plan. He could not be
+so derelict to his duty as to lay waste a country which he was under
+obligations to protect and save, or compel his people to come to his aid
+by exposing them, designedly, to the excesses and cruelties of so
+ferocious an enemy.
+
+Harold determined, therefore, on giving William battle. It was not
+necessary, however, for him to attack the invader. He perceived at once
+that if he should take a strong position and fortify himself in it,
+William must necessarily attack _him_, since a foreign army, just landed
+in the country, could not long remain inactive on the shore. Harold
+accordingly chose a position six or seven miles from William's camp,
+and fortified himself strongly there. Of course neither army was in
+sight of the other, or knew the numbers, disposition, or plans of the
+enemy. The country between them was, so far as the inhabitants were
+concerned, a scene of consternation and terror. No one knew at what
+point the two vast clouds of danger and destruction which were hovering
+near them would meet, or over what regions the terrible storm which was
+to burst forth when the hour of that meeting should come, would sweep in
+its destructive fury. The inhabitants, therefore, were every where
+flying in dismay, conveying away the aged and the helpless by any means
+which came most readily to hand; taking with them, too, such treasures
+as they could carry, and hiding, in rude and uncertain places of
+concealment, those which they were compelled to leave behind. The
+region, thus, which lay between the two encampments was rapidly becoming
+a solitude and a desolation, across which no communication was made, and
+no tidings passed to give the armies at the encampments intelligence of
+each other.
+
+Harold had two brothers among the officers of his army, Gurth and
+Leofwin. Their conduct toward the king seems to have been of a more
+fraternal character than that of Tostig, who had acted the part of a
+rebel and an enemy. Gurth and Leofwin, on the contrary, adhered to his
+cause, and, as the hour of danger and the great crisis which was to
+decide their fate drew nigh, they kept close to his side, and evinced a
+truly fraternal solicitude for his safety. It was they, specially, who
+had recommended to Harold to fall back on London, and not risk his life,
+and the fate of his kingdom, on the uncertain event of a battle.
+
+As soon as Harold had completed his encampment, he expressed a desire
+to Gurth to ride across the intermediate country and take a view of
+William's lines. Such an undertaking was less dangerous then than it
+would be at the present day; for now, such a reconnoitering party would
+be discovered from the enemy's encampment, at a great distance, by means
+of spy-glasses, and a twenty-four-pound shot or a shell would be sent
+from a battery to blow the party to pieces or drive them away. The only
+danger _then_ was of being pursued by a detachment of horsemen from the
+camp, or surrounded by an ambuscade. To guard against these dangers,
+Harold and Gurth took the most powerful and fleetest horses in the
+camp, and they called out a small but strong guard of well-selected men
+to escort them. Thus provided and attended, they rode over to the
+enemy's lines, and advanced so near that, from a small eminence to which
+they ascended, they could survey the whole scene of William's
+encampment: the palisades and embankments with which it was guarded,
+which extended for miles; the long lines of tents within; the vast
+multitude of soldiers; the knights and officers riding to and fro,
+glittering with steel; and the grand pavilion of the duke himself, with
+the consecrated banner of the cross floating above it. Harold was very
+much impressed with the grandeur of the spectacle.
+
+After gazing on this scene for some time in silence, Harold said to
+Gurth that perhaps, after all, the policy of falling back would have
+been the wisest for them to adopt, rather than to risk a battle with so
+overwhelming a force as they saw before them. He did not know, he added,
+but that it would be best for them to change their plan, and adopt that
+policy now. Gurth said that it was too late. They had taken their stand,
+and now for them to break up their encampment and retire would be
+considered a retreat and not a maneuver, and it would discourage and
+dishearten the whole realm.
+
+After surveying thus, as long as they desired to do so, the situation
+and extent of William's encampment, Harold's party returned to their own
+lines, still determined to make a stand there against the invaders, but
+feeling great doubt and despondency in respect to the result. Harold
+sent over, too, in the course of the day, some spies. The men whom he
+employed for this purpose were Normans by birth, and they could speak
+the French language. There were many Normans in England, who had come
+over in King Edward's time. These Norman spies could, of course,
+disguise themselves, and mingle, without attracting attention, among the
+thousands of workmen and camp followers that were going and coming
+continually around the grounds which William's army occupied. They did
+this so effectually, that they penetrated within the encampment without
+difficulty, examined every thing, and, in due time, returned to Harold
+with their report. They gave a formidable account of the numbers and
+condition of William's troops. There was a large corps of bowmen in the
+army, which had adopted a fashion of being shaven and shorn in such a
+manner that the spies mistook them for priests. They told Harold,
+accordingly, on their return, that there were more _priests_ in
+William's camp than there were soldiers in all his army.
+
+During this eventful day, William too sent a body of horsemen across the
+country which separated the two encampments, though his emissaries were
+not spies, but embassadors, with propositions for peace. William had no
+wish to fight a battle, if what he considered as rightfully his kingdom
+could be delivered to him without it; and he determined to make one
+final effort to obtain a peaceable surrender of it, before coming to the
+dreadful resort of an appeal to arms. He accordingly sent his embassy
+with _three_ propositions to make to the English king. The principal
+messenger in this company was a monk, whose name was Maigrot. He rode,
+with a proper escort and a flag of truce, to Harold's lines. The
+propositions were these, by accepting either of which the monk said that
+Harold might avoid a battle. 1. That Harold should surrender the kingdom
+to William, as he had solemnly sworn to do over the sacred relics in
+Normandy. 2. That they should both agree to refer the whole subject of
+controversy between them to the pope, and abide by his decision. 3.
+That they should settle the dispute by single combat, the two claimants
+to the crown to fight a duel on the plain, in presence of their
+respective armies.
+
+It is obvious that Harold could not accept either of these propositions.
+The first was to give up the whole point at issue. As for the second,
+the pope had already prejudged the case, and if it were to be referred
+to him, there could be no doubt that he would simply reaffirm his former
+decision. And in respect to single combat, the disadvantage on Harold's
+part would be as great in such a contest as it would be in the proposed
+arbitration. He was himself a man of comparatively slender form and of
+little bodily strength. William, on the other hand, was distinguished
+for his size, and for his extraordinary muscular energy. In a modern
+combat with fire-arms these personal advantages would be of no avail,
+but in those days, when the weapons were battle-axes, lances, and
+swords, they were almost decisive of the result. Harold therefore
+declined all William's propositions, and the monk returned.
+
+William seems not to have been wholly discouraged by this failure of his
+first attempt at negotiation, for he sent his embassage a second time
+to make one more proposal. It was, that if Harold would consent to
+acknowledge William as King of England, William would assign the whole
+territory to him and to his brother Gurth, to hold _as provinces_, under
+William's general sway. Under this arrangement William would himself
+return to Normandy, making the city of Rouen, which was his capital
+there, the capital of the whole united realm. To this proposal Harold
+replied, that he could not, on any terms, give up his rights as
+sovereign of England. He therefore declined this proposal also. He,
+however, now made a proposition in his turn. He was willing, he said, to
+compromise the dispute, so far as it could be done by _the payment of
+money_. If William would abandon his invasion and return to Normandy,
+giving up his claims to the English crown, he would pay him, he said,
+any sum of money that he would name.
+
+William could not accept this proposal. He was, as he believed, the true
+and rightful heir to the throne of England, and there was a point of
+honor involved, as well as a dictate of ambition to be obeyed, in
+insisting on the claim. In the mean time, the day had passed, while
+these fruitless negotiations had been pending. Night was coming on.
+William's officers and counselors began to be uneasy at the delay. They
+said that every hour new re-enforcements were coming into Harold's camp,
+while they themselves were gaining no advantage, and, consequently, the
+longer the battle was delayed, the less was the certainty of victory. So
+William promised them that he would attack King Harold in his camp the
+very next morning.
+
+As the time for the great final struggle drew near, Harold's mind was
+oppressed more and more with a sense of anxiety and with foreboding
+fears. His brothers, too, were ill at ease. Their solicitude was
+increased by the recollection of Harold's oath, and of the awful
+sanctions with which they feared the sacred relics might have invested
+it. They were not sure that their brother's excuse for setting it aside
+would save him from the guilt and curse of perjury in the sight of
+Heaven. So they proposed, on the eve of the battle, that Harold himself
+should retire, and leave them to conduct the defense. "We can not deny,"
+they said, "that you did take the oath; and, notwithstanding the
+circumstances which seem to absolve you from the obligation, it is best
+to avoid, if possible, the open violation of it. It will be better, on
+the whole, for you to leave the army and go to London. You can aid very
+effectually in the defense of the kingdom by raising re-enforcements
+there. We will stay and encounter the actual battle. Heaven can not be
+displeased with us for so doing, for we shall be only discharging the
+duty incumbent on all, of defending their native land from foreign
+invasion."
+
+Harold would not consent to adopt this plan. He could not retire
+himself, he said, at the hour of approaching danger, and leave his
+brothers and his friends exposed, when it was _his_ crown for which
+they were contending.
+
+Such were the circumstances of the two armies on the evening before the
+battle; and, of course, in such a state of things, the tendency of the
+minds of men would be, in Harold's camp, to gloom and despondency, and
+in William's, to confidence and exultation. Harold undertook, as men in
+his circumstances often do, to lighten the load which weighed upon his
+own heart and oppressed the spirits of his men, by feasting and wine. He
+ordered a plentiful supper to be served, and supplied his soldiers with
+abundance of drink; and it is said that his whole camp exhibited, during
+the whole night, one wide-spread scene of carousing and revelry, the
+troops being gathered every where in groups around their camp fires,
+some half stupefied, others quarreling, and others still singing
+national songs, and dancing with wild excitement, according to the
+various effects produced upon different constitutions by the
+intoxicating influence of beer and wine.
+
+In William's camp there were witnessed very different scenes. There were
+a great many monks and ecclesiastics in the train of his army, and, on
+the night before the battle, they spent the time in saying masses,
+reading litanies and prayers, chanting anthems, and in other similar
+acts of worship, assisted by the soldiers, who gathered, in great
+congregations, for this wild worship, in the open spaces among the tents
+and around the camp fires. At length they all retired to rest, feeling
+an additional sense of safety in respect to the work of the morrow by
+having, as they supposed, entitled themselves, by their piety, to the
+protection of Heaven.
+
+In the morning, too, in William's camp, the first thing done was to
+convene the army for a grand celebration of mass. It is a curious
+illustration of the mingling of the religious, or, perhaps, we ought
+rather to say, the superstitious sentiment of the times, with the
+spirit of war, that the bishop who officiated in this solemn service of
+the mass wore a coat of mail under his pontifical attire, and an
+attendant stood by his side, while he was offering his prayers, with a
+steel-pointed spear in his hand, ready for the martial prelate to assume
+as soon as the service should be ended. Accordingly, when the religious
+duty was performed, the bishop threw off his surplice, took his spear,
+and mounting his white charger, which was also all saddled and bridled
+beside him, he headed a brigade of horse, and rode on to the assault of
+the enemy.
+
+William himself mounted a very magnificent war-horse from Spain, a
+present which he had formerly received from one of his wealthy barons.
+The name of the horse was Bayard. From William's neck were suspended
+some of the most sacred of the relics over which Harold had taken his
+false oath. He imagined that there would be some sort of charm in them,
+to protect his life, and to make the judgment of Heaven more sure
+against the perjurer. The standard which the pope had blessed was borne
+by his side by a young standard bearer, who was very proud of the honor.
+An older soldier, however, on whom the care of this standard officially
+devolved, had asked to be excused from carrying it. He wished, he said,
+to do his work that day with the _sword_. While making these preliminary
+arrangements for going into battle, William, with the party around him,
+stood upon a gentle eminence in the middle of the camp, and in sight of
+the whole army. Every one was struck with admiration at the splendid
+figure which their commander made--his large and well-formed limbs
+covered with steel, and his horse, whose form was as noble as that of
+his master, prancing restlessly, as if impatient for the battle to
+begin.
+
+When all were ready, the Norman army advanced gayly and joyously to
+attack the English lines; but the gayety and joyousness of the scene
+soon disappeared, as corps after corps got fairly engaged in the awful
+work of the day. For ten long hours there reigned over the whole field
+one wide-spread scene of havoc and death--every soul among all those
+countless thousands delivered up to the supreme dominion of the most
+dreadful passions, excited to a perfect phrensy of hatred, rage, and
+revenge, and all either mercilessly killing others, or dying themselves
+in agony and despair. When night came, the Normans were every where
+victorious. They were in full possession of the field, and they rode
+triumphantly to and fro through Harold's camp, leaping their horses over
+the bodies of the dead and dying which covered the ground. Those of King
+Harold's followers that had escaped the slaughter of the day fled in
+hopeless confusion toward the north, where the flying masses strewed the
+roads for miles with the bodies of men who sank down on the way, spent
+with wounds or exhausted by fatigue.
+
+In the morning, William marshaled his men on the field, and called over
+the names of the officers and men, as they had been registered in
+Normandy, for the purpose of ascertaining who were killed. While this
+melancholy ceremony was going on, two monks came in, sent from the
+remains of the English army, and saying that King Harold was missing,
+and that it was rumored that he had been slain. If so, his body must be
+lying somewhere, they said, upon the field, and they wished for
+permission to make search for it. The permission was granted. With the
+aid of some soldiers they began to explore the ground, turning over and
+examining every lifeless form which, by the dress or the armor, might
+seem to be possibly the king's. Their search was for a long time vain;
+the ghastly faces of the dead were so mutilated and changed that nobody
+could be identified. At length, however, a woman who had been in
+Harold's family, and knew his person more intimately than they, found
+and recognized the body, and the monks and the soldiers carried it away.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The battle of Hastings sealed and settled the controversy in respect to
+the English crown. It is true that the adherents of Harold, and also
+those of Edgar Atheling, made afterward various efforts to rally their
+forces and recover the kingdom, but in vain. William advanced to London,
+fortified himself there, and made excursions from that city as a centre
+until he reduced the island to his sway. He was crowned at length, at
+Westminster Abbey, with great pomp and parade. He sent for Matilda to
+come and join him, and instated her in his palace as Queen of England.
+He confiscated the property of all the English nobles who had fought
+against him, and divided it among the Norman chieftains who had aided
+him in the invasion. He made various excursions to and from Normandy
+himself, being received every where throughout his dominions, on both
+sides the Channel, with the most distinguished honors. In a word, he
+became, in the course of a few years after he landed, one of the
+greatest and most powerful potentates on the globe. How far all his
+riches and grandeur were from making him happy, will appear in the
+following chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PRINCE ROBERT'S REBELLION.
+
+A.D. 1076-1077
+
+William's oldest son.--His character.--William's conflicts with his
+son Robert.--William Rufus.--William's son Henry.--Robert nicknamed
+Short Boots.--Robert's betrothment.--William's motives.--Death
+of Margaret.--More trouble.--Robert's political power.--His
+ambition.--Robert claims Normandy.--William refuses it.--Castle at
+L'Aigle.--Quarrel between Robert and William Rufus.--The combatants
+parted.--Robert's rage.--Robert's rebellion.--Anxiety and distress of
+Matilda.--Measures of Matilda.--Advantages of William.--Robert lays
+down his arms.--Interview with his father.--Recriminations.--The
+interview fruitless.--Robert goes to Flanders.--His treasonable
+correspondence.--Action of Philip.--He sides with Robert.--Robert's
+dissipation.--Matilda sends him supplies.--Matilda's secret
+supplies.--She is discovered.--Matilda's messenger seized.--William's
+reproaches.--Matilda's reply.--William's anger.--Sampson's
+escape.--Things grow worse.--Preparations for war.--Matilda's
+distress.--William wounded by his son.--The battle goes against
+him.--Matilda's anguish.--The reconciliation.
+
+
+Ambitious men, who devote their time and attention, through all the
+early years of life, to their personal and political aggrandizement,
+have little time to appropriate to the government and education of their
+children, and their later years are often embittered by the dissipation
+and vice, or by the unreasonable exactions of their sons. At least it
+was so in William's case. By the time that his public enemies were
+subdued, and he found himself undisputed master both of his kingdom and
+his duchy, his peace and happiness were destroyed, and the tranquillity
+of his whole realm was disturbed by a terrible family quarrel.
+
+The name of his oldest son was Robert. He was fourteen years old when
+his father set off on his invasion of England. At that time he was a
+sort of spoiled child, having been his mother's favorite, and, as such,
+always greatly indulged by her. When William went away, it will be
+recollected that he appointed Matilda regent, to govern Normandy during
+his absence. This boy was also named in the regency, so that he was
+nominally associated with his mother, and he considered himself,
+doubtless, as the more important personage of the two. In a word, while
+William was engaged in England, prosecuting his conquests there, Robert
+was growing up in Normandy a vain, self-conceited, and ungovernable
+young man.
+
+His father, in going back and forth between England and Normandy, often
+came into conflict with his son, as usual in such cases. In these
+contests Matilda took sides with the son. William's second son, whose
+name was William Rufus, was jealous of his older brother, and was often
+provoked by the overbearing and imperious spirit which Robert displayed.
+William Rufus thus naturally adhered to the father's part in the family
+feud. William Rufus was as rough and turbulent in spirit as Robert, but
+he had not been so indulged. He possessed, therefore, more self-control;
+he knew very well how to suppress his propensities, and conceal the
+unfavorable aspects of his character when in the presence of his father.
+
+There was a third brother, named Henry. He was of a more quiet and
+inoffensive character, and avoided taking an active part in the
+quarrel, except so far as William Rufus led him on. He was William
+Rufus's friend and companion, and, as such, Robert considered him as his
+enemy. All, in fact, except Matilda, were against Robert, who looked
+down, in a haughty and domineering manner--as the oldest son and heir
+is very apt to do in rich and powerful families--upon the comparative
+insignificance of his younger brethren. The king, instead of restraining
+this imperious spirit in his son, as he might, perhaps, have done by a
+considerate and kind, and, at the same time, decisive exercise of
+authority, teased and tormented him by sarcasms and petty vexations.
+Among other instances of this, he gave him the nickname of _Short
+Boots_, because he was of inferior stature. As Robert was, however,
+at this time of full age, he was stung to the quick at having such a
+stigma attached to him by his father, and his bosom burned with secret
+sentiments of resentment and revenge.
+
+He had, besides, other causes of complaint against his father, more
+serious still. When he was a very young child, his father, according to
+the custom of the times, had espoused him to the daughter and heiress of
+a neighboring earl, a child like himself. Her name was Margaret. The
+earldom which this little Margaret was to inherit was Maine. It was on
+the frontiers of Normandy, and it was a rich and valuable possession. It
+was a part of the stipulation of the marriage contract that the young
+bride's domain was to be delivered to the father of the bridegroom, to
+be held by him until the bridegroom should become of age, and the
+marriage should be fully consummated. In fact, the getting possession of
+this rich inheritance, with a prospect of holding it so many years, was
+very probably the principal end which William had in view in contracting
+for a matrimonial union so very premature.
+
+If this was, in reality, William's plan, it resulted, in the end, even
+more favorably than he had anticipated; for the little heiress died a
+short time after her inheritance was put into the possession of her
+father-in-law. There was nobody to demand a restoration of it, and so
+William continued to hold it until his son, the bridegroom, became of
+age. Robert then demanded it, contending that it was justly his. William
+refused to surrender it. He maintained that what had passed between his
+son in his infancy, and the little Margaret, was not a marriage, but
+only a betrothment--a contract for a future marriage, which was to take
+place when the parties were of age--that, since Margaret's death
+prevented the consummation of the union, Robert was never her husband,
+and could not, consequently, acquire the rights of a husband. The lands,
+therefore, ought manifestly, he said, to remain in the hands of her
+guardian, and whatever rights any other persons might have, claiming to
+succeed Margaret as her natural heirs, it was plain that his son could
+have no title whatever.
+
+However satisfactory this reasoning might be to the mind of William,
+Robert was only exasperated by it. He looked upon the case as one of
+extreme injustice and oppression on the part of his father, who, not
+content, he said, with his own enormous possessions, must add to them by
+robbing his own son. In this opinion Robert's mother, Matilda, agreed
+with him. As for William Rufus and Henry, they paid little attention to
+the argument, but were pleased with the result of it, and highly enjoyed
+their brother's vexation and chagrin in not being able to get possession
+of his earldom.
+
+There was another very serious subject of dispute between Robert and his
+father. It has already been stated, that when the duke set out on his
+expedition for the invasion of England, he left Matilda and Robert
+together in charge of the duchy. At the commencement of the period of
+his absence Robert was very young, and the actual power rested mainly in
+his mother's hands. As he grew older, however, he began to exercise an
+increasing influence and control. In fact, as he was himself ambitious
+and aspiring, and his mother indulgent, the power passed very rapidly
+into his hands. It was eight years from the time that William left
+Normandy before his power was so far settled and established in England
+that he could again take the affairs of his original realm into his
+hands. He had left Robert, at that time, a mere boy of fourteen, who,
+though rude and turbulent in character, was still politically powerless.
+He found him, on his return, a man of twenty-two, ruder and more
+turbulent than before, and in the full possession of political power.
+This power, too, he found him very unwilling to surrender.
+
+In fact, when William came to receive back the province of Normandy
+again, Robert almost refused to surrender it. He said that his father
+had always promised him the duchy of Normandy as his domain so soon as
+he should become of age, and he claimed now the fulfillment of this
+promise. Besides, he said that, now that his father was King of England,
+his former realm was of no consequence to him. It did not add sensibly
+to his influence or his power, and he might, therefore, without
+suffering any sensible loss himself, grant it to his son. William, on
+his part, did not acknowledge the force of either of these arguments. He
+would not admit that he had ever promised Normandy to his son; and as to
+voluntarily relinquishing any part of his possessions, he had no faith
+in the policy of a man's giving up his power or his property to his
+children until they were justly entitled to inherit it by his death; at
+any rate, he should not do it. He had no idea, as he expressed it, "of
+putting off his clothes before he was going to bed."
+
+The irritation and ill-will which these dissensions produced grew deeper
+and more inveterate every day, though the disagreement had been thus far
+a private and domestic dispute, confined, in its influence, to the
+king's immediate household. An occasion, however, now occurred, on which
+the private family feud broke out into an open public quarrel. The
+circumstances were these:
+
+King William had a castle in Normandy, at a place called L'Aigle. He was
+spending some time there, in the year 1076, with his court and family.
+One day William Rufus and Henry were in one of the upper apartments of
+the castle, playing with dice, and amusing themselves, in company with
+other young men of the court, in various ways. There was a window in the
+apartment leading out upon a balcony, from which one might look down
+upon the court-yard of the castle below. Robert was in this court-yard
+with some of _his_ companions, walking there in an irritated state of
+mind, which had been produced by some previous disputes with his
+brothers. William Rufus looked down from the balcony and saw him, and by
+way, perhaps, of quenching his anger, poured some water down upon him.
+The deed changed the suppressed and silent irritation in Robert's heart
+to a perfect phrensy of rage and revenge. He drew his sword and sprang
+to the stair-case. He uttered loud and terrible imprecations as he went,
+declaring that he would kill the author of such an insult, even if he
+_was_ his brother. The court-yard was, of course, immediately filled
+with shouts and exclamations of alarm, and every body pressed forward
+toward the room from which the water had been thrown, some to witness,
+and some to prevent the affray.
+
+The king himself, who happened to be in that part of the castle at the
+time, was one of the number. He reached the apartment just in time to
+interpose between his sons, and prevent the commission of the awful
+crime of fratricide. As it was, he found it extremely difficult to part
+the ferocious combatants. It required all his paternal authority, and
+not a little actual force, to arrest the affray. He succeeded, however,
+at length, with the help of the by-standers, in parting his sons, and
+Robert, out of breath, and pale with impotent rage, was led away.
+
+Robert considered his father as taking sides against him in this
+quarrel, and he declared that he could not, and would not, endure such
+treatment any longer. He found some sympathy in the conversation of his
+mother, to whom he went immediately with bitter complainings. She tried
+to soothe and quiet his wounded spirit, but he would not be pacified. He
+spent the afternoon and evening in organizing a party of wild and
+desperate young men from among the nobles of the court, with a view of
+raising a rebellion against his father, and getting possession of
+Normandy by force. They kept their designs profoundly secret, but
+prepared to leave L'Aigle that night, to go and seize Rouen, the
+capital, which they hoped to surprise into a surrender. Accordingly, in
+the middle of the night, the desperate troop mounted their horses and
+rode away. In the morning the king found that they were gone, and he
+sent an armed force after them. Their plan of surprising Rouen failed.
+The king's detachment overtook them, and, after a sharp contest,
+succeeded in capturing a few of the rebels, though Robert himself,
+accompanied by some of the more desperate of his followers, escaped over
+the frontier into a neighboring province, where he sought refuge in the
+castle of one of his father's enemies.
+
+This result, as might have been expected, filled the mind of Matilda
+with anxiety and distress. A civil war between her husband and her son
+was now inevitable; and while every consideration of prudence and of
+duty required her to espouse the father's cause, her maternal love, a
+principle stronger far, in most cases, than prudence and duty combined,
+drew her irresistibly toward her son. Robert collected around him all
+the discontented and desperate spirits of the realm, and for a long
+time continued to make his father infinite trouble. Matilda, while she
+forbore to advocate his cause openly in the presence of the king, kept
+up a secret communication with him. She sent him information and advice
+from time to time, and sometimes supplies, and was thus, technically,
+guilty of a great crime--the crime of maintaining a treasonable
+correspondence with a rebel. In a moral point of view, however, her
+conduct may have been entirely right; at any rate, its influence was
+very salutary, for she did all in her power to restrain both the father
+and the son; and by the influence which she thus exerted, she doubtless
+mitigated very much the fierceness of the struggle.
+
+Of course, the advantage, in such a civil war as this, would be wholly
+on the side of the sovereign. William had all the power and resources of
+the kingdom in his own hands--the army, the towns, the castles, the
+treasures. Robert had a troop of wild, desperate, and unmanageable
+outlaws, without authority, without money, without a sense of justice on
+their side. He gradually became satisfied that the contest was vain. In
+proportion as the activity of the hostilities diminished, Matilda became
+more and more open in her efforts to restrain it, and to allay the
+animosity on either side. She succeeded, finally, in inducing Robert to
+lay down his arms, and then brought about an interview between the
+parties, in hopes of a peaceful settlement of the quarrel.
+
+It appeared very soon, however, at this interview, that there was no
+hope of any thing like a real and cordial reconciliation. Though both
+the father and son had become weary of the unnatural war which they had
+waged against each other, yet the ambitious and selfish desires on both
+sides, in which the contest had originated, remained unchanged. Robert
+began the conference by imperiously demanding of his father the
+fulfillment of his promise to give him the government of Normandy. His
+father replied by reproaching him with his unnatural and wicked
+rebellion, and warned him of the danger he incurred, in imitating the
+example of Absalom, of sharing that wretched rebel's fate. Robert
+rejoined that he did not come to meet his father for the sake of hearing
+a sermon preached. He had had enough of sermons, he said, when he was a
+boy, studying grammar. He wanted his father to do him justice, not
+preach to him. The king said that he should never divide his dominions,
+while he lived, with any one; and added, notwithstanding what Robert had
+contemptuously said about sermons, that the Scripture declared that a
+house divided against itself could not stand. He then proceeded to
+reproach and incriminate the prince in the severest manner for his
+disloyalty as a subject, and his undutifulness and ingratitude as a son.
+It was intolerable, he said, that a son should become the rival and
+bitterest enemy of his father, when it was to him that he owed, not
+merely all that he enjoyed, but his very existence itself.
+
+These reproaches were probably uttered in an imperious and angry manner,
+and with that spirit of denunciation which only irritates the accused
+and arouses his resentment, instead of awakening feelings of penitence
+and contrition. At any rate, the thought of his filial ingratitude, as
+his father presented it, produced no relenting in Robert's mind. He
+abruptly terminated the interview, and went out of his father's presence
+in a rage.
+
+In spite of all his mother's exertions and entreaties, he resolved to
+leave the country once more. He said he would rather be an exile, and
+wander homeless in foreign lands, than to remain in his father's court,
+and be treated in so unjust and ignominious a manner, by one who was
+bound by the strongest possible obligations to be his best and truest
+friend. Matilda could not induce him to change this determination; and,
+accordingly, taking with him a few of the most desperate and dissolute
+of his companions, he went northward, crossed the frontier, and sought
+refuge in Flanders. Flanders, it will be recollected, was Matilda's
+native land. Her brother was the Earl of Flanders at this time. The earl
+received young Robert very cordially, both for his sister's sake, and
+also, probably, in some degree, as a means of petty hostility against
+King William, his powerful neighbor, whose glory and good fortune he
+envied.
+
+Robert had not the means or the resources necessary for renewing an open
+war with his father, but his disposition to do this was as strong as
+ever, and he began immediately to open secret communications and
+correspondence with all the nobles and barons in Normandy whom he
+thought disposed to espouse his cause. He succeeded in inducing them to
+make secret contributions of funds to supply his pecuniary wants, of
+course promising to repay them with ample grants and rewards so soon as
+he should obtain his rights. He maintained similar communications, too,
+with Matilda, though she kept them very profoundly secret from her
+husband.
+
+Robert had other friends besides those whom he found thus furtively in
+Normandy. The King of France himself was much pleased at the breaking
+out of this terrible feud in the family of his neighbor, who, from being
+his dependent and vassal, had become, by his conquest of England, his
+great competitor and rival in the estimation of mankind. Philip was
+disposed to rejoice at any occurrences which tended to tarnish William's
+glory, or which threatened a division and diminution of his power. He
+directed his agents, therefore, both in Normandy and in Flanders, to
+encourage and promote the dissension by every means in their power. He
+took great care not to commit himself by any open and positive promises
+of aid, and yet still he contrived, by a thousand indirect means, to
+encourage Robert to expect it. Thus the mischief was widened and
+extended, while yet nothing effectual was done toward organizing an
+insurrection. In fact, Robert had neither the means nor the mental
+capacity necessary for maturing and carrying into effect any actual
+plan of rebellion. In the mean time, months passed away, and as nothing
+effectual was done, Robert's adherents in Normandy became gradually
+discouraged. They ceased their contributions, and gradually forgot their
+absent and incompetent leader. Robert spent his time in dissipation and
+vice, squandering in feasts and in the company of abandoned men and
+women the means which his followers sent him to enable him to prepare
+for the war; and when, at last, these supplies failed him, he would have
+been reduced gradually to great distress and destitution, were it not
+that one faithful and devoted friend still adhered to him. That friend
+was his mother.
+
+Matilda knew very well that whatever she did for her absent son must be
+done in the most clandestine manner, and this required much stratagem
+and contrivance on her part. She was aided, however, in her efforts at
+concealment by her husband's absence. He was now for a time in England,
+having been called there by some pressing demands of public duty. He
+left a great minister of state in charge of Normandy, whose vigilance
+Matilda thought it would be comparatively easy to elude. She sent to
+Robert, in Flanders, first her own private funds. Then she employed for
+this purpose a portion of such public funds as came into her hands. The
+more she sent, however, the more frequent and imperious were Robert's
+demands for fresh supplies. The resources of a mother, whether great or
+small, are always soon exhausted by the insatiable requirements of a
+dissolute and profligate son. When Matilda's money was gone, she sold
+her jewels, then her more expensive clothes, and, finally, such objects
+of value, belonging to herself or to her husband, as could be most
+easily and privately disposed of. The minister, who was very faithful
+and watchful in the discharge of his duties, observed indications that
+something mysterious was going on. His suspicions were aroused. He
+watched Matilda's movements, and soon discovered the truth. He sent
+information to William. William could not believe it possible that his
+minister's surmises could be true; for William was simply a statesman
+and a soldier, and had very inadequate ideas of the absorbing and
+uncontrollable power which is exercised by the principle of maternal
+love.
+
+He, however, determined immediately to take most efficient measures to
+ascertain the truth. He returned to Normandy, and there he succeeded in
+intercepting one of Matilda's messengers on his way to Flanders, with
+communications and money for Robert. The name of this messenger was
+Sampson. William seized the money and the letters, and sent the
+messenger to one of his castles, to be shut up in a dungeon. Then, with
+the proofs of guilt which he had thus obtained, he went, full of
+astonishment and anger, to find Matilda, and to upbraid her, as he
+thought she deserved, for her base and ungrateful betrayal of her
+husband.
+
+The reproaches which he addressed to her were bitter and stern, though
+they seem to have been spoken in a tone of sorrow rather than of anger.
+"I am sure," he said, "I have ever been to you a faithful and devoted
+husband. I do not know what more you could have desired than I have
+done. I have loved you with a sincere and true affection. I have honored
+you. I have placed you in the highest positions, intrusting you
+repeatedly with large shares of my own sovereign power. I have confided
+in you--committing my most essential and vital interests to your charge.
+And now this is the return. You employ the very position, and power, and
+means which your confiding husband has put into your hands, to betray
+him in the most cruel way, and to aid and encourage his worst and most
+dangerous enemy."
+
+To these reproaches Matilda attempted no reply, except to plead the
+irresistible impetuosity and strength of her maternal love. "I could not
+bear," she said, "to leave Robert in distress and suffering while I had
+any possible means of relieving him. He is my child. I think of him all
+the time. I love him more than my life. I solemnly declare to you, that
+if he were now dead, and I could restore him to life by dying for him, I
+would most gladly do it. How, then, do you suppose that I could possibly
+live here in abundance and luxury, while he was wandering homeless, in
+destitution and want, and not try to relieve him? Whether it is right or
+wrong for me to feel so, I do not know; but this I know, I _must_ feel
+so: I can not help it. He is our first-born son; I can not abandon him."
+
+William went away from the presence of Matilda full of resentment and
+anger. Of course he could do nothing in respect to her but reproach her,
+but he determined that the unlucky Sampson should suffer severely for
+the crime. He sent orders to the castle where he lay immured, requiring
+that his eyes should be put out. Matilda, however, discovered the
+danger which threatened her messenger in time to send him warning. He
+contrived to make his escape, and fled to a certain monastery which was
+under Matilda's special patronage and charge. A monastery was, in those
+days, a sanctuary into which the arm even of the most despotic authority
+scarcely dared to intrude in pursuit of its victim. To make the safety
+doubly sure, the abbot proposed that the trembling fugitive should join
+their order and become a monk. Sampson was willing to do any thing to
+save his life. The operation of putting out the eyes was very generally
+fatal, so that he considered his life at stake. He was, accordingly,
+shaven and shorn, and clothed in the monastic garb. He assumed the vows
+of the order, and entered, with his brother monks, upon the course of
+fastings, penances, and prayers which pertained to his new vocation; and
+William left him to pursue it in peace.
+
+Things went on worse instead of better after this discovery of the
+mother's participation in the councils of the son. Either through the
+aid which his mother had rendered, or by other means, there seemed to be
+a strong party in and out of Normandy who were inclined to espouse
+Robert's cause. His friends, at length, raised a very considerable
+army, and putting him at the head of it, they advanced to attack Rouen.
+The king, greatly alarmed at this danger, collected all the forces that
+he could command, and went to meet his rebel son. William Rufus
+accompanied his father, intending to fight by his side; while Matilda,
+in an agony of terror and distress, remained, half distracted, within
+her castle walls--as a wife and mother might be expected to be, on the
+approach of a murderous conflict between her husband and her son. The
+thought that one of them might, perhaps, be actually killed by the
+other, filled her with dismay.
+
+And, in fact, this dreadful result came very near being realized.
+Robert, in the castle at L'Aigle, had barely been prevented from
+destroying his brother, and now, on the plain of Archembraye, where this
+battle was fought, his father _fell_, and was very near being killed, by
+his hand. In the midst of the fight, while the horsemen were impetuously
+charging each other in various parts of the field, all so disguised by
+their armor that no one could know the individual with whom he was
+contending, Robert encountered a large and powerful knight, and drove
+his lance through his armor into his arm. Through the shock of the
+encounter and the faintness produced by the agony of the wound, the
+horseman fell to the ground, and Robert perceived, by the voice with
+which his fallen enemy cried out in his pain and terror, that it was his
+father that he had thus pierced with his steel. At the same moment, the
+wounded father, in looking at his victorious antagonist, recognized
+his son. He cursed his unnatural enemy with a bitter and terrible
+malediction. Robert was shocked and terrified at what he had done. He
+leaped from his horse, knelt down by the side of his father, and called
+for aid. The king, distracted by the anguish of his wound, and by the
+burning indignation and resentment which raged in his bosom against the
+unnatural hostility which inflicted it, turned away from his son, and
+refused to receive any succor from him.
+
+Besides the misfortune of being unhorsed and wounded, the battle itself
+went that day against the king. Robert's army remained masters of the
+field. William Rufus was wounded too, as well as his father. Matilda was
+overwhelmed with distress and mental anguish at the result. She could
+not endure the idea of allowing so unnatural and dreadful a struggle to
+go on. She begged her husband, with the most earnest importunities and
+with many tears, to find some way of accommodating the dispute. Her
+nights were sleepless, her days were spent in weeping, and her health
+and strength were soon found to be wasting very rapidly away. She was
+emaciated, wan, and pale, and it was plain that such distress, if long
+continued, would soon bring her to the grave.
+
+Matilda's intercessions at length prevailed. The king sent for his son,
+and, after various negotiations, some sort of compromise was effected.
+The armies were disbanded, peace was restored, and Robert and his father
+once more seemed to be friends. Soon after this, William, having a
+campaign to make in the north of England, took Robert with him as one of
+the generals in his army.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CONCLUSION.
+
+A.D. 1078-1087
+
+William's reign in England.--His difficulties.--Feelings of the
+English people.--Rebellions.--Amalgamation of the English and
+Normans.--William's labors.--Necessity of bringing a large Norman
+force.--Providing for them.--The British realm Normanized.--O yes! O
+yes! O yes!--Relics of the past.--Their future preservation.--Point
+of view in which the Norman Conquest is regarded.--Domesday
+Book.--Its great obscurity.--Specimen of the Domesday
+Book.--Translation.--Matilda's health declines.--Death of her
+daughter.--Matilda retires to her palace at Caen.--Her distress of
+mind.--Matilda's health.--Memorials of her.--William's declining
+years.--His fitfulness and discontent.--Philip ridicules
+William.--William's rage.--William's threats.--Conflagration of
+Mantes.--William's injury.--His great danger.--William's remorse.--His
+last acts.--Robert absent.--He receives Normandy.--William Rufus
+and Henry.--The king's will.--William's death.--Abandonment of
+the body.--Apprehensions of the people.--The body removed to
+Caen.--Extraordinary scenes.--The body conveyed to the monastery on
+a cart.--The procession broken up.--Scene at the interment.--The
+sarcophagus too small.--The body burst.--William Rufus obtains
+possession of the English throne.
+
+
+From the time of the battle of Hastings, which took place in 1066, to
+that of William's death, which occurred in 1087, there intervened a
+period of about twenty years, during which the great monarch reigned
+over his extended dominions with a very despotic sway, though not
+without a large share of the usual dangers, difficulties, and struggles
+attending such a rule. He brought over immense numbers of Normans from
+Normandy into England, and placed all the military and civil power of
+the empire in their hands; and he relied almost entirely upon the
+superiority of his physical force for keeping the country in subjugation
+to his sway. It is true, he maintained that he was the rightful heir to
+the English crown, and that, consequently, the tenure by which he held
+it was the right of inheritance, and not the right of conquest; and he
+professed to believe that the people of England generally admitted his
+claim. This was, in fact, to a considerable extent, true. At least
+there was probably a large part of the population who believed William's
+right to the crown superior to that of Harold, whom he had deposed.
+Still, as William was by birth, and education, and language a foreigner,
+and as all the friends and followers who attended him, and, in fact,
+almost the whole of the army, on which he mainly relied for the
+preservation of his power, were foreigners too--wearing a strange dress,
+and speaking in an unknown tongue--the great mass of the English people
+could not but feel that they were under a species of foreign
+subjugation. Quarrels were therefore continually breaking out between
+them and their Norman masters, resulting in fierce and bloody struggles,
+on their part, to get free. These rebellions were always effectually put
+down; but when quelled in one quarter they soon broke out in another,
+and they kept William and his forces almost always employed.
+
+But William was not a mere warrior. He was well aware that the
+permanence and stability of his own and his successor's sway in England
+would depend finally upon the kind of basis on which the civil
+institutions of the country should rest, and on the proper consolidation
+and adjustment of the administrative and judicial functions of the
+realm. In the intervals of his campaigns, therefore, William devoted a
+great deal of time and attention to this subject, and he evinced a most
+profound and statesmanlike wisdom and sagacity in his manner of treating
+it.
+
+He had, in fact, a Herculean task to perform--a double task--viz., to
+amalgamate two _nations_, and also to fuse and merge two _languages_
+into one. He was absolutely compelled, by the circumstances under which
+he was placed, to grapple with both these vast undertakings. If, at the
+time when, in his park at Rouen, he first heard of Harold's accession,
+he had supposed that there was a party in England in his favor strong
+enough to allow of his proceeding there alone, or with a small Norman
+attendance, so that he might rely mainly on the English themselves for
+his accession to the throne, the formidable difficulties which, as it
+was, he had subsequently to encounter, would all have been saved. But
+there was no such party--at least there was no evidence that there was
+one of sufficient strength to justify him in trusting himself to it. It
+seemed to him, then, that if he undertook to gain possession of the
+English throne at all, he must rely entirely on the force which he could
+take with him from Normandy. To make this reliance effectual, the force
+so taken must be an overwhelming one. Then, if Normans in great numbers
+were to go to England for the purpose of putting him upon the English
+throne, they must be rewarded, and so vast a number of candidates for
+the prizes of honor and wealth could be satisfied only in England, and
+by confiscations there. His possessions in Normandy would obviously be
+insufficient for such a purpose. It was evident, moreover, that if a
+large number of Norman adventurers were placed in stations of trust and
+honor, and charged with civil offices and administrative functions all
+over England, they would form a sort of class by themselves, and would
+be looked upon with jealousy and envy by the original inhabitants, and
+that there was no hope of maintaining them safely in their position
+except by making the class as numerous and as strong as possible. In a
+word, William saw very clearly that, while it would have been very well,
+if it had been possible, for him to have brought _no_ Normans to
+England, it was clearly best, since so many must go, to contrive every
+means to swell and increase the number. It was one of those cases
+where, being obliged to go far, it is best to go farther; and William
+resolved on thoroughly _Normanizing_, so to speak, the whole British
+realm. This enormous undertaking he accomplished fully and permanently;
+and the institutions of England, the lines of family descent, the
+routine of judicial and administrative business, and the very language
+of the realm, retain the Norman characteristics which he ingrafted into
+them to the present day.
+
+It gives us a feeling akin to that of sublimity to find, even in our own
+land, and in the most remote situations of it, the lingering relics of
+the revolutions and deeds of these early ages, still remaining, like a
+faint ripple rolling gently upon a beach in a deep and secluded bay,
+which was set in motion, perhaps, at first, as one of the mountainous
+surges of a wintery storm in the most distant seas. For example, if we
+enter the most humble court in any remote and newly-settled country in
+the American forests, a plain and rustic-looking man will call the
+equally rustic-looking assembly to order by rapping his baton, the only
+symbol of his office, on the floor, and calling out, in words mystic and
+meaningless to him, "O yes! O yes! O yes!"[K] He little thinks that he
+is obeying a behest of William the Conqueror, issued eight hundred years
+ago, ordaining that his native tongue should be employed in the courts
+of England. The irresistible progress of improvement and reform have
+gradually displaced the intruding language again--except so far as it
+has become merged and incorporated with the common language of the
+country--from all the ordinary forms of legal proceedings. It lingers
+still, however, as it were, on the threshold, in this call to order; and
+as it is harmless there, the spirit of conservatism will, perhaps,
+preserve for it this last place of refuge for a thousand years to come,
+and "_O yes_" will be the phrase for ordaining silence by many
+generations of officers, who will, perhaps, never have heard of the
+authority whose orders they unwittingly obey.
+
+[Footnote K: Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Norman French for Hearken! hearken!
+hearken!]
+
+The work of incorporating the Norman and English families with one
+another, and fusing the two languages into one, required about a century
+for its full accomplishment; and when at last it was accomplished, the
+people of England were somewhat puzzled to know whether they ought to
+feel proud of William's exploits in the conquest of England, or
+humiliated by them. So far as they were themselves descended from the
+Normans, the conquest was one of the glorious deeds of their ancestors.
+So far as they were of English parentage, it would seem to be incumbent
+on them to mourn over their fathers' defeat. It is obvious that from
+such a species of perplexity as this there was no escape, and it has
+accordingly continued to embarrass the successive generations of
+Englishmen down to the present day. The Norman Conquest occupies,
+therefore, a very uncertain and equivocal position in English history,
+the various modern writers who look back to it now being hardly able to
+determine whether they are to regard it as a mortifying subjugation
+which their ancestors suffered, or a glorious victory which they gained.
+
+One of the great measures of William's reign, and one, in fact, for
+which it has been particularly famous in modern times, was a grand
+census or registration of the kingdom, which the Conqueror ordered with
+a view of having on record a perfect enumeration and description of all
+the real and personal property in the kingdom. This grand national
+survey was made in 1078. The result was recorded in two volumes of
+different sizes, which were called the Great and the Little Domesday
+Book. These books are still preserved, and are to this day of the very
+highest authority in respect to all questions touching ancient rights of
+property. One is a folio, and the other a quarto volume. The records are
+written on vellum, in a close, abridged, and, to ordinary readers, a
+perfectly unintelligible character. The language is Latin; but a modern
+Latin scholar, without any means other than an inspection of the work,
+would be utterly unable to decipher it. In fact, though the character is
+highly wrought, and in some respects elegant, the whole style and
+arrangement of the work is pretty nearly on a par, in respect to
+scientific skill, with Queen Emma's designs upon the Bayeux tapestry.
+About half a century ago, copies of these works were printed, by means
+of type made to represent the original character. But these printed
+editions were found unintelligible and useless until copious indexes
+were prepared, and published to accompany them, at great expense of time
+and labor.
+
+Some little idea of the character and style of this celebrated record
+may be obtained from the following specimen, which is as faithful an
+imitation of the original as any ordinary typography will allow:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The passage, deciphered and expressed in full, stands thus--the letters
+omitted in the original, above, being supplied in italics:
+
+                                        IN BRIXISTAN HUND_redo_.
+
+     Rex ten_et_ BERMUNDESYE. HERALD_US_ com_es_ tenuit. T_unc_ se
+     def_en_d_ebat_ p_ro_ xiii. hid_is_, m_od_o pro xii. hid_is_. T_er_ra
+     e_st_ viii. car_rucatarum_. In d_omi_nio e_st_ una car_rucata_ et
+     xxv. vill_ani_ et xxxiii. bord_arii_ cu_m_ un_a_ car_rucata_. Ibi
+     nova et pulchra eccl_esia_, et xx. ac_rae_ p_ra_ti. Silva v. porc_is_
+     de pasnag_io_.
+
+The English translation is as follows:
+
+                                        IN BRIXISTAN HUNDRED.
+
+     The king holds BERMUNDESYE. Earl HERALD held it [before]. At that
+     time it was rated at thirteen hides; now, at twelve. The arable
+     land is eight carrucates [_or_ plow-lands]. There is one carrucate
+     in demesne, and twenty-five villans, and thirty-three bordars, with
+     one carrucate. There is a new and handsome church, with twenty
+     acres of meadow, and woodland for five hogs in pasnage [pasturage]
+     time.
+
+But we must pass on to the conclusion of the story. About the year 1082,
+Queen Matilda's health began seriously to decline. She was harassed by
+a great many anxieties and cares connected with the affairs of state
+which devolved upon her, and arising from the situation of her family:
+these anxieties produced great dejection of spirits, and aggravated, if
+they did not wholly cause, her bodily disease. She was at this time in
+Normandy. One great source of her mental suffering was her anxiety in
+respect to one of her daughters, who, as well as herself, was declining
+in health. Forgetting her own danger in her earnest desires for the
+welfare of her child, she made a sort of pilgrimage to a monastery which
+contained the shrine of a certain saint, who, as she imagined, had power
+to save her daughter. She laid a rich present on the shrine; she offered
+before it most earnest prayers, imploring, with tears of bitter grief,
+the intercession of the saint, and manifesting every outward symbol of
+humility and faith. She took her place in the religious services of the
+monastery, and conformed to its usages, as if she had been in the
+humblest private station. But all was in vain. The health of her beloved
+daughter continued to fail, until at length she died; and Matilda,
+growing herself more feeble, and almost broken hearted through grief,
+shut herself up in the palace at Caen.
+
+It was in the same palace which William had built, within his monastery,
+many long years before, at the time of their marriage. Matilda looked
+back to that period, and to the buoyant hopes and bright anticipations
+of power, glory, and happiness which then filled her heart, with sadness
+and sorrow. The power and the glory had been attained, and in a measure
+tenfold greater than she had imagined, but the happiness had never come.
+Ambition had been contending unceasingly for twenty years, among all the
+branches of her family, against domestic peace and love. She possessed,
+herself, an aspiring mind, but the principles of maternal and conjugal
+love were stronger in her heart than those of ambition; and yet she was
+compelled to see ambition bearing down and destroying love in all its
+forms every where around her. Her last days were embittered by the
+breaking out of new contests between her husband and her son.
+
+Matilda sought for peace and comfort in multiplying her religious
+services and observances. She fasted, she prayed, she interceded for the
+forgiveness of her sins with many tears. The monks celebrated mass at
+her bed-side, and made, as she thought, by renewing the sacrifice of
+Christ, a fresh propitiation for her sins. William, who was then in
+Normandy, hearing of her forlorn and unhappy condition, came to see her.
+He arrived just in time to see her die.
+
+They conveyed her body from the palace in her husband's monastery at
+Caen to the convent which she had built. It was received there in solemn
+state, and deposited in the tomb. For centuries afterward, there
+remained many memorials of her existence and her greatness there, in
+paintings, embroideries, sacred gifts, and records, which have been
+gradually wasted away by the hand of time. They have not, however,
+wholly disappeared, for travelers who visit the spot find that many
+memorials and traditions of Matilda linger there still.
+
+William himself did not live many years after the death of his wife. He
+was several years older than she. In fact, he was now considerably
+advanced in age. He became extremely corpulent as he grew old, which, as
+he was originally of a large frame, made him excessively unwieldy. The
+inconvenience resulting from this habit of body was not the only evil
+that attended it. It affected his health, and even threatened to end in
+serious if not fatal disease. While he was thus made comparatively
+helpless in body by the infirmities of his advancing age, he was
+nevertheless as active and restless in spirit as ever. It was, however,
+no longer the activity of youth, and hope, and progress which animated
+him, but rather the fitful uneasiness with which age agitates itself
+under the vexations which it sometimes has to endure, or struggles
+convulsively at the approach of real or imaginary dangers, threatening
+the possessions which it has been the work of life to gain. The dangers
+in William's case were real, not imaginary. He was continually
+threatened on every side. In fact, the very year before he died, the
+dissensions between himself and Robert broke out anew, and he was
+obliged, unwieldy and helpless as he was, to repair to Normandy, at the
+head of an armed force, to quell the disturbances which Robert and his
+partisans had raised.
+
+Robert was countenanced and aided at this time by Philip, the king of
+France, who had always been King William's jealous and implacable rival.
+Philip, who, as will be recollected, was very young when William asked
+his aid at the time of his invasion of England, was now in middle life,
+and at the height of his power. As he had refused William his aid, he
+was naturally somewhat envious and jealous of his success, and he was
+always ready to take part against him. He now aided and abetted Robert
+in his turbulence and insubordination, and ridiculed the helpless
+infirmities of the aged king.
+
+While William was in Normandy, he submitted to a course of medical
+treatment, in the hope of diminishing his excessive corpulency, and
+relieving the disagreeable and dangerous symptoms which attended it.
+While thus in his physician's hands, he was, of course, confined to his
+chamber. Philip, in ridicule, called it "being in the straw." He asked
+some one who appeared at his court, having recently arrived from
+Normandy, whether the old woman of England was still in the straw. Some
+miserable tale-bearer, such as every where infest society at the present
+day, who delight in quoting to one friend what they think will excite
+their anger against another, repeated these words to William. Sick as he
+was, the sarcasm aroused him to a furious paroxysm of rage. He swore by
+"God's brightness and resurrection" that, when he got out again, he
+would kindle such fires in Philip's dominions, in commemoration of his
+delivery, as should make his realms too hot to hold him.
+
+He kept his word--at least so far as respects the kindling of the fires;
+but the fires, instead of making Philip's realms too hot to hold him, by
+a strange yet just retribution, were simply the means of closing forever
+the mortal career of the hand that kindled them. The circumstances of
+this final scene of the great conqueror's earthly history were these:
+
+In the execution of his threat to make Philip's dominions too hot to
+hold him, William, as soon as he was able to mount his horse, headed an
+expedition, and crossed the frontiers of Normandy, and moved forward
+into the heart of France, laying waste the country, as he advanced, with
+fire and sword. He came soon to the town of Mantes, a town upon the
+Seine, directly on the road to Paris. William's soldiers attacked the
+town with furious impetuosity, carried it by assault, and set it on
+fire. William followed them in, through the gates, glorying in the
+fulfillment of his threats of vengeance. Some timbers from a burning
+house had fallen into the street, and, burning there, had left a
+smoldering bed of embers, in which the fire was still remaining.
+William, excited with the feeling of exultation and victory, was riding
+unguardedly on through the scene of ruin he had made, issuing orders,
+and shouting in a frantic manner as he went, when he was suddenly
+stopped by a violent recoil of his horse from the burning embers, on
+which he had stepped, and which had been concealed from view by the
+ashes which covered them. William, unwieldy and comparatively helpless
+as he was, was thrown with great force upon the pommel of the saddle. He
+saved himself from falling from the horse, but he immediately found that
+he had sustained some serious internal injury. He was obliged to
+dismount, and to be conveyed away, by a very sudden transition, from the
+dreadful scene of conflagration and vengeance which he had been
+enacting, to the solemn chamber of death. They made a litter for him,
+and a corps of strong men was designated to bear the heavy and now
+helpless burden back to Normandy.
+
+[Illustration: WILLIAM'S HORSE STEPPING ON THE EMBERS.]
+
+They took the suffering monarch to Rouen. The ablest physicians were
+summoned to his bed-side. After examining his case, they concluded that
+he must die. The tidings threw the unhappy patient into a state of
+extreme anxiety and terror. The recollection of the thousand deeds of
+selfish ambition and cruelty which he had been perpetrating, he said,
+all his days, filled him with remorse. He shrunk back with invincible
+dread from the hour, now so rapidly approaching, when he was to appear
+in judgment before God, and answer, like any common mortal, for his
+crimes. He had been accustomed all his life to consider himself as above
+all law, superior to all power, and beyond the reach of all judicial
+question. But now his time had come. He who had so often made others
+tremble, trembled now in his turn, with an acuteness of terror and
+distress which only the boldest and most high-handed offenders ever
+feel. He cried bitterly to God for forgiveness, and brought the monks
+around him to help him with incessant prayers. He ordered all the money
+that he had on hand to be given to the poor. He sent commands to have
+the churches which he had burned at Mantes rebuilt, and the other
+injuries which he had effected in his anger repaired. In a word, he gave
+himself very earnestly to the work of attempting, by all the means
+considered most efficacious in those days, to avert and appease the
+dreaded anger of heaven.
+
+Of his three oldest sons, Robert was away; the quarrel between him and
+his father had become irreconcilable, and he would not come to visit
+him, even in his dying hours. William Rufus and Henry were there, and
+they remained very constantly at their father's bed-side--not, however,
+from a principle of filial affection, but because they wanted to be
+present when he should express his last wishes in respect to the
+disposal of his dominions. Such an expression, though oral, would be
+binding as a will. When, at length, the king gave his dying directions
+in respect to the succession, it appeared that, after all, he considered
+his right to the English throne as very doubtful in the sight of God. He
+had, in a former part of his life, promised Normandy to Robert, as his
+inheritance, when he himself should die; and though he had so often
+refused to surrender it to him while he himself continued to live, he
+confirmed his title to the succession now. "I have promised it to him,"
+he said, "and I keep my promise; and yet I know that that will be a
+miserable country which is subject to his government. He is a proud and
+foolish knave, and can never prosper. As for my kingdom of England," he
+continued, "I bequeath it to no one, for it was not bequeathed to me. I
+acquired it by force, and at the price of blood. I leave it in the hands
+of God, only wishing that my son William Rufus may have it, for he has
+been submissive to me in all things." "And what do you give _me_,
+father?" asked Henry, eagerly, at this point. "I give you," said the
+king, "five thousand pounds from my treasury." "But what shall I do with
+my five thousand pounds," asked Henry, "if you do not give me either
+house or land?" "Be quiet, my son," rejoined the king, "and trust in
+God. Let your brothers go before you; your turn will come after theirs."
+
+The object which had kept the young men at their father's bed-side
+having been now attained, they both withdrew. Henry went to get his
+money, and William Rufus set off immediately for England, to prepare the
+way for his own accession to the throne, as soon as his father should be
+no more.
+
+The king determined to be removed from his castle in Rouen to a
+monastery which was situated at a short distance from the city, without
+the walls. The noise of the city disturbed him, and, besides, he thought
+he should feel safer to die on sacred ground. He was accordingly removed
+to the monastery. There, on the tenth of September, he was awakened in
+the morning by hearing the city bells ringing. He asked what it meant.
+He was told that the bells were ringing for the morning service at the
+church of St. Mary. He lifted up his hands, looked to heaven, and said,
+"I commend myself to my Lady Mary, the holy Mother of God," and almost
+immediately expired.
+
+The readers of history have frequent occasion to be surprised at the
+sudden and total change which often takes place at the moment of the
+death of a mighty sovereign, and even sometimes before his death, in the
+indications of the respect and consideration with which his attendants
+and followers regard him. In William's case, as has happened in many
+other cases since, the moment he ceased to breathe he was utterly
+abandoned. Every body fled, carrying with them, as they went, whatever
+they could seize from the chamber--the arms, the furniture, the dresses,
+and the plate; for all these articles became their perquisites on the
+decease of their master. The almost incredible statement is made that
+the heartless monsters actually stripped the dead body of their
+sovereign, to make sure of all their dues, and left it naked on the
+stone floor, while they bore their prizes to a place of safety. The
+body lay in this neglected state for many hours; for the tidings of the
+great monarch's death, which was so sudden at last, produced, as it
+spread, universal excitement and apprehension. No one knew to what
+changes the event would lead, what wars would follow between the sons,
+or what insurrections or rebellions might have been secretly formed, to
+break out suddenly when this crisis should have arrived. Thus the whole
+community were thrown into a state of excitement and confusion.
+
+The monk and lay brethren of the monastery at length came in, took up
+the body, and prepared it for burial. They then brought crosses, tapers,
+and censers, and began to offer prayers and to chant requiems for the
+repose of the soul of the deceased. They sent also the Archbishop of
+Rouen, to know what was to be done with the body. The archbishop gave
+orders that it should be taken to Caen, and be deposited there in the
+monastery which William had erected at the time of his marriage.
+
+The tale which the ancient historians have told in respect to the
+interment is still more extraordinary, and more inconsistent with all
+the ideas we naturally form of the kind of consideration and honor which
+the remains of so great a potentate would receive at the hands of his
+household and his officers of state, than the account of his death. It
+is said that all the members of his household, and all his officers,
+immediately after his decease, abandoned the town--all eagerly occupied
+in plans and maneuvers to secure their positions under the new reign.
+Some went in pursuit of Robert, and some to follow William Rufus. Henry
+locked up his money in a strong box, well ironed, and went off with it
+to find some place of security. There was nobody left to take the
+neglected body to the grave.
+
+At last a countryman was found who undertook to transport the heavy
+burden from Rouen to Caen. He procured a cart, and conveyed it from the
+monastery to the river, where it was put on board a vessel, and taken
+down the Seine to its mouth, and thence by sea to Caen. The Abbot of St.
+Stephen's, which was the name of William's monastery there, came, with
+some monks and a procession of the people, to accompany the body to the
+abbey. As this procession was moving along, however, a fire broke out in
+the town, and the attendants, actuated either by a sense of duty
+requiring them to aid in extinguishing the flames, or by curiosity to
+witness the conflagration, abandoned the funeral cortege. The
+procession was broken up, and the whole multitude, clergy and laity,
+went off to the fire, leaving the coffin, with its bearers, alone. The
+bearers, however, went on, and conveyed their charge to the church
+within the abbey walls.
+
+When the time arrived for the interment, a great company assembled to
+witness the ceremonies. Stones had been taken up in the church floor,
+and a grave dug. A stone coffin, a sort of sarcophagus, had been
+prepared, and placed in the grave as a receptacle for the body. When all
+was ready, and the body was about to be let down, a man suddenly came
+forward from the crowd and arrested the proceedings. He said that the
+land on which the abbey stood belonged to him; that William had taken
+forcible possession of it, for the abbey, at the time of his marriage;
+that he, the owner, had been compelled thus far to submit to this wrong,
+inasmuch as he had, during William's life-time, no means of redress, but
+now he protested against a spoliation. "The land," he said, "is mine; it
+belonged to my father. I have not sold it, or forfeited it, nor pledged
+it, nor given it. It is my right. I claim it. In the name of God, I
+forbid you to put the body of the spoiler there, or to cover him with my
+ground."
+
+When the excitement and surprise which this denunciation had awakened
+had subsided a little, the bishops called this sudden claimant aside,
+examined the proofs of his allegations, and, finding that the case was
+truly as he stated it, they paid him, on the spot, a sum equal to the
+value of ground enough for a grave, and promised to take immediate
+measures for the payment of the rest. The remonstrant then consented
+that the interment might proceed.
+
+In attempting to let the body down into the place prepared for it, they
+found that the sarcophagus was too small. They undertook to force the
+body in. In attempting this, the coffin was broken, and the body,
+already, through the long delays, advanced in decomposition, was burst.
+The monks brought incense and perfumes, and burned and sprinkled them
+around the place, but in vain. The church was so offensive that every
+body abandoned it at once, except the workmen who remained to fill the
+grave.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While these things were transpiring in Normandy, William Rufus had
+hastened to England, taking with him the evidences of his father's
+dying wish that he should succeed him on the English throne. Before he
+reached head-quarters there, he heard of his father's death, and he
+succeeded in inducing the Norman chieftains to proclaim him king.
+Robert's friends made an effort to advance his claims, but they could do
+nothing effectual for him, and so it was soon settled, by a treaty
+between the brothers, that William Rufus should reign in England, while
+Robert was to content himself with his father's ancient domain of
+Normandy.
+
+                              THE END.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+1. Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors, and to
+ensure consistent spelling and punctuation in this etext; otherwise,
+every effort has been made to remain true to the original book.
+
+2. The chapter summaries in this text were originally published as
+banners in the page headers, and have been moved to beginning of the
+chapter for the reader's convenience.
+
+3. Page numbering in the list of engravings for the "Map of Normandy"
+has been changed from 189 to 190, to be consistent with the change
+needed in the HTML version of this book.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William the Conqueror, by Jacob Abbott
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