came from Normandy to England. Alfred was blinded and died of his wounds; Edward escaped. For this cruel deed the Normans hated the English, and held the family of Godwin responsible. Harold was succeeded in 1040 by Hardicanute. He sent to Normandy for his half-brother Edward; and when he suddenly died, in 1042, the English went back to the old line, and chose Edward, the son of Ethelred and Emma, as their king.

DATES OF CHIEF GENERAL EVENTS BEefore thE NORMAN CONQUEST.

:

c. 950

First invasion of the Northmen

Egbert becomes King of all England

Treaty of Chippenham

Reconquest of the Dane-law...

...

Strathclyde conquered and given to the King of Scots
Lothian granted to King of Scots
Establishment of Danish dynasty
Restoration of the English line

1042

CHAPTER V.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST.

Edward the

.Confessor.

EDWARD was not a vigorous king; he had little authority, while the great earls grew more and more powerful, and their alliances and quarrels make up the chief part of the history of his reign. The most powerful families were those of Godwin, Earl of Wessex, Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and Siward, Earl of Northumbria. Edward married Edith, the daughter of Earl Godwin, which added to the consequence of that house. Godwin had many sons, of whom the most notable were Harold and Tostig.

His fondness

Edward had been brought up in Normandy, and he was naturally fond of Norman life and manners. In those days the Normans were in many ways more refined than the English, and their clergy were better educated. Edward, there- for Normans. fore, was wishful to bring over to England what he could of Norman civilization. He spoke French himself, and soon filled his court with French-speaking Normans. Some of these he placed in high offices in Church and State. Robert of Jumièges, a Norman, became Bishop of London and then Archbishop of Canterbury. Foreign merchants crowded to London, and it seemed as if the power of the English was passing into Norman hands, and that English customs were to be changed for Norman. Doubtless there was much to be said for adopting the manners of the Normans where they were an improvement, but it was not to be expected that the English would like it. Accordingly there was much discontent, and Godwin and his sons set themselves at the head of the English party.

Matters came to a head in 1051. In that year Eustace of Boulogne, who was returning from a visit to his brother-in-law Edward, marched into Dover as though it were a conquered

D

town, and quartered his men on the inhabitants. The men of Banishment of Dover resisted, and a fight followed, in which some of the Godwins. the strangers were slain. Edward called on Godwin, as Earl of Wessex, to punish the rioters. He refused, and Edward called on Leofric of Mercia and Siward of Northumbria to help him against Godwin. A meeting of the wise men was called, and Godwin and Harold were outlawed. Godwin went to Bruges in Flanders, Harold to Ireland, and Edith, the king's wife, was shut up in a monastery.

Visit of William of Normandy.

While Godwin and Harold were away, Edward received a visit from William, Duke of Normandy. Emma, Edward's mother, was William's great-aunt, but he himself had no bloodrelationship with the English royal family. William found Normans around the king; he saw that Normans held great places in Church and State, he heard French spoken on every side, and, being an ambitious man, he conceived the idea of making himself King of England. For a Norman, there was nothing out of the common in this. At that very time one Norman was establishing himself as ruler of southern Italy; it was only ten years since a Northman had reigned in England; and there was no likelihood that he would meet with a very formidable resistance, now that Godwin and Harold had been removed. It is said that Edward made a promise of the crown to William. This he had no right to do, because the election was in the hands of the witena-gemot; but William returned home well satisfied.

In the next year, however, the scene was changed. Godwin and Return of God- Harold came back, and the king was forced to make win and expul- terms with them. Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury, and most of the Frenchmen were expelled, and Stigand, an Englishman, was made archbishop in his stead.

sion of the Normans.

The house of Godwin was now supreme. Godwin died in 1053, but his son Harold became Earl of Wessex; and in 1055, on the death of Siward, Tostig became Earl of Northumbria. Supremacy of the family of Harold and Tostig made war against the Welsh, while Edward remained at home in his palace. The whole power of the kingdom seemed to be falling into their hands, when Tostig by his bad conduct made himself so unpopular that the Northumbrians expelled him, and made Morcar, a grandson of

Godwin.

Leofric, their earl. His brother Edwin had become Earl of Mercia, so that the chief power in the kingdom was divided between Harold, Edwin, and Morcar. A year after the expulsion of Tostig, Edward died, in 1066. He was called the Confessor on account of his piety; but he was a very feeble king.

Election of a successor.

At the death of Edward it was very difficult to choose a successor. Of the direct English line, there was living the Atheling, or Prince Edgar, grandson of Edmund Ironside; but he was quite a boy at the time, and even when he became a man his character was weak. It was pretty certain that William of Normandy would try to seize the throne, so the English wise men determined to pass over Edgar, and make Harold, the son of Godwin, who had taken the lead against the Normans, king.

Accordingly, Harold became king in 1066; and his whole reign was made up of a struggle to keep the crown against

William the Norman.

Harold II.

William's pretexts for

invasion.

William had no difficulty in finding pretexts for attacking Harold. He had really no claim at all; but he declared that he was Edward's appointed heir, and on that plea demanded the crown. Against Edgar Atheling he could have said little or nothing, but it happened that he could make a very plausible case against Harold. Harold had once been wrecked on the coast of Normandy, and had been tricked by William into taking a particularly solemn oath to be his man, and also, it was said, not to stand in the way of William's claims to the crown. Again, Harold and his brothers had incurred the hostility of the Normans by their resistance to foreigners. The Normans, too, wished to take revenge for the murder of Alfred. The blessing of the Pope was obtained on the ground that Stigand had been wrongly consecrated on the expulsion of the Norman, Robert, and also had received his pallium, or archbishop's cloak, from a rival pope.

Each of these pleas was weak enough by itself, but when they were all bound together they made a most formidable bundle; and when they were presented to the Norman knights, who dreamt of dukedoms and earldoms in England, they were received as indisputable, while a crowd of foreign adventurers flocked to William's banner, to join in the spoliation of England.

Preparations

of Harold.

On his side, Harold was not idle. He led the fyrd, or militia, to the south coast and fortified some of the important posts, while he himself, with his huscarls, or bodyguard, any one of whom was said to be a match for two ordinary men, was ready to hurry to the point attacked.

Tostig and Harold Hard

Unfortunately, William was not Harold's only enemy. His brother Tostig was disgusted at not being put back into his earldom Invasion of of Northumbria, and was now cruising about the coast ready to make an attack. While so doing he fell in rada. with the ships of Harold Hardrada, King of Norway. This Harold was a typical Northman; he had served in the Norman guard of the Emperor of the East at Constantinople, and had been to Egypt and gained a great reputation by slaying a crocodile. He agreed to help Tostig, and they sailed up the Humber to attack York. Morcar and his brother Edwin, who had come to his assistance, were defeated at the battle of Fulford on September 20. Harold marched to help them, and attacked Tostig and the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on the Yorkshire Derwent. Harold offered his brother a third of his kingdom, but Tostig refused to desert his allies, and the battle began. In the end the invaders were defeated, and Tostig and Harold Hardrada were both slain. The battle was fought September 25, and three days afterwards William of Normandy landed at Pevensey.

Harold's victory at Stamford

Bridge.

Harold at once set off to meet him, and it was only fair that Harold's march Edwin and Morcar should give their best aid;

ery of Edwin

south. but, though Harold had married their sister, they Selfish treach- refused to do so; and so Harold, taking with him his and Morcar. huscarls, was obliged to go by himself. On his way he raised the fyrd of Kent, Essex, and East Anglia, and led them, with the Londoners, against William.

The battleground.

Between Pevensey and London are two ridges of downs, one near the coast, the other much nearer the Thames, and between them lay, in those days, the forest tract of the weald. Probably it would have been better for Harold to have fought William on that ridge which is further inland, as William would then have had a long march through difficult country, while Harold would have been nearer to his friends.