five nights to go out of the land. And then Godwin the earl and Sweyn the earl went to Bosham, and shoved out their ships, and betook themselves beyond sea, and sought the protection of Baldwin [earl of Flanders], and abode there all the winter. And Harold the earl went west to Ireland, and was there all the winter with the king's protection. And soon after this happened, then put away the king the lady [Editha, Godwin's daughter) who had been consecrated his queen, and caused to be taken from her all which she possessed, in land, and in gold, and in silver, and in all things, and delivered her to his sister at Wherwell. And abbot Sparhafoc was then driven out of the bishopric of London, and William, the king's priest, was ordained thereto. And then Odda was appointed earl over Devonshire, and over Somerset, and over Dorset, and over the Welsh [Cornish]. And Algar, the son of Leofric the earl, was appointed to the earldom which Harold before held.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENGLISH BEFORE THE CONQUEST.

Source.-William of Malmesbury (died about 1142), Gesta Regum, book iii. Translated by J. A. Giles. Bohn's Library. England had long since adopted the manners of the Angles which had been very various according to the times: for in the first years of their arrival, they were barbarians in their look and manners, warlike in their usages, heathens in their rites; but after embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees and in process of time, from the peace they enjoyed, regarding arms only in a secondary light, they gave their whole attention to religion. I say nothing of the poor, the meanness of whose fortune often restrains them from overstepping the bounds of justice: I omit men of ecclesiastical rank, whom sometimes respect to their profession, and sometimes the fear of shame, suffer not to deviate from the truth: I speak of princes, who from the greatness of their power might have full liberty to indulge in pleasure; some of whom in their own country, and others at Rome, changing their habit, obtained a heavenly kingdom and a saintly intercourse. Many during their whole 449-1066

8

lives in outward appearance only embraced the present world, in order that they might exhaust their treasures on the poor or divide them amongst monasteries. What shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits, and abbots? Does not the whole island blaze with such numerous relics of its natives that you can scarcely pass a village of any consequence but you hear the name of some new saint, besides the numbers of whom all notices have perished through the want of records? Nevertheless, in process of time, the desire after literature and religion had decayed for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy, contented with a very slight degree of learning, could scarcely stammer out the words of the Sacraments; and a person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. The monks mocked the rule of their order by fine clothing, and the use of every kind of food. The nobility, given up to luxury and wantonness, went not to church in the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely in a careless manner heard mattins and masses from a hurrying priest in their chambers.... The commonalty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful, who amassed fortunes by either seizing on their property or by selling their persons into foreign countries; although it be an innate quality of this people to be more inclined to revelling than to the accumulation of wealth.... Drinking in particular was a universal practice, in which occupation they passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed their whole substance in mean and despicable houses, unlike the Normans and French, who in noble and splendid mansions lived in frugality. The vices attendant on drunkenness, which enervate the human mind, followed; hence it arose that, engaging William more with rashness and precipitate fury than military skill, they doomed themselves and their country to slavery by one and that an easy victory. In fine, the English at that time wore short garments reaching to the mid-knee; they had their hair cropped, their beards shaven, their arms laden with golden bracelets, their skin adorned with punctured designs. They were accustomed to eat till they became surfeited, and to drink till they were sick.

These latter qualities they imparted to their conquerors; as to the rest they adopted their manners. I would not, however, have these bad propensities universally ascribed to the English. I know that many of the clergy at that day trod the path of sanctity by a blameless life; I know that many of the laity of all ranks and conditions in this nation were pleasing to God. Be injustice far from this account; the accusation does not involve the whole indiscriminately.

A NORMAN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS (1066).

Source. William of Malmesbury (died about 1142), Gesta Regum, book iii. Translated by J. A. Giles. Bohn's Library. The courageous leaders mutually prepared for battle, each according to his national custom. The English, as we have heard, passed the night without sleep, in drinking and singing, and, in the morning, proceeded without delay towards the enemy; all were on foot, armed with battle-axes, and covering themselves in front by the junction of their shields, they formed an impenetrable body, which would have secured their safety that day, had not the Normans, by a feigned flight, induced them to open their ranks, which till that time, according to their custom, were closely compacted. The king himself on foot, stood, with his brother, near the standard, in order that, while all shared equal danger, none might think of retreating. This standard William sent after the victory to the Pope; it was sumptuously embroidered, with gold and precious stones, in the form of a man fighting. On the other side, the Normans passed the whole night in confessing their sins, and received the Sacrament in the morning. Their infantry, with bows and arrows, formed the vanguard, while their cavalry divided into wings, were thrown back. The earl, with serene countenance, declaring aloud that God would favour his, as being the righteous side, called for his arms; and presently when, through the hurry of his attendants, he had put on his hauberk the hind part before, he corrected the mistake with a laugh, saying: "My dukedom shall be turned into a kingdom." beginning the song of

Then

Roland, that the warlike example of that man might stimulate the soldiers, and calling on God for assistance, the battle commenced on both sides. They fought with ardour, neither giving ground, for great part of the day. Finding this, William gave a signal to his party, that, by a feigned flight, they should retreat. Through this device the close body of the English, opening for the purpose of cutting down the straggling enemy, brought upon itself swift destruction; for the Normans, facing about, attacked them thus disordered, and compelled them to fly. In this manner, deceived by a stratagem, they met an honourable death in avenging their country; nor indeed were they at all wanting to their own revenge, as, by frequently making a stand, they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps: for, getting possession of an eminence, they drove down the Normans, when roused with indignation and anxiously striving to gain the higher ground, into the valley beneath, where easily hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below, they destroyed them to a man. Besides, by a short passage with which they were acquainted, avoiding a deep ditch, they trod underfoot such a multitude of their enemies in that place, that they made the hollow level with the plain by the heaps of carcases. This vicissitude of first one party conquering, and then the other, prevailed as long as the life of Harold continued; but when he fell, his brain pierced by an arrow, the flight of the English ceased not until night. The valour of both leaders was here eminently conspicuous. Harold, not merely content with the duty of a general in exhorting others, diligently entered into every soldier-like office; often would he strike the enemy when coming to close quarters, so that none could approach him with impunity; for immediately the same blow levelled both horse and rider. Wherefore, as I have related, receiving the fatal arrow from a distance, he yielded to death. One of the soldiers with a sword gashed his thigh as he lay prostrate; for which shameful and cowardly action, he was branded with ignominy by William, and dismissed the service. William, too, was equally ready to encourage by his voice and by his presence; to be the first to rush forward; to attack

the thickest of the foe. Thus everywhere raging, everywhere furious, he lost three choice horses, which were that day pierced under him. The dauntless spirit and vigour of the intrepid general, however, still persisted, though often called back by the kind remonstrance of his bodyguard; he still persisted, I say, till approaching night crowned him with complete victory. And no doubt the hand of God so protected him that the enemy should draw no blood from his person, though they aimed so many javelins at him. This was a fatal day to England, a melancholy havoc of our dear country, through its change of masters.

THE LAST OF THE NORTHMEN AND OF THE
ENGLISH (1066).

Source.-Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Translated by J. A. Giles.
Bohn's Library.

ANNO 1066.-In this year King Harold came from York to Westminster, at that Easter which was after the midwinter in which the king died. . . . Then was over all England such a token seen in the heavens as no man ever before saw. Some men said that it was Cometa the star, which some men call the haired star; and it appeared first on the eve Litania Major, the 8th before the Kalends of May, and so shone all the seven nights. And soon after came in Tostig the earl from beyond the sea into the Isle of Wight, with so great a fleet as he might procure; and there they yielded him as well money as food. And King Harold, his brother, gathered so great a ship force, and also a land force, as no king here in the land had before done; because it was made known to him that William the bastard would come hither and win this land; all as it afterwards happened. And the while, came Tostig the earl into Humber with sixty ships; and Edwin the earl came with a land force and drove him out. And the boatmen forsook him; and he went to Scotland with twelve vessels. And there met him Harold King of Norway with three hundred ships; and Tostig submitted to him and became his man. And they then went both into Humber until they came to York; and there fought against them Edwin the earl