VI. between the Danish and Norman conquests. Writers CHAP. were induced to view his character with more par- A.D. 1066. tiality from the hatred with which they looked on his successors and predecessors. They were foreigners, he was a native; they held the crown by conquest, he by descent; they ground to the dust the slaves whom they had made, he became known to his countrymen only by his benefits. Hence he appeared to shine with a purer light amid the gloom with which he was surrounded; and whenever the people under the despotism of the Norman kings had an opportunity of expressing their real wishes, they constantly called for "the laws and customs of the good King Edward.” He was the first of our princes who touched for the king's evil. The surname of "the Confessor" was given to him from the bull of his canonization, issued by Alexander III., about a century after his decease. HAROLD. By the death of Edward, Edgar the Etheling became the last surviving male of the race of Cerdic; but, if his claim were ever mentioned, it was instantly abandoned. A report had been circulated that Edward, on his death-bed, had appointed Harold to be his successor. He was proclaimed king in an assembly of the thanes and of the citizens of London; and Jan. 6th. the next day witnessed both the funeral of the late, and the coronation of the new sovereign. On account 1 Quia puer tanto honori minus idoneus videbatur.—Alur. Riev. 336. 2 I am much inclined to believe this report, not only on the testimony of the English writers (Chron. Sax. 172. Hoved, 449. Eadmer, 5. Sim. Dun. 193. Al. Bev. 126. Flor. 633. Hist. Elien. 515); but because its truth is acknowledged by the enemies of Harold. Edvardi dono in ipsius fine.-Guil. Pict. 135. Ægrotus princeps concessit.-Order. Vit. 492. CHAP. of the suspension of Stigand, the ceremony was perA.D. 1066. formed by Aldred, the archbishop of York.1 VI. To Edgar, in lieu of the crown, was given the earldom . of Oxford. The southern counties cheerfully acquiesced in the succession of Harold; he was alarmed and perplexed by the hesitation of the Northumbrians. Their pride refused to be bound by the act of those whose military qualities they deemed inferior to their own; and they looked around for a chieftain, who would solicit their aid, and accept the crown from their hands. Harold hastened into the north; instead of an army he was accompanied by Wulstan, the venerable bishop of Worcester; by whose influence, combined with his own conciliatory conduct, he soon won the affections, and secured the obedience of the Northumbrians. His marriage with Editha, the daughter of Alfgar, bound to his interest her two brothers, the powerful earls Morcar and Edwin.o The intelligence both of the death of Edward, and of the immediate coronation of Harold had been conveyed to Normandy by the same messenger. William assembled his council, informed them of the event, and expressed his determination to pursue by arms his pretensions to the crown of England. An envoy was despatched to remind Harold of his former oath of 1 Ingulf, 68. Flor. 633. Hist. Elien. 515. In a fact, which publicly took place in England, the native writers are more entitled to credit than foreigners. The Normans say Harold was crowned by Stigand (non sancta consecratione Stigandi.-Guil. Pict. 105); and the statement is supported by the figures on the tapestry of Bayeux (Lancelot, 421). But they give us only the reports prevalent in Normandy; and William, anxious to interest the religion of his subjects in his own favour, would readily countenance the notion that his rival had been crowned by a suspended prelate. 2 Ang. Sac. ii. 253. WILLIAM CLAIMS THE CROWN. 361 CHAP. fealty, and promise of assistance. The king replied; that the oath had been extorted from him by force; A.D. 1066. that a promise to give a crown which did not belong to him, could not be binding; that he had been elected king by the free suffrage of the people; and that, when it should come to the trial, he would prove himself worthy of their choice. The message was such as Harold, the answer such as William, expected. Each had already determined to appeal to the sword; and the English no less than the Normans were astonished at the mighty preparations made to decide the important quarrel.' It was unfortunate for Harold that he had to contend at the same time not only with William, but with his brother Tostig, the exiled earl of Northumberland, in whom he experienced a most bitter and enterprising adversary. The outlaw visited Normandy, and arranged a plan of co-operation with the duke; he sent messengers to the northern princes, and engaged the assistance of Harald Hardrada, the king of Norway; he collected a fleet of sixty sail at Bruges, and entering the Channel began the war by levying contributions in the Isle of Wight. But he retired upon the approach of his brother, and sailing round the south foreland, directed his course to the north. In Lindesey he was defeated by Edwin; his mariners abandoned him in his distress; and Malcolm, king of Scotland, afforded him an asylum till the arrival of his Norwegian ally. The armament under Hardrada was not ready for sea till the month of August; when the Norwegian monarch, leaving the regency of the Ing. 68. Eadm. 5. Matt. Paris. Malm. 56. 2 Chron. Sax. 172. Malm. 52. Order. Vit. apud Duchesne, 469, 492. Hunt. 210. Snorre, iii. 146. VI. CHAP. kingdom to his son Magnus, embarked with his family A.D. 1066. and a gallant army in a fleet of three hundred sail. His queen Elizabeth and her two daughters, fearing the dangers of the campaign, were set on shore at the Orkneys; and Hardrada, according to agreement, was joined by Tostig with a few ships at the mouth of the Tyne. Their first object was to obtain possession of York; and with this view they entered the Humber and ascended the Ouse. A desperate attempt to save that capital was made at Fulford by the earls Edwin Sept. 20th. and Morcar. The Norwegian had drawn up his men with their right flank to the river, and their left to a morass. The impetuosity of the English burst through the line; but they in their turn were overwhelmed by a fresh body of forces from the ships; and more of the fugitives perished in the water than had fallen by the sword. Edwin and Morcar escaped to York; negotiations were opened; and the mutual exchange of one hundred and fifty hostages shows, that the province was conditionally surrendered to the invaders.1 Harold had completed his preparations, and having selected a position between Pevensey and Hastings, awaited with confidence the threatened descent of the Norman. The unexpected invasion of Hardrada disconcerted his projects. Trusting, however, to his fortune, and encouraged by the tempestuous state of the weather, he lost not a moment in marching against the aggressor, and arrived in the neighbourhood of York within four days after the late battle. Unconscious of danger, Hardrada had left one part of his forces on board the fleet, while he marched with 1 Chron. Sax. 172. Snorre, 153–152. Flor. 634. Higden, 284. BATTLE OF STANFORD BRIDGE. 363 VI. the other for the purpose of dividing and regulating CHAP. the province which he had conquered. In this em- A.D. 1066. ployment he was overtaken by the indefatigable Harold. Surprised, but not dismayed, the Norwegian sent three Sept. 27th. messengers to the fleet to hasten the march of his men, while he retired slowly to Stanford-bridge, on the Derwent. There he drew up his warriors in a compact but hollow circle. The royal standard occupied the centre; the circumference was composed of spearmen. The whole was surrounded by a line of spears firmly fixed in the earth, and pointed outwards in an oblique direction. 66 The Icelandic historian has preserved some curious anecdotes respecting this celebrated battle. Hardrada wore a blue mantle and a glittering helmet. As he rode round the circle, his horse fell. Who," exclaimed Harold, "is that chieftain on the ground?" Being told it was Hardrada. "He is," returned the king, "a gallant warrior; but his fall shows that his "fate is approaching." Soon afterwards a messenger came from the English monarch with an offer of the earldom of Northumberland to Tostig. "The pro 66 posal," said the outlaw, "should have been made "some months ago. But if I accept it, what will my "brother give to the king of Norway?" "Seven feet "of land for a grave," was the contemptuous reply. Tostig scorned to abandon his friend. The English cavalry were accustomed to charge in irregular masses; and, if they met with resistance, to disperse in every direction, and re-assemble upon a given point. The firm array of the Norwegians bade defiance to all their efforts; and Harold with his great superiority of force might yet have been foiled, had not the ardour of the enemy seduced them to break |