becomes his man ;" they burn Scarborough 3, and afterwards land near Selby.

Edwin and Morcar defeated at Fulford, near York, by Harold Hardrada and Tostig, Sept. 20.

The people about York submit to the Norwegians, and agree to assist them.

Harold advances from London by forced marches against them.

Harold arrives, and passes through York, Sept. 24*;

• The Heimskringla thus describes the burning of the town, which may give an idea of the mode in which warfare was then usually carried on: "The king went up a.hill and made a great pile upon it, which he set on fire, and when the pile was in clear flame, his men took large forks, and pitched the burning wood down into the town, so that one house caught fire after the other, and the town surrendered."

The castle of York surrendered on Sunday, September 24, and the Heimskringla says, the Norwegians retired to their ships, with the understanding that on the following day hostages were to be given them at Stanford-bridge. They landed accordingly in the morning; "the weather was uncommonly fine, and it was hot sunshine. The men therefore laid aside their armour, and went on the land with their shields, helmets, and spears, and girt with swords, and many had also arrows and bows, and all were very merry." An approaching crowd, at first taken for the hostages, was soon found to be the English army, and Tostig counselled a retreat to their ships, but his advice was rejected. Harold advanced with a small party, and offered the third of his kingdom to Tostig rather than fight with a brother, but refused more than a grave for the Norwegian king. Tostig declined to break faith with his ally, and when afterwards reproached by him for allowing his brother to withdraw in safety, is said to have made a reply, the noble sentiment of which, however it may redeem his own character, usually painted in such dark colours, affords no compensation for the evils that his invasion brought upon his country. "I saw," he said, "that he was going to offer me peace, and a great dominion, and that on the other hand I should be his murderer if I betrayed him; and I would rather he should be my murderer than I his, if one of the two be to die." Hardrada at once prepared for battle, merely making a remark which is worthy of preservation as one of our few notices of Harold's personal appearance: "He is a little man, but he sat firmly in his stirrups." He probably spoke with reference to his own stature, as Orderic tells us Harold was distinguished for his

he encounters the Norwegians at Stanford-bridge, where they are totally defeated, Sept. 25. Harold Hardrada and Tostig are slain, and "the king then gave his protection to Olaf, son of the king of the Norwegians, and to their bishop, and to the earl of Orkney, and to all those who were left in the ships; and they then went up to our king, and swore oaths that they ever would observe peace and friendship towards this land, and the king let them go home with twenty-four ships."

William of Normandy sails from St. Valery, Sept. 26, and arrives at Pevensey, Sept. 28, "on the eve of St. Michael's mass"." The Normans fortify a camp near Hastings, and from it plunder the country.

Harold, hearing of their arrival, marches southward, and arrives in sight of their position, Oct. 13.

The battle of Hastings, Oct. 14. "William came against Harold unawares, before his people were set in order. But the king nevertheless strenuously fought against him with those men who would follow him; and there was great slaughter made on either hand. There was slain King Harold, and Leofwin the earl, his brother, and Gyrth the earl, his brother, and many good men; and the Frenchmen had possession of the place of carnage, all as God granted them for the people's sins . . . . . This fight was done on the day of Calixtus the popex."

great size and strength, also for his polished manners, firmness, eloquence, ready wit, and " many other excellent qualities."

■ Another MS. of the Saxon Chronicle says, "St. Michael's-massaay;" Norman authors, too, differ in their dates for the sailing of the fleet; but there is no real contradiction, as so large a force could hardly be embarked or disembarked in a single day.

The Chronicle of Wales relates the brief reign of Harold in a

The Normans return to Hastings, expecting the submission of the Saxons.

Edgar Atheling is meanwhile chosen king at London, as was his true natural right."

William the Norman, seeing the people do not come in to him, goes upward, "with all his army which was left to him, and that which afterwards had come from over sea to him; and he plundered all that part which he overran, until he came to Berkhampstead."

Archbishop Aldred, of York2, Edgar Atheling, Edwin and Morcar, and all the chief men of London, meet him there and submit to him; "and he vowed to them that he would be a loving lord to them; and nevertheless, during this, the Frenchmen plundered all that they overran."

very different spirit; but it must be remembered that he had been their conqueror. "Harold king of Denmark meditated the subjection of the Saxons; whom another Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, who was then king in England, surprised, unexpectedly and unarmed, and by sudden attack, aided by national treachery, struck him to the ground, and caused his death. That Harold who, at first earl through cruelty, after the death of King Edward unduly acquired the sovereignty of the kingdom of England, was despoiled of his kingdom and life by William the Bastard, duke of Normandy, though previously vauntingly victorious. And that William defended the kingdom of England with an invincible hand, and his most noble army."

He seems to have been considered as king for some time after the fatal battle of Hastings, for upon the death of Leofric, abbot of Peterborough, on Nov. 1, Brand the provost was chosen to succeed him, and sent for approval to Edgar, "who granted it him then blithely. When King William heard that, then was he very wroth, and said that the abbot had despised him: then went good men between them, and reconciled them, by reason that the abbot was a good man. Then gave he the king forty marks of gold for a reconciliation; and then thereafter lived he a little while, but three years. After that came every evil and every tribulation to the minsterGod have mercy on it!"

He had been bishop of Worcester, but was removed to York, shortly after his return from his pilgrimage. See p. 144.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND

GOVERNMENT.

THIS, the closing period of the Anglo-Saxon rule, appears the proper place for a brief sketch of the social and political state of their commonwealth, such as may be deduced from what remains to us of its laws and institutes. These laws are manifestly only a very small portion of the jurisprudence of our forefathers, but their provisions establish the fact that their state was one in which the ranks of society were accurately defined, and the rights of property strictly guarded.

The earliest of these documents is a code issued (circa 600) by Ethelbert of Kent, which, though commencing with a provision for the protection of the property of God and the Church, gives no other evidence of proceeding from a Christian ruler, being probably little else than a summary of the laws prevailing in heathen times; it imposes penalties for slaying, for housebreaking, for highway robbery, and for personal injuries, which are minutely detailed, and defines the portions of widows and orphans. Lothaire and Edric of Kent (circa 680) add directions for conducting lawsuits, make

a See p. 60.

The term used is "God's fee," but whether tithes are included has been disputed. It is, however, quite certain that tithes existed in England in the time of Archbishop Theodore (A.D. 669 to 690); and the laws ascribed to Edward the Confessor speak of them as claimed by Augustine and conceded by the king, with the approba tion of the chiefs and people, which is probably true, though no direct evidence of the fact has come down to us. • See p. 68.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

155

hosts responsible for the conduct of strangers who had resided three days with them, and forbid quarrels and slander.

The laws of Wihtred of Kent (circa 696 ), present the first distinct picture of a Christian state in our island. They grant to the Church freedom from imposts, forbid immorality and Sunday working, regulate fasting at certain times, and prohibit idolatry; they also contain severe enactments against thieves.

The "dooms" of the great Alfred were, as he himself informs us, a selection made by him and his witan from those which their forefathers held: he commences them with the decalogue and other portions of the Mosaic law, but he modifies their strictness, 66 as synods had ordained that secular lords, with their leave, might, without sin, take for almost every misdeed, for the first offence, the money-bote (compensation) which they then ordained, except in cases of treason against a lord, to which they dared not assign any mercy." Ina of Wessex and Offa of Mercia had issued laws, which were published with his own by Alfred, and through the whole runs one great distinction from the Mosaic law; for although avowedly basing all legislation on the Bible, blood for blood" is not the rule, but every homicide can be atoned for by a money payment (termed were) varying according to the rank of the parties.

Alfred is commonly spoken of as the great lawgiver of the Anglo-Saxon period, but he informs us that the laws which he promulgated contained but little of his

d See P. 70.

• See p. 163.

f Those of Offa are now lost.