peared off the south coast of England with five-andtwenty ships. They landed at Sandwich, and carried off a great booty, and then, sailing westward, harried the Isle of Wight. Afterwards we find them ravaging the coast of Essex. By this time the King and his earls had collected a fleet. But it was too late. The pirates sailed away, and reached in safety the harbours of Flanders.

In the following year another Danish fleet, this time from the settlements of that race in Ireland, appeared off the English coast, and sailed up the Bristol Channel. King Griffith of Wales gladly made alliance with them, and in their company invaded England. In default, it would seem, of any lay leader, Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester, hastily raised a force from Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. But the Herefordshire men were probably in great part Welsh in race and sympathy. Anyhow, there were traitors in the camp. A message was conveyed to Griffith suggesting an attack. Early in the morning the Welsh prince and his Danish allies fell upon the camp, and the bishop had to fly for his life.

This seeming revival of Danish piracy did not, however, prevent the repeal of a tax of which we have already heard several times under its name of Danegeld. This repeal took place in 1050.

The next year a great revolution was effected. Earl Godwin was banished from England. Edward's sister, Godgiva, or Goda, had taken as her second. husband, Eustace, Count of Boulogne. This nobleman now came on a visit to his brother-in-law. On his way back to his own country he passed through

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the town of Dover. His train had armed themselves before entering the town, probably anticipating the unfriendly reception which they got. The townsmen refused to give them quarters, according to one account. According to another, they behaved as though they could deal at their pleasure with the property of the inhabitants. Whatever the cause, a quarrel arose. A Frank wounded a citizen of Dover, and was slain by him. A serious conflict followed. Many were slain on both sides, and finally the Franks were expelled from the town. Eustace made his way to Edward, who was at Gloucester, and complained of the conduct of the citizens of Dover; and Edward, seemingly without waiting to hear the other side, sent an order to Earl Godwin to punish the town. Godwin refused to obey, and, in his turn, laid before the King the grievances which the English people had against the foreigners, who were now beginning to hold many high dignities, civil and ecclesiastical, throughout the kingdom, and who not unfrequently behaved with much insolence. The King was ill disposed to listen to these complaints. According to one account, Robert the Norman, Archbishop of Canterbury, was especially active in turning him against Godwin. Once more the old charge of having brought about the death of the Atheling Alfred was brought up against him. Godwin demanded. an audience for himself and his sons; he offered to clear himself on oath in the matter of Alfred. The King refused both requests. Meanwhile a General Assembly had been ordered to meet at Gloucester. Godwin and his sons came with an armed force to

support their claims, though they did not actually enter the city. The northern earls, on the other hand, attended to support the King. Godwin's demand was that Count Eustace and other Frenchmen should be handed over to him. The demand was of course refused. Still peace was preserved, and the assembly was adjourned for a month to meet at London. Once more Godwin and his sons attended in force, this time taking up a position at Southwark. Leofric of Mercia and the other northern earls were also present. But Godwin's men began to leave him. He was summoned to appear before the assembly. His demand for hostages who were to ensure his safety was refused, and he and his sons were ordered to leave the kingdom within five days. He hastened with his wife and his sons, Sweyn, Tostig, and Gurth, to his estates in Sussex, and from thence embarked with all the treasure that he could collect, and sought refuge in Flanders. Harold and another brother fled to Ireland. So complete was the downfall of the house of Godwin that Edward sent away his own wife, who was committed to the charge of the Abbess of Wherwell. The Norman party hastened to secure the spoil. A Saxon bishop was expelled from the see of London to make room for a Norman. Another Norman, Oddo by name, had the earldom of the western counties, the region that had been West Wales in the past, bestowed on him. Harold's carldom of East Anglia was given to the son of one of the King's chief supporters, Leofric of Mercia.

THE SUPREMACY OF HAROLD.

THE banishment of Godwin and his family did not last very long. A great part of England, and that part the richest and most civilized, was strongly in favour of them. It was only by the help of the northern earls that the King had prevailed over them; and the northern earls could not always be at hand. to support him against the people in the midst of whom he dwelt. Godwin petitioned to be allowed to return; Baldwin of Flanders and the King of France sent embassies on his behalf. Edward would not listen to them. He had his favourite Normans round him, and he knew that if Godwin returned he should have to part with many of them. Then Godwin tried force. Harold and Leofwine his brother sailed from Ireland, and landed in Somersetshire. A hasty levy of the country people was raised to meet them. Harold was victorious in the battle that followed, and as many as thirty thanes on the beaten side were slain. It was an unlucky affair, and could not have helped the cause of the Godwin family. Probably Harold had landed to collect provisions, and was compelled to fight in self-defence. Meanwhile Godwin had been trying the temper of the