Part 7 of 9

NOTE PP. p. 544. The Submission at Berkhampstead

1149. This process is graphically shown in the Tapestry, pl. 10; “Hic exeunt caballi de navibus.”

1150. Roman de Rou, 11711;

“Quant li Dus primes fors issi,

Sor sez dous palmes fors chaï;

Sempres i out levé grant cri

E distrent tuit: mal signe est ci;

Et il lor a en haut crié;

Seignors, par la resplendor Dé,

La terre ai as dous mainz seizie;

Sans chalenge n’iert maiz guerpie;

Tote est nostre quant qu’il i a;

Or verrai ki hardi serra.”

William of Malmesbury (iii. 238) seems to mix up this saying of the Duke’s with the saying of the soldier quoted directly afterwards; “In egressu navis pede lapsus, eventum in melius commutavit, acclamante sibi proximo milite, ‘Tenes,’ inquit, ‘Angliam, Comes, Rex futurus.’” Mr. Hardy in his note suspects, perhaps with reason, the whole story, on account of its likeness to the story of Cæsar (Suet. Julius, 59); “Prolapsus in egressu navis, verso ad melius omine, ‘Teneo te,’ inquit, ‘Africa.’”

1151. Roman de Rou, 11725;

“Sire, dist-il, avant venez,

Ceste saisine recevez;

De ceste terre vos saisis,

Vostre est sainz dote li païs.

E li Dus respont: Jo l’otrei,

E Dex i seit ensemle od mei.”

1152. Ib. 11636.

“Li rivage unt tuit porcacé,

Nul hoem armé n’i ont trové.”

1153. Ib. 11642.

“Ensemble vindrent al gravier,

Chescun armé sor son destrier.

Tuit orent ceintes les espées,

Et plain vindrent lances levées.”

The last word expresses the way of bearing the lance, not in the rest, but used overhand.

1154. William of Poitiers (127) says of the forts both at Pevensey and at Hastings, that they were “quæ sibi receptaculo, navibus propagnaculo forent.” So Guy (141);

“Littora custodis, metuens amittere naves,

Mœnibus et munis, castraque ponis ibi.”

This shows the falsehood of the story of William burning his ships, of which the first traces appear in Wace, 11731;

“Dunc fist à toz dire è crier,

Et as mariniers comander

Ke li nés fussent despécies,

A terre traites è percies,

Ke li coarz ne revertissent

Ne par li nés ne s’enfoïssent.”

William of Jumièges (vii. 34) certainly makes the most of the fort at Pevensey; “Statim firmissimo vallo castrum condidit, probisque militibus commisit.” The notion that some part of the Roman walls was made use of is suggested by the words of Guy (143);

“Diruta quæ fuerant dudum castella reformas;

Ponis custodes ut tueantur ea.”

1155. See the Tapestry, pl. 10. “Festinaverunt Hastinga ut cibum raperentur.” They are going as fast as the messengers sent to Guy of Ponthieu (see above, p. 225), but they are not bare-headed.

1156. See Appendix KK.

1157. The French Biographer of Eadward (4333) gives an amusing origin for the name. William

“Une tur ferme e renuvele,

Ke li Ducs Hastinges apele,

Hastivement ke fu fermée,

E pur co fu si appelée.”

1158. See vol. i. p. 382.

1159. See vol. ii. p. 106.

1160. See above, p. 404.

1161. Chron. Wig. “Hi ... worhton castel æt Hæstingaport.”

1162. William of Poitiers mentions the fortifications at Pevensey and at Hastings in the same breath. See above, p. 407. William of Jumièges, having mentioned that of Pevensey, goes on (vii. 34) to say, “Festinus Hastingas venit, ibique cito opere aliud firmavit.” (It must be this passage, or some other to the same effect, which suggested the grotesque bit of etymology which I have just quoted from the French Life of Eadward.) In the Tapestry (pl. 11) we see the Duke in consultation with his brothers; then follows, “Iste jussit ut foderetur castellum at Hastingaceastra.” The pickaxe and spade are being largely used, the “agger” is rising, and the buildings seem to be of wood. So Wace (11656);

“Par cunseil firent esgarder

Boen lieu à fort chastel garder.

Donc out des nés mairrien geté,

A la terre l’ont traïné,

Trestui percié i tut dolé;

Li cheviles tutes dolées

Orent en granz bariz portées;

Ainz ke il fust bien avespré,

En ont ut chastelet fermé.”

Wace’s confusion of geographical order must not be forgotten, but no doubt the description of one fort would do equally well for the other.

1163. Will. Fil. Steph. 193.

1164. Roman de Rou, 11602;

“De la flote ki fu si grant

E de la gent dont i out tant

N’i out ke dui nés perillies,

Ne sai s’el furent trop chargies.”

1165. Ib. 11697;

“En mer esteit, ço dist, néiéz

Et en un nef perilliéz.”

1166. Wace, 11697. William does not—as an invader, he could not—rise to the full greatness of the saying of Hektôr.

1167. Will. Pict. 139. “Illuc errore appulsos fera gens adorta prœlio, cum utriusque partis maximo detrimento, fuderat.” Benoît, 37682;

“Qu’arivé i out de sa gent,

Je ne sai par quel achaison;

Mais li Engleis pesme e felon

Les li ocistrent par pecchié.”

All we can see is that the encounter, however caused, happened before the great battle.

1168. See Appendix AA.

1169. On these systematic ravages, see Appendix DD.

1170. Wid. Amb. 147;

“Nec mirum, Regem quia te plebs stulta negabat,

Ergo perit justè, vadit et ad nihilum.”

We find the same sentiment in William of Poitiers’ account of the battle (134); “Stravit adversam gentem, quæ sibi, Regi suo, rebellans commeruit mortem.”

1171. See the graphic picture in pl. 10, where we find our friend Wadard. See Appendix A.

1172. Tapestry, pl. 11. “Hic domus incenditur.” So Guy of Amiens, 152; “Vulcano flammis depopulante domos.”

1173. Roman de Rou, 11751;

“Donc véissiez Engleiz foïr,

Bestes chacier, mezons guerpir;

As cemetieres tot atraient,

Et encor là forment s’esmaient.”

1174. Will. Pict. 131. “Accelerabat enim eò magis Rex furibundus, quod propinqua castris Normannorum vastari audierat.”

1175. See above, p. 9.

1176. William of Poitiers (128) introduces him as, “Dives quidam finium illorum inquilinus, natione Normannus, Rotbertus filius Wimaræ nobilis mulieris.” (Without this one would not have taken Wymarc for a female name.) Wace (11849) does not know his name;

“En la terre aveit un baron,

Maiz jo ne sai dire son non,

Ki mult aveit li Dus amé,

E se faiseit de li privé.”

So Benoît, 37050;

“Un produem riche e assazez

Qui de Normendie esteit nez,

Mais en cele terre maneit,

Ou richement se conteneit.”

There is nothing in the earlier narrative to imply that Robert had held any disloyal correspondence with William.

I cannot find that Robert held any lands in Sussex. See Ellis, ii. 206.

1177. Yet, if we place the message somewhat late in William’s stay at Hastings, the presence of Robert at Stamfordbridge is just possible.

1178. I suppose he is represented in the Tapestry, pl. 11; “Hic nuntiatum est Willelmo de Harold.”

1179. Will. Pict. 128. “Hastingas Duci, domino suo et consanguineo, nuntium destinavit.” The kinsfolk both of William and of Eadward are endless.

1180. Benoît, 37064;

“Coment Heraut s’ert combatuz

Qui ceus de Norwege out vencuz

Et ocis son frere e le rei,

E ceus qu’il amena od sei,

Où plus aveit de vint milliers.”

William of Poitiers (u. s.) only says “ingentes eorum exercitus delevit.”

1181. Benoît, 37070;

“Od plus a de cent mile armez.”

William again says only, “Animatus eo successu festinus redit in te, numerosissimum populum ducens ac robustissimum.”

1182. Will. Pict. u. s. “Prœliatus cum fratre proprio Rex Heraldus et cum Rege Noricorum, quo fortiorem sub cœlo nullum vivere opinio fuit.”

1183. Will. Pict. 128. “Adversus quem non ampliùs tuos quam totidem despectabiles canes æstimo valere.” See above, p. 334, for the reputation of the English Housecarls in Norway.

1184. Ib. “Prudens vir computaris, domi militiæque cuncta hactenus prudenter egisti.” The tone seems patronizing, but it perhaps expresses the general opinion of William up to this time. He had certainly been mainly remarkable for amazing prudence and amazing good luck, rather than for the winning of great battles.

1185. Ib. “Suadeo, inter munitiones mane, manu ad præsens confligere noli.”

1186. There are few cases in which we can better apply the familiar words of Thucydides (v. 105), μακαρίσαντες ὑμῶν τὸ άπειρόκακον οὐ ζηλοῦμεν τὸ ἄφρον.

1187. St. Luke xiv. 31.

1188. Will. Pict. 128. “Non me tutarer valli aut mœnium latebris, sed confligerem quamprimùm cum Heraldo.” He then goes on to make the statement about his numbers which I have quoted in p. 387.

1189. Ib. “‘Pro mandato,’ inquit, ‘quo mihi dominus tuus vult esse cautum, quamquam sine contumeliâ suadere decuerit, gratias ipsi et hæc refer.’”

1190. See above, p. 375.

1191. Roman de Rou, 11831;

“Un chastel i ont fermé

De bretesches è de fossé.”

1192. Ib. 11755;

“Un chevalier de la cuntrée

Oï la noise è la criée

Ke païsant è vilain firent,

Ki la grant flote arriver virent.”

1193. Ib. 11761;

“En dreit un tertre s’arestut,

Ke alquanz d’els ne l’aparçut;

Iloc s’estut, si esgarda

Coment la grant flote ariva.”

Wace’s account is of course confused by his primary blunder of reversing the geographical order, by making William land at Hastings, and thence go to Pevensey (see above, p. 400). His Thegn is therefore made to set out from Hastings, and the scene is apparently laid at Hastings. For Wace makes the Thegn hide himself behind a hill (“tertre”), which it would be easy to do at Hastings, but hard at Pevensey, as the mound of the later castle, then close to the landing-place, would hardly serve the purpose. The expression is clearly borrowed from Guy of Amiens’ description of his messenger from Hastings (149);

“Ex Anglis unus, latitans sub rupe marinâ.”

But a man who saw the actual landing, and at once started for York, must have started from Pevensey, and the fort which he saw thrown up must have been the fort at Pevensey, not the fort at Hastings. No doubt a messenger from Hastings, the messenger described by Guy of Amiens, would soon follow the messenger from Pevensey, and Wace, in his geographical confusion, rolled the two into one.

The words of Florence also would imply that news was brought straight from Pevensey; “Nuntiatum est ei Willelmum Comitem gentis Normannicæ ... advenisse ... et in loco qui Pefnesea dicitur suam classem adpulisse.”

1194. Roman de Rou, 11770;

“Vit li chastel fere è fermer;

Vit li fossé envirun faire.”

1195. Roman de Rou, 11774;

“S’espée ceint è prist sa lance.”

Wace perhaps arms his English Thegn a little too much in continental fashion. For Wace’s “lance,” I have therefore substituted the English javelin. But for such a ride the sword would be a more convenient weapon than the axe. Sword and javelin are the equipment of Harold when riding round his camp, in the Tapestry, pl. 13.

1196. Ib. 11777;

“Astant se mist cil el chemin,

Tart se colcha, leva matin;

Tant a erré ke noit ke jor

Por Heraut querre son Seignor.”

1197. Flor. Wig. 1066. “Cum innumerâ multitudine equitum, fundibaliorum, sagittariorum, peditumque ... utpote qui de totâ Galliâ sibi fortes auxiliarios conduxerat.”

1198. See p. 407.

1199. I get my second messenger from Guy of Amiens (149–167). He is “rusticus;” the other, “chevalier.” As the Thegn saw and describes the actual landing, the Churl saw and describes the later ravaging. Wid. Amb. 150;

“Cernit ut effusas innumeras acies,

Et quod agri fulgent pleni radiantibus armis,

Vulcano flammis depopulante domos.

Perfidiæ gentem ferro bacchante perire,

Quasque dabant lacrimas cæde patrum pueri.”

1200. Wid. Amb. 159;

“Dux Normannorum cum Gallis atque Britannis

Invasit terram, vastat et igne cremat.

Millia si quæris, tibi dicere nemo valebit:

Quod mare fert pisces, tot sibi sunt equites;

Et veluti stellas cœli numerare nequires,

Ejus sic acies nec numerare vales.”

“French,” “Franci” in the Tapestry, is the only name which takes in the whole of William’s army as thus described.

1201. Ib. 165;

“Captivos ducit pueros captasque puellas,

Insuper et viduas et simul omne pecus.”

1202. Roman de Rou, 11836;

“Mielx me venist aveir perdu

Quant ke Tosti out demandé.”

1203. Ib. 11838;

“Ke jo n’éusse el port esté,

Quant Willame vint el rivage;

Bien defendisse li passage.

Tant en féisse en mer plungier,

E tant en féisse néier,

Jà à la terre ne venissent,

Jà nient del nostre ne préissent;

Jà de morir garant n’éussent,

Se la mer tote ne béussent;

Maiz issi plout el Rei celeste,

Jo ne poiz mie par tut estre.”

1204. Wid. Amb. 169. “Advocat ipse Duces, Comites, terraeque potentes.”

1205. See vol. ii. pp. 104, 141.

1206. Wid. Amb. 185;

“Quantus erit luctus, quantus dolor et pudor ingens,

Regni quanta lues, quam tenebrosa dies,

Si quod quærit habet, si regni sceptra tenebit?

Hoc omnes fugiant vivere qui cupiunt.”

1207. Wid. Amb. 191;

“Nascitur extemplò clamor qui perculit astra,

Et vox communis omnibus una fuit;

‘Bella magis cupimus quam sub juga colla reponi

Alterius Regis, vel magis inde mori.’”

1208. Roman de Rou, 11879;

“Heraut vint à Lundres puignant,

De totes parz Engleiz mandant,

Ke tuit viengent delivrement

E mult apareilliement,

El terme k’il lor out mandé,

Sainz esoigne forz d’enferté.”

1209. Gaimar, 5255 (M. H. B. 827);

“Marleswain donc i lessat;

Pur ost mander en suth alad.”

See Ellis, ii. 185. Merlswegen held lands in various parts from Cornwall to Yorkshire: it was of Lincolnshire that he was Sheriff. See Domesday, 376.

1210. Fl. Wig. 1066. “Comites Edwinus et Morkarus, qui se cum suis certamini subtraxere.” These are words which no ingenuity can get over.

1211. We shall presently come to the list of shires whence men did come.

1212. The general zeal of Englishmen is allowed even by their enemies. Will. Pict. 132; “Studium pars Heraldo, cuncti patriæ præstabant, quam contra extraneos, tametsi non justè, defensare volebant.”

1213. Will. Malms, ii. 228. “Haroldus, triumphali eventu superbus, nullis partibus prædæ commilitones dignatus est: quapropter multi, quo quisque poterat dilapsi, Regem ad bellum Hastingense proficiscentem destituere.” So again, iii. 239.

1214. Gaimar, 5251 (M. H. B. 827);

“Li reis Harald, quant il oi,

L’évesque Aldret a donc saisi

Del grant aveir e del herneis

K’il out conquis sur les Norreis.”

1215. See Appendix G.

1216. Will. Malms. ii. 228. “Præter stippendiarios et mercenarios milites, paucos admodum ex provincialibus habuit.” See Appendix HH.

1217. The list of shires in Wace (12848) might seem at first sight to be simply names set down at random; but, on a careful examination, it has a deep significance. The list runs thus; London, Kent, Hertford, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Saint Eadmund’s and Suffolk, Norwich and Norfolk, Canterbury and Stamford, Bedford (mentioned twice), Huntingdon, Northampton, York, Buckingham, Nottingham, Lindesey and Lincoln, Salisbury, Dorset, Bath and Somerset, Gloucester, Worcester, Winchester and Hampshire, Berkshire. This list exactly answers to the geographical division which I have given in the text, with the single exception that we find Worcester where we should rather have looked for Hereford. The shires mentioned are those which make up the Earldoms of Harold, Gyrth, Leofwine, and Waltheof, together with the shires through which Harold marched. This accounts for what at first seems a contradiction, namely that we find York on the list and yet read afterwards (12877) “D’ultre li Humbre n’i vint gaires.” No doubt some volunteers followed the King from York, but the main force of Northumberland was kept back by Morkere. Why are Canterbury and Stamford joined? One or other name must surely be wrong.

1218. Roman de Rou, 12957;

“Kar ço dient ke cil de Kent

Deivent férir primierement;

U ke li Reis auge en estor,

Li primier colp deit estre lor.

Cil de Lundres, par dreite fei,

Deivent garder li cors li Rei,

Tut entur li deivent ester,

E l’estandart deivent garder.”

1219. The Ansgardus of Guy. For all these names see Appendix EE.

1220. See vol. ii. pp. 63, 441.

1221. Bondig (see above, p. 53) is mentioned in a very confused passage in the De Inventione, c. 20; “Ab omnibus consultum est ei Tostinum [Leofwinum?], Gerth, et Bundinum, et reliquos qui secesserant, exspectare.” I do not understand the “secession” of Gyrth; so Bondig may have been at Senlac also.

1222. See vol. ii. pp. 467, 644.

1223. See Appendix EE.

1224. See vol. ii. p. 349.

1225. Chron. Petrib. 1066. “And þa wæs Leofric Abbot of Burh æt þæt ilca feord, and sæclode þær, and com ham, and wæs dæd sone þæræfter, on ælre halgan mæsse niht; God are his saule.”

1226. See Appendix EE.

1227. On the chronology of these events, see Appendix FF.

1228. See above, p. 31.

1229. The Waltham writer (De Inv. 20), as I have already said (see above, p. 375), conceives the King as hearing the news of William’s landing at Waltham. This we know to be wrong: but we may surely accept a journey from London to Waltham.

As for the miraculous narrative, see Professor Stubbs, De Inv. xxviii. For other mere legendary versions, see Appendix II.

1230. De Inv. 20. “Mane facto ecclesiam Sanctæ Crucis ingrediens, et relliquias quas apud se habebat in capellâ suâ repositas altari superponens.”

1231. De Inv. 20. “Votum vovit, quod si successus prosperos sub eventu belli præstaret ei Dominus, copiam prædiorum et multitudinem clericorum Deo ibidem serviturorum ecclesiæ conferret, et se Deo serviturum amodo quasi servum emptitium sponderet.”

1232. Over the west door seems a strange place for the great relic of a church; yet I cannot otherwise understand the words of the Waltham writer (De Inv. 20). Harold makes his offerings on the altar; then, “Clero eum comitante et processione præcedente, veniunt ad valvas templi, ubi conversus ad Crucifixum Rex ille Sanctæ Cruci devotus, ad terram in modum crucis prosternens se, pronus oravit.”

1233. De Inv. 20. “Imago Crucifixi, quæ priùs erecta ad superiora respiciebat, quum se Rex humiliaret in terram, demisit vultum quasi tristis, lignum quidem præscium futurorum.” The writer then goes on to mention Thurkill, from whom he himself heard the story.

1234. See Appendix GG.

1235. Roman de Rou, 11935. See Appendix GG.

1236. Will. Pict. 129.

1237. Roman de Rou, 11975.

1238. De Inventione, 20. “Nimis præceps, et de virtute suâ præsumens, credebat se invalidos et impræniunitos Normannos expugnare, antequam a Normannis gens subsequutiva in præsidium eorum succresceret.” This last reason is borne out by the testimony of the Worcester Chronicles, which I shall quote hereafter, that reinforcements did come to William either before the battle or very soon after.

1239. See p. 412, note 4.

1240. The interposition of Gyrth is mentioned, not only by his special admirer Wace (12041 et seqq.), but by William of Jumièges (vii. 35), Orderic (500 C, who nearly copies William of Jumièges), William of Malmesbury (iii. 239), and Benoît (37129). The speech is much to the same effect in all. Here it is that William of Malmesbury makes the odd mistake about Gyrth’s age which I mentioned in vol. ii. p. 555.

1241. Will. Gem. vii. 35. “Quiesce, quæso, prudenter tractare tecum velis, quid cum sacramentis Consuli Normanniæ promiseris. Cave ne perjurium incurras, et pro tanto scelere tu cum viribus nostræ gentis corruas nostræ-que progeniei permansurum dedecus exinde fias.” The expression “cave ne perjurium incurras,” so late in the day, is remarkable. William of Malmesbury (iii. 239) softens matters a little; “Nec enim ibis in inficias quin illi sacramentum vel invitus vel voluntarius feceris; proinde consultiùs ages si, instanti necessitati te subtrahens, nostro periculo colludium pugnæ tentaveris.”

1242. Will. Gem. u. s. “Ego, liber ab omni sacramento, Willelmo Comiti nihil debeo. Audacter igitur contra illum pro natali solo certare paratus sum.” So William of Malmesbury (u. s.); “Nos, omni juramento expediti, justè ferrum pro patriâ stringemus.”

1243. Will. Gem. u. s. “Ne clara libertas Anglorum pereat in tuâ pernicie.”

1244. Will. Malms, iii. 239. “Nobis solis prœliantibus, caussa tua utrobique in portu navigabit: quia et fugientes restituere et mortuos ulcisci poteris.” Wace (12057) adds the alternatives of his own captivity and of an agreement between Harold and William;

“Mais se jo suis veincu u pris,

Vos, se Dex plaist, ki serez vis,

Vos maisnies rasemblerez,

E cumbatre vos i porrez,

U tel parole el Duc prendrez,

Ke vostre régné en paiz tendrez.”

1245. This advice comes from Wace (12065);

“Alez par cest païz, ardant

Maizons è viles destruiant;

Pernez la robe è la vitaille,

Pors et oeilles et aumaille,

Ke Normanz vitaille ne truissent

Ne nule rien donc vivre puissent.

Fetes la vitaille esluingnier,

Ke il ne truissent ke mengier,

Si les porrez mult esmaier

E faire ariere repairier;

Li Dus meisme s’en ira,

Quant la vitaille li faldra.”

1246. Ord. Vit. 500 C. “Quæ interitu Tostici filii sui valde erat lugubris.”

1247. Will. Gem. vii. 35. “Consilium istud, quod amicis ejus salubre videbatur sprevit, et germanum suum, qui fideliter ei consiliabatur, conviciis irritavit, matremque suam, quæ nimis ipsum retinere secum satagebat, pede procaciter percussit.” So Ord. Vit. 500 D. Wace, whose good taste and dramatic feeling places him high above all the other Norman writers, passes by this absurd tale, but it reappears in Benoît (37197);

“Vers sa mere fu mult eschis,

Qui chèrement fust à plaisir

Deu remaindre, deu retenir,

E tant l’en fist longe preiere

Qu’enverse la bota arière;

Tel il dona del pié el ventre.”

1248. See Appendix N.

1249. Roman de Rou, 12086;

“A cest cunseil tuit se teneient,

Et issi fere le voleient.”

1250. Roman de Rou, 12090;

“Ke jà en champ sanz li n’iront,

Ne sanz li ne se cumbatront.

Por coart, ço dist, le teindreient

E plusors li reprovereient,

Ke sis boens amiz envéiout,

En lieu ù aler il n’osout.”

1251. See vol. ii. p. 319.

1252. Roman de Rou, 12080;

“Maisonz è viles n’en ardra,

Ne sis homes ne robera.

‘Coment,’ dist-il, ‘dei-jo grever

La gent ke jo dei governer?

Destruire ne grever ne dei

La gent ki det garir soz mei.’”

Compare the advice given by Memnôn to Arsitês in Arrian (i. 12. 17) and Arsitês’ answer; Παρῄνει ... προϊόντας ... τόν τε χιλὸν ἀφανίζειν καταπατοῦντας τῇ ἵππῳ, καὶ τὸν ἐν τῇ γῇ καρπὸν ἐμπιμπράναι, μηδὲ τῶν πόλεων αὐτῶν φειδομένους· οὐ γὰρ μενεῖν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ Ἀλέξανδρον ἀπορίᾳ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων. Ἀρσίτην δὲ λέγεται εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ συλλόγῳ τῶν Περσῶν, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν περιΐδοι μήτ’ οἰκίαν μίαν ἐμπρησθεῖσαν τῶν ὑπό οἱ τεταγμένων ἀνθρώπων. Contrast the conduct of William in ravaging the English coast when an invasion from Denmark was looked for; Chron. Petrib. 1085.

1253. See Appendix FF.

1254. See Appendix HH.

1255. Will. Pict. 131. “Accelerabat ... Rex furibundus ... nocturno etiam incursu aut repentino minùs cautos opprimere cogitabat.” He then goes on to tell of the seven hundred ships. See Appendix AA. So Will. Gem. vii. 35, 36; “Ducem incautum accelerans præoccupare, totâ nocte equitans [Heraldus] in campo belli apparuit manè. Dux verò nocturnos præcavens excursus hostis, inchoantibus tenebris ad gratissimam usque lucem exercitum jussit esse in armis.” William of Poitiers makes the fight begin directly on the approach of the English army, and William of Jumièges puts it the same day. The last messages between William and Harold are thus cut out, and William of Poitiers leaves no room for the two different ways of spending the night. But William of Poitiers is always careless of chronology, and William of Jumièges is here ignorant of it (see Appendix GG). Wace makes the English reach Senlac on Thursday night, and a day is spent in the messages. He says (12110) of Thursday night,

“Normanz cele nuit se gaitierent,

E tote nuit armé veillierent;

Tote nuit furent en suspeiz,

Kar dit lor fu ke li Engleiz

Cele nuit tresk’à els vendreient

E cele nuit les assaldreient.

Ço meismes les Engleiz cremeient

Ke Normanz la nuit les guerreient;

Issi unt tote nuit veillié,

Li uns por li altres gaitié.”

All this proves the existence of a very natural expectation on both sides, but it proves nothing as to Harold’s real intentions. An examination of the ground is enough to show what Harold’s plan really was.

1256. See Appendix KK.

1257. See Appendix KK.

1258. Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 B. “Quum ergo Haraldus totam gentem suam in unâ acie strictissimè locâsset, et quasi castellum inde construxisset, impenetrabiles erant Normannis.”

1259. On the name Senlac, see Appendix KK.

1260. The position is well described by Guy of Amiens (365);

“Mons silvæ vicinus erat, vicinaque vallis,

Et non cultus ager asperitate suâ.”

1261. Chron. Wig. 1066. “He [Harold] com him tógenes æt þære háran apuldran.” The name is not uncommon in the description of boundaries in the Charters.

1262. See above, p. 124.

1263. Roman de Rou, 12106;

“Héraut a li lieu esgardé,

Clore l’a fet de boen fossé;

De treiz parz leissa treiz entrées

Ki à garder sunt comandées.”

1264. See above, p. 438.

1265. Flor. Wig. 1066. “Quia arto in loco constituti fuerant Angli, de acie se multi subtraxere, et cum eo [Haroldo] perpauci constantes corde remansere.” Something of the same kind may be thought to be implied in the words of the Worcester Chronicler; “Ac se kyng þeah him swiðe heardlice wið feaht, mid þam mannum þe him gelæstan woldon.” See Appendix HH.

1266. This, to say nothing of the best evidence of all, the circumstances of the battle itself, is implied in the language of those who speak of the insufficient numbers of the army. See the extract from the Worcester Chronicle, p. 445.

1267. Tapestry, plates 12, 13. We shall hear of them again.

1268. Will. Malms. iii. 239. Harold’s spies, as in the former case (see above, p. 388), are well received and shown everything. They then make their report, and “serio addiderunt, penè omnes in exercitu illo presbyteros videri, quod totam faciem cum utroque labio rasam haberent.... Subrisit Rex fatuitatem referentium, lepido insequutus cachinno, quia non essent presbyteri, sed milites armis validi, animis invicti.” So Roman de Rou, 12238–12253. William of Malmesbury here comments on the English custom of wearing the moustache (see vol. ii. p. 27), which he oddly connects with Cæsar’s account of the Welsh of his day.

1269. See Appendix KK.

1270. Roman de Rou, 12254 et seqq. See Appendix GG.

1271. Cf. Roman de Rou, 12290, with William of Malmesbury, iii. 240; and see Appendix GG.

1272. Roman de Rou, 12262;

“U se mist al boen jugement

De l’Apostoile è de sa gent.”

And see Appendix GG.

1273. See Roman de Rou, 12437.

1274. Will. Malms. iii. 241. “Angli, ut accepimus, totam noctem insomnem cantibus potibusque ducentes.” So Wace, 12465, who gives us some curious bits of English;

“Quant la bataille dut joster,

La nuit avant, ço oï conter,

Furent Engleiz forment haitiez,

Mult riant è mult enveisiez;

Tote nuit mangierent è burent

Unkes la nuit et lit ne jurent.

Mult les véissiez demener,

Treper, è saillir è chanter;

Bublie crient è weissel

E laticome è drincheheil,

Drinc Hindrewart è Drintome,

Drinc Helf è drinc Tome.”

1275. Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Contra Normanni, nocte totâ confessioni peccatorum vacantes, mane Dominico Corpore communicârunt.”

1276. Will. Pict. 131. “Aderant comitati e Normanniâ duo Pontifices, Odo Baiocensis et Goisfredus Constantinus; unà multus clerus et monachi nonnulli. Id collegium precibus pugnare disponitur.” So Ord. Vit. 501 A. Of Odo at least the Tapestry tells another story. Compare the English Prelates at Assandun, vol. i. p. 432.

1277. On Geoffrey of Mowbray (Bishop 1048–1093) and his vast possessions in England, see Ellis, i. 400.

1278. Chron. Petrib. 1087. “He wæs swiðe ríce bisceop on Normandige; on Baius wæs his bisceopstol ... and he hæfde eorldom on Englelande.” Cf. 1088.

1279. Wace (12478–12522) is very full on the ministrations of the two Bishops, and on the devotions of the army, both during the night and on the morning before the battle. The vow is thus described (12485–12490);

“Por ço ke samedi esteit,

Ke la bataille estre debveit,

Unt Normanz pramis è voé,

Si com li cler l’orent loé,

Ke à cet jor mez s’il veskeient,

Char ne saunc ne maingereint.”

1280. The piety of the English on the night before Azincourt is insisted on in some of our accounts. Take Elmham for instance (479);

“Nox pluvialis ibi plebem sine pane madebat:

Ad Dominum vigiles quique dedere preces.”

So Walsingham, ii. 310, ed. Riley; Monstrelet, vol. i. c. 146, p. 227 b. What the French are chiefly charged with is playing at dice for English ransoms. See Redman, p. 45, ed. Cole. This is the point chiefly brought out by Shakespeare, Henry V, Act iv. Chorus. Compare also the accounts of the night before Lewes, the piety of the patriots and the foul excesses of the royalists. Rishanger, Chron. p. 25; Chron. Lanercost, 75; Political Songs (Camden Soc.), p. 80.

1281. See the legend in Appendix II.

1282. See above, p. 19.

1283. Will. Pict. 131. “Ipse mysterio missæ quam maximâ cum devotione assistens, Corporis ac Sanguinis Dominici communicatione suum et corpus et animam munivit.”

1284. We have the speech in William of Poitiers (132), Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 762, 763), and Wace (12531 et seqq.). William candidly says, “Exhortationem, quâ pro tempore breviter militum virtuti plurimum alacritatis addidit, egregiam fuisse non dubitamus, etsi nobis non ex totâ dignitate suâ relatam.” The two chief points in his summary are the glories of the Normans in earlier warfare (“Commonuit Normannos quod in multis atque magnis periculis victores tamen se duce semper exstiterint. Commonuit omnes patriæ suæ, nobilium gestorum magnique nominis”) and the small renown of the English (“Sæpenumerò Anglos hostili ferro dejectos cecidisse, plerumque superatos in hostis venisse deditionem, numquam gloriâ militiæ laudatos”). Henry of Huntingdon, allowably enough, has worked up these two points into an elaborate harangue, which amounts to a sort of panegyrical history of Normandy. Wace enlarges chiefly on the sins of the English, the massacre of Saint Brice, the fate of Ælfred, and such like. I have briefly worked in the chief points of all three versions.

1285. Hen. Hunt. 762 D. “Nonne patres vestri Regem Francorum in Rotomago cœperunt, et tenuerunt donec Ricardo puero, Duci vestro, Normanniam reddidit eo pacto, quòd in omni colloquutione Regis Franciæ et Ducis Normanniæ gladio Dux accingeretur, Regem verò nec gladium nec etiam cultellum ferre liceret.” See vol. i. pp. 244, 247, and especially Palgrave, ii. 495. I do not pledge myself to the terms of the peace.

1286. Henry enlarges only on Mortemer, and says nothing about Varaville. But William would hardly leave out his own special exploit. About Val-ès-dunes, a victory won over his own people, he might well hold his peace.

I leave out one or two purely legendary stories in Henry’s version.

1287. Wace is rather lavish of this word; William comes (12545)

“Por vengier li fèlunies

Li traïsuns, li feiz menties,

Ki li homes de cest païs

Unt fet à notre gent toz dis.”

And again, 12575;

“Teles felunies è plusors

K’il unt fete à nos ancessors

Et à nos amis ensement,

Ki se contindrent noblement.”

1288. In the rhetoric of the Archdeacon of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 763 A, B), “Erigite vexilla, viri, nec sit iræ promeritæ modus vel modestia. Ab Oriente ad Occidentem videatur fulmen gloriæ vestræ, audiatur tonitruum impetus vestri, vindicesque generosissimi sanguinis.”

1289. Roman de Rou, 12527; “En un tertre s’estut li Dus.” In the Tapestry (pl. 13), William is shown on horseback addressing his soldiers; “Hic Wilelm Dux alloquitur suis militibus ut prepararent se viriliter et sapienter ad prelium contra Anglorum exercitum.” But as the word “sapienter” alone might almost show, this scene comes later in the day.

1290. Ib. 12627;

“Vint Willame li filz Osber,

Son cheval tot covert de fer;

Sire, dist-il, trop demoron.”

Wace is here guilty of an anachronism, as the horses in the Tapestry are not covered with armour. See Taylor’s note, 163.

1291. I think there can be no doubt that the famous scene of the hauberk must be placed on the height of Telham. Wace probably did not know the ground, and did not realize the distance between Hastings and Battle. William and his knights would hardly ride so far in their full armour, and the real site is clearly marked in two other writers. The Chronicler of Battle Abbey (p. 3) is very distinct; “Perveniens ad locum collis qui Hechelande dicitur, a parte Hastingarum situm, dum sese invicem armis munire contendunt, ac eidem Duci lorica ad induendum porrigitur, ex improviso inversa ipsi oblata est.” The Brevis Relatio (7) is even more precise; “Pervenientes itaque usque ad unum collem qui erat a parte Hastingarum contra illum collem in quo erat Heraldus et exercitus ejus, ibi ut, erant armati, paullisper substiterunt, intuentes Anglorum exercitum.” It is just possible that Wace, by his “tertre,” meant the hill of Telham, only without any idea of its distance from Hastings. Cf. Guy of Amiens (343);

“Haud procul hostiles cuneos nam cernit adesse,

Et plenum telis irradiare nemus.”

On the identity of Telham and Heathland see Lower, Contributions to Literature, 40; Sussex Archæological Collections, vi. 20.

1292. Will. Pict. 131. “Terreret alium loricæ, dum vestiretur, sinistra conversio. Hanc conversionem risit ille ut casum, non ut mali prodigium expavit.” Roman de Rou, 12647;

“Cil en furent espoenté,

Ki li haubert unt esgardé.”

1293. See above, p. 405.

1294. Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Ministrorum tumultu loricam inversam indutus, casum risu correxit, ‘Vertetur,’ inquiens, ‘fortitudo comitatûs mei in regnum.’” So Roman de Rou, 12665;

“Li nom ki ert de Duché

Veneiz de Duc a Rei torné;

Reis serai ki Duc ai esté,

N’en aiez mie altre pensé.”

The Battle Chronicler attributes the witty saying to William Fitz-Osbern.

1295. Roman de Rou, 12673;

“Sun boen cheval fist demander,

Ne poeit l’en meillor trover;

De l’Espaingne li out envéié,

Un Reis par mult grant amistié.”

On Alfonso see above, p. 112, and Appendix O.

1296. Roman de Rou, 12679;

“Galtier Giffart l’out amené,

Ki à Saint Jame aveit esté.”

1297. See above, p. 314.

1298. Roman de Rou, 12685;

“Li visquens de Toarz guarda

Coment li Dus armes porta;

A sa gent a entor sei dit:

Hom mez si bel armé ne vit,

...

Soz ciel tel chevalier n’en a

Beau quens è beau Rei sera.”

1299. Brevis Relatio (7). “Armatus itaque, et se et totum exercitum suum Domino commendans, cœpit inquirere a quodam milite qui juxta eum erat, ubi Heraldum putaret esse. Respondit autem ille quod putabat eum esse in illo spisso agmine quod erat ante eos in montis summitate, nam, sicut putabat, Heraldi standarium ibi videbat.” This is a good instance of the way in which one authority fits into another. This scene is evidently the same as that which is represented in the Tapestry (plate 12); “Willelm Dux interrogat Vital si vidisset exercitum Haroldi.” This Vital, it will be remembered (see Appendix A), was a dependant of Odo, and the mention of a person otherwise unknown, but who held much land in Kent under his patron, is one of the proofs of the connexion of the Tapestry with the Bishop of Bayeux.

1300. The vow comes from the Battle Chronicle (3), where it immediately follows the story of the hauberk; “Unde et nunc, de ejus [Creatoris] auxilio securus, ad vestras qui mei gratiâ hoc initis certamen corroborandas manus ac mentes votum facio, me in hoc certaminis loco pro salute cunctorum, et hic nominatim occumbentium ad honorem Dei et sanctorum ejus, quo servi Dei adjuventur congruum, cum dignâ libertate fundaturum monasterium.” The words in Italics come, I suspect, from the chronicler, not from the Duke. The vow at such a moment is in every way probable, but William was hardly already thinking of the exemption of the Abbey of Battle from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Chichester.

1301. He was (Chron. Bell. 4) surnamed Faber, “quod cum sodalibus venatum aliquando profectus, sagittis fortè deficientibus, quum quemdam fabrum hujuscemodi operis ignarum adissent, ipse malleis arreptis mox sagittam artificioso ingenio compegit.” His reason for being where he was is characteristic; “Divulgato ipsius Ducis in Angliam adventu, gratiâ commodi ecclesiæ suæ, cum reliquis exercitui sese immiscuerat.”

1302. Chron. Bell. u. s. “Idem monasterium in venerationem beati pontificis Martini nominatim fundaretur suggessit.”

1303. Wid. Amb. 413;

“Sed lævam Galli, dextram petiere Britanni,

Dux cum Normannis dimicat in medio.”

That is, the French were on the right, the Bretons on the left, of the Normans.

1304. Will. Pict. 133. “Britanni et quotquot auxiliares erant in sinistro cornu.” Roman de Rou, 12795;

“De l’altre part Alain Fergant

Et Aimeri li cumbatant,

Poitevinz meront è Bretons

E del Maine toz li Barons.”

Cf. Wid. Amb. 255;

“Gensque Britannorum quorum decus exstat in armis,

Tellus ni fugiat est fuga nulla quibus;

Viribus illustres Cenomanni, gloria quorum

Bello monstratur per probitatis opem.”

1305. See vol. i. p. 208.

1306. Roman de Rou, 13625;

“Joste la cumpaigne Néel

Chevalcha Raol de Gael;

Bret esteit è Bretonz menout,

Por terre serveit ke il out.”

See Appendix LL.

1307. See vol. ii. p. 196.

1308. Roman de Rou, 12784;

“Venir a fet avant Rogier

Ke l’en dist de Montgomeri:

Forment, dist-il, en vos me fi;

...

E Guillame un seneschal,

Li filz Osber un boen vassal,

Ensemble od vos chevalchera

Et ovec vos les assaldra.

Li Boilogneiz è li Pohiers

Aureiz è toz mes soldéiers.”

“Soldéiers,” “soldarii,” are of course mercenaries.

1309. See vol. ii. p. 197.

1310. See above, pp. 258, 295.

1311. See vol. ii. p. 132. Eustace stands first on the list in William of Poitiers, 135.

1312. Will. Pict. 132. “Ipse fuit in medio cum firmissimo robore, unde in omnem partem consuleret manu et voce.”

1313. See vol. ii. pp. 245, 267. So Roman de Rou, 13486;

“Bien firent cel de Béessin,

E li baronz de Costentin,

E Néel de Saint Salvéor,

Mult s’entremet d’aveir l’amor

E li boen gré de son seignor.”

But Neal’s presence is called in question by Prevost (Wace, ii. 231), Taylor (207), and Delisle (Saint-Sauveur, 21). I do not see that they at all upset Wace.

1314. Roman de Rou, 13636;

“Li archier du Val de Roil,

Ensemle od els cels de Bretoil,

A maint Engleiz creverent l’oil.”

1315. A single ἱπποτοξότης appears in the Tapestry at the very end of the battle, pl. 16. I get my details of costume from the Tapestry, pl. 13 and onwards.

1316. See above, p. 455.

1317. See above, p. 257.

1318. Il. vii. 140.

1319. In the Tapestry William appears armed only with the mace. That it is the mace I have no doubt. In pl. 13, where William is addressing his army, it might be a mere baton of command (see vol. ii. p. 255), but in pl. 15 he is shown wielding the same weapon in the very thickest of the battle. William’s weapon is also exactly the same as the “baculus” (Tapestry, pl. 15) or “baston” (Roman de Rou 13259) of Odo. William of Poitiers arms William with the sword (“fulminans ense”—like Eadmund at Assandun, see vol. i. p. 430—“stravit adversam gentem” 134), so does Guy (469 “abstracto gladio,” 483 “devorat ense”). The point is that all agree in arming him with a weapon of close conflict, not with the lance, which, as we shall see, he uses only for quite another purpose. He may very well have carried both mace and sword, but the sword does not appear in the Tapestry.

1320. Will. Pict. 131. “Appendit etiam humili collo suo relliquias, quarum favorem Heraldus abalienaverat sibi, violatâ fide quam super eas jurando sanxerat.”

We’ll remember where you stopped. All chapters