Part 8 of 9

NOTE PP. p. 544. The Submission at Berkhampstead

1321. Roman de Rou, 13765;

“Li Quens Robert de Moretoing

Ne se tint mie del Duc loing;

Frere ert li Dus de par sa mere,

Grant aïe fist à son frere.”

1322. See above, p. 151.

1323. See Ellis, i. 455. He held the very first-fruits of the Conquest as possessor of the town of Pevensey. Domesday, 20 b.

1324. Ord. Vit. 501 B. “Turstinus filius Rollonis vexillum Normannorum portavit.” Roman de Rou, 12773;

“Tosteins filz Rou le Blanc out non,

Al Bec en Caux aveit meison.”

William of Poitiers (132) says only, “Vexillo prævio quod Apostolicus transmiserat,” without mentioning the bearer. I cannot see the banner in the Tapestry.

1325. See vol. i. p. 514.

1326. See above, p. 159.

1327. Roman de Rou, 12719;

“Portez, dist-il, mon gonfanon,

Ne vos voil fere se dreit non;

Par dreit è par anceissorie

Deivent estre de Normendie

Vostre parent gonfanonier,

Mult furent tuit boen chevalier.”

1328. Ib. 12731;

“D’altre chose vos servirai;

En la bataille od vos irai,

Et as Engleiz me combatrai

Tant ke jo vis estre porrai;

Saciez ke ma main plus valdra

Ke tels vint homes i aura.”

1329. See above, p. 129.

1330. Roman de Rou, 12743;

“Véiez mon chief blanc è chanu,

Empeirié sui de ma vertu,

Ma vertu m’est afébliée,

E m’aleine mult empeiriée.

L’ensuigne estuet à tel tenir,

Ki lonc travail poisse soffrir,

E jo serai en la bataille;

N’aveiz home ki mielx i vaille,

Tant i kuid ferit od m’espée,

Ke tot en iert ensanglantée.”

The dialogue which follows between the Duke and the old warrior is very curious.

1331. Of the long list given by Wace (13462 et seqq.) I only choose a few of the more remarkable. Wace’s account, with Mr. Taylor’s notes, is a perfect nobiliaire of the Conquest.

1332. Roman de Rou, 13715;

“Willame Patric de la Lande

Li Reis Heraut forment demande;

Co diseit, se il ne véeit,

De perjure l’apellereit.”

On Harold’s visit to William Patry, see Prevost’s note, ii. 261; Taylor, 238.

1333. See vol. ii. p. 291. Roger is described by Wace (13677) only as “l’ancestre Hue li Bigot.” See Prevost’s note, ii. 256; Taylor, 234.

1334. Roman de Rou, 13472;

“Guillame ke l’en dit Mallet

Hardiement entrels se met.”

1335. The connexion between William Malet and Harold is not easy to make out. He is clearly the person described by Guy of Amiens (588) as

“... Quidam partim Normannus et Anglus,

Compater Heraldi.”

(On the reading see M. H. B. 867 D.) The obvious meaning of this would be that William’s mother was an Englishwoman, and that he and Harold had contracted spiritual brotherhood by standing godfathers to the same child. There was a William Malet, whose mother’s name was Hesilia of the family of Crispin (De Genere Crispinorum, Giles, Lanfranc, i. 341), but he died a monk at Bec, and was doubtless a different person. I can make nothing of the pedigrees given by Sir Alexander Malet in his Translation of Wace, pp. 268, 9. Sir Alexander makes out William Malet to be uncle to the Lady Ealdgyth, calling her mother Ælfgifu a sister of William Malet; but I know no authority for this, and, if true, it would not make William “partim Normannus et Anglus.”

1336. Will. Pict. 132. “Pedites in fronte locavit, sagittis armatos et balistis, item pedites in ordine secundo firmiores et loricatos; ultimò turmas equitum.”

1337. Roman de Rou, 12885;

“Par matin les fist toz armer

Et la bataille conréer.”

1338. Harold’s speech comes from Wace, 12889 et seqq.

1339. Roman de Rou, 12905;

“Lungues lances unt et espées,

Ke de lor terres unt aportées,

E vos avez lances agües

E granz gisarmes esmolues.

Cuntre vos armes ki bien taillent

Ke kuid les lor gaires ne vaillent.”

The respective weapons of the two nations could hardly be better described.

1340. Tapestry, plate 13. “Iste nuntiat Haroldum Regem de exercitu Willelmi Ducis.” The very striking figure of Harold on his horse is clearly shown under the tree, and the messenger and the host which he has been spying out seem to be shown crossing the broken ground between Telham and Senlac.

1341. Roman de Rou, 12967;

“Quant Heraut out tot apresté,

E ço k’il volt out comandé,

Emmi les Engleiz est venu,

Lez l’estendart est descendu.”

This is almost a translation of the lines in the song of Maldon, quoted in vol. i. p. 298, note 3. So again, 13103;

“Miz se sunt juste l’estandart;

Chescun prie ke Dex le gart.”

1342. The Hyde writer (293) preserves a strange legend indeed. He puts at this point the advice which Gyrth gave before the army left London. Both armies are marshalled; Harold has made his speech (“Haroldus quoque exercitum suum nunc vultu, nunc voce, nunc patriâ oratione, hortatur”). Then Gyrth counsels his brother to withdraw, while he himself leads on the army. Then comes this marvellous tale; “Denique quum omnimodo Haroldus obsisteret, et numquam se Normannorum timore fugam inire responderet, principes Anglorum equum cui solus infidebat [insidebat?] enervaverunt, dicentes debere eum participem esse pœnarum qui tantum malum Angliæ solus intulerit.” This is one way indeed to account for the national tactics.

1343. Roman de Rou, 12985–12999. Harold is here (see Appendix HH) made to say that he has four hundred thousand men of all kinds.

1344. Ib. 13054;

“Guert, dist Heraut, por bien le fis;

Jor li assis à samedi,

Por ço ke samedi naski;

Ma mere dire me soleit

Ke à cel jor bien m’aveindreit.”

Compare the memorable Tuesdays in the life of Saint Thomas. Herbert, vii. 164 (Giles); Robertson’s “Becket,” 339.

1345. Roman de Rou, 13093;

“Li quens de Flandres m’a traï;

Mult fis ke fol ke jel’ créï,

Kar par son brief m’aveit mandé,

Et par messaige asséuré

Ke Willame ne porreit mie

Aveir si grant chevalerie.”

I can throw no more light on these dealings of Baldwin with Harold than I can upon his other no less mysterious dealings with William. See above, p. 312, and Appendix W.

1346. See above, p. 457, &c.

1347. Herod. vi. 112. Μανίην τε τοῖσι Ἀθηναίοισι ἐπέφερον καὶ πάγχυ ὀλεθρίην, ὁρέωντες αὐτοὺς ὀλίγους, καὶ τούτους δρόμῳ ἐπειγομένους, οὔτε ἵππου ὑπαρχούσης σφι οὔτε τοξευμάτων. Here however it was no case of δρόμῳ ἐπείγεσθαι.

1348. Roman de Rou, 12929;

“Fet orent devant els escuz

De fenestres è d’altres fuz,

Devant els les orent levez

Come cleies joinz è serrez;

N’i lessierent nule jointure,

Fet en orent devant closture.

Par ù Normanz entrels venist,

Ki descunfire les volsist.

D’escuz è d’aiz s’avironerent,

Issi desfendre se kuiderent;

Et s’il se fussent bien tenu,

Jà ne fussent li jor veincu.”

Will. Malms. iii. 241. “Pedites omnes cum bipennibus, consertâ ante se scutorum testudine, impenetrabilem cuneum faciunt; quod profectò illis eâ die saluti fuisset, nisi Normanni simulatâ fugâ more suo confertos manipulos laxâssent.” On the shield-wall, see vol. i. p. 300. Cf. the γέῤῥα of the Persians at Plataia, Herod. ix. 61 (see Blakesley’s note), and the palisade at Mykalê, ix. 97.

1349. See vol. i. p. 298. Will. Pict. 133. “Protinùs, equorum ope relictâ, cuncti pedites constitere densiùs conglobati.” So Guy, 369;

“Nescia gens belli solamina spernit equorum,

Viribus et fidens hæret humo pedibus,

Et decus esse mori summum dijudicat armis,

Sub juga ne tellus transeat alterius.”

(The Peterborough Chronicler himself could not have asked for a nobler panegyric on his countrymen than these two lines.) He presently adds (377);

“Omnes descendunt et equos post terga relinquunt,

Affixique solo bella ciere tubis.”

1350. See the quotation from William of Malmesbury at vol. i. p. 299.

1351. Only one English archer is represented in the Tapestry, pl. 14. He is a small man without armour, crouching under the shield of a tall Housecarl, like Teukros under that of Aias; Il. viii. 267. Compare the remarks on the use of the bow at Stamfordbridge, p. 370.

1352. The heavy-armed English in the Tapestry are largely armed with the axe, which one only of the light-armed in plate 15 seems to carry. Wace therefore is hardly accurate when he says (12927),

“Geldons Engleiz haches portoent,

E gisarmes ki bien trenchoent.”

“Geldons” being said to mean peasants. He had before said (12839),

“Li vilain des viles aplouent,

Tels armes portent com ils trovent,

Machues portent è granz pels,

Forches ferrées è tinels.”

The “lignis imposita saxa” of William of Poitiers (133) can hardly mean engines for hurling stones, but rather such rude weapons as are described in the text. Perhaps we may recognize them in the odd-looking clubs which are borne by the flying English in the Tapestry, pl. 16, and one of which is shown as hurled in pl. 14. Otherwise the light-armed are mainly armed with javelins, as in pl. 15. I follow the Tapestry throughout as to the equipment of the two classes of English.

1353. Will. Malms. iii. 243. “Haroldus ... sæpe hostem cominùs venientem ferire, ut nullus impune accederet quin statim uno ictu equus et eques prociderent.” So the description in Wace (13400) of the exploits of an English warrior;

“A un Normant s’en vint tot dreit,

Ki armé fu sor un destrier;

Od la hache ki fu d’acier,

El helme férir le kuida,

Maiz li colp ultre escolorja;

Par devant l’arcon glacéia

La hache ki mult bien trencha;

Li col del cheval en travers

Colpa k’a terre vint li fers,

E li cheval chaï avant

Od tot son mestre à terre jus.”

Many groups in the Tapestry fully bear out this description. Does the special mention of “acier” imply that the Danish axe was, so late as this time, ever made of bronze? I believe that, vividly as the great axes of the eleventh century live in description and in stitch-work, no antiquary has ever lighted on a specimen. The clashing of axe and lance at Senlac can hardly fail to remind one of the saying of Sperthias and Boulis (Herod. vii. 135); εἰ γὰρ αὐτῆς [ἐλευθερίης] πειρήσαιο, οὐκ ἂν δόρασι συμβουλύοις ἡμῖν περὶ αὐτῆς μάχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πελέκεσι.

1354. Roman de Rou, 13733;

“Engleiz ne saveient joster,

Ne à cheval armes porter;

Haches è gisarmes teneient,

Od tals armes se cumbateient.

Hoem ki od hache volt férir,

Od sez dous mainz l’estuet tenir,

Ne pot entendre à sei covrir,

S’il velt férir de grant aïr;

Bien férir è covrir ensemble

Ne pot l’en faire, ço me semble.”

This remark of Wace is well illustrated by many of the figures in the Tapestry.

1355. Wid. Amb. 375;

“In summo montis vexillum vertice fixit,

Affigique jubet cætera signa sibi.”

This seems a dark allusion to the double ensign.

1356. See vol. i. p. 429. The passage of Henry of Huntingdon there quoted gives us just the explanation which is needed. The Tapestry (pl. 16) very distinctly shows the Dragon, and the other writers describe the Standard. Whether the Standard itself is shown in the Tapestry, pl. 14, I do not feel certain. If so, the Fighting Man is not discernible.

1357. Æsch. Sept. c. Theb. 447;

ἐσχημάτισται δ’ ἀσπὶς οὐ σμικρὸν τρόπον’

ἀνὴρ δ’ ὁπλίτης, κ.τ.λ.

1358. Will. Pict. 144. “Memorabile vexillum Heraldi, hominis armati imaginem intextam habens ex auro purissimo.” Will. Malms. iii. 241. “Vexillum ... erat in hominis pugnantis figurâ, auro et lapidibus arte sumptuosâ intextum.” So Roman de Rou, 12975;

“Li gonfanon fu mult vaillanz,

D’or è de pierres reluisanz.”

1359. Wid. Amb. 374. “Nobilibusque viris munit utrumque latus.” So Roman de Rou, 12973;

“Asez out entur li Baronz.

Heraut fu lez si gonfanonz.”

1360. Will. Malms, iii. 241. “Rex ipse pedes juxta vexillum stabat cum fratribus.” So William of Poitiers by implication (138); “Propius Regem fratres ejus duo reperti sunt.” Wace says (12971);

“Lewine è Guert furent od lui,

Frere Heraut furent andui.”

And afterwards (13105), “Envirun els lor parenz furent.” On the strength of this I have ventured to introduce Hakon, as well as Ælfwig. The Abbot undoubtedly was there (see vol. ii. p. 644); and, if Harold had brought Hakon back from Normandy (see above, p. 242), he would hardly be away. I may perhaps have been somewhat influenced by the part which Hakon plays in Lord Lytton’s romance, where however he somewhat usurps the traditional functions of Gyrth.

1361. “Granz haches tindrent en lor cols,” says Wace (13111), but none appears in the Tapestry with the axe hanging from the neck. Can “en lor cols” mean “on their shoulders”? In the Tapestry, pl. 14, an Englishman is distinctly shown resting his axe on his shoulder while he uses his spear.

1362. See above, p. 444.

1363. Flor. Wig. 1066. “Ab horâ diei tertiâ.” So Roman de Rou, 13265;

“Dez ke tierce del jor entra,

Ke la bataille comença,

De si ke none trespassa

Fust si de si, fust si de là,

Ke nus ne sout lequel veincreit,

Ne ki la terre cunquerreit.”

But I cannot help noticing the tendency to make the hours of battles and of other great events coincide with the hours of the Church.

1364. Roman de Rou, 13215;

“En la champaigne out un fossé;

Normanz l’aveient adossé;

En belliant l’orent passé,

Ne l’aveient mie esgardé.”

1365. Od. ix. 156;

Αὐτίκα καμπύλα τόξα καὶ αἰγανέας δολιχαύλους

εἰλόμεθ’ ἐκ νηῶν· διὰ δὲ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες

βάλλομεν.

1366. Wace (13149 et seqq.) introduces him as “Taillefer ki mult bien cantout.” Guy of Amiens first calls him (391)

“Histrio, cor audax nimium quem nobilitabat;”

and afterwards (399)

“Incisor-ferri mimus cognomine dictus.”

1367. Roman de Rou, 13151;

“Devant li Dus alout cantant

De Karlemaine è de Rollant,

E d’Oliver è des vassals

Ki morurent en Renchevals.”

Will. Malms, iii. 242. “Tunc cantilenâ Rollandi inchoatâ, ut martium viri exemplum pugnaturos accenderet.” So in the Ludwigslied;

“Sang was gesungen,

Wig was bigunnen.”

After the profanation of the name of the great Emperor, it is refreshing to turn to a word or two of his own speech.

1368. I should hardly have ventured to accept this juggling trick on the sole authority of Henry of Huntington (M. H. B. 763 B), but we find it also in Guy, 393;

“Hortatur Gallos verbis, et territat Anglos;

Altè projiciens ludit et ense suo.”

1369. Will. Pict. 133. “Iis [the English missiles, see above, p. 473], veluti mole letiferâ, statim nostros obrui putares.”

1370. Ib. “Altissimus clamor, hinc Normannicus, illinc barbaricus, armorum sonitu et gemitu morientium superatur.”

1371. Roman de Rou, 13193;

“Normanz escrient; Dex aïe;

La gent englesche, Ut s’escrie.”

Compare the dying words of Lewis the Pious in the Astronomer’s Life (64, Pertz, ii. 648); “Bis dixit, Hutz, hutz, quod significat foras. Unde patet quia malignum spiritum vidit,” &c. The English had to drive out less ghostly foes.

1372. As we have two ensigns, a national and a personal one, so we evidently have a national and a personal war-cry. As, besides the Standard, Harold’s own Standard, we have the national Dragon, so we have the cry of “Holy Cross,” which cannot fail to be an invocation of Harold’s own Holy Cross of Waltham, and we have also another cry of “God Almighty,” which we must infer to be more strictly a national cry. We may fancy that the irregular levies shouted “God Almighty,” while the King’s Thegns and Housecarls shouted “Holy Cross.”

1373. Compare the description of a widely different warfare;

“And one enormous shout of ‘Allah!’ rose

In the same moment, loud as even the roar

Of war’s most mortal engines, to their foes

Hurling defiance: city, stream, and shore

Resounded ‘Allah!’ and the clouds which close

With thickening canopy the conflict o’er,

Vibrate to the Eternal name. Hark through

All sounds it pierceth, ‘Allah! Allah! Hu!’”

Don Juan, viii. 8.

1374. We here get some more of Wace’s English. Roman de Rou, 13119;

“Olicrosse sovent crioent,

E Godemite reclamoent;

Olicrosse est en engleiz

Ke Saints Croix est en franceiz,

Et Godemite altretant

Com en frenceiz Dex tot poissant.”

1375. Will. Pict. 133. “Subveniunt equites, et qui posteriores fuere fiunt primi. Pudet eminùs pugnare; gladiis rem gerere audent.”

1376. Ib. “Angli nimium adjuvantur superioris loci opportunitate, quem sine procursu tenent, et maximè conferti; atque ingenti quoque numerositate suâ atque validissimâ corpulentiâ; præterea pugnæ instrumentis, quæ facile per scuta vel alia tegmina viam inveniunt.” “Corpulentia” doubtless means height and general bigness. The English in the Tapestry are decidedly taller than the Normans. Compare the same remark on our continental kinsfolk, p. 90.

1377. Will. Pict. 133. “Vulnerant et eos qui eminùs in se jacula conjiciunt.” So Wid. Amb. 415;

“Anglorum stat fixa solo densissima turba,

Tela dat et telis et gladios gladiis.”

1378. Will. Pict. u. s. “Fortissimè itaque sustinent vel propellunt ausos in se districtum ensibus impetum facere.” Cf. Il. xv. 708;

οὐδ’ ἄρα τοίγε

τόξων ἀϊκὰς ἀμφὶς μένον οὐδέ τ’ ἀκόντων,

ἀλλ’ οἵγ’ ἐγγύθεν ἱστάμενοι, ἕνα θυμὸν ἔχοντες,

ὀξέσι δὴ πελέκεσσι καὶ ἀξίνῃσι μάχοντο,

καὶ ξίφεσιν μεγάλοισι καὶ ἔγχεσιν ἀμφιγύοισι.

1379. Will. Pict. 133. “Ecce igitur hâc sævitiâ perterriti avertuntur pedites pariter atque equites Britanni et quotquot auxiliares erant in sinistro cornu; cedit ferè cuncta Ducis acies; quod cum pace dictum sit Normannorum invictissimæ nationis.” So Guy, 444;

“Normanni fugiunt, dorsa tegunt clipei.”

(On the difference in the order of events between William and Guy see Appendix KK.) Cf. Eadmer (5, 6, copied by Roger of Howden, Bromton, and others); “De quo prœlio testantur adhuc Franci qui interfuerant, quoniam, licèt varius casus hic inde exstiterit, tamen tanta strages ac fuga Normannorum fuit, ut victoria quâ potiti sunt verè et absque dubio solo miraculo Dei adseribenda sit.”

1380. See vol. i. p. 301.

1381. Ib. p. 424.

1382. Will. Pict. u. s. “Credidere Normanni Ducem ac dominum suum cecidisse.”

1383. Will. Pict. 134. “Nudato insuper capite detractâque galeâ.” So Guy, 448; “Iratus galeâ nudat et ipse caput.” In the Tapestry, pl. 15, he simply raises his nose-piece. This was perhaps the real action, which it was hard to describe in an heroic fashion.

1384. Wid. Amb. 449. “Vultum Normannis dat, verba precantia Gallis.”

1385. Will. Pict. u. s. “Me, inquit, circumspicite. Vivo, et vincam, opitulante Deo. Quæ vobis dementia fugam suadet?” &c. The exact words are of course given differently in different accounts.

1386. Ib. “Fugientibus occurrit et obstitit, verberans aut minans hastâ.” So Guy, 445;

“Dux ubi perspexit quod gens sua victa recedit,

Occurrens illi signa ferendo manu,

Increpat et cædit, retinet, constringit et hastâ.”

Yet it is at this moment that the Tapestry (pl. 15, “Hic est Willelm Dux”) shows him in the most marked way with his mace.

1387. On the part taken by Eustace in the battle, see Appendix KK.

1388. In the Tapestry, pl. 15, all William’s immediate comrades at this point, except Eustace, are shown with drawn swords.

1389. Roman de Rou, 13243;

“Quant Odes li boen corunez,

Ki de Baieues ert sacrez,

Poinst, si lor dist, Estez, estez;

Séiez en paiz, ne vos movez;

N’aiez poor de nule rien,

Kar se Dex plaist nos veincron bien.

Issi furent asséuré,

Ne se sunt mie remué.

Odes revint puignant arière

U la bataille esteit plus fière,

Forment i a li jor valu.”

He is very plainly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15; “Hic Odo Episcopus, baculum tenens, confortat pueros.” Odo is most prominent in the two authorities connected with his own church.

1390. Will. Pict. 134. “Exardentes Normanni, et circumvenientes millia aliquot insequuta se, momento deleverunt ea, ut ne quidem unus superesset.” But Guy (463) seems to include other parts of the army also;

“Post illum reliqui feriunt ad corda reversi;

Vires assumunt rejiciendo metum.

Ut stipulæ flammis pereunt spirantibus auris,

Sic a Francigenis, Anglica turba, ruis.”

1391. I need hardly refer to the story of the Horatii and Curiatii in Livy (i. 24); “Forte in duobus tum exercitibus erant trigemini fratres, nec ætate nec viribus dispares.”

1392. See above, p. 434.

1393. Wid. Amb. 471;

“Heraldi frater, non territus ore leonis,

Nomine Gernt, Regis traduce progenitus,

Librando telum celeri volitante lacerto,

Eminus emisso cuspide corpus equi

Vulnerat, atque Ducem peditem bellare coegit;

Sed pedes effectus dimicat et meliùs.”

So Will. Pict. 136. “Equi tres ceciderunt sub eo confossi. Ter ille desiluit intrepidus, nec diu mors vectoris inulta remansit.” So Will. Malms. iii. 244. “Dum ubique sævit, ubique infrendet, tres equos lectissimos sub se confossos eâ die amisit.” I find no account of the third unhorsing.

1394. Od. ix. 49:

Ἤπειρον ναίοντες, ἐπιστάμενοι μὲν ἀφ’ ἵππων

ἀνδράσι μάρνασθαι, καὶ ὅθι χρὴ πεζὸν ἐόντα.

1395. On the different accounts of the death of Gyrth, see Appendix KK.

1396. The death of Leofwine as well as of Gyrth is placed at this point in the Tapestry, pl. 14.

1397. Liv. xxvii. 49. “Ibi, ut patre Hamilcare et Hannibale fratre dignum erat, pugnans cecidit.” Compare the reception of the news by Hannibal in c. 51.

1398. Roman de Rou, 13874;

“Là ù la presse ert plus espesse,

Là cil de Kent è cil d’Essesse

A merveille se cumbateient,

E li Normanz ruser faiseient,

En sus les faiseient retraire,

Ne lor poeient grant mal faire.”

1399. Wid. Amb. 489;

“Ille timens cædem negat illi ferre salutem;

Nam pavitat mortem, ceu lepus ante canem.”

But the other motive is just as likely in one “ex Cenomannorum progenitus genere.”

1400. Ib. 491;

“Dux memor, ut miles subitò se vertit ad illum,

Per nasum galeæ concitus accipiens,

Vultum telluri, plantas ad sidera volvit;

Sic sibi concessum scandere currit equum.”

Mark the mention of the nose-piece, so conspicuous in the Tapestry.

1401. Ib. 501;

“Postquam factus eques Dux est, mox acriùs hostes

Vulnerat, aggreditur, fulminat, insequitur.”

1402. Ib. 503–518. The Englishman is described as

“Filius Hellocis, vir celer et facilis.”

I wish I knew how to identify him.

1403. Ib. 525;

“Talibus auspiciis Comes et Dux associati,

Quo magis arma micant, bella simul repetunt.”

1404. Will. Pict. 134. “Patuerunt tamen in eos viæ incisæ per diversas partes fortissimorum militum ferro.”

1405. Ib. “Tiro quidam Normannus Robertus, Rogerii de Bello-Monte filius ... prœlium illo die primum experiens, egit quod æternandum esset laude, cum legione quam in dextro cornu duxit irruens ac sternens magnâ cum audaciâ.” Wace (13462) seemingly confounds Robert with his father Roger, who was not there. See Prevost’s note, ii. 229, and above, p. 384. Mark how the allies and mercenaries are put under Norman officers.

1406. Roman de Rou, 12941;

“Jà Normant ne s’i embastist,

Ke l’alme à hunte ne perdist,

Fust par hache, fust par gisarme,

U par machue u par altre arme.”

1407. See above, p. 161.

1408. Wid. Amb. 421;

“Nec penetrare valent spissum nemus Angligenarum,

Ni tribuat vires viribus ingenium.”

(The metaphor of the “nemus” or “silva” runs throughout Guy’s description.) So William of Malmesbury (ii. 228) speaks of Harold as being “astutiâ Willelmi circumventus.”

1409. Will. Pict. 135. “Meminerunt quam optatæ rei paullò ante fuga dederit occasionem.”

1410. The Brevis Relatio however (7) calls them “cuneus Normannorum fere usque ad mille equites.” But he adds that they were “ex alterâ parte” from the Duke’s own post.

1411. Will. Pict. u. s. “Animadvertentes Normanni, sociaque turba, non absque nimio sui incommodo hostem tantum simul resistentem superari posse, terga dederunt, fugam ex industriâ simulantes.”

1412. Guy of Amiens (425) marks clearly what troops they were who broke their order;

“Rustica lætatur gens et superâsse putabat,

Post tergum nudis insequitur gladiis.”

William of Poitiers (135) is here very graphic; “Barbaris cum spe victoriæ ingens lætitia exorta est. Sese cohortantes exsultantè clamore nostros maledictis increpabant, et minabantur cunctos illicò ruituros esse.”

1413. Will. Pict. 135. “Normanni repente regirati equis interceptos et inclusos undique mactaverunt, nullum relinquentes.” Brevis Relatio, 8. “Normanni, qui erant cautiores bello quam Angli, mox redierunt, atque inter illos et agmen a quo se disjunxerant, se immiserunt.” Wid. Amb. 433;

“Quique fugam simulant instantibus ora retorquent,

Constrictos cogunt vertere dorsa neci.

Pars ibi magna perit, pars et densata resistit,

Millia namque decem sunt ibi passa necem.”

1414. Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Ita ingenio circumventi, pulcram mortem pro patriæ ultione meruere: nec tamen ultioni suæ defuere, quin crebrò consistentes, de insequentibus insignes cladis acervos facerent; nam, occupato tumulo, Normannos, calore succensos acriter ad superiora nitentes, in vallem dejiciunt, levique negotio in subjectos tela torquentes, lapides rotantes, omnes ad unum fundunt.” The scene is vividly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15, and the defenders of the little hill are all light-armed.

1415. Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Item fossatum quoddam præruptum, compendiario et noto sibi transitu evadentes, tot ibi inimicorum conculcavere, ut cumulo cadaverum planitiem campi æquarent.” On this last proverbial saying, see above, pp. 351, 369, and Appendix CC. This scene is most vividly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15; “Hic ceciderunt simul Angli et Franci in prœlio.” It must not be confounded with the similar event later in the day on the other side of the hill. See Appendix KK.

1416. Wid. Amb; 427;

“Amotis sanis labuntur dilacerati,

Silvaque spissa priùs rarior efficitur.”

1417. This was evidently the case, and this is, I suppose, what Guy of Amiens means in his somewhat difficult lines (429);

“Conspicit ut campum cornu tenuare sinistrum,

Intrandi dextrum quod via larga patet.”

“Dextrum” would thus mean the English right.

1418. Will. Pict. 135. “Fit deinde insoliti generis pugna, quam altera pars incursibus et diversis motibus agit, altera, velut humo adfixa, tolerat.... Mortui plus dum cadunt, quam vivi moveri videntur. Leviter sauciatos non permittit evadere, sed comprimendo necat, sociorum densitas.” He had before said (134), “Ob nimiam densitatem eorum labi vix potuerunt interempti.” So Guy, 417;

“Spiritibus nequeunt frustrata cadavera sterni,

Nec cedunt vivis corpora militibus:

Omne cadaver enim, vitâ licet evacuatam,

Stat velut illæsum, possidet atque locum.”

1419. Will. Pict. u. s. “Reliquos majori cum alacritate aggressi sunt, aciem adhuc horrendam et quam difficillimum erat circumvenire.”

1420. See above, p. 477. Wace makes three o’clock the time when William gave the order to shoot up into the air. I cannot help thinking that it must have been much nearer sunset when that order was given, and that the hour of vespers rather marks the time when the Normans first got on the hill.

1421. Of the long list of stories of this kind given by Wace (13387 et seqq.) I pick out a few of the more remarkable.

1422. See above, p. 474, note 1.

1423. Will. Malms, iii. 242–244. “Emicuit ibi virtus amborum ducum. Haroldus, non contentus munere imperatorio ut hortaretur alios, militis officium sedulò exequebatur.... Item Willelmus suos clamore et præsentiâ hortari, ipse primus procurrere, confertos hostes invadere.” Cf. vol. i. p. 424.

1424. Will. Pict. 136. “Cum Heraldo, tali qualem poëmata dicunt Hectorem vel Turnum, non minùs auderet Willelmus congredi singulari certamine quam Achilles cum Hectore vel Æneas cum Turno.”

1425. Roman de Rou, 13845–13872.

1426. Ib. 13910–13915.

1427. Ib. 13388;

“Quant un Engleiz vint acorant;

En sa cumpaigne out chent armez,

De plusors armes atornez.

Hache noresche out mult bele.”

It has been suggested that this centurion may have been a hundred-man or centenarius.

1428. Roman de Rou, 13428–13461. The sworn brotherhood is thus described;

“Ki s’esteient acumpaignié

Por ço ke bien erent preisié.

Ensemble debveient aler,

Li uns debveit l’altre garder.”

Of their axes we read, as of that of Harold;

“En lors cols aveient levées

Dui gisarmes lunges è lées;

As Normanz feseient granz mals,

Homes tuoent è chevals.”

It is hard to identify any of these stories with the particular groups in the Tapestry, but in plates 15 and 16 several single combats of this kind may be seen, which well illustrate the deadly effect of the English axes.

1429. Roman de Rou, 13751–13764. This story is told with great spirit. The four last lines run;

“Maiz li Engleiz l’avironerent,

Od lor gisarmes le tuerent:

Là fu trové quant il fu quis,

Lez l’estandart mort et occis.”

On his kindred to Ralph of Tesson (see vol. ii. p. 256) see Prevost’s note, ii. 265.

1430. Roman de Rou, 13395;

“En la bataille el primer front,

La ù Normanz plus espez sont,

En vint saillant plus tost ke cers.”

This encounter (described by Wace, 13387–13423) is worth notice on several grounds. I have quoted some lines above, p. 494. The Englishman is at last killed by Roger of Montgomery, who exclaims, “Ferez, Franceiz.” M. Pluquet (ii. 227) here comments on the Norman Roger calling his men “French.” The name of “Franci” (see above, p. 419) would take in all William’s followers, but Roger of Montgomery was (see above, p. 459) in the immediate command of the distinctly French contingent.

1431. Will. Pict. 135. “Languent Angli, et quasi reatum ipso defectu confitentes vindictam patiuntur.” So Guy, 527;

“Amborum gladiis campus rarescit ab Anglis,

Defluit et numerus, nutat et atteritur,

Corruit appositâ ceu silva minuta securi,

Sic nemus Angligentûm ducitur ad nihilum.”

1432. Wid. Amb. 533;

“... Dux prospexit Regem super ardua montis

Acriter instantes dilacerare suos.”

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Valuit hæc vicissitudo, modò illis modò istis vincentibus, quantùm Haroldi vita moram fecit.”

1433. Flor. Wig. 1066. “Ab horâ diei tertiâ usque noctis crepusculum suis adversariis restitit fortissimè, et seipsum pugnando tam fortiter defendit et tam strenuè ut vix ab hostili interimi posset agmine.” Od. ix. 56;

ὄφρα μὲν ἠὼς ἦν καὶ ἀέξετο ἱερὸν ἦμαρ,

τόφρα δ’ ἀλεξάμενοι μένομεν πλέονάς περ ἐόντας·

ἦμος δ’ ἠέλιος μετενίσσετο βουλυτόνδε,

καὶ τότε δὴ Κίκονες κλῖναν δαμάσαντες Ἀχαιούς.

1434. See the full account in the Roman de Rou, 13275–13296. So Henry of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 763); “Docuit igitur Dux Willielmus viros sagittarios ut non in hostem directè, sed in aëra sursum sagittas emitterent, cuneum hostilem sagittis cæcarent, quod Anglis magno fuit detrimento.” Henry is copied by Ralph of Diss, X Scriptt. 480, and Bromton, 960.

1435. Roman de Rou, 13287;

“Quant li saetes reveneient,

De sor les testes lor chaeient,

Chiés è viaires lor perçoent,

Et à plusors les oilz crevoent;

Ne n’osoent les oilz ovrir,

Ne lor viaires descovrir.”

1436. Ib. 13293;

“Saetes plus espessement

Voloent ke pluie par vent.”

So Henry of Huntingdon (u. s.), who is again followed by Ralph and Bromton; “Interea totus imber sagittariorum cecidit circa Regem Haraldum, et ipse in oculo percussus corruit.”

1437. Wid. Amb. 543;

“Per nimias cædes nam bellica jura tenentes

Heraldus cogit pergere carnis iter.”

1438. Roman de Rou, 13297;

“Issi avint k’une saete

Ki de verz li ciel ert chaete,

Féri Heraut de sus l’oil dreit,

Ki l’un des oilz li a toleit;

E Heraut l’a par aïr traite,

Getée a les mains, si l’a fraite.

Por li chief ki l’a dolu

S’est apuié sor son escu.”

This scene, the turning-point of all English history, is vividly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 16. Wace places it too early in the battle. William of Poitiers and the English writers do not mention the manner of the King’s death. All that Florence can utter is “heu, ipsemet cecidit crepusculi tempore.” William of Malmesbury (iii. 242) says, “Jactu sagittæ violato cerebro procubuit,” and in the next chapter, after describing Harold’s exploits (see above, p. 474), how every Norman who came near him was cut down, adds the remarkable expression, “quapropter, ut dixi, eminùs letali arundine ictus mortem implevit.” Compare—if any comparison be not sacrilege—the death of Richard, son of Richard King of the Romans, at the siege of Berwick in 1296 (Walt. Hem. ii. 98); “Ibi corruit frater Comitis Cornubiæ, miles strenuissimus [Harold’s own epithet], qui quum ad hostes caput in altum erigeret, in ipsum oculari aperturâ galeæ percussus telo, confestim cecidit et expiravit.” Between 1066 and 1296 the nose-piece had been exchanged for the vizor.

1439. Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 C. “Viginti autem equites strenuissimi fidem suam dederunt invicem quod Anglorum catervam perrumpentes signum regium quod vocatur Standard arriperent. Quod dum facerent, plures eorum occisi sunt; pars autem eorum, viâ gladiis factâ, Standard asportavit.” But it would seem from Wace that it was rather the Dragon which was carried off (13956);

“L’estendart unt à terre mis,

Et li Reis Heraut unt occis

E li meillor de ses amis;

Li gonfanon à or unt pris.”

So directly after (13965); “E l’estendart out abatu.” And so again, 14013.

1440. Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 C. “Irrumpens autem multitudo equitum Regem vulneratum interfecit.”

1441. Guy of Amiens (537) gives their names. Eustace has been already mentioned;

“Alter ut Hectorides, Pontivi nobilishæres;

Hos comitatur Hugo promptus in officio;

Quartus Gilfardus patris a cognomine dictus;

Regis ad exitium quattuor arma ferunt.”

1442. Compare the four murderers of Saint Thomas, who however needed a fifth, and that a clerical hand, to imitate this particular act of brutality. Will. Fil. Steph. 303. “Quidam Hugo de Horsea, cognomento Malus Clericus, sancti martyris procumbentis collum pede comprimens, a concavitate coronæ amputatæ, cum mucrone cruorem et cerebrum extrahebat.” Cf. Edw. Grim, 77; Reg. Pont. 168.

Guy leaves out all mention of the wound from the arrow.

1443. Wid. Amb. 549;

“Abscidit coxam quartus procul egit ademptam;

Taliter occisum terra cadaver habet.”

This action is very clearly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 16. So Wace, 13942.

1444. Will. Malms. iii. 243. “Jacentis femur unus militum gladio proscidit; unde a Willelmo ignominiæ notatus, quod rem ignavam et pudendam fecisset, militiâ pulsus est.” But I certainly cannot identify the one among the four mentioned by Guy who was punished in this way by William.

The death of Harold reminds one of the death of Patroklos (Il. xvi. 818);

Ἔκτωρ δ’, ὡς εἶδεν Πατροκλῆα μεγάθυμον

ἂψ ἀνάχαζόμενον, βεβλημένον ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,

ἀγχίμολόν ῥά οἱ ἦλθε κατὰ στίχας, οὖτα δὲ δουρὶ

νείατον ἐς κενεῶνα· διὰ πρὸ δὲ χαλκὸν ἔλασσε.

1445. The resistance of the heavy-armed English after the death of Harold is shown most distinctly in the Tapestry, pl. 16; but it is confined to the heavy-armed.

1446. Will. Pict. 137. “Viderunt Normannos non multum decrevisse peremptorum casu, et quasi virium incrementa pugnando sumerent, acriùs quam in principio imminere.”

1447. Flor. Wig. 1066. “Comites etiam Gyrth et Leofwinus fratres illius cecidere, et fere nobilitas totius Angliæ.” This is an enlargement of the Worcester Chronicle; “Ðær wearð ofslægen Harold Kyng and Leofwine Eorl his broðor and Gyrð Eorl his broðor and fela godra manna.”

1448. Guy indeed says (553), “Bella negant Angli; veniam poscunt superati,” but nothing of the sort is implied either in William of Poitiers or in the Tapestry. William (137) speaks of “Ducis eam sævitiam quæ nulli contra stanti parceret,” and the Tapestry (pl. 16) shows all the heavy-armed English lying dead.

1449. See above, p. 427.

1450. See below, p. 508.

1451. 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.”

1452. Wid. Amb. 681;

“Intus erat quidam contractus debilitate

Renum, sicque pedum segnis ab officio;

Vulnera pro patriâ quoniam numerosa recepit;

Lecticâ vehitur mobilitate carens.”

This is said of “Ansgardus,” whom I hold to be the same as Esegar. See above, p. 424, and Appendix EE.

1453. Wid. Amb. 557;

“Vesper erat, jam cardo diem volvebat ad umbras,

Victorem fecit quum Deus esse Ducem.

Solum devictis nox et fuga profuit Anglis,

Densi per latebras et tegimen nemoris.”

1454. Tapestry, pl. 16. “Fugâ vertunt Angli.” The fliers are all light-armed.

1455. See vol. i. p. 301.

1456. Will. Pict. 137. “In fugam itaque conversi quantociùs abierunt, alii raptis equis, nonnulli pedites.”

1457. This adventure of Eustace is described at length by William of Poitiers (137). William seems now to be armed with a broken lance; “Terribilior cum parte hastæ quam grandia spicula vibrantes.” He calls back Eustace from his flight; “Eustachium Comitem cum militibus quinquaginta aversum et receptui signa canere volentem ne abiret virili voce compellavit.” The blow given to Eustace is thus described (138); “Hæc inter verba percussus Eustachius inter scapulas ictu sonoro, cujus gravitatem statim sanguis demonstrabat naribus et ore.”

1458. This last scene of the battle is left out by Wace and Guy of Amiens, but it comes out very strongly in William of Poitiers, 137; “Rediit tamen fugientibus confidentia, nactis ad renovandum certamen maximam opportunitatem, prærupti vallis [valli?] et frequentium fossarum.” Orderic (501 D), who partly follows William of Jumièges (vii. 36), is fuller; “Nam crescentes herbæ antiquum aggerem tegebant, ubi summopere currentes Normanni cum equis et armis ruebant; ac sese, dum unus super alterum repente cadebat, vicissim exstinguebant. Ibi nimirum fugientibus Anglis rediit confidentia. Cernentes enim opportunitatem prærupti valli et frequentium fossarum, inopinatò restiterunt, in unum collecti sunt, et Normannis magnam stragem fortiter intulerunt.” He says that fifteen thousand of the Normans were killed at this point, which must surely be the number of the slain in the whole battle. He mentions one only by name, “Eginulfus Aquilensis oppidanus.” The name of Malfosse comes from the Chronicon de Bello, 5. See Appendix KK.

I do not feel at all clear about the reading of the words in Italics. There is a “prærupta vallis,” but the palisade could hardly be called a “vallum,” and I greatly doubt about Orderic’s “antiquus agger.” The gender of “vallis” however in William of Poitiers is odd.

1459. Will. Malms. iii. 245. “Illa fuit dies fatalis Angliæ, funestum excidium dulcis patriæ, pro novorum dominorum commutatione.”

1460. Hen. Hunt. lib. vi.; Scriptt. p. Bed. 212. “Quum jam Domini justam voluntatem super Anglorum gentem Normanni complêssent, nec jam vix aliquis princeps de progenie Anglorum esset in Angliâ, sed omnes ad servitutem et ad mœrorem redacti essent; ita etiam ut Anglicum vocari esset opprobrio.”

1461. Ib. lib. vii.; Scriptt. p. Bed. 213. “Declaratum constat quomodò Dominus salutem et honorem genti Anglorum pro meritis abstulerit et jam populum non esse jusserit.”

1462. See the quotation from Eadmer in p. 482.

1463. Will. Pict. 138. “Sic victoriâ consummatâ, ad aream belli regressus, repperit stragem, quam non absque miseratione conspexit, tametsi factam in impios, tametsi tyrannum occidere sit pulcrum, famâ gloriosum, beneficio gratum.” Cf. vol. ii. p. 285, note 3.

1464. Chron. Wig. 1066. “And þa Frencyscan ahton wælstowe geweald, eallswa heom God uðe for folces synnon.”

1465. Will. Pict. 138. “Latè solum operuit sordidatus in cruore flos Anglicæ nobilitatis atque juventutis.”

1466. Roman de Rou, 14026;

“Ki par noit kuident relever,

Et par noit kuident escaper;

Maiz mult se kuident ainz vengier,

Et mult se kuident vendre chier.

Ne chaut chescun de sa vie,

Ne li chaut poiz ki l’ocie,

Mais ke il ait un Normant mort.”

This remarkable passage throws light on the escape of Esegar and Leofric.

1467. Ib. 14055;

“Li colps virent granz en l’escu

E li helme out quassé véu.”

Will. Malms, iii. 244. “Et proculdubio divina ilium manus protexit, ut nihil sanguinis ex ejus corpore hostis hauriret, quamquam ilium tot jaculis impeteret.” If we can believe Guy of Amiens (555), William had killed two thousand Englishmen with his own hand;

“Dux ibi per numerum duo millia misit ad Orcum,

Exceptis aliis millibus innumeris.”

1468. Roman de Rou, 14073;

“A la champaigne la nuit jut,

Entre li morz mainga è but.

Diemaine fu el demain.”

1469. Wid. Amb. 561;

“Inter defunctos noctem pausando peregit

Victor, et exspectat Lucifer ut redeat.”

1470. Ib. 567;

We’ll remember where you stopped. All chapters