or agreement of Times or Actions by the few and mean Authors of those barbarous and illiterate Ages and perhaps the rough course of those lawless Times and Actions would have been too ignoble a Subject for a good Historian About the Year 8 o. after many various Events and Revolutions between the several Races of the Heptarchy Ecbert descended from the West-Saxon Kings having inherited most of the Successions from the Prowess and Exploits of his Ancestors and acquired others by his own became the first sole King or Monarch of England as it now was distinguished from the Principality of Wales possessed by the old Britains and from that part of the Island to the North of Tweed possessed by the Picts and Scots and by the Saxons stiled by one common Name of Scotland This famous Adventure of the Saxons in England was atchieved by the Force and Confluence of such Multitudes from the Coasts of Germany which lie between the Belgick and Baltick Shores that some Parts of their Native Countries were left almost dispeopled to fill again by new Swarms from the great Northern Hive and the Number of Saxons and Angles Iutes and other Nations that came over were not only sufficient to Conquer and Wast this whole Province but even to Plant and People it soon again with numerous and new Inhabitants So as by them succeeded in this Island not only a Change of Government as by the Roman Arms but a Change of the very People or Nation that inhabited or possessed the Lands of this whole Province This induced a Change likewise of Names of Language of Customs of Laws of Arms of Discipline of Possessions of Titles of Religion and even of the whole Face of Nature through this whole Kingdom So as we may justly date the Original of all these amongst us as well as our Nation it self from these our Saxon Ancestors Britain which was before a Roman Province was now grown a Saxon Kingdom and instead of its former Name was called England The Language which was either Latin or British was now grown wholly Saxon or English The Land that was before divided into Roman Colonies or Governments was so now into Shires with Names given to them by the Saxons as they first possessed or afterwards thought fit to distinguish them The Habits in Peace and Arms in War the Titles of Officers in both as well as of great Counsellors to their Kings or great Proprietors of Lands came to be all according to the Saxon Forms and Usage The Laws of this Country which before were Roman changed now into Old Saxon Customs or Constitutions Their Princes or Leaders of their several Nations became Konings or Kings of the Territories they had subdued They reserved part of the Lands to themselves for their Revenue and shared the rest among their chief Commanders by great Divisions and among their Soldiers by smaller shares The first who had the great Divisions were called Earls or Barons those of the smaller were Knights and the smallest of all were Freemen who possessed some Proportions of free Lands and were thereby distinguished from the Villens that held nothing but at the Will of the Landlord In this universal Transformation Religion it self had a share like all the rest and received new Forms and Orders with the new Inhabitants whilst all that was Roman or British expired together in this Country The Britains began early to receive the Christian Faith and as is reported from some of the Disciples themselves And this was so propagated among them that when the Romans left the Province they were generally Christians and had their Priests and Bishops from the ancient and Apostolick Institution The Saxons were a sort of Idolatrous Pagans that worshipped several Gods peculiar to themselves among whom Woden Thor and Frea were the chief which left their Memory still preserved by the common names of three days in the Week This Religious Worship they introduced with them and continued long in England till they subdued the Britains reduced it under their Heptarchy of Saxons Kings persecuted the British Christians and drove them with their Religion into Wales where they continued under their Primitive Priests and Bishops who with their Monks were all under the Surintendance of one Arch-Priest or Bishop of Carleon or Chester the Bound of the British Principality About the year 600. or soon after Pope Boniface sent Austin the Monk to Preach the Gospel in England to the Heathen Saxons who landing at Dover was received with Humanity by Ethelbert King of the South Saxons and being admitted with four or five of his Companions as well-meaning Men to teach and explain the Doctrin and Mysteries of Christianity among these ignorant and barbarous People they so well succeeded that they converted at first great numbers of the common sort and at length the King himself whose example gave easie way for introducing the Christian Faith into his whole Kingdom which from thence spread into all the Countries subject to the Saxon Heptarchy Thus Religion came to be Establish'd in England under the Rites and Forms and Authority of the Roman Church by which Austin was instituted chief Bishop in England and seated by the Saxon King at Canterbury But his Jurisdiction though admitted in all the Saxon Territories was not received by the British Priests or People in Wales though endeavoured by many missions from Austin and his Successors and even by Wars and Persecutions of the Saxons upon the Old British Christians at the instigation of the New Romish Priests in one of which near Carleon Twelve Hundred of the poor British Monks are said to have been slaughtered while they were apart in the Field at their Prayers for the success of the British Army With this Account of a new face and state of Persons and of Things both Natural Civil and Religious establish'd in England I return to the Period I left of the Saxon Heptarchy which being extinguish'd by long and various Revolutions among themselves made way for the Reign of Ecbert the first sole King or Monarch of England about the year 830. It might have been reasonably expected that a wise and fortunate Prince at the Head of so great a Dominion and so brave and numerous a People as the English after the Expulsion of the Picts and Scots out of his Country into the rough Northern Parts and of the Britains into the North-west Corners of the Island should not only have enjoyed the Fruits of Peace and Quiet but left much Felicity as well as greatness to many succeeding Generations both of Prince and People Yet such is the instability of Human Affairs and the weakness of their best Conjectures That Ecbert was hardly warm in his united Throne when both he and his Subjects began to be alarmed and perplexed at the approach of new and unknown Enemies and this Island exposed to New Invasions About this time a mighty Swarm of the Old Northern Hive who had possessed the Seats about the Baltick
by another Tenure than the Laiety pretended and feared not to lose them under any Prince that was a Christian which made them more indifferent of what Race or by what Title he held the Crown and so more easie to fall in with the Stream of any Changes or new Revolutions Besides they were possess'd with the Fame of this Prince's Piety and the Opinion of his Right having been determined by the Pope's approving and assisting it with his Benediction They thought as well as the Citizens that this Torrent was not to be resisted that a faint and fruitless Opposition would but exasperate the Duke and make him 〈◊〉 continue as well as begin his Reign like a Conqueror and therefore esteemed the wisest Part was to acknowledg his Right and thereby tempt or perswade him into a safer and easier Form of Government both for himself and his Subjects as a just and lawful King The Clergy was in very great Authority at this Time and among all sorts of People in the Kingdom having enjoyed and exercised it here during the whole Course of the Saxon Reigns after those Kings became Christians in this Island nor could any other Authority rise so high and spread so far as growing from so many Roots They were allowed to be the Guides and Instructors of Mankind in all spiritual Worship and Divine Service and even the Dispencers of those Graces and Forfeitures upon which depended the Rewards or Punishments of a future State which being greater and longer than those of this Life gave them more Influence upon the Minds of Men than any secular Jurisdiction that can extend no further They had mighty Possessions in Lands throughout the Kingdom as well as other Riches from the Bounty of pious Princes of devout and innocent People and from many others who thought to expiate Crimes or cover ill Lives by these kinds of Donation to the Church These Possessions were esteemed sacred and as much went into this Stock every Age so nothing ever went out and all the Lands in the Kingdom might in the Course of Ages have held of the Church if this Current had not been stopped by the Statute of Mortmain in the Time of Edward the first 'T is recorded that of sixty two thousand Knights Fees that were reckoned in England during the Reign of this first Norman King there were in that of King Iohn twenty eight thousand in the Hands of the Church This gave the Clergy by the Dependances of those that held under them in so great Numbers a secular Power annexed to their Ecclesiastical Authority They had besides all the little Learning which was in those ignorant Ages and passes for Wisdom among those who want both gives a Faculty at least of discoursing though perhaps not of judging better than others and gains more Attention and easier Applause from vulgar Auditors Lastly they were united more than any other State upon one common Bottom and in pursuit of one common Interest which was always pretended to be the Greatness of the holy Church but indeed was their own and the Honours Power and Riches of the Church-men rather than of the Church By these Circumstances and the Advantage of such a complicated Strength the Clergy came to such an Authority that they were Arbiters if not of all Affairs at least of all Contests in the Kingdom and turned the Ballance which way soever they fell in were still applied to by the weaker and often by the unjuster Side had the chief Sway and were the chiefest Instruments in all those many Revolutions of State irregular Successions and even Usurpations of the Crown that happened between the Time of the Conquest and the Reign of Henry the third which may easily be observed and cannot easily be wondered at by all who read the Story of those Reigns and consider what has been said upon this Subject important enough to excuse this Digression But to return to our Conqueror upon his March to London and the Consultations there how to receive him The Opinions and Councils of the Bishops and Ecclesiasticks easily prevailed and seem to have had more Reason as well as Authority than the rest So it was unanimously resolved not only to submit to a Power they could not oppose but to acknowledge a Title they would not dispute The Duke upon his Approach to the City was received with open Gates and open Arms at least without the Appearance of any Reluctance or Discontent any more than of Resistance He claimed the Crown at his Arrival by the Testament of King Edward the Confessor without any mention of Conquest which was infinitely grateful to all the Nobles and Commons of the Realm whether it was a Strain of his own Prudence and good natural Sense or a Perswasion of those English who had either assisted or invited his Invasion or Apprehension of so great and brave a People if offended by the Name of Conquest and irritated by the Dangers or Fears of a lawless Arbitrary Power to which they had not yet their Hearts or Strength broken enough easily to submit He was crowned King at Westminster by the Arch-bishop of York who with Stigand Arch-bishop of Canterbury had been the great Promoters of those Councils by which he entred upon so peaceable a Beginning of his Reign At his Coronation he took the Oath usual in the Times both of the Saxon and Danish Kings which was To protect and defend the Church to observe the Laws of the Realm and to govern his People justly After which he caused Fealty to be sworn to him by all the Bishops Barons and Nobles with the Magistrates of the City who had assisted or attended at his Coronation and thereupon found himself on a sudden settled in a calm and quiet Possession of a Crown he had so long aspired to and so lately won by one single though violent Blow This King was about two and Fifty Years old upon his Accession to this Crown and is perhaps the only Instance found in Story either before or since in this Island or the rest of the World that began and atchieved any great and famous Enterprise after that Age Whether the Decline of Nature leaves not Vigor enough for such Designs or Actions or Fortune like her Sex have no Kindness left for old Men how much soever she favoured them when they were young But the Talents of Age which are Prudence and Moderation learnt best in the School of Experience and seldom joyned if consistent with the warm Passions of Youth were now as necessary to this Prince for the Conservation of his Kingdom as his long industrious Application and bold Execution had been for acquiring it and how much he excelled in these Qualities will be seen by the Sequel of his Reign He considered very wisely that though he had gained the Crown by the Assistance of foreign Forces and by the Decision of Arms yet these might not always be so prosperous if too often tried and the Number or
is over That the King having passed some Months here in the Cares and for the Settlement of his new Dominions in England made a Journy to visit his old in Normandy about the beginning of the Summer having been crowned at Westminster on Christmas-Day Whether this was undertaken upon any Necessity of his Affairs on that side or to settle them so as not to interrupt him here where he intended to reside is not known or whether he took a Pleasure and a Pride to show both his Subjects and his Neighbours Princes how secure he esteemed himself in his new acquired Dominions but it looks like a Strain of his usual Boldness and fearless Temper and succeeded well like the rest of his Counsels and Resolutions yet was not this Journy undertaken without Prudence and Caution in the Choice of those Hands with whom he left the Government in his Absence and of those Persons he engaged to accompany him in the Voyage He committed the Rule of the Kingdom to his Brother Odon Bishop of Bayeux and to Fitz Aubar his near Kinsman whom he had lately made Earl of Hereford He took with him into Normandy Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury who though a great Instrument in his easie and peaceable Admission to the Crown yet had been discontented at his Coronation which had been perfomed by the Archbishop of York upon Pretence of some Fault or Question about the other's Investiture with him he took several other Bishops the Earls Edwin and Morchar two Persons of great Power and Dependances with many other English Noblemen of whose Faith or Affections he was the least confident and besides these he took with him a greater and much more considerable Hostage for the Quiet of England though under Color of honouring him or being honoured by his Company This was Edgar surnamed Atheling Nephew to Edward the Confessor and designed by him for Successor as was divulged among those of his Subjects that neither favoured the Right or Pretensions of Harold or the Norman Duke He had many Disadvantages to ballance and weigh down his Right which was undisputed as his foreign Birth and Breeding which was in Hungary during his Father's Exile under the Reign of Hardy-Cnute The Persecution and Hatred of his Grandmother Emma a Woman celebrated in her Time for the Suspicion and clearing of her Chastity by the Saxon Trial of Fire Ordeal but who having married Hardy-Cnute after the Death of her first Husband had ever after more Inclination to the Danish than the Saxon Race Bedsies Edgar though of so good and virtuous Dispositions as made him be stiled England's Darling yet they were such as seemed to become an excellent private Person rather than a Prince or at least to have adorned an easie and peaceful Possession of a Crown rather than to force his Way to a legal Right through the Difficulties and Opposition of two powerful Pretenders However an undisputed Right which they say never dies had left him so many Friends in the Kingdom that the King thought it not safe to leave him behind upon his going into Normandy nor wise to tempt either him or his new English Subjects with such an Opportunity of raising any Commotions upon so fair a Pretence Besides these Cautions he took with him most of his French Adventurers into Normandy finding they were not very agreeable here either to the English or to the Normans and pretending he was not able to clear his Accounts with all that assisted him out of the Revenues or Forfeitures here and that he would find out Ways of satisfying them either in Normandy or by his Credit and Recommendations to other Princes where his own Bounty or Abilities could not reach During his Stay in Normandy which was no less than the whole Summer his new Government in England continued quiet and peaceable though one Erick called the Forester endeavoured to disturb it by calling in some loose Forces of the Welsh his Neighbours into Herefordshire but he was soon suppressed and they easily forced back into their own Mountains by the Vigilance of the Governours and the Vigour of those Forces he had left here disposed with such Order into the several Countries as to give Way or Time to no growing Dangers that should arise in any one Corner or from any single Discontent while the general Humour of the People was calm and either satisfied with the Change or at a Gaze how this new World was like to end So that the King after having settled his Affairs in Normandy to his Mind returned before Winter to enjoy the Fruits of so many Dangers and Toils as his Life had been engaged in resolving to spend the remainder of it in England as the nobler Scene and greater Dominion and to cultivate with Care an Acquisition he had gained himself with much Hazard and Pains and with greater Glory The King at his Return into England finding his new Dominion had continued calm and peaceable under the Authority of his Brother and Council had Reason to believe it would be easily preserved so under his own For as the Absence of an ill Prince seldom fails of raising Disquiets and Commotions among the People in a Government which is obeyed only from Fear so nothing contributes more to the Satisfaction and Obedience of Subjects than the Presence of a good King and this is the Reason why all distant Provinces governed by Commissions or subordinate Authorities are so subject to frequent Seditions and Revolts how lawfully soever they are inherited or how well soever they are established after any new Conquest or Acquisition the Force and Influence of Authority growing still weaker by the Change of Hands and Distance of Place This disposed the new King to the Resolution he took at this time of making England the Seat of his Person as well as Empire and governing Normandy by his Lieutenants thereby forcing the common Affections of Birth or Education and Custom to yield and comply with Reasons of State and preferring a foreign to his natural Soil though perhaps seated in a better Climate and at that time more adorned and civilized by the Commerce of France and other Countries upon the Continent With this Resolution and in this Security he applied himself at his Return to the Arts of Peace and the Orders of his State wherein he as well excelled as in those of War and was framed not only for a great Prince but for a good to which he was inclined by the Bounty and Clemency of his natural Dispositions by the Strength and Soundness of his Judgment and by the Experience of his Age His first Care was to provide for the due Administration and Execution of Laws and Justice throughout his Realm and the next was to introduce Order into the common Course of his Revenue and manage it with so great Proportion of his Expence to his Receipts as might neither leave the Crown in Necessities nor the Subjects in Fears of new or lawless Exactions and Oppressions
Batavia The North-East part of Scotland was by the Natives called Cal Dun which signifies a Hill of Hazel with which it was covered from whence the Romans gave it the Name of Caledonia All which have lasted in their Language to this Day The Britains were little known abroad before the first Entrance of the Romans into their Isle or the Preparations and Enquiries they made in order to that Expedition Their Coasts only opposite to Gaul and Belgium were frequented by Merchants from thence who came thereby acquainted with them but little with the inland Provinces And these were the Men from whom Cesar drew his best Intelligence concerning the Country he ntended to Invade All that we find related of them by any credible Witnesses or Authority before the Romans entred is That the whole Country was filled with infinite numbers of People mightily abounding in all sorts of Cattle or Beasts both Wild and Tame Their Houses poorly Built and scattered all over the Country without Observance of Order or Distance by which Villages are composed But the Britains were placed as every Man liked and at smaller or greater Distances as they were invited by the Fertility of Soil or the Convenience of Wood or of Water They lived most upon Milk or Flesh which they got by Hunting Little upon Corn which was not in much Esteem or Plenty among them What Cloaths they wore to cover any Parts of their Bodies were usually of the Skins of Beasts but much of their Body as Arms Legs and Thighs was left naked and in many of them All What was naked was painted with Blew This was universal among them whether esteemed an Adornment or of Terror to their Adversaries or to distinguish them from all their Neighbors that came among them as Friends or as Enemies Their Towns were most upon their Coasts and founded for the Advantage of Havens and the Recourse of Strangers from the Continent to Buy and Sell or Exchange Wares with those of the Island These Inhabitants were much more Civilized than those of the inland Country by the Commerce and Frequentation of other Nations especially the Gauls who had long before been Civilized by the Roman Colonies The Commodities exported out of the Isle were chiefly Hydes and Tin which last was peculiar to this Country and in much Use abroad both in nearer and remoter Regions where this Island was chiefly known by the Product of this Commodity convey'd among them at so great Distances and so much in Request Some Silver they had but not in common Use as having few Mines and little Knowledge how to improve them either in the Digging or Refining Pearls they had too and frequently found among them but neither clear nor coloured like those of the Orient and therefore in low esteem among the Romans But little Iron and that used either for Arms or for Rings which was a sort of Money current among them The rest was of Brass which was brought from abroad and imployed only for this Use. Their Language Customs and Religion were generally the same with those of the Gauls before the Roman Conquests in that Province which were much earlier than in Britain This affinity made them frequently assist the Gauls upon the Coasts in their Wars against the Romans and gave the first Occasion of Cesars invading Britain for Revenge and Safety as well as Conquest and Glory Their Government was like that of the ancient Gauls of several small Nations under several petty Princes which seem the Original Governments of the World and deduced from the natural Force and Right of Paternal Dominion Such were the Hords among the Goths the Clans in Scotland and Septs in Ireland Whether these small British Principalities descended by Succession or were elected by the Advantages of Age Wisdom or Valour in the Families of the Prince is not recorded But upon great or common Dangers the chief Commander of all their Forces was chosen by common Consent in general Assemblies as Cesar relates of Cassivelaunus against his Invasion The same was done upon their Revolts against the Roman Colonies under Caractacus and Voadicea For among them Women were admitted to their Principalities and general Commands by the Right of Succession Nobility of Birth or Eminence of other Qualities Their Forces consisted chiefly in their Foot and yet they could draw great numbers of Horse into the Field upon great Occasions they likewise used Chariots in Fight which with short Scythes fasten'd to the ends of the Axle-trees gave cruel Wounds great Terror made fierce Charges upon the Ranks of their Enemies and were of much Force to Break or to Disorder them Their common Arms were small Shields but very large Swords which expressed more Desire of Wounding their Enemies than Defending themselves They were esteemed a very brave and fierce People till their Bodies came to be softned and their Courages debased by the Luxury as well as Servitude which the Romans introduced among them In their Religion and their Laws they were wholly governed by their Druids as were the ancient Gauls who are said to have been furnished with the chiefest and most learned of theirs out of Britain esteemed the Nursery of the ancient Druids so renowned in Story These were the only Persons of any sort of Learning in these Nations which was derived by long Tradition among them consisted in the Observation of the Heavens Knowledge of the Stars and their Courses and thereby the Presages of many Events or at least Seasons wherein the Vulgar is chiefly concern'd The rest was their Doctrines of Religion Forms of Divine Worship and Instructions in Morality which consisted in Justice and Fortitude Their Lives were simple and innocent in Woods Caves and hollow Trees Their Food of Acorns Berries or other Maste their Drink Water Which made them respected and admired not only for knowing more than other Men but for despising what all others valued and pursued and by their great Virtue and Temperance they were suffered patiently to reprove and correct the Vices and Crimes from which themselves were free All this together gave them such Authority and Veneration among the People that they were not only the Priests but the Judges too throughout the Nation No Laws were instituted by Princes or common Assemblies without the Proposal or Approbation of the Druids No Person was punished by Bonds Strokes or Death without the Judgment and Sentence of the Druids From a Belief that Men would never submit to the Loss of their Liberties or their Lives unless they believed it was inflicted upon them by a Divine Authority One Custom there was among the Britains which seems peculiar to themselves and not found in the Stories of any other Nations either Civil or Barbarous which was a Society of Wives among certain numbers and by common consent Every Man married a single Woman who was always after and alone esteemed his Wife But it was usual for five or six ten or twelve or more either Brothers or Friends as
King of France lost the Flower of his Army the greatest part of his Nobles and hardly escaped himself in Person But that little availed this unfortunate Prince who was so sensible of the Loss and as he thought dishonour received by so unequal a Match that he had not the Heart to survive it long but died of Grief and thereby gave an end to this War and left Duke William a calm and peaceable Reign till he disturbed his own and his Neighbours Quiet by new and greater Adventures But to discover their Causes and judge better of the Events we must have recourse to the Accidents of the former Reigns both in England and Normandy and the great Commerce and Intelligences that were thereby grown for many years past between these two Courts and Nations Edward for his Piety surnamed the Confessor the last King of the Saxon Race in England had by the Persecution of his Enemies under the Reign of Harde-Cnute the Dane been forced to leave England and seek shelter in Normandy where he was kindly received nobly entertained by the Duke lived long there with many English who adhered to his Right followed his Fortunes and shared in the Causes and Reliefs of his Banishment some found Imployments others Alliances All favour and kind reception in Normandy These mutual good Offices produced so much kindness between the Givers and Receivers that 't is by some Writers reported King Edward during his Residence in the Norman Court promised Duke Robert that in case he recovered the Kingdom of England and died without Issue He would leave him the Crown The first happening and Edward restored by the Power of Earl Godwin or rather the general Discontents of the English against the Danish Race and Government 'T is certain King Edward after his Restoration or rather first Accession to the Crown ever appeared more favourable and partial to the Normans than was well resented by his English Subjects in general but Earl Godwin and his Son Harold were so offended that they made it the Cause or Pretence of a dangerous Insurrection and were forced upon the ill Success thereof to leave the Kingdom and fly into Flanders though after restored and received by the King rather by Force than any free and willing Consent Duke William after the end of his Wars with France had turned his Thoughts to the common Arts and Entertainments of Peace regulating the Abuses of his State and the Disorders introduced by a long Course of Wars and Violence adorning his Palaces and Houses of Pleasure building Churches and Abbies and endowing them with great Bounty and Piety After which he made a Journy into England where he was received and entertained by King Edward with the same Kindness himself had found in the Norman Court for which like a good Prince he was much pleased to make this Return of Gratitude as well as Justice In this Visit 't is said by some Authors that the Duke gained so far upon the Esteem and Kindness of the King that he then renewed to the Son in England the promise he had formerly made the Father in Normandy of leaving him the Crown by Testament in case he died without Issue Some time after the Duke's return Harold Son to Earl Godwin and Heir of his great Possessions and Dependances in England was forced by a Storm as he at least pretended upon the Coasts of Normandy and to refresh himself after the Toils and Dangers of his Sea Voyage went first to the Norman Court and after some stay there to that of France and was in both entertained like a Person known to be of so great Consideration and Power in England But his last Visit at Paris was thought designed only to cover the true Intention of his first in Normandy Where he engaged to assist that Duke with all his Friends and Force in his Claim to the Crown of England upon King Edward's Death which happening not long after William claimed the Crown by virtue of a Testament from that King and of an Engagement from Harold But he on the contrary denied any such Testament from the deceased Prince alledged an Appointment made by him at his Death for Harold to succeed him disowned any Promise made in Favour of the Duke and making the best use of the Credit and Authority gained by his Father and himself in a crasie and diseased State during the soft Reign of a weak though pious King Harold set up bodly for himself without any respect of Right beyond the Peoples submission interpreted for their Consent and was Elected King by those Nobles and Commons of his Friends or indifferent Persons who assembled at his Coronation leaving to Edgar Atheling an undoubted but yet unregarded Right of Succession and to William a disputed Plea from the alledged Testament of the deceased King The Duke fond of those ambitious Hopes he had framed early and nourished long and spighted at the perfidious dealing of Harold towards him and his Insolence towards the English Nation in seising the Crown and Government against all Justice or so much as Pretence of Right which is commonly made use of to cover the most lawless Actions assembles his Estates of Normandy exposes to them his Claim to England the Wrong done him by Harold his Resolutions of prosecuting both with his utmost Power The Glory as well as Justice of the Enterprise The hopes of Success from his own Right and the hatred in England of the Usurper as well as the Friends and Intelligences he had in that Kingdom The greatness of Spoils and Possessions by the Conquest of his Enemies and the Share he intended his Friends and Followers according to each Man's Merit and Contribution towards the Advancement of his Designs Though the generality of the Normans in this Assembly were not at first very much moved by these Discourses as either doubting the Right or Success of so hazardous an Adventure yet they could not discourage what they were unwilling to promote since they found the Prince had it so much at Heart who prevailed with several of the greatest Bishops and Nobles of Normandy to make him a voluntary Offer of what Moneys Men and Ships they would each of them furnish towards this Enterprise as well as of their own Personal Attendance upon him in so noble and just a Design This free and magnanimous Offer of the greatest among them in some Degree spirited not only the rest of the Assembly but had much Influence upon the People in general who grew Confident of the Success from the Greatness and Boldness of the Undertakers so as they fell into Emulation who should Engage soonest and Contribute furthest upon this Occasion The Duke assisted to his Expectation by his Subjects began to practice upon the Hopes and Ambition of his Neighbours who weary of the long Quiet they had lived in at home since the Part they had taken in the French and Norman Wars begun to grow fond of some new Action and to look
English Nobles residing in Scotland and Intelligence with others discontented in England married the Lady Margaret eldest Sister of Edgar and thereby became newly engaged in the Interests and Family of this noble but unfortunate Prince The Fame of this Adventure was no sooner divulged in England than it raised a great though different Motion in the Minds of all Men there who were either well or ill affected to the new King filling one Party with new Hopes ' and the other with new Fears and reasonably enough in both from all common Appearances Many Persons of great Note and Authority in England repaired immediately upon it into Scotland some by easie Passages out of the Northern Counties and others out of the remoter Parts of the Realm by more difficult Escapes either by Sea or Land Among these were the Earls Edwin Morchar Hereward Seward Gospatrick Men of great Estates and Power as was believed in England with many other Nobles and Gentlemen But that which seemed yet of greater Influence and Authority was the Repair of Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury and Alred of York with divers other Bishops and Prelates who having been the chief Instruments in making Way for the easie Accession of Duke William to the Crown and for the general Submission of the English to his Reign were presumed now likely to prove of as great Moment and Importance for the Restoration and Support of a just English Title in Edgar as they had been for the Admission and Establishment of one disputed and forreign of the Norman Dukes Besides the Clergy being accounted the wise and learned Men of that Age were esteemed most likely to judge best of the Rights and best to foresee the Events in Disputes of the Crown and unlikely to embark themselves in a Bottom unsound upon either the Regards of Justice or Success Edgar exalted with such a Concourse of Nobles out of England and the Hopes they gave him of a greater from the People there when he should appear among them resolved to lay claim to that Crown and with stronger Arguments than those of a bare Title or Right of Succession how just soever For the Scotch King had now assisted him with a great Army being induced to engage openly in his Quarrel not only by the Charms of his Wife or Compassion of her Brothers hard Fortune but by Reasons of State as well as of Justice and Affection he feared the dangerous Neighbourhood of so powerful aspiring and fortunate a Prince and apprehended his Ambition would not cease with the Conquest of England but extend it to that of Scotland too and reducing the whole Island of Britain under one Dominion for which it seemed by Nature to have been framed he thought it both wise and necessary to give some Stop to this growing Power before it became too well setled at home and thereby prepared for new Enterprises abroad and that it was better carrying a War into England than expecting it in Scotland He was glad of so fair an Occasion to justifie his Quarrel and by advancing the Fortunes of Edgar to secure his own he had taken Measures with Swayn King of Denmark to enter the Humber with a powerful Navy whilst he with his Army entred the Northern Provinces by Land and with the Sons of Harold at the same Time to invade the West by the Assistance of Forces to be furnished by Drone King of Ireland to whom they had fled upon the Norman Victory He presumed upon great Insurrections among the English in Favour of Edgar and by the Authority of the Nobles his Associates who had represented the common Discontents in England to be as great as their own These Hopes were not ill grounded nor the Designs ill laid for the Danish Fleet was ready to sail and the Sons of Harold with their Irish Forces landed and raised a Commotion in the West at the same Time that Edgar with those out of Scotland invaded the North where he found at first no Opposition but instead of Enemies met with many Friends prepared to receive him and increase his Strength He made himself Master of Northumberland Cumberland and the Bishoprick of Durham by the Defeat of Robert Count of Mortain who was there slain with seven hundred Normans From thence he marched without Resistance as far as York which was defended by a strong Garrison of Norman Soldiers He besieged this City the Capital and Defence of all the Northern Counties and assaulted it with that Fury that he carried the Town by Storm where all the Normans were put to the Sword by the Rage and Revenge of the English Nobles in his Army many in the Heat of the Assault and the rest after they were entred and found no more Resistance After this Success Edgar remained some time at York to refresh his Army after so long a March and so warm an Action which had cost him the Lives of many brave Men and the Wounds of many more Besides he expected here to see his Army soon increased by the Repair of many Friends and Discontents out of the Southern Provinces of England and by the Arrival of the Danish Fleet in the Humber according to the Concert before agreed and for which he knew all had been prepared King William thus surrounded with Dangers from the West and North and with Jealousies of his new Subjects of whose Affections he had yet made no Trial further than some few Years Submission to his Government was yet undaunted at the News of all these Attempts nor any ways distracted by such various either Dangers or Fears He applied himself to those which were nearest by sending the Forces he had ready immediately into the West under experienced Commanders and prepared a greater Army both of English and Normans to march himself into the North after the Commotions in the West should be appeased This happened to be easier and sooner than he expected for the Attempt of Harold's Sons with their Irish Forces proved weak and faint though successful in the first Encounter wherein Ednoth a brave Commander on the King's side was slain with several of his Followers but the Sons of Harold being defeated in a second Engagement and failing of any considerable Recourse or Insurrection of the English there upon which they had grounded their chief Hopes much disappointed and thereby discouraged were easily broken by the brave Norman Troops and forced to return with the Remainder of their Irish Forces into Ireland King William upon the happy End of this Adventure after the best Orders taken for the Security of the Southern Parts in his Absence marched at the Head of a brave Army in the North engaged the Forces of Edgar in a set Battel and by the Valour of his Troops the Discipline and Order of his Army and his own excellent Conduct defeated entirely the united Strength of his Enemies sieged and took again the City of York defended by Waltheof Son to the Earl Syward a young Gentleman of great Valour and
Reign nor tempted to impose any Taxes upon his Subjects or other Duties than what were common and known and paid without Pressure or Discontent among the Commonalty of the Realm so as after all these Institutions he passed several Years in great Tranquility at home as well as Honour from all his Neighbour Princes About the thirteenth Year of his Reign he went into Normandy leaving his Brother Odon Bishop of Bayeux and created Earl of Kent his Vice-gerent in England and little apprehending any Storm after so long a Fit of fair weather or that He had left any ill Blood behind him that was like to gather to a Head with such an Inflamation and so dangerous Symptoms as soon after appeared But no Condition of Human Life is ever perfectly secure nor any Force of Greatness or of Prudence beyond the Reach of Envy and the Blows of Fortune Princes as well as private Men are often in most Danger at those Times and in those Parts they think themselves the safest as strong Towers are sometimes taken on those sides that are thought impregnable and so left undefended or little regarded This conquering King esteemed himself now at Ease for the remainder of his Life and not only safe in his own Strength but the Satisfaction of his Subjects The English he had pleased in general by the Preservation of their ancient Laws the bravest and warmest Blood of their Nobles was drawn in the Battle of Hastings or the Wars with Scotland their Power was weakened by so many Confiscations and the Retreat of many more into Scotland and Ireland The Normans were strong and numerous in England and were his own by Birth and by Interest the Ballance of these two Parties seemed the Safety of the whole and it was not to be imagined that both should combine in any Danger to the Crown Besides there was left no Pretension of any better Right or Title than his own since Edgar had laid down his not only in Shew but with firm Resolutions never to resume them But many of the English Nobles still hated the Name of a Conquest resented the Change of Forms and Language in their Laws the Introduction of any new Customs but especially the Rigor of the Forrest Laws which they knew to be arbitrary and esteemed not only a restraint of their innocent Liberties but an Indignity in particular to themselves Some of the chief Norman Lords who had obtained great Possessions by the King's Bounty and the Confiscations of the English being now invested in their Lands and their Titles began to grow fond of their Laws as the safest Tenure and though they had gained their great Estates by the Favour of the King yet they were not willing to hold them at his Pleasure and so joyned with the English Nobles in the Complaints of too great Power exercised by the King and the Jealousies of greater yet designed to the Prejudice of the ancient Constitutions of the Kingdom and Diminution of the Authority or Dependances of the Nobles Some of both Nations and equally ambitious Spirits who had been most favoured and advanced by the King yet valuing their own Merits too high or their Rewards too low thought they had nothing because they had not all they pretended esteemed the King's Favour or Bounty to any others as Injury to themselves and were as unsatisfied with what they had gained as others with what they had lost These Dispositions floating at first in the Minds of several great Nobles both English and Norman and enflamed by such of the Ecclesiasticks who had Credit in the great Families of both Nations grew at length to downright Conspiracy of dispossessing the King of his Crown and introducing the Danes who were allied to many great Lords in England and were esteemed by the Normans of the same Race with their Ancestors The chief of this Conspiracy were the Earls of Norfolk and Suffolk of greatest Power among the English Nobility Fitz-Auber a Norman of near Kindred to the King and who had assisted him with forty Ships upon his English Expedition and been recompenced with mighty Possessions in England and created Earl of Hereford The Earl Waltheof who had been pardoned his Revolt upon the Scotch Invasion married to the King's Niece and ever since intimately trusted as well as favoured by the King These entred secretly into Intelligence with Swain King of Denmark and with Harold's Sons who were still refuged in Ireland The first ingaged to invade the Northern Parts with a Navy of three hundred Sail the last by the Assistance of Drone King of Ireland to attempt the Western Coasts with sixty Ships and the discontented Lords to make a strong Insurrection in some of the Northern Provinces upon Approach of the Danish Fleet which was concerted to be soon after the Kings intended Journey into Normandy These Measures were laid with such Caution and pursued with such Secrecy that all was ready to be executed before the King in Normandy or his Ministers in England had either Notice or Suspicion of any such Dangers or Designs Fitz-Auber had asked the King's Leave some Months before his Norman Iourney to marry his Sister to the Earl of Norfolk and pretended some small Discontent at his Refusal Not long after his Departure he declared the Marriage and the Day appointed to consummate it in Norfolk with great Solemnity and the Recourse of the nearest Relations and most intimate Friends on both sides among whom were the Earl Waltheof and Eustace Earl of Bologne who came over on Purpose to assist at the Consultations here designed At this meeting all was agreed in what Parts of the Kingdom under what Leaders the several Insurrections should be made upon what Pretences and the Time appointed to be when the Danish Fleet should appear upon the Coast. But some Delays intervening which are fatal to all Conspiracies that are trusted into many Hands this was discovered some Days before the Danes arrived but by whom of the Accomplices is left uncertain though some write that it was by Earl Waltheof upon the Conscience of so great an Ingratitude to the King After the full and particular Discovery of the whole Plot and all the chief Conspirators Odon the Vice-gerent with the Assistance and Advice of the King's Council immediately dispatched away several Parties of the King 's best Troops into the several Parts where the Insurrections were intended to begin seised upon many of the Conspirators before others had Notice of the Discovery broke the rest before they could draw to a Head took Earl Waltheof and Fitz-Auber Prisoners who were beheaded upon this Occasion and many others imprisoned Whether this Execution was by the King's Command out of Normandy or by the Rigor of his Brother Odon and upon Pretence of Necessity in so dangerous a Conjuncture is not recorded but 't is agreed that these two were the only Nobles that were executed in England during the Reign of William the Conqueror notwithstanding so many Revolts
much admired in this Action being said to have stood firm at a Breach made in the Wall and with his Sword to have cut of the Heads of many Normans as they pressed to enter and could do it but one by one by the Narrowness of the Breach so bravely defended After this Defeat and the Surrender of York Edgar retired into Scotland with those of his Dependants who were most desperate and impatient of the Norman Conquest The rest of the English Nobles who had escaped the Battel submitted themselves to the King and came in upon publick Faith took a new Oath of Allegiance and were thereupon all pardoned and many restored not only to their Estates but to Favour with the King who had found Erick the Forrester that had first rebelled against him after his Coronation express great Fidelity after his Pardon obtained and perform good Service in this Northern Expedition He made Gospatrick Earl of Northumberland and employed him against the Dangers and Incursions he apprehended from the Scotch He was so charmed with the Valour and Constancy that Waltheof had shewed in the Defence of York though so much to his Cost and the Loss of so many Normans by his Sword that he resolved to gain him at what Rate soever he valued himself showing the Nobleness of his own Courage and Virtue by loving and honouring them in his Enemies He married this young Gentleman to Iudith his Niece gave him great Possessions besides those to which he was Heir and used him with much Confidence which was for some time returned with Service and with Faith Most of the other Nobles that came in upon Pardon of their Lives he despoiled of their Estates and Offices and bestowed them upon his Norman Friends and Followers some he kept Prisoners whom he thought most dangerous as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Edwin a Man of the greatest Power and Dependences whose Earldom and great Possessions in Yorkshire were given to Alain Earl of Britain as were those of several others at the same time to others of his Kindred or Friends In the room of Stigand he made Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury an Italian born but an Abbot in Normandy a Person of great Wisdom and Temper as well as Learning Thomas his Chaplain he made Archbishop of York and obtained the Approbation of the Pope for their Succession in those Sees during the Lives of the other two upon Representation of other Crimes or at least Vices besides their Rebellion against a King whose Title had been confirmed by the Pope as well as encouraged 'T is not agreed at what Time the Danish Fleet arrived upon the Coasts but 't is certain they entered Humber with about two hundred Sail some write that they returned again without making any Attempt upon the Shore that their Commanders were enriched with great presents from the King and their Soldiers supplied with Provisions and all treated rather like Friends than Enemies whether their Arrival out of Time made them despair of any Success and whether that were occasioned by cross Winds at Sea or cross Purposes in the Danish Court is not well known For William the Conqueror after he was seated in the Throne feared no Insult from abroad but by Danish Powers and Pretensions they had still upon England and the Preparations as was divulged abroad of Swain their King for invading it with a Navy of a thousand Ships Hereupon he endeavoured to ward this Blow by slight rather than Force thinking his Safety on that side better purchased with Treasure than with Blood He practised private Intelligences in the Danish Court and by Force of Presents and Pensions gained to his Devotion some Persons of Credit and among the rest Adelbert Archbishop of Hamburg a Man of great Authority in those Parts and whose Advices were much used and esteemed by the Danish King It was believed the Artifices and Practices of these Men eluded the first great Design of a mighty Invasion changed it into an Assistance of the discontented here with smaller Forces delayed them till the Time was past and disposed their Commanders to return without Action and their Master to receive their Excuses with Approbation or at least with Impunity Yet there are other Writers who say the Danes landed in England made great Spoils joyned Prince Edgar's Forces wintered in this Kingdom and returned in the Spring by the King 's private Practices and Rewards among the Commanders as well as Bounty to the Soldiers The King after having established his Affairs in the North returned triumphant to London where the first Action he performed was to take a new personal Oath before Lanfranc the new Archbishop and all the Lords then present in that City to observe the ancient Laws of the Realm established by the Kings of England his Predecessors and particularly those of Edward the Confessor This Action of the Kings was the more applauded and the better accepted by the English because it was unconstrained by any Necessity of his Affairs or Appearance of any new Dangers against which he might have Reason to provide And 't is certain his Oath taken at his Coronation of preserving the ancient Laws of the Realm had been the chief Occasion of his Safety in the late and dangerous Convulsion of the State together with the ill chosen Time of the Scotch Invasion and the Revolt of the Lords in Favour of Edgar For if such Attempts had been made soon after the Conquest while the Minds of the People were generally in Motion and in Fear of what might succeed to the Danger of their Properties and their ancient Liberties upon that new Revolution his Throne had not been only shaken but in evident Danger of being overthrown by such a violent Concussion But the People having lived quietly some Years under the Protection of their ancient Laws and in an equal Course of known and common Justice grew indifferent to the Change which had been made in the Rights or Succession of the Crown or to any new one that might succeed Besides though they were well affected to Edgar yet they disliked the Company with which he came attended and hated the Entrance of a Scotch Army into England more than they loved Edgar They thought if he succeeded the Dominion would fall under the Scotch whilst he only retained the Name and if they must be governed by Strangers the best was to have those they were already used to and so feared least The common Subjects of a Kingdom are not so apt to trouble themselves about the Rights and Possession of a Crown as about their own and seldom engage in the Quarrels of the first but upon some general and strong Apprehensions that the last are in Danger So the Discontents and Insurrections of the Nobles in England though encouraged and supported by forreign Forces yet failed of Success against this new King and his Government because they were not followed by any general Commotion or Sublevation of the People