of day gave them so hot an Alarm that he put them all into a rout leaving their Horses and Armour to the Normans who in the pursuit of fourty thousand left not a fourth part of them alive The King of France thus defeated returned home with disgrace and our Duke with the price of the Prisoners recovered his Peace and the Castle of Thuilliers which had been taken from him in his minority Cout Martel though much discouraged with the Kings overthrow yet made some attempts for the recovery of his Towns but without success Wherefore the next spring he went again to sollicit the French King to aid him against the Duke who said he is now grown insolent upon the victory he stole last year so that there is no living by him Besides he suggested that the Normans extreamly derided the French and had a base esteem of them making their last overthrow the subject of their sport and Rhimes as if the King of France upon such an inconsiderable loss durst not break a dishonourable Peace The King being stung with this reproach raised a mighty Army far greater than the former wherein were three Dukes and twelve Earls and notwithstanding the solemne peace made and so lately sworn with the Duke he entered Normandy in the Harvest time spoiling all before him along the Countrey of Bessin From thence he passed to Bayeux and Caen purposing to pass the River Dine at Verruil and to destroy all as far as to Roan Coming thither he found the Causeway long and Bridge narrow wherefore he caused his Van to pass over first and to secure his Rere lead by the Duke of Berry himself staid behind in Caen till his men and Carriages were passed Duke William all this while was storing his Fortresses with men and victuals strengthening himself and Falaise as much as he could yet had no Army in the Field but only a running Camp ready to take all advantages and so lets the fury of this storm spend itself till being informed of their passage over the Bridge and then marching all night with ten thousand men in the morning early he set upon the Rereward with so dreadfull a cry and fury that such as were upon the Causeway being affrighted thrust forward such as were before them hasting to get over the Bridge which by reason of the great press brake so that many were drowned and such as were got over could not return to aid the rest Nor the King by reason of the marishes on both sides could not yield any succor to his people but stood a spectator of their slaughter there were very many slain and six of the Kings Earls taken Prisoners This shameful overthrow was so laid to heart by the King of France that he died shortly after and the Duke of Normandy enjoyed peace which he imployed nobly in ordering and beautifying his State building and endowing Churches and Monastries He erected also a Tomb for himself and his wife at Caen Feasting and rewarding his Nobles and other men of worth whereby he so engaged their hearts to him that they were wholly his to do what he pleased In the time of this calm he sailed over into England pretending a visit to King Edward his kinsman who because he had been protected and bred in Normandy by Duke Richard the second Grandfather to them both gave him most Royal entertainment Probably he came to see and to be seen to make way for his future designs And not long after Herald whether on purpose or by some casualty of weather was driven into France is uncertain but he was gallantly entertained in Normandy by Duke William and at Roan something was concluded betwixt them whether to divide the Kingdom of England between them or that Herald being a coast-dweller should let in Duke William after the decease of King Edward the Confessour and do his best to help him to his Kingdom is uncertain but whatever it was it was solemnly sworn to upon the holy Evangelists and all the Reliques in Roan And for more assurance Herald was betrothed to Adeliza the Dukes Daughter and his Brother Wolnot was lest as a pledge for the performance Sure it is that so much was done either by our King Edward who by Will left the Crown to him or by Herald or both as gave him ground to challenge the Crown of England and to pursue the getting of it Though indeed it was not in either of their powers to prejudice our State or to alter the conse of a right succession As soon as Duke William heard of the death of King Edward and of the Election and Coronation of Herald he assembled the States of Normandy and acquainted them with the right he had to England intreating their utmost assistance for the recovery of it and to avenge him on the perjur'd Usurper Herald shewing them what a strong party he had in England and the distractions of the people which made his attempt very probable He told them what Glory Wealth and greatness the obtaining of such a Kingdom would add to them Yet notwithstanding all he could say there were but few that liked of this attempt and they which did were such as had long followed him in the wars and thereby had exhausted their estates and were content to run any adventure that might promise hope of advantage Of the rest some thought it best to hold and defend their own Countrey without adventuring to conquer an other and this was the richer sort Others were willing to contribute but did it so sparingly that it little advanced the design and the rest were so tyred with former Wars and so willing to enjoy the blessing of Peace that they were unwilling to forgoe a certain for an uncertain good The Duke meeting with these discouragements was much perplexed which made him to deal more particularly with his best Friends whom he knew to affect Honour and that they would adventure their whole estates with him These were William Fitz-Auber Earl of Brettevil Gualter Guifford Earl of Longevil Roger Lord de Beaumont c. especially his own brothers Odo Bishop of Bayeux and Robert Earl of Mortagne These he procured in a full Assembly to make their offers which they did so liberally Fitz Auber promising to furnish fourty ships with men and Amunition the Bishop of Bayeux fourty the Bishop of Mentz thirty c. that the rest of the assembly doubting that if without their help the Duke should carry on his design he would not forget their backwardness they came off more liberally The Duke finding them yielding yet not so forward as was requisite for such an undertaking dealt with the Bishops and great men apart getting that of them severally which of all together he could not attain and causing every mans contribution to be recorded kindled such an emulation amongst them that they which before would do nothing now strove who should do most By his fair perswasions also he
drew in most of the Princes and Nobles of France to adventure their Persons and much of their estates with him As Robert Fitz Harvay Duke of Orleance the Earls of Britaine Ponthieu Bulloigne Poyctou Maine Nevers Hiesms â—umarl Signior de Tours yea and Martel his enemy Earl of Anjou Indeed it was strange that these great men of France should adventure their lives and Fortunes to add England to Normandy and so great a Crown to a Duke who was too great for them already But where God hath determined alterations in Kingdoms and States all things shall concurr to promote the same The King of France who should have most opposed was now a Child and under the Tutorship of Baldwin Earl of Flanders Duke William's Father in Law and therefore from thence he was sure of furtherance rather than hinderance And to delude the young King he promised faithfully if he conquered England to hold it of the Crown of France as he did his Dutchy of Normandy And to make the Pope his friend he promised him to hold it of the Apostolick See Whereupon the Pope sent him a consecrated Banner an Agnus Dei and one of Saint Peter's haires The Emperour also sent him some Forces under the command of one of the Princes of the Empire And being thus encouraged and furnished within eight months he was ready with a powerful Army at Saint Valery in Normandy to transport himself into England in 896 Ships But now let us see how affairs stood in England King Edward the Confessor being himself without issue had in his lifetime sent into Hungary for his Nephew Edward called the Outlaw the Son of Edmund Ironside intending to make him his Successour to the Crown but he dying soon after his arrival in England King Edward then gave his Son Edgar the name of Etheling or Prince Edgar meaning to design him for his successour but was prevented by death before he had fully established him and Edgar Etheling though he had right yet being young and a stranger here and so wanting power to make good his right Herald the Son of Earl Godwin stept into the Throne and though hereby violating of holy Rights he offended the Clergy yet not any either of the Clergy or Laity durst oppose him as being the most Martiall man in the Kingdom and such an one as the state of the Realm then stood in need of And besides his own worth he had the assistance of Edwin and Marchar the two great Earls of Yorkshire and Chester Indeed King Edward had appointed the Crown sometimes to William Duke of Normandy sometimes to Edgar Etheling and sometimes to this Herald who was now Crowned by Aldred Archbishop of York And being possessed of the Throne he was able to make good his Title yet to make Prince Edgar some part of amends he created him Earl of Oxford And Herald being thus setled carried himself with great valour and Justice for the time he enjoyed it which was but nine months He made all provisions for defence that a politick and active Prince could do The first man that begun to disturb his new Government was his younger Brother Toustaine who in King Edward's Reign being made Governour of Northumberland for his pride and barbarous cruelty was banished the Kingdom and now by reason of his former hatred against his Brother was easily set on by the Duke of Normandy and Baldwin Earl of Flanders who had married his two Daughters to Duke William and Toustaine to assail Herald He first assailed the Isle of Wight and then set upon the coast of Kent from whence he was chased by Herald and forced to withdraw into the North where seeking to land he was thence repulsed by the Earls Marchar and Edwin whose Sister Herald had married Then he craved aid of the Scots and afterwards of Harald Harfager King of Norwey who was excercising Piracy about the Orchades with him he prevailed and so uniting their Forces they landed about Tinmouth and from thence marched into the heart of the kingdom But near Stamford King Herald of England met them with a strong Army and after a long and cruel fight ended the day with victory and the death both of Toustaine and the King of Norway No sooner was this Battel over but with his wearied and broken Forces he was called to a more fatal business in the South For now Duke William of Normandy pretending a right to the English Crown by the Testament of the late King Edward his kinsman upon the advantage of King Herald's being so far off with his Army landed at Pemsey near to Hastings in Sussex and Herald being informed of it gathering together his broken Forces increasing them as much as he could by the way with all possible speed he hasted to give the Duke Battel Duke William as soon as he had landed his men sent his ships away that so they might think of nothing but either Victory or Death Then going himself on land his foot slipt and he fell down which some of his company took for an ill signe No said he I have by this taken possession of this Land Many attempts were made to compound the difference between Herald and William but Herald would hearken to none presuming of success and judging it a disgrace to capitulate for that which was his own And when one of his Brothers called Gyrth intreated him to consider what a fearful thing it was to break an Oath which he had so solemnly sworn Herald judged that nothing which he had done being a private man could be of force to him being now a Prince Anno Christi 1066. October the fourteenth being also Herald's Birthday and his Soldiers thinking to honour him thereby having spent the night in revelling and drinking whereas the Dukes men spent it in quietness and devotion they joyned Battel the Kentish men being placed in the Front as by antient custom was their due and King Herald with his Londoners leading the main Battel where though the number of their Armies was not much unequall each of them having above sixty thousand men yet was there great odds in the expertness of the Souldiers and more in their weapons For the Duke had with him all the flower of France and Flanders whereas King Herald had lost his best men in the late fight and for weapons the Normans had long Bowes which then were not in use among the English it 's no marvel then though the Normans got the Victory And though Herald lost his life yet he lost not his credit and the English shewed no less valour though they were Conquered than the other did in Conquering For King Herald like an expert General had ordered his men in so firme a Body that no power of the Normans could disorder their ranks till Duke Wìlliam used this Stratagem He made his men to retire and to counterfeit flight by which meanes he drew the English on upon an
hollow ground covered over with earth wherein many of them fell and perished as also into an Ambush of his Horsemen which unexpectedly fell upon them and cut them in peices Indeed Duke William fought that day so valiantly that he had three Horses slain under him But King Herald shewed no less valour in killing many of the Normans with his own hands Insomuch as the fight continued doubtfull for a long time till at last King Herald being struck into the braines with an Arrow fell down dead upon whose fall a base Norman cut off one of his thighs for which Duke William was so offended that he disarmed the Souldier and cashier'd him Thyra King Herald's Mother proffered a great some of money for his Body which the Duke nobly refused and gave it her freely who buried it in Walltham Abby And no marvel if the English had such ill success For the People being secure from their former enemies the Danes which peace had continued now about the space of fifty years had discontinued the use of Armes and were generally debauched with Luxury and idleness The Clergy was grown licentious and well content with little Learning The Nobility given to Gluttony Venery and oppression the common sort to drunkenness and all disorder Duke William as his Valour won him the Victory so his Victory won him a Crown and suddenly of an old Duke he became a young King Wherefore having returned publick thanks to God for his good success in the place which he called Battel field near Hastings in Surrey he led his Army towards London yet not the direct way for fear of an other encounter but thorow Kent Sussex Surry Hampshire and Bark shire and so coming to Wallingford he there crossed the Thames and passed through the Counties of Oxford Bucks and Hertford And whilst he staid at Barkamsted Aldred Archbishop of York Woolstan Bishop of Worcester Walter Bishop of Hereford with the Earls Edwin and Morchar the greatest men in the Kingdome yea and Edgar Etheling himself came and yielded their Allegiance to him the Pope having cursed all such as would not accept of him From hence as William passed towards London he found his way stopt up with multitudes of great Trees which by Frederick Abbot of Saint Albans a man of Noble blood were caused to be felled to secure his Monastery from being spoiled by the Normans whereat William both wondering and fret ting sent for the Abbot under assurance of his safe return and asked him why he did it Frederick stoutly replied I have done the Duty both of my Birth and Profession and if others of my rank had done the like as they might and ought to have done it had not been in thy power to have pierced the Land so far From hence William marched to London where the Gates were set open and the Bishops Lords and People entertained him with great signes of joy though with small gladness and though he had not their hearts yet he had their knees for in most humble manner they accepted of him for their Sovereign and upon Christ-mass day after he was Crowned at Westminster by Aldred Archbishop of York For that Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury was not held Canonically invested in his See Here according to the accustomed form the Bishops and Nobles took their oaths to be his true and faithful subjects and he being required by the Archbishop of York takes his Oath before the Altar of Saint Peter to defend the Right of the Church to establish good Laws and to see Justice uprightly and impartially administred as became a good King Nor did he ever claim any power by Conquest but as a Regular Prince submitted himself to the orders and customs of the Kingdom desiring rather to hold the Scepter by his Testamentary Title than to claim it by the sword So that though the name of Conquerour by the flattery of the times was given to him yet he shewed by all the course of his Government that he assumed it not Being thus setled he chose for his Counsel such men as he knew to be of greatest Wisdom and experience then he applied his thoughts to secure his new-gotten Empire For which end he fortified such places as lay open to danger placed strong Garrisons upon the Coasts and provided Ships to ride in those Harbors which lay most open to Invasions he marched also towards Dover the Lock and Key of the Kingdom to secure that place and to overaw that Kentish a most strong and populous Province But when Stigand the Archbishop of Canterbury and Eglesigne the Abbot of Saint Austins who were the cheifest Lords and Governours of Kent heard of it they assembled the Commons at Canterbury laying before them the dangers of their Province the miseries of their Neighbours the Pride of the Normans and the wrongs of the Church All which say they are too apparent The English till now were ever free and the name of Bondmen not heard among them But now servitude attends us if we yield to the pride of this insulting enemy to withstand which we are ready to adventure our lives with you This resolution drew the people willingly to joyn with them who appointed to meet at a Bay at Swanscomb within two miles of Graves end Accordingly there they met at the day and kept themselves secret in the woods waiting the coming of the Conquerour agreeing to carry before them great branches of Trees whereby they might conceal themselves and if need were impede the march of the Normans Which device daunted King William at his approach who judging himself secure was thus before he was aware suddenly beset on every side with enemies For now the Kentish men having environed his Army round threw down their Boughs and with bent Bowes prepared for Battel So that he which even now thought himself secure of the Kingdom began to dispair of his Life in which amazement Stigand and Eglesine pesented themselves before him and said Most Noble Duke behold here the Commons of Kent are come forth to meet and receive you as their Sovereigne requiring your Peace and their own Freedom and the enjoyment of their ancient Lawes If these be denied they are resolved to submit their tryall to a Battel fully purposing rather to dye than lose their Laws and Liberties and so to live servilely in Bondage which Name and Nature is and ever shall be strange unto us and not to be endured William being brought into this strait and loath to hazard all upon so nice a point more warily than willingly granted their desires and Pledges being given on both sides for performance Kent yielded to him her Earldom and Dover her Castle When King William had established all things for Englands security he committed the Government of it to Odo Bishop of Bayeux his brother by the Mothers side and to his Cousin Fitz-Auber whom he made Earl of Hereford and in the Lent