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THE 
 
 BAYETJX TAPESTEY 
 
 ELUCIDATED. 
 
 BY 
 
 EEV. JOHN COLLINGWOOD BEUCE, LL.D., F.S.A., 
 
 CORRESPONDING MEMEliK 01' THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUAKIES OF SCOTLAND, OF THE IMPEEIAL SOCIETY OF 
 
 ANTIQUAKIES OF FRANCE, AND OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NOEMANDY ; ONE OF THE 
 
 COUNCIl OP THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE ; AN HONOKAEY" 
 
 MEMBER OF THE SURREY AEOH^OLOOICAL SOCIETY ; AND ONE OP THE 
 
 COMMITTEE OF THE LITEEAEY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 
 
 OP NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. 
 
 . They burning both with fervent fire 
 Their countrey's auncestry to nuderstond." 
 
 Spenser. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN EUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE. 
 
 M.DCCC.LVI. 
 
^President W 
 
 . X!R\\ (■AST[.J---UPON'-TVNt; I 
 rniNTED BY J. (i. JUKSlKll ANJ) CO., CLAYTON STItKKT. 
 
-., ._.,.mBmMp 
 
 lineally descended fxoin a 
 dillingmslied Co m]i anion of 
 
 ^*'latti of t^ofmatidy 
 
 in tl]eConqueft of JPngUmd 
 Ibis Wofk illuftyadpe of tlje tide and 
 iT\um|jl)$ of t\]t Conquepof is mt\) 
 ])tx(^ydiCt$>hmd pe^nninion moft 
 dutifnll^ 4 iT^^efnll^ inscyibed* 
 
PREFACE 
 
 England has performed, and is probably destined yet to perform, 
 an important part in the history of nations. The era treated of 
 in this work was doubtless the crisis of her fate. Happily, she 
 survived the shock of the Conquest, and Avas benefited by its rough 
 discipline. All true-hearted Englishmen must read with peculiar 
 feeling this portion of our country's annals. Surrounding nations, 
 too, have their share of interest in it. When the Society of Anti- 
 quaries published the beautiful copy of the Bayeux Tapestry, 
 made, at their request, by Mr. Charles Stothard, they testified 
 the importance M'^hich they attached to the document. As yet 
 they have published no explanation of it. The world still ex- 
 pects it at their hands. To supply, meanwhile, some little assist- 
 ance to the student of history, this work is published. It was 
 suggested by a holiday ramble in Normandy, amidst the scenes 
 rendered famous by the career of William the Conqueror. The 
 plates have been carefully reduced from those published by the 
 Society of Antiquaries, by Mr. Mossman, and printed in colours 
 by the Messrs. Lambert, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. These gentle- 
 men,' and the Printers, have spared no pains to render the volume 
 creditable to the local press. In addition to the authorities cited 
 in the course of the work. La Tapisserie de Bayeux, edition variorum, 
 j>(ir M. Achille Jubinal, has been continually before the eye of 
 the writer. 
 
 Xewcastle-tipon-Tyne, ISth of Ootoher, 1855, 
 
 f£ve of the Anniverswry of the Battle of Hastings.) 
 
THE 
 
 BATBFX TAPESTET. 
 
 I. THE EOLL. 
 
 " There she weaves, by night and day, 
 A magic web with colours gay." 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 Master Wage, to wlioni we are indebted for " the most minute, 
 graphic, and animated account of the transactions"* of the Nor- 
 man Conquest, thtis exalts the art of the chronicler — " All things 
 hasten to decay ; all fall ; all perish ; all come to an end. 
 Man dieth, iron consumeth, wood decayeth; towers crumble, 
 strong walls fall down, the rose withereth away ; the war-horse 
 waxeth feeble, gay trappings grow old; all the works of men 
 perish. Thus we are taught that all die, both clerk and lay ; and 
 short would be the fame of any after death if their history did not 
 endure by being written in the book of the clerk.'"" 
 
 The pen of the writer of romance is not the only implement 
 which confers immortality upon man. The chisel of the sculptor, 
 the pencil of the painter, and the needle of the high-born dame, 
 can confer a lasting renown upon those whose deeds are worthy of 
 
 * Taylor's "Wace, p. xv. * Ibid. p. 3. 
 
 B 
 
THE EOLL. 
 
 being remembered. Tbe work which, we are about to consider 
 was effected by the simplest of these implements — the needle. 
 
 One of the earliest modes of transmitting the history of import- 
 ant transactions to posterity was by recording them in long lines 
 of pictorial representation. In the temples of Mmroud, in the 
 sepulchres of Egypt, in the sculptures which entwine the columns 
 of Trajan and Antonine at Eome, we have familiar examples 
 of the practice. The Bayeux record is a large roll of historic 
 drawings rather than a piece of tapestry ; and it is remarkable as 
 being the last example of this species of representation which 
 antiquity has handed down to us. 
 
 In the days of the Conqueror, and of some of his Saxon prede- 
 cessors, the ladies of Engle-land were famous for their taste and 
 skill in embroidery ; and this species of lady -like manufacture was 
 known throughout Europe as English work.* 
 
 One effect of the Conquest was to bring the people of England 
 and Normandy into closer alliance than before. On the first 
 occasion on which WiUiam returned to Normandy, after the battle 
 of Hastings, he took with him, " in honourable attendance," a 
 considerable number of the Saxon nobles,'' who were doubtless 
 accompanied by their wives and daughters. Assisted by English 
 ladies, as well as by those of her own court, Matilda, the wife of 
 the Conqueror, probably at this time constructed the Tapestry 
 which for many ages was preserved in the Cathedral of Bayeux. 
 
 Never, perhaps, was so important a document written in worsted. 
 
 » Archseologia, vol. xvii., p. 105. >> Ordericus Vitalis, bk. it., ch. ii. 
 
-THE EOLL. 3 
 
 It is a full and a faithful chronicle of an event on which the modem 
 history of the world has turned. It is referred to as an historical 
 authority by nearly every writer who discusses the period. The 
 way in which the subject is treated, the spirit shown ia its design, 
 and the harmony of its colouring, warrant us in pronouncing it to 
 be a monument worthy of its reputed author, and of the event 
 which it is designed to commemorate. 
 
 It is, however, a double memorial ; it is a record of the love and 
 duty of "William's consort, as well as of the skill and valour of the 
 great hero himself. A loving wife sympathizes with her husband 
 in all his tastes. She takes an enthusiastic interest in his favourite 
 pursuits; and she had " lever far," to use an expression of Lady 
 Payson's, that success attended his efforts — that another leaf were 
 added to his laurel crown — "than that she should have anew 
 gown, though it were of scarlet." Matilda could not bestride the 
 war-horse, and do battle in the field by her husband's side ; but 
 she could commit his exploits to the Tapestry. Surrounded by her 
 ladies, all adroitly using their many-coloured threads, she 
 
 Fought all his battles o'er ag«in; 
 And thrice [she] routed all his foes, and thrice [she] slew the slain. 
 
 Matilda was, during the greater part of her life, a loving wife. 
 William, too, was a devoted and faithful husband ; though in one 
 case he cannot be recommended as a model to enamoured swains. 
 It is said that for seven long years he courted Matilda of Flanders, 
 but in vain. Her affections were set upon a Saxon nobleman, but 
 
THE HOLL. 
 
 were not' reciprocated. At lengtli the Duke resolved to bring 
 matters to a crisis. He repaired to Bruges, and met the high- 
 bred damsel as she returned from church through the streets of 
 her father's gay capital. Having reproached her for her long- 
 continued scorn and cruelty, he seized her, and coolly rolled her in 
 the mud, to the no small injury of her trim and costly attire. 
 Then, after a few more striking proofs of his regard, which she 
 must have sensibly felt from such a hand, the lover rode away at 
 full speed, leaving her to account for this novel mode of courtship 
 as best she could. Strangely enough, she put a charitable con- 
 struction upon his actions ; she regarded his blows as sO many 
 proofs of the violence of his affection ; she felt sorry for him ; and 
 then — aU was over — in a very brief space the nuptial ceremonies 
 were solemnized with a splendour becoming the greatness of the 
 occasion." 
 
 Thus did WiUiam win the hand of a lady who was to give to 
 England a race of monarchs more renowned than those of any 
 other dynasty. She herself, let it be observed, had the blood of 
 Alfred in her veins. 
 
 Before proceeding further, it may be well to give a brief reply 
 to the question which will naturally arise in the minds of most — 
 Has the Bayeux Tapestry descended to us from a period so remote 
 as that of the Conquest? A minute examination of the work 
 supplies the best answer to this question. Montfaucon, whose 
 knowledge of antiquities no one will dispute, and who was the 
 • Eoscoe's Life of the Conqueror, p. 92. See Note A. at the end of the volume. 
 
THE ROLL. 5 
 
 first to describe the Tapestry as a whole, was quite satisfied that 
 popular tradition was correct in ascribing it to the wife of the 
 Conqueror; and Thierry, the last and ablest writer upon the Norman 
 Conquest, though he hesitates to ascribe the work to Matilda, has 
 no doubt that it is contemporaneous with the Conquest, and con- 
 stantly refers to it as a document of unquestionable authenticity.* 
 
 Not, however, to settle the question by authorities, it may be 
 observed : — 1st. That the fulness and correctness of its historical 
 details prove that it is a contemporaneous chronicle. Wace, as has 
 already been observed, treats more largely of the Norman invasion 
 than any of the writers of the Norman period ; and, such is the 
 general agreement between the verses of the one and the deline- 
 ations of the other, that the Tapestry may be pronounced to be 
 what in these latter days would be called the " illustrations," and 
 the narrative of the chronicler the " letter-press," of an elaborate 
 history of the Norman Conquest.'' And yet the one does not fol- 
 low the other slavishly. Whilst they agree in all the general 
 facts, they differ in many minute details, as aU independent narra- 
 tives will. 
 
 2. Again, the architecture, the dresses, the armour, the furniture, 
 of the Tapestry are those which prevailed at the period of the 
 Conquest, and at no other. It is at aU times exceedingly difficult, ^ 
 whether by writing or painting, to portray accurately the manners, 
 language, and modes of thought, of an anterior period. In 
 mediaeval times, however, the attempt was seldom made. The 
 
 * See Note B. at the end of the volume. ^ Taylor's Wace, p. xxviii. 
 
THE ROLL. 
 
 draftsmen represented the manners " living as they rose." 
 " It was the invariable practice with artists in every country," 
 says Mr. Charles Stothard,' " excepting Italy, during the middle 
 ages, whatever subject they took in hand, to represent it accord- 
 ing to the manners and customs of their own time. Thus we may 
 see Alexander the Great, Hke a good Catholic, interred with aU 
 the rites and ceremonies of the Eomish church. AU the illu- 
 minated transcripts of Froissart, although executed not more than 
 fifty years after the original work was finished, are less valuable 
 on account of the illuminations they contain not being accordant 
 with .the text, but representing the customs of the fifteenth 
 century instead of the fourteenth. It is not likely that in an age 
 far less refined this practice should be departed from. The 
 Tapestry, therefore, must be regarded as a true picture of the time 
 when it was executed." The testimony of an earlier authority, 
 Strutt, is to the same effect : — " To a total want of proper taste in 
 collecting of antiquities, and application to the study of them, are 
 owing the ignorant errors committed by the unlearned illuminators 
 of old MSS. ; and so far were they from having the least idea of 
 any thing more ancient than the manners and customs of their 
 own particular times, that not only things of a century earlier than 
 their own era, are confounded together, but even representations 
 of the remotest periods in history. The Saxons put Noah, Abra- 
 ham, Christ, and King Edgar, all in the same habit, that is, the 
 habit worn by themselves at that time ; and in some MSS., illu- 
 
 " Archaeologia, vol. xix., p. 186. 
 
THE ROLL. 7 
 
 minated in tlie reign of Henry the Sixth, are exhibited the figures 
 of Meleager, Hercules, Jason, &c., in the full dress of the great lords 
 of that prince's court. At the latter end of one of these M88., 
 indeed, the illuminator, reading something about a lion's skin, has 
 covered the shoulders of the beau Hercules with that kingly 
 animal's hide oyer his courtly load of silk and gold embroidery. 
 Yet this is a lucky circumstance in the present want of ancient 
 materials ; for though these pictures do not bear the least resem- 
 blance of the things they were originally intended to represent, 
 yet they nevertheless are the undoubted characteristics of the cus- 
 toms of that period in which each illuminator or designer lived."* 
 A comparison of Master Wace with the Bayeux Tapestry will fur- 
 nish us with an illustration in point. Wace, after alluding to the 
 negotiations which took place before the armies closed at the de- 
 cisive field of Hastings, says, " As the Duke said this, and would 
 have said more, William Fitz Osbem rode up, his horse all covered 
 
 "■ Strutt thus disposes of a difficulty which, may occur to some minds. — " If any one 
 should say, by way of objection to this established rule, that though the iUuminator 
 has not given us the customs, habits, &c., of those people he designed to picture 
 out, yet is it not most likely that such dresses as are given should be fictitious, 
 ' agreeable rather to his own wild fancy than to the real customs and habits of his 
 own times ? To answer their objection, (and that because the chief materials of the 
 present work are collected from the ancient MSS.) the reader must be iufornied, 
 that many of these MSS. (especially such as are illuminated) were done as presents, 
 or at the command of kings and noblemen, who are generally represented in the 
 frontispiece in their proper habits receiving the particular MS. done for them from 
 the author, and they are generally pictured attended by their court, or retinue. 
 That these figures should be habited in the true dress of the times wiU. not be 
 doubted ; and then, as far as the anonymous iUumiuations which may chance to 
 foUow in the MS. shall agree with those figures iu the frontispiece, so far they may 
 
b THE EOLL. 
 
 with iron ; Sire, said he to Ms lord, we tarry too long, let us arm 
 ourselves. AUons ! AUons !"" Now, if we look at the Tapestry, 
 we shall find that not a single horse is equipped in steel armour; and 
 if we refer to the authors who lived at that period, we shall find 
 that not one of them mentions any defensive covering for the horse. 
 Wace, who flourished ia the days of Henry I. and Hemy II., is the 
 first writer who mentions horse-armour, and, excepting from the 
 passage which has just been quoted, it could not be proved that it 
 had been introduced even in his day. Wace is therefore probably 
 guilty of an anachronism, and describes what happened at the close 
 of his own time as having occurred in that of his immediate prede- 
 cessors.'' This example shows how exceedingly difiicult it is to 
 portray customs with accm-acy a few years after the period in 
 which they prevailed. Had the Tapestry been made by Matilda 
 the Empress, as some contend, numerous similar anachronisms 
 must have occurred. 
 
 be allo-wed as authentic ; other MSS. were done for particular abbeys and monas- 
 teries, in the embellisbments of wbiob no pains were spared. But a still greater 
 proof of the authenticity of these delineations is, that on examining all the illumin- 
 ated MSS. of the same century together, which, tho' various, every one written and 
 ornamented by difiFerent hands, yet on comparing the several delineations with each 
 other, they will be found to agree in every particular of dress, customs, &c., even in 
 the minutise, which perfect similitude it would have been impossible to have 
 preserved, had not some sure standard been regularly taken for the whole; therefore 
 the fancy of the painter will be found to have little share in these valuable 
 delineations. Besides, these pictures constantly agree with the description of the 
 
 habits and customs of the same period, collected from the old historians." Strtitt's 
 
 Manners, Customs, Sfc, of the Inhabitants of England, vol. i, p. 3. 
 
 ' Taylor's Wace, p. 162. i> Ibid. p. 163. n. 
 
THE EOLL. 
 
 9 
 
 3. But the design of the Tapestry shows its early date. Its 
 manifest object is to prove the right of William to the throne of Eng- 
 land, to exhibit in strong colours the undutifulness and iagratitude 
 of Harold ia attempting the usurpation of the crown, and to record 
 the punishment with which that disloyal and sacrilegious act was 
 visited.* In the latter days of the Conqueror such an undertaking 
 would have been valueless. lie had planted his foot firmly upon 
 the necks of the native population ; the barons, too, by whom he 
 achieved the Conquest, had been brought iato subjection. He was 
 king of England by the power of his sword ; he cared not then 
 about the will of Edward the Confessor, the oath of Harold, or the 
 election of the nobles— he was king de facto, and let them who 
 durst deny it! These remarks, made with reference to the close of 
 the Conqueror's reign, apply with still greater force to the time of 
 the Empress Matilda, to whom, as some conceive, we are indebted 
 for the Tapestry. '' She would not have thought it necessary to 
 establish iu so elaborate a manner her deceased grandfather's right 
 to the throne, and to display at such length the obligations under 
 
 » '•All have hitherto treated the Bayeux Tapestry as a 'Momiment of the 
 Conquest of England,' following therein M. Lancelot, and speaking of it as an 
 unfinished work : where-as it is aq apologetioal history of the claims of William 
 to the crown of England, and of the breach of faith, and fall of Harold ; and is a 
 perfect and finished action." — Mr. JSudson Gwrney, Archseologia, vol. xvii., p. 361. 
 
 '' The Abb6 de la Eue, in an elaborate paper in the Archeologia (vol. xvii, p. 85- 
 109), supports the opinion that the Tapestry was prepared at the command of 
 Matilda, daughter of Henry I. and wife of Henry V. Emperor of Germany. Lord 
 Lyttleton (History of Henry II., vol. i, p. 353) and Hume (History of England, 
 vol. i, note E.) entertain similar views. 
 
 C 
 
10 THE ROLL. 
 
 which Harold lay to him. The Brittany campaign would not have 
 been given in such detail excepting it had been quite a recent 
 event. The Tapestry, it will be observed, ends with the battle of 
 Hastings. It does not even include the subsequent coronation of 
 "William. It represents the first act in the drama of the Conquest 
 of England, and was doubtless intended to prepare for the scenes 
 which were to follow. It is difficult to conceive that the Tapestry 
 was designed at any period save that immediately subsequent to the 
 battle of Hastings. William had not then assumed the character 
 of an arbitrary monarch, which he subsequently did. The Saxon 
 ladies, full of reverence for the character of their lately deceased 
 monarch, Edward the Confessor, might naturally resent the attempt 
 of Harold to resist the evident wish of that monarch to bequeath 
 his crown to William, and, imbued with the superstition of an 
 ignorant age, regard the fatal results of the battle of Hastings 
 as a just judgment from God for the violation of an oath taken 
 upon the relics of the saints. Taking this view of it there was 
 nothing unpatriotic in their entering zealously into the views of 
 their queen. But if, after England had reaped the bitter fruits of 
 the conquest ; if, after their fathers had been slain, their husbands 
 driven into exile, their children made to herd with the dogs of the 
 Conqueror's flock, they had lent their skill to commemorate the 
 desolation of theia- country and their homes, they would have dis- 
 honoured their Lineage and their name. On these general grounds, 
 therefore, we may conceive the Tapestry to be of the era of the 
 Conqueror, and to date from an early period in his reign. Many 
 
THE ROLL. 11 
 
 opportunities of reverting to this subject will afterwards occur. 
 
 But although it be admitted that the Tapestry is of the 
 age of the Conquest, it does not necessarily foUow that it was 
 wrought by the Queen and her court. The opinion that Matilda 
 presided over its execution has been strongly controverted, chiefly 
 by those, however, who deny its early antiquity. The Abbe de la 
 Rue, as formerly observed, ascribes it to Matilda the Empress. Mr. 
 Bolton Corney, in an able paper entitled Researches and Conjectures 
 on the Bayeux Tapestry, contends that it was not executed until 
 the year 1205, and that it was then done at the expense of the 
 Chapter. Dr. Liugard adopts Mr. Corney's views, and in a note 
 appended to the first volume of his History of England condenses 
 his arguments. If, however, the Tapestry bear internal evidence 
 of an earlier date, these arguments are of little value. 
 
 No contemporary historian indeed tells us that the Tapestry 
 was made by Matilda. It is not mentioned iu her will, or 
 the Conqueror's. The inventory of the treasures of the church 
 at Bayeux, bearing date 1369, and which is the earliest docu- 
 ment mentioning the Tapestry, contains no allusion to Matilda. 
 Another inventory, made in 1476, and professing to be a de- 
 scriptive catalogue of the jewels, ornaments, books, and other 
 valuables of the church, mentions the Tapestry, describes its form 
 and subject, and names the period of its public exhibition; but 
 gives no hint that it was made at the command of Matilda. It is 
 difiicult, it may even be impossible, satisfactorily to account for the 
 absence of all allusion to the Queen in these documents, but nega- 
 
12 THE EOLL. 
 
 tive arguments prove little. Besides, the case is by no means 
 singular. The compilers of ancient documents seem to have left 
 much to be taken for granted. Sir Henry Ellis, in his Genei-al 
 Introduction to Domesdmj, says, "Of Queen Matilda's gifts to 
 foreign monasteries, two only are particularly specified in the Sur- 
 vey ; the land at Beverel in Wilts, which she gave to St. Mary at 
 Bee ; and two hides at Frantone in Dorset, which she gave to the 
 Conqueror's foundation of St. Stephen at Caen. No mention occurs 
 of the Conqueror and his Queen having founded the monasteries of St. 
 Stephen and the Holy Trinity in that city : although their lands in 
 England are specified."" It is scarcely less difficult to account for 
 these omissions in the Domesday Book, than it is to account for the 
 absence of all allusion to the framer of the Tapestry by contemporary 
 writers. In the absence of direct evidence, we are thrown upon 
 probabilities. And what is more likely than that the opinion which 
 Montfaucon found prevailing at Bayeux when he discovered the 
 Tapestry is the correct one ? As the Abbe de la Eue himself 
 argues, " To have undertaken this Tapestry would have required 
 a considerable degree of interest in the subject of it, and to have 
 possessed the necessary powers for its execution.'"' Who can be 
 supposed to have had so great an interest in the establishmeint of 
 the Conqueror's right to the throne of England as Matilda of 
 Elanders, and who but herself would have been at the trouble of 
 asserting it in such full detail ? Would any one but an immediate 
 connexion of the Duke's have taken such prominent notice of the 
 ■ Vol. i., p. 328, 8vo. edition. >> ArchEeologia, vol. xvii., p. 105. 
 
THE ROLL. 13 
 
 rescue of Harold from his captivity in Ponthieu, and of his sub- 
 sequent friendly intercourse with William in Brittany ; and would 
 even Matilda herself have done this if the Tapestry had been pre- 
 pared after the stupendous results of the battle of Hastings had 
 fully developed themselves ? 
 
 Dr. Lingard, in appealing to the roll itself, says, " Nor does the 
 costliness of the work bespeak a royal benefactor." " There is in it 
 no embroidery of gold, none of silver, none of silk, nothing 
 worthy the rank or the munificence of the supposed donor." Had 
 the article in question been a royal robe, or sacerdotal vestment, 
 the omission of the precious metals might have been unaccoimt- 
 able ; but in a piece of embroidery of such extent, it is nothing 
 wonderful. Neither should the artistic value of the document be 
 overlooked. Its figures may appear uncouth in our eyes, but they 
 ' are done in the very best style of the period. A person of ordinary 
 resources could not have commanded, to the extent required, tho 
 services of the ablest artists of the day. The preparation of the 
 Tapestry must have been a costly and laborious process, not at all 
 unworthy of the wife of the victor of Hastings.* What is more 
 likely, then, than that the traditional opinion which Montfaucon 
 found prevailing in his day at Bayeux is well founded, and that 
 to the first of our Norman Queens we are indebted for this most 
 wonderful piece of needle- work ? 
 
 * Some idea of the labour involved ia the work may be learned from the number 
 of figures represented in it. It contains 623 men, 202 horses, 55 dogs, 505 animals 
 of various kinds not already enumerated, 37 buildings, 41 ships and boats, and 49 
 trees — ^in all 1512 figures. 
 
14 THE ROLL. 
 
 Althougli the actual execution of th.e Tapestry devolved upon 
 the ladies of Matilda's court, there can, be no doubt that they 
 wi-ought from a design prepared by some draftsman. The priests 
 were the principal artists of that day. The Latin inscriptions 
 prove that in that part of their work, at least, the ladies had the 
 assistance of some educated person. The name of the designer has 
 not come down to us ; unless indeed there be truth in the follow- 
 ing statement made by Miss Agnes Strickland: — "This pictorial 
 chronicle of her mighty consort's achievments appears to have 
 been, in part at least, designed for Matilda by Turold, a dwarf 
 artist, who moved by a natural desire of claiming his share in the 
 celebrity which he foresaw would attach to the work, has cunning- 
 ly introduced his own effigies and name," thus authenticating the 
 Xorman tradition, that he was the person who illumrnated the 
 canvas with the proper outlines and colours.'"' Though ignorant 
 of the individual who designed the Tapestry, the style of the work 
 induces us to believe that the artist was an Itahan. The postures 
 into which many of the figures are thrown are not English or 
 rrench,_but Italian.'' The cordiality subsisting at the time of the 
 Conquest between the courts of Normandy and Eome, and the suc- 
 
 « See Plate III. 
 
 '' Queens of England, vol. i., p. 66, edition 1851. I have been unable to meet 
 M'itli any autbority for this statement. 
 
 " In a short visit which I made to Italy in the winter of 1853-4, I paid some 
 attention to this subject. I have seen a vettorino, when protesting that his exorbi- 
 tant charge was a most reasonable one, throw himself into aU the contortions ex- 
 hibited ill the Tapestrj-. 
 
THE EOLL, 15 
 
 cessful exhibition of ISTorman prowess for some time previously 
 on the plains of the Italian peninsula, sufficiently account for 
 the introduction of the peculiarities of southern Europe into the 
 Tapestry. 
 
 Perhaps, however, we have acted rashly in having ventured 
 even thus cursorily to touch upon the antiquity of the Tapestry. 
 Miss Agnes Strickland, who, in her Lives of the Queens of Eng- 
 land, shows how vigorously she can wield the pen, is rather 
 indignant that any one who is not learned in cross-stitch, should 
 venture to discuss the subject. Before we argue, she wants to 
 know if we can sew. She says, " With due deference to the 
 judgment of the lords of the creation on all subjects connected 
 with policy and science, we venture to think that our learned 
 friends, the archaeologists and antiquaries, would do well to 
 direct their intellectual powers to more masculine objects of 
 inquiry, and leave the question of the Bayeux Tapestry (with all 
 other matters allied to needle-craft) to the decision of the ladies, 
 to whose province it belongs. It is matter of doubt to us whether 
 one, out of the many gentlemen who have disputed Matilda's 
 claims to that work, if called upon to execute a copy of either of 
 the figures on canvas, would know how to put in the first stitch."" 
 Few of the rougher sex would like to be put to the experimentum 
 acus, and therefore it may be as well at once to exercise the best 
 part of valour, and beat a hasty retreat. 
 
 The attention of the learned world was first, in modern times, 
 ■ Lives of the Queens of England, edition 1853, p. 65. ri. 
 
16 THE ROLL. 
 
 called to the Bayeux Tapestry by M. Lancelot, wlio in 1724 found 
 a drawing of a portion of it in the Cabinet of Antiquities at Paris, 
 He was struck with its appearance, and at once pronounced it to 
 be of the age of William the Conqueror, and intended to com- 
 memorate his exploits ; but he was unable to conjecture whether 
 the drawing represented a bass-relief, a piece of sculpture surround- 
 ing a choir of a church or a tomb, a painting in fresco or upon a 
 glass window, or even, he adds, if it be a piece of tapestry. He 
 conceived that the original would be found at Caen. In con- 
 sequence of his suggestion, Father Montfaucon made diligent 
 inquiries, and, after some trouble, found the Tapestry, not at Caen, 
 but at Bayeux. He ascertained that it was there popularly 
 ascribed to Queen Matilda,* M. Lancelot further informs us that 
 it was ordinarily called m the country La Toilette de Due Guillaume. 
 At that period, and for long afterwards, it was kept in a side 
 chapel of the cathedral, rolled upon a kind of winch, and was ex- 
 posed to public view only once a year, on the festival of the relics 
 (July 1), and during the octave. On these occasions it was hung 
 up in the nave of the church, which it completely suiTounded. 
 
 In the autumn of 1803, when Bonaparte, then First Consul 
 of France, contemplated the invasion of England, the Tapestry 
 was brought from its obscurity at Bayeux, and exhibited in 
 
 " His words are "L' opinion commune a Bayeux est que ce fut la reine Mathilda, 
 fumme de GuUlaume-le-Conqu^rant, qui la fit faire. Cette opinion, qui passe pour 
 une tradition dans le pays, n'a rien que de fort vraisemblable."— J-MJmaZ'* 
 Tapmerie de Bayeux, p. 1 . 
 
THE EOLL, 17 
 
 the National Museum at Paris, where it remained some months. 
 The First Consul himself went to see it, and affected to be 
 struck with that particular part f Plate VII.J which represents the 
 appearance of a meteor presaging the defeat of Harold : afford- 
 ing an opportunity for the inference, that the meteor which had 
 then been lately seen ia the south of France was the prelude to a 
 similar event. The exhibition was popular ; so much so, that a 
 small dramatic piece was got up at the Theatre du Yaudeville, 
 entitled La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde^ m which Matilda was 
 represented passing her time with her women ia embroidering the 
 exploits of her husband, never leaving their work, except to put 
 up prayers for his success. 
 
 At present the Tapestry is preserved in the town's library at 
 Bayeux, where it is advantageously exposed to view by being ex- 
 tended in eight lengths from end to end of the room, and is at the 
 same time protected from injury by being covered with glass. 
 
 The Tapestry has originally formed one piece, and measures two 
 hundi-ed and twenty-seven feet in length, by about twenty inches 
 in breadth. The groundwork of it is a strip of rather fine linen 
 cloth, which, through age, has assumed the tinge of brown hoUand. 
 The stitches consist of Hnes of coloured worsted laid side by side, 
 and bound down at intervals with cross fastenings ; as is seen in 
 the frontispiece, which represents a portion of the Tapestry of the 
 original size. The parts intended to represent flesh (the face, 
 hands, or naked legs of the men) are left untouched by the needle. 
 Considering the age of the Tapestry, it is in a remarkably perfect 
 
18 THE ROLL. 
 
 state. The first portion of it is somewhat injured, and the last five 
 yards of it are very much defaced. The colours chiefly used by the 
 fair artists are — dark and light blue, red, pink, yellow, buff, and 
 dark and Hght green. On examining this interesting relic, I was 
 struck with nothing so much as the freshness of the colours ; and 
 can entirely subscribe to the words of Mr. Hudson Gurney, in the 
 Archceologia^ " the colours are as bright and distinct, and the 
 letters of the superscriptions as legible, as if of yesterday." 
 
 Perspective and light and shade are wholly disregarded. An 
 effort is made, by varying the colours employed, to avoid the con- 
 fusion arising from this circumstance : thus, while the leg of a 
 horse which is nearest to the spectator is painted blue, the one 
 more removed will be coloured red ; or if the one be pink, the 
 other may be a greenish yellow. The colours, owing probably to 
 the restricted extent of them at the command of Matilda, are em- 
 ployed somewhat fancifully, and we have horses exhibited to us of 
 hues which, could they be realized in living specimens in Hyde 
 Park now-a-days, would attract the envy and admiration of all 
 beholders. Notwithstanding the liberty thus taken, the harmony 
 of the colouring is such, that persons may look at the Tapestrv for 
 some time without discovering that truth, in this particular, has 
 been in any degree violated. Mr. Dawson Turner remarks, that 
 *' in point of drawing, the figures are superior to the contemporary 
 sculpture at St. George's and elsewhere ; and the performance is 
 not deficient in energy."^ As we examine the figures in detail, we 
 'Letters from Normandy, vol. i. p. 241. 
 
THE EOLL. 19 
 
 shall have occasion to notice the spirit and the expression -which 
 the artist has infused into his work. 
 
 Besides the principal subject, which occupies the central portion 
 of the Tapestry, there is an ornamental border at the top and 
 bottom of. the field, which is filled with a variety of representa- 
 tions. Here the artist has indidged in a considerable play of fancy. 
 Figures of birds and beasts which certainly never came out of 
 Noah's ark are admitted into this menagerie. Probably many of 
 4hese forms represent the griffins, centaurs, and other fabulous 
 creatures which occupy so conspicuous a place in the romances of 
 the period. Others clearly represent animals, such as the camel 
 and lion, with which the people of that age could not be very 
 familiar, but which would, on that account, furnish subjects of 
 thought and conversation all the more exciting. 
 
 In the lower border of the roll, near the beginning, are some 
 representations of the fables of -^sop. There is the crow and the 
 fox, the wolf and the lamb, the crane and the wolf, the eagle and 
 the tortoise, and some others. • Besides these subjects, we have 
 many of the operations of husbandry, such as ploughing, sowing, 
 and harrowing. The sports of the field are not neglected. One 
 man is seen shooting birds with a sling. At this period the sling 
 had quite gone into disuse as a weapon of war, but was probably 
 long afterwards retained for the purposes of the sportsman. In one 
 compartment, a man is seen fighting, sword in hand, with a bear 
 that is chained to a tree. In another, the huntsman summons his 
 dogs to the chase. In some portions of the Tapestry the border 
 
20 THE EOLL. 
 
 has an evident reference to the main subject of the piece ; 
 towards the end of the work the whole of the lower margin is 
 filled with the bodies of the slain, thus forming it, as it were, 
 the foreground of the general delineation. 
 
 The whole picture is divided into seventy -two compartments or 
 scenes, which are generally separated from one another by trees, or 
 what are intended to represent such. The artist, very modestlv 
 mistrusting his own powers, has usually afiixed an inscription, in 
 Latin, to each subject, the more fully to explain his intention. The 
 letters, like the figures, are stitched in worsted, and are about an 
 inch in length. 
 
 That the Tapestry should from a period beyond all record have 
 belonged to the church of Bayeux is nothing surprising. Odo, 
 the uterine brother of William, who rendered the Conqueror such 
 efficient assistance in the battle of Hastings, and in the subsequent 
 government of the kingdom, was archbishop of that place. Matilda 
 may, with great propriety have given it to him in acknowledge- 
 ment of his services, and he with equal probability, for he was 
 very munificent to his church, may have given it to the Chapter. 
 There is no other period at which it could with so much proba- 
 bility have come into the possession of the ecclesiastics of Bayeux 
 as during the episcopate of Odo.* 
 
 • Ducaiel, Appendix: I., p. 3. 
 
II. THE COMMISSION. 
 
 " All haU, Macbeth ! that shalt be king hereafter." 
 
 Macbeth, 
 
 Very frequently the means which, we adopt to secure our ends are 
 those by which Providence designs to thwart them. 
 
 During that disastrous period when England was subject to the 
 incessant depredations of the Danes, EtheLred II. contracted a mar- 
 riage with Emma, a daughter of Eichard I., Duke of Normandy. 
 Ethelred's conduct to his wife proved that the match was not one 
 of affection ; his object evidently was to obtain the assistance of the 
 powerful house of EoUo in resisting the attacks of the Vikings of 
 the north. Instead of doing this, the alliance resulted in arraying 
 the Normans amongst the enemies of England. Alfred and 
 Edward, the sons of EtheLred and Emma, found an asylum in the 
 Norman court during the supremacy of Sweyn and Canute. At one 
 time an expedition was in readiness to leave the shores of Nor- 
 mandy, with a view of placing by force a son of Ethelred on the 
 throne of his father. "WiUiam of Malmesbury, speaking of the two 
 youths, says — " I find that their uncle Eichard (II.) took no steps 
 to restore them to their country ; on the contrary, he married his 
 sister Emma to the enemy and the invader. Eobert, however. 
 
22 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 whom -we have so frequently before mentioiied as having gone to 
 Jerusalem, assembling a fleet and embarking soldiers, made ready 
 an expedition, boasting that he would set the crown on the head of 
 his grand-nephews ; and doubtlessly he would have made good his 
 assertion, had not, as we have heard from our ancestors, an adverse 
 wind constantly opposed him : but assuredly this was by the hid- 
 den counsel of God, in whose disposal are the powers of all king- 
 doms. The remains of the vessels, decayed through length of 
 time, were still to be seen at Eouen in our days."^ Thus half a 
 century before "William the Conqueror set out upon his expedition, 
 a Norman invasion loomed in the distance. 
 
 "Whilst the ships of Eobert were rotting in the harbour of Eouen, 
 Alfred and Edward, the sons of Emma, were being trained up in the 
 court of Normandy in those habits and feelings which eventually 
 led to the assembling of an armament which adverse winds were 
 not destined to baffle. Alfred visiting England, was barbarously 
 murdered ; the Norman chroniclers assert that the cruel deed was 
 instigated by Godwin. At length, by the death of Hardicanute, a 
 way was opened for Edward, afterwards styled the Confessor, to the 
 throne of his father. He was, however, at the time of his acces- 
 sion, as Camden expresses it, thoroughly Frenchified. He could 
 scarcely speak a word of English. His court was filled with Nor- 
 mans, who usurped most of the oflBcial dignities. "When advanc- 
 ing years compelled the monarch to take some steps for securing 
 a fitting successor to the throne, his mind reverted to the court of 
 " "William of Malmesbmy's English Chronicle (Bohn's edition), p. 196. 
 
I- 
 
 %- 
 
 . w 
 
 <i) L » S 
 > - r o 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 I- 
 
 ► ci 
 
 SuJ 
 
 .1 m 
 
 % 
 
 'R' 
 
 C" 
 
 tl =■ ,Q 
 
 ^J 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 = ^ 
 
 
THE COMMISSION. 23 
 
 Normandy. His immediate heir, Edgar Atheling, was too feeble a 
 youth to be placed, in such turbulent times, in so responsible a 
 position. When the choice lay between Harold the Saxon and 
 William the Norman, the Confessor's early predilictions necessarily 
 induced him to look favourably upon the youthful head of his 
 mother's house. Independently of any communications which the 
 English king may have made to the young Duke of Normandy, 
 the partiality which he manifested towards him could not fail to 
 nurture in Duke William's miad the most ambitious views. Hence 
 sprung the Norman invasion. 
 
 We are now prepared for examining in detail the scenes depicted 
 in the Tapestry. 
 
 The first compartment exhibits to us Edward the Confessor giving 
 audience to two personages of rank. The king is seated on a 
 throne ; his feet rest upon a footstool. A crown, ornamented with 
 fleurs-de-lis, is on his head, and he holds a sceptre in his left hand. 
 The robe of the monarch is full, and is ornamented at the collar, 
 tfie wrists, and down the front, probably by needle-work of gold. 
 Similar ornaments appear upon his knees. The arms and feet of 
 the throne, according to the usage of the period, terminate in carv- 
 ings of the head and feet of a dog. The taUer of the persons 
 waiting upon the king is no doubt Harold, as the face bears a 
 strong resemblance to that of one of the horsemen in the next 
 group, which the inscription tells us is Harold. A general like- 
 ness is preserved throughout the Tapestry, both ia the case of 
 William and Harold, so that we may reasonably suppose that the 
 
24 THE COMMISSION, 
 
 delineations of these personages bear some resemblance to the 
 originals, and that they were drawn by an artist who knew them 
 both. Edward is in the attitude of a king giving law to his subjects. 
 Harold and his companion stand in the royal presence, both to be- 
 token their reverence for their monarch, and their readiness to 
 depart on the instant in the performance of the royal behests. 
 They evidently pay earnest attention to the commands of the king. 
 The subject of this interview is no doubt Harold's intended ex- 
 pedition to the court of William. Unhappily, there is no point in 
 history respecting which a greater diversity of statement exists 
 among contemporary writers, than the visit of Harold to the court 
 of William. Three views are taken of it:— one is, that Harold 
 was commissioned by Edward to inform the young Duke of Nor- 
 mandy that he had been nominated by him as his successor to the 
 throne ; another is, that Harold, whilst taking recreation in a fish- 
 ing-boat, was accidentally carried out to sea, and driven on the 
 shores of Ponthieu ; the .third is, that Harold had begged permis- 
 sion of Edward to go into Normandy, in order to release from 
 captivity two relatives, a brother and a nephew, who, after Earl 
 Godwin's rebellion, had been placed as hostages in the hands of the 
 Norman duke. The question for us to consider is which is the 
 view countenanced by the Tapestry. Unfortunately, the inscrip- 
 tion over the group is simply edwaed eex, and, so, gives us no 
 definite information. It will be well to examine the statements of 
 the chroniclers, and then compare them with the representations of 
 our worsted work. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 25 
 
 WMam of Malmesbury says, "King Edward declining into 
 years, as he had no children himself, and saw the sons of Godwin 
 growing in power, despatched messengers to the King of Hungary 
 to send ov^r Edward, the son of his brother Edmund, with all his 
 family; intending, as he declared, that either he, or his sons, should 
 succeed to the hereditary kingdom of England, and that his 
 own want of issue should be supplied by that of his kindred. 
 Edward came ia consequence, but died almost immediately. He 
 left three surviving children ; that is to say, Edgar, who, after the 
 death of Harold, was by some elected king ; and who, after many 
 revolutions of fortune, is now living whoUy retired in the country, 
 in extreme old age ; * Christina, who grew old at Eomsey in the 
 habit of a nun ; and Margaret, whom Malcolm King of the Scots, 
 
 espoused The king, in consequence of the death of his relation, 
 
 losing his first hope of support, gave the succession of England to 
 William Earl of Normandy. He was well worthy of such a gift, 
 being a young man of superior mind, who had raised himself to the 
 highest eminence by his unwearied exertion; moreover, he was 
 his nearest relation by consanguinity, as he was the son of Eobert, 
 the son of Eichard the Second (of Normandy), whom we have re- 
 peatedly mentioned as the brother of Emma, Edward's mother. 
 Some affirm that Harold himself was sent into Normandy by the 
 King for this purpose; others, who knew Harold's more secret 
 intentions, say, that being driven thither against his will by the 
 violence of the wind, he imagined this device, in order to extricate 
 
 » See Note C, at the end of the Volume. 
 E 
 
26 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 Mmself. This, as it appears nearest the truth, I shall relate, 
 Harold being at his country seat at Bosham, went for recreation on 
 board a fishing boat, and, for tbe purpose of prolonging his sport, 
 put out to sea ; when a sudden tempest arising, he was driven 
 with his companions on the coast of Ponthieu. The people of that 
 district, as was their native custom, immediately assembled from 
 all quarters ; and Harold's company, unanned and few in number, 
 were, as it might easily be, quickly overpowered by an armed mul- 
 titude, and bound hand and foot. Harold, craftily meditating a 
 remedy for this mischance, sent a person, whom he had allured 
 by great promises, to William to say, that he had been sent into 
 Normandy by the King, for the purpose of expressly confirming in 
 person the message which had been imperfectly delivered by people 
 of less authority, but that he was detained in fetters by Guy, and 
 could not execute his embassy. ... By these means Harold was 
 liberated at William's command, and conducted by Guy in person."" 
 Master Waee inclines to the opinion, that he went to rescue the 
 hostages. His statement is, "When his father (Earl Godwin) 
 had died, Harold, pitying the hostages, was desirous to cross over 
 into Normandy, and bring them home. So he went to take leave 
 of the King. But Edward strictly forbade him, and charged 
 and conjured him not to go to Normandy, nor to speak with Duke 
 William ; fcr he might soon be drawn into some snare, as the Duke 
 was very shrewd ; and he told him that if he wished to have the 
 hostages home, he would choose some messenger for the purpose. 
 
 " Bota's edition, p. 253. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 27 
 
 So at least I have found the story written. But another book tells 
 me, that the King ordered him to go for the purpose of assuring 
 Duke William, his cousin, that he should have the realm after his 
 death. How the matter really was I never knew."'' 
 
 Let us now attend to the questions. How are we to reconcile 
 these various statements, and what is the view taken by the drafts- 
 man of the Tapestry ? 
 
 We must at once abandon the fishing boat story. The prepara- 
 tion which Harold makes for his expedition, a,nd the numbers he 
 takes with him, are irreconcileable with this view. Besides, the 
 ships do not seem to be suffering from stress of weather, and, 
 aceordiug to the inscription, Harold appears to have made a pros- 
 perous voyage, et velis vekto plenis, venit in teeeam widonis 
 coMiTis — ^And his sails beiug filled with the Avind, he came into the 
 territory of Count Guy. 
 
 We must also abandon the view which represents him as going 
 to procure, in a direct and open manner, the hostages which WiUiam 
 held. He knew that William was as shrewd as he was ambitious, 
 and would not be so simple as to give up at his request, how- 
 ever reasonable it might be, the only means he had of holding 
 him in restraint. Besides, the Tapestry represents the King, in 
 the first compartment, in the attitude of one giving a command, 
 rather than administering advice. The interview which Harold 
 has with the King, on his return, strengthens this view. (Plate 
 VII.J Harold comes into the presence of the Confessor like a 
 
 » Taylor's Waoe, p. 76. 
 
28 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 guilty person, deploring Ms misdeeds and craving pardon. An 
 axe, carried by an attendant on the left of the King, is turned 
 towards him, apparently betokening that he has committed an 
 offence worthy of death. The King is evidently reproving him 
 sharply, but the attendant on the right of the King having the 
 edge of his axe turned away from Harold, shows that the result of 
 the interview was a pardon. The monarch was in fact too power- 
 less to adopt any rigorous steps towards so influential a subject as 
 the son of Godwin. If Harold had simply failed upon a pri- 
 vate errand of his own, but which the King had forewarned him 
 would be a bootless one, the King would have been more disposed 
 to laugh at the trouble into which he had brought himself than 
 take such serious notice of his conduct. 
 
 Besides, it is admitted on all hands, that Edward intended to 
 appoint "William as his successor, and most of the chroniclers agree 
 in asserting that the Norman had already received some intimation 
 of it. Further, William, after procuring the kingdom, always 
 claimed to hold it, amongst other pleas, Beneficio concessionis domini 
 et cognati mei, gloriosi Regis Edwardi — By the devise of my lord 
 and relative the glorious King Edward." Now, is it likely that a 
 document which depicted the views of the Norman court would 
 neglect to insert so important a title ? 
 
 Supposing it to be a point established, that in the first compart- 
 ment the Confessor is giving orders to Harold to inform William 
 of the honours that awaited him, and abandoning, for the reasons 
 * General Introduction to Domesday, vol. i., p. 312. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 29 
 
 already stated, the view of his being accidentally cast ashore on 
 the coast of Ponthieu, we are necessarily led to suppose that he 
 designedly shaped his course to that place, in order to promote his 
 own ends. The Earl of Ponthieu was jealous of William's growing 
 power, and had often been ia arms against him. He had on one 
 occasioh been imprisoned by him for two years. Harold might 
 readily suppose, that if he could obtain the assistance of Guy, he 
 might, by stealth or stratagem, get possession of the persons of his 
 brother and nephew. Hence, iastead of going direct to Eouen, he 
 seems to have shaped his course more to the north. He might 
 argue with himself, that when once he had got possession of the 
 hostages, the wrath of William, which would no doubt be aroused 
 by the proceeding, would be easily allayed by his putting him in 
 formal possession of the fact of his being appointed by the present 
 occupant of the English crown his successor. 
 
 On the first view of the case, it seems strange that Harold should 
 undertake an errand which was apparently so much opposed to his 
 interests, or even that the King should intrust him with such a 
 commission. Harold, however, could have little objection to make 
 it known that it was the King's wish that William should be ap- 
 pointed his successor ; for it was of some importance to him, having 
 an eye to the crown himself, that the direct heir should, at all 
 events, be superseded. Edgar Atheling, the next in the succession, 
 was a rival in the palace itself ; William the !N'orman was separated 
 from him and the land of their mutual ambition by a barrier which 
 was in those days a very formidable one — ^the English Channel. 
 
30 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 If Harold entertained these views, he would take care to inform 
 the King of his acquiescence ia his well known intentions respect- 
 ing the succession, and thus encourage him to send him upon his 
 present errand. 
 
 This method of reconciling the different views given by the 
 chi-oniclers upon this involved point of English history is, it must 
 be confessed, purely theoretical ; at the same time, no better occurs. 
 
 Harold has received his commission from the King ; let us see 
 how he fulfils it. He is iirst seen riding in company with several 
 persons of distinction (as their dress indicates) to the place of em- 
 barkation. The legend here is, [u]bi harold dux anglorum et 
 sui MiLiTES EUUiTANT AD BosHAM — Where Harold the English chief 
 and Ms knights ride to Bosham. Harold is represented twice in 
 this group (by no means an unusual thing, as we shall afterwards 
 see) ; once, lifting up his hand, as if in the attitude of command ; 
 and again, with his hawk upon his fist, to betoken his high rank ; 
 a pack of hounds are scampering before him. 
 
 The hawk and the hounds require a few words of remark. It 
 is weU known to persons conversant in antiquity, that the great 
 men of those times had only two ways of being accoutred when 
 they set out upon a journey ; either in the habiliments of war, or 
 for the chase. Harold, as going on an errand of peace, we find 
 here represented in the latter. The bird upon the fist was a mark 
 of high nobility. We see it frequently upon seals and miniatures, 
 of that age, of ladies as well as men ; and so sacred was this bird 
 esteemed, that we find it prohibited in the ancient laws for any 
 
THE COMMISSION. 31 
 
 one to give Ms hawk or his sword as part of his ransom. Severe 
 fines were laid on those who should steal another's hawk. Harold, 
 it win be observed, is the only one of all his suite who has the 
 bird upon his fist." 
 
 Several hawks are iatroduced in the course of the Tapestry, but 
 in no one case is the bird provided with a hood. The hood was 
 introduced from the East about the year 1200, and as after its in- 
 troduction it was considered an essential part of the equipment of 
 the bird, its absence in the Tapestry is conclusive evidence of its 
 comparatively early date.* 
 
 The three larger dogs have collars, provided with riags through 
 which, most probably, the leash passed ; the other two are of a 
 smaller breed. The horses are hog-maned. Harold's horse, in 
 the more forward instance, has some ornament entwined with its 
 mane. 
 
 Bosham is a hamlet in Sussex, near to Chichester, which still 
 retains its ancient name. It was a sea-port of some consequence 
 in Saxon times, and we frequently read of its being the point of 
 departure for persons going to the Continent. Bosham was the 
 property of Harold, having been obtained by his father. Earl 
 Godwin, from the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 Among the endowed churches of England, that of Bosham was 
 
 * Ducarel's Antiquities of Normandy, Appendix, p. 4. 
 
 i" The first account of the hood is in a book written in Latin by the Emperor 
 Frederic II. See History of Inventions and Discoveries by John Beckmann, 
 translated by William Johnston, vol. i. p. 330. 
 
32 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 probably one of the ricbest. In tbe reign of King Edward it bad 
 land belonging to it to the extent of a hundred and twelve hides. 
 The generality of church endowments were infinitely smaller. 
 Hence we find the church represented in the Tapestry as a 
 structure of considerable consequence.^ 
 
 A tree closes the scene. It is of a species which does not flourish 
 in our modem woods, but which nevertheless grows very abundantly 
 in the MSS. of the tenth and eleventh centuries. Several of 
 similar character may be seen in the Illustrations to Csedmon's 
 Metrical Paraphrase, executed in the tenth century.*" These trees, 
 like the Uons and leopards of the heralds of a subsequent date, 
 were mere conventional forms, and not intended to be correct 
 representations of the objects iadicated. 
 
 The next compartment exhibits to us Harold and a companion 
 (one no doubt being used to represent all) entering the sacred 
 structure, with the view of seeking the divine blessing upon their 
 enterprise. As the humility of their posture, when inside, could 
 not be represented, the artist has exhibited them as entering it in 
 a state of semi-genuflexion. In this he follows a classical model. 
 Among the Greeks and Eomans the act of adoration was expressed 
 by the artists representing the body inclined slightly forwards, the 
 knees gently bent, and the right hand touching the object of 
 reverence.'' Over the building which Harold and his companion 
 enter is written the word ecclesia. — the church 
 
 ' Introduction to Domesday, vol. i, p. 295. •> See Arcliaeologia, vol. xxiv. 
 
 " Eich's Companion to the Latin Dictionary, art. Adoratio. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 33 
 
 It is not a little curious to observe, that in immediate contiguity 
 with the church in which our voyagers offer their devotions, is the 
 festal board at which they comfort their own bowels, and pledge 
 each other in goblets large as theu" own hearts. The scene is one 
 of a truly Saxon character. Our blue-eyed forefathers never did 
 things by halves, and whenever they sat down at the social table — 
 and they did so as often as convenient — ^they exhibited a refreshing 
 earnestness. 
 
 The scene represents the end of the feast, and hence the drink- 
 .ing horns rather than the platters are brought into requisition. 
 Two of these are magnificent specimens, and remind us of the 
 horn of Ulphe preserved in York Minster, and the Pusey horn. 
 The individuals in the building are evidentlj' pledging each other, 
 and the challenged and the challenger are drinking in turn out of 
 the same cup. Eobert de Brunne refers to this practice in the 
 
 following lines : — 
 
 "This is' their custom and their gest 
 
 "When thei are at the ale or fast; 
 Ilk man that loves, where him think 
 Sail say wassail, and to him drink. 
 He that hids, sail say wassail ; 
 The tother sail say again drinkhail. 
 That said wassail drinkes of the cup, 
 Kissand his felow he gives it up; 
 Drinkhail, he says, and drinkes thereof, 
 Kissand him in herd and skoff."' 
 
 Besides horns, semicircular vessels, or mazer cups, appear among 
 the furnishings of the board. These vessels were generally of 
 
 ^ Quoted in Taylpr's Wace, p. 156. 
 F 
 
34 THE COMMISSIOX. 
 
 wood, but occasionally of gold or silver. Our ancestors, who 
 somewhat strangely blended religion with their festivities, not 
 unfrequently had mottos, such as the following, inscribed upon 
 their mazer bowls :-. — 
 
 In ti)t name of tljt trtnttte 
 aff^Ult tie Sup anir Unnft to nif. 
 
 But the best of friends must part. A messenger, who has 
 blown the horn, to inform our voyagers that the boats are ready, 
 till he is tired, comes personally, horn in hand, to urge their 
 departure. 
 
 The scene of the embarkation is curious. Harold, the most 
 powerful subject in England — if he can be called a subject — strips 
 off his lower garments, and wades into the sea. His companions 
 follow him in similar guise. Harold has, as usual, his hawk upon 
 his fist, and he and his companion (the representative of the rest), 
 more careful of their hounds than themselves, carry them dry- 
 shod on board the ship that waits to receive them. 
 
 No satisfactory explanation has been given of the peculiar 
 implement held in the left hand of the attendant who is next but 
 one to Harold. Can it be a ' throw stick ' such as was generally 
 used by the ancient Egyptian sportsmen in fowling ?*■ 
 
 Harold has two ships, and they are represented twice over — 
 once at their departure from the English coast, and again on their 
 arrival at the shores of Erance. But before attending to the adven- 
 
 *■ See Sir J. Gardner "Wilkinson's Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, 
 Yol. i, p. 235 ; and Bonomi's Nineveli, p. 136. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 35 
 
 tures which befell the Saxon Earl on the opposite side, it will be 
 well to reyiew the ground already trodden, in order to gather up 
 some fragments of information respecting the tastes and habits of 
 the ancient English. 
 
 The architectural delineations of the Tapestry are those of the 
 Conquest. Thi-oughout the whole, the circular arch, which is 
 characteristic of the Saxon and Norman styles, prevails in its 
 simplest forms. Interlacing arches which occur so frequently 
 in the later Norman buildings, and which are supposed to have 
 introduced the pointed or Gothic -style, never occur. The palace 
 of Edward the Confessor, in the first compartment, is a large 
 building as compared with the church and manor-house of Bosham 
 in the second. In some of its details it bears a striking re- 
 semblance to the ' heavenly abode ' in one of th6 early illustrations 
 of Csedmon's Paraphrase." Of the chequered work on the face of 
 the chief btittress tower many examples exist to this day in 
 Normandy. The chief feature of the church is the doorway, as is 
 the case with all Norman buildings up to a late period. The win- 
 dows are small and insignificant, and were probably unglazed. It is 
 roofed with stone shingles or tiles, rounded at the lower extremity, 
 and fastened to the framework with nails, as is conventionally 
 represented in the drawing. The roofs in the Saxon illustrations 
 already referred to present a precisely similar appearance. The 
 traveller in Normandy will often be reminded by existing buildings 
 of these an-angements. The house in which the voyagers take their 
 
 "■ Archseologia, vol. 24, plate lv. 
 
36 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 farewell repast is worthy of observation. It is constructed upon 
 the plan of the ancient "peel houses" of the North of England. 
 The upper apartment has an independent entrance by stone steps 
 from the outside, and seems to be the place of greatest comfort and 
 security. The lower room is vaulted, and is divided into three 
 compartments, like the aisles of a church. This was not an unusual 
 arrangement in buildiugs of the Saxon and Norman period." 
 
 The dress of the parties may be briefly described. It has mani- 
 - festly been derived from a Eoman model. A garment, doubtless of 
 woollen, invests the body, and comes up to the neck. A tunic, 
 having something of the form of a frock coat, is put on over this, 
 and is bound round the waist by a girdle. In the horsemen, this 
 tunic is brought below the knees, and, for greater convenience in 
 riding, is divided so as to form two wide loose legs. Most of the 
 men are furnished with hose, which fit tightly, and come well up 
 the thigh. Most of them also are furnished with "ehoes, which 
 seem to fit the foot naturally and easily. In addition to these 
 coverings, the superior orders wear a cloak, nearly resembling the 
 cJilamys of the Eoman general, and which is fastened by a fibula, or 
 brooch, at the right shoulder. 
 
 All the figures, excepting those accoutred with crowns or hel- 
 mets, are bare-headed. This at first sight does not seem to be the 
 case ; the heads of the parties appear as if they were enveloped with 
 caps of various colours. It will be observed, however, that, within 
 
 ' Illustrations of C83dmoii's Paraphrase, Arctasologia, vol. xxiv., p. 339, plate lxxv. 
 Hudson Turner's Domestic Architecture of England, vol. i., p. 4. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 37 
 
 doors as well as without, their heads wear the same appearance. 
 But the shaven crown of the priests reveals the fact. These person- 
 ages appear with hair as indisputably red, and blue, and yellow, as 
 the rest, yet they show the bare poll in the centre. fSee Plates IV. 
 and VII.J It may also be observed that the hinder part of the heads 
 of the Frenchmen is bare. In France, at this period, an absurd 
 custom prevailed of shaving the back of the head. The men of 
 Normandy and Ponthieu accordingly appear as if they had caps 
 stuck upon the front of their heads, leaving the back part naked. 
 All this seems to prove that, at the time of the Conquest, it was 
 not customary either in England or France for men to cover the 
 head, except for defensive purposes in the day of battle. 
 
 The Saxons are uniformly represented with mustaches ; the 
 French are not. King Edward always appears with a beard. 
 The Saxons were fond of cultivating the hair, and exhibiting full 
 and flowing >locks. In the youthful days of King Edward both 
 razors and scissors were eschewed. In process of time, however, 
 through some silvery influence, men were induced to denude 
 'their chins of nature's covering. Frenchmen made a clean sweep 
 of it, but the Saxons held out for the mustache. King Edward 
 maintained the customs of his youth, and he is always represented 
 on coins, medals, and the Tapestry, with all the capillary attrac- 
 tions which nature ever gave him. In these respects, the Tapestry 
 is true to history. 
 
 In ancient times, as well as in modern, fashions were subject to 
 change. In the reigns immediately succeeding the Conqueror's, 
 
38 THE COMMISSION. 
 
 modes prevailed different from those depicted in the Tapestry. 
 The points of the shoes were elongated, greater extravagance of 
 dress was indulged in, and the I^ormans, instead of shaving their 
 hair like monks, suffered it to grow ridiculously long ; beards, too, 
 were cultivated. The following summary of the fashions of the 
 late Norman period is to our present purpose : — 
 
 " During the reigns of Eufus and Henry I. the dress of the 
 higher classes became much more costly in material and extrava- 
 gant in shape. Some most ridiculous fashions are reprobated and 
 caricatured by the historians and illuminators of that period. The 
 sleeves of the tunics were made long enough to cover and hang 
 considerably below the hand. Peaked-toed boots and shoes of the 
 most absurd shapes, some terminating like a scorpion's tail, others 
 stuffed with tow and curling round like a ram's horn, are mentioned 
 by the monkish historians. Ordcricus VitaHs says they were 
 invented by some one deformed in the foot. The mantles and 
 tunics were worn much longer and fuller, and the former lined 
 with the most expensive furs. Henry I. is said to have had one 
 presented to him by the Bishop of Lincoln, lined with black sable 
 with white spots, and which cost £100. of the money of that day. 
 
 " The English now, both Saxon and Norman, suffered their hair 
 to grow to an immoderate length instead of being cropped ridicu- 
 lously short; and William of Malmesbury, who has previously 
 complained of his countrymen having imitated the latter fashion, 
 now laments over the long hair, the loose flowing garments, the 
 pointed shoes, and effeminate appearance of the English generally. 
 
THE COMMISSION. 39 
 
 Even long beards were worn during the reign of Henry I. ; and 
 Ordericus Vitalis compares the men of that day to ' filthy goats.' 
 
 " Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused his benediction on 
 Ash Wednesday to those who would not cut their hair. Councils 
 were held on this important matter. The razor and the scissors 
 were not only recommended ex cathedra, but positively produced 
 sometimes at the end of a sermon against the sinfulness of long 
 locks and curling mustaches. Serlo d'Abon, Bishop of Seez, on 
 Easter Day, 1105, after preaching against beards before Henry I., 
 cropped not only that of the king but those of the whole congrega- 
 tion with a pair of scissors he had provided for the occasion. But 
 nothing could long repress these fashions, which in the time of 
 Stephen again raged to such an extent that the fops of the day 
 suffered their hair to grow till they looked more like women than 
 men; and those whose ringlets were not sufficiently luxurious 
 added false hair to equal or surpass in appearance their more 
 favoured brethren."* 
 
 We can only accoimt for the exact conformity of the manners 
 and customs depicted in the Tapestry with those prevailing during 
 the Conqueror's reign, on the supposition that the Tapestry was 
 then produced. 
 
 " Pictorial Histoiy of England, vol. i. p. 637. 
 
III. THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 "Sir, what iU oiance hath brought you to this place ?" 
 
 Paradise Hegained. 
 
 When Eobert of Normandy went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he 
 named his son William, then a boy seven years of age, his heir. 
 His courtiers expressing their fears that during his absence the 
 estates would be left without a head, he replied, "Not so, by my 
 faith, not so ! I will leave you a master in my place. I have a 
 little bastard here ; he is little, indeed, but he will grow ; nay, by 
 God's grace, I have great hopes that he will prove a gallant man ; 
 therefore I do pray you aU to receive him from my hands, for from 
 this time forth I give him seisin of the duchy of Normandy, as my 
 known and acknowledged heir." William, who was destined never 
 again to see his father, was committed to the guardianship of his 
 two uncles — " a lamb to the tutelage of wolves." When, at a very 
 early age, he was compelled to take the reins of government into 
 his own hands, he had a difficult part to perform. As the author 
 of the Roman de Rou informs us, "The feuds against him were 
 many, and his friends few ; for he found that most were ill inclined 
 towards him ; those even whom his father held dear he found 
 haughty and evil disposed. The barons warred upon each other ; 
 
o 
 
 f^ 
 
 M 
 
 A 
 
 a 
 
 ® 
 
 ¥ 
 
 M 
 
 CO 
 
 § 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 41 
 
 the strong oppressed the weak, and he could not prevent it."" 
 The success which attended his efforts made him an object of jea- 
 lousy and fear. In 1054 the King of France made war upon him, 
 with the intention of depriving him of his duchy. In the battle of 
 Mortemer, William overcame the forces of France, and, along with 
 some others, took Guy Coimt of Ponthieu prisoner. 
 
 Harold knew well the difiB.cult part which his rival had to per- 
 form, and doubtless thought to take advantage of it. If he could 
 induce Gruy to interest himself ia the fate of his brother and 
 nephew, who were detained as hostages at the court of Normandy, 
 the assistance of the Kiag of France and of many of his great 
 barons could easily be secured. Such, probably, was the reason- 
 ing of Harold, as he stepped on board his ship at Bosham. The 
 territories of Guy lay immediately to the north of those of William. 
 Let us see how the voyager fares. No untoward accident occurs on 
 the passage across, but all is expectation and anxiety as the ships 
 approach the shore. One man from the top of the mast of the hind- 
 ermost vessel eagerly spies out the land, the whole of the crew are 
 standing up and looking anxiously toward it. They evidently 
 discern indications which make them doubtful of a hospitable 
 reception. This ship, however, bears no marks of having en- 
 countered a gale. Its sail is fiiUy extended, and is in good 
 order. 
 
 The foremost vessel contains Harold alone, as the superscription, 
 HAKOLD, informs us. He is in full dress, ready to pay his respects 
 
 ■ Taylor's "Wace, page 7. 
 G 
 
42 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 to the Count of Ponthieu, He is, however, armed with a spear, 
 which evidently indicates that he has reason to fear that he is 
 in an enemy's country. 
 
 The next group of figures reveals the plot. Guy, accompanied 
 by a troop of horsemen bearing sword and shield and spear, orders 
 the arrest of Harold and his companions. The Count, is simply clad, 
 but well armed ; he has not only a sword of portentous si^e attached 
 to his side, but a basilard, or hunting knife, suspended from his 
 saddle. " As an instance of that peculiar accuracy which is ob- 
 served by the designer of the Tapestry, even ia seemingly unim- 
 portant particulars, and which makes the work so much more 
 interesting as a faithful depiction of the various circumstances of 
 the times, we find the Norman horses of this and other groups are 
 represented as being larger than the Anglo-Saxon. The hair of 
 the mane is also uncut, and falls on the neck ; the saddle and its 
 accoutrements are similar."" Harold, stripped, as before, for dis- 
 embarkation, is immediately seized. The first impression on the 
 minds of the party evidently is to resist. Their ordinary weapons, 
 which have for the moment been laid aside, are not at hand J but 
 that weapon which a Saxon never laid aside — that weapon, half 
 knife, half dagger, with which he divided his food at meals, which 
 he had by him even during the hours of sleep, and which was de- 
 posited in his grave when his warfare was o'er — that weapon, the 
 
 * This observation, together with some others which may not in every case re- 
 quire to be specially noted, has been taken from a clever series of papers on the 
 Bayeux Tapestry, which were published in the Ladies'. Newspaper for 1851-2. 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 43 
 
 saxe, from wMcli, according to the mediaeval rhymer Gotfridus 
 
 Yiterbieusis, the Saxons derived their name — 
 
 "Ipse brevis gladius apud illos 8axo vooatur, 
 TJnde sibi Saxo nomen peperisse notatur." • 
 
 — is clutched and drawn. 
 
 The latter figures of the group, by the hesitancy of their man- 
 ner, seem to say that resistance is useless ; each has instinctively 
 laid hold of his weapon, but it rests midway in his girdle. 
 
 The inscription over this group is, hic appeehendit wido 
 
 HAROLDTJM ET DXJXIT ETJM AD BELEEM ET IBI ETJM TENTJIT. Here 
 
 Guy seized Harold, and led him to Beaurain, where he detained 
 him prisoner. The modem Beaurain is situated a short distance 
 from Montreuil, the capital of the ancient province of Ponthieu. 
 A tree closes the scene. 
 
 In the solitude of his prison Harold must have reflected bit- 
 terly upon his rashness in committiag himself to the hands of 
 Guy without having accurately ascertained his feelings towards 
 him. Instead of a friend he found in him a foe. Instead of 
 furthering his views he involved him in almost inextricable 
 difiiculties. The Count, probably, had too keen a sense of 
 WiUiam's power again to run the risk of incurring his wrath ; he 
 therefore resolved, to avoid all appearance of ambiguity, to detain 
 Harold as a prisoner, and to extract from his friends as large a 
 sum as possible in the shape of ransom. It gives us a curious 
 insight into the state of society in those days, to observe that no 
 » Akerman on Celtic and Teutonic "Weapons. — Archa., vol. xxxiv. 
 
44 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 one disputed the right of Guy to seize the person and property of 
 a stranger, who, without hostile intent, had ventured upon his 
 shores, or, as some believe, had been driven there by mischance. 
 Harold had no friend at hand to release him from his unpleasant 
 position. His active and clever rival, William of Normandy, 
 hearing of his circumstances, immediately put forth the most 
 strenuous and apparently generous efforts to effect his enlargement, 
 thereby laying him under very serious obligations. It is the ob- 
 ject of the succeeding portions of the Tapestry to place these efforts 
 in a strong light, and by implication to show the ingratitude of 
 Harold in opposing William's claims to the EngHsh throne. 
 
 The first scene represents Harold proceeding to the residence of 
 his captor. The expression given to the unlucky Earl is one of 
 deep dejection. He is stripped of the cloak which marked his 
 nobility ; and though he carries his hawk upon his fist, its usual 
 posture is reversed, an intimation that his hawking days are over. 
 Harold is well guarded by a party of armed horsemen. Guy rides 
 before, clad in the decorative mantle of his rank, and having the 
 falcon upon his fist, with its head advanced as if ready to take 
 wing. The artist has very successfully portrayed in the 
 countenance of Guy the chuckling conceit of this heartless chieftain 
 in the possession of so rich a prize as Harold. 
 
 The next group of standing figures is supposed to represent some 
 of Harold's party, distinguished by the mustache, in custody of 
 Guy's soldiers. 
 
 Harold, indignant at the unjust treatment which he had received, 
 
^2 
 
 ^^o 
 
 ^ 
 
 n) 
 
 f- 
 
 ^ 
 
 )- 
 
 >i 
 
 <«<' 
 
 2^^ 
 
 -J>(; 
 
 > 
 
 \^ 
 
 > 
 
 \^ 
 
 W^ 
 
 1 
 
 — y ^.-^£=%. 
 
 ^ 
 
 <2 
 
 h- 
 
 > 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 > 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 45 
 
 sought an interview with the Count, no doubt feeling sure that he 
 would be able to make such a representation of his case, or to offer 
 such inducements, as would infallibly lead to his immediate release. 
 An interview was granted. The inscription over the next scene 
 is " UBi HAEOLD ET wiDO PARABOLANT " — Where Harold and Guy 
 converse. Guy is seated (Plate III.) with great pomp upon an 
 elevated seat. His throne is less ornate than that of the Confes- 
 sor, to mark no doubt the difference between a King and a Count, 
 and it is without a cushion, but it is decorated with dogs' heads and 
 claws, which are so frequently introduced iato aU the work of that 
 period. His feet, as is usual with persons of rank, rest upon a 
 footstool, having in this instance three steps. Guy holds a naked 
 sword with its point turned upwards ; he is attended by a guard, 
 who is armed with a sword of prodigious size, and a spear. This 
 attendant touches the elbow of his chief with one hand, and with 
 the forefinger of the other poiats to some object, probably the mes- 
 sengers of William, who are now approaching. Harold, though 
 suffered to wear the chlamys of nobiUty, comes into the presence 
 of the haughty Count in a slightly inclining posture. He feels he 
 is at the mercy of his captor. He has a sword, but its point is 
 directed to the ground. His companion has neither cloak nor 
 sword. From the arrogant bearing of Guy in this picture we 
 cannot doubt that the unhappy Harold returned to his prison more 
 disconsolate than before. 
 
 But, help was at hand. There is a figure, which we have not 
 observed, at one extremity of the audience chamber. He is a very 
 
46 THE ElVTANGLEMENT. 
 
 attentive but apparently an unobserved witness of the interview. 
 His party-coloured dress and the vandyked fringe of his tunic have 
 suggested the idea that this personage is the court jester." The 
 court fool was usually a very shrewd person, and having, on ac- 
 count of his presumed simplicity, access to his master at all times, 
 was a very convenient agent in court intrigue. This wily person- 
 age seems to have found means to acquaint William with the 
 untoward position of the English ambassador, for the next scene is 
 entitled ubi nuntii wilielmi dtjcis venerunt ad widonem — Where 
 the messengers of William came to Guy. 
 
 William on one occasion owed his life to the friendly interference 
 of a jester. Wace thus relates the story: — Guy of Burgundy, who 
 was a near relative of William's, became envious of him, and resolved 
 to disinherit him. Assembling several powerful barons, who were 
 as discontented as himself, he said, " There was not any heir who 
 had a better right to Normandy than himself.... He was no bastard, 
 but bom ia wedlock ; and if right was done, Normandy would be- 
 long to him. If they would support him in his claim, he would divide 
 it with them." So, at length, he said so much, and promised so 
 largely, that they swore to support him according to their power in 
 making war on William, and to seek his disherison by force or trea- 
 son. Then they stored their castles, dug fosses, and erected barri- 
 cades, William knowing nothing of their preparations. He was at 
 that time sojourning at Yalognes, for his pleasure as well as on 
 business ; and had been engaged for several days hunting and 
 
 • Mr. Charles Stothard in the Archaeologia, vol. xix, p. 189. 
 
.THE ENTANGLEMENT. 47 
 
 slLOoting in the woods. One evening, late, his train had left his 
 court, and all had gone to rest at the hostels where they lodged, 
 except those who were of his household ; and he himself was laid 
 down. Whether he slept or not, I do not Imow, but in the season 
 of the first sleep, a fool named Golet came, with a staif slung at his 
 neck, crying out at the chamber door, and beating the wall with 
 the staff; '•'■ Ovrez V said he, '■'■ovresl ovres ! ye are dead men: 
 leves J leves ! . Where art thou laid, William ? Wherefore dost 
 thou sleep ? If thou art found here thou wilt die ; thy enemies 
 are arming around ; if they find thee here thou wilt never quit the 
 Cotentin, nor Live till the morning !" Then William was greatly 
 alarmed ; he rose up, and stood as a man sorely dismayed. He 
 asked no further news, for it seemed unlikely to bring him any good. 
 He was in his breeches and shirt, and putting a cloak around his 
 neck, he seized his horse quickly, and was soon upon the road. 
 I know not whether he even stopped to seek for his spurs, but he 
 hasted on till he came to the fords nearest at hand, which were 
 those of Yire, and crossed them by night in fear and great anger.* 
 Had the fool not thus opportunely aroused him — had he not 
 acted with peculiar promptitude — ^had he not received important 
 assistance in the course of his journey from a faithful vassal, who 
 facilitated his fiight, and led his pursuers off the track— we should 
 never have heard of William the Conqueror. As it was, he got 
 safely next day to his own castle at Falaise. "If he were in bad 
 plight," says Wace, " what matters it, so that he got safe." 
 
 » Taylor's Wace, p. U. 
 
48 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 The result of the fool's interference in behalf of Harold soon ap- 
 pears. We are now introduced to two personages, sent by Duke 
 William, who, in their master's name, demand the deliverance of 
 the captive. Guy is standing, and wears a haughty air. He 
 holds an axe in. his hand, by way of asserting that he has the power 
 of life or death over his prisoner. He is partially habited in the 
 costume of war. Under his chlamys he wears a tunic of scale armour, 
 probably composed of overlapping pieces of leather. This dress, 
 though not so secure as one of mail, would nevertheless present 
 considerable resistance to the stroke of a weapon. Odo is repre- 
 sented as wearing a dress somewhat similar in the battle of Hast- 
 ings ; also a figure which I take to be William approaching Mount 
 St. Michael. His hose are composed of party-coloured materials ; 
 several other personages in the Tapestry, chiefly individuals of con- 
 sequence, are so adorned. The Saxons, and probably the Normans 
 also, were in the habit of protecting their legs in the day of 
 battle by binding them round with shps of leather or other mate- 
 rial. Guy has an armed attendant, standing aloof, but ready to 
 act ; and the two messengers of William apparently press their 
 mission with great vigour. The legend of this is, tjbi nuntii 
 wiLiELMi DTJCis VENERUNT AD wiDONEM — ^Where the messengers 
 of Duke Wniiam came to Guy. The horses of the messengers 
 stand hard by, held by a dwarf, who, although he wears a beard, 
 is evidently a Norman, for his hair is shaven oif the back of his 
 head. Over this little fellow, in the Tapestry, is written the word 
 TUROLD. Who this personage was we have no means of knowing. 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 49 
 
 He may have beeil some favourite witli the ladies employed upon 
 the embroidery, who adopted this mode of conferring immortality 
 upon him; or, as Miss Agnes Strickland has suggested, he may have 
 been the artist who was employed to design the Tapestry, and 
 who, though he could not with historic truth be introduced iato 
 any of the principal scenes, yet, very laudably, wished for a place 
 upon the canvas. It is, however, important to observe, that the 
 son of a person named Turold occurs in the Domesday Survey, 
 among the under-tenants of Odo, Bishop of Bay-eux, for the county 
 of Essex.* The celebrated Norman ballad The Song of Roland 
 seems to have had for its author a person of the name of Turold, if 
 we may credit its concluding lines, " And so endeth the history 
 sung of Turoldus." '' This inscription bears upon the subject of 
 the authenticity of the Tapestry. Had the work been constructed 
 some considerable period after the events which it describes, it 
 must have been compiled from historic documents, and so have 
 contained none but historic personages. As it is, there are several 
 individuals introduced to us in the Tapestry of which we have no 
 trace in the chronicles of the day, but with which the draftsman 
 takes it for granted that all are as familiar as himself — a very 
 natural and very common oversight. The house, divided into three 
 aisles after the maimer of that in which Harold took his parting 
 feast, is probably intended to represent the palace of the Count. 
 
 These messengers having reported their iU success to Duke 
 William, he immediately sends two others, who gallop to Beaurain 
 
 " Introduction to Domesday, vol. ii. p. 404. •' Tlie Song of Eoland, London, 1854. 
 
 H 
 
50 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 at the utmost speed of their horses. Over them is the inscription, 
 NTJNTii wiiLELMi — The messengers of William. A watchman, 
 elevated upon a tree, observes the movements of this second em- 
 bassy, probably with the view of giving William the earliest 
 intelligence respecting it. All this is cleverly designed, in order 
 to show the deep interest which William took in the welfare of his 
 captive friend, who was afterwards, according to the court version 
 of the story, to repay him with so much ingratitude. These 
 horsemen wear a threa;tening aspect ; they are armed with spear, 
 shield, and sword ; their spears are pointed threateningly to- 
 wards the place of their destination. Their shields bear a curious 
 device, a winged dragon' whose tail is twisted in a peculiar 
 manner. This object is one of constant occurrence in the Tapestry, 
 and seems to be one of superstitious reverence. Harold's standard 
 is a dragon. The standard of the Dacians, as depicted in Trajan's 
 Column, is a dragon. We have some others introduced into the 
 ornamental border of the Tapestry. In the illustrations of Cced- 
 morCs Paraphrase^ the great dragon Satan is in two instances 
 figured in a guise nearly resembling these. Whilst in a heathen 
 state the Saxons and Normans doubtless made the evil one 
 an object of worship, as most heathen nations have done, and, long 
 after their reception of Christianity, may, though with questionable 
 taste, have retained for ornamental purposes the emblem which 
 they had been accustomed to regard with superstitious reverence. 
 
 The transactions we are now considering probably occurred in the 
 spring of the year at the close of which King Edward died. In 
 
THE ETfTANGLEMBNT. 51 
 
 the lower margin of the scenes just reviewed the operations of hus- 
 bandry peculiar to that season are portrayed. One man is plough- 
 ing. The plough has wheels, and is very similar to some that are 
 figured ia Ccedmon^s Paraphrase. Next comes a sower casting 
 the seed iato the ground. He conducts the operation precisely as 
 it has been conducted from that day to this. Next follows a 
 harrow, drawn by an ox, which wears the yoke upon its neck. 
 This method of yoking oxen is still common ia Normandy. 
 . We are not certain what means William used to bring Guy to 
 his views. Some chi'oniclers say he coaxed him, some say he 
 threatened him, and several maintain that he bribed him by giving 
 him a large tract of land. This however is certain, that he suc- 
 ceeded in inducing him to relax his hold of Harold. 
 
 The next compartment of the Tapestry exhibits to us William 
 seated on a throne near his castle gate. He is receiving a mes- 
 senger, who approaches him on bended knees. The superscription 
 is, Hic VENiT NFNTius AD wiLGELMUM DXJCEM — Here a messenger 
 came to Duke William. The peculiarity of the spelliag of the 
 Duke's name wilgelmus need not surprise us. At that day, and 
 for long afterwards, the orthography even of proper names was not 
 fixed. The g would no doubt be sounded like y or the diphthong 
 ie, as is still the case in certain words in some parts of the North 
 of England. Who the messenger is we are not informed ; he is 
 evidently a Saxon, and is probably one of Harold's companions, 
 who has accompanied William's ambassadors to Eouen, by way of 
 giving the Duke a pledge of the success of their commission. 
 
52 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 Guy having agreed to deliver up his prisoner, resolves to make 
 a merit of doing so, and conducts him in person to William's court. 
 The Duke, desirous of doing all honour to his expected guest, 
 goes out to meet him. When the two parties approach, Guy very 
 otficiously introduces Harold to the Duke, and seems to expect 
 great commendations for his zeal and activity. Harold himself 
 follows Guy, having once again the mantle of gentle birth on his 
 left shoulder, and carrying his hawk upon his fist, looking forward, 
 in token of liberty. William sits firmly upon his horse ; his man- 
 ner is quiet, but very decided ; his figure is that of a strong, 
 square-built man. We know that his muscular powers were very 
 considerable ; this is probably no fancy portrait. 
 
 The inscription over this compartment is, hic wido adduxit 
 
 HAEOLDTJM AD WILGELMUM NORMANNOETJM DUOEM Here Guy led 
 
 Harold to William Duke of the Normans. 
 
 William now accompanies his guest to his palace — ^probably at 
 Eouen. A man from a gateway tower looks out and receives the 
 party. The palace of WiUiam is a large and splendid structure. 
 Both it and the castle we last noticed contrast strongly with those 
 we have previously seen. The Normans were great builders. 
 Whilst they were frugal in their household expenditure, they 
 erected elegant habitations for themselves; the Saxons on the 
 other hand (at least so say the chroniclers) did not care how they 
 W^Te lodged, but laid out large sums in eating and drinking.* Wil- 
 liam has a guard standing at his back. A Saxon is addressing him 
 
 " "WiUiam of Malmesbury, (Bolm's edition) p. 279. 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 53 
 
 with, considerable vehemence upon some business relating to the 
 Prench soldiers, to whom he points. The speaker is probably Harold; 
 but what the subject of conference is, can only be a subject of con- 
 jecture. Can it be that he is requesting the assistance of an 
 escort to accompany a messenger of his to England to inform his 
 friends of his happy release from captivity ? 
 
 In the border above the palace are a pair of pea-fowls. This is 
 probably intended to give us an idea of the splendour of William's 
 court. In the middle ages no feast was complete exceptinggihis 
 bird made its appearance on the table, arrayed, after being taken 
 from the spit, in all its gorgeous plumage. The feathers of this 
 bird were in great request among our Saxon nobles as a means of 
 decorating their halls. 
 
 The next compartment presents great difi&culties. It is headed, 
 TJBi TJNUS ciiEEiCTJS ET iELFGYVA — Where a clerk and JElfgyva 
 [converse]. It evidently refers to a transaction with which the 
 court of Duke William were well acquainted, but of which the 
 chroniclers have given us no account. 
 
 uElfgyva is a Saxon word, signifying a present from the genii.* 
 Emma, the wifeof Ethelred, and some other English Queens, are oc- 
 casionally by Saxon authors styled ^Ifgyva; hence the term has been 
 considered a descriptive title rather than a proper name. On this 
 account some writers conceive that Queen Matilda is the individual 
 here presented to our notice. If, however, the term ^Ifgyva was 
 a descriptive one, and applicable only to a Saxon Queen, it could 
 » Thierry's Norman Conquest (London, 1841), p. 41. 
 
54 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 not at this period of the narrative belong to her, for William had 
 not then obtained the English throne. Other authors consider that 
 Agatha, a daughter of William, is the lady in question. Her 
 name is written by Wace, Ele ; and by some authors she is con- 
 founded with her sister Adeliza. When Harold swore to support 
 William in his pretensions to the throne, he agreed to receive 
 Agatha in marriage. This lady's subsequent history is confused. 
 William of Malmesbury says she died before she was marriageable. 
 Ordericus Yitalis gives the following account of her — "His 
 daughter Agatha, who had been betrothed to Harold, was after- 
 wards demanded in marriage by Alphonzo, King of Galicia, and 
 delivered to his proxies to be conducted to him. But she, who 
 had lost her former spouse, who was to her liking, felt extreme 
 repugnance to marry another. The Englishman she had seen and 
 loved, but the Spaniard she was more averse to .because she had 
 never set eyes on him. She therefore fervently prayed to God that 
 she might never be carried into Spain, but that he would rather take 
 her to himself. Her prayers were heard, and she died a virgin 
 while she was upon the road." She, however, cannot be the 
 jElfgyya of the Tapestry. Making every allowance for the varities 
 of her name, it would scarcely have been so written ia her father's 
 court ; as she was never Queen, the descriptive epithet could not 
 with propriety have been applied to her ; and as at the time of 
 Harold's visit to Normandy she was but a child, we cannot sup- 
 pose that any formal embassage would be sent to her respecting 
 the release of the English Earl, or any other subject. 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 55 
 
 The lady in question is probably Algitba, the widow of Griffith 
 King of Wales, and sister to Edwin and Morcar, Earls of Mercia 
 and Northumberland, whom Harold must have married shortly 
 after his return to England, as his second wife." Her name, as it 
 is written by Elorence of Worcester, and some other chroniclers, 
 differs but little from ^Ifgy va ; besides, as Queen of England, she 
 was entitled to the epithet. If this supposition be correct, the 
 force of the introduction of this lady and the clerk into the 
 Tapestry is considerable. The whole object of this part of the 
 drawing is to display in glowing colours the generous kindness of 
 William and the base treachery of Harold. Now if, as we may 
 reasonably suppose, Harold had set his affections upon this lady 
 before his departure for Normandy, and if, as we have conjectured, 
 he had, on being rescued, sent, by William's assistance, messen- 
 gers to England to announce his safety, a special and loving mes- 
 sage to the queen of his affections would not be forgotten. The 
 clerk certainly approaches her in a jocose manner, and undoubtedly 
 has some agreeable intelligence to communicate. Now if Harold 
 acted thus while enjoying William's hospitality, and solemnly un- 
 
 ' The following passages from the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester furnish 
 distinct evidence as to the marriage of Harold with Algitha: — " Regnavit autem 
 Haraldus mensibus IX. et diebus totidem. Cujus morte audita, comites' Eadwinus 
 et Morcarus, qui se cum suis certamini subtraxere, Lundoniam venere, et sororem 
 suam Algitham reginam sumptam ad civitatem Legionum misere." "Anno regni 
 XXIII. rex Anglorum Eadwardus decessit. Cui ex ipsius concessione comes Ha- 
 roldus, filius Godwini West-Saxonum ducis . . . . successit ; qui de regina Aldgitha, 
 comitis Alfgari filia, habuit filium Haroldum ; eodemque anno a Normanorum comite 
 WUlelmoperemptus est in beUo." — Monumenta Historica, pp. 614, 642. 
 
56 THE ENTANGLEMENT. 
 
 dertaking to marry Ms daughter Agatha as soon as she became of 
 fitting age, his conduct was most unjustifiable ; and it was pecu- 
 liarly suitable to the object for which the Tapestry was prepared to 
 expose it. Harold, before leaving England, may have placed his 
 lady for temporary protection in some nunnery, which we may 
 suppose to be indicated by the narrow and confined building in 
 which ^Ifgyva stands. In this case none was so proper to approach 
 her as a priest. The employment of a person of the clerical order 
 was moreover necessary, as few of the laity could read or write. 
 The individual in the Tapestry has a shaven crown, but is dressed 
 in ordinary attire. William of Malmesbury tells us that the Saxon 
 clergy were not fond of any distinctive dress. 
 
 In the whole course of the Tapestry only three females are pre- 
 sented to our view — vELfgy va, a mourning relative by the dying bed 
 of the Confessor, and a woman forced by the fiames from her 
 dwelling at Hastings. This circumstance surely proves the modesty 
 and retiring habits of the Saxon and Norman ladies. 
 
 As our ladies are scarce, let us pay them minute attention. The 
 dress of the Saxon women varied very little during the long period 
 that elapsed between the eighth and the end of the eleventh century; 
 by thoroughly enveloping the whole body, it consulted the modest 
 feelings of the sex, whilst its graceful folds gave considerable ele- 
 gance to the person. Antiquaries are inquiring men. They do 
 not like to leave any subject unexamined. That judicious inquirer, 
 Strutt, finds some little difficulty in investigating the undermost 
 garment worn by the Saxon ladies ; he manages it, however, with 
 
THE ENTANGLEMENT. 57 
 
 great adroitness and delicacy. His words are worth quoting : — 
 " In the foregoing chapter it has been clearly proved that the 
 shirt formed part of the dress of the men ; and surely we cannot 
 hesitate a moment to conclude that the women were equally tena- 
 cious of delicacy in their habit, and of course were not destitute of 
 body -linen : the remains of antiquity it is true afford not sufficient 
 authority to prove the fact ; yet the presumptive argument founded 
 upon female delicacy weighs so strongly in the scale, that I con- 
 clude this supposition to be consonant with the truth."* Over 
 this undermost garment came another, which was only seen when 
 the lower portion of the gunna, or gown, had been pushed aside ; 
 it was made of linen or some • other light material. !Next came 
 the gown, consisting usually of some strong stuff. It fell down 
 to the feet, and was sometimes girt round the waist by a 
 band. The sleeves near the wrist were usually made very full, 
 and hung down after the manner lately in use among ourselves. 
 A mantle was worn over this by ladies of rank. It was probably 
 fastened by a fibula, or brooch. The woman coming out of the 
 burning house (Flate XI.J belongs probably to the lower orders, 
 for she has not a mantle. A head-cover, or kerchief, was an indis- 
 pensable part of the dress of Saxon ladies, whether high or low. 
 It enveloped the head, concealing the hair entirely ; the ends of it 
 fell upon the shoulders. 
 
 In the time of Eufas and Henry I. the dress of the ladies, which 
 had remained so long stationary, felt the stimulus of the Conquest. 
 
 " Planche's Strutt, vol. i., p. 14. 
 I 
 
58 THE ENTANGLKMENTc 
 
 " The sleeves of their robes and their kerchiefs appear in the illu- 
 minations of that period knotted up, to prevent their trailing on 
 the ground. Some of the sleeves have cuffs hanging from the 
 wrist down to the heels, and of the most singular forms."" An 
 ancient monk has drawn the evil one attired in this way, in order 
 no doubt to throw discredit upon the fashion. The hair also was 
 no longer concealed, but hung down in plaits on each side of the 
 person as far as the waist. A statue of Matilda, wife of Henry I., 
 on the west door- way of Eochester Cathedral, exhibits this usage. 
 Had the Tapestry been executed in the days of this Queen, 
 JElfgyva's sleeves would have been fuller than they are, and her 
 hair would have himg down in graceful ringlets. 
 
 » Pict. Eng., vol. i., j). 637. 
 
IV. THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 " Young knight whatever, that dost armes profease, 
 
 And through long labours huntest after fame, 
 
 Beware of fraud" 
 
 Faerie Qmene 
 
 When Eollo and his brave companions, emigrating from Northern 
 Europe at the end of the ninth century, got a firm hold of Eouen 
 and the surroundiug district, they were as far from being satisfied 
 as ever. They ravaged every part of France, carrying their arms 
 even into Burgundy. Charles the Simple, who had already 
 yielded Normandy to them, harrassed by these unceasing hos- 
 tilities, sought to purchase peace by the cession of another 
 portion of his dominions. He offered Eollo the land between 
 the river Epte and Brittany, if he would become a Christian 
 and live in peace ; but, though Charles threw his daughter 
 into the scale, Eollo wotdd not agree, for the territory was 
 too small, and the lands uncultivated. He next offered him 
 Flanders, which, by the way, was not his to give ; but Eollo re- 
 jected it because it was boggy and fall of marshes. He then 
 offered him Brittany, which Eollo accepted." Brittany, however, 
 claimed to be a free state, and its inhabitants were a spirited and 
 energetic race, not likely to yield allegiance where none was due. 
 
 * Thierry's History of the Normans, p. 36. 
 
60 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 In accepting Brittany, therefore, EoUo obtained little better than 
 an old quarrel. Continual wars, and a national enmity, between 
 the states, was the only result of the gift. 
 
 We can here scarcely help observing by what a rare conjunction 
 of circumstances it was that WUliam, who from his boyhood had 
 been at war with all the neighbouring states, and who a few 
 months before the invasion, of England, was engaged in active hos- 
 tilities with the Count of Brittany, had leisure to undertake the 
 great event of his life, could leave his duchy and drain it of his 
 troops, without being exposed to the devastations of angry neigh- 
 bours, and, not only so, but could obtain for his great enterprise the 
 powerful assistance of those rival chiefs with whom he had so often 
 been at variance, not even excepting the Counts of Ponthieu and 
 Brittany. The most careless observer cannot but mark in this the 
 finger of Providence. 
 
 But to return to our worsted work. Conan Earl of Bretagne 
 being at this juncture Bt war with Duke William, and having 
 drawn the Earl of Anjou into alliance with him, the two naturally 
 agreed upon a given day to invade Normandy with their united 
 forces. The Duke was however too much upon his guard, and too 
 lively, to wait for them in his own dominions. He raised a con- 
 siderable body of troops ; and, knowing Harold to be a brave 
 soldier, and fond of showing his valour, invited him and his com- 
 panions to go with him upon this expedition ; which Harold readily 
 agreed to do. This was a clever stroke of policy. He not only 
 procured the valuable assistance of Harold and his companions, all 
 

 
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THE KNIGHTHOOD, 61 
 
 the more valuable in consequence of the experience they had 
 .gained in Wales, but obtained ample opportimities of studying 
 the character of the man whom he could not but look upon as his 
 great rival. He had the means, in their lengthened intercourse, of 
 showing him great attentions, and thus of apparently layiag him 
 under great obligations. But, above all, he induced Harold by 
 this step to excite the enmity of the men of Brittany against him- 
 self. That William should jnake war upon them was no more than 
 the custom of the country, but what right had the Saxon to inter- 
 fere iu their affairs ? They could not, and did not, forget this 
 on the field of Hastings. 
 
 The campaign in Brittany is described more fully in the 
 Tapestry than in any of the chronicles, and some events are there 
 depicted, such as the surrender of Dinan, which are not mentioned 
 in any of them. William and his party setting out upon their ex- 
 pedition f Plate V.J pass the neighbourhood of Mount St, Michael, 
 The iascription is, hic willem dxjx et exeecixus ejus veneeunt 
 AD montem michaelis — Here Duke William and his army came to 
 Mount St. Michael. This mount consists of a solitary cone of gra- 
 nite rising out of a wide, level expanse of sand, which at high tide 
 is nearly covered by the sea. It is a very conspicuous object, and 
 is seen on all sides from a great distance. A little to the south of 
 St. Michael's Mount, the river Coesnon, which forms the boundary 
 between Normandy and Brittany, joins the sea. At this point the 
 waters of the ocean, in consequence of the contracting boundaries 
 of the bay lying between Brest and Cape la Hogue, rise with 
 
62 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 great impetuosity and to a great height. The fording of the river, 
 therefore, in the vicinity of the sea is often a hazardous undertak- 
 ing. To add to the diflS.culties of travellers, the sand which covers 
 the plain around St. Michael's Mount, and extends some dis- 
 tance inland and along the bed of the river, is an exceedingly fine, 
 white, marly dust, which, when covered with water, affords most 
 treacherous footing. The beds of sand, moreover, frequently shift 
 according to the varying currents of the tide, so that even a well 
 accustomed traveller may get wrong. These statements have pre- 
 pared us for the disasters which befel the party in crossing into 
 Brittany. The legend here is, et hic teansieeunt FLtiMEisr cos- 
 NONis — And here they crossed the river Coesnon — Most of the group, 
 mistrusting the treacherous ford, have dismounted. One individual 
 more venturesome than the rest reaps the consequences of his rash- 
 ness. All those on foot do not, however, entirely escape. Harold 
 is represented rescuing two of them from their difficulties ; one he 
 bears upon his back, the other he drags by the hand. The inscrip- 
 tion is — HIC HAROLD DUX TEAHEBAT EOS DE ARENA — ^Hcre Harold 
 
 the Earl dragged them out of the quicksand. 
 
 The fishes and the eels in the lower border are an appropriate 
 ornament. The draftsman has here indulged in a little play of 
 fancy. A man, with knife in hand, in trying to catch one of the 
 eels, tumbles ; liis toe is caught by a wolf, whose tail is in turn 
 seized by an eagle, and so the chapter of accidents proceeds. 
 
 The difficulty of the ford being got over, our party continued their 
 march towards Dol, which is here represented by a castle. The 
 
THE KNIGHTHOOD. 63 
 
 inscription is, et veneeunt ad dol — And they came to Dol. The 
 present town of Dol is a remarkable place, bearing thoroughly the 
 aspect of ancient days. Its walls are tolerably perfect. However 
 antique its walls and houses, its market presents us with traces of 
 an antiquity greatly exceeding theirs. Large quantities of pottery, 
 resembling in form and substance the commoner kinds used by the 
 Romans, are here exposed for sale. It is curious to see Eoman 
 taste, as exhibited in such fragile articles, outliving the lapse of so 
 many centuries. 
 
 As has been already stated, Conan intended to invade Wil- 
 liam, who, however, anticipated him. The Duke moreover came 
 upon him unexpectedly, and found him engaged in settling a 
 private quarrel with Eual, to whom the seigneury of the city of 
 Dol belonged. The moment the forces of William made their ap- 
 pearance before the gates of Dol, Conan was constrained to flee, and 
 take refuge in Eennes, the capital of Brittany. His army is repre- 
 sented ia the Tapestry as fleeing to the city, pursued by the troops 
 of the Norman Duke. Over this scene is the legend, et conan 
 ruGA veetit — And Conan betakes himself to flight. 
 
 Eual, the lord of Dol, was but little benefited by the retreat of 
 Conan. William's forces scoured the country, and supplied their 
 own wants at the expense of the inhabitants. Eual very politely 
 thanked William for his deliverance, but hinted that if his army 
 continued making such depredations everywhere, it was the same 
 to him whether his country was ruined by Bretons or Normans. 
 William issued orders prohibiting further devastation. A man is 
 
64 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 seen in the Tapestry letting himself down by a cord from the 
 battlements of the castle ; this, it has been conjecttired, is the mes- 
 senger sent to Duke William. A castle represents the city of 
 Eennes, over which is inscribed the word eednes. 
 
 We next meet Avith the town of Dinan. The inscription reads, 
 
 HIO MILITES WILLELMI DUCIS PUGNANT COXTHA DINANTES — Here 
 
 the soldiers of WiUiam attack Diaan. The place is undergoing 
 all the calamities of a siege. Some of William's party are assail- 
 ing it, but their onset is met by the exertions of the garrison. 
 Others apply flames to the structure. We learn from the Tapestry 
 that the castle was obliged to yield, and we see that the act of 
 surrender is conducted in a very formal manner (Plate VIJ. An 
 inhabitant of the town, probably Conan himself, (et cunan claves 
 POBKEXIT — ^And Conan reached out the keys) is seen handing out 
 the keys upon a lance, and they are received in a similar way by 
 one of the chiefs of the attacking party. Both spears are adorned 
 with a pennon or banner.^ As we have no account of this siege in 
 the chronicles, we can only gather its history from the stitches 
 before us. Most likely William was satisfied with the formal sub- 
 mission of Conan, and quietly withdrew his forces. We do not in 
 the Tapestry observe any of the invading troops entering the town. 
 Before proceeding further, we may notice some of the prominent 
 
 " It is often asserted that the house of Percy derived its name from one of the 
 family having slain Malcolm, King of Scotland, by thrusting the spear into his eye 
 when he came forward to demand the keys of Alnwick Castle! That historic name 
 occurs in the Battle Abbey EoU, and is derived from the cradle of the family, the 
 hamlet of Peroi, in Normandy. 
 
THE KNIGHTHOOD. 65 
 
 features of the castles -which have been presented to our view. All of 
 them are buUt upon elevated mounds. This was certainly one of the 
 characteristics of an early Norman fortress. Further, we see that 
 they were surrounded by a fosse, the section of which, in. the 
 Tapestry, is very boldly marked. In the case of Dinan, we have 
 a barricade on the outside of this entrenchment. Besides these 
 outworks, the castles consist of an outer fortification, or bailey, and 
 of an iuterior building, or keep. The colouring of these structures 
 may be purely fanciful, but I am disposed to think that the ver- 
 tical stripes which we see upon some of them represent timber. 
 The remaias of some castles in Cornwall incontestably prove that, 
 occasionally at least, the outside of the walls was braced with tim- 
 ber.* The walls of Guildford Castle are pierced with holes, which 
 we are told were made for the scaffolding, and in order to hasten 
 the drying of the mortar were left unfilled, and have since re- 
 mained so. Is it not more likely that these cavities were formerly 
 occupied by bolts for fastening an outside timber-casing to the 
 walls ? 
 
 But to proceed with Queen Matilda's narrative. The campaign 
 in Brittany being brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the honours of 
 knighthood awaited the Saxon Earl. William himself confers upon 
 him the envied dignity. The superscription is hic wilelmus debit 
 
 » The walls of Tintagel Castle " were evidently constructed in a framework of 
 wood ; the square holes which pierce the walls at regular iatervals, from the foun- 
 dations upwards, show the places once occupied hy hond pieces, by which the 
 wooden frames were held together." — Notes ly Rev. W. Haslam, in Report of Royal 
 Inst. Cornwall, 1850. 
 
66 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 HAROLDO AEMA — Here William gave arms to Harold. Both parties 
 are shown in the Tapestry armed cap-a-pie. Harold holds in his 
 hand the banner which, by virtue of the rank now bestowed upon 
 him, he is entitled to bear. William is seen placing with one 
 hand the helmet on Harold's head, and with the other bracing the 
 straps of his hauberk. 
 
 The Norman Duke, in conferring the honour of knighthood upon 
 his adopted son in arms, doubtless exhortfed him to fight vaHantly 
 in the cause of God and the ladies, and especially to bear himself 
 gallantly against any one who should disparage the beauty of that 
 one lady to whom he had plighted his troth. In this way WilKam 
 strengthened the meshes which he had akeady cast over Harold. 
 
 It has been noticed that the mode of conferring knighthood 
 used on this occasion is a compromise between the Norman and 
 Saxon methods. Ingulphus tells us that the ministrations of a 
 priest were required when knighthood was conferred among the 
 Saxons, but that the Normans regarded it entirely as a militarv* 
 ceremony.* Further, whilst the Normans, whose military strength 
 Jay in cavalry, performed the ceremony on horseback, the Saxons, 
 who had no cavalry, always performed it on foot. In the case 
 before us the ceremony is performed on foot, but without the 
 agency of a priest. According to Wace, the ceremony of knight- 
 hood took place before the commencement of the campaign in 
 Brittany. This is one of those variations which prove the inde- 
 pendence of each authority. 
 
 * Ingulph's Chronicle (Bohn), p. 14. 
 
THE KNIGHTHOOD. 67 
 
 William and Harold, wlio had been sojourning so long together, 
 fighting side by side, living in the same tent, eating at the same 
 board, now came to Bayeux (willelmvs tenit bagias — William 
 came to Bayeux), and here the Saxon Earl came under that obli- 
 gation the breach of which filled men's minds with horror and 
 indignation. William could not but be aware that Harold in- 
 tended to seize the crown of England on the death of the Confessor; 
 he resolved therefore to avail himself of the present opportunity 
 of throwing as many obstacles in his path as possible. Con- 
 sidering that Harold had come over professedly to announce to 
 William that he was to be the successor to the Confessor, con- 
 sidering the very friendly terms on which they had now for some 
 time been, and the very great obligations under which the Norman 
 Duke had laid him, he could not refuse to take the oath. He no 
 doubt felt, moreover, that he was in William's power, and knew 
 full well that unless he complied with his demand he would not be 
 allowed to return to his native shores. He therefore swore to 
 support his rival's claims to the English throne. As the perjury 
 of Harold was one of the pleas most successfully urged by William 
 against his opponent, it invites our careful attention. Our faithful 
 chronicler Wace gives us a full account of the transaction. — 
 
 " To receive the oath William caused a parliament to be called. 
 It is commonly said that it was at Bayeux that he had his great 
 council assembled. He sent for all the holy bodies thither, and 
 put so many of them together as to fill a whole chest, and then 
 covered them with a pall ; but Harold neither saw them, nor knew 
 
68 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 of their being there ; for nought was shown or told him about it ; 
 
 and over all was a philactery, the best that he could select 
 
 When Harold placed his hand upon it, the hand trembled and the 
 flesh quivered; but he swore and promised upon his oath to take 
 Ele to wife, and to deliver up England to the Duke ; and thereunto 
 to do aU in his power, according to his might and wit, after the 
 death of Edward, if he should live, so help him God and the holy- 
 relics there ! Many cried ' God grant it !' and when Harold had 
 kissed the saints and had risen upon his feet, the Duke led him up 
 to the chest and made him stand near it, and took off the chest the 
 paU that had covered it, and showed Harold upon what holy relics 
 he had sworn ; he was sorely alarmed at the sight." ^ 
 
 In this account there is a little inconsistency. We are told of 
 Harold's amazement when he had seen the relics, but we were 
 previously informed that when he first placed his hand upon the 
 chest " the hand trembled and the flesh quivered." If he did not 
 know that dead men's bones were under the pall he must have 
 suspected it ; he must have known that this was the customary 
 mode of taking an oath. '' 
 
 " Taylor's Wace, p. 83. 
 ^ The Normans seem to have been particularly addicted to the worship of relics. 
 They carried them about their persons, and had them enclosed in the handles 
 of their swords. In the Song of Roland that hero is represented, when dying, as 
 addressing his sword thus : — " Ah, Saint Durandal ! in thy golden pommel what 
 precious relics lie hid ! A tooth of Saint Peter ! — Blood of Saint Basil ! — Hair of 
 Monseigneur Saint Denis ! — Vesture of the Virgin Mary ! And shaU a pagan 
 possess thee ?" Beiag thus at all times provided with relics, they were never at a 
 loss as to the administration of an oath. In the Song already referred to we have a 
 case in point: — ' Be it as thou wilt,' answered Ganelon, and upon the relics of his 
 sword he swore to the treason and consummated his crime." 
 
THE KNIGHTHOOD. 69 
 
 In the Tapestry, Harold stands between two objects. One of 
 them is a reliquary of the usual form, to which two staves are 
 attached for the purpose of carriage. This reliquary has, however, 
 a superaltare attached to it, such as is usually placed upon altars 
 for the purpose of containing the consecrated wafer. The other 
 object is an altar of the usual form and character. There does not 
 seem to have been much temptation to William to practise a trick 
 upon Harold, for he had so completely committed himself to the 
 Duke that he could not avoid taking the oath, even though no 
 covering had concealed the bones. But whether William did or 
 did not practise this base artifice upon the Earl, it was natural that 
 the Tapestry, being the work of Matilda, should endeavour to throw 
 a veil over it. He is certainly in^ the Tapestry exhibited as 
 swearing by the relies in the chest and by the host upon the altar, 
 and he evidently touches them as if he knew they contained some- 
 thing very dreadful — ^he could not approach red-hot iron much 
 more charily. We can readily conceive that after the ceremony 
 William, by way of making as lively an impression as possible 
 upon the mind of his victim, displayed the bones to him in all 
 their sepulchral hideousness, and told them out in full tale before 
 Mm. In such a case Harold might readily shrink from the exhi- 
 bition, and be surprised at the number of martyrs which William's 
 diligence had brought together. William was too brave a man to 
 attempt the mean artifice which historians ascribe to him. Harold 
 never accused him of it. When reminded before the battle of 
 Hastings, by a messenger of the Duke's, of the oath he had taken. 
 
70 THE KNIGHTHOOD. 
 
 he sent this answer back, " Say to the Duke that I desire he mil 
 not remind me of my covenant nor of my oath ; if I ever foolishly 
 made it and promised him any thing, I did it for my liberty. I 
 swore in order to get my freedom ; whatever he asked I agreed to ; 
 and I ought not to be reproached, for I did nothing of my own 
 free will."" 
 
 But after all, this oath of Harold's was not in the estimation of 
 the men of that day the serious thing that has been represented. 
 Men whom an oath taken in the name and in the presence of the 
 living God could not bind, were not to be restrained by any moral 
 influence. A little ingenuity only was requisite to release a man 
 from an oath taken upon the relics. In the Roman de Rou we 
 have a case in point.'' At Val de Dunes the rebel lords of Nor- 
 mandy appeared in arms against the Duke. Before the opposing 
 hosts joined, Eaol Tesson, who was arrayed against William, 
 was seen to act with hesitancy. His men besought him not 
 to" make war upon his lawful lord, whatever he did, reminding 
 him that the man who would fight against his lord had no 
 right to fief or barony. Eaol could understand this argument, 
 but what was he to do? he "had pledged himself, and sworn 
 upon the saints at Bayeux to smite William wherever he should 
 find him." The difficulty was however got over. Ordering 
 his men to rest where they were, " he came spurring over the 
 plain, struck his lord with his glove, and said laughingly to 
 him, ' What I have sworn to do that I perform ; I had sworn to 
 
 " Wace, p. 138. i> Waco, p. 20, 21. 
 
THE KNIGHTHOOD. 71 
 
 smite you as soon as I should find you ; and as I would not perjure 
 myself, I have now struck you to acquit myself of my oath, and 
 henceforth I will do you no farther Avrong or felony.' Then the 
 Duke said, ' Thanks to thee !' and Eaol thereupon went on his 
 way back to his men." Success attended the side which Eaol 
 thus espoused, and we hear nothing of his perjury. Harold fell on 
 the hard-fought field of Hastings, and heaven and earth resounded 
 with cries of horror at the foul sin. Had he won, a new abbey, or 
 the re-imposition of Peter's pence, would have cleared off the score. 
 Harold was now permitted to return home. The ship in which 
 he sailed is represented in the Tapestry. Over the scene is the 
 iascription, hio haeold dux eeveesus est ad anglicam tbeeam — 
 Here Harold the Earl returned to England. His approach to the 
 shore is anxiously looked for by a watchman on the top of the 
 gate-tower of his palace at Bosham. On reaching the land of his 
 nativity Harold lost no time in repairing to court — et venit ad 
 EDWAEDVM EEGEM — And came to Edward the King. At the be- 
 ginning of Plate VII. we see him in the presence of his sovereign, 
 who reprimands liim, as we have already observed (p, 28), for 
 the miscarriage of his Commission. 
 
Y. THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 " Crowned but to die." 
 
 Rogers. 
 
 The latter days of Edward the Confessor were embittered by the 
 prospect of those evils which he saw were coming upon England. 
 On the Easter day before he died he held his court at Westminster. 
 Wmiam of Malmesbury tells us that " While the rest were greedily 
 eating, and making up for the long fast of Lent by the newly-pro- 
 vided viands, he was absorbed in the contemplation of some divine 
 matter, when presently he excited the attention of the guests by 
 bursting into profuse laughter." On earnest enquiry being made 
 of him as to this unusual circumstance, he said " that the seven 
 sleepers in Mount Coelius, who had lain for two hundred years 
 on their right side, had now turned upon their left; that they 
 would continue to lie in this manner for seventy-four years, which 
 would be a dreadful omen to wretched mortals. Nation would rise 
 against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ; earthquakes would 
 be in divers places; pestilence and famine, terrors from heaven, 
 and great signs ; changes in kingdoms ; wars of the gentiles against 
 the Christians, and also victories of the Christians over the pagans."' 
 This was not the only vision he had. On one occasion he had 
 
 " "William of Malmesbury, p. 249. 
 
THE SUCCESSION. 73 
 
 lain two days speecliless ; on the third, sadly and deeply sighing as 
 he awoke from his torpor, he said, that two monks from Normandy 
 whom he had known in his youth had appeared to him, and had 
 spoken to the following effect: — " Since the chiefs of England, the 
 dukes, bishops, and abbots, are not the ministers of God, but of the 
 devil, God, after your death, will deliver this kingdom for a year 
 and a day into the hands of the enemy, and devils shall wander 
 over all the land."" 
 
 Borne down by these painful anticipations, Edward rapidly sank. 
 Eeeling death approach, he hastened the completion of the abbey 
 church of Westminster, in which he designed that his body should 
 be laid. He lived to realize this his last care. Koger of Wen- 
 dover says, "Edward King of England, held his court at Christ- 
 mas (1065) at Westminster; and, on the blessed Innocents' day, 
 caused the church which he had erected from its foundations, 
 outside the city of London, to be dedicated with great pomp in 
 honour of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles ; but both before 
 and during the solemn festival of this dedication, the King was 
 confined with severe illness." At length "the pacific King Ed- 
 ward, the glory of England, the son of King Ethelred, exchanged 
 a temporal for an eternal kingdom, in the fourth indiction, on the 
 vigil of our Lord's Epiphany, being the fifth day of the week. The 
 day after his death the most blessed King was buried at London, 
 in the church which" he himself had built in a new and costly 
 style of architecture, which was afterwards adopted by numbers.'"' 
 
 • Mabnesbury, p. 252. >> Vol. i. p. 322. 
 
 L 
 
74 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 The Tapestry exliibits to .us the church of St. Peter at West- 
 minster, and the funeral procession of the recently departed 
 monarch. The church is a building of the Norman style in its 
 greatest simplicity. As is usual in cathedrals and conventual 
 churches of the first class, it has its tower in the centre, and is 
 provided with transepts. The weathercock may perhaps excite 
 attention, as proving that this appendage of our churches is no 
 novelty. It appears in the Saxon illustrations of Csedmon. But 
 what is particularly worthy of our notice is, that a workman 
 appears to be in the act of afiixing it. By this, the designer of 
 the Tapestry means to show that the church was but just com- 
 pleted when the interment of the Confessor took place. A hand 
 appears over the western end of the church to denote the finger of 
 Providence, and to indicate that it was the will of God that the 
 remains of the departed King should be deposited in that building. 
 A similar hand appears on the coins of some of the Eoman em- 
 perors, and in several of the sculptures of the catacombs at Eome. 
 This is another indication that the artist was acquainted with the 
 Eoman method of treating such subjects. 
 
 We next meet with the funeral of the King. The circumstance 
 which chiefly strikes us in it is its simplicity. No gilded cross is 
 borne before the body. No candles, lighted or unlighted, are 
 carried in procession. The attendants, clerical and lay, wear their 
 ordinary dresses. Two youths go by the side of the bier, ringing 
 bells. That the persons who follow the bearers are ecclesiastics is 
 evident from their shaven crowns. Two of them have books, from 
 

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THE SUCCESSION. 75 
 
 wMch they chant some requiem. Only one of them has a 
 mantle, betokening him to be a person of importance. The body, 
 agreeably to the Saxon custom, has been wound up in a cloth, 
 fastened with transverse bandages.* It is carried head-foremost. 
 At a date not long subsequent to the Conquest it was usual to 
 carry the bodies of princes to the grave fully exposed to view, 
 dressed in all the habiliments of state. The body, on arriving at 
 the place of sepulture, would be deposited in the stone coffin that 
 was prepared to receive it.'' The legend here is, hic portatttr 
 
 CORPUS EADWAEDI EEGIS AD ECCLESIAM SANCTI PETEI APOSTOLI 
 
 Here the body of King Edward is carried to the church of St. 
 Peter the Apostle. 
 
 On proceeding to the next compartment we are surprised at 
 being introduced into the chamber of the dying King, whose re- 
 mains we have already seen conducted to the grave. Some writers 
 think that here the artist has been guilty of an oversight, or that 
 the fair ladies who carried out his design have been very inat- 
 tentive to their instructions. The seeming inconsistency is very 
 easily explained. A new subject is now entered upon, and that 
 
 ' " Having first washed the corpse, it was clothed in a straight linen garment, 
 or put into a hag or sack of Hnen, and then wrapped closely round from head 
 to foot with a strong cloth wrapper." — StruU, vol. i., p. 66. 
 
 ■• The custom of carrying the dead in some slight envelope to the sarcophagus 
 which was to he its last resting place, accounts for the mischance which occurred at 
 the hurial of "William the Conqueror, force heing required to thrust the hody into its 
 too narrow cell. Bede tells us {I!cc. Hist. b. iv. c. xi.) how the stone cofiin for Sebha, 
 King of the East Saxons, was too small, and when the attendants were for bending 
 the knees of the corpse a miracle ensued, and the cofln elongated of itself. 
 
76 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 subject is the riglit of succession. One important element in it is 
 the grant of the King. The historian of the Tapestry, in dis- 
 cussing this Tcry important part of his design, found it necessary 
 to revert to the scenes which preceded the death of the Confessor, 
 and to the directions which in his last moments he had given. 
 
 The narrative which Wace gives us of the last hours of the King 
 agrees well with the Tapestry. " The day came that no man can 
 escape, and King Edward drew near to die. He had it much 
 at heart that William should have his kingdom, if possible ; but 
 he was too far oif, and it was too long to tarry for him, and Ed- 
 ward could not defer his hour. He lay in heavy sickness, in the 
 illness whereof he was to die ; and he was very weak, for death 
 pressed hard upon him. Then Harold assembled his kindred, and 
 sent for his friends and other people, and entered into the King's 
 chamber, taking with him whomsoever he pleased. An English- 
 man began to speak first, as Harold had directed him, and said, 
 ' Sire, we sorrow greatly that we are about to lose thee ; and we 
 are much alarmed, and fear that great trouble may come upon us. 
 No heir of thine remains who may comfort us after thy death. 
 
 On this account the people weep and cry aloud, and say 
 
 they are ruined,, and that they shall never have peace again, if 
 thou failest them. And in this I trow they say truly; for without 
 a king they will have no peace, and a king they cannot have, save 
 
 through thee Behold the best of thy people, the noblest of 
 
 thy friends ; all are come to beseech thee, and thou must grant 
 their prayer before thou goest hence, or thou wilt not see God. 
 
THE SUCCESSION. 77 
 
 All come to implore thee that Harold may be King of this land. 
 We can give thee no better advice, and no better canst thou do.' 
 As soon as he had named Harold, all the English in the chamber 
 cried out that he said well, and that the King ought to give heed 
 to him. * Sire !' they said, ' if thou dost it not we shall never in 
 our lives have peace.' Then the King sat up in his bed, and 
 turned his face to the English there, and said, ' Seigniors ! you 
 well know, and have oft-times heard, that I have given my realm 
 at my death to the Duke of Normandy; and a^ I have given it, so 
 have some among you sworn that it shall go.' But Harold, who 
 stood by, said, ' Whatever thou hast heretofore done, sire ! consent 
 now that I shall be King, and that your land be mine. I wish for 
 no other title, and want no one to do any thing more for me.' So 
 the King turned round and said, whether of his own free will I 
 know not, — ' Let the English make either the Duke or Harold 
 king, as they please ; I consent.' So he let the barons have their 
 own will."* This narrative bears all the marks of probability, 
 and is quite consistent with the representations of the Tapestry. 
 The circumstance of the dying monarch's having been clamorously 
 assailed, at a time when peace is most required, by the adherents 
 of Harold, in order to induce him to alter the arrangements he 
 had already made respecting the succession, was calculated to win 
 for the Duke the sympathy of all right-minded persons. 
 
 Still, the question remains, why should Harold have been so 
 anxious to be nominated the successor of the Confessor ? 
 
 » Wace, p. 89. 
 
78 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 Three circumstances seem to have constituted a legal claim to 
 the throne among the Anglo-Saxons^ — heirship, the appointment of 
 the departed monarch, and the election of the nobles. 
 
 That heirship alone did not constitute a valid claim to the 
 throne is plain from the will of King Alfred, which has been 
 preserved by Asser. He there styles himself king of the whole 
 of Wessex, by the consent of the nobility, nobilitatis consensu 
 pariter et assensu rex ; and in the same public act declares that 
 he inherited the kingdom, after his two brothers Ethelbald 
 and Ethelred, by the will of his father, de hereditate, quam pater 
 
 mens Ethelwulphus delegavit. It is quite evident, therefore, 
 
 that a thoroughly valid claim to the crown was of the triple 
 nature now represented. As neither Harold nor William belonged 
 to the royal line of England, the remaining sources of right became 
 of the more importance to them. 
 
 Let us now revert to the Tapestry. The feeble condition of the 
 King is well represented. An attendant is supporting him behind 
 with a pillow, whilst he makes an attempt to speak. The black- 
 ness of death has settled upon his shrunken countenance. A priest 
 dressed in canonicals stands by, whose uplifted hand and sorrow- 
 stricken face seem to say that the grand climax is at hand. A 
 lady at the foot of the bed weeps ; she is doubtless the wife of 
 the Confessor, the sister of Harold. Harold is eagerly pressing 
 his claim. The legend here is, hic eadwaedus eex in lecto allo- 
 QUiT : fideles — Here King Edward on his bed addresses his faithful 
 attendants. Underneath is a scene, which the inscription explains, 
 
THE SUCCESSION. 79 
 
 ET Hic DEPUNCTUS EST — And here he is dead. A priest in canonicals 
 is again present, probably the one we saw above, and two at- 
 tendants wrap up the body for burial. 
 
 The compartment before us is the only one in the Tapestry in 
 which two scenes are given in one breadth. This is probably not 
 without design. The death and burial of Edward, and the election 
 and coronation of Harold, all took place within eight-and-forty 
 hours. It was of great importance to Harold to get actual posses- 
 sion of the crown before William could put in his claim. It was 
 usual in these times to perform the ceremonies of coronation 
 only at one of the great festivals of the church. Edward died 
 on the last day but one of Christmas, and for Harold to wait 
 tni Easter, the next festival, was to throw away the important 
 advantage which he had gained over his rival. Hence the rapidity 
 with which the coronation of Harold followed the death of the 
 Confessor. It is to show, that no sooner had the vital spirit fled 
 than preparations for the burial were begun, that we have the two 
 scenes in the same compartment. 
 
 The next pictures represent the election and coronation of 
 Harold. WilUam of Malmesbury says, "While the grief for the 
 King's death was yet fresh, Harold, on the very day of the Epi- 
 phany, seized the diadem, and extorted from the nobles their con- 
 sent; though the English say, that it was granted him by the King." 
 
 In many respects the Tapestry is more candid than the Chroni- 
 clers. It here says, hic dbderunt haeoldo coeonam eegis— Here 
 they gave the crown of the King to Harold ; and the next legend 
 
80 THE SUCCESSIOX. 
 
 is, Hic EESiDET HAROLD REX ANGLOEUM — Here is seatcd Harold, 
 King of the English. One contemporary writer denies that Harold 
 was anointed at all, or had any claim but his own usurpation. In 
 the Doomsday Survey, Harold is mentioned as seldom as possible, 
 and when his name does occur it is not as King Harold, but Harold 
 the Earl. The Norman chroniclers, writing subsequently to the 
 time when William had established his conquest, seldom write his 
 name without appending some derogatory epithet to it, such as 
 " the perfidious and perjured King Harold." All this seems to 
 favour the idea that the Tapestry was designed during the first 
 visit of William to Normandy. He had not then broken faith 
 with the Saxon nobles who thronged his court; he was not yet 
 independent of their good will, so that in stating his own claims 
 to the crown, he found it necessary not entirely to ignore their 
 views. After he was firmly established, he cared not what women 
 stitched or clerks wrote. 
 
 The artist has managed the election-scene very adroitly. One 
 nobleman, in the name of the people, offers Harold the crown, 
 which, as he intimates by the finger directed towards the death- 
 scene of Edward, he has just taken from the head of that monarch. 
 Harold looks most wistfully at it. He seems to say — I should 
 Uke very much to have it, but I know it does not belong to me. 
 For a moment he forbears to extend his hand to grasp it. His 
 right elbow is towards it, but his hand remains upon his belt. On 
 a line with the crown is an axe, held by another nobleman, some- 
 what significantly turned towards Harold. Harold has his own 
 
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THE SUCCESSION. 81 
 
 axe in Ms left hand, and it too, though apparently by accident, is 
 turned towards himself. The IN'orman artist, in thus managing 
 the subject, manifestly serves the cause of William better than if 
 he had altogether disowned the fact of Harold's election. 
 
 That Harold should have been elected by the people is nothing 
 wonderful. The native population had groaned under the domi- 
 nation of a crowd of foreigners, brought over by Edward the 
 Confessor. They must have felt that under William, a Norman 
 by lineage as well as education, the evil would be perpetuated and 
 increased. Hence they gave their voices most cordially and unani- 
 mously for the Saxon. Most of the English chroniclers distinctly 
 state, that Harold was duly elected to the office by the nobles. Thus 
 Eoger of Hoveden, following Florence of Worcester, writes, " After 
 his burial, the Yiceroy Harold, son of Earl Godwin, whom before 
 his decease the king had appointed his successor, was elevated to the 
 throne by all the chief men of England, and was on the same day, 
 with due honour, consecrated king."" That Harold did not thrust 
 himself upon the people, is abundantly proved by the fact that not 
 one man of Saxon blood deserted him upon the landing of William. 
 
 In our days the great reason which rendered a strictly hereditary 
 succession to the crown inexpedient does not exist> The adoption 
 of that wise maxim that a monarch can only rule by his ministers, 
 renders the personal qualification^ of the monarch of less import- 
 ance than in former days. Still, even in our time, a remnant 
 exists of the ancient form of election. In the coronation service 
 * Annals of Roger de Hoveden, vol. i. p. 130. 
 M 
 
82 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 the king is directed, after entering the church and attending to his 
 private devotions, to take his seat, not on the throne, but on the 
 chair before and below the throne, and there repose himself. Then 
 the first part of the service, called the " Kecognition," is to be 
 proceeded with. In it the archbishop, accompanied by the great 
 officers of state, severally addresses the assembly northwards and 
 southwards, eastwards and westwards, saying, with a loud voice, 
 the king meanwhile standing up, " Sirs ! I here present unto you 
 
 the undoubted king of this realm : wherefore all of you who are 
 
 come this day to do your homage, are you willing to do the same ?" 
 It is not until the people, thus severally addressed, have signified 
 their assent by crying out, " God save the king !" that the cere- 
 mony is proceeded with. 
 
 Harold, though he well knew the dangers attending the step, 
 accepted the crown. Few could have rejected the tempting offer. 
 He was moreover a brave man, and thoroughly imbued with Saxon 
 feehng. He was willing to peril his life for the national pecu- 
 liarities of his country. He was accordingly straightway anointed, 
 and the Tapestry next exhibits him seated upon his throne, 
 manifesting all the pomp and dignity of a king. The throne is 
 considerably elevated above the floor of the apartment. The sceptre 
 is ia one hand, the ball in the other. His officers present him 
 with the sword of justice. On his left hand stands Stigand, in his 
 archiepiscopal robes. The superscription calls him Stigant, which 
 seems further to show that the artist was not an Englishman. 
 AYace the chronicler, who was a Norman, usually calls Harold, 
 
THE SUCCESSION. 83 
 
 Heraut, The inscription gives Stigand his title of Archbishop — 
 Archieps, a contraction for Archiepiscopus. At a period later 
 than that in which we have supposed the Tapestry to have been 
 prepared, he would not have been so denominated. For a variety 
 of reasons Stigand was distasteful to the authorities of Kome; For 
 some years prior to the Conquest, the payment of Peter's pence 
 had been discontinued, and Stigand, in common with all English- 
 men, was looked upon coldly. Stigand, moreoverj had succeeded 
 the Norman archbishop, Eobert de Jumieges, who had been ex- 
 pelled the country in the rising under Godwin. The Normans 
 were at this time better churchmen than the English. Stigand 
 further, in common with the majority of the Saxon clergy, was an 
 advocate of " the older doctrine of the eucharist ;" Lanfranc, who 
 superseded him, was, in common with the authorities at Eome, an 
 ardent maintainor of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Under all 
 these circumstances, Stigand, on being made archbishop of Canter- 
 bury by the Confessor, was not very sanguine of having the 
 appointment confirmed by the Pope, and instead of making an 
 immediate application to Eome, quietly took possession of the pal- 
 lium, which his predecessor in his haste had left behind him. At 
 length he did apply, and Benedict X., for reasons arising out of 
 his own peculiar position, granted him the pallium. This, however, 
 only made matters worse. Benedict X. was speedily dethroned 
 by an army from beyond the mountains, and a new pope elected, 
 who excommunicated his predecessor and annulled all his acts. 
 Stigand, therefore, found himself once more without the pallium, 
 
84 THE SUCCESSIO?f. 
 
 accused of usurpation, and charged with a new and much more 
 serious crime, that of having solicited tlie favour and countenance 
 of a false and excommunicated pope. If the Tapestry had been 
 constructed after Lanfranc had planted his foot upon the necks of 
 the English clergy, Stigand would not have been denominated 
 archbishop. When "William of Malmesbury has occasion to name 
 him, he calls him " the pretended and false archbishop." 
 
 The I^orman chroniclers, for the most part, agree with the 
 Tapestry in stating that Harold was crowned by Stigand, arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. Florence of Worcester and Eoger of Hoveden 
 state, that the solemn ceremony was performed by Aldred, Arch- 
 bishop of York. Eoger of Wendover says that the King " placed 
 the diadem on his own head." 
 
 The dress of the archbishop nearly resembles that of a Eoman 
 Catholic prelate of the present day. The stole will be observed. 
 The pallium^ which subsequently was made of pure white wool, 
 is in Stigand's case purple.^ The maniple which, at a later period 
 was worn upon the arm of the priest, is in the Tapestry, and 
 other contemporaneous drawings, placed on the wrist. But the 
 circumstance most observable in the costume of Stigand is the 
 absence of the mitre. This distinctive decoration of the episcopal 
 office seems not to have been known at this period. It is not 
 met with in the Catacombs of Eome. In the illustrations of the 
 Benedictional of St. ^thelwold we have priests and apostles in 
 
 • The paludamentum, or official dress of a Eoman general, to which the episcopal 
 pallium is probably to be traced, was either of a brilliant white, scarlet, or purple 
 colour. 
 
THE SrCCESSION. 85 
 
 great numbers, but none of them wear a mitre, unless the circle 
 round tbe head of St. Benedict be one. The same remark ap- 
 plies to the illustrations of the metrical Paraphrase of Csedmon. 
 The bishops of the Lewes chess-men, which seem to have beeij exe- 
 cuted about the middle of the twelfth century, probably furnish us 
 with the earliest British examples of a mitre. The mitres worn 
 by the ecclesiastics who support the head of the sovereign on the 
 tomb of King John, at Worcester, are also early examples.* 
 
 In an apartment next to that in which the ceremonies of the 
 coronation are being solemnized several spectators are assembled, 
 expressing by their gestures surprise and apprehension. In the 
 spring of the year 1066 an event occurred which filled the minds 
 of men with alarm. At Easter a comet appeared, which is noticed 
 by nearly all the chroniclers. Wace thus describes it: — "Now 
 while these things were doing a great star appeared, shining for 
 fourteen days, with three long rays streaming towards the earth ; 
 such a star as is wont to be seen when a kingdom is about to 
 change its king. I have seen many men who saw it, men of full 
 age at the time, and who lived many years after. Those who 
 would discourse of the stars caU it a comet." Our worsted 
 astronomers have produced a very brilliant meteor, with more than 
 twice three streams of fire issuing from it. Fear doubtless proved 
 a multiplying glass in their hands. This drawing is, however, re- 
 markable, as furnishing us with the earliest representation that we 
 have of these erratic bodies, 
 
 » See note D, at the end of the volume. 
 
86 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 The discoveries of modern science have attached a peculiar de- 
 gree of interest to this comet. Halley, the astronomer, having 
 noticed that a brilliant comet had been seen in the years 1531, 
 1607 and 1682, conceived the idea that it was the same body 
 which had appeared on these several occasions, and ventured to 
 affirm that comets, like the other heavenly objects with which we 
 are acquainted, obeyed the laws of gravitation. The reappearance 
 of this comet in 1759 established his position, and proved that its 
 periodic time was about seventy-seven years. These facts, together 
 with the subsequent accurate calculation of the orbit of the body, 
 enable us to carry back our reckonings, so as to render it highly 
 probable that the comet which alarmed our ancestors is that which 
 bears the name of Halley, and whose return in the year 1835 was 
 looked forward to by the civilized world with so much delightful an- 
 ticipation. Mr. Hinde, in his recently published book on Comets, 
 says, " There is considerable probability in favour of the appearance 
 of the comet in the year of the Norman conquest, or in April 1066. 
 This famous body, which astonished Europe in that year, is mi- 
 nutely, though not very clearly, described in the Chinese annals, 
 and its path, there assigned, is found to agree with elements which 
 
 have great resemblance to those of Halley's comet It was 
 
 equal to the full moon in size, and its train, at first short, increased 
 to a wonderful length. Almost every historian and writer of the 
 eleventh century bears witness to the splendour of the comet of 
 1066, in which we are disposed to recognise the comet of Halley."* 
 
 " Hinde on Comets, p. 52. 
 
THE SUCCESSION. 87 
 
 The legend to this part o( the Tapestry is, isti mirant stellam 
 — These men wonder at the star. 
 
 The minds of men were not long kept in suspense. The next 
 compartment exhibits King Harold seated on his throne, bend- 
 ing down his ear very eagerly to a messenger who has arrived 
 with important intelligence. The nature of it is explained by 
 the dreamy-like flotilla which is shown in the lower border. 
 
 Harold, on succeeding to the throne, neglected to dispossess of 
 their ofiices the Norman favourites whom Edward left behind him. 
 He no doubt thought, by conciliation, to procure their good will. 
 He was mistaken. A ship is immediately fitted out, and messen- 
 gers sent to Normandy to acquaint the Duke with the important 
 events which had just transpired. This is shown in the Tapestry 
 f Plate VIII.J in a scene which is superscribed, hic navis an- 
 GLiCA vENiT IN TERRAM wiLLELMi Ducis — Here an English ship 
 came to the territory of Duke William. 
 
 William takes the news in terrible dudgeon. We see him in 
 the next compartment sitting erect upon his ducal throne wearing 
 an air of great indignation. His mantle seems to have partaken 
 of the passion of its wearer, and is expanded to its full dimensions. 
 
 Wace tells us, " The Duke was in his park in Eouen. He held 
 in his hand a bow, which he had strung and bent, making it jeady 
 
 for the arrow when, behold ! a serjeant appeared, who 
 
 came journeying from England who went straight to the 
 
 Duke, and told him privily that King Edward was dead, and that 
 Harold was raised to be king. When the Duke had listened to 
 
88 THE SUCCESSION. 
 
 him lie became as a man enraged, and left the craft of the 
 
 woods. Oft he tied his mantle, and oft he untied it again ; and 
 spoke to no man, neither dared any man speak to him. Then he 
 crossed the Seine in a boat, and came to his hall and entered 
 therein ; and sat down at the end of a bench, shifting his place 
 from time to time, covering his face with his mantle, and resting 
 his head against a pillar. Thus he remained long, in deep thought, 
 for no one dared to speak to him ; but many asked aside, ' what 
 aUs the Duke ? why makes he such bad cheer ?' " 
 
 Once, in more recent history, a man standing on the shores of 
 France was similarly agitated. Napoleon had ordered his fleets to 
 the West Indies, in order that they might lead Nelson into a pur- 
 suit, and suddenly returning gain possession of the English Channel. 
 Long and anxiously did he watch the signals which were to tell 
 him that his point was gained — ^but he saw them not. When it 
 was hinted that Villeneuve, instead of forcing his way to Brest, 
 might possibly have steered for Cadiz, he gave way to succes- 
 sive gusts of passion, and read and re-read the despatches of 
 of Villeneuve and of Lauriston. When told, at last, that beyond 
 a doubt Villeneuve was at Cadiz, strong excesses of passion again 
 ensued, and the Army of England was transferred from the heights 
 of Boulogne to the plains of Austerlitz. 
 
VI. PEEPAKATIONS. 
 
 " Curate, ut splendor meo sit clypeo clarior, 
 
 Quam solis radii esse olim, quum sudum 'st, solent : 
 Ut, ubi usus veniat, contra conserta manu, 
 Prcestringat ooulorum aciem in acie tostibus." 
 
 The Duke of Normandy was a bold man, and was not disposed 
 to attempt any thing that he was not prepared to pursue to the 
 end. He knew that Harold, with the power of England at his 
 disposal, was no despicable enemy, and he resolved to fortify his 
 cause in every possible way. The sea was to him an' object of 
 great dread, as, he knew it would be to his followers. "If," he 
 said, " he could attack and punish them without crossing the sea, 
 he would willingly have done so ; but he would rather cross the 
 sea than not revenge himself and pursue his right." 
 
 William sent messengers to Harold demanding the crown, and 
 reminding him of his oath. He would not have done this had he 
 lost any time by it. Harold's reply was worthy of a constitutional 
 monarch. " It is true that I took an oath to William ; but I took 
 it under constraint. I promised what did not belong to me ; a 
 promise which I could not in any way perform. My royal authority 
 is not my own ; I could not lay it down against the will of my 
 country ; nor can I, against the will of the country, take a foreign 
 
90 PEEPARATIONS. 
 
 wife."" William referred the case to the Pope. Harold, conscious 
 that he was acting inconsistently with his oath, fearing that the cause 
 would not be impartially heard, or not choosing to submit the des- 
 tinies of England to the decision of a foreigner, made no appeal to 
 the Holy Father. The result of William's application was, that 
 the Pope " granted his request, and sent him a gonfanon, and a 
 very precious, rich, and fair ring, which, he said, had under the 
 stone one of St. Peter's hairs. With these tokens he commanded, 
 and in God's name granted to him, that he should conquer England, 
 and hold it of St. Peter."^ 
 
 William, however, relied neither upon the tenderness of Harold's 
 conscience nor upon the Pope's sense of justice — he looked mainly 
 to his barons and retainers. He summoned all who owed him suit 
 and service to meet him in his castle at Lillebone. He there 
 opened to them his design of invading England, and urged them 
 to double for this occasion the amount of their usual contributions 
 of men and money. The account given of this meeting affords us 
 a good idea of the noisy nature of the parliaments of that day — a 
 feature which they still occasionally exhibit. " They remained 
 long in council, and the debate lasted a great while ; for they 
 hesitated long among themselves what they should say, what an- 
 swer they should give, and what aid they would afford. They 
 complained much to each other, saying that they had been often 
 aggrieved ; and they murmured much, conferring together in small 
 parties ; here five, there fifteen, here forty, there thirty, sixty, a 
 
 'Thierry, p. 60. * Taylor's Wace. 
 
PREPARATIONS. 91 
 
 hundred. Some said they feared the sea, and were not bound to 
 serve beyond it. Some said they were willing to bring ships and 
 cross the sea with the Duke ; others said that they would not go, 
 for they owed much, and were poor. Some would, others would 
 not, and there was great contention among them." 
 
 William on this occasion acted upon his usual maxim, " divide 
 and conquer." He dealt privately with such as he was most 
 likely to influence, and having induced them to enter zealously 
 into his plans, others were led by shame or sympathy to follow. 
 He was lavish of his promises. To the barons he proffered nu- 
 merous manors, to the clerks he held out the bait of rich benefices ; 
 to these who were amorously inclined he promised wives with am- 
 ple dowries ; to such as were not to be aUured by prospective 
 advantages he gave at once large sums of money. It is said that 
 he offered much more than he could possibly perform ; for he was 
 well aware that the Saxon battle-axes would cancel many of his 
 bonds. Meanwhile the Pope's sanction of the scheme arrived in 
 Normandy, and it inspired the invading hosts with fresh zeal. " The 
 Duke rejoiced greatly at receiving the gonfanon, and the license 
 which the Apostle [Pope] gave him. He got together carpenters, 
 smiths, and other workmen ; so that great stir was seen in all the 
 ports of Normandy, in the collecting of wood and materials, cutting 
 of planks, framing of ships and boats, stretching sails, and rearipg 
 masts, with great -pains and at great cost. They spent all one sum- 
 mer and autumn in fitting up the fleet and collecting the forces ; 
 and there was no knight in the land, no good Serjeant, archer, 
 
92 PEEPARATIOJfS. 
 
 nor peasant of stout heart, and of age for battle, that the Duke did 
 not summon to go with him to England." 
 
 The Tapestry represents these preparations. In the compart- 
 ment which we last noticed William is accompanied by his half- 
 brother Odo, who is busily employed in issuing orders to the 
 master carpenter. This functionary holds a peculiarly shaped axe 
 in his hand, of which there are some examples in the illustrations 
 to Ccedmon's Paraphrase. The superscription is, Hic willelm 
 DUX JussiT NAVES EDiPicAEE — Here Duke William issues orders 
 for the building of ships. 
 
 Next we see the execution of the orders. Trees are being felled, 
 and the planks prepared. Presently the ships have assumed their 
 proper shape, and then we see them being drawn down to the 
 shore. This operation is effected by means of a rope passed through 
 a pulley inserted in a post driven into the shore below the 
 water mark. The legend is hic teahunt naves ad maee — Here 
 they draw the vessels to the sea. Afterwards the stores and 
 ammunition are taken on board, and when aU is ready the horses 
 and troops embark. 
 
 This may be a fitting place in which to introduce some observa- 
 tions upon the ships and armour of the Normans. 
 
 The vessels of this period were of small burden. This is proved 
 by the fact that they were drawn down to the sea, after being built, 
 in the manner shown in the Tapestry. The Domesday Booh estab- 
 lishes the same thing. There we find it stated that Dover and 
 Sandwich (and probably the other Cinque Ports also) were sever- 
 
PEEPARATI0N8. 93 
 
 ally obliged to furnish tlie King with twenty ships for fifteen 
 days, once every year, each vessel having a crew of twenty-one 
 persons." The gunwale of the vessels was low. In the Tapestry 
 f Plate X.J we see them landing the horses, by making them 
 leap over the sides of the ships on to the shore. On the voyage 
 the gunwale was practically heightened by placing the shields 
 of the soldiers along the sides of the vessel, one shield partly lying 
 over another. The prow and stern of the ships, which are the same 
 in form, are a good deal elevated, and are usually decorated with 
 the head of a dragon, lion, bull, or some fanciful figure. We have 
 several descriptions of the ship in which -"William sailed on his 
 ever-memorable expedition. Wace says, "The Duke placed a 
 lantern on the mast of his ship, that the other ships might see it, 
 and hold their course after it. At the summit was a vane of brass 
 gilt. On the head of the ship, in the front which mariners call the 
 prow, there was a figure of a child in brass, bearing an arrow with 
 a bended bow. His face was turned towards England, and thither 
 he looked, as though he was about to shoot.'"' In an ancient MS. 
 preserved in the British Museum, and printed in the Appendix of 
 Lyttleton's Henry 11.,'' we are told that this figure pointed towards 
 England with his right fore-finger, and held to his mouth an ivory 
 horn with his left hand. With this description the Tapestry 
 nearly agrees ; the figure is, however, placed not on the prow, 
 but at the stem of the vessel. The lamp would only be required 
 
 ' Sir N. Harris Nicolas' Hist. Eoyal Navy, vol. i., p. 24. 
 " Wace, p. 123. « Vol. i., p. 464. 
 
94 PREPAEATIONS. 
 
 at night. On the top of the mast of William's vessel the sacred 
 banner given him by the Pope is fixed, surmounted by a cross. 
 The banner, as it appears here and in other parts of the Tapestry, 
 would be described by heralds as " argent, a cross or in a bordure 
 azure P The vessels have one mast, which is lowered forward as 
 the land is approached. To the mast, supported by a few shrouds, 
 or rather stays, a large square sail is suspended. The modern 
 rudder was not known for some time after the period of the 
 Conquest p the vessels are steered by a paddle fixed to the quar- 
 ter. The steersman, who was also the captain and pilot, holds the 
 paddle in one hand, and the sheet in the other. This was 
 exactly the position of Palinurus in the ^neid of Yirgil. 
 
 " Ipse sedens olavumque regit, velisque ministrat." 
 
 The larger vessels of the ancients were provided with two paddle 
 rudders, one on each quarter. This arrangement is shown in the re- 
 cently-discovered sculptures of Nineveh and in many Roman coins, 
 The ship in which St. Paul was wrecked on the shore of Malta had 
 two rudders. The vessels in the Tapestry have only one paddle, pro- 
 
 "" This mode of steering was retained till a comparatively late period. In a bass- 
 relief over tlie doorway of the leaning tower of Pisa, built in the twelfth century, 
 thips are represented with paddle rudders, as those in the Bayeux Tapestry repre- 
 senting the Korman Invasion. They must have been in use till after the middle of 
 the thirteenth century ; for in the contracts to supply Louis IX. with ships, the 
 contractors are bound to furnish them with two rudders. Ey the middle of the 
 following century we find the hinged rudders on the gold noble of Edward III. 
 The change in the mode of steering must, therefore, have taken place about the end 
 of the thirteenth, or early in the foiirteenth, century." — Smith's Voyage and Skif- 
 wreclc of St. Paul. 
 
PREPARATIONS. 95 
 
 bably on account of their inferior size. It is perhaps worthy of the 
 consideration of modern navigators, whether, in cases where the 
 hinged rudder is displaced in a storm, the paddle-rudder might 
 not advantageously be resorted to as a temporary expedient. 
 The anchors of the Tapestry resemble those in modem use. The 
 anchor of the ship in which the spies of William sail to Normandy 
 f Plate VIII. J has no stock— but this is probably merely an 
 oversight of the draftsman, for in an earlier case (Plate II.J the 
 stock is represented. 
 
 The sides of the ships are painted of various colours in longi- 
 tudinal stripes, each stripe probably representing a plank. The 
 sails of the ships are also variously coloured, Eoger of Wendover 
 tells us that the Conqueror's ship had a crimson sail ; probably this 
 is nearly correct, for in the Tapestry it is painted red, with a 
 yellow stripe in the middle. 
 
 The effect of the whole fleet must have been very striking, and 
 well calculated to make a powerful impression upon spectators , of 
 that or any age. 
 
 Writers differ much as to the number of the vessels in William's 
 fleet, as well as of the men they carried. Wace says, " I heard 
 my father say — I remember it well, though I was but a lad — that 
 there were seven hundred ships less four, when they sailed from 
 St. Yaleri ; and that there were, besides these, ships' boats and 
 skiffs for the purpose of carrying harness. I have found it written 
 (but I know not whether it be true) that there were in all three 
 thousand vessels bearing sails and masts. Any one will know that 
 
96 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 there must have been a great many men to have furnished out 
 so many vessels." 
 
 The different computations of the chroniclers probably arise 
 from some of them including the small transport vessels in their 
 reckoning and others not. Most modern historians set down 
 "William's army at sixty thousand strong. The transport of so 
 large a body of troops would require a flotilla more numerous than 
 had sailed upon any waters since the decline of the Eoman empire. 
 
 The armour of the combatants in the Tapestry may now engage 
 our attention. 
 
 Nearly all the combatants are provided with helmets. The 
 precise shape of them we learn from those which are being brought 
 to the shore to be placed with other military stores on board the 
 fleet. The helmet has a conical form, and is provided with a pro- 
 jection in front called the nasal, to protect the face. In some of 
 them there appears to be a smaller projection at. the back. It is a 
 remarkable cii-cumstance that exceediagly few helmets have been 
 found ia the graves of the Franks and Saxons, which are usually 
 replete with military implements. Two however have been found 
 in this country, one near Cheltenham the other in Derbyshire.^ 
 From these specimens, as well as from the appearance of those in 
 the Tapestry, we may suppose that the helmet consisted of a 
 framework of iron, over which a covering of leather was stretched. 
 From the fact, however, that so few helmets have been found in 
 Saxon graves, we may perhaps infer that the framework of the 
 
 ' They are engraved in Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, vol. ii., p. 238. 
 
PEEPAEATIONS. 97 
 
 earlier specimens was of wood. Wace makes express mention of 
 one man who at the battle of Hastings wore a wooden helmet : — 
 " On the other side (he says) was an Englishman who much an- 
 noyed the French, assaulting them with a keen-edged hatchet. 
 He had a helmet made of wood, which he had fastened down to 
 his coat and laced round his neck, so that no blows could reach 
 his head. The ravage he was making was seen by a gallant Nor- 
 man knight, who rode a horse that neither fire nor water could 
 stop in its career when its lord urged it on. The knight spurred, 
 and his horse carried him on till he charged the Englishman, 
 striking him over the helmet, so that it fell down over his eyes ; 
 and as he stretched out his hand to raise it and uncover his face, 
 the !N'orman cut off his right hand, so that his hatchet fell to the 
 ground. Another Norman sprung forward, and eagerly seized the 
 prize with both his hands, but he kept it little space and paid 
 dearly for it ; for as he stooped to pick up the hatchet, an English- 
 man with his long-handled axe struck him over the back, breaking 
 all his bones, so that his entrails and lungs gushed forth. The 
 knight of the good horse meantime retired without injury." * 
 
 The helmet speedily underwent several changes after the period 
 of the battle of Hastings. Flaps were affixed to the sides in order 
 to protect the ears and the cheeks. These appear in the chess-men 
 found in the island of Lewis, which, as already observed, belong 
 to a period not later than the middle of the twelfth century. Soon 
 after the Conquest the nasal being found to be inconvenient was 
 
 " Wace, p. 210. 
 
 
98 PEEPAEATIONS. ■ 
 
 frequently omitted ; at length the contrivance called the ventaille 
 was introduced, which when brought over the face fully protected 
 it, and yet, as its name implies, admitted air to the nostrils of the 
 wearer, and when his convenience required could be lifted up. 
 That the ventaille was not known at the battle of Hastings appears 
 from the helmets which are being taken on board the fleet. Another 
 fact represented on the Tapestry f Plate XV.J shows the same 
 thing ; William, when he wishes to show himself in order to con- 
 tradict the rumour that he has been killed, is obliged to lift his 
 helmet almost off his head. And yet Wace, who lived at the 
 period just subsequent to the Conquest, writes as though Harold's 
 helmet was provided with a ventaille. He says, " Harold was 
 sorely wounded in his eye by the arrow, and suffered grievous 
 pain from the blow. An armed man came in the throng of the 
 battle and struck him on the ventaille of his helmet, and beat him 
 to the ground." This passage shows how exceedingly diflB.cult it 
 is, when describing past events, to avoid anachronisms. Sir Samuel 
 Meyrick, in commenting upon this passage, says, "By the ventaille is 
 here meant merely the open part below his helmet. The ventaculum, 
 or ventaille, strictly speaking, was not invented at this time, but 
 was in full use when Wace lived ; he adopts it therefore merely for 
 the sake of the rhyme, and as familiar to his countrymen." "" 
 
 The body armour consisted of a tunic of leather or stout linen 
 on which was fastened some substance calculated to resist the 
 stroke of a weapon. Occasionally, as we have already seen, over- 
 
 • Grit. Inquiry into Ancient Armour, vol. i., p. 8. 
 
PREPARA.TIOXS. 99 
 
 lapping flaps of leather, sometimes pieces of horn or horses' hoofs, 
 and not nnfrequently plates or rings of iron were employed. When 
 rings were used they were laid side by side, and not locked into 
 each other, as was the case in the chain armour of a subsequent 
 date. When small plates of iron were used they were generally 
 lozenge-shaped ; hence this species of armour has been termed 
 mascled. The ingenuity of man has had recourse to these and 
 similar contrivances in every age. Amongst the ruins of Nineveh 
 scale armour has been discovered, and on Trajan's column the 
 Sarmatian cavalry and their horses are clad in it. 
 
 The coat of mail comprehended body, legs, and arms all in one 
 piece ; the legs and arms were however short and loose. It is dif- 
 ficult to understand the mode of putting it on. It seems to have 
 been drawn over the head. We are expressly told that when 
 William was preparing for the battle he had his hauberk brought ; 
 but in putting his head in, to get it on, he inadvertently turned it 
 the wrong way, with the back part in front;" and that seeing 
 his error, " he crossed himself, stooped his head, and put. it on 
 aright." In the Tapestry f Plate XVI.J we see some persons 
 stripping the slain; they uniformly draw the hauberk over the 
 head. The legs of the dress must in this case have been made to 
 open. When on, it was tightened by straps at the breast. This 
 armour seems to have been occasionally provided with a hood of 
 the same material, which covered the head. There are some ex- 
 amples of it in the Tapestry. The legs in the Tapestry are for the 
 most part left -unprotected; occasionally they are wrapped round 
 
100 PEEPAEATIONS. 
 
 with bandages of leather ; in the case of a few of the leading per- 
 sonages they are covered with mascled or ring armour. The weight 
 of the hauberk, or haubergeon, must have been considerable. In 
 taking the dresses down to the ships we observe two men are 
 employed to carry one ; they bear it on a pole upon their shoulders. 
 One of William's nobles, whilst waiting at Hastings for the onset 
 of Harold, complained of the weight of his armour. The Duke 
 quietly desired him to put it off, and then putting it on himself 
 over his own hauberk, mounted his horse without assistance, and 
 rode off, to the great chagrin of the noble and the astonishment of all.* 
 The shields of the ancient knights formed an important part of 
 their equipment. The shield of the early Saxons was circular, 
 having a boss in the centre. The boss was concave on the inside 
 of the shield, and of a size sufficient to contain the hand of the 
 warrior, which grasped the shield by a handle put across the 
 cavity. In the Tapestry we have some examples of the circular 
 shield, but by far the larger part of the shields on the Saxon as 
 well as the Norman side are of a different character. It would 
 appear that the intercourse subsisting between Normandy and Eng- 
 land during the reign of the Confessor had led to the abandonment 
 
 " When Harold, in 1063, conducted an expedition against the Welch, he found 
 the heavy armour of his troops unsuitable to the service on vehioh they were en- 
 gaged, and immediately changed it. Ingulf says, " Seeing that the activity of the 
 Welch proved remarkably effective against the more cumbrous movements of the 
 English, and that, after making an attack, they retreated into the woods, while our 
 soldiers, being weighed down with their arms, were unable to follow them, he ordered 
 all his soldiers to accustom themselves to wear armour made of boiled leather, and 
 to use lighter arms. Upon this the Welch were greatly alarmed; and submitted." 
 
PEBPAEATIONS. 101 
 
 of the old Saxon shield. The shield of the Tapestry is of large 
 size, and of the shape of a kite. It is in every instance flat. Here 
 again we have another opportunity of judging of the minute accu- 
 racy of the Tapestry. Towards the end of the eleventh century the 
 shield of a French knight is described " as having its surface not 
 flat but convex, so as to embrace the person of the wearer. Other 
 changes were speedily introduced ; towards the close of the twelfth 
 oentuiy it became shorter, and the bow at the top was flattened 
 into a straight line. Thus it formed the " heater shield" of the 
 middle ages. 
 
 The Norman shield when in use was carried by the arm, not 
 tiie fist alone ; two loops were placed on the inner side of it for the 
 reception of the arm ; when not wanted it was slung from the neck 
 of the warrior ; this is seen in several instances in the Tapestry. 
 Many of the shields were ornamented with studs of metal, which 
 were kept bright, so as to dazzle the sight of an antagonist. Others 
 bear badges or devices, by which the bearer might be distinguished 
 
 in the field. 
 
 From the earliest days, devices, answering the purpose of 
 coats of arms, have been adopted. The tribes of Israel had their 
 insignia. The armorial bearings of several Greman chiefs are mi- 
 nutely described by the poets. The Eoman legions had their 
 characteristic symbols.* It was probably with this view that the 
 
 » Axohseologia, vol. xxiv., p. 270. 
 
 * See Penwick's Introduction to the Slogms of the North of Englmi, and the Notes 
 to the Introduction. 
 
102 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 shields in the Tapestry were painted in the "way in wMch. we 
 see them. A dragon is a common device ; so also is a cross, the four 
 arms of which proceed from the central stud in a sigmoidal curve. 
 
 Besides the insignia on the shields, ensigns and banners guided 
 the movements of the armies and their various detachments.* The 
 banner of the Norman army is invariably argpMt, a cross or in a 
 iordure azure. This is repeated over and over again. We meet with 
 it in the war against Conan, as well as at Pevensey and Hastings. 
 There is no trace of the leopards or lions which shortly afterwards 
 made their appearance in the arms of Normandy. 
 
 The different chieftains assembling under the Norman standard 
 had each his pennon, gonfanon, or banner. None of these sub- 
 sidiary standards are square, as the banner of a baron always was 
 when the feudal system was developed. All the flags in the 
 Tapestry have streamers attached to them, like those of a knight's 
 pennon. It is not impossible, however, that these may represent 
 the ribbons given to the Norman lords, as keepsakes by their ladies. 
 "Wace, in describing the battle of Val-des-dunes, says of Eaol Tesson, 
 that " he stood on one side afar off, having six score knights and 
 six in his troop — all with their lances raised, and trimmed with silk 
 tokens.''^ It would thus appear that the practice was not unusual, 
 even in ordinary wars ; how much more proper and becoming in a 
 hazardous undertaking like the present. We know that the Nor- 
 man lords had great dijSiculty in getting the leave of their ladies 
 
 » " And all had their cognizances, so that each might know his fellow, and Nor- 
 man might not strike Norman, nor Frenchman kill his countryman, by mistake." 
 
 Taylor's Wace, p. 172. 
 
PEBPAEATIONS. 103 
 
 to embark in the undertaking. Some feared the battle axes of the 
 Saxon men, others dreaded the influence of the bright eyes of the 
 Saxon ladies — a shrewd fear.* 
 
 Harold also had a standard. He planted it on the highest part 
 of the eminence on which he marshalled his army for the fight, 
 and by it he fought unflinchingly until cut down by the over- 
 powering strength of the Norman chivalry. WiUiam of Malmes- 
 bury and several other writers tell us that Harold's standard 
 was "in the form of a man fighting,'"' In the Tapestry it is 
 a dragon. Wace does not describe it, but says, " His gonfa- 
 non was in truth a noble one, sparkling with gems and precious 
 stones ; after the victory WiUiam sent it to the Apostle to prove 
 and commemorate his great conquest and glory." 
 
 A glance at the Tapestry will shew that the Saxons were entirely 
 destitute of cavalry." The comparatively limited size of the king- 
 
 * The Saxons as well as the Normans paid great attention to the opinions of the 
 ladies, even upon martial suhjects. Strutt says, they " would not go to battle or 
 undertake any great expedition without consulting their wives, to whose advice they 
 paid the greatest regard." This excellent antiquary pays more regard to truth than 
 gallantry when in the same sentence he adds, " They also superstitiously placed 
 great faith in the neighing of horses." — Manners of the English, vol i., p. 17. 
 
 '■ " This standard . . was sumptuously embroidered with gold and precious stones, 
 in the form of a man fighting." Can Malmesbury have had in view here the des- 
 cription which ^schylus gives us of the shield of Polynices ? 
 " His well-orb'd shield he holds, 
 l^ew- wrought, and with double impress charged : 
 Ji warrior blazing all in golden arms, 
 
 Such their devices." 
 " Florence of "Worcester distinctly states that it was " contrary to the custom of 
 the English to fight on horseback." — Bohn's Ed,, p. 157. 
 
104 PEEPARATIONS. 
 
 dom had rendered cavalry unneoessary for police purposes, and the 
 Danes, the foreign enemies with whom the English had hitherto 
 to contend, had too wide and stormy an ocean to cross, to attempt 
 the transport of horses for the purposes of war. The great 
 strength of the Norman army consisted in cavalry. William had 
 been accustomed to contend with the King of France and other 
 powerful chiefs in his immediate neighbourhood, and was thus 
 compelled to avail himself of every device which human ingenuity 
 had contrived for maintaining his cause. 
 
 The saddles of the horses are peculiar, having a high peak be- 
 fore and behind. We can readily understand how William, 
 when he had become corpulent, received a mortal injury by 
 coming down with violence upon the pommel of such a saddle. 
 No horse armour is used, neither have any of the horses a saddle- 
 cloth. " On the seal of Henry I. is the first representation of a 
 saddle-cloth, and either during that reign or the preceding one, the 
 high peak behind the saddle was altered for a back of greater 
 breadth."" Most of the riders are provided with stirrups and with 
 prick spurs. William's own horse was either an Arabian or a cross 
 from an Arabian. It was presented to him by the King of Spain. 
 
 The Normans were strong in another force, of which the Saxons 
 were almost entirely destitute — ^bowmen. In the Saxon Hnes there 
 appears but one solitary bowman, whilst on the Norman side there 
 are many. The Norman archers must have plied thek shafts most 
 diligently, for their arrows are sticking in the shields, and to some 
 
 ' Meyrick, vol. i., p. 27. 
 
PEEPARATIONS, 105 
 
 extent in the bodies of the Saxons, like pins in a lady's pincushion. 
 In the battle of Hastings the great event of the day turned upon 
 an arrow skilfully sped. Had Harold's eye not been pierced, the 
 battle "would have been a drawn one, and in William's peculiar 
 circumstance such a result was defeat. 
 
 The Saxon javeHn differed from the Norman : it was short, and 
 was used as a missile. In the Tapestry we see that some of the 
 English have a bundle of spears in their hands, and that others are 
 in the act of throwing them at the enemy. The Norman spear 
 was a long one, adapted for use on horseback, and was employed 
 in giving a thrust ; one only therefore was required by each 
 horseman. The Saxons darted their javelins at an approach- 
 ■ ing foe, and, when they came to close quarters, relied chiefly 
 upon the vigorous use of the dreadful battle axe. As however at 
 the battle of Hastings tlie Normans were on horseback, and were 
 armed with long spears, it was with no small difficulty that the 
 English could get within battle axe reach of their foes. In this 
 way many of the Saxons were picked off before they could strike 
 a blow. In "Wace we have many examples of this— thus, he speaks 
 of the knight of Tregoz, who " killed two Englishmen ; smiting 
 the one through with his lance, and braining the other with his 
 sword ; and then galloped his horse back, so that no Englishman 
 touched him." In the Tapestry (Plate XVI. J we see a horse- 
 man thrusting Leofwin, the brother of Harold, through with his 
 lance, who in vain whirls his battle axe around him. 
 
 The battle axe of the Saxons had one disadvantage. "A man," 
 
 p 
 
106 PBEPAEATIONS. 
 
 says "Wace, "when he wanted to strike with one of their hatchets, 
 was obliged to hold it with both his hands, and could not at the 
 same time, as it seems to me, both cover himself and strike with 
 any freedom." This fact will account for the disastrous conse- 
 quences of the retreat of the English at the battle of Hastings, 
 after having been lured by the Normans into a pursuit. 
 
 The statements of Agathias, a writer of the sixth century, throw 
 some light upon the Saxon mode of fighting. Speaking of the 
 Franks (a kindred race), he says, " The arms of the Franks are very 
 simple : they wear neither coat of mail nor greaves, but their legs 
 and thighs are defended by bands of Linen or leather. Their 
 eavaby is inconsiderable, but they are formidable on foot ; they 
 wear a sword on the left thigh and carry a buckler. They use 
 neither bow nor sling, but they are armed with double axes and 
 angones [spears] with which they do most execution. These angones 
 are of a length that may be both used as a javelin or in close fight 
 against a charge of the enemy. The staff of this weapon is covered 
 with iron laminae or hoops, so that but very little wood appears, 
 even down to the spike at the butt-end. On either side of the 
 head of this javelia are certain barbs projecting downward close 
 together as far as the shaft. The Frank soldier, when engaged 
 with the enemy, casts his angon, which, if it enter the body, cannot 
 be withdrawn in consequence of the barbs. Nor can the weapon 
 be disengaged if it pierce the shield, for the bearer of the shield 
 cannot cut it off because of the iron plates with which the staff is 
 defended, while the Frank rushing forward jumps upon it as it 
 
PEEPARATIONS. 107 
 
 trails on the ground, and thus bearing down his antagonist's 
 defence, cleaves his skull with his axe, or transfixes him .with a 
 second javelin." " 
 
 In the Bayeux Tapestry the javelins in the hands of the Saxons 
 are chiefly barbed, whilst the most of those in the hands of the 
 Normans are lance-shaped, and are formed after the Eoman model. 
 
 In Ccedmon's Paraphrase and other Saxon illustrations the spears 
 of the warriors are generally barbed. To what extent the hosts of 
 Harold were armed with the true angon^ the chief characteristic of 
 which was a long iron shank, does not of course appear from the 
 Tapestry, the scale being too small to allow of its minute delinea- 
 tion. The following cut exhibits the head of an angon, found in 
 the well of the Eoman station of Carvoran in Northumberland. 
 
 .The sword of the combatants is chiefly remarkable for its great 
 size. The Tapestry in this, as in other particulars, is strictly 
 accurate. Mr. Akerman, after stating that several swords of large 
 size had been found in Frank and Anglo-Saxon graves, says, 
 " One of the finest examples which has ever come under my notice 
 is that found at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, and recently exhibited 
 by Mr. Wylie of that town. Its length, including the handle, is 
 just three feet, the blade broad, two-edged, and pointed." 
 
 The only weapon that remains to be noticed is the mace or club. 
 
 » Akerman, in the Archirologirt, vol. xxxiv. 
 
108 PREPARATIONS. 
 
 This was a comparatively rude weapon, which ceased to be used 
 as an instrument of offence after this period. At the battle of 
 Hastings it seems to have been employed by the Saxons only. One 
 is seen in the Tapestry (Plate XIV.J, which has been thrown 
 agaiust the advancing liue of the Normans, and at the close of the 
 picture the retreating Saxons are seen to be armed with this 
 weapon only. 
 
 From the review that we have taken of the equipment of the 
 two armies, it is apparent that the English laboured under very 
 great disadvantages. They were destitute of cavalry, with which 
 the Normans were well provided ; they had few archers, and they 
 had no weapon that was a match for the long lance of the Normans. 
 Strong in their insular position, they had neglected to adopt those 
 improvements in the art of war which had been long adopted on 
 the continent. We cannot wonder that, in despite of their native 
 courage and astonishing personal prowess, the Saxons were over- 
 borne by the hosts of William on the field of Hastings. 
 
 It is time now to attend to the movements of the contending 
 parties, and to trace them iu their progress to the field on which 
 their destinv was to be decided. 
 
VII. THE LANDING. 
 
 "Et jam Argiva phalanx instmctis navibus ibat." 
 
 ^«. //., 254. 
 
 The vigorous manner in which William entered upon the prepara- 
 tions for his grand campaign excited the enthusiasm of his 
 continental ^neighbours. " Eeports," says Ordericus Yitalis, " of 
 the expedition drew many valiant men from the adjoining 
 countries, who prepared their arms for battle. Thus the French 
 and Bretons, the Poitevins and Burgundians, and other people on 
 this side the Alps, flocked together for the war over the sea, and 
 scenting the booty which the conquest of Britain offered, were 
 prepared to undergo the various perils and chances, both by sea 
 and land, attending the enterprise." In the month of August 
 William's fleet assembled at the mouth of the river Dive,* in 
 the vicinity of which it is probable most of his ships were built. 
 Unfavourable weather detained it here for some time, and when it 
 did move, it was not able to proceed further than St. Yalery-siir- 
 Somme. Adverse winds again, prevailed for a month. "At this, says 
 Wace, " the barons were greatly wearied. Then they prayed the 
 Convent to bring out the shrine of St. Yalery, and set it on a car- 
 
 * A stream which, enters the sea a few miles to the east of the river Ome, upon 
 which the city of Caen is situated. 
 
110 THE LANDING. 
 
 pet on the plain ; and all came praying the holy relies that they 
 might be all«o-wed to pass over the sea. They offered so much 
 money, that the relics were buried beneath it ; and from that day 
 forth they had good weather and a fair wind." 
 
 The long detention of the Norman forces on the French coast 
 was a fortunate circumstance for them. Harold had made ample 
 provision for resisting the landing of his opponent. With a fleet 
 which he had assembled at Harwich he sailed to the Isle of Wight, 
 and there throughout the summer and autumn months awaited 
 William's arrival. He also kept a land force in suitable positions 
 near the sea shore." The same wind however which detained 
 William at St. Yalery brought Harold another foe which compelled 
 him to withdraw his troops from the southern coast. On his 
 departure the fleet was dispersed. Some of the chroniclers tell 
 us that the seamen's time of service had expired, others that they 
 were short of provisions. Harold's absence no doubt materially 
 contributed to the demoralization of this important national safe- 
 guard. 
 
 Here we are again called upon to notice the vanity of 
 man's policy. Harold foreseeing that a struggle would ensue 
 between William and himself, and being, consequently, desirous of 
 promoting friendly alliances with some of the continental powers, 
 encouraged his brother Tostig to marry a daughter of the Earl of 
 Flanders. This Tostig did, and thereby became brother-in-law 
 to William of Normandy. Tostig, during the life of the Confessor, 
 » Eoger do Hovcden, vol. i., 134. Ordericiis Vitalis, vol. i., p. 464- 
 
THE LANDING. Ill 
 
 was appointed to the earldom of Northumbria, but the people hav- 
 ing risen in arms against him, probably on account of the harshness 
 of his rule, he was removed, and Morcar appointed in his place. 
 When Harold became king, Tostig expected to be reinstated, but 
 so far from taking active measures in his favour, Harold married 
 the sister of the earl who had supplanted him. Tostig, enraged at 
 this treatment, conceived a violent hatred against his brother, and 
 inflamed the minds of the Earl of Flanders and the Duke of Nor- 
 mandy against him. Eeceiving, moreover, the active support of 
 Harold Hardrada, Bang of Norway, he landed with a hostile force 
 in Yorkshire, and ravaged the country. Harold, while watching the 
 proceedings of the Norman armada, heard of his brother's attempt. 
 Hastening northwards, he came upon him unawares, and slew both 
 him and Hardrada, and scattered their forces. While Harold was 
 engaged in these operations, William landed unopposed in Sussex ! 
 It was on the night of the 29th September that the Nor- 
 man expedition crossed the sea, and early next morning it 
 reached the port of Pavensey. The Tapestry represents this im- 
 portant transaction. The Duke's own ship is distinguished by the 
 consecrated banner at its mast head. This vessel was called the 
 Mora, and is stated to have been a present from the Duchess 
 Matilda. The legend in this part of the Tapestry f Plate IX.J is, 
 
 HIC WELELM : DUX IN MAGNO NAVIGIO MARE TRANSIVIT ET VENIT AD 
 
 PEVBNS^'' — Here Duke William in a large ship crossed the sea, and 
 arrived at Pevensey. 
 
 " Perhaps this is an elipsis for ad litus Pevensm ; more probably, however, these 
 irregularities of coastruction arc to be ascribed to the low state of Latinity at the period. 
 
112 THE LANDING. 
 
 A glance at the map of Sussex will shew that Pevensey was a 
 most fitting place at which to effect a landing.' ' Beachy Head pro- 
 jecting considerably to the south, protects this ancient port from 
 the swell occasioned by the wind which most yiolently affects the 
 English Channel — the south-west. The beach, too, is of a nature 
 well adapted for allowing ships such as William's were being 
 safely drawn up upon it. This was the port selected by the Con- 
 queror for his embarkation when he returned to Normandy after 
 his coronation. In all probability William's fleet would line the 
 shore for a considerable space on both sides of Pevensey in the 
 manner which they are represented as doing in the Tapestry, 
 (Plate X.J It is curious to observe, that the remains of a vessel, 
 which Mr. Lower thinks is at least as old as the Conquest, has 
 recently been discovered, imbedded in the gravel of the ancient 
 beach of Pevensey. The nature of the position in which it is placed 
 prevents its being excavated ; Ave might otherwise, perchance, have 
 the pleasure of looking upon one of the Conqueror's own ships. 
 
 WUliam landed with great caution. Wace thus describes the 
 operation — •" They arrived near Hastings, and there each ship was 
 ranged by the other's side. There you might see the good sailors, 
 the sergeants, and squires, sally forth and unload the ships ; cast 
 the anchors, haul the ropes, bear out shields and saddles, and land 
 the war-horses and palfreys. The archers came forth, and touched 
 land the foremost ; each with his bow bent, and his quiver full of 
 arrows slung at his side. All were shaven and shorn, and all clad 
 in short garments, ready to attack, to shoot, to wheel about, and 
 
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 P 
 
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 tt-t 
 
 ^l^ 
 
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 ■■^1 
 
 h 
 
 1^:=^ 
 
THE LANDING. 113 
 
 skirmish.. All stood well equipped, and of good courage for the 
 fight ; and they scoured the whole shore, but found not an armed 
 man there. After the archers had thus gone forth, the knights 
 landed next, all armed, with their hauberks on, their shields slung 
 at their necks, and their helmets laced They formed together 
 on the shore, each armed upon his war-horse. All had their 
 swords girded on, and passed into the plain with their lances raised." 
 
 Our picture-chronicle does not neglect these transactions. The 
 inscription over them is, hic exeunt caballi de navibus et hic 
 MiLiTEs eestinaverunt hastinga ut cibum eaperentur" — Here the 
 horses disembark, and here the soldiers hurry forward to Hastings 
 to seize food. 
 
 An incident is told respecting the landing of William which is 
 best related in the words of the Chronicler. " As the ships were 
 drawn to shore, and the Duke first landed, he fell by chance upon 
 his two hands. Forthwith all raised a loud cry of distress, ' an 
 evil sign' said they, 'is here.' But he cried out lustily, 'See 
 seigniors, by the splendoui- of God ! I have seized England with 
 my two hands ; without challenge no prize can be made ; all is our 
 own that is here; now we shall see who will be the bolder man.' Then 
 one of his men ran forward and put his hand on a hut, and took a 
 handful of the thatch and turned to the Duke, saying heartily, ' Sire, 
 come forward and receive seizin ; of this land I give you seizin ; 
 
 * A stroke has probably been over the last a in Hastinga, so as to make it Sast- 
 ingam, which the construction requires. Eaperentur seems to have been used as a 
 deponent verb, contrary to classical usage. 
 
114 THE LANDING. 
 
 without doubt the country is yours.' And the Duke said, ' I ac- 
 cept it ; may God be with us.' " ^ 
 
 The nature of the ground prevented William from proceeding 
 directly up the country from Pevensey. So late as the days of 
 Queen Elizabeth, the land inwards from this point was little better 
 than a marsh. The Ordnance map of Sussex shows, in this direc- 
 tion, a remarkable absence of towns and villages, indicating pretty 
 clearly what it must have been in former times. William went 
 cautiously along the shore to Hastings, where he erected his forti- 
 fications, and refreshed his troops. In the Tapestry we see them 
 seizing the sheep and cattle in the fields, cooking their food, and 
 afterwards seating themselves at table. Wace says "Before 
 evening had set in they had finished a fort. Then you might see 
 them make their kitchens, light their fires, and cook their meat. 
 The Duke sat down to eat, and the barons and knis-hts had food in 
 
 ' This was not the first occasion on which a similar occurrence took place. 
 The following passage bearing upon the subject may interest the reader : — 
 "Thou sayest well Sancho (qaothDon Quixote), but I must tell thee that times are 
 wont to vary and change their course ; and what are nommonlj^ accounted omens by 
 the vulgar, though not within the scope of reason, the wise will nevertheless regard 
 as incidents of lucky aspect. Your watcher of omens rises betimes, and going 
 abroad, meets a Franciscan friar, whereupon he hurries back again, as if a furious 
 dragon had crossed his way. Another happens to spill the salt upon the table, and 
 straightway his soul is overcast with the dread of coming evil : as if nature had 
 willed that such trivial accidents should give notice of ensuing mischances, The 
 wise man and goad christian will not, however, pry too curiously into the counsels 
 of heaven. Soipio, on arriving in Africa, stumbled as he leapt on shore ; his sol- 
 diers took it for an ill omen, but he, embracing the ground, said, 'Africa, thou 
 canst not escape nie — I have thee fast.' "• — Don Quixote, Part II. chap, lyiii. 
 
THE LANDING. 115 
 
 plenty ; for they had brought ample store. All ate and drank 
 enough, and were right glad that they were ashore." 
 
 The culinary operations of the invading force require some 
 notice. Although some huts have been erected on the shore, 
 having been brought in frame with the fleet, the cooks discharge 
 their duties in the open air. 
 
 " A kettle slung 
 
 Between two poles upon a stick transverse 
 Receives the morsel . . . . " 
 
 The pot may have been a metallic vessel brought over from 
 Normandy with the stores ; its appearance, however, strongly 
 reminds us of a plan which Froissart tells us the Scotch adopted 
 in one of their incursions into England. Having seized an ox, 
 they slaughtered it, and boiled its flesh in its skin, supporting 
 the extemporaneously-made cauldron after the manner shown 
 in the Tapestry. The rest of the cookery is done upon a hearth. 
 A spit, on which the wood is placed, is thrust into the ground, 
 so as to suspend the article to be cooked a short way above the 
 fire. At the present day much of the cookery of Normandy 
 is done by placing the food in earthenware vessels, which are 
 brought into contact with the embers without the intervention of a 
 grate. The food when cooked was usually, at this period, handed 
 to the guests seated at the table, on the spits, who took it off with 
 their fingers, assisted with a knife which they carried with them. 
 Forks were comparatively unknown for some centuries after the 
 Conquest. 
 
116 THE LANDING. 
 
 In the Tapestry two tables are spread. The first of them seems 
 to be formed of shields set upon a frame. The persons seated at it 
 are probably some of WiUiam's chief officers whose duty it is to 
 arrange the entertainment, and taste the food and wine previous to 
 its being set before the Duke. William sits at a table which was no 
 doubt brought from Normandy, It is of classic form, being like 
 that called by the Romans Sigma, from its resemblance to the 
 Greek letter of that name, which in the time of the Eoman Emper- 
 ors was formed like our C. The guests sit at one side of it only, 
 the inner or concave side being left open, to allow the servants 
 more readily to approach. All the operations of the table are pre- 
 sented to us by the artist. Odo, with his thumb and two forefingers 
 extended, is blessing the food and the drink. "William has planted 
 his hand upon the principal dish, as if to claim the lion's share for 
 himself. Another person is tearing a fish to pieces with his fin- 
 gers, and conveying the morsels by the same medium to his mouth. 
 An old man with a beard, probably William's Nestor, who refused 
 to comply with the tonsured fashion of the day, is drinking with 
 his neighbour ; both of them have uplifted bowls. A servant upon 
 bended knee is presenting a covered dish to the party. These 
 compartments are respectively described, hic coauiTUE caro et hic 
 MiNiSTEAVERTJNT MiNiSTEi — Here the food is being cooked and here 
 the attendants have served up the viands : hic rECERUNT pkandium 
 ET HIC EPiscopus ciBUM ET POTUM BENEDiciT — -Here they have pre- 
 pared the feast and here the bishop is blessing the meat and 
 drink. 
 
THE LANDING. 117 
 
 The meal must necessarily have been a hasty one. One of the 
 guests has already risen from his seat, and calls the attention of 
 the Duke to something that is passing without. 
 
 William was now fairly committed to a great and hazardous un- 
 dertaking, and retreat was not to be thought of ; at the same time, 
 the utmost circumspection was necessary, and the Duke of Nor- 
 mandy was not the man to neglect any precaution. 
 
 We accordingly next find him in solemn consultation with his 
 two uterine brothers — Odo, Archbishop of Bayeux, and Eobert, 
 Count of Mortaine. William has his sword elevated, and Eobert 
 is in the act of drawing his from the scabbard — indications which 
 strongly mark the nature of the attempt before, them. The legend 
 over this group f Plate XI.J is simply, odo episcopus : eoberttjs 
 — Odo the Bishop : Eobert. 
 
 As the result, probably, of the deliberations of the three bro^ 
 thers, it was resolved strongly to fortify the position occupied by 
 William's army. Such was the importance of this work, that 
 William, with the consecrated banner in his hand, is seen personally 
 superintending it. The spades of the workmen are worthy of 
 observation. They are evidently made of wood, but shod with 
 iron. They have a notch for the foot on one side only. That they 
 were adapted not merely for turning up the soil, but for trenching 
 the scull of an enemy, is. evident not only from their size and form, 
 but from the use to which they are put by two of the parties before 
 us. The inscription over this part is, iste jttssit tjt podeeetur 
 CASTELLUM AT hestenga[m] — He has ordered an intrenchment to be 
 
118 THE LANDING. 
 
 dug at Hastings ; and over the castle itself is written, ceastha" — 
 The camp. 
 
 The camp in question could not be the castle, the ruins of which 
 now crown the heights of Hastings. However strong the position of 
 Hastings castle, there is not space enough on the rocky platform on 
 which it stands for the encampment of an army one fourth of the 
 size of William's ; besides, we cannot suppose that William in his 
 present circumstances would attempt the erection of a fort of solid 
 masonry. The camp which William constructed was, as the Tapes- 
 try leads us to believe, formed of earth, strengthened with wooden 
 palisades, the whole being commanded at intervals by towers 
 which had been brought in frame from France. The phrase ut 
 foderetur, that they might dig a castle, is express, and the men are 
 seen throwing up the soil. This agrees with what Waee says, 
 " They enclosed a fort and strengthened it round about with palis- 
 ades and a fosse." Some extensive entrenchments, still to be seen 
 in the immediate vicinity of the railway station at Hastings, are 
 probably the remains of the Duke's encampment. ' 
 
 An English knight, who had watched the landing of William, 
 
 - It has been argued from the ocourretjoe of at instead of ad, and of ceastea for 
 CASTEA, in these inscriptions, that the clerk who wrote them was an Englishman. 
 It must, however, be borne in mind that the original Norman language, which had 
 a common origin with the Saxon, was at the period of the Conquest spoken in com- 
 parative purity at Bayeux. In other parts of the duchy French prevailed. 
 
 " It was my privilege when wandering over the ground rendered memorable by 
 the battle of Hastings to enjoy the companionship of Mr.. Lower, of Lewes. To his 
 local knowledge, his extensive acquaintance with antiquarian science, and his 
 friendly attention, I am largely indebted. 
 
THE LANDING. 119 
 
 hastened to Harold with, the alarming news. He found him re- 
 joicing after the defeat of Tostig and Hardrada. " Foolish" says 
 Wace, "is he who glorifies himself, for good fortune soon passeth 
 away. The heart of man often rejoiceth when ruin is nigh." 
 
 Bitterly did Harold grieve that he had not been at the spot 
 when the Normans landed, that he might have driven them into 
 the sea. " It is a sad mischance," said he, " but thus it hath 
 pleased our Heavenly King." 
 
 Harold had, by the rapidity of his marches, surprised his brother 
 Tostig, and come upon the troops of Hardrada unawares. He thought 
 to adopt the same policy with William ; and, without taking time 
 to refresh or recruit his exhausted army, commenced his march 
 southwards. In the course of a few days he was in the vicinity of 
 his enemy. William, however, was not to be taken by surprise, 
 and Harold was constrained to take up a position at Battle, distant 
 about six miles from Hastings, where the Duke was encamped. 
 
 The next compartment in the Tapestry exhibits to us William 
 giving audience to a messenger who announces to him the approach 
 of Plarold. The legend is, hic ntjntiatum est willelmo de haeold 
 — Here news is brought to William respecting Harold. 
 
 Whilst these movements were going on, the inhabitants of the 
 southern shore of Sussex were suffering severely. Not only were 
 their cattle taken from the folds, and their recently replenished 
 granaries emptied, but their dwellings were wantonly destroyed. 
 Perhaps the Saxons may have provoked the vengeance of the foe, 
 for they were not men to take quietly the spoiling of their goods. 
 
120 THE LANDING. 
 
 In the Tapestry we see a soldier setting fire to a house (one heing 
 the representative of many), from which a female and child are es- 
 caping — escaping from present destruction to he east, with winter 
 before them, houseless, friendless, and without food, upon the wide 
 world. The sufferings of the battle field form but a small part of 
 the horrors of war. This compartment of the work bears the 
 inscription, hic domus incenditue — -Here a house is set fire to. 
 Some outlined figures in the margin of this part of the work doubt- 
 less refer to those distressing immoralities which too often attend 
 the march of armies. 
 
 Whilst the two armies lay within a few miles of each other sev- 
 eral messages passed between the commanders. William was too 
 good a soldier to risk a battle if he could avoid it. He therefore 
 sent a tonsured monk to Harold, reminding him of his oath, and 
 calling upon him to deliver up the kingdom. Harold, flushed with 
 recent victory, was with difficulty restrained from cutting doAvn 
 the messenger ; as it was, he sent him away with insults. When 
 his rage had subsided he saw his folly, and sent an envoy, ac- 
 quainted with the language of France, to duke William, offering to 
 make him a pecuniary recompense if he would recross the sea, tel- 
 ling him however, if he did not, he would give him battle on the 
 following Saturday. 
 
 Saturday, the 1st of October, was Harold's birth day. He al- 
 ways regarded it as his fortunate day ; and he was anxious if he 
 did enter into mortal conflict with a desperate foe, that it should be 
 when his propitious star was in the ascendant. Like another of 
 
THE LANDING. 121 
 
 England's heroes — Oliver Cromwell — the day of his birth was to 
 prove the day of his death. 
 
 A battle now being imminent, Gurth, the brother of Harold, was 
 exceedingly anxious that the king should retire from the host and 
 give the command to him. Gurth had taken no oath to William, 
 and therefore had not the punishment of perjury to fear. Besides, 
 if he were slain, England would still have her king ; and army 
 after army could be raised, if need be, to resist the pretensions of 
 any invader. Harold refused to adopt the wise counsel of his bro- 
 ther. Though a brave man, he had not the self-command of Wil- 
 liam, nor the same power of taking an enlarged view of a subject. 
 
 The day before the battle, Harold and Gurth rode out early in 
 the morning to descry the enemy. " They rode on, viewing and 
 examining the ground, till, from a hill where they stood, they 
 could see the Norman host, who were near. They saw a great 
 many huts made of branches of trees, tents well equipped, pavilions, 
 and gonfanons ; and they heard horses neighing, and beheld the 
 glittering of armour. "They stood a long while without speaking " 
 — and at length returned in silence to their tent. They had 
 seen enough to awaken their apprehensions, and to make them 
 anxious for further information. Harold, therefore, sent out two 
 spies to reconnoitre. They fell into the hands of the Normans, 
 who brought them to William. He used them well, and ordered 
 them to be conducted through the host. On their return they re- 
 ported that the Normans, whom they had noticed to be close shaven 
 and cropt, were an army of priests and mass-sayers rather than 
 
 R 
 
122 THE LANDING. 
 
 knights. Harold, who knew the habits of the Normans, replied, 
 " These are valiant knights, bold and brave warriors, though they 
 bear not beards and mustaches as we do." 
 
 Notwithstanding the ill success of his former representations, 
 "William persevered in negotiation. He lost no time by it, and if he 
 did not succeed in his immediate object, he induced his observers 
 to believe, that one who was so bent upon the investigation of his 
 claims must have right upon his side. 
 
 On the same day that he entertained the spies of Harold, he sent 
 a monk, learned and wise, offering Harold one of three things— 
 that he should resign the kingdom, that he should submit to the 
 judgment of the Pope, or meet him singly and fight body for body. 
 Harold declined every alternative. 
 
 Next day — the day before the battle — William attempted to 
 obtain a personal interview with Harold. Harold refused to meet 
 him. By the messenger who brought Harold's negative to the 
 proposal for a meeting, William sent him word that if he would 
 retire he would give him all Northumberland, and whatever be- 
 longed to the kingdom beyond the Humber ; to his brother Gurth 
 he promised the lands of Godwin their father. Harold rejected 
 this also : Northumberland was nothing worth ; it was chiefly 
 peopled by Danes, and was liable to constant invasion. William, 
 when king, could not govern Northumberland. As a matter, not 
 of feeling, not of revenge, but of cool, calculating state policy, he 
 swept it of every living thing — he made it a desert, and such it 
 continued for a century after his time. 
 
THE LANIJTNG. 123 
 
 At the same time that William sent his last message, he charged 
 the clerk who took it, in case of refusal, to sow the seeds of terror 
 and dissatisfaction among the English. "Tell them," said he, 
 ''that all who come with Harold, or support him in this affair, are 
 excommunicated by the Apostle and his clergy." This was a javelin 
 sldlfully thrown. "At this excommunication the English were 
 much troubled ; they feared it greatly, and the battle still more." 
 
 Gxirth, however, rallied them. lie told them that their all was 
 at stake, that William had promised their lands to his followers, 
 and that he had already taken homage for them from many. 
 "Defend yourselves then," he said, "and your children and all 
 that belongs to you, while you may." 
 
 At these words the English were aroused, and cried out that the 
 Normans had come on an evil day, and had embarked on a foolish 
 matter. 
 
 " The Duke and his men tried no further negotiation, but re- 
 turned to their tents, sure of fighting on the morrow. Then men 
 were to be seen on Every side straightening lances, fitting hau- 
 berks and helmets, making ready the saddles and stirrups ; filling 
 the quivers, stringing the bows, and making all ready for the battle." 
 
 The night before a battle must be a season of peculiar solemnity 
 and suspense. The shades of night, giving indistinctness to the 
 landscape, harmonize too well with the doubts which becloud the 
 mind as to the morrow's destiny. He is a fool, not a hero, who 
 would step from time into eternity without solemn thought. 
 
 The accounts which we have of the way in which the hosts spent 
 
124 THE LANDING. 
 
 the night before the battle are all to the disadvantage of the Eng- 
 lish. Had they been the winning instead of the losing party, the 
 chroniclers would doubtless have been less severe. As it is, they tell 
 us that the troops of Harold spent the night in eating and drinking 
 and merriment-^— never lying down in their beds. If this be true, 
 how we are we to account for the vigour with which they fought 
 from nine o'clock in the morning until nightfall next day ? 
 The Normans and French, on the other hand, we are told, betook 
 themselves to their orisons. " They made confession of their sins, 
 accused themselves to the priests, and vowed that they would 
 never more eat flesh on the Saturday " (the day of the battle). 
 Many of them kept the vow! 
 
 At the dawn of day each party had completed its preparations. 
 Before the sun should set, a battle was to be fought on which 
 hung not merely the fate of an empire, but, as events have subse- 
 quently proved, the destinies of the civilized world to this hour. 
 
THE BATTLE. 
 
 " Revolving in his altered soul 
 
 The various turns of fate below." 
 
 Dry den. 
 
 The room is still pointed out in the roofless donjon keep of Falaise, 
 in which Arlotte, the tanner's daughter, gave birth to William the 
 Conqueror. It is a small comfortless apartment. When the new- 
 born babe was laid upon the floor, he grasped the straw which 
 covered it with a vigour that induced the bystanders to predict 
 that he would ere long take a foremost place amongst the ambitious 
 potentates of his age. In the course of our worsted narrative we 
 have followed our hero to a point in which he is about to justify 
 the correctness of these surmisiags, 
 
 Harold, painfully conscious of the inferiority of his military 
 equipments, resolved to act on the defensive. He took up his posi- 
 tion on a round-topped hiU, having on its summit a circular plat- 
 form just sufficient to contain his troops drawn up in close order. 
 This hill was anciently called Senlac ; it afterwards became the 
 site of the Abbey of Battle. Harold further strengthened his 
 position by earthen ramparts crowned with palisades of wood. 
 W^ace, speaking of these precautions, says, " They had built up 
 a fence before them with their shields, and with ash and other 
 
12ti THE BATTLE. 
 
 wood ; and had well joined and wattled in their whole work, so as 
 not to leave even a crevice ; and thus they had a barricade in their 
 front, through which any Norman who would attack them must 
 first pass. Being covered in this way by their shields and barri- 
 cades, their aim was to defend themselves ; and if they had 
 remained steady for that purpose, they would not have been con- 
 quered that day ; for every Norman who made his way in lost his 
 life in dishonour, either by hatchet or bill, by club or other weapon." 
 In addition to these defences, Wace tells us that Harold "made a 
 fosse, which went across the field, guarding one side of their army." 
 This was probably lower down the hill than the position occupied 
 by his camp, and was chiefly intended to incommode the cavalry. 
 Harold further feeling that he had not the power to prevent the 
 enemy's horse outflanking him, ordered " that all should be ranged 
 with their faces towards the enemy" — that they should front three 
 sides at least of the square. We see them [Plate XIV.) sustaining 
 an attack from opposite quarters, and in both cases fronting the 
 foe. He moreover issued directions "that no one should move 
 from where he was ; so that whoever came might find them ready; 
 and that whatever any one, be he Norman or other, should do, 
 each should do his best to defend his own place." He planted his 
 standard — the dragon of Wessex — on the most elevated part of the 
 hill, and there he resolved to defend it to the last. Nobly Harold 
 fulfilled his purpose — ^nothing could tempt him from his post — and 
 ere the Saxon ensign bowed to the banner blessed by the Pope, his 
 blood had drenched the soil. 
 
THE KA'rrLE. 127 
 
 - Harold's men consisted but in part of regularly trained troops. 
 Amongst them were many "villains called together from the vil- 
 lages, bearing such arms as they found — clubs and great picks, 
 iron forks and stakes." These undisciplined Saxons exhibited no 
 lack of that indomitable energy for which the English race is 
 famous ; but, as Harold's brother, Grurth, remarked, " a great 
 gathering of vilanaille is worth little in battle." 
 
 The numbers of the two armies have been variously stated. Pro- 
 bably Wace is right in saying that they were nearly equal. He sets 
 down the army of William at sixty thousand, and speaks thus of 
 his opponent's: "Many and many have said that Harold had 
 but a small force, and that he fell on that account. But many 
 others say, and so do I, that he and the Duke had man for man. 
 The men of the Duke were not more numerous, but he had cer- 
 tainly more barons, and the men were better, He had plenty of 
 good knights, and great plenty of good archers." 
 
 The Norman forces, having finished their devotions by an early 
 hour in the morning, were ordered to form in three divisions, the 
 Duke himself commanding the centre, which consisted of Normans. 
 William then addressed his army, saying, " If I conquer, you will 
 conquer ; if I win lands, you shall have lands"- — telling them, at 
 the same time, that he came not merely to establish his own claims, 
 but also to punish the English for the massacre of the Danes, and 
 other felonies which they had committed against his people. Then 
 they began to cry out, " You will not see one coward ; none here 
 will fear to die for love of you if need be." And he answered 
 
128 THE BATTLE. 
 
 them, " Strike hard at the beginning; stay not to take spoil ; all 
 the booty shall be in common, and there will be plenty for every 
 one. There will be no safety in peace or flight. The English will 
 neither love nor spare I^ormans. Felons they were, and are ; false 
 they were, and false they will be." 
 
 William was continuing his speech, when Fitz-Osbome, who had 
 been one of his principal advisers in the whole business, inter- 
 rupted him : " Sire, said he, we tarry here too long ; let us arm 
 ourselves. Allans ! Allans ! " 
 
 When William began to prepare for battle, he called first for 
 his good hauberk, and a man brought it on his arm and placed it 
 before ^lim ; but, in putting his head in to get it on, he inadvert- 
 ently turned it the wrong way, with the back in front. He quickly 
 changed it ; but when he saw that those who stood by him were 
 sorely alarmed, he said, "I never believed in omens, and I never 
 will. I trust in God. The hauberk which was turned wi'ong and 
 then set right, signifies that I who have hitherto been but dtlke, 
 shall be changed into a king. Then he crossed himself, and straight- 
 way took his hauberk, stooped his head, and put it on aright ; and 
 laced his helmet and girt his sword, which a varlet brought him." 
 
 There is something poetical in the error which William made. 
 He was too good a general to be boastful — he had been too often 
 in the field not to know the diflference between the putting on and 
 the putting off of the armour — ^he knew too well, moreover, the 
 serious nature of the venture which he had made to pay much 
 attention to the duties of his military toilet. His capacious mind 
 
THE BATTLE. 129 
 
 was weigliing the chances of victory or defeat, and for the last time 
 reviewing all the arrangements which he had made for either 
 alternative. The Korman Duke, notwithstanding his usual ex- 
 emption from superstitious influences, did not consider his prepara- 
 tion for battle complete until he had strung around his neck a 
 portion of the relics over which Harold had taken his faithless vow. 
 William entrusted the standard which the Pope had given him to 
 Turstin Fitz-Eou. His demeanour, rendered even more than 
 usually commanding by the greatness of the occasion, seems to have 
 attracted the attention of his companions in arms ; — " Never (said 
 the Yiscount of Toarz), never have I seen a man so fairly armed, 
 nor one who rode so gallantly, or bore his arms or became his hau- 
 berk so well ; neither any one who bore his lance so gracefully, or 
 sat his horse or manoeuvred so nobly. There is no such knight 
 under heaven ! a fair knight he is, and a fair king he will be !" 
 
 We are now prepared for examining the Tapestry. Under the 
 compartment inscribed hic milites exierunt de hestenga — Here 
 the soldiers have departed from Hastings — we see the Duke, 
 armed cap-a-pie, preparing to mount his charger, which is brought 
 him by an attendant. Next we have a well arranged group of 
 horsemen, representing the whole Norman army, proceeding 
 onward at a steady pace. Some scouts in advance scour the coun- 
 try, and guard against siu-prise. The inscription proceeds, et 
 venerunt ad peelium contra haroldtjm regem — And march to 
 battle against Harold the King. 
 
 The country between Hastings and Battle is of an undulating 
 
 s 
 
130 THE BATTLE. 
 
 nature. The Duke had many defiles of a dangerous nature to pass, 
 in which Harold might have harassed him if he had possessed 
 cavalry, and if he had had troops to spare. As it was, he was 
 allowed to proceed unmolested ; nevertheless, both parties sent out 
 scouts to watch each other's movements. The horseman, Yitalis, 
 seems to have been sent on this errand by William. In the Tapes- 
 try he is represented as galloping up to his chieftain with the news 
 which he has gathered respecting the enemy, towards whom his 
 spear is pointed. The group is labelled, Hic willelm : dux 
 
 IXTEHROGAT VITAL : SI VIDISSET EXERCITUM HAEOLDI Here Duke 
 
 William asks Yitalis, whether he had seen Harold's army. 
 
 Harold's scout is next seen, on foot, endeavouring to obtain 
 a glimpse through the forests of the approaching foe ; he then 
 informs his king of their advance. The legend is, iste nustiat 
 HAROLDUM EEGEM DE EXERCiTU WILLELM : Ducis — This man brings 
 word to Harold the King respecting Duke William's army. " The 
 line of the Normans' march from the camp of Hastiags to the 
 battle-field, must have lain on the south-western slope of the ele- 
 vated ridge of land extending from Fairlight to Battle ; that is, 
 to the north of the village of HoUington, through what is now 
 Crowhurst Park, to the elevated spot called Hetheland, but now 
 known as Telham Hill."" This hill is about a mile south of the 
 one occupied by Harold. Its ancient name seems to imply that it 
 was covered with heath rather than with wood ; this circumstance, 
 together with the fact of its elevated position, would enable Wil- 
 » Lower on the Battle of Hastings, ' Sussex Arcli. Col.,' vi. 18. 
 
THE BATTLE. 131 
 
 liam's host for the first time clearly to descry their enemy from its 
 summit, and render it a fitting place on which to make the final 
 preparations for the onslaught. This spot, according to local trad- 
 ition, derived its name of Telham, or Telman Hill, from William's 
 having told off his men before advancing to the fight. 
 
 We can readily conceive what would be the feelings of the 
 two forces, as on the morning of the 14th of October, 1066, they 
 came in sight of each other; — " Some with their colour rising, 
 others turning pale ; some making ready their arms, others raising 
 their shields ; the brave man raising himself to the fight, the cow- 
 ard trembling at the approaching danger." Who can stand upon the 
 ground occupied by either party without sympathizing, in part, with 
 their fierce emotions ? Happily, such sympathy is vara. Not only 
 have victor and vanquished long ceased to be moved by earth's 
 concernments, but the descendants of each have long been blended 
 into one race, having common interests, common feelings. 
 
 Before commencing the onslaught, William again addressed his 
 troops. He is represented in the Tapestry (Plate XIII.J beside 
 a tree, representing probably the edge of the forest, with the baton 
 of command in his right hand. The legend here is, hic willelm : 
 
 DUX ALLOaUITUR SHIS MILITIBTJS TJT PREPAEAEENT SE VIEILITEE ET 
 
 sapienter ad prelium CONTRA ANGLORUM EXERCiTUM — Here Duke 
 William exhorts his soldiers to prepare manfuUy and prudently for 
 battle against the army of the English. Wace says that the battle- 
 cry of the Normans was Dex aie ! (God help !), that of the English, 
 Ut I (out !' — begone !) 
 
132 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Harold was not less diligent than Ms antagonist in making pre- 
 parations. " He ordered the men of Kent to go where the Nor- 
 mans were likely to make the attack ; for they say that the men 
 of Kent are entitled to strike first, and that whenever the king 
 goes to battle, the first blow belongs to them. The right of the 
 men of London is to guard the king's body, to place themselves 
 around him, and to guard his standard ; and they were accordingly 
 placed by the standard to watch and defend it." " Each man had 
 a hauberk on, with his sword girt, and his shield at his neck. 
 Great hatchets were also slung at their necks, with which they 
 expected to strike heavy blows. They were on foot in close ranks, 
 and carried themselves right boldly. Olicrosse (holy cross) they 
 often cried, and many times repeated Godamite (God Almighty).'"' 
 " And now behold ! that battle was gathered whereof the fame is 
 yet mighty." 
 
 Nearly all the chroniclers tell us that the minstrel-warrior 
 Taillefer was the first to begin the battle, and some of them inform 
 us that as he approached the English lines, he produced a sort of 
 panic amongst them by his juggling tricks. It says not a Little 
 for the correctness of the delineations of the Tapestry, and of the 
 authenticity of the Roman de Rou, that neither of them refers to 
 these improbable stories, however great the pictorial efi'ect of them 
 might have been. As, however, the verses of Gaimar, describing the 
 
 » During the middle ages the English were much given to the irreverent use of 
 this great name ; so much so was this the case, that Goiamites became, in. France, 
 synonymous with English. Joan of Arc usually designates her enemies by this term. 
 
THE BATTLE. 133 
 
 apoci-yphal exploits of Taillefer, possess considerable interest, it 
 may be well to introduce them here in the garb in which they 
 have been clothed by Mr. Amyot, in the Archceologia,'' 
 
 " Foremost in the bands of France, 
 Arm'd with hauberk and with lance, 
 And helmet glittering in the air. 
 As if a warrior-knight he were, 
 Rushed forth the minstrel Taillefer. — 
 Borne on his courser swift and strong, 
 
 He gaily bounded o'er the plain. 
 And raised the heart-inspiring song 
 (Loud echoed by the warlike throng) 
 
 Of Roland and of Charlemagne, 
 Of Oliver, brave peer of old. 
 
 Untaught to fly, unknown to yield, 
 xVnd many a knight and vassal bold. 
 Whose hallowed blood, in crimson flbod, 
 
 Dyed RoneevaUes' field. 
 
 Harold's host he soon descried. 
 
 Clustering on the hill's steep side : 
 
 Then turned him hack brave TaiUefer, 
 
 And thus to William urged his prayer : 
 ' Great Sire, it fits not me to tell 
 
 How long I've served you, or how well ; 
 
 Yet if reward my lays may claim. 
 
 Grant now the boon I dare to name : 
 
 Minstrel no more, be mine the blow 
 
 That first shall strike yon perjured foe.' 
 ' Thy suit is gained,' the Duke replied, 
 ' Our gallant minstrel be our guide.' 
 ' Enough,' he cried, ' with joy I speed, 
 
 Foremost to vanquish or to bleed.' 
 
 " Vol. xix., p. 206. Mr. Amyot does not profess to adhere strictly to the text of 
 Gaimar, but has introduced into his translation some incidents mentioned by other 
 writers. 
 
134 THE BATTLE. 
 
 And still of Eoland's deeds he sung, 
 "While Norman shouts responsive rung, 
 As high in air his lanoe he flung, 
 
 With well directed might ; 
 Back came the lance into his hand. 
 Like urchin's ball, or juggler's wand. 
 And twice again, at his command. 
 
 Whirled it's unerring flight. — 
 While doubting whether skill or charm 
 Had thus inspired the minstrel's arm. 
 The Saxons saw the wondrous dart 
 Fixed in their standard-bearer's heart. 
 
 Now thrice aloft his sword he threw, 
 'Midst sparkling sunbeams dancing, 
 And downward thrice the weapon fle\\', 
 Like meteor o'er the evening dew, 
 
 From summer sky swift glancing : 
 And while amazement gasped for breath, 
 Another Saxon groaned in death. 
 
 More wonders yet ! — on signal made. 
 With ipane erect, and eye-balls flashing, 
 
 The well-taught courser rears his head. 
 His teeth in ravenous fury gnashing ; 
 
 He snorts — he foams — and upward springs- 
 Plunging he fastens on the foe. 
 
 And down his writhing victim flings. 
 Crushed by the wily minstrel's blow. 
 
 Thus seems it to the hostUe band 
 
 Enchantment all, and fairy land. 
 
 Fain would I leave the rest unsung : — 
 The Saxon ranks, to madness stung, 
 Headlong rushed with frenzied start. 
 Hurling javelin, mace, and dart ; 
 No shelter from the iron shower 
 Sought TaiUefer in that sad hour ; 
 
THE BATTLE. 135 
 
 Yet still he beckoned to the field, 
 ' Frenchmen, come on — the Saxons yield — 
 Strike quick — strike home — in Roland's name — 
 For WilUam's glory — Harold's shame.' 
 Then pierced with wounds, stretched side by side, 
 The minstrel and his courser died." 
 
 The charge of Taillefer roused the mettle of both parties. 
 " Forthwith arose the noise and cry of war, and on either side the 
 people put themselves in motion." " Some were striking, others 
 urging onwards ; and all were bold, and cast aside fear " 
 
 "Loud and far resounded the bray of the horns and the shocks 
 of the lances ; the mighty strokes of clubs, and the quick clashing 
 of swords. One while the Englishmen rushed on, another while 
 they fell back ; one while the men from over the sea charged on- 
 wards, and again, at other times, retreated. Then came the cunning 
 manoeuvres, the rude shocks and strokes of the lance, and blows of 
 the sword, among the sergeants and soldiers, both English and 
 Norman. When the English fall the Normans shout. Each side 
 taunts and defies the other, yet neither knoweth what the other 
 saith ; and the Normans say the English bark, because they under- 
 stand not their speech." In this way the struggle proceeded for 
 several hours. The Saxons had an arduous part to sustain ; for, as 
 shewn in the Tapestry, they were attacked on all sides. 
 
 Early in the battle the brothers of Harold, Gurth and Leofwin, . 
 fell. The fact is indicated by the superscription, hic CECiDEiiuNT 
 LEWINE ET GURTH PRATRES HAROLDi REGIS — Here fell Leofwiu and 
 Grurth, the brothers of Harold the King. Bravely had they sus- 
 
136 THE BATTLE. 
 
 tained their brother in his efforts to resist the invader, and doubt- 
 less they had, in the excess of their zeal, needlessly hazarded their 
 lives. According to Wace, they did not fall until after Harold had 
 been slain. This is one of the points in which the worsted chro- 
 nicle differs from the Roman de Rou. In a battle, where all is 
 confusion — where few can obtain a general view of what passes — 
 and where each is intensely occupied with his own foeman — it 
 is exceedingly difficult for any one to give a just account of the 
 whole scene, or to reconcile the conflicting statements of others. 
 All our historians agree that both the brothers of Harold were 
 slain in the battle of Hastings ; — had it been otherwise William 
 would not have been crowned at Westminister that Christmas. 
 
 Following, on the Tapestry, the death of Gurth and Leofwin 
 (Plate X V.J is a scene thus labelled : hic cecidektjnt simul 
 ANGLi ET FEANCi IN PEELio. The sccue is here most animated. 
 Saxons and Normans are mingled in a close encounter. Horses 
 and men exhibit the frantic contortions of dying agony. At the 
 further end of the compartment a party of Saxons, posted on a hill, 
 exposed to the enemy on one side, but protected by a forest (re- 
 presented by a tree) on the other, seem to be making head against 
 their assailants. The Normans had attacked the Saxon encamp- 
 ment with the utmost impetuosity in front and in flank. The 
 Saxons maintained their ground well, but some, through fear or 
 misadventure, were constrained to flee. The victorious Normans, 
 strongly armed and well mounted, pursued the flying footmen. In 
 doing so, they left not only their own army, but that of Harold in 
 

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 Y 
 
 ^ 
 
 k 
 
 v3 
 
 L 
 
 vj 
 
 ^ 
 
 srv-? 
 
 i^^ 
 
 L^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 V^. 
 
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THE BATTLE. 137 
 
 the rear. Soon a swampy valley was to be' encountered. The re- 
 treating English, climbing the opposite hill, paused, at once to 
 take breath and to examine their position. Finding the Normans 
 struggling with the diflaculties of the morass, and conscious of the 
 advantage which their elevated position gave them, they wheeled 
 about, and became the attacking party. Their efforts were crowned 
 with success ; the invaders were thrown into a state of confusion 
 nearly inextricable. But it is necessary now to refer to our au- 
 thorities. The account given in the Roman de Rou of this import- 
 ant part of the events of that eventful day is the following : "In 
 the plain was a fosse, which the Normans now had behind them, 
 having passed it in the fight without regarding it. But the English 
 charged, and drove the Normans before them, till they made 
 them fall back upon this fosse, overthrowing into it horses and 
 men. Many were to be seen falling therein, rolling one over the 
 other, with their faces to the earth, and unable to rise. Many of 
 the English also, whom the Normans drew down along with them, 
 died there. At no time during the day's battle did so many Nor- 
 mans die as perished in that fosse. So said they who saw the 
 dead." The account given in the Chronicle of Battle Abbey is 
 similar. " There lay between the hostile armies a certain dreadful 
 
 precipice It was of considerable extent, and being overgrown 
 
 with bushes or brambles^ was not very easily seen, and great num- 
 bers of men, principally Normans in pursuit of the English, were 
 suffocated in it. For, ignorant of the danger, as they were running 
 in a disorderly manner, they fell into the chasm, and were fearfully 
 
138 THE BATTLE. 
 
 dashed to pieces and slain. And this pit, from this deplorable 
 accident, is still called Malfossey With these statements that of 
 William of Malmesbury agrees — "By frequently making a stand, 
 they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps ; for, getting possession 
 of an eminence, they drove down the Normans, when roused with 
 indignation and anxiously striving to gain the higher ground, into 
 the valley beneath, when, easily hurling their javelins and rolling 
 down stones on them as they stood below, they destroyed them to 
 a man." With these descriptions the delineation of the Tapestry 
 agrees in a remarkable manner. The only point which remains for 
 us is to identify the scene of this skirmish with some locality in the 
 vicinity of Battle. This Mr. Lower enables us to do. " There is 
 no place uear Battle which can, with a due regard to the pro- 
 prieties of language, be called a ' dreadful precipice' fmiserabile 
 prmcipitium vaste patensj, though, by comparing Malmesbury with 
 the Monk of Battle, I think I have succeeded in identifying the 
 locality of this ' bad ditch.' '' From all the probabilities of the 
 case, it would seem that the flight and pursuit must have lain in 
 a north-westerly direction, through that part of the district known 
 as Mountjoy. Assuming this, the eminence alluded to must have 
 been the ridge rising from Mount Street to Caldbeck HUl, and the 
 Malfosse some part of the stream which, flowing at its feet, runs in 
 the direction of Watlington, and becomes a tributary of the Eother. 
 This rivulet occasionally overflows its banks, and the primitive 
 
 " On accompanying Mr. Lower to the spot, in Jamiary, 1863, I was satisfied of 
 the correctness of his views. 
 
THE BATTLE. 139 
 
 condition of tlie adjacent levels was doubtless that of a morass, 
 overgrown with flags, reeds, and similar bog vegetables. Thanks, 
 however, to good drainage, this ' bad ditch' no longer remains. 
 The name was corrupted, previously to 1279, to Manfosse, and 
 a piece of land called Wincestrecroft, in Manfosse, was ceded to 
 the Abbey of Battle in that year. Now Wincestrecroft is still 
 well known, and lies in the direction specified, west by north of 
 the present town of Battle."* 
 
 The English, after having exterminated their pursuers, regained 
 the eminence on which the main body was encamped. 
 
 This was the most critical period of the day's fight. The varlets 
 who had been set to guard the harness of the Normans, began to 
 abandon it. The priests who had confessed and blessed the army 
 in the morning, and had meanwhile retired to a neighbouring 
 height, began to take themselves off. In this extremity Odo inter- 
 fered, and turned the fate of the battle. The description in the 
 Roman de Rou precisely corresponds with the drawing in the 
 Tapestry. Wace says, " Then Odo, the good priest, the Bishop 
 of Bayeux, galloped up, and said to them ' Stand fast, stand fast ! 
 be quiet and move not ! fear nothing, for if it please God, we shall 
 conquer yet.' So they took courage, and rested where they were ; 
 and Odo returned galloping back to where the battle was most 
 fierce, and was of great service on that day. He had put a hau- 
 berk on, over a white aube, wide in the body, with the sleeves 
 tight ; and sat on a white horse^ so that all might recognize him. 
 » Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. vi., p. 27. 
 
140 THE BATTLE. 
 
 In his hand he held a mace, and wherever he saw most need, he 
 led up and stationed the knights, and often urged them on to 
 assault and strike the enemy." With this description the Tapestry 
 exactly accords, except in the colour of the horse ; it however 
 represents it as heing saffioiently conspicuous. 
 
 The inscription is hic odo episcopus tenens baculum confortat 
 PUEROS — Here Odo holding a staff exhorts the soldiers." The staff 
 wliich Odo Avields is, I suspect, the badge of command — the mar- 
 shal's baton as it were — and not a weapon, as some writers suppose. 
 William himself, in the next group, is represented with a similar 
 implement. During the middle ages the priests of the sanctuary 
 were not unfrequently to be found in the battle-field. Some of 
 theln were much more at home in the midst of the melee than in ' 
 guiding sin-stricken souls to a Saviour. The bold Bishop of 
 Durham, Anthony Beck, never left the precincts of his castle 
 but in magnificent military array. He fought personally at 
 the battle of Falkirk, and drew from a soldier, who felt per- 
 haps a superstitious dread at aiming a deadly blow at one in- 
 vested with the sacred office, the merited rebuke, " To your mass, 
 priest." Richard I., when at war with Philip of France, took a 
 
 " There has been a disouBsion respecting the word pueros, some supposing that the 
 parties thus addressed were young soldiers, inexperienced recruits. It is probable, 
 however, that the word is equivalent to the phrase, "lads" among us, or the word 
 " hoys'' in the lines which carried so much terror to the heart of James the Second, 
 after he had seen a specimen of the stalwart youth which Cornwall produces — 
 
 " And must Trelawney die, and must Trelawney die ? 
 Then twenty thousand Cornish boys will aslc the reason why." 
 
THE BATTLE. 141 
 
 Frencli Bishop prisoner. The Pope sent to demand his liberation, 
 claiming him as a son of the church. Kichard upon this sent the 
 Bishop's coat of mail to the Pope, just as it was, besmeared with 
 the blood of the slain, employing the words of Jacob's sons, " This 
 have we found ; know now whether it be thy son's coat or no." 
 The canon laws indeed forbade a priest to shed blood ; but this 
 was evaded, it is said, by the use of a mace instead of a sword. 
 The warrior-priest did not stab a man ; he only brained him. It 
 is on this ground that the baton held by Odo has been considered 
 by some writers to be a weapon. 
 
 In consequence of the confusion and panic which attended the 
 disasters in the Malfosse, a report was spread among the Normans 
 that William was dead. At the same time, too, according to one 
 writer," Eustace Count of Boulogne strongly urged the Duke to 
 withdraw his forces "from the field, considering the battle to be 
 lost beyond recovery. A Saxon shaft at that moment laid Eustace 
 low, and delivered William from his importunity. The Duke, no- 
 thing daunted by this disaster, rushed among his troops, encouraged 
 his men to maintain the combat, and to assure them of the false- 
 hood of the report of his death, raised his helmet and exhibited 
 himself to his people. This act is exhibited in the Tapestry 
 f Plate XV.J ; at the same time, his standard-bearer, who never 
 left him throughout the day, draws attention to the circumstance, 
 The group is labelled, hio est dvx wilel : — Here is Duke William, 
 By these energetic means the Normans returned to the onset. 
 
 » Benoit de Saint-IVTore, Taylor's Waoe, 193. 
 
242 THE BATTLE. 
 
 The Tapestry shows us the fearful slaughter which took place on 
 Ihat hard-fought field. The border is filled with dead men and 
 horses lying in every conceivable position ; a head is not unfre- 
 quently deposited at some distance from the body to which it once 
 belonged. We can scarcely look upon the drawing without being 
 impressed with the idea that the designer of the Tapestry had 
 been the witness of some fight. It is said that when a man re- 
 ceives a mortal wound, his body is thrown for the moment into 
 violent spasmodic action. So much is this the case, that you may 
 tell the effect of a death-bringiug volley by noticing how many 
 unhappy wretches make a sudden leap. In the Tapestry something 
 of this spasmodic action is manifested, and some of the men are 
 coming to the ground in such a posture as they could only do after 
 having sprung up from it.* 
 
 The battle had now lasted the greater parfr of the day. " From 
 nine o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon the battle 
 was up and down,^this way and that, and no one knew who would 
 conquer and win the land. Both sides stood so firm and fought so 
 
 " The special correspoadent of The Times, writing from the Heights of Alma, Sep. 
 21st, 1854, says, " The attitudes of some of the dead were awful. One man might 
 be seen resting on one knee, with the arms extended in the form of taking aim, the 
 brow compressed, the lips clinched — the very expression of firing at an enemy 
 stamped on the face and fixed there by death ; a ball had struck this man in the neck. 
 Physiologists or anatomists must settle the rest. Another was lying on his back 
 with the same expression, and his arms raised in a similar attitude, the Minie musket 
 stiU grasped in his hands undischarged. Another lay in a perfect arch, his head 
 resting on one part of the ground and his feet on the other, hut his hack raised high 
 above it. — The Times, Oct. 11th, 1854. See also Sir Charles Bell's Anatomy of 
 Expression, 3rd edition, p. 160. 
 
THE BATTLE. 143 
 
 well that no one could guess wMch "would prevail. The Norman 
 archers with their bows shot thickly upon the English ; but they 
 covered themselves with their shields, so that the arrows could not 
 
 reach their bodies Then the Normans determined to shoot their 
 
 arrows upwards into the air, so that they might fall on their ene- 
 mies' heads and strike their faces. The archers adopted this 
 scheme, and shot up into the air towards the English ; and the 
 arrows in falling struck their heads and faces, and put out the eyes 
 of many, and all feared to open their eyes or leave their faces 
 unguarded." " The arrows now flew thicker than rain before the 
 wind. Then it was that an arrow that had been thus shot upwards 
 struck Harold above his right eye and put it out. In his agony 
 he drew the arrow f Plate XVI.J and threw it away, breaking it 
 with his hands ; and the pain to his head was so great that he 
 leaned upon his shield." Still the English did not yield, and 
 Harold, though grievously hurt, maintained his ground. 
 
 At length the device was adopted which put victory into the 
 hands of the Normans. Harold, knowing William's skill in strat- 
 egy, exhorted his troops at the beginning of the fight to keep their 
 ground, and not suffer themselves to be drawn into a pursuit. 
 Had his troops been well-trained men, to whom obedience is a 
 second nature, that battle had probably not been lost. Many of 
 them however had been brought from the fields, and were unable 
 to resist the prospect of inflicting deserved vengeance upon their 
 adversaries. Harold's troops were the more likely to fall into the 
 snare laid for then;, in consequence of the success which attended, 
 
14:4 THE BATTLE. 
 
 in an earlier part of the day, the attack upon the pursuing N'ormans 
 in the Malfosse. 
 
 William's army fled by little and little, the English following 
 them. '' As the one fell back, the other pressed after; and when 
 the Frenchmen retreated, the English thought and cried out that 
 the men of France fled and would never return. 'Cowards,' said 
 they, ' you came hither in an evil hour, wanting our lands, and 
 seeking to seize our property, fools that you were to come ! Nor - 
 mandy is too far off, and you will not easily reach it. ...your sons 
 and daughters are lost to you !' The Normans bore these taunts 
 very quietly, as indeed they easily might, for they did not know 
 what the English said." 
 
 At length the time arrived for the assailants to come to a stand. 
 The English had broken rank ; the valley, too, had been crossed, 
 and the Xormans were now standing above the Saxons on the 
 flank of the hill on the top of which they had formed in the morning. 
 
 At the word of command, Dex aie, the Normans halted, and 
 turned their faces towards the enemey. Now commenced the 
 fiercest part of that bloody day's encounter. Neither party was 
 wanting in courage. All the chroniclers do justice to the contend- 
 ing forces. " One hits, another misses ; one flies, another piu-sues ; 
 one is aiming a stroke, while another discharges his blow. Nor- 
 man strives with Englishman again, and aims his blows afresh. 
 One flies, another pursues swiftly ; the combatants are many, the 
 plain wide, the battle and the meUe fierce. On every hand they 
 fight hard, the blows are heavy, and the struggle becomes fierce." 
 
THE BATTLE. 145 
 
 As neither the horrors nor the gallantry exhibited on a battle- 
 field can be comprehended by a general description, it may be well 
 here to introduce an account of one or two of the individual en- 
 counters occurring at this period, with which Wace supplies us. 
 
 " The Normans were playing their part well, when an English 
 knight came rushing up, having in his company a hundred men 
 furnished with various arms. He wielded a northern hatchet, with 
 the blade a full foot long ; and was well armed after his manner, 
 being tall, bold, and of noble carriage. In the front of the battle, 
 where the Normans thronged most, he came bounding on swifter 
 than a stag, many Normans falling before him and his company. 
 He rushed straight upon a Norman, who was armed, and riding on 
 a war-horse, and tried with a hatchet of steel to cleave his helmet ; 
 but the blow miscarried, and the sharp blade glanced down before 
 the saddle-bow, driving through the horse's neck down to the 
 ground, so that both horse and master fell together to the earth. I 
 know not whether the Englishman struck another blow ; but the 
 Normans who saw the stroke were astonished, and about to abandon 
 the assault, when Eoger de Montgomery came galloping up, with 
 his lance set, and heeding not the long-handled axe which the 
 Englishman wielded aloft, struck him down, and left him stretched 
 upon the ground. Then Eoger cried out ' Frenchmen, strike ; the 
 day is ours ! ' And again a fierce melee was to be seen, with many 
 a blow of lance and sword ; the English still defending themselves, 
 killing the horses, and cleaving the shields." 
 
 " There was a French soldier of noble mien, who sat his horse 
 
 u 
 
146 THE BATTLE. 
 
 gallantly. He spied two Englishmen who were also carrying 
 themselves boldly. They were both of them men of great worth, 
 and had become companions in arms and fought together, the one 
 protecting the other. They bore two long and broad bills, and did 
 great mischief to the Normans, killing both horses and men. The 
 French soldier looked at them and their bills, and was sore alarmed ; 
 for he was afraid of losing his good horse, the best that he had, 
 and would willingly have turned to some other quarter, if it would 
 not have looked like cowardice. Fearing the two bills, he raised 
 his shield by the ' enarmes,' and struck one of the Englishmen 
 with his lance on the breast, so that the iron passed out at the 
 back.'' At the moment that he fell, the lance broke, and the 
 Frenchman seized the mace that hung at his right side, and struck 
 the other Englishman a blow that completely fractured his scull." 
 The slaughter at this period of the day must have been fearful. 
 The chronicler of Battle Abbey says, " Amid these miseries 
 there was exhibited a fearful spectacle : the fields were covered 
 with dead bodies, and on every hand nothing was to be seen but 
 the red hue of blood. The dales around sent forth a gory stream 
 which increased at a distance to the size of a river ! How great 
 think you must have been the slaughter of the conquered, when 
 the conquerors' is reported, upon the lowest computation, to have 
 exceeded ten thousand ? Oh how vast a flood of human gore was 
 poured out in that place where these unfortunates fell and were 
 slain ! What a dashing to pieces of arms, what a clashing of 
 strokes ; what shrieks of dying men ; what grief ; what sighs were 
 
THE BATTLE 147 
 
 heard ! How many groans ; how many bitter notes of direst 
 calamity then sounded forth, who can rightly calculate ! What a 
 wretched exhibition of human misery was there to call forth 
 astonishment ! In the very contemplation of it our heart fails us."" 
 
 Notwithstanding the horrors of the scene, and the hopelessness of 
 their efforts, the courage of the Saxons failed not ; sometimes flee- 
 ing, and sometimes making a stand, they slaughtered their pur- 
 suers in heaps. 
 
 The place where this havoc took place is probably the southern 
 front of the eminence on which Battle Abbey was afterwards 
 placed. The whole site of the contest has sometimes been denom- 
 inated " Sanguelac," or the "Lake of Blood," but this designa- 
 tion properly belongs to that part in which the street of the mo- 
 dem town of Battle called " the Lake" is situated. Until a very 
 recent period this place was supposed still occasionally to reek 
 with human gore. " Thereabout," says Drayton, "is a place 
 which after rain always looks red, which some have attributed to a 
 very bloody sweat of the earth, as crying to heaven for revenge 
 for so great a slaughter." 
 
 " .... Asten once distained with native Englisli blood; 
 "Whose soil, when wet with any little rain, 
 Doth blush, as put in mind of those there sadly slain." 
 
 The truth is " the redness of the water here, and at many other 
 places in the neighbourhood, is caused by the oxydatiou of the 
 iron which abounds in the soil of the Weald of Sussex."" 
 " M. A. Lower's Battle Abbey Chronicle, p. 7. '' Ibid. 
 
148 THE BATTLE. 
 
 To return to the battle,- " Loud was now the clamour, and great 
 the slaughter ; many a soul then quitted the body which it inhab- 
 ited. The living marched over the heaps of dead, and each side 
 was weary of striking. lie charged on who could, and he who 
 could no longer strike still pushed forward. The strong struggled 
 with the strong ; some failed, others triumphed ; the cowards fell 
 back, the brave pressed on ; and sad was his fate who fell in the 
 midst, for he had little chance of rising again ; and many in 
 truth fell who never rose at all, being crushed under the throng. 
 And now the Normans pressed on so far that at last they reached 
 the English standard.'' The Tapestry represents the eager advance 
 of a body of horsemen. The compartment is inscribed, hic peanci 
 PUGiSTANT ET CECiDERUNT QUI ERANT CUM HAROLDO— Here the French 
 are fighting, and have slain the men who were with Harold. 
 "There Harold had remained, defending himself to the utmost; 
 but he was sorely wounded in the eye by the arrow, and suffered 
 grievous pain by the blow. An armed man came in the throng 
 of the battle, and struck him on the ventaille of his helmet and 
 beat him to the ground ; and as he sought to recover himself, a 
 knight beat him down again, striking him on the thick of his 
 thigh, down to the bone." This is shown in the Tapestry 
 f Plate X VI.J Harold first of all appears standing by his standard, 
 contending with a horseman who is making a rush at him ; then 
 he is shown pulling the arrow out of his eye ; and lastly he is 
 seen, falling — 
 
 " With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe," 
 
 — his battle axe has dropped from his nerveless grasp, and a Nor- 
 
c-' 
 
 5 
 
 .^I^M 
 
 ./V'Jf 
 
 a 
 
 Uh 
 
 1%.. 
 
 
 : /y /' 
 
 v<r- 
 
 -c.f 
 
 c:;l 
 
 1 
 
 ?ft'ii' 
 
 T^'V' 
 
 ^ 
 
 :V^ 
 
 
 h 
 
 ^C 
 
 ;^> 
 
 Ik 
 
THE BATTLE. 149 
 
 man, stooping from his horse, inflicts a wound upon his thigh. 
 The group is superscribed, hic haeold rex inteefbctus est — 
 Here Harold the King is slain.'' 
 
 " The English were in great trouble at having lost their King, 
 and at the Duke's having conquered and beat down the standard ; 
 but they still fought on, and defended themselves long, and in fact 
 till the day drew to a close. Then it clearly appeared to all 
 that the standard was lost, and the news had spread throughout 
 the army that Harold for certain was dead ; and all saw now that 
 there was no longer any hope, so they left the field and those 
 fled who could." Ingulph teUs us that all the nobles that were in 
 Harold's army were slain ;'' we are hence led to infer that it was 
 the untrained peasantry only who betook themselves to flight. 
 The Tapestry is in consistency with this. The last compartment 
 represents a group of men unprotected by body armour, and supplied 
 only with a mace or club, retreating before a party of fuUy 
 equipped horsemen. The inscription is, et euga veeterunt angli 
 — And the English betake themselves to flight. 
 
 Happily the exact spot on which the flnal struggle of the day 
 took place is clearly ascertained. The writer of the Battle Abbey 
 
 ' The Tapestry represents the death of Harold as rapidly succeeding the infliction 
 of the wound in his eye. The impression left by a perusal of Wace is, that at least an 
 hour or two elapsed between the one event and the other. The diversity of statement 
 between these authorities is probably more apparent than real. After Harold was 
 wounded in so important an organ as the eye, it was impossible that he could long 
 withstand the onset of "William's troops ; his defeat, or, in other words, his death, 
 was certain. However manfully Harold may have borne up under the inconvenience 
 and pain of his wound, the artist of the Tapestry is logically correct in at once 
 bringing us to the conclusion of the scene. 
 
 '■ Ingulph' s Chronicle, p. 139. 
 
150 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Chronicle tells us, that the King having resolved to commemorate 
 his victory by the erection of a Christian temple, the high altar 
 was placed upon the precise spot where the standard was observed 
 to fall." Long after all traces of the Abbey Church had been 
 obliterated, the finger of tradition faithfully pointed to the spot 
 so interesting to all Englishmen. In the year 1817, the proprie- 
 tor of the soU, anxious to test the truth of the popular belief, made 
 the necessary excavations, and in the very place indicated, at the 
 depth of several feet below the surface, found the remains of an 
 altar in the easternmost recess of the crypt of the church.'' 
 
 William on that day fought well — as well he might, for he had 
 engaged in a desperate venture — " many a blow did he give, and 
 many receive, and many fell dead under his hand." Two horses 
 were killed under him. After the English had been extermin- 
 ated, or had forsaken the field, the Duke returned thanks to God, 
 and ordered his gonfanon to be erected where Harold's standard 
 had stood. Here, too, he raised his tent. Amidst the dying and 
 the dead he partook of his evening meal and passed the night. 
 
 The next morning which dawned upon that sad battle field was 
 the Sabbath. On that first day of the week no heavenly choir sang 
 of peace on earth and good wiU toward men. The human family 
 
 * Lower's Chronicle of Battle Abbey, p. 11. 
 
 '' Sussex Archseological Collections, vol. 1., page 33. — For some years the public 
 have been admitted to the Abbey grounds only on one day of the week, and that the 
 day (Monday) most inconvenient to those who reside at a distance from Battle. 
 Let us hope that henceforth no one respectfully requesting permission to muse upon 
 the spot where the deed was done on which the modem history of the world has 
 turned, will meet with a denial. 
 
THE BATTLE. 151 
 
 was exhibited in its most painful aspect, " hateful and hating one 
 another" — that field but recently covered over with the golden 
 sheaves of harvest, now bore upon its surface the gory fruits of 
 man's ambition. 
 
 " When William called over the muster-roll, which he had 
 prepared before he left the opposite coast, many a knight, who on 
 the day when he sailed, had proudly answered to his name, was 
 then numbered with the dead. The land which he had done 
 homage for was useless to him now."* He had come to win 
 large domains and baronial honours — six feet of common earth was 
 all he got. " The Conqueror had lost more than one-fourth of his 
 army."*" Both parties spent the day in burying the dead. "The 
 noble ladies of the land also came, some to seek their husbands, 
 and others their fathers, sons, or brothers." 
 
 The account given by Ordericus of the disposal of Harold's body 
 
 is the following : " Harold could not be discovered by his features, 
 
 but was recognized by other tokens, and his corpse being borne to 
 
 the Duke's camp, was, by order of the Conqueror, delivered to 
 
 William Mallet for interment near the sea-shore, which had long 
 
 been guarded by his arms."" William of Poictiers gives a similar 
 
 statement. Later writers say that his body was interred with regal 
 
 honours in Waltham Abbey. This tradition, which probably had 
 
 its origin in the wish of the monks to attract visitors to the shrine 
 
 at Waltham, cannot be entertained, in opposition to the express 
 
 * History of the Anglo-Saxons (European Library, )p. 337. 
 ^ Lingard's Hist. Eng., vol. i., p. 313. 
 -' Vol. i., p. 487. 
 
152 THE BATTLE. 
 
 statements of contemporaries. Some venture, too, to assert that, 
 though, sorely wounded at Hastings, he was not killed, and that, 
 on escaping from the field, he first fled to the continent, and after- 
 wards led the life of a recluse at Chester. This is a statement 
 which may at once be rejected. 
 
 The difficulty in discovering the body to which Ordericus refers 
 was, it is generally believed, overcome by Edith, surnamed, from 
 her beauty, the Fair. The keen eye of afliection discerned his 
 mangled form amidst heaps of dead, which appeared to common 
 observers an undistinguishable mass. What will not woman's 
 love accomplish ! 
 
 Many writers have done great dishonour to this lady by stating 
 that she was the mistress of Harold. Sir Henry Ellis, in his Intro- 
 duction to Domesday Book^ has proved that she was his Queen ; 
 "Aldith, Algiva or Eddeva, being names which are all synony- 
 mous." Unhappy Elfgyva, how different her feelings now from 
 what they wSre when the clerk announced to her, in his own 
 familiar way, the rescue of Harold from the capture of Guy ! 
 
IX. THE SEQUEL. 
 
 " From seeming evil still educing good." 
 
 Thomson. 
 
 The Saxons lost the battle of Hastings. Here, however, they left 
 no blot on their name. The old historian Daniel justly, as well as 
 forcibly, remarks, " Thus was tried, by the great assize of God's 
 judgment in battle, the right of power between the English and 
 Norman nations ; a battle the most memorable of all others ; and, 
 however miserably lost, yet most nobly fought on the part of Eng- 
 land.", The death of Harold, and the absence of 'any other com- 
 petitor, opened the way for William to the throne. Presenting 
 himself to the nobles of the land, assembled in London, he was in 
 due form elected to the vacant throne, and was crowned by Aldred 
 Archbishop of York, on Mid- winter's day. William never claimed 
 the English crown by right of conquest. His quarrel was with 
 Harold, not with the English people, and he denounced him as 
 interfering with his just claims. The Saxon Chronicle expressly 
 asserts that " Before the Archbishop would set the crown upon 
 his head, he required of him a pledge upon Christ's book, and also 
 swore him, that he would govern this nation as well as any king 
 before him had at the best done, if they would be faithful to him," 
 He never claimed to be the Conqueror of England in the ordinary 
 
 w 
 
154 THE SEatfEL. 
 
 sense of the word. In his first charter to Westminster Abbey, 
 he founds his right to the crown upon the grant of his relative 
 Edward the Confessor. The Domesday Bool was not compiled 
 until near the close of William's reign (about the year 1 086), yet 
 in it he is not spoken of as a conqueror. " Throughout the Sur- 
 vey,^'' says Sir Henry Ellis, "Harold is constantly spoken of as 
 the usurper of the realm : ' quaado regnum invasiV Once only is 
 it said ' quando regnahat.'' Of William it is as constantly said, 
 ' postquam venit in Angliam,' after he came to England. Once only 
 does the expression occur, ' W. rex conquisivit Angliam,' when he 
 conquered or acquired England."" But whatever were William's 
 rights and original intentions, it was impossible that he could long 
 reign over England as a constitutional monarch. It was not likely 
 that the great chiefs who survived the battle of Hastings would long 
 submit to the rule of a stranger — hosts of foreigners would neces- 
 sarily be introduced into the court, and this, as in the reign of the 
 Confessor, would be a continual source of heartburning and jealousy 
 — and, above all, the followers of the King were to be rewarded, and 
 this could only be done by depriving the Saxon noblemen of their 
 patrimonies. When William won the battle of Hastings, he bid 
 farewell to peace for ever. His subsequent history was a continued 
 series of entanglements and broils. One chieftain after another, 
 one district and then another, became restless under his rule ; each 
 
 » General Introduction to Domesday, vol. i. p. 311. In all probability "William 
 obtained the title of Conqueror from the Latin word conquiro, wliich in its legal 
 acceptation signified to acquire. It is stiU used in this sense by the Scottish lawvers. 
 
THE SEQUEL. 155 
 
 he crushed in succession. At length he hecame in the strict sense 
 of the word the Conqueror. He ruled by the sword alone. His 
 own Norman barons, and even his brother Odo, felt the weight of 
 his iron hand ; but it fell with peculiar force upon his native-bom 
 subjects. The writer in the Saxon Chronicle, speaking from his 
 own knowledge, says of William, " He was a very wise and a great 
 man, and more honoured and more powerful than any of his pre- 
 decessors. He was mild to those good men who loved God, but 
 
 severe beyond measure towards those who withstood his will 
 
 He was a very stem and wrathful man, so that none durst do any- 
 thing against his will, and he kept in prison those earls who 
 
 acted against his pleasure Truly there was much trouble in 
 
 these times, and very great distress; he caused castles to be 
 
 built, and oppressed the poor He made large forests for the 
 
 deer, and enacted laws therewith, so that whoever killed a hart or 
 a hind should be blinded. He loved the tall stags as if he had 
 been their father. The rich complained and the poor murmured, 
 but he was so sturdy that he recked nought of them ; they must 
 will all that the king willed, if they would live ; or would keep 
 their lands ; or would hold their possessions ; or would be main- 
 tained in their rights. Alas ! that any man should so exalt him- 
 self, and carry himself in his pride over all !"" Ingulph speaks of 
 the entire subjugation of the English people, and of their system- 
 atic exclusion from offices of honour. '' Many of the chief men of 
 the land, for some time, offered resistance to "William, the new 
 " Saxon Chronicle, Bohn's edition, p. 462. 
 
156 THE SEaXJEL. 
 
 king, but, being afterwards crushed by his might and overcome, 
 
 they at last submitted to the sway of the Normans So 
 
 inveterately did the Normans at this period detest the English, 
 that, whatever the amount of their merits might be, they were ex- 
 cluded from all dignities ; and foreigners who were far less fitted, 
 be they of any other nation whatever under heaven, would have 
 been gladly chosen instead of them."* Henry of Huntingdon uses 
 language which the English of the present day, accustomed as they 
 are to rear their heads proudly among the nations, can hardly un- 
 derstand. " In the twenty-first year of the reign of King William, 
 when the Normans had accomplished the righteous will of God on 
 the English Nation, and there was now no prince of the ancient 
 regal race living in England, and all the English were brought to 
 a reluctant submission, so that it was a disgrace even to be called an 
 Miglishman, the instrument of Providence in fuMUing its designs 
 was removed from the world. " '' " Many of the people, " as Holinshed 
 tells us, " utterly refusing such an intolerable yoke of thraldom as 
 was daily laid upon them, chose rather to leave all, both goods 
 and lands, and after the manner of outlaws, got them to the woods 
 with their wives, children, and servants, meaning from henceforth 
 to Hve upon the spoils of the country adjoining, and to take what- 
 soever came next to hand." 
 
 Notwithstanding the heavy pressure of these evils good ensued. 
 The political tempest resulted in the increased purity, health, and 
 peace, of the national atmosphere. 
 
 " Ingulph's Chionicle, p. 140. " Henry of Huntingdon, vol. i. p. 21G. 
 
THE SEUUEL, 157 
 
 William established a strong government. Had Harold been 
 unopposed from -witliout, he would have had rivals from within the 
 nation. The opposition of his own brother Tostig was biit a pre- 
 lude of what the general result of his reign would have been. 
 Ambitious men, such as Edwin and Morcar, the Earls of Mercia 
 and Northumbria, would on the least provocation have espoused 
 the cause of Edgar Atheling, and by rendering the land a scene 
 of internal discord, have made it an easy prey to new bands of 
 adventurers from Denmark, Norway, Flanders, and France, Wil- 
 liam, by the vigour, and even harshness of his rule, quelled inter- 
 nal dissension, and bid defiance to foreign rivalry. 
 
 The Norman invasion hastened and perfected the establishment 
 of the feudal system in England. This system had one great de- 
 fect, which renders it unfit for the present condition of England- 
 it altogether overlooked the claims of the lower classes, who always 
 form the great bulk of the population ; still, it produced most bene- 
 ficial results in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It brought all 
 the great barons of the empire into subjection to the sovereign, and 
 by defining the corresponding duties of the mesne lords and in- 
 ferior tenants, knit the whole kingdom into one. By this unity 
 the realm was prepared to put down intestine broils, and to resist 
 foreign aggression. A way too was prepared for the elevation 
 of the lower classes. The system had but to be extended in order 
 to define the duties, and to confer corresponding privileges, upon 
 every member of the community. 
 
 Learning and civilization were greatly advanced by the Nor- 
 
158 THE SEQUEL. 
 
 man Conquest. Italy at this time was the focus of the know- 
 ledge and refinement of the world. The light kindled by the 
 genius of Attica, and nurtured by the philosophy and poetry of the 
 Augustan era, still irradiated the seven-hilled city. Britain, 
 severed from the main-land by a stormy channel, had less inter- 
 course with Eome than the nations of the continent. Though 
 William of Malmesbury may have somewhat overdrawn the state- 
 ment, still there is much truth in the picture which he gives of the 
 social condition of the Saxons at the time of the Conquest. " In 
 process of time the desire after literature and religion had decayed, 
 for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy, 
 contented with a very slight degree of learning, could scarcely 
 stammer out the words of the sacraments ; and a person who un- 
 derstood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment. The 
 nobility were given up to luxury and wantonness. The common- 
 alty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful, who 
 amassed fortunes, by either seizing on their property, or by selling 
 their persons into foreign countries ; although it be an innate 
 quality of this people to be more inclined to revelling, than to the 
 accumulation of wealth. Drinking was a universal practice, in 
 which they passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed 
 their whole substance in mean and despicable houses ; unlike Nor- 
 mans and Erench, who, in noble and splendid mansions, lived with 
 frugaUty."" There cannot be a doubt that by the introduction of 
 the refinements of life the condition of the people was improved, 
 
 » William of Malmesbury, p. 279. 
 
THE SEQUEL. 159 
 
 and that a check was given to the grosser sensualities of our nature. 
 Certain it is that learning received a powerful stimulus by the 
 conquest. At the period of the Norman invasion, a great intel- 
 lectual movement had commenced in the schools on the continent. 
 Normandy had beyond most other parts profited by it. William 
 brought with him to England some of the most distinguished orna- 
 ments of the schools of his native duchy; the consequence of 
 this was that England henceforward took a higher walk in litera- 
 ture than she had ever done before.* 
 
 Another important advantage resulting from the Conquest was ■ 
 the emancipation of the lower classes. At the period of the inva- 
 sion the great bulk of the population were in a servile condition. 
 One class of the people, the churls, were attached to the land, and 
 were transferred with it from one master to another without the 
 power of choosing their employer, or taking any steps to improve 
 their condition — another large class, the thews, were the absolute 
 property of their owners. The attempts which Alfred and some of 
 the clergy made to remedy this gigantic evil were attended with 
 but partial success. The Conquest gave it its death blow. The 
 convulsions which ensued afforded great numbers the wished-for 
 opportunity of escaping from thraldom. Many of the landowners, 
 seeing the shipwreck of their fortunes inevitable, made a virtue of 
 necessity, and manumitted their serfs. One of William's regu- 
 lations had a tendency quietly to complete Avhat was thus auspi- 
 ciously begun. He passed a law declaring that every slave who 
 •" See "Wright's Biographia Britannica, vol. ii., p. 10. 
 
160 THE SEQUEL. 
 
 had resided unchallenged a year and a day in any city or walled 
 to-\vn in the kingdom, should be free for ever.* This law became a 
 door of hope to many, and in due time not one slave was left ia 
 England. It had another very beneficial effect. Men were led 
 to congregate in towns ; knowledge was promoted ; a stimulus 
 was given to the cultivation of the refinements of social life ; and 
 the commoners, strong in their numbers, were induced to assert 
 and maintain their common rights. 
 
 Even the despotic measures of the king had a beneficial influence 
 upon the lower grades of society. The thanes and aldermen of the 
 Confessor's days being deprived of their lands, were glad to hold a 
 small portion of them as the inferior tenants of the great Norman 
 barons. Hence sprung the yeomanry of England, who, in days of 
 difficulty and danger, have often proved themselves the mainstay 
 of the country. The Saxon noblemen, in descending from their 
 high estate, brought with them their independence of feeling and 
 high spirit. They were chastened but not crushed. They not only 
 maintained their own freedom of thought, but infused a portion of 
 their energy into the newly emancipated class below them. For- 
 merly the difference in social position between the landed proprie- 
 tor and the tiller of the soil was so great, that there could be little 
 friendly intercourse between them, and no tinity of interest ; but 
 now, by the formation of a middle class, the two extremes 
 of society were linked together, and all classes placed in a 
 position to benefit the rest, as well as to be benefited by them. 
 
 ' Would not the United States of America do well to notice this ? 
 
THE SEQUEL. 161 
 
 The hope of rising in the social scale now dawned upon the lower 
 orders. 
 
 Another signal benefit resulted from the Conquest. It brought 
 to our English soil a host of men renowned in their own persons 
 and those of their descendants for all that is great in art and 
 arms, for all that is noble in knightly enterprise and chivalric 
 feeling. Strike out from the page of history the deeds of the 
 Montfords, the Marmions, the Warrens, the Nevilles, the Percys, 
 the Beauchamps, the Bruces, the Balliols, the Talbots, the Cliffords, 
 and a host of others who fought with William at Hastings, or 
 followed in his wake, what a blank would be left. True, they 
 were not always found contending on the side of liberty and truth ; 
 but, on the whole, they contributed to the developement of Eng- 
 land's liberties and enlightenment and power, and left an example 
 of indomitable energy and manly bearing which mankind to the 
 latest ages will do well to copy. 
 
 One other view of the subject we must take. England required 
 chastisement, but shall the oppressor on that account go free ? The 
 chroniclers most favourable to William do not conceal the harshness 
 and eovetousness which disfigured the latter part of his reign. 
 They tell us, too, of the evils which afflicted his age, and pursued 
 him beyond the tomb. His eldest son rose in rebellion against 
 him. Many of his own nobles joined the undutiful youth ; even 
 his beloved wife Matilda favoured him. In the Few Forest, 
 which he had wrongfully appropriated to his own pleasures, his 
 son Eichard was slain, during his lifetime. His son William, 
 
 X 
 
162 THE SEaUEL. 
 
 who succeeded him, came to a violent end in the same place. A 
 grandson also is said to have perished in it. Whilst ravaging 
 Mantes, in revenge for an idle jest, he met with his own death 
 stroke. ^o sooner had he ceased to breathe than his lifeless 
 body was forsaken by his family and domestics. When all that 
 remained of the once potent William was about to be committed 
 to the tomb, the man from whom he had wrested the site forbade 
 his burial ; some of the bystanders ' of their charity ' satisfied the 
 claim, and the Conqueror was laid in an eleemosynary grave. At a 
 subsequent period that grave was violated, and his bones dispersed. 
 His followers, bent upon enriching themselves at the expense 
 of justice, did not escape. Many of them rose in rebellion, and 
 were crushed. Others suffered in the troubles which ensued upon 
 his death. In the struggle between Stephen and Matilda, dread- 
 ful was the havoc committed upon the followers of William and 
 their children. During the Wars of the Eoses, nearly all the 
 great families founded at the Conquest suffered calamities differing 
 little in kind or degree from those which the victors of Hastings 
 inflicted upon the old nobility of the land. History gives emphasis 
 to the divine injunction, " Fret not thyself because of evil doers, 
 neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity : for they 
 shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE K.—Page 4. 
 The authority for the odd story of the Duke of Normandy's courtship is the fol- 
 lowing passage in the Chronicle of Tom-s, quoted in the EncyolopmcHa Metropolitana, 
 Vol. xi., p. 527, n. 
 
 " Tunc Guillelmus, Dux Normanniae, Mathildam, flliam Balduini Comitis Flandriee 
 duxit in uxorem in hunc modum. Cum ipsa a Patre suo de sponso recipiendo saspius 
 rogaretur, eique Guillelmus Normannicus a Patre, qui cum longo tempore nutrierat, 
 prse aliis laudaretur, respondit, nunquam Nothum reoipere semaritum. Quo audito, 
 Guillelmus Dux clam apud Brugis, ubi puella ruorabatur, cum paucis acoelerat, 
 eamque, regredientem ab Ecclesi^ pugnis, calcibus, atque calcaribus verberet atque 
 oastigat, sicque ascenso equo in patriam remeat. Quo facto, puella dolens ad lectum 
 decubat ; ad quam Pater veniens illam de sponso recipiendo interrogat at requirit ; 
 quae respondens dixit se nunquam habere maritum nisi Guillelmum Ducem Nor- 
 mannise ; quod et factum est." 
 
 NOTE B.—Facfe 5. 
 
 As the following letter of M. Thierry's is less accessible to the English reader 
 than most of the documents connected with the Bayeux Tapestry it is here given in 
 full. It is addressed to M. de la Eontenelle de Vaudor^ : — 
 
 " MoirsiETTE, — Pardonnez-moi derepondre bien tard a unedemande qui, venant de 
 vous, m'honore infiniment. Vous desirez savoir ce que je pense des Recherches et 
 conjectures de M. Bolton Corney swr la tapisserie de Bayeux ; je vais vous le dire, 
 en aussi peu de mots et aussi nettement que je le pourrai. L' opinion soutenue par 
 M. Bolton Corney comprend deux theses principales : 1° que la tapisserie de Bayeux 
 n'est pas un don de la reine Mathilde, ni meme un don fait an chapitre de cette ville 
 par un autre personne ; qu'elle a ete fabriqu^ pour I'eglise cathedrale de Bayeux, 
 BUT I'ordre et aux frais du chapitre; 2° que ce venerable monument n'est pas con- 
 temporain de la conqu^te de I'Angleterre par les Normands, mais qti'il date du 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 temps ou la Normandie se trouvait reunie a la France. De ces deux theses, la 
 premiere me semble vraie de toute evidence, la seconde est inadmissible. 
 
 " La tradition qui attribuait a la reine Mathilde la piece de tapisserie conservee 
 a Bayeux, tradition, du reste, assez recente, et que I'abbe de La Eue a refutee, n'est 
 plus soutenue par personne. Quant a la seconde question, celle de savoir si cette 
 tapisserie fut ou non un present fait a I'eglise de Bayeux, M. Bolton Comey la 
 resout negativement, et d'une fagon qui me semble peremptoire. An silence des 
 anoiens inventaires de I'eglise il joint des preuves tiroes du monument lui-meme, 
 et d^montre avec evidence que ses details portent une empreinte tres-marquee de 
 looalite, que la conquete de I'Angleterre par les Normands y a ete consideree en 
 quelque sorte au point de vue de la viUe et de I'eglise de Bayeux. Tin seul eveque 
 y figure, et c'est celui de Bayeux, tres-souvent en scene et quelquefois designe par 
 son seul titre : episcopus. De plus, parmi les personnages laiques qui figurent a 
 cote du due Guillaume, pas un ne porte un nom historique. Les noms qui re- 
 viennent sans cesse sent ceux de Turold, Wadard et Vital, probablement connus et 
 chdris a Bayeux, car les deux derniers, Wadard et Vital, sont inscrits sur le Domes- 
 day-Book, au nombre des feudataires de I'eglise de Bayeux, dans les comtes de 
 Kent, d'Oxford, et de Lincoln. Si Ton joint a ces raisons celles que M. Bolton 
 Comey deduit de la forme et de I'usage particuliers du monument, il c st impossible 
 de ne pas croire avec lui que la tapisserie fut commandee par le chapitre de Baj-cux 
 et executee pour lui. 
 
 "Je passe a la seconde proposition, savoir que la tapisserie de Baj"eux fut exe- 
 cutee apres la reunion de la Normandie a la France. Cette hypothese n'exige pas 
 une longue refutation, car I'auteur du memoire la fonde sur une seule preuve, 
 I'emploi du mot Franci pour designer I'armee normande. ' Guillaume de Poitiers, 
 dit-il, appelle ceux qui faisaient partie de I'arm^e Normanni, des Normands; la ta- 
 pisserie les nomme toujours Franci, des Franqais. Je eonsid^re cela commc une 
 bdvue indicative du temps ou le monument a ete execute.' II n'y a la aucune bevue, 
 ni rien quipuisse faire presumer que la tapisserie de Bayeux n'est pas contemporaine 
 de la conquete de I'Angleterre par les Normands. En effet, les Anglo-Saxons 
 avaient coutume de designer par le nom de Franqais fFVencan, Frencisce men) tons 
 les habitants de la Gaule, sans distinction de province ou d'origine. La Chronique 
 saxonne, dans les miUe endroits ou elle parle des chefs et des soldats de I'armee nor- 
 mande, les appelle Fran^ais. Ce nom servait en AngleteiTe a distinguer les con- 
 querants de la population indigene, non-seulemeut dans le langage usuel, mais encore 
 dans celui des acts legaux. On lit dans les lois de GuiUaume-leyConquerant, a 
 r article dumeurtre, ces mots : Ki FVanceis occist, et, dans la version latine de ces lois: 
 
APPENDIX. 165 
 
 Si Frandgena interfectus fuerit. L'emploi du mot Franci au lieu de JVormanni, 
 ne prouve done point que la tapisserie de Bayeux date d'un temps posterieur a la 
 eonquete. S'il prouve quelque chose, c'est que la tapisserie a eti execut^e non en 
 Normandie, mais en Angleterre, et que c'est a des ouvriers ou ouvri^res de ce der- 
 nier pays que le chapitre de Bayeux a fait sa commande. 
 
 " Cette opinion, que je soumets au jugement des archeologues, est confirmee 
 d'aiUeurs par I'orthographe de certains mots et par l'emploi de certaines lettres 
 dans leslegendes du monument. On y trouve, j usque dans le nom du due Guilluame 
 et dans celui de la ville de Bayeux, des traces de prononciation anglo-saxonne : 
 Jffie Wido adduxit Haroldum ad Wilgelmum normannorum ducem ; Willem venit 
 Bagias ; c'est le g saxon qui figure ici avec sa consonance hie. Wilgelm, pour 
 Wilielm, Bagias pour Bayeux. La dipthongue ea, I'une des particularites de 
 rorthographe anglo-saxon, se rencontre dans les legendes qui offrent le nom du 
 roi Edward : Sic portatv/r corpus Eadwaedi. TJne autre legende presente cette in- 
 dication de lieu, correctement saxonne : Ut foderetur castellum at Hestenca casiea. 
 Enfln le nom de Gurth (prononcez Gheurth), fr^re du roi Harold, est orthographie 
 avec trois lettres saxonnes : le g, ayant le son de ghe Vy, ayant le son d'ew, et le d 
 harre, exprimant I'une des deux consonnances que les Anglais figurent aujourd'hni 
 par th. 
 
 "Ainsi, je crois, avec la majorite des savants qui ont eerit sur la tapisserie de 
 Bayeux, que cette tapisserie est contemporaine du grand evenement qu'elle repre- 
 sente; je pense, avec M. Bolton Corney, qu'elle a ete executee sur I'ordre et aux frais 
 du chapitre de Bayeux; j'ajoute, pour ma part de conjectures, qu'elle fut ouvree en 
 Angleterre et par des mains anglaises, d'apres un plan venu de Bayeux. 
 
 " Agreez, Monsieur, 1' assurance de ma consideration la plus distinguee. 
 
 "AUG. THIERET. 
 •'Ze 25 juin 1843." 
 
 NOTE C.—Fage 25. 
 In the Northumberland Pipe Rolls,'- we have an interesting trace of Edgar 
 Atheling. — He had been owing the crown 20 marks of silver, probably for the right to 
 institute some law proceeding. Of this sum he paid 10 marks to the Sheriff of 
 Northumberland in 1157 or 1158, and the remainder in the following year. Ten 
 jears later he paid 2 marks to the crown for the right to bring some plea. At this 
 time he must have been about 120 years of age. He came with his father to Eng- 
 land in 1057, as a child; supposing him to have been 10 years of age at this period, 
 
 » Hodgson's Northumberland, Vol. 111., Portiii., pp. 3,11. 
 
166 APPENDIX. 
 
 ho would be of the great age already mentioned at the time the last payment was 
 made. How much longer he lived there is no evidence to show. The exact place 
 of his residence, at this time, is not known. Edlingham Castle, situated about six 
 miles to the south-west of Alnwick, has, upon the supposition that the neighbour- 
 ing village of Edlingham takes its name from him (^theling's ham), been by some 
 considered to be the spot. 
 
 NOTE D.—Page 87. 
 
 The appearances presented on the examination of the remains of St. Cuthbert in 
 Durham Cathedral are in consistency with the opinion that the mitre was not in 
 . vogue in Saxon times. Before the body of the saint was put in the shrine in 1104, 
 it was inspected. Reginald, who gives us an account of the circumstance, says, 
 " Upon the forehead of the holy bishop there is a fillet of gold, not woven work, and 
 of gold only externally, which sparkles with most precious stones of different kinds, 
 scattered all over its surface."" In 1827, when the remains were again examined, 
 Mr. Eaine tells us, "The seidl of the saint was easily moved from its place; and 
 when this Avasdone, we observed on the forehead, and apparently constituting apart 
 of the bone itself, a distinct tinge of gold of the breadth of an ordinary fillet." 
 It would thus seem that a gilded fillet was the only mitre, if such it can be called, 
 which St. Cuthbert wore. 
 
 » liaincB St. Cuthlert, p 88. 
 
 I'INIS. 
 
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