or agreement of Times or Actions by the few and mean Authors of those barbarous and illiterate Ages and perhaps the rough course of those lawless Times and Actions would have been too ignoble a Subject for a good Historian About the Year 8 o. after many various Events and Revolutions between the several Races of the Heptarchy Ecbert descended from the West-Saxon Kings having inherited most of the Successions from the Prowess and Exploits of his Ancestors and acquired others by his own became the first sole King or Monarch of England as it now was distinguished from the Principality of Wales possessed by the old Britains and from that part of the Island to the North of Tweed possessed by the Picts and Scots and by the Saxons stiled by one common Name of Scotland This famous Adventure of the Saxons in England was atchieved by the Force and Confluence of such Multitudes from the Coasts of Germany which lie between the Belgick and Baltick Shores that some Parts of their Native Countries were left almost dispeopled to fill again by new Swarms from the great Northern Hive and the Number of Saxons and Angles Iutes and other Nations that came over were not only sufficient to Conquer and Wast this whole Province but even to Plant and People it soon again with numerous and new Inhabitants So as by them succeeded in this Island not only a Change of Government as by the Roman Arms but a Change of the very People or Nation that inhabited or possessed the Lands of this whole Province This induced a Change likewise of Names of Language of Customs of Laws of Arms of Discipline of Possessions of Titles of Religion and even of the whole Face of Nature through this whole Kingdom So as we may justly date the Original of all these amongst us as well as our Nation it self from these our Saxon Ancestors Britain which was before a Roman Province was now grown a Saxon Kingdom and instead of its former Name was called England The Language which was either Latin or British was now grown wholly Saxon or English The Land that was before divided into Roman Colonies or Governments was so now into Shires with Names given to them by the Saxons as they first possessed or afterwards thought fit to distinguish them The Habits in Peace and Arms in War the Titles of Officers in both as well as of great Counsellors to their Kings or great Proprietors of Lands came to be all according to the Saxon Forms and Usage The Laws of this Country which before were Roman changed now into Old Saxon Customs or Constitutions Their Princes or Leaders of their several Nations became Konings or Kings of the Territories they had subdued They reserved part of the Lands to themselves for their Revenue and shared the rest among their chief Commanders by great Divisions and among their Soldiers by smaller shares The first who had the great Divisions were called Earls or Barons those of the smaller were Knights and the smallest of all were Freemen who possessed some Proportions of free Lands and were thereby distinguished from the Villens that held nothing but at the Will of the Landlord In this universal Transformation Religion it self had a share like all the rest and received new Forms and Orders with the new Inhabitants whilst all that was Roman or British expired together in this Country The Britains began early to receive the Christian Faith and as is reported from some of the Disciples themselves And this was so propagated among them that when the Romans left the Province they were generally Christians and had their Priests and Bishops from the ancient and Apostolick Institution The Saxons were a sort of Idolatrous Pagans that worshipped several Gods peculiar to themselves among whom Woden Thor and Frea were the chief which left their Memory still preserved by the common names of three days in the Week This Religious Worship they introduced with them and continued long in England till they subdued the Britains reduced it under their Heptarchy of Saxons Kings persecuted the British Christians and drove them with their Religion into Wales where they continued under their Primitive Priests and Bishops who with their Monks were all under the Surintendance of one Arch-Priest or Bishop of Carleon or Chester the Bound of the British Principality About the year 600. or soon after Pope Boniface sent Austin the Monk to Preach the Gospel in England to the Heathen Saxons who landing at Dover was received with Humanity by Ethelbert King of the South Saxons and being admitted with four or five of his Companions as well-meaning Men to teach and explain the Doctrin and Mysteries of Christianity among these ignorant and barbarous People they so well succeeded that they converted at first great numbers of the common sort and at length the King himself whose example gave easie way for introducing the Christian Faith into his whole Kingdom which from thence spread into all the Countries subject to the Saxon Heptarchy Thus Religion came to be Establish'd in England under the Rites and Forms and Authority of the Roman Church by which Austin was instituted chief Bishop in England and seated by the Saxon King at Canterbury But his Jurisdiction though admitted in all the Saxon Territories was not received by the British Priests or People in Wales though endeavoured by many missions from Austin and his Successors and even by Wars and Persecutions of the Saxons upon the Old British Christians at the instigation of the New Romish Priests in one of which near Carleon Twelve Hundred of the poor British Monks are said to have been slaughtered while they were apart in the Field at their Prayers for the success of the British Army With this Account of a new face and state of Persons and of Things both Natural Civil and Religious establish'd in England I return to the Period I left of the Saxon Heptarchy which being extinguish'd by long and various Revolutions among themselves made way for the Reign of Ecbert the first sole King or Monarch of England about the year 830. It might have been reasonably expected that a wise and fortunate Prince at the Head of so great a Dominion and so brave and numerous a People as the English after the Expulsion of the Picts and Scots out of his Country into the rough Northern Parts and of the Britains into the North-west Corners of the Island should not only have enjoyed the Fruits of Peace and Quiet but left much Felicity as well as greatness to many succeeding Generations both of Prince and People Yet such is the instability of Human Affairs and the weakness of their best Conjectures That Ecbert was hardly warm in his united Throne when both he and his Subjects began to be alarmed and perplexed at the approach of new and unknown Enemies and this Island exposed to New Invasions About this time a mighty Swarm of the Old Northern Hive who had possessed the Seats about the Baltick
of their Liberties and even as an Affectation of an Arbitrary Power in this Particular and from the Exercise whereof he was only restrained by the Regards of his Safety and Interest in others of more Moment and Consequence The great Nobles resented it yet further as an Indignity by levelling their Privileges with the Liberties of the Commoners from whom they esteemed themselves distinguished by the usual Regards and Respects paid them from the Princes in their Degree as well as from the People Nor does it appear whether this violent Institution of the Forrest Laws proceeded from his passionate Love of hunting the only Pleasure to which this Prince was addicted or from his Avarice by so many Fines to encrease his Treasure or from a Desire of being absolute and arbitrary in one Part of his Government which he found he could not be with any Safety in the rest For his Partiality to the Normans though it was disguised or at least not evident in the common Forms of his Justice which run a free and even Course yet it was easily discovered in that of his Graces and Favour the Civil Offices Ecclesiastical Benefices Places of most Trust about his Person and in his Realm were conferred generally upon his Normans and besides these Advantages and those of the Forfeitures that fell upon his Entrance they appeared to have his Countenance his Conversation his Confidence so that whatsoever the English possessed of the Kingdom the Normans alone seemed to possess the King This might have been more excusable if the English had considered the King as much as themselves and many of his Circumstances as well as their own They were Strangers to him or but new Acquaintance they differed in Language in Manners in Customs they had very lately differed in Interest and from Enemies in War were indeed now become Subjects but rather as to a Conqueror than a lawful Prince The Normans spoke his Native Tongue were trained up in the same Customs acquainted with his Person from his Youth had attended him in his Court followed him in his Wars at Home and Abroad and thought it but just they should share in his Fortunes as they had in his Dangers However many of the great aspiring Spirits among the English Nobles could not bear this Partiality of the Kings They thought the Normans ought to be provided of Rewards or Honours in Normandy but those of England should be conferred upon English Besides they resented the common Testimonies of his Inclination to the Normans as much as they could have done Injuries to themselves like generous Lovers who are more jealous and spited to see their Rivals gain the Inclination of their Mistress than the Possession and had rather they should have her Body than her Heart Upon all these Causes the Discontents of many chief English Nobles and Prelates were grown to such a Height swelling more within the more they were suppressed that they wanted only a fair Occasion to draw them to a Head and make them break out with Violence and much Pain and Danger to the State This furnish'd them either by Fortune or Design in the third fourth or fifth Year of the Conqueror's Reign for the Authors are neither distinct nor agreed in assigning the Causes or the Times of this King's Actions in War or Institutions in Peace by which their true Nature and that of the Prince would have been best discovered whereas they content themselves to display their Eloquence or vent their Passions by relating general or particular Events what was done and what was suffered in his Reign by which some of the Norman Writers endeavonr to represent him as a God and some of the English like a Devil and both unjustly Edgar Atheling was Nephew to Edward the Confessor and the undisputed as well as undoubted Heir of the Kingdom from the Saxon Race It was generally thought that he had likewise been designed by King Edward a just and pious Prince to succeed him in the Throne and that his Declaration pretended by Harold or Testament by the Duke of Normandy were fictitious or at least neither of them evident from any clear and undoubted Writings or Testimonies Edgar was besides from the Bounty of his Nature the Excellence of his Temper the Prerogative of his Birth and the Compassion of his unjust Fortunes much and generally beloved and esteemed among all the English both Nobles and Commons yet he neither opposed Harold's Usurpation nor the Normans Conquest whether for want of Spirit to attempt so great an Adventure or upon Prudence not to oppose such Powers as he found unresistable and in which so many Circumstances had conspired choosing rather to content himself with the Shades of a private Condition out of Danger and Envy or at least to attend some future Occasions that might open a more probable Way to his Hopes and his Fortunes He was at London among many other Nobles when the famous and decisive Battle was fought at Hastings and the News brought of the Duke's Victory and of Harold's Death Those of the Nobles who were for opposing the Conqueror were for declaring Edgar Atheling King the Citizens of London were at first disposed to the same Resolution but the Bishops and Clergy who had the greatest Sway among both those Orders prevailed in this general Council for a general Submission to the Fate of the Kingdom In Pursuance of this Resolution Edgar Atheling with Stigand and Alred Archbishops of Canterbury and York Edwin and Morchar two of the greatest English Lords the rest of the Nobles and Bishops who had attended the Victorious Duke upon his Way to London was well received by him and treated with Bounty as well as Humanity so that the young Prince attended frequently at Court accompanied the King into Normandy returned with him into England and lived there for some time like one who had forgot his Birth and his Title though they were by the English well remembred But at length either weary of Rest or roused by other Spirits more unquiet than his own he resolved or at least pretended to make a Journey into Hungary where he was born during his Father's Exile had lived long and was much beloved He embarqued for Flanders with his two Sisters Margaret and Christine but forced by a Storm and contrary Winds or allured by fairer Hopes he was driven upon the Coasts of Scotland the first was given out but the last suspected from the Event of this Voyage He was received by Malcolm the King with great Kindness and Compassion of his Disasters both at Sea and Land was resorted to by all the Nobles and Gentlemen who had sheltered themselves in that Kingdom upon Hate or Fear of the Conquest in England and was by them acknowledged and honoured as the true lawful Heir of that Crown Soon after his Arrival the King of Scotland enflamed either with the Beauty of the young Lady or with the Hopes of her Brother's Fortunes or upon former Concert with the
much admired in this Action being said to have stood firm at a Breach made in the Wall and with his Sword to have cut of the Heads of many Normans as they pressed to enter and could do it but one by one by the Narrowness of the Breach so bravely defended After this Defeat and the Surrender of York Edgar retired into Scotland with those of his Dependants who were most desperate and impatient of the Norman Conquest The rest of the English Nobles who had escaped the Battel submitted themselves to the King and came in upon publick Faith took a new Oath of Allegiance and were thereupon all pardoned and many restored not only to their Estates but to Favour with the King who had found Erick the Forrester that had first rebelled against him after his Coronation express great Fidelity after his Pardon obtained and perform good Service in this Northern Expedition He made Gospatrick Earl of Northumberland and employed him against the Dangers and Incursions he apprehended from the Scotch He was so charmed with the Valour and Constancy that Waltheof had shewed in the Defence of York though so much to his Cost and the Loss of so many Normans by his Sword that he resolved to gain him at what Rate soever he valued himself showing the Nobleness of his own Courage and Virtue by loving and honouring them in his Enemies He married this young Gentleman to Iudith his Niece gave him great Possessions besides those to which he was Heir and used him with much Confidence which was for some time returned with Service and with Faith Most of the other Nobles that came in upon Pardon of their Lives he despoiled of their Estates and Offices and bestowed them upon his Norman Friends and Followers some he kept Prisoners whom he thought most dangerous as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and Edwin a Man of the greatest Power and Dependences whose Earldom and great Possessions in Yorkshire were given to Alain Earl of Britain as were those of several others at the same time to others of his Kindred or Friends In the room of Stigand he made Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury an Italian born but an Abbot in Normandy a Person of great Wisdom and Temper as well as Learning Thomas his Chaplain he made Archbishop of York and obtained the Approbation of the Pope for their Succession in those Sees during the Lives of the other two upon Representation of other Crimes or at least Vices besides their Rebellion against a King whose Title had been confirmed by the Pope as well as encouraged 'T is not agreed at what Time the Danish Fleet arrived upon the Coasts but 't is certain they entered Humber with about two hundred Sail some write that they returned again without making any Attempt upon the Shore that their Commanders were enriched with great presents from the King and their Soldiers supplied with Provisions and all treated rather like Friends than Enemies whether their Arrival out of Time made them despair of any Success and whether that were occasioned by cross Winds at Sea or cross Purposes in the Danish Court is not well known For William the Conqueror after he was seated in the Throne feared no Insult from abroad but by Danish Powers and Pretensions they had still upon England and the Preparations as was divulged abroad of Swain their King for invading it with a Navy of a thousand Ships Hereupon he endeavoured to ward this Blow by slight rather than Force thinking his Safety on that side better purchased with Treasure than with Blood He practised private Intelligences in the Danish Court and by Force of Presents and Pensions gained to his Devotion some Persons of Credit and among the rest Adelbert Archbishop of Hamburg a Man of great Authority in those Parts and whose Advices were much used and esteemed by the Danish King It was believed the Artifices and Practices of these Men eluded the first great Design of a mighty Invasion changed it into an Assistance of the discontented here with smaller Forces delayed them till the Time was past and disposed their Commanders to return without Action and their Master to receive their Excuses with Approbation or at least with Impunity Yet there are other Writers who say the Danes landed in England made great Spoils joyned Prince Edgar's Forces wintered in this Kingdom and returned in the Spring by the King 's private Practices and Rewards among the Commanders as well as Bounty to the Soldiers The King after having established his Affairs in the North returned triumphant to London where the first Action he performed was to take a new personal Oath before Lanfranc the new Archbishop and all the Lords then present in that City to observe the ancient Laws of the Realm established by the Kings of England his Predecessors and particularly those of Edward the Confessor This Action of the Kings was the more applauded and the better accepted by the English because it was unconstrained by any Necessity of his Affairs or Appearance of any new Dangers against which he might have Reason to provide And 't is certain his Oath taken at his Coronation of preserving the ancient Laws of the Realm had been the chief Occasion of his Safety in the late and dangerous Convulsion of the State together with the ill chosen Time of the Scotch Invasion and the Revolt of the Lords in Favour of Edgar For if such Attempts had been made soon after the Conquest while the Minds of the People were generally in Motion and in Fear of what might succeed to the Danger of their Properties and their ancient Liberties upon that new Revolution his Throne had not been only shaken but in evident Danger of being overthrown by such a violent Concussion But the People having lived quietly some Years under the Protection of their ancient Laws and in an equal Course of known and common Justice grew indifferent to the Change which had been made in the Rights or Succession of the Crown or to any new one that might succeed Besides though they were well affected to Edgar yet they disliked the Company with which he came attended and hated the Entrance of a Scotch Army into England more than they loved Edgar They thought if he succeeded the Dominion would fall under the Scotch whilst he only retained the Name and if they must be governed by Strangers the best was to have those they were already used to and so feared least The common Subjects of a Kingdom are not so apt to trouble themselves about the Rights and Possession of a Crown as about their own and seldom engage in the Quarrels of the first but upon some general and strong Apprehensions that the last are in Danger So the Discontents and Insurrections of the Nobles in England though encouraged and supported by forreign Forces yet failed of Success against this new King and his Government because they were not followed by any general Commotion or Sublevation of the People
which left all safe and quiet in the Southern Parts and main Body of the Kingdom whilst he marched with his Army against his Enemies in the North Nor is the Safety of a Prince so firm and well established upon any other Bottom as the general Safety and thereby Satisfaction of the common People which make the Bulk and Strength of all great Kingdoms whenever they conspire and unite in any common Passion or Interest For the Nobles without them are but like an Army of Officers without Soldiers and make only a vain Show or weak Noise unless raised and encreased by the Voice of the People which for this Reason is in a common Latin Proverb called the Voice of God No Prince ever made greater or happier Experience of this Truth than William the Conqueror both in the Events of the last and formidable Dangers which he so easily surmounted and in the whole Course of his subsequent Reign which was infested by many new Troubles either in England or in Normandy that would have proved fatal to him if he had been distracted by the common Discontents or Insurections of his English Subjects for his present Calm was not of long Continuance the Clouds soon gathered again and threatned another Storm and from the same Winds by which the last had been raised Malcolm King of Scotland still persisted in the Envy and Fear of his neighbouring Power and Greatness still esteemed it his own Interest to joyn with those of Edgar and his Dependants in England and thereby weaken the Force or disturb the Quiet of the Norman Government in England before it should by the Favour of Time and calm Seasons take too deep Root to be afterwards shaken He raised a greater Army than before with which he threatned again to invade England and led them himself though still in Favour only of Edgar's Title and Advancement to the Crown He entered into new Practises with several of the English Nobles who had followed him though unfortunately in the last Expedition and were resolved to repair their former Losses by venturing greater rather than give over the Game Nor could the Hopes of the discontented English ever die while the Root was alive and they were fomented by the Malice and encouraged by the Forces of so powerful a Neighbour joyned with so just Pretensions as those of Edgar were generally esteemed When the Preparations in Scotland and Intelligences in England were ripe for Execution the Earl Edwin made his Escape and fled towards the North but was by the Way murdered by some of his own Retinue The Earls Morchar and Hereward who were already upon the Wing for the same Flight discouraged by this Misadventure durst not pursue it but yet already engaged too far to make a Retreat they made Way to possess themselves of the Isle of Ely fortified there the best they could and hoped the Scotch Invasion would divert the King's Forces from attempting them before Winter and that the Season and Scituation together would there cover them for some Time On the contrary the Scotch King was discouraged from beginning his March by the News of these Disasters among his Confederates in England and chose rather to send the Bishop of Durham and Earl Syward out of Scotland to relieve and animate those Lords retired to the Isle of Ely than to enter England without Hopes of their making some Diversion But the King who never feared or slighted any Dangers and knew they were like Diseases to be taken in time marched immediately with his Forces to the Isle of Ely beset it upon one side with a great Number of flat bottom Boats and on another made a Bridge of two Miles long with incredible Diligence and Labour and with such Speed as both surprised and terrified his Enemies within So as despairing of further Resistance they all submitted to the King's Mercy except Hereward who with some few Followers escaped through the Fens and through many Dangers arrived safe in Scotland The rest of the Lords were sent Prisoners to several Parts of the Kingdom where some remained during the King's Life and others dyed be-before him with whom they could not be content to live The King after this small Adventure so happily atchieved and the present Peace of his Kingdom restored yet considering the Root of all his Dangers was in Scotland and unwilling to take up present Quiet and Safety at too great an Interest of Dangers to come resolved to march into Scotland with a powerful Army and endeavour to secure himself on that Side either by a Peace or Victory He first sent Roger a Norman then Gospatrick Earl of Northumberland with Part of his Forces into the North to oppose the Scotch Army that was already entred those Provinces with great Spoils and Ravages of the Country and to keep them at a Bay till the King came up with the rest of his Army In the mean time he assembled his Forces at York with the best Choice of Men and Officers and such Numbers as he judged necessary for such an Expedition composed of English and Normans whose Emulation he encouraged with Promises of Reward and Hopes of establishing their common Safety by the Success of this Enterprise From York to Durham he met with many Hardships and Difficulties from the Wants of his Army in a Country which had been so lately wasted by the Scotch Forces and his own and with which he was then contented to prevent another Invasion But having surmounted all by his own Care and the Patience of his Men from the Example of their Leaders he marched near the Borders without any Opposition though common Fame had made him expect the Scotch would give him Battle in England and not the Trouble of so long a March. But Malcolm their King now destitute of Hopes or Assistances from any forreign Confederates or any Insurrections in England after the late Disasters of the discontented Lords began to cool the Heats of his Blood and instead of further invading England changed his Counsels and resolved only upon a defensive War At the News of King William's Entrance into the Northern Provinces he quitted Northumberland and with good Order retreated back to the Borders and there encamped his Army to the best Advantage without making any further Incursions into the English Territories either to secure his Provisions or not to provoke his Enemies and render all Terms of Reconcilement desperate or not to endanger his Retreat in Case of any Disaster The King of England approaching the Borders and thereby the Scotch Army thought fit likewise to encamp his own both to refresh his Soldiers harassed by so long and difficult a March as also to discover the Forces of the Enemy observe their Countenance their Order and their Motions and thereby judge of their Designs and direct his own to the best Advantage So that for some Days the two Armies stood at a Bay seeming both prepared for a fierce Encounter and yet both content to delay it
he had laid in an advantageous Pass he broke them killed some and put the rest to Flight then he advanced against the main Body where the King commanded and by an unnatural Chance he charged his old Father with such Fury that by the Stroak of his Launce he wounded him in the Arm and overthrew him to the Ground The King calling out upon his Fall his Son immediately knew his Voice and stung upon the sudden with the Conscience of his Crime and his Duty he leaped from his Horse raised his Father up from the Ground fell down upon his Knees begged Pardon of his Offence with Offers upon it to return to his Duty and Obedience The King moved by the same Force of Nature received his Submissions forgave him and embracing him ended an Adventure in Tears of Joy which had begun in Blood The Armies were as easily reconciled as their Leaders and all together marched to Rouen where the King was received with all Demonstrations of Joy and the Duke compliplimented upon his happy Reconcilement with his Father nor were those the last in this Croud of Rejoycers who had been the chief in promoting the Quarrel between them The King made no long Stay in Normandy dissembling the Knowledge or Resentment of what Part the French King had played in this Affair but after having re-established the Quiet and Order of the Province returned with his whole Forces into England left his Son in the Government of Normandy trusting to his Duty and the Loyalty of his Subject there as if nothing had passed to give him the least Suspicions of either A true Strain of the noble and fearless Nature of this Prince who was rather made to surmount all Dangers he encountred by brave Actions and judicious Councils than either to invite or anticipate his Misfortunes by Distrust and vain Apprehensions which are but the Distractions of weak and timorous Minds Yet this Sincereness and Confidence of the King had not the Return they deserved for Duke Robert having once tasted the Sovereign Power could not long digest any Dependance upon another Will and lying still open to the Practises of France upon his Levity and Ambition relapsed the next Year into his former Distemper and assumed again the Sovereignty of Normandy and as Duke thereof in his own Right which was again acknowledged and obeyed by the Normans The King upon the News of this second Defection in his Son and his Subjects fell into great Passion and in it is said to have cursed his Son and the Hour wherein he begat him but soon returning to himself with his usual Judgment and Composure of Mind gave present Orders for preparing a much greater Army and Navy than he had used in last Years Expedition and though both were shattered by great Storms he met with at Sea yet upon his Arrival in Normandy either the Fame of his Forces or the Lightness of his Son's Dispositions or Remorse of his Duty prevailed with Duke Robert to offer again his Submissions and Obedience to his Commands The King again received them pardoned both his Son and his revolted Subjects but forced now to more Caution than he had used before after having settled once more the Peace and Quiet of Normandy and placed the Government in safer Hands he took his Son with him into England and imployed him in the hard rough Wars of Scotland against Malcolm who upon the King's Absence and Confidence of being long detained by the Norman Revolt and Diversion of France had taken Occasion to pass the Borders with an Army and ravage the Northern Provinces of England Though Duke Robert gained no great Honour by this Expedition yet the King gained his End For the Scotch disheartned by his unexpected Return and more by his perfect Reconcilement with his Son returned home upon the Approach of the English Army and renewed the Peace which lasted the rest of the two Kings Lives About the same time incensed against the Welsh for many Inroads and Spoils upon the Frontier Counties he sent an Army against them subdued the plain and accessible Parts of their Country drove them to the fast Holds of their Mountains forced them to sue for Peace which he granted upon Homage done him by their Prince and upon Hostages given for Performance of the other Conditions This fortunate and victorious King seemed now to have passed all the tempestuous Seasons of his Life and secure of Repose for what remained which was necessary or most agreeable to the great Decline of his Age. He was at Peace with all his Neighbours obeyed and honoured by his Subjects feared by his Enemies and the Troubles of his Family were wholly appeased so that it was hard for any Man to conjecture from what Side any new Storm should arise But the Decrees of Heaven are wrapped up in the Clouds and the Events of future things hidden in the Dark from the Eyes of Mortal Men. The wisest Councils may be discomposed by the smallest Accidents and the securest Peace of States and Kingdoms may be disturbed by the lightest Passions as well as the deep Designs of those who govern them For though the wise Reflections of the best Historians as well as the common Reasonings of private Men are apt to ascribe the Actions and Councils of Princes to Interests or Reasons of State yet whoever can trace them to their true Spring will be often forced to derive them from the same Passions and personal Dispositions which govern the Affairs of private Lives as will be evident in the Sequel of this King's Reign The Normans were desirous to have a Prince of their Race reside among them the King was unwilling to venture again the ill Consequences of his Son Robert's Ambition or Inconstancy and therefore sent him over into Normandy but joyned in Commission with his youngest Son Henry whose Duty and Affection he most relied on both to observe the Actions and temper the Levity of his eldest Brother These two Princes agreed better than is usual to Associates in Power and governing the Province with Moderation and Prudence reduced Affairs there to such Order and Tranquility that having little Business at home they went to seek some Diversion abroad and made a Visit to the King of France then at Constance who received them with great Honour and Kindness and as was thought not without Design of renewing old Practises with Duke Robert to his Father's Prejudice Whatever Affairs might busie the Thoughts of that King and the Duke those of Lewis the young Dauphin and Prince Henry were taken up with the common Entertainments of Youth and of Leisure Love Hunting Play and other such Divertisements wherein the Similitude of Age and of Customs made them constant Companions It happened one Evening that the Dauphin playing at Chess at the Prince's Lodging lost a great many Games and much Money to Prince Henry and grew thereupon first into ill Humour and at length into ill Language which being returned by the
almost deserted by such numbers of Goths Vandals and Saxons as had issued out of them some Centuries before began under the Names of Danes and Normans to infest at first the Sea and at length the Lands of the Belgick Gallick and British Shores filling all where they came with Slaughters Spoils and Devastations The Normans first over-run the Belgick Provinces upon the Mouth of the Rhine and gave them new Names of Holland and Zealand to those parts adjacent to the Sea Afterwards they sailed with mighty Numbers into the Mouth of the Sean and with great fierceness subdued that Northern part of France which from them first received and ever since retained the Name of Normandy and became the State of a great Norman Duke and his Successors for several Generations In the mean time the Danes began their Inroads and furious Invasions upon the Coasts of England with mighty numbers of Ships full of fierce and barbarous People sometimes entring the Thames sometimes the Humber other times Coasting as far as Exeter Landing where-ever they found the Shores unguarded filling all with Ravage Slaughter Spoil and Devastations of the Country where they found any strong Opposition retiring to their Ships sailing home laden with Spoil and by such encouragements giving Life to new Expeditions the next Season of the Year The bravest Blood of the English had been exhausted in their own Civil Wars during the Contentions of the Heptarchy since those ended the rest were grown slothful with Peace and with Luxury softned with new Devotions of their Priests and their Monks with Pennances and Pilgrimages and great numbers running into Cloysters and grown as unequal a Match now for the Danes as the British had been for the Saxons before Yet this Century passed not without many various Successes between the two Nations many Victories and many Defeats on both sides so that twelve Battels are said to have been Fought between them in one Year The Danes divided their Force into several Camps removed them from one part of the Country to another as they were forced by necessity of Provisions or invited by hopes of new Spoils or the weakness and divisions of the English At length fortified Posts and Passages built Castles for defence of Borders one against the other which gave the beginning to those numerous Forts and Castles that were scattered over the whole Country and lasted so long as to remain many of them to this very Age. The English sometimes repulsed these Invasions sometimes purchased the Safety of their Provinces by great Sums of Money which occasioned great Exactions of their Kings upon the People and that great Discontents While the Danes encreasing still by new Supplies of Numbers and Force began to mingle among the Inhabitants of those parts they had subdued made Truces and Treaties and thereupon grew to live more peaceably under the Laws and Government of the English Kings Alfred to prevent the danger of New Invasions began to Build Ships for the Defence of his Coasts and Edgar a Prince of great Wisdom and Felicity in his Reign applying all his thoughts to the encrease and greatness of his Naval Forces as the true strength and safety of his Kingdom raised them to that height both of Numbers and Force and disposed them with that Order for the Guard of the Seas round the whole Island as proved not only sufficient to secure his own Coasts from any new Invasions but the Seas themselves from the Rovers and Spoilers of those Northern Nations who had so long infested them So that all Traders were glad to come under his Protection Which gave a rise to that Right so long claimed by the Crown of England to the Dominion of the Seas about the year 960. But these provisions for the safety of the Kingdom began to decline with the Life of Edgar and neglected in the succeeding Reigns made way for new Expeditions of the Danes who exacted new Tribute from the Kings and Spoils from the Subjects till Ethelred compounding with them for his own Safety and their peaceable living in England and fortifying himself by an Alliance with Richard Duke of Normandy laid a design for the general Massacre of the Danes spred abroad and living peaceably throughout the Realm which was carried on with that secrecy and concurrence of all the English that it was executed upon one day and the whole Nation of the Danes massacred in England about the year 1002. This cruel and perfidious Massacre of so many Thousands instead of ending the long miseries of this Kingdom from the Violences Invasions and Intrusions of the Danes made way for new and greater Calamities than before For Swane King of Denmark exasperated by the Slaughter of his Nation here and among them of his own Sister and animated by the Successes of so many private Expeditions soon after landed with great Forces formed several Camps of Danes in several parts of England filled all with Spoil and Slaughter forced Ethelred to fly for Relief into Normandy and though he returned again yet being a weak and cruel Prince and thereby ill beloved and ill obeyed by his Subjects he never recovered Strength enough to oppose the Forces and Numbers of the Danes to whom many of the English Nobles as well as Commoners had in his absence submitted Swane died before he could atchieve this Adventure but left his Son Canute in a Course of such prosperous Fortunes and the English so broken or divided that coming out of Denmark with new Forces in two hundred Ships he reduced Edmund Son of Ethelred first to a Division of the whole Kingdom between them and after his untimely Death was by the whole Nobility of the Realm acknowledged and received for King of England This fierce Prince cut off some of the Royal Line and forced others into Exile Reigned long and left the Crown for two Successions to his Danish Race who all swore to Govern the Realm by the Laws which had been established or rather digested by Edward the First and Edgar out of the Old Saxon Customs and Constitutions But Hardecaute last of the Danish Kings dying suddenly at a Feast in the year 1042. left the Race so hated by the Imposition and Exaction of several Tributes upon his People that Edward surnamed the Confessor and Grandson to Edgar coming out of Normandy where he had been long protected found an easie accession to the Crown by the general Concurrence both of Nobles and People and with great Applause restored the Saxon Race in the year 1043. Thus expired not only the Dominion but all Attempts or Invasions of the Danes in England which though continued and often renewed with mighty Numbers for above two hundred years yet left no change of Laws Customs Language or Religion nor other Traces of their Establishments here besides the many Castles they built and many Families they left behind them who after the Accession of Edward the Confessor to the Crown wholly submitting to his Government and
out for new Adventures The Duke had gained and deserved so high Esteem and general Reputation by the wise Conduct of his Government both in Peace and in War by his Justice and Bounty his Valour and his Clemency that he was renowned not only among his Subjects and his Neighbours but in the remoter Regions of Germany and Italy and found a Concurrence in this Design from many Princes his Friends and some who had been his greatest Enemies He was favoured and assisted with Money or with Soldiers by the Dukes of Britain and of Brabant the Counts of Bologne and Flanders and his ancient Competitor the Earl of Anjou By many Princes of France the most considered in that Court as the Duke of Orleans Earls of Poitou and Maine excited by the Honour of the Enterprise or Fame of the Leader at a time when the Infancy of their King gave them no hopes of Action at home and left that Crown unconcerned in what passed abroad The Emperour sent some choice Troops and experienced Commanders to serve in this Expedition and the Pope induced by the Fame of this Duke 's great Virtues and Piety in the whole Course of his Reign which had now lasted above Forty years sent him a Banner he had blessed with several Reliques and thereby was esteemed according to the Devotion of those Times to have justified his Title and even sanctified his Arms. With all these Advantages this brave Duke began and finished his mighty Preparations by a general Concurrence of his own Nobles and Subjects and a Confluence of most of the bold adventurous Spirits in his Neighbour Provinces led by the Desires of Glory or of Gains The Princes trusted his Faith and his Promises which he had never forfeited The Knights and Soldiers relyed upon his Valour and his Fortune which had never failed in the long and happy course of his Reign What the Number was of the Army he brought over into England is not distinctly related or well agreed but must be concluded to have been very great by that of the Ships wherein they were imbarqued which were between Eight and Nine Hundred Besides they were all chosen and brave Troops excellently Disciplined Commanded by gallant Officers strongly united by the Love of their Prince and encouraged by the common hatred of Harold his Enemy both at home and abroad A known Usurper cruel in his Nature of Danish Extraction and thereby ungrateful to the English a Hater of his own Blood and who had never triumphed but over his own Brother and by a bloody Victory at Stamford had lost the bravest of his Troops as he had done before the Hearts of his Subjects The Duke Landed his Army at Hastings in Sussex about the begining of October and expecting a general Submission of the English to his Right and Title pretended from the Testament of Edward the Confessor or the Desertion of Harold as an Usurper by his own Army He made at first no show of invading a Hostile Countrey but rather of encamping in his own Forbidding all injuries to any of the Inhabitants and all Spoil of the Countrey about him And so continued with his whole Army in a quiet and peaceable manner for about a Fortnight either to refresh his Troops or to expect how his Claim to the Crown and Arrival upon it would be received in England But after this Time expired he was soon rouz'd by the Approach of Harold who returned from the Defeat of his Brother and his Danish Assistants with all the Forces he had employed in that Expedition and all he could invite or collect out of the Countrey as he passed The first were standing Troops Numerous and Brave which he kept for the defence of his Person and Title knowing they were both generally hated in England The last were ill disciplined and worse affected and served only to increase the number of his Army which was very great Upon approach of his Enemies he sent Spies into the Norman Camp who were taken and courteously used by the Duke carried through all his Troops showed their Discipline and Disposal and sent back with Rewards At their return they told Harold that the Normans looked rather like an Army of Priests than of Soldiers by their great Silence and Order in their Camp as well as by their Faces being all shaved 'T is said the Duke before the Battel sent an Offer to Harold to decide the Quarrel between them by single Combat and thereby spare their Subjects Blood Which Harold refused and said he would leave it to God to determine Upon which his Brother desired him that he would not be present at the Battel because he had formerly Sworn to Duke William to assist his Title upon King Edward's Death and rather leave it to them who had a juster Cause and should Fight only for Defence of their Countrey and without Breach of Oath But the Courage of Harold was more than his Conscience and so both parts disposed their Armies for a pitched Battel next Morning After the English had passed the Night in Songs and Feasting and the Normans in much Devotion The Fight began with great Fury and equal Bravery as well as Order on both sides The English were cruelly gauled by thick Showers of Arrows from the Norman long Bows before the Battle joyned which was a Weapon then unused in England and thereby the more surprising by Wounds coming from Enemies so far out of reach and not suddenly to be revenged But when they came up to close Fight the Normans were hewed down by the English Bills which of all Weapons gives the most ghastly and deplorable Wounds Besides their Points were so strong and so close together that no Charges of the Norman Horse could break the English Ranks though the Duke assaulted them so often and with so great Bravery that he had three Horses killed under him in the Attempt But finding them continue firm He at length by a Signal caused a sudden Flight to be feigned by his Normans that were most advanced Upon which the English easily deceived by their own Courage as well as Hopes began such an eager Pursuit as by it they dissolved their Ranks that had been otherwise impenetrable Upon this Incident before expected and soon discovered by the Duke and upon another Signal given the Normans returned with greater Fury than before broke into the disordered Body of the English routed and pursued them to a rising Ground where their broken Forces made a Stand fell again into Order and encouraged by the Speeches but more by the brave Example of Harold they renewed the Fight and made a mighty Slaughter of the Normans as they endeavoured to force them against the disadvantage of the Hill which they defended The Fierceness and Obstinacy of this memorable Battel was often renewed by the Courage of the Leaders where-ever that of the Souldiers began to faint till the Normans leaving the Assault of the Hill too obstinately defended and keeping a little
is over That the King having passed some Months here in the Cares and for the Settlement of his new Dominions in England made a Journy to visit his old in Normandy about the beginning of the Summer having been crowned at Westminster on Christmas-Day Whether this was undertaken upon any Necessity of his Affairs on that side or to settle them so as not to interrupt him here where he intended to reside is not known or whether he took a Pleasure and a Pride to show both his Subjects and his Neighbours Princes how secure he esteemed himself in his new acquired Dominions but it looks like a Strain of his usual Boldness and fearless Temper and succeeded well like the rest of his Counsels and Resolutions yet was not this Journy undertaken without Prudence and Caution in the Choice of those Hands with whom he left the Government in his Absence and of those Persons he engaged to accompany him in the Voyage He committed the Rule of the Kingdom to his Brother Odon Bishop of Bayeux and to Fitz Aubar his near Kinsman whom he had lately made Earl of Hereford He took with him into Normandy Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury who though a great Instrument in his easie and peaceable Admission to the Crown yet had been discontented at his Coronation which had been perfomed by the Archbishop of York upon Pretence of some Fault or Question about the other's Investiture with him he took several other Bishops the Earls Edwin and Morchar two Persons of great Power and Dependances with many other English Noblemen of whose Faith or Affections he was the least confident and besides these he took with him a greater and much more considerable Hostage for the Quiet of England though under Color of honouring him or being honoured by his Company This was Edgar surnamed Atheling Nephew to Edward the Confessor and designed by him for Successor as was divulged among those of his Subjects that neither favoured the Right or Pretensions of Harold or the Norman Duke He had many Disadvantages to ballance and weigh down his Right which was undisputed as his foreign Birth and Breeding which was in Hungary during his Father's Exile under the Reign of Hardy-Cnute The Persecution and Hatred of his Grandmother Emma a Woman celebrated in her Time for the Suspicion and clearing of her Chastity by the Saxon Trial of Fire Ordeal but who having married Hardy-Cnute after the Death of her first Husband had ever after more Inclination to the Danish than the Saxon Race Bedsies Edgar though of so good and virtuous Dispositions as made him be stiled England's Darling yet they were such as seemed to become an excellent private Person rather than a Prince or at least to have adorned an easie and peaceful Possession of a Crown rather than to force his Way to a legal Right through the Difficulties and Opposition of two powerful Pretenders However an undisputed Right which they say never dies had left him so many Friends in the Kingdom that the King thought it not safe to leave him behind upon his going into Normandy nor wise to tempt either him or his new English Subjects with such an Opportunity of raising any Commotions upon so fair a Pretence Besides these Cautions he took with him most of his French Adventurers into Normandy finding they were not very agreeable here either to the English or to the Normans and pretending he was not able to clear his Accounts with all that assisted him out of the Revenues or Forfeitures here and that he would find out Ways of satisfying them either in Normandy or by his Credit and Recommendations to other Princes where his own Bounty or Abilities could not reach During his Stay in Normandy which was no less than the whole Summer his new Government in England continued quiet and peaceable though one Erick called the Forester endeavoured to disturb it by calling in some loose Forces of the Welsh his Neighbours into Herefordshire but he was soon suppressed and they easily forced back into their own Mountains by the Vigilance of the Governours and the Vigour of those Forces he had left here disposed with such Order into the several Countries as to give Way or Time to no growing Dangers that should arise in any one Corner or from any single Discontent while the general Humour of the People was calm and either satisfied with the Change or at a Gaze how this new World was like to end So that the King after having settled his Affairs in Normandy to his Mind returned before Winter to enjoy the Fruits of so many Dangers and Toils as his Life had been engaged in resolving to spend the remainder of it in England as the nobler Scene and greater Dominion and to cultivate with Care an Acquisition he had gained himself with much Hazard and Pains and with greater Glory The King at his Return into England finding his new Dominion had continued calm and peaceable under the Authority of his Brother and Council had Reason to believe it would be easily preserved so under his own For as the Absence of an ill Prince seldom fails of raising Disquiets and Commotions among the People in a Government which is obeyed only from Fear so nothing contributes more to the Satisfaction and Obedience of Subjects than the Presence of a good King and this is the Reason why all distant Provinces governed by Commissions or subordinate Authorities are so subject to frequent Seditions and Revolts how lawfully soever they are inherited or how well soever they are established after any new Conquest or Acquisition the Force and Influence of Authority growing still weaker by the Change of Hands and Distance of Place This disposed the new King to the Resolution he took at this time of making England the Seat of his Person as well as Empire and governing Normandy by his Lieutenants thereby forcing the common Affections of Birth or Education and Custom to yield and comply with Reasons of State and preferring a foreign to his natural Soil though perhaps seated in a better Climate and at that time more adorned and civilized by the Commerce of France and other Countries upon the Continent With this Resolution and in this Security he applied himself at his Return to the Arts of Peace and the Orders of his State wherein he as well excelled as in those of War and was framed not only for a great Prince but for a good to which he was inclined by the Bounty and Clemency of his natural Dispositions by the Strength and Soundness of his Judgment and by the Experience of his Age His first Care was to provide for the due Administration and Execution of Laws and Justice throughout his Realm and the next was to introduce Order into the common Course of his Revenue and manage it with so great Proportion of his Expence to his Receipts as might neither leave the Crown in Necessities nor the Subjects in Fears of new or lawless Exactions and Oppressions
Reign nor tempted to impose any Taxes upon his Subjects or other Duties than what were common and known and paid without Pressure or Discontent among the Commonalty of the Realm so as after all these Institutions he passed several Years in great Tranquility at home as well as Honour from all his Neighbour Princes About the thirteenth Year of his Reign he went into Normandy leaving his Brother Odon Bishop of Bayeux and created Earl of Kent his Vice-gerent in England and little apprehending any Storm after so long a Fit of fair weather or that He had left any ill Blood behind him that was like to gather to a Head with such an Inflamation and so dangerous Symptoms as soon after appeared But no Condition of Human Life is ever perfectly secure nor any Force of Greatness or of Prudence beyond the Reach of Envy and the Blows of Fortune Princes as well as private Men are often in most Danger at those Times and in those Parts they think themselves the safest as strong Towers are sometimes taken on those sides that are thought impregnable and so left undefended or little regarded This conquering King esteemed himself now at Ease for the remainder of his Life and not only safe in his own Strength but the Satisfaction of his Subjects The English he had pleased in general by the Preservation of their ancient Laws the bravest and warmest Blood of their Nobles was drawn in the Battle of Hastings or the Wars with Scotland their Power was weakened by so many Confiscations and the Retreat of many more into Scotland and Ireland The Normans were strong and numerous in England and were his own by Birth and by Interest the Ballance of these two Parties seemed the Safety of the whole and it was not to be imagined that both should combine in any Danger to the Crown Besides there was left no Pretension of any better Right or Title than his own since Edgar had laid down his not only in Shew but with firm Resolutions never to resume them But many of the English Nobles still hated the Name of a Conquest resented the Change of Forms and Language in their Laws the Introduction of any new Customs but especially the Rigor of the Forrest Laws which they knew to be arbitrary and esteemed not only a restraint of their innocent Liberties but an Indignity in particular to themselves Some of the chief Norman Lords who had obtained great Possessions by the King's Bounty and the Confiscations of the English being now invested in their Lands and their Titles began to grow fond of their Laws as the safest Tenure and though they had gained their great Estates by the Favour of the King yet they were not willing to hold them at his Pleasure and so joyned with the English Nobles in the Complaints of too great Power exercised by the King and the Jealousies of greater yet designed to the Prejudice of the ancient Constitutions of the Kingdom and Diminution of the Authority or Dependances of the Nobles Some of both Nations and equally ambitious Spirits who had been most favoured and advanced by the King yet valuing their own Merits too high or their Rewards too low thought they had nothing because they had not all they pretended esteemed the King's Favour or Bounty to any others as Injury to themselves and were as unsatisfied with what they had gained as others with what they had lost These Dispositions floating at first in the Minds of several great Nobles both English and Norman and enflamed by such of the Ecclesiasticks who had Credit in the great Families of both Nations grew at length to downright Conspiracy of dispossessing the King of his Crown and introducing the Danes who were allied to many great Lords in England and were esteemed by the Normans of the same Race with their Ancestors The chief of this Conspiracy were the Earls of Norfolk and Suffolk of greatest Power among the English Nobility Fitz-Auber a Norman of near Kindred to the King and who had assisted him with forty Ships upon his English Expedition and been recompenced with mighty Possessions in England and created Earl of Hereford The Earl Waltheof who had been pardoned his Revolt upon the Scotch Invasion married to the King's Niece and ever since intimately trusted as well as favoured by the King These entred secretly into Intelligence with Swain King of Denmark and with Harold's Sons who were still refuged in Ireland The first ingaged to invade the Northern Parts with a Navy of three hundred Sail the last by the Assistance of Drone King of Ireland to attempt the Western Coasts with sixty Ships and the discontented Lords to make a strong Insurrection in some of the Northern Provinces upon Approach of the Danish Fleet which was concerted to be soon after the Kings intended Journey into Normandy These Measures were laid with such Caution and pursued with such Secrecy that all was ready to be executed before the King in Normandy or his Ministers in England had either Notice or Suspicion of any such Dangers or Designs Fitz-Auber had asked the King's Leave some Months before his Norman Iourney to marry his Sister to the Earl of Norfolk and pretended some small Discontent at his Refusal Not long after his Departure he declared the Marriage and the Day appointed to consummate it in Norfolk with great Solemnity and the Recourse of the nearest Relations and most intimate Friends on both sides among whom were the Earl Waltheof and Eustace Earl of Bologne who came over on Purpose to assist at the Consultations here designed At this meeting all was agreed in what Parts of the Kingdom under what Leaders the several Insurrections should be made upon what Pretences and the Time appointed to be when the Danish Fleet should appear upon the Coast. But some Delays intervening which are fatal to all Conspiracies that are trusted into many Hands this was discovered some Days before the Danes arrived but by whom of the Accomplices is left uncertain though some write that it was by Earl Waltheof upon the Conscience of so great an Ingratitude to the King After the full and particular Discovery of the whole Plot and all the chief Conspirators Odon the Vice-gerent with the Assistance and Advice of the King's Council immediately dispatched away several Parties of the King 's best Troops into the several Parts where the Insurrections were intended to begin seised upon many of the Conspirators before others had Notice of the Discovery broke the rest before they could draw to a Head took Earl Waltheof and Fitz-Auber Prisoners who were beheaded upon this Occasion and many others imprisoned Whether this Execution was by the King's Command out of Normandy or by the Rigor of his Brother Odon and upon Pretence of Necessity in so dangerous a Conjuncture is not recorded but 't is agreed that these two were the only Nobles that were executed in England during the Reign of William the Conqueror notwithstanding so many Revolts