London and the Kingdom Volume I Part 2

(M36)

At Ethelred's death the Witan who were in London united with the inhabitants of the city in choosing Edmund as his successor. This is the first recorded instance of the Londoners having taken a direct part in the election of a king. c.n.u.t disputed Edmund's right to the crown, and proceeded to attack the city. He sailed up the Thames with his fleet, but being unable to pa.s.s the bridge, he dug a ca.n.a.l on the south side of the river, whereby he was enabled to carry his ships above bridge, and so invest the city along the whole length of the riverside. To complete the investment, and so prevent any of the inhabitants escaping either by land or water, he ditched the city round, so that none could pa.s.s in or out.(58)

(M37)

This, as well as two other attempts made by c.n.u.t within a few weeks of each other to capture London by siege, were frustrated by the determined opposition of the citizens.(59) "Almighty G.o.d saved it," as the chronicler piously remarks.(60)

(M38)

Nor was c.n.u.t more successful in the field, being worsted in no less than five pitched battles against Edmund, until by the treachery of Edmund's brother-in-law, Eadric, alderman of Mercia, he succeeded at last in vanquishing the English army on the memorable field of a.s.sandun.(61)

(M39)

After this Edmund reluctantly consented to a conference and a division of the kingdom. The meeting took place at Olney, and there it was agreed that Edmund should retain his crown, and rule over all England south of the Thames, together with East Anglia, Ess.e.x and London, whilst c.n.u.t should enjoy the rest of the kingdom. "The citizens, beneath whose walls the power of c.n.u.t and his father had been so often shattered, now made peace with the Danish host. As usual, money was paid to them, and they were allowed to winter as friends within the unconquered city."(62)

(M40)

The part.i.tion of the kingdom between Edmund and c.n.u.t had scarcely been agreed upon before the former unexpectedly died (30th Nov., 1016) and c.n.u.t became master of London and king of all England. His rule was mild, beneficent and just, recognising no distinction between Dane and Englishman, and throughout his long reign of nearly twenty years the citizens of London enjoyed that perfect peace so necessary for the successful exercise of their commercial pursuits.

(M41)

At the election of c.n.u.t's successor which took place at Oxford in 1035, the Londoners again played an important part. This time, however, it was not the "burhwaru or burgesses" of the City who attended the gemot which had been summoned for the purpose of election, but "lithsmen" of London.

(M42)

As to who these "lithsmen" were, and how they came to represent the City (if indeed they represented the City at all) on this important occasion much controversy has arisen. To some they appear as nothing more than the "nautic mult.i.tude" or "sea-faring men" of London.(63) On the other hand, there are those who hold that they were merchants who had achieved thane right under the provisions of Athelstan's day already mentioned;(64) whilst there are still others who are inclined to look upon them as so many commercial travellers who had made their way to Oxford by river in the ordinary course of business, and who happened by good fortune to have been in that city at the time of a great political crisis.(65) The truth probably lies somewhere between these extremes. The "lithsmen" may not themselves have been thanes, although they are recorded as having been at Oxford with almost all the thanes north of the Thames;(66) but that they were something more than mere watermen, such as we shall see joining with the apprentices of London at important political crises, and that they were acting more or less as representatives of the Londoners who had already acquired a predominant voice in such matters, seems beyond doubt.

(M43)

During the next thirty years London took no prominent part in the affairs of the country, content if only allowed to have leisure to mind its own business. The desire for peace is the key-note to the action of the citizens of London at every important crisis. Without peace, commerce became paralyzed. Peace could be best secured by a strong government, and such a government, whether in the person of a king or protector could count upon their support. "For it they were ready to devote their money and their lives, for commerce, the child of opportunity, brought wealth; wealth power; and power led independence in its train." The quarrels of the half-brothers, Harold and Harthac.n.u.t, the attempt by one or both of the sons of Ethelred and Emma to recover their father's kingdom, and the question of the innocence or guilt of Earl G.o.dwine in connection with the murder of one of them, affected the citizens of London only so far as such disturbances were likely to impede the traffic of the Thames or to make it dangerous for them to convey their merchandise along the highways of the country.

(M44)

The payment of Danegelt at the accession of Harthac.n.u.t (A.D. 1040),(67) probably touched the feelings, as it certainly did the pockets, of the Londoners, more than any other event which happened during this period.

(M45)

Upon the sudden death of Harthac.n.u.t (A.D. 1042), who died in a fit "as he stood at his drink,"(68) the choice of the whole nation fell on Edward, his half-brother-"before the king buried were, all folk chose Edward to king at London."(69) The share that the Londoners took in this particular election is not so clear as in other cases. Nevertheless, the importance of the citizens was daily growing, and by the time of the accession of Edward the Confessor, the City was recognised as the capital of the kingdom, the chief seat for the administration of the law, and the place where the king usually resided.(70)

(M46)

In early Saxon times the witan had met in any town where the king happened at the time to be; and although theoretically every freeman had a right to attend its meetings, practically the citizens of the town wherein the gemot happened at the time to be held, enjoyed an advantage over freemen coming from a distance. Alfred ordained that the witan should meet in London for purposes of legislation twice a year.(71) Athelstan, Edmund and Edgar had held gemots in London, the last mentioned king holding a great gemot (_mycel gemot_) in St. Paul's Church in 973.

(M47)

During the reign of Edward the Confessor, at least six meetings of the witan took place in London; the more important of these being held in 1051 and the following year. By the gemot of 1051, which partook of the nature of a court-martial, Earl G.o.dwine was condemned to banishment; but before a twelve-month had elapsed, he was welcomed back at a great a.s.sembly or _mycel gemot_ held in the open air without the walls of London.(72) The nation had become disatisfied owing to the king's increasing favour to Norman strangers, but the earl desired to learn how stood the City of London towards him, and for this purpose made a stay at Southwark. He was soon satisfied on this point. "The townsfolk of the great city were not a whit behind their brethren of Kent and Suss.e.x in their zeal for the national cause. The spirit which had beaten back Swend and c.n.u.t, the spirit which was in after times to make London ever the stronghold of English freedom, the spirit which made its citizens foremost in the patriot armies alike of the thirteenth and of the seventeenth centuries, was now as warm in the hearts of those gallant burghers as in any earlier or later age. With a voice all but unanimous, the citizens declared in favour of the deliverer; a few votes only, the votes, it may be, of strangers or of courtiers, were given against the emphatic resolution, that what the earl would the city would."(73) Having secured the favour of London his cause was secure. That the citizens heartily welcomed the earl, going forth in a body to meet him on his arrival, we learn also from another source;(74) although, one at least of the ancient chroniclers strongly hints that the favour of the citizens had been obtained by bribes and promises.(75) The earl's return was marked by decrees of outlawry against the king's foreign favourites, whose malign influence he had endeavoured formerly to counteract, and who had proved themselves strong enough to procure the banishment of himself and family.

(M48)

The last gemot held under Edward was one specially summoned to meet at Westminster at the close of the year 1065, for the purpose of witnessing the dedication of the new abbey church which the king loved so well and to which his remains were so shortly afterwards to be carried.

(M49)

He died at the opening of the year, and the same witan who had attended his obsequies elected Harold, the late Earl G.o.dwine's son, as his successor. This election, however, was doomed to be overthrown by the powerful sword of William the Norman.

CHAPTER II.

(M50)

As soon as the news of Harold's coronation reached William of Normandy, he claimed the crown which Edward the Confessor had promised him. According to every principle of succession recognised in England, at the time, he had no right to the crown whatever. When the Norman invader landed at Pevensey, Harold was at York, having recently succeeded in defeating his brother Tostig, the deposed Earl of Northumbria, who, with the a.s.sistance of Harold Hardrada, had attacked the northern earls, Edwine and Morkere.

On hearing of the Duke's landing, Harold hastened to London. A general muster of forces was there ordered, and Edwine and Morkere, who were bound to Harold by family tie-the King having married their sister-were bidden to march southward with the whole force of their earldoms. But neither grat.i.tude for their late deliverance at the hands of their brother-in-law, nor family affection, could hurry the steps of these earls, and they arrived too late. The battle of Senlac, better known as the battle of Hastings, had been won and lost (14th Oct., 1066), the Norman was conqueror, and Harold had perished. For a second time within twelve months the English throne was vacant.(76)

The times were too critical to hold a formal gemot for the election of a successor to the throne; but the citizens of London and the sailors or "butsecarls" (whom it is difficult not to a.s.sociate with the "lithsmen" of former days) showed a marked predilection in favour of Edgar the Atheling, grandson of Edmund Ironside, and the sole survivor of the old royal line.

The Archbishop, too, as well as the northern earls, were in his favour, but the latter soon withdrew to their respective earldoms and left London and the Atheling to their fate.(77) Thus, "the patriotic zeal of the men of London was thwarted by the base secession of the northern traitors."

(M51)

After waiting awhile at Hastings for the country to make voluntary submission, and finding that homagers did not come in, William proceeded to make a further display of force. In this he betrayed no haste, but made his way through Kent in leisurely fashion, receiving on his way the submission of Winchester and Canterbury, using no more force than was absolutely necessary, and endeavouring to allay all fears, until at length he reached the suburbs of London.(78)

He had been astute enough to give out that he came not to claim a crown, but only a right to be put in nomination for it. To the mind of the Londoner, such quibbling failed to commend itself, and the citizens lost no time in putting their city into a posture of defence, determined not to surrender it without a blow.

(M52)

Upon William's arrival in Southwark, the citizens sallied forth. They were, however, beaten back after a sharp skirmish, and compelled to seek shelter again within their city's walls. William hesitated to make a direct attack upon the city, but hoped by setting fire to Southwark to strike terror into the inhabitants and bring them to a voluntary surrender. He failed in his object; the city still held out, and William next resorted to diplomacy.

(M53)

The ruling spirit within the city at that time was Ansgar or Esegar the "Staller" under whom, as Sheriff of Middles.e.x, the citizens had marched out to fight around the royal standard at Hastings. He had been carried wounded from the field, and was now borne hither and thither on a litter, encouraging the citizens to make a stout defence of their city. To him, it is said, William sent a private message from Berkhampstead, asking only that the Conqueror's right to the crown of England might be acknowledged and nothing more, the real power of the kingdom might remain with Ansgar if he so willed. Determined not to be outwitted by the Norman, Ansgar (so the story goes) summoned a meeting of the eldermen (_natu majores_) of the City-the forerunners of the later aldermen-and proposed a feigned submission which might stave off immediate danger. The proposal was accepted and a messenger despatched. William pretended to accept the terms offered, and at the same time so worked upon the messenger with fair promises and gifts that on his return he converted his fellow citizens and induced them by representations of the Conqueror's friendly intentions and of the hopelessness of resistance, to make their submission to him, and to throw over the young Atheling.

(M54)

Whatever poetic tinge there may be about the story as told by Guy of Amiens, it is certain that the citizens came to the same resolution, in effect, as that described by the poet, nor could they well have done otherwise. The whole of the country for miles around London, had already tendered submission or been forced into it. The city had become completely isolated, and sooner or later its inhabitants must have been starved out.

There was, moreover, a strong foreign element within its walls.(79) Norman followers of Edward the Confessor were ever at hand to counsel submission.

London submitted, the citizens accepting the rule of the Norman Conqueror as they had formerly accepted that of c.n.u.t the Dane, "from necessity." An emba.s.sy was despatched to Berkhampstead, comprising the Archbishop of York, the young Atheling, the earls Edwine and Morkere, and "all the best men of London," to render homage and give hostages,(80) and thus it was, that within three months of his landing, William was acknowledged as the lawfully elected King of England, and, as such, he crowned himself at Westminster, promising to govern the nation as well as any king before him if they would be faithful to him.

(M55)

The conciliatory spirit of William towards the Londoners is seen in the favourable terms he was ready to concede them. Soon after his coronation- the precise date cannot be determined-he granted them a charter,(81) by which he clearly declared his purpose not to reduce the citizens to a state of dependent va.s.salage, but to establish them in all the rights and privileges they had hitherto enjoyed.

The charter, rendered into modern English, runs as follows:-