The Chronicle of the Norman Conquest Part 6

To commemorate this peace through all time, that it might endure for ever, they forthwith built a minster of hewed stone[7] and mortar, on the spot where they swore upon the relics which had been brought to the council. Many who had a.s.sisted at founding the minster called it Toz-sainz[8], on account of so many holy relics having been there; but it pleased many men to call it Sainte-paiz, on account of the peace sworn to when it was built: at least I have heard it called both Sainte-paiz and Toz-sainz. Close by they built a chapel called Saint-Oain's, on the spot where his bones had rested while the council sat.

William was generous, and the strangers who knew him, cherished him much. He was very gentle and courteous, therefore king Edward loved him well; great indeed was their love, each holding the other his lord. The duke went to see Edward and know his mind; and having crossed over into England[9], Edward received him with great honour, and gave him many dogs and birds, and whatever other good and fair gifts he could find, that became a man of high degree. He did not tarry long, but returned into Normandy; for he was engaged with the Bretons, who were at that time disturbing him.

G.o.dwin had great wealth in England; he was rich in lands, and carried himself proudly. Edward had his daughter to wife; but G.o.dwin was fell and false, and brought many evils on the land; and Edward feared and hated him on account of his brother whom he had betrayed, and of the Normans whom he had decimated, and many other mischiefs plotted by him.

And thus, both in words and deeds, great discord arose between them, which was never thoroughly healed. Edward feared G.o.dwin much, and banished him from the land; swearing that he should never come back, or abide in his kingdom, unless he swore fealty to him, and delivered him hostages, and pledges for keeping the peace during his life. G.o.dwin dared not refuse, and as well to satisfy the king, as for the sake of his relations, and the protection of his men, he delivered one of his nephews and one of his sons[10] as hostages to the king. Edward sent them to Duke William in Normandy, as to one in whom he placed great trust, and desired him to keep them safe till he should himself demand them. This looked, people said, as if he wished William always to keep them, for the purpose of securing the kingdom to himself in case of Edward's death. On these terms the king suffered G.o.dwin to remain at home in peace. I do not know how long this lasted, but I know that G.o.dwin in the end choked himself, while eating at the king's table during a feast.

King Edward was debonaire; he neither wished nor did ill to any man; he was without pride or avarice, and desired strict justice to be done to all[11]. He endowed abbeys with fiefs, and divers goodly gifts, and Westminster in particular. Ye shall hear the reason why. On some occasion, whether of sickness or on the recovery of his kingdom, or on some escape from peril at sea, he had vowed a pilgrimage to Rome, there to say his prayers, and crave pardon for his sins; to speak with the apostle, and receive penance from him. So at the time he had appointed, he prepared for his journey; but the barons met together, and the bishops and the abbots conferred with each other, and they counselled him by no means to go. They said they feared he could not bear so great a labour; that the pilgrimage was too long, seeing his great age; that if he should go to Rome, and death or any other mischance should prevent his return, the loss of their king would be a great misfortune to them; and that they would send to the apostle[12], and get him to grant absolution from the vow, so that he might be quit of it, even if some other penance should be imposed instead. Accordingly they sent to the apostle, and he absolved the king of his vow, but enjoined him by way of acquittance of it, to select some poor abbey dedicated to St. Peter, honoring and endowing it with so many goods and rents, that it might for all time to come be resorted to, and the name of St. Peter thereby exalted.

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Edward received the injunction of the apostle in good part. On the western side of London, as still may be seen, there was an abbey of St.

Peter, which had for a long time been greatly impoverished; it is situate on an island of the Thames called Zonee (Thorn-ee)[13], so named because there were plenty of thorns upon it, and water around it; for the English call an island 'ee,' and what the French call 'espine' they call 'zon' (thorn); so that 'Zon-ee' (Thorn-ee) in English means 'isle d'espine' in French. The name of Westminster was given to it afterwards, when the minster was built King Edward perceived that there was much to improve at Westminster; he saw that the brotherhood were poor, and the minster decayed; and by counsel of clerks and laymen, while the country was in prosperity, he with great labour and attention, restored and amply endowed it with lands and other wealth. He gave indeed so much of his own, of fair villages, rich manors and lands, crosses and other goodly gifts, that the place will never know want, if things are managed honestly. But when each monk wants much service, is greedy of money, and makes a purse; the common stock soon wastes accordingly. Thus, however, the king restored Westminster, and held the spot dear, and loved it well. He also afterwards gave so much to St. Edmund (Bury), that the monks who dwell there are very rich.

King Edward was now of a good age; his reign had been long, and to his sorrow he had no child, and no near relation to take his kingdom after him, and maintain it. He considered with himself who should inherit it when he died; and often bethought him, and said he would give his inheritance to duke William his relation, as the best of his lineage.

Robert his father had brought him up, and William himself had been of much service to him; and, in fact, all the good he had received had come from that line, and he had loved none so well, however kindly he might behave to any one else. For the honor thereof of his good kinsman, with whom he had been brought up, and on account of the great worth of William himself, he determined to make him heir to the realm.

[Footnote 1: The marriage was, it is supposed, in 1053. See the last note to Chapter VI.]

[Footnote 2: Matilda. The anonymous continuer of Wace's Brut says of her;

Ceste Malde de Flandres fu nee, Meis de Escoce fu appelee, Pur sa mere ke fu espuse Al roi de Escoce ki l'out rove; Laquele jadis, quant fu pucele, Ama un conte d'Engleterre.

Brictrich-Mau le o nomer, Apres le rois ki fu riche ber.

A lui la pucele enveia messager Pur sa amur a lui procurer: Meis Brictrich Maude refusa, Dunt ele mult se coruca.

Hastivement mer pa.s.sa E a Willam b.a.s.t.a.r.d se maria.

He then relates that after the conquest, Matilda revenged herself on this Brictrich-Mau, by seizing him 'a Hanelye, a sun maner,' and carrying him to Winchester, where he died 'par treison.' See, as to this Brictrich, Dugdale, _Monasticon_, t.i.tle TEWKESBURY; and Palgrave, _English Commonwealth_, vol. i. ccxciv.]

[Footnote 3: Eu.]

[Footnote 4: The churches of each of these celebrated foundations remain; we shall find William interred in his church; while Matilda's remains rested in the other.]

[Footnote 5: The 'Truce of G.o.d' was introduced in Normandy in 1061. If Wace meant to a.s.sert that the inst.i.tution originated there, it is of course erroneous. It had existed in other countries twenty years before; but the Normans resisted its introduction among them, till enforced by William's authority, as a measure of restraint on their excesses. See Jolimont, _Monuments de Calvados_, page 42, and plate xx, as to the ruins of the church of St. Paix.]

[Footnote 6: Saint Ouen.]

[Footnote 7: Carreau, or carrel--squared, quadrated, or quarried stones, for which the neighbourhood of Caen became celebrated.]

[Footnote 8: All-Saints.]

[Footnote 9: This journey took place in 1051, during the exile of G.o.dwin and his sons; see Higden, _Polychronicon_. Most of the old historians are silent about it; but it admits of little question, and had important influence on subsequent events. See _Thierry_, i. 220.]

[Footnote 10: In 1052.]

[Footnote 11: Benoit de Sainte-More thus describes Edward:

Ewart li juz e li verais, Qui Engleterre tint en pais, c.u.me hauz reis, veirs crestiens, Pleins de ducur et de toz biens.]

[Footnote 12: The pope.]

[Footnote 13: Wace's Saxon, where it occurs, is very imperfect, and probably his French transcribers (we having no original MSS.) have made it worse than it was. Zonee or Zon-ey is of course Thorn-ey; the Saxon 'th' being turned into 'z.' An old Latin chronicle, quoted by M.

Pluquet, has, 'in loco qui Thornie tune dicebatur, et sonat quasi--spinarum insula,' One of William's first religious donations was to this his predecessor's favourite establishment; and he records in the charter his t.i.tle to the kingdom of England, and the mode he adopted for vindicating it. 'In nomine sanctae et individuae Trinitatis, anno Dom.

incarn. mix vij. Ego Willelmus Dei gratia dux Normannorum, per misericordiam divinam, et auxilium beatissimi apostoli Petri pii fauctoris nostri, favente justo Dei judicio, Angliam veniens, _in ore gladii_ regnum adeptus sum, anglorum devicto Haroldo rege, c.u.m suis complicibus; qui michi regnum, providentia Dei destinatum, et beneficio concessionis domini et cognati mei gloriosi regis Edwardi concessum, conati sunt auferre,' See MSS. Cott. Faust. A. III. fol. 37, quoted in Ellis, _Domesday_, i. 312.]

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CHAPTER VIII.

OF HAROLD'S JOURNEY TO NORMANDY, AND WHAT HE DID THERE.

Now in that country of England there was a seneschal[1], Heraut[2] by name, a n.o.ble va.s.sal, who on account of his worth and merits, had great influence, and was in truth the most powerful man in all the land. He was strong in his own men, and strong in his friends, and managed all England as a man does land of which he has the seneschalsy. On his father's side he was English, and on his mother's Danish; Gite[3] his mother being a Danish woman, born and brought up in great wealth, a very gentle lady, the sister of King Kenut. She was wife to G.o.dwin, mother to Harold, and her daughter Edif[4] was queen. Harold himself was the favourite of his lord, who had his sister to wife. When his father had died (being choked at the feast), Harold, pitying the hostages, was desirous to cross over into Normandy, to bring them home. So he went to take leave[5] of the king. But Edward strictly forbade him, and charged and conjured him not to go to Normandy, nor to speak with duke William; for 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. So at least I have found the story written[6]. But another book tells me that the king ordered him to go, for the purpose of a.s.suring duke William, his cousin, that he should have the realm after his death. How the matter really was I never knew, and I find it written both the one way and the other.

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Whatever was the business he went upon, or whatever it was that he meant to do, Harold set out on his way, taking the risk of what might fall out. What is fated to happen no man can prevent, let him be who he will.

What must be will come to pa.s.s, and no one can make it nought.

He made ready two ships, and took the sea at Bodeham[7]. I know not how the mischief was occasioned; whether the steersman erred, or whether it was that a storm arose; but this I know, that he missed the right course, and touched the coast of Pontif, where he could neither get away, nor conceal himself. A fisherman of that country, who had been in England and had often seen Harold, watched him; and knew him, both by his face and his speech; and went privily to Guy, the count of Pontif[8], and would speak to no other; and he told the count how he could put a great prize in his way, if he would go with him; and that if he would give him only twenty livres, he should gain a hundred by it, for he would deliver him such a prisoner, as would pay a hundred livres or more for ranson. The count agreed to his terms, and then the fisherman showed him Harold. They seized and took him to Abbeville; but Harold contrived to send off a message privily to duke William in Normandy, and told him of his journey; how he had set out from England to visit him, but had missed the right port; and how the count of Pontif had seized him, and without any cause of offence had put him in prison: and he promised that if the duke would deliver him from his captivity, he would do whatever he wished in return.

Guy guarded Harold mean time with great care; fearing some mischance, he sent him to Belrem[9], that he might be further from the duke. But William thought that if he could get Harold into his keeping, he might turn it to good account; so he made so many fair promises and offers to the earl, and so coaxed and flattered him, that he at last gave up his prisoner[10]; and the duke thus got possession of him, and gave in return to the count Guy a fair manor lying along the river Alne[11].

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William entertained Harold many days in great honour, as was his due. He took him to many rich tournaments, arrayed him n.o.bly, gave him horses and arms, and led him with him into Britanny--I am not certain whether three or four times--when he had to fight with the Bretons[12]. And in the meantime he bespoke Harold so fairly, that he agreed to deliver up England to him, as soon as king Edward should die; and he was to have Ele[13], one of William's daughters, for his wife if he would; and to swear to all this if required, William also binding himself to those terms.

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To receive the oath, he caused a parliament to be called. It is commonly said that it was at Bayeux[14] that he had his great council a.s.sembled.

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 of their being there; for nought was shewn or told to him about it; and over all was a philactery, the best that he could select; OIL DE BOEF[15], I have heard it called. 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 all in his power, according to his might and wit, after the death of Edward, if he should live, so help him G.o.d and the holy relics there! Many cried "G.o.d grant it[16]!" 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 pall that had covered it, and shewed Harold upon what holy relics he had sworn; and he was sorely alarmed at the sight.

Then when all was ready for his journey homeward, he took his leave; and William exhorted him to be true to his word, and kissed him in the name of good faith and friendship. And Harold pa.s.sed freely homeward, and arrived safely in England.

[Footnote 1: Seneschal, 'lieutenant du duc pour l'administration civile;' 'ce mot, derive de la langue Franke, signifie proprement serviteur gardien des troupeaux ou gardien de la famille, _senes-skalch._ C'etait un office de la maison des rois franks, et, par suite de la conquete, une dignite politique de la Gaule.' _Thierry_, i.

270.]

[Footnote 2: Wace generally writes Harold's name thus; we shall, however, henceforth use the usual historical spelling: as also in the case of G.o.dwin, whom Wace calls Gwigne, and some of the Norman chronicles Gaudvin.]

[Footnote 3: Alias Githe or Githa.]

[Footnote 4: Ead-githa of the Saxon chronicle, who married in 1043, and died in 1075.]