1066.] William prepares to invade England. 29 unheard-of aids for them;"1 and they would submit to no such exactions from their sovereign, since if they once performed double service, it would henceforth be demanded of them as a right. "In short," continues the lively chronicler, "they raised such an uproar, that no one could hear another speak,- -no one could either listen to reason, or render it for himself. Then the duke, being greatly perplexed with the noise, withdrew, and sending for the barons one by one, exerted all his powers of persuasion to induce them to accede to his wishes, promising "to reward them richly with Saxon spoils for the assistance he now required at their hands; and if they felt disposed to make good Fitz-Osborn's offer of double service at that time, he should receive it as a proof of their loyal affection, and never think of demanding it as a right on any future occasion."" The nobles, on this conciliatory address, were pacified; and feeling that it was a much easier thing to maintain their opposition to their sovereign's wishes in the council than in the presence-chamber, began to assume a different tone, and even expressed their willingness to oblige him as far as it lay in their power. William next invited his neighbours, the Bretons, the Angevins, and men of Boulogne, to join his banners, bribing them with promises of good pay, and a share in the spoils of merrie England. He even proposed to take the king of France into the alliance. Philip treated the idea of William's annexing England to Normandy as an extravagant chimera, and asked him, "Who would take care of his duchy while he was running after a kingdom?" To this sarcastic query, William replied, "That is a care that shall not need to trouble our neighbours; by the grace of God we are blessed with a prudent wife and loving subjects, who will keep our border securely during our absence." William entreated Matilda's brother, the young count Baldwin of Flanders, to accompany him as a friendly ally. The wily Fleming asked William, in reply, "What share of England he intended to bestow on him by way of recompense?" The duke, surprised at this demand, told his brother-in-law, "That he could not satisfy him on that point till he had consulted with his barons;" but instead of naming the matter to them, he took a piece of fair parchment, and having folded it in the form of a letter, superscribed it to count Baldwin of Flanders, sealed it with the ducal seal, and wrote the following distich on the label that surrounded the scroll: "Beau frère, en Angleterre vous aurez Ce qui dedans escript vous trouverez ;"5 which is to say, "Brother-in-law, I give you such a share of England as you shall find within this letter." He sent the letter to the young count by a shrewd-witted page, who 1 Wace. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Henderson. Wace. 66 was much in his confidence. When Baldwin had read this promising endorsement, he broke the seal, full of expectation; but finding the parchment blank, he showed it to the bearer, and asked what was the duke's meaning? 'Nought is written here," replied the messenger, "and nought shalt thou receive; therefore look for nothing. The honour the duke seeks will be for the advantage of your sister and her children, and their greatness will be the advancement of yourself, and the benefit will be felt by your country; but if you refuse your aid, then, with the blessing of God, my lord will conquer England without your help.”1 William was, in the sequel, fain to subscribe to the only terms on which the aid of Matilda's father could be obtained; by securing to him and his successors a perpetual pension of 300 marks of silver annually, in the event of his succeeding in establishing himself as king of England. It is certain that Matilda's family connexions rendered the most important assistance to William in the conquest of England, and her countrymen were among his bravest auxiliaries. The earl of Flanders was, in fact, the first person to commence hostilities against Harold, by furnishing the traitor, Tostig, with ships and a military force to make a descent on England. Tostig executed his mission more like a piratebrigand than an accredited leader. The brave earls Morcar and Edwin drove him into Scotland, whence he passed into Norway, where he succeeded in persuading king Harfager to invade England at one point, simultaneously with William of Normandy's attack in another quarter of the island. The minds of the people of England in general were, at this momentous crisis, labouring under a superstitious depression, occasioned by the appearance of the splendid three-tailed comet, which became visible in their horizon at the commencement of the memorable year 1066, a few days before the death of king Edward. The astrologers who foretold the approach of this comet had thought proper to announce that it portended a great national calamity in an oracular Latin distich, of which the following rude couplet is a literal translation:— "In the year one thousand and sixty-six, "About this time," says Malmesbury, "a comet or star, denoting, as they say, a change in kingdoms, appeared trailing its extended and fiery train along the sky; wherefore a certain monk of our monastery named Elmer, bowing down with terror when the bright star first became visible to his eye, prophetically exclaimed, 'Thou art come! a matter of great lamentation to many a mother art thou come! I have seen thee long before; but now I behold thee in thy terrors, threatening 2 Brompton. Saxon Annals. 1 Wace. 133 1066.] Matilda regent of Normandy. 31 destruction to this country.' Wace, in still quainter language describes the appearance of this comet, and the impression it made on the unphilosophical star-gazers of the eleventh century. "This year a great star appeared in the heavens, shining for fourteen days, with three long rays, streaming towards the south. Such a star as is wont to be seen when a kingdom is about to change its ruler. I have seen men who saw it-men who were of full age at the time of its appearance, and lived many years afterwards." The descriptions which I have just quoted from the pen of the Norman poet and the monastic chronicler fall far short of the marvellousness of Matilda's delineation of this comet in the Bayeux tapestry, where the royal needle has represented it of dimensions that might well have justified the alarm of the terror-stricken group of Saxon princes, priests, and ladies, who appear to be rushing out of their pigmy dwellings, and pointing to it with unequivocal signs of horror; for, independently of the fact that it looks near enough to singe their noses, it would inevitably have whisked the world and all its sister planets out of their orbits, if it had been of a hundredth part proportionable to the magnitude there portrayed. Some allowance, however, ought to be made for exaggeration of feminine reminiscences of an object, which we can scarcely suppose to have been transferred to the embroidered chronicle of the conquest of England till after the triumphant termination of William of Normandy's enterprise afforded his queen-duchess so magnificent a subject for the employment of the ingenuity of herself and the ladies of her court, in recording his achievements on canvas by dint of needlework. But, on the eve of this adventurous expedition, we may naturally conclude that Matilda's time and thoughts were more importantly occupied than in the labours of the loom, or the fabrication of worsted pictures; when, in addition to all her fears and anxieties in parting with her lord, she had, at least, as much trouble in reconciling the Norman ladies to the absence of their husbands and lovers, as the duke had to prevail on these his valiant quens to accompany him on an expedition so full of peril to all parties concerned in it. Previous to his departure to join his ships and forces assembled at the port of St. Vallery, William solemnly invested Matilda with the regency of Normandy, and entreated, "that he and his companions in arms might have the benefit of her prayers, and the prayers of her ladies, for the success of their expedition." He appointed for her council some of the wisest and most experienced men among the prelates and elder nobles of Normandy. The most celebrated of these, for courage, ability, and wisdom, was Roger de Beaumont, and by him William recommended the duchess to be advised in all matters of domestic policy. He also associated with the duchess in the regency their eldest son, Robert; and 1 Bayeux tapestry. 2 Wace. 3 Wm. of Poitou. Wace. Wm. of Malms. this youth, who had just completed his thirteenth year, was nominally the military chief of Normandy during the absence of his sire. The invasion of England was by no means a popular measure with any class of William's subjects; and during the time that his armament remained wind-bound at St. Vallery, the common soldiers began to murmur in their tents. "The man must be mad," they said, "to persist in going to subjugate a foreign country, since God, who withheld the wind, opposed him; that his father, who was surnamed Robert le Diable, purposed something of the kind, and was in like manner frustrated; and that it was the fate of that family to aspire to things beyond them, and to find God their adversary." When the duke heard of these disheartening reports, he called a council of his chiefs, at which it was agreed that the body of St. Vallery should be brought forth, to receive the offerings and vows of those who should feel disposed to implore his intercession for a favourable wind. Thus artfully did he, instead of interposing the authority of a sovereign and a military leader to punish the language of sedition and mutiny among his troops, oppose superstition to superstition, to amuse the short-sighted instruments of his ambition. The bones of the patron saint of the port were accordingly brought forth, with great solemnity, and exposed in their shrine on the green turf beneath the canopy of heaven, for the double purpose of receiving the prayers of the pious and the contributions of the charitable. The Norman chroniclers affirm that the shrine was half buried in the heaps of gold, silver, and precious things which were showered upon by the crowds of votaries who came to pay their respects to the saint. In the meantime, William was agreeably surprised by the arrival of his duchess at the port in a splendid vessel of war, called the Mora, which she had caused to be built unknown to him, and adorned in the most royal style of magnificence, for his acceptance. The effigy of their youngest son (William), formed of gilded bronze, some writers say of gold, was placed at the prow of this vessel, with his face turned towards England, holding a trumpet to his lips with one hand, and bearing in the other a bow, with the arrow aimed at England. It seemed as if the wind had only delayed in order to enable Matilda to offer this gratifying and auspicious gift to her departing lord; for scarcely had the accla mations with which it was greeted by the admiring host died away, when the long-desired breeze sprang up, "and a joyful clamour," says Malmesbury," then arising, summoned every one to the ships." The duke himself led the way in the Mora, which by day was distinguished by a blood-red flag,5 and, as soon as it was dark, carried a light at the mast-head, as a beacon to guide the other ships. The first night, the royal leader. so far outsailed his followers, that when morning dawned the Mora was in the mid-seas alone, without a single sail of her 'Wm. of Malms. Wace. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Wace. 5 Thierry's Anglo-Normans. it 1066.] Normans land at Pevensey. 33 convoy in sight, though these were a thousand in number. Somewhat disturbed at this circumstance, William ordered the Master of the Mora to go to the topmast and look out, and bring him word what he had seen. The reply was," Nothing but sea and sky.”—“Go up again," said the duke, "and look out." The man cried out, "That he saw four specks in the distance, like the sails of ships."- "Look once again," cried William: then the master exclaimed, "I see a forest of tall masts and a press of sails bearing gallantly towards us.' Rough weather occurred during the voyage, but it is remarkable that, out of so numerous a fleet, only two vessels were lost. In one of these was a noted astrologer, who had taken upon himself to predict that the expedition would be entirely successful, for that Harold would resign England to the duke without a battle. William neither believed in omens nor encouraged fortune-telling, and when he heard the catastrophe of the unfortunate soothsayer who had thought proper to join himself to the armament, shrewdly observed, "Little could he have known of the fate of others, who could not foresee his own."2 On the 28th of September, 1066, the Norman fleet made the port of Pevensey, on the coast of Sussex. Wace's chronicle of the Norman conquest affords a graphic picture of the disembarkation of the duke and his armament. The knights and archers landed first. After the soldiers, came the carpenters, armourers, and masons, with their tools in their bands, planes, saws, axes, and other implements slung to their sides. Last of all came the duke, who, stumbling as he leaped to shore, measured his majestic height upon the beach. Forthwith all raised a cry of distress. “An evil sign is here!" exclaimed the superstitious Normans; but the duke, who in recovering himself had filled his hands with sand, cried out in a loud and cheerful voice, "See! seigneurs; by the splendour of God I have seized England with my two hands.* Without challenge no prize can be made, and that which I have grasped I will, by your good help, maintain.” On this, one of his followers ran forward, and snatching a handful of thatch from the roof of a hut, brought it to the duke, exclaiming merrily, "Sire, come forward, and receive seizin. I give you seizin, in is not, however, of earlier date than the days of Edward III., and greatly resembles the sword of state belonging to that monarch which is shown in Westminster-abbey. It is more probable that it pertained to Sir Thomas Strickland, who attended the victorious Edward in his French campaigns, than to the Norman founder of the family, who was indebted, not to his foreign comrades, but to the English spectators of the disembarkation for his Saxon surname. 4 Wace. Ordericus Vitalis. 5 Wace. S. Dunelm. M. of West. This D |