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by their recent and long subjection to the Danes; and as Canute had, in the course of his administration, much abated the rigours of conquest, and had governed them ✓ equitably by their own laws, they regarded with the less terror the ignominy of a foreign yoke, and deemed the inconveniencies of submission less formidable than those of bloodshed, war, and resistance. Their attachment also to the ancient royal family had been much weakened by their habits of submission to the Danish princes, and by their late election of Harold, or their acquiescence in his usurpation. And as they had long been accustomed to regard Edgar Atheling, the only heir of the Saxon line, as unfit to govern them even in times of order and tranquillity; they could entertain small hopes of his being able to repair such great losses as they had sustained, or to withstand the victorious arms of the duke of Normandy.

That they might not, however, be altogether wanting to themselves in this extreme necessity, the English took some steps towards adjusting their disjointed government, and uniting themselves against the common enemy. The two potent earls, Edwin and Morcar, who had fled to London with the remains of the broken army, took the lead on this occasion: in concert with Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, a man possessed of great authority and of ample revenues, they proclaimed Edgar, and endeavoured to put the people in a posture of defence, and encourage them to resist the Normans". But the terror of the late defeat, and the near neighbourhood of the invaders, increased the confusion inseparable from great revolutions; and every resolution proposed was hasty, fluctuating, tumultuary; disconcerted by fear or faction; ill planned, and worse executed.

William, that his enemies might have no leisure to recover from their consternation or unite their counsels, immediately put himself in motion after his victory, and resolved to prosecute an enterprise, which nothing but celerity and vigour could render finally successful. His first attempt was against Romney, whose inhabitants he a Gul. Pict. p. 205. Order. Vitalis, p. 502. Hoveden, p. 449. Knyghton, p. 2343.

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severely punished, on account of their cruel treatment of some Norman seamen and soldiers, who had been carried thither by stress of weather, or by a mistake in their course and foreseeing that his conquest of England might still be attended with many difficulties and with much opposition, he deemed it necessary, before he should advance farther into the country, to make himself master of Dover, which would both secure him a retreat in case of adverse fortune, and afford him a safe landing-place for such supplies as might be requisite for pushing his advantages. The terror diffused by his victory at Hastings was so great, that the garrison of Dover, though numerous and well provided, immediately capitulated; and as the Normans, rushing in to take possession of the town, hastily set fire to some of the houses, William, desirous to conciliate the minds of the English by an appearance of lenity and justice, made compensation to the inhabitants for their losses.

The Norman army, being much distressed with a dysentery, was obliged to remain here eight days; but the duke, on their recovery, advanced with quick marches towards London, and by his approach increased the confusions which were already so prevalent in the English counsels. The ecclesiastics in particular, whose influence was great over the people, began to declare in his favour; and as most of the bishops and dignified clergymen were even then Frenchmen or Normans, the pope's bull, by which his enterprise was avowed and hallowed, was now openly insisted on as a reason for general submission. The superior learning of those prelates, which, during the Confessor's reign, had raised them above the ignorant Saxons, made their opinions be received with implicit faith; and a young prince like Edgar, whose capacity was deemed so mean, was but ill qualified to resist the impression which they made on the minds of the people. A repulse which a body of Londoners received from five hundred Norman horse, renewed in the city the terror of the great defeat at Hastings; the easy submission of all the b Gul. Pict. p. 204.

c Ibid.

inhabitants of Kent was an additional discouragement to them; the burning of Southwark before their eyes made them dread a like fate to their own city; and no man any longer entertained thoughts but of immediate safety and of self-preservation. Even the earls Edwin and Morcar, in despair of making effectual resistance, retired with their troops to their own provinces; and the people thenceforth disposed themselves unanimously to yield to the victor. Submission As soon as he passed the Thames at Wallingford, and of the Eng- reached Berkhamstead, Stigand, the primate, made sub

lish.

missions to him: before he came within sight of the city, all the chief nobility, and Edgar Atheling himself, the new-elected king, came into his camp, and declared their intention of yielding to his authority. They requested him to mount their throne, which they now considered as vacant; and declared to him, that as they had always been ruled by regal power, they desired to follow, in this particular, the example of their ancestors, and knew of no one more worthy than himself to hold the reins of government®.

Though this was the great object to which the duke's enterprise tended, he feigned to deliberate on the offer; and being desirous, at first, of preserving the appearance of a legal administration, he wished to obtain a more explicit and formal consent of the English nationf: but Aimar of Aquitain, a man equally respected for valour in the field and for prudence in council, remonstrating with him on the danger of delay in so critical a conjuncture, he laid aside all farther scruples, and accepted of the crown which was tendered him. Orders were immediately issued to prepare every thing for the ceremony of his coronation; but as he was yet afraid to place entire confidence in the Londoners, who were numerous and warlike, he meanwhile commanded fortresses to be erected, in order to curb the inhabitants, and to secure his person and government 8.

Stigand was not much in the duke's favour, both be

d Hoveden, p. 450. Vitalis, p. 503.

f

Flor. Wigorn. p. 634.
Gul. Pict. p. 205.

e Gul. Pict. p. 205. Order. * Ibid.

cause he had intruded into the see on the expulsion of
Robert the Norman, and because he possessed such in-
fluence and authority over the English" as might be dan-
gerous to a new-established monarch. William, therefore,
pretending that the primate had obtained his pall in an
irregular manner from pope Benedict the ninth, who was
himself an usurper, refused to be consecrated by him, and
conferred this honour on Aldred, archbishop of York.
Westminster abbey was the place appointed for that mag-
nificent ceremony; the most considerable of the nobility,
both English and Norman, attended the duke on this
occasion; Aldred, in a short speech, asked the former, 26th Dec.
whether they agreed to accept of William as their king;
the bishop of Coutance put the same question to the
latter; and both being answered with acclamations', Al-
dred administered to the duke the usual coronation oath,
by which he bound himself to protect the church, to ad-
minister justice, and to repress violence: he then anointed
him, and put the crown upon his head. There appeared
nothing but joy in the countenance of the spectators:
but in that very moment there burst forth the strongest
symptoms of the jealousy and animosity which prevailed
between the nations, and which continually increased
during the reign of this prince. The Norman soldiers,
who were placed without in order to guard the church,
hearing the shouts within, fancied that the English were
offering violence to their duke; and they immediately
assaulted the populace, and set fire to the neighbouring
houses. The alarm was conveyed to the nobility who
surrounded the prince; both English and Normans, full
of apprehensions, rushed out to secure themselves from
the present danger; and it was with difficulty that Wil-
liam himself was able to appease the tumult1.

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Settlement

The king, thus possessed of the throne by a pretended 1067. destination of king Edward, and by an irregular election of the goof the people, but still more by force of arms, retired vernment.

i Order. Vitalis, P. 503.

k

h Eadmer, p. 6. Malmsbury, 7, p. 271, says, t he also promised to govern the Normans and English by equal laws; and this addition to the usual oath seems not improbable, considering the circumstances of the times. 1.Gul. Pict. p. 206. Order. Vitalis, p. 503.

1067.

from London to Berking in Essex: and there received the submissions of all the nobility who had not attended his coronation. Edric, surnamed the Forester, grandnephew to that Edric so noted for his repeated acts of perfidy during the reigns of Ethelred and Edmond; earl Coxo, a man famous for bravery; even Edwin and Morcar, earls of Mercia and Northumberland; with the other principal noblemen of England, came and swore fealty to him; were received into favour; and were confirmed in the possession of their estates and dignities". Every thing bore the appearance of peace and tranquillity; and William had no other occupation than to give contentment to the foreigners who had assisted him to mount the throne, and to his new subjects, who had so readily submitted to him.

He had got possession of the treasure of Harold, which was considerable; and being also supplied with rich presents from the opulent men in all parts of England, who were solicitous to gain the favour of their new sovereign, he distributed great sums among his troops, and by this liberality gave them hopes of obtaining at length those more durable establishments which they had expected from his enterprise". The ecclesiastics, both at home and abroad, had much forwarded his success; and he failed not, in return, to express his gratitude and devotion in the manner which was most acceptable to them: he sent Harold's standard to the pope, accompanied with many valuable presents: all the considerable monasteries and churches in France, where prayers had been put up for his success, now tasted of his bounty: the English monks found him well disposed to favour their order: and he built a new convent near Hastings, which he called Battle-Abbey, and which, on pretence of supporting monks to pray for his own soul, and for that of Harold, served as a lasting memorial of his victory P.

He introduced into England that strict execution of m Gul. Pict. p. 208. Order. Vitalis, p. 506. n Gul. Pict. p. 206. o Ibid. P Gul. Gemet. p. 288. Chron. Sax. 189. M. West. p. p. M. Paris, p. 9. Diceto, p. 482. This convent was freed by him from all episcopal jurisdiction. Monast. Anglic. tom. i. p. 311, 312.

226.

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