,,the ,,bayeux ,,tapestry ,,elucidated ,,john ,,collingwood ,,bruce1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,s4,a4 ,,london1 ,j4 ,,russell ,,smith4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,bayeux ,,tapestry ,,elucidated4 ,,by ,,rev4 ,,john ,,collingwood ,,bruce1 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,s4,a41 ,,corresponding ,,member ,,of ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,antiquaries ,,of ,,scotland1 ,,of ,,the ,,imperial ,,society ,,of ,,antiquaries ,,of ,,france1 ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,antiquaries ,,of ,,normandy2 ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,council ,,of ,,the ,,society ,,of ,,antiquaries ,,of ,,newcastle-,,upon-,,tyne2 ,,an ,,honorary ,,member ,,of ,,the ,,surrey ,,arch,,ological ,,society2 ,,and ,,one ,,of ,,the ,,committee ,,of ,,the ,,literary ,,and ,,philosophical ,,society ,,of ,,newcastle-,,upon-,,tyne4 8 444,they burning both with fervent fire ,their countrey's auncestry to understond40 ,spenser4 ,,london3 ,,john ,,russell ,,smith1 #cf1 ,,soho ,,square4 ,m4,,dccc4,,lvi4 ,,newcastle-,,upon-,,tyne3 ,,printed ,,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,forster ,,and ,,co41 ,,clayton ,,street4 ,illustration3 ,the ,most ,noble ,,eleanor ,,duchess of ,,northumberland lineally descended from a distinguished ,companion of ,william of ,normandy in the ,conquest of ,england ,this ,work illustrative of the ,title and ,triumphs of the ,conqueror is with her ,grace's kind permission most dutifully gratefully inscribed4 ,,preface4 ,england has performed1 and is probably destined yet to perform1 an important part in the history of nations4 ,the era treated of in this work was doubtless the crisis of her fate4 ,happily1 she survived the shock of the ,conquest1 and was benefited by its rough discipline4 ,all true-hearted ,englishmen must read with peculiar feeling this portion of our country's annals4 ,surrounding nations1 too1 have their share of interest in it4 ,when the ,society of ,antiquaries published the beautiful copy of the ,bayeux ,tapestry1 made1 at their request1 by ,mr4 ,charles ,stothard1 they testified the importance which they attached to the document4 ,as yet they have published no explanation of it4 ,the world still expects it at their hands4 ,to supply1 meanwhile1 some little assistance to the student of history1 this work is published4 ,it was suggested by a holiday ramble in ,normandy1 amidst the scenes rendered famous by the career of ,william the ,conqueror4 ,the plates have been carefully reduced from those published by the ,society of ,antiquaries1 by ,mr4 ,mossman1 and printed in colours by the ,messrs4 ,lambert1 of ,newcastle-upon-,tyne4 ,these gentlemen1 and the ,printers1 have spared no pains to render the volume creditable to the local press4 ,in addition to the authorities cited in the course of the work1 ,la ,tapisserie de ,bayeux1 dition variorum1 par ,m4 ,achille ,jubinal1 has been continually before the eye of the writer4 ,newcastle-upon-,tyne1 #acth of ,october1 #ahee1 7,eve of the ,anniversary of the ,battle of ,hastings47 ,,the ,,bayeux ,,tapestry4 ,i4 ,,the ,,roll4 8,there she weaves1 by night and day1 ,a magic web with colours gay40 ,tennyson4 ,master ,wace1 to whom we are indebted for 8the most minute1 graphic1 and animated account of the transactions0#a of the ,norman ,conquest1 thus exalts the art of the chronicler--8,all things hasten to decay2 all fall2 all perish2 all come to an end4 ,man dieth1 iron consumeth1 wood decayeth2 towers crumble1 strong walls fall down1 the rose withereth away2 the war-horse waxeth feeble1 gay trappings grow old2 all the works of men perish4 ,thus we are taught that all die1 both clerk and lay2 and short would be the fame of any after death if their history did not endure by being written in the book of the clerk40#b ,the pen of the writer of romance is not the only implement which confers immortality upon man4 ,the chisel of the sculptor1 the pencil of the painter1 and the needle of the high-born dame1 can confer a lasting renown upon those whose deeds are worthy of being remembered4 ,the work which we are about to consider was effected by the simplest of these implements--the needle4 ,one of the earliest modes of transmitting the history of important transactions to posterity was by recording them in long lines of pictorial representation4 ,in the temples of ,nimroud1 in the sepulchres of ,egypt1 in the sculptures which entwine the columns of ,trajan and ,antonine at ,rome1 we have familiar examples of the practice4 ,the ,bayeux record is a large roll of historic drawings rather than a piece of tapestry2 and it is remarkable as being the last example of this species of representation which antiquity has handed down to us4 ,in the days of the ,conqueror1 and of some of his ,saxon predecessors1 the ladies of ,engle-land were famous for their taste and skill in embroidery2 and this species of lady-like manufacture was known throughout ,europe as ,english work4#c ,one effect of the ,conquest was to bring the people of ,england and ,normandy into closer alliance than before4 ,on the first occasion on which ,william returned to ,normandy1 after the battle of ,hastings1 he took with him1 8in honourable attendance10 a considerable number of the ,saxon nobles1#d who were doubtless accompanied by their wives and daughters4 ,assisted by ,english ladies1 as well as by those of her own court1 ,matilda1 the wife of the ,conqueror1 probably at this time constructed the ,tapestry which for many ages was preserved in the ,cathedral of ,bayeux4 ,never1 perhaps1 was so important a document written in worsted4 ,it is a full and a faithful chronicle of an event on which the modern history of the world has turned4 ,it is referred to as an historical authority by nearly every writer who discusses the period4 ,the way in which the subject is treated1 the spirit shown in its design1 and the harmony of its colouring1 warrant us in pronouncing it to be a monument worthy of its reputed author1 and of the event which it is designed to commemorate4 ,it is1 however1 a double memorial2 it is a record of the love and duty of ,william's consort1 as well as of the skill and valour of the great hero himself4 ,a loving wife sympathizes with her husband in all his tastes4 ,she takes an enthusiastic interest in his favourite pursuits2 and she had 8lever far10 to use an expression of ,lady ,payson's1 that success attended his efforts--that another leaf were added to his laurel crown--8than that she should have a new gown1 though it were of scarlet40 ,matilda could not bestride the war-horse1 and do battle in the field by her husband's side2 but she could commit his exploits to the ,tapestry4 ,surrounded by her ladies1 all adroitly using their many-coloured threads1 she-- ,fought all his battles o'er again2 ,and thrice she routed all his foes1 and thrice she slew the slain4 ,matilda was1 during the greater part of her life1 a loving wife4 ,william1 too1 was a devoted and faithful husband2 though in one case he cannot be recommended as a model to enamoured swains4 ,it is said that for seven long years he courted ,matilda of ,flanders1 but in vain4 ,her affections were set upon a ,saxon nobleman1 but were not reciprocated4 ,at length the ,duke resolved to bring matters to a crisis4 ,he repaired to ,bruges1 and met the high-bred damsel as she returned from church through the streets of her father's gay capital4 ,having reproached her for her long-continued scorn and cruelty1 he seized her1 and coolly rolled her in the mud1 to the no small injury of her trim and costly attire4 ,then1 after a few more striking proofs of his regard1 which she must have sensibly felt from such a hand1 the lover rode away at full speed1 leaving her to account for this novel mode of courtship as best she could4 ,strangely enough1 she put a charitable construction upon his actions2 she regarded his blows as so many proofs of the violence of his affection2 she felt sorry for him2 and then--all was over--in a very brief space the nuptial ceremonies were solemnized with a splendour becoming the greatness of the occasion4#e ,thus did ,william win the hand of a lady who was to give to ,england a race of monarchs more renowned than those of any other dynasty4 ,she herself1 let it be observed1 had the blood of ,alfred in her veins4 ,before proceeding further1 it may be well to give a brief reply to the question which will naturally arise in the minds of most--,has the ,bayeux ,tapestry descended to us from a period so remote as that of the ,conquest8 ,a minute examination of the work supplies the best answer to this question4 ,montfaucon1 whose knowledge of antiquities no one will dispute1 and who was the first to describe the ,tapestry as a whole1 was quite satisfied that popular tradition was correct in ascribing it to the wife of the ,conqueror2 and ,thierry1 the last and ablest writer upon the ,norman ,conquest1 though he hesitates to ascribe the work to ,matilda1 has no doubt that it is contemporaneous with the ,conquest1 and constantly refers to it as a document of unquestionable authenticity4#f ,not1 however1 to settle the question by authorities1 it may be observed3--#ast4 ,that the fulness and correctness of its historical details prove that it is a contemporaneous chronicle4 ,wace1 as has already been observed1 treats more largely of the ,norman invasion than any of the writers of the ,norman period2 and1 such is the general agreement between the verses of the one and the delineations of the other1 that the ,tapestry may be pronounced to be what in these latter days would be called the 8illustrations10 and the narrative of the chronicler the 8letter-press10 of an elaborate history of the ,norman ,conquest4#g ,and yet the one does not follow the other slavishly4 ,whilst they agree in all the general facts1 they differ in many minute details1 as all independent narratives will4 #b4 ,again1 the architecture1 the dresses1 the armour1 the furniture1 of the ,tapestry are those which prevailed at the period of the ,conquest1 and at no other4 ,it is at all times exceedingly difficult1 whether by writing or painting1 to portray accurately the manners1 language1 and modes of thought1 of an anterior period4 ,in medival times1 however1 the attempt was seldom made4 ,the draftsmen represented the manners 8living as they rose40 8,it was the invariable practice with artists in every country10 says ,mr4 ,charles ,stothard1#h 8excepting ,italy1 during the middle ages1 whatever subject they took in hand1 to represent it according to the manners and customs of their own time4 ,thus we may see ,alexander the ,great1 like a good ,catholic1 interred with all the rites and ceremonies of the ,romish church4 ,all the illuminated transcripts of ,froissart1 although executed not more than fifty years after the original work was finished1 are less valuable on account of the illuminations they contain not being accordant with the text1 but representing the customs of the fifteenth century instead of the fourteenth4 ,it is not likely that in an age far less refined this practice should be departed from4 ,the ,tapestry1 therefore1 must be regarded as a true picture of the time when it was executed40 ,the testimony of an earlier authority1 ,strutt1 is to the same effect3--8,to a total want of proper taste in collecting of antiquities1 and application to the study of them1 are owing the ignorant errors committed by the unlearned illuminators of old ,,mss42 and so far were they from having the least idea of any thing more ancient than the manners and customs of their own particular times1 that not only things of a century earlier than their own era1 are confounded together1 but even representations of the remotest periods in history4 ,the ,saxons put ,noah1 ,abraham1 ,christ1 and ,king ,edgar1 all in the same habit1 that is1 the habit worn by themselves at that time2 and in some ,,mss41 illuminated in the reign of ,henry the ,sixth1 are exhibited the figures of ,meleager1 ,hercules1 ,jason1 c41 in the full dress of the great lords of that prince's court4 ,at the latter end of one of these ,,mss41 indeed1 the illuminator1 reading something about a lion's skin1 has covered the shoulders of the beau ,hercules with that kingly animal's hide over his courtly load of silk and gold embroidery4 ,yet this is a lucky circumstance in the present want of ancient materials2 for though these pictures do not bear the least resemblance of the things they were originally intended to represent1 yet they nevertheless are the undoubted characteristics of the customs of that period in which each illuminator or designer lived40#i ,a comparison of ,master ,wace with the ,bayeux ,tapestry will furnish us with an illustration in point4 ,wace1 after alluding to the negotiations which took place before the armies closed at the decisive field of ,hastings1 says1 8,as the ,duke said this1 and would have said more1 ,william ,fitz ,osbern rode up1 his horse all covered with iron2 ,sire1 said he to his lord1 we tarry too long1 let us arm ourselves4 ,allons6 ,allons60#aj ,now1 if we look at the ,tapestry1 we shall find that not a single horse is equipped in steel armour2 and if we refer to the authors who lived at that period1 we shall find that not one of them mentions any defensive covering for the horse4 ,wace1 who flourished in the days of ,henry ,i4 and ,henry ,,ii41 is the first writer who mentions horse-armour1 and1 excepting from the passage which has just been quoted1 it could not be proved that it had been introduced even in his day4 ,wace is therefore probably guilty of an anachronism1 and describes what happened at the close of his own time as having occurred in that of his immediate predecessors4#aa ,this example shows how exceedingly difficult it is to portray customs with accuracy a few years after the period in which they prevailed4 ,had the ,tapestry been made by ,matilda the ,empress1 as some contend1 numerous similar anachronisms must have occurred4 #c4 ,but the design of the ,tapestry shows its early date4 ,its manifest object is to prove the right of ,william to the throne of ,england1 to exhibit in strong colours the undutifulness and ingratitude of ,harold in attempting the usurpation of the crown1 and to record the punishment with which that disloyal and sacrilegious act was visited4#ab ,in the latter days of the ,conqueror such an undertaking would have been valueless4 ,he had planted his foot firmly upon the necks of the native population2 the barons1 too1 by whom he achieved the ,conquest1 had been brought into subjection4 ,he was king of ,england by the power of his sword2 he cared not then about the will of ,edward the ,confessor1 the oath of ,harold1 or the election of the nobles--he was king de facto1 and let them who durst deny it6 ,these remarks1 made with reference to the close of the ,conqueror's reign1 apply with still greater force to the time of the ,empress ,matilda1 to whom1 as some conceive1 we are indebted for the ,tapestry4#ac ,she would not have thought it necessary to establish in so elaborate a manner her deceased grandfather's right to the throne1 and to display at such length the obligations under which ,harold lay to him4 ,the ,brittany campaign would not have been given in such detail excepting it had been quite a recent event4 ,the ,tapestry1 it will be observed1 ends with the battle of ,hastings4 ,it does not even include the subsequent coronation of ,william4 ,it represents the first act in the drama of the ,conquest of ,england1 and was doubtless intended to prepare for the scenes which were to follow4 ,it is difficult to conceive that the ,tapestry was designed at any period save that immediately subsequent to the battle of ,hastings4 ,william had not then assumed the character of an arbitrary monarch1 which he subsequently did4 ,the ,saxon ladies1 full of reverence for the character of their lately deceased monarch1 ,edward the ,confessor1 might naturally resent the attempt of ,harold to resist the evident wish of that monarch to bequeath his crown to ,william1 and1 imbued with the superstition of an ignorant age1 regard the fatal results of the battle of ,hastings as a just judgment from ,god for the violation of an oath taken upon the relics of the saints4 ,taking this view of it there was nothing unpatriotic in their entering zealously into the views of their queen4 ,but if1 after ,england had reaped the bitter fruits of the conquest2 if1 after their fathers had been slain1 their husbands driven into exile1 their children made to herd with the dogs of the ,conqueror's flock1 they had lent their skill to commemorate the desolation of their country and their homes1 they would have dishonoured their lineage and their name4 ,on these general grounds1 therefore1 we may conceive the ,tapestry to be of the era of the ,conqueror1 and to date from an early period in his reign4 ,many opportunities of reverting to this subject will afterwards occur4 ,but although it be admitted that the ,tapestry is of the age of the ,conquest1 it does not necessarily follow that it was wrought by the ,queen and her court4 ,the opinion that ,matilda presided over its execution has been strongly controverted1 chiefly by those1 however1 who deny its early antiquity4 ,the ,abb de la ,rue1 as formerly observed1 ascribes it to ,matilda the ,empress4 ,mr4 ,bolton ,corney1 in an able paper entitled ,researches and ,conjectures on the ,bayeux ,tapestry1 contends that it was not executed until the year #abje1 and that it was then done at the expense of the ,chapter4 ,dr4 ,lingard adopts ,mr4 ,corney's views1 and in a note appended to the first volume of his ,history of ,england condenses his arguments4 ,if1 however1 the ,tapestry bear internal evidence of an earlier date1 these arguments are of little value4 ,no contemporary historian indeed tells us that the ,tapestry was made by ,matilda4 ,it is not mentioned in her will1 or the ,conqueror's4 ,the inventory of the treasures of the church at ,bayeux1 bearing date #acfi1 and which is the earliest document mentioning the ,tapestry1 contains no allusion to ,matilda4 ,another inventory1 made in #adgf1 and professing to be a descriptive catalogue of the jewels1 ornaments1 books1 and other valuables of the church1 mentions the ,tapestry1 describes its form and subject1 and names the period of its public exhibition2 but gives no hint that it was made at the command of ,matilda4 ,it is difficult1 it may even be impossible1 satisfactorily to account for the absence of all allusion to the ,queen in these documents1 but negative arguments prove little4 ,besides1 the case is by no means singular4 ,the compilers of ancient documents seem to have left much to be taken for granted4 ,sir ,henry ,ellis1 in his ,general ,introduction to ,domesday1 says1 8,of ,queen ,matilda's gifts to foreign monasteries1 two only are particularly specified in the ,survey2 the land at ,deverel in ,wilts1 which she gave to ,st4 ,mary at ,bee2 and two hides at ,frantone in ,dorset1 which she gave to the ,conqueror's foundation of ,st4 ,stephen at ,caen4 ,no mention occurs of the ,conqueror and his ,queen having founded the monasteries of ,st4 ,stephen and the ,holy ,trinity in that city3 although their lands in ,england are specified40#ad ,it is scarcely less difficult to account for these omissions in the ,domesday ,book1 than it is to account for the absence of all allusion to the framer of the ,tapestry by contemporary writers4 ,in the absence of direct evidence1 we are thrown upon probabilities4 ,and what is more likely than that the opinion which ,montfaucon found prevailing at ,bayeux when he discovered the ,tapestry is the correct one8 ,as the ,abb de la ,rue himself argues1 8,to have undertaken this ,tapestry would have required a considerable degree of interest in the subject of it1 and to have possessed the necessary powers for its execution40#ae ,who can be supposed to have had so great an interest in the establishment of the ,conqueror's right to the throne of ,england as ,matilda of ,flanders1 and who but herself would have been at the trouble of asserting it in such full detail8 ,would any one but an immediate connexion of the ,duke's have taken such prominent notice of the rescue of ,harold from his captivity in ,ponthieu1 and of his subsequent friendly intercourse with ,william in ,brittany2 and would even ,matilda herself have done this if the ,tapestry had been prepared after the stupendous results of the battle of ,hastings had fully developed themselves8 ,dr4 ,lingard1 in appealing to the roll itself1 says1 8,nor does the costliness of the work bespeak a royal benefactor40 8,there is in it no embroidery of gold1 none of silver1 none of silk1 nothing worthy the rank or the munificence of the supposed donor40 ,had the article in question been a royal robe1 or sacerdotal vestment1 the omission of the precious metals might have been unaccountable2 but in a piece of embroidery of such extent1 it is nothing wonderful4 ,neither should the artistic value of the document be overlooked4 ,its figures may appear uncouth in our eyes1 but they are done in the very best style of the period4 ,a person of ordinary resources could not have commanded1 to the extent required1 the services of the ablest artists of the day4 ,the preparation of the ,tapestry must have been a costly and laborious process1 not at all unworthy of the wife of the victor of ,hastings4#af ,what is more likely1 then1 than that the traditional opinion which ,montfaucon found prevailing in his day at ,bayeux is well founded1 and that to the first of our ,norman ,queens we are indebted for this most wonderful piece of needle-work8 ,although the actual execution of the ,tapestry devolved upon the ladies of ,matilda's court1 there can be no doubt that they wrought from a design prepared by some draftsman4 ,the priests were the principal artists of that day4 ,the ,latin inscriptions prove that in that part of their work1 at least1 the ladies had the assistance of some educated person4 ,the name of the designer has not come down to us2 unless indeed there be truth in the following statement made by ,miss ,agnes ,strickland3--8,this pictorial chronicle of her mighty consort's achievements appears to have been1 in part at least1 designed for ,matilda by ,turold1 a dwarf artist1 who moved by a natural desire of claiming his share in the celebrity which he foresaw would attach to the work1 has cunningly introduced his own effigies and name1#ag thus authenticating the ,norman tradition1 that he was the person who illuminated the canvas with the proper outlines and colours40#ah ,though ignorant of the individual who designed the ,tapestry1 the style of the work induces us to believe that the artist was an ,italian4 ,the postures into which many of the figures are thrown are not ,english or ,french1 but ,italian4#ai ,the cordiality subsisting at the time of the ,conquest between the courts of ,normandy and ,rome1 and the successful exhibition of ,norman prowess for some time previously on the plains of the ,italian peninsula1 sufficiently account for the introduction of the peculiarities of southern ,europe into the ,tapestry4 ,perhaps1 however1 we have acted rashly in having ventured even thus cursorily to touch upon the antiquity of the ,tapestry4 ,miss ,agnes ,strickland1 who1 in her ,lives of the ,queens of ,england1 shows how vigorously she can wield the pen1 is rather indignant that any one who is not learned in cross-stitch1 should venture to discuss the subject4 ,before we argue1 she wants to know if we can sew4 ,she says1 8,with due deference to the judgment of the lords of the creation on all subjects connected with policy and science1 we venture to think that our learned friends1 the archologists and antiquaries1 would do well to direct their intellectual powers to more masculine objects of inquiry1 and leave the question of the ,bayeux ,tapestry 7with all other matters allied to needle-craft7 to the decision of the ladies1 to whose province it belongs4 ,it is matter of doubt to us whether one1 out of the many gentlemen who have disputed ,matilda's claims to that work1 if called upon to execute a copy of either of the figures on canvas1 would know how to put in the first stitch40#bj ,few of the rougher sex would like to be put to theexperimentum acus1 and therefore it may be as well at once to exercise the best part of valour1 and beat a hasty retreat4 ,the attention of the learned world was first1 in modern times1 called to the ,bayeux ,tapestry by ,m4 ,lancelot1 who in #agbd found a drawing of a portion of it in the ,cabinet of ,antiquities at ,paris4 ,he was struck with its appearance1 and at once pronounced it to be of the age of ,william the ,conqueror1 and intended to commemorate his exploits2 but he was unable to conjecture whether the drawing represented a bass-relief1 a piece of sculpture surrounding a choir of a church or a tomb1 a painting in fresco or upon a glass window1 or even1 he adds1 if it be a piece of tapestry4 ,he conceived that the original would be found at ,caen4 ,in consequence of his suggestion1 ,father ,montfaucon made diligent inquiries1 and1 after some trouble1 found the ,tapestry1 not at ,caen1 but at ,bayeux4 ,he ascertained that it was there popularly ascribed to ,queen ,matilda4#ba ,m4 ,lancelot further informs us that it was ordinarily called in the country ,la ,toilette de ,duc ,guillaume4 ,at that period1 and for long afterwards1 it was kept in a side chapel of the cathedral1 rolled upon a kind of winch1 and was exposed to public view only once a year1 on the festival of the relics 7,july #a71 and during the octave4 ,on these occasions it was hung up in the nave of the church1 which it completely surrounded4 ,in the autumn of #ahjc1 when ,bonaparte1 then ,first ,consul of ,france1 contemplated the invasion of ,england1 the ,tapestry was brought from its obscurity at ,bayeux1 and exhibited in the ,national ,museum at ,paris1 where it remained some months4 ,the ,first ,consul himself went to see it1 and affected to be struck with that particular part 7,plate ,,vii47 which represents the appearance of a meteor presaging the defeat of ,harold3 affording an opportunity for the inference1 that the meteor which had then been lately seen in the south of ,france was the prelude to a similar event4 ,the exhibition was popular2 so much so1 that a small dramatic piece was got up at the ,theatre du ,vaudeville1 entitled ,la ,tapisserie de la ,reine ,mathilde1 in which ,matilda was represented passing her time with her women in embroidering the exploits of her husband1 never leaving their work1 except to put up prayers for his success4 ,at present the ,tapestry is preserved in the town's library at ,bayeux1 where it is advantageously exposed to view by being extended in eight lengths from end to end of the room1 and is at the same time protected from injury by being covered with glass4 ,the ,tapestry has originally formed one piece1 and measures two hundred and twenty-seven feet in length1 by about twenty inches in breadth4 ,the groundwork of it is a strip of rather fine linen cloth1 which1 through age1 has assumed the tinge of brown holland4 ,the stitches consist of lines of coloured worsted laid side by side1 and bound down at intervals with cross fastenings2 as is seen in the frontispiece1 which represents a portion of the ,tapestry of the original size4 ,the parts intended to represent flesh 7the face1 hands1 or naked legs of the men7 are left untouched by the needle4 ,considering the age of the ,tapestry1 it is in a remarkably perfect state4 ,the first portion of it is somewhat injured1 and the last five yards of it are very much defaced4 ,the colours chiefly used by the fair artists are--dark and light blue1 red1 pink1 yellow1 buff1 and dark and light green4 ,on examining this interesting relic1 ,i was struck with nothing so much as the freshness of the colours2 and can entirely subscribe to the words of ,mr4 ,hudson ,gurney1 in the ,archologia1 8the colours are as bright and distinct1 and the letters of the superscriptions as legible1 as if of yesterday40 ,perspective and light and shade are wholly disregarded4 ,an effort is made1 by varying the colours employed1 to avoid the confusion arising from this circumstance3 thus1 while the leg of a horse which is nearest to the spectator is painted blue1 the one more removed will be coloured red2 or if the one be pink1 the other may be a greenish yellow4 ,the colours1 owing probably to the restricted extent of them at the command of ,matilda1 are employed somewhat fancifully1 and we have horses exhibited to us of hues which1 could they be realized in living specimens in ,hyde ,park now-a-days1 would attract the envy and admiration of all beholders4 ,notwithstanding the liberty thus taken1 the harmony of the colouring is such1 that persons may look at the ,tapestry for some time without discovering that truth1 in this particular1 has been in any degree violated4 ,mr4 ,dawson ,turner remarks1 that 8in point of drawing1 the figures are superior to the contemporary sculpture at ,st4 ,george's and elsewhere2 and the performance is not deficient in energy40#bb ,as we examine the figures in detail1 we shall have occasion to notice the spirit and the expression which the artist has infused into his work4 ,besides the principal subject1 which occupies the central portion of the ,tapestry1 there is an ornamental border at the top and bottom of the field1 which is filled with a variety of representations4 ,here the artist has indulged in a considerable play of fancy4 ,figures of birds and beasts which certainly never came out of ,noah's ark are admitted into this menagerie4 ,probably many of these forms represent the griffins1 centaurs1 and other fabulous creatures which occupy so conspicuous a place in the romances of the period4 ,others clearly represent animals1 such as the camel and lion1 with which the people of that age could not be very familiar1 but which would1 on that account1 furnish subjects of thought and conversation all the more exciting4 ,in the lower border of the roll1 near the beginning1 are some representations of the fables of sop4 ,there is the crow and the fox1 the wolf and the lamb1 the crane and the wolf1 the eagle and the tortoise1 and some others4 ,besides these subjects1 we have many of the operations of husbandry1 such as ploughing1 sowing1 and harrowing4 ,the sports of the field are not neglected4 ,one man is seen shooting birds with a sling4 ,at this period the sling had quite gone into disuse as a weapon of war1 but was probably long afterwards retained for the purposes of the sportsman4 ,in one compartment1 a man is seen fighting1 sword in hand1 with a bear that is chained to a tree4 ,in another1 the huntsman summons his dogs to the chase4 ,in some portions of the ,tapestry the border has an evident reference to the main subject of the piece2 towards the end of the work the whole of the lower margin is filled with the bodies of the slain1 thus forming it1 as it were1 the foreground of the general delineation4 ,the whole picture is divided into seventy-two compartments or scenes1 which are generally separated from one another by trees1 or what are intended to represent such4 ,the artist1 very modestly mistrusting his own powers1 has usually affixed an inscription1 in ,latin1 to each subject1 the more fully to explain his intention4 ,the letters1 like the figures1 are stitched in worsted1 and are about an inch in length4 ,that the ,tapestry should from a period beyond all record have belonged to the church of ,bayeux is nothing surprising4 ,odo1 the uterine brother of ,william1 who rendered the ,conqueror such efficient assistance in the battle of ,hastings1 and in the subsequent government of the kingdom1 was archbishop of that place4 ,matilda may1 with great propriety have given it to him in acknowledgement of his services1 and he with equal probability1 for he was very munificent to his church1 may have given it to the ,chapter4 ,there is no other period at which it could with so much probability have come into the possession of the ecclesiastics of ,bayeux as during the episcopate of ,odo4#bc ,,ii4 ,,the ,,commission4 8,all hail1 ,macbeth6 that shalt be king hereafter40 ,macbeth4 ,very frequently the means which we adopt to secure our ends are those by which ,providence designs to thwart them4 ,during that disastrous period when ,england was subject to the incessant depredations of the ,danes1 ,ethelred ,,ii4 contracted a marriage with ,emma1 a daughter of ,richard ,i41 ,duke of ,normandy4 ,ethelred's conduct to his wife proved that the match was not one of affection2 his object evidently was to obtain the assistance of the powerful house of ,rollo in resisting the attacks of the ,vikings of the north4 ,instead of doing this1 the alliance resulted in arraying the ,normans amongst the enemies of ,england4 ,alfred and ,edward1 the sons of ,ethelred and ,emma1 found an asylum in the ,norman court during the supremacy of ,sweyn and ,canute4 ,at one time an expedition was in readiness to leave the shores of ,normandy1 with a view of placing by force a son of ,ethelred on the throne of his father4 ,william of ,malmesbury1 speaking of the two youths1 says--8,i find that their uncle ,richard 7,,ii47 took no steps to restore them to their country2 on the contrary1 he married his sister ,emma to the enemy and the invader4 ,robert1 however1 whom we have so frequently before mentioned as having gone to ,jerusalem1 assembling a fleet and embarking soldiers1 made ready an expedition1 boasting that he would set the crown on the head of his grand-nephews2 and doubtlessly he would have made good his assertion1 had not1 as we have heard from our ancestors1 an adverse wind constantly opposed him3 but assuredly this was by the hidden counsel of ,god1 in whose disposal are the powers of all kingdoms4 ,the remains of the vessels1 decayed through length of time1 were still to be seen at ,rouen in our days40#bd ,thus half a century before ,william the ,conqueror set out upon his expedition1 a ,norman invasion loomed in the distance4 ,whilst the ships of ,robert were rotting in the harbour of ,rouen1 ,alfred and ,edward1 the sons of ,emma1 were being trained up in the court of ,normandy in those habits and feelings which eventually led to the assembling of an armament which adverse winds were not destined to baffle4 ,alfred visiting ,england1 was barbarously murdered2 the ,norman chroniclers assert that the cruel deed was instigated by ,godwin4 ,at length1 by the death of ,hardicanute1 a way was opened for ,edward1 afterwards styled the ,confessor1 to the throne of his father4 ,he was1 however1 at the time of his accession1 as ,camden expresses it1 thoroughly ,frenchified4 ,he could scarcely speak a word of ,english4 ,his court was filled with ,normans1 who usurped most of the official dignities4 ,when advancing years compelled the monarch to take some steps for securing a fitting successor to the throne1 his mind reverted to the court of ,illustration3 ,,plate ,i4 ,normandy4 ,his immediate heir1 ,edgar ,atheling1 was too feeble a youth to be placed1 in such turbulent times1 in so responsible a position4 ,when the choice lay between ,harold the ,saxon and ,william the ,norman1 the ,confessor's early predilections necessarily induced him to look favourably upon the youthful head of his mother's house4 ,independently of any communications which the ,english king may have made to the young ,duke of ,normandy1 the partiality which he manifested towards him could not fail to nurture in ,duke ,william's mind the most ambitious views4 ,hence sprung the ,norman invasion4 ,we are now prepared for examining in detail the scenes depicted in the ,tapestry4 ,the first compartment exhibits to us ,edward the ,confessor giving audience to two personages of rank4 ,the king is seated on a throne2 his feet rest upon a footstool4 ,a crown1 ornamented with fleurs-de-lis1 is on his head1 and he holds a sceptre in his left hand4 ,the robe of the monarch is full1 and is ornamented at the collar1 the wrists1 and down the front1 probably by needle-work of gold4 ,similar ornaments appear upon his knees4 ,the arms and feet of the throne1 according to the usage of the period1 terminate in carvings of the head and feet of a dog4 ,the taller of the persons waiting upon the king is no doubt ,harold1 as the face bears a strong resemblance to that of one of the horsemen in the next group1 which the inscription tells us is ,harold4 ,a general likeness is preserved throughout the ,tapestry1 both in the case of ,william and ,harold1 so that we may reasonably suppose that the delineations of these personages bear some resemblance to the originals1 and that they were drawn by an artist who knew them both4 ,edward is in the attitude of a king giving law to his subjects4 ,harold and his companion stand in the royal presence1 both to betoken their reverence for their monarch1 and their readiness to depart on the instant in the performance of the royal behests4 ,they evidently pay earnest attention to the commands of the king4 ,the subject of this interview is no doubt ,harold's intended expedition to the court of ,william4 ,unhappily1 there is no point in history respecting which a greater diversity of statement exists among contemporary writers1 than the visit of ,harold to the court of ,william4 ,three views are taken of it3--one is1 that ,harold was commissioned by ,edward to inform the young ,duke of ,normandy that he had been nominated by him as his successor to the throne2 another is1 that ,harold1 whilst taking recreation in a fishing-boat1 was accidentally carried out to sea1 and driven on the shores of ,ponthieu2 the third is1 that ,harold had begged permission of ,edward to go into ,normandy1 in order to release from captivity two relatives1 a brother and a nephew1 who1 after ,earl ,godwin's rebellion1 had been placed as hostages in the hands of the ,norman duke4 ,the question for us to consider is which is the view countenanced by the ,tapestry4 ,unfortunately1 the inscription over the group is simply ,,edward ,,rex1 and1 so1 gives us no definite information4 ,it will be well to examine the statements of the chroniclers1 and then compare them with the representations of our worsted work4 ,william of ,malmesbury says1 8,king ,edward declining into years1 as he had no children himself1 and saw the sons of ,godwin growing in power1 despatched messengers to the ,king of ,hungary to send over ,edward1 the son of his brother ,edmund1 with all his family2 intending1 as he declared1 that either he1 or his sons1 should succeed to the hereditary kingdom of ,england1 and that his own want of issue should be supplied by that of his kindred4 ,edward came in consequence1 but died almost immediately4 ,he left three surviving children2 that is to say1 ,edgar1 who1 after the death of ,harold1 was by some elected king2 and who1 after many revolutions of fortune1 is now living wholly retired in the country1 in extreme old age2#be ,christina1 who grew old at ,romsey in the habit of a nun2 and ,margaret1 whom ,malcolm ,king of the ,scots1 espoused4444 ,the king1 in consequence of the death of his relation1 losing his first hope of support1 gave the succession of ,england to ,william ,earl of ,normandy4 ,he was well worthy of such a gift1 being a young man of superior mind1 who had raised himself to the highest eminence by his unwearied exertion2 moreover1 he was his nearest relation by consanguinity1 as he was the son of ,robert1 the son of ,richard the ,second 7of ,normandy71 whom we have repeatedly mentioned as the brother of ,emma1 ,edward's mother4 ,some affirm that ,harold himself was sent into ,normandy by the ,king for this purpose2 others1 who knew ,harold's more secret intentions1 say1 that being driven thither against his will by the violence of the wind1 he imagined this device1 in order to extricate himself4 ,this1 as it appears nearest the truth1 ,i shall relate4 ,harold being at his country seat at ,bosham1 went for recreation on board a fishing-boat and1 for the purpose of prolonging his sport1 put out to sea2 when a sudden tempest arising1 he was driven with his companions on the coast of ,ponthieu4 ,the people of that district1 as was their native custom1 immediately assembled from all quarters2 and ,harold's company1 unarmed and few in number1 were1 as it might easily be1 quickly overpowered by an armed multitude1 and bound hand and foot4 ,harold1 craftily meditating a remedy for this mischance1 sent a person1 whom he had allured by great promises1 to ,william to say1 that he had been sent into ,normandy by the ,king1 for the purpose of expressly confirming in person the message which had been imperfectly delivered by people of less authority1 but that he was detained in fetters by ,guy1 and could not execute his embassy4444 ,by these means ,harold was liberated at ,william's command1 and conducted by ,guy in person40#bf ,master ,wace inclines to the opinion1 that he went to rescue the hostages4 ,his statement is1 8,when his father 7,earl ,godwin7 had died1 ,harold1 pitying the hostages1 was desirous to cross over into ,normandy1 and bring them home4 ,so he went to take leave of the ,king4 ,but ,edward strictly forbade him1 and charged and conjured him not to go to ,normandy1 nor to speak with ,duke ,william2 for he might soon be drawn into some snare1 as the ,duke was very shrewd2 and he told him that if he wished to have the hostages home1 he would choose some messenger for the purpose4 ,so at least ,i have found the story written4 ,but another book tells me1 that the ,king ordered him to go for the purpose of assuring ,duke ,william1 his cousin1 that he should have the realm after his death4 ,how the matter really was ,i never knew40#bg ,let us now attend to the questions1 ,how are we to reconcile these various statements1 and what is the view taken by the draftsman of the ,tapestry8 ,we must at once abandon the fishing boat story4 ,the preparation which ,harold makes for his expedition1 and the numbers he takes with him1 are irreconcileable with this view4 ,besides1 the ships do not seem to be suffering from stress of weather1 and1 according to the inscription1 ,harold appears to have made a prosperous voyage1 ,,et ,,velis ,,vento ,,plenis1 ,,venit ,,in ,,terram ,,widonis ,,comitis--,and his sails being filled with the wind1 he came into the territory of ,count ,guy4 ,we must also abandon the view which represents him as going to procure1 in a direct and open manner1 the hostages which ,william held4 ,he knew that ,william was as shrewd as he was ambitious1 and would not be so simple as to give up at his request1 however reasonable it might be1 the only means he had of holding him in restraint4 ,besides1 the ,tapestry represents the ,king1 in the first compartment1 in the attitude of one giving a command1 rather than administering advice4 ,the interview which ,harold has with the ,king1 on his return1 strengthens this view4 7,plate ,,vii47 ,harold comes into the presence of the ,confessor like a guilty person1 deploring his misdeeds and craving pardon4 ,an axe1 carried by an attendant on the left of the ,king1 is turned towards him1 apparently betokening that he has committed an offence worthy of death4 ,the ,king is evidently reproving him sharply1 but the attendant on the right of the ,king having the edge of his axe turned away from ,harold1 shows that the result of the interview was a pardon4 ,the monarch was in fact too powerless to adopt any rigorous steps towards so influential a subject as the son of ,godwin4 ,if ,harold had simply failed upon a private errand of his own1 but which the ,king had forewarned him would be a bootless one1 the ,king would have been more disposed to laugh at the trouble into which he had brought himself than take such serious notice of his conduct4 ,besides1 it is admitted on all hands1 that ,edward intended to appoint ,william as his successor1 and most of the chroniclers agree in asserting that the ,norman had already received some intimation of it4 ,further1 ,william1 after procuring the kingdom1 always claimed to hold it1 amongst other pleas1 ,beneficio concessionis domini et cognati mei1 gloriosi ,regis ,edwardi--,by the devise of my lord and relative the glorious ,king ,edward4#bh ,now1 is it likely that a document which depicted the views of the ,norman court would neglect to insert so important a title8 ,supposing it to be a point established1 that in the first compartment the ,confessor is giving orders to ,harold to inform ,william of the honours that awaited him1 and abandoning1 for the reasons already stated1 the view of his being accidentally cast ashore on the coast of ,ponthieu1 we are necessarily led to suppose that he designedly shaped his course to that place1 in order to promote his own ends4 ,the ,earl of ,ponthieu was jealous of ,william's growing power1 and had often been in arms against him4 ,he had on one occasion been imprisoned by him for two years4 ,harold might readily suppose1 that if he could obtain the assistance of ,guy1 he might1 by stealth or stratagem1 get possession of the persons of his brother and nephew4 ,hence1 instead of going direct to ,rouen1 he seems to have shaped his course more to the north4 ,he might argue with himself1 that when once he had got possession of the hostages1 the wrath of ,william1 which would no doubt be aroused by the proceeding1 would be easily allayed by his putting him in formal possession of the fact of his being appointed by the present occupant of the ,english crown his successor4 ,on the first view of the case1 it seems strange that ,harold should undertake an errand which was apparently so much opposed to his interests1 or even that the ,king should intrust him with such a commission4 ,harold1 however1 could have little objection to make it known that it was the ,king's wish that ,william should be appointed his successor2 for it was of some importance to him1 having an eye to the crown himself1 that the direct heir should1 at all events1 be superseded4 ,edgar ,atheling1 the next in the succession1 was a rival in the palace itself2 ,william the ,norman was separated from him and the land of their mutual ambition by a barrier which was in those days a very formidable one--the ,english ,channel4 ,if ,harold entertained these views1 he would take care to inform the ,king of his acquiescence in his well known intentions respecting the succession1 and thus encourage him to send him upon his present errand4 ,this method of reconciling the different views given by the chroniclers upon this involved point of ,english history is1 it must be confessed1 purely theoretical2 at the same time1 no better occurs4 ,harold has received his commission from the ,king2 let us see how he fulfils it4 ,he is first seen riding in company with several persons of distinction 7as their dress indicates7 to the place of embarkation4 ,the legend here is1 ,u,,bi ,,harold ,,dux ,,anglorum ,,et ,,sui ,,milites ,,equitant ,,ad ,,bosham--,where ,harold the ,english chief and his knights ride to ,bosham4 ,harold is represented twice in this group 7by no means an unusual thing1 as we shall afterwards see72 once1 lifting up his hand1 as if in the attitude of command2 and again1 with his hawk upon his fist1 to betoken his high rank2 a pack of hounds are scampering before him4 ,the hawk and the hounds require a few words of remark4 ,it is well known to persons conversant in antiquity1 that the great men of those times had only two ways of being accoutered when they set out upon a journey2 either in the habiliments of war1 or for the chase4 ,harold1 as going on an errand of peace1 we find here represented in the latter4 ,the bird upon the fist was a mark of high nobility4 ,we see it frequently upon seals and miniatures1 of that age1 of ladies as well as men2 and so sacred was this bird esteemed1 that we find it prohibited in the ancient laws for any one to give his hawk or his sword as part of his ransom4 ,severe fines were laid on those who should steal another's hawk4 ,harold1 it will be observed1 is the only one of all his suite who has the bird upon his fist4#bi ,several hawks are introduced in the course of the ,tapestry1 but in no one case is the bird provided with a hood4 ,the hood was introduced from the ,east about the year #abjj1 and as after its introduction it was considered an essential part of the equipment of the bird1 its absence in the ,tapestry is conclusive evidence of its comparatively early date4#cj ,the three larger dogs have collars1 provided with rings through which1 most probably1 the leash passed2 the other two are of a smaller breed4 ,the horses are hog-maned4 ,harold's horse1 in the more forward instance1 has some ornament entwined with its mane4 ,bosham is a hamlet in ,sussex1 near to ,chichester1 which still retains its ancient name4 ,it was a sea-port of some consequence in ,saxon times1 and we frequently read of its being the point of departure for persons going to the ,continent4 ,bosham was the property of ,harold1 having been obtained by his father1 ,earl ,godwin1 from the ,archbishop of ,canterbury4 ,among the endowed churches of ,england1 that of ,bosham was probably one of the richest4 ,in the reign of ,king ,edward it had land belonging to it to the extent of a hundred and twelve hides4 ,the generality of church endowments were infinitely smaller4 ,hence we find the church represented in the ,tapestry as a structure of considerable consequence4#ca ,a tree closes the scene4 ,it is of a species which does not flourish in our modern woods1 but which nevertheless grows very abundantly in the ,,mss4 of the tenth and eleventh centuries4 ,several of similar character may be seen in the ,illustrations to ,cdmon's ,metrical ,paraphrase1 executed in the tenth century4#cb ,these trees1 like the lions and leopards of the heralds of a subsequent date1 were mere conventional forms1 and not intended to be correct representations of the objects indicated4 ,the next compartment exhibits to us ,harold and a companion 7one no doubt being used to represent all7 entering the sacred structure1 with the view of seeking the divine blessing upon their enterprise4 ,as the humility of their posture1 when inside1 could not be represented1 the artist has exhibited them as entering it in a state of semi-genuflexion4 ,in this he follows a classical model4 ,among the ,greeks and ,romans the act of adoration was expressed by the artists representing the body inclined slightly forwards1 the knees gently bent1 and the right hand touching the object of reverence4#cc ,over the building which ,harold and his companion enter is written the word ,,ecclesia4--the church4 ,it is not a little curious to observe1 that in immediate contiguity with the church in which our voyagers offer their devotions1 is the festal board at which they comfort their own bowels1 and pledge each other in goblets large as their own hearts4 ,the scene is one of a truly ,saxon character4 ,our blue-eyed forefathers never did things by halves1 and whenever they sat down at the social table--and they did so as often as convenient--they exhibited a refreshing earnestness4 ,the scene represents the end of the feast1 and hence the drinking horns rather than the platters are brought into requisition4 ,two of these are magnificent specimens1 and remind us of the horn of ,ulphe preserved in ,york ,minster1 and the ,pusey horn4 ,the individuals in the building are evidently pledging each other1 and the challenged and the challenger are drinking in turn out of the same cup4 ,robert de ,brunne refers to this practice in the following lines3-- 8,this is their custom and their gest ,when thei are at the ale or fest2 ,ilk man that loves1 where him think ,sall say wassail1 and to him drink4 ,he that bids1 sall say wassail2 ,the tother sall say again drinkhail4 ,that said wassail drinkes of the cup1 ,kissand his felow he gives it up2 ,drinkhail1 he says1 and drinkes thereof1 ,kissand him in bord and skoff40#cd ,besides horns1 semicircular vessels1 or mazer cups1 appear among the furnishings of the board4 ,these vessels were generally of wood1 but occasionally of gold or silver4 ,our ancestors1 who somewhat strangely blended religion with their festivities1 not unfrequently had mottos1 such as the following1 inscribed upon their mazer bowls3-- ,in the name of the trinitie ,fille the kup and drink to me4 ,but the best of friends must part4 ,a messenger1 who has blown the horn1 to inform our voyagers that the boats are ready1 till he is tired1 comes personally1 horn in hand1 to urge their departure4 ,the scene of the embarkation is curious4 ,harold1 the most powerful subject in ,england--if he can be called a subject--strips off his lower garments1 and wades into the sea4 ,his companions follow him in similar guise4 ,harold has1 as usual1 his hawk upon his fist1 and he and his companion 7the representative of the rest71 more careful of their hounds than themselves1 carry them dry-shod on board the ship that waits to receive them4 ,no satisfactory explanation has been given of the peculiar implement held in the left hand of the attendant who is next but one to ,harold4 ,can it be a #8throw stick' such as was generally used by the ancient ,egyptian sportsmen in fowling8#ce ,harold has two ships1 and they are represented twice over--once at their departure from the ,english coast1 and again on their arrival at the shores of ,france4 ,but before attending to the adventures which befell the ,saxon ,earl on the opposite side1 it will be well to review the ground already trodden1 in order to gather up some fragments of information respecting the tastes and habits of the ancient ,english4 ,the architectural delineations of the ,tapestry are those of the ,conquest4 ,throughout the whole1 the circular arch1 which is characteristic of the ,saxon and ,norman styles1 prevails in its simplest forms4 ,interlacing arches which occur so frequently in the later ,norman buildings1 and which are supposed to have introduced the pointed or ,gothic-style1 never occur4 ,the palace of ,edward the ,confessor1 in the first compartment1 is a large building as compared with the church and manor-house of ,bosham in the second4 ,in some of its details it bears a striking resemblance to the #8heavenly abode' in one of the early illustrations of ,cdmon's ,paraphrase4#cf ,of the chequered work on the face of the chief buttress tower many examples exist to this day in ,normandy4 ,the chief feature of the church is the doorway1 as is the case with all ,norman buildings up to a late period4 ,the windows are small and insignificant1 and were probably unglazed4 ,it is roofed with stone shingles or tiles1 rounded at the lower extremity1 and fastened to the framework with nails1 as is conventionally represented in the drawing4 ,the roofs in the ,saxon illustrations already referred to present a precisely similar appearance4 ,the traveller in ,normandy will often be reminded by existing buildings of these arrangements4 ,the house in which the voyagers take their farewell repast is worthy of observation4 ,it is constructed upon the plan of the ancient 8peel houses0 of the ,north of ,england4 ,the upper apartment has an independent entrance by stone steps from the outside1 and seems to be the place of greatest comfort and security4 ,the lower room is vaulted1 and is divided into three compartments1 like the aisles of a church4 ,this was not an unusual arrangement in buildings of the ,saxon and ,norman period4#cg ,the dress of the parties may be briefly described4 ,it has manifestly been derived from a ,roman model4 ,a garment1 doubtless of woollen1 invests the body1 and comes up to the neck4 ,a tunic1 having something of the form of a frock coat1 is put on over this1 and is bound round the waist by a girdle4 ,in the horsemen1 this tunic is brought below the knees1 and1 for greater convenience in riding1 is divided so as to form two wide loose legs4 ,most of the men are furnished with hose1 which fit tightly1 and come well up the thigh4 ,most of them also are furnished with shoes1 which seem to fit the foot naturally and easily4 ,in addition to these coverings1 the superior orders wear a cloak1 nearly resembling the chlamys of the ,roman general1 and which is fastened by a fibula1 or brooch1 at the right shoulder4 ,all the figures1 excepting those accoutred with crowns or helmets1 are bare-headed4 ,this at first sight does not seem to be the case2 the heads of the parties appear as if they were enveloped with caps of various colours4 ,it will be observed1 however1 that1 within doors as well as without1 their heads wear the same appearance4 ,but the shaven crown of the priests reveals the fact4 ,these personages appear with hair as indisputably red1 and blue1 and yellow1 as the rest1 yet they show the bare poll in the centre4 7,see ,plates ,,iv4 and ,,vii47 ,it may also be observed that the hinder part of the heads of the ,frenchmen is bare4 ,in ,france1 at this period1 an absurd custom prevailed of shaving the back of the head4 ,the men of ,normandy and ,ponthieu accordingly appear as if they had caps stuck upon the front of their heads1 leaving the back part naked4 ,all this seems to prove that1 at the time of the ,conquest1 it was not customary either in ,england or ,france for men to cover the head1 except for defensive purposes in the day of battle4 ,the ,saxons are uniformly represented with mustaches2 the ,french are not4 ,king ,edward always appears with a beard4 ,the ,saxons were fond of cultivating the hair1 and exhibiting full and flowing locks4 ,in the youthful days of ,king ,edward both razors and scissors were eschewed4 ,in process of time1 however1 through some silvery influence1 men were induced to denude their chins of nature's covering4 ,frenchmen made a clean sweep of it1 but the ,saxons held out for the mustache4 ,king ,edward maintained the customs of his youth1 and he is always represented on coins1 medals1 and the ,tapestry1 with all the capillary attractions which nature ever gave him4 ,in these respects1 the ,tapestry is true to history4 ,in ancient times1 as well as in modern1 fashions were subject to change4 ,in the reigns immediately succeeding the ,conqueror's1 modes prevailed different from those depicted in the ,tapestry4 ,the points of the shoes were elongated1 greater extravagance of dress was indulged in1 and the ,normans1 instead of shaving their hair like monks1 suffered it to grow ridiculously long2 beards1 too1 were cultivated4 ,the following summary of the fashions of the late ,norman period is to our present purpose3-- 8,during the reigns of ,rufus and ,henry ,i4 the dress of the higher classes became much more costly in material and extravagant in shape4 ,some most ridiculous fashions are reprobated and caricatured by the historians and illuminators of that period4 ,the sleeves of the tunics were made long enough to cover and hang considerably below the hand4 ,peaked-toed boots and shoes of the most absurd shapes1 some terminating like a scorpion's tail1 others stuffed with tow and curling round like a ram's horn1 are mentioned by the monkish historians4 ,ordericus ,vitalis says they were invented by some one deformed in the foot4 ,the mantles and tunics were worn much longer and fuller1 and the former lined with the most expensive furs4 ,henry ,i4 is said to have had one presented to him by the ,bishop of ,lincoln1 lined with black sable with white spots1 and which cost #ajj4 of the money of that day4 8,the ,english now1 both ,saxon and ,norman1 suffered their hair to grow to an immoderate length instead of being cropped ridiculously short2 and ,william of ,malmesbury1 who has previously complained of his countrymen having imitated the latter fashion1 now laments over the long hair1 the loose flowing garments1 the pointed shoes1 and effeminate appearance of the ,english generally4 ,even long beards were worn during the reign of ,henry ,i42 and ,ordericus ,vitalis compares the men of that day to #8filthy goats4' 8,anselm1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 refused his benediction on ,ash ,wednesday to those who would not cut their hair4 ,councils were held on this important matter4 ,the razor and the scissors were not only recommended ex cathedra1 but positively produced sometimes at the end of a sermon against the sinfulness of long locks and curling mustaches4 ,serlo d',abon1 ,bishop of ,seez1 on ,easter ,day1 #aaje1 after preaching against beards before ,henry ,i41 cropped not only that of the king but those of the whole congregation with a pair of scissors he had provided for the occasion4 ,but nothing could long repress these fashions1 which in the time of ,stephen again raged to such an extent that the fops of the day suffered their hair to grow till they looked more like women than men2 and those whose ringlets were not sufficiently luxurious added false hair to equal or surpass in appearance their more favoured brethren40#ch ,we can only account for the exact conformity of the manners and customs depicted in the ,tapestry with those prevailing during the ,conqueror's reign1 on the supposition that the ,tapestry was then produced4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,entanglement4 8,sir1 what ill chance hath brought you to this place80 ,paradise ,regained4 ,when ,robert of ,normandy went on pilgrimage to ,jerusalem1 he named his son ,william1 then a boy seven years of age1 his heir4 ,his courtiers expressing their fears that during his absence the estates would be left without a head1 he replied1 8,not so1 by my faith1 not so6 ,i will leave you a master in my place4 ,i have a little bastard here2 he is little1 indeed1 but he will grow2 nay1 by ,god's grace1 ,i have great hopes that he will prove a gallant man2 therefore ,i do pray you all to receive him from my hands1 for from this time forth ,i give him seisin of the duchy of ,normandy1 as my known and acknowledged heir40 ,william1 who was destined never again to see his father1 was committed to the guardianship of his two uncles--8a lamb to the tutelage of wolves40 ,when1 at a very early age1 he was compelled to take the reins of government into his own hands1 he had a difficult part to perform4 ,as the author of the ,roman de ,rou informs us1 8,the feuds against him were many1 and his friends few2 for he found that most were ill inclined towards him2 those even whom his father held dear he found haughty and evil disposed4 ,the barons warred upon each other2 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ii4 the strong oppressed the weak1 and he could not prevent it40#ci ,the success which attended his efforts made him an object of jealousy and fear4 ,in #ajed the ,king of ,france made war upon him1 with the intention of depriving him of his duchy4 ,in the battle of ,mortemer1 ,william overcame the forces of ,france1 and1 along with some others1 took ,guy ,count of ,ponthieu prisoner4 ,harold knew well the difficult part which his rival had to perform1 and doubtless thought to take advantage of it4 ,if he could induce ,guy to interest himself in the fate of his brother and nephew1 who were detained as hostages at the court of ,normandy1 the assistance of the ,king of ,france and of many of his great barons could easily be secured4 ,such1 probably1 was the reasoning of ,harold1 as he stepped on board his ship at ,bosham4 ,the territories of ,guy lay immediately to the north of those of ,william4 ,let us see how the voyager fares4 ,no untoward accident occurs on the passage across1 but all is expectation and anxiety as the ships approach the shore4 ,one man from the top of the mast of the hindermost vessel eagerly spies out the land1 the whole of the crew are standing up and looking anxiously toward it4 ,they evidently discern indications which make them doubtful of a hospitable reception4 ,this ship1 however1 bears no marks of having encountered a gale4 ,its sail is fully extended1 and is in good order4 ,the foremost vessel contains ,harold alone1 as the superscription1 ,,harold1 informs us4 ,he is in full dress1 ready to pay his respects to the ,count of ,ponthieu4 ,he is1 however1 armed with a spear1 which evidently indicates that he has reason to fear that he is in an enemy's country4 ,the next group of figures reveals the plot4 ,guy1 accompanied by a troop of horsemen bearing sword and shield and spear1 orders the arrest of ,harold and his companions4 ,the ,count is simply clad1 but well armed2 he has not only a sword of portentous size attached to his side1 but a basilard1 or hunting knife1 suspended from his saddle4 8,as an instance of that peculiar accuracy which is observed by the designer of the ,tapestry1 even in seemingly unimportant particulars1 and which makes the work so much more interesting as a faithful depiction of the various circumstances of the times1 we find the ,norman horses of this and other groups are represented as being larger than the ,anglo-,saxon4 ,the hair of the mane is also uncut1 and falls on the neck2 the saddle and its accoutrements are similar40#dj ,harold1 stripped1 as before1 for disembarkation1 is immediately seized4 ,the first impression on the minds of the party evidently is to resist4 ,their ordinary weapons1 which have for the moment been laid aside1 are not at hand2 but that weapon which a ,saxon never laid aside--that weapon1 half knife1 half dagger1 with which he divided his food at meals1 which he had by him even during the hours of sleep1 and which was deposited in his grave when his warfare was o'er--that weapon1 the saxe1 from which1 according to the medival rhymer ,gotfridus ,viterbiensis1 the ,saxons derived their name-- 8,ipse brevis gladius apud illos ,saxo vocatur1 ,unde sibi ,saxo nomen peperisse notatur40#da --is clutched and drawn4 ,the latter figures of the group1 by the hesitancy of their manner1 seem to say that resistance is useless2 each has instinctively laid hold of his weapon1 but it rests midway in his girdle4 ,the inscription over this group is1 ,,hic ,,apprehendit ,,wido ,,haroldum ,,et ,,duxit ,,eum ,,ad ,,belrem ,,et ,,ibi ,,eum ,,tenuit4--,here ,guy seized ,harold1 and led him to ,beaurain1 where he detained him prisoner4 ,the modern ,beaurain is situated a short distance from ,montreuil1 the capital of the ancient province of ,ponthieu4 ,a tree closes the scene4 ,in the solitude of his prison ,harold must have reflected bitterly upon his rashness in committing himself to the hands of ,guy without having accurately ascertained his feelings towards him4 ,instead of a friend he found in him a foe4 ,instead of furthering his views he involved him in almost inextricable difficulties4 ,the ,count1 probably1 had too keen a sense of ,william's power again to run the risk of incurring his wrath2 he therefore resolved1 to avoid all appearance of ambiguity1 to detain ,harold as a prisoner1 and to extract from his friends as large a sum as possible in the shape of ransom4 ,it gives us a curious insight into the state of society in those days1 to observe that no one disputed the right of ,guy to seize the person and property of a stranger1 who1 without hostile intent1 had ventured upon his shores1 or1 as some believe1 had been driven there by mischance4 ,harold had no friend at hand to release him from his unpleasant position4 ,his active and clever rival1 ,william of ,normandy1 hearing of his circumstances1 immediately put forth the most strenuous and apparently generous efforts to effect his enlargement1 thereby laying him under very serious obligations4 ,it is the object of the succeeding portions of the ,tapestry to place these efforts in a strong light1 and by implication to show the ingratitude of ,harold in opposing ,william's claims to the ,english throne4 ,the first scene represents ,harold proceeding to the residence of his captor4 ,the expression given to the unlucky ,earl is one of deep dejection4 ,he is stripped of the cloak which marked his nobility2 and though he carries his hawk upon his fist1 its usual posture is reversed1 an intimation that his hawking days are over4 ,harold is well guarded by a party of armed horsemen4 ,guy rides before1 clad in the decorative mantle of his rank1 and having the falcon upon his fist1 with its head advanced as if ready to take wing4 ,the artist has very successfully portrayed in the countenance of ,guy the chuckling conceit of this heartless chieftain in the possession of so rich a prize as ,harold4 ,the next group of standing figures is supposed to represent some of ,harold's party1 distinguished by the mustache1 in custody of ,guy's soldiers4 ,harold1 indignant at the unjust treatment which he had received1 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4 sought an interview with the ,count1 no doubt feeling sure that he would be able to make such a representation of his case1 or to offer such inducements1 as would infallibly lead to his immediate release4 ,an interview was granted4 ,the inscription over the next scene is 8,,ubi ,,harold ,,et ,,wido ,,parabolant0--,where ,harold and ,guy converse4 ,guy is seated 7,plate ,,iii47 with great pomp upon an elevated seat4 ,his throne is less ornate than that of the ,confessor1 to mark no doubt the difference between a ,king and a ,count1 and it is without a cushion1 but it is decorated with dogs' heads and claws1 which are so frequently introduced into all the work of that period4 ,his feet1 as is usual with persons of rank1 rest upon a footstool1 having in this instance three steps4 ,guy holds a naked sword with its point turned upwards2 he is attended by a guard1 who is armed with a sword of prodigious size1 and a spear4 ,this attendant touches the elbow of his chief with one hand1 and with the forefinger of the other points to some object1 probably the messengers of ,william1 who are now approaching4 ,harold1 though suffered to wear the chlamys of nobility1 comes into the presence of the haughty ,count in a slightly inclining posture4 ,he feels he is at the mercy of his captor4 ,he has a sword1 but its point is directed to the ground4 ,his companion has neither cloak nor sword4 ,from the arrogant bearing of ,guy in this picture we cannot doubt that the unhappy ,harold returned to his prison more disconsolate than before4 ,but1 help was at hand4 ,there is a figure1 which we have not observed1 at one extremity of the audience chamber4 ,he is a very attentive but apparently an unobserved witness of the interview4 ,his party-coloured dress and the vandyked fringe of his tunic have suggested the idea that this personage is the court jester4#db ,the court fool was usually a very shrewd person1 and having1 on account of his presumed simplicity1 access to his master at all times1 was a very convenient agent in court intrigue4 ,this wily personage seems to have found means to acquaint ,william with the untoward position of the ,english ambassador1 for the next scene is entitled ,,ubi ,,nuntii ,,wilielmi ,,ducis ,,venerunt ,,ad ,,widonem--,where the messengers of ,william came to ,guy4 ,william on one occasion owed his life to the friendly interference of a jester4 ,wace thus relates the story3--,guy of ,burgundy1 who was a near relative of ,william's1 became envious of him1 and resolved to disinherit him4 ,assembling several powerful barons1 who were as discontented as himself1 he said1 8,there was not any heir who had a better right to ,normandy than himself4444 ,he was no bastard1 but born in wedlock2 and if right was done1 ,normandy would belong to him4 ,if they would support him in his claim1 he would divide it with them40 ,so1 at length1 he said so much1 and promised so largely1 that they swore to support him according to their power in making war on ,william1 and to seek his disherison by force or treason4 ,then they stored their castles1 dug fosses1 and erected barricades1 ,william knowing nothing of their preparations4 ,he was at that time sojourning at ,valognes1 for his pleasure as well as on business2 and had been engaged for several days hunting and shooting in the woods4 ,one evening1 late1 his train had left his court1 and all had gone to rest at the hostels where they lodged1 except those who were of his household2 and he himself was laid down4 ,whether he slept or not1 ,i do not know1 but in the season of the first sleep1 a fool named ,golet came1 with a staff slung at his neck1 crying out at the chamber door1 and beating the wall with the staff2 8,ovrez60 said he1 8ovrez6 ovrez6 ye are dead men3 levez6 levez6 ,where art thou laid1 ,william8 ,wherefore dost thou sleep8 ,if thou art found here thou wilt die2 thy enemies are arming around2 if they find thee here thou wilt never quit the ,cotentin1 nor live till the morning60 ,then ,william was greatly alarmed2 he rose up1 and stood as a man sorely dismayed4 ,he asked no further news1 for it seemed unlikely to bring him any good4 ,he was in his breeches and shirt1 and putting a cloak around his neck1 he seized his horse quickly1 and was soon upon the road4 ,i know not whether he even stopped to seek for his spurs1 but he hasted on till he came to the fords nearest at hand1 which were those of ,vire1 and crossed them by night in fear and great anger4#dc ,had the fool not thus opportunely aroused him--had he not acted with peculiar promptitude--had he not received important assistance in the course of his journey from a faithful vassal1 who facilitated his flight1 and led his pursuers off the track--we should never have heard of ,william the ,conqueror4 ,as it was1 he got safely next day to his own castle at ,falaise4 8,if he were in bad plight10 says ,wace1 8what matters it1 so that he got safe40 ,the result of the fool's interference in behalf of ,harold soon appears4 ,we are now introduced to two personages1 sent by ,duke ,william1 who1 in their master's name1 demand the deliverance of the captive4 ,guy is standing1 and wears a haughty air4 ,he holds an axe in his hand1 by way of asserting that he has the power of life or death over his prisoner4 ,he is partially habited in the costume of war4 ,under his chlamys he wears a tunic of scale armour1 probably composed of overlapping pieces of leather4 ,this dress1 though not so secure as one of mail1 would nevertheless present considerable resistance to the stroke of a weapon4 ,odo is represented as wearing a dress somewhat similar in the battle of ,hastings2 also a figure which ,i take to be ,william approaching ,mount ,st4 ,michael4 ,his hose are composed of party-coloured materials2 several other personages in the ,tapestry1 chiefly individuals of consequence1 are so adorned4 ,the ,saxons1 and probably the ,normans also1 were in the habit of protecting their legs in the day of battle by binding them round with slips of leather or other material4 ,guy has an armed attendant1 standing aloof1 but ready to act2 and the two messengers of ,william apparently press their mission with great vigour4 ,the legend of this is1 ,,ubi ,,nuntii ,,wilielmi ,,ducis ,,venerunt ,,ad ,,widonem--,where the messengers of ,duke ,william came to ,guy4 ,the horses of the messengers stand hard by1 held by a dwarf1 who1 although he wears a beard1 is evidently a ,norman1 for his hair is shaven off the back of his head4 ,over this little fellow1 in the ,tapestry1 is written the word ,,turold4 ,who this personage was we have no means of knowing4 ,he may have been some favourite with the ladies employed upon the embroidery1 who adopted this mode of conferring immortality upon him2 or1 as ,miss ,agnes ,strickland has suggested1 he may have been the artist who was employed to design the ,tapestry1 and who1 though he could not with historic truth be introduced into any of the principal scenes1 yet1 very laudably1 wished for a place upon the canvas4 ,it is1 however1 important to observe1 that the son of a person named ,turold occurs in the ,domesday ,survey1 among the under-tenants of ,odo1 ,bishop of ,bayeux1 for the county of ,essex4#dd ,the celebrated ,norman ballad ,the ,song of ,roland seems to have had for its author a person of the name of ,turold1 if we may credit its concluding lines1 8,and so endeth the history sung of ,turoldus40#de ,this inscription bears upon the subject of the authenticity of the ,tapestry4 ,had the work been constructed some considerable period after the events which it describes1 it must have been compiled from historic documents1 and so have contained none but historic personages4 ,as it is1 there are several individuals introduced to us in the ,tapestry of which we have no trace in the chronicles of the day1 but with which the draftsman takes it for granted that all are as familiar as himself--a very natural and very common oversight4 ,the house1 divided into three aisles after the manner of that in which ,harold took his parting feast1 is probably intended to represent the palace of the ,count4 ,these messengers having reported their ill success to ,duke ,william1 he immediately sends two others1 who gallop to ,beaurain at the utmost speed of their horses4 ,over them is the inscription1 ,,nuntii ,,willelmi--,the messengers of ,william4 ,a watchman1 elevated upon a tree1 observes the movements of this second embassy1 probably with the view of giving ,william the earliest intelligence respecting it4 ,all this is cleverly designed1 in order to show the deep interest which ,william took in the welfare of his captive friend1 who was afterwards1 according to the court version of the story1 to repay him with so much ingratitude4 ,these horsemen wear a threatening aspect2 they are armed with spear1 shield1 and sword2 their spears are pointed threateningly towards the place of their destination4 ,their shields bear a curious device1 a winged dragon whose tail is twisted in a peculiar manner4 ,this object is one of constant occurrence in the ,tapestry1 and seems to be one of superstitious reverence4 ,harold's standard is a dragon4 ,the standard of the ,dacians1 as depicted in ,trajan's ,column1 is a dragon4 ,we have some others introduced into the ornamental border of the ,tapestry4 ,in the illustrations of ,cdmon's ,paraphrase1 the great dragon ,satan is in two instances figured in a guise nearly resembling these4 ,whilst in a heathen state the ,saxons and ,normans doubtless made the evil one an object of worship1 as most heathen nations have done1 and1 long after their reception of ,christianity1 may1 though with questionable taste1 have retained for ornamental purposes the emblem which they had been accustomed to regard with superstitious reverence4 ,the transactions we are now considering probably occurred in the spring of the year at the close of which ,king ,edward died4 ,in the lower margin of the scenes just reviewed the operations of husbandry peculiar to that season are portrayed4 ,one man is ploughing4 ,the plough has wheels1 and is very similar to some that are figured in ,cdmon's ,paraphrase4 ,next comes a sower casting the seed into the ground4 ,he conducts the operation precisely as it has been conducted from that day to this4 ,next follows a harrow1 drawn by an ox1 which wears the yoke upon its neck4 ,this method of yoking oxen is still common in ,normandy4 ,we are not certain what means ,william used to bring ,guy to his views4 ,some chroniclers say he coaxed him1 some say he threatened him1 and several maintain that he bribed him by giving him a large tract of land4 ,this however is certain1 that he succeeded in inducing him to relax his hold of ,harold4 ,the next compartment of the ,tapestry exhibits to us ,william seated on a throne near his castle gate4 ,he is receiving a messenger1 who approaches him on bended knees4 ,the superscription is1 ,,hic ,,venit ,,nuntius ,,ad ,,wilgelmum ,,ducem--,here a messenger came to ,duke ,william4 ,the peculiarity of the spelling of the ,duke's name ,,wilgelmus need not surprise us4 ,at that day1 and for long afterwards1 the orthography even of proper names was not fixed4 ,the ,g would no doubt be sounded like y or the diphthong ie1 as is still the case in certain words in some parts of the ,north of ,england4 ,who the messenger is we are not informed2 he is evidently a ,saxon1 and is probably one of ,harold's companions1 who has accompanied ,william's ambassadors to ,rouen1 by way of giving the ,duke a pledge of the success of their commission4 ,guy having agreed to deliver up his prisoner1 resolves to make a merit of doing so1 and conducts him in person to ,william's court4 ,the ,duke1 desirous of doing all honour to his expected guest1 goes out to meet him4 ,when the two parties approach1 ,guy very officiously introduces ,harold to the ,duke1 and seems to expect great commendations for his zeal and activity4 ,harold himself follows ,guy1 having once again the mantle of gentle birth on his left shoulder1 and carrying his hawk upon his fist1 looking forward1 in token of liberty4 ,william sits firmly upon his horse2 his manner is quiet1 but very decided2 his figure is that of a strong1 square-built man4 ,we know that his muscular powers were very considerable2 this is probably no fancy portrait4 ,the inscription over this compartment is1 ,,hic ,,wido ,,adduxit ,,haroldum ,,ad ,,wilgelmum ,,normannorum ,,ducem--,here ,guy led ,harold to ,william ,duke of the ,normans4 ,william now accompanies his guest to his palace--probably at ,rouen4 ,a man from a gateway tower looks out and receives the party4 ,the palace of ,william is a large and splendid structure4 ,both it and the castle we last noticed contrast strongly with those we have previously seen4 ,the ,normans were great builders4 ,whilst they were frugal in their household expenditure1 they erected elegant habitations for themselves2 the ,saxons on the other hand 7at least so say the chroniclers7 did not care how they were lodged1 but laid out large sums in eating and drinking4#df ,william has a guard standing at his back4 ,a ,saxon is addressing him ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv4 with considerable vehemence upon some business relating to the ,french soldiers1 to whom he points4 ,the speaker is probably ,harold2 but what the subject of conference is1 can only be a subject of conjecture4 ,can it be that he is requesting the assistance of an escort to accompany a messenger of his to ,england to inform his friends of his happy release from captivity8 ,in the border above the palace are a pair of pea-fowls4 ,this is probably intended to give us an idea of the splendour of ,william's court4 ,in the middle ages no feast was complete excepting this bird made its appearance on the table1 arrayed1 after being taken from the spit1 in all its gorgeous plumage4 ,the feathers of this bird were in great request among our ,saxon nobles as a means of decorating their halls4 ,the next compartment presents great difficulties4 ,it is headed1 ,,ubi ,,unus ,,clericus ,,et ,,lfgyva--,where a clerk and lfgyva converse4 ,it evidently refers to a transaction with which the court of ,duke ,william were well acquainted1 but of which the chroniclers have given us no account4 lfgyva is a ,saxon word1 signifying a present from the genii4#dg ,emma1 the wife of ,ethelred1 and some other ,english ,queens1 are occasionally by ,saxon authors styled lfgyva2 hence the term has been considered a descriptive title rather than a proper name4 ,on this account some writers conceive that ,queen ,matilda is the individual here presented to our notice4 ,if1 however1 the term lfgyva was a descriptive one1 and applicable only to a ,saxon ,queen1 it could not at this period of the narrative belong to her1 for ,william had not then obtained the ,english throne4 ,other authors consider that ,agatha1 a daughter of ,william1 is the lady in question4 ,her name is written by ,wace1 ,ele2 and by some authors she is confounded with her sister ,adeliza4 ,when ,harold swore to support ,william in his pretensions to the throne1 he agreed to receive ,agatha in marriage4 ,this lady's subsequent history is confused4 ,william of ,malmesbury says she died before she was marriageable4 ,ordericus ,vitalis gives the following account of her--8,his daughter ,agatha1 who had been betrothed to ,harold1 was afterwards demanded in marriage by ,alphonzo1 ,king of ,galicia1 and delivered to his proxies to be conducted to him4 ,but she1 who had lost her former spouse1 who was to her liking1 felt extreme repugnance to marry another4 ,the ,englishman she had seen and loved1 but the ,spaniard she was more averse to because she had never set eyes on him4 ,she therefore fervently prayed to ,god that she might never be carried into ,spain1 but that he would rather take her to himself4 ,her prayers were heard1 and she died a virgin while she was upon the road40 ,she1 however1 cannot be the lfgyva of the ,tapestry4 ,making every allowance for the varities of her name1 it would scarcely have been so written in her father's court2 as she was never ,queen1 the descriptive epithet could not with propriety have been applied to her2 and as at the time of ,harold's visit to ,normandy she was but a child1 we cannot suppose that any formal embassage would be sent to her respecting the release of the ,english ,earl1 or any other subject4 ,the lady in question is probably ,algitha1 the widow of ,griffith ,king of ,wales1 and sister to ,edwin and ,morcar1 ,earls of ,mercia and ,northumberland1 whom ,harold must have married shortly after his return to ,england1 as his second wife4#dh ,her name1 as it is written by ,florence of ,worcester1 and some other chroniclers1 differs but little from lfgyva2 besides1 as ,queen of ,england1 she was entitled to the epithet4 ,if this supposition be correct1 the force of the introduction of this lady and the clerk into the ,tapestry is considerable4 ,the whole object of this part of the drawing is to display in glowing colours the generous kindness of ,william and the base treachery of ,harold4 ,now if1 as we may reasonably suppose1 ,harold had set his affections upon this lady before his departure for ,normandy1 and if1 as we have conjectured1 he had1 on being rescued1 sent1 by ,william's assistance1 messengers to ,england to announce his safety1 a special and loving message to the queen of his affections would not be forgotten4 ,the clerk certainly approaches her in a jocose manner1 and undoubtedly has some agreeable intelligence to communicate4 ,now if ,harold acted thus while enjoying ,william's hospitality1 and solemnly undertaking to marry his daughter ,agatha as soon as she became of fitting age1 his conduct was most unjustifiable2 and it was peculiarly suitable to the object for which the ,tapestry was prepared to expose it4 ,harold1 before leaving ,england1 may have placed his lady for temporary protection in some nunnery1 which we may suppose to be indicated by the narrow and confined building in which lfgyva stands4 ,in this case none was so proper to approach her as a priest4 ,the employment of a person of the clerical order was moreover necessary1 as few of the laity could read or write4 ,the individual in the ,tapestry has a shaven crown1 but is dressed in ordinary attire4 ,william of ,malmesbury tells us that the ,saxon clergy were not fond of any distinctive dress4 ,in the whole course of the ,tapestry only three females are presented to our view--lfgyva1 a mourning relative by the dying bed of the ,confessor1 and a woman forced by the flames from her dwelling at ,hastings4 ,this circumstance surely proves the modesty and retiring habits of the ,saxon and ,norman ladies4 ,as our ladies are scarce1 let us pay them minute attention4 ,the dress of the ,saxon women varied very little during the long period that elapsed between the eighth and the end of the eleventh century2 by thoroughly enveloping the whole body1 it consulted the modest feelings of the sex1 whilst its graceful folds gave considerable elegance to the person4 ,antiquaries are inquiring men4 ,they do not like to leave any subject unexamined4 ,that judicious inquirer1 ,strutt1 finds some little difficulty in investigating the undermost garment worn by the ,saxon ladies2 he manages it1 however1 with great adroitness and delicacy4 ,his words are worth quoting3-- 8,in the foregoing chapter it has been clearly proved that the shirt formed part of the dress of the men2 and surely we cannot hesitate a moment to conclude that the women were equally tenacious of delicacy in their habit1 and of course were not destitute of body-linen3 the remains of antiquity it is true afford not sufficient authority to prove the fact2 yet the presumptive argument founded upon female delicacy weighs so strongly in the scale1 that ,i conclude this supposition to be consonant with the truth40#di ,over this undermost garment came another1 which was only seen when the lower portion of the gunna1 or gown1 had been pushed aside2 it was made of linen or some other light material4 ,next came the gown1 consisting usually of some strong stuff4 ,it fell down to the feet1 and was sometimes girt round the waist by a band4 ,the sleeves near the wrist were usually made very full1 and hung down after the manner lately in use among ourselves4 ,a mantle was worn over this by ladies of rank4 ,it was probably fastened by a fibula1 or brooch4 ,the woman coming out of the burning house 7,plate ,,xi47 belongs probably to the lower orders1 for she has not a mantle4 ,a head-cover1 or kerchief1 was an indispensable part of the dress of ,saxon ladies1 whether high or low4 ,it enveloped the head1 concealing the hair entirely2 the ends of it fell upon the shoulders4 ,in the time of ,rufus and ,henry ,i4 the dress of the ladies1 which had remained so long stationary1 felt the stimulus of the ,conquest4 8,the sleeves of their robes and their kerchiefs appear in the illuminations of that period knotted up1 to prevent their trailing on the ground4 ,some of the sleeves have cuffs hanging from the wrist down to the heels1 and of the most singular forms40#ej ,an ancient monk has drawn the evil one attired in this way1 in order no doubt to throw discredit upon the fashion4 ,the hair also was no longer concealed1 but hung down in plaits on each side of the person as far as the waist4 ,a statue of ,matilda1 wife of ,henry ,i41 on the west door-way of ,rochester ,cathedral1 exhibits this usage4 ,had the ,tapestry been executed in the days of this ,queen1 lfgyva's sleeves would have been fuller than they are1 and her hair would have hung down in graceful ringlets4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,knighthood4 8,young knight whatever1 that dost armes professe1 ,and through long labours huntest after fame1 ,beware of fraud0---- ,faerie ,queene ,when ,rollo and his brave companions1 emigrating from ,northern ,europe at the end of the ninth century1 got a firm hold of ,rouen and the surrounding district1 they were as far from being satisfied us ever4 ,they ravaged every part of ,france1 carrying their arms even into ,burgundy4 ,charles the ,simple1 who had already yielded ,normandy to them1 harrassed by these unceasing hostilities1 sought to purchase peace by the cession of another portion of his dominions4 ,he offered ,rollo the land between the river ,epte and ,brittany1 if he would become a ,christian and live in peace2 but1 though ,charles threw his daughter into the scale1 ,rollo would not agree1 for the territory was too small1 and the lands uncultivated4 ,he next offered him ,flanders1 which1 by the way1 was not his to give2 but ,rollo rejected it because it was boggy and full of marshes4 ,he then offered him ,brittany1 which ,rollo accepted4#ea ,brittany1 however1 claimed to be a free state1 and its inhabitants were a spirited and energetic race1 not likely to yield allegiance where none was due4 ,in accepting ,brittany1 therefore1 ,rollo obtained little better than an old quarrel4 ,continual wars1 and a national enmity1 between the states1 was the only result of the gift4 ,we can here scarcely help observing by what a rare conjunction of circumstances it was that ,william1 who from his boyhood had been at war with all the neighbouring states1 and who a few months before the invasion of ,england1 was engaged in active hostilities with the ,count of ,brittany1 had leisure to undertake the great event of his life1 could leave his duchy and drain it of his troops1 without being exposed to the devastations of angry neighbours1 and1 not only so1 but could obtain for his great enterprise the powerful assistance of those rival chiefs with whom he had so often been at variance1 not even excepting the ,counts of ,ponthieu and ,brittany4 ,the most careless observer cannot but mark in this the finger of ,providence4 ,but to return to our worsted work4 ,conan ,earl of ,bretagne being at this juncture at war with ,duke ,william1 and having drawn the ,earl of ,anjou into alliance with him1 the two naturally agreed upon a given day to invade ,normandy with their united forces4 ,the ,duke was however too much upon his guard1 and too lively1 to wait for them in his own dominions4 ,he raised a considerable body of troops2 and1 knowing ,harold to be a brave soldier1 and fond of showing his valour1 invited him and his companions to go with him upon this expedition2 which ,harold readily agreed to do4 ,this was a clever stroke of policy4 ,he not only procured the valuable assistance of ,harold and his companions1 all ,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4 the more valuable in consequence of the experience they had gained in ,wales1 but obtained ample opportunities of studying the character of the man whom he could not but look upon as his great rival4 ,he had the means1 in their lengthened intercourse1 of showing him great attentions1 and thus of apparently laying him under great obligations4 ,but1 above all1 he induced ,harold by this step to excite the enmity of the men of ,brittany against himself4 ,that ,william should make war upon them was no more than the custom of the country1 but what right had the ,saxon to interfere in their affairs8 ,they could not1 and did not1 forget this on the field of ,hastings4 ,the campaign in ,brittany is described more fully in the ,tapestry than in any of the chronicles1 and some events are there depicted1 such as the surrender of ,dinan1 which are not mentioned in any of them4 ,william and his party setting out upon their expedition 7,plate ,v47 pass the neighbourhood of ,mount ,st4 ,michael4 ,the inscription is1 ,,hic ,,willem ,,dux ,,et ,,exercitus ,,ejus ,,venerunt ,,ad ,,montem ,,michaelis--,here ,duke ,william and his army came to ,mount ,st4 ,michael4 ,this mount consists of a solitary cone of granite rising out of a wide1 level expanse of sand1 which at high tide is nearly covered by the sea4 ,it is a very conspicuous object1 and is seen on all sides from a great distance4 ,a little to the south of ,st4 ,michael's ,mount1 the river ,cosnon1 which forms the boundary between ,normandy and ,brittany1 joins the sea4 ,at this point the waters of the ocean1 in consequence of the contracting boundaries of the bay lying between ,brest and ,cape la ,hogue1 rise with great impetuosity and to a great height4 ,the fording of the river1 therefore1 in the vicinity of the sea is often a hazardous undertaking4 ,to add to the difficulties of travellers1 the sand which covers the plain around ,st4 ,michael's ,mount1 and extends some distance inland and along the bed of the river1 is an exceedingly fine1 white1 marly dust1 which1 when covered with water1 affords most treacherous footing4 ,the beds of sand1 moreover1 frequently shift according to the varying currents of the tide1 so that even a well accustomed traveller may get wrong4 ,these statements have prepared us for the disasters which befel the party in crossing into ,brittany4 ,the legend here is1 ,,et ,,hic ,,transierunt ,,flumen ,,cosnonis--,and here they crossed the river ,cosnon--,most of the group1 mistrusting the treacherous ford1 have dismounted4 ,one individual more venturesome than the rest reaps the consequences of his rashness4 ,all those on foot do not1 however1 entirely escape4 ,harold is represented rescuing two of them from their difficulties2 one he bears upon his back1 the other he drags by the hand4 ,the inscription is--,,hic ,,harold ,,dux ,,trahebat ,,eos ,,de ,,arena--,here ,harold the ,earl dragged them out of the quicksand4 ,the fishes and the eels in the lower border are an appropriate ornament4 ,the draftsman has here indulged in a little play of fancy4 ,a man1 with knife in hand1 in trying to catch one of the eels1 tumbles2 his toe is caught by a wolf1 whose tail is in turn seized by an eagle1 and so the chapter of accidents proceeds4 ,the difficulty of the ford being got over1 our party continued their march towards ,dol1 which is here represented by a castle4 ,the inscription is1 ,,et ,,venerunt ,,ad ,,dol--,and they came to ,dol4 ,the present town of ,dol is a remarkable place1 bearing thoroughly the aspect of ancient days4 ,its walls are tolerably perfect4 ,however antique its walls and houses1 its market presents us with traces of an antiquity greatly exceeding theirs4 ,large quantities of pottery1 resembling in form and substance the commoner kinds used by the ,romans1 are here exposed for sale4 ,it is curious to see ,roman taste1 as exhibited in such fragile articles1 outliving the lapse of so many centuries4 ,as has been already stated1 ,conan intended to invade ,william1 who1 however1 anticipated him4 ,the ,duke moreover came upon him unexpectedly1 and found him engaged in settling a private quarrel with ,rual1 to whom the seigneury of the city of ,dol belonged4 ,the moment the forces of ,william made their appearance before the gates of ,dol1 ,conan was constrained to flee1 and take refuge in ,rennes1 the capital of ,brittany4 ,his army is represented in the ,tapestry as fleeing to the city1 pursued by the troops of the ,norman ,duke4 ,over this scene is the legend1 ,,et ,,conan ,,fuga ,,vertit--,and ,conan betakes himself to flight4 ,rual1 the lord of ,dol1 was but little benefited by the retreat of ,conan4 ,william's forces scoured the country1 and supplied their own wants at the expense of the inhabitants4 ,rual very politely thanked ,william for his deliverance1 but hinted that if his army continued making such depredations everywhere1 it was the same to him whether his country was ruined by ,bretons or ,normans4 ,william issued orders prohibiting further devastation4 ,a man is seen in the ,tapestry letting himself down by a cord from the battlements of the castle2 this1 it has been conjectured1 is the messenger sent to ,duke ,william4 ,a castle represents the city of ,rennes1 over which is inscribed the word ,,rednes4 ,we next meet with the town of ,dinan4 ,the inscription reads1 ,,hic ,,milites ,,willelmi ,,ducis ,,pugnant ,,contra ,,dinantes--,here the soldiers of ,william attack ,dinan4 ,the place is undergoing all the calamities of a siege4 ,some of ,william's party are assailing it1 but their onset is met by the exertions of the garrison4 ,others apply flames to the structure4 ,we learn from the ,tapestry that the castle was obliged to yield1 and we see that the act of surrender is conducted in a very formal manner 7,plate ,,vi74 ,an inhabitant of the town1 probably ,conan himself1 7,,et ,,cunan ,,claves ,,porrexit--,and ,conan reached out the keys7 is seen handing out the keys upon a lance1 and they are received in a similar way by one of the chiefs of the attacking party4 ,both spears are adorned with a pennon or banner4#eb ,as we have no account of this siege in the chronicles1 we can only gather its history from the stitches before us4 ,most likely ,william was satisfied with the formal submission of ,conan1 and quietly withdrew his forces4 ,we do not in the ,tapestry observe any of the invading troops entering the town4 ,before proceeding further1 we may notice some of the prominent ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4 features of the castles which have been presented to our view4 ,all of them are built upon elevated mounds4 ,this was certainly one of the characteristics of an early ,norman fortress4 ,further1 we see that they were surrounded by a fosse1 the section of which1 in the ,tapestry1 is very boldly marked4 ,in the case of ,dinan1 we have a barricade on the outside of this entrenchment4 ,besides these outworks1 the castles consist of an outer fortification1 or bailey1 and of an interior building1 or keep4 ,the colouring of these structures may be purely fanciful1 but ,i am disposed to think that the vertical stripes which we see upon some of them represent timber4 ,the remains of some castles in ,cornwall incontestably prove that1 occasionally at least1 the outside of the walls was braced with timber4#ec ,the walls of ,guildford ,castle are pierced with holes1 which we are told were made for the scaffolding1 and in order to hasten the drying of the mortar were left unfilled1 and have since remained so4 ,is it not more likely that these cavities were formerly occupied by bolts for fastening an outside timber-casing to the walls8 ,but to proceed with ,queen ,matilda's narrative4 ,the campaign in ,brittany being brought to a satisfactory conclusion1 the honours of knighthood awaited the ,saxon ,earl4 ,william himself confers upon him the envied dignity4 ,the superscription is ,,hic ,,wilelmus ,,dedit ,,haroldo ,,arma--,here ,william gave arms to ,harold4 ,both parties are shown in the ,tapestry armed cap-a-pie4 ,harold holds in his hand the banner which1 by virtue of the rank now bestowed upon him1 he is entitled to bear4 ,william is seen placing with one hand the helmet on ,harold's head1 and with the other bracing the straps of his hauberk4 ,the ,norman ,duke1 in conferring the honour of knighthood upon his adopted son in arms1 doubtless exhorted him to fight valiantly in the cause of ,god and the ladies1 and especially to bear himself gallantly against any one who should disparage the beauty of that one lady to whom he had plighted his troth4 ,in this way ,william strengthened the meshes which he had already cast over ,harold4 ,it has been noticed that the mode of conferring knighthood used on this occasion is a compromise between the ,norman and ,saxon methods4 ,ingulphus tells us that the ministrations of a priest were required when knighthood was conferred among the ,saxons1 but that the ,normans regarded it entirely as a military ceremony4#ed ,further1 whilst the ,normans1 whose military strength lay in cavalry1 performed the ceremony on horseback1 the ,saxons1 who had no cavalry1 always performed it on foot4 ,in the case before us the ceremony is performed on foot1 but without the agency of a priest4 ,according to ,wace1 the ceremony of knighthood took place before the commencement of the campaign in ,brittany4 ,this is one of those variations which prove the independence of each authority4 ,william and ,harold1 who had been sojourning so long together1 fighting side by side1 living in the same tent1 eating at the same board1 now came to ,bayeux 7,,willelmvs ,,venit ,,bagias--,william came to ,bayeux71 and here the ,saxon ,earl came under that obligation the breach of which filled men's minds with horror and indignation4 ,william could not but be aware that ,harold intended to seize the crown of ,england on the death of the ,confessor2 he resolved therefore to avail himself of the present opportunity of throwing as many obstacles in his path as possible4 ,considering that ,harold had come over professedly to announce to ,william that he was to be the successor to the ,confessor1 considering the very friendly terms on which they had now for some time been1 and the very great obligations under which the ,norman ,duke had laid him1 he could not refuse to take the oath4 ,he no doubt felt1 moreover1 that he was in ,william's power1 and knew full well that unless he complied with his demand he would not be allowed to return to his native shores4 ,he therefore swore to support his rival's claims to the ,english throne4 ,as the perjury of ,harold was one of the pleas most successfully urged by ,william against his opponent1 it invites our careful attention4 ,our faithful chronicler ,wace gives us a full account of the transaction4-- 8,to receive the oath ,william caused a parliament to be called4 ,it is commonly said that it was at ,bayeux that he had his great council assembled4 ,he sent for all the holy bodies thither1 and put so many of them together as to fill a whole chest1 and then covered them with a pall2 but ,harold neither saw them1 nor knew of their being there2 for nought was shown or told him about it2 and over all was a philactery1 the best that he could select4444 ,when ,harold placed his hand upon it1 the hand trembled and the flesh quivered2 but he swore and promised upon his oath to take ,ele to wife1 and to deliver up ,england to the ,duke2 and thereunto to do all in his power1 according to his might and wit1 after the death of ,edward1 if he should live1 so help him ,god and the holy relics there6 ,many cried #8,god grant it6' and when ,harold had kissed the saints and had risen upon his feet1 the ,duke led him up to the chest and made him stand near it1 and took off the chest the pall that had covered it1 and showed ,harold upon what holy relics he had sworn2 he was sorely alarmed at the sight40#ee ,in this account there is a little inconsistency4 ,we are told of ,harold's amazement when he had seen the relics1 but we were previously informed that when he first placed his hand upon the chest 8the hand trembled and the flesh quivered40 ,if he did not know that dead men's bones were under the pall he must have suspected it2 he must have known that this was the customary mode of taking an oath4#ef ,in the ,tapestry1 ,harold stands between two objects4 ,one of them is a reliquary of the usual form1 to which two staves are attached for the purpose of carriage4 ,this reliquary has1 however1 a superaltare attached to it1 such as is usually placed upon altars for the purpose of containing the consecrated wafer4 ,the other object is an altar of the usual form and character4 ,there does not seem to have been much temptation to ,william to practise a trick upon ,harold1 for he had so completely committed himself to the ,duke that he could not avoid taking the oath1 even though no covering had concealed the bones4 ,but whether ,william did or did not practise this base artifice upon the ,earl1 it was natural that the ,tapestry1 being the work of ,matilda1 should endeavour to throw a veil over it4 ,he is certainly in the ,tapestry exhibited as swearing by the relics in the chest and by the host upon the altar1 and he evidently touches them as if he knew they contained something very dreadful--he could not approach red-hot iron much more charily4 ,we can readily conceive that after the ceremony ,william1 by way of making as lively an impression as possible upon the mind of his victim1 displayed the bones to him in all their sepulchral hideousness1 and told them out in full tale before him4 ,in such a case ,harold might readily shrink from the exhibition1 and be surprised at the number of martyrs which ,william's diligence had brought together4 ,william was too brave a man to attempt the mean artifice which historians ascribe to him4 ,harold never accused him of it4 ,when reminded before the battle of ,hastings1 by a messenger of the ,duke's1 of the oath he had taken1 he sent this answer back1 8,say to the ,duke that ,i desire he will not remind me of my covenant nor of my oath2 if ,i ever foolishly made it and promised him any thing1 ,i did it for my liberty4 ,i swore in order to get my freedom2 whatever he asked ,i agreed to2 and ,i ought not to be reproached1 for ,i did nothing of my own free will40#eg ,but after all1 this oath of ,harold's was not in the estimation of the men of that day the serious thing that has been represented4 ,men whom an oath taken in the name and in the presence of the living ,god could not bind1 were not to be restrained by any moral influence4 ,a little ingenuity only was requisite to release a man from an oath taken upon the relics4 ,in the ,roman de ,rou we have a case in point4#eh ,at ,val de ,dunes the rebel lords of ,normandy appeared in arms against the ,duke4 ,before the opposing hosts joined1 ,raol ,tesson1 who was arrayed against ,william1 was seen to act with hesitancy4 ,his men besought him not to make war upon his lawful lord1 whatever he did1 reminding him that the man who would fight against his lord had no right to fief or barony4 ,raol could understand this argument1 but what was he to do8 he 8had pledged himself1 and sworn upon the saints at ,bayeux to smite ,william wherever he should find him40 ,the difficulty was however got over4 ,ordering his men to rest where they were1 8he came spurring over the plain1 struck his lord with his glove1 and said laughingly to him1 #8,what ,i have sworn to do that ,i perform2 ,i had sworn to smite you as soon as ,i should find you2 and as ,i would not perjure myself1 ,i have now struck you to acquit myself of my oath1 and henceforth ,i will do you no farther wrong or felony4' ,then the ,duke said1 #8,thanks to thee6' and ,raol thereupon went on his way back to his men40 ,success attended the side which ,raol thus espoused1 and we hear nothing of his perjury4 ,harold fell on the hard-fought field of ,hastings1 and heaven and earth resounded with cries of horror at the foul sin4 ,had he won1 a new abbey1 or the re-imposition of ,peter's pence1 would have cleared off the score4 ,harold was now permitted to return home4 ,the ship in which he sailed is represented in the ,tapestry4 ,over the scene is the inscription1 ,,hic ,,harold ,,dux ,,reversus ,,est ,,ad ,,anglicam ,,terram--,here ,harold the ,earl returned to ,england4 ,his approach to the shore is anxiously looked for by a watchman on the top of the gate-tower of his palace at ,bosham4 ,on reaching the land of his nativity ,harold lost no time in repairing to court--,,et ,,venit ,,ad ,,edwardvm ,,regem--,and came to ,edward the ,king4 ,at the beginning of ,plate ,,vii4 we see him in the presence of his sovereign1 who reprimands him1 as we have already observed 7p4 #bh71 for the miscarriage of his ,commission4 ,v4 ,,the ,,succession4 8,crowned but to die40---- ,rogers4 ,the latter days of ,edward the ,confessor were embittered by the prospect of those evils which he saw were coming upon ,england4 ,on the ,easter day before he died he held his court at ,westminster4 ,william of ,malmesbury tells us that 8,while the rest were greedily eating1 and making up for the long fast of ,lent by the newly-provided viands1 he was absorbed in the contemplation of some divine matter1 when presently he excited the attention of the guests by bursting into profuse laughter40 ,on earnest enquiry being made of him as to this unusual circumstance1 he said 8that the seven sleepers in ,mount ,clius1 who had lain for two hundred years on their right side1 had now turned upon their left2 that they would continue to lie in this manner for seventy-four years1 which would be a dreadful omen to wretched mortals4 ,nation would rise against nation1 and kingdom against kingdom2 earthquakes would be in divers places2 pestilence and famine1 terrors from heaven1 and great signs2 changes in kingdoms2 wars of the gentiles against the ,christians1 and also victories of the ,christians over the pagans40#ei ,this was not the only vision he had4 ,on one occasion he had lain two days speechless2 on the third1 sadly and deeply sighing as he awoke from his torpor1 he said1 that two monks from ,normandy whom he had known in his youth had appeared to him1 and had spoken to the following effect3--8,since the chiefs of ,england1 the dukes1 bishops1 and abbots1 are not the ministers of ,god1 but of the devil1 ,god1 after your death1 will deliver this kingdom1 for a year and a day into the hands of the enemy1 and devils shall wander over all the land40#fj ,borne down by these painful anticipations1 ,edward rapidly sank4 ,feeling death approach1 he hastened the completion of the abbey church of ,westminster1 in which he designed that his body should be laid4 ,he lived to realize this his last care4 ,roger of ,wendover says1 8,edward ,king of ,england1 held his court at ,christmas 7#ajfe7 at ,westminster2 and1 on the blessed ,innocents' day1 caused the church which he had erected from its foundations1 outside the city of ,london1 to be dedicated with great pomp in honour of ,st4 ,peter1 the prince of the apostles2 but both before and during the solemn festival of this dedication1 the ,king was confined with severe illness40 ,at length 8the pacific ,king ,edward1 the glory of ,england1 the son of ,king ,ethelred1 exchanged a temporal for an eternal kingdom1 in the fourth indiction1 on the vigil of our ,lord's ,epiphany1 being the fifth day of the week4 ,the day after his death the most blessed ,king was buried at ,london1 in the church which he himself had built in a new and costly style of architecture1 which was afterwards adopted by numbers40#fa ,the ,tapestry exhibits to us the church of ,st4 ,peter at ,westminster1 and the funeral procession of the recently departed monarch4 ,the church is a building of the ,norman style in its greatest simplicity4 ,as is usual in cathedrals and conventual churches of the first class1 it has its tower in the centre1 and is provided with transepts4 ,the weathercock may perhaps excite attention1 as proving that this appendage of our churches is no novelty4 ,it appears in the ,saxon illustrations of ,cdmon4 ,but what is particularly worthy of our notice is1 that a workman appears to be in the act of affixing it4 ,by this1 the designer of the ,tapestry means to show that the church was but just completed when the interment of the ,confessor took place4 ,a hand appears over the western end of the church to denote the finger of ,providence1 and to indicate that it was the will of ,god that the remains of the departed ,king should be deposited in that building4 ,a similar hand appears on the coins of some of the ,roman emperors1 and in several of the sculptures of the catacombs at ,rome4 ,this is another indication that the artist was acquainted with the ,roman method of treating such subjects4 ,we next meet with the funeral of the ,king4 ,the circumstance which chiefly strikes us in it is its simplicity4 ,no gilded cross is borne before the body4 ,no candles1 lighted or unlighted1 are carried in procession4 ,the attendants1 clerical and lay1 wear their ordinary dresses4 ,two youths go by the side of the bier1 ringing bells4 ,that the persons who follow the bearers are ecclesiastics is evident from their shaven crowns4 ,two of them have books1 from ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vii4 which they chant some requiem4 ,only one of them has a mantle1 betokening him to be a person of importance4 ,the body1 agreeably to the ,saxon custom1 has been wound up in a cloth1 fastened with transverse bandages4#fb ,it is carried head-foremost4 ,at a date not long subsequent to the ,conquest it was usual to carry the bodies of princes to the grave fully exposed to view1 dressed in all the habiliments of state4 ,the body1 on arriving at the place of sepulture1 would be deposited in the stone coffin that was prepared to receive it4#fc ,the legend here is1 ,,hic ,,portatur ,,corpus ,,eadwardi ,,regis ,,ad ,,ecclesiam ,,sancti ,,petri ,,apostoli--,here the body of ,king ,edward is carried to the church of ,st4 ,peter the ,apostle4 ,on proceeding to the next compartment we are surprised at being introduced into the chamber of the dying ,king1 whose remains we have already seen conducted to the grave4 ,some writers think that here the artist has been guilty of an oversight1 or that the fair ladies who carried out his design have been very inattentive to their instructions4 ,the seeming inconsistency is very easily explained4 ,a new subject is now entered upon1 and that subject is the right of succession4 ,one important element in it is the grant of the ,king4 ,the historian of the ,tapestry1 in discussing this very important part of his design1 found it necessary to revert to the scenes which preceded the death of the ,confessor1 and to the directions which in his last moments he had given4 ,the narrative which ,wace gives us of the last hours of the ,king agrees well with the ,tapestry4 8,the day came that no man can escape1 and ,king ,edward drew near to die4 ,he had it much at heart that ,william should have his kingdom1 if possible2 but he was too far off1 and it was too long to tarry for him1 and ,edward could not defer his hour4 ,he lay in heavy sickness1 in the illness whereof he was to die2 and he was very weak1 for death pressed hard upon him4 ,then ,harold assembled his kindred1 and sent for his friends and other people1 and entered into the ,king's chamber1 taking with him whomsoever he pleased4 ,an ,englishman began to speak first1 as ,harold had directed him1 and said1 #8,sire1 we sorrow greatly that we are about to lose thee2 and we are much alarmed1 and fear that great trouble may come upon us4 ,no heir of thine remains who may comfort us after thy death4444 ,on this account the people weep and cry aloud1 and say they are ruined1 and that they shall never have peace again1 if thou failest them4 ,and in this ,i trow they say truly2 for without a king they will have no peace1 and a king they cannot have1 save through thee4444 ,behold the best of thy people1 the noblest of thy friends2 all are come to beseech thee1 and thou must grant their prayer before thou goest hence1 or thou wilt not see ,god4 ,all come to implore thee that ,harold may be ,king of this land4 ,we can give thee no better advice1 and no better canst thou do4' ,as soon as he had named ,harold1 all the ,english in the chamber cried out that he said well1 and that the ,king ought to give heed to him4 #8,sire6' they said1 #8if thou dost it not we shall never in our lives have peace4' ,then the ,king sat up in his bed1 and turned his face to the ,english there1 and said1 #8,seigniors6 you well know1 and have oft-times heard1 that ,i have given my realm at my death to the ,duke of ,normandy2 and as ,i have given it1 so have some among you sworn that it shall go4' ,but ,harold1 who stood by1 said1 #8,whatever thou hast heretofore done1 sire6 consent now that ,i shall be ,king1 and that your land be mine4 ,i wish for no other title1 and want no one to do any thing more for me4' ,so the ,king turned round and said1 whether of his own free will ,i know not1--#8,let the ,english make either the ,duke or ,harold king1 as they please2 ,i consent4' ,so he let the barons have their own will40#fd ,this narrative bears all the marks of probability1 and is quite consistent with the representations of the ,tapestry4 ,the circumstance of the dying monarch's having been clamorously assailed1 at a time when peace is most required1 by the adherents of ,harold1 in order to induce him to alter the arrangements he had already made respecting the succession1 was calculated to win for the ,duke the sympathy of all right-minded persons4 ,still1 the question remains1 why should ,harold have been so anxious to be nominated the successor of the ,confessor8 ,three circumstances seem to have constituted a legal claim to the throne among the ,anglo-,saxons--heirship1 the appointment of the departed monarch1 and the election of the nobles4 ,that heirship alone did not constitute a valid claim to the throne is plain from the will of ,king ,alfred1 which has been preserved by ,asser4 ,he there styles himself king of the whole of ,wessex1 by the consent of the nobility1 nobilitatis consensu pariter et assensu rex2 and in the same public act declares that he inherited the kingdom1 after his two brothers ,ethelbald and ,ethelred1 by the will of his father1 de hereditate1 quam pater meus ,ethelwulphus 444 delegavit4 ,it is quite evident1 therefore1 that a thoroughly valid claim to the crown was of the triple nature now represented4 ,as neither ,harold nor ,william belonged to the royal line of ,england1 the remaining sources of right became of the more importance to them4 ,let us now revert to the ,tapestry4 ,the feeble condition of the ,king is well represented4 ,an attendant is supporting him behind with a pillow1 whilst he makes an attempt to speak4 ,the blackness of death has settled upon his shrunken countenance4 ,a priest dressed in canonicals stands by1 whose uplifted hand and sorrow-stricken face seem to say that the grand climax is at hand4 ,a lady at the foot of the bed weeps2 she is doubtless the wife of the ,confessor1 the sister of ,harold4 ,harold is eagerly pressing his claim4 ,the legend here is1 ,,hic ,,eadwardus ,,rex ,,in ,,lecto ,,alloquit3 ,,fideles--,here ,king ,edward on his bed addresses his faithful attendants4 ,underneath is a scene1 which the inscription explains1 ,,et ,,hic ,,defunctus ,,est--,and here he is dead4 ,a priest in canonicals is again present1 probably the one we saw above1 and two attendants wrap up the body for burial4 ,the compartment before us is the only one in the ,tapestry in which two scenes are given in one breadth4 ,this is probably not without design4 ,the death and burial of ,edward1 and the election and coronation of ,harold1 all took place within eight-and-forty hours4 ,it was of great importance to ,harold to get actual possession of the crown before ,william could put in his claim4 ,it was usual in these times to perform the ceremonies of coronation only at one of the great festivals of the church4 ,edward died on the last day but one of ,christmas1 and for ,harold to wait till ,easter1 the next festival1 was to throw away the important advantage which he had gained over his rival4 ,hence the rapidity with which the coronation of ,harold followed the death of the ,confessor4 ,it is to show1 that no sooner had the vital spirit fled than preparations for the burial were begun1 that we have the two scenes in the same compartment4 ,the next pictures represent the election and coronation of ,harold4 ,william of ,malmesbury says1 8,while the grief for the ,king's death was yet fresh1 ,harold1 on the very day of the ,epiphany1 seized the diadem1 and extorted from the nobles their consent2 though the ,english say1 that it was granted him by the ,king40 ,in many respects the ,tapestry is more candid than the ,chroniclers4 ,it here says1 ,,hic ,,dederunt ,,haroldo ,,coronam ,,regis--,here they gave the crown of the ,king to ,harold2 and the next legend is1 ,,hic ,,residet ,,harold ,,rex ,,anglorum--,here is seated ,harold1 ,king of the ,english4 ,one contemporary writer denies that ,harold was anointed at all1 or had any claim but his own usurpation4 ,in the ,doomsday ,survey1 ,harold is mentioned as seldom as possible1 and when his name does occur it is not as ,king ,harold1 but ,harold the ,earl4 ,the ,norman chroniclers1 writing subsequently to the time when ,william had established his conquest1 seldom write his name without appending some derogatory epithet to it1 such as 8the perfidious and perjured ,king ,harold40 ,all this seems to favour the idea that the ,tapestry was designed during the first visit of ,william to ,normandy4 ,he had not then broken faith with the ,saxon nobles who thronged his court2 he was not yet independent of their good will1 so that in stating his own claims to the crown1 he found it necessary not entirely to ignore their views4 ,after he was firmly established1 he cared not what women stitched or clerks wrote4 ,the artist has managed the election-scene very adroitly4 ,one nobleman1 in the name of the people1 offers ,harold the crown1 which1 as he intimates by the finger directed towards the death-scene of ,edward1 he has just taken from the head of that monarch4 ,harold looks most wistfully at it4 ,he seems to say--,i should like very much to have it1 but ,i know it does not belong to me4 ,for a moment he forbears to extend his hand to grasp it4 ,his right elbow is towards it1 but his hand remains upon his belt4 ,on a line with the crown is an axe1 held by another nobleman1 somewhat significantly turned towards ,harold4 ,harold has his own ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4 axe in his left hand1 and it too1 though apparently by accident1 is turned towards himself4 ,the ,norman artist1 in thus managing the subject1 manifestly serves the cause of ,william better than if he had altogether disowned the fact of ,harold's election4 ,that ,harold should have been elected by the people is nothing wonderful4 ,the native population had groaned under the domination of a crowd of foreigners1 brought over by ,edward the ,confessor4 ,they must have felt that under ,william1 a ,norman by lineage as well as education1 the evil would be perpetuated and increased4 ,hence they gave their voices most cordially and unanimously for the ,saxon4 ,most of the ,english chroniclers distinctly state1 that ,harold was duly elected to the office by the nobles4 ,thus ,roger of ,hoveden1 following ,florence of ,worcester1 writes1 8,after his burial1 the ,viceroy ,harold1 son of ,earl ,godwin1 whom before his decease the king had appointed his successor1 was elevated to the throne by all the chief men of ,england1 and was on the same day1 with due honour1 consecrated king40#fe ,that ,harold did not thrust himself upon the people1 is abundantly proved by the fact that not one man of ,saxon blood deserted him upon the landing of ,william4 ,in our days the great reason which rendered a strictly hereditary succession to the crown inexpedient does not exist4 ,the adoption of that wise maxim that a monarch can only rule by his ministers1 renders the personal qualifications of the monarch of less importance than in former days4 ,still1 even in our time1 a remnant exists of the ancient form of election4 ,in the coronation service the king is directed1 after entering the church and attending to his private devotions1 to take his seat1 not on the throne1 but on the chair before and below the throne1 and there repose himself4 ,then the first part of the service1 called the 8,recognition10 is to be proceeded with4 ,in it the archbishop1 accompanied by the great officers of state1 severally addresses the assembly northwards and southwards1 eastwards and westwards1 saying1 with a loud voice1 the king meanwhile standing up1 8,sirs6 ,i here present unto you ---- the undoubted king of this realm3 wherefore all of you who are come this day to do your homage1 are you willing to do the same80 ,it is not until the people1 thus severally addressed1 have signified their assent by crying out1 8,god save the king60 that the ceremony is proceeded with4 ,harold1 though he well knew the dangers attending the step1 accepted the crown4 ,few could have rejected the tempting offer4 ,he was moreover a brave man1 and thoroughly imbued with ,saxon feeling4 ,he was willing to peril his life for the national peculiarities of his country4 ,he was accordingly straightway anointed1 and the ,tapestry next exhibits him seated upon his throne1 manifesting all the pomp and dignity of a king4 ,the throne is considerably elevated above the floor of the apartment4 ,the sceptre is in one hand1 the ball in the other4 ,his officers present him with the sword of justice4 ,on his left hand stands ,stigand1 in his archiepiscopal robes4 ,the superscription calls him ,stigant1 which seems further to show that the artist was not an ,englishman4 ,wace the chronicler1 who was a ,norman1 usually calls ,harold1 ,heraut4 ,the inscription gives ,stigand his title of ,archbishop--,,archieps1 a contraction for ,,archiepiscopus4 ,at a period later than that in which we have supposed the ,tapestry to have been prepared1 he would not have been so denominated4 ,for a variety of reasons ,stigand was distasteful to the authorities of ,rome4 ,for some years prior to the ,conquest1 the payment of ,peter's pence had been discontinued1 and ,stigand1 in common with all ,englishmen1 was looked upon coldly4 ,stigand1 moreover1 had succeeded the ,norman archbishop1 ,robert de ,jumieges1 who had been expelled the country in the rising under ,godwin4 ,the ,normans were at this time better churchmen than the ,english4 ,stigand further1 in common with the majority of the ,saxon clergy1 was an advocate of 8the older doctrine of the eucharist20 ,lanfranc1 who superseded him1 was1 in common with the authorities at ,rome1 an ardent maintainer of the doctrine of transubstantiation4 ,under all these circumstances1 ,stigand1 on being made archbishop of ,canterbury by the ,confessor1 was not very sanguine of having the appointment confirmed by the ,pope1 and instead of making an immediate application to ,rome1 quietly took possession of the pallium1 which his predecessor in his haste had left behind him4 ,at length he did apply1 and ,benedict ,x41 for reasons arising out of his own peculiar position1 granted him the pallium4 ,this1 however1 only made matters worse4 ,benedict ,x4 was speedily dethroned by an army from beyond the mountains1 and a new pope elected1 who excommunicated his predecessor and annulled all his acts4 ,stigand1 therefore1 found himself once more without the pallium1 accused of usurpation1 and charged with a new and much more serious crime1 that of having solicited the favour and countenance of a false and excommunicated pope4 ,if the ,tapestry had been constructed after ,lanfranc had planted his foot upon the necks of the ,english clergy1 ,stigand would not have been denominated archbishop4 ,when ,william of ,malmesbury has occasion to name him1 he calls him 8the pretended and false archbishop40 ,the ,norman chroniclers1 for the most part1 agree with the ,tapestry in stating that ,harold was crowned by ,stigand1 archbishop of ,canterbury4 ,florence of ,worcester and ,roger of ,hoveden state1 that the solemn ceremony was performed by ,aldred1 ,archbishop of ,york4 ,roger of ,wendover says that the ,king 8placed the diadem on his own head40 ,the dress of the archbishop nearly resembles that of a ,roman ,catholic prelate of the present day4 ,the stole will be observed4 ,the pallium1 which subsequently was made of pure white wool1 is in ,stigand's case purple4#ff ,the maniple which1 at a later period was worn upon the arm of the priest1 is in the ,tapestry1 and other contemporaneous drawings1 placed on the wrist4 ,but the circumstance most observable in the costume of ,stigand is the absence of the mitre4 ,this distinctive decoration of the episcopal office seems not to have been known at this period4 ,it is not met with in the ,catacombs of ,rome4 ,in the illustrations of the ,benedictional of ,st4 thelwold we have priests and apostles in great numbers1 but none of them wear a mitre1 unless the circle round the head of ,st4 ,benedict be one4 ,the same remark applies to the illustrations of the metrical ,paraphrase of ,cdmon4 ,the bishops of the ,lewes chess-men1 which seem to have been executed about the middle of the twelfth century1 probably furnish us with the earliest ,british examples of a mitre4 ,the mitres worn by the ecclesiastics who support the head of the sovereign on the tomb of ,king ,john1 at ,worcester1 are also early examples4#fg ,in an apartment next to that in which the ceremonies of the coronation are being solemnized several spectators are assembled1 expressing by their gestures surprise and apprehension4 ,in the spring of the year #ajff an event occurred which filled the minds of men with alarm4 ,at ,easter a comet appeared1 which is noticed by nearly all the chroniclers4 ,wace thus describes it3--8,now while these things were doing a great star appeared1 shining for fourteen days1 with three long rays streaming towards the earth2 such a star as is wont to be seen when a kingdom is about to change its king4 ,i have seen many men who saw it1 men of full age at the time1 and who lived many years after4 ,those who would discourse of the stars call it a comet40 ,our worsted astronomers have produced a very brilliant meteor1 with more than twice three streams of fire issuing from it4 ,fear doubtless proved a multiplying glass in their hands4 ,this drawing is1 however1 remarkable1 as furnishing us with the earliest representation that we have of these erratic bodies4 ,the discoveries of modern science have attached a peculiar degree of interest to this comet4 ,halley1 the astronomer1 having noticed that a brilliant comet had been seen in the years #aeca1 #afjg and #afhb1 conceived the idea that it was the same body which had appeared on these several occasions1 and ventured to affirm that comets1 like the other heavenly objects with which we are acquainted1 obeyed the laws of gravitation4 ,the reappearance of this comet in #agei established his position1 and proved that its periodic time was about seventy-seven years4 ,these facts1 together with the subsequent accurate calculation of the orbit of the body1 enable us to carry back our reckonings1 so as to render it highly probable that the comet which alarmed our ancestors is that which bears the name of ,halley1 and whose return in the year #ahce was looked forward to by the civilized world with so much delightful anticipation4 ,mr4 ,hinde1 in his recently published book on ,comets1 says1 8,there is considerable probability in favour of the appearance of the comet in the year of the ,norman conquest1 or in ,april #ajff4 ,this famous body1 which astonished ,europe in that year1 is minutely1 though not very clearly1 described in the ,chinese annals1 and its path1 there assigned1 is found to agree with elements which have great resemblance to those of ,halley's comet4444 ,it was equal to the full moon in size1 and its train1 at first short1 increased to a wonderful length4 ,almost every historian and writer of the eleventh century bears witness to the splendour of the comet of #ajff1 in which we are disposed to recognise the comet of ,halley40#fh ,the legend to this part of the ,tapestry is1 ,,isti ,,mirant ,,stellam--,these men wonder at the star4 ,the minds of men were not long kept in suspense4 ,the next compartment exhibits ,king ,harold seated on his throne1 bending down his ear very eagerly to a messenger who has arrived with important intelligence4 ,the nature of it is explained by the dreamy-like flotilla which is shown in the lower border4 ,harold1 on succeeding to the throne1 neglected to dispossess of their offices the ,norman favourites whom ,edward left behind him4 ,he no doubt thought1 by conciliation1 to procure their good will4 ,he was mistaken4 ,a ship is immediately fitted out1 and messengers sent to ,normandy to acquaint the ,duke with the important events which had just transpired4 ,this is shown in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,viii47 in a scene which is superscribed1 ,,hic ,,navis ,,anglica ,,venit ,,in ,,terram ,,willelmi ,,ducis--,here an ,english ship came to the territory of ,duke ,william4 ,william takes the news in terrible dudgeon4 ,we see him in the next compartment sitting erect upon his ducal throne wearing an air of great indignation4 ,his mantle seems to have partaken of the passion of its wearer1 and is expanded to its full dimensions4 ,wace tells us1 8,the ,duke was in his park in ,rouen4 ,he held in his hand a bow1 which he had strung and bent1 making it ready for the arrow 444 when1 behold6444 a serjeant appeared1 who came journeying from ,england 444 who went straight to the ,duke1 and told him privily that ,king ,edward was dead1 and that ,harold was raised to be king4 ,when the ,duke had listened to him 444 he became as a man enraged1 and left the craft of the woods4 ,oft he tied his mantle1 and oft he untied it again2 and spoke to no man1 neither dared any man speak to him4 ,then he crossed the ,seine in a boat1 and came to his hall and entered therein2 and sat down at the end of a bench1 shifting his place from time to time1 covering his face with his mantle1 and resting his head against a pillar4 ,thus he remained long1 in deep thought1 for no one dared to speak to him2 but many asked aside1 #8what ails the ,duke8 why makes he such bad cheer8'0 ,once1 in more recent history1 a man standing on the shores of ,france was similarly agitated4 ,napoleon had ordered his fleets to the ,west ,indies1 in order that they might lead ,nelson into a pursuit1 and suddenly returning gain possession of the ,english ,channel4 ,long and anxiously did he watch the signals which were to tell him that his point was gained--but he saw them not4 ,when it was hinted that ,villeneuve1 instead of forcing his way to ,brest1 might possibly have steered for ,cadiz1 he gave way to successive gusts of passion1 and read and re-read the despatches of ,villeneuve and of ,lauriston4 ,when told1 at last1 that beyond a doubt ,villeneuve was at ,cadiz1 strong excesses of passion again ensued1 and the ,army of ,england was transferred from the heights of ,boulogne to the plains of ,austerlitz4 ,,vi4 ,,preparations4 8,curate1 ut splendor meo sit clypeo clarior1 ,quam solis radii esse olim1 quum sudum 'st1 solent3 ,ut1 ubi usus veniat1 contra conserta manu1 ,prstringat oculorum aciem in acie hostibus40 ,plautus4 ,the ,duke of ,normandy was a bold man1 and was not disposed to attempt any thing that he was not prepared to pursue to the end4 ,he knew that ,harold1 with the power of ,england at his disposal1 was no despicable enemy1 and he resolved to fortify his cause in every possible way4 ,the sea was to him an object of great dread1 as he knew it would be to his followers4 8,if10 he said1 8he could attack and punish them without crossing the sea1 he would willingly have done so2 but he would rather cross the sea than not revenge himself and pursue his right40 ,william sent messengers to ,harold demanding the crown1 and reminding him of his oath4 ,he would not have done this had he lost any time by it4 ,harold's reply was worthy of a constitutional monarch4 8,it is true that ,i took an oath to ,william2 but ,i took it under constraint4 ,i promised what did not belong to me2 a promise which ,i could not in any way perform4 ,my royal authority is not my own2 ,i could not lay it down against the will of my country2 nor can ,i1 against the will of the country1 take a foreign wife40#fi ,william referred the case to the ,pope4 ,harold1 conscious that he was acting inconsistently with his oath1 fearing that the cause would not be impartially heard1 or not choosing to submit the destinies of ,england to the decision of a foreigner1 made no appeal to the ,holy ,father4 ,the result of ,william's application was1 that the ,pope 8granted his request1 and sent him a gonfanon1 and a very precious1 rich1 and fair ring1 which1 he said1 had under the stone one of ,st4 ,peter's hairs4 ,with these tokens he commanded1 and in ,god's name granted to him1 that he should conquer ,england1 and hold it of ,st4 ,peter40#gj ,william1 however1 relied neither upon the tenderness of ,harold's conscience nor upon the ,pope's sense of justice--he looked mainly to his barons and retainers4 ,he summoned all who owed him suit and service to meet him in his castle at ,lillebone4 ,he there opened to them his design of invading ,england1 and urged them to double for this occasion the amount of their usual contributions of men and money4 ,the account given of this meeting affords us a good idea of the noisy nature of the parliaments of that day--a feature which they still occasionally exhibit4 8,they remained long in council1 and the debate lasted a great while2 for they hesitated long among themselves what they should say1 what answer they should give1 and what aid they would afford4 ,they complained much to each other1 saying that they had been often aggrieved2 and they murmured much1 conferring together in small parties2 here five1 there fifteen1 here forty1 there thirty1 sixty1 a hundred4 ,some said they feared the sea1 and were not bound to serve beyond it4 ,some said they were willing to bring ships and cross the sea with the ,duke2 others said that they would not go1 for they owed much1 and were poor4 ,some would1 others would not1 and there was great contention among them40 ,william on this occasion acted upon his usual maxim1 8divide and conquer40 ,he dealt privately with such as he was most likely to influence1 and having induced them to enter zealously into his plans1 others were led by shame or sympathy to follow4 ,he was lavish of his promises4 ,to the barons he proffered numerous manors1 to the clerks he held out the bait of rich benefices2 to these who were amorously inclined he promised wives with ample dowries2 to such as were not to be allured by prospective advantages he gave at once large sums of money4 ,it is said that he offered much more than he could possibly perform2 for he was well aware that the ,saxon battle-axes would cancel many of his bonds4 ,meanwhile the ,pope's sanction of the scheme arrived in ,normandy1 and it inspired the invading hosts with fresh zeal4 8,the ,duke rejoiced greatly at receiving the gonfanon1 and the license which the ,apostle ,pope gave him4 ,he got together carpenters1 smiths1 and other workmen2 so that great stir was seen in all the ports of ,normandy1 in the collecting of wood and materials1 cutting of planks1 framing of ships and boats1 stretching sails1 and rearing masts1 with great pains and at great cost4 ,they spent all one summer and autumn in fitting up the fleet and collecting the forces2 and there was no knight in the land1 no good serjeant1 archer1 nor peasant of stout heart1 and of age for battle1 that the ,duke did not summon to go with him to ,england40 ,the ,tapestry represents these preparations4 ,in the compartment which we last noticed ,william is accompanied by his half-brother ,odo1 who is busily employed in issuing orders to the master carpenter4 ,this functionary holds a peculiarly shaped axe in his hand1 of which there are some examples in the illustrations to ,cdmon's ,paraphrase4 ,the superscription is1 ,,hic ,,willelm ,,dux ,,jussit ,,naves ,,edificare--,here ,duke ,william issues orders for the building of ships4 ,next we see the execution of the orders4 ,trees are being felled1 and the planks prepared4 ,presently the ships have assumed their proper shape1 and then we see them being drawn down to the shore4 ,this operation is effected by means of a rope passed through a pulley inserted in a post driven into the shore below the water mark4 ,the legend is ,,hic ,,trahunt ,,naves ,,ad ,,mare--,here they draw the vessels to the sea4 ,afterwards the stores and ammunition are taken on board1 and when all is ready the horses and troops embark4 ,this may be a fitting place in which to introduce some observations upon the ships and armour of the ,normans4 ,the vessels of this period were of small burden4 ,this is proved by the fact that they were drawn down to the sea1 after being built1 in the manner shown in the ,tapestry4 ,the ,domesday ,book establishes the same thing4 ,there we find it stated that ,dover and ,sandwich 7and probably the other ,cinque ,ports also7 were severally ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ix4 obliged to furnish the ,king with twenty ships for fifteen days1 once every year1 each vessel having a crew of twenty-one persons4#ga ,the gunwale of the vessels was low4 ,in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,x47 we see them landing the horses1 by making them leap over the sides of the ships on to the shore4 ,on the voyage the gunwale was practically heightened by placing the shields of the soldiers along the sides of the vessel1 one shield partly lying over another4 ,the prow and stern of the ships1 which are the same in form1 are a good deal elevated1 and are usually decorated with the head of a dragon1 lion1 bull1 or some fanciful figure4 ,we have several descriptions of the ship in which ,william sailed on his ever-memorable expedition4 ,wace says1 8,the ,duke placed a lantern on the mast of his ship1 that the other ships might see it1 and hold their course after it4 ,at the summit was a vane of brass gilt4 ,on the head of the ship1 in the front which mariners call the prow1 there was a figure of a child in brass1 bearing an arrow with a bended bow4 ,his face was turned towards ,england1 and thither he looked1 as though he was about to shoot40#gb ,in an ancient ,,ms4 preserved in the ,british ,museum1 and printed in the ,appendix of ,lyttleton's ,henry ,,ii41#gc we are told that this figure pointed towards ,england with his right fore-finger1 and held to his mouth an ivory horn with his left hand4 ,with this description the ,tapestry nearly agrees2 the figure is1 however1 placed not on the prow1 but at the stern of the vessel4 ,the lamp would only be required at night4 ,on the top of the mast of ,william's vessel the sacred banner given him by the ,pope is fixed1 surmounted by a cross4 ,the banner1 as it appears here and in other parts of the ,tapestry1 would be described by heralds as 8argent1 a cross or in a bordure azure40 ,the vessels have one mast1 which is lowered forward as the land is approached4 ,to the mast1 supported by a few shrouds1 or rather stays1 a large square sail is suspended4 ,the modern rudder was not known for some time after the period of the ,conquest2#gd the vessels are steered by a paddle fixed to the quarter4 ,the steersman1 who was also the captain and pilot1 holds the paddle in one hand1 and the sheet in the other4 ,this was exactly the position of ,palinurus in the neid of ,virgil4 8,ipse sedens clavumque regit1 velisque ministrat40 ,the larger vessels of the ancients were provided with two paddle rudders1 one on each quarter4 ,this arrangement is shown in the recently-discovered sculptures of ,nineveh and in many ,roman coins4 ,the ship in which ,st4 ,paul was wrecked on the shore of ,malta had two rudders4 ,the vessels in the ,tapestry have only one paddle1 probably on account of their inferior size4 ,it is perhaps worthy of the consideration of modern navigators1 whether1 in cases where the hinged rudder is displaced in a storm1 the paddle-rudder might not advantageously be resorted to as a temporary expedient4 ,the anchors of the ,tapestry resemble those in modern use4 ,the anchor of the ship in which the spies of ,william sail to ,normandy 7,plate ,,viii47 has no stock--but this is probably merely an oversight of the draftsman1 for in an earlier case 7,plate ,,ii47 the stock is represented4 ,the sides of the ships are painted of various colours in longitudinal stripes1 each stripe probably representing a plank4 ,the sails of the ships are also variously coloured4 ,roger of ,wendover tells us that the ,conqueror's ship had a crimson sail2 probably this is nearly correct1 for in the ,tapestry it is painted red1 with a yellow stripe in the middle4 ,the effect of the whole fleet must have been very striking1 and well calculated to make a powerful impression upon spectators of that or any age4 ,writers differ much as to the number of the vessels in ,william's fleet1 as well as of the men they carried4 ,wace says1 8,i heard my father say--,i remember it well1 though ,i was but a lad--that there were seven hundred ships less four1 when they sailed from ,st4 ,valeri2 and that there were1 besides these1 ships' boats and skiffs for the purpose of carrying harness4 ,i have found it written 7but ,i know not whether it be true7 that there were in all three thousand vessels bearing sails and masts4 ,any one will know that there must have been a great many men to have furnished out so many vessels40 ,the different computations of the chroniclers probably arise from some of them including the small transport vessels in their reckoning and others not4 ,most modern historians set down ,william's army at sixty thousand strong4 ,the transport of so large a body of troops would require a flotilla more numerous than had sailed upon any waters since the decline of the ,roman empire4 ,the armour of the combatants in the ,tapestry may now engage our attention4 ,nearly all the combatants are provided with helmets4 ,the precise shape of them we learn from those which are being brought to the shore to be placed with other military stores on board the fleet4 ,the helmet has a conical form1 and is provided with a projection in front called the nasal1 to protect the face4 ,in some of them there appears to be a smaller projection at the back4 ,it is a remarkable circumstance that exceedingly few helmets have been found in the graves of the ,franks and ,saxons1 which are usually replete with military implements4 ,two however have been found in this country1 one near ,cheltenham the other in ,derbyshire4#ge ,from these specimens1 as well as from the appearance of those in the ,tapestry1 we may suppose that the helmet consisted of a framework of iron1 over which a covering of leather was stretched4 ,from the fact1 however1 that so few helmets have been found in ,saxon graves1 we may perhaps infer that the framework of the earlier specimens was of wood4 ,wace makes express mention of one man who at the battle of ,hastings wore a wooden helmet3--8,on the other side 7he says7 was an ,englishman who much annoyed the ,french1 assaulting them with a keen-edged hatchet4 ,he had a helmet made of wood1 which he had fastened down to his coat and laced round his neck1 so that no blows could reach his head4 ,the ravage he was making was seen by a gallant ,norman knight1 who rode a horse that neither fire nor water could stop in its career when its lord urged it on4 ,the knight spurred1 and his horse carried him on till he charged the ,englishman1 striking him over the helmet1 so that it fell down over his eyes2 and as he stretched out his hand to raise it and uncover his face1 the ,norman cut off his right hand1 so that his hatchet fell to the ground4 ,another ,norman sprung forward1 and eagerly seized the prize with both his hands1 but he kept it little space and paid dearly for it2 for as he stooped to pick up the hatchet1 an ,englishman with his long-handled axe struck him over the back1 breaking all his bones1 so that his entrails and lungs gushed forth4 ,the knight of the good horse meantime retired without injury40#gf ,the helmet speedily underwent several changes after the period of the battle of ,hastings4 ,flaps were affixed to the sides in order to protect the ears and the cheeks4 ,these appear in the chess-men found in the island of ,lewis1 which1 as already observed1 belong to a period not later than the middle of the twelfth century4 ,soon after the ,conquest the nasal being found to be inconvenient was frequently omitted2 at length the contrivance called the ventaille was introduced1 which when brought over the face fully protected it1 and yet1 as its name implies1 admitted air to the nostrils of the wearer1 and when his convenience required could be lifted up4 ,that the ventaille was not known at the battle of ,hastings appears from the helmets which are being taken on board the fleet4 ,another fact represented on the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xv47 shows the same thing2 ,william1 when he wishes to show himself in order to contradict the rumour that he has been killed1 is obliged to lift his helmet almost off his head4 ,and yet ,wace1 who lived at the period just subsequent to the ,conquest1 writes as though ,harold's helmet was provided with a ventaille4 ,he says1 8,harold was sorely wounded in his eye by the arrow1 and suffered grievous pain from the blow4 ,an armed man came in the throng of the battle and struck him on the ventaille of his helmet1 and beat him to the ground40 ,this passage shows how exceedingly difficult it is1 when describing past events1 to avoid anachronisms4 ,sir ,samuel ,meyrick1 in commenting upon this passage1 says1 8,by the ventaille is here meant merely the open part below his helmet4 ,the ventaculum1 or ventaille1 strictly speaking1 was not invented at this time1 but was in full use when ,wace lived2 he adopts it therefore merely for the sake of the rhyme1 and as familiar to his countrymen40#gg ,the body armour consisted of a tunic of leather or stout linen1 on which was fastened some substance calculated to resist the stroke of a weapon4 ,occasionally1 as we have already seen1 overlapping flaps of leather1 sometimes pieces of horn or horses' hoofs1 and not unfrequently plates or rings of iron were employed4 ,when rings were used they were laid side by side1 and not locked into each other1 as was the case in the chain armour of a subsequent date4 ,when small plates of iron were used they were generally lozenge-shaped2 hence this species of armour has been termed mascled4 ,the ingenuity of man has had recourse to these and similar contrivances in every age4 ,amongst the ruins of ,nineveh scale armour has been discovered1 and on ,trajan's column the ,sarmatian cavalry and their horses are clad in it4 ,the coat of mail comprehended body1 legs1 and arms all in one piece2 the legs and arms were however short and loose4 ,it is difficult to understand the mode of putting it on4 ,it seems to have been drawn over the head4 ,we are expressly told that when ,william was preparing for the battle he had his hauberk brought2 but in putting his head in1 to get it on1 he inadvertently turned it the wrong way1 with the back part in front20 and that seeing his error1 8he crossed himself1 stooped his head1 and put it on aright40 ,in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xvi47 we see some persons stripping the slain2 they uniformly draw the hauberk over the head4 ,the legs of the dress must in this case have been made to open4 ,when on1 it was tightened by straps at the breast4 ,this armour seems to have been occasionally provided with a hood of the same material1 which covered the head4 ,there are some examples of it in the ,tapestry4 ,the legs in the ,tapestry are for the most part left unprotected2 occasionally they are wrapped round with bandages of leather2 in the case of a few of the leading personages they are covered with mascled or ring armour4 ,the weight of the hauberk1 or haubergeon1 must have been considerable4 ,in taking the dresses down to the ships we observe two men are employed to carry one2 they bear it on a pole upon their shoulders4 ,one of ,william's nobles1 whilst waiting at ,hastings for the onset of ,harold1 complained of the weight of his armour4 ,the ,duke quietly desired him to put it off1 and then putting it on himself over his own hauberk1 mounted his horse without assistance1 and rode off1 to the great chagrin of the noble and the astonishment of all4#gh ,the shields of the ancient knights formed an important part of their equipment4 ,the shield of the early ,saxons was circular1 having a boss in the centre4 ,the boss was concave on the inside of the shield1 and of a size sufficient to contain the hand of the warrior1 which grasped the shield by a handle put across the cavity4 ,in the ,tapestry we have some examples of the circular shield1 but by far the larger part of the shields on the ,saxon as well as the ,norman side are of a different character4 ,it would appear that the intercourse subsisting between ,normandy and ,england during the reign of the ,confessor had led to the abandonment of the old ,saxon shield4 ,the shield of the ,tapestry is of large size1 and of the shape of a kite4 ,it is in every instance flat4 ,here again we have another opportunity of judging of the minute accuracy of the ,tapestry4 ,towards the end of the eleventh century the shield of a ,french knight is described#gi as having its surface not flat but convex1 so as to embrace the person of the wearer4 ,other changes were speedily introduced2 towards the close of the twelfth century it became shorter1 and the bow at the top was flattened into a straight line4 ,thus it formed the 8heater shield0 of the middle ages4 ,the ,norman shield when in use was carried by the arm1 not the fist alone2 two loops were placed on the inner side of it for the reception of the arm2 when not wanted it was slung from the neck of the warrior2 this is seen in several instances in the ,tapestry4 ,many of the shields were ornamented with studs of metal1 which were kept bright1 so as to dazzle the sight of an antagonist4 ,others bear badges or devices1 by which the bearer might be distinguished in the field4 ,from the earliest days1 devices1 answering the purpose of coats of arms1 have been adopted4 ,the tribes of ,israel had their insignia4 ,the armorial bearings of several ,grecian chiefs are minutely described by the poets4 ,the ,roman legions had their characteristic symbols4#hj ,it was probably with this view that the shields in the ,tapestry were painted in the way in which we see them4 ,a dragon is a common device2 so also is a cross1 the four arms of which proceed from the central stud in a sigmoidal curve4 ,besides the insignia on the shields1 ensigns and banners guided the movements of the armies and their various detachments4#ha ,the banner of the ,norman army is invariably argent1 a cross or in a bordure azure4 ,this is repeated over and over again4 ,we meet with it in the war against ,conan1 as well as at ,pevensey and ,hastings4 ,there is no trace of the leopards or lions which shortly afterwards made their appearance in the arms of ,normandy4 ,the different chieftains assembling under the ,norman standard had each his pennon1 gonfanon1 or banner4 ,none of these subsidiary standards are square1 as the banner of a baron always was when the feudal system was developed4 ,all the flags in the ,tapestry have streamers attached to them1 like those of a knight's pennon4 ,it is not impossible1 however1 that these may represent the ribbons given to the ,norman lords1 as keepsakes by their ladies4 ,wace1 in describing the battle of ,val-des-dunes1 says of ,raol ,tesson1 that 8he stood on one side afar off1 having six score knights and six in his troop--all with their lances raised1 and trimmed with silk tokens40 ,it would thus appear that the practice was not unusual1 even in ordinary wars2 how much more proper and becoming in a hazardous undertaking like the present4 ,we know that the ,norman lords had great difficulty in getting the leave of their ladies to embark in the undertaking4 ,some feared the battle axes of the ,saxon men1 others dreaded the influence of the bright eyes of the ,saxon ladies--a shrewd fear4#hb ,harold also had a standard4 ,he planted it on the highest part of the eminence on which he marshalled his army for the fight1 and by it he fought unflinchingly until cut down by the overpowering strength of the ,norman chivalry4 ,william of ,malmesbury and several other writers tell us that ,harold's standard was 8in the form of a man fighting40#hc ,in the ,tapestry it is a dragon4 ,wace does not describe it1 but says1 8,his gonfanon was in truth a noble one1 sparkling with gems and precious stones2 after the victory ,william sent it to the ,apostle to prove and commemorate his great conquest and glory40 ,a glance at the ,tapestry will shew that the ,saxons were entirely destitute of cavalry4#hd ,the comparatively limited size of the kingdom had rendered cavalry unnecessary for police purposes1 and the ,danes1 the foreign enemies with whom the ,english had hitherto to contend1 had too wide and stormy an ocean to cross1 to attempt the transport of horses for the purposes of war4 ,the great strength of the ,norman army consisted in cavalry4 ,william had been accustomed to contend with the ,king of ,france and other powerful chiefs in his immediate neighbourhood1 and was thus compelled to avail himself of every device which human ingenuity had contrived for maintaining his cause4 ,the saddles of the horses are peculiar1 having a high peak before and behind4 ,we can readily understand how ,william1 when he had become corpulent1 received a mortal injury by coming down with violence upon the pommel of such a saddle4 ,no horse armour is used1 neither have any of the horses a saddle-cloth4 8,on the seal of ,henry ,i4 is the first representation of a saddle-cloth1 and either during that reign or the preceding one1 the high peak behind the saddle was altered for a back of greater breadth40#he ,most of the riders are provided with stirrups and with prick spurs4 ,william's own horse was either an ,arabian or a cross from an ,arabian4 ,it was presented to him by the ,king of ,spain4 ,the ,normans were strong in another force1 of which the ,saxons were almost entirely destitute--bowmen4 ,in the ,saxon lines there appears but one solitary bowman1 whilst on the ,norman side there are many4 ,the ,norman archers must have plied their shafts most diligently1 for their arrows are sticking in the shields1 and to some extent in the bodies of the ,saxons1 like pins in a lady's pincushion4 ,in the battle of ,hastings the great event of the day turned upon an arrow skilfully sped4 ,had ,harold's eye not been pierced1 the battle would have been a drawn one1 and in ,william's peculiar circumstance such a result was defeat4 ,the ,saxon javelin differed from the ,norman3 it was short1 and was used as a missile4 ,in the ,tapestry we see that some of the ,english have a bundle of spears in their hands1 and that others are in the act of throwing them at the enemy4 ,the ,norman spear was a long one1 adapted for use on horseback1 and was employed in giving a thrust2 one only therefore was required by each horseman4 ,the ,saxons darted their javelins at an approaching foe1 and1 when they came to close quarters1 relied chiefly upon the vigorous use of the dreadful battle axe4 ,as however at the battle of ,hastings the ,normans were on horseback1 and were armed with long spears1 it was with no small difficulty that the ,english could get within battle axe reach of their foes4 ,in this way many of the ,saxons were picked off before they could strike a blow4 ,in ,wace we have many examples of this--thus1 he speaks of the knight of ,tregoz1 who 8killed two ,englishmen2 smiting the one through with his lance1 and braining the other with his sword2 and then galloped his horse back1 so that no ,englishman touched him40 ,in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xvi47 we see a horseman thrusting ,leofwin1 the brother of ,harold1 through with his lance1 who in vain whirls his battle axe around him4 ,the battle axe of the ,saxons had one disadvantage4 8,a man10 says ,wace1 8when he wanted to strike with one of their hatchets1 was obliged to hold it with both his hands1 and could not at the same time1 as it seems to me1 both cover himself and strike with any freedom40 ,this fact will account for the disastrous consequences of the retreat of the ,english at the battle of ,hastings1 after having been lured by the ,normans into a pursuit4 ,the statements of ,agathias1 a writer of the sixth century1 throw some light upon the ,saxon mode of fighting4 ,speaking of the ,franks 7a kindred race71 he says1 8,the arms of the ,franks are very simple3 they wear neither coat of mail nor greaves1 but their legs and thighs are defended by bands of linen or leather4 ,their cavalry is inconsiderable1 but they are formidable on foot2 they wear a sword on the left thigh and carry a buckler4 ,they use neither bow nor sling1 but they are armed with double axes and angones spears with which they do most execution4 ,these angones are of a length that may be both used as a javelin or in close fight against a charge of the enemy4 ,the staff of this weapon is covered with iron lamin or hoops1 so that but very little wood appears1 even down to the spike at the butt-end4 ,on either side of the head of this javelin are certain barbs projecting downward close together as far as the shaft4 ,the ,frank soldier1 when engaged with the enemy1 casts his angon1 which1 if it enter the body1 cannot be withdrawn in consequence of the barbs4 ,nor can the weapon be disengaged if it pierce the shield1 for the bearer of the shield cannot cut it off because of the iron plates with which the staff is defended1 while the ,frank rushing forward jumps upon it as it trails on the ground1 and thus bearing down his antagonist's defence1 cleaves his skull with his axe1 or transfixes him with a second javelin40#hf ,in the ,bayeux ,tapestry the javelins in the hands of the ,saxons are chiefly barbed1 whilst the most of those in the hands of the ,normans are lance-shaped1 and are formed after the ,roman model4 ,in ,cdmon's ,paraphrase and other ,saxon illustrations the spears of the warriors are generally barbed4 ,to what extent the hosts of ,harold were armed with the true angon1 the chief characteristic of which was a long iron shank1 does not of course appear from the ,tapestry1 the scale being too small to allow of its minute delineation4 ,the following cut exhibits the head of an angon1 found in the well of the ,roman station of ,carvoran in ,northumberland4 ,illustration ,the sword of the combatants is chiefly remarkable for its great size4 ,the ,tapestry in this1 as in other particulars1 is strictly accurate4 ,mr4 ,akerman1 after stating that several swords of large size had been found in ,frank and ,anglo-,saxon graves1 says1 8,one of the finest examples which has ever come under my notice is that found at ,fairford1 in ,gloucestershire1 and recently exhibited by ,mr4 ,wylie of that town4 ,its length1 including the handle1 is just three feet1 the blade broad1 two-edged1 and pointed40 ,the only weapon that remains to be noticed is the mace or club4 ,this was a comparatively rude weapon1 which ceased to be used as an instrument of offence after this period4 ,at the battle of ,hastings it seems to have been employed by the ,saxons only4 ,one is seen in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xiv471 which has been thrown against the advancing line of the ,normans1 and at the close of the picture the retreating ,saxons are seen to be armed with this weapon only4 ,from the review that we have taken of the equipment of the two armies1 it is apparent that the ,english laboured under very great disadvantages4 ,they were destitute of cavalry1 with which the ,normans were well provided2 they had few archers1 and they had no weapon that was a match for the long lance of the ,normans4 ,strong in their insular position1 they had neglected to adopt those improvements in the art of war which had been long adopted on the continent4 ,we cannot wonder that1 in despite of their native courage and astonishing personal prowess1 the ,saxons were overborne by the hosts of ,william on the field of ,hastings4 ,it is time now to attend to the movements of the contending parties1 and to trace them in their progress to the field on which their destiny was to be decided4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,landing4 8,et jam ,argiva phalanx instructis navibus ibat40 n4 ,,ii41 #bed4 ,the vigorous manner in which ,william entered upon the preparations for his grand campaign excited the enthusiasm of his continental neighbours4 8,reports10 says ,ordericus ,vitalis1 8of the expedition drew many valiant men from the adjoining countries1 who prepared their arms for battle4 ,thus the ,french and ,bretons1 the ,poitevins and ,burgundians1 and other people on this side the ,alps1 flocked together for the war over the sea1 and scenting the booty which the conquest of ,britain offered1 were prepared to undergo the various perils and chances1 both by sea and land1 attending the enterprise40 ,in the month of ,august ,william's fleet assembled at the mouth of the river ,dive1#hg in the vicinity of which it is probable most of his ships were built4 ,unfavourable weather detained it here for some time1 and when it did move1 it was not able to proceed further than ,st4 ,valery-sur-,somme4 ,adverse winds again prevailed for a month4 8,at this10 says ,wace1 8the barons were greatly wearied4 ,then they prayed the ,convent to bring out the shrine of ,st4 ,valery1 and set it on a carpet on the plain2 and all came praying the holy relics that they might be allowed to pass over the sea4 ,they offered so much money1 that the relics were buried beneath it2 and from that day forth they had good weather and a fair wind40 ,the long detention of the ,norman forces on the ,french coast was a fortunate circumstance for them4 ,harold had made ample provision for resisting the landing of his opponent4 ,with a fleet which he had assembled at ,harwich he sailed to the ,isle of ,wight1 and there throughout the summer and autumn months awaited ,william's arrival4 ,he also kept a land force in suitable positions near the sea shore4#hh ,the same wind however which detained ,william at ,st4 ,valery brought ,harold another foe which compelled him to withdraw his troops from the southern coast4 ,on his departure the fleet was dispersed4 ,some of the chroniclers tell us that the seamen's time of service had expired1 others that they were short of provisions4 ,harold's absence no doubt materially contributed to the demoralization of this important national safeguard4 ,here we are again called upon to notice the vanity of man's policy4 ,harold foreseeing that a struggle would ensue between ,william and himself1 and being1 consequently1 desirous of promoting friendly alliances with some of the continental powers1 encouraged his brother ,tostig to marry a daughter of the ,earl of ,flanders4 ,this ,tostig did1 and thereby became brother-in-law to ,william of ,normandy4 ,tostig1 during the life of the ,confessor1 was appointed to the earldom of ,northumbria1 but the people having risen in arms against him1 probably on account of the harshness of his rule1 he was removed1 and ,morcar appointed in his place4 ,when ,harold became king1 ,tostig expected to be reinstated1 but so far from taking active measures in his favour1 ,harold married the sister of the earl who had supplanted him4 ,tostig1 enraged at this treatment1 conceived a violent hatred against his brother1 and inflamed the minds of the ,earl of ,flanders and the ,duke of ,normandy against him4 ,receiving1 moreover1 the active support of ,harold ,hardrada1 ,king of ,norway1 he landed with a hostile force in ,yorkshire1 and ravaged the country4 ,harold1 while watching the proceedings of the ,norman armada1 heard of his brother's attempt4 ,hastening northwards1 he came upon him unawares1 and slew both him and ,hardrada1 and scattered their forces4 ,while ,harold was engaged in these operations1 ,william landed unopposed in ,sussex6 ,it was on the night of the #bith ,september that the ,norman expedition crossed the sea1 and early next morning it reached the port of ,pavensey4 ,the ,tapestry represents this important transaction4 ,the ,duke's own ship is distinguished by the consecrated banner at its mast head4 ,this vessel was called the ,mora1 and is stated to have been a present from the ,duchess ,matilda4 ,the legend in this part of the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,ix47 is1 ,,hic ,,welelm3 ,,dux ,,in ,,magno ,,navigio ,,mare ,,transivit ,,et ,,venit ,,ad ,,pevens#hi--;,here ,duke ,william in a large ship crossed the sea1 and arrived at ,pevensey4 ,a glance at the map of ,sussex will shew that ,pevensey was a most fitting place at which to effect a landing4 ,beachy ,head projecting considerably to the south1 protects this ancient port from the swell occasioned by the wind which most violently affects the ,english ,channel--the south-west4 ,the beach1 too1 is of a nature well adapted for allowing ships such as ,william's were being safely drawn up upon it4 ,this was the port selected by the ,conqueror for his embarkation when he returned to ,normandy after his coronation4 ,in all probability ,william's fleet would line the shore for a considerable space on both sides of ,pevensey in the manner which they are represented as doing in the ,tapestry1 7,plate ,x47 ,it is curious to observe1 that the remains of a vessel1 which ,mr4 ,lower thinks is at least as old as the ,conquest1 has recently been discovered1 imbedded in the gravel of the ancient beach of ,pevensey4 ,the nature of the position in which it is placed prevents its being excavated2 we might otherwise1 perchance1 have the pleasure of looking upon one of the ,conqueror's own ships4 ,william landed with great caution4 ,wace thus describes the operation--8,they arrived near ,hastings1 and there each ship was ranged by the other's side4 ,there you might see the good sailors1 the sergeants1 and squires1 sally forth and unload the ships2 cast the anchors1 haul the ropes1 bear out shields and saddles1 and land the war-horses and palfreys4 ,the archers came forth1 and touched land the foremost2 each with his bow bent1 and his quiver full of arrows slung at his side4 ,all were shaven and shorn1 and all clad in short garments1 ready to attack1 to shoot1 to wheel about1 and ,illustration3 ,,plate ,x4 skirmish4 ,all stood well equipped1 and of good courage for the fight2 and they scoured the whole shore1 but found not an armed man there4 ,after the archers had thus gone forth1 the knights landed next1 all armed1 with their hauberks on1 their shields slung at their necks1 and their helmets laced4 ,they formed together on the shore1 each armed upon his war-horse4 ,all had their swords girded on1 and passed into the plain with their lances raised40 ,our picture-chronicle does not neglect these transactions4 ,the inscription over them is1 ,,hic ,,exeunt ,,caballi ,,de ,,navibus ,,et ,,hic ,,milites ,,festinaverunt ,,hastinga ,,ut ,,cibum ,,raperentur#ij--;,here the horses disembark1 and here the soldiers hurry forward to ,hastings to seize food4 ,an incident is told respecting the landing of ,william which is best related in the words of the ,chronicler4 8,as the ships were drawn to shore1 and the ,duke first landed1 he fell by chance upon his two hands4 ,forthwith all raised a loud cry of distress1 #8an evil sign' said they1 #8is here4' ,but he cried out lustily1 #8,see seigniors1 by the splendour of ,god6 ,i have seized ,england with my two hands2 without challenge no prize can be made2 all is our own that is here2 now we shall see who will be the bolder man4' ,then one of his men ran forward and put his hand on a hut1 and took a handful of the thatch and turned to the ,duke1 saying heartily1 #8,sire1 come forward and receive seizin2 of this land ,i give you seizin2 without doubt the country is yours4' ,and the ,duke said1 #8,i accept it2 may ,god be with us4'0#ia ,the nature of the ground prevented ,william from proceeding directly up the country from ,pevensey4 ,so late as the days of ,queen ,elizabeth1 the land inwards from this point was little better than a marsh4 ,the ,ordnance map of ,sussex shows1 in this direction1 a remarkable absence of towns and villages1 indicating pretty clearly what it must have been in former times4 ,william went cautiously along the shore to ,hastings1 where he erected his fortifications1 and refreshed his troops4 ,in the ,tapestry we see them seizing the sheep and cattle in the fields1 cooking their food1 and afterwards seating themselves at table4 ,wace says 8,before evening had set in they had finished a fort4 ,then you might see them make their kitchens1 light their fires1 and cook their meat4 ,the ,duke sat down to eat1 and the barons and knights had food in plenty2 for they had brought ample store4 ,all ate and drank enough1 and were right glad that they were ashore40 ,the culinary operations of the invading force require some notice4 ,although some huts have been erected on the shore1 having been brought in frame with the fleet1 the cooks discharge their duties in the open air4 8444444 ,a kettle slung ,between two poles upon a stick transverse ,receives the morsel44440 ,the pot may have been a metallic vessel brought over from ,normandy with the stores2 its appearance1 however1 strongly reminds us of a plan which ,froissart tells us the ,scotch adopted in one of their incursions into ,england4 ,having seized an ox1 they slaughtered it1 and boiled its flesh in its skin1 supporting the extemporaneously-made cauldron after the manner shown in the ,tapestry4 ,the rest of the cookery is done upon a hearth4 ,a spit1 on which the wood is placed1 is thrust into the ground1 so as to suspend the article to be cooked a short way above the fire4 ,at the present day much of the cookery of ,normandy is done by placing the food in earthenware vessels1 which are brought into contact with the embers without the intervention of a grate4 ,the food when cooked was usually1 at this period1 handed to the guests seated at the table1 on the spits1 who took it off with their fingers1 assisted with a knife which they carried with them4 ,forks were comparatively unknown for some centuries after the ,conquest4 ,in the ,tapestry two tables are spread4 ,the first of them seems to be formed of shields set upon a frame4 ,the persons seated at it are probably some of ,william's chief officers whose duty it is to arrange the entertainment1 and taste the food and wine previous to its being set before the ,duke4 ,william sits at a table which was no doubt brought from ,normandy4 ,it is of classic form1 being like that called by the ,romans ,sigma1 from its resemblance to the ,greek letter of that name1 which in the time of the ,roman ,emperors was formed like our ,c4 ,the guests sit at one side of it only1 the inner or concave side being left open1 to allow the servants more readily to approach4 ,all the operations of the table are presented to us by the artist4 ,odo1 with his thumb and two forefingers extended1 is blessing the food and the drink4 ,william has planted his hand upon the principal dish1 as if to claim the lion's share for himself4 ,another person is tearing a fish to pieces with his fingers1 and conveying the morsels by the same medium to his mouth4 ,an old man with a beard1 probably ,william's ,nestor1 who refused to comply with the tonsured fashion of the day1 is drinking with his neighbour2 both of them have uplifted bowls4 ,a servant upon bended knee is presenting a covered dish to the party4 ,these compartments are respectively described1 ,,hic ,,coquitur ,,caro ,,et ,,hic ,,ministraverunt ,,ministri--,here the food is being cooked and here the attendants have served up the viands3 ,,hic ,,fecerunt ,,prandium ,,et ,,hic ,,episcopus ,,cibum ,,et ,,potum ,,benedicit--,here they have prepared the feast and here the bishop is blessing the meat and drink4 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xi4 ,the meal must necessarily have been a hasty one4 ,one of the guests has already risen from his seat1 and calls the attention of the ,duke to something that is passing without4 ,william was now fairly committed to a great and hazardous undertaking1 and retreat was not to be thought of2 at the same time1 the utmost circumspection was necessary1 and the ,duke of ,normandy was not the man to neglect any precaution4 ,we accordingly next find him in solemn consultation with his two uterine brothers--,odo1 ,archbishop of ,bayeux1 and ,robert1 ,count of ,mortaine4 ,william has his sword elevated1 and ,robert is in the act of drawing his from the scabbard--indications which strongly mark the nature of the attempt before them4 ,the legend over this group 7,plate ,,xi47 is simply1 ,,odo ,,episcopus3 ,,robertus--,odo the ,bishop3 ,robert4 ,as the result1 probably1 of the deliberations of the three brothers1 it was resolved strongly to fortify the position occupied by ,william's army4 ,such was the importance of this work1 that ,william1 with the consecrated banner in his hand1 is seen personally superintending it4 ,the spades of the workmen are worthy of observation4 ,they are evidently made of wood1 but shod with iron4 ,they have a notch for the foot on one side only4 ,that they were adapted not merely for turning up the soil1 but for trenching the scull of an enemy1 is evident not only from their size and form1 but from the use to which they are put by two of the parties before us4 ,the inscription over this part is1 ,,iste ,,jussit ,,ut ,,foderetur ,,castellum ,,at ,,hestenga,m--,he has ordered an intrenchment to be dug at ,hastings2 and over the castle itself is written1 ,,ceastra#ib--,the camp4 ,the camp in question could not be the castle1 the ruins of which now crown the heights of ,hastings4 ,however strong the position of ,hastings castle1 there is not space enough on the rocky platform on which it stands for the encampment of an army one fourth of the size of ,william's2 besides1 we cannot suppose that ,william in his present circumstances would attempt the erection of a fort of solid masonry4 ,the camp which ,william constructed was1 as the ,tapestry leads us to believe1 formed of earth1 strengthened with wooden palisades1 the whole being commanded at intervals by towers which had been brought in frame from ,france4 ,the phrase ut foderetur1 that they might dig a castle1 is express1 and the men are seen throwing up the soil4 ,this agrees with what ,wace says1 8,they enclosed a fort and strengthened it round about with palisades and a fosse40 ,some extensive entrenchments1 still to be seen in the immediate vicinity of the railway station at ,hastings1 are probably the remains of the ,duke's encampment4#ic ,an ,english knight1 who had watched the landing of ,william1 hastened to ,harold with the alarming news4 ,he found him rejoicing after the defeat of ,tostig and ,hardrada4 8,foolish0 says ,wace1 8is he who glorifies himself1 for good fortune soon passeth away4 ,the heart of man often rejoiceth when ruin is nigh40 ,bitterly did ,harold grieve that he had not been at the spot when the ,normans landed1 that he might have driven them into the sea4 8,it is a sad mischance10 said he1 8but thus it hath pleased our ,heavenly ,king40 ,harold had1 by the rapidity of his marches1 surprised his brother ,tostig1 and come upon the troops of ,hardrada unawares4 ,he thought to adopt the same policy with ,william2 and1 without taking time to refresh or recruit his exhausted army1 commenced his march southwards4 ,in the course of a few days he was in the vicinity of his enemy4 ,william1 however1 was not to be taken by surprise1 and ,harold was constrained to take up a position at ,battle1 distant about six miles from ,hastings1 where the ,duke was encamped4 ,the next compartment in the ,tapestry exhibits to us ,william giving audience to a messenger who announces to him the approach of ,harold4 ,the legend is1 ,,hic ,,nuntiatum ,,est ,,willelmo ,,de ,,harold--,here news is brought to ,william respecting ,harold4 ,whilst these movements were going on1 the inhabitants of the southern shore of ,sussex were suffering severely4 ,not only were their cattle taken from the folds1 and their recently replenished granaries emptied1 but their dwellings were wantonly destroyed4 ,perhaps the ,saxons may have provoked the vengeance of the foe1 for they were not men to take quietly the spoiling of their goods4 ,in the ,tapestry we see a soldier setting fire to a house 7one being the representative of many71 from which a female and child are escaping--escaping from present destruction to be cast1 with winter before them1 houseless1 friendless1 and without food1 upon the wide world4 ,the sufferings of the battle field form but a small part of the horrors of war4 ,this compartment of the work bears the inscription1 ,,hic ,,domus ,,incenditur--,here a house is set fire to4 ,some outlined figures in the margin of this part of the work doubtless refer to those distressing immoralities which too often attend the march of armies4 ,whilst the two armies lay within a few miles of each other several messages passed between the commanders4 ,william was too good a soldier to risk a battle if he could avoid it4 ,he therefore sent a tonsured monk to ,harold1 reminding him of his oath1 and calling upon him to deliver up the kingdom4 ,harold1 flushed with recent victory1 was with difficulty restrained from cutting down the messenger2 as it was1 he sent him away with insults4 ,when his rage had subsided he saw his folly1 and sent an envoy1 acquainted with the language of ,france1 to duke ,william1 offering to make him a pecuniary recompense if he would recross the sea1 telling him however1 if he did not1 he would give him battle on the following ,saturday4 ,saturday1 the #ast of ,october1 was ,harold's birth day4 ,he always regarded it as his fortunate day2 and he was anxious if he did enter into mortal conflict with a desperate foe1 that it should be when his propitious star was in the ascendant4 ,like another of ,england's heroes--,oliver ,cromwell--the day of his birth was to prove the day of his death4 ,a battle now being imminent1 ,gurth1 the brother of ,harold1 was exceedingly anxious that the king should retire from the host and give the command to him4 ,gurth had taken no oath to ,william1 and therefore had not the punishment of perjury to fear4 ,besides1 if he were slain1 ,england would still have her king2 and army after army could be raised1 if need be1 to resist the pretensions of any invader4 ,harold refused to adopt the wise counsel of his brother4 ,though a brave man1 he had not the self-command of ,william1 nor the same power of taking an enlarged view of a subject4 ,the day before the battle1 ,harold and ,gurth rode out early in the morning to descry the enemy4 8,they rode on1 viewing and examining the ground1 till1 from a hill where they stood1 they could see the ,norman host1 who were near4 ,they saw a great many huts made of branches of trees1 tents well equipped1 pavilions1 and gonfanons2 and they heard horses neighing1 and beheld the glittering of armour4 ,they stood a long while without speaking0--and at length returned in silence to their tent4 ,they had seen enough to awaken their apprehensions1 and to make them anxious for further information4 ,harold1 therefore1 sent out two spies to reconnoitre4 ,they fell into the hands of the ,normans1 who brought them to ,william4 ,he used them well1 and ordered them to be conducted through the host4 ,on their return they reported that the ,normans1 whom they had noticed to be close shaven and cropt1 were an army of priests and mass-sayers rather than knights4 ,harold1 who knew the habits of the ,normans1 replied1 8,these are valiant knights1 bold and brave warriors1 though they bear not beards and mustaches as we do40 ,notwithstanding the ill success of his former representations1 ,william persevered in negotiation4 ,he lost no time by it1 and if he did not succeed in his immediate object1 he induced his observers to believe1 that one who was so bent upon the investigation of his claims must have right upon his side4 ,on the same day that he entertained the spies of ,harold1 he sent a monk1 learned and wise1 offering ,harold one of three things--that he should resign the kingdom1 that he should submit to the judgment of the ,pope1 or meet him singly and fight body for body4 ,harold declined every alternative4 ,next day--the day before the battle--,william attempted to obtain a personal interview with ,harold4 ,harold refused to meet him4 ,by the messenger who brought ,harold's negative to the proposal for a meeting1 ,william sent him word that if he would retire he would give him all ,northumberland1 and whatever belonged to the kingdom beyond the ,humber2 to his brother ,gurth he promised the lands of ,godwin their father4 ,harold rejected this also3 ,northumberland was nothing worth2 it was chiefly peopled by ,danes1 and was liable to constant invasion4 ,william1 when king1 could not govern ,northumberland4 ,as a matter1 not of feeling1 not of revenge1 but of cool1 calculating state policy1 he swept it of every living thing--he made it a desert1 and such it continued for a century after his time4 ,at the same time that ,william sent his last message1 he charged the clerk who took it1 in case of refusal1 to sow the seeds of terror and dissatisfaction among the ,english4 8,tell them10 said he1 8that all who come with ,harold1 or support him in this affair1 are excommunicated by the ,apostle and his clergy40 ,this was a javelin skilfully thrown4 8,at this excommunication the ,english were much troubled2 they feared it greatly1 and the battle still more40 ,gurth1 however1 rallied them4 ,he told them that their all was at stake1 that ,william had promised their lands to his followers1 and that he had already taken homage for them from many4 8,defend yourselves then10 he said1 8and your children and all that belongs to you1 while you may40 ,at these words the ,english were aroused1 and cried out that the ,normans had come on an evil day1 and had embarked on a foolish matter4 8,the ,duke and his men tried no further negotiation1 but returned to their tents1 sure of fighting on the morrow4 ,then men were to be seen on every side straightening lances1 fitting hauberks and helmets1 making ready the saddles and stirrups2 filling the quivers1 stringing the bows1 and making all ready for the battle40 ,the night before a battle must be a season of peculiar solemnity and suspense4 ,the shades of night1 giving indistinctness to the landscape1 harmonize too well with the doubts which becloud the mind as to the morrow's destiny4 ,he is a fool1 not a hero1 who would step from time into eternity without solemn thought4 ,the accounts which we have of the way in which the hosts spent the night before the battle are all to the disadvantage of the ,english4 ,had they been the winning instead of the losing party1 the chroniclers would doubtless have been less severe4 ,as it is1 they tell us that the troops of ,harold spent the night in eating and drinking and merriment--never lying down in their beds4 ,if this be true1 how we are we to account for the vigour with which they fought from nine o'clock in the morning until nightfall next day8 ,the ,normans and ,french1 on the other hand1 we are told1 betook themselves to their orisons4 8,they made confession of their sins1 accused themselves to the priests1 and vowed that they would never more eat flesh on the ,saturday0 7the day of the battle74 ,many of them kept the vow6 ,at the dawn of day each party had completed its preparations4 ,before the sun should set1 a battle was to be fought on which hung not merely the fate of an empire1 but1 as events have subsequently proved1 the destinies of the civilized world to this hour4 ,,the ,,battle4 8,revolving in his altered soul ,the various turns of fate below40 ,dryden4 ,the room is still pointed out in the roofless donjon keep of ,falaise1 in which ,arlotte1 the tanner's daughter1 gave birth to ,william the ,conqueror4 ,it is a small comfortless apartment4 ,when the newborn babe was laid upon the floor1 he grasped the straw which covered it with a vigour that induced the bystanders to predict that he would ere long take a foremost place amongst the ambitious potentates of his age4 ,in the course of our worsted narrative we have followed our hero to a point in which he is about to justify the correctness of these surmisings4 ,harold1 painfully conscious of the inferiority of his military equipments1 resolved to act on the defensive4 ,he took up his position on a round-topped hill1 having on its summit a circular platform just sufficient to contain his troops drawn up in close order4 ,this hill was anciently called ,senlac2 it afterwards became the site of the ,abbey of ,battle4 ,harold further strengthened his position by earthen ramparts crowned with palisades of wood4 ,wace1 speaking of these precautions1 says1 8,they had built up a fence before them with their shields1 and with ash and other wood2 and had well joined and wattled in their whole work1 so as not to leave even a crevice2 and thus they had a barricade in their front1 through which any ,norman who would attack them must first pass4 ,being covered in this way by their shields and barricades1 their aim was to defend themselves2 and if they had remained steady for that purpose1 they would not have been conquered that day2 for every ,norman who made his way in lost his life in dishonour1 either by hatchet or bill1 by club or other weapon40 ,in addition to these defences1 ,wace tells us that ,harold 8made a fosse1 which went across the field1 guarding one side of their army40 ,this was probably lower down the hill than the position occupied by his camp1 and was chiefly intended to incommode the cavalry4 ,harold further feeling that he had not the power to prevent the enemy's horse outflanking him1 ordered 8that all should be ranged with their faces towards the enemy0--that they should front three sides at least of the square4 ,we see them 7,plate ,,xiv47 sustaining an attack from opposite quarters1 and in both cases fronting the foe4 ,he moreover issued directions 8that no one should move from where he was2 so that whoever came might find them ready2 and that whatever any one1 be he ,norman or other1 should do1 each should do his best to defend his own place40 ,he planted his standard--the dragon of ,wessex--on the most elevated part of the hill1 and there he resolved to defend it to the last4 ,nobly ,harold fulfilled his purpose--nothing could tempt him from his post--and ere the ,saxon ensign bowed to the banner blessed by the ,pope1 his blood had drenched the soil4 ,harold's men consisted but in part of regularly trained troops4 ,amongst them were many 8villains called together from the villages1 bearing such arms as they found--clubs and great picks1 iron forks and stakes40 ,these undisciplined ,saxons exhibited no lack of that indomitable energy for which the ,english race is famous2 but1 as ,harold's brother1 ,gurth1 remarked1 8a great gathering of vilanaille is worth little in battle40 ,the numbers of the two armies have been variously stated4 ,probably ,wace is right in saying that they were nearly equal4 ,he sets down the army of ,william at sixty thousand1 and speaks thus of his opponent's3 8,many and many have said that ,harold had but a small force1 and that he fell on that account4 ,but many others say1 and so do ,i1 that he and the ,duke had man for man4 ,the men of the ,duke were not more numerous1 but he had certainly more barons1 and the men were better4 ,he had plenty of good knights1 and great plenty of good archers40 ,the ,norman forces1 having finished their devotions by an early hour in the morning1 were ordered to form in three divisions1 the ,duke himself commanding the centre1 which consisted of ,normans4 ,william then addressed his army1 saying1 8,if ,i conquer1 you will conquer2 if ,i win lands1 you shall have lands0--telling them1 at the same time1 that he came not merely to establish his own claims1 but also to punish the ,english for the massacre of the ,danes1 and other felonies which they had committed against his people4 ,then they began to cry out1 8,you will not see one coward2 none here will fear to die for love of you if need be40 ,and he answered them1 8,strike hard at the beginning2 stay not to take spoil2 all the booty shall be in common1 and there will be plenty for every one4 ,there will be no safety in peace or flight4 ,the ,english will neither love nor spare ,normans4 ,felons they were1 and are2 false they were1 and false they will be40 ,william was continuing his speech1 when ,fitz-,osborne1 who had been one of his principal advisers in the whole business1 interrupted him3 8,sire1 said he1 we tarry here too long2 let us arm ourselves4 ,allons6 ,allons60 ,when ,william began to prepare for battle1 he called first for his good hauberk1 and a man brought it on his arm and placed it before him2 but1 in putting his head in to get it on1 he inadvertently turned it the wrong way1 with the back in front4 ,he quickly changed it2 but when he saw that those who stood by him were sorely alarmed1 he said1 8,i never believed in omens1 and ,i never will4 ,i trust in ,god4 ,the hauberk which was turned wrong and then set right1 signifies that ,i who have hitherto been but duke1 shall be changed into a king4 ,then he crossed himself1 and straightway took his hauberk1 stooped his head1 and put it on aright2 and laced his helmet and girt his sword1 which a varlet brought him40 ,there is something poetical in the error which ,william made4 ,he was too good a general to be boastful--he had been too often in the field not to know the difference between the putting on and the putting off of the armour--he knew too well1 moreover1 the serious nature of the venture which he had made to pay much attention to the duties of his military toilet4 ,his capacious mind ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xii4 was weighing the chances of victory or defeat1 and for the last time reviewing all the arrangements which he had made for either alternative4 ,the ,norman ,duke1 notwithstanding his usual exemption from superstitious influences1 did not consider his preparation for battle complete until he had strung around his neck a portion of the relics over which ,harold had taken his faithless vow4 ,william entrusted the standard which the ,pope had given him to ,turstin ,fitz-,rou4 ,his demeanour1 rendered even more than usually commanding by the greatness of the occasion1 seems to have attracted the attention of his companions in arms2--8,never 7said the ,viscount of ,toarz71 never have ,i seen a man so fairly armed1 nor one who rode so gallantly1 or bore his arms or became his hauberk so well2 neither any one who bore his lance so gracefully1 or sat his horse or manuvred so nobly4 ,there is no such knight under heaven6 a fair knight he is1 and a fair king he will be60 ,we are now prepared for examining the ,tapestry4 ,under the compartment inscribed ,,hic ,,milites ,,exierunt ,,de ,,hestenga--,here the soldiers have departed from ,hastings--we see the ,duke1 armed cap-a-pie1 preparing to mount his charger1 which is brought him by an attendant4 ,next we have a well arranged group of horsemen1 representing the whole ,norman army1 proceeding onward at a steady pace4 ,some scouts in advance scour the country1 and guard against surprise4 ,the inscription proceeds1 ,,et ,,venerunt ,,ad ,,prelium ,,contra ,,haroldum ,,regem--,and march to battle against ,harold the ,king4 ,the country between ,hastings and ,battle is of an undulating nature4 ,the ,duke had many defiles of a dangerous nature to pass1 in which ,harold might have harassed him if he had possessed cavalry1 and if he had had troops to spare4 ,as it was1 he was allowed to proceed unmolested2 nevertheless1 both parties sent out scouts to watch each other's movements4 ,the horseman1 ,vitalis1 seems to have been sent on this errand by ,william4 ,in the ,tapestry he is represented as galloping up to his chieftain with the news which he has gathered respecting the enemy1 towards whom his spear is pointed4 ,the group is labelled1 ,,hic ,,willelm3 ,,dux ,,interrogat ,,vital3 ,,si ,,vidisset ,,exercitum ,,haroldi--,here ,duke ,william asks ,vitalis1 whether he had seen ,harold's army4 ,harold's scout is next seen1 on foot1 endeavouring to obtain a glimpse through the forests of the approaching foe2 he then informs his king of their advance4 ,the legend is1 ,,iste ,,nuntiat ,,haroldum ,,regem ,,de ,,exercitu ,,willelm3 ,,ducis--,this man brings word to ,harold the ,king respecting ,duke ,william's army4 8,the line of the ,normans' march from the camp of ,hastings to the battle-field1 must have lain on the south-western slope of the elevated ridge of land extending from ,fairlight to ,battle2 that is1 to the north of the village of ,hollington1 through what is now ,crowhurst ,park1 to the elevated spot called ,hetheland1 but now known as ,telham ,hill40#id ,this hill is about a mile south of the one occupied by ,harold4 ,its ancient name seems to imply that it was covered with heath rather than with wood2 this circumstance1 together with the fact of its elevated position1 would enable ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiii4 ,william's host for the first time clearly to descry their enemy from its summit1 and render it a fitting place on which to make the final preparations for the onslaught4 ,this spot1 according to local tradition1 derived its name of ,telham1 or ,telman ,hill1 from ,william's having told off his men before advancing to the fight4 ,we can readily conceive what would be the feelings of the two forces1 as on the morning of the #adth of ,october1 #ajff1 they came in sight of each other2--8,some with their colour rising1 others turning pale2 some making ready their arms1 others raising their shields2 the brave man raising himself to the fight1 the coward trembling at the approaching danger40 ,who can stand upon the ground occupied by either party without sympathizing1 in part1 with their fierce emotions8 ,happily1 such sympathy is vain4 ,not only have victor and vanquished long ceased to be moved by earth's concernments1 but the descendants of each have long been blended into one race1 having common interests1 common feelings4 ,before commencing the onslaught1 ,william again addressed his troops4 ,he is represented in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xiii47 beside a tree1 representing probably the edge of the forest1 with the baton of command in his right hand4 ,the legend here is1 ,,hic ,,willelm3 ,,dux ,,alloquitur ,,suis ,,militibus ,,ut ,,prepararent ,,se ,,viriliter ,,et ,,sapienter ,,ad ,,prelium ,,contra ,,anglorum ,,exercitum--,here ,duke ,william exhorts his soldiers to prepare manfully and prudently for battle against the army of the ,english4 ,wace says that the battlecry of the ,normans was ,dex aie6 7,god help671 that of the ,english1 ,ut6 7out6--begone67 ,harold was not less diligent than his antagonist in making preparations4 8,he ordered the men of ,kent to go where the ,normans were likely to make the attack2 for they say that the men of ,kent are entitled to strike first1 and that whenever the king goes to battle1 the first blow belongs to them4 ,the right of the men of ,london is to guard the king's body1 to place themselves around him1 and to guard his standard2 and they were accordingly placed by the standard to watch and defend it40 8,each man had a hauberk on1 with his sword girt1 and his shield at his neck4 ,great hatchets were also slung at their necks1 with which they expected to strike heavy blows4 ,they were on foot in close ranks1 and carried themselves right boldly4 ,olicrosse 7holy cross7 they often cried1 and many times repeated ,godamite 7,god ,almighty740#ie 8,and now behold6 that battle was gathered whereof the fame is yet mighty40 ,nearly all the chroniclers tell us that the minstrel-warrior ,taillefer was the first to begin the battle1 and some of them inform us that as he approached the ,english lines1 he produced a sort of panic amongst them by his juggling tricks4 ,it says not a little for the correctness of the delineations of the ,tapestry1 and of the authenticity of the ,roman de ,rou1 that neither of them refers to these improbable stories1 however great the pictorial effect of them might have been4 ,as1 however1 the verses of ,gaimar1 describing the ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiv apocryphal exploits of ,taillefer1 possess considerable interest1 it may be well to introduce them here in the garb in which they have been clothed by ,mr4 ,amyot1 in the ,archologia1#if 8,foremost in the bands of ,france1 ,arm'd with hauberk and with lance1 ,and helmet glittering in the air1 ,as if a warrior-knight he were1 ,rushed forth the minstrel ,taillefer4-- ,borne on his courser swift and strong1 ,he gaily bounded o'er the plain1 ,and raised the heart-inspiring song 7,loud echoed by the warlike throng7 ,of ,roland and of ,charlemagne1 ,of ,oliver1 brave peer of old1 ,untaught to fly1 unknown to yield1 ,and many a knight and vassal bold1 ,whose hallowed blood1 in crimson flood1 ,dyed ,roncevalles' field4 ,harold's host he soon descried1 ,clustering on the hill's steep side3 ,then1 turned him back brave ,taillefer1 ,and thus to ,william urged his prayer3 #8,great ,sire1 it fits not me to tell ,how long ,i've served you1 or how well2 ,yet if reward my lays may claim1 ,grant now the boon ,i dare to name3 ,minstrel no more1 be mine the blow ,that first shall strike yon perjured foe4' #8,thy suit is gained1' the ,duke replied1 #8,our gallant minstrel be our guide4' #8,enough1' he cried1 #8with joy ,i speed1 ,foremost to vanquish or to bleed4' ,and still of ,roland's deeds he sung1 ,while ,norman shouts responsive rung1 ,as high in air his lance he flung1 ,with well directed might2 ,back came the lance into his hand1 ,like urchin's ball1 or juggler's wand1 ,and twice again1 at his command1 ,whirled it's unerring flight4-- ,while doubting whether skill or charm ,had thus inspired the minstrel's arm1 ,the ,saxons saw the wondrous dart ,fixed in their standard-bearer's heart4 ,now thrice aloft his sword he threw1 ',midst sparkling sunbeams dancing1 ,and downward thrice the weapon flew1 ,like meteor o'er the evening dew1 ,from summer sky swift glancing3 ,and while amazement gasped for breath1 ,another ,saxon groaned in death4 ,more wonders yet6--on signal made1 ,with mane erect1 and eye-balls flashing1 ,the well-taught courser rears his head1 ,his teeth in ravenous fury gnashing2 ,he snorts--he foams--and upward springs-- ,plunging he fastens on the foe1 ,and down his writhing victim flings1 ,crushed by the wily minstrel's blow4 ,thus seems it to the hostile band ,enchantment all1 and fairy land4 ,fain would ,i leave the rest unsung3-- ,the ,saxon ranks1 to madness stung1 ,headlong rushed with frenzied start1 ,hurling javelin1 mace1 and dart2 ,no shelter from the iron shower ,sought ,taillefer in that sad hour2 ,yet still he beckoned to the field1 #8,frenchmen1 come on4--the ,saxons yield-- ,strike quick--strike home--in ,roland's name-- ,for ,william's glory--,harold's shame4' ,then pierced with wounds1 stretched side by side1 ,the minstrel and his courser died40 ,the charge of ,taillefer roused the mettle of both parties4 8,forthwith arose the noise and cry of war1 and on either side the people put themselves in motion40 8,some were striking1 others urging onwards2 and all were bold1 and cast aside fear40 8,loud and far resounded the bray of the horns and the shocks of the lances2 the mighty strokes of clubs1 and the quick clashing of swords4 ,one while the ,englishmen rushed on1 another while they fell back2 one while the men from over the sea charged onwards1 and again1 at other times1 retreated4 ,then came the cunning manuvres1 the rude shocks and strokes of the lance1 and blows of the sword1 among the sergeants and soldiers1 both ,english and ,norman4 ,when the ,english fall the ,normans shout4 ,each side taunts and defies the other1 yet neither knoweth what the other saith2 and the ,normans say the ,english bark1 because they understand not their speech40 ,in this way the struggle proceeded for several hours4 ,the ,saxons had an arduous part to sustain2 for1 as shewn in the ,tapestry1 they were attacked on all sides4 ,early in the battle the brothers of ,harold1 ,gurth and ,leofwin fell4 ,the fact is indicated by the superscription1 ,,hic ,,ceciderunt ,,lewine ,,et ,,gurth ,,fratres ,,haroldi ,,regis--,here fell ,leofwin and ,gurth1 the brothers of ,harold the ,king4 ,bravely had they sustained their brother in his efforts to resist the invader1 and doubtless they had1 in the excess of their zeal1 needlessly hazarded their lives4 ,according to ,wace1 they did not fall until after ,harold had been slain4 ,this is one of the points in which the worsted chronicle differs from the ,roman de ,rou4 ,in a battle1 where all is confusion--where few can obtain a general view of what passes--and where each is intensely occupied with his own foeman--it is exceedingly difficult for any one to give a just account of the whole scene1 or to reconcile the conflicting statements of others4 ,all our historians agree that both the brothers of ,harold were slain in the battle of ,hastings2--had it been otherwise ,william would not have been crowned at ,westminister that ,christmas4 ,following1 on the ,tapestry1 the death of ,gurth and ,leofwin 7,plate ,,xv47 is a scene thus labelled3 ,,hic ,,ceciderunt ,,simul ,,angli ,,et ,,franci ,,in ,,prelio4 ,the scene is here most animated4 ,saxons and ,normans are mingled in a close encounter4 ,horses and men exhibit the frantic contortions of dying agony4 ,at the further end of the compartment a party of ,saxons1 posted on a hill1 exposed to the enemy on one side1 but protected by a forest 7represented by a tree7 on the other1 seem to be making head against their assailants4 ,the ,normans had attacked the ,saxon encampment with the utmost impetuosity in front and in flank4 ,the ,saxons maintained their ground well1 but some1 through fear or misadventure1 were constrained to flee4 ,the victorious ,normans1 strongly armed and well mounted1 pursued the flying footmen4 ,in doing so1 they left not only their own army1 but that of ,harold in ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xv4 the rear4 ,soon a swampy valley was to be encountered4 ,the retreating ,english1 climbing the opposite hill1 paused1 at once to take breath and to examine their position4 ,finding the ,normans struggling with the difficulties of the morass1 and conscious of the advantage which their elevated position gave them1 they wheeled about1 and became the attacking party4 ,their efforts were crowned with success2 the invaders were thrown into a state of confusion nearly inextricable4 ,but it is necessary now to refer to our authorities4 ,the account given in the ,roman de ,rou of this important part of the events of that eventful day is the following3 8,in the plain was a fosse1 which the ,normans now had behind them1 having passed it in the fight without regarding it4 ,but the ,english charged1 and drove the ,normans before them1 till they made them fall back upon this fosse1 overthrowing into it horses and men4 ,many were to be seen falling therein1 rolling one over the other1 with their faces to the earth1 and unable to rise4 ,many of the ,english also1 whom the ,normans drew down along with them1 died there4 ,at no time during the day's battle did so many ,normans die as perished in that fosse4 ,so said they who saw the dead40 ,the account given in the ,chronicle of ,battle ,abbey is similar4 8,there lay between the hostile armies a certain dreadful precipice4444 ,it was of considerable extent1 and being overgrown with bushes or brambles1 was not very easily seen1 and great numbers of men1 principally ,normans in pursuit of the ,english1 were suffocated in it4 ,for1 ignorant of the danger1 as they were running in a disorderly manner1 they fell into the chasm1 and were fearfully dashed to pieces and slain4 ,and this pit1 from this deplorable accident1 is still called ,malfosse40 ,with these statements that of ,william of ,malmesbury agrees--8,by frequently making a stand1 they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps2 for1 getting possession of an eminence1 they drove down the ,normans1 when roused with indignation and anxiously striving to gain the higher ground1 into the valley beneath1 when1 easily hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below1 they destroyed them to a man40 ,with these descriptions the delineation of the ,tapestry agrees in a remarkable manner4 ,the only point which remains for us is to identify the scene of this skirmish with some locality in the vicinity of ,battle4 ,this ,mr4 ,lower enables us to do4 8,there is no place near ,battle which can1 with a due regard to the proprieties of language1 be called a #8dreadful precipice' 7miserabile prceipitium vaste patens71 though1 by comparing ,malmesbury with the ,monk of ,battle1 ,i think ,i have succeeded in identifying the locality of this #8bad ditch4'#ig ,from all the probabilities of the case1 it would seem that the flight and pursuit must have lain in a north-westerly direction1 through that part of the district known as ,mountjoy4 ,assuming this1 the eminence alluded to must have been the ridge rising from ,mount ,street to ,caldbeck ,hill1 and the ,malfosse some part of the stream which1 flowing at its feet1 runs in the direction of ,watlington1 and becomes a tributary of the ,rother4 ,this rivulet occasionally overflows its banks1 and the primitive condition of the adjacent levels was doubtless that of a morass1 overgrown with flags1 reeds1 and similar bog vegetables4 ,thanks1 however1 to good drainage1 this #8bad ditch' no longer remains4 ,the name was corrupted1 previously to #abgi1 to ,manfosse1 and a piece of land called ,wincestrecroft1 in ,manfosse1 was ceded to the ,abbey of ,battle in that year4 ,now ,wincestrecroft is still well known1 and lies in the direction specified1 west by north of the present town of ,battle40#ih ,the ,english1 after having exterminated their pursuers1 regained the eminence on which the main body was encamped4 ,this was the most critical period of the day's fight4 ,the varlets who had been set to guard the harness of the ,normans1 began to abandon it4 ,the priests who had confessed and blessed the army in the morning1 and had meanwhile retired to a neighbouring height1 began to take themselves off4 ,in this extremity ,odo interfered1 and turned the fate of the battle4 ,the description in the ,roman de ,rou precisely corresponds with the drawing in the ,tapestry4 ,wace says1 8,then ,odo1 the good priest1 the ,bishop of ,bayeux1 galloped up1 and said to them #8,stand fast1 stand fast6 be quiet and move not6 fear nothing1 for if it please ,god1 we shall conquer yet4' ,so they took courage1 and rested where they were2 and ,odo returned galloping back to where the battle was most fierce1 and was of great service on that day4 ,he had put a hauberk on1 over a white aube1 wide in the body1 with the sleeves tight2 and sat on a white horse1 so that all might recognize him4 ,in his hand he held a mace1 and wherever he saw most need1 he led up and stationed the knights1 and often urged them on to assault and strike the enemy40 ,with this description the ,tapestry exactly accords1 except in the colour of the horse2 it however represents it as being sufficiently conspicuous4 ,the inscription is ,,hic ,,odo ,,episcopus ,,tenens ,,baculum ,,confortat ,,pueros--,here ,odo holding a staff exhorts the soldiers4#ii ,the staff which ,odo wields is1 ,i suspect1 the badge of command--the marshal's baton as it were--and not a weapon1 as some writers suppose4 ,william himself1 in the next group1 is represented with a similar implement4 ,during the middle ages the priests of the sanctuary were not unfrequently to be found in the battle-field4 ,some of them were much more at home in the midst of the mele than in guiding sin-stricken souls to a ,saviour4 ,the bold ,bishop of ,durham1 ,anthony ,beck1 never left the precincts of his castle but in magnificent military array4 ,he fought personally at the battle of ,falkirk1 and drew from a soldier1 who felt perhaps a superstitious dread at aiming a deadly blow at one invested with the sacred office1 the merited rebuke1 8,to your mass1 ,o priest40 ,richard ,i41 when at war with ,philip of ,france1 took a ,french ,bishop prisoner4 ,the ,pope sent to demand his liberation1 claiming him as a son of the church4 ,richard upon this sent the ,bishop's coat of mail to the ,pope1 just as it was1 besmeared with the blood of the slain1 employing the words of ,jacob's sons1 8,this have we found2 know now whether it be thy son's coat or no40 ,the canon laws indeed forbade a priest to shed blood2 but this was evaded1 it is said1 by the use of a mace instead of a sword4 ,the warrior-priest did not stab a man2 he only brained him4 ,it is on this ground that the baton held by ,odo has been considered by some writers to be a weapon4 ,in consequence of the confusion and panic which attended the disasters in the ,malfosse1 a report was spread among the ,normans that ,william was dead4 ,at the same time1 too1 according to one writer1#ajj ,eustace ,count of ,boulogne strongly urged the ,duke to withdraw his forces from the field1 considering the battle to be lost beyond recovery4 ,a ,saxon shaft at that moment laid ,eustace low1 and delivered ,william from his importunity4 ,the ,duke1 nothing daunted by this disaster1 rushed among his troops1 encouraged his men to maintain the combat1 and to assure them of the falsehood of the report of his death1 raised his helmet and exhibited himself to his people4 ,this act is exhibited in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xv472 at the same time1 his standard-bearer1 who never left him throughout the day1 draws attention to the circumstance4 ,the group is labelled1 ,,hic ,,est ,,dvx ,,wilel3--,here is ,duke ,william4 ,by these energetic means the ,normans returned to the onset4 ,the ,tapestry shows us the fearful slaughter which took place on that hard-fought field4 ,the border is filled with dead men and horses lying in every conceivable position2 a head is not unfrequently deposited at some distance from the body to which it once belonged4 ,we can scarcely look upon the drawing without being impressed with the idea that the designer of the ,tapestry had been the witness of some fight4 ,it is said that when a man receives a mortal wound1 his body is thrown for the moment into violent spasmodic action4 ,so much is this the case1 that you may tell the effect of a death-bringing volley by noticing how many unhappy wretches make a sudden leap4 ,in the ,tapestry something of this spasmodic action is manifested1 and some of the men are coming to the ground in such a posture as they could only do after having sprung up from it4#aja ,the battle had now lasted the greater part of the day4 8,from nine o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon the battle was up and down1 this way and that1 and no one knew who would conquer and win the land4 ,both sides stood so firm and fought so well that no one could guess which would prevail4 ,the ,norman archers with their bows shot thickly upon the ,english2 but they covered themselves with their shields1 so that the arrows could not reach their bodies4444 ,then the ,normans determined to shoot their arrows upwards into the air1 so that they might fall on their enemies' heads and strike their faces4 ,the archers adopted this scheme1 and shot up into the air towards the ,english2 and the arrows in falling struck their heads and faces1 and put out the eyes of many1 and all feared to open their eyes or leave their faces unguarded40 8,the arrows now flew thicker than rain before the wind4 ,then it was that an arrow that had been thus shot upwards struck ,harold above his right eye and put it out4 ,in his agony he drew the arrow 7,plate ,,xvi47 and threw it away1 breaking it with his hands2 and the pain to his head was so great that he leaned upon his shield40 ,still the ,english did not yield1 and ,harold1 though grievously hurt1 maintained his ground4 ,at length the device was adopted which put victory into the hands of the ,normans4 ,harold1 knowing ,william's skill in strategy1 exhorted his troops at the beginning of the fight to keep their ground1 and not suffer themselves to be drawn into a pursuit4 ,had his troops been well-trained men1 to whom obedience is a second nature1 that battle had probably not been lost4 ,many of them however had been brought from the fields1 and were unable to resist the prospect of inflicting deserved vengeance upon their adversaries4 ,harold's troops were the more likely to fall into the snare laid for them1 in consequence of the success which attended1 in an earlier part of the day1 the attack upon the pursuing ,normans in the ,malfosse4 ,william's army fled by little and little1 the ,english following them4 8,as the one fell back1 the other pressed after2 and when the ,frenchmen retreated1 the ,english thought and cried out that the men of ,france fled and would never return4 #8,cowards1' said they1 #8you came hither in an evil hour1 wanting our lands1 and seeking to seize our property1 fools that you were to come6 ,normandy is too far off1 and you will not easily reach it 444 your sons and daughters are lost to you6' ,the ,normans bore these taunts very quietly1 as indeed they easily might1 for they did not know what the ,english said40 ,at length the time arrived for the assailants to come to a stand4 ,the ,english had broken rank2 the valley1 too1 had been crossed1 and the ,normans were now standing above the ,saxons on the flank of the hill on the top of which they had formed in the morning4 ,at the word of command1 ,,dex ,,aie1 the ,normans halted1 and turned their faces towards the enemy4 ,now commenced the fiercest part of that bloody day's encounter4 ,neither party was wanting in courage4 ,all the chroniclers do justice to the contending forces4 8,one hits1 another misses2 one flies1 another pursues2 one is aiming a stroke1 while another discharges his blow4 ,norman strives with ,englishman again1 and aims his blows afresh4 ,one flies1 another pursues swiftly2 the combatants are many1 the plain wide1 the battle and the mele fierce4 ,on every hand they fight hard1 the blows are heavy1 and the struggle becomes fierce40 ,as neither the horrors nor the gallantry exhibited on a battle-field can be comprehended by a general description1 it may be well here to introduce an account of one or two of the individual encounters occurring at this period1 with which ,wace supplies us4 8,the ,normans were playing their part well1 when an ,english knight came rushing up1 having in his company a hundred men furnished with various arms4 ,he wielded a northern hatchet1 with the blade a full foot long2 and was well armed after his manner1 being tall1 bold1 and of noble carriage4 ,in the front of the battle1 where the ,normans thronged most1 he came bounding on swifter than a stag1 many ,normans falling before him and his company4 ,he rushed straight upon a ,norman1 who was armed1 and riding on a war-horse1 and tried with a hatchet of steel to cleave his helmet2 but the blow miscarried1 and the sharp blade glanced down before the saddle-bow1 driving through the horse's neck down to the ground1 so that both horse and master fell together to the earth4 ,i know not whether the ,englishman struck another blow2 but the ,normans who saw the stroke were astonished1 and about to abandon the assault1 when ,roger de ,montgomery came galloping up1 with his lance set1 and heeding not the long-handled axe which the ,englishman wielded aloft1 struck him down1 and left him stretched upon the ground4 ,then ,roger cried out #8,frenchmen1 strike2 the day is ours6' ,and again a fierce mele was to be seen1 with many a blow of lance and sword2 the ,english still defending themselves1 killing the horses1 and cleaving the shields40 8,there was a ,french soldier of noble mien1 who sat his horse gallantly4 ,he spied two ,englishmen who were also carrying themselves boldly4 ,they were both of them men of great worth1 and had become companions in arms and fought together1 the one protecting the other4 ,they bore two long and broad bills1 and did great mischief to the ,normans1 killing both horses and men4 ,the ,french soldier looked at them and their bills1 and was sore alarmed2 for he was afraid of losing his good horse1 the best that he had1 and would willingly have turned to some other quarter1 if it would not have looked like cowardice4 ,fearing the two bills1 he raised his shield by the #8enarmes1' and struck one of the ,englishmen with his lance on the breast1 so that the iron passed out at the back4 ,at the moment that he fell1 the lance broke1 and the ,frenchman seized the mace that hung at his right side1 and struck the other ,englishman a blow that completely fractured his scull40 ,the slaughter at this period of the day must have been fearful4 ,the chronicler of ,battle ,abbey says1 8,amid these miseries there was exhibited a fearful spectacle3 the fields were covered with dead bodies1 and on every hand nothing was to be seen but the red hue of blood4 ,the dales around sent forth a gory stream1 which increased at a distance to the size of a river6 ,how great think you must have been the slaughter of the conquered1 when the conquerors' is reported1 upon the lowest computation1 to have exceeded ten thousand8 ,oh how vast a flood of human gore was poured out in that place where these unfortunates fell and were slain6 ,what a dashing to pieces of arms1 what a clashing of strokes2 what shrieks of dying men2 what grief2 what sighs were heard6 ,how many groans2 how many bitter notes of direst calamity then sounded forth1 who can rightly calculate6 ,what a wretched exhibition of human misery was there to call forth astonishment6 ,in the very contemplation of it our heart fails us40#ajb ,notwithstanding the horrors of the scene1 and the hopelessness of their efforts1 the courage of the ,saxons failed not2 sometimes fleeing1 and sometimes making a stand1 they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps4 ,the place where this havoc took place is probably the southern front of the eminence on which ,battle ,abbey was afterwards placed4 ,the whole site of the contest has sometimes been denominated 8,sanguelac10 or the 8,lake of ,blood10 but this designation properly belongs to that part in which the street of the modern town of ,battle called 8the ,lake0 is situated4 ,until a very recent period this place was supposed still occasionally to reek with human gore4 8,thereabout10 says ,drayton1 8is a place which after rain always looks red1 which some have attributed to a very bloody sweat of the earth1 as crying to heaven for revenge for so great a slaughter40 8 444 ,asten once distained with native ,english blood2 ,whose soil1 when wet with any little rain1 ,doth blush1 as put in mind of those there sadly slain40 ,the truth is 8the redness of the water here1 and at many other places in the neighbourhood1 is caused by the oxydation of the iron which abounds in the soil of the ,weald of ,sussex40#ajc ,to return to the battle1 8,loud was now the clamour1 and great the slaughter2 many a soul then quitted the body which it inhabited4 ,the living marched over the heaps of dead1 and each side was weary of striking4 ,he charged on who could1 and he who could no longer strike still pushed forward4 ,the strong struggled with the strong2 some failed1 others triumphed2 the cowards fell back1 the brave pressed on2 and sad was his fate who fell in the midst1 for he had little chance of rising again2 and many in truth fell who never rose at all1 being crushed under the throng4 ,and now the ,normans pressed on so far that at last they reached the ,english standard40 ,the ,tapestry represents the eager advance of a body of horsemen4 ,the compartment is inscribed1 ,,hic ,,franci ,,pugnant ,,et ,,ceciderunt ,,qui ,,erant ,,cum ,,haroldo--,here the ,french are fighting1 and have slain the men who were with ,harold4 8,there ,harold had remained1 defending himself to the utmost2 but he was sorely wounded in the eye by the arrow1 and suffered grievous pain by the blow4 ,an armed man came in the throng of the battle1 and struck him on the ventaille of his helmet and beat him to the ground2 and as he sought to recover himself1 a knight beat him down again1 striking him on the thick of his thigh1 down to the bone40 ,this is shown in the ,tapestry 7,plate ,,xvi47 ,harold first of all appears standing by his standard1 contending with a horseman who is making a rush at him2 then he is shown pulling the arrow out of his eye2 and lastly he is seen1 falling-- 8,with his back to the field1 and his feet to the foe10 --his battle axe has dropped from his nerveless grasp1 and a ,norman1 ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xvi4 stooping from his horse1 inflicts a wound upon his thigh4 ,the group is superscribed1 ,,hic ,,harold ,,rex ,,interfectus ,,est--,here ,harold the ,king is slain4#ajd 8,the ,english were in great trouble at having lost their ,king1 and at the ,duke's having conquered and beat down the standard2 but they still fought on1 and defended themselves long1 and in fact till the day drew to a close4 ,then it clearly appeared to all that the standard was lost1 and the news had spread throughout the army that ,harold for certain was dead2 and all saw now that there was no longer any hope1 so they left the field and those fled who could40 ,ingulph tells us that all the nobles that were in ,harold's army were slain2#aje we are hence led to infer that it was the untrained peasantry only who betook themselves to flight4 ,the ,tapestry is in consistency with this4 ,the last compartment represents a group of men unprotected by body armour1 and supplied only with a mace or club1 retreating before a party of fully equipped horsemen4 ,the inscription is1 ,,et ,,fuga ,,verterunt ,,angli--,and the ,english betake themselves to flight4 ,happily the exact spot on which the final struggle of the day took place is clearly ascertained4 ,the writer of the ,battle ,abbey ,chronicle tells us1 that the ,king having resolved to commemorate his victory by the erection of a ,christian temple1 the high altar was placed upon the precise spot where the standard was observed to fall4#ajf ,long after all traces of the ,abbey ,church had been obliterated1 the finger of tradition faithfully pointed to the spot so interesting to all ,englishmen4 ,in the year #ahag1 the proprietor of the soil1 anxious to test the truth of the popular belief1 made the necessary excavations1 and in the very place indicated1 at the depth of several feet below the surface1 found the remains of an altar in the easternmost recess of the crypt of the church4#ajg ,william on that day fought well--as well he might1 for he had engaged in a desperate venture--8many a blow did he give1 and many receive1 and many fell dead under his hand40 ,two horses were killed under him4 ,after the ,english had been exterminated1 or had forsaken the field1 the ,duke returned thanks to ,god1 and ordered his gonfanon to be erected where ,harold's standard had stood4 ,here1 too1 he raised his tent4 ,amidst the dying and the dead he partook of his evening meal and passed the night4 ,the next morning which dawned upon that sad battle field was the ,sabbath4 ,on that first day of the week no heavenly choir sang of peace on earth and good will toward men4 ,the human family was exhibited in its most painful aspect1 8hateful and hating one another0--that field but recently covered over with the golden sheaves of harvest1 now bore upon its surface the gory fruits of man's ambition4 8,when ,william called over the muster-roll1 which he had prepared before he left the opposite coast1 many a knight1 who on the day when he sailed1 had proudly answered to his name1 was then numbered with the dead4 ,the land which he had done homage for was useless to him now40#ajh ,he had come to win large domains and baronial honours--six feet of common earth was all he got4 8,the ,conqueror had lost more than one-fourth of his army40#aji ,both parties spent the day in burying the dead4 8,the noble ladies of the land also came1 some to seek their husbands1 and others their fathers1 sons1 or brothers40 ,the account given by ,ordericus of the disposal of ,harold's body is the following3 8,harold could not be discovered by his features1 but was recognized by other tokens1 and his corpse being borne to the ,duke's camp1 was1 by order of the ,conqueror1 delivered to ,william ,mallet for interment near the sea-shore1 which had long been guarded by his arms40#aaj ,william of ,poictiers gives a similar statement4 ,later writers say that his body was interred with regal honours in ,waltham ,abbey4 ,this tradition1 which probably had its origin in the wish of the monks to attract visitors to the shrine at ,waltham1 cannot be entertained1 in opposition to the express statements of contemporaries4 ,some venture1 too1 to assert that1 though sorely wounded at ,hastings1 he was not killed1 and that1 on escaping from the field1 he first fled to the continent1 and afterwards led the life of a recluse at ,chester4 ,this is a statement which may at once be rejected4 ,the difficulty in discovering the body to which ,ordericus refers was1 it is generally believed1 overcome by ,edith1 surnamed1 from her beauty1 the ,fair4 ,the keen eye of affection discerned his mangled form amidst heaps of dead1 which appeared to common observers an undistinguishable mass4 ,what will not woman's love accomplish6 ,many writers have done great dishonour to this lady by stating that she was the mistress of ,harold4 ,sir ,henry ,ellis1 in his ,introduction to ,domesday ,book1 has proved that she was his ,queen2 8,aldith1 ,algiva or ,eddeva1 being names which are all synonymous40 ,unhappy ,elfgyva1 how different her feelings now from what they were when the clerk announced to her1 in his own familiar way1 the rescue of ,harold from the capture of ,guy6 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,sequel4 8,from seeming evil still educing good40 ,thomson4 ,the ,saxons lost the battle of ,hastings4 ,here1 however1 they left no blot on their name4 ,the old historian ,daniel justly1 as well as forcibly1 remarks1 8,thus was tried1 by the great assize of ,god's judgment in battle1 the right of power between the ,english and ,norman nations2 a battle the most memorable of all others2 and1 however miserably lost1 yet most nobly fought on the part of ,england40 ,the death of ,harold1 and the absence of any other competitor1 opened the way for ,william to the throne4 ,presenting himself to the nobles of the land1 assembled in ,london1 he was in due form elected to the vacant throne1 and was crowned by ,aldred ,archbishop of ,york1 on ,mid-winter's day4 ,william never claimed the ,english crown by right of conquest4 ,his quarrel was with ,harold1 not with the ,english people1 and he denounced him as interfering with his just claims4 ,the ,saxon ,chronicle expressly asserts that 8,before the ,archbishop would set the crown upon his head1 he required of him a pledge upon ,christ's book1 and also swore him1 that he would govern this nation as well as any king before him had at the best done1 if they would be faithful to him40 ,he never claimed to be the ,conqueror of ,england in the ordinary sense of the word4 ,in his first charter to ,westminster ,abbey1 he founds his right to the crown upon the grant of his relative ,edward the ,confessor4 ,the ,domesday ,book was not compiled until near the close of ,william's reign 7about the year #ajhf71 yet in it he is not spoken of as a conqueror4 8,throughout the ,survey10 says ,sir ,henry ,ellis1 8,harold is constantly spoken of as the usurper of the realm3 #8quando regnum invasit4' ,once only is it said #8quando regnabat4' ,of ,william it is as constantly said1 #8postquam venit in ,angliam1' after he came to ,england4 ,once only does the expression occur1 #8,w4 rex conquisivit ,angliam1' when he conquered or acquired ,england40#aaa ,but whatever were ,william's rights and original intentions1 it was impossible that he could long reign over ,england as a constitutional monarch4 ,it was not likely that the great chiefs who survived the battle of ,hastings would long submit to the rule of a stranger--hosts of foreigners would necessarily be introduced into the court1 and this1 as in the reign of the ,confessor1 would be a continual source of heartburning and jealousy--and1 above all1 the followers of the ,king were to be rewarded1 and this could only be done by depriving the ,saxon noblemen of their patrimonies4 ,when ,william won the battle of ,hastings1 he bid farewell to peace for ever4 ,his subsequent history was a continued series of entanglements and broils4 ,one chieftain after another1 one district and then another1 became restless under his rule2 each he crushed in succession4 ,at length he became in the strict sense of the word the ,conqueror4 ,he ruled by the sword alone4 ,his own ,norman barons1 and even his brother ,odo1 felt the weight of his iron hand2 but it fell with peculiar force upon his native-born subjects4 ,the writer in the ,saxon ,chronicle1 speaking from his own knowledge1 says of ,william1 8,he was a very wise and a great man1 and more honoured and more powerful than any of his predecessors4 ,he was mild to those good men who loved ,god1 but severe beyond measure towards those who withstood his will4444 ,he was a very stern and wrathful man1 so that none durst do anything against his will1 and he kept in prison those earls who acted against his pleasure4444 ,truly there was much trouble in these times1 and very great distress2 he caused castles to be built1 and oppressed the poor4444 ,he made large forests for the deer1 and enacted laws therewith1 so that whoever killed a hart or a hind should be blinded4 ,he loved the tall stags as if he had been their father4 ,the rich complained and the poor murmured1 but he was so sturdy that he recked nought of them2 they must will all that the king willed1 if they would live2 or would keep their lands2 or would hold their possessions2 or would be maintained in their rights4 ,alas6 that any man should so exalt himself1 and carry himself in his pride over all60#aab ,ingulph speaks of the entire subjugation of the ,english people1 and of their systematic exclusion from offices of honour4 8,many of the chief men of the land1 for some time1 offered resistance to ,william1 the new king1 but1 being afterwards crushed by his might and overcome1 they at last submitted to the sway of the ,normans4444 ,so inveterately did the ,normans at this period detest the ,english1 that1 whatever the amount of their merits might be1 they were excluded from all dignities2 and foreigners who were far less fitted1 be they of any other nation whatever under heaven1 would have been gladly chosen instead of them40#aac ,henry of ,huntingdon uses language which the ,english of the present day1 accustomed as they are to rear their heads proudly among the nations1 can hardly understand4 8,in the twenty-first year of the reign of ,king ,william1 when the ,normans had accomplished the righteous will of ,god on the ,english ,nation1 and there was now no prince of the ancient regal race living in ,england1 and all the ,english were brought to a reluctant submission1 so that it was a disgrace even to be called an ,englishman1 the instrument of ,providence in fulfilling its designs was removed from the world40#aad 8,many of the people10 as ,holinshed tells us1 8utterly refusing such an intolerable yoke of thraldom as was daily laid upon them1 chose rather to leave all1 both goods and lands1 and after the manner of outlaws1 got them to the woods with their wives1 children1 and servants1 meaning from henceforth to live upon the spoils of the country adjoining1 and to take whatsoever came next to hand40 ,notwithstanding the heavy pressure of these evils good ensued4 ,the political tempest resulted in the increased purity1 health1 and peace1 of the national atmosphere4 ,william established a strong government4 ,had ,harold been unopposed from without1 he would have had rivals from within the nation4 ,the opposition of his own brother ,tostig was but a prelude of what the general result of his reign would have been4 ,ambitious men1 such as ,edwin and ,morcar1 the ,earls of ,mercia and ,northumbria1 would on the least provocation have espoused the cause of ,edgar ,atheling1 and by rendering the land a scene of internal discord1 have made it an easy prey to new bands of adventurers from ,denmark1 ,norway1 ,flanders1 and ,france4 ,william1 by the vigour1 and even harshness of his rule1 quelled internal dissension1 and bid defiance to foreign rivalry4 ,the ,norman invasion hastened and perfected the establishment of the feudal system in ,england4 ,this system had one great defect1 which renders it unfit for the present condition of ,england--it altogether overlooked the claims of the lower classes1 who always form the great bulk of the population2 still1 it produced most beneficial results in the eleventh and twelfth centuries4 ,it brought all the great barons of the empire into subjection to the sovereign1 and by defining the corresponding duties of the mesne lords and inferior tenants1 knit the whole kingdom into one4 ,by this unity the realm was prepared to put down intestine broils1 and to resist foreign aggression4 ,a way too was prepared for the elevation of the lower classes4 ,the system had but to be extended in order to define the duties1 and to confer corresponding privileges1 upon every member of the community4 ,learning and civilization were greatly advanced by the ,norman ,conquest4 ,italy at this time was the focus of the knowledge and refinement of the world4 ,the light kindled by the genius of ,attica1 and nurtured by the philosophy and poetry of the ,augustan era1 still irradiated the seven-hilled city4 ,britain1 severed from the main-land by a stormy channel1 had less intercourse with ,rome than the nations of the continent4 ,though ,william of ,malmesbury may have somewhat overdrawn the statement1 still there is much truth in the picture which he gives of the social condition of the ,saxons at the time of the ,conquest4 8,in process of time the desire after literature and religion had decayed1 for several years before the arrival of the ,normans4 ,the clergy1 contented with a very slight degree of learning1 could scarcely stammer out the words of the sacraments2 and a person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment4 ,the nobility were given up to luxury and wantonness4 ,the commonalty1 left unprotected1 became a prey to the most powerful1 who amassed fortunes1 by either seizing on their property1 or by selling their persons into foreign countries2 although it be an innate quality of this people to be more inclined to revelling1 than to the accumulation of wealth4 ,drinking was a universal practice1 in which they passed entire nights as well as days4 ,they consumed their whole substance in mean and despicable houses2 unlike ,normans and ,french1 who1 in noble and splendid mansions1 lived with frugality40#aae ,there cannot be a doubt that by the introduction of the refinements of life the condition of the people was improved1 and that a check was given to the grosser sensualities of our nature4 ,certain it is that learning received a powerful stimulus by the conquest4 ,at the period of the ,norman invasion1 a great intellectual movement had commenced in the schools on the continent4 ,normandy had beyond most other parts profited by it4 ,william brought with him to ,england some of the most distinguished ornaments of the schools of his native duchy2 the consequence of this was that ,england henceforward took a higher walk in literature than she had ever done before4#aaf ,another important advantage resulting from the ,conquest was the emancipation of the lower classes4 ,at the period of the invasion the great bulk of the population were in a servile condition4 ,one class of the people1 the churls1 were attached to the land1 and were transferred with it from one master to another without the power of choosing their employer1 or taking any steps to improve their condition--another large class1 the thews1 were the absolute property of their owners4 ,the attempts which ,alfred and some of the clergy made to remedy this gigantic evil were attended with but partial success4 ,the ,conquest gave it its death blow4 ,the convulsions which ensued afforded great numbers the wished-for opportunity of escaping from thraldom4 ,many of the landowners1 seeing the shipwreck of their fortunes inevitable1 made a virtue of necessity1 and manumitted their serfs4 ,one of ,william's regulations had a tendency quietly to complete what was thus auspiciously begun4 ,he passed a law declaring that every slave who had resided unchallenged a year and a day in any city or walled town in the kingdom1 should be free for ever4#aag ,this law became a door of hope to many1 and in due time not one slave was left in ,england4 ,it had another very beneficial effect4 ,men were led to congregate in towns2 knowledge was promoted2 a stimulus was given to the cultivation of the refinements of social life2 and the commoners1 strong in their numbers1 were induced to assert and maintain their common rights4 ,even the despotic measures of the king had a beneficial influence upon the lower grades of society4 ,the thanes and aldermen of the ,confessor's days being deprived of their lands1 were glad to hold a small portion of them as the inferior tenants of the great ,norman barons4 ,hence sprung the yeomanry of ,england1 who1 in days of difficulty and danger1 have often proved themselves the mainstay of the country4 ,the ,saxon noblemen1 in descending from their high estate1 brought with them their independence of feeling and high spirit4 ,they were chastened but not crushed4 ,they not only maintained their own freedom of thought1 but infused a portion of their energy into the newly emancipated class below them4 ,formerly the difference in social position between the landed proprietor and the tiller of the soil was so great1 that there could be little friendly intercourse between them1 and no unity of interest2 but now1 by the formation of a middle class1 the two extremes of society were linked together1 and all classes placed in a position to benefit the rest1 as well as to be benefited by them4 ,the hope of rising in the social scale now dawned upon the lower orders4 ,another signal benefit resulted from the ,conquest4 ,it brought to our ,english soil a host of men renowned in their own persons and those of their descendants for all that is great in art and arms1 for all that is noble in knightly enterprise and chivalric feeling4 ,strike out from the page of history the deeds of the ,montfords1 the ,marmions1 the ,warrens1 the ,nevilles1 the ,percys1 the ,beauchamps1 the ,bruces1 the ,balliols1 the ,talbots1 the ,cliffords1 and a host of others who fought with ,william at ,hastings1 or followed in his wake1 what a blank would be left4 ,true1 they were not always found contending on the side of liberty and truth2 but1 on the whole1 they contributed to the developement of ,england's liberties and enlightenment and power1 and left an example of indomitable energy and manly bearing which mankind to the latest ages will do well to copy4 ,one other view of the subject we must take4 ,england required chastisement1 but shall the oppressor on that account go free8 ,the chroniclers most favourable to ,william do not conceal the harshness and covetousness which disfigured the latter part of his reign4 ,they tell us1 too1 of the evils which afflicted his age1 and pursued him beyond the tomb4 ,his eldest son rose in rebellion against him4 ,many of his own nobles joined the undutiful youth2 even his beloved wife ,matilda favoured him4 ,in the ,new ,forest1 which he had wrongfully appropriated to his own pleasures1 his son ,richard was slain1 during his lifetime4 ,his son ,william1 who succeeded him1 came to a violent end in the same place4 ,a grandson also is said to have perished in it4 ,whilst ravaging ,mantes1 in revenge for an idle jest1 he met with his own death stroke4 ,no sooner had he ceased to breathe than his lifeless body was forsaken by his family and domestics4 ,when all that remained of the once potent ,william was about to be committed to the tomb1 the man from whom he had wrested the site forbade his burial2 some of the bystanders #8of their charity' satisfied the claim1 and the ,conqueror was laid in an eleemosynary grave4 ,at a subsequent period that grave was violated1 and his bones dispersed4 ,his followers1 bent upon enriching themselves at the expense of justice1 did not escape4 ,many of them rose in rebellion1 and were crushed4 ,others suffered in the troubles which ensued upon his death4 ,in the struggle between ,stephen and ,matilda1 dreadful was the havoc committed upon the followers of ,william and their children4 ,during the ,wars of the ,roses1 nearly all the great families founded at the ,conquest suffered calamities differing little in kind or degree from those which the victors of ,hastings inflicted upon the old nobility of the land4 ,history gives emphasis to the divine injunction1 8,fret not thyself because of evil doers1 neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity3 for they shall soon be cut down like the grass1 and wither as the green herb40 ,,appendix4 ,,note ,a4--,page #d4 ,the authority for the odd story of the ,duke of ,normandy's courtship is the following passage in the ,chronicle of ,tours1 quoted in the ,encyclopdia ,metropolitana1 ,vol4 xi41 p4 #ebg1 n4 8,tunc ,guillelmus1 ,dux ,normanni1 ,mathildam1 filiam ,balduini ,comitis ,flandri duxit in uxorem in hunc modum4 ,cum ipsa a ,patre suo de sponso recipiendo spius rogaretur1 eique ,guillelmus ,normannicus a ,patro1 qui eum longo tempore nutrierat1 pr aliis laudaretur1 respondit1 nunquam ,nothum recipere se maritum4 ,quo audito1 ,guillelmus ,dux elam apud ,brugis1 ubi puella morabatur1 cum paucis accelerat1 eamque1 regredientem ab ,ecclesi pugnis1 calcibus1 atque calcaribus verberet atque castigat1 sicque ascenso equo in patriam remeat4 ,quo facto1 puella dolens ad lectum decubat2 ad quam ,pater veniens illam de sponso recipiendo interrogat et requirit2 qu respondens dixit se nunquam habere maritum nisi ,guillelinum ,ducem ,normanai2 quod et factum est40 ,,note ,b4--,page #e4 ,as the following letter of ,m4 ,thierry's is less accessible to the ,english reader than most of the documents connected with the ,bayeux ,tapestry it is here given in full4 ,it is addressed to ,m4 de la ,fontenelle de ,vandor3-- 8,,monsieur1--,pardonnez-moi de rpondre bien tard une demande qui1 venant de vous1 m'honore infiniment4 ,vous dsirez savoir ce que je pense des ,recherches et conjectures de ,m4 ,bolton ,corney sur la tapisserie de ,bayeux2 je vais vous le dire1 en aussi peu de mots et aussi nettement que je le pourrai4 ,l'opinion soutenue par ,m4 ,bolton ,corney comprend deux thses principales3 #a que la tapisserie de ,bayeux n'est pas un don de la reine ,mathilde1 ni mme un don fait au chapitre de cette ville par un autre personne2 qu'elle a t fabriqu pour l'glise cathdrale de ,bayeux1 sur l'ordre et aux frais du chapitre2 #b que ce vnrable monument n'est pas contemporain de la conqute de l',angleterre par les ,normands1 mais qu'il date du temps o la ,normandie se trouvait runie la ,france4 ,de ces deux thses1 la premire me semble vraie de toute vidence1 la seconde est inadmissible4 8,la tradition qui attribuait la reine ,mathilde la pice de tapisserie conserve ,bayeux1 tradition1 du reste1 assez rcente1 et que l'abb de ,la ,rue a rfute1 n'est plus soutenue par personne4 ,quant la seconde question1 celle de savoir si cette tapisserie fut ou non un prsent fait l'glise de ,bayeux1 ,m4 ,bolton ,corney la rsout ngativement1 et d'une faon qui me semble premptoire4 ,au silence des anciens inventaires de l'glise il joint des preuves tires du monument lui-mme1 et dmontre avec vidence que ses dtails portent une empreinte trs-marque de localit1 que la conqute de l',angleterre par les ,normands y a t considre en quelque sorte au point de vue de la ville et de l'glise de ,bayeux4 ,un seul vque y figure1 et c'est celui de ,bayeux1 trs-souvent en scne et quelquefois dsign par son seul titre3 episcopus4 ,de plus1 parmi les personnages laques qui figurent ct du duc ,guillaume1 pas un ne porte un nom historique4 ,les noms qui reviennent sans cesse sont ceux de ,turold1 ,wadard et ,vital1 probablement connus et chris ,bayeux1 car les deux derniers1 ,wadard et ,vital1 sont inscrits sur le ,domesday-,book1 au nombre des feudataires de l'glise de ,bayeux1 dans les comts de ,kent1 d',oxford1 et de ,lincoln4 ,si l'on joint ces raisons celles que ,m4 ,bolton ,corney dduit de la forme et de l'usage particuliers du monument1 il est impossible de ne pas croire avec lui que la tapisserie fut commande par le chapitre de ,bayeux et excute pour lui4 8,je passe la seconde proposition1 savoir que la tapisserie de ,bayeux fut excute aprs la runion de la ,normandie la ,france4 ,cette hypothse n'exige pas une longue rfutation1 car l'auteur du mmoire la fonde sur une seule preuve1 l'emploi du mot ,franci pour dsigner l'arme normande4 #8,guillaume de ,poitiers1 dit-il1 appelle ceux qui faisaient partie de l'arme ,normanni1 des ,normands2 la tapisserie les nomme toujours ,franci1 des ,franais4 ,je considre cela comme une bvue indicative du temps o le monument a t excute4' ,il n'y a l aucune bvue1 ni rien qui puisse faire prsumer que la tapisserie de ,bayeux n'est pas contemporaine de la conqute de l',angleterre par les ,normands4 ,en effet1 les ,anglo-,saxons avaient coutume de dsigner par le nom de ,franais 7,frencan1 ,frencisce men7 tous les habitants de la ,gaule1 sans distinction de province ou d'origine4 ,la ,chronique saxonne1 dans les mille endroits o elle parle des chefs et des soldats de l'arme normande1 les appelle ,franais4 ,ce nom servait en ,angleterre distinguer les conqurants de la population indigne1 non-seulement dans le langage usuel1 mais encore dans celui des acts lgaux4 ,on lit dans les lois de ,guillaume-le-,conqurant1 l'article du meurtre1 ces mots3 ,ki ,franceis occist1 et1 dans la version latine de ces lois3 ,si ,francigena interfectus fuerit4 ,l'emploi du mot ,franci au lieu de ,normanni1 ne prouve donc point que la tapisserie de ,bayeux date d'un temps posterieur la conqute4 ,s'il prouve quelque chose1 c'est que la tapisserie a t excute non en ,normandie1 mais en ,angleterre1 et que c'est des ouvriers ou ouvrires de ce dernier pays que le chapitre de ,bayeux a fait sa commande4 8,cette opinion1 que je soumets au jugement des archologues1 est confirme d'ailleurs par l'orthographe de certains mots et par l'emploi de certaines lettres dans les lgendes du monument4 ,on y trouve1 jusque dans le nom du duc ,guilluame et dans celui de la ville de ,bayeux1 des traces de prononciation anglo-saxonne3 ,hic ,wido adduxit ,haroldum ad ,wilgelmum normannorum ducem2 ,willem venit ,bagias2 c'est le g saxon qui figure ici avec sa consonance hi4 ,wilgelm pour ,wilielm1 ,bagias pour ,bayeux4 ,la dipthongue ea1 l'une des particularits de l'orthographe anglo-saxon1 se rencontre dans les lgendes qui offrent le nom du roi ,edward3 ,hic portatur corpus ,,eadwardi4 ,une autre lgende prsente cette indication de lieu1 correctement saxonne3 ,ut foderetur castellum at ,,hestenca ,,castra4 ,enfin le nom de ,gurth 7prononcez ,gheurth71 frre du roi ,harold1 est orthographi avec trois lettres saxonnes2 le g1 ayant le son de gh l'y1 ayant le son d'eu1 et le d barr1 exprimant l'une des deux consonnances que les ,anglais figurent aujourd'hui par th4 8,ainsi1 je crois1 avec la majorit des savants qui ont crit sur la tapisserie de ,bayeux1 que cette tapisserie est contemporaine du grand vnement qu'elle reprsente2 je pense1 avec ,m4 ,bolton ,corney1 qu'elle a t excute sur l'ordre et aux frais du chapitre de ,bayeux2 j'ajoute1 pour ma part de conjectures1 qu'elle fut ouvre en ,angleterre et par des mains anglaises1 d'aprs un plan venu de ,bayeux4 8,agrez1 ,monsieur1 l'assurance de ma considration la plus distingue4 8,,aug4 ,,thierry4 8,le #be juin #ahdc40 ,,note ,c4--,page #be4 ,in the ,northumberland ,pipe ,rolls1#aah we have an interesting trace of ,edgar ,atheling4--,he had been owing the crown #bj marks of silver1 probably for the right to institute some law proceeding4 ,of this sum he paid #aj marks to the ,sheriff of ,northumberland in #aaeg or #aaeh1 and the remainder in the following year4 ,ten years later he paid #b marks to the crown for the right to bring some plea4 ,at this time he must have been about #abj years of age4 ,he came with his father to ,england in #ajeg1 as a child2 supposing him to have been #aj years of age at this period1 he would be of the great age already mentioned at the time the last payment was made4 ,how much longer he lived there is no evidence to show4 ,the exact place of his residence1 at this time1 is not known4 ,edlingham ,castle1 situated about six miles to the south-west of ,alnwick1 has1 upon the supposition that the neighbouring village of ,edlingham takes its name from him 7theling's ham71 been by some considered to be the spot4 ,,note ,d4--,page #hg4 ,the appearances presented on the examination of the remains of ,st4 ,cuthbert in ,durham ,cathedral are in consistency with the opinion that the mitre was not in vogue in ,saxon times4 ,before the body of the saint was put in the shrine in #aajd1 it was inspected4 ,reginald1 who gives us an account of this circumstance1 says1 8,upon the forehead of the holy bishop there is a fillet of gold1 not woven work1 and of gold only externally1 which sparkles with most precious stones of different kinds1 scattered all over its surface40#aai ,in #ahbg1 when the remains were again examined1 ,mr4 ,raine tells us4 8,the scull of the saint was easily moved from its place2 and when this was done1 we observed on the forehead1 and apparently constituting a part of the bone itself1 a distinct tinge of gold of the breadth of an ordinary fillet40 ,it would thus seem that a gilded fillet was the only mitre1 if such it can be called1 which ,st4 ,cuthbert wore4 ,,finis4 ,,newcastle-,,upon-,,tyne3 ,,printed ,,by ,j4 ,g4 ,,forster ,,and ,,co41 ,,clayton ,,street4 ,illustration ,,footnotes3 #a ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 xv4 #b ,ibid4 p4 #c4 #c ,archologia1 vol4 xvii41 p4 #aje4 #d ,ordericus ,vitalis1 bk4 ,,iv41 ch4 ii4 #e ,roscoe's ,life of the ,conqueror1 p4 #ib4 ,see ,note ,a4 at the end of the volume4 #f ,see ,note ,b4 at the end of the volume4 #g ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 xxviii4 #h ,archologia1 vol4 xix41 p4 #ahf4 #i ,strutt thus disposes of a difficulty which may occur to some minds4--8,if any one should say1 by way of objection to this established rule1 that though the illuminator has not given us the customs1 habits1 c41 of those people he designed to picture out1 yet is it not most likely that such dresses as are given should be fictitious1 agreeable rather to his own wild fancy than to the real customs and habits of his own times8 ,to answer their objection1 7and that because the chief materials of the present work are collected from the ancient ,,mss47 the reader must be informed1 that many of these ,,mss4 7especially such as are illuminated7 were done as presents1 or at the command of kings and noblemen1 who are generally represented in the frontispiece in their proper habits receiving the particular ,,ms4 done for them from the author1 and they are generally pictured attended by their court1 or retinue4 ,that these figures should be habited in the true dress of the times will not be doubted2 and then1 as far as the anonymous illuminations which may chance to follow in the ,,ms4 shall agree with those figures in the frontispiece1 so far they may be allowed as authentic2 other ,,mss4 were done for particular abbeys and monasteries1 in the embellishments of which no pains were spared4 ,but a still greater proof of the authenticity of these delineations is1 that on examining all the illuminated ,,mss4 of the same century together1 which1 tho' various1 every one written and ornamented by different hands1 yet on comparing the several delineations with each other1 they will be found to agree in every particular of dress1 customs1 c41 even in the minuti1 which perfect similitude it would have been impossible to have preserved1 had not some sure standard been regularly taken for the whole2 therefore the fancy of the painter will be found to have little share in these valuable delineations4 ,besides1 these pictures constantly agree with the description of the habits and customs of the same period1 collected from the old historians40--,strutt's ,manners1 ,customs1 c41 of the ,inhabitants of ,england1 vol4 i1 p4 #c4 #aj ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #afb4 #aa ,ibid4 p4 #afc4 n4 #ab 8,all have hitherto treated the ,bayeux ,tapestry as a #8,monument of the ,conquest of ,england1' following therein ,m4 ,lancelot1 and speaking of it as an unfinished work3 whereas it is an apologetical history of the claims of ,william to the crown of ,england1 and of the breach of faith1 and fall of ,harold2 and is a perfect and finished action40--,mr4 ,hudson ,gurney1 ,archologia1 vol4 xvii41 p4 #cfa4 #ac ,the ,abb de la ,rue1 in an elaborate paper in the ,archologia 7vol4 xvii1 p4 #he-aji71 supports the opinion that the ,tapestry was prepared at the command of ,matilda1 daughter of ,henry ,i4 and wife of ,henry ,v4 ,emperor of ,germany4 ,lord ,lyttleton 7,history of ,henry ,,ii41 vol4 i1 p4 #cec7 and ,hume 7,history of ,england1 vol4 i1 note ,f47 entertain similar views4 #ad ,vol4 i41 p4 #cbh1 #hvo4 edition4 #ae ,archologia1 vol4 xvii41 p4 #aje4 #af ,some idea of the labour involved in the work may be learned from the number of figures represented in it4 ,it contains #fbc men1 #bjb horses1 #ee dogs1 #eje animals of various kinds not already enumerated1 #cg buildings1 #da ships and boats1 and #di trees--in all #aeab figures4 #ag ,see ,plate ,,iii4 #ah ,queens of ,england1 vol4 i41 p4 #ff1 edition #ahea4 ,i have been unable to meet with any authority for this statement4 #ai ,in a short visit which ,i made to ,italy in the winter of #ahec-d1 ,i paid some attention to this subject4 ,i have seen a vettorino1 when protesting that his exorbitant charge was a most reasonable one1 throw himself into all the contortions exhibited in the ,tapestry4 #bj ,lives of the ,queens of ,england1 edition #ahec1 p4 #fe4 n4 #ba ,his words are 8,l'opinion commune ,bayeux est que ce fut la reine ,mathilde1 femme de ,guillaume-le-,conqurant1 qui la fit faire4 ,cette opinion1 qui passe pour une tradition dans le pays1 n'a rien que de fort vraisemblable40--,jubinal's ,tapisserie de ,bayeux1 p4 #a4 #bb ,letters from ,normandy1 vol4 i4 p4 #bda4 #bc ,ducarel1 ,appendix ,i41 p4 #c4 #bd ,william of ,malmesbury's ,english ,chronicle 7,bohn's edition71 p4 #aif4 #be ,see ,note ,c41 at the end of the ,volume4 #bf ,bohn's edition1 p4 #bec4 #bg ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #gf4 #bh ,general ,introduction to ,domesday1 vol4 i41 p4 #cab4 #bi ,ducarel's ,antiquities of ,normandy1 ,appendix1 p4 #d4 #cj ,the first account of the hood is in a book written in ,latin by the ,emperor ,frederic ,,ii4 ,see ,history of ,inventions and ,discoveries by ,john ,beckmann1 translated by ,william ,johnston1 vol4 i4 p4 #ccj4 #ca ,introduction to ,domesday1 vol4 i1 p4 #bie4 #cb ,see ,archologia1 vol4 xxiv4 #cc ,rich's ,companion to the ,latin ,dictionary1 art4 ,adoratio4 #cd ,quoted in ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #aef4 #ce ,see ,sir ,j4 ,gardner ,wilkinson's ,popular ,account of the ,ancient ,egyptians1 vol4 i1 p4 #bce2 and ,bonomi's ,nineveh1 p4 #acf4 #cf ,archologia1 vol4 #bd1 plate ,,lv4 #cg ,illustrations of ,cdmon's ,paraphrase1 ,archologia1 vol4 xxiv41 p4 #cci1 plate ,,lxxv4 ,hudson ,turner's ,domestic ,architecture of ,england1 vol4 i41 p4 #d4 #ch ,pictorial ,history of ,england1 vol4 i4 p4 #fcg4 #ci ,taylor's ,wace1 page #g4 #dj ,this observation1 together with some others which may not in every case require to be specially noted1 has been taken from a clever series of papers on the ,bayeux ,tapestry1 which were published in the ,ladies' ,newspaper for #ahea-b4 #da ,akerman on ,celtic and ,teutonic ,weapons4--,arch41 vol4 xxxiv4 #db ,mr4 ,charles ,stothard in the ,archologia1 vol4 xix1 p4 #ahi4 #dc ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #aa4 #dd ,introduction to ,domesday1 vol4 ii4 p4 #djd4 #de ,the ,song of ,roland1 ,london1 #ahed4 #df ,william of ,malmesbury1 7,bohn's edition7 p4 #bgi4 #dg ,thierry's ,norman ,conquest 7,london1 #ahda71 p4 #da4 #dh ,the following passages from the ,chronicle of ,florence of ,worcester furnish distinct evidence as to the marriage of ,harold with ,algitha3--8,regnavit autem ,haraldus mensibus ,,ix4 et diebus totidem4 ,cujus morte audita1 comites ,eadwinus et ,morcarus1 qui se cum suis certamini subtraxere1 ,lundoniam venere1 et sororem suam ,algitham reginam sumptam ad civitatem ,legionum misere40 8,anno regni ,,xxiii4 rex ,anglorum ,eadwardus decessit4 ,cui ex ipsius concessione comes ,haroldus1 filius ,godwini ,west-,saxonum ducis 444 successit2 qui de regina ,aldgitha1 comitis ,alfgari filia1 habuit filium ,haroldum2 eodemque anno a ,normanorum comite ,willelmo peremptus est in bello40--,monumenta ,historica1 pp4 #fad1 #fdb4 #di ,planche's ,strutt1 vol4 i41 p4 #ad4 #ej ,pict4 ,eng41 vol4 i41 p4 #fcg4 #ea ,thierry's ,history of the ,normans1 p4 #cf4 #eb ,it is often asserted that the house of ,percy derived its name from one of the family having slain ,malcolm1 ,king of ,scotland1 by thrusting the spear into his eye when he came forward to demand the keys of ,alnwick ,castle4 ,that historic name occurs in the ,battle ,abbey ,roll1 and is derived from the cradle of the family1 the hamlet of ,perci1 in ,normandy4 #ec ,the walls of ,tintagel ,castle 8were evidently constructed in a framework of wood2 the square holes which pierce the walls at regular intervals1 from the foundations upwards1 show the places once occupied by bond pieces1 by which the wooden frames were held together40--,notes by ,rev4 ,w4 ,haslam1 in ,report of ,royal ,inst4 ,cornwall1 #ahej4 #ed ,ingulph's ,chronicle 7,bohn71 p4 #ad4 #ee ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #hc4 #ef ,the ,normans seem to have been particularly addicted to the worship of relics4 ,they carried them about their persons1 and had them enclosed in the handles of their swords4 ,in the ,song of ,roland that hero is represented1 when dying1 as addressing his sword thus3--8,ah1 ,saint ,durandal6 in thy golden pommel what precious relics lie hid6 ,a tooth of ,saint ,peter6--,blood of ,saint ,basil6--,hair of ,monseigneur ,saint ,denis6--,vesture of the ,virgin ,mary6 ,and shall a pagan possess thee80 ,being thus at all times provided with relics1 they were never at a loss as to the administration of an oath4 ,in the ,song already referred to we have a case in point3--#8,be it as thou wilt1' answered ,ganelon1 and upon the relics of his sword he swore to the treason and consummated his crime4 #eg ,wace1 p4 #ach4 #eh ,wace1 p4 #bj1 #ba4 #ei ,william of ,malmesbury1 p4 #bdi4 #fj ,malmesbury1 p4 #beb4 #fa ,vol4 i4 p4 #cbb4 #fb 8,having first washed the corpse1 it was clothed in a straight linen garment1 or put into a bag or sack of linen1 and then wrapped closely round from head to foot with a strong cloth wrapper40--,strutt1 vol4 i41 p4 #ff4 #fc ,the custom of carrying the dead in some slight envelope to the sarcophagus which was to be its last resting place1 accounts for the mischance which occurred at the burial of ,william the ,conqueror1 force being required to thrust the body into its too narrow cell4 ,bede tells us 7,ecc4 ,hist4 b4 iv4 c4 xi47 how the stone coffin for ,sebba1 ,king of the ,east ,saxons1 was too small1 and when the attendants were for bending the knees of the corpse a miracle ensued1 and the coffin elongated of itself4 #fd ,wace1 p4 #hi4 #fe ,annals of ,roger de ,hoveden1 vol4 i4 p4 #acj4 #ff ,the paludamentum1 or official dress of a ,roman general1 to which the episcopal pallium is probably to be traced1 was either of a brilliant white1 scarlet1 or purple colour4 #fg ,see note ,d1 at the end of the volume4 #fh ,hinde on ,comets1 p4 #eb4 #fi ,thierry1 p4 #fj4 #gj ,taylor's ,wace4 #ga ,sir ,n4 ,harris ,nicolas' ,hist4 ,royal ,navy1 vol4 i41 p4 #bd4 #gb ,wace1 p4 #abc4 #gc ,vol4 i41 p4 #dfd4 #gd 8,this mode of steering was retained till a comparatively late period4 ,in a bass-relief over the doorway of the leaning tower of ,pisa1 built in the twelfth century1 ships are represented with paddle rudders1 as those in the ,bayeux ,tapestry representing the ,norman ,invasion4 ,they must have been in use till after the middle of the thirteenth century2 for in the contracts to supply ,louis ,,ix4 with ships1 the contractors are bound to furnish them with two rudders4 ,by the middle of the following century we find the hinged rudders on the gold noble of ,edward ,,iii4 ,the change in the mode of steering must1 therefore1 have taken place about the end of the thirteenth1 or early in the fourteenth1 century40--,smith's ,voyage and ,shipwreck of ,st4 ,paul4 #ge ,they are engraved in ,smith's ,collectanea ,antiqua1 vol4 ii41 p4 #bch4 #gf ,wace1 p4 #baj4 #gg ,crit4 ,inquiry into ,ancient ,armour1 vol4 i41 p4 #h4 #gh ,when ,harold1 in #ajfc1 conducted an expedition against the ,welch1 he found the heavy armour of his troops unsuitable to the service on which they were engaged1 and immediately changed it4 ,ingulf says1 8,seeing that the activity of the ,welch1 proved remarkably effective against the more cumbrous movements of the ,english and that1 after making an attack1 they retreated into the woods1 while our soldiers1 being weighed down with their arms1 were unable to follow them1 he ordered all his soldiers to accustom themselves to wear armour made of boiled leather1 and to use lighter arms4 ,upon this the ,welch were greatly alarmed1 and submitted40 #gi ,archologia1 vol4 xxiv41 p4 #bgj4 #hj ,see ,fenwick's ,introduction to the ,slogans of the ,north of ,england1 and the ,notes to the ,introduction4 #ha 8,and all had their cognizances1 so that each might know his fellow1 and ,norman might not strike ,norman1 nor ,frenchman kill his countryman1 by mistake40 ,taylor's ,wace1 p4 #agb4 #hb ,the ,saxons as well as the ,normans paid great attention to the opinions of the ladies1 even upon martial subjects4 ,strutt says1 they 8would not go to battle or undertake any great expedition without consulting their wives1 to whose advice they paid the greatest regard40 ,this excellent antiquary pays more regard to truth than gallantry when in the same sentence he adds1 8,they also superstitiously placed great faith in the neighing of horses40--,manners of the ,english1 vol i41 p4 #ag4 #hc 8,this standard 444 was sumptuously embroidered with gold and precious stones1 in the form of a man fighting40 ,can ,malmesbury have had in view here the description which schylus gives us of the shield of ,polynices8 8,his well-orb'd shield he holds1 ,new-wrought1 and with double impress charged3 ,a warrior blazing all in golden arms1 99 99 99 99 99 ,such their devices40 #hd ,florence of ,worcester distinctly states that it was 8contrary to the custom of the ,english to fight on horseback40--,bohn's ,ed4 p4 #aeg4 #he ,meyrick1 vol4 i41 p4 #bg4 #hf ,akerman1 in the ,archologia1 vol4 xxxiv4 #hg ,a stream which enters the sea a few miles to the east of the river ,orne1 upon which the city of ,caen is situated4 #hh ,roger de ,hoveden1 vol4 i41 #acd4 ,ordericus ,vitalis1 vol4 i41 p4 #dfd4 #hi ,perhaps this is an elipsis for ad litus ,pevens2 more probably1 however1 these irregularities of construction are to be ascribed to the low state of ,latinity at the period4 #ij ,a stroke has probably been over the last ,a in ,hastinga1 so as to make it ,hastingam1 which the construction requires4 ,raperentur seems to have been used as a deponent verb1 contrary to classical usage4 #ia ,this was not the first occasion on which a similar occurrence took place4 ,the following passage bearing upon the subject may interest the reader3--8,thou sayest well ,sancho 7quoth ,don ,quixote71 but ,i must tell thee that times are wont to vary and change their course2 and what are commonly accounted omens by the vulgar1 though not within the scope of reason1 the wise will nevertheless regard as incidents of lucky aspect4 ,your watcher of omens rises betimes1 and going abroad1 meets a ,franciscan friar1 whereupon he hurries back again1 as if a furious dragon had crossed his way4 ,another happens to spill the salt upon the table1 and straightway his soul is overcast with the dread of coming evil3 as if nature had willed that such trivial accidents should give notice of ensuing mischances4 ,the wise man and good christian will not1 however1 pry too curiously into the counsels of heaven4 ,scipio1 on arriving in ,africa1 stumbled as he leapt on shore2 his soldiers took it for an ill omen1 but he1 embracing the ground1 said1 #8,africa1 thou canst not escape me--,i have thee fast4'0--,don ,quixote1 ,part ,,ii4 chap4 lviii4 #ib ,it has been argued from the occurrence of ,,at instead of ,,ad1 and of ,,ceastra for ,,castra1 in these inscriptions1 that the clerk who wrote them was an ,englishman4 ,it must1 however1 be borne in mind that the original ,norman language1 which had a common origin with the ,saxon1 was at the period of the ,conquest spoken in comparative purity at ,bayeux4 ,in other parts of the duchy ,french prevailed4 #ic ,it was my privilege when wandering over the ground rendered memorable by the battle of ,hastings to enjoy the companionship of ,mr4 ,lower1 of ,lewes4 ,to his local knowledge1 his extensive acquaintance with antiquarian science1 and his friendly attention1 ,i am largely indebted4 #id ,lower on the ,battle of ,hastings1 #8,sussex ,arch4 ,col41' vi4 #ah4 #ie ,during the middle ages the ,english were much given to the irreverent use of this great name2 so much so was this the case1 that ,godamites became1 in ,france1 synonymous with ,english4 ,joan of ,arc usually designates her enemies by this term4 #if ,vol4 xix41 p4 #bjf4 ,mr4 ,amyot does not profess to adhere strictly to the text of ,gaimar1 but has introduced into his translation some incidents mentioned by other writers4 #ig ,on accompanying ,mr4 ,lower to the spot1 in ,january1 #ahec1 ,i was satisfied of the correctness of his views4 #ih ,sussex ,archological ,collections1 vol4 vi41 p4 #bg4 #ii ,there has been a discussion respecting the word pueros1 some supposing that the parties thus addressed were young soldiers1 inexperienced recruits4 ,it is probable1 however1 that the word is equivalent to the phrase1 8lads0 among us1 or the word 8boys0 in the lines which carried so much terror to the heart of ,james the ,second1 after he had seen a specimen of the stalwart youth which ,cornwall produces-- 8,and must ,trelawney die1 and must ,trelawney die8 ,then twenty thousand ,cornish boys will ask the reason why40 #ajj ,benoit de ,saint-,more4 ,taylor's ,wace1 #aic4 #aja ,the special correspondent of ,the ,times1 writing from the ,heights of ,alma1 ,sep4 #bast1 #ahed1 says1 8,the attitudes of some of the dead were awful4 ,one man might be seen resting on one knee1 with the arms extended in the form of taking aim1 the brow compressed1 the lips clinched--the very expression of firing at an enemy stamped on the face and fixed there by death2 a ball had struck this man in the neck4 ,physiologists or anatomists must settle the rest4 ,another was lying on his back with the same expression1 and his arms raised in a similar attitude1 the ,mini musket still grasped in his hands undischarged4 ,another lay in a perfect arch1 his head resting on one part of the ground and his feet on the other1 but his back raised high above it4--,the ,times1 ,oct4 #aath1 #ahed4 ,see also ,sir ,charles ,bell's ,anatomy of ,expression1 #crd edition1 p4 #afj4 #ajb ,m4 ,a4 ,lower's ,battle ,abbey ,chronicle1 p4 #g4 #ajc ,ibid4 #ajd ,the ,tapestry represents the death of ,harold as rapidly succeeding the infliction of the wound in his eye4 ,the impression left by a perusal of ,wace is1 that at least an hour or two elapsed between the one event and the other4 ,the diversity of statement between these authorities is probably more apparent than real4 ,after ,harold was wounded in so important an organ as the eye1 it was impossible that he could long withstand the onset of ,william's troops2 his defeat1 or1 in other words1 his death1 was certain4 ,however manfully ,harold may have borne up under the inconvenience and pain of his wound1 the artist of the ,tapestry is logically correct in at once bringing us to the conclusion of the scene4 #aje ,ingulph's ,chronicle1 p4 #aci4 #ajf ,lower's ,chronicle of ,battle ,abbey1 p4 #aa4 #ajg ,sussex ,archological ,collections1 vol4 #a41 page #cc4--;,for some years the public have been admitted to the ,abbey grounds only on one day of the week1 and that the day 7,monday7 most inconvenient to those who reside at a distance from ,battle4 ,let us hope that henceforth no one respectfully requesting permission to muse upon the spot where the deed was done on which the modern history of the world has turned1 will meet with a denial4 #ajh ,history of the ,anglo-,saxons 7,european ,library71 p4 #ccg4 #aji ,lingard's ,hist4 ,eng41 vol4 i41 p4 #cac4 #aaj ,vol4 i41 p4 #dhg4 #aaa ,general ,introduction to ,domesday1 vol4 i4 p4 #caa4 ,in all probability ,william obtained the title of ,conqueror from the ,latin word conquiro1 which in its legal acceptation signified to acquire4 ,it is still used in this sense by the ,scottish lawyers4 #aab ,saxon ,chronicle1 ,bohn's edition1 p4 #dfb4 #aac ,ingulph's ,chronicle1 p4 #adj4 #aad ,henry of ,huntingdon1 vol4 i4 p4 #baf4 #aae ,william of ,malmesbury1 p4 #bgi4 #aaf ,see ,wright's ,biographia ,britannica1 vol4 ii41 p4 #aj4 #aag ,would not the ,united ,states of ,america do well to notice this8 #aah ,hodgson's ,northumberland1 ,vol4 ,,iii41 ,part iii41 pp4 #c1 #aa4 #aai ,raine's ,st4 ,cuthbert1 p4 #hh4