Part 32 (2/2)
[196] Odo's licentiousness was, at a later period, one of the alleged causes of his downfall, or rather against his release from the prison to which he had been consigned. He had a son named John, who distinguished himself under Henry I.--ORD. VITAL. lib. iv.
[197] William of Poitiers, the contemporary Norman chronicler, says of Harold, that he was a man to whom imprisonment was more odious than s.h.i.+pwreck.
[198] In the environs of Bayeux still may perhaps linger the sole remains of the Scandinavian Normans, apart from the gentry. For centuries the inhabitants of Bayeux and its vicinity were a cla.s.s distinct from the Franco-Normans, or the rest of Neustria; they submitted with great reluctance to the ducal authority, and retained their old heathen cry of Thor-aide, instead of Dieu-aide!
[199] Similar was the answer of Goodyn the Bishop of Winchester, amba.s.sador from Henry VIII. to the French King. To this day the English entertain the same notion of forts as Harold and Goodyn.
[200] See Mr. Wright's very interesting article on the ”Condition of the English Peasantry,” etc., Archaeologia, vol. x.x.x. pp. 205-244. I must, however, observe, that one very important fact seems to have been generally overlooked by all inquirers, or, at least, not sufficiently enforced, viz., that it was the Norman's contempt for the general ma.s.s of the subject population which more, perhaps, than any other cause, broke up positive slavery in England. Thus the Norman very soon lost sight of that distinction the Anglo-Saxons had made between the agricultural ceorl and the theowe; i.e., between the serf of the soil and the personal slave. Hence these cla.s.ses became fused in each other, and were gradually emanc.i.p.ated by the same circ.u.mstances. This, be it remarked, could never have taken place under the Anglo-Saxon laws, which kept constantly feeding the cla.s.s of slaves by adding to it convicted felons and their children. The subject population became too necessary to the Norman barons, in their feuds with each other, or their king, to be long oppressed; and, in the time of Froissart, that worthy chronicler ascribes the insolence, or high spirit, of le menu peuple to their grand aise, et abondance de biens.
[201] Twelve o'clock.
[202] Six A.M.
[203] A celebrated antiquary, in his treatise in the ”Archaeologia,” on the authenticity of the Bayeux tapestry, very justly invites attention to the rude attempt of the artist to preserve individuality in his portraits; and especially to the singularly erect bearing of the Duke, by which he is at once recognised wherever he is introduced. Less pains are taken with the portrait of Harold; but even in that a certain elegance of proportion, and length of limb, as well as height of stature, are generally preserved.
[204] Bayeux tapestry.
[205] AIL. de Vit. Edw.--Many other chroniclers mention this legend, of which the stones of Westminster Abbey itself prated, in the statues of Edward and the Pilgrim, placed over the arch in Dean's Yard.
[206] This ancient Saxon lay, apparently of the date of the tenth or eleventh century, may be found, admirably translated by Mr. George Stephens, in the Archaeologia, vol. x.x.x. p. 259. In the text the poem is much abridged, reduced into rhythm, and in some stanzas wholly altered from the original. But it is, nevertheless, greatly indebted to Mr. Stephens's translation, from which several lines are borrowed verbatim. The more careful reader will note the great aid given to a rhymeless metre by alliteration. I am not sure that this old Saxon mode of verse might not be profitably restored to our national muse.
[207] People.
[208] Heaven.
[209] Omen.
[210] The Eastern word Satraps (Satrapes) made one of the ordinary and most inappropriate t.i.tles (borrowed, no doubt, from the Byzantine Court), by which the Saxons, in their Latinity, honoured their simple n.o.bles.
[211] Afterwards married to Malcolm of Scotland, through whom, by the female line, the present royal dynasty of England a.s.sumes descent from the Anglo-Saxon kings.
[212] By his first wife; Aldyth was his second.
[213] Flor. Wig.
[214] This truth has been overlooked by writers, who have maintained the Atheling's right as if incontestable. ”An opinion prevailed,” says Palgrave, ”Eng. Commonwealth,” pp. 559, 560, ”that if the Atheling was born before his father and mother were ordained to the royal dignity, the crown did not descend to the child of uncrowned ancestors. ”Our great legal historian quotes Eadmer, ”De Vit. Sanct. Dunstan,” p. 220, for the objection made to the succession of Edward the Martyr, on this score.
[215] See the judicious remarks of Henry, ”Hist. of Britain,” on this head. From the lavish abuse of oaths, perjury had come to be reckoned one of the national vices of the Saxon.
[216] And so, from Gryffyth, beheaded by his subjects, descended Charles Stuart.
[217] Brompt. Chron.
[218] See Note P.
[219] It seems by the coronation service of Ethelred II. still extant, that two bishops officiated in the crowning of the King; and hence, perhaps, the discrepancy in the chronicles, some contending that Harold was crowned by Alred, others, by Stigand. It is noticeable, however, that it is the apologists of the Normans who a.s.sign that office to Stigand, who was in disgrace with the Pope, and deemed no lawful bishop. Thus in the Bayeux tapestry the label, ”Stigand,” is significantly affixed to the officiating prelate, as if to convey insinuation that Harold was not lawfully crowned. Florence, by far the best authority, says distinctly, that Harold was crowned by Alred. The ceremonial of the coronation described in the text, is for the most part given on the authority of the ”Cotton MS.” quoted by Sharon Turner, vol. iii. p. 151.
[220] Introduced into our churches in the ninth century.
[221] The Wyn-month: October.
[222] ”Snorro Sturleson.” Laing.
[223] The Vaeringers, or Varangi, mostly Northmen; this redoubtable force, the Janissaries of the Byzantine empire, afforded brilliant field, both of fortune and war, to the discontented spirits, or outlawed heroes of the North. It was joined afterwards by many of the bravest and best born of the Saxon n.o.bles, refusing to dwell under the yoke of the Norman. Scott, in ”Count Robert of Paris,” which, if not one of his best romances, is yet full of truth and beauty, has described this renowned band with much poetical vigor and historical fidelity.
[224] Laing's Snorro Sturleson.--”The old Norwegian ell was less than the present ell; and Thorlasius reckons, in a note on this chapter, that Harold's stature would be about four Danish ells; viz. about eight feet.”--Laing's note to the text. Allowing for the exaggeration of the chronicler, it seems probable, at least, that Hardrada exceeded seven feet. Since (as Laing remarks in the same note), and as we shall see hereafter, ”our English Harold offered him, according to both English and Danish authority, seven feet of land for a grave, or as much more as his stature, exceeding that of other men, might require.”
[225] Snorro Sturleson. See Note Q.
[226] Snorro Sturleson.
[227] Hoveden.
[228] Holinshed. Nearly all chroniclers (even, with scarce an exception, those most favouring the Normans), concur in the abilities and merits of Harold as a king.
[229] ”Vit. Harold. Chron. Ang. Norm.” ii, 243.
[230] Hoveden.
[231] Malmesbury.
[232] Supposed to be our first port for s.h.i.+pbuilding.--FOSBROOKE, p. 320.
[233] Pax.
[234] Some of the Norman chroniclers state that Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been expelled from England at G.o.dwin's return, was Lanfranc's companion in this mission; but more trustworthy authorities a.s.sure us that Robert had been dead some years before, not long surviving his return into Normandy.
[235] Saxon Chronicle.
[236] Saxon Chronicle.--”When it was the nativity of St. Mary, then were the men's provisions gone, and no man could any longer keep them there.”
[237] It is curious to notice how England was represented as a country almost heathen; its conquest was regarded quite as a pious, benevolent act of charity--a sort of mission for converting the savages. And all this while England was under the most slavish ecclesiastical domination, and the priesthood possessed a third of its land! But the heart of England never forgave that league of the Pope with the Conqueror; and the seeds of the Reformed Religion were trampled deep into the Saxon soil by the feet of the invading Norman.
[238] WILLIAM OF POITIERS.--The naive sagacity of this bandit argument, and the Norman's contempt for Harold's deficiency in ”strength of mind,” are exquisite ill.u.s.trations of character.
[239] Snorro Sturleson.
[240] Does any Scandinavian scholar know why the trough was so a.s.sociated with the images of Scandinavian witchcraft? A witch was known, when seen behind, by a kind of trough-like shape; there must be some symbol, of very ancient mythology, in this superst.i.tion!
[241] Snorro Sturleson.
[242] Snorro Sturleson.
[243] So Thierry translates the word: others, the Land-ravager. In Danish, the word is Land-ode, in Icelandic, Land-eydo.--Note to Thierry's ”Hist. of the Conq. of England,” book iii. vol. vi. p. 169 (of Hazlitt's translation).
[244] Snorro Sturleson.
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