The Emperor, on the other hand,
remembering
the
rights of those sovereigns whose title he bore, and
how lately the power which insulted him with such
demands had arisen from the bounty of his predecessors, claimed the same privileges in the election of a Pope.
rights of those sovereigns whose title he bore, and
how lately the power which insulted him with such
demands had arisen from the bounty of his predecessors, claimed the same privileges in the election of a Pope.
Edmund Burke
2, cap.
10.
Leges Hen.
I.
cap.
8.
? ? ? ? 320 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
were supposed to have a personal knowledge of the
man and the fact. They were rather a sort of evidence than judges: and from hence is derived that
singularity in our laws, that most of our judgments
are given upon verdict, and not upon evidence, contrary to the laws of most other countries. Neither
are our juries bound, except by one particular statute, and in particular cases, to observe any positive
testimony, but are at liberty to judge upon presumptions. These are the first rude chalkings-out of
our jurisprudence. The Saxons were extremely imperfect in their ideas of law, -- the civil institutions
of the Romans, who were the legislators of mankind,
having never reached them. The order of our courts,
the discipline of our jury, by which it is become so
elaborate a contrivance, and the introduction of a
sort of scientific reason in the law, have been the
work of ages.
As the Saxon laws did not suffer any transaction,
whether of the sale of land or goods, to pass but in
the shire and before witnesses, so all controversies
of them were concluded by what they called the scyre
witness. * This was tried by the oaths of the parties,
by vivd voce testimony, and the producing of charters
and records. Then the people, laity and clergy,
whether by plurality of votes or by what other means
is not very certain, affirmed the testimony in favor of one of the claimants. Then the proceeding
was signed, first by those who held the court, and
then by the persons who affirmed the judgment, who
also swore to it in the same manner. t
* Si quis terram defenderit testimonio provinciae, &c. - Leges Cnuti, 76: And sethe land gewerod hebbe be scyre gewitnesse. t See, in Madox, the case in Bishop of Bathes Court. See also
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 321
The Saxons were extremely moderate Prnishin their punishments. Murder and treason ment
were compounded, and a fine set for every offence.
Forfeiture for felony was incurred only by those that
fled. The punishment with death was very rare,with torture unknown. In all ancient nations, the
punishment of crimes was in the family injured by
them, particularly in case of murder. * This brought
deadly feuds amongst the people, which, in the German nations particularly, subsisted through several
generations. But as a fruitless revenge could answer
little purpose to the parties injured and was ruinous
to the public peace, by the interposal of good offices
they were prevailed upon to accept some composition
in lieu of the blood of the aggressor, and peace was'
restored. The Saxon government did little more
than act the part of arbitrator between the contending parties, exacted the payment of this composition,
and reduced it to a certainty. However, the king,
as the sovereign of all, and the sheriff, as the judicial
officer, had their share in those fines. This unwillingness to shed blood, which the Saxon customs
gave rise to, the Christian religion confirmed. Yet
was it not altogether so imperfect as to have no
punishment adequate to those great delinquencies
Brady, 272, where the witnesses on one side offer to swear, or join
battle with the other.
* Parentibus occisi fiat emendatio, vel guerra eorum portetur;
unde Anglicb proverbium habetur, Bige spere of side, oththe beer:
id est, Eme lanceam a latere, aut fer. -Leges Ed. 12.
The fines on the town or hundred.
Parentes murdrati sex marcas haberent, rex quadraginta. [This
different from the ancient usage, where the king had half. ] Si parentes deessent, dominus ejus reciperet. Si dominum non haberet, felagus ejus, id est, fide cum eo ligatus. -Leges Ed. 15. VOL. VII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which tend entirely to overturn a state, public robbery, murder of the lord. *
Originof suc- As amongst'the Anglo-Saxons government
cession. depended in some measure upon land-property, it will not be amiss to say something upon their manner of holding and inheriting their lands. It
must not be forgot that the Germans were of Scythian original, and had preserved that way of life and those peculiar manners which distinguished the parent nation. As the Scythians lived principally by pasturage and hunting, from the nature of that way
of employment they were continually changing their
habitations. But even in this case some small degree
of agriculture was carried on, and therefore some sort
of division of property became necessary. This division was made among each tribe by its proper chief. Annual But their shares were allotted to the sevproperty. eral. individuals only for a year, lest they should come to attach themselves to any certain habitation: a settlement being wholly contrary to the genius of the Scythlian manners.
Campestres melius Scytha3,
Quorum plaustra vagas rite trahunt domos,
Vivunt, et rigidi Getae,
Immetata quibus jugera liberas
Fruges et Cererbm ferunt,
Nec cultura placet longior annuq.
* Purveyance. Vide Leges Cnuti, 67.
Si quis intestatus ex hac vita decedat, sive sit per negligentiam
ejus, sive per mortem subitaneam, tune non assumat sibi dominus
plus possessionis (mehta) ipsius quam justum armamentum; sed post
mortem possessio (vehtgescyft) ejus quam justissime distribuatur
uxori et liberis, et propinquis cognatis, cuilibet pro dignitate quee ad
cum pertinet. - Leges Cnuti, 68.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 323
This custom of an annual property probably continued amongst the Germans as long as they remained in their own country; but when their conquests carried them into other parts, another object besides the possession of the land arose, which obliged them to
make a change in this particular. In the distribution of the conquered lands, the ancient possessors
of them became an object of consideration, and the
management of these became one of the principal
branches of their polity. It was expedient towards
holding them in perfect subjection, that they should
be habituated to obey one person, and that a kind
of cliental relation should be created between them;
therefore the land, with the slaves, and the people in
a state next to slavery, annexed to it, was Estatesfor
bestowed for life in the general distribution. life.
When life-estates were once granted, it seemed a natural consequence that inheritances should Inheritance.
immediately supervene. When a durable
connection is created between a certain man and a
certain portion of land by a possession for his whole
life, and when his children have grown up and have
been supported on that land, it seems so great an
hardship to separate them, and to deprive thereby
the family of all means of subsisting, that nothing
could be more generally desired nor more reasonably
allowed than an inheritance; and this reasonableness
was strongly enforced by the great change wrought
in their affairs when life-estates were granted. Whilst
according to the ancient custom lands were only
given. for a year, there was a rotation so quick that
every family came in its turn to be easily provided for,
and had not long to wait; but the children of a tenant for life, when they lost the benefit of their father's
? ? ? ? 324 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
possession, saw themselves as it were immured upon
every side by the life-estates, andperceived no reasonable hope of a provision from any new arrangement. These inheritances began very early in England. By a law of King Alfred it appears that they were then of;a very ancient establishment: and as
such inheritances were intended for great stability,
Book-land they fortified them by charters; and therefore they were called Book-land. This was
done with regard to the possession of the better sort:
the meaner, who were called ceorles, if they did not
live in a dependence on some thane, held their small
portions of land as an inheritance likewise, - not by
olk-land. charter, but by a sort: of prescription. This
was called Folk-landI These estates of inheritance, both the greater and the meaner, were
not fiefs; they were to all purposes allodial, and
had hardly a single property of a feud; they descended equally to all the children, males and females, according to the custom of gavelkind, a custom absolutely contrary to the genius of the feudal tenure; and whenever estates were granted in the
later Saxon times by the bounty of the crown with
an intent that they should be inheritable, so far were
they from being granted with the complicated load
of all the feudal services annexed, that in all the
charters of that kind which subsist they are bestowed with a full power of alienation, et liberi ab
omni seculari gravamine. This was the general condition of those inheritances which were derived from
the right of original conquest, as well to all the soldiers as to the leader; and these estates, as it is said,
were not even forfeitable, no, not for felony, as if that
were in some sort the necessary consequence of an
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF -ENGLISH HISTORY. 325
inheritable estate. So far were they from resembling
a fief. But there were other possessions Saxonfiefs.
which bore a nearer- resemblance to fiefs,
at least in-their first feeble and infantile state of
the tenure, thai those inheritances. which were held
by an absolute right in the proprietor. The great
officers who attended the court, commanded. armies,
or distributed justice must necessarily be paid and
supported; but in what manner could they be paid?
In money they could not, because there was very
little money then in Europe, and scarce any part of
that little came into the prince's coffers. The only
method of paying them was by. :allotting lands for
their subsistence whilst they remained in. his service. For this reason, in the original distribution,
vast tracts of land were left in the hands of the king.
If any served the king in a military command, his
land may be said to: have been in some sort held by
knight-service. If the tenant was in an office about
the king's person, this gave rise to sergeantry; the
persons who cultivated his lands may be considered
as holding by socage. -But the long: train of services
that made afterwards the learning of the. tenures were
then not thought of, because these feuds, if we may
so call them, had not then come to be inheritances,which circumstance of inheritance gave rise to the whole feudal system. With the Anglo-Saxons the
feuds continued to the last but a sort of pay or salary
of office. The trinoda necessitas, so much spoken of,
which was to attend the king in his expeditions, and
to contribute to the building of bridges and repair of
highways, never'bound the lands by way of tenure,
but as a political regulation, which equally affected
every class and condition of men and every species
of possession.
? ? ? ? 826 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
The manner of succeeding to lands in
Gavelkind.
England at this period was, as we have observed, by Gavelki'nd,- an equal distribution amongst
the children, males and females. The ancient Northern nations had but an imperfect notion of political power. That the possessor of the land should be the
governor of it was a simple idea; and their schemes
extended but little further. It was not so in the
Greek and Italian commonwealths. In those the
property of the land was in all respects similar to
that of goods, and had nothing of jurisdiction annexed to it; the government there was a merely political institution. Amongst such a people the
custom of distribution could be of no ill consequence, because it only affected property. But gavelkind amongst the Saxons was very prejudicial; for, as government was annexed to a certain possession
in land, this possession, which was continually changing, kept the government in a very fluctuating state:
so that their civil polity had in it an essential evil,
which contributed to the sickly condition in which the Anglo-Saxon state always remained, as well as to its final dissolution.
? ? ? ? BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
VIEW OF THE STATE OF EUROPE AT THE TIME OF THE
NORMAN INVASION.
BEFORE the period of which we are going to
treat, England was little known or considered
in Europe. Their situation, their domestic calamities, and their ignorance circumscribed the views and politics of the English within the bounds of their own
island. But. the Norman conqueror threw down all
these barriers. The English laws, manners, and maxims were suddenly changed; the scene was enlarged; and the communication with the rest of Europe,
being thus opened, has been preserved ever since in
a continued series of wars and negotiations. That
we may, therefore, enter more fully into the matters
which- lie before us, it is necessary that we understand the state of the neighboring continent at the time when this island first came to be interested in
its affairs.
The Northern nations who had overran the Roman
Empire were at first rather actuated by avarice than
ambition, and were more intent upon plunder than
conquest; they were carried beyond their original
purposes, when they began to form regular governments, for which they had been prepared by no just ideas of legislation. For a long time, therefore, there
was little of order in their affairs or foresight in
? ? ? ? 328 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
their designs. The Goths, the Burgundian s, the
Franks, the Vandals, the Suevi, after they had prevailed over the Roman Empire, by turns prevailed
over each other in continual wars, which were carried on upon no principles of a determinate policy,
entered into upon motives of brutality and caprice,
and ended as fortune and rude violence chanced to
prevail. Tumult, anarchy, confusion, overspread the
face of Europe; and an obscurity rests upon the
transactions of that time which suffers us to discover
nothing but its extreme barbarity.
Before this cloud could be dispersed, the Saracens,
another body of barbarians. from the South, animated
by a fury not unlike that which gave strength to the
Northern irruptions, but heig4htened by enthusiasm,
and regulated by subordination and an uniform policy, began to carry their arms, their manners, and religion into every part of the universe. Spain was entirely overwhelmed by the torrent of their armies,
Italy and the islands were harassed by their fleets,
and all Europe alarmed by their vigorous and frequent enterprises. Italy, who had so long sat the
mistress of the world, was by turns the slave of
all nations. The possession of that fine country was
hotly disputed between the Greek Emperor and the
Lombards, and it suffered infinitely by that contention. Germany, the parent of so many nations, was
exhausted by the swarms she had sent abroad.
However, in the midst of this chaos there were
principles at work which reduced things to a certain
form, and gradually unfolded a system in which the
chief movers and main springs were the Papal and
the Imperial powers, - the aggrandizement or diminution of which have been the drift of almost all the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 329
politics, intrigues, and wars which have employed and
distracted Europe to this day.
From Rome the whole Western world had received
its Christianity; she was the asylum of what learning had escaped the general desolation; and even in her ruins she preserved something of the majesty of her ancient greatness. On these accounts she had a respect and a. weight which increased every
day amongst a simple religious people, who looked
but a little way into the consequences of their actions. The rudeness of the world was very favorable for the establishment of an empire of opinion. The
moderation with which the Popes at first exerted
this empire made its growth unfelt until it could no
longer be opposed; and the policy of later Popes,
building on the piety of the first, continually increased it: and they made use of every instrument
but that of force. They employed equally the virtues and the crimes of the great; they favored the lust of kings for absolute authority, and the desire of
subjects for liberty; they provoked war, and mediated peace; and took advantage of every turn in the minds of men, whether of a public or private nature,
to extend their influence, and push their power from
ecclesiastical to civil, from subjection to independency, from independency to empire.
France had many advantages over the other parts
of Europe. The Saracens. had no permanent success
in that country. The same hand which expelled
those invaders deposed the last of a race of heavy
and degenerate princes, more like Eastern monarchs
than German leaders, and who had neither the force
to repel the enemies of their kingdom nor:to assert
their own sovereignty. This usurpation placed on
? ? ? ? 330 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the throne princes of another character, princes who
were obliged to supply their want of title by the vigor of their administration. The French monarch had need of some great and respected authority to throw
a veil over his usurpation, and to sanctify his newly acquired power by those names and appearances which are necessary to make it respectable to the
people. On the other hand, the Pope, who hated the
Grecian Empire, and equally feared the success of
the Lombards, saw with joy this new star arise in the
North, and gave it the sanction of his authority.
Presently after he called it to his assistance. Pepin
passed the Alps, relieved the Pope, and invested him
with the dominion of a large country in the best part
of Italy.
Charlemagne pursued the course which was
marked out for him, and put an end to the Lombard kingdom, weakened by the policy of his father
and the enmity of the Popes, who never willingly saw
a strong power in Italy. Then he received from the
hand of the Pope the Imperial crown, sanctified by
the authority of the Holy See, and with it the title
of Emperor of the Romans, a name venerable from
the fame of the old Empire, and which was supposed to carry great and unknown prerogatives;
and thus the Empire rose again out of its ruins in
the West, and, what is remarkable, by means of one
of those nations which had helped to destroy it. If
we take in the conquests of Charlemagne, it was also
very near as extensive as formerly; though its constitution was altogether different, as being entirely on the Northern model of government. From Charlemagne the Pope received in return an enlargement
and a confirmation of his new territory. Thus the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 331
Papal and Imperial powers mutually gave birth to
each other. They continued for some ages, and in
some measure still continue, closely connected, with
a variety of pretensions upon each other, and on the
rest of Europe.
Though the Imperial power had its origin in
France, it was soon divided into two branches, the
Gallic and the German. The latter alone supported
the title of Empire; but the power being weakened
by this division, the Papal pretensions had the greater
weight. The Pope, because he first revived the Imperial dignity, claimed a right of disposing of it, or at least of giving validity to the election of the Emperor.
The Emperor, on the other hand, remembering the
rights of those sovereigns whose title he bore, and
how lately the power which insulted him with such
demands had arisen from the bounty of his predecessors, claimed the same privileges in the election of a Pope. The claims of both were somewhat plausible;
and they were supported, the one by force of arms,
and the other by ecclesiastical influence, powers
which in those days were very nearly balanced.
Italy was the theatre upon which this prize was disputed. In every city the parties in favor of each of
the opponents were not far from an equality in. their
niumbers and strength. Whilst these parties disagreed in the choice of a master, by contending for
a choice in their subjection they grew imperceptibly
into freedom, and passed through the medium of
faction and anarchy into regular commonwealths.
Thus arose the republics of Venice, of Genoa, of
Florence, Sienna, and Pisa, and several others.
These cities, established in this freedom, turned the
frugal and ingenious spirit contracted in such commu
? ? ? ? 332 ABRIDGMENT'OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
nities to navigation and traffic; and pursuing them
with skill and vigor, whilst commerce was neglected and despised by the rustic gentry of the martial
governments, they grew to a considerable degree of
wealth, power, and civility.
The Danes, who in this latter time preserved the
spirit and the numbers of the ancient Gothic people,
had seated themselves in England, in the Low Countries, and in. Normandy. They passed from thence to
the southern part of Europe, and in this romantic age
gave rise in Sicily and Naples to a new kingdom and
a new line of. princes.
All the kingdoms on the continent of Europe were
governed nearly in the same. form; from whence
arose a great similitude in the manners of their inhabitants. The feodal discipline extended itself everywhere, and influenced the conduct of the courts and the manners of the people- with its own irregular
martial:spirit. . Subjects, under the complicated laws
of a various and rigorous servitude, exercised all the
prerogatives. of sovereign. power. They distributed
justice, they made war and peace at pleasure. The
sovereign, with great pretensions, had but little power; he: was only a greater lord among great lords,
who profited of the differences of his peers; therefore no steady plan could be well pursued, either in
war or. peace. This day a prince seemed irresistible
at the head of his numerous vassals, because their
duty obliged them to war, and they performed this
duty with pleasure. The next day saw this formidable power vanish like a dream, because this fierce
undisciplined people had no patience, and the time of
the feudal service was contained within very narrow
limits. , It. was therefore easy to. find a number of
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 333
persons at all times ready to follow any standard, but
it was hard to complete a considerable design which
required a regular and continued movement. This
enterprising disposition in the gentry was very general, because they had little occupation or pleasure
but in war, and the greatest rewards did then attend
personal valor and prowess. All that professed arms
became in some sort on an equality. A knight was
the peer of a king, and men had been used to see the
bravery of private persons opening a road to that dignity. The temerity of adventurers was much justified by the ill order of every state, which left it a prey to
almost any who should attack it with sufficient vigor.
Thus, little checked by any superior power, full of
fire, impetuosity, and ignorance, they longed to signalize themselves, wherever an honorable danger called them; and wherever that invited, they did not weigh
very deliberately the probability of success.
The knowledge of this general disposition in the
minds of men will naturally remove a great deal of
our wonder at seeing an attempt founded on such
slender appearances of -right, and supported by a
power so little proportioned to the undertaking as
that of William, so warmly embraced, and so generally followed, not only by his own subjects, but by
all the neighboring potentates. The Counts of Anjou, Bretagne, Ponthieu, Boulogne, and Poictou,
sovereign princes, - adventurers from every quarter
of France, the Netherlands, and the remotest parts
of Germany, laying aside their jealousies and enmities -to one another, as well as to William, ran with
an inconceivable ardor into this enterprise, captivated
with the splendor of the object, which obliterated all
thoughts of the uncertainty of the event. William
? ? ? ? 334 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
kept up this fervor by promises of large territories to
all his allies and associates in the country to be reduced by their united efforts. But after all it became
equally necessary to reconcile to his enterprise the
three great powers of whom we have just spoken,
whose disposition must have had the most influence
on his affairs.
His feudal lord, the King of France, was bound by
his most obvious interests to oppose the further aggrandizement of one already too potent for a vassal. But the King of France was then a minor; and
Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, whose daughter William
had married, was regent of the kingdom. This circumstance rendered the remonstrance of the French
Council against his design of no effect: indeed, the
opposition of the Council itself was faint; the idea of
having a king under vassalage to their crown might
have dazzled the more superficial courtiers; whilst
those who thought more deeply were unwilling to discourage an enterprise which they believed would probably end in the ruin of the undertaker. The Emperor was in his minority, as well as the King of France;
but by what arts the Duke prevailed upon the Imperial Council to declare in his favor, whether or no by
an idea of creating a balance to the power of France,
if we can imagine that any such idea then subsisted,
is altogether uncertain; but it is certain that he obtained leave for the vassals of the Empire to engage
in his service, and that he made use of this permission. The Pope's consent was obtained with still
less difficulty. William had shown himself in many
instances a friend to the Church and a favorer of the
clergy. On this occasion he promised to improve
those happy beginnings in proportion to the means
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 335
he should acquire by the favor of the Holy See. It
is said that he even proposed to hold his new kingdom as a fief from Rome. The Pope, therefore, entered heartily into his interests; he excommunicated all those that should oppose his enterprise, and sent
him, as a means of insuring success, a consecrated
banner.
CHAPTER II.
REIGN OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
AFTER the Battle of Hastings, the taking I. . lo166.
of Dover, the surrender of London, and the
submission of the principal nobility, William had
nothing left but to order in the best manner the
kingdom he had so happily acquired. Soon after his
coronation, fearing the sudden and ungoverned motions of so great a city, new to subjection, he left
London until a strong citadel could be raised to overawe the people. This was built where the Tower of
London now stands. Not content with this, he built
three other strong castles in situations as advantageously chosen, at Norwich, at Winchester, and at
Hereford, securing not only the heart of affairs, but
binding down the extreme parts of the kingdom.
And as he observed from his own experience the
want of fortresses in England, he resolved fully to
supply that defect, and guard the kingdom both
against internal and foreign enemies. But he fortified his throne yet more strongly by the policy of
good government. To London he confirmed by
charter the liberties it had enjoyed under the Saxon
kings, and endeavored to fix the affections of the Eng
? ? ? ? 336 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
lish in general by governing them with equity according to their ancient laws, and by treating them on all
occasions with the most engaging deportment. He
set up no pretences which arose from absolute conquest. He confirmed their estates to all those who
had not appeared in arms against him, and seemed
not to aim at subjecting the English to the Normans,
but to unite the two nations under the wings of a
common parental care. If the Normans received estates and held lucrative offices and were raised by
wealthy matches in England, some of the English
were enriched with lands and dignities and taken
into considerable families in Normandy. But the
king's principal regards were showed to those by
whose bravery he had attained his greatness. To
some he bestowed the forfeited estates, which were
many and great, of Harold's adherents; others he
satisfied from the treasures his rival had amassed;
and the rest, quartered upon wealthy monasteries,
relied patiently on the promises of one whose performances had hitherto gone hand in hand with his
power. There was another circumstance which conduced much to the maintaining, as well as to the
making, his conquest. The posterity of the Danes,
who had finally reduced England under Canute the
Great, were still very numerous in that kingdom, and
in general not well liked by nor well affected to the
old Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. William wisely took
advantage of this enmity between the two sorts of iiihabitants, and the alliance of blood which was between them and his subjects. In the body of laws which he published he insists strongly on this kindred, and declares that the Normans and Danes
ought to be as sworn brothers against all men: a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 837
policy which probably united these people to him, or
at least so confirmed the ancient jealousy which subsisted between them and the original English as to
hinder any cordial union against his interests.
When the king had thus settled his acquisitions by
all the methods of force and policy, he thought it expedient to visit his patrimonial territory, which, with
regard to its internal state, and the jealousies which
his additional greatness revived in many of the bordering princes, was critically situated. He appointed
to the regency in his absence his brother Odo, an ecclesiastic, whom he had made Bishop of Bayeux, in
France, and Earl of Kent, with great power and preeminence, in England,- a man bold, fierce, ambitious,.
full of craft, imperious, and without faith, but welli
versed in all affairs, vigilant, and courageous. To him
he joined William Fitz-Osbern, his justiciary, a person
of consummate prudence and great integrity. But
not depending on this disposition, to secure his conquest, as well as to display its importance abroad, under a pretence of honor, he carried with him all the chiefs of the English nobility, the popular Earls Edwin and Morcar, and, what was of most importance,
Edgar Atheling,. the last branch of the royal stock of
the Anglo-Saxon kings, and infinitely dear to all the
people.
The king managed his affairs abroad with great
address, and covered all his negotiations for the security of his Norman dominions under the magnificence of continual feasting and unremitted diversion, which, without an appearance of design, displayed
his wealth and power, and by that means facilitated
his measures. But whilst he was thus employed,
his absence from England gave an opportunity to sevVOL. VII. 22
? ? ? ? 338 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
eral humors to break out, which the late change had
bred, but which the amazement likewise produced by
that violent change, and the presence of their conqueror, wise, vigilant, and severe, had hitherto repressed'. The ancient line of their kings displaced,
the only thread on which it hung carried out of the
kingdom and ready to be cut off by the jealousy of a
merciless usurper, their liberties none by being precarious, and the daily insolencies and rapine of the
Normans intolerable, -- these discontents were increased by the tyranny and rapaciousness of the regent, and they were fomented from abroad by Eustace, Count of Boulogne. But the people, though
ready to rise in all parts, were destitute of leaders,
and the insurrections actually made were not carried
on in concert, nor directed to any determinate obA. D. 1607. ject; so that the king, returning speedily,
and exerting himself everywhere with great
vigor, in a short time dissipated these ill-formed projects. However, so general a dislike to William's government had appeared on this occasion, that he became in his turn disgusted with his subjects, and began to change his maxims of rule to a rigor which was more conformable to his advanced age and the
sternness of his natural temper. He resolved, since he
could not gain the affections of his subjects, to find
such matter'for their hatred as might weaken them,
and fortify his own authority against the enterprises
which that hatred might occasion. He revived the
tribute of Danegelt, so odious from its original cause
and that of its revival, which he caused to be strictly
levied throughout the kingdom. He erected castles
at Nottingham, at Warwick, and at York, and filled
them with Norman garrisons. He entered into a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 339
stricter inquisition for the discovery of the estates
forfeited on his coming in; paying no regard to the
privileges of the ecclesiastics, he seized upon the treasures which, as in an inviolable asylum, the unfortunate adherents to Harold had deposited in monasteries. At the same time he entered into a resolution of deposing all the English bishops, on none of whom
he could rely, and filling their places with Normans.
But he mitigated the rigor of these proceedings by
the wise choice he made in filling the places of those
whom he had deposed, and gave by that means these
violent changes the air rather of reformation than
oppression. He began with Stigand, Archbishop of
Canterbury. A synod was called, in which, for the
first time in England, the Pope's legate a latere is
said to have presided. In this council, Stigand, for
simony and for other crimes, of which it is easy to
convict those who are out of favor, was solemnly degraded from his dignity. The king filled his place
with Lanfranc, an Italian. By his whole conduct he
appeared resolved to reduce his subjects of all orders
to the most perfect obedience.
The people, loaded with new taxes, the nobility,
degraded and threatened, the clergy, deprived of
their immunities and influence, joined in one voice
of discontent, and stimulated each other to the most
desperate resolutions. The king was not unapprised
of these motions, nor negligent of them. It is thought
he meditated to free himself from much of his uneasiness by seizing those men on whom'the nation in its
distresses used to cast its eyes for relief. But whilst
he digested these measures, Edgar Atheling, Edwin
and Morcar, Waltheof, the son of Siward, and several others, eluded his vigilance, and escaped into Scot
? ? ? ? 340 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. . . 06. land, where they were received with open
arms by King Malcolm. The Scottish monarch on this occasion married the sister of Edgar;
and this match engaged him more closely to the accomplishment of what his gratitude to the Saxon
kings and the rules. of good policy had before inclined
him. He entered at last into the cause of his brother-in-law and the distressed English. He persuaded
the King of Denmark to enter into the same measures, who agreed to invade England with a fleet of a
thousand ships. Drone. , an Irish king, declared in
their favor, and supplied: the sons of Earl Godwin
with vessels and men, with which they held the English coast in continual alarms.
Whilst the forces of this powerful confederacy
were collecting on all sides, and prepared to enter
England, equal dangers threatened from within the
kingdom. Edric the Forester, a very brave and
popular Saxon, took up arms in the counties of
Hereford and Salop, the country of the ancient Silures, and inhabited by the same warlike and untamable race of men. The Welsh strengthened him with their forces, and Cheshire joined in the re1069 volt. H. ereward le Wake, one of the most'brave. and indefatigable soldiers of his time,
rushed with a numerous band of fugitives and outlaws from the fens of Lincoln and the Isle of Ely,
from. whence, protected by the situation of the place,
he had for some time carried on an irregular war
against the Normans. The sons of Godwin landed
with a strong body in the West; the fire of rebellion
ran through the kingdom; Cornwall, Devon, Dorset,
at once threw off the yoke. Daily skirmishes were
fought in every. part of the kingdom, with various
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 341
success and with great bloodshed. The Normans
retreated to their castles, which the English had
rarely skill or patience to master; out of these they
sallied from time to time, and asserted their dominion. The conquered English for a moment resumed
their spirit; the forests and morasses, with which
this island then abounded, served them for fortifications, and their hatred to the Normans stood in
the place of discipline; each man, exasperated by
his own wrongs, avenged them in his own manner.
Everything was full of blood and violence: murders,
burnings, rapine, and confusion overspread the' whole
kingdom. During these distractions, several of the
Normans quitted the country, and gave up their
possessions, which they thought not worth holding
in continual horror and danger.
In the midst of this scene of disorder, the king
alone was present to himself and to his affairs. He
first collected all the forces on whom he could depend within the kingdom, and called powerful succors from Normandy. Then he sent a strong body to repress the commotions in the West; but he reserved the greatest force and his own presence against
the greatest danger, which menaced from the North.
The Scots had penetrated as far as. Durham; they
had taken the castle, and put the garrison to the
sword. A like fate attended York from the Danes,
who had. entered the Humber with a formidable
fleet. They put this city inito the hands of the English'malcontents, and thereby influenced all the
northern counties in their favor. William,
A. D. 1070.
when he first perceived the gathering of the
storm, endeavored, and with some success, to break
the force of the principal blow by a correspondence at
? ? ? ? 342 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the court of Denmark; and now he entirely blunted
the weapon by corrupting, with a considerable sum,
the Danish general. It was agreed, to gratify that
piratical nation, that they should plunder some part
of the coast, and depart without further disturbance.
By this negotiation the king was enabled to march
with an undissipated force against the Scots and the
principal body of the English. Everything yielded.
The Scots retired into their own country. Some
of the most obnoxious of the English fled along
with them. One desperate party, under the brave
Waltheof, threw themselves into York, and ventured alone to resist his victorious army. Williain
pressed the siege with vigor, and, notwithstanding
the prudeirt dispositions of Waltheof, and the prodigies of valor he displayed in its defence, standing alone in the breach, and maintaining his ground gallantly and successfully, the place was at last reduced by famine. The king left his enemies no time to
recover this disaster; he followed his blow, and drove
all who adhered to Edgar Atheling out of all the
countries northward of the Humber. This tract he
resolved entirely to depopulate, influenced by revenge, and by distrust of the inhabitants, and partly with a view of opposing an hideous desert of sixty
miles in extent as an impregnable barrier against
all attempts of the Scots in favor of his disaffected
subjects. The execution of this barbarous project
was. attended with all the havoc and desolation that
it seemed to threaten. One hundred thousand are
said to have perished by cold, penury, and disease.
The ground lay untilled throughout that whole space
for upwards of nine years. Many of the inhabitants
both of this and all other parts of England fled into
?
? ? ? ? 320 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
were supposed to have a personal knowledge of the
man and the fact. They were rather a sort of evidence than judges: and from hence is derived that
singularity in our laws, that most of our judgments
are given upon verdict, and not upon evidence, contrary to the laws of most other countries. Neither
are our juries bound, except by one particular statute, and in particular cases, to observe any positive
testimony, but are at liberty to judge upon presumptions. These are the first rude chalkings-out of
our jurisprudence. The Saxons were extremely imperfect in their ideas of law, -- the civil institutions
of the Romans, who were the legislators of mankind,
having never reached them. The order of our courts,
the discipline of our jury, by which it is become so
elaborate a contrivance, and the introduction of a
sort of scientific reason in the law, have been the
work of ages.
As the Saxon laws did not suffer any transaction,
whether of the sale of land or goods, to pass but in
the shire and before witnesses, so all controversies
of them were concluded by what they called the scyre
witness. * This was tried by the oaths of the parties,
by vivd voce testimony, and the producing of charters
and records. Then the people, laity and clergy,
whether by plurality of votes or by what other means
is not very certain, affirmed the testimony in favor of one of the claimants. Then the proceeding
was signed, first by those who held the court, and
then by the persons who affirmed the judgment, who
also swore to it in the same manner. t
* Si quis terram defenderit testimonio provinciae, &c. - Leges Cnuti, 76: And sethe land gewerod hebbe be scyre gewitnesse. t See, in Madox, the case in Bishop of Bathes Court. See also
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 321
The Saxons were extremely moderate Prnishin their punishments. Murder and treason ment
were compounded, and a fine set for every offence.
Forfeiture for felony was incurred only by those that
fled. The punishment with death was very rare,with torture unknown. In all ancient nations, the
punishment of crimes was in the family injured by
them, particularly in case of murder. * This brought
deadly feuds amongst the people, which, in the German nations particularly, subsisted through several
generations. But as a fruitless revenge could answer
little purpose to the parties injured and was ruinous
to the public peace, by the interposal of good offices
they were prevailed upon to accept some composition
in lieu of the blood of the aggressor, and peace was'
restored. The Saxon government did little more
than act the part of arbitrator between the contending parties, exacted the payment of this composition,
and reduced it to a certainty. However, the king,
as the sovereign of all, and the sheriff, as the judicial
officer, had their share in those fines. This unwillingness to shed blood, which the Saxon customs
gave rise to, the Christian religion confirmed. Yet
was it not altogether so imperfect as to have no
punishment adequate to those great delinquencies
Brady, 272, where the witnesses on one side offer to swear, or join
battle with the other.
* Parentibus occisi fiat emendatio, vel guerra eorum portetur;
unde Anglicb proverbium habetur, Bige spere of side, oththe beer:
id est, Eme lanceam a latere, aut fer. -Leges Ed. 12.
The fines on the town or hundred.
Parentes murdrati sex marcas haberent, rex quadraginta. [This
different from the ancient usage, where the king had half. ] Si parentes deessent, dominus ejus reciperet. Si dominum non haberet, felagus ejus, id est, fide cum eo ligatus. -Leges Ed. 15. VOL. VII. 21
? ? ? ? 322 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
which tend entirely to overturn a state, public robbery, murder of the lord. *
Originof suc- As amongst'the Anglo-Saxons government
cession. depended in some measure upon land-property, it will not be amiss to say something upon their manner of holding and inheriting their lands. It
must not be forgot that the Germans were of Scythian original, and had preserved that way of life and those peculiar manners which distinguished the parent nation. As the Scythians lived principally by pasturage and hunting, from the nature of that way
of employment they were continually changing their
habitations. But even in this case some small degree
of agriculture was carried on, and therefore some sort
of division of property became necessary. This division was made among each tribe by its proper chief. Annual But their shares were allotted to the sevproperty. eral. individuals only for a year, lest they should come to attach themselves to any certain habitation: a settlement being wholly contrary to the genius of the Scythlian manners.
Campestres melius Scytha3,
Quorum plaustra vagas rite trahunt domos,
Vivunt, et rigidi Getae,
Immetata quibus jugera liberas
Fruges et Cererbm ferunt,
Nec cultura placet longior annuq.
* Purveyance. Vide Leges Cnuti, 67.
Si quis intestatus ex hac vita decedat, sive sit per negligentiam
ejus, sive per mortem subitaneam, tune non assumat sibi dominus
plus possessionis (mehta) ipsius quam justum armamentum; sed post
mortem possessio (vehtgescyft) ejus quam justissime distribuatur
uxori et liberis, et propinquis cognatis, cuilibet pro dignitate quee ad
cum pertinet. - Leges Cnuti, 68.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 323
This custom of an annual property probably continued amongst the Germans as long as they remained in their own country; but when their conquests carried them into other parts, another object besides the possession of the land arose, which obliged them to
make a change in this particular. In the distribution of the conquered lands, the ancient possessors
of them became an object of consideration, and the
management of these became one of the principal
branches of their polity. It was expedient towards
holding them in perfect subjection, that they should
be habituated to obey one person, and that a kind
of cliental relation should be created between them;
therefore the land, with the slaves, and the people in
a state next to slavery, annexed to it, was Estatesfor
bestowed for life in the general distribution. life.
When life-estates were once granted, it seemed a natural consequence that inheritances should Inheritance.
immediately supervene. When a durable
connection is created between a certain man and a
certain portion of land by a possession for his whole
life, and when his children have grown up and have
been supported on that land, it seems so great an
hardship to separate them, and to deprive thereby
the family of all means of subsisting, that nothing
could be more generally desired nor more reasonably
allowed than an inheritance; and this reasonableness
was strongly enforced by the great change wrought
in their affairs when life-estates were granted. Whilst
according to the ancient custom lands were only
given. for a year, there was a rotation so quick that
every family came in its turn to be easily provided for,
and had not long to wait; but the children of a tenant for life, when they lost the benefit of their father's
? ? ? ? 324 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
possession, saw themselves as it were immured upon
every side by the life-estates, andperceived no reasonable hope of a provision from any new arrangement. These inheritances began very early in England. By a law of King Alfred it appears that they were then of;a very ancient establishment: and as
such inheritances were intended for great stability,
Book-land they fortified them by charters; and therefore they were called Book-land. This was
done with regard to the possession of the better sort:
the meaner, who were called ceorles, if they did not
live in a dependence on some thane, held their small
portions of land as an inheritance likewise, - not by
olk-land. charter, but by a sort: of prescription. This
was called Folk-landI These estates of inheritance, both the greater and the meaner, were
not fiefs; they were to all purposes allodial, and
had hardly a single property of a feud; they descended equally to all the children, males and females, according to the custom of gavelkind, a custom absolutely contrary to the genius of the feudal tenure; and whenever estates were granted in the
later Saxon times by the bounty of the crown with
an intent that they should be inheritable, so far were
they from being granted with the complicated load
of all the feudal services annexed, that in all the
charters of that kind which subsist they are bestowed with a full power of alienation, et liberi ab
omni seculari gravamine. This was the general condition of those inheritances which were derived from
the right of original conquest, as well to all the soldiers as to the leader; and these estates, as it is said,
were not even forfeitable, no, not for felony, as if that
were in some sort the necessary consequence of an
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF -ENGLISH HISTORY. 325
inheritable estate. So far were they from resembling
a fief. But there were other possessions Saxonfiefs.
which bore a nearer- resemblance to fiefs,
at least in-their first feeble and infantile state of
the tenure, thai those inheritances. which were held
by an absolute right in the proprietor. The great
officers who attended the court, commanded. armies,
or distributed justice must necessarily be paid and
supported; but in what manner could they be paid?
In money they could not, because there was very
little money then in Europe, and scarce any part of
that little came into the prince's coffers. The only
method of paying them was by. :allotting lands for
their subsistence whilst they remained in. his service. For this reason, in the original distribution,
vast tracts of land were left in the hands of the king.
If any served the king in a military command, his
land may be said to: have been in some sort held by
knight-service. If the tenant was in an office about
the king's person, this gave rise to sergeantry; the
persons who cultivated his lands may be considered
as holding by socage. -But the long: train of services
that made afterwards the learning of the. tenures were
then not thought of, because these feuds, if we may
so call them, had not then come to be inheritances,which circumstance of inheritance gave rise to the whole feudal system. With the Anglo-Saxons the
feuds continued to the last but a sort of pay or salary
of office. The trinoda necessitas, so much spoken of,
which was to attend the king in his expeditions, and
to contribute to the building of bridges and repair of
highways, never'bound the lands by way of tenure,
but as a political regulation, which equally affected
every class and condition of men and every species
of possession.
? ? ? ? 826 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
The manner of succeeding to lands in
Gavelkind.
England at this period was, as we have observed, by Gavelki'nd,- an equal distribution amongst
the children, males and females. The ancient Northern nations had but an imperfect notion of political power. That the possessor of the land should be the
governor of it was a simple idea; and their schemes
extended but little further. It was not so in the
Greek and Italian commonwealths. In those the
property of the land was in all respects similar to
that of goods, and had nothing of jurisdiction annexed to it; the government there was a merely political institution. Amongst such a people the
custom of distribution could be of no ill consequence, because it only affected property. But gavelkind amongst the Saxons was very prejudicial; for, as government was annexed to a certain possession
in land, this possession, which was continually changing, kept the government in a very fluctuating state:
so that their civil polity had in it an essential evil,
which contributed to the sickly condition in which the Anglo-Saxon state always remained, as well as to its final dissolution.
? ? ? ? BOOK III.
CHAPTER I.
VIEW OF THE STATE OF EUROPE AT THE TIME OF THE
NORMAN INVASION.
BEFORE the period of which we are going to
treat, England was little known or considered
in Europe. Their situation, their domestic calamities, and their ignorance circumscribed the views and politics of the English within the bounds of their own
island. But. the Norman conqueror threw down all
these barriers. The English laws, manners, and maxims were suddenly changed; the scene was enlarged; and the communication with the rest of Europe,
being thus opened, has been preserved ever since in
a continued series of wars and negotiations. That
we may, therefore, enter more fully into the matters
which- lie before us, it is necessary that we understand the state of the neighboring continent at the time when this island first came to be interested in
its affairs.
The Northern nations who had overran the Roman
Empire were at first rather actuated by avarice than
ambition, and were more intent upon plunder than
conquest; they were carried beyond their original
purposes, when they began to form regular governments, for which they had been prepared by no just ideas of legislation. For a long time, therefore, there
was little of order in their affairs or foresight in
? ? ? ? 328 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
their designs. The Goths, the Burgundian s, the
Franks, the Vandals, the Suevi, after they had prevailed over the Roman Empire, by turns prevailed
over each other in continual wars, which were carried on upon no principles of a determinate policy,
entered into upon motives of brutality and caprice,
and ended as fortune and rude violence chanced to
prevail. Tumult, anarchy, confusion, overspread the
face of Europe; and an obscurity rests upon the
transactions of that time which suffers us to discover
nothing but its extreme barbarity.
Before this cloud could be dispersed, the Saracens,
another body of barbarians. from the South, animated
by a fury not unlike that which gave strength to the
Northern irruptions, but heig4htened by enthusiasm,
and regulated by subordination and an uniform policy, began to carry their arms, their manners, and religion into every part of the universe. Spain was entirely overwhelmed by the torrent of their armies,
Italy and the islands were harassed by their fleets,
and all Europe alarmed by their vigorous and frequent enterprises. Italy, who had so long sat the
mistress of the world, was by turns the slave of
all nations. The possession of that fine country was
hotly disputed between the Greek Emperor and the
Lombards, and it suffered infinitely by that contention. Germany, the parent of so many nations, was
exhausted by the swarms she had sent abroad.
However, in the midst of this chaos there were
principles at work which reduced things to a certain
form, and gradually unfolded a system in which the
chief movers and main springs were the Papal and
the Imperial powers, - the aggrandizement or diminution of which have been the drift of almost all the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 329
politics, intrigues, and wars which have employed and
distracted Europe to this day.
From Rome the whole Western world had received
its Christianity; she was the asylum of what learning had escaped the general desolation; and even in her ruins she preserved something of the majesty of her ancient greatness. On these accounts she had a respect and a. weight which increased every
day amongst a simple religious people, who looked
but a little way into the consequences of their actions. The rudeness of the world was very favorable for the establishment of an empire of opinion. The
moderation with which the Popes at first exerted
this empire made its growth unfelt until it could no
longer be opposed; and the policy of later Popes,
building on the piety of the first, continually increased it: and they made use of every instrument
but that of force. They employed equally the virtues and the crimes of the great; they favored the lust of kings for absolute authority, and the desire of
subjects for liberty; they provoked war, and mediated peace; and took advantage of every turn in the minds of men, whether of a public or private nature,
to extend their influence, and push their power from
ecclesiastical to civil, from subjection to independency, from independency to empire.
France had many advantages over the other parts
of Europe. The Saracens. had no permanent success
in that country. The same hand which expelled
those invaders deposed the last of a race of heavy
and degenerate princes, more like Eastern monarchs
than German leaders, and who had neither the force
to repel the enemies of their kingdom nor:to assert
their own sovereignty. This usurpation placed on
? ? ? ? 330 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the throne princes of another character, princes who
were obliged to supply their want of title by the vigor of their administration. The French monarch had need of some great and respected authority to throw
a veil over his usurpation, and to sanctify his newly acquired power by those names and appearances which are necessary to make it respectable to the
people. On the other hand, the Pope, who hated the
Grecian Empire, and equally feared the success of
the Lombards, saw with joy this new star arise in the
North, and gave it the sanction of his authority.
Presently after he called it to his assistance. Pepin
passed the Alps, relieved the Pope, and invested him
with the dominion of a large country in the best part
of Italy.
Charlemagne pursued the course which was
marked out for him, and put an end to the Lombard kingdom, weakened by the policy of his father
and the enmity of the Popes, who never willingly saw
a strong power in Italy. Then he received from the
hand of the Pope the Imperial crown, sanctified by
the authority of the Holy See, and with it the title
of Emperor of the Romans, a name venerable from
the fame of the old Empire, and which was supposed to carry great and unknown prerogatives;
and thus the Empire rose again out of its ruins in
the West, and, what is remarkable, by means of one
of those nations which had helped to destroy it. If
we take in the conquests of Charlemagne, it was also
very near as extensive as formerly; though its constitution was altogether different, as being entirely on the Northern model of government. From Charlemagne the Pope received in return an enlargement
and a confirmation of his new territory. Thus the
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 331
Papal and Imperial powers mutually gave birth to
each other. They continued for some ages, and in
some measure still continue, closely connected, with
a variety of pretensions upon each other, and on the
rest of Europe.
Though the Imperial power had its origin in
France, it was soon divided into two branches, the
Gallic and the German. The latter alone supported
the title of Empire; but the power being weakened
by this division, the Papal pretensions had the greater
weight. The Pope, because he first revived the Imperial dignity, claimed a right of disposing of it, or at least of giving validity to the election of the Emperor.
The Emperor, on the other hand, remembering the
rights of those sovereigns whose title he bore, and
how lately the power which insulted him with such
demands had arisen from the bounty of his predecessors, claimed the same privileges in the election of a Pope. The claims of both were somewhat plausible;
and they were supported, the one by force of arms,
and the other by ecclesiastical influence, powers
which in those days were very nearly balanced.
Italy was the theatre upon which this prize was disputed. In every city the parties in favor of each of
the opponents were not far from an equality in. their
niumbers and strength. Whilst these parties disagreed in the choice of a master, by contending for
a choice in their subjection they grew imperceptibly
into freedom, and passed through the medium of
faction and anarchy into regular commonwealths.
Thus arose the republics of Venice, of Genoa, of
Florence, Sienna, and Pisa, and several others.
These cities, established in this freedom, turned the
frugal and ingenious spirit contracted in such commu
? ? ? ? 332 ABRIDGMENT'OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
nities to navigation and traffic; and pursuing them
with skill and vigor, whilst commerce was neglected and despised by the rustic gentry of the martial
governments, they grew to a considerable degree of
wealth, power, and civility.
The Danes, who in this latter time preserved the
spirit and the numbers of the ancient Gothic people,
had seated themselves in England, in the Low Countries, and in. Normandy. They passed from thence to
the southern part of Europe, and in this romantic age
gave rise in Sicily and Naples to a new kingdom and
a new line of. princes.
All the kingdoms on the continent of Europe were
governed nearly in the same. form; from whence
arose a great similitude in the manners of their inhabitants. The feodal discipline extended itself everywhere, and influenced the conduct of the courts and the manners of the people- with its own irregular
martial:spirit. . Subjects, under the complicated laws
of a various and rigorous servitude, exercised all the
prerogatives. of sovereign. power. They distributed
justice, they made war and peace at pleasure. The
sovereign, with great pretensions, had but little power; he: was only a greater lord among great lords,
who profited of the differences of his peers; therefore no steady plan could be well pursued, either in
war or. peace. This day a prince seemed irresistible
at the head of his numerous vassals, because their
duty obliged them to war, and they performed this
duty with pleasure. The next day saw this formidable power vanish like a dream, because this fierce
undisciplined people had no patience, and the time of
the feudal service was contained within very narrow
limits. , It. was therefore easy to. find a number of
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 333
persons at all times ready to follow any standard, but
it was hard to complete a considerable design which
required a regular and continued movement. This
enterprising disposition in the gentry was very general, because they had little occupation or pleasure
but in war, and the greatest rewards did then attend
personal valor and prowess. All that professed arms
became in some sort on an equality. A knight was
the peer of a king, and men had been used to see the
bravery of private persons opening a road to that dignity. The temerity of adventurers was much justified by the ill order of every state, which left it a prey to
almost any who should attack it with sufficient vigor.
Thus, little checked by any superior power, full of
fire, impetuosity, and ignorance, they longed to signalize themselves, wherever an honorable danger called them; and wherever that invited, they did not weigh
very deliberately the probability of success.
The knowledge of this general disposition in the
minds of men will naturally remove a great deal of
our wonder at seeing an attempt founded on such
slender appearances of -right, and supported by a
power so little proportioned to the undertaking as
that of William, so warmly embraced, and so generally followed, not only by his own subjects, but by
all the neighboring potentates. The Counts of Anjou, Bretagne, Ponthieu, Boulogne, and Poictou,
sovereign princes, - adventurers from every quarter
of France, the Netherlands, and the remotest parts
of Germany, laying aside their jealousies and enmities -to one another, as well as to William, ran with
an inconceivable ardor into this enterprise, captivated
with the splendor of the object, which obliterated all
thoughts of the uncertainty of the event. William
? ? ? ? 334 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
kept up this fervor by promises of large territories to
all his allies and associates in the country to be reduced by their united efforts. But after all it became
equally necessary to reconcile to his enterprise the
three great powers of whom we have just spoken,
whose disposition must have had the most influence
on his affairs.
His feudal lord, the King of France, was bound by
his most obvious interests to oppose the further aggrandizement of one already too potent for a vassal. But the King of France was then a minor; and
Baldwin, Earl of Flanders, whose daughter William
had married, was regent of the kingdom. This circumstance rendered the remonstrance of the French
Council against his design of no effect: indeed, the
opposition of the Council itself was faint; the idea of
having a king under vassalage to their crown might
have dazzled the more superficial courtiers; whilst
those who thought more deeply were unwilling to discourage an enterprise which they believed would probably end in the ruin of the undertaker. The Emperor was in his minority, as well as the King of France;
but by what arts the Duke prevailed upon the Imperial Council to declare in his favor, whether or no by
an idea of creating a balance to the power of France,
if we can imagine that any such idea then subsisted,
is altogether uncertain; but it is certain that he obtained leave for the vassals of the Empire to engage
in his service, and that he made use of this permission. The Pope's consent was obtained with still
less difficulty. William had shown himself in many
instances a friend to the Church and a favorer of the
clergy. On this occasion he promised to improve
those happy beginnings in proportion to the means
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 335
he should acquire by the favor of the Holy See. It
is said that he even proposed to hold his new kingdom as a fief from Rome. The Pope, therefore, entered heartily into his interests; he excommunicated all those that should oppose his enterprise, and sent
him, as a means of insuring success, a consecrated
banner.
CHAPTER II.
REIGN OF WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR.
AFTER the Battle of Hastings, the taking I. . lo166.
of Dover, the surrender of London, and the
submission of the principal nobility, William had
nothing left but to order in the best manner the
kingdom he had so happily acquired. Soon after his
coronation, fearing the sudden and ungoverned motions of so great a city, new to subjection, he left
London until a strong citadel could be raised to overawe the people. This was built where the Tower of
London now stands. Not content with this, he built
three other strong castles in situations as advantageously chosen, at Norwich, at Winchester, and at
Hereford, securing not only the heart of affairs, but
binding down the extreme parts of the kingdom.
And as he observed from his own experience the
want of fortresses in England, he resolved fully to
supply that defect, and guard the kingdom both
against internal and foreign enemies. But he fortified his throne yet more strongly by the policy of
good government. To London he confirmed by
charter the liberties it had enjoyed under the Saxon
kings, and endeavored to fix the affections of the Eng
? ? ? ? 336 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
lish in general by governing them with equity according to their ancient laws, and by treating them on all
occasions with the most engaging deportment. He
set up no pretences which arose from absolute conquest. He confirmed their estates to all those who
had not appeared in arms against him, and seemed
not to aim at subjecting the English to the Normans,
but to unite the two nations under the wings of a
common parental care. If the Normans received estates and held lucrative offices and were raised by
wealthy matches in England, some of the English
were enriched with lands and dignities and taken
into considerable families in Normandy. But the
king's principal regards were showed to those by
whose bravery he had attained his greatness. To
some he bestowed the forfeited estates, which were
many and great, of Harold's adherents; others he
satisfied from the treasures his rival had amassed;
and the rest, quartered upon wealthy monasteries,
relied patiently on the promises of one whose performances had hitherto gone hand in hand with his
power. There was another circumstance which conduced much to the maintaining, as well as to the
making, his conquest. The posterity of the Danes,
who had finally reduced England under Canute the
Great, were still very numerous in that kingdom, and
in general not well liked by nor well affected to the
old Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. William wisely took
advantage of this enmity between the two sorts of iiihabitants, and the alliance of blood which was between them and his subjects. In the body of laws which he published he insists strongly on this kindred, and declares that the Normans and Danes
ought to be as sworn brothers against all men: a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 837
policy which probably united these people to him, or
at least so confirmed the ancient jealousy which subsisted between them and the original English as to
hinder any cordial union against his interests.
When the king had thus settled his acquisitions by
all the methods of force and policy, he thought it expedient to visit his patrimonial territory, which, with
regard to its internal state, and the jealousies which
his additional greatness revived in many of the bordering princes, was critically situated. He appointed
to the regency in his absence his brother Odo, an ecclesiastic, whom he had made Bishop of Bayeux, in
France, and Earl of Kent, with great power and preeminence, in England,- a man bold, fierce, ambitious,.
full of craft, imperious, and without faith, but welli
versed in all affairs, vigilant, and courageous. To him
he joined William Fitz-Osbern, his justiciary, a person
of consummate prudence and great integrity. But
not depending on this disposition, to secure his conquest, as well as to display its importance abroad, under a pretence of honor, he carried with him all the chiefs of the English nobility, the popular Earls Edwin and Morcar, and, what was of most importance,
Edgar Atheling,. the last branch of the royal stock of
the Anglo-Saxon kings, and infinitely dear to all the
people.
The king managed his affairs abroad with great
address, and covered all his negotiations for the security of his Norman dominions under the magnificence of continual feasting and unremitted diversion, which, without an appearance of design, displayed
his wealth and power, and by that means facilitated
his measures. But whilst he was thus employed,
his absence from England gave an opportunity to sevVOL. VII. 22
? ? ? ? 338 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
eral humors to break out, which the late change had
bred, but which the amazement likewise produced by
that violent change, and the presence of their conqueror, wise, vigilant, and severe, had hitherto repressed'. The ancient line of their kings displaced,
the only thread on which it hung carried out of the
kingdom and ready to be cut off by the jealousy of a
merciless usurper, their liberties none by being precarious, and the daily insolencies and rapine of the
Normans intolerable, -- these discontents were increased by the tyranny and rapaciousness of the regent, and they were fomented from abroad by Eustace, Count of Boulogne. But the people, though
ready to rise in all parts, were destitute of leaders,
and the insurrections actually made were not carried
on in concert, nor directed to any determinate obA. D. 1607. ject; so that the king, returning speedily,
and exerting himself everywhere with great
vigor, in a short time dissipated these ill-formed projects. However, so general a dislike to William's government had appeared on this occasion, that he became in his turn disgusted with his subjects, and began to change his maxims of rule to a rigor which was more conformable to his advanced age and the
sternness of his natural temper. He resolved, since he
could not gain the affections of his subjects, to find
such matter'for their hatred as might weaken them,
and fortify his own authority against the enterprises
which that hatred might occasion. He revived the
tribute of Danegelt, so odious from its original cause
and that of its revival, which he caused to be strictly
levied throughout the kingdom. He erected castles
at Nottingham, at Warwick, and at York, and filled
them with Norman garrisons. He entered into a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 339
stricter inquisition for the discovery of the estates
forfeited on his coming in; paying no regard to the
privileges of the ecclesiastics, he seized upon the treasures which, as in an inviolable asylum, the unfortunate adherents to Harold had deposited in monasteries. At the same time he entered into a resolution of deposing all the English bishops, on none of whom
he could rely, and filling their places with Normans.
But he mitigated the rigor of these proceedings by
the wise choice he made in filling the places of those
whom he had deposed, and gave by that means these
violent changes the air rather of reformation than
oppression. He began with Stigand, Archbishop of
Canterbury. A synod was called, in which, for the
first time in England, the Pope's legate a latere is
said to have presided. In this council, Stigand, for
simony and for other crimes, of which it is easy to
convict those who are out of favor, was solemnly degraded from his dignity. The king filled his place
with Lanfranc, an Italian. By his whole conduct he
appeared resolved to reduce his subjects of all orders
to the most perfect obedience.
The people, loaded with new taxes, the nobility,
degraded and threatened, the clergy, deprived of
their immunities and influence, joined in one voice
of discontent, and stimulated each other to the most
desperate resolutions. The king was not unapprised
of these motions, nor negligent of them. It is thought
he meditated to free himself from much of his uneasiness by seizing those men on whom'the nation in its
distresses used to cast its eyes for relief. But whilst
he digested these measures, Edgar Atheling, Edwin
and Morcar, Waltheof, the son of Siward, and several others, eluded his vigilance, and escaped into Scot
? ? ? ? 340 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. . . 06. land, where they were received with open
arms by King Malcolm. The Scottish monarch on this occasion married the sister of Edgar;
and this match engaged him more closely to the accomplishment of what his gratitude to the Saxon
kings and the rules. of good policy had before inclined
him. He entered at last into the cause of his brother-in-law and the distressed English. He persuaded
the King of Denmark to enter into the same measures, who agreed to invade England with a fleet of a
thousand ships. Drone. , an Irish king, declared in
their favor, and supplied: the sons of Earl Godwin
with vessels and men, with which they held the English coast in continual alarms.
Whilst the forces of this powerful confederacy
were collecting on all sides, and prepared to enter
England, equal dangers threatened from within the
kingdom. Edric the Forester, a very brave and
popular Saxon, took up arms in the counties of
Hereford and Salop, the country of the ancient Silures, and inhabited by the same warlike and untamable race of men. The Welsh strengthened him with their forces, and Cheshire joined in the re1069 volt. H. ereward le Wake, one of the most'brave. and indefatigable soldiers of his time,
rushed with a numerous band of fugitives and outlaws from the fens of Lincoln and the Isle of Ely,
from. whence, protected by the situation of the place,
he had for some time carried on an irregular war
against the Normans. The sons of Godwin landed
with a strong body in the West; the fire of rebellion
ran through the kingdom; Cornwall, Devon, Dorset,
at once threw off the yoke. Daily skirmishes were
fought in every. part of the kingdom, with various
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 341
success and with great bloodshed. The Normans
retreated to their castles, which the English had
rarely skill or patience to master; out of these they
sallied from time to time, and asserted their dominion. The conquered English for a moment resumed
their spirit; the forests and morasses, with which
this island then abounded, served them for fortifications, and their hatred to the Normans stood in
the place of discipline; each man, exasperated by
his own wrongs, avenged them in his own manner.
Everything was full of blood and violence: murders,
burnings, rapine, and confusion overspread the' whole
kingdom. During these distractions, several of the
Normans quitted the country, and gave up their
possessions, which they thought not worth holding
in continual horror and danger.
In the midst of this scene of disorder, the king
alone was present to himself and to his affairs. He
first collected all the forces on whom he could depend within the kingdom, and called powerful succors from Normandy. Then he sent a strong body to repress the commotions in the West; but he reserved the greatest force and his own presence against
the greatest danger, which menaced from the North.
The Scots had penetrated as far as. Durham; they
had taken the castle, and put the garrison to the
sword. A like fate attended York from the Danes,
who had. entered the Humber with a formidable
fleet. They put this city inito the hands of the English'malcontents, and thereby influenced all the
northern counties in their favor. William,
A. D. 1070.
when he first perceived the gathering of the
storm, endeavored, and with some success, to break
the force of the principal blow by a correspondence at
? ? ? ? 342 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the court of Denmark; and now he entirely blunted
the weapon by corrupting, with a considerable sum,
the Danish general. It was agreed, to gratify that
piratical nation, that they should plunder some part
of the coast, and depart without further disturbance.
By this negotiation the king was enabled to march
with an undissipated force against the Scots and the
principal body of the English. Everything yielded.
The Scots retired into their own country. Some
of the most obnoxious of the English fled along
with them. One desperate party, under the brave
Waltheof, threw themselves into York, and ventured alone to resist his victorious army. Williain
pressed the siege with vigor, and, notwithstanding
the prudeirt dispositions of Waltheof, and the prodigies of valor he displayed in its defence, standing alone in the breach, and maintaining his ground gallantly and successfully, the place was at last reduced by famine. The king left his enemies no time to
recover this disaster; he followed his blow, and drove
all who adhered to Edgar Atheling out of all the
countries northward of the Humber. This tract he
resolved entirely to depopulate, influenced by revenge, and by distrust of the inhabitants, and partly with a view of opposing an hideous desert of sixty
miles in extent as an impregnable barrier against
all attempts of the Scots in favor of his disaffected
subjects. The execution of this barbarous project
was. attended with all the havoc and desolation that
it seemed to threaten. One hundred thousand are
said to have perished by cold, penury, and disease.
The ground lay untilled throughout that whole space
for upwards of nine years. Many of the inhabitants
both of this and all other parts of England fled into
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