The Chronicle of the Norman Conquest Part 19

[Footnote 53: ASNEBEC, near Vire. The estate appears to have belonged to the lords of Beaumont-le-Roger at the period of the conquest. A.L.P.

According to what we believe to be important authority on this point, we should rather find here ANNEBAULT-en-Auge, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Pont-l'Eveque. Its lords were a baronial house, making grants to monasteries in the vicinity.]

[Footnote 54: SAINT-CLAIR, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of St. Lo. See M. de Gerville's _Recherches_. The scite of the castle is still observable.

William de Saint-Clair endowed the abbey of Savigny under Hen. I. In 1139 the priory of Villers-Fossard was founded by one of the same name.

The English Sinclairs are reputed to be of this stock. A.L.P. Ricardus de Sencler or Sent-Cler appears in Domesday, _Introd_. ii. 388.]

[Footnote 55: ROBERT FITZ-ERNEIS, nephew of Raoul Tesson I. mentioned before, at the battle of Val-des-Dunes, as Raol Tesson de Cingueleiz, and cousin of Raol Tesson II. enumerated above among the barons at Hastings. Robert was son of Erneis and Hawise his wife, sister to Fulk d'Aunou. His tall in the battle is mentioned in a charter of his son Robert Fitz-Erneis, containing much information as to the family pedigree, 'eodem vero patre meo in Anglia occiso;' _Gallia Christiana_, xi. Instrum. 334. The family, on that account probably, had formed no establishment in England at Domesday; but we subsequently find King John confiscating lands in Ess.e.x, as 'terra Rob. fil. Hernisii;' see Hardy's _Rot. Norm._ 128. In the Red book, 'Eudo filius Ernisii servitium corporis sui, et ad servitium suum 2 mil. et dim. 6 par. et 8 arg.']

[Footnote 56: ROBERT COMTE DE MORTAIN--comes Moritolii--whom William of Malmsbury describes as 'cra.s.si et hebetis ingenii hominem,'--uterine brother of William. He lead the chivalry of the Cotentin. He is seen in the Bayeux tapestry, seated on one side of the duke, his brother Odo the bishop being on the other. He had the earldom of Cornwall, and the largest allotment of spoil. See M. de Gerville, _Recherches_, No. 105; _Introd. Domesday_, i. 455.]

[Footnote 57: ERRAND DE HARCOURT, according to the historian of the house, a person little known, and of doubtful authenticity. A branch of this ill.u.s.trious family certainly settled in England; but the connection is fict.i.tious, by which some genealogists carry it up to the conquest, making a Gervais, a Jeffry, and an Arnold present at Hastings. According to La Roque, it was Ralf, second son of Robert II. baron d'Harcourt, who attached himself to king John, and became head of the English branch; but this also is doubtful. A.L.P. The name is not in _Domesday._]

[Footnote 58: CREVECUR, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Lisieux. The Crevecurs--de Crepito-corde--settled in England, and were divided into two branches, those of Redburn and Kent, from the time of Hen. I.; see the endowments of Bullington and Leedes in the _Monasticon._ Hasted says (though his authority may be questioned) that the family name of Hamo dapifer or vice-comes of _Domesday_ was Crevequer. He adds that he was brother of Robert Fitz-Hamon; and here he is supported by a charter of the Conqueror to Saint Denis, existing still at Paris, to which we find as witnesses, 'Ego Haimo Regis dapifer'--'Ego Robertus firater hujus Haimonis.' See _Introd. Domesday_, i. 432. In the Bayeux inquest, 'Hugo de Crevecuire feodum v mil.']

[Footnote 59: DRIENCOURT changed its name to Neufchatel, after Hen. I.

built a castle there. Nothing seems known of the lords of Driencourt in England; unless we find them in the Daincurt of Domesday; _Introd_. i.

365; ii. 406; and see _Dugdale's Baronage_, i. 385.]

[Footnote 60: No place of this name is known in Normandy. It may refer to BRUCOURT, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Pont-l'Evesque; and the correct reading of the MS. was perhaps Brieucort. See Robert de Brucourt's confirmation of the grants by Jeffery de Fervaques to Walsingham. About the same time a Gilbert de Brucourt gave lands at Fervaques to the abbey of Val-Richer. A.L.P. In the Red book--de ballia de Oximis--'Gilbertus de Breuecourt 2 mil. regi de Pinu c.u.m pertinent. Idem 1 mil. de fdo Mort. in Cerenciis.' We afterwards find,--among those who 'serviunt ad custamentum domini,--'Gillebertus de Bruecort, senex, 4 partem de Colevill et Angervill.' Gilbert de Brucourt and Hugh his son appear in a charter to Troarn. _Mem. Ant. Norm_. viii. 238.]

[Footnote 61: COMBRAY, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Falaise. At a later period lords of this name are among the benefactors of St Barbe-en-Auge and Fontenay.]

[Footnote 62: AULNAY. See note 22 last chapter. There are four communes of this name. Aulnay l'Abbaye, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Vire, belonged in the twelfth century to the Says above mentioned, and Jourdain de Saye founded the abbey there in 1131. De Alneto is of common recurrence in early charters. There was also a house of Laune, de Alno, at Laulne near Lessay; see M. de Gerville's _Recherches_, ii. 241.]

[Footnote 63: There are nine FONTENAYS in Normandy. If we are to presume that the one here alluded to is Fontenay-le-Marmion, near Caen, the lord of Marmion would seem mentioned twice; though Fontenay was possibly then held by some one under the Marmions. The Marmion at Hastings is considered to have been Robert; not Roger, as Wace says. There was a Roger afterwards, who is named in a charter of king Richard to Grestain.

In the Red book, Robertus Marmion is among the defaulters. In the Bayeux inquest, 'feodum Marmion et Rogeri et in Buevilla 1 mil.']

[Footnote 64: RUBERCY, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Bayeux. It appears that when the abbey of Longues was founded in 1168 by Hugh Wac, he was lord of Rebercil, and gave lands there to the foundation. This Hugh was probably the same as married Emma daughter of Baldwin Fitz-Gilbert (founder, in 1138, of Bourne, in Lincolns.h.i.+re), and grand-daughter of a Gilbert, apparently cotemporary with the conquest. A.L.P. Hugh's son, also called Baldwin, appears in the _Monasticon,_ and in the charters of Longues; _Mem. Ant. Norm_. viii.]

[Footnote 65: See VIEUX-MOLAY before; this being perhaps a repet.i.tion of the same person, lord of MOLLEI-BACON, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Bayeux. William Bacon, who in 1082 endowed the abbey of the Trinity at Caen, answers to this period. The first of the Bacons known in England was Richard Bacon, nephew of Ranulf earl of Chester, and founder of the priory of Roucester in Staffords.h.i.+re. M. Le Prevost asks why the English Bacons deduced their origin from a Grimbald, cousin of William Warren, in preference to the well known Bacons of Molay? See as to the history of Mollei-Bacon the Abbe Beziers, in _Nouvelles Recherches sur la France,_ Paris, 1766, vol. i. Among the defaulters in the Red book is 'Rogerus Bathon [de Bacon in _d.u.c.h.esne_] pro quarta parte in Campigneio'--Campigny-les-Bois, arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Bayeux? This Roger Bacon seems to have been brother to Philip de Colombieres; see _Memoires des Antiq. Norm_. viii. 153. 441.]

[Footnote 66: Brampton takes the safe side in protesting against being accountable for the baptismal names of the early Norman barons; in specifying which Wace has, we have seen, often erred. There is a charter to Bernay in the _Mem. Ant. Norm_. iv. 381, granted, it would seem, by duke Richard II. at the great council at which he, in 1027, made disposition of his dutchy in favour of his son. Besides dignitaries of the church, it is signed by one hundred and twenty-one viscounts, barons, &c. of whom all, with the exception of those distinguished by offices, and Tustingus, (probably Turstin-Goz), Goffredus Wac and Gillebertus Veil in (if indeed the two last are not each the names of two distinct persons) are called merely by their baptismal names. The list is very curious, forming a complete parliament or council, of about one hundred and thirty magnates. _Benoit_, in his short account of the exploits of the army, which will be found in our appendix, excuses himself from enumeration of the chiefs who composed it, by saying,

En treis quaere [cahiers] de parchemin N'en venisse je pas a fin.]

[Footnote 67: Hired men.]

[Footnote 68: See previous note on TURSTIN FITZ-ROU, the standard bearer.]

[Footnote 69: ALAN LE ROUX, the red--of Britanny--received the earldom of Richmond and splendid grants for his services. See _Introd.

Domesday_, i. 366; and, for the discussion as to his pedigree, see the introduction to Gale's _Registrum_ of the honor of Richmond. Of all the combatants at Hastings, Alan is alone dwelt upon by _Gaimar_ (who was perhaps himself a Breton) in the following pa.s.sage, which is not found in the MS, in British Museum,

Li quiens Alain de Bretaigne Bien i ferit od sa compaigne.

Cil i ferit come baron: Mult bien le firent Breton.

Od le roi vint en ceste terre Pur lui aider de sa guerre; Son cosin ert, de son lignage.

Gentil home de grant parage; Le roi servit et ama, Et il bien le guerdona; Richement[mont?] li dona el north Bon chastel et bel et fort.

En plusurs lius en Engleterre Li rois li donna de sa terre.

Lunges la tint et puis finit: A Seint-Edmon l'om l'enfouit.

Ore ai dit de cel baron Repairer voil a ma raison.]

[Footnote 70: BERNARD DE ST. VALERY, on the Somme, who was grandson of duke Richard II. by a daughter, and was therefore cousin to the conqueror. A branch of the St. Valery family established itself in England; Ranulfus de St. Walarico appears in Domesday, _Introd_. i. 503.

In the Red book, de Baiocasino, is 'Guido de Sancto Galerico 1 mil. pro allodiis taill.;' and among the defaulters is 'Bernardus de Sancto Valerico, pro fdo de Valle de Dun.']

[Footnote 71: ROBERT COMTE D'EU. We have seen him before at the battle of Mortemer. He received the custody of the castle of Hastings, and considerable lands in England, which his family retained till the severance of Normandy; see _Introd. Domesday_, i. 463; and Estancelin's _History of the comtes d'Eu._ Comes Augi is one of the defaulters in the Red book roll.]

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CHAPTER XXIV.

WHAT DEEDS OF ARMS DUKE WILLIAM DID; AND HOW HAROLD WAS SLAIN AND THE ENGLISH FLED.

Duke William pressed close upon the English with his lance; striving hard to reach the standard with the great troop he led; and seeking earnestly for Harold, on whose acconnt the whole war was. The Normans follow their lord, and press around him; they ply their blows upon the English; and these defend themselves stoutly, striving hard with their enemies, returning blow for blow.

One of them was a man of great strength, a wrestler, who did great mischief to the Normans with his hatchet; all feared him, for he struck down a great many Normans. The duke spurred on his horse, and aimed a blow at him, but he stooped, and so escaped the stroke; then jumping on one side, he lifted his hatchet aloft, and as the duke bent to avoid the blow, the Englishman boldly struck him on the head, and beat in his helmet, though without doing much injury. He was very near falling however, but bearing on his stirrups he recovered himself immediately; and when he thought to have revenged himself on the vagabond by killing him, the rogue had escaped, dreading the duke's blow. He ran back in among the English, but he was not safe even there, for the Normans seeing him, pursued and caught him; and having pierced him through and through with their lances, left him dead on the ground.

Where the throng of the battle was greatest, the men of Kent and of Ess.e.x fought wondrously well, and made the Normans again retreat, but without doing them much injury. And when the duke saw his men fall back, and the English triumphing over them, his spirit rose high, and he seized his s.h.i.+eld by the 'enarmes'[1], and his lance, which a va.s.sal handed to him, and took his post by his gonfanon.

Then those who kept close guard by him, and rode where he rode, being about a thousand armed men, came and rushed with closed ranks upon the English; and with the weight of their good horses, and the blows the knights gave, broke the press of the enemy, and scattered the crowd before them, the good duke leading them on in front[2]. Many pursued and many fled; many were the Englishmen who fell around, and were trampled under the horses, crawling upon the earth, and not able to rise. Many of the richest and n.o.blest men fell in that rout, but still the English rallied in places; smote down those whom they reached, and maintained the combat the best they could; beating down the men and killing the horses. One Englishman watched the duke, and plotted to kill him; he would have struck him with his lance, but he could not, for the duke struck him first, and felled him to the earth.

Loud was now the clamour, and great the slaughter; many a soul then quitted the body it inhabited. The living marched over the heaps of dead, and each side was weary of striking. He charged on who could, and he who could no longer strike still pushed forward. The strong struggled with the strong; some failed, others triumphed; the cowards fell back, the brave pressed on; and sad was his fate who fell in the midst, for he had little chance of rising again; and many in truth fell who never rose at all, being crushed under the throng.

And now the Normans had pressed on so far, that at last they reached the standard[3]. There Harold had remained, defending himself to the utmost; but he was sorely wounded in his eye by the arrow, and suffered grievous pain from the blow. An armed man came in the throng of the battle, and struck him on the ventaille of his helmet, and beat him to the ground; and as he sought to recover himself, a knight beat him down again, striking him on the thick of his thigh, down to the bone.

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Gurth saw the English falling around, and that there was no remedy. He saw his race hastening to ruin, and despaired of any aid; he would have fled, but could not, for the throng continually increased. And the duke pushed on till he reached him, and struck him with great force.

Whether he died of that blow I know not, but it was said that he fell under it, and rose no more.

The standard was beaten down, the golden gonfanon was taken, and Harold and the best of his friends were slain; but there was so much eagerness, and throng of so many around, seeking to kill him, that I know not who it was that slew him.

The English were in great trouble at having lost their king, and at the duke's having conquered and beat down the standard; but they still fought on, and defended themselves long, and in fact till the day drew to a close. Then it clearly appeared to all that the standard was lost, and the news had spread throughout the army that Harold, for certain, was dead; and all saw that there was no longer any hope, so they left the field, and those fled who could[4].

I do not tell, and I do not indeed know, for I was not there to see, and have not heard say, who it was that smote down king Harold, nor by what weapon he was wounded; but this I know, that he was found among the dead. His great force availed him nothing; amidst the slain he was found slain also[4].

The English who escaped from the field did not stop till they reached London, for they were in great fear, and cried out that the Normans followed close after them[5]. The press was great to cross the bridge, and the river beneath it was deep; so that the bridge[6] broke under the throng, and many fell into the water.

William fought well; many an a.s.sault did he lead, many a blow did he give, and many receive, and many fell dead under his hand. Two[7]

horses were killed under him, and he took a third when necessary, so that he fell not to the ground, and lost not a drop of blood. But whatever any one did, and whoever lived or died, this is certain, that William conquered, and that many of the English fled from the field, and many died on the spot. Then he returned thanks to G.o.d, and in his pride ordered his gonfanon to be brought and set up on high, where the English standard had stood; and that was the signal of his having conquered, and beaten down the standard. And he ordered his tent to be raised on the spot among the dead, and had his meat brought thither, and his supper prepared there.

But behold, up galloped Galtier Giffart; "Sire," said he, "what are you about? you are surely not fitly placed here among the dead. Many an Englishman lies b.l.o.o.d.y and mingled with the dead, but yet sound, or only wounded and besmeared with gore; tarrying of his own accord, and meaning to rise at night, and escape in the darkness[8]. They would delight to take their revenge, and would sell their lives dearly; no one of them caring who killed him afterwards, if he but slew a Norman first; for they say we have done them much wrong. You should lodge elsewhere, and let yourself be guarded by one or two thousand armed men, whom you can best trust. Let a careful watch be set this night, for we know not what snares may be laid for us. You have made a n.o.ble day of it, but I like to see the end of the work." "Giffart," said the duke, "I thank G.o.d, we have done well hitherto; and, if such be G.o.d's will, we will go on, and do well henceforward. Let us trust G.o.d for all!"

Then he turned from Giffart, and took off his armour; and the barons and knights, pages and squires came, when he had unstrung his s.h.i.+eld; and they took the helmet from his head, and the hauberk from his back, and saw the heavy blows upon his s.h.i.+eld, and how his helmet was dinted in.

And all greatly wondered, and said, "Such a baron (ber) never bestrode warhorse, nor dealt such blows, nor did such feats of arms; neither has there been on earth such a knight since Rollant and Oliver."