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From The Annals of Roger de Hoveden, Comprising the History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201, Translated from the Latin with Notes and Illustrations by Henry T. Riley, Esq., Volume I, London: H.G. Bohn, 1853; pp. 135-153.
WILLIAM THE ELDER
In the meantime, while these things were going on, and the king supposed that all his enemies were crushed, word was brought to him that William, duke of Normandy, had arrived with an innumerable multitude of horsemen, slingers, archers, and foot, and that he had levied strong bodies of auxiliaries from the whole of England, having landed at a place which is called Penvesca.1 Upon this, the king with the greatest haste moved his army towards London; and although he was well aware that in the two battles above-mentioned the bravest men of the whole of England had fallen, and that the centre of his army had not yet come up, he did not hesitate to meet the enemy with all possible speed in Sussex; and, at the distance of nine miles from Hastings, where he had pitched his camp, on the eleventh day before the calends of November, being Saturday, and the day of Saint Calixtus the pope and Martyr, he engaged with them, before the third part of his army was drawn up; but, as the English had been drawn up in a confined spot, many withdrew from his ranks, and but very few remained with him with undaunted hearts.
Still, from the third hour of the day2 until nightfall, he made a most determined resistance against the foe, and
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defended himself so bravely, and with such consummate valour, that the enemy could hardly get the better of him. But, alas! after very great numbers had fallen on both sides, at twilight he himself fell; the earls Girth and Leofwine, his brothers, also fell, and most of the nobles of England; on which duke William with his men returned with all speed to Hastings. The length of Harold’s reign was nine months and as many days.
But in order that the origin may be known of the grounds on which William invaded England, the circumstances which had transpired a short time before this period shall be briefly related.
When the disagreement arose between king Edward and earl Godwin, as previously mentioned, the earl was driven into exile with his family from England. Afterwards, on his endeavouring to effect a reconciliation with the king, in order that he might be allowed to return to his own country, the king would by no means consent thereto, unless he first received hostages as a guarantee of his own security. In consequence of this, Wulnoth, son of Godwin himself, and Hacun, son of his son Sweyn, were given as hostages, and sent to Normandy in charge of duke William the Bastard, the son of Robert, son of Richard, his3 mother’s brother. Sometime after this, when earl Godwin was dead, his son, Harold, asked leave of the king to go to Normandy, and obtain the liberty of his brother and nephew, who were kept there as hostages, and to bring them back with him to their own country; on which the king made answer: “By me this shall not be done; but that I may not appear to wish to prevent you, I permit you to go wherever you like, and to try what you can effect: still I have a presentiment that your efforts will end in nothing but injury to the whole kingdom of England and disgrace to yourself; for I know that the duke is not so devoid of intelligence as to be willing on any account to entrust them to you, if he does not foresee some great profit to accrue therefrom to himself.”
However, Harold embarked on board of a ship, which, with all on board of it, being driven by a violent tempest into a river of Ponthieu, which is called the Maia, according to the custom of the place he was claimed as a captive by the lord
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of that district. Harold, on being thrown into prison, having, however, bribed one of the common people with the promise of a reward, secretly gave him directions to inform the duke of Normandy of what had befallen him. On hearing this, William immediately sent messengers in all haste, and told the lord of Ponthieu that Harold and his people must be sent to him immediately, free from all harm, if he wished to enjoy his future friendship in the same degree as hitherto; he, however, being unwilling to send him, once more received a command from William that he must send Harold, otherwise he would find most assuredly, that William, duke of Normandy, would instantly come armed to Ponthieu for the purpose of taking him away with all his property, even to the utmost farthing.
Alarmed by these threats, he sent Harold with his companions, on which he was most honorably received by duke William, who, on hearing why he had left his country, made answer that he would be successful if it rested with him.4 He, therefore, kept Harold with him for some days, and showed himself very kind and courteous towards him, in order that by such conduct he might gain his feelings in support of his own objects. At length he disclosed to him what his designs were, and stated that king Edward once, when in his youthful days, he was staying in Normandy, with himself then a youth, promised him upon his oath, that if he should become king of England, he would grant to him, in succession to himself, the hereditary right to the kingdom; and, in addition to this, he said: “And if you will engage to aid me in this matter, and to procure for me the castle of Dover, with the well of water there, and will give your sister in marriage to one of my nobles, and promise to send her to me at the time that shall be agreed on by us, and also, to accept my daughter in marriage, then you shall both receive your nephew safe and sound immediately, and your brother, when I come to reign in England; and if, by your aid, I am firmly established in that kingdom, I promise that every thing that in reason you shall ask of me, you shall obtain.
Harold was sensible of danger either way, and did not see how he was to escape if he did not acquiesce in the wishes of William in every respect: he, therefore, gave his
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assent. But in addition to this, William, in order that everything might be definitively settled, having brought some relics of saints, led Harold to attest, by taking an oath upon them, that he would in deed fulfil everything that had been agreed upon between them.
These matters being concluded, Harold received his nephew and returned to his country; but when, in answer to the king’s enquiries, he informed him of what had happened and what he had done, he answered, “Did I not tell you that I knew duke William well, and that, in consequence of your journey, great evils might result to this kingdom? I foresee that, by this conduct of yours, great misfortunes will befall our country; and I only pray that Divine Providence will grant that they come not in my day.”
Shortly after, king Edward departed this life, and, as he had appointed previously to his death, Harold succeeded him in the kingdom. On this, duke William sent him word, that although, violating his oath, he had not observed his promise in other respects, still, if he would marry his daughter he would put up with what he had done, but, if not, he would without doubt assert his right to the promised succession to the kingdom by force of arms.
But Harold would neither say that he was ready to comply with the one alternative, nor that he feared the other; at which, William being indignant, was inspired with great hopes of conquering England by reason of this unjust conduct of Harold. Having, therefore, prepared a considerable fleet, he sailed for England, and a severe engagement taking place Harold was slain in battle, and William being victorious, obtained the kingdom.
Some of the Franks still give an account of5 the circumstances of this battle who were there present. But although there were various chances of success on the one side and the other, still, there was such great slaughter and disorder caused by the Normans, that the victory which they gained must without doubt be ascribed to the judgment of God, who by punishing the crime of perjury shows that he is a God who abhors unrighteousness.
On hearing of the death of king Harold, the earls Edwin
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and Morcar, who with their men had withdrawn from the battle, came to London, and taking their sister, queen Aldgitha, sent her to the city of Chester. Aldred, archbishop of York, and these earls, together with the citizens of London, and the mariners, were desirous to make the Clito Edgar, grandson of king Edmund Ironside, king, and promised that they would fight for him. But while many were making preparations to go forth to battle, the earls withdrew their aid from them, and returned home with their forces.
In the meanwhile duke William laid waste the provinces of Sussex, Kent, Southampton, Surrey, Middlesex, and Hereford; and did not cease burning towns and slaying men, till he came to the city which is called Beorcham.6 Here Aldred, the archbishop, Wulstan, bishop of Worcester, Walter, bishop of Hereford, the Clito Edgar, earls Edwin and Morcar, and five of the nobles of London, with many others came to him, and, giving hostages, made submission, and took the oaths of fealty to him. He also made a treaty with them, but, in spite of it, allowed his army to burn the towns, and plunder them.
On the approach of the festival of the Nativity of our Lord, he marched with all his army to London, that he might be crowned there; and because Stigand, the primate of the whole of England, was charged with not having canonically received the pall, on the day of the Nativity, which in that year fell on the second day of the week, he was consecrated with due honor at Westminster, by Aldred, the archbishop of York; but first, as the same archbishop requested him to do, before the altar of Saint Peter the Apostle, in the presence of the clergy and the people, he promised on oath, that he would be ready to defend the holy churches of God and their rulers, and that he would justly and with royal foresight rule over all the people subject to him, enact and observe just laws, and utterly discountenance rapine and unjust judgments.
In the year 1067, on the approach of Lent, king William returned to Normandy, taking with him Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, Agelnoth, abbat of Glastonbury, the Clito Edgar, the earls Edwin and Morcar, Walter, a noble earl, son of earl Siward, Agelnoth, a native of Canterbury, and many
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others of the chief men of England, also his brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and William FitzOsbern, whom he had made earl of the province of Hereford; and leaving garrisons in England, he ordered the fortresses throughout the country to be strengthened.
In this year, Wulsy, bishop of Dorchester, departed this life at Winchester, but was buried at Dorchester.
At this period, there was a certain very powerful thane, Edric surnamed “the Woodsman,”7 son of Alfric, the brother of Edric Streona, whose lands, because he disdained to surrender to the king, the men of the castle at Hereford, and Richard the son of Scrob, frequently laid waste; but as often as they attacked him, they lost many of their knights and esquires. Therefore, having called to his aid the kings of the Welch, namely Bleothgent and Riward, about the time of the Assumption of Saint Mary, the said Edric laid waste the province of Hereford, as far as the bridge over the river Lug,8 and carried off a great quantity of plunder.
Afterwards, on the approach of winter, king William returned to England from Normandy, and imposed on the English an intolerable tribute, and then, going into Devonshire, hostilely attacked the city of Exeter, which the citizens and some English thanes held against him; on which he laid siege to it, and speedily took it by storm. However, the countess Githa, the mother of Harold king of England, and sister of Sweyn king of Denmark, flying with many others from the city made her escape and went to Flanders; but the citizens with assurances of friendship submitted to the king.
In the year 1068, there were two popes at Rome, namely, the bishop of Parma, who was expelled, and the bishop of Lucca,* who continued to be pope.
After Easter, the countess Matilda came from Normandy to England, and on the day of Pentecost, Aldred, archbishop of York, consecrated her queen. After this, Marleswein and Cospatric, and the other nobles of Northumbria, in order to avoid the king’s severity, and fearing lest like some others they might be placed in confinement, taking with them the Clito Edgar, his mother Agatha, and his two sisters Margaret and Christiana, went by ship to Scotland; and, with the
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permission of king Malcolm, passed the winter there. On this, king William came with his army to Nottingham, and having strengthened the castle, proceeded to York, and fortifying the two castles there, placed in them five hundred soldiers, giving orders for the castles to be strengthened in the city of Lincoln and other places.
While these things were going on, the sons of king Harold, Godwin and Edmund the Great, returning from Ireland landed in Somersetshire; where being met by Eadnoth, who had been master of the stables9 to king Harold, with some troops, a battle was fought, in which he, with many others, was slain. Having gained the day, they collected considerable spoil in Devonshire and Cornwall, and then returned to Ireland.
In the year 1069, being the third year of his reign, king William sent earl Robert Cummin against the Northumbrians of the country north of the Tyne; for they had all united in one determination, not to submit to the rule of a foreigner, and had resolved either to slay him, or else, all of them, to fall by the edge of the sword. On his approach, Egelwin, bishop of Durham, met him, and warned him to be on his guard against treachery; but he, thinking that no one dared this, despised the warning, and, entering Durham with a large body of soldiers, allowed his men to act with hostility in all quarters, even to slaying some peasants belonging to the church; still, he was received by the bishop with all kindness and honor. But the Northumbrians hastening onward all night, at daybreak broke through the gates with the greatest violence, and slew the followers of the earl in every direction, they being quite unprepared for the attack. The contest was waged most fiercely, the soldiers being struck down in the houses and streets, and the combatants attacked the house of the bishop in which the earl was entertained; but finding that they could not endure the darts of those who defended it, they burned the house together with those who were therein. So great was the multitude of the slain, that nearly every spot in the city was filled with blood, and out of seven hundred men only one escaped. This slaughter took place on the fifth day before the calends of February, being the fourth day of the week.
In this year, shortly before the Nativity of Saint Mary, the sons of Sweyn, king of Denmark, Harold, Canute, and their uncle earl Osborn, and their bishop Christian, and earl Turkill, came from Denmark with two hundred and forty ships, and landed at the mouth of the river Humber. Here they were met by the Clito Edgar, earls Alde and Marleswein, and many others, with a fleet which they had assembled; earl Cospatric also came with all the forces of the Northumbrians, and with one accord they determined to oppose the Normans. Being greatly distressed at their approach, Aldred, archbishop of York, was attacked with a severe illness and ended his life, as he had requested of God, in the tenth year of his archiepiscopate, on the third day before the ides of September, being the sixth day of the week; he was buried in the church of Saint Peter, on the eighth day after, being Saturday, the thirteenth day before the calends of October.
The Normans, who garrisoned the castles, fearing lest the houses which were in their vicinity, might be used by the Danes for the purpose of filling up the fosses, began to set them on fire; and the flames, increasing, raged throughout all the city, and together with it, burned the monastery of Saint Peter.† But the Divine vengeance most speedily exacted a heavy retribution at their hands; for, before the whole city was destroyed, a Danish fleet came on the second day of the week, to the aid of the besiegers, and the Danes making an attack upon the castles on the one side, and the Northumbrians on the other, stormed them on the same day; more than three thousand of the Normans being slain, the Danes sparing the lives of William de Malet, who was then sheriff of the province, with his wife and two children, and of Gilbert de Ghent with a few others, repaired to their ships with their innumerable forces, and the Northumbrians returned home.
When king William was informed of this, being greatly enraged, he swore that he would pierce the whole of the Northumbrians with a single spear, and shortly afterwards, having assembled an army hastened with feelings of extreme irritation to Northumbria, and did not cease throughout the whole winter to ravage it, slay the inhabitants, and commit many other acts of devastation.
In the meantime, sending a message to Osborn, the Danish earl, he promised that he would privately present him
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with no small sum of money, and give his army free licence to seize provisions in the neighbourhood of the sea-shore, upon condition that, after the close of winter, they should depart, without any further hostilities. To these propositions Osborn, being greedy for gold and silver, to his great disgrace, assented. While the Normans, in the preceding year, were laying waste England, throughout Northumbria and some other provinces, but in the present and succeeding year, throughout almost the whole of England, but especially Northumbria and the provinces adjoining to it, a famine prevailed to such a degree, that, compelled by hunger, men ate human flesh, and that of horses, dogs, and cats, and whatever was repulsive to notions of civilization; some persons went so far as to sell themselves into perpetual slavery, provided only they could in some way or other support a miserable existence; some departing from their native country into exile, breathed forth their exhausted spirits in the midst of the journey.
It was dreadful to behold human corpses rotting in the houses, streets and high roads, and as they reeked with putrefaction, swarming with worms, and sending forth a horrid stench; for all the people having been cut off, either with the sword or famine, or else having through hunger left their native country, there were not sufficient left to inter them. Thus, during a period of nine years, did the land, deprived of its cultivators, extend far and wide a mere dreary waste. Between York and Durham there was not one inhabited town; the dens of wild beasts and robbers, to the great terror of the traveller, were alone to be seen.
While the king was doing these things in the neighbourhood of York, Egelwin, bishop of Durham, and the chiefs of the people, being fearful that, on account of the death of the earl10 at Durham and the slaughter of the Normans at York, the sword of the king would involve both innocent and guilty in a like destruction, unanimously disinterred the holy and incorruptible body of the blessed father Cuthbert and took to flight, on the third day before the ides of December, being the sixth day of the week. They first rested at Girwine,11 next at Bethlingtun,12 the third time at Tughale,13 and the fourth at
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Ealande. Here, towards nightfall, their further progress was impeded by the sea being at high water, when lo! suddenly withdrawing, it left them free access, so that when they hastened on, the waves of the ocean followed in the rear, at a similar pace, and when they sometimes moved more slowly, the waves did not overtake them by speeding on at a faster pace, but, as soon as they had touched the shore, behold! the sea flowed back again and covered all the sands as before.
In the meantime, the king’s army, dispersing in all directions, between the rivers Tees and Tyne, found nothing but deserted houses, and a dreary solitude on every side; the inhabitants having either sought safety in flight, or concealed themselves in the woods and among the precipices of the hills. At this period also, the church of Saint Paul the Apostle, at Girwine, was destroyed by fire. The church of Durham was deprived of all its guardians and all ecclesiastical care, and had become like a desert, as the Scripture says, a refuge for the poor, the sick, and the feeble. Those who were unable to take to flight, turning aside thither, sank there under the influence of famine and disease. The resemblance of the cross, which was the only one of the church ornaments remaining there, (as on account of its large size it could not be easily removed by them in their haste) was robbed of its gold and silver, which were torn off by the Normans.
On this, the king, who was not far off, hearing of the deserted state of the church, and the spoliation of the crucifix, was very indignant, and gave orders for those to be sought for who had been guilty of it. Shortly after, he happened to meet these very persons, and on seeing them turn out of the public road, immediately felt convinced that these men were conscious of having committed some misdeed; whereon, being seized, they immediately made discovery of the gold and silver which they had taken from off the crucifix. On this, he immediately sent them for judgment to the bishop and those who were with him, who were now returning from their flight; but they, acquitting them of the charge, let them escape with impunity. For, upon the approach of spring, the king having returned to the country south of the Humber, bishop Egelwin, after having, with all his people, passed three months and some days at Ealande, returned to the church of Durham, with the treasure of the holy body of Saint Cuthbert.
In the year 1070, at the season of Lent, by the advice of William, earl of Hereford, and some others, king William ordered his followers to search the monasteries throughout the whole of England; and the money which, on account of his severity and extortion, the wealthier English had deposited there, he ordered to be taken from them.
Bishop Egelwin, having returned from flight, as already mentioned, now meditated in his mind a perpetual exile. For, seeing the affairs of the English in a state of confusion on every side, and fearing that the sway of a foreign nation, to whose language and manners he was a stranger, would press with severity upon himself, he determined to resign his bishopric, and to provide for himself, as he best might, in a foreign land. Having, therefore, provided a ship, and put all necessaries on board, he was waiting for a fair wind in the harbour of Wearmouth.
At the same time there were some other ships there; on board of which were the Clito Edgar with his mother Agatha, and his two sisters, Margaret and Christiana, Siward Barn, Marleswein, and Elfwin, son of Norman, and many besides; who, after the attack on the castles at York, on the return home of the Danes, dreading the vengeance of the king for having aided them, were preparing to fly to Scotland and waiting for a fair passage thither.
At this period, a countless multitude of Scots, under the command of king Malcolm, passing through Cumberland, and making their way towards the east, fiercely laid waste the whole of Teesdale14 and its neighbourhood, far and wide. Having come to a place which, in the English language, is called Hundredesfelde, and in the Latin “Centum Fontes” (the hundred springs), and having slain there some of the English nobles, the king, retaining with him part of his army, sent home the other part, with an infinite amount of spoil, by the road by which they had come. In doing this, his crafty design was, that the wretched inhabitants who, in their fear of the enemy, had for safety concealed themselves and their property in whatever hiding-places they could find, might suppose that the whole of the enemy’s forces had departed, and that he might suddenly come upon them after they had, with a feeling of security, returned to their towns and homes;
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which, accordingly, happened to be the case. For, having laid waste part of Cleveland, he suddenly ravaged Heorternisse, and thence making a fierce incursion upon the lands of Saint Cuthbert,15 deprived all of the whole of their property, and some even of their lives.
In addition to this, he consumed the church of Saint Peter the Apostle, at Wearmouth, with flames which were kindled by his men in his own presence; other churches also he burned to the ground, together with those who had taken refuge in them. While riding near the banks of the river, and from an elevated spot looking down upon the cruelties inflicted by his men upon the wretched English, and satiating his mind and his eyes with this sight of horror, word was brought to him that the Clito Edgar and his sisters, comely young women of royal blood, with many others, very wealthy fugitives from their country, had taken refuge in that harbour. On this, after interchanging courtesies with them, he kindly addressed them when they came, and gave to them and all their attendants, with the strongest assurances of peace, an asylum in his dominions for as long a period as they should think fit. Amid these depredations inflicted by the Scots, earl Cospatric, who, as already mentioned, had purchased the earldom of Northumbria of king William for a sum of money, having obtained the aid of some active allies, ravaged Cumberland with dreadful havoc; and them, having laid waste the country with fire and sword, returned with a large quantity of spoil, and shut himself and his followers within the strong fortifications of Bebbanburgh;16 whence frequently sallying forth, he greatly weakened the enemy’s strength. At this period Cumberland was subject to king Malcolm; not by rightful possession, but in consequence of having been subjugated by force.
Malcolm, on hearing what Cospatric had done (while he was still looking at the church of Saint Peter burning amid the flames kindled by his own men), could hardly contain himself for anger, and commanded his men no longer to spare any individual of the English nation, but either to strike them to the earth and slay them, or, making them prisoners, carry them off, doomed to the yoke of perpetual slavery. The troops having received this sanction, it was dreadful even to
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witness the cruelties they were guilty of towards the English. Some aged men and women were decapitated with the sword; others, like swine intended for food, were pierced through and through with lances; infants were torn from the breasts of their mothers, thrown aloft into the air, and on falling, received upon the points of lances, sharp weapons being thickly planted in the ground.
The Scots, more savage than wild beasts, took delight in these cruelties, as though a spectacle of games; and thus did the age of innocence, destined to attain heaven, breathe its last, suspended between heaven and earth. But the young men and young women, and whoever besides seemed adapted for toil and labour, were driven away in fetters in front of the enemy, to endure a perpetual exile in captivity as servants and handmaids. Some of these, while running before those who drove them on, became fatigued to a degree beyond what their strength could endure, and, as they sank to the ground on the spot, the same was the place of their fall and of their death. While beholding these scenes, Malcolm was moved to compassion by no tears, no groans of the wretched creatures; but, on the contrary, gave orders that they should be perseveringly driven onward in their course.
In consequence of this, Scotland became filled with men-servants and maid-servants of English parentage; so much so, that even at the present day not only not even the smallest village, but not even the humblest house is to be found without them.
After the return of Malcolm to Scotland, bishop Egelwin having set sail with the view of proceeding to Cologne, a contrary wind arose and drove him back upon the coast of Scotland, which also, after a speedy passage, brought thither the Clito Edgar with his above-named companions. On this, king Malcolm, with the full consent of his relations, married Margaret, the sister of Edgar, a woman ennobled by her royal birth, but much more ennobled by her wisdom and piety, through whose zeal and untiring efforts the king himself, laying aside his barbarian manners, became more virtuous and more civilized. By her he had six sons — Edward, Edmund, king Edgar, Ethelred, king Alexander, king David, and two daughters, Matilda, queen of the English, and Mary, who became the wife of Eustace, earl of Boulogne.
In the same year, a great synod was held at Winchester, on the octave of Easter, by command of king William, who was there present; it was also sanctioned by our lord Alexander, the pope, who gave the authority of the Apostolic See thereto, through his legates, Hermenfred, bishop of Sion, and the cardinal priests, John and Peter. At this synod Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, was deprived of his archbishopric on three grounds, namely: because he had wrongfully held the bishopric of Winchester together with the archbishopric; because, in the lifetime of archbishop Robert, he had not only held the archbishopric, but even for some time, at the celebration of the mass, had made use of his pall which remained at Canterbury, when he himself had been violently and unjustly expelled from England; and because he had received the pall from Benedict, who had been excommunicated by the holy Church of Rome, for having gained the papacy by means of bribery. His brother Agelmar, the bishop of East Anglia,17 was also deprived there, as were also some abbats; all which was done by the agency of the king, in order that as many of the English as possible might be deprived of their honors; in whose place he might appoint persons of his own nation, for the purpose of strengthening his possession of the kingdom which he had recently acquired.
For this reason, also, he deprived of their honors certain bishops and abbats, whom, as no evident reason existed, neither synods nor secular laws condemned; and, placing them in confinement, kept them there to the end of their lives, being merely influenced, as already mentioned, by suspicion on account of the kingdom he had newly acquired.
At this synod, also, while the rest, being sensible of the king’s feelings, were afraid lest they should be deprived of their dignities, the venerable man, Wulstan, bishop of Worcester, resolutely demanded restoration of a considerable quantity of property belonging to his see which had been retained in his possession by archbishop Aldred, when he was removed from the see of Worcester to that of York, and which, after his death, had come into the king’s hands; and both asked for justice to be done by those who presided over the synod, and demanded it of the king. But the church of York, as it then had no pastor to speak for it, was dumb; judgment was
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therefore given that the claim should remain in its present state until an archbishop was appointed, who might defend his church, and there would be a person to make answer to his charge; so that, after the charges and answers had been considered, judgment might be given with more fairness and certainty. Accordingly, on the present occasion, the claim stood over for a time.
On the day of Pentecost, in this year, the king, being then at Windsor, gave the archbishopric of the church of York to Thomas, a venerable canon of Bayeux, and the bishopric of Winchester to Valceline, his own chaplain: and, by his command, on the following day, Armenfred, the above-named bishop of Sion, held a synod, John and Peter, the cardinals before-mentioned, having returned to Rome.
At this synod Agelric, bishop of the South Saxons,18 was degraded in an uncanonical manner; and shortly after, for no fault on his part, the king placed him in confinement at Mearlesberge.19 A considerable number of abbats were also deposed; after whose deposition, the king gave to his chaplains Arfract, the bishopric of East Anglia,20 and to Stigand, that of the South Saxons; to some of the Norman monks he also gave abbeys; and, as the archbishop of Canterbury had been deposed, and the archbishop of York had recently died, by the king’s command Valceline was ordained on the eighth day after Pentecost by the same Armenfred, bishop of Sion, the legate of the Apostolic See.
On the approach of the feast of Saint John the Baptist, earl Osborn departed for Denmark with the fleet that had lain in the river Humber during the winter, but his brother, Sweyn, outlawed him on account of the money, which, contrary to the wishes of the Danes, he had received from king William. At this period the most valiant man, Edric, surnamed the Woodsman,21 was reconciled to king William. After this, the king summoned from Normandy Lanfranc, the abbat of Caen, a Lombard by birth, a man of the greatest learning in every respect, well skilled in all the liberal arts and in the knowledge of both divine and secular literature, and most prudent in counsel and in the management of temporal matters, and, on the day of the Assumption of Saint
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Mary, appointed him archbishop of Canterbury, and, at the feast of Saint John the Baptist, being the Lord’s Day, had him consecrated at Canterbury. His consecration was performed by Giso, bishop of Wells, and Walter, bishop of Hereford, who had both been ordained at Rome by pope Nicolas, at the time when Aldred, archbishop of York, received his pall. For these bishops had avoided receiving ordination from Stigand, who then held the see of Canterbury, as they knew that he had received the pall in an uncanonical manner. Herman, bishop of Salisbury, with some others, was also present at his consecration, shortly after which, Lanfranc consecrated Thomas, archbishop of York.
These matters completed, the claim of the venerable Wulstan, bishop of Worcester, was again considered, Thomas having been now consecrated archbishop, to speak for the church of York; and, a synod being held at a place with is called Pedreda,22 before the king and Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, and the bishops, abbats, earls, and principal men of England, by the aid of the grace of God, the matter was there concluded, although Thomas, the archbishop of York, and his supporters, used every possible device, though far from being based upon the truth, to lower the church of Worcester, and to subject her to the church of York, and strove in every way to make her a dependant thereof. However, by the just judgment of God, and the most positive evidence of writings much defaced and almost worn to pieces, Wulstan, the man of God, not only regained the possessions that he had claimed and demanded, but, also, by the gift of God and the concession of the king, obtained that extent of liberty which had been bestowed upon her by the first founders king Ethelred and Saint Hosher, earl of the Wiccii, and by Cenred, Ethelbald, Offa, Saint Kenulph the father of Kenelm the Martyr, and their successors after them, and those who reigned over the whole kingdom of England, namely, Edward the Elder, Ethelstan, Edmund, Edred, Edgar father of king Edward the Martyr, and those who had succeeded them.
In the year from the incarnation of our Lord, 1071, Lanfranc and Thomas went to Rome, and received the pall from pope Alexander. The earls Edwin and Morcar, finding that king William wished to place them in confinement, secretly fled
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from his court, and for some time remained in open rebellion against him. However, finding that their attempts were not crowned with success, Edwin determined to go to Malcolm, king of the Scots, but, being treacherously attacked on the road by his own people, was slain. Morcar and Hereward, however, a man of the greatest bravery, with many others, repaired by ship to the Isle of Ely, intending to winter there; whither Egelwin, bishop of Durham, and Siward, surnamed Barn, returning by sea from Scotland, also came. But, when the king heard of this, with the help of his sailors, he cut them off from all exit on the eastern side of the island, and, on the western side, ordered a bridge to be constructed two miles in length. On seeing that they were thus enclosed, they ceased making resistance, and all, with the exception of Hereward and a few who made their escape through the fens, surrendered to the king: who shortly afterwards placed bishop Egelwin in confinement at Abingdon, where the same winter he ended his life: but as to Earl Morcar and the rest, he distributed a part of them in various places of confinement throughout England, and having first deprived them of their hands or their eyes, let go the rest. The king then appointed Walcher, a member of the church of Liege to the bishopric of Durham, and he was accordingly consecrated at Winchester. He had come to this country on the king’s invitation, being a person of illustrious family, graceful manners, and endowed with the recommendations of divine and secular knowledge. Eilaf, one of the king’s household servants, very high in office, together with other men of rank, escorted him to York, where earl Cospatric met him by the king’s command, and escorted the bishop as far as Durham; he arrived at the church of his see at the period of Mid-Lent.
In the year 1072, after the Assumption of Saint Mary, king William, having in his train Edric, surnamed the Woodsman,23 set out for Scotland with a fleet and an army of horse, for the purpose of subjugating it; for Malcolm, king of the Scots, had greatly offended him in having, as already mentioned, so dreadfully ravaged his territories the year before. But when the king of the English had entered Scotland, king Malcolm met him at a place which is called Abernithie, and did homage to him.23 On his return thence, king William deprived earl Cospatric of his dignity, making it a charge against him that
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he had counselled and aided those who had slain the earl24 at Durham, and had taken part with the enemy when the Normans were slain at York. After his deprivation, Waltheof was raised to the earldom, to which he was entitled both on his father’s and his mother’s side, being the son of earl Siward, by Elfrida, the daughter of Ealdred, who was formerly earl.
At this period, that is to say, when the king was returning from Scotland, he built a castle at Durham, where the bishop and his people might enjoy security from the incursions of the enemy; and, as some of the Normans disbelieved that the blessed Cuthbert either was a Saint, or that his body was kept there, at the feast of All Saints, while the bishop was celebrating the mass, the king ordered his two chaplains to enter the sanctuary, and to open the tomb and examine, both by seeing and touching, whether the holy body was deposited there. For the king had previously declared that, if it was not there, all the elders should be put to death. Upon this, all being in great consternation, the chaplains were just about to perform his commands. Now at this period, the cold weather was very severe; but, in the meantime, the king began to feel overpowered by an intolerable heat, and to perspire most copiously, and to be attacked with an excessive trembling; so, at once sending to his chaplains, he ordered them not to presume to touch the tomb.
Immediately after this he mounted his horse, and ceased not to ride at its utmost speed till he reached the river Tees. From that time forward he held this Saint in the highest esteem, and confirmed the more favored laws and customs of that church, which it had received in time past, for perpetual observance, and in addition thereto, gave and granted, and by charter confirmed to God and Saint Cuthbert, and the prior and monks there serving God, for a pure and perpetual alms-giving, his royal manor consisting of the vill of Hemingburgh, with all the lands, of Brakenholm, with all the lands thereto adjoining, together with the church of the vill aforesaid, and all things thereto pertaining in wood and plain, in moor and meadow, in forest and marsh, together with the water-mills and ponds, with merc,25 and mere,26 and sac,27 and
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soke,28 and tol,29 and them,30 and infangtheof,31 and all the right boundaries thereof, together with all their rights and customs, as fully, quietly, and freely, as ever Saint Cuthbert fully and quietly held his other lands, together with all the royal customs and liberties which the king himself held therein, when, after the conquest of England, he held the same in his own hands, and with the same boundaries, with which he himself, or Tosti before him, or Siward, had held the said manor.
Bishop Walcher and earl Waltheof were afterwards on the most friendly and cordial terms, insomuch that, sitting together with the bishop, at the synod of the priesthood, he humbly and obediently would carry out whatever was enjoined by the bishop in his earldom, for the correction of Christian manners.
1 Pevensey.
2 Nine in the morning.
3 King Edward the Confessor.
4 “Si in ipso non remaneret,” hardly seems to be a correct reading here.
5 “Adhuc” can hardly mean “at the present day,” in allusion to oral testimony; as our author lived nearly a hundred years after the time of William the Conqueror.
6 Berkhampstead.
7 “Silvaticus:” probably corresponding to our surname “Atwood.” He is more generally called Edric the Outlaw.
8 The Avon.
9 “Stallarius.” There is some doubt as to the correct meaning of this word.
10 Robert Cummin.
12 Bedlington, in Northumberland.
13 Tughall, in Northumberland.
14 The vicinity of the river Tees.
15 In the north of Northumberland.
16 Bamborough.
17 Bishop of Helmham, in Norfolk.
18 Bishop of Selsey.
19 Marlborough.
20 Of Helmham.
21 Silvaticus.
22 Petherton, in Somersetshire.
23 He is also called in history the Outlaw, and the Forester.
24 Robert Cummin.
25 The right of holding markets.
26 Probably right of piscary.
27 The lord’s right of trying litigated causes among his vassals, and levying fines.
28 A somewhat similar right to the last. In the text it is erroneously printed “soschene,” for “socam.”
29 The right to levy import duties.
30 The right of a lord to follow his servants on the lands of another.
31 The right of apprehending malefactors.
* Alexander II was the Bishop of Parma, and later pope from 1061-1073. He was briefly expelled and replaced by Cadolus, Bishop of Lucca, and not considered by Platina as a true pope entitled to his own section in his history. Alexander is then re-instated and remains pope until his death.
† The city of York is the town referred to here, according to Stubbs, in the Latin edition, Vol. I, p. 118.