Chapter XLIII: Appendix: NOTE A. p. 3 (15)

“Normanz cele nuit se gaitierent,
E tote nuit armé veillierent;
Tote nuit furent en suspeiz,
Kar dit lor fu ke li Engleiz
Cele nuit tresk’à els vendreient
E cele nuit les assaldreient.
Ço meismes les Engleiz cremeient
Ke Normanz la nuit les guerreient;
Issi unt tote nuit veillié,
Li uns por li altres gaitié.”

All this proves the existence of a very natural expectation on both
sides, but it proves nothing as to Harold’s real intentions. An
examination of the ground is enough to show what Harold’s plan really
was.

Footnote 1256

See Appendix KK.

Footnote 1257

See Appendix KK.

Footnote 1258

Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 B. “Quum ergo Haraldus totam gentem suam
in unâ acie strictissimè locâsset, _et quasi castellum inde
construxisset_, impenetrabiles erant Normannis.”

Footnote 1259

On the name Senlac, see Appendix KK.

Footnote 1260

The position is well described by Guy of Amiens (365);

“Mons silvæ vicinus erat, vicinaque vallis,
Et non cultus ager asperitate suâ.”

Footnote 1261

Chron. Wig. 1066. “He [Harold] com him tógenes æt þære háran
apuldran.” The name is not uncommon in the description of boundaries
in the Charters.

Footnote 1262

See above, p. 124.

Footnote 1263

Roman de Rou, 12106;

“Héraut a li lieu esgardé,
Clore l’a fet de boen fossé;
De treiz parz leissa treiz entrées
Ki à garder sunt comandées.”

Footnote 1264

See above, p. 438.

Footnote 1265

Flor. Wig. 1066. “Quia arto in loco constituti fuerant Angli, de acie
se multi subtraxere, et cum eo [Haroldo] perpauci constantes corde
remansere.” Something of the same kind may be thought to be implied
in the words of the Worcester Chronicler; “Ac se kyng þeah him swiðe
heardlice wið feaht, mid þam mannum þe him gelæstan woldon.” See
Appendix HH.

Footnote 1266

This, to say nothing of the best evidence of all, the circumstances
of the battle itself, is implied in the language of those who speak
of the insufficient numbers of the army. See the extract from the
Worcester Chronicle, p. 445.

Footnote 1267

Tapestry, plates 12, 13. We shall hear of them again.

Footnote 1268

Will. Malms. iii. 239. Harold’s spies, as in the former case (see
above, p. 388), are well received and shown everything. They then
make their report, and “serio addiderunt, penè omnes in exercitu
illo presbyteros videri, quod totam faciem cum utroque labio rasam
haberent.... Subrisit Rex fatuitatem referentium, lepido insequutus
cachinno, quia non essent presbyteri, sed milites armis validi,
animis invicti.” So Roman de Rou, 12238–12253. William of Malmesbury
here comments on the English custom of wearing the moustache (see
vol. ii. p. 27), which he oddly connects with Cæsar’s account of the
Welsh of his day.

Footnote 1269

See Appendix KK.

Footnote 1270

Roman de Rou, 12254 et seqq. See Appendix GG.

Footnote 1271

Cf. Roman de Rou, 12290, with William of Malmesbury, iii. 240; and
see Appendix GG.

Footnote 1272

Roman de Rou, 12262;

“U se mist al boen jugement
De l’Apostoile è de sa gent.”

And see Appendix GG.

Footnote 1273

See Roman de Rou, 12437.

Footnote 1274

Will. Malms. iii. 241. “Angli, ut accepimus, totam noctem insomnem
cantibus potibusque ducentes.” So Wace, 12465, who gives us some
curious bits of English;

“Quant la bataille dut joster,
La nuit avant, ço oï conter,
Furent Engleiz forment haitiez,
Mult riant è mult enveisiez;
Tote nuit mangierent è burent
Unkes la nuit et lit ne jurent.
Mult les véissiez demener,
Treper, è saillir è chanter;
_Bublie_ crient è _weissel_
E _laticome_ è _drincheheil_,
_Drinc Hindrewart_ è _Drintome_,
_Drinc Helf_ è _drinc Tome_.”

Footnote 1275

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Contra Normanni, nocte totâ confessioni
peccatorum vacantes, mane Dominico Corpore communicârunt.”

Footnote 1276

Will. Pict. 131. “Aderant comitati e Normanniâ duo Pontifices, Odo
Baiocensis et Goisfredus Constantinus; unà multus clerus et monachi
nonnulli. Id collegium _precibus pugnare_ disponitur.” So Ord. Vit.
501 A. Of Odo at least the Tapestry tells another story. Compare the
English Prelates at Assandun, vol. i. p. 432.

Footnote 1277

On Geoffrey of Mowbray (Bishop 1048–1093) and his vast possessions in
England, see Ellis, i. 400.

Footnote 1278

Chron. Petrib. 1087. “He wæs swiðe ríce bisceop on Normandige; on
Baius wæs his bisceopstol ... and he hæfde eorldom on Englelande.”
Cf. 1088.

Footnote 1279

Wace (12478–12522) is very full on the ministrations of the two
Bishops, and on the devotions of the army, both during the night
and on the morning before the battle. The vow is thus described
(12485–12490);

“Por ço ke samedi esteit,
Ke la bataille estre debveit,
Unt Normanz pramis è voé,
Si com li cler l’orent loé,
Ke à cet jor mez s’il veskeient,
Char ne saunc ne maingereint.”

Footnote 1280

The piety of the English on the night before Azincourt is insisted on
in some of our accounts. Take Elmham for instance (479);

“Nox pluvialis ibi plebem sine pane madebat:
Ad Dominum vigiles quique dedere preces.”

So Walsingham, ii. 310, ed. Riley; Monstrelet, vol. i. c. 146, p.
227 _b_. What the French are chiefly charged with is playing at
dice for English ransoms. See Redman, p. 45, ed. Cole. This is the
point chiefly brought out by Shakespeare, Henry V, Act iv. Chorus.
Compare also the accounts of the night before Lewes, the piety of the
patriots and the foul excesses of the royalists. Rishanger, Chron. p.
25; Chron. Lanercost, 75; Political Songs (Camden Soc.), p. 80.

Footnote 1281

See the legend in Appendix II.

Footnote 1282

See above, p. 19.

Footnote 1283

Will. Pict. 131. “Ipse mysterio missæ quam maximâ cum devotione
assistens, Corporis ac Sanguinis Dominici communicatione suum et
corpus et animam munivit.”

Footnote 1284

We have the speech in William of Poitiers (132), Henry of Huntingdon
(M. H. B. 762, 763), and Wace (12531 et seqq.). William candidly
says, “Exhortationem, quâ pro tempore breviter militum virtuti
plurimum alacritatis addidit, egregiam fuisse non dubitamus, etsi
nobis non ex totâ dignitate suâ relatam.” The two chief points in his
summary are the glories of the Normans in earlier warfare (“Commonuit
Normannos quod in multis atque magnis periculis victores tamen
se duce semper exstiterint. Commonuit omnes patriæ suæ, nobilium
gestorum magnique nominis”) and the small renown of the English
(“Sæpenumerò Anglos hostili ferro dejectos cecidisse, plerumque
superatos in hostis venisse deditionem, numquam gloriâ militiæ
laudatos”). Henry of Huntingdon, allowably enough, has worked up
these two points into an elaborate harangue, which amounts to a sort
of panegyrical history of Normandy. Wace enlarges chiefly on the sins
of the English, the massacre of Saint Brice, the fate of Ælfred, and
such like. I have briefly worked in the chief points of all three
versions.

Footnote 1285

Hen. Hunt. 762 D. “Nonne patres vestri Regem Francorum in Rotomago
cœperunt, et tenuerunt donec Ricardo puero, Duci vestro, Normanniam
reddidit eo pacto, quòd in omni colloquutione Regis Franciæ et Ducis
Normanniæ gladio Dux accingeretur, Regem verò nec gladium nec etiam
cultellum ferre liceret.” See vol. i. pp. 244, 247, and especially
Palgrave, ii. 495. I do not pledge myself to the terms of the peace.

Footnote 1286

Henry enlarges only on Mortemer, and says nothing about Varaville.
But William would hardly leave out his own special exploit. About
Val-ès-dunes, a victory won over his own people, he might well hold
his peace.

I leave out one or two purely legendary stories in Henry’s version.

Footnote 1287

Wace is rather lavish of this word; William comes (12545)

“Por vengier li fèlunies
Li traïsuns, li feiz menties,
Ki li homes de cest païs
Unt fet à notre gent toz dis.”

And again, 12575;

“Teles felunies è plusors
K’il unt fete à nos ancessors
Et à nos amis ensement,
Ki se contindrent noblement.”

Footnote 1288

In the rhetoric of the Archdeacon of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 763 A, B),
“Erigite vexilla, viri, nec sit iræ promeritæ modus vel modestia.
Ab Oriente ad Occidentem videatur fulmen gloriæ vestræ, audiatur
tonitruum impetus vestri, vindicesque generosissimi sanguinis.”

Footnote 1289

Roman de Rou, 12527; “En un tertre s’estut li Dus.” In the Tapestry
(pl. 13), William is shown on horseback addressing his soldiers; “Hic
Wilelm Dux alloquitur suis militibus ut prepararent se viriliter et
sapienter ad prelium contra Anglorum exercitum.” But as the word
“sapienter” alone might almost show, this scene comes later in the
day.

Footnote 1290

Ib. 12627;

“Vint Willame li filz Osber,
_Son cheval tot covert de fer_;
Sire, dist-il, trop demoron.”

Wace is here guilty of an anachronism, as the horses in the Tapestry
are not covered with armour. See Taylor’s note, 163.

Footnote 1291

I think there can be no doubt that the famous scene of the hauberk
must be placed on the height of Telham. Wace probably did not know
the ground, and did not realize the distance between Hastings and
Battle. William and his knights would hardly ride so far in their
full armour, and the real site is clearly marked in two other
writers. The Chronicler of Battle Abbey (p. 3) is very distinct;
“Perveniens ad locum collis qui Hechelande dicitur, a parte
Hastingarum situm, dum sese invicem armis munire contendunt, ac eidem
Duci lorica ad induendum porrigitur, ex improviso inversa ipsi oblata
est.” The Brevis Relatio (7) is even more precise; “Pervenientes
itaque usque ad unum collem qui erat a parte Hastingarum contra illum
collem in quo erat Heraldus et exercitus ejus, ibi ut, erant armati,
paullisper substiterunt, intuentes Anglorum exercitum.” It is just
possible that Wace, by his “tertre,” meant the hill of Telham, only
without any idea of its distance from Hastings. Cf. Guy of Amiens
(343);

“Haud procul hostiles cuneos nam cernit adesse,
Et plenum telis irradiare nemus.”

On the identity of Telham and Heathland see Lower, Contributions to
Literature, 40; Sussex Archæological Collections, vi. 20.

Footnote 1292

Will. Pict. 131. “Terreret alium loricæ, dum vestiretur, sinistra
conversio. Hanc conversionem risit ille ut casum, non ut mali
prodigium expavit.” Roman de Rou, 12647;

“Cil en furent espoenté,
Ki li haubert unt esgardé.”

Footnote 1293

See above, p. 405.

Footnote 1294

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Ministrorum tumultu loricam inversam indutus,
casum risu correxit, ‘Vertetur,’ inquiens, ‘fortitudo comitatûs mei
in regnum.’” So Roman de Rou, 12665;

“Li nom ki ert de Duché
Veneiz de Duc a Rei torné;
Reis serai ki Duc ai esté,
N’en aiez mie altre pensé.”

The Battle Chronicler attributes the witty saying to William
Fitz-Osbern.

Footnote 1295

Roman de Rou, 12673;

“Sun boen cheval fist demander,
Ne poeit l’en meillor trover;
De l’Espaingne li out envéié,
Un Reis par mult grant amistié.”

On Alfonso see above, p. 112, and Appendix O.

Footnote 1296

Roman de Rou, 12679;

“Galtier Giffart l’out amené,
Ki à Saint Jame aveit esté.”

Footnote 1297

See above, p. 314.

Footnote 1298

Roman de Rou, 12685;

“Li visquens de Toarz guarda
Coment li Dus armes porta;
A sa gent a entor sei dit:
Hom mez si bel armé ne vit,
...
Soz ciel tel chevalier n’en a
Beau quens è beau Rei sera.”

Footnote 1299

Brevis Relatio (7). “Armatus itaque, et se et totum exercitum
suum Domino commendans, cœpit inquirere a quodam milite qui juxta
eum erat, ubi Heraldum putaret esse. Respondit autem ille quod
putabat eum esse in illo spisso agmine quod erat ante eos in montis
summitate, nam, sicut putabat, Heraldi standarium ibi videbat.”
This is a good instance of the way in which one authority fits
into another. This scene is evidently the same as that which is
represented in the Tapestry (plate 12); “Willelm Dux interrogat Vital
si vidisset exercitum Haroldi.” This Vital, it will be remembered
(see Appendix A), was a dependant of Odo, and the mention of a person
otherwise unknown, but who held much land in Kent under his patron,
is one of the proofs of the connexion of the Tapestry with the Bishop
of Bayeux.

Footnote 1300

The vow comes from the Battle Chronicle (3), where it immediately
follows the story of the hauberk; “Unde et nunc, de ejus [Creatoris]
auxilio securus, ad vestras qui mei gratiâ hoc initis certamen
corroborandas manus ac mentes votum facio, me in hoc certaminis
loco pro salute cunctorum, et hic nominatim occumbentium ad honorem
Dei et sanctorum ejus, quo servi Dei adjuventur congruum, _cum
dignâ libertate_ fundaturum monasterium.” The words in Italics
come, I suspect, from the chronicler, not from the Duke. The vow
at such a moment is in every way probable, but William was hardly
already thinking of the exemption of the Abbey of Battle from the
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Chichester.

Footnote 1301

He was (Chron. Bell. 4) surnamed Faber, “quod cum sodalibus venatum
aliquando profectus, sagittis fortè deficientibus, quum quemdam
fabrum hujuscemodi operis ignarum adissent, ipse malleis arreptis
mox sagittam artificioso ingenio compegit.” His reason for being
where he was is characteristic; “Divulgato ipsius Ducis in Angliam
adventu, _gratiâ commodi ecclesiæ suæ_, cum reliquis exercitui sese
immiscuerat.”

Footnote 1302

Chron. Bell. u. s. “Idem monasterium in venerationem beati pontificis
Martini nominatim fundaretur suggessit.”

Footnote 1303

Wid. Amb. 413;

“Sed lævam Galli, dextram petiere Britanni,
Dux cum Normannis dimicat in medio.”

That is, the French were on the right, the Bretons on the left, of
the Normans.

Footnote 1304

Will. Pict. 133. “Britanni et quotquot auxiliares erant in sinistro
cornu.” Roman de Rou, 12795;

“De l’altre part Alain Fergant
Et Aimeri li cumbatant,
Poitevinz meront è Bretons
E del Maine toz li Barons.”

Cf. Wid. Amb. 255;

“Gensque Britannorum quorum decus exstat in armis,
Tellus ni fugiat est fuga nulla quibus;
Viribus illustres Cenomanni, gloria quorum
Bello monstratur per probitatis opem.”

Footnote 1305

See vol. i. p. 208.

Footnote 1306

Roman de Rou, 13625;

“Joste la cumpaigne Néel
Chevalcha Raol de Gael;
Bret esteit è Bretonz menout,
Por terre serveit ke il out.”

See Appendix LL.

Footnote 1307

See vol. ii. p. 196.

Footnote 1308

Roman de Rou, 12784;

“Venir a fet avant Rogier
Ke l’en dist de Montgomeri:
Forment, dist-il, en vos me fi;
...
E Guillame un seneschal,
Li filz Osber un boen vassal,
Ensemble od vos chevalchera
Et ovec vos les assaldra.
Li Boilogneiz è li Pohiers
Aureiz è toz mes soldéiers.”

“Soldéiers,” “soldarii,” are of course mercenaries.

Footnote 1309

See vol. ii. p. 197.

Footnote 1310

See above, pp. 258, 295.

Footnote 1311

See vol. ii. p. 132. Eustace stands first on the list in William of
Poitiers, 135.

Footnote 1312

Will. Pict. 132. “Ipse fuit in medio cum firmissimo robore, unde in
omnem partem consuleret manu et voce.”

Footnote 1313

See vol. ii. pp. 245, 267. So Roman de Rou, 13486;

“Bien firent cel de Béessin,
E li baronz de Costentin,
E Néel de Saint Salvéor,
Mult s’entremet d’aveir l’amor
E li boen gré de son seignor.”

But Neal’s presence is called in question by Prevost (Wace, ii. 231),
Taylor (207), and Delisle (Saint-Sauveur, 21). I do not see that they
at all upset Wace.

Footnote 1314

Roman de Rou, 13636;

“Li archier du Val de Roil,
Ensemle od els cels de Bretoil,
A maint Engleiz creverent l’oil.”

Footnote 1315

A single ἱπποτοξότης appears in the Tapestry at the very end of the
battle, pl. 16. I get my details of costume from the Tapestry, pl. 13
and onwards.

Footnote 1316

See above, p. 455.

Footnote 1317

See above, p. 257.

Footnote 1318

Il. vii. 140.

Footnote 1319

In the Tapestry William appears armed only with the mace. That it
is the mace I have no doubt. In pl. 13, where William is addressing
his army, it might be a mere baton of command (see vol. ii. p. 255),
but in pl. 15 he is shown wielding the same weapon in the very
thickest of the battle. William’s weapon is also exactly the same as
the “baculus” (Tapestry, pl. 15) or “baston” (Roman de Rou 13259)
of Odo. William of Poitiers arms William with the sword (“fulminans
ense”—like Eadmund at Assandun, see vol. i. p. 430—“stravit adversam
gentem” 134), so does Guy (469 “abstracto gladio,” 483 “devorat
ense”). The point is that all agree in arming him with a weapon of
close conflict, not with the lance, which, as we shall see, he uses
only for quite another purpose. He may very well have carried both
mace and sword, but the sword does not appear in the Tapestry.

Footnote 1320

Will. Pict. 131. “Appendit etiam _humili_ collo suo relliquias,
quarum favorem Heraldus abalienaverat sibi, violatâ fide quam super
eas jurando sanxerat.”

Footnote 1321

Roman de Rou, 13765;

“Li Quens Robert de Moretoing
Ne se tint mie del Duc loing;
Frere ert li Dus de par sa mere,
Grant aïe fist à son frere.”

Footnote 1322

See above, p. 151.

Footnote 1323

See Ellis, i. 455. He held the very first-fruits of the Conquest as
possessor of the town of Pevensey. Domesday, 20 _b_.

Footnote 1324

Ord. Vit. 501 B. “Turstinus filius Rollonis vexillum Normannorum
portavit.” Roman de Rou, 12773;

“Tosteins filz Rou le Blanc out non,
Al Bec en Caux aveit meison.”

William of Poitiers (132) says only, “Vexillo prævio quod Apostolicus
transmiserat,” without mentioning the bearer. I cannot see the banner
in the Tapestry.

Footnote 1325

See vol. i. p. 514.

Footnote 1326

See above, p. 159.

Footnote 1327

Roman de Rou, 12719;

“Portez, dist-il, mon gonfanon,
Ne vos voil fere se dreit non;
Par dreit è par anceissorie
Deivent estre de Normendie
Vostre parent gonfanonier,
Mult furent tuit boen chevalier.”

Footnote 1328

Ib. 12731;

“D’altre chose vos servirai;
En la bataille od vos irai,
Et as Engleiz me combatrai
Tant ke jo vis estre porrai;
Saciez ke ma main plus valdra
Ke tels vint homes i aura.”

Footnote 1329

See above, p. 129.

Footnote 1330

Roman de Rou, 12743;

“Véiez mon chief blanc è chanu,
Empeirié sui de ma vertu,
Ma vertu m’est afébliée,
E m’aleine mult empeiriée.
L’ensuigne estuet à tel tenir,
Ki lonc travail poisse soffrir,
E jo serai en la bataille;
N’aveiz home ki mielx i vaille,
Tant i kuid ferit od m’espée,
Ke tot en iert ensanglantée.”

The dialogue which follows between the Duke and the old warrior is
very curious.

Footnote 1331

Of the long list given by Wace (13462 et seqq.) I only choose a few
of the more remarkable. Wace’s account, with Mr. Taylor’s notes, is a
perfect _nobiliaire_ of the Conquest.

Footnote 1332

Roman de Rou, 13715;

“Willame Patric de la Lande
Li Reis Heraut forment demande;
Co diseit, se il ne véeit,
De perjure l’apellereit.”

On Harold’s visit to William Patry, see Prevost’s note, ii. 261;
Taylor, 238.

Footnote 1333

See vol. ii. p. 291. Roger is described by Wace (13677) only as
“l’ancestre Hue li Bigot.” See Prevost’s note, ii. 256; Taylor, 234.

Footnote 1334

Roman de Rou, 13472;

“Guillame ke l’en dit Mallet
Hardiement entrels se met.”

Footnote 1335

The connexion between William Malet and Harold is not easy to make
out. He is clearly the person described by Guy of Amiens (588) as

“... Quidam partim Normannus et Anglus,
Compater Heraldi.”

(On the reading see M. H. B. 867 D.) The obvious meaning of this
would be that William’s mother was an Englishwoman, and that he and
Harold had contracted spiritual brotherhood by standing godfathers
to the same child. There was a William Malet, whose mother’s name
was Hesilia of the family of Crispin (De Genere Crispinorum, Giles,
Lanfranc, i. 341), but he died a monk at Bec, and was doubtless a
different person. I can make nothing of the pedigrees given by Sir
Alexander Malet in his Translation of Wace, pp. 268, 9. Sir Alexander
makes out William Malet to be uncle to the Lady Ealdgyth, calling her
mother Ælfgifu a sister of William Malet; but I know no authority for
this, and, if true, it would not make William “partim Normannus et
Anglus.”

Footnote 1336

Will. Pict. 132. “Pedites in fronte locavit, sagittis armatos et
balistis, item pedites in ordine secundo firmiores et loricatos;
ultimò turmas equitum.”

Footnote 1337

Roman de Rou, 12885;

“Par matin les fist toz armer
Et la bataille conréer.”

Footnote 1338

Harold’s speech comes from Wace, 12889 et seqq.

Footnote 1339

Roman de Rou, 12905;

“Lungues lances unt et espées,
Ke de lor terres unt aportées,
E vos avez lances agües
E granz gisarmes esmolues.
Cuntre vos armes ki bien taillent
Ke kuid les lor gaires ne vaillent.”

The respective weapons of the two nations could hardly be better
described.

Footnote 1340

Tapestry, plate 13. “Iste nuntiat Haroldum Regem de exercitu Willelmi
Ducis.” The very striking figure of Harold on his horse is clearly
shown under the tree, and the messenger and the host which he has
been spying out seem to be shown crossing the broken ground between
Telham and Senlac.

Footnote 1341

Roman de Rou, 12967;

“Quant Heraut out tot apresté,
E ço k’il volt out comandé,
Emmi les Engleiz est venu,
Lez l’estendart est _descendu_.”

This is almost a translation of the lines in the song of Maldon,
quoted in vol. i. p. 298, note 3. So again, 13103;

“Miz se sunt juste l’estandart;
Chescun prie ke Dex le gart.”

Footnote 1342

The Hyde writer (293) preserves a strange legend indeed. He puts at
this point the advice which Gyrth gave before the army left London.
Both armies are marshalled; Harold has made his speech (“Haroldus
quoque exercitum suum nunc vultu, nunc voce, nunc patriâ oratione,
hortatur”). Then Gyrth counsels his brother to withdraw, while he
himself leads on the army. Then comes this marvellous tale; “Denique
quum omnimodo Haroldus obsisteret, et numquam se Normannorum timore
fugam inire responderet, principes Anglorum equum cui solus infidebat
[insidebat?] enervaverunt, dicentes debere eum participem esse
pœnarum qui tantum malum Angliæ solus intulerit.” This is one way
indeed to account for the national tactics.

Footnote 1343

Roman de Rou, 12985–12999. Harold is here (see Appendix HH) made to
say that he has four hundred thousand men of all kinds.

Footnote 1344

Ib. 13054;

“Guert, dist Heraut, por bien le fis;
Jor li assis à samedi,
Por ço ke samedi naski;
Ma mere dire me soleit
Ke à cel jor bien m’aveindreit.”

Compare the memorable Tuesdays in the life of Saint Thomas. Herbert,
vii. 164 (Giles); Robertson’s “Becket,” 339.

Footnote 1345

Roman de Rou, 13093;

“Li quens de Flandres m’a traï;
Mult fis ke fol ke jel’ créï,
Kar par son brief m’aveit mandé,
Et par messaige asséuré
Ke Willame ne porreit mie
Aveir si grant chevalerie.”

I can throw no more light on these dealings of Baldwin with Harold
than I can upon his other no less mysterious dealings with William.
See above, p. 312, and Appendix W.

Footnote 1346

See above, p. 457, &c.

Footnote 1347

Herod. vi. 112. Μανίην τε τοῖσι Ἀθηναίοισι ἐπέφερον καὶ πάγχυ
ὀλεθρίην, ὁρέωντες αὐτοὺς ὀλίγους, καὶ τούτους δρόμῳ ἐπειγομένους,
οὔτε ἵππου ὑπαρχούσης σφι οὔτε τοξευμάτων. Here however it was no
case of δρόμῳ ἐπείγεσθαι.

Footnote 1348

Roman de Rou, 12929;

“Fet orent devant els escuz
De fenestres è d’altres fuz,
Devant els les orent levez
Come cleies joinz è serrez;
N’i lessierent nule jointure,
Fet en orent devant closture.
Par ù Normanz entrels venist,
Ki descunfire les volsist.
D’escuz è d’aiz s’avironerent,
Issi desfendre se kuiderent;
Et s’il se fussent bien tenu,
Jà ne fussent li jor veincu.”

Will. Malms. iii. 241. “Pedites omnes cum bipennibus, consertâ ante
se scutorum testudine, impenetrabilem cuneum faciunt; quod profectò
illis eâ die saluti fuisset, nisi Normanni simulatâ fugâ more suo
confertos manipulos laxâssent.” On the shield-wall, see vol. i. p.
300. Cf. the γέῤῥα of the Persians at Plataia, Herod. ix. 61 (see
Blakesley’s note), and the palisade at Mykalê, ix. 97.

Footnote 1349

See vol. i. p. 298. Will. Pict. 133. “Protinùs, equorum ope relictâ,
cuncti pedites constitere densiùs conglobati.” So Guy, 369;

“Nescia gens belli solamina spernit equorum,
Viribus et fidens hæret humo pedibus,
_Et decus esse mori summum dijudicat armis,_
_Sub juga ne tellus transeat alterius_.”

(The Peterborough Chronicler himself could not have asked for
a nobler panegyric on his countrymen than these two lines.) He
presently adds (377);

“Omnes descendunt et equos post terga relinquunt,
Affixique solo bella ciere tubis.”

Footnote 1350

See the quotation from William of Malmesbury at vol. i. p. 299.

Footnote 1351

Only one English archer is represented in the Tapestry, pl. 14. He
is a small man without armour, crouching under the shield of a tall
Housecarl, like Teukros under that of Aias; Il. viii. 267. Compare
the remarks on the use of the bow at Stamfordbridge, p. 370.

Footnote 1352

The heavy-armed English in the Tapestry are largely armed with the
axe, which one only of the light-armed in plate 15 seems to carry.
Wace therefore is hardly accurate when he says (12927),

“_Geldons_ Engleiz haches portoent,
E gisarmes ki bien trenchoent.”

“Geldons” being said to mean peasants. He had before said (12839),

“Li vilain des viles aplouent,
Tels armes portent com ils trovent,
Machues portent è granz pels,
Forches ferrées è tinels.”

The “lignis imposita saxa” of William of Poitiers (133) can hardly
mean engines for hurling stones, but rather such rude weapons as
are described in the text. Perhaps we may recognize them in the
odd-looking clubs which are borne by the flying English in the
Tapestry, pl. 16, and one of which is shown as hurled in pl. 14.
Otherwise the light-armed are mainly armed with javelins, as in pl.
15. I follow the Tapestry throughout as to the equipment of the two
classes of English.

Footnote 1353

Will. Malms. iii. 243. “Haroldus ... sæpe hostem cominùs venientem
ferire, ut nullus impune accederet quin statim uno ictu equus et
eques prociderent.” So the description in Wace (13400) of the
exploits of an English warrior;

“A un Normant s’en vint tot dreit,
Ki armé fu sor un destrier;
Od la hache ki fu d’acier,
El helme férir le kuida,
Maiz li colp ultre escolorja;
Par devant l’arcon glacéia
La hache ki mult bien trencha;
Li col del cheval en travers
Colpa k’a terre vint li fers,
E li cheval chaï avant
Od tot son mestre à terre jus.”

Many groups in the Tapestry fully bear out this description. Does the
special mention of “acier” imply that the Danish axe was, so late as
this time, ever made of bronze? I believe that, vividly as the great
axes of the eleventh century live in description and in stitch-work,
no antiquary has ever lighted on a specimen. The clashing of axe
and lance at Senlac can hardly fail to remind one of the saying of
Sperthias and Boulis (Herod. vii. 135); εἰ γὰρ αὐτῆς [ἐλευθερίης]
πειρήσαιο, οὐκ ἂν δόρασι συμβουλύοις ἡμῖν περὶ αὐτῆς μάχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ
καὶ πελέκεσι.

Footnote 1354

Roman de Rou, 13733;

“Engleiz ne saveient joster,
Ne à cheval armes porter;
Haches è gisarmes teneient,
Od tals armes se cumbateient.
Hoem ki od hache volt férir,
Od sez dous mainz l’estuet tenir,
Ne pot entendre à sei covrir,
S’il velt férir de grant aïr;
Bien férir è covrir ensemble
Ne pot l’en faire, ço me semble.”

This remark of Wace is well illustrated by many of the figures in the
Tapestry.

Footnote 1355

Wid. Amb. 375;

“In summo montis vexillum vertice fixit,
Affigique jubet cætera signa sibi.”

This seems a dark allusion to the double ensign.

Footnote 1356

See vol. i. p. 429. The passage of Henry of Huntingdon there quoted
gives us just the explanation which is needed. The Tapestry (pl. 16)
very distinctly shows the Dragon, and the other writers describe the
Standard. Whether the Standard itself is shown in the Tapestry, pl.
14, I do not feel certain. If so, the Fighting Man is not discernible.

Footnote 1357

Æsch. Sept. c. Theb. 447;

ἐσχημάτισται δ’ ἀσπὶς οὐ σμικρὸν τρόπον’
ἀνὴρ δ’ ὁπλίτης, κ.τ.λ.

Footnote 1358

Will. Pict. 144. “Memorabile vexillum Heraldi, hominis armati
imaginem intextam habens ex auro purissimo.” Will. Malms. iii. 241.
“Vexillum ... erat in hominis pugnantis figurâ, auro et lapidibus
arte sumptuosâ intextum.” So Roman de Rou, 12975;

“Li gonfanon fu mult vaillanz,
D’or è de pierres reluisanz.”

Footnote 1359

Wid. Amb. 374. “Nobilibusque viris munit utrumque latus.” So Roman de
Rou, 12973;

“Asez out entur li Baronz.
Heraut fu lez si gonfanonz.”

Footnote 1360

Will. Malms, iii. 241. “Rex ipse pedes juxta vexillum stabat cum
fratribus.” So William of Poitiers by implication (138); “Propius
Regem fratres ejus duo reperti sunt.” Wace says (12971);

“Lewine è Guert furent od lui,
Frere Heraut furent andui.”

And afterwards (13105), “Envirun els _lor parenz_ furent.” On the
strength of this I have ventured to introduce Hakon, as well as
Ælfwig. The Abbot undoubtedly was there (see vol. ii. p. 644); and,
if Harold had brought Hakon back from Normandy (see above, p. 242),
he would hardly be away. I may perhaps have been somewhat influenced
by the part which Hakon plays in Lord Lytton’s romance, where however
he somewhat usurps the traditional functions of Gyrth.

Footnote 1361

“Granz haches tindrent en lor cols,” says Wace (13111), but none
appears in the Tapestry with the axe hanging from the neck. Can “en
lor cols” mean “on their shoulders”? In the Tapestry, pl. 14, an
Englishman is distinctly shown resting his axe on his shoulder while
he uses his spear.

Footnote 1362

See above, p. 444.

Footnote 1363

Flor. Wig. 1066. “Ab horâ diei tertiâ.” So Roman de Rou, 13265;

“Dez ke tierce del jor entra,
Ke la bataille comença,
De si ke none trespassa
Fust si de si, fust si de là,
Ke nus ne sout lequel veincreit,
Ne ki la terre cunquerreit.”

But I cannot help noticing the tendency to make the hours of battles
and of other great events coincide with the hours of the Church.

Footnote 1364

Roman de Rou, 13215;

“En la champaigne out un fossé;
Normanz l’aveient adossé;
En belliant l’orent passé,
Ne l’aveient mie esgardé.”

Footnote 1365

Od. ix. 156;

Αὐτίκα καμπύλα τόξα καὶ αἰγανέας δολιχαύλους
εἰλόμεθ’ ἐκ νηῶν· διὰ δὲ τρίχα κοσμηθέντες
βάλλομεν.

Footnote 1366

Wace (13149 et seqq.) introduces him as “Taillefer ki mult bien
cantout.” Guy of Amiens first calls him (391)

“Histrio, cor audax nimium quem nobilitabat;”

and afterwards (399)

“Incisor-ferri mimus cognomine dictus.”

Footnote 1367

Roman de Rou, 13151;

“Devant li Dus alout cantant
De Karlemaine è de Rollant,
E d’Oliver è des vassals
Ki morurent en Renchevals.”

Will. Malms, iii. 242. “Tunc cantilenâ Rollandi inchoatâ, ut martium
viri exemplum pugnaturos accenderet.” So in the Ludwigslied;

“Sang was gesungen,
Wig was bigunnen.”

After the profanation of the name of the great Emperor, it is
refreshing to turn to a word or two of his own speech.

Footnote 1368

I should hardly have ventured to accept this juggling trick on the
sole authority of Henry of Huntington (M. H. B. 763 B), but we find
it also in Guy, 393;

“Hortatur Gallos verbis, et territat Anglos;
Altè projiciens ludit et ense suo.”

Footnote 1369

Will. Pict. 133. “Iis [the English missiles, see above, p. 473],
veluti mole letiferâ, statim nostros obrui putares.”

Footnote 1370

Ib. “Altissimus clamor, hinc Normannicus, illinc barbaricus, armorum
sonitu et gemitu morientium superatur.”

Footnote 1371

Roman de Rou, 13193;

“Normanz escrient; Dex aïe;
La gent englesche, _Ut_ s’escrie.”

Compare the dying words of Lewis the Pious in the Astronomer’s Life
(64, Pertz, ii. 648); “Bis dixit, _Hutz, hutz_, quod significat
_foras_. Unde patet quia malignum spiritum vidit,” &c. The English
had to drive out less ghostly foes.

Footnote 1372

As we have two ensigns, a national and a personal one, so we
evidently have a national and a personal war-cry. As, besides the
Standard, Harold’s own Standard, we have the national Dragon, so we
have the cry of “Holy Cross,” which cannot fail to be an invocation
of Harold’s own Holy Cross of Waltham, and we have also another cry
of “God Almighty,” which we must infer to be more strictly a national
cry. We may fancy that the irregular levies shouted “God Almighty,”
while the King’s Thegns and Housecarls shouted “Holy Cross.”

Footnote 1373

Compare the description of a widely different warfare;

“And one enormous shout of ‘Allah!’ rose
In the same moment, loud as even the roar
Of war’s most mortal engines, to their foes
Hurling defiance: city, stream, and shore
Resounded ‘Allah!’ and the clouds which close
With thickening canopy the conflict o’er,
Vibrate to the Eternal name. Hark through
All sounds it pierceth, ‘Allah! Allah! Hu!’”

Don Juan, viii. 8.

Footnote 1374

We here get some more of Wace’s English. Roman de Rou, 13119;

“_Olicrosse_ sovent crioent,
E _Godemite_ reclamoent;
_Olicrosse_ est en engleiz
Ke _Saints Croix_ est en franceiz,
Et _Godemite_ altretant
Com en frenceiz _Dex tot poissant_.”

Footnote 1375

Will. Pict. 133. “Subveniunt equites, et qui posteriores fuere fiunt
primi. Pudet eminùs pugnare; gladiis rem gerere audent.”

Footnote 1376

Ib. “Angli nimium adjuvantur superioris loci opportunitate, quem
sine procursu tenent, et maximè conferti; atque ingenti quoque
numerositate suâ atque validissimâ corpulentiâ; præterea pugnæ
instrumentis, quæ facile per scuta vel alia tegmina viam inveniunt.”
“Corpulentia” doubtless means height and general bigness. The English
in the Tapestry are decidedly taller than the Normans. Compare the
same remark on our continental kinsfolk, p. 90.

Footnote 1377

Will. Pict. 133. “Vulnerant et eos qui eminùs in se jacula
conjiciunt.” So Wid. Amb. 415;

“Anglorum stat fixa solo densissima turba,
Tela dat et telis et gladios gladiis.”

Footnote 1378

Will. Pict. u. s. “Fortissimè itaque sustinent vel propellunt ausos
in se districtum ensibus impetum facere.” Cf. Il. xv. 708;

οὐδ’ ἄρα τοίγε
τόξων ἀϊκὰς ἀμφὶς μένον οὐδέ τ’ ἀκόντων,
ἀλλ’ οἵγ’ ἐγγύθεν ἱστάμενοι, ἕνα θυμὸν ἔχοντες,
ὀξέσι δὴ πελέκεσσι καὶ ἀξίνῃσι μάχοντο,
καὶ ξίφεσιν μεγάλοισι καὶ ἔγχεσιν ἀμφιγύοισι.

Footnote 1379

Will. Pict. 133. “Ecce igitur hâc sævitiâ perterriti avertuntur
pedites pariter atque equites Britanni et quotquot auxiliares erant
in sinistro cornu; cedit ferè cuncta Ducis acies; quod cum pace
dictum sit Normannorum invictissimæ nationis.” So Guy, 444;

“Normanni fugiunt, dorsa tegunt clipei.”

(On the difference in the order of events between William and Guy see
Appendix KK.) Cf. Eadmer (5, 6, copied by Roger of Howden, Bromton,
and others); “De quo prœlio testantur adhuc Franci qui interfuerant,
quoniam, licèt varius casus hic inde exstiterit, tamen tanta strages
ac fuga Normannorum fuit, ut victoria quâ potiti sunt verè et absque
dubio solo miraculo Dei adseribenda sit.”

Footnote 1380

See vol. i. p. 301.

Footnote 1381

Ib. p. 424.

Footnote 1382

Will. Pict. u. s. “Credidere Normanni Ducem ac dominum suum
cecidisse.”

Footnote 1383

Will. Pict. 134. “Nudato insuper capite detractâque galeâ.” So Guy,
448; “Iratus galeâ nudat et ipse caput.” In the Tapestry, pl. 15, he
simply raises his nose-piece. This was perhaps the real action, which
it was hard to describe in an heroic fashion.

Footnote 1384

Wid. Amb. 449. “Vultum Normannis dat, verba precantia Gallis.”

Footnote 1385

Will. Pict. u. s. “Me, inquit, circumspicite. Vivo, et vincam,
opitulante Deo. Quæ vobis dementia fugam suadet?” &c. The exact words
are of course given differently in different accounts.

Footnote 1386

Ib. “Fugientibus occurrit et obstitit, verberans aut minans hastâ.”
So Guy, 445;

“Dux ubi perspexit quod gens sua victa recedit,
Occurrens illi signa ferendo manu,
Increpat et cædit, retinet, constringit et hastâ.”

Yet it is at this moment that the Tapestry (pl. 15, “Hic est Willelm
Dux”) shows him in the most marked way with his mace.

Footnote 1387

On the part taken by Eustace in the battle, see Appendix KK.

Footnote 1388

In the Tapestry, pl. 15, all William’s immediate comrades at this
point, except Eustace, are shown with drawn swords.

Footnote 1389

Roman de Rou, 13243;

“Quant Odes li boen corunez,
Ki de Baieues ert sacrez,
Poinst, si lor dist, Estez, estez;
Séiez en paiz, ne vos movez;
N’aiez poor de nule rien,
Kar se Dex plaist nos veincron bien.
Issi furent asséuré,
Ne se sunt mie remué.
Odes revint puignant arière
U la bataille esteit plus fière,
Forment i a li jor valu.”

He is very plainly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15; “Hic Odo Episcopus,
baculum tenens, confortat pueros.” Odo is most prominent in the two
authorities connected with his own church.

Footnote 1390

Will. Pict. 134. “Exardentes Normanni, et circumvenientes millia
aliquot insequuta se, momento deleverunt ea, ut ne quidem unus
superesset.” But Guy (463) seems to include other parts of the army
also;

“Post illum reliqui feriunt ad corda reversi;
Vires assumunt rejiciendo metum.
Ut stipulæ flammis pereunt spirantibus auris,
Sic a Francigenis, Anglica turba, ruis.”

Footnote 1391

I need hardly refer to the story of the Horatii and Curiatii in Livy
(i. 24); “Forte in duobus tum exercitibus erant trigemini fratres,
nec ætate nec viribus dispares.”

Footnote 1392

See above, p. 434.

Footnote 1393

Wid. Amb. 471;

“Heraldi frater, non territus ore leonis,
Nomine Gernt, Regis traduce progenitus,
Librando telum celeri volitante lacerto,
Eminus emisso cuspide corpus equi
Vulnerat, atque Ducem peditem bellare coegit;
Sed pedes effectus dimicat et meliùs.”

So Will. Pict. 136. “Equi tres ceciderunt sub eo confossi. Ter ille
desiluit intrepidus, nec diu mors vectoris inulta remansit.” So Will.
Malms. iii. 244. “Dum ubique sævit, ubique infrendet, tres equos
lectissimos sub se confossos eâ die amisit.” I find no account of the
third unhorsing.

Footnote 1394

Od. ix. 49:

Ἤπειρον ναίοντες, ἐπιστάμενοι μὲν ἀφ’ ἵππων
ἀνδράσι μάρνασθαι, καὶ ὅθι χρὴ πεζὸν ἐόντα.

Footnote 1395

On the different accounts of the death of Gyrth, see Appendix KK.

Footnote 1396

The death of Leofwine as well as of Gyrth is placed at this point in
the Tapestry, pl. 14.

Footnote 1397

Liv. xxvii. 49. “Ibi, ut patre Hamilcare et Hannibale fratre dignum
erat, pugnans cecidit.” Compare the reception of the news by Hannibal
in c. 51.

Footnote 1398

Roman de Rou, 13874;

“Là ù la presse ert plus espesse,
Là cil de Kent è cil d’Essesse
A merveille se cumbateient,
E li Normanz ruser faiseient,
En sus les faiseient retraire,
Ne lor poeient grant mal faire.”

Footnote 1399

Wid. Amb. 489;

“Ille timens cædem negat illi ferre salutem;
Nam pavitat mortem, ceu lepus ante canem.”

But the other motive is just as likely in one “ex Cenomannorum
progenitus genere.”

Footnote 1400

Ib. 491;

“Dux memor, ut miles subitò se vertit ad illum,
Per nasum galeæ concitus accipiens,
Vultum telluri, plantas ad sidera volvit;
Sic sibi concessum scandere currit equum.”

Mark the mention of the _nose-piece_, so conspicuous in the Tapestry.

Footnote 1401

Ib. 501;

“Postquam factus eques Dux est, mox acriùs hostes
Vulnerat, aggreditur, fulminat, insequitur.”

Footnote 1402

Ib. 503–518. The Englishman is described as

“Filius Hellocis, vir celer et facilis.”

I wish I knew how to identify him.

Footnote 1403

Ib. 525;

“Talibus auspiciis Comes et Dux associati,
Quo magis arma micant, bella simul repetunt.”

Footnote 1404

Will. Pict. 134. “Patuerunt tamen in eos viæ incisæ per diversas
partes fortissimorum militum ferro.”

Footnote 1405

Ib. “Tiro quidam Normannus Robertus, Rogerii de Bello-Monte filius
... prœlium illo die primum experiens, egit quod æternandum esset
laude, cum legione quam in dextro cornu duxit irruens ac sternens
magnâ cum audaciâ.” Wace (13462) seemingly confounds Robert with his
father Roger, who was not there. See Prevost’s note, ii. 229, and
above, p. 384. Mark how the allies and mercenaries are put under
Norman officers.

Footnote 1406

Roman de Rou, 12941;

“Jà Normant ne s’i embastist,
Ke l’alme à hunte ne perdist,
Fust par hache, fust par gisarme,
U par machue u par altre arme.”

Footnote 1407

See above, p. 161.

Footnote 1408

Wid. Amb. 421;

“Nec penetrare valent spissum nemus Angligenarum,
Ni tribuat vires viribus ingenium.”

(The metaphor of the “nemus” or “silva” runs throughout Guy’s
description.) So William of Malmesbury (ii. 228) speaks of Harold as
being “astutiâ Willelmi circumventus.”

Footnote 1409

Will. Pict. 135. “Meminerunt quam optatæ rei paullò ante fuga dederit
occasionem.”

Footnote 1410

The Brevis Relatio however (7) calls them “cuneus Normannorum fere
usque ad mille equites.” But he adds that they were “ex alterâ parte”
from the Duke’s own post.

Footnote 1411

Will. Pict. u. s. “Animadvertentes Normanni, sociaque turba, non
absque nimio sui incommodo hostem tantum simul resistentem superari
posse, terga dederunt, fugam ex industriâ simulantes.”

Footnote 1412

Guy of Amiens (425) marks clearly what troops they were who broke
their order;

“Rustica lætatur gens et superâsse putabat,
Post tergum nudis insequitur gladiis.”

William of Poitiers (135) is here very graphic; “Barbaris cum spe
victoriæ ingens lætitia exorta est. Sese cohortantes exsultantè
clamore nostros maledictis increpabant, et minabantur cunctos illicò
ruituros esse.”

Footnote 1413

Will. Pict. 135. “Normanni repente regirati equis interceptos et
inclusos undique mactaverunt, nullum relinquentes.” Brevis Relatio,
8. “Normanni, qui erant cautiores bello quam Angli, mox redierunt,
atque inter illos et agmen a quo se disjunxerant, se immiserunt.”
Wid. Amb. 433;

“Quique fugam simulant instantibus ora retorquent,
Constrictos cogunt vertere dorsa neci.
Pars ibi magna perit, pars et densata resistit,
_Millia namque decem sunt ibi passa necem_.”

Footnote 1414

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Ita ingenio circumventi, pulcram mortem pro
patriæ ultione meruere: nec tamen ultioni suæ defuere, quin crebrò
consistentes, de insequentibus insignes cladis acervos facerent; nam,
occupato tumulo, Normannos, calore succensos acriter ad superiora
nitentes, in vallem dejiciunt, levique negotio in subjectos tela
torquentes, lapides rotantes, omnes ad unum fundunt.” The scene is
vividly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15, and the defenders of the
little hill are all light-armed.

Footnote 1415

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Item fossatum quoddam præruptum, compendiario
et noto sibi transitu evadentes, tot ibi inimicorum conculcavere, ut
cumulo cadaverum planitiem campi æquarent.” On this last proverbial
saying, see above, pp. 351, 369, and Appendix CC. This scene is most
vividly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 15; “Hic ceciderunt simul Angli et
Franci in prœlio.” It must not be confounded with the similar event
later in the day on the other side of the hill. See Appendix KK.

Footnote 1416

Wid. Amb; 427;

“Amotis sanis labuntur dilacerati,
Silvaque spissa priùs rarior efficitur.”

Footnote 1417

This was evidently the case, and this is, I suppose, what Guy of
Amiens means in his somewhat difficult lines (429);

“Conspicit ut campum cornu tenuare sinistrum,
Intrandi dextrum quod via larga patet.”

“Dextrum” would thus mean the _English_ right.

Footnote 1418

Will. Pict. 135. “Fit deinde insoliti generis pugna, quam altera
pars incursibus et diversis motibus agit, altera, velut humo adfixa,
tolerat.... Mortui plus dum cadunt, quam vivi moveri videntur.
Leviter sauciatos non permittit evadere, sed comprimendo necat,
sociorum densitas.” He had before said (134), “Ob nimiam densitatem
eorum labi vix potuerunt interempti.” So Guy, 417;

“Spiritibus nequeunt frustrata cadavera sterni,
Nec cedunt vivis corpora militibus:
Omne cadaver enim, vitâ licet evacuatam,
Stat velut illæsum, possidet atque locum.”

Footnote 1419

Will. Pict. u. s. “Reliquos majori cum alacritate aggressi sunt,
aciem adhuc horrendam et quam difficillimum erat circumvenire.”

Footnote 1420

See above, p. 477. Wace makes three o’clock the time when William
gave the order to shoot up into the air. I cannot help thinking that
it must have been much nearer sunset when that order was given, and
that the hour of vespers rather marks the time when the Normans first
got on the hill.

Footnote 1421

Of the long list of stories of this kind given by Wace (13387 et
seqq.) I pick out a few of the more remarkable.

Footnote 1422

See above, p. 474, note 1.

Footnote 1423

Will. Malms, iii. 242–244. “Emicuit ibi virtus amborum ducum.
Haroldus, non contentus munere imperatorio ut hortaretur alios,
militis officium sedulò exequebatur.... Item Willelmus suos clamore
et præsentiâ hortari, ipse primus procurrere, confertos hostes
invadere.” Cf. vol. i. p. 424.

Footnote 1424

Will. Pict. 136. “Cum Heraldo, tali qualem poëmata dicunt Hectorem
vel Turnum, non minùs auderet Willelmus congredi singulari certamine
quam Achilles cum Hectore vel Æneas cum Turno.”

Footnote 1425

Roman de Rou, 13845–13872.

Footnote 1426

Ib. 13910–13915.

Footnote 1427

Ib. 13388;

“Quant un Engleiz vint acorant;
En sa cumpaigne out chent armez,
De plusors armes atornez.
Hache noresche out mult bele.”

It has been suggested that this centurion may have been a hundred-man
or _centenarius_.

Footnote 1428

Roman de Rou, 13428–13461. The sworn brotherhood is thus described;

“Ki s’esteient acumpaignié
Por ço ke bien erent preisié.
Ensemble debveient aler,
Li uns debveit l’altre garder.”

Of their axes we read, as of that of Harold;

“En lors cols aveient levées
Dui gisarmes lunges è lées;
As Normanz feseient granz mals,
Homes tuoent è chevals.”

It is hard to identify any of these stories with the particular
groups in the Tapestry, but in plates 15 and 16 several single
combats of this kind may be seen, which well illustrate the deadly
effect of the English axes.

Footnote 1429

Roman de Rou, 13751–13764. This story is told with great spirit. The
four last lines run;

“Maiz li Engleiz l’avironerent,
Od lor gisarmes le tuerent:
Là fu trové quant il fu quis,
Lez l’estandart mort et occis.”

On his kindred to Ralph of Tesson (see vol. ii. p. 256) see Prevost’s
note, ii. 265.

Footnote 1430

Roman de Rou, 13395;

“En la bataille el primer front,
La ù Normanz plus espez sont,
En vint saillant plus tost ke cers.”

This encounter (described by Wace, 13387–13423) is worth notice
on several grounds. I have quoted some lines above, p. 494. The
Englishman is at last killed by Roger of Montgomery, who exclaims,
“Ferez, Franceiz.” M. Pluquet (ii. 227) here comments on the Norman
Roger calling his men “French.” The name of “Franci” (see above, p.
419) would take in all William’s followers, but Roger of Montgomery
was (see above, p. 459) in the immediate command of the distinctly
French contingent.

Footnote 1431

Will. Pict. 135. “Languent Angli, et quasi reatum ipso defectu
confitentes vindictam patiuntur.” So Guy, 527;

“Amborum gladiis campus rarescit ab Anglis,
Defluit et numerus, nutat et atteritur,
Corruit appositâ ceu silva minuta securi,
Sic nemus Angligentûm ducitur ad nihilum.”

Footnote 1432

Wid. Amb. 533;

“... Dux prospexit Regem super ardua montis
Acriter instantes dilacerare suos.”

Will. Malms. iii. 242. “Valuit hæc vicissitudo, modò illis modò istis
vincentibus, quantùm Haroldi vita moram fecit.”

Footnote 1433

Flor. Wig. 1066. “Ab horâ diei tertiâ usque noctis crepusculum suis
adversariis restitit fortissimè, et seipsum pugnando tam fortiter
defendit et tam strenuè ut vix ab hostili interimi posset agmine.”
Od. ix. 56;

ὄφρα μὲν ἠὼς ἦν καὶ ἀέξετο ἱερὸν ἦμαρ,
τόφρα δ’ ἀλεξάμενοι μένομεν πλέονάς περ ἐόντας·
ἦμος δ’ ἠέλιος μετενίσσετο βουλυτόνδε,
καὶ τότε δὴ Κίκονες κλῖναν δαμάσαντες Ἀχαιούς.

Footnote 1434

See the full account in the Roman de Rou, 13275–13296. So Henry
of Huntingdon (M. H. B. 763); “Docuit igitur Dux Willielmus viros
sagittarios ut non in hostem directè, sed in aëra sursum sagittas
emitterent, cuneum hostilem sagittis cæcarent, quod Anglis magno fuit
detrimento.” Henry is copied by Ralph of Diss, X Scriptt. 480, and
Bromton, 960.

Footnote 1435

Roman de Rou, 13287;

“Quant li saetes reveneient,
De sor les testes lor chaeient,
Chiés è viaires lor perçoent,
Et à plusors les oilz crevoent;
Ne n’osoent les oilz ovrir,
Ne lor viaires descovrir.”

Footnote 1436

Ib. 13293;

“Saetes plus espessement
Voloent ke pluie par vent.”

So Henry of Huntingdon (u. s.), who is again followed by Ralph and
Bromton; “Interea totus imber sagittariorum cecidit circa Regem
Haraldum, et ipse in oculo percussus corruit.”

Footnote 1437

Wid. Amb. 543;

“Per nimias cædes nam bellica jura tenentes
Heraldus cogit pergere carnis iter.”

Footnote 1438

Roman de Rou, 13297;

“Issi avint k’une saete
Ki de verz li ciel ert chaete,
Féri Heraut de sus l’oil dreit,
Ki l’un des oilz li a toleit;
E Heraut l’a par aïr traite,
Getée a les mains, si l’a fraite.
Por li chief ki l’a dolu
S’est apuié sor son escu.”

This scene, the turning-point of all English history, is vividly
shown in the Tapestry, pl. 16. Wace places it too early in the
battle. William of Poitiers and the English writers do not mention
the manner of the King’s death. All that Florence can utter is “heu,
ipsemet cecidit crepusculi tempore.” William of Malmesbury (iii. 242)
says, “Jactu sagittæ violato cerebro procubuit,” and in the next
chapter, after describing Harold’s exploits (see above, p. 474), how
every Norman who came near him was cut down, adds the remarkable
expression, “_quapropter_, ut dixi, eminùs letali arundine ictus
mortem implevit.” Compare—if any comparison be not sacrilege—the
death of Richard, son of Richard King of the Romans, at the siege
of Berwick in 1296 (Walt. Hem. ii. 98); “Ibi corruit frater Comitis
Cornubiæ, miles strenuissimus [Harold’s own epithet], qui quum ad
hostes caput in altum erigeret, in ipsum oculari aperturâ galeæ
percussus telo, confestim cecidit et expiravit.” Between 1066 and
1296 the nose-piece had been exchanged for the vizor.

Footnote 1439

Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 C. “Viginti autem equites strenuissimi fidem
suam dederunt invicem quod Anglorum catervam perrumpentes signum
regium quod vocatur Standard arriperent. Quod dum facerent, plures
eorum occisi sunt; pars autem eorum, viâ gladiis factâ, Standard
asportavit.” But it would seem from Wace that it was rather the
Dragon which was carried off (13956);

“L’estendart unt à terre mis,
Et li Reis Heraut unt occis
E li meillor de ses amis;
Li gonfanon à or unt pris.”

So directly after (13965); “E l’estendart out abatu.” And so again,
14013.

Footnote 1440

Hen. Hunt. M. H. B. 763 C. “Irrumpens autem multitudo equitum Regem
vulneratum interfecit.”

Footnote 1441

Guy of Amiens (537) gives their names. Eustace has been already
mentioned;

“Alter ut Hectorides, Pontivi nobilishæres;
Hos comitatur Hugo promptus in officio;
Quartus Gilfardus patris a cognomine dictus;
Regis ad exitium quattuor arma ferunt.”

Footnote 1442

Compare the four murderers of Saint Thomas, who however needed a
fifth, and that a clerical hand, to imitate this particular act of
brutality. Will. Fil. Steph. 303. “Quidam Hugo de Horsea, cognomento
Malus Clericus, sancti martyris procumbentis collum pede comprimens,
a concavitate coronæ amputatæ, cum mucrone cruorem et cerebrum
extrahebat.” Cf. Edw. Grim, 77; Reg. Pont. 168.

Guy leaves out all mention of the wound from the arrow.

Footnote 1443

Wid. Amb. 549;

“Abscidit coxam quartus procul egit ademptam;
Taliter occisum terra cadaver habet.”

This action is very clearly shown in the Tapestry, pl. 16. So Wace,
13942.

Footnote 1444

Will. Malms. iii. 243. “Jacentis femur unus militum gladio proscidit;
unde a Willelmo ignominiæ notatus, quod rem ignavam et pudendam
fecisset, militiâ pulsus est.” But I certainly cannot identify the
one among the four mentioned by Guy who was punished in this way by
William.

The death of Harold reminds one of the death of Patroklos (Il. xvi.
818);

Ἔκτωρ δ’, ὡς εἶδεν Πατροκλῆα μεγάθυμον
ἂψ ἀνάχαζόμενον, βεβλημένον ὀξέϊ χαλκῷ,
ἀγχίμολόν ῥά οἱ ἦλθε κατὰ στίχας, οὖτα δὲ δουρὶ
νείατον ἐς κενεῶνα· διὰ πρὸ δὲ χαλκὸν ἔλασσε.

Footnote 1445

The resistance of the heavy-armed English after the death of Harold
is shown most distinctly in the Tapestry, pl. 16; but it is confined
to the heavy-armed.

Footnote 1446

Will. Pict. 137. “Viderunt Normannos non multum decrevisse
peremptorum casu, et quasi virium incrementa pugnando sumerent,
acriùs quam in principio imminere.”

Footnote 1447

Flor. Wig. 1066. “Comites etiam Gyrth et Leofwinus fratres illius
cecidere, et fere nobilitas totius Angliæ.” This is an enlargement of
the Worcester Chronicle; “Ðær wearð ofslægen Harold Kyng and Leofwine
Eorl his broðor and Gyrð Eorl his broðor and fela godra manna.”

Footnote 1448

Guy indeed says (553), “Bella negant Angli; veniam poscunt superati,”
but nothing of the sort is implied either in William of Poitiers or
in the Tapestry. William (137) speaks of “Ducis eam sævitiam quæ
nulli contra stanti parceret,” and the Tapestry (pl. 16) shows all
the heavy-armed English lying dead.

Footnote 1449

See above, p. 427.

Footnote 1450

See below, p. 508.

Footnote 1451

Chron. Petrib. 1066. “And þa wæs Leofric Abbot of Burh æt þæt ilca
feord, and sæclode þær, and com ham, and wæs dæd sone þæræfter on
ælre halgan mæsse-niht.”

Footnote 1452

Wid. Amb. 681;

“Intus erat quidam contractus debilitate
Renum, sicque pedum segnis ab officio;
Vulnera pro patriâ quoniam numerosa recepit;
Lecticâ vehitur mobilitate carens.”

This is said of “Ansgardus,” whom I hold to be the same as Esegar.
See above, p. 424, and Appendix EE.

Footnote 1453

Wid. Amb. 557;

“Vesper erat, jam cardo diem volvebat ad umbras,
Victorem fecit quum Deus esse Ducem.
Solum devictis nox et fuga profuit Anglis,
Densi per latebras et tegimen nemoris.”

Footnote 1454

Tapestry, pl. 16. “Fugâ vertunt Angli.” The fliers are all
light-armed.

Footnote 1455

See vol. i. p. 301.

Footnote 1456

Will. Pict. 137. “In fugam itaque conversi quantociùs abierunt, alii
raptis equis, nonnulli pedites.”

Footnote 1457

This adventure of Eustace is described at length by William of
Poitiers (137). William seems now to be armed with a broken lance;
“Terribilior cum parte hastæ quam grandia spicula vibrantes.” He
calls back Eustace from his flight; “Eustachium Comitem cum militibus
quinquaginta aversum et receptui signa canere volentem ne abiret
virili voce compellavit.” The blow given to Eustace is thus described
(138); “Hæc inter verba percussus Eustachius inter scapulas ictu
sonoro, cujus gravitatem statim sanguis demonstrabat naribus et ore.”

Footnote 1458

This last scene of the battle is left out by Wace and Guy of Amiens,
but it comes out very strongly in William of Poitiers, 137; “Rediit
tamen fugientibus confidentia, nactis ad renovandum certamen maximam
opportunitatem, prærupti _vallis_ [valli?] et frequentium fossarum.”
Orderic (501 D), who partly follows William of Jumièges (vii. 36),
is fuller; “Nam crescentes herbæ antiquum aggerem tegebant, ubi
summopere currentes Normanni cum equis et armis ruebant; ac sese,
dum unus super alterum repente cadebat, vicissim exstinguebant.
Ibi nimirum fugientibus Anglis rediit confidentia. Cernentes enim
opportunitatem prærupti _valli_ et frequentium fossarum, inopinatò
restiterunt, in unum collecti sunt, et Normannis magnam stragem
fortiter intulerunt.” He says that fifteen thousand of the Normans
were killed at this point, which must surely be the number of the
slain in the whole battle. He mentions one only by name, “Eginulfus
Aquilensis oppidanus.” The name of _Malfosse_ comes from the
Chronicon de Bello, 5. See Appendix KK.

I do not feel at all clear about the reading of the words in Italics.
There is a “prærupta vallis,” but the palisade could hardly be called
a “vallum,” and I greatly doubt about Orderic’s “antiquus agger.” The
gender of “vallis” however in William of Poitiers is odd.

Footnote 1459