1 Elucidations of Foriions 



bastard,) if God gives me life enough, 

 thcro Bhall be more wine to drink with 

 the monks of La Bataille than there 

 is c.lear water in all the convents of 

 Christendom."* 



In the spring, which, according to 

 the old stjle of tlic calendar, com- 

 menced the year 10G7, the Norman 

 troops had already advanced to the 

 north-east, as far as the great pron'.ou- 

 tory which i'ornied the county of Nor- 

 folk. To the south-west, as far as the 

 liilly country which bounds Dorset- 

 shire. The town of Oxford, situated 

 midway between these two extreme 

 points,— if a right line were drawn 

 from one to the other, — was not yet 

 in tlieir power; though perhaps this 

 ideal frontier had been passed both to 

 Ihe north and south of Oxford. It is 

 •lifficuU to decide what were the limits 

 to the progress of the invader, as no 

 contemporary writers had given the 

 details of the obstacles, or the charac- 

 ter of the resislancc. It would seem 

 probable that, at the beginnhig of this 

 second year of English servitude, the 

 boundaries of the invaded territory 

 were, on one side the river Ouso and 

 the extensive marshes of Cambridge- 

 shire, and on the other the chain of 

 hdls which stretch from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Bridport into tlie sea. 

 From hence to the eastern ocean the 

 towns and the country were subdued, 

 and the law of conquest reigned. 



What w as this hard and cruel law I 

 We may learn it from an unsuspected 

 wifness, — from cnie of tlic sons of Ihc 

 conqueror, — from the Norman Ri- 

 chard, liishop of Ely. If this man,— 

 a cold and heartless narrator of (he 

 misery of a people, whose misery was 

 nothing to him, — if this man is to be 

 believed, in proportion as the Norman 

 king and his captains made new con- 

 quests in their progressive invasion, 

 they informed themselves carefully as 

 to the names of those who had armed 

 themselves for their cour try's liberty.f 

 \^ hefher they had perished in the 

 struggle, or were jet alive, their do- 

 mains, their wealth, their revenues, 

 were confiscated. Th.ose who sur- 

 vived the fieedoui of England, and 

 the sons of those who had died for it, 

 were driven for ever from their pater- 

 nal inheritance. They knew (says the 

 Norman) that, when tiieir lives were 



* Monas. An^l. 31'.^. 



t Uial. lie Star. Ex app. Matt. Paris. 



oj English History. [Feb. I, 



spared, favour enough was shown.* 

 The property too of the English, who, 

 from absence or involuntary delay, 

 had taken no part in the combat, was 

 seized and alienated for ever.t— unless 

 by long services and unqualified ser- 

 vility towards their masters,! by weary 

 years of obedience and humiliation, 

 they obtained pardon fur themselves, 

 and the restoration of a small portion 

 of their property to their children. || 



The inuncnse proceeds of tliis uni- 

 versal spoliation enabled William to 

 fulfil his engagements towards the 

 warriors of all nations, wiio followed 

 his conquering footsteps. lie gave to 

 his chiefs cities, whole provinces, 

 castles, and vast domains :§ his vassals 

 he rewarded with grants of land. 

 There was no individual niuecom- 

 penscd: but it mnst be observed, these 

 sifts w ei e neither free nor gratuitous : 

 William had obliged himself to df liver, 

 (according to the expression of the 

 Norman Chronicle,'^) and distribute, 

 the land of tiic conquered in various 

 portions. This was the ri^orons con- 

 dition upon which all ranks of his 

 army had enrolled tjicmselvcs under 

 his banner, v, to use the language of 

 the time, had taken the oath of ho- 

 mage. Someamongthem recpiired pay- 

 ment in nsoney, whisdi AViili:im counted 

 over to them.** Others demanded to 

 possess Saxon women; and William 

 (says the Ciironicle,) gave them in 

 marriage noble ladies, the inheritors 

 of groat estates, whose husbands had 

 fallen in the field. ti" These odious 

 unions were not the sole indignity 

 which the Saxon women were com- 

 pelled to sud'cr. They wore the sport 

 of the ei)n(|uerors, and tin- noblest and 

 the loveliest among them were tlxi 

 victims of the brutal lubricity of the 

 vilest of the Norman troops. tJ Their 

 doom was that of their sex in every 

 country, when their defenders have 

 bent themselves beneath a foreign 

 yoke.ll il 



* Dial, de Scar. Ed app. Matt. Paris, 

 t 11). 



* lb. 



II •'»• 



J Dona chastils, dona citcn 

 Dona nianeirs, dona couscr. — Jfalf. 

 Kec. des Hist. Franc et Gaul. xiii. 



231, 



Chr. de Normandie, xiii. 

 tt lb. 139. 

 tt Ord. Vit. 523, 

 nil lb. 



Insult, 



