Elucidations of Portions of English History. [April 1 , 



The news of these troubles brought 

 William back from Normandy. Roger 

 and Waltheof were seized and con- 

 ducted to the court or palace* of the 

 king, where the assemblyf of (he Nor- 

 man chiefs was held. They were then 

 interrogated as to the motives and the 

 objects of their conspiracy. Kault, 

 who was absent, was immediately de- 

 prived of all he possessed in England 

 for ever. Roger, who was present, 

 was, according to the Norman laws,f 

 condemned to be dispossessed of all 

 his property, and to pass the remain- 

 der of his existence in the king's 

 prison.§ 



Those who had been present at the 

 fatal nuptials, or who hud been taken 

 in arms, — whether Bretons, Saxons, 

 or Gauls, — had their eyes torn out, 

 their limbs mutilated, or were hung in 

 gibbets, by the sentence of the Nor- 

 man chiefs, prelates, barons, and che- 

 valiers, assembled in the palace of 

 their master. || Two hundred Danish 

 vessels, commanded by a son of King^ 

 Sweyn, had approached the eastern 

 coast, but retired to the Flemish shores 

 on hearing what had occurred. Wal- 

 theof was accused of having invited 

 them by his agents.^ He denied the 

 imputation ; but the Norman wife he 

 had received from the hands of Wil- 

 liam became liis betrayer, and gave 

 evidence against him.** The opinions 

 liary of a naval force. || Count Raulf of the court (to use the Norman ex- 



$02 



a groat number of barons and warriors 

 of diflercnt nations, bound themselves 

 by an oalh to overthrow the authority 

 of the king. Waltheof joined in the 

 conspiracy.* 



The Count of Hereford hastened to 

 the west in order to raise his followers. 

 He engaged the Welch to unite with 

 bim,t — whom the conqueror had al- 

 ready menaced with the fate of the 

 Saxons ; and was returning with his 

 forces to join his friends, when, in 

 crossing the Severn, he found himself 

 opposed by the army of Gualtier 

 de Lacy, and Ours viscount of Wor- 

 cester : to the latter were united two 

 Saxons, — Wulfstan bishop of Wor- 

 cester, the only Englishman who had 

 preserved his see, and Egilwy abbot 

 of Evesham, the servile courtisan of 

 the invaders. At the instigation of 

 these, some of the natives joined them- 

 selves to the royal forces. Roger 

 could not reach the appointed place of 

 meeting. 



Meanwhile the other conspirators 

 assembled their friends, and fortified 

 their castles with arms and provi- 

 sions.t They sent messengers over 

 England and to foreign countries, — 

 they joined promises to solicitations,§ 

 in order to increase the number of 

 their partisans. The Saxons again 

 negociated with the people of Den- 

 mark, who promised them the auxi- 



€stablished his camp near Cambridge ; 

 and was attacked there by Eudes 

 bishop of Bayeux, GeollVey bishop of 

 Coutances, and Guillaume de Garen- 

 na.^f The battle took place in a spot 

 which the historians call Fagaden ; 

 and the confederated army was totally 

 defeated. It is said the brutal con- 

 querors cut ofl" the right foot of many 

 of their prisoners, that they might be 

 afterwards recognized.** Raulf de 

 Gadher escaped, and fled to Norwich ; 

 but he speedily left that city, and em- 

 barked for Brittany, giving his castle 

 in charge to his bride and his friends. 

 The daughter of Guillaume Fitz-Os- 

 bert sustained a long attack from the 

 royal troops, and was reduced to sub- 

 mit by famine at last.ff 



* Script. Fran. 596. 



t Matt. Par. 7. 



t Ord.Vit. 534. 



§ lb. 



II Matt. Par. 7. 



% Giiarenna, or Waircna, - Warren. 



»» Mat. Paris, 7. 



tt Do. 



pression,) were divided as to (he sen- 

 tence to be inflicted on the Saxon 

 chiettain. Some voted for his imme- 

 diale death, as an English rebel ; 

 others for his perpetual imprisonment, 

 as a Norman officer. The debates 

 lasted a whole year ; during which 

 Waltheof was confined in the royal 

 fortress j-t of Winchester. At last, in 

 one of the newly assembled courts, se- 

 verity triumphed; and it was decided 

 that the prisoner should be put to 

 death. Contemporary historians ac- 

 cuse his Norman wife of urging for- 

 ward that sentence of death, which 

 would leave her again at liberty .JJ In 

 truth such unions were almost as me- 

 lancholy 



* Curia. 



t Concilium, Lat. Parlenient, Nor. 



t Ord. Vit. p. 535. 



§ In carcere regis.— lb. 



II Ciiron. Sax. 183: Matt. Par. 7. 



If Ford. Chr. 111. jlO. 



** Jos. Bioin|vtoii. 974. 



tt Ord. Vit. 536. 



tt lb. Ingulf. Crovl. 903. 



