1823.] 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ELUCIDATIONS of PORTIONS of ENGLISH 
HISTORY improperly REPRESENTED in 
our GENERAL HISTORIES. 
History of the Invasion of England by 
the Normans in the Eleventh Century; 
and the Consequences of that Invasion 
down to the Thirteenth. 
( Continued from p. 209.) 
ati same policy which influenced 
Henry to seek the alliance of the 
Pnglish people, decided him to marry 
a woman of Anglo-Saxon blood. ‘There 
was then in England an orphan daugh- 
ier of Margaret, the sister of King 
Edgar and of Malcolm the King of 
the Scotch. Shehad been brought up 
at Romsey Abbey, under the affec- 
fionate care of another sister of Edgar, 
Christine or Christian, who had taken 
the veil in 1086, when her brother had 
abandoned all hope of restoring his 
own fortunes, and the fortunes of his 
country. As the daughter of a Scot- 
tish king, she had been sought in mayr- 
riage by nany of the Norman captains, 
after the death of her father; and had 
been asked of William the Red by 
Alain the Red, count of the Bretons ; 
but'this Alain dicd before the king’s 
¢onsenthad becn obtained, Guillaume 
de 'Garenne was the next suitor; but 
the cause of his not possessing her is 
unknown.* Such wes the woman 
destined to be the wife of the third 
Norman king, by those who saw the 
necessity of obtaining the support of a 
conquered people against the partizans 
of Robert. Many of the English nou- 
rished the foolish hope, that the good 
old times of English happiness’ would 
return, when the descendant of thejr 
king should be the wife of the fo- 
reiguer. Those who were united to 
the family of Edgar by any bond of 
blood or of affection, hastened to the 
young maiden, and implored her to 
consent to the marriage. She mani- 
fested the strongest disgust; but was 
so borne down by their solicitations, 
that she consented from pure weari- 
ness, and quite against her will. 
They repeated to her to satiety,— 
“Most genérous of women! if dhou 
wilt, thou shalt raise out of its grave 
the ancient honour of Exgland,—thou 
shalt be a token of alliance,—a pledge 
of reconciliation; but, if thou refuse, 
* Ord. Vil, 702%. 
tf Matt. Paris, 40. Tandem sedio con- 
fecta. 
MontHLy Mac. No. 388. 
Elucidations of Portions of English Mistory. 
207 
thy refusal will make the enmity eter- 
nal between the two people, and human 
blood will never cease to flow.”* 
When the niece of Edgar had at 
last consented, her ancient name of 
Edith was changed to that of Ma- 
tilda, which had less of a Saxon 
character, and was, in’ consequence, 
less offensive to Norman ears.f° This 
precaution was not the only one ne- 
cessary, for amony the Normats ‘there 
was a strong party epposed to the 
marriage. ‘This party was composed 
of the enemies of Henry, who saw with 
alarm the strength it would give him- 
among the English population; or 
some perhaps who, influenced by the 
solitary feeling of pride and hatred, 
were indignant that a Saxon woman 
should become the Queen of the 
Normans. Their ill-will, however, 
created a thousand difficulties. They 
asserted that Matilda, bred up from 
her infancy in a convent among nuns, 
had been devoted to God by her pa- 
rents.. It was reported that she had 
publicly worn the veil; and the mar- 
riage, which it was wished to prevent, 
was openly declared a profanation ; it 
was, in consequence, to the great joy 
of many of the Normans. A monk of 
Bec, named Anselme, had sueceeded 
Lanfranc in the Archbishopric of Can- 
terbury. Historians render him this 
singular testimony,—that he was be- 
loved by the English as if he were an 
Englishman.t While Lanfranc, car- 
rying into effect his project of destroy- 
ing the reputation of all the Saxon 
saints, attacked the beatification ‘of 
Elfeg,§ (who had been killed in 912 by 
the Danish invaders,) Anselme, then 
nothing but a Norman monk, happen- 
ed to visit England; aud the prelate, 
in the fury of bis hatred against the 
saints of the people, insulted the me- 
mory of Elfeg, and spoke scornfully of 
his pretended martyrdom. “He was 
a martyr,—a genuine martyr, (replied 
Anselme;) he died for his country. 
Klfeg died for the sake of justice, as 
John died for the sake of truth; and 
both for Christ,—who is both truth and 
justice.”|| The friendship of Anselme 
for the conquerors, —a rare virtue 
anions 
* Matt. Paris. 40. 
t Ord. Vit. 702, 
t Eadmer, 12. 
§ Vita Lantranci. 
|| Anglia Sacra, ii. 162, 
2Q 
