2 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



the English crown had invariably devolved on the heir of the 

 last King, Edgar would have succeeded and have been crowned 

 King. But the English monarchy was then elective, although 

 the choice of the electors was usually confined to the house of 

 Cerdic, and a certain deference was paid to the wishes of the 

 late King. For reasons which to them were perfectly adequate, 

 the Witenagemot, which was actually sitting when the Con- 

 fessor died, passed over Edgar, and chose as King, Earl Harold, 

 the son of Godwin, and the brother-in-law of his predecessor, 

 who, it must be remembered, had been recommended to 

 them by the dying Edward. For nine months he reigned, 

 and then, on October 14, 1066, died in battle, in a fruitless 

 attempt to repulse the invasion of William, Duke of Nor- 

 mandy. The English Chronicle represents this invasion 

 as an unwarranted act of aggression on a people who dwelt 

 "quiet and secure," and such was the universal opinion of 

 all Englishmen. But it was the opinion of the Duke of 

 Normandy that he was merely asserting his right to an 

 inheritance of which he had been unjustly deprived by a 

 perjured traitor. 



Edward the Confessor was notoriously a weak man, and 

 many years before his death had promised his recommendation 

 to the grandson of his mother's brother, his cousin, William, 

 Duke of Normandy, with whom he had been educated. The 

 latter was clever enough in later years to secure some vague 

 promise of help from Earl Harold Godwinson, but the nature 

 and date of this promise are matters of great obscurity. After 

 a careful examination of all the authorities, Mr. Freeman 

 thinks that it was made about the year 1063, when Harold 

 was wrecked on the French coast, and was taken prisoner by 

 Guy, Count of Ponthieu. Duke William, Guy's suzerain, 

 heard of Harold's plight, and secured his release, but before 

 sending him back to England, entrapped him into some oath, 

 the sanctity of which was increased by the sanctity of the relics 

 on which it was sworn. Possibly the oath was an oath of 



