THE NORMAN CONQUERORS AND THEIR SUCCESSORS 



William the Norman were alike in many particulars, and should be 

 studied in parallel far more than they are as a general rule. 



The Beginning of the Norman Conquest. 



The records are rather vague as to how Earl Harold, being the 

 obvious future King of England, came to fall into the hands of Duke 

 William of Normandy, but it is more than likely that it was in the course 

 of his thorough understanding of the value of a sea patrol. We know 

 perfectly well that he maintained a considerable Navy and knew how to 

 use it as a protection against the raids of his neighbours, and with a man 

 of his energy and restless warrior spirit it is quite likely that it was his 

 interest in sea power that brought him to shipwreck in the mouth of the 

 Somme in or about the year 1064. In those days, as long after, ship- 

 wreck was regarded as a gift of God, and the Duke William of 

 Normandy had no exaggerated ideas of the duties of a host. By a very 

 thinly veiled hint, Harold was given the alternative of death or swearing 

 to help William to secure the crown of England on an alleged promise 

 from Edward the Confessor. It is not surprising that he gave his word, 

 and not surprising that he pleaded force afterwards. He was allowed 

 to return home, and as soon as King Edward died he prepared for the 

 invasion that he realised was inevitable. Harold's oath was only an 

 excuse in any circumstances, for a Dukedom like Normandy that was 

 vassal to the King of France was never likely to satisfy a man of William's 

 spirit, but it sufficed, and Harold was quite capable of realising what 

 he must expect. 



Hardrada's Invasion. 



The invasion by Harold's brother Tostig, who had been banished 

 the previous year for his misbehaviour and who had persuaded Harold 

 Hardrada to join him in his venture, was the direct cause of the 

 Normans' success, but in a history of the sea it is only material in that 

 it was the last of the Vikings' raids and showed how open England was 

 to invasion if her fleet were decoyed elsewhere. Harold's fleet had a 

 very good chance of success against William, but it was rotting in the 

 south, and he was far too dangerous an enemy to leave uncovered while 

 it went to meet the Norsemen. So they landed without opposition, and 

 although they were defeated on land they gave William the opportunity 

 which led to his triumph, while had Harold understood the modern two- 

 power principle he would almost certainly have preserved his Kingdom. 

 That would have been a bad thing for England, but it would have been a 

 vindication of sea power that would have saved infinite trouble 

 afterwards. 



Harold's Navy. 



King Harold appears to have had a few ships of his own, but con- 

 trived to collect a very considerable fleet when things became serious. 

 They were raised and manned in the old Saxon way, however, which 

 was not fitted for a prolonged mobilisation. William in Normandy was 

 too big to tackle, and the Saxons had to wait in patience under the lee 



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