50o ENG] 
they were incapable of refinance, they condefcenaed to 
fue for mercy ; but, though William pardoned the chiefs, 
he feized and bellowed on his Norman adherents the lands 
of their followers ; and the numerous colonies of foreign¬ 
ers, which he.eftabliftied in t!ie north, left the Saxons in 
that quarter deflitute of any real power. 
The Englilh now clearly forelaw that the king was 
determined to rely on the fupport and affection of foreign¬ 
ers, and that new forfeitures would be the refult of every 
attempt to fupport their rights. Imprefled with this dif- 
mal profpeCt, many fled into foreign countries: Edgar 
Atheling himfelf, dreading the infldiotts carefles of Wil¬ 
liam, efcaped with his lifters, Margaret and Chriftine, into 
Scotland, where Malcolm, king of Scotland, afterwards 
elpoufed Margaret, and by the lucceffion of James VI. to 
the Englilh throne, the Saxon line was re ft o red. Others, 
however, Hill hoped to acquire fecurity from arms ; front 
their retreat in Ireland, Godwin, Edmond, and Magnus, 
three fons of Harold, palled into England, and landed in 
Devon lb ire; but were repulfed and obliged to return, by 
Brien, fon of the count of Brittany. In the north, the 
inhabitants of Northumberland and York threw off their 
allegiance, and killed their foreign governors; thefe in¬ 
surgents were ftrengthened by a large body of forces from 
Denmark, and were animated by the prefence of Edgar 
Atheling, who quitted Scotland to place himfelf at their 
head. Hareward, a nobleman of Ealt Anglia, celebrated 
for his valour,‘aflembled his followers, and taking Ihelter 
in the ifle of Ely, made frequent inroads on the neigh¬ 
bouring country; while Edric the forefter, calling in the 
afliftance of the Welfti, laid fiege to Shrewlbury. 
This general commotion was however loon calmed by 
the policy and vigour of William, who ftimulated his 
followers by the promife of new forfeitures, purchafed the 
retreat of the Danes, and reduced to obedience Northum¬ 
berland and York. Edgar Atheling again fought refuge 
in Scotland; Edric implored the clemency of the con¬ 
queror, and was once more received into favour ; Hare- 
ward alone, confiding in the advantages of his fituation, 
fcorned to make a fubmillion. 
Though William ftill preferved the language of cle¬ 
mency and forgivenefs towards the chiefs, his iieart was 
hardened againft the people. To chaftife the turbulence 
of the Northumbrians, he laid wafte that fertile country 
between the Humber and the Tees, deftroying the houfes, 
and extirpating the inhabitants; and the lives of an hun¬ 
dred thou fluid perfons are computed to have been facri- 
liced by this barbarous Itroke of policy. Taking advan¬ 
tage of the imprudence with which the bulk of the landed 
property had engaged in thefe infurreblions, he involved 
tlae proprietors in confifcation : their eftates were traiaf- 
ferred to the Normans; and the moli ancient and honour¬ 
able Englilh families were reduced to beggary ; while 
every path which led to riches or preferment was carefully 
flint againft them. The feudal law, which had fome time 
been cftablifticd in Normandy and France, William intro¬ 
duced into England. He divided, with very few excep¬ 
tions, betides the royal demefnes, the lands of the country 
into baronies; and conferred them, with the refervation 
of Hated Cervices,and payments, on the molf conliderablc 
of his adventurers. Thefe barons made grants of a great 
part of their lands to other foreigners, under the denomi¬ 
nation of knights or vaftals, who paid their lords the 
fame duty and fubmilTion in peace and war, which the 
chieftain paid to his fovereign. The whole kingdom con¬ 
tained about feven hundred chief tenants, and 60,215 vaf- 
fals or knights fees; and as none of the native Englilh 
were admitted into the firft rank, the few who retained 
their landed property were glad to be received into the 
fecond, under the protection of fome powerful Norman. 
The doCtrine which exalted the papacy above all hu¬ 
man power, had gradually diffufed itfelf from Rome ; 
but at this time, was mote prevalent in the fiouthern than 
in the northern kingdoms of Europe. Pope Alexander, 
who had affilted William in his conquelts, naturally ex¬ 
pected that he would extend to England the reverence 
i A N D. 
for this facred character, and break the fpiritual inde¬ 
pendence of the Saxons. As footi, therefore, as the Nor¬ 
man prince was eftablifhed on the throne, Alexander dif- 
patched to him Efmenfroy, biftiop of Sion, as his legate; 
and the king, though he was probably led by principle 
to pay refpeCt to Rome, embraced the opportunity to de¬ 
grade thofe Englilh prelates who were obnoxious to him. 
In a council of the principal ecclefiaftics, he depofed every 
native dignitary, and fupplied their place with Norman 
clergy, among whom Eanfranc, a Milanefe monk, was 
preferred to the fee of Canterbury. The fuperditions 
flpirit, however, which became dangerous to fome of 
William’s fucceflbrs, was checked by the abilities of that 
monarch : he prohibited his fubjeCirs from acknowledging 
any one for pope whom he himfelf had not previoufly 
received ; nor would he fuff'er any letters or bulls from 
Rome to be produced without the lanction of his autho¬ 
rity. But he was ftill more vigilant to humble the 
Englifh : he even formed a projeCt of extinguilhmg the 
Englilh language ; and ordered that in all fchools youth 
fhould be inftrtiCled in the French tongue; and that all 
law proceedings Ihould be directed in the fame idiom ; 
whence arifes that mixture of French which is at prefent 
found in the Englilh tongue, and particularly in legal 
forms. 
The fituation of the two great earls Edwin and Morcar 
became daily more difagreeable. Senfible that they had 
entirely loft their dignity, they determined to attempt its 
recovery by force. While Edwin retired to his eftate in 
the north, with a view of commencing an infurreftion, 
Morcar took (belter in Ely with the brave Hareward. To 
fubdue that ifle, William furrounded it with flat-bottomed 
boats, and made a caufeway through the moraffes to the 
extent of two miles. The rebels furrendered at diferetion; 
Hareward alone forced his way fword in hand through the 
enemy, and continued his hollilities at fea, till William, 
admiring his bravery, received him into favour. Morcar 
was thrown into prifon; Edwin was killed in attempting 
to efcape ; and Edgar Atheling, weary of a fugitive life, 
fubmitted to the conqueror, and obtained a penlion for 
life, with the liberty of reliding in England. 
Scarcely, however, had William fettled the inftirrec- 
tions of the native lords, A. D. J073, when fome of the 
mod powerful Norman barons aflociated in arms, pro¬ 
voked by the arrogance of their mailer. Of thefe the 
chief were Roger, earl of Hereford, and Ralph de Gueder, 
earl of Norfolk ; and earl Weltheof, the laft of the Eng- 
lifli who for fome generations poflefled any power, and 
who had married Judith the niece of William, ralhly 
joined in the league; but on reflection, dreaded the ef¬ 
fects of the enterprile in which lie was engaged. Dif¬ 
fracted and irrefolute, he imparted the project and his 
doubts to his wife Judith, who having conceived an im¬ 
pure paflion for another, conveyed in exaggerated terms 
the particulars of the confpiracy to her uncle. Waltheof, 
in the mean time, had made a full confeftion of the fecret 
to Lanfranc, archbilhop of Canterbury, who urged him 
to .make atonement for his guilt, by aknowledging it. 
He accordingly palled over to Normandy, where William 
had for fome time been, and laid open the whole defign 
to the king. The confpirators, informed of his de¬ 
parture, immediately flew to arms; but before the arri¬ 
val of the Danes, on whofe afliftance they had depended, 
they were defeated and difperfed. The earl of Hereford 
was checked by Walter de Lacy, a great baron in the 
king’s intereft. The earl of Norfolk was defeated by 
Odo, the king’s brother; and the prifoners who were 
taken had eacli the right foot cut off, in order to deter 
others from a fimilar treafon. The earl himfelf retired 
to Denmark ; lo that William, upon his arrival in Eng¬ 
land, found that nothing remained for him to do but to 
punifti the criminals ; which was performed with unufual 
i'everity. Many of the rebels were hanged, fome had 
their eyes put out, and others their hands cut off'. The 
unfortunate Wahheolf, though promifed a pardon, found 
no mercy. He was rich, and an Englilhman ; two faults 
that 
