back, and were so accustomed to ride that once when some knights came to England and quarrelled with some citizens of Dover, they got on horseback to attack men in their houses, which seems a strange thing to do. They themselves, and the clergy of Normandy, were more intelligent, and cared more for reading and for art than the English did. The English always fought on foot, and only used horses to ride on to the place of battle, getting off when the fighting was to begin. If, however, the Norman knights and clergy were more intelligent than the English were, the Englishmen who were not very rich were more justly treated than men of the same kind were in Normandy. The Norman knight could do almost as he liked with the peasants who lived on his estate, and who sowed and reaped for him, and he had a court of his own in which he could punish them as he pleased. In England the peasants were certainly not so well off as they had been in Alfred's time. Many of them were no longer free men, owning their own land, and gathering in their harvest for themselves, without working for any one else. They had become serfs, that is to say, they were allowed land to till for themselves if they would also work for their lord, and plough, and sow, and reap for him without being paid for their work. Still they could not be punished if they were accused of doing wrong without being allowed to bring their compurgators, who, if they disbelieved the accusations, would be ready to swear that they were innocent. In this way the lord was prevented from ill-treating them, and the poor man

was much more justly dealt with in England than he was in Normandy.

3. Edward the Confessor favours the Normans.Edward might have done great good if he had tried, as Dunstan had tried, to help his English subjects to learn what the Normans knew and they did not know. Instead of doing that, he despised English people and English ways. He did not like to have Englishmen about him. He sent for Normans and promoted them. He actually made one of them Archbishop of Canterbury. He talked French instead of English. All this made the English very angry; and they were headed by a powerful man, Godwin, who was Earl of the West Saxons--that is to say, who ruled the West Saxons under the King. There were two other earls of Mercia and Northumberland who were jealous of Godwin, and Godwin was driven into exile. After a short time he came back and drove out the Normans.

4. Edward's last Days.-After Godwin's death, his son Harold was Earl of the West Saxons, and ruled England in the King's name. Edward had to be content without Normans round him. The thing that he cared for most was the building of the West Minster, the church of the great Westminster Abbey. It was not the one which is now to be seen. It was built with round arches, the fashion of building which had been taught by the Romans, and it was not till afterwards that men began to build with pointed arches. Edward did not live to see it consecrated. He was buried in the church which he had founded.

5. Harold, King of the English.--Edward left no son or brother to succeed him. His brother's grandson, Edgar, known as the Atheling or the Prince, was but a boy, and England could not be ruled by a boy. The great men chose Harold as their king, though he was not of the royal race. Harold would under any circumstances have had a difficult task before him. The earls of Mercia and Northumberland were sure to be jealous of him, and the north of England was not inclined to do much to help a man who came from the south. Though England had long been governed as one country, it was not united in heart as it is now. A man who lived in York did not feel much interest in the safety of men who lived in Exeter or Southampton. Beyond the sea there were still worse dangers. Harald Hardrada, the Norwegian king, was threatening to invade Northern England, and William, Duke of the Normans, the ablest and most warlike of an able and warlike race, threatened Southern England. Harald Hardrada only wanted, as Cnut had done before him, to get as much land or wealth as he could, but William actually claimed to be the true English king. He had no rightful claim at all, but by putting together a number of reasons, none of which was worth anything, he managed to make it seem as though he had a real claim.

6. The Norman Invasion.-Harold, therefore, had hard fighting before him. He heard that Harald Hardrada had landed in Yorkshire. At once he marched north and defeated and slew the Norwegian Harald at Stamford Bridge, near York. On the field

His brother Gurth

of victory he was told that William had landed near Pevensey. He marched hastily southwards. If England had been united, William would certainly have been overcome. But the men of the centre and north of England did not care to fight for Harold. Only the men of the south and his own trained soldiers stood by him. begged him not to risk a battle, and advised him to lay waste the land between London and Pevensey, so as to starve William out. Harold answered that not a foot of English ground should be desolated by him. He took up his position at Senlac on a chalk ridge a few miles north of Hastings.

7. The Battle of Senlac.--The Battle of Senlac, or of Hastings, as it is sometimes called, was one of those battles the winning of which depended on something more than mere bravery. Harold's Englishmen were as brave as William's Normans. But Englishmen thought, as Englishmen have often thought since, that it was best to do exactly as their fathers had done. The old fashion was to fight on foot, packed closely together, with their shields before them, and even a palisade in front of them. An army so defended can resist as long as it stands firm, but it cannot move from the spot where it is, without separating its shields and leaving openings through which the enemy can break in. William's Normans were mostly on horseback. They could move backwards and forwards, or sideways, just as their general wanted them to move. As usually happens, where two armies are equally brave, the ne which had the commander with the strongest

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brain prevailed. William's footmen and horsemen tried first to storm the hill and were driven back. They tried again, and by William's orders pretended to fly. Some of the English were simple enough to think that the victory was won. They rushed out in triumph. The Normans swiftly turned back, chased them uphill, and broke through the palisade. The English could resist for hours yet, but they

could not conquer. Slowly and surely the Norman horse pressed along the crest of the hill, strewing the height with corpses as the hay is strewn in swathes before the mower. Harold and his chosen comrades held out longest. Then William called for his archers and bade them shoot into the air. Down came an arrow crushing through Harold's eye. The English King lay slain, and the Normans had gained the victory.