XIV. Confessor. more that he could sympathise with in Normandy CHA P. than in England, and therefore invited or admitted Edward many Normans into his favour. Robert, one of the them, was made, after various promotions, archbishop of Canterbury. Another was raised to an episcopal see, others also attained offices of rank and power. From the king's partiality, the French manners came into use; their language, and their legal forms began also to be diffused. 14 THE Norman favourites awakened the jealousy of Godwin, and were obstacles to his ambition. But the counteracting power of Leofric, the wise earl of Mercia, and of Siward, the earl of Northumbria, and distinguished for heroic valour, kept Godwin tranquil till a cruel violence of one of the noble foreigners gave him a popular reason for expressing his discontent. It was in 1051, that Godwin presumed to give defiance to the king. The count of Boulogne, who had married Edward's sister, came to Dover. In a foolish effort to obtain or compel entertainment, his followers killed an Englishman. The citizens revenged it; the count, committing himself to the guidance of blind fury, rushed with his troops, killed many of both sexes in the city, and trampled some children under the feet of their horses. Provoked at his brutality, the people armed. The count cowardly fled before their indignation, and went to Edward, who was then at Gloucester. 15 AVAILING himself of this event, Godwin raised immediately, from his own counties of Kent, Sus 14 Ingulf, 62.; and see Malmsbury, 80., on the enmity between Godman and the Normans. 15 Flor. 410. 1042. 1051. VI. Edward the Confessor. BOOK sex, and Wessex, a military power. The same occasion enabled his son Svein to collect a powerful force from the counties of Oxford, Gloucester, Hereford, Somerset, and Berks, which he governed; and Harold, another son, embracing the same pretext, completed his formidable array by a levy from Essex, East Anglia, Huntingdon, and Cambridgeshire, which he commanded. 1051. THE armies of Godwin and his children could not be completed without Edward's knowledge. Messengers were immediately sent to his brave protectors, Leofric and Siward. These governors were earnestly desired to come, with all the forces they could assemble, with immediate speed. THE loyal earls hastened immediately to court. Learning the necessity, they sent swiftly-circulated orders through all their counties, for armies to be raised. The son of the culpable count did the same; and Edward had a prospect of being rescued from the tyranny of Godwin. 16 THE rebellious family marched into Gloucestershire, and demanded of the king, under a menace of hostilities, the count of Boulogne and his fol lowers, and the Normans and men of Boulogne, who were in Dover-castle. THE king, terrified, knew not how to act; he fluctuated in great anxiety, till he learnt that his friends were prepared to support him. An express refusal was then returned to Godwin. A FIERCE civil war seemed now about to consume the country; but Godwin was not heroically adventurous, and Leofric was wise. Leofric therefore proposed that hostages should be exchanged, and that Godwin and the king should meet on 16 Flor. Wig. 410, 411. XIV. an appointed day in London, and have the al- CHAP. leged subject judicially determined by the witena- Edward gemot. 17 THE proposition was too popular not to be accepted. Godwin returned to Wessex; the king ordered a witena-gemot 18 to be assembled for the second time in London, at the autumnal equinox ; he augmented his army, and marched it to London. Godwin and his sons occupied Southwark, but soon discovered that their partisans were falling away. THE witena-gemot made the thanes, who were with Harold, to find pledges to the king for their conduct, and outlawed Svein, who did not think fit to be present at the wither-male, or conciliary meeting. 19 They also cited Godwin and Harold to attend the gemot. Godwin, finding his ambitious views darkening, and dreading a legal enquiry into his conduct, did not attempt to face the witena, but fled in the night. 20 In the morning, the king held the witena-gemot, and declared him, his army, and his children, to be outlaws. 21 Five days of safety were given them to quit the country. With three of his sons, Godwin sailed away, with all the property he could 22 17 Flor. Wig. 411, 412.; and see Sax. Chron. 163, 164.; and the MS. Chron. Tib. B. 4. 18 Tha zepædde re cyning hir pitan tha man sceolde othɲe rychan habban ealpa gepitena zemot on Lundene to hærester emnihte. Sax. Chron. 164. 19 man borhfæst tham cýning ealle tha thægnas the pæɲon Danolber eonler hir runa, &c. MS. Tib. B. 4. and Lamb. MS. 20 Sax. Chron. 164. Flor. Wig. 21 Jre cyng hærb tha utlaze ealle heɲe; hine J 22 Sax. Chron. 164. of lande to faɲenne. on mongen Witena Lemot J cpach hine the Confessor. 1051. Edward BOOK hastily amass, into Flanders. Harold, and a brother VI. from Bristol, sailed to Ireland. A severe tempest put their lives in peril during the voyage. Their sister, the queen, was sent to a monastery. 23 the Confessor. 1051. CONTRARY to every natural expectation, and to his own, and to the astonishment of the AngloSaxons, the house of Godwin seemed now to have fallen for ever in England. 24 Released from his intimidations, the king became more attached to his Norman friends. Invited or obeying a sagacious policy, William, the reigning Duke of Normandy, came to England with a large company of his nobles and knights at this period, and was received with great honour and courtesy by Edward, who entertained him for some time, conducted him to his cities and royal castles, and loaded him with presents when he returned, 25 This visit was of importance to William. It introduced him to the knowledge of many of the English chiefs, and made his name familiar to the people. It began the formation of that interest which so powerfully assisted him in afterwards acquiring the crown. But Ingulf declares that no mention was made of his succession to the crown at this visit, nor had he then any hope of it. Yet it may have excited William's desire to enjoy such a crown, and must have made a lively impression on his memory. EDWARD was then living without a prospect of 23 MS. Chron. Tib. B. 4. Flor. 412. 24 The MS. Tib. B. 4. thus expresses the public surprise at the change; "That polbe thýncan pundoplic ælcum men the on Englalande pæs gif ænig man æri tham sæde tha hit spa zepurtha rceolbe. Foncham he pær æp to tham spithe upahafen гpylce he peolde thar cynger 7 ealler Englalander," &c. 25 Flor, 412. Ingulf, 65. The MS. Tib. B. 4. mentions his coming, which the printed Chronicle omits. XIV. the Confessor. 1051. issue; and, excepting one youth in Hungary, the CHA P. crown had no heir. The family of William was Edward connected with that of Edward by marriage, and with Edward himself by friendship and services. William was a neighbour, and Edward esteemed him. The family of Godwin was abased, and no competitor seemed likely to arise from the rest of the English. William therefore from this time could scarcely contemplate the throne of his friend, without coveting its acquisition. Any valued good which seems bending to our reach, soon excites our cupidity. He may have had the prudence to mark the hopeful ground in judicious silence; but the scheme of his succession must have been a project which his mind revolved, and secretly prepared to exe eute. THE family of Godwin in their exile meditated new attempts to regain their power. Harold and his brother invaded the West of England with a fleet of adventurers collected in Ireland, defeated the king's officers, and plundered as they pleased. As Godwin was impending with a similar armament, a chosen force of forty ships was stationed at Sandwich to intercept it. He eluded their vigilance, reached Kent, and roused all his friends in the neighbouring counties to arm in his behalf. But the king's fleet pursued him. He sheltered himself in Pevensey; a storm checked the progress of the others, and when they made for London, he hovered about the Isle of Wight, where Harold joined him, after a voyage of plunder. With their united strength, swelled by every aid they could allure, they sailed to Sandwich. Edward found his friends more tardy than before. Other nobles became dissatisfied at the progress of the Normans 1052. |