the Nor mans. the Anglo-Saxon blood flowed in his veins, he was also half a Norman. He had been brought up in He favours France, and preferred the Normans (for so were called the inhabitants of that part of France where Edward had lived) to his own subjects, the English. He consequently showered down on these Normans all his favours, and he bestowed on them all the great offices of state. The sturdy old Anglo-Saxons would not put up with this, and a quarrel soon broke out between them and the Normans. An Angloobliged to Saxon earl, named Godwin, put himself at the head of the Anglo-Saxons, and Edward was soon obliged to banish the Normans from the kingdom. When He is banish them. as represented in the Bayeux Tapestry, an elaborate piece of needle-work wrought by Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. Harold II., he died, Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, was chosen A. D. 1066. by the people for their king. A pure Anglo-Saxon King thus again filled the throne, but he was the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings. William the Conqueror invades England. queror. Harold was King of England, but the throne William was claimed by William Duke of Normandy, the the Con descendant of Richard Duke of Normandy, whose sister Emma was married, first to King Ethelred the Unready, and afterwards to Canute the Dane. William pretended that Harold, the son of Godwin, had solemnly promised to assist him in obtaining the English throne; and therefore, when Harold was proclaimed king, William invaded the country to establish his claims. Battle of He landed near Hastings, in Sussex, and fought The a great battle with Harold, at a place about ten Hastings, miles from Hastings, which has since borne the name D. 1066. of Battle. The fight was called the Battle of Hastings. According to the most credible accounts, each army consisted of about 50,000 or 60,000 men; the Anglo-Saxons of one arm only, infantry; the Nor Harold is slain. The Saxons are defeated. mans of a large proportion of cavalry and archers, the artillery of that time. When the Normans advanced, the Anglo-Saxons, under the command of Harold, kept inside their camp, which was strongly fortified with ditches and palisades, and there they awaited the attack of the Normans. Again and again the Normans rushed furiously against them, charging with their cavalry, and pouring showers of arrows from their bows and cross-bows into the Anglo-Saxon ranks. But in vain. The Anglo-Saxons were armed with battle-axes, with which they broke the lances of the Norman cavalry, and penetrated their coats of mail. At length the Normans tried to draw their foes out of their strong camp by stratagem. They rushed to the attack, and then pretended to retreat. The Anglo-Saxons were deceived. They followed them in disorder, were attacked by the Normans, and driven back with great slaughter. Three times did this happen, but yet the Saxons were unconquered. At length a fatal accident gave the victory to the Normans. An arrow entered Harold's eye, and pierced his brain. Quickly did the news of Harold's fatal wound spread through the Saxon ranks. Dismay and consternation quenched their valour, while the Normans gained fresh spirit from their woe. Again they rushed to the attack; the Saxons fled, and the Normans gained the day. Thus ended the reign of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and thus began the reign of the Norman kings of England, beginning with William of Normandy, called from that time. William the Conqueror. The battle of Hastings was fought in the year 1066, or rather more than 1000 years after the birth of Christ. The English Spirit of Resistance to Foreigners. But though the Anglo-Saxon army was defeated, The England was not conquered. The spirit of resistance But we Anglo their to foreign invaders has always been strong in Eng- still defend land, and always may it remain so. We are, it is true, homes. merchants, and glad to welcome to our shores those who come in peace, to bring us from foreign lands such things as England does not produce, or to give us knowledge which we do not possess. never forget-and, I say, let us never forget-that we are islanders; that our islands are our home, our Rule, sacred home, never to be tainted by a foreign sway; Britons never to be ruled, never to be dictated to, by a foreign king. "This England never did, (nor ever shall,) Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, So says our greatest poet, and so was it on this occasion. Had there been no division among the Anglo-Saxons, no jealousies, the Normans would not have gained the victory. Let this ever be a lesson to us. United, we may resist the world in arms. Disunited, even we may fall beneath a foreign yoke. The Normans helped to civilise the Anglo-Saxons. Britannia! never shall be slaves. Normans We must not, however, look on the Norman Con- The quest as nothing but a misfortune or disgrace to our of the same land. In the first place, these Normans, although blood as they lived in what is now a part of France, were not Frenchmen. They sprang from nearly the same the Saxons. races as William our Anglo-Saxon forefathers. Duke of Normandy was descended from Rollo, a bold warrior of Norway, and thus the Northern blood flowed equally in the veins of William and of his new subjects; and if the Saxons were beaten, it was by foes who, like themselves, had been hardened in contests with the stormy waves of the Northern seas. Besides this, the Normans brought with them. arts and civilisation, which softened the rough strength of our forefathers, without weakening their bravery. When the Normans settled in France, The Normans speak the French language. Norman Ladies. (From an old Psalter.) "they abandoned their native speech, and adopted the French tongue, which was mainly derived from the Latin. They speedily raised their new language to a dignity and importance it never before possessed. They found it a barbarous jargon; they fixed it in writing; and they employed it in legislation, in poetry, and in romance. They re |