The
courageous leaders mutually prepared for battle, each according
to his national custom. The English, as we have heard, passed
the night without sleep, in drinking and singing, and in the morning
proceeded without delay against the enemy. All on foot, armed
with battle-axes, and covering themselves in front by the juncture
of their shields, they formed an impenetrable body which would
assuredly have secured their safety that day had not the Normans,
by a feigned flight, induced them to open their ranks, which till
that time, according to their custom, had been closely compacted.
King Harold himself, on foot, stood with his brothers near the
standard in order that, so long as all shared equal danger, none
could think of retreating. This same standard William sent, after
his victory, to the pope; it was sumptuously embroidered with
gold and precious stones, and represented the figure of a man
fighting.
On
the other hand, the Normans passed the whole night in confessing
their sins, and received the communion of the Lord=s body in the
morning. Their infantry, with bows and arrows, formed the vanguard,
while their cavalry, divided into wings, was placed in the rear.
The duke, with serene countenance, declaring aloud that God would
favour his as being the righteous side, called for his arms; and
when, through the haste of his attendants, he had put on his hauberk
the hind part before, he corrected the mistake with a laugh, saying
"The power of my dukedom shall be turned into a kingdom."
Then starting the Song of Roland, in order that the warlike example
of that hero might stimulate the soldiers, and calling on God
for assistance, the battle commenced on both sides, and was fought
with great ardour, neither side giving ground during the greater
part of the day.
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Observing
this, William gave a signal to his troops, that, feigning flight,
they should withdraw from the field. By means of this device the
solid phalanx of the English opened for the purpose of cutting
down the fleeing enemy and thus brought upon itself swift destruction;
for the Normans, facing about, attacked them, thus disordered,
and compelled them to fly. In this manner, deceived by a stratagem,
they met an honourable death in avenging their enemy; nor indeed
were they at all without their own revenge, for, by frequently
making a stand, they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps. Getting
possession of an eminence, they drove back the Normans, who in
the heat of pursuit were struggling up the slope, into the valley
beneath, where, by hurling their javelins and rolling down stones
on them as they stood below, the English easily destroyed them
to a man. Besides, by a short passage with which they were acquainted,
they avoided a deep ditch and trod underfoot such a multitude
of their enemies in that place that the heaps of bodies made the
hollow level with the plain. This alternating victory, first of
one side and then of the other, continued so long as Harold lived
to check the retreat; but when he fell, his brain pierced by an
arrow, the flight of the English ceased not until night.
In
the battle both leaders distinguished themselves by their bravery.
Harold, not content with the functions of a general and with exhorting
others, eagerly assumed himself the duties of a common soldier.
He was constantly striking down the enemy at close quarters, so
that no one could approach him with impunity, for straightway
both horse and rider would be felled by a single blow. So it was
at long range, as I have said, that the enemy=s deadly arrow brought
him to his death. One of the Norman soldiers gashed his thigh
with a sword, as he lay prostrate; for which shameful and cowardly
action he was branded with ignominy by William and expelled from
the army.
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William,
too, was equally ready to encourage his soldiers by his voice
and by his presence, and to be the first to rush forward to attack
the thickest of the foe. He was everywhere fierce and furious;
he lost three choice horses, which were that day killed under
him. The dauntless spirit and vigour of the intrepid general,
however, still held out. Though often called back by the kind
remonstrance of his bodyguard, he still persisted until approaching
night crowned him with complete victory. And no doubt the hand
of God so protected him that the enemy should draw no blood from
his person, though they aimed so many javelins at him.
This
was a fatal day to England, and melancholy havoc was wrought in
our dear country during the change of its lords. For it had long
adopted the manners of the Angles, which had indeed altered with
the times; for in the first years of their arrival they were barbarians
in their look and manner, warlike in their usage's, heathens in
their rights. After embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees
and, in process of time, in consequence of the peace which they
enjoyed, they relegated arms to a secondary place and gave their
whole attention to religion. I am not speaking of the poor, the
meanness of whose fortune often restrains them from overstepping
the bound of justice; I omit, too, men of ecclesiastical rank,
whom sometimes respect for their profession and sometimes the
fear of shame suffers not to deviate from the true path; I speak
of princes, who from the greatness of their power might have full
liberty to indulge in pleasure. Some of these in their own country,
and others at Rome, changing their habit, obtained a heavenly
kingdom and a saintly intercourse. Many others during their whole
lives devoted themselves in outward appearance to worldly affairs,
but in order that they might exhaust their treasures on the poor
or divide them amongst monasteries.
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What
shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits, and abbots?
Does not the whole island blaze with such numerous relics of its
own people that you can scarcely pass a village of any consequence
but you hear the name of some new saint? And of how many more
has all remembrance perished through the want of records?
Nevertheless,
the attention to literature and religion had gradually decreased
for several years before the arrival of the Normans. The clergy,
contented with a little confused learning, could scarcely stammer
out the words of the sacraments; and a person who understood grammar
was an object of wonder and astonishment. The monks mocked the
rule of their order by fine vestments and the use of every kind
of food. The nobility, given up to luxury and wantonness, went
not to church in the morning after the manner of Christians, but
merely, in a careless manner, heard matins and masses from a hurrying
priest in their chambers, amid the blandishments of their wives.
The commonalty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful,
who amassed fortunes, either by seizing on their property or by
selling their persons into foreign countries; although it is characteristic
of this people to be more inclined to ravelling than to the accumulation
of wealth. . .
Drinking
in parties was a universal practice, in which occupation they
passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed their whole
substance in mean and despicable houses, unlike the Normans and
French, who live frugally in noble and splendid mansions. The
vices attendant on drunkenness, which enervate the human mind,
followed; hence it came about that when they engaged William,
with more rashness and precipitate fury than military skill, they
doomed themselves and their country to slavery by a single, and
that an easy, victory. For nothing is less effective than rashness;
and what begins with violence quickly ceases or is repelled.
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The
English at that time wore short garments, reaching to the mid-knee;
they had their hair cropped, their beards shaven, their arms laden
with gold bracelets, their skin adorned with tattooed designs.
They were accustomed to eat till they became surfeited, and to
drink till they were sick. These latter qualities they imparted
to their conquerors; as to the rest, they adopted their manners.
I would not, however, had these bad propensities ascribed to the
English universally; I know that many of the clergy at that day
trod the path of sanctity by a blameless life; I know that many
of the laity, of all ranks and conditions, in this nation were
well-pleasing to God. Be injustice far from this account; the
accusation does not involve the whole, indiscriminately; but as
in peace the mercy of God often cherishes the bad and the good
together, so, equally, does his severity sometimes include them
both in captivity.
The
Normans---that I may speak of them also---were at that time, and
are even now, exceedingly particular in their dress and delicate
in their food, but not so to excess. They are a race inured to
war, and can hardly live without it; fierce in rushing against
the enemy, and, where force fails of success, ready to use stratagem
or to corrupt by bribery. As I have said, they live in spacious
houses with economy, envy their superiors, wish to excel their
equals, and plunder their subjects, though they defend them from
others; they are faithful to their lords, though a slight offence
alienates them. They weigh treachery by its chance of success,
and change their sentiments for money. The most hospitable, however,
of all nations, they esteem strangers worthy of equal honour with
themselves; they also intermarry with their vassals. They revived,
by their arrival, the rule of religion which had everywhere grown
lifeless in England. You might see churches rise in every village,
and monasteries in the towns and cities, built after a style unknown
before; you might behold the country flourishing with renovated
rites; so that each wealthy man accounted that day lost to him
which he had neglected to signalise by some munificent action.
