| |
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 favor
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 ardor, neither side giving ground during the greater
part of the day.
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 honorable
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.
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 vigor 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 usages, 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.
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 reveling 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.
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 offense 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 honor with themselves; they also inter-marry 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 signalize by some
munificent action.
|
|
